Chapter Text
Ryuji spends the next week in the hospital. While his burns are painful at times, it responds well to the medication. After a week, he finally sees a noticeable improvement; his burns heal faster than he expects them to. It still annoyed him to have the nurses coming in every so often to apply the same freezing cold cream a few times a day, but it was worth it in the end.
It wasn’t as bad as he expected overall, especially with his friends coming to visit him every day. All of his friends couldn’t come to see him at the same time because they were too big of a group, but seeing them over the course of the first day raised his spirits. It was even better seeing Makoto and Akira come once a day. Makoto would bring his homework, much to his dismay, but it was still a great excuse to see her. Since Akira was still technically ‘dead’, she brought enough for the two of them. It reminded Ryuji of a simpler time, back when Makoto was really just his tutor and teammate.
But with the three of them together, it was never just school work. The conversations were long and memorable. Some days it was simple: school was a little more boring without Akira and Ryuji causing chaos in the hallways. Some days it was more complex: The Phantom Thieves were waiting on Shido’s reaction and passed the time by completing the pile of Mementos missions they’d received after Sae’s palace. On the night before Ryuji was discharged, over a week after he was initially brought in, they had a heavier conversation.
Shido had confessed, and nothing had come out of it. He was still highly respected in the city, and the consequences were starting to show themselves.
“We were talking about going into the depths of Mementos. We think whatever is happening with the public, could be solved by investigating what lurks down there.” Makoto says. With Ryuji missing in action, he was behind on everything going on in the world. He wasn’t watching any news channels while at the hospital (not like anyone could blame him with everything going on), but it meant he didn’t understand the current situation as well as they may have.
“When are you guys going?” Ryuji asks. He was no longer lying in bed as often anymore. He sat up and moved around whenever he could. Not working out for over a week left him yearning for some type of movement.
“Saturday. With finals going on, I’m not making anyone go down there right now.” Akira responds. It looked like neither of them had slept much, which didn’t surprise him. Ryuji had been given an excuse for his finals, having to complete them when he returned to school fully. With the team agreeing on Saturday, that gave Ryuji days after he was discharged to make sure he could recover. He was pissed about Shido getting a pass and if going down to Mementos was going to save everyone, then he was in.
“Wait, Christmas Eve?”
Akira nods. “The public will be distracted, and we should be able to slip through Mementos without fighting too many shadows on the way.” Ryuji couldn’t argue with that logic. He saw what happened when it rained or when there was too much pollen; Mementos was a mess whenever the public was too. With the public keeping busy with the holiday, the shadows were going to keep their distance.
“I’m going,” He points at Makoto, “I know you probably don’t want me to go because I’m still healing and shit-”
“Actually Ryuji, that’s why we’re here,” Makoto responds. “We want you to come with us.”
Ryuji fist bumps the air. “Hell yeah! I can’t wait to kick some ass.”
“Not so loud!” Makoto scolds. Ryuji makes a face before toning himself down. Akira grabs his belongings and heads for the door.
“Where you going?” Ryuji asks. Akira eyes get wide, a slight pink crossing his face. What did he need to blush for? Unless… “Yo, is it Yoshizawa?”
“Oh Ryuji, I forgot to tell you!” Makoto says excitedly. “They’re actually interacting at school. I’ve seen them holding hands and hugging in the hallways between classes.”
“Only because she convinced me to start being a little more...open. Otherwise, I would’ve kept us a secret.” Ryuji couldn’t blame the guy. When Ann and he broke up, they didn’t talk for days. It was awkward enough just being around the two of them, and it’s not like either of them could simply stop being Phantom Thieves. It didn’t surprise him that he didn’t know about the recent development, and that Akira had kept it top secret.
“Dude finally! Are you guys like official-official or just dating?” Ryuji smirks.
“Would you look at the time?” Akira looks down at his wrist, where there’s no watch to look at. “It’s time for me to go. See you tomorrow!” Akira rushes out, a small gust of wind following behind him. One of these days, he was going to have to teach his friend how to just answer questions. For someone who seemed to get girls swooning over him so easily, something Ryuji was initially jealous of, he was so weird.
“They’re very official but aren’t saying anything,” Makoto whispers to Ryuji, smiling at her boyfriend. The entire time he was at the hospital, he had been racking his brain on what to get her for Christmas. He had a pretty small window to realistically get her anything big, plus they had only been really dating for a short time. How much was okay to spend?
“Damn, can’t wait till I get back to school then.” Ryuji laughs.
“What time are they releasing you tomorrow?”
