if (Love==True)

by goobercollector

Summary:

Uh I can't think of a good summary.

Futaba and Ryuji LIKE each other.

Chapter 1: Chapter 1

Futaba’s fingers nervously fiddled on her keyboard, creating a faint ticking noise in her cramped, dark room. Her whole face and body was flushed and warm, despite the A/C being on its highest setting. The new API she was supposed to make for the Phan-Site and Mishima had barely been touched, an IDE with a sparse amount of code staring her in the face. And the new HTML she was supposed to add wasn’t even in it’s planning phase. All that was on her mind for the past hour was her fellow Phantom Thief, Ryuji Sakamoto. 

 

She found herself thinking about everything she would notice and appreciate about him. Some were about his appearance; his messy blond hair, his deep brown eyes, his soft smile. How his cheeks would feel if she softly kissed them. Some would be about him as a person; his short fuse, his cute voice, his excitement whenever he played video games with Futaba and won. She liked it when Ryuji teased her, loved it even. When Futaba would go out on various trips with the Phantom Thieves, she found it hard to stop staring at him, quickly averting her eyes whenever he noticed someone was looking at him. Even if it meant being pushed off of the sidewalk, she made sure that she was always walking by his side. It was even worse when Ryuji sat next to her, her brain wrestling whether she should move closer or farther away as she internally short-circuited.

 

Even though Futaba recognized these symptoms of a full-blown crush, she also felt frustrated with it. She was terrified of Ryuji ever finding out her true feelings, as she thought that it would ruin her friendship with him--and potentially the Phantom Thieves' in general. Futaba never wanted to lose her closest friend after being lonely and distant all those years. After all, her jealousy and negative feelings were already starting to surface. Sometimes at night, she wondered if Ryuji already had a girlfriend that was cuter than her in every way. The mere thought of it would make her slightly tear up. And considering that she wasn’t the only girl in the Phantom Thieves, she was scared that her jealousy for her team members would interrupt missions and break their bonds. 

 

Futaba momentarily snapped out of her fantasies with Ryuji, staring back at the dark-lit screen.

 

I got distracted again, didn’t I. Didn’t write out anything besides the variable declarations tonight, Futaba thought to herself with a sigh. She glanced at the time on her computer to see “2:36AM”, realizing that it was now an early Monday morning. One of the main consequences of curing her hikikomori disease was the early start time at Shujin, meaning Futaba could no longer pull a midnight schedule. She shut down her computer and crawled into bed, still not fully warmed back up to the concept of school. 

 

She didn’t mind being with Ryuji, though. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

Futaba’s phone was overloaded with notifications, the Phantom Thieves’ text group being flooded with discussion about plans for the new Mementos request. Makoto had received intel on a bully tormenting various freshmen. After class was dismissed, she packed up her supplies and met up with Akira to meet up Ryuji after class.

 

“Futaba. Did you ever end up finishing your work last night?” Akira asked as they walked down the hallway.

 

“Eh...no.” Futaba replied with a nervous laugh, her hand rubbing the back of her head. 

 

“Are you even halfway done with it?”

 

“Well...not that either.”

 

“Maybe your room is distracting you with your work. You’ve been starting to slack off lately.”

 

“Well...maybe that could be it,” Futaba nervously chirped back with a blush on her face. She didn’t want Akira to find out why she’d really been distracted.

 

The two rounded the corner to see Ryuji leaning against his usual wall, where someone Futaba didn’t recognize was with him. A tall, average-sized girl with short brown hair and a cheery face was chatting a storm up with Ryuji. He noticed the duo approaching them, as he greeted them with a friendly smile. Futaba looked slightly somber. 

 

"Sup guys! You ready to kick some ass in Mementos again?" Ryuji yelled, Akira placing a hand over his mouth to keep him from loudly talking about Phantom Thief operations in public. 

 

"Mementos?" questioned the other girl. 

 

"Oh, it's like…video game stuff. But it's for a release we're not supposed to talk about yet," Akira replied. The brown-haired girl gave Ryuji a smile. 

 

"Oh, I'm sure you're training very hard for that, aren't you Ryuji?" asked the girl, teasingly bumping her elbow into him.

 

"Uh, yea, totally! Oh, by the way, this is my friend from middle school, Minasumi. She's a grade below me. Minasumi, these are my friends from high school, Futaba and Ryuji."

 

Akira greeted her back, as Futaba timidly did the same. She had been unnaturally quiet ever since she saw Minasumi, her head bowed down slightly to cover the saddened look in her eyes. 

 

"Nice to meet you, Futaba!”

 

"Hey, ya alright there, girl? You look a little grumpy," Ryuji teased Futaba, giving her a slight nookie.

 

"Yea, I'm fine. I'm just really tired today," she said, as she raised her head up higher and slightly smiled. 

 

She secretly loved it when he called her "girl", "girly", or any other variation. Pet names were a weakness of hers. 

 

“Well, alright. Looks like I have to go, Mina. See ya later!” Ryuji bantered as he left to walk to LeBlanc with Futaba and Akira.

