Work Text:
Akutagawa sits down on the couch, putting his legs across Gin’s lap. She looks up from her phone with a raised eyebrow. Akutagawa shrugs before turning back to the TV, which is playing quietly.
They sit in silence for a while before Gin says, “How did your appointment go?”
Akutagawa gives her a small smile.
“It went fine.”
Gin’s face relaxes into a smile.
“Good, I was worried. You’ve been coughing a lot recently.”
She doesn’t even ask what the doctor actually said which is good for Akutagawa cause he hasn’t figured out what he’s going to tell her. She just settles back against the couch with her arms resting on top of his legs. He continues to stare at the TV without really watching it.
The things his doctor told him are ringing in his ears. Terminal, years, and stop working. Obviously he’s not going to do that, because it doesn’t matter how much shorter his life is if he keeps working, he can’t stop. He has a bunch of shit to pick up from the pharmacy tomorrow after work, and he has to figure out how to take care of himself properly. He also has to figure out how to break all of this to Gin, and that has to be the hardest part of all of this.
For now he’s keeping it to himself, and even though they don’t live together anymore, that’s not likely to last. She’s likely to figure out even if he doesn’t tell her, especially with how often she’s at his apartment. He tries to force his mind away from his appointment and diagnosis, but nothing else seems to keep his attention.
Gin doesn’t notice, and ends up falling asleep before she can even catch onto the fact that he’s not paying any attention to the TV. Akutagawa only ends up getting an hour or two of sleep before work the next morning due to his swirling thoughts. Gin takes in his haggard appearance the next morning with a worried look.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to fall asleep. I kept you up, didn’t I?”
“What? No, I’m good. I just had a lot on my mind last night. Come on, we should get to work.”
Gin nods, then heads to the spare room to get dressed. Akutagawa goes to the kitchen first to get coffee started, then heads to his room. Once he’s ready for work, he pours himself half of the coffee he made, then heads to the door.
“I’m heading out, Gin. I’ll see you later.”
“Ok, see ya. I’ll lock the door on my way out.”
Akutagawa walks to work, and he’s immediately met by one of the grunts as soon as he walks in the door.
“The boss wants to see you,” he says with a blank look and monotone voice.
Akutagawa nods, then follows the man back to Mori’s office. Mori is sitting behind his desk with a grim expression.
“Boss.” That’s all Akutagawa says before waiting for Mori to speak.
“Akutagawa, how did your appointment go?”
“I actually had all of the paperwork sent to my email so I could use my printer here to print it as soon as I was in the building. If you want, I can go get it, or you can send someone else to get it from my office.”
Mori nods at one of the men near the door. They jog off leaving them in tense silence. It only takes a couple of minutes for them to come back with the papers. They hand them to Mori, who reads over them quickly.
“This is a grim diagnosis. What are you planning to do?”
“I’m planning to keep working. I’ll do whatever you need me to, just like before. I’ll manage my health, and then I guess I’ll see how it progresses. I’m not going to tell any of my co-workers, and I haven’t told my sister yet though I do plan to.”
Mori hums, leaning back.
“And you’re sure that you can handle work on top of this?”
“Yes, sir, of course I can.”
“Well you’ve earned the benefit of the doubt. I won’t get involved for now, but don’t start slacking.”
Akutagawa bows, keeping his head down and his eyes on the floor.
“Thank you, sir. I appreciate that.”
Mori nods.
“Alright, get back to work. I won’t tell Hirotsu about this.”
Akutagawa nods, then heads to his office. Chuuya is sitting on the opposite side of his desk, checking emails on his phone.
“Sir, what are you doing here?” Akutagawa asks, freezing in the doorway.
Chuuya looks up, then drops his phone onto the desk.
“I have some paperwork for you. You need to sign for it before I can leave. Are you alright? You look jittery.”
“Yes, I’m fine. Where do I need to sign?”
Chuuya grabs the packet of papers off of the desk, which Akutagawa didn’t even notice until Chuuya pointed it out. Chuuya offers the papers, then points at the bottom where there’s a spot to sign.
“Since it came straight from Mori, it’s a liability reason why I can’t give it to you before you sign for it.”
Akutagawa nods, then signs it.
“Thank you, sir.”
Chuuya nods.
“Yeah, just get that done by the end of the day, and bring it to my office before you leave.”
“What time are you going home tonight?”
“Oh, I’ll be here until seven, then I’ll be back at eight for at least fifteen minutes. I’ll be in a meeting from seven to eight, and I have to sign for it again so I have to present. Though you should have no issue bringing it before I leave since I’m leaving so late.”
Akutagawa nods, and Chuuya walks back out. The day ends up being a good bit busier than he originally thought it was going to be, and he doesn’t end up finishing his regular paperwork until five. So he rushes straight from work to the pharmacy so he can get his meds before it closes.
Gin texts him as he gets back to work with his large amount of pill bottles, asking where he is. He immediately responds telling her that he has to give Chuuya some paperwork, then he’d meet her at her apartment.
Chuuya is actually getting up from his desk to go to his meeting when Akutagawa walks in.
“Oh, hey, I was starting to think that you forgot about the paperwork. Did you finish it?”
“Yes, sir. I’m sorry for the delay.”
Chuuya signs the paperwork, then tucks it into his desk. He locks it, then turns back to Akutagawa.
“Do you need anything else, or are you gonna head home now?”
“I’m heading home. Thank you, sir.”
Chuuya’s eyes land on the bag in Akutagawa’s hand. His eyes narrow slightly, but then he steps past Akutagawa.
“Alright, have a nice night.”
Akutagawa walks home, then sets up all of the medicine in his bathroom. He organizes it by when he’s supposed to take it, then grabs one of each of the night meds. He stares at them for a few minutes, wondering how much a few little white pills can change his life. It takes a while, but he swallows them, and heads to Gin’s apartment to pretend like everything’s fine for a little while longer.