I adore road trips. I'll entertain this idea whenever I'm given an idea, hence the identical title aside from the numeral.

Makoto jumped in her seat when she felt something heavy yet gentle pat her shoulder, the grip she had on the van's steering wheel tightening in surprise. She checked the road ahead before sneaking a look at Akira in silent question. He smiled at her and jerked his thumb towards a sign designating a rest area. "How about we break for the night? You look like you could use some sleep."

"Not just her! I need a bed, Akira!"

He chuckled and shrugged as best he could under the confines of his seatbelt. "Futaba's made her argument. What do you think?"

Makoto simply kept one hand on the wheel, using the other to point out the windshield. As soon as Akira looked where she was pointing, he smiled. "Looks like we're breaking for the night, everyone."

A half-hearted cheer rumbled throughout the van as Makoto pulled into the lot of the Chagall motel, practically throwing the stick into park and slumping in her seat. "Finally…"

Akira reached over and rubbed her shoulder before hopping out of his seat. "Stretch your legs. I'll rent out a room or two."

Makoto watched him go, the van rocking to and fro as the rest of the group filed out to follow Akira. He seemed to sense them, holding out one of the room keys so he wouldn't have to endure being tackled for it by Ryuji or Futaba. The latter beat the former, grabbing the offered key and dashing upstairs with a cackling "muehehehe". Ryuji sprinted about her soon after, wailing something about needing a shower after the long day.

Akira tossed the other room key to Haru with a wink, striding back outside to check on Makoto, who was strangely absent from the lobby ambush.

He found her leaning against the door frame, watching the van as if it was going to disappear if she took her eyes off it. Because of that, it came as no surprise that she jumped for the second time that evening when Akira patted her shoulder. "You look beat."

"I feel beat."

"Well, we have two rooms. Hopefully that's enough for seven plus a cat."

"That's good. I just can't wait to get some sleep - oh."

Makoto averted her gaze as soon as she looked at Akira, uncomfortably crossing her arms as Akira raised a confused eyebrow. "Something wrong?"

"No, nothing, it's just, um...you look really different without your glasses."

He laughed softly and joined her in leaning against the wall, planting the toe of his shoe against the pavement and slipping his hands in his pockets. "For better or worse?"

"For better. Although you did look cuter with the glasses."

"And now?"

"...Handsome?"

Makoto snuck a look at him but quickly averted her eyes. "Not used to it, huh."

"I, um...will admit that I'm having trouble."

"Yeah?"

Akira scooted a bit closer and nudged her shoulder with his, subtly tricking her into looking up at him in question. The gesture, of course, caused her to meet his eyes without his usual glasses in the way; a fact that quickly gave way to a flustered blush. "N-now you're just messing with me."

"Maybe a little."

He stole a quick kiss and took her hand, gently swinging their joined hands towards one of the small restaurants scattered around the rest area. "Let's get something to eat."

"Huh? Oh, should I call the others, or…?"

Makoto deduced Akira's answer when he started walking, following as she asked, "We'll order something for them afterwards. Is that okay?"

"Well, I'm not opposed, but are you sure?"

Akira grinned over his shoulder and nodded. "I finally have you to myself for the first time this trip, let me have this."

Makoto smiled and sped up her case to keep up with him more easily. "I can't argue with that."

[- - -]

"Guess we were hanging around for longer than I thought."

"It would seem so...the sun's already going down."

The two made their way to the hotel rooms Akira had handed out the keys to, stopping outside the one he remembered giving to Haru. "Oh...uh. Oops."

Akira snapped his fingers as he remembered just what their new dilemma was, breaking out into a fit of laughter until Makoto shushed him. "What, what's wrong?"

"I, er...heh, I don't have a key."

"You didn't keep a room key for yourself?"

"I didn't think that far ahead. The whole 'grab a bite' plan was sort of spontaneous."

"I'm starting to think there's a type of duality between Akira and Joker."

Akira smirked and shrugged, typing out a quick message on his phone as he said, "Well, Joker is good at some things, Akira's good at others."

The door opened less than a second later, revealing a rather exhausted-looking Haru. "Oh."

"Hi, Akira-kun, Mako-chan. Everyone else is already sleeping. I, um...tried to keep them awake long enough for dinner, but…"

Haru leaned away from the door and covered her mouth as she yawned, shaking sleep out of her head as Akira held the door and stepped in. He carefully patted Haru's shoulder and whispered a "sorry" as he surveyed the room, leaving the bag of food he had picked up on one of the cabinets. Ann and Futaba had monopolized the respective beds, leaving Haru with the floor and whatever extra sheets and pillows she could grab. Makoto frowned slightly at the two juniors and gently urged Haru to go back to sleep, whispering, "You didn't have to sleep on the floor."

Haru smiled and curled up under a blanket, packing a pillow under her head to get comfortable. "I think I did. It's like being a chaperone again."

Makoto smiled back and patted her head, standing and pulling Akira back to the doorway. "Plan A is a bust, leader. What's our next move."

"I appreciate the sarcasm." Akira quietly shut the door and listened to make sure the lock engaged before continuing. "I get the feeling we'll get a similar result if we try the designated guy's room. Although, waking up any of them is probably a recipe for disaster."

"Even Morgana?"

"Especially Morgana."

Akira sighed, glancing down the hall and checking the time on his phone. "Hm...let's see if we can rent out another room."

[- - -]

"I'm very sorry, sir."

Akira pocketed his wallet and politely bowed his head, walking back to where Makoto was sitting in the lobby and shaking his head. "No dice. We're locked out tonight."

"I see."

Akira bit back a cringe at the downcast look on Makoto's face, sitting next to her and rubbing her shoulder. "I guess we'll have to sleep in the car. Let's just take some of the extra blankets and...what's wrong?"

