Pretty early on, when Makoto joins your party, Ryuji references a Bon Jovi song in regards to her biker outfit and transforma-cycle. Makoto goes on to say she is not "wanted", in accordance to the song lyrics. She, much like our Captain America, understood that reference.

That was great, I loved that.

From: Your Girlfriend

Akira? Sis left for work early this morning, so I didn't get the chance to make breakfast for her. If you're not busy, maybe you'd like to go somewhere with me?

Sure. Where should I meet you?

An advertisement for the diner in Shibuya caught my eye the other day. That, and I heard some students talking about some of the food. I'd feel awkward going to a restaurant by myself, so…

Got it. I'll see you on Central Street.

Thanks.

When Makoto offered to go to the diner, Akira, always eager to spend time with her, happily agreed. However, when the two sat to browse over what they offered for breakfast, Makoto noticed that Akira seemed to have been staring at one part of the menu in particular for a good five minutes. "Akira?...Did you find what you wanted?"

"Uh…"

He blinked and squinted slightly at the same spot, leaving Makoto to study which page he was looking at and exactly what part. Finding it after that was rather easy, but Makoto, unsure as to what to expect, stared at the same picture. "Pancakes…?"

"Yeah…"

Suddenly, she understood, grimacing slightly as she remembered Akira's explanation in regards to why he had developed a mild distaste for pancakes. "Maybe we should find somewhere else to eat."

"Let's."

The two wandered about for another hour or two, unable to find a place suitable for breakfast until it was already almost time for lunch. Akira seemed to reach an epiphany when he heard Makoto's stomach growl in protest."It's already lunchtime...heh, whoops. Ah...how about we have monja?"

"Monja? You mean monjayaki? We'd have to take the train to Tsukishima."

"Yeah. Ryuji showed me a place when he asked me to eavesdrop on the track team coach."

"...Wait, what?"

"I'll explain on the way. Let's go."

Makoto, now hungrier at the mention of monja, simply nodded and followed Akira to the station. As they stepped onto the first train to where he had pointed out the restaurant was, Akira gently pulled her to him as the train was flooded with other passengers. The crowd pressed the two rather uncomfortably against each other as the train began to move again. Akira managed to adjust his glasses, putting an arm around Makoto's waist as her hands were trapped against his chest. She blushed softly and looked away upon feeling the muscle underneath his clothes. "Someone's been working out…"

"What?"

"Nothing. Tell me about your coach stalking."

Akira frowned slightly, tapping her nose with a finger and muttering, "It wasn't stalking. It was precision following."

"It sounds like stalking to me."

"Okay, miss honor student. Ryuji wanted me to tail the new track coach and see if he was up to anything."

Makoto bit back a self-satisfied smirk when he dropped all pretenses of the stalking label, curiosity overcoming her smugness. "I assume he was?"

"Yeah. Nothing good. He wanted to take advantage of the members, drop them when they're useless to him...unsavory, to say the least."

Her eyes darkened in growing anger, something Akira picked up on and tried to quell with a kiss to her forehead. "Relax, Ryuji and I took care of it already. Yamauchi's out and the legit coach is in. Everybody wins."

Makoto smiled and rested her head on his chest, closing her eyes contentedly when she felt his hand rest carefully on her hair. "I wish you were on the student council."

"The delinquent who can kill with a look? Students might get the wrong idea, Prez."

She sighed, her fingers curling against his shirt as she mumbled, "Now that I know you as well as I do, I want those rumors to disappear."

Akira looked at the ceiling, smiling softly at the ads for the new Risette merch as he slowly brushed Makoto's hair. "In an ideal world, maybe. Don't know about you, but I wouldn't trade this for anything."

She looked up at him, confused until he smiled at her and explained. "If I won the hearts and minds of the people that night, I wouldn't have met any of you."

He kissed her forehead again, to accentuate his point. "Particularly you, and all your cuteness."

Makoto took a moment to digest his words. After said beat, a warm blush colored her cheeks as she smiled back. "Thank you."

