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The first time it happens, it’s completely by accident. They were walking side by side when Atsushi unconsciously slips his palm into Akutagawa’s. When Akutagawa halts to a sudden stop Atsushi turns to look at him and notes a blush on his face.
He’s staring at something out of Atsushi’s line of sight so he glances at it and flushes once he realizes they’re holding hands. For a few agonizing seconds, it’s silent. It comes as no surprise when Akutagawa shoves him off. “Don’t touch me, Jinko,” he grunts out, “I’ll cut your hand off.”
This is far from the first time Akutagawa has threatened him, yet this time it falls flat.
Still, Atsushi rushes out a quick “of course," embarrassed by his own actions.
They silently agree to never speak of it again.
The second time it happens it’s during a mission, when they’re trying to escape while on the run. Atsushi scans for the nearest exit, and when he finds it he grabs Akutagawa’s wrist, dragging along the way.
Atsushi doesn’t think much of it while it’s happening, but as soon as they’re safe and out of reach of the enemy he’s aware that he’s holding Akutagawa. The warmth he feels is not enough to stop him from dropping Akutagawa’s wrist.
He mumbles a small “sorry” but Akutagawa is suspiciously quiet.
The third time it happens it’s because of a paper cut of all things. Akutagawa’s reading a book across from him when he hisses. He retreats his hand and glares at his finger as if it personally offended him.
“What’s up?” Atsushi asks.
Akutagawa scowls at him. “Nothing.”
Atsushi rolls his eyes, already used to Akutagawa’s prickly behavior, and pulls Akutagawa’s hand into his own. He examines it and decides the small paper cut isn’t much to worry about. It’s only when he glances up that he realizes his mistake.
“Oh,” Akutagawa’s face is aflame and he refuses to look Atsushi in the eye.
“I’m sorry—“ Atsushi starts but Akutagawa cuts him off.
“It’s fine,” Akutagawa whispers. If Atsushi hadn’t been sitting next to him he probably wouldn’t have heard Akutagawa at all. “I don’t mind.”
Atsushi beams at him, fingers curling into his palm.
From that moment on it’s as if the dam broke. Sometimes they will only link pinkies, other times they will interlock their fingers. As time goes on the instances become more frequent. Akutagawa never utters a word when it happens, but Atsushi will still notice his shy smiles and it fills him with an inexplicable amount of joy.
Atsushi doesn’t fully understand where the fuzzy feeling he gets whenever they hold hands comes from, but he likes it. And he will continue to chase after it, for as long as Akutagawa allows him to.