Atsuhiro Family Issues

The Awkwardness Fades

He spent at least an hour in his room before he was called down.

"Denji, come help me make dinner!"

The boy sighed and shook his head, groaning. He really didn't want to go down after what he had walked in on. Even so, he set down the book he had been reading and swung his legs over the side of his bed, with a huff, "Coming!"

It was something they always did. Denji would always help Senjo with dinner, even though he couldn't cook worth a damn. They had been doing it since he was four, and no matter what, it always seemed to make things better.

With another sigh, he stood up from his bed, stretching his arms over his head with a yawn. After that, Denji walked out of his bedroom and made his way down to the first floor and into the kitchen. His feet dragged a little, but that was only because he wasn't paying attention to his steps, which was a bad habit of his.

His papa noticed immediately as he walked into the kitchen and rolled his light brown eyes at the kid. "Denji, bud, you're doing it again," he chastised lightly. Denji paused and looked down at his pointed-in toes, giving a sheepish smile and straightening out his feet.

"Sorry Papa," he replied sheepishly, paying closer attention to his walking as he took his last few steps over to Senjo. Once he stood by his side, he gave his papa a smile and tilted his head, "So what are we making for dinner tonight?" questioned the teen calmly, his awkward welcoming forgotten for the moment.

Senjo looked at the ingredients he had pulled out and shrugged a little, "Nothing too extravagant. I thought I'd make one of your favorites, actually, since it was your first day of school."

Denji's eyes lit up at that, glancing towards the ingredients, "You're Sukiyaki?"

The man gave a gentle chortle and nodded, "Yeah, my Sukiyaki. Your dad wanted Soba, but I figured you'd prefer this dish over his."

Denji's chime of laughter that came after his words was delightful to hear for Senjo, especially after missing seeing him off to school that morning. "That's great! Maybe we can do Soba for him tomorrow," suggested the teen after he stopped laughing.

"Maybe. That is, if your dad can hold his tongue about your decision," Senjo jokingly agreed. Denji smiled at that and looked back to the ingredients on the counter as Senjo reached out for them. "Denji, I need you to grab the black pot and start water boiling for our noodles," the man instructed, and focused but calm smile on his face.

Denji nodded, giving a playful salute, "On it." With that, he moved across the kitchen and knelt down to a cupboard left of oven. He opened it and reached in to grab the black pot needed before freezing. The pot wasn't in there. He huffed, "Papa! Dad rearranged the kitchen again!" he whined, standing up.

Senjo couldn't help but laugh at the mock distraught in his son's voice. "Check the cupboard to the right of the sink."

The teen nodded and moved back across the kitchen, kneeling down to open a cupboard, "Your other right," Senjo called, watching the boy from the corner of his eye.

Denji laughed sheepishly, "I knew that. Just seeing if you were paying attention," challenged the boy as he scooted over to his right past the sink cupboard. He opened the cupboard on the right, giving a cheer as he spotted the black pot, grabbing and standing. "Aha! It is there," he exclaimed, standing with the pot and softly kicking the cupboard closed.

He could see his father stifling a chuckle as he filled the pot with water and he sent a playful glare over at the man. "What're you laughing at?"

"Oh nothing," Senjo responded, "your enthusiasm is just amusing."

"It is not!"

Senjo fully laughed, "Keep telling yourself that, kiddo."

Denji huffed at his father good naturedly as he set the pot of water on the stove and turned it on. Walking back to his father, he realized that he had grabbed a small saucepan without his notice and was mixing sake, mirin, sugar, and soy sauce. Senjo held a gentle smile as he moved to place the saucepan on the stove behind the pot. He already had a bowl of ice water for when the noodles were done cooking.

The teen smiled and moved to the cutting board where the other ingredients were, grabbing a kitchen knife and carefully cutting up some cabbage. Sure, Denji couldn't cook worth a damn on his own, but cooking with Senjo was a breeze for him, especially since they had made this dish so many times before.

"Careful, don't cut your finger like last time," Senjo warned sternly, coming up behind the shorter teen and watching his son.

Denji rolled his eyes a little, "I know, Papa, I got this."

Senjo shook his head at his son's over confidence, standing next to him and grabbing his own kitchen knife. The man got to work on cutting up the shungiku.

Together, they worked rather well, cutting up ingredients. One they were cut up, Denji moved away from the counter to drain the udon noodles and place them in the ice water to cool them and keep them from overcooking. As he did this, Senjo checked on the sauce and rinsed the veggies they had spent some time cutting up.

Denji paused and jumped, "Crap, we forgot the serving plate!" exclaimed the boy, turning to quickly rummage through the cupboards in the kitchen for desired object. By the time he had found it, his father had set their portable gas cooker on the table for the meat and stuff. Senjo was already working on making the beef, adding the ingredients needed to be added.

Then, Raijin stood in the doorway, watching the two. "Hmm..that smells good," he commented.

Denji looked over to his dad, who was now wearing a high collared shirt, and smiled. "Really? I thought you'd be grumpy since we weren't making Soba," he teased lightly.

Raijin chuckled and stepped further into the kitchen, pulling out a chair from the table, leaning on it boredly. "I was grumpy, but you and your pops are really good at cooking together," he responded as Senjo stepped over and whapped him upside the head. "Hey!"

"You know I don't like it when you lean on the chairs like that. You'll scuff up the floor," Senjo hissed sternly, his eyes lightly glaring at his husband.

Denji laughed softly as Raijin rolled his eyes and stood up straight. "Sorry dear," mocked the man playfully, earning himself another smack to the back of the head.

"Dad, I would be careful if I were you, I don't think Papa likes your mocking," joked Denji as he pulled out a chair to take a seat.

Raijin chortled lightly, eyes focused on his husband for a moment before he glanced at Denji. "Oh, I know, I'm doing this on purpose."

Senjo glared at the man, "Less dinner for you."

"You wouldn't dare!

"Oh, I would-"

Denji cut in, cutting Senjo off with a laugh, "Dads! You guys are being dramatic!"

Senjo glanced at Denji and smirked, "Dramatic? Me? I don't know what you're talking about," joked the man. Raijin snickered at his husband's response, shaking his head as his son playfully glowered at both of them.

"C'mon, let's just eat, I'm starving." With those words, the family sat at their dinner table. The meal was calm, time spent enjoying the food and conversing with one another. Denji loved having dinner with his dads, all stress from the day always seemed to fade a bit.

Denji was glad to spend this time with his fathers. Even so, he retired to bed after dinner, his excuse being that he had school the next day.

He would have a big day tomorrow, bigger than he realized.