#aloft!au

[eidolon-azii]

Can I say something, since I'm re-reading Aloft. I really like the part when Hirato mada a palm reading on Akari in chapter 17. I think its both hilarious and adorable at the same time considering he's the type that eould not believing in those type of things

Ah, thank you so much. <3 

Honestly, that’s one of my favorite parts too. Hirato knows Akari’s about to get all pissy with him and that it could easily devolve into an argument, so he decides to get his adorable DA all flustered by flirting and being generally silly. Of course Akari doesn’t believe in any of that nonsense, and it’s not like Hirato really knows how to read someone’s palm. But the touch and the tenderness is enough to make Akari forget why he’s all mad. Some things never change. 

[eidolon-azii]

What would have happened in Aloft, if Akari had died?

I think there would have been so much hell to pay. As the story is now, Hirato skirts the law pretty deftly to get his revenge. If Akari had died, there would have been nothing stopping Hirato from finding Azana and wringing his neck. And I’m not even exaggerating. 

Aloft!Hirato isn’t like canon!Hirato in that he doesn’t have to fight man-eating monsters, so you don’t see him in true blood knight form in the narrative. But all of those tendencies are there, just simmering under the surface. You see it every now and then: when he gets angry enough at Akari to push him against the wall of his office, when he gets coldly murderous after Akari asks him to just let things go (multiple times). 

One of the scenes that happens off camera is Hirato watching the video of the shooting. I just didn’t have time to put it into the story. But in my head!canon, he went down to Chicago PD to watch the video just like Akari did. And just like with Akari, Karokou showed him the tape. Hirato watched it, very calmly took a few breaths, and then threw his chair halfway across the room. Karokou is a hardened detective, so he’s seen plenty of people lose it in interrogation rooms. But seeing Hirato - someone who is famously stoic - absolutely lose his shit like that was really alarming. Karokou knew then that Hirato was furious because Akari had been left for dead, not because his client was being especially dumb. Karokou is exceedingly perceptive like that. And discreet. He assured Hirato he wouldn’t say anything about what had transpired. Hirato offered to pay for the chair, but the detective only laughed and said they go through a lot of cheap plastic chairs at Chicago PD. 

So what would happen if Akari died? I think we’d see a side of Hirato that only varuga get to see. Canon!Akari is inexplicably turned on by the darker side of his bedmate, but Aloft!Akari would be upset and he would feel guilty. Stupid of him, really. He fails to recognize that he didn’t make Hirato this way; Hirato’s always been a little dangerous. Again, this is something canon!Akari knows, so let’s be glad Aloft!Akari is dead in this AU because he wouldn’t want to see what Hirato becomes. In the end, I think Hirato would execute Azana, and he wouldn’t have any regrets when he’s arrested. 

Ryoushi and Yogi would work with local judges to plea bargain and keep Hirato’s sentence as short as possible, but he would definitely do some time. He’s prepared to do time as it is; if he lost Akari, he wouldn’t care. I think it would take a lot of hard work from everyone around him to make him care about what’s going to happen to him post-prison. In this AU, I could see him living with Tsukitachi and Iva once he’s out. Maybe he spends a lot of time playing with their little son (who Iva would name ‘Akari’). Hirato would eventually come out of his depression, because he’s really resilient even if he can get surly sometimes. And he’d make a wonderful godfather to little Akari (who has none of the late Assistant DA’s fractious personality, thank God). Perhaps he’d get a job as a legal consultant for Legal Aid or something equally humanitarian in his former lover’s honor. I do think he’d never stop feeling a little guilty for Akari’s death, though, and that would prevent him from really pursuing happiness. It’d be a sad ending. 

[eidolon-azii]

Aloft AU. Did Hirato take a leave when he’s taking care of Akari in hospital

Nope. Tsukitachi and Iva covered for him where they could, being careful not to draw Bizante’s attention. (Bizante was busy trying to find Azana anyway, so it wasn’t that hard.) Hirato also had his laptop brought to him so he could work from the hospital. He’s so brilliantly effective that no one bats an eye when he chooses to work from home. Basically, he just tells someone (like Tsuki-chan) that he’s working from home. 

[eidolon-azii]

Did Aloft Hirato ever lose any cases that he took? And did Hirato ever purposely lose a trail just because he wanted to, other than the Akari case? Since he’s good in manipulation and all.

Hirato loves to win. Akari takes him to task for this in the very first chapter. In fact, apart from indulging in luxury and sex, this is the only thing he loves (except for Akari). He loves the thrill of taking his opponent apart, piece by piece, while a jury watches. He does not lose on purpose. Sure, he loses cases. Tokitatsu made fun of him for losing a big name case. And he loses to Akari a lot because Akari’s an amazing prosecutor. He’s lost to Ryoushi too. So he doesn’t win every case because no one does. But he wins enough, and he wins those cases that seem impossible. He’s an amazing trial lawyer and it’s clear to everyone who watches the courtrooms in Chicago that he and Akari are unnaturally talented at this. In fact, they are one another’s only competition, really. 

Thanks for asking about Aloft. I get excited when people ask about that story. 

[eidolon-azii]

If in AU Hirato protects Akari due to his SS-rank, then in Aloft au Hirato very protective of Akari because of his profession might caused grudge from others (criminals for examples). In fact they protective of each other because of the same reason.

I don’t know that Hirato is only protective of Akari. I think he’s just protective. I mean, Karneval begins with Hirato basically adopting Gareki and Nai. He’s protective of Yogi and Tsukumo, too. He goes out to find her on his own when she disappears. And he’s the one who secures Gareki’s admission to Kuronomei. He even asks Gareki if he wants to be a child of the Second Ship - like, he thinks of all of them as his children. So being protective is just in his nature. 

