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Atsushi couldn't stop his heart from beating like a sledgehammer against his ribcage, blood pumping in his ears.
He did it. He'd done it.
He stared at the ceiling of the closet he called his bedroom (of sorts), hardly believing anything that'd happened. As he lied on his back against his futon, he mulled everything over.
He hadn't spontaneously combusted from embarrassment.
He hadn't gotten his guts ripped out by Akutagawa.
He hadn't gotten rejected.
His face was still cherry-red just thinking about it.
It had all happened so fast. And before he knew it suddenly the chocolate was in Akutagawa's hands and word-vomit was falling from Atsushi's mouth and Jesus, it was exhilarating.
I mean, technically, by "hadn't gotten rejection", Akutagawa just didn't spit in his face and like, throw the chocolate off the side of the pier.All good things, all good things, but—
Did Akutagawa actually, genuinely like him back? Like like him? Or was it just some level of acceptance?
Well. Atsushi had some idea on how to answer that.
He rolled onto his side, smiling to himself like a maniac, he couldn't help it.
He'd kissed Akutagawa. Just on the cheek, sure, but he kissed him. It felt amazing.
He could feel the phantom wisp of the kiss on his lips, making his heart soar.
There was the small matter of what the fucking fuck does he say when he sees Akutagawa again, but that thought was in the back of his mind. Atsushi was too happy right now, his seemingly hopeless love turning out to be true.
But yes, he and Akutagawa weren't dating, they hadn't even gone on a date! Yet that didn't matter, because their relationship had changed, in the way that made Atsushi's heart flutter.
Still, the question remained, did Akutagawa even like him like that?
~~
Akutagawa liked him like that.
One hundred thousand percent.
And that was a bit of an issue for the mafioso.
"Where have you been?" his sister, Gin, asked him as he returned back to their shared apartment. Her voice was curious, but not invasive. And instead of her usual updo, her black hair was falling around her shoulders in waves of ink. Akutagawa also didn't miss the makeup on her features or the purse on the coffee table; she was headed somewhere. Probably a date.
"Nowhere." He replied, the chocolates hidden inside his jacket pocket.
Okay, so, he may have not told his sister he was like, crazy in love with someone who was supposed to be his arch nemesis. It also wasn't a great conversation starter, in his defense.
Gin raised one of her eyebrows, but didn't press her brother for details. She knew he was stubborn and wouldn't tell if he didn't want to.
Awfully suspicious for someone to go out on Valentine's Day, though...
Akutagawa headed past his sister, to his room. The second he was in and the door was shut, he lifted a hand to his cheek.
The weretiger kissed him. Him.
Although Akutagawa could generally keep himself in check, he knew he was recklessly controlled by his feelings.
It had taken him a will of titanium to not have kissed the weretiger back on his stupid, pretty, apparently soft mouth, right after the weretiger decided to place a very quick kiss on his cheek.
His cheek. Akutagawa could not stress this enough. He was the one the weretiger had picked.
Out of every person in the world, the detective that spun his world on its axis with mere words, liked him.
Admittedly, Akutagawa had literally no idea what the hell to do now. Like, what do you even do after someone gives you a Valentine's? Hug them? Stare at them? Marry them?
Akutagawa, incredibly out of touch with most holiday traditions because they kinda didn't matter that much when you spent your days shopping for good tea and decapitating people, pondered the thought of marriage.
He'd marry the weretiger in a heartbeat, yes, but we're getting ahead of ourselves. That's a story for another time, at least...
Akutagawa took the chocolates from his pocket and looked at the box again, tracing the red ribbon strung across with his thumb. The weretiger had gone through the effort to buy him something, too.
Akutagawa thought, for what may have been the billionth time, he truly didn't deserve the weretiger.
But now, fate seemed a little different. The world a tad brighter. Love was a bit more plausible.
Akutagawa realized the feeling clinging to his ribs. Something he had not felt in a while.
Hope.
~~
Gin was gone, off on a date with someone Akutagawa would have to find out the identity of later, because right now he was very, very busy.
After a Google search that would make any romance-obsessed teenage girl cry, Akutagawa found out that there was this sillyyyyyy little itsy bitsy holiday called White Day.
White Day was a holiday that followed after Valentine's, where on March 14th, the boy who received a gift from a girl, would reciprocate his love and appreciation by giving the girl a gift back.
