A rare Renzou & Chenlong (Yukio-centered) fic ;)
Pre-slash if you squint, of the OT3 kind or your preferred mix of ship between these chars
偶遇 - (Or, The Fic Where Renzou and Chenglong Meet)
The apartment that Yukio lives in is on the third floor of the building. High enough that taking the stairs is a bit of a pain, but Renzou has been slacking off his training lately, and there had been a period of time where the elevator in the building had been broken, so Renzou doesn't mind the effort too much given that.
"Oh. Hey there."
He does not expect to see someone else approaching Yukio's door from the opposite end of the hallway. The exorcist in front of him is one that Renzou is vaguely familiar with. They've never worked together before, but they have run into each other once or twice over the years. Never for long enough for his name to stick, but the guy had the type of pretty face that makes it easy to remember him. More importantly, he is Yukio's friend. That much, he has not forgotten.
"Are you here to see Yukio?" Renzou asks.
It is a dumb question. They are standing right outside Yukio's door. But the other exorcist doesn't mock him for it.
"Yes," Chenglong says instead, lifting the plastic bag in his hand to draw Renzou's attention to it. There is an assessing look in his eye and a polite smile on his face.
"I suspect the same thing as you," he points out in a mild tone. Renzou is, after all, holding one as well.
Hmm. Well, that made things a bit awkward.
Renzou's decision to visit Yukio had been a last minute thing. When he caught wind that Yukio was feeling under the weather, he had been struck by an irresistible urge to come and check up on him. This is in part because the thought of playing nursemaid appeals to him—but also because he suspects that Yukio's workaholic tendencies would not quite let him rest as much as they should.
Clearly, he isn't the only one worried.
"Sooooo, should we draw straws about who gets to go in?" Renzou says as he glances between the other and the door.
"Is that really necessary?" Chenglong asks, wrinkling his nose a little at the suggestion.
"He's gonna hate this," Renzou points out, amused.
Chenglong inclines his head, acknowledging his words. "Somehow," he says with a quirk of his lips, "I don't think that bothers you too much."
Renzou cracks a smile. "You're right. It doesn't."
He gets the sense that this guy is a bit of a kindred spirit, so the smile stays on Renzou's face when he reaches into his pocket. It disappears in a flash, however, when he sees the other exorcist take out a key from his pocket at the same time as Renzou's does.
He'll admit it. He's a little jealous. He didn't think Yukio was close enough to anyone else to give them unrestricted access to his apartment. He has always felt privileged over this fact. So he has to school his expression from showing all that as he allows the other exorcist to open the door to Yukio's apartment.
Unsurprisingly, they find Yukio in the kitchen, heating up water in the electric kettle.
"Hey," Renzou protests at once, because Yukio is looking even sicker than he had expected. He's barely keeping his eyes open and looks ready to fall asleep while he's standing. "You should be in bed."
Yukio starts at first, his poor attempt at a staring contest with the wall broken by the sound of Renzou's voice, but when he glances his way and sees Renzou is not alone, he does a double-take that jolts some energy into his eyes.
"What are you two—?"
"Surprise," Chenglong says, waltzing in towards the kitchen table with comfortable ease. "I heard from Shura that you were sick, but I'm only in town for so long, so I thought I'd pay you a visit anyway."
"Rin called me," Renzou quickly adds as he joins him. They both set the plastic bags they'd been carrying on the table. Neither of them miss the fact that Yukio had been about to make coffee, of all things. "He mentioned he got assigned to a mission this morning and couldn't stop by. So, I volunteered myself to bring you some soup to recover!"
"I hope you don't mind if I make use of your kitchen," Chenglong says as he takes the time to give Yukio a studious onceover. "I wasn't sure what state I would find you in, but I know just the thing to get you back on your feet. Are you a fan of congee?"
Yukio is a little taken aback by the inflow of information, so it takes him a moment to answer the question.
"That's… like oyija, right?" he says, looking unsure. Perhaps because he's not too familiar with the dish, or maybe because he's just too sick to remember. Either way, his gaze darts towards Renzou, expecting—correctly—for him to know the answer.
Renzou tries not to look too pleased about that. Instead, he responds by waving his hand in a so-so motion; they are similar dishes, but not quite the same.
Chenglong watches the interaction with interest, but he says nothing, still waiting for an answer.
Yukio does look somewhat intrigued. A fond sort of nostalgia flickers across his eyes. But because he's polite, he turns Chenglong's offer down at first.
"Liu-san, you really don't have to go out of your way for me like this," he says, sniffling a little. "I don't want to trouble you."
"And yet, I will be a great deal more inconvenienced if I don't get a chance to make use of these," Chenglong counters lightly, gesturing to the ingredients he'd already purchased.
