Chapter Text
Atsushi waved to the boy next to him. “Bye, Juni! I’ll see you tomorrow?”
Tanizaki grabbed Atsushi’s hand before he could leave. “Atsushi, wait! I was hoping we could get dinner together? A little pre-Valentine’s day date!” Atsushi opened his mouth to talk, only to be cut off by Tanizaki, “You’re worried about Kyouka-chan, aren’t you?”
Atsushi slowly nodded. “I don’t want her to be alone in the dorms… I know she can take care of herself, but–”
Tanizaki beamed. “Don’t worry! We could text Lucy-san and Naomi to stay at your place with Kyouka-chan.”
Atsushi took a deep breath. “Okay. I’ll call her and let her know. Could you text Montgomery-san for me?”
Tanizaki nodded. “Got it, dear.” They opened their phone and started typing.
Atsushi waited for Kyouka to pick up his call, and he turned to Tanizaki. “Where are we going to eat?”
Tanizaki shrugged. “That place you went with Dazai-san and Kunikida-san when you first met them.” He laughed, “The one where you ate 30 bowls of chazuke in one sitting.”
Atsushi turned away, flustered, “I was starving! Try not eating for days on end.”
Tanizaki stifled his laughter. “I was teasing you! Personally, I wouldn’t mind buying you double that – 60 bowls of chazuke! I’d be down to buy you 60 bowls! And more!”
“You’re always willing to buy me stuff…” Mumbled Atsushi.
Tanizaki grinned. “Well, I don’t mind spending money on my boyfriend!” He planted a quick kiss on Atsushi’s cheek. “Oh! Did Kyouka-chan answer yet?”
Atsushi widened his eyes. “Oh! Uhm!”
“ Hello, Tanizaki-san. I was here to hear everything from ‘you’re always willing to buy me stuff’, then you replied with ‘I don’t mind spending money on my boyfriend’. What’s up? ”
Tanizaki slowly brought their hands to their face. Their reply, muffled, yet still understandable, “You… You don’t need to repeat everything word for word, you know? I was just… wondering if I could take your brother out to dinner tonight!”
Kyouka replied from the other line, “ What’s the occasion? Isn’t Valentine’s day tomorrow? You two can hang out by then… kidding. It’s alright. ”
Tanizaki answered, “I missed him! Work’s been hectic and we barely get to hang out.”
“ BARELY? You two are together every day of the week! What do you mean ‘barely’? He slept over the other day! ”
Tanizaki and Atsushi looked at each other. Atsushi hovered his hand over his phone, “Naomi-san’s already–?”
“ Yeah! Hi, Atsushi-san!”
Atsushi placed the phone closer to his ear, “Hi, Naomi-san! How is Kyouka-chan? Is Lucy there?”
“ Yep! Don’t worry too much about us, go have dinner with my brother!”
“We should take the day off tomorrow.”
Atsushi narrowed his eyes at Tanizaki. “Should we, really? It’s been really busy at the Agency this week and I’m not sure if being absent would help the others…” He sighed, “Although, I wouldn’t mind taking a break, but, then again–”
Tanizaki put down their bowl of chazuke. “You deserve a break! You’ve been working non-stop. Plus, your work’s done, no? You’re just catching up on all of Dazai-san’s reports.”
Atsushi shrugged. “Yeah, but, I don’t know. I feel bad.”
Tanizaki drank from their glass of water, “Don’t be. I will beg Kunikida-san to let us take the day off tomorrow, not that I think I’d have to, but, I will… if I need to.” They paused. “Do you want another bowl?”
Atsushi pursed his lips. “I… don’t know? Is it okay if we split the bill?”
Tanizaki nodded. “Yeah. Do you want to go somewhere after this? Ice cream or… beer?”
Atsushi drank water. “Ice cream sounds nice. Beer might lead to… stronger drinks. We both suck when we’re wasted. You, especially!”
Tanizaki laughed. “You don’t have to get specific…”
Atsushi took this opportunity to tease his boyfriend. “But it’s cute! You get more clingy than usual, you’d compliment me a lot and when I say that we’re dating you go,” he cleared his throat, “ No…? I have a boyfriend, thank you very much… Excuse me, I have to call him… ” Atsushi mimicked Tanizaki’s voice.
Tanizaki merely covered his face with both his hands. “Thank you… for that wonderful demonstration.”
Atsushi winked. “You’re welcome! Maybe we should go out to drink tonight.”
