Tuesday, November 7th

Ann's parents work overseas, as such, she calls home a small apartment shared with a live-in caretaker named Imelda. She was short and chubby, but extremely nice and sympathetic to Futaba. Imelda could tell that the young girl was nervous and jumpy around new people, but that she had a good heart in coming all the way here, and took great care in ensuring that Futaba was as comfortable as possible in the relatively modest living room of Ann's abode.

With a heavy accent, she told the redhead that one day Miss Ann came home feeling miserable and locked herself in her room. Aside from the occasional bathroom trip and meal break, she hadn't so much as opened her door the entire weekend, unthinkable for the upbeat and sociable girl she'd seen Ann become in her decade of service to the Takamakis. It seemed Ann was slowly getting better as the days passed, but she refused to talk about anything specific. Even to her parents.

"Maybe spending time with one of her friends will help her feel better…" Imelda sighed. "I want to thank you for coming today, Miss Sakura. Young Ann is like a daughter to me, and I am happy she has such caring friends."

"O-of course." Futaba stuttered.

Quietly, Imelda let Futaba into Ann's room and closed the door, leaving the two teens alone. Upon seeing the severity of dishevelment in the living space, Futaba's eyebrows shot up. Clothes lay strewn about the floor, closets and cabinets dangled open, and an untouched laptop sat on a dusty desk surrounded by a litany of scattered cosmetics products. The air inside was unpleasant and dry and humid as all the windows were shut and the meager amount of light that entered through the gap in the curtains did little to lift the sour mood that hung from the walls and ceiling like icicles. In spite of the very lived-in mess, the room somehow felt empty and abandoned; The only sign of life was a ball of blankets and pillows huddled into a corner of the unmade bed that wriggled uneasily at the sound of the clunking door handle. It was a scene that Futaba found all too relatable. After all, not long ago her own situation was little different.

Futaba had always struggled to understand the emotions of others. However, seeing Ann's room as messy as hers had once been brought a lump up to her throat and a knot to her stomach immediately. In that instant, she knew exactly what the blonde was going through and how she was hurting. It pained her that a solution would not come as easily for Ann as it had for herself. She forced herself to speak.

"H…h-hi, Ann…" Futaba squeaked. "H-how are you?"

After a couple of silent seconds, Ann lethargically rolled over from underneath the pile of cushions. She lay face up on the bed for a bit, eyes locked onto the grayed-out ceiling, but their gaze focused somewhere far beyond. She sighed.

"Hi, Futaba." She croaked. "I'm…"

The blonde sat up slowly. The first thing Futaba noticed was her bedhead. The smooth yellow twintails that normally made up her silhouette were gone, replaced with a wiry, angular, and dull matte of hair. Next, was her complexion. The girl's already pale skin had gone paper-white, and the blush that tinted her face pink was nowhere to be seen, only dark eyebags and sunken cheeks remained. Finally, her eyes. They still showed a spark of their usual fire, but the bright blues that defined them were faded and took on the depressing grey of a cloudy day.

She turned to look at her visitor and put on a small, sore smile "I'm doing okay…"

Futaba felt a tear rolling down her cheek. Wordlessly, she sprint-walked up to Ann's bed and dove her head into the blonde's lap. Ann was about to toss out a halfhearted chuckle at her young friend's eccentricity, but stopped herself when she felt moisture seeping through the thin blanket and onto her well-worn pyjamas.

"W-woah…Futaba, what's wrong?" Ann stroked Futaba's hair with a slender hand. Her sobs turned to trembles.

"…Gwuh…!" Futaba blurted. When she pulled her head off the blankets her glasses hung off her ear at a crooked angle that only accentuated how hard her face had scrunched up. Teardrops were streaming down her face. "I'b sowrry, Ann-gh! I didid't kdow… how bad…!"

With a motion akin a swimmer's butterfly stroke, she threw her arms around her friend with a tight hug and full on bawled, Ann got her bearings back and softly returned the embrace.

