Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/ works/11728029. Rating: Explicit Archive Warning: Underage Category: M/M Fandom: Persona_5 Relationship: Kurusu_Akira/Sakamoto_Ryuji Character: Kurusu_Akira, Sakamoto_Ryuji, Takamaki_Ann, Morgana_(Persona_5) Additional Tags: relationship, No_Spoilers, can_you_tell_I_never_post_here_ever, idk_what to_tag, ryuji_is_a_good_boi, akira_is_the_best_boi Stats: Published: 2017-08-06 Words: 3173 ****** As Light as a Boulder ****** by dreamata Summary Ryuji gets mad about Kamoshida and Akira is there to help. First in a series of drabbles. Notes See the end of the work for notes Everything that happened to this point had a deep significance in Akira’s growth as a human being and as a trickster. He knew that and acknowledged that - it had to be a strange twist of fate to land him almost right in the lap of Kamoshida, and of his newfound friendships. There had to be connections he wasn’t seeing, that maybe he would soon. Akira stared out of the window as he thought, vaguely feeling Morgana’s tail swishing back and forth on his thigh as he tried to pick out the answers for himself. He leaned back and let out a deep sigh he didn’t know he had been holding, just as his phone vibrated in his pocket. With a quick flourish from his pocket, he checked the new message Ryuji: man, can we train later? I really gotta let out some steam Ryuji: also a lot of shit has been bothering me Ryuji: everything is so fucked up   Akira shifted, typing his reply out carefully as to not be seen by Kawakami.   Akria: Absolutely. Meet you in the hallway?   Ryuji replied faster than expected. Ryuji: yeah man Ryuji: thanks dude, i really need this.   Akira pocketed his phone before he got caught by Kawakami, leaning back and zoning out for the rest of the class period. Akira strided up to Ryuji, who was waiting patiently in the hallway against a wall. Ryuji pushed himself off of the wall, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Where did you want to train today,” Akira asked, adjusting his glasses as he spoke. “Well, uh…” Ryuji hesitated before continuing, “I think I just need to rant for a bit, if that's okay?” Ryuji rolled his shoulder, looking away as he spoke. “That sounds fine to me.” Akira said, giving Ryuji a small smile.   Once the duo made it outside of the school and out of earshot, Ryuji kicked a rock with enough force to push it about a block away. He let out an audible grunt as he did so, shaking his head. “This Kamoshida stuff is all bullshit!” He kept shaking his head, taking in a deep inhale. “How can people be so blind to someone literally abusing his students? How can parents turn a blind eye to their children coming home with bruises all over their bodies? Its bullshit!” He exclaimed, flexing his hand. Ryuji kept shaking his head as he turned to Akira. “He’s even serving you a bad hand, like you don’t already have enough shit to deal with! Its bullshit! He shouldn’t be able to get away with shit like this!” All the blonde could do was shake his head. “You know, we are doing something about it,” Akira reminded gently. Ryuji visibly relaxed a bit at the reminder. “I know man, I know… It’s just frustrating. It's frustrating knowing you’re risking your probation getting extended or worse because he has some weird god complex!” Ryuji kicked another stone. “Then again, I guess you’re already well aware of what’s going to happen if we fuck this up…” Ryuji sighed. “Going on about this to you isn’t helping. I’m sorry, you’ve already gotta be pretty stressed out.” Akira shook his head, shifting his weight to his other foot. “Don’t worry about it. It’s frustrating,” Akira made sure to meet Ryuji’s gaze before continuing. “But you gotta channel that into the palace, right? Just getting frustrated in reality isn’t going to do any good for any of us. Save that frustration for beating up on shadows, alright?” Akira gave him a small smile, tilting his head slightly. Ryuji started nodding slowly, crossing his arms over his chest. “Yeah man, you’re right…” He started nodding a little faster, uncrossing his arms and shaking them out slightly. “I gotta get pumped! We gotta take Kamoshida down and make him eat his own words!” Ryuji cracked a grin, bumping shoulders with Akira as he kept shaking out his arms. “Man, we gotta go today. We gotta go now. I’m so ready to make that bastard eat his own words!” Akira nodded, smirking slightly. “I’ll tell Ann and we’ll head out today. Let’s do this.” Once the group returned from their long haul in the palace, they were ready to send the calling card to Kamoshida. But just because they were ready, doesn’t mean Akira