Work Text:
Rui is lying on the couch, hand against his forehead, staring at the ceiling. There's tears in his eyes and he feels tired. Akito and him had been arguing, his husband disappearing into their bedroom shortly after. Rui wasn't even sure what they were fighting about. All he remembers is Akito raising his voice and him countering it by yelling too and then silence.
He sighs and gets up. He needs to get out of his head. He tries to focus on tinkering with some stuff. When that doesn't distract him enough he sighs again and grabs his phone. “Len, are you there?” He only has to wait for a second before Len’s image pops out. “Yo, Rui! Are we building something?” He shakes his head. “No, nothing like that. I just, I had a fight with my husband. I just. I need a distraction until he's ready to talk, you know?” Len nods. “Leave it to me then, I know the best thing to cheer you up!”
When Akito arrives in the bedroom after their fight, he cries. He didn't mean to snap at Rui. They were just talking. Akito knows he's been a bit wound up recently, because of work, but Rui hadn't deserved that! He was just trying to help… It hadn't been fair! He wants to run back to Rui immediately and apologize, instead he curls up, crouching on the floor. He's got some really bad habits he realizes. As much as he wants to apologize, the thought makes his skin crawl. His fights with Ena must have impacted him more than he realized. Neither of them apologized after them and it had always worked out anyway. He's really bad with words anyway, who says he won't make it worse? He suppresses a sob. What's wrong with him? Can't even apologize properly, honestly, that's just pathetic.
He stares. Who could help him? He crawls over to where his phone is charging. If anyone knows how to help him, it would be Rin or Len. They fight all the time, without having a fractured relationship, unlike what Ena and he had in highschool. He presses on ‘Ready Steady’ and not a heartbeat later he finds himself standing before Meiko’s Café. When he steps in Len and Meiko are chatting, about different drinks or something, he's not sure, as they stop to greet him.
He nods at them in response and sits down next to Len.
“Yo. Len, Meiko.” He tries to keep his expression neutral, but he's aware that his eyes must be a little red from crying. “Akito! What's wrong?” Both virtual singers are staring at him, concern clearly painted on their faces. He draws his legs up to his chest, wraps his arms around them and rests his cheek on his knees. He thinks about the best way to word it, but gives up and just states his problem. “I had a fight with my husband, but I dunno how to apologize to him properly.” Meiko places a sympathetic hand in his head, the motion soothing him a little. Len on the other hand puffs his chest out and gives Akito a big smile. “Don't worry Akito! I'm a professional, we'll figure out the best way for you in no time!” He gives Len a small smile and a thumbs up. For Rui, he's willing to try anything, well, except actually say ‘I’m sorry.’
Len explains how fights with Rin usually go. They do often say I'm sorry but sometimes when they can't, they'll give the other gifts, “Like Ice cream!” or write it on a note.
Akito goes out that night. He needs to buy those fancy sweets Rui likes and he doesn't want to just use a random piece of paper, Rui is worth more than that to him.
At the same time Rui is worried. It's been a while since he's talked to Akito and the anxiety he feels is almost suffocating. Especially when he sees that Akito isn't in their bedroom anymore and he can't find him anywhere else in the house. Len stays with him while he looks and encouragingly states that Akito is probably going to be back real soon, that maybe he went out to clear his mind or something. It calms Rui down a little and he goes to sleep, in the hopes that Akito will be back when he wakes up. Staying up all night worrying is just going to wear him out and he'll start deluding himself into believing that horrible things happened to Akito.
He wakes up disoriented. Akito isn't next to him and his heart sinks. No-
He gets out of bed as quickly as possible and rushes to the living room. He breathes out, relieved. Akito is there sleeping on the couch. He's okay. Now that he's sure Akito is alright, his attention is caught by what's lying on the table. A carefully wrapped gift and an envelope, addressed to him. Rui sits down on a chair and carefully opens the envelope.
There's two pieces of paper inside. The first one is a drawing of Akito and him hugging. It makes him smile and he puts it back, for safekeeping. The second piece of paper is a letter. In it, Akito apologizes for yelling and explains why he did it. The letter ends off by explaining where he went and promising that he'll try to be better in the future. It makes Rui feel happy. He knows Akito isn't the most accustomed to apologizing for fights and it's not like he is that much better, but the effort shows him that Akito really cares.
Now, done reading, Rui carefully undoes the wrapping paper. Inside he finds soda candy, but not just any soda candy. It's his favorite brand and flavor and there's so many! A whole lunchbox full~
He can hear Akito stir behind him and he gets up to hug him. Akito, still half asleep, loosely reciprocates the hug, mumbling something intelligible. When Akito is a little more awake, he hides his face in Rui’s shoulder. “‘m sorry.” Rui tightens his hold on the other and presses a kiss next to his ear. “You're okay. It's okay.”