The two girls' opposing personalities lead them to interacting relatively sparsely both as Phantom Thieves and regular teens, but after seeing the raw emotion in the normally aloof girl's eyes, Ann felt as if they'd known each other since infancy; She knew exactly what Futaba was thinking at that moment. Right now, Ann must have looked to Futaba like a mirror into her past, one that reminded her of the pain of isolation and the misery of being stuck in your own head. Ann tightened her grip around her and a tear of her own trickled down her cheek. For a time that neither girl could accurately guess, they sat in each other's arms, sniffling and quivering in each other's embrace.

.o. .o. .o.

"So yeah…While the Bubsy games became cult classics, their transition into 3D was rough, they were trying to emulate Mario 64's success while keeping their mascot's distinctive attitude consistent, but ended up placing too much emphasis on the wrong design elements." Futaba lay on the small bed, arms behind her head and legs crossed. She sniffled and wiped some leftover dampness off her cheek.

"Uh-huh." Ann was next to her, eyes closed. She smiled softly and did the same.

"The earlier Sonic games struggled with their step into 3D, too, but the Bubsy series really dropped the ball. They gave it tank controls and the camera would pan downwards whenever you jumped, it seriously gave me motion sickness when I tried to play it! Honestly, what were the devs thinking? I know they only had a few months to copy Mario 64's successes, but it's like they made it unplayable on purpose…!"

Ann took a deep breath, enjoying the fresh air lightly swirling in through the now-open window and the sun kissing her skin. In a process neither girl could explain, their earlier emotional exchange had evolved into Futaba ranting about an old video game and Ann happily keeping company. She couldn't complain, either, not after seeing how giddy Futaba turned when the topic shifted to her areas of expertise, Ann heard her heart beating a little more steadily just sharing the bedsheets with Futaba. It was nice. Memories of the other day's angel attack still lingered in her mind and tugged at her brain uncomfortably, but suddenly they all felt a little further away.

"After Wolfenstein and Doom blew up, everyone wanted to try 3D. Which is funny, cuz those were only barely 3D. Id Tech 1, the engine for Doom, used 2-dimensional floor plans to project a 3-dimensional space, so all the walls had to be vertical, you couldn't have multiple floors stacked on top of each other in a single room, and you couldn't even look up or down! I'm pretty sure it was Mario 64 that first tried the polygonal 3D, and they basically nailed it on their first try, but it was still a 3-year gap between Doom and Mario. Whatever the hell Eidetic was up to between '94 and '96, it did not work out for them. They actually released a new Bubsy game just last week, but the reviews are pretty bad and they don't have a Japanese-language version, so I think I'll pass."

"-right choice…"

"You said it! It was the right choice for sure! They had 20 years to make a half-decent game, and it still sucked? Yeah, no thanks."

"Hehe, sorry, I was just thinking out loud." Ann chuckled. Futaba's lack of social skills for a second caused her to miss how much fuller Ann's voice sounded now.

"Oh…! Crap! S-sorry! I-I-I totally got carried away! A-are you feeling better from the-the thing? The angel?" she bolted upright, her face was red.

Ann sat up as well. Slower than Futaba, but more deliberately than before. "It's fine, I didn't mean it like that." She giggled. "I actually am feeling a little better now." She almost surprised herself when she found out she wasn't lying.

"Ah, t-that's good! Sorry again for rambling like that…" She tugged at her fingertips nervously.

"Haha! Seriously! I already said it's fine!"

"O-okay…"

"If anything, it should be me apologizing…" A bit of her previous depressed tone returned. "I've been gathering dust like this the whole weekend. I really worried you guys, didn't I?" that wounded smile again.

"N-no! I mean, it's fine, I think…" Futaba stammered. "Like, just reading about that thing on my scan gave me the heebie-jeebies. I can't even imagine what it must have been like for you."

"…It…really sucked… but…" she closed her eyes, a bit tighter than a regular blink, and swallowed hard. "…yeah, it was bad. I still don't really wanna talk about it…Maybe later."

