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1
Atsushi was being dressed by Yosano in his dorm for his newest mission. Dazai was there as well, going over what he’s to do once more.
“You and Akutagawa will get close to Maiyuzu. You’ll notice him right away, despite the ball being full of arrogant assholes, he’ll be the most arrogant and asshole-like. You two will get on his good side, try to make him trust you. Meaning avoid questions about his family, nothing about his parents, wife, or children.” Atsushi was nodding along to Dazai’s words, intently listening. “Once he seems comfortable enough, or drunk enough, start leaning into your ‘illegal side business’, talk about how you’ve been secretly looking for a weapon dealer to buy from. This should lead him to reveal where he gets his weapons from. If the night goes well, we should be able to take down Maiyuzu and his weapons dealer.”
Yosano worked on Atsushi’s outfit, the dark purple tailcoat jacket was tight around him. The black under shirt had a ruffle front and a cross necklace. His black pants sat comfortably on him, built for him to be able to transform his legs.
“I’m surprised you went for such a gothic look Yosano,” Atsushi admired himself as Yosano started messing with his hair.
“Well you had to match your date.” Yosano grinned as she pulled one side of his hair back, pinning it down in a slick back effect.
“Yeah… why does it have to be Akutagawa?” Now that they were finished dressing him, they walked outside the dorms where he would be picked up.
“Akutagawa makes the perfect girl!” Dazai grinned as they got outside. But Atsushi floundered at his words.
“What! Is- Is he playing a girl?!” Dazai laughed at Atsushi’s astonished face.
“Of course he is! These balls aren’t exactly progressive enough to allow two men to go with each other! Besides, Akutagawa already wears women's clothing sometimes so of course he wouldn’t care.” Dazai flipped his hand, but this only caused Atsushi to be more confused.
“He does? Why have I never seen him wear that…” Atsushi mumbled, but blushed once he saw how the other two were looking at him, “Not that I want to! I just mean- I’ve never- Ugh whatever.” He hung his head in shame as a black limousine pulled up.
A man in a black suit rolled down his window, telling Atsushi to get in.
“You’ll meet Akutagawa-san there,” He rolled his window back up and waited.
“Remember to text me the emergency code if something goes wrong,” Dazai patted him on the back as Yosano pushed him towards that car. “And bring me back crab if they have any!”
Atsushi rolled his eyes as the man drove him away. The drive was long, about an hour away to make sure it stayed hidden. It was exclusive, the people that Atsushi and Akutagawa were taking the identities of were government officials. Scummy government officials, but still people that held a lot of power. Atsushi continued to go over the plan as the driver pulled up to the event.
“I’m parking a little ways away, you and Akutagawa-san will meet up before walking in together.” Atsushi nodded at the driver's words before slipping out of the car. They weren’t far from the mansion the event was being held at, just enough that people wouldn’t notice him right away. Another limousine pulled up right behind theirs. Once parked, a man Atsushi recognized got out of the driver's seat. He walked over to the back seat door and opened it, holding out his hand for Akutagawa to grab.
As he stepped out, Atsushi’s jaw dropped. HIs dress was Victorian-esque, the dark purple of it matched Atsushi’s own suit. It had a square neckline and long ruffled sleeves. When he lifted up the sides to walk, Atsushi could see the sleek, black heels he had on under. It was accompanied by a large necklace. His makeup was light purple eyeshadow with a blended black wing. He didn’t have a wig on, but black extensions that were made into a loose over the shoulder braid.
“Jinko,” Akutagawa let go of the man's hand once faced with Atsushi. “Thank you Hirotsu.”
Atsushi didn’t say anything back; wasn’t able to say anything back. He continued to stare in awe at the man in front of him.
“Pick your jaw up Jinko, we have a mission to do,” He grabbed Atsushi’s arm with both of his, hanging off of him as he pulled Atsushi towards the grand entrance.
“You, um, look very nice,” Atsushi complimented him, thinking he would get a death stare in reply, but the look he was actually given made him blush. Akutagawa didn’t say anything, but he did gaze at Atsushi with low eyes and a sultry stare. Once they reached the guards at the front of the large mansion, they were asked for their names.
“Nojizo Aratsu and my wife.” The guards looked down at their lists and confirmed that the name was on their lists. Once they were let in, an employee came and guided them towards the ball room.
“Wow…” Atsushi whispered in awe as they passed through hallways, causing the attendee to stare at him with a questioning look.
“Apologies,” Ryuu’s voice was soft as he apologized for Atsushi. “We have yet to be in Maiyuzu’s mansion, it’s quite exquisite.” He bowed his head deeply, keeping his arm around Atsushi’s, how these kinds of people would expect a demure wife to act.
The attendee believed his words and continued on towards the ball room. Akutagawa pinched Atsushi with his painted nails, sending him a glare.
Once they came upon the large doors, the attendee opened them, bowing and gesturing for them to enter. With Akutagawa’s head down and Atsushi’s held high, the two entered together. They both tried to hide their surprise as they took in the glittering room. Two large shining chandeliers on the high ceilings, grand white walls with pillars that had gold at the bottom and top. In between each pillar was a large floor to ceiling window. Guests were everywhere, mingling and drinking.
“Why are you surprised, you literally work for the mafia,” Atsushi whispered to Akutagawa. “You must have been to some place like this at some point.”
“I still grew up in the slums,” Akutagawa tightened his grip on his arm. “Places like this never really cease to amaze me…” He stopped talking as a man walked up to them.
‘This is Maiyuzu,’ they both thought as the man in his forties stopped in front of them.
“My, my, my, who do we have here, Aratsu is it?” He held out his hand, and Atsushi shook it. “This is the first time you’ve ever shown your face in public, and the first time you’ve shown your wife.” Maiyuzu’s eyes roamed Akutagawa’s figure.
“Yes, well this seemed too important to pass up,” Atsushi answered him, but let go of Akutagawa’s arm to grab his waist instead. ‘He might kill me for this later, but it’s worth it right now.’
“Haha, you look younger than I thought you would. I just can’t believe that you have the face of a twenty-eight year old…” He rubbed his face in thought.
“Well, as long as this stays between us, I can say that I lied a little, I’m twenty-four. But when I was younger I needed to appear older, so I had someone fake a birth certificate for me.” Atsushi hoped he would by the lie he fed him. Maiyuzu laughed and slapped Atsushi on the back, believing it right away.
“Oh you must introduce me one day to your forger, that could be very useful!” His eyes once more roamed over Akutagawa. “Now if you're twenty-four, how old is this doll now? She certainly looks younger than you.”
“I am nineteen,” Akutagawa answered for himself. Atsushi smiled at the man, but Maiyuzu only narrowed his eyes.
“Ohhh, so Miss doll can talk,” he didn’t look pleased at that. The two had read extensively about Maiyuzu’s beliefs before coming. He believed a woman should be one thing, a wife to a man. If someone asks a wife something, she should never answer for herself.
