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Akutagawa shook his head, attempting to clear the strange dizziness that seemed to be overtaking him.
A random hit had shot at him from behind, and while he felt unharmed, the one who accidentally hit him was apologizing a lot. Almost too much, the black-haired boy thought to himself as he stood.
"Whatever you did can wait, get out of my way!" He ordered, focusing his attention back on the task at hand.
A large group of smugglers had been hidden away in this giant warehouse, sneaking through the woods that surrounded it. The Port Mafia had sent Akutagawa to deal with them quickly since they'd become a pain in the Mafia's side, but to his surprise, the Armed Detective Agency also sent two of their own people on this very mission, and it was, of course, Dazai and the Man-Tiger.
Despite both of their begrudging attitudes about working together, the duo had made quick work of the smugglers while Dazai sat back and supervised.
In all honesty, Akutagawa was almost surprised that they for some reason had this skill user captive, especially since it didn't seem like his skill was all that powerful anyway after the black-haired man had been directly hit by it.
His own skill seemed entirely unaffected as it seamlessly weaved around the remaining smugglers, using itself as a diversion for Atsushi to arrive and deliver the blow to knock them out. All in all, it was over the moment they attempted to fight back against the duo.
"Those are the last three," Akutagawa called to Atsushi, who nodded in response as he tied them up. Seeing that he had it handled, Akutagawa turned back to the captive. "What did you hit me with earlier?" He asked, putting his hands in the pockets of his long coat.
"My skill, I'm so sorry!" The brunette once more apologized.
Akutagawa rolled his eyes. "I know that, what does your skill do?"
"Ah! Uhm i-it basically physically bonds you with the first person you touch...I don't use it much so I'm not sure beyond that," he hastily explained.
The first person I touch? The black-haired boy wondered, but before he could dwell on it more a panicked sound arose from the Man-Tiger, who quickly tucked both Akutagawa and the captive under his arms, grabbed the smugglers by the ropes binding them together, and bolted out of the warehouse.
As they tumbled to a stop a few meters outside of the building's entrance, the whole thing erupted into an explosion. Atsushi hurriedly pulled the group behind the cover of a large tree trunk, his eyes wide as bits of debris flew past them.
Meanwhile, the gears in Akutagawa's head were turning and he quickly pushed himself away from the white-haired boy with a panicked "Let go of me!"
"S-sorry! Are you both okay?" Atsushi asked, putting down the previously captive man and the smugglers.
"Don't touch me," Akutagawa attempted to warn the other with a venom-laced tone, but he soon realized it was too late as he glanced down at their hands. "Man-Tiger..." He muttered, a glare growing on his face as his whole expression scrunched in anger.
Atsushi seemed entirely oblivious as he eyed the small fire licking the walls of the warehouse that had been an aftereffect of the explosion. "We should get Dazai," he said as he turned back to the other two people, but the duo both jumped as the brunette ran away in panic, his apologies slowly getting quieter as he fled.
"What was that about?" Atsushi asked with a raised eyebrow, a question Akutagawa simply answered by lifting his hand, the same hand Atsushi was now holding.
He then used his free hand to point in the direction the other skill user had run off in.
Atsushi blinked for a moment. "We should really get Dazai," he mumbled.
"You don't say," Akutagawa said with a roll of his eyes. "Come on, let's find him before the whole forest catches on fire," he added as he stood, yanking the other up by their conjoined hands.
The two began to quickly walk, in heavily awkward silence, toward where Dazai said he would be camping out while "Waiting for you two to finish up."
As they trudged through the suddenly intensely interesting foliage of the forest, Atsushi only attempted to make small-talk twice, but both times Akutagawa shut it down with a hard glare and the two returned to silence.
They finally arrived where Dazai told them to find him, he swore not to go too far after all, yet there was no sign of the brunette.
Oh perfect, Akutagawa grumbled in his head as he glanced around the area. "He's not here," he told Atsushi, stating the obvious.
As he did though, the white-haired boy picked up a folded piece of paper that had been tucked under a bush.
"You two totally got this, so I went ahead and headed back to the Agency. I'll be waiting for you there!
- Dazai"
"Are. You. Kidding me?" The black-haired boy seethed.
