It has been a few weeks since Akihito had both his first instant heat and his first shared heat in the secure heat room of Sion and while nothing has really changed, Akihito knows that nothing is the same.
For instance, his relationship with Asami is different. Or at least it feels different. At the beginning of their so-called relationship, Akihito was mostly at odds with Asami. After all their relationship wasn't built on equal footing. Akihito was always ready for a fight with Asami, quick with snappy comments and condescending eye rolls before ultimately submitting to Asami's terrible charm and addictive touch. Back then, Akihito kept waiting for Asami to get bored of him and move on; to find some other poor soul for the alpha to prey on, maybe one that would be more receptive to his attention and finally leave Akihito in the dust.
But Asami didn't.
He kept coming back into Akihito's life and messing with everything; his job, his friends, his perception of how the world really worked, and how there's no true good or bad, cops can be just as dirty as the criminals they catch and gangsters can be...well not upstanding citizens but at least decent company.
And then he got swept up in the petty fight between Asami's past and Fei Long's ego in Hong Kong only for Akihito to realize that his feelings for the yakuza alpha were deeper and far more overwhelming than he ever thought possible. When he kept asking (begging) Fei Long to let him go back home to Japan, it wasn't to his studio apartment that he was picturing. It was the warm comfort of Asami's arms around him as they slept, after a couple of rounds of sex which made Asami strangely tender as if to shield him from the outside world that Akihito was really craving to return to.
Even admitting that to himself makes Akihito internally cringe, leaving a sour taste on the back of his tongue which is why he'll never say that aloud unless he wants to die of embarrassment. However, his heat seems to have awakened or enhanced whatever lingering desires that hide in his subconscious to come out into the open, bubbling under his skin and makes him ache for the alpha, even when he is sitting right next to him.
Perhaps they're still under the effects of the heat and Asami's tenderness is an aftershock of sweet kisses and soft smiles. It would certainly explain Akihito's endless desire for anything and everything that is Alpha Asami Ryuichi. His scent, his presence, Akihito wants it all. He only went a mere week of No Sex after his heat before he was (and he hates to say it) begging for Asami's cock when the alpha finally made it home late one night.
A few teasing words in the hallway led to a hard squeeze on the back of his still tender neck, sending delightful stinging sensations that burned their way down to Akihito's groin which led to Akihito to look up at Asami through his eyelashes as he silently asked for a kiss which Asami was very happy to give. That kiss became kisses which melted into hot, breathless, open mouth against wet mouth as Asami pressed Akihito to the wall. That quickly turned into a messy blow job in the genkan that then escalated to a steamy, hard fuck with Akihito's face pressed against the front door and Asami leaving new bruises on Akihito's hips and neck as he sank his teeth into the meat of Akihito's shoulder which caused the omega to see stars behind his eyes as he came with a shout.
Thankfully, Asami doesn't knot Akihito in the genkan (this time) as they stumble back to the bedroom. Lips barely centimeters apart, Akihito's hands tear away at the remains of Asami's ridiculously expensive suit, revealing lingering bruises on pale skin that has Akihito moaning as hazy memories of how those bruises got there, filter through his mind. With a heated gaze and a low whine from the back of Akihito's throat makes Asami manhandle Akihito to their bed for a slower, longer, and far more wanton round two that has Akihito dizzy and exhausted and so satisfied the next morning.
Since then, any sort of sexual activity between the two of them has been, in a way, charged; like static that hovers over Akihito's skin, and once Asami touches him, it's like a clock starts ticking and the race to orgasm begins.
Whether it's a handjob and a bruising kiss on the back of his neck from Asami in the kitchen before breakfast or a quickie on the couch, rough and surprisingly desperate (like they didn't do this, hours before) as some variety show plays in the background that neither of them was watching. Or when they're in the bedroom after a routine night of late dinner and a movie, nothing is hurried or even expected as they get ready for bed together, like a true married couple. Maybe it's Akihito who flushes at the idea or perhaps it's Asami who has a small pleased smile on his face as he checks his email on his phone and when one of them, or both of them, lean in for the good night kiss, it starts off chaste and warm but turns into deep and aching want. The memory of what they experienced, of what they shared in the heat room weeks ago, overcomes them as Akihito pulls Asami on top of him wanting to feel trapped and warm underneath the alpha or when Asami pulls Akihito onto his lap, hand griping Akihito's ass with a possessive touch as he tosses his phone away as the omega moans into his mouth.
