Blegh, this one took far too long update, so I really apologize about that. Granted, I dumped over 20 hours into Persona 5R just to do Makoto's confidant and Sae's Palace, but it still would've come out earlier if I wrote it how I wrote my Helltaker oneshot, which was basically two straight weeks of only writing one thing and eventually getting it finished.

Still, regardless of that, this chapter's a little on the heftier side. In my opinion, not the best of my work, but certainly not the worst. 

I hope you enjoy, and if you do, comment. Ah, a little portion of this was for you, PitaNemuritoare, just because I remembered that you wanted to date Sae in P5R.

Anyways, enjoy.

-----

"Whatcha lookin' at?" (Y/n) asked, jokingly peaking over his girlfriend's shoulder. The student council president didn't have too many people to be texting, so our curious main character couldn't help but asking.

"O-Oh, it's nothing!" Makoto frantically turned off her phone, pulling it close to her chest.

"Uhuh? Really, nothing at all? The one and only Makoto Niijima was looking at her phone for nothing?" (Y/n) teased, singing his words without a care in the world. Other students were starting to look at him, causing Makoto to fiercely grip his hand.

"Can you please stop?" The kindness in her words didn't match the brutality in her action, so (Y/n) couldn't help but let out a pained giggle.

"Okay, okay. I'm pretty sure it's just some boring school stuff anyways," (Y/n) shrugged, causing Makoto to look away for a moment before nodding.

"Yeah, it's... not important," Makoto hummed, loosening her grasp on (Y/n)'s hand before they walked together in a much more casual way.

(Y/n) was humming a song as he snapped to himself alongside his partner, who was doing nothing of the sort. He bobbed his head to a song that must've been playing in his head, because Makoto only heard the normal sounds of the streets all around.

In no time at all, they were at the Niijima apartment building, and (Y/n) had to let Makoto go. He gripped her hand tightly before she let out a sigh.

"There'll always be tomorrow," Makoto smiled, receiving an exaggerated sigh from (Y/n).

"Fineeee, but don't be surprised if you receive a text message from me," (Y/n) gently pulled his hand away from Makoto, looking at her for a long moment. It was such a long moment it actually made Makoto kind of uncomfortable.

"What's wrong?" She asked, and (Y/n) shrugged.

"I just think you're pretty gorgeous," Makoto's face flushed. "(Y/n)! You can't just say things like that!"

"Why not? I think it's a nice compliment," A woman's voice came from behind Makoto. It was the voice of Sae Niijima, Makoto's older sister, as she walked down a flight of expensive looking stairs. Makoto tensed up at the sight of her sister.

"Ah, hi Sae! How are you doing?" (Y/n) waved happily at the older woman, bringing an oh-so small smile to her face.

"I see you haven't began properly addressing your elders, have you, (Y/n)?" Sae's words caused (Y/n) to laugh awkwardly before he shrugged.

"Well, it's not my fault you don't look much older than us, Sae-san," (Y/n) corrected himself, complimenting the older woman in one go.

A small, indistinguishable red hue grew on Sae's face before she turned to Makoto.

"I'll have to step out. I'll be back before the end of the night. Will (Y/n) be coming inside?" Sae asked, snapping Makoto back to reality.

"Ah, well...!" Makoto was suddenly tied up, but (Y/n) couldn't quite figure out why.

"It's actually sad, Sae-san, but I can't. Makoto has some homework to do. I don't want to bother her from her studies," (Y/n) let out a sigh, shaking his head in fake sadness.

Makoto nodded, quickly following up on (Y/n)'s improvised lie, "Yeah Sis, I have to go catch up on my studies today!"

Sae glanced between the two before nodding, "Well, if you'd ever like to come inside, I'd have no problems with you inside of our home. Now, if you excuse me."

Sae walked away, presumably towards whatever location she'd need to, and the duo let out a heavy sigh of relief.

"I hate lying to Sae, she's so scary," (Y/n) spoke first, slumping as if he'd just gone through several battles.

"Yeah, Sis isn't one to lie to. I bet she noticed something was off, but just decided not to ask about it," Makoto looked at (Y/n) with a small smile. "Thanks for backing me up though."

"Yeah, no problem. I know how to mind my business, but... whatever you're doing, just stay safe," (Y/n) softly held the sides of Makoto's face before giving her a peck on the forehead.

"I got it; I haven't gotten reckless just yet," Makoto smiled, the red hue on her face refusing to leave.

(Y/n) left it at that, leaving Makoto with another peck on the forehead before he went on his merry way.

Makoto looked back down at her phone. She ignored the text messages all the way back home, just for a little break with (Y/n). She texted back in the Phantom Thieves group chat, confirming that she'd be at the hideout.