Atsushi's eye twitched. "No point wasting time here then, let's take care of the fire and call the authorities to handle the smugglers," he said, a hint of annoyance in his voice.
Whether it was towards Dazai's abandonment or being stuck with Akutagawa, the black-haired boy didn't know, but frankly he didn't care. "Right, let's go then."
--
After a very long detour of putting out a fire, clearing up some of the debris, talking to the police, and making their way back to the city, the duo was finally heading to the Detective Agency.
Akutagawa had grumbled a comment about feeling awkward out in the open, so they had switched to navigating the alleyways and backs of buildings instead. Atsushi couldn't tell if it was faster or slowing them down, but he didn't care as long as it meant they got back to Dazai so he could nullify whatever skill was keeping them together.
He definitely wasn't paying attention to the firm grip Akutagawa had on his hand or the fact that this was the longest he had ever held hands with someone and it was his rival, he was just, very occasionally, casting glances at the black-haired boy.
The more hidden part of the city definitely seemed to be closer to his comfort zone, so he'd taken the lead when they entered the alleyways.
At first, he had just been dragging Atsushi along, but the weretiger quickly had to keep up the pace so that Akutagawa wouldn't rip his arm off.
Strangely enough, that wasn't literal, but the thought did suddenly give Atsushi an idea.
"Hang on," he called, pulling them to a stop in a strange empty spot between some buildings.
Akutagawa rolled his dark eyes as he turned to Atsushi. "What?"
"Look, neither of us really like the fact that we have to hold hands, right?" He started. "Why not just cut mine off until we get to Dazai, then I can pop it back on."
You'd think he'd offered the other boy a box of dead kittens with the face he made in response. "So I can be holding on to your limp arm for who knows how long?"
Atsushi frowned. "Okay, just the hand then?"
"No."
"I'm just trying to offer an alternative here!" He countered, opting to place his hand on his hip since he couldn't fold his arms.
"Man-Tiger, we are going to hold our hands together while we wait to find Dazai, and you are going to deal with it," Akutagawa spat, his eyes narrowing. "No matter how awkward, or even almost uncomfortable, the quicker we get this over with the better."
Atsushi's face definitely did not warm at the way the other boy had leaned in while speaking, and his voice did not stammer as he muttered "Okay".
"Good," the black-haired boy said quietly, taking a step back away from Atsushi.
Silence overtook the two for a long moment, and the weretiger could've sworn he felt Akutagawa lace his fingers in his before he finally started dragging the two of them into a new alley and back on their original path, the black-haired boy having turned away so the other couldn't see the way his expression had softened.
As they kept walking, and Atsushi stole a glance down at their hands that confirmed the other boy had in fact intertwined their hands more, the white-haired boy thought to himself for a moment.
If it weren't for the fact that it was Akutagawa of all people, he'd almost be enjoying this.
The other boy's pale hands were oddly soft compared to the callouses on Atsushi's, and he found himself tightening his grip a little as he too laced his fingers with Akutagawa's.
Neither of them said another word as they continued on their trek to the Agency.
--
"Well, this certainly is a development," Dazai teased as he eyed the two's intertwined hands, causing both boys to roll their eyes.
"It's another skill user's fault," Akutagawa explained with a scowl as they took a few more steps toward the smiling brunette. "We need you to undo it."
Atsushi nodded next to him. While the other boy's hand did feel nice in his, they'd been like this for about an hour and a half, and he was desperate to be able to use both hands again.
"Fine," Dazai mused as he stood and placed a hand on both of their shoulders.
Instantly their grasps let go, their hands falling to their sides in freedom.
Atsushi sighed in relief, lifting his hand to open and close it. He ignored how Akutagawa seemed to be wiping his hand on his coat, as if to get rid of any germs Atsushi might've put there.
"Should be good then," Dazai observed before lifting his hands off of their shoulders.
As if magnetized, Atsushi and Akutagawa's hands flew toward each other and clasped back together.
"Oh," was all the brunette said, causing Akutagawa's eye to twitch.
The brunette poked Atsushi's chest, and their hands fell apart once more, but when he backed away, they were stuck together again.
"So..." He started, but his voice quickly trailed off, his confused expression being replaced by an amused one. "Guess you're stuck like that until it wears off."
