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Atsushi stared out at the broad field before him. He relaxed against the base of a tall tree that cast long shadows on the grass. His sun-kissed skin was warm in the summer air, the faintest freckles appearing on his face, dotting his nose and under his left eye. A contented breath left his nose as he drank in the sugary juice he had brought with him outside.
Atsushi was pulled back to reality as his phone began to ring. The caller I.D. sent warmth through his veins and he hurried to answer.
“Ryunosuke?” he asked, hoping nothing had gone wrong with their colleagues.
“Since when do you call me by my first name?” the voice came from the other end. Despite knowing that Ryunosuke was in the house just a few yards from where Atsushi was in the field, somehow he felt so far away. It had felt like that for months like no matter how close Ryunosuke was he always seemed out of reach.
“It’s about time,” Atsushi answered with certainty in his voice.
“I suppose,” Ryunsouke said, waiting a moment to continue. “Come back to the house. There’s something I want to do with you.”
Atsushi felt his stomach flip at the unfamiliar tone in his partner’s voice, but before he could say anything Ryunosuke had already ended the call.
“Nobody’s home,” Ryunosuke announced in his hoarse voice as Atsushi stepped into the safehouse a selected group of Agency and Mafia members were using for a mission. Atsushi looked up at him, the straw of the juice he was still drinking between his teeth, and locked eyes with his partner.
“Just me and you-”
“You and me alone.”
As if sharing one mind, Atsushi set his glass on the table in the entryway and followed Ryunosuke down the hall and up the ladder to the dusty attic. Like kids, they settled on the floor. It smelled of must as they stared at each other, eyes ablaze and searching; searching for what the other was thinking.
Suddenly, Ryunosuke became rather timid. He moved just half an inch away from the weretiger who stared at him with hunger in his eyes, gold enveloping the violet of his irises and pupils slit like a cat.
Atsushi’s hands trembled in the dark, finding Ryunosuke’s shoulders and holding him firmly.
“Are you sure?” Ryunosuke asked, remaining in place. Atsushi’s eyes, which seemed to glow in the moonlight, landed on him. A steady gaze settled between them as Atsushi whispered once more, voice sweet and liquid smooth as it drew Ryunosuke in even deeper.
“...yes,” Atsushi breathed out, barely audible in the muggy room.
Ryunosuke held one of his long, delicate fingers over Atsushi’s mouth. “Don’t tell Dazai,” he instructed, voice quieter than it had ever been before, but still with a sturdy authority that left Atsushi nodding in obedience.
Ryunosuke slipped out of his black coat, letting the iconic wielder of Rashomon drop to the floor. The cloth pooled around his feet as Atsushi grabbed his lacy collar, pulling him in close.
Atsushi puffed out a hot breath against Ryunosuke’s mouth, pausing there as a curious look overcame both of their faces. Eyes wide and mouths left agape, waiting, wanting. Atsushi dragged a gloved hand up Ryunosuke's neck, settling it at the base of his head. Ryunosuke let his eyes flutter closed in anticipation. He was perfectly still. If Atsushi hadn’t known better he would think of the display as some sort of submission. The thought alone made his heart race.
The tension that had been growing between the two suddenly culminated in a childish display of rushed affection. Time seemed to slow as Ryunosuke thought of the way everything seemed to multiply ten-fold in the last three days. Being forced into a shared space with the weretiger only let his feelings intensify, showing themselves through the long shared gazes across the room during mission debriefings or the glances and accidental touches. The pain of the past, promises to kill, and vampires and fear all forgotten in the heat of the moment, racing hearts becoming one as Atsushi pressed himself against Ryunosuke’s chest.
Finally, Atsushi’s fruit punch lips were on his. The taste of the juice he had been enjoying still lingered on his tongue; sweeter than any fruit could ever dream of being. The saccharine desire that resided deep within Ryunosuke cried out for more so he did his best to deepen the kiss despite his lack of experience. He gripped Atsushi’s shoulder, sliding one of the straps of his black suspenders down.
Atsushi pulled back, panting breaths through his kiss-red lips, eyes blown wide as he stared at Ryunosuke, flicking from his own hooded eyes back to his lips. “What if someone finds out?” he asked, breathless.
