Work Text:
It all started because of an accidental meeting.
It was a beautiful day, but slow at the Agency. Cleanup throughout the city was already underway, but the city didn’t need their specific help for the restoration, apparently. Even with Atsushi’s regenerative abilities, he had been put on light desk work after saving the city despite his protests.
Atsushi had been one of the first to be released that afternoon. They weren’t saying it, but Atsushi knew it was because they thought he needed to rest.
No! He wanted to help. He was fine.
Sure, maybe he was still a little tired, but! That was because he hadn’t been sleeping well! Not because he was hurt.
Atsushi sighed, hands deep in his pockets as he meandered towards the nearest park. He’d wait there for Kyouka—even though she was more than capable of taking care of herself and walking home on her own, he still worried about her. She was like a little sister, and he liked taking care of her. She liked the care and attention, anyway, she had confessed one evening. It was a win-win for all of them.
Maybe he could just... rest on one of the benches. That sounded like a good idea. He made his way towards the nearest one under a sakura tree. Maybe he could take a quick nap—
A thin, dark, familiar figure was already sitting there, eyes closed, head tilted back. Spots of sunlight danced across his face as the wind shifted through the blossoms above them. He looked peaceful, yet exhausted, eyes bruised from lack of sleep that Atsushi feared was mirrored under his own eyes.
Akutagawa opened his eyes when Atsushi paused in front of him. He blinked sluggishly, tilting his head down like it took tremendous effort to do so. “What,” he said gruffly, demandingly.
Atsushi startled, raising his hands peacefully. “Nothing!” he squeaked, shuffling back a few paces. “I just—Are you okay?”
Akutagawa blinked sluggishly once more. Atsushi could practically smell the smoke coming from his ears at the gears churned in his brain, trying to find some sort of reasoning for the question. After a moment, he frowned. “Why do you ask?”
“Well—That fight last week—”
“Hmm.” Akutagawa closed his eyes and let his head fall back again, as if it were too heavy for him to hold up anymore. “’M fine,” he grumbled. “I’m not working,” he added, even quieter.
“Me neither.” Atsushi took a step forward, faltering, biting his lip. “I’m not here to fight you. Can I—May I join you?”
Akutagawa peered at him through one eye. “Why?”
Atsushi fidgeted. Should he be truthful? Not like Akutagawa would have any reason to believe him, but— “I’m—I’d just like to sit with you, if that’s okay.”
Heaving a giant sigh, Akutagawa motioned for Atsushi to sit next to him. Atsushi hurried to comply, sitting too rigidly, to straight, hands on his knees, feet together, trying to take up the least amount of space possible. How was he supposed to survive this encounter, anyway? He could feel his heart racing in his throat, trying to escape through his mouth. His palms were sweaty. He was only just able to control his breathing.
The reason for his sleepless nights?
The asshole sitting next to him.
It had only been two days after they had fought together to save the city when Atsushi’s eyes had snapped open, staring at the dark shelf above him in his tiny little closet room as he had been trying to fall asleep, and had realized that he had a crush on Akutagawa.
Just a little tiny one.
Miniscule.
It would go away eventually, right?
Every night since that revelation had been sleepless, wondering how he had been so stupid to fall in love with the enemy, mind racing with... with thoughts about holding Akutagawa’s hand, maybe sharing desserts with him, kissing him, cuddling with him, maybe having sex—
Atsushi put a stop to that thought, face burning. This was such a bad idea.
Right. This was getting awkward. Should he say something? Start a conversation? Just leave Akutagawa alone? He seemed pretty tired but Atsushi also felt like he needed to say something—
“We make a good team, you know—”
“No work talk,” Akutagawa snapped. “You’re not going to turn me into a traitor.”
“I—I wasn’t—”
Akutagawa turned a cold glare to him, freezing him and making his throat seize up. “No. Work. Talk.”
“Got it,” Atsushi squeaked.
Danger. Danger.
It honestly shouldn’t have made him that hot and bothered, anyway! Not with Akutagawa being forceful and commanding and—
Wait, this was going to make fighting him difficult, wasn’t it?
