stealhearted | are you hurting the one you love?

I'm still not sure how you learned to be so good at that so quickly. Were you practicing without me?

[Talking like this is... easier and harder than he remembers. It's odd. It's under an entirely different pretense, a perplexingly honestly friendly one, but he isn't struggling with that as much as he might be. Maybe it's the residual rattle of the multiple fits of earth-shattering anxiety he's fought his way through during the day, and that Akira has been nothing but supportive and present without being suffocating about it.]

[He hums, staying settled low enough in the water that his knees stick up.]

I didn't want to lose to you. [ Akira says it with a little more heat than it might strictly require, but it's the truth -- he'd absolutely gone and played games by himself, or games against strangers, or games against the rest of the phantom thieves. Akechi had challenged him, and Akira wanted to rise to the occasion; he wanted to see what was on the other side of winning.

He wishes he'd done it earlier, honestly, had more time between the win and then... ]

I wanted to make you fight me with your full power, and I still wanted to win -- or something like that. [ Akira makes a little hand gesture that leaves swirls through the water that's vaguely reminiscent of a Kamen Rider hand gesture from one of the shows that aired when he was approximately four. ]

[His smile pulls a fraction wider, though it's hard to tell because he pulls his chin in toward his collar bone so it's hidden under the water as it moves. He watches the vague henshin pose action and chuckles, lifting his head out of the water again. He pushes some of his hair behind one ear again, grinning at him and having absolutely no concept of how coquettish the gesture is.]

Well, now that I'm your captive, I suppose you have plenty of time for that, don't you.

You think you'll get Stockholm Syndrome? [ Is... is this flirting? There's definitely a certain Jokeresque quality to the way he says it, which is partly because Akira's hair is swept back and he's sans glasses, and partly because the way Akechi tucks his hair behind his ear makes Akira feel like he would go absolutely feral if there were not other humans in the bath with them. ]

I'll treat you well.

[He gives him a pointedly curious look.] Do you consider me a hostage?

Yeah. [ The grin that ~~Joker~~ Akira gives him is a little too rogueish to be at all innocent. ]

I'm trying to steal your heart, after all.

[Oh.]

[Oh.]

[He shouldn't let it bother him, but several things contribute to his reaction-- the sheer Joker-like nature of the phrase and the rogueish grin on Akira's face, the fact that the statement is focused solely on him, and with the confession from earlier still wedged in the back of his mind, to boot, and probably the bath water already contributing to a relaxed state of being. His shoulders creep upward to his ears and he sinks lower into the bathwater, a scarlet haze of embarrassment traveling to his collarbone. He idly blows bubbles in the water when his lips dip under the surface for a moment. He tips his head to the side enough to speak, angling his head away from Akira and pulling his knees close to his body with a scowl.]

Would you, really?

Yeah. [ Akira is completely serious. It's also clear that he's getting somewhere, now -- the confession tipped them both over a line that they can't uncross, and it's sitting in the back of both of their minds, dragging attention to itself when they least expect it.

Akira hadn't quite been expecting that when it happened, but he hadn't honestly given it a lot of forethought. It felt like the right thing to do, at the time. ]

Consider yourself my next target. [ You probably will not receive a calling card.

Probably. ]

[He blows more bubbles in the water, putting his face into his knees and almost submerging himself entirely for a moment before he sits back up and plants his hands on either side of his body, glaring at a specific point across the bath and verymuch nowhere near Akira.]

Well, don't expect this to be as easy as your other targets. [His argument would be a lot more convincing if he weren't horribly red in the face, though at least it's definitely added to by the heat of the bath.] I won't give up without a fight.

If you let it be easy, you wouldn't be you. [ Akira likes the challenge that Akechi presents, as a general rule, but it's not like Akira would say no if Akechi's defenses all went down at once and he let Akira in.

Okay, that's a lie: Akira would be so suspicious that he wouldn't even be able to take advantage of the situation, but he can pretend. It's true, though: part of the reason he likes Akechi (all the reasons wrapped up into a big, confusing tangle) is the way he can be so stubborn about things while being so obvious. He'll claim he wants to eat soba when he clearly wants udon and he won't back down even though he doesn't actually want the soba -- he's that kind of a person.

Akira, unfortunately, finds that cute. He's got it bad.

Innocently, Akira leans in to look at Akechi. ]

You're pretty red. Is the bath overheating you? [ The fact that he can keep the smile off his face is kind of impressive. ]

[He is an exceptionally contradictory person, but he will also absolutely fight with himself and everyone else that he wants something even if he relatively clearly doesn't want it, just for the agency of getting to choose.]

[See, for instance: the whole dying thing. That was definitely all for show.]

[He inhales and huffs the breath back out in a huge overblown sigh, puffing his cheeks out and everything, not turning his head when he moves his eyes to glower at Akira.] Oh, it must be. Perhaps I should get out, [And-- so he stands up, right there, less than six inches away from Akira's fucking face. Because who are they if they aren't being absolute twats to each other.]

[He does, at least, turn away from him to climb out of the bath, but it doesn't change that he still did it in clear and plain view. Suffer, Kurusu.]

[ There is a very short expanse of time where Akira's brain visible short circuits. It nearly makes audible whirring noises as his actual coherent thoughts try to catch back up, and it's only the fact that he's been in the bath with Akechi before, has already seen him naked before, that ends up saving him.

