The Day That Starts With Us

Persona 5 © ATLUS

This is a work of fanfiction, simply written for the purpose of enjoyment and entertainment. I gain no financial profit from writing this.

i. morning routine

Unlike his girlfriend, Akira doesn't need an alarm to help him wake up every morning. When the clock strikes five, he would wake up on his own. His eyes would blink a few times, a scratch to his head then a big yawn follows.

And there he is, ready for another day.

Oh wait, maybe he's not exactly ready before snuggling his sleeping queen next to him.

Then he proceeds with picking up their clothes which are scattered on the floor; thanks to Makoto finishing work earlier yesterday and both of them craving intimacy. He gets himself clothed and puts Makoto's on the end table after neatly folding them.

Their wardrobe is his next destination, Makoto's ironed uniform needs to be hung on the wardrobe handle before he goes to the bathroom.

After that, warming up curry and preparing coffee for the cafe comes together with making bento box and healthy, balanced breakfast for the two. No curry!, Makoto keeps saying, because apparently having curry everyday doesn't sit well with her health regiment despite her understanding how delicious her boyfriend's curry is.

He rubs his chin and turns his head to the clock.

It's about time.

And so he sneaks back to their bedroom, to Makoto who seems to be still enjoying her dream. He'd love to let her sleep some more on her days off, but definitely not on the weekdays.

"Makoto," he whispers softly, "Wake up, my queen."

She blinks a few times before sitting upright with half lidded eyes. It's not exactly hard for both of them to wake up in the morning, the slightest text alert can even wake both of them up in the middle of the night. They couldn't count how many times they've both woken up in the middle of the night thanks to Mishima's hang out invitation to Akira. Now Akira has learnt to put his phone on silent at night, though.

"... Mmmrning..." Sleepiness does not escape her voice; it only makes it sound like she's mumbling in her sleep. A yawn escapes her as she walks slowly to the bathroom, eyes closed―vision is unneeded for navigation as she already has the layout of the room on the back of his head.

Akira loves mornings solely for this sight; sleepy Makoto, not awake enough to realise she is barely dressed, showing off the kiss marks he left last night, dragging her feet to the bathroom with her hair all tangled.

A smile escapes his lips and he goes downstairs to watch TV while waiting for Makoto to get ready. It doesn't take too long, and so they start their morning with having breakfast together.

"Thanks for the meal. It was delicious!"

"Yours is still more delicious. I kinda miss eating your cooking, but since you're a lot busier than me, there's no helping it."

"It'll be my turn to cook on my day offs, I promise. Now help me braid my hair or I'll be late!"

"As you wish, my queen." Akira gets up from his seat and takes the hair brush and hair tie from the drawer. Gently brushing her hair which she had grown a little bit past her shoulder, then weaves them forming a neat braid.

"And it's done."

A kiss lands on his lips before he even realises. She grins ear-to-ear and takes her bag, flipping the sign to open before leaving, "See you tonight."

He knows his mornings are quite busy, but he really doesn't mind this kind of lifestyle at all.

ii. ruined date

The sky is grey.

Both of them sigh at the gloomy sky staring back at them, not kind enough to even let the sunshine peek through the clouds. All they could do is blankly watching the droplets of water falling to the ground.

"Just what are we doing?" Makoto asks, licking away the melted ice cream on her hand. She sighs again before popping the half finished ice cream in her mouth.

Akira hums, leaning his side against the doorway. Both of his legs folded up to his chest while sucking on his second stick of ice cream. He raises his eyebrows, "Ice cream date?"

"Ice cream? On a rainy day?"

"That's the only food in our fridge that we can just eat without any preparation."

The sky rumbles along with the lightning, and the rain only gets heavier. The leaves from their small garden trickle with the raindrops, the branches are swaying gently with the wind. Water are pooling on their balcony, slowly flowing down through the drainage.

"It's our long awaited day off and we're supposed to be in Destinyland now." The raindrops fall on her face, so she wipes it away and sighs again for the umpteenth time today. The finished ice cream stick falls on the plastic bag they used to keep the trash. "That's why I told you we should make teru teru bozu to chase the rain away. You shouldn't have stopped me... It always worked when we were expecting a trip with my father."

The sound of rain muffles out half of her sentences, yet Akira can make out some of them just by seeing her pout. He tries to hold back a smile, not wanting to make her mad.

"Sorry, we'll make them next time."

They sit still for a moment, watching how the raindrop stays on the leaf for a few seconds before dropping to the ground.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three―ah, it falls.

"Do you want to open the cafe after all?" Makoto brushes her fringe behind her ear, not even realising she's had her head on Akira's shoulder already.

