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Ryuji steps off the train and starts the short walk to LeBlanc. He sticks his hands into the pockets of his purple coat to keep them warm as he heads out. Today he can really feel the brisk winter wind against his face. He mutters a soft curse, regretting not wearing a scarf to keep his face from freezing. But it’s okay because he knows it’ll be worth it when he hangs out with Akira. With neither of them having any girlfriends, he knows they’ll have a good time just chilling, playing video games, and complaining about their lack of love lives.
The bell of LeBlanc’s door rings as he pushes it open. He sees Sojiro working behind the counter, placing a cup of coffee on the counter. He sees a bag on a seat, but there’s no one there right now. Maybe they’re in the bathroom? Sojiro wouldn’t just make coffee for the hell of it - actually, scratch that, he would. But it doesn’t look like it’s for him when he goes back to cleaning the other half of the counter.
“Hey Boss, gonna head upstairs.” Ryuji waves.
“If you’re looking for Akira, he’s not here,” Sojiro says without missing a beat.
“Wait what?” Ryuji stops in his tracks, “Is he out with someone?”
He nods and stops wiping down the counter to look at him, “Yeah, he left with the redhead, the new one. What was her name? I think it’s their first date, he looked pretty nervous.
“He left with Sumire?” This must be a really recent thing because Ryuji can’t remember him mentioning anything about dating. Then again, if this is his first date with her, he wouldn’t mention it unless it went okay, “Shit, guess I’m alone tonight. Mind making me a hot chocolate, boss?”
Sojiro chuckles, “Sure kid. Take a seat.” He sits a few chairs away from the bag. Who’s here, and where are they? He doesn’t get a chance to think about it too much before he hears the bathroom door creak open.
“Oh, hello Ryuji. I wasn’t expecting to see you here tonight.” Makoto says. What is she doing here? It doesn’t seem like she has any plans for tonight either… and it’s a complete relief to him. He keeps his hands down on the counter to avoid making the sweat on his palms obvious. Thankfully he can hide the increasing pace of his beating heart.
He’s done a good job keep his crush a secret for the past couple of months. But seeing her here, on Valentine’s Day? Aka one of the most romantic days of the year? He’s definitely fucked.
“Yeah, same.” Ryuji chokes out. She walks over to her seat, slipping back to her seat. She blows lightly on the coffee before taking a small sip. Should he move closer? Should he stay put? Which is weirder?
“Well, this was more customers than I expected today. Let me get started on your hot chocolate, kid.” Sojiro laughs as he walks over to grab cocoa powder and warm up the milk.
“You can move closer if you’d like.” Makoto offers. At least his panic isn’t that obvious to her, and hey, she’s the one who said to move closer. That’s a win in his book. He moves a little too quickly, sitting in the seat right next to her. His elbow brushes hers as he sits down. Nope nope nope - gotta chill, gotta relax, he tells himself.
“So why are you here?” Ryuji says. It’s more casual than he expected to slip out, which is another win in his book. Tonight’s going to be okay. Wait, how long is she going to be here? He mentally kicks himself to get a grip on himself. Sure, they don’t hang out together a lot, alone. Which probably explains his nerves….
“I didn’t have any plans for tonight. I figured I’d pass by and drink some coffee. I actually caught Akira as he was leaving with Sumire. Did you know they were dating?” She asks him.
He shakes his head, “No, I think they just started going out. But uh, good for him. Must be nice to have someone on Valentine’s Day.”
“You kids are young. You have your whole lives to figure this stuff out,” Sojiro says from the kitchen.
“Yeah… don’t make it any easier. I don’t have alotta experience with love right now.”
Makoto raises an eyebrow as she takes another sip. She puts the cup down, “It sounds like you’ve dated someone in the past.”
Ryuji sheepishly rubs the back of his neck, “Uh, I dated a girl for like a month when I still did track as a first-year. Then Kamoshida f-ed up the track team and she broke up with me. Started datin’ some guy on the volleyball team right after. Pretty sure she just wanted to be with some athlete in the school.”
Yeah it’s not a lot of experience. They didn’t even kiss when he dated her. They just hugged and held hands. Nothing crazy, and honestly, he’s embarrassed he brought it up in the first place.
“Unfortunately, I know who you’re talking about. He’s the student council secretary now, and he’s not too different from her. He used to date another popular girl before her. I think they’re still together, but um, I try to keep my nose out of the love lives of others.”
Should he…? Or is it way over the line, even for him?
“What about you? Date anyone before?” He says without thinking.
Makoto looks down sadly into the dark coffee in her cup, “Not really. I’ve had crushes on people before but I’ve never truly pursued any of them.”
So she’s had crushes on people before? Is she interested in anyone now? He bites his lip. The idea is hard for him to digest. If she does like someone, it’s okay. He’s gotta respect her and her decisions. They’re just friends right now anyway. It’s not like he’s been trying to work up the nerve to seriously call her pretty and say he likes everything about her.
“Damn, that sucks,” Ryuji simply notes. It’s quiet until Sojiro puts the white cup in front of Ryuji. It’s sweet when he takes a sip. It burns the top of his mouth, but he doesn’t mind the short stinge.
“Did you ask her out?” Makoto suddenly asks.
“I mean, she did, after she came to some of the track practices. Why do you care though?” Ryuji questions back. Where is she going with this? Why would she care if he asked her out? She showed interest in him, and he liked her back enough to give it a shot.
“Um, just curious is all. Gives me an idea of the types of girls you’re into,” Makoto then laughs, “You seem to be into really bold girls.”
