Meal Time~

[SHISHIDO KYOUSUKE]

"Ryoko-chan!"

His musing voice resounded in the store. Kyousuke finished his classes a bit early today. He had been invited with other people from the school to go out. They suggested a karaoke this time. He turned them down, flashing a mischievous smile as he said he had other plans. This side of his did not often came out while at Ouran, but they were every now and then greeted by it. He assumed it was why some of them kept trying at him. Well, that and his good looks and promising future he supposed, but he never spent more than a second thinking at it.

Like them, he did head home but instead of getting dressed for an evening out of food and songs, he had other plans. Kyousuke had two closets at home. One for his regular clothes and other suits and school uniform required from a young upstart like himself. But there was another room next to his that he used. This one had dresses, wigs and makeup. He had grown pretty good at applying makeup over the years. Once transformed, a bright smile showed up on his face as he skipped a bit on the spot before heading out, barely having the time to warn the butler not to expect him for dinner, that he had plans. People at the house had grown used to his hobby. They were no longer phased by it and the man merely nodded while wishing his young master a good time.

He went to a grocery store nearby. It was high-end products around here. He got some vegetables and prime beef. No one seemed to notice anything wrong with him. His voice could pass for androginous, most must have assumed they had a genuine woman in front of them. And then he made his way to his friend's store.

He had met Ryoko back when he was still called Wataru Kyousuke. She had been a friend since childhood and his new status did not change that. Seeing her, he grew a smile that matched the tone he used to call her. He lifted his arm to show the bag he had been holding. "I've brought the dinner. Well, everything to make it anyway. We can have some great stew. Do you have to go pick your son first?" Kyousuke was a lot of things, but subtle he definitely was not. Nor did he seem to get that her kid may be too young for stew. But that was not a problem, since he thought of it for the two of them. If she could make it though, since all he knew of it was how to throw everything in it and savour. But wasn't it exactly how that was cooked?

[WATANABE RYOKO]

Ryoko was glad that the day was coming for an end and was hoping that she wouldn’t encounter a certain customer. She had done so well at not facing Hideo since the past year and ever since he showed up at the bakery where she worked with his friend her life turned into a mess. People suspected her to be a gold digger, which she certainly wasn’t; the proof was that she was spending time with a good friend of hers, Kyousuke, who was in Hideo’s league. She didn’t want to have to face Hideo’s family, or Hideo himself. He clearly didn’t remember her and it hurt knowing that he didn’t. She was mad at him for that since thanks to him as well as thanks to her, she had been pregnant and was the mother of a wonderful son. She was still upset at the man though, for thinking that all she wanted was his money. Did he think she was spreading rumors about herself just so she could have money? Probably, and he was wrong for thinking so.

She was having those thoughts ever since the beginning of the day and she needed a break, luckily for her, Kyousuke would allow her to have one. She smiled at him, not surprised at all that he was wearing women’s clothes. Even at the bakery, they were grown accustomed to his antics. It was funny to see how she was friends with flamboyant people while she was so…boring. Her dreams were destroyed by one person and the blame was only on her. Life certainly was unfair when you thought of it that way.

She decided to shove those thoughts away when she paid attention to him, happy knowing that her shift was over. “Yes, I need to get my son first, you want to join me? He’s at my friend’s house it’s close to the bakery.” She was thankful that they were close to where she worked, if anything happened to her son, she would be ready to run at the kid and it would be good for her to be around someone who wasn’t going to point their finger at her.

[SHISHIDO KYOUSUKE]

To be true, the main reason why Kyousuke invited himself to dinner with Ryoko had a lot to do with a certain other person. He knew quite a lot about what happened in her life in the past two years. It would have been impossible not to have picked it up when she got pregnant, it was not something all that easy to hide. And, unlike some other people who turned their backs on her, Kyousuke stayed. He also liked her little boy, eve if, at his age, he was unable to get that Kyousuke as a guy was the same person as who he was looking like right now. He didn't mind. The boy would have plenty of time to get used to this, if Kyousuke even kept crossdressing for this long.

