Chapter Text
It's a dumb idea.
It's dumb and cliché and a million other things Akira can't name, but Goro could probably recite with the confidence of someone that read and corrected thesaurus websites for fun. Without having to pause or breaking a sweat.
It's dumb and it's cliché, and Akira was going to do it anyway.
The chocolate had been perfected days ago, the bangle purchased weeks before, the letter agonized about for hours, as well as an appropriate box and ribbon chosen, and he knew enough about Goro's schedule to know that he went straight home after student council meetings like today, not stopping again at his locker before leaving.
With today being the day before Valentine's Day it was the perfect opportunity to smuggle his little box inside. Waiting for most people to leave had been easy. Ann and Ryuji more than happy to take Morgana with them when he announced that he needed to look a few things up in the library. And even though Mona had protested at first, he'd caved when Akira had sent him a pleading look, begging him to not draw any attention to his unusual behavior. He was sure an interrogation would follow the moment the two of them were on their own again.
By then he'd be done and wouldn't mind the questions anymore. It had been hard enough to keep his preparations a secret, just so he wouldn't be tempted to second-guess himself.
Opening the locker was the far easier part. Funnily enough, it had been something Ann had taught him during his first weeks at Shujin, when she'd seen that he'd been assigned one that didn't accept the key half the time. Goro had tried the same, once they'd finally grown closer. Akira suspected that he might have been Ann's original teacher, but he'd never asked. He could certainly imagine her losing her keys again and again - something she still did - until the Student Council Vice President was fed up and showed the trick to her.
Despite being so prepared, he couldn't help but feel nervous, opening the door as fast as he could without making a sound, scanning first the hallway and then the contents.
Everything as it should be, organized in the way Goro always was, nothing out of place.
Nothing except for the little box Akira carefully set down in the middle of it all, sure that it would be the first thing Goro noticed. The red ribbon making it stand out so it couldn't be missed.
Goro would sneer and pretend to hate it, but hopefully also be curious and intrigued by the bold display. Open it up, see the letter, maybe try one of the chocolates, sure that he would hate the sweetness, only to be pleasantly surprised at the taste and then the contents of the note.
Or maybe he wouldn't be and Akira would have ruined their friendship/rivalry because he couldn't get his feelings under control. It made him want to snatch up the box again and hide it away where no one could find it. Throw it into a dark hole in Mementos, in the hopes some Shadow would rip it to pieces.
But this was his last chance before he might have to go back home, if his parents cared enough to order him to do so. If not, he could spend another year pining, but with everything they'd been through, being the Phantom Thieves, being betrayed, killing the God of Control and fighting their school counselor until he finally considered a career change, he was of the opinion that his courage should be enough to carry him through it. That there was no excuse to be a coward anymore.
And he was sure that he'd interpreted their tension, their rivalry and dynamic correctly.
How their long study sessions now always ended up with them being side-tracked debating and discussing whatever crossed their mind, the long evenings in Leblanc, in Jazz Jin, them playing darts and billiards, their training sessions in Mementos, the way Goro turned to him, always wanting his opinion, the glittering in his eyes after a successful fight, sometimes leaning close as if wanting to hear what a good job he'd done. All things that were no longer necessary, the idea of their rematch forgotten the moment it turned out that Goro was alive and well after the collapse of the ideal reality. Having worked tirelessly with the others to get Akira released, achieving his goal in record time.
He was sure it all meant something. That it was not just his brain trying to fool him into believing that Goro felt the same attraction he did.
Maybe it was a little cowardly to do it this way instead of confessing directly, but Arsène approved of his little scheme, almost purring at the idea of putting the ball into the former detective's court and being chased down. The thrill of it all exhilarating, as if they were returning to their original chase after changing masks and roles again and again.
The idea of it felt comforting to Akira, especially since Maruki's reality had left him in the role of the pursuer. A pursuer with an unwilling target, always two steps behind, never able to catch up when before it had been easy to do so. His friends being stuck in their perfect little dreams making it worse.
He and Goro had talked about it. Kind of. But between all the justifications he'd offered for coming to the same conclusion as Maruki, there had been something that he'd understood as an apology. Immediately adding that as they now could see, there had been no reason to be as dramatic as he'd been.
Akira had drily answered that he'd try to be less emotionally affected the next time he thought his favorite and only rival was dead. The embarrassed scowl he got in response had been worth it.
Carefully, he closed the locker, making sure not to cause any sounds that would attract someone to look for a possible club straggler.
Having the box out of sight filled him with unease, the result of staring at it for several days, imagining the reaction it would most likely get.
A furrowed brow, annoyance written all over his face, then a sigh to show this was all beneath him, while already being busy unraveling the ribbon, ready to judge the offering being made, but convinced it would never be up to par.
And everything after opening it would be up to him.
With a last look, a last temptation to change plans and take his confession back, which he resisted, Akira turned around and swiftly exited the school.
No regrets. Especially now.
