Chapter Text
Ryuji cannot express exactly how much he appreciates this man named Sojiro Sakura. With his first bite of homemade curry, he could cry. And he does cry, a little, the tears sliding down his cheeks with a sniffle. Sojiro looks concerned, raising an eyebrow.
"You alright there? Did I make it too spicy?" He tastes his own food and looks even more curious.
"No, no. It's just... really good." Ryuji amends as soon as he no longer had a mouthful of food. He wipes his face off with the back of his arm and grins. Akira gives him a look with a smirk and a raised eyebrow, and Ryuji finds it weird how fond it is. "It's really really good, Boss. Thanks!"
"Ehh, you won't get anywhere with flattery, kid." Sojiro responds, though he does look happy about the compliment.
"I get everywhere with flattery, Boss. How do you think I met this guy?" Ryuji jabs his thumb at Akira who was quietly eating and listening to the others.
"He wooed me." Akira says, complete monotone voice and serious expression. It takes a moment, but then the table flows with laughter, warm and familiar. The dinner continued amicably, Ryuji feeling welcome and Akira feeling comforted by being... home.
The conversation was light and sprinkled with serious questions from Sojiro. The old man asked if Akira was really so easily won over, joking, yet still curious. Akira reassured him that any wooing would only ever be done by himself. When the subject of Akira's whereabouts came up, Ryuji makes sure to keep his mouth shut. Akira attempts to redirect the conversation but Sojiro is too perceptive.
"Hey, you look awfully dirty. And aren't those Alliance uniform pants?" Sojiro leans towards Ryuji and stares him down. The young man's eyes widen with surprise and fear. Akira tenses.
"N-no..." Ryuji pathetically lies, the style of their uniform was rather unique after all. The escapee had hoped that his brightly colored graphic t-shirt would have distracted enough from the pants.
"I used to work for the government, kid. I know what the uniforms look like." Sojiro smirked smugly, taking a moment of satisfaction from the terror in Ryuji's brown eyes and the quiet discomfort in Akira's. "Are you a deserter?" The man asks casually, as if he was asking Ryuji to tell him the time. Ryuji in return is anything but casual. Before the blonde can get himself in trouble because of his panic, Akira responds.
"Yes. He is. Are you going to report us, Sir?" Akira spoke with perfect confidence, putting any confusion or lies away to just lay it all out clearly. Sojiro huffed out a chuckle and sat back, relaxed.
"I won't report you. But I'm not going to be your scape goat if things go poorly and you get in trouble. Take care of yourselves, got it?" Sojiro stares the boys down and the two respond in unison with a "yessir."
Conversation continues easily as their plates clear of food. Once Ryuji was done, he leans back with a drawn out sigh and pats his stomach.
"Ahh, that was the best meal I've had in ages! Thanks, seriously!" Ryuji grins thankfully at Sojiro, who responds with a smirk and a mock-exasperated shake of his head. The blonde considers asking for seconds, but knows that it would probably just make him explode. He was nearly filled to bursting as is, but the feeling of a full stomach of good food was exquisite.
The three chat for a while even after they finish eating, relaxing and just enjoying the company. Ryuji can't help but think about how cute Akira looked while talking to Sojiro, even though it was clear the tough and suave Phantom Thief was trying to cover his emotions up. Somehow, the way Akira's mouth twitched at the corners whenever he fought a smile just made him cuter. Ryuji finds himself just staring as the other two catch up, quietly admiring his friend's face. His gaze went unnoticed for a while, but Akira does eventually look at him. Confusion crosses his grey eyes.
"Uh, earth to Ryuji?" He asks, using the archaic phrase from the earth that was. "What're you staring at, buddy?" Akira questions him again, and Ryuji falls into a bit of panic. Crap, I've been caught staring like a total creep!
"Just watchin' your face." The blonde responds without thinking, immediately filled with regret for his honesty. Akira actually looks a little taken aback, totally surprised by this answer. His face even flushes a bit.
