InsaneJournal

"Something Physical", Baccano!/Persona 3 (Luck/Akihiko)
Title: Something Physical
Author: Cadence
Rating: PG
Word count: ~1300
Prompt: Crossover: Baccano!/Persona 3 - Luck/Akihiko - fighting as foreplay - boxing lessons
A/N: Same verse as this, which means you can imagine some background Firo/Akihiko, if you like. ^^ (Also, late again orz)

Something Physical

This late, there's only one person in the workout room at Kirijo headquarters—but it's not who Luck expects it to be.

Akihiko Sanada pauses from his repetitions to glance over as Luck walks in, then stops entirely and turns.

"It's Mr. Gandor, right?" He dips a quick bow.

"Luck is fine for now," Luck says. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you. I was looking for Firo. He told me he's down here most evenings...?"

"Ah, yeah. But he couldn't make sparring tonight. Said he was finishing up a document for tomorrow." Akihiko picks up a towel from the floor and swipes it at the back of his neck.

"You two spar?" Luck had known they were friends, but for Firo to reveal himself that much—

"Yeah," Akihiko grins. "He's pretty good, your friend." He looks much more at ease on this subject than Luck has ever seen him in the office. "It's nothing like a formal boxing match, but sometimes I miss messy, all-out fighting like that."

"Oh?" That's... interesting.

"Er," Akihiko says. "Yeah, I... How about you? You have any training?"

The subject change is so obvious that Luck doesn't even bother to pursue it. There are any number of things Akihiko might not want to reveal to an associate of his boss. "Nothing formal. I did learn to fight when I was much younger, but I haven't had much use for it"—since I picked up a gun—since our business picked up—since I became immortal - "lately. Firo's been trying to get me to learn a real fighting style as a hobby, though."

You should try doing something new, too, Firo had said, beaming like he always did. You'll get locked in your head if all you do is business meetings. Try something physical. It can't hurt. Luck smiles a bit at the memory.

"Ha. It's good advice." Akihiko looks considering for a moment, then—"You want to try out some boxing, then? I can show you the basics."

"I wouldn't want to disrupt your practice any further," Luck hedges, to hide how surprisingly appealing the suggestion sounds.

"Nah, it's no big deal. I'm kind of going crazy with just routines to do, anyway. So what do you say?"

Luck should just head back to his hotel room and talk to Firo tomorrow. "If you have the time," he finds himself saying anyway, "it could certainly be enlightening."

***

"Turn more from the shoulder into that last punch. That's where the power comes from."

Luck is not entirely sure what he's doing. In several senses of the phrase. He tries to focus, anyway, and watch how Akihiko's arm rotates as he demonstrates in slow motion.

He tries to copy the motion, feeling uncomfortably naked in his undershirt as gray eyes watch his movements carefully.

"Yeah, like that. Now try a few more repetitions."

Luck does—jab, jab, cross, jab, jab, cross—and tries to concentrate on getting the form right. It's been a long time since he's been evaluated by someone. Or at least a long time since he was uncertain of the outcome. It's been eighty years since he was nervous going into a meeting.

"Good," Akihiko says, sounding truly pleased, and Luck observes heart beating slightly faster even than it was from the exertion.
"Alright. Let's try a moving target."

Luck can't quite hold back his surprise. "That seems like a rather fast progression."

Akihiko shrugs, and Luck catches himself watching the movement of his shoulders again. "It's easy enough to look good hitting a punching bag.
It's one of the main problems new boxers have. Some of the experienced ones, too. They practice tons, but put them up against a real person and their punches start going wild, 'cause they're not used to adjusting their movements for a real fight."

"I suppose that makes sense."

Akihiko nods and holds a hand, palm up. "Right. Then, that same combination, only try to hit my palm. I'll start you off easy."

Indeed, Akihiko hardly moves his palm at all for the first few combinations, and Luck finds himself relaxing back into the routine. When Akihiko starts shifting his hand slightly between punches, it's easy to correct. It's when he moves his arm to the side after Luck's jabs that it first goes badly harder—Luck's cross doesn't cross much, instead swinging out to hit Akihiko's hand, and the heel of Akihiko's other hand taps Luck's chest before he sees it coming.

"You're open," Akihiko says, unnecessarily. "You need to either strafe with your opponent or rotate your whole torso to keep your guard. But that was a good start," he adds, and Luck suddenly wonders if his face is still showing his surprise at that touch. "Let's try again."

Akihiko doesn't do the same thing immediately, of course. But Luck picks the easy motions back up, and when the move comes again guard is in place.

"Great!" Akihiko says, and he's grinning enough that Luck can't help smiling back. "Let's try advancing and retreating. Try to keep your balance at all times."

Moving towards Akihiko and punching is a rush very different from anything Luck's done before; it's also a lot harder work than he was expecting, somehow, and he finds himself breathing hard after a few minutes, his shirt sticking to his chest damply. He can see a sheen of sweat on Akihiko's brow too, though, and his palm feels hot against his knuckles, so he doesn't feel too out of shape. It has definitely been a while, though.

"Break," Akihiko says after a while, dropping his hand. "Not too bad. I bet you could be really good if you worked at it a while."

"Thanks," Luck says, and rather than meet Akihiko's earnest gaze he finds his eyes wandering the room. He blinks in surprise at the clock. "Sorry to keep you so long at this—Mitsuru mentioned you're in the meeting early tomorrow."

"No, it's good, really. I'd have been here just as late but been more frustrated, otherwise." Akihiko pick his towel back up, but then comes back over to Luck. He's still watching him, like—"And you can learn a lot about a guy by the way he fights, you know."

Luck raises an eyebrow. "Even if that way is 'not very well'?"

Akihiko grins. "Even so. But don't talk yourself down—like I said, you've got pretty good instincts for it, once you let go of that buttoned-up attitude." He startles and ducks his head when he realizes what he's said. "Er, sorry. I didn't mean—"

"No, you're right." Luck surprises himself by saying. "And it is nice to get out of the suit occasionally."

Akihiko looks back up suddenly at that, eyes bright with surprise and—well, that settles it. Luck's not imagining things. It doesn't normally take him this long to pick up on hints, but this interaction is a bit different than the ones he's used to.

He considers for a split second. It means dropping his ethical businessman persona, but he's gotten quite good at that. And Akihiko has already said too much himself—a few times—so really it's only fair. And this is ground he's comfortable with.

"Nice to see you out of yours, too." Luck says, looking Akihiko over deliberately. He can see Akihiko visibly react to that, startle and then shift his weight like he's expecting something more. "I hope we can do this again—I'd like to get to know you better, as well."

'I, uh," Akihiko stutters, the smooth confidence that had been unwavering during his instructions gone entirely. It's bizarrely endearing. "Yeah. I mean—I've been sparring with Firo most nights, but I'd certainly be happy to show you some more. Boxing," he adds.

Luck smiles. "I'll see if I can steal some of your time from him." He bows. "Until later, then."