Chapter Text
Atsushi isn’t sure what he was expecting Akutagawa’s apartment to look like, but it definitely wasn't this.
As soon as Atsushi follows Gin into the modest apartment building he is struck with the scent of jasmine and…pears? The smell is nearly overpowering but pleasant all the same – probably originating from the elderly woman who stands beside the entryway, quietly steeping a mug of floral tea.
“Ah! Hello, Darling!” The old woman’s sudden words startle Atsushi an embarrassing amount, her high-pitched voice shattering the otherwise-silent apartment lobby. However, what shocks him more is the genuine smile that lights up Gin’s face once she sees the elderly woman. “Did you have a nice trip?”
The woman’s thick, eastern european accent catches Atsushi off guard, so he does what he does best in unpredictable situations – stand there extremely awkwardly as he waits for the conversation to diffuse itself. Unfortunately for the weretiger, Gin doesn’t seem to share his thoughts.
“Hello, Georgiev-san!” Gin greets the woman happily as she makes her way over to her. “Yes, my trip was lovely, thank you.”
“I’m glad! I was praying for you every night.” The woman smiles around her mug of floral tea, crows-feet wrinkling the sides of her eyes. “Remind me where you went again?”
Atsushi listens as Gin tells Georgiev-san about her recent mission, making it sound like she was simply visiting family in The Philippines. Atsushi can’t help but bite the inside of his cheek, knowing that she was actually assassinating the leaders of multiple human-trafficking rings and stealing secrets from the local gangs. What Georgiev-san doesn’t know won’t hurt her.
“Well, I’ll let you go.” the older woman says with a hearty chuckle, resting her palm on her stomach. “And tell that brother of yours to take better care of himself! I’ve been hearing him cough through the walls! Poor kid sounds worse than my ninety-year-old father!”
Gin’s smile dulls a bit at that, yet she nods at the older woman regardless. “We’re working on it. Have a nice day, Georgiev-san!”
With final, polite bows that don’t fail to make the older woman blush, Gin and Atsushi continue through the apartment lobby.
Atsushi resists asking questions until he and Gin are safely in the elevator, heading to the fifth floor. “What was that about? Who was that woman?”
Predictably, Gin is silent for a while, preferring to stare at the elevator buttons for a while instead of acknowledging Atsushi.
“Georgiev-san is our neighbor.” she finally answers, her words barely louder than the soft elevator-music. “She invites herself over for tea once a week.”
Atsushi is unable to suppress the gentle smile that splits his lips. Just the thought of Akutagawa having tea with his older neighbor makes the weretiger feel oddly warm inside. “That’s sweet.”
Gin nods and Atsushi can’t help but notice the fond look that softens her usually steely expression. “She immigrated from Bulgaria earlier this year…I think she misses her grandchildren.”
The elevator door opens with a pleasant ding! before Atsushi can formulate a response, revealing the fifth-floor hallway. Just like the lobby, the hallway is decorated tastefully. Pale green paint coats the walls while a deep maroon rug runs the entire length of the hall. Atsushi can’t help but wonder where on earth one would acquire a rug of that size.
Wordlessly, the pair walks through the hall…Gin in front while Atsushi follows closely behind. As they grow closer and closer to the door to the Akutagawa sibling’s apartment, Atsushi’s breath quickens and his palms grow uncomfortably sweaty.
Something tells Atsushi that Akutagawa will be less than happy about this intervention he and Gin have in store for him.
Despite his new-found anxiety, Gin stops abruptly, pulling out her keys and unlocking the closest door on their left.
Well… Atsushi takes a deep breath, not letting his nerves get the best of him. This is happening whether I’m ready or not…better get ready fast.
♧♣♧
Once inside the apartment, it quickly becomes apparent that Gin made most of the interior decorating decisions.
The first thing Atsushi notices once entering the living room are the pale blue curtains that hide a large window from view, keeping the apartment full of shadows. If it weren't for the dim lamp in the corner of the room Atsushi might’ve missed the suspiciously Akutagawa-shaped lump on the couch.
“Is that him?” Atsushi asks, keeping a wide range from his sleeping partner. He knows from experience how volatile the other man can get if abruptly woken – especially if Atsushi is the one to do it.
Gin nods wordlessly, quickly making her way into the kitchen. Atsushi watches in confusion as she ducks and begins rummaging through one of the cabinets. After a few moments of clanging around, Gin reappears with a dented muffin pan in hand.
