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It'd been two weeks since Akira had enrolled in Shujin, and oh, it sucked so much. No friends, not a single call from his parents, no respect from his teachers, and not a single moment where someone wasn't talking crap to or about him... But as bothersome as all that was, none of it pissed him off as much as Sojiro.
His home life had never been... supportive... but at the very least his parents knew him well enough to decide he deserved to be treated like shit. Sojiro did it just because he looked like a criminal. Most people would have dropped it after a while, but no, not him; it was like he was waiting for every possible moment to get an insult in.
Just this morning, after Akira had helped him out with the dishes without even being told to do so, he'd asked in a seemingly friendly tone, "Make any friends yet?"
"No, sir."
"No wonder. You look like the child of Satan, kid." He'd snorted laughter, shaking his head in amusement. "Wouldn't be too surprised to find you performing one of those rituals. Hoooo, boy!"
It had been a great start to a day filled with derisive comments from teachers and his peers. Frankly, Akira was sick of it. So sick of it he would give up his shitty excuse for a home just to get back at anyone here.
Which was why he'd snuck out his window tonight to go to a candlestore. One cool thing about his new location was the seemingly endless amount of stores here. It was actually kind of ridiculous, especially when you considered the fact that there was an entire store dedicated to all things related to freaking candles.
A bell above the door chimed when Akira went in; glancing up, he saw it was an actual bell, hung by a yellow ribbon. The inside was pleasantly warm, and holy shit it smelled amazing- a bit strong from all the overlapping scents, yes, but not enough to be overwhelming. Akira pushed his glasses up; how was the store so damn big? There were sections for lighters, scented candles, classic candles, what even were classic candles, how could there be so many different types of candles...?!?
Unfortunately, he couldn't see any Satanic candle sections, so instead he chose an aisle at random. He'd only got a few steps in, surveying the shelves lined with individual candles, before he glanced ahead and froze. Near the end was the student council president, frowning as she continued to lift various candles to her face. "Sae," she said to a gray-haired woman whose attention was solely directed towards her phone, "Which would be better for studying? 'Honey Citrus' or 'Gentle Spring Breeze?' "
Sae sighed. "Just pick something, Makoto."
"Oh. Okay." She sounded crestfallen. Akira unconsciously arched an eyebrow; she had always seemed so in-control and, honestly, emotionless when he saw her studying in the library or speaking during a school assembly. "Would you like to see the new April selection? I know the monthly scent collections are your favorites-"
"We don't have time for this." She snapped.
Makoto flinched. "I'm sorry, sis." She placed one of the candles down and started to turn- Akira immediately left, walking swiftly with his head down. He might have said something to Sae about being a rude bitch at one point in his life, but that was before he'd got expelled for trying to save a woman from being sexually assualted.
Anyway, there was no need to be nosy, not when he had a mission to accomplish. Satanic candles that would look legit in a pentagram. .. Maybe he'd burn some of Sojiro's precious coffee as an "offering." The look on his face... A stupid ending to his stupid time here.
...How the hell was this store even organized? None of the signs- "Southern Scents" and "Nature Values," to name a few- made any fucking sense.
He decided to try his luck on that "Monthly Scent Collection" Makoto had mentioned, only to find another- um, spectacle. A boy about his age was making highly concerning noises as he buried his face in a pile of candles, his dark bluish-purple hair shimmering in the dramatic "cyan for April showers" lighting.
"Sir-" An employee was saying awkwardly as he watched this disturbing sight, "I really need you to stop that-"
"Hush! This is the finest arrangement of sensual ecstacy imaginable! I can feel April! This is... art!" The boy was screaming as he inhaled like a man who had almost drowned and just been reintroduced to air. "Art is being created, my friend! I can SENSE it!"
"Please, sir, you're disturbing our other customers-"
"Others matter not in the realm of creativity, originality!" The boy still didn't move, making highly sexual sounds as he breathed in the candles.
"You don't understand-"
"To be great is to be misunderstood!"
