Chapter Text
In the end, it was Akira’s mom who opened the door.
Everything happened so fast that Akira could barely recall what happened in detail, but it went something like this:
First, after opening the door, his mom stared at him with a disappointed expression. “I see you are finally here,” she had said, without much joy.
Then, she had noticed Akechi, who gave her his most radiant TV smile.
“G-G-Goro Akechi?!” She had screamed, making them both shrink. (Akira was sure she had ruptured their eardrums.)
And finally, after the initial shock, she had stared dumbfounded at their interlocked hands for a scary amount of time, looked at him in the eyes, and whispered. “ Akira Kurusu, what the hell have you done now ?”
Akira didn’t have enough time to say anything, because immediately after, his two cousins, Ren and Yui, peeked through the door and started screaming as well.
“Akira! You are back!!” said Ren with a big smile.
“W-Wait-! i-isn’t that Goro Akechi, the handsome boy that appears on TV?!” stammered Yui.
“Guys, don’t scream,” called their father, Akira’s uncle. “Yui, what are you talking about- Oh, wait, It’s really him, the Detective Prince!”
“Akira, I didn’t know you were friends with Goro Akechi!” squealed his auntie, who also came to see what was going on.
In just a few seconds, almost all his family –except his granny and dad– were gathered around the entrance, staring at them with wide, curious eyes. Even Akira’s dog, Lupin, was watching the whole scene from the living room, wiggling his tail excitedly.
Akira gulped, he would need a lot of guts for this. He threw a side glance to Goro to see how he was doing and studied his face. Goro’s jaw seemed just a bit tense, but besides that he looked pretty calm, his pleasant smile still there, unwavering.
“Hello everyone, I’m Goro Akechi, although it seems you all already know that,” Goro spoke with an easy chuckle, “I’m very happy to finally meet Akira’s family, he has spoken highly of you all,” he lied with a charismatic smile.
“You go, Akira!” cheerfully said Akira’s aunt, hitting him on the shoulder with too much force, “You leave to Tokyo for a few months and already become friends with a celebrity!”
“Y-You should have told us you were going to bring him, idiot…” mumbled Yui who, judging by the blush on her face, Akira could tell that she probably had a crush on the detective.
“I’m sorry, guys,” Akira apologized with a smooth smile. “I wanted it to be a surprise. After all…” he looked at his mom, “...Goro is my boyfriend, so we want to keep our relationship as secretive as possible.”
“Haha we see…” his family said, nodding. “WAIT, YOUR WHAT!?”
If his mom’s scream hadn’t torn their eardrums before, now his whole family’s screams definitely had.
“YOU ARE GAY!?” screamed Ren at the same time Yui shouted, “AKECHI IS NOT STRAIGHT?!”
“H-Hey, calm down you two, Akira is almost an adult, he can do whatever he wants,” said Akira’s uncle, cleaning the dust of his glasses nervously.
“I knew this kid had a gay vibe…” Akira’s aunt mused proudly, staring at Goro with a knowing grin.
Goro’s smile faltered. “Haha… Excuse me, I have a what-?”
Akira laughed, later he was going to tease Goro about that, but before he could say anything else, his mom, who had remained scarily quiet, spoke up.
“Everyone, please listen to me for a minute.” she said, in an authoritative tone that made everyone shut up and pay attention to her. When she was angry her eyes always became sharper, a feature that Akira had gotten from her.
If Akira had to describe his mom’s current aura in a word, he would use ‘intimidating’. Her hair was straight and long, pulled up in a low ponytail, and she always wore subtle red eyeshadow and lipstick. Her clothes were plain and formal, reminiscing of what a harsh math teacher would wear –which she actually is. Ha. Figures-.
Basically, when Akira’s mom was mad, she looked like a demon.
Akira internally gulped.
“First of all…” she started, “I want to welcome Goro Akechi in our humble home and our family!” she said, with a sudden wide smile that contrasted with the severe expression she had when she first welcomed Akira not even a couple of minutes ago. “It means a lot having someone as talented as you in the Kurusu household, Akechi-san!”
