Lovers in Denial (a Chuuya x Akutagawa fanfic)

Chapter 3: A Sibling Chat

The next day, Chuuya and Akutagawa both found themselves completely unprepared to face each other after all the midnight thoughts they'd had last night. They were both confused and unsure of how to bring it up to anyone.

Chuuya had it especially rough. Since he was right by Akutagawa, he couldn't stop looking at him. This wouldn't end well at all. Dang it, why can't I take my eyes off him? Chuuya wondered.

Unbeknownst to Chuuya, Akutagawa was currently experiencing the same problem. As long as Chuuya was in his field of vision, there was next to no way Akutagawa could stop looking at him. Since when did I feel this way about someone...? Akutagawa asked himself.

I really should ask someone for advice on this situation...but how would I even bring it up? That's arguably the hardest part... Chuuya thought. He stole a glance at Akutagawa again, who was doing some paperwork. Wait...paperwork. That really made Chuuya think. I'm definitely asking Kunikida for advice, he decided. He just had to get through the day at work first. He could do this.

...Maybe.

....Definitely not.

Chuuya was doing his best to actually focus on working, but apparently that had become a lot more difficult overnight. He'd always been the focused type, but that was all thrown out the window in an instant. Why was this happening? Why were things becoming so complicated and confusing?

Likewise, Akutagawa was trying to focus on his work, but that became impossible with Chuuya right there. Since when did he get so easily distracted?

Akutagawa's sister Gin was the first to notice how differently Akutagawa was acting, so she pulled him aside at one point to talk to him. "Bro, are you ok?"

"Er...yeah?" Akutagawa fibbed.

Gin looked at her brother skeptically.

"...Ok, I may not be fine," Akutagawa admitted.

"What's up?" Gin asked.

"Lately, I've been thinking a lot about Chuuya-," Akutagawa began.

Gin started to smirk.

"Hey, what's that look about?!" Akutagawa demanded.

"Never mind. Carry on," Gin urged.

Akutagawa nodded. "So, as I was saying, I was up really late last night-as per usual-and it was my thoughts keeping me up, also as per usual."

"Mhm?" Gin prompted.

"I say 'thoughts', but it was more like one specific thought," Akutagawa continued.

Gin tilted her head questioningly.

"As I already said, it was about Chuuya. I kept thinking back to that day we had that conversation," Akutagawa revealed.

"What conversation?" Gin wanted to know.

Oh, that's right. I never told her, Akutagawa thought. "So awhile back, Chuuya's agency friend Kunikida got amnesia, and he started liking Dazai a lot more. Chuuya started to feel jealous and betrayed cause he and Kunikida would always meet up to vent about Dazai, seeing as they've both been partners with him and find him really annoying. Anyways, he came here one day and screamed potentially loud enough to deafen the world, not knowing I was there. I told him that he sounds really frustrated and that I'd listen if he needed to talk. He tried to avoid it at first. But before I knew it, there we both were, admitting things to each other that we never thought we'd say. He finally admitted to being jealous, and so did I. I brought up how I envy-or in this case, used to envy-the weretiger since he never had to compete for Dazai's attention."