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Out of all Phantom Thieves, Sae appointed both Ann and Ren for this mission, for various reasons.
For starters, Makoto just couldn’t get along with the dress code for the event, finding the long dress too much of a hindrance when it came to her combat moves. Ryuji, as skilled as he is, lacks the elegance needed to blend with the other attendees. Elegance is something Haru has a little too much of, but being the Okumura heir, she had already been invited to the event, and her enrollment with the Thieves is to be kept a secret.
Futaba’s role in the team concerns gathering information and hacking systems rather than actually joining the fray. And much like Haru, Yusuke is elegant enough for such mission, but too awkward in small talk to blend in seamlessly.
Hence Ann and Ren, arm in arm in a room full of important figures, both dressed to the nines with not a hair out of place. Well, Ann has her hair beautifully pinned and twisted in a formal up-do, but Ren went for his charmingly tousled look instead, which is actually painfully, incredibly charming, yes.
This is just another fake dating mission with the man she’s been crushing on for the past two years, no big deal.
“Do you see anything suspicious?” Ren accepts two glasses of some drink they will never sip from a passing waiter, and puts one glass in her hand. “I haven’t spotted Shido yet.”
Ann presses the rim of the glass to her lips, trying to keep her breathing stable when Ren places a hand on the small of her back and pulls her closer. “I see Haru across the room,” she says, glancing at their friend and teammate dressed in a pretty lilac gown. “She’s talking with Akechi.”
“He’s here?” Ren grunts a soft curse and pushes her towards a circle of people quietly chatting amongst themselves. “That makes things more complicated.”
“Do you think she’ll be fine?” It’s no secret to anyone that Masayoshi Shido hired the rising detective to track down who’s been exposing some unsavory truths he hides from the world. With three Phantom Thieves in the same room as him, there’s great risk.
“No one would ever suspect someone like Haru,” he eases her worries, rubbing his palm in soothing circles and forcing her to fight off a pleasant shiver. “Come on, time to use your charm.”
That’s the reason why she’s here, to lure men and women alike into spilling any information that can be useful to them, but Ren, for a man of few words and fewer friends, manages to do that just as well, if not better. It might be the killer smile he flashes to anyone when his interest is piqued, or the way he looks over the rim of his fake prescription glasses when he’s talking to you, or maybe it really is his hair, unruly and tousled in ways that no one else can pull off.
Ann uses her assets well. She’s not fond of the idea of using her body for these purposes, however proud she is of her shape and curves, but some of the lesser targets fall for any glimpse of exposed skin. Her red dress reveals a generous bit of cleavage, and the slit on the skirt shows the creamy skin of her thigh. It’s showy, but still tasteful enough.
Ren is dressed in a pressed black suit of his own, and it looks... So damn good on him, his wide shoulders stretching the blazer just right as it cinches around his waist. She envies how good he looks in everything he wears.
She’s so thirsty all of sudden.
Keeping her arm linked with Ren’s, Ann smiles at all these stupidly rich people, keeping her hips cocked to the side to expose her thigh. Her skin prickles each time someone glances down and stares at her leg and chest for too long, but she tries to bear it patiently. It’s all for taking down Shido, it’s all for making him pay for what he did to Ren in his teenage years.
No one in this circle has anything of value to share, so they move along to another group. Eventually, they cross paths with Haru, and Ann has to remind herself that right now, they are supposed to be strangers.
Shido doesn’t seem to be anywhere, and Ann notices Ren is always steering them away from Akechi, always keeping him on the other side of the room. The cool drink in their flutes has long since gone warm, and every time Ren touches her in some way, Ann feels the need to knock back the bubbly liquid to quench her thirst.
Bumps rise on her skin when he touches her waist, when his fingers graze her shoulders, when he looks at her with those smouldering eyes of his. Her heart does an intricate flip that would put both Ryuji and Makoto to shame when he smiles and praises her for another mission well done. Her stomach flutters when they are forced in the same tight space, her chest pressed to his.
“You two work well together,” Sae observed once, after the first mission they had to handle on their own. “Far better than I have seen in this line of work. You’re a team now, the both of you.”
Back then, Ann certainly didn’t feel like she was a good partner for Ren, nor did she think she fit in with the team. Ren was too quiet and closed off, and Ryuji was too obnoxious and loud, two opposites in their own right. And then there was her, recently transferred to the Japanese branch of the organization and too distrustful of those around her.
