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The first occurrence on November 14th happens about half an hour after he wakes up. Akito Shinonome slowly stretches as he gains awareness of his surroundings. It has been two days since his 22nd birthday, and it is two days until his girlfriend’s 22nd birthday.
Atena Amane remains asleep beside him, curled up against his chest as small snores fall from her mouth, an almost invisible droplet of drool threatening to roll down her chin as she snoozes contentedly against her boyfriend.
If that was all that had happened, Akito wouldn't be complaining.
As he slowly gains awareness of his surroundings, growing physically aware of his beloved girlfriend against his chest, he hears a distant shuffling from the adjacent queen-sized bed - his nemesis, it seems, has arisen.
Well, no - nemesis would be a harsh descriptor. His roommate (that he dislikes), he decides, Rui Kamishiro stretches out as he emerges from the covers. The peculiarly shaped, purple-colored closet creaks open, there's a quiet rustling of fabric and the door creaks shut as Rui slinks out of the room into the kitchen.
Akito, of course, grows suspicious. Rui, on a normal day (presuming the pair are still asleep) would have strode his way over and shook Akito awake - “you’ll be late to work, Shinonome-kun” is the excuse he's usually hit with, though Akito knows full well it's yet another way to torment him. He perseveres, however - his girlfriend doesn't hate Rui, thus he acts accordingly. Some sacrifices are unfortunately necessary when you're in love.
There's a few moments of peaceful and oh so blissful silence as he admires Atena - watching the gentle rise and fall of her chest in tandem with her quiet snores, the way her dark curls cascade over the equally dark pillows, the gentle flutter of her eyelashes as she instinctively shifts closer - then the covers rustle. Oh, no, Akito thinks, praying he's misheard-
… his other roommate is awake.
Akito braces himself as Mikiso Saito clamors out from under their bedsheets, hopping towards their closet with infinitely less grace than Rui had just a few moments prior. Akito does notice, vaguely, that they're a lot less… irritating than usual.
Normally, Mikiso sprints over to the pair’s bed and climbs in with Atena, snuggling into her until she wakes up and entirely depriving poor Akito of his early morning Girlfriend Time™.
No, dear reader, on this particular morning Mikiso simply grabs one of their unusual outfits and hops their way into the corridor, not even so much as waving in Akito's direction - strange, he thinks, since he knows that they know that Akito is certainly awake at this hour.
He sighs, running a hand through his tousled ginger locks before ever so carefully pulling Atena closer to him. He gently teases his lips over his sleeping princess’s neck, the warmth seemingly having been enough to awaken her.
She lets out a quiet, husky groan as she begins to stir, evidently disgruntled by the foreign sensation along her neck. An eyelid lazily flickers open in accusation, her deep-green iris contracting as Atena ever so slowly grows aware of the situation she's in.
“Mornin’, princess,” Akito murmurs against her pale, lightly-freckled skin. She grunts softly in response, eye shutting again as she gently butts her head against her partner’s, not much unlike a kitten - something Akito stores in his mind, something that he's most certainly going to be thinking about later. “Hush,” Atena murmurs.
“Hey, there’s no need for that,” he replies softly with a crooked grin, slowly raising a weathered hand to the back of her head and carding through the fluffy black and blue mess, slowly working out the few loose knots she had achieved in her sleep, one-by-one. Atena lets out a relaxed sigh as she shifts, face resting comfortably in the crook of his neck - almost as though tucked in, like Akito is a blanket of some sort, a role he takes on as though his life is dependent on it.
Akito resists the urge to comment as his partner borderline purrs at the sensation, soft, rhythmic, and perfectly monotone humming vibrating against his chest sparking some sort of indescribable urge. He pulls her just a bit closer, resting his nose against the familiar curls, soaking in the comforting scent of her cheap, apple-scented shampoo.
His domestic fantasy is, of course, cut short by his awful, terrible roommates.
“Atena!! Akito!!” calls out Mikiso excitedly as they toss handfuls of paper confetti into the pair’s bed, “happy mid-birthday-thing!!!” Rui laughs from behind, handing the excited… creature, Akito’s settled on, a button of some sort with his typical mischievous smirk.
