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Akechi doesn’t know what to expect.
Akira invited him to LeBlanc for a “surprise.” That was all he told him. He had a good feeling about it, but he was still a bit nervous to see what he had in store. Akira wasn’t the type to avoid going over the top, after all.
He knew today was Valentine’s Day, so he came prepared with his own gift. A heart-shaped box of homemade chocolates. He hoped Akira liked them, because they didn’t turn out as good as he would’ve wanted them to. He thinks he should’ve just bought some from the store, but it was too late for that now.
It didn’t take much time for him to arrive. When he did, he tried to look inside. Unfortunately, there were red curtains over the windows. He couldn’t see anything inside. Besides that, the sign said the café was closed, and Akechi wasn’t about to break in. He pulls out his phone.
“Akira, the shop appears to be closed… Should I wait for you outside?”
It’s barely even a second before he gets his reply.
“no”
“im inside!”
“its unlocked”
“come in c:”
Akechi hums. He puts his phone back in his pocket and enters the building, gift in hand.
He’s absolutely astonished by what he sees.
The café is decked out in pink and red decorations. Balloons, streamers, rose bouquets on each of the tables. There’s a cup on the counter, and sitting beside it was a card and a small teddy bear dressed like Sherlock Holmes.
The most eye-catching thing in the room, however, was the smiling boy waiting in the center with his arms held out excitedly.
“Ta-da~!” Akira beams, lowering his arms and slipping his hands into his pockets.
Akechi is quiet for a while, mouth agape as he takes all this in. Eventually, he manages to find his words again.
“Wow…” He says quietly. “Did you do all this yourself?”
Akira laughs at that, shaking his head.
“I had a lot of help from Ann and Ryuji, they deserve a lot of the credit for this.” He explains.
Akechi nods, making eye contact with Akira for the first time since he stepped in.
“And this is… for me?” He asks, feeling a strange sense of guilt.
“Of course it is.”Akira takes a few steps towards Akechi, closing some of the distance between them.
Akechi blinks, realizing he still has Akira’s gift in his hand, though it feels so small in comparison to this. He holds it out with both hands, and his cheeks flush.
“This- This is yours… I hope you like it.”
Akira eyes the box before taking it from Akechi’s hands. He opens it and looks inside. There’s small chocolates. Each of them is cut into uneven circles, squares, and triangles respectively. He looks back up at Akechi.
“Did you make these yourself?”
Akechi nods bashfully, taking a few steps forward and standing beside him.
“These are just chocolate, these are filled with caramel, and these are filled with coconut.” As he says this, he points at the circles, the squares, and the triangles in order.
Akira wastes no time eating one of the candies. He doesn’t even check to see which it is, so he’s pleasantly surprised when he tastes caramel.
“Goro, these are amazing!” Akira swallows with a wide grin.
“Oh, you think so…?” Akechi smiles, relieved that he was enjoying them so much.
“I have to close these up before I eat them all.” Akira says with a mouthful chocolate, lidding the box.
Akechi didn’t even see him take another, scary…
Without warning, Akira grabs Akechi’s wrist, and quickly leads him to sit down. He yelps in surprise.
“Come on, your coffee’s getting cold.” Akira says, watching him sit down. He takes a seat next to him.
Akechi shrugs, taking a sip. When he tastes it, it brings a smile to his face. It was a cup of his favorite coffee, just the way he liked it. Akira knew him too well.
Akechi sits there happily drinking for a little while. Akira is perfectly content staring at him like this forever, but at the same time, he does have more planned. Sojiro only promised three hours, so he doesn’t want to waste the afternoon staring dreamily at his boyfriend.
He slides the card toward Akechi. When Akechi sees it, he smiles apologetically.
“Ah, my apologies. It seems I got carried away…” He says, putting the cup down and opening the card.
“To my dearest, Goro.
I’ve never been very good with words. I’d say that’s more your thing.
Regardless, I wanted to take this chance to tell you that I love you very much, and I hope that shines through with my gift... I went in with the hope that it would make you see even an ounce of the affection I have for you.
With love, Akira.
Happy Valentine’s Day.”
He ends the card with a small drawing of himself blowing a kiss.
Akechi reads it and his heart swells. He almost feels like crying. No one has ever been so openly affectionate with him before.
“My god, Akira, this is…”
“I told you I wasn’t good with words…” Akira frowns, rubbing the back of his neck.
Akechi quickly shakes his head.
“No, Akira…” He reaches over, gently grabbing one of Akira’s hands and holding it in both of his. “This is wonderful. Thank you so much…”
Akira smiles with a bashful laugh. He’s about to say something when Akechi notices the bear. He reluctantly removes one of his hands to grab it.
“This… It’s quite cute.” Akechi smiles, turning it over in his hand. “Why is it dressed like this, though?”
“It’s Sherlock Holmes!” Akira is quick to explain. “You know, because you’re a detective?”
Akechi looks back at Akira’s smiling face, and he cant help but laugh.
“Yeah, I’m a nerd. I get it.” Akira says this with pride rather than shame.
“That I won’t deny, but you’re a cute one.” Akechi assures.
