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1.
Goro Akechi doesn’t need friends. If there’s anything being forced into spending time with his colleagues outside of work has taught him, it’s that wasting what should be his free time with others is excruciating and if it weren’t for the necessity of keeping in good social standing with his peers, he wouldn’t participate at all.
Somehow, Akira Kurusu is an exception.
Goro first came to Leblanc on Sae’s recommendation, expecting a mediocre cup of coffee in a quiet place where he was unlikely to be disturbed or recognised. He left having tried - in his opinion - the best coffee in the city, and also with the barista’s phone number, somehow.
Their first interaction had been an argument, which led into a conversation, which apparently they both enjoyed enough to exchange phone numbers and agree to talk again soon. Embarrassingly, Goro found himself back at Leblanc the very next day.
If anyone asked - not that anyone would - he’d say he kept going back for the coffee, it wouldn’t even have been a lie, the coffee was incredible. He would be omitting something, though. Somehow, he’d found himself genuinely enjoying Akira’s company. He was easy to talk to, he kept Goro on his toes. Some days they’d even talk until it was time for the shop to close, and even then, Akira would let Goro stay while he cleaned up, seemingly never in a rush to kick him out. Not that Goro was ever in a rush to leave.
“I’ve been wondering,” Goro begins, as Akira flips the sign on the door from ‘open’ to ‘closed’, “won’t you get in trouble with your boss for letting me stay past closing?”
“Well, I live here, so no,” he says it so casually, as though Goro should’ve expected him to live in a coffee shop. “I mean, not here here,” he adds hastily, presumably realising how strange that sounds, “there’s a proper bedroom upstairs and everything.” He pauses, nervously scratches the back of his neck, as he’s so prone to do. “I’d invite you up, but Morgana doesn’t like it when I have people over without warning him.”
Akira is the kind of person who talks about his friends a lot. Every conversation there’s mentions of specific names and details of their lives that Goro had never wanted to know - “Sumire won a gymnastics competition yesterday, I’m really proud of her,” “Yusuke asked my cat to model for him. I wonder if he’ll say yes.” “Ann really wants me to learn to make desserts, I think her motives are selfish but it could be fun.” - and yet, with all these names, Akira has never before mentioned a Morgana. Goro would know, he’s an excellent listener, it’s a necessary skill for a detective after all (and maybe there’s a small part of him that just enjoys listening to Akira talk).
And so he asks, “I’m sorry, Morgana is…?”
Akira furrows his eyebrows, as though Goro’s response is completely unexpected. “Morgana’s my partner, he’s basically the most important person in my life. I must’ve mentioned him before.”
Oh. Well that’s-
Well, of course Akira has a boyfriend. There’s something about him that just draws people to him, it’s a phenomenon Goro’s been experiencing since they met, of course he’s in a relationship. It’s fine. It doesn’t bother him. They’re friends and he’s happy for him.
On the other hand, knowing this information kind of makes him want to throw up.
“You’re right, you must’ve mentioned him before, it just slipped my mind.” He gives Akira a polite smile as he stands from his chair. “It’s getting late. I should go. I wouldn’t want to miss my train, after all.” He leaves before Akira can get another word in, he’s sure he had something to say, and he really wasn’t in the mood to hear it. He’s in such a rush that he doesn’t even notice the cat brush past his legs, entering the café as he leaves.
2.
Somehow, Akira has gotten Goro to admit that he hasn’t made any friends in his time at college. As soon as the information was revealed, he declared, with a completely deadpan look on his face, “That’s so sad. I might cry.” He then proceeded to bring it up every day for a week; “My friends are coming here next Saturday, you should come too, you can meet them,” phrased slightly differently each time. Of course, Goro could avoid this by not going to Leblanc, but Akira has his phone number and dealing with his incessant invitations without coffee would be far far worse.
Akira’s final attempt to convince him, the day before the gathering he won’t stop talking about, has started with, “It’ll just be Ryuji and Ann there, no one who hates you, I promise.” He’s in the middle of making coffee, the smell is strong and pleasant, unlike the opening to this conversation.
“I think that if so many of your friends hate me that you need to clarify that, maybe I’m better off not meeting them.”