Similar groans escaped both boys, and Atsushi clutched his head in despair. "But we have work to do...and he has to go back to the mafia..."
"For once I agree with the Man-Tiger, I can't stay here!" Akutagawa snapped.
By now Kyouka had made her way over, having been watching the whole ordeal from across the room. "You can't just let go?" She asked.
Atsushi shook his head, a defeated expression on his face. "No, we've tried...We even tried prying our fingers apart...But it didn't work."
"Maybe the limb-chopping idea wasn't that bad," Akutagawa grumbled next to him, and Atsushi almost found himself agreeing.
"You don't need to cut off any limbs," Dazai said, patting the black-haired boy on the shoulder, causing the duo's hands to grab and let go of each other like two magnets. "You'll just have to deal with it."
"We've been dealing with it for almost two hours!" Akutagawa snapped back.
"Dazai are you sure you can't undo it..?" Atsushi asked, though he knew the answer and groaned all the same when the brunette simply shrugged. "Then...now what?"
He glanced at the black-haired boy next to him and realized he'd pulled out a phone. After a quick minute of typing, he shoved it back into his pocket. "I told the others it'll be a while until I'm back at the mafia, so...I guess I can stay here for now," he explained with yet another eye roll.
As he spoke, Tanizaki and Kunikida entered the room with extremely confused expressions that grew even more perplexed as they spied their interlocked hands.
Tanizaki opened his mouth to speak but paused when Atsushi raised his free hand with a resigned expression and slumped shoulders.
"Don't...it's a long story," he said, which didn't seem to answer either of the two's questions, but they stayed quiet either way as they left the group alone.
After a pause, Dazai clapped his hands together. "Welp! Guess Akutagawa gets a taste of what it's like to be in the Agency then!"
The black-haired boy sighed. "Wonderful..."
--
Atsushi, ever the workaholic, took on several more cases despite his and Akutagawa's predicament. The cases wouldn't solve themselves after all, and while he could leave the work to the other members of the Agency, he felt strange not at least trying to pull his weight.
He found himself pleasantly surprised at how quickly the two found a rhythm to work at, and he didn't need Dazai's likely teasing remarks to know how well they were actually working together.
Of course, there was still their typical bickering, the skill hadn't performed a miracle after all, but being stuck together made it to where they had to communicate or they'd mess up the mission even worse.
What seemed to surprise the weretiger the most however was the ways Akutagawa managed to use Rashomon non-lethally.
At one point Atsushi started to chase after someone who had taken a case full of evidence that Ranpo needed to activate his Super Deduction, but Akutagawa had simply lifted his free hand and sent Rashomon to wrap around the runner and dragged them to Atsushi's feet.
When the white-haired boy looked up at him with slight surprise, he'd just turned away with a dismissive shrug.
"There's no need for a pointless foot chase," he muttered, and the two headed back to Ranpo to hand him back the evidence, only to find he had solved it while their attention was on the runner.
"You know, you're pretty handy," he commented to Akutagawa as the three left the scene despite them not necessarily needing the case anyway, popping a lollipop into his mouth as he spoke.
"Whatever, it's not like I'm here by choice," the black-haired boy said, looking off to the side and tucking his free hand into his pocket.
"You kind of are," Atsushi pointed out with a slight tilt of his head, which earned him a side-eye. "You didn't have to tell them you'd be back later."
"Only because that would've meant you'd have to come with me, and you wouldn't last a day with the Mafia," Akutagawa explained, though to Atsushi it almost felt like an excuse.
Almost.
In any case, the three made their way back to the Agency, having completed their final case of the day.
After a quick trip to the bathroom, where they did end up needing to make use of Atsushi's hand-cutting idea to prevent any more unnecessary awkwardness, the two soon realized that it was in fact the end of the day, and their hands were just as stuck together as they were earlier.
"...So, my place..?" Atsushi hesitantly asked with a sheepish smile, slowly turning to face the black-haired boy.
Akutagawa just deadpanned as he stared at the wall, the expression on his face unreadable.
"...Fine," he finally grumbled, his brows furrowing. "Lead the way, I guess."
"Right," Atsushi mumbled in response, ignoring the side eyes from both Tanizaki and Naomi as they left the Agency office.