“I think in the morning, my Ma is gonna come get me. She ain’t been here much because of work, but she took the morning off tomorrow. I think we’re gonna get breakfast.” He missed his mother, but he understood why she couldn’t be here as often as he would’ve wanted. It was a miracle enough that she was able to get the morning off and spend that time with him.
“You know she asked me to go Christmas shopping with her yesterday? She already really likes me and we only met a week before.”
“I hyped you up, course she’s gonna love you. She’s gonna invite you to dinner soon after I’m out so be ready for that.” In their last conversation, Ryuji and his mom had talked about Makoto earlier. She wanted to get to know her properly without having Ryuji in the hospital. He liked the idea, but he had to make sure she was okay with it. He didn’t want to put her on the spot that way, especially with everything that had happened.
“That sounds nice actually, I’d love to.” Makoto smiles, before getting more serious. “I have therapy tomorrow afternoon but I’ll try to pass by your apartment after to work out the details with your mother.”
Makoto’s first therapy session was a stressful one since Ryuji’s burn was the day prior. She spent half of the time explaining her relationship with Ryuji and the other half regarding her sister and those traumatic experiences. Dr. Maruki was very kind and understanding of her situation, even if he didn’t know the full scope of the details. It was a chance for her to get everything out there to an unbiased third party, someone who didn’t have a direct stake in any of the relationships. While the first session didn’t provide much in terms of support, she knew she had to set a foundation for future sessions, including tomorrow afternoon.
“How was that?” He asks, genuinely curious about it. The one time he saw Dr. Maruki was okay, but it wasn’t really for him.
“Good I’d say, I had to explain parts of my life so he could understand where to start. I think tomorrow should be enlightening now that he knows about it.”
“How did you explain going into your sister’s brain?” He laughs.
She smiles, “That was tricky. I explained it as though it happened in reality. I think he may see me as a little crazy, but the alternative is just as crazy.” Makoto tried to explain it as though Sae had caught them outside without her permission. There were some glaring holes in her story, but she figured Dr. Maruki wouldn’t look for it too deeply, hopefully. There was only so much that could be explained without revealing the metaverse.
Ryuji looked out the window, seeing the sun almost completely set. “You should go soon, ain’t you gotta study for finals?”
Makoto gets up, “Yeah, I don’t have too much to worry about but there’s some material I’d like to review… See you tomorrow?”
“See ya,” Ryuji and Makoto close the gap, sharing a quick kiss before she leaves. He takes the extra time to really think about a gift. A few minutes after she leaves, the idea comes to him.
--
Makoto knocks on the door. Ryuji texted her earlier today that he had returned back to his apartment, but with finals and her appointment, she didn’t really get a chance to think about it. So now, the night before the last day of finals, Makoto had opted to not study. She knew Ryuji may find it surprising because she was very studious, but even without studying this whole week she’d still nail the exams. She wasn’t worried about missing one night, especially right before winter break. Kiko answers the door. She was wearing a convenience store uniform, one she’d seen in a small chain around town. She grins and opens the door wide.
“Ah Makoto! Ryuji told me you were passing by, come in!” She excitedly says. Makoto steps back into the apartment. The last time she was here, she and Ryuji were up to very different things, things she wouldn’t talk about with Kiko. She recalls it as a few days before the Shido fight, before everything went downhill.
There wasn’t much in terms of Christmas decorations outside of a small tree in the corner. Haru absolutely adored Christmas, so their place was decorated to the nines. It was glitz and glamour, but it felt like she was at a retail store. It wasn’t bad, but coming to Ryuji’s mostly normal apartment was a nice change of pace.
“Is he around?” Makoto asks, noting the lack of Ryuji.
Kiko shakes her head, “He went out, he texted me he would be back soon. Do you want some tea? I made some.” Makoto nods, slipping onto the barstool. Kiko places a small cup in front of her, which Makoto eagerly drinks. The past few days had been pretty cold, so any opportunity she had to get warmer was appreciated. Makoto sees Kiko preparing a packed lunch, putting items into an organized bento box.
“Are you heading out? I could always come back another time.” Makoto hesitated. As nice as Kiko was, she didn’t want to make her uncomfortable with the idea of her being home alone with her son. They were dating, so things were bound to happen.
“Nonsense, I remember being your age and wishing my parents would leave me alone with my boyfriend. I don’t know where you’re at in your relationship with my son and I don’t want either of you telling me. Just in case, I’ll just tell you the same thing I told him: I was way too young when I had Ryuji and I’m still too young to be a grandmother, so use protection.”