It could also be the way Asami looks at Akihito while he gets ready for work in the late morning hours. How his eyes soften every time Akihito says something cheeky about what he's heard or seen while he was working the night before as he brushes his teeth. Or when Akihito hands Asami his morning cup of tea and something to eat because "Cigarettes are not food, Asami. You're too old to skip breakfast." and even as he ruffles Akihito's hair with a muttered, "Brat." all the while giving Akihito a small secret smile that makes Akihito's heart beat a little harder in his chest. Maybe it's when Akihito casually chooses the tie Asami will wear for the day as they idly talk about nothing. He always chooses something with color or patterns, something that will stand out against the plain yet sharp colors of his suit instead of the solid, regular ties that Asami would typically wear to the office.
Or maybe it's because when Asami finally leaves for the office, Asami has to kiss Akihito exactly five times. Two in the kitchen, one in the living room, and then two in the genkan. The locations might change but the number has remained the same. Sometimes they're soft and chaste pecks against the skin, usually placed on his cheek or the corner of his mouth. Akihito likes those, they're quick, light, and simple.
Then there are times when the kisses are deep, dirty, and burning and they become something more very quickly and Akihito finds himself dizzy against a wall or some type of sturdy furniture (they had to find out the hard way that one of Asami's decorative tables was simply that, decorative. Akihito couldn't stop laughing even as Asami gave him his last kiss for the morning with a huff as he walked briskly out the door leaving Akihito with the mess of cheap wood and broken glass) as they both continue to ignore the buzzing of Asami's phone in his coat pocket.
Akihito is certain that Kirishima is more exhausted with him than he was before the instant heat incident. Akihito is exhausted too but for a totally different reason. Akihito constantly wants Asami; from his attention to his touch, his mouth, and his scent. He wants anything and everything Asami offers which is scaring him if he's being honest.
He tells himself that it's part of the recovery process which is different for every heat experiencing person. Usually, Akihito only needed a day or two of sleep and food and then he's back to his normal, reckless self. It was different this time. Perhaps because this heat was an instant heat, coming on quicker and heavier than what his body is used to which is why he still feels sluggish and warm like the fever never really went away. Or perhaps because he shared his heat with an alpha for the first time and more energy was used and wasted as he was fucked with an inch of his life only to be begging for more during his heat...and then after his heat...
He blames Asami for everything since it's usually the bastard's fault anyway.
Then there's the conversation that both of them are tiptoeing around: bonding and matehood. When they left Sion's heat room, Akihito's subconscious would replay Asami's promise of bonding like soft music that he could ignore until Akihito had quiet moments to himself; like when he is cooking dinner and his mind drifts to a mindless static and the melody becomes louder as the words of I will make you mine echo through him, causing shivers to run down his spine. He has to swallow down the ache of wanting Asami's teeth in his skin, to scar the soft spot on his neck permanently because he still has questions about what this will mean for them and their future but he's too prideful to talk about his feelings.
So both of them avoid it (because Asami is no better with expressing his own feelings) and move around each other, speaking their needs and their wants through touch and long glances. With slow, soft kisses on the balcony before bed and late morning breakfasts as Akihito shows (and sometimes explains), Asami the latest meme of the day. The daily nine p.m. check-in calls that Akihito feels obligated to still take even when he's at home watching TV, having come home early because he missed it, the feeling of safety and he wants to get the place ready before Asami comes home.
Probably the worst thing about all of this isn't that Akihito's libido is off the charts despite having daily sex or the lovey-dovey moments that he and Asami seem to be sharing naturally or even the impending embarrassing conversation of mating and talking with Asami about his feelings and what that would mean for their future...
No, the worst part is telling his friends that he is settling down and finally coming clean about his relationship that they know about but they don't entirely know about.
"You did WHAT?" Kou shouts across the table of the small family-owned restaurant that was an old stomping ground when they attended university nearby. The few patrons sitting in the small dining room peer over their shoulders to the table with startled interest as Akihito shushes his friend while Takato gives a small bow of apology.
"Keep it down, Kou." Akihito hisses, sending apologetic smiles to the couple a few tables away. "Unless you want to endure the wrath of Granny yourself." He hopes that putting the fear of the old woman who owns the restaurant will calm Kou down. Granny Kaede might be 93 going on immortal but she can still chuck a sandal like a major league pitcher in the playoffs while serving delicious food without breaking a sweat or a smile. "I shared a heat. I didn't think you would take it so poorly."