Akutagawa heaved another giant sigh. “What’s your problem?” he grumbled, closing his eyes again, crossing his arms, scooting down a little more so his head could rest against the back, his ass nearly falling off the bench.
“Do you want to go eat dinner with me?”
Akutagawa’s eyes snapped open and he faced Atsushi so quickly that Atsushi was afraid he had hurt himself. But he couldn’t be concerned with that at the moment. No. Like an utter dumbass he had asked Akutagawa on a date.
“I—I mean!” Atsushi tried valiantly to find some sort of excuse, turning away so the other man couldn’t see his bright red face. “I’m hungry, I figured you might be hungry. We’re not fighting right now—”
Wait, no, maybe this would be good! If Akutagawa rejected him outright, then he could get over his crush quicker! Yes, good plan. Very good plan. The best plan ever to exist—
Akutagawa narrowed his eyes. “You don’t mean like a date... do you?”
Atsushi groaned into his hands, bringing his knees up so he could hide behind them, too. “I didn’t mean to ask,” he muttered. “I’m sorry.” He stood, suddenly, fists clenched tight at his side as he continued to refuse to look at Akutagawa. “I’m sorry for disturbing you. I hope you feel better soon.”
“Wait.”
Akutagawa’s voice was quiet, but it still made Atsushi falter. The sun continued to shine, people continued on with their lives, unaware that Atsushi was having some sort of gay crisis about a rival enemy. Another deep sigh, a small cough, and then movement behind him. Atsushi still couldn’t will himself to see what Akutagawa was going to do to him. He deserved to be punched, or stabbed, or—
A very warm, very lithe, very—Akutagawa stepped up beside him. Atsushi couldn’t bring himself to face him directly, stiffening instead as Akutagawa’s hand brushed his.
“Well?” Akutagawa asked. Atsushi turned, surprised, to see him smirking. “Where did you want to go...” He leaned forward, smirk turning more mischievous, his nose almost brushing Atsushi’s as he added, “For our date?”
Atsushi was entirely surprised that he hadn’t burst into flames. He certainly felt hot enough to do so. “You—You want to?”
“You had the courage to ask so...” Akutagawa shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets as he leaned back. “I have nothing better to do, and besides...” His head tilted to one side, considering him. Atsushi squirmed under his heavy gaze. “I want to know why you like me even though we’re enemies.”
“I don’t really have a choice in the matter,” Atsushi huffed, crossing his arms and looking away. His face was starting to cool, finally. “It’s just a—teeny tiny itty bitty little crush, that’s all.”
Suddenly, Akutagawa was very much in his space. He was so close that Atsushi could almost feel his smirk on his lips. “Is it?” Akutagawa teased.
His lips brushed against Atsushi’s and he shivered. He couldn’t help closing his eyes, leaning forward just a little, just wanting—
Akutagawa moved away. Atsushi blinked back into awareness to see Akutagawa grinning at him. “Guess if you won’t decide, I’ll take you somewhere, instead.”
“I honestly thought you’d kill me,” Atsushi tried to joke. He fell into step with Akutagawa, trying to remain chipper. He was going on a date! His first real date. With a guy. That day with Kyouka didn’t really count—she was much too young, and he had just wanted to give her a good time before she would have been imprisoned or killed for something she couldn’t really control. Besides that, they had decided they were more like siblings. That, and Atsushi liked men just a little too much to ever feel like he could fall in love with her like that.
Akutagawa shot him a glare. “Why would I kill you?”
“Because... we’re rivals? Sworn enemies?”
Akutagawa scoffed. “You’re the one who was going on about how we make a good team.”
Atsushi shrugged, trying to hide his smile. This was... nice. Really nice. “Which is true.” He bit his lip, turning away slightly. The sun was warm on his skin as they continued their leisurely walk. Apparently, Akutagawa wasn’t in a rush. “I... I really didn’t mean to ask. But I haven’t been sleeping, and you just looked so pretty, and it just sort of came out—”
“Pretty?” Akutagawa snarled, gripping Atsushi’s arm hard.