Akito, in defense of Rui, has learned in due course that the man isn't terrible - yes, he can be annoying, and yes, he is objectively odd, but he has helped Akito on more occasions than he'd like to admit. He holds some begrudging respect for the madman, as irritating as he may be.
Akito does not hold the same sentiment towards Mikiso. They're dating his girlfriend, for one - that alone is, to put it frankly, a bit annoying. He couldn't possibly count the amount of times they'd interrupted his Girlfriend Time™ to talk, to snuggle, to show her a cool bug or whatever else had possessed them at that moment in time.
Rui, at least, has some semblance of an understanding of basic social cues - he knows when to tone it down, to be quiet, to step back and leave Akito alone. Mikiso, on the other hand, would not be able to identify social cues if they were somehow humanoid and stood in front of them with a nametag on.
He does his absolute best to be polite to Mikiso. He really does. But on the morning of his and Atena’s awkward shared mid-birthday-thing, as she had once dubbed it a few years back, to be rudely interrupted during his Girlfriend Time™ by one over-excited rambler and one madman with a confetti cannon - Akito is really, really testing the limits of his kindness.
Atena jumps slightly at the explosive noise and the sudden scent of gunpowder, and Akito isn't particularly impressed as his freshly-made bed is absolutely drowned in shitty paper confetti that really wants to find its way into every possible crevice of the sheets, honestly.
“Do you mind?!” he asks incredulously, clutching his beloved girlfriend to his chest as she quickly blinks awake. “Th’hell is your goddamn problem-”
“Akito, relax,” Atena murmurs as she slides her hand carefully over his mouth. “Birthday.” His protest dies in his throat at the feeling of her slender hand and the sound of her monotone voice, still absolutely drenched in exhaustion and deeper than usual - there's no way in hell he's going to argue. Some sacrifices are unfortunately necessary when you're in love.
Akito sighs, begrudgingly shutting up as Atena gently and oh so politely encourages her girlfriend to explain why exactly they'd just set off an improvised explosive over her bed at nine in the morning with a soft, tender smile. Akito admires that about her, truly - how the hell is she so nice to someone who is so, so irritating? How is she dating someone who is so, so irritating?
Akito lets out a pained grunt as Mikiso jumps on top of him without warning, lungs working overtime as he tries desperately not to choke on his own spit in front of his girlfriend. Atena, on the other hand, is spared from such a fate when Mikiso gently squirms their way between her and Akito for a cuddle.
Akito's arm, one that is currently just barely around Atena’s waist, is begrudgingly retracted as he slinks defeatedly out of bed - he locks eyes with Atena in a silent plea, please god can you kick them out I was not even remotely done, but she simply grins and flicks her hand - that's a no.
With an admittedly over-exaggerated groan, Akito skulks over to his comparatively-minute closet and fishes around for something relatively nice (because really, there's only so many ways to wear a jacket and sweatpants). Once he settles upon an outfit (a plain white T-shirt, plain black sweatpants and his pastel yellow hoodie) he begrudgingly begins to explore the shared closet for Atena’s clothes.
Why the hell Rui had insisted on repairing the clunky hunk of shit, Akito will quite possibly never understand - he hates the closet, though, and had insisted upon buying his own standalone storage unit.
Atena, however, is not too bothered either way. He doesn't understand why she stores her clothes in the bright purple DIY nightmare, but in all honesty it's the least of his problems so he chooses not to comment. He stares forlornly over at his girlfriend and her girlfriend, leaving her favorite cropped T-shirt and hoodie as well as a pair of black leggings at the end of the bed - they'll get up eventually.
Atena smiles, murmuring a near-inaudible “thank you” to Akito as he slips out of the door, still that deep and sleep-ridden voice that leaves him with butterflies - no matter how long they spend together, he still has to make an active effort to fight the dumb blush that threatens to dust his cheeks whenever she so much as looks at him.
