A Shinobi Approaches

"It's the best in town", Shiro said, grinning while setting everything down on the table and then handing Kai the change. "There were so many people in the store I thought I'd never get home again", Shiro joked and began to casually talk about the people at the restaurant. He was just babbling on to say something, so neither of them would get uncomfortable. "So... anything planned for today or are we going to stay here for the rest of the day?", Shiro asked.
With this act on he seemed really mature, all grown up in an instant. He had learned to be like this from early age on. Being obviously vulnerable was not good around strangers. Shiro had thought it was okay around family but obviously it was not. But he was okay with that. He would keep his act up, he was used to it.

Kai laughed and made small talk with Shiro... This new Shiro was different
to say the least, "Well your old enough to take care of yourself, so If you
want you can head out into the town, i here there's a place where all the
teens hang out..." he said.

"Sounds great", Shiro said, not showing how much he would rather stay with Kai.
"Where is it? You should show me, I'll only get lost", Shiro said, grinning.
Opening the boxes the scent of the best noodles and chicken in town filled the air.

Kai began to eat his food... It was the best he had in a while...
Comparing them only to his Mothers cooking... Like eating a
little slice of heaven...
"Erm sure, I'll get a clone to show you... It'll be easier, I'll
get a headstart in this book im reading..." he smiled... Weakly...

Shiro nodded as though he liked the idea.
Kai did not want to be with him. Not even to walk him to some stupid club...
"Great. I bet it's fun there... a lot of hot guys and stuff", Shiro said.
He wanted to provoke a reaction from Kai but his voice did not give his intention away.

Kai raised his eyebrow at Shiro... Was he that meaningless...
"What...?" Kai asked... He was confused Shiro had been
pouring his heart out lately and now... Now he just wanted
to forget everything they had... He grabbed Shiro's hands
and looked in his eyes "I still love you..." he said quietly
"I just couldn't handle being bound and defenceless like that"

When Kai started being honest all of a sudden, Shiro's act crumbled just slightly.
He seemed insecure and hesitated to reply.
"S-so... that was it?", he asked, taken aback by things being so... simple.
Slowly but surely Shiro seemed to melt down, back to his usual self.
"Why didn't you just tell me? I... I didn't know", he said, feeling sorry.

"It's not anything to worry about..." he said quietly...
"You should still go out and have fun..." Kai grabbed
his book and began to read.

Shiro was insecure what to do now.
Sighing he slipped from his chair and went over to Kai to hug him from behind.
"I'd rather stay with you", he whispered, guessing it would not harm to be honest.
"Unless of course I'm in your way...", he added. "I could read, too."
Shiro did not know that Kai had found out he did not know how to even spell his name.

Kai sighed... He walked over to the Bed table with Shiro's
artbook in it. He picked it up and threw it to him, "Don't
kid yourself Sialc" Kai said... "You can't read can you..."
he said quietly... "Don't lie to me..."

Shiro's face burned, he had turned red in embarrassment.
"How did you know?", he asked, sounding sad and disappointed.
He had thought his fake reading had been turned quite well.
But now that Kai knew about it, maybe Shiro could use it to his advantage?
"Can you teach me? Please, I promise I'll learn quickly. What was on the notes you keep writing for me? I want to read them. Please, Kai", he asked, holding his artbook like a shield in front of his body.

Kai sighed, "I've known for a while... I just didn't want to believe it...
and I could get some classes for you to learn but I can't teach you
myself... But I promise, I'll pay whatever it takes..." Kai said.

"Why can't you do it? I don't want anyone to know. And please don't tell Erika", Shiro replied.
It was obvious that he was very ashamed of not being able to read.
"It looks so easy when people do it, it can't be so hard to learn", he insisted.

"It's not that I don't want to... I just don't know how to teach it..."
Kai sighed... "Your secret is safe with me..." Kai smiled at Shiro...
"And It'll be very hard... When your young your mind is like a sponge
you take in everything... When your older everything is harder to learn."

"But I will need it for school, won't I?", Shiro asked, worried he might not be able to learn enough until then. "We can start simple. Tell me how to write my name. And yours", Shiro said, opening his artbook and sitting down next to Kai. Shiro had a pencil in his bocked, like he always used to since he had bought them. Handing it to Kai he hoped the elder would help him.

"Alright, I'll try..." Kai showed Shiro the alphabet and sounds of words...
"C and h together make the Ch sound as in Church..." He thought he
should cover the basics like he also showed Shiro how to write
by showing him the shapes of letters, he thought it would be easier
to only let Shiro use lower case and not to confuse him with capitals.
"This is how you write Kai. First the K we do a line up and 2 lines out of it
the A is a circle with a little stroke of the top and finally the I is a line
with a dot over the top..." He then showed him how to write Shiro...

Shiro had a hard time getting the lines right, and soon he was frustrated.
"I'll never get it right", he complained. He could not properly keep the shapes in mind.
"It just doesn't make any sense! Why does my name start with a snake and yours doesn't have anything in it that looks like anything. It makes no sense", he said, his voice sounding like he was defending himself, saying it was not his fault he could not do it.

Kai laughed, "Relax, it won't come easily, and what difference
does it make if the letter s looks like a snake... If anything it
would be easier..." Kai sighed... "Maybe I'm just a bad teacher..."
After all there were no bad students only bad teachers...

"But I don't want my name to look like a snake and I want your name to look like something so I can remember it!", Shiro complained, furiously crossing out his latest failed attempt on writing his name. He tried once more, this time having it look a lot more like "snlto" then "shiro". "Is it right this time?", he asked Kai, not really believing it was. Even Kai's name looked more like either "koi" or "ka" with a dot above the a because Shiro could not keep in his mind that a and i were different letters.

"Erm not exactly..." Although Kai had an idea... "Stay there,
Keep practicing..." he said as he ran off into the bedroom...
He quickly got dressed into quite a few clothes... It was hot
He walked back in and looked at Shiro... "Everytime, you
get something right, I'll take a piece of clothing off..." Kai
winked and stroked Shiro's arm...

Shiro stared at Kai, not sure if he was mocking him.
When he decided Kai was probably not, he also decided to try harder.
After all, he wanted nothing more than to catch up with what he had missed earlier this day.
"Right. You still have a present for me, if I remember correctly", Shiro said, smirking.
After a while, his Kai actually changed from "koi" to "yai" to "kai". He had managed to write a whole line of Kai's. His own name had changed from "snlto" to "snito" to "snitai" and finally to something vaguely looking like "sniro". The h was troubling him a lot.

Kai was beginning to get hot... The night was starting to draw in and finally Shiro had something right, staying true to his words Kai took his Jacket and Shoes off... He smiled at Shiro he was proud of his achievements... He looked at the nearby clock and noticed it was really late... "Shiro... We'll have to continue this not tommorow but the day after..."

Shiro was disappointed, he had hoped for a little more of a reward. What was worse was that Kai reminded him that tomorrow was Erika's day. Getting up Shiro pouted, putting his hands on Kai's hips and pulling him close. "Are you that tired?", he asked, rubbing his crotch against Kai suggestively.

Kai laughed and said "Unfortuantly, I am... I'm sorry" he said, he pulled
away from Shiro and began to undress, "I'm going to bed, you're welcome
to join me, but I am going to sleep" he laughed...

Shiro was seriously disappointed now. However, he did not complain anymore but undressed himself and lay down beside Kai in the bed. Being rejected for the second time today had him thinking again, although he tried not to. Also, laying on his back painfully reminded him of his burned skin, so he turned to his side, facing the wall, his back to Kai. "G'night", he mumbled, still sulking.