Akira never thought of himself as overly sentimental. He didn’t cry often and when he did, well, it would be safe to say that the situation tears his heart in two.

This was one of those situations, one a normal teen wouldn’t find themselves in, Akira was anything but a normal teen. He did, after all, shoot a God in the face in a world of cognition and now had to turn himself in to ensure Masayoshi Shido, the prime minister-elect, stayed in prison for his crimes.

But he didn’t want to think about any of that. Which was why he beamed at his phone when Makoto asked to spend Christmas Eve together.

#

The bell chimed and Akira turned to the door of Leblanc to see Makoto walk in with a wave. “So, what's on the agenda tonight Joker?” she asked sincerely.

“I was hoping we could see where the night takes us.” He teased with a grin at seeing the blush creep its way onto her face. He chuckled “I rented a few movies and got your favourite snacks, come on”.

“Sounds Great” she replied following him up the steps.

Akira turned on the film and sat on his bed, back against the wall as he patted the spot next to him, gesturing for Makoto to sit and get comfortable.

They sat in comfortable silence for a while, his arm around her back resting on her waist as she leaned in, head resting comfortably against his shoulder.

She nuzzled against him and whispered, “I’ve got you something”.

“Oh?” he said turning to her, she nodded and handed over a small box wrapped neatly with a bow.

“I hope you like it,” she said as he unwrapped it in anticipation and excitement, to reveal a wristwatch with an underside engraving reading “J & Q”.

When he didn’t say anything, she could feel the dread well up. Maybe he already had a watch, or didn’t want one. After all, phones can tell the time, God she was so stupid.

Her thoughts were cut off when he said “Makoto I ... I love it.” And he turned to face her, genuine appreciation and love plastered on his face.

“I’m glad” she replied, the doubts being washed away as he leant in for a quick kiss.

“I’m sorry I haven’t actually umm, got you… anything, sorry” he chuckled nervously. “But maybe I can offer something else.”

“Oh, what is it”.

“Some Memories.”

Makoto looked slightly confused at that.

“Do you want to know when I first started falling for you?”

#

It was a typical day for the Student Council President. Lessons, Notes, requests from students and teachers alike. Although, the year had started to take an interesting turn with the sudden transfer of a new student.

Not much was known to Makoto about this man except for the fact that he had a record for assault, and that everyone was talking about him.

Frankly, it was annoying. Every wall, room and corridor had been consumed by rumours.

“He carries a knife. “He killed a man.” “He threatens the teachers.” “He’s a Yakuza Lieutenant.”

Hardly believable to Makoto because no one at Shujin looked remotely connected to the Yakuza… But would they try to fit in so that it would be harder to pinpoint the source of any connections?

As Makoto thought this, she realised she was getting off track. She headed to the library so she could get started on some Notes. Very. Important. Notes. She walked in and over to “Her” desk and put her bag on the table.

At the same time, another student also placed his bag on the table.

He had a mop of frizzy black hair and a pair of glasses that both covered his eyes, but as he was looking at her, she could see the grey pool of… well, greyness. He looked quite boring actually.

What wasn’t boring however, was how the normally quiet library was now filled to the brim with hushed whispers.

“Now he’s pissed isn’t he.” “Guys he’s gonna kill her!” “No Not Niijima-Senpai.”

At hearing this the boy bit his lip as his eyes started to tear up, he obviously didn’t want anyone to see his anger, sadness. Or his loneliness.

Makoto knew then that this was him. He wasn’t Yakuza, a murderer or the like. He was a student, a boy who lost his friends, family and credibility, all because of his record. As he walked away Makoto could only watch, rooted to the spot.

She wanted to help him.

But she had to focus on her notes. Because they would decide her future. She didn’t write much and she walked home thinking of his face.

He was a student, she had to help him. It was her responsibility as President of the Student Council.

#

*Vrrrrrt*

Akira’s phone buzzed silently on his desk whilst he was making lockpicks and such.

He picked up the phone to check the message, it was probably from Yusuke or Ryuji asking to get ramen. But much to his surprise, and his delight which he tried to mask, it was Makoto.

She was informing him that she asked to speak to Eiko after school.

“Oh yeah, almost forgot about that”.

He started typing.

Akira: Where are you going to speak to her?

Makoto: I have a location in mind. But I’d like you to be there with me.