 

Futaba walked behind the two who were now busy catching up, her hand held to her heart in grief. It took her almost all of her willpower to not let tears stream down her cheeks. Her brain seemed to internally chant thoughts of jealousy and defeat.

 

I knew it was too good to be true. He had a girlfriend this whole time. I saw the way he acted with her, and I’m never going to be as close to him as that.  

 

She knew that she had to keep these feelings against Minasumi an absolute secret. Not only would that make things even more awkward between her and Ryuji, but it would also invoke the rage of Minasumi as well. 

 

And going through heartbreak alone was more difficult than going through it with others.

Chapter 2: Chapter 2

The PT grew increasingly bored as the black bus sped down various twisted tracks, occasionally running into a Shadow. They had been driving for half an hour, with still no sight of the bully’s Shadow.

 

“Man! This shit is getting us nowhere! Are you sure you chose the right part of Mementos?” Ryuji complained.

 

“My senses are never wrong, Skull. I am the only one connected to this place,” Morgana complained back, as he hit the brakes and argued with Ryuji even further.

 

“Listen, arguing isn't gonna get us anywhere, you two!” Ann yelled from the back seat.

 

“Panther’s right,” Makoto chimed in. “No use in wasting precious time. I propose we split up and go different directions to find him in the shortest time possible. Go with the person you’re sitting next to, and be sure to bring plenty of medicine since you could be fighting Shadows in pairs. Ann, stay with Futaba here so that she’s safe while she continues navitaging.”

 

“Noted,” said Yusuke and Akira as they took the left path. Ryuji and Haru backtracked behind where Morgana was, while Makoto and Morgana went to the right fork. 

 

“Ugh. Guys, right?” Ann said to Futaba. The two were fairly close to each other since Futaba’s heart was changed. Ann helped reintroduce her to the world and increased her self-confidence.

 

“Yea,” Oracle quietly muttered.

 

Ann quickly noticed that Futaba was upset about something, but she had no idea what. Hoping to cheer her up, she changed the subject to something else. 

 

“So…planning to take anyone to the Shujin prom in a couple of weeks?”

 

“N-no,” Futaba whispered, a gleam forming in her eyes. The question prompted a flood of sudden scenarios and questions in her head. Ryuji slowly dancing with Minasumi, the look in his pretty eyes, her hands tenderly touching the nape of his neck. Meanwhile, in the vision, Futaba sits in the corner alone, staring at the two the rest of the night. 

 

The paranoia and anxiety that weighed her down so terribly in the past was creeping back. Tears rolled from under her headset as her body quivered. 

 

“Futaba, are you ok?”

 

Those simple words were enough to release her feelings out. Soft sobs escaped her lips that increased in grief, as she threw her head down into her knees sitting down and taking off her headset around her eyes. Sometimes, the sobs would be interrupted with a strained voice repeating Ryuji’s name. 

 

Ann quickly bent down to comfort her, saying nothing as she let Futaba cry it out. She was scared that Ryuji did something to hurt her feelings, but she still truly had no idea why she was upset.

 

About five minutes passed before Futaba calmed down to a more peaceful state, still sniffling and wiping the occasional tear from her eyes. 

 

“Futaba...what happened with you and Ryuji?” Ann softly asked, as to not trigger more crying if something truly devastating happened.

 

She paused for a second before replying.

 

“Ryuji has a girlfriend.”

 

Ann stood there wide-eyed, thoroughly surprised by the answer. The surprised expression turned into giggles, as she finally realized what exactly that statement meant and who she was talking about.

 

“It’s not funny! It’s not fair!” Futaba cried, as her sobs started back up again.

 

“No, wait, Futaba, I’m sorry,” Ann said as her giggles turned to nervous laughter. “I was just laughing because I was surprised. You got the totally wrong idea!”

 

“W-what do you mean by that?”

 

“I’ve known Minasumi since middle school along with Ryuji. She’s been dating another guy this whole time. Honestly, she would laugh her ass off if someone thought she was dating that dork.”

 

“Wait...really?” she replied back.

 

“Yea...I’m completely sure of it.”

 

Futaba had never felt so stupid before in her life than she did right now.

 

“Oh.”

 

She paused momentarily as she glanced up at Ann’s smirk.

 

“I-I was only so upset at the idea because I knew it would impede on our mission! We need our statistics of success to be as high as possible!” Futaba barked in response as scarlet flushed her face. 

 

“Or it’s because you have the biggest, most adorable crush on Ryuji ever!” Ann teased back.

 

“No, I mean that is a pretty false assumption!” Futaba yelped back, trying to save face.

 

Ann still didn’t buy a single word she said.

 

“Ok. I’m in love with Ryuji,” Futaba meekly gave in.

 

“Well, hey, I didn’t mean to make you upset. I just genuinely found it a little funny that you actually thought they were dating.”

 

“And honestly, I think it’s sweet that you like Ryuji like that. You guys would make a really cute couple!” Ann giggled.

 

“Ah--well...thanks…”

 

“Do you wanna ask him out one day?”

