Inside Jokes and the Consequences that Follow

3: Higuchi is a Plant Mom and Akutagawa is a Bear

Akutagawa Ryunosuke x fem!Reader x Higuchi Ichiyo
Warnings: talk of prefrence for porn/small mention of sexuality, violence, Dazai mentions suicide
Word Count: 3.8k

It wasn't very surprising to Higuchi when Akutagawa did not back greet her the following week, outside of the base. She knew what it was like to be on his "bad" side – quotation marks because that was truly not his real bad side. But she still got it, she was going to be ignored for however long it seemed fit in Akutagawa's mind and then he would vaguely insult her in a way, and everything would go back to normal, hopefully.

That's really what she wished for. But she could see why he wouldn't talk to her again, and she also thought that maybe that was what she really deserved because of what happened in that elevator. She really shouldn't have snooped in his bag, even though she is his assistant technically. And since the workday had started again, she noticed that he's abandoned that bag and came along with a simple small wallet.

They were going in as backup for a meeting between the Port Mafia and the Armed Detective Agency. Mori was already ahead of them, about a block away now, and they were following behind to make sure everyone was okay.

Higuchi wasn't looking forward to this meeting because she knew that Akutagawa was going to see that tiger guy again. She knew all about their strange rivalry and hatred, it was odd to her that someone was so confident in going against Akutagawa.

"Did you bring the gift basket?" Tachihara spoke up to the group, no one in particular, but Higuchi responded after leaving her thoughts.

"Yeah, and a plant. I read online that plants are good office gifts in this article," She stopped when she noticed no one was really paying attention. But it was true, she had been reading many articles lately, mostly because of the nervousness caused by Akutagawa's silence and behavior.

Whenever she did something potentially bad, she apologized instantly, and then would get herself busy with so many hobbies so she wouldn't have to think about what she did wrong. It was an effective way to distract herself, but now she's thinking about possibly sending Akutagawa a house plant to brighten up his place.

The last time she was there was when she saw you – and well, you definitely lit the place up by a lot. But his apartment seemed so dull most of the time and dusty. She understood why it would be dusty, but it was Akutagawa for goodness's sake! He doesn't like dust or anything of the sort. So, maybe a plant will be placed in his living room, and then he would be reminded to take care of the plant, himself, and the rest of the apartment.

That was a good way of telling him that she feels bad still and she still cares about him as a friend, right? She continued to think about what plant would suit him best, but she was stumped between a few of them. She started to look closer at him, knowing that he would pay no attention to it.

Her gaze turned into something penetrating, as if she were looking through his body, which freaked a few of the people out. She started to hear some comments about it, but she didn't care, she just continued to stare at him until she figured out what plant would be best suited for him.

"Is she like trying to kill him with her eyes or something?"

"Probably not. I think she might be trying to seduce him into forgiving her... But that's Akutagawa, come on. He doesn't forgive."

"True, like Hina. Poor Hina."

"Who's Hina?"

"The girl you replaced. He maimed her after she accidently punched his arm during a fight."

Higuchi turned around to stop the conversation from going any longer, behind her. It was Hirotsu and another member of the Port Mafia that she hadn't really talked to much before. Hirotsu sent her a quick smile, acting oblivious to the fact she caught him talking behind her back, literally.