Work Text:
“One medium cappuccino, please.”
The barista gave the exhausted young boy a pitiful look before moving away from the counter to prepare his drink.
“Name, please?”
“Nakajima Atsushi.”
Atsushi wanted nothing more than to get back to his apartment and collapse into his bed. Being sent on a murder case with Dazai and Ranpo was enough to suck the life out of anyone.
And on New Year’s Eve no less.
The case had gone smoothly with no issues at all. It was a quick open and shut situation that had only cost Atsushi an hour of his afternoon.
But that wasn’t the problem. The problem was that he had been dragged mercilessly from his office chair and thrown onto a train with two of the most emotionally exhausting people he had ever met. Atsushi shivered at the memory.
“One medium cappuccino for Nakajima Atsushi?”
.•° ✿ °•.
As Atsushi left the store, he took a moment to appreciate the warmth of the coffee cup in his hands.
The weather outside was colder, parents hurriedly wrapped scarves around their children and people stepped cautiously on the frosted pavements.
Winter was in full swing. Another year had passed by and Atsushi had barely noticed. It was New Year’s Eve and he had no plans. It was unusual for him to worry about such fickle things but sometimes he couldn’t help it.
Though, he wasn’t entirely to blame. Atsushi had been caught up in his world filled with superhuman abilities wielded by even more superhuman people which sometimes made it hard to pay much attention to insignificant things like the passing seasons.
He was pulled out of his thoughts as he slammed into a pole and fell to the ground, his (now empty) coffee cup lying next to him. He probably should have been paying more attention to where he was going.
He opened his eyes to be greeted by a pair of, rather expensive looking, black shoes. Shoes that were now completely drenched in coffee. His medium cappuccino to be exact. Turned out he didn’t slam into a pole after all.
‘Great. Now I’ve got to buy new shoes for some stran- ‘
“Did no one ever teach you to look where you’re going, Weretiger?”
Oh no.
“Akutagawa…”
The mafioso towered over him imposingly, Atsushi saw that some of the coffee had landed on Akutagawa’s beloved jacket. He had no idea how he was going to make up for his foolish mistake. If he were anyone else, he probably would have been dead already.
“Well, I don’t suppose you’re going to lick my shoes clean, are you?”
Atsushi’s face grew red. It wasn’t like he had done it on purpose, why did Akutagawa have to be such an asshole about everything? Though, that was probably the only way he knew how to communicate. In all honesty, Atsushi didn’t think that in all the years he had known Akutagawa, he had ever once heard a kind word leave the man's mouth.
“Why should I? You probably bought those shoes with your dirty money anyways.”
In truth, Atsushi knew his meagrely Detective Agency salary paled in comparison to Akutagawa’s hefty Mafia income, he couldn’t pay for those shoes even if he wanted to. And he really didn’t want to.
“Where my money comes from is none of your concern.” Akutagawa took a moment to scan his eyes over the boy still planted on the pavement. He then paused for a moment, as though he were in deep thought. “Are you this rude to everyone who you go spilling your coffee over? Just how do you plan to make up for my ruined shoes?”
Atsushi finally decided to pick himself up off the ground and brush himself off.
He supposed it would be rather rude to not pay for damage caused by his own mistake, arch-nemesis or otherwise. It wasn’t as though Akutagawa had no reason to be pissed, but something about him and his callous attitude never failed to make Atsushi’s blood boil.
He couldn’t help it; Akutagawa always found a way to get under his skin. Whether it was purposefully or not.
“Fine, you know I can’t afford to replace them so; what do you want from me?”
Akutagawa stood silent, pondering expression returning to his face once more.
Then, his face quickly shifted to something resembling a smile. Or at least as close to a smile as someone like him could get.
Atsushi began to sweat.
“Well, I suppose there is one thing you could do…”
.•° ✿ °•.
He should have run away.
As soon as Atsushi saw those familiar black shoes, he should have high-tailed it out of there as fast as he could. With no care of what consequences, he would face later.
“I’ll pick you up in front of your apartment at 8 pm sharp. Do not be late, Weretiger or I’ll tear you limb from limb.”
He shuddered at the memory.
What had he gotten himself into?
He stood outside his apartment in the biting cold waiting patiently for Akutagawa’s car to appear on the street below. The clock hadn’t struck 8 pm yet but Atsushi wasn’t willing to take any chances. This was Akutagawa after all. Atsushi had never met a man so confusing.