“Back up.” she whisper-shouts, gesturing for Atsushi to back against the far wall. Atsushi mindlessly obeys, full of both anticipation and dread upon realizing where this is going. He covers his ears just in time for earsplitting banging to erupt from the kitchen as Gin begins smashing the pan against the counter top.
Huh… Atsushi muses. No wonder that pan is dented…
As soon as the first CLANG! reaches his ears, Atsushi is beyond relieved that he put a safe distance between himself and the couch.
Rashomon’s tendrils explode out of Akutagawa’s tee shirt as the man startles awake with a gasp. However, the way Rashomon’s tendrils take on the bright orange of Akutagawa’s shirt drastically decreases the fear-factor.
After his initial outburst, the mafioso tumbles off the couch in an undignified pile of pale limps and sleep-mussed hair. Once she hears the telltale sound of Akutagawa hitting the floor, Gin finally stops banging the counter. Atsushi smiles upon seeing the devious grin that decorates her usually-stoic face.
“Gin!” Akutagawa shouts, struggling to his feet. “Again?!”
“Well, you keep napping!” Gin shouts, doing her best to suppress her cackles as she returns the pan to its cabinet. “And we needed to talk to you.”
Akutagawa coughs a few times and Atsushi can’t help but wince. That sounds pretty bad…now he knows why Gin was concerned. Akutagawa’s eyes narrow at his sister, shooting her with a withering glare that does nothing but make the young woman grin. “We…?”
The temperature in the apartment seems to plummet as Akutagawa turns, meeting Atsushi’s gaze for the first time. Atsushi watches as his partner’s cheeks pale, then flush, then pale again. Before the weretiger can prepare himself, a bright orange tendril shoots out from the back of Akutagawa’s tee shirt and shoots toward Atsushi’s throat.
Caught off guard – although he probably shouldn’t be – Atsushi doesn’t have time to dodge before the tendril wraps around his neck and slams him against the wall behind him. The fact that the deadly tendrils aren’t sharp and rest loosely against Atsushi’s skin isn’t lost on the weretiger. He pretends not to notice.
Akutagawa stalks toward him, but his menacing expression is dulled considerably by the fact that his shirt gives him the appearance of a particularly grumpy pumpkin. Atsushi has to fight to suppress a snort. Laughing at his partner while Rashomon is wrapped around his throat might lead to his untimely demise.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Akutagawa sneers, coming to a stop mere inches from Atsushi’s face. His words are practically dripping in malice and poorly hidden threats, but all Atsushi can focus on is the fact that he is unable to look away from his partner’s eyes when he stands this close.
He never knew there were so many different shades of gray…
Before Atsushi can get his traitorous brain back on track, Akutagawa is roughly yanked away by the collar of his tee shirt – similar to a misbehaving kitten being bitten on the scruff of their neck. Akutagawa staggers backwards with an undignified yelp, now fixing his glare on Gin. Unlike Atsushi, Gin doesn’t seem affected by it.
“Stop it.” She scolds her brother, releasing his shirt and shoving him in the direction of the couch. “Go sit and quit being a dumbass.”
To Atsushi’s shock, Akutagawa obeys – not without shooting another withering glare over his shoulder. Atsushi does his best to return it, but fails miserably, too busy rubbing his assaulted neck.
“Gin, why is he here?” Akutagawa is obviously trying to sound disinterested, but Atsushi can hear the genuine curiosity deep in his voice. “And why do you keep waking me up with a pan?”
“Why do you keep falling asleep in broad daylight?” Gin asks instead of offering an answer as she sits in one of the chairs opposite of the couch. To Akutagawa’s obvious displeasure, Gin gestures for Atsushi to take a seat as well.
Apparently, Akutagawa doesn’t have an answer to that so he simply crosses his arms across his thin chest. Atsushi only notices his wince because he’s looking for it. Apparently, the deep bruises that paint the entirety of Akutagawa’s chest have yet to fade. That’s probably why he’s wearing such an uncharacteristically oversized shirt.
Now that he mentions it…Atsushi can’t help but notice the way his partner is practically swimming in the fabric of his shirt, making him appear even thinner than he already is. Atsushi resolutely ignores the way that thought makes something in his chest clench. Maybe he’s catching a cold or something…
“I’ve just been tired, I guess.” Akutagawa says suddenly, hunching in on himself and looking like a thoroughly chastised child. Atsushi can’t help but smirk as the feared mafioso is scolded by his younger sister.