So now Akutagawa was dealing with the problem that the weretiger himself had been agonizing over for too many days then he'd like to admit.
What was the right thing to get?
This was going to be relatively easier on Akutagawa's part, he had enough money to buy at least 3 yachts, so cash was definitely not a problem.
A brief thought of purchasing cat treats for the weretiger made him imagine the weretiger's initial complaint and pout if he actually received them.
And that was just...so adorable.
Akutagawa couldn't believe it. He was like putty in the weretiger's hands, because he was so irretrievably smitten. Him from a year ago would be aghast, but…
The feeling of love was welcome. He wanted to kiss the weretiger. He wanted to feel the weretiger's body against his. He wanted to hear the weretiger's laugh ring throughout his home.
What a mess he was, huh?
He stared out the window of his bedroom, the sun sinking low until it was a golden glimmer along a lavender horizon. Normally the sight of the city at peace would offer him some solace, but not this evening.
The only sight he wanted to see was the weretiger's smiling face.
~~
"So, did you do it?" Dazai suddenly asked, the metaphorical second Atsushi sat down at his desk.
"Do what?" Atsushi squeaked, knowing exactly what Dazai was inquiring about. His mentor's eyebrow was so high up on his features, arched in suspicion, that it could've lifted off of his face and into the air.
It was February 15th, the best day for anyone to be nosy about Valentine's drama. It had Dazai's name written all over it.
Now, Atsushi was in a chipper mood, and that might just be an egregious understatement. Just from that little kiss and success, he was on top of the world.
Unfortunately he did not have Akutagawa on top of him, which was what he would like. And what he thought about way too often. Unless it was normal to fantasize about your "rival" like that. Maybe it was.
Atsushi was never going to ask and find out.
Dazai's voice pulled him back to reality. "You know what I mean, Atsushi-kun. Did you give your special little someone anything?"
Atsushi felt his cheeks burn. There was no point in lying to Dazai. Plus, Atsushi was 89% sure the brunet already knew about his crush. Dazai always claimed that they were compatible, perhaps in more way than one...
"Maybe." Atsushi replied nonchalantly as he booted up his computer, ready for a day of cold weather, Kunikida screaming out of frustration at least twice, and trawling through five hundred thousand billion different reports he needed to fill out.
Dazai, who hadn't touched anything at his desk but instead was adjusting the odd fedora on top of his head that looked awfully familiar to Atsushi but he couldn't place it, was not deterred in the slightest.
"Hmm, Akutagawa-kun, was it? You seem to be in a great mood today, so let me guess, he likes you back?" Dazai grinned. He knew he was right.
Hearing the words out loud, in the real world, hit Atsushi like a sack full of really needlessly sharp rocks.
"I guess he does," Atsushi couldn't help the smile that formed on his lips. "I'm not fully sure. I sorta...ran away after giving him his gift. So, um." He wanted to change the subject now. It was too embarrassing. Oh God, he did just run away like a coward, didn't he? And he kissed him! Atsushi had not forgotten his choice in that situation! Was he insane? Was he going insane. Oh he was going insane. Again. Why did he kiss Akutagawa and then RUN AWAY. Who does that?? A crazy person, that's what!
Atsushi took a breath. He refused to let his doubts ruin his happiness.
Akutagawa returned his feelings, to his knowledge, and no amount of overthinking was going to take that away from him.
"Um, why are you here so early, Dazai-san? You got here before me," he prompted, begging Jesus, Mary and Joseph that the topic would focus away from him.
Dazai chuckled. The kind of chuckle that's absolutely terrifying because either Dazai just super glued something to something else that really shouldn't be super glued together, or did something equally as devious. Atsushi really wondered about his mentor sometimes.
"I had to leave my apartment early today. As a last minute Valentine's gift, I stole Chuuya's hat while he was asleep and snuck out to work."
Well that explained the hat.
And upon hearing this, Atsushi mentally prepared for the aforementioned leprechaun, I mean, ahem, the aforementioned height challenged Port Mafia executive to storm in at any given moment and terrorize Dazai.
"I can't wait to see the look on chibi's face," Dazai hummed, a nightmare dressed like a daydream. "It's what he gets for scratching up my back last night."
"What?" Atsushi choked.
"What?"
~~
The weretiger was many, many things.
He was stubborn. He never backed down in an argument with Akutagawa, nor did he ever change his mind about what he thought was wrong.