--
It certainly felt odd bringing someone into his apartment, a courtesy of the Agency, since Atsushi didn't exactly have other friends to bring over, and this was Akutagawa of all people, but he was trying his best not to overthink it as he slipped his shoes off at the door.
"Uhm, make yourself comfortable, I guess?" He offered the other boy, who only hummed in response. "You--" he started, but hurriedly cut himself off.
For the slightest moment he'd almost suggested trying to help the black-haired boy remove his coat to hang it up at the door until he left, but for Akutagawa, it wasn't just a coat, it also helped protect him when he combined it with his skill, and while they were just in Atsushi's house, he understood how the other boy might feel less safe without it.
However, Akutagawa just stared at him, seemingly knowing what words he didn't say.
Atsushi nervously swallowed, waiting for some sort of caustic remark or defensive retort, but all he got was a silent stare.
Eventually, Akutagawa's brows furrowed, and he glanced down at the floor. "...I need help," he admitted, and Atsushi tried not to show too much of his shock in worry the other boy would retract his offer. "I can't take this off if we're holding hands," he explained quietly, and Atsushi quickly realized he meant his coat.
"Uhm, okay..." He started, his expression softening as he tried to think. He's trusting me enough for this, so I should at least try to help...
Suddenly, a light bulb went off in his head.
"I have an idea, but I don't know if it'll help or just get us more stuck," he nervously explained.
Akutagawa just sighed, dropping his head. "Go for it I guess."
Atsushi nodded and grabbed the black-haired boy's other hand. His dark eyes widened, but he stayed quiet and simply watched what the weretiger was doing.
Slowly, heart pounding, the white-haired boy let go of the hand the two had been originally bound by.
The two paused for a moment at the discovery, simply staring down at their hands as they repeated it a few more times to be certain.
"So as long as we're holding whichever hand...it's fine?" Atsushi muttered, placing a hand on his chin.
"Seems that way," Akutagawa agreed. Then, after another small moment of silence, he stretched his arm towards Atsushi and added, "So are you going to help me take off my coat or not?"
"Oh, right," the white-haired boy said quietly, feeling a little awkward as he grabbed the other boy's sleeve and gently pulled the right half of his coat off, revealing the white long-sleeve shirt underneath.
They switched the hands they were holding, and Atsushi carefully removed the other half of Akutagawa's coat, catching it in his free hand so it wouldn't fall to the ground.
The black-haired boy muttered a thanks as he turned and hung it up on the small rack by the door.
Silence overtook the two as they stared at the floor, but it was soon interrupted by the rumbling of Atsushi's stomach.
His eyes widened slightly and he nervously laughed before quickly pulling out his phone. I should have enough to order for both of us, but what should we get?
He turned to ask, but Akutagawa dragged them both over to the small tablet Atsushi had situated in the room and sat down before he could ask.
"What food--" he started once seated, but the other boy simply shrugged.
"I don't really care what," he answered bluntly, turning away from the lighter-haired boy.
Is he just saying that, or does he actually not care..? Atsushi wondered to himself but decided to find out by just ordering the food and waiting to see Akutagawa's reaction to it.
As they waited, the two found themselves falling quiet once more.
When they were with the other agency members they both had plenty to say to and about the other, their banter only dying down when necessary, but now they found themselves yet again sitting in silence.
But this sort of quietness almost felt different to Atsushi.
It wasn't the same awkward silence that first accompanied the two when they'd been stuck together, but it was closer to when they both weren't saying anything on their way to the Agency, when they'd locked their fingers together.
They hadn't since then, of course, but now the white-haired boy found himself glancing down at their hands, which rested in between the two, almost like a barrier.
I've been looking at his hand a lot, Atsushi realized. But it's not like I'm being weird! We're just not used to holding hands, and we...don't like each other, he reasoned in his head, averting his gaze.
He wasn't sure why he felt like he was enjoying this deep down, and he was certain that Akutagawa would scoff at the thought of him saying anything about it, and yet...
The other boy's hand felt so soft in his, and the way their fingers interlocked once more almost felt like he'd completed a puzzle of some kind.
--
Eating, like almost every other task, proved difficult at first, since Akutagawa was currently holding Atsushi's right hand. The lighter-haired boy fumbled with his utensil in his left, grumbling at how the chunk of beef he was attempting to pick up kept slipping out of his grasp.
