Work Text:
Akira is too busy to date.
Perhaps one day, when all this Phantom Thieves stuff has come to an end, Akira will finally date, but dating is simply not something he can see himself doing right now.
…as depressing as that is to think about, sometimes.
After all, if he is going to date, Akira needs to be able to give at least half as much attention to his partner as he is giving the flower crowns he’s making right now. It’s an unfavorable situation that Akira is able to give more attention to flower crowns than a person, but if he doesn’t think about it, he can’t be upset over it, so he simply decides to not think about it and throws himself entirely into his current activity.
At least Akira has a chance to unwind and do something mindless.
Work at Rafflesia is so much slower than Hanasaki-sensei said it would be when she texted him, which definitely isn’t an issue to Akira. After all, he is being given a bigger paycheck to do borderline nothing except talk to the occasional customer when they come in. Mostly, though, he has been sitting in the corner of the small shop, making flower crowns out of flowers he would never be able to get his hands on anywhere else. Not even from Haru, because growing anything on the rooftop of the school has limits, understandably. Granted, he may be able to get flowers from Haru that will make some very, very beautiful flower crowns, but Akira needs specific flowers because he’s trying to portray specific ideas to the particular people for whom he plans to make a flower crown — and, unfortunately, Akira can’t be sure Haru has any flowers he needs.
…and besides, Akira doesn’t intend on making a crown for Haru, which is another reason he doesn’t want to go to her. She’s a wonderful and beautiful person, but she simply doesn’t have his attention like the three people for whom he is making a crown.
As foolish as it might be, considering what’s actually being created, Akira hones all of his attention on making these flower crowns as if he were making lockpicks or smoke bombs. When he puts his mind to something, it’ll always get done; when he puts his mind to something, he’s almost methodical in achieving his goals, even if the goal to achieve right now is making flower crowns for three people.
First on the list is: Yusuke.
Picking a flower for Yusuke is probably the hardest thing Akira has ever done. With him, the language of the flower alone isn’t enough. The way the flower looks is also just as important. Yusuke is a strong, elegant, and beautiful person — and Akira not only needs a flower that says all of that in its meaning, but shows all of that in how it looks, as well.
The flower Akira ends up going with for Yusuke is: White Orchids.
White Orchids portray the exact idea Akira needs them to: strength, beauty, elegance, and love. Granted, there’s a whole slew of flowers in the world that portray that exact same idea, but the reason Akira went with the White Orchids is because white portrays purity, whereas Orchids are a symmetrical flower. Yusuke has a very pure and highly specific way of looking at the world, from the way he is always framing things with his hands to the unique beauty he brings everywhere he goes. A flower being symmetrical is a unique beauty as most flowers (and most things occurring naturally in the world) are simply not.
Second on the list: Goro.
Picking a flower for Goro is a lot easier, but Akira spends time hesitating before he finally lets himself choose it. After all, his relationship with Goro is different from the other two people he is making a flower crown for. Goro is an intelligent, powerful, and ever-changing person. It doesn’t matter what the flower looks like, but its meaning is so important.
The flower Akira ends up going with for Goro is: Blue Forget-Me-Nots.
As before, Blue Forget-Me-Nots portray the exact idea Akira needs them to: intelligence, power, and growth. As soon as he saw the flowers on the shelf and learned the meaning of them, Akira knew they were the right flower for Goro. The reason for his hesitation lies in further meaning of the flower: declaration of true love, devotion, and respect, as well as their namesake: remembrance. Akira doesn’t want to give Goro the wrong idea, that these flowers are him confessing, but he does feel a certain devotion and respect for his rival, and there is nothing in this world that will ever keep him from forgetting him.
Last on the list, but certainly not least: Ryuji.
Picking a flower for Ryuji is the easiest choice Akira has ever made, nor does he spend a single second hesitating or second-guessing his decision. Ryuji is Akira’s best friend who has been there with him since damn near day one. Ryuji is loyal, as bright as the sun, and in everything he does until the end. Akira knows a flower with the perfect meaning, but that doesn’t matter as much as the vibe.
The flower Akira ends up going with for Ryuji is: Sunflowers.