Kou doesn't bother with social niceties, ignoring the strangers in the room, and the threat of a Japanese grandmother's aim. "When did this happen?" He asks immediately, his brown eyes wide, boiling with panic.
Counting the days in his head, Akihito replies, "Over two weeks ago now?"
Kou stares at him for a moment before putting his head in his hands and whispers to himself, "Oh my god."
Takato frowns, taking the news seemingly well. "So you're mated now?"
Akihito shakes his head. "No, I just...shared my heat."
"Did you take birth control?" Kou asks frantically.
Akihito releases a heavy sigh as Kou goes into protective omega mode. He appreciates it but Kou can be...over the top when it comes to omega rights. "Yes, I took the E.B.C." He says as he idly picks at his plate.
"Did you take it before your heat?"
Akihito rolls his eyes. "Yes, mom."
"What's E.B.C?" Takato asks, looking between his friends. Both of them look over at him with vague disappointment on their faces.
"Why is it that alphas don't know these things?" Akihito asks aloud but expecting no answer. Takato opens his mouth to reply but doesn't wait for a response and turns his attention back to Kou.
"They don't have to worry about it, that's why," Kou says, brushing away any remark from the fellow alpha. Takato looks mildly offended. "Did you take it during the heat?"
Confused, Akihito says, "No?"
"Did you take it after?" Kou asks breathlessly.
"No, and I have never heard of that in my life."
"What if it wasn't E.B.C? What if it was regular birth control?" Kou questions, panic starting to color his words.
"So E.B.C. is a type of birth control?" Takato interjects.
Akihito clicks his tongue against his back molar before stating. "It's an acronym. It stands for emergency birth control. It's pretty self-explanatory."
"Then why didn't you just say that?" Takato asks with a huff. "I didn't know what it stood for or what it did." Frustration colors his words but Akihito doesn't take offense to it.
"Well, I thought you would have figured it out with your big alpha brain." Akihito sasses.
"Hey!" Takato calls out.
Akihito winces at his own attitude. Maybe he's being too harsh to Takato. "Sorry, I'm just a little cranky about the forty billion questions from the gentleman in the front." Akihito side-eyes his omega brother-in-arms.
Kou ignores him and continues his constant questions. "Are you sure what you took was E.B.C.?"
Akihito groans, knowing that he is about to regret what he is going to say. "I took whatever was in the drawer by the bed."
Kou gasps like he is one of the gossiping aunts in the market and learning some scandalous news. "You don't even know if it was birth control?"
Akihito gives him a blank look. "I was in a well-prepared heat room. What else would it be?"
"It might have been an enhancer!" Kou exclaims, his voice unnecessarily shrill.
"Geeze, you sound like my aunt on Facebook with the conspiracy theories," Takato says, shaking his head and stuffs the last piece of the tuna in his mouth. "Enhancers aren't real. That's just in movies." Kou and Akihito share another look before turning their attention back to Takato.
"Enhancers are real, Takato," Kou says, seriously as Akihito nods.
Takato chews slowly before swallowing loudly. "What?" He asks.
"Yeah, they're mainly used for couples who are struggling with infertility. They have been used for sexual exploitation but that is in very rare cases," Akihito stresses the word rare while looking pointedly at Kou. "and because they don't work unless the person is already in a heat so it's not "a heat in a needle" like they claim it to be in porn or films but they're real and they do work."
Takato blinks before staring off to the side, chewing his food in a daze.
"Anyway," Akihito returns his attention to his panicked friend and leans back against the booth with his arms across his chest. "It was not an enhancer." He says confidently.
"How do you know?" Kou retorts.
"Because enhancers are supposed to increase the frenzy-ness of a heat and when I took the shot, I got a moment of clarity." He states.
"Wait." Takato cuts in, "You had to inject the birth control? Like, with a needle?"
"Yes." Akihito watches Kou open his mouth, another question hanging on his tongue but Akihito beats him to it. "In my thigh."
Kou closes his mouth with a pout. Takato looks pained at the thought of jabbing a needle into his body. "Couldn't you just take a pill? Isn't that what you normally do anyway?"
"Yes, but when a heat happens, especially an instant heat, any current birth control that the person would be taking becomes invalid." Akihito takes a deep breath in, going into education mode for his poor unknowing alpha friend. "Basically, the amount of hormones that the person is producing during their heat is enough to cancel out the birth control they may be taking. This is why the birth control fails and that's why it is necessary to take emergency birth control, or E.B.C. because the dose is higher to counteract the hormones and can protect me, in this case, from getting pregnant which my uterus is disappointed about."