At exactly 8 pm a sleek, black car rolled up to the street beneath him. The windows were almost completely blacked out but it was clear who the car belonged to.
‘That must be him.’
As Atsushi approached the car, he couldn’t help but feel slightly intimidated. The vehicle was rather imposing with the way it blended perfectly into the dark evening sky. If it weren’t for his enhanced night vision, all thanks to his ability, he wouldn’t have been able to see it at all.
Simply put it was the perfect vehicle for someone in Akutagawa’s line of work.
He walked up to the front window and raised his hand to knock, though before he could, the black screen lowered and Akutagawa’s face appeared behind it.
“Get in.”
Atsushi couldn’t help but feel as though he was being driven to his execution.
Maybe Akutagawa was driving him to the outskirts of Yokohama where it was less populated so he could kill him for ruining his fancy black shoes. They really did just look like every other pair of shoes he owned though.
Nonetheless, Atsushi relented and seated himself in the passenger’s seat.
Though, instead of driving away from the city, he realised that Akutagawa was driving them further into the centre of Yokohama. The city was as bright and lively as people celebrated the passing of another year. It really was a beautiful sight.
But, just where was he being taken? It couldn’t have been anywhere good.
Just then, Atsushi became increasingly aware of the awkward silence growing between them. They had been driving for a long time and it didn’t seem as though they were anywhere closer to nearing Akutagawa's desired location. At least if the GPS loudly announcing 'Twenty minutes till your destination' was any indication.
‘What kinds of things do you talk about on long car rides, anyways?’ The question was even more difficult to answer considering he was currently sitting in a car with his sworn rival.
Maybe the weather? There wasn’t much to talk about, it was cold outside, anyone could see that. God, why did Akutagawa have to be so hard to talk to? He never failed to shut down any and all of Atsushi’s conversation starters on joint missions and it frustrated him to no end.
“So, Akutagawa…how’s your sister?”
Atsushi regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth. And the look Akutagawa gave him made him want to crawl into a hole and die there.
“I don’t see how my sister’s wellbeing is of any concern to you,” Akutagawa’s eyes shifted away from the road and onto Atsushi, he swore could feel them as they looked him up and down, scrutinising his every move, his every breath. “Why do you want to know, anyway?”
“I was just trying to be nice…” Atsushi sank further into his seat, unable to bear the piercing glare of Akutagawa’s judging eye. “And pay attention to the road we're going to crash!”
Akutagawa’s eyes finally tore away from him and refocused on the road.
“You forget yourself, Weretiger, need I remind you we work for rival organisations?”
Atsushi supposed he was right. It wasn’t exactly normal to ask your enemy about how their family was doing.
“Don’t you think it’s a little strange we’ve known each other for so long and know so little about each other?”
‘Don’t you want to know more about me?’ Atsushi had to stop himself from letting the last part slip out. He really didn’t want to know the answer to that question although he probably already did.
“Of course, it’s not strange. You have no business prying into my personal life,” He paused for a moment. “It’s not like we’re friends, after all.”
That got Atsushi to shut up.
‘Of course, we’re not friends. What was I thinking?’ He tried not to take it personally, Akutagawa didn’t seem like the type to have friends anyways.
Now that he had sufficiently made a fool of himself, it was probably time to change the subject as quick as humanly possible.
“So, where are we going?”
He received no answer to his question. So, they kept driving.
.•° ✿ °•.
“Akutagawa…why did you bring me here?”
He stepped out of the car and closed the door as Akutagawa sped off to find a spot to park giving Atsushi a few minutes to look around.
Their final destination was a park near the centre of Yokohama. It was normally a quiet and peaceful place but had been converted to a bustling festival location for the night.
A New Year’s festival. Akutagawa had brought him to a New Year’s festival.
A lot of thoughts ran through Atsushi’s mind in that moment. Was this his idea of a mean-spirited joke? What possible reason could Akutagawa of all people have to bring Atsushi to a place like this?
Or maybe…Akutagawa just wanted to spend time with him? Atsushi shook that idea out of his head immediately. He recalled their uncomfortable car journey conversation. Akutagawa was not his friend, even though they had worked together on countless cases and had saved each other’s lives dozens of times, they were co-workers at best. Akutagawa had made sure Atsushi knew that.
“Weretiger, let’s go.”
Atsushi spun round at the familiar nickname as Akutagawa walked towards him, car keys twirling around his index finger.
