This is taking IZA's review and blowing it out of proportion. Channel Majima, Akira!

"I dare you!"

Makoto's shout stopped Tsukasa in his tracks, although Akira could easily tell that he was livid and hungry for retribution. His glasses veiled his eyes as the host curled his fingers into a fist; it wouldn't be long now. "Your fight's with me."

Tsukasa's glare shot to Akira as he stepped in front of Makoto, smiling crookedly as he kept walking. Tsukasa was still upset, of course, but Akira's interruption was surprising enough for him to stumble back in surprise. "Akira-kun…"

"Your mark is upset. Stand back."

"Fine! I'll kick your ass first!"

Akira smirked as Tsukasa stomped forward, raising a fist no doubt meant for his face. Just as he attempted to strike, however, Akira skirted around it lazily; the maneuver left Tsukasa staring at the wall in surprise. From his view, it was as if Akira disappeared. Makoto and Eiko could only watch, stunned, as he leaned into view again from behind Tsukasa and patted his shoulder. "Right here."

He ducked under a wild backhand, turning on his heel and stepping back towards Makoto with a subdued smile. He took off his glasses and hooked them onto his shirt; it was enough for Makoto to deduce that he was indulging his Joker side. "You missed."

Tsukasa tried to strike again only to miss, his anger boiling over as his sight fell on Makoto. "You…"

He lunged for her even as Eiko gasped in surprise, hands intent on either beating her down or choking her out. "T-this is all your fault!"

Makoto narrowed her eyes, ready to counter Tsukasa's punch but not getting the chance due to Akira's palm intercepting it. He gave her a pointed look, his fingers tightening around Tsukasa's fist to keep him still. Suddenly, he wrenched his arm upwards, sending the host stumbling back as Akira stood in front of Makoto again. "You-"

"Before you go on...you really think this is a good idea? Look around."

Akira cocked his head towards the mob of people that had gathered to watch the one-sided struggle. The eyes on them were either in awe of Akira or filled with disdain for Tsukasa. "I don't think anyone approves of you trying to hit my girlfriend."

"What?"

"One sec, dear, I'm doing a thing."

"O-oh."

"Now! I, in my humble opinion as Glasses-kun, suggest you go. And leave Makoto alone."

Tsukasa's eye twitched, his face twisting into an ugly snarl as he looked around. The crowd was talking about him, he could tell, but…"You bastard...I'll remember this!"

Makoto nudged Akira to the side as Tsukasa ran off, at a loss for words until she settled for, "...Wow. He wasn't so tough after all."

"Ugh...this sucks!"

Eiko ran off before either of the two could stop her, leaving Makoto feeling rather crestfallen until Akira checked the crowd again. "...We should probably leave."

"Whoa, did you see that?"

"Were they fighting with that host?"

"They were really going at it…"

Makoto winced, looking to Akira for their next course of action. "People noticed what happened…"

"Follow me."

"Right, okay. Staying here would only bring us more trouble."

Akira waited for her briefly as she looked down the alley where Eiko ran off, the two of them running off in the direction of the Crossroads bar.

[- - -]

"I can't believe I hit one of my friends…"

Makoto stared, forlorn, into her glass of water, idly shaking it and watching the ice dance within. Akira nodded politely at Lala as a silent request to have some alone time. The owner of the bar and, by extension, his boss, nodded in kind, moving to the opposite side of the bar and gathering glasses for washing. "Well, you've hit me before."

"Huh?"

"In the Metaverse. Brainwashing, confusion, et cetera. Your fist, my face?"

Makoto huffed, placing her glass on the counter and turning to properly face him. "That's not entirely my fault."

"I know...You miss most of the time anyway."

Akira grinned as she laughed, satisfied that he managed to lift her mood however slightly. "In all honesty, that was the right move."

"Really? I hope so. Also, while we're on the topic of missing - that wasn't very nice, you know."

Akira grinned and adjusted his glasses. "Maybe, maybe not. But were you impressed?"

"...A little. B-but that's not the point here!"

"Didn't think so."

Makoto sighed, picking up her glass and bringing it to her lips. Before she took a drink, though, she hesitated, putting it back down with another sigh. "...I have a bad habit of getting caught up in the moment. I can't help it...my father was the same."

Akira heard her voice sink to a murmur at the mention of her father, unable to do more aside from scoot closer and hope his presence was enough to help recover her composure. "...That's not the proper way to act, though. There's no telling what would have happened if you hadn't stepped in."

"A serious ass-kicking?"

"Uh, no-"

"You would've given him a stern warning and wagged your finger at him?"

"Akira, please."

"Okay...were you gonna tag me in or something?"

Makoto grinned and punched his shoulder playfully. "You tagged yourself in, Akira-kun."

"That I did."

Akira smiled and nudged her glass closer to her in a silent urge to drink something. She took a drink of water before setting it down and taking the chance to get a good look at the bar. Her sight fell on Lala briefly, who winked at her and pointed to Akira. "That, um...that aside, this is place is...interesting. How did you ever find a place like this?"