-----

"Hey, Makoto! What took ya so long?" Ryuji asked as Makoto entered Leblanc, an awkward expression on her face.

"Well... I just got caught up, that's all," Makoto lied, but Akechi didn't miss such a thing.

"Ah, did Sae-san catch on?" Akechi questioned, sending the entire group into a tizzy.

"I hope not! Facing the final boss early will totally be a most-lose fight! We'll get annihilated!" Futaba gasped, causing Yusuke to agree with her.

"Yes, such a thing will only lead us to a disastrous end. Has such a thing happened?" Yusuke asked, but Makoto shook her head.

"No, it wasn't anything like that. I only got caught up in something and didn't have time to check our messages," Makoto shook her head, opting to lie about the situation rather than just say she was with (Y/n).

"Well, if it's done, it's done! More importantly, are we going into the Palace today?" Ann redirected the flow of the conversation, keeping the situation on its proper tracks.

"That is what you called us here for, right Leader?" Haru looked towards Akira, who nodded a single time in response.

"Hmm...." Akechi's mind still lingered on Makoto's reasoning for being late, but he didn't bring it up.

"Does anyone have any reasons to not go? We still have over two weeks until our deadline," Morgana scanned everyone, but when nobody raised any objections, Akira pulled out his phone and started up the MetaNav.

"Let's bust loose!" Ryuji grinned as the group was pulled into Mementos.

With the help of Akira's Kohryu and Makoto's Johanna, the group arrived at the casino that was Sae's palace in no time. They had already climbed to the halfway point, gaining a member card that allowed them into the High-Limit portion of the casino.

Upon just a tad bit of investigation the group learned of the Coliseum area and the Room of Darkness, where they were forced into the Room of Darkness in order to gain the required 100,000 chips in order to reach their destination, the Treasure.

In all honesty, everything was going well for the group. Akira, Akechi, Makoto, and Haru were absolute powerhouses when paired up all together, bulldozing through anything that could even be of the slightest threat.

Even upon clearing the Room of Darkness, the group weren't anything beyond slightly tired. However, something odd happened.

"I'm sensing something nearby!" Morgana warned everyone, and the first thought was that it was the final Will Seed of the Palace, but Morgana continued, "And it's not a Will Seed. This is something... different."

"Different? Whaddya' mean?" Ryuji questioned, but Morgana just shrugged.

"I dunno."

"You damn cat! If it's not important, don't bring it up!" Ryuji turned to Futaba after smacking Morgana on the head, "Are you pickin' up anythin'?"

"Hmm, I'm seeing something too, but it's weird. Joker, I recommend we check it out!" Futaba chimed in, and the group continued forward, checking every inch of the small room for any secret passages or rooms around.

While Makoto was looking around, she listened to the lyrics of the song playing.

Every Palace had a song that reflected the user's feeling in one way or another. Sae's ended up being the catchiest by far, so much so that Makoto found herself enjoying it just a little bit, despite the grim situation.

The lyrics though, weren't anything to be happy about.

They suggested that Sae was thinking about "giving into temptation" and that she thought a courtroom was simply another place to "roll the dice," as if her decisions couldn't impact people's lives on an extremely deep level.

"Sis... when did you—AH!" Upon searching the room and getting lost in her own thoughts, Makoto had suddenly fallen through the wall. It was a bizarre experience, because it had looked so solid and realistic, but only ended up being an illusion of the Palace.

"Queen!" Futaba yelled, with the group rushing to follow Makoto. When they got to the wall, they all slammed directly into it, as if it was an entirely solid space.

"Ow, what the hell?!" Ryuji roared, and his teammates had similar reactions.

"Can Queen only go through because you're her sister?" Akechi hypothesized, and Futaba was quick to back him up.

"Could it be like my father's Palace?" Haru asked, holding her hand against the wall.

"Crow and Noir are right, upon scanning it it looks like a more complicated biometric lock hidden under an illusion! Unlike the last one, this one does look like I can hack through it!" Futaba giggled, beginning to quickly hack into the biometric wall.

"Eff that, can't we just bust through it?!" Ryuji prepared to swing his club into the wall, but was stopped by Ann.

"No, you idiot! Do you want Shadows to come rushing over here?!" Ann yelled, causing Ryuji to let out an awkward laugh before gesturing to the wall.

"Hey Queen, can you get outta there?" Ryuji asked, but when Makoto tried to push back through the wall, nothing happened. It was as if she was pushing on a normal wall as well.

"No, I can't," Makoto informed them, so Akira chimed in.

"Is that a dead end, or can you go forward?" He asked, so she looked around and responded quickly.

