Ann was feeling just a little silly with herself.

She was looking for a shirt to wear to bed and came across the one Ryuji lent her the other day when they got caught in the rain. On a whim, she threw it on and glanced at herself in the mirror. It was a little long on her, the neckline a bit wide to tease some collarbone, and the looseness of it quite comfortable. She washed it with her laundry, but some of the original scent lingered. She caught her eyes in the mirror and looked away, blushing with a giggle and a shake of her head.

This was stupid. This was a little ridiculous. But still, it made her happy.

She knew she and Ryuji have been dancing the line between 'flirty' and 'friendly' as of late. She knew there was something a little more than just friendship between them, but never really considered things beyond that. Lately though… Ryuji had been changing into a respectable young man. And as his plans for his future became more and more defined, Ann found it easier and easier to imagine herself being part of them.

Laying down on her bed, holding her fist at her chest, and staring at nothing, Ann sorted through her feelings.

Ryuji was tired. The week of exams had destroyed his mental fortitude once again, the boy feeling each day tear a little more out of him. He probably prepped for this set more than he ever had for school before, and while he did feel a little more confident in his answers, the extra studying made him question each thing he wrote down more. At least he was given easy tasks at work during this week, his manager understanding of his position and reminding him to bring him the results when they get posted. Motimiya didn't say much about Friday, just where and when to meet up. He'd explain the rest there.

It was a bit late to be meeting op for a job opportunity, he reflected, stepping off into the late night streets of Shibuya. He figured it might be a night shift graveyard shift deal or something. He knew the area well enough, having staked it out with the whole Kaneshiro business the year prior. Whatever it was, he hoped it paid well enough for him to have a life similar to what Motimiya managed. It was with these thoughts of a possible bright successful future that Ryuji turned the corner and saw the gathering of men lingering at the spot he was supposed to meet up at.

And he saw their flashy shirts and jewelry, and the occasional tattoos and dyed hair. And a box with a familiar logo on it.

Ryuji cursed himself for being such an idiot.

He dipped back around the corner, hoping no one saw him and allowed himself a moment to panic and swear to himself. Did they see him? Could he walk away? Who would stop him? After a few terrified moments of no one approaching the corner he was behind, he bolted.

Stupid, stupid, STUPID!

After making it a couple blocks he slowed down to a walk and grumbled to himself. Of COURSE it was that. How could he think it was anything OTHER than that? No doubt the supplies they had Ootori Medical would be used for that.

Ryuji let out a sigh, turning down another alley when he bumped into Motimiya, presumably on his way towards where Ryuji left.

"Woah. Hey now Ryuji. Where you goin'? The meetup's this way." He said with a chuckle then noticed Ryuji's scowled expression. "You're not chickening out, are you?" He wondered with a perplexed expression.

The blonde met Motimiya's gaze. "It ain't my thing." He said simply, stepping to move past his coworker. A hand against his chest halted his movement.

"Hold up there, newbie. I've already told the boys that you're coming. You don't want to make me look like a liar, do you?" He grinned sickly. Ryuji stared for a moment, carefully considering his next words and actions. He knew the area. He subtly allowed Motimiya to push him back towards the direction of the meetup.

"Dude, you called me out here for an opportunity. One I'm turning down. Simple as that." He replied once he was where he wanted to be.

"Tch. Don't give me that crap." The man spat back, grabbing Ryuji's shirt in his fists and pushing him into a wall. "Do you want to be moving boxes for the rest of your life? You're just a punk, like me. You'll always be just a punk. No one's gonna think of you otherwise. Well, this is what we punks do, and we get paid."

Ryuji looked back with an unconcerned expression as he was pinned against the brick wall. He thought about the expectations people had for him. He thought about his friends, he thought about his mom.

He thought about Ann.

"Sorry, Dude. Not my style." Ryuji explained calmly as Motimya's face contorted with fury. The man raised a fist. "By the way, before you start shit…" The boy smirked, gesturing his head to the building next to them. "Smile for the cameras."

