Credit: Lawliet_Aftermore

"Mmm, bacon~..."

He groaned, the delicious smell waking him up. It wasn't often that his better half would make a more "Western" breakfast, but he absolutely loved when it happened.

He sat up, swinging his feet over the edge now that his bed was too cold for his liking since it was emptier than it had been last night. He got himself up, ignoring the cold floor and quickly making his way down the creaky stairs still in his pajamas. As he descended he was greeted with a scene that made him smile and roll his eyes in indignation at the same time.

His partner was serving a to-go cup of coffee to Yongen-Jaya's resident doctor, whom was looking a little more worse-for-wear than usual.

"Here you go, Tae-chan. I promised Akira we wouldn't open up today, so this is the only cup I can give you." Mae said with a kind smile. The tired doctor nodded and took a sip of her cup, humming in delight as she enjoyed the drink before turning to see Akira looking at the two of them from the stairs.

"I'm sorry for interrupting your morning, Mae-kun, but tell my little guinea pig I said good morning." She said with a smirk before going to leave the small café.

Mae grinned. "Sure thing, I'll let him know. Have a good day, Tae-chan." He waved her off as she left.

Akira felt it was time to make himself known, so he walked past the bathroom to finally lay eyes on his significant other who was wearing his hair up in a messy ponytail, a lock of silvery-gray hair framing each side of his face as he scrolled through his phone with a fangy smile plastered on his face.

Akira found it absolutely adorable.

With the stealth skills he gained in the metaverse he moved over and behind the counter without making a sound before draping his arms lazily around the smaller boy's waist and resting his head on Mae's left shoulder. Although, when the boy didn't jump or even react the slightest bit, Akira huffed in annoyance. "No sneaking up on you, huh?"

He felt Mae's body shake lightly in a chuckle. "Of course not. I knew you were awake before you probably knew you were awake." He continued scrolling through his phone, answering a text from Ann as Akira began to sway them from side to side.

The ravenette pouted and buried himself Into the crook of Mae's neck in defiance. "Sensing Ki is unfair..." He complained, even as he began to - again - become sleepy from Mae's warmth against him.

Mae put his phone down on the counter and grabbed Akira's hands with his own. "All's fair in love and war, Handsome. Now..." He turned his head and kissed Akira on the cheek before slipping out of his grasp. "I need to finish breakfast, so go ahead and sit down." He commanded, giving his lover a pat on the cheek as he moved to the small kitchen and turned on one of the gas burners.

Akira went to offer his help, but before he could even get his mouth open Mae's hand was up and already dropping him from speaking. "Nuh-uh, you made breakfast yesterday morning, it's my turn today." Remarkably, he was managing to do this scolding and crack eggs into a pan, all while keeping eye contact with Akira.

He huffed and crossed his arms as Mae continued to work. "All I made was oatmeal and coffee..." He rolled his eyes and tried to enter the kitchen, but was quickly stopped in his tracks by a poke in the forehead by his boyfriend.

"You don't even have your glasses on, so go and sit down..." He walked up to Akira and cupped the back of his neck, leaning up until Akira could feel his breath tickling the area just behind his ear. "Please... Joker~?" He didn't bother waiting for a response, instead walking back into the small kitchen area and leaving Akira where he stood, blushing profusely.

As Mae was working, he saw - out of the corner of his eye - Akira walk back around the counter and take a seat on one of the stools. "I hope French toast sounds good, because that's what I'm making."

Akira hummed in agreement. "Yeah, sounds delicious. Do you have to work at Café Noir today?" He asked, hopeful the answer would be no.

He was grateful when he saw Mae shook his head. "Nah, not today. We have the day all to ourselves." He turned to Akira and smiled, his eyes crinkling in very apparent joy.

Minutes later, when Akira had shifted to a booth, Mae placed down a western-style breakfast of French Toast, bacon, and Eggs in front of him before placing down his own plate and sliding in next to him, snuggling up to his side as they began to eat.

Akira took a bite, and found it to be - unsurprisingly - delicious. "You know..." he starts as he wraps his free arm around Mae's shoulders. "People say I'm a great cook, but I think you might have me beat." He turned over and saw Mae shoveling the food into his mouth as if someone was going to take it away at any moment. "Night..." the use of his first name caught his attention and paused his eating.

"Y-Yeah?" He said guiltily. "Crap, was I doing it again?"

Akira leaned over and pecked the other boy on the lips. "Yeah, yeah you were. Slow down, okay?" He asked with a gentle tone, returning to his breakfast and watching out of the corner of his eye as Mae returned to eating, slowly, this time.

The two finished eating soon after, and while Akira felt like he was finally awake for the day, Mae fully leaned in and curled up into his side, letting out a loud yawn and resting his head on Akira's chest. The ravenette chuckled. "How early did you wake up today, it's only..." he pulled his phone out of his pocket to check the time. "9:42"

Mae thumped his head against Akira's chest. "Doesn't matter, you got fed..." he mumbled while attempting to get impossibly closer to his boyfriend.

Akira smiled. "Thank you, Mae." When he didn't get even a hum in response, he realized Mae had most likely fallen asleep. He leaned back against the booth, content to just relax until Mae eventually woke up.

As time passed, Akira started to reminisce about how he ended up here. The Phantom Thieves, his makeshift family, were better than any "real" family he'd ever had. He saved the world with them, cried with them, felt their pain...

And even fell for one of them.

The day he realized it was the day he was supposed to go back "home". His family finally called him, after almost an entire year of radio silence, and the only reason they called was to tell him they wouldn't even be able to pick him up from the station.

Mae had been working that day and was listening in on the conversation. Before he could even formulate a reasonable response, Mae had snatched the phone from his hand and began laying into his parents.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You call yourselves parents!? Akira told us you haven't even sent him a text, let alone given him a call!"

Akira heard his mother screech something in response back at Mae, and grew worried over what she had said. But, the fire in Mae's eyes only shines brighter.

"I don't care how "busy" you are. A simple text or a call that lasts even 30 seconds is worth more than almost an entire year's worth of radio silence!"

Mae looked over at Akira, quickly turning back and focusing on the conversation.
"And if you really want him to come home, you can come pick him up yourselves. That is, if you ever find the time! But know this..."

"I'm not letting anyone take him away from me again."

Akira felt his heart skip an unhealthy amount of beats.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Unsurprisingly, Akira ended up staying for his third year.

Mae actually confessed later that day during a dinner at Central Street's diner.

Akira sighed happily just thinking about that day, it had been two years since and both him and Mae were in their second year of college. Sojiro had started working less and had them basically running the shop at least half of the week, even being allowed to not open if they really needed the time off.

He heard a groan and looked down to see Mae stirring. He lifted his head from Akira's chest and looked up at him. "What're you thinking 'bout" he asked tiredly, almost slurring the words together.

Akira smiled and pulled him closer, putting down his phone and bringing his free hand over to cup the boy's cheek. "Oh, just about how amazing you are~."

Mae chuckled and softly smacked his chest. "Jeez, you're so cheesy..."

"I know, but you love me." Akira responded with full confidence.

Mae smiled and leaned forward. "Yeah... I love you, Akira~."

"I love you too, Mae." Their lips connected in a kiss.

End.

I actually have a Persona 5 story in the works, it's a lot less gay, but If you like Persona 5 and don't mind OCs, I recommend you check it out.

Credit: Lawliet_Aftermore