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Miri was a handful. There was no denying that simple fact.
She had only come to live with them for a few days, but it felt like she had been with them for a very long time. Kazuki wasn’t quite sure if that was a good thing or a bad one. She was rather troublesome, and got in the way of their missions in a way that made him really think about how best to deal with the entire situation.
He had told Rei some time before, when the other man had tried to adopt a stray cat, that with their line of work they should not try to take care of others unless they were willing to do so from start to finish. Ironic that his words would so quickly turn around and bite him in the ass. Though, that was the very reason he sought to send Miri back to where she had come from, her mother. There was just no way two men who did assassinations as their main job could handle a child. But, Kazuki had to admit, there was one thing really great about having the little girl around.
He glanced over at Miri, her eyes aglow, practically lighting up the room with their shine as she dug into the plate of food before her.
“Papa! Diish ish shooh delishush!”
“Is it?” Kazuki preened as he watched Miri shovel another large bite of omelette rice into her mouth.
“Uh!”
“Ah~ What a wonderful feeling to have someone who appreciates my cooking.” He couldn’t help the smile that slid onto his face at the sight. However, it quickly disappeared as his eyes travelled to Rei. He eyed the other man slowly picking his way through the meal for a moment. “How does it taste?”
“Uh.” Rei’s voice was flat, and revealed nothing.
“That doesn’t answer the question!” Kazuki yelled, before sighing in defeat. It was nothing he was not used to after all.
The most he could take solace in was the fact that Rei at the very least ate everything that Kazuki prepared. He did so even when it was something that he claimed wasn’t to his taste, like the spicy fish roe he’d once made. It didn’t stop Kazuki from wishing that he could see Rei’s eyes light up after taking a bite of his home-cooked meals. A fraction of the shine in Miri’s eyes would be enough. A glimmer, or spark.
“Thank you for the meal!” Miri’s voice chimed in a moment later as she hopped off of the couch, empty dishes in hand.
Kazuki took the dishes from her as she bounced up and down in front of the sink, in a vain attempt to deposit them in the basin.
Rei echoed, “Thank you for the meal,” soon after before getting up from the dining table. He didn’t even bother to remove his dishes as he drifted over to the couch in front of the T.V. and all but collapsed onto the cushions. Barely a minute passed before he turned on his PlayStation, and took the controller in hand.
Miri, ever curious, plopped down right beside him. Her rapid fire questions and words of awe were immediately drowned out as Rei affixed his headset over his ears.
Once again Kazuki sighed.
-
Over the next few days, life went on as usual - as usual as two assassins having to deal with a rambunctious four year old could be.
In their down time, Kazuki cooked and cleaned. He made all sorts of dishes from curry to nikujaga, from ramen to pasta, and the results were always the same. Miri would always enthuse about how good the meals were, with the occasional quip about how certain things weren’t as good as her mother’s when a recipe overlapped. And Rei….
Kazuki watched as Rei ripped open another bag of potato chips. No matter what he made, Rei always found time to gouge on the stash of unhealthy snacks.
Kazuki squinted his eyes at the bag of chips as if he were gathering intel for a target. He didn't know why he hadn't thought of it before, but there was one more thing he could now try in his little 'make Rei's eyes sparkle when he eats my food' plan.
-
After stopping by Kyuutarou’s to pick up their paycheck on the completion of a barely successful mission, Kazuki stopped by the supermarket. With a bag of potatoes in hand, he made his way home with thoughts of what he would make.
“Papa!” Miri launched herself at Kazuki the moment he opened the front door. The only thing that kept him upright from the force of her embrace was the door behind him when he fell back into it, inadvertently slamming it close.
Despite his grunts of pain, Miri looked up at him excitedly. “Did papa bring snacks for Miri?” Her little hands made grabbing motions toward the bag in his hand.
Just the thought of snacks made Kazuki beam despite himself. “I’m going to make them.”
“Make them?” Miri tilted her head to the side, curious, but Kazuki didn’t elaborate.
He looked around the apartment. “Where’s Uncle Rei?”
Miri looked around the apartment as well. “Dunno!”
“Ha-? Did he go out?” The idea was a weird one. Though, Rei had left the sanctuary of the apartment once before - abandoning his reclusive ways- to avoid babysitting duty.
A giggle from Miri broke Kazuki’s train of thought. “Hide and Seek! Uncle Rei is really good at hiding!”
