#and I like Makoto a lot but not enough to give him a better sketch apparently

[josephsaturn]

got some dinklerumpuses here, like:

A fully colored/shaded bit of My Favorite Man (except extremities but I ain't Komatsuzaki aight-)

a sketch with said Favorite Man in a hoodie (tryna figure out buff people)

What if DR was an otome game and Nekomaru was the protagonist?/j (Words: Why are there so many hot people on this trip...) (Feat. Akane, Gundham, Hajime, and Kazuichi)

thoughts on Sleepwear of gundham, Sonia, Akane, and Kazuichi

"C" you next tuesday

Shitty Makoto sketch

Now im never posting again buh byeeee

[datheetjoella]

Fantober 2020, Day 26: Art Class

Author: DatHeetJoella Fandom: Free! Pairing: MakoHaru Rating: T Part: 26/31 (read the full collection here) Word count: 1,947 Tags: Canonverse, Established Relationship, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Nudity Read at: AO3, FFn, or right here!

                                              ------------------------------------ When Haruka asked him if he wanted to model for a drawing he had to make for his art elective, Makoto agreed immediately. He was happy to help Haruka out wherever he could and he felt honoured that Haruka wanted to draw him for an assignment. Although he imagined it would be difficult to sit still for an extensive amount of time, he was pretty excited about trying something new with Haruka. If he got cramps from holding the same position for too long, Haruka would surely give him a break.

But when Haruka laid out all his supplies and set out a chair for him, that excitement quickly diminished.

"Take off your clothes."

"Why?" Makoto asked with a frown.

"It's an anatomy assignment," Haruka explained, "I have to draw your body and I can't see your muscles and bone structure through your sweater and jeans."

That did make sense so Makoto stripped down to his underwear without any protests, though he did feel a bit self-conscious. Being in his leg skins at the pool was so much different from being in his underwear on an assignment Haruka's professor would grade. But he told himself they'd view it with a professional eye and not a scrutinising one, and they probably had to look at hundreds of other drawings so he hopefully wouldn't stand out too much.

"Okay, how do you want me to sit?"

"Makoto," Haruka said with a deadpan expression. "Take off all your clothes."

The blood vessels in Makoto's cheeks nearly burst at that. "What?"

"You have to be nude in this image, it's in the criteria."

"Why didn't you tell me that sooner? Being in my underwear is already embarrassing enough, but being naked is just impossible!"

"Because you'd immediately say no."

"Of course I would! Don't they provide nude models in your class?"

"They do, but you were sick that day and I stayed home to take care of you, remember?" Haruka said, "All the other classes already had their sessions too and it's not like they will hire another nude model for me alone, so I have to do this assignment at home."

Damn. It was his fault Haruka missed this class so it was his responsibility to help him catch up. But no matter how guilty Makoto felt, he wasn't sure if he could do this. "Isn't there anyone else you can ask?"

"Sure, let me call Asahi and ask him if I can stare at his naked body for hours while I sketch the outline of his di-"

"Okay, I get it!" Makoto interrupted before he could pass out from heatstroke. "This is completely professional, right?"

"Of course, it's artistic nude. The only person who'll get to see this beside us is my prof, I promise."

In the end, Makoto could never refuse Haruka when he needed him. With a sigh of defeat, he hooked his thumbs into the waistband and tugged his boxer-briefs down. "How should I sit?"

"Facing me. Put your left foot on the seat and lean your right elbow on the backrest, hand on your knee. Put your other foot on the floor and let your other arm hang limply beside you."

Those were some specific instructions. Haruka probably put a lot of thought into this, so Makoto couldn't disappoint him no matter how shy he felt. "Like this?" he asked when he assumed the right position.

"Hmm." Haruka ran his eyes over his form critically. "Actually, instead of putting your hand on your knee, raise it to support your head. Tilt your head to the side a bit so I can see your neck."

"Alright," Makoto said and he did as Haruka told him. "How's this?"

"Better. I'll start drawing now, so don't move."

"I don't know how long I'll be able to sit like this, though."

"I figured, so let me know when you need a break."

"I will."

With that, Haruka flipped open his sketchbook and began to draw.

Makoto's gaze wandered from the lamp on the ceiling to the draped curtains, trying to divert his attention from the situation he found himself in. If he'd been told a few days ago that he would be a nude model for an art assignment, he would've laughed and brushed it off as something beyond his capabilities. While he did maintain that viewpoint, the subject was a whole lot less hilarious now.

The only sound in the room was the scratching of graphite onto paper, which made Makoto even more aware of his frantic heartbeat. Every nook and cranny of his body was not just being studied closely, but also eternalised in the sketchbook like an exhibit of all his flaws and imperfections. Each weird mole and bump and pocket of misplaced fat displayed for the whole world to see - actually, for Haruka and his professor solely, but it sure felt like the whole world.

The more time passed, the more Haruka's eyes burned on his skin and the more awkward Makoto felt. He couldn't back down anymore, so he had to repress the itching discomfort or else he'd disturb Haruka. Unconsciously, he bit his bottom lip and scrunched up his nose.

Haruka's pencil halted on the page. "I'm still drawing your general shape so it's fine for now, but once I get to your face you need to relax your expression. My professor will think I held you at gunpoint otherwise."

"Sorry," Makoto said, resisting the urge to scratch at his cheek, "It's just so embarrassing."

"But why? I see you naked all the time and you don't seem to have any issues with it then."

"But then you're also naked."

"Do you want me to take my clothes off, too?"

"That's not what I mean," Makoto said, "I don't feel embarrassed in the heat of the moment, and not even if you just see me nude either but this is different. You're completely staring me down and that makes me self-conscious."

"You didn't feel self-conscious when you sent me that picture when I was at the training camp a few weeks ago. And believe me, I stared at that every night until I got back."

"That was different too, then I couldn't see you staring," Makoto said and somehow, the temperature inside his cheeks rose even higher at the mere thought of the picture. "And I'll have you know, I was self-conscious. My finger hovered over the button for twenty minutes before I sent it and I felt so embarrassed the second I did that I almost regretted it."

"I was happy to receive it," Haruka said, putting down his sketchbook on his lap. "Do you know why?"

"Because you were, you know, excited?"

"That too, but that's not what I meant," Haruka said as he stood up and walked over to Makoto, taking a hold of his hands. "Because you're beautiful and I love your body so much. Whether it's touching or just watching, I love every part of you."

The look in Haruka's eyes was dead serious and his voice conveyed unwavering sincerity. It was rare for Haruka to state his thoughts so openly and it simultaneously made Makoto's heart skip a beat and his head avert as bashfulness flooded him.

"I'll love your body no matter how it ends up looking because it's yours and I love you," Haruka continued, cupping his jaw to make him meet his gaze. "But objectively speaking, you are incredibly good-looking. Not only your body, but your face too. You are so attractive, handsome, gorgeous, hot, sexy-"

"Haru!" Makoto interrupted, laughter bubbling up from his stomach. Haruka didn't compliment him this blatantly often, so knowing this was how Haruka truly felt about him boosted his self-esteem.

"Don't you ever be ashamed of your body, or of any part that is you, because there is nothing to be ashamed of. You're absolutely beautiful both inside and out."

"Thank you, Haru," Makoto murmured, leaning up to capture Haruka's lips in a kiss of gratitude. "You are, too."

They kissed each other again, brief but immensely loving. When Haruka pulled back, he said, "If you really don't feel comfortable with me drawing you naked, then that's okay. I'll try to find someone else."

Makoto shook his head. "It's alright. It's just you and me anyway."

"And my professor."

"And your professor," he said with a chuckle, "But your professor won't get to see me naked, but a drawing of me, so it's different. As long as I never run into them."

Haruka smiled too and with a final kiss, he went back to his cushion at the table. "If you get back into position, I'll resume drawing. I'll draw the most beautiful nude artwork she's ever seen."

Makoto nodded and moved his limbs to their assigned position.

One break and nearly two hours later, Haruka put his last pencil down. "It's finished. Want to come take a look?"

"Of course!" Makoto leapt off the chair and crouched down next to Haruka. His mouth fell agape when he saw the image he had created. "This is amazing, Haru!"

The man on the paper was very attractive, with sharp yet soft features and a toned body, but it was undeniably him. Admittedly, Makoto never stood in front of the mirror for longer than necessary, but he would if this was the body he always saw. Knowing Haruka viewed him this way was already touching, but the fact that he merely drew what was tangible almost took Makoto's breath away. Haruka had been a skilled artist since they were kids, but with each stroke and every line, he got even better.

"You truly outdid yourself, Haru. It's like you improve whenever I blink."

"Thanks," Haruka said with a small smile. "I had a great model."

"You'll definitely get a high grade on this assignment. Maybe even the highest grade in your year."

Haruka shook his head. "I'm not turning this drawing in for the assignment."

Makoto couldn't believe his ears. Had he suffered through all that embarrassment for nothing? "What, why?"

"Look at it," Haruka said, turning away his head as an adorable blush lit up his ears. "I don't want anyone else to see you like this, not even my professor."

At that, Makoto almost choked with laughter. "Are you serious? What happened to it being artistic nude?"

"It is artistic nude, but this is too private."

"What now then? Are you not going to hand anything in or are you going to try to find another model?"

"I'd like to draw you again, if that's okay with you."

"Sure, but won't you have the same issue then?"

"I'll draw you from a different angle, one that doesn't show your face or at least isn't recognisable," Haruka said, "I'll have to think of a new pose. Do you have time tomorrow evening?"

"Yeah, I don't have to work, so I'll try to finish up my homework in the afternoon," Makoto said as he shimmied his clothes back on. "You know, it was a bit scary at first, but I had a lot of fun."

"Me too," Haruka said, "Does that mean I can draw you more often?"

"Is that with or without clothes?"

"Both."

Makoto giggled again. "Alright, because you asked so nicely."

"Thanks," Haruka said, wrapping his arms around Makoto's shoulders. "You really are a great model. Very… inspiring."

Although Makoto would probably never possess the unwavering confidence some others were blessed with, Haruka always knew how to make him feel better about himself. And perhaps, through portraits and images Haruka drew of him, Makoto could learn to love himself the way Haruka loved him: wholeheartedly, all imperfections included.

[allykakamatsu]

Fire Emblem Three Houses X Persona 5 Doodles

First post. So, a few nights ago I dreamt up an AU where the Phantom Thieves ended up in Garach Mach and I decided to come up with some art for it, along with some descriptions.

Black Eagles:

Ren Amamiya: Leader of the Phantom Thieves and the one most dead set in getting back home. Doesn't talk to too many people from Fodlán as a result, but gets along well with he faculty, especially Shamir. Also loves how many cats are at the monastery. Has the Crest of the Fool, a crest given to all wild cards that lets them use multiple personas. Is strong in swords, authority and bows and has no weaknesses or hidden talents.

Sumire Yoshizawa: Curently dating Ren. Wants to go back home but also really likes it here, especially the food meaning the kitchen staff have one more nightmare to deal with. Tries to get along well with all the Black Eagles but is best with Petra and Ferdinand. Has the minor crest of Aubin. Is strong in Swords, faith and flying, is bad at brawling and Heavy Armour, and has a hidden talent in lances granting the Sol combat art.

Haru Okumera: Despite being stressed that Okumera foods is currently without a CEO, is otherwise having a lot of fun in Fodlán. Thinks everyone is nice, but is particularly close with Caspar, Linhardt and Ashe. Has the minor crest of Glouster. Is strong in Axes, faith, reason and bows, is weak in authority, lances and swords, and has a hidden talent for brawling which gets her the Quick Riposte skill

Blue Lions:

Yusuke Kitagawa: Loves the monastery given how much inspiration it gives him, however due to a misunderstanding due to sketching without permission turned apology training session, he also has a lot of fun sparring with Felix. Due to hanging out with Felix a lot he is quite wary of Dimitri and also has to deal with a loli in his head though he doesn't mind too much. Has the Crest of Flames. Is strong in Swords, Faith and bows, is weak on axes and brawling, and has a hidden talent for reason getting him the defiant magic skill.

Goro Akechi: After Ren figured out he was still alive and tracked him down he begrudgingly rejoined the Phantom Thieves, just in time for their forced Fodlán trip. Not super crazy about the Monastary, but due to not having a positive connection to the present he has no strong desire to get back. When not getting dragged into group bonding sessions he's trying to help Dimitri not go down the same path he did. Has the minor Crest of the Fool and the minor Crest of Blaiddyd. Strong in Swords, reason, bows and authority, is weak to faith, axes and brawling, and has a hidden talent in faith granting the white magic crit +20% skill

Ann Takamiki: Isn't the biggest fan of being dragged back to the past, but since she knows it'll take a while to get back she's trying her best to roll with it. Gets along great with Annette and Mercedes, and surprisingly Dedue who she tries to help feel like he has more worth than just serving Dimitri. Has a minor Crest of Dominic. Is strong in swords, lances and authority, is weak to brawling and heavy armour, and has a hidden talent in flying granting the darting blow skill.

Golden Deer:

Ryuji Sakamoto: Wants to get back home so his mom doesn't get worried about him, but also kinda loves it at the monastary, cause the only people who judge him are the super stuck nobles unlike back in Japan, and has a great friendship with the rest of the Golden Deer, and even has a bit of a crush on Hilda. Doesn't have a crest but doesn't let it get to him. Is strong in axes, brawling and flying, is weak in faith and authority, and has a hidden talent for reason getting the dark magic avoid +20% skill.

Makoto Nijima: Very stressed about being stuck in the past, and as such does the most research into getting back, which often leads to her sneaking off to the Abyss to check its library once she finds it, leading to her befriending the Ashen Wolves. On top though she also gets along great with Lysethia and Ignaz, though she has some issues with Lorenz's flirting and Claude's scheming. Has a minor Crest of Timotheos. Is strong in Brawling, faith, authority and riding, is weak in lances and heavy armour, and has a hidden talent in reason gaining the Warding Blow Skill

Futaba Sakura: Is somewhat miserable due to being homesick and missing her technology, but is trying to make the best of the situation, which includes helping Claude with a dining hall raid which lead to the two becoming friends. Is also trying to help Marianne with her self esteem issues. Has the Crest of Blaiddyd. Is strong in reason, faith and flying, is weak in swords, axes and brawling, and has a hidden talent in bows granting the spark strike combat art which grants +3 might and deals adaptive damage.