Akito wrestles his way into the sweatpants as he quickly hobbles down the hallway away from their pointlessly large bedroom and down towards the bathroom, slipping into the door and running the hot water with a huff. He adds too much toothpaste to the overworked bristles and runs it under the stream, sighing as he spits out the minty foam and washes it away. He slides his shirt and hoodie on, letting out a loud, irritated groan to himself.
Today is going to be a long day, he's realised.
When he slinks into the kitchen, Akito spots Rui laboring over the battered silver bowl that they really need to replace (why haven't they replaced it, Mikiso could afford a whole new kitchen without batting an eye), letting out a reluctant sigh as he inches closer.
“Ah, Shinonome-kun. Good morning,” Rui replies as he shifts the bowl just out of the ginger’s view. “Shut it,” Akito replies with a huff - Rui gasps.
“How cruel! You wound me so, Shinonome-kun,” he whines with his typical mischievous smirk. “After I go out of my way on my weekend off to make you breakfast-”
“Pancakes?” Akito interjects, cringing the moment the desperate word leaves his mouth. It's unfortunate how well Rui knows him, though of course it makes sense - when you've spent the last few years living with someone you grow to understand (or despise) them whether you like it or not.
“Like a book,” Rui laughs quietly after a moment of painful silence, stirring one last time before disposing of the whisk and carefully pushing the fridge door open.
“Th'hell’s that meant to mean?” Akito sneers with an accusatory glare as he peers into the bowl - pancake batter, he can tell by the consistency. It is odd, however - seemingly stained a light pink. Clearly a creative decision Mikiso had control over, he thinks.
Rui grins as he shifts the contents around, nudging the covered cake (is it cake? At least, Akito presumes it is) back ever so slightly and placing the bowl atop an admittedly not very clean shelf. “Nothing you need to worry about,” is all he says before he walks to the sink.
Akito sighs, seemingly having given up on the idea of acquiring additional information. Instead, he decides to see what Atena is doing (is she dressed? Is she out of bed? Is she finally done cuddling with Mikiso?).
Mikiso skips past him before he's even made it to the doorframe, singing to themself about “strawberries and blueberries and chocolate syrup.” Akito takes the opportunity to finally cuddle with his beloved girlfriend after an agonising ten minutes of not cuddling with his beloved girlfriend.
He raps twice on the poorly painted wood, there's a muffled “come in,” and Akito slips into the room as quietly as possible, shutting the door with as little force as he can. Atena sits on the side of her bed in her leggings and shirt, the hoodie still resting atop the covers.
“Need a hand?” he asks with a playful grin, Atena rolls her eyes but doesn't protest. The hoodie finds its way into his hands in seconds and is promptly slipped over the woman’s head, “armhole’s here, babe,” and “let me get your hair outta there.”
He smiles softly to himself as Atena finally looks up at him, the sleep having long since faded from her tear ducts. Deep-green eyes lock with olive, she smiles and Akito follows.
“Happy, uh… almost birthday, ‘Tena,” Akito says softly as he pulls his coveted girlfriend into his lap. She lets out a thoughtful hum, pressing her face up against his chest.
“Ditto,” she replies - if it were anyone else Akito would be livid, really, at such a dismissive response. But when it's Atena, he knows full well she means it with her whole heart.
He slides a hand underneath her chin and gently pries her face away from his torso, taking just a few moments to admire her.
Atena is gorgeous - this much is a fact, at least to Akito. Atena is gorgeous when she puts on her makeup and her heavy eyeliner and brushes through her thick and fluffy hair. Atena is gorgeous when she's in a skintight dress and heels.
But to Akito (and to Mikiso, though he tries not to think about it), Atena is gorgeous in as little as her loose, striped blue pajamas and her stupid fuzzy socks. Atena is gorgeous when her face is devoid of even so much as foundation, when freckles and faded acne scars dot across her pale skin, when her hair is frizzy and her eyes are heavy because she's just woken up.
Right now, Atena stares up at Akito with sleep-ridden eyes, terracotta freckles tacked across her perfect skin - when he meets with those gorgeous, deep-green eyes - Akito knows that he's fallen in love all over again.
