Work Text:
It was a habit to knock.
He had always insisted that you could enter whenever you wanted to. He promised that, despite what it may look like sometimes, he was never too busy for you. But in your mind, you could never be too sure. It would feel wrong not to knock. Unjust. Inconvenient. Improper, even. Hell, sometimes, it even felt like the golden nameplate that displayed his full name with such regality on the door in front of you was trying to tell you the exact same thing as what you felt: that it was wrong not to knock.
After all, you had always loved his name. Especially his last name. You couldn’t start disrespecting it now. You just couldn’t.
And so, you knocked, knowing full well that from his muffled voice coming from the other side of the door, there would be no verbal response. He was on another call. The fourth one in two hours, you couldn’t help but note. However, you couldn’t seem to tell with whom he was speaking to. But from the sharp rise and fall of his voice, you had a feeling it wasn't a very pleasant call. Instead of barging in right in, you counted in your mind the seconds as they passed by. ‘One...and two...and three and-’ you continued in your head until you reached a nice and solid number: ten.
When you reached that point and still received no sign of any response, you decided that it was time. And so, you took one hand off of the warm mug you held in your grip and softly pushed at the large mahogany door.
The door opened slowly, lightly brushing against a decorative rug placed directly in front of it. With the door just barely open, you peered your head through the crack, hoping to catch a glimpse of the detective. His back was facing you as he stood looking out the large window behind his desk. Even from the doorway, you could see how tense his shoulders were. His fist was closed around his work phone, nestled tight within his gloved right hand. Trailing your eyes along his left arm, you spotted his hand gripping the desk behind him in a show of quiet anger. He was speaking Japanese, his voice low and dangerous. A bad sign for whoever was on the receiving end.
Silently, you pushed the door open enough for you to slip inside before fixing your grip on the mug you held in your hands. He hadn’t seemed to hear you yet, so you took your time approaching. You didn’t want to scare or surprise him. But you didn’t want to disturb him either. So, with careful steps, you made your way closer to him, his favorite coffee mug with his favorite in tow, currently enclosed safely within your hands.
Due to the small size of his home office, you made it to him in a matter of seconds. And seeing as he was still distracted with his call, your eyes scanned his desk for a few seconds before spotting exactly what you were searching for. Taking one hand off the mug, you reached down towards the desk and quietly dragged a coaster hidden from underneath an ungodly large pile of scattered documents. Once the coaster was in an open spot, out of the way of any of the papers messily spread across his desk, you gently placed the mug on top of it.
The quiet and dull thud of the mug making contact with the coaster was enough to get his attention. From your peripheral, you watched as he froze momentarily, before whipping around to face her. You instantly drew back, obviously surprised at getting caught within his intense gaze. A gaze to which you offered a small apologetic smile, nervously meeting his reddish-brown eyes.
Face set in a straight line, Goro chose to study you instead of offering an immediate response. Unable to do anything else in the moment, you shuffled on your feet, hands clasped together as you endured being under his watchful detective’s eyes for a few agonizing seconds.
And then, without a word, he lifted his previously limp left hand before drawing it out and upwards to his side. For a moment, you frowned, a confusion evident on your face as your eyebrows furrowed. At the same time, the little voice on the other side of his phone also seemed to be confused. Less so because of the unseen movements Goro was making. And more so because of the sudden bout of undeserved silence from the Detective Prince as he ignored the faint calls of a thick Japanese accent calling his name over and over again from the phone.
“Um…” You started to say before trailing off completely, unsure of what Goro wanted from you when there seemed to be something more worthy of his attention at the moment.
At this, he sighed through his nose, eyes narrowing tiredly. Still without offering a verbal response, he then brought his right shoulder up to where he's holding the phone against his ear. With an almost practiced elegance, he replaces his hand with his shoulder, trapping the phone against his ear once more. With both his hands free now, he held his arms to the side. His elbows were slightly bent due to his standing so close to the wall and the window. Still, his pose pulled at the material of a crisp button-up that you just couldn’t help but adore on his figure. A little number you just so happened to have bought him for the last anniversary you too celebrated together. But despite the perfect view, you knew that wasn’t what she was supposed to be focusing on.
Not with the yet simple, straightforward motion he had just made with his hands.
A curl of the fingers. Once. Twice.
‘Come here,’ the gesture told you. So, you did.