Motimiya glanced to the side, spotting the CCTV cameras pointing down the alley towards them. Ryuji tried to keep form looking smug to prevent provoking the man further. During the stakeout and calling cards for Kaneshiro, Ryuji found out exactly where to go to prevent being seen and recorded. Or in this case, where to go to BE seen. Motimiya calmed down and released his grip on Ryuji once he saw his actions being filmed.

"Fine. Fine then." He recovered, adjusting his shirt. "I always figured you were just a wet behind the ears momma's boy. You're makin' a mistake here." He growled and made his way towards his associates. Ryuji watched him go, staring at the place he disappeared for a few moments before turning around and heading back home.

"Tch." He felt disgusted. With himself, with Motimiya, with the world, and what he knew he had to do. He didn't consider the man a friend, but they did bond a little. He'd been to his home, ate his food, played with him, joked with him. With a bit of self-loathing, Ryuji took out his phone and dialed his manager.

"Sir? It's Sakamoto. I think… I think we need to check the inventory that Motimiya's handled."

There was a beautiful simplicity in lifting. The iron bars don't care about life's drama or difficulties, they don't care if things were easy or hard, they were just there to be picked up and put down.

Ryuji retreated into that world for the weekend. School the next day went in a blur, with the boy feeling mentally and emotionally drained. Afterwards he poured his body into feeling physically drained too, as a point of balance. He blocked Motimiya's number, and only received a text from his manager asking him to report in Tuesday at the normal time. His mom and friends all assumed his lethargic state was exam induced. Part of that was true.

He watched his form in the gym's mirror as he lifted, grateful for the opportunity to repeat a simple task to achieve a simple goal. It was almost therapeutic. All the negative emotions seeped out of his body like sweat, and he could feel himself recharge. Grades would be posted Tuesday. It was going to be an important day for him. By then he could face it.

"Come ON Ryuji!" Ann beamed, dragging him by the wrist towards the board.

"I'm comin', I'm comin'." He grumbled, smirking slightly as he let the girl pull on is arm. He was a bit anxious, the results from the exams displayed publicly. Through habit, his eyes started near the bottom of the list. He frowned a little in confusion as his eyes travelled upwards. And upwards.

Ann squealed and he felt her hug him, her soft warm body pressing against his front as he stared disbelieving at the results.

"I ain't ever been in the top half before…" He said with awe and disbelief in his voice.

"I knew you could do it!" She chirped, pulling away slightly to catch his eyes. "My grades were pretty good too, thanks to those study sessions." Ann hummed. It was then Ryuji noticed the girl's forearms were still resting on his shoulders around his neck, and when she hugged him, he instinctively placed his hands on her hips. He was suddenly aware of just how close she was to him.

"Good job." He managed to murmur.

"You too." She replied back, her expression shifting from joy to warmth. Ryuji could feel her nails scratch lightly on the back of his neck just in his hairline.

The brief moment stretched on for much longer than it was before Ann let him go and flashed him one of her blinding smiles. "See you at lunch!" She beamed and skipped off to class, leaving Ryuji stunned, baffled, and grinning.

Ryuji restrained his leg from bouncing as he sat stiffly in the office of the packaging manager. He had just handed him his grades, the man taking a few moments to review the change in numbers. For what seemed like eternity, Ryuji's manager spoke. "Very good, Sakamoto. To be honest I didn't expect such improvement."

Ryuji felt a mix of pride and offense at that.

"You keep this up until graduation I don't foresee any issues with your employment here." The man continued, oblivious to the backhanded compliment. "On that note, you're probably aware that Masaomi Motimiya is no longer with the company. Upon review, there were several… discrepancies in his inventory that has warranted a different kind of investigation." Ryuji felt a bit of relief and disappointment. He didn't want to be right. "The higher ups were understandably quite upset at this revelation, and they want to avoid a similar case. As such…" The man paused, seeming a bit uncomfortable. "As such, please don't take it too personally, but your own actions may be under close scrutiny for the time being. All my boss knows about you is that you're a new hire who worked shifts with Motimiya, so in their eyes, you may be a suspicious party in this."