Akira’s heart stopped for a second. Enough for him to lose his mind with ecstatic joy. “She wants ME there!?” he whooped.

*Vrrrt* another message.

Makoto: After all, we BOTH did see her go to the “After School Salon”.

“Oh”.

Akira: Of course, I’ll be right over.

Makoto: Great! I’ll leave the back gate open.

“Back gate? Where-“

*Vrrrrt*

Makoto: Let’s do it in the Student Council Room.

“Oh, so she’s still at school. Well, I guess it makes sense, it is Student Council Stuff after all.”

#

A few trains later Akira was walking to Shujin and he spotted Makoto waiting for him at the gates.

She was sporting a simple, yet elegant summer dress with short summer pants showing off her calf. She also had her trademark headband with a braid matching her hair. He still couldn’t believe it was a headband, it was mind-blowing.

“Akira.”

He was snapped out of his stupor by her. He hoped he wasn’t staring.

“Come on, let’s go.”

He followed her to the room where Eiko was and sat down. He carefully listened to the conversation and joined in when necessary (which wasn’t often at all). It turned out she was just working a job there, no shady stuff as far as Makoto could tell.

One thing that did startle him however, was not the Buchimaru conversation, which did make him smile at a reminder of how cute Makoto could be. But in fact, it was when Eiko thought he was Makoto’s boyfriend.

He looked over to her and saw the beginnings of a blush form on her cheeks which completely betrayed her next sentence. “H-He’s not my boyfriend!” she said while Eiko just beamed at her.

He wasn’t her boyfriend, he wanted to be, but his feelings were one-sided. If he looked at Makoto, he wouldn’t have missed a longing look in her crimson eyes, which may have shown that his feelings weren’t one sided at all.

And if she looked at him, she might have seen the same thing.

#

Christmas Eve

Leblanc’s Attic

“Oh God don’t remind me of that.”

“Remind you of what?” Akira asked chuckling.

“That Text! You know.”

“Mako I really don’t.” he cooed.

“Ugh, the-the “Let’s do it in the student council room” one, remember. I freaked out for a while because I realised what it, might imply.” At this point, she had to cover her face with her hands to hide the blush creeping its way up on to her face.

Akira planted a kiss on Makoto’s forehead which resulted in an “Eeep” as she couldn’t see with her face covered and he surprised her with it.

At this, he chuckled and pulled her closer to him saying “It’s so cute seeing how flustered I can make you. Reminds me of when we confessed.

“That was quite the mess.” She giggled.

#

“Come on, we gotta get out of here.” Akira grabbed Makoto’s hand and started to lead her away.

“R-right, we do seem to have drawn a crowd.” She replied.

Granted confronting Tsukasa in public while Shinjuku was busy was not her best plan, but it was all they could do to save Eiko. Makoto just hoped Eiko will understand why she did it.

Before Makoto knew it, she was sitting in a bar with Akira drinking a coke, and her some water. Makoto sighed, “That was a disaster, I can't believe I slapped my friend.”

“It was the right thing to do in retrospective, maybe she’ll think it all through and see you were only helping.”

“I suppose. But Akira, what if I stuck my nose into her business too much. I mean she did really like him.”

“Makoto. Look at me.”

She turned her head but was still fixated on looking downwards, out of guilt, so he picked her chin up using his thumb and forefinger so she would meet his gaze.

She could feel the blush.

“That love she was feeling for him, that wasn’t real, it was manipulative love. Kind of like brainwashing. Point is, her feelings were not nurtured correctly and he took advantage of her because of that. You. Helped. Her. Got that?”

She nodded her head with a smile “Ok. I trust you.” And he returned the smile.

“Eiko was right. I would flunk a test about love. But, then again. I-I don’t really know how I’d study for one.”

“I could errrmm, help you, by being your errrrr, study partner?”

Makoto couldn’t believe what was going on. Akira was looking so nervous and flustered. Did he, like her. The only way to know would be to ask. “Forgive me for asking but. Akira do you umm. Have, feelings for me?”

A blush crept up onto their forces changing their natural cheek colours to a bright red as he replied. “Yes, I-I do. I really do and have for a while.”

They sat in silence for 5 minutes staring at their drinks.

“I suppose this means you’re my b-boyfriend then.”

