Work Text:
"Good morning honey!" Goro's bright voice chimed. Akira blearily opened his eyes. He looked up at his husband's smiling yet blurry face. "Rise and shine!" Akira pulled the blanket over his head to hide.
It was a routine at this point. It had been for years by now. Goro wakes him up, Akira runs away from the reality he created for himself.
"Come on sweetheart!" Goro pulled at the blanket. Akira fought with all his strength but it was ultimately futile. The blanket was ripped away with a surge of strength he didn't normally possess. "There we go! Now I can see your beautiful face."
Goro leaned in close, his gaze loving yet empty. His smile wide yet meaningless. Akira felt sick just looking at it. He felt as sick as he did everyday. As sick as he had since he said those words.
We're taking the deal.
If he could go back, he knows he'd just stand and watch himself make the biggest mistake of his life. He knows he wouldn't lift a damn finger to stop it because then Akechi would be dead and it would be all his fault.
"Come on, I made you breakfast," Goro took Akira's hand in his own. They were so delicate, they'd never seen a day of hardwork in their life. His face was so carefree, he'd never known sadness in this little bubble Akira had confined them in. He never would. "I was in a pancake mood this morning!"
Despite himself, Akira smiled. He learned to play his part, the loving husband who took the doting in stride. The king of the castle whose partner would follow his every command if it meant he'd get just one more second of happiness. Akira couldn't say he hated it. Aside from the physical restrictions on such a dirty word, the attention from Goro was... Nice. It was nice. That's what he told himself and maybe he would start to believe it. Maybe he already did. Who knows?
Akira took his seat at the table, Goro sat on his lap. Akira gave him a curious look which was just met with that same vacant smile. "I hope you like them," He positioned himself so that he was facing Akira. He slung his arms around his neck and pulled him closer, his eyes half lidded as he did. "Maybe we could have dessert after this?"
Akira brushed past him as he went for the pancakes. "Maybe," He'd long learned not to get flustered by such comments. He hadn't quite figured out not to feel disgusted by them though. That didn't mean he'd never indulged.
"Just let me know if you're in the mood before work~" Goro got down and walked away.
A soft hum filled the small apartment that Akira never remembered renting. He never remembered paying rent either, or any bills for that matter. Of course, it made sense. Maruki had probably chosen a nice, secluded place for his two most dangerous prisoners valued guests. Here, they could be as loud as they wanted and no one would hear them. No one would ever get to listen in on heated, one sided, arguments, on desperate pleas for the real Akechi to come back, on the blood curdling screams that preceded a violent death. It was all their little secret. Their little paradise.
And it always would be.