Disclaimer: I own nothing

Huge thanks to C_Andor_D over on AO3 for helping me write and edit this fic. She helped a lot, especially when it came down to the more hot and heavy scenes. That being said, if you want a REALLY good fic involving Joker and Sae, all you need to do is check out her work titled "Compromise: In The Case Of Sae Niijima". I promise, none of you will be disappointed. I plan on making this at least two chapters, but I don't know when the next chapter will be out, but if you want to see it sooner rather than later, bombard me with feedback since the engagement will encourage me to write.

The twentieth of November: a day Ren Amamiya had been waiting for since Valentine's day of this same year. It had finally arrived. The leader of the Phantom Thieves was officially a legal adult. Nine months of waiting had come to an end. He was ready. But he wasn't the only one waiting for this.

On February fourteenth, a surprise guest visited Leblanc for an originally innocuous reason—Sae Niijima. She simply wished to enjoy some coffee and curry before returning home for the night. But Sojiro Sakura—the owner of the café—had jumped to a conclusion and left her and his young protégé alone with the bewitching attorney. Something that would result in a glorious mistake between the two of them.

Originally, after the two had realized what the owner was implying, they held a blushing stare with one another, deafening silence filling the café until Ren Amamiya's face cracked into a smile, and then into a fit of untamable laughter. Sae followed him, the two cracking up for several minutes until finally managing to get themselves under control enough for the young man to get her order.

He placed a steaming cup of coffee in front of her before grabbing a second one he had prepared for himself. An element of the silence had returned in that time, though it wasn't the same awkwardness as before. It was contemplative. They avoided each other's gaze, looking anywhere that they could to avoid the risk of the other seeing what they were thinking. The idea is ridiculous. It could never happen… But what if it could? It's just the two of us. Anything could happen, and no one could reasonably claim that… forbidden fruit had been sampled.

The only sound in the café was the occasional sip from their drinks, the scent of their two blends mixing pleasantly in the air. The dark chocolatey aroma of her Uganda Bugisu with the added nutty aroma of a Brazilian Full Roast melding with the fruity, redolent smell of his Nicaraguan Medium Roast. Both flavors wafted through the air, tempting them to meet the other's eyes.

But the two refused their urges. Something inside warned them that doing so would usher dire consequences. The silence grew—stiflingly so. So strong that both feared their stomping hearts would give them away. It was… painful, lingering… The unabated beating in their chest refused to lull.

Sae, letting the last of her drink spill down her throat, gingerly set the ceramic cup down and steeled herself. "I'd like to try something, if you don't mind," she said, her voice as cold and steady as iced over waters. She still refused to look up at him.

"I—Uh—"

As if to scorn his hesitation, she stood from the stool she was sitting on and reached over the counter, grabbing his coffee from his unguarded hands and finally—daringly—looked him dead in the eyes as she drank from it.

He stared nervously, his eyes struggling to maintain his focus on hers. Unsure of what she would say or what he desired her to say, or if he even could hear her over the constant beating in his ears. Speech seemed out of his grasp as well, his lungs refusing to release his breath, his body burning from the anticipation and quivering as he stood there, staring at her with his mouth ever so slightly agape.

Sae settled the cup next to her own and began to walk around the counter, languidly dragging her fingers behind her and across the varnish. With every step, she refused to let her almost predatory eyes leave Ren's. "Just like I thought…" she coldly whispered.

He certainly fit the description of prey at this moment. Like a deer in headlights, he was paralysed, the anticipation of what came next fueling his racing heart to the point of genuine pain. He was certain that there was only one outcome here—only one explanation for what she was doing, and he would be damned if she was going to be the only one making moves.

It was only by the time that she had fully circled the counter, standing right in front of him, with barely enough room for a sheet of paper to fall between them, that he was finally able to push out what he so desperately wished to ask.

"Was it…" His voice quivered so strongly that he feared she wouldn't understand his question. "Was it… to your liking…?"

