Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

He had been here before.

The moment thrummed with the inevitable, the bite of the crisp autumn air, the call of seabirds in the distance. Akutagawa stared through the crush of people, his heartbeat quickening, confused and concerned at his own inability to control his body’s reaction. Déjà vu was nothing but a fault in the brain, a broken neural pathway remapped across an existing memory…and yet.

He had been here before.

Pedestrians paid him no mind, ignoring his work clothes. He could see the weretiger now; elbows leaned on the railing as he watched the ships in the bay, his back completely open to attack. He was alone today, and that was unusual because he was so rarely alone; either accompanying Dazai-san or accompanied by another member of the detective agency.

The weretiger shifted his weight, leaning it more on one elbow, that ridiculous belt curling like a tail around his side. He was too casual in his stance, and Akutagawa realized suddenly that not only was Atsushi waiting for Akutagawa’s inevitable strike…he was expecting it.

Lip curled, Akutagawa stepped across the sidewalk, and Atsushi tilted his head, looking at him sidelong. He was a poor actor, pretending to be surprised at Akutagawa’s appearance here, but he was maintaining his charade, at least for the moment. “Didn’t feel like throwing the first punch today?” Atsushi asked, and Akutagawa’s scowl slipped into a sneer.

“Perhaps I wanted to get close enough to slip a knife between your ribs instead, weretiger. You left me plenty of opening to do so.”

“You’re not a knife fighter.” Atsushi dismissed him so casually out of hand that it lifted Akutagawa’s eyebrows. “You’d use Rashomon for that anyway. But you’re early today, what changed?”

What…changed…?

Akutagawa stared at him, taken completely off guard. He’d only spied the weretiger from across the park and felt like picking a fight, how dare he imply that Akutagawa was predictable…had he been waiting for him?

Atsushi turned to look at him when Akutagawa had yet to respond to his question. “You were on your way to deliver some documents for Chuuya-san, but you usually don’t show up to attack me until—” he raised three fingers, then two—and right as he folded his last finger down a ship across the bay blew its foghorn, the sound echoing across the choppy water. “That.”

“Have you lost your mind?” Akutagawa asked.

“Tried that,” Atsushi said with a dismissive sigh. He leaned his elbow against the metal rail and slouched forward, chin in hand as he stared out across the water. “Got old, after a while. Pretty much the only highlight of my day anymore is waiting for you to take my head off, at least the fighting wears me out.”

The echo of that statement played out in an instant, dozens of fights down this very path, Rashomon cracking the railing and Atsushi’s powerful tiger limbs leaving craters in the concrete pavers. Akutagawa gripped the railing himself, looking down into the water, dizzy suddenly with the knowledge of days, weeks of this—and when he looked up, Atsushi was giving him a concerned look.

“What’s the matter, Akutagawa? Aren’t you itching to fight me again today?”

“Weretiger,” he said, carefully, “how many times have we had this conversation?”

Atsushi blinked at him. “This one is new, but we’ve talked dozens of times.”

Akutagawa inhaled carefully. He should leave this alone, he did have to courier that paperwork, but when was he ever known for being diligent in his work duties? It would be abnormal for him to leave the weretiger unmolested. “How many times have we fought, here?”

Atsushi exhaled, leaning back now with his hands on the railing, letting the railing support his weight while he thought about it. “I lost count,” he said finally. “After a while, they all seem to blur together, you know?” He let out a laugh Akutagawa had never heard before, dipping into unhinged in a way he’d never imagined the weretiger could be. “Sometimes I kill you, you know? Or I let you kill me. But it doesn’t matter because everything resets. I wake up and it’s Sunday again.”

He released the railing and danced back a step, spinning to face Akutagawa, sleeves shredding to the elbow. “Shall we do this, then? I’ve been waiting all day.”

Akutagawa didn’t move, staring at him. The spark of an ability activating had drawn some attention that Atsushi would usually shy away from, but he stood, feet spread, claws out, waiting on Akutagawa. The look in his eyes was as unhinged as his laugh, and Akutagawa said something that he never imagined he would say, least of all to the weretiger. “No,” he said. “I am not going to fight you.”

Atsushi stared at him for a long, long moment, before the stripes ran from his arms, and they returned to normal. “Well, that’s something you’ve never said before,” he said, clearly puzzled. “What’s so different about today? You’re early, you don’t want to fight…I didn’t do anything out of the ordinary.”

“You’re acting absurd, weretiger. I don’t need to be afflicted by whatever madness consumes you.” Akutagawa stepped away from the railing as well. Atsushi was watching him the way a cat might watch an insect it was stalking across the floor. It raised his hackles, maybe he would be up for that fight after all….

“You know,” Atsushi said, speculatively. “Sometimes, we don’t fight. Sometimes we fuck instead.”

Akutagawa froze in place, a thousand silenced thoughts flooding his mind. He realized, horrified, that this brought a blush to his face when Atsushi smirked at him; and he scowled so hard he thought he felt his skin crack. “I am tired of these mind games you’re playing,” he snapped. “I have other business to attend to today.”

Atsushi stalked up to him and he turned on his heel, surprised at the boldness of the advance. “You like it when I fuck you,” Atsushi said, and the words hit like a lead balloon in his gut. “It’s weird, I thought you wouldn’t like giving up control so easily, but—”

Akutagawa struck him across the face.

Atsushi staggered back, hand flying to his face to cover the bruise blossoming on his cheek. “Oh, we are going to fight,” he said, delighted, and Akutagawa snarled in response, Rashomon rippling down his arms and shredding the remains of the courier uniform he had been wearing in the mild hope of blending into the crowd.

“I would never submit to you,” he hissed, face burning scarlet. “I would die before I allowed you to lay a finger on me!”

Atsushi laughed, arms already transformed and crossed in front of his face to block the first slash from Rashomon like he knew when it was coming. “You came on to me,” he said. “That first time we fought to a standstill and there wasn’t a clear winner, you grabbed me by the tie and kissed me, and I thought—” He skipped back from several strikes, spinning delicately off a Rashomon tendril like a gymnast and landing lightly on his toes. “I thought if I let you do that to me, I’d get out of this.”

“Get out of what,” Akutagawa almost shouted, Rashomon driving up through the ground in a minefield of spikes that Atsushi dodged with ease.

“Wow, are you even trying today?” Atsushi asked, landing on the railing just before Rashomon split the metal in two. “Maybe I should just let you kill me and then I can start over, today’s been too weird for me, you’re acting all goofy.”

An enormous Rashomon head reared from Akutagawa’s coat, lunging for Atsushi—who now, didn’t move, planted in place. Seconds before the head would have engulfed him Akutagawa yanked it back, chest heaving, and yelled at him from across the path, “What the fuck are you doing!?”

Atsushi didn’t move, arms still outstretched. “Letting you win?”

“I don’t want to triumph because you let me win!”

“Didn’t stop you at least once,” Atsushi said. “Maybe it was a couple of times. I know I bled out once, don’t recommend that.” He folded his arms. “Today is not going at all like any of them.”

Still breathing harshly, Akutagawa said, “How many todays have there been, weretiger?”

“I told you, I lost count,” Atsushi said, peeved.

“You’ve been reliving the same day? But that’s…” It was a foolish absurdity, but he’d lived through insane ability-related shit too many times to immediately discount it. He straightened slowly, covering his mouth with his hand, and considered this. “Where is Dazai-san?”

Atsushi laughed bitterly. “Out of town, because of course he fucking is. I thought he was off on some Secret Date with Chuuya-san, but Chuuya-san’s still in town, so I don’t know what Dazai-san is doing.” He shrugged, helplessly, and for the first time his voice wavered. “I’ve been trapped in this ability for so fucking long, and I can’t figure out how to get free.”

Akutagawa glanced back at the small measure of damage they’d done to the park, busted concrete and destroyed landscaping, before looking to Atsushi again. “And your detective agency has been no help?”

“Oh, when I tell them it takes about half the day or until Ranpo-san comes back to the office for them to believe it. We’ve tried dozens of things.” He scratched his head and sighed. “I’m so tired, Akutagawa,” he said, softly enough that Akutagawa found himself taking a step closer to the weretiger before he stopped himself.

“Come with me,” he said and turned on his heel to leave.

“The Port Mafia can’t help me either,” Atsushi said. “How do you think I knew Chuuya-san was still in town? Or that you are on a courier mission? You should finish that, by the way.”

“Fool, I am not taking you to Port Mafia headquarters. Stay and stew if you wish or come with me.” He did not look back again…but as he walked away, he heard Atsushi’s footsteps follow quickly until he fell into step beside Akutagawa.

“So are you taking me back to your apartment then?” Atsushi asked. “It was nicer than I pictured, I kind of thought you lived in a dark hole in the ground, to be honest. Maybe the sewers.”

Akutagawa stopped. “You have been to my residence?”

Atsushi kept walking in the same direction but turned and walked backward, so he was still facing Akutagawa. “A few times. You prefer to be fucked in your own bed…I figure that’s what we’re doing? So I can prove it?”

That damnable blush hit him again, hard and fast. “I refuse to believe that I have willingly had relations with you,” he said, poison coating his words, and Atsushi shrugged, walking backward a few more steps before turning around.

“I get it, you don’t believe me, and the only way to figure out if I’m telling the truth is if I’m familiar enough with you to know what you like. Believe me, this isn’t the first time this has happened.”

Akutagawa stewed in silence, because despite what he was desperately telling himself to the contrary, that pretty much nailed it. He didn’t want to allow the weretiger to touch him…but a desperate curiosity had taken root, chewing at the inside of his stomach. And besides, if he didn’t like the direction anything was going, he could just as easily send Rashomon through the weretiger’s heart from his back as he could on his feet.

Atsushi, still ahead, led them both unerringly to Akutagawa’s door. He leaned against the wall while Akutagawa unlocked the door, unsettled by his confidence; and once inside he kicked his shoes off in the genkan and walked into the apartment proper.

Akutagawa glared at him as he slipped his own shoes off. “Stop acting like you own the place,” he hissed, and Atsushi turned around, hands on his hips. The look he gave Akutagawa stopped him in his tracks—and then Atsushi was touching his face, gently tilting it so that his mouth fit on Akutagawa’s perfectly.

Everything slowed to a stop around him.

Akutagawa Ryuunosuke would be lying if he said he hadn’t thought of taking the weretiger apart in this manner before. He’d certainly thought it, face-down in his bed, face buried in the single pillow and hand shoved between his legs; thought about making the weretiger beg for it, sweet release or death, whichever he preferred—but at no point had his mouth come into it, gently enveloping Akutagawa’s own, their breathing in perfect sync.

He stood stock-still, startled, as Atsushi drew back, licking his lips. “You didn’t bite me,” he said, a little amused, and at that Akutagawa came back to himself, moving forward and grabbing Atsushi by his suspenders. Atsushi’s laugh was cut off mid-stream as he slammed the weretiger into the wall and kissed him again, desperately.

It was deeply, markedly unfair that kissing the weretiger was easier than breathing, that it felt correct. Atsushi laughed softly against his mouth, his hand in Akutagawa’s hair, and he said, softly, “We can do better than kissing, you know?”

Akutagawa bit his lower lip and Atsushi hissed through his teeth, pupils gone to slits and eyes golden.

He knew where the bedroom was and walked Akutagawa to it unerringly, their mouths barely lifted apart. He’d been doing this for how long? How many times had he talked Akutagawa into bed, pushing his coat off his shoulders and pulling the cravat loose, sliding his trousers down his thighs, and kissing the pale skin of his hip?

Atsushi’s fingers were delicate, careful; he knew Akutagawa’s body almost better than Akutagawa himself did, and it was terrifying and comforting all at once. Akutagawa clutched at his coat spread out beneath him on the bed, his other hand over Atsushi’s shoulder and Atsushi hummed, amused.

His shoulders were surprisingly broad. Akutagawa, panting, pressed his forehead to Atsushi’s shoulder, legs spread wide by his hips, the feeling of fullness carrying him through each moment as Atsushi moved in just the way he needed.

Akutagawa twisted against him, and he shifted, voice gone husky with effort; “like that?” and oh, yes like that. He released his coat, both arms wrapped around Atsushi as he kept moving, kept pushing Akutagawa closer and closer to that razor-thin edge. “I wish,” Atsushi’s voice was muffled against his skin, burning hot, “wish you’d remember this for once, at least—” and Akutagawa’s breath was fire in his lungs, he couldn’t breathe and talk and feel like this all at the same time.

It was unfair, it was so unfair that the weretiger could take him to pieces like this and he hated that he wanted it more. Akutagawa hissed through his teeth, “fucking hate you—” and Atsushi laughed, twisted his hips, and pushed Akutagawa double, slamming into him so deep Akutagawa’s eyes all but crossed.

“Fucking hate you too,” Atsushi grunted, and Akutagawa came apart.

Akutagawa’s phone vibrated against the bedstand, and he stared at it. He sat up slowly, looking around his darkened bedroom. He was alone in his bed, the covers neat and unblemished. He looked down at the shirt he usually slept in, and grabbed the front of it, heart beating so hard and fast he was afraid it would come through his ribs. “Weretiger?” he croaked into the silence of the room and received no response.

He staggered out of bed, drank a cup of water from the kitchen faucet, and stared through the wall. He knew without looking that his shoes were the only ones in the genkan. He finally lifted his phone to check the message that had woken him, and as he suspected it was the same message he’d received yesterday morning from Gin, several time zones away with the rest of the Black Lizards.

Akutagawa swiped the message closed and stared in silence at the date on his phone.

1:17, Sun Oct 1.

Chapter Text

Atsushi was standing at the railing in the park, watching the boats in the bay. Akutagawa didn’t bother with any pretense this time, storming through the crowd of people with his sights set directly on the infernal fucking weretiger.

He’d stood in his bathroom this morning and stared at himself. He could still feel the imprint of the weretiger’s hands on his skin, even if there were no fresh blossoming bruises as proof. It was infuriating. He’d allowed that man to touch him so, and there was no record that their tryst even existed in the first place.

Had it?

Maybe it was all a weird dream, maybe his brain was playing a trick and he’d imagined this day from the start…he’d imagined the way that Chuuya had knocked over his coffee on the desk and flung the offending cup at the wall. He’d imagined the trajectory so well he was able to catch the cup today, earning a snort of recognition from his superior.

He’d imagined pushing the weretiger into the wall and kissing him desperately, his baser instincts overriding the common fucking sense he tried to maintain. And everything after that as well, the stuff he kept to his lewder dreams; as if he bothered to acknowledge their existence in the first place.

Yes. He’d imagined all of it, he had to have because otherwise he took Atsushi home and let the blasted weretiger fuck him stupid and he had no other explanation for it other than he wanted it to happen.

Atsushi clearly sensed his ire incoming, and half turned, one elbow still on the railing. “You’re early again today,” he said, a split second before Akutagawa punched him.

He definitely was not anticipating the blow, which took him back against the railing. He stared at Akutagawa, completely baffled, and rubbed his face—the exact spot Akutagawa had struck him the previous day that also didn’t exist because he’d fucking imagined it.

“What the fuck have you done to my head, weretiger?” Akutagawa snarled at him, and Atsushi blinked in sheer confusion.

“What…?” he said, straightening. “That’s new.”

“Did we have sex yesterday?”

Atsushi took a step back, which put him flush to the railing again. “What?”

“Don’t fucking “what” me, weretiger.” Akutagawa stepped in close. “Did we, or did we not?” He grabbed Atsushi by the front of his shirt, yanking him in, their faces now far too close for this but he needed to know the truth.

“You remember it?” Atsushi asked, suddenly breathless. The look on his face was indescribable, like he wanted to be happy, or excited, but was mostly concerned. As he should be because Akutagawa was this close to throwing him over the railing and into the bay. “You remember yesterday?”

“What did you do to me?” Akutagawa snarled. “Yesterday was Sunday, and now today is Sunday as well, did you fucking infect me?”

Atsushi’s eyes were doing something they hadn’t, yesterday—they were glittering. Akutagawa hadn’t even realized how dead the weretiger’s eyes had looked until now—and that, weirdly, concerned him most of all. Atsushi pushed free of Akutagawa, who released him as he took a few steps away, looking past him and thinking hard. “I didn’t do anything we hadn’t done before,” he said, finally.

That was fucking insulting. “How many times?” Akutagawa asked, deadly serious. “How many times did I take you to my apartment and allow you to do that—?”

Atsushi refused to meet his eye, flushing pink. “I don’t know,” he said. “I have no real way to keep track of how many days it’s been, anything I record it on resets at midnight. I just…I really got tired of fighting you, you know? I never actually wanted to fight you, I wanted to try to be friends. You’re a jackass, though, and mean to boot, but you’re also really fucking horny too, so we always end up fucking instead.”

Akutagawa dragged his hand over his face, very securely locking some mental images in his vault and valiantly throwing away the key. “That is sheer fucking nonsense.”

Atsushi shrugged. “Yesterday,” he said simply, and if Akutagawa scowled any deeper his face would stick.

Fuck, was he really that easy?

His eyes darted to the weretiger’s mouth of their own accord before he regained his senses and glared past him, at the vessels in the bay, ears heating in his anger. Fuck.

After several uncomfortable beats of silence, he looked back at Atsushi. “This is ridiculous,” he pronounced. “I have a courier job to complete. Deal with your situation yourself, weretiger. Do not touch me again.” He turned to leave, and Atsushi sighed exaggeratedly.

“Yeah, okay,” he said, waving his hand dismissively. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Akutagawa.”

“You most certainly will not.”

He did not look back as he stalked away, intent on completing the mission he’d let lapse the previous day. He endeavored to keep the weretiger far from his thoughts, dispatching some enemies in as violent a manner possible without taking their lives because he kept his fucking word even if he wanted to snap the weretiger’s neck himself, personally, this fucking instant.

Akutagawa stood on the lip of the roof, staring out into a neon-lit night, watching the clock on his phone tick over to 23:58. This was stupid, but he had to be certain. He exhaled, though his breath did not steam, and closed his eyes.

He opened them, head on his pillow, lying in bed wearing the pajamas he had worn this morning.

Akutagawa flung himself upright, grabbing the front of his shirt and staring, utterly baffled, into the darkness. He groped for his phone, yanking it off the charging cable, and stared at the lock screen, lighting up his room.

00:04, Sun Oct 1

The phone screen shattered when it hit the wall.

Akutagawa looked up from the tea he was brewing when someone knocked on the door. It was, according to the wall clock, a little after 1 a.m., and there was really only one person who it could be. He glared at Atsushi, standing on the other side of the door. “Still in denial?” Atsushi asked, and Akutagawa slammed the door in his face.

After about fifteen seconds, he opened the door again. “You are not to touch me,” he said. “Do not throw your shoes around like you live here, weretiger.”

Atsushi placed his shoes in the genkan respectfully this time and followed Akutagawa into his apartment. “Why are you here?” Akutagawa asked, and Atsushi leaned against the kitchen counter beside him and clearly couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face.

“I’m just so glad I have someone to talk to, now. I was going stir-crazy, you know? There’s only so many identical conversations you can have with people day in and day out before you start knowing every answer before they say it and you creep them out.” Atsushi exhaled and bounced his hip against the counter. “We can talk about so many things!”

“Yes, like how to get out of this accursed loop you’ve somehow trapped me in as well, like a sexually transmitted disease.”

Atsushi frowned. “I don’t think the sex had anything to do with it.”

“Yes, tell me again how many times you have deflowered me in my own bed.” Akutagawa scowled at his mug and then turned away from Atsushi. “Was there truly nothing so different about the day? You took me home and fucked me stupid, and now I am stuck in a nightmare where I have to perpetually relive the humiliation.”

“It wasn’t humiliating.”

“You don’t get to decide that for me.” Akutagawa moved past him, setting his tea down on the table and making certain the weretiger understood how unwelcome he was in Akutagawa’s private domain. “To be touched so intimately by your enemy is humiliating.”

Atsushi was silent. “I don’t think of you as my enemy.”

“Then you have severely misjudged our relationship.”

“I don’t think I have, but I’ve had a lot more time with it than you.” Atsushi pulled out the chair opposite Akutagawa at his table and sat himself without invitation. “At least with the two of us collaborating now, maybe we can find a way out of this mess.”

Akutagawa exhaled and wrapped his hands around the mug, palms leeching the heat. “Do you recall anything about the ability user who did this? Were you in a fight, perhaps, and didn’t realize you’d been affected?”

Atsushi shook his head. “Nothing. I didn’t even have any jobs on Saturday. Kyouka-chan and I went to the library and did some grocery shopping and then sat around the office while Kunikida-san yelled at Dazai-san over the phone.” He sighed wistfully. “It was so long ago. It feels like a different lifetime, now.”

Akutagawa’s fingers tightened on the mug. “Well, we shall start retracing your steps today and see if we can figure out at what point you got trapped in an eternal Sunday.” Akutagawa took another sip of his tea and sighed—and when he opened his eyes Atsushi was staring at him, chin in both hands. That didn’t feel like a good sign. “What?”

Atsushi cocked his head. “Can I suck your dick?”

Akutagawa stared at him.

Atsushi stared back.

“What the fuck, weretiger,” Akutagawa said, and hunched around his mug defensively, like Atsushi would spike it with something. “No, you may not suck my dick.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t want you fucking touching me again and screwing with my head. The sex was bad enough!”

Atsushi tilted his head in the other direction. “That’s not what I remember.”

Akutagawa flushed red and Rashomon began to ripple along the shoulders of his pajamas. Atsushi sat up at that, eying the red glow of Akutagawa’s ability with the proper wariness. “You will stop bringing it up,” Akutagawa snarled, and Atsushi held up his hands, palms toward Akutagawa.

“We did it a few times,” he said. “But since you never remembered after I never got to try anything interesting. I was only asking because I thought you’d be interested.”

“Well, you are mistaken.”

There was another uncomfortable silence. More uncomfortable, Akutagawa realized, because he was interested, and he refused in any way to acknowledge it. The weretiger had severely screwed with his head. Once he got out of this ability, he would take the weretiger’s as a prize. It was the only way he was going to get any peace.

When he emerged from the bathroom, Atsushi had relocated to the couch in the main room, and Akutagawa heard the soft murmur of the television set he never bothered to turn on. Irritated, Akutagawa walked into the living room, towel over his shoulders. He’d meant to say something snarky and cutting about Atsushi making himself at home when he clearly didn’t have one of his own—but Atsushi’s gaze settled on him, and he looked hungry in a way that twisted about in Akutagawa’s stomach like a living thing.

He'd spent his entire brief shower very intently not imagining Atsushi’s mouth on his dick, and now he was staring at that same mouth, stopped dead in his tracks. The light from the television cast weird shadows but Atsushi’s eyes still glimmered as he stared at Akutagawa. He sat forward, slightly, when Akutagawa stopped in front of him, seated on the couch.

Atsushi reached for him but then stopped himself and dropped his hand back to his knee. He didn’t drop eye contact though—and the feelings that were roiling in Akutagawa’s gut were too much to take. Atsushi didn’t jerk his head away when Akutagawa’s hand brushed through the hair atop his head, and he tilted his head into it when Akutagawa’s fingers curled in tight and pulled.

Atsushi’s eyes half-closed, and his mouth opened. Akutagawa stared at him, fascinated, heart beating double time in his chest. He yanked again, pulling Atsushi’s head back and exposing his throat, and Atsushi let out a little mewl that settled in his gut atop that roiling feeling.

He could cut the weretiger’s throat right now, slash him open with Rashomon. Sure it would be a mess. Would that free him?

Akutagawa thumbed the waistband of his trousers with his free hand, and Atsushi’s eyes opened again, watching him silently. He hadn’t reached out to touch Akutagawa at all, like he’d said—although he was quite focused on what Akutagawa was doing, pulling the waistband down enough to expose the root of his dick.

Atsushi licked his lips.

“You really do want that,” Akutagawa murmured, and his voice seemed to startle Atsushi out of his trance. His eyes darted to Akutagawa’s face before Akutagawa yanked his hair again and they slid to half-mast. “You want my dick in your mouth.”

Atsushi nodded as much as he was allowed, with Akutagawa’s hand still tight in his hair.

“Sit on your hands.”

Atsushi shifted his weight and pinned his hands under his thighs. Akutagawa released his head and slid his pants down his thighs until they dropped to the floor of their own accord, and he stepped out of them.

It felt weird to be naked here; he had his towel still on his shoulders but nothing else—and Atsushi’s eyes were locked between his legs, so Akutagawa stroked himself and watched his pupils dilate.

When he pulled at Atsushi’s chin, Atsushi opened his mouth obediently. There was only a little bit of an awkward shuffle, and Akutagawa put his knee on the couch cushion, outside of Atsushi’s. Atsushi leaned forward, equally awkward, and lipped at his dick.

It took a bit of maneuvering but suddenly Atsushi had his lips around the head and Akutagawa’s entire body shuddered at the sensation. He tilted forward, pushing his fingers through Atsushi’s rough hair again, his other hand braced on the back of the couch as he nudged his dick a little deeper, watching Atsushi’s cheeks hollow.

Atsushi had never done this properly and even he could tell, but he was enthusiastic and that made up for a lot. He flicked his tongue over the slit, probing it, bobbing his head lower, and trying each round to take him deeper while breathing noisily through his nose.

His mouth was oven-hot, and his lips stretched wide around Akutagawa’s girth. He pushed his palm against Atsushi’s forehead, trying to draw back but Atsushi was pernicious, keeping at it, trying to choke his cock down. So instead, Akutagawa gently pulled him down on his cock, his dick slipping deeper and hitting something that Atsushi swallowed around, taking Akutagawa into his throat.

Atsushi’s eyes were rolled back now; Akutagawa pulled at the hair on his head as he swallowed again and again, licking and sucking and keeping Akutagawa pinned in place until he too was breathing hard, panting shallow breaths while he braced his hands against the back of the couch and kept grinding into Atsushi’s throat.

Then he was cresting, up and over, the edge bright and razor-sharp. Atsushi moaned, a muffled noise with his face stuffed full of Akutagawa, and by the time Akutagawa worked himself free white was dripping from both corners of his mouth.

“Fuck,” Atsushi croaked, his voice a damaged husk; he coughed wetly, and more white dripped from his lips.

Akutagawa took a shaky step back, and then another. His cock was still drooling slightly, even as he went soft; but staring at Atsushi in the soft reflected light of the television he looked sated, deeply satisfied. “Thank you,” Atsushi rumbled.

He swallowed, knees still weak. Atsushi looked utterly debauched, his hair a rucked-up mess; and without even thinking Akutagawa grabbed him by the collar, held him there, and kissed him.

Atsushi’s hands came up, he caught Akutagawa’s face and held him, leaning forward into the kiss. Akutagawa didn’t even mind the sour, salty taste of Atsushi’s breath, licking into his mouth and kissing him deeply before his brain finally caught up with him and he shoved Atsushi back into the couch and staggered away, dick halfway to hard again.

They stared at each other, chests heaving, and when Akutagawa looked angrily away he could see the first pale streaks of dawn out the window.

When he glanced back, Atsushi was holding out his pants, eyes respectfully averted. “You should probably get dressed,” he said, voice still torn to hell from Akutagawa’s cock in his throat. That shouldn’t make him sound so attractive.

Akutagawa snatched his clothing and retreated toward his room, slamming the door behind him and leaning back against it. He pushed his hands against his face and swore colorfully into his palms. How the fuck did the weretiger keep doing this to him? Had he gained some kind of mental hypnosis that drew Akutagawa in and made him forget himself?

Whatever it was, this shit needed to stop.

Akutagawa pushed his hands down his stomach, stopping just shy of his spit-slick cock. Then he thudded his head back into the door, swore again, and threw his pants across the room. He was going to get dressed, and they were going to figure this thing the fuck out before he let that weretiger ever fucking touch him again.

God dammit.

Chapter Text

“Your life is incomprehensibly boring,” Akutagawa said, standing back with his hands slid into the deep pockets of his coat. Atsushi rolled his eyes, an utterly blatant display of disrespect that Akutagawa typically wouldn’t let stand, except they were deep in the stacks of the library, following the path of Atsushi’s final Saturday.

Rashomon very helpfully formed a razor-sharp blade, but after a moment’s consideration at the chaos they could cause he let the ability collapse into itself, all before Atsushi even bothered to turn around. While it would be entertaining, they were here on business.

Instead, he scoffed audibly. “You spent hours here?”

Atsushi returned his derision, half-turning to face him, his hand still on the spine of a book on the shelf. “I wouldn’t expect you to understand,” he said—and he was right, Akutagawa did not understand. He had no need to sit, exposed, in a public library. If he desired any such book, the researchers at the Port Mafia would supply it upon request, for him to review in the comfort of his own living quarters and safe from public scrutiny.

In fact, his own sister took advantage of that program frequently, especially when recovering from injury.

The weretiger resumed ignoring him, walking along the row of shelving, his fingers trailing lightly over the spines of books as he scoured the titles. At least two of the books he’d mentioned so far had not been shelved, either checked out by others or still sitting on a cart, somewhere…which left holes in their research, but they could backtrack and cover them later, as needed.

After all, it wasn’t like anything would change tomorrow.

Atsushi’s fingers stopped on an older tome, worn brown leather cover with embossed gold letters, and he tapped it once before sighing and dropping his hands to his hips. “That’s three,” he said. “Three of the books I looked at on Saturday that aren’t on the shelves Sunday.”

“And how many books did you peruse?” Akutagawa asked idly, eyes skating over the shelves, looking for something misshelved.

“Three,” Atsushi folded his arms. “That’s weird, right? I mean, it is a library, but for all three books to be missing after I looked at them, do you think that it’s connected?”

“What I think is strange is that you hadn’t thought to review the books prior to this moment,” Akutagawa muttered, and Atsushi scowled and looked away. “How many days did you relive without retracing your steps?”

“How many times do I have to tell you that I lost count?”

“Until I am satisfied.” Akutagawa stepped up next to him, head tilted slightly as he read the titles of the books on the shelves. Atsushi had bypassed fiction entirely, which surprised him; they were in the science section. “I wouldn’t take you for reading treatise on such a higher level, weretiger. Are you sure you understood the words you were putting into your head?”

“Ugh, shut up.” Atsushi walked to the end of the row, which opened to a railing that rimmed the center of the room. It was open several floors down, overlooking the lobby of the building. He sighed and leaned against it, dangling his arms. “Another dead end.”

Akutagawa silently watched the weretiger’s posture. It reflected the dejection in his voice, shoulders slumped and belt drooping. “Were it truly so easy, I would be disappointed,” Akutagawa said before he could stop himself. “That you were unable to rescue yourself from this situation and had to wait upon my input.”

Atsushi’s head twitched, and he looked over his shoulder at Akutagawa. “Are you trying to make me feel better?”

“No. In fact, I enjoy your despair. You may keep drowning in it if you so desire.”

The weretiger shifted, straightening before turning around to face Akutagawa. He took a step forward, which put him into Akutagawa’s personal space, and, while his skin prickled, Akutagawa stared him down without flinching.

After a moment of searching his face, Atsushi looked away and snorted. Akutagawa felt his ears grow warm, but before he could demand an explanation Atsushi stepped away again, looking back at the shelves, arms folded. “I guess maybe they didn’t have a chance to reshelve the books from yesterday.”

Akutagawa exhaled raggedly, diligently ignoring the way his heart was beating in his ears at the scrutiny. “We should eliminate the location of the books as a potential source for—” his train of thought was cut short by Atsushi turning on his heel, taking a step forward, and catching him by the cravat, pulling him in for a kiss.

He liked to think that he jerked back immediately, the second that Atsushi’s mouth was on his, but the reality was that he didn’t, that he leaned into it and pushed Atsushi back into the bookshelves. His hands gripped the shelf on either side of Atsushi’s body hard enough that the metal edge left indentations on the inside of his palms.

Atsushi’s pupils blew wide, mouth open slightly as they parted, as if he hadn’t been the one to initiate the hungry, desperate kiss right here in the midst of the book stacks. He looked fucking baffled by it, which was irritating all on its own, but then Atsushi had the fucking gall to open his mouth and say, “Why is kissing you so fun?”

“I’m going to kill you,” Akutagawa hissed against his mouth, and Atsushi laughed, hand still curled in his clothing.

“If you want,” he hummed. “It’ll just reset my day sooner. I’d rather fuck though, wouldn’t you?”

Akutagawa’s eyes widened, the flush threatening to creep down from his ears to his face proper. “What is wrong with your head, weretiger? We’re in the middle of the library!”

“Does it matter?” Atsushi tilted his head in response. “Even if we’re caught on camera, it resets at midnight. No one remembers. Nothing matters anymore, Akutagawa.” He tugged on Akutagawa’s cravat, lightly, and there was a desperation rippling under his words that he was having a hard time disguising…or maybe he wasn’t even bothering.

“I will not play these perverse games with you, weretiger,” he said, irritation mounting. “I am not interested in anything you desire.”