He was grace. The fluidity of his movements and his ability during missions was always hypnotic to Akutagawa.
He was kind. He'd taken the time to learn more and more about Akutagawa, deciding to be his partner, not his enemy, even if it went against all odds.
He was beautiful. Everything from his pale, warm skin to his glistening eyes and hair that was like strands of starlight. He was utterly ethereal.
He was just. His insistent want to save people, his craving to be good and seen as worthy, was immense. He was what Akutagawa should've been.
He was warmth. And it seemed to spread, because Akutagawa always felt a simmering rush of a feeling around him.
And those were just a few things Akutagawa could list off of the top of his head about the weretiger. His good attributes were mesmerizing, and his flaws were things that Akutagawa could only ever relate to.
He was just so lovely. And it wasn’t fair.
So Akutagawa was one hundred percent, guaranteed, bona fide going to have a successful White Day.
And as he was demolishing dummy mannequins in one of the Port Mafia's training rooms, ripping the cloth targets apart like they'd said he had no eyebrows, Higuchi came barreling in through the doors.
Akutagawa hardly spared her a glance.
"What is it?"
"Akutagawa-senpai! There you are. Hi, sir." She bowed quickly. "And um," she smiled sheepishly. "Tachihara-kun and I were just wondering if you wanted to get drinks later tonight."
Akutagawa wasn't amused. Higuchi tended to act equally dramatic over serious situations and over nonsensical things like this.
He answered her curtly, retracting Rashomon back into the inky folds of his coat. "I'll decline that offer."
"Aw, alright.." Higuchi responded, looking unsurprised but disappointed. "That's all I came to ask, Akutagawa-senpai, sorry for bothering your training." She bowed yet again.
Akutagawa must have caught a case of wordvomit-itis (which is a totally real thing, ask your local Dr. Medicine) from the weretiger because he found the next words out of his mouth to be absolutely ridiculous, and something he'd never do unless he was desperate.
"Higuchi-kun." He stopped her. "Wait. What…do you know about White Day?"
"White Day, sir? You mean like the holiday?" the honey-colored haired woman questioned, surprised. She tapped her chin. "Well, y'know, it's the holiday that's like Valentine's part two the sequel—"
Then realization hit her and her brown eyes widened to very comical proportions.
"You're asking about White Day, Akutagawa-senpai? But why? Did something—"
"What has happened to me previously is unimportant." Akutagawa interrupted.
He knew, mostly from what Gin told him, that Higuchi was a romantic at heart. Wouldn't she have a good idea for what to do? Advice couldn't hurt. And this seemed to be up Higuchi's alley.
Besides, who wouldn't help their bitter and snappy boss get a date with some cute boy who should probably arrest your boss instead of making out with him? It's logical, really.
"The focus right now is..." Akutagawa sighed. "I have plans to give someone something for White Day. Would you have any advice?" the words were painful to force out, he really hated asking for help in any way, but also asking anything that increases his chances of not fucking it up with the weretiger for help was something he'd have to accept.
"Who is it?" Higuchi immediately blurted out, clearly on board with a White Day discussion. She slapped her hands to her mouth. Then she rambled through splayed fingers. "Oh my gosh, Akutagawa-senpai, who is it? Is it someone I know? Someone in the Mafia? What's she like—"
"Higuchi." Akutagawa glared. "The identity of the person is irrelevant."
"Well, how can I help, sir?" She wasn't going to be perturbed by Akutagawa's signature bluntness.
Higuchi was currently wracking her brain— which was equally full of tactics on how to effectively kill people without blood spilling as it was on the latest magazine blurbs about "signs he's totally into you"— for potential candidates on just who exactly Akutagawa liked.
Who in the world would be able to melt Akutagawa's heart of ice?
Akutagawa interrupted her thoughts. "I am not an expert on how this holiday works. Do you have any...suggestions for what I should strive for?" He felt ridiculous.
"What about flowers? Girls love flowers!"
Akutagawa did not make a comment on the fact that the weretiger was not a girl.
Higuchi hummed. "Flowers, candy, ooh, and maybe a card. Or jewelry."
Ah, jewelry. That could be something.
Higuchi kept prattling on more ideas, which ranged from traditional to very, very targeted to borderline illegal. Oh, who am I kidding, it wasn't borderline.
