Work Text:
It was late and Arisu was tired.
He had spent far too long at the office that day. He normally worked from home, but when a deadline approached, he found it much easier to walk down the hall to get the information he needed than wait for an email or a call. Better when he could physically point to the issue he was having.
Time had slipped past him and before he knew it, it was midnight. On a normal night, this would be a problem. Chishiya would be irritable and claimed Arisu was pushing himself too far. Hypocritical comments on a need for work life balance. Luck was on his side, however, because tonight was Chishiya and Kuina’s monthly scheduled ‘night on the town.’
Arisu had been surprised to find out that Chishiya genuinely enjoyed the music that hand constantly echoed through the halls of the beach. Even more surprised that, without death games, Chishiya actually drank. Not often, and he was too busy to make a habit, but it was Chishiya who had suggested the reoccurring outing and sent Kuina a calendar request.
Chishiya should still be out for a few hours, which was more than enough time to pack up and catch a ride home. Which is exactly what he did. Arisu finalized the mechanics of the fight he was working on, threw what he needed into his bag and grabbed an apple from the break room, before waving goodbye to the others and hurrying out the door.
He slipped quietly into the dark apartment and quickly changed out of his work clothes, storing his bag away and making his way to the kitchen. He opened the fridge, taking out some of the leftovers from the last night's dinner and popped them in the microwave. Arisu flipped on the kettle to make a cup of tea.
The counter felt cool against his back as he waited for them both to heat up and his stomach growled, so he grabbed a paring knife and cut a chunk of his pilfered apple to eat. Arisu had just taken a bite when he heard keys at the door. He smiled, it seemed they had called it a night early. Arisu had made it home just in time, and as a reward was going to get to witness Chishiya in all his drunken glory.
Chishiya was absolutely adorable when drunk. Well, Arisu always thought he was adorable, but it was so much more with his inhibitions lowered. He was giggly and extremely affectionate. While Chishiya normally would take any and every opportunity to cuddle, he was practically a koala the moment alcohol touched his lips. He was blushy and would sing every other sentence. He would draw out his name, letting it linger on his tongue as if he was savoring the taste. Demanded attention and pouted if he didn’t get it. Driving Arisu insane with the suggestive things whispered in his ear with his arms wrapped around his neck.
It was a treat to behold and came so rarely.
Arisu cut of another chunk of the apple and ate it off the knife as he made his way closer to the entryway. He could hear his boyfriend giggling on the other side of the wall as he fumbled with the lock. He was about to have mercy on him and open the door himself when…
“Ah ha! Finally! I’ve bested you primitive security system.” Chishiya said, pulling the key out of the lock now the door had been cracked.
Arisu smiled fondly at the slight redness on his cheeks and how pleased he looked with himself.
Once he had the keys stored securely in his pocket, he whipped around to where Arisu assumed Kuina was. “Bye Kuina!” He said waving.
Arisu chuckled and watched as Chishiya’s eyes lit up. He turned and threw the door open. “Su-su! I’m—”
Chishiya froze in place. Cat-like eyes a moment ago bright and excited rapidly moving through confusion to hurt and then Arisu watched in horror and Chishiya’s face crumpled and tears started to fall.
“Shun? What—” Arisu asked, stepping forward, but Chishiya stepped back and then sprinted out the door.
“Kuinaaaaa come baaaack!” He cried as he ran.
Arisu followed him into the hallway. He was halfway to the elevators, arms thrown around Kuina’s waist as she patted his back. Looking up at Arisu confused.
“Chi? What’s wrong?” She asked.
“Arisu doesn’t love me anymore.”
Arisu stopped in his tracks. Breath caught as he tried frantically to understand where Chishiya had gotten that idea.
Sighing, Kuina rubbed circles into his back. “That’s not true. What happened?”
“I don’t know.” Chishiya sobbed. “But he wants to break up. He doesn’t want me near him anymore.”
“Shun? What are you talking about?”
Chishiya snapped his eyes to him. “Ryo! What did I do?” He asked desperately. “I know I’m not a good person, but I thought…” He trailed of as his eyes dropped to his hands and then he buried his face in Kuina’s chest. “See I told you he wants me to stay away.”
“Shun. I do love you. I—”
“Then why!” Chishiya demanded.
“Hey.” Kuina cut in firmly. “Let’s get you inside, and we’ll sort things out, okay?”
Chishiya looked into Kuina’s eyes for a moment and then turned to Arisu, asking in a small voice. “Is… is that okay? Can I go inside?”
His heart broke, devastated that something Arisu had done had caused Chishiya so much pain. It didn’t matter to him that he didn’t know what it was. He would do anything to fix this.
“Of course. It’s our home. Of course you can come home.” Arisu answered, fighting back tears of his own.
Kuina ushered him forward. “See? Let’s go.”
Kuina worked quickly— ushering Chishiya into the bathroom, grabbing him a set of comfortable clothes to change into and starting the shower for him to settle in for the night— while Arisu returned to the kitchen.