“Ah well, I thought it would be better if sometimes she answers for herself here,” Atsushi tried to come up with a believable lie on the spot. “You know not everyone here has the same thought process as us regarding what a wife should be.” He winked at the older man and he laughed, like it was some insanely funny inside joke.
“Good man! I knew I would like you Aratsu! Please enjoy the food and drinks. I’ll let you go now,” Maiyuzu walked off towards another group of people. The two let out a big sigh once he was out of sight.
“Come, I need a drink.” Akutagawa led him to a waiter carrying flutes of champagne.
“I’m eighteen, I can’t drink.” Atsushi whispered as Akutagawa shoved a flute into his hands.
“And here you’re twenty-four,” Akutagawa took a sip from his own flute. “You might be uncomfortable, but they’ll be suspicious if you don’t drink a little.”
Atsushi sighed at his words, “Fine, but you don’t drink when you don’t have to right? I mean you're only nineteen.” Akutagawa avoided his eyes once asked. “Seriously? You know just cause you're part of the mafia doesn’t mean you have to break laws. “
“Yeah well you try working with Chuuya and not drinking. He insists on drinking after every mission and it’s hard to turn him down.” Atsushi slumped once hearing his excuse. Just then, classical music started playing from the orchestra at the other end of the ball room.
“You know how to dance right?” Akutagawa took his flute that was drained and put it on a passing waiter's platter. “Dazai-san must have trained you.”
“Um, yeah,” Atsushi hurriedly put his flute on the same platter, “but shouldn’t we focus on Maiyuzu?”
“Exactly. He’s on the dance floor. When we eventually switch partners, I want you to spin me into his arms. So I can be alone with him for a little while.” Akutagawa guided Atsushi’s arm back around his waist and walked towards the floor. “These men are all the same, they say women should be loyal to their husbands, and at the same time they prey on any women they can get, no matter if they're married or not.”
Atsushi kept his eyes on Akutagawa, but he couldn’t help but notice how true his words were. Despite most men having women hanging off their arms, all dressed in grand Victorian dresses, they were all taking glances at Akutagawa. Whether it was because of desire, or because he was the only ‘woman’ in such gothic clothing, didn’t matter. They all had women that they continuously ignored to look at another man's ‘wife’.
The music started out slowly, one of Atsushi’s hands on Akutagawa’s waist and the other holding one of his hands. They slowly danced to the music, Akutagwa being occasionally twirled by Atsushi.
“You’re surprisingly good at dancing,” Akutagawa whispered as he complimented Atsushi. Atsushi’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Are you…joking? Or being sincere?” Akutagawa smiled at Atsushi’s words.
“I guess it might come off like that considering I’ve never given you a compliment before.” The smile Atsushi was given made him lightly blush.
“I know I already said this, but I need to say it again before I twirl you into that man’s arms. You look so beautiful, I mean you could put Aphrodite to shame.” Atsushi knew he didn’t have to say that, but he couldn’t help it. His words made Akutagawa blush.
“I hate you,” Akutagawa spun off as a woman spun into Atsushi’s arms.
Maiyuzu gripped Akutagawa’s waist much harsher than Atsushi did.
“Well who do we have here? I know you as Aratsu’s wife, but I don’t know your name, mind telling me doll?” Akutagawa played the role he wanted. He shyly glanced at the older man.
“My name is… Toumin.” Maiyuzu chuckled at the shy way Akutagawa spoke.
“Hello Toumin, I must ask you something. What is a beauty like you doing with a man like Aratsu? You deserve someone more than that, someone like me.” His grin was cocky as he stared down at Akutagawa. He twirled him once before bringing him back into his arms.
“What does a man like you theoretically have to offer me?” Akutagawa was going off plan. Originally Atsushi was supposed to be the one to get Maiyuzu to confess his weapons dealer, but if he can pull this off…
“I have a lot, you see, there’s these people called the Port Mafia . I don’t know if your husband ever talks about work at home but I’m in the workings of taking them down. With the sheer amount of weapons I’m about to have, no one will be able to stop me.”
‘Oh god, I didn’t even have to do anything for him to confess.’ Akutagawa had to stop himself from rolling his eyes.
“Oh! Weapons, how dangerous… But you know my husband is actually looking for something similar.” His words surprised Maiyuzu. “I’m not supposed to know about it, but… if you tell him where you get your weapons I’m sure he’d be too busy for me.” Akutagawa leaned up to whisper closely in his ear. “And I would be very lonely, I would need someone to keep me company…” He pulled away and gazed into his eyes.
He could also sense another pair of eyes on him, a pair of tiger eyes to be exact.
“Well… that would be just terrible if he ignored you to the point of you running to someone else’s arms.” Maiyuzu licked his lips as the orchestra ended.
“I must be going, but if you find yourself talking to my husband. Please keep in mind how lonely I would be if you told him about your dealer.” Akutagawa turned around and sauntered back to his ‘husband’.
“That looked like a productive talk…” Atsushi immediately grabbed Akutagawa’s waist once he was in front of him.
“It was. Now if Maiyuzu comes up to you, talk about how you’ve been looking for a weapons dealer. And that you’ll be very busy once you find them.” At his words Atsushi tilted his head. “I might have said that if you were busy, then I would be lonely.”
“Huh?” Atsushi was still confused. “What does that have to do with anything?”
Akutagawa gave him a glare, “I basically invited him over to fuck me.”
“Huh?!” Atsushi yelled and Akutagawa shushed him.
“I’m not going to do it obviously,” he discreetly shoved Atsushi’s shoulder. “But it is definitely an incentive for him.”
Despite his words Atsushi lightly growled, his eyes turning to slits.
“He’s disgusting, you told him you're nineteen! How does he think that age is appropriate for a man in his forties!” Akutagawa rolled his eyes.
“Don’t do this ‘Aratsu’ . Look, just go casually talk to him, and hope that he brings up the weapons.” He huffed. “I’m going to explore, leave the ball room and see if I can find anything.”
Akutagawa tried to leave but Atsushi was still holding him.
“Be careful… I doubt you can run much in that dress.” Atsushi spoke seriously, hoping to get his point across. Akutagawa looked deeply into his eyes before nodding. He noticed a couple of men leering at him, so before he left he leaned in close and kissed Atsushi’s cheek.
Atsushi watched as he walked away and discreetly exited the ball room. He eventually walked off, searching for Maiyuzu. Once he found him standing off to the side of the room he came to stand next to him.
“Maiyuzu! Great to see you,” Atsushi sighed despite greeting him energetically.
“Is something wrong Aratsu?” Maiyuzu feigned concern.
“To be honest I’ve been quite stressed. If I can be frank with you,” he leaned in to whisper, “I’ve been looking for a weapons dealer but it’s been very hard.” He leaned back and sighed in mock frustration.
“Oh,” Maiyuzu widened his eyes despite knowing this information. “Well… if I can be frank, I have my own weapons dealer. And I would be remiss if I didn’t share them with you.”