"T-that's okay! We can talk about something else!" Futaba scrambled for a new topic. "U-uhh, so Haru's gonna try to start dating Akira…! Wait, y-you already know that, dammit…"

"Hah, yeah…" Ann shook her head lazily and brushed the stray strands away from her eyes. "Can't say I'm surprised, honestly. Akira's a catch and Haru's beautiful."

"It's still kinda weird to me, I can't see Akira like that, y'know? It's like, that's Akira! He's not some hot stud or anything, he's just… just Akira! It's hard to explain, I guess…" Futaba clicked her tongue.

"Mmhmm?" Ann's eyelids drooped and a devilish curl crept onto her lips. "So is there a different boy on your mind?"

"W-WHAT!?" she yelped. "No! Nope, definitely not! While it is true that I am a growing girl in the prime of her youth, I have no desire to engage romantically with anybody, specially not any of the boys in the Phantom Thieves! The whole idea is just absurd. I'm far too focused on improving my computer skills, playing video games, and learning to conquer my aversion to social situations to waste my time on stupid stuff like love or anything related to it! It is perfectly valid to feel attraction towards the opposite sex, but I believe it's time we normalized other forms of self-expression, such as with myself who does not feel any romantic attraction and DEFINITELY no sexual attraction to anything, including people. Such ideas are still uncommon here in Japan, but in the west there is a term for people like me! Asexual people, which means folks who do not feel sexual attraction, and Aromantic, who do not feel romantic attraction either! I am both of those because I have not once in my entire life felt those kinds of emotion to anyone or anything! I can't believe you would suspect me of all people to actually bother with gross, icky stuff like love! You and I have known each other long enough now that you should know those sorts of things are not ever on my mind, and-"

"It's Yusuke, isn't it."

"…!" Futaba sucked in a mouthful of air and her spine went rigid. "N-no way!"

Ann rubbed her hand on Futaba's hair, much to her protest. She tossed the covers off herself and scooted off the bed. She was shaky on her legs, it looked like she hadn't used them much the past few days, but she waddled over to her desk and pulled an envelope out of a shelf. Opening it up revealed two thin slips of laminated paper.

"That is a super huge bummer!" she waved the sheets idly in her fingers "Just last week, I won these two tickets to an art show from a modelling competition! It's supposed to use laser technology to project paintings from all over the world of art onto the walls, floor, and ceiling with ambient music and special effects! They told me to bring my boyfriend, cus it's going to be super romantic…"

Futaba blinked. She stood up from the bed and stared wide-eyed back and forth between the tickets and Ann. she closed the distance meekly, Ann almost thought she saw a trail of drool crawl its way out of her agape mouth.

"…And I was thinking 'Huh! This is totally the sort of thing both Futaba and Yusuke would be into!'" Ann pulled the tickets away just before Futaba could grab them. "But as you've made so clear just now, there would be no point in giving you these. I mean, you aren't romantically attracted to anyone at all! It would be a massive waste."

"N-no!" Futaba's cheeks turned red as a tomato, she jumped for the tickets. "Gimme!"

"Oh? Am I mistaken? It sounds to me like you want the tickets after all!" Ann used her long slender arms to hold the tickets out of reach of Futaba's shorter arms and legs.

"Ann~!" Futaba looked like she was about to cry "Pleeeeeeaseee!"

"Say it!"

"Grrrrr!" Futaba puffed up her cheeks and stomped her foot angrily on the floor "Fine! I like Yusuke! I wanna go to that art show with him and… a-and do other stuff… l-like hold hands and eat ice cream!"

"Heehee!" Ann lowered the tickets back down and Futaba snatched them up like a gremlin who found gold. Ann pinched Futaba's cheeks and pulled on her face like a grandmother would to a child in response "You! Are! Adorable!"

"Uwaaaaah!" Futaba swatted her hands away and turned a new shade of red not yet known to science. She bounced up and down on her heels angrily. "I'm not a little girl! Stop teasing meeeeee~~~!"

