Author's Note: Spoilers for Titanic ahead.
...
I didn't think they had guns and cars back then.
You're watching Robert and Julie, aren't you?
Ryuji suggested it. He said it was good for researching love.
Of course it was Ryuji's idea...
Makoto smiled. So far, the film hadn't really shown anything that resembled love, just people driving cars and shooting at each other, but she'd only just started it. She figured it'd get to the love part soon.
Her phone buzzed again. That fluttering sensation was back. Why?
Did you manage to find any books on dating?
Not yet. But I think I'm better researching love instead of dating.
Oh. Well, we could go and see that film about that ship that sank if you wanted to do more research on love. It could even be a date.
A ship that sank? What has that got to do with love?
There's some sort of love story tied into it, apparently.
Oh. Then yeah, that would be nice. When?
If you don't have anything to do on Sunday, how about then?
Sounds great. I'll see you then.
The fluttering had gotten even stronger.
But there wasn't time to think about it now. The front door unlocked, telling Makoto that Sae had arrived home safely. Pausing the film for now, she swung her legs off her bed and made her way out of her bedroom to greet her sister.
"...really don't see why we need him so much-"
"Hey, sis? Can I ask you something?" Makoto asked.
Sae locked the door back up and turned to face her little sister. "What about?"
"W-well..." Makoto shifted her feet awkwardly. "It's about love."
"Love?" Sae's eyes narrowed. "Why?"
"We have to do an essay on love, and I'm struggling to explain some of the emotions people may feel," she explained.
"Right." Sae leant back against the couch and folded her arms. "Well, I'm waiting."
"S-so..." Makoto looked down at the ground. "How does it feel to be in love?"
"I don't know." Sae bluntly stated.
"Oh..."
"But I've heard some of my co-workers talk about it. They've mentioned feeling butterflies when they saw the people they claimed to love. They also noticed more things about them, like their eyes."
"Butterflies?" she asked.
"Some sort of fluttering sensation, I don't know."
A fluttering sensation... Makoto thought. Like the one from the second date?
"Do your textbooks not have anything on it?" Sae asked.
"No."
"You'll need to get more books. Or ask one of your friends about it." Sae stood up and walked towards the kitchen. "Help me make tea, will you?"
"Yeah, sure." Makoto followed after her sister, still lost in thought.
Their eyes...
The way his eyes danced...
Does that mean
"Makoto!" Sae snapped. "Watch what you are doing!"
"S-sorry!"
...
"I wish I could get to fight," Morgana grumbled.
The group had returned to Mementos to train further as a way to use some of their spare time, but Akira had chosen to take Ann, Yusuke and Ryuji with him to fight the Shadows, leaving Makoto and Morgana to wait behind.
"I know the feeling. I want to go out there and fight."
Both let out a sigh as Makoto rested her head on the steering wheel.
"Hey, Mona?" Makoto asked.
"Yeah?"
"Have you ever been in love?"
"What? No," Morgana quickly answered, confusing Makoto.
"Why did you answer so quickly there?"
"Uh, I-I didn't."
"Oh. I'm sorry, I'm just trying to figure some things out," she explained.
"Oh. Well, I'll help anyway I can, then!"
"Thank you." Makoto looked up from the steering wheel to check outside the windows. The group were still battling the Shadows, but Makoto looked just in time to see Ryuji get knocked onto his backside by an attack, with Joker immediately jumping in front of him to protect him.
"I've recently started experiencing fluttering sensations whenever I'm around Joker," she began. "It started after our first date ended. I thought it was maybe an illness, but it happened again during our second date. As well as that, I found myself... lost, in his eyes, as weird as that sounds. Seeing his smile makes me feel happier, and I find myself thinking of him often."
"Oh?" Morgana said. "How do you feel when you think about him?"
Makoto remembered a memory of Akira laughing at something. She wasn't sure what, but the memory of him laughing made her smile.
"He makes me smile."
"That's not really an answer, but..."
Makoto watched as Akira took down the last Shadow, and began walking back towards the car with the group.
"You should tell him. He'd want to hear about it."
"Maybe. I'll tell him soon, then. But what if he doesn't understand?"
"He will," Morgana reassured her. "I know he will."
"How do you know?" she asked.
Morgana didn't answer.
Makoto shifted over to allow Joker to take the driver's seat. "How did the battle go? No injuries, I hope?"
"Nah, we kicked their asses!" Ryuji said.
Yusuke didn't answer, having immediately set back to work drawing something.
"Aside from that one who knocked you down," Ann chirped.
"Hey! They got lucky!" he snapped back.
Akira sighed and looked at her, smiling. "We took care of them. No problems whatsoever."
"Good." Makoto turned around to look at Ryuji. "You did eat, yes?"
"Of course I did! Gah, go fuss over Joker or something," he retorted.
Makoto glanced at Akira, who was shaking his head. "Eat your food and relax, Ryuji," he told him as he set off driving the Morganamobile.
"I am doing!"
...