As usual, Sunflowers portray the exact idea Akira needs them to: longevity, loyalty, and the sun itself. Another reason to get his flowers from Rafflesia, Sunflowers are a difficult flower to domesticate unless there is a lot of room for them to grow. In that way, they are a heck of a lot like Ryuji: loud and bold. When someone is in the presence of a Sunflower, they know it without a shadow of a doubt, and the same can be said for Ryuji. They aren't traditionally beautiful flowers , but they’re gorgeous in their own right… just like Ryuji. The meaning is important, but Ryuji won’t know it. Giving him a crown of sunflowers is what’s important.
Akira’s whole shift lasts six hours.
Going up to Hanasaki-sensei for his pay, he then turns right around to pay for the flowers he used to make all of his crowns. He even pays a little extra to have them all nicely packaged in gift boxes with tissue paper, all picked out to match the colors of each flower. When all is said and done, Akira ends up having to pay a couple thousand more yen out of pocket, but the anxiety- and stress-free work shift is worth spending a little bit of what he already had. Plus, he can’t wait to see the look on Ryuji, Goro, and Yusuke’s faces when he gives them each their specific crown.
***
Akira spends all of the following night debating how he wants to deliver the flower crowns he made. They do have to go into Maruki’s palace, so he thinks perhaps he can deliver them after that, in Leblanc, after the girls have all gone home, but he doesn’t want excitement to be squelched by the fact they’re all usually utterly exhausted after a palace run. Not to mention that, going into Maruki’s palace always makes Goro so tense and angry, putting him in a bad mood. Akira can imagine Goro wouldn’t want to stick around for something as ‘trivial’ as flower crowns.
That leaves giving each of them their flower crowns before going into the palace. Granted, he wouldn’t be able to give them out all at the same time, but Akira doesn’t mind traveling around Tokyo. He actually quite enjoys the train. He can start with Goro since he lives the farthest away from him, then move onto Yusuke, and then deliver to Ryuji last. From there, he and Ryuji can head to Leblanc together to meet with the rest of the team for the palace. Obviously, doing that plan means the girls will probably see the flower crowns, and while that is a concern to him, it isn’t exactly a secret that Akira is a lot more interested in men than women.
Akira thinks the girls will understand.
The last thought to go through Akira’s mind as he falls asleep, content with his plan to deliver all the crowns the next day, is that he could deliver them the next time he hangs out with each recipient… but the problem with that is twofold: (1) Akira doesn’t want to wait that long because he’s much too excited; and (2) Akira has no idea if he will get another chance to have alone time with Goro…
…so he needs to do it tomorrow.
Akira falls asleep to the comforting weight of Morgana on his chest and not a single stressful thought in his mind. Having that downtime at the flower shop he got is exactly what Akira needed to feel refreshed — and refreshed, ready to tackle anything, including his own thoughts and feelings and emotions, is exactly what he is.
Perhaps he’s wrong in thinking these flower crowns will bring up a lot of emotions and feelings, but he also knows he needs to be ready for anything.
***
Akira wakes up bright and early the next morning and gets dressed in a simple outfit of blue jeans, a black sweater, and a tan jacket. He thinks about getting dressed up for the occasion of delivering his flower crowns, but he doesn’t actually want to raise suspicion before he gets a chance to explain what he’s doing. The fact he even plans on arriving at Goro, Yusuke, and Ryuji’s places of living this early on a Sunday will raise enough questions as it is.
…and perhaps he’s being a little bit too “stealth mode” about this, but he genuinely wants this to be a nice surprise. He put a lot of work into these flower crowns and he wants his gifts to be well received — and a surprise, too, of course.
Breathe, Akira tells himself, which helps him to regain a bit of his composure. Breathe and stop overthinking all of this. It’s going to be fine. They’re just flower crowns and they’ll all love them.
…including Goro.
A bit calmer now, Akira grabs his bag and gently puts all three of the gift wrapped crowns in it. Telling Morgana he doesn’t have enough room for him because he doesn’t want the crowns to get crushed, the cat agrees he’ll stay in the Leblanc attic for the day and sleep, making no notice whatsoever so Akira doesn’t get in any trouble with Sojiro for leaving his cat here.