was. Not yet, anyway. There was some unfinished business he wanted to wrap up, and he still needed to get the group better weapons before they head into the palace - which also means Akira needs to wrack up some money before they can go in. He was mindful of the date as he whipped out his phone again, feeling a wave of exhaustion wash over him. Ryuji and Ann slumped next to him as Akira cracked his back by flexing his shoulders. “Man, it never gets easier, does it?” Ryuji asked, rolling his shoulders. “It does when you actually train like you’re supposed to ,” Morgana quipped, hopping into Akira’s bag as he set it on the ground. “But man, I really am beat,” Ann trailed off, standing up and stretching out her legs. “I think I’m gonna call it a night and head on home.” She stretched her arms up and slapped them back down before waving at the two boys, “I’ll see you guys tomorrow!” Akira nodded, stretching his arms over his chest in an attempt to relieve the pain sitting square on his spine. It didn’t work. “Hey man, can I crash with you tonight? I don’t want ma thinking anything weird about me coming home super late…” Ryuji said, finally standing back up. “Wouldn’t she think even worse if you didn’t come home at all?” Akira asked, raising an eyebrow with a small smirk on his face. “... Hey man, I never said I was smart.” Ryuji huffed a little bit. “Please?” “You say that like I minded in the first place,” Akira said, pushing up his glasses. “But we do have school tomorrow, and I only have a couch besides the futon I’m sleeping on.” “Dude don’t sweat it, it’s definitely better than getting interrogated by ma when I get home.” Ryuji said, laughing a little as he shifted his weight. “She gets so worried about me.” “Rightfully so, you’re her only child.” Akira pointed out, making his way to the train that would take him to Leblanc with Ryuji in tow. There was quite a long silence as they crammed themselves into the train, standing shoulder to shoulder as they approached their destination. Akira practically dozed off onto Ryuji’s shoulder, startling himself when the train car shook unexpectedly. He shook his head and blinked a few times to keep him awake. In the process of no time at all, they entered the front of Leblanc with the bell jingling their presence. Sojiro turned, letting out a small sigh. “Finally kid, I was getting worried about you. You’re not getting into any trouble, are you?” He raised an eyebrow, putting away one last coffee cup. Akira shook his head, taking in a deep breath. “... I won’t grill you on it for now. I’m heading out for the night, lock up for me.” Sojiro took off his apron and made his way out the door, presumably to his own house for the night. Akira locked the door behind him and turned the open sign to closed. “Man, he’s pretty cold isn’t he?” Ryuji said, popping his own back. Akira shrugged, taking in another deep breath. “He’s really not that bad. Especially for the fact he really didn’t have to take me in in the first place.” Akira said, rolling his neck. Just about everything hurt, and there was no real way to relieve the pain radiating from his spine. “Alright man, well since you got that TV and the gaming system, I brought over Gambla Goemon as a joint welcoming and also ‘this fucking sucks so I want you to feel a little better’ gift. I figured we could play the multiplayer or something.” Ryuji said, brandishing the game. “That sounds like a plan.” Akira nodded, heading his way up to his attic- bedroom for the two to play together.   After a few hours of multiplayer gameplay on Gambla Goemon, the duo sat back and simultaneously cracked their backs from leaning forward too much. “That can’t be good for your backs, you know,” Morgana felt the need to quip in, stretching out on the sofa. “Man, screw what's good for us!” Ryuji said, popping his knuckles. “It felt good, so I decided to do it. Is there something wrong with that?” “I bet you Kamoshida would agree with you,” Akira said, raising an eyebrow and wearing a smirk. Ryuji visibly reeled at this, shaking his head. “Hey, I didn’t mean for those to sound similar…” “I’m only playing, you take me too seriously sometimes.” Akira said, laughing slightly. “I only do it because you seem so serious in palaces! Like man, you’re so intimidating but also so cool . The smirk you give shadows right before you fucking obliterate them is all I can see when I look at you.” Ryuji said excitedly, before completely realizing how fucking gay that sounded. “So, you like to think of me on the regular?” Akira said, smirking as he leaned back again. Slowly but surely, Akira was starting to look like a jungle cat