#p5 fluff

Oblivious. If you had to describe Akira in one word, that would be it. You could gift this boy a million roses and a diamond ring yet he’d still have no clue unless you spelt it out for him, you’d know that better than anyone.

You and Akira had been close since the day he transferred to Shujin Academy; trips to  Akihabara together, staying round one anothers houses, you had even joined The Phantom Thieves of Hearts for him. You were joint at the hip, the usual quiet and well mannered Akira was the complete opposite when around you, you brought out a new side to him. You were what Akira had needed to come out of his shell and truly live up to the title of “Leader of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts”.

Those feats aside, you had a soft spot for him, not the Leader, not the Joker, just Akira, his regular old self. One could say you had fallen for him, but you wondered what was the point if the other showed nothing back, especially considering the amount of times you hinted at wanting to explore something further.

“Can you get in already, it’s getting cold under here” you whined, Akira was allowing a draft to make its way under the duvet as he was lightly perched off the side of the bed, “Alright alright im coming”. He carefully slid himself under sheet, making sure to cover any possible openings as he knew you loathed the feeling of letting ‘warmth out’.

You were spending the night at Akira’s place tonight, this was super common for you guys as you spent what seemed like every waking minute together, his home slowly became your home. No hidden motives or agendas, just a casual ‘night over’ as you will, however the following day was a special one, or so you had hoped anyway. 

The small silence was followed up by some idle chit chat between you too, the usual rundown of your day and what to do the next. “What time is it by the way? My phone is charging” you asked, just curious as to how late it had possibly gotten while you talked, “It’s….. almost 12, what? We should probably get some sleep while we can, everyone's coming over to the shop early tomorrow” Akira exclaimed, his eyes in shock as to how quick time passed when you guys spoke.

“Oh, okay that's fair, but just curious, you do… know what day it is tomorrow right?” you questioned, the slight glimmer of hope that he’d remember or even care for that matter slowly fading as he responded, “Feburary 14th? What about it?”, confusion written all over his face.

“It’s Valentine's Day Akira?”, you scoffed in utter disbelief. “So? Is there something I'm not getting at, it's just like any other day is it not?”, Kurusu stared blankly, the nonchalant tone in his voice tipping you over the edge but you attempted to hold it in. Your heavy heart almost pushing tears to your eyes.

If he didn’t see the importance of the day then why show him any signs that you did? You knew deep down that he wouldn’t feel the same way you did, yet you would always try and dig for the minute signs that would tell you otherwise. Delusional is what Ann would always say but that wasn’t always a bad thing to be, but in this instance yet again, she was right. 

Taking a deep breath to compose yourself, you turnt to face the wall, covering yourself with the blanket you simply let out a sharp “Maybe to you it is, but whatever Akira, night”. The boys eyes fixed on the ball you had curled yourself into, sheets over your head to muffle your sorry attempt at controlled breaths to halt the flood of tears which were starting to trickle down your cheeks. You hoped he would assume they were soft snores however he could hear them clear as day. He went to tap your shoulder before catching himself, he watched on as the sheets shifted around as you repeatedly wiped the tears for him not to notice.

His heart sank, why were you so distraught, he didn't feel as if he had said anything out of the ordinary. In roughly an hour it was Valentines Day, what about it was special? You both weren't in any couple, you had no upcoming plans other than the meeting tomorrow, so it was just a regular Tuesday.

Akira slid out from his side of the bed making sure to grab his phone from the nightstand before silently slipping away.  “What was that all about?” he muttered to himself as he crept down the stairs from his attic room, “I feel like i’m missing something but what is it?”. 

The neverending unanswered questions engulfed his tired mind as he hit the cafe floor. Pulling out his phone he decided to text the group chat for advice, if he ever needed honesty those people were the ones to go to.

Akira - ‘Is tmr an important day? I’ve been made to feel like it is but with no explanation?”  

Morgana - ‘........’

Ann - ‘You did not do what I think you did.’

Ryuji ‘Fucking idiot’

Ann ‘We’ll be there in 10, don’t do anything else stupid’

Akira ‘I didn’t even finish?’

Seen by everyone

Taken slightly aback by their responses Akira slumped himself across one of the booths in the cafe, the sound of the clock ticking away as he waited. Morgana emerged from the corridor not too long after the last message had sent, without a word he curled into a ball on the edge of the table, “hmmpth”.

As the minutes went by Akira could feel himself drifting off, before he could act on said feelings he was rudely awoken by the front door slamming open, any home training those two had been given were long gone. “AKIRA KURUSU” they bellowed in unison causing Morgana to shudder off the table.

The new group members begun to make themselves comfortable as Akira perked up, the aura in the room wasn’t the usually upbeat one, he knew he had done something wrong just by that and the looks on their faces. 

“Who knew Akira was as stupid as Ryuji” Morgana splurted out sarcastically, changing from his cat form to regular form, “HEY? STUPID CAT this isn’t about me” Ryuji spat back, “anyway back to the matter at hand here, you really don’t understand why tomorrow is a big day?”. Akira shook his head in response, he truly had no clue, if he did he’d probably be fast asleep like he wanted to be.