And when you were close enough to his awaiting figure, he took the initiative and pulled you flush against his chest. A small grunt of surprise left your mouth as you stumbled into his embrace. At the same time, Goro let out another sigh as his arms encircled your waist and rested along your back. You couldn’t help but let out a sigh yourself as his warmth spread through your body and protected you from the chilly apartment air. You leaned your head against him, pressing your ear against his chest just so you could hear his heartbeat.
You should have known that this is what he wanted all along.
His upbringing had forced him to be ruthless in order to get what he wanted, while the lack of love he received as a child had only made him crave it more and more. Those details showed up in the little things about him. But they informed every decision that he made. So it’s only fair that they should color how you approach him- how you love him- in a way that’s good for him. That's good for both of you. So, with that thought, your hands fisted the material of his shirt in an effort to feel closer to him. To let him know that you were there. To let him know that you are there, whenever he needs you to be.
If he had understood your silent message, he didn’t show it. Not that you were expecting him to pick up on such a discreet sign, anyway. It’s a silly thought- a silly idea to communicate so silently. But one you hoped he appreciated nonetheless.
Still, he had work to do. A job and a phone call he needed to return to. And so, he let out a slight hum that vibrated through his chest, reached down, and kissed your forehead before beginning to speak again to the voice over the phone.
“Gomen'nasai,” He murmured into the phone. Sorry, he told the other person, before following it up with what you could only assume to be an excuse for his sudden “disappearance.” Out of what followed, sorry was the only word that you could confidently say that you knew. Everything else felt like a blur to you, a clear indication that this conversation wasn’t for your ears, even if you were allowed to be present for it.
As he spoke more, vaguely remembered words and phrases popped up here or there. But it was nothing Goro had really gone over with you lately. Still, with nothing better to do in that moment, you decided to eavesdrop as best as you could purely for your own enjoyment. If this were a conversation in English, you would have been kicked out in a heartbeat, “for your own safety, ” as he would say. But it’s not in English. And right now, all you want to be is close to him. And that’s exactly what you are right now: close to him.
As time progressed, his voice began to lose the serious edge it had earlier. Instead, it had regained some of its usual silvery charm. Light and professional, with a low hum every now and then when he was thinking of what to say next. With Goro’s change in demeanor, the voice over the phone had turned jovial as well. The only hint of the conversation’s previous mood was the nervous laugh that you could just barely make out whenever Goro’s associate was about to say something. But it was pleasant listening to him speak. He had always sounded so smart and confident and in control of everything that being so close to him while he was on a work call brought an odd sense of comfort to you. Even though you didn’t understand a word of what he was saying.
But all too soon, you grew bored with just listening. With your head turned against his chest, you took the chance to peer out of the window in hopes of a small distraction. It was then that you fully noticed the world outside of your high-rise apartment. When had the sky turned gray? Your eyes focused on the dark clouds blanketing the world outside your cozy corner like a jacket. There were small splashes of water on the window, speckled here and there. Too light and too few to be raindrops, you realized. So it must have been just a light sprinkle earlier. Yeah. That’s it.
The thought of the rain made you let out an involuntary shiver, almost as if you could suddenly feel a raindrop settling onto the crown of your head. Goro responded instantly, giving you a tight squeeze and rhythmically shifting his weight so that the two of you were rocking within each other’s arms. Light. Comforting. Warm. Safe. And yours.
All yours.
As he continued to rock the two of you, you felt your eyes slip close, a wave of peace falling over you as you snuggled further into his embrace. You could feel his chest rise with every inhale and fall with every exhale. It was a steady feeling. A relaxing one. A perfect one. So it was no surprise that you felt yourself dozing off slightly within minutes of when the rocking started. His presence was too soothing not to fall asleep to, in your opinion. Not to mention, there was almost nothing to break the silent comfort of his office outside of his quiet voice speaking into his phone with his usual even, calm, and pretty tone he used during working hours.
And honestly? You would have fallen asleep completely in his arms if it weren’t for his sudden shift in position. Releasing your waist with one hand, he reached up to grab the phone tucked between his shoulder and ear. Startled out of your daze, you snapped your head up to watch him as he seemingly said his goodbyes to the other caller, his fingers hovering over the end call button.
“Otsukaresama deshita, Akechi Goro!” The voice had called out cheerfully from the other line, just loud enough for you to hear clearly. ‘Thank you for your hard work, Goro Akechi.’ Then a click sounded from the phone.
The call was over.