He took a moment to take in the other man’s outfit. Atsushi was still in his work clothes, too tired to change once he got back to his apartment.
It had been too dark in the car so he hadn’t gotten a chance to take it in. His getup largely remained the same except his usual frilly white shirt had been swapped out for a black turtleneck. The expression he wore also seemed to be that of a much calmer nature, he clearly didn’t feel the need to have his guard up the way he did in battle. It made Akutagawa look much more mature, nothing like that ferocious, cold-blooded killer he had met in an alleyway his first day at the agency.
Akutagawa wasn’t that cold-blooded killer he had met in an alleyway. Atsushi knew he was much more complicated than that. The world wasn’t as black and white as he had once led himself to believe. Even someone like Akutagawa had good in him, after all the times he had put his life on the line to save Atsushi, how could it not be true?
‘Akutagawa looks really nice.’ Atsushi wished he could see him like this more often. With his defences lowered. Without that hateful look on his face, as though the whole world had not forsaken him. It made Atsushi want to learn everything about him, about whatever caused him to wear such a face.
He was still wearing that damn jacket, though.
In fact, he had never seen him without it before. Atsushi wondered if he ever even took it off. He vaguely wondered if Akutagawa wore it in the shower too, though he wasn’t rude enough to ask.
“Are you listening, Weretiger?”
Atsushi’s train of thought came to a halt as Akutagawa began waving a hand in front of his face, clearly trying to gain his attention.
“Let’s go in,” Akutagawa’s hand moved away from Atsushi’s face and began gesturing toward the entrance. “There’s already a line forming, we’re going to have to stand around for an hour just because you can’t keep your head out of the clouds.”
It was good to see that Akutagawa had brought his dramatic nature along with his stupid black jacket. The line looked about five minutes long at best. Akutagawa was too impatient for his own good sometimes.
He decided not to argue and began walking, following behind Akutagawa who’d gotten tired of waiting for Atsushi and had made his own way to the entrance.
“So, Akutagawa…what are we doing here exactly?”
“It would be rude of you to go home now,” Akutagawa’s eyes danced around, seemingly looking at everything but the other man. “The parking cost was practically extortionate.”
Oh, so he was deflecting.
“You would know a lot about extortion, wouldn’t you? Being a dangerous criminal and all,” Akutagawa’s eyes finally land on him giving him one of his signature scowls. It doesn’t scare Atsushi though; he’s seen that face plenty of times and lived to tell the tale. “Besides, you make way too much money anyways.”
“Didn’t anyone ever teach you it’s rude to waste other people’s money? Especially when they’re spending it on you?”
“Yeah well, I didn’t ask you to spend it on me!”
“Whatever, Weretiger, it’s not as if you had other plans.”
“Oh yeah, and how would you know that?” Atsushi was starting to get annoyed at Akutagawa’s lack of a straight answer, plus, they were making a commotion and people were starting to stare.
And who was Akutagawa to assume things about his life? He was the one who had lectured him in the car about not prying and now he was acting like he knew Atsushi? What a jerk.
“Well then, did you have any plans for today?”
Well…” He was right, Atsushi didn’t have any plans but that smug smile the bastard was wearing really pissed him off. He wanted to punch it off his stupid, pale face.
“Look it’s our turn to buy tickets, let’s go.”
.•° ✿ °•.
“Look, Akutagawa, ring toss!”
Akutagawa turned to where Atsushi’s finger was pointing and sure enough, there stood a ring toss stall in all its tacky glory.
“Stop behaving like a child, you’re way too excited.” He didn’t understand the appeal of all this festival nonsense, New Year’s Eve was just another day to him but at least the Weretiger seemed to be having a good time. “These festivals are a waste of time.”
“No need to be such a spoilsport, Akutagawa,” Atsushi teased. “You’re acting as if you’ve never been to a festival before.”
“That’s because I haven’t.”
Atsushi’s head whips round in surprise and before Akutagawa even has time to react, he’s been grabbed by the arm and tugged towards the aforementioned game stall.
“No wonder you’re so miserable all the time, you need to learn to live a little, Akutagawa!”
“I’m living plenty, thank you very much.”
There was no use arguing, Atsushi had managed to drag him over to the stall and flag down the employee in record time. This was ridiculous, he hadn’t brought them here to play senseless games.
He didn’t really want to admit why he’d brought them here.
“I’ll let you go first so you don’t have to feel the shame of losing to me.”
