Chapter Text
The two have been dating for quite a few weeks, but Atsushi still isn't sure on how he feels about this whole "dating your enemy" thing.
Now don't get him wrong, he loves Akutagawa to death, but it's the fact that they're still rivals that bugs him.
He was hoping that a romantic relationship would change that, but the two men still often bicker and get into physical fights quite often.
Now Atsushi doesn't have much (read: any) experience with relationships beforehand, but he's pretty sure they aren't supposed to try to hurt each other twice to three times a week.
And not only that, but his partner seems to be very upset lately at him, and he has no idea why!
Take Akutagawa's normal amount of anger, multiply it by ten, and that's what Atsushi receives.
Along with a constant cold shoulder and one-worded replies!
Atsushi can't help but wonder what he did wrong, how to fix it, and dream of just one kiss!
They haven't even shared a kiss yet!
Which is totally fine with him, he's willing to wait as long as he needs to before Akutagawa is ready.
But a few days ago, he asked his coworkers for help, and both Dazai and Ranpo say he's definitely ready for a kiss, and has even been waiting on one!
But if that's the case, wouldn't they have kissed by now?
It's not like kissing wasn't ever communicated, Atsushi keeps leaning in for the kiss, and he keeps getting pushed away by Rashoumon!
If Akutagawa wanted a kiss so badly, then he wouldn't push Atsushi away.
But Dazai and Ranpo can't be wrong!
They're Dazai and Ranpo!
But everybody has to be wrong someti-
"HEY! What gives?!" Atsushi yelps out after a book gets hurtled at his head.
Ranpo, the culprit of said book, replies, "I can tell what you're thinking, and you're wrong, not me! I'm never wrong."
Giving the detective a sheepish smile while still rubbing at his head, he turns back to his thoughts.
Maybe most people can be wrong sometimes, but never Ranpo.
(He ignores the triumphant "hmph!" in the background.)
But if he really is right, then what's wrong with Akutagawa?
Akutagawa hasn't even acted this cold when they very much did hate each other!
At least then, Atsushi wasn't getting flat out ignored.
.
.
.
He knows how to find out!
Ranpo gossips to his boyfriend, Poe, and Poe gossips to Lucy.
And Ranpo obviously knows what's going on.
Meaning Poe knows, meaning Lucy knows.
Lucy is friends with Atsushi, meaning she'll tell Atsushi the problem!
He has to go find Lucy now!
Lucy is just working peacefully, minding her own business, when the stupid Tiger Kitty walks up to her!
She can already feel how stupid of a question he's about to ask is.
Probably something about his boyfriend, seeing as Atsushi's been mopping about him for a week or two, and this isn't the first time she got questioned.
She doesn't even know Akutagawa!
She's been asked stupid questions like...
"Do you know Akutagawa's favorite color?" NO!
"Didn't Akutagawa look so handsome today?" I DON'T KNOW!
And her personal least favorite, "Do you think he'd want to top or bottom? Because personally, I wouldn't mind either way at all.."
Disgusting!
But never in her life could she have prepared her smart, delicate, trained brain for the stupidest question on Earth.
"Do you know why Akutagawa's so mad at me?"
The dumbest question uttered in history, by the way.
This has to be a joke.
But looking at Atsushi's frowny face, she can tell that it sadly isn't a joke.
"Tiger Kitty, how many times do I have to tell you. . . I DON'T KNOW YOUR BOYFRIEND! I'VE NEVER MET HIM IN MY LIFE!"
And boy, if Atsushi didn't look like a wet cat at that reply...
She almost felt bad.
Almost.
Because it definitely isn't her fault for not knowing Atsushi's stupid boyfriend.
But that dejected look Atsushi has makes her feel dejected a little.
So, sighing deeply, she follows up with, "But I can ask around if it'll help.. I think I may know two or three people who might have an idea."
Immediately brightening up, Atsushi rapidly shakes his head up and down.
"Please, Lucy! I can't take it anymore, he won't even look at me! And it'd be nice to know what I did wrong if anything.."
Giving the man a small smile, she replies, "Don't worry, I got it. I get off shift in an hour, then I'll start asking around, okay? Now if you aren't going to buy anything, stop wasting my time and get out of here already!"
Atsushi, giving a sheepish grin, nods slightly and leaves as suggested.
'Finally, I was wondering if he'd ever leave! It's not that I don't enjoy being around him, but. . . God, is he stupid!'
Akutagawa has been heartbroken.
No, not just a small shatter.
His heart has been ripped out, stomped on, put in a meat grinder, and eaten by Atsushi.
Out of everyone he knows, he would've thought Atsushi would be the last person to ever do that.
But everybody is wrong sometimes.
But. . . Some mistakes hurt a lot more than others.
And this mistake hurts the most.
He would've taken any of Dazai's punishments over this any day.