“Ah.” That would explain it , Kazuki thought. He shook his head. “Well you go find Uncle Rei while I make lunch.”
Miri gave a mock salute before devolving into laughter, and took off with a burst of energy to find the missing man. At least it would be enough of a distraction so that Kazuki could cook in peace, without distraction.
…or so he thought.
Every few minutes Miri would circle back into the kitchen to ask for help with finding Rei. Lunch almost became dinner with how many times Kazuki would have to stop in order to shoo the child away, or redirect her focus every time she got distracted from her task and tried to offer up help with the cooking.
“Miri, it’s time to go wash up. Lunch will be ready soon.”
“Okay!”
Kazuki shook his head as he watched her go. He opened up the cupboards beneath the sink to reach for the bottle of liquid dish soap. He would clean up the dirty dishes right away so that the sink wasn’t overflowing with them after they all finished eating. With one hand on the cupboard door, he reached the other inside and paused. His hand dangled awkwardly in midair. “Eh?”
A pair of dark eyes peered back at him.
“Ehhhhh?!”
“You’re so loud.” Rei frowned, sticking a finger in his ear. His voice was apathetic as usual despite the situation.
“Were you in there the entire time?” Kazuki asked, still processing what was happening.
Rei nodded. “Hm.”
Little pitter patters shook the flooring as hurried footfalls approached them. “Papa found Uncle Rei!”
They both looked over to the little girl who had just rounded the corner, her eyes darting between them both. “Wow, Uncle Rei won!”
Rei crawled out of the small space as if he really had been playing along instead of simply hiding away. “Papa is so good at finding!”
“Ah-Ha... Something like that. Anyway, lunch is ready, So let’s eat.”
“Lunch~ Lunch~” Miri ran over to the low table where she usually took her meals, and sat.
“You go wash up too, Rei.”
The dark haired man sighed, but complied, dragging his feet all the way to the bathroom.
By the time he returned, Kazuki had already set the table, and they all dug into the meal. Kazuki had decided on mapo tofu and rice with a side of seaweed salad.
Miri shook her head side to side as she ate, doing a little dance. Kazuki smiled at the sight, it was undeniable that he liked seeing the happiness his food gave people. His eyes glanced at Rei. “It’s not too spicy, is it?”
Rei took a bite. “It’s fine.” His face was neutral as usual. He and Miri were complete opposites, the sun and the moon.
Kazuki didn’t expect much, since the real test would come from what he prepared next.
When they were all finished, Kazuki cleaned up as Miri and Rei took a seat on the couch.
“Why don’t we watch a movie?” Kazuki called over to the two.
They didn’t have any assignments for the rest of the day. Instead of Rei zoning out on his video games, a movie would be something they could all enjoy together.
Kazuki prepared their movie snacks- homemade potato chips. They were something he knew that Rei loved eating, and he prepped several different flavours from seasalt, honey glazed, and garlic.
They ended up watching an animated adventure drama, which was something they all became engrossed in. At least Miri and Rei had seemed to, though Miri had dozed off somewhere in the middle, but Kazuki couldn’t focus on the film at all. His eyes kept being drawn to Rei until he gave up trying to watch the movie altogether, and focused on the other man instead.
While Rei’s eyes were glued to the television, his hand went from his platter of chips to his mouth and back, repeating the motion over and over again. If Kazuki had to guess, he would say that Rei was as into the snack as he was into the movie.
Before long, there was not much left on his plate. And Kazuki realised that before Rei did. “Do you want more?”
Rei looked down at his platter to see there was only one chip left. “Un.” He answered in the affirmative.
Kazuki gathered Miri and his own empty plates, along with Rei’s, to put them in the kitchen before returning with a platter refilled for Rei.
Rei took the plate when it was offered, and took a bite of one of the honey glazed potato chips. He looked at it as if contemplating something before turning to look at Kazuki. “Where did you buy it?”
Kazuki blinked, before a grin slid onto his face, and he put a finger to his lips. “It’s a secret.”
There was no glimmer that lit up Rei's eyes the way Miri’s always did when she ate her food. But one day Kazuki would get to see that glint in Rei’s eyes, he just knew it. But for now, he would just keep trying, because even if Rei never really commented on his food, Kazuki had to admit that he also took joy in Rei simply eating everything he made.
That had to count for something. And for now… it was enough.