"So they've got some new parts in that can boost up processing power, and I thought that while I was here I might as well increase storage space too, but I've already got a couple terabytes' worth that I'm not using and I don't know if I really need to…"

Ren listened intently as Futaba chattered away about the parts she was looking for. She was leading him by the hand through the thankfully less-busy-than-usual stores they frequented in Akihabara, while he kept an eye out for anyone who might get too close.

"What's our budget?" he asked when an opening arose.

That cut her off. "I hadn't thought of that," Futaba replied, trying to avoid the response she was expecting. "Um… maybe today's just gonna have to be window-shopping."

Ren chuckled. "I'm joking, Futaba. It's on my tab."

"Y-You don't have to…!"

"It's fine," he insisted. "C'mon. I'm not exactly strapped for cash."

"Well, yeah, but still!" Futaba argued. "You do this so often! I gotta pay for myself at least a little bit!"

"Some other time, I suppose," Ren replied. "It sure won't be today."

She gave an exaggerated pout. "Y'know, when you get like this, it feels like I have a sugar daddy instead of a boyfriend."

Ren's eyes went wide, and he coughed out of sheer shock. He thumped his own chest a couple times as he heard Futaba snicker a bit next to him.

"I got a surprise attack on you with that, didn't I?" she continued, seemingly quite proud of herself.

"I didn't expect to hear something like that from you," Ren wheezed.

"Then it's those kinds of comments that you're weak to," she noted. "I'll have to remember that."

Ren took another second to recover before he stood up straight again. "Technically, that analogy doesn't work," he muttered, adjusting his glasses and trying to save face. "You know, since we haven't-"

"Whatever, you dork!" Futaba shot back easily. "You can try to argue all you want, but I got the win this time! It'll be easier to just accept it."

Better to drop the whole matter, Ren thought, and he went back to perusing the shelves in front of him. "So what's caught your eye?"

The smug grin didn't leave Futaba's face, but she let him change the subject. "This one," she said, pointing out a particular part. "This is the new one I was talking about."

"Alright, sure," Ren responded simply, getting his wallet out of his pocket.

She eyed it with a slight frown. "I do feel bad about this, you know. I should contribute something. This isn't cheap."

"It's fine," Ren insisted. He took her hand in one of his and used the other to pat her head. "I like spoiling my girlfriend."

This was his special attack. Futaba melted under his touch, and leaned hard against him. "That's not fair," she murmured. "Maybe I need to get a job."

"Futaba," he chided gently. "You don't need to feel bad about it, alright? You do all kinds of things to justify this."

"Like what? Outside of the Phantom Thieves, I mean."

"You know you're the only one that I talk about myself with?"

Futaba blinked. "Huh?"

He combed his fingers through her hair a bit, and Futaba's cheeks went red. "I've told the others about why I'm here, but you're the only one who's heard about what my life was like before. About my parents and stuff."

"A-And why's that?"

Ren shrugged. "You're good at listening. I like your input. I feel like I can trust you with… anything, really."

"The other girls wouldn't be any different," Futaba argued. "Haru or Makoto… I think you could trust them with a lotta stuff."

"I probably could, but I'm not dating them, am I?" Ren continued. "I wanted you to be the one that I can talk to, Futaba, and you are. The point is just… I really love being around you. That's reason enough for me to spoil you a bit."

That did it. Despite her best efforts, Futaba couldn't stand to keep eye contact anymore. "Jeez, Ren!" she said, maybe a little louder than she intended. "I can't believe you sometimes!"

"What did I say?"

"Just… all of that! I can't believe you can get my heart fluttering this much with something so cheesy!"

Ren gave her a little smile. "I'm just speaking my mind. What's wrong with telling my girlfriend what I like about her?"

"Nothing, you goof," Futaba replied, taking a second to calm down and returning the smile. She grabbed his collar with her free hand. "Now c'mere."

She pulled him in, and Ren let her guide him to her-

"Yo, Ren! Futaba!"

They jolted apart, and Ren's eyes shot toward the source of the voice. "Ryuji," he greeted, trying to gauge the situation. "What are you doing here?"

Ryuji stopped in front of them and stretched. "Ahhhh, there was a power surge at my place the other day and some of our appliances went kaput. It's cheaper to try an' fix 'em myself, but I gotta get the right tools and junk. Figured I'd look around."

"Oh, that's too bad," Ren replied carefully. It didn't look like he noticed the almost-kiss, at least. "If you want help sometime, I could come by. I'm pretty good with my hands."

"Dude, for real? That'd be huge!" Ryuji went in for a high-five, which Ren returned. "God, you're a lifesaver." He looked past Ren at Futaba, who was still wearing a slight blush. "So what are you guys doing here? Got a hot date?"