“Maybe if you were nicer, my friends wouldn’t hate you.” He may have a point, Goro has only met one of Akira’s friends previously, and it wasn’t exactly a strong start; him and Makoto have been in most of the same classes for over a year and they don’t at all get along. On the other hand…
“You wouldn’t like me if I was nicer.”
“Okay, true. But when you say that, it makes me sound like some kind of freak.” His tone is indignant, but he’s smiling.
Goro smiles as well. “Because you act like one.”
“Maybe.” He sets a full mug in front of Goro, before saying possibly the worst thing he could say when they’re borderline flirting with each other. “You know, Mona can be pretty mean as well.” Right. Mona. His boyfriend. Who he calls that because they’re dating and use cute nicknames for each other. Morgana probably calls him Aki or something equally saccharine and annoying. Goro isn’t jealous at all, and he’s especially not jealous of Akira being on a nickname basis with someone else when he won’t even use Goro’s first name.
“You have a type.” The joke is a pathetic attempt to mask his jealousy, but it seems to work alright, because Akira laughs.
“Maybe,” he says. “So you’re coming tomorrow, right?”
Goro takes a sip of his coffee before responding, “I might. Don’t hold your breath.”
He doesn’t realise until he gets home that Akira basically admitted that Goro was his type, and he has a completely measured and reasonable response to this information.
3.
Goro is standing outside of Leblanc. Contrary to what he’d said the previous day, he’d made up his mind about coming. He was sure that the coffee (and Akira’s presence) would likely make up for however annoying Akira’s friends ended up being, so here he was. He’s starting to regret that decision, especially considering the way that he’s currently loitering outside the cafe - where the sign on the door is currently flipped to closed - like some kind of stalker. The summer heat is cloying and unpleasant, he’d rolled up his sleeves on the train ride here and it had barely made a difference. He briefly wishes he’d worn shorts, then considers the comments he’d get from fans and banishes the thought. He wonders what Akira would think, and that thought gets banished as well.
He’s just about ready to flee the scene and pretend he was never there, when he hears a loud meowing at his feet. He looks down and sees a black cat with big blue eyes staring up at him. He instantly recognises him as Akira’s cat. He’s never seen him before, in all his weeks visiting Leblanc, but he’s heard more than enough. “Hello,” he says, crouching down to pet the cat’s head. The cat meows at him again and bats his hand with his paw. “I don’t have any food for you, if that’s what you want.” Another meow, louder this time. “I’ll make sure to bring something for you next time.” The cat just stares at him, eyes wide and unblinking. Goro looks away, back up to the door. “I’m overthinking this, aren’t I?” he says, to no one in particular, or maybe to the cat. The cat doesn’t respond, taking his momentary distraction as an opportunity to run away. Goro sighs and enters Leblanc.
There’s already a conversation going on as he enters. A young man with bleach blonde hair is speaking much too loudly, saying something that sounds an awful lot like, “He’s keeping lobsters in our dorm room.” Maybe it makes perfect sense in context. Or maybe Akira’s friends just like to yell nonsense at each other. He pauses his rant when he notices Goro. “Shit man, he actually showed up…” he says.
“Akechi!” Akira pokes his head out from the kitchen area to greet him. “Alright, guys, this is Akechi, Akechi this is Ann and Ryuji,” he rushes through the introduction before hiding away again, apparently very focused on whatever he’s cooking.
“He’s making curry,” Ann explains, “apparently he’s ‘trying something new’ this time, so he’s pretty focused.” She then shifts further into the booth so he can sit down next to her. He’s not particularly enthusiastic about it, but he takes the seat she’s offering.
Despite all the time he’s spent at Leblanc, Goro has never tried their curry, he supposes it’ll be interesting, at least. “In that case, I’m looking forward to it.” he says.
He manages to make mildly pleasant conversation with Ann and Ryuji, learning about their lives and their interests, although they don’t share much that Akira hasn’t already told him. He’s more thankful than he’d admit when Akira comes over, curry in hand, and joins them at the table. It smells incredible and Ryuji starts eating immediately. Ann, who’s clearly the more polite of the two, says, “This looks really good, I bet your experiment paid off in the end!” before digging in. Akira doesn’t touch his food, staring at the others expectantly and waiting for their reactions. Ryuji is too busy eating to actually speak, giving Akira a thumbs up instead. Ann follows it up by saying, “This is delicious!” leaving all of Akira’s attention focused on Goro.