Akechi, taken aback, looked at Akira for a fraction of a second, definitely thinking the same as him, and then smiled at her, “Oh, I should be the one saying that, thank you.”
“Akira told me that he would bring a girlfriend home, I can only imagine that he was scared of our reaction and that’s why he didn’t say anything about you until now, but you don’t need to worry, I’m very glad to have you here. We all are very open!”
‘Sure, Jan’ thought Akira, bitter, completely aware that his mom had her pleasing housewife mode on.
Despite that, Akechi nodded cheerfully. “I’m very glad to hear that, Mrs. Kurusu, we were a little worried.” he laughed awkwardly.
Akira’s mom shook her head, “You have no reason to worry! We appreciate all the work you do trying to catch those Phantom Thieves, and I’m very glad that my son is in your care.” she said as she put a strand of straight dark hair behind her ear. “And please, call me Hanabara.”
Goro smiled, “Of course, Hanabara-san, and Mr. Kurusu, then…”
“Oh! He went to the grocery store with Akira’s grandma, they will come back before dinner.”
“If he took the car he could have come pick us up at the train station,” commented Akira with an edge to his voice.
“Did you have to walk here under the sun?” said his mom, feigning surprise. “I’m very sorry, you should have told us that you were arriving at this hour. ”
“I sent you a message,” Akira said, defying.
“Oh, did you?”
“Erm…” Akira’s uncle coughed, reading the tense atmosphere. “Why don’t we all go inside and let the boys settle in? I’m sure they must be tired. After that, we can properly introduce ourselves.”
“That’s a lovely idea,” agreed Goro, “let’s go, Kuru- Akira, I can’t wait to see your room.”
Akechi gave a light squeeze to Akira’s hand, who was still covering Akechi’s, and both of them went upstairs with a light, completely natural and not fake, pace.
***
Once Akira closed his bedroom door, Akechi quickly let go off his hand. Akira let out a breath he didn’t know was holding, and went straight to lie down on his bed, like the dramatic teen he was. Akechi stared at him from the middle of the room with a raised eyebrow.
“Everything fine?” he asked.
Akira gave him a thumbs up.
“Your family is quite... Lively.” Akechi carefully commented. “Want to talk about what just happened down there?” he asked, trying to sound casual about it but sort of failing, since Akira could tell how curious Akechi was.
So he gave him a thumbs down.
Goro crossed his arms, “You do realize I have to know more about them if we want to make this work, right?” he noted, “They seem to have bought the lie, but we don’t know how your grandma and dad will react.”
Akira groaned. “Don’t remind me of it.” He stared at Akechi from his bed and sighed, “Thank you, though, I didn’t expect them to be so intense right from the start.”
Akechi nodded, “It seems your mom will be a tough one. Your uncle and aunt seem pretty accepting, though.”
“Yeah… Auntie works as a dance teacher so she is very energetic and open, and my uncle is a bit of a nerd so he is okay with pretty much everything.” He explained, “Their kids are another story, though.”
Akechi hummed, thoughtful, “How so?”
“Ugh tired. Will tell you later.”
Akira heard Goro let out a disappointed huff. He thought the detective was going to insist and insist until Akira told him every little thing about his family, but apparently something else seemed to catch Akechi’s attention.
“Is that a Featherman poster?” he suddenly asked, staring at the wall behind Akira.
“Huh? Oh, yeah, I’ve had it since I was seven. The edges are pretty yellow.”
“I see…” said Akechi, curious. Then, noticing his surroundings, the detective proceeded to stare (more like inspect) the rest of Akira’s room.
Glad that Akechi would be entertained for some time, Akira let him explore in peace. The train trip and the ‘warm’ welcoming had left him quite exhausted, after all. He knew that he would have to talk more about his family to Akechi eventually, but that would require a complex and overly long powerpoint presentation that could rival Game of Thrones’ family dynamics, and he wasn’t really feeling up to that.
Instead, he stared at the ceiling and let Akechi curiously wander around the place.
