Work Text:
It was a clear spring day when everyone had the day off in the ADA. Most everyone seemed to have already made plans. Kunikida had taken Atsushi off on a fishing trip early that morning saying that it’d be a good thing for Atsushi to learn. The Tanizaki siblings had made plans well in advance that Naomi had been excited about for some time, though no one was quite sure what it was. Dazai had told everyone he was going to go sleep the entire day and frankly, no one wanted to question him about that. Ranpo simply told everyone to try and figure out what he was going to do which put an end to anyone trying to guess.
In the end, the only people left were Fukuzawa, Yosano, and the two youngest members of the ADA. Kyouka sat her desk looking bored. Normally she would’ve done something with Atsushi, but he got dragged off by Kunikida at four in the morning which woke her up way too early. So not only was she bored, she was tired.
Kyouka yawned loudly as she slumped over on the desk. Hearing her yawn, Yosano looked up from her book towards Kyouka.
“No Atsushi here to take you somewhere fun?”
Kyouka turned her head to the side towards Yosano and let out a loud sigh. “Yeah...but there’s nothing to do anyway.”
Yosano glanced at the girl before looking toward Kenji who was watering plants near the window. She laughed to herself at the thought of playing potential matchmaker. But they were both kids and they might as well do something that normal kids their age did. “Why don’t you and Kenji do something together in the city? ”
Kenji finished watering the last of the plants in the window before walking over with his watering can. “Doctor Yosano, did you say something?”
Yosano smiled as she closed her book and set it on her desk. “I was just saying you two should go have some fun together. I’m sure you both never got the chance to be around people your age, right?”
Kyouka looked away sadly for a moment, thoughts of her time in the Port Mafia still weighing on her mind. “That’s true.”
“Hmm,” Kenji said thinking for a moment, “Most of the people in my village were much older than me but I had lots of friends with all the animals.”
Yosano stifled a giggle. Kenji sure was adorable. “But other human kids, I meant.”
“No…” Kenji replied looking less sunshiny than usual. “I was the only one, I guess.”
“Then it’s settled!” Yosano said, standing up and putting her arms around Kyouka and Kenji. “You two should go enjoy your day off together.
“But what about you?” Kyouka asked as she was gently pushed toward the door with Kenji.
Yosano gave them an innocent look. “Oh me? Oh I’ve got boring adult stuff to do. Now go have fun!”
That’s how the two 14-year-olds found themselves standing outside the ADA office blinking at each other and wondering what to do.
“Is there anywhere you want to go, Kyouka?” Kenji asked looking around. “The city’s got so many fascinating things.”
“The crepes,” she mumbled before Kenji tilted his head in confusion. She spoke up a bit. “There’s a place that sells crepes that are delicious.”
Kenji gave her a wide-eyed expression as she described the crepe she had last time. “That sounds great! Let’s go there.”
He grabbed her hand and took off down the street. Kyouka barely managed to keep up but gripped Kenji’s hand tightly so they wouldn’t be separated. She was surprised at the number of people who called out to Kenji as they ran.
“You sure know a lot of people here,” she said after another lady greeted Kenji.
“City folk are more friendly than I thought they’d be,” Kenji said with a smile. “I help them out when I can.”
“Huh...you’re really nice,” Kyouka said blinking at him in surprise. She hadn’t been around a lot of people who helped other people out without really asking anything in return.
“This is the place you were talking about, right?”
Kenji had stopped them in front of the crepe stand she had mentioned before. She could almost taste the strawberries and whipped cream from the first time she’d been there.
“I wonder if I have enough money…” Kyouka mumbled digging around for her purse before pulling it out. She looked through and was relieved that she had enough on her at the moment.
“That’s right, I keep forgetting that’s a thing,” Kenji said with a laugh.
Kyouka went to the stand and paid for a crepe and looked at Kenji with confusion. “What’s a thing?”
