Chapter Text
"Cheers!"
A bundle of glasses filled with colourful mocktails, bubbling soda and one cup of matcha tea clinked together in celebratory harmony. While Makoto did have her reservations about being swept up in the hype storm of her exciteable, gossipping friends, it was hard to deny that she was having at least a little bit of fun being treated like some kind of celebrity. Haru had insisted that she'd spare no expense for such a momentous occasion, and Makoto was quickly starting to realise that that was a threat. This place has chandeliers, for crying out loud. Multiple! Plural! All she did was say tell them she had a boyfriend!
Still, in spite of her growing embarrassment from being thrown what feels like a premature bachelorette party (she is now realising she doesn't actually know what a traditional bachelorette party entails (and at this point she's afraid to ask)), a rush of serotonin floods her mind, body and soul upon hearing her closest friends so objectively, explicitly happy. The group has been through their fair share of emotionally brutal twists and turns over the last few months, and Makoto is making a conscious effort to be thankful that they get to share this moment of relative peace together.
'Relative,' of course, because one would be hard-pressed to call any peace with the combined eight of them quiet.
"As happy as I am for the two of you," Ann started as she fixed a warning glare in Ren's direction, "Makoto's like an older sister to me, so if you break her heart, I'll kick your ass." Her expression brightens seconds later as if she hadn't even said anything. "Sorry, Ren! It's the girl code. You know how it is."
Makoto, for reference, does not know how it is. Did she really have that few friends growing up...?
Ren is barely able to get two words out before Ryuji elbows himself into Ann's line of fire, thankfully managing to avoid splashing anyone with his drink as he jabs a finger in Ann's direction (which is perfect, because Morgana was in the prime position to get a very sticky shower from his hiding place in Ren's bag next to him).
"Yeah, well, Ren's like a brother to me. So if Makoto breaks his heart, I'll have no choice but to kick her ass! Bro code, Ann."
Ann snorts into the rim of her glass of red, glittering Dashing Darling in response. "Keep dreaming, buddy. You couldn't kick her ass if your boots were twice the size."
"I know that!" Ryuji squawks defensively. "You think I don't know that? But I gotta say it anyway, 'cause Ren's my boy, y'know?" Ryuji grabs Ren's shoulder and gives him a jostle.
At this point, Ren has given up trying to interject and simply watches with fond exasperation. Futaba is chanting fight, fight, fight, fight, fight! under her breath, seemingly determined to make the situation worse.
"Nobody's breaking anyone's heart, here," Makoto butts in, fighting to stop the team from making a scene. Ren, sitting across from her, thanks her with a gentle nudge against her foot with his own under the table, a sentiment that suddenly makes her bones feel like jelly.
"For what it's worth, Ann has my blessing to kick my ass if I break Makoto's heart," Ren adds on with just enough of a smirk to betray that he knows damn well he's not helping.
"I'm happy to help, if needed!" Haru chimes in innocently. She sounds more like she's just offered to help him move, if anything.
"Deal," Ren agrees without batting an eye.
Makoto gives Ren a look of what on Earth do you think you're doing? to which Ren calmly glances back let them have their fun, they're just excited for us. Eyes still locked on hers, Ren's head tilts down a half-inch with a quirked eyebrow that adds on, you ought to be enjoying yourself too, you know. Makoto narrows her eyes and fires back, enjoy my boyfriend volunteering to become the communal punching bag?
Yusuke, meanwhile, is fondly regarding the two lovers in their silent exchange, absolutely clueless as to what they could be conveying to each other but deeply regretful he didn't bring his sketchbook with him to capture the moment. Perhaps if he could make use of a napkin and some ketchup packets...
"Soooo, what exactly happened between you two? Who asked who out?" Futaba asks, crouched on her seat instead of sitting down like a normal person. Usually she couldn't give a rat's ass about people's feelings and junk, but seeing her older brother figure snag a 10/10 like Makoto made him look like some kind of dashing action hero to her, she HAD to ask!