"And it works faster than normal birth control since it's an injection rather than a pill," Kou adds. "Your likelihood of getting pregnant drops."
"What happens if you don't take it?" Takado asks.
"...Then your likelihood of getting pregnant increases," Akihito says slowly like he was trying to explain how a smartphone works to his grandmother. Takato even nods his head like he understands but Akihito can see the question mark hanging above his head.
"E.B.C. not 100% either." Kou sasses as he leans back into the booth. Akihito gives him a flat look.
"Nothing is 100 percent, Kou." He smirks as a memory from high school's health class enters his mind. "Yamashita-sensei always said, 'Only abstinence works against pregnancy and STD 100% of the time'."
Kou groans into his hands, "I don't want to remember her."
"I didn't have Yamashita-sensei for health class but I remember the horror stories you guys would groan about during lunch," Takato says as he sips his beer.
"Yeah because you had alpha health class where you were told you can wear a condom if you want to but good alphas get poor omegas pregnant before they're too old to reproduce," Akihito mutters.
"That was not how my health class went," Takato says as he rolls his eyes.
"Really?" Akihito asks. "Because this conversation is proving to us that you don't know how heats work or what birth control is."
Takato goes to say something but stops when the realization hits him that perhaps his education is lacking more than he thought. Akihito tries not to feel smug at putting an alpha in his place since it is his friend but it's annoying that despite decades of advances in omega's health and rights, there are still alphas, Takato included, that know very little about the health and safety of the omegas in their life. Even Asami is guilty of lack of understanding when it came for Akihito to take his E.B.C. Alphas aren't taught how to help an omega get to safety should they go through an instant heat like Akihito did or how to not let the pheromones affect them should they come into contact with an omega going through a heat. No, they are taught that when an omega goes into a heat, getting with an alpha is the best way to go through a heat as biology has blessed the pair with attraction and fertility for eons.
Akihito frowns as he remembers the older alpha that showed up in the hallway. If Asami hadn't shown up, Akihito knows what would have happened and while he's thankful for Asami kicking the alpha's ass, he was just as affected by Akihito's heat.
Though...Asami would have walked away had Akihito told him to.
He was going to, had he not asked Akihito if he wanted him to stay, even if it pained him to leave Akihito alone. The taste of that realization burns like peppermint on Akihito's tongue. Delightful and crisp. His mouth begins to water as desire starts to curl in his gut as the memory of Asami appears. He's above him, his gold eyes burning with desire, his mouth slack as he pants with exertion with every thrust. Akihito thinks he can still feel Asami's hands grips on his wrists, hips, and thighs. The phantom touches are burned into his skin. An echo of Asami's moans floats around Akihito's head and he feels himself harden as his dick perks up at imaginary Asami tries to overload his brain. The memory keeps replaying over and over again. It's almost haunting Akihito.
He takes two large gulps of his drink and shakes his head to scatter the memory away. Now's not really the time, he hisses at his subconscious. Akihito is so caught up in his own head that by the time he refocuses on his friends, he realizes he has missed the end of Kou's unnecessary presentation on how heats and omega anatomy works.
It's a good thing Kou didn't have his laptop with him, otherwise, Takato would have gotten the PowerPoint presentation and that's always awful and awkward.
"Does that make sense?" Kou asks as he gives Takato a satisfied smile with his hands clasped on top of the table.
"...yeah," Takato grunts into his beer. Kou's smile is quickly replaced with a displeased frown.
"That sounds really reassuring, Takato," Akihito says as he snorts into his glass. He understands though, Kou is very...passionate about this subject, oddly enough. Akihito thinks, not for the first time, he should have gone into the omega health field rather than computer science.
Takato sighs, "Look, that was a lot of information you just dumped on me in ten minutes, Kou, and I understood what you were saying but I think I really only comprehend like a third of it? And the parts that I do understand are making me very nervous."
Kou looks at Akihito, his light brown eyes wide with a question. "Should I go and get the Powerpoint?" Akihito shakes his head while mouthing 'no'. Kou pouts before picking up his phone off the table. "I think I might have a copy of it on my phone, actually."
"There's a Powerpoint?" Takato stutters as he looks between his friends. Akihito nods with a boring twist to his mouth.