 

“Well...no...I’m too scared. The probability of him not liking me back and becoming ‘weirded’ out by me are high. And if I love him, I still want to be his friend, of course,” Futaba explained with a slight tinge of worry.

 

Ann reached out and held’s Futaba’s hand. “I understand how you feel and I get if you don’t want to ever say anything, but I also don’t want you to feel so bad about it. I’m assuming your answer to my original question was Ryuji then?” 

 

“That would be correct.”

 

“I think that’s a great idea! You can just ask him as a friend at first. And then...well, if he has feelings for you, you’ll probably find out during the slow dance,” Ann commented.

 

Futaba, now calm from Ann’s comfort and support, flashed a shy smile as she slowly sat back up from the ground.

 

“Thanks, Ann. I feel a lot better. You’re a good friend.”

 

Their sweet moment was ruined by a distant sound in the distance.

 

“Yo guys, we found--” Ryuji yelled, as he interrupted himself by tripping on a train track, falling right in front of the other two girls.

 

Futaba quietly let out would could be described as a yelp, her heart pounding like a beating drum and her face as hot as the sun. It always took her off guard when she saw him unexpectedly. It’s almost like her mind had to prepare before seeing him.

 

“Ryuji, you blockhead! You scared us!” Ann barked at the blond Phantom Thief now lying on the floor.

 

“Listen, those train tracks are a pain in the ass to walk around, OK! Anyway, guess who found the target! That’s right, this guy!” Ryuji exclaimed as he sprung up from the floor.

 

Futaba let out a small giggle. It was moments that reminded her why she fell so hard for him.

Chapter 3: Chapter 3

“Ha, my Vector Scare Archfiend hits you for game!” Futaba exclaimed with a wide smile on her face.

 

“Aww, c'mon. You know that Cyberse deck is bullshit, Futaba,” Ryuji jested.

 

“Now, now. No need to get salty about a bad play on your part.”

 

“Yea, I’m real sure about that. Anyway, good game!”

 

They both glanced at the time, noticing that it was now a Friday instead of a Thursday.

 

“I think we should both head to bed. Can’t sleep through history again,” Ryuji said as he let out a yawn.

 

Futaba packed up her cards into her bag as they walked outside near the entrance of his house. “Are we all set for next week? I wanna start training hard for the regionals coming up.”

 

“Hmm...should be. The only date that comes to mind is...the school prom that night,” Ryuji said with a brief hesitation near the end of his sentence. A slight sweat formed on his forehead, while Futaba could feel the heat surging through her body. She’d almost completely forgot about what Ann mentioned last time they went to Mementos. 

 

“Well. Um, are you thinking of going?” Futaba uttered, as she had a staring contest with the floor.

 

“Maybe. I was gonna see what Akira and everyone else was doing that night but if they all had...dates or something, then probably not.”

 

The proceeding tension was thick enough to be cut with a knife. The two lovestruck teenagers stood speechless, both too nervous to even suggest anything about going with each other.

 

“You could go with me if they’re busy,” squeaked a high-pitched voice out of nowhere.

 

Ryuji’s felt a flash of heat across his face as his eyes widened in surprise. 

 

“Ah...yea, I mean. Sure! It’ll be fun because we’re already friends!” His nervousness slowly faded into excitement. “I mean, it’s your first-ever high school event right? It would be cool to be the one to experience that with you.”

 

“Well, like, as a good friend of yours!” Ryuji hastily yelled near the end of the sentence, as he rubbed the back of his neck.

 

Futaba responded back with yet another robotic laugh.

 

“Yes, totally! Ha, ha.”

 

“Well, um, come to my house when you’re ready and text me when you’re here. I’m gonna try to invite everyone to meet up here before we head out.”

 

“Sounds good. See you then,” Futaba replied before she waved bye and walked down the street. She mentally cursed at herself for the invitation she just offered to the boy she was head over heels for.

 

That was the worst mistake of my life. I can’t believe I’m actually going to this thing. He’s gonna see through me like a glass window. What if I get tempted to hold his hand like I always do? How am I gonna handle dancing with him? I can’t believe I’m missing this week’s Kamen Rider episode for this...

 

As soon as Futaba was out of sight, Ryuji went back into his room and face planted on his bed as he groaned.

 

“That was nerve-wracking as hell. I didn’t think she’d actually have the balls to ask instead of me.”

 

“I mean I’m excited but...what if she finds out about my massive crush on her?”

Chapter 4: Chapter 4

Notes:

The designs for Futaba and Ryuji's outfits are based on the P5A Masquerade Party outfits.

https://personacentral.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/P5tA-Masquerade-Party-Key-Art-1.jpg

The only difference is that Futaba's outfit doesn't have the hat and heels, and Ryuji doesn't have the bracelet.

The sunlight shone through a small crack made from Futaba’s curtains, reflecting off of her head resting on her keyboard. She didn’t even bother to change out of her school uniform from yesterday. The usual RPG all-nighter that she pulled the second she got out of school on Friday had usually left her sleeping on her computer until 3 pm, except this Saturday was interrupted by a loud vibration from her phone. A small hand angrily slammed the phone sitting on the desk and answered the ring, as a mess of long orange hair slowly rose from the keyboard.

