(A/N: Simply because I think Nijimura Shuuzou would look ruthlessly attractive in a black tank top and black low-rise loose sweatpants combination, right after a shower. Also, it is simply impossible for him to not have caught the eye of Reo, our resident flirt.
And despite all of the above, this chapter is really about trying to find a way to define a relationship and the utter impossibility of it due to the perfect subjectivity of the whole affair.)
...
...
The moment he slept with Akashi, he knew.
He knew that they had transgressed the boundaries of what conventionally constituted friendship. But that – that was the problem: Nijimura is mature enough to know that conventions are about what most people find convenient and true for themselves. He is also mature enough to know that what most people find convenient and true for themselves does not mean that it will be so for everyone. There will be individuals who find the opposite things convenient and true. At the end of the day, it is all subjective; painfully subjective.
So what makes a friendship, 'friendship'? What are its boundaries? When do you exactly become friends and when do you fall out of it or it becomes something different, for better or worse?
He is certain beyond any doubt that what he has become with Akashi is for the better. Their relationship has improved and they also seem to both be happier and more satisfied; now, he knows for a fact this is true for himself and for Akashi, it is his perception that this holds true, though he has never asked directly. Albeit, in any case, considering Akashi's personality, he would have put an end to it if he found it problematic or debilitating in any aspect.
The most troublesome part is, however, the possible reasons why he might be asking these questions now . He has forever hated the whole 'questioning the questions' approach – he can still perfectly remember how he almost bombed his first course on Philosophy of Science and Scientific Method; so its presence in his private life is even more vexing, simply put: intolerable. He has nobody else to talk about the matter either, which only makes things worse. Once or twice he came so close to spilling it to Himuro when they were chatting over the phone, but he is sure that revealing the whole story to Himuro would only cause the said beauty to hop onto the first flight to Tokyo and come over to kick his ass. Nor is this the kind of matter he could discuss with his family; his mother would probably faint. She is not a bigoted person but he guesses that the news of his dear dutiful son sleeping with a male kouhai is the kind of stress that she cannot endure right now, not even mentioning the whole part of how the aforesaid dear dutiful son is not even sure about how to define the aforementioned relationship.
But then again: How do you define a relationship?
It all boils down to that. What makes love love? What makes love, romantic kind of love? What makes friendship, friendship? What makes a relationship something more than friendship? Or less than friendship?
The same questions and their numerous offspring revolve around his mind like an unholy nebula of chaos, a maleficent omen of an impending apocalypse...
He wonders, is it a limitation of vocabulary that is the origin of the issue here?
Perhaps, that is the case. Perhaps, not.
Truth is, he has never been good at this; such a labyrinthine endeavour of linguistics, sociology, and psychology, with a dash of his very own heart and soul and emotions... He is simply lost within this tempest of his own dubiety.
He could ask this – all these series of warring questions – to Akashi and the redhead would be able to come up with answers much more sophisticated and plausible than Nijimura's and they would hold the sufficient certainty to assure himself greatly... There is absolutely no reason not to share this matter with Akashi in the first place; for if anything since their argument after revelations about Akashi's high school years, their communication has been much improved. It has actually been the most honest relationship Nijimura ever had in his life and he suspects the same holds true for the redhead as well.
So why?
Why doesn't he just pick up the phone and ask Akashi?
The answer to that is quite problematic. To the degree that this might be the question he wants to avoid the most, for in its answer lies a frightening possibility. There is a chance that this emerging interest in questioning the status of their relationship, this sudden desire to define their bonding, these interrogations about friendship and love... They might mean that he is not satisfied recognising what they have as 'friendship' alone any longer and considering he has been fine with it at the beginning, this means he has changed.
What has changed? How? He has absolutely no idea. But he is sure something has changed.
He has started wondering more about Akashi's private life. Curiosities that never existed before start to surface at the oddest times.
Does he still take others to bed?
What is he doing right now?
How many people has he been with in the past?
How does he look when he cries? Does he even cry at all?
...
