Gathering At The Dinner Table

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/49528279.

Rating: General Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Category: F/F, F/M, Gen
Fandom: Chainsaw Man (Manga), Chainsaw Man (Anime)
Relationship: Denji/Reze (Chainsaw Man), Mitaka Asa/Reze, Denji/Mitaka Asa/Reze,
Denji/Mitaka Asa
Character: Reze (Chainsaw Man), Denji (Chainsaw Man), Mitaka Asa, Yoru | War
Devil (Chainsaw Man), Nayuta (Chainsaw Man)
Additional Tags: Family Dinners, Hurt/Comfort, Childhood Trauma
Language: English
Series: Part 3 of Denji/Asa/Yoru/Reze fics
Stats: Published: 2023-08-21 Words: 2,369 Chapters: 1/1

Gathering At The Dinner Table

by Toggle1

Summary

Reze likes eating dinner with Denji and Asa at his place once a week. She decides that
maybe she should start helping out.

Notes

Another prompt from the Creation Devil Contractors Discord from LadyofBoneandIvory,
though I don't personally think this is one of my best for some reason. Still hope it's
enjoyable at the least.

I would I posted this yesterday, but I lost my power for like sixteen hours.

See the end of the work for more notes

Gathering At The Dinner Table

Reze had come to enjoy Sundays. More often than not they tended to be one of the more relaxing
days of the week, at least they were if she had any say in how they went, and it was a good time to
simply kick your feet up and relax the day away and simply hang out with your chosen people. It
could also be a good day to get some work done around her small apartment that she couldn't get
during the rest of the week, but considering how how little there was to do there typically, those
chores did take too long. But if there was one thing she enjoyed about Sundays the most was that
she, as well as Asa and Yoru, would eat dinner at Denji's apartment.

Adjusting the grip she had on the plastic bag in her hand, Reze stepped onto the street that would
eventually take her to her destination, and wondered what he had planned for today, her mind
wandering to the vegetables that he had asked her to bring over. Usually, she and Asa would bring
over some foodstuff at his request, since he had a limited budget and a big meal for four people,
even weekly, could stretch it a bit too think, and she had no problem with that. If buying some
extra ingredients was the price she was to pay for all of them to eat together, then so be it.

The moment she knocked on the door there was an eruption of barks on the other side, there was a
bit of yelling before it opened and Nayuta's annoyed face came into view.

For a moment, there was an uncomfortable twinge in her as she saw those eyes.

“Ugh, seriously? You're late!” she said, and that twinge was quick to die. “Late girl is finally
here!” she called out as she went back in, and Reze followed her, quick to close the door behind
her.

“Sorry I'm late,” she said as she closed the door behind her. “There was something wrong with the
traffic lights because they all seemed to be on the fritz.

“Hey Reze!” Denji greeted her, giving her a kiss on her cheek quick enough to avoid Nayuta's
view. “And don't worry about that, you're here, so everything is fine.” She handed Denji the bag of
vegetables and followed him to the across the room until she sat down at the chabudai, where Asa
had already take her place, scratching Meowy on the belly with one hand as he sat in her lap, while
with the other she was trying to push back one of the huskies. Meanwhile Nayuta had already taken
her seat on the other side of the table, where she had resumed coloring her artwork.

“Asa~” Reze was quick to deliver a kiss to the top of Asa's head before she sat down at her own
designated side of the table.

“House rules, no kissing!” Nayuta quickly argued, her eyes only briefly leaving her work.

“Be quiet you,” Yoru said, the switch between her and Asa almost seamless, before she switched
back, likely to let Asa take the heat for her arguing back.

Reze got a good laugh as Nayuta tried to argue with Asa, who did her best to ignore the young
devil, which only caused further frustration in the girl that resulted in a deflated anger.