“Thanks, Mona. I’ll bring you some fatty tuna later.”
With the sound of delighted purring echoing in his ear, Akira smiles and turns on his feet, heading downstairs to tell Sojiro he’s going out for the day and he’ll be back later that night. When that claim is met with nothing but being told to be careful and stay out of trouble, Akira replies by saying he’ll do his best and heads out, leaving with the sound of chuckling behind him and a small smile across his own lips.
Akira doesn’t know what he would do without Mona and Sojiro.
…
Akira’s first stop is Goro.
Standing at his front door, Akira hesitates for the longest few moments of his life before finally letting himself knock on the door. Although he does know where Goro lives, he has never actually been here because he’s never had a reason to be.
In fact, Akira only knows this is where Goro lives because of a trip they took to Jazz Jin in August of the previous year where Goro wound up getting just a little bit too drunk and far too chatty, resulting in him needing to get Goro home before he said or did something stupid. It took a bit of hounding, but Akira eventually got Goro to tell him his address so he could tell it to the taxi driver to take him home.
Akira doesn’t want to learn things about Goro like that.
To match the Forget-Me-Nots, Akira has Goro’s flower crown wrapped up in a blue box with a mixture of yellow and white string to tie it up, an intricate little bow in the middle of the box.
Akira pulls the gift out of his bag, holding it in his shaky hands as he waits for what feels like an eternity and a half for Goro to answer the door. He waits so long he starts thinking maybe Goro isn’t home and he should come back another time; waits so long that he actually does start to turn away from the door and thinks about walking back to the train station, but he’s stopped in his tracks when he heads the door open, so he turns back and smiles when he sees Goro, looking tired but put together.
That must have been why he was waiting so long.
“I brought you a gift.”
“A gift?” Goro raises an eyebrow and crosses his arms. He glances down at the watch on his wrist, then turns his attention back to Akira. “You brought me a gift now? Akira, it’s 7:30 in the morning. This couldn’t wait until a little bit later? I thought you were—” He shakes his head a bit. “Never mind,” he says, stepping out of the way. “Come in, then. I’ll get you some tea. You can sit down in the living room.”
Akira smiles and steps into the condo, immediately kicking out of his shoes before he makes his way to the living room to sit down on the couch. Putting his bag with the other two gifts in it on the floor, he leaves Goro’s sitting in his lap as he bounces his leg nervously. He’s so anxious to find out what Goro is going to think of his gift; on edge to know if he’ll think it’s a pointless and stupid gift or if he’ll actually like it and maybe, perhaps want to wear it.
In fact, Akira is just so incredibly anxious to find out what Goro is going to think, he almost doesn't get the words out to thank him for the tea before he’s setting the mug down on the coffee table and shoving the gift wrapped box in his hands. “Here. Go ahead and open your gift,” he says with the biggest, brightest eyes. He looks almost like a child on Christmas morning, eyes shimmering in the flow of the tree, except he’s excited for someone else’s gift, not his own.
“Okay, okay,” Goro says, sitting down on the couch next to Akira with the gift in his lap. He motions to the tea. “Drink your tea and I’ll open whatever this is,” he promises, waiting for Akira to pick back up his tea before he turns his attention to the gift. “What is this?”
“A gift.”
“A gift for what?”
Akira shrugs, taking a sip of his tea. “I like giving gifts.”
“Why are you giving me a gift, though?”
“I like you,” Akira says and takes another sip of his tea. He can’t help but smile at how warm it is, like he’s being given a hug from the inside out.
Or maybe telling Goro he likes him is what’s making Akira feel fuzzy inside. It would certainly explain why his face feels like it’s on fire — and it would definitely explain why it looks like Goro’s is as red as the ripest cherry.
Akira has a strong feeling deep down in his gut that he’s probably going to feel like this for every one of these gift-giving endeavors today, in one way or another, but all equally as flustering.
Akira may not have time to date, but crushes take absolutely no time at all, and heaven knows he has more than enough of those to go around.
