Souji x Adachi AU happy cooking fic
At the request of apotheosizing.
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Souji picked up his Junes apron and tied it around his waist mechanically, a practice that had quickly become common within the past few weeks. All guilt from having stolen it from Yosuke Hanamura at his part-time job at Junes had dissipated after he wearing it had elicted such a happy reaction from his boyfriend. He turned around, noticed his boyfriend's approving eyes, and gave a small smile.
Tohru Adachi grinned a genuine smile at Souji, not quite like the teasing smirks he gave him on a regular basis. Adachi was not 27 years old, nor was he a sociopathic murderer who had nearly assaulted and then killed two innocent women and inadverantly lead to the kidnapping and near deaths of several teenagers and a small child.
The two had met when Adachi was assigned the task of bringing a drunk Dojima home one night. Dojima's countless recommendations of Souji's cooking and Nanako's genuine affection had lead to the two hanging around on a near-daily basis and eventual relationship. However, the two had not bonded so much over Dojima's shenanigans or Nanako's perpetual joy than Souji's cooking.
Souji, simultaneously comforted and flustered by Adachi's smile, the smile he only ever gave to him and Nanako, quickly turned around again to rummage through the cupboards. Adachi had come over for dinner numerous times, but this was the first time Souji had prepared dinner for him and Adachi alone. Dojima had decided to take Nanako for a surprise trip to Junes. Souji swore he saw Dojima wink at him before leaving, suggesting a motive aside from spending quality time with Nanako.
It occurred to Souji that he scarcely prepared for Adachi. He knew Adachi would enjoy any sort of homecooking, considering his diet consisted of nothing but ramen and various junk food, but Souji desired to go beyond the simple meals he prepared for his family. Did Adachi tell him his favourite? He racked his mind, but he could only recall Chie's love of steak and the remorse he felt for eating Yukiko's fried tofu. Thinking of Yukiko and Chie reminded him of their unpleasant... "cooking", and Souji winced.
"What's wrong?" asked Adachi, startling Souji out of a trance he wasn't aware he was in. "You've been banging those pots for like 20 minutes."
Adachi was casually lounging on the couch, half-interested in the news story that was playing. Souji was racked with anxiety, whereas Adachi acted as normal as always, as if Dojima were there beside him and Nanako had been helping Souji with the cooking. Souji felt even more nervous at this observation, and swallowed hard.
"W-was I?" Souji asked, much too hastily. He grabbed the nearest object - a large frying pan - and decided to work with it. "By the way, what do you prefer to have tonight?"
Adachi, eyes still focused on the TV, mumbled, "Whatever's fine." Souji would have worried if Adachi were bored if there wasn't a hint of a smile on Adachi's face, something that was never usually present.
Souji placed down the pan, much too aware of his trembling hands. What was it about Adachi that could stir such feelings from him? Souji, shaking his head in an attempt to concentrate, turned to grab more cooking supplies.
Souji rummaged through the cupboards and grabbed more tools at a quicker, but still unnecessarily slow pace. With exaggerated care, he picked out his favourite cooking utensils, feeling as if they would never fail him. A stir-fry was difficult to screw up, Souji decided, discarding the idea of serving gourmet-style food to Adachi. He picked out various vegetables and pork leftovers from the previous night and hoped for the best. Souji was grateful for Adachi's seemingly limitless patience and lack of a need for small talk.
Souji had just started putting ingredients in the pan when Adachi suddenly gave an exaggerated sniff and content sigh. "Smells great. Whipping up something special for us?"
Adachi's goofy smile was enough to calm Souji's beating heart, and he chuckled. "It's just stir-fry."
"It's not just stir-fry if you've made it," Adachi replied. The compliment was clumsy, but somehow Adachi's delivery made Souji's heart flutter. The detective could have said anything in that sultry voice and Souji would have felt flattered. Souji cursed at his inability to not turn into lovesick puppy around Adachi.
Souji tried to concentrate on the pan, idly worrying of embarrassing himself in front of Adachi. He backed up from the pan, afraid of burning himself, but even more afraid of Adachi running up to him after doing so, touching his hand, maybe asking, Can I kiss it better? and lifting his arm to feel his lips--
Finally, miraculously, he feels the meal is finished. He turned the stove off, the click making him suddenly aware of the silence in the room. Adachi had turned off the TV and moved to wait at the dinner table. Since when did that happen?
"Is it finished? Can I dig in yet?"
Adachi's eagerness had all at once made Souji feel more relieved. Souji always saw Adachi as an alluring and attractive man, but he still had a childish side. While Souji felt a romantic connection, the detective had also brought out his parental instincts. And Souji latched onto that feeling, that small sense of maturity he had over Adachi, and served rice and stir-fry to Adachi without being consumed by his affection.
Adachi had not bothered to wait for Souji to serve himself, instead digging in as if he has not eaten in several days. Knowing Adachi and his nutritional deficiencies, Souji could not dismiss that possibility entirely. He was just happy to see Adachi eating real food.
