The first of the OCs that will be important later on!

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It wasn't as if he hated the idea of dating Mitsuru. Far from it, in fact. But Akihiko found himself slightly terrified of what she had meant by "You'll see." Was this revenge? Just what was she planning? He thought she had enjoyed herself until she suddenly didn't.

His hand still hurt a little, which wasn't good when his hands were his whole career. He'd tried putting some ice on it until the irony reached him. Poor Mitsuru. They'd gotten so used to healing each other that it'd become a reflex for her. The look on her face when she remembered she couldn't...

They had to do something about their Personas, and FAST.

Work had kept Akihiko busy for the past few days, and he was still grateful for the distraction. He was beginning to see why Kurosawa was perpetually grumpy, though. Why were petty crooks so damn stupid? Of course the cops are gonna chase you if you run! And if you were as innocent as you claimed, why did you run in the first place? He was still grumbling over this when Mitsuru called him out of the blue.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," she began.

"Please, interrupt away!" he replied, "Tell me you need to send me somewhere!"

"Unfortunately, no," chuckled Mitsuru. Thanks for laughing at my anguish. Wait…you laughed? He wasn't even trying to make her laugh this time! "It's just...well…" A hesitant Mitsuru was also very unusual. When she resumed speaking, it was at a very fast clip. "I-was-wondering-if-you'd-like-to-accompany-me-to-an-event-I-have-to-attend!" She then moved the phone away from her mouth, but Akihiko could swear he heard her sigh in relief.

"Yeah. Sure, why not? What kinda event?"

Mitsuru was silent for a few minutes, so she clearly hadn't prepared herself for what to do if he said yes – which was a little insulting, if he was being honest. He never said no to Mitsuru! Besides, they already agreed she'd pick the location of their next date!

She came back again speaking slower this time. "There's...this...charity event?" Are you sure? "I've meant to attend for years to support a friend of mine, except…"

Akihiko smirked. "You need a date?"

He imagined Mitsuru's brow furrowing. "There are no silly hats, if that's what you were wondering."

"Oh, that's too bad."

A sharp intake of air meant he'd gone too far. "It is a ball however, so I'm curious to see how well you'll handle this one."

"All right, hon, I'm sorry. Just let me know what day it is and I'll make sure I'm off."

"This Thursday. I suppose I should apologize in advance for how...madcap the evening may be."

"Say what?"

"Never mind! Forget I said anything!" Mitsuru blurted out. "Thank you!" And she hung up.

Akihiko made sure no one was around him before doubling over with laughter. This absurdly powerful businesswoman who dealt with executives by day and vanquished Shadows by night had to psych herself up to ask someone on a date. God, he loved her.

By Thursday, Akihiko may have been just as nervous. A full suit had arrived for him with a note that said Mitsuru would follow in a few hours. She did say that this was a ball. Was he expected to dance? He danced about as well as he bowled! Well, he couldn't chicken out now. He dressed and swallowed at least a dozen butterflies before the limo pulled up and then he nearly puked them back up when he got a good look at Mitsuru.

It wasn't a cake, but her dress tonight still left his stomach growling. He could have sworn she'd gotten her Persona back because it gleamed like a sheet of ice. She'd always been beautiful, but lately, her ability to stop time and clear the entire planet of other people for him had been working overtime.

Why do you do this to me?

Mitsuru, on the other hand, did not seem to be trapped in the Dork Hour. "I apologize if we're a little late," she said shyly, "It seems as if some small part of me still wants to avoid this gathering."

"Yeah, you mentioned there was something up about this ball thing. What, is it a dance contest, or…?"

"It's not that." She fiddled with an unused seat belt. "Most of the guests attending this ball, are...well...men that were trying to marry me."

WHAT.

Either he'd said that out loud without meaning to, or Mitsuru was just that good at reading his face, because she flinched. "I've refused them all!" she insisted. "After Father's death, they began swarming like vultures, many of them from smaller companies who'd smelled blood. Now that Public Safety has begun challenging me, they've returned with a vengeance and I am running out of reasons to remain single."

Once again, Akihiko hadn't been aware of any of this. He was beginning to wonder if he'd ever known Mitsuru at all. Not only had she been dating Makoto, she was also fending off older guys at the same time? Did Makoto know about this? Was that why she was dating him?

"It's not as complicated as you're imagining," Mitsuru teased, reminding him to never take up poker as a hobby.

