Work Text:
gaku hopelessly bumps his face into asakura’s shoulder. gentle smile tucks in the corner of chef’s lips as he pats his head. “hey. we can figure it out.”
inui who was heading towards them with souse pot for taste approval immediately shifts his direction to ranna as if scared to interrupt their interaction. everyone else in the kitchen keeps up with their own pace not paying much attention to main chefs.
“it’s missing something and I can’t see what exactly.” gaku’s voice comes out muffled as he stays leaned to head chef.
kai finds it somehow endearing how tragic mathematician sounds over their new recipe. he softly presses his lips against gaku’s messy hair, his mind wondering over the ingredients again and again, trying to lure out memories on flavor combinations they have used.
despite losing his sense of taste he was not that much of a helpless after all. his cooking skills have turned into muscle memory over the course of the years, plates he served still overly satisfied guests and having kitada around inspired him to move forward. however, surpassing perfection was no longer a goal - enjoying cooking side by side with people who cared about him was more than enough.
absence of flavors brought to his world something new. mr. shibuya once told him pleasance by food comes not only from the taste of it but it’s scent and it’s appearance. when one loses a sense of taste his other senses amplify. kai couldn’t help but notice how true this rule was. in the span of last year his olfactory senses boosted making his specialty into scents.
kitchen was a tornado of different odors, they spread from all the products, steaming pots, people and even utensils. he slowly learned to implement this knowledge to enhance the food quality, balancing out his lacking side. plate next to them was filling the air with complicated fragrance of asian spices and rooted vegetables. a faint scent of his own perfume blossomed from gaku.
his vision caught ranna patiently waiting next to the serving table across the kitchen. their eyes met and asakura gave her acknowledging nod. main dish was missing last adjustments waiting there on corner for a chef to finish it off.
kai also noticed magoroku almost forcing a spoon full of souse to peña who didn’t seem particularly happy with that. the youngest one was roaming around the kitchen from person to person with that souse pot every since he failed to approach main chef.
kai lightly patted kitada’s back as if trying to wake him up. “inui needs you, please help him out. I’ll manage the plates, ranna is waiting. let’s go.” his voice sharp yet carrying that hint of affection only gaku received.
mathematician let out a soft sigh and shifted back casting final disappointed glance upon their plate with results of new recipe. kai noticed his expressions and lightheartedly scoffed. “don’t worry, we’ll fix that eventually.”
“after shift?”
kai seemed taken aback a little bit. “you don’t want to go out or anything?”
“not really. you want?” mathematician asked absentmindedly.
“I guess no. okay, go distract yourself for now.” kai smiled softly and muffled gaku’s hair one last time before letting him go.
a hour before break passed by with nothing unusual happening. when kitchen was cleaned and inui started preparing break meal as he insisted kai was already in his office room going through weekly financial reports.
every since his return he never attended break lunches and no one pressured him about this. every crew member did their best to be extra careful with chef and put themselves in his shoes: what would they do if one day they woke up without their sense of taste?
cooking wasn’t just a job for every single member of restaurant k. it was a life. kai coming back even stronger and managing through this illness made them respect him even more. deep inside they knew they wouldn’t be able to handle what he was going through. one of the most obvious reasons for this matter was the fact that kai had his gaku and they didn’t.
mathematician’s presence changed asakura from the very first day he appeared in the doorway of restaurant. everyone noticed but couldn’t quite put a finger on what exactly about him resonated so well with their chef.
even now they still couldn’t tell but there was no doubt that their bond is already beyond just some romance, they’ve grew old on each other, completing each other’s missing parts, becoming perfect together.
it was not just about kai’s loss of taste. when he returned gaku was in desperate need of him too, his state wasn’t any better.
he who always saw numbers, possibilities and inaccuracies rather than people never could properly communicate his thoughts tripping over the same mistake of misunderstandings. kai’s calmness and mindfulness perfectly balanced out his this side, always managing to bring him closer to crew members cutting the gap.
regardless of having the tendency to unconsciously dismiss humanly emotions and cues, when asakura returned to kitchen in his new conditions kitada started acting mindfully as if something really snapped in him every since. however, over the time it appeared that he wasn’t even aware of what he was doing.