Deciding to add her two cents into the conversation, Ann lent over the booth Akira was sat on, “she likes you Mr Phantom Troupe Leader, you can’t truly be that blind can you? I told her you didn’t feel the same but she doesn’t liste-”, “what are you talking about Ann? I do like her, I have always liked her?” Akira cut her off, his tone showing genuine confusion as he perked up in his booth.

“If you liked her, why did you act as if tomorrow was a regular day idiot? It’s not as if she hasn’t given you endless hints and clues…. let's be honest here”, Morgana choked out, he couldn’t contain his laughter any longer, the situation was beyond humorous to the little cat guy.

“Maybe I am blind, I didn’t see any of the hints, signs, any of that. I thought I was chasing something beyond my reach” Akira sighed as he slipped himself out of his seat and towards the locked cabinet opposite the stairs, the group watched on, heavily intrigued as to what he was doing. “Let me just show you guys” he huffed, pulling a key from the grate by the stairs to unlock the overflowing case.

Akira grabbed an armful of items from one of the shelves before aimlessly scattering them across the booth table the rest were sat at, their faces as if they were deer in the headlights. “What IS all this?” Ann spoke up, asking what everyone else was thinking. “Look closer” was all he responded with.

As they all rummaged through the items the pieces started to piece themselves together little by little. Lying before them were heaps of items from trips they had all been on ranging from figures and manga from Akihabara to photographs of you and Akira doing day to day activities, some of them were simply of you sleeping and pointing at things. 

Ann looked up at Akira, his eyes softening as Morgana shifted through the photos, “You do like her, don’t you” she asked sincerely, her hand tightening on his shoulder as a cheshire cat smile emerged on her face, “I have an idea, have you got anything to wrap with? A bag even?” she quizzed him as she paced back and forth.

Walking back over to the cabinet he pulled out a gift box, “I have this from one of the prizes I won on a crane game?” he suggested, unsure as to if that would be okay, “Perfect, everyone pick one item to put inside, this will be her gift!”, Ryuji added, trying to immerse himself into the activities. ”So you caught on I see” she chuckled to herself. Everyone carefully placed an item inside, Akira slipping in a few of his favourite photos at the top for you to see.

Taking a step back to admire the last minute gift, the group silently patted themselves on the back for the fast thinking. Ann passed Akira the box, her brows narrowing as she spoke, “go give this to her, but in all seriousness Akira, no one should go to bed upset. We’ll see you tomorrow”, her sincere tone clinging to him as she proceeded to leave the cafe followed by Ryuji, “She’s right u know” he chipped in as the door closed behind him.

Akira’s eyes shot to the cat facing him head on,”have anything to say there?” he asked sarcastically, “absolutely not, go to bed” Morgana hissed, strolling past him, tail held high. Akira sent a quick thank you text to the group before taking himself back to his bedroom, not before locking the bookcase, that was to be a secret between him and the others, for now anyway.

Akira slid into his side of the bed in hopes of not waking you but failed, you rolled over to notice him with a large box, the tense smile on his face baffling you. As you sat up he passed you it, “did you really go out at this hour and buy stuff just because of our conversation? What makes you think i want your pity gifts? Goodnight Akira” you scoffed, as you attempted to roll back over he placed his hand on your shoulder. 

“I love you”, the boy blurted out, the newly found frown on your face deepening before he continued. “I love you, I have for quite some time to be fair, I’m an idiot to have not taken the hints you sent me seriously, I shouldn’t have even needed you to show hints for me to muster up the courage to say it. This is also no pity gift, inside are items I deem thoughtful, every trip we take you point and I watch your eyes light up at your favourite things but you always say “I can't justify it”. You deserve more than any item on a shelf but in here are a couple things I noticed that piqued your interest in stores along with photos I took of you when I found you the happiest, I’ve had these for a while I pay attention to all that you do and take note of any little thing you say. You’re my best friend, and I’ll love you forever, Happy Valentines Day.” he spilled, letting every thought on his mind free. 

Speechless, you watched as Akira cupped your tear stained cheeks, his thumbs wiping the tears you hadn’t realised had started to fall. Pulling you closer you whispered “you’re sweet when you speak your mind”, an innocent smile making its way to your lips. “Is that so” he cheekily smirked, placing your lips on his, your lips gliding over one another effortlessly. The kiss was short but sweet, pulling away you could feel your cheeks heating up as your nervousness kicked in.

Akira planted a quick kiss on your forehead, he could tell you were flustered, “can I open this in the morning? I’m exhausted” you asked softly, he nodded whilst you placed the box on your bedside table. Akira let out a yawn as he slid deeper into the bed, “we need to be up early tomorrow, we should get atleast some sleep” he laughed, arms out for you to lay with him.

You allowed yourself to be pulled into him, his arms wrapping around your waist as you rested your head on his chest, “goodnight Akira, I love you”, you giggled as you noticed his heartbeat speed up as you spoke, “Goodnight my love”.