It’s not that he’s not used to people watching him eat, as strange as that is to think about. He’s had to eat during TV appearances or in public places where he was well aware that fans were watching him far more often than he’d like, but somehow this was different. The idea of eating someone else’s cooking - someone he cared about, especially - and them being genuinely interested in his reaction… it’s not something he’s experienced in a long time. He’s more hesitant than he should be when he takes a bite, but he quickly finds he has no reason to be. Akira’s cooking is incredible. Clearly it shows on his face, because Akira’s previously blank expression morphs into a smile, and he begins to eat as well.
“Hey, I’ve been meanin’ to ask,” Ryuji says, between mouthfuls of food. “There’s this movie I wanted to see next weekend. Akira, you in?”
“Sure, what time?”
“Uhh… like 10pm, I think?” Upon hearing that, Akira pointedly looks away from Ryuji and doesn’t speak, guilt clear on his face. “Dude, no, you’re not abandoning me again-”
“It’s pretty late, Morgana might not let me.” He bites his lip in clear discomfort, Goro is not looking.
Ryuji has already opened his mouth to respond, when Goro interrupts. “That seems controlling of him.” His tone is almost bored, but it’s clear from the sharpness of his gaze that he’s angry.
Akira immediately jumps to the defence of his precious boyfriend. “He’s just trying to take care of me!”
“What is he, your mother?”
Ann lets out a laugh and hastily covers it with a cough. “You could take him to the movie with you?” she suggests.
“I’ll ask him,” Akira says, and Goro is angry. The fact that he feels like he needs permission to go see a movie is disgusting. The fact that this “Morgana” - who Goro has never even met - feels like he can be this possessive over Akira. Like he has the right. Like he has some sort of ownership over him. And technically he does, because Akira is dating him. Akira is dating him, and not Goro.
It’s fine. Akira is an adult who can make his own decisions, and if he wants to do something as profoundly stupid as dating a guy who won’t let him see a movie past 10pm, that’s his right. Goro can’t do anything to stop him, and he won’t.
He isn’t anything like Morgana, after all.
4.
Over the past few weeks, Goro has managed to pick up a new habit. As well as spending most of his free time - of which he has very little in the first place - at Leblanc, he’s begun bringing sardines with him, for Akira’s cat. Maybe his chances of actually stealing Akira away from his boyfriend are slim, but the very least he can do is get Akira’s cat to like him more than he likes Morgana.
Goro leans against the wall just outside the cafe, shakes the bag of sardines, and the cat comes running. He stands on top of the wall, and meows directly in Goro’s ear. He removes his gloves before offering the cat a sardine. He swallows it whole, as he always does. It was a little offputting to watch at first, but Goro got used to it quickly. The cat eats two more in much the same manner, before running off to do whatever cats do. He returns the remaining sardines to his bag and puts his gloves back on, before entering Leblanc.
Today is one of Akira’s days off, something Goro was informed of over text the night before. He’s not sure exactly what’s prompted Akira to keep him updated on his work schedule, maybe he does this for all his regulars, but he’s grateful nonetheless. It means he brought his laptop with him today, confident he’d be able to get some work done without the potential distraction of talking to Akira. He sits at his usual seat by the counter, and Sojiro greets him and asks him for his order. It’s more out of politeness than anything else, considering he gets the same thing every time.
Somehow, despite his absence, Goro ends up distracted by thoughts of Akira. He’s probably spending his day off with his boyfriend. He’s never spent time with Goro outside of work. He wonders if Akira would be willing to. Thankfully, he has enough self control to keep writing his essay and not immediately drop everything to ask him. 500 words in, however, once the only other customer has left, his restraint leaves him. “Sakura-san,” he begins, before instantly regretting it.
“Hm? What is it?” Sojiro doesn’t bother looking up from wiping the counter.
“It’s nothing, nevermind.” Goro takes a sip of his coffee in a poor attempt to mask his embarrassment.