“Y-Yes?” Atsushi squeaked. Man, he really needed more confidence. This squeaking wasn’t doing him any favors. He cowered, waiting for the blow that was sure to come.
It never did. The hand around his arm tightened for a moment, then released him. He looked up to see Akutagawa frowning at him.
“No one has ever called me pretty so sincerely before...” he muttered, frown deepening into confusion.
Right. Confidence. He could be bold and confident and— “What a shame,” he murmured right back. He reached up, trying to hide the tremor in his hand, and brushed away some of Akutagawa’s fringe. “You’re the prettiest person I’ve ever met.”
Curiously, Akutagawa’s cheeks turned pink. Instead of retorting, he turned and resumed walking. He waited for Atsushi to catch up before asking, “You haven’t been sleeping?”
“Eh... Not really. Been having a bit of a crisis.”
“Oh yeah?” Akutagawa sent him another smirk, then lengthened his stride to open the door to a quaint little café.
Atsushi took a moment to take in the café. It was... cute. Warm, cozy, light. The employees were cheerful and even greeted Akutagawa by name. Did they know he was with Port Mafia? Did they care? Were they afraid of him? It didn’t look like they were afraid. It smelled heavenly, full of baked goods and sweets and soups and—
“Your regular, Akutagawa-san?” asked the young woman at the register.
“Please,” Akutagawa replied, arching an eyebrow at Atsushi. “And whatever he wants.”
“No—wait—hey, I’m supposed to—”
“Just order.”
Atsushi’s knees went weak. He really needed to get his resolve together. Fortunately, however, they did serve tea over rice. “What?” he grumbled when Akutagawa raised another eyebrow at him. “It’s my favorite.”
They found the table in the back corner open for them. Akutagawa kept his back to the wall, eyes scanning the café suspiciously. Atsushi settled in across from him, letting him do his thing.
“Crisis?” Akutagawa reminded him.
Atsushi narrowed his eyes at the man across from him who looked entirely too amused. “Yes, about you,” he confessed, hoping it would cause some sort of reaction.
Which it did. Akutagawa paused, smirk melting into something softer. Atsushi wasn’t too sure what to make of that.
Akutagawa waited until their dishes were set in front of them—tea over rice for Atsushi, some figs and tea and a roll for Akutagawa—before hitting Atsushi with, “What exactly was your goal in this, anyway?”
“Huh?” Atsushi was trying to savor the tea over rice by taking slow, little bites to make it last.
“Asking me on a date.”
“Like I said.” Atsushi shrugged, ducking low to avoid the other’s gaze. “It was an accident.”
“Well.” Uh oh. Akutagawa didn’t sound very pleased. “There must have been something you wanted.” Atsushi looked up to see dark, narrowed eyes. “Was it lust? You just wanted sex from me? There has to be something.”
Atsushi adamantly shook his head. “No! Well, I mean—maybe eventually—but I just want to hold your hand and maybe kiss and cuddle and go on cute dates and—”
Surprisingly, Akutagawa laughed. It wasn’t mean, either. Something light and joyful. A cough interrupted him, and Atsushi watched on, concerned, as he sipped at his tea. “You do remember I’m with Port Mafia, right?” he asked after sitting his cup down.
“Well, yeah.” Atsushi shifted in his seat, playing with his spoon. “Doesn’t mean I don’t want that.”
They were quiet for a moment. Atsushi’s appetite had almost entirely left. This really had been a bad idea. Now he just felt—embarrassed. What was he thinking, letting his enemy know all of that—
“I’m...” Akutagawa started, pausing for a long moment. Atsushi looked up to see him frowning at his dish. “I’m not... opposed. Not after—”
Not after they had teamed up last week, he didn’t say.
But was this a trick? Was this a way for Akutagawa to find his weakness and kill him? To get to the Agency? Wait, maybe Akutagawa thought the same thing about him? Oh no. How was he supposed to make sure Akutagawa understood that he wasn’t trying to trick him or find a weakness? That he honestly just wanted to—
“You’re panicking.” Akutagawa’s calm voice was soothing.