"I can go forward, should I continue?" Makoto questioned, nervousness building within her heart.

"Yeah, continue without us."

"But Joker...!" Futaba was the first to bring up the problems with splitting up, so Akira continued.

"We're splitting up right for now. Based on the weaknesses of the Shadows, Fox, Noir, and Skull should stay to protect Oracle. Crow, Panther, Mona, and I will look elsewhere to connect with Queen," His plans were thought out, despite the situation only appearing moments before.

The Phantom Thieves were almost shocked at his efficiency, but then they were forced to remember how many dicey situations he had gotten them through before, all with his own power. Akechi observed Akira with almost ominous attention to detail.

"Queen, you have a few items on you already, so you should be able to heal up if things start looking bad, but if you run into an enemy that you can't defeat, use a Goho-M and retreat to the entrance of the Palace. If my party can't find a way to get to you or can't find you, I'll assume you did that. If that happens, we'll come back here, get Fox, Noir, Skull, and Oracle and we'll retreat as well," Akira took a moment to let the plans sink in before continuing.

"If we must, we'll entirely leave the Palace for the day and regroup. Your safety comes first, but if you're not in danger and want to continue, you can," Akira finished, and Makoto nodded before remembering that he couldn't see her.

"Yes, I understand. If I end up retreating and leaving the Palace, I'll text everyone so that you guys know about it as soon as you leave," Makoto told them, and all sense of nervousness had vanished from the group.

"Who'll be your navigator when I'm gone?" Futaba questioned, and Mona puffed out his chest, stepping forward.

"Who do you think did it before you? This'll be a breeze!" Morgana laughed, and the groups split up, just as Akira ordered.

"Hang in there, Queen, we'll be there before you can say 'I'm madly in love with (Y/n)!'" Futaba giggled, knowing that it was just her and Makoto left. Haru and Ryuji already walked off so that they could protect Futaba more efficiently, they seemed to be getting lovey-dovey themselves.

"W-What?! Don't say that! We shouldn't say names like that in the Palace!" Makoto scolded Futaba, but she didn't stop giggling.

"You didn't want to mention him earlier because of Crow, right?" Futaba guessed, her giggling continuing. "Well don't worry, your secret is safe with me! I'm just surprised you haven't introduced him to everyone yet!"

"I... don't want him caught up in our Phantom Thieves business, that's all. I don't think it'd be right to introduce him to everyone but leave him out of one of the biggest connectors of the group," Makoto sighed, but Futaba just hummed happily.

"Don't fret, I bet he'd understand either way! In your text messages he always seems very understanding! Even if he did know about us being Phantom Thieves, he wouldn't really care. I know I want to meet him, especially after he got you into Neo Featherman!" Futaba grinned, her comment causing Makoto's face to become a deep red.

"I'm not into Neo Featherman! I've just watched a couple of... seasons...." Makoto's voice drifted off before she shook her head. "We can talk about it later! For now, I need to find us a way out!"

"Fineeee, but you better stay safe! If you die, I'm taking him! In fact, there's already a different one-shot of us published!" Futaba cackled, but Makoto shook off her words, marking them as utter nonsense.

Makoto let out a sigh before turning and walking down the corridor. There was only one way forward, and despite that, she kept an overwhelmingly strong determination.

First the walk was five minutes, then ten minutes, then it quickly turned into an hour. No Shadows, even Sae's Shadow didn't appear. It was just boredom, with the song of the Palace there to fill the silence.

After another hour passed, Makoto lost all patience, truly not even seeing a way out.

"Ugh, Johanna!" Makoto summoned up her Persona, getting on the spiritual machine's back as she revved it up. "Let's go!"

With the motorcycle, it only took another few minutes of riding to arrive at a new door, causing Makoto to suddenly skid to a halt.

On a door similar to but different than the Will Seed doors, words were written in bolded graffiti.

"Give into temptation?" Makoto read the words, noting the other words written on the door.

"He's mine."

"He loves me."

"I'll make him happy."

"He needs me."

"Who is Sis talking about?" Makoto had a gnawing thought at the back of her head, but chose to ignore it, hoping such a thing wasn't even slightly true.

Allowing Johanna to fade away, Makoto pushed the doors to the mysterious room, and she couldn't believe just what she was seeing. Well, she just didn't want to admit she could believe it.

Pictures of (Y/n) were posted all on the walls, mainly pictures that he and Makoto and taken together, but Makoto's face was scratched out of them. In the middle of the room sat a cognitive being, holding a small photograph and humming the song of the Palace. The being was looking at a picture of Shadow Sae.

"...(Y/n)...." Makoto's voice died in her throat.

Her very own sister viewed her boyfriend in such a wicked way. She didn't know how to respond, to see such a thing become a reality.

