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Ryuji silently hummed to himself as he walked towards Inokashira park. The meeting place he had settled with Haru was located there, as their common hanging out spot which was LeBlanc wouldn’t be safe for the conversation they were about to have.
Haru was definitely alarmed that they weren’t meeting at their usual spot, but then again, they never really met up alone, without the rest of the group. And besides, LeBlanc was a magnet for people capable of eavesdropping, Futaba being the first suspect on the chain.
He and the girl aren’t very close to each other compared to some of their teammates, but Ryuji figured that if he talked to anyone else about this, they would either tease him endlessly or let the secret accidentally slip, or both. He trusted Haru to keep his secret hidden deep down in her brain and never speak of it to anyone.
When he finally arrived at the park, he headed for the bench they were supposed to meet up at, and of course the girl was already there. Her pink sweater unsurprisingly there, her hair neatly combed, but still a bit messy from the air that was inevitably pestering her carefully tended hair. She wasn’t seated on the bench but stood upright, her hands folded as she waited.
“Yo!” Ryuji called for her attention.
As she delicately turned around, her steps certain but still cushioned, like she was stepping on clouds that absorbed her traces before she was thrown up once again.
Once her eyes were on him, her face softened with a kind smile and a little wave.
“Ryuji-kun! You’re finally here!” she said excitedly, but she was probably sick of waiting for him. Was he really that late? He checked his watch. Shit. He was a quarter late.
“Oh, shit, sorry for being late, I kinda lost track o’ time on my way of comin’ here…” he scratched the back of his head awkwardly, hoping Haru wouldn’t be too mad at him.
“It’s alright, I wasn’t waiting for long anyway.” another smile.
Ryuji seated himself on the quite uncomfortable for his back wooden bench, his legs crossed and hands folded on his lap. Haru followed suit, sitting in close proximity to him. The park was very loud currently, a popular attraction for people who lived either far away or near it. So they’d either have to shout in order to hear each other, or whisper in each other’s ears closely.
Ryuji decided to take the latter, considering what he was about to confess wasn’t for many ears to perceive.
Looking for a topic to break the ice, Ryuji started, “Your hair smells real nice, kinda like coffee?”
Haru appeared to grow uncomfortable at Ryuji’s poor compliment, shifting a bit where she was sitting. “Oh, yeah, I was at the coffee shop before coming here. I’ve been really enjoying the time I spend there.”
“Are you still selling that coffee from elephant poop?” he asked curiously.
“That was one time with Akira and I wasn’t even the one selling it!” she defended, “It was quite delicious, though. I do recommend you try it sometime.” she said and they both laughed.
“Nah, don’t think I could ever afford that shit. Pun intended.” Haru gasped but her giggles following after were a relief to Ryuji. And the ice has been broken, he thinks.
They chatted for a bit more, joking around and discussing random topics, mostly school, until Haru interrupted with a question. “So, Ryuji-kun...why did you ask me to come here?”
The unavoidable question that was inevitably coming. “Right. About that.” she nodded. “I wanted to talk to you about something…”
“Go ahead.” She seemed nervous.
“Yeah. So...this is really hard to say outloud, but I really need to say it and-”
“Ryuji-kun. I think I know where this is going...I’m really sorry, but I don’t feel the same.”
Ryuji was stunned.
“Huh???”
“You were about to confess to me, weren’t you?” she looked at him with a knowing look on her face.
“Yeah, but not about my feelings for you!” he yelled.
“Oh? Oh! Oh.” realization had hit her. “I’m sorry, I just- you even complimented my hair so I thought…”
Isn’t this going just great.
“Oh. I get it. You got the wrong idea. No, really, I was going to confess to you about who I really like. Who by the way is NOT you.” he emphasized the not and the you.
“How embarrassing. Now I get why you wanted us to meet here.”
“Tha’s right. I felt like you’re the only person I could talk to, so…”
“That’s very fluttering. I’m glad you feel comfortable talking to me about this.”
“Yep.” he popped the ‘p’ with his mouth.
Haru didn’t say anything after that, leaving the silence for Ryuji to break it up.
“Well I’ll just say it.” Haru was looking at him expectantly and she was probably really curious at this point. “I’ve liked someone for a really long time...and I got no idea what to do ‘bout it.”
“Do I know this person?”
“Yes. You’re very close.”
“Oh. Is it one of our teammates?”
“Yeah.” he looked away.
“So who is it??” she could barely keep her curiosity at bay.
“It’s the prettiest one from our group.”
“That’s not helping Ryuji-kun. It could be anyone.”
“Ugh, you’re gonna make me say it, aren’t you.”
“Heh! I really have no idea who you mean, though.”
“Fine. It’s Yusuke.” he admitted and Haru gasped.
“Ah! I wasn’t expecting that.”
“Really? That means I’ve done a good job hidin’ it then.” he internally praised himself.
“That is adorable, Ryuji-kun! Are you going to tell him?”
“Uh, that’s the thing I wanted to talk to ya about. I’m not really sure what to do.”
“Hmm, it certainly is a complicated situation to find yourself in.”
“Yeah. What do ya think? I mean, you’re pretty close to him.”
“Yeah, me and Yusuke-kun, we’re besties! Let me see...I’m not sure he’s ever confided in me for any romantic feelings, but I do remember him calling you beautiful once.”
“Beau-Beautiful??” a soft blush made its way to Ryuji’s face, but he shook his head. “That’s good ol’ Yusuke though. He calls people compliments all the time. He’s like an oblivious flirting machine.”
