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Waiting for the elevator was taking too much time. The second Ren had gotten a text from Makoto saying there was an emergency at their home, he left his campaign office and headed for their apartment building as quickly as he could. He tried calling Makoto multiple times to learn more, but couldn’t reach her, so sweaty and panting though he was, Ren decided to take the stairs up to their 10th floor apartment. Ren fumbled for his keys, his nerves increasing his desire to open the door and enter his home, but also impeding him from doing so. He was trying desperately to calm down, but it was not easy. It wasn’t like Makoto to be unresponsive like this. Ren's keys tapped against the door again and again, repeatedly missing the keyhole.
And then the door opened on its own.
“Finally!” Eiko stood in the entrance to Ren and Makoto’s apartment, tapping her foot impatiently. “I thought you’d never get here!”
“Eiko!?” Ren put his keys away. “What are you doing here!? Where’s Makoto!?”
“Not here.” Eiko grabbed Ren's wrist and dragged him inside. “Come on, we’ve got a lot to talk about!”
“What!? But I got a message from Makoto saying there’s an emergency, and I haven’t been able to-“
“Oh, don’t worry about that.”
Ren saw Futaba sitting in an armchair, crouched with her laptop. Also in the room were Ann and Hifumi, sitting on the couch.
“There’s no emergency” Futaba continued. “I hacked into your phone to make it look like Makoto was messaging you, then made sure none of your calls back could reach her. Pretty cool, right?”
“No, it’s not cool!” Ren tore his wrist out of Eiko’s grasp and looked around the room. “I ran all the way over here from work because I was worried sick! Do you know how stressful my life is already!?”
“For the record, I was against this strategy” Hifumi said. “I thought it would be better for us to be forthcoming about why we wanted to meet with you.”
“Uh-huh…” Ren crossed his arms. “And just what are all of you doing in my apartment, exactly? How did you even get in here?”
“I let them in.” Sae entered the room from the kitchen, carrying a tray with multiple cups of coffee on it. “We used the spare key Makoto asked me to hold.”
“Oh, Ren-Kun!” Haru followed Sae, carrying a tray of piping hot muffins. “You’re finally here! I hope you don’t mind that I used your kitchen. It’s just not a party without refreshments, after all!”
“I’m more annoyed that you’re all throwing a party in my home without my permission.” Ren scanned the crowd. “Just how many of you are there anyway? Is Ohya going to come staggering out of the bathroom next?”
“We invited her. Lala-Chan too. But they couldn’t make it” Futaba said. “This is everyone.”
“Does Makoto know you’re all here?”
“Nope!” Ann grinned at Ren. “That’s the whole point!”
“Oh, so there’s a point!” Ren made no strides to hide his annoyance. “Would somebody care to tell me what it is?”
“Chill out.” Eiko wheeled in the desk chair from the home office and pushed Ren into it. “You don’t have to be so testy, we’re here to help you, you know!”
“Help with what?” Ren asked.
“Something that’s taken you far too long to do.” Sae finished making her way around the room, holding out the last cup of coffee to Ren.
“You seem grumpy, Ren-Kun.” Haru similarly made rounds, giving out muffins to everyone in the room. She held the last one out to Ren. “Here, I’m sure this will cheer you up! It’s blueberry!”
“I’m not hungry, Haru.” Ren gently pushed the muffin away.
“If he doesn’t want it, I’ll take it!” Ann raised her hand. She had crumbs all over her face and there was nothing left of the muffin she’d been given a moment ago except for the paper it came in.
“Please, Ren-Kun…” Haru gave Ren her usual sweet smile, but there was a note of malice to her voice. “I really think you should eat something to calm your nerves.”
“Ok…” Ren accepted the muffin and took a bite of it. As with everything Haru made, it was delicious. “You know if you want to calm somebody down, you shouldn’t threaten them into accepting snacks, right?”
“I made no threats, Ren-Kun.” Haru joined Ann, Hifumi, and Eiko on the couch, sitting on one of the armrests at the ends. “I simply wish for you to be in a more pleasant state of mind. We have something very important to discuss.”
“Right, so it’s been mentioned.” Ren looked around the room again. Everyone was seated now, Sae settling herself in Makoto’s special recliner that only exceptionally tall people like the Niijima sisters could find comfort in (and Ryuji, but he was forbidden from sitting in it whenever he visited). “So what’s so important that all of you are gathered here that Makoto can’t know about?”
