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Akutagawa hadn’t been seen in several days, Mori was certain Gin knew where her brother had disappeared to, but for some reason, she refused to share that information with Mori. He sighed, he didn’t have time for the strange mating rituals of the younger generations, but he had a strange feeling he was supposed to be the one to find him. He’d thought with Dazai gone he was done with dramatic teenagers, but of course, Dazai’s trainee would follow him. Mori went through his work, giving what he could to Hirotsu and Kouyou and made his way out. He took one of the Mafia cars, Akutagawa might be frail but Mori didn’t know what state he would be in and he couldn’t carry him back to headquarters.
It didn’t take him long to find Akutagawa in the warehouse he had given Dazai to train him in. He was curled up in the corner, some blood on the floor around him, his face was covered. Rashomon was alert, guarding its master.
“Akutagawa-kun?”
“Go away!”
“You have work to do, unless you’d like to lose your job too?”
“Why did he leave me?” Akutagawa looked up and Mori could see the red blotches on his face from how much he’d been crying. “Am I not as good as Odasaku?”
Mori sighed, tough love wasn’t going to work here so he would have to try a different tactic. He walked over to Akutagawa and crouched in front of him, a glare settled Rashomon back into Akutagawa’s coat.
“For Dazai-kun, no one will ever be as good as Odasaku, for some unfathomable reason, he held the man up on a pedestal. It is for the greater good that Dazai-kun has left the Mafia.”
“But I never got his praise. All the training and practice and I never got to show him how good I could be.” Akutagawa’s voice wavered as he tried not to cry.
“Dazai-kun is gone, not dead, well I don’t think he is. He’s not my problem to keep alive now.” Mori laughed. “You wouldn’t still be in the Mafia if you weren’t good at what you do. I have no time for useless staff members and you are far from it.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
Akutagawa’s stomach growled before he could answer.
“When did you last eat?”
“When did Dazai-san leave?”
“Okay, up we get,” Mori groaned as he stood up, his joints clicking, once standing he put out a hand to help Akutagawa. The boy clung to Mori’s arm as he pulled himself up, his legs wavering and he collapsed into Mori. “Or not,” Mori sighed, he put his arms around Akutagawa and picked him up, moving him until he was safe in his arms.
“Sorry for being weak Mori-san.”
Mori ignored him, he didn't like it when he spoke like that. Instead he focused on getting him out of the warehouse and into the car, he’d already added warehouse clean-up to Hirotsu’s list so he didn’t worry about the blood Akutagawa had left.
With Akutagawa safely in the passenger’s seat, Mori drove them to a nearby fast-food restaurant, taking the drive thru he had Akutagawa’s order memorised. He placed the food in Akutagawa’s lap.
“I got your favourite.”
“Thank you.” Akutagawa slowly opened up the bag, putting the fries in the centre console for Mori to share, like they always did.
“You know, you could have called me.” Mori told him as he took the long way back to headquarters.
“I thought it was a test, from Dazai-san.”
“What sort of test would involve you not turning up to work for three days? Dazai knows your training must not interfere with your other duties.”
“He found out about us.” Akutagawa mumbled.
“I can’t understand mumbles Akutagawa-kun.”
“He found out about us!” Akutagawa yelled. “And he, he told I was weird for wanting to date my boss and that I was his, even though he’s never treated me kindly, like you do, and, that my training was going to get harder until I stopped seeing you, and” Akutagawa stopped to take a breath, “he said that I was stupid for saying I loved you.”
Mori pressed the breaks a little too hard and the car came to an abrupt stop, he turned to look at Akutagawa, not caring that a car could come up behind them.
“You love me?”
“Yes.” Akutagawa blushed, “I’m sorry, it’s stupid, just forget I said it.”
“No, I want to hear it again.” Mori took Akutagawa’s hand, “I love you Ryu.” He brought Akutagawa’s hand to his lips and gave it a light kiss.
