| [Dec. 7th, 2015|02:11 am] |
Shiranui Yuuichi, during the brief times Katsuko had interacted with him, was sweet and caring and obviously a loving father. One thing he was not, however, was normal, and she had an awkward ten minutes spent devouring matcha buns while Yuuichi watched her like a nature documentary over the unconscious body of his son to prove it.
“Uh,” Katsuko said. Then she went for the noble route and finished with, “I like your dad. He’s nice.”
"He always asks me about you." Genma grinned at her, pleased. "He baked these buns, actually." He pointed at the little card in the display case of baked goods; when Katsuko squinted, she could make out the Shiranui bakery logo on the crisp paper.
Ryouma glanced down at the crumbled remains of his bun wrapper, which was all the bun Katsuko had left him with. “Really? He’s good.”
The last time Katsuko had talked with Yuuichi, she’d accidentally made him think her parents were dead and then accidentally revealed that her parents probably wouldn’t visit her in the hospital even though they were, in fact, alive. It hadn’t been her most shining moment. Still, Yuuichi’s thoughtfulness made her chest feel warm and her mouth lift in a smile.
“Do you think he’ll give me free buns?” Katsuko said, refusing to give in to sentiment when the possibility of food she didn’t have to pay for hovered on the horizon.
"The day olds, if they don't sell by the end of the second day, definitely. I can show you how to revive them in a steamer."
Katsuko’s standards when it came to food weren’t high; how could they be, when she needed to fuel the hungry engine of her chakra almost constantly, or else risk being eaten in turn by her own ravenous energy coils? Day-old buns were perfect as long as there were a lot of them, with or without revival in a steamer.
Still, there was eating simply to survive and actually enjoying what she ate. Katsuko gave Genma a grateful nod and a smile. “Thanks, lieutenant.” |
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