Relations slowly improved, and as more members were transferred to their team and it steadily grew, Sae began splitting them up for smaller missions, eventually finding those who worked better together. Ann, after she finally started feeling welcomed in Japan, and Ren, after he was finally comfortable around them enough to speak more than a few words at a time, quickly bonded, and said bond deepened as they shared more and more missions together.
It deepened far more than it should have, if the violent kicks of her heart in her chest meant anything.
After another round of talking with everyone and coming up empty, and Ren takes them to a quiet corner of the room. “Seems like a normal party to me,” she comments, watching couples twirling on the dancefloor to some classical music. Well, dancing’s not crime - yet - and she would love to partake in the festivities if she could.
“Our lead might have been wrong, or Shido knew we would be coming.” Ren frowns at nothing in particular. “Perhaps that’s why Akechi is here.”
“We have to warn Sae,” she says quietly, shifting in place. Heels are beautiful in theory, but in practice they are an absolute torture when worn for too long.
“I’ll find a way to let her know.” He looks down at her, dark grey eyes concerned. “You must be tired. I’ll look for Mishima and get you something safe to drink. He’s working with the kitchen staff. Stay here.”
Ann nods and leans against the wall as he walks away. Mishima, an old friend of Ryuji and Ren from high school days, had been roped into joining the team after he put his nose in things that didn’t really concern him, though she thinks Ryuji might have mentioned the Phantom Thieves a little too much in his presence. The team’s only comfort is that he’s learned and hasn’t done the same again. Either way, Mishima isn’t good with any kind of combat, but he’s great at gathering information, as they have already experienced personally.
Sighing, Ann looks around for a vacant table to take, desperately in need of resting her feet for a while, but pauses when she notices a very familiar, very unwelcome person weaving his way towards her.
“I don’t think we’ve met before.” Akechi says pleasantly, extending his hand in greeting. “I’m Akechi Goro.”
Ann doesn’t take too long to grip his hand and shake it, smiling a bit. “Elina Niemi. A pleasure to meet you.”
Her fingers twitch as he lifts her hand up to peck it lightly on the back before releasing his hold on her. “I spotted you and your consort earlier. Has he left already?”
“Oh, him?” She glances off in the direction he went. “No, he’s just gone to fetch some refreshments.”
“I see. Well then, I hope you won’t mind if I keep you company.” Ann does, in fact, very much mind that he’s decided to stay. “Would you like to dance? I imagine you must be bored after all the talking.”
Yes, she would love to partake in the festivities if she could, but not like this. Ann wants to refuse. Hell, she should refuse , but who is to know what will happen to her if she doesn’t give this potentially dangerous detective the time of the day? He’s already picked them apart from the others, he singled her out the moment Ren walked away. If she says no, he might get more suspicious, or have them cornered at some point. If he does intend to do something, at least that will give Ren, Haru and Mishima enough time to escape.
“I would love to. Thank you.” She accepts his outstretched hand and lets herself be guided to the dancefloor despite the painful protests of her feet.
Much like Ren, Akechi looks harmless enough. He doesn’t hold her too tight or try to make any veiled threats on her life, but still Ann keeps her guards up as he talks about mundane things, like pancakes. For some reason he seems to love them, and Ann can’t help herself from sharing her love for crepes.
And that is how she spends the grand total of five minutes, struggling to maintain eye contact with a man that could have them exposed at any second, and fighting against the urge of glancing around the room looking for Haru or Ren for a way out. It’s only long years of training that keep her from panicking and showing it on her face.
“What do you do for a living?” He asks he twirls her to the sound of a slow, slow waltz.
“I’m a model.” The lie comes to her easily, a side gig to keep appearances that feels a lot like a hobby. “I’m always all over the place, but my company signed a contract in Japan recently.”
Akechi nods as if she’s said the most interesting thing of the world. “I hope you’re enjoying your stay in Japan. There is much to see here.”
“So I’ve been told.” Many temples, parks, mountains and towns to sightsee all around. “Sadly, I don’t have much free time to explore Tokyo itself. My work schedule is pretty hectic.”