Atsushi’s knee nudged against his inseam, pressing into the part of his anatomy that proved him a liar. The weretiger looked increasingly smug, which served only to infuriate him further. “Fine,” he relented because the pressure Atsushi had introduced was making electricity crawl beneath his skin, and he wasn’t interested in messing his own pants in public.

Akutagawa leaned his weight on his hands, keeping Atsushi pinned back against the stacks. “You want this?” he breathed, mouth just shy of Atsushi’s own, and Atsushi’s mouth opened again just slightly, eyes locked on Akutagawa’s. “Do you want me to take you to pieces here, weretiger, where we can be walked in on at any second by some poor student looking for research materials?”

“We won’t be interrupted,” Atsushi almost whispered, clearly enthralled by how close Akutagawa was. “You can do whatever you want to me.”

The way he said it, the surrender in his voice, it twisted up inside Akutagawa’s gut in a way that didn’t feel right. Did he truly not care? That didn’t sound like the weretiger at all. Akutagawa stared down at Atsushi, caught his chin, and turned his face just slightly as if he were inspecting him. Atsushi submitted immediately; eyes gone to slivers of gold through his impossibly thick lashes. Akutagawa swallowed hard and brushed his thumb over Atsushi’s bottom lip.

Whatever he wanted.

…what did he want?

Atsushi groaned when Akutagawa groped him, squeezing his hand over the bulge apparent through his trousers. He tilted his head back, exposing his neck, and Akutagawa nipped at his throat, still fondling him through his pants.

The weretiger spread his legs, panting shallowly as Akutagawa thumbed the catch of his trousers, deftly slipping his hand between skin and cloth until he could wrap his fingers around the hottest part of him, and felt Atsushi’s breath catch.

Akutagawa hadn’t really touched him, yet. He rubbed his thumb over the velvety skin, decided he needed to do more than operate on feel, and dropped to his knees, pulling Atsushi’s trousers down his hips as he did so. The snaps on his suspenders went, the sound loud in the quiet atmosphere, and Atsushi slapped his hand over his mouth, determined to contain any noise before it escaped.

Atsushi’s fingers brushed through his hair, looking for purchase, and Akutagawa jerked his head away sharply. “Do not touch me.”

This didn’t seem particularly difficult. Atsushi’s breathing changed depending on how he was being touched; even muffled as he was with his hand over his mouth. Akutagawa stroked him thoughtfully, shifting his fingers around Atsushi’s girth, and watching how the skin retracted around the head of his cock before rubbing his thumb just under the slit.

He worked Atsushi slowly, stroking up and down, watching the way he reacted to Akutagawa’s grip. His cock was drooling now, dripping down onto his sleeve, and he swiped the head clean with his thumb before pausing, rubbing his fingers together.

Making eye contact with Atsushi, he licked his fingers clean.

Deciding the taste wasn’t the worst thing he’d ever put into his mouth, Akutagawa shifted in closer, his breath brushing over already heated flesh. Atsushi tilted forward just slightly, the muscles in his stomach tight and trembling as Akutagawa’s lips closed around his cock, before he let out a small squeak and came in Akutagawa’s mouth.

Akutagawa wasn’t prepared for him to go off so quickly and his mouth overfilled instantly. He pulled off with a wet cough, gagging, and spat fluid onto the carpet between them. Before he could do anything else Atsushi fell atop him, arms over his shoulders and sending them both back onto the floor together. He narrowly avoided cracking his head on the shelf behind them.

“What—?” was all Akutagawa managed before he started coughing again, and then Atsushi’s mouth was on his.

He was licking his own mess from Akutagawa’s face and that sent a jolt to his own cock. Akutagawa twisted under him, Rashomon rippling uselessly from his coat. Atsushi’s cock was leaving sticky smears on his trouser leg until Akutagawa forced him back with his knee.

Atsushi pushed himself up, on his hands and knees, trousers still bunched around his legs and hanging over Akutagawa, face flushed and eyes bright and glimmering.

They stared in silence at each other, Akutagawa struggling with the feeling beating in his chest; he opened his mouth to snarl something when Atsushi lifted his head suddenly, attention affixed elsewhere.

Two seconds later, the elevator on this floor dinged, and whatever the feeling clogging his lungs, it was forgotten in the mad scramble out the other side of the shelves before they could be seen.

Chapter Text

Akutagawa sat upright in his bed, staring into the darkness of his bedroom. He’d been awake when the clock struck midnight, sitting on the lip of a rooftop next to Atsushi, waiting for the reset together, empty coffee cups lying between them.

Ultimately, the library books were a dead end, found sitting on a cart and waiting to be reshelved. They’d discovered them the following day, their transgression already erased from the memory of the librarian who had caught them in flagrante.

Not that it wasn’t absolutely unnerving, but Atsushi seemed completely unbothered by talking casually to the woman who’d seen his bare ass as they ran for it, so Akutagawa could handle it as well.

Regardless, it was disturbing how easily the weretiger navigated every interaction as if he’d done each a dozen times before.

He couldn’t possibly have done everything in this city multiple times…could he?

Right on cue, his phone vibrated on the bedstand. Akutagawa responded to Gin’s message this time, and then paused, hovering his phone over the message from a number not yet in his contact list, but already recognizable.

Akutagawa’s mouth quirked. At least the weretiger didn’t just show up on his doorstep today. He swiped the message away, and laid back down in his bed, staring at the ceiling with his arms folded as he realized how fond that thought had been, flitting across his mind. He certainly wasn’t fond of the weretiger, and their protracted communication was simply to serve the purpose of escaping this hellish loop they were trapped in together.

There was nothing else to it.

After all, Atsushi had not initiated again since the library. He was all big talk but still seemed embarrassed at being caught with his pants around his ankles. This was more than fine by him, the whole sex aspect of this…thing…was not something he was interested in pursuing. He was wholly not interested in the weretiger in any sense. So he used Akutagawa’s body for release a few times, so what? Akutagawa would make extra sure to take the pounds of flesh owed for the favor once it was no longer Sunday.

However long that took.

Akutagawa rolled up on his side in the dark, arms still folded. He was not going to continue to think about the weretiger. He would catch a few hours of sleep and go about the same day he’d had for a week and some days straight; and then meet the weretiger at the normal time to compare notes and trace the next few hours of his Saturday to see what they could figure out.

Atsushi had been so casual and relaxed, sitting next to him atop the building. There hadn’t been a tense bone in his body as he kicked his heels off the concrete and laughed at something Akutagawa had said, and why the hell was he thinking about this now? He needed to get a few hours in. Akutagawa squeezed his eyes shut, arms still folded tight, and tried, desperately, to sleep.

The weretiger was sitting on the railing, back to the water, waiting on Akutagawa. Wearing the same outfit as he ever did, belt draped over the railing beside his leg. Akutagawa shook his head disdainfully. “Do you even own a different pair of trousers?” he asked, mostly rhetorically, as Atsushi hopped down from his perch.

Atsushi shrugged. “They’re my work pants.”

“It’s Sunday.”

“You’re wearing your regular clothes.” Atsushi stuck his tongue out at Akutagawa, which was insulting enough as it was. Akutagawa looked away, angry at himself suddenly for reasons he couldn’t articulate. “Do you even own a shirt in a color that isn’t grayscale?”

Akutagawa glared at Atsushi, who folded his arms, clearly unperturbed by his ire. “So the library was a bust,” Atsushi said as if Akutagawa wasn’t aware of this fact. “Kyouka-chan and I also went to the market, but I’ve been back there already, and unless I pissed off some random customer, nothing out of the ordinary happened there as well.”

He blew out an annoyed breath. “Are you telling me the library was our only lead?”

Atsushi shrugged helplessly. “It was Saturday. We ran errands and hung around the office and that was about it.”

Great. No wonder Atsushi didn’t mind stretching out the library thing. “Perhaps we should walk through the market anyway, maybe something will jog your tiny tiger brain.”

“There’s nothing there,” Atsushi said with a sigh. “I’ve tried.”

“You mean to tell me you’ve given up, then, and intend to rot trapped in this hell?”

Atsushi’s eyes glinted, narrowed in anger. “You want to fight today, is that it?”

“Weretiger, I wish to fight you every day. I desire your head mounted on my wall as proof of my victory.”

“You are welcome to try to take it,” Atsushi snarled, sleeves shredding as he transformed his arms. Akutagawa took a step back, Rashomon surging from his coat, blades at the ready.

They remained, frozen in place, for a moment. Then Akutagawa released his ability, and Rashomon collapsed back into his coat. As much as spilling the weretiger’s blood ignited his own, it was not the moment to claim his victory.

After all, it would be meaningless in a few hours, anyway.

“When you feel like investigating further,” Akutagawa said, sharply, “you know where to find me.”

Akutagawa turned and walked away from the weretiger. He didn’t even know himself if he expected Atsushi to pursue him; regardless, he let Akutagawa walk off into the sunny October afternoon.

00:06, Sun Oct 1

Akutagawa placed his phone back on the bedside table, sitting upright in his bed. He’d avoided walking down by the park for several days now. There had been no knocks on his door at 1 a.m., no text messages from a number he’d never bothered to memorize and now could not recall.

Why was he waiting on the weretiger? He was more than capable of figuring this out himself and freeing himself from this hell. Let him rot.

Akutagawa stared at his phone on the nightstand, waiting for the message to come in from his sister so that he could reply to it, same as he’d replied every day so far. He wondered for a moment if he was beginning to forget what her voice sounded like.

He thought of Atsushi’s smiling face as he sat beside him and scowled instead.

Another day of catching Chuuya’s thrown coffee, delivering a parcel after taking a detour around the park, and then standing alone on a rooftop. He’d avoided the side mission that let him beat several thugs into a bloody pulp as well and realized that he didn’t know why; that the energy brimming under his skin didn’t seem like it would release with an act of violence.

What was this time loop doing to him?

Atsushi wasn’t at the park.

Akutagawa stared at the empty stretch of railing, counting the beats until he heard the ship’s foghorn booming across the bay. He looked around, wondering if he was being watched instead—but as the afternoon stretched on it became apparent that Atsushi wasn’t going to show. Akutagawa sat on a park bench and watched the day fade into evening and, finally, night.

He sat upright in his bed, in his pajamas. It was always a bit disorienting, midnight coming and going. Had the weretiger changed his routine? Maybe he’d found a way to free himself and left Akutagawa to fend for himself—no, he would never do that. The weretiger was nothing if not noble, and he would not leave anyone behind, even Akutagawa.

Akutagawa pulled at the front of his pajamas, staring through the darkness, through the far wall, at something only he could see. The thoughts rose before he could tamp them down, Atsushi’s hand on his face, on his side, tucked into the waistband of his trousers and tugging them over the bony crest of his hip. His mouth, oh so hot, unfairly hot; and Akutagawa covered his mouth with his hand, fingers pressing into the skin of his cheek, trying to ground himself.

Bury it.

Atsushi’s weight, pinning him down into his bed, spreading his legs, pressing him open…

“Fuck!”

He threw the closest thing at hand which was, unfortunately, his phone. He listened to the glass screen shatter as it hit the wall and then the floor before he threw himself down into the bed just as violently. He rolled onto his shoulder and shoved his hands down his pants because of course he was hard. Of course the weretiger had managed to fuck his brain up beyond all reason.

Akutagawa wrapped his hand tight around himself, pressed his face into his pillow, and angrily took care of it, refusing to let another thought about the weretiger cross his mind and failing, abjectly, as he came into his palm.

“FUCK!”

Akutagawa stood at the railing in the park, watching the boats, and waited.

Chapter Text

It took two nights to identify which dormitory room was Atsushi’s. This was largely because while Akutagawa was aware of the location of the detective agency’s dorm, he had never before cared to determine which in particular housed the weretiger. He kicked his foot into one door the first night, which turned out to be the very angry blond man’s room; the ensuring racket probably woke half the neighborhood.

Akutagawa didn’t stick around to find out.

When he arrived the next night a little after one a.m., the same lights were on in the same rooms—but this time Atsushi was leaning against the railing along the second floor, staring off into the darkness. He looked down at Akutagawa with a weirdly blank expression, and it caused something to twinge in Akutagawa’s gut that he didn’t understand.

“Didn’t want you to wake the entire dorm by bothering Kunikida-san again,” Atsushi said, his weight braced on his elbows and voice quiet, but carrying into the ill-kept field beside the building. “What do you want, anyway?”

For weeks now, he’d been living his day over and over again, waiting for Atsushi to turn up and he hadn’t made a single appearance. What did he want with the weretiger?

Akutagawa swallowed. “Can we talk, weretiger?”

“We’re talking right now.”

“Someplace where we won’t be disturbed by your coworkers, preferably.”

Atsushi gave him a long look, before hanging his head and sighing, clearly put out by this suggestion. Regardless he hopped the railing and drooped smoothly to the ground below, forgoing the stairs entirely. He hadn’t realized Atsushi was bundled in a hooded sweatshirt, pants, and sneakers—it was strange, somewhat, to see him dressed entirely different than usual.

“Fine, come on,” Atsushi said, hands stuffed in the front pocket of his sweatshirt. “We can walk and talk.”

They walked away from the dorm into the chilling autumn night. Akutagawa didn’t say anything for a while, falling into step naturally with Atsushi, his presence a comfortable warmth at his side. After a while Atsushi groaned and stopped. “Are you going to talk, or did you just want to walk me like your dog?”

Akutagawa stopped as well, turning to face him. “Where have you been?”

“Why do you care?” Akutagawa didn’t respond, staring at him silently. Atsushi scoffed and looked away, breath steaming under the streetlight. “It doesn’t matter what I’ve been doing. Tomorrow’s gonna be the same as today, forever, whether I go to the park and go to the market or if I stay in my futon all day. It doesn’t matter. Nothing’s real anymore.”

He’d never heard that level of despair in the weretiger’s voice before. Atsushi pushed his hand through his hair and exhaled a wry laugh—but before he could drop his hand Akutagawa’s snaked out and caught him by the wrist.

Atsushi’s eyes widened when Akutagawa pushed him back against the building they were standing beside and kissed him, pinning his wrist to the brick. Atsushi froze up entirely; but after a heartbeat he was kissing back, mouth opening under Akutagawa’s and eyes sliding closed.

When they parted, both panting, Akutagawa growled, “Was that real enough for you?”

He’d since dropped Atsushi’s wrist, and Atsushi touched his fingers to his lips, eyes fixed past Akutagawa, at something only he could see. Then his eyes darted back, to Akutagawa’s. “Why…?”

Of course the weretiger would ask him that, the one thing that Akutagawa didn’t have the answer for. “We must be each other’s anchors,” he said, brusquely, meaning to take a step back and away. Before he could, Atsushi’s hand curled in his coat, keeping him close. “Until we can figure out our way free of this.”

Atsushi continued to stare at him, his golden eyes capturing the low light, pupils huge. “Will you kiss me again?”

Akutagawa swallowed. He meant to turn his head away but instead, he was touching Atsushi’s face, tilting his so that they fit perfectly, the world slotting into place as neatly as their mouths. This felt right, natural in the same way as breathing and the electricity of their connection made him draw back, panting puffs of steam into the darkness.

He covered his mouth with his hand, blood thudding in his ears—but Atsushi pulled him in again with his coat. “I want to touch you,” Atsushi breathed, eyes alight, and Akutagawa swallowed hard.

“Not here.” He shifted slightly as Atsushi pulled him in even closer. “I know it doesn’t matter, but it still does.”

“Well, we can’t go back to my dorm.” He could almost hear Atsushi’s heartbeat, thudding in time with his own. “And your place is all the way across town.”

“So it is.” He was staring at Atsushi’s lips, imagining them around his dick, and it was bothering him that he was doing that. “Do you have a better idea?”

Atsushi hummed in clear amusement. “If you want me to fuck you in your bed again, you only have to ask.”

Akutagawa leaned in close, tearing his eyes off Atsushi’s lips so that his breath brushed hot over the shell of his ear. “Perhaps I want to fuck you in my bed, weretiger. Did you ever stop to consider that?”

Atsushi’s hands pulled tight in Akutagawa’s coat as he kissed him again.

It took a while to cross the city at this time of night, too late to be early and too early to be late. They passed a food cart that was still open, feeding those evicted from the bars finally closing for the evening; they stopped and ate, elbow to elbow with drunken salarymen avoiding schlepping home after a long Saturday.

Something had changed between them that Akutagawa couldn’t quantify. He watched Atsushi listening to the drunkards with bright eyes, slurping noodles and nodding, despite Akutagawa being certain he couldn’t understand the man. It was like he’d come alive again, going from that blank-faced despair to something closer to the weretiger he already knew, and…

Atsushi caught Akutagawa watching him and gave him a weird look, so Akutagawa looked away. His bowl was largely untouched, he glanced down at it, and then over to Atsushi’s empty one, then let out an exaggerated sigh before nudging his bowl into Atsushi’s space.

He didn’t have to be told twice. Akutagawa watched Atsushi eat silently, that weird feeling building in his chest again.

The sky was already beginning to lighten by the time they made it back to Akutagawa’s apartment; rosy pink streaks appearing between the buildings. It was dim just inside the door, they fumbled their shoes off, and then Atsushi was kissing Akutagawa again, pressing their bodies together and they almost tripped over each other making their way toward the bedroom.

He’d meant to talk, or something—but it was all forgotten under the distraction of Atsushi’s mouth and Atsushi’s hands; his coat left in a forgotten puddle on the floor behind him. Akutagawa pushed Atsushi’s sweatshirt off over his head and let out a breathless noise of amusement at the way his hair spiked funny with static.

Atsushi flung his sweatshirt behind him and brought his gaze right back to Akutagawa’s. That weird feeling multiplied, catching his lungs in a vise before slithering down to occupy his stomach as well. If nothing else Akutagawa was used to pushing past weird feelings and did just that as well as pushing Atsushi down onto the bed under him.

“Oh, you really do want to top,” Atsushi hummed, reaching up to work on the buttons of Akutagawa’s shirt. He’d dressed properly to stir up trouble for some reason; it seemed ridiculous now, but he didn’t bother to help Atsushi, watching him focus on each button with determination.

Atsushi caught him watching again and his mouth ticked up in amusement. He dropped his hands back, letting them fall into the covers above his head, and tilted his jaw back, mouth open slightly as he watched Akutagawa through half-lidded eyes.

Okay, so maybe Atsushi knew his body better than Akutagawa knew his, but that was fine. He was a quick enough study, and he could feel Atsushi’s pulse quicken through his skin. Atsushi rolled onto his stomach, panting into his arm as Akutagawa pushed his cheeks apart, running his finger over his tight hole and considered.

He didn’t expect Atsushi to be so quiet; breathy little gasps were the only thing that escaped from him. He buried his face in his arms when Akutagawa pushed in, that first breech, the head of his cock thrusting in shallowly; it wasn’t until he sank in further that Atsushi’s head twisted to look back at him, pupils blown wide. The morning sun had been creeping up the entire time; until it poured over the windowsill and glistened off the sweat beading on Atsushi’s skin.

Akutagawa kept moving, breath rattling in his lungs, choking him; was this drowning feeling real or was it merely the intoxicating feeling of Atsushi pulling him deeper than ever, their bodies melding together in the new day’s light? He couldn’t tell anymore, too far gone with it, hand planted into the mattress just shy of the pillow.

Atsushi wrapped his arm around Akutagawa’s planted hand, clinging to it; he grunted something indecipherable and then gasped, spine locking up. He clamped down hard and Akutagawa couldn’t hold off, panting into the space above the back of Atsushi’s neck as the climax took him, buried inside. He kept shuddering, emptying himself into the deepest part of Atsushi and it felt like an eternity, burning hot and never-ending.

Sticky white dribbled from Atsushi’s hole when he finally pulled free. Akutagawa stared dumbly at the mess. “Don’t look,” Atsushi croaked, his face buried and shoulders trembling, and Akutagawa ignored him, spreading his cheeks again and staring at his handiwork.

Akutagawa tilted his head and smirked.

He fell into the covers next to Atsushi, who rolled his head, took one look at Akutagawa’s expression, and groaned dramatically, rolling his head the other way. The immense satisfaction held for a moment as he savored Atsushi in his bed beside him, the morning sunlight through the blinds painting him in stripes of gold instead of silver, before the realization set in properly.

Akutagawa pushed himself up on his elbow and stared at Atsushi, sprawled naked on his stomach in the bed beside him. “Oh, you have to be kidding me,” Akutagawa said, dropping back into the bed and pushing his palms against his eyes. “God dammit.”

Atsushi gave a light snore in response, already asleep.

Chapter Text

“It’s still kinda weird to have you here, you know?” Atsushi said. They were sitting side by side on the edge of a wall, watching people walk back and forth below. It hadn’t been Akutagawa’s idea, but apparently Atsushi liked coming to this spot, so he’d acquiesced. “Someone else who knows.”

“Mm.” Akutagawa leaned back on his hands; faces tilted toward the sky. It was a pretty day, as they’d all been, bright blue sky with just a hint of cloud cover, the sun warm even though the breeze was cool.

It was weird, having this thing with the weretiger. This single thread out of many, trapped in some ability that played out the same day over and over again. Technically he had work to complete—but what did it actually matter, when the same exact task would exist tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that, never truly complete? So instead he remained beside the weretiger, keeping a watchful eye on him as they gazed at the people moving about their business below.

“It makes it more real,” Akutagawa said, and Atsushi hummed in agreement and shifted his weight, leaning ever so slightly closer to him.

“I wish I had some idea of what caused this, though,” Atsushi said, wistfully.

He was not so far removed that he didn’t remember his own Saturday. It had been a very normal day, nothing out of the ordinary. There were no run-ins with ability users that he was aware of, and it was only that first of these many Sundays that stood out, that uncanny déjà vu that overwhelmed him. “I don’t think I ran across any ability users myself, on Saturday,” Akutagawa said, weight still on his hands.

Atsushi was silent for a while. “What if it’s not an ability?”

“Don’t be foolish.” He sat up now, looking over at Atsushi disdainfully. “If not an ability, what is keeping us here? Keeping you here?”

Atsushi wasn’t looking at him. From where they were seated they could see the park, and the water in the bay through some trees; he was staring out that way, the sunlight reflected in his eyes. “I don’t know,” he said, finally, the wind playing with his collar. “Maybe I’m supposed to figure something out. Some great truth of the world, isn’t that how these things go?” He laughed, that slightly unhinged lilt present in his voice again, and Akutagawa moved without thinking, grabbing Atsushi’s hand from the ground and squeezing it.

They stared at each other for a shocked second, Atsushi’s eyes widening in surprise.

“Maybe,” Akutagawa said carefully, feeling like he’d crossed some unwritten line and needed to reel everything back, “you’re onto something there, weretiger.”

“How do you figure?”

“If not an ability, what else could it be?”

Atsushi frowned, thinking about it. “But what am I supposed to figure out?” he asked, cross. “I don’t know, that seems kind of stupid, we’re not in a movie. It’s got to be an ability user, especially since Dazai-san isn’t around to negate it. It’s too convenient.”

Akutagawa went to pull his hand back, but Atsushi didn’t release him, twining their fingers instead. “Your hand is warm,” Atsushi said, thoughtfully.

Akutagawa didn’t say anything in response.

Atsushi walked ahead of him just slightly, hands clasped behind his back and looking at the darkening sky above them. Akutagawa was waiting for him to walk into a pole or a signpost, but he maneuvered well, belt cocked out at a jaunty angle as he walked.

There was a weird feeling building in Akutagawa’s lungs, like he needed to clear his throat but there was nothing to cough loose. They were well and truly stuck, then, until they could unravel this puzzle, but every avenue was a dead end.

How long would it take for both of them to go mad, trapped in this day eternally?

Atsushi looked back over his shoulder and then turned on his foot. “You’ve got a gross expression on your face,” he reported.

“Vulgar as always, weretiger.”

“Nah.” Atsushi stopped walking and Akutagawa did as well, and they looked at each other. Akutagawa arched a barely visible brow, but before he could challenge the thoughtful look, Atsushi folded his arms and said, “What if it’s us?”

“What?”

“What if it’s not me, and it’s definitely not you, but it’s, I don’t know, the both of us?” Atsushi waved his hand around. “The two of us. We have to figure something out. Together.”

“If that were the case, we’d have been trapped together to begin with.”

Atsushi put his hands on his hips and sighed. “Damn it, you’re right.” His belt wilted, like a tail tucked between his legs. “If this were Dazai-san, he’d have figured it out before the day looped twice.”

“If this were Dazai-san,” Akutagawa said dryly, “it definitely wouldn’t be an ability.”

That earned a small smile from Atsushi, but it didn’t last. He hung his head, sighed, and went to turn away again but Akutagawa reached for him, catching his wrist; and that movement startled them both.

Atsushi looked at Akutagawa’s hand on his wrist, and then up at him. Akutagawa too was staring at his hand on Atsushi’s wrist, as if it wasn’t the second time today he’d reached for him, intentionally.

“Akutagawa…?” Atsushi ventured, and Akutagawa swallowed and embraced the feeling threatening to overwhelm him.

“Come,” he said, and then turned, taking the lead before he lost his nerve and pulling Atsushi with him.

It didn’t take long to find what he wanted; a dark alley cut between buildings. Night had crept up on them, the sky gone to pitch and the shadows thrown by the buildings long and deep. Atsushi made a noise of amusement when Akutagawa pushed him against the wall and kissed him.

“Do you think kissing cheers me up?” he asked when Akutagawa lifted his mouth, Atsushi’s hand on the back of his neck.

He frowned. “Doesn’t it?”

“Well, yes.” Atsushi licked his lips and pulled Akutagawa in close, so that their bodies were pressed together. “But it’s, I don’t know. It’s cute.” Their faces were close and the word cute hit him like the spray of a skunk. Atsushi laughed at the face he very clearly made. “Akutagawa trying to cheer me up,” he murmured, touching Akutagawa’s face gently.

“God, shut up,” Akutagawa said, hand pushing up under Atsushi’s shirt. It rode up, untucking from his pants, and his palm pressed into bare skin. Atsushi groaned into Akutagawa’s mouth.

They fumbled around together in the dark, Atsushi managing to get his pants open before Akutagawa could pop the button, not that it would matter either way. His cock was hot and hard in Akutagawa’s hand, and Atsushi practically melted against him, arms over his shoulders and forehead to Akutagawa’s as Akutagawa stroked him.

Akutagawa swallowed, thumb rubbing up the velvety flesh. He shifted his weight, trying to unzip one-handed; after a few moments of awkward shuffling his trousers slipped down his hips and he squeezed both their cocks together in his hand. A shiver wicked up his spine when Atsushi moaned aloud and tilted his head back for a moment, exposing his throat.

“You feel so good,” Akutagawa breathed, and Atsushi laughed, delighted.

“So do you,” he groaned, pressed against him. Akutagawa planted one hand on the brick behind Atsushi and the other was tight around their cocks. It didn’t feel like it was enough, though Atsushi kept making little gasping noises. Akutagawa growled, releasing them and placing his other hand on the wall, on the opposite side of Atsushi’s head.

“What…?” Atsushi asked, panting, before Akutagawa started grinding against him.

Oh, this was better. Atsushi shuddered and released almost immediately, as Akutagawa dragged his cock against him, leaving sticky slick on his skin and dripping down between them. “Fuck, fuck,” Atsushi groaned, and then shoved his hand down, catching Akutagawa’s dick and jerking him hard.

Akutagawa didn’t even vocalize, panting harshly, both hands curled to fists on the wall and head tilted against Atsushi’s, their cheeks pressed together as Atsushi jerked him off.

Breathing harshly, heart thudding in his chest, Akutagawa said, “god dammit,” and Atsushi laughed again, lifting his hand and smearing his own fluids on Akutagawa’s coat. “What are you doing to my self-control, weretiger?”

“Who needs self-control?” Atsushi purred, turning his head and kissing him.

Chapter Text

“We’re going to try every restaurant in the city,” Atsushi said, lying on his side in Akutagawa’s bed. He hadn’t been invited to crash there, but Akutagawa let him in the front door and he had immediately padded past and flopped into the covers, waiting for Akutagawa to join him.

“Are you just going to show up every morning?” Akutagawa asked.

Atsushi rolled his head in his hand. “Did you have anything else planned?”

Of course he didn’t, and they both knew it, but it was still frustrating how obscenely smug he could be. It was as if Dazai-san was showing through, and that rankled a little more than he expected. “Maybe I do,” he said imperiously, arms folded.

Atsushi let his head drop off his hand, laying fully in the covers and looking up at Akutagawa in a clearly telegraphed I don’t believe you. Atsushi closed his eyes.

“Get out of my bed,” Akutagawa ordered, tugging at the covers under Atsushi and not dislodging him in the slightest. How could someone who looked so small weigh so much? “Infuriating weretiger, don’t you dare go to sleep!”

He leaned over Atsushi, reaching for a pillow with which to perhaps smother him when Atsushi grabbed him by the front of his pajamas and pulled him down. Akutagawa’s face thudded into the sheets beside Atsushi’s shoulder and Atsushi laughed, his breath sliding over Akutagawa’s skin as he rolled on top of him.

Akutagawa stopped moving at Atsushi’s weight on top of him, pressing him face-first into the sheets. He blushed hard when Atsushi laughed again, and he swatted blindly behind him. “Get off me,” he snarled.

“What was that?” Atsushi hummed in a sing-song voice. He pressed his palms into Akutagawa’s shoulders, keeping him down. “Did I hear ‘get you off’?”

Akutagawa rolled his face against the mattress, glared at the wall, and speared Atsushi through the side with Rashomon.

“Ow, fuck!” He didn’t see exactly how the wounding went but felt hot blood patter on his back where Atsushi had pushed up his shirt, exposing his skin to cooler air.

“Serves you right,” Akutagawa grunted. With Atsushi’s weight off him he shifted, getting up on his knees and glaring at Atsushi. The weretiger had his hand tight over the wound, blood seeping through his fingers. He looked more pissed than hurt, which was the entire point of the thing as Rashomon had expertly avoided skewering any vital organs.

Not that the weretiger wouldn’t be okay regardless, but he wanted to deliver a message.

“You do not touch me without my permission,” Akutagawa said sharply, sitting on his heels in the bed. “I allow you to invade my space time and again because our circumstances are unique, but you are not to touch me.”

Atsushi lifted his hand, probing the mostly healed wound with a finger. “Sorry,” he said, and Akutagawa wasn’t certain he was. “I forgot how grumpy you are when you don’t get enough sleep, figured you’d be frisky.”

Akutagawa glared at him. “Do not presume to know my habits.”

Atsushi looked back up at him and raised an eyebrow. “Oh, and you just get to start kissing me to shut me up, but I don’t get to play around with you?”

“That’s different.”

“Yeah? How?” Akutagawa frowned at him, and Atsushi scoffed. He wiped his bloody hands clean on Akutagawa’s sheets. “That’s what I thought.”

He got up from the bed, stripping off his ruined shirt and Akutagawa stared at his back, puzzling this one out. The blood was streaked down his side, over the echo of scars in his flesh, and he swallowed hard against the tightness in his throat.

“Where did those come from?” Akutagawa asked, and Atsushi, using his torn shirt to wipe the blood from his skin, looked up at Akutagawa in surprise.

“What, my scars?”

“Yes. Who hurt you?”

“Aside from you?”

Akutagawa recoiled like he’d been struck, although Atsushi wasn’t looking at him, the only thing that allowed him to save face. “Rashomon doesn’t leave scars,” Atsushi said casually, sliding his thumb along the edge of the roughened skin. He was quiet for a moment, lost in something only he experienced before he looked back at Akutagawa. “It doesn’t matter, though, where I got these.”

Something rattled around in Akutagawa’s throat, something like it matters to me, but the words didn’t make it out. He looked away, and Atsushi balled his ruined shirt in his hands. “Where do you want me to dump this, since it’ll just poof when we reset?”

“In the trash, where it belongs.”

“Yeah, yeah, just like me, I’m sure.” Atsushi disappeared out of the bedroom, familiar enough already with Akutagawa’s home to know exactly where the bin was. Akutagawa pulled at the front of his shirt, heart beating so hard and fast it was a wonder the weretiger couldn’t hear it himself.

What was that? He didn’t care that he hurt the weretiger, so why did that bother him so? He stared down at his hand in his shirt, thought about the anger boiling under his skin, red-hot, at the thought that someone else wounded the weretiger when the weretiger’s life was his to claim and swallowed hard.

Rashomon doesn’t leave scars, but others do.

“What’s with that look?” Atsushi asked, and Akutagawa looked up to see him leaning his shoulder against the frame, the light from the kitchen bright behind him.

“Weretiger,” Akutagawa said, and Atsushi tilted his head, arms folded. “I give you permission.”

It took a moment. Atsushi squinted at him, frowning as well. Then his eyes widened, and his expression slid directly into a smirk as he crawled back onto the bed toward where Akutagawa sat, still on his knees. “Do you really?”

“Shall I revoke it?”