tables really have turned. although the crew really expected the interactions to be really tough with kitada after the state they had to leave him at, asakura after his year-long hiatus cleared his partner, bringing an absolute new level of awkwardness into the kitchen. it felt like kai single-handedly built a whole wall between himself and the crew, making it difficult at first to go back to the old days.
that’s when gaku stepped in. always sticking to kai wherever he went, ranting on types of ingredients, explaining some math-related rules and making goofy french puns based off on his pretty short word bank. nervous at first head chef quickly returned to his old pace, laughing at gaku’s every joke and carefully processing all the information. he comforted kai just with his presence and everyone was grateful to him because now gaku was functioning as bridge between the team and main chef.
his presence helped kai return back physically and mentally. and kai’s presence helped him to step over his old self and make it up for the crew.
magoroku glanced over at hotei and lightly coughed. sous chef nodded as if confirming something. their little nonverbal exchange flew completely over mathematician who was fully consumed by some formulas in his notebook.
kai was still sitting there behind transparent glassy walls of staff room staring at his laptop with usual determined expression.
hotei threw a casual hand around gaku’s neck, casted a knowing glance in the direction of staff room and sighed about to start conversation. “hey, gaku, you know there’s a flavor we don’t need taste buds for?”
“huh?” kitada instantly dropped the notebook, facing sous chef standing next to him.
“you must be the only chef who got two michelin stars without knowing your culinary basics..” inui kept stirring the pot with hint of judgement in his voice. “saltiness, sweetness, bitterness and umami are sensed by taste buds. spiciness by thermoreceptors.”
“seriously?!” gaku looked at hotei waiting for confirmation. it was truly mind-blowing for him to hear that fact. he experienced some spark of shame deep inside for not being educated as kyoto’s chef but the idea of there being a flavor kai-san could taste excited his brain like nothing else.
hotei nodded with satisfied expression and huffed looking over at office wall again. “you remember that first time you came here? first time you won over our acceptance by single dish.”
gaku still amazed by current insight, his mind already racing through ideas how to implement this new knowledge, truly tried his best to keep present. he muttered half-hearted “yes”.
“it was not just the taste of it that made us recognize your skills.” hotei looked at him with sincere smile. he finally let gaku’s shoulders go, distancing himself a little.
“I’ve used nostalgia.”
inui finally turned down the fire and joined the conversation. “you’ve touched our souls with it. not just our taste buds.”
they’ve unconsciously glanced over transparent wall again. head chef kept typing something on laptop. why were they talking about this suddenly? gaku slightly frowned thinking everything over again.
spiciness can be tasted by someone with ageusia, while nostalgia can amplify sensations by bringing over old memories. as far as he knew kai was heavily relying on his old memories every since he lost his sense of taste.
hotei noticed his puzzled expression and lightly scoffed. “gaku, what’s that food that will bring kai the most nostalgia? the one that carries spicy flavor mostly.”
something almost audibly clicked in kitada’s brain at that moment. a spicy dish that meant something to kai-san. dish that connected their lives. napolitan.
so inui and hotei paired up to lead him to this? mathematician wasn’t sure how to feel about that. he was grateful for all the hints and somehow embarrassed that he didn’t come up with those concepts on his own. in the end of the day magoroku wasn’t incorrect - gaku didn’t know his culinary basics.
and none of those michelin stars were defining him at all. “thank you, hotei-san and inui-kun!! I’ll never forget your help!” gaku tried to get a grip.
kyoto’s chef was already serving the plates for the crew. he just nodded with sincere smile. although he was the one who got hurt the most when kitada snapped during kai’s absence, seeing them getting back together and fixing the mess was the most heartwarming thing for magoroku. “you’re welcome, gaku. i really hope it helps.”
“regardless, we would love to see kai at break lunches again. if you helped him accept himself a little more, perhaps he would consider joining us. who knows!” hotei sounded optimistic as never. he helped out inui with loading trays with plates.
“i see..” gaku let out a soft sigh.
nene came just in time curiously peeking at the chefs. “oh, have you been talking about kai?”, a teasing smile appeared on her face.
“huh? have you been eavesdropping, nene-chan?” sous chef grinned.
“no, it’s just gaku-san’s face is completely flushed..” she giggled lightheartedly and fixed her glasses.
“is it..” mathematician turned away, dramatically touching his own face and realizing it actually have gotten heated up.
inui noticed his struggle and let out small chuckle. “it’s okay, gaku.”