The idea of Sae being romantically interested in (Y/n) wasn't entirely shocking to Makoto, it actually struck her as sort of realistic, beyond the fact that (Y/n) was entirely taken and by Makoto of all people.

Sae was so strict as her desires became distorted, but her kindness to (Y/n) only seemed to grow. When she didn't have to work, the few days that she didn't have to and didn't want to, she would ask about (Y/n) all day and all night.

At first, Makoto thought it was a miracle that Sae allowed her to romantically talk to anyone, ever, but she even went as far as to allow (Y/n) inside of their home, which hadn't made any sense for how strict she was.

"So he's your temptation...." The lyrics of the song made sense all the sudden, certainly a result of her shock and sudden realization after.

Makoto looked around the horrendous room, ignoring the many, many pictures of (Y/n) strewn all about. There was a small cabinet, and all the drawers were filled with pictures of (Y/n), but on the top was a single piece of paper.

Makoto picked it up, reading it, "The only way we can all be happy...?"

Makoto looked at the paper, her heart thumping in her chest as her face flushed a deep red color. It was simplistic, only a few words, but it had gotten its point across perfectly. Despite being in a Palace of all places, it was a decent idea, if Makoto squinted really hard.

She put the paper back down, checking around the room for anything that may help with getting out of the Palace, but she didn't find anything.

"I'll have to go back and tell Oracle, but before that...." Makoto knew that the cognition of a person didn't affect the real person at all, but she still wished to check something. The cognition of (Y/n) didn't care to look up to Makoto once, so she approached it, reaching out to it.

"Hey...." Makoto kneeled to meet the cognitive (Y/n)'s eyes, but she almost fell backwards when she met them.

(Y/n) simply wasn't there anymore. The snark, the kindness, even his overwhelming nonchalance, it wasn't there anymore. Makoto couldn't tell if it was because Sae had never been in a relationship before and couldn't fill in the blanks, or if she actually wanted (Y/n) to be such a blank slate that only wished to love her, but either way, Makoto couldn't accept it.

"I promise you," Makoto softly held the sides of (Y/n)'s face. He met her gaze with an incredibly blank one, disinterested. "I promise you, I'll help Sis, even if it's the last thing I'll ever do."

The cognitive (Y/n) had no expression, but tears flowed from his eyes, running down the sides of his face.

"Please, help," Then he was silent. As soon as he was done it was like he entirely forgot Makoto was there, looking back down to the picture of Sae as if nothing had changed, despite his tears hitting the picture every now and then.

Makoto stood up, looking down at (Y/n) before taking a deep breath. She looked around, before laying a hand on her chest and calming herself. As soon as she was finished, she summoned Johanna and rode out of the room, bearing an even heavier weight on her chest.

After reporting to Futaba, who was having an exceedingly difficult time brute forcing her way through the biometric programming, Makoto decided it would be wise to leave the Palace, even with the new passion burning within her heart. Acting on such reckless passion would've been foolish, so she decided to leave everything at that.

She would keep the information about the room to herself, sensing no real reason to tell such a thing to the group, and specifically Akechi. Maybe she'd bring it up later, once she'd introduced (Y/n) to the group.

She laid up in bed, her heart pounding with an admittedly confusing combination of emotions, beginning to drift into unconsciousness before she received a notification on her phone. Normally she would've ignored it, but today, she felt like giving it a tad bit more attention.

She opened her phone, the sudden increase of light sending her pupils into a tizzy, and she was very happy to see that (Y/n) had texted her. She sat up in bed, texting him with her perfect spelling and language usage.

Then suddenly, she received a phone call, from (Y/n) of all people. She picked up, giggling.

"Why are you calling me so late into the night, (Y/n)?" Makoto asked, trying to mask her exhaustion but failing to do so.

"Hmm, I feel like you're stressed, so I couldn't just fall asleep. You want me to drag on and on about stuff you don't care about until you go to sleep?" (Y/n) asked, and Makoto could almost hear his smile through the phone.

"...I think I'd like that. Just... don't talk about Neo Featherman...." She let out a deep sigh, her body beginning to properly relax, and in no time flat of (Y/n) talking, she was peacefully asleep.

"Goodnight, Makoto."

-----

Running through Sae's Palace wasn't a huge threat for the experienced thieves, even with Makoto's lingering thoughts on her discovery and Akechi's rule that the Phantom Thieves must be officially disbanded upon clearing their names.

Everything was going well, until taking Sae's Treasure came into play. She'd expected the Phantom Thieves and planned around them stealing her Treasure, and a fight ensued.