She giggled. “Well, I remember it striking me as odd when he had said that. But other than that, I don’t remember anything of the sort that could imply romantic interest.”
Ryuji sighed, a bit disappointed.
“I think you should confess to him!” she clapped her hands.
“Wha-? No way. I’ll totally get rejected. You even let me down before I even ‘confessed’ to you today. That really hurt my ego, by the way.”
“Hehe. I’m sorry about that, Ryuji-kun. I have my own person in mind too, so it’s not your fault.”
“Oh? What was that now?”
“Don’t get off topic, now! As we were saying, you should confess to Yusuke-kun!”
However curious Ryuji might be for Haru’s mystery person, he decided to let the topic go.
“You know what, I might do just that. Thank you for the talk, Haru.”
“Of course.
They talked a bit more, and then walked out of the park together. Ryuji felt like they had come a bit closer after today, and he was quite pleased about it.
Days passed and passed, and Ryuji didn’t find it in himself to confess to Yusuke his love. He never spoke with Haru about it again, but she did give him some knowing looks from time to time when they were hanging out as a group, or when he interacted with Yusuke in front of her. It was a tiny bit awkward, as he was aware of what she was probably thinking, but it didn’t bother him that much.
Today was their group day, and they were having a sleepover at Leblanc. It was more like hanging out, since they were at the cafe, but they wouldn’t all comfortably fit at the attic. And the shop was currently closed, anyway.
Most of the Phantom Thieves were already seated scattered around the tables, Makoto and Haru being the only ones not to have arrived yet.
“I know what we should do! We could watch Featherman on the TV over there!” Futaba suggested, and of course she’d want to put featherman on.
“Oh come on, not again…” Ryuji complained.
It was a disgrace how many seasons of Featherman they had watched during their weekly sleepovers, and Futaba still hadn’t gotten bored of the show.
“I think I must agree with Ryuji on this. We have already completed watching the show two times. I can not endure any more.” Yusuke refused dramatically.
“Aw yeah! That’s my man right there!” He said rather jokingly and proceeded to bring Yusuke close to him in a thankful hug, which lasted too long to be considered normal, but he couldn’t make himself let go just yet.
His face might have been an obvious shade of red, but no one seemed to notice. Except for the two women who had just walked in the cafe who currently stood in front of their table, looking at them.
Oh no.
“So you’ve finally told Yusuke you love him! That’s very sweet! Actually, the conversation we had the other day gave me courage and I confessed to Mako-chan too. We both got lucky, huh?” she said, showing their intertwined fingers with her other hand.
Silence.
Ryuji had let go of Yusuke at this point, his hands on his head as he bent down. All eyes were on him now.
“Ryuji, you what?” he heard Yusuke matter, but all he could think about was the easiest way he could make an escape. Judging by the fact that he was sitting on the inside part of the seat, his chances were scarce.
Ryuji immediately started regretting all his life choices. Why did it have to happen like this? In front of everyone? Now he’s going to get rejected in front of his friends, and the whole night is going to be awkward. And the rest of his life too.
Haru’s expression was the second most shocked in the room, after realizing the mistake she had just made.
“Can we please talk about this, Ryuji?” he felt a light touch on his back. He usually would have twitched under the touch, but it was so tender that he just melted into it.
He finally looked up, meeting the intense gaze of the man still having his hand on his back.
“Sure…” he said, and he was definitely under his spell.
“Is it true? Do you really love me?” he asked, an expectant look in his eyes.
“Are we really talk about this in front of everyone?” he asked, turning his head to glance at everyone. They were all staring. There was a distinguishable crunching noise somewhere. “Futaba, are you really eating pop corn right now?”
“Oh shut up! And yes you’re doing it in front of everyone. We’re too engaged now.”
“I can’t believe what’s happening.”
He cursed internally, and looked back at the artist. His expression hadn’t faltered even for a little bit.
“I am expecting an answer from you, Ryuji.”
“Yeah, answer already!!”
He groaned, deciding to ignore the rest of the glares that were tearing holes at his skin.
“Yeah, it’s true. I’ve loved you for a while.”
A few gasps echoed around the room.
“Wow, Ryuji, I had no idea you felt this way towards me.”
“Really? I mean, he was being pretty obvious about it.”
“Oh fuck you Ann.”
“Will you just answer him already? Do you love him back?? Oh, the tension!!” Futaba was a little too into this it seemed.
“Right. My answer.” he took a deep breath.
He put his other arm on the other side of his back, now their faces in spitting distance. Yusuke’s arm was burning through him, and he had to do something about this because he was gonna die on the spot and- He felt soft lips on his cheek.
“Huh?!”
“I love you back, of course. I was utterly shocked by Haru’s words, but I’m so ecstatic I have found out about your mutual feelings. I couldn’t be happier.” he said and a few ‘Ooooooh!’ and ‘Awwww’s were audible around them.
“A happy ending! Yaayy!” Futaba clapped as she wiped invincible tears.
“I can’t believe we just admitted our love for each other in front of our friends. I hate you guys.”
“Aww come on, it was like we weren’t even here!” Ann cheerfully got up from her seat and headed for the stairs to the attic.
“Right.”
“So, are you guys gonna kiss?” Akira asked with an evil smirk on his face. The bastard.
“Of course not! We ain’t havin’ our first kiss in front of you!”
“I must agree. I admit that you have witnessed more than I would have preferred.”
“Aww, dang it.” he looked disappointed, but they wouldn’t fall for that trap.
The night progressed happily, with Ryuji and Yusuke being a bit more touchy than usual. And when they fell asleep cuddled up together, Makoto and Haru high-fived each other when no one was watching.