Chapter Text
"Oh right," Sojiro Sakura mused, moving his focus up from the coffee he was brewing as Akira cleaned up curry stained dishes in the sink, "today's Valentine's day. No wonder there were so many guys bringing girls in here," he remarked, suddenly realizing why his homely, little cafe had gotten a sudden influx in customers. His lips contorted into a smirk, as he addressed the teenage boy who turned to face him, finishing up the final plate and wiping his hands off on a towel, "Don't you have anything exciting happening?" He asked, curiously, "I mean, you've been here nearly a whole year. Y'know when I was young," he reminisced, losing himself in thought before chuckling, "hoo boy…
Akira shook his head with an amused grin at Sojiro's nostalgia for his early days, as the bell of the door of Leblanc rang, causing both heads to turn to the person who stood before them at the entrance.
"Uh, hi there," a shy voice addressed Akira, before turning to Sakura himself, "Oh sorry, are you busy? I can leave if you like…" Yuuki Mishima stood dressed in a forest green, high collared coat zipped up to his neck, nervously sweating underneath the gaze of the boss of the establishment as he cast a glance over to Akira Kurusu who stood with a smile, both hands casually in the pockets of his skinny black jeans, before strutting over to the other boy with a smile.
"Oh," Sojiro rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, "this is the boy you were telling me about, right?" Akira nodded in response and he sighed, "You should've just told me." Truthfully, Sojiro Sakura was from an older time and honestly, he didn't know much of the new generation and the far more progressive acceptance of men dating other men, but that didn't mean he couldn't try to be more accepting, especially when his own daughter had recently come out to him as a lesbian and since then he had been trying his hardest to open his old mind a little more. He nodded to Akira, "Here, I'll leave the store to you," he said, before making his way past Mishima and out of Leblanc, "Enjoy yourselves."
"That went way better than I expected," Yuuki sighed, relieved.
「Have a seat」
>「I'll make you some coffee」
The navy-blue haired boy chuckled, "Thanks, I'd like that," before moving to take a seat on the tea-brown, plush chairs of the cafe. Akira had quickly used his skills, learned from the great Sakura-sama himself, and served Yuuki and himself up a cup, to which he took graciously.
"It's been…" Yuuki looked down at the cup sadly, his reflection's grey eyes looking back, "...a while," he stated, drawing his eyes up to the black-haired boy who kept his own honest, black pair on him behind his glasses, "I'm really glad you're out of juvie, but you could've at least told me sooner!" He whined, "I was worried sick about you!"
「Sorry to have worried you」
>「I missed you」
"I missed you," Akira replied, cheek resting in an open palm, "and I'm sorry to have worried you."
Yuuki blushed, "I missed you too, like a lot ," he emphasized, "Without you around things are so… urgh ," he groaned, sliding miserably onto the table, his coffee abandoned to the side, "nothing's fun anymore."
The days without Akira, the days he was in the reformatory, were long , yet as Yuuki looked at him now, they seemed to have passed by so quickly. He remembered being in the streets, desperately asking for help for Akira like it was yesterday, he remembered the panic he felt when he had heard that his boyfriend was locked up unrighteously, but now, when he looked at him again, he couldn't focus on anything except what was happening now. No more being stuck in the past, Yuuki told himself, he had had enough of all the misery, today was a day for lovers to appreciate each other and damn it was he going to do just that!
"Well enough or being miserable," he smiled tiredly, "today's Valentine's day isn't it? We should be celebrating," he dug in his sand coloured jean pockets, before producing a small, store brand chocolate bar.
Get!
「Yuuki's chocolate x1」
"Here, sorry I couldn't really find anything more fancy," he giggled awkwardly, sliding the confectionery across the table, "but the brand is really good!"
「Sorry I didn't get you anything」
「Uhhh, sure」
>「This makes me happy」
"This makes me happy," Akira smiled sweetly, "Thank you, Yuuki."
"Man I am never gonna get used to you calling me that…" Yuuki blushed shyly, "not that I dislike it!" He quickly added on, waving his hands in front of his face as if to wave away any accusations, "Actually, I really like it…"
The other boy smirked mischievously, leaning across the table, so that their two faces had little space between them. "I'm glad you like it, Yuuki-chan ~♡," he giggled as the shorter boy's face went bright red.
