Work Text:
-BZZT BZZT-
Akira groggily rolled over in his bed, shuffling in the dark to grab his phone.
"Who could be texting at this hour...?" He heard Morgana say, drowsily.
As his eyes focused on the displayed time on his smart phone screen, he briefly wondered why all his friends thought it was necessary to text him at three in the morning. Despite being a little annoyed at being woken up, he couldn't help but smile at the displayed name. Of course it was Ryuji.
Ryuji Today at [3:08] AM
sup man
Akira Today at [3:09] AM
uhh, I was sleeping???? like most people do at 3 am... whats up tho?
Ryuji Today at [3:11] AM
oh shit sorry dude mbd;; just wondering if you wanted to hang tomorrow?? I found some of my old games! you got a SMES right?
Akira Today at [3:11] AM
yeah sure. see you tomorrow then?
Akira Today at [3:11] AM
also go to bed ryuji lol
Ryuji Today at [3:12] AM
night, man
Akira Today at [3:12] AM
night dude
With a yawn, Akira set his phone back down and pulled the covers back over him to the best of his ability, since Morgana was weighing down a corner of it. A day of gaming and just hanging out with Ryuji... It'd be a nice break from establishing a route to the treasure for their latest heist and solving requests that Mishima sent from the Phan-site. It's been a while since he's spent some time with Ryuji, just the two of them, as well.
He could feel his cheeks grow a little warm as he remembered the conversation he had with Ryuji at the Monja restaurant the last time they hung out. Just two boys who lost their place in the world, and found a new place beside eachother. It was one thing to feel that way himself, but another thing entirely to hear it from Ryuji's lips. It was around that time that he started to wonder about the nature of their relationship and his own feelings.
Regardless, it was a little nerve wracking to be spending a day, alone, with Ryuji. Just the two of them. In his room.
Akira sighed into his pillow.
It shouldn't've been a big deal. It's not like it's the first time Ryuji's been over, and they've done far more date-like things in the past. Going to the amusement park, spending hours in arcades, badly trying to sing American top 40 hits at karaoke, fishing, racing against eachother at the park...
Being together was just so natural, but recently the thought of being alone with Ryuji made Akira's face heat up and his chest clench.
Ryuji was his best friend, he couldn't afford to risk such a precious friendship over some rampant feelings. He pushed the thoughts down and rolled over to go back to sleep.
---
Akira blearily opened his eyes, before sitting up in bed and letting out a yawn. After texting Ryuji the night before, he slept like a rock. The exhaustion from plowing through the Casino and anxiety and stress of their upcoming risky heist must've finally been catching up to him, he thought as he grabbed for his glasses.
"Mornin'" A familliar voice greeted from across his room. His heart jumped into his chest as he jolted up. Ryuji was here already? What time was it even?
"Good mornin'..." Akira half-yawned. His heart dropped as he saw the time on his phone. It was almost 2 in the afternoon. "Oh shit, Ryuji... I didn't mean to sleep all day... You could've woken me up."
Ryuji looked up from the latest issue of Weekly Jump and shrugged.
"You looked tired, man. I get it." He fiddled with the corner of the page, eyes half-focused on the manga. Some chapter of a series he didn't really keep up with, but he could relate to the dark-hero protagonist, with the whole world scorning his heroic actions.
"Things have been kinda rough lately, huh..." Ryuji sighed, leaning back into the old sofa. Akira looked over at his best friend, his crush, his team mate, and could see the deep exhaustion set in Ryuji's features as well. The kind of exhaustion that a good night of sleep couldn't fix, born from the stress of doing what you feel is right when the entirety of society is against you.
Akira put on his glasses and rolled out of bed, seating himself on the sofa next to his friend. He leaned himself against Ryuji. A few months ago, Ryuji would probably have lightly shoved him off of his shoulder and laughed about Akira being heavy, but now he just let him do it. They were a lot more touchy-feely these days. An arm thrown around his shoulder as he plundered treasure chests, hands lingering when helping him up from being knocked down in battle, knees touching in the train, helping eachother stretch before jogging, just small brushes of skin and familliar affection. It made him wonder if Ryuji felt the same way about him.
Akira looked over at the opened pack of potato sticks and soda set down on a chair, dragged over to be used as a makeshift table. A plastic bag with some more snacks from the nearby 777 mart rest on the floor alongside Ryuji's backpack, opened up with a few manga volumes spilling out and a couple of clunky, retro game cartridges.
"Looks like you made yourself comfortable." Akira teased, reaching over to steal one of the potato sticks.
"Hey, I was waiting downstairs, but the Boss told me to just come on up, that I was disrupting business or somethin'... " Ryuji said. Akira chuckled at him.
"Yeah, that sounds about right. He won't even let me study down there during business hours... It's not like my math homework is gonna scare off the regulars, right?"
"I dunno man, it might be your phantom thief aura slipping out? People think you're gonna rob them at gunpoint for their curry or somethin'."
"Oh, I see... our next targets are the Leblanc customers?" Akira grinned, pushing up his glasses. "... Fine. I'm on curry duty, you mug them for their coffee."
"Dude... I don't even drink coffee though." Ryuji grimaced.
"Just steal their cream and sugar too, and you'll be fine."
"Dork." Ryuji couldn't help but laugh as he reached down into the convenience store bag and pulled out a canned coffee.
"Here, got this for ya. ...I know we're in a cafe, but... I figured sometimes it's nice to not have to make your own..." Ryuji sheepishly rubbed the back of his head as Akira accepted the can with a smile.
