Work Text:
Rain pours down from the sky in heavy sheets, pounding incessantly against the windows of the Agency headquarters. The noise doesn’t bother Kunikida—in fact, he rather enjoys the rhythmic thrumming in the background while he works. Everyone else, however, has clearly had their spirits dampened by the weather.
Ranpo disappeared into the infirmary an hour ago, mumbling something about checking in on Yosano. Given the fact that they haven’t returned and the lights in the infirmary are off, Kunikida can only assume the weather triggered a migraine and Ranpo is keeping her company. Dazai is napping—though, that’s nothing unusual. Atsushi is nearly dozing off at his desk as well, which is odd, but the same dip in energy seems to be affecting Tanizaki and Kyouka as well. The only one who seems as upbeat as usual is Kenji; he’s intermittently clicking his tongue and humming to himself as he files papers.
Kunikida returns his gaze to his laptop screen. Since he lost and recovered his hands, he’s had to do most of his work digitally as newly-developed hand tremors rendered his handwriting nearly illegible for several months. He still isn’t fully used to the adjustment, and more often than not, he’s frustrated with how much slower he works now.
Today is a good day, though. The pain isn’t too bad and the tremors are relatively weak, and he’s mostly on top of all the work he needs to do thanks to Sigma’s help.
As he skims over what he has typed up of his report so far, he sees his phone screen light up in the corner of his vision. Typically, he wouldn’t allow such a distraction to be in his field of vision, but since Sigma is out tying up loose ends for a case and he knew there was a possibility for thunderstorms this afternoon, he’s made sure to keep an eye out in case something happens.
However, Sigma isn’t the one calling him. Bram is.
Kunikida frowns as he picks up the phone and answers the call. Bram rarely uses his phone for anything other than listening to music, only calling if it’s something he deems an emergency—but his definition of “emergency” can be a bit unreliable. Just last week, he called because there was a sale on pineapples and he wanted to know if Kunikida wanted one.
Still, he can’t very well ignore the call. Especially since Bram is with Aya today.
“Hello?”
“Good afternoon, Kunikida-san,” Bram greets pleasantly. “I am afraid the Lady Aya and I have found ourselves in an unfortunate predicament due to the weather.”
Kunikida’s heart skips a beat as he looks towards the window. “Is she hurt?”
“No, no, you need not worry; we are both well,” Bram assures him. “But we did not realize the rain would be so fierce, and so neither of us thought to bring an umbrella.”
“Oh.” He breathes out a sigh of relief. “Where are you? Can you get a taxi? Or ride the bus?”
“I do not trust the metal carriages if I do not know who is controlling them,” Bram states, “and Lady Aya says the bus is not due for another twenty-five minutes. She has requested you retrieve us.”
Kunikida considers this. It would be much quicker than making them wait for the bus, and he finds himself excited at the prospect of seeing both Bram and Aya even though it isn’t in his schedule for the day. He and Bram have been unofficially sharing custody of Aya, but recently, the three of them have been spending more time together as a group rather than just he or Bram looking after Aya alone.
It’s been…nice. Unexpected, but nice.
Kunikida’s gaze sweeps across the office. It’s doubtful anything major will happen in the twenty minutes he’s away, and he knows that in the event of a true emergency, his coworkers will shake themselves out of their slumps and do whatever work needs to be done. So long as the president allows him, he can afford to sacrifice twenty—no, thirty, it’s important to drive cautiously in weather like this—minutes for Bram and Aya’s sakes.
With that decided, he tells Bram, “I will speak with the President about leaving work to come get you. Give me one moment.”
“Of course,” Bram replies. His voice, as always, is strangely comforting. Kunikida tries not to dwell on it, but it’s getting harder and harder to ignore these days. “We will patiently await your response.”
Despite himself, Kunikida smiles. Then, he quickly straightens out his expression before anyone can see him. He doesn’t need any more teasing from his coworkers—it’s hard enough to deal with Dazai, Ranpo, and Yosano. He’d prefer the younger members not join in.
He keeps Bram on the line as he makes his way to Fukuzawa’s office. After a quick conversation where he is given permission to leave, he informs Bram that he will be there shortly and promptly hangs up. The last thing he hears on the other end of the phone is Aya cheering in the background.
This time, he feels no need to suppress his smile.
He takes a moment to tidy up his desk, logging out of his laptop—though he’s certain Dazai could get into it regardless—grabs his umbrella, and makes his way to his car.
— —
It isn’t a far drive to the shopping center where Bram and Aya spent the afternoon, but with the relentless downpour, it takes Kunikida longer than usual to get there. The ferocity of the storm wanes and waxes, though the rain never fully lets up. Kunikida’s knuckles are white on the steering wheel and his fingers ache by the time he pulls into a parking spot, but he pays it no mind. He makes a mental note to put his compression gloves on once he’s back in the office.
He told Bram and Aya to wait inside, since the wind would have blown the rain at them even if they’d stood beneath the shelter of an awning, so he opens his umbrella and hurries in.
It doesn’t take long to locate them—Aya sent a text from Bram’s phone with a photo of where they would be waiting. Bram holds a shopping bag in each hand, standing as still as a statue, while Aya animatedly recounts something that happened to her at school. However, the moment her gaze lands on Kunikida, she drops the story in favor of running over to him, arms spread wide. She’s grown taller over the past several months, but Kunikida still has to crouch to hug her properly. It’s a bit awkward, with him holding his closed umbrella in one hand, though Aya doesn’t seem to mind at all.