"N-no, we're not dating!" Futaba replied hurriedly. "This is purely platonic! Definitely no dating stuff going on here!"

Ryuji raised one eyebrow. "Oooooo-kay? It was just a joke, Futaba, calm down."

Futaba clamped her free hand over her mouth as Ren cleared his throat. "We're just shopping," he replied smoothly. "Futaba wanted to browse for some parts for her computer, and I'm just tagging along."

Ryuji glanced around the store. "Oh yeah, this does look like a computers-kinda place. You guys do this often?"

"From time to time," Ren said, and Futaba nodded along. "We know Akihabara pretty well, actually. Do you want some help finding what you need?"

Ryuji shook his head. "Nah, I'll figure it out. Thanks, though. I'll-" He cut himself off as he glanced down. "Why're you guys holding hands?"

Futaba stiffened. She hadn't even noticed. She tried to pull her hand away, but Ren squeezed it gently as he spoke. "Don't want Futaba to get lost in the crowd."

"That's right!" Futaba chimed in nervously. "Ren's always looking out for me like that!"

Ryuji frowned, and glanced about the store. "There's like no one here, dude."

Ren hesitated, but pulled his hand away. "Force of habit, then, I guess. It's usually busier."

Ryuji narrowed his eyes, staring straight at Ren. Ren raised an eyebrow in response, trying to keep his cool. Please don't keep going, please don't keep going…

They held that pose for some time before Ryuji's eyes went wide. "You guys are dating."

Ren's heart dropped, and he cringed internally. He'd never live it down if Ryuji of all people was the first one to figure it out. "What are you talking about?"

"I saw it on the way in," Ryuji continued. "You were, like… petting her, or something. It's gotta be some kinda couple-y thing, dude! I totally caught you in the act!"

"It's not petting!" Futaba cut in.

"She's right," Ren agreed, hoping to somehow regain the upper hand in this conversation. "It's just a friendly gesture."

"Friendly gesture, huh?" Ryuji asked. There was a smug grin on his face, and it was clear he thought that he was the smartest guy in the world at this moment. "Then why haven't I seen you do it to anyone else?"

Ren's heart started to beat faster, and his mind went blank. There were probably a million arguments that he could use to counter that line of thinking, but in his panic, none of them were coming to his lips. It looked like this was it.

Luckily, Futaba was there to help. "Well? G-Go ahead, Ren."

He glanced at her, confused.

"Pat Ryuji's head," she continued. "It's just a friendly gesture, so that-that'll solve it."

Both boys looked at her in surprise, but Ren was the first to recover. "Uh, right," he said, hoping it sounded more confident than he felt. "You okay with that, Ryuji?"

"Sure," Ryuji replied. "Looked like Futaba was enjoying it, so I'll give it a shot. Pat my head."

Ren nodded, and glanced over at Futaba. She had a nervous smile on her face, inclining her head towards Ryuji.

He was a bit worried that she wouldn't want him to do this to anyone else, but it looked like that wasn't a concern. Or maybe she just really wanted to make this convincing. Either way, Ren did his best to ignore how intensely focused Ryuji was on this whole thing and did what was asked of him.

He slowly brought his hand up to the top of Ryuji's head, and gave him a couple light pats.

This was a very strange sensation, but he tried his best to make it convincing. If he wasn't so dead-set on making sure they weren't found out, he probably would've burst out laughing.

Ryuji's expression turned contemplative once Ren's hand made contact with his head, and when Ren pulled away, he seemed deep in thought.

"Huh," he eventually said. "Y'know, that actually did feel kinda good."

"It did?" Ren asked, thoroughly flabbergasted.

"Yeah. Think I'll try it on Ann later, see how she likes it." Ryuji nodded to himself, seemingly satisfied. "Oh, right, uh, sorry for the misunderstanding, you two. My bad."

"It's fine," Futaba told him, relieved.

"I gotta get going," Ryuji continued, turning away. "Have fun, guys!"

"You too," Ren called back.

They watched him leave, and when Ryuji was out of sight, Ren and Futaba let out a long sigh of relief.

"Oh my god, I can't believe that just happened," Futaba muttered.

"Yeah," Ren responded. He couldn't think of much else to say.

"I didn't think Ryuji was gonna be the first one to catch on."

"Yeah. Thanks for the quick thinking, by the way. I was gonna fumble it."

"Any time, Ren."

Her hand found his again, and he squeezed it gently.

"When do you think we should come clean?" Futaba asked.

"I don't know," came the reply. "Sometime before I leave. But they won't let it go once we tell them."

"No, they won't," she agreed. "Ann's gonna wanna hear every detail."

"And everyone's gonna have some comment or another."

"I bet you get a lot of that from Mona already, though."

