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Toya’s out of breath when he gets to the Shinonome residence, barely stopping to say hi to Mrs. Shinonome, who’s doing the dishes, in his rush to get to Akito’s room.
The seconds between knocking on the door and Akito coming to open it feel like an eternity, but Toya feels infinitely better once he sees Akito.
His hair is messy, like he just got out of bed and he’s pouting in his usual cute way.
“Sorry, did I wake you up?” Toya asks.
“Yeah, but it’s fine.“ Akito moves his wheelchair for Toya to come in, and Toya takes a seat on Akito’s bed, beckoning him to come over.
After three months, it’s pretty effortless for Akito to pull himself out of his wheelchair and onto the bed, swinging his legs to be in Toya’s lap.
“How’s physical therapy?” Toya asks.
“Frustrating.The trainer can only help so much. I wanted to just push through it like I usually do—”
“Akito…”
“I said I wanted to, not that I did!” Akito sighs. “It’s really hard to recover from having both your legs shattered. Which is what she wanted I guess.”
Akito’s facing Toya, but his mind’s clearly far away.
“Can I get you some water?” Toya asks, and Akito’s attention snaps back.
“I’m fine. What are you doing here, anyway?” Akito asks. “Thought you were at a fancy schmancy restaurant since your brother’s in town.”
“Ena texted and said you were acting weird and skipped dinner.”
Akito groans. “Come on, you don’t get to see your brother that often, you didn’t have to drop that for me.”
“Akito.” Toya says.
Akito pouts again. “That wasn’t self-deprecating.”
Toya raises an eyebrow but doesn’t push further. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing, you should—“
“Please, partner?”
With a sigh, Akito rolls over and pulls a card out of his night stand, and tosses it to Toya.
It’s a plain card with a single line.
Have a Happy New Year, Aki ♡!
Toya’s blood runs cold. Why can’t she just leave them alone?
“I wanted to throw it out, but I couldn’t,” Akito says. “I don’t know, I just—“
“It’s fine,” Toya says. “It’s probably better to keep it, we can give it to the police.”
“Yeah, I guess.” Akito runs a hand through his hair. “I don’t even know how she could have sent it in the first place, I mean the cops can’t seriously let criminals harass their victims like this. They probably checked her mail, right? Or they’re supposed to, I think. Did she manipulate the guards, did she escape somehow, did she prepare these in advance and now I’m going to get letters from her until I die?”
Akito’s shaking now, and Toya gently moves so that he’s laying down next to Akito and pulls him into a hug.
“I’m being stupid, aren’t I?” Akito mutters.
“You’re not being stupid. I don't think she prepared these in advance, she's too arrogant to prepare for her plan failing. There are several ways she could have sent it from prison without raising suspicion,” Toya explains, softly. “She could have given it to another inmate to send out, someone might have looked it over and thought it was harmless. Her parents have cut her off, and they’re ruined anyway, so she couldn’t have bought anyone off. She’s still in prison, and just messing with you. She’s just a normal person, and she already lost. She can’t hurt you.”
“Clearly she can. I’ve been stressing over that stupid card all day.” Akito sighs and buries his face in Toya’s chest. “I just want to forget her. Pretend none of it ever happened.”
“I know,” Toya says, “me too.”
Toya loves Akito, needs him even. These past few months actually being an official couple have meant the world to him. He can die happy knowing Akito returns his feelings.
But, as much as he loves Akito, if he had to trade getting together in exchange for Shimizu never laying a finger on Akito, he’d do it in a heartbeat. Akito deserves so much better than her.
“I’ll call Inspector Hasegawa,” Toya says. “He’ll look into it.”
“Ok,” Akito murmurs, burying his face in Toya’s shirt again.
They lay like that, holding each other for a long time.
“Thank you,” Akito says, eventually. “For coming over. Sorry for being a bitch.”
“I love it when you’re a bitch, don’t worry about it.”
“Could you stay the night?”
“I was already planning to.”
“Toya?”
“Yeah partner?”
“I love you.”
“Love you too.”