Heroes Relic's, Sacred Weapons, Sacred Relics and Personal Weapons:

Staff of the Moon Thief: Arsene's cane that got turned from a pair of daggers to an actual cane. Grants whoever wields it +3 range on spells, and grants whoever has the crest of the fool recovers +10 hp at the start of every turn.

Fists of Thunder: Ryuji's personal weapon. Since he doesn't have a crest he had a pair of gauntlets custom made for him. They have the same night as steel gauntlets, the same weight as iron gauntlets, and also has adaptive damage.

Slasher: A sacred weapon of house Dominic. Think the rapier but just super effective against armour and has 1-2 range in exchange for loosing the cavalry effectiveness.

Sword of the Creator: Works just how it did originally, however im giving it 30 durability to start with and once it unlocks its full power it goes up to 50, cause 20 is NOT enough.

Azure Gem: The heroes relic of Timotheos. It's just like the Rafli Gem, but it cancels cavalry weaknesses instead of flying.

Ruler of Lion's Shield: Think the Aegis Shield, but with half the weight and a slight boost to its Pavise and Aigis effect in exchange for half the protection.

Wings of Dromi: It has the weight of a training sword, in exchange for barely better might, but it also works like psystrike in Pokémon, where even though it targets the defence stat, it calculates The damage based on magic instead of attack.

Axe of Ukomasara: Always found it weird that Lorenz wasn't strong in axes yet his house's sacred weapon was one. Welp, time for Haru to make up for that.

Lion's Falchion: Yeah I'm going to be blunt, think the royal sword from echoes, double lion and all, and add dragon effectiveness. Overkill, maybe. But on maddening overkill is kinda mandatory.

First Meeting:

Yusuke met Sothis in his dreams on the PT's first night. While they were both weirded out, Yusuke got inspired and decided to draw her and the bored Sothis agreed.

And that's it for now. If you liked let me know and maybe I'll do more.

[ryuijsakamoto]

I just would like to take a moment to talk about my fave headcanons i have for all the characters

Akira:

he is the most OVER DRAMATIC bitch on this earth

he definitely did theatre at some point in his life

after his arrest he sometimes gets really nervous and has trouble conveying his words. he stumbles over them and cant convey his point well

ann and haru like to braid his hair sometimes

when he was younger he faked not being able to see so he could get glasses, it didnt work tho

so hence now he wears fashion glasses

he had braces in middle school

there is One(1) picture of middle school akira. One

he 1000000000% believes in ghosts and has since he was a child

aliens though? not real.

takes lots of selfies when he moves back and sends them to his friends often

biggest flirt but if u flirt back with him he. Dies cannot talk his face is fully red and hes hiding behind his hands

takes every opportunity to visit his friends 

claims hes not a sap but futuba swears she saw him crying over a handwritten thank you card from ‘’that one arcade kid names the kind or smth’’

Ryuji:

when he was a kid he has a fluffy mess of hair similar to akiras and it was the cutest thing ever

he needs reading glasses but no one knows because hes embarrassed by them

he likes to doodle on papers, hes not an artist but he likes to make dorky quick drawings in the corner of his paper

he has trouble focuing sometimes and likes to tap his foot silently or draw lines on paper to help him focus

calls yusuke and akira pretty boy by habit, it started as teasing but then it just became a Habit

he keeps every gift his friends give him and therye very dear to him

he has akira help him dye his hair

when one of his friends is gone / in danger he doesnt dye his hair again until he knows theyre safe

his mom sewed his purple jacket for him herself

he likes to cook and bake

he hold his bros..bro come cuddle me...he very affectionate with his friends and casually touches like hugs, hands over shoulders, etc.

sings to himself when hes alone

Ann:

she has a pretty popular instagram account

she has really bad handwriting

like ryuji, very affectionate 

she loves beanies and wears them especially in the snow

likes to make pointless arguments with ryuji sometimes, stuff like is water wet?

likes to curl her hair over breaks, thinks it looks cute

she loves to watch sappy romance and drama shows / movies

she stress eats

hates when people attack her friends on her instagram 

she has pet fish 

she picked up gardening from haru, its only a small plants and she forgets to water it sometimes but shes trying her best

Yusuke:

he is secretly a sucker for cutely decorated sweets

he had a small anime phase, not that he told madarame, but he has a box full of his old anime drawings and he will Never show them to anyone

he, like ryuji, sometimes drawes in the corners of his papers

unlike ryuji his are more detailed n not as dorky, its usually a detailed flower pattern or something of the sorts

he straightens and dyes his hair

his room? full of art pieces and posters u cannot see his original walls

he always has his phone on dnd and forgets to check it for days sometimes

he has 5 pairs of the same shirt, each one for a different occasions (they all look the same though...we dont ask why)

when he gets too worried over his art and stuff usually his friends will drag him out of his room and make him go eat with them

his friends pictures in his phones are hand-drawn little sketches he did

when hes concentrating really hard he puts his bangs into a ponytail so they dont fall in his face

so clumsy. he trips over everything

Makoto:

got through school before highschool without having to study

is not good with change

loves cute plushies and clothes

is Tired please give her a break

when Sae notices shes overexerting herself she makes sure to leave some of makotos favorite food and a small note for makoto on her bed

she just loves her sister very much

actually really likes spicy foods

u mention around her youre having trouble in school? not getting enough rest? forgot your lunch? Mom Mode Makoto activated

when shes alone she can curse up a storm

likes to play poker

is really good at talking to people and keeping up frienships

after highschool she is always busy u wanna hangout? she has 2 available days for the next 5 months

Futuba:

she has braces. she despises them

a very picky eater

sometimes she falls back into her old habits of hiding and isolating herself, when that happens shes learned to text someone and they sit outside her door and talk to her untill shes feeling better

cries easily, especially over characters and shows

has a phantom thieves fan account

when morgana and akira move away she gets a cat plushy because she misses her friends

shows everyone so many fun online things, discord? they have s discord gc because of her

akira has to remind her to drink water and fix her posture too much

wants to cosplay

shes really nervous for her first day of school but joker texts her all throughout the day even if he got in trouble for it

surprisingly a morning person

Haru:

she Runs on caffeine

likes to spoil her friends, yusuke spent all his money again? heres enough to get home and also buy a 3 course meal 

works at a plant shop even though she doesnt really need to because she loves being around plants

plays piano and cello

touch starved pls hug her PLEASE

likes to fish

cutest laugh please protect her

also dabbled in acting, though hers was more classical stuff like shakespear

she loves golf and swimming

knows how to fight and will do so if needed

she bullet journals

Akechi (in general + if he got to stay with the pt):

actually doesnt have a strong opinion on pancakes, just was really feeling like eating pancakes that day when he overheard morgana

he loves the praise he gets but the spotlight is exhausting

shido told him long hair didnt look good on him once so now he refuses to cut it out of spite

loves to watch gordan ramsey, thinks its hilarious

Bottles up his emotions like crazy

actually really caring towards his friends, always checking up on them and making sure theyre taking care of themselves

loves shit talking his dad, esp with ryuji haru and yusuke who join him and shit talk their own father figures

he wears colored contacts

writes poetry, no one knows this though

cannot back down from a bet, tell him that he wont eat that spoonful of wasabi? hes choking it down with tears but at least he proved you wrong

kinda very incredibly petty

a big fan of mythology, he looked into it after getting his loki persona

loves movie dates with the phantom theives

[shadowtarot]

CHM: I am just using Sho as a Red Herring/Living Inciting incident FYI. Maybe he contacts Ryuji again, following a fight possibly, he tells him to tell his leader (how he knows about Ren in Inaba? who knows.) to go to Junes and stick his hand in the big TV in the Elec. Dept. just avoid the mascot and manager (Yosuke). Sho is just causing stuff for shits and giggles. Plus it’s a way to rope in P4.

Chariot's Mystery Part 18

Following that fiasco in the messed up Metaverse, Ryuji's been on edge. Despite the fact that Ren gave that threat to Kirijo, they now had to capture Sho as a show of faith. Or as it actually was, work with Sho to try and further expose Kirijo. That meant that he was bait for the red-haired manic. His mind goes back to the conversation that happened directly after school that day: "ARE YOU INSANE?!" Zenkichi says in the video call. "Sending Ryuji on his own to lure him is suicide. I had a first hand experience with him, and despite his looks he could easily break my damn sword if he wanted. At least...that's what I could tell at least." The Trio were in the warehouse again, given it was the only safe spot at the moment to discuss these things. "Buuut, we don't want to send you and Doc out there. You're both Newbs! Sure you've had a little experience in combat, but Ryuji's had his Persona longer than most of us! ...excluding Mona." Futaba plays with a Jaggriko in her hand as Yusuke sketches in the background. "Well I'm at least gonna stay on standby, I'm not about to let this get deadly if simple discussion goes south." Zenkichi folds his arms, looking at everyone seriously. Sophia's tiny icon bounces on the screen. "I can try to look up information on him while we do these dealings. Perhaps find any report of crimnal history?" Makoto nods. "That sounds good. Now Ryuji, Ren showed you how to make Thief Tools during our roundtrip right? We don't know Sho's elemental affinity...if he even has one. I'd make a few elemental rounds for each element. Just to be safe."

"Right." Ryuji nods, glancing over at the spare set of tools Ren gave him. Suddenly, Ryuji's phone alarm goes off. It was time for him to start heading down that same alley way as before. Zenkichi and Maruki were watching from a safe distance. All Ryuji needed to do was get Sho's cooperation. And as if on cue, Sho appears. "Seriously? The same damn alleyway? You're not supposed to be predictable in your line of work, dumbass." Sho's getting dangerously close, but Ryuji's hand is firmly in his pocket, thumb hovering over the Broken Metanav. He doesn't say a word as he activates it, dragging Sho into the Metaverse with him. Taking a deep breath as Skull opens his eyes to the glitchy Metaverse, he draws his weapon. "Sho, yeah? Look we both hate Kirijo, but we need a way to get closer in to dig more dirt on 'em so-" But Sho's already drawn one sword, pointing it at Skull's neck. "Blah blah blah. I'll listen to whatever the hell you got, but I ain't listing to SHIT until you fight me." Now that there wasn't several Persona users around him, Skull could better judge Sho's aura. There was no way in hell he'd win in a fair fight. Good thing he wasn't planning on fighting fair.

I gotta fight him just enough to figure out his weaknesses. Time to make him show his hand!

Skull charges at Sho, not even summoning William, choosing instead to just strike at him with his club. Sho just casually blocks it with his short sword, drawing his full length and striking him hard with the blunt end. "Did you seriously already forget how I was armed? Or are you really as much of a dumbass as I had you pegged for?" Sho mocks charging at Ryuji while he's stunned. He was fast, too fast to react to. But he needed to space himself somehow! Skull begins to scan the buildings, looking for a safe path to jump and scale. Unfortunately, while a path was found...a Curse attack had already hit him the moment he took his eyes off Sho. "Gah!" Ryuji winces. Curse didn't do a whole lot to him, but at least he could hopefully figure out his weakness now that he knows his affinity. Moving fast, a Bless Round is loaded into his shotgun as he aims...but looking down past the barrel...he sees Sho yawn as he puts his weapons away. "You space out in combat, then point a gun at me? Come on...at least make it interesting. Look, if your goal was to bore me with piss poor fighting you did it. Congrats, loser." Sho leans up against a wall though goes back to standing up once he notices the wall cease to exist. "Your group has a leader, and I know pretty damn well that none of you three bozos are it. Nooo, you gotta be special beyond special to lead a group. At least that's what those damn people in blue seemed to imply...." Sho mutters to himself. "Give me a way to contact him." Putting the shotgun away, Skull stares right at Sho. "You'll be contacting Joker in that case. I can't give you direct contact, but we have a sorta...uh...secure network we use to relay information and-" "And? You need an access point to ping me, yeah? Here." Sho takes out a slip of paper. The stuff written on it is foreign to Ryuji, but all he can gather is...Sho was already prepared for this. This might be why Kirijo counts him as dangerous. Three Hours following this exchange, Futaba is getting the link all set up for Ren. "Is it illegal to hack someone if they've given consent, Zenkichi-san?" Haru asks as the team has one last meeting. "If permission was granted, it'd be the same as hotwiring someone's car to save their life, yes? The act is frowned upon, but if there's no bad intent then it shouldn't have issues." Yusuke interjects. "Hey-let me at least answer the question!" Zenkichi sighs. Everyone laughs, only for Futaba to suddenly cheer. "Everything's all set up, Ren! Now whenever you use that access point we've been using to contact someone outside of the team on your cell...the voice filter should still work."

"Great. I'll be contacting him solo. I'll try to get any intel out of him I can." Ren nods. "I'll talk to you guys tomorrow with what I got." Once the team logged off, Ren contacts Sho. "So you actually called, huh? Guess you guys do some things right after all." Sho's snark can be felt on the other end of the line. "Joker right? Why are you guys so hellbent on contacting me for?" "We want to strike a deal with you. We need an in to get on Kirijo's good side and expose what they have done in better detail. But to do this, we need your help. You know a lot about the group, correct?" Ren choses his words carefully.

"...yeah I do. Hell, they hide so many damn secrets, it's clear they're planning SOMETHING. Did your little data dig give you info about the TVs?" Sho's question is sudden.

"TVs?"

"Yeah. In a small town called Inaba, there's a TV in the local Junes that never gets sold. They use it as a normal TV for customers. But...if you touch that TV, something strange happens. No one in the town knows about it, so it's 100% a cover up." Sho's smirking on the other end of the line. "Confirm that rumor for me, yeah? ...and don't let the bear or the brunette see you."

Sho suddenly hangs up at that point. "TV in Junes. ...there is that outdated TV in the home appliances section." Checking the time, Ren makes his way to Junes. He had a few hours before they closed, should be enough time to see if it was BS or not. The store's huge, weaving and maneuvering around different isles until he finally reaches that section. "Hm...so if I touch it..." Ren says quietly, extending his hand to the screen only to see it ripple like water. "That movement....it's not dissimilar to how the Meta Nav takes you in. ...can I stick my hand in it...?" The moment he does, however...two pairs of eyes have already locked on to what he's doing. He forgot to heed the warning....