If Yukio had been in a better condition, he may have perhaps told Chenglong that that was his own cross to bear. But he's a lot more vulnerable right now. He is clutching the mug he'd been about to fill like a lifeline, as if it would help him navigate through this conversation.
So, before Yukio ends up overthinking himself into a worse state than he already is, Renzou cuts in, stepping forward to usher Yukio to sit down.
"In any case, Liu-san and I have got things covered. You sit down and we'll set the table for you. Let me get you some tea to drink while you wait for us."
The soup Renzou had brought over ends up going into the fridge; it's store bought since he'd rushed over and Renzou agrees there's nothing like a home cooked meal to recover from an illness. In any case, Yukio could always have it later, so once that matter is settled, Renzou offers Chenglong a hand to speed things up along.
"I didn't know you cooked," Yukio says softly after some time as he watches them work together. There is a bit of a whimsical expression on his face, a twist of his lips that Renzou recognizes as him trying not to look crestfallen.
Chenglong seems to understand this look, for he offers Yukio rueful shrug. "Just a little," he explains. "It's not something I bother with often. But this is one of the dishes I know how to make by heart."
For whatever reason, that answer seems to cheer Yukio up a bit. Chenglong looks satisfied. "It is a secret family recipe though," he adds. "So I'll have to kill your friend before we part ways today."
Renzou's gaze, which had been studiously puzzling out their exchange, darts over to look at him and he's met with a playful smirk. "Just kidding," Chenglong says, making Renzou snort and crack another smile.
Soon enough, the three of them are sitting at the table. Yukio seems happy with the food. He'd thanked them both preemptively, before he'd even taken his first bite, but now all his focus had been stolen by the warm meal in front of him. There is a quiet look of stunned delight on his face as he eats; it makes Renzou and Chenglong share one of satisfaction. It is tempting to continue to watch him given how enraptured he looks, but even while sick, Yukio maintains some of his sharpness. They dare not risk making him feel self conscious, so they force themselves to direct their gazes elsewhere.
Renzou had served Chenglong and himself some tea before they sat down to give them both something to do with their hands, but the prolonged silence gets a little awkward after a while, so Renzou takes it upon himself to break it.
"Soooo, are you staying in Tokyo for long? What brings you to the area?" he asks as he slowly drops three sugar cubes into his teacup, watching each one make a small splash in his cup before stirring them in.
Chenglong reaches over to add just the one to his own cup. "I'll be here for a few more days, but I've already finished all my work. I got called to look into a little something that required my expertise," he answers easily without bothering with the details.
Renzou, of course, doesn't need much to draw his own conclusions.
"Ah, the time loop in Okinawa," he says knowingly.
Chenglong lifts his eyebrows, surprised, but inclines his head in confirmation as he blows over the rim of his cup to cool down his tea.
"You're well informed," he says. The corner of his lips lifts into a sharp smile as he looks at Renzou consideringly, as if he was reevaluating him. "Yes, that is correct. But like I said, that's all been wrapped up. I have nothing left but free time until my return flight. So I thought I'd invite Yukio to go on a small shopping trip with me."
Here, Yukio interjects, looking up from his meal to grimace. "Your brother again?"
"Hmm," Chenglong hums in confirmation as he takes a sip from his cup, not looking fully enthused himself. "He's asked me to track down some very specific Kit Kat flavors, among some other things. But above all else, he wants any and all the cherry blossom limited edition items I could possibly find, since it's the season and all."
Yukio lets out a long groan.
"Yikes." Renzou, who has had his own share of sibling woes, gives Chenglong a commiserating look. "That sounds like such a pain. But you do know you can probably get most of that stuff online though, right?"
Chenglong tilts his head. Renzou doesn't miss the twinkle of amusement in his eyes. "Sure, but where's the fun in that?" he deadpans. "Especially when I've already got such a wonderful tour guide to show me around," he adds with a smirk.
Yukio huffs and rolls his eyes, but Renzou, as he snickers, doesn't miss the small smile Yukio's hiding behind another bite of his porridge.
"That's a good point," he says agreeably—after all, he's all too familiar with how overzealously effective Yukio can get when planning things out.
When his words earn him a (somewhat fake) look of betrayal from Yukio, Renzou only grins.
The conversation continues on in that easy way for the rest of the meal. Despite his initial jealousy, Renzou can't help but to significantly warm up to Chenglong and his sharp sense of humor. He is half tempted to volunteer himself as Yukio's temporary tour guide replacement but there's a line here that he's hesitant to cross right at this moment. Perhaps when Yukio is in better health, Renzou will go out of his way to bump into him and Chenglong and tag along with them that way. He has a feeling the three of them would all end up having a good time together.
