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Akihito's already pushing thirty by the time he stops and looks around-/really/ looks-and then there's the world crashing down around him in glorious white noise and vertigo-which is unfair because having your world turned upside down deserves at least a little input in technicolour.

He has a studio, people working for him and a loan to repay-but that's not even the worse of it: there's Asami's number on speed dial one and Asami's name on his emergency contacts and it's Asami he's going home to.

They wear matching chains around their necks and there was that trip to Europe, of which Akihito has only the foggiest and vaguest memories, though more than enough to make himself blush -- and the living together thing, which had been going on for years before Akihito even got a clue, so, oh no, married. Kinda. In theory. Maybe.

But then, matching chains/- oh so /very symbolic.

And yeah, okay, they're kinda-maybe-married. Akihito can deal with that- if badly.

It's probably an indication of just how bad things have gotten, but Akihito spends the rest of the day thinking up insults to fling at Asami and develops the wrong film, /twice/, lies down on the ridiculously expensive sofa in his office so he can have a little breakdown in private, then goes home early, much to the relief of his assistants who are beginning to look a little sick after Akihito almost trips over some setup they'd been working on all day.

Asami's sitting in the living room flipping through one of the afternoon papers, no jacket, tie or shoes, with his sleeves rolled up looking relaxed and deceptively not-dangerous. He says "Hello Akihito," absently and the warm fuzzy feeling that curls in Akihito's belly at the sound is really the last straw.

"Don't you have somewhere to be? People to bribe, extort, shoot?" Akihito says because it sounds a hell of a lot better than 'YOU MARRIED ME WITHOUT MY CONSENT!' which is, you know, kinda iffy, and Takaba's watched enough American television to know that open display of insanity will lead to the sort of nasty divorce where the sane partner always ends up with the house and the children- not that they have any children, which is not the point anyway.

Asami looks up from his paper long enough to smirk- and really, how many people can say 'I'm going to fuck you through the mattress and into next week' with a twist of their mouth? - in a way that makes Akihito uneasy and not at all warm with the fuzzies-pleasantly familiar ground there, but then Asami points at delivery menus and the Mission Impossible 5 DVD Akihito had picked up in a bout of short lived insanity, "I thought we could spend the evening together."

Akihito moans miserably and tries really, really hard not to act like a girl or a teenager about this and swoon into Asami's arms, because when did this happen/? He ignores the nasty little voice reminding him that this has been happening for the /last few years/. The fact that they're going to spend the evening eating out of boxes, lounging on the sofa and watching some crappy DVD that Akihito /hates himself for buying, and not having sex, is - disturbing to say the very least.

It's all so safe and clean and domestic/, and Akihito is suddenly gripped with nostalgia thinking about the last time he slummed in a filthy little bar drinking bad beer and waiting for a contact to show, and feels the contrasting expensive and pristine white of Asami's apartment - /their apartment- like a physical hurt. It all begins to feel terribly wrong; like an itch under Akihito's skin that he can't get to that's going to drive him insane.

There's a sense of finality to things, the way they're settled and familiar and terrible and daunting because Akihito's always expected to lose Asami some day. This easy co-habiting thing had never been on Akihito's list of, of-of nothing. Akihito hadn't even had a list, which proves how bad organisational skills will get you married and setting up house with a bad, bad, nasty yakuza boss (who actually likes bad action movies-go figure).

Still, the DVD watching and no sex thing? Not good. Wasn't it about time Asami had some sort of midlife crisis where he felt compelled to prove his virility and manhood repeatedly and as often as possible? With Akihito of course, but repeatedly and /often/.

Of course, Asami's probably too well adjusted to go through something as mundane as a mid-life crisis and Akihito fully expects to eventually have a big enough crisis to cover for the both of them. Really big. Bright red helicopters and maybe a little jet too, just for show.

"I was thinking Thai," Asami says and something inside Akihito's brain decides it can't take the strain any more and breaks.

"We could always watch something else," Asami says, looking a little worried now, glaring at the DVD like it might be at fault.

"I really think we should have sex." Akihito says quickly then drops his backpack and begins to strip, hoping to get naked and horizontal and soon as possible and fix this. Asami looks surprised for all of a moment before he's smirking and pulling off his own cloths, faster than Akihito, of course and with a lot more grace too.

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