"Thanks, Ryuji. Is this fuel for our game day...?" Akira said as he opened the can and took a sip. It was almost cloyingly sweet, far different from the black blended coffee that he drank at Leblanc on a daily basis. Not bad though. Definitely something Ryuji would like.
"Hell yeah, dude!" Ryuji enthusiastically said, shuffling through his bag to pull out a few well-worn looking cartridges. "Check it out, I was cleaning out some old stuff the other day and found 'em! Man, it's been like, what, ten years since I've even touched these?"
Akira recognized a few of the titles from his copy of Gaming Secrets.
"Ahh man, I remember, I was never able to beat this one as a kid! Wanna start with this one? ...And no cheating." Ryuji asked, leaning back into the sofa as he watched Akira busy himself with switching over the A/V jacks from his old dvd player to his SMES.
"...It's not cheating, they're just... hidden features." Akira grinned.
"You're terrible."
"I know."
---
The somewhat dusty attic was filled with the sound of retro chiptune, the clack of buttons and the faint patter of rain against the window. Akira had pulled the thick blanket off his bed and had wrapped it around their shoulders to keep out the chilly winter air. The portable heater was brought closer to the sofa, with two cans of sweet cafe au lait on top, kept nice and warm.
It was comfortable. Ryuji in general was a huge source of comfort. It was easy to forget that every day could be their last, a swift, painful death from any of the myriad Shadows that awaited them in the Metaverse. It was easy to forget that just days from now, if their plan went awry he would be lying dead on the interrogation room floor.
It was easy to forget, but at the same time there was nobody in the world that he'd rather vent all of his fears and anxieties onto than Ryuji himself.
"Ryuji," Akira started, unfocused eyes faced towards the old CRT screen. His mouth felt dry, and he wasn't sure if it was from the hot air coming off of the heater or his own nerves coming back to him.
"Hm?"
"I-... it's nothing, never mind." Akira held his tongue. It was hard to keep his feelings in check, and remember that they had a mission to do. It'd be irresponsible as a leader to show his weakness now, especially at such a critical time.
"Dude, if it's nothing you would've just said it," Ryuji teased, pausing the game and shifting on the sofa to face his best friend. "C'mon, you know you can tell me anything, right...?"
Akira sighed. So much for responsibility. He leveled his eyes with Ryuji's, controller set down in his lap and hands gripping into the blanket
"I'm scared shitless."
Ryuji blinked at him, surprised at the sudden confession, the brave front of the fearless leader of The Phantom Thieves of Hearts crumbling before him. For a moment he was at a loss for words, which was kind of a rarity for him. His lips pulled tight into a complicated, almost sad expression. Of course he was scared. He was basically walking into the lion's den. If he failed, he'd wind up with a bullet in his head.
Ryuji bit his lip. Would it be too gay to give a bro a hug right now...? Ah, whatever. It was just them in the room, and whoever had a problem with it could go screw themselves anyways. Akira was his best friend, and looked like he really needed this. Maybe they both needed this.
The hug was warm and grounding. Akira felt alive, and so real in his arms. Ryuji could feel Akira's hands move around his back, lightly gripping his jacket. Despite all of the crazy ass supernatural justice shit they've gotten themselves wrapped up in, they were still just high schoolers. High schoolers with a weight far too heavy to carry alone placed on their shoulders. Together, in the dusty attic of Leblanc, they weren't Skull and Joker. They were just be Akira and Ryuji.
"Y'know what, dude...? I am too." Ryuji rest his forehead on Akira's shoulders, hoping he wouldn't notice the light, embarassed flush on his cheeks. It was easier to speak his mind when he wasn't looking Akira in the face. "Like... if anything happened, I don't know what I'd do without you." He could feel Akira's arms tighten around him.
"Same." Akira said quietly into Ryuji's shoulder.
They stayed like that for a while, silently holding eachother. The weight of their mission didn't feel as heavy when they carried it together.
-----
Between the soft patter of rain from outside and the chiptune music coming from their paused game, neither of them noticed the tapping sound of cat paws on hard wood.
"Ohoh? Akira, Ryuuuji~ I didn't know you guys were this close!" At the sound of Morgana's voice, both boys' eyes widened and they quickly backed off from eachother.
"Morgana-! It's not like-" Ryuji defensively started, a full flush rising to his cheeks.
"Didn't mean to interrupt you guys~ I'll be downstairs with the Boss if you need me!" Morgana cut him off, turning to go back downstairs. On his way out of the room, he looked back at them and leered. "Don't have too much fun, the store's still open y'know~" He teased.
"Wha-- I said it's not like that, you damn cat-!!"
"Nyahaha~!!" Morgana chuckled as he ran down the stairs, leaving both boys red-faced and in stunned silence.
"He-... He doesn't really think we're... fuck." Ryuji swore.
"He just saw us hugging... I'm pretty sure he doesn't think we're fucking from just that." Akira's response was flat, but Ryuji could see the mirth in his eyes. He was enjoying this.
"Oh my god, you know that's not what I meant... I hate you." Ryuji groaned.
"Love you, too." Akira smiled at his friend, honest, and not a shred of doubt in his mind. Ryuji's eyes widened before he turned his head away, but Akira could see his red ears.
"I-idiot... You can't just say that outta nowhere..." Ryuji mumbled, before pausing, his next words barely audible "...Same, though. Love you too, bro."