“This isn’t a trick,” Atsushi blurted, clutching his spoon tightly. “It’s not a trick?”
“I’m not if you’re not.”
“I’m not.”
Akutagawa gave him a genuine smile and—wow. Just—wow. Possibly one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen. He motioned for Atsushi to continue eating. “Then I suggest we... talk.”
“I’ve never dated before,” Atsushi blurted out without meaning to. He cringed. That was possibly one of the dumbest things he could have said.
“Honestly...” Akutagawa looked away, bringing his tea up to hide his face. “I haven’t either.”
“Oh.”
Akutagawa shrugged, picking at a fig on his plate. “Just never had a chance, really. But we can’t let anyone know.”
“Yeah... That’s fair.”
They finished their meal, hashing out exactly what they wanted and expected from each other. No one bothered them, the shop was quiet enough that no one sat near them. The woman from the counter only came by once to top up their tea, giving them a gentle, warm smile before walking away.
In the end, they decided... quiet. Slow. Akutagawa would get them burner phones they would use specifically to contact each other. They would have tried to meet at each other’s places regularly, but Akutagawa knew his building was monitored, plus his sister lived with him, and Atsushi still lived at the Agency’s dorms with Kyouka. They would have to meet in secret, and they wouldn’t talk about work on their dates. Akutagawa wanted stress relief. Atsushi wanted a companion. If they met and had to fight, they wouldn’t hold back—they agreed it was two separate lives and shouldn’t influence them one way or the other.
And Atsushi had to promise not to try to turn Akutagawa.
All in all, Atsushi couldn’t stop smiling as he made his way back to the dorms. He had managed to give Akutagawa a kiss on the cheek before bolting from the café, much to the workers’ amusement.
But it didn’t matter. He had a boyfriend. Sure, he had to keep him a secret, but...
He’d just have to play it cool at work in the morning.
Weeks and months passed in that fashion. No one from either organization noticed—or, if they had, they never said anything.
The two tried their hardest to avoid altercations with each other if they could help it. Especially when they became more... intimate with each other and Atsushi could barely remember to keep from calling him Ryuu in front of others. Though, then again, it didn’t help that Dazai kept making ‘missions’ that ‘absolutely’ needed the two of them to work together. It gave them a good excuse, anyway, and if they slipped away afterwards without anyone noticing...
Well.
Gin was the first to find out about a year after they started their arrangement. Purely by accident, of course. She was supposed to have been out on a scouting mission, was supposed to be out all night, and Ryuu had invited Atsushi to spend the evening with him as long as he came to his building in disguise. Atsushi had only just managed to convince Kyouka to hang out with Naomi for the evening so she wouldn’t be lonely.
They weren’t even doing anything serious, either. Ryuu had cooked them dinner and they had moved to his room to... discuss furthering their relationship.
“What do you want?” Ryuu asked, placing a hand on Atsushi’s cheek, gently caressing the smooth skin that was warming at an alarming rate.
“I...” Atsushi’s breath hitched as Ryuu kissed him tenderly, so unlike his outwardly gruff persona.
“What’s the matter, Atsushi?” Ryuu purred into his ear. His free hand started to unbutton Atsushi’s shirt. “Tiger got your tongue?”
It was at that exact moment that the front door opened and Gin called out in confusion to her brother about the extra pair of shoes that looked extremely familiar. She was at his door, knife out, quicker than either could move to try to hide Atsushi. For a moment, they just stared at each other, waiting for movement from the other.
And then Gin put her knife down, sighed, and said, “That’s your mess.” She turned and walked away without waiting for an answer.
Atsushi left immediately after, mortified, avoiding eye contact as he rushed from the apartment.
It didn’t help, either, that Kyouka was home already and questioned his state of disarray. Atsushi couldn’t help but confess everything to her, to which she merely replied, “Okay,” and left it at that.
Except the next time Kyouka happened upon Ryuu, she was a little more vicious and had a quiet conversation with him, which, oddly enough, ended with a thumbs up from her to Atsushi. If that’s what it took for her to be accepting... Atsushi would take it.
