Persona 5 - Toast to the Queen

Akira/Makoto

Day 2 - Cuddling

xxx

A/N: Ahoy :) So much like my other 30 Day OTP Challenge thing (It's a Yu/Rise fic, it's pretty OK. I like it at least) these prompts aren't in like chronological order or anything. I kinda just go where it tells me to go and I do the thing. So expect me to be playing fast and loose with the calendar aha. In addition, these might not be 30 consecutive days due to my work and stuff xD And thanks for all the faves and follows and reviews so far. Each one makes me swell with pride :D Regardless, Enjoy :)

Xxx

Makoto didn't feel uncomfortable very often.

Anxious, yes. Out of her depth sometimes even, but uncomfortable no. It just wasn't in her nature. She had to keep a good head on her shoulders, her sister told her that's what strong people do. However, when it came to public displays of affection, she felt somewhat disillusioned.

In this case it was even worse.

She had been hanging out with Akira when the incident happened. It was all fairly innocuous. The leader of the Phantom Thieves and his dutiful lieutenant were in the cafe that the former called home, enjoying one another's company. They often hung out like this, discussing various aspects of their operations or school work. They usually just ended up chatting about their personal lives however. Through these conversations, Makoto had learned he was an only child, he had a penchant for late night walks and had a latent skill for cooking. She enjoyed these talks, they made her feel like she had somewhere to belong, where she didn't have to live up to unrealistic expectations.

At the same time, she was texting her friend Eiko. Eiko was… unique. Not the kind of person Makoto would normally associate with. She was scatterbrained, misdirected, loud. Qualities Makoto somewhat looked up to. In many ways she was free.

"I swear you spend way too much time on your phone" the frizzy haired guy chuckled, sipping on some coffee. "The world won't end if you take a night off, Makoto"

"It's not work i swear" Makoto laughed back. "I'm talked to Eiko. She's talking all about her boyfriend again" Makoto's face dropped into a look of concern

"You're still looking into it, right?" Akira asked, leaning forward.

"I am but it's hard... She's really interested in…" Makoto's eyes dropped to the ground and she could feel a blush rise in her cheeks as she searched for the right word. "Us".

Makoto was quite simply worried about her friend. Her new beau, Tuskasa, was an older guy who was known on the Host Club circuit. She didn't want to see her friend throw her life away because a guy swoops in with honeyed words and fancy gifts. In order to gather intel on them, Makoto had recruited Akira to pretend to be her boyfriend. This way the four of them could go on double dates while under the guise of investigation. This left Makoto with some conflicted feelings somewhat regarding her leader.

Was her crush on him genuine or something born of this sting operation?

Either way it killed her that she had to mask her true feelings for him, while simultaneously feeding those feelings during their investigations together.

"She's a teenage girl" Akira said, with his trademark smirk playing on his lips "It's only natural she's interested in me"

Makoto had to laugh. Akira had this interesting duality to him. Whenever he was in public he always seemed so meek and inoffensive. However when they were in the Metaverse (Or if he was in private, among friends) his attitude was dripping with sass and self-confidence.

"Not you. Us" Makoto stressed. "She keeps asking me questions about it. Here look at this"

Makoto slid her phone across the table to Akira.

"I'm pretty sure this isn't Japanese" he said, perplexed, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Her writing style is somewhat… unique" Makoto chuckled "She's asking if i'm with you right now. She keeps on asking. She's really into it"

"What do you tell her?" the boy said, handing the phone back to the brunette.

Makoto was confused. "The truth?" her face a mask of bewilderment.

"You're not great at the spy stuff, huh?" Akira smiled, somewhat sarcastically. "Tell her we've just come out of a movie and are waiting for our dinner to arrive"

"But we're not doing that?"

"You have to pique her interest. Give a little, take a lot that sort of thing" Akira informed her, leaning back in the booth.

That was another thing that Makoto admired about Akira. His ability to make friends and influence people was amazing. Makoto was pretty bad at it, she had trouble getting people connecting with people for whatever reason, but Akira could do it as easily as she got dressed in the morning. She sent her reply to Eiko and one came back almost immediately.