 

“What.”

 

“Oh my god, Futaba, hi! What are you doing right now!” Ann happily yelled into Futaba’s ear. Futaba could tell that she was in a public area from the background noise of the call, and she swore that she could hear Haru in the background.

 

“Ann...I was sleeping. I stayed up until 6am last night.”

 

“Seriously? Futaba, it’s like 11am! You have more important things to do today.”

 

“Like what?” Futaba replied in an irked tone.

 

“Like picking out a cute dress for your date!” Ann giggled. Futaba’s head shot up like a rocket as her embarrassment fully awoken her. She was starting to realize all the things she’d signed up for when she casually asked Ryuji to go to prom.

 

“First off, it is not a date, Ann! Second off…well, shut up!” Futaba barked back, as her mind struggled to find something to retaliate Ann’s comment with.

 

“Yea yea, sure, lovebug. Anyway, we know you can’t possibly have something suitable that fits you still in that closet. We’re making you go shopping for something.”

 

“Ann, say hi for me!” A soft voice chirped in the background.

 

“Oh, also Haru says hi.”

 

Futaba took a brief scan through her closet. Ann was right. She also glanced at her empty wallet.

 

“Hmph! Seems like there’s a logical error in your plan! I’m completely broke. How am I supposed to buy a dress now? Guess I’m just gonna have to wear my Tetris shirt,” Futaba snapped back with triumph in her voice.

 

“Yea...we’ll pool funds. As a model, I cannot allow that to happen. Now get ready to go out! If you come with us, you can pick the one you want and we won’t donate the girliest dress in the store to Sojiro. I know he won’t let you go in a t-shirt either. Ciao!” Ann laughed as she promptly hung up the phone to go over to Sojiro’s house.

 

Futaba could tell she was having massive amounts of fun with this. And frankly, it bothered the shit out of her.

 

“Well. Looks like I’m trapped,” she said to herself as she momentarily rested her head back on her keyboard and yawned.

 

Realizing that she didn’t have much time to spare until they arrived, she promptly got ready and headed downstairs, where Ann, Makoto, and Haru were waiting for Futaba near the door.

 

“Hey there. Your friends’ve been waiting for you down here. Can’t believe they finally got you up this early,” Sojiro said. “Where are you all going today?”

 

“Um, just out to do some thi--” Futaba tried to reply, before being promptly interrupted by Haru speaking over her.

 

“We’re out going dress shopping for prom!”

 

“Dress shopping? Prom? I’ll be damned. I didn’t expect Futaba to ever be interested in this stuff,” he replied in a pleasantly surprised voice. 

 

“It’s because she has someone to gooo with!” Ann chimed in.

 

“Oh? Who?” Sojiro interrogated. He assumed that if Futaba chose a boy to take that she probably asked him for a reason.

 

“Ryuji!”

 

Sojiro let out a grunt mixed with a sigh, rubbing the back of his head. “You’re taking that goober?”

 

“He’s not a goober, Da--Sojiro! He’s just misunderstood sometimes. And he’s only going as my friend!” Futaba yelled back. He ignored the last part of her statement, knowing it obviously wasn’t all she wanted by the look on her face. 

 

“Well, listen, he better not do any funny business with you that night. Other than that, I’m fine with it.”

 

“Dad! It’s not like--”

 

“We’ll make sure he won’t, now come on let’s go! We’ve already wasted an hour!” Ann interjected as she pulled Futaba by the arm outside.

 

Sojiro smirked to himself as they closed the door. 

 

“Jeez, she’s grown up so much.”

 

The four of them arrived at the underground Shibuya mall, as Makoto pulled out a list of stores to shop at.

 

“Alright, so we have around seven places we can find something nice at. Let’s get going,” she said.

 

Futaba gave a quiet confirmation back. Ann could tell that nerves and fear crawled up on her once they entered the mall.  

 

“Hey, once we pick out a dress for Futaba, why don’t we hit the old arcade cabinets in here?” Ann suggested, seeing the smile grow on Futaba’s face.

 

“Alright! Let’s go!” she cheered in response.

 

Ann and Haru picked out various dresses and accessories in different stores for Futaba to try on, creating a mini-fashion show in each store. 

 

“How do you like it?” Haru asked as Futaba walked out of the dressing room with a red dress. Futaba was obviously dissatisfied with how it slightly hugged her figure and it’s look, and the jewelry bracelets that were picked out for her weren’t helping either.

 

“I...don’t really like it.”

 

Ann would usually be frustrated that someone had tried on so many dresses and denied every single one, but her only priority was making sure Futaba was happy.

 

“That’s fine. We’ll just try the next thing in the pile,” Ann calmly said. 

 

She held up a black shoulderless dress with green, cybernetic-looking symbol accents along the shoulder line, waistline, and bottom. Futaba’s eyes lit up, as she couldn’t believe that she found something that she actually liked. She blushed when she tried it on and stared in the mirror, surprised at how nice it looked to her. 

