#suiacc

The door cracks open, then shut. He hears Amamiya toe off his shoes. From inside the bathroom Morgana instantly begins yelling, “Ren! Ren, run!” Before Amamiya can react or flee, Akechi springs from the hallway closet, knocking plastic clothes hangers to the floor behind him. He wraps the hand towel around Amamiya’s neck, relying on the deadweight of his body rather than actual strength to wrestle him downwards, yanking his head back. Amamiya jolts, startled, but strangely doesn’t seem to panic. His hands fly to try and free his airway, knees buckling as he bends backwards in a way that makes Akechi’s back— after his night on the floor— almost ache in sympathy. All Amamiya chokes out is, “Hi.” “You are going to take me to Maruki. Now,” Akechi demands.

On his seventh day of living with Amamiya, at 2 PM, Morgana crosses the room and jumps onto his bed without permission. The door has clicked shut no more than 30 seconds ago, shutting Amamiya’s concerned eyes behind them, leaving the two of them alone. Now, dainty paws press indents on the wrinkled hotel comforter and blue eyes stare at him accusatorially. Normally, Akechi would be far more incensed about this. However, Morgana’s conscientiousness has managed to earn him a bit of his good favor, and he has yet to cross into his side of the room until now, so his tone is only slightly biting when he asks, “What?” “When are you gonna eat?”

“What now?” Akechi scoffs. A night of lackluster hotel-room sleep weighing on him, Ren reasons, “After years of having all the money in the world you’re gonna just be okay with sleeping in one-star hotels?” “If that’s what it takes.” Akechi tries to brush past him. Before he can think, Ren snaps, “Attic trash.” The reaction is instantaneous and delightful. Akechi stiffens like he’s been electrocuted. Morgana lets out an “ooooh!” and finally turns his attention fully away from his meal— not an easy feat to get him to do. “What did you say?” Akechi growls, head tilting back towards him incrementally.

Akechi manages to catch the caller ID before Amamiya snatches his phone off the mattress. It’s Sae-san. Amamiya stares at the screen and visibly braces himself, taking a deep breath before hitting accept. To Akechi’s surprise, he puts it on speaker. Sae seems to know better than to wait for Amamiya to start speaking. “You were supposed to start school yesterday.” Amamiya’s head dips. It’s hard to make out his expression behind his mess of hair. “I’ve received word you haven’t returned to Inaba. Obviously.” Morgana’s head perks up and he glares at Amamiya, as if to say, ‘I told you so.’ “Care to tell me why?” Amamiya clears his throat and finally says, “There’s been some… complications.”

“How about…” Sumire suggests lightly, “… you ask me something?” “What?” “Like… I don’t know. What do you want to know? I lived in the… ‘distortion’ for the longest. I probably know the most.” “Are you trying to disprove the truth or give me advice on how to spend the rest of my life under someone else’s control?” “Um… I guess that depends on what you ask?” Akechi glares at her to try and make her stop. She does not stop. She just keeps smiling at him pleasantly. This is so stupid. “Did…” He pauses, rubs a hand down his face. This is so stupid. “Did it feel different?”

“My friends are all gone and my parents hate me. This isn’t my happy ending,” Amamiya says, almost choked. “Then I’m your only prize.” “I didn’t do anything,” He insists, “and I don’t see you that way. I don’t know what’s going on. I was mad when I saw you because I thought you lied. You can’t— why would I do that if I knew you were alive? I didn’t go looking for you, I was just going home.” “We both know you’re just as good of an actor as I am.” “Morgana can back me up. I can’t— I can’t force you to believe me, but I’m telling the truth. I couldn’t fake this. When have I ever sounded like this before?” Admittedly, Amamiya’s tone is desperate, thick and strained with emotion under its surface tension of calm. The last time Akechi had heard him like this, to answer his question, was that night they'd given Maruki the calling card.

just really fucking amused myself by writing this line of narration in a fic that currently has this tag on it