Between Kyouka’s ( too ) insightful commentary and the fact that Atsushi was certain Akutagawa was now on his way to utilize Rashomon on him specifically, Atsushi did what he thought would be best to do next. “Ah, anyway, do you want to go out shopping? My treat! Let’s get lost in the city! Very lost! And lets leave our phones here, for safety purposes. We’ve got to go now — “
Atsushi quite literally picks her up and runs out the door at once.
◣ ✿ ◥ Okay, fine. She’d let him have his way in avoiding the question, but only in return from him treating her to dinner from a new restaurant that opened up in the city (so, basically, in return for nothing out of the ordinary). On the way out, she tossed her phone on the couch; even if they got lost, she wouldn’t need it to find her way back, so it wasn’t necessary. Unless there was some emergency at the Agency and they needed to be contacted.
“N-No not really? I was just given one when I started here. Most of my use is self taught … and I mean, the Internet has helped too. But right now the Internet is failing me.” Atsushi closed his phone shut firmly at that, cheeks reddening as he inquiry continued. “Lewd means nothing! You know Akutagawa, he uses weird words out of nowhere to look even more intimidating! But I won’t let him bully me.”
◣ ✿ ◥ Ah, so they assumed that he could figure it out on his own. With any luck, this incident would prevent anyone from taking such presumptuous actions again in the future. “I see. I’ll show you how to later, then. Also,” she held her phone up closer to his face, pointing out the contact name on the message, “Akutagawa did not send me this message. He did not send me any messages. You’re the one who used the word ‘lewd.’”
Turns to face her in person while hiding his computer screen. “ — Don’t worry Kyouka-chan, I’ll protect you from him. But if he messages your phone you just delete it, okay?”
Atsushi’s entire life was slowly, but surely, imploding.
◣ ✿ ◥ He said that as though it wasn’t already her plan. “Understood. Aside from that, I have two questions. First, has anyone ever taught you how to use a cell phone properly?” She raised her own for him to see–specifically, the message he didn’t mean to send her. “Second, what does ‘lewd’ mean?”
It was by pure luck she found it--a miracle by her standards, to be quite honest. Even if she probably took it off private property, it was worth it in the end as she, with a pleased glimmer in her eyes, held out the present to Atsushi. "Tiger lily," she explained. "It's for you."
Dark orange, vibrant and crisp peppered with darker spots in a way that from a distance – the flower could perhaps be mistaken as an entity with stripes – Atsushi had never heard of tiger lilies nor had he ever seen one in person. The stem of it was dressed in narrow, green leaves and Atsushi couldn’t help but look at it in wonder for a few moments, before he recalled politeness. A warm and rare, but genuine smile graced his features as a gloved hand to touch Kyouka’s head, his gratitude radiant.
“Thank you Kyouka-chan, it’s really pretty. You just don’t see these anywhere, do you? I hope you didn’t go through too much trouble …
I don’t know how long we’ll be able to keep this one alive, but maybe we can get some for the office? I don’t think Kunikida-san will mind.”
“We should! Maybe even some members of the Agency will want to come with us?” At the very least, Atsushi could see the Tanizaki siblings and Kenji having interest in the festival – - as they were the youngest members, it only made sense that they found himself sticking together more often than not. “It looks like according to the flyer, the festival is on a weekend, so as long as nothing major comes up, Kunikida-san should be fine with us going, I think.”
◣ ✿ ◥
“He deserves a break.” Kunikida was arguably one of the hardest workers at the Agency, and he didn’t seem to give himself much time off. If he didn’t agree with it, maybe Kyouka could talk to Fukuzawa about making the festival a business outing with something about public safety thrown into the explanation. She could come up with justification for it. “We should ask everyone to go with us.” Of course, in the end, it all came back to the fact that she wanted to go.
Atsushi blinked twice, as he smoothed out the slightly wrinkled paper brought to him. “A festival, huh … “ Things ranging from games to rides and prizes were all advertised and it certainly looked like a good time. “They’ll be here in the city next week– - we can go during the weekend. I think it might be one of those festivals too, where you wear a yukata. We should go pick some out together after work, with Naomi-san and Yosano-sensei. They’ll have better fashion sense than I do. How does that sound?”
◣ ✿ ◥ Well, he certainly thought it out further than she did, and probably a good thing too. Kyouka was still a child, after all, still impulsive and would still rather wing it than make actual plans. Good thing for Atsushi and the other questionably mature adults that surrounded her now. “That works.” She tilted her head, leaning over to read upside down from where he held the flyer. “We should tell Kunikida-san.” He’d want to know so that he could schedule accordingly, especially if they were supposed to work the day they picked for the festival.
◣ ✿ ◥ Kyouka had been wandering around the town for a bit (scoping out places to eat, probably) when she discovered something amazing, and she was all too eager to get back to the office and show Atsushi. Once she arrived and spotted him, she trotted up to his side, pulled on his sleeve, and presented him with a piece of paper that advertised a festival coming to the city. She’d never been to one before. “Can we go?”