“Do you know what today is?” Futaba asked.
“June 20th” Ren said. “Why?”
“Ten years ago today, Makoto awoke to her Persona and joined the Phantom Thieves.” A while back, Ren would be concerned by Futaba saying that in front of Eiko, but it turned out Makoto had told her friend a long time ago, and Eiko had successfully kept it a secret far longer than anybody expected her to.
“And the two of you have been dating for almost that entire time” Ann said.
“Right.” Ren nodded. “What’s your point?”
“Oh my god!” Eiko glared at Ren. “I thought you were supposed to be, like, smart! How is an idiot like you running for the Diet!?”
“Excuse me?”
“I believe what Eiko is trying to say,” Hifumi said, “is that you and Makoto have been boyfriend and girlfriend for almost a decade now. That is an inordinately long time for two people to have that particular relationship status.”
“It’s like, forever!” Eiko put her hands on her hips. “Are you gonna put a ring on it or what!?”
“Is that what this is about!?” Ren looked at Eiko, then the rest of the room. “Seriously!?”
All of the women nodded together.
“This is ridiculous. I don’t have time for this.” Ren rose out of his chair. “I have a campaign to run.”
“SIT DOWN” six voices said sternly in unison. Ren returned to his seat. As much as he loved the women in his life, from the pseudo-sisters like Futaba and Sae to close friends like Ann, Haru, and Hifumi, they all had a tendency to be domineering at times. Ren could usually stand up to the glares and harsh tones of any one of the ladies he knew — even Makoto on his better days — but whenever two or more of them teamed up, it was a truly terrifying prospect.
“Please understand, Ren-Kun, we’re not angry with you” Sae said.
“I am!” Eiko shouted.
“Most of us are not angry with you.” Sae calmly sipped her coffee, pausing for a moment to give Haru an approving nod. “We just fail to understand why you two have been together so long without making your union official. I was always under the impression that you wanted to marry Makoto.”
“It’s not that I don’t.” Ren scratched his head. “I guess I just don’t feel like there’s any kind of rush. Makoto and I have been living together for a few years now. At this point, a wedding's really just more of a formality than anything. One that would cost us a lot of time and money.”
“Ren-Kun, if it’s money you’re concerned about, you know you can always ask me for help” Haru said. “Money is no object, especially if it means you and Mako-Chan can have the blissful union you two have always wanted.”
“Yeah, and if you don’t want a fancy wedding, the two of you can just get hitched at a courthouse” Futaba said. “Getting married is easy from a legal standpoint. You guys don’t HAVE to pull out all the stops for some big ceremony if you don’t want to.”
“I can tell you from experience, there’s a very special kind of happiness that can only come from being able to call your partner ‘husband’ or ‘wife’” Hifumi said. “Just knowing that Ryuji and I are family in every sense of the word means the world to me, and our lives have only become more joyous since our marriage.”
“Not to mention, there are certain legal advantages that come with being husband and wife.” Sae gave Ren a grim look. “If either you or Makoto wound up in the hospital, being the other’s spouse would give you full control over affairs.”
“Well, I would hope we don’t find ourselves in such a situation for a very long time” Ren said, finishing off his muffin.
“You’re a rookie politician who’s been rapidly gaining popularity and is very close to assuming a seat in government, and Makoto is a respected police detective with a record of breaking up organized crime. Either one of you could be the target of an assassination attempt at any moment.”
“That is a very messed-up thing to say, Sae-san.”
“Facts are rarely pretty, Ren-Kun.” Sae frowned at Ren. “If misfortune were to befall one of you tomorrow, it would make the other’s life much easier if the two of you were married.”
“Look, I appreciate what you’re all saying. and it’s not like I haven’t wanted to propose to Makoto for years now…” Ren sighed. “But with our careers and everything, it just never seems like there’s an appropriate moment.”
“Well duh!” Ann said. “That’s because you’ve gotta make the moment!”
“‘Make’ the moment?”
“Oh my god, what does Makoto see in you!?” Eiko stood up and marched over to Ren, poking him on the forehead. “The moment a girl is proposed to is supposed to be the most magical moment of her life! You have to make it special so she’ll remember it forever!”
“Asking her to be my wife isn’t memorable enough?”