“And you're my girlfriend.”

3 more minutes of silence.

“I think it’s gotten quieter out there,” he said.

“yeah”

“want me to walk you to the station?” he asked.

“Yeah, ok” her brain wasn’t functioning properly.

They started to make their way back and somewhere along the way Akira inched his hands closer to hers. And she inched hers closer to his. After some inching, their hands met and intertwined their fingers together. They turned their heads so the other couldn’t see their crimson coloured cheeks. And their smiles.

The rest of the was in silence, content as they occasionally squeezed the others hand.

#

Makoto sat in the student council room. She felt so stupid inviting Akechi to the school, they were supposed to get information from him. But instead, he flipped it around and blackmailed them.

She didn’t want to think about any of this right now. The guilt that she ended the Phantom Thieves career was killing her. She needed comfort, and she knew exactly who to go to.

A few messages later she was standing in the auditorium with her boyfriend Akira for the After-party festivities.

“And now it’s time for everyone’s favourite moment! The Student Sharing event!” The MC boomed enthusiastically.

The audience didn’t reciprocate very well with only a handful of cheers. “This event is never any good, the only people who ever enjoy it are the teachers.” Makoto sighed.

“Really, I’m so surprised there’s something this school is bad at,” Akira replied sarcastically with a grin.

Makoto giggled “They haven’t exactly had the best track record have they. Let's just try and enjoy it as much as we can.”

“Yeah”

The MC was talking in the background but Makoto wasn’t listening.

“Hey, Akira.”

“Yes?”

“Do you think that if we were just normal high schoolers, with a semi-normal life, w-would we still have met. Would we still-“

“Absolutely” they turned to look into each other’s eyes.

“Even without the metaverse I still would’ve had to help that woman, there’s no way I could’ve ignored it. And because of that I would have still gotten arrested and taken a one-way trip here. To you.”

“But-“Makoto was starting to think that the only thing tying them together was the phantom thieves and the metaverse,

“Makoto, look at me” she hadn’t noticed her eyes drifted to the floor and she was looking straight down.

“I noticed you in that library on a semi-normal school day right before everything went to shit. If you think for even a second we wouldn’t be together without the metaverse and the thieves then you are wrong. Because as soon as I saw you alone on that table I knew, that you were like me, because everyone was whispering about you just like they did to me. That is what drew me to you. In truth. In truth, I wanted to reach out to you so many times after that.”

Makoto was stunned. “Why didn’t you? Reach out to me I mean.”

“Is that our beautiful Miss Student Council President over there?” The MC interrupted with perfect timing.

“Well, things like that happened. Now go on up there. Enjoy yourself.” Akira grinned at her.

Makoto groaned “Do I have to?”

“Don’t worry I’ll be sitting right at the front” he assured her.

And so, she went to the mic. And it was horrible. After only two questions he started to ask who she thought the Phantom Thieves were. She had no escape until Akira stood up and shouted “I’ve always loved you!” saving her from the question.

But not saving her from the embarrassment as her face turned as red as her eyes rendering her unable to form words as the MC started to ask about her relationship with him. She mumbled and stuttered until she could finally form a slightly coherent sentence “H-H-He’s m-m-my Boyfriend” and then she bolted to the roof to avoid the embarrassment.

Along the way she went to the student council room and got Akira’s present. She waited patiently for him, she thought he wouldn’t be long but she was waiting for a while. Maybe he was giving her space because he thought she was angry or upset because they had to make their relationship public.

As scenarios flew through her head the roof door clanked shut and as she turned her head she noticed. It was Akira.

“I was starting to worry you weren’t coming.” She said.

“I wasn’t as lucky, I got bombarded with questions and congratulations form students who aren’t bothered by me anymore, and I got threats from people who must’ve liked you and hate the fact that you are now dating a well-known criminal.” Despite the negative comments he mentioned he was still smiling.

“Sorry” for some reason she felt responsible for it. It was a force of habit of hers.

“Nah, I was the one who made you have to make our relationship public. I wonder if the team knows now.” Akira said as he rubbed the back of his head.

“Maybe, you were very reliable back there though, Thank you.”

“I am just doing my duty your Majesty” he teased resulting in a giggle from her.

“I made these for you,” Makoto exclaimed handing him the doughnuts.

