Happy Santa_Smex, asahii!
To: asahii
From:akahannah
Title: who needs love when you’ve got a gun?
Recipient's name: asahii
Rating: R
Pairing(s): Akutsu/Sengoku
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created by Konomi Takeshi. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Author's Notes: Many thanks to the Golden Pair who betaed for me, and Momo-chan who helped too. Happy holidays, asahii - I hope you enjoy the fic!
who needs love when you've got a gun?
So they say you're trouble boy
Just because you like to destroy
All the things that bring the idiots joy
Well what's wrong with a little destruction?
When Akutsu answers the door on Christmas Eve he's expecting people collecting for charity, or someone knocking on the wrong door, or possibly the police with an enquiry about the latest crime in this wonderful area. Later, with the benefit of hindsight, he realises he should have expected exactly who it turned out to be.
The man standing in the doorway has short cropped hair and a neatly trimmed goatee. He's wearing jeans and a battered leather jacket as though he thinks he's some kind of young stud, and sunglasses even though it's dark out. In one hand he has a dirty looking duffel bag, and in the other a bunch of flowers. He stinks of booze.
His name is Kai, and he's Akutsu's father.
Akutsu stares in shock for a moment, but recovers his composure quickly. "Well if it isn't Father fucking Christmas," he sneers.
"What kind of welcome is that for your long lost dad?" Kai slurs. "Why, I remember when you were little you'd come running all happy and excited to give your old man a great big hug and a kiss."
"Fuck off, asshole," says Akutsu, revolted by the idea, and tries to close the door in his face. His father is too quick for him, he stcks out his foot and jams it in the doorway. Akutsu slams the door against his leg several times but the bastard is so anaesthetised with alcohol that he probably can't even feel it.
"Not nice," Kai says, smirking. Akutsu would want to punch him, except he's damned if he's wasting any more energy than it took to open the door on this loser. "Is Yuuki-chan in?"
"No," Akutsu snarls. Not for you, he adds, in his head. He already knows how this is going to pan out - Kai will spend a couple of days having foul, noisy sex with Yuuki-chan, promise her the world, then fuck off like he always does leaving Akutsu to pick up the pieces.
Kai narrows his eyes. "Liar," he says, and begins calling Akutsu's mother's name in a loud, sing-song voice that probably has the neighbours' curtains twitching. Akutsu doesn't give a damn about what these nosey bastards think, but the yelling is going to wake his mother up and he wants to get rid of Kai before that happens.
"Shut up," Akutsu hisses. "Why don't you just leave? Neither of us wants you here."
It's too late. He hears his mother's footsteps in the hall behind him, and then an excited squeal, as though she's fourteen, not thirty four and old enough to know better. "Kai, you came back!" she says, her face lit up. "Jin, for god's sake let him in. I'm sure he must have travelled a long way to see us!"
Akutsu steps aside, because it's his mother asking, not because he wants to. Kai drops his bag on the floor, kicks the door closed behind him and presents the flowers - which look expensive so he probably stole them - to Yuuki-chan, all at the same time. "Baby, I missed you so much," he says. "You look as beautiful as always."
Yuuki-chan blushes. She's wearing one of Akutsu's old shirts that she uses to sleep in and has no makeup on, but she's not bad for her age at all. She could do so much better than this mangy bastard who leers like a pervert and only shows up when he's running short on teenage pussy to stick it into. Again, Akutsu experiences the urge to break something.
Kai leans in and whispers something in her ear, and she giggles and blushes. As they head hand-in-hand into her bedroom, Kai turns and winks at Akutsu. Akutsu stares blankly back until the door shuts. Then he flips the bird at the closed door, trying not to listen to the disgusting noises that have already begun. A quick search of Kai's bag turns up a bottle of cheap vodka. Akutsu opens it and takes a large swig, pulling a face at how cheap and nasty is tastes. It burns its way down to his stomach, leaving a not so unpleasant warmth running through him.
He has two options. Stay here and listen to his parents rut like a couple of mongrels, or go out and wander the streets in the cold. Neither idea seems particularly appealing.