It was certainly tough, with Sae refusing to go down, but the fight was eventually won. Joker's versatility conjoined with Akechi's Almighty attacks and Makoto's speed was simply not a fight Sae could win against.

In no time at all, Makoto had swayed the Shadow's thoughts and the Treasure was found. The situation grew grim as the number of Shadows increased dramatically, a certainly odd situation to happen after a Palace owner was defeated.

A decoy was needed, and Joker readily offered himself up, and after a moment of the group giving him a final goodbye, Joker split from the group while everyone else went the other direction.

Everyone ran off but Makoto stayed and looked at the Shadow Sae. She wasn't the real Sae, but she still looked exactly like her sister.

She bent down and whispered something in the Shadow's ear, more out of a desire for self-fulfillment than anything else. Shadow Sae's eyes widened as she looked up to Makoto.

"Really...?!" The Shadow gasped, and Makoto gave her a small nod.

Everything that happened forward from there was so quick but so long. Akira Kurusu's death being faked, Goro Akechi being tricked, and how society reacting to the Phantom Thieves' leader's demise.

All the while, (Y/n) had so much time to hang out with Makoto.

"I never really brought it up, but what do you think about the death of the Phantom Thieves' leader?" (Y/n) hummed nonchalantly as he walked Makoto home. It seems his words got underneath her skin just enough to make her jump.

"It's... unfortunate, but I'm glad such a scary—"

"He's definitely still alive. I believe it," (Y/n) interrupted Makoto, causing her to look to him with wide eyes. She quickly relaxed and grew a smile.

"Yeah... yeah, I think so too," She admitted, causing (Y/n) to laugh loudly.

"That's the life of a Phantom Thief, right?" He asked nonchalantly.

Makoto froze up, stopping entirely as she slowly looked to (Y/n). He could almost hear the gears slowly turning within her head.

"Come on! I wanna get you home before it's too late!" (Y/n) jollily pulled Makoto's hand, causing her to stumble before catching up to him, walking alongside him.

"But how do you...?" Makoto genuinely didn't know what was happening, but (Y/n) silenced her with a kiss.

Grinning, (Y/n) continued, "To be honest, it was either that or you were totally cheating on me. I decided the former would be far easier to swallow than the latter."

"And it doesn't bother you? Not at all?" Makoto's heart pounded in her chest as (Y/n) shook his head.

"Nope. Hey, why do you think I told you to be safe? Phantom Thief business can't be awfully relaxed, can it?" (Y/n) giggled nonchalantly, bringing a smile to Makoto's face as she let out a sigh.

"Ah... what... do you think about my sister?" Makoto asked, but when (Y/n) turned his head, she continued, her face flushing. "As... a woman."

(Y/n) quickly looked away, coughing and clearing his throat even though he had no such problems mere moments earlier. His face was flushed, but he acted as if nothing was wrong. "Well, I, uh, think she's lovely."

Makoto almost screamed because of how vague her boyfriend's answer was, but she held back in order to continue. "Well, could you get more specific?"

"Well... she's pretty, like you. Sometimes scary, but not in a particularly overwhelming way, more like the... extremely strong and independent woman kind of scary. Of course, that's not to say there's anything wrong with being strong and independent, I think that's great but—" (Y/n) took a deep breath and cut himself off, shaking his head.

"The point is, I think she's great. Beautiful to boot, very smart, extremely determined to do her work—which I must note is something I've seen her do more than relax—and overall, just sort of amazing. I'm younger than her, but when we speak, she doesn't look down on me. She offers me help and has...." (Y/n)'s voice drifted off as he looked at Makoto.

She was entranced by what he was saying, so he let out an awkward laugh before continuing, "She's even offered me a place to stay whenever I brought up some problems at home. Sometimes I even feel bad because... well, there have been times when you're not around and she's always so ready to put everything down in order to provide for me."

"(Y/n). Would you... date my sister?" Makoto asked, shocking (Y/n) to his core.

Flabbergasted, he laughed, "How in the world did this conversation go from the Phantom Thieves to be dating your sister? No way, I wouldn't cheat on you! Especially not with your sister of all people!"

Makoto was calm, lightly shaking her head as she met (Y/n)'s shaky gaze with her steely one, "I didn't say cheating on me. If we weren't in a relationship, and Sis showed interest in you, would you date her?"

(Y/n) felt like he was delirious, so he looked at Makoto for a long second before even thinking of responding. She was dead serious, even with a small red hue to her face.

(Y/n) looked away from her as his heart pumped in his chest. Makoto wasn't the type to give him sudden tests that could make or break their relationship, so he was confused, but he knew his answer already.

