"So, Guinea Pig, how's the apartment search going?" Takemi turned over her spoon, resting it on her mostly finished plate of curry. Her accompanying coffee was three quarters full. "Going to get a real bed any time soon?"
Bed…
"What's this? Are you blushing?" Takemi leaned over the counter and squinted at him. "Are you up to something?"
Dammit.
Ren stepped back.
It had been blissfully difficult to concentrate these past few days. He'd rather it didn't show.
"It's hotter back here than you'd think," he waved his hands at the coffee burners and the kitchen behind them, all in on the excuse. "I'm still getting used to it again."
Takemi and Sojiro both raised their eyebrows and stared at him.
"Anyway," Ren returned to the original question, side-stepping their skeptical expressions. "The search is going fine. We each have short lists we're revisiting and we're being pickier about the new listings we're viewing."
"We?" asked Takemi.
"Niijima Makoto, she's-" Ren caught himself. "She's a friend from high school."
"Niijima…?" Takemi trailed off. "Niijima Sae's younger sister?"
"That's right," said Ren. "Sae-san's partner is moving in, so Makoto started looking for a place of her own. The timing worked out, so we've been sharing an agent."
"Living with her partner, I see…" Takemi turned back to her coffee.
"How is the elder Niijima doing?" asked Sojiro. He shuffled down the counter, settling in a position between Takemi and Ren. When Ren shifted to keep Takemi in view, Sojiro moved as well, blocking him again.
He had always wondered…
Well, now was not the time to press it. He'd ask Makoto later.
"I don't know. I haven't met up with her since I got back," Ren answered the question at hand. "Though, she suggested the four of us catch up over dinner some time."
"My, aren't you cozy?" Sojiro smirked.
"She did get me out of prison." Ren chose to ignore the insinuation.
Once Sojiro knew, Futaba would know, and once Futaba knew, then everyone would know. He'd rather have the team find out from Makoto and him. It wasn't that they were trying to hide it. They just hadn't gotten around to talking about how and when to inform everyone.
Maybe it was time to consider it.
Ren pulled out his phone. His chat with Makoto was filled with photos from earlier that day when he had asked her for one for his wallpaper. It became clear she had never used the photo feature in the chat app, or maybe even the front-facing camera at all, as he was soon flooded with off-angle, up-close images of her examining the lens.
He looked over each one again, glad he had convinced her not to delete them.
"What're you grinning at?" Sojiro leaned towards him.
Ren quickly stuffed his phone back into his pocket. "Oh, uh, the place we looked at today was uh… not what it looked like online."
Why had he pulled out his phone again?
"I see." Sojiro looked even more unconvinced than earlier. He then raised his eyebrows once more and grinned, motioning towards the sink. "Anyway, since you're not busy, I think there are some dishes that could use your attention."
Author's Note: I love Makoto's awkward photos in the original games and Nooch's artworks showing how bad Makoto is at selfies.