His phone beeps and vibrates against him as he receives a text. He pulls the phone out of the ass pocket of his jeans and hits 'read message'. It's from Sengoku. Party party! Hot girls and free booze! Then there's an address that's only one stop away on the train.
He doesn't bother to shout goodbye as he leaves the flat, the vodka bottle tucked down the back of his jeans. They probably won't even notice he's gone.
The front door is open when he arrives so he lets himself in, nodding in greeting to a few people he knows. The party is already pretty rowdy, the music loud and many of the partygoers pretty drunk already. On the train some pissed salaryman gave him a can of beer, and he's been sneaking swigs of vodka while walking, so he's starting to feel a little buzzed too.
He goes through to the kitchen where the 'bar' is set up. It's mostly cans of beer, but there's a huge vat of what looks like toxic waste but is more likely punch. Akutsu cracks open a can and leans against the counter, taking in the atmosphere. A couple of older looking guys are leaning out of the window, smoking what smells unmistakeably like a joint. It smells fucking good and he wouldn't mind getting high tonight, but they don't offer and he doesn't ask.
A familiar voice calls out over the music. "You came! Lu~cky!" Akutsu raises an eyebrow in amusement as Sengoku pushes his way through the crowd in the hallway, a girl on each arm, like a ginger, Japanese James Bond.
"What's so lucky about that?" Akutsu asks coolly. To be fair, he doesn't hate Sengoku as much as he hates most other people, but all the same he wishes he'd give all that 'lucky' bullshit a rest every now and then.
"Funny you should ask," Sengoku says, opening beers first for the girls, then one for himself. "One of these lovely ladies here was asking after you. This is Haru," he adds, introducing the one on the right.
Akutsu looks Haru up and down without bothering to hide what he's doing. She sips at her beer and stares back at him a little insolently, and he likes that. Her skirt is short and her top tight, revealing a body that isn't quite toned, but her tits look like more than a handful, and her lipstick is red and shiny. She'll do.
"Ooh, I love this song!" the other girl says when the music changes to some cheesy bubblegum pop tune.
"Let's dance!" Sengoku says, taking her hand and leading her towards the dance floor in the living room, both of them clutching at their beers.
"So," says Akutsu.
"So," says Haru.
They stare at each other for a moment.
"Well, are we shagging or what?" Haru blurts out suddenly. "I have to be home by three."
For a brief moment, Akutsu thinks he might actually be in love. "Let's go somewhere a bit more private," he suggests.
They leave the kitchen and head for the stairs, pushing past several snogging couples. Halfway up, proving the rule that it's not a proper party until there's a crying girl on the stairs, some girl is bawling her eyes out, mascara and eyeliner smeared across her cheeks, while several of her friends attempt unsuccessfully to comfort her.
Haru stumbles a little over nothing on the very top step, obviously drunker than she looks, and Akutsu reaches out to steady her, snaking his arm around her back and taking the opportunity to brush his hand across her ass. She giggles and leans against him, her body small and soft.
The first three rooms they try are already occupied, but the fourth, obviously a child's bedroom with bunks and teddybears and the full works, is still empty. Akutsu locks the door behind them then guides Haru over to the bed. It's narrow and has Pokémon covers on it, hardly the sexiest setting, but it'll have to do. They sit down, and he takes out the vodka, and offers it to her.
She takes it, and, obviously trying to be cool, gulps it. Her eyes water a little but to give her credit, she manages to swallow it without gagging or making much of a face. When he takes the bottle back from her there are lipstick marks around the rim, and he wipes them off before he drinks a little more himself. Then he puts the cap back on it and puts it on the floor next to the bed.
"Shall we get started?" he says. "Seeing as you have to be home by three, and all." He'd quite like for her to be able to straddle his lap for a while as they make out so he can grab her ass and feel her squirm against him, but the upper bunk is too low for that to be a possibility. Instead he moves closer to her then lies back, pulling her down on top of him.