[blackhakumen]

Mini Fanfic #267: Teenagers React to a Bunch of Adults Losing to a Simple Golf Game (Super Smash Bros Ultimate)

Mario

Mario: (Running Around While Crying on Screen)

Ren: Huh. So Mario's a whiner. Who would've guess.....

Futuba: I know, right? A grown man crying about a simple Golf game.... It's pretty sad in hindsight.....

Pit: (Turns to Yoshi) Was Mario always like this when he loses?

Yoshi: Not all the time. Though, I find it odd that he would act this Over Dramatic over some golf game.

Sonic: (Shrugged) Maybe Toadstool Tour was huge deal back then.

Yoshi: Maybe....

Luigi

Luigi: (On Screen) I'm a loser.....

Haru: (Feels Terrible for Luigi) Poor Luigi-Senpai.......

Futuba: (Frowns Little Sadly) Yeah. I don't think he's a loser.

Yoshi: You darn right he isn't. My dad is one of the coolest heroes I've ever known!

Dark Pit: Bet Viridi gonna have a field day when she see this....

Yoshi: Speaking of which....(Turns to Pit) Why does your girlfriend hates my dad so much, Pit?

Pit: (Rubbing the back of his head Back and Forth) I'm not really sure myself. Viridi does have a way of putting people down and stuff. I'm sorry...

Yoshi: Ah don't worry about it, man. I was just wondering is all. You're cool.

Pit: (Feels a Little Better) Thanks, Yoshi...

Peach

Peach: (Starts to Faint on screen)

Morgana: Really don't think it's necessary to faint over a golf game...

Sonic: (Already Embarrassed) Right? I know mom is a princess and all but still.....

Daisy

Daisy: (On Screen) Nonono, you CLOUT!

Makoto: Hm....

Ren: Something's up, Makoto?

Makoto: I don't know why but....I feel like the princess' outburst is exactly what I expected her to have.

Yoshi: You're not wrong. My mom can be pretty competitive when comes to sport events. (Starts Rolling his eyes) Apparently Golf is one of them....

Yoshi

Yoshi: (Fell Down from Dizziness on screen)

Haru/Ann/Futuba: Awww......

Yoshi: (Facepalms in Annoyance on how Adorable he's being on screen) God I wish I'd didn't do that.....

Pit: Well....you were kind of adorable when you lost.

Yoshi: I'm a freaking dinosaur, Pit! Dinosaurs aren't supposed to be cute or adorable! We eat stuff! We throw eggs at people! We even learned how drive somehow!! I speak for all of us that we demand to be taken seriously!!!

Haru: (Gives Yoshi a caring hug) Please don't be mad, Yoshi-kun.

Ann: (Joins in on the hug) Yeah. We know that you're more than just an adorable bundle of joy.

Futuba: (Joins in as well) You're still cool in our book, Yoshi. We love you, man.

Yoshi: (Blushes while looking away, Pouting) Love you guys too.....(Noticed Dark Pit was smirking at him) ('Sigh') What now?

Dark Pit: Nice shirt.

Yoshi: (Upset by Dark Pit's remarks) And there is it!!!

Makoto: Don't make fun of Yoshi, Dark Pit.

Dark Pit: But I-

Makoto: (Instantly gave Dark Pit the Cold Glare)

Dark Pit: I'll stop now....

Makoto: (Smiles Softly) Thank you.

Koopa Troopa

Koopa Troopa: (Hides in his Shell on screen)

Ren: You know, this might be the most normal loss reaction we've seen so far.

Yusuke: Well he is a part of the Koopa family after all. He's bound to hide in his shell from defeat eventually.

Birdo

Birdo: (Stomping Around in Distress on screen)

Pit: (Whispers to Yoshi) Hey, Yoshi.

Yoshi: Yeah?

Pit: Is Birdo really a girl or....

Yoshi: I...... Honestly have no idea.... I'm not even sure the rest of my species even knows at this point.

Pit: Huh. Weird.

Yoshi: I know, right?

Donkey Kong

DK: (Throws a Random Barrel and begins slam the ground in anger on screen)

Ryuji: Wow even DK taking this loss too seriously now...

Futuba: What do you expect from the gorilla who throws barrels at Mario since the 80s?

Sonic: Actually....that gorilla was Cranky Kong when he was a lot younger.

Yoshi: And the original "Jumpman" was actually Mario and Luigi's father.

Futuba: (Eyes Widened and Mouth Wide open in shock) ...........

Sonic: Is.... Futuba's gonna be okay or....

Ren: Give her a moment.

Morgana: In Three....Two....One.....

Futuba: WHAT?!

Diddy Kong

Diddy Kong: (Jumping Around in Frustration on screen)

Ryuji: (Eyes Widened) I thought DK got a bad temper but this kid had it much worse.

Pit: He is Donkey Kong's nephew after all.

Futuba: Diddy was Donkey Kong's nephew?! I thought he was just his little buddy.

Pit: I mean he still is. Just on a more... family type of thing, you know?

Futuba: .........Guys, I think my mind just gotten blown right now.

Morgana: (Rolled his Eyes) Of course it did, Futuba....

Wario

Wario: (Throws a Random Giant Boulder before rage quitting on screen)

Ren: Where the hell did he get that boulder from?

Sonic: I felt sorry for the guy he threw that boulder at....

Suddenly that same boulder was thrown back at Wario's head. Squishing him almost entirely.

Sonic: (Eyes Widened) Or not.

Tiny Wario: (Starts waddling around in anger)

Morgana: (Very Surprised) How in the heck did Wario survived that?!

Yoshi: Getting Crush by a boulder? Oh that's just a Tuesday for the guy. In fact, Wario can survive from a lot of things. Getting Poisoned, Getting Burned Alive, Getting Flattened like an actual pancake, and etc. He's pretty tough to kill not gonna lie.

Morgana: (Eyes Widened) .............I honestly don't know how to feel about that.....

Yoshi: It's best not to think too much about it, honestly.

Waluigi

Waluigi: (Being Over Dramatic on Screen) WHY?!

Sonic: (Unimpressed) Does anyone else think that's this how he acts when he didn't get invited to Smash?

Teens: (Unimpressedly Agrees) Yeah....

Dark Pit: (Crosses His Arms) The man was always a Drama Queen....

Bowser

Bowser: (Starts Beating on the ground in defeat on screen)

Sonic: (Facepalms) I swear....This guy acts like he lost a war or something...

Pit: Well given the fact that he constantly lose to Mario 24/7, it was always a matter of time before he lose so Dramatically....

Dark Pit: Since when does Bowser EVER act calm when he loses to Mario at anything?

Pit: ........If I have to guess, I'd say.... probably never?

Dark Pit: Not the answer I was looking for, Pit-Stain, but whatever...

Bowser Jr.

Bowser Jr: (Crying on Screen)

Haru: (Feels Incredibly Terrible for Bowser Jr.) Oh my goodness.... This is so heartbreaking to watch. I wish I could give him a hug and tell him that "Everything will be okay."

Morgana: I don't think hugging him would be a good idea. He has spikes on his shell, remember?

Haru: Oh....(Have A Sudden Determination on her face) Will no matter. I'll just find safest equipment from impalement just in case.

Morgana: ('Sigh') Never change, Haru-san. Never change.

Boo

Boo: (Rolling Around in Sadness on screen)

Ryuji: Soooo...Boos are like actual ghosts, right?

Ren: Yeah....

Ryuji: Well... Shouldn't they disappear I the sunlight by now?

Ren: I'm not even sure myself, man....

Shadow Mario

Shadow Mario: (Trip Down on the Ground and sat there in annoyance on screen)

Sonic: Wait. So if Bowser Jr's in this game too, who was Shadow Mario this entire time?

Ren: That's..... honestly a good question...Who was he?

Futuba: (Looked Up Shadow Mario's Identity on her phone) ........Huh.

Ren: What did you find, sis?

Futuba: Says here on my phone that the guy being Shadow Mario was some relay racer from Gelato Beach named Il Piantissimo.

Ren: You mean that guy in a Pianta costume? Why would he wanna join a Golf Tournament.

Futuba: I don't know, man....

Petey Piranha

Petey: (Threw Up Mud like Goop on the Golf Course on screen)

Ann: (Clearly Disgusted) ...........Is that really what I think it is?

Ren: I'm sure that's all just mud.....or....at least I hope it is...

Yusuke: The colors and texture of this liquid object is unusual....and yet..... Fascinating.....(Immediately Got put his sketch book as he made himself closer towards the screen) I must make a master piece out of it.

Futuba: (Facepalms) Don't even think about it, Inari.....

Reaction Over

Makoto: Well...That was all interesting all things considered.

Pit: (Smiles Brightly) You know, I had a great time with you guys today. Even if it does involve watching Mario and the others over reacting to losing a golf game.

Ann: (Smiles Softly) We had with you guys too, Pit-san. We should definitely do this again sometime.

Sonic: Well.....we could watch Mario and the others react to losing AND winning a soccer game on Strikers Charged.

Ryuji: Mario had a soccer game? Since when?

Yoshi: Two decades ago. (Remember Entering both Soccer events very well) It was..... interesting to say the least....

Makoto: How about we do that another and spend some time on Smash Town today. I think we had enough craziness for one day as it is....

Everyone Agrees as they all casually walks out the Mansion's door to enjoy the rest of the day together.

@keyenuta

@26shann

@cyber-wildcat

@scribblehooves

@luigifan00001

@ink-correctsmashbrosbloo

@kira-vera

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

tbf, the Oku arc also had the bs morgana/ryuji argument with inconsistencies like "Oh Ryuji's just in it for the fame/chicks!" as if his trauma from Kamo wasn't a thing, and like, when was he obsessed about getting chicks by being a PT? And then the plot favors Morgana even after running off, nearly running over the PT in car form (which i'm pretty sure would kill/injure them), and then robbing Haru of the big conflict scene with her dad

not to mention the same crap of Ryuji apologizing even though Morgana insulted HIM, akin to the Ann and Makoto situation; if we're pointing out character assassination in the Kamo arc it's only fair to bring it up in the Oku arc (not to mention Mona's whole hissyfit preventing the player from doing ANYTHING with free time, even though those scenes could've easily been edited to not include Morgana ye there're some damn good reasons the Oku arc is unanimously hated) 

Under cut cause length (I agree but....there are things that make it a bit murky)

100% agree with the free time stripped away, that was a bad design choice. That being said, I don’t think P5 offers a lot to do after you max stats and max CoOps (P3/4 have a similar issue but, hear me out, P5 is newer and probably should’ve fixed that by now), like more free time is great for people that don’t have this game down to a science like me (I tend to literally just sleep the last like 14 days of the game so I can get to the next story beat cause there’s nothing else to do, first playthrough to boot....I’ve played too much of this game even for trophies orz). Royal helps a bit with the darts game and my Palace (latter being a curse and a blessing)...oh and the challenge mode (except you know....majority of it is behind a paywall :D....but like the batting cage and darts games I don’t feel any motivation to keep playing it, not like the counterparts with Judgement. Fishing is a bit better, maybe it’s because I have something to work towards (better gear, better bait?) but there’s not a lot of variety so I’m kinda bored fast. Tycoons’ fine, maybe add more card games, but that one is solid...but it’s outside of the time block mechanic so there’s no issue??? The arcade is a treasure trove of stuff we could do just for fun (I ought to make (another) post about what we could have tbh). The game is kinda barren in terms of stuff to do ironically (maybe they needed to bring back P3/4 style quests or maybe more mini games I dunno just something). Moving on tho

And also I agree Haru was ROBBED...and so was Oku. Nothing really more to say tbh, her spotlight was stolen and Oku suffered as well. (I mean Kane suffered too, and instead of having Mako’s spotlight stole she ruins other chars spotlight instead and set off a domino effect that’d lead to her and Futaba taking the most spotlight as the game goes on but I dunno I’m just salty 8U) At least how she joins isn’t bad (idea? good. Execution? bad), and the lack of screen time where it went wrong as well. 

As for the other stuff....I agre....tho......here’s the thing (and what makes it murky)...when it comes to Mona....apparently they didn’t translate him well. He’s apparently NOT super mean to Ryu, he’s more of a joking kinda tone (at worst it’s P4 levels of banter, which.....imo is fine in theory since there’s no malice in those) when he does it. Like....take the part in a battle if Ryu misses, he’ll say “GAWD Skull, you’re PATHETIC!” with as much vitriol and contempt one could muster....but in the Japanese it’s like “you lame, lame guy” with an “ahaha haaaaa that was really bad :(” kinda tone (so it’s suppose to be like “haha....that was lame bro”). (he’s also supposed to come off as a wannabe gansta but they didn’t translate that.....unless they meant to translate him being insufferable then well 8U bad choice) So like...anytime he insults Ryu it’s suppose to be in a more friendly joking manner than what we got. This is probably why Ryu kinda lets him walk all over him. Ryu is suppose to be the one that actually fire shots first at Mona, and why it’s keen he apologizes first (that being said, even tho Mona’s shots are more playful/in good faith in the Japanese...I dunno how I feel about him doing that from like...the beginning when he barely knows them. 1) he lacks the familiarity and he does it from the beginning and 2) he lacks being the “mood lifter” that Yosuke’s role is coupled with putting his foot in his mouth, it makes no sense for Mona to be ragging on anyone even playfully). So apparently it’s more of a character assassination from the localization team (guess they didn’t fix it in Royal?). (it’s probably why.....iirc Mona ranked higher than Ryu in one of the first JPN polls?). (I still hate Mona tho, even tho I do know it’s possibly a localization error....I still don’t like him....plus other stuff he does too so...yeah). This isn’t the first time it happened tho in the series.

