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“Still trying to keep up with your studies, even in a dream?”
The sound of Ren’s voice prompts Makoto to look up from her book. He’s got that stupid little smirk on his face that he gets whenever he’s teasing and Joker’s easy confidence practically radiates from him, which is strange to see when he’s not wearing that black coat and bone white mask. But here in Club Velvet, the lines between Ren and Joker are blurred. He’s halfway between his usual charmingly awkward self and the ever-suave rebel he is at heart. As always, it sets off a flutter of butterflies in her stomach.
Makoto sighs, fighting a losing battle not to smile back at him, and neatly replaces her bookmark without looking down. “In a way.” She flashes the cover at him, displaying the neat text on the cover that spells out Ballroom Dancing for Beginners.
Ren delicately arches an eyebrow, smirk widening ever so slightly. “Looking for more inspiration?”
“I thought that learning more about different styles of dancing could help refine my own technique, that’s all.” Makoto places the book in her lap and folds her hands over it, watching him carefully. “Did you need something?”
“Come dance with me.”
The reply is so unexpected that Makoto isn’t quite sure she heard him right. She blinks in surprise, half convinced he must be talking to Ann or something despite the fact that he hasn’t so much as looked at her this whole time. “What?”
“Come dance with me,” Ren repeats. He holds out a red-gloved hand this time, the edges of his smirk softening a little with an emotion Makoto doesn’t dare think any deeper about. “Can’t learn everything from textbooks, Your Highness.”
“You’re familiar with ballroom dancing?” Makoto asks as she takes his hand, trying to ignore the slight blush that rises to her cheeks at the nickname. No matter how much she pretends otherwise, Ren almost always has the upper hand when they talk like this because of that goddamn nickname.
Ever the gentleman, Ren helps her to her feet. He places his other finger to his lips and winks. “That’s my secret to keep.”
Makoto scoffs and drops his hand after lingering for just a second too long. She steps away to hand the book to Ann, who gives her a knowing wink and mouths “Your Highness” at her. They’re definitely going to talk about this later. Or, more accurately, Ann is going to tease the hell out of her for so obviously flirting with him right in front of her. Even if that’s not what they were doing in the first place.
(Well. She was. But she couldn’t speak for what Ren’s intentions were. Besides, why would he even be interested in someone like her in the first place? He had a tendency to do this with everybody. That didn’t mean it made her knees feel any less weak when he said her name with that stupid, stupid grin on his face, nor did it stop the nervous jolt that inevitably went through her whole body when he touched her, even for just a moment.)
“Still trying to preserve your thief’s mystique, even in a dream?” Makoto asks, finally allowing the barest hint of a grin to sneak through as she directly echoes his words from earlier, all but daring him to call her out on it. Normally she would never dare to be quite this bold, it’s easier for her to become Queen here instead of Makoto, Student Council President and Upstanding Young Woman- just like it must be for Ren with Joker. It’s oddly thrilling. She wishes she could do this more, but in real life it’s much harder to even think about loosening up a little.
Ren’s gaze sharpens and he laughs in surprise, successfully caught off guard. Seeing his confidence slip, even for just a moment, is deeply satisfying. “You know me so well,” he whispers, voice low and rough in a way that sends a pleasant shiver down her spine.
“I try,” Makoto whispers back, her heart in her throat. The air between them feels heavy and she can’t seem to look away from him. Have they gotten closer since she stood up?
Behind them, Ann coughs politely into her hand. “You two make me miss my girlfriend.”
Makoto’s shoulders stiffen with shock and she snaps her head around to look at Ann, who has a very self-satisfied look on her face. Her face burns with embarrassment- honestly, does Ann really have to make hiding her ridiculous little crush that much more difficult? “It’s not like that,” she protests in a harsh whisper, though even she doesn’t believe the words.
Ann just smiles knowingly at her and stands up, breezing past the two of them without saying another word. She pauses briefly next to Ren and whispers something in his ear, which clearly flusters him if the way his eyes widen is any indication. Makoto doesn’t miss the blush on his face either. Cute.
“W-well, uh, shall we?” Ren asks, tripping over his words in a manner that’s entirely unique to him, not Joker. Ann must have really gotten to him.
“Yes! Yes, good idea,” Makoto responds quickly- too quickly. She tucks her hair behind her ear even though she really doesn’t need to. A leftover nervous tic from when her hair was much longer.
They head over to the stage in silence, though it’s not uncomfortable by any means. As they walk, Ren’s knuckles occasionally graze over the back of her hand, the touch so brief that it would be easy to miss if she wasn’t already paying so much attention to him. She was beginning to seriously consider taking a risk and slipping her hand into his when they reached the stage door, effectively making the decision for her.
Ren opens the door and holds it for her, smoothly gesturing for her to lead the way. The lights come on automatically as she enters and heads to the center. A screen in the corner registers her name, then Ren’s, as the contestants. The song they’ll be dancing to appears underneath their names after a brief moment. He crosses the room and offers his hand to her once more, his previous flustered expression vanishing as he settles more firmly into Joker’s swagger for the performance.
“Ready for the practical lesson?” Ren asks, still with his hand outstretched.
“So you do know something about it, then,” Makoto says as she takes his hand, butterflies returning in full force as he smoothly pulls her closer to him. There’s barely any space between them now, and though she’s well aware of the fact that this is how it’s supposed to be, she wasn’t expecting it to feel quite so… electric.
Her breath hitches in her throat as he rests his hand on her back, right between her shoulder blades. His hands are warm, so warm, and that heat almost seems to seep into her bloodstream from wherever they’re touching. The combination of feeling his hands on her in such an intimate way and how close they are makes her head spin.
God, she really is hopeless. They haven’t even started dancing yet.
“This okay?” Ren whispers, gunmetal gray eyes soft with concern.