Atsushi’s eyes widened as Maiyuzu leaned in and whispered the details of his dealer. He continued to feed Atsushi information, from when the best time to meet the dealer is, to where he could find them.
“Wow… this is great. Thank you so much Maiyuzu.” Atsushi held out his hand to shake.
“Don’t thank me yet, just meet them and get it all setup. I’m sure everyone will be happy…including your wife.” He tried to whisper the last part, but Atsushi heard him. He didn’t bring it up though, content to let him think he would eventually get Akutagawa.
“If you don’t mind, my wife and I will be taking our leave,” Atsushi held up his hand as Maiyuzu tried to protest. “I know, it feels like no time has passed since we got here, but unfortunately, we are quite busy tomorrow. So we must go.” Maiyuzu thought about it, before smiling and giving Atsushi a light bow.
Atsushi made his way towards the entrance doors, where Akutagawa was waiting for him.
“Did you get the information we needed?” Instead of answering him, Atsushi rushed up and wrapped one arm around his waist. From the corner of his eye, he could see Maiyuzu staring at them. He knew that they would never have to see Maiyuzu again, the others would take care of his arrest, but he just couldn’t let him think he won.
“Sorry I just need to convince him,” Atsushi whispered before leaning in and planting a soft kiss on Akutagawa’s lips. Akutagawa’s acting had been on point the whole night, but right then he broke character. His eyes widened as he stood still, but he didn’t push Atsushi off. Once Atsushi detached from Akutagawa, he guided them both out the door and down the large stairs.
Once back down near the limousines, Atsushi finally let go of his waist.
“Sorry about that, but Maiyuzu was just disgusting. I was just trying to prove a poi-” Akutagawa shoved Atsushi away before he could finish. “Aku…”
He ripped open the limo door before getting in and slamming the door. He obviously told Hirotsu to drive fast considering how quickly he peeled off. Leaving Atsushi to stand there alone. He slowly walked off to his limo, getting in before telling the driver to take him back.
–
2
Atsushi was still thinking about that night a week later. He could still feel Akutagawa’s lips on his own, how plush they were, how beautiful he looked. Yosano was the one that interrupted his thoughts.
“Atsushi!” She leaned on his desk, “You have the privilege to be chosen to come on my shopping trip today!” She squealed and shook his shoulders.
“Ah! But don’t we have to work…?” Yosano rolled his eyes as he asked.
“There’s nothing to do today! We can go out and just shop all we want.”
‘WE. It would just be you shopping.’ He sighed as he thought to himself before thinking of an idea.
“But wouldn’t Kuikida be mad? I don’t want to do anything that makes him angry.” Sweat dripped down his face as he hoped it would be a good enough excuse.
“Actually there’s not much for you two to do today,” Kunkida pushed up his glasses as he called out. “There’s no missions in the meantime, so if you want to leave, by all means go ahead.” He continued to type on his computer.
‘Goddammit Kunikida. The one time I want you to be uptight and you can’t do it?’
“Great, come on Atsushi!” She jumped off of his desk and dragged him towards the front door. He groaned as she held on tightly.
“Yosano…” Atsushi was quickly shut up by the look he was sent. He hung his head low as they took her car to the shopping center.
“Don’t look so down Atsushi. Shopping cures all illnesses,” She grinned before it faltered. “Well, not actually, I feel like as a doctor I must say that. But still.” They walked into the mall together, it was the middle of a weekday, so it wasn’t very crowded. It was mostly housewives and stay at home parents shopping.
“Wait here for me,” Yosano vibrated as she looked in the window of an expensive bag store. “I’ll be right back!” She rushed in, leaving Atsushi alone and next to a large potted plant.
He huffed and leaned against a slab of wall next to the door, picking at the leaves of the plant.
“...Why did I come if she’s just going to ignore me?” He whispered to himself while staring off into space.
After fifteen minutes he grew tired of using the plant in front of him as entertainment. He huffed and pushed himself off the wall, determined to walk in the store to find Yosano. But before he could…
“Jinko?” A soft but rough voice called out from behind him. He yelped and quickly turned around, ripping the leaf of the large plant off. Standing there was Akutagawa.
“Akuta-!” Atsushi tried saying his name before snapping his mouth shut. Akutagawa was wearing a short, dark red slip dress with black designs and a small bow on the chest. Over the dress was a sheer black long sleeve cover up. He had makeup on, a simple black wing with his undereye painted red, supported by his long lashes.
“...”
“...”
“Okay…? I think I’ll go…” Akutagawa tried to walk away but Atsushi loudly sighed before he could. He turned back, rolling his eyes. “What could possibly be wrong, Jinko?”
The pout on Atsushi’s mouth turned to a small smile after hearing the nickname.
“Yosano dragged me here to shop with her, but she went into this store like twenty minutes ago! How hard could it be to find a bag…” He grumbled and hung his head. Akutagawa laughed at him with a pitying tone.
“You shouldn’t have let yourself be dragged. You're a weretiger aren’t you? Shouldn’t you have more resolve?” Akutagawa shook his head at the man in front of him. Atsushi couldn’t answer, stuck thinking about the pretty laugh Akutagawa had just let stumble out of his lips.
“What are you doing here?” Atsushi asked. Akutagawa was silent, staring at Atsushi like he was the dumbest person alive. “I mean- I know you’re shopping obviously. But what are you looking for specifically?”
Akutagawa looked him up and down, making Atsushi stand up straighter for some reason. “If you must know, Gin is looking for a new sun dress, and she’s determined to find me one as well.”
“Gin? You’re sister right?” Akutagawa nodded at the question. “Where is she?” Atsushi looked around trying to spot the Port Mafia assassin.
“Right here.” A voice called from next to Atsushi. He squeaked and quickly turned around to face the girl. Her hair was down, and she was in a nice white dress, but despite her soft clothing, her face was the opposite. She was glaring at Atsushi as if he had single handedly destroyed her life.
“Oh! Gin… how nice to see you?” Atsushi tried to smile at her, but she continued to glare. She then turned to her brother, her glare softening and her mouth turning upwards into a smile.
“Let’s not waste time with him, we still have to find you a new dress.” She lightly grabbed his hand, pulling him away.
“Bye…?” Atsushi was confused. From what he’s seen, Gin was pleasant when she wasn’t on duty. She’s a nice girl, even Dazai likes her! He always said she was sweet unless you proved yourself a threat to herself… or her loved ones.
‘Did I offend her? I feel like if Akutagawa and I are being civil she would be civil too. Unless… Akutagawa told her about me kissing him…’ He groaned and smacked his hand on his forehead. Just then, Yosano came out.
“Come on tiger boy,” She dropped a shopping bag into his hand. “We have more places to go to.”
For the next hour, Atsushi followed Yosano around being her personal bag boy. Atsushi had no clue where she got all this money, their salary certainly wasn’t enough for it.