Sojiro looks between the two of them thoughtfully, conclusions popping into his head as they interact in front of him.
"Well I know I'm gorgeous but come on." Akira fiddles with a bit of his hair. A knowing smile crosses Sojiro's face.
"That's not why I was starin', you freakin' weirdo! I just like seein' the way you smile." Ryuji digs himself into deeper grave and Akira's face turns a deeper shade of red.
"Oh." He starts, speechless. Then, Akira clears his throat into his fist and fixes Ryuji with a sassy look, one eyebrow raised and a smirk and everything. "And you called me the weirdo?"
With a deep sigh, Sojiro stands up and collects the dishes, having had enough of the two's obvious yet oblivious flirting. At this, the two look up at Sojiro, their conversation being blessedly brought to an end.
"You two are ridiculous. I'm goin' to bed." Sojiro grumbles as he takes the plates into the kitchen. Ryuji and Akira just look at each other with the same confused expression and a silent question. What the hell does he mean, "ridiculous?" The old man comes back into the room and sighs, sliding his hand back over the top of his hair to smooth it down.
"Hey, you two. You can stay in the attic of the cafe for the night. Here's the keys, kid. Just make sure to give 'em back before you leave." Sojiro tosses the key to Akira who catches it without difficulty. "And don't mess anything up, or I might just have to turn you in." Ryuji feels his heart skip nervously until he sees Sojiro wink. Once again, Ryuji feels appreciation for this man.
"Wow, thanks!" The blonde grins, the gratitude seeming to surprise the older man. Even Akira looks at him with a soft expression, lips quirked up in a barely-there smile.
"Thank you, Sojiro." Akira nods in agreement with Ryuji. Sojiro looks at the both of them and lets out a single "heh" laugh.
"It's not a problem. I've been using the attic for storage again so it's all a mess. There's nothing on the bed or the worktable though." The man stretches and cracks his back. "Now go on, I'm going to bed now and I need to lock up behind you. Don't get lost on the way to the cafe."
The two nod in unison and are ushered out of the Sakura residence. Once on the street again, the two set off towards LeBlanc. Ryuji fiddled with the bottom of his shirt as they walked, then ran his fingers through his hair with a sigh as he finds that it's all greasy.
"I guess there's no shower in the cafe, huh." He grumbles as they step up to the door of LeBlanc. Akira stops suddenly and Ryuji nearly walks straight into him. "Huh?"
"There's no shower, but there's a bathhouse across the street." Akira points into a thin looking alley illuminated only by the yellowish light coming from the laundromat along the side.
"A bathhouse?! Like with real hot water and a bath?" Ryuji doesn't seem to care about the dimly lit area. Hell, it could be pitch black and he would go in if it meant he got a real bath.
"Well yes I'd imagine it would have a bath, lest it be a pretty shitty bathhouse." Akira smirks teasingly and Ryuji punches him on the shoulder playfully.
"Oh shut up, I get it; that was a dumb question. But like, dude, is it open?" Ryuji's enthusiasm doesn't dwindle in the slightest. Akira can't help but find himself smiling.
"Does it matter if it's open? We could just break in if its closed." Akira points out blithely, and Ryuji follows him towards the door hesitantly.
"Uh, what if we get caught?" Ryuji lowered his voice into a whisper even though there was nobody around. Akira can't help but roll his eyes at the terrible whispering, knowing that anyone with ears would hear them well enough the same as if they were talking normally.
"We won't get caught." Akira smirks, opening the door and stepping into it partially. "But that doesn't matter. It's open anyway." Then the black haired smug son-of-a-cock continues into the building without another word. Ryuji follows a second later.