She stood up a bit on her toes to press her lips shyly to his, moaning softly when he tilted his head slightly and returned it, eager to partake in her affection. They only held the kiss for a few scant moments before parting, due to it being neither the ideal time nor place. Akira's smiled grew slightly as he planted a final kiss of her forehead, murmuring "rule of three" as he did.

Their train pulled into the station a few minutes later, but Akira insisted on waiting for the bulk of the crowd to mill out of the train before stepping out. "The monja place should be just down this street. It's old-fashioned, I think you'll like the look of it."

Makoto followed silently, looking around the area as Akira led her to the restaurant in question. Huh...it looks like there's a multitude of older stores dotting this town…

"Here it is. I'll find us a table."

Turns out it wasn't that hard to find a table. Akira made a show of seating Makoto before himself, calling a waiter over and placing a big enough order for two of the. Makoto was mystified when she saw that the meal would be mostly self-cooked. "Wait, so you cook it yourself on this griddle...with a spatula?"

She looked from the offending griddle to Akira, then back again. "Isn't this a restaurant? Why is the customer making their meal?!"

Akira chuckled softly and picked up two spatulas, about to set to work before Makoto interjected again. "...Do you know how to prepare monjayaki?"

"Leave it to me."

Makoto breathed a sigh of relief, watching Akira place the monja ingredients on the griddle and chop it with the spatulas. He urged her to watch with a nod of his head as he let them cook briefly, mixing them together and making a small well in the middle of the pile. Makoto watched, enraptured, as he poured the dashi soup into the space. He neatly collected any escaping liquid and let it cook before handing Makoto one of the spatulas. "Here, help me mix it together."

They did so, Makoto following Akira's cue as he gathered the batter into a tighter bundle. "Now we just mash it and let it cook for a bit longer."

Akira made small talk over the sound of the frying batter, glancing between the pan and Makoto. "So. I'd say we're a pretty ragtag bunch of misfits."

"With unclear goals and good hearts, right? Although, I would venture that our goals are actually pretty clear...What?"

Akira shook his head and smiled, looking down at the grill and toying with the spatula as he murmured, "Nothing. Just...impressed. Anyway, I, uh...I heard about this in a game once. Let me see if I remember right…"

Makoto watched him try to recall with a small smile, idly poking the monja with her spatula. It's almost done…

"Right. There were these two guys, in the yakuza, right? So they're having this whole discussion about how worthless they are in the big picture while having barbeque. And…and the the bigger guy's just going on, making comparisons between them and the cheapest barbeque you can buy. Tripe."

Makoto sliced through the finished monjayaki with her spatula, picking up the smaller one for eating and taking a small scoop of the fried mixture. She sampled it and made a small hum of happiness at how good it was in comparison to its looks. Akira smiled at that, gesturing absently as he continued his strange recollection. "He goes on about how tripe has to be burnt before its real flavor comes out. That's kinda like us, right? Me, at least."

Makoto let him take a bit of the monja before taking another for herself, giggling softly as he fanned his mouth. "I think that's the most you've ever spoken in one sitting since I've met you."

Akira grinned. "Maybe so. I just like yakuza stuff. Besides, so do you."

He nodded wistfully, leaning back in his chair in a way that made him look tired without tipping the whole thing over. Curious. "I'm starting to get the impression that you're craving barbecue rather than monjayaki."

"Hmmmaybe a little."

"Well, it's a good thing we didn't order too much, then. Come on, let's find you a barbeque place."

"What? No, we can-"

Makoto didn't reply, simply standing next to his chair and offering him both her hands. She smiled softly when he fumbled for something to say. "Come on. I'm pretty sure I saw a good place on the way here."

Akira made to object again before glancing at the empty griddle. "...Okay. Let me pay for what we ordered and we can look around."

"Again."

He laughed softly, taking her hands and standing, although he managed the feat mostly on his own strength. "Well, you knew what you were signing on for."

"I suppose I did. You do eat a lot."

"That too. Just don't take me to Big Bang Burger."

Saw some of the Mementos chats I missed during my playthrough...Makoto is definitely the Team Mom, that much is easy to see. I think my favorite has to be "Would anyone know any good vendors for professional-quality brass knuckles?"

That, or the one where Futaba wants candy.