“Now open it… I… Just open it, please.”
“…okay,” Goro mumbles, starting to untie the present. He lets the strings drape across his legs and pulls the lid off the box, revealing tissue paper the same shade blue as the box. Letting out a soft sound through his nose, he moves all the tissue paper out of the way, and…
“…a flower crown?”
Akira doesn’t answer at first, anxiety taking over every bit of his body as he stares at the flower crown along with Goro. Then he slowly turns his attention to Goro himself, desperately trying to read his expressionless face. Unfortunately, he really can’t tell if Goro loves it or hates it — and it’s making his anxiety even worse.
“M-Made of Forget-Me-Nots,” Akira says, looking down at his hands in his lap as he explains his reasoning for picking that flower. “I knew exactly what flower I wanted to use for you as soon as I saw it.”
Goro doesn’t take his eyes off the flower crown. “…use for me?” he asks, looking back up at Akira, finally. “What do you mean? Are you giving others flower crowns?”
“Yusuke and Ryuji.”
“I see.”
Goro makes a sound and looks back down at the crown for another beat before taking it out of the box. He sets the crown on his head and puts the box on the coffee table. Turning to look at Akira, he offers him a smile Akira has never seen on him before — and Akira can’t quite figure it out if that smile breaks his heart or makes it soar.
Maybe both.
“How does it look, then?”
Akira gives an airy laugh through his nose and twists his lips a bit to hide how big his smile is. “It matches the sweater you’re wearing,” he says and then hesitates for a moment. “It… It looks perfect.”
Goro laughs as well, taking the frown off and getting up from his seat. “I’ll put this somewhere safe,” he says, holding the crown in his hands as delicately as he possibly can. “Go ahead and deliver your other flower crowns.” Turning on his heels, fully facing away from Akira, there is a bit of silence before he says, quietly, “Thank you. I love it,” and disappears down the hall.
Akira’s heart thunders violently in his chest as he gets up from the couch and goes back to the door to put his shoes on, leaving without another word.
…
Akira’s second stop is Yusuke.
Although he has been to Yusuke’s dorm room before, it still takes Akira a little bit of time to find the right one. He knows the building and found the right hall, but tracking down the correct room has ended up being a little bit harder than he expected. Perhaps it’s because he’s flustered from giving Goro his gift — and perhaps it’s because he’s flustered by now having to give Yusuke his gift not even an hour later. He knows he’s going to love it; if Goro loved his gift, then obviously Yusuke and Ryuji will, but there’s still that minute What if? anxiety that’s so unrelenting and refuses to let Akira simply be.
Eventually, though, Akira finds himself standing right outside Yusuke’s door, all the horrible memories of being here to listen to Yusuke apologize for being pulled into Maruki’s false reality flooding back. He pushes away the memories, not wanting them to ruin the vibe, but they very much still remain in the back of his mind.
Clearing his throat, Akira knocks.
Unlike Goro, Yusuke answers the door quickly, which makes sense because, also unlike Goro, Yusuke lives in a small dorm room versus a multi-room condo.
When Yusuke opens the door, the very first thing Akira notices about him is that Yusuke is covered from head to toe in multiple colors of paint paint. It strangely makes him smile. It’s just so quintessentially him to be covered in paint like this — and to look so happy, to boot. Akira knows from a few previous conversations that the reason he’s covered in so much paint is probably because he’s working on his final project, which is being done on a big canvas — and Akira cannot wait to see when it’s done.
Yusuke smiles brightly, which makes Akira’s heart flutter in his chest and gives him a severe case of butterflies. “Hello, Akira,” he says. “What brings you here so early?”
“Ahh… I… I brought you a gift,” Akira says, gesturing to his bag. “I made a gift for you, Akechi, and Ryuji at work yesterday. I just dropped off Akechi’s so now I’m here to give you yours…” he explains, looking Yusuke over a bit before he turns his attention back to his eyes. “I can come back another time, though, if this isn’t a good time for you—”
“Nonsense! I always have time for you, Akira,” Yusuke says, stepping out of the way so Akira can come in. “Let me wash my hands and change and I’d love to see what you’ve brought for me.”
