Work Text:
Avira had about three hours before Obanai got back from his mission. That would be enough. She entered the kitchen and searched through what they had in terms of ingredients. Obanai didn't like sweets, or eating in general, but he always tried anything she baked or cooked. She remembered seeing some positive reactions to a few things. He seemed to enjoy bread, and she had noticed that he liked the sugar cookies she baked once. As for meals, she knew he liked things that were light and simple. She knew how to cook rice, and grilling some vegetables shouldn't be too hard.
With her plan of what to make in mind, she decided to bake the bread first since it would take the longest. She made the dough and left it to rise. She then started mixing up some sugar cookie dough, put them in the shape of balls onto the pan, and put that in the oven for about twenty minutes.
She washed the rice and put it in the rice cooker and then pulled out some vegetables from the cabinets. She cut up an onion and got some seasonings. She placed the vegetables and onions in a pan, seasoned them properly, and turned on the stove. She carefully watched the vegetables and quickly removed the pan from the stove when they were ready.
The rice was ready at roughly the same time, so she pulled out some bowls. She evenly distributed the rice, it wasn't a crazy amount since both her and Obanai aren't really food lovers. She then put the vegetables on top and took the cookies out of the oven, putting the now-risen bread in for 26 minutes. She set the bowls of food on the table and stacked the cookies onto a plate, leaving them on the table somewhere. After pulling out the bread, slicing it, and putting it on the table somewhere, Obanai walked through the door.
"Avira-San, I'm home," Obanai called as he walked through the estate.
Avira approached him with a bright smile, as always.
"Welcome home, Obanai-San!! Happy father's day!" She grinned.
Obanai looked confused for a second.
"It's father's day?"
"Mhm!"
Obanai processed for a second, before realizing she was saying that because she saw him as a father.
"Oh.. thank you."
"Of course. Come into the kitchen!" She took his hand and pulled him into the kitchen, at the table was all the food she had made for him.
Obanai paused, shocked. Gratitude rushed through him as he recognized that everything on the table was something that he actually enjoyed. Avira pushed him over to one side of the table and made him sit down.
"I'll be back!" Avira said, before turning and running off towards her room. She had spent the weekend at the swordsmith village, a privilege she had after being promoted to a Hashira after he mentor, Tengen Uzui, retired. While there, the swordsmith who created Obanai's swords helped her make him a new hilt. She also made him a charm to go on it as well.
Avira wrapped both up in a cloth and walked out. Obanai was still at the table, waiting for her.
"I'm back!" Avira said happily, putting the cloth down in front of him.
Avira sat down on the other side of the table and looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to open it.
Obanai looked at the cloth before gently opening it. He stared down at the hilt and charm. The hilt wasn't perfect, but he could tell she made it herself.
"Did you make this...?" He asked softly, looking up at her.
Avira nodded enthusiastically.
"I was at the swordsmith village all weekend perfecting it!" She seemed very proud of herself. Good, Obanai is proud of her too.
"It looks great. Thank you." He smiled under his bandages. She could tell he was smiling by the way his eyes squinted slightly.
"Thank you! I worked really hard!" Avira smiled at him as well.
Avira looked down at Obanai's untouched food. "Eat it before it gets cold!"
"Okay, okay." Obanai hesitantly reached up to remove his bandages.
She had seen his scar before, and she was never disgusted by it. Actually, she always told him it was 'badass'. Obanai was always relieved that the kid he lived with wasn't disgusted by his scar, it meant he didn't have to hide it at all times.
Obanai removed his bandages and picked up the chopsticks. The food looked really good, but he had never seen vegetables look that way. Avira noticed his confusion.
"They're seasoned and grilled, not steamed. That's why they look like that."
"I see." He was a bit worried now, but he trusted her. A bit.
He tried one of the vegetables, and was actually pleasantly surprised. It tasted really good, much better than a normal steamed vegetable. It was so flavorful, which he usually wouldn't love, but she did it in a way that made it flavorful but not heavy, if that makes sense.
"Is it good?" She asked, anticipating his answer.
"It's delicious." He seemed surprised admitting it.
"For real?"
"Yes."
"Let's go!" Avira pumped her fist in the air in a show of victory. She had worked hard to find the right seasonings that wouldn't make the meal feel heavy.
Avira and Obanai sat together and ate their meals. Obanai finished all of his food, which was a very, very rare occurrence.
Once Obanai was finished, Avira handed him a slice of the bread. It was lightly seasoned with cinnamon sugar so that it wasn't entirely bland. Obanai didn't really question her and decided just to try it. It was still slightly warm, and it felt like biting into a cloud. It was light and so soft that it almost melted in his mouth. He truly was blessed to have a daughter that had incredible baking skills.
Finally, he tried one of the cookies that she had made. It was very simple and not overwhelming by any means. Obanai had never been the kind of person to eat a lot. In fact, he typically doesn't eat at all, the most he usually eats is a very small amount just to give him some energy. Because of this, eating an actual meal felt honestly great. He hadn't felt this energized in years.
"Do you want to spar?" Obanai asked after they had both finished eating.
"Yes!" Avira said quickly. She had been training incredibly hard since she was promoted to Hashira. She needed to be closer to everyone else's level. She wanted to show off her hard work.
Obanai, being much stronger than Avira, won every match. But he was pleasantly surprised at how much she kept up with him. She blocked and dodged many of his attacks and even got in a few of her own. At the end of it all, Obanai was incredibly productive of her.
He had adopted her two years prior, when she was only thirteen, spoke no English, and had just gone through unimaginable pain. But even if she had wanted to quit, she pulled through, and now she's become one of the strongest teenage slayers Obanai had ever met. He was happy to call himself her father.