 

"Well, do you like it?" Ann questioned. 

 

"I might like it…I don't know if I wanna wear it yet though," Futaba replied. Ann's eyes lit up instantly. 

 

"Well, ask yourself this. Do you want Ryuji to see you wearing this?" Makoto inquired. 

 

A sudden thought of Ryuji seeing her in the dress, thoroughly impressed with how pretty she looked, came into her mind. 

 

"I, um… yes."

 

She paused briefly. 

 

"I think that means I choose this one."

 

"Futaba, you look so cute! I'm flustered already and I'm not even Ryuji," Ann yelled. 

 

"Oh, I'll go look for some accessories to match that! Futaba, are your ears pierced? Well, I can always just get clip-ons!" Haru joined. 

 

The group of girls, except Futaba, were suddenly abuzz with ideas for her outfit, drowning out each other with their excited talk. 

 

"Um, we can go to the arcade now, right?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

"Dude, it's an emergency," Ryuji yelled to Akira on his phone. 

 

"What is?"

 

"I don't know what to wear to prom tomorrow. Can you, like, give me advice or something?"

 

"I can't do that if I don't know what clothes you have."

 

"Well, then come over and see I guess!" he yelled back as he hung up the phone. 

 

Akira sighed, ignoring his text from Tae to come in for a trial that day and getting ready to leave for Ryuji's house. 

 

"Knowing that dolt, he probably doesn't have anything to actually wear to an event like that." Morgana retorted. "Well, you better get going then."

 

He agreed with him, heading out to the train station. 

 

Upon arrival, Akira was greeted to a closet full of trendy t-shirts, punk-looking outfits, jeans, shorts, school uniforms, and tennis shoes. Some plain colored shirts sat in the corner, looking almost untouched. 

 

“See anything that looks good to you? I was thinking of some of those boring shirts over there and maybe a pair of my shorts. But I don’t know, maybe my school pants would look good enough?” Ryuji asked, distracted by his fighting game he was playing in the corner of his room.

 

“Ryuji, none of these are gonna work. Have you ever been to anything formal in your entire life? I wouldn’t be surprised if you haven’t,” Morgana barked at him, jumping out of Akira’s bag.

 

“Ok, yea, I have, so shut up! I just went to my aunt’s wedding lately, and I had a suit and everything.”

 

“Then where’s the suit you wore?”

 

“Uh, I sold it for this game,” Ryuji said, letting out a nervous laugh.

 

“Of course you did.”

 

“Looks like we don’t have a choice but to go out and get something,” Akira replied, butting into their argument.

 

“Aw man, but I don’t wanna blow all my funds on something I’m gonna barely wear…” Ryuji complained back. “I mean, nothing’s gonna stop me from going in whatever I want. Who gives a shit what other people think about my outfit?” 

 

“Futaba would sure care,” Akira reminded him.

 

“Yea, don’t you wanna look handsome for her?” Morgana teasingly teased Ryuji.

 

“Well, um, yea, I do. You got me there…”

 

“Fine, you got me. Let’s pick something out. But let me reach a save point first.”

 

Unlike Futaba’s shopping endeavor, Akira, Morgana, and Ryuji simply walked into the first department store they found, only aiming to get something that looked even somewhat appropriate for a semi-formal event. 

 

“That looks like a good enough pick. And it’s the cheapest one. How about it?” Morgana asked from Akira’s bag, pointing to a simple black vest paired with black pants. The outfit seemed to also come with a plain grey shirt to wear underneath.

 

“Yea, it seems fine enough, I guess. But it’s just missing something that doesn’t make it boring.” Ryuji replied.

 

“Like what?”

 

“Ooh! I know. A cool chain going across it! I have some clip-on ones to use! Oh, and a badass looking tie! We could probably find something here,” Ryuji excitedly suggested.

 

“No way! That’s gonna ruin the whole point of the outfit!” Morgana lectured back. Akira, not wanting to get too involved in yet another argument, stayed silent. 

 

“Listen, man, it’s better than me wearing what I was gonna wear before! It’s gotta have something I like!”

 

“Fine, whatever gets you to wear it. As a true gentleman myself, I just have to make sure that you don’t go around wearing anything too ridiculous,” Morgana gloated.

 

“Gentleman? What, you just sayin’ that because you call Ann ‘lady’?” Ryuji laughed.

 

“S-Shut up, idiot!”

Chapter 5: Chapter 5

Tomorrow came quickly, as the Phantom Thieves’ group chat blew up to discuss meeting places and plans. But unlike the rest of her friends, Futaba had forgotten that the fated day was here. Her fingers tapped away on her laptop’s keyboard as she sat in LeBlanc, trying to make up the work she’d been slacking on. Akira looked up from his phone at her, wondering if she even remembered that she would have to be dressed and ready in only an hour. 

 

She’s probably just entranced in something right now , he thought to himself, as he went upstairs to put on his own red suit.

 

Sure enough, Joker couldn’t have been more wrong. An hour passed and every member of the Phantom Thieves entered through the door of LeBlanc in formal dress. Minasumi had also joined the group since she wanted to enjoy Shujin’s dance until she had to leave town tomorrow. Futaba assumed that all of them were customers and ignored them.