“Yes, I- sorry.” Makoto closes her eyes and exhales heavily, relaxing into his touch. She hadn’t even realized that she’d tensed up. She rests her hand on his right shoulder once she’s got more of a grip on herself. “The book’s description of the proper position is sorely lacking.”
“I told you so.”
Now that they’re both in position, the brief countdown begins. The wardens’ illusion forms around them as they wait for the signal to start, bringing them an audience and a proper stage to perform on. It’s modeled after an auditorium stage, as if they’re merely two actors in a play.
Ren inhales as the countdown expires and the introduction of the song begins, then he steps forward and she instinctively steps back, matching his stride length as best she can. Their first time through the step sequence is a little rough as he tries to match the song’s rhythm and she learns the sequence itself, but they quickly make the necessary adjustments. Following his lead comes to her as easily as breathing, thanks to the last few months of fighting as a team.
It’s definitely not any form of traditional dance that she’d read about so far, but that doesn’t matter. What does matter is the fierce joy bubbling up in her chest, Ren’s hands on her, the elegance and surety of his movements, the ease at which they glide across the floor in sync.
As they get more comfortable with the basic steps, Ren slowly makes things more complicated until the first time he shifts his grip so that he’s only holding on to her hand and she spins, her plaid skirt flaring out around her. Idly, she thinks that perhaps it wasn’t the best idea to forego her usual leggings for sheer black thigh highs and garters, but the thought vanishes as he pulls her back in and continues. In that moment, Makoto is struck by how gorgeous he is when he’s concentrating. Her heart lurches- it’s not fair for one person to be this attractive constantly- and she almost misses a step, which draws a toothy little smirk out of Ren when he notices.
Though she could happily stay up here all day dancing with him like this, she can feel the song slowing down as it comes to a close, their steps slowing to match it. But, as it turns out, Ren wasn’t quite done throwing her for a loop just yet. Her eyes widen as she feels his hand slide down her back and then he’s leaning forward, bending them both towards the ground in a dip. She lets out a rather undignified squeak of embarrassment, barely able to hear anything over the rushing of her heartbeat in her ears. And- oh, he’s so close she can feel his breath ghosting across her face, and if she leans forward just a little then their noses would be brushing. Everything is happening too quickly and too slowly at the same time and she can’t quite process it- is this what a computer must feel like when it blue screens? She must be spending too much time around Futaba if she’s thinking in computer terms.
Makoto glances down at his lips before she can think better of it. It feels like she can’t quite get enough air into her lungs with each breath she takes and she wants to kiss him so badly it hurts, yet-
He lets go of her hand and cups the curve of her jaw, fingertips resting ever so slightly on her lips.
“Ren-” Makoto breathes out, gripping at the shoulder of his uniform jacket like a lifeline. There’s so many things she wants to say but none of the right words are coming to her.
“I want to kiss you,” Ren murmurs breathlessly, almost seeming shocked at his own admission.
“Go ahead.”
“Even though we’re going to forget about this when we wake up?” Ren asks, eyebrows closely knitted together with concern. “This is just a dream, and I don’t want-“
Purely on impulse, Makoto leans in and kisses him to shut him up. It’s not perfect by any means- she has no idea what she’s doing and Ren seems to be equally as clueless. But she doesn’t care. What matters more is that she’s actually kissing him, even if it is a dream. It’s leagues more real than the other ones she’s had about this exact moment.
Ren makes a little noise in the back of his throat that’s halfway between a groan and a sigh, moving his hand to the back of her head to support her better. It sends heat trickling through her whole body and she half feels like she’s going to just up and melt right there.
When they both pull back for air, Ren gently brings her upright again. His face is an impressive shade of pink and his eyes shine darkly like liquid mercury behind his glasses.
“That just means I’ll get to kiss you for the first time again,” Makoto whispers matter-of-factly. She speaks before her brain can quite catch up with everything she just did, and by the time it actually sinks in, it’s far too late to take it back. Not that she would in the first place. She feels herself blush even more than she already was at the thought. It would be impressive if she wasn’t mortified. “I mean- if you’d be okay with that of course, I don’t want to get ahead of myself-“
“Of course I would,” Ren responds, cutting her off mid sentence. He moves to tuck her hair back behind her ear, and that little gesture coupled with an impossibly fond smile brings a lump to her throat. The thought of anybody- let alone Ren- looking at her like that, caring for her like this, is so foreign that she just… doesn’t know how to handle it.
Makoto shifts so that she can wrap her arms around his waist in a hug, the headphones slung around his neck making it slightly more awkward than intended. He hugs back almost immediately and it’s more than a little difficult to stop the tears pressing at the back of her eyelids. With a jolt, she realizes that she doesn’t even remember the last time she got a hug from somebody, not to mention how badly she had missed the feeling of being held.
Though she could happily stay right there forever, they are still standing on the stage. It would be too easy for one of the others to find them like this. So, with a deep breath to steady herself, Makoto breaks the hug and steps away from Ren.
“We should probably go,” Makoto says, the words tasting bitter on her tongue.
Ren sighs and nods his head in agreement. “Unfortunately. Can I come bother you again soon?”
She laughs, a slightly watery smile tugging at her lips. “Of course.”
“Good, because I was planning on doing it anyway.” Ren winks at her and starts heading for the door. She follows closely behind him, not entirely willing to part ways just yet. “Look forward to it.”
“I already am.”
They step out into the hallway together before ultimately heading in separate directions. Ren walks back in the direction of the lounge and Makoto starts towards Ann’s room without needing to think about it. They had a lot to talk about, after all. She could only hope that Ann was actually there and not back in the lounge again.
…maybe it was a good thing that this was a dream. Otherwise, Ann would probably never let her hear the end of it.