“... must get up soon,” Atena murmurs - to herself or to Akito is debatable, but he responds nonetheless with a dejected groan. “Do we gotta? Can't we just, y'know… spend th’day all cuddled up or whatever?” he chances, but Atena simply shakes her head.
“... Miki’s been planning for weeks, so no.”
His grip on her tightens, just slightly. Akito doesn't dislike Mikiso. He doesn't particularly dislike the fact that they're dating Atena as well - he doesn't understand why she's with two people, but he doesn't have a problem with it necessarily (though some days he gets close, especially when Mikiso crawls on top of him when he's trying to have Girlfriend Time™). Plus, they pay for quite literally everything, so Akito's decided he'll endure the terrible, awful living situation. Anything for his beloved Atena. (Also because it's free, but that's less relevant.)
“Fine,” Akito grumbles. “I get it, we gotta go out, whatever. Can we at least have five minutes, babe?” Atena nods, that's fine goes unsaid as she snuggles against his chest again.
Five painfully short moments fly by in an instant, the pair simply cuddling in silence as Akito runs his fingers through her beautiful, soft hair. Unfortunately, Akito can hear Mikiso hopping around just outside the door and waiting for them to leave.
He ignores them. Not his girlfriend, not his problem.
“Atenaaaa,” whines Mikiso from outside after one last blissful moment of silence. “It's time to get up so can I please come in pretty please or is it a bad time to come in?”
“‘s fine,” Akito calls back before Atena can speak - perhaps if he actually attempts to fraternise with Mikiso, she'll reward him somehow, or at the very least be impressed.
“Yay!!” they yell, slamming the door open with such gusto that the door handle crunches against the wall and leaves a dent - Mikiso doesn't notice (or care), running over to the bed and scooping Atena out of Akito's grasp, much to his thinly veiled displeasure.
Atena simply doesn't protest - she's used to being carried around by the pair of them by now. She's mostly grown out of her fear, though does still get a bit jumpy on occasion assuming she's startled without warning.
Akito stomps out behind them both, sitting with a grunt at the head of the table and trying oh so hard not to allow the sweet scent of pancakes made just the way he likes them to quell his righteous (read: petty) anger. Mikiso plants Atena into an adjacent chair and receives a quiet “thank you” before they skitter off to the countertop.
Akito gestures for Atena to stand, and so she does and is promptly pulled into his lap with no complaints. “Babe,” he whispers exasperatedly, “do we really have to-”
Atena presses a finger to his lips, effectively silencing him. She lets out a gentle laugh as he sighs against her index, offering him a peck on the lips as some form of consolation - one that, considering how his afternoon is looking, is sorely needed. Six years into their relationship and Akito still isn't fully used to these domestic moments, the butterflies in his stomach fluttering at full force as their lips connect for just a moment.
“Pancakes pancakes pancakes time!!! Pancakes for the happy couple,” Mikiso sings as they set two equally stacked plates at the head of the table before the pair. “Hold on!!”
Akito immediately notices the shape - each one is a perfectly formed love heart, presumably Rui’s doing. As much as Akito wants to protest, they're too girly and the like, he swallows his argument when he spots the gentle curl of his partner’s soft lips. Some sacrifices are unfortunately necessary when you're in love.
“... they smell nice,” Akito admits begrudgingly, trying oh so desperately to be kind for Atena's sake. Mikiso claps excitedly, hopping in place, “oh yay yay yay!!” they exclaim, “I'm cutting the strawberries and blueberries!!”
A moment later a loaded plate of diced berries is placed before the pair, a can of whipped cream is added a moment later and finally they're offered multiple different types of chocolate syrup. “Enjoooooy!” Mikiso hums, bouncing idly before deciding to latch on to Rui.
Akito watches with a raised eyebrow, choosing not to say anything lest he “accidentally” be unkind. Atena utters a quiet “thank you,” and he grunts affirmatively in turn.
Akito holds one of her slender hands, cutting into the thick, fluffy pancake with the other before offering a mouthful to his girlfriend with a wry smile. “Open up, princess,” he grins - she rolls her eyes but obeys regardless, chewing slowly as the familiar texture slowly coats her tongue.