"I don't believe you Mako-Channnn!~ You guys only hang out when you're with me and Tsukasa!"

"Huh" Akira observed as Makoto read her reply aloud. "She's seeing through the ruse."

"She might be on a different wavelength to most but she's not stupid that's for sure…"

"I have an idea" Akira said, his eyes barely masking a playful look. "We just need to prove we're together right?"

"Your point?" Makoto asked, listening intently.

"So let's take a photo together"

Makoto inwardly cursed herself for not suggesting that sooner. Such a simple suggestion! Akira stood up from his seat and switched sides to sit next to Makoto. He offered to take the shot, Makoto was infamously bad at taking selfies. She wasn't sure what comprised a good angle.

"Hey" Akira suggested. "I've just had a thought, we're supposed to be on a date right?"

"Yeah…" Makoto responded "This doesn't look particularly romantic huh? I mean there's no candles or anything"

"That's what you find romantic?" Akira chuckled

"It is romantic!" Makoto argued "Soft lighting makes people more perceptive to romance! And it makes people look more attractive!"

"What are you trying to say? That i'm not good looking?" Akira teased. Makoto couldn't help but fall for his bait however

"I did not say that!"

"So you do think i'm hot?"

"No! Wait I mean… This is no fair! You're taking advantage of my inexperience again!" Makoto's face was red as a beet. At this point she'd rather deal with a hundred Kaneshiros than he embarrassment

"I'm just teasing" The boy laughed "You're cute when you're flustered"

"Stop talking" Makoto said, unable to keep Akira's gaze. "Just… what's your idea?"

"We need to make things look more date-ey" he said "So i'm gonna put my arm around you. Is that ok?"

Makoto didn't really know how to respond. On one hand, this was for their investigation, it was work it was important. However, if he did, she might just die of a sudden stroke caused by embarrassment. But then again, she wanted more than anything for Akira to hold her close and not let go…

"Let's do it" Makoto nodded, her resolve showing in her confident tone.

She felt Akira's long arm reach around her back and his hand hit its mark on her arm. Her breath quickened, her heart started to race. She found herself unsure where to look.

"You need to lean into me a bit" Akira said in a low, gruff, tone, his voice shaking Makoto to her core. Makoto needed to get over her embarrassment and she needed to do it now. She wanted this. She knew she did. Her feelings were definitely real. She should enjoy this. If they ever got together, they'd be doing it a lot. She might as well start having fun…

Makoto leaned into Akira's body, resting her head against him. She looked up at Akira, who was looking down at her. Their eyes met and Makoto saw something in him she wasn't expecting. He was contented. He was happy they were doing this.

And yet there was something else there that she couldn't quite place. A longing for something more…

Akira gestured his head towards the camera, indicating that they should both look at it to take the shot. After a few seconds, the two of them reviewed it. They looked like a happy, normal couple, winding down their evening together.

"It's good" Makoto smiled

"Yeah…" Akira replied, matching her expression. He sent the photo to Eiko. And then the two of them just stayed there, the boy holding the young woman, pulling her close.

"Um… you can let go if you want…" Makoto stuttered

"Do you want me to let go?" he shot back without missing a beat. Akira's expression was completely sincere. He wasn't teasing her, he was legitimately asking.

"N-No… I want to stay like this for a bit longer…" Makoto said, shocked at Akira's unwillingness to release her and at the realization that one of her wishes was coming true.

"Good. So do I" Akira said, pulling her even tighter. He then leaned her head onto the top of hers. The two simply stayed, sat with the boy holding the girl tightly for several hours. Conversation flowed, albeit somewhat unnaturally at first, but eventually, the two of them were comfortable sitting like this. Makoto's phone buzzed with Eiko's response. Neither bothered checking it.

By the end of the night, something had become acutely clear to the third year.

She liked Akira, but there was no doubt anymore. He definitely liked her back.

The question is, what would they do about these feelings for each other?