“Is that you’re little rival?” Yosano tapped her chin as she looked at people in the distance. Atsushi squinted to look at them.
“Oh, yeah it seems like they're still here- Ah!” Atsushi was grabbed by the arm, pulled towards the second level where Gin and Akutagawa were.
“Yahoo,” Yosano called out, pulling the attention of the siblings. “Well, well, well, who do we have here? Doing a little shopping, are we?” Yosano talked comfortably to the two, as if they had never tried to kill each other before. GIn smiled at her and nodded her head, before glaring quickly at Atsushi. Akutagawa discreetly kicked her food with his own, something so small Atsushi never would have noticed if he didn’t have tiger senses.
The motion got Gin to stop galring, instead focusing on a conversation with Yosano about their shopping trip. Akutagawa came to stand next to him.
“I see you’re a bag boy now,” He smirked at the bags filling Atsushi’s arms.
“Ha ha, very funny… Have you found a dress yet?” Atsushi asked, hoping he would show him if he did. But Akutagawa wasn’t able to answer, because Yosano quickly came to stand right in front of them.
“Ho ho? You’re looking for a dress? Why didn’t you say so! Come, come.” She shuffled them all away and towards a new store. “This is my favorite place for dresses. They have everything from formal to beach dresses!” She shoved them all in the store.
Atsushi was uninterested in shopping, but he did enjoy the way Akutagawa’s eyes lit up at the clothing around them. Gin dragged Akutagawa off deeper into the store as Yosano slowly walked through the many dresses that were near the front.
Atsushi sat on a plush couch that was at the front and put all of Yosano's bags down, deciding to rest for the while they were in here.
For the next half hour, Atsushi watched as the three looked around the store to find new clothes. Eventually Akutagawa came to sit on the same couch as Atsushi, sighing loudly and stretching.
“I’m surprised you’re still here Jinko.”
“Yeah, well like you said, I’m Yosano’s personal bag boy. I’ve been following her around all day,” Atsushi’s voice was filled with regret. “I should have fought harder to stay at the agency…”
Akutagawa laughed and Atsushi was tempted to ask him the question he had been thinking about for a week.
‘Why was he so mad at me that night?’
The thought had been plaguing his head and it seemed like now was the only chance to ask-
“Ryuu. Come try this on,” Gin had suddenly appeared before them and dragged Akutagawa off towards the dressing room. Atsushi groaned in frustration and hung his head.
When he lifted it back up, he saw a man that had just walked into the store staring at where Gin and Akutagawa just were. Atsushi assumed he was staring at Gin, not many people were interested in Akutagawa with the way he dressed, but Gin seemed like the average lovely girl with her white dress and long black hair.
Atsushi ignored him, knowing Gin could destroy any man that lay a finger on her.
Eventually Akutagawa came back from the dressing room, saying that he didn’t like the dress. Atsushi tried to listen to what he was saying, but he couldn't help but focus on the man that had walked in ten minutes ago. He wasn’t staring at Gin, but taking long glances at Akutagawa.
Atsushi wasn’t sure what to do; just like Gin, he knew Akutagawa could hold his own. Although he made a vow not to kill anyone for six months, if he found a man creeping on him he would probably hospitalize said man.
But he didn’t want Akutagawa’s day to be ruined. He was being pleasant and obviously having a fun time with his sister, and Atsushi didn’t want a random man to ruin that.
He obviously thought that Akutagawa was a girl, and was probably hoping that he could eventually ask him out. With the way he was glancing at Atsushi, he could tell he was trying to figure out if they were dating. It gave Atsushi an idea.
“Are you listening at all?” Akutagawa said, his face scrunched up.
“Of course I am,” Atsushi retorted. The space between them wasn’t large, Akutagawa chose to sit surprisingly close to Atsushi. He hesitated for a second before putting his arm on the back of the couch and around Akutagawa's shoulders.
“What’s…happening?” Akutagawa’s words were dangerous, his gaze a little sharp. Atsushi sweated. He knew Akutagawa wasn’t dumb, if he wasn’t careful then he would probably storm off and have his sister kill him.
“Hey, I’ve been carrying bags for the last hour and a half, I deserve to have my arms stretched out!” It was a shity lie, but Akutagawa didn’t fight him on it. He just wearily glanced at his arm before leaning back and assuming his original position.
‘Thank god.’ Atsushi thought and looked up to see the man with his head low. ‘There now he’ll stay away!’
He in fact did not stay away.
Atsushi of course knew that there were many creepy men, he had to encounter a lot of them at this job. But he truly didn’t expect this man to follow them to various stores, and it seemed like the others hadn’t noticed. Which is why he eventually asked Yosano about him quietly.
“Man?” She whispered back and looked around. “Atsushi, there's no man that’s been following us. Don’t you think the detective and two Port Mafia assassins would notice?” She looked around once more and was unable to find anyone that she had seen in previous stores as well.
“Atsushi if you’re feeling unwell, you can go ho-”
“No! I mean- no I’m okay,” he gave a small smile to appease her, but he was internally freaking out. He knew this man was following them, so he refused to leave, he would watch over them and make sure nothing happened.
“Hm… okay well, I’m gonna take Gin and go into that store over there,” she pointed to a shoe store. “Hey I’m giving you some alone time with that boy, ask him what you want to.” She then walked off and excitedly took Gin into the store.
“Jinko,” Akutagawa came to stand beside him. “You look queasy. Please do not ruin this day by throwing up.” His words were harsh but his eyes held concern. Which only made Atsushi feel worse because he could still see the ordinary looking man watching them.
He could see him stalking his way towards them, so Atsushi did what he thought was the right thing. He softly grabbed Akutagawa by the shoulders and whispered a quick sorry towards him. He pulled him in and once again softly kissed him. It was chaste like last time, and Akutagawa didn’t shove him away once they pulled apart. He simply stared in shock before a look of disbelief crossed his features.
“I can’t- can’t believe you would do this again,” He was angry, but the outburst wasn’t like last time. He walked into the store Gin and Yosano were in, leaving Atsushi to stand there. When he looked around the man wasn’t gone, but he was further away and instead staring at other people.
Atsushi was startled once the three came out of the store. Gin once again had a murderous look in her eyes; but she didn’t go up to him, instead she took Akutagawa’s hand and left the shopping center.
“So…you kissed him?” Yosano awkwardly looked around. “Why is that?”
“Because that man was getting so close to us! And I couldn’t think of anything else to do!”
“Oh god, Atsus-” She cut herself off and pinched her nose. “Okay, I’m gonna call Dazai and tell him about what you're seeing. If he’s worried, I’ll believe you. But I think you might be seeing things.”
She walked away to call him and came back five minutes later.
“What did he say,” Atsushi was hopeful.
“He said stay here and to ‘follow him’, he’ll be here soon.” Atsushi stood up at her words and took to surveying the man, leading Yosano whenever he would walk away.