"So why even go?" he asked instead. In a dress like that?

"I still have to do business with these people. The raid removed nearly a third of the Group's affiliates, and we've been hemorrhaging public support since May. Avoiding executive functions would make it seem as if I truly had something nefarious to hide." She stopped suddenly and looked confused. "Now what are you thinking?"

Akihiko wore a wistful smile. "You sound normal."

"I…"

Mitsuru had begun talking about business with the same commanding attitude she'd always had. Akihiko never understood much of it, but he understood that Mitsuru knew her shit, and it showed. She sounded confident and assured, something he had feared he would never hear again.

They didn't have a chance to discuss it any further, because the limo was approaching one of the imposing buildings Akihiko usually paid no mind to as he rode the monorail to school. With the opportunity to look at them now, he noted just how many of them had gleaming solar panels and spotless windows, causing them to reflect one another and make a pedestrian feel as if they were being swallowed up by skyscrapers. He was in his home city, yet he felt like he'd touched down on a hostile alien planet. The ground swallowed the car and they found themselves in a cavernous parking garage. Was this still Japan?

Mitsuru turned on the attitude while among elevator attendants and staff, but it caused her to fidget when they were alone. She'd been prepping herself for this party, and it looked like she only had a limited amount for tonight and was using it sparingly. Akihiko began trying to memorize the route out of here in case they had to make a quick getaway.

The elevator opened up to another one of those glittering party floors, filled with overpriced outfits and shorter people somehow looking down on him. A nearby man turned towards them – at least, he appeared to be a man, but he let out a positively girly squeal when he saw Mitsuru.

"EEEEE! You're back you're back you're BA-ACK!" Some of the other guests began tittering.

Mitsuru only barely reacted to this. "Yoshi, no," she admonished.

"Mitsu-Mitsu! Ohh, my soirée sister! It's been soooo boring without you!" The man pranced over to them. He must have been about their age, but he acted much younger, kind of like Teddie Teddie. "You need to stop abandoning moi at these executive dysfunctions, Rougelle."He leaned closer, only to dramatically stage whisper, "These people are insane!"

Mitsuru – Akihiko couldn't possibly be imagining it – actually relaxed. "I apologize for my absence, but you seem to be holding up well, all things considered." He relaxed as well. This was a friend. A weird friend, but still...Mitsuru had friends when he and the others weren't around. "Also, I'm sorry that someone conveniently left you off the guest list for my birthday party – although you didn't miss much."

"I wouldn't have minded being led off in handcuffs!" laughed Yoshi. He finally noticed Akihiko with an exaggerated gasp. "Speaking of!"

Mitsuru chuckled and put on her "the juniors are doing something stupid" voice. "Yes, allow me to introduce you to Akihiko Sanada."

"The infamous Officer Protein?" Yoshi looked like he'd seen a rainbow made of glitter.

"You've been talking about me?" That was strange. He didn't think Mitsuru would want to admit in front of this kind of crowd that she hung out with poor people. "I hope it wasn't all bad."

"Au contraire, handsome! Our girl's been going on and on and on about how you're just so-"

"Yoshi!" Mitsuru managed to turn purple somehow.

"I kid! I kid, 'cause I love you! Now, make your debut. I can't wait to see their faces when you saunter in with this morsel!" Yoshi danced away, acting oblivious to the uncomfortable situation he'd just put them in. They could see him accosting other guests, who had way less patience for him.

Mitsuru looked after him fondly, with a look she'd usually reserved for Akihiko and Shinjiro being themselves in front of her. "Yoshi and I are generally the youngest guests at these soirées, and the only thing making them tolerable for either of us."

"Well, at least he won't try to marry you," Akihiko joked.

"Funny you should say that, because that's actually how we met." The man in question was dancing to the chamber music in the most inappropriate way he could think of. "His uncle is the head of an up-and-coming plastics company trying to both secure a place for itself through any means necessary, and stave off any potential scandals."

"You said no, though." Mitsuru was definitely the best choice for shit like that...but no one should be forced to marry someone they didn't love. The kid loved Mitsuru – but he obviously didn't "love" Mitsuru.

"He's delightfully irreverent the way he is. Why would I ever want to change that?" They watched as Yoshi stood behind snotty-looking people and made silent commentary back to them, pulling goofy faces for their benefit. "I'd have gone stark-raving mad years ago if it wasn't for Yoshi putting things in perspective." She laughed at his lack of his poker face again. "I suppose you've realized you don't know me as well as you assumed you did?"

