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Who: Akutsu and Niou
When: 2nd August? 3rd August? something like that
Where: Gym
What: Niou and Akutsubreak up have a fight.
It was weird going into the gym during actual ‘daytime’ hours… actually it was weird going into the gym at all, given his distaste for exercise. But apparently this was somewhere that Akutsu went, like the weirdo that he was, and Niou wanted to chatter to pass the time, so, to the gym it was apparently.
He scanned across the room and made his way over to the treadmills that he was far too familiar with after fixing them way too many times. And hopped up onto the treadmill next to the one Akutsu was already on, to lean against the hand rails and look at him. “If you break it, I will be most cross, just so you know,” he said in greeting. “I swear I fix one a week, I’m so sick of them.”
Akutsu was only at a brisk walk, for now, having only arrived a few moments before Niou. He'd work up to a moderate run in a bit. This was just a warm up. "What kind of animal do you think I am?" He asked, arching an eyebrow when he glanced over.
How good was Akutsu’s lung capacity after the smoking, Niou wondered vaguely to himself. Something to think about if he started running. “I’ve actually never used a treadmill before in my life,” he admitted. “Maybe I just assumed that everyone uses them like Tooyama and runs at speeds that break the motors really fast.” Like when he’d apparently run through the entire night and just burned through a very recent repair.
He smiled at Akutsu and glanced down at the screen on the treadmill. “I’d say you’re safe from that sort of damage though.”
"For the record, someone breaking them like that is freak-of-nature type shit." Akutsu had the treadmill programmed for increases after certain times, and he felt the speed pick up a bit, making him work harder to keep up. "That kid's an idiot, and the definition of freak."
Niou curiously poked at the treadmill he was on and turned it on, at the slowest possible speed. That was more like him dragging his feet along. “Really? I thought I was more the definition of a ‘freak’,” Niou said cheerfully. He eyed Akutsu and quite happily kept meandering along on his own treadmill. “So is this an everyday thing for you? Did you used to go to the gym back on Earth too?”
Akutsu kind of stared as Niou turned on the neighboring treadmill. Really? That was happening? "You're a different kind of freak." Luckily, Akutsu couldn't take too much attention off his own treadmill, because he wasn't about to let himself look like a douchebag by falling off of it. "Not every day. Three, sometimes four times a week usually, but it depends on my mood. And yeah. Actually got into the habit in prison. Wasn't exactly much else to do."
“Ah, the mental sort of freak, not the physical.” Niou nodded in understanding and pressed a few more buttons and oh, now the treadmill was going down an incline, what a treat. He was still dragging his feet though. “So being trapped in a place like that was actually halfway good at getting you new hobbies at least. You continue to do such a good job at convincing me to stay away from prison.”
Akutsu snorted out a bit of a laugh. Niou got his kind of freak right, imagine that. Although the guy did have his own physical freakish ways, even if they were completely different from the wild child's. "Working out isn't really a hobby…I don't do it strictly for entertainment. But I'm glad you're planning on staying out. You'd definitely end up someone's bitch."
Niou was going to argue with Akutsus’ definition of a hobby, when he just had to ruin it. And he hopped off the moving belt to stand on the side rails, reaching across to slam his hand on the emergency stop of Akutsu’s machine. “Excuse me? I’d end up what?”
Akutsu just barely managed to hop off the belt and land his feet on either side of the base, narrowly avoiding being thrown by the sudden stop. "Did I stutter?" he should be pissed at Niou for interrupting his run, especially like that, but preparing for whatever Niou was about to do was a better use of energy than dealing with what had already passed.
What a shame, Akutsu hadn’t fallen over. “I’m hoping that the lack of oxygen to your brain from running caused you to misspeak, or I happened to mishear,” Niou said, narrowing his eyes at Akutsu. He was very aware that they were in the gym and not in private where they usually spoke, which meant Akutsu was most likely going to be putting on his asshole front even more than usual. “Repeat it, Jin.”
Akutsu braced himself, mentally, and physically. Because this was the closest to threatening he’d ever seen Niou, and while he didn’t really doubt his own ability to take the guy down if it came to it, he also knew it would be stupid to underestimate him. “I said, you’d end up someone’s bitch.”
Niou’s control over his expression slipped into anger for a moment before he schooled it over as best as possible with blank calm. “I see. Someone like you, I suppose,” he sounded disgusted and gave Akutsu a once over with his gaze. “Because you don’t think I’m capable of stopping you if I really tried?”
“There are a lot worse in prison than me.” Akutsu wanted to say how not only had he never done that kind of thing, but he’d nearly had to have his sentences extended for beating the shit out of the guys that did do it. But he also didn’t want more stories to go around about how he was actually a good guy. The thought of that grossed him out. “People that you wouldn’t be able to stop, no matter how hard you tried, unless you were willing to kill them. Because if you only injure them, you make yourself a target. They won’t leave you alone until they get what they want, and they’ll keep taking it for as long as you’re both in together. Or maybe they’ll pass you around to their friends…”
Niou just raised an eyebrow and took a moment to stop his own treadmill, so he could lean over the bars a bit easier without worrying. And he reached out to grab onto Akutsu’s shoulder to pull him a bit closer. “I like that you think that I wouldn’t be willing or able to kill someone to stop them, Jin. Even if they’re worse than you,” he said with a smile that didn’t reach his still carefully blank, calm eyes. “It’s always nice when people think kindly of me.”
Akutsu met Niou’s eyes for a long moment. Okay, so maybe Niou had the attitude. That would go a long way. Whether it would be enough to make up for how skinny the guy was was a question that could only be answered by actually being in the situation. Akutsu had seen it, after all. Surprises did happen.
He chose not to say any more on the subject, though, and instead put his palm against Niou’s face and pushed him away. “You really are fucked up, you know that?”