Akira turned and walked away. He didn't pay attention to the signs now, just kept scanning aisles until he found one devoid of people (to think so many assholes would be in a candleshop this late at night!) Yet again, there seemed to be no organization here. Sighing, Akira scooped up a black one, only now noticing that the glass globe around the wax was carved with designs- this one had lacy curls swirling all around it. He checked the label- "Tire" in cutesy kanji. What the... He took a sniff and felt like he'd just stuck his face in a brand new tire at some car dealership.
In an all new appreciation of how terrifying the world was, Akira placed it back in its original spot, his next attempt a sickly green shade of wax- "Cucumber," and while this one kind of looked like death it smelled sweet and girly, definitely not demonic. Maybe he would go with tire- no, that would just make it seem like he was pretending to summon a car or a greasy salesman.
Sighing, he took a few more steps down and swiped up a deep red one, hopefully blood- no, cherry. Akira had to take a moment with this one, it was just... too sweet. And damn, the scent brought back memories- back when he was a little kid, he'd had a teacher that treated him better than his parents ever had. Her perfume had been chokingly strong, but the scent of cherry had been so sweet it hadn't mattered- and now, subconsciously, Akira associated cherries with happiness and safety, which might be why his favorite color (excluding black, of course) was this particular shade of red.
He closed his eyes, smiling as he breathed in again; he remembered that day he had came to school with a bruise left by his father on his face, and how she had called him in after the other kids had left and gave him a hug, promising him that if something was going on he could always talk to her about anything... He had been so close to confiding in her, too, but he never had...
Dimly, he was aware of a clanking noise. But he wasn't even in the candlestore anymore: he was back in time, fighting back tears of gratitude when, after a Saturday evening and entire Sunday of being grounded from eating, she had noticed he didn't have any lunch or money and bought him so much good food, including this incredible cherry dessert-
He felt a gentle tap on his shoulder and jumped. "Ah- shit, sorry man!" A boy exclaimed, his brown eyes going wide. Akira recognized him- another outcast at Shujin- Fuji or something was his name. One muscled arm was curled over his chest, a crapton of candles nestled in the bend of it.
"It's no problem." Akira replied smoothly. "What is it you need?"
"Oh." The blonde's face flushed. "It's kinda embarrassin', but you looked like you enjoy candles or somethin' cuz of the way you were doing that just now, and I could use someone that does... know stuff about candles." He self-consciously kicked at the ground. "My mom's birthday's next month, and I wanna get her somethin' great, but I only got the money for one candle and I want it to be perfect- shit, that was way too much info, wasn't it?"
Akira smiled. This was the first time someone had talked to him like a normal person, and the fact that the other boy was extremely fucking cute didn't hurt anything. "I don't mind at all."
His face lit up. "For real? You're the best, man! Okay-" He carefully moved one up to Akira's face, his own bright with such pure joy it honestly made Akira's heart melt. "She really likes ocean stuff, so maybe that one..."
It was tropical, fresh and pleasant. After a moment the blonde scooted aside some candles on a shelf to place that one down, then showed Akira another- "But I think she might like this one, too."
"It just smells like water."
He frowned. "Yeah, you're right,'' He mumbled, tossing it in a discount box filled with candles a few feet from them- it landed right in the center with a gentle clack.
Akira whistled in appreciation. "Nice throw."
He shrugged. "Thanks. I like this one, too-" Vanilla. Straight-up vanilla. "But maybe this one? It's really girly-" Smelled like expensive perfume. Akira leaned away and sneezed. "Gah- shit, sorry!"
The ravenette chuckled, his smile growing wider as he met the blonde's eyes again. "Don't worry. What's your name, by the way?"
"Uh, Ryuji Sakamoto. Yours?"
"Akira Kurusu."