Akira didn’t think his room was very special, it pretty much looked the same it had before he left back in April. It was fairly big, and looked nothing like the one he had in Leblanc: the walls were a clear grey color, covered by a handful of posters of bands and movies that Akira liked, such as the prequel of the Cake Knight Rises, and Inception by Christmas Nolan.
His single bed was located next to the only window, which had a great view of Inaba, and since his house was facing the west, dim orange rays of sunshine were already filtering through his white curtains, telling him that the sun was slowly setting.
Besides that, it seemed that his family had started to use his room as the storage 2.0, since he didn’t remember leaving the fishing rod, the barbecue kit and the awfully ugly Christmas tree all cluttered next to his desk.
They really had given up on him, huh…?
No. He should stop. Thinking about his family was only going to give him a headache. He should actually try and take a nap, but it was impossible since Goro was wandering around his room like an alien who had just arrived on Earth for the first time. He was inspecting every single thing.
“Has no one ever told you not to touch other people’s belongings?”
“What is this?” Goro asked, currently holding a golden trophy.
“I used to do gymnastics when I was little and won a couple of trophies, now can you leave it where you found it?”
“Really? With your posture that’s hard to tell,” commented Akechi lightly as he left the trophy on the shelf. That little shit.
Goro kept walking around the room and observing every little thing; he opened the drawers, stared at the plane toy he had hanging on the ceiling, and inspected the insides of the wardrobe. If Akira knew better, he would have thought that Goro had never been to a friend’s house.
“You won’t find all the weed that I’m hiding.” He joked, staring at him from the bed.
Akechi rolled his eyes, “Oh, don’t be so dramatic, I’m just curious. You are very interesting after all.”
“And you are very nosy, have you never learned about room etiquette?”
Akechi looked away with a coy smile, “I must have missed that class.”
“An honor student skipping class? Maybe dating a delinquent is having a bad influence on you.” teased Akira, getting closer to where Akechi was standing (he was holding the Christmas tree star with a very confused face.)
“Why do you have a Christmas tree in your room… in Summer?”
‘I will answer you if you tell me why you seem to be conducting a search in my room.’ Akira wanted to say, but he already knew the answer.
He had been right, hadn’t he? Akechi had accepted to come to his home solely to investigate him. The detective probably thought that he would find something that incriminated him or proved that he was a Phantom Thief. For a second, Akira felt a bit hurt, but he did his best to put those thoughts aside.
After a few more minutes of Goro wandering around, the brunette furrowed his brows slightly and turned to look at Akira, who was watching him from the desk chair with a cheeky grin.
“So? What’s your verdict, detective? Is my room acceptable?”
Akechi put a defeated hand on his chin, hiding his disappointment, “I guess it’s very... you.”
“Is that a good or a bad thing?”
“A good thing, of course.” Akechi said with a charming smile. “By the way, may I use your bathroom? I think a shower would do me well before we have dinner with your family.”
“Oh, sure, it’s the room on the left at the end of the corridor. Feel free to use anything you need.”
Akechi nodded and grabbed his things, excusing himself. Akira couldn’t help but notice how Goro also brought his phone with him to the bathroom. Maybe he was being paranoid, but he thought it was strange, Morgana would have probably said something like ‘what if he works for someone and is reporting to them? Akira, you must be careful!’
Yeah, Mona would probably say that, but Akira didn’t want to worry about it. He didn’t have time to play cat-and-mouse with Goro. In that moment, he was not a Phantom Thief, he was just a country boy trying to survive a dangerous fate called family dinner.
***
“We are very happy to have you here, Goro-kun,” said Akira’s auntie while grabbing a takoyaki. “Now that we are together we can finally introduce ourselves. My name is Ume Amamiya, and he is my husband, Nobu.”
“Hello,” Nobu tried to say, with his mouth full of tempura and his glasses completely fogged up. He was a man with few words.
“Nice to meet you, I’m very glad to be here,” Goro said brightly as he grabbed a takoyaki as well. “Ah, it’s delicious.”