eyeing his prey. “Uh, wait I didn’t mean for it to-... I mean I… Uh…” Ryuji said, scratching the back of his neck as he was completely at a loss for words. He definitely did think about their leader more than he should, but he never planned to admit that to him. Especially not in the gayest way possible. Because he was definitely not gay. Right? ...right? Akira put his arm up on the back of the chair, his smirk growing slowly. “Y’know, Ryuji, I’m a lot more open-minded than you think. If you’re feeling so inclined-” “No. Seriously, no. I’m not gay and I definitely don’t think about the way you smirk before you do literally anything in the metaverse, and I especially don't think about the way you adjust your gloves with your fucking mouth.” Insert foot in mouth, Ryuji. You’ve fucking done it now. Akira raised both eyebrows this time, scooting forward ever so slightly. “You really need to be less harsh on yourself. If you like something, you like something. It doesn’t matter who or what disagrees with you.” Akira tilted his head slightly as he continued, meeting Ryuji’s gaze. “There's nothing wrong with finding out things for yourself. I’ve had your back, and I’ll always have your back. About everything, including this.” Ryuji shook his head and laughed a little to himself. He knew Akira always had a way with words and was great at getting right to the point with things, but damn. “Fuck man, you make me seem like an idiot stumbling over my words over here…” He gave an awkward laugh, right as Morgana snickered on the couch. Ryuji turned a bright shade of red, having completely forgotten that Morgana was on the couch in the first place. “Don’t worry Ryuji, I didn’t hear anything . I am heading out for a walk, though. I don’t wanna be here for this.” He said, hopping off of the couch and down to the main part of Leblanc. Akira snickered at Ryuji’s bright hue of red, shifting slightly in his seat. “But seriously, have you been thinking of this stuff recently? You should’ve told me sooner.” Ryuji took a deep inhale, staring at his knees as he spoke. “I mean yeah, I guess. I just didn’t know how to deal with what was going on, and if I was confusing attraction for just having one functional friend for once.” He shook his head. “I’m sorry if I’m making you uncomfortable.” Akira shook his head. “I feel like I should be saying that to you, seeing you stare at your knees like that.” There was a long moment of silence between the two, before Akira eventually spoke up again. “...can I kiss you?” Ryuji blinked multiple times, shaking his head before looking up at Akira. “I- I.. Uh… Y-Yeah man, I guess..” Akira audibly laughed to himself, shaking his head before he gently put a hand on Ryuji’s cheek. Before Ryuji could fully process what was happening, Akira’s soft lips were already on his, and Akira’s hand tangling in his hair. It felt like nothing he had ever felt before - and that was fucking terrifying to Ryuji. Akira pulled away, and Ryuji let out a shaky breath that he didn’t know he had been holding. Akira raised an eyebrow. “I can stop there, if you want.” Akira gently reminded, running this thumb over the others cheek. “N-No.. It's just… different feeling.” Ryuji said, shifting again. “Different doesn’t mean bad though, it's just… different.” Akira smirked to himself, getting up and fully cracking his back before heading over to his bed. “Come here.” Akira prompted, shifting his weight so Ryuji could sit next to him. Ryuji did as told, and before he knew it, Akira was straddling his hips and their lips were together again. But this kiss wasn’t near as timid or gentle, with Akira’s tongue pushing into Ryuji’s mouth as he gasped. Ryuji has never had a way with words, and probably never would, but this completely fried his brain of any thoughts he could’ve had before then. Akira’s tongue ventured throughout Ryuji’s mouth as he let out a small noise that was trapped somewhere between a squeak and a groan. Akira pulled away, panting for air as Ryuji caught his breath. Ryuji looked up to see his leader red-faced and panting, bangs half covering his face as he looked at the other. Akira smirked when he caught Ryuji staring, which made Ryuji’s brain fry for a second time that night. Something about how animalistic Akira could get in the when he set his mind on something really set something off in Ryuji’s head. He prowls the metaverse like he’s looking for his next target, which is deeply contrasted to how quiet and innocent he seems in his social life. How could you expect a trickster to not revert to his trickster habits in a situation like this? Ryuji was ripped from his thoughts as Akira