“We should move in together,” Atsushi proposed one evening after his breathing had calmed.
It was their three year anniversary. Ryuu was holding Atsushi close, skin sticky and sweaty from their earlier activities. Gin had graciously left them the apartment for the evening, pretending to gag when Ryuu had explained in rather vivid detail—with Atsushi sitting next to him!—what they were planning for the evening.
Ryuu paused in petting Atsushi’s hair. “They’d find out. Immediately.”
“But I miss you,” Atsushi murmured into Ryuu’s collar bone. “We’d get to spend more time together. I wish—” But he cut himself off, knowing it was a taboo topic. He wished Ryuu would join him at the Agency, but... He knew he never would. And he wasn’t supposed to try to make him want to join, either.
“I miss you, too,” Ryuu admitted quietly into Atsushi’s sweat slicked hair. “I wish we could live together, that we weren’t—in opposing organizations.”
Atsushi sighed into Ryuu’s skin. It would never work out. He knew that. Didn’t keep him from wanting it, though.
“Marry me.”
Ryuu stiffened underneath him.
Shit.
That wasn’t supposed to come out.
“What?”
Atsushi sat up, doing his best to keep from curling in on himself. If he was going to ask, he needed to do it properly. Ryuu sat up, too, eyes wide with awe and maybe a little fear. Atsushi found his hand and gripped it tight, his other hand coming up to cradle his face. “I love you. I know—I know that we can’t really marry, but... But I like the idea of you being my husband. That we’d be promised to each other.”
“If anyone found out—”
“I’d protect you.” Atsushi was determined on that fact. “The Agency probably wouldn’t do anything to me. But the Mafia might try to kill you.”
“I...” Ryuu swallowed thickly, pulling their foreheads together. “I think I... do want to join you at the Agency. I want to defect. Gin and I have been talking about it for a few months.”
Atsushi, stunned, pulled back. “What—Why?”
“Because of you, you stupid—” Ryuu sighed, pulling Atsushi close again. “I’m tired. And I want to—to do something good. I’m tired of hiding and killing and—” He sighed again. “But my ability is only good for killing...”
“No it’s not,” Atsushi huffed. “We use it together all the time.”
“That’s—different—”
“We don’t have to talk about it now.” Atsushi gave him a quick, affectionate kiss, hoping that Ryuu would be distracted from his earlier blunder. “Let’s take a nap, hmm? Talk about this after some rest.”
One more sigh, then Ryuu kissed him back and pulled him back down into his arms. They’d talk more in the morning over breakfast.
Except Ryuu wasn’t there when Atsushi woke up. The bed was cold, so he had probably been away for a while. Slowly, Atsushi sat up and frowned at the room around him. Light streamed in through the curtains, bathing the room in a soft yellow light. It couldn’t have been later than mid-morning, which was odd, since Atsushi usually woke up early.
He didn’t hurry with dressing. Perhaps Ryuu was just out in the living room, or kitchen, or...
But no. His shoes were gone and the apartment was empty except for a note on the table telling him to feed himself and that Ryuu would be back around noon.
It didn’t actually take that long for Ryuu to reappear. Atsushi was curled on the couch with one of Ryuu’s favorite books when the door opened and Ryuu quietly stepped inside with a paper bag. He froze when he saw Atsushi, a nervous smile creeping upon his lips as he stepped out of his shoes.
“What’s in the bag?” Atsushi asked, curious. He set the book down, not really caring to save his spot.
“Close your eyes,” was Ryuu’s response as he settled next to Atsushi.
Atsushi did as asked, tapping his fingers on his knees as he listened to Ryuu rustle through the bag. Something metallic clinked in front of him, and then something settled on his chest as Ryuu’s hands trembled trying to fiddle with something behind his neck. Despite his curiosity, Atsushi kept his eyes closed, even as Ryuu’s warmth pulled away.
“Okay. You can open your eyes.”
Atsushi immediately picked up what he had assumed was some sort of pendant. Instead, he lifted up a ring attached to a black chain. The ring was shiny and black with a single, square, dark red ruby. He looked up, confused, questions vying for attention on the tip of his tongue, to see that Ryuu had a silver chain holding a silver ring with a rectangular purple and yellow gem.
