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By no means had this been their first argument ever, but they had never intentionally said hurtful stuff to each other before. It hadn’t been pleasant, it had hurt, words stabbing their hearts like knives, and it had ended with the couple not even looking at each other. Of course, they hadn’t broken up, both boys knew better than to throw a relationship that had taken that much time and effort to build away so easily.
They now found each other sleeping alone for the first time in months. Akutagawa had been faster at taking their room, so Atsushi was laying on the couch, their calico cat his only company. The white haired boy had stubbornly refused to cry, too angry at his boyfriend to allow himself to shed any tears because of him.
The next morning had been weird. By the time Atsushi woke up, Akutagawa was already gone. Any normal day the dark-haired man would have woken up earlier than him and made coffee for both of them. Today there were traces of someone making coffee, but there was none left for him. It probably shouldn’t have hurt as much as it did, but it made him tear up a bit. Not to worry, though, as anger quickly overcame him and he left in a rush without even thinking about breakfast. He got back home later than usual and saw the other’s shoes at the genkan. The door to their room was closed and the cat was nowhere to be seen, so he threw himself onto the sofa and promptly fell asleep without giving it any more thought.
The following couple of days went by in a similar fashion. No seeing each other, no talking to each other and a confused cat trying to figure out who to sleep with. They had reached Friday, which meant they wouldn’t be able to avoid each other for much longer. Atsushi couldn’t even remember why they had fought anymore, he just wanted to enjoy being with his boyfriend again, but they were both too prideful to apologise first. Even so, the weretiger was trying to think of a way to make up with his boyfriend, as he hadn’t been feeling too hot the past few days since their fight. He just wanted to bask in his partner’s warmth so bad. That morning he had actually been feeling so miserable he had tried to call the mafioso to pick him up despite the current situation, but his call had gone unanswered.
So Atsushi found himself sitting at his desk, trying to at least get some work done before Dazai-san came back from the mission he was on and decided to tease him and distract him just for the sake of it. But not even an hour had gone by, and his state had gotten so much worse he couldn’t even work. The words from whatever he had been trying to write were swimming before his eyes, the edges of his vision were blurry, and his head felt so light he feared it would float away at any moment. This wasn’t an unknown feeling, and he knew what it entailed. He rested his head on his hands and took some deep breaths.
“Kunikida-san” He called, his voice almost a whisper. Said man grew concerned the moment the call reached his ears.
“Atsushi? Are you alright?” Great, now he could feel everyone’s eyes on him.
“I feel faint” He said. Kunikida was quickly by his side, and Tanizaki was standing close by in case something happened. He felt a hand softly rubbing circles on his back, but he didn’t get to see the concerned face the other man made upon feeling the heat radiating from his body.
“Atsushi, I’m going to help you get to the sofa so you can lay down, alright? Think you can make it?” He got a nod in response, so he grabbed the boy by the arm and carefully helped him up and to the sofa. While he got him to lay down he sent Tanizaki to go look for Yosano. Atsushi had his legs up on the sofa, his arm covering his eyes, and he was taking deep, steady breaths. Kunikida was crouching by his side. Yosano, upon her arrival, made him sit up a bit and had him suck on some of Ranpo’s candy. She then ran a short examination on him.
“Other than the fever, do you have any other symptoms? Headache, a sore throat, anything at all?” The boy shook his head.
“I just feel tired and dizzy”
“How long have you felt like this?”
“Since yesterday evening, maybe? I’m not sure” He admitted. Yosano looked just about ready to scold him, but she held back.
“Sounds like you’re just overworked. And probably malnourished, judging from the fact I have barely seen you eat this past few days. You should have stayed home and taken care of yourself” She said getting up. “I’ll get some cold compresses for you, but you should go home. Can’t your boyfriend pick you up?” He silently looked away with a pained expression, so the doctor left without getting an answer and left Kunikida with the boy. She knew he’d talk with the weretiger, as he was fond of him, as much as he tried to hide it.
“Atsushi, did something happen? I don’t think you had that much work to overdo it” As much as Kunikida hated the fact that Atsushi was going out with Akutagawa, he couldn’t bear to see his student so sad just at the mention of the other.
“Ryuu and I had a fight, three days ago. We still haven’t solved it. I tried to call him this morning ‘cause I was feeling really bad, but he didn't pick it up” A couple of tears he had been containing for a while now rolled down his cheeks. “I just want to go back to normal” It was heart-breaking, seeing the usually cheerful kid looking like that. Right then Yosano appeared with the cold compresses. She placed one on Atsushi’s forehead and left the rest on the table before once again leaving silently. Kunikida ruffled his hair lightly and told him to sleep for a bit.