Biting his bottom lip lightly and nodding as he walks into the room, Akira shuts the door behind him. After a moment’s consideration, he decidedly keeps his shoes on as he goes to sit on Yusuke’s futon, considering it’s the only actual spot to sit in the whole room. “Take your time,” he says, taking his bag off his shoulder and setting it down beside his feet. He lays back on the futon and closes his eyes, finding the bed strangely comfortable for being something on the floor. “No need to rush.”
At some point in waiting for Yusuke to come back, Akira falls asleep.
None of Akira’s dreams are particularly interesting or noteworthy, but he does have a few of them in the hour he sleeps on Yusuke’s bed. When he rouses, he has a brief moment of terror, not realizing where he is, but whenever he hears Yusuke’s gentle voice asking him if he slept well… he calms down.
One particular dream does stick with Akira as he wakes up. Quite simply, he was sitting in the Leblanc attic, sitting on his bed, kissing Goro, Yusuke, and Ryuji. That was the only thing that happened, but it was so nice.
Crushes are so complicated, sometimes.
Akira blinks, sitting up and looking at Yusuke. He stretches from side to side, cracking his back. He then takes a moment to rub the sleep from his eyes. “I’m sorry… I didn’t even realize I was tired,” he says, looking down at his bag before pulling it into his lap. “How long…?”
“An hour.”
“O-oh.” Akira bites his lip, rubbing more hardened gunk from his eyes until his eyes aren’t blurry anymore. He then takes a minute to find his glasses, picking them up off the floor next to the futon and putting them on. He turns his attention back to Yusuke, clearing his throat a bit.. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”
“You looked too peaceful. It didn’t feel appropriate to disturb you. Plus, and I hope you don’t mind, I did sketch you while you were asleep,” Yusuke says, getting up to join Akira on the futon. “That isn’t weird, is it?”
Akira shakes his head, smiling softly. “I don’t mind,” he says, looking at the sketchbook in Yusuke’s arms. “May I see what you drew?”
“It’s a very rough sketch right now,” Yusuke says, flipping the sketchbook open to the sketch in question. Immediately, Akira can’t help but smile at the sketch. It’s a whole heck of a lot more detailed than he thought it would be based on Yusuke calling it a rough sketch… but maybe he doesn’t know what a rough sketch is.
Honestly, Akira had no idea that he could seem so peaceful, with how stressed he is all the time. “I simply caught your essence. I plan to do more with it later, but I found… such inspiration in how peaceful you looked versus how, ahem, stressed you usually seem while you’re awake. Though, you don’t seem to be all that stressed right now,” Yusuke says. “Is that because of the gift you have for me?”
Ironically enough, it is because of the gift.
“Thanks for letting me nap. I guess I woke up too early,” Akira says, handing Yusuke a crisp, white gift box wrapped in gold string. “This is for you. I really hope you like it. I, uh… I made it for you.”
“Made it for me?” Yusuke looks surprised as he takes the gift and puts it in his lap, taking the time to examine it. He holds it in his hands, shaking it lightly, and then puts it back down in his lap and stares at it. “It is very light, is it not? The box and the bow are both very beautiful.”
“They match what’s inside.”
“Oh?”
Akira chuckles. “Go ahead and open it,” he says. “You’ll find out what it is.” …and you’ll love it, too, I hope. “You don’t have to worry about the gift wrapping, either. I got that from work for cheap. Rip into it all you want to.” He isn’t sure why he feels the need to tell Yusuke it’s acceptable to rip into the gift. Perhaps it has something to do with the way his hands are delicately hovering over the box. “Just… ah—” He rubs the back of his neck. “I hope you love it.”
“It’s a gift from you, Akira. Of course I will love it. The fact you felt comfortable enough to sleep in my dorm is a gift in itself, so I suppose I am getting two gifts today.”
Akira blushes.