It was hard to sit still during class. And from the whispers and giggles around him, others had the same problems. People kept sharing their crushes, the reactions to the chocolates, confessions that kept happening throughout the day, and gossiped about the amount of gifts certain guys had gotten.
He himself had gotten a small number of obligation chocolates, mostly from the members of the Thieves. Haru had ambushed him at the gate, handing over a gift for him and another one for Morgana, assuring him that the second was safe for cats. Ann had simply turned around and put a little box on his desk, declaring that it was a joint gift from her and Shiho.
Makoto had handed hers over to him and Ryuji during lunch, a warning attached not to use the roof today, as it was overrun with girls trying to confess their feelings, despite it being off limits. And a bit of bad taste in his opinion.
Sumire had joined them in the courtyard, and instead of chocolate, had prepared cookies for them. His mood had rivalled Ryuji's at the end, who had almost been bursting with happiness at being such a valued friend. Forgetting all about his previous moaning, when nothing had been waiting on his desk.
He hadn't seen Goro in between classes, and he wasn't sure what to expect when he finally would. Despite Akira being sure that his feelings were reciprocated to a certain degree, his actual reaction remained a mystery until it happened.
The possibility of rejection was still there, but he kept telling himself he'd be fine with that outcome. Unless Goro thought he was doing the noble thing because he didn't deserve good things after all he'd done. But that's why he included the letter. It had felt easier than trying to give a heartfelt speech about his emotions and feelings. He'd never been good at those. And the last few times he'd tried, he wasn't able to change anything.
There was the nagging feeling that this was just the beginning of Goro avoiding him to let him down gently, but he swallowed it down. He wouldn't assume anything until he had confirmation. Despite spending a lot of time together between classes, they'd never planned it out, sometimes being occupied with their friends or with school business in Goro's case. Not as much as before, since the new principal didn't leave most of his work to the student council, but it was enough to sometimes keep them busy.
And Valentine's Day apparently was one of those busy days.
With the last year being what it was, everyone seemed to be eager to make the most of it. Something Akira could definitely relate to.
When he finally saw Goro, it was after classes. He'd been cornered by the president of the newspaper club, who had dubbed him "not as scary as she thought" and given him some chocolate as thanks for talking to her all year.
It was the first chocolate from someone outside of the Thieves and he'd been stunned, not knowing what to say, when Morgana had stage-whispered about thanking her.
By the time he'd gotten the words out, most people had left the classrooms and hallways, and Ann had gone ahead to wait in front of the building.
Where he'd found her in an engaged discussion with Goro, who not only looked annoyed but downright exuded the feeling. One of his hands gripped a bag filled to the brim with colorful little packages, while Ann was rooting through a second one, letting out sounds of excitement in between answering him.
"Here I thought my sudden change of demeanor would have put them off."
She let out a mixture of a giggle and a snort, a purely Ann reaction, while looking at some of the gifts.
"This is just an unwrapped box of cookies! And I told you it would get worse. Since they don't know the-" she gestured at him, trying to think of a word before continuing. "-everything going on with you, you're now a kind of bad boy without the bad reputation."
Goro raised an eyebrow at her.
"Makes one wonder what they'd do if they knew about the crimes."
He stopped a few steps away, not willing to interrupt their conversation, knowing they'd noticed him from the way their faces lightened up at his presence.
One of the reasons he was able to deal with the rest of the rumors that never seemed to go away in this school. Because his friends did want him around and let him know it without a doubt.
"With Shujin you'll never know. Maybe come to the conclusion that they all deserved it and you looked hot doing it?"
The sound of disgust he let out at her words was a work of art. Or maybe it was Akira's besotted brain that simply liked everything Goro did anyway.
"There you are! Any love confessions in dark corners we need to know about?" Ann asked him with a glance in Goro's direction. Who, thankfully, didn't notice it. Or ignored it.
The more pressing question was if she had figured him out on her own or if Morgana had managed to spill the beans during the short time he'd left the two alone after leaving his bag at his desk this morning. He wasn't sure what to bet on, because he was sure he hid it well, but she seemed to have the uncanny ability to deduce people's crushes with the smallest of hints. Not sure if that was one of the reasons why she was associated with the Lovers arcana, but he liked to believe it.
"Just someone thanking me for being nice. Nothing special."
Goro's reaction to him seemed normal, no indication that he'd already seen the note and gift Akira had left him. He wasn't sure what the other had done with the box, but he had a clue while seeing the two totes they were carrying.
If he'd wanted to avoid Akira because he was embarrassed by his confession then he wouldn't act as if nothing had happened.
It wasn't uncommon to see him wait for Akira when he had a free afternoon and no student council duties. Sometimes some of the others would join, but most of the time the two of them would go to Leblanc. Often doing their homework together before he helped Sojiro, either continuing their conversations and the accompanying chess game while he was behind the counter or going out to Mementos and on other errands if nothing was going on in the café.