Ren looks to Makoto in a silent request for permission to recount the story, to which Makoto nods. Futaba casually leans over in an effort to swipe a french fry from Yusuke's bowl while she waits, only to be met with him pointedly sliding his food out of her reach once he notices. He relents when Futaba hisses at him. She gleefully collects her spoils of war with an expression she would refer to as 'greater-than-colon-three' if asked.
"Makoto needed a fake boyfriend to do some undercover investigating. I told her I'd only do it if I got to take it seriously," Ren explained with a casual shrug.
"I thought you were teasing me when you said that!" Makoto responds defensively, already regretting letting him take the wheel on the explanation. She decided she'd take it from here. "I-I needed a way to keep tabs on a friend's new partner, sssssoooo I... arranged a double date, then..." Makoto clears her throat, taking a deep breath before calmly and pragmatically barrelling through the rest of her sentence in an effort to distance herself from how embarrassing the memory was: "...realised I actually needed a boyfriend, um, for it to be a double date, and asked Ren to be my pretend boyfriend. The end."
"You left the part out where I asked you out for real once it was all over," Ren teased with a fond smile, which suddenly left Makoto very interested in sipping her drink and not at all responding to that.
"So did you guys have to, like... practice canoodling and stuff so it'd look convincing?" Ann asked curiously, resisting the urge to also steal a fry from Yusuke's bowl. Morgana apparently bore no such chivalry, swiping in and out like a bandit (he wouldn't HAVE TO if SOMEONE remembered to FEED HIM instead of staring at Makoto with goo-goo eyes all night).
"Canoodling?" Ryuji asked in exasperation, trying to disguise the fact that he had no clue what that word meant. "What're you, from the 1800s?"
"It means kissing, you buffoon!" an irritated Morgana hissed from Ren's bag, poking his head out to glare at him. "Don't blame her for the fact that you obviously don't know anything about romance!"
"Cuddling, too!" Haru adds with a smile. "Kissing and cuddling. Bundled up under the covers, holding each other close..." Haru closed her eyes and lightly hugged her arms in thought, swaying to the tune of her own romanticised scenario. She was merely waxing poetic about the relationship she wishes she had, but Makoto was clearly prone to burst into flames any second now if she kept this up, so Haru mercifully leaves well enough alone.
"Unfortunately, no," Ren finally answers with a solemn shake of his head. "Barely so much as held hands."
"I'm surprised you convinced him you were an item at all. Guess you put all your points right in your Charm stat, huh?" Futaba asked.
"It was easy, actually. I just told him that love comes in many forms," Ren explains, looking to Makoto with a subtle yet earnest smile. Makoto, for all her shrinking-violet shyness, smiles back at him like he's the only other person in the room.
It was hard to fathom that a mere few months ago, she was one of many who simply assumed he was some dangerous criminal, whether she'd truly given those stories thought or simply swayed to the rhythm of the collective consciousness. It wasn't like it got under his skin — none of the other rumours about him had, anyway — but it really did feel rewarding to be able to change her mind about him; about the philosophy speaking one's mind and bowing to nobody.
At the same time though, he's learned a great deal from her in turn: she's the one that taught him how to think more than two steps ahead, she's the one that can truly get him to consider the risks and dangers he puts himself through every day. She pushes every aspect of herself to their limits for nothing more than the sake of making another person's life easier. She juggles responsibilities with the grace of a dancer. She has her sights set on a future brighter than the darker shadow could hide, and yet she's chosen to place her trust in someone she thought was some ruffian transfer student less than a year ago. She's put more work into learning his true nature than anyone else here, and he couldn't be more thankful for it.
"Besides," Ren tacked on, "it wasn't hard to look like I liked her when I already did."
Ryuji whoops and hollers, congratulating Ren's killer line with a friendly punch in the shoulder. "Daaaamn, Ren out here with GAME! You gotta teach me how you do that, man!" Ren admittedly wasn't quite sure how to tell him that the method to his madness was many, many trips to the bathhouse and a lot of romcoms, but appreciated the enthusiasm nonetheless.
"I wouldn't hold your breath, Ryuji. You're hopeless when it comes to that kind of thing..." Morgana sighed.
"Oh, for the love of— go cough up a hairball, litter box!"
"Bite me, blondie!"
