Work Text:
Akutagawa was fairly certain that the Jinko was currently trying to hunt a dust mote.
It was undignified – borderlining insulting – to be putting off their mission for this. Yet Akutagawa kept his gaze at how he’s staying frozen and staring intensely at an empty spot on the floor of the warehouse.
Currently he was sitting on the floor waiting an hour for their supposed-target to come. As well as out of pure absolute boredom. He was watching Jinko. The same Jinko that raises his hands, preparing to catch the dust motes. An unyielding look covered his face. While his overly long belt was sweeping the floor from side to side. He became so still it was only the belt Akutagawa could see moving. Before-
Before the tip of the belt, lifts slightly off the floor and freezes in a tense curl. Akutagawa waited for a moment after Atsushi pounced into the air. Just to see how he would react – after failing miserably to catch the dust motes. He looked disappointed, his mouth created a little pout as his bottom lip stuck out a bit.
He seemed to get over it when the belt wrapped around his midriff and he laid down on the floor. His pupils were now as normal as they could get and his hands on his chest.
A ping interrupted their silence, as Jinko – still laying down – grabbed his phone from his pocket and started fiddling with it. His brows were furrowed and his lips were doing that pout again, before a realization flickered in his eyes and he turned into a bright red.
He put his phone back in his pocket while turning to the side, his back to Akutagawa.
It twisted some feelings inside Akutagawa. Coiling with tension, then releasing. Then doing it all over again.
Akutagawa didn’t want to know what he was feeling. His own emotions were trivial matters. A weakness that needed to be suppressed in favor of strength. So he sat silently without complaint. For his own feelings were unnecessary.
But for now, watching Jinko's own emotions after receiving a text is agonizing. It's something. A side of him that he can't control or fully understand. And that was not good. Because if he didn't understand his rival... How was he ever going to defeat him?
That was the thought he had when he used Rashomon to sneakily sprawl over the floor like a snake. Twisting and swaying its way towards the phone in his pocket. But as a few centimetres came between Rashomon and the phone – Jinko with wide eyes sat up, incredibly fast it almost impressed Akutagawa, but wasn’t able to as he was too focused on the fact that he noticed Rashomon.
But of course. His ability. Akutagawa internally groaned and on his face, he was sure there was an involuntary scowl.
The feelings in Akutagawa tightened harder this once. Then released. He was holding the phone against his chest, panting and the blush that crawled from his neck to his face was still there.
“W-What. What are you doing?!” He snapped, his tone was defensive.
The scowl on his face was surely gone. Instead a flat, detached expression replaced it. Rashomon -- who quickly went back to his coat after the Jinko's reaction, shifted around him.
Jinko never minded letting Akutagawa use his phone. Letting him check often for communications for the missions were working. Sometimes their targets would focus on the Mafia’s encrypted channels, forcing them to go down. He would always give the phone to Akutagawa, usually these weeks Akutagawa never had to order him to give it.
Or let Akutagawa just examine the device that was surprisingly kept free of any scratch or crack even from Jinko’s clumsiness.
Now though, he could practically hear Jinko’s frantic, heartbeat. Holding the phone like a shield. He wanted to rip that shield away and see the emotions underneath, emotions and feelings Akutagawa could never decipher. But he knew that he wanted to be the reason for that breathlessness.
If it isn’t him breaking Jinko, then it shouldn’t be happening at all.
"That device is compromising your focus on the target. If you're so protective over it, just ensure that you don't make it a liability I have to eliminate.”
He turned away from Akutagawa, murmuring,"The…target is not even here.”
However after a few moments of silence, he perked up towards the back of the warehouse. “...Nevermind.” Two seconds later, a bang filled the air. They looked at each other then stood up immediately, Rashomon already flickering around him and the Jinko’s pupils turned into slits.
They both ran where the sound came from, towards the back behind a few crates, one tumbled on the floor. A few antiques were broken as well. But behind that. Was their culprit. A lean, skinny black street dog. Its dark brown eyes were wide and sharp. Watching Jinko push Akutagawa out of his way(Mind you.. Akutagawa let him… No one was getting in the way of Jinko and his love for certain animals).
His pupils blown wide again, but his eyes were sparkling this time. He practically vibrated as he kneeled down to the dog's height.
"Oh... oh my god," he whispered, his voice already an octave higher than usual.
He put his hand out, not in the dog's face and let it sniff him. The dog seemed curious while wagging its tail. Jinko slowly put his hand on the dog's shoulder. Petting it, as the dog leaned in.
The whole interaction took a few minutes. And Akutagawa stood as rigid as a street pole, his hand clenched in his pockets. He couldn't understand the appeal.
Why was Jinko cooing over a creature that contributed nothing to the world? It was a stray that was insulting to the word.
A coughing fit racked his chest, more out of sheer irritation than how sometimes his chest would constrict -- blocking the gates for the air to envelop through his throat, -- he looked from the sparking eyes of the Jinko to the mindless panting of the hound.
He loathed it. He loathed the way his fingers into that useless fur with a tenderness Akutagawa never had known. After all, the Jinko he would see was always fighting either his opponent or himself.