All of them were seated in a big table in the middle of the spacious living room. Akira, Goro, Ren, and Yui were seated on one side, while Akira’s mom, dad, uncle and aunt were seated in front of them. At the head of the table sat Akira’s grandmother, a silent presence.
So far, Ume was doing her best to keep the dinner from not being too uncomfortable. She had abundant curly hair, dyed orange and tied up in a high ponytail. It looked like a puffy cloud. Her skin was tanned and it was apparent how her body was really fit under her comfortable, sporty outfit. She was the clear image of a vibrant and energetic dance teacher.
“By the way, thank you for the Tokyo delicacies, Goro! I can call you Goro, right?” She asked.
“Ah… Well, actually-”
“Goro-senpai, I’m so glad you like the takoyakis, I made them myself!” boasted Yui, getting suspiciously close to Goro. “By the way, I am Yui, I’m 13 years old but people tell me I look more mature for my age.” she flirted.
“Who says that?” mumbled Yui’s brother, Ren. “AUCH!” He yelled as Yui pinched him under the table. “What the heck?!”
“What? I’m not doing anything,” said Yui, playing with one of her braids and making eye contact with Akechi.
“Ah… haha.” Goro awkwardly laughed.
Between the two siblings, Ren was the oldest. He was 15 years old and had dark, curly hair. When they were little, people used to say that Ren and Akira looked like twins, but as they grew older, their features developed differently. Ren had a rounder face, his hair was shorter, and he wore red framed glasses. His clothes were also particular, as he was always seen sporting some graphic t-shirt with a popular and overdone quote on it. Right now his t-shirt had a cryptid text that said ‘Women want me, Fish fear me.’
On the other hand, Ren’s sister, Yui, seemed to enjoy following the latest trends. Her clothes were cute and a bit too mature for her age. Her haircut consisted on straight bangs and two long braids at each side of her face. Akira was pretty sure that she wasn’t wearing makeup when they arrived to the house, but now she definitely had makeup on. He could imagine why.
“You are taller than I expected, Goro-senpai,” she told Akechi, batting her eyelashes.
“Have some water for your thirst.” said Akira. Everyone ignored him.
“Thank you, Yui, that’s good to hear.” Akechi stared at the siblings with mild interest, “and I guess you must be Ren, right? You look a lot like Akira.” he observed.
Ren buffed. “I get that a lot. People always think I’m his little brother. The difference is that I actually need glasses, while his are fake.” he said triumphantly.
“Why do you say that as if it was a good thing, four eyes.” Yui rolled her eyes at the same time Akechi stared at Akira and whispered, “I knew they were fake.”
Akira laughed and he started bantering with Goro, Ren, and Yui. He was glad that at least they weren’t in complete silence, but the awkward atmosphere was still there. His father and grandma had barely said anything besides a short and curt greeting.
“Dear, can you serve more rice to Akechi, I’m sure he must still be hungry.” Hanabara said at some point, passing a bowl of rice to her husband.
“Ah- That’s very generous of you.” said Akechi, approaching his plate. “Thank you.”
Tadano Kurusu –Akira’s dad– barely looked at Goro when he served him. “No problem.” and that was it, silence again. Akira wondered if his mom had told him not to make a scene.
Akechi blinked at Tadano’s cold attitude, “Ah, thanks…” he repeated, clearly a bit nervous despite trying to seem polite and pleasant. “I’m very glad to be here, your house is wonderful.”
“It’s not a bad house,” Tadano agreed, still distant. “What do you think about Inaba?”
Akechi drank water, probably to gain more time to think of an appropriate answer. “It’s really… unique. I’m used to the big city, but I can see the appeal of living in such a natural, free space. The stars must look splendid without all the air contamination.”
Tadano stared at him for a few seconds with a serious expression, until he finally nodded. “Yeah, the stars look amazing, specially in Summer. Do you know anything about astronomy?”
Akechi smiled, “Only the theory, such as the name of the stars and constellations. I have never tried to find them on the sky, though.”
Tadano’s brows furrowed. “What’s the point of knowing the theory if you can’t put it to practice?” he asked, clearly outraged. “We have to fix that. Akira, do we still have the telescope?”