Ten minutes later Dazai’s voice called him, “Atsushi. Where is he?” He popped up right beside him and Atsushi pointed to where the man was looking through the window of a store.
Dazai walked up behind him and grabbed his back. A burst of blue light appeared and the man was revealed to those who couldn’t see him. He floundered in Dazai’s grip, but he held on tight.
Dazai didn’t clarify anything until after they had taken the man to prison.
“We’ve been searching for him for a while. His ability keeps him invisible from whoever he wants. Atsushi must have been able to see him because of his increased sense of hearing and sight. Once he makes the wrong move, like brushing against you or being too loud, you should be able to see him. Atsushi, you said he was following you?”
“Yeah, well specifically he was following Akutagawa.”
“Right. So you kissed him?” Yosano threw in her two cents as they tried to make sense of the situation.
“Actually you did the right thing. He probably thought Akutagawa was a girl, and that’s his m.o. He finds girls and stalks them, he’ll drive them crazy because eventually they know they're being watched and they can’t prove it. But he surprisingly leaves girls dating someone alone. A girl who was almost a victim talked about how she knew she was being stalked, and once she started dating someone, their stares went away.”
Atsushi nodded but still wasn’t settled, “Don’t you think Akutagawa would have been able to handle him anyway?”
Dazai shrugged, “Probably. But you wouldn't feel content if he had to, right?”
His words made Atsushi think.
‘Why do I care so much?’
–
3
A month had gone by since then. Akutagawa hasn’t talked to Atsushi since, in fact he’s been actively avoiding him. And anytime Atsushi has seen Gin in public, she’s glared at him until he’s forced to back away for his own safety.
Currently, Atsushi was sitting at his desk. That’s when Dazai burst through the doors.
“Beach! We’re going to the beach!” He shouted. Everyone in the office startled, and his loud voice caused Kunkida to tell him to shut the hell up.
“How can I be quiet when we’re going to the beach!”
“What the hell are you talking about you waste of bandages?!”
Dazai smiled at him sinisterly before actually explaining himself.
“My dog and I have decided that everyone has been a little too stressed recently, so we planned a trip to the beach with our respective organizations… But we’ll be going to the same beach, on the same day, and at the same time.” At this point everyone knew who Dazai’s ‘dog’ was.
“You want us to go to the beach with the Port Mafia? Isn’t that a little-”
“Fun!” Kenji interrupted Kunikida. “I haven’t been to the beach in ages! Yay!”
Kunikida sighed as Kenji vibrated in excitement. He gave Dazai a look that told him to carry on.
“Great! We’ll be going tomorrow around noon. So make sure you have everything you need!” Dazai said before mumbling about seeing the slug in his bathing suit. Kunkida hit him on the head before telling him not to be gross.
Atsushi was at first suspicious of this idea before realizing that going to the beach with the Port Mafia meant seeing Akutagawa. And seeing him mostly naked, he wasn’t sure why the idea of that excited him so much.
‘Oh god… do I like- No. No! That’s not possible. He's literally tried to kill me like ten times!’ He groaned, and like Ranpo could hear his thoughts, he snickered at Atsushi.
The next day around two-thirty, the ADA minus Fukuzawa had arrived at the beach. It was bright and sunny, the only relief coming from the heat was the wind close to the shore line.
After setting up all of their things, Kenji immediately ran off into the ocean.
“Yahoo!” He dived under the water with no hesitation.
“Wait for us Kenji!” Juunichiro yelled before he, Naomi, and Kyouka followed him into the water. The rest of them started to do their own thing. Yosano laid out on a beach chair, Kunikida aggressively put sunscreen on, and Ranpo pulled out Poe’s newest book.
Atsushi was sitting on his own beach towel under a large umbrella when the members of the Port Mafia pulled up. He noticed them quickly because of the volume of Dazai’s voice once he yelled Chuuya’s name.
“Chuuya!” He ran over and pounced on him. “Aww my slug, I really thought you would flake on me!”
“ME! You’re the one always flaking you jackass!” Chuuya sounded scandalized.
Atsushi turned to see the other members of the mafia. Both Akutagawa’s, Tachihara, Koyou, Kaiji, and Higuchi… who was currently standing just a little too close to Aktuagawa for his liking. Then he noticed that while they were all in beach wear, Akutagawa was wearing a large black zip up jacket around himself.
They all continued walking towards where the ADA had set up, obviously used to the way Chuuya and Dazai were screaming at each other.
“My, my, it’s nice to see all of you so relaxed,” Koyou said to them. Yosano sat up in her beach chair and stared at Koyou’s bathing suit. “Yosano, you’re certainly looking amazing.” She blushed at Koyou’s compliment. Stuttering as she tried to say something back.
Atsushi’s eyes however, followed Akutagawa only. He saw Gin trying to pull him somewhere, but he whispered to her, before setting his things next to Atsushi under the umbrella.
“Jinko,” Akutagawa greeted him as he sat on his own little blanket.
“Hey, aren’t you hot?” Was the first thing out of Atsushi’s mouth. He mentally hit himself, he wasn’t sure if he should talk about the two kisses they had shared, but he sure as hell wanted to. Akutagawa glared at him before shaking his head.
“I’m used to being in a coat no matter the weather, this is nothing to me.” Atsushi nodded along and took the rest of him in. Despite his words, his face was flushed red, his legs were bare suggesting that he was only wearing the jacket and his swim trunks underneath.
“Hm… okay.” He stood up and walked towards the water. “You gonna go in the water at some point?”
“Maybe,” Akutagawa said as he bunched his knees up and held them close. Atsushi could only shrug and go into the water like more people had done.
The next half hour was completely normal to Atsushi, he cooled off in the freezing water, Yosano continued to stutter whenever Koyou would compliment her, and Dazai continued to hang off of Chuuya. After that is when he felt like his life was turned upside down.
Gin was next to her brother, pulling at him to try to take him in the water. He had been refusing for the past half hour, saying he was fine and didn’t need to get in. But eventually whatever she whispered to him must have convinced Akutagawa to go in. From the water, Atsushi could see him stand up. And when he unzipped his jacket, he was sure he had drowned, died, and went to heaven.
Underneath the jacket, Akutagawa was wearing a bikini. Not swim trunks like he had expected, but a full on women’s bikini.
“Ah, you’re finally going in Akutagawa?” Dazai asked, acting as if Akutagawa wearing a bikini was the most normal thing that has ever happened.
“Mmm. Gin convinced me.” He said nothing more as he walked to the water. Once closer, Atsushi could see it more clearly.
It was a pretty simple black bikini that had bottoms that looked like a very short ruffled miniskirt. The top was small, considering he had no breasts, he didn’t need much coverage for his chest. It looked like something that a model would wear.
Atsushi continued to gape as Akutagawa walked into the water.
“Do you need something?” Akutagawa asked once his waist and below were in the water.
