"Mayuzumicchi!" A cheerful voice called over the bell ringing above the open door. "I haven't seen you in ages!"

Mayuzumi, who sat behind the counter, didn't look up from what he was working on. "You saw me two weeks ago," he paused, "I swear this has already happened."

The gorgeous model thought for a bit, "Probably." He came over to peer at what Mayuzumi was drawing, but the tattoo artist shielded the picture from Kise's sight. Kise pouted. "Why can't I see?"

Mayuzumi easily slipped the paper into the gray binder on the counter without letting Kise even see a peek of it. "Because I'm drawing out ideas for Akashi." He patted the empty space on the counter for Kise to come sit and the model wasted no time in doing so.

Mayuzumi moved in the chair so that he was settled between Kise's legs, making sure to be just out of harm's way from Kise's kicking, and he smiled up at him.

The only thing Kise was missing right now was a wagging tail to show his excitement. "He's really doing it? He's getting a tattoo?"

Mayuzumi nodded as he stretched. "Said it was finally time, especially after the news that came out last week. He's coming in later today so we can start hashing out some possibilities of what the final tattoo will look like."

"That was big news," Kise thought on it. "I'm so excited to see what he's gonna get!" Kise wiggled around in his seat. "I'm glad he's still letting you do the tattoo."

Mayuzumi kept that smile on his face. "Things are good between us, I told him I could refer him to Nijimura, one of the best I know, but he was adamant on me tattooing him."

Kise nodded. He reached forward and gently carded his fingers through silver hair. "I'm glad you two are ok now."

Mayuzumi leaned into the touch. "Me too. Things are going great, with everything." He settled his hand on top of Kise's.

"Homewrecker Mayu strikes again," came Kuroko's voice as he walked into ShadowsX without the bell making a sound.

"All you had to do was say you were jealous Kuroko, you don't need to go through all this drama." Mayuzumi smirked. "You know I love you."

"Ugh."

As Kuroko walked forward, a familiar redhead showed up behind him.

"Akashi," Mayuzumi greeted. "Ready?"

Akashi gave a small wave. He came from work, still in his business suit but with the jacket off, and the shirt rolled up to his elbows. Truthfully, he was a little worried about the pain and the actual healing process but there was no backing out now. He nodded. "Ready."

-Are you sober?- Damn, Kuroko acted like Mayuzumi constantly drank himself into a coma.

-? Yeah? Why?- It was like nine at night, why would he even be drunk so early?

-Check the news!-

-? Which one?-

-Any of them!-

Mayuzumi sighed and hunted around the living room for the remote, finding it underneath a throw pillow.

He channel-surfed until he got to a local news channel.

"-Akashi Industries now has a new president, the son of the previous president, Akashi Seijurou," the newscaster said, bright eyes full of excitement at telling the news. "For those who don't know, Akashi Industries is the nation's leading company in pharmaceuticals and renewable energy, the most profitable company in the country and its stocks have only gone up since the change in leadership. The previous head of the company will not be acting as an advisor according to statements made by sources from the inside. All executive power has gone to Akashi Seijurou. A press conference is set for tomorrow where the new president will relay the details of the shift in power."

The screen changed from showing the newscaster to showing the current stocks Akashi Industries had. Except for a tiny blip downward, the stocks are steadily rising.

"Damn," Mayuzumi breathed out. He took out his phone to shoot Kuroko a text with a bunch of surprised emojis but just before he pressed send, the screen showed Akashi's incoming call as it vibrated.

They had spoken a few times since last month which was that night at Starbucks and had met up once at ShadowsX and once outside of the shop, but Mayuzumi was still a little apprehensive.

Or, shy.

They both kind of confessed to each other, but neither had taken a step further from that.

The first time they met after that night Mayuzumi noticed how fixated Akashi's stare was on his mouth. The tattoo artist decided to be nice and showed him his piercing.

Akashi's red eyes wouldn't leave the piercing in his tongue and a tiny part of Mayuzumi's brain really liked that Akashi liked his piercing.

Maybe one day they could—

"You have a tongue piercing."

"I do."

"It's new right?"

"Yep." Mayuzumi smirked at him and Akashi flushed under the attention. "Is it something you like?"

"Yes."

His immediate response made it Mayuzumi's turn to flush.

God, how did people do this?

Mayuzumi muted the TV and answered the call. "Hello?"

"Chihiro," Akashi sounded relieved. "Did I catch you at a bad time?"

Mayuzumi blinked. "What, no. I should be asking you that. I just saw the news, are you ok?"

Akashi took in a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Mostly."

"Well—"

"Can I come over?"

"Now?"

"Are you home? Is this too sudden? I'm sorry, I don't want to impose—"

"Akashi," Mayuzumi gently cut in, "Yes, I'm home, yes, you can come over."

Akashi was quiet on the other end until— "Thank you, I'll be there in about five minutes?"

He didn't live five minutes away. Probably meant he was walking in the area or he had already headed here, hoping Mayuzumi would say yes. "Okay, see you then."

Mayuzumi hung up and did a quick sweep of his apartment. It wasn't the messiest apartment and he cleaned it a few days ago so it was still pretty presentable. It would be fine because he has no problem inviting over the head of a multi-million dollar company into his apartment.