Akira grinned with a wide smile, “I’m pretty sure it’s in the garage 1.0”
“Garage 1.0? What are you talking about? Anyway, make sure you find it tomorrow so we can show Akechi what he has been missing out.” said Tadano with a determined hum. It was funny to see him being annoyed, yet accepting of Akechi at the same time.
Goro shifted a little in his seat, probably surprised at how things turned out. “You are right, I guess I have been ignoring the little pleasures of life due to my job. Thank you.”
“It’s never too late to try new things,” said Akira, at the same time he high-fived Goro under the table. Akechi seemed taken aback at first by the friendly gesture, but then he gave him a proud smile.
They were doing a good job, weren’t they?
“It must be strange for you, right?” said Akira’s grandmother, talking for the first time during the whole dinner.
Everyone looked at her. She was eating at a slow pace, not staring at anyone in particular, although it was clear who she had said that to. Akechi smiled, patient. “Excuse me?”
“Being in a house with so many people, it must feel unfamiliar, I imagine.” Akira’s grandma continued, “After all, they did say on TV that you were an orphan who lived alone, right?”
Everything went quiet, the only sound being the chewing of food. Akira, worried, looked at Goro and immediately noticed how his smile had stiffened up.
“Mom!” Akira’s mother said, shocked. “why would you say something like that to our guest?”
Akira was sure that his mom’s indignance had nothing to do with Goro’s wellbeing, and more about her worrying on what Goro would say about them on TV if the Kurusu family treated him badly.
“It’s- It’s fine,” Akechi tried to say, still a bit frozen.
“No, it’s not. Grandma, what was that about?” interrupted Akira.
“Leave it, Kurusu,” Akechi insisted, forgetting about using Akira’s first name. “I said it’s fine.” he regained his smile, although it didn’t quite reach his eyes, and looked at Akira’s grandma.
“You are mistaken, Mrs. Kurusu, I’ve been in a lot of foster homes, so I’m not a stranger when it comes to spending time in an unfamiliar environment, but... I must say, this is the first time I visit my... boyfriend’s home, and meet his family, so excuse me if I seem a bit lost.” he made a self deprecating laugh, clearly meant to gain sympathy.
Akira’s grandma stared at him with sharp eyes and a raised eyebrow. “I see.”
***
“You looked at my grandma as if you were about to murder her.” commented Akira.
“I did no such thing.” retorted Goro, very offended.
The dinner was over and everyone had gone to sleep to their respective rooms. Akira had cleaned up the plates while Goro watched him quietly from the corner of the kitchen. ‘A guest isn’t supposed to help with the house chores! Just rest, Goro-chan’ Akira’s mom had told him. After that, they both had gone to Akira’s room.
“My grandma is usually very nice, I don’t know what’s gotten into her.” Akira muttered with a frown.
“People can be nice and homophobic, Kurusu,” Akechi said, checking his nails. He seemed mostly fine, but Akira could tell his eyebrows had been a bit more furrowed than normal since the dinner. “And anyway, isn’t that what you wanted, to make them mad? I would say it’s been a success so far.”
“Don’t say it like that,” Akira shook his head, “the last thing I want is my family throwing jabs at you. When I said I wanted you to take a break from Tokyo, I meant it.”
What was the point of helping Akechi escape from Tokyo’s hateful comments if his family was going to do the same?
“It’s fine, really. I don’t need you to worry about me like that,” Goro insisted, uncomfortably. “and who knows, maybe your grandma didn’t mean that in a negative way, maybe she was just curious about my life.”
Akira and Goro stared at each other.
“Nah.”
“No, she totally meant it.”
They said that at the same time, and somehow the surrealism of the whole thing made Akira laugh and Akechi smirk. Akira realized that sharing secrets with Goro was a lot of fun. Despite their differences, they often were on the very same, inexplicable wavelength. It was hard to explain, but he really cherished those moments. It made him feel understood in a level he was not used to.
“Tomorrow will be another day,” said Akechi, still smiling. “Maybe we didn’t pass today with flying colors, but I’m sure that by Monday it will be another story.”