The two ate in silence, aside from Adachi's hasty compliments toward Souji and his cooking skills in between eating every now and then. And Souji was too endeared to correct Adachi and his awful table manners. Souji occasionally dwelled on several of the mistakes he had made on the meal, but things like adding too much salt slipped his mind when Adachi flashed that smile at him.
Souji finished before Adachi. Feeling that sitting in front of Adachi and watching him while he ate was too awkward, he got up and started washing the dishes. There were not much to begin with, and Souji gradually noticed that it would have been slightly more efficient to have waited for Adachi, but he was just pleased with the distraction. He knew it was not possible for his heart to burst out of his chest, but the doubt had been fading with every passing moment, and the repetition of swiping dishes had kept his heart calm enough. Just in case.
He wondered again how Adachi could stir such reactions in him.
The sounds of eating had suddenly subsided. Souji glanced over at Adachi and noticed he had finished. Adachi burped rather loudly, and Souji grimaced, not expecting someone he idolized to do something so undignified. Adachi only laughed and muttered an, "excuse me".
"What's wrong?" Adachi inquired in that damning silky voice of his.
"I swear, you are child in an adult's body," Souji mumbled, grabbing the dirty plate out of Adachi's hands. He sounded annoyed, but he really was finding Adachi attractive in ways he's never contemplated.
"That's why I have a boyfriend like you around." Adachi didn't say that in his usual teasing voice. He sounded... embarrassed? Souji tore his eyes of the plate in his hands to look at Adachi, and was both surprised and elated that he saw him blushing. He quickly composed himself, drawing on whatever paternal instincts he could.
He gave Adachi a serious look. "I can't always cook for you. You're going to have to learn at some point."
"Yeah, yeah."
Adachi's tone was light, but both of them grew silent, and both were thinking the same thing: happy moments like these wouldn't occur if Adachi could cook. What excuse could Adachi use? They were both sure Dojima was aware of the relationship between them, but how far could they push it?
Souji finished polishing Adachi's plate and fork. With a deep breath, he turned to Adachi and gave a small smile.
"Tonight was... fun," he managed to say. To think that so many girls were charmed by him, that he had so many friends, and yet he could barely function around his boyfriend. He tried to be happy, but his mind rapidly searched for other excuses to be around Adachi. He couldn't open his mouth to say, "Let's do it again sometime."
"I'm thankful," Adachi replied, sounding truly thankful. "No, really. I... I know I don't earn much, or eat well, but I appreciate... you." The smooth, teasing Adachi had gone in place of this flustered man, and Souji marveled at the different sides to Adachi. Adachi, the carefree, clumsy detective, who knew how to charm Souji, and can still act so adorable in front of someone younger than him.
"Maybe you could.." Adachi started, as Souji said, "Well, see you later." Both stopped. Adachi spoke up first. "Maybe you could teach me how to cook. At... ah, my place. You know, so I don't burn down my boss' house."
Souji laughed nervously and smiled, thankful for Adachi's suggestion. He composed himself enough to answer, "That sounds nice. I mean, not the burning my uncle's house bit. I mean, yeah, I can teach you." He hesitates, almost adding, "I don't think you'll burn down a house."
The two stood in front of each other, muscles twitching to act. Adachi walked ever so closer to Souji, and the latter tightened his chest. The two had never kissed each other, and Souji lacked any romantic experience aside from Adachi. He felt his mouth go dry and licked his lips impulsively, encouraging Adachi to do the same. Adachi leaned in, slowly and clumsily, close enough to smell the stir-fry Souji had just prepared. The moment seemed to go on in slow motion, and if Souji thought his heart was going to burst out of his chest, now there was a good chance he would explode entirely. He scarcely noticed that Adachi was heavily breathing, if only because he was breathing hard himself. His breath was hot and inviting, and Souji's mind goes entirely blank.
A sound of keys unlocking a door interrupt their moment, startling them into an awkward embrace, both craving more and desiring to pull away. Dojima is carrying a sleeping Nanako and almost walked right by his nephew and coworker hugging in unnatural positions.
Dojima laughed, and Adachi immediately recognized he was tipsy, but not entirely drunk. "Hugging? I was expecting much worse from you two." Adachi and Souji pulled away from each other, and Adachi took a couple of exaggerated steps back from Dojima's nephew. However, Dojima seemed entirely unfazed by the sight, and turned toward the stairs.
"Just keep your clothes on, and I don't care what you get up to," Dojima called, walking up the stairs with Nanako.
Souji and Adachi stare silently at Dojima's retreating form before bursting into silent laughter. Adachi looked at Souji, eyes full of part affection and desire, and impulsively pulls him, their lips touching. Souji let out a muffled noise of surprise, but quickly returns Adachi's kiss. They pull away much too soon, and Adachi gives a small smirk.
"How about I teach you how to kiss to repay you for your cooking lessons?"
Souji, giddy from the kiss, nods and pulls Adachi in for another one.
