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Ren has always thought he was a halfway decent gift giver. He’s good at figuring out what people like, what they’d want, what they’d use. He’s the type of person to see something in a store and immediately think of someone who might appreciate it. But if there’s one person who puts his skills to the test, it’s Goro Akechi.
Which is terrible, Ren thinks, because that’s his boyfriend. But Akechi is just so difficult to buy for. He’s picky. He’s pretentious. And whenever Ren asks, he’s met with the same response: You don’t have to get me anything.
Ren has yet to make sense of that one. Is he just playing coy? Is this one of those tsundere things? Does he genuinely not want anything? Sure, he’s been preoccupied with more important things like “therapy” and “figuring out what to do with his life now that he’s not dedicating it solely to revenge,” but there has to be something, right?
He ends up writing a list of ideas in his phone, but none of them feel quite right. He could get a few smaller items, perhaps, but he has yet to stumble upon The Gift. The main one, the special one. What would be good enough to qualify? What would be meaningful to Akechi?
“Meaningful, huh?” Morgana repeats upon being posed the question. He rubs his face with his paw as he perches on Ren’s desk in his bedroom. It’s been over two months since they left Tokyo, but Ren still expects to wake up to the Leblanc attic ceiling rather than his own house.
“Well,” Morgana continues, “maybe think about what kind of gifts are meaningful to you?”
Ren sits down on the side of his bed. That’s an easy answer. For him, gifts are less about the item itself and more about the memories associated with it. When he looks at his souvenir ramen bowl, he thinks of Ryuji; when he looks at his “I <3 TOKYO” shirt, he thinks of Futaba.
“I guess I like sentimental things,” he says thoughtfully. “Things that remind me of good times I’ve had with people. Though, if it’s from someone I care about, it doesn’t really matter to me what it is. The fact that they thought of me is enough.” He shrugs. “Which doesn’t really help my current situation.”
Morgana leaps from the desk to the bed. “You don’t think he feels the same way?”
Ren lies down, resting his hands behind his head. Akechi would certainly reject the idea of being sentimental, but that doesn’t mean he’s immune to it. Still, Ren doesn’t want to get him just anything. It has to be special. It has to show that he cares.
“Hmm,” he says, closing his eyes, as if the backs of his eyelids will provide him with an answer. “Memories…”
A dartboard doesn’t feel right. Maybe something aquarium-related? A pool table would just be ridiculous, not to mention beyond his capabilities. Gloves…?
He feels the weight of Morgana landing on his chest. “Hey,” he says. “What about you?”
Ren cracks an eye open. “What do you mean? What about me?”
“You mean something to him, don’t you?”
Ren snorts. “I would sure hope so.”
Morgana bats at Ren’s cheek with his paw. “You’re special to him. He enjoys doing things with you.”
“Yeah, which is why I have to make sure this gift is—”
Morgana bats at him again. “You’re the gift, doofus.”
At this, Ren opens his eyes fully, brows furrowed as he turns Morgana’s words over in his mind. He wanted to visit Akechi for his birthday, of course, but assumed that they’d both be too busy—or perhaps part of him was worried he’d be too much of a bother. Which is stupid, because that’s his boyfriend.
Now that Morgana’s said it out loud, though, Ren can start to picture it: himself with an overnight bag concealing a few small gifts, showing up unannounced at Akechi’s doorstep with a goofy grin on his face and a bow on his head. He would probably prefer just to see Ren in person, wouldn’t he?
Of course. What would show that he cares more than dropping everything to visit? What’s more meaningful than the memories they’ll continue to make?
“Hey,” Morgana says. “Are your wheels turning or what?”
“They’re turning,” Ren replies with a chuckle. “Thanks.”
Ren’s heart pounds with a mixture of excitement and nervousness as the train pulls into the station. He just finished dropping Morgana off at the Sakuras’ for the day—he wasn’t sure Akechi would appreciate Morgana being there for moments he would’ve preferred to keep between the two of them, and Morgana, for his part, was happy to not have to third-wheel—and now he’s on his way to Akechi’s city apartment, his bag slung over his shoulder.
For the first few months of the year, Akechi stayed at a refuge center. It’s only recently that he decided to see how he would do back in Tokyo, though that doesn’t mean his recovery is over—far from it. Rehabilitation, Ren has learned, is something you work towards for a long time. Perhaps it never truly ends.
It…hasn’t been easy, Akechi had privately admitted one night. It probably never will be. I hope you’re aware of this if you wish to move forward with our…relationship.
And Ren had laughed softly, because if trying to kill him twice wasn’t enough to deter him from pursuing Akechi, then why would this?
As Ren steps out of the train station and into the area of Shibuya where Akechi lives, he pulls his phone out and sends a text: Are you home?
He already sent a “happy birthday” message earlier (read: at precisely midnight), emojis and all, and Akechi had seemed sufficiently flustered by the shower of affection, even through text. Now, though, his response is both quick and composed: Yes. Why?
Ren smiles to himself. No reason, he replies, and then he starts off in the direction of Akechi’s apartment building.
He’s sweating by the time he gets there, due in part because of the heat and partly because he ended up jogging most of the way. Checking his phone rewards him with several amusing texts from Akechi, which range from What are you planning? to Don’t ignore me. to just Ren!
