It was a cold day outside. Spring was slowly coming, but the white scenery looked like it,sgoing to stay for a little while more. The shades of white were decorated with red ribbons and flowers. An unusual view for a normal winter day, but it was a bit more than an usual day anyway.

It was the day after valentine's day. Chocolates were on sale everywhere. Perfect day for those who didn't get any chocolate the day before and for those who's just a choco lover.

For Ann, It's pretty much like a blessing from God, being a sweet tooth she was. Even when she already received a lot of chocolate on valentine's, there was no such thing as too much chocolate for Ann. She always responded with a thank you to all who confessed to her, but she always ended it with the 'let's just be friends' curse. Akira didn't even know why she did what she did. The most popular guy in school could go confess to her and she would still refuse. But Akira respected her decision, he thought Ann could just do what she wanted to do. Maybe she just hasn't found the right one yet.

Though the same could apply to Akira. He's undoubtedly charming, maybe even too perfect to exist. But there he stood, no lover and no complaints whatsoever about it.

A lot of girls from school were actually interested in him. But it seemed that they were still intimidated by his criminal record. Even though they couldn't see why he got his record in the first place. He seemed like a normal-a star student even. None of them caught Akira's attention, though. Except for his teammates and Ms. Kawakami who in a way got close with Akira because of some 'uncommon' circumstances.

But It's not the same for the girls outside school Akira came to know so much about. Akira didn't know whether they had no hesitation spending time with him because they didn't know about the record, or they were just kind and unjudging people. Though Akira believed it's the latter, he could sense it and he's usually right about it. Then again, even with that many female connections, Akira didn't go the romantic way with any of them even though he could easily go that way.

The Phantom Thieves girls, though. Akira saw them almost everyday, and became close with every single one of them. From the popular Ann to the modest Haru. Akira always listened to their problems and just involuntarily help them manage with whatever they're going through. As a result of his actions, each one of them became interested in him, and Akira knew about it. But he still didn't go for any of them for whatever reasons he had.

Despite his over-the-top charm, nobody gave him valentine's chocolate. They probably already knew that they would just do that for naught, since Akira didn't seem to be interested in anyone. He was very nice and thoughtful to them, but that's it.

Though technically, he did get a valentine's chocolate. But it wasn't anything fancy nor it had any feelings attached to it. Akira wasn't dating anyone, so it was to be expected. He did not think he would still get chocolate though, even though it was not any sort of confession or show of love or any sickly sweet things.

He got that chocolate from Ryuji, who got it for free from a store lady out of pity. It was just a small and cheap chocolate that could easily be gone in just one bite. It was plain yet still got the sweetness chocolate should have. Akira appreciated it nevertheless.

Now that valentine has passed, though the mood is still there, Akira just continued living his normal life.

Yes, normal. Just like a guy his age, with no more business with being a leader of a group of heart stealers.

It's just a month before he will part with everyone. He's sure that he will miss everyone he met here. He had no intention to cut connections with any of them, though. He would contact them via phone or chats, and maybe come visit on long holidays. Most of the people he had come to know were pretty unique-if not weird. Probably because he somehow attracted troubled individuals and outcasts to him.

Since his time was running low, he thought he should do everything he had wanted to do there. He was sitting on his bed, thinking about what he would do that day. Morgana was still sleeping near him, probably because of the perfect weather for naps.

Akira was just about to pick up his phone to check his schedule when his phone suddenly rang. He wondered who could it be this early in the morning. Usually if it's early, it's 3 AM early. But this was 7 AM, the time Akira usually woke up and not woken up by the ring. He looked at the name shown on his phone screen.

-Ryuji Sakamoto is calling-

Akira formed a smile at that. Out of his friends, Ryuji called and texted him the most. Moreover just yesterday he came to Leblanc because of the lack of valentine spirit and partner. Akira always enjoyed looking at his rebel friend's reaction to everything. He was true to his feelings, nothing held back. He was naive and never filtered his choice of words, almost like a child. But he always said what exactly he was thinking that time. It's not rare that his bluntness in everything brought him and the whole Phantom Thieves group into trouble, though. Even so, it could usually be dealt with easily with Akira's calm and cool composure. Akira wondered what his loud blonde best friend was up to.

"Hello?", Akira answered. With a flat but not intimidating tone he always had.

"Yo." Ryuji said, with his carefree voice. He paused for a moment. "Mind if I crash at your place again today?"

"Yeah, sure." Akira said with a faint hint of excitement. Somehow he already knew that Ryuji's going to ask to come over. He had always been a great mood booster, with his stupid yet amusing actions. "You coming now?"