"You wouldn't be half as shy if you knew how cute you are, Futaba!" Ann patted her head again.

"I should hack your social media for this abuse of verticality! You're lucky I'm super happy and thankful for these tickets!" Futaba pouted, still blushing. Ann laughed.

"Joking aside though, he'd be lucky to have someone like you." Ann sat back down on the bed. "I know we're already helping Haru with Akira, but if you need a hand with Yusuke, I can tell you all I know about boys!"

Futaba sighed deep to recollect herself and gently slid the tickets into her pocket. "T-thanks, Ann… Sorry I spazzed out so hard, hahaha…"

"Apology accepted!" Ann sat back down on the bed. "your reaction more than paid the price of admission."

"Though, I do have the terrible feeling that I'm forgetting something extremely important relating to Yusuke…" The girl continued. "Mehh, it's probably nothing."

*knock knock!* the door to Ann's bedroom opened sheepishly. Behind it were Makoto and Haru holding a bouquet of flowers and an expensive looking tote bag.

"Excuse us…" Haru whispered, but dropped any pretense as soon as she saw the blonde and skipped over to her to give her a big hug. "Ann! How are you? A-are you feeling okay?"

"Haru, Makoto! Hey! Y-yeah, I'm doing a lot better actually…"

"Oh, what a relief!"

"Hello Ann, Futaba." Makoto put the bag down and hugged Futaba while Haru was finishing spoiling Ann with the bouquet.

"Hi guys." Futaba waved.

"So, I'm super happy that you guys came all this way just to see me, but isn't school still in session?"

"We snuck away for a bit, being student council president does have its perks." Makoto smugly flipped her hair.

"Same goes for being friends with the student council president!" Haru grinned and put up a peace sign with her fingers.

"These flowers are beautiful, guys… R-really, thank you." Ann beamed at them. "And in that bag, are those…"

"Madagascarian cocoa chocolates!" Haru boasted, pulling an exquisitely decorated box proudly out of the equally adorned bag. "Being president of a food conglomerate has some nice bonuses too!"

"Seriously!" Makoto huffed. "We tried to pay, but they gave these to us for free once they found out Haru's last name."

"…!" Ann's eyes began to water. "Guys…!"

"Aw, why'd you have to do that?" Futaba joked. "She just got done crying like 5 minutes ago!"

"…C-mhere~!" Ann squealed and fanned her arms out, she motioned with her fingers for a group hug between sobs of joy; one the others happily delivered.

.oOo.

"Futaba-chan likes Yusuke!?" Haru gasped.

"N-not so loud!" Futaba blushed, clearly embarrassed and not used to the attention.

"And it won't be long before she likes him back!" said Ann. "She's got tickets to an art show this week, and she's gonna invite him!"

"Is that the 'Digital Renaissance' happening this Friday?" Makoto asked. "That sounds like a wonderful idea, a good blend of modern technology and classical art, perfect for you two to bond over."

"Y-yeah. I know it's not for another few days, b-but I'm already a little nervous…" Futaba chuckled uneasily.

"You two get along swell, just be yourself and the power of love will triumph!" Haru clasped her hands together.

"T-t-that's different! I'm no good with lovey-dovey stuff…"

"Don't worry Futaba, We've got your back!" Ann winked.

"I'm getting some serious déjà vu…" Makoto said to herself.

"Let me see your phone." Ann stuck her hand out.

Futaba hesitated for a second, but trusted Ann. She pulled the smartphone out of her coat pocket, unlocked it, and handed it to the blonde.

"You call him Inari, right?" Ann tapped away furiously at Futaba's phone.

"Y-yeah, why do you ask? A-and, hold on, why do you need my phone?"

"Makoto, Haru, be ready to hold her down." Ann stuck the phone back into Futaba's face. On the screen, Ann saw Yusuke's chat picture and below it the word 'Dialing…'

"GUUWWAAAAAAHHH!?" Futaba leaped for the phone hard enough to make the entire bed shake. "YOU CALLED HIM!?"