Averting his gaze a bit, Akira watches through his bangs as Yusuke finally rips into the present. He doesn’t take his advice about tearing it open, but he also doesn’t look as though he’s going to try keeping the wrapping paper, either. Or perhaps he is going to keep it. Looking around the room briefly, he notes there are so many different projects, all made from so many different mediums. Akira genuinely would not be surprised if—
“A flower crown!” Yusuke gasps, picking the crown out of the box. Jerking his legs so the box falls off his lap and to the ground, he puts the crown on his lap and smiles warmly. “Akira, this is gorgeous. You even made it out of White Orchids. Orchids are one of my favorite flowers. You perhaps already know this, but they are known for the fact they are symmetrical.” He pauses, thinking for a moment. “I know a little bit about their meaning, but may I ask what made you choose them?”
Akira nods. “Strength, beauty, elegance… a-and love,” he says, fidgeting with his bangs again. He wishes he didn’t feel so nervous right now, but talking about his feelings is not something he has ever been particularly… good at doing. “You’re so strong for everything you’ve overcome and you have such elegance and unique beauty that I just… really had to make sure I showed that in the flowers I picked for you. Like you said, they’re symmetrical, which is unique for a flower — and you’re unique, too.”
Yusuke smiles brightly as he puts the crown on his head, then turns to look at Akira. He sits up straight, his shoulders squared. He looks almost proud to be wearing his crown of flowers.
“How do I look?”
Akira smiles just as brightly as Yusuke and sits up just as straight. “You look beautiful, Yusuke,” he says. “The white and gold looks… perfect against your blue hair, like I was really hoping it would.”
Yusuke makes a happy sound, taking the crown off his. He hands it to Akira to hold for a moment as he picks up the box from the floor. Taking the crown back, he puts it back and gets up. “I will put this somewhere safe,” he says. “I have to finish my final project this week and I do not wish to accidentally get paint on such a beautiful gift.”
Akira smiles and gets to his feet, as well. “That makes sense,” he says with a nod, shoving both of his hands into his pockets. “I… I’m really glad you like it.”
“I do not simply like it. I love it,” Yusuke says. He lingers for a moment — and then suddenly he bends over a bit and plants a gentle kiss on Akira’s cheek, which promptly has him turning bright red. “Thank you for visiting me today — and for giving me such nice gifts. I will cherish them forever.”
Akira scrambles for literally anything to say, but he finds himself more speechless than usual. He needs to make himself say something, though, because Yusuke is looking at him and Akira feels like his face is ablaze for the second time today — and if the redness of Yusuke’s face means anything, his own face is ablaze, as well.
“I love you, Yusuke.”
“Oh!” is Yusuke’s knee-jerk reaction, an even darker blush on his face. “Of course,” he says, pulling Akira into a tight and warm hug which he happily returns. “I love you, too, Akira.”
Akira melts into the hug, closing his eyes. The hug doesn’t actually last for that long, but it lasts long enough that he feels… happy. Reset. He feels almost like he’s dazed, somehow — and he is very much not aware of his surroundings until he suddenly hears a horrific sound coming from under his foot.
Fuck.
…
Akira’s last stop is Ryuji.
As much as he did not want to, Akira did force himself look at the flower crown he made for Ryuji on the train — and it was… not good.
Granted, the damage isn’t the worst it could possibly be; the crown still holds its crown-like integrity, after all, but there are, unfortunately, a few crushed sunflowers. He does the best he can to straighten out and make the ones that took damage look nice again, but there is only so much he can do. They’re straightened out, and most of the petals of the sunflowers are stable, but it’s obvious that something happened to the crown.
Akira feels terrible.
It doesn’t take that long before Akira arrives at Shibuya station. He gets off the train and heads toward Ryuji’s apartment, feeling as though every step he takes is five of them. Everything movement he makes is simultaneously in slow motion and at high speed. It feels like it takes Akira an eternity to get to Ryuji’s apartment — but also a couple of minutes, at best.
As terrible as Akira feels about ruining Ryuji’s gift, to not give it to him at all would absolutely make him feel worse. Ryuji is a pocket full of sunshine and to not give him his gift but give one to Goro and Yusuke would make him feel left out; would dim the brightness that radiates from his best friend. Giving Ryuji a damaged gift and explaining it was truly an accident is the best thing to do here, despite how terrible he feels.