Makoto shook her head and smiled, standing and leaning down to bump her forehead against Akira's affectionately. "Nothing. You bounce back remarkably quick."

"That I do. Let me see what I can do."

[- - -]

Makoto wrung her hands nervously as Akira dropped the row of seats in the center of the van, pushing it against the driver's seat to open up the space in the back. She could tell he was talking to himself as he worked, but couldn't help but listen. "Huh, roomier than I thought…"

"Are you okay in there?"

"Peachy! Can scratch this off the bucket list."

"I...I can't tell if you're being serious."

"Huh?" Akira poked his silly head out of the van to look at Makoto, shaking some hair out of his eyes to see her more clearly. "I'm always serious."

She snorted and leaned against the passenger side door, occasionally looking at Akira hard at work before realizing that, while her intentions were pure, the view was essentially looking at him, not his progress. That realization registered a blush and a few minutes of hesitation before she tried again. "All right, we're all set. Wanna come in?"

Makoto peeked into the van's interior, slowly stepping in as Akira scooted over and sat down. "...Huh."

Akira had managed to turn the free space into a reasonably neat and comfortable looking den. He had managed to pilfer a decent number of pillows with Haru's sleepy, begrudging help, spreading a couple of travel blankets along the floor from a hasty purchase from the local convenience store. Makoto couldn't help but smile at the evident amount of effort and care that had been put into their room for the night. "Wow."

Akira closed the van door and leaned into the driver's seat to lock the doors, plopping himself back down with a satisfied smile. "It's not a five star room, but it's the best I could do considering."

Makoto patted down one of the pillows, slowly settling onto one side of the makeshift bed and letting out a small, happy sigh she felt newfound warmth seep into her. It made for a welcome change from the chill of waiting outside the motel. Akira loomed over her briefly, as if he was surveying how comfortable she was, lying down next to her and pulling a blanket over them both. He crossed his hands behind his head and settled into the makeshift bed, seemingly content with sleeping in a car when a motel was a stone's throw away.

Try as she might, Makoto couldn't find the motivation to sleep, idly tossing and turning while simultaneously trying not to disturb Akira. "I know."

Laughter was laced in Akira's words as he turned his head; Makoto could see the small smile on his face even in the darkness of the car. "Sorry. I guess I'm just not used to this."

"Sleeping with me, or in a car?"

Makoto blushed at his airy audacity, pulling the sheets over her mouth and muttering, "Both."

He chuckled again and turned his gaze back to the ceiling. "I'm not gonna do anything to you, if that's what you're worried about."

"That's not what I was worried about."

Akira nodded and turned on his side with a grin. "Unless you want me to-"

Makoto pressed her pillow to his face to shut him up, turning away from him as the heat in her face intensified. "You're terrible."

"...Terribly handsome, or…?"

"Oh, shut up."

Akira took the pillow off his face and flopped onto his back, passing the cushion back to Makoto before closing his eyes again. A few minutes passed before Makoto spoke up again. "Quite the first night for our grand road trip."

Akira thought about it and, upon conceding that she was right, chuckled. "Seems so. I dunno, it's kinda romantic to me."

She looked at him quizzically and deadpanned, "Do tell."

"Well, it's just you and me, nice and snug-"

"In a car, while a motel lies less than twenty feet away."

"In a car, under the stars…"

"We can only see the stars through the roof and the windows."

Akira seemed genuinely content about the whole deal, however. "Heheh, yep."

Makoto smiled at his pure happiness and nuzzled her face into her pillow, Akira's reasoning cheering her somewhat. She finally felt as if sleep was going to claim her until she heard him whisper, "...Sorry."

She looked back over her shoulder, responding before she could think. "Huh?"

Akira looked alarmed slightly that he had woken her up, blinking quickly as he tried to get his thoughts together. "No, I...sorry, it's just...you've been stuck in the driver's seat all day, and you end up sleeping in the car."

Makoto grinned happily at his concern, scooting back against him after a moment of consideration. She felt his breath hitch at the sudden contact, his body shifting subtly as if he was trying to figure out what to do with his hands. However satisfying it was to finally see his composure crumble, Makoto still reached up to grab one of his arms, pulling it down around her waist and snuggling against him. "I don't know. I think this is just fine."

Makoto was unsure if it was just her imagination, but she felt as if Akira's embrace tightened around her as he hesitantly rested his chin against her shoulder. The tension left his body, replaced by a feeling of contentment and affection for the girl in his arms. Makoto was right; this was just fine.

[- - -]

"Hey, Akira~! Makoto, you in there?"

Akira opened his eyes slowly, staring dazedly up at the roof of the van as Makoto curled against him as if to shut out the noise of Ryuji's fist smacking against the door. He held Makoto's head against his chest to try and block out the noise for both of them, but to no avail. She groaned and buried her face in his shirt, muttering, "I swear, I'm going to punch him."

Akira's fist rapped against the door, grabbing his phone from under the mess of sheets and typing out a quick group message. "'Trying to sleep, come back in twenty'- What?!"

Akira sent another message to follow up, this time being read by Ann. "'Left brunch with Haru. Enjoy'. Huh."

"Oh, right! Before I went to sleep, he left a bunch of food in our room! Let's go, give them some time to wake up."

Ryuji tried to object, but he was dragged away amidst the others in a wave of chatter and footsteps. Akira stared at the opposite door and grumbled, "That oughta buy us some time."

"Good."

Makoto simply pulled him close and tugged the blanket back over them. "Twenty minutes. Then we could both use a shower."

"Sounds like a plan."

Please, tell me if you dislike it, but I do like writing about nothing in particular. Things are a bit hectic right now, so my bigger chapters will have to wait, but I'll be back at it soon.