Rashomon tore at the hem of his coat in a restless, jagged rhythm, itching to shred the hound. After all that's what he did when he was younger. When his friend died from a street dog. God. He remembered how the blood from all the dogs in the area felt on his face.
“Jinko.”
He kept petting the dog, trying to make his way to the top of its head.
“Jinko.”
Jinko laughed –it was a nice laugh. He couldn’t argue otherwise– as the dog shoved his head under his palm.
He made a ‘tch’ sound then ordered Rashomon to grab Jinko by the back of his collar, and dragged him away from the dog.
“Hey! Aku-Akutagawa! Stop!” He was suspended in the air.
Akutagawa gave a glare towards the dog before walking towards the center of the warehouse, still carrying him. “We have a mission to worry about, not you and that mutt’s theatrics.”
Setting him down, and turning around he was faced with a pleasant surprise.
Jinko's eyes were half-lidded, his gaze itself unfocused and short, thin breaths came out of his lips. Yet his belt was low and still. Jinko let out a sigh, “..Our target is here.”
Akutagawa smirked, finally. He could leave. He wasn’t caged with him anymore. The coil throughout his body will tense away and the recurring worthless feelings that didn’t matter would diminish. “Well, let’s get started. Shall we?”
_______________
His hands were on his knees, panting. The target wasn’t hard to defeat – no it was easy for the both of them – but the target just seemed so insistent to just keep not dying. Akutagawa clicked his teeth.
The Jinko was laying on the floor again, deep in thought. His regeneration worked wonders as the blood on his shirt stayed. There were also specks of blood on his white eyelashes. He seemed to not care in the slightest, as he slowly blinked at the ceiling.
“Akutagawa…” He started slowly.
“What.” He snapped out sharply, he was annoyed at how long this mission took.
“Akutagawa…” He said again.
“What. Jinko.”
He turned his head towards Akutagawa who was now standing up straight, his hands in his pockets.
“Are you mad at me?” Akutagawa narrowed his eyes on him. Jinko tried again, “for the phone.”
He raised a non-existent eyebrow. “Don’t flatter yourself if you think I care so much for your personal matters.”
Akutagawa looked down at him, the way his arms were sprayed across the floor. "Your personal matters become my business when they come in the way of the mission. You were so affected that I thought you would phase through the floor."
Jinko sat up slowly, wiping at the blood on his eyelashes, his face heating up again. "Ok..I'll keep that in mind.. It was surprising though."
"Surprised by a text?" Akutagawa stepped closer, his shadow falling over Jinko. "If it's a threat, I'll eliminate it. If it's a person..." He trailed off, his voice dropping into a low rasp. "I'll eliminate them too."
Jinkoi's eyes went wide. "it's not a person! I mean, It is, but-" He fumbled for his pocket, but his fingers were still shaky from teh fight or the conversation. The phone slipped, skidding across the dusty floor right to Akutagawa's shoes.
The silence was deafening.
Akutagawa didn't move for a second. Then, slowly, he reached down and picked it up. The screen lit up instantly, no passcode, was he seriously that trusting?
Jinko lunged forward. "Wait!"
But Akutagawa had already seen it. His eyes narrowed, then widened. He gave the phone back to Jinko, who was right in front of him now.
"It's from our past clients.. I told him I wasn't interested... But I-" He kept his gaze to the space between Akutagawa's shoes.
“But I.. I didn’t know how to say it without being rude,” He finished, voice barely a whisper. He gripped the phone so hard his knuckles turned white, the screen still glowing with the persistent, vulgar flirting text from the client.
“Just. Block him.”
Jinko looked up at him and tilted his head. “What’s that?”
Akutagawa stared at him, his expression flat-lining into something between disbelief and pure, unadulterated exhaustion.
"It's a prevents that digitally this person never reaches your eyes again. "
Jinko blinked, those wide, cat-like eyes reflecting the glow of the screen. "Oh. I didn't know you could just... do that. Isn't it mean? He was technically a client..."
Akutagawa reached out with his own gloved hands, snatching the phone back from Jinko's trembling grip.
With a few aggressive taps of his thumb, Akutagawa found the settings. He blocked the number and deleted the entire conversation thread, his jaw set in a hard line.
The spring in his chest finally began to loosen, replaced by a dark satisfaction.
He shoved the phone back into Jinko’s chest. "It is done."
Jinko took the phone back, looking at the empty screen with a mix of shock and genuine relief. The tension that had been keeping his shoulders hiked up to his ears finally bled away. "Wow… Thanks, Akutagawa."
Jinko ran his thumb over the now blank screen, a small, genuine smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "I guess I don't have to worry about what to say anymore."
Akutagawa turned toward the exit.
Jinko hurried to catch up, his long belt trailing behind him like a relaxed tail.
"Does that mean I can block everyone who's mean to me now?" Jinko teased, his voice light as they stepped out into the crisp Yokohama night. His eyes creased at the ends as a bright, beautiful smile showed up on his face. "Even you?"
Jinko didn't stop walking, but his voice drifted back. "If you wish. But I'll still find you. That's a promise."
Jinko blinked, the blush returning to his cheeks, but he didn't look away and continued following him.