If Akashi was stressed before there was no telling how much he would be now. Maybe some of that stress had to deal with his father but now, he's got the whole company to worry about.

The tattoo artist decided that in times of stress, the answer was to bring out the hot chocolate.

When the doorbell rang, Mayuzumi opened the door expecting to see Akashi looking like he had during that night at Starbucks, with dark circles under his eyes and the look of someone who hadn't had proper sleep in months due to the looming weight of the incoming coup. And he was sort of right because Akashi wore his stress on his sleeve but it wasn't to the level that it was before.

Akashi smiled at him, but it looked hesitant. "Chihiro, you would tell me if I was imposing, right?"

Mayuzumi rolled his eyes as he stepped to the side to let him in. "You're not bothering me and yes I would tell you if you were so relax."

Akashi made his way to the couch looking marginally less hesitant and after taking off his suit jacket, he dropped down onto the couch with a tired sigh.

A mug of hot chocolate (sprinkled with cayenne pepper) appeared in his direct line of sight and a grateful look spread across the redhead's face.

"You're a godsend."

"Nah, just know that it's always a good time for hot chocolate." Either hot chocolate or alcohol, it was never a bad time for either. He just realized he'd yet to see a drunk Akashi. He'd have to see if they could all go bar hopping in the future with Kise, it could be fun. Mayuzumi sat beside him with his own mug and eyed the way Akashi was fidgeting in his seat while he drank.

"Akashi," the redhead's attention snapped to him. "Are you gonna be ok?" Because he was so not equipped to handle an emotional breakdown, but he'd have to try if Akashi suddenly burst into tears in front of him.

But he didn't. He didn't even speak. He opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again but all he managed was a slight nod.

Mayuzumi sighed and stood up. "I'll be right back."

Akashi watched him leave, holding his mug tightly, curiously looking around the apartment because this is the first time he's been here and actually stayed longer than just dropping off a drunk Mayuzumi. It was generally neat and there were lots of books everywhere as he expected. It was small but perfect honestly.

A tiny part of Akashi-which wasn't in the midst of a borderline stress-induced panic attack-wondered if he would be able to spend more time here in the future.

Oh God. Here he was, post successful coup, just hours after it happened, and the ink hadn't even been dry on the paper before Akashi wanted to come here. What was he doing here instead his own home? He had a press conference tomorrow evening and here he was getting all chummy with Mayuzumi. This was a bad idea. He should just panic at home because, yes, all is said and done, but he just took over a company he didn't expect for another decade at least and now he was dicking around as the stress started to get to him even more and this was going to be his life for the rest of it until he found another heir and—

A warm blanket draped itself over Akashi, startling him. It was Mayuzumi of course, who settled the blanket while mindful of Akashi's hot chocolate.

"Are you staying the night?"

Akashi looked down at his half-full hot chocolate. "I figured I'd go home later tonight, if I'm not keeping you up."

Mayuzumi sighed, taking his seat beside Akashi again. "You're not keeping me up and I'd rather you just stay here, you walked right?"

"How did you know?"

"Just had a feeling." Mayuzumi checked his phone to see he had some texts from Kuroko and Kise but he'd reply to those later. "Don't want you being by yourself like this or at this time of night."

"I can handle myself," Akashi immediately assured before taking a sip.

"I have no doubt, but it looks like you're one moment away from snapping so I just want you to be ok."

"I will be."

They sat in a comfortable silence for a while, until both had finished their drinks and Mayuzumi took the mugs to the sink to wash later. He brought some pajamas over for Akashi who changed in the bathroom after asking twice if it was ok to spend the night.

"You can take the bed," he offered once Akashi stepped out of the bathroom holding his work clothes in his hands. The shirt Mayuzumi lent him was a little big on him, since his shoulders were a little broader, but he looked comfortable, looked more like he'd be able to sleep for hours.

"No, the couch is fine for me."

"You need the bed more than I do." It was a two bedroom apartment but because Mayuzumi never had company sleepover and he loved books, the guest room was more of his own personal library with the comfiest chairs ever but no bed.

"It's your home."

"Which is why you should listen to me and take the bed."

Akashi sat next to him on the couch. "I'm not going to win this one, am I?"

"Nope."

Akashi looked at him, red eyes searching. "I'm glad you let me back into your life."

"Oh my god," Mayuzumi shifted in his seat until he turned his body so he was facing him, "You just took over your own company in a coup and you're thinking about me?"

"I'm always thinking about you."

His frankness caused a deep blush to spread across Mayuzumi's startled face. It was really cute, actually. He put a hand on his face and slowly brought it down in hopes that it would hide the blush. This guy was unreal sometimes. Most times. "You're ridiculous." There was no bite in his words and Akashi smiled.

"When are you getting a tattoo?"

Akashi had no qualms about staring right into gray eyes for extended periods of time. It was a friendly gaze, if a little unnerving. "I actually think I might take a day off work soon and come in to start it."

Mayuzumi perked up. "Really?"

"Yes."

"Do you have any ideas of what you want and where?"

