Chapter Text
It was an unbearably humid Saturday evening, and Akira was spending it lying in bed with his shirt pulled up over his exposed stomach, willing himself to believe that this would somehow make his body feel even remotely cooler. He was fidgeting with his phone, trying to find a way to mindlessly pass the time as he attempted to get some sleep. In reality, he wasn’t that tired. His mind was pretty active after having spent the afternoon in Mementos with his teammates, but Morgana insisted that he stay in for the night and rest. He usually didn’t fight Morgana on that suggestion--he secretly appreciated that he could use Morgana as an excuse for staying in rather than always being on the go with jobs, homework, infiltration tools, and his friends. He needed this alone time.
He didn’t like too much time to himself, however, and his thoughts were already entertaining ideas of what he could do tomorrow on his first Sunday of summer vacation. Since moving to Tokyo, he had spent quite a bit of time with Ryuji, Ann, and Yusuke. Truth be told, he had seen quite a bit more of Yusuke than the others ever since he joined the Phantom Thieves a few weeks prior. At first, Akira was just helping him out with an art block, but eventually he found himself quite fond of Yusuke’’s quirks and seriously impressed by his talent. The corner of his lip curled up when he remembered some of their more bizarre hang outs. Like the time they went to a church for inspiration, or the time they sat in a boat together at Inokashira Park. Personally, their time together in that little boat at Inokashira had been Akira’s favorite afternoon in months. It was so nice to live in his own little bubble, just him and Yusuke, surrounded sunlight and water and lovers and greenery. It was peaceful, and everyone there in the boats and on shore seemed to be enjoying the late spring afternoon quite thoroughly. Truth be told, this was when his feelings turned from intrigue to a crush. It was so endearing that Yusuke had unintentionally taken them on a couples outing, and the way the sunlight came through the trees to shine in Yusuke’s hair and dance on his smooth pale skin captured Akira’s heart. He sighs contentedly, his heart warmed by the memory.
As if on cue, his phone buzzes and Yusuke’s contact image appears on the screen.
“Huh…?, who could that be at this hour...?”, Morgana grumbles, having been disturbed from his sleep by the phone.
Akira ignores him as he swipes open his lock screen, already smiling as he reads the messages.
“I’ll be intruding upon you tomorrow.
Your house manages to be cool despite this heat.
There’s a book I’d like to read, and should something happen, I would be ready in case we must assemble.
If it works with your schedule, we could hang out.
Until then, good day”.
It’s sweet that Yusuke feels a need to justify spending time with Akira, but he doesn’t need to have an excuse like weather or reading or Thieves missions to grace Akira with his presence. Akira responds right away, but doesn’t point any of this out. Satisfied, he puts down his phone and tries to quell his excitement and rest up for tomorrow.
“He’s definitely making the most of his summer vacation…” he hears Morgana mumble as he closes his eyes and rolls over.
--
Akira had just finished dressing himself when he heard Sojiro’s voice calling him from downstairs.
“Hey, Akira! One of your friends is here to visit.”
Wasting no time, Akira heads down to the cafe, jumping the last three stairs at the bottom of the staircase.
“Good morning, Akira, I’ve been waiting for you here”, he says smoothly from his spot at the booth. Akira feels the warm surge of emotion in his heart, a rush he’s used to experiencing whenever Yusuke comes around. He stands in front of the booth and looks down at Yusuke.
“Hi, have you been waiting long?” Akira asks, casually putting his hands into his pockets and cocking his head.
“Not long at all, I had just finished looking through some chapters of this art book for inspiration. Your timing is perfect”, Yusuke replies, smiling up at him.
“Perfect. Can I get you anything? Coffee or curry? If not, why don’t we head upstairs to the attic to leave room for the other customers in case they come in”.
“Upstairs sounds lovely”, he replies, standing and gathering his two art books and making his way with Akira to the stairs.
They spend several hours up in Akira’s room, at ease with each other. They discuss art and Medjed and their teammates. Yusuke is sitting relaxed on the couch, and Akira is slouched on his bed by the window. The heat is oppressive--Akira’s curly hair is clinging to his temples and the back of his neck, and Yusuke is clearly a bit overheated in his long flowing shirt. Akira can’t help but steal glances at the sticky skin of Yusuke’s exposed collar bone.
After a comfortable silence, Yusuke looks up with a wistful look on his face.
“Summer is the season for shaved ice”, he thinks aloud, not really expecting Akira to reply, “You should buy an air conditioner. If you do, I promise to come visit you here every day” he adds, throwing a charming smile Akira’s way.
“Let’s go buy one right now in that case”, Akira teases, and makes a show of pretending to pull himself up from the bed. Between money saved from heists, and job earnings from Rafflesia, maybe buying an air conditioner wouldn’t be such a bad idea if it meant that the rest of his summer vacation could be just like this moment.
“Don’t be absurd! That’s far too expensive! And anyway, where would you even find the money to pay for that? Surely not with the funds collected by our teammates--that money is for supplies and equipment!” Yusuke cuts in, not realizing that Akira was clearly joking around.
Akira laughs and rolls onto his side, propping his head up in his hand with his elbow supporting his weight on the mattress. “Of course not, Yusuke. I have a part-time job, you know”.