"So, are you ready, Akira?" Morgana asked.
"Y-yeah, I'm ready," Akira said, as he fiddled with his hands, forgetting that he didn't have gloves on at the moment.
He and Makoto were supposed to see the ship film together today. But before he had set off to the theatre, she had texted him saying that she needed to talk to him about something, but didn't tell him what.
"Any idea w-what she wanted to talk about?" he had asked Morgana.
"Nope," he had answered, choosing to leave Akira to squirm.
He knew what she was going to say, but he was not going to ruin the surprise. This was for them to talk about.
"H-Hey." Akira turned around to see Makoto standing behind him.
"Hey." The two stood awkwardly facing each other for a moment, until Akira held a hand out. "S-shall we?"
"Of course," she said, taking his hand and walking alongside him into the theatre.
"So, we need to buy the tickets... Should we get popcorn?" Makoto asked.
"Yeah, we should. A bucket between us would be good." The duo walked up towards the ticket office and paid for their tickets, before walking over to buy a bucket of popcorn.
"So, are we ready?" Makoto asked, bucket of popcorn held in her arm.
"Yeah. Are you?" Akira answered.
"Of course. Let's go."
...
"I'm flying, John!"
"I'm sure it would be a bad idea to have her step up there, considering when they first met, she was about to throw herself off of the ship," Makoto quietly observed.
"Be quiet, you're ruining the movie," Morgana hissed.
"But still! I am sure Ann would not get Shiho up there."
"You have a point, but I'm sure John wouldn't let her fall," Akira told her, before pointing to the theatre screen.
Rosa had pulled her arms in and turned her face towards John, who had positioned himself very close by to her. Slowly, the two inched closer together, before finally, to the cheers of the audience and Morgana, their lips touched and they began kissing.
"Is that love?" Makoto asked.
"I think it is," Akira answered.
...
"So," Makoto began once they were clear of people who they could potentially spoil the film for. "She almost threw herself overboard to avoid getting married, she then got shot at by her fiancé and then when the boat sank, she left John to freeze in the ocean..."
"I guess she was too in shock to realise there was space on the door?" Akira said as they stepped into a quiet alley near the theatre.
"Anyway!" Morgana interrupted loudly, before either of his friends could ruin the amazing film they had just watched for him. "Makoto, you said wanted to talk about something with Akira?"
"O-oh, right." Makoto turned to face Akira. "Do you remember our second date?"
"Yes, why?"
"W-well..." Makoto looked away. "I've been getting these sensations. Like, when you smile, or laugh, I-I get this fluttering sensation in my chest, and I end up smiling or giggling, like I am now," she said as she started smiling.
"O-Oh?"
"And, well... People sometimes can do a thing where they stare at someone's eyes and can, um, get lost in them, and... that's what happened on the second date," she said quickly. "It has never happened before, and I didn't understand it, so I got scared, and, well, I kind of still am. I-I was hoping you could understand and help me figure it out.
"Oh, well. I-It kinda sounds like what I've been experiencing."
"Really?"
"Y-Yeah. I don't know what it m-means, though."
"Oh come on, you two!" Morgana yelled out, poking his head out of his bag. "It means you love each other!"
"What?!"
Akira and Makoto looked at each other, and then at Morgana, and then back at each other.
"W-We... Do?"
Both were silent for a while, processing what had just been said.
Akira was first to speak, breaking the long silence. "S-so... That means...Urk!" he squeaked as Makoto threw her arms around him again.
She must really like hugs.
"A-Akira... C-Can we try something?" she asked hesitantly from where her head was on his shoulder.
"S-Sure..."
"T-Thank you. It-It's from o-one of m-my books..."
Makoto moved back slightly, enough to be able to see his face. She wished she could see his eyes, see she was doing the right thing here.
Instead, she closed her eyes, and inched herself forward to meet his lips.
The world around them stopped.
Technically, it wasn't anything fancy, just a simple peck on the lips.
But to Akira and Makoto, it was so much more.
It was a star going supernova, a feeling of cold ice cream and hot cookie dough, butterflies dancing in the twilight sky...
It was everything and yet nothing, all at once.
So, Makoto thought as she broke the kiss. This must be what love feels like.
"Makoto..." Akira whispered.
"I'm-" Makoto opened her mouth to say something, maybe apologise for her rash action, but her words were cut short as Akira moved to fill the space between them with a peck of his own.
The fluttering sensation grew stronger, but a rush of warm happiness grew in her chest alongside it as Akira broke the kiss and the two gazed at each other, trying to process the new step they had taken.
About time, you two, Morgana thought from inside the bag.
"So... S-So what now?" Akira asked.
Makoto smiled and let out a relieved sigh, thankful he hadn't freaked out over her move. "I-I-I think I would like to practice s-some more, if you want t-to...?"
"I-I would love to," Akira told her, before contently wrapping his arms around her in an embrace.
...
Author's Note: I don't really know what to say. The last section felt amazing to write, so I really hope you enjoyed this chapter.