Chapter Text
Fukuzawa likes to take walks when he gets the chance. It feels refreshing, and clears his mind of all the clutter that builds up there throughout his usually busy days.
If he specifically takes routes where he knows cats usually are, then that's his business and no-one else's.
Today's walk is brought about by the fact that he feels concerned, specifically about Atsushi.
The boy had been at a bar for the first time last night, a gay bar no less. Fukuzawa has frequented that bar many times and knows that bad things rarely happen there, but he can't help but worry. He can't help but wish he had been there to accompany Atsushi, because he feels nervous about the fact that the person who had seemingly helped out the boy that night was a Port Mafia executive.
Fukuzawa holds no ill will towards Chuuya, or at the least no more than he would towards any mafioso. He also knows himself that Chuuya is not the type for needless violence, and seems perfectly harmless whenever Fukuzawa happens to see him in that bar, if not a bit of an aggressive flirt - but he is a mafioso nonetheless, and Fukuzawa can't quite believe that his involvement with Atsushi's night had been completely innocent.
If that were the case, Fukuzawa really can never forgive himself for not being there. He already feels a little dejected about the possibility that Atsushi might have been worrying about his sexuality and Fukuzawa hadn't been able to advise him - so this isn't helping.
He stares peacefully at a sweet calico cat sitting on a brick wall and licking at its paw, glad to see something that relaxes his heart so, when he blinks at the sound of a sudden yell. It actually sounds strangely familiar, and then the yells become frequent, but they're breathy and interspersed with loud laughter too.
"Oi, oi, stop it!" the voice cackles as Fukuzawa slowly peeks around the corner, and his eyes widen at the sight of Port Mafia executive Chuuya Nakahara writhing on the ground while currently being attacked by a massive dog licking at his face and two cats clambering onto his stomach and head. "Aye, you- COME ON, NOT THE HAT!"
What a ridiculous coincidence.
Fukuzawa steps a little bit more into view, quite worried. Chuuya just about catches sight of him and calls out slightly desperately, "Ah, sir, please help! These little rascals - OW, ARE YOU BLOODY AWARE YA HAVE CLAWS?!"
Fukuzawa feels surprised by the call for help, especially at being called sir by someone like Chuuya Nakahara, but he obeys the plea and moves forward. He crouches down next to Chuuya and reaches out for the cats, and they instantly pounce at the new target. Fukuzawa sits there very happily as one cat cuddles into his lap and the other tries to scale up his arm. Adorable.
Chuuya lets out a sigh of relief, laughing again as he holds onto the massive dog who slobbers on him one more time before settling in his lap. "Jesus, this big brute's almost the size of me. Anyway, thanks- wait, you?!"
Fukuzawa nods solemnly, as Chuuya stares at him in horror.
Fukuzawa considers saying hello, but it doesn't quite seem like he should, so he remains silent. Slowly Chuuya stops looking so terrified as he sighs and rubs the back of his neck, still peering at Fukuzawa out of the corner of his eye.
"Well, yeah, thanks..."
"How did you get into this situation?"
"Well, I'm walkin' this big lug for a friend," Chuuya says, patting the massive dog who seems to actually be sleeping now. "Then these two cats came outta nowhere and jumped me. Then the damn dog joined in, then you came, now here we are."
"Lucky," Fukuzawa says before he can stop himself because he would adore to be attacked by cats when the sweet creatures usually seem scared of him, and Chuuya squawks, "How is that lucky?!"
Fukuzawa does not answer him, too caught up in the cute cat in his lap. He smiles a little when he holds out a finger and the cat sniffs at it curiously, before nuzzling its head against his hand. Chuuya watches him with a raised eyebrow.
"You...like cats, huh?"
Fukuzawa nods. "You do not?"
"I- well, I don't hate them," Chuuya mutters, looking away as his cheeks colour a bit. "I'm a dog person through and through but, cats are cute, obviously, I ain't blind."
"But, you don't usually get along well with them?" Fukuzawa deduces, somehow feeling like that's the case especially with the way the cats had been clawing at the mafioso before.