Her lips are caked greasily with lipstick, and he's sure it must be smearing all over his mouth and chin as they kiss messily, wet and open-mouthed and using way too much tongue. She moans when he slides his hand up her skirt, arches against his hand when he rubs roughly at the damp patch on her knickers. "I want you," she whispers, in a voice that curls around his dick like a hand and grips.
His jeans are definitely starting to become too tight, so he unbuckles his belt, and takes off his jeans and, as an afterthought, his boxers and his shirt too. Before he drops his clothes in a pile on the floor he remembers to pull a condom from his back pocket. He feels her go a little stiff next to him. He kind of wants to ask for a blowjob but it seems kind of like a waste of time when they're going do it properly soon anyway.
He kisses her again, mouths at her neck, her ear, her cleavage, until he feels her relax, going pliant like wet clay in his hands. "Why don't you touch it?" he suggests, rubbing against her. She shakes her head. Fair enough. Some girls seem to think that putting their hands on a dick is somehow worse than having it inside them. Or maybe she just doesn't want to waste any time and just wants to get down to it. He picks up the wrapped condom again and is about to tear it open with his teeth when she speaks.
"Is it going to hurt?"
He hears her say this as though she's talking from a great distance away, but somehow the words trickle their way through. He pauses, the condom packet gripped between his teeth. "What did you say?"
"Will it hurt?"
Shit. Shit. He spits the condom packet out. "You've never done it before?"
"N-no."
Akutsu scrambles away from her as though her skin has suddenly burned him. It might as well have, because he's not going to touch her again. "What the fuck?" His dick is throbbing and she's lying there with her legs spread and panting for it and he wants nothing more than to nail her but … god, what a fucking mess this is turning out to be.
"What's wrong?" she asks, starting to look a little uncomfortable, a little self-conscious. Maybe she's starting to sober up a little already. God knows he is.
"I don't do it with virgins," he says bluntly.
"But Megumi said that you …"
"Look sweetheart," Akutsu says flatly, pulling his jeans back on. "Whoever this Megumi is, you shouldn't listen to her because she's full of crap. If you're so desperate to lose it I'm sure there are plenty of guys willing to deal with that shit, but not me."
"Oh," she says. She's starting to cry which means it's his cue to get the hell out of here. "I-I'm sorry."
He buttons up his shirt, then picks up her clothes and piles them up on the bed next to her. "Get dressed," he says. "Dry your eyes and go find your friends."
He picks up his vodka and leaves the room before she can say anything back, quickly crossing the hall and ducking into the bathroom. Someone has puked in the bath and the sink, so he stands well back as he checks his reflection in the mirror, wiping off the lipstick with his hands and spiking his hair back up as best he can with no extra wax to add.
It's definitely time to get the hell out of here.
He pauses in the hallway to light a cigarette out of the icy wind, then steps outside, closing the door behind him, thankful to leave the bad, loud music behind him. It's quiet out here, apart from the sound of traffic in the distance, the occasional scream of the siren on an emergency vehicle, or yell from a drunk person on their way home. For the first few puffs of his cigarette he keeps his eyes closed, savouring the nicotine's effect on his frazzled nerves. When he opens his eyes again he spots a familiar orange haired figure sitting on the bottom step.
"Oi," he calls softly.
Sengoku turns and smiles. "Oh, it's you," he says. He's holding a beer can against his face with one hand, and a cigarette in the other. "How did it go?"
"Fucking virgin," says Akutsu. "You?"
"She had a boyfriend," Sengoku says ruefully, lowering the can so Akutsu can take a look at his jaw. Even in the orangey street lighting he can see an impressive bruise blossoming there.
"Thought you were supposed to be some kind of expert boxer, Lucky-kun."
"The boyfriend was an expert in karate," admits Sengoku. He takes a sip of the beer, then holds the cold can up to his face, obviously trying to numb the pain. "God, what a waste of a night. I guess I'll just go home …"
Akutsu glances at his watch. It's only a little past two, far too early for him to be going home, which means that if Sengoku leaves, it's going to be very boring indeed. "You might as well help me finish this," he says, putting the bottle of vodka, still at least two thirds full, down on the step beside Sengoku.