Gin raises a thin eyebrow, fixing her brother with a look that says “you really expect me to believe that?” before pursing her lips. “Atsushi told me about your mission.”
Instead of responding to his sister’s blunt statement, Akutagawa slowly turns to Atsushi, eyes wide and lips partially open. His expression looks as if Atsushi had ratted him out to an enemy organization instead of simply consulting his sister on matters regarding his health. It looks as if his partner would have preferred the former.
“The deal is off.”
Atsushi furrows his brow in confusion at his partner’s malicious muttering. “What deal?”
Akutagawa still hasn’t blinked. Those gray eyes are beginning to become slightly unnerving. “You have less than six months to live.”
Atsushi snorts before he can stop himself, causing his partner to somehow look even more murderous. “Sure. Whatever you say, man.”
“Ryuu, stop it.” Gin says before her brother can launch himself across the room and make good on his threat. Despite knowing that Akutagawa would definitely not win in a fight at the moment, Atsushi is still grateful for Gin’s ability to get her rather obstinate brother to calm the fuck down.
Once Akutagawa finally flops back onto the couch, Gin takes a deep breath before fixing him with the sternest gaze Atsushi has ever seen. He makes a mental note to never get on her bad side – not that he was ever planning on it in the first place.
“Ryuu, I’m going to ask you this one time before I kick your ass.” she begins, once again getting right to the point. Atsushi clears his throat in an effort to hide his snort upon watching Akutagawa’s eyes widen comically. “Are you supposed to be using supplemental oxygen at home this week?”
At first, silence is Gin’s only answer. Atsushi watches with mild amusement as Akutagawa seemingly fights within himself, conflicted whether to just bite the bullet and confess that he has been neglecting his health or to keep up the facade. But, he is outnumbered now, and Atsushi definitely won't let him get away with lying.
Atsushi doesn’t think he can handle seeing his partner hospitalized again…no matter how much he may miss the way Akutagawa became unbearably sweet when given pain medication. Atsushi promises himself that he will never tell the mafioso what happened that night in Yosano’s infirmary. Akutagawa would surely take his head if he found out.
“Yes…” comes Akutagawa’s mumbled answer, both looking and sounding the part of a toddler being grounded. “But it’s not a big deal. I’ve been breathing fine! I feel fine.”
Atsushi can’t help but think that his partner sounds like he’s trying to convince himself as well as his sister.
“You’re wincing.” Atsushi decides to interject and is once again met with a withering glare. “Your ribs are still bruised. And your neighbor said that you sound like an old man.”
Gin snorts at the reminder. “That’s true. Georgiev-san said that you sound worse than her ninety-year-old father.”
“...” is all Akutagawa has to say, instead hunching in on himself even more. The harsh coughs he’s unable to hold back do nothing to help his case. “I don’t sound old…”
Atsushi raises an eyebrow with a snort. “You most certainly do.”
Akutagawa must be feeling worse than he’s letting on, considering the fact that he doesn’t attempt to slit Atsushi’s throat at that remark.
“Ryuu, show me your ribs.” Gin commands, not even bothering to offer her brother a choice in the matter.
Akutagawa sighs before going completely boneless against the back of the couch. “I can’t.”
“You can’t?” Atsushi furrows his brow, slightly caught off guard by his partner’s suddenly docile behavior. “What do you mean ‘you can’t?’”
“I mean that I can’t!” the annoyance in Akutagawa’s voice once again loses its effect as a wet-sounding cough rattles through his throat. “I can’t lift my arms that high.”
Suddenly, it dawns on Atsushi. When releasing Akutagawa from the infirmary, Yosano-san warned him of all the possible side effects he may experience – restricted movement being one of them. Lifting his arms above his head would likely put a lot of strain on his ribcage…the ribcage that is still decorated with colorful bruises.
Apparently, Atsushi has absolutely zero sense of self-preservation.
Before he knows what he’s doing, Atsushi has moved to sit on the couch beside his partner, gesturing for the hem of the oversized orange monstrosity he calls a shirt. “Let me do it.”
“Do what?” Suddenly, Akutagawa’s voice is quiet…almost unsure. Atsushi doesn’t think he’s ever heard the other man sound like that before.
“Lift your shirt.” Atsushi cringes at his own words but soldiers on regardless. “We both know that Gin will annihilate you if you don’t do as she says, and I’m not going to stop her.”