“Oh! No. I just didn’t think you’d be wearing um, that…”
“What? You don’t like it? I think it’s rather cute,” at her brother’s words, Gin glared at Atsushi harshley.
“Wait no I love it! You look amazing!” Somehow those words cause Gin to glare even harder, her eyes as sharp as daggers.
“Gin you can go,” Akutagawa said, staring at his sister. She reluctantly went further out, glancing back at them every now and again.
“Does… Gin have a problem with me? I mean I accidentally almost say the wrong thing and she looks like she wants to hospitalize me, but then I compliment you and she looks like she wants to personally dig my grave.”
Akutagawa rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. “Normally she’s very sweet, she’s just a little protective of me, and vice versa. I would do the same for her if I knew she was talking to someone like you.” Atsushi jolted at that before splashing Akutagawa just a little.
“Hey, I’m the one that needs protecting!” Atsushi’s eyes widened as Akutagawa surprisingly laughed. It was a soft thing that ended in a little cough. But it was the most perfect laugh Atsushi had ever heard. And apparently he doesn’t know how to keep his thoughts to himself.
“Your laugh is adorable, you should do it more often,” Atsushi said without thinking. He said it like it was an undeniable fact; it’s eighty-seven degrees outside and Akutagawa Ryuunosuke has the best laugh in the world.
Akutagawa flushed at Atsushi’s words, he didn’t say anything back and just splashed him.
“Haha!” Atsushi covered his face and was about to grab Akutagawa’s arm to pull him down when a little Rashomon stopped him. She had come from a ruffle in his bottom skirt, and wasn’t very large because of the lack of the material.
“Sorry. I just- well I don’t know how to swim.” Akutagawa said it casually but his eyes were nervous, as if hoping that Atsushi wouldn’t take this opportunity to drown him. “I don’t think I’ve told many people that before.”
Atsushi was surprised but tried not to show it, he didn’t want Akutagawa regretting telling him.
“Well, thanks for telling me. I’ll make sure you don’t go too far out. And even if you do, I’m an excellent swimmer!”
“Oh, Jinko, you don’t have to stay here. You probably wanna go further out and I won’t stop you.”
“No, I wanna be here with you. Please just let me accompany you.”
Akutagawa’s eyes widened, and he looked like he wanted to insist once more. But when he looked at Atsushi, he could tell he was being truthful. He agreed, and the two spent the rest of their time together. Atsushi was occasionally anxious, not wanting Akutagawa to go far out just in case.
And then Akutagawa asked him something.
“Will you take me further out?” He asked.
“Like how?”
“Well I know for a fact Tachihara brought some chair floaties. I just wanna go further out but lord knows I’m not gonna ask someone I don’t completely trust. So it’s basically between you, Chuuya, or Gin. And they both seem busy doing their own thing.” It was a solid excuse, but Atsushi wanted to deny it, he didn’t want anything to happen. And then Akutagawa looked at him with his big black eyes, enticing Atsushi to agree.
Akutagawa rushed back into the water with the floaty he was talking about. It was a normal circle one, but the inside was closed and one of the sides was slightly higher, successfully making it a chair. He hopped into it and told Atsushi he was ready.
“Okay…” Atsushi pushed him in the floaty going deeper and deeper. Eventually he stopped standing and started kicking his legs.
Once they had gone far enough, Atsushi stopped. But he held on to Akutagawa, keeping him in place.
“I wish I could do this more often…” Akutagawa looked mesmerized by the view. The sun was close to setting, the sky a mix of pink and orange. But Atsushi could only stare at Akutagawa, the sparkle in his eyes, the way he crossed his legs, his soft lips…
‘I really want to kiss him.’
Atsushi was tempted, he was wondering if Akutagawa would accept his request or get mad like the other times. He glanced back at the shore to once again see Gin glaring at him, but he could tell once she looked at Akutagawa her glare melted into something softer. She looked at Atsushi and nodded.
‘No, I wanna do something more special than this.’
“Why don’t we go back now?” Atsushi suggested after some time. Akutagawa agreed but looked sad. “Hey come on, you can ask me whenever and I’ll come to the beach with you and bring you out here.”
Akutagawa smiled at him, placing his hand on one of Atsushi’s.
“You two, we’re going to make a fire pit,” Chuuya called out to them while tying his hair up. “Could you help find twigs or whatever.”
“See I would go but I can’t leave my dog all alone! That would make me a bad owner!” Dazai’s words caused not only Chuuya to yell at him, but Kunikida as well. Despite Kunikida’s hatred for the Port Mafia, he and Chuuya grew close today, bonding over how annoying Dazai was.
“Come on, let’s go further down,” Akutagawa guided him to a small cliff where some trees were lined up. As they climbed to the top, Atsushi could tell it wasn’t a very tall cliff, the drop was maybe twenty to thirty feet. But it was directly into the water.
“Here I’ll search for things up here, you can go lower,” Atsushi said casually, as if he wasn’t terrified of the thought of Akutagawa falling off.
“…Fine.” He walked back down, searching the ground for sticks. Atsushi continued at the top, realizing that he should have brought his phone to use the flashlight. While the sun wasn’t completely down, the sky was surely fading to purple and dark blue. He searched for about five minutes, acquiring a good amount when he heard it.
“Get away from me.” It was Akutagawa’s voice. He looked down the cliff to see him walking towards Atsushi with two men following him. “You don’t want me, I’m a guy.”
“Aww come on baby, we’ll take whatever we can get,” one of the men said while the other tried reaching for him.
“Hey! Get away from him!” The two were too far away from the group for anyone else to come and help them. But Atsushi didn’t need their help, he was strong enough to take them if he needed to. Unfortunately, thanks to the bikini Akutagawa was wearing, Rashomon was too small to lift them up and restrain them, but she was big enough to use her as a knife.
“Ohhhh is this your little boyfriend?” The men asked Akutagawa, they nodded at each other before one of them set out towards Atsushi.
“Seriously I won’t hesitate to take you out if I need to,” Atsushi warned him. Normally he wouldn’t want to hurt normal civilians, but for some reason he would feel no remorse for these two.
The man took out a switchblade from his pocket and charged at Atsushi who easily dodged it. The man wasn’t terrible with the knife, but he was no match for Atsushi. He was quickly shoved into the ground with Atsushi holding his hand behind his back.
“Told you,” Atsushi smirked but it fell once he saw the man smiling.
“Have you thought of checking up on your little play thing?” His smirk disgusted Atsushi who had forgotten about the other man. He quickly looked around before focusing his gaze on Akutagawa and the other at the top of the cliff. His heart hammered in his chest as he watched Akutagawa try to fend for himself with Rashomon, but she was barely there and the cold air was making Akutagawa cough worse.
Atsushi stood and ran, leaving the other guy breathing harshly on the ground. It seemed the faster he ran, the quicker Akutagawa was backing up near the edge.
‘No.’
Akutagawa took another step back as Rashomon took a stab at the guy.
‘No!’