"… or I could stay out," Sengoku adds quickly, picking up the bottle. "We should go somewhere else, though. The boyfriend said he'd kick my ass if he saw me again."
They pass the bottle between them as they walk, their steps meandering more and more as it empties. There are still quite a few people out on the streets, most of them drunk salarymen or students, using the excuse of the upcoming new year to get thoroughly wasted and be as noisy as possible.
"You know what?" says Sengoku, as they pass under one of the railway bridges. "We should play tennis."
"Idiot," says Akutsu, thinking that Sengoku has probably had quite enough alcohol by now. "We don't have any tennis stuff with us."
"Imaginary tennis," Sengoku amends, giggling slightly as though he's just made a hilarious joke. In his mind, maybe he has.
"Jesus," says Akutsu darkly. He throws back his head and empties the rest of the contents of the bottle down his throat. "Did you drink the punch or something?"
"Only a little. Look, look, the street courts are over there. Let's play!"
Much to his surprise, the gates are unlocked, even at this time of night. Sengoku runs ahead of him, whooping like a crazy person as he hurdles the net, somehow managing not to catch his foot and trip.
"Okay," says Sengoku, assuming his usual service stance, grasping an imaginary racket and bouncing an imaginary ball. "You ready?"
"Whatever," Akutsu calls back.
Sengoku tosses the ball up in the air, leaps up after it and smashes the ball in the direction of Akutsu's half of the court.
"Yes!" Sengoku cheers, jumping up and down. "Service ace!"
"That was so out," Akutsu says, getting into the spirit of things in spite of himself. "Way over the line."
"Fine, have it your way," Sengoku says. "I'll give you those points, since you won't be getting any more. Ready? I'm going again!"
He mimes tossing the ball up in the air, then stops and stares somewhere over Akutsu's left shoulder.
"Did you lose the ball or something?" Akutsu yells, his tone mocking. "Did it just float off into space?"
Sengoku points over his shoulder. Akutsu turns to see some guy standing in the gateway, wearing a black t-shirt that shows off rippling muscles, and really tight jeans. The guy is looking past Akutsu, at Sengoku. "Oi," he yells. "You're the guy who was hitting on my girlfriend, aren't you? I'm going to teach you a lesson, you little shit." He cracks his knuckles.
Any normal, rational person would be in the process of climbing the chainlink fence really fast right about now. Instead, Sengoku walks around the net to stand next to Akutsu. "It was a misunderstanding," he says. "We've already had this conversation and you've already had a pop at me, so why don't we just call it quits?"
"No chance," says the boyfriend, rippling his muscles like he thinks he's Rambo or something. "I'm not calling it quits until I've broken something. Preferably your face."
"How fast can you climb a chainlink fence?" Sengoku asks, under his breath.
"Let me handle this," Akutsu replies, equally quietly. "Seriously, it'll be my pleasure."
"I've got your back," says Sengoku, stepping aside to give him room.
Akutsu grins, and steps forward. "Look you idiot," he says. "He didn't know she had a boyfriend. How was he supposed to know if you weren't there and she was coming on to him? You should keep a closer eye on your girlfriend if you know she's like that."
"How dare you talk to me like that, brat! This is between me and your pal, not you. Just leave it alone and I promise I won't hurt you."
Akutsu chuckles, low and throaty.
"What?" says the boyfriend, looking uncertain for just a second. He covers it quickly but Akutsu knows he saw it, and the boyfriend knows he saw it too. "What the fuck are you laughing at, you little punk?"
Who's he calling a little punk? Akutsu steps closer still, so that he's looking down on the stockier guy. "You. I'm laughing at you. You see, I've had a really shit evening, and quite frankly I'm looking for a fight right about now. And if we fight, I promise you that I will beat you to a bloody pulp and then I'll keep right on going. Still game?"
"Some high school freshman like you can't fight me," says the boyfriend scornfully, but when he steps forward he moves into the light and Akutsu can see that there's fear in his eyes. Too fucking right. "I'd like to see you try."