“You do?”
“Yes. I work as a florist at Rafflesia in the Shibuya Underground Mall on some evenings. I use some of the money for supplies, but I mostly just use it for my rail pass, some books, and going out to eat with Ryuji and Mishima”.
“I see...I suppose learning the art of floral arrangement is quite humble and charming. To learn about the language of plants and convey their meanings for lovers you will never meet…”
.
Akira smiles his crooked smile, charmed by Yusuke’s musing aloud. Of course Yusuke would make a part time job seem deeper than it actually was.
There is a pause of silence, and Yusuke seems to stiffen just barely. He opens his mouth, ready to say something but not quite sure how to phrase it. Akira waits.
“...Speaking of lovers, have you had any?”
Akira is taken aback. It’s not that the question made him uncomfortable, but he and Yusuke had not talked about relationships or crushes or romance outside of the context of art, and Akira was a little anxious that this conversation could steer into a direction which would force him to reveal his innocent crush on Yusuke, or lie upfront about it.
“I haven’t”, he responds levely after a brief pause.
“Me neither”, Yusuke admits. “But have you found anyone of interest at Shujin Academy? Surely someone has struck you with their beauty”.
Akira chuckles, hoping that his laugh sounds casual and not nervous. He quickly tries to think of a response that isn’t too revealing, but also isn’t a lie. “Well….” he begins, and sees Yusuke focus his gaze on Akira rather intensely, “...when I first transferred to Shujin and the whole Kamoshida thing started happening, I was spending a lot of time with Ryuji…so...I had a crush on him for a short time” he admits. Yusuke’s expression is unreadable, but he remains focused on Akira.
“So…” he tries, “what happened with Ryuji then? Isn’t he straight?”.
“Yeah. Exactly. It wouldn’t have worked between us, so I quickly abandoned those feelings”.
Yusuke nods.
“I’m really happy Ryuji and I are just friends though” Akira adds, hoping Yusuke didn’t think he was still pining after his straight best friend.
“Of course.” Yusuke responds diplomatically, smiling gently at Akira. He wipes a bead of sweat from his forehead. “My throat has gotten rather dry from all this talking. Would you be so kind as to make us some coffee? Though I don’t want to intrude if you have other plans for tonight”.
“It’s no trouble!” Akira reassures him as he stands and heads down to the cafe. He’s happy for the change in conversation and pretty confident that he avoided any suspicion. Although crushes have tended to cloud Akira’s thoughts before, if he thought about it logically, he likely had nothing to fear about Yusuke discovering his true feelings. It was possible that Yusuke even felt the same way, or so Akira hoped. But Akira wasn’t ready to say anything about the topic, and he was content to spend the next couple of weeks lazing around Leblanc with his friend. His really cute, quirky, talented, and surprisingly strong friend.
Akira is lost in his tender feelings while he brews the coffee exactly as Sojiro taught him. Yusuke watches in silence, taking in each step of the process from the counter. Before long, they’re seated side by side, ready to take their first sip. Akira holds the cup to his lips with poise, and throws a glance to Yusuke. He’s aware that he looks charming as he brews and drinks his coffee, and he hopes this charm may have some effect on his friend. He confidently awaits Yusuke’s review as Yusuke sets down his cup back into the saucer.
“I’m confident that this is how coffee should taste, and I will learn to appreciate its taste” Yusuke says evenly. Akira laughs realizing that Yusuke must not be a fan of bitter black coffee, but appreciates Yusuke’s attempt at a compliment anyway.
“You don’t have to finish it if you don’t want. It’s late anyway, the caffeine may keep you up”, Akira says with a light chuckle.
“Nonsense, I will not waste your creation. And besides, it is summer vacation after all, so it hardly matters how late I remain awake”.
“That’s a fair point”. Akira checks his phone. It’s getting late, and as much as he enjoys Yusuke’s company, he’d like to close up the cafe and get some time to himself before bed. “When you’re finished, how about I walk you to the station? I know it’s not far, but it’d be nice to get out and stretch my legs” Akira casually suggests, hoping he doesn’t sound too eager to go on a night stroll with Yusuke.
“I would like that, thank you”.
---
About 45 minutes later, Akira locks the door to Leblanc behind him and turns to face Yusuke. His features are harshly shadowed in the dim light of the street lamp. It suits him. All lighting suits him. Akira grows self conscious wondering how he himself might look under this same lighting from Yusuke’s point of view. Maybe Yusuke would have a more elegant description of Akira’s features in this lighting other than just “harshly shadowed”. He shakes himself from his wandering thoughts of Yusuke analyzing his features with his artist’s gaze. “Shall we?”
“Yes”.
Yusuke walks with his hands swinging at his sides, and Akira starts out doing the same until their hands brush accidentally. His heart flutters at the touch, longing to lace is fingers through Yusuke’s. He keeps his hands shoved in his pockets until he and Yusuke reach the station.
“Thank you for today”, Yusuke says with a genuine smile on his face, rail pass ready in his right hand so he can pass through the gate and leave Akira on the other side.
“Any time”.
Akira turns and walks away, his warm smile hidden, not looking back as he throws his hand up in a lazy wave.