Beneath Their Masks Chapter 25 Is Up!

Beneath Their Masks Chapter 25 is Up!

Well, I didn't really plan this to come out on Ann's birthday, but it just happened! Happy Birthday, Ann! I'm really happy with how this one turned out, which is cool n' stuff. Hopefully I finish up with the last few chapters by the end of this month. Hopefully chapters coming out less often means they'll be decent once they come out. Maybe. Hopefully. Anyway, enjoy!

Two things occur to Ann as she takes, frankly, way too long to turn off the alarm on her phone. Firstly, she still hates getting up early. Makoto encouraged her to get up early with her so they could spend some personal time together, if she was over, or a quick phone call over breakfast if she wasn’t, and still make it to school on time, but she still couldn’t get used to being up over an hour before she normally would. Secondly, Makoto is gone. Ann was very used to taking the opportunity to trap Makoto in bed with her own body, something that Makoto would grumble about - but make no attempt to free herself.

Ann rubbed her tired eyes and sat up in bed, not giving herself the opportunity to fall back asleep, since she knew she would regret it later. Maybe if she turned up the brightness on her phone, that would wake her up…

“Agh, no, no, too bright, too bright!”

Deciding on a midway point between barely visible and eye-searing, she checked her notifications just in case Makoto had some kind of emergency. Nothing. Well, there was a text from Ryuji of a meme that Futaba had sent her days ago, but other than that, there was nothing. She did notice that the meme Ryuji sent was in the middle of the night. He was going to be grumpy, for sure.

Deciding to get her day started, regardless, she threw off the covers and shivered as she leaned over to click off the fan by her bed. She forgot to turn on the auto-off timer. Again.

Padding over to the door, she pulled it open and…a note card fluttered to the floor. She wasn’t nearly awake enough to snatch it out of the air like…well, like Akira probably would do. He certainly was one for the theatrical.

Ann crouched down to pick it up, feeling every muscle and bone in her body scream out in horror at the slightest amount of physical activity right after waking up, and took a look through sleepy eyes.

“Good morning, beautiful! Sorry I had to leave early, something really important required my attention. Since you probably don’t need to leave quite yet, I’ve prepared something fun for you to do before you leave for school. Your first clue is ‘Picture Perfect’. Good luck and I’ll see you later! Oh, and happy birthday! ♥️Makoto”

Beneath Their Masks Chapter 24 is Up!

I know. I know. No more apologizing for being late. But still...sorry. Hope ya like it :) Not tagging makoann since it's not reaaaallly the focus until the very end. The rest of the chapters should be more focused, but these recent prompts lent themselves well to a larger group of characters. I guess we'll see what happens.

"Whose bright idea was it to bring Monopoly?" Futaba asked with a grumble.

"Um…mine?" Ryuji replied nervously. "Come on, I don't own very many board games but I wanted to contribute somethin’."

"You wanted to contribute to a murder case?"

“Ah, I believe I have heard of this phenomenon. Although, I have yet to play this game, so I can’t say whether or not this claim holds any water.” Akechi said, reaching the top step to Akira’s room.

Futaba and Ryuji were lounging around the large table normally reserved for pre-infiltration meetings. Since Niijima’s palace was all but completely explored, the thieves had much more free time on their hands. All the current Mementos requests were fulfilled, and so Futaba had pitched the idea of a group game night.

“You’d back me up, right, dick? It’s a justifiable cause for first degree murder.” Futaba said.

“I really wish you would stop calling me that…’detective’ is fine, but ‘dick’ is a step too far… Besides, that would actually be second degree murder. First degree is premeditated.” Akechi said, setting his briefcase down on the table with a sigh.

Beneath Their Masks Chapter 16 is Up!

I’m a high bun man, myself. Keeps my hair out of the way and keeps it from getting all tangled. Even though it makes sleeping a bit weird, I’ll take that over it falling down over my shoulder when I’m working. Long hair is a struggle. Maybe I should get my hair cut…although that sunken cost fallacy when it comes to hair length makes it really difficult to want to get my hair cut because I spent so long growing it out. Anyone else like that?

“Say, Ann.”