Akutagawa scoffed. “As if I would ever lose to the likes of you.” Ring toss was not exactly a skill you could hold mastery over; it was simply a game of luck. The Weretiger was just trying to get him worked up in order to coax him into playing. In all honesty, it was working.
“Sounds like you need to stop underestimating my incredible ring toss abilities and just play the game.” The other man continued to needle him, doing his best to pull a reaction from the stone-faced Mafioso. “You’re just stalling because you know you can’t beat me.”
Fine. If a reaction was what he wanted, it was a reaction he was going to get.
Akutagawa slammed his wallet down on the counter and turned to the stall employee who looked mildly amused watching their childish bickering.
“It’s six hundred yen for three plays.” He hesitated for a moment. Six hundred yen was way too much for three measly rings. This is why he didn’t like these silly festivals; their entire purpose was to make as much money as possible.
He turned to Atsushi to let him know he didn’t want to play anymore but the other man wasn’t focused on him anymore. He was eyeing the grand prize, a giant plush cat almost the same size as him.
Oh.
Akutagawa quickly pulled six hundred yen from his wallet and placed it on the counter. The employee hands him three rings, he readies himself to throw them, he can feel Atsushi’s eyes staring through him and-
“What was that about never losing to me?”
He misses all three shots. He can hear Atsushi attempting to stifle his laughter from behind him.
“Shut up, Weretiger!” He spins around and points his finger accusingly at the grey-haired man. “It’s all your fault, anyways, if you would have stopped staring at me, I would have won!”
“Don’t be such a sore loser and just admit I’m better than you!”
“Shut up, Weretiger, I won’t let you beat me!”
It wasn’t about winning anymore; this was about his goddamn pride. He placed another six hundred yen on the counter. He would win that stupid stuffed cat for the Atsushi and make him eat his words.
.•° ✿ °•.
“You just don’t know when to quit, do you, Akutagawa?”
He had spent all of his money. All of it.
And as if that wasn’t bad enough, he had nothing to show for it. He glared at the dumb tiger plush, it taunted him from its shelf. He couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed.
“Don’t be upset, it’s my turn now after all!” A reassuring hand landed on his shoulder as Atsushi breezed past him, placing six hundred yen from his own wallet onto the counter. What reason would he have to be upset, anyways? Sometimes Atsushi said the strangest things, he still didn’t understand him at all.
“I’m not upset, Weretiger, what an absurd notion.”
Instead of replying Atsushi gave him an understanding smile, turned around and perfectly landed three rings onto the comically large bottles. He jumped up and down with glee and gladly accepted his oversized prize.
Well, at least Atsushi seemed happy even if Akutagawa had to stew in his own embarrassment brought on by his failure. Maybe ring toss wasn’t all about luck after all. Or maybe the Weretiger could thank his alarming accuracy granted to him by his ability.
“Look, Akutagawa!” The stuffed monstrosity was shoved towards his face as he stumbled backwards from surprise. Atsushi was practically vibrating, excitement radiating off him. “Look what I won!”
“Yes, that’s very nice, Weretiger, now get it out of my face.” He pushed his arm out to put distance between him and the toy but felt resistance as Atsushi continued to thrust it towards him.
“I don’t really want it anyway, why don’t you take it?”
He felt his face grow red. Had Atsushi lost his mind?
“I don’t want that thing, Weretiger, get it away from me.”
“Oh, come on, I know you want it!” Atsushi teased. Why would Akutagawa want a stuffed cat? Surely Atsushi didn’t think everyone was as childish as him, did he? Akutagawa couldn’t help but feel slightly insulted.
“I saw you eyeing it while we were playing,” Atsushi gave one final push. He shoved the giant cat into Akutagawa’s arms and let go, Akutagawa instinctively wrapped his arms around it to prevent it from falling to the ground. “Why else would you spend all your money, if you didn’t want it?”
It seemed Atsushi had seriously misunderstood his actions. But now it was too late and Akutagawa’s ego was far too inflated to explain himself.
‘I don’t want this stupid thing I was trying to win it for you but as it turns out I suck at ring toss and now I’ve completely humiliated myself.’
So instead, he admitted defeat and begrudgingly held on tighter to the stuffed animal in his arms.
“Whatever, let’s just go.” He grabbed Atsushi’s arm and began pulling him away towards the food stalls. The ring toss employee waved them off gleefully, more than pleased after thoroughly emptying Akutagawa’s pockets.
.•° ✿ °•.