With that, the two of them sat in silence for a few seconds. When the call ended, Goro had turned his head to look out the window, while you chose to peer up at him with curious eyes. Distractedly, Goro had begun to rub small circles into your waist as he let out a tired sigh through his nose. He closed his eyes, inhaling deeply before opening his eyes and letting out another deep exhale. With the slight move of his head, he turned his gaze onto you, reddish brown eyes meeting your own.
“Good morning, my dear.” He murmured, voice quiet and heavy with exhaustion. There were bags underneath his eyes, you realized as he turned to look at you more closely than before. How had you not noticed them before? How new are they? As the questions swirled around in your head, your mind drifted over to the stack of documents that were still on his desk. The same messy desk you placed the now neglected coffee mug onto.
They were all for him, weren’t they? Of course they are. It’s his home office after all. But now that you thought about it more deeply, it seemed like so much work. Too much work. Especially for one person. Especially one as young as Goro.
The tired sighs. The agitation. They were all signs of his fatigue. And there was probably more to see. More to notice. More to show what he’s going through. And it hurts. It hurt to see him this way. It hurts to know that he’s going through this. But with a field as complicated as his, there wasn’t much you could really do to help or ease the burden. She wasn’t trained in law or deductive reasoning. She didn’t know what type of paperwork he needed to fill out and why. Hell, you didn’t even speak Japanese- the language that nearly half of his work is still conducted in, despite his move out of Japan. In an effort to curb the feeling of defeat, your brain supplied you with the one thing you could do. But you just couldn’t. You wouldn’t. Not with the idea of sitting so heavily on your tongue with embarrassment.
Which, of course, he would pick up on. Because of course.
“Dearest,” Goro had called out, his voice breaking you from your thoughts. “...is something wrong?”
His eyes had narrowed in concern as a small frown overtook his face. He had stopped rubbing circles into your waist and had slipped his work phone into the pocket of his dress pants to free himself from any distractions. Moving both his hands to your hips, he squeezed them in a quiet reassurance, trying to prompt you to speak. And knowing that his patience isn’t one to be tested- especially with something as dumb as a little bit of embarrassment, you decide not to put up much of a fight. Instead, you opt to swallow whatever pride you have thickly as you mentally prepare yourself for what you are about to do in…three…and two…and one…and…
“Um... Otsu...O-otsukaresama d-deshita, Akechi Goro!” You parroted the words you had heard from the phone call earlier. Almost immediately, you found yourself cringing as you heard your own sloppy Japanese fall from your tongue. It definitely sounds a lot different from how it’s supposed to. You’re no native speaker, sure. But can he even tell what you were trying to say? Just how far off were you?
Actually, you don’t want to know. You don’t think you’ll love the answer (and the reminder of how much you’ve been slacking on your Japanese lessons). So you do your best to cover it all up with a light and easy-going smile. The whole line felt cheesy and unnecessary. But if you couldn’t help him physically, the least you could do was show your support, right? Even if you did basically fail to say every syllable but his name correctly, it was still a nice gesture, right?
Plus, it was somewhat of an excuse to say his full name again. Not that you would ever tell him that, of course.
Though following your poor attempt at his native language, Goro had frozen in his place. His mouth parted in slight surprise, clearly not expecting what he had just witnessed. After all, it’s not often that you speak his language without prompting. And he probably assumed your nervousness from earlier stemmed from an actual cause worth being concerned about. And above all?
Affection could be a fickle thing.
A lesson he learned as an orphan. A teaching that was hardened by being a celebrity. And people would use his name for everything. For fame, for glory. For money, or power, or greed, or hatred. Never love. Never truly love.
Unless, of course, it’s you.
Because the way you say his name is always the same. Full of adoration. Full of respect. Full of love and the type of praise that always seemed to break him down in the smallest of ways. And this time? It was enough for him to recover from his initial shock and respond in kind.
He responded to you with a smile of his own, his once concerned eyes holding an abundance of warmth and love that he never dared show to anyone but you. Slowly, he took one hand off your waist before bringing it up to capture one of your own hands that were still clutching onto his shirt. With a deep sigh, he closed his eyes and brought it to his mouth, kissing the back of your hand gently. Once. Twice. Three times.
“Thank you,” He muttered in between kisses. His voice quiet. Relieved. Perhaps even a little emotional. “Thank you.”
Your smile grew. You didn’t have to say anything more. Because you didn’t just do it for him. You didn’t just do it for yourself, either. You did it for the two of you. For you and for him. Because you had always loved his name. Especially his last name.
The very same last name he had always wanted to give to you.