 

Akira welcomed them all in and gave Yusuke a kiss on the cheek walking in. Makoto noticed Futaba was completely unaware and absorbed in her code.

 

“Typical Futaba,” Makoto laughed to herself. 

 

Ryuji, now in his black suit adorned with a skull tie, shook off his nerves once he came in and saw Futaba. It was nice to him to see Futaba being so much like herself even amidst the fancy, romantic atmosphere.

 

He came over to her and playfully tapped her on the shoulder to get her attention. 

 

“Ok, Akira, I’ll organize my upstairs stuff later,” she snapped back, slightly nudging his hand off of her shoulder.

 

Ryuji smiled back as she rustled her hair to finally get her eyes away from the computer screen.

 

“Do I really remind you that much of Akira?” he jokingly chuckled, looking into her eyes.

 

Futaba had never felt so flustered in her life than when she not only was head patted by Ryuji, but also seeing him dressed up like this. He truly never looked more handsome to her in her entire life.

 

“Oh! It’s...certainly nice to see you,” Futaba said back, trying to muster a cohesive reply that didn’t involve just kissing him on the spot.

 

“Are you wearing that there?” he asked.

 

She briefly looked down at her pajamas.

 

“N-no, I have a dress that Ann and the others bought me. I can’t believe I got so caught up that I forgot that prom was today.”

 

“Hey, it happens to the best of us. I could have easily binged some manga throughout the whole thing too.”

 

“I know that feeling,” Futaba laughed back.

 

“Futaba, c’mon, I’m excited to have everyone see your new outfit,” Ann told her with a smile and a strange emphasis on the word “everyone”. Futaba knew exactly that “everyone” was supposed to mean Ryuji more than anything else.

 

She visibly gulped.

 

“Are you ok? Are you having an artistic change of heart with your outfit?” Yusuke questioned.

 

“Nope, just thirsty. But I’ll get dressed first.”

 

She walked up into Akira’s room, putting on her green and black dress and other accessories bought for her. Makoto had gotten her clip-on earrings with a silver 0 or 1 on either side, and Ann had gotten her some basic silver bracelets. Thankfully, they didn’t make her pick out heels of any kind.

 

Futaba paced very quickly down the stairs and stood in front of Ryuji, folding her hands behind her back and blushing at Ryuji. Everyone who hadn’t seen her dress before agreed that it looked nice on her. 

 

Just as he never looked more handsome to Futaba in his suit, Futaba had never looked more pretty and adorable to him than in her dress. Shades of red visibly crept along his starstruck face. 

 

“You look so beautiful…” Ryuji said, almost as if he wasn’t aware he was actually saying his thoughts out loud.

 

Futaba looked slightly mortified that she actually heard that come out of her crush’s mouth, as she stuttered and pondered running into the bathroom to process it. He felt the same way after he realized that his thoughts didn’t stay in his head, as he held himself back from dramatically covering his mouth with his hand. Instead, his hand went to the back of his head to firmly grasp the back of his neck.

 

Ann, Haru, Makoto, and Minasumi’s eyes lit up as they exchanged quiet “aww”s and cheers. It seems like their vision for the night was coming true to them. Akira and Yusuke looked at each other and exchanged smiles. 

 

Ryuji, looking around the room and exchanging looks with a very embarrassed Futaba, knew he had to fix this.

 

“Your dress! I meant your dress looks really beautiful! You must have spent a long time picking it out!” he yelled loudly.

 

“Ah...I did spend a long time picking it out,” Futaba shakily replied. His cover-up slightly fooled her, but she also knew that what Ryuji said before probably wasn’t a fluke. 

 

“Your outfit looks really nice on you too.”

 

While not as direct as Ryuji’s comment, Futaba realized she also may have just given away her feelings to him. 

 

The two decided to just end the whole conversation to give their hearts a break.

Chapter 6: Chapter 6

The group soon arrived at the busy entrance of Shujin, as they pushed through the students to enter a loud crowded gymnasium filled with dancing students. Futaba was visibly uncomfortable. No matter how much she came out of reclusion, busy areas would never be her thing. But being with all her friends helped her feel more at ease. 

 

She looked up to Ryuji next to her, who was busy chatting up a storm with the others. He was fairly taller than her, so she always had to bend her neck up to see his face. Part of her wanted to hold onto his arm for better balance, but the rational part of her would never let herself. She knew that balance wasn't the only she wanted to hold his arm. 

 

A trendy pop song suddenly blasted on the stereo, as Ann's eyes lit up.

 

"I love this song so much! Come on guys, let's go!" 

 

Everyone decided that now would be a good time to dance, as only Ryuji and Futaba remained on the bleachers. It was understandable why the latter would stay on the side, as she dreaded not only the type of music popular at dances, but also dancing itself. But Futaba was curious why Ryuji stayed behind. 

 

"You're not gonna go out there with them?" she curiously asked. 