"Do we haveta pay or anything? I kinda left all my money behind when I bolted." Ryuji scratches the back of his head and follows Akira up to an old man at the counter. He wonders if the guy is even alive as he sits perfectly still, but when Akira approaches, he lifts his head up in greeting. Akira slides a handful of money across the table that he pulled from his pocket. Ryuji opens his mouth to reassert that he doesn't have anything to pay with, but the other just moves on and gestures Ryuji to follow. "You didn't have to pay for me, man..." he protests, but Akira smirks at him when as they enter an empty locker room.
"You can't pay for yourself, and you need a bath." Akira points out as he finds a locker and starts taking off his jacket. Ryuji blinks at him in dumb confusion until he sees the other start taking his shirt off. Oh. Right. Bath. He shakes his head to clear the weird daze he was in before undressing as well and just donning a towel. He shoves his stuff into one of the lockers and turns towards the other. Akira was leaning up against the wall of lockers watching Ryuji lazily. Their eyes meet for a second before Akira pushes off the wall with a clanking noise from the metal doors and gestures Ryuji to follow.
They enter a steamy area filled with the scent of tranquility. There was a large bath with a wheel to adjust the water's temperature on the far wall. Though, thinking about it, it would probably be better for the handle to be on the closer side so people could turn it without having to wade across the bath to get there. Distracted by his pondering, Ryuji didn't notice when his friend sank into the water with a soft content sigh. That being said, when he does notice it, he also notices the towel folded nicely nearby, and realizes that the other guy was totally completely naked under that water. He isn't sure why that flusters him, though. Ryuji has been in locker rooms before all the time, seen his fair share of nude dudes, so this should be no different. It's not like Akira has anything he hasn't seen before. Right? Ryuji's imagination runs with this train of thought, and he decides that it was definitely time to stop thinking about naked anything.
"You gonna get in or are you gonna stand there and stare at the water all night." Akira's voice catches Ryuji out of his inner thoughts, flustered. Now, he stares less mindlessly at Akira. The guy was lounging against the edge of the tub as if it was his couch, arms outstretched and resting on the rim. He had a raised eyebrow and the tiniest of smirks. Ryuji rubs the back of his neck with a chuckle and goes to remove his towel and get in. He hesitates. Akira was still blithely looking at him, and while Ryuji isn't especially ashamed or shy about his body usually, the other's gaze had a way of always unnerving him. Especially now since the dumbass wasn't looking away.
Ryuji shakes this off. He has to ask himself silently what the hell his problem is. Yet, he continues to hesitate under Akira's relaxed gaze. He fiddles with the top of his towel and watches the other's grey eyes flick down quickly before back up at his face. Ryuji tries to silently communicate with a pained look that he wanted Akira to at least close his eyes or turn around or something. The shameless phantom thief doesn't get the message.
He has no choice now; Ryuji was just gonna do it. There was no reason for it to have to be weird since he's changed around so many other guys before that he's sure at least half of the recruits have seen more than they should've. But they at least didn't leave it so obvious that they were looking. It was stupid, Ryuji has no reason to be embarrassed, but who wouldn't get antsy with someone watching them undress? Still, Ryuji didn't want to let that bring him down. So, he carelessly drops his towel and quickly gets into the water.
Every thought about embarrassment or nudity or anything is thrown directly out the window as he steps into the tub.
"Ahh, holy shit, hot water..." Ryuji breathes out, letting his thoughts be spoken aloud. "It's been too freakin' long since I last had enough hot water to do anything with. This is increeeeedible." He leans his head back against the rim of the tub as he lets his body get used to the burn of the hot water.
"Right? This was the best idea." Akira has a relaxed smile on his face with his eyes closed. It might just be the atmosphere, but Ryuji can swear that the look is contagious. "If you let me fall asleep and drown I'll haunt you."
"Don't fall asleep then, dumbass." Ryuji counters with a smirk as he closes his eyes too. They fall into a comfortable silence, the smooth voice of the water flowing from the spigot and filling the tub. The aches in his limbs seem to disappear with each passing second as he allows himself to sink further into the water until it rests just under his chin. He sighs through his nose and feels the water ripple in front of him. It's all so comforting. This whole day has been rather exceptionally good. Sojiro's curry, his mostly healed leg, and now this bath? What did he do to deserve so many good things at once?
