Ren had recently taken a mental toll with the constant Phantom Thieves shenanigans. Going to school, then immediately after going to the metaverse to infiltrate a palace or Mementos, and then spending the evening at home, too tired to go out but not tired enough to go to sleep. There was also dealing with all of his friends' issues, he felt like he needed them to be able to rely on him, so he put them above everything else, even his own mental health. But there was one person who just so happened to notice his exhaustion and help give him some time to relax, even if it was just for a little while.
Ren's phone rang in the late hours of the night.
"Who could that be this late?" Morgana muttered sleepily.
Ren turned on his phone and opened the notification. Immediately his heart fluttered a bit. He hid the phone subtly from Morgana's view.
"Apologies for the sudden message. Are you free tomorrow?" He read the message from Akechi in his head, a small smile spread across his face.
"A work acquaintance gave me some tickets to an aquarium. It'd be a waste to let them go unused, no? Would you like to come along?"
Ren grinned, sending a rather cocky response back.
"Are you asking me out on a date or something?" He got a reply back almost instantly.
"I didn't expect you to have to ask, I thought you were sharper than that. But yes, I am asking you out on a date."
Ren immediately sat up in bed, dropping his phone onto his lap and waving his hands up and down in a rapid motion. No words, no noises, just some happy stimming.
"Jeez, I'm trying to sleep here! You're rocking the whole damn bed!" The cat huffed.
Ren just replied with a soft snicker before picking the phone up again and responding, a wide smile on his face now.
"I look forward to it. <3"
"Glad to hear it. Then tomorrow it is, I'll send you the location. See you there."
Ren giggled, flipping onto his stomach and stuffing his face into the pillow, kicking his feet excitedly.
But then another message came in.
He took his phone out again, lifting his head to look at the notification. From Akechi, again.
"<3"
It was enough to make Ren stuff his face back into the pillow and squeal. Which he did just that.
"GO TO SLEEP!" Morgana hissed.
Ren was standing beside Akechi, who was dressed rather fittingly for the place.
"It's been quite a while since I've come to a place like this... Let alone with another person. I apologize if you didn't want to come along."
"I wouldn't have accompanied you if I didn't want to. It's a nice place, thank you for inviting me." Ren smiled softly, which Akechi appreciated more than he showed.
"Still, I'm a bit surprised you actually asked me out." Ren said smugly, making Akechi roll his eyes.
"You seemed tired, I figured it was school that you needed a break from, so I wanted to do something nice for you. Just give you some time to relax, even if only for a while."
Ren didn't expect him of all people to notice, the smile he was wearing becoming a lot brighter.
"I guess I really shouldn't underestimate your deduction skills."
"I'm upset that you would even begin to."
Suddenly, the two were interrupted by a familiar voice approaching Ren.
"Oh?" Ren turned around and was greeted with Ohya, his friend in the media.
"I thought I recognized those glasses! Look who it is!" She smiled, proud of her ability to find people she knew. She then turned to Akechi.
"We even got the second Detective Prince here, too- Wait a minute..." She suddenly looked a bit taken aback.
Ren looked over at Akechi, who seemed visibly nervous and was looking around, making sure no one had seen him or noticed him yet. Ren immediately spoke up.
"Please, keep it quiet. We don't need people knowing we're here."
"Of course, I'm sorry. What are you doing here with Akechi-Kun?" She was quieter now, so only the three of them could converse.
"Oh, I invited him out. We're fairly close, after all." Akechi smiled as he explained, "Who might you be, by the way?"
"Oh, I'm Ohya, a reporter. I only approached because I wanted to thank him for his help with my recent articles." She smiled.
"Still, I didn't think you'd be acquainted with, let alone on a date with the famous teen detective." She nudged Ren playfully, laughing a bit. Ren just smiled lightly in return, his face heating up and his cheeks flushing with a bit of pink.
"Say, this is kind of weird though, considering Akechi-kun here is anti-Phantom-Thieves, right? You don't mind if I ask a few questions about you two, do you?" She said jokingly, though Akechi looked a bit worried.
"Alright, Ohya, relax. Why're you here anyways?"
"I'm writing an article on popular date-spots. Don't worry, I won't include you two. I should get going, though. I don't want to keep you for too long since you're on a date after all. I'll see you the next time I need info. Bye!" Ohya walked off and turned the corner.
"I see you have friends in the media. Not only that, but you two seem to have a professional agreement."
"There's no need to be jealous, I'm not into women. Plus, she said she wouldn't include us in the article, you don't have to worry."
"I'm not jealous... But that's reassuring... Thank you." Akechi played with his fringe, a habit he developed from Ren.
"Looks like I'm rubbing off on you, huh?" Ren smiled, his hand on his hip, a habit he developed from Akechi.
"I could say the same thing." Akechi grinned.
The two made their way to the bigger part of the aquarium, with more fish and even stingrays and octopi.
"Woah, look at the clownfish! Like from Finding Nemo." Ren giggled, instinctually taking Akechi's hand as he rushed to the next window, which caused Akechi to blush a bit. "And look at the stingrays!" Ren pointed excitedly, elevating himself on his toes and then lowering back down onto his heels repeatedly.
"Cute..." Akechi spoke softly, thinking aloud as he watched Ren's eyes light up with every sea creature that passed by. Ren was ecstatic, and that was enough to make Akechi happy as well.