“... ‘s good,” she murmurs. Akito nods and takes a bite himself (really, it would have been more gentlemanly of him to try the pancakes first knowing Mikiso and Rui), letting out a contented hum as the perfectly sweet pancake coats his own mouth in turn.
“Not bad, Kamishiro,” Akito admits with a grin - he doesn't like to compliment the inventor, really, but on occasion the man can make a mean meal (without vegetables, of course). Rui lets out a warm laugh and offers the ginger a sly wink (perhaps as a thank you, perhaps as something more nefarious - Akito doesn't want to find out, in all honesty).
Mikiso claps quietly to themself, hopping in place as per usual while they handle the cleanup, Rui sitting at the opposite end of the dining table and observing the pair eating. Akito winces at the sudden squeal - Mikiso has finished tidying, it seems.
“Awhh, Atenatenatena!!! That's soooo super duper ultra really really cute,” they whine, taking her hands (much to Akito's dismay) and interlacing their fingers. She simply smiles in turn, humming contentedly as they bestow kiss after kiss across her entire face before finally zeroing in on her lips.
Akito suddenly finds the floor extremely interesting. He pretends that his girlfriend is not making out with her girlfriend in front of him (while still sitting on his lap, for Christ's sake) and instead watches a singular ant wander around by his feet.
After what feels like a thousand years but in reality is around thirty seconds, maybe forty at a stretch, Mikiso pulls back to begin applauding again. Why the hell, Akito doesn't know, but it seems like they're always moving from the moment they arise until the moment they pass out in bed, far too late into the night.
They sing gibberish to themself as they wander over to Rui, contentedly throwing themself on top of him and nuzzling into his side with a strikingly realistic meow. Rui threads a hand through their frizzy ponytail with a soft smile, gently working his way through their knots - the way Atena does. The way Akito does.
“Do either of you need to do anything before we leave, Shinonome-kun?” Rui asks, still detangling Mikiso’s infinite ponytail. Akito blinks - leave? They're leaving? Going somewhere, in public, with Mikiso Saito and Rui Kamishiro…?
“... uh…” is all he can really utter, sighing as the sound leaves his mouth. Akito really, really does not want to be seen in public with either of them. Being around Rui in public is bad enough, but being seen with Mikiso at the same time is a special kind of torment that seemingly has been invented specifically to punish Akito for some crime he didn't realise he had committed.
It appears that today is the day Akito will atone for his sins.
“I need to do my makeup,” Atena murmurs, a saving grace that snaps Akito out of his very distressing train of thought - makeup, that's right. Her signature blue lipstick, the one almost the exact same shade as the ends of her hair, the same lipstick that's been trailed along his jawline more times than he could count…
Along with other things, of course. Like… concealer, that's right. And other such products.
Akito doesn't wait for Rui to respond before he scoops his dear princess into his arms and carries her back to their bedroom, setting her down at the needlessly lush vanity. “So, uh… leaving, huh?” Akito mutters as he watches her pour out some skin-colored liquid.
“Yes,” Atena replies as she covers her freckles with the fluid.
There's a moment of silence where Akito waits to see if she plans to elaborate - she does not. “D’ya know, like… where?” Akito asks, and she shakes her head.
Akito loves Atena. Trying to get information from Atena is not much different from pulling teeth. But he loves her.
The goopy sound of application is all he can hear, a dark… thing pressed to Atena’s eyelids and suddenly her eyelashes are longer, she pulls out a pencil-shaped thing and all of a sudden her dramatic eyeliner appears in one fell swoop.
Akito rests his chin atop her head, letting out a contented sigh as his arms not-so-subtly snake their way around her. Atena smiles up at him in the mirror, not adding any commentary as she slathers that beautiful, rich blue over her upper lip.
“Y’ever plannin’ on gettin’ that lip ring?” Akito asks as he blatantly watches her every move. “Or was that some fantasy kinda thing that ain't actually gonna happen?”