"That's true," Ren pondered. "Maybe it wouldn't be so bad."

There was silence for a moment.

"It's kind of exciting to keep it hidden, though," Futaba said.

"Hm. Yeah, it kind of is."

"I think Sojiro's the only one who would have a bad reaction."

"Probably. But if the others know, he'd probably find out too."

"Then that'll be our reason for now," Futaba said. "Once we're ready to tell him, we'll let everyone know."

"Sure. …Should we get back to shopping?"

She shook her head. "Not today… It's not really urgent or anything. I think I wanna just go home and restore my MP."

"Want me to carry you?"

"No, I'm fine for now… I think I've got enough left to get back."

Ren lead Futaba out of the store, and they started making their way back to the train station.

There wasn't much small talk to make by now. The afternoon sun beat down pleasantly, and the stroll was made in comfortable silence.

That is, until Futaba spoke up.

"Hey, Ren," she muttered.

"Mm?"

"You know, we never got to finish what we were doing. Before Ryuji interrupted us."

A smile found its way to Ren's lips easily. "I think you're right."

"And if we wait until we get back, Sojiro might be there. And that wouldn't be any fun."

"I'd hate to leave things unfinished."

Futaba gestured in the direction of a small space between two stores - in the shade, out of the way. "How's that look?"

"Perfect."

They ducked into the alley, excited smiles on their faces.

"I don't wanna wait," Futaba said breathlessly.

"Me neither," Ren replied, already leaning in.

Their lips met quickly and passionately and it felt like heaven on both sides, like drinking from a river after spending days in the desert. Ren didn't expect to feel so much raw need toward Futaba, but here he was, making out with his girlfriend in an alleyway like a horny teenager.

He was too immersed in the kiss to realize that that was exactly what he was at the moment.

He felt Futaba hum delightfully against his lips and reached one arm around her back to pull her closer, pressing her against the wall at the same time. This elicited another hum, and all Ren could think about was how he wanted to-

"I KNEW it!"

For the second time that day, Ren and Futaba jolted apart, and for the second time that day, Ryuji was the cause. This time, however, he had a very large and very smug grin on his face.

Without thinking, Ren grabbed his collar and reeled him into the alleyway, covering his mouth with one hand. "Privacy, Ryuji! Ever heard that word before?! Were you stalking us?!"

The grin didn't dissipate, and Ryuji smacked Ren's arm playfully, as though nothing were wrong. "C'mon, man," he said quietly. "I'm a Phantom Thief too, y'know. I'm a little surprised you didn't notice me, but hey, guess I'm better at this than I thought!"

"Congratulations, then!" Ren replied sarcastically. "You caught us! You did a great job interrupting the time I was trying to spend with my girlfriend! Are you happy now?!"

This outburst seemed to get through to him, and Ryuji's expression turned shocked, then sheepish. "I, uh… I didn't really think of it that way."

"That much is obvious," Ren replied, venom dripping from his tone.

"Ren," Futaba said, putting one hand on his arm. "Calm down. …It's not like we were in private. Anyone could've walked in."

He glanced over at her, then back at Ryuji. He took a step backward. "Alright, just… give me a second."

He took a few deep breaths, trying to calm down. Ryuji took a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Futaba," he muttered. "Saved my bacon right-"

"I'm pretty mad at you too, you know," she replied, fixing him with a glare. "Just not enough to let Ren beat you up over it."

Ryuji gulped. "Understood, ma'am!"

Ren rubbed his face with his hands and stepped back into the conversation. "Alright. First things first. Yes, Futaba and I are dating."

"Knew it!"

"But that absolutely does not give you the right to barge in on us when we're alone together."

Ryuji's face fell again. It was almost comical. "Y-Yeah. I'm sorry, man, really. I wasn't thinking at all."

"Good," Ren said. "Now that that's out of the way… you can't tell anyone just yet."

"Of course, dude, whatever you want," Ryuji said quickly. "But, uh… if you don't mind me askin', why'd you keep it a secret?"

"Situations like that, for one thing," Ren told him. Ryuji looked away guiltily. "We didn't know how everyone else was gonna react, and we're not exactly keen on seeing what Sojiro's gonna have to say."

"Boss?" Ryuji asked quizzically. "Hmm… Guess so. Your secret's safe with me, then."

"Is it?" Futaba asked. "You're a bit of a loudmouth, Ryuji."

He chewed his lip, and put on a serious face. "I swear to the both of you that I will not tell anybody that you guys are doin' it."

"We aren't," Ren corrected quickly. "But thanks."

Everyone felt a bit more relaxed at that. There was a moment of silence before Ryuji spoke again. "Hey, question."

"Answer," Ren replied.