“Nah, I don’t think you want to.” Atsushi touched his face and Akutagawa leaned his cheek into Atsushi’s palm, still slightly tacky and smelling of his blood. “But I’m gonna fuck you through the mattress tonight, Akutagawa.”

Akutagawa hummed against his mouth as Atsushi kissed him. “We’ll see, weretiger.”

Akutagawa wrapped his legs around Atsushi’s hips and arched his back, hands gripping tight to the edge of the mattress above his head. There had been a few fumbles getting to this point but now that he’d gotten going, fuck the weretiger felt good. He had one hand supporting Akutagawa’s waist and the other planted beside his head, but he was clearly focused inward, muscles tensing in his stomach as he fucked in again and again.

He squeezed his eyes shut because he was not appreciating the weretiger’s body right now. Akutagawa tilted his head back, mouth open as he panted raggedly at the ceiling.

“Akutagawa,” Atsushi groaned. “I’m going to…can I…?”

“Not inside.” Akutagawa released the edge of the mattress and crossed his wrists over his eyes, refusing to look at the weretiger. “Don’t you fucking dare do it inside—!”

“No,” Atsushi wheezed, the edge of a growl reverberating in his voice now. “No, no, I’m gonna—fuck—”

The hands that slid to his waist were enormous now, with soft fur and warm pads, and Akutagawa moved his wrists, staring at Atsushi, half-transformed now, eyes golden. Razor-sharp claws were pressed into his bare skin, leaving behind little beads of blood, and suddenly the pressure filling Akutagawa expanded, driving heat deeper inside than it had ever been before.

“FUCK!” Akutagawa’s hands jumped forward, he grabbed at the thick fuzzy sideburns that sprouted from the sides of Atsushi’s face and yanked. “What the fucking—fuck—!”

Atsushi didn’t even seem to notice him yanking. He dragged his paws and lifted Akutagawa effortlessly against himself, falling back onto his haunches and pulling Akutagawa upright into his lap, spearing him even further open on his cock.

He was so fucking big now, Akutagawa thought he was going to split in half. He pulled at Atsushi’s face, scrabbling his hands over his chest before giving up and wrapping his arms around his neck and hanging on, eyes rolling back as Atsushi finally seated himself all the way inside.

“You’re so fucking,” he wheezed, legs trembling, “big.”

Atsushi nipped at the side of his neck, teeth sharp enough to draw blood. “Hang on,” he rumbled, voice gone to gravel in a way that would make Akutagawa harder, if that was even possible. It echoed in his chest, even as Atsushi said, “I need to get that on my phone—”

Akutagawa bit the expanse of skin closest to this mouth and the weretiger fucking dared to laugh at him, but then rocked his cock inside and Akutagawa forgot everything except how full he was and how badly he needed to get off.

“Come on,” Atsushi murmured, his gravelly voice almost hypnotic. “Come for me, Akutagawa. You can do it.” He rubbed the pad of one finger over the head of Akutagawa’s cock and the sensation of the roughened skin was nearly enough on its own. Akutagawa pushed his hands against Atsushi’s chest, leaning back and sliding down his cock again, knees tight to Atsushi’s sides.

“There’s a good boy,” Atsushi groaned, and Akutagawa came apart in his hands.

Atsushi was sitting on the edge of the bed and scrolling on his phone when Akutagawa finally came out of his doze, lying on his side in the destroyed mess of his covers. He shifted slightly, and that alerted the weretiger. He looked back at him, the morning sun golden on his skin.

“You alright?” Atsushi asked, and there was a hint of concern in his voice. Akutagawa honestly didn’t know, he was too busy staring at Atsushi, hair woefully tousled, naked in the morning sun.

When he shifted, his entire body ached, fluid still leaking from between his legs. Atsushi didn’t duck quickly enough as Akutagawa winged the closest pillow at him.

“I said not inside!”

Chapter Text

“How long have you been able to get that big?” Akutagawa asked, arms folded over the side of the soaking tub as he watched Atsushi wash himself. Atsushi, still holding the sprayer, gave him a very confused look.

“What are you talking about?”

Akutagawa stared at him.

Atsushi stared back, uncomprehending.

“Weretiger,” Akutagawa said and stopped. He thought about his wording. “Were you not aware that you got physically bigger? You rend your clothing into rags all the time when you fight.”

Atsushi twisted on the little stool so that he was facing Akutagawa, hands on his knees. “My clothes just get torn up from my arms and legs,” he argued back, and now Akutagawa sat up in the soaking tub since they were going to have a proper argument. “I mean, I know my hands get enormous, but—”

“Are you joking, right now?” Akutagawa asked him, deadly serious, because his entire being was still sore but the fact that Atsushi seemed oblivious was almost worse than the dull, deep-seated ache he was trying to soak away. “Weretiger, your chest alone—”

Atsushi looked down at himself, and then back to Akutagawa. “Really? I haven’t noticed.”

“You didn’t notice.”

He shrugged. “I mean, I’m not usually paying attention to myself when we’re in a fight. Why would I? It’s never been a priority.”

Akutagawa continued to stare at Atsushi, who retrieved the sprayer and resumed rinsing off. Atsushi continued to remain oblivious, so he thought until Atsushi stole another glance at Akutagawa over his shoulder and said with a smirk, “So you like that, huh?”

Akutagawa’s face flamed red instantly, betraying him. Atsushi laughed, damn him, and Akutagawa didn’t have a shred of clothing on him to enact his revenge. Atsushi slid across the floor to the soaking tub, leaning against it from the outside, and Akutagawa immediately put his back to the other side, arms folded and still flushing red furiously. “Is it that you like being manhandled?” Atsushi said speculatively, elbow on the edge of the tub. He cocked his head, the longer strands of his hair brushing his arm. “Or is it something…else?”

“I’m going to neuter you.”

“Wouldn’t take.” Atsushi raised an eyebrow, a shimmer of blue skating along his bare skin. Before Akutagawa’s eyes he grew larger, just as he’d said, and Akutagawa glared directly at Atsushi’s face, those thick grey tiger-striped sideburns running down his jaw.

He would not swallow hard, or show any visible signs and maybe the accursed weretiger would stop this—

Akutagawa let out an annoyed hiss when Atsushi’s large, now furry hand plunged into the water and immediately located his very interested dick—the traitor.

“So?” Atsushi hummed, his eyes on Akutagawa as he lazily stroked the pads of his palm over Akutagawa’s flesh. “What would you like to do about it?”

Akutagawa bit the inside of his mouth until he tasted blood, eyes locked angrily on Atsushi’s. Atsushi’s hand slid from his dick to his waist and pulled him forward. Akutagawa put up no resistance, still fuming as Atsushi caught his chin with his other hand.

“You are remarkably forward,” Akutagawa hissed.

Atsushi rubbed his thumb over Akutagawa’s chin but looked a little confused by Akutagawa’s ire. “Don’t you like it when I’m forward?”

He sighed, and released Akutagawa’s chin, drawing his other hand out of the water and folding both his enormous striped arms over the side of the tub. “You liked it when I was forward to get you into bed that first time,” he said, a little mournful. “But now I don’t know what to do, I guess I got so used to predicting how you would react to my button-pushing that now I don’t know where to go since I don’t get any more do-overs.”

Akutagawa didn’t move. They were still so physically close, but it was as if a vast gulf had opened between them. He thought, once, that he had a pretty good handle on how the weretiger thought, but that had clearly been upended by however long he’d spent trapped in this eternal Sunday.

“Weretiger, how many times did you sleep with me?”

Atsushi sighed, scrunching up his nose as he thought about it. “I really don’t know. More times than we killed each other, at least.”

It was honestly distressing to hear him be so casual about it, however many times one or both of them died.

“How many times did you sleep with other people?”

Atsushi lifted his head and gave Akutagawa a weird look. “Why would I do that?”

“You didn’t?”

He shook his head. “No? I mean, not that I didn’t consider it, but, I don’t know.” He shrugged loosely, arms still folded in place over the side of the tub. “It just seemed right that it was with you, I guess.”

Akutagawa felt a shiver go up his spine, and now it was his turn to touch Atsushi’s face, brushing his fingers back through the stiff, fur-like sideburns before pulling him in for a kiss.

“I would let you fuck me again for that alone,” he said when they parted, panting in the humidity of the bathroom, “but I don’t think I can handle your enormous tiger dick twice in one day.”

Atsushi wet his lips, flush as dark on his face as Akutagawa’s. “Really? I mean, we know it’ll fit—ow!”

Akutagawa yanked on his sideburns again for good measure. “I want to do something else,” he said, “and maybe if you’re lucky I’ll let you fuck me again tomorrow.”

His legs were still wobbly once out of the bath. It seemed foolish to even bother with wrapping a towel around his waist but the comfort of Rashomon’s presence calmed his thudding heart—at least until Atsushi scooped him into his arms. Rashomon immediately stabbed out in all directions, but Atsushi didn’t drop him. “Hey, hey!” Atsushi yelped.

“Put me down, weretiger! I can walk unaided to my own bedroom!”

“If you insist.”

Akutagawa grunted as he landed on the bed, prepared to kick Atsushi but Atsushi hadn’t even bothered with a towel in the first place and he faltered. Atsushi put his hands on his hips, looking smugly at Akutagawa who once again flushed red to his hairline, very clearly and obviously caught out staring.

“You are insufferable,” Akutagawa snarled, and Atsushi laughed and slid his hand over his hip, framing the root of his cock with his thumb and forefinger.

“You like what you see, though,” he said coyly, and this time Akutagawa did kick him, heel into his thigh. The weretiger laughed again but crawled on top of him on the bed, placating Akutagawa’s ire with another deep kiss.

“When we get out of this, I am going to delight in skinning you and using your hide as a rug,” Akutagawa huffed, and Atsushi brushed his hand through Akutagawa’s damp hair, entirely unperturbed. Akutagawa shoved him with both his hands, and Atsushi rolled off, flopping onto the mattress beside him.

After a moment of laying side by side on their backs, Atsushi propped himself up on an elbow. “So, what did you want…?” he started, but Akutagawa climbed over him, straddling his stomach and Atsushi immediately shut up, eyebrows climbing into his hairline.

“You are not to talk,” Akutagawa said, leaning forward, both hands planted on Atsushi’s chest. He curled his fingers, pushing them through the short, stiff fur that had spread across his skin, his ability still active, then raised his eyes to Atsushi’s face. “Understood?”

Atsushi wet his lips, clearly thought better of responding but couldn’t keep the smirk off his face as he nodded once.

Akutagawa focused now on his hands, smoothing them over Atsushi’s chest. He was broader like this, more defined—bigger, Akutagawa huffed to himself angrily, that accursed flush never leaving his features. He kneaded the muscle with his palm and Atsushi let out a soft sound.

He laid his hands above his head and arched his back slightly as Akutagawa explored his skin, watching him all the while. Akutagawa ignored his inquisitive gaze, thumbs rubbing at the peaked nubs of Atsushi’s nipples; but then, thoughtfully, pushed his chest together.

Akutagawa felt Atsushi’s dick jump. He reached behind himself and wrapped his fingers around Atsushi’s girth, stroking loosely. “Weretiger,” Akutagawa rumbled, pulling at where the towel was still somehow on his hips. “Hold your chest for me.”

Atsushi laughed as Akutagawa laid his cock in the center of his chest. “Doesn’t work as well on a guy,” Atsushi rumbled and then yelped at the sharp tug on his own dick.

“Silence,” Akutagawa hissed, and Atsushi complied, pushing the muscle together and creating a tight, warm space for Akutagawa to fuck into. He moved slowly, steadily fucking into the cleavage created by Atsushi holding his chest together, and it was such a different feeling, his skin damp and warm but not an oven of heat.

Akutagawa grunted, pace speeding up as the fluid leaking from his cock spread into Atsushi’s skin; Atsushi groaned and shifted his hips but Akutagawa continued to ignore his neglected cock.

He was demeaning the weretiger and the weretiger was just accepting it, letting Akutagawa use his body like this. He leaned forward and tugged on Atsushi’s hair, and Atsushi looked up at him through hooded eyes. “Open your mouth,” Akutagawa ordered, and Atsushi did so, tongue out, waiting for him.

Akutagawa shifted his weight, pulling his cock free and stroking hard so that he finished across Atsushi’s face.

“God, fuck,” Akutagawa groaned, heady with it, thick splatters of fluid coating Atsushi’s nose and some ending up in his mouth. Breathing hard he looked down at his handiwork and then blushed furiously again.

Atsushi licked his lips, swallowing everything in his mouth without hesitation. “That was hot,” he said, and Akutagawa scoffed, barely able to mask his amusement. Before he could move, however, Atsushi’s enormous, tiger-striped arms wrapped around him, and Atsushi rolled them both in the bed.

“Weretiger,” Akutagawa yelped, as Atsushi pinned him face-first into the mattress, panting hoarsely.

“My turn,” Atsushi grunted into his ear, the weight of his cock resting against Akutagawa’s backside, and Akutagawa curled his fingers into the bedding and held on tight.

Chapter Text

“Are we going down the list alphabetically, or by location?” Akutagawa asked, arms folded, and legs crossed at the knee as he watched Atsushi eat a parfait. It was already day three of Atsushi’s Plan To Eat At Every Restaurant In The City (that were open on Sundays).

Akutagawa wondered how he expected to get into some of the more upscale locations. He rather suspected Atsushi didn’t know most of them existed.

Atsushi thought about his query, spoon in his mouth. “I haven’t decided,” he said, removing the utensil.

Akutagawa stared at him and then let out a short, incredulous laugh before looking out the plate glass window. Why on earth had he assumed Atushi actually formulated a plan? The man went on vibes alone, it seemed.

Or, simply followed his stomach.

They hadn’t touched in a few days, which was perfectly fine by him. He had begged off any interaction for a day after their last encounter, purporting to need to rest. It was bullshit and they both knew it, since everything reset at midnight—including anything that could be reasonably construed as bodily injury—but after that sex Akutagawa had needed to lie in bed for a while and reevaluate his life choices.

Atsushi respected his need for space for exactly 24 hours before showing up at 0530 on the dot the next morning, chattering something about breakfast pancakes and dragging a sullen and confused Akutagawa out into the early October morning.

He’d started leaving his cell phone on the bedside table. It didn’t matter who wanted him where, after all. Nothing really mattered…which was unendingly frustrating. It was a miracle at this point that Atsushi was still sane.

Well, mostly.

Speaking of, the weretiger had dug so deep into his parfait that he had a smudge of whipped cream on his nose. Akutagawa placed his elbow on the table and leaned his head into his hand, quietly amused.

Atsushi licked his spoon clean. “You’re making a funny face,” he reported, and Akutagawa blinked.

“And you have food all over your face,” Akutagawa said curtly, to cover his surprise at being caught out. “Are you a child that needs to have his face wiped like an infant after every meal?”

Atsushi scrubbed the back of his gloved hand over his face, smearing the whipped topping but taking care of most of it. “I am not a child!”

No, he most certainly was not. “Could have fooled me,” Akutagawa smirked when Atsushi stuck his tongue out at him but said nothing else as the weretiger finished his treat.

They walked along the sidewalk outside in the early afternoon. “Bored,” Atsushi said, with his arms folded behind his head. He glanced back at Akutagawa, eyebrow raised. “Wanna fuck?”

Akutagawa was mostly pleased with the fact that he didn’t miss a step nor falter in his stride. “Is sex the only thing you think about presently, weretiger?”

“Well, that and food.” Atsushi bounced his toe off the concrete, shifting his weight. “There are other things sometimes too, but I mean, what else is there to do?”

“I can think of quite a few things, including trying to find the ability user who trapped us.”

Atsushi shrugged. “Well, it’s better than thinking up new ways to kill myself to pass the time.” He resumed walking, hands in his pockets. “Ended up feeling a bit too much like Dazai-san there for a while. Got bored of it fast. Not as fun as he makes it look, I guess.”

Akutagawa swallowed hard despite himself. He took a few steps forward to catch up with Atsushi’s stride and then grabbed him by the wrist. That startled Atsushi into stopping.

“Fine,” Akutagawa said. “If you wanna fuck, we can fuck.”

Atsushi looked at Akutagawa’s hand on his wrist, and back up to him, before laughing. “You really don’t like to hear me talk about this shit, huh?”

“No,” Akutagawa said flatly. “Because you are mine to kill. Do not take that away from me.” It was not what he meant to say, and the words startled him almost as much as Atsushi. Atsushi took his wrist back, folding his arms and looking away, ears burning a bright pink in the sunlight.

Akutagawa coughed into his hand and looked away as well. “Besides,” he said, gruffly. “That sort of talk doesn’t suit you, weretiger.”

Atsushi laughed again, a hollow sound, face upturned to the sky. “Guess it doesn’t,” he said finally, turning his face back toward Akutagawa. “C’mon,” he said. “Let’s go catch a movie.”

“Fine,” Akutagawa said, following without any further complaint as Atsushi began walking away, although a spring had appeared in his step. “I take it I’m paying for this as well?”

“Of course!”

He let Atsushi select the feature because he didn’t particularly care what they saw. It was something that had been out for some time, and the showing barely had any seats sold for it. Atsushi picked the back row. “Figure you like to have your back to the wall,” he said, buying popcorn on Akutagawa’s dime as well.

“You know me so well.”

“You don’t have to be so sarcastic about it, I was doing a nice thing for you so you wouldn’t be anxious.”

Akutagawa frowned as he followed Atsushi to their seats, because it was a nice thing to have his back to the wall where he could see the exits…but he couldn’t remember ever giving Atsushi any indication of that being something that bothered him.

“Is that something I told you before I became trapped in here with you?”

Atsushi blinked at him. “No? It just. Felt like a you thing.”

Akutagawa was silent for some time after that, staring ahead at the screen but not watching the pre-roll, or even the feature when it finally started. He listened to Atsushi crunch popcorn and remained unsettled.

When did the weretiger get to know him so well?

He startled only slightly when Atsushi’s hand settled on his knee. He looked down at Atsushi’s hand, and then over at him—he was leaning in toward Akutagawa. “I’ve seen this before,” he said in a soft tone. There were only a half-dozen people in this theater, but none in this row or near them.

“Of course you have,” Akutagawa responded, utterly unsurprised. He was a little more surprised, though, when Atsushi slid out of his seat and onto his knees, positioning himself in front of Akutagawa. “Ah,” Akutagawa murmured, as Atsushi rubbed his hand over the front of Akutagawa’s trousers.

Maybe at some point, he would have put up an objection to this. There were other people in the theater, after all. The chances of them being caught were much larger than zero. But there was something about Atsushi’s touch that undid him, now; and without a care, he popped the button on his trousers and unzipped.

Akutagawa had to scoot closer to the edge of the seat for Atsushi, but Atsushi already had him extricated, fingers familiar with his shape. He stroked and rubbed and finally leaned in, wrapping his mouth around Akutagawa’s cock and doing that thing with his tongue that Akutagawa decided was pretty nice, actually.

He scratched his fingers into Atsushi’s hair, looking to get a grip—but Atsushi kept going, mouth stretched around him until his nose was pressed to skin and Akutagawa’s cock was hitting the back of his throat. It was…exquisite, and Akutagawa’s fingernails bit into Atsushi’s scalp, his legs trembling but held in place by Atsushi’s arms.

Atsushi held him deep for a moment, then backed off, letting Akutagawa’s cock slip through his lips. It was too dark to see his expression, although occasionally the light from the projector reflected in his eyes. Akutagawa swallowed hard, leaning back as Atsushi took his cock in his mouth again, bobbing his head. He closed his eyes and focused on the heat of Atsushi’s mouth as he swallowed him down.

It wouldn’t have taken long, but Atsushi was moving deliberately slow, keeping Akutagawa hard with almost mischievous glee; until at last he tired of the game and backed all the way off. Akutagawa opened his eyes finally, irritated, and Atsushi was clearly waiting for Akutagawa to look at him.

“Don’t take your eyes off me,” Atsushi rumbled as if Akutagawa could even see his face in this light. But he found himself obeying, eyes locked on shadows as Atsushi stroked him hard and fast, before taking Akutagawa into his mouth again and swallowing his entire load.

Akutagawa wanted to choke, wanted to do anything but grunt, muffled, into his hand. His other one was tangled in Atsushi’s hair and pulling him down on his cock, forcing it into his throat again as a second aftershock hit, weakly spurting some additional fluid.

He went slack, and leaned back in his chair, limbs gone to jelly. Atsushi slowly disengaged, working his jaw around. He licked Akutagawa clean like the cat he was, before tucking his dick away and stealing back to his seat looking pleased with himself now that Akutagawa couldn’t see his face again.

Atsushi glanced over at Akutagawa, and Akutagawa reached across the armrest and wiped fluid from Atsushi’s cheek with his thumb; before he could withdraw Atsushi caught his wrist and licked his fingers clean, eyes locked on Akutagawa’s.

“I’m buying you dinner, too,” Akutagawa croaked as quietly as he could and Atsushi smirked like the cat who ate the canary.

Chapter Text

Akutagawa left Atsushi in a line for crepes. It was moving slowly, but that was fine as it gave him plenty of time to steal away to the shop he had researched the day before, and pick up the discretely wrapped package he’d ordered first thing in the morning. Atsushi was just walking away from the stand, a crepe in either hand, when he returned.

“What is that?” Atsushi asked, eyes flickering to the opaque bag Akutagawa carried in one hand.

“Nothing,” Akutagawa said. “Are you double-fisting crepes?”

“What? No!” Atsushi looked at them in his hand, weighing one against the other, before thrusting his left hand forward. “I got one for you, too!”

Akutagawa had not expressed any interest in the treat and stared at Atsushi’s proffered hand for a moment before relenting and taking the pastry from him. “I did not ask you for this,” he said, and Atsushi, hand now freed, held his own in both and took an enormous bite.

“Yeah, well, tough. I got you a crepe.”

He watched Akutagawa with glittering eyes. Akutagawa rolled his own but took a delicate bite. Satisfied, Atsushi began devouring his crepe.

They’d separated earlier the previous day. Atsushi had wanted to do something and was mysterious about it, which was weird but Akutagawa didn’t think too hard about it. It gave him some time alone, scrolling on his phone and ignoring the two hundred or so messages that kept making the device vibrate in his hand.

He’d considered playing another regular day today, going about his business like he was supposed to be doing, but opted to text Atsushi instead. He knew the number by now, the contact would never be saved in his phone. Nothing saved, nothing changed. It was becoming a comfortable reality, meeting up with the weretiger, dining out, browsing through stores, and slowly mapping the city block by block.

There were so many little places he’d never bothered to notice before. Small antique shops, specialty shops of all stripes, a little hole-in-the-wall izakaya and cafes, and much more besides. Atsushi was always awash in the excitement of discovery, and it was hard to begrudge him his fascination.

Atsushi wasn’t paying a lick of attention to where they were headed, having finished his crepe and starting in on the 95% or a crepe that Akutagawa had remaining for him. “Did you eat the wrapper?” Akutagawa asked, slightly aghast, and Atsushi looked at his hands.

“There was a wrapper?” He looked around, as they had walked through the doors of a building and into a lobby. “Wait, where are we?”

“I can’t believe you,” Akutagawa said. “You will eat anything put into your hands.”

“It was edible, wasn’t it?” Atsushi licked his fingers defensively. “Answer the question, Akutagawa.”

Akutagawa cocked his barely visible brow. “This is a love hotel.”

It was a one-hit KO. Atsushi went red to his hairline, which was ridiculously endearing considering how forward he was about being frisky in public. “A what?” Atsushi hissed as if he hadn’t heard Akutagawa speak clearly.

Akutagawa raised the opaque bag he’d been carrying. “Do you not wish to discover what I have here?” he asked. Atsushi scrunched his nose angrily and looked around as if there were anyone in the lobby to witness their interaction.

“Fine,” he muttered, and Akutagawa smirked at him, pressing the button to summon the elevator.

Atsushi sighed into his arms as Akutagawa pulled his fingers free. He was spread out on his stomach, the sheets of the hotel bed already a damaged, ruined mess from being worried by claw-tipped fingers. Not that Akutagawa particularly cared about the damage, but it was somewhat amusing to see how easy it was to take the weretiger to pieces.

“Feeling good?” Akutagawa asked, and Atsushi made a noise somewhere between a groan and a growl. Akutagawa ran his finger along Atsushi’s twitching rim and that growl shifted very quickly into an encouraging noise.

He hadn’t meant for them to end up in a love hotel; but it was convenient to where they had been shopping, and, besides, Atsushi had been the one initiating for days now. It was time for Akutagawa to stretch his legs. Atsushi shuddered as Akutagawa sank his fingers into him again, up to the second knuckle easily, his body hot and tight.

“You’re going so slow,” Atsushi muttered, rolling his cheek on his arm.

“I can go slower,” Akutagawa drawled, and Atsushi hissed an impatient noise between his teeth. “Is that a challenge?”

“No,” Atsushi sounded utterly harassed, and it was delightful.

Akutagawa nudged the pads of his fingers against the spot he’d located, the one that made Atsushi’s usually fluid spine lock straight, and he massaged it until it sounded like Atsushi was teetering at the brink of orgasm, before withdrawing his fingers entirely. “Fuckin’,” Atsushi gasped, dragging his cock against the bunched sheets beneath him. “Tease!”

“Mm, yes.” Akutagawa stroked some slick lubrication down the toy that had been lying in the sheets next to his leg. He probably hadn’t stretched Atsushi enough for it, but he’d be all right. Atsushi was about to fire off another snarky comment when Akutagawa pressed the broad head of the toy against his already-abused rim, and Atsushi let out a startled noise as his body gave into the intrusion, allowing Akutagawa to thrust it inside shallowly.

“What is that?” Atsushi groaned, knees sliding further apart. That changed the angle Akutagawa was working with, but that was okay because it made the head push directly into that same spot he’d been working, and Atsushi’s entire body seized up. Akutagawa pulled the toy free before he could climax.

“Fuck,” Atsushi breathed, head down and shoulders shaking. “Put it in again!”

Akutagawa pulled Atsushi’s hips, dragging him down the bed before pushing the toy into him again and making Atsushi tilt his head back and moan with how deep he thrust it. Akutagawa attached the other end of the toy to the device it came with, now, and Atsushi pushed back against it, recognizing it was being held firmly in place. “C’mon, you can get it deeper!”

“I bet I can,” Akutagawa said, but he slid away from Atsushi. This made Atsushi lift his head, confusion on his face as Akutagawa rejoined him near the head of the bed. He’d divested himself of his clothes, leaving them in a puddle on the floor, and Atsushi nuzzled his thigh, stroking his hand on Akutagawa’s dick greedily.

It was amazing how filthy and debauched Atsushi could get, mouth open and tongue out, waiting for Akutagawa to give him permission. He ran his hand through Atsushi’s hair, curling his fingers close to his scalp and pulling taut. Then, with Atsushi’s eyes half-lidded and not paying much attention to anything other than putting his mouth all over Akutagawa’s dick, Akutagawa raised the hand holding a small remote, and toggled it on.

Atsushi let out a startled gasp, fingers curling into claws and cutting into the skin of Akutagawa’s upper thighs. The remote had turned the machine on, thrusting the toy deeper, just as Atsushi wanted. It was set at a very sedate pace, dragging slowly out before thrusting back in, and Atsushi held onto Akutagawa like he was a lifeline, eyes wide and pupils dilated.

Akutagawa smoothed his hair back with one hand, watching Atsushi’s jaw work around as the machine continued at pace, without respite, each thrust working the dildo deeper. Atsushi’s lips parted easily when Akutagawa pressed his fingers to his mouth, sucking eagerly on them as Akutagawa eased the dial up, increasing the speed.

“Fuck,” Atsushi gasped as Akutagawa withdrew his fingers. He rocked against Akutagawa, pushing back against the machine fucking into him, shredding the bedding beneath his hands as stripes ran up to his shoulders, the short fur rippling over his limbs coarse and stiff.

He’d barely hit twenty percent of the machine’s power, and Atsushi was panting raggedly into the backs of his hands. Akutagawa leaned his shoulder back against the headboard and stroked himself slowly, his own cock hot in his hand as he watched the weretiger go mad with pleasure.

They weren’t touching now, which was just as well. Akutagawa smeared the blood that had beaded on his leg from Atsushi’s claws before he resumed stroking himself, kicking the speed up on the machine by another twenty percent.

Atsushi let out a choked sob and lifted his hips just slightly, coming all over the sheets beneath him. Akutagawa watched in fascination as his cock pulsed, balls clenching, and then turned the dial up further just to hear him scream.

His weretiger did scream, rearing back, overstimulated—and he twisted his body, snapping the pistoning arm as he rolled onto his back, hips off the mattress as he stroked himself hard. Knees shaking visibly, he came again right in front of Akutagawa; a smaller volume of white fluid splashing back onto his stomach before he collapsed on his side, panting like he’d run a marathon.

Akutagawa squeezed his cock, sitting forward. Atsushi didn’t even bother to open his eyes as Akutagawa came all over his face, shuddering in pleasure at the exhausted, wrung-out form of the weretiger laid out on the bed in front of him.

Breathing hard, Akutagawa leaned forward on one arm, cupping Atsushi’s fluid-soaked cheek. “You performed beautifully,” he murmured. “Even if you did just break a very expensive toy.”

Atsushi swallowed, still breathing harshly. “Won’t matter tomorrow.”

“No,” Akutagawa said, a familiar, weird feeling settling in his chest. He brushed his thumb over Atsushi’s cheekbone. “It won’t.”

Chapter Text

Akutagawa stared into the darkness above him. They’d run up on the reset again tonight and now he lay in bed and listened to his phone vibrate before finally rolling over and answering the call without even looking.

“Weretiger, we just parted.”

Atsushi’s voice was hushed, hidden away in his futon closet. “I know, I just. We didn’t say good night.”

Akutagawa blinked slowly once, staring at the shadow-painted ceiling above him. Then he said, in a softer tone than even he expected, “Good night, weretiger.”

“Yeah, uh,” Atsushi’s breath sucked in, slightly, and Akutagawa could imagine the fresh blush upon his face. “Good night, Akutagawa.”

Atsushi disconnected the call, and Akutagawa looked at the ended call for a bit, before laying his phone on his chest. He looked through the darkness and imagined Atsushi, curled on his side in that very tiny closet that he still couldn’t believe the weretiger slept in. His heart ached, suddenly—they were literally just together, walking side by side along the street as if they were the only two people in the world, losing track of time.

And then, just like that. Separated.

A wracking cough seized him, closing up his throat, and Akutagawa wheeled himself upright, his phone sliding off his chest and into the covers beside him. After a few long moments of coughing, he exhaled raggedly. All thoughts of sleep now escaped him, so he padded to the kitchen to put the kettle on for tea.

It did no good to dwell on these circumstances. They’d talked it over so much that Akutagawa could now imagine himself with Atsushi on that Saturday, following every step along the way, and there was nothing more there for him to latch onto. He’d run through his own Saturday, trying to determine if there was anything out of the ordinary, and came up with as much as Atsushi had. It seemed like the only way out now was Dazai, but he was more than a day’s travel away.

Was this going to be forever?

Akutagawa exhaled, hands wrapped around the hot mug, and watched out the balcony window and into the night.

Atsushi placed the headband on Akutagawa’s head, the white-tipped black ears poking out of his hair. “Cute,” Atsushi said cheerfully.

Rashomon snapped the headband in two, and Atsushi put his hands on his hips and sighed. Akutagawa, arms folded, continued to sit on the edge of the mattress and scowled up at Atsushi. “That’s it?” he said, irritated. “You want me to wear a child’s trinket, for what purpose?”

“Well, it’s not for kids,” Atsushi said. “For starters.”

Akutagawa rolled his eyes in clear disbelief. “Wearing fake cat ears is not for children?”

“Nothing at the store I bought that at was for kids, Akutagawa.” Akutagawa tilted his head and looked up at Atsushi, arms still folded, and Atsushi sighed, retrieving both pieces of the snapped headband. “Well, at least the money’s not technically wasted, I guess,” he said, but then glared right back at Akutagawa. “I let you use that thing on me, it’s my turn.”

“You enjoyed the hell out of that machine.”

“I didn’t say that I didn’t.” Atsushi crouched and rustled through the bag he’d brought with him. He had texted Akutagawa at a normal hour, stating he’d be over with takeout and something “fun.” Akutagawa should have immediately questioned what his definition of “fun” was. “Don’t break anything else.”

This time Atsushi produced a soft white leather collar, and held it in both hands for a moment, eying Akutagawa warily. Akutagawa stared at it and his cock twitched in his pants. The blush hit before he could stop it, and Atsushi’s expression shifted to amused. “Oh, the collar’s okay, but the cat ears were a no-go, I see how it is.”

“I did not say the collar was okay.”

Atsushi touched a single finger under Akutagawa’s chin, and he lifted it with gentle pressure, baring his throat. Akutagawa swallowed, surprised at himself, as Atsushi leaned in close. “You’re going to be a good boy for me, aren’t you?”

Oh, immediate erection.

