Everyone else has chosen their rooms and started to decorate with their roommate. Akio and I are the last ones left that haven't chosen a room, so we're going to be roommates. I had hoped it would end up like that anyway; I don't trust anyone else with Akio.
Akio and I are left with the room at the end of the hallway. I open the door to the room and see an absolutely beautiful sight.
The whole back wall is almost entirely made out of glass, and the whole main lobby is completely covered with quartz. Looks like we got the master bedroom somehow. The living room is directly in front of us, the white couch enough to fit two five-person families. The TV has to be at least an 80-inch, because there is no way it could be any smaller.
The floor has white wall-to-wall carpeting, the kitchen off to our left. The kitchen is no less magnificent than the main living room. This room had to have been made for more than one person, I swear. I look to my right and see doors. That must be where the bedroom is.
I walk over to what has to be the bedroom door, leaving Akio to explore the rest of the room without me. I open the door and see a king-size bed, and a room adorned in crystals.
I hear a gasp behind me and look back to see Akio. I didn't even notice he had come behind me. He rushes into the room, and throws himself onto the king-size bed, pulling the soft blankets all around him like a burrito.
The smile that lights up his face is priceless.
I don't think I have ever seen him so relaxed before. He laughs as he realizes that he is tangled in the blankets and is trying to escape from the blankets' grasp. I laugh along with him and walk over to help him out. The light filtering in through the room from the floor-to-ceiling window on the right side of the bed lights up his face beautifully, almost making it look like nothing's ever happened. He smiles widely at me and hugs me tight.
"Woah! What is this for?" I ask, a smile on my face.
"I don't know, I just felt like giving you a hug! It seemed like you needed it," he says.
I smile and hug him back tightly. I let go after a few seconds and look him in the eyes. I know he must see the sadness in my eyes when I look at him because I can see it reflected in his. I quickly change my mood, trying not to mess up this moment. I walk towards the door, and ask him as I stand in the doorway, "Are you hungry? I can cook dinner for us if you would like," I offer.
He looks up at me from the bed and nods. "That would be nice, Hajime! It's been so long since I've had a home-cooked meal!" He suddenly realizes what he just said, and the gloomy mood returns. I look back over my shoulder at him and turn to walk back around. It's probably been forever since he's had a meal at all.
"Hey, It's alright! Don't worry about it! It's all over now, he can't hurt you anymore." Akio looks up at me, and I can see the sadness slowly fading away from his eyes. He smiles at me again, but it doesn't have quite the same light it had before. "Any specific requests?" I ask. He thinks for a moment, then looks back up at me.
"Make your favorite!"
I think for a moment, finally deciding what to make.
"Alright, then! My favorite, it is! It will be done soon." He smiles up at me, and lays down in the bed, curling himself up in the silky-smooth black blankets. He's probably going to be asleep by the time the food is ready; I wouldn't want to wake him up. I get up from the bed and make my way to the kitchen to start making the Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Marshmallows on top.
My mother used to make them for me when I was upset, or after a long day of training when I was younger. Akio probably hasn't had a good night's rest in months, maybe years, let alone a good meal. I get on to cooking the sweet potatoes almost immediately.
The Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Marshmallows on top are finally ready as I pull them out of the oven. I place the platter on a cooking pad and go to get Akio from the bedroom.
I slowly open the door and find him fast asleep and curled into a ball within the blankets, the light from the sunset coating him in golden rays of light, really bringing out the blonde streaks that flow throughout his hair. I stand in the doorway, leaning on the doorframe for a bit, trying to decide if I should wake him or not.
Akio must not have been sleeping that heavily, because he stirs at the sound of my feet walking across the room to the bedside. He groans softly, slowly opening his eyes.
"Is the food done?" He asks groggily.
I nod, and that same smile lights up his face. I look at the clock on the bedside table, it reads 6:36 pm, so everyone probably isn't even close to asleep yet. Akio sits up and slides off the bed. I go to follow, but then a knock on the front door of the dorm room catches my attention, along with Akio's. Akio looks back at me from the doorway of the bedroom, and I nod to him.
"Just go sit down at the table, I'll be there in a sec." He nods at me, and suddenly the smiling boy that was before me just a second ago is gone. Now, all of his senses are on alert.
I get up from the bedside, and head to the front door. I look through the peek-hole that's in the door and see Kane and Akihiko standing outside of the door.
I let out a sigh and look back at Akio. "It's just Kane and Akihiko, nothing to worry about." I can see the tension releasing from Akio's body, because it relaxes an immense amount, the tenseness in the air releasing.
I open the door, and I am immediately greeted by Kane. "You better tell me what smells so good in here, because I want some!" He exclaims.