Whenever he is walking in the campus his eyes wander around and it is almost as if he is unconsciously searching for Akashi, the times he actually locates the redhead by chance, he feels content and cheerful. There is a special kind of gratification he receives from seeing Akashi smile these days, even more so if he is the cause of said smile. Whenever Akashi is around, it is hard for anybody or anything else to keep his interest, his eyes travel to him almost out of their own will, like moths to the flame. And he has to admit, he has found himself taking a roundabout route within the campus as he comes and goes to the school and coincidentally that route passes right in front of the main building of Faculty of Law.
Is this love?
He is truly afraid to ask that question because that question could change everything and break what little piece of peace and contentment they had achieved to create together. Hence, he does not ask it, instead stubbornly focuses on cultural relativity of the conceptions of human relations, which is not an inaccurate series of inquiry anyway, and takes shelter in the ambiguity of his own understanding of his feelings.
...
...
One day near the end of November, Akashi actually declines Nijimura's invitation. This is something rare because they had gotten so used to each other's programs and often have information of their respective schedules in advance, they are aware when the other is busy and not to bother. There is of course always the possibility that Akashi is available but does not want to see him. This specifically bothers Nijimura and for a second he almost says "we don't have to have sex" and they do not have to and there have been many times they did not, but he realises that the statement itself had never been made explicit in those occasions, so somehow it feels as if saying it now would be meaningful in different ways.
In ways Nijimura does not want it to mean. So he swallows the statement.
A seed of doubt germinates inside him, "could he be bored?" He prefers to ignore the thought. It is futile to worry and it is irrational.
He receives a call from Akashi a few days later on Sunday morning,
"Are you available?" Akashi asks in a voice so tired... Nijimura has never heard him as such even after hours spent in each others' flesh or in the hottest and toughest days of Summer Training Camps of Teikō.
"Sure," is what he responds but realises somewhere in his chest it says, "For you, sure, always" and this troubles him even if it has not been verbally pronounced. But he calms himself down, he cares for Akashi deeply, he can accept and admit to that much and the ambiguous nature of their relationship allows that, doesn't it?
When they meet at Akashi's apartment, the redhead is wanton and urgent; they don't even move to the sofa for the first round, it happens right at the door and Nijimura cannot help but worry what the neighbours will think because, sure, the door is closed securely but the noises must be audible even from outside and the noises they make are quite telling. Akashi is not satisfied though, not at all, and it seems that it won't be an easy task to satisfy the redhead that day...
Indeed it is not, it takes a total of three rounds and various intermittent foreplay in between to finally appease the little god.
(There are times when Nijimura calls him "a little god" – it is both affectionate and sarcastic and Akashi has once told that he does not mind being called a "god", for he is utterly irreligious and as close to divine as a human could be, but he minds the deliberate notation of "little".)
Nijimura asks between laboured breaths,
"Did something happen?"
Akashi does not reply and instead removes himself from the bed. At one corner of Akashi's bedroom there is a medium sized carry-on baggage which the redhead uses for all his travels, he moves towards and opens it and Nijimura realises it is full; Akashi must have just returned from somewhere. It explains why he might have rejected Nijimura's offer to meet Friday and this unleashes a gentle relief over the brunette, further sweetening his senses already soaked in the afterglow of ecstasy he just savoured...
Akashi returns with a box and hands it to Nijimura, who curiously opens it to find a maneki-neko inside. To be specific, an exact replica of the maneki-neko Akashi has in his own living room.
"What... is this?"
"It is a maneki-neko."
"I know what it is. I mean, why are you showing it to me?"
"It is a gift."
"Oh, you are giving it to me as a gift?"
"Yes. You said once that you liked the one I have in my living room. You remember? I told you I could not give it to you because it was a gift. Hence, I bought an exact copy."
Nijimura cannot help but smile, he had thought something terrible had happened for a moment – something inside him tells that Akashi would be the type to relieve stress of terrible events through rampant and ravenous sex, which they had been busy with in the last couple of hours. The least he expected was to receive a gift due to a passing comment made weeks ago.
"You have a good memory..." he mumbles as he plays with the little figure in his hands, Akashi's gaze is a little tender as he watches Nijimura's fingers grasp and fondle the ceramic,
"I have a perfect memory." he responds, voice languid yet crystal clear.