"You're gonna go with him to the art show, aren't you? Well you have to ask him out first!" Ann shoved her free hand into the manic hacker's face, keeping the phone out of her reach "Guys!"

Makoto and Haru blinked and looked at each other, then back at the rabid Futaba trying to claw Ann's arm off. They leaped into action, grabbed an elbow each, and held Futaba back as Ann put the phone on speaker with a diabolical grin.

"NO! NO NO NO NO NO! STOOOOOPPPPP!" Futaba screeched as her scrawny limbs flailed uselessly in the arms of her friends. "THIS ISN'T FUNNYYYYYY!"

"You can do it, Futaba!" Haru said.

"We both know this is the only way it's gonna happen, so come on!" Ann cheered her on. "Boys love it when you call first! You got this!"

"PLEEEEEEAASSSEEEEEE! I'M NOT READYYYYYYYYYY!"

"Hello? Futaba?" His voice was harsh and distorted from the speaker, but it was undeniably Yusuke on the other end.

A microscopic whimper escaped her lips as tears welled up in the corner of her eyes, then the room was silent.

"Hello? Is anyone there?"

Futaba's eyes and head spun frantically, looking for some kind of escape. When her vision landed on Ann, the model tilted her head forward and nodded. 'go on!' she mouthed.

"Hello?"

"H-…" Futaba squeaked. "H-hi…! I-I-I-I-I-I-Inari…!"

"Ah, what a pleasant surprise, it is rare to receive a call from you. How does the afternoon find you, Futaba?"

"U-…uh… G-good…"

"Marvelous news. I received your direct messages, I apologize for not responding sooner, but for the life of me I cannot comprehend these accursed diagrams. Why do these computer chips and their documentations speak of 'busses' and 'gates?' I am only familiar with such terminology in academic and labor contexts."

Makoto and Haru looked at each other and giggled quietly. Futaba was still trembling, but was no longer attempting to break free of their grasp and finally started breathing again.

"W-wel-"

"I shall attempt to wrap my head around these microscopic monstrosities for a while longer, but I'm afraid I must let my brain rest on the topic for now." He said. "As an aside, might I ask if everything is alright? Forgive me if my intuition has lead me to an erroneous assumption, but if something troubles you I offer you my ear. I do have two, after all."

"…Ina-" Futaba stammered.

"Come on!" Ann whispered enthusiastically.

"I…I-Inari?"

"Hmm?

"Are y-you…" She swallowed audibly. "b-b-b-busy?"

"Busy?"

"O-on Friday?"

"Friday? Once my classes conclude, no, I will not be busy."

"C-cool! D-d-do you… w-wanna like…" Be brave, Futaba! "h-hang out?"

Those last words were so high pitched a dog halfway across Japan would have perked its ears to attention. The half second delay from Yusuke's responses caused by phone lag had been there since the beginning, but this one in particular felt excruciating to Futaba.

"Of course, that sounds wonderful. Whereabouts did you have in mind?"

Haru shook Futaba's shoulder excitedly, Ann nodded hard, sending her unmade hair into a frenzy.

"N-nice!" Futaba let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

Another silence, this time because from Futaba.

'I'll text you the info…' Ann mouthed, salvaging the flow of conversation. Futaba repeated.

"…Soon, s-see you then!"

"Excellent, I'm looking forward to it. Forgive me, for I must away. The paintbrush yearns for my steady grip." Yusuke said.

"B-bye…!"

"Farewell." He hung up.

"Phuuwaaaahhh!" Futaba felt like she'd aged 15 years in 15 seconds. She made it a point not to complain about being the youngest Phantom Thief for a while.

"Futaba, you did it!" Ann raised her arms to the sky in cheer.

"Ouhmaigahh" her legs gave out when the others let go of her shoulders, Haru caught her arm right back.