“You’re here!” she exclaims. “I told Bracchan you would come get us, and that it would be wayyy better than waiting for the bus. Plus, now we can give you the gift we got!”
“Gift?” Kunikida breaks the hug. As he stands back up, he eyes Bram curiously. He has a tendency to splurge on Aya, but rarely is that same generosity extended towards Kunikida. Not that he minds; if anything, he thinks Bram spoils Aya too much.
Then again, he has a hard time saying no to her himself.
“The lady insisted,” Bram explains.
Aya skips back over to him and reaches into one of the bags. She rifles through it for a moment before excitedly procuring a package of two ink pens. She shoves them into his free hand. “This is the kind you like, right? They’re the same shape as the ones you have at your desk, and you said that makes them easier for you to hold.”
Kunikida blinks. He only has a few pens like this—designed for people who struggle to grip writing utensils properly. They’re hard to find and they aren’t cheap, so he tries to use the ones he has sparingly. He’s not even sure how Aya managed to find these in-store; his were ordered online because he and Yosano gave up on searching for stores in Yokohama that carried them.
“Is that the right kind?” Aya asks hesitantly, and Kunikida realizes he hasn’t yet responded.
“It is,” he assures her. “Thank you, this is—” his gaze flits up towards Bram, since he knows Bram is the one who actually paid for them. “This is very kind.”
Aya breathes out a sigh of relief. “Okay, good, I’m glad! And you’re welcome, by the way. We only found them ‘cause of my super awesome scouting skills!”
Kunikida chuckles. “I’m impressed. Now, are you ready to go? I thought perhaps I could take you back to the Agency so you can grab something to eat at the café and say hi to Lucy-chan.”
Aya’s face lights up. She clasps her hands together, turning her pleading expression towards Bram. “Can we? Pleeeeaaaase?”
Bram’s lips quirk up in only the barest hint of a smile, but his eyes are shining brightly with affection. “If that is what you wish.”
“YES! C’mon, let’s go!” She grabs Bram’s sleeve with one hand and Kunikida’s wrist with her other, dragging them towards the exit as she excitedly chatters about some online game she and Lucy have been playing together. When Kunikida glances over at Bram, he appears hopelessly confused.
It’s sort of endearing.
Kunikida drops that thought and focuses instead on getting his umbrella ready for once they’re outside again. It’s nowhere near big enough for the three of them, but it’s better than nothing. And with Aya sandwiched between him and Bram, at least she should remain relatively dry.
As they exit the shopping center, Kunikida notices the rain has slowed and the sun is beginning to shine through the clouds. He still opens the umbrella, but before he can even instruct Aya and Bram to huddle beneath it, Aya is dropping her hold on both of them and darting out into the rain.
“Aya-chan!” Kunikida calls out.
She jumps into a puddle on the sidewalk, laughing gleefully as the water splashes up around her ankles. At least she’s wearing boots.
“You will fall ill,” Bram warns, though he doesn’t make to chase after her. Instead, he steps closer to Kunikida, sheltering himself further under the umbrella. To Kunikida, he asks, “Does she have a dry change of clothes at the Agency?”
Kunikida sighs. “No, but Yosano-sensei keeps towels in the infirmary. We’ll have to make do drying her off with those.”
Bram nods. “Will that be enough to prevent sickness?”
“It should be. It’s not too cold out today.”
“Very well.”
Aya spins around to face them, a wide grin splitting her face open. “My sister used to play out in the rain with me, even though Dad didn’t like it. We would see who could find the biggest puddle and make the biggest splash! Or we would just dance around and sing together.” She turns away then, casting her gaze towards the sky.
Kunikida purses his lips, not quite sure what to say. Bram strides towards Aya, and he hurries to keep up with the umbrella. “My princess—”
“Look,” Aya interrupts. Her voice has gone soft, and she points upwards.
Kunikida and Bram lift their heads in tandem. The slivers of sunlight poking through the clouds have painted a faint rainbow in the sky. Swatches of barely-there pastel arch through the air, almost shimmering.
It’s beautiful.
“It has been many years since I have seen such a sight,” Bram murmurs. Kunikida glances over at him, and once he does, he finds he can’t look away. Awe is written exquisitely across his face in what may be the most potent display of emotion Kunikida has seen him show towards anyone or anything apart from Aya. “They are far more magnificent than I remember.”
“They’re stunning,” Kunikida agrees, his gaze still locked on Bram.
There is a nagging in the back of his mind, reminding him that he should be hurrying back to the office—that this was only supposed to be a quick trip, that stopping to play in the rain and admire the rainbow is putting them behind schedule. He has work to complete, and Aya is surely hungry, and none of them should stay out in the rain too long regardless.
“It sure is pretty,” Aya chimes in. “We should try to get a picture before it goes away!” She spins around, looking up at Kunikida and Bram. “D’you think you could get one with me in it?”
Bram smiles softly, placing a hand on Aya’s shoulder. “Whatever the princess wishes.”
Kunikida decides his schedule can handle just a little more strain. If it’s for the sake of Bram and Aya, he would happily rewrite the entire thing.