"Same here! In fact, I think we all want some." Akihiko looks back over his shoulder, and everyone starts flowing down the halls. I knew this would happen.
"Well, good thing I made enough for everybody." And good thing we have a big enough table, too. Kane pushes past me and gapes at the sheer size of the room.
"Good, god, man! You've got a whole house in here!"
"And I thought our room was big," Akihiko agrees with Kane.
Everyone starts flooding into our room and sitting around the table. Whether they did it on purpose or not, but I notice that they leave me the seat on the left of Akio. I grab the platter with the sweet potatoes on it and set it down on the table. I then search the cabinets and drawers for forks, knives, and plates to put on the table for everyone.
Once everything is ready, everyone starts gaping at the food. I put a single sweet potato on everyone's plate. The sweet potatoes are quite large, so everyone should only need one.
"If you don't mind me asking, could you please explain to me exactly what this is?" Michi asks.
"That is a very good question, Michi! These are stuffed sweet Potatoes, baked in the oven to crisp the outside, keeping the inside soft and mushy. I then added some marshmallows on top of the original Stuffed Sweet Potato, and put it back in the oven, until the tops of the marshmallows are slightly browned. You then come out with this! This is a meal my mom used to make me a while back. I hope you all like it!"
"Wow, Hajime. I didn't know you could cook too. Is there anything you can't do? It's starting to get on my nerves." Ikari is being Ikari as always, but at least he's here at all.
"Okay everybody, dig in!"
Kane and Akihiko are the first to take a bite, and their faces light up. The next person to take a bite is Ikari. I can tell he likes it, he just doesn't want to admit it, so he hides his face with his hand. Everyone else starts eating, except for Akio. I look at him and ask him what's wrong.
"Nothing's wrong. It's just, I thought it would just be you and me that were going to eat this," he mumbles.
He must have noticed something I didn't in the sentence because his eyes widen, and his body tenses up, almost like he is panicking. "Not that I am disappointed! Just a little shocked! I'm glad to have everyone here enjoying your food!"
His body language says otherwise, because he looks back down at his plate, his wings slumped.
He scoots his chair back and stands up. "I think I'll just eat later. When nobody else is here," he mumbles softly, his wings twitching.
He moves to walk away, but I reach back and take his hand. He looks back, his eyes wide. I know he doesn't like being grabbed suddenly, but I do it anyway, even though I don't want to. I look him directly in his eyes with an intensity I didn't know I could muster.
"Please, Akio. Don't leave. You need to eat. Don't let everyone else stop you from doing that, for me?" I plead.
He looks back at me, a look in his eyes that tells me he might just walk away anyways. It surprises me when he walks back to his seat and sits down. He looks over at me, and I nod back at him with a smile on my face. He looks down at the food, and picks up his fork and knife, taking a single bite.
As soon as he puts it in his mouth, his face lights up. Not like before, but it's good enough for me.
"Oh my god, Hajime! This is amazing!" He says excitedly.
"I'm glad you think so, Akio. Now enjoy the food!"
Everyone has left our room and headed back to their own.
I am standing over the sink, washing all the dishes that everyone left behind from the meal. Akio walks up behind me, takes up a sponge and a dish, and starts washing with me. I look over at him, and he looks back.
"It looked like you needed some help. Plus, I needed something to do anyway," he mumbles with a small smile on his face.
I smile and look back at the dish I was washing. I dry it off and put it back into the cabinet where it came from. Akio finishes his and does the same.
Akio and I finish the dishes, and I go to sit on the couch. I take a look at the clock above the door on my way there. How can it already be 8:30? I swear it was 7:00 not ten minutes ago. I sit down on the couch, and Akio sits next to me. I turn the TV on, and we watch.
About thirty minutes pass, and I find Akio resting his head on my shoulder, fast asleep. I pause the TV and pick him up.
I take him to the bedroom, and place him down on the bed, covering him in the blanket he was curled up in before. I didn't realize it before, but I'm exhausted as well. I quickly realize that there is only one bed in this house of a dorm room, meaning that I have to sleep in the same bed as Akio. I'll just stay on the opposite side of the bed. After all, it's a king-size bed so there should be enough room.
I climb into bed on the left side, while Akio lies on the right. I find another blanket on the bed that Akio isn't using, not wanting to take his in the middle of the night, and cover myself, closing my eyes. I don't shift a lot when I sleep, since I lived with my father for my whole life. I quickly find myself drifting off into a dark sleep.
YOU ARE READING
Purotekuta
FanfictionIn a world where the majority of the population has a super power called an Affinity, animal characteristics, or wings, a young boy is entered into the most prestigious protector school because of his father. In his time there, he encounters countle...