"'Course! I'm gonna rot out of frickin boredom in here..." Akira could hear sounds of objects getting shoved here and there. Surprisingly, even with how long he had stayed at Leblanc, Akira had never seen Ryuji's room even once. He had come to his apartment, though-for Operation Maidwatch. But Akira could pretty much guess that his room is a shipwreck from his personality and that rummaging sound he always heard whenever he's on the phone with Ryuji.

Akira snickered at that. "Alright then, see you soon."

"See ya." And with that, the call dropped.

Akira went downstairs after that, telling Sojiro that Ryuji's coming over, again. Sojiro just responded with a sigh and his usual 'just don't cause any trouble'. The cafe was still open and Akira knew well that Ryuji getting loud downstairs and piss Sojiro off was the last thing he wanted to happen. Even though the customer count at Leblanc was less than the number of times Morgana told him to sleep.

A short while later, the cafe door sprung open. Ryuji casually walked in with his usual puffy purple hoodie a couple of plastic bags in hand.

"Hey, Boss!" He greeted Sojiro while reaching for whatever he was searching in one of the bags.

Ryuji then put a box of chocolate on the counter, pushing it softly towards Sojiro. "I've been comin' over a lot so… I thought I gotta get you somethin' for once.", Ryuji spread a smile. "It's nothing worth much but I hope you like it anyway."

Sojiro's eyes widened a bit seeing what's in front of him. He then smiled, taking the chocolate and put it under the counter. "You don't need to, you know? I don't want to give away a vibe of a kid robber", Sojiro chuckled. "But thanks. Looks like you got some manners."

Ryuji just grinned at that and told Boss he's heading upstairs. Sojiro responded with a nod.

Akira was just sitting on the sofa, talking about stuff with Morgana. Morgana was actually a nice friend to talk to. Whenever Akira got something in mind, he liked to talk about it with Morgana, and the other way around. Akira and Morgana both had their preferences in things, but they wouldn't force their opinions to each other. Morgana always gave Akira good little advices, too, even though he thought Morgana needed to slow down a bit in terms of telling Akira to sleep.

Then they both heard sounds of footsteps coming their way. Akira and Morgana instinctively look at the stairs. Morgana knew Ryuji's coming. He wasn't fully sleeping when Akira was on the phone with Ryuji, so he overheard it. When they saw a glimpse of messy yellow hair they knew it was the person they were expecting. Morgana just sighed, knowing that the blonde would mess around with him like usual. It's not that Morgana dislike Ryuji, though, they both actually care for each other.

"Hey, man.", Ryuji walked over to Akira, grinning. Then he noticed Morgana, barely. "And cat".

"What? So I'm just an add-on here?", Morgana hissed. "Useless yellow hair!"

"What was that you stupid cat?!" Ryuji growled at Morgana and Morgana did just the same. Akira just stared at the two and made a small laugh. It's always entertaining to both of them like this.

"Hmph, whatever", Morgana stepped down from the sofa. "I'm just gonna take a walk. My mood is ruined with the blondie here." Morgana said while walking towards the stairs.

"Yeah and don't come back you dumb cat!" Ryuji said, with a frown. He was actually joking, though. He's never serious whenever he said something like that to Mona. And since that one incident when Morgana ran away, Morgana got used to how Ryuji talked to him and acknowledged that it was all a joke. Ryuji also, though still acting as reckless he normally was, started to control his words towards Morgana so that he wouldn't go overboard like before, preventing the accident from happening again.

Akira just looked at Ryuji from the sofa, facing his back. After moments of incomprehensible shouting, and a reply from Sojiro to turn it down, Ryuji then shortly turned back and sit beside Akira, putting his plastic bag on the floor near him. He was mumbling things like 'stupid cat'.

"How could you be fine with him stayin' with you, man?" Ryuji asked.

"He's just like that to you, you know.", Akira made a small yet genuine smile. "He's actually quite a good company."

Ryuji leaned back to the sofa, resting his arms. "Oh yeah?", Ryuji said while looking at the ceiling.

Ryuji's feet made contact with the plastic bag and made a little rustling sound. He then lifted his torso and looked at the bag. Akira did the same. He wondered since Ryuji came up what was in the bag. The bag actually looked pretty fancy, despite it being plastic. Which was weird for Ryuji to brought along.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot..." Ryuji reached his hand in the bag and took out another box of chocolate. This one was slightly different from Sojiro's. It's assorted with different kinds of chocolate while Sojiro's was entirely dark chocolate. The package was more detailed, too. With a mini ribbon on the upper corner and a see-through box. It's almost cute, maybe too cute coming from someone like Ryuji.