“Weretiger,” Akutagawa growled, but Atsushi pressed that same finger to his lips. When he withdrew Akutagawa remained in place, chin aloft, allowing Atsushi to collar him. Atsushi fiddled with it for a bit, making sure the leather sat snug against his skin but not too tight, and Akutagawa stared determinedly at the wall over his shoulder, trying not to swallow or give any visible indication of how turned-on he was.

“Look at that,” Atsushi hummed, drawing back, hand still on Akutagawa’s bare shoulder. “That looks good on you.”

Akutagawa finally lowered his head, arms still folded. “Are we done, then?”

“Nope!” Atsushi was rummaging in the bag again. Before Akutagawa could blink, Atsushi attached a leash to the collar, wrapping it around his hand several times and stepping back. Startled, Akutagawa braced his hands on the edge of the bed, but Atsushi didn’t yank, the leash hanging slack. Atsushi touched Akutagawa’s cheek with his free hand. “We’re just getting started.”

Akutagawa exhaled raggedly, eye level with Atsushi’s waist and the shape of his dick extremely clear through his underwear. “Dazai-san is the worst influence on you,” he groaned, and Atsushi yanked the collar, dragging Akutagawa’s face in toward his bulge.

He hooked his fingers in the waistband of Atsushi’s underwear, dragging it down and slowly freeing his cock. Akutagawa’s mouth wasn’t watering, he wasn’t so hard he ached, and he most certainly wasn’t in a hurry to wrap his mouth around the head of Atsushi’s cock just to hear him groan from deep in his chest.

“Fuck,” Atsushi breathed as Akutagawa nuzzled his cock. He backed off slightly before Akutagawa could take him into his mouth, and Akutagawa leaned forward before Atsushi yanked on the leash to compel him to follow.

“On your knees for me,” Atsushi said roughly, and Akutagawa obeyed, startled at himself, eyes wide. Atsushi too looked startled for a moment, like he had expected Akutagawa to retaliate somehow, and when he didn’t Atsushi bit his bottom lip and said, “Continue.”

Atsushi’s cock was familiar to him now, the taste and the shape of it, its weight on his tongue. Akutagawa took him in slowly and Atsushi let the leash go slack as Akutagawa sucked him, one hand steady on Atsushi’s hip and the other pressed against the outside of his own trousers.

He was aware of how intently Atsushi was watching him but didn’t care, focused more on what noises he could elicit from his weretiger and oh, they were delightful when they emerged. Heavy breathing and soft grunts, and once even Akutagawa’s name, Atsushi’s hands curled into the back of his skull, urging him desperately back down on his cock.

Akutagawa held tight to Atsushi’s hips, letting him fuck his mouth, jaw gone slack. Atsushi dropped the leash, both of his hands cradling Akutagawa’s head as he kept going, chest heaving, sweat shining on his skin. It was too much for Atsushi and Akutagawa choked when Atsushi came down his throat, pulling off his dick before he was even done.

“Fuck, fuck, oh fuck,” Atsushi groaned as he too sank to his knees, clearly unable to hold his own weight in the aftershocks of his climax. Akutagawa continued to cough and Atsushi’s attention was on him as he said, “shit, Akutagawa, are you all right?”

Akutagawa glared at him raggedly, even as Atsushi gathered up the leash from where it lay on the ground. “What do you think, weretiger?” He coughed again but seemed through it, but barely had time to catch his breath before Atsushi yanked on the leash again, dragging him forward and crushing their mouths together.

Atsushi’s eyes were sparkling when they parted. “You’re incredible,” he breathed, hand on Akutagawa’s cheek, and the snarling response Akutagawa was formulating died on his lips. “Can I fuck you?”

“Weretiger, you just came.”

Head tilted to Akutagawa’s, Atsushi grinned. “I can definitely go again.” He tugged the leash lightly and palmed Akutagawa’s bulge, where wet had clearly seeped through his trousers. “And so can you.”

“You owe me two,” Akutagawa groaned as Atsushi squeezed him through his trousers, and then wrapped his arms around Atsushi’s neck as Atsushi lifted him effortlessly into the air. “Possibly three.”

“As many times as you want, Ryuu,” Atsushi breathed, pushing him into the mattress and crawling on top of him, Akutagawa’s legs falling open without urging. “As many as you want.”

Chapter Text

Akutagawa woke to sunlight filtering through his blinds. He blinked and rolled over, picking his phone up off the table. He was surprised at himself, usually, the reset woke him; for a heartbeat before the screen lit, he wondered if he’d slipped free, and that Monday lay ahead of him.

His sister’s text was on the screen from earlier this morning, as well as three from the weretiger asking what he wanted to do today.

Akutagawa scratched his hand through his hair as he lay on his back and looked at his phone. What did he want to do today? They’d been to dozens of restaurants, and Atsushi wasn’t tired of that yet. His mouth ticked up in amusement as he typed a response, and then he sat up finally, squinting into the sunlight and looking out his window.

Another Sunday.

Atsushi was waiting for him at the specified location, and he looked surprised to see Akutagawa. “You have other clothes?”

“You’re one to talk, weretiger,” Akutagawa said. He was wearing a different coat, of course; and he’d left the ruffled blouse in the closet today, selecting a dark button-down and gray trousers instead. Atsushi was straight-up staring at him like he’d never seen Akutagawa before, and it was beginning to get a little irritating. “You have seen me otherwise clothed.”

“No,” Atsushi said, sounding amazed. “Not really. I mean, I’ve seen you naked a bunch, but—” He skipped back a step to avoid the Rashomon strike at his feet and laughed; it was a comfortable sound. “Yeah, I have. When you’re out with Gin-san.”

“Do not speak of my sister so familiarly.”

Atsushi waved his hand dismissively in the air. “You said you had a plan for today? It’s not going to be anything embarrassing I hope.”

“What does that mean.”

Atsushi tilted his head, hands clasped behind him. “Oh, I thought you were gonna go spring some voyeuristic sex thing on me. It’s not that?”

Akutagawa stared at him. Atsushi was blinking his large eyes very innocently, as if he hadn’t just suggested something so utterly filthy it took even Akutagawa by surprise. “You’d be willing to do something like that?” Something like what. Wait, no. He had a plan.

“Eh.” Atsushi wobbled his hand. “I mean, it would really suck if that broke us out of the loop, but nothing else has so far so the odds aren’t exactly in its favor. Not like anyone else would ever know it happened, might as well take advantage of it while we’ve got the chance.”

Akutagawa rubbed his forehead, his other hand on his hip. “Being stuck like this has unleashed the true depravity caged within you, weretiger. Do not say thank you.”

Atsushi blinked owlishly.

“I did not intend for today to skew in that direction at all; I meant to take you to the aquarium, as I imagine you’ve never been.”

Atsushi continued to blink owlishly at him. “Like a date?”

“Hardly.”

“It’s just the two of us.”

“We could invite anyone else of your choosing, weretiger; it’s not as if they cease to exist, they just don’t remember the previous day.”

Atsushi folded his arms and tilted his head, a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. “You’re taking me on a date.”

Akutagawa groaned in aggravation. “This was a terrible idea. Let’s do the depraved exhibitionist sex like you planned.”

“Nah, I think the aquarium sounds fun.” When Akutagawa looked at him, Atsushi was smiling—a bright, pleased smile that overwhelmed his face so much that his eyes were closed. Akutagawa covered his mouth to feign a cough and glanced away, the tips of his ears pink.

Atsushi had never smiled at him like that before.

And, okay. Maybe it was a date. Maybe Akutagawa wasn’t fooling anyone, least of all Atsushi, and the plausible deniability was stretched a bit thin. Akutagawa wasn’t even particularly interested in anything there, but he enjoyed watching Atsushi stand up close to the glass and watch the fish in their exhibits. It just felt correct.

“Look at this one, Akutagawa!” Atsushi jabbed his finger at the glass as something small and colorful darted by, faster than Akutagawa could catch. Atsushi’s head turned sharply, pupils very obviously narrowed into slits, and Akutagawa put his hands in his trouser pockets and watched his weretiger.

When he caught his reflection in the glass over Atsushi’s shoulder, he was startled to realize that he was smiling.

“So,” Atsushi said, seated in one of the uncomfortable metal chairs in the aquarium’s food court. “What made you decide to take me on a date today? Am I supposed to blow you for this, or…?”

Akutagawa frowned at him. “I did not bring you here with the expectation of any favors in return.”

“Really?” Atsushi had finished off a tiny, overpriced entrée in record time. Akutagawa scratched the aquarium off the mental restaurant list. “Then why take me on a date? We hate each other’s guts.” He laughed a little at his own question, and Akutagawa continued to frown but didn’t respond.

They walked among the exhibits more after Atsushi had eaten, because the weretiger apparently couldn’t go some hours without food whenever Akutagawa was paying, and there was a little tug of disquiet in Akutagawa’s heart.

Clearly, he’d misjudged. It was fine. He hadn’t overstepped enough to worry, but it still unsettled him. The weretiger saw him as he should see the weretiger, allies of convenience. That was all.

They turned a corner and found themselves in a gift shop awash with customers, mainly children on a field trip very seriously picking out their trinkets and souvenirs. Atsushi caught Akutagawa’s wrist and tugged him through the crush of people, and without thinking Akutagawa’s hand slipped into Atsushi’s.

Atsushi didn’t release his hand when they were through the gift shop, and they stood side-by-side before one of the final exhibits. “This was fun,” Atsushi said, head tilted as he watched a shark swim by. “Thank you.”

Akutagawa didn’t acknowledge him but also didn’t release his hand.

Atsushi flipped the lock on the bathroom stall. He’d tugged Akutagawa in behind him while the room was empty as if Akutagawa was going to resist being kissed. Atsushi pushed him back into the door and kept kissing him, rattling the door against its frame.

“How very romantic, kissing near the toilet,” Akutagawa said dryly when they parted. Atsushi snorted at him, and Akutagawa rested his hand on Atsushi’s shoulder. “So, what. You’re going to blow me regardless, aren’t you?”

“Mm, not quite.” Atsushi’s voice was hushed, as it carried in the bathroom. “You can’t make any fun noises in here without being overheard, so I have to do my best to make you make some.”

The stall door in the bathroom ran from floor to ceiling, but it wasn’t the sturdiest material. Akutagawa could hear someone washing their hands on the other side even as Atsushi spoke. “Absolutely not,” Akutagawa said, as Atsushi groped him through his clothing, and he sucked in a breath.

“Remember, everyone can hear you,” Atsushi breathed into his ear, body pressed to Akutagawa’s before he slipped his hand into Akutagawa’s trousers.

Akutagawa slapped his hand over his mouth, glaring daggers at Atsushi over it. He could stop this at any point, of course, but Atsushi’s hand felt good, and his mouth felt better, and while Atsushi’s mouth was on his cock his other hand was sliding up behind his balls and—oh, he couldn’t mean to do that here—

Akutagawa’s pants hung from one leg, Atsushi holding him aloft and braced back against the door as if he weighed nothing at all. Akutagawa had his hand clamped tight over his mouth, kept it there, eyes watering at Atsushi’s dick spearing him open. He’d brought lube, Atsushi had clearly intended something like this all along, and the fact that he could hear people coming and going even as Atsushi fucked into him amplified every sensation.

He pulled at Atsushi’s shirt with the unoccupied hand, eyes squeezed closed. Rashomon stabbed into the walls on either side of him, bracing him further, and Atsushi rumbled in amusement, the sound lost as someone further down the row flushed. Akutagawa was going to murder Atsushi for this, no joke.

“Your cock is drooling so much,” Atsushi hummed, his voice barely audible. He shifted his grip from Akutagawa’s hips so that he could slide his fingers through the fluid dripping from its head. “This is really getting you going, huh?”

Akutagawa closed his eyes, breath driven from his lungs as Atsushi adjusted him again, letting gravity handle much of the heavy lifting, dropping him back on Atsushi’s cock again. Every sensation felt so much more, and he choked into his hand. Atsushi took pity on him and started stroking his cock, completely unbothered when Akutagawa release across the front of his shirt.

Panting raggedly, Akutagawa let his hand drop to Atsushi’s shoulder. “I’m going to kill you for this,” he hissed, and Atsushi slammed his cock inside to the hilt in response. Akutagawa reared his head back and moaned, loud enough his voice echoed.

“You lose,” Atsushi said, and started fucking into him hard and fast, and it was all Akutagawa could do to hang on.

“We can never go back there again,” Akutagawa said, face bright red and standing carefully in the train car. Atsushi was seated, looking very smug and not as if he had literally just been chased out of an attraction for public indecency.

“It’ll be fine tomorrow,” Atsushi said, and Akutagawa held on to the rail and refused to look at him for a moment. “It’s still a bit of a ride until we get back to your place, why don’t you sit down here with me?”

Akutagawa looked at his shit-eating grin and scowled, venom dripping from his tone. “You know why.”

“I know,” Atsushi said, so pleased with himself. “And you love it.”

Akutagawa stared resolutely out the window of the train car and refused to look at Atsushi for the remainder of the journey, ears as red as his face.

Chapter Text

Akutagawa ignored Atsushi’s texts for two days. Two identical Sundays, each one the same as before, Chuuya’s reaction not changing, the orders always the same, despite Akutagawa having not played this part for weeks.

It all felt weird and detached. He stepped away from Atsushi because he was put out, yes; but also, he was getting too attached. This was all a game to the weretiger, something to while away the time with; nothing more than a physical activity that felt good. It was like training, Akutagawa decided as he lay in bed the third day, his phone buzzing incessantly because Atsushi knew he was being ignored and didn’t like it.

Yes, training. No more dates.

He lay on his side and stared at the wall, cloaked in the darkness of deep night and refused to speculate on why that decision made a pit form in his stomach.

Akutagawa had just started to doze off again when someone—accursed weretiger—began pounding on his apartment door. Akutagawa rolled over, grabbed his phone off the table and scrolled with his thumb the dozen or so messages before giving up and shuffling to the front door.

“What?” Akutagawa snarled as he yanked the door open. He didn’t expect how frantic Atsushi looked, face red as if he’d run the entire way across the city. Akutagawa didn’t glance at the clock; it was possible he had.

Atsushi stared at Akutagawa, chest heaving. “It’s still you, right?” he asked, making not one lick of sense for the moment. “It’s still—you’re still with me, right?”

Akutagawa braced his hand on the doorframe. “It is still Sunday for me, yes,” he said, finally parsing what the weretiger was asking.

“Oh thank god,” Atsushi said, voice almost collapsing in on himself. He took a small step back like he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do, wobbling slightly. “I thought…I thought I was going to be alone again, you weren’t answering me, and I thought—” he dragged at the front of his shirt with one hand, a noise not unlike a sob escaping. “I didn’t know what I was going to do if I was alone again…”

“Weretiger.”

Atsushi looked up at him, eyes bright and watery in the lights that lined the breezeway. Akutagawa opened the door just a bit more, but before he could think to invite Atsushi in Atsushi was already crossing to him, catching him by the front of his pajamas, pulling him in, and crushing their mouths together.

Akutagawa staggered back, dragging Atsushi with him. The door banged into Atsushi’s hip and then he kicked it closed behind him, and Akutagawa surfaced just long enough to spit “Idiot—” before Atsushi was kissing him again, face wet.

He finally prized himself free, holding Atsushi’s face with both hands. “You really think so little of me that I would leave you here to face this, alone?”

“You wouldn’t?” Atsushi responded, chest heaving, and Akutagawa realized what he was saying but couldn’t stop himself.

Wouldn’t he?

“OF course not,” Akutagawa said sharply. “We get out of this together, or not at all. We are…” he hesitated, the words on his lips, his hands still holding Atsushi’s face. What were they? A team? Friends…?

…Partners?

“Together?” Atsushi asked softly. “Just the two of us?”

Akutagawa closed his eyes and exhaled, a tight, controlled smile escaping. “Do we need anyone else?”

Atsushi let out a small laugh, and when Akutagawa met his eye they were closer to normal now, if still a little watery.

“Better?” Akutagawa asked softly, and Atsushi, after a moment, nodded. Akutagawa let his hands fall from Atsushi’s face and he straightened. “Come on, then,” he said. “I’ll put on some tea; you look like shit. Did you run the entire way here?” He slid his phone out of his pocket. “How did you get here so fast, weretiger?”

“Ran,” Atsushi confirmed weakly, eyes closed. Akutagawa looked back, startled, as Atsushi hit the floor like a sack of potatoes, and didn’t move again.

Akutagawa watched Atsushi sleep, cradling a fresh cup of tea between his hands. The only thing he could think to do was put Atsushi to bed, so he did, and the weretiger immediately grabbed Akutagawa’s only pillow and wrapped himself around it, burying his face into the pillow and not moving once settled.

It made his lungs twist up funny, and Akutagawa swallowed that feeling and all the others that were threatening to make their presence known and settled on the old favorite of neutral displeasure, just in case Atsushi woke anytime soon.

He didn’t.

Finally succumbing to hunger, Akutagawa started a meal on the stove. He had hoped the smell of cooking might rouse the weretiger; and he was right, as meat sizzled in the skillet, he heard the mattress creak and, finally, Atsushi shuffled from the doorway of the bedroom.

Without looking at him directly Akutagawa said, “I don’t have a lot to feed you, I didn’t shop anticipating guests. We can go out for dinner later, so this is just to tide you over—” he stilled when Atsushi slid his hands over Akutagawa’s hips and rested his chin on his shoulder.

“You smell like home,” Atsushi mumbled into his skin, before drawing back.

Akutagawa almost snapped the spatula. He turned and watched Atsushi shuffle to the table, wearing nothing but the sweatpants he’d arrived in with his hair stuck up in every direction. It seemed right to see him sitting there at his table, yawning into his hand, and squinting in the daylight, and Akutagawa swallowed and plated most of the food for Atsushi.

“What about you?” Atsushi asked sleepily, and Akutagawa hesitated before putting his hand on Atsushi’s bare shoulder and leaning in to tentatively kiss the top of his head.

“I’m fine, weretiger. You’re the one that collapsed.”

Atsushi looked up at him, and for a moment they just looked at each other. Then Atsushi ventured a small smile, and Akutagawa returned it before he caught himself, covered his mouth, and turned away.

Akutagawa was washing the skillet when Atsushi placed his cleaned plate on the counter. “Feel better?” Akutagawa asked, turning his head just slightly.

“Much,” Atsushi said into his ear, his hand sliding down into Akutagawa’s pants from behind. Akutagawa almost dropped his skillet into the sink as Atsushi cupped him. “I didn’t ask permission, though,” Atsushi breathed, rubbing his thumb over Akutagawa’s quickly growing cock. “Can I…?”

Akutagawa gripped the edge of the counter with both wet and soapy hands. At Atsushi’s urging, he squeezed his legs together instead of spreading them. “Don’t put it in,” Akutagawa instructed gruffly, face already red. Atsushi chuckled, using his other hand to slowly tug down Akutagawa’s pants.

The familiar, warm shape of Atsushi’s cock pressed against his leg, and Akutagawa gripped the counter tightly. “I mean it,” he said, squeezing his legs together enough so that Atsushi could thrust into the tight space he’d created. “If you try to accidentally stick it in—”

Atsushi wrapped his arms around Akutagawa’s stomach, hiking himself against him and dragging his cock against the pale skin of Akutagawa’s inner thighs. He closed his eyes and exhaled as Atsushi fucked into that space, sliding along his taint and the head of his cock brushing his sack.

“You smell so good,” Atsushi moaned into the back of Akutagawa’s neck as he rutted against him. “Akutagawa, I-I’m—”

He released the counter with one hand, sliding it over Atsushi’s sitting tight over his stomach. The weretiger was having trouble keeping a rhythm going, thrusts short and sporadic, and he was holding Akutagawa tight as if he thought Akutagawa would try to get away from him.

“Come on,” Akutagawa grunted, hand gripping Atsushi’s wrist. “Come for me, weretiger.”

“Ngh, I need…” Atsushi’s teeth scraped the nape of his neck. “Inside, please, please?”

Akutagawa was dizzy with the heat of Atsushi’s body surrounding him. He pulled himself free, shoving the weretiger back with his palm. Atsushi let out a wounded, confused noise—until Akutagawa hiked himself up on the counter, legs spread.

He didn’t even have to instruct Atsushi on what to do. Atsushi used his fingers first, got him stretched open enough to lessen the inevitable burn of his cock as he pushed in, Akutagawa’s legs over his shoulders. He folded him almost double on the counter and Akutagawa held onto the edge, eyes locked on Atsushi’s as he fucked him deep.

“It’s okay…?” Atsushi panted, thrusts shallow and erratic, and Akutagawa wrapped his arms around Atsushi’s neck and pulled him down into a kiss as he crested, his climax pouring hot inside.

Akutagawa held on tight to Atsushi, and couldn’t imagine ever letting him go.

Chapter Text

“I’m going to fucking—” Atsushi shook, one wrist still handcuffed to the headboard and the other curled tight against his chest, having already been smacked once with Rashomon sharply enough to draw blood for attempting to touch him. Akutagawa leaned forward and Atsushi grunted, shifted by his movement, and didn’t struggle against him when he yanked Atsushi’s wrist up by the severed cuff.

“You really are too strong for your own good sometimes,” Akutagawa said, watching the blood drip from where the metal cuff had cut into his skin. “I suppose I should patch you up, hm?”

He grinned when Atsushi’s knees tightened over his hips. “Don’t you dare fucking pull out,” Atsushi groaned, and Akutagawa pulled Atsushi’s injured hand toward his face, licking the blood from his skin and moving his hips at the same time, thrusting shallowly. Atsushi, panting hard, locked eyes with him.

“You like that, don’t you?” Akutagawa released Atsushi, Rashomon slithering from the button-down he wore open, wrapping tight around Atsushi’s wrist before yanking it back to the headboard and pinning it there as well. Akutagawa licked blood from his thumb, quite aware that Atsushi’s eyes had never left him. “Being teased.”

“Just fuck me already,” Atsushi’s voice was ragged, his chest heaving. Akutagawa tilted his head, staring down at Atsushi silently. “God, Akutagawa, please.”

“I am fucking you, weretiger,” Akutagawa purred, moving his hips deliberately slow. Atsushi’s body was reacting to him, tight and hot, but he wasn’t going to give him more than this, not yet at least. “Just…slowly. You should learn to savor things more. Take your time.” He drew his fingers up Atsushi’s dripping cock, not even doing him the courtesy of stroking it properly. “Enjoy it.”

They’d returned to his apartment today, after a frankly terrible lunch—something rare enough that it was novel. Even Atsushi, who had a stomach like a garbage disposal, hadn’t been impressed with the food; weirdly, something about seeing Atsushi's discontent had really gotten Akutagawa going. Like he wanted to fix it, or something.

Or something.

Atsushi pressed his head back into the pillows, the muscles flexing in his arms and throat bobbing as he swallowed hard. Akutagawa pulled almost all the way out, teasing his rim with the head of his cock and watching Atsushi’s stomach jump. He’d taken Atsushi nearly all the way to the edge twice already, and watching his abject frustration when he realized that Akutagawa was letting all that build-up ebb away was truly entertaining.

“You,” Akutagawa said, head back on the pillow and eyes squeezed shut, “are a fucking nightmare, Akutagawa Ryuunosuke.”

“Mm.” Akutagawa thrust all the way back in, listening to Atsushi’s breath catch. He leaned over him, all the way, forcing his body almost double as he planted his hands on the pillow on either side of Atsushi’s head. Atsushi met his eye angrily, tightening on Akutagawa despite himself. “That may be the case, but in this moment I’m your nightmare, weretiger.”

“God,” Atsushi’s voice caught, and fluid dribbled from his cock, dripping down his stomach and back toward his chest. Akutagawa started rocking into him with more purpose, the breath rattling in his lungs despite his frequent breaks; Atsushi didn’t seem to hear it though, his own breathing loud in the space between them.

He was getting carried away, watching Atsushi’s face; his thrusts were getting erratic, and Akutagawa was too close to the edge himself. He backed himself off, pulling out entirely, and listened to Atsushi swear colorfully as release was denied to him once more.

“You’re so cute when you’re angry,” Akutagawa hummed, his hands on Atsushi’s ankles. “Show me your rage, weretiger. I want it all to belong to me.”

Atsushi stared at him, clearly pissed—but then his eyes widened in surprise. He blushed, and Akutagawa was forced to rewind every ridiculous thing he’d said in the last ten minutes only to realize he’d called the weretiger cute and the weretiger noticed.

Akutagawa swallowed hard, but Atsushi rattled his one remaining chain, Rashomon keeping his other wrist far more secure. “If you don’t fucking fuck me right now,” Atsushi moaned, “I’m going to break free and fuck you until neither of us can walk for days.”

“Wouldn’t take,” Akutagawa muttered before he could stop himself, and Atsushi crossed his ankles over the small of Akutagawa’s back.

“All the more reason to do it then,” Atsushi managed. Stripes were beginning to appear on his face and forearms, and Akutagawa rubbed his cock over Atsushi’s crack before hilting himself in one go. Atsushi thumped his head back into the pillows again and his cock spurted white up his belly. Akutagawa didn’t even have time to resume thrusting as Atsushi’s body contracted down on his cock, every muscle growing tighter before relaxing.

He watched the fight all run out of the weretiger, his orgasm wiping the slate clean. Akutagawa leaned all his weight on one hand and started fucking in again.

Atsushi yowled, his voice rising as Akutagawa began stroking his spent cock, smearing all the slick fluid over and over, dialing up the intensity on his overstimulated mess. “One isn’t enough,” he informed Atsushi, who was panting aloud in small shaky whines as Akutagawa kept stroking him. “I want you to spill everything you have, today.”

He was prepared when Atsushi snapped the other handcuff, Rashomon slamming his wrist right back where it belonged, both tendrils humming with red energy while it kept Atsushi pinned down. Atsushi was going to climax again, and Akutagawa was going to fuck him through it, and keep fucking him until he was raw and spent and there was nothing the weretiger could do about it.

“Holy shit,” Atsushi said, laying back against Akutagawa in the bath. He held his hands up, the cuts from the broken cuffs left deep gashes in his wrists. “You really fucking did a number on me, Akutagawa.”

Akutagawa exhaled but didn’t dignify that with a response, mostly because he’d left all his energy concentrated deep within the weretiger. Instead, he combed his fingers through Atsushi’s damp silver hair, and Atsushi melted back against him. “You’re pretty sadistic, you know,” Atsushi informed him, dropping his wounded hands back into the water, and Akutagawa didn’t respond to that, either.

This, though. This was nice, Akutagawa thought drowsily. Atsushi’s head laid back against his shoulder, his arms full of weretiger. How things were meant to be.

Atsushi ran his hands up Akutagawa’s legs, resting them both on his knees under the water before dropping the bombshell. “So you think I’m cute, huh?”

“I did not say that.”

“Mm, I think you did.” Atsushi danced his fingers on Akutagawa’s skin under the water. “And you were pretty into it, too.”

“You called me a nightmare.”

“Well, you are.” Atsushi settled back against him again, sighing comfortably. “My nightmare. My own, personal, nightmare. The sort of nightmare I would never even wish on my worst enemy. And yet…”

Akutagawa threaded his arms under Atsushi’s, resting them both on his chest, feeling his heartbeat strong through his damp skin. “And yet?”

“And yet I hope I never, ever have to wake up from it.” Atsushi gave a contented sigh, closing his eyes.

Akutagawa brushed his nose through Atsushi’s damp hair before kissing the crown of his head while they continued to soak in his tub, the daylight slowly fading through the window outside.

Chapter Text

Akutagawa stared at what Atsushi held in his hands. He looked around the aisle, and then back to Atsushi; in the back of his mind he knew it didn’t matter that people saw, but all the same, his face flamed red, and it was all he could do to restrain his ability from bloodshed here, in the middle of the department store.

“Absolutely not,” Akutagawa hissed, arms folded like a physical barrier between them.

Atsushi was currently holding a pair of very lacy panties, white with sheer paneling, and giving Akutagawa an appraising look. There was no way those would contain him, they were ladies' undergarments for one, and for the other, no fucking way on this earth.

“I think this pair’s a little small, though,” Atsushi said, checking the size on the hanger. “Oh! Look at this.” He was rifling through an entire display without an ounce of shame, it was incredible. He withdrew another hanger with a larger size of similar panties, but this one came with garters and a bralette. He stole a look at Akutagawa and Akutagawa had to put a stop to this now, or else it was going to go to a place he couldn’t come back from.

“Weretiger.”

“Look,” Atsushi said, half distracted, tucking what he’d already found under his arm. “If you find something you want me to wear, we can both do it, okay? Would that make you feel better?”

Akutagawa had a sudden mental image of Atsushi in front of him in lingerie that barely contained his straining erection and immediately got dizzy as all the blood in his face shot south. Atsushi glanced over at him and snickered, and Akutagawa turned his face away and tried to banish the image.

“Go pick something out for me,” Atsushi said, shooing him away. Akutagawa was insulted at his audacity but still shuffled off amid the racks of dainty, lacy clothing; looking for something that the weretiger would look good in.

(He looks good in everything.)

Shit, he did not just have that thought, either. Akutagawa shuffled uncomfortably though several racks and did not touch anything at all, trying without success to completely banish the thought of Atsushi in white lacy panties. “You are a menace,” he said, finally, coming around the rack and locating the weretiger again.

Atsushi was now holding three different hangers; he looked over at Akutagawa briefly and showed him the most recent addition. “I like this one,” he said and took clear note of Akutagawa’s expression. “Think I’ll fit in it?”

Face absolutely blank, Akutagawa said, “why don’t you try it on and see?”

The dressing room was unattended, which was probably a good thing because Akutagawa was fairly sure they weren’t supposed to be trying on women’s lingerie in the first place. Well, Atsushi probably wasn’t meant to be, at least, Akutagawa would pass, thank you very much. If he was going to endure that humiliation, he’d much prefer it to be in the sanctity of his own apartment wherein he could stab the weretiger multiple times for invariably laughing when he saw the final result.

He was distracted from that particularly distressing line of thought when Atsushi cracked the door open and stuck his head out. “Would you get in here?” he hissed. “I’m not walking out there dressed like this, with my luck we’d break the loop and I’d end up on the news.”

Akutagawa considered this.

Atsushi pushed the door open just enough that he could grab Akutagawa by his coat and yank him through the door into the dressing room with him.

It was a cramped space, but there was still enough room for both of them. Akutagawa literally wasn’t paying attention to the space though, staring instead at Atsushi, who was blushing heavily.

He had chosen a white set, with a simple, shallow brassiere and a garter belt. Akutagawa clamped his hand over his mouth as if he were stifling a cough and blushed red to the tips of his ears.

“You like?” Atsushi asked, turning his profile so Akutagawa could see how the panties stretched over his ass. They were matching shades of red now, and Atsushi stuck his thumb in the waistband of the panties, his cock barely contained by the delicate fabric. “I don’t know, I kinda feel silly now, I guess.”

“Weretiger,” Akutagawa said, and Atsushi looked up at him. “I think…you would look better without the brassiere. Maybe your tie…” Akutagawa put his hand on Atsushi’s chest without even thinking about it, his heartbeat jumping under his hand; Atsushi’s hand slid over his waist and then they were kissing without thought, Atsushi thumping backward against the mirror on the wall.

“Turn around,” Akutagawa said roughly, and Atsushi bit his lip but obeyed, presenting his back to Akutagawa, his hands braced on either side of the mirror and watching Akutagawa in its reflection. He didn’t particularly mind, kissing the back of Atsushi’s neck and sliding his hand into the front of Atsushi’s panties, stroking his growing bulge until the head of his cock peeked out the top of the waistband, head dark red and slick with fluid.

Atsushi let out a rough-sounding noise when Akutagawa grinded against him. “I would have you here,” Akutagawa groaned, and Atsushi gestured with his head toward his clothes, piled on top of the built-in bench.

“Lube’s in my pocket,” he grunted, and Akutagawa wasted no time, Rashomon fishing the desired lubricant from his trousers. Akutagawa nudged the panties aside, slipping slick fingers down Atsushi’s backside until he nudged them against his rim, and Atsushi leaned his head forward, fingers curling against the wall.

Akutagawa could have prepped him further, but his cock ached between his legs and who knew how long they had until an attendant came by to see what was going on in the changing room. Atsushi’s shoulders tightened when he pushed in, the panties now bunched to one side, holding his cock tight against his lower stomach; but Atsushi didn’t make a noise until Akutagawa pulled out and thrust fully in.

“Fuck me,” he breathed, forehead to the mirror and eyes closed.

Akutagawa obliged, rocking his cock in and out with a sharp, quick rhythm. Atsushi groaned, his breath steaming against the glass, and Akutagawa gathered his short hair in one hand and yanked his head back. “Open your eyes,” he ordered, directly into Atsushi’s ear. “Watch me debase you, weretiger.”

Atsushi’s eyes cracked open, golden slits through his thick lashes. Akutagawa watched Atsushi watch himself fucked against the mirror, the fancy white panties already turning translucent from the fluid drooling form his cock. It was making him harder, he felt, grinding deep, not pulling all the way out, making Atsushi feel all of him.