At least he recovered from those after a few days, Akutagawa doesn't believe he'll ever recover from this one.
After everything they've gone through, he really thought he knew the Were-tiger.
But, again, everybody is wrong sometimes.
And it's not like he isn't trying to give Atsushi a taste of his own medicine, making him feel what Akutagawa feels, just with more. . . reasonable methods.
Akutagawa would never do to Atsushi what Atsushi did to him.
But nothing he does seems to work on the Were-tiger!
Everything he does seems to just get ignored, and the tiger keeps on acting as though nothing changed.
Despite everything having changed.
If Atsushi doesn't apologize in the next day, their relationship is officially over.
He even got Chuuya to hold him accountable for that.
The agreement is simple: If Atsushi doesn't apologize by the end of tomorrow, and Akutagawa doesn't break up with him, then Chuuya will go to the agency and beat the living hell out of the Were-tiger.
And if he wasn't still so whipped despite everything Atsushi has done, he would gladly rip Atsushi to shreds himself, but the man is still so very much in love.
And he hates it.
Why does he always have to care about the ones who hurt him?
First it was his previous mentor, Dazai, who ripped his soul out as a young boy, giving him trauma that he will never get over, who he so deeply admires.
Now it's Atsushi, who crushed his heart, causing unfixable damage, who he's still head-over-heels for.
"Why," Akutagawa, much to his later embarrassment, cried out once, "Why Chuuya, why do people have to hurt me like this!?"
And Chuuya didn't know why, so he gave no answer.
He just held Akutagawa a little tighter, and rubbed his back a little softer.
And later that night, at their shared apartment, Dazai and Chuuya got into a massive argument about Akutagawa.
A topic that they still argue about to this day whenever it's brought up.
And now, getting broken out of his thoughts, he is just now getting unfortunate news from Chuuya
"Akutagawa, Lucy has just found out what's been going on. She found out Atsushi and her have been caught."
The last person on Earth that he wanted to know about this.
The person who causes all of this!
The person who is one-hundred percent to blame!
And she'll definitely tell Atsushi about it, and Atsushi will come talking to him about it.
And Akutagawa really doesn't want to talk to Atsushi right now.
"ATSUSHI!!" A murderous tone screeches from the phone right when he picks up the call.
"WHY THE HELL DID YOU TELL PEOPLE WE MADE-OUT A WEEK AGO!? YOU KNOW VERY DAMN WELL WE DIDN'T, WE BOTH HAVE PARTNERS!" The screeching continued.
Atsushi has no idea what happened either.
They didn't make-out ever, so why would he tell people they did?
Atsushi swears he never said that to anybody!
"What are you talking about? I never said that to anybody! Who told you that?" The tiger replies over the phone.
A long, deep sigh is heard from the phone, followed up with a, "I didn't hear it directly, I did overhear two customers talking about it while I was on shift. I don't know who they are, and they already left."
Shit, no wonder Akutagawa is so pissed at him! He probably thinks Atsushi is cheating on him.
He needs to clear this up immediately.
So, forgetting to say goodbye, he hangs up the phone and rushes to his boyfriends apartment as fast as he can.
.
.
.
About ten, maybe fifteen minutes later, he arrives at the apartment.
Double checking that Akutagawa is indeed here, and he is, his car is parked, he just stands there for a good couple of minutes instead of knocking.
Why, you may ask?
Well. . . Atsushi doesn't know quite what to say.
"Hey babe, I didn't really cheat on you, so you can stop acting like you hate me now!" Would only get him a punch to the face and kicked out.
Not explaining anything will get him a "friendly" stab from Rashoumon.
Improvising it would just be awkward. . .
He stands there thinking for another few minutes, until his thoughts get interrupted for the hundredth time today by a small drop on his head.
And another.
And a few more.
And more and more until there's a total downpour of rain falling on him.
'Fuck. . . Just my luck, of course. . . please let me inside Akutagawa!' Atsushi thinks to himself while knocking.
Knock
Beat.
Knock
Knock
Beat.
Knock
Knock
Knock
Beat.
Beat.
"Okay, I know damn well you're in there Akutagawa! Open the door, please! I just wanna talk, and I'm wet, and tigers hate the rain! Open up already!" Atsushi begs, hoping that any second now his partner will open the door, let him in to dry off, and talk it out with him.
Hearing footsteps from inside got him hopeful.
He could hear them approaching the door, 'Finally, he's letting my in!'
But instead of his sweet lover accepting him in, he gets his cold-hearted lovers cold-hearted voice, "Go away, stupid Weretiger! You know what you did, and so I am not letting you back in anytime soon, so stop begging!"
Okay, wow, harsh!
Atsushi can't believe that Akutagawa would believe something so stupid!
He would never cheat on him, especially with Lucy!
But for now he needs to realize that Akutagawa wouldn't believe him right now, so he just needs to talk in the perspective as if he did cheat. . . As much as he doesn't want to do that. . .