He shakes his head slightly, moving slightly and feels his cheek brushing her soft strawberry scented hair. "We don't have anything prepared for today." His thumb is tracing lazy circles on her hip, making unknown pattern without his knowing.

"And I still want today to be our date, even with the unsupportive weather."

Makoto hums as response and they spend the day in silence and comfort.

iii. summer secret

Summer means a lot of things.

It means more electrical bill for air conditioner. It means more customers because they want to find some café with air conditioner to spend time. It means longer hair tied up in a ponytail.

It means Makoto's nape on display.

"What are you staring at?"

Quickly turning his head away, Akira twists the messy hair on his forehead between his fingers. "Nothing," his voice almost cracks.

Makoto chuckles and dries her hand on the towel after washing the last cup on the sink, her smile is evident on her face as she turns around. "You've always been a terrible liar."

Well, maybe so. He has to admit, his stare just now was quite intense and obvious. No wonder Makoto realises. With her usual longer hair tied up, and her dress with wider neck line, it certainly shows how contrast the fair skin of her nape and her chocolate brown hair.

"Sorry for staring."

"I don't mind," her cheeks turn bashful and she resumes drying off the dishes, "You can stare as much as you want."

He peeks from the corner of his eyes, scrutinising the pale nape with the apron string across it. He approaches her from behind and hugs her, tilting his head to the side and ghosts over her nape with his mouth. "Can I do more than just stare then?"

Makoto giggles, "That's ticklish, Akira," she puts down the dishes and tilts her head to the side, kissing Akira's cheek. "You can do more after the café's closed. Be patient."

"I can turn the sign now and we can go upstairs?" Akira trails his kisses on her nape, his hand roams under the dress skirt, brushing the soft thighs underneath, "Please?"

"You really love my neck, don't you?" Makoto laughs, "Okay, I guess we can close earlier today."

"Thanks, my queen, I love you."

iv. diet

There's nothing that shocks Makoto anymore lately. Not the bizarre cases she's gotten. Not the weird quirks her boyfriend develops from growing up in the countryside. And not even the modern phrases and popular fashion.

But these numbers...

"Since when have I been gaining four more kilograms!?"

Akira snickers behind her, "Maybe from all the delicious food your boyfriend makes?"

"But I'm exercising rou―wait," she notices Akira feet also stepping on the scale behind her, "Akira!"

And Akira can't help but bursts out laughing at the expression Makoto makes just now. It was a combination of shock, despair and confusion. "Sorry, sorry."

"That's so cruel of you!" Makoto glares at him and resets the scale. Sighing in relief knowing she doesn't gain any more extra weight.

She steps out and it's Akira's turn to weigh himself.

"Makoto?"

"Yes?"

"You... you're stepping on the scale, no?"

"I'm not."

"I do feel a bit pudgy lately... but five kilograms?"

"Hmm... Thanks to my boyfriend's delicious cooking? Oh, and staying in the cafe all day, not exactly doing any kind of physical activities aside from moving around the kitchen."

He grabs his tummy and squeezes the extra fat, "It's soft. It used to be all muscles back when we're Phantom Thieves."

"It's almost ten years ago, Joker."

"We were so young, Queen."

v. gloves

"Do I really need to buy a new one, Makoto?"

"You do. Your old one is starting to wear off, and winter is just around the corner. Better hurry and buy one, it's not hard!"

Akira sighs and gives in. He is being dragged by Makoto all over the shopping mall, trying to reach the perfect shop for their winter needs. His old one is still wearable, and it's not like winter in Tokyo is that cold. He's too used to the freezing weather in his hometown that a little worn gloves wouldn't have mattered that much for winter in Tokyo.

When they finally reach the shop Makoto talked about, he approaches items on display and gives them a quick glance.

"This one."

When he turns over expecting to see Makoto, he is met with a pair of red gloves shoved to his face. He backs down a few inches to take a good look at the gloves and Makoto behind the item.

His lips curl up into a smile, "Is it because of my Joker outfit?"

"Partly yes. But honestly, I just thought you look good in those red gloves."

Akira accepts the gloves on Makoto's hand and pulls her arm, closing in to Makoto's ear, "I know you meant I look sexy."

Makoto's face flushes in red and eyes widen, "I didn't say that."

End.

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Notes: Who can resist househusband Akira? I, for one, certainly can't. And for the nape scene, I honestly believe the scene in raining festival framing Makoto's nape is actually what Akira is looking at. Because the way the camera is angled is exactly from Akira's point of view, beside Ann and slightly taller. And I'm so sorry that this fanfic is not the best version I can give. I only edit the draft in about one hour before I post it. I don't really have the time and mood on writing lately and leaving it any longer to wait for the inspiration to come will just put the draft on my unfinished folder. I hope you still get to enjoy this.