"Say, Akutagawa-senpai, what's something she would like? Girls appreciate things that are personal," the blond added. "Think about something sentimental you could get!"
Akutagawa's gunmetal eyes had turned cloudy, lost in thought.
Higuchi rarely saw her superior this focused on something before, especially a thing like a White Day gift.
He must really love this person, Higuchi mused, the romantic in her desperately wanting to know all the juicy details.
Unfortunately getting personal information out of Akutagawa is like trying to get milk out of a steel bear trap. Pretty impossible.
"I'll consider your suggestions." The dark-haired man eventually said, heading towards the door.
"Do my helpful suggestions mean I get to know who you're crushing on?" Higuchi asked hopefully.
"No."
~~
So there was a slight dilemma.
Well, a big dilemma.
Okay, a dilemma the size of Texas.
It was February 24th. Ten days after Atsushi beared his soul with a box of random chocolates and awkwardness.
And now Atsushi and Akutagawa had a mission together. Horrifying.
Both sides were interesting.
When Atsushi heard of the mission from Dazai and Fukuzawa, the circuitry in his brain decided to self-destruct. Then he wanted to go dig a hole and lie down in it and die for forever.
But life, of course, didn't listen to his panicked thoughts.
The mission itself was simplicity. An enemy organization had stolen information from the Japanese government and data that was underneath the Port Mafia's control. Atsushi and Akutagawa were being sent to retrieve the information, and to nip the organization in the bud before they got even more brave, or dangerous.
So. A couple hours with Akutagawa on a mission.
Alone.
"It'll be fine, Atsushi-kun!" Dazai reassured his mentee, patting him on the shoulder. Dazai knew exactly what was up, but still had a shit-eating grin. "Akutagawa-kun doesn't bite. At least, not you."
Atsushi didn't miss the irony in the brunet's voice— Atsushi was literally bit by Akutagawa when he'd been turned into a vampire. Not that the weretiger was complaining.
"Thanks, Dazai-san. I'm not scared of Akutagawa, just..." he groaned.
He was screwed.
Yet God, he wanted to see Akutagawa again. He found he missed him more and more often nowadays.
But as much as he pined, he knew there was going to be unresolved tension between them.
And meanwhile, with a certain raven-haired mafioso...
Akutagawa's complexion somehow became paler than he already was when he received the assignment file. A mission with the weretiger, now?
He hadn't planned on seeing the weretiger until mid-March.
He thought about seeing the weretiger again, now that their relationship was...shifted. In March, he was planning to be curt and finally get his feelings across to ever thick-skulled jinko. And, perhaps, this time, a kiss could land on the weretiger's lips.
And now there was going to be the potentially most absolute awkward speed bump.
He couldn't lie and say that he didn't want to see the weretiger, though...
~~
The rendezvous was a couple blocks away from the warehouse that the small organization had been dwelling in. And allegedly they had also taken it upon themselves to get cozy in tunnels underneath the abandoned structure.
Akutagawa decided to walk to the meet-up point, near the port and sea. The sea looked different from what it had been on Valentine's, and Akutagawa knew that for a fact. Every detail from that day was replayed in his mind more times that he could count, and really, he never thought falling in love would be like this.
He waited patiently for the weretiger to appear, eyes on the water, crisp and blue. The second he heard a car approaching, he turned around, almost impatient.
Okay, maybe he did have some separation issues when it came to the white-haired detective. Which was awfully inconvenient when they were supposed to hate each other.
Car doors opened and closed, then out came Akutagawa's beloved weretiger, flanked by that up-tight blond with glasses. Akutagawa couldn't remember his name.
The blond was rambling on about something sternly but not aggressively, and Akutagawa heard the trail end of the sentence being "...and *please* do not kill each other."
The weretiger scratched the back of his neck, "We won't, Kunikida-san. We'll be fine."
"I don't trust the Port Mafia, Atsushi-kun. You can't blame me for that." Kunikida glared at Akutagawa, the raven-haired man staring back just as coldly, as Atsushi walked over to him.
"Stay safe," were Kunikida's parting words as he ducked back into the car and drove away.
This left the weretiger and the ex-killer alone as they walked on to their destination.
The weretiger was not making eye contact with him at all. Which was honestly frustrating, he didn't want his time with the weretiger to be this quiet...not that he'd ever admit to that out loud.
