"HAPPY BIRTHDAY KENJI!!!"
A chorus of voices greeted him as he opened the door to the office, and he was promptly covered in streamers from the party poppers Atsushi and Tanizaki had fired as he entered the room.
Today was August 27th and it was Kenji's 20th Birthday.
"Woaaaahhh," Kenji looked around the room, heavily decorated with banners and balloons, before turning his gaze to the group of his co-workers standing in the centre. "Thank you so much, everyone!"
"How does it feel to finally be a legal adult, ehhhh?~" Dazai swept in from the side, putting an arm around Kenji's shoulders with a dubious expression on his face. "Got any enjoyable things planned now that the adult world is available to you?~"
"Ummmm..." Kenji looked up as he thought for a moment. "Not really. But I'm sure I'll have an enjoyable day with you all here!" he responded with a bright smile.
"Oh come now, Kenji, haven't you even considered going out for a drink, finding a pretty woman, taking her home and-"
Dazai was cut off by a swift smack to the back of the head.
"DON'T BE INAPPROPRIATE!" Kunikida interjected before Dazai would, inevitably, go into great detail about what he expected Kenji to get up to with a pretty woman.
"Owwww~ Kunikida how mean~ We're all adults now, we can discuss this kind of thing," Dazai pouted, rubbing the back of his head.
"We're still in a work environment." Kunikida pushed his glasses up his nose. "Besides...nobody wants to hear what you get up to in your own time."
"But you do, don't you, Kenji?~" An innocent expression had returned to Dazai's face as he turned back to look at Kenji.
"Sure! I'm always happy to hear what my friends enjoy doing,"
Atsushi and Tanizaki, watching from afar, shared a strained smile as they were reminded of Dazai's antics on their own 20th Birthdays. Dazai had attempted to engage the pair of them in similar conversations, though in Tanizaki's case Naomi gave him more information than he'd been comfortable with, but Kenji's insurmountable naivety was leaving Kunikida at a disadvantage this time.
"Alright everyone, we're ready~" Naomi's head appeared from around the door to the meeting room and the chaos momentarily stopped.
Yosano pushed Kenji towards the centre of the room as Kunikida went for the lights. Ranpo stopped eating sweets in the corner of the room and joined the rest of the members as they gathered close to Kenji and began to sing.
Holding the cake between them, Naomi and Kyouka appeared from the meeting room and slowly brought it over to him. Kenji's eyes lit up at the beautifully-decorated cake and the 20 lit candles neatly arranged on top. Dazai, still singing, was oh-so-innocently inching around behind him, preparing to give him some traditional Birthday 'tough-love'.
As the song drew to a close, Kenji blew the candles out - oblivious to Kunikida putting Dazai in a headlock behind him - and everybody cheered.
The cake was quickly cut, distributed, and enjoyed by everyone who worked in the office. Kenji was congratulated on reaching adulthood and the joint gift was brought out and received with joy.
Despite the inevitable end to the celebrations as Kunikida reminded everyone that it was a work day, Kenji thoroughly enjoyed himself and left the office that afternoon with a smile.
"Ah, hello again!"
Chuuya jumped at the sudden voice and spun around, spotting Kenji waving to him as he walked over.
Aha! The ADA kid who thought I was cool!
"Oh hey..." Chuuya's confident tone of voice began to fade as Kenji stopped in front of him. "...kid?" He was looking up.
He grew?!
"It's been a while, hasn't it?" Kenji, seemingly unaware of their new height difference, smiled down at Chuuya.
"It sure as hell has..." Chuuya mumbled, trying to ignore the disappointment that Kenji was no longer the short kid he remembered. He wasn't taller by much, but it was enough. "S-Say- kid, how old are you now?"
"Twenty!"
"T-Twenty?!" Chuuya took a step back. "Already?! Since when did you grow up so fast?!"
And how come I didn't get a damn growth spurt like him...
Kenji thought for a moment. "Since I was born I guess...unless the years are a different length in the city?"
"Eh? N-No they're the same..."
There was a moment of silence. Then Chuuya cleared his throat.
"So you're twenty now, eh? Finally an adult."
