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Tanizaki sighed and closed his cell phone. Immediately, xe relaxed into the armchair xe was sitting in. For once, xe ended xer day in the reception area instead of at xer desk. Xe reached behind the chair to retrieve xer bag which was left there earlier.
The bag sat in xer lap as xe stared into space, mentally regrouping xer thoughts. Gentle hands were placed on xer shoulders before they slid down to clasp in front of xer stomach. The person’s head came to rest on Tanizaki’s shoulder, and xe absently reached up and put a hand on the back of his head.
“Hi,” Atsushi mumbled into xer shoulder. Tanizaki hummed. “Can we spend time together tonight?”
Without realizing it, xe began to lightly scratch Atsushi’s hair. “I have to… go grocery shopping, so… if you’re… alright with coming along… then, yeah.”
If Atsushi had a problem with the slow, timeless way xe spoke, he didn’t mention it. He turned his head so he could kiss their cheek.
“I don’t mind. Are you going home first?”
“Um…” Atsushi waited patiently for xem to think of a response. “No. I’ll go straight to the store. Is that okay?”
“Yeah! I’m tagging along with you, remember?”
“Oh. Yeah.” Atsushi let go of xem and instead stood by the chair. After a minute or two, xe stood up and slung xer messenger bag over xer shoulder.
The duo walked into the office space and headed for the door, until a voice called for half of them.
“Atsushi!” They both turned. Yosano marched towards the boy, holding something in her hand. “Kyoka left her umbrella in my office. I was hoping you’d still be here to take it back to her.” Before he could say anything, she shoved the folded umbrella into his hand.
“Ah, thank you, Dr. Yosano!” He smiled at the woman, who nodded before walking off. After that, they both left the office and descended the stairs of the building.
The street was busy, typical of dusk in the city. Tanizaki fidgeted with the buttons and pins on the strap of the bag and made sure to keep step with Atsushi.
“Do you wanna hold hands?” Atsushi asked. Xe considered it for a second. He grabbed xer hand as soon as xe stuck it out. It made xem feel warm inside and gave xem a bit more energy on the walk to the store.
“I heard you went on a mission today,” Tanizaki commented. It was a bit of a lie, since xe was present when the mission was agreed upon. Xe was beginning to grow uncomfortable in the silence and just needed something to say.
“Oh, yeah! I mean, I kind of just shadowed Dazai and Kunikida again, but it was nice to get out and stretch for once!” He wore a bright smile which warmed the ginger’s heart.
“I’m glad you went. How far out did it take you?”
“We were pretty far into the outskirts of the city. The guy was hiding out in an abandoned weather station.” He paused for a moment, thinking something over. “It had a good view. I was thinking about taking you out there sometime. I-if that’s, uh… you know…” Atsushi waved the hand holding Kyouka’s umbrella in it.
Xe smiled and laughed. “I get it. If you think it looked nice, I’d like to go.”
The sun finally set when they got to the parking lot of the store. Angry orange faded into a soft yellow which merged with a sky blue. As the minutes ticked by, the blue blended into a deep purple into black. Light pollution was, unfortunately, something that existed, so the stars weren’t seen well. Even so, Tanizaki stopped in xer tracks and stared.
“What’s wrong?”
Xe gestured to the view in front of them. “The sky is lovely tonight.”
Atsushi turned his body in order to admire the setting sun as well. “It is, isn’t it?”
“We should watch it set at that place.” Atsushi nodded and hummed in agreement. A bit more time passed until they finally decided to enter the store.
Tanizaki dug a slip of paper out of xer bag and grabbed a hand basket. Xe stepped into the produce section and instantly felt xemself grow heavier and more tired.
Xer partner rubbed slow circles into xer hand with his thumb.
“Doing okay?”
“Yeah. It’s just grocery shopping always feels like… such a chore.”
Atsushi hummed. “At least we have a list. It helps you to track your progress, right? I think you told me that once…”
Xe nodded. Atsushi followed xem as xe looked at the shelves and cross-referenced with the list. Xe stared at the shelf which contained carrots for longer than was probably necessary.
“‘Tsu, my hand.”
“Hm? Oh! Right, right, sorry, my bad!” He let go of xer hand and xe put a bag of carrots into the basket.
Xe made xer way to the meat section and browsed the selection. There were so many options. It was a little overwhelming. Xer eyes flicked left and right. There was a lot of writing on the packages which made xer head feel like it was spinning.
“Which one should I get?” Xe asked.
“Oh, uh— I usually get this kind,” Atsushi picked up a ground beef package which was labelled lean. “If-if that’s what you’re asking, of course!” Xe took the package from him and set it in the basket.
It hit xem that xe might have seemed rude by not saying anything, so xe smiled and thanked him for his help. He smiled back in response, saying something like ‘oh, it was nothing.’
The last thing on the list was crushed pepper powder, which Atsushi found rather quickly. Tanizaki smiled knowingly to which he rubbed the back of his neck and put the container into the basket.
“Do you need anything?”
“No.” Atsushi’s response was instant. Almost as if it was on instinct.
“Does Kyouka need anything?”
This time, he seemed to think over the question for a bit before responding. “I don’t think so. She hasn’t added anything to our list or asked for anything.”
The man seemed to wilt under Tanizaki’s stare before xe nodded and they moved on. Checking out was uneventful and didn’t take too long. Tanizaki stared at xer shoes the whole time, only slightly looking up to hand the cashier the payment.
Xe took the bag and thanked the worker. The duo’s hands came together once more and they walked out of the market. Only to be met with pouring rain.
“The… the dorms aren’t too far, I think…” He brought the umbrella he was holding in front of them, disconnecting their hands to open it. “We-we could…”
“Share?” He nodded. Xe smiled. “Sounds good to me.” The grocery bag was clutched tighter to xer chest. The umbrella was opened and … yeah, it was pretty small. It was a girl’s umbrella, so of course it would barely fit one person under it. The problem was they were trying to fit two.
The bunny umbrella barely covered their inner sides. They constantly pushed against each other and were getting more wet than dry.
Tanizaki couldn’t bring xemself to care that much. Xe laughed and purposely nudged Atsushi as they both ran to their shelter. He yelped each time but quickly recovered and tried to shove xem back. The two raced back to the Agency dorms laughing loudly, probably disturbing other pedestrians in their wake.
They finally reached the building and Atsushi fished out his key. The umbrella was taken down when they were safe under the dormitory’s awning. He pushed the door open for his partner, who got inside quickly. He hung back for a few minutes to shake out and close the umbrella.
“Ugh, you’re all wet,” Tanizaki said when he came in. Xe was soaked as much as he was.
“No thanks to you.” He came in front of xem and trapped xem against the counter before attacking xer face with small kisses. Xe smiled and put xer hands on his shoulders but didn’t push.
“Agh, fine! I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”
Atsushi stopped. “All is forgiven. Now, come on, let’s get in the shower and out of these clothes before we get sick.”