Niou stared right back, keeping his expression steady as he waited for Akutsu’s judgement on the matter. And then he just got a hand in the face for his problems and he laughed, pushing away Akutsu’s hand and breaking the act. “Oh yes, I’m very aware,” he said and oh god, there was a bit of sweaty-shoulder on his hand, he regretting touching that.
He glanced around and ducked down to wipe his hand on the side of Akutsu’s pant leg. “Thankfully, I’m planning on living a nice quiet life for the next 5 years and then fall apart and disappear. So I don’t need to worry about anything like that.”
Akutsu just snorted and went to work reprogramming the treadmill to pick up roughly where he'd been so rudely interrupted. "So once again you're gonna leave me thinking you croaked. How kind of you."
Niou didn’t bother turning his own treadmill back on, preferring to just lean against the handrails and watch Akutsu. “I would have thought you’d just find someone else to annoy,” he said with an easy shrug. “Although I suppose maybe after 5 years together, you might actually like me and you’ll be stuck worrying that I’ll just pop up out of nowhere to annoy you when you least expect it.”
"After five years, I'll probably hate everyone here," Akutsu remarked with a shrug. Five years was a long time. Lots of relationships could be made and broken in that time. Akutsu honestly intended to stay as far away from that as possible…but the chance of him being able to completely avoid any or all of it was slim. That was gonna suck. "It'll be great to get the hell out."
Niou was actually impressed at Akutsu being able to hold a conversation while jogging, while also being as grumpy as normal. He applauded a little. “Or you could be very fond of some people and actually have to admit it,” Niou said with a laugh, reaching out to up the speed on Akutsu’s treadmill by one increment. Just 0.2km/h more, barely noticeable, right? “Since you won’t be able to run away from your feely feels if you’re stuck here.”
Akutsu growled at Niou for increasing his speed and bat his hand away from the controls. "Don't touch." He didn't change it back, though. With the gradual increase he had built into the program, he'd end up faster than Niou's increase anyway. "And I'd sooner shoot myself."
“Yes sir,” he said withdrawing his hands with a laugh. Niou went back to resting on the handrails and watched the number on the screen slowly tick up. “I really do worry about you sometimes, you know. You trying to be a grumpy loner is going to make for a sad next 5 years here. You need some sort of friendly connection to someone who’s… mentally stable.”
Akutsu huffed out a laugh. "Ain't one of us here that's mentally stable. We came out to the middle of nowhere for five fucking years, knowing damn well we could blow up, get eaten alive, or not even survive the trip, and we don't even have a way back." The speed on the treadmill picked up again; talking would be a challenge, but not impossible. And then he'd be fully warmed up.
“Okay, so maybe not completely mentally stable,” Niou conceded. Because Akutsu wasn’t entirely wrong that coming out to Izanagi was a bit ridiculous and said a lot about a person. “But like at least more metnally stable than me. Someone on the above average mental stability for Izanagi scale.” He watched Akutsu run and being this close did make the angle a bit awkward, but he liked resting on the handrails, so, staring a bit too closely at Akutsu’s chest it was. “We could make a scale. Rank everyone from most mentally stable to least. And we can pick from it for you.”
Akutsu shook his head. "Ain't doin somethin so stupid." He didn't need anyone. More importantly, he didn't want anyone. At least not in any degree that made it sound like a matchmaking service. If he happened to make a friend, fine, but Niou's meddling was not needed. "Thought you were here for something other than annoying me."
Niou glanced up to Akutsu's face and then he grinned. "Of course. Because you've already decided that I'm all you need. Oh Jin, I'm so flattered." He fluttered a little bit before the false amusement vanished from his face and he went back to curious studying. "I am. I wanted to look at you without a shirt on."
The treadmill routine was almost finished, so Akutsu ran the last in silence. It wasn't until the machine beeped in completion, and he'd had a chance to step off and grab a drink of water that he said anything. "So why are you checking out shirtless guys, again?"
Niou stayed silent as well, alternating between watching Akutsu, and watching the numbers on the screen and trying to track them to the footfalls. He stayed on the treadmill to look at Akutsu appraisingly from more of a distance. "Curiousity." He tilted his head slightly and very obviously looked down. "The topic came up and you're my guinea pig, so of course I had to ask."
Akutsu grabbed his towel and wiped off some of the sweat from his running. "Now you know I'm gonna have to ask. How does the topic of shirtless guys come up around you, and why the fuck am I your guinea pig?"
"Maybe I've just suddenly discovered the concept of being shirtless and wish to know how I compare first before I start stripping off at work," Niou said, smiling a bit. "And it'd be absolutely tragic to my self esteem if my only point of comparison was… Sanada." He glanced back at the screen on Akutsu's treadmill and alas, the list of statistics from the run had disappeared already. "And you're my guinea pig since you decided the friends label doesn't suit."
"You, going shirtless. Yeah, right." Well. Whatever. "Nobody should compare themselves to Sanada. He's as much a freak as the kid, when it comes to setting standards." Akutsu looked around the gym, deciding to pass on doing bench presses because Niou was an unreliable spotter. He settled instead for using the free weights.
"You're such an idiot, by the way." When would Niou learn Akutsu didn't like labels? That saying Niou was the closest thing he had to a friend meant he was one?
“It could become the new engineering uniform. Or maybe not, since you might be sneaking down there more often if it was, don’t think I haven’t heard the whispers, Akutsu,” Niou said with an annoyed look. He trailed behind him over to the weights and yeah, no. It wasn’t even worth picking one up out of curiosity.
He squatted down to avoid awkwardly standing around, staring in the vague vicinity of Akutsu’s knees. “Yes I know, I’ve been told many times. It’s your fault for agreeing to let me test things on you.”
Akutsu snorted. "It better not. Not enough engineers have the shape for it, apparently." A few too many of them looked fine in the coveralls, but underneath, not so much. Still, there was enough fun to be had that Akutsu found himself occupied enough.