"I hurt your feelings when I did that, Akutagawa, I know. I was wrong, and I was acting immature, so please, give me just one more chance! I wanna make things right!"
That just hurt Akutagawa even more.
He knows that Atsushi cheated, but hearing it confirmed like that. . . Wow. . .
"What does she have that I don't, Weretiger?! You promised you'd stay, and then you left! That's why I'm telling you to go away! I don't want to talk to you right now or ever again! Leave! GO AWAY!"
And now it's Atsushi's turn to have his heart ripped out.
That sounded an awful lot like a break up. . .
Does Akutagawa not love. . .
No!
Atsushi isn't giving up like this!
He won't have the relationship he's been chasing after for months be ripped away like this!
Over a stupid misunderstanding nonetheless!
"Akutagawa. . . My life is incomplete without you, I love you, not her!"
He hears a bitter laugh coming from inside.
"That's cheesy, Weretiger. . . What's next? 'I miss all the little things you do'? Hah. . . Just shut up before you embarrass yourself further. . . Even if you weren't lying, it's too late. I'm not taking you back, you had your chance."
'No. . .' Atsushi thinks, 'He can't be serious. . . He really did break up with me. . .'
He feels sick.
He feels like crying, throwing up, and just collapsing on the ground, drowning himself in the puddles he's currently standing in.
"Please, Ryuu. . . Please take me back, you don't even know what happened, I promise you it's not what you thi-"
His pleading voice gets cut off, replaced by a colder, angrier one, "That was your last chance, Jinko. Go away, I told you how many times now? How many times and you don't listen? Go away and don't even think of coming back."
Towards the end of the sentence, Akutagawa's voice went from cold and bitter to just sad, and hopeless.
That gave Atsushi hope.
That meant Akutagawa doesn't totally hate him, but is just upset at the situation!
"Ryuu. . . Please let me in, I swear I love you, I really do. It was all a misunderstanding. I swear from the bottom of my heart. I don't know the full story, but I do know that it never happened. I don't know who spread the rumor and why, but it isn't true. And I'm not going away until you let me in and we talk about it."
Hearing this gave Akutagawa a little bit of hope as well.
Maybe, just maybe, Atsushi is telling the truth.
Maybe, just maybe, everything will be okay with the two.
And with that, he opens the door, taking in the sad sight of his Jinko.
His Jinko looks cold, he's shivering.
His Jinko looks wet, he's absolutely soaked.
His Jinko looks sad, he's been crying.
And his Jinko is getting pulled inside by Rashoumon (Akutagawa would pull him in, but he doesn't want to be soaked as well.
"I have extra clothes. And towels. You know where they are." Akutagawa spits out, still pretending that he's bitter and angry.
He believes his Weretiger.
If Atsushi was lying, he wouldn't have stayed out in the rain just to mess with Akutagawa's feelings.
And if he did, well. . .
He'd be getting his ass kicked by both Akutagawa and Chuuya.
Around twenty-minutes of getting changed and blow-drying his hair later, Atsushi returns to Akutagawa in his main room.
He's reading a book on his couch, sipping on his tea, trying to pass to time while waiting for Atsushi's return.
"Hey," Atsushi mumbles out weakly, "I'm back. . ."
Akutagawa looks up from his book and up at his Jinko.
"Yes, I can see that. . ."
His tone is still bitter and cold, but he has a soft smile on his face, a reassurance that Atsushi's been forgiven.
Although, Atsushi still feels the need to apologize and explain the story. . .
"Ryuu, I-" And he's cut off for the umpteenth time today.
"Shush, Jinko, there's no need. I've already been informed. Now come sit down with me and eat your stupid food. . ."
He smiles brightly and curls up by his partner, giving him a quick peck on the lips, to which the mafioso blushed bright red.
Wait- food?
What food?
Did Akutagawa make him food?
He doesn't see any. . .
Oh.
There, on the table. . .
Akutagawa made him tea on rice.
His favorite food.
Akutagawa made him his favorite food.
He'd be lying if he didn't tear up a little at the kind gesture, still not used to being treated so kindly, after all, it's only been a few months since the orphanage. . .
Forget it.
It's better if he doesn't think about the orphanage at all.
Immediately chowing down on the food as if he hasn't eaten in a year, he spits out a stream of "thank you"s (and some rice too, he was talking with his mouth full. . . disgusting!)
But Akutagawa doesn't seem to mind it (that much- talking with your mouth full is a crime), just happy to finally have his partner back in his arms.
For once in his life, he's been glad he was so wrong.
He makes a mental note not to forget to text Chuuya that everything is fine later, not wanting his boyfriend to get his ass kicked for no reason.
.
.
.
But he totally forgot.
.
.
.
And Atsushi got his ass handed to him by Chuuya the very next day, much to Dazai's amusement, and he never found out why!