“I could help you with that,” Akechi offers, and she feels cold sweat trickle down her spine. “My employer could arrange something. The view from the Tokyo Tower at night is truly beautiful.”
Employer? Could this be the chance they needed to get close to Shido? Dangerous as it is, Ann could try to pull it off for the greater good.
“Excuse me.” Akechi stops their dance to look at Ren, now standing beside them. Through her inner musings, Ann notices he looks like he’s bitten into something sour, even though the untrained eye might not catch it. “I would like to have her hand for a dance, if that’s okay with you.”
Akechi smiles wider. “Ah, Akira Kurusu. A pleasure to finally meet you in person. And yes, of course, she is your date, after all.” Ann’s stomach drops as hard and fast as a boulder would sink into a lake. He takes a step back and offers her a business card. “Thank you for the dance, Niemi-san. It was most enjoyable. Please, take my odder into consideration.”
Ren snatches the card from his hand and actually glares as Akechi walks away, fixing the lapels of his suit as he goes. Ann is barely containing her panic when Ren turns to her again and gently takes her face into his hands. “Are you okay?”
“He knows, Akira.” She holds onto his wrists. Ren is the one who lives the most inconspicuous life out of all of them, complete with a fake identity, a rented room, and a job as cashier in some tiny market in Yongen-Jaya. “He knows your identity- I didn’t- They know-”
Ann inhales sharply as his mouth presses to hers, hard enough to seal her lips, but careful enough to not be forceful. The tension seeps out of her body almost immediately, muscles loosening as she leans on him for support, fingers curled around the sleeves of his blazer. Ren holds her up with his hands, moving one to her waist for added support and cradling her face with the other as he takes the lead.
It lasts for very few seconds, barely enough for her to really savor it, but still she forgets all about Akechi and their mission, where they are, and the fact that Haru and Mishima can certainly seem them now. She breathes him in when they pull apart, lets him guide her into a dance, even as she fumbles with her footing.
“Akira-”
“When this is over,” he cuts in, a low whisper that makes her shiver. He tightens his hold on her, the hand on her waist pulling her closer to him. “We’ll go somewhere nice. Just the two of us.”
“I-”
“You like Hawaii, right?” Ren asks, as if she hasn’t mentioned her love for that particular island many times before. “How about a long vacation? You’re going to eat so much shrimp you’ll get sick of it.” Here she laughs, a little wetly, and his smile goes soft. “Then we come back and get a small apartment together. We’ll adopt a cat and have brunch every Sunday in your favorite café. What do you say?”
She’s very tempted to make use of the heels, push up on her toes and kiss him again. “When you say it like this so suddenly, I fear...”
“Everything will be fine,” he assures her. “I won’t let anything happen to any of you. You know that, don’t you?”
“I do,” she says without missing a beat. They trust their team leader wholeheartedly to lead them to victory.
“It’s a dangerous life we lead, I know. We’ve been through thick and thin together, and survived the most dangerous missions.” Ren goes on, squeezing her hand, leading her with more ease now that she’s regained her footing. “This feels more personal to me than it does to all of you, and I want to make him pay for all that-”
He exhales, closing his eyes to calm himself down. There’s much anger in the body of a man who doesn’t openly expresses his emotions often. When Ren looks at her again, there’s something warm and tender in his eyes. “But I... I’ve been looking forward to the future. That future, with you. So humor me, yeah?”
She blinks up at him, feeling stupid as her brain refuses to cooperate and find the proper words, to form an answer that lives up to his confession. “Yes,” she breathes out. “I want that future with you, too.”
“Thank you.” Ren smiles and they slow to a stop. “Let’s get you out of here. I don’t want you anywhere near that guy.”
No one stops them as they leave the room, no one waits for them in the elevator or intercept them on the hotel lobby. Their car isn’t rigged either, but still Ren is mindful of the surveillance cameras as he drives them back to their headquarters.
The Thieves do what they can to spend as little time as possible together in public with the intent that the others won’t be found out should something happen to one of them. With Ren’s fake identity in the hands of someone like Akechi and Shido, it only means that he will have to keep further distance from all of them. From her.
In the underground garage of the headquarters, Ren turns the engine off and rounds up on her, taking hold of her face to kiss her breathless again. They will have to keep this blooming relationship under wraps, but it’s fine. They’re used to keeping secrets anyway.