“so- are you two leaving earlier this shift?” she effortlessly picked up one of the trays.
gaku turned, facing the serving table again. kai had no checkup appointments for today and nothing else came up in his mind. he really had his thoughts written all over his face since nene explained herself right away with slightly confused expression. “to celebrate the anniversary. you forgot?”
the anniversary. now it started making sense why colleagues led him all the way to napolitan. today two years ago during his usual part time shift some weird blondie in fancy clothes ate his portion of this dish, eventually changing his life.
last year he had to spend this day alone because kai-san was still missing and crew members were having a day off. not like they were in mood to celebrate something with person who only scolded at them for not being outstanding and completely dismissed their feelings, whatsoever.
kitada almost fell to his knees out of shame. he certainly did forget about the anniversary.
“you actually had no idea?” inui was doing his best to not sound judgmental. per usual, he failed, making gaku even bigger mess than he already was.
“for a guy who sees numbers in everything I really haven’t expected you to struggle with dates” fukuda froze in the doorway. “anyways. maybe it’s just me making a big deal out of it. kai may have forgotten too. don’t worry too much.”
you don’t want to go out or anything? and subtle shift in his voice when gaku refused. kai-san certainly did not forget about the anniversary. unlike his loser partner. who seemed even more miserable now.
“please, try cooking napolitan. it should make it up.” despite giving an advice magaroku looked actually disappointed. as if it was his anniversary gaku forgot about. he lightly sighed and followed nene to the main hall carrying tray with plates.
hotei waited for a moment and gave kitada a reassuring smile. “kai is already happy to just have you around. don’t put too much thought.”
gaku’s cheeks were hotter than stove inui just used. he nodded with gratitude trying to play it off by caressing his face.
being left completely alone in kitchen he unconsciously turned to office again, his eyes instinctively looking for blondie. mentioned blondie noticed him starring right away and teasingly winked with soft smile tucked in the corner of his lips.
kitada immediately turned away and slipped down to the floor, hiding behind the table. embarrassment filled his chest as his heart started pounding loud in his eardrums from just a glimpse of kai’s smile.
how could he forget about the anniversary?
kai froze for a moment taken aback by younger chef’s reaction. he chuckled, realizing how gaku resembled sixth-grader getting all worked up and flustered over a small wink. moments later gaku raised a little too nonchalantly, playing off his small breakdown by carrying some random pot he found in bottom shelf. he actually started cooking something, previous blush not leaving his face for a second.
kai scoffed as his eyes went back to the screen of laptop.
naturally lunch breaks happened every work day and since he skipped all of them stuck in his office room, he had plenty of spare time. not like there was that much of paperwork he carried on personally, anyways. usually, after going through financial reports he spent most of the time reading some articles on food industry out of pure boredom.
one specific article was pinned at very first tab. title stated: “restaurant k reaches new heights. chef kitada in the lead.”
front page contained picture of gaku in the same office room with hands crossed, wearing kai’s red tie. two michelins proudly sparkled on wall behind him. face stiff with serious expression. he was so different back then, almost like it was not him at all.
asakura knew the whole article by heart from amounts of times he reread it during breaks. every line, every sentence defining gaku he didn’t get to know. gaku he accidentally made by leaving without a trace.
although no one really talked about that period of restaurant k, main chef was aware of how messy things have gotten before his return. nene was here at that time for a reason.
and kai carried that guilt. first thing he noticed coming back was the distance between the crew and kitada. gaku would apologize for every single thing he did, while everyone tried their best to be gentle with him. magoroku seemed to be struggling with this part the most. kai would catch them awkwardly discussing something in the corner of kitchen like a couple after break up. he didn’t know what exactly happened for them to get so close.
kai was so puzzled when he found framed michelin star hidden in one of the lockers along with menu restaurant k served during his hiatus and some of the gaku’s personal notebooks with drafts. they hold all the recipes gaku invented, ones that got guests coming, ones that got him the stars - all hidden as some inconvenient trace of shameful past. when he confronted gaku about that the answer was pretty shallow: he just didn’t seem to carry much pride for that period of his life.
and kai kept himself responsible for that.
a quite knocking sound distracted chef bringing him back to reality. glass door opened, gaku’s messy hair perking in. “hey.”