Clearly, he's not the only one thinking the same, because Yukio surprises him by volunteering Renzou on his behalf. He's even more surprised to see Chenglong agree.
"What, really?" he asks before he thinks better of it.
Chenlong gives Renzou a considerating look. "Well, if he thinks you're the guy for the job, who am I to argue?"
Something about that all-too-calm smile of his makes him look incredibly suspicious. Renzou has not forgotten Yukio's initial groan of protest.
"Why do I have a feeling I'm being set up?" he asks as he looks between them.
Yukio gives him a matching innocent smile. "You're overthinking it," is all he says.
"Right." Renzou snorts, not falling for it in the slightest. "Well, if you insist. But you're gonna have to tag along with us on vid chat," he says decisively. "I'll need your guidance since I've got pretty big shoes to fill."
"I'm sure you can manage just fine on your own," Yukio says exasperatedly as he stirs the last few bites of his meal around his plate. "I can just go in person myself if you're able to wait a few more days. I'm hardly that sick," he adds, before predictably having a coughing fit.
"You're right," Chenglong says with a straight face and an agreeable tone. He takes a sip from his tea and waits for Yukio to calm down before continuing. "You're the epitome of health. Not that I'm surprised, of course. One bowl of this is enough to nurse anyone back to tip top condition."
His sarcastic words earn him a sharp glare. "Haha. I'm not magically going to get cured from one second to the next," Yukio grumbles.
"Oh? Did I forget to mention that this recipe is that effective?" Chenglong counters, clearly just to poke fun.
"If your food is that good, then I hope you know that family recipe or not, Nii-san will hunt you down to add it to his repertoire," Yukio warns him.
This only makes Chenglong chuckle. "That's alright. I'll just hide out here until something else grabs his attention."
"As if this is not the first place he'd look for you," Yukio mutters.
"Don't count on Rin leaving you alone when it comes to food," Renzou interjects, looking amused. "If you really need to, feel free to hide out at mine's instead."
His offer earns him another smile, this one far more genuine than the last one.
"Oh? How kind of you," Chenglong says graciously before reaching into his pocket and taking out a PEZ dispenser.
"Want one?" he asks Renzou after popping a candy into his own mouth.
"Sure," Renzou says bemusedly.
Yukio looks properly satisfied by the time he finishes eating, and the food is only partly responsible for his mood. He utters another word of thanks before standing up, but as Renzou sees him head towards the sink, he quickly intercepts.
"I can take care of that," he tells him, taking Yukio's plate from his hands before he starts washing the dishes they piled up.
Naturally, Yukio's face scrunches up in protest.
"I can take care of this much at least," he complains.
"Yukio, Yukio, Yukio… What kind of friend would I be if I let a sick person do chores?
"I don't think he realizes the gravity of allowing such a sin," Chenglong points out as he watches them from the table, his chin propped up against his hands.
"Finally someone who understands!" Renzou exclaims dramatically, not missing a beat.
Yukio scowls darkly. "Ugh. Fine. You two continue to do as you please. I'm going to bed," he grumbles and Renzou and Chenglong share another smile between them as they watch him go and silently call that a job well done.
Later, when Yukio wakes up again, he is as surprised as he is unsurprised to realize that despite how many hours must have passed since he had gone to sleep, he is not alone. The door of his bedroom is cracked open just a bit, and he can see through the gap that Chenglong and Renzou are still around. The two of them are smiling at each other as they chat while sitting comfortably on his couch, and although he feels he ought to feel anxious about this, the sight merely feels him with warmth.
It is the thought of joining them in the upcoming shopping trip that convinces Yukio to go back to sleep. After all, he is going to need all the rest he could get to recover in time—and to prepare for the inevitable task of having to wrangle the worst of their impulses when they're out shopping.
He's looking forward to it.
Notes:
-偶遇: translates as accidentally meeting; meeting by chance; come across; bumping into each other fortuitously
-oyija: a mild, Japanese rice soup. If you haven't read the Home Sweet Home short novel (translated by facets-and-rainbows on tumblr), you absolutely should. It's another wonderful in universe story about a time where Yukio was sick, and he quotes:
"Whenever I got sick, Dad would make me ojiya with eggs in it…It had such a nice taste, it was nice and warm…it always made me happy."
-congee: a type of rice porridge.
-Chenglong has a Taiwanese-American stepbrother called John. I will be translating the short novel that has that background sometime in the near future ;)
-I am living for the headcanon that the Liu family has some sort of immunity to time powers based on the sole fact that he didn't lose his memories in the movie despite Usamaro having no need to leave him with them.