Akashi nodded. "A couple," he paused, "I was thinking of either my shoulder or back? Not quite sure yet."

Mayuzumi hummed. "Are you thinking of something big?"

Red eyes shied away from gray. "Possibly."

A smirk graced Mayuzumi's face, blush long forgotten. "Sounds like fun."

"Sounds like it'll be painful and more than one session."

"It could be." Mayuzumi nodded, never one to lie to people considering a tattoo. "Something you gotta think about, or you'll be like me and have an unfinished sleeve and be too lazy to go in and get it done."

"True."

"So, I was thinking of recommending you to Nijimura Shuzo, he's great and—"

"Wait, you're not going to be the one doing it?"

Mayuzumi looked hesitant. "I wasn't sure if you'd still want me to do it. With what's happened lately and," he waved his hand around in a circular motion as if trying to sum up the mess of the last few months in one gesture. "I just didn't want you to think I was your only option. Plus there's Kuroko too."

"I've seen your work, I would prefer it if you did my first tattoo but if that makes you uncomfortable—"

"It doesn't, I just want to make sure you're ok with it."

"I am."

"Well then, that settles that. What are your ideas?"

They talked for about half an hour, Akashi throwing ideas around and Mayuzumi offering input when he could. Akashi was torn between two large tattoos, but either it would be one across his lower stomach that went up towards his shoulder or it would be one that covered his shoulder and wrapped around to the front of his chest.

"I think I know what I want now."

"It's gonna look great."

By the time Akashi yawned it was starting to get late, just past midnight and he had a press conference to do tomorrow so he needed to rest. Somewhere during their talk the two of them had gotten a little closer on the couch, with their knees touching while facing each other. Akashi did end up sleeping on the couch because he never made it to the bed, falling asleep during a lull in the conversation.

Mayuzumi yawned and considered just sleeping in his own bed but after he shifted the blanket so it covered Akashi better, he said fuck it and made himself comfortable on the couch and fell asleep moments later.

In the morning when Akashi woke up first, he was surprised to find himself leaning on Mayuzumi, the two of them partially laying down with Akashi's head on Mayzumi's chest. The blanket was still mostly draped over him but some of it was on Mayuzumi too. He looked at peace right now, and Akashi felt very fortunate to see him like this.

It turned out he only slept six hours but it was the best sleep he'd gotten in a long time.

"You guys are so secretive about the tattoo," Kuroko commented as he took up the Mayuzumi's empty seat behind the counter once Kise had gone to the couch to text Kasamatsu. Kuroko came prepared with a vanilla shake as he slowly spun around in the chair. Himuro hadn't been successful in replacing it yet.

Speaking of, Himuro walked in through the front door at that moment with a treat bag from Murasakibara; ShadowsX was a lawless land.

"Hey if my skin doesn't want to show you until the final product then who am I to challenge him," Mayuzumi shrugged nonchalantly as he set up his station while Akashi took off his shirt.

"My friend," Kuroko blurted out a moment before he froze, eyes wide as he slowly turned to face Mayuzumi who was also frozen and nearly dropped the container of red ink he was holding, looking at Kuroko in surprise. Kise was grinning at them from the couch, snapping pictures of their faces and sending them to Kasamatsu with "Just admitted they're friends, aren't they adorable" as the caption.

"I didn't mean that," Kuroko immediately backtracked. He spun in the chair so as to give Mayuzumi his back as the taller man started smirking.

"Oh yes you did, you finally balanced out your tsun and your dere."

"Never."

"You love me."

"I hate you."

Himuro smiled at Akashi, "Hi there, Akashi, welcome to ShadowsX where the bosses are literal children."

Akashi chuckled, settling on the comfortable chair in Mayuzumi's station. "I think their friendship is incredibly entertaining."

Kuroko and Mayuzumi blushed a bit, stopping their banter.

"I'm so proud of you two," Kise wiped away at imaginary tears and ducked when Kuroko threw a panda plushie from the counter at him. "I've got to go to a shoot now, good luck Akashicchi! You guys have fun!"

Everyone waved at the model puppy as they left and Kuroko and Mayuzumi wondered if they'd see pictures of themselves on his social media later.

Mayuzumi finished setting up his array of colors and walked over to the door to close it. Akashi had wanted his tattoo to be a surprise until the end and Mayuzumi would grant him that.

"I'm nervous," Akashi admitted once Mayuzumi put on his gloves and settled in the chair in front of him, machine in his hands. They spent the last twenty minutes finalizing the design so Mayuzumi would have the stencil already perfected. Freehanding tattoos was something he was good at, but in this case he wanted to make sure Akashi felt as secure with the design as possible.

"That's normal," Mayuzumi conceded. "I'll do my best to make this as comfortable for you as possible," within reason of course, since he was still going to take a needle to Akashi's skin and force ink into it and yeah, he'd probably feel a slight stinging sensation. Plus all the bleeding that will happen. "We can stop whenever you want."

Akashi took in a few breaths to steady himself, hands tensed into fists. He watched the tattoo artist transfer the stencil.

"I'm gonna need you to relax," gray locked with red, "it's gonna be ok, I've got you." Mayuzumi picked up the machine.