"He had to do one for an assignment at uni."
"I got an A," Kou interjects. "My professor was really impressed and she was notorious for being unimpressed."
"He's very proud. This is practically his Show and Tell piece at parties." Akihito can't help the grin on his face as Kou hisses an "Akihito!" across the table.
There was a small glaring competition between the two omegas before a cough from Takato disrupted the contest with no winner. "I think we should get back to the actual conversation of Akihito getting with his sugar alpha in a mate-like way without us knowing anything about them or what they do or what they look like or even what their name is."
Akihito makes a face. "Please do not call Asami my "sugar alpha". Ever again."
"Oh, so their name is Asami? That's new." Takato says nonchalantly.
"You're not that slick, Takato," Akihito says, picking at a bowl of cold rice.
"I'm not trying to be slick, Akihito. I'm just trying to get you to tell us about your sugar alpha." Takato teases causing Akihito to bristle.
Akihito sends his glare over to Takato. "Asami is not my sugar alpha."
"Well, I don't know anything about them. All I know is that they live in a very nice apartment that you live in now but we can't come over to. They take you to Bali, Hong Kong, and Milian out of the blue. They buy you a new computer, a new camera, new clothes. Very expensive things that you normally can't afford. All signs point to "sugar alpha". Which is fine. Modern world, modern times, no one cares. But," Takato leans over the table, "you are our friend and we just want to make sure that you're safe. So when you tell us, 'Hey guys, I think I'm gonna get mated next week to that person that I've told you nothing about except their name.' We have the right to panic and ask questions"
Takato really knows how to stab guilt into Akihito's heart. It's a true talent.
"Look we know that you are seeing someone and have been for a while. At least give us a full name, Akihito," Kou whines. "And their full birthday and the time they were born." He adds in a hurry causing both Takato and Akihito to groan.
"No," Akihito says as Kou defensively holds his hands up in front of himself.
"My aunt wanted me to ask, okay? But in her defense, she's been accurate the last six times." Kou is about to start another tangent before Takato holds up his hand.
"That's nice about your aunt but let's put our focus back on Akihito, hmm?" Takato eyes Kou who, in return, nods enthusiastically. They both turn their attention to Akihito at the same time, like parents waiting for their child to admit their crimes. This was the weirdest interrogation Akihito has ever been a part of.
He takes a long drink of his soda, breaths in through his nose, rolls his shoulders back as he exhales. He hesitates before saying, "His name is Asami Ryuichi."
He feels a small invisible weight lift off his shoulders.
Another pause hangs over the table before Kou starts moving his hand to indicate to Akihito that he can keep going. "This is the part where you monologue about him."
Akihito gives him a flat look but continues."He's thirty-five." Pausing again to think about how to delicately explain Asami to his friends without giving all of his secrets away. "He has a good job. He's...well-off."
"Thirty-five ain't bad. It's not great. It's a bit of a gap but it's not...the worst." Takato cuts in, you know, like a male alpha does, "Honestly, Kou and I were thinking that he was in the upper fifties to sixties." Kou nods in agreement. "And define well off. Are we talking like, his family has money cause old money and therefore he has money or he has money because he works for it?"
Akihito thinks back to finding out about Asami's family. "Both."
"How, well off is he?" Kou asks because he's nosey.
"He's the founder and CEO of a company that manages a variety of businesses in Tokyo and Japan as a whole. Probably a couple of places overseas too if I'm honest." Akihito recites while fiddling with the utensils in front of him. This part he's familiar with. He has given this explanation once or twice before and it's the easiest for him to say as it's not necessarily a lie, it's just not the complete truth in what Asami really does behind closed doors. Some of Asami's actual legal work is property and business management. Akihito has been to more than a few of Asami's establishments, not all of them illegal. "I don't have a copy of his paystub with me right now, but I know it's more than what I make...in a lifetime."
Does he sound too sour about that?
However, Kou and Takato both share a small look between them, seemingly impressed with Akihito's explanation.
"Okay, well that's nice." Kou scratches the back of his head, his shaggy dark hair is pulled into a half updo, mostly to get his fringe out of his face while he eats. "So, uh, how did you meet?"