 

"Nah, I'm not a fan of this kind of music, and I'm actually not a huge fan of dancing either. It embarrasses me. I mainly came just to hang out with everyone," he replied, leaning back with his hands behind his head. 

 

"Lucky for you, I feel the exact same way! And I mean, you did want to come as my friend so it all works out! We won't have any barriers stopping us from hanging out," Futaba excitedly told him. 

 

"Yea, you're pretty right about that, man! But, um, question is, what are we gonna do the rest of the night if we don't wanna dance?" 

 

Futaba scratched her head briefly, thinking of how to keep boredom away. Her phone lit up next to her. 

 

"Ooh, you still have that Shōnen Jump game on your phone right? Guess who pulled a 5-Star Saiki Kusuo from the gacha yesterday!" she bragged to Ryuji. 

 

"Do I sense a challenge? Too bad he still won't beat my badass team!" Ryuji yelled as he pulled up the game on his phone to play. 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

About a half-hour later, the slow dance portion of the evening started. Akira and Yusuke stayed up on the dancefloor as Akira happily laid his head into Yusuke's shoulder as they danced. 

 

"There were so many good songs in a row that I couldn't stop!" Minasumi said with a hint of exhaustion in her voice. 

 

"God, felt that!" Ann replied. 

 

"It certainly was nice to dance and be free like that," Makoto added. 

 

They all sat next to Ryuji and Futaba, who were now fully entranced in their boss battle. 

 

"Have you guys really just been playing on your phones this whole time while there's a party going on around you?" Minasumi questioned the two. 

 

"Dude… did you guys forget where you were?" Ann asked with disappointment in her voice. 

 

"Hold up, talk in a second, I'm really busy right now… Ryuji, can't you make Hinata's team boost any stronger?" Futaba hurriedly said. 

 

"Well, it ain't my fault!"

 

The girls looked at each other and shook their heads, waiting a minute for the two to reply. 

 

"Ok! Level done! Anyway, what were you saying, Minasumi?" Ryuji obviously asked. 

 

"I was saying that you're wasting the whole experience by being on your phones the whole time!"

 

"But we don't wanna--"

 

"Ah, ah! No buts!" She reprimanded as she shushed Ryuji. "I don't wanna see them out the rest of the night. That goes for both of you. This is one of the best experiences of your high school life! You need to experience it, especially with your closest friend!"

 

"Why should I listen to you?"

 

"Because I'll talk about that one embarrassing phase you had in middle school… you know the one… where you had that weird eyepatch on your eye and you believed--"

 

"D--OK, OK, OK, I won't even fuckin' look at it the rest of the night, just please stop talking!" Ryuji nervously yelled, as Futaba mischievously laughed at him. 

With nothing else to do, everyone watched the dance floor, Akira and Yusuke still slowly embracing each other. Yusuke was holding Akira's right hand as they held each other and swayed. 

 

Futaba and Ryuji both became jealous without even realizing it. 

 

"You know, you guys could try slow dancing. It's different from regular dancing!" Ann suggested, trying to put her matchmaking plan into motion.

"But that stuff's for couples! And I don't have a g-girlfriend…" Ryuji instantly said back. 

 

"Yea, haha, me neither." Futaba awkwardly interjected. 

 

"I mean, it's not exclusively for people who are dating! Friends can do it too! There's just fewer people on the dance floor because the music is slow!" 

 

Minasumi, Haru, and Makoto all flashed a look at Ann's lame reasoning. 

 

Thankfully Ryuji and Futaba, who had no experience with dances, actually believed it. 

 

"That makes sense to me…slow songs are a good break for people and that's why they play them," Futaba said. 

 

"Hmm…well, I know you're not gonna get off our backs about it so I guess we… will."

 

Futaba was getting anxious about being that close to Ryuji for so long, but this was the best chance she was going to get to be close to him. 

 

"Alright, we'll go, I guess." Ryuji agreed. 

 

"That's the spirit! Have fun!" Ann and Minasumi said as they slightly pushed them near the middle of the gymnasium. 

Chapter 7

The two stood in front of each other, secretly admiring each other's outfits that they didn't really see in the dark.

 

"Uh, do you know how to do any of this stuff?" Futaba asked. 

 

"Not any more than you do."

 

"Well, let's just look at what everyone else is doing," Futaba suggested as they took a quick look around them. Soon, they got the idea, as Ryuji became embarrassed realizing that he was going to actually dance with her. 

 

"So I guess I put my hands around you, and you put your hands on my shoulder, and we just kind of move along to the music..." Ryuji explained. 

 

"Okey." Futaba chirped. She was far too infatuated to care about how weird she sounded under pressure. 

 

Ryuji set his hands around Futaba's lower waist, as they both slightly froze. Ryuji was in love with how nice Futaba's body felt to him. He expected to still be anxious, but to his surprise, being this close to Futaba both physically and emotionally made his feelings for her slowly shine through his nerves. 

 

Futaba rested her hands on his shoulders. While not as intimate as holding onto his waist, she still felt a rush of emotions as she felt them through his suit. 