"All right," says Akutsu. He picks up the empty vodka bottle, smashes the end of it off the edge of the bench and holds the jagged edge outwards. "Let's have it."
"W-wait!" says the boyfriend, holding his hands up as if that's going to protect him from needle sharp glass. "That's not fair!"
Akutsu shrugs, and turns to Sengoku. "Did you hear me say I fight fair?"
Sengoku grins. "Why no, I don't believe I did."
"Be a shame to mess up your face," Akutsu says. "Since you seem to be having so much trouble keeping the girlfriend you already have, I bet you'd really struggle to find another one with a face like a traffic accident."
"Maybe there's been some kind of mistake," says the boyfriend, his hands still raised.
"Maybe," says Akutsu.
"I'll go."
"You do that."
Akutsu watches him until he vanishes around the corner, then he turns and flings the vodka bottle against the practice wall, watching as it smashes into pieces. God damn it, he was actually really hoping for a fight.
"That was awesome!" says Sengoku, clapping him on the shoulder. "Way cool. I owe you one, big time."
"Fight me," says Akutsu.
"Huh?"
"Fight me and you won't owe me anymore. I just … I just want to. Right now. Come on."
Sengoku stares at him like he's gone crazy. "No glass," he says eventually, speaking slowly and carefully. "Or, er, knives, if you've got any of those hidden away anywhere."
"Yeah, yeah. No weapons," Akutsu agrees. "Let's go."
"All right," says Sengoku, and punches him in the gut.
Akutsu doubles over, winded, but when he looks up a couple of seconds later he's laughing silently. "You didn't hold back," he wheezes. "Good." He lunges at Sengoku, who's still nimble even though he's drunk, and steps aside, raising his hands in a boxing stance.
"Come on," says Sengoku. "I thought you said you wanted to fight. Stop pussying around and hit me."
"Fuck you," Akutsu growls, and staying low, dives at Sengoku, who obviously isn't expecting that. He gets too close for Sengoku to punch him, hits him in the chest with his head.
Sengoku lets out a surprised 'Oof' of air but doesn't go down. He's still on his toes, still dancing around like some kind of fucking fairy. "What happened today?" He punches at Akutsu's face, his knuckles scuffing at Akutsu's ear when he doesn't entirely manage to get out of the way.
"What?" Akutsu says, kicking out, his foot catching Sengoku in the side.
Sengoku stumbles, but again he doesn't fall. "You're so worked up."
"Don't want to talk about it," Akutsu says, just before his lip splits over his teeth when Sengoku catches him square in the mouth. "Fuck," he says, spitting blood. "You bastard, that really hurts."
He rushes at Sengoku, throwing his weight against him, and knocks him flat on the clay surface of the tennis court. Sengoku looks up at him, wincing, obviously expecting to get the crap kicked out of him. Instead Akutsu sighs, rolls off him and sits there on the ground. Unexpectedly he just doesn't have the heart for this after all, not when he doesn't really want to hurt Sengoku.
Next to him, Sengoku pulls himself up into a sitting position. "Seriously, Akutsu," he says. "What's the matter? You're being really strange tonight."
What's he supposed to say? That he's here because it's better than being at home and not being wanted? That he can't be there right now because his father being there makes him hate his mother too? "It's nothing. Don't be so fucking nosey."
"Shit, your lip's pretty bad," says Sengoku. He reaches out with his index finger and wipes from Akutsu's chin up to his lip. When he takes his finger away, it's dripping with blood.
"I've had worse," Akutsu says, watching Sengoku wipe the blood off on his shirt.
Sengoku lies back down again, pillowing his head on his arms. "Want to stay out all night?"
"Might as well," Akutsu replies, and he lies down next to him.
It's just after four. The sky is a browny orange, polluted from all the Tokyo lights, but if he squints it's not so hard to imagine that there are stars up there.
They're quiet for a long time, just staring above them and half-dozing. It's cold but comfortable enough with a jacket on. Some more booze might be nice, but this isn't a perfect world, and there's actually something sort of nice about slowly sobering up out here where it's so clear and peaceful.
