distance || pegoryu [✔]

♡Distance♡

(Minor spoilers for the game's end.)

RYUJI stepped out of the blue van and patted it, waving goodbye to Ann as she drove off, heading back to Tokyo. The blond turned and looked at the house in front of him, chewing on his lip nervously. He hadn't seen Akira in a month and he wasn't sure he was prepared to see him, even as he stood there in front of his home. Ryuji swallowed the lump in his throat as he stepped up to the front door, knocking shakily.

A few seconds passed and he began to think he wasn't home. The door suddenly swung open, revealing a messy haired Akira, his glasses lopsided. He wore a white tee and sweatpants and seemed a bit flustered.

"...Ryuji?" His voice was soft, sending a small shiver down his spine. Although his former leader rarely spoke, when he did, it made butterflies flutter. Ryuji cleared his throat and looked away, frowning a bit.

"Don't act like you didn't know I was comin'. I texted you yesterday." The taller one frowned, pulling his phone from his pocket and scrolling through messages. He nodded a bit before putting his phone back and stepping to the side, allowing the blond to walk into his home. Ryuji brushed past him, kicking off his shoes and putting them off to the side.

He hung his bag full of clothes and other items up quietly as Akira guided him towards the sitting room. He had a surprisingly Western house (Which Ryuji would later learn the reasoning behind the design is his Hispanic/American mother wanting a home such as the one she had as a child.) and Ryuji dound is interesting. He sat down as the table as the taller man walked into the kichen area, starting to make coffee.

"How have you been, Ryuji?" Ryuji looked at his lap, picking at the hair on his arms as a nervous habit. He shrugged a bit, speaking.

"Y'know, normal. School has been hell, but everyone in the school is still talkin' about us and our glory days." He smiled to himself as he fondly remembered the months of adventure their group had. He winced slightly to himself as he remembered fighting the Holy Grail, wanting to erase that part of their journey from his mind forever. They had all almost died multiple times in the single battle and Ryuji still, occassionally, had nightmares about reliving the event.

He was snapped out of his thoughts as a cup of coffee was put in front of him and Akira sliding into the seat beside him.

"Really? I thought they would've forgotten us by now..." Akira shook his head and sipped the still steaming coffee, his eyes closing, "They did see our 'faces' at one point, are they still making those cheap stuffed animals?" He grinned at Ryuji, causing said boy to flush. When Akira had left, he had gone on a large shopping trip to buy a shit ton of Phantom Thieves merch as things to remember their fun by. He had mainly bought 'Joker' merchandise, his little infatuation becoming apparent. Ann had sent pictures of a shelf in Ryuji's room that was lined end to end with smaller Phantom Thieves items, a slughtly larger Akira plush sitting at the top.

To be honest, the leader had found it quite heartwarming, enjoying the thought that Ryuji missed him enough to buy a stuffed toy of his Metaverse form.

Ryuji nodded in respose to his question, sipping his coffee with red cheeks. He made a slight face at the taste, still bitter as hell, but kept his mouth shut, "Yeah, they are. I saw a girl with a keychain ornament of our old logo."

'And I bought it from her for 100 yen. Worth it.' He added mentally, smirking to himself. Akira went to speak before a familiar voice interrupted him.

"I heard the front door open?" Morgana padded into the room and jumped onto Akira's lap, looking at Ryuji, "But I wasn't expecting it to be Skull!" He audibly purred, his eyes closing as he spoke. Ryuji smiled a bit.

"Hey, Mona. It's nice to see you again." He spoke genuinely, smiling softly at the cat. He got a soft purr in respose as he curled up in Akira's lap. Perhaps he had finally accepted being a cat.

"Aw, you missed me, buttface?" The cat's voice was teasing and Ryuji scowled.

"Yeah, before I remembered how much of a little asshole you are."

"Hey!"

♡◇♡◇♡

NIGHT had fallen. The three had spent hours just catching up and talking, sharing laughs and memories. It was time to sleep. Akira had forgotten to prep the guest room, meaning Ryuji would have to sleep on the floor... or in bed with him.

The blond's heart fluttered a bit before he frowned. No way in hell was he sleeping on the damn floor, especially not with Morgana jumping on and off the bed.

So here he lie, facing the window and out towards the city, with his back pressed against Akira's. His cheeks were dark as he tried to relax and not think about being in the same bed with the man he had fallen in love with all those months ago. He squeezed his hands together as he breathed out, his eyes squeezing shut.

"Are you awake, Ryuji?"

He jumped, his eyes snapping open and his head turning to look at Akira.

Big mistake.

The two were pressed right next to each other, their noses touching slightly as they looked at each other. He felt his stomach tie into knots as he lost his words, his mouth going dry. Mouth opening and closing alightly fast, he shot back, and in turn, falling off the bed.

"Fuck!"

His back hit the floor hard as he groaned, squeezing his eyes shut. He heard Akira move to his side of the bed, causing him to open his eyes. Akira was looking at him with worry from the bed, his eyes wide and shining slightly in the artificial light from outside. Ryuji thought he looked heavenly, distracting him from the ache in his back.

"Are you alright, Ryuji?"

He snapped out of his daze, focusing back on Akira's voice before nodding, going to sit up and rub his back. He breathed in sharply as he felt hands press against the sore spot, suddenly aware of the figure behind him. Akira's hands rubbed gently and tenderly, causing the blond to relax and close his eyes, leaning back into the touch. Akira smiled lightly as he noticed but said nothing, massaging the sore spot on Ryuji's lower back.
After a few minutes, he spoke.

"Are you feeling better?" His voice was a whisper as he tried not to startle Ryuji. The smaller man nodded, looking back at him. His heart skipped a beat as their faces were close once more. Neither pulled away, just staring at each other with slightly open mouths.

"C-Can I..." Ryuji's eyes flicked downwards to Akira's lips and back up to his eyes, earning a slight nod from him. Ryuji turned more towards him and leaned in, kissing him softly, as if he would run away. Soft hands cupped his cheeks as his eyes fluttered closed, feeling Akira kiss back softly.

A minute passed and they parted, breathing softly through open mouths, stsring at each other. Akira was the first to speak.

"Took you long enough..."

"You knew?" The black haired boy snorted, nodding with a grin on his face.

"I was painfully obvious. Everyone knew." Ryuji flushed red and looked down, fiddling with his hands. He felt too nervous to continue speaking about this.

"Can we... Can we head back to bed?" Akira gabe him a soft smile before standing and pulling him back onto the bed gently. He pulled him to his chest, running a hand through his hair gently. He didn't ever want to let him go.