“What—”
“Black and red, to remind you of me,” Ryuu replied quietly, fingers tracing the ring attached to Atsushi. His other hand lifted the ring attached to him and he continued, “And ametrine and silver to remind me of you.” He lifted his eyes, earnest, almost pleading. “This is my answer.”
“Answer?” Wait. Ryuu didn’t mean—
Atsushi crashed into him, pulling him in for a messy, breathless kiss.
... It took them a while and at least three pauses to untangle their necklaces before they left the bedroom again.
They set up a meeting with Fukuzawa and Dazai that evening. Annoyingly enough, Fukuzawa passed Dazai money as soon as Ryuu announced they wanted to defect. They hadn’t even questioned if it was a trick—Dazai seemed fairly confident that it had been an honest, eager choice. Dazai had then narrowed his eyes at Atsushi and Ryuu, as if expecting something more, but settled back with a grin and outlined that they already had a secured building Ryuu and Gin could move into.
“And Kyouka and I could move in with them?” Atsushi asked, appearing as innocently as he could up at them. “You know—to help protect them?”
“I don’t think there’s four bedroom apartments available,” Dazai mused thoughtfully, hand on his chin. “Maybe some two bedrooms—”
“That’s fine with us,” Atsushi said perhaps a bit too eagerly.
Dazai narrowed his eyes at them again, but didn’t comment.
It took a week to secure the siblings. They transferred their money to a different bank, quietly packed up their apartment, and left in the middle of the day, leaving their phones behind on the kitchen counter. Dazai, Kyouka, and Atsushi made quick work of all their belongings, since the siblings hadn’t had much to begin with and Atsushi and Kyouka had even less. It was Dazai’s job to make sure that they weren’t being followed or spied on as they transferred everything. And, in the end, they still pushed Dazai out and shut the curtains so they could arrange things as they pleased. And so Dazai wouldn’t realize that Atsushi and Ryuu planned on sharing a room—and a bed.
No need to make him act weird, after all.
They kept quiet, that first night. They didn’t want to draw extra attention to themselves, prepared for an attack from Port Mafia at any moment.
Their night was surprisingly quiet.
It was the next day that was difficult. Atsushi had risen early to prepare breakfast and lunch for all four of them before they would make their way to the Agency. Ryuu appeared eventually, nipping at his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around Atsushi’s waist.
“Good morning, husband,” Ryuu murmured into Atsushi’s shoulder.
Atsushi, of course, grew hot and flushed. “M-Morning, husband.” Was this how his life was going to be from now on? There was no way he would survive if this was what he had to live with.
Ryuu kissed the side of his neck, just under his ear, before pulling away. “Love you.”
Behind them, Gin gagged. “Not so early in the morning. Gross.”
Accordingly, Ryuu pulled Atsushi away from the stove and carefully pinned him to the counter next to it. Ignoring Atsushi’s protests and giggles, he peppered his face and neck and collar bone with kisses.
Their shenanigans nearly made them late, and they had to rush the several blocks to the Agency. The apartment building was close enough, fortunately, and the four stood in front of the door leading to the office for several moments to gather their breath. They could already hear noise of the others starting their day behind the door.
“Ready?” Atsushi asked.
Both siblings took a deep breath. “As we’ll ever be, I suppose.”
All movement stopped as soon as they walked in.
Then, utter chaos that didn’t die down until Fukuzawa came out and told them to behave and welcome their new members.
“But—But—” Kunikida tried to protest. “But why?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” said Rampo, munching on his chips. “They’re married. Or. Well. As married as they can get.”
“What—Who—”
Atsushi took a deep, calming breath, eyes closed to try to center his racing thoughts before turning to his husband.
“Don’t you dare,” Ryuu threatened, glaring with venom that Atsushi had become immune to.
Atsushi, undeterred, gripped Ryuu’s hand in his and lifted the necklace beneath his shirt for his coworkers to see for themselves. He only grinned as Ryuu growled at him and chaos descended around them.