[it might be awkward, but hey, it's not like potential awkwardness has ever stopped them from talking about serious subjects before. and as always, Akira lapses into silence and latches onto every single word]

. . .

[it was true. . . he hadn't lived through the same two months Ryuji is talking about. he hadn't experienced the thieves all drifting to their own corners of society, linked only by their shared aesthetics and memories. to be honest, he never thought it would happen. not after everything he had been through]

[and, hell. even if it did? Akira knows he'd do his damnedest to bring everyone back together again]

[but even if he hadn't experienced it the same way Ryuji had, that didn't mean he couldn't understand. that didn't mean there wasn't a small part of him that had been terrified of being left alone again the moment he stepped out of the van and back into the hometown that had forsaken him]

You're telling me how you feel it now, aren't you?

[he lifts an arm, elbowing Ryuji lightly and affectionately in the side]

I'd say that counts. [. . .] But do you really think, after everything, that we wouldn't stick together?