... In which Rin takes up the mission to ensure Yusuke doesn't go hungry again and Yusuke is astounded by what she asks in return. But food is good and he's not exactly complaining. [Requested by Child_of_demon on A03]

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"What do you mean, time for a break?" Yusuke freezes with the brush still raised and I can't suppress a giggle. "I have just gotten started!" he exclaims and despite his protests, I get up to look at what he's drawn so far.

I'm in awe. Back at me, from the maybe 2x2 feet canvas, stares my own face. But not just my face—it is... I think my jaw dropped somewhere along the line, without my consent.

"Do you not like it?" asks Yusuke immediately, frowning, and I shake my head.

It's not that I don't like it, but... I swallow. The girl in the picture has my hair—my bangs, the shoulder-length, though less frizzy, curls—my glasses, my narrow shoulders, my pale skin, and my face shape, but she is...

I'm searching for words adequate to describe it and arrive at some that seem very lackluster. Vivacious comes closest, perhaps. Radiant. Where my skin is pasty and colorless, hers glows from the inside. Where my glasses seem too big for my face, constantly slipping and leaving visible marks where they dig into my skin, hers fit and complement her features, complete them.

She looks like me... I can't stop smiling. But she also looks like an ethereal demigoddess, a fairy, an angel straight from heaven.

"It's stunning..."

> "I didn't know I could look like this..."

"Are you sure I'm this pretty?"

"I will paint you in so many ways you will not ever be able to count them all," he laughs and I can't stop staring at the unfinished artwork.

I finally tear my gaze away from the painting and look at Yusuke from the corner of my eye. He's radiant himself, the way he is smiling now. I don't remember the last time he's been so proud of an art piece... not even when his painting won Kawanabe's competition, last week.

He jumps when I raise a finger to his cheek and carefully wipe a smudge of paint away. "This will truly be a masterpiece when it is done," he smiles down at me and I find his joy almost too contagious to bear.

My finger lingers on his cheek, then my hand is cupping his face.

"Break?"

> "Did you eat yet?"

"... Ah," says Yusuke in a tone that says all.

I turn from him and make my way past heaps of canvases, art supplies, and whatever else is littering the floor—Yusuke isn't exactly organized... but neither am I so I guess I have no right to judge—towards where I know he is keeping a small fridge and a stove. I kneel in front of the fridge and almost rip it open. A lone bag of chips falls out from the sudden jerky motion and when I peer deeper in, one packet of sliced cheese stares back at me.

"... I do not really have anything to eat here, at the moment," admits Yusuke as he walks up behind me. "If you are hungry, maybe we could—!"

He nearly stumbles back when I stand and whip around to him. In the next moment, I have him by the shoulders. His dark eyes are lowered and I can see a faint blush coloring his cheeks. I shake him.

"W-What—! Rin, what are you—!"

I shake harder... only a little bit. Then I stop. He's staring at me, entirely confused, and I can't help but find the face he's making beyond adorable.

Something I've learned since we started dating is that he's very easily flustered and that it's incredibly entertaining to see how far I can go with it. But—I force myself to be serious—I have other priorities now.

"As your leader, I'm insisting you take better care of yourself."

> "Someone needs to teach you the basics of day-to-day survival."

Yusuke keeps staring at me with that cute, confused expression and I'm half tempted to cup his face and kiss him, but he isn't going to learn anything from that.

I narrow my eyes and attempt to look as intimidating as I can—not an easy feat, considering he is more than a head taller than me. This is a mission I should have undertaken a long time ago... but now that I'm his girlfriend, I have even less of an excuse to slack on it. If I don't do it... who else will?

"You... what?" he finally responds and I suppress the urge to roll my eyes. "Oh, you mean you are not hungry now... well, in that case, I do not see a reason to talk about food," he shrugs and I'm practically boiling. "We could get back to painting... or, if you are bored, we could go take a stroll. Going outside might actually not be a bad idea..." he mutters to himself and I wish nothing more than to face-palm.

I inspect Yusuke for another moment, then I make a decision.

> "Will you let me do this for you if you can do something for me in return?"

"How about we make this into a trade?"