"You're a different person at work."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"It was meant as one."

Mayuzumi shook his head with a small smile and readied himself, hand holding the machine just an inch away from Akashi's skin.

And just as Akashi took in a deep breath, Mayuzumi started.

It… didn't hurt. Not really.

Sure, it was definitely obvious that something was happening on his skin, that something kept jabbing into him, but it almost felt like a light stinging sensation streaking across his skin rather than some unbearable pain of a needle going into him like he expected. Maybe it was just the area right now. And maybe because all Mayuzumi was doing today were the lines, since he'd save the coloring and shading for the next session.

"Doing ok?" Mayuzumi asked, eyes never leaving the area he was working on.

Akashi nodded, then froze because he didn't want to make him mess up. "It's a little bad, but not as bad as I thought it would be."

"Good, good, everyone is different." Mayuzumi wiped away the excess ink and the small pinpricks of blood that had started showing up. "Don't forget this session will go for at least two hours, so keep up that positive mindset. We can take a break whenever you need one."

Akashi gave a shaky sigh, wincing a little when Mayuzumi moved to a different spot on him, the needle still dragging black across his skin. He wouldn't be switching colors for a while and he hoped he'd have enough stamina to deal with this semi-pain for a couple more hours. He hoped it wouldn't get too much worse the longer this session went on.

Mayuzumi chuckled without a hint of malice. "You're doing better than Kuroko at least, just distract yourself, or talk to me about anything."

Akashi thought for a bit, genuinely getting a little lost in those focused steel gray eyes that didn't notice his staring. "Can you tell me about the time you and Ryota got matching tattoos?"

"Sure. It involved a lot of alcohol..."

"You're late," were the first words Kuroko said when he opened the door to reveal Mayuzumi on the other side.

"Yeah, yeah, I was in the middle of a good chapter, I couldn't just stop reading the book." Mayuzumi walked into his apartment delivering a surprise vanilla shake. "Besides, last week you forgot because you were out with Shigehiro going food truck hopping."

Kuroko stuck his tongue out at him as he took the shake and closed the door behind him. "These won't get you off every time."

"Yes they will."

Yes they would.

Lately they had been doing movie marathons nearly every other week, sometimes consecutive weeks if something would come up for the following one and they alternated homes each time; today it was Kuroko's place. They both loved books but they couldn't do something like a mini book club because they had completely opposite tastes in books and the last time they tried that they had nearly come to blows. It was hilarious in hindsight. So movies it was, and this time it was Mayuzumi's turn to pick.

And he brought some horror movies.

Kuroko narrowed his eyes when he saw the titles in Mayuzumi's hands. "Absolutely not."

"Oh come on, they're not even that scary," he pulled one of them out, "this one is more funny than scary."

"If I have nightmares, I'm keeping you up with me."

"Yeah, yeah."

Kuroko just wanted an excuse to sleep with him again. Not that he would ever admit it. Mayuzumi liked this side that Kuroko was now more willing to show. It was cute. But he'd be damned if Kuroko found out.

So it looked like they were at this stalemate in their friendship where they didn't want to come off as caring too much. Being close friends like this was so much work.

In the end they got through three movies; Kuroko spent most of them hiding behind the throw pillow he held in a death grip in front of him, or behind Mayuzumi who was enjoying himself.

"You tell anyone about this—" Kuroko began, from behind Mayuzumi.

"Endless suffering, horrible death, no one will find my body, blah blah blah," Mayuzumi replied, without taking his eyes off the screen. He glanced back at Kuroko because he could practically feel him pouting and he laughed when he was right.
When the end credits rolled, Kuroko spoke up, face covered with his pillow. "Is it over?"

"Yeah."

"I hate you."

"I know."

"I mean it."

"I believe you."

Kuroko threw the pillow at him.

"Come on scaredy-cat." Mayuzumi stood up from the couch and held a hand out for Kuroko to take and he narrowed his eyes when he saw Mayuzumi smile at him.

"You're enjoying this."

"Hey, I'm not the sadist here."

Eventually they settled in Kuroko's room, Mayuzumi on the floor in Kuroko's spare futon. He would've taken the guest bedroom but Kuroko was all kinds of jumpy so it was best to just stick around (and secretly laugh at his inevitable nightmares).

It was closing on three in the morning when Mayuzumi, who was sleeping peacefully, was woken up by something shifting beside him. He took in a deep, startled breath and opened his eyes only to groan upon seeing Kuroko trying to curl into him over the blanket.

"Really Kuroko?" Mayuzumi lightly shoved at him to get him to wake fully. "At least let's use the bed."

Kuroko didn't say anything but followed Mayuzumi close, the taller of the two covering them with the blanket on the bed. Kuroko wasted no time in curling into Mayuzumi's side.

"You tell anyone about this," Kuroko murmured, voice thick with sleep.

"Shut up and go to sleep."

"Mayuzumicchi! Kurokocchi! Himurocchi! Is Himurocchi here?" Kise exclaimed upon bursting into ShadowsX.
"Himuro's never here because the author always forgets about him," Mayuzumi replied, looking up from cleaning his station at the tall blond puppy nearly bursting at the seams with excitement.