As Ryuji and Morgana squabbled from across the table, Haru leans over to her neighbour Makoto and lowers her voice to keep their conversation relatively private.
"I hope you didn't feel pressured to accept my invitation, Mako-chan... I know you can get a little nervous about being the center of attention, sometimes. How are you holding up?" Haru asked with such earnest patience and concern in her eyes that it was impossible for Makoto to resist the urge to answer honestly.
"Well, I'd be lying if I said this situation wasn't a little embarrassing," read: absolutely mortifying, "but I have to admit, it's kind of nice having this out in the open. No more staying behind after meetings, no more sneaking around, no more hiding... It's rather freeing."
Haru sized Makoto up and down, peering right into her soul and attempting to verify where this response lied on the scale of genuinely believing what she's saying and diplomatically bringing up the silver lining upon being put on the spot.
"...To be honest, this is the most real the situation's felt to me so far," Makoto adds on in an effort to fill the sudden silence between them. Haru seems satisfied that Makoto's telling the truth, and waits for her to finish her thought. "Sure, I could tell in my mind that our relationship was all reality — it all felt far too grounded for me to worry about suddenly waking up in my bed like nothing ever happened — but the fact that we'd go right back to normal the second someone else walked in the room... I couldn't help but feel like it was all some kind of dream, sometimes."
"I know what you mean... It was like that back when I was engaged to Sugimura. Just... slightly different." Haru was far too polite to badmouth even her monstrous ex-fiancé in public, but Makoto was sharp enough to intuit what she meant: while her time with Ren had felt like a dream, Haru was used to time with him feeling like a nightmare. Makoto gently lays a hand on top of Haru's on her lap, in silent support.
Makoto was honestly a little surprised Haru was as happy for them as she was. She would have imagined two of her teammates being in such a lovey-dovey relationship mere feet away from her would bring up feelings of jealousy or envy (both completely distinct concepts, thank you very much) — though in retrospect, perhaps she was just letting her paranoia about breaking the news to her older sister get to her. Sure, her friends were nothing but supportive about their new bond, but she could only imagine the rigorous interrogation Ren was in for once Sae found out.
Perhaps that was why she was willing to put up with the mortifying prospect of her friends wrestling each other in the middle of a fancy dining establishment and risking getting them all forcefully removed from the premises. They were messy and chaotic and unpredictable — all words Makoto was vehemently biased against — but they were true friends, through and through. Every sentiment their friends had given them since the big reveal had been nothing but overwhelming loyalty and pride.
As if to twist the knife (or whatever the positive inversion to that sentiment was... to tenderly bandage the wound?), Haru laid her other hand on top of Makoto's, thumb gently smoothing over one of her knuckles as she beamed at her with the warmth of a thousand suns. "He's so good for you." she whispered, "I couldn't be more relieved."
"It's because you two contrast each other so splendidly," Yusuke spoke as he leaned in, apparently deciding he was part of this conversation now. Makoto damn near squeaked in surprise (thankfully at a frequency that only she was privvy to (probably. Morgana's ears may have perked up a little)). Seemingly not seeing anything wrong with his eavesdropping, Yusuke continued his thought: "Just as Ren brings out Makoto's boldness and determination, Makoto's done wonders for advancing Ren's tactical strategy and leadership ability. You're complementary colours."
His remark on their nature as complementary colours was merely a metaphor, however, as Yusuke had no choice but to render the two of them with the same shade of ketchup red on the borrowed napkin forming his makeshift canvas. It wasn't his best work, but the challenge was rather intriguing. Very cost-effective, too.
Makoto's first impulse, curse her soul to the depths of hell, was to scoff at the very thought of her helping Ren with anything. "I wouldn't go that far..."
"No, he's right, though!" Haru chirped, hands clasped together in excited realisation. "Even before you started dating, you always seemed so much more confident when he was in the room with you!"
"And he always seems to calm down in your presence, and pick up on details he may have otherwise missed," Yusuke adds, nodding confidently.