He settled into his routine, trying to ignore Niou staring at him. It was weirder than he thought it would be. …and if Niou hadn't figured it out, Akutsu wasn't going to tell him…but he didn't say it out loud or he'd never hear the end of it. "Testing only lasts so long, you know."
“Maybe it should be, since it might keep you away from my department,” Niou shot back. And he could fill in his own paperwork to get an exception for the uniform or something, to stay completely covered up. He was sure Yanagi would be fine with it and keeping Sanada topless.
Niou couldn’t help but count along with the repetitions in his head, watching the movement of the different joints curiously. “You said the exposure therapy was stopping with arm over shoulder levels,” he said, watching Akutsu’s elbow. “Why do you think I haven’t tried hugging you yet?”
Akutsu thought about it a moment. "Actually, it'd just make it easier for me to know who's worth chasing and who's not." Finishing the set, Akutsu switched arms, repeating the count on the other side.
"Didn't think you'd want to. And I'm not much of a hugger."
Of course. Of course Akutsu had to go and make the joke gross. Of course. Niou just sighed and pressed his forehead to his knees. “You’re banned from my office until you leave my department alone, just by the way,” he said with another sigh.
Niou did have to shift eventually to sit on the floor properly as crouching there got a bit awkward. So he crossed his legs instead and looked up at Akutsu a bit easier. “You know, I’m actually not minding it, I’m surprised with myself,” Niou said. “It’s not that bad, even being hugged back. Kissing also, you know, I’m a fan. I didn’t think I would be.” He grinned at Akutsu. “Would you be willing to reconsider your exposure therapy stopping point and hug and kiss me too, Jin?”
Akutsu smirked. “Not like I have a real reason to go into your office anyway, now that I have real, actual coffee.” And he wasn’t leaving the department alone anytime soon…not unless he ran into another incident like he’d had with that one nurse.
At being asked about being willing to hug and kiss Niou, Akutsu stopped and put down the weights, then stared right at him for a solid minute before responding with a firm “No.”
“Good. There’s enough weird whispering about me already.” Niou was just glad that he could go back to working night shifts properly now, and didn’t have to deal with the majority of the department anymore. “I’ll just have to settle with coming to see you in your spare time if I want to annoy you in person.”
He smiled blandly and stared back at Akutsu. And then laughed, patting his chest a little. “Oh thank god. I regretted asking that, the moment I did, I was scared you were going to say yes there for a second.” Niou laughed again.
Akutsu took a seat on one of the benches, arching an eyebrow at Niou as he reached for his water. “You and Tachibana getting up to some weird shit again?” That would sure start up the rumor mill.
“It’s got nothing to do with you. I don’t kiss. Anyone.” Well. Not anymore.
“Nothing weirder than what we’ve done together,” Niou said, raising an eyebrow right back at Akutsu. Minus the kissing. Oh, and- “Oh, but he was very daring and touched up my shirt for like 6 seconds the other day. But my door was locked for that.”
Niou leaned back on his hands. “Bad at it? People grossed out by the cigarette taste? And what about the hugging?”
“And that’s not weird? You like him or something? More than a friend like?” Niou sure was letting him be awfully touchy-feely. Akutsu wondered what it meant, and how Tachibana was really handling it all.
“Just don’t,” Akutsu remarked with a shrug. “Don’t hug either. Just like I don’t cuddle.”
Niou frowned at Akutsu. “I’m not having this conversation with you, in a public space,” he said, looking pointedly around the fact that they were in the gym. Sure, it was relatively quiet, but still. “And it wasn’t weird, we were just exchanging secrets and checking them. I’d do it with you too if you actually shared secrets with me. Which you don’t.”
He looked at Akutsu for a long moment. “What could I give you, in exchange for a hug?”
“….That’s definitely weird. For the record.” Akutsu decided he didn’t need to know that badly. Niou’s business was Niou’s business after all. He’d meddled probably more than he should’ve with the whole Uion-Hiyoshi business. Didn’t need to meddle in this too.
Akutsu looked back at him. The comment about not telling him secrets, the whole were-they-or-weren’t-they-friends, and now this. Whether Niou knew it or not, he was really trying to get under Akutsu’s skin. “There’s nothing you could give me for that. I won’t do it. Period.”
“Okay fine, it was my own fault,” Niou said with a rather put-out sigh. “He asked for a secret so I told him I have a secret charm point. And I could have told him about the ones anywhere else, but the first one that popped into my head, was the one on my chest. And then I said I had to check his was real, and…” he made a frustrated noise and dragged a hand down his face.
He narrowed his eyes at Akutsu. “You wouldn’t have to hug me back, you know. Just stand there so I can hug you for like… 3 seconds. It’s not that hard. And I’m willing to exchange it for a big favour.”
Akutsu snorted. “That really was your own fault. You get yourself into these things so easily it’s stupid.” Seriously. If Niou had said he wanted to change which one he showed him, Tachibana probably wouldn’t have cared, from what little Akutsu knew of the guy.
“Nothin’ doin. Ain’t gonna happen. You could offer me all the money in the world, all the sex with whoever I want whenever I want it, you name it. And I won’t do it. Not for any or all of it.”
“This is why I didn’t talk to people much at all before coming here,” Niou said with another sigh. “Zero risk of putting myself into awkward situations with other people if I just avoid them completely. Probably the only reason I’m still alive.” And he knew he could have gotten out of it. But it felt like cheating and he just had to own up to his slip.
Well Akutsu was just an absolute killjoy and Niou had a suspicion that the only it was like this now was because he was digging his heels in and being as anti-hug as possible. Should have just sprung it on him weeks ago. “How boring.” Niou huffed. “What are you so scared about, huh?”