Taking a deep breath in through his nose, holding it, and then letting it out through his mouth, Akira hikes his bag a bit higher on his shoulder and knocks.
It sucks that, like Yusuke, the last time Akira was here was to hear Ryuji’s apology for believing Maruki’s reality, as if falling for brainwashing is somehow anyone’s fault but the brainwasher. Somehow, for some reason, remembering that only adds to the gross feeling he feels for accidentally damaging Ryuji’s gift — but he decides to push away all gross feelings and focuses only on being excited about delivering his gift.
It’s a lot easier to be excited when Ryuji answers the door.
“Akira! Hey, dude! I didn’t know you were comin’ over!”
Ryuji is truly a golden retriever and his energy could and does cheer up everyone who comes into contact with it. If a person cannot be cheered up by Ryuji, Akira is convinced they’re part of the problem in this world. Ryuji is one of the nicest people he has ever met.
Akira laughs. “Well… Surprise! I’m here,” he says, glancing over Ryuji’s shoulder before making eye contact with him again. “Can I come in? Is your mom here?”
“Nah, she just left for work about an hour ago,” Ryuji says and steps aside to let Akira in. “We got the whole place to ourselves. We can do whatever we want… as long as it ain't too loud. Don’t wanna bug the neighbors or nothin’. I think Mama says some old couple just moved in.”
“Bummer.”
Ryuji and Akira both laugh.
The laughter carries on for a solid few moments before it dies down. They stand in the entryway for a few beats, enjoying the silence and being in one another’s presence.
That being said, Akira can tell Ryuji wants to start talking again, but judging by the look in his eyes, he doesn’t know what to say. He watches Ryuji’s eyes go to his bag, which makes him subconsciously try to hide it a bit, knowing full well what is in it. He frowns whenever Ryuji looks back up at him with a raised eyebrow.
“Is somethin’ wrong? Why’re ya holding yer bag like that?”
Akira makes a strangled sound. “I, uh…” He doesn’t want to lie to Ryuji, but he also didn’t plan on giving him his gift this soon. Though, he supposes if he doesn’t bring this up soon, it’ll look like he didn’t want to give Ryuji his gift… or that he changed his mind or something. “I have a gift for you, but there’s… something about it.”
Ryuji raises an eyebrow. “Something about it?”
Akira opens and closes his mouth a few times as he tries to find the words to describe what he needs to tell Ryuji, but nothing comes to mind. In fact, his inner thoughts are a lot of static and nothing productive at all… so it looks like he’s just going to have to show Ryuji what’s going on and hope that he doesn’t get upset.
Clearing his throat, Akira holds out his hand to Ryuji and waits for him to take it. Hand in hand, he leads his best friend down the small hallway to his bedroom, where he has them both sit down on the bed. After a moment of enjoying the warmth of Ryuji’s hand against his own that are usually very cold, he takes his hand back, slowly removes his bag from his shoulder, and rests it on his lap.
Deep breath in… hold it… and a deep, slow breath out.
“I was at work yesterday and I thought I would make gifts for you, Yusuke, and Goro. I started by delivering Goro his gift because he lives in Kichijöji. Then I delivered the gift I made for Yusuke to him because he was next in line… and now I’m here, with you. I also decided to come here last because I hang out with you the most and I thought after I give you your gift, we could play a game or read manga or something,” he says. As he’s been speaking, he has gotten the gift out and put it on his lap, setting his bag on the floor. “…but then when I was with Yusuke before coming over here, we hugged after I gave him his gift and I… I accidentally step-stepped… on my bag… and I—”
“Is it broken?” Ryuji asks, cutting off Akira’s tangent. He looks down at the half-mangled box, titling his head. For a moment he looks it over, noting that the gift box is black and the string tied around it is yellow. “The gift I mean, is it broken?”
“It’s… crushed in one spot.”
“Is it still usable or whatever?”
“Well… yes, but… It was all nice and pristine when I wrapped it up, and then I wasn’t paying attention to where my feet were and I accidentally stepped on it,” he says. “I… I crushed your gift, Ryuji! I don’t want you to think I don’t care for you because it’s your gift I stepped on.”