Before Nijimura can snort at that Akashi's phone goes off – this is the third time it has rang since Nijimura has arrived and always with a peculiar tone that is different than the default (and Nijimura has to timidly admit inside that by now he is aware of the various ring tones Akashi uses for different people and categories of people as well as the default one). Like the two times before, Akashi simply takes the vibrating and singing device and presses its power button once – it goes into silence, rejecting the incoming call.
"It is not something important? This is the third time the same person has called, isn't it?"
"You are too attentive."
"I think I am just attentive enough. Who is it anyway?"
How stupid it is for Nijimura to even ask this; Akashi has every right to say "it is none of your business" and realising this makes the raven haired man a little insecure. Fortunately for him, Akashi does not respond so bluntly as he usually would do,
"It is Reo. I was supposed to meet them and others today, since I was in Kyoto but I came back earlier than expected and had to cancel."
Oh... That explains it. And at the same time it does not: Nijimura has heard enough about Reo and the other Rakuzan teammates of Akashi to know that the redhead is quite fond and protective of them, especially so of Reo, and he rarely ever changes his plans so abruptly anyway, for his plans are always crafted perfectly in the beginning to account for any possible issues that may stray it and ensure that they do not.
"Did something happen with them? Did you fight?"
Akashi regards Nijimura's face for a second silently, he smiles then, probably because he has thought of something, he has discovered something, just what could it be? Nijimura has no idea but is content, if it made Akashi smile, somehow, it should be fine?
"No. Nothing happened. Not with them, not with anybody actually."
"Okay..."
"You are rather talented at dealing with people, pushing just enough but not too much; I wonder why you are so bad at shogi. I find it quite akin to managing people..."
Nijimura's taken aback at the insolent comment but Akashi's amused gaze turns cold in the blink of an eye before Nijimura can respond; upon that he finds himself silent, waiting for the redhead to continue and he does,
"I met my father."
"Is he well?"
"Unfortunately, yes."
Nijimura has always known Akashi's relationship with his father is not exactly loving or even remotely familiar (or familial) and the one time he had the misfortune of actually coming across the head of the Akashi household, he thought nobody could ever have a loving or remotely familiar relationship with the man.
"Did he hurt you?"
The wording is wrong, he realises it the moment it comes out of his mouth; because nobody can hurt Akashi Seijūrō, right? Even his father who seems so omnipotent and omnipresent in the business world. Normally, Akashi would be furious at the comment; if anybody else uttered it, they would find themselves in a terrible predicament. Such wording is the kind of wording Akashi could and would only consider an insult.
Somehow though Nijimura feels, the moment he bites his tongue for putting it that way, maybe, just maybe he actually put it the right way. Because nobody is invincible – not even Akashi Seijūrō; if you prickle him, he will bleed, Nijimura knows this too well, for he has prickled him, bit him, sucked him, ragged him with his nails and many times he has drawn that precious blood – he knows it. He also knows intimately that the aura of the 'great lone leader' which Akashi so meticulously constructs around him is partially motivated by the knowledge of the fragility inside; he has known the young man who is now sitting naked on the bed next to him, as a child. A child with crimson eyes and crimson hair and a crimson distant gaze that would maintain its gravity and maturity at almost all times but those rare moments when nobody would be looking at him; in those very rare moments you could catch glimpses of that piercing gaze turn into the naïve, nonchalant, innocent stare of a joyful and hopeful child.
If there is anyone on earth who has so profoundly hurt Akashi Seijūrō, it is his father, Nijimura can guess that much.
Akashi considers the question for a second and Nijimura begs to any and all gods that he will not be lashed or thrown out naked. Then, the redhead replies calmly, a tiny smile is tugged at the corner of his lips, though he looks sad rather than content,
"I am too old for that. All he achieves now is to frustrate and anger me. But would you believe it, if I said, no, we did not fight? We truly did not. He did nothing extraordinarily agonising either. We only had dinner together."
"Did he say something to offend you?"
"Nothing different than every time: my academic and social standing in the school, the status of my extracurricular activities and if or how they are benefiting my career plans and short-term goals, current developments in my social interactions and connections, stocks of the companies we own, my commentary on the latest corporate decisions of Akashi conglomerate, status of my own stock account and a brief explanation of my current investment choices."
