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Atsushi looked around the field after finally taking down the very last guy, he made sure he wouldn't stand to fight again. He couldn't see Akutagawa for a couple of minutes and started getting nervous until he saw the edges of his coat resting on the floor, sure enough just a couple steps away there he was laying on the dirt covered in a mix of his own blood, and others.
He limped his way over to him and dropped down to sit on the floor right next to him- “Hi”- He said when Akutagawa didn't even turn around to face him, he probably knew it was him anyway.
They had been sent here by their respective organizations to finish off a local gang that had started terrorizing the nearby towns and was quickly growing in size enough to become a potential threat to the whole city because it mostly consisted of ability users but there weren't big enough in numbers yet they decided to send just the both of them to take care of it.
When he came close enough he spoke again- “Think you can walk?”- He continued, Akutagawa blinked a few times before saying no with a shake of his head, still staring at the night sky with a face he couldn't decipher.
Their fight had taken them all day, when they defeated just one of them the rest immediately jumped at them and kept calling more and more people, it was probably more morning than night by now yet the stars still shined brightly above them.
He considered his options, he could pick up Akutagawa and help him walk back to the little base they had been staying at while they surveyed the gang activity, or he could just… wait with him, the night was beautiful and the countryside was so silent compared to the city.
He let himself fall down completely in the grass right next to Akutagawa. His own wounds hurt and throbbed with the movement. He hoped they would heal soon.
“The stars look beautiful tonight”- Akutagawa commented, it wasn't like him to comment on trivial matters like the sky, maybe it was the blood loss or maybe the atmosphere that had started setting between them. The cold air of the night felt fresh on his face, the light brightness that came from the stunning sky above them, the quietness in their surroundings, he could hear the faint sounds of insects and leave ruffling and the smell of the grass and dirt over the smeared blood that was on themselves, it made the scene feel unreal, like a dream.
“They are”- Atsushi agreed but he was no longer looking at the sky, now he was looking at him. Akutagawa stared intently at the dashing night, his pale face looked elegant in their picturesque surroundings, if Atsushi saw this view in a painting at the museum he wouldn't think twice, the other was just that statuesque. He felt his cheeks start to heat up despite the amount of blood he had lost and decided to go back to staring up above.
The view was so much different than from the city, he could see so many more details on the moon and many more stars than he ever could before. Alone like this, it felt like the world belonged to them, just the two in the universe basking in the beauty that surrounded them.
“Your eyes shine as bright as the stars”- Akutagawa opened his mouth to say now, when Atsushi turned around surprised he realized he was the one now staring- “You look ethereal” - He continued.
Atsushi could barely believe what he had just said- “Did you take a hit to the head?”- He asked ignoring the previous compliments but Akutagawa completely disregarded his question and growing astonishment.
“Your hair reflects like the moon, you have the stars on your eyes, the brightness of the night in your skin, you look as divine as a child of the stars”- He recited like a poem, like he was appreciating art and he was not divine creation himself.
“Stop that”- Atsushi tried to detain him in a stupor, face turning red, his heart beating painfully hard on his chest, and his mind started filling up with hope. He could barely take the sudden statement of appreciation of him, it overwhelmed him, and he suddenly felt like crying.
“Even laying here covered in blood from our enemies you have never looked more perfect and even then I'm sure in the days to come you will look more exquisite”- The man continued, holding Atsushi’s heart at the tip of his tongue, awaiting his next words as excitedly as he wished to run away- “Atsushi Nakajima, you are a work of art that every day gets more complex, and like a fool, I wait every day to see how much more of my heart will you take, tell me, will you stop when there is nothing left? Or will you take my soul too? You are as vicious as you are sublime, you stop at nothing”
Akutagawa poured his heart for him, it was sudden, it left Atsushi’s mouth dry, his throat was tight and it refused to let out a sound no matter how much love his mind screamed at him to let out.
“Why are you saying these things to me?”- Atsushi questioned after the longest seconds of his life when he could finally get some words out of his betraying body, was this a cruel mocking to completely kill his heart?
“Because my heart no longer has space to keep them inside, it’s full of you now, there is no space for anything else, I have to let go of everything else”- He confessed, voice low, looking at the sky once again.
“You speak of my beauty like it pains you, like this love you feel weights your heart down and not up with the stars, shouldnt you be more happy? Shouldn't your fervent love lift you to the beautiful skies above us now?”- Atsushi questioned in fear, maybe this was Akutagawa’s way of getting closure on his feelings so he could forget them. Speak of them and leave Atsushi to deal with it so he could turn around and not look at him again.
“Not this love, this love does pain me, it pains me in the most delicious of ways, it kills me every day and then it brings me back to life to kill me again, to love like this is torture but I have become addicted to it, I have become addicted to you”- He could feel his hand graze his on the grass they were laying on so he took it and intertwined their fingers.
“Do you want my love?”- Atsushi asked quietly, barely a whisper, barely a prayer. He offered it like it was everything he had, because it was, Atsushi was nothing more than love, the love he had for his friends, for his city, and the love he had for this man he had once called his enemy and now called his curse, his love.
“I have never desired anything more but I don't need it to love you, if you want to give it to me I will take it and I will never give it back, don't offer your love freely weretiger, I will not let you go”- He warned squeezing his hand strongly, Atsushi squeezed back.
“I don't want you to”- Atsushi promised and lifted his back from the floor just enough so his face could be on top of the others and they could look at each other easily and clearly. His hair barely brushed the cheek of the other.
“Surrounded like this by the beautiful night I have never loved you more, I will love you more tomorrow”- Akutagawa promised his other hand not holding him rising to caress his cheek fondly yet firmly.
“I’ll take all the love you have so I can lift your heart free, I will give you my own love in return, you are right, I want to take your heart, I want to take your soul, I will give you my own in return”- Atsushi promised too, coming closer and closer to his lips.
“If you do this I’ll bind you forever with me, I already want to, do this, and I will take you”- He gave a final warning pulling lightly at Atsushi’s hair just to see if he would back off but he didn't. As he talked his lips lightly touched the others.
“I have already been tied by your love, take me as you want”- Atsushi declared already breathless, yearning to be taken by him.
Finally a kiss, a statement of their love, a show of their promise, a tie to their future.
There in the grass, in the battlefield, in the night sky, in the death of the ones that came to kill them, in the love, in the hate, they rested together holding each other like someone could pull them away any minute, the world could try.