It's so quiet now; apart from the occasional train passing over the bridge, they can't hear anything else. No traffic, no more drunk people. The only sound Akutsu can hear is Sengoku's breathing, slow and steady.
"You asleep?"
"Mmm," Sengoku breathes, and he stretches a little, like a lazy marmalade cat. "No."
"Good."
"What a weird night, though," Sengoku says, rolling over on his side to look at Akutsu. "Weird but … sort of fun too."
"Bah," says Akutsu, still staring straight up. "If this was fun, I'd hate to see your idea of a bad time."
"The only thing is …" Sengoku begins, then he trails off.
Akutsu waits for what seems like about half an hour. "You planning on finishing what you were saying anytime soon?"
Sengoku laughs, a little self-consciously. "It's just … god … I'm still as hard as a rock."
Akutsu laughs.
"Shut up, it's not funny."
"I know it's not. I'm laughing because I am too. Goddamn bitches leading us on like that."
"Nngh," Sengoku complains. "It's actually chafing against my jeans."
"Go and do something about it, then. I won't look."
"Hmm," Sengoku says, sounding thoughtful. He's quiet for a moment, then he reaches out and - what the fuck - puts his hand over the bulge in Akutsu's jeans.
"Whatareyoudoing?" Akutsu says, his voice coming out very high. He clears his throat, and repeats what he just said in a more manly voice, though he doesn't think to remove the hand. It feels sort of good there, though he would die rather than admit that out loud.
"I was just thinking," says Sengoku quietly, "it feels so much better when somebody else does it."
Akutsu closes his eyes briefly, most of his attention still on Sengoku's hand that's still there. "Not right here in the middle of the tennis court."
They scramble to their feet and walk quickly and rather awkwardly to the darkest corner, where the streetlamps don't reach. "You ever wanked off another guy before?" Akutsu asks. If he's going to do this, he'd rather it wasn't with someone who's gay or anything.
"Not really," says Sengoku obscurely. "How do you want to do this?"
"What?"
"Well, I mean, we could sit or stand or lean or lie down, then there's the option of kissing or not, and I don't know how -"
"Oi," Akutsu says, interrupting him mid-ramble.
"Huh?"
"Shut up," says Akutsu, and shoves him against the wall. Hard. "If we're going to do this, I don't want to talk about it too. That's just -"
"Weird?" Sengoku suggests, and even though Akutsu was planning on nixing the idea, Sengoku tilts his face up and Akutsu finds himself leaning down and then they're kind of kissing. It hurts a bit because his split lip keeps cracking open as their mouths move together, but then Sengoku swipes his tongue gently along the length of Akutsu's bottom lip, and it begins to tingle rather than actually be painful.
Sengoku's hands slide down to rest on his hips, then lower, grabbing his ass and pulling him in so they're pressed right together. The height difference is a little awkward until Sengoku raises himself up on his toes and Akutsu shifts a little and god that feels good. Just when Akutsu thinks he's actually going to come in his pants, Sengoku moves one of his hands from his ass and slides it between them, and Akutsu feels his belt buckle being undone, then the vibration of his zip being pulled down. He moves back a little so he can reciprocate, his hands strangely clumsy with a button and a zip when they are usually so deft with bra hooks and corset laces.
"If you come on my clothes, I'm going to kill you," Akutsu mumbles, as he pulls Sengoku's dick out of his pants. "Aaah," he adds, his knees half-buckling at the feel of Sengoku's hand on his own, his thumb running firmly but smoothly over the head.
"Feels good, does it?" Sengoku smirks. "Lu~cky."
"Just shut up and get me off," Akutsu growls. He grins, teeth bared, when something he does with his own hand makes Sengoku squeak.
They brace themselves there against the wall, foreheads pressed together, their harsh breathing the only sound that can be heard. Sengoku has his eyes closed, a tiny smile curving the corners of his lips. Akutsu keeps his eyes open, watching Sengoku's face for every twinge, every movement.