Sae tilted her head over her right shoulder, dropping her gaze to his hand, her long, ashen hair beautifully cascading down her arm. She brought up her hand and wrapped it around the outside of his own. "It was… young… immature…" She snaked her way up his arm from his wrist to his shoulder to his chest, tracing her way up with a single finger. At his chest, her hand bloomed across it, striking like a viper before climbing to his neck, her sharp nails tickling the skin in an agonizing way as she curled her fingers at its back and pulled him even closer, her breath grazing his ear in torturous tantalization. She salaciously whispered into his ear, "Reckless… ambitious…"

Struggling against every fiber of his being, Ren broke free of his paralysis. This wasn't who he was. He wasn't a meek little gazelle waiting for this lioness to pounce. He stalked through the collective unconscious of humanity and earned victory against a false god. He fought through her own palace and stared into the darkest portion of her mind and won. He was a man—he was a hunter—and she was his prey.

His left hand snuck its way across the small of her back as his right cradled itself against her jaw. He curled a finger against her chin, forcing her gaze into his. "But was it to your liking?"

Sae's lips were parted so slightly that he could barely see it. She glared at him almost murderously, her cheeks dusted red. This was it—the chase had turned into a standoff, the lioness circling the hunter, intrigued by the audacity he displayed by daring to challenge her.

He saw her pause and the opportunity it presented. He pushed further on, shutting his eyes and closing the distance between them, claiming what was rightfully his. Sae, likewise, reciprocated the action. Their lips softly impacting as they both let out breaths they hadn't known they were holding in. Their kiss turned into two, and then three, and on the fourth time, they refused to separate. Ren pinned her against the counter as his hands explored up and down her body. Her hands shuffled through his already messy hair, tightly wrapping it around her fingers and pulling at it. His grunts, fueling her actions before descending to his face and pulling him deeper into the kiss, telling him—forcing him to be rougher.

With each passing second, the two battled for supremacy, each move being more forceful than the last—only to be one upped by their opponent as their turn approached. They could feel every single thing the other was doing, every action, and it was positively sinful. Their hearts raced so heavily that they could feel it through their lips. Every pump, every stall, every single action their bodies took was sensed by the other.

Ren thrusted his leg between Sae's, giving her enough of a push to realize exactly what was happening. Whether in reaction to him or the reality of their situation, she suddenly recoiled, pulling away from both the kiss and his touch. The small space behind the counter felt more akin to a canyon after such intimate embraces, with both participants now warily eyeing the other. Their breathing was heavy, their gazes sharp, as if assessing how much of a threat they faced, and what they might lose by ceding ground

And yet, the adrenaline pumping through their bodies made their hands quake, their skin crawl. It was taking every ounce of willpower in both parties to resist the urge to pounce.

Sae didn't dare avert her eyes, lest the man in front of her make a move before she did. Ren's lips were stained red from her lipstick. She brought a quivering hand to her gasping mouth and wiped it against her lips before licking them slower than she had meant.

"That…" she almost angrily began, "that was a mistake."

Ren was breathing just as hard as her, his stance the same one that he took in battle. "I've made plenty of mistakes," he gasped, voice dripping with the same type of hostility that she had. "That wasn't even close to one."

"N-No…" Sae insisted, her legs seemed to fail her before she could manage to steady herself against the counter. What she had been feeling only seconds prior was being taken over by her better judgment, but her body was certainly resisting. She was suffering from a hunger that she never knew she possessed, every piece of her wanting to continue what they had started—to bring it to its proper conclusion. "No, it was definitely a mistake. Better yet, it never happened."

Despite the blood boiling beneath the surface, the angel on Ren's shoulder appeared to be winning out over his inner devil as well. "A dream?" he offered.

"Not even that."

He glared at her—challenged her—and she returned it in kind.

"Dreams aren't illegal," he reasoned, slowing his shaky breaths.

Sae swallowed a lump that formed in her throat, her own breaths slowing and returning back to some form of normalcy. She turned and swiftly walked around the counter to her bag. "Dreams make people do stupid things. Make mistakes," she said, picking it up and pulling the strap around her shoulder.