“Don’t think about that now,” Ryunosuke rasped, hands trailing up Atsushi’s arms, the ruffles of his sleeves tickling Atsushi’s neck as he ghosted his fingers over his pulse point. “I’m tired of always chasing after you.”
The tiger in Atsushi stirred, settling as heat in his belly. Chase. Isn’t that what it’s always been? A prolonged game of hide-and-seek; always tracking the other down no matter the situation. He let his pupils return to that of a human, deep and dilated. No longer utilizing the tiger's enhanced vision, he surrendered himself completely to his trust in the man who once wanted him dead.
Though weretigers still do what weretigers do. Atsushi pounced, arms around Ryunosuke as they both fell to the floor, a soft white sheet wrapping around his ankle and slipping from one of the dusty tables to land over them. Atsushi held himself above Ryunosuke, his hands on either side of his head and legs apart. He looked ethereal with the white cloth lowering over his figure, the pale sunlight filtering through the slitted window shining through the sheet, causing it to look as if it were glowing around him.
You’re beautiful, Ryunosuke wanted to say but that would be rather out of character for him. Instead, he wrapped his arms around Atsushi’s neck, pulling him down until their lips could connect once more.
Atsushi stopped, millimeters away from Ryunosuke’s open lips. He placed a gentle hand on the other’s chest. “I don’t want this to just be some game,” he whispered, breath hot on Ryunosuke’s lips.
“You know I think about you all the time,” Ryunosuke said, grip tightening around Atsushi. The words of fondness were foreign in his mouth, a feeling unlike any he was used to but it was nice. He wanted to speak to the weretiger like that more often. “You have an entire monopoly over my mind, Weretiger.”
The floorboards creaked as Atsushi lowered himself down, impossibly slow until he was pressing a featherweight touch against Ryunosuke’s lips who was pliant as Atsushi kissed him gently, trying different angles, moving his lips this way and that as he felt to see what Ryunosuke liked most. The sheet above them shifted with each steady movement, creating a sort of barrier between them and the rest of the world.
Lost in the feeling, Atsushi let his thoughts drift. Memories of that day on the ship flooded his mind, causing the slightest shift in the pressure of his lips. He remembered berating himself after the incident, wishing he didn’t care so much, wishing it didn’t bother him as much as it did, not understanding the why of it all. His focus flowed to when he saw Ryunosuke again after the virus left his body; weak and frail, but in Atsushi’s mind he had never seemed stronger than that moment and finally Atsushi had realized. He realized why his heart and mind seemed so entangled after it all. A terrifying realization, but a necessary one.
Now, months later, here they were. At a beautiful summer home in the countryside, the alliance between their organizations was stronger than ever. A group of members from each being sent to stay here as they completed a task of diplomacy outside of their home city. It felt unreal, the summer heat leaving Atsushi’s mind hazy.
He inhaled a deep breath through his nose, taking in the familiar scent of the man beneath him, the one he smelled when he wore Rashomon during their battles yet now it was stronger. He realized it wasn’t the scent of the black beast but rather Ryunosuke himself.
Atsushi was brought back to reality by Ryunosuke slipping his other suspender off and running his hands firmly against his sides. He pulled away, chest heaving as he struggled to regain his lost breath. Atsushi stared at the dusting of red on his partner’s cheeks, the way his swollen lips glistened. He wanted to burn the sight into his mind, etch it into his very being.
The air was hot between them, the tension that had grown over the past year melting away in one afternoon. It had started to get hard to breathe beneath the sheet that had fallen over them, but neither wanted to end this moment. They were safe from everyone and everything else in the dusty attic, surrounded by old furniture and forgotten children’s toys left by the family who owned the house years ago.
Atsushi leaned in once more to press warm lips to Ryunosuke’s jaw. Heavy breaths were heaved beneath him as Atsushi trailed his lips down. He loosened the jabot around Ryunosuke’s neck, running a gloved hand over the spot the sword hit. He left a soft kiss on the thin line of raised flesh, smirking when he heard Ryunosuke’s breath hitch.
