«The Language Of Flowers» (Bungou Stray Dogs)

Beast Beneath The Moonlight Part II «Nakajima Atsushi»

"Umm..." I could see him eye the food curiously, making me blush scarlet in embarrassment.

"Yes. I'm sorry but I haven't been out to the grocery in a while so this was all I could make. I'm really sorry!" I apologized, embarrassment still refusing to let me go. Here I was declaring aloud that I was going to cook us dinner and yet all I could afford was a quick serving of chazuke.

I hope he didn't think I was being selfish. In fact, I could even open the refrigerator and prove to him I had no other ingredients left to make a decent dinner. This was the only dish I could think of with the scarcity of ingredients I had and one of the many I could prove without a doubt I was good at.

"N-no! I'm not complaining! You've already done so much for me even when I can't pay you back... I'm just surprised that's all. I didn't even know this kind of dish exists," he admitted sheepishly, the shock of someone not knowing what chazuke is taking me by surprise.

"Then you're missing out on something great! Here!" I quickly handed him a bowl, the sudden gesture making him jump in surprise as he tried his best to prevent the bowl I gave him from breaking.

He eyed me for a while, my hands coaxing him to go on and help himself. I watched with anticipated silence as he took the bowl to his lips, the liquid sloshing into his mouth as he drank the bowl up. When he finished, he gave me a sheepish smile and nodded, "It's a really delicious dish. "

The compliment made me grin wide, happy to know I had dragged him into appreciating my favorite dish. I couldn't help but serve him another which surprised him as I did so. I couldn't help it, my co-workers never really appreciated chazuke so to see one who enjoyed it made me happy. We may have met only today but I can tell that we were going to get along swimmingly.

--*--

"Let me treat your wounds now," I finally told him after he finished the entire pot of chazuke I made. It was half past nine by then when we finally settled ourselves to treat his wounds.

He was apprehensive at first, probably because this was the first time someone tried to help him. It took a lot of coaxing to get him to comply, even to the point that I introduced myself as a nurse so that he could trust me. He only relented when he saw how I wasn't going to let him go anytime soon and finally let me settle him into the living room where we made my sofa his makeshift bed.

"I never got your name, you know. I gave you mine so as compensation, you give me yours," I spoke up, his eyes widening at the realization before he apologized.

"No one's really asked for my name before... B-but I do have one! My name's Nakajima Atsushi but y-you can call me Atsushi if you want,"

"Atsushi... Alright, nice to meet you, Atsushi," I nod in satisfaction before resting my forehead against his which made him flinch.

"U-um...what are y-you doing?" He stuttered before I opened my eyes and blushed scarlet, completely forgetting that he was a total stranger. The allure of his eyes made me turn ten times redder as I backed away and apologized.

"S-sorry! I usually do that to my brother when he gets sick so I can check his temperature. You were burning up when I found you but it looks like you've cooled down now," I admitted, a short 'I see' escaping his lips before looking away awkwardly.

The unsettling silence was deafening.

We were fine just a moment ago. Come on, pull yourself together! He's your friend now and he needs help! I kept repeating in my head and tried to face him before pointing at his shirt.

"Shirt. Off. Now,"

"E-Eh?! Isn't that a bit sudden?!" Atsushi panicked, making me turn red again when I realized how wrongly I had worded my sentence.