Ryuji raises an eyebrow, smiling softly as he shakes his head. “Dude, I don’t think that,” he says with a light laugh and a warm smile… as if Ryuji can smile any other way. “You came here with a gift for me and admitted what you did. I ain’t mad at ya,” he says, throwing an arm around Akira and pulling him to his side. “I’m curious what you made for Goro and Yusuke that you also made for me, though. What kinda interests could Goro and me possibly have in common?”
Akira blushes, being pulled to Ryuji’s side. This is his third time blushing today and he feels just as much like he is on fire as he did the other two times before.
Furthermore, Akira is shocked (but not really) that Ryuji is so understanding. They barely spent any time at all talking about the damaged gift. He supposes that he got all worked up for no reason, but he genuinely felt terrible; genuinely still feels terrible.
“Are you sure you’re okay with your gift being—” Akira gestures vaguely. “—like this?”
“Does it still work?”
“I…” Akira looks down at the gift resting in his lap before he nods. “Yes,” he says as he looks back up at Ryuji. “It isn’t… Er. Well… Yes. It still works, however you want to define that. I just feel bad for crushing yours. I know you… I mean. I know how you feel about feeling included and everything. I didn’t want you to feel excluded or somthing…”
Ryuji shakes his head. “I don’t think that, Kiki,” he says gently as he takes Akira’s hand once more. Biting his bottom lip, he looks down at their hands before deciding to lace their fingers together. “I think yer a great friend and person. I… I love you, dude. I’m sure if it had happened to Goro and Yusuke, they would feel similar, you know? I don’t think they would hold it against you if it happened to theirs.”
Strangely enough, that makes Akira feel better in a way he didn’t even realize he needed help feeling better. It sometimes amazes Akira how in tune with other people’s emotions Ryuji really is. He truly isn’t as stupid as everyone makes him out to be.
“Now…” Ryuji says, breaking through Akira’s racing thoughts. He sits back and their conjoined hands break. It is a little bit disappointing. “Lemme see my gift. I’m hyped to see what it is after all this going on about it. Let me see, Kiki.”
“I promise it’s not anything super—”
“Akira,” Ryuji says firmly as he takes the gift from his lap and puts it on his own. “Stop stressing so much. You’re going to give yourself a heart attack, okay? I don’t care if this is an overly packaged coin. You got me a gift and I wanna see it.”
Akira can’t help but laugh. “Okay.”
It doesn’t take Ryuji any time at all to rip through the package and toss away the tissue to get to the present on the inside. As soon as he sees what it is, Ryuji gasps delightedly and takes the crown out of the box, not even paying any attention to the affected flowers. A couple stray petals do fall into his lap, but that doesn’t stop Ryuji from putting it on his head.
“A flower crown! Of sunflowers!” Ryuji has a grin as bright as the sun, going from ear to ear, shining bright in his eyes as he wears it. “This is so cool, Kiki!” He immediately throws his arms around Akira in a big, tight hug. “Thank you so much!”
Akira blushes and returns the hug just as tightly. He pulls Ryuji to his chest, putting a hand gently on the back of his head. He even takes a moment to smell the sunflowers as their scent combines with Ryuji’s scent. He wishes he would’ve done that with Goro and Yusuke, as well, but at least he gets to do it with Ryuji.
“I’m so glad you like it.”
“I love it, Kiki!” Ryuji says, pulling back from the hug a moment later. He grabs his phone and leans in with Akira to get a picture of himself and Akira while he wears the crown. Then he pulls back and opens his text messages so he can send a text to Yusuke and Goro, he says. “I want them to wear theirs to the Thieves meeting today?”
“O…oh?”
Ryuji smiles down at his phone. “I know you didn’t get pictures of them,” he says. “I want you to have pictures of them, too.”
Akira’s heart flutters.
***
Indeed, Akira does end up getting some pictures of Goro and Yusuke (and more of Ryuji, too) in their flower crowns once they’re back from their palace run and the girls have all gone home.
…and, even better, Akira ends up getting a picture of Yusuke, Goro, and Ryuji all kissing him — just like in his dream.