Noticing the struggle, Akutagawa scoffed and set his chopsticks down. "Move, you'll never get any food actually in your mouth if you keep trying like that," he instructed.
After a quick switch in their seats, the white-haired boy found it much easier to eat, but he felt bad that Akutagawa might now have that struggle.
At least until he looked over and saw that the black-haired boy was handling it just fine. Oh, he's ambidextrous, he realized with a quiet hum.
"...What?" Akutagawa questioned, pausing when he noticed Atsushi staring.
"Oh! Uh, it's nothing, sorry...Thanks for switching seats," he said, turning back to his own food to finally eat.
"Whatever, it was no problem," the black-haired boy answered, ending the short conversation.
Is he being...nice to me? Atsushi wondered in almost astonishment as he thoughtfully chewed a piece of meat. Nicer, he corrected as he swallowed before shoving a mouthful of rice into his face, assuming whatever fluttered in his stomach was from hunger and nothing more.
The meal continued in mostly silence, and Atsushi tucked away the fact it was the same as before in the back of his mind as he finished his plate.
"Are you gonna get more?" He asked the other boy, noticing he hadn't gotten much food to begin with.
Akutagawa shook his head. "No, I'm fine."
With a nod, Atsushi started collecting the rest of the food back into the various containers, carefully setting them on top of each other in a stack in the middle of the table.
"Help me with these?" He requested when done.
It took about three trips to the fridge, mainly because Akutagawa kept Atsushi from carrying more than he needed to for the sake of not dropping anything, but eventually, it was all put away.
Once it was all finished, the black-haired boy checked the time, muttering something under his breath. When he turned to Atsushi, an almost embarrassed look flashed in his dark eyes. "Where are we sleeping?"
Atsushi's eyes slightly widened. "Uhm...My room, I guess...We can spread out the bedding a bit so that we can sleep as far from each other as possible," he suggested, though he couldn't understand why he felt weird about it.
The darker-haired boy nodded.
Before they could actually lay down though, they headed into the bathroom and Atsushi grabbed one of the unused spare toothbrushes under the sink and handed it to Akutagawa.
"Thanks," he muttered, his expression seeming oddly neutral to the other boy, but no other words were passed as they brushed their teeth and the like.
When they entered Atsushi's room, Akutagawa surveyed the bedding while Atsushi hopelessly tugged at his glove with his teeth.
The darker-haired boy noticed and sighed. "Give me your hand, idiot," he softly ordered, and Atsushi begrudgingly obeyed.
Akutagawa gently tugged at the base of each finger before pulling the whole glove off and handing it back to Atsushi, who set it aside.
Then, they switched the hands they were holding and repeated the process with the other glove. When done, Atsushi put both of them away.
He removed his tie as well, then turned his attention to the bedding, kneeling down to start situating it.
"That's all?" Akutagawa asked.
Atsushi shrugged. "I usually sleep in other clothes but..." His voice trailed off, his face feeling oddly warm at the thought of changing in front of the other boy.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Akutagawa nod, as if agreeing, before he knelt next to Atsushi and helped spread the blankets and pillows.
It wasn't all that surprising to the black-haired boy that the weretiger had so much bedding. In fact, it almost reminded him of how soft cat beds usually looked, and assumed Atsushi's bed wasn't much different.
The two silently worked to create a wider makeshift bed, pulling the blankets around to cover more than half of the floor in the small room, finally settling down on it when they finished.
Atsushi stared quietly at Akutagawa, who was exactly an arm's width away.
Since they had to remain holding hands, their fingers were still twirled together, but their palms stretched away from each other.
Maybe it's the skill wearing off, the lighter-haired boy thought to himself with a yawn, his eyes growing heavier. As he felt himself slipping into sleep, a thought crept into his mind. I could get used to seeing him as I fall asleep...hah, how ridiculous...
"Good night Akutagawa," he mumbled, his eyes closing and his body shutting down as he fell asleep.
"...Good night, Atsushi," the black-haired boy muttered back, assuming, almost hoping, that he hadn't heard him.
--
Morning came sooner than Atsushi realized, and when he awoke all he could tell from the fragments of his dream was that it had been pleasant.