Ryuji's brow arched. "Shit, I thought you looked familiar!" His body tensed- Akira knew he was about freak out over Akira's reputation, and for some reason the realization panged him almost too much to bear- but instead Ryuji mumbled, "Shit... you prob'ly don't wanna be seen with me, then, people'll talk even more 'effin shit-"
Akira stared at him in such explicit shock that when Ryuji noticed he jumped. "Ah, goddammit, do I got something on my face-"
Akira laughed even harder, feeling a pressure he didn't know was inside of him start to ease. "No, no... I'm just surprised you aren't worried about being seen with me."
Ryuji scoweld. "Hell no, fuck that shit- I don't give a damn. It's all Kamoshida's fault everyone hates me anyway, not mine."
"Really? I hate him, too."
Ryuji's smile returned. "Good- he's a for real piece of shit. But let's not ruin the night talkin' about that asshole- what about this one?"
Akira's nose quivered. "What the hell is this?"
Ryuji checked the label. "Well, it's called 'Dolphin' and Mom loves dolphins-" He broke off, awkwardly biting his lip. Holy shit, this boy was adorable...
Akira decided to save him with a subject change: "Didn't you say her birthday's next month? Why get so worked up buying stuff right now?"
"Oh- well, I gotta make sure it's perfect, ya know?" Ryuji murmured, clearly a bit mortified. "Just trying to save up a bit, buy a few things here and there so that by the time it rolls around it's actually good."
"That's so sweet."
"H-Huh?" Ryuji's cheeks tinted a delightful shade of pink.
"Nothing~. Here." Akira cleared out a bigger section on the shelf, stacking the irrelevant candles carefully so they wouldn't shatter. "Let's find some more options."
Ryuji's brow furrowed. "You sure that's a good idea? I'm havin' a hard enough time with just these-"
"Shhhh. I am the candle master, remember? Don't question my authority."
Ryuji snickered, playfully punching his shoulder. "Alright man. Let's keep lookin'." When Ryuji took a few steps down the aisle, Akira casually slipped the cherry one in their pile before tagging along, grabbing random ones off random shelves.
Bluebells. Roses. Pineapple. Pickles. At that one, Akira turned to tell Ryuji to try it, stopping dead at the... art... he was met with. (Too bad that boy from before wasn't here; he probably could have painted this a million times and still had more artistic inspiration left over.)
Whatever scent it was, it was a pastel yellow, the glass encasing it stained a pale orange that shimmered in the store's lighting. Sunflowers were carved delicately along the sides, and, surely without the blonde's knowledge, Ryuji's fingertips were placed directly in the center of them, so that it seemed like flower petals were spreading around them. His eyes were closed peacefully as he breathed in what was held so close to his face, the stress and tension completely gone from him. The only sound Akira could hear was Ryuji's soft breathing and his own racing heart as he stared at that perfect smile. He looked so... pure. Like an angel.
Ryuji felt Akira's gaze on him and quickly looked up, not even thinking to get embarrassed. "This one's soooo good, dude! Try it!"
Akira reached for it, brushing Ryuji's hand as he did so in a manner that made his skin... flutter, sorta. He gazed at Akira skeptically but couldn't find any signs that had been intentional; for some reason, he felt a tad... disappointed at the realization.
"Mmmmmm~." Akira hummed, the sound extremely sweet. "Lemon pie, right? Nice."
"Yeah!" Ryuji beamed. "Mom used to make it all the time, back when Dad was still around-" He stopped, his expression darkeneing.
Akira took a wild guess that his dad had died. "I'm sorry for your loss." He said quietly.
Ryuji's demeanor didn't change. "Wasn't no loss, it was good effin' riddance. Sure you've heard all about my life at school by now."
"No. No one talks to me."
"Oh." His brow creased. "My bad-"
"Dude, it's fine. Does your mom still make it now?"
Ryuji glanced away, scratching the back of his neck. "No... she's too busy. She used to make it to... comfort me when things... got really rough with him and... I don't... She's... She's overworked and shit now and I don't even do jack shit to help ever since Kamo-" He cut himself off, staring out into nothingness for a few moments, his eyes filled with enough misery to break Akira's heart. "Sorry, kinda just went off the wall with that!" He laughed, but his eyes still seemed so... lost. Helpless. "I just, you know, since everyone including me knows all about your life I figured I should tell you some about me and then it got awkward, haha anyway maybe I can help you with whatever you were needing from this place too?"