“Look at that, you’re becoming a real boy, Pinnochio,” Akutsu snarked, seriously debating throwing his sweaty towel at Niou just to see what he would do about it. “And stop assuming I’m scared of things. I’m not. I have my reasons, and I’m not going to share those, either. So drop it.”
“It just took me 24 years. I might actually be a functioning human by the time I’m 25,” Niou snipped back at Akutsu. “I’m sure everyone will be so surprised.”
He narrowed his eyes at Akutsu and rested his elbows on his knees to look at him. “Do you want me to take a guess as to why?” he asked, the humour gone from his face. “You know how good I am at my guesses.”
Welp. That made his mind up for him. Akutsu stood and threw his gym towel at Niou. He wasn’t feeling like working out anymore. “Make all the guesses you want, but keep them in your head. I’m done.” He put the weights back where he got them, then grabbed his water bottle. Fucking Niou, getting under his skin again.
Niou made a rather undignified yelp as he got hit by the sweaty gross gym towel and he balled it up to throw it as far away from him as possible to the side. “Oh my god, that’s so gross.” And gross now the feeling was just on him.
He tilted his head to watch Akutsu pack up and oh what, done already? Niou stood up and laughed, skipping up to Akutsu. “Am I now banned from coming to heckle you in the gym?” he asked cheerfully, poking him in the back.
Akutsu whirled around and smacked Niou’s hand. “You’re banned from heckling me at all. You wanna know all my secrets? Go ask your shrink buddy, see what data he’s gathered on me before coming out here. See if he can answer all your questions.” God, Niou knew how to push his buttons. In reality, Akutsu had no idea what information Yagyuu might have on him, or how accurate any of it was. He’d talked about going to see him, but hadn’t actually done it yet. He still couldn’t imagine divulging certain things to anyone at all, no matter who they were.
Well the smack surprised him and he automatically whacked his hand against Akutsu in retaliation. “Why would I talk to Hiroshi about you?” Why would he willingly talk to Yagyuu at all, at this point, honestly? He was still smarting at the very rude stay in isolation. Niou narrowed his eyes at Akutsu and huffed. “You’re both assholes, but you’re the more tolerable one. I’d rather you tell me your secrets yourself.”
“Because rumor has it he knows everything about everyone.” Akutsu really felt like punching Niou after getting his hand smacked, and he hadn’t actually been in a good fight in a while…
But ugh, fuck it. He’d made a promise, and as much as he hated it, there was a part of him that took pride in keeping them. So instead, he straightened up to his full height and stepped very definitely into Niou’s personal space. “Harassing me is the worst possible way to get me to tell you any secrets I have,” he growled, looking Niou right in the eyes. Sure, Niou probably wouldn’t back down, but that wasn’t what he was going for. “A little back and forth banter is one thing. But you like to come too close to crossing too many lines.”
“Hiroshi’s good, but he’s still not absolutely all knowing,” Niou said, with a bit of a smug smile on his face. There were some secrets that Yagyuu definitely didn’t know.
Maybe a few weeks ago, Niou would have backed away with Akutsu getting far too close, but now he just stood there and tilted his head back to look at him, looking mildly bored. “So there is a way to get you to tell me your secrets,” he said, raising an eyebrow. “Maybe if you told me, I’d stop harassing you for them.” Niou smiled at Akutsu. “I’m still figuring out where your lines are. Because I don’t think they’re quite where you think they are.”
“I know exactly where my lines are, and the first step to finding out any secrets I have is respecting them when I tell you you’ve crossed them. Which means when I tell you I’m not talking about it, you fucking drop it. Not just in that conversation. For good. If it gets brought up again, it should be because I brought it up. No matter what your goddamn curiosity wants.” Akutsu didn’t budge. He was mildly curious to see how long Niou could stand having him so close, but he was also trying to make a point.
“Then I might as well not bother talking to you at all, then,” Niou said, starting to feel some actual annoyance forming and breaking through the falseness of his smile. “Since you never share anything with me unless I push and push and get to the point of ripping down your stupid ‘I don’t care about anything’ facade.” He abruptly shoved Akutsu in the chest and bristled. “And you barely talk to me without prompting, so what’s the point?”
Akutsu growled so low he could feel it rumbling in his chest, and his fists balled at his sides…which meant his right hand closed so tightly around his water bottle that the plastic cracked in his hand. “It’s called earning trust. You should be damn well familiar with it, since you do it with touch all the time.” He took an intentionally slow, deep breath, because it was all Akutsu could do to restrain himself from taking a swing at Niou right now, or shoving him back, clothing boundary be damned. “And for the record. I care about plenty. I just like to keep it to myself because caring fucking HURTS.” He barely noticed the water leaking out of his cracked bottle and dripping down his hand to the floor.
There was a moment of genuine anger slipping through before Niou abruptly dropped the shutters over his emotions and he schooled his expression into careful blankness. “Yes, your mother and that person from before,” Niou said flatly. “You’ve made it abundantly clear that’s it.” His eyes narrowed slightly. “I don’t know why I tried. It’s not worth it when you’re a dumbass who can’t take a fucking hint.” Niou shook his head and shoved Akutsu again. “Fuck earning trust, I guess. Reset it to zero.” He should go back to work.
Akutsu saw that flash of anger before Niou hid it and it just pissed him off even more. A thousand different possible reactions flashed through his mind, but what came out was a sigh. “Fine. God. You can be just like him sometimes…” Akutsu muttered, too tired, too raw to bother posturing anymore. “I’m so fucking done with this shit.” Only now realizing his water bottle was leaking, Akutsu turned away from Niou and tossed it into the nearest trash can. “So fucking done…” he repeated, more to himself than to anyone else as he walked out of the gym.
Niou hissed angrily through his teeth as Akutsu left and stared at him until he was out the door, suddenly aware of how heavy he was breathing. And he had to take a few deep breaths before he could gather himself together and leave the gym as well.