It was much noisier near the entrance but that was where most of the food stalls were and Atsushi would be lying if he said his stomach hadn’t started rumbling after Akutagawa’s lengthy game of ring toss. Honestly, Atsushi thought it was charming that he had tried so hard.
“Hey, Akutagawa, how about we get a bite to eat?” He looked around at the various food options until he spotted a Takoyaki stand in the distance. Maybe Akutagawa would like some Takoyaki? “It’ll be my treat.”
“I don’t want your pity, just because I don’t have any money left doesn’t mean I need you to feed me.”
Atsushi rolled his eyes. It was just like Akutagawa to never accept anything from anyone, he was frustratingly independent. “Oh, come on, it’s practically a requirement to stuff yourself with food at these kinds of events.”
Now it was Akutagawa’s turn to roll his eyes. “That sounds disgusting, why would I ever want to do that?”
“Because it’s fun?”
“No, it’s not.”
“Oh, come on, there must be something you want! How does Takoyaki sound?”
Akutagawa was silent for a moment; he stared down at the ground and shuffled his feet. “Well, if you insist, how about some shaved ice?”
Of course, how could he forget Akutagawa’s notorious sweet tooth? No one would ever expect the Port Mafia’s rabid dog to have such an affinity for sugar. Atsushi giggled to himself. He could imagine what would happen if that piece of information was leaked somehow, about how easy it was to sway the formidable Akutagawa Ryuunosuke with the mere mention of something sugary.
Atsushi himself had only learnt of his strange proclivity for sweets after a joint mission with the Port. He had borne witness to Akutagawa devouring an entire strawberry cake by himself, all sense thrown out the window. When Akutagawa had noticed Atsushi watching he had made the other man swear to secrecy, according to him, the only other person who knew of his obsession was his Gin.
“What are you smiling about?”
“Nothing, shaved ice sounds great, let’s go.”
He bought shaved ice for both of them, blue raspberry for Akutagawa and banana for him.
“Seriously, blue raspberry?”
“What’s wrong with it?”
“I didn’t know anyone over the age of eight liked blue raspberry?”
“I don’t think you have any room to talk, banana? Seriously?”
Before Atsushi could retaliate, he noticed Akutagawa was behaving unusually. He appeared awkward and uncomfortable as he shrunk into himself, nothing like his usual self who was confident and took up space.
That was when Atsushi noticed the way Akutagawa took nervous glances at the large crowd of people around them.
He didn’t like crowds.
Atsushi almost laughed at seeing someone like Akutagawa cower before something as insignificant as a big crowd of people. He had been to this park before with Kyouka and knew how crowded it could get during events like this. Maybe he should take pity on Akutagawa and move them to one of the more isolated areas he knew of.
“Hey, Akutagawa, let’s go somewhere else.”
They both walked side by side, led by Atsushi, away from rambunctious festival-goers in relative silence. Akutagawa still held on tightly to his giant cat prize, being extra careful to not let it graze against the ground.
The chatter of people and the carnival music began to morph into sounds of the night. Everything about the atmosphere was serene. The whisper of the cool breeze felt refreshing on Atsushi’s skin along with the subtle crunch of frosted grass and the warble of night-time birds.
It was the perfect winter night, like something straight out of a damn movie.
After crossing a particularly rickety bridge, they approach a bench overlooking an open field. With no trees to shield them, the wind to blow past even more harshly. A chill ran up Atsushi’s spine, and the cold bit through his clothes.
They sat on the bench and took a moment to enjoy the beautiful view. Though after the moment was over, Atsushi decided it was finally time to break the silence.
“So, what’re your New Year’s Resolutions?”
Akutagawa grimaced. He let out a small huff and shifted his body away from Atsushi.
“I don’t do silly things like that, Weretiger, you’re trying to make small talk with me again. Stop it.”
Atsushi’s face dropped, disheartened at his failed attempt at conversation. Akutagawa’s face twisted into guilt.
“The last time I made a New Year’s Resolution was when I was a child. I haven’t made one for a long time.” He looked up towards the sky, sparse stars dusting the black void. It was rare to see any stars at all in Yokohama; there was usually too much light pollution.
Atsushi couldn’t help but feel surprised. He had never heard Akutagawa speak of his childhood before; it felt like something he wasn’t meant to know. It was information he wasn’t privy to, though he would be lying if he said he wasn’t curious.
Akutagawa must have noticed the perplexed look on his face. He sighed and rolled his eyes.