A sudden splash of water runs down his face from the top of his head, making Ryuji jolt out of his dreamlike state. He turns to look at the culprit: Akira with his hands still raised above Ryuji's head.
"Dude! The eff?!" He glares menacingly as Akira retracts his hands. The culprit is smug and does not look guilty in the slightest.
"You looked like you were falling asleep." Akira responds as if it were obvious.
"So you had to dump water on my head?!"
Akira doesn't respond, just sits back and smirks. A need for justice boils up within Ryuji. Either that or the need for revenge. Revenge, definitely, he thinks as he scoops up as much water he can to throw at the cocky bastard next to him. It catches Akira off guard just enough to splash him, but not surprising enough to keep him from retaliating immediately.
The calm of the bath is ruined as the two devolve into children, waging a splash war. Heads are dunked under the water, the floor outside of the tub gets all wet, the towels they had sitting next to the tub also get wet. Just a few of many casualties.
Ryuji is the first to fold, holding up a hand to call for time out as he coughs up some water he accidentally inhaled. Akira stops, but doesn't look very concerned with a victorious, cocky smirk. Ryuji glares but is unable to keep the grin off his face even as he continues coughing.
"Shitlord! Fine, fine! I yield I yield!" He calls out with a rough sounding voice followed by more coughs.
"Good, I wouldn't want that to become a splash battle to the death. You good?" Akira raises an eyebrow curiously. Ryuji flaps his hand at him dismissively in response.
"I'm fine, I'm fine. Geez, don't sound too concerned." The blonde sarcastically comments on Akira's uncaring tone and expression with an eye roll. The other just laughs cheerfully, a contagious sound that has the peaceful room filled with mirth from the both of them. Any tension was dissipated, and Ryuji could swear that he feels like he's spending time with a close friend that he's had for ages.
They relax quietly for a little longer until the threat of falling asleep becomes a real possibility, then they finish up with washing and get out. Their towels had both gotten soaked during their battle, so they leave them be in their watery grave in search of fresh dry towels instead. Ryuji feels a little bad for whoever has to clean this place up, but then again he figures that it's probably completely normal for a bath house to get very wet, so it shouldn't be a problem.
In the locker room after they both dried off well enough, Ryuji looks down at his clothes with a forlorn expression. It isn't like he has anything else to wear, but it seriously sucks that he has to put on dirty clothes after getting nice and clean. He looks over towards Akira to share his pain, but finds that the other had already changed into his old clothes without hesitation. Akira meets his eyes as he pauses from drying his hair with the towel, curious.
"Are you gonna get dressed or are you a nudist now?" He teases, though the question sounds completely serious.
"Oh shut up! It's just- it totally sucks to have to put on dirty clothes after a nice bath, right?" Ryuji still complains even if it seems Akira doesn't mind all that much.
"I guess." He responds and shrugs unhelpfully before continuing to ruffle his hair dry with his towel. Ryuji groans and rolls his eyes and starts to get dressed. A deep frown sets on his face as he pulls his clothes on. Akira takes notice of his expression and tilts his towards him. "Is it that bad? Hey, I'm sure there still spare clothes in the attic, you can put something from there on when we get back if you want. Though they might be all dusty, actually."
"I'll take it, thanks man!" Ryuji flashes a bright grin that Akira can't help but to respond with a small smile of his own. The look only makes Ryuji grin wider. "Ok cmon, lets go get some sleep." The two could definitely agree on that, so they leave the bath quietly so as to not disturb the sleeping old man where they paid. Ryuji has to wonder what time the place closes because he can't imagine that old guy minds the place all the time.