“I dunno about that,” He hesitates, “I mean, I don’t care if a girl asks me out. I said yeah to her because she was pretty and smart.”
“I never would’ve thought you liked smart girls.” Ohhhhh noooooo. She’s gotta know now. She’s pretty, and she’s smart. Okay, he can backtrack, try to not make it so obvious that he’s crushing hard.
“I-I mean it’s not just that. They gotta be nice, actually care about shit. Yeah, she was kinda using me, but she did care about track when we dated. But I’d also want a girl that’s tough. I feel like if they can’t handle shit, we’re not gonna last a long time.”
Okay, that’s the total opposite of what he wanted. He’s just digging himself deeper and deeper into this hole. She’s gotta know he’s crushing on her now, but that doesn’t mean she likes him back. If she’s trying to get this out of him, he may as well ask back. Maybe if he gets an idea, he can try to detach himself from her and actually move on.
“Alright, I told you what I kinda like. Now you tell me,” He smirks. She turns bright red, trying to hide behind the cup. But she’s out of coffee, and he knows her. It’s late enough in the day that she won’t ask for another cup. It’ll keep her up at night. God, she’s cute.
She sets the cup down, knowing she can only hide behind it for so long.
“Um, w-well… I’d like a boy who’s confident and knows what they want. I’d also someone who’s different than me. Not too different because we wouldn’t have too much to talk about, but enough where I can learn from them. Someone who cares for the people around them, because then I know they’re truly a good person. And um… yeah, that’s it.”
“Yeah, that’s uh, realistic. We both can find someone. L-later, like Boss said.”
“Oh my god,” Sojiro groans, “You two are blind.”
“Huh?”
“What?” They both say at the same time
Sojiro gestures down to them. Their hands are incredibly close together. Any more, and they would be holding hands. When did their hands get this close? Could she feel the sweat he has on him? No, no way. Is she sweating too? Why hasn’t he moved his hand away? Why hasn’t she moved her hand away.
“Lock up and stick this in my mailbox when you guys are done,” He places a key by their hands. They suddenly both bring their hands back to their bodies. Ryuji can feel the heat on his face. If his hands were still cold, he could save himself and basically slap the heat away. But after drinking most of the hot chocolate, there’s no way he can chill away from the embarrassment. He starts to take off his apron and sticks it into a cubby beneath the counter.
“Done with what?” Makoto turns in his direction as he starts to walk away.
“Done figuring out your feelings. You two just described each other when you talked about the type of people you like. Plus, I’ve seen the way you two look at each other when you think the other isn’t watching. So, talk it out. I’ll be back home.”
The door rings and shuts with a thud.
It’s so quiet he can hear Sojiro walk away. He can hear a few people talk outside until that also fades away. They sit in silence for a few minutes. He doesn’t want to break the silence, and she doesn’t want to either. One of them is going to have to break eventually.
Because Sojiro is right - at least, for him.
Unless does she really think he’s confident? That he cares a lot for the people around him? The second one is definitely right, but he would have said something by now if he was confident. Well, maybe he can fit that role. Better late than never.
“So… when you said all that, who did you see in your mind?” He asks her. She takes a deep breath, tilting her head back with her eyes closed for a moment. When she opens them, she looks at him.
“Sojiro sold me out.” She sighs.
Wait.
What?
WHAT?
“Wait, you actually like me?” He points to himself, “You think I’m confident?”
“Have you met yourself?” She awkwardly laughs, “From the moment I joined the Phantom Thieves I saw how much you pushed yourself. You didn’t turn away from anything because it was hard. You’re always so sure of yourself, and it’s something I… like, in a person. You.” She chokes on the last word.
Whoa, she really thinks he’s confident. But more importantly, she likes him.
“I was thinkin’ of you when I told you what I like in a girl,” Ryuji admits, “Because uh, you know, I mean, I like you too.”
“...What now then?” Makoto wonders. He didn’t think about what comes after this. He was fully expecting to get rejected. Even then, it’s not like he was planning on confessing his feelings in the middle of LeBlanc on Valentine’s Day. Well, at least it’s kind of romantic.
“Well, maybe we can go out somewhere. It’s still pretty early.” Ryuji suggests.
“Is this your way of asking me out on a date?”
“Yeah, but if you’re looking for flowers and shit, I forgot to buy some on my way here.” He jokes. She laughs, and he can feel his shoulders loosen up. The tension seems to have gone away, and while he knows it might come back when they go out, it’s something he can hold onto for now.
He locks the door when they leave, and they start the short walk to Sojiro’s home. Most of the lights are off besides a few windows to the right of the door. Ryuji finds the mailbox and opens it to stick the key inside. It creaks as it shuts, and he clicks the lock back in.
One of the windows opens up, and of course, he spots the orange hair, and half of her body sticking out the window.
“FINALLY! IT’S ABOUT TIME YOU TWO WORKED IT OUT!” Futaba shouts. Sojiro’s head peers over her shoulder, and he gives a thumbs up.
“What? How did you know?” Ryuji asks.
“You guys were pretty obvious. AND IT’S FINALLY HAPPENED! HAVE FUN TONIGHT!” Futaba sticks her body back inside and shuts the window, this time with curtains drawn.
“Well, at least we don’t have to be subtle,” Makoto shrugs, “If Futaba knows, everyone will know by morning. I’m not looking forward to similar reactions from the others.”
He confidently grabs her hand and grins.
“That’s a tomorrow problem. Let’s just try and enjoy tonight.”