“Money,” he replied as Kyouka gave him a blank stare. “I’m still getting used to that. Back in my village we just traded things. Sometimes I’d go catch some of the cows and I’d get some sweets in return.”
Kyouka dug into the crepe she had just received, wiping off the whipped cream from her face afterwards. “I’ve never seen a cow before.”
“Really?” Kenji asked with a sad look at Kyouka, imagining what it must be like to live a cow-less life. “We need to fix that!”
He stood up and offered his hand to Kyouka.
“Where are we going to find a cow in the middle of the city?” she replied looking wary despite her slight excitement at the thought of seeing a real live cow.
Kenji gave her a large smile. “I know a place!”
Kyouka shoved the last bite of crepe in her mouth before taking Kenji’s hand and soon they were off again.
By the time they stopped, Kyouka found the two of them standing in front of a sign for a petting zoo. An older woman notice them standing there and walked toward them with a friendly smile.
“Ahh Kenji, is that you?” she asked. “We haven’t seen you in a while and the animals were getting a bit restless.”
“Well you can let me know if the sheep ever get out again,” Kenji replied. “I’ll catch them again for you.”
“You’re such a sweet boy, Kenji,” the woman replied, looking at the boy fondly before noticing Kyouka. “Ah who’s this? A friend of yours?”
Kyouka stepped out meekly from behind Kenji, not used to strangers being so nice. “I work with Kenji. I’m Izumi Kyouka.”
The woman gave Kyouka a smile. “Well Kyouka, it’s nice to see you here. Any friend of Kenji’s is welcome.”
“I’m here to show Kyouka the cows,” Kenji said as they walked inside the petting zoo. “She’s never seen a real one before!”
“Well you both enjoy yourselves,” the woman replied.
Kyouka followed Kenji as she looked around at the animals there. Her eyes lingered on the rabbits and she let out a soft “oh” as she watched them. Kenji saw her looking at them and gave her a smile.
“You can play with the bunnies while I get the cow,” he said.
Kyouka nodded, feeling full of determination to pet some rabbits. She walked over to the rabbits and let them sniff at her hand before stroking them gently on the head. She marvelled at how soft they were and she let out a laugh as one of the rabbits licked her hand. In all her excitement over the rabbits, she didn’t even hear the mooing of a cow behind her.
“Kyouka! I brought the cow over!”
She turned around and her eyes went wide. There was Kenji holding the cow in one hand and waving at her with the other. Kyouka had only ever heard about Kenji’s ability, but seeing it was another thing. She walked over to Kenji as he gently put the cow down.
“Is the cow….uh...okay with being picked up like that?” she asked hesitantly.
“It’s a lot easier this way and she doesn’t mind so much,” Kenji replied, petting the cow gently. “Come pet her!”
Kenji grabbed Kyouka’s hand and slowly brought it toward the cow’s head. He could probably sense her hesitation because he spoke up.
“It’s okay she won’t hurt you,” he said, trying to reassure Kyouka.
When Kyouka finally touched the cow, she was surprised to see that it felt soft. The cow gently butted it’s head against her hand and licked it and she giggled. “It’s cute.”
Kenji smiled. “See? Cows always make me smile, so I’m glad it made you happy too!”
The two of them spent the rest of the day with the animals. Kyouka slowly got used to seeing Kenji heft large animals over his head with ease, though she still had a moment of surprise every time it happened. Kenji told her all sorts of secrets about the animals, like where to pet them and what foods they liked. By the end of the day Kyouka realized she hadn’t had this much fun in a long time.
The next day was back to a day of work, but when Kyouka stepped into the office she met a smiling Yosano.
“Did you have fun with Kenji yesterday, Kyouka?” she asked.
Kyouka smiled and nodded. “Yeah I did. We played with a lot of animals yesterday.”
Yosano saw Kyouka’s smile and felt relieved. She was glad that Kyouka had some fun and could finally be a regular kid for a change. It was about time.