"I thought you met your dad for dinner but it seems like you had a business meeting with the President of Akashi conglomerate for a job opening?"
"But my relationship with my father revolves only around business. Our bond is characterised by the fact that I am the heir. Therefore, yes, it was a business meeting regarding my future employment at the Akashi conglomerate."
"It must be frustrating..."
"I have always ever talked these kinds of things with him though. It is not as if when I went there I expected something else. Despite that I was frustrated more than I thought I would be, so I have to conclude that I simply cannot tolerate his insipid mind and manners any more. It seems as the time passes, my tolerance for him diminishes significantly. After the dinner I was caught by a strong nausea. I decided to leave instead of spending one more such night with him."
"Nobody would blame you for not tolerating him..."
"Nijimura-san, trust me, many would blame me. There are many out there who are like my father or idolise my father."
"Well, he is a smart man and he is successful at business I guess..."
"True and that would be enough to redeem him in the eyes of the many, but you see, I am brilliant to the point that he looks simply pitiful to me on that aspect; thus his level of acumen would not mean anything in my judgement."
"When you speak like that I wonder how you see me..."
A useless and unnecessary comment, completely unrelated to the context at hand; perhaps his thickly veiled insecurities were spilling a little. Akashi smiled then though, genuinely this time and leaned in, cupping Nijimura's cheek within his palm, it was warm and soft,
"You have so many aspects to your character that make you more worthwhile of my time and attention than many who posses superior intellects..."
"That is probably the greatest compliment you could ever give to anybody, huh? And I hope you are not referring to my sexual prowess."
"There a few others, but it is a subjective matter. And I am referring to many things, including your sexual prowess."
The phone rang again, Akashi sighed before repeating the action from just ten minutes ago.
"Why don't you answer? Did you even tell your friends you were leaving?"
"Yes, I sent a message. If I had not, I am afraid they would have raised hell."
"Why don't you answer though?"
"My father will stay in Kyoto till Tuesday, if I answer now, being a remarkably intuitive person, Reo will understand that my early departure was caused by my frustration with my father. Being also a remarkably passionate person regarding the peace of those they are fond of, Reo will rush to the mansion to confront my father. It almost happened once or twice in the past."
"Suddenly I have a newfound respect for this Reo person..."
"You should, they are a wonderful person."
"You are quite fond of them... Aren't you?"
"Yes, I am."
"Was the cat a gift from Reo? I had thought it was from Kuroko since you were so fond of it but now that I think, it is not the sort of gift Kuroko would give."
"It was from Reo."
Akashi reclines to his back and closes his eyes, silence ensues for a few minutes as Nijimura continues to play with the little cat in his hands...
How do you console a man who should not be consoled?
How do you comfort a man who can be most discomforted by another trying to comfort him?
How do you relieve a person of their hurt and frustrations when those particular hurts and frustrations are beyond your comprehension and experience?
How do you help a person when attempting to help can injure or anger them even more?
A heaviness dropped into the pit of his stomach and Nijimura felt frustration rise within the confines of his soul; he hated not knowing how to deal with people, he had always been good at dealing with people, it was the reason why had been chosen the captain at Teikō, it was the reason how he had managed to survive in a foreign land, it was how he achieved to be a student at the top university in the country... He had thought it was also partially the reason how he had been allowed in this kind of a relationship of intimate proximity with Akashi, however now it felt like an utter lie.
His eyes about to close, not out of an impending slumber but to focus on the turmoil raging inside him with the hope of calming it down, somehow by the power of thought alone... Phone rings. Again. Before Akashi reaches for it, Nijimura reaches and rejects the call. The gesture has brought his upper body to hover above the redhead who seems to be astounded for a split second and then bestows that thin, devilish smile; the one that is suggestive of things only Eros could do better than him...
