Simple Kindness
Ritsu got home before Takano did. At the end of the cycle, when everything went to the printer, he often did because Takano still had work to take care of. Ritsu did hear him go into his apartment, but he didn't hear the door close. It wasn't that big a deal, and anyway, why should he care about Takano when the man clearly didn't care about him?
Well, there was the time, of course, that he'd dragged Ritsu all the way from the train station when he'd passed-out before they even got home, but that didn't count. Takano could've just woke him up and avoided the most awkward morning Ritsu could remember having in his life.
It was about nine at night when Ritsu finally got curious about just what Takano was doing that involved having his front door hanging open for two hours. It wasn't that he cared, of course, he was just curious!
Ritsu ducked his head as he left his apartment, making sure to close his own door since he was making such a big deal about Takano's. As he walked the few feet to his neighbor's apartment, he could finally see what the problem was. Takano was passed out in his entryway, his feet on the doorjamb and preventing his door from closing. The man's briefcase had fallen to the floor and burst open, papers scattered all around him.
If Takano had been awake, or had woken up as he was dragging the older man out of the entryway and to his couch, or when he went back out in the entryway to clean up the papers, he would've denied he was doing anything at all and ran for it. Fortunately for him, Takano slept through this entire ordeal.
"Stupid Takano-san," Ritsu huffed, looking down at the man as he slept. He looked a lot more innocent than when he was awake, Ritsu would give him that. He was even tempted to reach down and take Takano's glasses off until the man rolled over on his stomach and Ritsu jumped back, pulling his hand in like he had just tried to stick it in a shark tank. Ritsu sighed and headed for the door.
Until there came a loud growl that could only have its origins in Takano's stomach. Still the man didn't wake up. He just rolled over again and scratched his stomach in his sleep. Ritsu did have some leftovers from cooking; he'd been able to make his first non instant or pre-packaged meal in a month, and he'd gotten a little over-zealous. He wasn't sure he wanted to leave and come back, though. If Takano caught Ritsu in his apartment…
Of course, that didn't stop him, and he left a bowl of reheated soba on Takano's table. After his task was done, Ritsu ran for it and slammed the door behind him, taking deep breaths and sinking down onto the floor. He could hear movement then, and Takano muttering to himself. He sounded confused, obviously remembering passing out in his entryway. Ritsu hightailed it back to his apartment before Takano had the sense to look outside.
The next morning, after Ritsu had had the best night of sleep he could remember in a long time, he got up to find a note slipped under his door. It just said 'Thank you.'
That didn't, of course, mean Takano wasn't going to give him hell the minute he stepped into the office. Some things never changed.