Atena shrugs as she spritzes her face with some odd scented spray that manages to go directly up Akito's nose. He fights the urge to recoil, but loses, sputtering as he doubles over. “Hell’s that, ‘Tena?” he coughs, “fuckin’ hurts…”
“... setting spray,” she murmurs in response, gently combing her hair back into place before standing up and slipping a hand into Akito's hair, awkwardly patting his head like some sort of frightened animal as he regains his bearings.
“... oh,” he replies - he does vaguely know what that is, Ena had told him a little about it many, many moons ago when they still lived under the same roof, before he'd met Atena (and Mikiso by extension), before he'd began dating the love of his life (and a weird freak thing by extension).
Akito does not have time to reflect on his life, unfortunately, because Mikiso is seemingly growing antsy as the sands of time slowly slip away through the hourglass.
“Ateeeenaaaaa!” they whimper from outside, tone bordering on a kicked puppy. “Atena, Akito, come on come on come onnn… we gotta go because we have a ton of things today and we can't be late ever ever ever or I'll be so so so sad…”
Akito lets out a sigh, cherishing the last few seconds of Girlfriend Time™ he has left before Atena drags him back outside and down the hallway to meet with Mikiso and Rui. They barely have time to grab a bag each before Mikiso begins to excitedly drag Atena out the door with a surprising amount of force for a “thing” (which Mikiso had explained that they identify as some time ago) as physically undefined as they are. Some sacrifices are unfortunately necessary when you're in love.
Akito follows along at a slight distance - he loves Atena more than anything, he truly, truly does. But there is quite literally no way in hell Akito is willing to hold hands with Mikiso Saito even by proxy when under the scrutiny of the public eye. He sighs to himself, watching Mikiso chatter to Atena who listens with no quarrel, lamenting that he isn't the one clinging to her.
… Akito could be the one clinging to Atena, he realises. All it would take is walking with Mikiso and Rui.
… fuck it, he sighs. He's going to be around the horrible pair regardless - may as well hold his girlfriend all the while. An arm snakes its way around Atena’s waist, giving the woman a gentle squeeze, a silent reassurance, not goin’ anywhere, babe.
Akito does his best impression of Guy that Doesn't Know These Other Guys (Except the Pretty One) as Mikiso sprints excitedly through the mall, stopping at every single door without failure and insisting Atena peruse their wares.
Admittedly, Akito does find himself coveting an item or two and having it snatched from his hands, placed directly into Mikiso’s overflowing basket and bought without question - one of very, very few good things about living with them is that they're generous. They have seemingly unlimited wealth that even they themself don't fully have a grasp on, handing out money like it's water.
He utters a begrudged “thanks” as he's handed his stupidly large department store shopping bag containing One Bottle of expensive cologne and one black lipstick that for some reason Mikiso assumed he wanted to wear (he does technically, by extension, but that's neither here nor there.)
“Need some help with that, princess?” Akito asks with a shit-eating grin as his dearly beloved girlfriend is handed a bag containing about 90% of the mall as though it weighed nothing.
“Please,” Atena sputters, depositing the needlessly heavy bag onto the ground with a cough. She takes Akito’s comparatively weightless bag without complaint, smiling gently to herself as their fingers brush.
Akito takes her (admittedly lighter than he'd expected) bag with no struggle, letting out a soft sigh. “Need to get you to th’gym or somethin’, babe. This don't weigh that much…”
I kinda like that you need my help, he thinks to himself as Atena laces her free hand into his - he won't admit it, of course, but Akito is certain she knows.
Akito continues to perform his Oscar-worthy role as Mikiso and Rui drag the pair out to lunch. Akito, of course, does not speak much - the occasional murmur into Atena’s soft hair, a near-inaudible laugh as she takes a bite off the end of his fork without asking, the like.
He pretends that Mikiso laughing and talking loudly doesn't disturb him even in the slightest, focusing all of his attention on the girl before him as he tries so desperately to act as though he's out as a pair and not a quartet.