Akutagawa chided on reflex when the weretiger fell behind him. "Hurry up, jinko. I refuse to fail this mission due to your incompetence,"
And Atsushi, who was feeling skeleton moths in his stomach already, snapped back also on reflex. "We're just walking to the place. I can't mess things up."
"You could still quicken your pace."
"Maybe you're the one going too fast."
"Perhaps you do not take assignments seriously enough."
"If you stopped being grumpy for two seconds you'd realize that I always take things seriously, Akutagawa—"
And then Akutagawa shot something back. Atsushi replied with another retort. Bickering ensued like the flow of a current in the water, slippery and sudden.
This was a normalcy they were both silently grateful for.
It was an easy way to not talk about the thing that was on both boy's minds.
~~
They ran into a problem pretty quickly. Which was relatively fine, if it hadn't ended up...
Well, it'd be better if I just explained it. Which is what narrator's are supposed do, anyway. Hah, no wonder I got demoted, I'm horrible at this. Anyways.
For some God awful reason that might just be plot convenience, who knows, Atsushi and Akutagawa ran into guards of all things.
After searching the warehouse and finding a hatch door underneath some crates, Akutagawa and Atsushi snuck underground.
It led to a dimly lit tunnel that had unsettlingly colored stains on the wall. Maybe it was just yellow because of the lighting. Maybe.
They explored the hall in silence, and normally, their silences were comfortable. Almost domestic, even, when they weren't on life endangering missions.
This silence was, however, awkward as fuck.
Akutagawa was not the best at properly expressing his feelings. He tended to be driven by his heart, yes, but this situation with the weretiger was something that wasn't easy for him to face.
He would love to drag the weretiger by the tie somewhere private and tell him that he loved him back, but that wasn't quite as easy as it sounds.
So, out of not-knowing-what-to-do-with-his-romantic-feelings, Akutagawa proceeded on with this assignment like nothing had happened. He needed to focus.
Atsushi, meanwhile, was nervous. He wasn't nervous about the assignment, which was most likely going to be a breeze unless someone with a name like Dr. Seuss or C. S. Lewis pulled up.
No, no, he was nervous about the fact that Akutagawa was acting like everything was normal. Nothing was normal! But now was definitely not the time or place to be discussing feelings.
Right now, they were supposed to be obligatory coworkers. Not a tangle of confused, romantic feelings bloomed from something much darker.
They continued along, steps echoing and the hall stretching on and on until finally reaching a turn, revealing a door on the left side, and yet even more of the tunnel.
This is when things went downhill. Or uphill, if you're the reader.
Atsushi quickly picked up on sounds of footsteps, headed towards them.
"Akutagawa!" he hissed instantly, "Someone's coming. We need to hide—"
The mafioso, alarmed at the sudden warning, reacted immediately, interrupting the weretiger and yanking open the door beside them. It was a supply closet, apparently.
Wrapping Rashomon unceremoniously around Atsushi's waist, the detective was pulled in, and before he knew it, the door was shut and he and Akutagawa were in a closet. Concealed completely.
"How close are they?" Akutagawa asked, voice low.
Atsushi strained his ears, his tiger senses heightened. "They're about to come down the hall."
The footsteps grew in sound, to the point where Akutagawa could hear them clearly too.
Two things were going on at this moment.
The first was that voices could be picked up now— it was two people passing by, both men judging from the deepness of their tones.
"Did you hear something?" one of them asked.
"...No? Why are you looking at me?" said the other one. "You know my ears are stuffed up 'cause of the weather. It's like you don't even listen to me."
"Oh, shut up. You're always going on about fake health issues. You're not even built for this kind of work. I can't believe the boss hired you."
"I can't believe the boss hired you. You couldn't shoot the backside of an elephant if you tried!" The other man sounded offended.
"Ah, just be quiet." There was a nearby thump, which Atsushi recognized as one of the men leaning against the wall, uncomfortably close to finding them.
"Ay, wanna play a game of cards?"
"Sure."
Atsushi resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Really?
Well now they were stuck here for a while.
Two men trapped in a closet together. Currently in a strange stage of relationship where it's definitely no longer platonic or rivalry. Very normal.
So, that was the first thing. The second thing is far more interesting, and that being the lack of proximity between Akutagawa and Atsushi.
Like squished sardines in a can, they were pressed up against each other in the cramped closet. Atsushi's face was pressed below Akutagawa's chin, and the older man was being uncomfortably pushed into shelving holding what appeared to be cleaning supplies.
