Makoto had never experienced a romantic relationship before, but she had always imagined that when she did she wouldn't be the jealous type. And under most circumstances she wasn't. However, as time went by Akira's reputation began to shift. His grades flourished, entering the second year's top ten (Makoto couldn't help but swell with no small amount of pride of her role in that), and he was gunning for the number one spot next time. He managed to mostly answer his teacher's questions correctly, and was admired by many students for being able to dodge Uchimaru-sensei's feared, laser pinpoint chalk throws. And lastly, some students, girls in particular, had begun to shift their perception on him from crazed psychopath to misunderstood bad boy. While Makoto was glad that that people were beginning to no longer speak poorly about her boyfriend, she had to admit that hearing some of her classmates talk about his appeal irked her a little. Just the other day, she had overheard two female students discussing how they wouldn't mind having the 'hot delinquent transfer student' engage in some 'extracurricular activities' with them. It bothered Makoto more than she wanted to admit, but she did her best to ignore it. After all, at the end of the day Akira was with her, and lewd comments from her peers weren't going to change that.

Thankfully current day's lessons passed by mostly without incident, and after gathering her things, Makoto began to make her way to the second floor and hopefully catch Akira on his way out and see if he had any plans for the day. She wasn't too pleased with what she found however, discovering Akira cornered by a girl. It seemed as though she was being quite pushy, with Akira looking visibly uncomfortable as he tried to dissuade her efforts at picking him up. Makoto decided to simply observe for the moment to see how he handled himself and prepare herself to intervene if necessary.

"Um, I really do have plans today. I promised my caretaker I'd help out today, and my probation officer will be stopping by to check on me," Akira said.

"Ehh, so you really do have one," The girls replied curiously. Akira grimaced, clearly realizing that his words had the opposite effect of what he had intended. "Hey aren't they supposed to make sure you're fitting back into society or something?"

"To make sure I'm rehabilitated, yes," Akira answered, appearing unsure where the conversation was headed.

"Well, wouldn't hanging out with a cute classmate be a good sign? C'mon, I'm sure your officer would be fine if you told them that."

"I appreciate the sentiment but I'm really not interested," Akira sighed, his patience apparently starting to thin.

"It would be fun! I heard you've been studying a lot with the student council president. I can guarantee you'd have a better time with me than her," The girl said. Makoto's grip on her bag tightened for a moment before she exhaled and relaxed. There was no sense in getting worked up over the ramblings of people who didn't truly know or understand her.

Akira however, appeared to be less composed contrary to his usual behavior, as his eyes narrowed and he frowned. "Leave her out of this," He said, his voice lowering.

The girl looked shocked. "No way! Do you like, actually have a crush on her or something?"

Akira was silent for a moment. They had agreed to keep their relationship somewhat discreet at school, with Akira voicing that he didn't want to give her any trouble getting into her college of choice. The decision had left a bad taste in Makoto's mouth, it felt as though she were hiding it out of shame or embarrassment when nothing could be further from the truth, but she had relented under his expression of sincere concern. But at that moment, she could tell that he was heavily debating on telling the girl off and revealing their relationship. In truth part of her wanted him to. But the last thing Akira needed was to get in trouble over something like this. She had to act quickly, it looked like Akira had resolved himself to say something. "It's more than that. She's… my-" Akira started.

"His girlfriend," Makoto finished, deciding to enter the fray at that moment.

"Makoto!" Akira said, looking at her in surprise.

"Niijima-senpai!" The other student said, also shocked at her sudden appearance. Internally, Makoto was pleased at her reaction. She had predicted that the girl likely wouldn't have the guts to say anything to her face. She was still student council president after all.

"Come on Akira, you wouldn't want to upset Sakura-san now, right?" Makoto said, completely switching gears into a saccharine 'ideal girlfriend' voice.

"Right!" Akira replied a little awkwardly, still apparently surprised by the turn of events. Makoto brushed past the girl and slipped her hand into Akira's, leading him toward the stairwell until they began to walk side by side down the hall.

