To: @zerotimedilemmaofficial

From: @thefireinthewire

Happy holidays! I liked all of your prompts, so they ended up fusing into one large fic. Hope you like it!

AO3 link

For Junpei the most amazing thing about being with Akane wasn’t waking up next to her, or being able to hold her for as long as he wanted. For Junpei the best thing about being with Akane was getting to know the tiny little habits that made her who she was. Every new thing he learned seemed to make her more real, not just the ghost of his childhood best friend, but a living breathing human.

If he was really being honest though, some of her habits were more concerning than endearing. It was always mildly amusing when she would disappear for fifteen minutes only to reappear with Starbucks in hand, but after she was done with her milk-and-syrup nightmare and onto her sixth cup of crappy office coffee of the day, Junpei had to pretend that he couldn’t see her hands shaking from the caffeine. He had brought it up once, one of those nights that had turned into morning without them noticing. She had brushed it off and laughed about needing the caffeine in order to get any work done on time. Junpei was not in a place to judge, having spent too much time passed out drunk in bathtubs, but on those days he held her extra close when they went to bed and tried to make sure that her eyes closed before his did.

Their apartment wasn’t very large- Aoi’s stocks brought in a lot of money, but trying to save the world wasn’t cheap. However, when they were searching for a place to live they had made sure to find an apartment with a second bedroom that they could turn into an office. It’s kind of ridiculous, considering the amount of time that they spend at the Crash Keys office, but both of them are workaholics, and it helps to have a place to do little things like pay bills and write cards. Or, it would help if either of them could actually find their desks under the piles of paper that were one stray breeze away from toppling. The clutter extended up to the walls, maps and graphs interspersed with sticky notes and photos. There is a snapshot of Gab in a little sweater that Carlos had sent them, and an old family photo of the Kurashiki’s, before everything had gone wrong. On Junpei’s desk, in a tiny patch clear of junk, is a framed picture of Akane from right before she had moved away. Sometimes he looks at it and wonders when exactly he had fallen for her; whether it had been so many years ago up on that hill, or that moment upon the stairs when they were reunited, or somewhere in between.

In sleep her face seems to regain some of the childish peace from that picture.  The lines around her eyes soften, and it’s easy to forget that she is carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. The scene is slightly ruined by the fact that she’s asleep at her desk, and by the papers stuck to her cheek, but he can ignore those things. It is early morning, and the weak light filters through the window, making her seem pale and ghostly. He hesitates for a second, reluctant to interrupt her sleep, then reaches out to lay a hand on her shoulder.

Akane jerks awake, looking around and slurring together a few nonsense syllables. It takes a few seconds for her to realize where she is and who it was that had woken her. Junpei can feel the muscles in her shoulder relax under his hand as she lets her guard down.

“It’s morning,” he says, his voice quiet. “You can get up and I can make breakfast, or you can go to bed and go back to sleep. I just don’t want you to keep sleeping here.”

“I’ll get up,” she mumbles, rubbing the sleep away from her eyes. “I was planning on finishing these reports last night, but I fell asleep earlier than I intended, so I guess I’ll finish them now.” She reaches to scoop up the papers that she had been sleeping on, but before she can, Junpei pulls her hand away.

“Nope,” he says, as she looks at him in confusion. “Today’s a holiday. No one else is working, so you shouldn’t be either. Reports can wait until tomorrow.”

“What holiday…” she begins, reaching for her phone. “Oh.” In front of her lock screen, pattered with cartoon bunnies, small white text announced that today’s date was December 25^th.

“Merry Christmas, Akane.”

Her face falls. “Junpei, I’m so sorry, I totally forgot.”

“Kanny,” he brushes a hand through her hair. “It’s fine. You’ve been under a lot of stress lately. Besides, my family’s Buddhist. I’m not used to celebrating.” He cracks a smile and she sighs.

“Still,” she says, “I should at least remember what day it is. Oh, I should text Aoi. Christmas is his favorite holiday, you know.”

“I never would have guessed,” Junpei says dryly, and Akane laughs. “C’mon, let me cook breakfast and you can text your brother in the meantime.” She nods and they shuffle into the kitchen together, the morning light turning them to silver.

“We may be in a history that God has abandoned.”

Junpei looks up from his eggs to see Akane looking at her phone, her eyes wide.

“Akane, the last time you said that was when Starbucks ran out of pumpkin spice syrup.”

“I mean it this time.” She pushes her phone in his face “Look.”

Junpei blinks several times and tries to understand what he’s seeing. The picture is of Sigma, who has fake cat ears perched on top of his head, and who already looks fairly intoxicated. In the background he can see Diana sticking out her tongue, and Phi, who looks absolutely mortified. All three of them are wearing the same sweater, emblazoned with a cat and the phrase “Meow-ry Christmas.”

“They sure start partying early, huh?” He hands the phone back to Akane.

“I think that this picture was taken last night, but still. Sometimes I wonder if that’s really the same man who ran the AB project.”

“You’re one to talk, Kanny. Remember that time the new employee thought you were an intern because you looked to cute to be the boss?”

“Oh hush you.” She waves her hand at him and goes back to scrolling through her texts. “I got a response from Aoi. He said that he’ll be stopping by later to bring some holiday cheer.”

“I hope that he dresses up like Santa and comes in through the chimney.”

“I’m going to tell him that you said that.”

“Akane!” Junpei puts on his best scandalized expression. “I want your brother to like me!”

“He already likes you, he’s just too emotionally constipated to show it.”

Junpei smirks. “I’m going to tell him that you said that.”

Akane laughs. “I’d love to see you do that. His expression would be hilarious.”

“Nah, it’s not worth it.” Junpei shifts in his seat to try and catch a glimpse of Akane’s phone. “Any news from anyone else?”

“Hmm.” Akane scrolls through her texts. “Clover and Light are apparently spending the day with Alice, or at least, that’s what I can deduce from Clover’s text. Most of her messages are at least 90% emoji.”

“What about Carlos and Maria? I know that New Years is a big holiday for them, but are they doing anything today?”

“Carlos said something about visiting extended family in Santa Fe the last time I talked to him, so they’re probably either already there, or still on the road.”

“That’s nice. I hope they have fun. Though, maybe not as much fun as the Klims are having.”

Akane laughs, and the two of them let a comfortable silence fall between them. After a minute or two Junpei reaches out and takes hold of Akane’s hand. She laces their fingers together. They sit together like that for a while, not saying much, just taking in the other’s presence. Junpei is the first to break the silence.

“Akane,” he says, “I’m glad that I get to spend my Christmas with you.”

She smiles, deep and warm. Behind her the sun has risen fully, bathing her in golden light.

“Me too,” she says, “me too.”