Sojiro sighs. “Just say it.”
Alright, well, it’s as good an opportunity as any and Goro really doesn’t have anything to lose. “What do you think of Morgana?” he asks.
That gets Sojiro to look up, clearly not expecting the question. “Morgana?” There’s a solid twenty seconds of silence as he thinks about it, Goro begins to worry that he may not even get an answer when Sojiro decides to speak again. “I think he’s been good for Akira,” is how he decides to start. His face furrows into a sort of wince as he continues, “I was worried at first though… all those scratch marks on his arms, I thought he’d been getting into fights-”
“Scratch marks?” Goro interrupts. He hasn’t noticed any injuries like that on Akira recently, granted he always wears long sleeves, but Morgana being capable of hurting him like that was concerning to say the least. A dark and twisted part of Goro whispers of another possibility, maybe Akira likes being hurt. An image flashes through Goro’s head of pushing him against a wall and biting his neck hard enough to draw blood. He pushes it aside quickly, he needs to focus, find out Morgana’s weaknesses.
“Yeah, he was kinda aggressive when he first showed up, something to do with his past, I’m guessing. He doesn’t scratch anymore though.” Goro brushes aside his own disappointment at the idea that Akira might not be into pain after all - it’s none of his business either way - and listens closely as Sojiro keeps talking. “I think he’s been really good for Akira, kept him out of trouble in high school for sure. Not that he didn’t get into trouble, but probably less than he would’ve without the distraction.”
The idea that Akira’s boss/landlord/father figure approves of his boyfriend isn’t a thrilling revelation, but it’s not surprising either, considering he lets Morgana live in his cafe. Goro can, thankfully, take some satisfaction in the fact that Sojiro refers to Morgana as a ‘distraction’ rather than a ‘partner’.
Noticing Goro’s lack of response to the information he’s been given, Sojiro speaks again. “Why are you asking me about this anyway? You worried you have some competition?” Goro has kept his gaze on his half written essay this entire conversation, but that line gets him to look up. “Between you and me, Akira talks about you all the time,” he says casually, as though he’s not contributing to ending a relationship.
“He does?” Goro asks, equal parts pleased and confused. “Wouldn’t Morgana get jealous?”
Sojiro laughs, Goro isn’t entirely sure what the joke is. “Y’know, I’m rooting for you, kid.” He walks away, presumably to do more work, leaving Goro stunned in his seat. He attempts to forget about it and go back to his essay, but thoughts of Akira haunt him for the entirety of his train ride home.
5.
Goro does end up asking Akira if he’d be willing to spend time with him outside of Leblanc, and he agrees immediately. Although not in the way Goro would’ve preferred, inviting him to darts with some of his friends. This time, it turns out, it’s the friends who hate him.
Makoto Nijima clearly isn’t thrilled to be spending time with Goro outside of class and he feels the same way. He feels less hostile about Haru Okumura - his recent investigation into Okumura Foods that led to some rather brutal articles against her father aside - he has no personal issues with her. Clearly, she doesn’t feel the same.
When Akira enters Penguin Sniper, with Goro following close behind, the two girls struggle to hide their reactions to his presence. Makoto stares straight at him, as though trying to figure him out. He meets her gaze in a way that’s apparently so terrifying she’s forced to look away. Haru purposefully doesn’t look in Goro’s direction at all, focusing her full attention on Akira as she asks, “No Mona-chan today?”
“Nope. I’ve got a new partner though,” he says, smiling widely as though he’s oblivious to the incredibly uncomfortable position he’s put them all in. They all know that he’s fully aware, but apparently something about him makes it difficult to call him out on it. In Goro’s case, he’s too busy trying not to read into how he’s being framed as Morgana’s replacement to call Akira out for forcing them to spend time together.
They pair up to play, Akira and Goro, and Makoto and Haru, obviously. They start with 301. It’s far too easy. It’s Makoto’s turn when Akira speaks up, apparently attempting to break the tension. “I think Morgana is cheating on me,” he says.
Haru pets his hair comfortingly. “Oh Akira, Mona-chan adores you, I’m sure that’s not true.” Her tone is far too amused for a situation like this. How could anyone have the nerve to cheat on Akira? How could his friend have the nerve to act like it’s a joke?