went back in for round two, their tongues sliding together with a little more grace than the first go around. Akira ran his fingers through Ryuji’s hair as Ryuji made near pornographic noises, catching himself every time he did so. “Stop silencing yourself halfway through moans,” Akira scolded, moving towards Ryuji’s jawline as he kissed and licked the area, earning a breath hitch from Ryuji. “I sound like a fucking bitch,” he said, his voice shaking as Akira continued his descent down Ryuji’s neck. “Only to you.” Akira reminded, sucking at the base of Ryuji’s neck. This earned a deep moan from Ryuji, which made Akira smirk into his neck and only suck harder. “H-Hey man, I can’t have any wicked hickeys-” He cut himself off as his breathing hitched again, moaning slightly. Akira smirked, shifting his leg position to where his knee rested in between Ryuji’s legs. He didn’t really mean to brush at the growing erection Ryuji was fostering, but smirked when Ryuji let out a small moan as he rutted against Akira’s leg slightly. “F-Fuck man, I’m so sorry-” Ryuji was cut off before he could finish by Akira’s lips on his. “Didn’t I tell you experimenting is okay? If you like it, you like it. Really, don’t beat yourself up over this.” Akira reminded, letting out a small noise as he lowered himself onto Ryuji’s leg. “I-I just feel like I’m forcing you..” Ryuji trailed off, looking away. Akira grabbed him by the chin, forcing Ryuji’s gaze to his own. “Does it look like I’m being forced?” Akira said, gesturing vaguely to his own hard-on. Ryuji didn’t reply, he only grabbed Akira by his neck and pushed their lips back together, rutting against Akira’s leg yet again. It felt like a live wire was running through him, and he was vaguely aware he was dangerously close to coming entirely too early. Ryuji shifted, pulling away from the kiss with Akira long enough to fumble with his pants button for an embarrassing amount of time. Akira’s breathing was uneven above him, the first real sign of loss of composure that Ryuji had seen. Once Ryuji managed to get the button undone and the zipper down, he could tell Akira was completely hard. The thought alone made him blush, but he wasn’t allowed to concentrate on that thought for long, because they were back to making out and grinding before he knew it. Akira’s breathing had gotten heavy, with a light splattering of moans in between staggered breaths, whereas Ryuji couldn’t seem to shut himself up. “F-Fuck man, I-I’m gonna cum - A-ahh... really f-fast at this rate…” He struggled to get the words out, rocking his head back to moan as he gripped at Akira’s sheets. Akira buried his head into Ryuji’s neck, licking the area between moans. “D-Don’t worry, me too..” Akira breathed out, and before Ryuji could even count to ten, Akira was biting down on Ryuji’s neck as he came in his own boxers, creating a blossoming pool of his own cum in his pants. Something about watching Akira cum set something off in Ryuji, rocking into Akira’s leg violently before eventually letting out a loud moan, cumming in his own pants. That sensation felt good for about 5 seconds, before he felt absolutely disgusting. Really, creaming your own pants like a 12 year old? Nice, Ryuji. Akira shifted above him, now completely aware of how disgusting he also felt. Akira tested out his legs for a second before getting himself up, still a little weak kneed from what just happened. Ryuji tried to stand up, but ended up falling back over onto the bed. This earned a laugh from the other boy, as he changed into his sleeping pajamas, wandering back over to the bed. “You’re gonna hate yourself in the morning if you don’t change those now.” Akira said, smirking knowingly down at Ryuji. “I know man, but my legs don’t want to fucking work .” Ryuji sighed, managing to roll himself out of bed and onto his feet. He stopped and thought before he chose his next words. “T-This is gonna stay between us, right..?” “Of course. I told you, I’ve got your back and I always will.” Akira smiled, playfully bumping shoulders with Ryuji before flopping into his own bed. Ryuji smiled to himself and changed his boxers, shuffling over Akira’s bed. “Do you… think I could sleep with you…?” Ryuji asked shyly. Akira laughed and scooted over, making room for Ryuji. As Ryuji layed down, Akira could feel the weight of the metaverse weighing on him, along with what just happened, pushing him into a deep sleep, where Ryuji wasn’t far behind. End Notes I'm so sorry if this is awful, I wrote it for a friend but figured it might as well get posted Please drop_by_the_archive_and_comment to let the author know if you enjoyed their work!