Fuck Akutsu Jin, seriously.
When: 2nd August? 3rd August? something like that
Where: Gym
What: Niou and Akutsu
It was weird going into the gym during actual ‘daytime’ hours… actually it was weird going into the gym at all, given his distaste for exercise. But apparently this was somewhere that Akutsu went, like the weirdo that he was, and Niou wanted to chatter to pass the time, so, to the gym it was apparently.
He scanned across the room and made his way over to the treadmills that he was far too familiar with after fixing them way too many times. And hopped up onto the treadmill next to the one Akutsu was already on, to lean against the hand rails and look at him. “If you break it, I will be most cross, just so you know,” he said in greeting. “I swear I fix one a week, I’m so sick of them.”
Akutsu was only at a brisk walk, for now, having only arrived a few moments before Niou. He'd work up to a moderate run in a bit. This was just a warm up. "What kind of animal do you think I am?" He asked, arching an eyebrow when he glanced over.
How good was Akutsu’s lung capacity after the smoking, Niou wondered vaguely to himself. Something to think about if he started running. “I’ve actually never used a treadmill before in my life,” he admitted. “Maybe I just assumed that everyone uses them like Tooyama and runs at speeds that break the motors really fast.” Like when he’d apparently run through the entire night and just burned through a very recent repair.
He smiled at Akutsu and glanced down at the screen on the treadmill. “I’d say you’re safe from that sort of damage though.”
"For the record, someone breaking them like that is freak-of-nature type shit." Akutsu had the treadmill programmed for increases after certain times, and he felt the speed pick up a bit, making him work harder to keep up. "That kid's an idiot, and the definition of freak."
Niou curiously poked at the treadmill he was on and turned it on, at the slowest possible speed. That was more like him dragging his feet along. “Really? I thought I was more the definition of a ‘freak’,” Niou said cheerfully. He eyed Akutsu and quite happily kept meandering along on his own treadmill. “So is this an everyday thing for you? Did you used to go to the gym back on Earth too?”
Akutsu kind of stared as Niou turned on the neighboring treadmill. Really? That was happening? "You're a different kind of freak." Luckily, Akutsu couldn't take too much attention off his own treadmill, because he wasn't about to let himself look like a douchebag by falling off of it. "Not every day. Three, sometimes four times a week usually, but it depends on my mood. And yeah. Actually got into the habit in prison. Wasn't exactly much else to do."
“Ah, the mental sort of freak, not the physical.” Niou nodded in understanding and pressed a few more buttons and oh, now the treadmill was going down an incline, what a treat. He was still dragging his feet though. “So being trapped in a place like that was actually halfway good at getting you new hobbies at least. You continue to do such a good job at convincing me to stay away from prison.”
Akutsu snorted out a bit of a laugh. Niou got his kind of freak right, imagine that. Although the guy did have his own physical freakish ways, even if they were completely different from the wild child's. "Working out isn't really a hobby…I don't do it strictly for entertainment. But I'm glad you're planning on staying out. You'd definitely end up someone's bitch."
Niou was going to argue with Akutsus’ definition of a hobby, when he just had to ruin it. And he hopped off the moving belt to stand on the side rails, reaching across to slam his hand on the emergency stop of Akutsu’s machine. “Excuse me? I’d end up what?”
Akutsu just barely managed to hop off the belt and land his feet on either side of the base, narrowly avoiding being thrown by the sudden stop. "Did I stutter?" he should be pissed at Niou for interrupting his run, especially like that, but preparing for whatever Niou was about to do was a better use of energy than dealing with what had already passed.
What a shame, Akutsu hadn’t fallen over. “I’m hoping that the lack of oxygen to your brain from running caused you to misspeak, or I happened to mishear,” Niou said, narrowing his eyes at Akutsu. He was very aware that they were in the gym and not in private where they usually spoke, which meant Akutsu was most likely going to be putting on his asshole front even more than usual. “Repeat it, Jin.”
Akutsu braced himself, mentally, and physically. Because this was the closest to threatening he’d ever seen Niou, and while he didn’t really doubt his own ability to take the guy down if it came to it, he also knew it would be stupid to underestimate him. “I said, you’d end up someone’s bitch.”
Niou’s control over his expression slipped into anger for a moment before he schooled it over as best as possible with blank calm. “I see. Someone like you, I suppose,” he sounded disgusted and gave Akutsu a once over with his gaze. “Because you don’t think I’m capable of stopping you if I really tried?”
“There are a lot worse in prison than me.” Akutsu wanted to say how not only had he never done that kind of thing, but he’d nearly had to have his sentences extended for beating the shit out of the guys that did do it. But he also didn’t want more stories to go around about how he was actually a good guy. The thought of that grossed him out. “People that you wouldn’t be able to stop, no matter how hard you tried, unless you were willing to kill them. Because if you only injure them, you make yourself a target. They won’t leave you alone until they get what they want, and they’ll keep taking it for as long as you’re both in together. Or maybe they’ll pass you around to their friends…”
Niou just raised an eyebrow and took a moment to stop his own treadmill, so he could lean over the bars a bit easier without worrying. And he reached out to grab onto Akutsu’s shoulder to pull him a bit closer. “I like that you think that I wouldn’t be willing or able to kill someone to stop them, Jin. Even if they’re worse than you,” he said with a smile that didn’t reach his still carefully blank, calm eyes. “It’s always nice when people think kindly of me.”
Akutsu met Niou’s eyes for a long moment. Okay, so maybe Niou had the attitude. That would go a long way. Whether it would be enough to make up for how skinny the guy was was a question that could only be answered by actually being in the situation. Akutsu had seen it, after all. Surprises did happen.
He chose not to say any more on the subject, though, and instead put his palm against Niou’s face and pushed him away. “You really are fucked up, you know that?”