Makoto looks down at the tea, averting her eyes from Kiko. At least she was upfront about her stance, but it didn’t make it any easier for Makoto. They were very active, way more than Kiko would care to know. She definitely agreed that Makoto was too young to be a mother, and while she didn’t know how old his mother was, she assumed she had Ryuji when she was around her age.
“D-don’t worry!” Makoto stammers, her voice higher than normal. Her nervousness makes Kiko laugh.
“You can relax, I won’t bug you about it from now on.” She responds. Makoto hears the sound of a key in the door, and Ryuji enters holding a small shopping bag. When he sees Makoto, his eyes light up.
“Hey! I thought you ditched me today,” Ryuji jokes, locking the door.
Makoto shakes her head, “Sorry, I lost track of time and forgot to respond to your messages.”
Kiko finishes packing her bento box and goes to grab a coat hanging on the wall near the door. Ryuji furrows his brows, looking over at Makoto before looking at his mom again. He knew his mom was leaving in part to a last-minute shift change, but it didn’t look like Makoto was leaving either.
“Uh, Ma?” He asks.
Kiko quickly slips on her boots and waves them both goodbye, undoing the lock Ryuji had placed. Just like that, it was Ryuji and Makoto alone in the apartment. It’d been a while since he had time with just Makoto in somewhere that wasn’t a hospital room, but he was surprised about how his mom left like that. They had a talk earlier about him and Makoto but didn’t expect her to actually do it.
“Did she talk to ya about…” Ryuji trails off.
“Yeah…” Makoto clears her throat, “At least she trusts us right?”
Ryuji grins, going over to hug her. “Yeah she trusts me way too much now. How was therapy?”
“It was...good. He said he wants to keep talking to me before formally diagnosing me with PTSD, but he said some characteristics I seem to show line up with it. Things like not remembering the event, my nightmares, and being triggered in Shido’s palace. Of course I lied about the details. It was interesting, both to me and him, that the sound of slot machines was more trigger than when Akechi repeated what my sister said.”
“Why’s that?”
“Well,” She places her hands on her thighs. “The consistent theme in my problems stem from my sister, so while it does hurt to be called… well, you know… it doesn’t phase me the same way the slot machines did. I mean, I can say the words ‘slot machines’ and nothing happens but the moment I’m surrounded by them, it’s so overwhelming.”
“Hm, that is weird. You okay talkin’ bout this?” Ryuji is cautious, not wanting to upset her.
“Yeah, if anything I’m happy you’re asking about it. It means a lot to me,” She reaches over, lightly squeezing his hand, “It’s not the easiest thing to talk about, but having you here really helps me.”
“‘Course, I’m glad ya can trust me.”
Makoto smiles, “On a lighter note, your mom and I didn’t get a chance to talk about the dinner so we’ll have to do that soon.”
“Oh! Wait!” Ryuji says, clearly remembering something. “Close your eyes!” He moves her hands up to her eyes to block them. He goes back to the shopping bag and pulls out a wrapped gift. He was lucky that he found a place that had a small stand for wrapping, otherwise, he wasn’t sure what to do to make it look nice. The wrapping is a simple matte red with a golden bow on it. It was a little early, but with them planning to go into Mementos on Christmas Eve, he wanted to make sure she had a chance to get a real gift.
“What’s this about?” She laughs. He pulls her hands off her eyes, holding the small present in his other hand.
“I gotcha something a little early. It ain’t much, but I dunno how Saturday is gonna go. So in case we don’t get a chance…” He hadn’t exactly thought about what he wanted to say. But she seemed to get the hint when she took the gift. She couldn’t really tell what it was, but looked at the notebook like it was precious. Ryuji wasn’t sure what to get, and even when he had come up with something, he didn’t feel like it was good enough. He’d gone to the shops as soon as they got back, spending hours looking at his options.
Makoto unwraps the present, revealing a notebook. The cover was a modern version of the high priestess tarot card, using gold lines to create the image of a woman sitting on a throne. On the back, there’s a delicate sun with rays extending out. She gasps. She had just been thinking about needing a replacement for the notebook she’d been using for the Phantom Thieves. Flipping through the book, the pages feel strong. In the bottom corner of the back cover, she sees ‘you’re amazing, don’t forget that -Ryuji’
“Oh my god Ryuji…” She says.
He opens his mouth, “Um, is it bad?” Her reaction was hard to read, with just a gasp and her saying oh my god. It could be good or bad, but his mind went straight for bad.
“I love it!”
“Shit you scared me,” He lets out a sigh of relief, “I thought maybe -”
Makoto doesn’t let him finish, putting the book on the counter and kisses him. It’s the same kiss as always, and that’s why it's perfect.