"We...clash, or something," Chuuya sighs, reaching out to pet one of the cats before recoiling instantly when it hisses at him. He looks so hurt that Fukuzawa feels really quite bad for him. Thankfully, the dog stirs to lick at Chuuya again, and Chuuya smiles as he looks down at the dog and ruffles its coat.
"Dogs are nice too."
"Aren't they?!" Chuuya agrees tenfold, lighting up as he points at Fukuzawa who smiles, nodding. Chuuya blinks in surprise before he quickly looks away, seeming confused. "That's...huh, I've seen you around quite a bit but that's probably the first time I've seen you smile. Funny."
"It's true that I do not smile very often. Especially not around the Mafia," Fukuzawa points out, and Chuuya looks embarrassed now. "But I do sometimes, either if my Agency has done a job well done, or at something cute."
"You're hitting on me," Chuuya says in disbelief which startles Fukuzawa so much that he has to cough to compose his expression. "I know I'd seen you in that gay bar before but damn, old man-"
"I am not 'hitting on you'," Fukuzawa tries his best to ascertain, and Chuuya looks at him with narrowed eyes for a moment longer. Fukuzawa now feels worried that he's made the other man uncomfortable, so he tries again. "If I call a cat cute, that definitely would not mean I am hitting on them, would it?"
Chuuya blinks at that, surprised. Then he finally relaxes and even laughs, running his hands through the dog's fur as he shrugs. "You got a point. And it's not like you're a bad catch, anyway! That silver fox type, ya know-"
"Nakahara, please," Fukuzawa says, voice very strained, and Chuuya bursts into full-blown laughter. It makes Fukuzawa smile some more. "Actually, I...had been meaning to say. Thank you, for being there for Atsushi that night. Honestly I wish I could have been, though I feel that my employees do not have any trust in me for these kinds of matters..."
"Ah hey, c'mon, it's not that they don't have trust, it's just a...you know! Boss to employee sorta thing! They wouldn't think of you as someone to come to when it comes to personal matters," Chuuya explains, and Fukuzawa supposes he's right. He doesn't know why Chuuya smacks him on the back, though. "Don't worry too much about it, man! Besides, you're a pretty serious person too. That might put them off a little."
"I've thought that to be the case," Fukuzawa sighs. "But, it is near impossible to be your employees' friend as well as a good leader. I have had to sacrifice the former for the latter."
"That just shows you're good at what you do, man. I know it's sad but, if it's necessary, then that's what you gotta do. Though, I don't know much but they seem to like you a whole lot? They're all in your corner, they'd protect you with their life. If you wanna reach out to 'em a bit more, I'm sure they'll accept it with welcome arms."
"You are very wise, Nakahara," Fukuzawa says with complete honesty, and Chuuya flushes a little before he scratches the back of his neck, looking away again.
"Y-Yeah, right back atcha..."
"Should we get going? I am sure you still need to finish walking the dog."
"Oh, yeah!" Chuuya realises, hopping up before he looks down at Fukuzawa who is saying a sad telepathic goodbye to the cats who he gently rests back on the ground. "What're you doin' here anyway? A case or something?"
"Just walking," Fukuzawa says, getting up gracefully. "If you don't mind, perhaps I'll join you."
"...sure?"
They walk in awkward silence for the next few minutes (more awkward on Chuuya's part since Fukuzawa feels pretty peaceful), though it's slightly remedied by the dog yapping about and doing dumb sweet things like rolling in grass and chasing butterflies. Fukuzawa is starting to see the appeal of these creatures too, and it's especially nice seeing Chuuya laugh and look so happy at all the dog does.
"You're staaaaaring, old man. Am I that handsome?" Chuuya teases, and Fukuzawa chuckles a little as he shakes his head.
"Apologies. You see, there was a time in my life where I became quite numb to humanity. I realised this and tried to dial back, and the thing that helped me the most was seeing people's happiness. That's why I have quite a bad habit of staring sometimes."
"Wow, you're answering me too seriously, ya know?" Chuuya says, light-hearted again but a bit more nervous now. "Well, I mean, I wasn't sayin' it was a bad thing to stare..."