"I've already found exactly what I needed."
"For real? That's great! Uh..." He added the lemon pie one to the pile, surveying it miserably. "Shit. I really don't-"
"Check this one out."
Ryuki grimaced. "Is that a motherfucking pickle candle?"
"Mmmhmm."
"What kinda 'effed-up store's this?" Ryuji's laugh seemed more genuine, but now that Akira had seen a glimpse of the boy's struggle he couldn't stop noticing the gleam of pain in his eyes.
"Eh, I've seen worse... Ever heard of Junes?"
"What's that?"
"Nevermind."
Ryuji shrugged, his gaze wandering down a few shelves and immediately losing all hope. "There's one called turtle."
"I'm sure it's better than dolphin."
Ryuji rolled his eyes. "For real, dude. What do you think I should go with?"
"Ryuji?"
"Yeah?"
"Look at me." A bit confused, Ryuji turned to him. "You shouldn't have had to go through whatever the hell happened at school... and whatever happened before that. You're... good. I can see that."
Ryuji blushed. "What- Where did that come from?"
"You're really muscular, too."
"Uh... thanks?"
"Do you ever feel lonely?"
"Um, Akira? Are you okay, man...?"
Akira sighed. "Was that weird?"
Ryuji shuffled his feet. "Kinda.."
"You're adorable, you know that?" Ryuji's eyes widened, his face flushing deeper. "I know it sucks at Shujin. I know... what it's like to have a father like that. I know what it's like to be alone. But you have me now." And then he held him and pressed their lips together. Ryuji's whole body tensed, but holy shit Akira's lips were soft and this felt really nice and then he pulled away. "I'm sorry. You're just so cute."
Ryuji's whole face was red. "I-Uh-Y-K-D-" He stuttered, not even sure what he was trying to say.
"Your mom's lucky to have you as a son."
Ryuji gave up on speaking and stood there, stunned.
"I'm sorry."
The blonde moved a hand up to his face, feeling the warmth there and getting more embarrassed. "Is this a prank...?" He finally managed to get out.
"No."
He glanced around to see if anyone was watching, then turned back to Akira. "That was... really fast..."
"I'm sorry, I just... couldn't control myself."
Ryuji laughed softly, the sound filled with a slightly childish glee. "Th-That's okay." His voice went quiter. "I know it's really fast, but... I liked that." Akira was definitely attractive, and nice, and above all it seemed like he understood... Understood something about Ryuji within twenty minutes of knowing him, though he wasn't sure of either how that had happened or even what it was.He didn't want to be alone anymore, and one look at those soft gray eyes made it clear Akira mirrored the feeling. "Th-Thank you..."
Akira grinned. "Thank you." Forget summoning Satan; he would be happy living in that shitty attic from this point on. "Now, come on. Grab all of those."
Ryuji tilted his head. "What- I only got the money for one."
"Doesn't matter. I'm buying."
"B-But... these things are expensive-"
"I have the money."
"H-How?"
"That's a secret~." He grabbed Ryuji's hand, hearing a soft gasp leave him.
"I can't, it's askin' way too much-"
Akira let go, grabbing the candles and marching over to the check-out. The girl handling the register worked very efficiently, and within moments he had them in a pretty pink bag and had crossed back to a flabbergasted Ryuji.
"Here you go~." He placed the bag in his arms, then, after a moment's consideration, opened the bag and plucked out the cherry one, placing it in Ryuji's pocket. "The rest are for her, that one's for you. See you at school tommorrow~!"
He started to walk out. Ryuji frantically called out, "But- I- You- Wh-Why would you do something so nice for a stranger?!?"
Akira stopped a the door, turning and shrugging. "I guess candles make me feel romantic." And with that said, he left with a pleasant jingle of bells that sounded to Ryuji like a song of better things to come from here on out.