Raian's Checklist for Today (he fucking hates checklists, by the way) (Raian x GN! Reader)
Wrote this piece for @hokpipverypip as my secret santa! purely self-indulgent and done with her in mind <3
i did my best to focus mostly on Raian and his thoughts, expanding his character. I know it's a problem where most fics, readers have a hard time inserting or relating since "y/n" acts a certain way lmao
also wrote this after a decade of not writing fics, not counting headcanons T_T i'm still rusty, so please forgive me. this fic is based on a real Japanese recipe!
Warnings , if any: domestic life with Raian, sfw
Raian had never cooked in his life. He never needed to. But, for some reason, he always has the innate desire to impress you no matter the task or field, then brush it off like it was no effort at all.
It's hard to brush off something that's taxing and time-consuming like cooking, though.
wc: 2,468 words
□ List the Ingredients
Raian has had teriyaki—many times, even! He loved beef and chicken teriyaki the most. Back in his childhood, his aunt Yakusha joked that if he ate chicken every day, he would grow feathers and wings. That made him back off a bit and eat other (meat) food with his rice. It's a memory he looks back on with fondness, but he would never admit that.
Right now though, he wishes he at least asked Yone or whoever mans the kitchen at the manor about making teriyaki and not just solely focusing on eating it. He had heard in passing that it was easy to make, but glancing through the list of ingredients, there were too fucking many for something considered a dish perfect for beginners. He would rather eat his own skin off than make a quick call back home, though. Knowing his relatives, him calling back to ask about cooking would quickly spread like wildfire, and they would all (correctly) assume he was doing this for someone. There's a reason he never talks to Fusui about his personal life. Last time he did, the entire Kure village ended up knowing he dropped his favorite pencil in the school toilet and had to fish it out with paper. He had to go back to his classroom, get a whole pad, stack the papers together until they were solidly firm and—
Besides ingredients, he also had to list down these unfamiliar "measuring tools" to buy since he was never good at precise tasks. Teaspoons? Tablespoons? Why couldn't he just add however much sauce and condiments he wanted?
Ah, but cooking was no longer about what he wanted.
This was something for you, after all.
☑ List the Ingredients
□ Buy the Ingredients
The sight of a big man in Adidas sportswear going around the grocery, basket in hand, was not a normal sight, and people were terrified. Rightfully so, most especially the clerks. There were times Raian was just going around, aisle after aisle, carefully browsing through each item while looking at his list. He was wasting time doing this and not asking a clerk for specific item locations. By the time he makes a decision, he had circled through half the grocery store. He gives up, swallows his pride, and finally asks a poor store clerk.
"Hey, you." He grabbed the clerk's shoulder and brought the list to his face.
"Help me find these things."
And so, Raian had a designated clerk escort him through the aisles where each ingredient and measuring equipment he needed was. As much as the clerk wanted to run, or at least slip away, it feels like if he did, this big, bulky man would stop him and yank him back. The man was looking through his list and at his basket, eyes narrowed and eyebrows furrowed together. It's enough to make him tremble on the spot.
There's a long pause before Raian speaks up again.
"You sure these are the best ingredients?"
The clerk stutters with his words before mumbling out a "Yes, yes", giving Raian frantic nods to reassure him. Before Raian could ask the most obvious question, the clerk speaks up again.
"My wife and daughter also love shrimp teriyaki, so I don't buy shrimps in the supermarket, or the frozen ones here. I buy it fresh from…"
The clerk writes down the fish market he frequents on Raian's notepad, but Raian only has one thing in mind.
Oh, fuck. A fucking fish market. Lots of fucking people. Why did he not think of this sooner? Oh, shit.
□ Buy Fresh Shrimp
There were fish still in aquariums, likely being prepared to be deboned and scaled, fish in the process of being scaled, fish being deboned, fish ready to be bought and displayed on ice cubes, indeed, most of them were fish out of water.
Raian also felt like a fish out of water.
It was hard enough to find a parking spot for this fish market (he had to circle around a few times before he could finally find a vacant spot), but how was he supposed to find his way through this loudhouse without being called over (more like yelled at) to buy fish? It was a good idea that he left the grocery in the car. He could carefully study the stall name and the route the clerk made for him on his notepad which had carefully drawn instructions, like where he is now, where the stall is, the kind of shrimp he needs to buy, and the recommended grams for it. His tracksuit will end up smelling like fish, but he knows it'll end up moreso when he's already cooking later, which he dreads. For now, he has to face the challenge of navigating the fish market and buying the best shrimps he can.