With them at the table, and Denji at the stove, they all talked about their days, argued with one
another, and occasionally brought their attention to whatever was on TV. When Denji announced
that dinner would soon be ready, Asa tried to coax Nayuta into putting away her things, while Reze
gathered the plates and silverware before helping Denji bring out the meal, breaded chicken with
roasted peppers. It smelled great, and it tasted even better, so much that she is willing to ignore the
dogs trying to snatch every bit of food they can. Asa had on several occasions tried to argue that
they should have dinners at her house, saying that it was larger than Denji and Nayuta's place, that
she actually had chairs they could sit at, and it didn't have seven excitable dogs trying to eat their
meals for them. However between Nayuta refusing to budge, and their place being where Meowy
lived, Asa never managed to make it far.

Reze liked this, eating dinner with people she loved.

Their conversations continued, the dogs barked, Denji made sure that Nayuta finished all her
peppers, and when the meal was happily consumed, as per house rules, since Denji cooked she and
Asa cleaned up. They stayed for several more hours afterward, the usual casual interactions
between them going on before they all sat down at watched a movie on TV. By the time 9:00 rolled
around it was time to leave, as there was school tomorrow and Denji wanted to make sure that
Nayuta got all the sleep she could. When their goodbyes were to be said, Denji would give her and
Asa a kiss at his door, much to Nayuta's protests, before they left on their own. When the time
came for them to part from each other, their own goodbyes and kissed were administrated.

It was a very good day as far as Reze was concerned.

000

After Reze woke up alone in her own apartment the next morning, she made herself breakfast, a
bowl of sugary cereal, and fixed up her lunch, rice and strips of beef leftover from her dinner the
other day. Both meals were not that interesting, but they satiated her hunger.

She couldn't help but feel it was lacking.

000

When school had been dismissed for the day, Reze found herself walking alongside Denji and Asa,
it was a slow walk since they wanted to prolong they time they spent with one another before they
had to inevitably part way.

“Hey, Denji?” Reze asked, bumping her shoulder into his.

“Yeah?” he asked, bumping her back.

“You think I could help you make dinner on Sunday?”

“Huh?” he asked, giving a curious glance, as did Asa to Denji's other side. “Nah, I'm good, I can
handle it by myself.”

“No, I want to help. I don't think it's fair you always do it by yourself.” She thought back to lunch,
with her tasteless beef and undercooked rice. “Plus, I want to learn to cook for myself. I'm not all
that good at it, so it wouldn't hurt to get better.”

“Well, if you're sure, I'd be happy to teach you.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it.” Reze smiled.

000

Growing up, there was a common area where all the children would eat. The food was nutritional
and bland, but that was fine since it filled her belly. Meals at some point had been some of her
favorite memories because it was when the attention of their instructors and handlers were at their
lowest and they were more free to do what they wanted.

000

When Sunday came and they had all gone to Denji's, Reze stood next to him as he prepared the
meal, beef curry and rice, a simple meal to start with. She watched him cut the meat, and took note
of how high the temperature needed to be, as well as to prepare the carrots and potatoes, before
moving onto the rice, and what needed to be done with it. In the end, it was a delicious meal, and
Reze took pride in knowing she had helped make something everyone had enjoyed.
000

There was this one girl, named Anya, and she was her friend. There were strict codes about
fraternizing with the others between classes, and with how heavily monitored they usually were,
meal times were always something she could enjoy. She and Anya would sit in a corner with their
trays of uninteresting food and talk and laugh about the few things that were interesting in these
gray hallways. There was a lot to be miserable about in those days, but she was happy eating
together with Anya, and that made everything seem better.

000

As the weeks went by, Reze would find herself at Denji's place at least a few times a week for
more cooking lessons, about how to prepare and season, making sure everything worked together
and keeping the kitchen clean. During this time she went out of her way to buy more varied foods
for her own apartment so that she could practice in her free time with her own meals. Over time she
got better, and decided that something as simple as eggs could use something more than salt and
pepper, and at night always made sure to make more than what she was planning on eating so she
could continue to enjoy it to the next day. Once she shared some of her lunch with Denji and Asa,
and it made her happy to see they had liked it.

