"Akiiiiira, I need a new sub quest!"

Akira didn't know why Futaba spent her time hunched in front of Le Blanc when she pretty much had free reign of the place, but he did enjoy how she would spring upright from her position when he turned the corner. Not that her standing made much difference, the girl was so short he had to keep his chin firmly tucked to make eye contact. "Sub quest?" He mulled, less thoughtfully than he was putting on, "Surely that isn't worth enough XP for you at this point…" Futaba had been doing well at breaking out of her once impenetrable shell, the pair had been all around the city, and she had even managed to talk to some of his other friends that they came across on their quests, with increasingly little pushing.

"Hanging with you is a grind," she agreed, her oblivious rudeness tickling Akira like it usually did, "But grinds are important! You start small, get stronger, grab some loot on the way, speaking of which," she raised a finger, "I want some crepes! Big ones! And I looked up just the place..."

Her wooly haired friend raised his palm, which was about the only thing he could ever do to slow her down from her frantic speech. "Sorry to disappoint, but I've got other plans, I'm only here to grab some things from upstairs."

"Huh?" Futaba gasped. "You tricked me! Why you…" The odd girl snarled for a couple seconds, Akira passively waiting for her temper to pass. Futaba was certainly erratic, but maybe even more than Sojiro, Akira was able to understand that she simply processed everything around her at a frantic pace, not leaving much time for her to consider her actions. Case in point, now she was beaming. "Oh well, I can catch you another day," she said cheerfully, already passing beside him, "Back to the lair I go!"

Before she could drift away, an idea struck Akira. "Wait, I can offer you a big quest instead!"

Futaba tapped her chin as she turned around. "A big quest? How big? And what kind of rewards are there?"

"Crepes and more," Akira said brightly, "I'll play games with you all Sunday. And make you curry too."

"You should really know that curry doesn't have any pull with me," Futaba rolled her eyes, "Sojiro is like an inventory exploit there. Then again crepes," she considered, "And you haven't been free on a Sunday for a while..."

"And the XP," Akira said.

"Yeah yeah yeah," she waved away, "You may have piqued my interest. Whaddya want?"

Now here was the hardest sell. "So a friend of mine has this exibition and-"

Futaba stared at him blankly. "Inari's exhibition. Really?"

"Wait, how do you-"

"No one else you know does anything worth showing off, and I know about everyone," she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, sending a chill down Akira's spine for good measure. "Plus it's been all over his social media pages and stuff. Not that he knows anything at all about building an online presence…"

She was scowling already, clearly this wasn't going to be an easy sell. "So you were right."

"Of course I was," she muttered.

"I know art galleries aren't exactly your thing-"

"Of course they aren't! Room full of stuffy idiots telling me what's important, and oh that's so original, when it isn't and they're just dumb."

"Oh come on," Akira said impatiently, "That isn't all there is too it. I see you staring at the Sayuri in LeBlanc all the time."

Futaba was taken aback. "Thats…" She looked away sadly. "Different…"

Sometimes Akira could forget in that playing around with the boisterous girl, and challenging her, there was a fragile core which was incredibly delicate, when hit in the right places. "I know," he said softly, "But maybe you'll find something else like that, something that speaks to you. Besides, it's a hell of a dungeon," he went on, feeling vindicated seeing her side eye him, "High class mobs, quiet atmosphere, a room with no definitive answers. Would be a coup if someone from your class could pull off the raid." She was looking at him now, considering the challenge. "Anyway I really think it would be a nice thing for Yusuke. Everyone else is so busy studying for exams next week they haven't been able to drop by. I did a couple days ago-"

"But you're a genius, yeah yeah…" Futaba thought for a while. An art gallery would probably feel uncomfortable, especially without Akira by her side, but she knew she had to get to the point where she could solo-queue around the city. Maybe Inari's exhibition could be a step to that. "But does it have to be me?" She protested childishly. "Yusuke and I don't exactly get on like a house on fire."

"He's your friend," Akira reminded her, "And you're his. He'll be really happy to get some support, and, besides, that's how friends are meant to treat friends." To seal the deal, he pulled out his wallet, and pulled out some notes. "These are for the crepes. For both of you. Lord knows that boy doesn't eat enough…"

The reminder of her craving was enough to seal it. "Ugh, fine," she said, over emphasising her discomfort whilst snatching the money offered to her. "I'll go help out stupid Inari…"

"Great! Thanks, by the way," he said earnestly, to which she blushed. "I'll get Yusuke to meet you at the station. The place is called Ueno, you should probably head over there now, the train is-"

"I know the way," she said flatly, already walking towards the station. "Girl genius, remember?" She huffed. "This better be worth a ton of XP."

"Oh, so much!" He called as she left, pulling his phone out of his pocket, to let Yusuke know what was happening.

Akira: Futaba's gonna come to your exhibition today, can you meet her at the station?

Yusuke: Her? She's never expressed any particular care for either my work or wellbeing previously...

Yusuke: I'm assuming you've cajoled her for my benefit, which while I appreciate, is unnecessary.

Akira: Me? Cajole? I'm insulted.

Akira: Regardless she's already on her way.

Yusuke: On her way?! Well send her back! Surely she would be unable to appreciate the breadth of the art here.

Yusuke: What if she causes a scene!?

Akira: Calm down Van Gogh, don't go crazy on me.

Akira: Look I wanted to get her out on her own, see more of the city.

Akira: But it's really scary for her so I was hoping you could keep an eye on her.

Akira: She can't use me as a crutch for the rest of her life.

Yusuke: ...

Yusuke: I suppose out of care I would be able to accommodate her.

Yusuke: And for the record I resent one of art's finest minds being equated to 'crazy'.

Akira: Thanks a bunch man.

Akira: And that guy cut off his ear he clearly had issues.

Yusuke: He was a genius misunderstood in his own time. Such an injustice would take it's toll on a man.

Yusuke: Really we should admire his passion.

Akira: Right…

Akira: Anyway remember to meet her at the station. And not mention that I told you she finds it scary.

Yusuke: I can be a master of subtlety, so that should cause no trouble.

Akira shook his head in disbelief as he put his phone back in his pocket. Yusuke could be strange, big headed, even delusional, but he had a good heart. He trusted him to look after the girl he'd grown to see as his little sister.

But now he could focus on his plans for the evening. A shift at the weapons store and an evening with his favourite maid would not go amiss…

Authors Note- Small beginning, but that's how great things start after all!

Futaba/Yusuke is surprisingly barren territory for now I think, lets see what I can do to change that! The story only has a vague sembelence of structure in my head right now, but for anyone familiar with my KanNao story (which you should check out for additional content of dorks being dorks), you should know what to expect. Bit of humour, a lot of character examination, mushy stuff, and best of all, appearances from the other characters. Because they're what make Persona really and the game never lets them play off eachother enough (it'll never be enough). So yeah, hope you stick around! -WN