Raian did his best to be glued to his notepad most of the time, only looking away to inspect his surroundings, checking if he was still on the right route as per the map drawn for him by the clerk. Despite trying to look busy, he was still being called to buy…everything. Fish, fish and shrimp crackers, fish paste, fish sticks, all kinds of roe, seafood ramen, he's lost track of everything he was being offered. He was amazed the vendors never got deterred by his stature and intimidating mug. He kind of admired them for that. A customer's a customer, no matter who or what they may look like, I guess, he thought to himself.
The signage above the rows of fish on ice cubes reads, 'Ueno-sakanaya'.
After finally making it to the stall, Raian couldn't let out a sigh of relief just yet. There was still the matter of actually talking to the merchant. Thinking carefully on how best to approach this, he could just walk up to him and give him the list. Or he could…greet him like he did with the store clerk earlier, and then present the note to him. However, Raian's train of thought is disrupted by a loud voice.
"Hey there! You've been standin' there a while. What can I getcha, young man?" The old man, wearing a white bandanna to cover his hair and sporting blue overalls, slightly dampened by working with fish, with a white t-shirt underneath, waves his hand and calls Raian over. He hasn't decided how he's going to go about this interaction yet, he didn't really expect to be called over, so—
"S-shrimp." Raian, you fucking idiot, he thinks to himself.
"Eh? Whatcha say?" The confused old man raises his eyebrow and leans in closer, hoping for Raian to repeat himself. He remembers your (nagging) words: "Don't be your usual foul-mouthed self around honest civilians just trying to make a living!"
"Shrimp. For…shrimp teriyaki." Raian ends up giving the old man the ingredient list he had alongside the map and instructions drawn up for him by the clerk from the supermarket. The old man narrows his eyes as he reads over the papers, nodding along as he progressed through the list, before finally speaking again.
"Ahhhh. Nomura-san sent ya my way, eh? Here's hoping you become a regular, then!" The old man flashes him a wide grin before ducking underneath the table to get multiple plastic bags before making his way to where his raw shrimps were.
A regular…he wouldn't mind that. Maybe he can get used to shopping around like this if it was always for you.
"Young man, I'm gonna peel and devein these in advance, alright?!" The old man yells as he prepares the shrimps on his cutting board. Money's never an issue, so Raian doesn't mind paying extra for this service. It'll save him time when he finally gets to cooking, which will take up most of his time.
Despite being at the stall, people came and went, buying what they needed to, already knowing the amount they had to pay. Raian imagines when he would get to that point. There's not much jobs being offered to him these past few weeks, so instead of training (bumming around the manor or outside as he's accused of by the others) maybe he really could.
As he watches the old man prepare the shrimps for him, he imagines Fusui and Karura, both of whom left the village for university and opted to live in dorms. Did they have to do grocery shopping like this? Become regulars of certain vendors? Maybe even eventually befriend them? Could he be capable of doing the same?
Raian closes his eyes, shakes his head, and lets out a sigh. Damn. He's really softening up. Usually only his family could make him like this.
Maybe a future with you isn't so far off.
☑ Buy Fresh Shrimp
"That's 3,000 yen, but I'm gonna give ya a discount. 2,800 yen! Usually I only offer discounts near closing time." The old man hands Raian a plastic bag of shrimp, which was also inside two extra bags for added protection. Before Raian could take it, however, the old man slightly withdraws the bag.
"I could offer another discount…if ya promise to do your seafood shoppin' here." The old man cocks an eyebrow at Raian and gives him a cheeky smile, a similar tactic he used on the grocery store clerk, unbeknownst to Raian.
Now, money was and will never be an issue with him, so he definitely doesn't need to do it for the sake of the discount. But for some reason, with the imagining and mulling over he did earlier, he feels compelled to agree.
"Yeah, sure." With Raian's affirmation, the old man lets out a hearty laugh. He tilts his head to the side, slightly confused.
"Ahaha! It worked with Nomura-san, and it worked with you too, eh? Guess you have family to cook for, too, Mister…?"
Family, huh?