“God,” Atsushi croaked, shifting himself so that he could rub his palm over his cock, rocking against it and matching Akutagawa’s rhythm until Akutagawa grabbed Atsushi’s hand by the wrist. “Fuck, fuck, I can’t—”

Akutagawa got his other hand as well, pulling them both back and holding both his wrists while he kept fucking into him, fast approaching his climax. Atsushi let out a ragged sob, painting white on the mirror as he came, his climax drawing out Akutagawa’s own.

Akutagawa panted into the back of Atsushi’s neck, having already released his wrists and instead wrapping his arms around Atsushi’s waist, holding them together. “Fuck, you look amazing,” Akutagawa breathed, his eyes bright over Atsushi’s shoulder. Akutagawa bit into the muscle there and Atsushi let out a breathless laugh.

“Think how good you’re gonna look in what I picked out for you,” he said, groaning as Akutagawa rocked his cock a few more times before pulling entirely out. “I’m going to take you to pieces in the middle of the floor, you won’t be able to walk for the rest of the day.”

“Promise?” Akutagawa asked, kissing the soothing sting of his bite away. Atsushi lifted his hand to Akutagawa’s head, holding him there and turning his own head enough to kiss him properly.

“Fucking bet,” Atsushi said, and Akutagawa laughed against his mouth.

Chapter Text

Akutagawa woke slowly, warm and uncomfortably full. It took him a bit to assess; Rashomon stirring off the shoulders of his shirt as his brain came online, but then he heard Atsushi grunt and pleasure shot up his spine like lighting. Akutagawa gasped into the bunched sheets beneath his face.

“Oh,” Atsushi’s voice was pleasantly warm and roughened. “Are you awake, finally? I got pretty far without you.” Pleasure again rippled through his veins as Atsushi’s breath stirred the short hair on the nape of his neck, and Akutagawa’s body reacted, tightening on the intrusion buried deep inside him. The constriction made Atsushi suck in an obvious breath, and Akutagawa pushed his face into the covers and groaned audibly.

That’s right, he'd gone right back to sleep. Atsushi had texted him after the reset to make sure his door was unlocked, which was an unusual enough request but he didn’t even fucking question it, just unlocking the door and going right the fuck back to sleep; and the weretiger had taken this as an invitation to, to— “Fuck,” Akutagawa breathed as Atsushi pulled on his hips, gently arranging him. “You’re so deep.”

“You took it all,” Atsushi breathed, rocking his hips; he slid his hand up Akutagawa’s side and then covered his hand with Atsushi’s, fingers curling over his, interlocking. “So easily. I almost didn’t have to prep you.” Akutagawa let out a soft sound as Atsushi pulled out and left him empty. “You slept through it all.”

“I’m going to kill you,” Akutagawa grunted, curling his hands into the covers and considering the benefits of impaling Atsushi on his ability multiple times. Of course, if he did that Atsushi wouldn’t have a chance to fuck him to completion first, so maybe after. “Don’t stop.”

Atsushi pulled at his hip and rolled him over in the fluid-soaked sheets. Akutagawa glared up at the weretiger; he was completely naked and absolutely fucking smug. “Is this why you asked me to unlock the door?” Akutagawa groaned when Atsushi pushed his legs apart, studying his handiwork. “So you could let yourself in and fuck me?”

“Well, I mean,” Atsushi stroked Akutagawa’s cock. “We weren’t not gonna fuck.”

Okay, fair point. He hated that it came from the weretiger.

Atsushi was watching Akutagawa come to terms with this, stroking his cock slowly. His hand felt so good it distracted Akutagawa enough from the thought that he wanted to be mad about waking up with Atsushi’s dick up his ass. He pushed his hands into Atsushi’s shoulders as if to back him off. “Not yet,” he huffed, fighting the edge.

The weretiger tilted his head, smirking unpleasantly at him. “You want to come with me inside you, is that it?”

The blush hit immediately, and his cock jerked in Atsushi’s hand, fluid dribbling from its head. It wasn’t like there was anything left to conceal at this point, and yet Akutagawa still hesitated before he gave in. “Of course I do,” he grunted finally. “It feels incredible when we go off close together like that.”

Apparently, that was not the answer Atsushi was expecting, as he went red to his hairline. Akutagawa stared at him, and he stared back, suddenly caught out before he looked away, blush bright on his features. “Okay,” Atsushi said roughly, tilting over Akutagawa. “That settles it. I will make you come so hard you’ll wake the neighbors.”

Akutagawa kept his hands on Atsushi’s shoulders as the blue glow slid across his skin, preceding the short, stiff fur that ran up his arms, tiger stripes dark against the white. Akutagawa’s eyes flickered to Atsushi’s cock, where it jutted against his thigh, shiny with fluid and impossibly thick, before he curled his fingers into the muscle of his shoulders, refusing to let go.

“You’re going to have to work for that,” Akutagawa said and inhaled sharply when Atsushi prodded the head of his cock against his already-twitching rim. It took a little bit of encouragement before his body gave in to the increased girth, and Akutagawa bit his lip bloody refusing to make a single noise as Atsushi finally pushed in.

He felt goddam incredible.

Atsushi pushed him double, and Akutagawa hooked his knees over Atsushi’s shoulders while Atsushi used his weight and gravity to his advantage, hilting himself on every thrust. Akutagawa choked, legs trembling, fingernails digging bloody grooves into Atsushi’s skin; his weretiger was driving him mad. He couldn’t focus enough to keep track of what he was saying, the words spilling from him in a stream of consciousness. “Fuck, fuck, ah—right there, weretiger, oh fuck Atsushi, deeper—”

He felt Atsushi’s shoulders lock under his hands but instead of hitting his climax, the weretiger rolled them, rearranging them without pulling out. Akutagawa found himself on top, impaled on Atsushi’s cock, knees unable to hold him, and incapable of doing anything other than rocking on Atsushi’s lap.

“Good, good,” his weretiger purred, eyes golden and pupils gone to slits, the stripes standing out on his face. He slid his paws up Akutagawa’s thighs as he rocked, before pulling him down again, forcing Atsushi as deep as he could go. Akutagawa leaned back and felt Atsushi tremble underneath him.

“Holy shit,” Atsushi said, pressing the pad of his palm against the lower part of Akutagawa’s belly, where they could both see the bulge from Atsushi’s enormous tiger cock straining against his skin while he was leaning back. Akutagawa was up off his knees now, drawing them together, squeezing Atsushi so tight inside his eyes were starting to cross.

Panting aloud, flushed down to his chest, Akutagawa said smugly, “Looks like I shall win this round, weretiger.”

“Ryuu, fuck, oh my god—” Atsushi’s hips bore up, which shifted him inside; Akutagawa moaned as he went off, pouring fire into his core. He was full instantly, fluid squeezing out around Atsushi’s cock and puddling across his skin. Still coming, Atsushi rolled them again, putting Akutagawa’s shoulders on the mattress and pumping his cock in and out, frothing the sticky white as it kept filling him. Akutagawa couldn’t keep Atsushi’s paw off his dick if he tried and he stroked with the rhythm of his hips as he continued fucking in until Akutagawa couldn’t take it any longer and followed after, his fluids patterning his bare stomach and the rucked-up pajama top.

Atsushi pulled out and Akutagawa dropped to the mattress, chest heaving, fluid puddling everywhere. The weretiger stared down at him, eyes wide; Akutagawa tilted his head back into the covers, audibly wheezing. “Holy fuck,” Atsushi said, dropping his weight to his palm as he leaned over Akutagawa; he reared back slightly when Rashomon erupted from Akutagawa’s shirt but the only thing the ability did was yank Atsushi down and into a deep, breathless kiss.

Sunlight was streaming through the bathroom window while Akutagawa remained in the soaking tub. Atsushi peeked his head into the bathroom with a repentant expression on his face. “You doing okay?”

“It was worse the first time,” Akutagawa said, after a bit of consideration. He ached, but not badly, and he suspected it had more to do with Atsushi’s increasing skill at using his endowment over Akutagawa getting used to his size. He sighed, leaning back against the wall of the tub, and Atsushi opened the door slightly wider.

“I made breakfast,” he said. “Stopped off and got food before I came over, thought you wouldn’t want to go out after, uh…”

“Is that what I smell burning?”

“Not all of it burned.” Atsushi hesitated, still leaning in the doorway; then looked away, blushing an adorable red. “I’ve never done that with anyone else before, you know?”

Akutagawa squinted at him. “Done what?”

“Used my ability…like that.”

Akutagawa considered that and then smirked, hooking his arms over the side of the tub. “Shall I then return the favor?” he asked, and Atsushi gave him an alarmed look.

“I don’t even want to know what you mean by that—” Before he could even finish the thought, something began beeping alarmingly loud in the kitchen, and Atsushi hurried away to check on it, leaving the bathroom door ajar.

Akutagawa rested his cheek on his arm, closed his eyes and listened to the distant chaos of Atsushi fucking up his kitchen, and smiled.

Chapter Text

“You know, I miss rain, I think.” Atsushi had his arms hooked over the railing, stuck straight out, and dangling in front of him. “And snow. And the crunchy fall leaves, things hadn’t really started turning yet before this happened.”

Akutagawa held both their drinks with his ability, hands safe in the pockets of his coat. They had stopped by the park because why not, they hadn’t been by in weeks, now. Akutagawa never really considered the weather and hadn’t stopped to think about it once as it was perpetually sunny, warm but not hot, the first vestiges of autumn’s colder nights tugging at the edge of his coat once the sun went down, before the reset.

“I don’t care for the rain,” Akutagawa said, and Atsushi looked over at Akutagawa. “Or the snow. I get ill too easily from the cold.”

Atsushi pulled his arms back so he could put weight on his forearms instead. “You should take care of yourself better,” he said, a frown on his face.

“It is rarely that simple, weretiger.” Rashomon extended toward Atsushi, thrusting his coffee drink into his hands. Atsushi took the cup and gave Akutagawa a pensive look. “Your expression bothers me.”

Atsushi sighed and leaned back against the rail, both hands now on his drink. “I was just thinking how nice it would be to go walking with you under the holiday lights.” He inclined his head back to look at the bright blue sky above them. “I wonder if we’ll ever see another New Year.”

“We’ll figure this out, eventually,” Akutagawa said. “I have faith in us.”

To his surprise, Atsushi’s cheeks went red. He looked down at his coffee and then away, down along the sidewalk, and focused more on the water behind him “Yeah,” Atsushi agreed, voice almost lost in the wind off the water. “Me too.”

They took the take-out with them, not wanting to linger in the brightly lit dining area. “You’ve had this fast food a thousand times before,” Akutagawa said, Rashomon dutifully carrying the bags as Atsushi hopped up over the lip of the roof, before turning on his heel to sit casually on the edge.

“Yeah, I haven’t been to that location though. Still counts.”

“It does not.” Rashomon dropped the bags on the concrete edge between them; Akutagawa huffing sourly and watching Atsushi immediately tuck into the cheap burgers. He could put away an incredible amount of food very quickly, which was weirdly enthralling to watch. Akutagawa nibbled at a single burger and watched Atsushi knock back seven in the same amount of time. “Where do you put it all?”

Atsushi licked his fingers. “Dunno.”

“Of course you don’t know, why am I surprised?” Akutagawa fed a cheeseburger to the Rashomon head that was hovering to his other side as he listened to Atsushi crumple the wrappers and shove them into the bag. “Do you even taste them?”

Atsushi didn’t respond, and Akutagawa stayed very still as Atsushi slung himself over Akutagawa’s lap, hooking his legs over the back of the roof’s lip and placing his arms over Akutagawa’s shoulders.

Akutagawa sighed in amusement, settling his hands on Atsushi’s waist. “Really?” He didn’t pull back from Atsushi’s kiss, mouth opening under his insistence. “Here?”

“I thought you liked living on the edge.”

“Oh hah ha,” Akutagawa said drolly. Atsushi rocked on his lap, waking interested bits of his anatomy without his permission, and Akutagawa realized that Atsushi literally meant right there, on the edge of the roof. Rashomon surged from his coat, wrapping around Atsushi’s waist and thighs, and allowing him to carefully rise to his feet, holding Atsushi in place at the same time.

“Hey!” Atsushi didn’t look pleased to be placed gently back onto his feet, on the roof proper.

Akutagawa seated himself with his back to the raised lip and hooked one elbow back over it as he looked up at Atsushi. “If you still wanted to take a ride,” he said, barely-there eyebrow raised, and Atsushi put his hands on his hips.

“I’m not that easy.”

“Says the man who just climbed onto my lap, initiating.”

“Look.”

Atsushi didn’t get a chance to finish his thought before Rashomon snaked out and grabbed him, yanking him down onto the roof in front of Akutagawa. Atsushi grunted, rolled his eyes, and climbed onto Akutagawa’s lap. “I mean,” Akutagawa continued, his hands going back over Atsushi’s waist and gripping his ass solidly. “If you don’t want to fuck, I can just take my business elsewhere.”

“Yeah?” Atsushi challenged, his hand pressed over the front of Akutagawa’s trousers, fingers plucking out his shape through the fabric and sending small tremors up his spine. “Who exactly are you gonna go fuck then, Akutagawa? Higuchi-san?”

Akutagawa grimaced, and Atsushi laughed and kissed him. They both had at least one hand down the others’ pants now, and Akutagawa helped Atsushi slide out of his own trousers. “Ah, lubricant,” Akutagawa said, distracted, and when Atsushi produced some out of his pocket Akutagawa gave him a weird look.

“You always have some.”

“Yeah, well.” Atsushi sat across his thighs and started working on Akutagawa’s pants. “I stop by the convenience store every morning before I head over. It’s a lot easier to buy this shit the seventieth or so time.”

Akutagawa hissed when the cold slick hit his dick, but it was quickly followed by Atsushi’s very warm hand, stroking him firmly. Akutagawa slid back slightly when Atsushi pushed him down, so that he had more room to work, crouched over Akutagawa’s lap as he fingered himself open.

Atsushi was paying more attention to what he was doing than Akutagawa, and barely noticed when Rashomon looped around his upper thighs. He did notice when blunted tendrils joined his fingers, pushing in and going immediately deeper than Atsushi could manage himself. He gasped, and then choked out a laugh, nearly losing his balance.

“More?” Akutagawa asked lazily, and Atsushi shook his head, bracing himself on Akutagawa’s shirt.

“No, I want your cock.”

“Mm, why not both?” Akutagawa tilted his head and used the ability to pull Atsushi forward. He yelped when it pulled him down on Akutagawa’s dick, the tendrils helpfully holding his stretched rim open. The broad head of Akutagawa’s cock slipped neatly in, and Atsushi threw his head back, shoulders tight as he sank down effortlessly.

His weretiger was beautiful in the starlight, riding Akutagawa slowly, rocking his body back and forth. The moon emerged from behind a cloud, catching the sweat in his hair and making it glitter, and when Atsushi put his hands forward to balance himself Akutagawa caught them with his own hands, bracing Atsushi and allowing him to move more freely.

“Good?” He asked, breathlessly, and Atsushi laughed in response and didn’t stop. Red rippled along Akutagawa’s coat, another Rashomon tendril darting forward, and Atsushi stopped moving, eyes glittering with the reflected moonlight as the tendril wormed its way into him as well, squeezed tight against Akutagawa’s cock. It was barely a finger’s width, and Atsushi focused on it, squeezing Akutagawa’s hands.

Atsushi nodded his head, and said, softly, “more.”

Two more tendrils, similarly sized, pushed in around Akutagawa’s cock. Atushi closed his eyes, hanging forward, mouth open as he panted. Akutagawa let another, and another join the first until it felt like his cock was enmeshed with Rashomon, every tendril undulating inside Atsushi at different speeds.

He couldn’t thrust like this, but Atsushi couldn’t really move, either; Akutagawa let his ability loose and Atsushi reared back, eyes wide, his cock shooting off into the ruffles of Akutagawa’s shirt as he moaned and started to sag against his restraints.

Akutagawa released one hand, pushing his palm against Atsushi’s belly. “No bulge,” he said, disappointed, although if he pressed firmly enough, he thought he could feel the individual tendrils at work. “You can take more than this.”

“Yeah,” Atsushi said, hoarsely. “I think I—”

The rest of his thought was lost as a Rashomon-formed cock, bigger than Akutagawa’s own, nudged at Atsushi’s rim. Atushi twisted, eyes wide and trying to see. “Now!?”

Atsushi’s body gave easily, and the only reason he didn’t collapse was because he was still braced against Akutagawa’s hand. Akutagawa hummed in satisfaction as he felt the Rashomon-cock hit off Atsushi’s inner walls through his skin; and settle deeper inside than the individual tendrils.

Atsushi panted, haggard, sweat dripping down his face before he swallowed hard.

“I think you can take more,” Akutagawa said, smirk tugging at his face; Atsushi fell forward against him, hand still grasped tight.

“Yeah,” Atsushi said, meeting Akutagawa’s eye and refusing to back down from a challenge. “I can handle whatever you want to give me, Akutagawa.”

Akutagawa brushed sweat from Atsushi’s skin, catching his face with his one free hand and pulling him down into another kiss. “Oh, I believe you can. Let’s test those limits, shall we?”

Chapter Text

“The first thing I’m going to do when we get out of this loop is buy you like, seven more pillows,” Atsushi said, holding Akutagawa’s single pillow hostage. “This is ridiculous. How do you sleep.”

Not very well at all, but Akutagawa didn’t think it had anything to do with the number of pillows on his bed. “Not everyone needs to build themselves a nest, weretiger. Besides,” he added, arms folded, “how exactly are you going to afford seven pillows?”

Atsushi flopped over onto his side, still curled around Akutagawa’s pillow. “I could hit you with this one,” he said, waving his hand vaguely. “But it smells like you and that’s nice, so I don’t want to watch you shred it. Even if it would be fixed tomorrow.”

Akutagawa tilted his head, and then acquiesced, seating himself on the edge of the mattress. It would be easier if he could give Atsushi a key, rather than hauling himself out of bed and unlocking the door every reset, but it was what it was. Today he’d woken up to Atsushi with his face smushed against Akutagawa’s back, one arm wrapped around his stomach and his hand down Akutagawa’s pants.

Granted, he wasn’t initiating anything; he was dead asleep with his hand down Akutagawa’s pants. Akutagawa had no idea how he slept through it, he was such a light sleeper typically, but the entire situation was weirdly hilarious. He eventually extricated himself without waking the weretiger, or so he thought, but by the time he returned with tea Atsushi was sitting up in the center of the bed, yawning and hugging Akutagawa’s pillow to his chest.

“Any plans for today?” Akutagawa asked, leaning back on his hands. Atsushi remained flopped over for the moment, staring vaguely through the door toward Akutagawa’s kitchen. “Any particular place you wanted to eat, or…?”

Atsushi sighed. “I just kind of want to lay in bed with you all day, but you have shit in your fridge to eat, so I guess we should go out and at least get something.”

“Didn’t stop by the store tonight on your way over?”

“Nah. I mean, I did, but I wasn’t thinking about food. I took my time walking over.” He closed his eyes, cheek resting atop the pillow. “It’s so quiet at night, it almost makes you forget it’s the same quiet. Every night.”

Akutagawa considered him, starting to reach his hand for Atsushi’s head but hesitated, and pulled it back. “Perhaps we should work on our conundrum,” he suggested gently.

Atsushi opened his eyes. “You said you have faith in us,” he said, softly. “I want that, too. But I couldn’t figure this out on my own, and now we’ve been in this together for so long without a single hint or lead. What if there is no greater answer waiting for us.” Atsushi’s voice trembled. “What if this is all there is, now and forever?”

“Then,” Akutagawa said, carefully, “at least we’re in it together.”

Atsushi bit his lip and buried his face in the pillow, and now Akutagawa touched his head, pushing his fingers through Atsushi’s short, silver hair. “Maybe we’re dead,” Atsushi mumbled. “Maybe that’s why there’s no way out.”

Akutagawa exhaled. “Even if this were the afterlife,” he said, “there is no way you would have preceded me here, weretiger. My illness all but guarantees I will go before you.”

Atsushi scrambled to his knees, eyes already red-rimmed. “I won’t let that happen!”

He gave Atsushi a wan smile. “I rather suspect you don’t have any say in the matter, as it stands.” As if on cue a cough burbled free, and Akutagawa turned his head, hand tilted over his mouth. “So, logically, there will be a tomorrow. We just have to find our way there.”

Atsushi pressed his palm into one eye and sniffled a little. “I never thought for one moment you would ever be the one reassuring me,” he said. Akutagawa reached over and touched his face with his fingertips, eyes bright.

“Well I, for one, never imagined you invading my bed like a common pest and not immediately extinguishing your life’s flame,” Akutagawa said dryly, and that made Atsushi laugh. It brought the tone of the room back up again, and Akutagawa sighed, relieved. He never knew what to do when the weretiger of all people was so down in the dumps. “So then, what for today?”

“I am hungry,” Atsushi said, and Akutagawa rolled his eyes in amusement.

“Of course you are.”

Akutagawa went to get up, shifting his weight forward, but Atsushi caught him by the back of his shirt, pulling him back onto the bed flopped backward, his eyes widened in surprise. “I said I was hungry,” Atsushi murmured, eyes bright. “But I didn’t say for what.”

Akutagawa felt like he had a half-dozen snide comments stored up about Atsushi and hunger; but couldn’t summon a single one at the moment, both his hands braced on the headboard and straddling Atsushi’s head. He wasn’t entirely certain what the weretiger was up to, initially, until he started lapping at Akutagawa’s dick and he went ah, okay. This I like.

But then Atsushi slid lower, slick fingers pressing at him, and then his tongue went places Akutagawa wasn’t expecting, and now he was all coiled tension as Atsushi ate him open, fingers and tongue and slick lube going everywhere.

Atsushi stroked Akutagawa’s dick every so often as if there was any threat at all of him getting soft when he could feel Atsushi’s breath against his rim. Akutagawa was gripping the headboard so tightly his knuckles were white, and he wanted to thrust against something, rock his hips back against something, but ended up doing neither; holding himself perfectly still so that Atsushi’s fingers could get as deep as they could, pressing against the spot that sent starbursts of pleasure through his veins.

“You like it?” Atsushi’s voice vibrated against his skin, and he could hear the smirk. It galled him, and he wanted to wipe it from the weretiger’s face, but he was three fingers deep right now, rocking them back and forth against his inner walls and Akutagawa’s cock was dribbling a steady stream of fluid, so retribution was on hold for the moment.

“What do you fucking think, weretiger?” Akutagawa hissed through his teeth, and Atsushi laughed, kissing his inner thigh. Akutagawa’s knees were trembling, he wasn’t close enough for anything good to happen, but the pleasure was sharp if intermittent. Akutagawa swallowed hard. “How much longer are you going to remain down there?”

“Mm, impatient.” Atsushi licked in again, and Akutagawa shuddered. “I think I’ll stay down here for longer, just because you asked.”

If he was wearing a shred of clothing Rashomon would have stabbed through the closest bit of flesh on hand. Instead, Akutagawa leaned back, bracing his palm on Atsushi’s taut stomach, feeling his muscles quiver beneath his touch. Then he slid his hand back farther, wrapped it around his cock, and squeezed.

Atsushi broke away and moaned.

“I will twist it right off,” Akutagawa threatened, and Atsushi laughed again, pushing his fingers back into the sopping mess he’d made of Akutagawa’s hole.

“I bet you can do four,” Atsushi said, nudging Akutagawa’s rim with his little finger. Akutagawa arched his back and attempted to lift himself off Atsushi’s face, the welcome pressure of his fingers sliding free as he rose to his trembling knees.

“I know I can do four,” Akutagawa hissed. “I don’t want four of your fingers right now, weretiger. I want your cock.”

“Oh, fuck.” Atsushi said as Akutagawa slid down his body. “That was so fucking hot, Akutagawa, say it again, please.”

Not on his life was he ever going to utter that aloud again. Akutagawa stroked Atsushi’s dick as he slid down his body, blindly angling it until he felt the head nudge against him and neatly slip in. And, oh, he would never get tired of this, the pressure of his weretiger filling him perfectly as he settled all the way down.

Only then did he look down at Atsushi, hair wild and face shiny with the lube he’d been using. It wasn’t that, though, but the look in his eyes that stirred Akutagawa, a softness there that he’d seen before, something comfortable he’d grown used to.

“Now,” Akutagawa instructed him, curling his fingers against Atsushi’s chest. “Fuck me.”

Atsushi’s hands clamped to his thighs, bowing his hips upward and lifting Akutagawa with it. Akutagawa exhaled, closed his eyes, and enjoyed the ride.

Chapter Text

There was just something about the fact that Atsushi willingly let Akutagawa bind his wrists together, sitting sprawled in the kitchen chair, naked as could be. He hadn’t even put up a fuss with the blindfold either, constructive use of his tie that it was, and Akutagawa stood there and looked at him for a moment, just marveling.

Atsushi’s chest was visibly moving, he wasn’t panting quite yet, but there was definitely a heave to the motion, which was quite endearing. Maybe it had to do with how his back was angled, wrists tied together behind the chair’s back, that lent him such a lewd air. He jumped at Akutagawa’s touch, his palm resting on Atsushi’s chest and just holding him still for the moment.

“I’m so hard,” Atsushi whined, head tilted back slightly, the tails of his blindfold lying on his shoulder. Akutagawa glanced down, looking at Atsushi’s poor, neglected cock lying red and engorged against his leg. He was very hard, slick beading out the slit, and Akutagawa had mercy on him for a moment, stroking his cock a few times and listening to the change in Atsushi’s breathing.

Hand still on Atsushi’s cock, Akutagawa reached for the instruments he had brought out after the blindfold went on, a small array of thin metal rods, laid out meticulously on a towel on the table.

“Feeling good?” Akutagawa asked, settling in on his knees. Atsushi nodded his head while Akutagawa kept stroking him. “Good. You are not allowed to climax until I give you permission, weretiger.”

“Kinky,” Atsushi hummed and then yelped when Akutagawa gave his cock a soft smack.

Akutagawa selected the smallest of the thin rods, dousing it liberally in lube as he did so. Atsushi couldn’t tell what he was doing, exactly, only able to sense that Akutagawa was still nearby. That is until Akutagawa gently nudged the slit on the head of his cock with the blunt, rounded tip of the sound.

“What,” Atsushi gasped, voice breaking, “the fuck!?”

“Relax,” Akutagawa commanded him, one hand holding his cock at the correct angle, the other slowly pushing the sound into his cock. Atsushi made a low, nearly incoherent noise that vibrated in Akutagawa’s chest as he worked, paying very close attention to the noises that were coming at a now-frequent level from his weretiger.

They didn’t sound pained, at least.

Atsushi’s limbs trembled. Akutagawa slowly pulled the metal rod free and watched as Atsushi’s shoulders went slack, and he tilted his head forward. Atsushi was panting, sweat glittering on his skin under the overhead light of the kitchen. Akutagawa waited for him a few moments, before pushing it back inside, and watched all of Atsushi’s reactions seem to reverse themselves.

It was laborious to work it all in. Atsushi seemed determined not to make any major vocalizations, which was sad—what was worse was that Akutagawa couldn’t really ride him once he had it in his cock, despite how delicious it looked. “You are taking it better than I anticipated,” he said, finally, and Atsushi opened his mouth to pant aloud, remaining silent. “Perhaps I should take it up a size or two, and see—”

“No,” Atsushi gasped, head tilted forward. “No, no bigger that’s—” Akutagawa pushed the sound further in, and Atsushi’s breath caught. “Fuck!”

It still wasn’t all the way in. Akutagawa rested the pad of his finger on the top, where it had a simple locking mechanism to keep the sound in place once it was in as far as It could go. “A little more yet, weretiger,” he murmured, nudging it deeper. “It will feel amazing here soon.”

Atsushi, panting, said, “How would you know?”

Well. He may have experimented a few times. No need for the weretiger to know that though. “Trust me,” he said, softly, and Atsushi’s entire body tensed with his words. Oh, that was interesting. “You do trust me,” Akutagawa hummed, pushing it deeper. “Don’t you, weretiger?”

Atsushi’s shoulders were shaking, sweat running down his jaw, set hard. “Yes,” he managed, the word choked, like he forced it free. “I, I trust you, fuck—!”

Akutagawa pushed the sound the remainder of the way in with his fingertip. Atsushi wheezed out a noise that slid into relief, slumping back against the chair, chest heaving dramatically. Akutagawa secured the lock on the sound, nudging it with his finger to see if it could work its way free, and it stayed in place.

“Fuck,” Akutagawa breathed, pushing himself up off his knees to survey his handiwork.

Atsushi was a panting, sweating mess; the only thing he wore was the blindfold and the bindings that Akutagawa had secured his wrists with, behind the chair. He could easily wrest himself free of the ropes at any point, but he hadn’t, legs sprawled open and cock jutting out stiffly, the head of the sound gleaming in the overhead light.

Akutagawa touched Atsushi’s jaw with his fingers. “You’re gorgeous, weretiger.”

Atsushi panted, wetting his dry lips. “It feels…weird,” he managed, hoarsely. “I don’t know if I like…oh.” Any further thought from the weretiger was silenced, as Akutagawa held the tip of his cock against Atsushi’s mouth. He turned his head, nuzzling against the shaft before opening his mouth obediently and taking Akutagawa inside.

“Gently,” Akutagawa instructed, but Atsushi had grown skilled in this; even blindfolded he knew how to suck Akutagawa’s cock the way he liked. Akutagawa held the back of Atsushi’s head, supporting it, while Atsushi pleasured him. It was incredibly hot, and Akutagawa pushed his other hand into Atsushi’s hair as well, tilting over him slightly from the side.

Akutagawa’s cock slipped from Atsushi’s lips, and it was Atsushi who moaned, disappointed. He squirmed against his bindings but submissively opened his mouth wide when Akutagawa pushed his cock against it again, his jaw relaxed enough to allow Akutagawa to fuck into his mouth.

He pushed into Atsushi’s throat and Atsushi swallowed around him, nose pressed to Akutagawa’s skin, the blindfold soaked through with sweat. Without a word Akutagawa climaxed and Atsushi swallowed it all, throat working around the sensitive head of his cock, until Akutagawa pulled free, leaving sticky strands stretching away from Atsushi’s lips.

Atsushi turned his head and coughed, groaning audibly. “I want to come,” he gasped, voice wrecked all to hell by Akutagawa’s cock. “Please, Akutagawa, please—”

Breathing hard himself, Akutagawa squeezed Atsushi’s cock and he squalled, writhing at the sensation of being stroked with the sound still in place. “Do you feel good enough to come?” Akutagawa asked, flipping the catch on the sound.

Immediately, the metal rod began to push its way free, fluid squelching out around it. Atsushi threw his head back, breath heaving from his lungs like he’d run a marathon, and Akutagawa took pity on him, catching the sound between his fingers and pulling as gently as he could.

“Fuck, fuck!!” Atsushi writhed, head hanging back, mouth open. Akutagawa dropped back to his knees, wrapped his mouth around Atsushi’s cock, and sucked.

The orgasm was explosive. Atsushi’s hips came up off the chair, jamming his cock into Akutagawa’s mouth deeper than he was prepared for. He held on as Atsushi’s hips pumped once, twice, and then he sagged back, completely spent. His release overran Akutagawa’s mouth and he coughed and choked, leaning over and trying not to drown in the excess fluids.

Atsushi was boneless in the chair, slumped back. Akutagawa wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, still coughing weakly, and he nudged Atsushi’s limp cock with his fingers.

“Ready for round two?”

“Fucking,” Atsushi heaved, “sadist.”

“Is that a yes, then, weretiger?” Akutagawa stroked him gently and watched as his touch made the muscles in Atsushi’s stomach spasm.

“Oh god, fuck.” Atsushi twisted against his restraints but made no effort to break them, slumping back. “Yes.”

Akutagawa rose on his knees, selected the next size up metal rod, and got to work.

Chapter Text

When Atsushi finally stepped out of the dressing room, Akutagawa had to admit that he cleaned up nicely. Atsushi stopped in front of the trifold mirror, fiddling with the lapel of the suit jacket before turning himself in profile in the mirror. Akutagawa leaned forward on the couch, watching him critically. “I don’t know,” Atsushi said, finally, turning in the other direction before looking back at Akutagawa and pausing, recognizing the look on his face. “Okay,” he said, glancing back at the mirror. “If you like it…”

He did like it, the clean lines and dark colors looked fantastic on him. In fact, he liked it so much that the words escaped before he thought about it. “You look incredible,” Akutagawa said, and then steepled his hands in front of his mouth, elbows on his knees, and thought very quickly about how to reel that back.

Atsushi didn’t seem to notice. He fiddled with the tie, tilting his head. “So this place you’re taking me is this fancy, huh?”