"That's right! The ADA threw a celebration for me this morning,"
"They did? Good good. It's an important year." Chuuya folded his arms and nodded knowingly. "Very important."
"Becoming an adult is indeed very important," Kenji agreed.
"Exactly. Remember what I said I'd buy you when you turned twenty?"
"Ummm..." Kenji paused for a moment, thinking back to their brief conversation six years ago. "Oh yeah! A beef bowl!" His face lit up in excitement.
Beef bowl?! Is that what he was talking about the entire time?!
"Er- well-"
Why's he so excited about a damn beef bowl anyway?
"Y-yeah exactly! C'mon, let's go get it for ya," Feeling a little dazed, Chuuya led the way to the shop. This encounter was not going at all like he'd expected it to.
"Here ya go, kid. Enjoy." Chuuya put the beef bowl down in front of Kenji and sat opposite him on the table.
"Thank you so much, Mr Mafia Executive! You're so kind!"
Kenji's innocent words of praise broke right through Chuuya's tough act and he blushed a little.
"Y-Yeah yeah whatever it's nothing. Enjoy..."
Chuuya watched as Kenji polished off the food in a matter of minutes, only pausing to comment on how good it tasted and how grateful he was that Chuuya had bought it for him.
By the time he was finished, Chuuya had been well-and-truly won over.
"Thank you again, Mr Executive!" Kenji, unaware of the effect he was having on Chuuya, said as they left the shop.
Chuuya couldn't take it anymore.
"Alright, listen here, kid." He spun to face Kenji and folded his arms. "I dunno if you're just playin' with me or you really are this damn naive..but I like you. You're clearly a good kid with a good head on yer shoulders. And you've gotta be at least a little strong to have lasted this long without getting yerself killed. So-"
Chuuya held up two fingers.
"First. No more Mr Executive. Call me Chuuya."
"Okay, Mr Chuuya!"
Another blow to Chuuya's heart.
"N-No mister, kid...just Chuuya..."
"Okay Chuuya!"
"Good. Ok- uh- and second...yes, second, as a reward for surviving so long and becoming a legal adult, I'm gonna buy you a drink."
"Oh! Like cider?"
"N-No like alcohol..."
...are you really twenty?
"Woaahhh I've never had alcohol!"
"Heh. Well, that's why I'm here, kid." Chuuya puffed out his chest proudly. "I'll show ya the ropes and introduce you to the best alcohol has to offer."
Chuuya guided Kenji into the wine bar next door and over to a seat at the bar.
"Yo, I'll have two glasses of the usual please,"
"Got a visitor with you today, I see," The bartender said with a smile.
"Yeah, that's right. I'm introducing him to the world of good wine," Chuuya grinned as he sat down. "Wouldn't want the cheap shit to warp his perception of it,"
The bartender laughed as he got the bottle and two glasses. "Indeed we wouldn't. Oh," setting everything down, he turned to Kenji, "but might I see some ID first, please?"
"Of course!" Kenji produced his ID and showed it to the bartender, who took a moment to check it over, then nodded with a smile.
"Thank you, and Happy Birthday, young man,"
"Thank you Mr Bartender!"
The bartender swiftly poured the two glasses of wine and set them down in front of the two men. "Enjoy."
"Here, have a taste of this," Chuuya pushed Kenji's glass towards him with a grin and watched as he brought it up to his mouth and took a sip.
Kenji's expression turned into a frown as the unfamiliar alcoholic undertones overloaded his senses, then quickly turned into one of pleasant surprise as the flavour of the wine started to become apparent.
"It's really good!"
Chuuya laughed and slapped his shoulder approvingly. "Ain't it just? There's nothin' better in this world than a glass of good wine."
And then, when his laughter died down, he stayed silent for a moment. He thought about the past six years, how Kenji had been just fourteen during their first encounter, and everything the ADA had been through since. It was a miracle Kenji, or any of the younger members of both their organisations, had managed to reach adulthood at all.
Chuuya smiled ruefully and picked up his own glass, swirling the wine for a second before holding it out in a toast. A genuine smile, openly showing his admiration for the young man, took its place.
"Here's to you, kid. Happy Birthday."