Thin, pale fingers reach out for his chest and Nijimura feels his frustration fleet away at the touch; perhaps it is magical, perhaps magic is – ironically – the only realistic explanation of the influence this young man of crimson hair and asymmetric eyes has over people... has over him. He cannot move his stare even a millimetre away from the twin orbs; they are exactly the same except their colour and Nijimura wonders if even the delicate patterns of the irises match and it is truthfully only the colour that differs... There is no specific source of light to shimmer them in the dim room but they somehow do from his perspective; perhaps it is magical and Akashi can control and bend reality like that as he wishes... The touch is painfully sweet and light but the nail that intercepts it now and then is a reminder of what this man is capable of, it says clearly and loudly: do not think that you are the predator ever, you are only the prey.
And this... this is enticing beyond words, so Nijimura's face dips down and meets his own charred lips with those of Akashi – always so thin and smooth and fatal in their allure. Like a dagger carved out of ruby.
After another hour of passion gone by, as if it actually occupied solely a few minutes, Nijimura decides that he needs a hot bath; he can feel every muscle in his body thoroughly turned sore thanks to Akashi's fervent need and his own generosity in attending to that need. When he hears the door bell ring he has just come back to the bedroom after his bath and wore his sweatpants, the pair that he keeps at Akashi's place (and how he has come to start keeping at least a few articles of clothing at Akashi's place is unknown to him, probably not so to the ever-knowing redhead).
He assumes it is a delivery of food or sorts like always,
"You ordered something?"
Akashi calmly wears his yukata, pure white with simple maroon floral patterns; he does not rush at all despite the continuous rings at the door,
"No."
His voice is sure and devoid of any surprise but the answer unnerves Nijimura,
"Wait, were you expecting someone?"
He has never witnessed somebody else in Akashi's home before.
"Yes and no; I thought they would not be able to take the train so early but they must be getting better at their punctuality..."
"Wait... what?"
Akashi smiles as he leaves the room and Nijimura is left to himself in the bedroom, half naked.
He hears the door open, the howling sound of the door bell coming to a permanent end, and some shouting.
This is the first time he hears somebody else's voice in Akashi's apartment.
And realisation hits him. He might be discovered. Their relationship might be discovered. Right then and there.
This is the first time he truly realises how queer they relationship would look to most outsiders. This is also the first time he truly realises what little he can do to alleviate any potential issues that may arise from someone learning of this relationship.
...
...
"Why haven't you answered my calls or the damned door? Sei-chan, do you know how many times I called you today?"
"11 in total. You know I don't like when I am repeatedly disturbed."
"But you were adamant about not answering!"
"To the point that you had to come all the way here from Kyoto?"
"Yes! I was worried dead."
"You don't have to be worried dead. Nor do you actually seem dead?"
"Maybe I should be! I mean... not dead, worried that is."
Reo does not have to point with his fingers, simply glaring at the patch of skin generously offered from the loose collar of the yukata is enough; there are fresh marks of red, carvings of passion, legacy of some very skilful fangs.
"You should be worried because I... have sex?" Akashi's tone is drenched in sarcasm which further fuels Reo,
"Ah don't play me like this... What did he do?"
"My bed partner? I think you must have a good idea already."
"Is it really so amusing to play with my poor heart like this? What did your father do?"
Akashi's smile dissolves into a stoic expression, though compared to his impish gaze before, he looks much more sincere when he talks,
"Nothing, Reo. He did nothing. I was simply too frustrated with him, with everything."
"That is..."
"Not like me? Perhaps."
"And I can hear footsteps..."
"Oh... 'he' probably really wants to stay hidden but is extremely nervous right now and cannot help but stomp around the room."
"You brought someone home...?"
"Curious, isn't it?" Akashi says and his devilish tiny smirk returns as he shouts to his back in a calm voice,
"Nijimura-san, it is fine. You can come in."
He pauses for a second then shouts in a louder tone, "Please come."
A few seconds later Nijimura comes to the living room, desperately wishing he had not spoiled his shirt; it seems Akashi put his t-shirts away somewhere and he could not find them, he tried some of Akashi's shirts but they were too small, so he is wearing a black singlet on top alongside his sweatpants, which are a little too low-rise and loose for his taste, but Akashi had once passingly commented that they looked 'very attractive' and despite his seemingly indifferent shrug at the compliment then, he specifically kept this pair at Akashi's place. Perhaps he should have changed to the shorts he also had been keeping at Akashi's wardrobe.
