Exchange (Soukoku & Shin Soukoku)

13- The Feeling

Akutagawa woke up first, slightly disoriented. As he was still groggy, he couldn't quite remember what had happened the previous night. But upon seeing Atsushi sleeping peacefully by his side, it all came rushing back to his memory.

He blushed slightly. He dared to gently stroke the albino's cheek.

«How cute he is,» the mafioso thought.

Atsushi stirred, and Akutagawa quickly withdrew his hand, pretending to be oblivious. Nakajima sat up, yawning and stretching. «He looks like a cat,» Akutagawa thought.

"Good morning, Atsushi," he greeted curtly.

"Hm? Good morning, Akutagawa," Atsushi responded lazily.

The black-haired man felt a little sad; the previous night, Atsushi had called him by his name, Ryuunosuke. Why not today?

He got out of bed, feeling irritated.

"I'll make breakfast," he announced. Then he softened his tone. "Do you want to help me?"

The albino felt warmth in his chest and smiled, his eyes brightening.

"Of course!" he exclaimed, getting out of bed. "So... are we friends?"

«No, Jinko, idiot. I don't want to be just your friend, I want to be your boyfriend,» he thought.

"Whatever. Just don't get in my way with your clumsiness," Akutagawa replied.

Because that was Akutagawa. When he didn't know how to deal with his feelings, he used verbal aggression as a shield. Just like Chuuya, in fact. Like father, like son.

They made the bed and left the room. Despite being sleepy, they were very efficient. Akutagawa explained to Atsushi that Chuuya tends to wake up angry after drinking. So, to prevent him from getting in a bad mood, they would make breakfast for him. Chuuya has four passions: wine, dancing, and sweet food. And the fourth, unknown to the two teenagers, was Dazai.

They finished cooking breakfast and served it. The tamagoyaki looked quite appetizing. The tiger began to bounce around with excitement.

"Can I eat now?" he asked.

"Do whatever you want," Akutagawa replied.

Kenji woke up and approached them. He stared at them for a moment.

"Good morning, Kenji," Atsushi greeted, serving himself a portion of rice.

"Uh?" The boy looked at Akutagawa and Nakajima alternately. "Did you sleep together?"

Bad choice of words.

Both young men blushed completely and started screaming incoherently.

"EHH?! OF COURSE NOT!"

The commotion woke up Chuuya, who also got up and approached them, very, very annoyed.

"Why the hell are you screaming so much? Let me sleep!" he growled.

"Chuuya-san," Kenji pointed at the teenagers, "they slept together."

"THAT'S NOT WHAT HAPPENED!" they both screamed.

Despite the embarrassment they had to endure, the amusing scene lightened Chuuya's mood, and he burst into laughter.

"But then you didn't sleep together?" Kenji asked, in his undeserved innocence.

"STOP SAYING THAT! THAT'S NOT IT!" they protested.

"Kenji means if you two slept in the same bed!" Chuuya exclaimed, still laughing. "You guys have dirty minds!"