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This morning was a weird one for Atsushi. It was the first morning after Kyouka had finally received her own Agency-provided apartment, meaning the two were living apart for the first time since Atsushi rescued her from the Port Mafia. Atsushi wasn’t sure how to feel about it. Regardless of that, he had to get up and get ready for work.
Despite the odd morning, it was a pretty average day at work. He went to assist on an investigation, did an absurd amount of paperwork, and listened to Dazai torment Kunikida. Normal. He and Kyouka stuck together the whole day though. They missed each other. With both of them being orphans who lived together up until the day before, they had formed a kind of sibling bond. Of course they got along with each other better than most siblings probably did.
“How is it having your own apartment, Kyouka?” Atsushi asked her at one point during the day.
“Pretty nice. It’s the first time I’ve had my own space since my parents died.” she replied, smiling slightly.
“That’s good. I’m glad you finally got your own space.” he said, adding, “I do miss the time we spent together while we were cooking or cleaning, though.”
“Me too.”
Atsushi suddenly got an idea. “What if we have dinner at my apartment every week? You can even come over early so we can cook together. It’ll be just like before.” He said, smiling.
Kyouka’s eyes lit up. “Yeah. I think that’ll be nice.” She smiled even wider. Atsushi thinks she was relieved that he still wanted to be around her. He felt the same way.
That Saturday was their first dinner together since Kyouka moved out. In her excitement, Kyouka went to Atsushi’s apartment an hour early. He hadn’t started cooking yet, so they started together. They had decided to make crispy baked sesame tofu and rice the day before, so Atsushi had already gone to the store to get all the ingredients they needed.
“Still doing well in your new apartment?” Atsushi asked her as he preheated the oven.
“Yes. I’ve almost got every necessity so I can start decorating soon.” She replied, grabbing a few things out of the refrigerator. It made Atsushi happy to see her still feeling at home in the apartment. He was happy they were still spending time together outside of work, too. He did miss living with her, but he wanted her to be happy more than anything else. If that meant living separately, then so be it.
They chatted while cooking for the next half-hour or so, and once they were done they sat down at the table to eat.
“Thank you for the meal.” they said in unison.
“Mm, this is really good.” Atsushi said after a few bites. “You cooked the hell outta this tofu, Kyouka.”
“Thank you. The rice you made is very good too. I haven’t really had any decent meals since I moved out of here. Mostly just what I have in the cupboards and refrigerator already” she replied.
“Huh? Why haven’t you been eating much?” he asked, worried.
“I don’t know how to cook very much. Since my parents died when I was pretty young, they never really taught me to cook, and the port mafia had private cooks for members.” she said with a hint of sadness, “I can really only cook with someone else.”
“I had no idea. Maybe I should teach you to cook during our weekly dinners.” Atsushi said, offering the best idea he could think of.
“I think that would be nice.” Kyouka smiled, “How about we make chazuke next week?”
Atsushi smiled back, “I think that would be nice.”
Every week after that they made and ate dinner together, trying out a new dish every time. For both of them, it was the highlight of their week, and they always looked forward to it.