“Black tie.” Akutagawa exhaled quietly, trying to banish the thoughts about stripping that shirt off Atsushi and taking him immediately. He’d at least had the forethought this morning to book the hotel across the street from the venue because there was no way he’d be able to wait until they returned to his apartment to ravage his weretiger. “You will want to taste the food, not inhale it as is customary.”

Atsushi rolled his eyes. “I can actually function like a normal human being, thank you.” He turned his back to Akutagawa, tugging a little at the bottom of the suitcoat, making sure it sat properly on his shoulders. The suit was already tailored to his fit, which cost a fortune but money was meaningless, anymore. What mattered was how fuckable Atsushi looked.

He’d succeeded, and how, because he looked delectable.

He caught Atsushi’s eye in the mirror, and Atsushi turned, cheeks flushed pink. “I have had my fill of fucking in dressing rooms, Akutagawa, don’t even fucking think about it.”

“True, I don’t want to ruin your attire before we even get to step out.”

“You are so weird.” Atsushi finally finished fidgeting with his outfit, Akutagawa always provided him enough of a distraction for that, at least. “What brought this on, anyway? I thought we were gonna stay in again.”

“We stay in all the time; I want to take you out for once.” Akutagawa stood, smoothing his hands down the front of his trousers and grateful that he was able to will cooperation out of his lower bits for the moment. “Come now, weretiger; or shall I get that collar you liked so much?”

The pink darkened on Atsushi’s face, but he stepped into Akutagawa’s personal space, hand settling on his waist possessively. “I liked you wearing it,” Atsushi murmured, and despite himself, Akutagawa felt his own cheeks heat.

They stared into the other’s eyes for a moment, golden-violet to gray, but then the clerk coughed from somewhere behind them and Atsushi stepped away, immediately sheepish and apologetic; something that worked in the clerk’s favor because Akutagawa considered taking her head off with his ability for interrupting them.

He watched Atsushi apologize to the clerk; admired that the tailored suitcoat made his shoulders broader, and ignored the way that made the heat surge between his legs. Plenty of time for that later, he reminded himself, and wet his lips.

Now, he had to get dressed.

The venue was quite upscale. Akutagawa had only been once, as part of a bodyguard detail; though he neglected to tell that to Atsushi, who was taking it all in, golden eyes wide and impressed. They were led to a private table for two, that overlooked the main floor. There was live music playing not so loud that conversation was impossible, and Atsushi spent most of the time watching people move about down below.

Akutagawa spent most of his time watching Atsushi.

“No dessert?” Atsushi asked, returning to the table after having visited the washroom. Akutagawa had ordered cocktails while he was gone, the expression on his face when the server put the glasses on the table was more than worth the price. “What is that?”

“Something that I’m sure will agree even with your palate, weretiger.”

Atsushi nudged the glass with his finger. “It’s alcohol.”

“So it is.”

“You know I’m underage.”

Akutagawa sat back in his chair, taking a sip of his drink. “Don’t drink it then, if it bothers you.”

Atsushi glared at him and leaned his arm on the table. Finally, he picked the lowball glass up, took a delicate sniff and then a less-than-delicate gulp. Akutagawa hummed his amusement, watching the weretiger struggle with a straight face for a moment, and then he put the glass down. “Shouldn’t have done that,” Atsushi said grimly, face pink, and at that, Akutagawa actually laughed aloud.

Atsushi looked at him, startled, and Akutagawa turned, shielding his amusement in another sip of his drink; relaxed in a way he’d never noticed.

“What’s upstairs?” Atsushi asked, and Akutagawa glanced at the elevator.

“Another bar. Would you like another drink?”

Atsushi looked at his glass and stuck out his tongue a little when he grimaced. “Nah, I don’t think it’s for me.”

They ended up checking it out regardless, as Akutagawa wasn’t ready to leave yet and Atsushi felt like walking around. Atsushi eyed the drink Akutagawa handed him with some concern, but his face lit up when he took a much smaller swallow. “Oh! I like this one.”

“I am not surprised, cats do like cream,” Akutagawa said, and Atsushi rolled his eyes but drank the glass dry.

There was a closed-off section by the elevators, Rashomon rustled off his shoulders, making short work of the lock. “Akutagawa,” Atsushi hissed, face bright red from the alcohol, but he put up no argument to following him, just securing the door behind them. However, he stopped muttering angrily when he saw the empty row of floor-to-ceiling windows looking out on the bay, the neon lights glittering against the water.

“This was open the last time I was here,” Akutagawa said. “It’s just a pass-through, people didn’t linger. I just thought…” that you’d like it. Akutagawa let the statement trail into silence but Atsushi didn’t seem to mind, both hands on the window as he looked out at the night in amazement.

The lights were dim in the hallway, it wasn’t being used, but there was enough light that Atsushi could look at his reflection, standing behind him, and then tilt his head, looking back over his shoulder. “Thank you,” he said, and Akutagawa looked away again, hand over his mouth, hoping his blush wasn’t as apparent in the low light.

Atsushi’s hand on his wrist drew his attention back to him immediately, especially when Atsushi kissed him, swinging him back against the window. Akutagawa caught the lapels of his coat, holding him down and kissing back, every feeling in his chest wanting to burst free at once.

“We won’t be interrupted here, huh?” Atsushi said breathily, and Akutagawa shook his head, glancing once in both directions. Atsushi slid his hand into Akutagawa’s pants, and said into his ear, “Then I’m going to thank you for dinner right now.”

Akutagawa had no complaints about that.

Akutagawa exhaled shakily, both palms on the window and head hanging between his arms. He’d expected Atsushi to want to blow him but hadn’t expected this, Atsushi’s cock nestled inside, rocking against his deepest core while he was spread out against the glass.

Not that anyone could see them up here—he hoped. He could see the cars moving several stories down below, taxis letting people out, too far away to make out individuals—and then Atsushi’s cock slid just right, and his hips jerked involuntarily, leaving Atsushi’s laugh just above the collar of his shirt.

“You feel so good, Ryuu,” Atsushi murmured, both his hands on Akutagawa’s bare hips. He slid one hand up Akutagawa’s belly, and Akutagawa lolled his head, looking at their faint reflection in the glass. Atsushi was watching them and caught his eye and grinned. “You look good like this, too.”

“God, shut up, weretiger.” He grunted when Atsushi thrust again, hand drifting south, stroking his dangling erection firmly.

They were so connected like this, bodies pressed together; Akutagawa grunted when Atsushi pushed him up against the glass, pinning him there and fucking in shallowly, thrusts short and hard.

Akutagawa pressed his cheek against the glass and closed his eyes, the feeling of the cool window contrasted with the heat of his weretiger’s body, and this time when Atsushi thrust deep he released with a soft gasp, sticky fluid dripping down the window and spotting on the carpet between their feet.

“Can I, inside?” Atsushi managed into his ear; breath harsh.

“God, yes,” Akutagawa moaned, not even realizing he meant release and not the other thing until he felt Atsushi’s cock surge and the fluid start to squeeze out around his cock. Not that he cared in the moment either way, because regardless he was full of the weretiger.

“Fuck, Akutagawa,” Atsushi moaned, still holding him tight, and Akutagawa opened his eyes, watching the pleasure on his weretiger’s face, the faint reflection just barely visible over the city at night.

“Did you see Chuuya-san?” Atsushi asked as they slowly walked the sidewalk outside. Akutagawa, looking at his phone for the reservation, looked up at Atsushi with a frown.

“Chuuya-san was here?”

“Yeah, he was with a few other people, I saw them from our seat earlier.” Atsushi laughed a little. “Didn’t realize he came here at night, I would have looked for him sooner, I guess.”

“Why?”

Atsushi hesitated, looking at Akutagawa and looking away quickly. “It doesn’t matter now,” he said. “But, before, when it was just me…” He shrugged, loosely. “I dunno. It’s stupid, I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

Akutagawa stopped walking. “Weretiger, you’re not making any sense. You know Chuuya-san?”

Atsushi stopped too, but he bounced on the soles of his feet like he was preparing to be chastised. “I uh,” he exhaled, and looked down at his feet. “I slept with Chuuya-san a few times. Way earlier in the year, before any of this,” he gestured around himself helplessly.

Akutagawa stared at him, expression blank.

Atsushi stared back at him, confidence slowly wilting, shoulders drawing in.

“You. You slept with Chuuya-san.”

Atsushi nodded.

He took a deep breath, folded his arms, and turned away. Okay. Okay. He’d never asked if the weretiger had any partners prior to him and had simply assumed his skill came from the many times he’d already been intimate with himself. All the same, something black and dark settled in the pit of his stomach. “Have you slept with Chuuya-san since the loop began?”

“No! I wouldn’t do that.” Akutagawa wasn’t facing him, but he could almost hear Atsushi shake his head. “We weren’t in a relationship or anything, it was just…physical, I guess. Chuuya-san loves Dazai-san.”

Well, yes, that was an open secret, but so was the fact that Chuuya-san and Dazai-san had a very, very, very open relationship.

“Okay,” Akutagawa said, that cold and black thing curling tight but not vanishing, not completely. “Okay.”

“Are you…sure?” Atsushi asked, tentatively. “You don’t sound okay, Akutagawa.”

“Why wouldn’t I be okay?” Akutagawa snapped back, turning back to face him. “It’s fine. You’re an adult, Chuuya-san is an adult, it’s fine. You can do whatever you please.” He shifted his stance, felt the familiar ache, and scowled deeper. “I should have known it was too good to be true for you to be mine alone.”

“What does that mean?”

“It doesn’t matter what it means,” Akutagawa said, roughly. “It truly doesn’t matter, none of this does. Maybe it’s better for everyone if you go back off to Chuuya-san—”

Atsushi grabbed him by the lapels of his suitcoat, yanking him forward. “I’m not in love with Chuuya-san!”

It was like all the oxygen between them vanished, instantly. Akutagawa stared at Atsushi, and Atsushi looked angrier than he’d ever seen, chest heaving. “Listen to me,” Atsushi snarled. “Whatever happened before doesn’t matter, I don’t care if you’ve fucked the entirety of the Port Mafia in your spare time, the only thing that fucking matters is right here, and right now, and I’m not in love with anyone else.”

Eyes wide, Akutagawa said, “Weretiger…”

Atsushi released him, took a step back, rubbed his hand over his mouth, and looked away. “I gotta take a walk,” he said, roughly. “I need to…”

Atsushi exhaled roughly, turned on his heel, and stalked away, leaving Akutagawa standing alone on the sidewalk.

Chapter Text

Atsushi didn’t come back.

Akutagawa sat up slowly in his bed, the covers dropping to puddle around his lap as he stared off into the darkness. He’d spent the entire remainder of the evening at the bar, getting absolutely trashed—which of course bore no effect into the reset, so he was as clear-minded as ever. His anger had simmered off by now, and all that was left was a vague emptiness.

Why hadn’t the weretiger told him?

(Did it even matter?)

Akutagawa picked his phone up off the nightstand and turned it over to see no messages. He startled slightly when his sister’s text came through—and he numbly swiped it away, staring at an empty message history and a number he had somehow engraved upon his heart.

The phone screen didn’t shatter this time, it hit the wall with a dull thunk and landed, face-down, on the floor.

Akutagawa laid back in the bed, stared at the ceiling, and did not go back to sleep.

He realized the severity of his mistake when he stepped through the office door. Just do your normal routine, he thought, moving on autopilot; wash his face, get dressed, walk through the building ignoring everyone around him as always. Whatever thoughts remained in his head came to a screeching halt when he saw Chuuya behind his desk, about to throw the coffee can in irritation.

The beverage bounced off his shoulder, soaking his coat with the remnants of the liquid. Akutagawa barely noticed, staring at Chuuya, and Chuuya blinked. “Ah, my bad. I didn’t realize you’d come in yet, Akutagawa—”

Akutagawa turned and left Chuuya’s office without a word.

The weretiger was not in his dormitory. Akutagawa sat in the open window and stared into the empty room. It was tidy, despite two people sharing such a cramped space; Akutagawa realized that he’d never actually been inside before.

The only things he truly knew about the weretiger were the things he’d observed. That Dazai-san chose him, that he had a home and an unlikely family made of people who accepted him. That he was persistent, annoying, obnoxiously self-sacrificing, and noble.

And that he didn’t look at Akutagawa like he was something scraped off the bottom of his shoe.

What was he meant to do? He didn’t understand any of this, this aggravating feeling that closed his throat, that settled into his stomach like lead weight. The only thing that he understood was that the weretiger was at the center of it all.

The knob clicked as the door unlocked, and Akutagawa looked up, startled and angry at himself for not paying more attention; but then the door was opening and Atsushi was mid-sentence, eyes raising to lock on Akutagawa’s, and the world came to a stop between them.

After what felt like an eternity stretched between them both, Atsushi inclined his head and, without looking away from Akutagawa, said, “crap, Kyouka-chan, I forgot the binder again.”

“Again?” Kyouka’s voice was suspicious. “Is there someone in the room?”

Now Atsushi did look away, toward her presumably, affecting a perfectly innocent, confused cadence in a chillingly seasoned way. “What? Why would there be someone in the room? I just,” slapping noises, like he was smacking a bag, “realized I forgot it, and we both know Dazai-san isn’t going to show up suddenly and get his work done.”

There was a pause. “Who’s in the room?”

“Kyouka-chan, I’ll buy you crepes when you get back.”

“Is it Akutagawa?”

“Kyouka-chan!”

More rustling, and then Atsushi got jostled into the doorframe as Kyouka pushed her way into the room. She stopped when she saw Akutagawa, and her eyes narrowed, hand darting to the back of her obi, presumably falling on her dagger.

“What are you doing here?”

“I have business with the weretiger.”

“Kyouka-chan,” Atsushi said, one hand on the door and the other holding his side, as she had clearly elbowed him to get in the room. “I can explain—”

“What kind of business?” She hadn’t produced the dagger yet, which was promising, although her visible hand now held her phone, which was less so.

Akutagawa shifted his weight in the window but still didn’t enter the room. “The weretiger and I are lovers, and I wished to mollify a spat.”

Atsushi audibly choked.

Kyouka straightened. She stared at Akutagawa, eyes piercing—and he didn’t shy away from her gaze. He had nothing to hide here, after all; there were no consequences to be had toward the truth. After a moment, she looked back at Atsushi, whose face had turned three different hues in the span of two minutes, and then back to Akutagawa.

Finally, Kyouka turned to Atsushi. “We’re going to discuss this later,” she said and elbowed him again in the side. “Don’t lie to me about leaving the binder, I put it in your satchel.” She looked over her shoulder at Akutagawa again and then pointed at the tatami. “Not where I sleep.”

“Kyouka-chan,” Atsushi was beginning to sound like a broken record, but she nodded and squeezed out the door past him. Atsushi stared after her and then whirled on Akutagawa. “Why the fuck—”

“It won’t matter tomorrow,” Akutagawa said, and Atsushi stood there and fumed because he knew Akutagawa was right and very clearly did not want to acknowledge it. “Don’t call us lovers,” he said instead, angrily, closing the door finally and heeling off his shoes.

Akutagawa watched him in silence as he set his shoes properly, and then shrugged off the bag he was carrying, laying it on the floor by the wall. “What are you doing here, anyway? If you’ve come to apologize, can you do it tomorrow? I don’t want Kyouka-chan to remember that.”

It took a moment for that one to land. Akutagawa scowled. “My apology will not break the loop.”

“So you did come to apologize.”

Akutagawa looked away, frustrated. “I don’t think,” he started and then stopped. “I don’t know,” he said, finally, exasperated with himself and the situation. “I will not apologize for the way I feel.”

Atsushi stood in the center of the room and stared at him, hands on his hips. “Is that it?” he said, equally frustrated. “You came all this way, broke into my room to say ‘screw you?’ I don’t know why I’m surprised,” he added. “I really don’t.”

“That is not what I said.”

“You should go,” Atsushi turned away from him dismissively, and Akutagawa’s ire rose again. He surged upright, shoes on the tatami, and Atsushi turned just as Akutagawa got his hand in the front of his shirt, drawing him in close.

“I will not apologize,” he hissed directly into Atsushi’s face, “for the way I feel about you, Nakajima Atsushi.” Atsushi met his glare head-on, eyes flaring golden—and Akutagawa’s ire dissolved as suddenly as it came on, like helium let from a balloon. He exhaled and released Atsushi’s shirt. “But, I will apologize for my behavior,” he acquiesced, bowing his head slightly.

Atsushi said, strangled, “What?”

“My behavior last night was unacceptable.” Akutagawa did not raise his head for another, long moment. “And for that, I apologize.”

The silence stretched for another heartbeat. “If you just broke the fucking loop I won’t forgive you,” Atsushi said, his voice still strained. Akutagawa looked at him and Atsushi looked away, biting his lip and eyes watery. Akutagawa touched his cheek and Atsushi looked at him again, and then closed his eyes, tilting his head as Akutagawa kissed him.

“If I just broke the loop, I expect you to service me daily for a month, weretiger.” Atsushi punched his shoulder. “For that, two months.”

“Stop adding time.”

“Three months.”

“God.” Atsushi turned away, face heating spectacularly in the sunset. He glanced back at Akutagawa. “So, got any dinner plans?”

Akutagawa’s mouth twitched slightly upward, against his wishes. “I suppose I do now.”

“Fuck,” Akutagawa moaned as Atsushi buried his teeth into his shoulder. He’d yanked Akutagawa’s collar down, nearly tearing his shirt, and immediately sank his teeth into Akutagawa’s flesh. Blood ran in rivulets from the wound, he could feel it soaking his skin, but the pain was gone just as quickly because Atsushi was fucking into him so desperately that he couldn’t focus on any other sensation.

He pushed his hand off the brick of the alley wall, reaching back blindly for something else he could hold on to. Atsushi growled into his skin, the word branding his flesh; when he finally caught Atsushi’s forearm he wrapped his hand around the muscle and squeezed.

Nothing else mattered now except for that single syllable breathed between them. A threat, and a promise.

Mine.

Chapter Text

Akutagawa shifted when the mattress did; and grunted into his pillow as he felt Atsushi climb into the bed. “You left your door unlocked,” Atsushi murmured, and Akutagawa turned his face toward Atsushi’s voice, seeking the kiss he was due. “Bad things can happen if you leave your door unlocked.”

“To the person who would dare disturb me,” Akutagawa mumbled, finally cracking open his eyes. Atsushi was a bit later than expected, as gray light was shimmering through the blinds, dawn imminent. It meant he could see his weretiger, and he reached up to brush his knuckles over Atsushi’s cheek.

“Oh?” Atsushi hummed, tilting his cheek against the press of his fingers. “What sort of bad things do you have planned for me today? Gonna yell at me some more, I know you love to do that—”

Atsushi was cut off by Akutagawa pulling him down. He whuffed as he thudded into Akutagawa’s chest, but then rolled off him, settling atop the sheets next to Akutagawa. “Shut up,” Akutagawa rumbled sleepily, eyes half-closed.

“Was that a ‘shut up and fuck me’, or…?”

“Or just, shut up.” Hands still in Atsushi’s clothing, Akutagawa curled in toward him. Atsushi remained still, and Akutagawa exhaled. “If you’re going to do anything, make me some coffee, weretiger.”

Atsushi snorted in amusement but didn’t argue. He leaned over Akutagawa again, kissing the side of his head before climbing back out of bed, leaving Akutagawa alone once more. He reached his hand out over the space Atsushi had just occupied as if calling him back. His weretiger.

Akutagawa rolled onto his back and settled his palm on his stomach. Almost without thinking about it, he slid his hand into his pants, resting his palm just above the root of his cock, cupping himself. Atsushi was bustling around the kitchen like a maid for him, making him coffee, and now the nice little thought of Atsushi in a maid outfit had burrowed into his head. With a skirt that was far too short, and no underwear…yes. Akutagawa hummed, slightly amused at the mental image, stroking himself slowly.

“Well that’s a new expression,” Atsushi said, leaning into the bedroom. “I was just going to ask where you kept the sugar, and you got started without me.”

“Mm,” Akutagawa said lazily. He wet his lips, looking at Atsushi through half-lidded eyes. He didn’t stop stroking himself as Atsushi stripped his shirt off—how the weretiger went from looking like a skinny little thing with clothes on to like that shirtless he still hadn’t quite figured out—but when Atsushi put a knee on the bed to join him, Rashomon surged off Akutagawa’s shirt.

Atsushi took a cautious step back, but the tendrils were on him—not attacking, but restraining, winding around his upper arms and chest and pushing him away all in one motion. “What the hell are you doing?” Atsushi grunted, struggling against the ability as Akutagawa pushed himself up on an elbow, shimmying out of his pants.

“You are not permitted to touch,” he said, his erection now exposed to the morning light. He stroked his cock a few times, leaned back on his elbow, and watched Atsushi writhe against the growing web of Rashomon keeping him back. “Not yet at least.”

“This isn’t funny,” Atsushi growled, but with every pull Rashomon bound him tighter. “Akutagawa, let me go!”

“Not yet.” This was delightful. The weretiger’s muscles strained, and sweat had already begun to appear on his skin; Akutagawa wet his fingers with his mouth and rolled onto his side, making sure Atsushi had a very clear view when he started to finger himself. The noise Atsushi made sent a shiver up his spine, and it was all Akutagawa could do to hide his amusement in the sheets.

After a few moments, Akutagawa grew bored of fingering himself and settled on his back, spreading his legs and lifting his hips. While Atsushi growled in frustration, Akutagawa replaced his fingers with Rashomon, allowing his ability to push into himself and spread him open.

He’d done this before, of course—but the pleasure was different now; because Atsushi’s eyes were pinned on him, mostly gold with a glimmer of violet along the edges, watching with mounting frustration as Akutagawa fucked himself lazily in the morning sun. Akutagawa arched his back, pushed one hand into the covers above his head, and lifted his hips higher, before pushing back against his ability as it fucked deep. 

Akutagawa continued to stroke himself with his other hand. Atsushi’s breathing had grown hoarse, ragged like he’d run a marathon, when Akutagawa looked over at him stripes had run up his arms and legs both, and he was pushing back against Rashomon with all his strength, unable to gain the leverage he needed to properly free himself with his feet on the ground as they were.

“Akutagawa,” Atsushi hissed, and Akutagawa squeezed his cock, tilted his head back into the covers as Rashomon pressed into his inner walls, against that spot that lit up his nerves like a live wire, and finally came undone. His release splattered over his hand and up his belly, and Akutagawa collapsed back into the sheets, panting aloud.

He allowed Rashomon to collapse, and in a twinkling Atsushi was on him, his weight pinning Akutagawa to the bed as he stared down at him, breathing heavily. Akutagawa bit his bottom lip, Atsushi’s cock pushing against him, bigger than the tendril he’d been fucking himself with. After a moment his body gave into the familiar intrusion and Akutagawa moaned, arms sliding over Atsushi’s sides as he immediately began fucking him into the sheets.

“Don’t fucking,” Atsushi groaned into his ear, even as Akutagawa pulled him close, chest to chest as their bodies slid together, “tease me like that, Ryuunosuke—”

“I don’t remember ever giving you permission to call me that,” Akutagawa breathed, fingernails tearing red lines into Atsushi’s back.

“Ryuunosuke,” Atsushi moaned, already out of rhythm, building to a crescendo fast. It was too soon, he was too sensitive, and the only thing Akutagawa could do was hang on as Atsushi took him over the edge again, plummeting into endless white.

“Fuck,” Atsushi wheezed, laying on his back in the covers beside Akutagawa. Akutagawa had tried to sit up, decided it wasn’t worth it, and had rolled onto his stomach, scrolling on his phone. He glanced over at Atsushi, eyes lingering on the rough red marks left by Rashomon’s restraint; though they were fading fast. “Why are you like that?”

“I like it when you’re desperate,” Akutagawa said, eyes returning to his phone.

He could almost hear the eyeroll. “Sadist.”

“Mm.” He shifted against the covers, feeling the damp from Atsushi’s release still leaking from him. “When you’re desperate, you’re not as concerned with hurting me, and far more interested in pleasure. I much prefer that.”

Atsushi sat up. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

Akutagawa stretched his arms out in front of him, pushing his phone away. Then he inclined his head back toward Atsushi. “Weretiger, were you ever to do something I did not like, I would simply castrate you then and there. I allow you to touch me because I derive pleasure from the way you do so.”

Atsushi sighed. “You are seriously a sadist, Akutagawa.”

“Masochist. Were you not making me coffee?”

His weretiger hung his head and groaned, but shuffled toward the edge of the bed, sliding off and heading naked toward the kitchen. He paused, and turned to look at Akutagawa, catching him staring at his own handiwork, bright red scratches crossing his back and sides.

“Yeah, now I remember. I came in to ask where you kept the sugar,” Atsushi said. Akutagawa rested his cheek against his hand, elbow in the sheets. “You do have sugar, right?”

There was something else that needed to be said, and the words stuck in Akutagawa’s throat, too large and unwieldy. He swallowed hard, closed his eyes, and found solace in the cough that rattled its way free from his lungs. “The cabinet above the dishrack,” he said when he cleared his lungs.

Atsushi’s expression grew concerned. Finally, he blinked, nodded his head, and said, “Right. Thanks.”

Akutagawa watched him go, and then collapsed on his side in the bed, covering his face with one hand.

Outside, the day grew brighter.

Chapter Text

“Are you kidding me,” Atsushi said, tugging at the front of the ruffled skirt. His face was a solid, cherry red—had been, since he exited the bathroom of the hotel’s suite. Akutagawa lounged in the wing chair, legs crossed at the knee, parked in the same spot he had been since Atsushi disappeared with the black bagged outfit. “The lingerie, that I understood, but this…?”

“Weretiger,” Akutagawa said, and Atsushi looked at him, then away, still flushing. He hadn’t given up on holding the skirt down; it was far too short by design, the ruffle fluffed up and away. Akutagawa had found the outfit online, and as luck would have it there was one in Atsushi’s size…roughly. It seemed a little small on him, but the short dress was functionally sleeveless with the barest of ruffles over his shoulders so at least he didn’t have to worry about the weretiger flexing too hard.

“I didn’t realize you had a maid kink,” Atsushi said, turning half-away, unintentionally showing that the high ruffle of the skirt displayed his entire bare ass. It also showed, very clearly, his toned legs clad in thigh-high fishnets. He’d even put the heels on, something Akutagawa had figured was out of the question, and by god it worked for him.

Atsushi looked back at him when he realized that Akutagawa had yet to respond. He stared at Akutagawa for a long, silent moment while Akutagawa took the whole outfit in, a wicked smirk curling his lips, and Atsushi stomped forward, not wobbling once. “Incredible,” Akutagawa breathed, and Atsushi slammed both of his hands on the wings of the chair, glaring down at him.

“My eyes,” he instructed dangerously, “are up here.”

“Indeed they are,” Akutagawa said, very clearly not looking at his face and instead at the square neckline of the maid outfit. He slid his hand out from under his chin, settling it on Atsushi’s waist before reluctantly looking up at him. “But you’re not wearing any underwear.”

Atsushi hissed a noise through his teeth as Akutagawa’s other hand cupped his balls. “You didn’t give me any.”

“No,” Akutagawa hummed, sliding his fingers up slowly, tracing the shaft. Atsushi wasn’t fully hard yet but was definitely working his way in the right direction. “Because watching you get turned on by being humiliated is delectable.”

Atsushi growled and Akutagawa squeezed the base of his cock. “Service me,” he ordered, and Atsushi, chest heaving, glared down at him. He’d even put the ruffled headband in his hair, though it sat askew already. Akutagawa released him and sat back, and after another moment that Atsushi was very clearly re-evaluating his life choices, he pushed off the back of the chair.

Akutagawa spread his legs and didn’t move otherwise.

“I’m going to think up something utterly ridiculous,” Atsushi threatened, dropping to his knees between Akutagawa’s spread legs. “And I’m going to make you do it in public.”

“The help doesn’t speak,” Akutagawa said, lifting his foot and pushing it against Atsushi’s shoulder. Atsushi’s eyes narrowed, and he curled his fingers into the fabric of Akutagawa’s trousers, nails growing sharp. He obliged, though, popping the button—but before he could get much further, Akutagawa said, softly, “Use your teeth.”

Atsushi was already up on his knees; Akutagawa couldn’t see his eyes flash but felt the aggravated puff of air against the skin already exposed. But then, ever so carefully, he caught the zipper with his teeth and pulled it slowly down.

Okay, yes. This was definitely working for him.

Atsushi nuzzled the bulge that the zipper revealed, panting slightly against the already-damp fabric. Akutagawa said nothing else but Atsushi continued in the same vein, nose pressed to Akutagawa’s skin as he caught the waistband of his underwear with his teeth and pulled as well, exposing the root of Akutagawa’s cock.

Akutagawa groaned as Atsushi’s nose pressed against his length all the way down, dragging his underwear low enough until his erection popped free, surprising Atsushi enough that it slapped against his cheek. He released Akutagawa’s underwear and the band snapped against his skin.

Atsushi was captivated now and didn’t have to be instructed, tongue darting out to clean the damp from his flesh. Akutagawa exhaled and leaned back in the chair; one hand braced on an armrest. He slid his hand over the back of Atsushi’s head, careful not to dislodge the headband, and stared down at his weretiger between his legs.

He was in his element now that Akutagawa’s cock was in his mouth, and Akutagawa wasn’t going to dissuade or distract him. He’d gotten so good at this that all he needed to do was sit back and enjoy the ride, but Akutagawa didn’t want to miss a moment of his ministrations. He kept his eyes open and locked on Atsushi, as Atsushi serviced him.

“Fuck,” Atsushi breathed against his skin, Akutagawa’s cock laying against his cheek, leaving wet streaks on his skin. Akutagawa looked down at him, head tilted, idly playing with the short hair on the back of Atsushi’s head when Atsushi pushed up, onto his feet. This wasn’t part of the scene, and it startled him—up until the point where Atsushi climbed onto his lap. “Need you inside,” he grunted, Akutagawa’s cock sliding against his bare backside.

“Weretiger,” Akutagawa said, gripping his sides with both hands, but Atsushi used his assistance bracing him to hold Akutagawa’s cock steady enough that he could find the right spot, lining them up and groaning audibly when he finally worked the head inside.

“Oh, that’s the fucking spot,” Atsushi said, leaning forward now, both hands on the back of the chair as he rocked down just slightly.

“You know,” Akutagawa grunted, hands still clasped on his hips, the ruffles of the skirt now mostly disguising his own erection. “We don’t always have to end the night with someone riding—aah, fuck, Atsushi—”

Atsushi bounced on his lap again, sinking all the way down. “I don’t fucking care, like having you inside me.” He leaned back, his knees squeezed against the outside of Akutagawa’s thighs, the fishnet getting twisted, and proceeded to start bouncing vigorously on Akutagawa’s lap.

The chair creaked ominously but Atsushi didn’t even seem to notice, head back as well; Akutagawa held onto him and watched his face, his own pleasure an afterthought as the weretiger fucked himself on Akutagawa’s cock.

“Fuck, fuck,” Atsushi howled, mostly gone now to the pleasure. One of the chair legs snapped on a particularly violent bounce; Rashomon surged from his shirt, rippling around the other legs and keeping the chair upright and in one piece as Atsushi tried his best to ride Akutagawa to the ground.

“Come on, weretiger,” Akutagawa groaned, heat pooling behind his navel, and he risked moving one hand off his waist to plunge into the short, ruffled skirt. He found Atsushi’s cock with little issue, stroking it enough that it made Atsushi choke. His shoulders shook and then he crested, fluid splattering white streaks across Akutagawa’s dark button-up.

Atsushi sank down on Akutagawa’s cock again, gasping as he draped his arms over Akutagawa’s shoulders. “How’s that?” he asked breathlessly, and Akutagawa raised an eyebrow, his hand still wrapped around Atsushi’s cock.

“Is that it?” he asked, and Atsushi huffed out an angry noise. “This service is quite lacking, weretiger.”

“Are you kidding me?”

“I think you can do better.” Akutagawa squeezed his waist and jogged his hips, as his cock was still rooted deep. “Again.”

“Oh, I’m definitely getting revenge tomorrow.” Atsushi’s legs flexed as he rose off Akutagawa’s cock and dropped back onto it, slower than he’d moved before. “You won’t see it coming. Or maybe you will, as I intend to come many times—”

“Fuck, stop talking.” Akutagawa turned his head when Atsushi grabbed him by the back of his hair, but he simply twisted Akutagawa’s head so that their mouths could properly meet, and, well, let his weretiger come up with all the revenge fantasies he wanted because right now he was dressed as a French maid and merrily fucking himself on Akutagawa’s cock and there was really nowhere else Akutagawa ever wanted to be.

Chapter Text

Akutagawa opened his eyes, panting aloud; only to see Atsushi holding his phone in both hands and staring down at it. His response was instant, Rashomon boiling off the shirt he still mostly wore, the spike driving up through the phone and destroying it without hesitation. “Hey!” Atsushi yelped, the spike barely missing him and drawing a line of blood on his cheek.

