As soon as Ryuji had said those words, Makoto reeled backward. She looked as though the world had fallen off it's axis and started barreling wildly out of it's orbit. Ryuji seemed to realize what he had said and jerked his head back.

"Look I didn't mean it like...like..." said Ryuji, fumbling for the words. He began tugging on one of the strings of his hoodie as his gaze flickered around the train station, now looking anywhere but Makoto's unusually flushed face. Ryuji might have been interested in seeing the student council president blush for the first time he'd known her, but he didn't want to embarrass her further. He sighed heavily and dropped his hands.

"I meant I think it'd be cool if we y'know...hung out or something," finished Ryuji lamely. Embarrassment flooded Ryuji's brain, but he also felt something more perplexing. A sense of giddiness that he, at least in some way, had confessed feelings to the girl sitting in front of him. Of course, the giddiness was mixed with anxiety, as Makoto still hadn't responded. A few more tense moments passed before Ryuji heard an audible gulp, and then the voice of the student council president.

"You...you want to hang out with me?" asked the president in a halting voice. It was the first time Ryuji had seen her taken so off guard. Makoto's usually distant demeanor had crumbled. She wasn't speaking to him as a student council president, his tutor, or even as a fellow classmate. She was speaking to him as one lonely person to another. The realization sent a pain through him. And bolstered his resolve.

"Yeah. I mean, who knows, maybe it'll help you tutor me or somethin'. Maybe just hangin' out with you will raise my grades," said Ryuji, recovering his usual easy-going nature.

Makoto, to his surprise, gave him a shy smile. "It just might, Sakamoto. And maybe I'll learn something from hanging out with you as well," she replied, and her eyes glowed. Ryuji felt himself grinning in response. Those red eyes, which had always intimidated him, were now mesmerizing. Had he ever seen Makoto smile like this?

"If you want, we can exchange numbers. If nothing else, I can text you if I'm gonna be late to the library," he continued, pulling out his phone. He tapped his contacts app and hit 'new contact' before handing it to Makoto.

"Oh! Of course Sakamoto. That's an excellent idea," agreed Makoto, recovering some of her composure. When she reached out to take the phone from his hand, her fingers brushed against his for the briefest moment. That small touch, so different from the grips they'd used in the aikido slap game, was instantly burned into his memory. He blinked hard, bringing his focus back to reality as he watched her tap her name, number and email into his phone before handing it back to him. He took it, looking at the characters that formed her name.

Somehow, he hadn't needed any of the gimmicks that he had read about in his dating guides to get this girl's number. He would've laughed except for Makoto was taking out her phone now. Ryuji noticed for the first time that she'd accessorized her phone with two things. One was a functional, and practical cell phone strap that could be used to clip her phone to something like a belt or it could prop her phone up so that the device could stand on a flat surface. The other? A cellphone charm featuring cutesy looking mascots, with one panda standing out noticeably.

"You like mascots, Prez?" chuckled Ryuji, taking the phone from Makoto. Her red eyes widened.

"I...Yes! Yes I do! You recognize Buchimaru?" said Makoto, her voice becoming somewhat excited.

"Yeah, I used to watch that show when I went to my friend's house. We would sit in front of the TV together and sing the opening theme," replied Ryuji, and he began humming the opening bars of the song. Smiling, Makoto joined in, doing her best to harmonize with Ryuji, who wandered through the keys.

The two Shujin students hummed the song together, and Ryuji posed in Buchimaru's finale pose when they hit the final part of the song, laughing along with Makoto at the ridiculousness of it all. Two wildly different people, both outcasts, getting stuck together? And singing the theme song of an old cartoon in a train station?

It was astronomically low odds right? And yet it had happened.

Makoto caught her breath. "Thanks for that Sakamoto. You're the first other Buchimaru fan I've met," she said, tucking a few loose strands of hair behind one ear. Ryuji puffed his chest out and grinned.

"No prob Prez. Now, let me actually write this down for you," replied the blonde boy, who began tapping his information into her contacts app.

He was just about to finish when, on impulse, he pulled open her camera app. Makoto regarded him with a confused look but made no move to stop him as he switched the camera over to the front facing view. Grinning, he angled the camera the same way he had when he took selfies for the unofficial Shujin track team Instagram and snapped the picture. That is to say, he made sure the photo was at his best angle. Once the selfie had a snazzy filter on it, he re-opened her contact information and put it as the photo. As soon as that had been taken care of, he handed back the phone to Makoto, who was regarding him with a bemused look.

"What? Gotta make sure you know it's me," joked Ryuji. Makoto shook her head and slipped her phone back into her jacket while Ryuji laughed to himself.

Just then, Ryuji's connecting train rolled in. The blonde boy turned his head, his mouth dropping open in surprise.

"Damn! Looks like my train finally got here," said Ryuji who began quickly gathering up the styrofoam boxes of takeout in his arms. "Sorry Prez, looks like I gotta go. I'll see you at tutoring tomorrow!" he said over his shoulder, heading towards the doors.

"Yes, of course!" replied Makoto hurriedly, waving to Ryuji as he boarded his train. "I'll see you tomorrow at the same time. Be sure to bring your books!" she called as more people filtered into the train.

"I will! Stay safe Prez!" said Ryuji, doing his best to wave with his arms full of boxes. He watched as Makoto waved back while the automated voice of the subway line warned that the doors were closing. As the train doors closed, Ryuji shouldered his way to a seat beside the window, setting down his boxes and waving until the train started to roll away. When Makoto was no longer in sight, Ryuji found himself taking his phone out of his pocket to stare at the number she had put into his phone. He had really done it. He could only hope Makoto felt that same sense of connection that he was feeling.