When Goro Akechi walks into a room you will see one of two sides of him. Either he will be debonair and witty-- the ultimate charmer-- or he'll be moody and unaccommodating, much like a vulgar diva who stumbles off stage after a horrid show.
He treats his appearance as a performance. He wears one of two masks to ensure he'll always have the upper hand. Life is a cruel and unfair game but he's found a way to ensure he'll win. He has to win.
Akira is similar in his multifaceted appearance. Some claim the raven is a shapeshifter, able to change at will to suit whoever may need him. If you make such a claim to his face he will laugh but the chuckle might ring hollow and his eyes won't crinkle with true amusement. He'll never disagree though.
If you have the gall to ask Akira which personality is the true one, he'll be unable to give you an answer. After all, who is he? Is he Joker, the fearless leader of a rag-tag group of bandits? Is Kurusu-kun the smart and quiet student who sits beside the window? Is he Aki-chan, the kind soul who helps carry drunken reporters home after watching them drown their sorrows?
He doesn't know. He doesn't care. He can be anyone, he can wear any mask, he doesn't need to be a person he just needs to be a personality. No one cares to know the authentic him.
Goro knows and cares though. He knows who Akira is underneath all the dirt and grime he wears. He's seen the trickster's soul and shredded the mask that conceals his heart. Goro has wiped the false glitter and gold from Akira's multiple smiles and found the real boy, broken and scared, beneath it all.
He likes what he's found. He treasures the real Akira more than he could ever say. He's never known someone so intimately, never had the pleasure to get this close to another person, and anytime their eyes meet or their fingers brush Akechi feels electricity surge through him.
He feels like he's been zapped so hard that the lights shine above him have been tapped out. He's out of the spotlight for only a moment when he's with Akira and he loves it. Quickly, he changes out of his costumes and strips himself to be bare. He's no longer a prince or a pain-- he is Goro Akechi. Naked and fleshy and human.
He wears no mask in Akira's arms. He is not on display. He has no part to play. He is no longer a character in a production. He is a person with Akira-- a person with his own agency and wants and needs and desires and--
And Akira is the same.
Together they get to be people. Together they are two souls with no need to camouflage their hearts. Together they are maskless.
YOU ARE READING
Shuake Week 2020
FanfictionRen keeps a glove in his back pocket at all times. He always knows where it is and will never leave it no matter where he's going. But it's just a glove, right? How could it be so significant? It's not even a full pair. (A new story each day!)