Kuroko rolled his eyes. "What have we said about trying to break a nonexistent fourth wall?"

"Suck my dick, Kuroko."

Kise laughed as he walked over to them. "It's so nice having you two be open about your feelings now."

Both Kuroko and Mayuzumi gagged simultaneously.

"Anyway," Kuroko cleared his throat, looking up at Kise from the counter. "What's got you so happy?"

"Yeah, you're literally walking sunshine right now," Mayuzumi commented as he joined them at the counter.

Kise kept his huge grin on his face. "You guys aren't gonna believe it." He pulled out his phone and waved it around happily.

The tattoo artists looked at him expectantly. With Kise, they just couldn't begin to guess what was going on his life. Nothing was too wild for him, nor too tame. He was an enigma, and he didn't even know it.

And he never would, if Kuroko and Mayuzumi had a say about it.

"Yukio finally did a photoshoot with me!"

Mayuzumi's jaw dropped. "How did you convince him? You've been trying for years." Yukio had always been so adamant on staying away from Kise's modeling life because he was happy as the police officer that he was.

"Hehe," Kise looked smug as he continued to wave his phone around. "He was definitely a tough cookie to crack but I did it, you guys wanna see the pictures I have?"

"Yes," the two chorused immediately, gathering around him with Kise in between them to look at his phone. They saw him unlock his phone with his thumbprint and the first thing they saw was a picture of Kise hugging Yukio from behind, Kise with a radiant smile and Yukio looking embarrassed. One picture had Yukio reaching up to brush Kise's bangs away from his eye since it was bothering him, but it was so nice that the photographer snapped it. Kise looked so startled but so in love in that picture.

Yukio had been extremely nervous at first, so much so that he nearly walked right out of the shoot before it even started but Kise took his hand and pleaded with him, this is something he had always wanted them to do together, and he understood how much Yukio didn't like it but maybe just a couple pictures, and as soon as he had had enough, they would walk out together and go out to a fancy dinner before going home.

"Please Yukio?" Kise begged, his hands holding both of Yukio's.

He sighed tiredly. "The things I do for you." Dark blue eyes looked into bright gold ones. "This is a one-time thing." He held up a finger for emphasis. "Once."

Kise nodded over and over again with a huge grin on his face. "You won't regret this!"

Yukio snorted. "Too late."

But as nervous as he was, it didn't show in the pictures.

"Focus on me," Kise told him, holding his gaze in front of the camera. "Only on me."

And Yukio did. They did a few pictures of just the two of them and Yukio forgot fairly quickly about the cameras and all the people watching. They moved onto sets for another, one group of pictures in particular had Kise sitting up on a counter with Yukio standing between his legs, his hands resting on Kise's thighs, Yukio leaning forward as if to kiss Kise but teasing him at the last second and pulling back. Kise, the normally calm and collected model, was sporting a lovely blush across his cheeks as his eyes saw nothing more than Yukio becoming more and more confident as the shoot went on.

Apparently this shoot went on for a long time because they had a few pictures in a shower setting, one where a naked (from at least the waist up) Yukio was behind the glass door, underneath the showerhead, the glass mostly fogged up so only his silhouette was visible. Kise leaned against that door, facing the camera with his back to Yukio, a dark blush on his face. Yukio's smirk was visible in a couple shots.

Mayuzumi whistled as Kise swiped to the next picture. Kuroko elbowed him in the stomach.

There was one picture where Kasamatsu was reading a book and Kise took up the main focus of the picture, with such a terribly fond expression on his face so full of love while Kasamatsu doesn't even notice. The pictured was mirrored by another one where Kise is looking something up on his phone, all excitedly, only to miss the love that was in Kasamatsu's eyes as he watched him.

And there were lots and lots more pictures.

"He looks so relaxed," Mayuzumi commented, "You guys look amazing together."

Kise grinned. "He was and thank you. They're only going to be using a few pictures for the issue, but they let me keep all of them."

Kuroko smiled at seeing his friends so happy. "Your fans are gonna lose it."

Kise nodded, grin never leaving his face. It was so cute seeing him like this. "I hope it's the good kind."

He had texted Aomine earlier a couple of the pictures and had gotten a response about how cute they were and congratulations on getting Kasamatsu to agree to the shoot. Kise asked him how things were going with Kagami and he got a single image in response where Kagami was sleeping, curled up on Aomine's chest. Kise sent back a tons of super happy emojis.

Mayuzumi reached up and ruffled Kise's hair. "I'm proud of you guys, and I'm proud of you for convincing him to achieve your lifelong goal."

"Yup! Now I need a new one!"

Mayuzumi pulled out his phone and texted Kasamatsu to congratulate him on the shoot. He got a reply almost instantly, asking him if he wanted to go out drinking with him tonight because he's been dying of embarrassment since the shoot ended. Mayuzumi asked if Kise was going to drink too and Kasamatsu replied that he had already stocked up their alcohol.

-Awesome,- he replied, -then I'm ready for death.-

He and Kise were a lucky duo, to have friends that cared so much for them, supportive families, people in their lives that just wanted them to be happy, stable jobs, and happiness, even if it wasn't always so easy to get there.

