Akira looked at Ann. Then he looked at Ryuji. You could cut the tension with a knife in the attic of Leblanc.

"So…" he said slowly, drawing out the word. "Let me get this straight.

"You two-" He pointed at both of them. "-thought it would be a great idea to intrude on my privacy and follow me while I was on a date with my girlfriend."

"We were worried about you," Ann said quickly.

Ryuji added, "Yeah, man, you were with some stranger, you looked all different and shit, we thought maybe you were getting into some trouble!"

"I'm not even finished with you, Ryuji," Akira said firmly, glaring at his friend. Although his glare was nothing compared to a Niijima's, he could still rattle even the most hardened of men. "You thought it was a great idea to commandeer my room to have sex with Makoto?"

"We, well, it was either that or risk her sis or my mom walking in on us," Ryuji muttered, bouncing his leg.

"Instead, it was my girlfriend that walked in."

Ryuji opened his mouth to respond but thought better of it halfway through the first syllable and promptly closed it.

Akira pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. "Please tell me you at least washed the sheets?"

"Totally, dude, every time."

Akira scoffed and muttered, "Small fortunes, I guess."

"You can be mad at Ryuji for that, but it was my idea to follow you guys," Ann added, mercifully taking the attention away from him. "We are so so sorry."

Akira was silent for a moment before he breathed deeply and said, "I appreciate the concern, I really do. But was it that out of the question for me to be on a date?"

"Yeah," Ryuji said.

"Kind of," Ann agreed.

Akira flinched back and scowled. "How?"

"Never told me about a girlfriend," Ryuji said. "I mean, I get why now, but at the time..."

Ann coughed and looked away.

"Ann," Akira called out. "What was your thought process?"

"I... may have thought you were gay?" she admitted, shrugging a shoulder.

Akira wasn't offended at the notion, but he was not about to lie and say he wasn't taken aback by it a little.

Ryuji had to bite his knuckle to keep himself from laughing. That did not stop his shoulders from shaking.

"May I ask why?"

Ann threw her hands in the air. "You were never interested in any of the girls I tried to hook you up with! Seriously, you turned them down flat! Plus, there was that thing with Makoto-"

"We don't need to talk about that," Akira said quickly, ignoring the raised eyebrow from Ryuji. "The point is, no, I'm not. Now, with that out of the way, we need to discuss reparations."

"Repar-What's that even mean?" Ryuji asked.

Ann rolled her eyes. "You don't even know what that means?"

"'Course I do! I just got no clue how it matters to the current situation."

"Guys," Akira cut in. "Focus."

"Sorry," Ann apologized. "What did you have in mind?"

Akira steepled his fingers and hummed to himself.

Across the room, Morgana spoke up from his usual perch. "Don't you have a date with Takemi-san later this week?"

All three sets of eyes snapped over to him. Akira's had a slightly more mischievous glint to them.

He slowly nodded, immediately picking up on what Morgana was getting at. "That's right, Mona, I do have a date. Remind me, where was it again?"

"Pretty expensive restaurant from the sounds of it," Morgana yawned out. "Honestly, I just don't know how you're going to pay for it. Pretty shortsighted of you, really."

"Ooooh, I don't know," Akira murmured, his eyes flicking towards Ryuji and Ann. "I'm sure I can find the funds somewhere ."

He flashed his teeth. They shrunk in on themselves.

Tae stifled a laugh as Akira relayed the story. Instead of the expensive restaurant that Morgana had implied they were going to, they went to a cheap but delicious ramen place.

"I really wish I could've been there to see it," she breathed, wiping a tear away. "I bet Sakamoto looked like he was going to need a new change of pants."

"That's what he gets for using my bed as his sneak away place," Akira said. There was no sympathy in his voice, only the cold and hard blade of justice that needed carrying out.

Tae nodded as she brought some ramen to her mouth. She chewed and swallowed before saying, "I'm surprised you didn't dress down the Niijima girl."

He clicked his tongue. "Yeah, well, she wasn't the one to follow us on our date. I'm more upset about what Ryuji and Ann did, to be honest. Plus she's got her own list of grievances about us that she'll have to read off."

She smiled and reached out to grab his hand. "Do you need me there to protect you from the Big Bad Niijima?"

"If this was her sister, then yes. But I can handle Makoto." He took a drink of his soda then shrugged. "Probably."

"If you say so." Tae let go of his hand and checked her watch. "Pretty early for dinner, by the way. Did you have some other plans in mind?"

"Naturally," Akira proclaimed. "After we're done here, the Planetarium is doing a show that I think you are just going to adore."

"Think you could afford such a luxurious outing, guinea pig?" Tae asked wryly.

Akira spread his lips into a grin. "Probably. But I'm positive Ryuji and Ann can split the bill."

That time, Tae had to hold a hand to her mouth to keep the cackle from coming out.