000

One day in combat class the instructor had picked her and Anya to face one another. At first they
thought it was another mock battle, but the fight had not been called off even when she managed to
knock Anya onto her back. They were expected to keep going until the fight was called off. So the
fight had to continue, it had to keep going, and they had to escalate things. There was sweat,
bruises and blood, Reze lost a tooth, Anya twisted her ankle, but despite how much they wanted to
stop, how much they wanted to not fight, they had no choice but to continue.

Eventually the fight was called off when Reze broke Anya's arm, the bone piercing the skin and
blood pooling out of the wound. She and the rest of the children had been told to leave the room,
that class was over, all while Anya laid there on the ground, clutching at her injury and trying to
fight back the tears, all while the instructors stood over her and talked, ignoring her.

She never saw Anya again.

000

One Sunday, dinner is left entirely up to Reze. She was nervous, but she was excited to see if she
could make a meal that everyone could enjoy, and the dish she selected was what started this,
breaded chicken and roasted peppers. Practice made perfect, and as Reze went on with the dish,
despite the worry and nervousness, she found a certain confidence in making this dish, that it was
easier than she was had expected it to be. When it was all done, and the table was prepared, she set
her food onto it and let everyone take their share.

000

After that meal times became observed, there were always at least two men watching them as they
ate, and they were given assigned seating, with strong implications that they should keep to
themselves when they were not stuffing their faces. As a “reward” for besting Anya, she was
giving a slice of chocolate cake. It was delicious, but between how much she missed Anya, and
how the other children were glaring at her in jealousy for having cake while they did not, it ended
up not tasting all that good.
It might as well have been ash in her mouth.

000

To Reze's delight, the meal was enjoyed by everyone. Denji and Asa were more than happy to
voice their opinions on it and their praise, and even the hard to impress Nayuta said it “wasn't bad.”

It actually made her more happy than she thought it was.

000

Looking back, maybe this was born out of some envy she had towards Denji and Asa.

For all the woes Denji had suffered in his life, there was always someone by his side to share meals
with. First there was the bread he shared with Pochita, and on holidays mixed flour and water for
what he called cake. After Pochita, Aki cooked for him and Power, where Denji could experience
real meals, and have some of the happiest memories from that time of his life. After them, and he
had been by himself for a while, he taught himself to cook because he felt that the “food” he had to
eat deserved a more respectful treatment, and it was ironically those skills he learned that allowed
him to provide for Nayuta when she came into his life. Meanwhile, for most of her life Asa had
parents who loved her unconditionally, who were more than happy to provide for their daughter,
but they were both taken from her at different points in her life. After that she spent all her time
alone, similarly jealous that she didn't have anyone in her life to share those meals with.

Roughly one month was how long she and Anya were friends, and those meals they spent together
were some of the few times she felt happy during those times. Now that she's older, and free, she
was able to have the liberty of being happy more. Maybe that was the root of why she liked those
Sunday dinners with her partners so much. And why she was so insistent on learning how to cool.
She just didn't want to be happy, but she wanted to make other people happy.

It was the least she could do, after all.

000

“I think tonight was great,” Asa said as she and Reze had left Denji's for the night. “Again, I think
you did a great job with dinner.”

“Thanks, that means a lot,” Reze said, beaming.

“I mean, I could make something just as good. If I tried.”

“If you tried?”

“Yes, I've actually been reading up on how to cook. I'm certain that I could cook up something
good if I tried.”

“Well, how about this?” Reze asked, brushing her hand against Asa's. “If you'd like, you can help
us next Sunday, and show off just how potentially good you can be?”

Despite herself Asa flushed as she brushed Reze's hand back. “I'd like that.”

“I would too.”

Reze was looking forward to more cooking lessons, just for the excuse of spending more time with
Denji and Asa.
End Notes

Here's hoping Reze shows up in tomorrow's manga chapter.

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