Akito buries his face in the back of Atena’s head as the pair is sat beside Mikiso in the audience of the Wonder Stage - Akito pretends his name is Not Akito Shinonome, making a mental note to berate Tsukasa for his subpar impression the next time they speak. He inches slightly away from Mikiso who holds one of his girlfriend's soft hands, unfortunately anchoring him to the odd being - he pretends he somehow cannot hear the ear-piercing squealing and loud cheering, gently playing with Atena’s hoodie in some weak attempt to ground himself.
Rui is made the evidently rather willing recipient of a certified Death Stare from across the table as he gleefully lets the waitress know that it's the couples’ birthday with a clearly malicious grin. Akito glares down at the slice of cake, fighting the urge to hurl it at Rui (just a little bit), instead channelling his raw emotions into gently rubbing his girlfriend’s waist just beneath the hem of her hoodie. He pretends to be deaf as the pair sing Happy Birthday alongside the poor wait staff, counting to ten a few times in his head until they finally shut up - Atena lets out a hum of approval as she blows out her candle, and his homicidal urge in turn subsides, even if only for a moment.
“Today was sooooo fun!” Mikiso chirps as they hop into their shitty apartment behind everyone else, taking Rui by the hand and twirling him around their foyer (much to Akito’s confusion). “Operation plan thing Atena and Akito mid-birthday-thing was a super duper ultra awesome success!!” they sing, clapping happily - Rui laughs politely and applauds in turn, bemused by Mikiso’s enthusiasm.
“Indeed it was, Miki-kun,” Rui replies with a smile, humming as they pick him up and begin to spin around. Akito takes this moment to scoop up his girlfriend and skulk off to the bedroom, letting out a deep, relieved sigh as about twelve hours of tension dissipates from his shoulders when the door clicks shut.
“God,” he groans as he plops Atena down on the double bed and grabs her pajamas, “longest day of my entire fuckin’ life.”
Atena simply lets out a huffy laugh, pulling her hoodie off and her shirt in turn, Akito averting his eyes so as to offer her privacy - he's a gentleman, or so he likes to think. He sits at the end of the bed and stretches out, chucking his shirt into the pile of messy clothes that really needs to be washed.
“Done,” Atena murmurs. Akito grins, crawling into bed and with no hesitation pulling his beloved girlfriend up to his chest, letting out a long exhale into her apple-scented hair.
“I dunno how the whole thing would work,” Akito mutters after a moment of silence. “But I'm gonna… gonna propose first,” he vows - Akito Shinonome will not lose to that purple freak, he's decided.
Atena laughs again, shrugging as she gently butts her head against his chin. “I don't mind,” she murmurs. “I'm content the way we are.”
“Yeah, well… whatever. Still gonna do it,” he replies with a huff, rustling her hair. A soft grin slowly crosses the ginger’s face as he listens to the quiet breaths his partner takes, feels the rise and fall against his chest.
Akito’s quality Girlfriend Time™ is, of course, interrupted by his awful, terrible roommates.
“Atenaaaa!!” calls an extremely annoying and yet unfortunately familiar voice from down the hallway, slamming the door open with little regard for whatever birthday related activities may be occurring within the room - whatever, Akito thinks, he'll have to politely remind them for the umpteenth time to knock later.
Mikiso clamors into the pair’s bed, nuzzling into Akito for some God-forsaken reason instead of climbing over him. Presumably something Rui’s manipulated then into doing, he sighs.
“Did you have a good birthday party Atenananana and also Akito?!” they sing into his back, seemingly unaware of (or unbothered by) how insanely uncomfortable Akito is feeling. He looks at Atena. He sees the look in Atena’s eyes, sees how expectant Atena is as she tells Mikiso that she had indeed had a nice day - fuck.
“... yeah, it was… uh… fun,” he mutters with a begrudging nod, lying through his teeth. Mikiso grins, letting out an excited “yippee!!” as they squeeze him far too tightly - he doesn't so much as grunt. Akito’s made it this far, he simply cannot be put in the doghouse after all of his hard work today.