Today that didn't seem to be the case with the way Ann hooked her arm into Goro's, who reluctantly allowed it, still getting used to her and Ryuji's touchy nature.
"Goro's coming with me today, we have plans!"
Ann shook the bag in his direction, as if he was supposed to know what it meant. When he only titled his head to the side, she beamed at him while Goro simply huffed.
"It's a thing we already did last year! Goro gets more chocolate than he knows what to do with, so we-"
"She eats the chocolate and I mock the included love letters and notes." Goro interrupted her before she could finish her sentence and give a more polite description of their planned activity.
"Sometimes their trite simpering can be quite amusing."
Reading and correcting thesaurus websites for fun. Did Akira mention that he was absolutely gone for this guy? Sometimes things like this simply burst out of him because no amount of trying to play haughty could conceal what a smartass he was. And a dork. A loveable dork.
"Where is yours? You must have gotten more popular now that a year has passed."
Looking offended, as if it was a personal affront that Akira wasn't carrying his own small mountain of gifts around.
"He has! Some girls whispered about giving him chocolate but then decided he was still too scary!" Morgana popped over his shoulder to add. The traitor. Now he couldn't pretend as if they hadn't happened, because if Morgana had heard them, he must have too.
All he could do was react with a shrug. A year ago it might have bothered him, when he was a newly dubbed delinquent with an undeserved criminal record. But he'd made friends, people that would wait at the gate when he ran late, that gave him chocolate to make him feel appreciated, that would spend time with him just because. But putting that in words was hard. Easier to show. So his shrug would have to do.
"I got some chocolate."
More than he'd ever gotten before. And not because every boy in the class got some.
After a second of contemplation, still looking vaguely offended, Goro pulled the bag in his hands open, almost shoving its contents into Akira's face in the process.
“Take one. As she said, I've gotten more than I know what to do with. And Takamaki is going to get sick either way."
And he was about to refuse, playfully push the bag away and make a joke about it and Ann's half-hearted protest, when he spotted the corner of a familiar little box in the pile. No clue to how long it had been in there with the others, but it looked unopened.
His hand hovered over the bag, hopefully looking as if he had problems choosing and not as if his own love confession was staring back at him.
"Are there even that many girls at our school?"
While Ann was right and Goro's popularity had surged again, especially now that he was no longer holding back to play the pleasant boy, the numbers didn't add up.
"As if not being at our school would deter the fangirls. I swear they get bolder every year. My locker showered me in gifts when I went to open it."
And then he scooped them all up, because there was no difference between one desperate admirer and the next - the fangirls and the fanboys - threw them all together and looked forward to verbally ripping their confessions to shreds. Akira's trite simpering included.
Without thinking much, he grabbed the box he'd carefully prepared, tying and retying the bow until he was satisfied that it looked immaculate and holding it up as if his heart wasn't beating in his throat. Forcing a grin as he presented it.
"This one. It already looks like it should be Joker's."
The colors had been chosen on purpose, to make Goro think of him, but he hadn't thought of it getting as lost as it had.
Now it worked in his favor, as Goro rolled his eyes and Ann laughed.
"You're right! Perfect choice!"
Akira slipped the box into his bag, trying to act casual and not draw any more attention to it. Thankfully, Goro didn't seem to think his behavior suspicious, instead looking satisfied with the fact he'd accepted one of his chocolates. Turning back to Ann, who was back to exclaiming what she thought of the different little gifts, trying to guess their contents by size and color of packaging.
"Akira?" Morgana quietly asked, obviously not wanting to draw the other's attention. After his explanation of why he'd stayed back with an excuse, the cat probably recognized what he'd shoved past him into his school bag.
"Later. Alright?"
With a nod, Morgana let himself fall back, his paw vanishing from his shoulder, but he could swear that he still felt his concerned gaze from where he was peeking out of the bag.
"Are you coming?"
Goro and Ann were looking back at him, a few meters away, apparently having noticed that he wasn't following them while they were busy with their own discussion.
Jogging forward he caught up with them, latching onto the first topic he thought would be a fitting distraction, goading Goro into rambling about his moronic fans. The one topic that always got him heated.
"Makoto said some of them tried to lure you to the roof?"
And it did its trick once again, Goro starting to immediately growl a few insults under his breath before launching into the rejections he had to hand out that day.
At least, Akira thought he had avoided that fate. Like the thief he was.
"Isn't this the box you left Akechi?"
He gave Morgana a little pat, putting the box on his desk, hoping the mess on it would swallow it up. His friend must have held the question in the whole way, it finally bursting out of him when Akira had set the bag down on his bed.
"It is." A little push, so it was half-covered by some unspooled wire he hadn't put away the last time he'd been busy crafting tools.
"Seemed like the wrong moment. Maybe I'll try again some other time."
Maybe. Right now, he felt more like leaving it there and forgetting he'd ever tried to make his feelings known.
Unfortunately, he did forget about the little box.
Fortunately, it wanted to be found.