Past examples: PQ1, as much as I hold it higher than PQ2 all around, did character assassinate Teddy in one aspect. Him with Koro, in Japanese he has a failed but benign nickname/insult for Koro that’s like “puppy-doggy,” they translated it as “mutt” in english. Freaking mutt. I still think they should’ve used “Dawg”, not only is it closer to how the Japanese intended it, but it also works with Teddie already saying “fo’ sho.” Then there’s Yukari.....now I think it’s only with Junpei but apparently she’s more of a motherly scolding type when talking down to Junpei, and it doesn’t translate well in english (this and the “cold woman who keeps her emotions in tact” doesn’t either).....that being said I didn’t see it explaining her other bad behaviors so~! *shrugs*

THAT BEING SAID, man did Ryu come swinging OUT OF NOWHERE around Futaba’s dungeon. Straight up just calling him useless (ironically enough tho......he is) like????? Hold up, who are you and what have you done with my Ryu....but technically it was a bit before Oku’s arc started....and......while JARRING as all get out, it does make some sense.....it’s happened enough times befor Oku’s dungeon that they want to capitalize. And even if Mona’s banter was more in good nature, he and Mona still bantered so him maybe bullying him (partially cause fame is getting to his head now) isn’t TOO far off. 

As for Ryu and wanting fame, I’ll....yield for now. I could’ve sworn Ryu had soooome build up of wanting to use his fame for girls.......Actually, wait, I remembered something (both Ryu and one contradiction, it’s a minor one but yeah, minor compared to other arcs in both multitude and magnitude tbh). I think it’s just he was enjoying the PT’s popularity a little too much (rather than just tied to girls). I feel like it’s an arc he’s going through rather than character assassination, a weird choice (esp since they treat it like a team too later but-I’ll get to that).  I mean like I said with Dungeon 3, they were like “no we aren’t going after who the police are going after..........BECAUSE THEN THEY’LL TAKE THE CREDIT!” Like???? Didn’t think the fame went to your head just yet (you’d think it’d be starting as soon as Kane was caught rather than well prior). And then there’s.....Day Breakers....before we even got the game, happening sometime right as or right before Kane’s dungeon begins....he says some things that confused me. It was something along the lines of not wanting to go after small fish, or they needed a big target (the line was kinda implying eff the little guys)....and it confused the HELL outta me. Because we had JUST GOTTEN an article and Ryu was described as the reason the PT was formed, and everyone was like “Oh he cares so much about the victims!” only for him to not.....really.... with that line....and it was just weird. And while that is Day Breakers (it was made in mind to give us a taste of what was to come).....there’s that line I just mentioned that happens around the same time as DB.....which means the devs planned to this “we want to be popular” back in Mako’s dungeon..... which, in that dungeon it’s weird as hell cause we’re really not that far past them still being like “no save the victims above all else!” but again this change started happening in dungeon 3. Tbh I say this but I bet I can find a line or two around dungeon 1/2 for Ryu showing he’s more than just about victims.....which is weird....this isn’t handled with the delicacy it should if they wanted to go with that narrative....but it’s not all Dungeon 5′s fault tbh.

But that does lead to the contradiction (or I should say it’s weird/doesn’t make sense thing)...... We don’t want to go after Oku cause it seems fishy, and Ryu isn’t happy about it cause he wants to but yields, then Mona gets mad at Ryu (probably from being called useless, you know, cause Ryu’s been firing actual shots lately unlike Mona but the eng audience doesn’t realize it cause bad translation). But still he gets mad at the ONE PERSON who also wants to go after Oku???? That’s so counter productive??? And iirc then the game goes from the group being “we need to not go after Oku cause it seems sketch despite knowing what we know” to “of course we’re going after him! and *gasp* I can’t believe he’s done this! Even tho we’ve known about it we’ll be surprised! Also we’re ALL now responsible for having popularity go to our heads u_u” despite the fact we’re kinda only going after him cause of Haru’s plight (which is also where PQ2′s bold face lie comes in). 

Frankly I think Ryu and Mona should’ve been volatile to each other from the get go (just a mutual hate, iirc maybe similar to Mark and Nanjo from P1). Just complete animosity, and both being at fault by the time dungeon 5 happens. With both apologizing at the end. OR, make the Oku dungeon a place where the whole team is split (kinda like the Namatame TV scene in P4). Like I said good potential, just bad execution. 

Oku’s dungeon’s writing isn’t good by any stretch of the means. But a lot of stuff is either translation issues, or shitty seeds that were laid a lot prior t o this dungeon (and thus not really it’s fault it came about, its job is to resolve/capitalize on those seeds now). Kane’s? Literally trying to uproot and lie about an arc, not even laying seeds like Ryu, just straight up lying. Characters won’t act exactly like they used to. Oku’s Mona takes up a lot of Haru’s screen time, but in Kane’s the game literally bends to Mako’s will to get her into our team. 

Oku’s plot, while fumbled is plausible: Two chars who fight the entire game finally blow up, one runs off and ends up dragging in and recruiting another char who ironically is connected to our target....and is dragged in because Mona was near said target....cause she’s his dad....As opposed to Kane where: An adult thinks it’s a good idea to ask a normal student to look into something that cops usually look into (TWICE) even tho all he needs is a list which he should be able to provide due to having a bunch of names dropped the day of the confession and thus not actually NEED her or the events to even take place. Or the fact that the game seems to think Mako’s situation is any way plausible to ever happen and thus be taken seriously, along with all the character/story consistency being thrown out the window. 

Like I like Ryu and hate Mona, but....Ryu has some flaws tbh.....beyond just harassing Anne, he’s not perfect and that’s ok (tho how they handle any and all of it is not ok). Some seem counter intuitive to his apparent good boi nature. He’s kinda like Makoto with writing inconsistencies, but he’s limited to like....two diff modes while Mako is whatever the writers feel like atm consistency be damned. 

Also here’s the thing with Car Mona part.......either the writers forgot (wouldn’t be surprised)......or....they’re ignoring what they did. Mona literally states he needs someone to drive him when he first transforms:

Perv pyramid scene doesn’t really show Makoto driving-driving (she could just be gassing it while leaning, but like.....how much do we have to turn this wheel-whatever that’s not the issue here). Only time he is driving without input is when the team gets dragged into PQ2 (which makes sense), or with the Showtime (btw I hate these and that damn star), but the star “making the impossible possible” makes that make sense..... But this.....shows it means Haru must’ve tried to run us over. Now grant it she’s on Mona’s side, but it really begs the question....was it her idea or was it Mona’s? Or can Haru just not drive? I can def see Mona telling Haru to floor it tho, and her being like “Sure thing Sensei!” 

Oku’s arc, while badly written (and stuff setting it up was also badly written), makes some logical sense (execution was flubbed, but I can see it working at least  with someone more competent). Kane’s doesn’t make any sense on any level...and is badly written. It’s just, whatever Oku’s does (writing wise), Kane’s does worse and goes farther in making sure it’s worse. It’s like comparing two rotten apples. Oku’s is half rotten (not completely rotten, there’s still some non corrupt parts to that apple, but still rotten), and Kane’s is completely rotten (a mushy mess, nothing redeeming, rotten to the core). Both are bad, both are rotten, but one’s more far gone. 

[p5youllneverseeitcoming]

Imagine the Phantom Theives with an S/O who also becomes a Phantom theif...

Omg this is like everyone’s ultimate dream!… I want to be a Phantom Thief T_T

Phantom Thieves with a S/O who becomes a Phantom Thief

Akira Kurusu:

> He always knew there was something special about you

> It’s just he never expected that to be the power to awaken to a Persona

> He watched as you ripped the mask off of your face and then effortlessly defeating the Shadows that surrounded you

> You pant heavily before falling to your knees

> “You okay?” He asks quickly running towards you and offering his gloved hand

> “When did I…” You begin as you take a quick look at your new outfit

> “I’ll explain everything in a bit, let’s just get out of here first okay?”