He then handed the chocolate to Akira. "I dunno which kinds you like, man. So I just bought one with all the flavors." Ryuji made a small laugh.

Akira stared at the box in confusion. He felt happy, though. "Wow... Thanks a lot. That's incredibly nice of you." Akira smiled and put the box on his desk.

"Yeah, man. Don't sweat it." Ryuji smiled back.

"But why?", Akira asked. "Is this a real confession this time?". Yesterday, on valentine's day to be exact, Akira joked about why Ryuji gave him that mini cheap chocolate. He's doing it again, since Ryuji's responses were never boring.

"Dude, stop sayin' that!" Ryuji laughed sheepishly. The laugh was followed by a smile. Ryuji then uncommonly stopped talking, with his head facing forward. He then slowly moved his gaze downwards, still making a faint smile.

It was a bit hard for Akira to notice, but he's sure the smile was a sad one.

The loud Ryuji went silent there. And Akira just stared at him, wondering what was wrong with his best friend. That smile… Was it something he did? Akira thought.

After the silence that seemed too long than normal, and the uncomfort they're both feeling at the same time, Akira decided to break the silence.

"...Ryuji?" Akira said in a low and soft voice, genuinely filled with concern. Akira moved his face downwards to get a better look at Ryuji's expression.

Ryuji, who seemed like he was in a daze, twitched his body in surprise. It seemed like Akira broke the thoughts Ryuji was having just earlier.

"Oh, uh, yeah?" Ryuji faced Akira, not exactly making eye contact. His focus was still down there, like he's staring at the floor looking for something. It's like Ryuji's refusing to look straight at Akira's eyes.

"You okay?" Akira's eyebrows furrowed a bit, feeling a bit sad and disappointment with the fact that he didn't know why his friend was like this and he couldn't do anything about it. Akira had always been the type that cares for others, putting them above himself. Especially someone he cherishes. Though he didn't show it in words. Probably the reason why people were attracted to him.

"...Yeah" Ryuji said, almost silently. He then suddenly brought his face back up. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."

Ryuji made a grin, it was too obvious for Akira not to see the fakeness of that expression. Ryuji's small eyebrows twitched a bit, showing that he's forcing the grin. But Akira decided to just go with it. He knew Ryuji's trying his best to cover what he's really thinking, and Akira didn't want to force him to talk about it with him. He thought it's best to wait for Ryuji to mention it himself when he felt like talking about it.

"So… uh…" Ryuji looked around, appearing to be looking for something. The retro game console Akira bought caught his attention. "Oh, right… You wanna play some games?" Ryuji asked Akira, trying to look happier than how he actually was.

Akira stared at Ryuji's face for a bit, not saying anything. But quickly responded with "Yeah, sure."

Akira then set the game up, putting the cartridge and plugging both controllers in. The old console was all he had and all he could afford. Even though going in Mementos back then made him a ton of money, he spent it for equipments and meds for infiltrating palaces and destroying that giant being calling itself God. In the end he could only save so much money. At least he could still afford this to play with Ryuji and the others.

Akira handed Ryuji the controller and started the game. It was an old-school fighting game. Akira was pretty decent at it, he's far from how good Shinya was with shooting games, but his skills was above average. Even until now Akira still wondered how an elementary schooler could get that good with controlling guns and unofficially ended up being Akira's master.

He didn't know about Ryuji, though. They had only played retro shoot-em-up games before. Ryuji was quite good at it. Maybe he's just as good with fighting games?

"Ooh… A fighting game, huh?" Ryuji sounded interested. "Y'know, I always just do some mad button mashing whenever I'm playing these kinda games." Ryuji laughed.

"No worries, I do that, too." Akira replied with a chuckle. "'Guess we'll just have to find out who's better at smashing their buttons." They both just laughed at that.

So then the game started, both of them picked their characters. Akira picked pretty much randomly, though he ended up with a mysterious-looking character, not exactly muscular but seemed skilled with weapons. While Ryuji picked the exact opposite, the most strong-looking character in the game in terms of physical appearance.

It was a tight match, both were skilled with button-mashing. Their scores were pretty much equal though they keep doing rematches with different characters. Ryuji was acting like he usually was, loud and emotional, but it was only for first three matches.