“For the love of-“ Eiko threw her hands up in the air and returned to the couch. “I can’t even! I can’t even with this guy! Does anyone here have a Japanese to Moron dictionary!?”
“A proposal is a big event, Ren.” Ann rubbed Eiko’s back as she sat down. “You don’t just go up to Makoto all ‘Hey, so like, we’ve wasted enough time, let’s just get married already’. You want to do something special that shows Makoto how much you care about her.”
“Makoto’s a pretty practical person” Ren said. “I don’t think she needs anything all that fancy.”
“It’s true that Makoto is pretty straight-laced…” Futaba looked at the girls assembled on the couch. “Especially compared to some people.” Futaba looked back at Ren. “But still, don’t you think it’d be kinda weak if you didn’t Joker it up a bit when proposing to her? Like, I’m pretty sure half the reason she fell in love with your goofy ass is because of how theatrical you can be when you really want to.”
“You might have a point there…” Ren leaned back, thinking for a moment. “So what, should I show up to the police station on a horse or something?”
“Ooh, that’s a great idea!” Ann said. “And you could dress up like a prince and stuff! It’s just like a fairy tale!”
“I would shelve that plan if I were you, Ren-Kun.” Sae shook her head. “Makoto isn’t much for fairy tales.”
“Yeah, if you’re gonna propose to Makoto in costume, you might as well get a Buchimaru outfit” Eiko said.
“Ooh, yeah, she’d love that!” Futaba started typing away on her laptop. “I bet we can get you one of those official Buchimaru mascot costumes online!”
“Absolutely not” Ren said. “If I proposed to her in a Buchi suit she’d want me to wear it all the time. I would cease to be Ren.”
“Yes, and it doesn’t really feel appropriate for a marriage proposal.” Hifumi started fiddling with the string in her hair. “Maybe instead of proposing in a special outfit, you could propose in a special place instead."
“You sound like you have something in mind, Hifumi.”
“Well, you remember when Ryuji proposed to me. Most of you were there.” Hifumi started to giggle. “We were on that boat, and Ryuji spent a lot of time looking for the right spot on the boat to propose to me. He wanted us to have the perfect view before popping the question.”
“Wow.” Ren whistled. “I never knew about that part.”
“Yes, he told me after the fact.” Hifumi’s smile grew enormous. “He wanted to propose to me during sunset but took too long to find the view. But then he was able to propose to me with the view of Tokyo's city lights instead, which was even more romantic. At least until Ann pushed him overboard.”
"It's not like I did it on purpose" Ann grumbled.
"It was pretty romantic though" Futaba said. " Ryuji’s a totally different person around you, isn’t he?”
“I think Ren-Kun should follow in Ryuji-Kun’s example!" Haru chimed in. "Or better yet, instead of any romantic spot, it could be a spot that's very special to the two of you in particular!” Haru started counting off places on her fingers. “You could take her to the high school, and the arcade, and that club Eiko-Chan used to work at…”
“You could propose to her at Crossroads!” Ann said. “That’s where you two started dating, isn’t it!?”
“Wait, the bar?” Sae gave Ren a disturbed look. “You took my sister to a bar when you were in high school?”
“I mean, when you say it like that, it sounds pretty bad-“
“Well, I don’t think it’s a very good plan as it is” Sae said. “Makoto would see the proposal coming from a mile away. You want it to be a surprise.”
“That might be a tall order” Ren said.
“Yeah, how do you surprise a genius detective?” Ann asked.
“It’s simple.” Sae finished her coffee. “We kidnap Ren-Kun.”
“Kidnap who now?” Ren asked.
“It’s entirely plausible. Ren-Kun is a public figure. He’s a prime candidate for kidnapping. If Makoto thinks he’s been taken, she’ll go to the ends of the earth to find him, and the last thing she'd be expecting in such a situation is a marriage proposal.”
“That’s a great idea!” Eiko grinned. “My car’s right outside! We can throw him in the trunk!”
“We should probably make a mess of the apartment to make it look convincing. It wouldn’t hurt for some of Ren-Kun’s blood to be found scattered around the scene either.” Haru stood up and cracked her knuckles. The face she made reminded Ren a lot of Iwai. “I would like to apologize in advance, Ren-Kun. This is going to be painful.”
“Nope!” Ren jumped to his feet and picked up the chair, holding it between himself and Haru like a lion tamer. “I am not agreeing to this!”