After making sure the boy was asleep he got up and moved to where Kyoka was at her desk, looking worriedly at the boy she considered to be her older brother.
“Kyoka-chan, can I borrow your phone for a bit? I want to make a call” She knew exactly who he was gonna call, and trusted the man enough to lend him her device.
“Thanks” Was the only thing he said before leaving towards the empty meeting room. He scrolled through her contacts until he found one that read ‘Akutagawa-senpai’ and pressed the call button without hesitation. One ring, two rings. He didn’t have to wait long before he heard a voice come through.
“What do you want, Kyoka?” The voice at the other side of the line sounded tired and angry, the same way it had before the mafioso had started going out with Atsushi.
“I don’t know, you tell me. What do you think I want?” Kunikida answered.
“You are the notebook guy from the agency. Why did you call me?” Akutagawa still sounded quite angry, but Kunikida knew that attitude wasn’t going to last much longer.
“Maybe you’d know if you had answered Atsushi’s call this morning instead of ignoring him completely when he needed you. So try to figure it out yourself. Bye”
“Wait!” The younger one interrupted before a very much pissed Kunikida could hang up. “Did something happen to Atsushi? Is he alright!?” That was probably the first time he’d heard the sickly man so close to panicking.
*sight*”This is why you should always pick up your partner’s phone calls, no matter how angry you are at them. Now come pick him up, he just has a fever and misses you dearly” He hung up for real this time. He went back to the main office, gave Kyoka her phone and, after changing the cold compress on Atsushi’s forehead, settled down on the sofa opposite from him, work and schedules be damned.
Not even an hour had gone by when a very worried mafioso appeared at their doorstep. As soon as he located Atsushi he rushed to his side, kneeling by the sofa. He cupped his face in his hands, running his thumbs gently over his cheekbones, and looking at him like he was the most precious thing in the world. Then Kunikida coughed to make his presence known to the other.
“He only has a fever. Seems like he’s overworked and malnourished, but he should be better in a couple of days. Feel free to wake him up and take him home” And with that Kunikida finally went back to work, leaving the couple alone.
“Atsushi” Akutagawa called. The other stirred up instantly, as if perfectly recognising that voice even in his sleep.
“Ryuu!” He said, quickly moving to hug his boyfriend who he had missed so much. He rested his head on the other male’s shoulder and inhaled deeply, taking in his scent for the first time in days. He smelled of the sea and worn down books. To Atsushi, he smelled like home.
“Come on, let’s go home” And without detaching Atsushi from his neck he managed to pick him up, the younger’s legs wrapping around his waist. There was a car waiting for them when they got down.
“Atsushi, you have to let go for the car ride” He felt the other shake his head, soft, white hair tickling his neck. Apparently a sick Atsushi who hadn’t seen his boyfriend in days was a very clingy Atsushi.
“I’ll sit in the middle so you can rest your head on my shoulder, deal?” He asked while running his hand softly over his boyfriend’s back.
“Okay. But only ‘cause being in this position is tiring” He placed his feet on the ground before letting go of the other man and getting into the car, Ryuu right next to him. They had just strapped their seatbelts on and the weretiger was already clinging to his lover’s arm.
The white-haired boy had almost fallen asleep during the ride, so Akutagawa had come to the conclusion that carrying him bridal style into their house would be the most efficient solution to that problem. They settled on the bed, their cat more than happy to have both of it’s owners together. After changing out of their clothes and making sure Atsushi had eaten something to help with his illness they laid on the bed.
“I’ve missed our bed. It’s much more comfortable than the couch” Said the detective, looking extremely comfortable, almost melting into the bed.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have taken the room all for myself like that. Also, for everything I said. I went too far” Apologised the mafioso. Atsushi buried his face on the other’s chest. He released a low growl from the back of his throat, the closest thing to a purr a tiger could manage to do.
“I’m sorry too. I also said some really mean things. Let’s just not fight again, I hate it when you ignore me. I’ve missed you a lot these past few days”
“Yeah” The ravenette answered resting his chin on top of his significant other’s head.
They fell asleep like that and spent their weekend joined by the hip. And if that Monday Atsushi looked happier than ever, nobody said anything. Although maybe Kunikida didn’t think as badly of Akutagawa anymore.