"Probably. I mean, she'd never be interested in someone like me—simply because we have absolutely nothing in common—but yeah, I'd date her if I wasn't so attracted to you," (Y/n) admitted, his face going red. An odd mix of embarrassment and anxiety welled up in his chest before Makoto had let out a soft sigh.

"I see," She responded simply.

"Jeez, just an 'I see' after all of that?! Can't you tell I've aged ten years in the course of one conversation?!" (Y/n) groaned, sighing away the anxiety. "Why'd you ask anyways?"

"Hmm, just wondering!" Makoto waved off the question, as if nothing had happened.

"Well, can I get a kiss? I need something good after so much—" (Y/n) was interrupted because Makoto pulled his head down to kiss him.

After a moment, Makoto pulled away slightly, her arms still wrapped around (Y/n)'s head, causing (Y/n) to silently chuckle.

"Y'know, I'm super glad your walk home isn't around anywhere popular. I have a feeling people would have a problem with all the P.D.A," (Y/n) grinned, looking deep into Makoto's eyes.

"I'm not like this normally. You just bring a special side out of me," Makoto admitted, causing (Y/n)'s grin to widen.

"The side that's willing to scare me for her curiosity?" (Y/n) joked, causing Makoto to roll her eyes.

"Maybe, but there's also a different side. Do you... want to see just a little bit more of it?" Makoto asked, her voice simultaneously quiet and yet so loud.

"I'd like to see a little more of it," He spoke quietly, kissing her again.

-----

A few days later, Akira Kurusu was confirmed to the Phantom Thieves and a few others to be alive. The situation with the thieves grew in intensity once they found out that everything they'd faced was deeply connected to Masayoshi Shido.

Makoto even told (Y/n) about this, and how it'll be dangerous for them, but she still entirely planned on doing it. (Y/n) supported her decision, even if it made him nervous, and for the most part, it wasn't brought up to him again.

What this did mean though, was that there'd be a huge chance they wouldn't be able to hang out, which (Y/n) entirely understood and respected.

"Yeah, there's no problem with that. I like to think helping people is just a tiny bit more important us hanging out. Besides, we can always hang out after everything is handled," (Y/n) shrugged, causing Makoto to nod.

"Well... you know more than most that Sis doesn't know how to take a break, even if for a few hours. I want you to... help her relax," Makoto told (Y/n), watching his face go from utter nonchalance to complete disbelief.

"Makoto.... I don't know what you're devising here, but this doesn't seem—"

"I just want you two to know one another better, and I also want Sis to relax more. That's all," Makoto told (Y/n), holding her hands up in the air.

(Y/n) let out a sigh, "Fine, do you know when you'll be leaving to go do your... thing?"

"Yup, right now," Makoto giggled, causing (Y/n) to slump and sigh.

"Wow, you're just gonna lay this on me, huh? Jeez, alright."

"Now, Sis should be home right now, working. It's your job to help Sis relax!" Makoto gave (Y/n) a quick hug, which he returned before quickly making her way towards Leblanc for Phantom Thieves business.

"Jeez, 'relax' is such a vague term," (Y/n) complained, shaking his head as he turned on his heel and started heading towards the Niijima home.

A short walk and a lot of stewing over his situation, (Y/n) arrived at the Niijima household and did as he was told to do, entered it as if it was his own home. He opened the door with as much nonchalance as he could muster.

"Ah, Makoto, I didn't expect you to—" Sae looked up from her computer to face (Y/n), being suddenly stricken with silence. (Y/n) couldn't tell if she was surprised, angry, or happy for a solid few seconds.

"Hi, Sae. Uh... I'm...." (Y/n) tried to put something even partially coherent together, but only ended up stumbling over himself.

"(Y/n)... Would you... like to come inside?" Sae asked, a small smile on her face. (Y/n)'s face was almost entirely painted red at her soft voice.

He had to pull himself back to reality with a deep breath. "She's your girlfriend's sister, your girlfriend's sister! Go away demons, leave me alone!"

"Yeah, yeah, of course. Ahem...." (Y/n) closed the door behind him as Sae kindly gestured for him to come inside.

He sat down on the couch, where she'd gestured for him to sit. Thick silence filled the room.

"Come on man, make a joke or something!" (Y/n) psyched himself up before looking up from his lap towards Sae. She glanced up to him and gave him a small smile, nearly killing (Y/n) with the sudden cute action.

"Nope, I'll be far too stupid to do that! She's Makoto's sister, you can't think she's cute! Stay away you horrendous demons, stay away!"

(Y/n) took yet another deep breath, giving Sae a smile back. A small, unnoticeable red hue slowly came to her face.

(Y/n) stared at Sae for a moment, his face shifting and contorting as he thought of what to say.

"Is something wrong, (Y/n)?" Sae questioned, closing her computer with a small sigh.

