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The first thing Akechi takes note of once he enters the apartment, is the silence and the darkness that envelop the living room as well as the kitchen. No TV running in the background while his partner is cooking in the kitchen. None of her usual rushed out greetings - a squeak of his name, a kiss to his cheek, a hug to his torso.
At first he’s inclined to believe that she may be out - despite the late hour, despite the lack of warning - he’s fairly certain there wasn’t one anyway - and then he turns his head to the shoe rack, all her shoes sit next to his. Suddenly, he’s growing a bit worried, a tad restless. He does not call for her, he knows she heard him. He walks slowly and carefully to the door of their bedroom, knocking softly at the wood and waiting for a response. He gets no such thing.
“Sweetheart?” He says this time, softly, quietly, accompanied by another knock, not harsher or more demanding than the previous one. On this second attempt, he strikes gold, as he hears soft footsteps and watches as the handle turns and the door is pushed open slowly. As her face, usually radiant and cheerful, comes into view, Akechi cannot help but note the dull expression and her paler complexion. Puffy red eyes, tear streaks on her cheeks, and her lips - a beautiful shade of pink - tainted with the act of her crying.
“Goro? You’re home awfully early, honey.” Her voice is soft, quiet and gentle, nearly inaudible in the void of silence overtaking their apartment, but it still has the sweet tone and melodic clarity that Akechi loves about it.
He takes a moment to consider her, to look her over - his eyes travel up and down quickly - he notes her long T-shirt, her bare legs, the fuzzy socks covering her feet. He nearly collapses right then and there, but he doesn’t. He shakes his head instead - internally - lest she think of him a tad insane, looks into her puffy red eyes and sighs.
“Are you alright?” He asks, voice soft enough to pass as a whisper and moves his hand to cradle her cheek in his palm, his thumb rubbing her cheek bone in a fashion he hopes is as comforting as he’s attempting to make it. She nods, nuzzles her face into his palm and moves her own hand to his torso to pull him closer. He obliges, obviously.
“Yes, I’m alright, just...” She trails off for a second, maybe looking for the right word, but quickly finishes the sentence “…Just overwhelmed. I’m overwhelmed is all.” She looks up at him, smiles and moves her head to lay on his shoulder. He doesn’t say anything, opting to just circle her in both of his arms, rubbing her gently and resting his own head softly on hers.
‘She doesn’t have to tell me what’s bothering her, I’ll comfort her all the same.’ He thinks, as he presses a kiss to her temple and his embrace tightens for a fraction of second, a yawn escapes her lips and Akechi quirks a brow.
“Let’s go to bed, yeah? You can tell me anything you want tomorrow.” He offers, a hand moving to raise her head from his shoulder. She nods, he smiles. Nothing more is needed, they both walk into their bedroom, the door closing behind them quietly, as if it felt the moment was too precious to ruin.