"Hey, girls, can I ask you something?"

"I suppose we could hear you out. But you'd better not just be using this as an excuse to slack off, Inmate."

"Great. So, you two arranged this whole dance competition yourselves, right?"

"With our sister, that is correct."

"And you can pull multiple people into the same dream to do this, even if they're not guests of the Velvet Room."

"Your teammates being here should make that obvious. Get to the point, Inmate."

"Right. Well, I was wondering if you two could set up another of these dreams for me."

"You would like an encore performance with your friends?"

"Not quite."

"You wanna dance by yourself? Ha! That's pretty sad, Inmate."

"I think what the inmate desires is to have a private event with a certain someone."

"Wha- Y-You've got some guts, Inmate! Asking us to go to the trouble of doing all this again just for you and some... l-l-lady friend!"

"In fairness, I believe the Inmate- No, our Trickster, has earned at least this much for helping rid us and our master of the imposter."

"W... Well, I guess you do have a point. Y-You'd better appreciate this, Inmate! A-And no slacking off! You'd better show this friend of yours the night of her life!"

"Oh, don't worry, I fully intend to."

Sadayo could hear strange music. At first, it sounded like an opera singer with a gentle piano medley accompaniment, but as she strained her ears to hear more, it seemed to have a backing beat playing alongside it. It gave the track a slight club mix feel to it. But once she noticed the tapping sound of the backing beat, steady and rhythmic though it may be, she was too distracted by it to pretend she was still asleep. In fact, where was the music even coming from?

She opened her eyes and thought her eyes were playing tricks on her. Instead of the usual warm beige colour of her apartment's interior decoration, everything was blue. It was a nice blue, vibrant and oddly warm, but it was a far cry from her usual surroundings. For a moment, her mind began to race with all sorts of awful scenarios that might have led her here - overworking to reach a payment deadline again or being too tired to notice a speeding car or-

"Morning, Darling."

The voice pierced her thoughts like a dagger, but in a positive way. Her eyes shot open fully and she sat up. She was on some sort of blue couch underneath a large disco ball. All around her was nothing but blue, seemingly in the form of a club of some sort. Her head turned to her right, where the voice had come from. Sure enough, there he was: Ren Amamiya - her favourite student, her master, her saviour, her boyfriend.

"Ren? What- Where are we?"

"Don't worry, we're perfectly safe. I promise."

"O-Okay." Just hearing his assurance made all her worries and concerns melt away. She was so glad he used this power for good.

"This is Club Velvet. It's a kind of offshoot of the Velvet Room. You remember, I told you about Igor, Lavenza and the twins?"

"Um... Yeeeeessss?"

Ren chuckled, instantly snuffing out her worry that he might be upset that she forgot. "Basically, it's a supernatural place where they've been helping me throughout my Phantom Thief career. They set up a dance competition between the Phantom Thieves and another group recently and I asked them to give the two of us the floor for tonight since we can't exactly do something like this in the real world."

"Dance competition? Another group? I have way too many questions."

Ren chuckled again. "Well, there's plenty of time for explanations. We're in a dream right now, and it will last as long as we want it to."

"I don't really understand."

"We're both asleep in our beds, but we're also here in this dream, where we can do as we like and stay as long as we want, until we're satisfied."

"This is... so surreal. Wait, if this is a dream, will we even remember any of this afterwards?"

"We won't. I remember our dance competition from the other night now, but while I was awake, I didn't remember a thing."

"Oh... That sucks."

"Yeah. Still even if we don't remember it, it's not like it never happened. It will still be a piece in our story together. Right?"

"...I hate how smooth you can be, sometimes.

"I'm aware. So, this place lets us choose what we wear, perform any dance move we can imagine, and even gives us a bunch of locations we can dance in, from both the real world and the Metaverse."

"This is.. a lot to take in all at once."

Ren smiled. "Alright. We can start simple. Let's set the stage." On cue, the room around them faded into the familiar sight of Shujin Academy classroom 2-D - their class, with all the desks and chairs moved up against the walls.

"Woah!" Sadayo uttered in amazement. "This is 2-D, right?"

"No, it's 3D. See, you can touch it and-"

"You know what I mean, smartass," she interrupted with a playful grin.

"It is, yeah. I thought we should start with something familiar. Next, we choose our clothes. You can't exactly strut your stuff in that long skirt."

"Why am I in these clothes, anyway? I'm pretty sure I changed into my pyjamas before bed?"

"Honestly? No idea. We all wound up here in our uniforms."

"Your Phantom Thief uniforms?"

"You mean this one?" Ren spun around on the spot, erupting into a flash of blue flame that subsided almost as quickly as it had appeared, leaving Ren clad in a black longcoat and a rather dapper-looking waistcoat, with bright red gloves that stood out immensely from his otherwise monochromatic colour scheme. He struck a pose with one hand's fingertips brushing against the white and black mask around his eyes.

Sadayo stared, mouth agape. "I-Is it weird that this is pretty much exactly what I pictured you wearing when you first mentioned you had a Phantom Thief outfit?"

"Not at all. It just shows how in-sync we are. So, what are you going to wear? Something fancy? Something stylish? Something-"

His question was answered by those same blue flames erupting around Sadayo and changing her clothes from her typical teaching attire to her secret maid outfit.

"Um... that's... quite a choice."

"Oh, shut up. This is... I have a really good... Look-"

Ren leaned in close, a cocky smile plastered across his lips. "Is this a... fantasy of yours? A cool, suave gentleman thief come to steal you away from your life of servitude?"

"Y-Yeah..." Sadayo confessed, averting her gaze as she blushed furiously. Despite her shift in focus, she could still spy Ren blushing just a hotly from the corner of her eyes.