Ryoko represented his old self and that was another reason why he liked meeting with her. She didn't react too badly at him and his 'hobby' too. It was very good for him, as he could then be who he was without any restraint. How many at the bakery knew that he was actually a guy? He was not trying to change his voice, but he didn't have the deepest of voices either. And when he came in chirping like he did, he looked even less manly. But he was just in a happy mood and didn't care what they thought of him.

He nodded with a bright smile. He had no problem walking with her to get her son, since they'd likely walk after that all the way to her place. "Kinda curious to see how much he's grown," he added. He wasn't even two, right? He must still be in a phase where he grew a lot between every time he met the infant. Kyousuke stood there, the bag of grocery in his hands in front of him, waiting for her to be done and walk out of the store with him.

[WATANABE RYOKO]

Ryoko wasn’t an idiot though, she was aware that his friend would want to have more details about the little encounters that she has had with Hideo. He hadn’t help his situation to make her think that he was a jerk. Kyousuke was one of the few people who made it tolerable for her to talk to people from Hideo’s league, because of course, she was probably seen as someone poor with little pedigree to all of those rich kids. They probably were talking of her a lot among Kyousuke’s circle of people and she did wonder about if it was as much as she feared it would be. She had tried to keep a low profile as much as she could, until his said friends decided to ruin her life. She understood that they were upset at him, she was too, but it was none of their business and she never wanted to involve Hideo in this because he clearly had better things to do and better women to do as well. The thought left a bitter taste in her mouth but Kyousuke was able to make her forget a little what mess she had gotten herself into. She had to be strong, if not for herself, at least, for Taiki.

She smiled when they talked of him, which made her forget a little what she was going through and nodded. “I don’t think he’ll remember of you but I know last time he liked you.” She said lightly. She walked back store to get her things and let her apron there before waving goodbye at her co-workers. She did wonder about if their opinions of her changed with all of this, but she tried not to think too much of it before she went back in the front heading towards Kyousuke. “You want to go to my place after that?” She suggested, thinking it might be odd to cook for him in his huge house; because she had seen it once or twice, didn’t mean she felt comfortable in it.

[SHISHIDO KYOUSUKE]

Having lived in a similar environment as Ryoko for more than half of his life, Kyousuke had no problem with what would be referred to as the middle class. He went to public school before and had meals based on what was on sale at the grocery store. True, being legally adopted by his father and brought into his family as lifted his status quite a bit but he didn't think he had changed much. He did try to keep in touch with his old friends. It wasn't always easy of course, age, school, and interests change and you drift apart, but Ryoko remained one he stayed close with.

He didn't know why they didn't lose contact over the years but there they were. Seeing how she was treated after she got pregnant must have helped. Kyousuke would have been able to spontanuously suggest they marry or that she named him the father, if that were to help, but he knew she wouldn't have that. She didn't like him in that way and was too independent to do something of the like.

He laughed a bit as she admitted that Taiki might not remember him. "Was I dressed like this last time?" he asked. It wasn't like he chose to crossdress every time he went out. But if Taiki remembered him as a boy, seeing him like this would definitely not help him remember who he was. He laughed again at her question. "Well, I hope so. Where else are we going to cook dinner?" he asked, lifting the bag of groceries he had brought with him. He had no problem dragging her to his family's place but that might be odd to invade the kitchen when staff was busy there. They might not have a lot of personnel but he could not remember a time when his father or brother cooked anything.

[WATANABE RYOKO]

Ryoko was glad to have people like Kyousuke in her life. They were helping her to stay sane in this madness she had gotten herself into. Why did she have fall for Hideo enough to let him go all the way with her? Even she, started to wonder about it. While she thought before that he could have emotions and be kind, now all she saw was the unpleasant character he was towards her and it was hard to have her change her opinion on him after that. She knew how he was with ladies and didn’t want her son to have anything to do with that. He could have a better father figure than this. Besides, Hideo didn’t agree to have a son either and yet, here he was with Taiki. She even considered changing of job when Hideo’s friends showed up. She didn’t want the attention, nor the money. She just wanted to live her life.