"No, don't worry. I know it can be creepy."
"Yeah but you had such a sad backstory 'bout it, I couldn't just say that!"
Fukuzuwa amusedly shakes his head, and Chuuya huffs. They walk on a bit more.
"Why didn't you use your gravity ability to remove the animals earlier?"
"Didn't wanna hurt 'em. I got good control 'n all but with 'em scratching at me, didn't know if I'd do somethin' off."
Not for the first time, Fukuzawa rues how kind Chuuya is because it pains him that much more to know he's a mafioso. He knows that Chuuya is definitely the better part of the criminal organisation, but it's obviously still not good enough.
"Thank you again for looking after Atsushi," Fukuzawa says, for lack of knowing what to say, and Chuuya waves a casual dismissive hand.
"Stop thankin' me, the kid was fine. He pulled Federico, dude."
"Federico?" Fukuzawa asks in surprise, and Chuuya nods proudly. Fukuzawa has no clue why Chuuya looks proud but he feels very proud himself. "I must congratulate him."
"Ugh, don't do that. It's the same kinda awkwardness of when your dad tells you well done for getting some," Chuuya grimaces, and Fukuzawa stops walking for a moment. Chuuya looks back at him confusedly, before raising his eyebrows when he sees that Fukuzawa is practically sparkling.
"Do you think my employees might view me as a father figure?" Fukuzawa asks in wonder, his chest feeling very warm at the thought due to the fact that most of his employees hardly have parents at all so Fukuzawa always tries his best to be a good older adult in their lives.
Chuuya looks super uncomfortable as he says a weak, "Uh...maybe? I mean, it's just inference, but it seems like it...and I swear one of 'em is like literally your kid or something, I dunno, Dazai spouts some bullshit sometimes-"
"That is," Fukuzawa says, voice strained by tumultuous emotion, "so wonderful."
Chuuya straightens up a little as he stares at Fukuzawa. Then he grins, beckoning for Fukuzawa to keep following. "Come on, old man, don't wanna keep your kids waiting!"
Fukuzawa might cry today. "Yes."
"-then Tachihara was all like 'that is NOT how you make a balloon lizard' and I was like 'wait since when the fuck was THAT what we were doing' then Hirotsu came out of nowhere with his arms filled with balloons and he made me a balloon dog which was awesome- I mean...it was decent," Chuuya reiterates, trying to be cool when he notices Fukuzawa smiling at the heated anecdote. "Anyway. Kaji blew up all the balloons afterwards which sucked, so..."
"The Mafia really does get up to such terrible things."
"Oi, don't judge, old man! You know who our boss is, you can't blame us," Chuuya scoffs, and Fukuzawa nods in understanding. Mori is...a special person. "Besides, it was Gin's birthday! And we had to plan somethin' super quickly since we only found out 'cause Ryu mentioned it in passing."
"Ryu?"
"Boy Akutagawa."
"Ah. Yes, they're siblings, correct?"
"Yep! Keeps surprisin' people when they find out," Chuuya grins, throwing a stick for the dog to run after. "You got any siblings at your place?"
"Yes. They are interesting," is the best Fukuzawa can come up with to describe Naomi and Junichirou. Chuuya laughs at that for a reason that Fukuzawa does not know but it makes him feel content. "This is nice."
"O-Oh, you think so? Cool," Chuuya nods, trying to coolly play off his stammer. "And yeah, it is...like, I used to think you were the coolest shit ever so can't believe I'm just casually taking a walk with you." He says the second part a little quietly, as a bit of a ramble, and Fukuzawa regards him with interest.
"Used to?"
"I'm not gonna tell the enemy that I think they're currently cool!" Chuuya snaps with red ears, though that's already an inadvertent admission that makes Fukuzawa smile.
"Thank you."
"I remember when I was like nine 'n on the streets," Chuuya starts, already in ramble mode again, "I saw you once on those TV displays at storefronts like at a ceremony demonstration or something and everyone was like 'oooooh that's the Silver Wolf, you know'. Spent ages tryna wield a tiny knife like you did with your katanas. I actually tried to save up for a katana, but money was tight back then..."