"R-Really? Well then, I'd be happy to help bring that fantasy of yours to life."

With a snap of Ren's fingers, the lights went out. When they lit back up at his second snap, he was nowhere to be seen. Music began to play from somewhere around Sadayo. She looked around, trying to identify the source, but then concluded that it simply just existed in the space. The music was dour, grim, reflecting the state of Sadayo's heart up until-

There came a light rapping on the window. She looked over and saw Ren sitting on the outer ledge coolly. Said ledge was miniscule - impossible, she had thought, for someone to sit on - and yet, there he was, cool as a cucumber as he sat and waited for her to open the window and let him in. The music swelled as she did so, a note of hope and impending victory as she crossed the room and allowed her saviour entry. She was about to say something, but he placed a glove-clad finger over her lips, shaking his head with a grin. So this was to be a narrative told entirely through action then.

He took her by the hand and guided her back to the centre of the room slowly, each step stylishly delicate and perfectly timed with the music. Sadayo did her best to match his movements, but there was a clear distinction between the two, as if it came as naturally to him as that calming stroking his thumb did to the back of her hand.

He placed his other hand on her waist, a slight blush appearing on his cheeks, which made Sadayo smile. She could still get this kind of reaction with her body, huh? With his hands, he guided her in a simple slowdance. Despite its simplicity, the effect it had on Sadayo's heart could not be overstated. It was hammering in her chest like it hadn't since the days of rushing to her next part-time job to pay back the Takases. But that era of her life was long since over. And Ren's ability to make her feel this way just highlighted exactly how incredible he was.

That he was a full head taller than her used to make her feel so small and inadequate, but now, she could rest her head against the strong chest of her saviour and listen to his heartbeat... as it hammered as hard and as fast as her own. Either this scenario was as much a fantasy for him as it was for her, or he was very good at hiding just how much of an effect she had on him. She chose to believe the latter.

The music accompanying them slowly began to pick up speed and Ren did the same. The change was gradual enough that Sadayo could keep up with it and before she knew it, their dance had become a full-on waltz with all the energy and precision one would expect from a pair of seasoned professionals. But it was her doing it. Her and him. She simply imagined what the most wonderfully romantic dance they could perform together would be... and her body just did it. It was surreal and it was scary and it was so much fun!

By the time the music wound down and the dance concluded, Sadayo and Ren were both laughing as they staggered through the crossfade back into Club Velvet, dropping down onto the couch she had awoken on and simply laying in each other's arms as they caught their breaths.

"So? How is it so far?" Ren asked.

Sadayo kissed him. "It's wonderful. Just like you."

"Well, don't think the party's gonna end any time soon. The night is still so very, very young. Just like you."

She playfully slapped him on the chest and settled down into his embrace. "Every time I think you can't be any more incredible, you always find a way to surprise me."

"How do you think I feel? I thought this would just be a nice little experience for you, but I don't think I've ever had more fun in my life."

"R-Really?"

"Mm-hm. I couldn't ask for a better dance partner."

"Then, we should do this in real life some time."

"Definitely. But it'll be a long time before we can do that."

"Good thing we have all the time in the world right now, huh?"

"Now you're getting it."

"But... is this really okay? Those friends of yours set this up, right? Are you sure we're not being a bother to them by staying so long?"

"Don't worry. They're cool. Plus, I did kinda save the world."

"Twice."

"Yep. Twice. And this is one of my rewards."

"One of them? What's the oth-"

His lips were already on hers before she could finish asking. She supposed she should have seen that coming.

They danced for hours. Then Ren massaged Sadayo's tired body with her own techniques and rejuvenated her soul so that they could dance some more. He explained the dance contest and showed her some of the impressive moves he had picked up during it, inspiring her to be more bold in her own attempts. He swung around a grand atrium with his grappling hook while effortlessly carrying her entire body with his one free arm, inspiring images of superheroes swinging in to save the girl and take her for breathtaking a victory ride. God only knew how long the two danced and rested and danced and kissed and laughed and danced, but the two would treasure every single second of it for as long as they were able to, both determined to carve this experience so deeply into their minds that, even if they didn't remember consciously, a part of them would and it would compel them to do it all over again.

"Oh, my. Your guest is in a relationship with his teacher? How scandalous!"

"I'm pretty sure your guest won the heart of his teacher as well! Right, Justine?"

"Indeed. The Hermit, if I recall correctly."

"Now, now, there's no need to make this a competition."

"This whole affair was already a competition..."

"Either way, you two truly have found a wonderful guest to call your own. I'm very prideful in you."

"Huh? The phrase is, 'I'm proud of you'."

"Hm? That can't be right. I'm sure I'm feeling prideful right now."

"Well, this is you we are talking about..."

"Oho! Quite the mouth on you now, Justine. I see your guest has had quite an impact on you. Although, not quite as much as on Caroline."

"Indeed. The Trickster holds a very special- mmph?"

"Sh-Shut up, Justine! You like him too!"

"I don't recall either of us saying you liked him, Little Sister."

"Wha-!?"

"Indeed. You admitted that all on your own, Caroline."

"I... I hate you both!"

"Indeed? In that case, I will leave you to your tsundere stewardness."

"'Stew in' and 'steward' are entirely separate concepts, Sister."

"Oh, how worldly you have become! It fills your big sister's heart with pridefulness!"

"Please stop talking..."

#KawakaMay 2022 is underway and I wanted to write something for it. The sole theme this year is Kawakami getting a chance to take a break and relax. This isn't explicitly about that, but you can see how it correlates.