"Niijima-senpai."

Akira opened to door to the student council room a crack, peeking in briefly before silently letting himself in. He pushed the door shut with a dull click and quickly scanned the room, allowing himself a small smile when he found who he was looking for. Makoto was curled up on the couch sitting in the corner of the room, a thin blanket draped loosely over her legs while her head rested in the crook of her arm. He turned his gaze to the table he sat at twice before, once under the president's scrutiny and another time as her unlikely partner.

There was a smattering of papers pertaining to everything from student requests to half-completed forms for various school necessities. His fingers drifted lazily over the mess, smiling to himself as he muttered, "You're doing more work than some of the faculty at this point..."

Akira spied a laptop sitting on one of the chairs alongside a discarded pen, scooping both up and putting them down as quietly as he could manage. The rain pouring outside seemed to help with his lazy espionage. He took off his glasses and laid them down, pivoting towards Makoto to pull the blanket up higher. Satisfied, he sat down and set to work.

Akira heard the sound of shifting cloth just an hour later, followed by a low groan. "How long was I asleep…?"

"I wouldn't know. Hey, Niijima-senpai."

He heard her breath catch, ever so slightly, her next words coming out in a warmer tone. "Hi, Akira. How long have you been here?"

"An hour, give or take. Made myself useful in the meantime."

Makoto slowly got up from her makeshift bed, rolling her neck and wincing at the slight tinge of pain she felt. "Ow...care to tell me what you mean?"

"Everything that doesn't require permission and signatures, didn't want to use your stamp. Take a look later."

Makoto walked around to his back to drape her arms around his shoulders and leaned down in a sleepy hug. Akira reached up and held one of her hands in his, chuckling softly as she snuggled closer. "So why 'Niijima-senpai'?"

Akira's smile curled into a smirk, offering as best a shrug as he could manage and an answer along the lines of, "Well, I'd like to keep up appearances as the docile transfer student. Although my stunt at the festival might not have helped matters."

"You realize most students have gone home already, right?"

Akira made a show of looking up at the room clock, then out the window - rain was pouring liberally as a few Shujin stragglers rushed out of the area with umbrella in hand. "Hmm. Well, we do have a window here. My dulcet tones can probably reach pretty far."

Makoto grinned unwittingly at the notion of Akira trying to stake his claim. "Where's Morgana?"

"He stayed at home today. Tempted him with the forbidden fruit."

"Fatty tuna?"

"Fatty tuna."

"And you didn't go home because…?"

"I was lonely and I wanted to see you."

"Mm. And the real reason?"

"I forgot my umbrella. But I really did want to see you."

Normally she would take that kind of remark with a grain of salt, but Makoto knew from experience that Akira was being completely sincere. Once again, a cat came to mind. "You didn't have to do my work for me. I would've gotten around to it after I woke up."

"I admit I have an ulterior motive or two."

"I assumed as much."

Akira chuckled and shrugged as if it couldn't be helped. "I was gonna ask if you wanted to come to Leblanc with me. I can offer you the rainy day special?"

"You have a rainy day special?"

"We...do now?"

Makoto patted his head to commend his effort and stepped out of the way when he got up to let her sit as well as grab his school bag off the floor. She looked over the now neat pile of paperwork and the multitude of notes Akira had left typed up for her to review. "I'll figure it out. Anyway, now that you're all done with your work…wanna do something fun?"

"Oh?" Makoto smirked at the way his voice dipped, closing the device and leaning back in her chair. "And what do you propose we do now?"

"I can think of a few things."

Akira sat on the edge of the desk, planting a hand on the surface for balance and leaning down ever so slightly. Makoto felt her face warm, a little tingle of excitement jolted through her as she smiled flirtatiously. "I'm all ears…"

Akira took off his glasses and lowered his head to lightly bump his forehead against hers, not even trying to hide the spark in his eyes as he whispered, "Close your eyes."

She complied, eager to have a tete-a-tete with her boyfriend. Being at school, in the student council room of all places, made the whole thing feel a little scandalous, which both mortified and exhilarated her.

Zip.

What?!

Makoto's eyes flew open as a magnificent blush spread across her cheeks at the sound that could only have been a zipper being undone. This allowed her to bear witness to Akira sitting in the same position - the difference was that he was holding a small bag in one hand, a bundle of string in the other, and topping it all off with a dopey smile that was almost too cute for him. "Wanna play jacks or cat's cradle?"

...What?

The sheer absurdity of the notion that Akira even carried these sort of kids' games with him stunned Makoto into momentary silence. After a moment, she giggled. The next, she was trying to hold something back by covering her mouth with a hand. Finally, she was laughing away without a care in the world, playfully pushing Akira's shoulder as he sat there with that teasing smirk of his - the way his mouth was twitching, however, seemed to indicate he was on the verge of cracking up, too. "You are the worst!"

"Maybe."

Makoto tried to catch her breath as Akira tossed the bag of jacks back into his school bag, then tossed the whole thing onto the couch she had been napping on. "Sorry. Couldn't resist."

"I'm sure. You know, I'm starting to figure out how you work."

"Oh?"

"Mhm."

Makoto stood from her seat and took Akira's hands, lacing their right hands together with the string slightly. Akira chuckled a little and smiled at the ease at which she did it as she leaned closer. "You wind me up, raise my hopes, and then you subvert my expectations in the silliest way imaginable."

"I cannot confirm nor deny the raising of the hopes."

Makoto smiled and grabbed the string, forcing their hands together as her eyes flashed dangerously. "I'm sure you're well-versed in the part that comes after that."

"I will admit that I've had a lot of practice - mm."

The student council president had rolled her eyes and pulled their still joined hands, taking advantage of his vulnerability to shut him up with a kiss. The sound of the pouring rain outside slowly drifted away as the two became invested in their own little world.

[- Later -]

Akira and Makoto stood under the awning of the school's entrance, gazing out onto the street as the rain cheerily carried on in painting the ground. The former sighed, reaching into his bag and muttering, "...Guess it can't be helped."

He produced a small, rectangular object and hefted it in his palm as if testing the weight. It was an umbrella. Makoto, of course, was nonplussed by this. "...I thought you forgot your umbrella?"

"I forgot my favorite one."

She couldn't muster the energy to respond to such an answer, simply settling for a soft, "Oh."

"Yeah. Not much room on account of its size, but...it'll do. You'll just have to scoot real close to me."

The smirk on his face as he issued his warning told Makoto more than he probably intended, though she took the half-serious challenge in stride and pressed herself to his side. She seized his arm with her own and smiled up at him, playfully cocking her head and asking, "Is this okay?"

If he was surprised, he recovered quickly, but Makoto knew that the expression in his eyes was much harder to mask. As such, she easily spied the twinkle of happiness as he smiled and opened the umbrella. "You're good. Let's go get you some coffee."

I wanted to get out another addition to this before the next chapter of Notice Me or The Fall, but I sort of stalled on inspiration. Luckily, I had this old draft sitting in my Docs, and it looked pretty solid! Touched it up, finished the rest, and here you are!