Chapter Text
“...Why?”
“What do you mean why?”
“I mean, why do you have to go to her wedding in the first place? I thought you hated Mika.” Ryuji sat up in bed, rubbing his eyes as he squinted at the clock. Why did she always call him so early in the morning whenever she wanted something?
“First of all,” Ann enumerated plainly, “I don’t hate Mika, Mika hates me.”
“Okay,” he snorted, as though that was somehow supposed to make it better. Why someone would invite a person they hated to their own wedding was beyond him. Why someone would want to go to the wedding of someone who hated them, even more. Well, unless there was free food and booze to be had. Then he could probably find the motivation. But still, it’d suck, and he’d probably make it clear to everyone around him that it sucked. But this was probably why he didn't get invited to too many events.
“And anyway,” Ann continued, “that was years ago. I’m completely over it now.”
“But she still hates you,” Ryuji added for clarification, scratching his head sleepily. None of this was making any sense to him.
“Yeah, because she’s an asshole.”
“Okay,” he repeated, the laugh escaping him before he saw it coming. He’d never understood how easily she’d been able to forgive Mika without ever receiving so much as an apology. Even if Ann had the wisdom beyond her teenage years to see beyond her actions because of her motivations, that was never Ryuji’s style. (Though to be fair, Ryuji’s style almost got them kicked out of school or even arrested more times than he could count.) And even if she was justified in her resentment, she still tried to sabotage Ann’s career to advance her own and couldn’t even be bothered to pretend to be sorry about it. It had been years, but he clenched his teeth in frustration about it even now. It was probably a good thing Akira was there when it happened, and not him. If it’d been him he’d probably still be serving out some kind of jail sentence for assault about it.
“I still don’t understand why this means you have to go to her wedding, though,” he pressed, brows furrowed as he hunched his shoulders. “I mean, who’d wanna marry her anyway? Sounds fake if you ask me. Could be another trap.”
He could practically hear her respond with an eyeroll over the phone. “If it’s another trap, then either my boss is out to get me, or he’s gonna be majorly pissed off at her when he figures it out, Ryuji. All the models and everyone from the agency were invited, so I had to be too. For the appearances, you know. But she’s awful to everyone. Except for the bosses obviously.”
“Okay…” he repeated, still skeptical. “Why do you want me to come, though? I thought it was for the appearances.”
“Well yeah, I can’t show up alone to the wedding of someone who hates me, Ryuji. That’s like, petty drama lesson number one.”
“Yeah but…” he continued, somewhat amazed that she wasn’t following him where he was going. “If it’s for the appearances, why don’t you take someone prettier, or like… better at not being a total asshole all the time. Like Akira or Yusuke or somebody.”
Ann paused, and Ryuji held in a breath in anticipation of what was going to come next. I asked them and they’re not free and you’re my last resort so you better come. Or, oh god, you didn’t hear, did you Ryuji? They’re both dead, yeah, freak accident. I know, it’s crazy. I was surprised too. So anyway you have to come. Or, surprise this was all an elaborate joke you big ugly dipshit you think I really want to be seen with you in front of all my work friends and colleagues??? lololol get real buddy. Okay, the last one didn’t really sound like her, but that didn’t mean he was going to discount the possibility of the first two.
“I don’t know. I didn’t really think about it.” Ryuji let his breath escape, not really sure how the results sat with him, in his stomach or in… anywhere else, really. “I guess I thought it’d be fun to go with you. It’s at Disney Sea, by the way.” At the short laugh that Ryuji left out--one she had no reason to recognize as surprised relief at the thing she’d said just before Disney Sea--she continued, “I know, super extra, right.”
Ryuji hummed in agreement. A wedding at a theme park… it was extra. And no wonder Ann had thought of him.
“Anyway you know if I asked Yusuke to an event filled with models he’ll just try to get them all to take their clothes off for him.” Ryuji chuckled his agreement, muttering “yeah, true” into the receiver. All at once, a series of disastrous scenarios flashed before his eyes, most of which ended with Yusuke spending the night in prison, insisting that it was all some kind of ridiculous misunderstanding. When the quiet laughter died down, though, a kind of silence hung on the line, somehow tangible between them despite their physical separation. “So…” Ann followed up after a second that seemed to stretch out a lifetime. “You’ll come?”
Ryuji felt a sort of movement in his chest that he declined to name at the hopefulness in her voice. Though it had been years since they were forced into retirement, the Phantom Thieves still saw each other fairly regularly, or at least, as regularly as seven young adults, half of whom were holding down multiple part time jobs in one of the world’s most populated cities could manage to see each other. Akira had moved back right after graduation, slipping seamlessly back into the attic in Leblanc as though he had never left. He was helping Sojiro around the shop now, where they still got together at least once or twice a month for curry dinners. The group chat was still popping, though it was less of a constant buzz in his pocket. But it had been a while since he and Ann had hung out, just the two of them. After graduating, she continued modeling with her agency while taking some business classes at a local college, while Ryuji, now finally able to contribute something for all the years his mom spent taking care of him, was holding down two part time jobs, one as a kids’ soccer coach, and another at a local gym. He was thinking about going back to school at some point, maybe to train as a physical therapist, but the more time he spent working with kids, the more he thought... anyway. Between their two schedules, and not being in school together anymore, it was hard to find times to just… be in each other’s presence like they used to. They still talked all the time, but… if he was being honest about it, he did feel like a little something was missing.
“Ryuji?” Ann’s hesitant voice shook him out of his thoughts.
“A--sorry,” he laughed, embarrassed that he’d gotten so caught up in his brooding. “Yeah, of course. Of course I’ll come. Whatever you want. Just gotta request the time off.”
“Really?” He could swear he heard some relief in her voice, and there it was, the movement in his chest again. “Okay, great! So, uh, the wedding’s on the 23rd, but it’s at night and a pain and a half to get to so can you maybe try for those two days? The company will pay for the hotel. And I thought maybe we could go down early in the day to hang out in the park a little? Since we’re going all the way over there and all.”
Ryuji’s eyebrows rose slightly in surprise. “You’ve really thought this out, huh?”
“I mean… I just thought it’d be fun, if we’re going out of town anyway… might as well make the most of it, right? We never get time off anyway. I feel like... I never get to see you anymore.”
“Yeah,” Ryuji smiled, as though she’d been reading his mind. “Yeah, I feel the same way. Okay, fuck it. Let’s do it. Disney Sea. Why not.”
“Okay! Okay, great. I’ll text you the details.” Ryuji could have sworn he heard her grinning through the phone, so much so that he could practically picture it. “Shit… okay I gotta go or I’ll be late for work but I’ll talk to you later okay? Okay. Bye!”
“Bye,” Ryuji said, unsure exactly of what had really just happened. All he knew was that he was smiling, his face felt warm, and his cheeks kind of hurt a little. He pulled his phone belatedly away from his ear, staring mystified at the end call screen. Well, okay, he thought to himself. So… this is happening.