Greed (def.): A reprehensible acquisitiveness; insatiable desire for wealth
Akari is not a greedy or selfish person, but he isn't really selfless either. He works for a living, often so fervently that he ends up collapsed on the couch in the lobby of the hospital because he can't make it back to his room to sleep.
As such, any money he earns is his to keep. What's the use in giving it to charity? Charities are too often scams, and only a small portion of the money they take in actually goes to their causes. It isn't speculation on his part but fact; Hirato has done investigations into them before and found exactly that. Akari would like to think it doesn't make him a cynic to have thought as much before the truth came out, but either way, he was right.
He doesn't have any pity for beggars either. If they have the time to be out asking people for money, they have time to find a job. Someone must be willing to hire them.
"If you keep glaring at the homeless, you're going to make people frightened of Circus," Hirato says one day as they walk down an alley of Vantnam. It isn't a mission they're on, not exactly. Akari, being in need of fresh medical supplies, had little choice but to enlist Hirato as his escort through the city. The bastard would have followed him anyway if he hadn't.
The weather grows colder with each passing day, and the beggars can be seen at their posts with tattered blankets and torn gloves. They're a very determined group, Akari will give them that. Even as the snow begins to fall, sticking to their too-light clothes, they don't move from their corners and continue calling out for spare change. Even somewhere as pleasant as Vantnam has homeless folks, swept under the rug by the rest of society.
Akari, while the sight of them makes him feel less than happy, isn't about to give them anything.
"Being homeless doesn't give them an excuse to crowd the alleyway," Akari returns flatly. For the most part, he pays them no attention unless they're in his way, in which case a quick glance from the doctor is enough to make them scurry away.
"Actually, I believe it does." Hirato casts a smile, one Akari assumes is meant to be charming, at an older man with gray hair and leather-like skin. The snow has already gathered on the old man's shoulders and he makes no move to brush it away. The captain kneels and presses money into the man's palm. "It's cold. Go and buy yourself something hot to drink." The beggar takes the money and presses it to his chest, nodding quickly in thanks.
Akari looks away, a feeling of guilt worming its way into his chest. Hirato claps him on the shoulder, and the doctor pushes his hand away and moves to continue on when something grabs the bottom of his coat.
"Please, sir…" The voice is small, and when Akari turns he sees the end of his jacket balled up in a little hand, one with blue fingertips. "I need food…" The boy is no older than Nai, possibly even younger, though his malnourished body makes it impossible to tell. His pale face is flushed from the cold, and his dark eyes are desperate but dull.
Akari wrenches his jacket from the boy's grasp. "I have nothing to give you," he says more harshly than intended. "…I'm sorry." It's an afterthought, and the sentiment doesn't make anything better as the boy huddles against the brick wall again, tears in the corners of his eyes.
Hirato, watching from a few yards away, frowns.
It's late when Akari returns to Vantnam, late enough to actually be early. He maintains that he didn't sneak out. He merely slipped out while everyone was distracted by sleep. Circus still has eyes on him in any case, no doubt, so it isn't as though he's in danger here. He picks his way across town to the alley whose unhappy residents are all asleep. He's as quiet as a cat when he sets down the heavy coat over the homeless child from earlier but not quiet enough.
"S-sir? W-why are you…?" the boy stammers, shirking away against the wall.
Akari puts a finger to his lips and straightens up. He takes his leave quickly enough that the boy doesn't have time to say anything else. A nearby bridge is where he stops to watch the boy, close enough to see him but far enough to stay hidden. A smile plays on his lips when he sees the child's face light up at the warm coat and the money in its pockets.
"How admirable of you."
The sound of Hirato's voice behind him makes him jump, and he turns to see the captain gazing at him with a smirk. Hirato steps forward and wraps his arms around his waist, pulling him forward for a kiss which Akari begrudgingly accepts.
"Silence," Akari orders when they break apart a few seconds later.
"I was just thinking you've changed, Akari-san," Hirato comments, releasing Akari and leaning against the rail on the bridge to watch the boy as well. He turns to kiss the other man again, but Akari has already put up a hand between them to stop him. "Maybe you'll start being less greedy with your kisses next. We'll have to work on that."
Akari huffs and crosses his arms. "I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you."
.
.
.
A/N: Putting my note at the bottom on this one because it's less distracting this way. I think, at least. Anyway, I don't actually see Akari as being very greedy, nor do I see Hirato as being that way for that matter. But since this was supposed to be Akari's chapter, this is what you get.