He pulled out two more mugs, going through the motions of preparing tea for the three of them as something to do with his hands. By the time they had finished brewing and tucked a bag of Chishiya’s favorite cookies into his pocket, he was waiting for him in the living room.
He looked so small sitting on the couch, hair damp from the shower and wrapped in his favorite blanket. Kuina was seated on his right when Arisu came in the tea for both of them. The look in Chishiya’s eyes was heartbreaking as he pressed the mug into his hands. He waited until he took a sip and lowered the cup back down to the table and then held up the cookies in offering.
Chishiya blinked at him confused but reached out, pulling the bag to his chest and whispering “Thank you.”
“Now…” Kuina started. Then she placed a hand on Chishiya’s shoulder comfortingly as Arisu sat next to him. “Can you tell me what exactly Arisu did to make you think he doesn’t love you?”
He cast his eyes downward. He looked and sounded so small and god Arisu would do anything to fix it.
“I was so excited to see him.” Chishiya said weakly. “And he was there when I opened the door. I was so happy I—”
He choked on his words and brought an arm up to wipe his eyes. Arisu had to fight everything in him to reach out, knowing that he might just make it worse. He felt sick, but Chishiya tried to continue.
“I wanted—”
“Chi, Its okay. We want to understand.” Kuina soothed.
Chishiya pulled his knees to his chest, wrapping his arms around them, and it was just too much for Arisu to take.
“Shun. Baby.” He pleaded, hand caressing his head as he ran his fingers through Chishiya’s hair.
Squeezing himself tighter, they heard him mumble something, but when he met Kuina’s eyes, he could tell that neither of them understood.
“Can you say that again Chi. We didn’t hear you.”
His frame shook as Chishiya took a deep breath and then lifted his head, looking to Arisu with so much pain and hurt. “You were holding an apple.”
“What?”
“You had an apple.” He insisted, pushing out his lower lip.
Arisu started to wrack brain because clearly this was something that Chishiya expected him to understand. But nothing came to mind. Nothing unless… Panic quickly rushed to the forefront at the thought that he could have missed something so important. He couldn’t be… They had been together for so long at this point. Surely Arisu would know…
“Are you allergic to apples?”
Chishiya stared at him with tears still clinging to his lashes for a long moment and then huffed. He tugged the blanket tighter around his shoulder. “…no.” He said quietly. “I’m a doctor.”
“Shun. I didn’t mean it like tha—”
“You don’t get it.” He pouted.
Kuina inhaled sharply, eyes going wide with understanding.
His head snapped to her. “You understand?” He said hopefully.
She sighed and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Oh Chi… Yes. I know the saying.”
“What saying?” Arisu frowned.
Chishiya huffed again. “Unbelievable.”
When Kuina met his eyes, they were filled with mirth. It only confused him more because what was funny about this unless… No.
“An apple a day keeps the doctor away.”
Arisu just blinked at her. “Oh.”
“Yeah. Oh” Chishiya said bitterly. “I was so stupidly happy to see you and then I came in and you had that thing telling me to stay away.”
This was absolutely ridiculous, but Chishiya was clearly hurt.
“Shun. I didn’t think—”
“That I believe.”
“Chishiya. Let him talk.”
Arisu sighed and reached out to turn Chishiya to face him. He cupped on of his cheeks and met his gaze. “I never want you to go away Shiya. It didn’t even cross my mind. I left work late and I was hungry, so I grabbed it from the break room that’s all.”
Chishiya was still scrutinizing his face, so he continued.
“Shuntarou. I love you. I swear on my life I didn’t use an apple as a metaphor.”
“… You really didn’t mean it?” He asked with a small voice.
“Of course not.” Arisu promised. “I’m sorry I hurt you.”
That finally seemed to break through to him.
Chishiya flung himself forward, pressing his face to Arisu’s chest and clinging tight. His breath was ragged as sobs were wrenched from him. Arisu wrapped his arms around him instantly, holding him close as he fell apart in his arms. Kuina shuffled close and pressed herself against his back. The two of them surrounding him until the cries turned to sniffles.
“…I hate apples.” Chishiya muttered miserably into Arisu’s shirt.
Arisu let out a weak laugh and brought a hand up to stroke his hair as they all broke away from the hug.
“Well.” Kuina said, standing up from the couch. “I believe my job is done. Break up averted. Doctor successfully not chased away by a pome.”
Chishiya groaned. “Kuina…”
She just laughed. “Arisu next time, grab an orange.”
“Noted.”
With that, Kuina grabbed her jacket and left the apartment.
It was quiet as Chishiya cuddled close to Arisu on the couch, the earlier unease now turned to an easy comfort. Arisu had almost assumed that he had fallen asleep when…
“I might have overreacted…”
Arisu chuckled. “You think?”
“In my defense… I’m drunk.” He said petulantly and snuggled closer.
“That you are.” Arisu hummed and continued to play with his hair.
“You know… Kuina is never going to let you live this down.”
Chishiya went still in his arms. “… oh no.”
The apple themed birthday party she threw for Chishiya two months later was only the beginning.