“Of course not. It’s too sloppy this way.” Sae looked at Haru. “We can’t kidnap Ren-Kun now, Haru. We need to plan a proper mystery for Makoto to solve first.”
“Oh, yes. Of course!” Haru sat down, her face returning to her usual bright smile. “I suppose I was getting a bit ahead of myself, wasn’t I?”
“More than a bit.” Ren was still holding the chair like a shield.
“Please sit down, Ren-Kun.” Sae tried to give Ren a big, warm smile. It looked incredibly unnatural. “We are not going to enact the plan today, nor will we bring any actual harm to you when we put it into motion.”
“So you already have a plan?” Ren put the chair down and slowly lowered himself into it. His hands remained on the armrests, just in case he needed to spring up and make a quick escape.
“A frame of one, yes. We’ll need to figure out the specifics over the next few days. To begin with, as I said, we aren’t going to actually hurt you. But we need to make it look like you are hurt for ransom purposes.” Sae looked to the couch. “Ann, Eiko, do you think you could use make-up to make Ren-Kun appear injured?”
“Sure!” Ann gave Sae a thumbs up. “I have some friends who work in special effects! I can get some really good fake blood and stuff from them!”
“My friends and I used to do that Halloween train stuff back in college. We made ourselves look like zombies and stuff. But, you know, cute.” Eiko framed Ren with her fingers the same way Yusuke did. “Making this guy look like he got his ass kicked should be a lot easier.”
“Excellent.” Sae looked at Futaba. “I can write the ransom note, and Futaba can make sure it gets to Makoto in a way she can’t trace it back to us.”
“Sounds fun!” Futaba rubbed her hands together deviously. “I’m always busting up cyber-terrorists at work! Now I get to see what it’s like on the other side!”
“And I’ll guard Ren-Kun!” Haru said. “Mako-Chan’s going to have a fight on her hands if she wants her man back!”
“It’s not a bad idea, but even if you wore a disguise, Makoto would almost certainly recognize you, ruining the surprise.” Sae rubbed her chin. “I think you should use your resources to help with this plan. We’ll need a location to hold Ren and security to guard him.”
“Oh, that’s an excellent idea, Sae-Chan!” Haru stared at her feet in thought. “I’m certain that Okumura Foods has a spare warehouse we can use, and Iwai-San probably knows some people that wouldn’t mind getting beat up by Mako-Chan if we paid them enough…”
“Yes, well, we don’t want Makoto to get hurt, or hurt anybody else too badly.” Sae looked at Hifumi. “We need somebody to oversee the operation. Do you think you could remotely give the guards orders so Makoto emerges victorious without making it look too easy?”
“It’s a different kind of strategy than I’m used to. Allowing the opponent to capture a king, but not too easily?” Hifumi gave the grin she usually reserved for matches against the toughest opponents. “I’m certain that I would be up to the challenge.”
“Wow, this plan is really something else” Ren said. “But I think there’s a big flaw in it you’re all missing.”
“Oh?” Sae looked down her nose at Ren. “And what’s that, Ren-Kun?”
“I don’t want to do it.”
Ren covered his ears as the room became host to a cacophony of angry voices.
“But it’s perfect!”
“Don’t be such a wimp!”
“…so selfish, Ren-Kun.“
“And after all the effort we put into this!”
“…took the time out of our busy days to help you-“
“Fail! Critical fail!”
“Do you people realize how insane you sound right now!?” Ren rose from his chair. “Why do you think scaring the living daylights out of somebody is a good way to surprise them!? Have you even thought of how panicked Makoto would be if she thought I was kidnapped!? You all act like it’s some action movie dream of hers or something, but she wouldn’t be enjoying it because she’d be freaking out the whole time!”
“Don’t yell at us!” Eiko glared at Ren. “We’re doing this all for you, you know!”
“No, you’re doing it all for your own satisfaction! This isn’t about me and Makoto, this is about your whirlwind ideas of what romance should be! I’m disappointed in all of you!” Ren glared at Sae. “Especially you, Sae-San. This kind of nonsense is beneath you.”
“Please calm yourself, Ren-Kun.” Sae rose from her chair to be closer to eye level with the irate young man. “Everyone is here because we love you and Makoto, and we just want what’s best for you.”