They both knew they couldn't talk, because even breathing too loudly could reveal them.
So Atsushi resorted to blushing bright red at the insistent contact and Akutagawa resorted to avoiding looking at Atsushi (which was easy because the closet was pitch black— only Atsushi, with his natural night vision, could see).
The white-haired boy could hear Akutagawa's heartbeat, steady but too fast for the rhythm to be normal. Was he the reason Akutagawa's heart was racing like this, or was it adrenaline?
And Akutagawa could feel Atsushi close against him, one of the weretiger's hands loosely gripping his jacket, warm. His breath was ghosting his neck, making Akutagawa practically drown in desire.
What a fun situation to be in.
Atsushi could not help but think of the snarky irony of this. He also couldn't help but think of how nice this felt, even if it also felt forbidden. He shouldn't be thinking this way about his enemy. His enemy turned savior. Turned...situationship? He was so not sure anymore.
His own heart instinctively slowed as he calmed down, Akutagawa's presence always doing this, snapping him out of a panic so easily. But he was now also suffering from a Gay Panic™, which was a completely different thing that Akutagawa was the cause of. Eye for an eye, he supposed.
They waited like this for a painstaking five full minutes, as the guards outside played a mundane game of cards.
"I win. Yeesh, you suck at this game."
"You cheated!"
"Do you really think I'd cheat on something as stupid as this?"
"Yeah?? Man, you—"
There was a crackle of static that cut their conversation short, which must've been a radio. One of the men picked it up.
"Hah? Really?" There was a pause. "Okay, okay, we get it. C'mon, boss wants us posted outside. We can't just lay around."
"Says the guy who wanted to play cards."
"Yeah, 'cause we weren't on actual duty, moron—"
Their voices and conversation drifted away, until it was just vibrations. Their footsteps also died down as the guards turned down the hall.
"Akutagawa, come on. They're gone," Atsushi whispered, heart racing, and not from the guards almost finding them.
"...Right." Akutagawa answered after a quiet moment, almost reluctant. He pulled the door handle with a tendril of Rashomon and they tumbled out of the closet.
Atsushi's eyes adjusted from night vision to a dim, eerie light from weak overhead lights. That fiasco left his face burning. He didn't look at Akutagawa, he couldn't.
Meanwhile Akutagawa couldn't stop looking at him.
~~
The rest of the assignment went as smooth as a bald guy's head, yet a certain air did not leave Atsushi and Akutagawa.
Atsushi liked that close of contact, but the thing that was crushing him, did Akutagawa like it too?
He had to. Right? Because Atsushi hadn't been rejected. That was his one hope, which was seeming to spiral further the more he dwelled on it. Feelings were stupid.
After the closet incident, they retrieved the information, after incapacitating a concerning amount of people, and skipped back up to the surface, avoiding the guards.
Then Akutagawa disappeared, but not before saying goodbye to Atsushi.
Atsushi mumbled goodbye back, watching the mafioso go, and wondering what in the world had just happened.
He was awfully annoyed at the lack of times he and Akutagawa could talk about their emotions privately.
Atsushi was left uncertain until March, and Akutagawa was tasked with steeling himself for a confession of his own.
~~
It was the morning of March 14th. The sun was shining, Dazai was drowning, and men all over Yokohama were giving gifts back to their Valentine's.
Akutagawa was planning on being one of them.
After visiting almost every jeweler in the city, Akutagawa finally found something he thought the weretiger would like— a necklace with a diamond charm carved into the shape of a crescent moon. It was simple and silver, and the mafioso had bought it the second he laid eyes upon it.
And now on the day of, he headed to the Agency dorms unannounced. He did give the weretiger the courtesy of not climbing in through his window, though.
(He'd done that multiple times in the past when visiting the weretiger for mission discussions. Atsushi yelled at him about it.)
Instead, he knocked on the apartment door. Chances were the jinko was home. Then again, he didn't seem to have great chances.
As he heard rustling from the other side of the door, he thought, not for the first time, about his and Atsushi's relationship after this.
He loved the weretiger, he really did. Every part of him, whether damaged or not.
Alongside this, the weretiger apparently returned his feelings. An angel falling for a devil.
Could something like this ever really happen to him? A man like Akutagawa, receiving this blessing?