The two crack up, and their laughter fills the small café. It’s not even entirely that they found their own banter humorous, they were just happy to be in each other’s company.
When they’ve mostly stopped laughing, Akira stands up. Akechi looks up at him like he’s about to ask a question, but Akira answers it before he can ask.
“I have one more gift for you. I need you to stand up too. I’ll be right back.”
Akira disappears deeper into the café. Akechi doesn’t really know the layout of the place, so he has no idea where he ran off to.
He trusts him though, so he stands up and waits patiently for him to return.
After a few minutes, soft music begins playing on the speakers, and Akira comes in with a smile.
“What is this all about…?”Akechi asks.
Akira doesn’t speak. He answers the question by gently taking Akechi’s hand and leading him back into the middle of the room. Before he can ask anymore questions, Akira’s hand is on his waist, and their fingers are intinwed. Akechi manages to get one thought out before his brain completely fries.
“Are we dancing?”
“Unless you don’t want to?” Akira asks, his hand freezing in place and hovering over Akechi’s shoulder.
“No- No.” Akechi is quick to answer. “This is quite alright with me.” He gives Akira a soft smile and he returns it. He places his hand on his shoulder.
“Follow my lead.” Akira whispers.
Akechi happily complies.
They begin dancing. Akira takes slow and steady steps. Akechi follows them perfectly. They quickly find their rhythm together. It’s a simple one, but neither of them had any gripes about that.
“I wasn’t aware you knew how to dance.” Akechi said, impressed. He never pegged Akira as the sort of person to be into this kind of thing.
“I… didn’t. Not until recently.” Akira explains.
Akechi looks at him as if asking a silent question.
“I was hoping you wouldn’t question it…” Akira sighs. “I uh- I took a few small lessons for this…”
“You took lessons to dance with me…?” Akechi looks at him with wide eyes.
“Yeah, pretty much…” Akira’s cheeks turn a rosy red. “I just really wanted a moment with you like this.”
Akechi doesn’t know what to say. He wasn’t used to this. Thinking back on his life, no one had really put much effort in for him. Not after his mother passed, at least. He was always the one putting effort in for everyone else. Just for some attention. For some praise. For someone to see him as worthy. Ironically, he’d also taken dance lessons. He only dropped them when he realized no one really noticed he was taking them at all. He’d done that with a lot of things. Eventually he just gave up on it entirely and focused on his studies. That’s what got him the most attention after all. It’s what got him his job, even.
That’s when it occurs to him. Akira doesn’t care about any of this.
He didn’t have to live up to any arbitrary standards of worth or intelligence or status for him. He just liked his company and companionship. He’d spent all this time searching for this. One true friend who cared about him like Akira did. And he found it. It didn’t even click for him until now.
“Akira…” Akechi was close to tears.
“Are you okay?” Akira asks with concern.
Akechi simply nods, gently pressing his forehead to Akira’s.
“I love you.” Akechi says quietly.
“I love you too…” Akira’s smile returns.
The two dance like this for a while. They keep their gentle rhythm with slow steps. Neither of them feel the need to speed up.
It feels like they’re the only two people in the universe right now. There’s no one to stop or hurt them right now. There’s nothing to put them in danger. There’s nothing they need to do, no reason for one to leave the other behind.
All that was left in that café was calm happiness.
They danced for what felt like somewhere between forever and not long enough. The only thing that stopped them was the song coming to a close.
When they were met with silence, they hesitantly ended their dance. It left both of them with a slight emptiness.
Akechi slowly pulled back. When his eyes met Akira’s again, it pulled him back down to earth in the sweetest way imaginable. Akira gave him the softest smile he thinks he’ll ever see, and he suddenly lost the ability to think.
“Can I kiss you…?” Akechi asks, but he’s already breathless.
Akira nods.
Akechi slowly leans back in, pressing his lips to Akira’s so gently you’d think he was under the impression he would break him if he wasn’t careful. Akira carefully moves both of Akechi’s hands to his waist, and then moves his own hands to rest at his neck. Akechi softly grips Akira’s waist, pulling their bodies together, and deepens the kiss ever so slightly.
Eventually, they both feel the need to pull away and take a breath. So they do, though neither of them were in a rush to end the kiss. They both exhaled, chests gently moving up and down with their soft yet ragged breaths.
Akira thinks he wouldn’t mind if time froze right here. This softness, this closeness, this love… He wants to stay like this forever.
“I- Um…” Akechi speaks suddenly, but quietly. It still catches Akira’s attention. “I apologize for not getting you something better… As a gift, I mean-“ He looks down at the ground, and that strange guilty feeling from before comes back.
Akira moves a hand from Akechi’s neck to gently grab his chin and tilt his face towards his own. Akechi catches Akira’s eyes again. He always loved Akira’s eyes.
“Goro… All I wanted was you.” Akira says, his expression soft and full of love.
Akechi stares at him, his heart racing. He wonders if he can hear it.
Without a warning, Akechi pulls Akira into a tight hug. It doesn’t take him long to return the gesture, though. He runs his fingers through Akechi’s soft hair.
“Happy Valentine’s Day, Goro.”
“Happy Valentine’s Day to you too, Akira.”