Chapter Text
work finished early for that day, atsushi picks up his coffee; reminding him of the black-haired man that had impolitely set the cup on his desk. ‘where is akutagawa?’ he wonders, stopping by akutagawa’s cubicle to peek in on him.
“do you need something?” an irritable voice sounds out from behind him, and he turns around to see akutagawa standing behind him. “o-oh, i just wanted to ask if you were finished and ready to go home?”
akutagawa focuses his bottomless abyss-like eyes on something to his right. “unfortunately, i still have some documents to prepare for our next mission tomorrow; so i’ll be here a while. you may go on ahead if you like.” atsushi offers to help, but akutagawa denies his request, saying he wouldn’t be of much assistance.
“alright, i’ll see you later.”
twenty minutes later, atsushi is removing his coat and placing a box of take-out on the counter. he considers eating now but decides to wait for akutagawa. after showering, removing his binder, and changing into some (slightly big?) clothes, he curls up on the couch and turns on the tv; snuggling his head comfortably into his arms.
the weretiger blinks his eyes open to the quiet voices from the tv, and the unmistakable sound of akutagawa returning home. he yawns sleepily and the two of them exchange a quiet “good evening.” “i got takeout, if you’d like to have some now?” atsushi puts in, and akutagawa mumbles an “alright,” before focusing his stare on atsushi.
after a few moments of silence, akutagawa makes eye contact and asks, “is that my shirt?
atsushi looks down and finally notices that the large t-shirt he has on right now is in fact; akutagawa’s. “oh shit. i’m sorry, i didn’t realize—”
“i don’t particularly care,” akutagawa interrupts, striding to the counter and unboxing the takeout before seeing that atsushi’s portion was still there. “did you wait for me to return?”
“yeah, i planned to eat with you,” atsushi responds, his ears turning red once he realizes how stupid and embarrassing that sounds out loud. akutagawa pays no mind and serves the two of them.
“as you wish.”
atsushi flops on his bed, breathing deeply and savoring the light ache in his legs. akutagawa’s shirt smells slightly like... detergent and coconut. atsushi blinks sleepily and wonders if akutagawa smells like coconut too.
“jinko,” comes a soft voice from the other side of the room. atsushi instinctively rolls over to see the softly illuminated silhouette of akutagawa in his bed. “hmm?”
“make sure you get enough sleep,” the dark-haired man responds, his voice low and a little hushed. “we have a similar mission to the last one tomorrow. we cannot perform that poorly again.”
atsushi shudders at the memory of their last mission. it was terrible, and he definitely didn’t want to recall it; yet images from that day kept flooding through his mind. he remembered akutagawa getting stabbed through the torso. he remembered putting the older man on his back and sprinting back to the armed port agency, and collapsing once he was there. he’s starting to think he wants to go to sleep and not wake up to the horror that is tomorrow.
“yeah. we can’t,” atsushi whispers, though mostly to himself. he couldn’t let them get put in such danger again. he couldn’t let akutagawa...-
‘hold on. what is this about akutagawa?’ atsushi protests internally. ‘he’s a capable adult, certainly more than me. if anyone were to die, it would be me, not him. i don’t need to worry over him.’
‘yeah.. akutagawa’s fine, right?’
atsushi is up at an inhuman hour the next morning, slipping out of bed and getting dressed while the sky is still dark. he takes the risk of checking on akutagawa (okay okay, perhaps he is a little curious to see what the man looks like when he’s asleep) and he finds himself blushing at the thought that akutagawa looks surprisingly harmless and gentle when he’s asleep.
he leaves the house soon after, arriving at the agency only ten minutes later. he stares at the darkened building, pulling a set of keys out of his pocket and unlocking the front doors. “i’m the first one here, huh. not surprising, it’s so early in the morning..” atsushi speaks to himself, which makes him feel a little more comfortable all alone in the dark place.
he manages to flip on the light switch and make his way over to his cubicle, and he sits down to start his share of the paperwork. an hour later he is finished, and he makes himself comfortable for a short nap.
a little while later he is woken due to the talking of employees. he grumbles as he stands up- were people here already? an energetic dazai hops over to him. “hey hey atsushi-kun~ you’re early i see! i thought your shift begins at 8?”
“it does,” the weretiger yawns. “it’s around 7 now..? akutagawa should be heading to work soon..”
dazai’s sneaky smile widens. “akutagawa, hmmm?” atsushi looks away, “what’s that supposed to mean??” dazai blinks, feigning innocence. “ooohh nothing.. you two just seem to be closer recently..”
“we’re partners, dazai-san,” atsushi sighs. “of course we need to be closer or else every mission we go on is as good as failed. you know how we used to be.” dazai nods along playfully before narrowing his eyes in mischief. “don’t you guys have that rank a mission today?”
atsushi cringes at the reminder. “yeah.. we do. i think it’s even harder than the last one.” “ohh, well take care! we can’t have you dying on us, y’know?” dazai giggles before running off to who knows where. amused, atsushi returns to his cubicle and sees akutagawa enter the building out of the corner of his eye. the man walks to his workspace and returns, pushing his papers onto atsushi’s desk to read through.
“an undercover investigation..?” atsushi mumbles to himself. his eyes widen the further he reads. ‘we’ll be going undercover to catch a notorious ability user at a club they own?’ “this is-!”
“you’re going to ask why ranpo-san or the detective unit didn’t receive this case, right? or maybe even the police?” akutagawa says, coughing quietly into his hand. atsushi looks at him for answers. “it’s quite simple. ranpo-san is unwilling to go there and the detective unit is preoccupied with another case. and frankly, no one’s safety would be able to be guaranteed whatsoever unless dazai-san is present.”
“e-even so, why us specifically?” atsushi says, eyebrows furrowing to display his panic. “chuuya-san, tanizaki-san, or someone else would be a lot better fit for this than us.”
“don’t you get it, jinko?” akutagawa says, eyes narrowing. “this is quite like a sequel to our last mission. mori-san wants us specifically to complete tough missions together.”
atsushi gulps. “and... if we fail this mission, we’re dead.” he says gravely, that being what he’s taken away from the synopsis. akutagawa’s face becomes even more serious. “i’m not going to let anyone die.”
atsushi looks at akutagawa, and responds with a rather shaky “okay.”