Makoto turned to face him with a small, somewhat grateful smile. "You know so much."

Akira felt his face warm slightly at the prospect that she was genuinely impressed with him. As such, he stumbled over his next words but managed to recover enough to put a sentence together. "I work here when I have time in the evenings. Which is...becoming less often, unfortunately."

"I see."

"...Would you mind if I saw your phone?"

"Huh? Oh, sure. Here."

Akira took the offered phone with a nod of thanks, quickly opening the messenger, biting back a grin at the name she had chosen for Tsukasa - Hate Sink #4.

He opened the conversation and looked at the latest message, disregarding Tsukasa's flirty, emoji-laden reply: 'I'll b 5mins late 2day, bb.'

True to her word, there were plenty of emojis slapped on the end of the message. Out of the amalgam of emotional expressions, Akira noticed one that looked strangely like Morgana. He covered his mouth with the top of his fist and tried not to laugh, prompting Makoto to frown slightly and ask him why. "I think the 'bb' is the icing on the cake…"

Makoto blushed in response, stubbornly staring into her glass as Lala's laughter at the expense of the two drifted over. Akira smiled kindly, handing back her phone and taking off his glasses to swipe something out of his eye. "I'm not laughing at you because of that, it's just...you looked so serious when you were reciting it in front of Tsukasa. It's cute. I'd even go as far as saying it's endearing."

Makoto smiled despite herself, stowing away her phone with a shake of her head. "I envy you sometimes."

"How so?"

"You never seem to be shackled by anything. I know now that there is so much that can be missed if one just keeps their nose buried in books all the time. I...have so much to learn. You guys taught me that."

Makoto hesitated, looking down into her lap as she whispered, "...Do you remember how Eiko said I would flunk a test about love?"

Akira's heart skipped a beat, his mouth running dry as his mind quickly tried to deduce why she was bringing up that subject, but he could only come to one conclusion. Whether it was from his personal bias or common sense didn't matter as he scratched the back of his head and stammered, "W-well, you said it yourself. You 'most certainly wouldn't flunk them'...right? Heh...um."

Makoto shared a nervous little laugh with him, clearing her throat with a sip of water and glancing between him and her lap. "What...what should I do, Akira-kun?"

A tinge of what felt like hope crept into her voice as she looked at nothing in particular and offered, "I can't learn about romance by myself…"

"I'll be your study partner."

They locked eyes then, blush evident on both their faces as he tried to articulate. "We're both, er...both not very well-versed in this kind of thing, so…"

Lala busied herself with a clean glass, hiding a smile at the comedy of awkwardness unfolding in her bar. It had been a while since a good, old-fashioned confession. "A-allow me to confirm this, but...and forgive me if I'm mistaken, but...oh, I'm going in circles."

"Take your time."

"I think it'd be better if I just ask now. Do you...like me?"

Akira gazed at her, as if he wanted to say far more than, "I do. A lot."

"O-oh."

"...Yeah."

"This is so embarrassing…"

Contrary to her words, Makoto was smiling, the blush on her cheeks making it look that much cuter in Akira's eyes. What he saw when his sight drifted past her, however, soured his mood a bit. "Well, I look forward to, um...growing our relationship together….Akira?"

Akira managed to ignore the shiver run down his spine at hearing his name without the honorific, reaching down to take Makoto's hand in his own. She tried not to freak out at the contact, choosing instead to listen as Akira muttered, "Likewise. Unfortunately, we seem to be under surveillance."

"What?"

She turned around at Akira's urging, stunned silent when she noticed that Lala was holding a camcorder and wearing a happy smile. "It's been so long since I witnessed such drama! Like I spritz of lemon in the air if I do say so myself!"

"I think that's our cue to leave. Lala-chan, I'll be in for work tonight-"

"Don't even think about it, young man! You will find something to do with your girlfriend or I will cut your pay the next time you come in!"

Akira was taken aback by the fire in his boss's eyes, "Oh. Er...right. In that case, thanks for letting us stick around."

Lala simply smiled, fiddling with the playback on the camcorder with a happy hum. Akira took that as a hint that the drinks were free, too. "Makoto, ready to head out?"

He hopped off his seat and checked his bag before looking to his...girlfriend again. She mimicked his action, nodding quietly but gazing down at his hand. After a moment, he understood, offering it, albeit shyly to her as if she asked him to. Not a minute later, the door to Crossroads clicked shut, leaving Lala by herself as she collected her young guests' glasses and set to work cleaning them. "Makes me think back to when I was just a wee girl…"

This one feels awkward, but I really wanted to finish it tonight.

On another note, a Guest review asked me if I was still writing Souji/Naoto stories.

Indeed I am, and I shall for the foreseeable future. I was kinda dancing between this and the next chapter of Into the Fray, the latter because it's almost finished and I really hope I can end it well. I finally got over my writer's block for that, so I'm kinda antsy.

Enough about that for now. Hope you enjoyed, as I always do. Till the next chapter.