"Nah, nothing, nothing at—Well, kinda. I...." (Y/n) cut himself off as he realized he didn't know if he could tell Sae that he was supposed to be helping her relax. For his thoughts to not sound overly disconjointed, he continued with something else, "I just thought you were very beautiful and was trying to find a good way of saying it."

As soon as the words left (Y/n)'s mouth, his eyes opened wide and he looked away from Sae, taking a bated breath in through his teeth. To his absolute surprise though, Sae didn't say anything for a while. He looked back to her, noticing the truly clear blush on her face.

"...Thank you, (Y/n). That's... very kind of you," Sae nodded, rising from her spot. "Now, I'm going to be cooking, will you be staying over to eat?"

(Y/n) stood up abruptly, nodding, "Yeah, I'll stay, but I'm gonna hafta' take that from you. Today, let me learn some stuff 'bout you while I cook."

Sae shook her head, stepping towards (Y/n), "No, no, it's quite alright. How about this, I'll cook, and we can still talk."

"Nope, no can-do. There's tons going on in the world and this is all I can do right now, so I'm gonna do it," (Y/n) was firm in his ideas, stepping forward to Sae to meet her gaze. Compared to Makoto, Sae stood closer to (Y/n)'s height, if just a few inches shorter.

Sae just looked at (Y/n) for a few exceedingly long moments. This time her eyes weren't aggressive or on-guard in the slightest. They were soft and kind. Honestly, (Y/n) didn't realize how long they were standing there for until Sae got just a bit closer, certainly breaking (Y/n)'s personal space.

It wasn't bad, but in an odd way, it felt far too... normal. It took (Y/n) a second to realize the only person he'd ever stood that close to for so long was Makoto, and that pulled him back to reality 110%.

"So! I'll cook and you'll relax, deal?" (Y/n) took a step back, almost trying to flee from Sae's presence. He hated to admit it, but he didn't know what was about to happen if he didn't take a step back.

"Let's split the workload. That way I'm not just sitting, and we can both talk, deal?" Sae recommended, and that was something that (Y/n) could get behind.

"I like that! Let's hop to it!"

The night was... odd. There were several times where Sae was a little closer to (Y/n) than what should've been acceptable. He also caught her looking at him while he was cooking, but he always played it off with a joke, happily waving at her or throwing small things at her to pull her back to reality.

If (Y/n) was entirely honest with himself, it felt like a date with Makoto that he'd just yet to have. It was fun to see an almost playfully serious Sae with flour stuck to her shirt. To see her laughing and smiling and joking and just having a good time warmed (Y/n)'s heart.

Soon enough though, (Y/n) had to get home.

"Are you sure you don't want to spend the night? It is getting late," Sae asked before (Y/n) shook his head.

"Nah, I'm not sure how my parents'll see it if I suddenly say I want to sleep over at a friend's house," (Y/n) smiled, but Sae was somewhat persistent.

"What if you said a girl's house?" Her tone was almost flirting, but it was just far enough for (Y/n) to miss any possible hints.

"Psh, that'll only give them more reason to say no. Especially if the girl is...." (Y/n) didn't finish, scratching the side of his head.

"Well... do you want to stay until Makoto gets home? I'm sure she'll like to see you...!" Sae was truly trying to keep (Y/n) over, but he knew he had to leave. He could see her happiness fading, so he let out a sigh and pulled her into a hug. She stiffened before relaxing, wrapping her arms around (Y/n).

"I'll be back tomorrow, that's a promise from me to you. Deal?" (Y/n) asked, and Sae only seemed to pull him closer before nodding.

(Y/n) pulled away from Sae, looking at her for a long moment.

She spoke up, letting out a low laugh, "I haven't enjoyed being around someone in so long. I guess I'm not acting like myself." She let out a sigh.

"Cheer up! Trust me, I was 110% terrified to be over here today, but it was actually a really amazing experience. I'll be back tomorrow, cool?" (Y/n) grinned at Sae, who gave him a smile and soft nod.

(Y/n) held up a peace sign before turning on his heel, quickly beginning to jog towards his home.

"She seemed... different...?"

It was only a short bit later when Makoto got home, opening the door to see Sae sitting on the couch, entirely zoned out.

"Hey Sis, did (Y/n) come over?" Makoto asked, and her sister replied quite simply.

"Honestly... I wish he stayed over. Your boyfriend's really great," Sae let out a sigh as she rubbed her temples.

"My boyfriend, huh? Sis... I have a crazy idea. It only works if you agree, then we'll have to bring it to (Y/n) together. But... we can only bring it up to (Y/n) after we take down Shido," Makoto told Sae what she was thinking, causing her sister's face to firstly light up, only to quickly grow grim after.