Atsushi wanted to say something; apologize again for everything that happened, for not realizing the implication of that moment. But as he moved to speak, Ryunosuke placed a comforting hand on his hair and held him close.
“There’s nothing left to say,” he whispered into Atsushi’s ear. The words sent a whole new wave of warmth through his body. “It’s time to leave the past behind us.”
There was a certain weight behind the statement that left Atsushi breathless. He removed his lips from Ryunosuke’s neck to stare down at him. Ryu wore a soft smile, the one Atsushi had only seen once before. It was different now though. It still evoked a fearful feeling in him, but on second consideration, wasn’t the feeling more like…anticipation? Excitement for what was to come, not dread or grief for what had been.
Atsushi returned the smile, eyes loving and fond. “I think you’re right,” he muttered, leaning in once more to get yet another kiss. He had never considered himself to be a greedy person but perhaps just for this one thing, it would be okay.
He paused, hovering tentatively over Ryunosuke, lips barely ghosting over each other. The sound of footsteps and voices came muffled from below them. The two men shot each other worried glances as the footsteps grew louder and their names were called out.
Without even a second thought, Ryunosuke pushed Atsushi off of him, catching him with Rashomon before he could alert everyone to their presence by crashing to the floor.
“What was that for!?” Atsushi hissed but Ryunosuke didn’t listen. Instead, he opened the window. It took some effort as it seemed to not have been opened in years. He turned back to Atsushi who had regained his balance and begun nervously pulling his suspenders back up. The sight of the weretiger so flustered, trying to fix the mess that had been made of him caused a barely visible smirk to spread on Ryunosuke’s face.
Tendrils of Rashomon reached out to encircle Atsushi whose head snapped up in confusion. Ryunsoke looked away and stepped onto the windowsill, successfully using his ability to lift the both of them onto the roof of the house right as they heard the ladder to the attic being lowered. He sent one last tendril to shut the window and finally relaxed.
Ryunosuke faced Atsushi who sat rigidly beside him. “Wow,” he breathed out, taking in the weretiger’s appearance now that they were finally in clear lighting.
“...what?”
“Your freckles. I didn’t notice them before,” Ryunosuke said, eyes focused intently on Atsushi.
“Oh. Yeah, that happens in the summer. They’ll go away soon, though. I promise,” Atsushi admitted, bringing his hand up to lightly cover the sun-kissed spots on his face. He had always felt a little insecure about them, though he was never sure why. Perhaps it was since the freckles were just another way his body changed without his control, a reminder of how it felt when he couldn't control the tiger. It was silly, he knew, but the feeling still lingered each time he gained or lost weight or noticed a different, non-purposeful change in his body.
Ryunosuke covered Atsushi’s hand with his own, lowering it away from his face. They’re beautiful, he wanted to say again. So human and so alive.
“You think so?” Atsushi asked.
“Hm?”
“You really like them?” So he had spoken his thoughts aloud after all. Well, it was too late to save his reputation now, and maybe, just maybe, he didn’t want to.
“I do,” Ryunosuke said, voice monotone and definitive. The smile that spread over Atsushi’s face was truly a sight to behold.
“Maybe I should spend more time in the sun then,” Atsushi suggested, voice thick with joy.
“Good because we are not going down for a while,” Ryunsouke informed him, earning a soft chuckle from the weretiger.
They ended up watching the sunset from the roof. Atsushi had, at some point, drifted off with his head in Ryunosuke’s lap as he mindlessly traced the freckles painting the weretiger’s face. If anyone had seen them up there, well, then they would have to do some explaining, but Ryunosuke would sooner face Dazai than disturb his weretiger’s peaceful rest.
The summer air was easy on his lungs as Ryunosuke continued to sit high above the rest of the world around them. It smelled of sweet fruit and the familiar scent of the Earth, filling him with a sort of childish joy as if he and Atsushi were just two kids hiding to stay out longer after the end of their playdate. It was a new start for both of them and Ryunosuke was determined to give Atsushi everything he needed.
“I guess it’s time that I tell you the truth,” Ryunosuke whispered to the sleeping figure on his lap. His next words were carried away on the breeze, leaving him free of the past and ready for the next chapter of his and Atsushi’s story.