Akito does, however, let out a dissatisfied grumble when Rui decides to join the impromptu cuddle pile (in Akito's bed, nonetheless). Though when he realises what that means, when Mikiso lets go and cuddles into their favorite madman instead, he fights the urge to let out a sigh of relief.
When loud snoring begins to echo from behind Akito, he carefully turns and prods at Mikiso to ensure his prayers have truly been answered - they don't stir. Perhaps Akito should convert to some religion, since whatever deity is out there seems to like him, apparently.
Carefully, Atena is scooped into his arms and awkwardly manoeuvred over the sleeping duo, onto the ground and quietly out of the bedroom.
“... what are you doing, love…?” asks an exhausted Atena, visibly on the verge of falling asleep right here in his arms, not that Akito would mind, not one bit.
“Babe, you don't get it,” Akito replies, exasperated as he strolls into the living room. “I need a break. I need alone time with you, ‘Tena. I've been good, ain't I?”
She snorts in response, a hand weakly lifting as she prods her index against his nose. “Dramatic boy,” she murmurs with a gentle smile.
“You don't get it,” he replies. “I ain't got the energy to deal with those freaks,” Akito sighs as he sits on the thankfully very soft couch, carefully turning around and pulling his girlfriend on top of him like she's his favorite weighted blanket.
“How rude,” she replies with a half-lidded smile. “Miki and Rui have been nothing but hospitable to you, love.”
“Hospital my ass,” he huffs. “Rui’s the most irritating person I've ever met, ‘n’ your girlfriend ain't any better.”
“... even after all the effort they put in today, Akito?” she murmurs sadly, a slight frown tugging on the corners of her lips, shit.
Some sacrifices are unfortunately necessary when you're in love, Akito has realised.
“... guess they're not awful,” he mutters, kissing her forehead with a sigh. “So damn manipulative, princess,” he adds as he pulls the shitty thin blanket from the back of the couch over Atena.
She smiles in response, looking him in the eyes for just a moment before shifting up his torso and planting a soft kiss on his lips. “... can make out tomorrow,” she murmurs, “too tired now.”
“‘sat so, eh?” Akito says with a soft grin - there's a clear hint of disappointment in his tone as he laces his fingers through her windblown hair, gently working through the tangles. Atena nods, nuzzling her face into his weathered neck and placing soft kisses against the skin that leave him with that feeling of butterflies all over again.
“... sleepy,” she murmurs, the soft, repetitive motions of his fingers, surprisingly gentle against her tender scalp lulling her into a state of pure bliss.
“Tha’salright,” Akito replies, kissing her forehead. “Get some sleep, yeah? I'll be here in th’mornin’.” Atena nods, letting her eyelids flicker shut, the quiet sound of her soft snores slowly beginning to emanate from her small form.
“... night, princess,” Akito murmurs into her ear as he leaves one last kiss against the side of her head.
It's peaceful - a moment of silence, of pure uninterrupted solace with his dearly beloved girlfriend on their shared special day that he's managed to wrangle out of the hands of whatever God was certainly trying to kill him through an act of public humiliation.
He watches, for a moment, the girl who he is so deeply in love with, who is sprawled out across his chest in a state of inhumanely cute sleep. Listens to the soft sound of her breathing, gently fiddles with her hair, laughs to himself as she twitches in her sleep, dreaming.
Akito, today, has braved a gauntlet - a public excursion with Mikiso Saito and Rui Kamishiro. He's been brought to the brink of death by social humiliation, teetering on the edge for some twelve hours straight.
As his beloved, sweet darling angel girlfriend, Atena Amane, snores contentedly atop him, subconsciously snuggling into Akito's chest as she utters pure gibberish, Akito cannot help but think that he's the luckiest man alive.
The last thought that crosses his mind before slipping into the unintelligible void of sleep, the last moment he spends awake, is of his dearly beloved girlfriend. Akito sleeps content, knowing he will wake up in the morning with his girlfriend in his arms.
Perhaps his roommates will wake them, perhaps they'll irritate him or something worse, but in this moment - this moment of blissful silence - all that matters is that Akito Shinonome is content with his girlfriend asleep in his arms.