"Dude!" He protested, pushing his hands against Akira's silly face and closing his eyes, "You can't just say that!"
"Sure I can," the cat-like boy snugly replied, before plopping back down onto his own seat.
"Well, anyways," he sighed, moving on and attempting to ignore the hot flush across his face, "I've been working real hard on the documentary while you were away!" He grinned widely, stars in his eyes, "I've got all the stuff from the Phansite written down, now all I have to do is focus on the real big catches, like…Kamoshida," he frowned and Akira returned the sentiment.
Suguru Kamoshida was long gone, he had been behind bars for months, but that didn't mean he didn't leave behind a trail of tarnish for the students and teachers of Shujin to clean up, most notably members of the volleyball team like Shiho Suzui and Yuuki himself. It was when the two, Akira and Yuuki, had first met that he had committed himself to the role of a zero, a nobody, just another one of Kamoshida's victims who'd be quickly forgotten, but then..Akira Kurusu came into his life and things were so different. And…yeah maybe he had been a bit too clingy and definitely far too entitled, but with the way things were now, Yuuki was ready to be his own person with Akira by his side.
"Everything okay?" Akira asked after a moment of silence had passed the two by in the empty cafe.
"Yeh," Yuuki nodded, a look of determination crossing his face, "I'll be fine, I want to make sure everyone knows of the horrible things Kamoshida did, but most importantly," he looked straight at Akira, "I want everyone to know what the Phantom Thieves did for his victims, what you did for me ," his fists tightened together, "I promise I'll keep your legacy alive, Akira."
The Phantom thief- no , right now he was just Akira Kurusu and that's all he had to be- placed his hand atop Yuuki's curled fist, "I'm sure you will."
Interrupting the moment, a disruptive thought crossed his mind. Oh yeah…he was going back to his home town soon. His eyes turned down with a sadness at having to leave his boyfriend behind when he moves and Yuuki took notice of the look on his face.
"Something wrong?" He asked
「I'll be going home soon」
>「I'm going home」
"I'm going home," Akira frowned.
"Oh…" Yuuki muttered, "Well, I'm happy for you," he stated, "Can I sit next to you?"
Akira nodded, sliding over in his seat and patting the spot next to him, to which Yuuki quickly rose from his seat and took his place.
"So, guess that means we'll be going long distance, huh?" He asked, his hands contained to themselves atop his thighs, as he turned his head to Akira.
"Yeah, I suppose so," Akira responded, "I'll make sure to keep in touch though," he promised, he didn't want to get in trouble again for not doing so.
"I'll message you everyday!" Yuuki promised before biting his lip, "Okay, maybe not everyday, you'll probably be busy," he nervously fidgeted, "and so will I, probably."
Akira chuckled warmly, "It's fine, Yuuki, you can text me whenever you like," he reassured him gently, placing a hand on his shoulder, "Can't promise I'll respond straight away though."
"That's fine!" Yuuki yelped, "I'll happily wait for you, any time," his expression softened, "Afterall, you gave me something to pursue."
A sudden feeling of bravery came over him, as he leaned onto Akira's shoulder, the close contact of their two bodies feeling warm and comforting. "For so long I was just stuck inside myself, I didn't think there would ever be anything for me in the end, even if I'd gotten out of Kamoshida's abuse," he spoke softly, lending his secrets for Akira to hear, "but now, I have so many things that I want to do, so many places I want to go! And…" he looked up at the other boy, his dark-as-night eyes casting down on him and up close they were so entrancing, behind the mysterious blackness of the void were faint shimmers of browns and specks of silver reflected in. "...I finally have someone who I want to keep working hard for."
「Could it be…」
>「Who?」
"Who?" Akira asked with a relaxed expression and Yuuki giggled.
"You, silly," he replied, "I know we're going to be far away for a while, but I'll always have your back covered and I'll do my best to write your story well."
"I'm counting on it," the taller boy pressed a kiss to Yuuki's forehead.
Akira spent a romantic evening with Yuuki Mishima…