Then the door in front of him swung open and the raven-haired man's thoughts were cut short. Akutagawa was greeted by the sight of Atsushi in a simple grey t-shirt and jeans. God, he managed to look good in everything, didn't he?
(If we were talking about preference though, Akutagawa liked seeing Atsushi wearing his coat the most.)
"Akutagawa." Atsushi choked out his name before the taller could even talk, shock written across his face. "What are you doing here?"
Akutagawa decided to recite the words the weretiger gave him exactly a month ago.
"Do you know what today is, jinko?"
"Um...Saturday?"
Akutagawa almost rolled his eyes. "It is White Day."
"White Day? Like—" Atsushi flushed, the pieces falling into place. "Oh."
"In case you are not aware, today is the holiday when people reciprocate their appreciation from Valentine's."
"I know that." Atsushi huffed.
"So what do you think I'm doing here, weretiger?"
Atsushi was now the color of a glass of tomato juice. Which really isn't a pretty metaphor but whatever. It's technically an Ango reference too so yay.
"If this is about Valentine's Day, then—" Atsushi struggled for the right words, before a flood of them spilled from them. "...I wanted you to know that I like you, okay? Are you here to murder me? Because that's kind of sending a lot of mixed signals, and if you really don't feel the same way—"
"Jinko, you are a fool." Akutagawa interrupted, sick of miscommunication, and by grabbing Atsushi's tie, he pulled the weretiger in for a kiss.
On the lips. Like what normal people do. Because maybe bit by bit, their relationship could turn into more of a normal one.
So they were bad at feeling feelings. They could improve— both improve, with the other's help.
And this kiss was about infinity times better than the first one, and made Akutagawa's chest swell with a feeling one could describe as completion.
After they (reluctantly) parted, Atsushi was delighted to see Akutagawa was blushing too.
"Oh." Was all the weretiger managed to say afterwards, his lips tingling. He gingerly touched his mouth with timid fingers. So that was real. And just happened. To him. With Akutagawa.
"So you're here to tell me you like me." Atsushi said slowly, barely even processing the kiss properly.
"Yes, brilliant. No wonder you're a detective, jinko." Akutagawa dryly replied, already missing the feel of Atsushi's lips.
"You actually like me?" Atsushi was a tad skeptical. In his mind, he'd always been a worthless person, desperate to live, and even if he craved love, did he deserve it?
And Akutagawa had never exactly thought of himself as romantic, but the weretiger did seem to make his world turn upside down.
Things could change. Things could get better.
"Yes."
"Why didn't you just say this on Valentine's, Akutagawa?" Atsushi exasperatedly asked.
"As I recall, you ran away after forcing chocolate on me. Or did you forget?" Akutagawa retorted. "I thought I was the one with the memory issues," he said under his breath.
"Oh, uh, right." Atsushi gave a small smile. "Sorry, I just was...scared you'd reject me."
"Yet I did not. And I never will. You may trust that."
Before Akutagawa could say more, the weretiger impatiently stepped forward and kissed him, his soft, sweet lips meeting Akutagawa's own. It was light and it was perfect.
The mafioso slid his hand over Atsushi's cheek and said in-between ravishing kisses from the detective, "In thanks for the chocolates, I have also gotten you something, weretiger."
"What? Akutagawa, you didn't have to—"
"Quiet," Akutagawa reached into his pocket and pulled out the small, sleek velvet box the necklace was hidden in. "And just accept it."
Atsushi took it into his own hands and looked inside. His eyes grew wide as he in took in the sight of the necklace.
"It's so pretty. You shouldn't have gotten this for me." Atsushi spluttered, "Akutagawa—"
"Instead of going on about being undeserving, jinko, how about trying it on?"
Atsushi did just that, without much protest because jeez, that was a beautiful necklace. The white-haired boy's mind was reeling, and he was more dizzy than he was on Valentine's.
That day had been full of uncertainty and the nasty fear of rejection, because no matter how much he loved Akutagawa, it was still possible the mafioso would never feel the same.
And now Atsushi knew that wasn't true.
So this dizziness was purely fueled by a fuzzy happiness Atsushi hadn't really felt before. Love was a very, very strange thing, so universal that it got its own holiday.
Life had its ups and downs, mostly downs when it came to Atsushi's and Akutagawa's fates, but maybe love like this could become a constant.
A sacred new beginning, with an unlikely likely pair.