On the fourth match and latter, Ryuji seemed to be more untalkative and slowly losing his focus. He was easily beaten by Akira, with repetitive 2-0's. Akira stole a glance at Ryuji, curious about what was going on with his friend that time. And there it was, the same expression he had just before they played the game.

Akira couldn't take it anymore and decided to pause the game. Ryuji, with his little attention, noticed that the game wouldn't respond to his controller. "...Huh?"

Akira slowly stood up and walked to his desk. Ryuji noticed Akira moving and stared at him. Akira brought over the chocolate Ryuji just gave him a while ago to his previous position. He opened the lid and looked at all the varieties of chocolates, searching for the one he wanted.

"You like sweet ones, right?" Akira took out a piece of milk chocolate and moved his hand towards Ryuji's mouth. "Maybe this will cheer you up?"

Ryuji just stared at Akira's hand, unsure on how to respond. "Huh? It's for you, man. You don't hafta give me any of those."

"What if I want to? You seem to be losing concentration anyway. It wouldn't be a fair match." Akira stared right into Ryuji's eyes, making a smile so genuine it was sweeter than the chocolate right in his hand.

Ryuji's cheeks turned into a faint shade of red. That affectionate smile of his had always been enticing. He's pretty sure it's not just him who thought that. The others would think so, too… right? After all, it's pretty rare for Akira to made an actual smile and not a smirk. "Geez, man. Fine, then. Don't mind if I do."

Ryuji ate the chocolate from Akira's fingers and started chewing it like he was eating bubblegum. Ryuji probably wouldn't feel right feeding off a friend's fingers like this, but he had become so close, so comfortable with Akira that he really wouldn't mind doing something like this with him. It just felt normal.

"I thought you're supposed to let it melt in your mouth…" Akira said.

"What? Who the hell eats chocolate like that?" Ryuji chuckled, a genuine one this time. What Akira did seemed to brighten up Ryuji's mood a bit.

"I guess I like to do things the weird way, then." Akira grinned. And they both just laughed for a moment, enjoying each other's company.

It went silent again, but not completely. Akira could hear Ryuji's chewing. It somehow felt nice hearing that, much better than the complete silence they just had earlier. At least he knew that Ryuji's consciousness was still there in his room, and not somewhere else.

The chewing suddenly stopped. "It actually tastes pretty good." Ryuji said while wiping some melted chocolate off his mouth. "Now I'm startin' to regret givin' that to you." Ryuji said, jokingly.

"You can just take it home if you want." Akira said.

"It was a joke, man. Don't take everything so seriously." Ryuji grinned. "Thanks, though."

"For?

"For givin' me one of those." Ryuji said.

Akira smiled. "It's no big deal. I wouldn't be able to finish it all by myself anyway."

Ryuji smiled back. "Welp. If you say so."

There was a somewhat comforting atmosphere, just making some small talks with Ryuji like so. Akira himself, just like how Ryuji was with Akira, felt the most free talking with Ryuji than he was with anybody else. Might be because Ryuji was the first one Akira had talked heart-to-heart with, back then at the ramen place. Ryuji actually had a soft heart, he cared a lot about people he thought were important to him. Akira had repeatedly been flattered by Ryuji by how he got so fired up about making Shido pay for what he did to Akira's life. Ryuji was the only one who forwardly and confidently said that it was for Akira other than to justify Shido's actions. Ryuji was as important to Akira as how Akira was that important to Ryuji.

Which is why Akira became devastatingly sad when Ryuji suddenly stopped talking again, making a surprisingly unreadable expression. Ryuji had always been the most oblivious among the group, but Akira's really having a hard time guessing what he's thinking about right now. Akira didn't know what to do. He had never seen Ryuji like this. He had never seen Ryuji faking anything before. When he's sad he would usually just pent it out to Akira and let Akira know all about it. But this… Ryuji's trying to hide something from Akira.

Just before Akira broke the silence again, Ryuji opened his mouth. "...And for everything."

"Huh…?" Akira said, both in surprise and uncertainty.

Ryuji closed both his eyes and gripped on the sofa, as if getting ready to say something important. He then took a breath in and faced Akira, a determined face formed on his face, but his body was shaking slightly.

"Thanks for everything… Akira."

Akira widened his eyes at that. What's with the dramatic tension they're having right now? It somehow sounds like Ryuji's going to go somewhere far away. It sounded like a farewell, like they're going separate ways. Like they're not going to see each other for a long time.

Ah, yes. It's not Ryuji. It's Akira that's going to leave everyone behind, including Ryuji.