Mayuzumi was happy being Kise's friend and sharing their luck together.

That's also why their matching tattoos ended up being so perfect for them. Located on the inside of their right ankles, were tiny matching four-leaf clover tattoos, hardly bigger than a nickel. They were a light green that turned into a darker green as it went out into the edges, with a tiny curled stem at the bottom. There were tiny details in a black, shading and the individual lines on each leaf.

And they matched their owners so well.

"Is it done yet?" Kuroko asked from outside the closed door to Mayuzumi's station.

"Do you still hear my tattoo machine?"

"Yes?"

"Then no it's not done yet, go away," he replied with a shake of his head.

Akashi laughed but quickly became a wince. "Tetsuya's so excited."

"Kuroko needs to chill out." Steel gray eyes looked into red ones as he halted, "You doing alright?"

Akashi nodded slowly. "It's a lot more intense than the first session was," he admitted.

Mayuzumi nodded and he continued. "Yeah it'll be tender for a bit, especially since it's still so new and you're adding more and more to it instead of letting it heal for a long time."

"It'll be ok?"

"It'll be just fine. Gonna itch like hell but you'll be fine."

Akashi slowly let out a breath. "I can't wait to show my father."

Mayuzumi snorted, pulling his hand away from the tattoo. "Does he know about it at all?"

"I never told him, I wanted it all to be done before I showed him." Akashi clenched and unclenched a fist as Mayuzumi continued on the shading since this was their third and final session.

"Have you two talked at all since the takeover?"

"No, the last time I saw him was when we were signing all the documents for the takeover."

"Sounds harsh."

Akashi would've shrugged but he couldn't because of the tattoo. And because he was too tense at the moment. "It's the man I was raised to be."

Mayuzumi looked up at him, waiting for Akashi to take a breath to relax a moment. "And are you happy?"

Those deep red eyes never wavered, gone were the bags under his eyes that displayed all his stress for the world to see. "I will be."

Mayuzumi smiled, satisfied, and kept going with the tattoo.

"I'm gonna hold your lemon creme cupcakes hostage until you're done," Kuroko called out from behind the door.

"You little shit you stay away from my cupcakes!"

The tattoo artist grumbled incoherent curses for the next couple of minutes while Akashi tried his hardest not to laugh.

Finally, twenty minutes later, it was complete.

Mayuzumi cleaned off the tattoo and made sure everything looked right and gave Akashi a mirror to check it.
"I love it," he said honestly, eyes roaming over his own tattoo.

Mayuzumi smiled at him. "I'm glad you like it."

"Thank you, Chihiro." The soft expression on his face momentarily stunned the artist, but he shook out of his reverie and walked over to the door.

"Alright you asshole, come on over I'm done."

"Finally." Kuroko nearly knocked him over in his haste to come into the room, already throwing the bag of cupcakes at Mayuzumi who cursed while fumbling to catch it. He stopped beside Akashi, next to the chair Mayuzumi had sat in during the session, and his eyes took in the tattoo. "Wow."

The tattoo spanned from the right side of Akashi's chest, up towards his shoulder then down his arm a little above his elbow. There was a koi fish, large and black with gray and white details, curving right on Akashi's shoulder, heading for his collarbones. There were flowers, all cherry blossoms, interspersed through the rest of the tattoo, light pink accented with dark pink, others with red. A few cherry blossom petals landed on the koi fish, one at its head, the others on its tail. Connecting the koi fish and the flowers was a black background with white and light blue and dark blue swirls intertwined with the other parts of the tattoo. The black background radiated from the koi fish, covering some of the cherry blossoms in shading and others popping out amongst the black. A cluster of cherry blossoms were right over the right side of Akashi's chest, with just a few straggling around his arm. It was a partial sleeve, because it went all the way around, the koi's tail wrapping behind his arm too.

"It's beautiful," Kuroko finally said, eyes never leaving the fresh tattoo.

By now Himuro had come in and stood alongside Kuroko, nodding and staring at it too. "I didn't expect something like this; it fits you so well."

Akashi looked shy under the attention. He let Chihiro wrap up the tattoo while he talked to Tetsuya and Tatsuya. "I wanted something that symbolized overcoming adversity, and I think the koi fish does that." He paused. "Cherry blossoms were my mom's favorite flower. I thought the contrast would look nice."

"It does," Himuro immediately agreed.

Kuroko got up close and personal with it and his eyes followed every line, every hint of shading, every hint of blended colors. "This is amazing."

"Thanks," Mayuzumi grinned when Kuroko flipped him off.

Kuroko turned his attention back to Akashi. "I honestly thought you were gonna go for something like a phoenix."

Akashi smiled. "That was my second choice, it was going to be on my back."

The bell to ShadowsX rang, announcing Akashi's arrival late in the day.

"Evening everyone," he said, as the others in the shop waved. Himuro was just about to leave, Kuroko was with a client and Mayuzumi was resting on the couch while texting Kise about a book he really liked that Sakurai had recommended that he thought Kise would like too. Akashi walked to the counter and left a vanilla milkshake on it, smiling when Kuroko perked up on sight of it.