Tanizaki furiously shook his head. “Nope! I’m good! We’ll just do ice cream. We should buy some for Naomi and the others.”
“Oh, definitely! I’ll text Kyouka-chan and Montgomery-san to ask what flavours they want.”
Atsushi opened the door with a smile. “I’m home! Juni’s with me.”
“Shocker.” Lucy said blankly. Atsushi glared at him in response.
Tanizaki waved. “Hi, Montgomery-san. Hi, everyone! We bought ice cream!”
Naomi approached Atsushi with a cheeky smile on her face, and papers in her hands. “Atsushi-kun~! I wanted to ask you something! Lu-chan, Kyouka-chan and I found this while going through the shelf here, are these letters? Your handwriting is surprisingly good.”
“What does ‘surprisingly good’ mean? Also–!” Atsushi whispered to Naomi, “Don’t… Uhm. Those are for Juni… Valentine’s gift…”
Naomi gasped rather loudly, garnering attention from her brother, and the other people around her and Atsushi.
Tanizaki asked, “Naomi, are you okay?”
Naomi nodded, clearing her throat once to stop herself from giggling.
Atsushi looked nervously between Naomi and Tanizaki. “I’ll… take these…” He took the papers from Naomi, “You guys go eat ice cream. I’ll have some later.”
“Are you two going to stay over? Because it’s almost 10PM already.” Lucy crossed his arms. He turned to Atsushi, “Tiger boy, I’m coming with you. I’ll just eat ice cream later as well. Or not, I’m not really big on sweets.”
Atsushi smiled. “Oh, okay!” He leaned in to whisper to Lucy, “Weren’t you begging me to buy you that crepe the other day..?”
Lucy’s cheeks turned red. “Shut it..! I want to know about the papers Naomi showed us!”
Atsushi handed the papers to Lucy. Neither of them were sure what kind of paper it was, it was a little thicker than normal paper. “This is… actually a gift I’ve been preparing for Juni for Valentine’s day. It’s, uhm. I kind of like painting… or drawing… because of him? And after that job he and I did, the painting one?”
Lucy nodded. “Oh, yeah, I remember that quite clearly. You wouldn’t stop talking about Tanizaki. I mean, not like anything’s changed… I guess it just got more frequent when you two got together– congratulations, by the way! Didn’t think you had it in you.”
“WHAT WAS THAT LAST SENTENCE SUPPOSED TO MEAN…”
Lucy laughed loudly. “I was joking? I think! Also, SHUT UP! People are looking…” She cleared her throat, “I think the landscapes and everything is pretty and you’ve definitely improved since you first told me you were drawing; but what’s the whole gift?”
Atsushi answered, “Well, it’s supposed to be colours and objects or things I associate with Juni… it’s three, by the way.”
“Three… colours? I assume.”
Atsushi nodded. “Orange and red, of course!” He held up a paper with painted flowers on it, which were mostly red. “Red because, duh! That jacket that’s always tied around their waist. It’s very comfortable. I’ve worn it multiple times.”
Lucy pointed towards the red jacket sprawled on Atsushi’s bed. “And you own it too, real cute!”
“One of many…” Mumbled Atsushi. He cleared his throat. “Nevermind that! Well– actually, yeah! Moving on! Orange! Because of his hair! Did you know their hair is really soft? Like…” Atsushi sighed.
“What’d you draw for the orange one?”
Atsushi smiled. “Sunset! Juni and I were staying at home one time and we just sat in silence, watching the sunset. It was–” he spoke in a not-so-hushed tone. Atsushi covered the sides of his mouth with his hands which convinced him that only Lucy could hear him talk – “when I realised I wanted him to be my boyfriend.”
Lucy smiled as well. “How romantic of you. I wonder when I’ll get a girlfriend.”
“Don’t you have two? Higuchi-san and Louisa-san..? Or you haven’t asked them yet?”
Lucy huffed. “I’m going to do that this weekend! And I need your help! I wanted to make something for them, too. Not the thing you’re making but, like, some crocheted flowers or hats… For Valentine’s day, tomorrow, I just plan on asking them to hang out at Anne’s room.”
Atsushi shrugged. “You can do both the crocheted flowers and hats. Also, have fun tomorrow! That seems like a solid plan.”
“Yes! Yes, thank you! I’ll need your help with the flowers and hats, you crochet right?” Atsushi nodded at Lucy’s question, to which she grinned. “Anyway! The orange is sunset, right? So the orange and red colours are physical, what’s with the peach?”
