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Goro should have known it wasn’t a good idea as soon as Akira opened the bottle. Alcohol never brought anything good, but he simply couldn’t say no to a challenge, especially when it came from Akira, so when his rival explained the “game” Goro had no other option than to accept.
The game in question was merely an addition to their usual chess match: whoever lost a game had to take a shot of the liquor. At first Goro didn’t really mind it as he was confident in his skills; however, now, as he dragged Akira up the stairs, he was begging to regret accepting the challenge.
Akira had been fine with the first shot, he had seemed fine after the second one too, but Goro knew the alcohol was begging to kick in when he claimed checkmate sooner than usual. After another shot, Akira’s judgment became clearly affected as he mixed the movement of the pieces. The fourth shot made him unusually talkative and with the last one (completely unnecessary since Goro had refused to keep playing with him in that state) Goro had had enough.
When they made it to the end of the stairs Goro was panting. If he had to choose between going back to his days going over Mementos alone or repeating the last fifteen minutes of his life, he would choose the former no doubt.
Now that they were on level ground, Goro expected Akira to find his way to bed by himself, but immediately after he was set free, Akira tripped over his own feet and ended up chuckling uncontrollably on the floor.
“You’d better repay me for this,” Goro groaned while picking Akira up in his arms.
“You cute when you’re angry,” The drunken boy answered slurring his words before resting his head in the nook of Goro’s neck. “And comfy.”
Goro rolled his eyes and headed to the poor excuse for a bed trying not to think too much about Akira’s breath on his neck or the ocasional kisses.
“For fuck’s sake Akira, let me go”
They had successfully reached the bed but when Goro had tried to lie down Akira, he gripped his arm and wouldn’t let go no matter how much Goro tried to escape his clutch. How could he be stronger drunk than sober?
“No. You can’t leave me again.” The distress in Akira’s voice made Goro’s heart sink. Did he know or was he talking nonsenses because of the alcohol?
“Fine,” he accepted, voice suddenly soft, “I’ll stay for a while.”
At those words Akira finally let go of his arm and clumsily moved aside to leave some space for Goro on the mattress. Under his expectant gaze, the detective had no other choice than to lie down. As soon as he did, Akira curled up like a cat next to him.
“Happy now?”
“Mhm. I’ve always wanted to have the most handsome man in all Japan in my bed”
Goro was used to Akira’s flirty comments and mockery, he could handle them just fine, but the alcohol made him speak so earnestly that Goro couldn’t help but blush. Part of him wanted to get up and run away, but before he had time to decide whether to do it or not, he heard a faint snore right before the drunken boy next to him moved closer and trapped him in a hug.
“This is going to be a long night”
With a defeated sigh Goro turned to face Akira. In his sleep, he looked completely carefree, blissfully oblivious of the altered reality around them, cheeks redden by the alcohol and the most relaxed expression Goro had ever seen. Amidst the chaos and uncertainty that his life was, seeing Akira sleep so peacefully made Goro feel somewhat at ease, safer than he had felt in a long time. Entranced by that vision, he lowered his head and kissed Akira’s forehead on a whim.
“I love you too”
Bang!
Startled by Akira’s response, Goro moved away too quickly and ended up falling off bed. For a moment he thought Akira had sober up while he slept, but his giggle made clear he was as drunk as before.
“I’m going home,” Goro said flustered as he got up.
“Why? I love you.” Akira stared at him confused, but when an idea formed in his mind he opened his eyes in horror, “is it because you don’t love me?”
“We’re not having this conversation right now.” But maybe they should sometime soon.
Goro was decided to leave, it was too much. He though he would be delighted with the prospect of cuddling with Akira in a cold January night (he would lie if he said he had never fantasized about it), but now that it was happening his chest threatened to burst with all the feelings bustling in it. It was just too much to handle. On this occasion, Akira didn’t try to stop him; however, his hurt expression and teary eyes were enough to make Goro doubt.
“Shut up and go back to sleep,” he finally said, lying down again.
Akira moved closer cheerfully and hugged him once again. This time Goro gave in and hugged him too before falling asleep without even realizing it.