Niou stared right back, keeping his expression steady as he waited for Akutsu’s judgement on the matter. And then he just got a hand in the face for his problems and he laughed, pushing away Akutsu’s hand and breaking the act. “Oh yes, I’m very aware,” he said and oh god, there was a bit of sweaty-shoulder on his hand, he regretting touching that.
He glanced around and ducked down to wipe his hand on the side of Akutsu’s pant leg. “Thankfully, I’m planning on living a nice quiet life for the next 5 years and then fall apart and disappear. So I don’t need to worry about anything like that.”
Akutsu just snorted and went to work reprogramming the treadmill to pick up roughly where he'd been so rudely interrupted. "So once again you're gonna leave me thinking you croaked. How kind of you."
Niou didn’t bother turning his own treadmill back on, preferring to just lean against the handrails and watch Akutsu. “I would have thought you’d just find someone else to annoy,” he said with an easy shrug. “Although I suppose maybe after 5 years together, you might actually like me and you’ll be stuck worrying that I’ll just pop up out of nowhere to annoy you when you least expect it.”
"After five years, I'll probably hate everyone here," Akutsu remarked with a shrug. Five years was a long time. Lots of relationships could be made and broken in that time. Akutsu honestly intended to stay as far away from that as possible…but the chance of him being able to completely avoid any or all of it was slim. That was gonna suck. "It'll be great to get the hell out."
Niou was actually impressed at Akutsu being able to hold a conversation while jogging, while also being as grumpy as normal. He applauded a little. “Or you could be very fond of some people and actually have to admit it,” Niou said with a laugh, reaching out to up the speed on Akutsu’s treadmill by one increment. Just 0.2km/h more, barely noticeable, right? “Since you won’t be able to run away from your feely feels if you’re stuck here.”
Akutsu growled at Niou for increasing his speed and bat his hand away from the controls. "Don't touch." He didn't change it back, though. With the gradual increase he had built into the program, he'd end up faster than Niou's increase anyway. "And I'd sooner shoot myself."
“Yes sir,” he said withdrawing his hands with a laugh. Niou went back to resting on the handrails and watched the number on the screen slowly tick up. “I really do worry about you sometimes, you know. You trying to be a grumpy loner is going to make for a sad next 5 years here. You need some sort of friendly connection to someone who’s… mentally stable.”
Akutsu huffed out a laugh. "Ain't one of us here that's mentally stable. We came out to the middle of nowhere for five fucking years, knowing damn well we could blow up, get eaten alive, or not even survive the trip, and we don't even have a way back." The speed on the treadmill picked up again; talking would be a challenge, but not impossible. And then he'd be fully warmed up.
“Okay, so maybe not completely mentally stable,” Niou conceded. Because Akutsu wasn’t entirely wrong that coming out to Izanagi was a bit ridiculous and said a lot about a person. “But like at least more metnally stable than me. Someone on the above average mental stability for Izanagi scale.” He watched Akutsu run and being this close did make the angle a bit awkward, but he liked resting on the handrails, so, staring a bit too closely at Akutsu’s chest it was. “We could make a scale. Rank everyone from most mentally stable to least. And we can pick from it for you.”
Akutsu shook his head. "Ain't doin somethin so stupid." He didn't need anyone. More importantly, he didn't want anyone. At least not in any degree that made it sound like a matchmaking service. If he happened to make a friend, fine, but Niou's meddling was not needed. "Thought you were here for something other than annoying me."
Niou glanced up to Akutsu's face and then he grinned. "Of course. Because you've already decided that I'm all you need. Oh Jin, I'm so flattered." He fluttered a little bit before the false amusement vanished from his face and he went back to curious studying. "I am. I wanted to look at you without a shirt on."
The treadmill routine was almost finished, so Akutsu ran the last in silence. It wasn't until the machine beeped in completion, and he'd had a chance to step off and grab a drink of water that he said anything. "So why are you checking out shirtless guys, again?"
Niou stayed silent as well, alternating between watching Akutsu, and watching the numbers on the screen and trying to track them to the footfalls. He stayed on the treadmill to look at Akutsu appraisingly from more of a distance. "Curiousity." He tilted his head slightly and very obviously looked down. "The topic came up and you're my guinea pig, so of course I had to ask."
Akutsu grabbed his towel and wiped off some of the sweat from his running. "Now you know I'm gonna have to ask. How does the topic of shirtless guys come up around you, and why the fuck am I your guinea pig?"
"Maybe I've just suddenly discovered the concept of being shirtless and wish to know how I compare first before I start stripping off at work," Niou said, smiling a bit. "And it'd be absolutely tragic to my self esteem if my only point of comparison was… Sanada." He glanced back at the screen on Akutsu's treadmill and alas, the list of statistics from the run had disappeared already. "And you're my guinea pig since you decided the friends label doesn't suit."
"You, going shirtless. Yeah, right." Well. Whatever. "Nobody should compare themselves to Sanada. He's as much a freak as the kid, when it comes to setting standards." Akutsu looked around the gym, deciding to pass on doing bench presses because Niou was an unreliable spotter. He settled instead for using the free weights.
"You're such an idiot, by the way." When would Niou learn Akutsu didn't like labels? That saying Niou was the closest thing he had to a friend meant he was one?
“It could become the new engineering uniform. Or maybe not, since you might be sneaking down there more often if it was, don’t think I haven’t heard the whispers, Akutsu,” Niou said with an annoyed look. He trailed behind him over to the weights and yeah, no. It wasn’t even worth picking one up out of curiosity.
He squatted down to avoid awkwardly standing around, staring in the vague vicinity of Akutsu’s knees. “Yes I know, I’ve been told many times. It’s your fault for agreeing to let me test things on you.”
Akutsu snorted. "It better not. Not enough engineers have the shape for it, apparently." A few too many of them looked fine in the coveralls, but underneath, not so much. Still, there was enough fun to be had that Akutsu found himself occupied enough.