Kenji returned the smile and clinked his glass against Chuuya's.
The genuine moment soon faded as the two of them continued to drink. Chuuya, no more tolerant than he was six years ago, was already feeling it at half the glass. Kenji was somehow faring better than the mafioso, but he was also beginning to feel a slight buzz and entirely out of his depth, though fascinated, with the amount of wine-related information Chuuya was telling him.
He'd only asked if all wine tasted like this and now he was forty minutes into a lecture on the nuances of wine flavours. Chuuya had even requested the bartender pour a selection of wines into shot glasses for Kenji to try and compare, stating that if it was an inconvenient amount to put through the till then he'd buy every bottle in full.
So as the hours drew on, Kenji, under strict guidance about how to properly wine-taste, sampled exactly twenty different wines of Chuuya's choosing while receiving an explanation on the flavour and production of each. Most of the information he couldn't comment on, but when Chuuya began to explain the cultivation of the grapes, Kenji jumped on the opportunity to share his own knowledge of farming.
Consequently, the two of them - still drinking of course - engaged in a niche form of information exchange. Chuuya explained the cultivation procedure of each sampled wine, and then Kenji explained why he thought those particular cultivation methods were used. Chuuya learned about farming - and, more importantly, a new way to more accurately guess the taste of a wine before he tried it - and Kenji learned about the wine industry and the wide variety of wines available, including which wines were good wines.
At the end of the night, they were both drunk and a little unsteady on their feet. Chuuya paid the bartender then, seeing Kenji wobble, threw an arm around his shoulders.
"C'mon kid, I think it's time we got you home."
And so the two of them unsteadily made their way to Kenji's house, talking and laughing all the way as Chuuya kept hold of Kenji in some way or another. Once they reached the door to his apartment, Chuuya finally let go and gave him the rundown on how to minimise and treat the inevitable hangover he'd get the following day. Kenji took note as best as he could, managing to recite a satisfactory amount of the information to Chuuya when prompted.
He unlocked the door and went to step inside, then turned to face Chuuya again.
"Thank you for such a great evening, Chuuya. You're awesome!"
Caught once again off-guard by the praise, Chuuya blushed and rubbed the back of his head. "Ah, well...er- it was nothing...really. But thanks for the great company, kid. I really enjoyed hangin' out with ya."
"Likewise! And, um, Chuuya? I'm not a kid anymore..."
"Oh yeah..."
There was a pause as he contemplated that.
"Ah, who cares! You still look like a damn kid to me," he chuckled and nudged Kenji's cheek with his elbow, "so don't get cocky 'n' maybe I'll treat ya to another drink someday."
"I'd love that! Goodnight, Chuuya." Kenji waved, then quietly closed the door.
"G'night, kid. Sleep well."
Notes:
Hey guys, I may or may not have speed written this oneshot because I re-read a...very delirious draft outlining how adorable a fic about Chuuya buying Kenji his 20th Birthday drink would be... Erm- anyways hope you enjoyed it! It's probably a lil rough around the edges but I tried to capture that miscommunication that Wan had...hopefully I succeeded.
Not-so-little afternote tho: I did some searching about Birthdays in Japan and coming-of-age. Seems like they do a ceremony on the 2nd Monday of January for everybody turning 20 (April to April) and so they don't celebrate on the day like western countries tend to.
There was no way I'd be able to write about something I know so little about, sooo I wrote Kenji's birthday the western way. I also then conveniently ignored my contradiction by doing that. (Kyouka is a few months younger than Kenji so technically, Dazai, not everyone is a legal adult yet! But ain't no reason why ya can't celebrate your birthday both ways right?? Eh, it's lazy writing, but it was a minor point so I left it.)
One other thing in this fic that I wanna point out is that cider is non-alcoholic in Japan!! The hell?! The Mitsuya cider he likes is a freakin' soft drink and it baffles me so much. I'm gonna visit one day and get weird looks when I show my ID to buy a soft drink lmao. Anyways my original rant of a draft had Kenji drinking Chuuya under the table because he'd already been introduced to cider but sadly I had to change that.
Anyways yeah hope you enjoyed this!