"Oh," Fukuzawa says, feeling very touched. He doesn't particularly like to reminisce that part of his past, but it's really nice to hear that he could have inspired someone, especially with the minimal times he ever made televised appearances. "Well. Would you like to do some swordfighting now?"
Chuuya stares at Fukuzawa like he's mad. "Uh, I don't really do knife combat. I control gravity, I don't need that shit."
"Then, simply for fun? Like you did in your younger years."
Chuuya's expression doesn't change, but he does stop walking, peering at Fukuzawa with such curiosity. "You're being so weirdly nice to me. You alright? Got a fever or what?"
"If someone is kind to me, I shall be kind in return," Fukuzawa says simply, and Chuuya blinks before averting his gaze, clicking his tongue as he mutters, "So I was being nice too, huh..."
"There's a field over there," Fukuzawa points out, which the dog is already running over to. Chuuya concedes, shrugging, and they walk on over.
"Now don't judge me if I can't keep up with you! I know you're some sorta martial arts genius, Boss says you're unparalleled," Chuuya calls out when they've got some distance between them, and Fukuzawa throws him a katana that Chuuya catches with his Ability. "Damn, you really just carry these on you..."
"Don't worry. I will not chop you into pieces," Fukuzawa says, and Chuuya's eyes widen in surprise before he bursts into laughter.
"Ha, the hell, old man, I wasn't thinking you'd do that anyway?!"
The sun is starting to set when they begin to fight, with the dog yapping excitedly and running circles around them, and Fukuzawa distantly realises that they must have been out for quite a while. Good thing no-one from the Agency had called him.
"HYA!" Chuuya screeches with each thrust and parry which reminds Fukuzawa of all the kids he used to teach swordfighting to every now and then, and he tries not to smile too much. He tries not to be too offensive, either, simply blocking Chuuya's strikes but with enough ease to make Chuuya huff in frustration. "YOU'RE TOO GOOD! WHAT THE FUCK!"
"That isn't your fault. You don't have much technique yet, Nakahara," Fukuzawa says amusedly, ducking low and sweeping to the other side when Chuuya tries to strike him with a high roundhouse kick which really is rather impressive. Fukuzawa does admire the way Chuuya uses his legs in fights, though it might be a little off-subject right now. "Improvising now, are we?"
"IT WAS HABIT!" Chuuya groans, but Fukuzawa can see a bit of a smile lighting up Chuuya's face probably from all the adrenaline. The two of them wouldn't be in the profession they're in now if they weren't even slightly thrillseekers.
It's not long until they get into a rhythm. Now Chuuya can block about 90% of Fukuzawa's thrusts and it's really sweet, the way Chuuya lights up excitedly everytime he does. "FUCK YEAH, I'M THE MAN!"
"Indeed," Fukuzawa chuckles, drowned out by Chuuya's loud laughter as he flips closer, something Fukuzawa definitely can't do as easily nowadays, which benefits in hiding his next strike so Fukuzawa almost doesn't block it. He does, but even then he's a bit distracted by the fact that Chuuya's clearly having a lot of fun now by the twinkle in his surprisingly bright blue eyes and the feral beam on his heartily flushed face. That's very rewarding in itself.
Fukuzawa realises with a start that he truly has misjudged this man, and now he feels quite terrible. Atsushi must have been perfectly fine that night.
"Aw hell yeah, that was great," Chuuya sighs with a grin when they take a seat on the grass when they're done, with Fukuzawa handing Chuuya a water bottle. "How many pockets do you have in that thing?!"
"Many," Fukuzawa answers as Chuuya takes off his hat and fans himself with it. "You have potential, Nakahara."
"Ha, you're just sayin' that," Chuuya teases, elbowing Fukuzawa good-naturedly, which is surprising. Chuuya seems to easily forget who his company is, but Fukuzawa welcomes it, because being able to be civil with an enemy makes for a remarkable world to live in. "You were miles better. Besides, I don't think I've picked up a knife in forever."
"You don't use one for eating?" Fukuzawa asks, actually joking this time, and Chuuya cackles.