"In return?", he asks and tilts his head. "You mean... you wish to... feed me, and for that, you will let me do something for you?" He taps his chin with his finger. "That does not seem like a bad deal at all. But, are you sure you want to spend your money on me? I can usually get by if I just..."

Immediately, I have him by the shoulders again, and Yusuke sighs. "... Fine. But do not spend too much on me, okay?" In my head, I note to spend as much as I absolutely have to. Mementos trips are lucrative and I'm probably richer than all of my teammates combined.

"And..." Yusuke looks back down at me, as I note, slightly concerned. "What do you want in return?"

I eye him over the top of my glasses and give him a mischievous smile. He'll see when we get there.

As per Sojiro's advice, which I ask for as soon as I return from Yusuke's, I spend the afternoon shopping. Tomorrow is a Saturday and the sun is almost setting when I finally arrive back at Yusuke's place.

He is mortified when he sees the bags I'm clutching left and right, but he doesn't stop me as I march past him and towards the joke he calls a kitchen. There, I set down my things and unpack what I brought for us to eat now.

"Y-You really did not have to go all out like that..." he has followed me hesitantly, eyeing the stuff. "I told you to not spend so much money on me..."

I roll my eyes. Actually, basic foods aren't that expensive if you know where to buy, and if Sojiro's an expert at anything, it's food. I pull a folded piece of paper out of my back pocket and hand it to Yusuke. A list I asked Sojiro to compile, where to get all the things I bought. I used it myself today, and I'm going to remember some of the places on it for later, but I think Yusuke needs it more than I.

He skims it briefly, and his face lights up. "Did Sojiro write this? I knew some of this already but having it compiled like this... this list is a treasure!" He hugs me from behind and seems to have dropped his disgruntlement over my spending money on him already.

I hold up the two packs of takeout ramen I bought for dinner.

> "Let's eat."

"You're welcome."

"You better repay me appropriately."

Yusuke beams. I almost laugh at the innocence he's eyeing the food with. We sit, there on the floor, amidst all the art supply chaos, and devour the ramen. It's delicious and Yusuke doesn't speak a word until he's emptied the whole pack.

"This is marvelous," he exclaims at last, "is the place where you got these on the list you gave me?" I nod and he beams even brighter. "Maybe we should go there together someday."

I laugh. If we do, I'm already deciding that he's not paying.

"... So..." Yusuke suddenly looks at me from the corner of an eye, "will you finally tell me what you want in exchange for all this treasure- I mean, food?"

I grin and sigh, scanning our surroundings for something appropriate. My gaze meets a stack of fresh, white papers and I scoot over, picking up a pencil that's ended up behind it somehow, in the process. Yusuke stares at me the whole time, evidently trying to figure out what I'm doing. I sit back and raise the pencil.

"How about this?"

> "Share your wisdom with me, now that I've shared mine."

"Teach me."

Yusuke's eyes widen. "Y-You mean you want to learn how to draw?"

I nod and tilt my head at the blank sheet. He's been doing it in front of me for so long that I've honestly gotten curious.

Yusuke gets to his feet and sits beside me, the empty ramen packs remain with my shopping bags.

"Well... it is not easy," he says and I nod. I didn't expect it to be—Yusuke's made it clear many a time how hard and dependent on practice art is, but surely there are basics for me to start with?

"So..." Yusuke scoots even closer and I wonder if he's questioning my sanity for this request. "... You are actually serious? You earn yourself a favor from me, and that is what you ask for?"

I grin.

> "Are you unsatisfied?"

"Is there something else you'd have given me?"

"N-Not in particular," he assures, then clears his throat. "Well, I believe you are aware that your skill will take a long time to substantially develop—if you choose to further pursue it—but I can attempt to help you get started..."

It's incredibly fascinating to hear Yusuke speak so confidently about something. I know he's more or less an expert, even if he's still learning himself, but I can't help but be deeply impressed by how seamless yet elaborate his following explanations are. Even though we only really fool around for a while, practicing scribbles and experimenting with different types of pencils and ways to apply them, I actually find myself having a blast.

Yusuke becomes more laid back too, as time goes on. He stops going into detail about theory and history and instead of a proper lesson, the whole thing ends as a showcase of all the kinds of supplies he has. I'm astounded about the quality of some and suddenly it becomes all too obvious what he's spending the money on that's supposed to go into food.