> You nod as you take his hand

~~~

> You sip your coffee as Akira explains to you the basis of the Metaverse

> “And… That’s pretty much it.”

> “Right…”

> “You sound confused.”

> “Well, not confused more like… Overwhelmed? It’s quite a lot to take in you know.”

> He chuckles

> “Yeah I suppose so… For a newbie.”

> “Oh I see how it is Leader, I’m sorry not everyone is a Phantom Thief as long as you.” You tease.

> “He was as confused as you, don’t worry F/n.” 

> “Gah! Your cat just spoke to me!”

> “Oh yeah, I forgot about that.”

> You tilt your head at Morgana

> “Come to think of it… I did see a fluffy cat-like creature with you.”

> “I’M NOT A CAT!”

> “Ah! My apologies… Mona.” You say as you reach out to pet his head

> Akira smiles at that before shifting his gaze so your eyes meet

> “So, now that you’re up to date about how things work around here… What will your code name be?”

> “Code name?”

> “We don’t know the effects of using our real names in the Metaverse so we all have our code names.” Morgana explains as he rubs his head against your palm “For example, I’m Mona and Akira is Joker.”

> “I see…” You tap your chin with your free hand

> “Ah, I got it! I’d like to be [Insert code name here]!”

> Akira nods at the name

> “I’m looking forward to working with you, [Code name].” He says as he raises his own cup of coffee

> “Likewise, Joker.” You say as you clink your cups together

Ann Takamaki:

> She had a problem

> As in you

> You just looked so perfect all the time

> And your Thief outfit wasn’t exactly helping either

> Why did it have to be skintight?!

> “Hm? Is everything alright Panther?” You ask tilting your head at her

> Stop that. It makes you look adorable.

> “Oh yeah sorry! I was… Daydreaming.”

> “Oh? Was it about me?” You ask, a grin forming on your lips

> She just rolls her eyes as a response which causes you to giggle

> “Anyways, we should probably just head back to the meeting place, it looks like there’s nothing here but dust.” You say, taking one last look around the room you were in

> “Right. Hopefully the others were able to find something.”

> You nod as you turn and walk towards the door

> … Only to spin round to face Panther last second

> “Ack! What the-” Before she can finish you quickly wrap your arms around one of hers

> “Well I wouldn’t want a Shadow to get the jump on you whilst you daydream so I decided that we will stick extra close from now on!” You say as you start to walk and drag Panther out of the room

> “Haha, stop acting like a knight in shining armour.” She says as she quickly falls in step with you

> “Ehh? That’s mean, you know I’d happily die for you!”

> “You better not, we’re out of revival items.”

> “Wh- That’s not what I-”

> This time you’re the one that doesn’t get to finish, mainly because soft lips are now pressed against your own

Ryuji Sakamoto:

> Honestly he was so happy

> It was so fun running through the halls of distorted palaces and fighting Shadows with you

> You two have so much fun in fact, that you often got scolded by Queen for acting rather recklessly

> “Sorry…” You both say in unison, staring at the ground

> “Honestly, you two are such children at times.” Queen says shaking her head

> “Well, I can’t really argue with you, but you have to admit that it’s totally awesome to go to places like pyramids and space stations, I mean… I never even dreamed of seeing places like that up close!” You say excitedly rocking back and forth

> “You’re such a nerd [Code name], haha.” Skull laughs as he pats your shoulder

> “Wh- No I’m not! I just, uh, appreciate… The aesthetic?” You say, voice sounding far from confident

> “Please stop. One Fox is more than enough.” Skull mumbles, looking at Fox

> He is a bit concerned something could happen to you of course

> But that’s exactly why he willingly runs in front of you or pushes you out of the way if he sees a Shadow preparing a powerful attack

> You appreciate that, you really do

> But you still scold him for it whenever you tend to his wounds

> He of course makes it seem like no big deal though

> “Eh I’ll be fine! Hey, how about we go get ramen after we’re done?”

> “Uh, sure but, how can you think of ramen at a time like this?!”

> “Dude, when do I not think of ramen.”

> “… Good point.”

> He laughs happily at that and you can’t help but smile yourself

Makoto Niijima:

> She would be low-key concerned all the time

> But she would do her best not to let it show

> Whenever you suffer a major hit, she would instantly heal you with her strongest healing spell

> “Haha, thank you Queen!” You say cheerfully as you pick yourself up from the ground

> “Are you sure you’re okay? Maybe you should switch with someone?”

> “Nah, it’s just a scratch, no big deal.” You say, wiping dust off of your costume

> “… Okay…” 

> “Hey,” You say walking up to her and taking hold of her gloved hands “Don’t worry about me, you know I’d do anything to protect my Queen.” You add with a wink

> This causes her to laugh quietly

> “It’s just a code name.”

> “I disagree, you’re my one and only Queen.”

> You notice a faint blush forming on her cheeks, barely visible from beneath her mask

> “That’s… Cheesy.”

> You roll your eyes at that before leaning in and giving her cheek a kiss

> “I know.”

> Ever since that encounter she stopped worrying as much and simply admired your strength and determination

> Although she still scolded you occasionally when you missed a chance to deal a critical hit due to silly mistakes

Yusuke Kitagawa:

> You often found him busily sketching something in his art book instead of looking for clues

> “Uh, Fox?” You say tapping him lightly on his shoulder

> “Oh, my apologies, I spaced out again.” He replies still sketching.

> You press your lips together before standing on your toes and peering over his shoulder

> Unsurprisingly, you find your Phantom mask in the middle of the page along with roses climbing on each side of the paper

> “Awww…” You whisper right next to his ear

> “Please stop that [Code name] I’m nowhere near finished, it looks rather bad at the moment.”

> “Fox it looks amazing, and it’s only a sketch!”

> He chuckles as he places the pencil down and turns his face towards you

> “You compliment me too much.”

> “Well of course, your art is amazing.”

> “… The only thing I ever draw is you.”

> “Wh- Um, r-really?… No it’s not… You drew flowers not long ago…”

> “Ah you mean the flowers we saw in the park? Indeed, but only because you said they looked beautiful.”

> “H-Huh? Is that why… You made me that flower crown?”

> He only smiles in response which causes your cheeks to become pink

> “Oi, lovebirds! If you’re done flirting with each other can we just get going?!” Skull shouts.

> Fox sighs before putting his art supplies away

> “Shall we?” He asks, turning to face you and offering his gloved hand

> You nod as you happily take it and make your way towards your team

Futaba Sakura:

> She’d be absolutely thrilled, often pulling you aside just to take a selfie because you just ‘looked so cool’

> But you can bet that she will protect you the most

> “Navi!” Joker shouts

> “Leave it to me!” Navi shouts as she swipes for an attack boost spell

> After the fight is over, you notice the Necronomicon hovering above you

> “Is everyone okay?” She asks

> “Yeah we are, thanks to you.” You say looking up and smiling

> “Actually [Code name] I have one more thing for you!”

> “Hu-”

> “CATCH!”

> Before you can fully comprehend what’s going on, you stick out your arms and second later you found that the thing you caught was Navi herself

> She giggles as she shifts so that she now has her arms wrapped around your neck

> “Um?”

> “Well, I noticed that you got hurt the most during the last fight so I came to heal you!”

> “Don’t you… Need your Persona for that?”

> “Nope!”

> You want to question her more but before you can do that you feel her lips press against yours

> You blink for a second before responding to her until she pulls away with a massive grin on her face

> “This is by far the best healing spell anyone has ever used on me.” You say as a smile forms on your lips

> “Just don’t go around getting hurt on purpose so I can heal you like this all the time.” 

> “Who do you take me for? A noob?”

> “Only sometimes.” She teases 

Haru Okumura:

> She was really glad you were a Phantom Thief too, that way she could spend more time with you!

> Seeing as she joined rather late, she often relied on you to show her how things work

> At first, you’d often have to help her up and heal her after she got knocked down

> “Thank you so much [Code name], you’re so reliable and strong!” She complimented you as you pulled her to her feet

> But of course, as soon as she understood, she was unstoppable

> “N-Noir took out five enemies with a single grenade…” You say, gripping your weapon tightly

> As you say this, Noir quickly spins to face you and jumps up with excitment

> “[Code name]! Joker! Did I do good?” She asked with an innocent smile on her face

> Joker simply nods

> “Of course you did Noir! You’re amazing!” You say

> She giggles at that and holy heck that’s the cutest thing you’ve ever heard

> “I’m really glad! Shall we move on then?” She asks as she adjusts her hat

> Why is your girlfriend so fluffy yet so deadly

> “Yeah, of course.” You answer

> You find that the two of you mostly discuss things such as the best type or tea and coffee but then somehow end up discussing who’s weapon is more deadlier

> Noir of course claims that her axe would win anytime against anyone/anything and you find that this is most likely true considering she keeps reminding Shadows that they ‘shouldn’t annoy a girl with an axe’

> “Okay different question.” You say smiling

> She tilts her head to the side slightly implying you’ve got her attention

> “Who do you love more, me or your axe.”

> “…”

> For a solid minute she taps her finger against her lips, deep in thought

> “W-Wait seriously?”

> She giggles at that

> “Haha, I tricked you [Code name]! You already know the answer…”

> “Aw-”

> “It’s the axe.”

> “Hey!”

> Before you can say anything else she presses a kiss to your cheek and you know she’s just joking

> … You hope.

[kairiofknives]

(Makin’) Baby Steps (Part 1)

Summary: "Following June's incredibly unfortunate and inaccurate sex scandal, the topic of Futaba and Akira's supposed sex life disappeared from everyone's minds, all parties quite content to let that chapter close. Well, all minds, except Futaba's. Akira had promised that if she wanted to pursue a sexual relationship with him, he would assist her in any way she found useful until she comfortably got to that end goal. When her mother first devised the idea of a promise list, it was intended to be a method of encouraging change and personal growth in small, hopefully successful steps. She would probably be rolling over in her grave if she knew Futaba was using her technique to get laid."

Following the events of The S Word (Tales from the Thieve's Guild chapter 2), Futaba decides to start her journey towards battling her lingering inner demons to feel comfortable in her own skin as well as feel safe in a physical relationship with Akira. The path is rocky and sometimes painful, but oh so rewarding.

Can be read as a stand alone.

Warning: Discussion of body insecurity and sexual themes

Read on AO3

Following June's incredibly unfortunate and inaccurate sex scandal, the topic of Futaba and Akira's supposed sex life disappeared from everyone's minds, all parties quite content to let that chapter close. Well, all minds, except Futaba's. Akira had promised that if she wanted to pursue a sexual relationship with him, he would assist her in any way she found useful until she comfortably got to that end goal. When her mother first devised the idea of a promise list, it was intended to be a method of encouraging change and personal growth in small, hopefully successful steps.

She would probably be rolling over in her grave if she knew Futaba was using her technique to get laid.

It wasn't as simple as that though. Futaba knew her time in isolation and struggles with PTSD had made her incredibly uncomfortable with not only the outside world, but also herself. If she wanted to one day be comfortable enough in herself to make love to her partner, she had to first get used to the body she was born into. There were a myriad of parts she didn't exactly like. Her boobs were too small, her legs too thin, her hips too boxy and not curvy enough. The first few items on her 'Sexy Timez Promise List' were stare at your faults in the mirror and be naked often.

Even just reading the items made her stomach turn uncomfortably, but she couldn't let that stop her. She would have never gone outside her room if she wasn't being pushed, she recalled. And look at her now: a proper second year in high school who could ride crowded train and shop in Akiba all by herself. Just because that push was coming from herself now rather than someone else shouldn't change anything.

Ideally anyway. Her first pass at trying to look at herself naked was an utter disaster. It was barely even five minutes of poking and prodding at her own skin until she was sobbing hysterically, at the great despair of poor Sojiro who was locked out of the room and thus couldn't come to her aid. The next afternoon, as she laid in the comforting circle of Akira's arms on the living room couch, she sought the expert advice of Akira, Ann and Makoto.

"Maybe you just need to do that over and over. 5 minutes yesterday. 10 minutes today. So on and so forth until you conquer this," Makoto suggested, sounding uncharacteristically unsure of her own advice.

"Um, no offense Makoto," Ann piped in, "But I would rather die than do that. And it's not even my issue! That could work, but as a first step it seems waaay too harsh."

Akira nodded, brushing his fingers softly through Futaba's hair. "I agree. Too much risk of discouraging you, Futaba. We probably just have to come at it from a different angle."

"Maybe she could start going to the bathhouse more often! Introducing any amount of casual nudity into her routine might make it less of a big deal," Ann suggested.

"That isn't a bad idea," Futaba admitted. "It's just not free, so I wouldn't be able to do it too often."

Akira brought a hand up to his fringe, twirling it in thought, "And it doesn't directly tackle the idea of looking at yourself naked either." The black haired boy pondered the issue for a moment, then fixated his gaze elsewhere. "Yusuke! Could you come here for a second?"

The lanky man looked up from his sketch book, where he had been leisurely profiling Morgana, fast asleep on his favorite arm chair. "But of course."

Futaba looked up at Akira skeptically. The boy merely kissed her forehead. "Yusuke, you've painted nude models before, yeah?"

"Of course. We have had many volunteer to help our art classes at Kosei."

"Did you know of any strategies they used to look comfortable sitting in front of that many people while nude?"

Ah. So that was his angle. Not a bad one, Futaba had to admit. Nude models had a lot of guts just bearing themselves to others, but they also had to look natural while doing it. There had to be some models that weren't naturally ok with that.

"Actually, we very rarely have models come sit in our classes anymore. So few people are comfortable enough with the environment that it is almost useless to experienced artists. We rather have them relax nude in their own homes with several cameras set to film them. That way, we can witness the human form at its most vulnerable and relaxed and not have to waste the subject's time. Every individual can pause the footage when they find their perfect angle and re-watch as many times as they choose."

Ann blinked. "There has to be some getting used to that too though right?"

Yusuke hummed. "Surely. But we simply account for that by deleting the first half an hour of footage. Usually, if the subject is watching a movie or reading, they relax by that point."

"And...do you think that footage is... representative of the subject?" Futaba fiddled with the hem of her shorts. She swallowed harshly. "Like. You know how pictures look different than the mirror which looks different than looking in person? How does video...?"

"Ah." Yusuke nodded sagely. "It is slightly different than looking at someone in person, but it also offers a different perspective that I think might even be better. The human body sits differently depending on what it's doing. The video gives glimpses at multiple different stances and even sometimes emotions. The lines of your back can go from smooth and circular to firm and rigid if you become angry or upset. The tensing of the abdominal muscles fades away when someone finds a more comfortable position to sit in often times. It is truly interesting."

Futaba nodded, considering. Perhaps part of the issue with her looking in the mirror was that she was uncomfortable even before she looked. Her body language would have been rigid and strained in a situation like that. If she was looking at a frightened naked person, of course she wouldn't enjoy what she saw. Maybe it would suck just as bad this way. But, maybe it would be better. She wouldn't know until she tried.

"Do you happen to have a camera, Inari?"

~~~

It all came down to this.  Getting a video recording of her without her completely spazzing out had not been a one time attempt.  The first two times, she just ignored the movie she put on and fidgeted uncomfortably for two hours.  Then, Morgana had proposed the idea of Akira talking to her on the phone.  It had worked a lot better, but she ended up pacing a lot, which Yusuke admitted would be interesting but perhaps not the best for a first pass at this.  She didn't delete that video, but didn't watch it either.  Finally, they had managed to get a solid recording of her playing a computer game with Akira.  Haru and Makoto had gone through the footage and cut a 25 minute portion where Futaba evidently didn't seem to even realize she was being filmed.  Now, she had the USB drive with the video plugged into her computer, a box of tissues by her desk, and Akira chilling in the living room of Sojiro's house just in case she had another panic attack. All of her bases were covered.  All that remained was to watch the video.

Her chest ached already.  A part of her wished she had asked Haru and Makoto to describe how she looked.  Or had asked Ann for her professional opinion from their many shopping trips.  It was scary; her mind could easily rip whatever she saw to shreds at a moment's glance and she would have absolutely no points of reference with which to counteract the viscous negative thoughts.  It was hard to even imagine this going well.

Still, she couldn't just give up.  Futaba took a deep breath, released it slowly, then clicked play.

The film cut in to a scene of Futaba, naked as the day she was born, slumped down in her chair, game controller firmly in her hands.  She felt her bottom lip start to quiver.  How could anyone possibly love that?  Her posture was terrible.  Shoulder's hunched tense around her scrunched up neck, a pout firmly on her face.  The video version of her's legs were rim rod straight, balanced on the foot rest under her desk.  The angle of her slump made her stomach press into little rolls that her boobs could almost touch because of how caved in her torso was compared to her waist.  Her pubic hairs looked way dark in the image on her screen, untrimmed and completely unsexy.  What sane human being would ever find her attractive? Tears gathered in the corner of her eyes and she squeezed them shut, rotating her chair away from the screen.  She couldn't do this.

Shaking, she pressed her palms against her eyes.  God, she had been so freaking stupid.  One dark, twisted train of thought whispered that Makoto and Haru had done this on purpose.  They thought she was gross, that she deserved to suffer.  No, she reasoned.  No matter how down in the dumps she got about herself, she couldn't convince herself those girls, who had always put so much time and energy into helping her whenever she asked, would do anything to hurt her.  They wouldn't lie to her.  But, then, why had they said this part was fine?  How could that mess be considered fine?  She sniffled.

"Oh shit!  Crap crap crap!  Akira, move!"

She froze, blinking.  The video had sound?  Slowly, she turned her gaze back to her computer screen.  Video Futaba had sprung up, legs now curled underneath her and bottom lip caught firmly between her teeth.  Her back was as straight as a board and her eyes, even through the slight gleam from the screen on her glasses, were hyper focused on the game.  This position made her breasts stick out, she thought.  They looked perkier like this, more cone-like and less round.  Still, she could admit that they didn't look nearly as weird as they did in the last position.  Still not good, but less bad.  The image once again started to blur with frustrated tears when something in the game cause her video self to cry out excitedly, wiggling her hips excitedly.  Futaba couldn't help but scoff a bit.  She looked like a weird mix between a dolphin and a snake when she did that.  The lines of her stomach rolled so easily with the movement of her hips though.  Almost like water.  No belly dancer would ever commend her for it, but it was pretty interesting to watch.  The gyrating made her breasts bounce a bit.  She found herself watching in some amount of fascination at the way her nipples seemed to never follow the same path twice, even though her side to side motion didn't seem to differ much.  Weird.

Then, they must have beat the boss they were fighting, because her film representation leaped from her chair with a joyous cry.  Her celebratory dance gave her a perfect view of her own butt for a moment.  She had always pictured it as being flat, but looking at it now, it wasn't quite an accurate description.  Her ass wasn't huge, but compared to the size of her hips and thighs it was actually decently shaped.  There was a definite curve there, which jiggled as she hopped about.  Two little dimples existed just above the curve of her ass, which she had actually never noticed before.  When the Futaba on the tape turned around to face her computer again, she gazed at all the places she was critical of earlier.  It was quite thought provoking, really.  When she was just seeing them as parts of her body, she didn't like them.  But, as she looked at the grinning young woman before her, the full image was...fine.  None of the body parts seemed out of place or unfit.  Everything was...proportional, if nothing else.  Her boobs were kinda small, but honestly, she was kinda small too.  Futaba couldn't yet say that she liked what she saw.  However, she could also no longer say she hated it.  Because there were parts that she didn't mind looking at.  And the parts that looked odd in one positioning of her body often looked much better in another.

"Oh man.  I wish I were over there so I could kiss that smug grin right off your handsome face.  You prick."

Futaba's eyes widened a bit.  How many times had she gazed upon Akira's face as he flirted with her?  She could picture almost perfectly how his gray eyes darkened playfully, the curve of his lips when he smirked, how the blood would gather in his cheeks and the tips of his ears when he blushed.  Every part of Akira flirting with her was burning into her memory like a brand.  But her flirting with Akira?  She'd never seen that before.  She wasn't a waterfall of pure sex appeal like Akira, that was for sure.  But, some things caught her eye.  She had her nose tipped up, just a little bit, and it made the smile on her face seem so much cockier that it almost made her laugh.  She was balancing her weight on her elbows, propped up on the desk.  Her chin rested on one hand, whereas the other drew aimless circles on the desk.  The flush on her cheeks didn't stop on her face, traveling down her neck to the top of her chest as well.  No wonder her whole body felt like it was burning up when she was embarrassed.  The line of her spine was relaxed, almost like she was melting towards the screen.  Futaba watched herself giggle at some response Akira made, her lips stretching so hard into the smile she could feel her own cheeks burn.  The brown eyes looked almost purple in this lighting, flickering back and forth quickly, forming a clever response to throw back at Akira.  The best part, though, was the way her eyes sparkled.  It made her own eyes start to water once more, but not from disgust this time.

