Itachi fished a set of keys out of his pocket as he ascended the final steps of his apartment building. Living six floors up in a building with no elevator could be exhausting, but at least it deterred robbers and gave him a nice ass from all that stair climbing. He slowly walked down the hall towards his apartment, wrinkling his nose at the piles of trash stacked up by his neighbor's door. Kami, how hard was it to take out your own trash to the dumpster? Itachi chose to brush these thoughts away when he reached his door and unlocked it, stepping inside the apartment and locking the door behind him.
His apartment was by no means luxurious. All the furniture (what little there was) had been bought secondhand, either from a thrift store or yard sale. Most of the dishes and decorations were used as well, and there wasn't a single item of food in the kitchen that hadn't been bought with a coupon. The cabinets were full of ramen and beans, and the fridge was more empty than full by this point. Itachi was the definition of poor college kid, that was certain.
It hadn't always been this way, however. Three years ago he'd been a rich 18-year-old from a prominent family, attending college to get a business degree before taking over the Uchiha investment firm. It had been the role he'd been trained for since his birth, the culmination of years of private tutoring and sitting in on his father's business meetings, and nothing could deter him from this path. At least, that was what he and his parents had thought when they dropped off Itachi in front of his dorm a few days before the semester started and left him to unpack. None of them had factored in Itachi's roommate.
The man was named Kisame Hoshigaki. He was big, he was blue, and he was never without a smile. He was the first person in his family to attend college, and was bound and determined to make the most out of his experience. Itachi somehow got suckered into going to on-campus events like basketball games or film club showings, and to his surprise found that he actually liked trying things outside of his normal area of expertise. He'd started jogging and going to see films without Kisame, and to his surprise found the events enjoyable but lacking in something. It was at this point that Itachi was forced to confront a major crush he'd formed on the man who had managed to become his best friend.
To his shock, these feelings were reciprocated in the spring when Kisame asked him out on Valentine's Day. Itachi was ecstatic on the inside, but outwardly managed to give an affirmative answer without jumping around or squealing in glee. Their relationship had persisted with little trouble through their sophomore year and was marked by numerous happy events and a deep emotional connection, but during his junior year trouble happened.
Deep down, Itachi had always wanted to be a literature teacher. He loved reading, he loved discussing books, and he even enjoyed tutoring Sasuke when his brother had trouble in class. With Kisame's encouragement he'd chosen to double major in economics and English, and then in his junior year made the choice to drop the economics major altogether. At the end of that semester he was summoned to his parents' estate, and he had a feeling it would end badly.
His suspicions were confirmed almost as soon as he stepped inside the house. Fugaku and Mikoto Uchiha summoned their son to the drawing room and began a conversation about their son's choices in college. They were glad that he was making connections, but really he should give up the film club and focus on building connections with people in the business sector instead. They'd been fine with him taking English classes on the side, but dropping his economics degree in favor of such a lowly position as English teacher was out of the question. And on that note, they'd been fine with Itachi's "questionable fling" with Kisame, but it was really time to break off that relationship and pick a more lucrative partner to settle down with.
Itachi had endured all of this in complete silence, but upon hearing their demands concerning Kisame outright refused. The parents then informed Itachi that, if he would not comply with the set of rules they'd established for him, then they would take away every cent of funding from his schooling and lifestyle, and he would never see another penny from them until he straightened up his act and came back to their business. Itachi stormed out of the house without looking back.
Shortly thereafter, a tearful Itachi explained to Kisame what had happened. Kisame was nothing but supportive, and took this new turn of events as a challenge to their ingenuity. "Come on," he'd said, "we're not the first people to get thrown out on our asses with nothing. We'll work it out."
And they had. They spent the rest of the semester working part-time to save up enough money for an apartment over the summer, and were lucky enough to find their current apartment shortly before school let out. They'd both had to take out loans for tuition their senior year while working, but it was worth not being under the thumb of Itachi's parents. And in a way, Itachi liked his new life.
He loved the chipped plates in the cupboard that didn't match and had been scavenged from various yard sales. He loved their too-squishy couch that was so small they couldn't sit on it without being pressed right against each other. He even loved their somewhat lumpy bed, because it was theirs and theirs alone.
The Uchiha wandered deeper into the apartment, smiling when he heard the soft sound of Kisame's breathing coming from the bedroom. The shark had been at work all day, and Itachi himself had just gotten off. Today was Saturday; tomorrow was the only day off that Kisame and Itachi shared. They'd go grocery shopping and tidy up the house a bit before sitting on the couch and eating Chinese for a nice date night. But for now…
Itachi slowly stripped down to his boxers at the edge of the bed before crawling in under the sheets. Kisame stirred and rolled over halfway on top of Itachi, making the Uchiha chuckle. "Hey you," he whispered, pressing a kiss to Kisame's temple.
The shark hummed softly and snuggled closer to Itachi's smaller frame. "Hey angel," he mumbled. "How's work?"
"It was fine," Itachi whispered. "And you?"
"Boss was an asshole. Think I'm gonna punch him one of these days."
Itachi rolled his eyes; Kisame had been threatening to punch his boss every day for a year now and had yet to follow through. "I was thinking about our date night tomorrow-"
"Oh yeah!" Suddenly Kisame was slightly more awake. He scooted across the bed to the nightstand on his side and extracted something from the drawer. Seconds later Itachi was sitting up as a brown bag was deposited into his lap. "Go ahead and open it," Kisame urged with a yawn, propping himself up on one elbow to watch his lover.
Itachi slowly undid the string on the paper and unwrapped the package. His eyes widened as he saw what was inside. "Kisame…"
"Happy birthday angel," the shark said with a grin.
Kisame had gotten him a first edition copy of Great Expectations. It must have cost at least a month's pay, never mind how much time and energy the shark had spent looking for the book in the first place. "This is wonderful," Itachi whispered in awe. "Thank you so much."
"Well an English teacher ought to have at least one rare book, even if it is secondhand," Kisame stated with a grin. "Hope you enjoyed the surprise."
Itachi quickly locked lips with the shark, eager to show his boyfriend exactly how much he'd enjoyed his little surprise. However, twin yawns from both Kisame and himself convinced him that sleep was a much better option at this point. Carefully he set the book on his own nightstand before shutting off his lamp and snuggling down into the bed. Moments later, Kisame was spooning him. "Go back to sleep," he whispered, moving back to press his body completely against the larger male.
"M'kay," Kisame assented as he drifted off, still using Itachi as a pillow.
The weasel smiled and reached a hand behind him, beginning to gently untangle Kisame's perpetually messy locks. At times like this, he felt that life was truly good. So what if they were in a dingy apartment thirty minutes away from campus. So what if the most valuable thing they owned was a junky car older than they were. So what if they had to work 10 hour days and still would be paying off their loans into their fifties.
Kisame and Itachi had each other. And when all you have is love, being with your lover is more than good enough.