"Great work! Way to conquer your fears." Makoto said.

"You were so brave!" Haru heaved her up to her feet.

"For real!" Ann put her hands on her hips and chuckled like a kid at a playground.

"By the way, Ann, it's a tremendous relief to see you in this mood." Makoto sighed.

"Ah, c'mon, now's no time to get all uppity about that. Futaba just got a huge victory today! It's just like in your video games, right? Level up!"

"Hehe…Yeah…" Futaba stared wide-eyed at the floor in disbelief, hands cupping her cheeks "I can't believe I just did that…"

"Well, believe it!" Haru rubbed the wrinkles off Futaba's jacket. "You should be immensely proud of yourself!

"I agree. With bravery like that, I'm confident he'll fall for you in no time!" Makoto smiled.

"Mako-chan…" Haru pouted. "you accept Futaba's crush on Yusuke so easily, and yet with me…"

"Well, that's because Futaba isn't using mementos expeditions to get all googly-eyed over our leader~." She stated with a cocky smile, causing Haru to steam at the ears briefly.

Ann let her chin fall into her palms and just looked at them all as they bantered, she felt stupid for pushing them all away these past couple days. Just a few short minutes spent with them had her feeling like the mind-attack from that winged monster was just a distant memory.

"Ann…" Futaba wiped a bead of sweat off her forehead, her face was relaxed and flushed. "S-sorry for freaking out again, but…thank you. Really, I mean it. I-I wouldn't have been able to do that on my own."

"Nuh uh." Ann shook her head with a soft smile. "Thank you, Futaba. You too, Makoto, Haru."

The others blinked at blonde.

"Thanks to you, I feel like I can finally stand on my own again." She looked out the window, closing her eyes peacefully and letting the gentle breeze tickle her skin. "When that thing attacked me, I forgot what it was like like to have such wonderful friends by my side."

One by one, the other girls joined her on the bed and enveloped each other in another group hug. No more words were needed.

When they broke the hug off and after Ann wiped the fresh tears off her face, the other girls quickly filled her in on what she'd missed during the weekend. She was particularly interested in Haru's progress with Akira, though the senior storytellers had to be brief as their study hall would end soon and they needed to head back to the school.

"YOU KISSED HIM!?" Ann's mouth hung open. Aside from the bedhead and wrinkly pyjamas, she looked nearly back to her old self.

"Heeheehee~~…!" Haru giggled and blushed a pink brighter than her jacket. "Yeea~… K-kinda."

"What the hell! you should've told me the second it happened! I would've come running over and started planning your wedding or something!"

"Ahaha~…" she loopily poked her own fingers, getting lost in a daydream for a second. "Oh! Actually, Futaba, I've been meaning to ask… Since he's like a brother to you,"

"…?" Futaba pushed up her glasses.

"I-is there anything I can do to make him like me back?" She asked "L-l-like are there any places he wants to travel to? O-or games he wants to buy?"

"Like I said before, Akira already likes you." Futaba sighed, she was still riding off the high from asking Yusuke out and blabbered without thinking. "Oh, but I do know his favorite color is red, so if you wanna get him a gift, that's a good color to pick… I heard him, or felt I guess, in mementos the other day, there's someone he really likes who has red on them. I can't tell who it is with my power or even what it means, but I swear, it's so annoying how every other time I tap in to check on him using my Persona, he's thinking about some girl and the color red! It makes me wanna stop doing my job sometimes, jeez! Like, focus on the mission! Aren't you our leader, dumb-dumb? You guys are lucky you don't get to experience those weirder sides of his like I do. Honestly, no idea what you see in him, Haru."

"…" The three girls stared at her in shock.

"What? …Oh… shit…" Futaba sunk her head into her shoulders like a scared turtle when she realized her mistake.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US SOONERRRRRR!?" Haru squeezed Futaba's shoulders and shook her like a giant maraca.

"My PoWeR cAn'T pIcK uP aLl ThE dEtAiLs…!" her words warbled as her head rattled back and forth.