She had been so happy.  Even if you couldn't hear the jovial tone of voice, even if you missed out on the flirtatious conversation, the elation she was feeling in that moment was evident in most parts of her body.  The way her body curled towards the screen, wanting to get closer to the source of her amusement.  The way her hips and chest pressed out proudly despite her lack of clothes, unconcerned for modesty in spite of her insecurities.  Her rosy cheeks and twinkling eyes highlighting the carefree smile.  No, the image before her was not perverse, nor did she find it conventionally attractive.  Yet, as she watched herself converse with the love of her life, she couldn't deny that there was something beautiful about this girl.

The screen eventually went black, the video reaching its end.  Had it truly been 25 minutes?  Futaba's hand hovered over her mouse, tempted to replay the video, if only the very ending part.  She then cast her eyes at the full length mirror in her room.  Standing, she shrugged her shirt off, then undid her bra.  She bent over to slide her sleep shorts and underwear down her legs before finally straightening up and meeting her own eyes in the mirror.  This time, she searched for traces of the girl from the video in herself.  It wasn't completely easy.  Her red rimmed eyes and splotched face were almost enough to call this whole thing off.  But, she didn't.  She gazed at the hips that were slightly boxy, but that transitioned smoothly into the sides of her stomach.  At her breasts, which were more than enough for her small hands to cup fully.  Turning to the side, she found those two dimples right above her butt and ran her fingers over them.  This body was the same as from the video.  All it was missing was that sense of happiness.  Sighing to herself, she pulled her clothes back on.  She wasn't going to find that happiness here, with just her and her mirror.  The awful feeling was still in the pit of her stomach from the time spent staring at her reflection.  Her problem wasn't solved per se.

But, she did feel a hundred times better.

Futaba's feet carried her down the hall and into the living room, where Akira looked up from his book, eyes curious.  She shuffled towards him and crawled carefully into his lap.  The churning of her tummy was soothed by the easy way he shifted to accommodate her.  His lips pressed to her forehead for a moment, before he returned to his reading.  He was letting her choose to talk about it or not.

She felt Sojiro lingering near the kitchen, his anxiety palpable from her spot.  She smiled a bit.  "I watched it."

"Yeah?"  Sojiro asked, as awkwardly as could be expected from him.  "And, uh...how are you feeling?"

"A bit better.  I think I just need to get used to it.  But, it's not awful."

She felt Akira smile against her temple, nudging her with his nose a bit.  Sojiro let out a relieved sigh.  "Well, that.  That's good.  Huh?"  He laughed breathlessly.  "I'm sorry I can't help more with this, kiddo.  This is probably more of a mom type of problem."

Futaba considered that for a moment, then shook her head.  "I don't think mom would have known what to do either," she admitted.  "You're already helping a lot, anyway.  Thanks, Dad."

When she stopped by the Guild the next day, she made a point of hugging the ever loving hell out of Yusuke.  As confused as he pretended to be by the 'unusually and unnecessary physical affection', she knew her Inari was secretly happy as well.  She spent the next month trying to be naked as often as she could.  She went to the bathhouse near LeBlanc and even went to the spa a few times with Ann, Makoto and Haru.  A girls' day, so they said.  Ann took her shopping for nice underwear, which Haru paid for even though Futaba swore time and time again it wasn't necessary.  Still, she was glad she went.  She and Ann had both gasped when they saw this black and green lacy push up and bikini panties combo on her.  That had been the first time she honestly used the word "sexy" to describe herself.  Whenever she was back at Sojiro's at a reasonable hour, she'd linger in her room naked and do any number of things: homework, video games, hacking into the police academy website to get median accepted test scores for Makoto.

Sometime at the end of August, she had just gotten out of the shower when she caught her reflection in the mirror.  It didn't even cross her mind to be worried when she dropped her towel to the ground.  She stared herself down for a good few minutes, turning to inspect her backside, moving her wet hair aside so she could properly look at her chest.  She kept waiting for that flood of self doubt and disgust, but it never came.  Victorious, her first step was to call Akira, reveling in the proud cadence of his voice as he praised her hard work and diligence.  That night, she fell asleep in her bed without her clothes on and discovered that she enjoyed the feeling of sheets against her bare skin.  The next morning, she checked stare at your faults in the mirror and be naked often off her list.

~x~x~x~

Akira had been dating Futaba for a year and a half before this whole promise list thing started, so he liked to think he had a decently solid understanding of her as a person.  She preferred being indoors to outdoors, loved video games and cup ramen, could go from shy and quiet to in your face and loud in a heartbeat, would do anything to help her friends (as long as she thought it was her place to help or had been asked), curled into his body like her own personal heating pad whenever they slept together, and was almost never the one to instigate physical intimacy.  He knew that last trait was due to the insecurities she was working through, and he wanted more than anything for her to successfully overcome them.  So, he had zero problems taking the wheel on their physical relationship.  It cost his absolutely nothing to kiss her first or wrap her in a hug.  She was always very receptive, too.  One day, he had hoped that she would be able to make those moves herself.  He was prepared to settle in to wait it out until that time came.

What he wasn't prepared for was the drastic increase in confidence her efforts thus far had produced.

While he was definitely aware of all the body positivity training Futaba had been doing with the other girls, Akira was also aware that Futaba started working on her list in late July.  It was just now the beginning of September.  The young hacker was a genius, no doubt about that, but he knew the hard way that opinions don't tend to change easily, let alone in less than two months.  Especially not when they were remnants of your own cognitive distortions.  Realistically, it would be another couple of months at least until any real change popped up.

Futaba Sakura was not the kind of girl to be ruled by other people's assumptions.

They had been invited to a party, hosted by Mishima.  Evidently, he had been accepted into a very prestigious business and marketing internship and his friends wanted to celebrate the occasion.  His friends were not exactly the type of people Akira assumed Mishima would chill with in university.  They were big drinkers, big talkers, but overall super sweet guys.  Thus, showing up to a party where the booze was flowing and music was loud was not expected and certainly not what he and Futaba had agreed to.  Quiet get together my ass, Ryuji, he grumbled to himself.  The plan was to say hi to Mishima and then ask Futaba if she wanted to leave.  By the time they tracked down Mishima, Akira noticed that Futaba's eyes were much more eagerly scanning the house than the crowd.  She was planning something.

"Hey, Phanboy!" Ryuji called, already half a beer in.

Mishima turned, grinning.  "Yo! So glad you all could make it!"

They exchanged hugs and Mishima introduced the former Thieves to a group of his friends.  Akira noticed that Ryuji and Ann were huddled next to each other, whispering back and forth while staring into the group of bodies on the "dance floor", in the living room.  He made a mental note to ask Ryuji about it later.  Before he could rejoin the conversation with Mishima, a triad of girls sidled up next to him.

"Wow, we don't see guys like you every day," a young woman with dark brown hair and red highlights cooed.

Another girl, dyed blond with an oversaturation of cherry red lipstick agreed, "The guys we chill with are cool, but not nearly as nice to look at."

Akira barely withheld a sigh.  Instead, he smiled politely,  "I'm flattered, really.  I'm just here to congratulate Mishima though."

The final girl, seemingly the ring leader of the group, shook her head.  "Well now.  If a guy like boring old Yuuki could make nice with a catch like you, maybe he's a bit more worth our time than I thought, huh, girls?"  The other two giggled, leering at him sensually.

This had to be a joke.  Something out of one of Ann's romcom's.  He wasn't a praying man, especially not after he literally landed a headshot on a God, but if this was how girls at university could be, he prayed for the health and well being of all poor unsuspecting single men.  "Um...look," he started, trying to find a way to say 'get the hell away from me' without sound like a jerk.

"Hey, babe," a familiar voice called out to him, sliding under his arm so it wrapped around her shoulders.  "Sorry, I got distracted by the alarmingly high levels of testosterone over by the ping pong table.  Are you going to introduce me to your friends?"  Akira blinked.  How was this woman and what had she done with Futaba?  He noticed that their situation had been noticed by quite a few people.  Not only was their entire friend group and Mishima now watching, but so were the rowdy boys in the kitchen.

The Ring Leader quirked an eyebrow, unamused.  "Oh, sweety.  It's nice of you to protect your friend and all, but no one in the right mind would believe that you're his girlfriend.  Maybe pick a different lie to pull."

Well, Akira was officially pissed.  He opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by Futaba's laugh.  "You're a hoot, really.  Alright, here, hold on."  Futaba paused to dig through her purse.  When she found what she was looking for, she held it out to the girls.  It was an American dime she had gotten from her class trip to New York.  "Here.  This should cover you three and nine more of your friends, you dime-a-dozen bimbos.  Oh wait, you probably don't recognize the phrase.  English is a bit advanced for girls like you, huh?"

The look on the girls' faces was absolutely priceless. Before they had a chance to recover, Akira smirked and drawled gently to Futaba, "Now, now, darling.  No need to tear them to shreds.  Isn't their fault they can't take a hint."  He turned to the red faced Ring Leader.  "Sorry, I'm a bit occupied at the moment.  As well as generally uninterested in what you have to offer.  Lovely meeting you, ladies."  As he started to lead a grinning Futaba away, a loud commotion of mocking and incredulous screams (at least one of them was surely Ryuji's voice) followed them as they slipped out of the main room and up the stairs.  He quickly yanked open the nearest door.  It was unoccupied.  Perfect.  He tugged Futaba into the room and shut the door behind him, leaning on it.

There were a lot of things he wanted to say.  Ask her how she was feeling, if she wanted to leave, even commend her on her general savagery.  He didn't have time to say any of those before Futaba's body tackled his own against the door and pulled his lips down to hers hungrily.  Anything he could have said disappeared, as did every single thought exempt how marvelously her lips felt against his and how hot for her he was.

"Those girls wanted you," she broke away to gasp, not fighting him in the least when he pulled her back in for another scorching kiss.  They broke for air once more.  "They wanted you all to themselves.  But you know what?  They can't have you."  Akira swallowed heavily, panting. Futaba kissed a path up his neck and nibbled on his earlobe. She whispered fiercely right into his ear, "Cuz you're mine."

Oh god, he had never been so hard in his freaking life.

With a desperate whine, Akira drew Futaba's mouth back to his own.  Their mouths opened immediately, deepening their kiss, tongues seeking each other out.  Heady groans, grunts, and their hurried breathing filled the room, loud despite the blasting music from downstairs.  Akira could barely even tell there was music.  His mind was so pin point focused on Futaba it was making his head spin. The girl pulled off of him and immediately grabbed at his shirt, lifting it up and around his armpits.  "Off," she hissed.  He could only obey.  Once the fabric had hit the floor, Futaba's hands made great strides examining the newly revealed skin.  Her hands wandered his abs, nails dragged just enough to sting up his back, and two deft fingers rolled one of his nipples between them, forcing a needy moan from him.  He could taste the girl's self-satisfied smirk.

She turned her attention to his neck, biting down hard and sucking.  His hands tightened around her waist and he panted, unable to deny her the pleasure of giving him a hickey.  The redhead's nips and licks wandered south, to his collarbone.  Akira had never considered his nipples to be particularly sensitive, but when Futaba's clever mouth wrapped itself one, teasing it with her tongue, he swore he almost came right then and there.  Luckily, or unlikely, his phone lit up, ringtone blaring, before they could get any further.  They pulled away, each panting heavily.  Akira rose his phone to his mouth and didn't even pretend to hide how wrecked he sounded, "Yeah?"

"Holy shit dude," Ryuji must have pulled away from the phone to say 'I told you they were necking somewhere' to someone, though he really didn't care who.  "Anyway, we were about to get the hell out of here.  You two coming with or...?"

Futaba nodded, handing him his shirt.  She ran her fingers through her hair once or twice, though the effort to look presentable would doubtfully be effective.

"Yeah.  Meet you out by the street."

It was probably a sight to behold, the two of them walking down the stairs, hands linked and obviously well kissed and satisfied.  The amused grin on Futaba's face was gorgeous and he suddenly mourned the fact that she was taking the train directly to Sojiro's after this.  Akira made eye contact with the girls from earlier as they headed towards the door, who were every combination of shocked, disgusted and pissed off.  He waved and smiled pleasantly, feigning innocence.  As they made their way to their friends, Ryuji gleefully threw an arm around Akira's shoulder.  Ann made a point of high-fiving Futaba while Haru giggled.  It wasn't until they were a block down the street that Yusuke serenely observed, "Akira, your shirt is on backwards."  When Futaba got home that evening, she proudly informed him that both see the boyfriend shirtless and make out with shirtless Akira were checked off of that list of hers.

Following their tryst, Akira found that Futaba's spike in confidence wasn't just a one time thing.  Whether they were in public, on the living room couch, or just in The Den, Futaba started delivering a healthy dose of kisses, hugs and cuddles his way.  Though, they hadn't had any encounters of the same desperation level and neither got around to disrobing again for awhile.  Still though, that was perhaps the least important thing he could think of.  Futaba was transforming, yet again, way faster than he ever anticipated could happen.  There was still air of easy to so many things she did now, both with him and even when hanging out with Ann.  He knew there was still plenty of work to be done, but over all, he was plenty impressed with her improvement.

Though, he wasn't the only one that had noticed.

From: Coffee Dad

If I find a single hickey on my little girl's neck, so help me God, I will disown you.

To: Coffee Dad

Wouldn't dream of it, Boss.

From: Coffee Dad

Good.  You and Futaba should come have dinner at LeBlanc tomorrow.

From: Best Girl

I think the old man is lonely.  Should we be good little children?

To: Coffee Dad

We'll be there.

Well, at least some things wouldn't change.

~x~x~x~

Futaba could admit to herself that seeing Akira shirtless hadn't been much of a step. Their beach trips and several instances of Ryuji and Akira getting too sweaty during this past summer had made the experience of Akira's bare chest not entirely unique. Still, touching his bare chest had definitely been a plus and would be something should would hopefully get to repeat very soon.

Still, the next obvious step would surely be her being the shirtless one. It shouldn't be that difficult, she reasoned. It was just like the beach only no bikini top. And hey, she hated bras and bikini tops anyway, so in theory, this would be awesome. Only snag in that line of logic was her incredible discomfort concerning her breast size...

And boy would that suck. Having a panic attack born of self-hatred would definitely kill the mood. She ran the idea through her head dozens of different ways, looking for some way to minimize any and all intrusive thoughts. Sadly, all simulations came to the same conclusion: she wouldn't know if she'd be bothered or not until she was in the situation. She turned her attention from her laptop to Akira, curled up in the Nest reading a book.