Sengoku doesn't let out any warning until just before he comes, when he lets out a groan. Akutsu feels the dick thicken in his hand and then Sengoku comes, mostly over Akutsu's jeans, but Akutsu really doesn't mind at that moment, just throws his head back and thrusts hard once, twice, three times against Sengoku's hand, then spills all over the other boy's fingers.
They cling together for a while, foreheads still pressed together, breathing slowing back down to its normal rate. Akutsu feels beads of sweat rolling down his back, making his shirt stick to him. Sengoku's eyes are open now, sparkling and crinkled at the corners because he's grinning. "I'm sorry I came on your clothes," he says. "You're not really going to kill me, are you?"
"Maybe later," says Akutsu, wiping at the sticky stain with a tissue he finds in his back pocket. He passes the tissue to Sengoku, who uses it to wipe his fingers, then drops it on the ground before attending to his open fly.
"So I should probably be heading home now, before my parents get up."
"Yeah," says Akutsu as he buckles up his belt. Maybe he can get a few hours of sleep before they wake up and start at it again. "Well, I'll see you at school I guess."
"Yeah. Merry Christmas."
"Whatever."
Akutsu's only taken a few steps before he realises there's something he still wants to say, and he'd better say it now rather than later. He turns to call after Sengoku but finds that the smaller boy hasn't moved yet. "Are we-" Akutsu begins, rather awkwardly.
"Can we-" Sengoku says, at the same time.
They both stop, and stare at each other.
"Makes sense, right?" says Sengoku.
"Keh. Obviously," says Akutsu.
Then they go their separate ways.
He unlocks the door quietly, but when he opens it he sees that all the lights in the house are on, and he can hear the television droning from the living room. The duffel bag isn't in the hallway anymore, but Akutsu doesn't know what to make of that. He hangs his jacket up on the back of the door, toes off his trainers, and pads down the carpeted hall into the living room.
Yuuki-chan is sitting on the sofa, a half empty bottle of red wine and one glass in front of her. There's a box of tissues next to her on the sofa, and she looks like she's been crying. Akutsu clears his throat, not wanting to suddenly appear in the room and startle her, and she turns to look up at him.
"Where …?" he says, a little awkwardly.
She shrugs. "Gone."
"…oh."
"I chucked him out."
"…oh?"
"Yeah. He tried to borrow money off me, and I just got to thinking about how he never gave me a penny towards you even when you were a baby. The next thing I knew, I'd thrown the bastard out." She's shivering, even though she's wearing a couple of layers and has a blanket around her too.
"I'm glad," he says.
"I thought you would be."
He goes into the kitchen and makes hot chocolate, a big mug of it for each of them. Then he takes it back through to the living room and Yuuki-chan lifts the blanket so he can come and sit with it around him too.
They sip their chocolate in comfortable silence, neither of them really watching what's on the television, some documentary about rare white tigers. Akutsu finishes his quickly, and puts the mug on the coffee table.
"I'm sorry," says Yuuki-chan after a long while. "I really am."
"What for?"
"For being so stupid. For putting you through this same thing every time he came around."
"It's okay," says Akutsu. "I'm used to women being crazy bitches by now. OW!" he adds, when Yuuki-chan hits him on the head with her empty mug.
"So rude," she scolds. "And what on earth have you done to your lip?" She leans closer to get a better look at it. "And you've been smoking and drinking, by the smell of you. What on earth am I going to do with you?"
"It's Christmas, woman," Akutsu says. "Spare me from your nagging for one day, eh?"
Yuuki-chan cuffs him on the head again, but this time it's done with her hand rather than the mug so it's really more of a ruffle of his hair. "For one day," she agrees, smiling. "So I'll have to remember to ask you about that dodgy looking white stain on your jeans tomorrow, hmm?"
Akutsu facepalms. But when she sighs softly and leans her head against his shoulder, he lets her, wrapping his arm around his mother's shoulders so she can sleep more comfortably.
Outside, the sun is beginning to come up, struggling to break through fluffy, heavy clouds that hang low in the sky, filled with the promise of snow.