Ren replies with a smiling emoji, then makes for the elevator.
There’s no one in the hallway on Akechi’s floor; Ren had half-expected him to be standing in the doorway, waiting for him with his arms crossed. With the coast clear, Ren unzips a side pouch in his bag and pulls out a red gift bow. Then he removes the paper covering the adhesive and sticks the bow on top of his head.
What can he say? He’s the gift that keeps on giving.
Taking a deep breath, he knocks on Akechi’s door.
The doorknob turns only a few moments later, as if Akechi was waiting just several feet away. He probably was. And then the door opens, and there he stands, wearing casual summer clothing with his hair tied up into a small low ponytail. As the Detective Prince, he used to wear a fair amount of makeup; now, though, he appears to be mostly bare-faced, and still no less stunning than the day Ren met him. Perhaps even more so, because this Akechi isn’t wearing a mask.
Ren grins. “Happy birthday, Goro.”
With one eyebrow raised incredulously, Akechi glances from Ren’s face to the bow on his head. Then his mouth curves upward, and he brings one hand up to cover it. It takes Ren a moment to realize that he’s laughing.
It’s a soft, quiet thing, the kind of laugh that’s trying not to be heard, but manages to slip through anyhow. He turns his head away. “Ren, you…I told you you didn’t have to do anything.”
“No you didn’t,” Ren says. “You said I didn’t have to get you anything. Which I did anyway, but that’s beside the point.”
Akechi just stares at him, a subtle blush creeping into his cheeks. “You fool,” he mutters, taking a step back. When Ren doesn’t move, he adds, “Well? Are you coming in, or did you travel all this way just to stand there?”
Ren laughs and rushes inside, closing the door behind him.
Akechi’s city apartment is a remnant of his time as the Detective Prince, stylish and modern without being too ridiculously expensive. Ren has actually never been inside it before—during the school year, they’d always go out somewhere, save for the few times Akechi visited Leblanc, and then he was at the refuge center for a while. As Ren shuffles his shoes off in the entryway, he notices the sleek kitchen countertops, the black leather sofa—though, more than that, he notices the little things: books piled up on side tables, a grocery list on the fridge, an insulated water bottle in the sink. Signs of life.
Akechi’s voice snaps Ren out of his thoughts. “So. I assume, since you’re here, that you have some sort of extravagant birthday plan?”
Ren’s face heats up. “Um, not really,” he says, rubbing the back of his neck. “I mean, I brought you some things, but it’s really whatever you want to do. We could go out somewhere, or we could just stay in and I could make you something, or…”
Akechi raises a brow. “Really? No surprise party at Leblanc with the others, or something equally dramatic and overdone?”
Ren chuckles sheepishly. “Well, I figured you wouldn’t really enjoy something like that.” He shrugs. “Really, I just…I was stressing about what sort of gift to get you, because I wanted it to be something really special, and I realized that visiting you in person, no matter what we actually do together…that’s special, isn’t it? Isn’t that what you’d really want?”
Akechi blinks. He’s always a little taken aback by Ren’s candor, as if he can’t believe anyone would just bare their heart so easily. But Ren would bare his heart to Akechi over and over again.
“I…” Akechi starts, glancing away. His blush is deeper now. “Yes. I suppose you’re right.” He takes a step forward. “You look ridiculous with that bow in your hair, though.”
Before Ren can protest—it did make Akechi laugh, after all, so he’d say it did its job—Akechi leans in and kisses him, hard and fast. It’s a kiss that says I’ve missed you and I’m glad you’re here without actually having to say it.
Ren kisses him back with just as much energy, one hand on Akechi’s cheek, the other resting against his hip. As their lips move in tandem, Akechi reaches over with one hand and plucks the bow out of Ren’s hair, tossing it to the side before pushing him up against the nearby wall.
Ren snickers, even as he feels his face and body flush. Pulling away, he says, “Missed me that much, did you?”
“Oh, shut it.”
“At least let me make you dinner first.”
“Stop.”
And yet, when Ren flashes a playful smile, Akechi’s lips still twitch upward.
Ren reaches out and lightly brushes Akechi’s bangs out of his face. “I mean it, by the way,” he says. “Today’s your day. We can do whatever you want.”
“Heh.” Akechi shakes his head. “You know, it’s been a long time since I thought of this day as ‘my’ day.”
And there, Ren thinks, is the heart of the matter, because he had suspected as much. Why would anyone want to celebrate the day of their birth if they’re convinced that their very existence is a curse to everyone around them?
“I know,” Ren says, because he does. “But that’s why I’m here. To remind you.”
That earns him another quiet, incredulous laugh.
“If nothing else,” Ren adds softly, “I’m happy you exist.”
For a long moment, Akechi doesn’t say anything, just stares pointedly at the wall directly above Ren’s head. After a few seconds, Ren realizes it’s because he’s trying not to cry.
Ren has never seen Goro Akechi cry. It’s likely he doesn’t do it often; it’s likely he doesn’t allow himself to.
“You…” Akechi starts, and a few tears slip silently down his cheeks, without fanfare. “You sentimental idiot.”
When he kisses Ren again, it’s softer, both hands cupping Ren’s cheeks. He doesn’t need to say anything else—the message is loud and clear.
Thank you.