“So what, theatrics is what’s best for us!? Make-up and hired goons and fear is what’s best for us!?” Ren reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box which he held out to the others. “Do we really need to go through all of that just so I can give Makoto this!?”
The room went quiet. Sae gave Ren a sly smile. Ren looked around the room and saw all the others grinning at him.
The bedroom door opened. Makoto walked out of the room, eyes wide, her hands covering her mouth. The sound of a camera’s shutter went off and Ohya followed the detective, camera in her hands.
“Makoto!” Ren looked around the room. “But- Wait, did you all know-“
Futaba snickered.
“Damn it, Futaba!” Ren glared at the tiny redhead. “Did you hack my e-mail!?”
“Well duh!” Futaba put her hands on her hips. “Did you really think you could have a ring-sized package from freaking Inaba of all places delivered to LeBlanc in your name without me getting suspicious!?”
“But if you all knew, then why-“
“Because you were taking too long, moron!” Eiko glared at Ren.
“I must agree with Eiko-Chan, Ren-Kun.” Haru gave Ren a slight scowl. “Four weeks is far too long to have an engagement ring and not propose.”
“Seriously, it’s been driving us all nuts!” Ann pulled on her hair. “For the past month we’ve all been like ‘When’s he gonna do it? Is tonight the night? What’s taking him so long!?’”
“That’s because, well-“ Ren sighed and slumped over. “I was trying to think of a way to make it perfect. Nothing seemed good enough.”
“Hypocrite!” Futaba jumped out of her chair and pointed at Ren. “Hey, look, everyone! Ren's a big fat hypocrite!”
“To say the least.” Sae chuckled. “He gave us that big speech about how insane we were acting, but I’ll bet he was driving himself mad trying to construct the perfect proposal.”
“So, um…” Ren looked to Makoto, who was slowly approaching him, hands still covering her mouth. “Have you known too?”
“No.” Makoto’s hands lowered down to her chest. Her whole body was tense. “Sis and the others told me they had a surprise, but I never imagined this.”
“Yeah, well…” Ren opened the box. Inside was a gold ring. It had no diamond on it. Instead, there was a braided pattern all along the outside of the band. “What do you think?”
“It’s beautiful…” Makoto plucked the ring from the box and looked closely at it. “This pattern, is this-”
“You’re always complaining about how you can’t wear your headband on the job because it makes criminals take you less seriously. So I reached out to your friend Kanji and thought since he’s into crafts and stuff, he might know a good metal guy.” Ren grinned. “Master Daidara was worth every yen.”
“I don't know what to say.” Makoto’s eyes began to tear up.
“Well then, I’ll narrow it down to two choices.” Ren took the ring and got down on one knee, taking Makoto’s hand and holding the ring at the tip of her finger. “Makoto Niijima, will you marry-“
“YES!” Makoto pushed her hand forward, sliding the ring onto her finger. Before Ren could react, she crouched down and wrapped her arms around him, standing back up and lifting him off his feet in a powerful bear hug. Ren tried to tell her to put him down, but he was quickly cut off by Makoto pressing her lips against his. The sounds of Ohya’s camera rapidly taking pictures was drowned out by all of the clapping and cheering from everyone else in the room. After a very long and passionate kiss, Makoto finally put Ren down, letting him catch his breath.
“Thank you, all of you.” Ren looked past Makoto to everybody else. “And also I hate all of you.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Eiko opened the door to the hallway and everyone began to shuffle out. “Let’s go!”
“Go where?” Makoto asked.
“To your engagement party!” Ohya put her hands on Ren and Makoto’s backs and started shepherding them towards the door. “Everyone’s waiting for you two at Crossroads!”
“Crossroads?” Ren asked. “Why there?”
“Because if Lala-Chan didn’t get to be a part of this she’d kill us all.”
“That’s true,” Ren said, “she would.”
“Oh my goodness” Makoto said playfully. “We certainly don’t want to die right after our engagement, do we, fiancé?”
“No we do not.” Ren took Makoto’s hand in his, running his finger over the ring. “It’d be a shame if the story of Mr. and Mrs. Amamiya got cut short like that.”
“You know, it’s funny…” Makoto leaned against Ren in a way that emphasized her height advantage. “I’ve always actually imagined it as Mrs. and Mr. Niijima.”
“Huh…” Ren ignored Makoto’s smug grin, wrapping his hand around her waist as they stepped out the door. “I kind of like the sound of that.”