Akihito huffs a laugh, mentally omitting the truth as much as possible. "I caught a manager at one of his clubs embezzling funds to some dirty politicians who were involved with a local gang." It's funny, as Akihito goes down memory lane, how long ago it feels and realizing how short of time it really is. "He wasn't pleased with me for exposing his employee, more so because it made him and his company look bad and so in a not so meet-cute kind of way, he and I exchanged some words." Or a knee to the gut by one of his goons before a quick dash to the top of the building and a reckless jump off the roof. Wasn't it Glasses that kneed him? Huh, weird. Now Akihito is almost friends with the guy. "So he started to annoy me." That's one way to put it. "And then he started to like annoying me. But then I started to like him annoying me? And now," Akihito leans back into the booth, his head hitting the hard plastic with a small thud. His phone lights up on the table next to his hand and he sees that he has two messages from Asami. His eyes go soft, "Now I want him to annoy me for the rest of my life."
There's a slight pause before Takato asks, "And this is bad because..?"
Akihito says nothing at first, just unlocks his phone to look at the messages from Asami; an inquiry about how his lunch is going with his friends and whether he will be home for dinner tonight. This small thing makes Akihito's chest feel warm as he types back a quick message with a series of kamojis that Asami begrudgingly likes. He once told Akihito that he finds them cute and annoying. "Sort of like you." He said with a smirk causing Akihito to squawk at him. Now Akihito uses them as often as possible in spite but he's been thinking that the joke is really on him.
"It's not bad, " Akihito says as he sits his phone down. "it's just complicated."
"Well, what's complicated about it?" Kou asks before taking a bite of his rice. "Is he married?"
Akihito huffs in amusement. "No. Never has been."
"Is he seeing someone else?" Takato asks. "Like, are you his side piece?"
"No." He says flatly, giving Takato a small glare.
Kou hums, "Is there a crazy ex that's standing in your way?" Akihito's mind drifts on to Fei Long and Sudo, neither of them exes but maybe a little crazy. Fei Long, more emotional but definitely recovering. Maybe?
Sudo, though, was definitely crazy.
Akihito shakes his head. "No. I know I'm not "the only partner he's ever had" but no crazy exes have come forward. "
Kou and Takato look at each other with a little confusion. "Does his family not approve of you? 'Cause you said that he was born rich so you know how rich families can be." Takato says because he secretly loves to watch the rom-com dramas that his girlfriend 'makes' him sit through.
"While that might be a little true, I haven't really met any of his family." He only recently learned that Asami has a brother, an older brother at that, completely shattering Akihito's theory that Asami was an only child. "He's not close to them."
Takato nods like he understands what that's like though he is a family man through and through. Kou leans forward, placing his head in the palm of his hand, resting his elbow on the table. "Then I don't really know what the problem is." He looks between his two friends. "You say he's rich, a little older but not, you know ridiculously old. He's got a good job. He's an alpha, which I know is not that's really important but you know, it's a point." Akihito rolls his eyes. "And I'm assuming he's got a gold star in the bedroom area," Kou says while wiggling his eyebrows as Takato makes a face.
Akihito flicks Kou off and says nothing. Kou clicks his tongue. "You never want to talk about it." He complains.
"That's because it's none of your business." Akihito bats his eyelashes at him while wearing a sarcastic smile.
"Picking up where Kou left off, he does have a point." Takato says, "It sounds like this guy is a winner so I'm a little confused as to why you're so reluctant to even bring him up, let alone get mated to him. Not really seeing the complication here, Akihito."
"Is he ugly?" Kou asks. "Is that why you're keeping him a secret?"
Akihito scoffs at him. "I'm a little offended that you think I'm that shallow. But no, he's not ugly." He's irritated and about to throw hands at Kou for even suggesting that Asami could be ugly.
Kou smirks. "I wanna see a picture of him." He places his elbows on the table, resting his head on top of his hands as he cocks his head with a sassy flourish. "You know, I wanna see if he's real." Akihito sharply breaths into his nose in order to stop himself from smacking his childhood best friend. He grabs his phone next to him without taking his eyes off of Kou. He quickly unlocks his phone being careful not to show Kou his wallpaper, a new photo of Asami sleeping next to a plushie that Akihito got while taking photos at the theme park, and goes to the photo album on his phone. Photos that he's collected at first for evidence and then for childish blackmail. Now it's a loving album full of Asami, sometimes candid photos of Asami as he read the paper or takes smoke breaks on the balcony. There are selfies of Asami that he gets from the alpha when he's bored at work or on a call. He has quite a few NSFW photos stashed into the album because while Asami may not understand the younger generation's humor (because he is An Old Man) he definitely understands how sexting works and uses that knowledge when Akihito least expects it.