“I put all my trust in you, Goro-senpai.” Akira joked, with a grin. “Did you like my impression of Yui?”
“Ahaha… don’t remind me, please.”
“She really likes you. I can’t believe she tried to exchange your chopsticks while you weren’t looking to get an indirect kiss. ”
“Kids these days sure have guts, I have to admit.” Akechi grimaced, then he started putting on his pyjamas with a sigh. The clock on Akira’s desk told them that it was already 11pm. “Also, if she flirts with me it can mean two things: One, that she doesn’t respect you at all, or two, that she doesn’t believe we are actually dating.”
Akira also started putting on his black shirt and dark green pants that he used as pyjamas. “Honestly? I think she is in denial about her celebrity crush not being straight. She is so homophobic...”
“Shut up,” Akechi laughed, “but I could see that being a reason as well.” he admitted, hand on his chin.
“We will just have to be more lovey-dovey in front of her.” Akira batted his eyelashes.
“Good luck with that.”
“Hey, I thought we were a team!” Akira retorted, then he noticed how Akechi was looking for something inside his travel bag without much luck. “What are you looking for?”
“My hair tie… I thought I left it here?” Akechi mumbled, rummaging through all of his things. “I usually sleep wearing one in summer, so my hair doesn’t get stuck on my neck.” he frowned. “It’s not here.”
Akira tried to remember if he had something like that. Last week, Futaba had decided to give him a ridiculous hairstyle,‘I just want to see what your forehead looks like when you have your bangs on a ponytail!’ she had said, and then, after seeing the results she had whispered ‘I want to forget, but God won’t let me.’ ouch. Still, he was pretty sure he had kept the red hair tie in his jeans’ pocket… ah, there it was!
“Come here for a second,” he told Akechi, grabbing the hair tie and approaching the detective, who was still crunched down next to his travel bag.
“Uh- What?”
Akechi didn’t even have time to turn around. Akira crunched down behind him, and wrapped his hands carefully around Goro’s hair.
“W-What do you think you are doing?!” Akechi yelped.
“Hey, don’t move or the strands will fall out.” Akira complained, combing through Goro’s hair with his fingers.
“This is…” Goro started, but didn’t finish, probably not finding the right words. Despite his anger, he didn’t move, and stayed in place just like Akira asked, waiting for him to finish tying up his hair.
Akira hadn’t really thought about his actions, his mind only focusing on helping Goro out. That is, until he saw Akechi’s ears slowly turn a very bright red, and then suddenly he realized the position he had put both of them in.
His face started to heat up.
“You are too slow.” Akechi groaned, not sounding as impatient as he probably intended. Akira couldn’t see his face, but he could imagine what it looked like judging by how tense his shoulders were.
“Sorry, let me just-” he apologized. He just needed to finish this and then they would forget about it. God, what was he thinking, invading Goro’s space like that?
Suddenly, the door opened.
“Goro-senpai, could I take a selfie…” started Yui, with a practiced cute voice. That is, until she noticed the scene unfolding in front of her: Akira’s hands were still in Akechi’s hair, the way they were clenched on the floor looked as if they were spooning, and their faces were obviously red , “–with you…”
Akira gulped. “Um. There you go.” he said, finally finishing tying up Goro’s hair.
Goro stood up immediately, brushing a few strands off his face and going back to his charming persona, something not really possible since his face was bright red. “Sure, Yui, come here so we can–”
aaaand Yui closed the door.
“–take the picture…” finished Goro, staring at the empty space where Yui once was. “Well. I think we have traumatized your cousin.”
“Shuake 1 Homophobia 0.” said Akira, standing up and dusting off his pants.
Akechi made a face, “Please don’t combine our names like that ever again.”
***
After Yui’s unprompted interruption, both of them spent the next half hour playing various card games seated on the floor around Akira’s kotatsu (he had taken the winter blanket off so it was just an ordinary table) Akechi had complained about Akira not having a chess board, and Akira promised to buy one at Junes on the next day.
