𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐊𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐭 [AU] (Being rewritten!!)

𝟏𝟗-𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐦

A flowing stream of morning light danced around, teasing Akutagawa's eyes as they flickered open. The supposed warmth from the blinding light was absent, though familiar the emptiness was to him. In front of him, he anticipated a dozed-off Jinko. Yet instead, lay nobody. The feeling of emptiness and numbness, had it seeped into the real world? Had the one thing that filled said hole in his heart disappeared?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                As his ghostly senses revived themselves from slumber, he hazily rose. He glanced around further, only to find an annoyingly white room just the same as he fell asleep in. But as his ears adjusted to the busy city noises, they also caught notice of a sort of sizzling noise. It almost resembled the sound of a...frying pan? Something was cooking. Akutagawa was befuddled but investigated nonetheless.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Upon removing himself from the quaint room, he dragged his levitating apparition body to the even quainter kitchen, where he found Atsushi cooking what Akutagawa presumed was his breakfast peacefully.

He sighed in relief, letting his figure drop almost to the floor as the wave of stifling anxiety washed away. "Goodness Jinko, would it have hurt to tell me that you planned to leave?"

"Oh! Akutagawa! Good morning!" Atsushi cheered, a bubbly smile following his words while also complimenting his rosy cheeks. "I didn't want to wake you up ehe...my apologies."

Akutagawa sighed and gathered himself off the floor to examine what Atsushi was cooking, attempting to ease his curiosity silently. He peered over Atsushi's shoulder, allured. A stack of simple golden-brown pancakes sat on a plate next to Atsushi, and as he flipped the last fluffy pancake, he placed it on the very top of the stack.

"T's a shame you can't have any. They're really good~!" Atsushi proclaimed with utmost certainty and confidence as he sat his plate down on the table, ready to dig in.

"No need to pity me. I was never much one to indulge in food." Akutagawa declared.

Atsushi began to stuff his face, clearly enjoying every velvety bite. "Really? C'mon there had to be something you liked!"

"I suppose...I enjoyed tea."

"And?" Atsushi wasn't letting Akutagawa off with such an underdeveloped answer.

Akutagawa grunted. "Figs."

"There you go!" Atsushi shoved another slice of pancake down his throat, one bite after another, eventually finishing his dish with a warm and pleased grin. He took his plate and walked over to the sink, where he began to clean up the clutter his cooking had resulted in."How about I pick up some at the store later? I've got a few classes today, so I'll have the time. I know it may not be of use to you, sorry. But I want to try something you like. So in a way, I suppose you could say I'm catering to my wants."

"You apologize too much."

Atsushi paused. Ranpo had said the same thing about him in the past. Was it true? Did he really over apologize? "Oh...is that a problem?" 

"How you choose to use that information could indeed turn into a problem, yes."

Atsushi slowly went back to washing dishes without saying another word.

"You can't ignore it Jinko. I shall refrain from 'pushing it' as one might say, though you I know to be responsible. Use that to your advantage."

Atsushi took an amiable breath, letting it out only once he was ready. "Thank you for believing in me, Akutagawa." He shook the soapy suds from his hands before grabbing a rag, drying off his hands, and placing his hands on his hips. "I guess it's true what they say. Old souls are wise."

Akutagawa swiftly showed a look of bewilderment, vulnerable to such rhetoric. 

Atsushi in turn giggled at poor Akutagawa's speechlessness. "I'm gonna get ready, don't disappear while I'm gone!~"

Thereupon, Atsushi spun his heel and sought to prepare himself for the remainder of the day. Akutagawa melted on the inside, a recurring sensation that he found he so despised but also grew inquisitive of. This part of him felt at ease with the simple life of waking up next to Atsushi and seeing his carefree smile each morning. "When will he let go of the strings of worry and yet pleasure he has attached to me?", "Was my endearment of decades filled with loneliness the true curse? Or is being enslaved to his trust the true punishment?" were all subconscious thoughts which flooded the back of the apparition's mind.

Translucent, the truth was. Scared and all the more accepting, he was of Atsushi. Hesitant to allow Atsushi's brightness to infiltrate the dark he'd thrived in for the many years he'd been deceased. In his closed mind, the dark and light hath forbidden from mixing, but the question remains in his mind 'What If?"

Roaming the air was such a cliche feeling named time and time again, encapsulated in one single four-letter word. Under any other given circumstances, one would expect the word to spell with the first letter being 'L' and the end with an 'e' but, for the two residences' this four-letter word is labeled 'Happy'.

                                                                                                                                                                                            Akutagawa patiently watched as Atsushi sped from room to room, doing small, day-to-day tasks. From the utmost minuscule details to the most conspicuous movement that Atsushi made, Akutagawa noticed every last bit of it. Ensuing his sequence of duties, Atsushi rushed to tie his shoes, loudly proclaiming that he was late. 

Thus, Akutagawa looked down upon the boy, snickering at Atsushi's messy panic. "You're very clumsy, you know?"

"Sh-shut up! Argh! I don't have time to deal with you right now!"

"Says the one who appears to be responding right back at me."

"Remind me to ignore you when I get back! And I can revoke the store trip anytime!"

"There, there Jinko, no need to pity me. Letting me off on such gentle punishments? Hardly strikes me as discipline."

"Yeah, well Dazai is the one who taught you what 'discipline' was and he didn't do a very good job at it, so you've got zero room to talk!"

"Psh..." Akutagawa huffed under his breath, no comeback sitting on the tip of his tongue to revive his argument.

This time, Atsushi had the last laugh. "Don't worry. I'm just kidding." He sprung from the place on the floor where he'd tied his shoes, now on leveled height with Akutagawa, declaring the death of his former sass. "You don't need any more punishments. I'm letting you off because you deserve it."                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Atsushi snatched his bag and keys, unlocking the door to his apartment before turning around as signature. "Bye, Akutagawa. I'll see you later." He winked and shut the door behind him, leaving a confused and flustered spirit in his tracks.