"You've been a really great friend. I'm not sure I'm ready to see you go yet." Ryuji said. "I'm seriously gonna miss you a lot, man..." Ryuji's face looked a bit sad. "I never would have thought that you would make that much of an impact to me, you know? It's a bit weird. Not in a bad way, of course." Ryuji said, with a little grin.

Ryuji averted his gaze to the chocolate box he brought for Akira. "The truth is, I bought you that chocolate 'cause I felt like I haven't given you enough already. Not as much as what you gave me all this time." Ryuji's eyes focused back to Akira.

"You really helped me through rough times, man. Always bein' there for me when I need a hand, always supportin' this rebel kid from school even when people told you not to. You're… the only one who ever did that to me." Ryuji paused for a bit. "You gave my life a meaning, excitement… a reason to keep goin' forward… Wow, that sounded hecka cheesy." Ryuji chuckled while scratching the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"But it really means a lot to me, YOU really mean a lot to me, man. I mean it." Ryuji stared right into Akira's eyes. "So I thought I had to do something. I had to give you something in return. Especially since you're gonna be gone soon... Sorry I can't give you anything fancy, I only have that much of money on me. And we can't go to Mementos anymore to get loots. I hope it still counts as something." Ryuji chuckled sadly.

Akira couldn't think of anything to say. He just stared at Ryuji, wide-eyed. Ryuji looked so lost, so miserable, so frustrated. He looked like a lonely puppy asking for care. Akira couldn't help the urge to hug his friend.

So he did just that. He embraced Ryuji into a tight hug. Lowering Ryuji's head onto his shoulder. Ryuji widened his eyes at the sudden action. He was surprised, but he did nothing about it. Instead, he closed his eyes and just let Akira did what he did.

They stayed like that for a while. The only sound that can be heard was the sound of coffee brewing downstairs. Akira felt on his shoulder that Ryuji was about to say something.

"I… really don't want you to go, man..." Ryuji furrowed his eyebrows. Akira could feel Ryuji burying his face to Akira's shoulder. Ryuji made a whining sound. "Shit… I'm a huge mess, huh…? Haha… This is really embarrassin'..."Beat all who gets in my way" my ass… I can't even let a single friend go." He made a weak laugh.

It felt like Ryuji's sadness was transferring into Akira slowly. It hurted. It hurted seeing his friend like this. It hurted to know that his friend became like this because of him. But Akira was also happy, knowing that Ryuji felt that way about him. The same way as Akira felt about him.

"I'm really going to miss you, too, Ryuji. A lot." Akira let his face land on Ryuji's hair. Ryuji's hair was messy like Akira, but oddly soft. It smelled and felt nice.

"I've never had a friend who's so passionate and caring as you, Ryuji. Whenever you stood up for the others, for me, I thought you were amazing." Akira laughed a bit. "You're the closest friend I have. You've pretty much been with me since the start too, right? Even though I'm just a new kid you have nothing to do with who almost made you dead in a random castle." Akira laughed. Ryuji's small laugh vibrated to Akira's body.

"Also, don't say that you haven't done enough for me. You've given me a lot already. You were trying to protect me back in Kamoshida's palace, didn't you? Even though it turned out to be the other way around." Akira snickered. "Also back then after we beat up Shido? You saved all of us, including myself. You still think that's not enough? You even made me worry back then." Akira sighed.

Neither of them said anything for a while. Akira just softly rubs Ryuji's head, playing with his hair a bit. It felt nice, it felt warm and comfortable. Akira thought Ryuji was weirdly cute opening up like this, but he wouldn't say that to Ryuji because he thought it would just make him think that Akira's messing around with him. He would not say it right now, at least.

Akira then suddenly tighten the hug and said,

"I'm really glad I met you, Ryuji."

Ryuji's heart skipped a beat at that. Akira could feel Ryuji shivering in his hug. He gripped into Akira's back so tightly it felt like his clothes would rip.

"M-man... How could you say somethin' like that so easily? Nobody ever said something like that to me…" Ryuji's face felt warm." I-I'm real happy… You got no clue how happy I am right now, g-goddammit…"

"Me too, Ryuji." Akira released the hug and held Ryuji's shoulders, pushing them backwards slowly, letting Akira see Ryuji's face and the other way around. Ryuji's expression was a mix of happiness, confusion, and embarrassment. His entire face was red, his eyebrows wrinkled, and his eyes were slightly wet.

Akira then smiled widely, a smile he had never shown anyone before. Ryuji opened both his mouth and his eyelids widely in surprise.

"Me too."