“Is this the card you picked?” asked Akira, showing Goro a card with the joker drawn on it.
“No, it was the ace of hearts,” smiled Goro. “I don’t think doing magic tricks is your vocation.”
“Don’t break my dreams like that,” Akira said, at the same time ten cards fell from his actual sleeve. “oops.”
Goro rolled his eyes and stretched his neck, which made a pretty awful sound. “I think it’s time to go to sleep. I’m starting to feel the consequences of the train ride.”
“Right,” agreed Akira. He stood up, put away the cards in their respective box, and opened his wardrobe to search for the other futon he knew that was there.
Except it wasn’t.
“Where is the futon?” he asked, twisting his mouth.
“How am I supposed to know.” replied Goro tiredly. He sat on the bed, checking his phone and not paying much attention to Akira, who went around the room opening and closing drawers, looking for the missing futon.
Once it was obvious that said futon wasn’t there, Akira told Goro that he would go ask his mom where it was. He was about to step outside of the room when Goro stopped him.
“Wait, what are you thinking?” he hissed. Akira stared at him with a confused look. Akechi closed his eyes and pinched his nose. “Think about it. What will your family think if you ask them for another futon?”
Akira was too tired to think, but he made the effort. “Shit.” he said, once realization hit. “They will know we don’t plan to share the bed.”
“Exactly.” nodded Goro. “We must find the futon by ourselves, without anyone seeing us.”
“That’s impossible. All my relatives are staying in every single room of the house where there could be a spare futon.”
Akechi crossed his arms, “then what do you suggest we do?”
Akira scratched his head, “I could sleep on the sofa in the living room… Oh, but my dad wakes up super early, if he found me there that would raise too many suspicions. I guess the only choice is that we share my bed?”
Akechi stared at him with a sour expression and narrowed eyes.
“What? I really didn’t expect this to happen!” justified Akira.
Akechi stared at him suspiciously until he sighed and nodded, defeated, “Alright, if there’s no other way. It’s just a bed, after all.” he said in a way that suggested that it wasn’t just a bed after all.
“Are you sure?” Akira asked, concerned that he was making Goro cross too many bounds.
Akechi nodded, not really looking at him. “Of course, it would be childish to worry about something like that.”
Despite his words, Akira could tell that Akechi wasn’t being completely honest, so he wasn’t sure on what to do. Come to think of it, he had never spent a lot of time with Akechi, had he? The few times they hung out, they spent a maximum of two hours together at most. Today had been the first time where they really got to coexist and get to know each other.
Akira always regarded Akechi as someone private, prideful and independent. He was usually polite and pleasant, charming even, with a tendency to fall deep in thought and a relentless competitive streak. Right now, though, Akechi looked really out of his element. He was in Akira’s hometown, in his room, wearing overly formal pyjamas that crashed comically with the messy ponytail Akira had given him. Seated on Akira’s bed, he was playing mindlessly with his hands –probably missing his gloves– and he kept staring at the Christmas tree with a disapproving, confused look.
Compared to his more confident and smug self, right now Goro looked pretty lost and tired.
“I will sleep on the sofa and put an alarm at 4am, this way I’m sure I can get away without anyone finding out.” Akira decided, putting his hands in his pockets.
Akechi stared at him with wide, incredulous eyes. “Why would you do that?”
“I put you into this mess, so I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable.” Akira admitted, with a small, sheepish smile.
Akechi’s eyes widened even more if that was possible, and then he quickly looked away, frustrated. “...Stop feeling bad about having invited me over, it’s incredibly rude. And now come here to sleep, I’m tired!”
“Yessir,” Akira said, and he hurried over to the bed.
***
Akira: Thank you for the hair tie.
Futaba: So that’s where it was, you thief!!
Akira: I will return it to you… for a price.
Futaba: Not only a thief, but also a kidnapper.
Akira: I just have a question.
Akira: Can irl people be a tsundere or that just happens in anime?
Futaba: Whut? is this about Akechi? Ann told me
Futaba: Wait what did you use my hair tie for?
Futaba: Akira?
Futaba: Akira answer me you little shit