After what feels like an eternity, the mafioso’s comically wide eyes soften slightly, making way for a fraction of his crippling exhaustion to show itself. Despite having been asleep when he arrived, Atsushi can’t help but notice the massive purple eyebags beneath his gray eyes. Suddenly, Atsushi understands why Gin was so concerned.
By some miracle, Akutagawa relents without causing Atsushi any serious bodily harm, adjusting his arms so Atsushi can gently lift the hem of his shirt without brushing up against his sensitive chest. The weretiger does his best to focus on the ugly bruising instead of the rosy flush that begins to heat up his cheeks.
If he weren’t so busy averting his eyes, he would notice a similar blush decorating Akutagawa’s face as well.
The apartment remains silent for a few moments once Akutagawa’s impressive bruises are revealed to the world, the only sound being the muffled wheezing coming from the mafioso. Atsushi didn’t notice earlier, but now that he’s sitting right beside the other man, he can hear how he’s struggling to breathe. Atsushi is suddenly relieved that they are having this “intervention”... he just wishes that getting Akutagawa to care for himself was less of a struggle.
“God, Ryuu! That looks awful!” Gin practically shouts from where she suddenly shoots to her feet. “Where is the oxygen shit the agency’s doctor gave you?”
Atsushi watches as his partner bites his lip, obviously not wanting to answer but knowing that he doesn’t have another choice. “It’s under my bed…”
“Under your…” Gin trails off as she stalks off into one of the adjacent rooms – presumably her brother’s bedroom – and leaves Atsushi alone with Akutagawa. The two sit beside each other awkwardly, both listening as Gin rummages around in her brother’s room.
Atsushi is suddenly painfully aware of how close he is to the other man…and how he doesn’t really want to pull away.
“You can put my shirt down whenever you’re ready.”
“Oh, sorry.” Atsushi drops the orange fabric as if it burned him, awkwardly returning his hands to his lap.
Thankfully for both of them, Gin returns quickly, portable oxygen machine in hand. The tubing of the nasal cannula drags on the ground behind her and Atsushi can’t help but grimace. That’s a lot of tubing.
“Put this on now.”
Atsushi watches in awe as Akutagawa obeys his sister, the only protest being the dramatic roll of his eyes. Gin firmly ignores him and returns to her seat across the room.
“Atsushi, what are you doing after work tomorrow?”
Gin’s sudden question catches Atsushi off guard. He glances over to his partner, but Akutagawa seems to be too wrapped up in putting on the oxygen tubing – literally – to pay much attention to their conversation.
“Uh, nothing much…just going back to my dorm, I guess.” Atsushi answers, still glancing between the Akutagawa siblings warily, unsure of where this is going. “Why?”
“I have to return to work tomorrow.” Gin says with a sigh, clasping her hands above her crossed knees. Atsushi can’t help but think that she looks more like a disapproving mother than an eighteen-year-old hardened assassin. “I want you to come here after you get off and make sure Ryuu isn’t dead.”
“What?!” Akutagawa cries before Atsushi even has time to process Gin’s words. He coughs a few times before lowering his volume, obviously not having the energy to shout anymore. “I do not need a babysitter!”
“Yes, you fucking do!” Gin shouts back, pointing a finger at where her brother is still tangled in tubing. “After this, you can’t be trusted with your own health anymore – not that you ever could be in the first place. If I hadn’t asked Atsushi, would you have ever told me about what happened?”
“No! You wouldn’t have!” Gin answers her own question and jabs a finger toward her brother. “You would’ve just let yourself get sicker and sicker and sicker! Believe it or not, there are people who don’t want to see you wither away and fucking die!” Akutagawa is silent for a while, still not bothering to fix the tubing that isn’t quite in his nose. To Atsushi’s never-ending surprise, his partner averts his eyes instead of retaliating, simply staring at his sweat pants instead of making eye contact with the other two people in the room.
If Atsushi isn’t mistaken – which he probably is – he thinks he notices tears welling up in Akutagawa’s gray eyes.
Part of him wants nothing more than to run in the opposite direction of Gin’s rather interesting request, but a larger part of him bubbles up with excitement. This is his chance…this is his chance to take care of his partner…this is his chance to finally sort out the traitorous feelings that keep flooding his chest whenever he so much as looks at Akutagawa.
This is his chance…
Before Atsushi knows what he’s doing, Atsushi hops to his feet, fixing Gin with a determined look and a poorly suppressed grin. “I’ll do it.”
Both he and Gin firmly ignore Akutagawa’s groan in defeat.
This is his chance…and he’s not going to miss it…