"That's...." Sae turned away from Makoto, so the Phantom Thief expanded on her plan.

"That wasn't from me, Sis. In your Palace, you had a room just for (Y/n) and... and that was a plan you created but rejected. It's not traditional, and we'd certainly have to keep it hidden from others but... is it so impossible that we can't give it a try?" Makoto asked, causing Sae to take a deep breath before responding.

"What if... it goes wrong? It wouldn't just cut off our relationship with (Y/n), but there's a high chance you and I won't have the same relationship anymore. Is that... really worth it?" Sae questioned, looking down to the ground before Makoto softly held Sae's hands within her own.

"For your happiness, I think it's absolutely worth trying," Makoto hugged Sae, who nodded in response.

"Okay, okay. I'll give this very... abnormal idea a try."

-----

Several days passed and Sae and (Y/n) hung out every single day. It was odd at first, always high energy and they were getting closer and closer each time they hung out, but eventually things chilled just a tad bit.

Of course, they still had plenty of incredibly happy and excitable moments, but (Y/n) felt like he had to be constantly careful. Sae was a bit too much fun to be around. It honestly felt like every day was a date, with food, movies, and games.

(Y/n) even showed Sae some anime, which after many different choices, she ended up being a massive fan of mysteries. It simultaneously surprised (Y/n) and made a lot of sense at the same time.

Soon enough, Shido was beaten. Of course, it was no easy battle for the Phantom Thieves, but for (Y/n), a bystander, it was as if every day passed with nothing changing.

On the 23rd of December, (Y/n) was invited by the Niijima sisters to their home. Because he'd been there so often anyways, he went over as if it was nothing.

"Jeez, I feel like Dad's gonna be on my back about this soon. I can't say I've been at a girl's house, because then he'll be asking who she is, or when he can meet her...." (Y/n) groaned, rubbing his temples in deep thought as he approached the door to the Niijima household.

Knocking on the door, (Y/n) was surprised to see Sae open it so quickly, and with a nervous expression on her face.

"Come in," She pulled (Y/n) inside, closing the door behind him.

"Uh, yeah. What's... up?" (Y/n) looked to Sae, seeing an anticipatory smile on her face. She looked over to Makoto, who looked to the two from the couch.

"(Y/n), do you... remember what I asked you?" Makoto questioned vaguely, but despite the lack of clarity, (Y/n) knew exactly what she was talking about.

"Uh... yeah, yeah. I... remember. Why?" (Y/n) tried to keep his cool, but when he noticed Sae's intense gaze from the corner of his eye, he grew embarrassed.

"If you could—" Makoto was interrupted by Sae letting out a small sigh and slamming her lips into (Y/n)'s, surprising him. (Y/n) froze up before Sae pulled away, a small smirk on her face.

"Do you know what a polyamorous relationship is?" Sae asked, and (Y/n)'s faced was dyed a deep red. Based on that, she continued, "I want to date you, but I'm not going to take you away from Makoto."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa...!" (Y/n)'s face grew an even darker shade of red before he shook away some of the shock and surprise. "So... are you... are you sure you're okay with this?"

The question was directed towards Makoto, causing her to happily nod. "The only real problem was how other people would react because this... isn't normal at all."

"So, Makoto's your first girlfriend, and I'm the second. With your friends, your parents, and anyone who really knows you, she's the one you'll mention. But behind closed doors, places like here, we can both be your girlfriend."

(Y/n) took in a deep breath, clicking his tongue before he let out a laugh. "You guys really thought about this, huh?"

"Well of course, while a situation like this one certainly isn't illegal, it's odd enough to raise some eyebrows. It's certainly something that's worth thinking about," Sae explained, looking to (Y/n) with silently excited eyes.

"I mean... I feel like my answer's pretty obvious," (Y/n) laughed before gesturing Makoto to come closer.

(Y/n) gave Sae a quick kiss then gave one to Makoto.

"Is that a good enough answer?" (Y/n) grinned, only to be silenced by Sae kissing him once more, this time more forcefully than before.

"You have no idea how many times I've thought about doing that," Sae admitted, an uncharacteristically happy grin on her face.

"Well...!" Makoto pulled (Y/n) down for a kiss as well, making sure it was just as aggressive—if not more so—than her sister's.

"I can sense a growing rivalry...." (Y/n) thought, shaking his head with a small smile.

"This is going to take some getting used to, huh?" (Y/n) asked, receiving nods from his old and new girlfriends.

"You guys just indirectly kissed...."

"Yeah... that's going to be the hardest part out of all of this."

"Sis, I can't believe we didn't think about that...."