30 Day OTP Challenge ft. Sannochieyomi

Finishing Each Other's Sentences

Opening the door after a long day, Nikei was greeted by the heavenly blast of air conditioning as he stepped into the house. "I'm back!" he called out as he closed the door behind him, removing his shoes and coat. 

It had been a long day for him today, since not only was he running around and collecting information for one of his articles, but he had to swing by the hospital to get another needle and his blood tested again. To his relief, the vaccine was starting to work in his bloodstream, and Kokoro had given him a strict diet so he could be pulled aside for more blood tests at any given time.

"Oh, Nik! We're in the kitchen!" Setsuka called back, and Nikei sighed good-naturedly as he began heading over to the kitchen. There was no doubt that his partners were working together to make some kind of delicious food together.

As he expected, Setsuka and Mikado were working together on a dish, and the aroma of chicken with spice added was strong in the kitchen. The journalist felt himself relax as he walked into the kitchen, and Mikado glanced around from where he was working at the stove. "Oh, you're back!"

"Yep, I'm back. Yamato dragged me into getting another shot and test done," he summarized as he walking up behind Mikado and wrapping his arms around the wizard's waist. Going up on his toes, he looked over Mikado's shoulder at the pan on the stove. "What are you guys making there?"

"This is filling for a chicken slider, we've pulled the chicken apart and added an array of spices too," Mikado happily explained. "I will admit, this looks like a mix of pulled pork and butter chicken, but it certainly won't taste that way!"

"We've also got homemade slider buns in the oven too," Setsuka added, walking up beside Nikei and giving him a small kiss on the cheek. "We're gonna eat good tonight."

"We eat good every night, moron," Nikei huffed, making Mikado chuckle and give a slight smile on his real face. Ever since he experimented with it at the beach, the wizard had been wearing his mask less and less. He seemed to have no problem with showing his true emotions in front of the people he loved anymore.

"Haha, he's not wrong!" Setsuka teased, and Mikado looked down at the pan with the chicken as he tried to focus on cooking instead. The detective noticed this and giggled. "Well, we better get back to cooking. Are you gonna work on another article, Nik? Or is this the same one as yesterday?"

"Nope, I finished that one up! This article is going to be about the efforts by the National Diet to combat climate change, adapt to rising sea levels, and handle Japan's extremely low birth rates and immigration rates!" Nikei explained, smiling as he started to ramble. "After all, we should give some good news to the people that on top of an HIV vaccine being in the works, there's still hope for our future!"

"Well, you should go work on that then," Mikado replied, "and there will be some nice chicken sliders for supper once you're finished with that, doll."

"Roger that!" The journalist exclaimed, running out of the kitchen and to the living room. He jumped onto the couch and grabbed his laptop excitedly, ready to start writing about something happy that he was directly interested in for once, not just because it was part of his job. 

The affection from Setsuka and Mikado might have a hand in his enthusiasm, but Nikei would never admit that. Nope, it totally had no effect on this journalist.

In the kitchen, Setsuka watched Nikei leave as Mikado continued to cook the chicken in the pan. "Love, will you pass a cup of water? I don't want this to burn before the chicken has fully absorbed the sauce," he requested.

"Hold on, the recipe says that you have to take the chicken out if the moisture is reduced," Setsuka protested, reading from the recipe book. "Is the chicken not fully cooked, is that why you're asking?"