“What the fuck,” Akutagawa growled, “do you think you’re doing?”

“Taking a video,” Atsushi said, looking at the destroyed electronic and tossing it to one side with a sigh. “It’s not like anyone’s ever gonna SEE it but you, anyway, it’ll be gone tomorrow. Or it would have been, now I have to wait for my phone to fix itself. Thanks for that, by the way.”

“Don’t you fucking dare take video of me with your cock up my ass.” He was pinned in place by Atsushi’s weight at the moment, but the thought of using the same Rashomon attack to make the weretiger bleed was growing increasingly palatable.

Atsushi leaned over him, his weight on one hand. “But you looked so good.”

Akutagawa let the intrusive thoughts win and Atsushi swore an entire string of four-letter words when Rashomon impaled him through the shoulder. The weirdly funny thing was he didn’t bother to pull out, and if anything, Akutagawa thought it made him harder. “WHAT THE FUCK, AKUTAGAWA!”

“Do not film me.”

Atsushi’s blood ran in hot rivulets down his chest, and it dripped down onto Akutagawa, immediately staining his white shirt. Atsushi stared down at him, clearly pissed, and Akutagawa glared right back. Finally Atsushi pushed up, which shifted his angle significantly and made Akutagawa squirm as he pulled Akutagawa’s hips up onto his lap.

He was rooting around in the mess of covers atop Akutagawa’s bed—after a bit he came up with Akutagawa’s phone, which Akutagawa got mad at him for holding immediately. “Give me that,” he snapped, trying to fold himself double to reach what Atsushi was holding just too far away.

“Not yet,” Atsushi said before giving in, handing off the phone to him. “Why don’t you film me, then, Akutagawa.”

Akutagawa stared at him like he’d grown a second head. “It’ll be deleted by tomorrow.”

“So?” Atsushi pushed one blood-streaked hand back through his hair, leaving small blotches of crimson to soak into his scalp. “That’s not the point.”

Akutagawa stared at him, both hands on his phone. “I don’t understand.”

Atsushi was busy flexing his formerly injured arm; the wound had sealed and while blood was streaked across his skin nothing fresh was being produced. He cleaned his hand with his tongue, rocking his hips slowly and making pleasure shift through Akutagawa again. “Do it if you want to,” he murmured, already more focused on fucking him again, and Akutagawa swallowed hard.

He didn’t get this at all, why was the weretiger so immediately captivated by filming their deed? There was no value in such a thing…but he was also right in that there was no real harm that could come of it. They were still stuck in a time loop, and he sincerely doubted that any action they’d taken today would resolve anything.

(As the only action involved Akutagawa on his back, legs spread, and Atsushi feverishly humping him as if his life depended on it.)

Speaking of; Atsushi had resumed that action, hips rocking vigorously, and Akutagawa’s eyes closed again, awash in pleasure. He was still holding his phone, though, and once he realized that, he opened the camera app and looked up at Atsushi through it.

Silently, he hit record.

Atsushi tilted his head, that one longer strand of hair sticking to his jaw with sweat. “Getting my good side?” he asked, and if Akutagawa’s knees weren’t pressed into his sides, he would kick him.

“They’re all good sides,” Akutagawa said, and Atsushi blushed, his face flushing a deeper red than the exertion of sex usually brought about. Well, that was a worthwhile result for so little effort. “Weretiger,” Akutagawa said softly, and Atsushi looked back at him, a bashful smile on his face. “How well do you intend to fuck me today?”

“O-oh,” Atsushi said, apparently surprised that he was being interrogated mid-coitus. He took it in a stride, though, shifting them together again so that Akutagawa wasn’t quite in his lap any longer; pushing the single pillow under his hips, which opened him up for Atsushi to thrust in deep. “I always fuck you good,” he said, waiting until he was sinking into Akutagawa again to answer.

“Well,” Akutagawa grunted, head going back into the mattress and the camera angle failing, the camera pointed at the ceiling.

“Well what?” Atsushi was breathless.

“You always fuck me well,” Akutagawa breathed, and Atsushi laughed, leaning in close.

“All these compliments, Ryuunosuke, they’re all going to go to my head.”

Akutagawa slammed his palm into Atsushi’s blood-streaked shoulder. “I will fucking stab you again, fucking try me, weretiger…” The rest of his thought was cut off as Atsushi captured the hand against his shoulder and brought it to his face, kissing the palm and sliding his mouth to Akutagawa’s wrist. “What did I tell you about using my name?”

“That you like Ryuunosuke better than Ryuu?” Atsushi’s grin was sneaking out from behind Akutagawa’s wrist.

“I don’t like either, don’t you fucking dare speak to me with such informality—aah!” Akutagawa wrenched his wrist free, gripping the sheets above his head with both hands. Atsushi pressed his body to Akutagawa’s, and kept his eyes on him. “Weretiger!”

Atsushi’s mouth on his again, hot and familiar, and his head was swimming too much to focus on anything more than sensation. “You love it when I call you Ryuu,” Atsushi said against his mouth, and Akutagawa moaned, agreeing despite himself.

“Gon’ kill you,” he managed, and Atsushi ground his hips.

“Not if I do it first,” he gasped, and sent them both over the edge together, clinging tight.

“This is so stupid,” Akutagawa said, lying on his side, head pillowed on Atsushi’s thigh. He had his phone in front of him and was watching the approximately thirty-seven seconds he was able to keep Atsushi in the camera frame before he forgot himself and dropped the phone. “Why did you even want to do this?”

“Because it’s hot,” Atsushi murmured, both of his arms over his eyes.

“It’s stupid,” Akutagawa said dismissively, skipping the video ahead because, after that initial thirty-seven seconds, the phone landed camera-side down so all he got was a mostly-dark closeup of his bed sheets.

“Maybe after the loop,” Atsushi said, deeply drowsy. “When we’re out, we can make a nice tape, and I can show you how beautiful you look, Ryuunosuke.”

Akutagawa stopped scrolling on his phone. He lay in silence for a moment, face heating to a brilliant shade of red, before he pushed himself upright, planning to immediately engage the weretiger in a debate—but Atsushi had already dropped off, mouth open and snoring slightly, sprawled out naked on his back in Akutagawa’s bed.

Akutagawa stared at him in silence; before he climbed up the bed, stretching out beside Atsushi. “I wish you wouldn’t say things like that,” he said softly, aloud, daring the weretiger to wake and witness his vulnerability. “Eventually you’ll say something you can’t take back.”

His weretiger didn’t respond, out like a light. Akutagawa sighed, rested his head on his arms, and drifted off to sleep as well.

Chapter Text

“I wonder how many days it’s been,” Atsushi said, breaking the comfortable silence. The afternoon sun cast warm light upon them; Atsushi had brought lunch up to their perch on a building’s roof. Akutagawa looked over at him, surprised; Atsushi was laid out on his back, head on his arms and eyes closed. “How many months. Years, possibly.”

Akutagawa didn’t answer him. He had been keeping diligent count for a while but lost track somewhere along the way. He looked out over the edge of the rooftop, at the sunlight sparkling off the water. “I don’t care,” he said finally, and Atsushi lifted his head off his hands somewhat.

“You don’t?”

Akutagawa shook his head. “It’s not relevant to us,” he said, finally, and Atsushi hummed a noise of curiosity, sitting fully upright now. “Everything’s ephemeral except our memories, even time.”

Atsushi shuffled over to Akutagawa, sitting down against the edge, his back to the raised border that Akutagawa was currently sitting on. “Let’s see how far we can go,” Atsushi said. “Tomorrow. Take the train, get to the edge of the day.”

“Mm.” Akutagawa braced his weight on one hand, looking down at Atsushi. “Wanting to fuck on the train, are you?”

“Well, that wasn’t my original intention, but since you mentioned it…”

Amused, Akutagawa snorted and looked away again. It wasn’t like he had any plans at all. “Sure. Let’s see how far we can go.”

Atsushi kicked his heels off the rooftop and laughed. “We can try by plane, too,” he said. “And boat, and—”

Akutagawa quieted him with his mouth, and Atsushi relaxed into his touch. “Were you getting bored, my darling weretiger?” Akutagawa hummed, and Atsushi laughed against his mouth. “Tired of staying in one place, and always fucking in my bed?”

“Well, we’ve fucked in a few hotels too.” Atsushi leaned his head into Akutagawa’s hand, closing his eyes. His smile had shifted and looked strained. “I’m not tired of you, though.”

“Good, because I am prepared to start removing limbs if you insinuate as much.”

Atsushi opened his eyes specifically so he could roll them. “That doesn’t stick even with taking the reset into account,” he said, nose wrinkled.

Akutagawa sighed in exasperation. “Would you like to continue this conversation about dismemberment, or would you like me to suck your dick?”

“Oh.” Atsushi blinked. “Didn’t realize that was currently on the table. Yes, please. To the dick-sucking, not the dismemberment.”

“You even said please,” Akutagawa rumbled, straddling Atsushi’s lap now. Atsushi settled his hands on Akutagawa’s waist, looking up at him and biting his bottom lip. Akutagawa ran his thumb over that same bottom lip, catching Atsushi’s chin. “I like it when you say please.”

“Please suck my dick,” Atsushi said again, just a hair too eager. Akutagawa kissed him slowly, rubbing his ass over Atsushi’s lap as he did so. By the time they came up for air, Akutagawa was riding a healthy bulge.

“It’s so easy, with you,” Akutagawa said, pushing his hand down over the bulge and making Atsushi’s throat bob as he gulped air. “Turned on by the slightest breeze, aren’t you, weretiger?”

“Nah,” Atsushi said breathlessly, digging his fingers into Akutagawa’s sides. “Only you.”

He leaned forward, which slid Akutagawa slightly back; before Akutagawa could stop him he was pushing him down, onto his back. “Hey, hey,” Akutagawa said, Rashomon rustling off his coat. “I thought you wanted—”

“I do,” Atsushi kissed him again, Akutagawa spread flat on his back on the sun-warmed roof. “But I want to suck you, too.”

Oh.

Well, he could live with that.

Akutagawa rolled his eyes, catching the front of Atsushi’s shirt with both his hands. “I’m facing the wrong end for that,” he hissed, and Atsushi laughed and kissed him again, before extricating himself and reorienting, slinging his knee carefully over Akutagawa’s head.

He huffed and batted that infernally long belt away, digging his fingers into the waistband of Atsushi’s pants and working them open. He’d done a good job at getting him turned on, at least, because once he got Atsushi’s fly down far enough his dick fell into Akutagawa’s hand, hard and dripping.

Tongue out, Akutagawa immediately pressed the flat of it to the head of Atsushi’s cock, cleaning it expertly.

Atsushi shuddered above him, and it took Akutagawa a moment to realize that Atsushi had his hand wrapped around the shaft of Akutagawa’s cock. He squeezed it then and that brought Akutagawa back to reality, his legs trembling, Atsushi’s weight on his pelvis keeping him down.

“First one to come loses,” Atsushi said, nuzzling at Akutagawa’s cock. Akutagawa huffed angrily in response but was already occupied enough wrapping his mouth around the head. He didn’t care about any such challenge, but now that Atsushi had issued one, he could not let it slide.

 With his mouth full, Atsushi could only hum when Akutagawa struck a nerve, which was fine by him because Atsushi humming around his cock sent jolts of electricity down his limbs. His mouth was good and hot, and Akutagawa knew his was as well, sucking Atsushi with all the practice of an old pro.

“God, Ryuu,” Atsushi moaned when Akutagawa swallowed him down, deep-throating him, pulling Atsushi’s hips so low his nose was buried in short, wiry hair. He had to hold Atsushi tight because he immediately started trying to pump his hips and that would be too much for him. “Fucking, please let me—”

Atsushi rolled them onto their sides, and his cock popped free, making Akutagawa cough and choke. Atsushi didn’t seem to notice, immediately sucking him down as he’d just done for Atsushi, and Akutagawa arched, crying out softly as the head of his cock hit the back of Atsushi’s throat.

He couldn’t let Atsushi win; he was so close. Akutagawa wrapped his hand around Atsushi’s cock, stroking as he started sucking him again, but Atsushi had given himself the advantage, wrapping his other arm around Akutagawa’s hips and pressing his fingers against his hole. That was cheating, especially when he pushed them in deep enough to press that spot.

Akutagawa choked on Atsushi’s dick when he came, drew back, and coughed even as white static clawed at the edges of his vision. Atsushi kept sucking him through it, licking every drop of fluid from his dick before letting Akutagawa’s hips down. “I win,” he said, smugly; Akutagawa coughed and then shoved him down, hand wrapped around his cock.

“Maybe, but I’m not through yet,” he hissed.

Atsushi rolled onto his back, and Akutagawa mouthed his cock again. He didn’t let up even when Atsushi touched his head gently with one hand. “You lost, Akutagawa,” he said. “Ride me.”

Akutagawa lifted his head and glared at Atsushi. “We set no wager,” he said, and Atsushi’s grip on his head tightened. He mouthed up the side of Atsushi’s cock and sighed, tongue circling the head slowly. “Though, there is one way you could convince me….”

“Please ride me,” Atsushi breathed, and Akutagawa tilted his head, eyebrow raised. Then he pushed himself up, throwing his knee over Atsushi’s legs as Rashomon dealt with his pants.

“I knew you’d figure it out,” he rumbled, hand on Atsushi’s chest as he leaned in to kiss him. “My weretiger.”

Chapter Text

Atsushi sat in the middle of the enormous bed in the center of the room, legs folded underneath him and surrounded by empty plates. Akutagawa stared at him, having sworn he was in the bathroom for less than twenty minutes. Atsushi, holding a fork to his mouth, raised both his eyebrows sheepishly. “I got hungry…?” he said, as if that wasn’t readily, apparently obvious.

“How did you get room service and consume it all in the span of time I was in the shower?”

Atsushi shrugged. “The room service here is really good? You picked this hotel, remember.”

He had. They’d checked in earlier than he typically would because he wanted to get ample use of the room before the day reset around them…and he’d intended to take the weretiger to a very nice, upscale dinner. He sighed, towel wrapped around his waist, and moved some of the stacked plates off the bed and onto the floor.

“Did you leave crumbs all over the bed as well?”

“No.” Atsushi looked insulted. “I’m not a messy eater.”

Akutagawa swiped some cream off his nose and rubbed it between his fingers, raising an eyebrow as he stared at Atsushi in response. “Not that much of a messy eater,” Atsushi clarified grumpily.

“I did have plans for us tonight, weretiger,” Akutagawa said, sitting on the mattress in defeat. Atsushi tilted his head, and then slid his arms over Akutagawa’s shoulders, leaning against his back.

“I don’t need any plans,” Atsushi said, burying his face against the back of Akutagawa’s neck. “Just need you.”

The breath left his lungs slightly at that, and Akutagawa’s hand found Atsushi’s, pressed flat over his collarbone. Atsushi kissed the back of his neck, and Akutagawa closed his eyes. “Just me?” he said, and Atsushi rumbled agreement into his skin. Akutagawa leaned forward slightly. “You’re not intending to have sex atop the dirty dishes, I hope.”

Atsushi groaned and proceeded to kick a pile of plates directly off the bed; the cacophony of the entire stack shattering as it hit the ground made them both jump, and then Atsushi started laughing. After a moment Akutagawa joined him, and he turned slightly on the mattress, catching Atsushi’s face with both hands and kissing him properly.

His weretiger fell onto his back, dragging Akutagawa with him, and they continued to kiss slowly; at least until Akutagawa pushed himself up on one hand, looking down at Atsushi while breathing hard. Atsushi looked up at him, cheeks flushed and lips bruised, and Akutagawa looked away for a moment, staring at their faint reflection in the wall of windows, blinds open to the slowly fading day.

“What is it?” Atsushi asked, hand on Akutagawa’s arm; Akutagawa looked down at his hand and then drew back, sitting on his knees beside Atsushi on the bed. “What’s wrong?”

Akutagawa shook his head. “Nothing’s wrong,” he said. “I just…” don’t have the words to put to the feeling in my chest, and don’t know how to express it in a human manner. Instead of the words, his expression tightened, and he looked away again. “I am overwhelmed.”

“Oh.” Atsushi sat all the way up as well, touching Akutagawa’s arm. “Let me, then.”

Akutagawa closed his eyes when Atsushi kissed him again, slowly. “It’s cute,” Atsushi said, and Akutagawa opened his eyes, frowning. “We’ve done some filthy stuff, and you get flustered about kissing me.”

That wasn’t what was flustering him, but it suited him just fine if the weretiger continued to believe it. Atsushi continued to kiss him, rising up onto his knees before straddling Akutagawa’s lap. The only thing he still wore at present was the towel, which was working its way off his hips and being helped along steadily by Atsushi’s hand.

He didn’t complain at all when Atsushi freed his cock, stroking him slowly, before shifting the angle of his hips and groaning in pleasure at Akutagawa’s cock forcing its way inside. Atsushi practically melted around him, knees pressed into the mattress, and arms linked over Akutagawa’s shoulders. He watched, breathless, hands ever so gently pressing into Atsushi’s sides as he rode him.

Atsushi’s shirt hung open, tie loose around his neck; the only thing remaining of the suit he’d worn into the room and that Akutagawa had intended to take him to dinner in. Akutagawa pushed the shirt off his shoulders, burying his face in that warm spot between his neck and his shoulder, and Atsushi’s arms cradled his head.

“You feel amazing, weretiger,” Akutagawa breathed into his skin, eyes closed tight.

“Y-yeah,” Atsushi managed shakily, his arms were trembling. “Your cock is so, nngh—!”

Akutagawa felt the warmth between their bodies, Atsushi’s cock trapped between them as he released, the sticky fluid smearing into their skin. He continued to rock his hips to match Atsushi’s movements, panting into his skin. “Are you close?” Atsushi asked breathlessly, and Akutagawa couldn’t even vocalize, surrounded by his weretiger.

Atsushi let out a groan of satisfaction when he felt Akutagawa’s cock pulse. “Love it when you come inside,” he said, and Akutagawa lifted his face from Atsushi’s skin, looking up at him. Atsushi nuzzled his face and kissed him, still panting from the exertion. “Love you,” he whispered against Akutagawa’s mouth.

Akutagawa’s breath caught. Atsushi didn’t seem to notice, sliding his face against Akutagawa’s and no longer looking at him, still panting. “Give me a minute and I can go again,” he rumbled, and the moment was lost. Akutagawa slid his hands lower.

“There is still dishware all over the bed,” he reminded Atsushi, and Atsushi thumped his head against Akutagawa’s, groaning.

“Well, get rid of it!”

“I’m not here to clean up your messes.” The towel, still tangled around Akutagawa’s thigh, crackled to life, rimmed in red as Rashomon made short work of the clutter. It was amazing that no one was sent up after the crashes that created, but Akutagawa didn’t particularly care, laying out Atsushi on the bed and licking clean the mess from his stomach.

Atsushi laughed. “That tickles!”

His laughter faded quickly to short, breathy moans as Akutagawa nuzzled his cock, still half-hard. “Sensitive?” Akutagawa asked, eyebrow raised, and Atsushi groaned. “Can’t have that,” he murmured, taking Atsushi into his mouth.

The plans for dinner fell completely by the wayside. Atsushi got his second wind, and third, and fourth—he left Akutagawa somewhere in the dust around the second wind, but he didn’t even notice, speared open on the weretiger’s cock; back to the window and legs wrapped around his hips.

“Fuck,” Atsushi said, both hands framing his head against the glass, using his weight and movement to keep Akutagawa in place. His arms were furry up to the shoulder, and legs too—but he hadn’t changed enough.

“More,” Akutagawa urged him, clawing bloody trails into his shoulders. “I need more, weretiger, I need—”

Atsushi’s shoulders tensed, the muscles bunching, and Akutagawa knew what that meant, fingernails dug into his skin and holding on like his life depended on it. The pressure inside him thickened, sank deeper as Atsushi pushed his transformation as far as he dared, pupils going to slits and stripes on his face.

“Yes, fuck, yes—”

Akutagawa held him tight, breathless, mindless with it, so full he was barely able to move. Atsushi twisted his head with one enormous paw, crushing their mouths together, Akutagawa gasped against him as Atsushi said his name like a prayer, over and over, “Love you so much, Ryuu, Ryuu—"

How they had managed to lose track of time so badly Akutagawa wasn’t certain, but one moment their mouths were crushed together, and he was so full of his weretiger, surrounded by him, consumed by him—and then he was alone, cold and empty, sitting in his dark bedroom, panting aloud.

Akutagawa let out a noise like an injured animal, enraged—he rolled onto his side and shoved his hands down his pants, fucking into his hand to at least get the tension out. It only took a few quick strokes and he was spilling over his fist, staining the bed sheets.

He rolled, slapping at the nightstand for his phone; when he located it he didn’t even bother with a text, still panting. Atsushi picked up on the second ring, sleepy and confused. “Nn, ‘gawa? What’s wrong?”

Akutagawa’s rapidly beating heart froze in his chest. “Weretiger, we were just interrupted, and I—”

He didn’t know what he wanted to say next. He didn’t know what he needed to say next. He was saved by Atsushi’s clear confusion. “What are you talking about?”

“…what?”

Atsushi yawned, obnoxiously loud through the phone. “Did you have a wet dream? That’s fine, just don’t wear yourself out before I get to tonight, you were gonna take me to that one place, you talked about getting a fancy hotel room and everything.”

Akutagawa was silent. Atsushi’s voice grew concerned. “Akutagawa, are you okay?”

He wet his lips, and somehow forced the words through his teeth. “I’m fine, weretiger. I will see you this afternoon.”

Akutagawa held his phone in both hands and continued to stare, silent, into the darkness.

Chapter Text

Akutagawa had been here before.

The birds were calling over the bay, the water choppy but the sun bright. The park was busy with pedestrians taking advantage of a beautiful day, and not one gave him a passing glance, all but invisible to their gaze. It was impossible that he had been here before, but he had.

The weretiger stood where he always did, leaning against the railing, watching the water; turning when he heard Akutagawa’s footsteps. He was waiting for Akutagawa, as he always was. Or was he…? Jerking back away from Akutagawa’s hand on his arm, confusion and disgust on his face; but his hand was touching Akutagawa’s cheek and he was smiling, eyes completely blank.

He had been here before.

The pavement cracking where Rashomon struck it, the railing bent from the impact of an ability, Atsushi’s blood on his face, the flicker of the streetlights coming up, Atsushi’s warm hand, the chill of the wind off the water at night, Atsushi’s mouth on his….

He had been here before.

“What’s wrong, Akutagawa?” Atsushi’s voice split concern and mocking, around him, behind him; Akutagawa turned but he was gone like a whisper on the wind, the pathway empty of all souls, the boats missing from the bay, the clouds gone from the sky. “What’s wrong—?”

He came up swinging, and it was only by virtue of Atsushi’s reflexes that Rashomon did not take his head off—a handful of silver locks were not so lucky. “What the fuck,” Atsushi yelped, both hands atop his head, ducked into a crouch beside Akutagawa’s bed.

Akutagawa stared at him wild-eyed, then looked around his sunlit bedroom. “What time is it?” he asked, mouth dry. “Is it Sunday?”

“Of course it’s Sunday,” Atsushi said, lifting one hand tentatively. “What’s wrong with you, I couldn’t get you to wake up—”

Akutagawa surged out of the bed and grabbed Atsushi by both of his arms. “What did we do yesterday, weretiger?”

“We, uh, uh…” Atsushi looked absolutely bewildered by his reaction. “We were people-watching on the roof, you decided we were gonna go out for a fancy dinner tonight, and then we were gonna try my train thing…”

He didn’t release Atsushi, hands gripping his arms tightly. “We didn’t,” he said. “That was the previous night, last night we were at the hotel, why don’t you remember that…?” Atsushi stared at him, wide-eyed, as Akutagawa shook him once. “Why don’t you remember that?”

“We didn’t…Akutagawa, are you okay? Did something happen?”

Akutagawa released him, staggered backward until his legs hit the bed, and sat. The enormity of it almost swallowed him whole. “You’re out of the loop.”

“What? No, I’m not, I’m right here—” A strange mix of emotions crossed his face. “No. How am I out of the loop? You’re still in it, which means I’m still in it…right?”

“You don’t remember yesterday,” Akutagawa said grimly.

Atsushi covered his mouth with both hands, eyes wide. “Does this mean I’m not real?” he said, voice shaky. “If I’m out of the loop, then I’m not stuck in Sunday anymore, so am I even real? How am I still experiencing it?”

“The same way everyone else has been experiencing it for all our time together,” Akutagawa said. He felt like he couldn’t catch his breath, leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “You just…remember a lot more than anyone else.”

“I’m out of the loop,” Atsushi said softly, staring at his hands. His eyes were filling. “I’m out, I’m out of the loop!”

Back to the wall, he slid down into a seated position, tears pouring down his face as he repeated “I’m out, I’m out,” over and over again. Akutagawa covered his face with his hands and closed his eyes.

“How did I get out of the loop and you didn’t?” Atsushi asked; knees to his chest. Akutagawa had made tea, but Atsushi ignored it, curled into a tight ball on the couch. He’d sat down next to Atsushi regardless, but didn’t touch him.

“I don’t know.”

“What did we do yesterday?”

“You complained about getting suits, but I know your measurements now so it wasn’t as big a pain as it has been…we checked into the hotel, had a lot of sex. Never did make it to dinner.” Akutagawa rubbed his forehead and sighed, if he’d known the day was going to be any more important than previous he would have committed more to memory.

“That was just it? We fucked, just in a different place than usual?”

“That was it.”

Atsushi shook his head. “I can’t…I can’t leave you in the loop too, Akutagawa. We can figure this out.”

He placed his cup on the table. “You left me nowhere, weretiger…you were no more responsible for getting me out of this, than you were for getting me into it.” Atsushi buried his face against his knees again, and Akutagawa gave him a long look. “You can’t be.”

“I kinda,” Atsushi’s voice was muffled, “wished you would remember it one of the times we fucked. Before you were in the loop with me.”

Akutagawa stared at him.

“I’m sorry,” Atsushi squeaked. “I never expected it to work, every other time I wished on something nothing happened, so why would that work…”

Akutagawa thumped his head into the back of the couch, put both of his palms over his eyes, and said, “I can’t believe this.”

“I’m sorry!”

“I need a drink,” Akutagawa said. “Are you wearing pants? We’re going out and getting a drink.”

Atsushi looked out the window. “It’s still daylight—”

Akutagawa was already off the couch. “With you or without you, weretiger.”

“I’m coming!”

The bar he chose was underground; one of Chuuya’s favorite haunts—though Chuuya would still be at the headquarters, probably complaining about Akutagawa’s absence. No one gave him nor Atsushi a second look, and they sat together at the end of the bar, away from the day drinkers.

“I’m going to have to explain all of this to you again tomorrow,” Akutagawa said, pinging his finger off the mostly empty glass. Only a swallow of the amber liquid remained. It was overwhelming, the sudden inevitability. Atsushi knew, but only to a point. He was alone, now.

“You really don’t remember anything out of the ordinary happening yesterday?” Atsushi toyed with his glass. “We didn’t bump into anyone, I didn’t say anything weird…?”

“You ate an obscene amount of room service in an incredibly short window of time.” Atsushi tilted his head and Akutagawa sighed, knocking back the remainder of his drink. “I know, I know. Out of the ordinary.”

Things got a little blurry after that, but the sun was down when they emerged; he wasn’t certain what time it was. “You know,” Atsushi said, leaning against him, sounding remarkably more sober than Akutagawa was feeling, “if I can’t remember anything now, that means you’re totally allowed to do whatever you want to me.”

Akutagawa frowned. “That wouldn’t have stopped me before.”

“That’s terrifying, actually.” Atsushi elbowed him. “I’m like, I’m giving you permission, you dumb butt.”

“Don’t call me dumb.” Rashomon emerged from his sweater in what he hoped was a threatening manner; instead the tendril manifested a fanged dragon’s head and booped Atsushi in the side of the head with its snout. “Don’t do that either,” he told his ability, and Rashomon booped Atsushi again, who laughed.

Atsushi’s laugh was warm like a blanket, Akutagawa wanted to wrap himself in it. Instead, he caught Atsushi’s shirt and yanked, which nearly sent them both over on the sidewalk. “Whoa!” Atsushi yelped, hooking his arm around a light pole and pulling Akutagawa into his arms.

Akutagawa turned against him and kissed Atsushi.

“You’re drunk,” Atsushi said.

“So ‘re you.”

“Not as drunk.”

Akutagawa pushed himself against Atsushi, grinding against him. “Weretiger, take me somewhere private now or I will give us both a public indecency charge.”

Atsushi pulled him into an alley, lit only by the neon of the shops they had passed. “I’m kind of upset I won’t remember this,” Atsushi said breathlessly, Akutagawa’s mouth delivering sloppy kisses to his stomach as he worked on yanking down Atsushi’s trousers. “Remind me to get you drunk again.”

“No.” Akutagawa slid his finger over the head of Atsushi’s cock as he kissed the root, burying his nose in the short wiry hair that framed it.

“Jackass.” Atsushi ran his fingers through Akutagawa’s hair and Akutagawa didn’t yank his head away. “Go slow, I don’t want you puking on my dick.”

Akutagawa looked up at Atsushi through his lashes, cheeks already hollowed by his cock, and Atsushi inhaled shakily, coving his mouth with his free hand. “Fuck,” Atsushi breathed. “You look so good, Ryuunosuke.”

He hummed, amused, and proceeded to give Atsushi the sloppiest blowjob he’d managed yet.

It was nice that hangovers really weren’t a thing he had to worry about for the moment, Akutagawa thought as he stared at his bedroom ceiling. Then he sat up, pulled his phone off the charger, and sent Atsushi a message. Come over when you wake up, I’ll explain then. He groaned and schlupped out of bed to unlock the door—and hesitated when he passed the sliding balcony door, the blinds still cracked open.

Akutagawa closed the blinds, yawned, and shuffled back to bed.

Chapter Text

By the fourth time, explaining Atsushi was out of the loop lost its charm. Atsushi sat at his table, hands around a mug of coffee, and staring down into it like the liquid held the secrets to the universe. Akutagawa held his own mug in both hands, watching Atsushi process this news silently. “No existential crisis this time?” he asked, finally, and Atsushi looked up at him.

“Did I have one before?”

“You are real, and you are here with me right now.”

Atsushi let out a dry laugh, then shifted in his seat, rubbing his hand back through his hair. “Definitely was about to have that breakdown, you just solved everything for me, well done.”

“I do not appreciate the sarcasm, either.”

The weretiger looked away, one hand still wrapped around the mug. “How many times haven’t you told me?” he asked, finally, and Akutagawa frowned in response to that query.

“None. This is a recent development, it has yet to be a full week since you’ve been out of the loop.” Was it a week in real-time? It hurt his head if he considered it too hard. The weight of Atsushi’s words settled across his shoulders, and they drew tight. “Do you not trust that I would tell you this?”

“I didn’t tell you that you were in a time loop. Why would you offer me such consideration?”

“The nature of our relationship has changed,” Akutagawa said, stiffly. “We also don’t go about telling everyone else around us, because what good would that do?”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Atsushi sighed and sat forward again, chuckling weakly. “I’m sorry, Akutagawa, I didn’t mean to be like that, it’s just. It’s a lot, you know? To know I’m out of the loop but it still feels like I’m in it, because tomorrow still lies ahead and yesterday…it was just us.”

Akutagawa sat his drink down on the table, and Atsushi looked up as he pulled out the chair opposite his and sat. “I would say take all the time you need to process,” he said, shortly, “but we don’t have that. I don’t have that. I need your help, weretiger—you got free, so I should be able to get free as well.”

Atsushi took a long breath and held it. “When you get out,” he said, “you’re going to owe me so many fucking lunches—”

“I will deliver on both the fucking and the lunches, but likely not both at the same time.”

Atsushi aimed a kick at him under the table, and Rashomon deflected his foot. “Ow,” Atsushi complained, and Akutagawa took another drink from his mug of coffee to hide the small measure of amusement that threatened to escape, deflecting Atsushi’s glare.

Their eyes met, and Atsushi groaned and scruffed his hand through his hair. “You are so lucky I like you.”

“So I didn’t tell you at all what I did before we met up for lunch?” Atsushi asked, holding the cheeseburger in both hands. Akutagawa shook his head negatively; they’d been retracing Akutagawa’s steps so far, but the morning was a missing chunk of Atsushi’s time. “Huh. I don’t remember having anything to do, but since we talked about meeting at lunch, I guess I was gonna go walk around the park. Maybe I spent some time with Kyouka-chan?”

It was beyond frustrating, but Atsushi genuinely didn’t know and Akutagawa was beginning to believe the clue lay in that missing time…which didn’t mean anything good for him. “Perhaps we should meet with her then.”

“Not that she would know anything,” Atsushi said with a groan. He’d polished off the burger between words, and now wiped his greasy fingers on a napkin. “I mean, the only way for me to possibly recreate it is to re-live the morning, but then if you don’t interfere how would you know what to look for, or what I should look for?”