Also, he really doesn't want to think about "bath house nudity" in a sexual context when it's so full of old men. He's not into that.

He catches up quick enough, though, getting out of the bath himself and going to towel off like he can remove the flush from his cheeks if he rubs at his face hard enough.

It, shockingly, does not work. ]

[Akechi wishes he were faring as well-- getting flustered all to hell seemed to have done a number on him, on top of the fact that he isn't used to baths like this anymore, and that crazy old man was probably playing his "how hot can I make this water" game, anyway. So once he's back out into the changing area near their borrowed lockers, the change in air temperature makes him woozy and he wraps a towel around his hips before he opens his locker and hooks his fingers inside the door in favor of crouching and ducking his head against his knees.]

[Suffer, honestly.]

[ Akira watches him and blinks, before he gets the sort of fondly exasperated expression on his face that would make everyone in a ten mile radius immediately get sixteen cavities. It's gross and it's absolutely telling of how much he likes Akechi, so it's a good thing Akechi can't see it.

Akira pulls his clothing on pretty quickly, then very slowly tests the limit of the invisible jumper cable keeping them attached -- he leans out of the door, keeping an eye on when the edge of the barrier seems to rustle Akechi's hair, and can just barely hit the buttons on the vending machine to successfully retrieve two cold beverages for them.

He steps back over and immediately puts it on the back of Akechi's neck. ]

[He is nothing if not a huge fool that constantly makes his own life significantly harder than it has to be. But blessed be the powers that prevent him from seeing that goopy smile on Akira's face, because he would attempt to cause him harm, and probably only wind up hurting himself in the long run.]

[But, you know, feel free to enjoy the borderline lewd sharp intake of breath and gasp received for that cold drink against his neck when he was absolutely not paying attention to where Akira was enough to even consider what was about to happen. He winds up letting go of the locker door and floundering, tipping backward and dropping onto his ass, tucking his knees up close to his body and giving Akira a glare befitting of an angry cat.] Wh-- warn me, you dolt.

[ The sweet, sweet taste of revenge tastes a lot like Pocari. ]

Thought you might need to cool down. [ Which goes for both of them, actually, and honestly the thing Akira is most thankful of is the fact that he has in no way accidentally sprung a boner, because it's not like he'd be able to hide anything. At least clothing helps.

God, living with Akechi so close all the time now that Akechi knows is going to be torture. Akira still thinks it's better Akechi knows, but.

He's sixteen, this is going to be hell. ]

Unless you need me to carry you home.

[He grumbles, snatching the drink and placing it against his cheek, then rolling it to his neck, and he wilts where he sits.] Yes, [He agrees, but then opens his eyes to continue to glower up at him.]

But I do not need to be carried, thank you, you live directly across the street.

I'm pretty strong. [ Which is absolutely not the point. Of course Akira can carry Akechi -- he carries the team on his grappling hook on a pretty regular basis, and that's not just cognitive strength -- but the point is about Akechi's pride.

Which is why Akira is happy to gently roll across that pride like a cat that's had too much catnip. ]

That does nothing to convince me to allow you to carry me. It does less, in fact, because now I know how much you want to.

[He rolls to his feet, wobbles, grabs the inside of his locker and goes about getting dressed again like a man half-drunk, but it's fine. He closes the locker again and stands in his shoes, heels over the backs of them because he just cannot be assed to put them on all the way.] Not a word.

Mmhmm. [ Akira hums, and then leans down, gently tugging at the back of Akechi's shoes until they fall into a more reasonable shape that won't give him blisters even on the five minute walk back to Leblanc.

He does, however, reach out slightly, a hand hovering just behind the small of Akechi's back. He doesn't touch him, but it's there, a stabilizer should Akechi need it.

Akira doesn't acknowledge it. ]

You ate all the carrots out of your curry. Should I add in more?

[A long-suffering sigh, and he gives him a withered frown.] I understand that my behavior today has not instilled much confidence in my ability to function as an independent individual, but really, you needn't smother me.

[A beat, and he frowns, deliberating over whether or not he wants to be contrary enough to deny himself more carrots.] If you want to, [Which may be code for yes, please, give him so many carrots.]

This isn't smothering. This is... [ Akira considers, searching for a more complimentary word for his current behavior. ] Doting. [ Which kind of makes him sound like a grandmother forcing cookies upon the neighborhood children, but like, Akira's pretty sure neither of them had nice (or any) grandparents, so sure.

That's fine. ]

When you like someone, you want to do things for them. Even little things.

[His shoulders pull inward and he curls his fingers in toward his palms, scrunching his face and looking over at Akira like the approximation of a grandchild whose grandmother just gave him a really, really ugly sweater for Christmas.]

...well, [He huffs, because he knows Akira won't just stop, possibly can't, but in the best of cases it makes his insides squirm and in the worst it makes him feel like he's being rubbed on all sides by fine-grain sandpaper.] ...don't, so much. I know you won't stop, I'm not stupid enough to attempt to ask that, but, just... Don't hover. It's wildly disconcerting.

I'll stop hovering when you can stand without wobbling. [ Which Akechi is doing better at, actually, so Akira does give him a little more space. The fresh air outside is probably helping. It's actually pretty chilly, for as early as it is, but it probably feels good for as overheated as Akechi is. ]

[He huffs again and stops walking, standing upright and scowling at him a bit like a wounded animal.] I'm fine, Kurusu. I overheated in the bath last time, too, let me be. I'm just not used to them.

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