#also aku wondering about atsu this time yeet

[almightytrashcan]

sweet smell

Shin Soukoku Week 2 Day 3 - FREE DAY

notes: small hanakotoba - my ultimate trump card disclaimer: bungou stray dogs belongs to kafka asagiri and harukawa35

im so sorry if my fics are ridiculously lame i just feel so demotivated about writing BUT i love sskk so im trying so hard to at least do something pero i feel they all come out so terribly

anyway thesis defense coming up, gonna study and prepare

sunflower - respect, passionate love, radiance

“Free day.”

Ryuunosuke didn’t budge, but the way he sat up straighter on the sofa implied that he was listening.

“We have a free day,” Atsushi finished. He was lazily stroking Shiro, who was stretched out on the dining table, eyes closed in content. “Dazai-san didn’t send any mission objectives.”

“That doesn’t mean we’re free,” Ryuunosuke retorted, turning around. “You must always be on standby in case an emergency ensues.”

“You’re too serious about these things,” Atsushi whined, relinquishing his gentle hold on Shiro. The cat yawned, and jumped off the table. It padded into the room, presumably to where its bed is.

It was overcast in Yokohama, though the weather reports stated that rains wouldn’t start until later in the evening. The nimbly branches outside swayed in the occasional gusts of wind.

“Don’t you want to relax, at least?”

Ryuunosuke stayed quiet for an inappropriate amount of time. When he opened his mouth to answer, Atsushi beat him to it.

“If you don’t want to, it’s fine.” He stood up from the table, seemingly annoyed, and made a beeline for their shared room. If there was another thing Atsushi was good at other than trusting his gut, it was the fact that he can barely keep his emotions in check. Every expression shows on his face with livid energy, and it always manages to startle Ryuunosuke. Even the subtlest of expressions are always evident on his face.

When he emerged he was wearing a white button down, black slacks, grey sneakers, and his threadbare messenger bag.

“I’ll just go out for a bit.”

“D-Don’t be out so late. The string—”

“Yeah, I know.” He closed the door behind him, leaving Ryuunosuke with an awkward, stifling air. He groped around the sofa for his cellphone, and speed-dialed the first person that came into mind.

“Gin?”

“What’s up? You never usually call like this,” Gin said jokingly on the other end of the line. “What’s wrong?”

“How…How do you know if you…annoyed someone? Also what do you do after that?”

“Oh?” Ryuunosuke could almost see Gin raising a questioning eyebrow at him. “What did you do this time?”

Ryuunosuke made an outraged noise, but continued talking anyway. “He was…offering to relax…and…”

“You turned him down. Because you said to always be on standby in case of emergency situations.”

“How did you—”

“Big bro, I’m your sister. Of course I’d know.” Gin sounded extremely proud of herself on the other end. “And besides, I don’t think Atsushi-kun is actually mad at you.”

“I’d understand that you’d know my mannerisms well enough, but how can you be so sure of that?”

Gin was quiet for a while. Too quiet, in fact. Ryuunosuke had to check twice if the call was still ongoing.

“I think…I think Atsushi-kun is well past that age where he’s mad at your for everything. You’re partners now. He’s more patient with you, at least.”

Ryuunosuke looked down guiltily at his free hand, which he balled up into a fist as though to serve as reparation. “I see.”

“Also, he can’t get mad of you because of the occasion today.”

Ryuunosuke’s thin eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Occasion?”

“Wow, now I can see why Atsushi-kun’s annoyed with you.”

“Hey!”

“Kidding. It’s Valentine’s today, big bro.”

.

.

.

“I’m back!” Atsushi announced cheerfully, all too suddenly that Shiro jumped awake.

“Welcome back.”

“Yikes, you sound like someone just died.” Atsushi joked as though the events that morning didn’t happen. “Did you just stay on the sofa the entire time?”

“…Kind of?”

Atsushi giggled, wherein Ryuunosuke then noticed that Atsushi was hiding something behind his back.

“How was your day?” Atsushi brightened up, making the dim room suddenly brighter (Atsushi’s smile bore the ferocity of a thousand suns, it’s ridiculous).

“Oh! I met up with Kyouka-chan, and we got our usual crepes at the Red Brick Warehouse. She never really gets tired of that place, and, oh! After that we went to Cosmo Clock 21, then the Cultural History Museum, then Zou-no-Hana terrace. There was a café there with really good coffee…”

His smile was small.

“Maybe next time, we can go there.”

Ryuunosuke nodded. “That sounds nice.”

Outside, the sun sank completely below the horizon line, casting the world in a dying glow. The red string materialized, daintily tied to their pinky fingers.

“Here, I got these for you.”

Atsushi thrust out a fist holding three long stalks of sunflowers.

“Because roses are too cliché.”

Hesitantly, Ryuunosuke took the flowers (a crazy metaphor about how the bringer of death was holding something full of life plagued his mind).

“I’ll look for a vase.”