“Mmhm?” Ann said, not even looking up.

“Why do you always wear your hair in pigtails like that?”

Ann looked up from her phone, putting it back in her pocket as she did so.

“Oh, mostly force of habit. I dunno when I started, but it's easy to just grab two handfuls and put hair ties on them.”

“Have you considered any other styles?”

Ann raised an eyebrow at Makoto, who was starting to grow a little embarrassed now that Ann was actually paying full attention to her.

“Y-Ya know, it might be nice to change things up a bit once in a while, ya know?”

“You know, Makoto, you can just like, ask if you wanna play with my hair.” Ann said, throwing a pigtail over one shoulder. “It is very nice.”

“R-Right. I mean, I was just thinking that maybe since I’m around, I could help you with styles that you may need help to do. I know a decent amount about how to do basic hairstyles.”

“Really? I’ll be honest, I wouldn’t have expected that from you.”

“Hey!”

“No offense! It’s just that your hair is so short.”

“Oh. Right.”

Makoto wasn’t going to mention how she had watched hours of hair styling tutorials online in anticipation of bringing this up. That wasn’t necessary. Not necessary at all.

ya'll ever write a comment or reply to something and then before you post it go: "eh. who cares?" and then delete it

Beneath Their Masks Chapter 23 is Up!

I hope this still counts as fluff? I mean, I dunno.

Leblanc was never a busy cafe most of the time. Sure, Sojiro had his hands full with things every once in a while, but that came with the territory of running a one-man-show. At least Akira was around to help out when he needed it. Not that he would admit he appreciated his help very often. This was exactly the kind of cafe that Sojiro would prefer to spend his time in. No loud music playing, no large groups making a racket, and a simple menu of things he liked. It was no wonder that the foot traffic was low compared to other chains, but the clientele was consistent. Today was one of those afternoons. Not a customer in sight for the last hour, but it left Sojiro with enough time to catch up on some menial tasks. Cleaning up messes, straightening up behind the counter, and giving each cup the attention it deserved.

The bell above the door jingled, signaling Sojiro to put down the cup he had been drying for the last few minutes as he let his mind wander.

“I’ll be with you in a- Oh, hey, you two.”

Ann and Makoto walked in, school bags slung over their shoulders.

“Hey, boss. Is Akira in today?”

“No, I haven’t seen him since he left this morning for school. Why?”

Ann’s smile faltered slightly.

“Just wanted to check up on him. I didn’t catch him at school, since he left once classes were over.”

“I’m sure he just had some errands to run. Should be back here before long. For a high-schooler, it seems like he always has something to do. Reminds me of myself when I was that age…but you didn’t come here to listen to this old man ramble on. What can I get you?”

“Two coffees, please.” Ann said, ordering for the two of them.

“Coming right up. Have a seat wherever.” Sojiro said, getting to work on their order.

Beneath Their Masks Chapter 17 is Up!

I'm of the opinion that learning how to give basic massages is a useful skill. At least learning how to rub feet and shoulders is a good place to start. Back massages are a bit more technical, but you can learn it with enough practice and research, I think. I also just realized that this is another case of Makoto trying to learn a new skill to please Ann, and I can't decide if that's flanderization or not. Hm. I feel like that would be Makoto's love language, though. I dunno.

“We can heal all we want in the Metaverse, but that fatigue never seems to go away. My muscles are killing me.” Ann said, rubbing her shoulder for emphasis. “It used to be really bad when we all first started, but it’s a lot better now. It still kinda sucks.”

“I understand what you mean. It’s even worse when I have to get up the next morning. Sitting up in bed is a task in itself.”

“I know, right?”

“You know…” Makoto trailed off, rubbing her hands together to keep warm. A distraction from her nervousness, if Ann had to guess. “If you would like for me to give you a massage…I wouldn’t mind.”

Ann blinked.

“Sorry, could you run that by me one more time? It sounded like you just asked me if I wanted a-”

“A massage. Yes, I did. Akira mentioned how he receives massages regularly. I thought it might be a good idea. And well…I’m decently strong…so…”

“Say no more. I’m on board.”