Kyousuke made her forget about it for a moment and she was thankful of it. She smiled as he questioned her. “I don’t think so but I don’t think it would phase him much.” She said, after all, children didn’t care about what you wore or who you liked. She liked that about them, their innocence and the fact they didn’t judge others because of various clichés.

They headed home and once they made it to her place, she opened the door so he could get inside too and closed it after that. “Here we are.” She said before setting Taiki on a blanket not so far from the kitchen so she could keep an eye on him as he played with his toys.

[SHISHIDO KYOUSUKE]

Kyousuke had no idea just how much was going on in her head and all of the worries she carried but he was glad she chose to remain his friend even when he moved to live with his father and half-brother. He also wanted to be there for her. They went through a lot as childhood friends, even if the worries they faced back then had nothing to do with those they were going through as young adults.

"He'll probably think I'm two different people. But he's maybe a little too young to really notice right now." He would probably have to be careful then later on, but who was to say if when Taiki would be four or five that he'd still be into crossdressing. He found it amusing and it allowed him to let out another side of him, but who was to say if he'd still be into it or still need to do that in the future.

They arrived at her place and Kyousuke was last to enter. "Welcome back home Taiki-kun!" he chirped. He took off his shoes and headed towards the kitchen area to put the bag of groceries on the counter. "I guess I'm appointing myself your kitchen helper for today," he told Ryoko once she set down her son.

[WATANABE RYOKO]

Ryoko smiled, glad to be able to talk to a friend she was comfortable with. He was a nice person and to know that he remained the same despite his change of status made her feel better. She didn’t know what she would have done if it wasn’t for him and her other friends. She probably would have been lost considering her family wanted to do nothing with her. It was odd how Hideo’s parents seemed to welcome her more than her own parents. At least, they didn’t call her a gold digger unlike what Hideo said.

She nodded as he said her son would see him as two different people. It was true that Ryosuke had some skills into getting dressed up as a female. At times, she bet that some of the guys were looking at him while they were hanging out outside. It was good for him that he was able to assume himself so much- not a lot of people did that. “He is.” She said.

When they made it home, she took Taiki’s shoes off and put him down so he could walk around a little and go to his toys. The good thing was that her apartment was set in a way where she could keep an eye on him from the kitchen and had set up an area for him to play near her if he wanted to be with her. “Sounds good.” She said before she walked towards the kitchen and started putting her cooking material on the counter and pulled knives out so they could cut the vegetables. “What’s new with you?” She asked him to start the conversation as she put everything she needed out.

[SHISHIDO KYOUSUKE]

Kyousuke's sudden love for cross-dressing didn,t hide anything shameful. He did not think he was a woman, nor was he gay or anything that people would first assume when seeing him like this, knowing what he normally looked like. In a way, this persona helped him be himself. He had to restrain so much over the years, as he joiend Ouran and the world his father and big brother were from. He was ready to play the game, to an extent, but he loved this freedom to say and do whatever he wanted while being dressed this way. Besides, he looked pretty good. His father probably wished the extent of his rebellion was his love for dying his hair blond or grey instead of keeping it natural and neat, but at least Kyousuke was not insane enough to show up like this in front of his father's guests. Well, if that happened, it was an accident because he walked back home and didn't know they were there. He tried to remain discreet. He needed it, it was fun, and that world he was in had a severe lack of fun in it.

He let her take out what she needed to cook. he didn't know if he had everything. He mostly bought the meat. If she wanted more vegetables than what he brought, it was on her. Same for spices. He couldn't say he knew much about cooking after all. He set the ingredients on the counter so she could have a look at them. The meat was premium, same for the vegetables. He didn't buy anything cheap for his friend. "Not much," he answered to her. "The same old, I'd say. School, lots of brain-cramming, father, his friends... Aniki is stressed a lot more now, since he started working at the hospital for his training. But nothing much from me." He didn't mind talking of his big brother to her, even if he was not sure they could even recognize one another if they were to meet again. He leaned against the counter to look at her, waiting for instructions from her before doing anything. "And you? Did you visit his parents after all, what did they want?" That was, no doubt, ten times more interesting than detailing his studies at Ouran university.