No time like the present, right?

"Is...Ryuji gonna be back soon?"

"Don't think so. He said he and Ann were going on another scouting mission. Whatever that means."

"I see." Most of her checklist items so far had been personal challenges. Asking Akira to partake wasn't something she'd gotten around to planning out yet. As it was, him taking his shirt off had been very... opportunistic. Spur of the moment. She reasoned that this challenge needn't involve much fanfare either. The less attention the less chance of freaking out, right?

Futaba spent a couple moments observing Akira, still grossly invested in his new mystery thriller novel. Now or never, she figured. Hooking her arms under the T-shirt she was wearing, she slowly pulled it up and over her head. She lowered the shirt to the bed, casting another glance at her boyfriend. No reaction. Either he hadn't noticed or he was really good at maintaining a neutral face with a half naked girl in the room.

Or he just wasn't interested in such a flat chest...

She shook her head. No. None of that. She wasn't going to let a couple intrusive thoughts ruin this for her. Taking a deep breath, she reached behind herself to unclasp her bra, letting it slowly slide down her shoulders. The relief was almost godlike. How did women with large breasts deal with imprisoning them in these horrid death traps? She'd have to ask Ann and Haru sometime. Once again, her eyes turned to Akira. Still nothing. Her mouth quirked into a point. Damnit, here she was being brave as hell and her dumb boyfriend only wanted to read. She considered chucking her bra at him. That would get his attention.

It would also be a pretty unsexy method of acquiring said attention. Hmm.

Her eyes traveled to the door, and she quickly realized it wasn't locked. And she was bare breasted in Akira's bed. In the somewhat unlikely event Ryuji did come home soon...

Oh, wait. Maybe this would be the perfect opportunity. She placed her laptop down on the mattress, and then arranged herself lying along the bed with her elbow propping up her torso. This way, Akira would have a perfect view of her...assets and she could still pass off nonchalance. Not to toot her own horn, but man, she was a genius.

"Hey, Akira?"

"Hmm?"

"Would you mind locking the door?"

Finally, the bastard looked up from his book. His eyes scanned the door, as if it would reveal to him the reason she had asked. She withheld a sigh. Stay on target. "Um. I can, I guess." He dog-eared the page he was on and sat up, turning to her, "Is there a reason as to wh-....wha..."

Yessss.

His gray eyes widened comically. A scarlet blush spread over his cheeks and the tips of his ears. Akira Kurusu, charismatic and stylish leader of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, was flustered and it was all her doing. Usually, it was Akira pulling charming stunts to make her blush, laugh or smile. She had to admit, the power was a real turn on. And confidence booster.

Futaba: 1

Stupid voice in her head: 0

"I'm pretty sure you've answered your own question, huh, hot stuff?"

Akira nodded, lips curling into a bashful smile. "Y-yeah." Still, he got up to fulfill her wish, locking the door, then turning back to her, unsure. "Checking items of the list I see?"

"Yep!"

He smiled, warm and genuine. "That's good. How's it feel?"

Futaba closed her laptop, fidgeting a bit. "It's difficult sometimes. But it's not like I didn't know it would be. I think it's going well...?"

Akira nodded, hand coming up to twirl his fringe. He was nervous. Well, that made two of them. "Am I meant to participate actively or passively in this challenge?"

"Oh." She hadn't considered that. Originally her plan was just to be shirtless. She supposed she could tackle makeout with Akira while shirtless too.  The idea of him touching her as well was...

Well nice was an understatement. But so was terrifying.

"Honestly, I didn't think about that part in detail yet." She forced herself not to roll over onto her front. Hiding would defeat the entire purpose. "I am certainly not opposed to trying. I just don't know...if it would...work?"

"Think you might get overwhelmed?"

"Yeah" she confirmed. Again, she was confronted by just how annoying it was that she couldn't do this as easily as other girls. Getting naked in front of a complete stranger would have been one thing. But this was Akira. If she couldn't trust herself with him...

No. She was working on it. This was physical proof she was working on it. She squeezed her eyes, hoping to wish away the thoughts.

Akira watched her struggling. Honestly, he was shocked she'd even gotten this far without freaking the hell out even once. Whether it was mostly in hopes of flustering him or to prove to herself she could, Akira didn't care why Futaba had endeavored to pull this off, but was immensely proud of her courage. And he wasn't going to let that fizzle out now.

"Hey," Futaba's eyes slid open again and met his. "You're mostly naked in a room with a guy you like. If that's not progress, I don't know what is. If you want to call it quits here and get dressed, that's totally fine. If you want me to pretend I didn't just see the most beautiful sight of my life, I'll pretend to go back to reading and you can do whatever you want, clothed or otherwise." She notably squeaked at that, flushing adorably. He smiled, continuing, "And, if you want me to come over there, I can do that too. You're the boss."

Futaba bit her bottom lip, smiling despite her embarrassment. God, why did he have to be such a flirt all the time? A sweet flirt, though. The absolute sweetest. She looked up at him through her eyelashes, observing his open expression and kind smile. She took a finger and crooked it at him, mouth half quirked into a smile. "Come here, you mushy goofball. I'm a tangle of nerves right now, but you might as well sit with me even if we don't do anything."

Akira's bright smile reminded her of an excited puppy. "Yes ma'am."

As much as this process had been grating on her nerves, there were several parts that made it very much worth the emotional fraying.  Akira's boundless enthusiasm and patience were the most gratifying part that she could think of thus far.  Geez.  The boy looked like it was a privilege to even sit next to her, which was ridiculous because as far as she could tell, she was the one being blessed with his understanding, time and kindness.  Even more amazing, she didn't once question that he was just as content to help as he said.  When they'd first met, Futaba had considered Akira to be an unstoppable force of nature.  In her mind, she was only the benefactor to his attention because she fell into his way, not because he was some altruist that set out to save everyone.  And honestly, that was probably true.  But much like her, the moment Akira considered you a friend, an ally, he would protect you with all his might. And now, a month shy of two years later, she had somehow manage to maintain her position as the person he chose to stand by indefinitely.  How on Earth had that happened?

And yet, even with such endless love for him overflowing from her, her body still seized up when he cupped her cheek.  Damn her weakness.  Akira cut off her thoughts before they even began, "Let's think of a good way to easy you into this.  Get you to relax."

What did normal people do that involved being naked but not being overwhelmed by the fact of their nudity?  Baths sure, but she was no where near ready for that one.  Spas, she guessed, but that was too similar to the bath idea.  Maybe...

"Oh," Futaba uttered, "A massage might work."

Akira blinked.  His voice sounded like he was trying not to laugh, "Man, you're thinking of ways to get every luxury possible out of this list huh?"

"Wah?! N-no!  I just-"

The dark haired boy shook his head, amused. "Kidding!  I was just kidding.  Yeah, I'll massage your back.  Fair warning: I have no idea what I'm doing."

"Well," her returned smile was sheepish at best, "I have no idea what to expect so I'm fairly certain it will be impossible to disappoint me."

That wasn't entirely true.  As she laid down on the bed with her hair tucked away from her neck, she acknowledged that she did have some idea of what this might be like.  Not a single person on their jolly thieving team could say that they hadn't had some sort of fantasies about Joker's hands.  Ryuji was convinced it was the gloves.  Ann thought it was just how large his hands were.  Yusuke argued it was how often he had played with said gloves, which Makoto had agreed with.  Of course, it was Morgana who piped in saying that if they weren't impressed by how dexterous and gifted those hands were, they were all idiots.  There may have been several wet dreams after that talk.

So, she did have some amount of expectation that this was going to birth several weeks worth of day dreams about Akira's hands, but that was honestly regardless of massage quality and somewhat embarrassing so she shut her mouth.  Akira grabbed Ryuji's fancy lotion off the dresser and applied a bit to his hands, then came back to the bed to crouch with his legs on either side of her hips.  A flash of heat ran through her at the thought of Akira's pelvis so close to her rump.  New goal: get a massage from Akira without spontaneously combusting.

"Ready?"

"Aye aye," she chirped.

Her first thought was that his hands were so warm. He started near her shoulders, kneading them gently, thumbs digging into her neck.  The tension in her spine leeched out at every sharp press of his palms and she couldn't restrain the blissful sigh.  She heard Akira chuckle as his firm touch wandered down her back.  He assaulted every knot he found with the same level of determination and skill that he showed while hunting shadows in Mementos.  He used all the tools he had available to wipe them out: knuckles, palms, fingers, even his elbow for one particularly stubborn one.  Sometimes it hurt, but mostly it just felt fantastic. The relief of having her tension released along with the warmth of his body so close to hers could have lulled her to sleep if she let it.  The feeling wasn't at all clinical and after awhile it even stopped being vaguely sexual.  It was just...intimate.  All warmth and comfort, with a bit of sleepiness thrown in.

She wasn't sure how long had gone by, but at some point Akira leaned forward to press a kiss to her neck.  The proof that he was affected by their physical closeness made itself known against her hip when he leaned in, but the press of his bulge against her didn't illicit any surge of emotion, nor detract from her comfort.  Futaba opened her eyes and looked back at him.  "Thank you, Akira.  That was, like, the most relaxing thing ever."

Another kiss and a sweet smile served as her response.  "You're welcome."  Akira let himself flop sideways, lying beside her.  Wrapped up in the bubble of pleasant contentment, she felt no hesitation in rolling over on her side and placing one of his hands on her bare hip.  Akira's eyes met hers, seeking out any signs of doubt or anxiety.  Yet, there was none of that this time.  She leaned forward to plan a kiss on his lips, smiling sleepily.  Akira's hands trailed over her side gently, almost reverently, as if treasuring the experience. All those quips about his hands paled in comparison to the real thing, which carefully cupped her breast.  Futaba was surprised to find that her tit, which she had always thought of as pitifully small, was just large enough to fill his palm. Akira rolled the fleshy mound around in his grip, as if testing its weight.  He seemed thoroughly engaged in his examination.  Amused, the young woman asked, "Your verdict, Mr. Kurusu?"

His gray eyes flitted back to her own and the dorkiest smile she'd ever seen formed on his lips.  "It's so soft," he marveled.  She couldn't help but grin in return.

"Is this your fist time handling a boob?" she asked, still blushing profusely from both the warmth of his hand on her and the silliness of her own question.

Akira chuckled, "You mean other than Ryuji?" Futaba couldn't help but snicker at that. "Yeah, actually it is."  At her questioning look, her partner shifted a bit, still massaging the flesh in his hand.  "In junior high, I kissed a couple people.  Made out with one or two behind the baseball team's equipment locker.  But I was a bit too shy for anything else.  And the more I explored, I realized that most of the people I ended up having crushes on were coincidentally guys."

"Woah, really?  I've literally never heard this before."

"Mhm.  I don't really think I have a preference between genders, at this point.  Back then, I wasn't picky.  I'd kiss just about anyone.  Now, the most important thing to me is whether I'm comfortable around the person or not.  Made everything a bit weird honestly, I was kinda terrible at making friends because I kept developing crushes on all of them.  I was also the 'troubled boy with no mother to set him straight' so the few relations I did have were temporary by nature.  I usually only ended up getting with the transfer students, because no one else would look my way.  That was a fun reputation on its own."

Futaba stroked a hand through his hair, smile half amused and half sad.  "Oh boy.  Local bad boy sets out to smooch all transfer students, becomes transfer student himself.  Confusion ensues.  More at 8."

Nuzzling his head into her touch, Akira snickered.  "Yep.  Exactly so.  So, coming back to your question, yes, this is my first experience with boobs.  And I gotta say, I see the appeal."

Drawing on the well of bravery she'd fallen into today, Futaba's hands came down to tug at Akira's shirt.  "Here. This off, yes? You can keep exploring the human secondary sex system, but I wanna cuddle."

He let out a low whistle, but complied, flinging his shirt over onto the beanbag.  "You're really demolishing this list today, huh?"  

"Hell yeah.  I'm on a grinding spree today.  EXP farming has never felt so good."  Check be shirtless together with Akira and cuddle with Akira while we are shirtless off that list too.

Akira shuffled closer, gathering Futaba in his arms and pressing them together in a hug.  They both sighed in tandem, then giggled a bit.  The feel of soft, pliant of the girl's skin against the hard planes of a boy's chest was intriguing and invariably satisfying.  As they shifted, Futaba's breasts ran down the line of Akira's pectorals, sending shivers down his spine. The hacker loved the way snuggling against the firm, warm chest made her feel safe, protected.  Akira found the warm, silky-smooth skin comforting, like falling asleep in the sun, like coming home to the smell of coffee.  The couple snuggled into each other serenely, trading caresses and kisses.

Neither was sure how long they laid in each others arms like that.  Eventually, though, Futaba's hands stopped scratching at Akira's shoulders.  She met his eyes.  "Can I ask you a serious question?"

Akira glanced at her dubiously.  "Sure."

She grinned.  "When you first moved here, did you have a crush on Ryuji?"  The horrified stare she got was all the answer she need.  She let out a long, excited squeal, "Oh my god!  You did, didn't you?!  Aww, that's so cute, Akira."

The poor boy could only flop back and cover his face.  "Please.  Spare me.  I have done nothing to deserve this."

Futaba collapsed on his chest, cuddling up to his neck.  "Relax, babe, your big gay secret is safe with me. I have to ask though, what did you see in that boy?"

The pout she got was the most petulant thing she had ever seen.  "He dragged me out to eat at all his favorite places within weeks of knowing me, defended me in front of teachers, other students, even Makoto, and then pulled this whole speech about how 'his place was right where I was'.  How the hell was I supposed to resist that? I'm only human, Futaba."

"Damn, son.  Not to be that girl or anything, but how did that crush, uh...resolve itself?"

Akira quickly sprang out of his pouting formation to wrap her in a hug, bare chests squished together once more.  He nuzzled contently into her hair as she giggled and play fought him.  "Oh, you know.  Got a text from this weirdo one day.  Turns out, she's this Egyptian Goddess who just so happens to be beautiful, kind, excitable, cunning, mischievous, and the legitimately smartest person I've ever met.  Anyway, she asked me to steal her heart and between constantly saving my sorry ass and hacking the all of Tokyo city, she accidentally stole mine.  Oops."  Futaba laid in his arms, eyes twinkling in fondness and amusement.  Akira's tone altered to something a bit more serious, but still soft.  "Might have had a crush on Ryuji, but by the time November rolled around I was already in love with you.  Poor kid never stood a chance, my Pharaoh."  He leaned down to kiss her.