The shock hits us when we first check the time—it's already almost midnight.

I hastily phone up Sojiro—noting that I have several missed calls from him—and assure that I'm fine. Yusuke is already heaving some massive canvasses off the old couch in the back and I announce that it'd be safer to spend the night here than go back at this hour.

I do my best not to hear the suggestive smile in Sojiro's voice when he wishes me a good night before he hangs up, and sigh silently. I didn't bring any of my personal belongings and quickly run down to a convenience store that's still open to buy the cheapest toothbrush they have. Everything else can wait until tomorrow.

I return to find Yusuke on the couch, zapping through channels on the TV he apparently owns, previously also hidden beneath art supplies, I assume.

Before I inevitably begin arguing with him over who will take the couch, he addresses me. "There is actually a movie on tonight that I have been meaning to watch. I hope you do not mind."

I shake my head and smile.

"Let's watch together."

> "I'll get the snacks."

It takes Yusuke a few seconds to comprehend that there are, in fact, snacks in the apartment now, then he smiles. "I have already used the bathroom while you were away. Feel free to join me here once you are done."

I nod and quickly brush my teeth, then walk back out in search of something suitable to don as sleepwear.

"Oh, you did not bring pajamas," Yusuke shakes his head when he realizes what I'm looking for, but I'm already opening the closet sitting in the corner behind his bed. "Wait, those are my—!"

I simply proceed to rummage through the astoundingly, but also not, considering everything, small collection of clothes he owns and finally hold up an oversized shirt that I've never seen him wear before.

He's trying to hide it but the fact that Yusuke is incredibly flustered by the prospect of me wearing his shirt isn't hard to ascertain as soon as I walk out of the bathroom in it. His ears are crimson and he's staring at the lit TV as though the movie's already started.

I walk over to the kitchen area and fetch the bag of chips he had before. Screw having already brushed our teeth, it's movie night.

"You... you are really okay with wearing that?" he finally asks when I plop onto the couch beside him and shove the pack of chips in his direction. "I-I mean, not that it does not suit you, you look quite beautiful in it, just..."

I lean my head on his shoulder and stare at the commercial on the screen.

"It's comfortable."

> "You could draw me in it sometime."

"I quite like it."

Yusuke sucks in a breath and I battle laughter. If he doesn't stop being so easy to fluster I don't know if I can ever stop.

Lucky—for him—that's when the movie begins and I actually end up enjoying it. It's a kind of basic superhero story but it's inspirational and in a very odd way, I find myself relating to the main character for quite atypical reasons. I've never really thought of the Phantom Thieves as superheroes, but we've been called that by the public, and there's no denying there are a number of similarities. We use supernatural powers to battle against evil, after all.

Whether we are superheroes or not, the struggle that comes with hiding one's true identity, lying to your loved ones about what you do and who you are, and questioning your own justice is something I've faced before, and it's oddly jarring seeing a girl dubbed 'superheroine' on a TV screen go through the same problems.

Neither Yusuke nor I speak throughout the movie, and after the credits roll, we just remain sitting there, quietly cuddled against each other. He switches off the TV eventually and I close my eyes.

"I do not wish to seem vain but... the problems and hardships the movie's heroine was facing..." Yusuke finally breaks the silence.

I interrupt him.

> "... Seemed oddly familiar?"

"We've also faced similar things."

Yusuke nods. "I meant to watch the movie because a colleague at school recommended it... I did not expect a life lesson out of it."

I hum in approval, but only shut my eyes tighter.

"Well... whatever the case..." he pulls me a little bit closer, "should we not get ready for bed?"

I stay right where I am. Clutching the front of his shirt tighter, I sigh and hopefully indicate that beds are overrated. That it's perfect here, just the way it is. Yusuke doesn't protest. In fact, he doesn't speak at all anymore and when I next look up, I find him soundly asleep, head against the backrest of the couch.

I can barely see him in the dim light the window in the back gives off, but well enough to carefully wipe a few lost strands of hair out of his face before I rest my head on his arm again and give myself to sleep at last.