Reo's eyes grow large sizing up the man,
"Well, hello there..."
"Nijimura-san, this is Mibuchi Reo."
Akashi signs with his hand and Nijimura nods whereas Reo grins,
"And Reo, this is Nijimura Shūzō."
There is a glint in his disparately coloured eyes and Reo cannot help being genuinely surprised and glad,
"Oh my... Wow. It is him?!"
"Yes. I thought you would remember?"
"He was just a child then Sei-chan! My my, puberty does wonders, huh?"
Nijimura's eyebrow rise in confusion and suspicion,
"Do we know each other? I thought you were Akashi's friend from high school?"
"Oh yes, I am, but you must have heard of me. Though we never got the chance to properly rival each other on the court. Damn that Hanamiya... Of all the people to face you, he got that chance the most times. And Kiyoshi, but then I cannot stay mad at him. He is such an angel. And gorgeous."
"It must have slipped my mind, Reo had been one of the 'uncrowned' ones... during middle school."
Realisation dawns upon Nijimura alongside the very real fact that nothing ever slips Akashi's mind; for an unfathomable reason he has preferred to keep this particular detail secret, which does not make sense to raven haired man at all but he shelves it away to ponder about later.
He can still remember them, the Uncrowned Kings, and he distinctly remembers that one was rumoured to be a real beauty. He remembers how one of them had an aesthetically pleasing figure which was much likely to be the person in front of him, considering the delicate but strong build, beautifully full lips, intriguing eyes and pitch black long hair... Oh shit , he realises once again, he really is a menkui like Himuro keeps saying.
"I am sorry, I have been away from the basketball scenes in Japan..."
"I know! Everyone was curious about what happened to you. Some even said you had become a yakuza."
Well actually that was not a far-fetched idea as much as he would have liked it to be, but Nijimura keeps his mouth shut about it. Akashi answers in his stead anyway,
"Nijimura-san was in the States. For a familial reason."
"I see..." Reo says and it seems they saw more, much more to the point that their knowing smile turns into a blatant smirk as they mention,
"By the way, your hair is wet."
This is the first time in his life Nijimura turns so many shades of red in such quick succession that he can quite physically feel different stages of embarrassment envelop him in deeper, hotter reds consecutively... He does not even get flustered normally, so the incident is an incredible blow to his self-esteem in every sense.
"I..." he starts, pauses, sighs, and then turns to Akashi to only finally realise how handsomely open the triangle of skin on his chest is and how beautifully the necklace of bites that was given only an hour ago looks now... So it was obvious.
So Akashi knew and did not mind. It is not civil in any way though, he is angered that he is not given a chance whether or not he would like to hide this relationship, his hands form into fists as if to contain his rising fury. He bites on his anger and let it calm down as much as he can before speaking composedly despite his face on fire with a crimson blush and his eyes glinting with obvious displeasure,
"I just had a shower."
"I see..." again Reo repeats and it is obvious, they indeed see.
"I think I should go..."
"You do not have to if you do not want to Nijimura-san."
"I want to, Akashi."
"Oh, please don't mind me if it is because of me."
"No, I was going to leave already."
It is a lie, he had not been planning to leave for the night at all, that was exactly the reason why he had been so nonchalant about spoiling his shirt and damn, how the hell is he going to go out now, wear his jacket on top of a tank top?!
Akashi reclines on the kitchen counter as he fully turns to Nijimura,
"There is a blue sweater in the second to the lowest drawer, it is too large for me but should be a good fit for you. If you would like to don one of your own t-shirts though, my housekeeper apparently moved them to the third drawer from the top; however, I think they would be too thin, the weather has become much colder."
"Thanks..." Nijimura says though he is very grateful in receiving this information, his voice is deliberately devoid of it, but Akashi only smiles in return, very pleased and amused. As Nijimura angrily stomps back to bedroom, Akashi turns to Reo whose previous fiendish, knowing smirk has morphed into a half concerned, half amused bewilderment,
"You are kidding me."
"No."
"You are sleeping with Nijimura Shūzō?!"
"Yes."
"And he is in your home!"
"Yes."