Futaba smiled into their kiss, playful tone picking back up.  "Wow.  Be still my beating heart.  Still, I'm a bit shocked that Ryuji has a bit of game, after all.  Too bad for him he seems to only use it on people he intends to ruthlessly shove into the friend zone."

"What other poor idiot did he manage to grab?"

"Ann."

"What?  No.  Don't you dare screw with me.  Are you serious?"

"What do you think has been going on for the last few months?  They've been playing wingman for each other, convinced that the other person couldn't possibly like them, while the person being set up fails miserably at dating because they'd rather date their wingman.  It's been kinda ridiculous really."

Akira let his head fall back against the pillow.  "Holy hell."

"Mmmhmm"

"...I should start writing my best man speech."

Futaba burst out laughing.  "That's what you're worried about?"

"I mean, they're both pretty dumb, but Ann will probably get tired of this at some point and just jump him. I just can't believe I hadn't noticed this before now.  I'm an awful leader."

"Too busy reading books and making out with your Goddess of a girlfriend, I guess."

"Can you blame me?"

They sat in silence for awhile, just enjoying their mutual embrace.  Futaba was almost asleep when Akira voiced a question.  "So, do you think this is something you would be comfortable with doing more often?"

"Shirtless cuddle sessions where we gossip like old women about our friends?"

A chuckle.  "Let's leave that last part as being optional, but yes."

Futaba sat up a bit, nodding, and planted a firm kiss to his lips.  "Yeah, sounds good.  Exposure therapy, yeah?"  Akira nodded.  "Cool.  That being said, I should probably take off now. Have some homework to get done."

The amount of progress done in that one evening was enough to keep Futaba in a good mood all week.  In the blocks of time where Ryuji was out and they didn't feel like doing anything of merit outside of the Guild, the couple made a habit of curling up together shirtless in the Nest, typically under the large blue comforter to keep warm.  Usually, Akira would read and Futaba would fool around on her phone.  Sometimes, if they were particularly worn out that day, they would nap.  They often would set that time aside for lengthy make out sessions, which Futaba decided were infinitely better with both parties shirtless.

She mused to herself one day, head contently pillowed on Akira's chest while he dozed, that she was just about half way through her list and it had only been five months.  If things kept progressing this way, by her 18th birthday in March, she and Akira would be the proud owners of each other's V cards.  Akira let out a loud snore, shocking her from her thoughts.  She withheld a laugh, snuggling in closer.  Honestly, though, she wasn't going to rush.  She had never been this comfortable around another human being.  Sex sounded awesome.  For now though?  Cuddles were good.

[yourheartsaremine-blog]

You’ve been matched with...

@viishiik Sorry that the short scenario...isn’t really fluffy at all AND IS JUST RANDOM, but I hope you enjoy regardless! ;; And warmest thanks for your kind words @ your request! <3

I think someone level-headed and willing to speak about their opinions and concerns would be a good match for you! Akira has the kind of personality where he’d be able to remind you to stop and take a breather whenever it seems like you’re overthinking things; he’d do so in a gentle manner, of course, but he’d help you take a step back before you overcomplicate manners and stress yourself out. Because of how sharp he is and how easily he familiarizes himself with the people around him, he’d also be able to pick up when you’re about to go down that particular road and try to guide you down a different line of thought. You get along well in part of the fact that you’re both quite self-aware. Just as you understand that you have virtues and flaws, Akira is very much aware of this for himself as well. To be self-aware means that you may be better able to reflect on yourself as a person, and with that can come growth and understanding as you gain more experience. Akira has goals for himself as to what kind of person he’d like to become, and he would seek to help you better yourself and reach your own personal goals as a person if you’d let him. Akira loves that you have a desire to help others, but will sit you down and discuss your selfless nature when he believes that it may be going too far; he’ll remind you that it’s not selfish to say no or sometimes put your own needs before others, difficult though that may be. He’d also be there to let you know that there’s no shame in letting out your emotions run free from time to time, something that can seem a little ironic from someone as collected as he is. At the very least, he will strive to make you happy; your laughter and smile brings him joy as well, and he wants to be able to give something to someone who is usually doing all the giving.

HCs (w/ Akira):

He finds the fact that you can sometimes be awkward rather endearing…which  means that if he’s with you in a situation where you’re trying to talk to someone new, he won’t necessarily step in to help you—not at first, anyways. If he sees that you’re genuinely getting uncomfortable, he will smoothly interject and change the subject, but otherwise sometimes he just likes to see you squirm a little.

Akira has no qualms about being a part of any sort of impulsive idea or plan that you may pursue. So long as it makes you happy in some way, he’ll go along for the ride. This is partly to ensure that he’s there in case anything goes wrong, and partly because he literally has no     hesitations about anything really (I mean the boy posed as Jesus for     Yusuke in a church and then offered to strip for god’s sake—)

It takes little to no convincing to get him to play video games with you since it’s something he dabbles in as well. He’s happy to try whatever it is you bring him, though be wary if you challenge him; the boy’s got some impressive skills. Horror games especially can be fun with him because he’s got a great poker face and will never (outwardly) jump even in the most terrifying of scenarios.

He loves to hear about your characters and stories, and will frequently ask you about them. If you’re in the midst of writing a story and you told him a little about it before, it’s more than likely that he’ll bring it up again at a later date to ask how things are progressing. Akira is truly interested in hearing about all of your creative ideas and will always encourage you to continue writing partly because he thinks it’s a good hobby, but mostly because he thinks you have great ideas.

 HCs (w/ Phantom Thieves)

Did Yusuke hear sketching? Because he’s always up for chatting with another fellow artist, whether they’re a professional or someone who just doodles from time to time! He’ll ask you a lot about what you’ve been sketching recently and, upon hearing that you like to dabble in writing, might just ask you questions about your stories as well. You may meet with him one day to find that he’s painted a picture based off what you had told him of one of your characters or the setting of your story…but whether or not it actually matches what you had personally visualized will probably be hit or miss.

Ann is that wonderful, supportive friend that will play games with you, shop with you, and absolutely tell off anyone who tries to take advantage of your kindness. If she senses that you’re taking too much upon yourself for someone else, she’ll let you know, but she’ll also respect if you’re too uncomfortable to stand up for yourself, which is why she’d do it for you if the situation were to ever arise.

Makoto the mom is another person who I think you’d get along with well! She takes on a rather logical and maternal role among the Phantom Thieves, and the care that she shows the others extends to you as     well. If she learns that you’re feeling unwell or that you’re stressed out, she’ll show up at your door with some little gifts and a listening ear if you need it. Because she loves to read, she would also like it if you shared your stories with her, but would respect your wishes if you aren’t comfortable showing them to her!

 Short scenario:

Yusuke paints one of your characters for you and you and Akira wonder what in god’s name happened. Where did you even start. It was unbelievably flattering to know that Yusuke had gained enough inspiration through your creations that he had painted a picture, and there was no denying that he had incredible skill…but when you had detailed your character’s physical features to him you hadn’t quite been expecting anything like this. “Why does she have cat ears?” Akira voiced the same question that had been on your mind. The corner of his mouth drew upwards in an amused, lopsided smile as he gazed at you from the corner of his eye, and then back at the painting. He had been present throughout the conception and development process of this particular character of yours, so he knew better than anyone about their features and personality. None of those features had involved cat ears. “Originally, I did not include them,” Yusuke explained, hand on his chin as he also regarded his painting, “But Futaba had happened to see the work in progress and informed me that it was not nearly ‘moe’ enough.” You did a double-take, sputtering out a surprised, “I’m sorry, what?” Then again, maybe you shouldn’t have been surprised; it seemed like Futaba had been teaching the boy a lot of strange things lately. You had begun to recall a conversation about drawing doujinshi when Yusuke’s voice suddenly snapped you back to the present. Yusuke nodded sagely. “Apparently it is a trait that is desired in many popular characters nowadays,” he explained, “As are large, soulful eyes and an ample bosom.” “Which explains the shiny eyes and the huge chest.” Akira offered in your place, correctly sensing the fact that you were completely speechless at the moment. You could detect the laughter in his voice, and turned to look at him with wide eyes. What do I even say to this? You mouthed the words to him but then jumped as Yusuke addressed you directly and asked for your opinion. You floundered for a second, and then cleared your throat. “I think…that you have an incredible technique and a remarkable eye for colour, Yusuke.” It wasn’t a lie…but you may have tried to dodge the question just a little there. Even though you hadn’t said anything about the painting specifically, that seemed to satisfy him. With a smile, he informed you that he wanted to put a few finishing touches on it but would present it to you as a gift once he was done. You told him you couldn’t wait (and in all honesty, you did appreciate all the hard work and the generosity he was showing). When he had left, Akira turned to look at you. “You lied to him.” “I did not!” You said, quick to defend yourself, “It was amazing!” “But that wasn’t anything close to what it was supposed to look like.” A beat of silence, and then you slipped your hand into his and looked up to meet his eyes. “No…but could you really bear to say that to Yusuke’s face?” There was more silence as Akira laced his fingers with yours, looking thoughtful. Finally, he shook his head. “Good point.”

[recentanimenews]

The Garden of Words (Film Review)

Tokyo is one of the largest, busiest, most lively cities in the world, but there’s an oasis of tranquility right near its heart, and I’m not talking about the mostly off-limits Imperial Palace Grounds. I speak of Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, once a private estate in the Edo period, and also the primary setting of Shinkai Makoto’s 2013 film The Garden of Words.

I’ll admit my review comes very late—so late, in fact, in the time between the release of the film and the day I’m writing a review of it, its co-lead Akizuki Takao would be 19 (not 15), making a potential romantic relationship with Yukino Yukari, who would be 31 (not 27) more socially acceptable. But here it is!

Akizuki loves rainy mornings. He loves them so much, he’ll skip school to visit Shinjuku Gyoen and enjoy it. One day, while preparing to sit at a sheltered bench overlooking the gardens, he encounters Yukino: a beautiful, mysterious woman in work clothes drinking beer and eating chocolate alone.

While 15, Akizuki is wiser and more mature than his years. He finds high school a major drag, and mostly stresses about a practical way to support himself doing what he loves: designing and making shoes. But when he visits the park and shares the bench with Yukino, he feels like he’s in a more mature environment, where he can sketch shoes or just shoot the breeze with her.

Their encounters also become important to Yukino, who we learn is preparing to quit her job, and is clearly in the park to escape said job and the stress/pain it causes, which was apparently bad enough that she lost her sense of taste for a time, only being able to enjoy beer and chocolate.

Not only is the hard-working Akizuki a shoemaker-in-the-making, he’s also a part-timer at a restaurant and cooks a lot at home, making him a better cook than Yukino. Thanks to the meals he shares, Yukino starts to enjoy eating again.

Wanting to help him with a woman’s shoe design, Yukino removes her shoe and lets Akizuki hold and measure her bare foot, in an intimate, even sensual scene that also happens to be practical.

That intimacy is heightened by the made-for-a-couple sheltered-bench and the gorgeous environs. But while she’ll give him her foot, Yukino never talks about herself, her life, or her struggles, no matter how much Akizuki talks about his.

Unfortunately Akizuki has to find that out when he spots Yukino, or rather Yukino-sensei, at his school—she’s a teacher there. He had no idea of that, or that she’d been taking days off because the boyfriend of a student fell for her which led to unsavory rumors about her being promiscuous and verbal and emotional abuse from her upperclassmen students.

Yukino is pained to hear all this treatment, and that she’s quitting because of it, but likely also hurt that Yukino never told him anything, or that she could even possibly have known he was a student at the school but kept him in the dark.

Whatever the case, he decides the injustice done to Yukino should have a response from someone who has come to care about her, so he confronts the upperclassmen, starts a fight, and loses. After school, they meet at the gardens, but he doesn’t tell her he fought to protect her honor.

After giving her the correct answer to her tanka poem from their first encounter, Akizuki and Yukino find themselves caught in a torrential downpour, and even when they get back under cover, they’re both soaked.

They apparently take it as a good omen, and go to Yukino’s apartment, where they change into dry clothes, and while he’s waiting for his uniform to dry, Akizuki makes Yukino a delicious meal, both noting they’re having some of the happiest moments of their lives, right there and then.

Like the sunlight, it doesn’t last, and as the sky darkens with more rainclouds, a sudden confession of love from Akizuki is countered by Yukino correcting him: “Yukino-sensei”. Akizuki hears her loud and clear: he’s a kid; she’s not, and that’s the end of it. So he changes into his still-wet clothes and storms off, just as the storm outside picks up.

Yukino doesn’t want to leave things there, so after stewing, suddenly alone in her apartment, with even Akizuki’s coffee still steaming, she does the romantic movie thing where one comes to their senses, rushes out of the house, and chases after the one they love.

When she finds him paused on a balcony, he takes back his confession and starts spewing vitriol about her intentions, but later in the rant it becomes more about why she couldn’t simply tell him, a stupid little kid, to piss off and stop bothering her. Why she never said anything to him while sharing that bench.

Yukino’s response, also classic romantic movie, is to run into his arms and sob just as the sun peeks back out from between the clouds, finally telling him why she went to that bench again and again, and how being with him helped her “learn how to walk on her own” again; how he essentially saved her.

Yukino still moves out of that apartment, back to her hometown, where she’s still a teacher. But she later writes to Akizuki, and as he reads the letter in the park where they met and spent so much time and where they taught each other how to walk, he seriously considers going to her hometown someday to see her.

The Garden of Words is gorgeous, as is expected of a Shinkai film, with its near-photorealistic exteriors, lived-in interiors, and fantastic lighting and details all around. At just 46 minutes, it runs brisk but never feels rushed, but rather feels just as long as it should be.

It also felt like a particularly intimate/personal film, though not for the reason you’d expect: I once sat at the exact same bench in Shinjuku Gyoen they sat at, unhurriedly sketching the gardens and writing about my day (though as you can see, the real one has an ashtray.) If you’re ever there I highly recommend it, just as I recommend this lush and moving little film.

By: sesameacrylic