I wrote all of this today, so forgive it for being a bit short and/or filled with errors.

"You know, when you called me to the 109, I was under the impression you wanted to go shopping."

"The sun's going down. Also, I already have your gift."

"That's not what I meant."

Akira turned his head and smiled in a way that Makoto was sure she had never seen before. It made her heart flutter just a bit, despite her best efforts. "I know."

The former student council president cleared her throat awkwardly and simply watched him walk up the stairs for a bit. He had invited her to meet him at the 109 Building earlier that evening, which was odd in and of itself. At the surprise party in Leblanc, everyone had simply waved off his supposed absence with one excuse or another. She would have felt hurt, but she was more than willing to give Akira the benefit of the doubt. As always, of course, he delivered. Or at least, she was hoping he would. Taking the stairs to the roof of the 109 was not her idea of a romantic night. "Ah, we're here."

"Great. I was worried I'd collapse on the way up."

"Please, we both know you only let me go first in case I took a detour or something."

Makoto had to give him that one. Akira opened the door to the roof and stepped outside, taking a deep breath of the cool evening air. Makoto smiled and followed him, closing her eyes briefly as a breeze washed over her. "Not a cloud in the sky."

"It would seem so."

Akira rolled his shoulders and smoothed out the wrinkles in his hoodie. He smiled softly at her and, with a hint of genuine concern, pointed out, "You seem on edge."

"I guess I'm just wondering why we're the only ones up here."

"Well, to start with, we're not supposed to be."

Perhaps Makoto, a long time ago, would have been upset that they were breaking the law. Now, however, she could only smile at his ever-present audacity and utter a half-serious warning. "Akira…"

"Hey, now. In my defense, it's just because the hours are over for the day. That means we have the roof to ourselves!"

"Yes, illegally."

"It's not illegal if we don't get caught. And we never do get caught."

"That's not a very healthy mindset."

"I know. Just indulge me, I want to spoil you properly on your birthday."

"Fine, fine. But I'm leaving you here on the off-chance that there's a guard up there."

Akira grinned and adjusted the bag in his hand, making sure it was in the one away from Makoto so she wouldn't make a grab for it. She could be impatient like that. He walked to the edge of the roof with her in tow and leaned on the guard rail. Makoto blew softly on her hands to warm them up and marveled at the sight that was waiting for them. From where they were standing, Shibuya's scramble crossing was visible in its full glory, the lights of the city twinkling merrily as pedestrians and cars alike moved about in an oddly fascinating spectacle. After a quiet minute of simply watching all that was, Akira spoke up again. "I wanted to come up here at least once.

"I can see why...wait. You wanted to?"

He chuckled softly and shrugged. "Contrary to my cavalier looks and devil-may-care attitude, I've never been up here. Dumb as it sounds, I wanted to come up here with someone rather than just by myself. That'd be pretty lonely, wouldn't it?"

It was hard to imagine, given that Makoto hadn't ever visited the roof either, but it made sense. Before she could agree vocally, Akira pushed himself off the rail and straightened up. "Right! Let me give you your gift before I start tearing up. And don't say 'oh, you shouldn't have'."

"You shouldn't have."

Akira laughed softly at Makoto's deadpan delivery, aware that it was purely in jest with the way she was smiling. "It's nothing fancy, but...well, I just wanted to get you something that wasn't mass-produced or exceedingly cheesy."

From within the bag, he pulled out a small, neatly wrapped box and offered it to her with both hands and an honest smile. "Happy Birthday, Makoto."

Makoto took the gift carefully, meeting his eyes for permission to open it before doing so. Underneath the foil was a rectangular black box, through which she could feel a sort of indentation in the middle. When she lifted the lid, her eyes lit up. It was a simple bracelet, but she could already see the thought that was poured into its very form. "Flashy, too. Didn't, er...didn't want anything that sticks out too much. I know you're not a huge fan of that."

Covering about half of the overall structure was a more pronounced metal strip, engraved with something she couldn't quite read in the dark. It felt like that was deliberate on Akira's part. Holding the whole thing together was a braided strap of black and dark red intertwined.

She brushed her thumb over the surface of the bracelet and tried her best to swallow the lump in her throat. After she managed it, Makoto watched with a small smile as Akira blustered his way through increasingly nonsensical and nitpicky reasons why he thought his own gift was bad until, finally, she put the bracelet on and took his hand. He stopped in the middle of his sentence, watching quietly as she brought his hand to her mouth and kissed his fingers. She lingered there briefly, because she wanted him to hear and feel her as she simply whispered, "Thank you."

Akira stared at her and closed his mouth rather than try to put his ever-failing words to good use. Instead, he smiled, simply relieved that she liked it. Makoto felt tears brimming in the corners of her eyes as she smiled back and threw herself into him with arms around his shoulders. Akira returned the embrace, holding her tight as she nuzzled against him. A moment later, she pulled back slightly, not to break the embrace but instead to all but force her lips to his. After the initial kiss, she breathlessly whispered, "I love you."

"Love you, too."

They beamed at each other and kissed again as a breeze rolled past them, lazily drifting toward a sky full of stars.

[- - -]

"Sun's gone down...let's head home, I guess. Are you hungry?"

"Not really."

"Alright."

As they headed back to the door leading into the building and those accursed stairs, Makoto looked down at the bracelet adorning her forearm. She smiled softly and brushed her fingers against the cold metal as a bout of curiosity washed over her. "So...what does it say?"

He knew what she was talking about, of course. Makoto was aware that she could have used her phone light and ended the mystery right there, but that felt a little cheap. Additionally, it would have been very satisfying to hear it from the man himself. Despite this, or perhaps because he was fully aware of it, Akira smiled and held a finger over his lips as he pushed the door open. "It's a secret."

It is a secret, at least until they get to the well-lit stairway and she just reads it normally. Ignore that.

To all of you who share a birthday with Makoto, Happy Birthday. Given that I'm posting this at night, I hope you all had a wonderful day.