Atsushi grinned. “I am so glad you asked! So, it’s a bright peach colour. I read somewhere that that symbolised energy, playfulness, and encouragement… I don’t know. I just… think of Juni a lot, even before we were dating. Like, when he’s not around, I often wonder where he is and if he’s safe.”
Lucy deadpanned, “You don’t do that for your other coworkers?”
“I do! But it’s different with Juni, you know? They’ve been there for me since my first day in the Agency, we’ve supported each other through thick and thin; we even fought you together!”
Lucy bitterly laughed, “How could I forget that ? Ugh, you were also really hung up on him!” He continued, “Didn’t you tell the little pipsqueak and I that you, like, thought of Tanizaki when you were tired to cheer up then you said shit like ‘wow, so this is what having a friend feels like…’” He giggled in a way that reminded Atsushi of his intensity when they first met.
“You, Nakajima Atsushi, are quite dense.” Lucy exhaled. “SO! What’d you draw for the peach paper?”
Atsushi shook his head. “I actually didn't draw anything… what do you think I should draw?”
“You’re asking me ? I don’t know squat about that..!? Hang on, I kind of want to eat ice cream now.”
Atsushi pointed his index finger up, “I got it! I could just draw that?! Or a cake. Small one – I kind of already wrote a letter here but I suddenly thought: hey, isn’t it weird there’s no drawing? So I asked you and as I am now realising that there’s no space for a drawing.”
Lucy only gave him a thumbs up. “Good luck, tiger cat! I am rooting for you!”
“Thank you, Montgomery-chan. I wish you luck as well. Let’s go back and eat ice cream.”
The two made their way back to the Tanizakis and Kyouka, who all turned to them with knowing looks on their faces.
Kyouka spoke in-between spoonfuls of ice cream, “We heard everything, by the way. You two weren’t being exactly quiet.”
Lucy furrowed her eyebrows. “Yeah, we were? Also, why’d those two –” She points to the Tanizaki siblings – “let you eat so much ice cream?”
Naomi shook her head. “No… not quiet. Right, brother?” She then frowned at Lucy in response to Lucy’s question, “Also! We tried warning her.”
Tanizaki turned to Atsushi and sighed. “Sorry, dear… We didn’t mean to overhear your conversation. Although I’m very excited to see your gifts tomorrow! And I can’t wait for you to receive mine as well!”
Atsushi grabbed a cup for him and Lucy then proceeded to scoop ice cream as he talked, “What?! We weren’t talking about you…”
Kyouka turned to Atsushi. “But you were..? I know Tanizaki-san has the ability to manipulate their surroundings but I don’t think they can make up conversations… Can you?” Tanizaki shook their head in response.
Atsushi’s expressions reeked of shame as he scooped ice cream for himself. Lucy looked back at him and suddenly talked at an unexpected volume, “HEY! You two!” She pointed to the Tanizaki siblings. “Are you guys sleeping here? Because if you both are, then so am I.”
Tanizaki and Naomi looked at each other, then at Kyouka and Atsushi. “If they’re fine with it…”
Kyouka shrugged. “It’s alright. Naomi-san and Montgomery-san might have to use our old sleeping bags. I assume Tanizaki-san is with Atsushi-kun.”
Atsushi slowly nodded. “You’re… you’re right, Kyouka-chan.”
Lucy grinned. “Then it’s settled! Ah, I doubt we’ll be sleeping any time soon though since it is 10:20-something PM and we are all eating ice cream.”
“Ah, Lucy-kun… It’s past 10:30.”
Hours had passed, and it was finally quiet.
Atsushi snuggled against Tanizaki. “I’m really excited for tomorrow, by the way. Day off or no day off, we’d still spend Valentine’s day together.”
Tanizaki lazily replied, “Yeah. Me too. I am going to give you ten thousand kisses… me and my Light Snow clones can do it…”
Atsushi quietly laughed. “I don’t think you should be using your ability like that…”
Tanizaki pressed their lips on the back of Atsushi’s neck ever so lightly. “It’s alright. It’s my ability. Plus, it’s you. I’ll do anything for you.”
Atsushi closed his eyes, content. “Really?”
Tanizaki wrapped their arms around Atsushi. “Really. Good night, Atsushi.” They smiled.
“Good night, Juni.” Atsushi held Tanizaki’s arms and pulled his boyfriend closer to him. “Love you. Sleep well.”
“I love you too.”