"Dreams are desires. Desires that are refused manifest in other ways, but if they're acknowledged…" She turned another hostile stare in his direction. "How long can you resist that pull? That voice in your head screaming at you to give in?" he suddenly asked.

They each held their ground. Silence returned to the café once more as they battled each other's desires with nothing more than their eyes.

If they had been in the Metaverse, Ren was certain that a mask would have long appeared on Sae's striking features, and that excited him even more. This was a battle—and not something as paltry as a fight between him and a simple shadow or even Sae's own shadow—this was a battle between his unstoppable force and her immovable object. It was so appetizing that he wanted nothing more than to jump over the counter and continue what they had started—

—But that wasn't an option. He knew she wouldn't have abided by it now that she had come to her senses. In fairness, he knew just how terrible of an idea it was to do something like this, but he definitely wouldn't call it a mistake.

He smiled at her cockily, almost inviting her attack. "I turn eighteen this year, and I'll be away for a long while. Think you can wait for me until then?"

Sae grunted lowly, eyeing him impatiently. "You're assuming that I wasn't just caught in the moment, that I'm interested at all. But sure, let's entertain this hypothetical. How long exactly?"

"November twentieth," he smirked, tasting blood in the water. "Should be easy to remember. It's the same day we met in that interrogation room."

She narrowed her eyes skeptically. "You expect me to wait nine months for you?"

"You expect me to believe you'd have any measure of difficulty with something like that?"

"Who's to say I wouldn't?" she huffed, crossing her arms and staring daggers at him "I'm hardly left wanting for attention. What is it that makes you so good as to make me swear off anyone else for so long?"

Ren shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. "Anything is possible," he admitted, though his tone was completely unruffled. "But I'm not worried."

"And why's that?" she challenged.

"Because—" He winked. "—you haven't shown any of those other men the same amount of attention you just showed me, and I carry a lot more risk."

"Oh?" she laughed. "What makes you so confident that none of those other men have gotten the same treatment I just gave you?" She approached the counter and leaned over it, looking him in the eyes as she goaded him with another salacious whisper. "Who's to say I haven't given them even better treatment than you?"

He matched her movements, leaning over the counter so that he was just barely out of range to kiss her again. God, he wanted to, but this wasn't the time. This was the time for control. Poise. Patience.

"Makoto." The name smugly slithered from his mouth. "She's told me everything I need to know about you."

"Oh?" she impelled him further.

"You're a perfectionist: punctuality, table manners, clothing choices, word choice, everything."

"Exactly," she exclaimed, her devilish smile proclaiming her victory. "My standards are high. What makes you think you'd succeed where those other men haven't?"

"You mean aside from what didn't just happen?"

Sae's smile dropped into a scowl.

"I led our team throughout the whole year," he smiled. "I planned every move I made ten steps before it became an issue, and adapted whenever something threw a wrench in those plans. I know how to conduct myself in just about any situation thanks to my nature as a Wild Card, and while I may not be the most stylish person out there, I don't think I look half bad."

Sae's scowl deepened. "And you think listing off your good qualities is endearing to me?"

"I think—" he hoarsely whispered. "—that you want a challenge. I think you want a man who's never finished. I think you want to prove me wrong." Ren leaned further over the counter and placed his lips just next to her ear. He lightly breathed. "So prove me wrong, Sae Niijima. I'm all in."

As he pulled away, he saw everything he needed to know he was already winning. Sae's blushing face, despite her deathly glare, was more excited than she wanted to let on. She was huffing in air again, only marginally less so than when they parted lips. She reached out and pulled him close by his apron. "The house always wins, Ren Amamiya."

"I'm a thief," he teased. "The house's rules don't apply to me."

She ducked under his neck and kissed him strongly, leaving a mark. Her mark. Pushing him away, she headed for the door, stopping to turn around and tell him one simple warning. "Don't waste my time… Joker."

She left Leblanc, but his anticipation only rose with each step she took from him. This was a game with only one victor, and two participants that refused to accept defeat.

And today was the day that victory would be claimed. Ren Amamiya had a date with his opponent and a prize to win.