“He hasn’t been eating my cooking recently, I’m sure he’s been getting food somewhere else. He’s hiding it from me.” Even Akira himself doesn’t seem to be taking this accusation seriously, there’s a small smile on his face as he speaks.
Goro is so focused on Akira’s face and curbing the urge to find Morgana and attack him that he barely notices Makoto tapping him on the shoulder. “Your turn,” she says, handing him three darts.
He blocks out the rest of Akira and Haru’s conversation so he can concentrate better and he hits three bullseyes, as usual. There’s a chance he throws with more force than strictly necessary, but that’s besides the point.
“If I’d known you were this good, I would’ve invited you ages ago,” Akira says, “we’ve got to team up again some time.” Goro can barely enjoy the praise, anger still burning bright inside of him.
He nods anyway. “That would be nice.”
+1
After darts, the four of them walk to the station together, with Goro managing to make polite conversation with Makoto and Haru despite everything. They part ways at the entrance, with Makoto and Haru entering immediately, while Akira loiters outside, waiting for something, it seems. Goro isn’t sure exactly what he’s waiting for, so he takes advantage of their moment of privacy to finally bring up what he’s wanted to bring up all evening.
“You need to break up with your boyfriend,” he says. It may be overstepping, but he doesn’t care. He knows enough about Akira and Morgana’s relationship now to know that it isn’t good for him, and Goro Akechi cares for very few people in the world and Akira Kurusu is one of them. So he needs to do something.
Akira’s eyes go wide, apparently completely blindsided by this statement. “I… what?”
“It really shouldn’t be my responsibility to tell you this, but the way he’s treating you isn’t acceptable, and the fact that none of your friends have spoken up yet is ridiculous.”
“What are you talking about?”
“From what I’ve heard, Morgana is clearly possessive and controlling, he physically hurts you, and you said earlier that you had reason to suspect he was cheating on you?”
Akira, for some reason, bursts out laughing. It’s a completely inappropriate reaction to Goro’s expression of concern, so he glares at him until he stops. “You really- this whole time you-” Akira is still laughing, so much so that he can’t get a full sentence out.
“Use your words, Kurusu,” Goro snaps, patience beginning to wear thin. Akira, ever the contrarian, doesn’t use his words. Instead he pulls out his phone, scrolls for a few seconds, and hands it to Goro. “This is a picture of your cat,” he states, face completely blank. “Why are you showing me this?”
“That’s Morgana.”
Goro’s head is spinning with this revelation, lots of little things suddenly starting to make sense, his conversation with Sojiro especially. He feels like a terrible detective. “But then why did you call him your ‘partner’?”
“Oh. So that’s where this started…” Akira looks away, embarrassed. “I call him that cause we’re partners in crime, eventually I shortened it to partners because it’s easier, and I guess I never realised how confusing that might be.”
Instead of just being happy that the misunderstanding is over, and returning home to wallow in his embarrassment by himself, Goro speaks again. “He’s been cheating on you with me.” Akira looks back up at him, tilting his head quizzically, catlike in his mannerisms. Goro sighs, wishing he didn’t find it cute. “I’ve been giving him sardines, every time I go to Leblanc.”
“He’s so manipulative, two timing us like that…” There’s something endearing about the way Akira still talks about Morgana like he’s a human, despite their prior misunderstanding. There’s also something incredibly annoying about it.
Goro takes a step closer to him without really thinking about it, before saying the words he’s been hoping for a chance to say for - maybe it’s been months at this point. “Would you like to go on a date with me?” His voice is quiet, he’s worried Akira may not hear it over the noises of the crowd around them.
In lieu of an answer, Akira pulls him into a kiss. He steps back, smiling widely, face pleasantly flushed, and says, “That’s a yes, by the way!” Goro probably looks like a flustered mess, completely caught off guard by Akira’s actions. Akira’s eyes widen, as he catches sight of something somewhere on his left. “Shit, the train. I’ll text you. Bye!” He runs off into the station, and Goro turns to see the time on the clock has hit 10:01pm. Ha. Take that, Morgana.