Big Book of Writing

One Baking Tin or Two? (Keitaro, DRA)

I don't know how I did it, but this is an art trade with a cool Korean artist! I hope they like this story!

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As the sound of a clock resounded through the room in the apartment, Ryutaro kept wishing that he could just turn it off or throw it against the wall. Unfortunately, Keisuke liked the design on the clock, so the blonde couldn't do anything to it. So the blonde kept lying on the bed.

This apartment was provided to them by the Kisaragi Foundation, who paid for it under their name. Thanks to the efforts of the sixteen students who joined the Kisaragi Foundation, their relatives were quickly located and taken into the safety of the foundation. All of them had been relocated to reserved floor levels of this apartment.

It had been a few years since then. He wasn't allowed to work for the foundation when he was a teenager, but when he finally became an adult, it took a month of begging his sister to let him into the active combat division. By then, she had cut her hair short and became the 'daredevil' of the active division.

In the active division, he was trained under the head of the division and his idol, Mitsuhiro Higa. He learned how to fight and how to save people, enough that he was given high respect among the soldiers. But there was another person he met while serving in the active division.

That person was more respected than he was, someone who he learned was called 'Keisuke Iranami.' Ryutaro had seen him a few times in the apartment floors reserved for the relatives of Class 79, this man was a bit older than him and was related to the head of the welfare division.

While they served together, Ryutaro and Keisuke became close to each other. They often spoke of their families and their lives before the Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History, but they occasionally talked about each other. And after a few months, Keisuke invited him to stay in his own apartment.

Keisuke got his own apartment room when they arrived because of an argument in his family, so he had been living alone for a while. He could take good care of himself, but it had been lonely. When Ryutaro heard the offer, he accepted it immediately so he didn't have to live with his parents. Those people often talked about gloomy things, especially since both of their children were soldiers in the apocalypse.

Ever since then, Ryutaro and Keisuke had lived together in one apartment room. Living with a roommate was more interesting, in Ryutaro's opinion. He didn't know how it got to the point where they ended up sharing a bed, but he didn't see it as much of a problem. Keisuke didn't toss and turn in bed like his sister did. Soon enough, their belongings filled up the room.

Today, Ryutaro was forced to stay at home. He had badly injured his leg during a mission, and the head of the medical services division had ordered him off-duty for an unspecified time. Keisuke was allowed to return home early to help take care of him, but that wouldn't be for a while yet.

Trapped in the apartment room, Ryutaro had lots of time to think to himself. Keisuke had helped him out lots of times so far, and he cared for Ryutaro a lot. The blue-haired man had always done good things for him, but Ryutaro didn't know if he was doing much in return. What could he do to thank Keisuke without it seeming awkward?

Ryutaro thought back to those talk shows that his parents would put on before the Incident occurred. He had often heard the phrase 'cooking is the way to a person's heart' on those kinds of shows. He wasn't good at cooking at all, but maybe if he made something for Keisuke, the gesture alone might be enough to show his gratitude.

He stood up from the bed and winced from putting weight on his injured leg. The painkillers he had taken had not started working yet. Ryutaro tried to ignore the pain as he walked to the kitchen and began looking around. He didn't have any idea about what he should cook, so he went searching for ideas.