It hit the man but he still tried to grab Akutagawa’s arm.
“Akutagawa!”
Akutagawa leaned away from the man, falling backwards and off of the cliff before Atsushi’s eyes.
He had no time to think, and he didn’t. He shoved the man away before diving off the side of the cliff. Once in the water, he could barely see Akutagawa. His black swimsuit and black hair caused him to almost completely blend into the dark water. But Atsushi could see the bubbles floating up to the surface.
He swam as fast as he could towards the bubbles and saw Akutagawa flailing around. He could tell he was getting tired, his movements becoming slower. Atsushi rushed towards him, grabbing his waist and swimming as fast as he could towards the surface.
Atsushi broke the surface breathing heavily, his lungs were burning but he refused to think about it. He held onto Akutagawa tightly and brought him to the sand. He could feel a pulse that was slowing down, and he could tell he wasn’t breathing.
‘Shit, Yosano is too far.’
So, Atsushi did what she had once taught all members of the ADA. He positioned his two hands on Akutagawa’s chest, pushing down like Yosano taught him before tilting his head up, plugging his nose and breathing into him. He continued the process until Akutagawa rolled to the side and coughed up water.
“Akutagawa!” After he was finished coughing, Atsushi held him close. “Thank god…” He whispered close to tears, but he couldn’t cry, Akutagawa also had tears in his eyes and he refused to cry before comforting him.
“Jinko… thank you.” The tears fell from his eyes as he clung to Atsushi.
“It’s okay, it’s okay,” He wiped the tears from Akutagawa’s eyes as they fell.
They stayed like that for the next couple minutes, until Atsushi decided they should head back to the others. Akutagawa was still shaking, so rather than have him walk, Atsushi picked him up in his arms. He carried him back towards the group while whispering to him.
“Ryuu! Oh my god!”
“Senpai!” Higuchi and Gin noticed them first and ran towards them. Their yelling grabbed the others' attention.
“Ryuunosuke! What happened to you two!” Chuuya was the next one to ask as they finally arrived in front of the group. Atsushi put Akutagawa down on his blanket before explaining to them.
By the end of the retelling, there was not one person that didn’t look like they wanted to march back to that cliff and find the bastards themselves. Even Kunikida looked like he would gladly throw a grenade at them.
“I see…” Gin said. “I’ll be right back.” She stood up from where she was holding her brother and took off towards the cliff. Tachihara, Higuchi and Kaiji all followed after them. Chuuya took Gin’s place and held Akutagawa close to his chest. They all stayed quiet, and pretended they didn’t hear the sounds of gunshots, bombs, and screaming coming from the cliff.
Once the four Black Lizards came back, everyone decided it was best to leave it at that and call it a day. Higuchi took Akutagawa’s bags from him and decided to carry it back for him, leaving Akutagawa’s hands bare. Everyone was walking ahead of Akutagawa and Atsushi, giving them a chance to talk alone.
“Jinko- I mean Atsushi. I can never thank you enough for what you did,” Akutagawa’s hand was holding onto Atsushi’s arm due to him still being shaky.
“Akutagawa, truly I would do anything for you.” The words rushed out of him, but they were true. “You are the most beautiful person ever. I know you don’t think so, but to me, inside and outside, you're better than everybody else.”
Akutagawa gripped harder on his arm, “Yeah sure. If you lie, make it believable Atsushi. I have a rotten personality and an even worse body.”
This road is where they split up, Port Mafia would continue to the left, and the ADA members would go the right.
“Akutagawa I don’t care how long it takes to convince you,” Atsushi grabbed his hand and forced Akutagawa to look at him. “I will spend everyday until my last breath telling you how fucking ethereal you are.”
That’s when he leaned in. It wasn’t a kiss to make others back off of Akutagawa, and it wasn’t one born out of jealousy. For the first time, he felt Akutagawa’s lips on his with no other excuse in his mind other than the fact that he wanted to kiss him. Akutagawa’s eyes didn’t widen nor did he shove Atsushi away, he closed his eyes and leaned closer to him. He felt Atsushi’s hand tighten on his bare waist as he brought him closer.
Akutagawa shuttered, whether it be from the cold air on his skin or the confident way Atsushi kissed him. He was about to wrap his arms around Atsushi’s neck when someone cleared their throat behind him. Akutagawa gasped and turned around to see Gin standing there.
“We have to go,” she raised an eyebrow as he furiously flushed and nodded his head. He turned his head back towards Atsushi and gave him a small smile, then walked away. But Gin stayed in place and stared at Atsushi.
“Um-”
“I swear to all the gods that people believe in, if you hurt my brother, I will rip out your heart and each one of your nerves one by one. I will hang them on my wall and gift Ryuu your heart to throw darts at.” Her stare was lethal. Atsushi is sure she expected him to shake or nervously nod, but he refuses to.
“Gin, I swear if I hurt Aku- no, if I hurt Ryuu, I give you permission to do all of those things.” Atsushi stared seriously and she slowly nodded.
-
+1
Akutagawa was at a crossroads. Last week, Atsushi kissed him and made a universe explode inside of himself. Now, Akutagawa was determined to avoid Atsushi as much as possible. He didn’t know what to do, whenever he caught sight of him in public he wanted to rush towards him, but his body just ran the other way.
“What is wrong with me?” His head was lying on his desk in his office. A knock then came from outside his door. “Come in,” he sighed.
“What’s wrong,” Chuuya walked in and closed the door after him. “You look like death.”
He sat on the edge of Akutagawa’s desk and pet his head. Akutagawa groaned and lifted his head.
“I’ve been avoiding Atsushi and I don’t know why,” He whined in a voice that was very un-Akutagawa like.
“Ha! Ryuunosuke, that’s because you like him.” Chuuya stated like that wasn’t the most obvious thing in the world.
“Then why am I acting like a shy schoolgirl who can’t stand to see her crush in person!”
Chuuya smiled down at his little outburst.
“You know, when Dazai first confessed he liked me, I tried to lock myself in my room for two weeks. I only came out when I knew he wasn’t there. I literally was forced to talk to him by Mori-dono because Dazai wasn’t doing his work when I wasn’t there. Despite how controlling Dazai normally is, he let me explain why I refused to come out of my room and he didn’t want me to accept his feelings just because I felt bad.”
Akutagawa stared at him, “Why did you hide from him?”
“Hmm, well it was a little complicated. I knew I loved him, but something about saying it out loud scared the fuck out of me. I mean, the mafia is dangerous, and I wasn’t ready to accept what could happen if either one of us died, not to mention if Dazai succeded with his suicidal tendencies.” Chuuya now had a far away look in his eyes as he thought about the past.
But Akutagawa thought about Atsushi.
‘Is that why I keep running away? I promised to kill him in six months and now I’m in love with him. I can’t imagine what I would do if someone killed Atsushi…’
Their thoughts were interrupted by the shrill ringing of Chuuya’s ringtone.