 

At first, the two stood in the middle of the floor holding each other, their minds still too busy with romantic nervous thoughts to even try to dance. Akira and Yusuke thought it was the cutest thing ever. 

 

"Oh my god, they're actually doing it!" Ann happily said in the bleachers.

 

"Well, partially… they are just standing there," Haru commented. 

 

"Give it time…they just gotta get comfortable with each other."

 

Ryuji complimented Futaba to not only break the silence but also because she was starting to look more and more pretty to him as she looked into his eyes.

 

“You know, I really like those earrings you picked out. They really fit you,” Ryuji said to Futaba. His usual nerves when he gave her a compliment were mysteriously not present. 

 

Futaba was currently lost in his eyes, forgetting what he was even talking about. She wasn’t exactly used to earrings yet.

 

“Oh, uh, what earrings?” she clumsily asked.

 

“These,” Ryuji pointed out, as she softly grazed Futaba’s left ear with his hand. A blush ran across Futaba’s face, but it wasn’t because of embarrassment or nerves this time.

 

“Ah, yea, those. Technically the others picked them out for me, but I liked them so much that I agreed to wear them. After all, when it comes down to it, the binary system is truly the unrecognized framework of the modern world,” Futaba happily commented.

 

“I have no idea what the hell you mean, but that’s alright by me, man!” Ryuji laughed. “I like it when you’re yourself like that.”

 

She smiled back, as the two moved a little closer together, their anxious grips on each other’s bodies loosening.

 

“I really like your look too. The chains and skull tie give off such a cool look. It just screams badass!”

 

“I’m glad you agree, dude. That’ll show Akira and Ann!”

 

“And...well...like how you said that my outfit fits who I am...I like that it fits you too...because I really like you as a person...I never thought I could be friends with anyone in the Phantom Thieves, let alone being this close. But it’s like everything was meant to be…”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

The music continued, as the end of the dance was near. Only a few songs, all slow, were queued up for the night. Futaba and Ryuji had finally got the hang of dancing, as the rest of the Phantom Thieves quietly cheered them on from the sidelines.

 

Ryuji took a glance at the other couples.

 

“I think part of this dancing stuff is...holding each other’s hands, now that I look around, and uh…well, you don’t have to if you’re not comfortable with it, but…”

 

“I’m ok with it,” Futaba responded, not a hint of awkwardness left in her voice.

 

“Ok, good.” 

 

He wrapped his right hand around Futaba’s considerably smaller hand. She tenderly grasped onto the outside of his hand. Ryuji’s hands felt tough, yet so delicate at the same time. The two of them had both been dreaming of this moment for ages. But they didn’t anticipate that it would happen so naturally. 

 

There was simply feelings that weren’t meant to be verbalized, but felt.

 

The two had stopped dancing by now, as Ryuji pulled her closer to him. Futaba’s other hand was now laying on Ryuji’s hard chest.

 

"Ryuji… I, um… need to tell you something…" Futaba tried to say.

 

But they both knew words couldn’t describe how they felt about each other.

 

Futaba abandoned her sentence, as she went on her tippy-toes to reach Ryuji’s face. They both leaned in for a kiss. 

 

Ryuji was unexpectedly soft with the roughness of the kiss. His lips tasted like heaven. Ryuji held Futaba’s cheeks and went deeper into the kiss. Their tongues were now softly mingling as they were entranced in their love for each other, her hands now reaching into his hair to slightly pull his head down.

 

They only took a short pause after the kiss to look at their partner’s face, before passionately going in for another.

 

When the two had their last kiss, Futaba simply looked at her new boyfriend in the eyes, his smile at her being the most comforting thing she had ever seen after her mother’s death. 

 

Tears welled up in her eyes as she quickly buried her face into Ryuji’s chest, hugging him like her life depended on it to hide herself crying. Ryuji, looking slightly concerned, kept his hand on Futaba’s waist, his other hand now around her head. Futaba let out a few emotional sobs, Ryuji’s beating heart slowly comforting her back to normal.

 

She brought her head up from his chest, some tears still falling from her eyes.

 

“I’m not upset. I’m just...getting emotional that you love me…” Futaba shakily explained.

 

“Sh, it’s okay...I understand. I’m emotional that you love me too. You mean the world to me, Futaba,” Ryuji softly told her, wiping away her remaining tears with his thumb as he held her cheek.

 

“Ryuji!” Futaba cried out, burying herself into his chest again.

 

As she hugged him, the last song of the night ended.

Chapter 8: Chapter 8

The two didn't let go of each other's hands when they walked home with the rest of the group, as they gave Futaba and Ryuji their congratulations. 

 

"I remember when I confessed to Akira. New love is so blissful," Yusuke said. 

 

"I never thought that you would be so smooth with a girl like that, Ryuji," Minasumi teased. 

 

"Well, of course he would. He's Ryuji," Futaba shyly said. 

 

Ann and Haru verbally aww'ed the couple, as Futaba and Ryuji laughed, holding their hands even tighter. 

 

Their hands seemed like they would fit almost perfectly with a wedding ring on each of their ring fingers.