He settled into his routine, trying to ignore Niou staring at him. It was weirder than he thought it would be. …and if Niou hadn't figured it out, Akutsu wasn't going to tell him…but he didn't say it out loud or he'd never hear the end of it. "Testing only lasts so long, you know."
“Maybe it should be, since it might keep you away from my department,” Niou shot back. And he could fill in his own paperwork to get an exception for the uniform or something, to stay completely covered up. He was sure Yanagi would be fine with it and keeping Sanada topless.
Niou couldn’t help but count along with the repetitions in his head, watching the movement of the different joints curiously. “You said the exposure therapy was stopping with arm over shoulder levels,” he said, watching Akutsu’s elbow. “Why do you think I haven’t tried hugging you yet?”
Akutsu thought about it a moment. "Actually, it'd just make it easier for me to know who's worth chasing and who's not." Finishing the set, Akutsu switched arms, repeating the count on the other side.
"Didn't think you'd want to. And I'm not much of a hugger."
Of course. Of course Akutsu had to go and make the joke gross. Of course. Niou just sighed and pressed his forehead to his knees. “You’re banned from my office until you leave my department alone, just by the way,” he said with another sigh.
Niou did have to shift eventually to sit on the floor properly as crouching there got a bit awkward. So he crossed his legs instead and looked up at Akutsu a bit easier. “You know, I’m actually not minding it, I’m surprised with myself,” Niou said. “It’s not that bad, even being hugged back. Kissing also, you know, I’m a fan. I didn’t think I would be.” He grinned at Akutsu. “Would you be willing to reconsider your exposure therapy stopping point and hug and kiss me too, Jin?”
Akutsu smirked. “Not like I have a real reason to go into your office anyway, now that I have real, actual coffee.” And he wasn’t leaving the department alone anytime soon…not unless he ran into another incident like he’d had with that one nurse.
At being asked about being willing to hug and kiss Niou, Akutsu stopped and put down the weights, then stared right at him for a solid minute before responding with a firm “No.”
“Good. There’s enough weird whispering about me already.” Niou was just glad that he could go back to working night shifts properly now, and didn’t have to deal with the majority of the department anymore. “I’ll just have to settle with coming to see you in your spare time if I want to annoy you in person.”
He smiled blandly and stared back at Akutsu. And then laughed, patting his chest a little. “Oh thank god. I regretted asking that, the moment I did, I was scared you were going to say yes there for a second.” Niou laughed again.
Akutsu took a seat on one of the benches, arching an eyebrow at Niou as he reached for his water. “You and Tachibana getting up to some weird shit again?” That would sure start up the rumor mill.
“It’s got nothing to do with you. I don’t kiss. Anyone.” Well. Not anymore.
“Nothing weirder than what we’ve done together,” Niou said, raising an eyebrow right back at Akutsu. Minus the kissing. Oh, and- “Oh, but he was very daring and touched up my shirt for like 6 seconds the other day. But my door was locked for that.”
Niou leaned back on his hands. “Bad at it? People grossed out by the cigarette taste? And what about the hugging?”
“And that’s not weird? You like him or something? More than a friend like?” Niou sure was letting him be awfully touchy-feely. Akutsu wondered what it meant, and how Tachibana was really handling it all.
“Just don’t,” Akutsu remarked with a shrug. “Don’t hug either. Just like I don’t cuddle.”
Niou frowned at Akutsu. “I’m not having this conversation with you, in a public space,” he said, looking pointedly around the fact that they were in the gym. Sure, it was relatively quiet, but still. “And it wasn’t weird, we were just exchanging secrets and checking them. I’d do it with you too if you actually shared secrets with me. Which you don’t.”
He looked at Akutsu for a long moment. “What could I give you, in exchange for a hug?”
“….That’s definitely weird. For the record.” Akutsu decided he didn’t need to know that badly. Niou’s business was Niou’s business after all. He’d meddled probably more than he should’ve with the whole Uion-Hiyoshi business. Didn’t need to meddle in this too.
Akutsu looked back at him. The comment about not telling him secrets, the whole were-they-or-weren’t-they-friends, and now this. Whether Niou knew it or not, he was really trying to get under Akutsu’s skin. “There’s nothing you could give me for that. I won’t do it. Period.”
“Okay fine, it was my own fault,” Niou said with a rather put-out sigh. “He asked for a secret so I told him I have a secret charm point. And I could have told him about the ones anywhere else, but the first one that popped into my head, was the one on my chest. And then I said I had to check his was real, and…” he made a frustrated noise and dragged a hand down his face.
He narrowed his eyes at Akutsu. “You wouldn’t have to hug me back, you know. Just stand there so I can hug you for like… 3 seconds. It’s not that hard. And I’m willing to exchange it for a big favour.”
Akutsu snorted. “That really was your own fault. You get yourself into these things so easily it’s stupid.” Seriously. If Niou had said he wanted to change which one he showed him, Tachibana probably wouldn’t have cared, from what little Akutsu knew of the guy.
“Nothin’ doin. Ain’t gonna happen. You could offer me all the money in the world, all the sex with whoever I want whenever I want it, you name it. And I won’t do it. Not for any or all of it.”
“This is why I didn’t talk to people much at all before coming here,” Niou said with another sigh. “Zero risk of putting myself into awkward situations with other people if I just avoid them completely. Probably the only reason I’m still alive.” And he knew he could have gotten out of it. But it felt like cheating and he just had to own up to his slip.
Well Akutsu was just an absolute killjoy and Niou had a suspicion that the only it was like this now was because he was digging his heels in and being as anti-hug as possible. Should have just sprung it on him weeks ago. “How boring.” Niou huffed. “What are you so scared about, huh?”