Ryuji clenched his fists and jaw. He could still hear Motimiya's words 'You'll always be just a punk. No one's gonna think of you otherwise'

"As long as you continue to work admirably, there won't be an issue. It's for the good of the company."

"The good of the company." He repeated to himself. He wanted to protest. He wanted to lash out over the accusation, the injustice, the prejudice. But that would just be proving the point, wouldn't it? Ryuji took a deep breath.

Part of not being 'just a punk' was not acting like it.

Besides, this was nothing. He could take it. "Well sir, I look forward to showing the company just how good I am for them." He said with fiery conviction. The manager blinked a few times in shock then let out a hearty laugh.

"Ha! A fine answer, Sakamoto. I look forward to that as well. Now, we're short handed again and backed up because of the actions of our former associate. Get to work."

Ryuji stood up and offered a short bow. "Yes sir."

The next few days reestablished into routine for Ryuji. He regarded his employers as a worthy challenge, eager to prove them wrong with his work ethic. School was as frustrating as ever for him, but even so it was a just a difficulty he had to handle. Nothing new there.

What WAS new was the way Ann was acting towards him. It was like she ramped up the flirtiness to 11 and it was often overheating Ryuji's already overclocked brain, much to her giddy delight. He used to have such a good defense against her, and now she was finding ways to worm her way in. Knowing he wouldn't be able to last much longer, he started making plans on how to address the issue when Ann beat him to the punch.

"Yo, Ann, where are you takin' me?" Ryuji wondered with a playful grin as the other blonde led him up the stairs towards the roof by his hand. Holding her hand, even if it was dragging him, felt nice.

"Just shut up for a sec, okay?" She responded, sounding a little nervous. The discord in her voice made Ryuji tilt his head as he was brought onto the roof, the door behind him clanging shut. When Ann turned to face him, there was determination in her eyes and a blush across her face. "This thing. Between us." She addressed.

Part of Ryuji's chest seized up, and he suppressed the knee-jerk urge to deny knowledge of what she was talking about. But he knew. Averting his eyes for a moment he returned his gaze to meet the girl's intense stare. "What about it?" He wondered, curiously.

Emboldened, Ann took a deep breath and pressed onwards. "I want to explore it a little bit." The weight of those words nearly cause Ryuji to explode with joy and apprehension, the boy losing eye contact again to bashfully rub the back of his neck.

"You sure about this, Ann? I mean… you could pretty much have any guy you want." He remarked.

"Oh that's good." She replied with a hint of coy sarcasm. "Because I want you, you idiot." Ryuji was having trouble suppressing the ego boost he was feeling, but was still uncertain if he as up to the task of taking the dive. Ann picked up on his hesitation. "I'm happy when I'm with you, Ryuji." She explained. "You make me feel happy. And safe. And comfortable. And warm. And as amazing as that is… I want more. I want to find out if there's more."

Ryuji couldn't look away now. His gaze was locked with Ann's, and the truth of his heart escaped his lips unfiltered. "I want that too." He finally confessed.

Ann beamed, a brightness that nearly blinded him with its beautiful intensity.

"Great! Then you're taking me out tonight." She decided, reaching out and stroking a hand along Ryuji's jawline. "Pick me up at 6. Wear something nice." She instructed with a finality that would not be denied. Her stroke ended at his chin with a flick of her fingers which made his head jerk back a little.

She was already bouncing away when Ryuji regained himself, Ann looking back to give him a wink as she descended down the stairs, the door closing behind her. He stared at the rooftop door for a while with a bemused smirk plastered across his face he didn't think would go away any time soon. Reaching out to grab the door handle, Ryuji reflected on how things were going for him.

He couldn't claim he knew exactly where his ship was headed, but he had strong bearings, a good compass, and an eager desire to take on the unknown waters. Things were looking good.

A/N: Well, that concludes this work. Hopefully I didn't butcher Ryuji's character too much in having him mature. I admit I didn't intend this to turn into a romance fic, but I kind of like how it developed. The central conflict was a little weak and needed some fluff anyways. Thank you to all of you for reading, I hope to contribute more to the Phandom soon! Maybe I'll work on Morgana next…