A smirk forms on Raian's face, turning into a cocky grin as he answers the old man.
"Kure."
"Alrighty then. 2,650 yen. See ya again soon, Kure-san!"
☑ Buy the Ingredients
□ Get to fucking cooking
The part that Raian dreaded the most has arrived.
He needs to cook.
Raian lays out all the ingredients he bought on the kitchen island. He bought 500 grams of shrimp, though the recipe only needed 250, he bought more just in case he fucked up (highly likely). He already had salt and pepper in this apartment he recently rented, so that was covered. The things he did need to buy at the grocery store were potato starch, salad oil, mirin, sake, oyster sauce, soy sauce, garlic (which he needs to grate), sesame oil, and parsley (which he needs to chop).
He tries to find the grater and chopping board. He finds the grater, but not the chopping board inside any of the top kitchen cabinets. He knows he has one. At this rate, he's gonna pop a nerve trying to remember, but instead, you pop up in his mind.
The last time you visited, you scolded him for placing the board inside the top kitchen cabinet which was hard to reach, seemingly fit for someone over six feet tall like him. "What kind of sicko places the chopping board inside a high cabinet?!" He remembers your shrill voice, words embedded in his brain forever.
Raian checks the rack next to the stove, and there it was.
Before he could get to chopping parsley and grating garlic, he grabs the My Melody apron you bought for him on the rack's hook, leaving your Cinnamoroll apron behind.
☑ Get to fucking cooking
□ Prepare the Ingredients
Raian soaks the raw, deveined, deboned shrimp in salt water, washing them clean of possible dirt. Afterwards, he dries them using paper towels, gently patting them dry.
Gently.
Raian suppresses a groan. He's an assassin, yet here he is, donning a My Melody apron, preparing shrimp to be cooked. Here he is, doing something he deemed a "women-only" task back home. Even he can't understand himself, or rather, your effect on him. However, now is not the time to think deeply about that. There's shrimp to be cooked.
As per the recipe he found online, he puts the shrimp inside a plastic bag, alongside a tablespoon of sake, and a pinch of salt and pepper. He kneads the bag, coating the shrimp in seasoning, and adds two tablespoons of potato starch to help trap air in the bag. After this, he shakes the bag to help coat all shrimps evenly. As Raian continues preparing the shrimp, he can't help but be thankful that you weren't cooking with him. Knowing you, you would snap pictures of him and tease him in the process. You being present would only permanently connect his furrowed eyebrows together.
☑ Prepare the ingredients
□ Cook the shrimp
Raian sets the induction stove to medium heat before placing the frying pan on top of it. A few minutes pass, then he opts to pour two tablespoons of salad oil into the pan, holding the handle and moving it around to cover the whole area.
Raian takes a deep breath and exhales after a few seconds. The hardest part was only about to begin.
With as much speed he could muster, Raian arranges the shrimps in the pan, keeping them the right distance from each other so they don't stick together. After moving them around a bit with his wooden spatula, he glues his eyes on each shrimp, the heat the stove gives off seemingly never bothering him or his unrelenting gaze. Only then when the shrimps turn red does he turn them all over with precise speed, cooking the other side.
With the other side also done, Raian turns off the stove. He lets the shrimp cool slightly before adding four tablespoons of mirin. He glazes around a teaspoon of oyster sauce, a quarter teaspoon of soy sauce, a teaspoon of the grated garlic, and finally, a teaspoon of sesame oil. As he mixed them all together, he also sprinkles in the chopped parsley.
Fuck winning tournaments. Fuck successful assassination jobs. This is more important.
☑ Cook the shrimp
He doesn't know how he did it, but somehow, Raian didn't have to use the other 250 grams of shrimp he bought as a contingency plan. Perhaps that can be for next time…if you end up enjoying his cooking.
Oh, right.
You.
□ Make a call
Before you could even complete your "Hello", Raian was quick with his demand.
"Come over. My Tokyo apartment. Bring rice. Now. Or else it'll get cold."
"It? What—"
Raian takes the phone away from his ear and taps his screen, dropping the call.
☑ Make a call
And with that, Raian checks off the last task on the My Friend Pink Rabbit notepad he got as a present from you.
stormborns
dailybridgerton
yousharknotpass
andulkaphoto
turnnoffyourmind
romaincrisis
prguitarman
gamechangershow