"God, you're such a dad!"
Fukuzawa reaches out to pat Chuuya's head as if to back up the other man's words, and Chuuya grins up at him. But then he seems to realise what he's doing and he blinks a little, jerking away. Fukuzawa inwardly sighs.
"Ah...should probably get back," Chuuya mutters, clapping his hands and the dog runs into his arms from where it was rolling about blissfully in a bunch of leaves. "This was nice, though."
"Have a good night," Fukuzawa says, quite earnestly, and Chuuya can't seem to stop himself from smiling as he nods.
"Yeah, you too. Uhhh...tell Atsushi I said hi, maybe? Or whatever..."
Fukuzawa feels surprised by that, but it makes him smile. "Yes, he'll be happy to hear that."
"We sound like we're saying goodbye but we're still gonna be walking the same way for a few minutes, aren't we," Chuuya deadpans, and when Fukuzawa looks ahead and realises he's correct, it humours him enough to envoke a laugh. This has truly been a fruitful day, though Fukuzawa feels a little ridiculous whenever Chuuya keeps looking at him in awe whenever he laughs.
"Let's go, then, Chuuya."
Chuuya seems to be trying not to look too happy about the fact that Fukuzawa used his first name. "Y-Yeah."
They part ways soon enough, where Fukuzawa gives a solemn goodbye which Chuuya jokingly returns with a tip of his hat and a low bow while saying, "Farewell, esteemed sir."
"You're making fun of me," Fukuzawa states, though he doesn't mind, and Chuuya laughs as he waves a casual hand at him. Then he's knocking on the door of the house a few blocks down, yelling, "GOT YOUR DOG, BRO!"
Fukuzawa goes on his way with a shake of his head and a smile, thinking that Chuuya is a very interesting person. Seems like he needn't have been worried about Atsushi's first night at a bar in the slightest.
"You wanted to see me?" Atsushi asks nervously the next morning when he steps into Fukuzawa's office. Fukuzawa nods.
"Please close the door."
Now Atsushi looks borderline terrified, which makes Fukuzawa feel like he did something wrong. Nevertheless, he stays silent as Atsushi does what he asked and then stands at attention.
"I-Is there a problem, sir?"
"Not at all. But I would like you to know that I am gay," Fukuzawa says, and Atsushi's eyes grow wide at the stark announcement. "I am very comfortable with that fact, so if you ever need to discuss something, I will be here."
"W-Wow," Atsushi breathes, eyes sparkling. Then he looks around, before he rushes over to sit in the chair opposite Fukuzawa, leaning forward as he says, "I really wanted to talk to you about it but I wasn't sure how to start!"
"Really?" Fukuzawa asks, extremely pleased and Atsushi nods quickly while smiling in what seems like relief. Fukuzawa has to cough to maintain his composure, thinking happily, Chuuya was right. "I...I see. Any time you need anything, I will be glad to help."
"Alright! I have a lot of questions but I think I gotta take a minute to try and work them out into proper words," Atsushi says sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck, but he grins all the same. "So, I'll be back! Thank you, sir!"
Fukuzawa feels so touched that he almost clutches his chest. "Of course."
Atsushi bounds out of the room with a spring in his step, and Fukuzawa shakes his head in disbelief. That went so much better than he thought it would, and when he feels his cheeks start to ache a little, he realises that he's smiling. Uncontrollably.
How incredible.
"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO DO WHEN YOUR CELEBRITY CRUSH FROM WHEN YOU WERE BLOODY TEN ASKS YOU TO SWORDFIGHT WITH THEM?!" Chuuya screeches embarrassedly from where he's currently hiding under a table at the Akutagawa household, and the siblings look at each other confusedly. "HE TOTALLY FUCKING KNEW! OH MY FUCKING GOD DID DAZAI TELL HIM I USED TO CRUSH ON HIM 'CAUSE THEN I'M GONNA FUCKING WRING HIS WEAK LITTLE BANDAGED CHICKEN NECK-"
"Hide all the wine," Akutagawa whispers to Gin who salutes and hurries off to the kitchen.