Akihiko could only shake his head. "After all these years, you still continue to amaze me." No wonder Marin Karin never worked against Shadows – Mitsuru was already charming everyone around her wherever she went.

"Ooh!" Yoshi had snuck up behind them unnoticed. "The man is smoother than silk! If you don't 'dance' with him, Red, I. Just. Might. Now, go on, ladies and gentlemen first! Shoo!"

Whoa, what the fuck…

...did he just try to smack BOTH their asses?

Now that they'd seen Yoshi, Mitsuru wanted to consider the evening a success and just run back to the car as fast as these dainty impractical shoes could carry her. Unfortunately, duty called, and would continue calling even if she left the phone off the hook. Her contemporaries demanded her presence, and she couldn't afford to tell them that she was through with their narrow universe and the attitude their ancestors' money fueled. She needed to hide her weakness.

If only her weakness wasn't currently providing his arm.

Akihiko was content to let her lead, trying his best to look as if he belonged there and wasn't out of his depth. He cut a very impressive figure in his suit, meaning there were many eyes upon him. The other guests were not subtle in their gossiping about who Mitsuru's mystery date actually was. They were so eager to catch him out that it made her sick. How could you despise your fellow man so, especially when he was instrumental in saving the world for you? Akihiko had paid his dues. He had clawed his way out of the wreckage of his past with his own two hands, and could surely make a name for himself even without Mitsuru's help. He was a good man: loyal and just, with morals that would not be compromised. He had known real poverty and heartache, but never used them as excuses for his actions. Not even losing his Persona had stopped him from continuing on. Was that not admirable enough?

It is for me.

"You want to leave already?" He knew. Akihiko read her like a book, and half the time, she enjoyed that. It made communicating in battle almost effortless. Did he see this as a battle as well?

"Still analyzing," she replied, which made him chuckle the way she'd always liked. He was not afraid. He was awaiting her orders. They'd always been the perfect team...she'd just forgotten.

Mitsuru's gaze swept over the party guests, calculating who to greet and who to avoid, when she came upon an enemy who would do more damage to her than The Reaper. No! No, no, why is he here?!

Three years later, the man the Kirijo Group chose for Mitsuru to marry still made her feel like that child strapped to a gurney, his oily smugness a film on the water Mitsuru was slowly sinking into. She never wanted to see his face again. Told him as much when he threatened Yuki. She thought she'd dismantled enough of his grandfather's company to keep him busy for a while. Public Safety must have unearthed him to make use of the scandal.

"Honey?" Akihiko noticed she'd dropped his arm and her breathing was shallow.

"Mon analyse resulted in failure," was all she could gasp out.

"Well!" Mitsuru's ex-fiance oozed his way over to them like a low-level Shadow, nose firmly in the air. "Look who has decided to show her pretty little face. Funny meeting you here, Mitsuru!" A very young girl who spent quite a bit of money to look cheap hung off his arm, doused in more than enough perfume for every woman in the room and then some.

"I don't find it amusing in the slightest." Mitsuru knew she was scowling, and Akihiko would no doubt pick up on that and react accordingly, but she couldn't control her own visceral reaction to someone so vile. If he was callous enough to mention Yuki...

"I don't suppose you know anything about my company hitting a few snags?"

"You've never supposed that I knew anything, Shiro, which was your first mistake." Beside her, Akihiko tensed, but Mitsuru took hold of his arm again. "If your grandfather is facing difficulty with his company, perhaps you should be publicly supporting him. I'm sure he would be more than happy to leave you exactly what you deserve upon his death."

There was nothing Shiro could say to counteract that, so he naturally chose to snark back. "I see you still haven't learned to hold your tongue. No wonder you're not married."

His arm candy tittered at that. She'd been eyeing Akihiko, but since Akihiko was watching Mitsuru, her come hither glances went ignored, and that frustrated her. "Aren't you getting old? Better hurry!" She must have been barely out of school herself. Shiro liked them young. "Shi-kun, let's go. I wanna ride in the Lambog...Lamg...you said I could drive your shiny new car!" Well, that would have killed any attraction Akihiko might have had towards her. He'd always come home fuming over being harassed by girls with this same nature.

"Did I tell you to speak?"