"How... even?! Is he?! I mean... Wow. He looks damn good, by the way. I knew it. That is why he was in my top ten list... to see naked."
"You should have come half an hour earlier for that."
"Damn... my timing always sucks. I am not punctual at all."
"You are getting better. I had given it 60% chance that you would arrive an hour or so later than when you actually arrived."
"So I surprised you?"
"No, but mildly entertained me with your improved timing skills?"
"Fine. For your information I am still shocked."
"Fine."
"So what, are you in a relationship? You... you love him? It can't be, right?"
"It can't be, as you said. I am not in love with him. We are friends and we have sex."
"I see..."
"No, you do not and we can talk about it. But before all that, you are tired and hungry, aren't you? Take a shower and you can order anything with my phone," Akashi leaves his mobile phone on the counter before starting to move towards the bedroom, "I'll be back..."
When he enters the bedroom Nijimura is already dressed up in the blue sweater, but sitting on the bed seemingly in deep thought. He glares silently at Akashi upon the intrusion,
"You are angry at me for exposing our relationship to Reo, I am aware, yet I had no choice but to reveal it to them."
"Why?"
"Because Reo is an important person for me and I am open with them about my privacy."
"This open?"
"This open."
Nijimura sighs as he stands, it was not that he did not know how important Akashi seemed to value Reo but facing it so suddenly... His ire against Akashi's spectacle turns into a deep green envy for the tall beauty; why is it that Reo is so significant and close to the redhead?
An errant thought sneaks into his mind, could it be that they have ever done this too? Devoured each other fervidly, left marks of pure lust on each others' skin? The idea disturbs him so much that he buries it deep down, wills himself to reject its very existence.
"Fine..." he mutters and moves to the door where Akashi is standing, partially leaning to the door frame, the redhead's figure is calm and lethargic but a small amused smile tugs at the end of his thin lips, Nijimura stares for a second then narrows his eyes in comprehension,
"You knew they would come."
"Of course."
"Damn. Why? You called Reo?"
"Of course not. You saw it, I did not answer their calls."
"You knew they would come if you did not answer their calls?"
"It is better if Reo is in Tokyo and not in Kyoto while my father is there, for now."
"Why didn't you tell me?! What if they came in the middle-"
"It was more likely for Reo to arrive even later, when you would be fast asleep... Seems they improved their skills in timing and made it to an earlier train ride. Does it matter? I thought it would not since I have confidence that Reo would not betray my privacy or yours. If you are worried that our relationship will be exposed to outsiders, it won't be."
"But it is already exposed! It is exposed to Reo."
"But Reo is not an outsider for me. On the other hand, they are nobody for you; they have no place your life anyway, thus there is no reason for such worry."
Akashi's tone is calm and clear as if he is teaching the basics of arithmetic to a child, Nijimura bites the insides of his lips as they move into that signature displeased expression, his brows furrow in enmity, and he steps forward to move past Akashi but is pinned in his spot forcefully with a sudden grip on his arm, he looks; Akashi's hand is pale and his wrist so slim, almost fragile in appearance... How deceptive.
How deceptive that such a delicate hand can induce such great force.
The strong grip turns into a tender caress in a second and when Akashi speaks his voice is soft, amusement faded away from his face and compassion dominates his gaze,
"It was uncivil and inappropriate of me and I take all the blame deservedly. But do trust me when I say, it was inevitable; if it was not, I would avoid it, for you."
It is not the first time Nijimura easily caves upon hearing the gentle tone in the normally defiant and crisp voice of Akashi. It is also not the first time he hides how easily he caves in with a reluctant stoicism and a neutral scowl,
"Whatever..." he mumbles as he moves past and while stomping through the living room, not seeing Reo around somehow makes him feel better before he is out of the door and already rushing down the stairs, burning with a desire to just go home and forget this all.
Akashi turns from his position reclining on the bedroom's door frame to face Reo who has popped out their head from bathroom door, peeking towards the living room,
"He has a nice backside. It is a shame he wears such loose pants."
"I concur. But they look attractive in their own way, on him, the sluggish grip of garment is quite delicious too." Akashi responds, a peaceful smile settles on his lips, and Reo nods, giggling, before getting back inside and closing the bathroom door.