“Goddammit mackerel. What do you want?” He listened as Dazai spoke through the speaker. Once he was finished, Chuuya sighed. “Yeah okay, I'll try.”
“What was that about?” Akutagawa asked.
“The bastard wanted me to ask you to talk to the weretiger. Apparently he’s been very depressed.” Chuuya hopped off his desk and started walking out. “You don’t need to give him an answer, okay? Just talk to him.”
Akutagawa thought about Chuuya’s words for the rest of the day, so much that Gin had to ask him what was wrong once they were at home.
“Nothing’s wrong… I have to go make a call.” He walked on to their balcony, shivering in the cold.
His phone rang only once before it was picked up.
“Ryuu!” Atsushi’s voice was loud over the speakers.
“Jin- Atsushi. I have a request.”
“Anything!” Akutagawa smiled at the way the other replied before even knowing what the request was.
“Will you go on a date with me?” Akutagawa asked the question confidently, but grew less sure of himself when Atsushi didn’t reply. “Unless I read the signs wrong, we don’t-”
“NO! Sorry, sorry. I was just freaking out a little. But yes! Let’s go on a date! Um- where do you want to go?”
“The aquarium!” The answer from Akutagawa was quick with no thought. “I’ve always wanted to go.”
“Right, let’s do that. Are you free tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
“Great! Let’s meet there at one?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll see you then Ryuu!”
Akutagawa said goodnight back before properly freaking out.
“Gin! Gin!” He yelled for his sister who came running out of her room.
“What! Who do I need to kill?” Akutagawa rolled his eyes at her.
“No one, but I have a date tomorrow. So you need to help me pick an outfit.” He walked past her and told her to follow him.
“What…” Gin was in shock. “With the weretiger?! Please tell me not him!” Her brother didn’t give a verbal answer, just forced her into his room to help create an outfit.
Just like Akutagawa, Atsushi started to freak out over the call. He fell on the floor and covered his blushing face.
“Atsushi? What happened?” Kyouka asked from where she was lying on her futon.
“I have a date…” His grin was giddy as he stared at the ceiling.
The next day, both boys were nervously getting ready. It was Atsushi’s day off already but Akutagawa had to beg Mori-dono to let him have this day off.
‘I accidentally said I could do today without thinking about my schedule. It’s not like I have anything important right?’
It had surprisingly worked, Mori-dono had let him have a free day with no consequences.
The two boys arrived at the aquarium at the same time. They couldn’t help but run up to the other once they saw each other.
Atsushi’s outfit was simple, a blue sweater vest over a white shirt and black wide leg pants and a light blue jacket. He thought he looked good, but apparently it was nothing compared to Akutagawa. He had on a black baby doll dress that had a longer layer of sheer fabric on top of the skirt part, black platform mary janes, and sheer black gloves. He wore romantic goth makeup and silver jewelry as well.
“Atsushi you look amazing,” Akutagawa’s words were truthful. Because of his heels, he was now at least two inches taller than Atsushi, making him look up to admire him.
“You look like you just came out of a fairytale,” Atsushi said in awe, causing Akutagawa to snort.
“Maybe the evil fairy godmother, but sure.”
“No, like the prince who was somehow unaware that he was the most beautiful person to ever live,” his eyes continued to roam over Akutagawa, who was now madly blushing.
“Come on,” He held onto Atsushi’s arm with his own and they entered the aquarium. Immediately they were overwhelmed. It was a Wednesday, so not many people were there, which Akutagawa was thankful for because he would like no one but Atsushi to see how enamored he was with the animals.
“I’ve always wanted to come to this aquarium,” Akutagawa admitted once more.
“We can come whenever you want to. I’ll take you here rain or shine,” Akutagawa laughed at how his words sounded like wedding vows. But Atsushi was completely serious, whatever Akutagawa wanted, he would do his best to provide.
They roamed around the aquarium, taking their time looking at each exhibit, skipping over nothing. At some point, Akutagawa’s hand had slipped from Atsushi’s arm and into his hand instead. With the way he was so taken with the animals, Atsushi doubted he had noticed, but it didn’t make him any less happy.
They dragged each other here and there, happily going wherever the other wanted. At some point it had gotten a little too chilly for Akutagawa to stand. He would have suffered in silence, but Atsushi could hear his teeth chattering and the goosebumps on his arm.
“Here,” Atsushi took off his jacket and slipped it onto Akutagawa. “I won’t take no for an answer, you’re obviously cold and I run very hot.”
Akutagawa couldn’t deny how warm Atsushi was, he was like a personal heater. And once he slipped his arms into the jacket, he could tell that the jacket was also warm from his body heat.
Akutagawa happily wore the jacket for the rest of their time at the aquarium. Normally he would care how it didn’t go with his outfit, but he was just happy that other people could tell that his boyfriend gave up his jacket for him.
‘Boyfriend? Is that what we are?’
Akutagawa’s thoughts were cut off by them entering the dome.
He looked up, seeing all kinds of fish swimming above them, then he heard a click. He looked back at Atsushi to see his phone pointed at him.
“Sorry, I needed something to be my lockscreen,” his words caused Akutagawa to blush and lightly hit his arm.
And this is when Atsushi realized he could finally do it, no one else was in here with them. Atsushi looked at him with so much love in his eyes, like he could never regret going out with Akutagawa.
“Ryuu can I ask you something?”
“Whatever you want.”
The thing that had been plaguing Atsushi’s mind since their mission.
“I know you were probably annoyed that I had to kiss you that night of the Maiyuzu mission. But it seemed like more than that. What made you so upset?” Finally, he was able to ask Akutagawa. And the question made him tense up just a little bit.
“Okay… I know you Atsushi, don’t be mad with yourself once I answer.” Atsushi was confused but agreed. “That night, well, it was my first kiss.”
“…What?! I took your first kiss without knowing?!” Akutagawa winced at the disbelief in Atsushi’s voice. “Oh god, no wonder you were so mad…” He groaned and swiped his hand down his face.
“To be honest, that was why I was annoyed when you kissed me at the mall as well. I was trying to work up the courage to talk about it, but you kissed me before I could.”
“There’s obviously something wrong with me. I have such shitty timing,” He planted his head on Akutagawa's shoulder, but it was lifted off by his gloved hands.
“Well, if you would let me, I would love it if we could make up for my shitty first kiss.”
Akutagawa pulled him in for a kiss, a kiss that was deeper than the others, and meant so much more. Atsushi felt terrible for making his first kiss on a mission, but he was also incredibly happy that he was Akutagawa’s first kiss at all.
Atsushi grabbed his waist and held him close, and Akutagawa wrapped his arms around the others' necks. They don’t know how long they kissed for, but with the way Akutagawa was letting out breathy moans, they were just happy that no one else walked in while they were.
By the time they finally pulled away from each other, they were panting and out of breath.
“Atsushi, I love you.”
“I love you too, Ryuu.”