"No, Shi-kun."

"And quit calling me that!"

Neither Mitsuru nor Akihiko could help but bristle at the exchange. The man was still trying to find a wife he could browbeat into submission. You get what you pay for, after all – and Shiro always was incredibly cheap. It warmed her heart, however, to see Akihiko glare hard at Shiro for his attitude. By now, he may have put two and two together and realized why they were stonewalling this man.

"Not going to introduce me to your date?" sneered Shiro. Sizing Akihiko up proved to be more difficult than he'd anticipated once he'd realized Akihiko would not be easily intimidated. Akihiko's silence was not an order, but an acknowledgment that he would follow her lead.

Mitsuru opened her mouth not quite certain how she was going to answer.

He's just a friend...or should I say, teammate...I can't seem to find the correct word to describe him. Regardless, that is the extent of our relationship.

Even today, none of those words seemed to do.

What was Akihiko to her now?

"Akihiko is a dear friend, and my most trusted associate," Mitsuru said simply, deliberately leaving off his surname because Shiro had an Aigis-level database of names to know and who to schmooze with. "I asked him to accompany me tonight because I was confident that he wouldn't embarrass me."

Akihiko relaxed slightly. "I even get to speak," he added.

With classic timing, Yoshi parted the crowd like a sea (in reality, the partygoers recoiled from being next to him) and came to Mitsuru's aid as he often did. With Akihiko on her other side, it bore a heartbreaking resemblance to attending school with Shinjiro. Both boys always accompanied her, scaring off gropers and gossipers alike while Mitsuru made it very clear they were under her legal protection. The empress was never without her white knights.

Today she was flanked by one white knight and one harlequin who was laying it on very, very thick.

"Awwwkwaaaard!" Yoshi sang out. "Past and Future are both present! Wait for me, Alternate Universe!"

It took her a moment, but she got the joke. Hopefully, the blush rapidly spreading across her face was unnoticed by Yoshi, who tried to throw an arm around Shiro only to receive a withering glare, Shiro, who was too busy sneering at Yoshi to get the joke, and his date, giggling like Amagi at his behavior.

Akihiko appeared to have also gotten the joke. Now there was no denying Mitsuru's face – and his as well – was bright red.

"Yoshi, I appreciate you conducting reconnaissance for me this evening. It's always good to know who else is attending these parties."At least one person should have been aware this bastard would be here. Had she known, they never would have bothered coming. Why the hell didn't you tell me about him?!

Yoshi knew he was in disgrace, but played it off fairly well. "When you promised your pretty face, doll, the world took notice! There are people here I could have sworn were dead! They might actually BE dead, come to think of it – but they threw open their tombs for a chance to greet Your Royal Redness!" The look on his face told her all she needed to know. He showed up when he heard that you would.

"I see. In that case, I suppose it would be very impolite of me to ignore their resurrections. If you'll excuse us," Mitsuru announced, more for Shiro's benefit than Yoshi's. They had to get as far away from the man as possible before one of them punched him in the face – and it might not necessarily be Akihiko.

Blessedly, the rest of the guests seemed more amenable to Akihiko and more interested in Mitsuru above all else. She only had to field personal questions about him twice. Akihiko was – as expected – charming and intuitive, knowing when to chip in and when to defer to Mitsuru. He was every bit the loyal, devoted date...and it was killing her inside. Everything was too perfect. They moved in sync and communicated without words. Most of the people watching probably thought they'd been dating for several years, their actions implying a well-earned level of intimacy.

What was he thinking, agreeing to this? Did he realize that the business world had now jumped on the same train the Gekkoukan student body had been on, assuming they were a couple? What if word got out to the police department? The boxing circuit? Was he all right with everyone thinking Mitsuru was his girlfriend?

Why did she suddenly fear his reply?

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If you killed the Shadows before Mitsuru could finish analyzing them (which could be often), this is the message you'd get. And if you take Mitsuru out for takoyaki and ask her, "Are you in love?" when she starts talking about Akihiko, that's the noncommittal answer she gives.

Yoshi was conceived as a character who was very different from Akihiko, but with a similar goal: look out for Mitsuru. If he can't be there, Akihiko would be glad to see that someone helps her out when she's overwhelmed or feeling alone among all these stuffy rich people. It's also a surprise to him (and the others) that Mitsuru actually has friends other than them. We don't see much of her life without Personas.