He quickly flips through them and lands on a recent bunch of candid photos Akihito took one morning while Asami had a morning conference call at the penthouse. It was the first time he heard Asami speak another language and he was compelled to capture the moment in digital time. He lands on the last photo, Asami in an off-white dress shirt, working on the buttons of his shirt, his hair still relaxed and loose of any pomade. He's standing in the kitchen but the photo is in portrait mode so the background is bleary. He has pictures of Asami looking away, his focus on the phone call as he idly fixes his cufflinks, or drinks his tea, not paying attention to Akihito as he takes an unprompted photoshoot. Until the last photo of the series, where Asami realizes that Akihito is taking pictures of him and he gives the camera, and Akihito a flirtation look. Akihito remembers the morning kisses before he left were hot and lingering.
He turns the phone over to show his nosey friends and takes petty pleasure in seeing Kou's eyes wide. Asami is far from ugly, he wants to say but doesn't.
"Uh," Takato says, breaking Akihito of his thoughts. "I don't necessarily, you know, go in that direction. But uh." He gives Akihito an approving nod and a thumbs up.
Kou grabs the phone to take a closer look, his mouth opens slightly as he begins to scroll through Akihito's album. Akihito lets him swipe through a few photos before grabbing the phone out of his hand. "There are some private things in there." He says, holding the phone close to his chest and raises his eyebrows at him.
"Okay, I get it. He's not ugly." Kou says. He might be pouting but Akihito doesn't care.
"I still don't see the issue about why you're so hesitant about him," Takato remarks.
Before Akihito could comment, Kou makes an unnecessary loud gasp. "He's a serial killer." He hisses over the table.
"Yes. You figured it out, Kou. I'm dating Tokyo's number one undiscovered serial killer." Akihito drawls flatly. Kou leans back in a huff, crossing his arms as he hears Akihito's sarcastic tone. "I should go turn in the evidence to the cops right now, to get him off the streets."
"Well excuse me for trying to figure out what's wrong with the guy, Akihito," Kou complains. He grabs his drink off the table and takes a large gulp. "You're not helping by being evasive and making us play a guessing game with your vague answers. What else are we supposed to think?"
Akihito winces while Takato places a hand on Kou's shoulder, "Okay, okay." He says to his friend before looking over to Akihito. "Kou is right though, Akihito. If you won't tell us exactly who this "Asami" guy is, we're gonna start making outlandish theories." Takato sighs. "So he's not a serial killer, that's good to know. But if you're so hesitant about bringing him up then he's obviously not a 'stand-up guy' in the eyes of polite society. And your life goal is to highlight the dirty underbelly of Tokyo." Takato pauses for a moment to collect his thoughts. "So he's like, what, a yakuza or something?"
The word yakuza doesn't sting as much as it makes the atmosphere in the restaurant a little thicker. Akihito can't help but bite his bottom lip as he gives Takato a sheepish look. He watches both of his best friends' faces go from questioning to disbelief to shock as Akihito doesn't deny the accusation that Asami is, in fact, a yakuza.
"You know, Takato, you really do use the one brain cell in our group really well." Akihito gives him a weak smile. "It's why we trust you with it." He jokes poorly.
Kou's mouth hangs open and Takato's eyes keep getting bigger as he stutters, "A-ar-are you serious?"
Akihito takes a breath in through his nose and exhales out of his mouth. He feels a little lighter as he says seriously, "Yes." Kou's hand goes to cover his mouth. Takato looks a little green around the ears. Akihito coughs nervously before continuing, "If it makes it better…or does it make it worse? Um, Asami is the number one yakuza in Tokyo…" Akihito trails off as his friends go a little paler.
Kou whispers, "Oh my god…"
Takato rubs his hand over his face. "What the fuck, Akihito?"
Akihito nods as his phone lights up again with another notification from Asami. "What the fuck, indeed." He mutters back.
Kou slams his hand down on the table as a realization hits him, "How are you going to explain this to your dad?"
Akihito blinks and then immediately starts laughing.
Hello! This has been cross-posted to AO3. It's under the same username, tho the name will be different.
I'm sorry for being so slow but I want to thank you to those who are reading this fic and have commented on it, I really appreciate it. I hope you like the new chapter. I have the second one in the works. Originally I was going to post this chapter when it was 15k but it was taking way too long. So it's better that I can break it up and you can get to read it! :) Thank you again for reading!