Passerby began to murmur as the scene unfolded.

"Woah, they're totally on first-name basis!"

"She knows the person he's staying with? Just what kind of relationship do they have?"

"Thanks for the save back there," Akira said under his breath. He frowned, "Sorry you had to get involved but it was probably for the best, I'm not sure I would have been as nice in my declaration."

"Don't worry about it," Makoto said, and she couldn't help but smile slightly at his fierce desire to defend her.

Akira nodded. "Let me return the favor, let's go to Leblanc, I'll make you some coffee and even throw in some curry a little later."

Makoto looked over her shoulder back at the very miffed girl they had just left. "No need, you can pay me back in just a moment." She was tired of tip-toeing around, and by that point people would start to talk about them sooner or later. It may as well be on her own terms.

Akira raised an eyebrow at her playfully. "Really? What did you have-"

Any further retort was silenced by Makoto unceremoniously pulling Akira into a kiss. She pulled away after a brief moment, and while Akira was still stunned, she turned back and glared back at the girl, sending a clear message. He's mine. She couldn't help but smirk as she turned back around, noting that girl had been gawking at her in open mouthed disbelief.

A chuckle from Akira interrupted her victory. "I would have never pegged you for the vindictive type," He joked.

"Well what can I say? I'm still expanding my horizons," Makoto said innocently. The murmurs around them grew louder. "On second thought, I could really go for that coffee."

Akira smiled at her. "You got it."

After arriving at Leblanc, Akira had sent her upstairs while he began to prepare some coffee for each of them, since the shop was technically still serving customers. After a few minutes, Akira came up with two steaming cups of Leblanc's signature coffee, and they both sat down on the couch. Makoto flushed lightly as she noticed that he had left a cream heart in her cup. She breathed in deeply, savoring the aroma for a moment before carefully taking a sip. As the rich coffee warmed her body, she slowly felt the day's frustration's melt away.

"Sorry about earlier," Makoto said softly. "I'm not sure what came over me. I know you were trying to keep us quiet for my sake, but I just couldn't stand it anymore. I don't care what anyone thinks or says."

Akira gave her an affectionate look that warmed her up more than any cup of coffee ever could. "It was a dumb idea anyway. I guess I just wanted to do what I could to bring you that much closer to your dream."

"Akira…" Makoto murmured. She shook her head. "Without you I wouldn't even be at square one… I would have just blindly followed the path my sister laid out for me."

Akira shook his head. "It might have taken a little longer, but I think one day you would have discovered your desires and convictions and begun acting of your own accord."

"I appreciate the faith," Makoto said, chuckling softly. Looking into his eyes she continued, "Still I'm glad I met you and that you were there to facilitate the process."

Akira smiled. "Yeah, me too." For a moment they sat in comfortable silence, each taking a sip of coffee every now and then. After a while, Akira spoke once more. "Well, with our display today I'm sure the team will figure things out soon."

Makoto grimaced slightly, as it occurred to her that while everyone would likely be supportive, they would likely poke fun at them every for it both in their adventures in the Metaverse and the real world. "Sorry…"

Akira placed a hand on her back reassuringly. "Don't worry about it. A tease or two never hurt anyone. You can attest to that right?"

Makoto shot him a glare, eliciting a chuckle from Akira, before changing the subject. "Still, in hindsight I feel like I might have been a little overbearing," Makoto muttered, starting to feel self-conscious. Her inexperience with such matters made her unsure how to handle them, leaving Makoto to constantly wonder whether she was doing the right thing.

"It made me a little happy, seeing you like that," Akira said reassuringly. "Plenty of guys talk about you too you know?"

"Really?" Makoto replied, dubious.

"Yeah, every now and then," Akira confirmed. "I'd been debating whether I should just go like," His expression shifted, and Makoto immediately recognized that he was now Joker. "Hey, that's my girlfriend you're talking about. Back off." His voice was low, but smooth and controlled, and Makoto couldn't help but suppress a shiver. His expression reverted back to regular Akira, and he grinned at her devilishly. "I didn't think you'd beat me to the punch."

