Heaven is a Place on Earth

Best Frenemies

(Yet again, I'm a day late. Sorry, I had another long day yesterday, I went to lie down for a bit before I got to writing and I ended up falling asleep... I might as well change my update schedule from Mondays to Tuesdays, ok? So for this ficlet, I'm not intending it to be shippy, I don't personally ship this pair, but I know there's a lot of people who do so you can read it that way if you want to. I think this one might actually be quite long o.o Oh, and small note, the 'Osuzu' nickname is from her character profile in the second light novel)

(Please keep telling me your own headcanons! Even if I can't think of a plot for it, we could still talk about it a bit~)

(Headcanon: Urushihara eventually sort of becomes friends with Suzuno, or more like frenemies (frenemy relationships need more love, they're great))

"They need to be cut thinner."

Urushihara frowned as he was pushed aside and Suzuno took the knife from his hand.

"Otherwise, they will take too long to boil. Honestly, Good Hanzo, have you not been listening to me?" she sighed, making him roll his eyes. Even so, he tried to pay a little more attention as she chopped up the vegetables.

"Why do I have to do this?" he groaned once she handed the knife back to him, "I mean, I may not like it, but living off takeout food and Ashiya's cooking is good enough, right?" Suzuno didn't respond, "It's not like you guys are gonna let me live on my own anytime soon..." he added with a grimace.

"Because we've been spending more time out of the apartment lately," Maou's voice piped up from behind them. Urushihara's face only turned even more sour, "We've got busy lives now, we can't waste our time worrying about if you're eating!"

"I eat!" he said, turning to look at Maou, "I have plenty of food!"

"You have plenty of junk! And I refuse to be held responsible if you make yourself sick."

Urushihara growled under his breath.

"Good Sadao, please don't provoke the poor idiot..."

"Hey!"

"... Or else we'll never get anywhere with him. I'm afraid he may yet turn out to be a lost cause."

Of course, this soon lapsed into another argument.

Urushihara and Suzuno had grown more comfortable around each other lately. Since she still seemed to have at least a small amount of patience for him, unlike Ashiya, she had taken on the responsibility of teaching him some basic life skills. And Urushihara, although he always found a reason to whine and complain, was slowly warming up to the idea.

Slowly.

So.

Very.

Slowly.

It started when Ashiya gave up on trying to take any control over the shut-in. He was becoming more and more irritated having to live with him, but Suzuno seemed able to handle him. After all, she didn't have to put up with his bad attitude day after day like he did. Urushihara hadn't broken her yet. So he had asked for her help. At first, that's all it was. Every few days, Suzuno would spend an hour or two in apartment 201 teaching Urushihara how to cook and clean.

After the first time she had tried to teach him she was prepared for the onslaught of complaints that would inevitably come with the job. Most of the time, that was all he did. That is, until she learned a little more about him. Once she had figured out what foods he liked it was so much easier to get him interested. And once he was interested, they could both actually enjoy themselves.

The "lessons" became a lot more relaxed, to the point where Suzuno didn't need to be asked to come over, she would come simply because she wanted to. A few more days and Urushihara even took to going over to Suzuno's apartment when he expected it was a good time for a lesson. A few more weeks and they were going just to keep each other company. Just to hang out.

Neither of them dared to say it out loud, but they were starting to view one another as friends.

But that didn't exactly mean they got along now...

"Good Hanzo...?" Suzuno gently knocked on the door as she opened it, the way she always did now, immediately frowning when she saw Urushihara sat at his computer with his headphones in, surrounded by a mountain of trash.

Isn't this what we've been trying to stop? she thought as she calmly entered the apartment and made her way to the desk.

Before Urushihara could notice her, she slammed the laptop closed causing him to jump up, pulling out his headphones and shooting her a sharp death glare.

"Hey, I was in the middle of something! You couldn't wait, like, ten seconds? Jeez, just say something next time!"

"Have you eaten today, Good Hanzo?" she asked sternly, still completely calm.

Urushihara turned his head away and folded his arms, pouting.

"I've eaten..."

"This," she pointed at the pile on and around the desk, "Does not count. Haven't you had an actual meal?"

"... No..." he still wouldn't look at her.

Suzuno let out a frustrated growl.

"Why didn't you make something?"

She continued to stare him down. Eventually, he gave in and looked at her.

"Gimme a break, Su," Urushihara didn't notice her eyebrow twitch at the nickname, "I'm just a little tired today and I didn't want to do something that took that much effort, alright?"

"It barely takes any effort at all!"

"C'mon, Su...!" he whined, "There's no point now, anyway, I'm not hungry now."

Of course, she would prefer a nickname like 'Osuzu', but no. Clearly, he could only manage one syllable.

"Fine," she said with a sigh and went over to the kitchen, "Would you like some tea?"

"Nah, I'm good."

Suzuno turned to see Urushihara was already sitting down again and opening the laptop.

"Did I... break it...?"

"It'd take more than just closing it suddenly to break it," he snorted.

Suzuno blushed as she realised he had just laughed at her.

"I am not exactly an expert on these things, Good Hanzo..." she turned away to boil some water.

"You don't have to be an expert to know that."

The door opened then, but neither paid it any mind.

"That is... not the point..."

"Are the two of you arguing again?" came Ashiya's tired voice.

Urushihara and Suzuno both jumped when they heard him.

"... Mom's home."

Suzuno couldn't help but chuckle at that.