"I leave them in your hands, Akashi." Himuro said as he put on his beanie and scarf, walking to the door. He had a date with Murasakibara tonight.

"Of course." The businessman walked over to the couch after he left. "This seat taken?"

Mayuzumi patted the seat beside him. His eyes zeroed in on the rather large pastry bag in his hands. "What's in the bag?"

"Lemon blueberry donuts, lemon berry cheesecake, lemon meringue pie bits, and lemon tea cookies."

"Are those for me?"

"Yes."

Mayuzumi's mouth watered. "I can't wait to share those."

Red eyes blinked in surprise. "Really?"

"You like lemon pastries too, right?"

"Not to the extent you do."

"I don't think anyone does." He grinned, looking proud of himself. "Of course I wanna share." He was quick to pull out a lemon meringue pie bit and give another to Akashi. He bit into it and moaned. "Thanks Akashi."

Akashi blushed and ate his own piece, enjoying the way it was sweet and sour at the same time in such a small piece.

Mayuzumi picked out a lemon blueberry donut and broke it in half, giving the other to Akashi. "God I really needed this today." He nudged him with his shoulder. The redhead chuckled.

"You could've texted me if you wanted something, I would've gotten it for you."

"Nah, this is perfect." He sighed in content. "How's work been?"

"Great, actually. Both Shintaro and Takao are wonderful at leading their individual departments and that's helped me out a lot. Our stocks keep rising."

"That's awesome, glad that's all working out. I knew you were gonna be ok, but you had me a little worried with all that stress piling up."

"That's sweet of you to worry. I'm doing alright, it's nice not to have blackmail and cheap threats weighing me down. Things are running smoothly now."

"And your dad?"

"I showed him my tattoo. He stared for a long time, quiet, then said," here Akashi cleared his throat and dropped his pitch a little, "Cherry blossoms were your mother's favorite."

Mayuzumi smiled. "Sounds like it went well, then."

"More or less. He has too much free time now, but it looks like retiring from running a company is doing him good." Akashi laid back on the couch, sighing. "He sees that I'm doing well with the company and for the most part I think there's more mutual respect here."

Mayuzumi handed him a lemon tea cookie. "Things are looking up."

Akashi looked at him, a fond expression on his face. "They are."

"Y'know, I think you guys should thank me," Kuroko interrupted, lazily sipping on the milkshake, his client long gone but neither had noticed, too caught up in each other and the pastries. He had an elbow on the counter with his chin in his palm. "I may have messed up a little along the way but I got you two together, right?"

Mayuzumi and Akashi blushed, suddenly remembering they weren't alone; not looking at each other. Kuroko raised a brow. "Wait, aren't you two…?"

Mayuzumi discreetly shook his head at him. They were still caught in the maybe one way maybe another with each other, still trying to find out what worked with them, but they'd been so caught up with other things that they've kind of left it up in the air.

Kuroko hummed, slurping up more of his shake. "Still, you guys should thank me."

Akashi looked shy for once and didn't reply while Mayuzumi huffed.

"I'll shove that vanilla milkshake up your ass, you terrible meddler."

Kuroko's genuine laugh was the first thing the next client heard upon opening the door to ShadowsX.

A chill breeze ruffled through silver hair as Mayuzumi walked, relishing in the last breath of cold as spring started to come to an end. Thick gray clouds covered up most of the sky, hiding the moon but for a tiny glow in the sky. This is the way he liked the sky best.

He never really did anything on his nightly walks, just walked, just got himself out there, alone with his thoughts, letting his feet guide him wherever they wanted to go before he somehow always managed to get himself back home.

This was one of those nights, where he wasn't doing anything, just thinking, as he walked. He subconsciously played around with his tongue piercing, because that's a habit he recently acquired, and it's something that helped him think too. At least he didn't have work tomorrow.

A nearby set of footsteps alerted him that he wasn't alone at the park right now, closing in on one in the morning.

"Akashi, why is it we always seem to find each other out here?" Mayuzumi asked when he noticed the businessman walking towards him.

The redhead lifted his gaze from the ground, surprise in his features before they settled into a fond look. "I was in the area."

They actually were closer to his place than they were to Mayuzumi's place, but not by much. Funny how that happened.

Akashi looked, well, he looked fine, except he looked stressed again, and sleepy on top of it. He was dressed like he just walked out of work, shivering slightly because the night air was still chilly and he didn't even have a scarf on.

"Are you alone with your thoughts?"

Akashi sighed. "For the most part."

"Mind some company?" Mayuzumi stepped in front of him, catching the attention of those stressed red eyes.

"I'd like that, actually."

Mayuzumi took in a deep breath to fortify himself and reached a hand out to take one of Akashi's. "Then, we can go to my place while you tell me your problems." He looked away from Akashi's startled but curious gaze, yet he felt Akashi squeeze his hand back. Just a little, still shy.

They talked about Akashi's company, how things are going well but running a company especially still so young, was very stressful. Akashi didn't expect his mid twenties to be spent worrying about the fate of his company and everyone who worked with it. They talked about how ShadowsX was doing, with its influx of clients lately, for some reason. They talked about everything and nothing.

