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It was another day in Mementos with Violet, Crow, and Joker.
They were doing quite well, both Crow and Violet had practiced their showtime attack with Joker and they got rid of a lot of shadows.
Once they were finished fighting for today they decided to head to the top of mementos to heal up.
(Akechi's point of view)
"Nice work today guys, keep up that energy!" Spoke Akira in his Joker voice.
"Thank you senpai!" replied Sumire.
"Whatever," I replied.
"Hey um Senpai" Began Sumire.
"Do you want to go out somewhere after today? Maybe you and I can go eat somewhere?"
My ears perked up. Of course she is asking him out once more, why am I not surprised. "Tch"
"Actually Sumire, I was really hoping that you and Akechi spend some time hanging out together instead."
What Akira had suggested had surprised both Akechi and Sumire.
Akechi turned around to look at him.
"As much as I am proud of the work you both did today I do believe that you and Akechi should learn to cooperate more, even if your fighting styles are completely different from each other."
Sumire was silent too for a while until she suddenly turned to look at Akechi "If you are good with the idea we can hang out together tomorrow after my training Akechi-san." She said with a smile on her face.
Akechi wanted to flat out refuse her offer, however he did not want to make himself look bad in front of Akira.
Well, if Sumire can force herself to hang out with someone other than their leader then why can't he do the same?
"Sure" he replied.
"If it can help with out mission I will do it."
The next day arrived and they met up at the closest shopping mall. They both arrived at the time they agreed upon.
"Good afternoon Akechi-san." She smiled sweetly.
"Good afternoon Yoshizawa-san." He replied.
Let's get this over with quickly.
Akechi did not HATE Yoshizawa-san, in fact, the first time he met her at TV station with her sister and her father, he did not feel much of anything towards her. She was simply another person he had to fake a smile to. Though he was glad she and her sister were not any of his annoying fangirls.
However, his feelings changed quite a bit when he saw her for the second time in his life. This time she was speaking to Akira in front of the underground train station, and they were both smiling at each other. Akechi was just about to head home after school when he saw them together like this and he just could not resist the urge to step in on their little conversation. What could they be saying to each other, how do they know each other and what is their relationship?
These were all things that plagued his mind at that moment.
He could not describe the feeling he had at that moment. Was he angry? Was he disappointed? Upset? Just by seeing them talking to each other? But why? He barely knew the two of them?
But Akira's smile was a genuine one, and he only wants it for himself. For all those times they got together at his cafe or the jazz club.
Akechi remembers being so angry that day that he completely ignored Akira on purpose in favor of bombarding Sumire with questions.
"Let's stop here Akechi-San" Started Sumire. "I wish to browse their clothing, they have a men's section too if you want to look for something yourself."
And with that, they split up for a while. Akechi didn't exactly need anything new at the moment since it was not too long ago that he came here to shop with Sae and explored the very same shop, however, he took the liberty to browse anyways. After a good ten minutes passed he heard Sumire calling for him and decided to walk over to the woman's section to see what she called him over for.
"I need your opinion on something," She asked. "Hold on a moment" and with that, she went into the dressing room. It only took around three minutes for her to change into a casual red summer dress.
"What do you think? Does it suit me?" She asked twirling around.
"It looks fine" He replied with a deadpan expression. She turned around to look in the mirror and said,
"Do you think senpai would like it?"
No! No he would NOT. Brunt it, burn it, burn the dress!
"I don't think he would" Lied Akechi.
"Aw, really... well I am getting I anyways as I still need a new one" She replied.
Damn it!
Sumire paid for the dress and they left the store to go sit down and enjoy a nice cool smoothie.
Sumire had ordered a 'Strawberry Sunshine" smoothie while Akechi had ordered a nice 'Coconut Calamity'.
They sat down and quietly enjoyed their drinks until Sumire decided to cut the silence.
"Hey Akechi-san, what is your relationship with senpai?"
Akechi nearly choked on his Coconut calamity.
It was a simple question yet Akechi found it difficult to answer.
"What do you mean?" He asked dumbly. He knows it was stupid to ask but he just wanted to delay giving her his answer as he himself was not sure what to call it.
"As in, how long have you known each other for? Are you childhood friends or something?" She asked intently.
I wish...
"No but I know him longer than you have"
He did not mean to say it out loud but he did.
"Oh is that so? She did not look upset.
"Well I first met senpai on the train on my way to school, somewhere around December I think, so When did you meet him?"
"I met him at the TV station when they visited for a school outing."
"Right, so back to my first question, what is your relationship with senpai Akechi-san?" She asked once more.
"Well, what do you think Yoshizawa-san? He asked her , keen on learning what her answer is.
"Hmmm, well if my hunch is correct. I think you like senpai just as much as I do Akechi-san."She smiles sweetly. There was no trace of anger or hatred on her face or voice, no feeling of jealousy or animosity?
Did she really know?
Did she figure me out that easily?
Does she not find it strange or repulsive?
He needed to be sure that they were on the same page here.
So he asked, "Then how do you feel about Akira?"
"Well, I may have a tiny bit of a crush on him." She replied slightly blushing.
Akechi felt his face turn a bit red at that reply, but just a little.
So she DID know! And so he opted for staying quiet and drank his smoothie.
"Oh, don't be embarrassed Akechi-san! There is nothing to be ashamed of! Having a crush is completely normal"
"Sssshh! Don't say it so loud." He shushed her.
"Sorry. But I still stand by what I said."
"Yeah, so what if I do have... that. Are you going to tell him?" He asked.
"Of course not! I would never do anything out of line like that!"
"Good"
"Think of it like this Akechi-san, senpai wanted us to learn to understand each other more so we can work together more. These feelings we have for senpai is a great motivator not just for pleasing our leader without hard work but also it is a perfect example proving that we are similar to each other to some degree and that we DO understand each other."
"In a way..." He said.
Akechi stayed silent and in thought, still not sure what to say to her.
"We can try our best to win senpai's heart and whoever wins, wins! Think of it like a friendly competition of some sort... or a healthy rivalry between friends! Yes, that is a better term for it."
IS this a competition?
A rivalry huh?
He did have something of a rivalry going on with Akira at some point, however... that felt quite different than what Sumire was proposing. It felt more thrilling!
The idea of taking Akira's heart right in front of Sumire sounded quite nice to him, euphoric even like he had just defeated death and the best part would be that it would mean Akira had chosen HIM over little miss perfect!
Will Akechi accept this competition?
YES!
"You know what Sumire, us being rivals suits us much better than simple co-workers. I accept your challenge!"
And with that, they even shook hands.