"Haru, relax!" Ann tried to de-escalate. "I-it probably doesn't mean anything!"

"W-w-what are you saying!?" Haru released the dizzy Futaba, her eyes were wide and panic was strewn across her face. "I don't have anything red with me at all! I-i-if Akira doesn't like me back after I kissed him, then…then… I-I don't know if I can handle that right now!"

"Boys are shallow!" Ann stopped Haru's manic ranting. "He probably just saw some idol or model in a red bikini and-"

"Haru, the kiss!" Makoto interrupted. "When you kissed Akira the other day, y-you were wearing your gym uniform! A-a-and same with every time you were gardening out on the front of the school! That's probably the red he's thinking about!"

"G-gym clothes?" Haru whispered as the gears in her head turned. "O-oh! Ahem!"

She hurriedly fixed the loose strands of hair that had exploded out of her wavy bobcut and smoothened the wrinkles out her clothes.

"Y-yes! T-the gym clothes are red! That must be it!" She tried to sound calm, but she couldn't hide all the leftover energy. "Wonderfully observant of you, Mako-chan! H-hahaha!"

"Oh, brother…" Futaba facepalmed.

"Don't worry Haru, our promise still stands." Ann pumped her fist in a gesture that was very decidedly 'Ryuji' "Makoto, Futaba, and I aren't gonna give up on the two of you. You have our backs!"

"Didn't she already kiss him? What more can we possibly do?" Futaba groaned. "Were you serious about that wedding thing?"

"If that's what we have to, then yes!" Ann crossed her arms defiantly.

"My dear friends…!" Haru's eyes began to well up. "Thank you!"

With Makoto's and Haru's time just about up, the girls bade each other a farewell. Ann promised she'd be returning to school the day after tomorrow once she'd gotten all her affairs in order and tidied up around the house. The others suggested she could take a longer break if needed, but Ann insisted; she felt a lot better after spending this time bantering with the others, and was excited to see her other friends at school and get her life back on track. As they were all saying goodbye to her and an elated Imelda, Ann asked the girls if they could stop by her place again tomorrow after school. While it's true that she was feeling a lot better now, she still wasn't completely over the angel's attack on her mind, and she wanted to talk about it to her trusted girl-friends. The others happily accepted the invitation and agreed to a private dinner at a restaurant owned by Okumura foods not far from Ann's apartment where they could dine fine and in private.

On the train ride back to the school, Makoto used the silence afforded by proper train etiquette to think. For some reason, the conversation from earlier kept dancing around inside her head. Ann was right that boys could be pretty superficial (she'd experienced it firsthand before, after all), and seeing as Akira doesn't really comment on girls the way Ryuji and Morgana do, it should have been easy for Makoto to just ignore all of these strange unfounded thoughts that were piling up in her head and focus on helping Haru win his heart over as promised.

But Makoto just couldn't stand still, she kept fidgeting and rocking from side to side, crossing one leg over the other and uncrossing it right back, scratching parts of her head that began to randomly itch, and biting at her lip without even noticing it. She thought she'd suppressed these weird feelings last Saturday in her room, but they kept coming back at such unpredictable times…

For some reason, it had really bothered Makoto. A simple suggestion by Futaba, with no basis to prove or disprove, yet the brunette couldn't shake these uncomfortable nerves.

Akira likes someone…

A/N:

Whew! This one was pretty long, I think it's the longest by word count out of any that I've written so far. It's a little disjointed and the narrative jumps around quite a bit, but I feel pretty good about it! I hope you all enjoyed the interactions between the girls, these four have such distinctive personalities so it's fun to write them all together like this. Also, don't think I've forgotten about the whole Yusuke thing that Futaba saw the other day. I promise you that will return when the time is right!

And to those disappointed by the lack of perverted guys' shenanigans, buckle up, because next chapter is going to set the stage for the sexual tension that will dominate the latter half of the story! Thanks for your continued support and see you next time!