And when they were closing in on Mayuzumi's place the sky decided to start drizzling.

Mayuzumi's grip on Akashi's hand tightened as they started running, laughing. Akashi brought his hand up to try and cover his head from the rain as it started to come down a little harder, and they considered getting a cab before figuring they could just keep running and get there quicker.

Akashi slipped at one point but thankfully Mayuzumi's grip was strong enough to keep him steady. In the cold night that hand was warm.

When they reached his home, Mayuzumi dropped his keys once before, "Is it too much to assume that you'll be spending the night?" Mayuzumi asked, keys in his hand, paused in unlocking the door.

Akashi laughed. "I could always just call a cab home."

"No no no no," Mayuzumi opened the door and let him before closing it behind them. "Not in this weather. You look like you need a good night's rest." The heater was on and thankfully the place was warm without being overly hot. The contrast of coming from the cold, rainy night air into a warm home felt incredible.

"There's only a couple hours left of the night," Akashi pointed out.

"So? You're not working tomorrow right? Sleep in." Mayuzumi immediately went to his room to bring out some towels and a spare change of clothes for Akashi.

"You're right."

They both took a quick shower and ended up in Mayuzumi's room, as it was closer to two in the morning and his room was the only one with a bed.

Akashi wore nothing but a pair of sweatpants that were a little long on him, but they were comfy. He was using a towel to finish drying his hair when he noticed the other walk towards him.

Slate gray eyes were focused on the now healed tattoo, taking in every detail that permanently etched itself onto Akashi's skin. He reached out to touched it softly and he felt Akashi startle briefly. He turned to fully face him.

"Chihiro?"

"You let me permanently draw on you."

"And it turned out beautiful."

Chihiro blushed a little, pulling his gaze away from the tattoo. He wore a tanktop that mostly covered up his tattoos but Akashi couldn't help but be drawn to the ones he could see. A mirror on the wall behind him showed hints of the tree tattoo that spanned Chihiro's back.

They stood close right now, hardly a foot between them. Akashi shifted slightly and Chihiro's attention snapped back to him, eyes meeting a steady red gaze.

They stood there, with the rain hitting the window to create an ambient background. Neither moved for a heartbeat, two, three.

There was tension, hesitation, excitement.

"May I?" Akashi asked, taking half a step forward so they were even closer, just a breath between them.

Chihiro nodded and that was the greenlight for Akashi to lean forward and kiss him, gently, softly, feeling Chihiro freeze for a moment before shyly kissing back, just barely enough of a press against his lips.

Akashi reached a hand up and cupped Chihiro's cheek, hoping to ease him into the kiss a little more. Eventually Chihiro's hands found themselves on Akashi's hips, Chihiro's cold hands contrasting with Akashi's warm skin that a tiny shiver went up Akashi's spine, moving him just a little closer, pressing up against the other's chest.

Their kisses became deeper but stayed gentle; they were testing this out, slowly letting out all their pent up feelings and knew they were going to have plenty of time later on to discover more of each other. Without even talking, they knew.

Akashi found out he really, really liked Chihiro's tongue piercing, too.

They gradually pulled apart, lingering on each other, Chihiro the last to pull away. He sighed, bringing their foreheads together. "Can we take things slow?"

God, how much slower did he want? They'd known each other almost a year now, been tap dancing around each other for a few months, barely talking out their feelings and after all this, all they do is kiss.

The hand that Akashi had on Chihiro's cheek caressed him. "We can take things as slow as you want."

Despite all their mistakes getting here, this was working out just fine. Akashi was perfect. He had his own flaws, Akashi had his, but here, there was something between them, a chance at being happy.

Chihiro leaned into the touch before taking hold of the hand and kissing the palm. "Can I hold you tonight?"

A faint red dusted Akashi's cheeks as he nodded.

They settled in the bed, Chihiro pulling the blanket over them as Akashi settled on his left side with Chihiro right behind him, his chest pressed to Akashi's back, his arms around Akashi's waist.

"Is this ok?"

"It's perfect."

Chihiro kissed the area just outside Akashi's tattoo on his neck, eliciting a soft sigh from him.

Akashi squeezed Chihiro's hands. "You know, I'd like to get another tattoo in the future someday, would you be willing to draw it?"

Chihiro couldn't help but kiss the back of Akashi's neck. "I'll draw anything for you." He paused. "Does this mean we're dating because I'll never hear the end of it from Kuroko."

Akashi laughed, a genuine, happy laugh. He looked back just enough to give Chihiro a quick kiss, then settled back on the pillow.

With the rain lulling them, they fell asleep moments later, both exhausted but completely satisfied with how the day ended, with what their night walks led them to.

It was an unexpected outcome, from first stepping into ShadowsX nearly a year ago, curiously just wanting to see the place and maybe consider a tattoo someday, but then all this happened. Akashi had a tattoo, was the head of his own company, and was lucky enough to fall asleep in the arms of the guy he'd fallen for almost on sight.

It was an unexpected outcome, but definitely the best one.

Thank you so much to everyone who read my story! It took a long time but here we are at the end! I hope you enjoyed it!