His eyes flickered open and he sat up with a stretch, only realizing that both of his hands were now free when he set them down in his lap.
Oddly enough, he didn't feel as excited as he expected to, and as he laid back down on his side with his arm under his head, facing the sleeping Akutagawa that was definitely closer to him than when they fell asleep, he realized the pang in his chest was disappointment.
But why? I can use both my hands again, and we're not stuck together anymore, so he can leave and go back to the Mafia...
Oh.
Oh.
Akutagawa was going to leave.
Why wouldn't he, after all? Their hands were free, they were free. They weren't trapped together anymore, and he was exempt from having to put up with Atsushi any longer.
The weretiger's face fell, and he silently stared at the other boy.
He was so peaceful when he slept, and Atsushi couldn't help but find him pretty. He sighed inwardly, the final piece of the puzzle making itself known.
The issue he found himself conflicted with was whether or not it would even fit, if the final piece would forever be left empty.
I just wish...
He eyed Akutagawa's hand that rested in front of him, the same hand he had been holding for an entire day.
He thought back to how soft it was, how right it felt to wrap his fingers around Akutagawa like a quiet promise.
Quietly, slowly, he reached his hand out and slipped it into the darker-haired boy's.
It felt right, and for all he knew, this could be the last time he'd be able to do this. So he stared. And waited. And just...held him.
After a moment, Akutagawa stirred, and Atsushi felt himself dreading the other boy's reaction.
His dark eyes opened, widening slightly when he realized how close the two had gotten while they slept.
Akutagawa lightly squeezed Atsushi's hand back, and from the look on his face, he knew something was different.
And Atsushi knew his time was up.
"Tiger..." The darker-haired boy whispered, and Atsushi found himself smiling wistfully at him.
"We can't..." Akutagawa mumbled.
"Why not..?"
"...We shouldn't."
Atsushi scooted closer, tightening his grip as he slid his fingers between Akutagawa's. "Then...Can I just savor this for a little longer?" He asked, his voice barely audible over the sound of his heart pounding in his ears.
The black-haired boy fell silent, and after a long pause, gently squeezed his hand back, lightly nodding.
At that moment the rest of the world may as well have fallen away, all that mattered was how soft Akutagawa's pale hand felt in Atsushi's, the look in his dark eyes as the lighter-haired boy just softly smiled at him.
The way the final piece silently fell into place.
For some reason, he could feel tears threatening the back of his dual-colored eyes, and he finally sat up to wipe them away.
"Atsushi."
"I'm fine, I promise," he insisted quietly.
"Atsushi, look at me."
"What?"
The white-haired boy turned his head, confused.
"Wh--"
His voice died in his throat as he felt Akutagawa's hand gently grab his chin, his skin feeling like a thousand needles under his touch. Before he could register it, their lips met in a soft, tender kiss.
Atsushi's eyes widened into saucers, but he quickly shut them, leaning into the embrace as he placed a hand on the lower part of the other boy's back and gently pulled him closer.
It couldn't have been more than a mere few seconds, but when they finally broke apart it felt like an eternity had passed.
They just sat there, eyes locked on each other's for a long, silent minute before Atsushi finally buried his head in Akutagawa's shoulder and wrapped his arms around the other boy.
"I--" he tried to start.
"Don't," Akutagawa warned, cutting him off. "That...makes this too real."
Atsushi scoffed, a smile tugging at his burning lips. "You kissed me, stupid. That makes this real," he teased.
A quiet "hah" escaped the darker boy as he hugged Atsushi back.
"Well, I did that because...I love you."
Atsushi grinned. "I love you too, dumbass."
Quiet laughter came from both of them as they pulled apart from the hug, and Atsushi wiped a small tear from the corner of his eye.
"This is going to be really weird between the Agency and Mafia, huh?" He asked, wondering how the others would take to the news if they decided to tell them.
Akutagawa sighed. "We can worry about that later," he groaned, resting his head on the lighter-haired boy's shoulder.
"You're right," Atsushi agreed, placing a hand on the black-haired boy's head. "Let's just savor this for a little longer."
--
Later that day Atsushi happily walked to work with his fingers wrapped gently around Akutagawa's like a perfect puzzle that was finally complete.