I try to keep those facets of his nature in every AU. In Aloft, he’s very, very protective of Akari - even to the point of pushing Akari away. You could even read their initial break-up as him trying to protect Akari from the man he would become if he pursued success the way he was going to. But he’s also protective of Tsukitachi. He doesn’t want the redhead to get involved because he’s afraid of what that might mean for his job. The only reason Iva is asked to come in on his plan is because she was at Akari’s bedside at the hospital. Aloft!Hirato’s over-protectiveness of Gareki is what causes the younger man to chafe. 

I think in Aloft, Hirato is deeply aware that Akari puts himself in danger because, as a DA, he goes after criminals. And Akari’s dumb, too - he can’t be bought or threatened, so he’ll even go after mob bosses and the like. This, naturally, makes Hirato quite nervous. But he has to trust Ryoushi and the Chicago Police department to protect his fool of an ex. Please believe, though, after the Assistant DA’s brush with death, he’s going to be more insistent that Akari get some sort of security. We’ll see how that goes...

[eidolon-azii]

If in Aloft Akari dated someone with law enforcement profession, who did Hirato dated with when he broke up with Akari? (p.s. You don't have to answer if your already received this type of question btw)

Um, I remember answering this question and I honestly can’t remember how I answered. I know that in my mind, Hirato prefers one-night stands to relationships but that there were a few one-night stands that eventually turned into relationships. He, like Akari, has had maybe 2-3 relationships (as opposed to dozens of one-night stands). I don’t know if I’ve ever thought about who he dated, but I imagine they’d be glamorous and refined. He likes going to the theater, and Chicago has a great theater scene. I could see him getting involved with an up-and-coming actor/actress. I think that he thrives on a bit of competition though, so not having someone threatening to kick his ass in court isn’t all that thrilling in the end. He ends it, kindly. 

There’s something that holds him back from dating another lawyer, though. The thought of his old and new lovers in the same room makes him a little uneasy. He honestly can’t figure out if he’s protecting himself or Akari or whoever his new lover would be. And because he’s a poor confused boy, he just avoids that confusion and finds folks who aren’t lawyers - actors, young and beautiful CEOs of new companies, and the like. 

(Frankly, I’d like to think that Kirei would have caught his eye in that AU if Kirei hadn’t had the audacity to try and claim Akari. I mean, brilliant neurosurgeon who happens to be ridiculously good-looking? That’s Aloft!Hirato’s type for sure.) 

[eidolon-azii]

I thought Hirato has a piano in his penthouse atleast (aloft au). Maybe he plays it out of whimp, and Akari heard it when he's living with Hirato

Hmm, so I’ve changed a ton about what I thought/used to think about the Aloft!AU, so I very well may have posted once that Hirato had a piano in his penthouse that he played from time to time. I rather like the idea of Akari getting him one, of returning this little piece of Hirato’s past to him as if to say, “I love all of you, even the younger you, and even the you that hurt me.” Conversely, he is also saying, “I’m glad you love all of me, even the younger me, and even the me that made you feel as though you weren’t good enough for me. Everything about you is good enough.”  

But I like this idea, too. That Hirato has a piano in the penthouse. He bought it on a whim, thinking he’d play it to relax or something, but then he never does. Eventually he covers it up, forgetting about it entirely. It’s after Akari moves in that the piano gets any love. He and Akari keep one another company after dinner. While Hirato usually just worked until bedtime (or went out looking for scattered ass) before Akari moved in, he now feels like he should do his part to entertain his houseguest. He’s a good host. And he knows Akari’s going to get stir-crazy if he stays cooped up and bored. So, maybe he asks Akari if he’d like to hear him play one night. 

Akari, of course, would love to hear Hirato play and is as delighted as he’s ever been. Without thinking, he asks if Hirato would teach him since he’s here and the piano’s here and Hirato’s here. He immediately regrets this; learning piano from his ex means they’ll be sitting close together, Hirato’s hands on his. But he can’t back off now. Hirato easily agrees but says he’s not a professional teacher, so if Akari wants to start a new career as a concert pianist, he’s going to need more instruction. Akari counters by saying that Hirato only wishes he’d pursue another career so he doesn’t have to worry about getting his ass handed to him in court ever again. (It’s a cute little argument.) 

In terms of learning music, Akari never progresses much past scales. In terms of learning how wildly attracted he still is to Hirato, Akari wishes he hadn’t known (until they get back together, that is). 

[eidolon-azii]

NSFW ask here. Did Aloft and String au Hirato and Akari ever have sex in library?

In the Strings!AU, neither spends too much time in the library. Akari because most of his work is done in his lab, and Hirato because he works from home. In any case, they wouldn’t have sex in the library in that particular AU because while Akari in every AU isn’t really into exhibitionism, in this AU, he’s got that scar down his chest and he doesn’t even like to be seen shirtless most of the time. Hirato, for his part, recognizes what a show of trust and vulnerability it is for Akari to want to get undressed in front of him. He protects that trust and vulnerability with everything he has. 

In the Aloft!AU, they definitely had sex in the law library. It was very, very late and there weren’t many people around. They were studying together in a corner of the stacks in the basement, and well, sometimes caffeine isn’t enough stimulation to get through a long, hard study session. It didn’t happen very often. Most of the time, Akari would insist they walk home if things got a little hot between them. But sometimes, if Hirato made the blond impatient enough, they’d go at it right there because a 40-minute walk was just too long to wait.