Akutagawa stared at his glass of water. “I need a drink.”

Atsushi shook his head. “Nuh-uh. That’s not gonna help anything and it will put you right back at square one tomorrow.”

“What do you care?” Akutagawa snapped at him. “You won’t remember it anyway.”

“Well, first of all you utter fucking idiot, I care because I love you.” Atsushi slapped both of his hands down on the metal table, making their drinks jump. “And secondly, at least you’re not alone in this. I’m here, even if I have to be brought up to speed every day.”

Akutagawa folded his arms and looked away. “You spent so much time alone,” he said finally, softly. “I regret I was not able to ease that burden for you in the same way.”

“We had nothing between us and no room to grow.” Atsushi turned his attention to the fries. “It’s not the same. But, thanks,” he added. Akutagawa watched him push some fries around before popping them into his mouth. “So really, nothing stands out to you?”

“It felt very much like every single other October the first that we’ve lived through,” Akutagawa said dryly.

Atsushi considered this. “So, take me tomorrow, then. We made the plans yesterday—my yesterday—after all. Don’t text me after the reset, just go about the day like we had planned. See what happens.”

Akutagawa nodded his head, distracted. Atsushi nudged him gently. “Hey, we can do something fun today, then. Let’s go to the aquarium again, huh? I know I won’t remember, but you will.”

Softly, Akutagawa said, “Why are you so nice to me, weretiger?”

“Seriously, how many times do I have to shout ‘I’m in love with you’ for it to stick? And you said I have a thick skull.” Atsushi pointed a fry aggressively in his direction and Akutagawa smiled fondly, which produced a triumphant noise from Atsushi.

“Aquarium it is, then,” he said and stole a fry from Atsushi’s plate.

Atsushi got dressed right in front of him, which was a very bold choice, but he’d already sucked his dick once and they did have a reservation. Akutagawa remained seated on the edge of his mattress and watched Atsushi deftly tie his tie. It felt wrong to keep this from him, but…it had been his idea in the first place.

Somehow, Akutagawa didn’t think that would make it better if Atsushi found out.

“You picked another fancy place again, huh,” Atsushi said, studying his reflection. “And we’re hitting the hotel first? I feel like we’re not going to make dinner.”

“We’ll make it,” Akutagawa lied. Atsushi hummed a noise of approval, and looked back at Akutagawa, smiling honestly. He smiled back, but it felt hollow.

The same ride across the city, the same process to check in, Atsushi immediately throwing himself across the king-size bed and laughing at its size. Akutagawa closed the bathroom door behind him, and instead of following the script, sat down, back against the door.

What if this didn’t work?

Akutagawa knocked his head back against the door, eyes closed, and listened to Atsushi very faintly ordering room service. His weretiger sure did love to eat, it was weirdly endearing at this point.

He opened his eyes.

Akutagawa scrambled to his feet and threw open the bathroom door. Atsushi jumped, still sitting on the bed, the room’s phone on his lap and receiver cradled against his ear. “Uh, sorry, I was just ordering—”

Rashomon took the phone out of his hands, and Atsushi yelped. “Akutagawa, what the hell! I was just hungry!”

He crossed the room, grabbed Atsushi by the face, and stared at him. Atsushi stared back, clearly deeply confused. “Weretiger,” Akutagawa said, “I’m in love with you.”

Atsushi stared at him.

The words seemed to startle Akutagawa himself, he flushed red to the tips of his ears. “I don’t think I’ve ever told you that,” he said, and Atsushi tugged on the lapels of his jacket, pulling him in close enough to gently kiss him.

“I love you too, Akutagawa Ryuunosuke,” he said, and Akutagawa almost laughed with relief. “That was so cute, by the way—” Atsushi laughed when Akutagawa shoved at his face, trying to push him away, flushing angrily.

Akutagawa tried to untangle himself from Atsushi but Atsushi had him in a good grip now, pulled him down onto the bed so that he flopped against Atsushi, and they rolled a bit until Akutagawa was on his back and Atsushi was kissing him again, hand sliding into the waistband of his trousers.

“Thought you were gonna take a shower,” Atsushi said breathily, “but I’ll take this instead.”

And, okay, Atsushi’s hand was nice, but it was even better once his pants were on the floor, forgotten, Atsushi lying between his legs as he sucked Akutagawa, three fingers deep. Akutagawa was still wearing his suit coat for god’s sake, half the buttons of the dress shirt were undone, the tie pulled askew, and Atsushi kept fucking him with three fingers and he couldn’t think about anything else except how much more he wanted.

“Not enough?” Atsushi asked lazily as if he’d heard Akutagawa speak out loud. Maybe he had. Maybe he was out of his head with it, he couldn’t even tell anymore. Akutagawa let out a small noise as Atsushi pulled his fingers free with a wet squelch, going back for more lube.

To his genuine surprise, Atsushi didn’t replace his fingers with his cock, instead going right back to three, mouth back where it had been, licking and sucking. The additional lube helped, especially when he felt Atsushi gently nudge his little finger in as well.

“Think you can take more?” Atsushi asked lazily, and Akutagawa didn’t know what more there could be, eyes fixed on the ceiling, sweat sliding back into his hair.

“Still not as big as your cock can get,” Akutagawa finally ground out. Atsushi laughed, sucked the head of his cock, and then started pushing his thumb against Akutagawa’s rim. The lube did its duty, and Akutagawa’s body accepted the additional intrusion, swallowing Atsushi’s hand to his wrist.

Oh fuck.

Akutagawa came, his cock pressed against Atsushi’s cheek, drenching the side of his face in sticky white stripes. Atsushi laughed, eye closed and undeterred by the mess on his face, turning his hand slowly and pressing his knuckles directly into that spot. Akutagawa choked on air, not even through the aftershocks of his first orgasm before Atsushi pulled a second, almost painful one from him.

“Love you so much,” Atsushi said, muffled, as his mouth was pressed to Akutagawa’s skin. He sounded like he was a thousand miles away, and Akutagawa could only breathe, lost in the sensation.

His bedroom ceiling was the same as it always was.

Akutagawa stared at it silently. He was too exhausted to even experience the white-hot rage that crept beneath his skin like electricity.

He had been so certain.

When his phone vibrated on the bedside table, he sat up slowly, pulling it off the charger and looking at the date, as if it would be any different. As if it would ever, ever be any different.

1:22 Sun Oct 1

Chapter Text

“Why are you still in bed?” Atsushi asked, clearly put out at having the door locked on him. Akutagawa didn’t even bother to lift his head, he didn’t care what Atsushi had done to get into his apartment, it didn’t matter. Wouldn’t matter tomorrow. Wouldn’t ever matter. “You didn’t answer your phone, either.”

His phone was broken, lying on the floor against the far wall. He heard Atsushi shuffle over to it and sigh, picking it up off the floor and dropping the cracked device onto his bedside table. “Did something happen since yesterday?”

Akutagawa didn’t want him here. Didn’t want to see his face, didn’t want to hear his voice, didn’t want to feel the way he did every time he looked at the weretiger, it was infuriating. He pulled the covers over his head and refused to acknowledge Atsushi’s presence.

“Akutagawa,” Atsushi said, annoyed now.

“Yesterday,” Akutagawa said archly, “was twelve days ago.”

“Yeah, we’ve been in the loop longer than twelve days.” Atsushi pulled at his covers, and yanked his hand back when a Rashomon head emerged to try to chomp him.

“That is not what I meant.” Akutagawa sighed, didn’t have the energy to explain this again. The weretiger wouldn’t leave without a fight, so he might as well face him. Atsushi, who looked much like he always did, wearing a sweater and denim, not his work outfit, hands on his hips and a sour expression on his face. “I presumed my lack of response would clearly illustrate I didn’t feel like company today,” he said instead.

Atsushi sighed and sat on the edge of his mattress. “What’s wrong, Ryuu?”

“Don’t call me that.”

Atsushi looked at him. “Are you being serious right now, or are you just being annoyed?” Akutagawa’s mouth twisted into a deeper scowl, and Atsushi folded his arms. “I won’t call you that if you genuinely don’t like it, but if you’re just being pissy for the sake of being pissy then you can suck it up.”

He looked away from Atsushi, still scowling. “Only you would have the temerity, weretiger.”

“Yeah, I have a lot of things.” Atsushi was silent for a long moment. “What happened?”

Akutagawa stared at his hand curled in the bed sheet. “Are you in love with me?” He glanced up as he said it, to catch Atsushi’s reaction, uncertain of what he’d find. Atsushi stared at him, slightly perplexed; but he answered immediately.

“Yes, of course I am.”

“Why?” His breath was rattling in his lungs now, it felt like they were filling with cotton. “I’m a murderer, a monster. I’ve injured you and maimed you and tried to end your life a hundred times without hesitation and yet here you are sitting on my bed telling me you love me.” The wracking cough exploded from his lungs, and he doubled over, coughing until he could breathe again.

Atsushi’s hand was on his back, pressing softly between his shoulder blades, supporting him. “I don’t deserve whatever feeling you think you have for me,” he said, finally, voice a broken wreck.

Atsushi’s hand remained firm on his back. “Do you think that will change my mind? Do you think I don’t know that about you by now?”

Akutagawa looked sidelong at him, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “Why are you in love with me, weretiger?”

“Akutagawa,” Atsushi said. “I love you.”

Akutagawa turned his face away, hand pushing from his mouth up to his eye. “And I,” he said softly, “too, love you, weretiger. But it doesn’t matter that I’ve realized that now, because you won’t remember this, and I’ll be forced to live with the fact that I’ve realized too late that I really am capable of this.”

He stiffened when he felt Atsushi throw his arms around his shoulders, and held still, Atsushi’s face pressed to the side of his head. “Am I out of the loop?” Atsushi asked, and Akutagawa exhaled.

“Yes.”

“How long?”

“Twelve days.”

Atsushi didn’t move or release him. Akutagawa appreciated that; his body warm and comforting. “How?” Atsushi asked, and Akutagawa laughed bitterly. “I guess it doesn’t matter, because you’re still in it.”

“I thought I had to realize my feelings for you, weretiger,” Akutagawa said. “But even that didn’t break me free. And now you don’t remember anything past that point, and it’s so…” he squeezed his eyes shut, “exhausting.”

They didn’t move for a very long time. Atsushi eventually released his grip but sat in the bed beside Akutagawa, leaning into him, and they were both silent, watching the sunlight creep across the bed. It was so comforting to have the weretiger there beside him, something he never thought he’d need, and Akutagawa sighed, eyes sliding closed.

Atsushi slid his hand down Akutagawa’s arm and took his hand. Akutagawa looked down at their linked fingers, and Atsushi said, “The only thing we can do is keep moving forward, Akutagawa. I’ll support you no matter what, even if I don’t remember it, or remember why.”

He exhaled again and covered Atsushi’s hand holding his with his other hand. “You’ll support me,” he said, “no matter what?”

“I trust you,” Atsushi said. “I trusted you yesterday, just like I loved you yesterday. That will carry through no matter what.”

He laughed a little self-deprecating laugh but looked Atsushi in the eye. “Would you marry me, then?”

Atsushi’s cheeks flooded with color. He didn’t jerk or pull away, but he did incline his head forward and laugh as well. “Jackass.”

Akutagawa swallowed, blood beating in his ears. “That’s not an answer.”

“You’re only asking me that now because I won’t remember it,” Atsushi said, “and that’s asshole behavior, Akutagawa.”

He said nothing, and Atsushi laughed again and looked away. “Yeah, okay, I walked into that one, you’re an asshole but you’re my asshole and I love you for it.” He lifted his free hand and touched Akutagawa’s cheek, kissing him gently. “Ask me again, on Monday.”

“That is cruel, weretiger.”

“Think of it as a goal.” He kissed Akutagawa again, and climbed over his lap, still kissing him. “To keep you motivated.” Atsushi brushed both of his hands through Akutagawa’s tangled hair, still uncombed. Akutagawa closed his eyes as he kissed Atsushi, already hard from him rubbing his ass over Akutagawa’s lap.

God, he loved Atsushi. He wasn’t supposed to be capable of this. He was a weapon, a feral attack dog good for little more than disposing of the mafia’s enemies, and yet. And yet.

Atsushi lay against him, the covers kicked off the bed, naked and drowsing. They’d spent the day in bed, ordered food in, talked and fucked and talked some more. This wasn’t him, but at the same time it was, now; Atsushi in his arms, all around him.

Maybe nothing in the loop truly mattered, but this did. Atsushi did. His weretiger.

Akutagawa went to sleep with Atsushi in his arms and woke to an empty bed.

 When his phone vibrated on the bedside table, he sat up and swiped open the message from his sister. Instead of his usual reply, he impetuously texted: I’m in love.

The typing notification lit immediately, paused, and then:

The weretiger?

Yes.

About damn time.

He scoffed a little, and then exhaled, letting the phone screen go dark. He turned his phone over on the bedside table, laid back down, and closed his eyes.

He had a busy day ahead.

Chapter Text

It felt antithetical to everything that Akutagawa knew himself to be to have this feeling simmering in his chest, to look at the weretiger and not despise him. Atsushi felt Akutagawa’s eyes on him and looked over, eyebrow raised, and blushed quite handsomely when Akutagawa smiled at him. It wasn’t lust, it was a much more powerful four-letter word, a word Akutagawa had long since stricken from his vocabulary.

And yet here he was now, hand in hand with his weretiger; he’d watched Atsushi look at the couples on the dance floor as they ate and struck upon that, offered the weretiger his arm, ignored Atsushi’s “oh, I don’t know how to dance—” and pulled him along after.

This wasn’t who he was, but now he existed only to see the delight in Atsushi’s eyes at discovering a new thing, the soft, fond smile on his face when he thought Akutagawa wasn’t looking at him, the way he exhaled right after they parted from a kiss, eyes still closed and blush rising on his cheeks.

“This was fun,” Atsushi said, slightly breathless, standing against the bar while Akutagawa ordered them drinks. He didn’t hesitate now, the same age he had been weeks ago, months ago, but he took whatever Akutagawa ordered and didn’t blanch when he took a sip. “I’ve never been dancing.”

“Neither have I.” Akutagawa leaned back against the bar, and watched the people on the dance floor but mostly watched Atsushi watch him.

“Really? How do you know how to dance?”

He looked into his glass and didn’t answer. Atsushi didn’t seem to notice, distracted by something else, which was more than fine by him; he didn’t feel like explaining to Atsushi every day that he was out of the loop now.

They adjourned to the room late, almost too late for any kind of additional fun. Atsushi didn’t let that stop him, pinning Akutagawa to the wall and kissing down his chest, hand wrapped tight around his cock, pleasuring him maddeningly slow despite the ticking clock.

“Don’t stop,” Akutagawa said, when Atsushi looked up at him, hair a tousled, sweaty mess, and Akutagawa tangled his fingers in it. “Atsushi.”

“Ooh,” Atsushi breathed against his cock. “Say my name again.”

“Atsushi.”

Atsushi was still licking him clean from his orgasm when the reset hit, and Akutagawa rolled over on his side in the bed, arms wrapped around himself and panting. He pulled his phone off the charger, texted I love you to Atsushi’s number, and closed his eyes.

He’d propose again today, he decided. Maybe he’d actually get an answer this time.

Akutagawa had never actually been to the detective agency’s headquarters. He knew where it was, of course, and had been outside the building many a time, but he’d never had reason to enter the building itself. They weren’t in on Sunday but Atsushi had mentioned spending some time in the office, so he’d brought lunch.

He knew Kyouka would be there, of course, but was surprised when the office door opened before he could lay a hand on it, and the blond Kunikida stood there, equally surprised to see him on the other side of the frame.

“Akutagawa Ryuunosuke—!?” Kunikida said, already moving himself into a defensive position.

Atsushi very clearly heard him from somewhere within, and yelped, “Kunikida-san!”

Akutagawa took a step back, Rashomon further rippling from the shoulders of his civilian coat, the single head in charge of the lunch bag not even flinching. Atsushi’s feet thudded as he charged across the room and very neatly body-checked Kunikida out of the door, apologizing the whole time. “I’m sorry, Kunikida-san no, don’t, I can explain in a minute what are you DOING HERE!?”

The Rashomon head lifted the bag, and Akutagawa pointed at it. “I am simply bringing my boyfriend lunch.”

In unison, Atsushi and Kunikida said, “What?”

“Boyfriend?” Kyouka said from somewhere behind them both.

Akutagawa tilted his head but didn’t move, hands back in the pockets of his coat as Atsushi looked at him, looked at Kunikida, and back again, sweating all the more profusely. “Tell them, weretiger.”

“Oh my god, Akutagawa, why are you doing this to me right now!?”

“It won’t matter tomorrow,” Akutagawa said. “Would you prefer I kissed you here, would that be more dramatic?” He nodded at the bag. “Your lunch is getting cold, though.”

“What is going on?” Kunikida said. “Atsushi, are you consorting with the Port Mafia?”

“I think it would be more properly termed as fraternizing,” Akutagawa added.

“Stop helping,” Atsushi said. “We’re not, I mean I’m not, I mean…” he rubbed his forehead. “We’re not fraternizing.”

“We’re dating.” It was getting harder and harder to maintain the deadpan expression because Atsushi’s coworker was getting worked up in a manner that he had to imagine Dazai-san exploited often. “Aren’t we, weretiger.”

Atsushi glared at him. “You are making me reconsider it.”

“You are dating?” Kunikida said.

“I win the pot,” Kyouka called.

Atsushi half-turned. “The what?”

“Did you want this lunch or not?” Akutagawa asked.

“Yes, you enormous dick. Kyouka-chan, what pot?”

Kunikida pushed up his glasses. “I’m going to pretend none of this happened,” he said grimly. “Atsushi, don’t…uh. Don’t do anything Dazai would do.”

“It’s a little late for that, don’t you think?” Kyouka asked.

Kunikida groaned and edged out the door, giving Akutagawa a very wide berth. “Kyouka-chan, you’re too young to be engaging in illegal gambling…you know what, I’m going to pretend that isn’t happening either.”

Atsushi and Akutagawa both watched Kunikida stalk down the hallway toward the elevators. “I think the only reason we got out of that is because he has somewhere to be,” Atsushi said, and then pointed at Akutagawa. “What the fuck, Ryuunosuke?”

Kyouka had come to hover behind Atsushi. “You really are dating?”

“Pot, Kyouka-chan?”

“Dazai started it.”

Atsushi sighed. “Of course he did.”

Akutagawa sat in the empty chair next to Atsushi’s desk, which he sensed was Dazai-san’s based on the state of the desk, but ignored the desk itself, eating cold fries while Atsushi finished sorting paperwork into binders. Kyouka-chan sat opposite him and watched Akutagawa with curiosity.

“I still don’t understand why you’re here,” Atsushi grumbled. “We weren’t supposed to meet up until the afternoon.”

“Wait,” Kyouka said. “Akutagawa’s your afternoon appointment?”

“Date,” Akutagawa clarified.

Atsushi hung his head and groaned, ears burning bright red. “I am so getting you back tomorrow.”

“As if anyone in the mafia would care about our dalliances.”

“Why are you doing this to me.”

“Because you are quite cute when you’re flustered and angry.” Akutagawa popped another cold fry into his mouth, and Kyouka put her chin in her hands, clearly invested.

“How did you accomplish this?” she asked Atsushi, gesturing with her head toward Akutagawa. “I’ve never seen him like this before. It’s not right.”

“He’s not right in the head,” Atsushi said.

“You fell in love with me when I was actively trying to murder you daily, tell me again who’s not right in the head here.”

“Kyouka-chan,” Atsushi said, pushing a stack of binders toward her. “Can you please take these back to the dormitory for me to look at tonight?”

“It sounds like you won’t be home tonight.”

“Kyouka-chan, please.”

She sighed and stood, picking up the armful of binders. “You owe me crepes,” she said to Atsushi and then looked at Akutagawa. She gave him a long, measured look, and then turned away, carrying the binders in both arms. Atsushi opened the door for her.

“Do you need me to get the elevator?”

“I’ve got it.”

“Okay.” Atsushi watched her walk down the hall and out of earshot, and then finally closed the office door and stood for a moment, with his hand on it. Then he turned, storming back to where Akutagawa was sitting. “What the absolute fuck is wrong with you today?”

Akutagawa folded his hands. “I wanted to see you.”

Atsushi grabbed the office chair he was sitting in and turned him sharply. Before Rashomon could react, Atsushi straddled him, tilting the chair back. “I want to see you too, but the office is fucking off-limits.”

“Mm, well. Now I know.” He smirked against Atsushi’s mouth, and Atsushi smacked his chest.

“Asshole. You are so lucky no one’s going to remember this tomorrow, I can’t believe Kunikida-san didn’t cause a major scene.”

“It could have been worse,” Akutagawa said.

“How?”

“Well, I could have done this with everyone here.” He shifted his weight without dislodging Atsushi, pulling a small box from his coat pocket and opening it; showing Atsushi the ring.

Atsushi stared at the small box and the ring glittering inside it. “What’s that for?”

“For you.”

Atsushi continued to stare.

“Because I wish for you to marry me.”

Atsushi slowly lifted his eyes to Akutagawa’s face.

“What?”

“Don’t answer today,” Akutagawa said. “Tell me on Monday, when we’re both free.”

“I…what. What.”

He’d managed to stop all the processes in Atsushi’s brain today, this was fantastic. He’d have to figure out another way to do this tomorrow. Akutagawa rested his hand on Atsushi’s waist. “Marry me, weretiger.”

“I really don’t know what’s gotten into you today,” Atsushi said finally, arms over his shoulders and kissing him. “Did you get hit by an ability that makes you a real person?”

“If that’s what you wish to call it.” He rubbed his thumb into Atsushi’s waist. “But I prefer to just refer to it as being in love with you.”

Atsushi sighed and kissed him again. “You’re so…” he started, but the chair leaned back a little further, gave a horrific creak, and gave out, dumping them both on the floor, Atsushi landing atop Akutagawa.

In the silence after the catastrophe, Atsushi began to laugh. After another moment, Akutagawa did as well.

They cleaned up the broken chair together, and Atsushi worked on the rest of his paperwork…and, what Akutagawa suspected, was Dazai-san’s. “We don’t have to spend all day here,” Atsushi said. “I just wanted to get a few quick things done before we went out tonight.”

“We don’t have to go out tonight,” Akutagawa said. “I just want to be with you.”

The look that Atsushi gave him almost made him regret not having made the hotel reservations for tonight, but it turned out that the bathroom was just big enough for Atsushi to hike him up against the wall. He squeezed his knees into Atsushi’s sides as Atsushi fucked him, holding him up so easily; like he weighed nothing at all.

“Naughty,” Akutagawa managed, breath hitching as Atsushi kept his rhythm. “Fucking around at work—”

He wasn’t going to complain, though, and Atsushi knew it, nipping at the side of his neck as his thrusts ground deep. Akutagawa clawed at his back, knowing the shirt kept the damage from being too severe, and really hoped for a moment that his release would stain, just for the proof of what they’d done.

It was dusk when Atsushi locked the door behind them. “Shall we get dinner, then?” Akutagawa asked.

“We shall,” Atsushi said with matching gravitas, and then laughed freely. It was a beautiful sound.

The park was deserted at this time of the night, which was fine; it was close enough to reset that Akutagawa didn’t feel the need to be in transit. They’d been here many times before, almost always in daylight, but the night emboldened him to take Atsushi’s hand as they walked along the rail, the wind whipping in off the water.

Atsushi squeezed his hand. “Thank you,” he said, breaking their comfortable silence. “Despite the fact you probably took five years off Kunikida-san’s life by showing up like that, today was nice.”

Akutagawa stopped walking, and Atsushi trailed to a stop, having led him. He turned, still holding Akutagawa’s hand. “Akutagawa?”

“Is this what happiness is, weretiger?”

Atsushi paused. He took Akutagawa’s other hand and held them both under the low light. “It’s what my happiness is,” he said, finally, squeezing both Akutagawa’s hands and smiling softly. “I hope it’s the same for you.”

“I’ve never been happy.” Akutagawa wet his lips, his mouth was dry, he’d never talked so much as he had with Atsushi by his side. “My life isn’t happy. I’m not meant to be happy. And yet…you, weretiger. I believe you are my joy.”

Atsushi leaned in close and kissed him. Akutagawa closed his eyes, slid his hand into Atsushi’s hair, and kept kissing him.

Somewhere, in the distance, a clock chimed.

Akutagawa opened his eyes and stared at Atsushi.

Atsushi stared back at him, mouth open slightly, lips bruised.

The chimes of the clock faded into the night. In the bay, a boat blew its foghorn.

Akutagawa almost dropped his phone.

0:03, Mon Oct 2

Chapter Text

Akutagawa’s phone screen cracked when it hit the concrete, and Atsushi threw himself into Akutagawa’s arms with such force that he staggered back and lost his balance, landing hard on his ass. He barely noticed the pain, Atsushi’s mouth on his, laughing and crying all at once. They didn’t even have to speak, at least not until Atsushi, now straddling his lap, took Akutagawa’s face in both hands.

“Yes,” he said, giddily, face tear-streaked and eyes bright.

“Yes?” Akutagawa asked, distracting himself by kissing Atsushi again and again, dizzy with it.

Atsushi pulled back again, laughing. “Yes,” he repeated. “Yes, yes, you told me to wait until Monday to answer you and it’s Monday now and the answer is yes.”

How they would make it work was a problem for future Akutagawa, in this moment he just pulled Atsushi down atop him, wrapped his arms around him, and just breathed; Atsushi’s face warm against his neck. He stared at the sky, and the few small, bright pinpricks of light they could still see despite the glow of the city around them and made certain to memorize everything about this moment.

He really didn’t know how they got back to his apartment, kissing in the doorway, in the genkan, tripping over the step and nearly spilling onto the floor. It was all a blur, Atsushi walking him to the bedroom and barely lifting his mouth from Akutagawa’s the entire way, they couldn’t get enough of each other.

They almost didn’t make it into the room, Atsushi pinning him to the wall just outside it, popping the buttons on his shirt trying to get it open, kissing down his collarbone. Akutagawa twisted his head, pulled at Atsushi’s shirt, and Atsushi picked him up. Akutagawa made the most undignified noise he probably ever produced, Atsushi hiking Akutagawa against him, and carried him the final few steps into the bedroom, dropping him on the bed and immediately working on sliding his trousers off his hips.

This was a song and dance they knew intimately well, now; Akutagawa’s legs spread wide by Atsushi’s body, hips lifted by his hands—but he rolled them, straddling Atsushi, leaning back as he sat himself slowly, humming in satisfaction as he worked all of Atsushi’s cock inside. Atsushi watched him, golden-violet eyes bright, still red-rimmed, fur starting to ripple along his forearms, unable to contain himself.

“Oh,” Akutagawa breathed, tilting his head back, exposing his throat as he rocked on Atsushi’s cock. “You want to fuck me so good, don’t you, weretiger…?”

Atsushi’s nails-turned-claws were raising red welts along the pale skin of his thighs. Akutagawa ignored the tiny trickles of pain, back arched, watching Atsushi through half-lidded eyes. He had barely transformed, which wouldn’t do—he leaned forward, bracing one hand on Atsushi’s chest, curling his fingers against his skin. “You have my permission,” he groaned, and Atsushi’s eyes flashed gold.

And oh, oh he loved this feeling, being filled fuller than he thought he could take, Atsushi’s body bringing him more pleasure than he ever imagined. Akutagawa moaned, pressing his palm against his pelvis, the weretiger’s cock so hot inside him. Akutagawa rocked slowly, palm still in place.

“Can you feel my cock?” Atsushi asked, voice gravel-rough, mouth full of too many sharp teeth, and Akutagawa laughed, spreading his fingers against his skin.

“I can feel all of it,” Akutagawa said. “All of you.”

Atsushi moaned, settling his enormous, grey furry hands on Akutagawa’s hips, his fingers almost touching over the small of his back. “I want,” Atsushi breathed, then shook his head once. “I need, please, Akutagawa…”

How Atsushi reversed their positions without pulling entirely out Akutagawa couldn’t begin to hazard a guess, lost in the sensations, but before he knew it he was on his back, his pillow under his hips, and Atsushi bending him nearly double, grinding his dick slowly, rubbing his insides in just the right way to drive him mad. Akutagawa reached back over his head, gripping the mattress, mouth open wide as he panted.

“You’re mine,” Atsushi moaned, fucking slow and steady. “Mine, mine, Akutagawa, all mine.”

“Yours, weretiger,” Akutagawa gasped, shoulders pressed to the mattress and hips lifted higher as Atsushi shifted himself further. It was all pleasure now, nothing but, and he couldn’t focus himself on anything but Atsushi, orienting him, holding him in place, a fixed point for his internal compass to point toward. “Atsushi, Atsushi, I—”

Atsushi’s mouth on his their bodies crushed together, and he surrendered, finally, following the waves of sensation until they pulled him under.

His phone was still broken when he woke, the dawn misty and grey. The sunlight wasn’t warm and direct, but that was okay because it was different. A different morning. A different day. Atsushi’s phone was vibrating from somewhere, he could hear the faint bzz bzz bzz, but Atsushi didn’t stir, curled in toward Akutagawa in the bed, face slack in sleep, drooling into the sheets.

Akutagawa lay on his side, face pressed to his arm, and watched Atsushi sleep. He reached out and gently brushed some of the hair that lay across his cheek, and Atsushi’s mouth twitched into a smile. Instead of feeling annoyed, Akutagawa made a soft noise of amusement. “So you are awake, weretiger.”

“I had the most wonderful dream,” Atsushi mumbled.

“Your boss is calling,” Akutagawa said, allowing Rashomon to sort through the thrown clothes, locating Atsushi’s phone. “Perhaps you want to let him know I did not murder you.”

Atsushi wheeled all the way upright, eyes snapping open and most definitely awake. “Oh, shit,” he wailed. “Kunikida-san remembers he saw you, oh no, oh no, oh no—”

His weretiger yanked his phone out of Rashomon’s tendrils, staring at the screen and answering the call. Akutagawa laid his head back down on his arms and half-listened to Atsushi’s panicked conversation, watching the daylight play off the curve of Atsushi’s spine. There were still deep scratches along his ribs and all over his shoulder blades, and it amused Akutagawa that despite the weretiger’s ability to heal him, those remained.

“If you are no longer gainfully employed,” Akutagawa said, “I am certain that we can find you a position—”

“Shut up,” Atsushi said, grabbing the rather crunchy pillow and attempting to smush it into Akutagawa’s face. “Why did you have to tell Kunikida-san we’re boyfriends?”

Rashomon sliced his pillow in twain, sending fluff into the air between them. Atsushi, left holding half the pillow, tossed it. “Why’d you do that, you’re going to have to replace it, now.”

Head still on his arms, dusted in a layer of fluff and feathers, Akutagawa said deadpan, “betrothed.” Color flooded Atsushi’s cheeks, and Akutagawa pushed himself back up onto his knees, hand out. Rashomon dropped the box into his hand, and he opened it again, presenting Atsushi with the ring.

“You picked this out?” Atsushi asked quietly, and Akutagawa nodded. The ametrine glimmered in the daylight.

“It looks like your eyes,” Akutagawa said, and Atsushi’s blush deepened in its intensity. “But I don’t want you to wear it, I don’t know what will happen if you transform wearing it.” He slid his hand over Atsushi’s cheek, gripped the back of his neck, and Atsushi raised his damp eyes to meet Akutagawa’s. “The only one allowed to hurt you is me,” Akutagawa murmured, their foreheads nearly touching. Atsushi kissed him.

“I’d really rather you not hurt me,” Atsushi said when they parted.

“Well, don’t be an idiot and we’ll see.”

“I love you,” Atsushi said, helplessly, and squeezed Akutagawa’s hand. “And I will divorce your ass so fast if you keep fucking stabbing me with Rashomon.”

“Perhaps we should actually marry before you start threatening divorce.”

“Have to keep you in line somehow.” Atsushi held up the ring to the light, and it glimmered; he looked at Akutagawa and smiled.

Akutagawa was helpless against that smile, so he closed his eyes, covered his mouth with his hand, and turned his head to cough.

Akutagawa skipped out on the debrief today too, sitting on the roof of a building not far from headquarters, watching the clouds slowly cover the sky. It was getting cooler now, and the different weather felt more like a novelty than not, so he was enjoying the difference. His new phone vibrated, and he glanced at the message.

Dazai-san still hasn’t figured out what happened to his chair, and Kunikida-san thinks Dazai-san is fucking with him.

Akutagawa smirked at his phone and then typed a response. Dinner tonight?

Yes, please! Can we get sukiyaki?

Akutagawa thumbs-upped the response, hesitated before sliding his phone back into his coat, and responded again.

I love you.

I love you too, jerk. See you tonight!

Akutagawa stood, exhaled, and tucked his hands into his pockets, before he stepped off the edge of the roof. For the first time in his life, he had something to look forward to.