“Look at that, you’re becoming a real boy, Pinnochio,” Akutsu snarked, seriously debating throwing his sweaty towel at Niou just to see what he would do about it. “And stop assuming I’m scared of things. I’m not. I have my reasons, and I’m not going to share those, either. So drop it.”
“It just took me 24 years. I might actually be a functioning human by the time I’m 25,” Niou snipped back at Akutsu. “I’m sure everyone will be so surprised.”
He narrowed his eyes at Akutsu and rested his elbows on his knees to look at him. “Do you want me to take a guess as to why?” he asked, the humour gone from his face. “You know how good I am at my guesses.”
Welp. That made his mind up for him. Akutsu stood and threw his gym towel at Niou. He wasn’t feeling like working out anymore. “Make all the guesses you want, but keep them in your head. I’m done.” He put the weights back where he got them, then grabbed his water bottle. Fucking Niou, getting under his skin again.
Niou made a rather undignified yelp as he got hit by the sweaty gross gym towel and he balled it up to throw it as far away from him as possible to the side. “Oh my god, that’s so gross.” And gross now the feeling was just on him.
He tilted his head to watch Akutsu pack up and oh what, done already? Niou stood up and laughed, skipping up to Akutsu. “Am I now banned from coming to heckle you in the gym?” he asked cheerfully, poking him in the back.
Akutsu whirled around and smacked Niou’s hand. “You’re banned from heckling me at all. You wanna know all my secrets? Go ask your shrink buddy, see what data he’s gathered on me before coming out here. See if he can answer all your questions.” God, Niou knew how to push his buttons. In reality, Akutsu had no idea what information Yagyuu might have on him, or how accurate any of it was. He’d talked about going to see him, but hadn’t actually done it yet. He still couldn’t imagine divulging certain things to anyone at all, no matter who they were.
Well the smack surprised him and he automatically whacked his hand against Akutsu in retaliation. “Why would I talk to Hiroshi about you?” Why would he willingly talk to Yagyuu at all, at this point, honestly? He was still smarting at the very rude stay in isolation. Niou narrowed his eyes at Akutsu and huffed. “You’re both assholes, but you’re the more tolerable one. I’d rather you tell me your secrets yourself.”
“Because rumor has it he knows everything about everyone.” Akutsu really felt like punching Niou after getting his hand smacked, and he hadn’t actually been in a good fight in a while…
But ugh, fuck it. He’d made a promise, and as much as he hated it, there was a part of him that took pride in keeping them. So instead, he straightened up to his full height and stepped very definitely into Niou’s personal space. “Harassing me is the worst possible way to get me to tell you any secrets I have,” he growled, looking Niou right in the eyes. Sure, Niou probably wouldn’t back down, but that wasn’t what he was going for. “A little back and forth banter is one thing. But you like to come too close to crossing too many lines.”
“Hiroshi’s good, but he’s still not absolutely all knowing,” Niou said, with a bit of a smug smile on his face. There were some secrets that Yagyuu definitely didn’t know.
Maybe a few weeks ago, Niou would have backed away with Akutsu getting far too close, but now he just stood there and tilted his head back to look at him, looking mildly bored. “So there is a way to get you to tell me your secrets,” he said, raising an eyebrow. “Maybe if you told me, I’d stop harassing you for them.” Niou smiled at Akutsu. “I’m still figuring out where your lines are. Because I don’t think they’re quite where you think they are.”
“I know exactly where my lines are, and the first step to finding out any secrets I have is respecting them when I tell you you’ve crossed them. Which means when I tell you I’m not talking about it, you fucking drop it. Not just in that conversation. For good. If it gets brought up again, it should be because I brought it up. No matter what your goddamn curiosity wants.” Akutsu didn’t budge. He was mildly curious to see how long Niou could stand having him so close, but he was also trying to make a point.
“Then I might as well not bother talking to you at all, then,” Niou said, starting to feel some actual annoyance forming and breaking through the falseness of his smile. “Since you never share anything with me unless I push and push and get to the point of ripping down your stupid ‘I don’t care about anything’ facade.” He abruptly shoved Akutsu in the chest and bristled. “And you barely talk to me without prompting, so what’s the point?”
Akutsu growled so low he could feel it rumbling in his chest, and his fists balled at his sides…which meant his right hand closed so tightly around his water bottle that the plastic cracked in his hand. “It’s called earning trust. You should be damn well familiar with it, since you do it with touch all the time.” He took an intentionally slow, deep breath, because it was all Akutsu could do to restrain himself from taking a swing at Niou right now, or shoving him back, clothing boundary be damned. “And for the record. I care about plenty. I just like to keep it to myself because caring fucking HURTS.” He barely noticed the water leaking out of his cracked bottle and dripping down his hand to the floor.
There was a moment of genuine anger slipping through before Niou abruptly dropped the shutters over his emotions and he schooled his expression into careful blankness. “Yes, your mother and that person from before,” Niou said flatly. “You’ve made it abundantly clear that’s it.” His eyes narrowed slightly. “I don’t know why I tried. It’s not worth it when you’re a dumbass who can’t take a fucking hint.” Niou shook his head and shoved Akutsu again. “Fuck earning trust, I guess. Reset it to zero.” He should go back to work.
Akutsu saw that flash of anger before Niou hid it and it just pissed him off even more. A thousand different possible reactions flashed through his mind, but what came out was a sigh. “Fine. God. You can be just like him sometimes…” Akutsu muttered, too tired, too raw to bother posturing anymore. “I’m so fucking done with this shit.” Only now realizing his water bottle was leaking, Akutsu turned away from Niou and tossed it into the nearest trash can. “So fucking done…” he repeated, more to himself than to anyone else as he walked out of the gym.
Niou hissed angrily through his teeth as Akutsu left and stared at him until he was out the door, suddenly aware of how heavy he was breathing. And he had to take a few deep breaths before he could gather himself together and leave the gym as well.
Fuck Akutsu Jin, seriously.
