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Atsushi walked into the park nervously, he looked around barely noticing the absence of people around and he nervously played with one of his suspenders, given the special event of that day he had decided to change his outfit a little. He wore brown pants that fitted just a little loose held by his common black suspenders and a white dress shirt tucked into them. He walked just a few more steps when he finally saw his date waiting for him under the shade of a tree and leaning against it.
“Hi!”- He said approaching with a quick step, waving his hand unsure of how he should greet him given their situation, a hug was probably too much, and a handshake too serious.
“Hello”- Akutagawa greeted back with a nod as he always did, Atsushi thought he looked nice in his black dress shirt and dark brown pants with his usual coat on top, Atsushi wondered if he was hot in that, it was a pretty sunny day after all, although the breeze of the park and the shade the trees provided made it a lot less warm than when he was outside of the park.
For a moment they stood there in silence just looking at each other unsure of how to act or what to do next, it was their first date, just months after the war ended and the overall mood had finally started lifting in everyone, their respective agencies had decided to declare a permanent truce allowing them to feel comfortable enough to establish more than hostility and repressed feelings between each other.
It had surprisingly been Akutagawa the one that invited him out to a picnic just the two of them after their now accustomed training sessions. It had taken Atsushi by surprise how quickly Akutagawa had confessed to his own feelings, apparently having been cheered on by both his sister and Chuuya, both of them done with his ‘one-sided’ pining.
Atsushi had accepted eagerly after Akutagawa clarified for the second time that yes, he meant a date, yes a date-date, not an enemies-turned-friends date whatever that meant. The whole agency had given him advice on what to do and helped him prepare his outfit, even if they all had their opinions on Akutagawa they were very supportive of him.
“Uhm, I made this for us”- He said lifting the basket he had brought with him.
“Oh right, follow me I have everything set up here”- He said like he had been deep in thought and started walking deeper into the park with Atsushi walking close behind him.
After less than a minute of walking, he could see a big white cloth set neatly in the grass mostly covered by shade with a few sun rays slipping by the leaves of the tall trees, it had various food on top, including sushi, a few sandwiches, and a full charcuterie board, not to mention the fruit drinks and the bottle of champagne resting in ice next to the food.
“Oh wow”- Atsushi let out in wonder- “Now I feel I should have brought something else, or something more”- He said a little sheepish.
“Nonsense, I invited you, of course I would do the most to prepare, besides most of this is store-bought so it wasn't much bother”- Akutagawa quickly brushed him off and gestured for him to sit, him sitting next to him.
“Most?”- He asked curiously.
Akutagawa blushed a bit before saying- “I, uh, made the sandwiches"- Atsushi felt happy by the amount of effort Akutagawa had put into their date, despite not being a verbally open person about his feelings he made him loved and cared about.
“I made these cookies”- Atsushi said opening the container and setting it next to them with the other food- “They are fig cookies”- The excited look on Akutagawa’s face made him giggle- “I hope you enjoy them”.
“I’m sure I will”- He assured.
They continued chatting among themselves eating the food and the cookies Atsushi had made and talking about how difficult he had found out baking was but how much he enjoyed it regardless. Atsushi shared how the agency had come together to help him and Akutagawa commented that a similar thing happened to him.
“It's actually the first date I have ever been on”- Atsushi uttered shyly.
“Really?”- Akutagawa seemed surprised making Atsushi feel a little self-conscious, it must have shown on his face since Akutagawa reassured him immediately- “I don’t mean anything bad it just surprised me, it’s just- you are so pretty I assumed you would have been on many dates before”- Atsushi blushed at the sudden praise.
“No… there was no one like that in my life before”- He said- “I imagine you have tho”- Atsushi presumed.
“Actually I haven’t either, there isn't much space for love working for the mafia”- Akutagawa confessed- “That’s why I was so nervous about today, I tried to make everything perfect, maybe I overdid it…”- He commented looking around at the excessive variety of food.
“No, no! I love this, I mean, it’s perfect, I’m really enjoying myself”- He assured and finally noticed how no one else was around- “It’s so lucky this place is empty today, I heard its usually very busy due to the beauty of it”
“Right, about that”- Akutagawa seemed a little embarrassed by his comment- “I didn’t want anyone to interrupt us so I rented the whole place”- He explained.
“You what?”- Atsushi dropped the piece of cheese he was holding in surprise- “Oh my god you did what?!”- He exclaimed making Akutagawa grunt.
“I did go too far after all”- He said covering his face with his hand like he did when he coughed.
“No! Sorry, you just took me by surprise, I didn’t even know you could do that, Jesus, how much did it even cost you?”- He asked still shocked but Akutagawa just shrugged and Atsushi rolled his eyes- “You are unbelievable”
They continued to eat and talk about various topics enjoying the presence of the other, the food was mostly gone after a few hours of them sitting there enjoying it, their abilities demanded a lot of energy after all.
Suddenly Atsushi felt a drop of water fall on his face and looked up, the sky quickly got grey the sunny blue being overcome suddenly by clouds, the rain started shortly too, they barely had time to put the things back into the basket Akutagawa had bought with him and take shelter under the fullest tree before the rain started with full force leaving them standing there.
Atsushi heard Akutagawa curse under his breath- “I’m sorry”- He said.
“You are sorry because it rained?”- He asked confused.
“I should have been more careful, I did all this yet I didn't even check the weather, this is all my fault, I have ruined our first date”- Akutagawa said sounding angry at himself his hands turning into tight fists.
“Who says anything is ruined?”- Atsushi asked with a little smile.
“It’s raining, everything is wet, if we go out we will get wet too so we are stuck here”- Akutagawa explained like it was obvious.
Atsushi continued to smile at him undefeated- “So what if we get wet?” What, don't tell me you are scared of a little water? That’s not the Akutagawa I love”- Love, Atsushi probably didn't realize what he said but Akutagawa sure did. With a sudden rush of excitement, he grabbed the tiger’s hand and pulled them both out of the little covering of the tree into the pouring rain.
Atsushi squealed when he felt the cold raindrops falling on him but laughed anyway, Akutagawa and he started to run around spinning in each other's arms and laughing loudly if anyone saw them they would probably think they had gone crazy. They moved around the trees and jumped the puddles completely ruining their carefully picked clothes, Yosano was going to kill him but he would die a happy man.
By the end of their run, they had finally reached the wood pergola that was in the middle of the park, it sheltered them from the rain again but their hair was already dripping wet, they looked at each other and laughed some more at their ridiculous disheveled looks.
“I told you nothing was ruined”- Atsushi laughed.
“Only you, weretiger, could turn the rain into a fun activity, I can’t believe you think I’m the unbelievable one”- Akutagawa said looking at him fondly, it made something feel funny inside of Atsushi.
“You just have to learn to enjoy yourself, besides… this date was more about the company than the setting”- He blushed a little when he admitted it, they both started slowly getting closer to each other.
Atsushi could feel the wet clothes and cold from Akutagawa yet he still felt the embrace of his arms so incredibly warm, they shared a wordless kiss moving in complete synchrony, it was wet from the rain and they could feel the little waterdrops coming from the hair which made them smile into the kiss, teeth lightly knocking each other and it made them smile even harder.
“What about doing these again next week?”- Akutagawa asked him and he wasn't sure if he meant the kiss or the date.
“Of course”- He said anyways.