[WATANABE RYOKO]

Ryoko looked at what she had to work on their meal and then grabbed the missing ingredients. She didn’t care having to pay for the spices, knowing what kind of quality food that Kyousuke got her. She wasn’t against having a higher quality meal once in a while if it meant extra time spent with a good friend in the long run. She glanced at Taiki to make sure he was doing fine and finished getting everything that she needed out and nodded her head slightly when he said that nothing much had happened since last time they talked. She couldn’t blame him, going to university was rather hectic. She was barely trying to keep it together herself with fewer courses, work and raising a child.

“Oh right, he’s doing the real thing now.” She said, referring to his brother since he was studying medicine. Making a mistake in that field would certainly cost more than in hers. She just didn’t have to sell it if her cake wasn’t satisfying enough or same was with her bread.

She frowned lightly when he questioned her about the visit at Hideo’s place. “I don’t have a lot to say against Hideo’s parents, but Hideo was a jerk.” She said to Kyousuke. “He’s convinced I want to embarrass him in front of his family, as if I’d do that, I have enough to deal with what I have now and I don’t care about his life. I never did I don’t see why it would change now.” The only problem was that he’d be more involved now if the paternity test proved her right and she wasn’t sure she liked that idea.

[SHISHIDO KYOUSUKE]

Kyousuke did not buy that meat only to show off about how he could afford this quality. It was true that he could afford it but he bought it to please her. She was a friend, he wanted to spoil her a bit, when he could. He wouldn't have minded getting meat on sale at the nearby grocery store instead, he just wanted to be in good company. Taiki was playing by himself. He would love playing with him but he thought he should help Ryoko instead, unless she said otherwise. Besides, he wanted to talk to her about what was going on in her life right now. He could still play with Taiki later, or another day. Kyousuke had a lot of fun with him.

He nodded as he thought of his brother. He really loved him. That was what he was the most happy about, having a brother, a family. "Yes. And in a couple of years, it will be my turn," he added. He was not sure he wanted to go in surgery, like his father and brother. In fact, he was not even sure he really wanted to be a doctor. He sometimes wondered about it, but what else was there to do. He supposed he still had some time before picking a department.

He had aother nod, a bit more serious this time. He tried to have a look at Hideo at school before after hearing what happened between them. He didn't have an opinion of him too much. He was not one he'd ever be friends with, they were too different. Hearing that he had been a jerk then was no surprise. At least the parents sounded better. He frowned though at her explanation. How was she embarrassing him, when it was his parents that called her? She was not the one who came to them after all. Kyousuke tried to see how one could think that way, what explaining there was to it, and he could not. "At least his parents were not as bad. What did they do?" He could tell that she was upset about Hideo so he preferred not to talk about him.

[WATANABE RYOKO]

Ryoko was happy to have a friend like Kyousuke. He was always there for her despite his status. Part of her did wish that Hideo had that in him but all she could see from him right now was the jerk who wanted to do nothing with her child, their child. She only wanted to take that paternity test already so it would shut his little mouth up once and for good. He couldn’t call her a gold digger or someone who wanted to go up in their world if she wanted. All she wanted to do was to get the bakery of her dreams and bake. She didn’t want fame or fortune. She just wanted enough money for her and Taiki to live comfortably.

She smiled as Kyousuke said that it would soon be his turn to become a doctor. “I’m sure you’ll be a good one.” She said, meaning her words. If that’s what he wanted to be, he could and she bet that he would have a good name just like his father had and his brother would. They were a good family.

“They were not, it was just plain awkward, it’s not like I tried to reach out for them but his stupid friends decided it was otherwise.” She couldn’t hate them completely for what they have done but she would’ve have preferred the life she had before than now having to face her mistake for the second time. “They invited me for dinner and want me to take a paternity test, if it proves he is the father, they want to contribute to the well-being of Taiki.”

[SHISHIDO KYOUSUKE]

Would he be a good doctor? Sometimes, he felt like it was a lot of pressure, more than he was willing to bring into his life. After all, he was already rebelling by dying his hair and showing up in clothes like the ones he was in right now. It would be pretty scandalous if someone was to point out that he as a doctor loved to cross-dress in his time off. He would also have to keep his hair dark, of course, but he already figured out it would be something he'd have to do regardless of the job.