Makoto takes a moment to take a slow, calculated sip of her drink of ice water and buy herself some time to think of a rebuttal. Were they correct? Makoto had simply assumed Ren was mastering the art of leadership with time and practice, she'd never be so rude as to assume she was the one that had taught him how to determine what items a Shadow may have on hand or what attributes would be effective against them. Unless...?
She'll concede they're undeniably correct about one thing, though: Ren has moved absolute mountains in her life. He was the one who singlehandedly upturned her entire life's ideology, he was the one who challenged her perspective on right and wrong; necessary crime versus lackluster justice. She stalked the boy, and he still had the decency to take her under his wing and teach her how to live and thrive past her academic upbringing.
She just can't fathom what she possibly could have done for him. Especially as a girlfriend. She practically combusts at the thought of kissing his cheek in private, how could she be okay with parading her around as his partner where people could see her?
She'd have to ask him about this later. She needed to know for certain that she wasn't just going to weigh him down or waste his time. She'll need to be sure she's thought this through, though... Make sure she's assembled a finely curated question set to run through, likely with follow-up questions already prepared...
Thp!
Makoto's trance was shattered with something hits her forehead: the paper casing of one of the many plastic tucked into a cup on their table, fluttering to the surface after bonking her square on the forehead like a missile. The culprit was all too obvious — after all, the tip of Ren's straw was still in his mouth. He was practically red-handed. The jury that was the rest of their friend group forming a chorus of oooooooh? only sealed the deal.
"Wanna head back to Leblanc?" Ren repeated, reasonably certain she'd been too caught up in her own hyperanalysis to hear him the first time, yet endlessly patient as he asked the second time. It was the least he could do after the tutoring sessions she'd given him, after all.
"Yes," Makoto answered without an ounce of her characteristic analysis paralysis. "Yes, that sounds lovely."
"Then let's BOUNCE already! They don't have the kind of dessert I want here anyway," Futaba piped up, the first to emerge from her seat.
"What kind of dining establishment only offers two selections for dessert...?" Yusuke pondered, collecting his ketchup-stained napkin as he considered whether to preserve or discard it.
"Fancy rich people think they're too good for dessert," Ryuji sighed. "Prolly think they'll look like children if they ask for an ice cream sundae." He spoke with a lot of confidence considering this was nothing but an improvised working theory.
With their meal finished and paid for (Makoto didn't have the heart to look at the bill, but those bugged-out eyes from Ryuji spoke volumes), the group slowly started to shuffle out from their respective seats and make for the exit, though Makoto made it a point to take her time as she waited for Ren to leave last. She ran through her impromptu plan in her head: futz about with your purse for a moment but keep moving so as to encourage him to do the same, avoid eye contact but match his stride, reach down and strike while the iron's hot.
Ren smiled as Makoto took hold of his hand with all the subterfuge of a neon sign. "Someone's feeling daring tonight."
"You're rubbing off on me," Makoto responded with a similarly eager smile. "Besides, it's not like we have to hide it anymore, right?" Despite her newfound confidence, she was still blushing far too much for her liking, as much as she knew Ren adored it (the cheeky bastard (for legal purposes, she means this affectionately)).
"No complaints here." Ren gave her hand a gentle squeeze, silent affirmation that he was telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth. "You'd better be ready for the rest of them to start telling us we're sitting in a tree, though."
Makoto sighed in knowing, exhausted fondness.
"Maybe we should, some time," Ren continued as they made it to the entrance. "Sit in a tree together, I mean. Inokashira, maybe?"
"It's a date." Makoto realised a half second too late that she'd set Ren up with the worst possible opening imaginable. "Don't—"
"Our first date..."
Ren got to enjoy a light smack on the arm for his trouble; precisely the annoyed-yet-fond reaction he was hoping for.
Upon their exit, the two were met with the teasing singsong tones of their friends as they surrounded them like gossipping vultures, though for once Makoto didn't feel the need to shy away. She was far too focused on the prospect of a nice cup of coffee with their friends in the privacy of her favourite café, and the perfect warmth of her boyfriend's hand in hers. She's glad they finally told everyone the truth in the end.
Well, almost everyone. Sae was going to be a bit of a step up in difficulty, but they'd cross that bridge when they got there.