"The head-patting stuff," Ryuji continued. "Were you bullshittin' me? Is it a friendship thing or a romantic thing?"

Ren glanced at Futaba. "It was her idea," he said. "Sort of both, I guess. I started doing it before we were going out and then it turned into a romantic thing. …It is a romantic thing now, right?"

Futaba nodded, cheeks slightly coloured red. "I think I could call it a romantic thing."

Ren raised his hand and placed it on top of her head, and Futaba leaned against him again.

Ryuji didn't even seem to notice. "Alright, gotcha."

"Why do you ask?"

"Well, I can't exactly do it to Ann if it's a romantic thing, can I? She'd get the wrong idea."

Ren shrugged. "It doesn't have to be. Try it platonically and see how it goes. If she thinks it's weird, just don't do it again." A smirk rose to his lips. "You seemed to like it, after all."

Ryuji waved him off. "Alright, sure. I'll, uh… I'll leave you guys alone for real this time. And… I'm really happy for the both of you." His face was serious, but he was smiling. "Seriously. I hope it goes really well for you guys."

Ren returned the smile, and gave Ryuji a pat on the back. "Thanks."

And with that, Ryuji walked out of the alleyway, leaving Ren and Futaba alone once again.

"Can't believe him," Futaba muttered.

"I think it's fine now," Ren replied. "But we should probably get going for real."

Futaba sighed. "I guess."

Ren leaned down and laid a short kiss on her lips. "Hopefully that's enough for now."

She nodded, and took his hand again with a bashful smile. "Yeah… I think it'll be just fine."

{asterisks}

The air in the Leblanc attic was thick with tension as the Phantom Thieves, plus one, finished hashing out their next move.

"So that's it, then?" Akechi asked. "We're prepared to infiltrate Sae-san's Palace?"

"It would appear so," Makoto agreed. "Is everyone ready to leave?"

There was a murmur of assent among the others, which Ryuji broke. "Hold up, guys. We're forgetting something."

"What, exactly, would that be?" Yusuke asked.

Ryuji pointed straight at Akechi. "We got a newbie here. Gotta initiate him."

"Initiate?" Akechi asked. His eyebrows went up. "Am I about to be hazed?"

"Oh, that's right," Makoto said. "I'd nearly forgotten."

"You as well, Niijima-san?" Akechi said, turning towards her. "I wouldn't have thought you were the type to condone such things."

"I have my exceptions," she replied. "One moment, please."

The Phantom Thieves huddled in close and began muttering to one another. Akechi was left to stand awkwardly to one side, watching as someone would occasionally glance over at him. He could hear bits and pieces of their conversation, as well.

"Ren should, he's…"

"I'd like to try…"

"But wouldn't Yusuke…"

"I definitely couldn't…"

Try as he might, Akechi had no idea what it is they were talking about.

After a few minutes of intense deliberation, everybody sat back again. "It's decided," Ren said. "Haru, if you could."

"Of course!" she said, jumping up from her seat. "I'll do my best!"

She turned to face Akechi with a determined look on her face, and walked forward until she was only a few inches away. Akechi leaned back a bit out of instinct, and glanced at the others. "What, exactly, does this initiation entail?"

"Give 'er a minute!" Ryuji said indignantly. "You'll see!"

Akechi turned his eyes back to the girl in front of him, who was still fixing him with that same look. She raised one hand towards him…

…and started to pat the top of his head.

There was a noticeable difference in height between the two of them, so Haru had to reach a bit, but she was patting the top of his head.

Akechi was speechless.

The rest of the Phantom Thieves looked on with serious expressions - with the notable exception of Futaba, who looked like she wanted nothing more than to turn invisible.

Once Haru was done, she turned back to the others. "How was that?"

"You overcame your natural disadvantage and completed the task very admirably," Makoto said seriously. Finally, she allowed herself a small smile. "Well done."

"Yep, she's a natural," Ann agreed.

Haru beamed, and bowed to the group. "Thank you, everyone!"

"I… what on… excuse me, but what exactly was that about?" Akechi eventually managed.

"Your initiation, dude," Ryuji said. "You liked it, right?"

"I… I suppose I did?" Akechi said, dumbfounded.

"Then we're finished here," Ren said, standing up. "Let's get going."

The rest of the Phantom Thieves followed him without another word, and Akechi was left no choice but to follow suit, still thoroughly flabbergasted by the whole affair.

Futaba caught up to Ren on the way outside. "I still can't believe it went this far," she murmured.

Ren laid one hand on top of her head, and Futaba blushed. "Isn't it kind of nice that everyone enjoys it now?"

"It's weird," Futaba insisted. "I think this part is a little unnecessary."

Ren snickered. "Don't worry. He'll never figure it out."