He realised he still had said nothing in response to her words of encouragement and that she may get the wrong idea about it. He had a nervous laugh and brushed a hand in his wig. "Don't put pressure on me like that," he teased her. He didn't want to think about it.

She mentioned Hideo's friends. Kyousuke had a pout as he thought of it. "Maybe they expected something like that to happen at some point, if they knew their son and were just on the lookout when his friends found out," he suggested. He no doubt said something similar the first time she mentioned it to him.

He nodded at what happened. That sounded more than reasonable, if still a bit shocking. At least it didn't sound like they wanted to bury this story. Or maybe it was the case and they were disguising it for now as 'contribution' to their grandchild's well-being. "Well, it's not like they don't have the means to do that," he said. The first thing he did when Ryoko first told him the state she was in was search about Hideo after all, and he knew of his background. He also knew that Ryoko was not in for the money but it seemed fair they would help. "Are you going to accept?" She worked so hard, a bit of money extra would be more than welcome.

[WATANABE RYOKO]

Ryoko didn’t think she was putting pressure on him, she knew he would if that was what he really wanted, but at times, she started wondering about if it was the case, and if he wanted that for himself. They never really talked it through, hence they often were taking care of Taiki and talking about anything but their own personal lives. Unfortunately for her, events turned around and she had to face a different sort of crisis. “I know you will if that’s what you really want.” She noted.

She just hated that they made it sound like she was the one looking for fame and money while it wasn’t that at all. At least, Kyousuke understood that much and she felt like she could vent it out to him. She hoped that he didn’t mind but she figured it was not the case hence he was the one who brought up the subject. “Probably but if he was to find out, it wasn’t how I would have liked it to have happened.” She admitted. How could it have? She didn’t know, but certainly not this way.

“True but it feels awkward and I’ll look like a gold digger.” She said with a tired sight as she started cooking. It would distract her enough. “I don’t know, I’ll think it through.” She admitted. “I do want Taiki’s well-being but I don’t know if I can trust them. Even less Hideo.” She added.

[SHISHIDO KYOUSUKE]

He knew his statement was a bit silly. There was no way she'd pressure him. If someone did, it was his family, not her. But he meant it as a joke too, to avoid mentioning that he started having doubts about being a doctor. Or, at the very least, he was not sure about being a surgeon. It was why he still simply laughed it off with a dismissive gesture of the hand instead of adding anything. He'd rather focus on what she'd want him to do to help her. He knew he suggested to do something like a nabemono but she might have something else in mind.

She said 'he', while he was referring to 'them', as in the parents. It got him confused for a second, wondering if she meant the father. Then he relaised what father she may be talking of. "You mean Hideo?" He didn't get why she never wanted to tell him. It ached him a lot over the past two years, whenever he was seeing the guy around Ouran. No doubt the guy would have denied everything had she come saying she was pregnant. Or tossed some money her way saying to take care of it. Still, it seemed unfair that she was to bear the full responsibility. Kyousuke even thought he could pretend to be the father. What would his say, when the man had two women and families at one point? But that did not happen.

It was true that it may make her look like that, or that some would think that. "But they are the ones who want to help, right? Besides, we're not talking of demanding to live with them or have them pay for a nanny and a private school later, just enough for his basic needs." He looked at Taiki as the two brought him up. The infant was playing, unaware of what was being said right now and how important it was. She was right though, it was difficult to tell if she could trust them. What if they decided to take him away? Was that was his own mother thought when she agreed to let him live with his father? But, as someone who lived in this sort of fractured home, he knew what Taiki may end up feeling some day. "I guess you'll have to set your boundaries with them whatever you choose to do." But he had the feeling that, if they really wanted to take Taiki, they might not care for her opinion. But it was not how she painted them to him, so he thought it might also go not too badly. "His parents are not him. They are the ones with the money and desire to see Taiki. He doesn't have anything to say about it. You can just make sure not to leave him alone with them, in case Hideo shows up and it turns out badly."