Makoto flushed, then thought back to her high school experience. "Now that you mention it, I guess I have been approached by a few boys over the years. I guess I always knew what they were really interested in, and it wasn't my personality."

"No accounting for poor taste," Akira quipped.

"Flatterer," Makoto chuckled, shoving his shoulder lightly.

"I'm serious though," Akira laughed. He looked into her eyes. "Smart, strong, brave, kind, and caring. But you recognize you don't have it all figured out, but keep trying to find your own way, instead of just stagnating. Not everyone is that strong." He grinned at her again, and Makoto knew a tease was coming, though likely an affectionate one. "All that but I can still make you blush when I tell you I think it's cute that you're more pumped to see the latest yakuza flick than I am, when just the other day you were kicking ass in the Metaverse." He looked like he was about to continue, but then paused for a moment. "And also…"

"Also?" Makoto asked, urging him to continue. Admittedly, she was always curious what drew her to him, and she didn't want to miss the chance for more insight.

Akira began twisting some strands of his hair, which intrigued Makoto. He was nervous about something? Embarrassed maybe? "Never mind, it's nothing."

Makoto raised an eyebrow at him. "Come on, you can tell me. You don't have sugarcoat it, I won't mind."

"It's nothing bad…" Akira sighed exasperatedly, clearly becoming more flustered, which only served to make Makoto even more curious. Taking a deep breath, he steeled himself. "It's just… whenever you go all 'Queen' on someone, I find it really, really attractive."

Makoto's cheek's heated up suddenly. "What?! Really?"

"Y-yeah," Akira replied a little awkwardly.

As Makoto's embarrassment died down a thought occurred to her. Akira could tease her to know end, and until now, she had for the most part lacked the means to pay him back in full. But this, maybe she could use this. As she continued sipping her coffee a plan formulated in Makoto's mind.

After a few moments she set down her mug, prompting Akira to look at her curiously. Suddenly she pressed an arm over his shoulder, effectively trapping him between the couch and her.

"Makoto?" Akira said, clearly confused as to what was going on.

Makoto began leaning toward him, before reaching out with her free hand to take off his glasses and set them aside. Leaning into the side of his face, she spoke into his ear. "So, you like this sort of thing?" She said in a low voice, her 'Queen' voice. His breathing hitched, and internally she fist-pumped as things seemed to be going according to plan. She shifted back to where she could see his face, setting her free hand on it. The brushed her thumb over his cheek. His lips. As far as she could tell, Akira was completely under her spell. Normally she would smirk but this… this…

"This is so embarrassing!" Makoto said, as she suddenly retreated, resuming her previous position of sitting next to him and shifting her gaze away from him.

Next to her, she heard Akira exhale loudly. He sidled up next to her after a few moments, and Makoto found herself instinctively resting her head on his shoulder. "You almost had me there," He teased.

"Oh I'll get you some day," Makoto answered, and Akira chuckled at the firm conviction in her voice. Suddenly and idle thought popped into Makoto's head. "Akira?"

"Hmm?"

"Do I also… affect you whenever we're fighting in the Metaverse?"

"Uhh…"

"Akira!"

I feel like this one-shot is a little weaker than the others, (particularly the last one) but I'm not sure where I could make changes without basically doing some more major retooling. I had initially planned to publish this one-shot last week, but something just felt off about it. So I've been tweaking it over the last few days, cutting out some exposition that added nothing, adding more dialogue, and just overall conveying the final scene with more nuance and sincerity to further flesh out the relationship between Akira and Makoto (with a bit of humor at the end, of course). At least that was the goal, though as I mentioned before I still wouldn't say I'm super happy with this one, but that may just be my self-consciousness talking. So with that in mind, any constructive criticism you all might have would be greatly appreciated! Anyway hope you guys enjoyed! I was going to write a little omake for reactions from the rest of the Phantom Thieves but it turned into something longer than I expected, and I'm having a lot of fun with the rest of the cast. Expect something more from me soon!