“Ogai…I…I love you.” Akutagawa blushed.
“And Dazai-san was wrong, you can’t help who you fall in love with.” Mori squeezed Akutagawa’s hand and restarted the car.
They journey back to Port Mafia headquarters was quiet, no one daring to say anything when Mori entered with Akutagawa in his arms. Mori took them up to his rooms on the top floor.
“I want to check you over for any injuries, as there was a lot of blood surrounding you, but we can do that in the shower.”
“Okay.”
Now they were home the weariness of the past few days had settled around Akutagawa, and he let Mori lead them into the bathroom. Mori quickly stripped Akutagawa then himself, throwing their clothes into the laundry basket to deal with tomorrow. They had showered together before, neither of them had much interest in sex so it had been always been more focused on getting clean, than something more intimate.
Mori made quick work of washing the grime off Akutagawa, feeling relieved when he found only small, already healing cuts. He washed Akutagawa’s hair, knowing it would make the boy feel better.
“How are you feeling?” Mori asked as he combed the conditioner through Akutagawa’s hair.
“Sleepy.”
“Not much longer and we can get into bed.”
“We?” Akutagawa perked up a bit at that thought.
“Hirotsu and Ozaki-san are taking my duties for tonight. I didn’t know what state you would be in and…I’ve missed you the past few nights.”
“Me to,” Akutagawa smiled.
They finished washing and got out of the shower. Mori was grateful he had put their pyjamas on the radiator before he left as Akutagawa soon started shivering. He covered Akutagawa’s cuts and then dressed them both, making quick work of drying Akutagawa's hair.
“Is it bedtime yet?” Akutagawa yawned as Mori put away the hairdryer.
“Almost, I just want you to take some painkillers before we settle down.” He explained, handing Akutagawa the medication and a glass of water. As Akutagawa took the medication, Mori fluffed the duvet on his bed and made sure Akutagawa had the nicer pillows on his side. He got into bed, expecting Akutagawa to join him, but the boy was standing by his side of the bed, looking almost scared about joining him.
“Ogai?”
“Yes?”
“You said you loved me earlier…” Akutagawa paused, “and…I know what comes next and…I…I…I…”
Mori got of bed, walked over to Akutagawa, and pulled him in for a cwtch.
“My love is not conditional on us having sex, I love you now with how our relationship looks like now. As I’ve said before, I’m asexual, I’m open to some things as I want you to be happy and to try what might interest you, but if it never features in our relationship I don’t care. The only time I would care is if you do find yourself wanting sex and you hide that part of yourself to stay with me, when someone out there might be more compatible.”
“But Dazai-san said…”
“Dazai-kun is not a reliable source for dating advice.” Mori paused, “Do you want to have sex?”
“No, not yet. I don’t know if… if I’m ace, like you, or if I’m just not ready.”
“We have plenty of time, we can work that out, together.” Mori placed a kiss on Akutagawa’s cheek, “Just like kissing, we can work at our pace, Ryu.”
“Thank you Ogai.” Akutagawa yawned.
“Bedtime.” Mori pulled Akutagawa into bed with him, shifting over until he was back on his side. He pulled Akutagawa closer, into a cwtch, after the worry of the past three days, he wanted to make sure Akutagawa wasn’t going to leave.
“I want you to remember that you’re not weak, and even without Dazai-kun’s training you are going to continue to grow and become an excellent fighter.” Mori paused, “I also want you to remember that there is nothing wrong with our relationship, as long as you are happy, that is all I want. I will always be here for you Ryu, as a boss, as a friend, as a partner.”
Akutagawa smiled, he leant over and kiss Mori’s cheek, “Love you Ogai.”
“Love you to, now off to sleep.”
“Goodnight.”
Mori watched as Akutagawa’s eyes closed and he fell off to sleep. He hadn’t expected this to happen when Akutagawa had come to him, all those months ago, but for the first time in his life, he finally understood what love felt like and he never wanted to let it go.