After Akira slips the key Sojiro gave him into the lock of the door, the two tired guys shuffle in accompanied by a cheerful jingle of the bell. Akira locks the door behind them and then beelines for the stairs at the back of the shop. Ryuji follows without hesitation, stepping up into the attic room moments behind the other. It's clear that the place had been neglected for a while; a dead plant in the corner, clutter strewn about, boxes of varying shapes and sizes poorly organized to leave little space for walking. Underneath the mess Ryuji can see a desk, a couple of shelves, the bed, and a couch. The only thing that wasn't covered in junk is the bed, which Ryuji eyes longingly. Akira takes notice of the look in Ryuji's eyes and sighs. There was definitely no way Akira would settle for sleeping on the old couch that was never very comfortable to begin with, and he's sure that Ryuji wouldn't appreciate it much either. So, that leaves one solution.
"We have to duel to see who claims the bed." Akira announces blankly. Ryuji looks at him in confusion and then sudden realization. He holds his hands up to wave in front of him to say no.
"Huh? Oh, nah man, it's cool. I mean, this is your place and everythin'. Or, it was your place. But yeah, I can just lay on the floor or like, a booth seat downstairs." The blond tries to keep smiling reassuringly, but he still winces a bit at his sleeping suggestions. Akira's eyes widen and his eyebrows raise above the thick frames of his glasses. With his hair all wet and messy, it's easy to see Akira's forehead that is usually hidden behind his fluffy bangs.
"You're kidding?" The thief says in disbelief. "You'd sleep on the floor so I could take the bed? Oh, and trust me, the booths downstairs are not very comfortable for sleeping on." Ryuji rubs the back of his neck with an shy sort of smile.
"Oh, so then-"
"And I was kidding about fighting for it, dumbass. I was actually, uh," Akira shuffles his feet and looks solidly at the bed, "I was thinkin' that it's probably big enough for two people, so if you promise not to kill me in my sleep, or take all my stuff and run, then-"
"We would share?" Ryuji finishes the idea for his friend, getting right to the point where Akira was meandering. The other sighs and nods his head softly.
"Yeah. Don't make me regret it." Grey eyes narrow behind roundish glasses and Ryuji has to hold his hands up in surrender.
"Got it!" He laughs nervously before looking around the room. "Sooo, you said something about clothes?" Akira's tense posture eases at the reminder and he goes to the shelves by the stairs to start opening boxes. Eventually he finds one that he starts digging through until he finds an old tracksuit and white undershirt. Ryuji takes them with gratefulness, but eyes the warm looking jacket and pants. Akira catches his pensive expression and chuckles a little.
"You don't have to sleep in all that. Do whatever you're most comfortable with," he says, turning to go make the bed look less like a stage prop for a haunted house. Ryuji decides to forego the pants and jacket and just take the undershirt and boxers he found folded in the pile. He decides that he can deal with wearing another guy's underwear if it means clean clothes. At least they fit, though are a little tight on him. It would make sense; these are from when Akira was younger and on top of that he looks slimmer than Ryuji.
By the time he is done changing, Akira has finished making the bed look comfortable and already has face-planted into it. He holds up a thumbs up before rolling to the far side of the bed and shuffling under the sheets. Ryuji looks around for the lights to turn them off, and once he succeeds, he is relived to find enough light bleeding through the window to allow him to see his way to the bed. He sighs gratefully as he sinks under the blankets, warm and cozy.
"Sleep well, Ryuji." Akira's voice is muffled since he is turned away from the other and pressed into the wall. The blond smiles warmly and closes his eyes, shimmying into a comfortable position before replying.
"Yeah. You too, man." He yawns and presses his face into the stale smelling but comfortable pillow. "Thanks for helpin' me so much. I can't even begin to tell you how great it is." Akira grunts a soft acknowledgment of Ryuji's words but doesn't respond otherwise. The blond can't keep the content smile off of his face as he starts to drift off. "I'm really glad to be by your side, Akira," he mumbles, sleep starting to overtake him. Akira does not respond.