Chapter Text
upon arriving at the directors office out of breath, atsushi knocks twice before calling out. a response of “come in,” is heard, so he gently opens the door, steps inside, and closes it behind him. mori is seated behind a large desk, and akutagawa remains waiting in front of him. “sorry for being late,” atsushi apologizes, although it’s more of an apology towards akutagawa, who glares at him. “no problem, you just woke up after all.” mori smiles.
atsushi takes a seat, but a stubborn akutagawa stands beside him, making the weretiger sweat. “so, how was the mission?” mori asks, amused. “a-ah!” atsushi bolts up. “to be honest i’m not even sure we carried out the original mission correctly..” he thinks back to wiring the fuses and escaping without knowing if they actually exploded the vehicles.
“that’s quite alright, i think the real aim of the mission was achieved. akutagawa-kun, would you like to finish the report?” akutagawa clears his throat. “we wired the vehicles with fuses before we were spotted and were forced to engage in combat. however, the both of us were injured due to the enemies’ ability, which hindered the use of my rashoumon and the weretiger’s regeneration. the weretiger got us back safely.”
mori nods along, “much appreciated. you’re free to go back to your stations, and you’ll be dismissed from work once a full report is written. thank you for your time.” atsushi stands up and bows, before turning and jogging after a very quick-paced akutagawa.
the two of them work on the paperwork together at their desks. “mission rank a..” atsushi mumbles to himself, circling that option; “double mission... atsushi nakajima and ryuunosuke akutagawa.. hey, akutagawa, i need your signature real quick.” akutagawa tenses at the mention of his name, but wordlessly picks up a pen and signs below atsushi’s signature.
“thanks!” atsushi hums, before picking up the pen and starting a summary of the mission.
about forty minutes later, the paperwork is in order; atsushi having done a few pages of basic information and akutagawa having done the extensive research of the company they handled, plus a short yet detailed report. atsushi yawns and stretches his arms like a cat. “thanks~ i’ll submit the paperwork akutagawa, you go on ahead.”
akutagawa does just that.
fifteen minutes later, atsushi steps through the doorway and into their shared living space, letting out a soft “i’m back.” there’s a grunt of acknowledgement from akutagawa, who is drinking tea in the living room. he’s taken off his black cape and hung it on the wall hook, where atsushi proceeds to hang his jacket. akutagawa is now in a plain white long-sleeve shirt (he only wears long-sleeves as to hide his thin, sickly figure) and he sits on the far side of the couch, as if waiting for atsushi to come sit down beside him.
atsushi keeps his space from akutagawa; although the two of them are partners, he’s afraid to get too close and he’s not quite sure why. it was common by this point- the two of them come home each day and sit on the opposite sides of the couch. “what should i make for dinner?” atsushi asks in a soft voice, almost to himself. contrary to popular belief, the two of them almost never argued at their dorm room, so to speak. after a long day of arguing and yelling and fighting, they didn’t have the energy or the desire to raise their voices anywhere above a whisper.
“anything simple is fine, i want to get some sleep soon.” akutagawa responds, and atsushi stands up with a silent nod and heads to the kitchen. “noodles then,” he says, before setting out water to boil and rummaging through the cupboards.
not even ten minutes later, the two of them are seated on their respective sides of the couch (they don’t have a dining table due to the limited amount of space); eating their noodles in silence. it’s an unspoken rule that they don’t make small talk- talking to each other when unnecessary is upsetting to them rather than comfortable. upon finishing, their exchange is “was it alright?” “yes.” then it’s almost always off to bed immediately- after all, their lifestyle had become especially demanding ever since the two organizations merged.
atsushi changes clothes and tucks himself into bed, only the rustling on the other side of the room providing him belief that akutagawa does the same. the lights go off shortly after; no ‘goodnight’ following. just empty, dark silence.
atsushi doesn’t particularly hate their arrangement, although he did in the beginning. for the first two weeks he and akutagawa would bicker nonstop- which they quickly grew sick and tired of and stopped. akutagawa would barely be home in general, he went through a phase where he would only be home to sleep from late night until early morning. how or where he kept busy during the other time, atsushi didn’t know. it didn’t matter though- that stopped quickly as well.
the silver-haired man doesn’t really know akutagawa’s thoughts on their arrangement other than the initial one- and he’s probably outgrown it, considering how he doesn’t seem to mind atsushi’s presence anymore. and although akutagawa doesn’t cook, he does do the housework; which is probably why the two of them can co-exist so surprisingly well.
tonight atsushi can’t sleep. twenty minutes spent awake turn into thirty, which turn into an hour. he gets up finally, thinking akutagawa must be asleep, and heads to the patio.
the breeze is cool and the stars are bright. atsushi sits down on the bench and closes his eyes for a moment. his hair flows in the wind and he sighs. “what are you doing out here?” atsushi’s eyes pop open and he scrambles back, staring open-mouthed at his partner on the opposite side of the bench. “i didn’t hear you get here?!”
akutagawa states matter-of-factly, “well yes, since i’m quiet, unlike you. why are you here?” atsushi slumps into his seat. “i couldn’t sleep. what about you?” “now i can’t sleep either.”
atsushi blinks. “sorry.” there’s a silence, not uncomfortable, but not comfortable either. “do you hate this arrangement?” atsushi blurts without thinking. ‘what the hell are you saying?! shut up!’ he thinks to himself, but akutagawa interrupts him. “no, not particularly.” atsushi sits up and looks at him. “really?”
“must i repeat myself?” akutagawa grumbles. “i don’t mind this arrangement or you.” atsushi stares at akutagawa, eyes wide. when the dark haired man notices, he quickly adds in, “you’re not a terrible partner, is what i meant. don’t go getting ideas.” he stands up and heads back shortly after, leaving atsushi to his own thoughts.
‘did akutagawa come outside just to talk to me? no, he wouldn’t. but he left so quickly? and he said he didn’t mind me.’ atsushi shakes the thoughts out of his head and goes back inside, closing the door behind him and slipping into bed. he turns to face akutagawa’s bed, staring at the silhouette of the sleeping man on the other side of the room. he closes his eyes.
...“jinko. jinko. jinko!” atsushi slowly opens his eyes, reeling backwards upon the sight of akutagawa. “woah?!” akutagawa stands up and sighs in annoyance. “you could at least wake up on time.” atsushi checks the clock. “ah.. it’s 9 o’clock already, you’re going to be late too..” akutagawa huffs, turning away; “i woke up much earlier than you anyway.”
atsushi’s mind swirls with thoughts again. ‘why didn’t he wake me up earlier? or leave without me? he knows we’ll both be in trouble for being late...’ “alright...?” atsushi mumbles, “i’ll get dressed, you can go on without me if you want.”
twenty minutes later, they arrive at the armed port agency and check in for being late. the rest of the day consists of paperwork- lots and lots of paperwork one after another. atsushi is half asleep as he fills in each line and checks each box. “wow atsushi,” kenji muses, “you seem like you need a cup of coffee.” “yeah..” atsushi mumbles, eyelids drooping.
BAM! atsushi jolts up at the noise of something being slammed down on his desk. “i’m up, i’m up!” but it was only akutagawa, with a cup of coffee. atsushi looks up at him curiously.
“stop falling asleep, jinko. you’ll get us in even further trouble.”
he leaves before atsushi can even thank him for the coffee. shrugging, he picks up the coffee and puts the rim to his lips for a taste. it’s sweet.