He smirked and laughed at the name written on the box. “Makoto Doughnuts”. He made sure to tell her he couldn’t wait to eat them. “But first I need to thank my queen for this generous gift”

“And however, will you do that my Joker.” Now she felt confident enough to respond to his teasing in kind.

“By stealing a precious treasure”.

Now he was leaning toward her placing his hand on her cheek. He made it plainly obvious what he was going to do and before she knew it. He had succeeded.

Their lips met and it was messy and weird but they didn’t care because to them it was perfect. They were alone in the moment with the setting sun at their backs casting a divine orange glow on them.

For a short while, they were normal teenagers having their normal, awkward, first kiss.

#

It was getting late and by now Makoto was out cold leaning against Akira. He was tired too. He wanted nothing more than to lie down and sleep holding her close. And never let go.

But he had to do this. To protect her, and everyone else.

Carefully, he got up. Making sure he didn’t wake her, he made her comfortable and covered her up with his blanket to keep her warm. He leaned down and brushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear as he kissed her on the forehead.

He walked to his desk and pulled an envelope addressed to Makoto out of it. He let out a shaky breath, tried and failed, to keep the tears at bay.

“I’m sorry Makoto” and with that, he left for the agreed upon meetup spot with Sae.

A few hours later Makoto awoke to the sunlight of the early morning streaming through the window. Pushing herself up she noticed that she was in Akira’s bed with a blanket over her. But she didn’t remember falling asleep like this, maybe Akira put her to bed.

She looked around but found no sign of him. Maybe he went down to make coffee, but she didn’t hear or smell anything that hinted towards it.

Upon further inspection she noticed an envelope reading “Makoto”.

She ripped it open, there was a note from Akira, his scruffy, barely eligible handwriting present.

It was him.

It said:

“Dear Mako,

I’m sorry about what you're about to read, truly I am. But I thought you should hear it from me and not the news. I’ll be brief, after Yaldabaoth, after we split but before you texted me. Sae approached me, she said there isn’t enough to make a case against Shido and all his underlings, not without a testimony from someone else familiar with the metaverse. From the Leader of the Phantom Thieves. In essence. I need to turn myself in and ensure Shido goes away, but I’ll have to go away too. Otherwise, the police will come after everyone else too, so I’m taking the blame for everything the thieves did. Sae’s offer ensures you and the others stay safe. I'm so sorry Mako but I have to do this so please, don’t come after me. Let me do this, let me keep you all safe. I can handle it, after all, I shot a God in the face. Just promise me something, smash your exams, get into college and follow your dream and become the police officer you envy so much. And ensure no one else suffers like we all did. Like I am.

Thank you for everything. I love you.

From, Akira.”

Once she finished the paper had been soaked by tears as she held it close.

The day was a blur, everyone came around to celebrate Christmas only to find out they lost Akira as well as Morgana in the space of 24 hours.

They were talking, she wasn’t listening.

“We lost Mona and now Akira. Could this get worse.”

She wasn’t listening.

“…”

“…”

“…”

“look at us, Mona would be disappointed,” someone said, she wasn’t listening.

“Guys we killed a God who was impossible to beat because he cheated, but guess what.”

She wasn’t listening.

“We won”

Why won't they stop, there was nothing they could do.

“So, let’s do what we do best, let’s go against the odds. He’s technically been arrested for breaking his probation yeah. But he was falsely convicted. Sooo…”

“Let’s prove his innocence in his original case.” Makoto finished.

She looked noticing Ryuji smiling he must’ve been the one talking but he knew she more than anyone needed to finish the idea.

She had decided then. Screw his letter. She would rebel against his wish and get him back.

#

It was Valentines day and Akira was next to Makoto in their Leblanc booth, intertwined hands and Makoto’s head on his shoulder, his head on top of hers. He gave her a kiss on the head.

“Thank you, for not listening”

“Well I am a Phantom Thief remember, rebelling against society is in the job description.”

“Heh, that it is.” He chuckled.

They sat in silence for a while basking in the silence of the café together.

“Hey Akira”

“Yeah”

“I don’t want this to be like Christmas. So, this time, let’s not reminisce on old memories. Let’s make new ones together.”

“I’d like that” he said a wide grin on his face as they sat comfortably as the day passed into night, happy that they were back together and nothing could tear them apart.