“Don’t look so surprised, Weretiger. You wanted to know more about me, didn’t you?”
“I guess you’re right…”
“Well, now I’m telling you.”
Atsushi smiled to himself as he thought about Akutagawa’s mean, stoic face on an innocent little child.
“What’re you smirking about?”
“I just can’t imagine you as a kid, that’s all. I bet you didn’t have any eyebrows back then either.” Atsushi began to giggle as Akutagawa’s face grew red.
“Shut your mouth, Weretiger, why have you brought us here anyway?”
“Well, you just looked so uncomfortable surrounded by all those other people so I thought you’d feel better if we moved somewhere more peaceful.”
Somehow, Akutagawa’s face grew even redder, his non-existent eyebrow twitching with annoyance. “I wasn’t ‘uncomfortable’ and I don’t need your help.” He folded his arms across his chest and huffed.
It was pointless to argue with Akutagawa when he was like this, he was sensitive when it came to relying on others. Atsushi had learnt to accept it as something that just came with the territory of knowing Akutagawa Ryuunosuke. Instead, Atsushi just laughs.
“You know what, Akutagawa? I think it’s kind of nice how you get nervous in big crowds.” Atsushi stared down at his lap and kicked his feet at the pavement. “You act so tough that sometimes I forget you’re human too.”
“The one with superhuman healing abilities is questioning my humanity?” Akutagawa mutters quietly, avoiding Atsushi’s gaze. “Whatever, Weretiger.”
“Well- “
Their conversation was interrupted by a loud bang and a flash of light.
They both looked over to see brilliant colours painting the black sky.
The fireworks show had begun. Atsushi turned to Akutagawa to continue their conversation but froze for a moment. He felt his heart skip a beat when he finally took a look at Akutagawa.
A look of complete wonder had washed over Akutagawa’s face, it was a look of complete infatuation, as though the dazzling explosions above were the most beautiful things he’d ever seen. Atsushi’s breath caught in his throat as he watched Akutagawa’s deep grey eyes light up, reflecting the brilliant colours. His mouth slightly parted as he stared up at the sky, unblinking.
Atsushi decided that it was best not to interrupt his precious moment, so instead, he turned his head back towards the sky as they watched the fireworks in silence.
.•° ✿ °•.
It felt as though hours had gone by though in reality the fireworks had most likely only lasted a few minutes. They had sat there the entire time in silent appreciation.
Atsushi couldn’t help but notice the way they had slowly inched closer towards each other while watching the light show. By now, he could feel the warmth radiating from Akutagawa’s thighs as they pressed against his own. Their hands brushed together now and then but neither of them dared to say anything.
The awkward tension between them had become palpable by that point. Neither of them knew what to say but neither was prepared to move away either.
It was then, that Atsushi decided to relieve that pressure with a joke.
“You know, if someone walked past us right now, they’d think we were on a date!”
He gave Akutagawa a watery smile but he didn’t receive one back. Instead, Akutagawa jerked his hand back from where it rested against Atsushi’s and wrapped it around himself. He began bouncing his leg nervously as if contemplating something deeply.
“What if this was a date?” Akutagawa’s face lit up in a panic as though realising how his words must have sounded to the other man. He fumbled, quickly correcting himself. “I mean it’s not! But what if it was…?”
Atsushi was at a loss for words. He looked at Akutagawa in utter confusion, with no clue how to respond to his question.
“Akutagawa, I…” He couldn’t force any more words out of his mouth.
Akutagawa’s face shifted from panic to disappointment.
“Never mind, Weretiger, just forget I ever said anything.” He pulled himself away from Atsushi’s side, scooting to the other side of the bench leaving Atsushi’s thigh cold and lonely once again. “I didn’t mean to freak you out.”
Akutagawa’s frenzy of babbling was interrupted by a loud snort. Atsushi flashed him a teasing smile as he leaned in, closing the distance between them.
Their lips pressed together and Atsushi felt as though he was dreaming. Akutagawa’s lips were much more chapped than he imagined and his cheeks were cold. But none of that mattered once Akutagawa pulled him in closer and wrapped his arms around Atsushi’s waist.
They both eventually pulled back, huffing and out of breath. Akutagawa’s hands still rested on Atsushi’s hips.
“I think…I’ve finally decided on a New Year’s Resolution.”
“Oh yeah, and what’s that?”
“Next year I’ll take you on a real date.”