"Kid?" Pako gave Akira a what-is-wrong-with-you stare. "What are you doing-yo?" he again asked when Akira didn't reply but just took him across the small, front yard.
"Stay outside for a while," Akira said in a quiet voice as he put the black feline onto the sunbaked ground.
"Why-yo?" Pako asked.
"Because you can talk," Akira said, and that was the truth.
"You can talk too," Pako said, "And so can that guy. Why am I being treated differently?"
Akira sighed. "Just wait outside for a while and don't speak in front of anyone."
"I'm hungry," Pako said, following Akira's heels.
"Hey. Stop walking behind me. Just wait outside for a few minutes. Please."
"Give me food," Pako said.
Akira sighed. "Okay. I'm bringing you some food. Have some patience." He paused. "Master."
"Now that you put it that nicely, I guess I'll wait," Pako said and sat down. "Hurry up, kid." His tail began to wag.
"Yes, Yes," Akira said and went back inside.
Kenji had his head poked out of the kitchen's doorway. "Oh, you finally back. I thought you ran away," he said and went back to the table after seeing Akira walking back into the tiny kitchen.
Akira couldn't tell if he was joking or being honest. "Don't you have anything to do today? Shouldn't you go back to the mansion?"
"Of course. I'm a very busy man," Kenji said. "It may not like it, but I have things to do." He leaned back and stretched his hands.
"Yeah," Akira said and sat across him. "It does look like it."
Kenji just shrugged and kept staring at Akira. Akira returned his stare, waiting for him to say or do something. But Kenji just kept on looking into Akira's eyes.
"What do you want? What are you waiting for?" Akira asked, feeling a nerve bulging on his forehead.
"I'm waiting for you to tell me the truth," Kenji said.
"Truth?" Akira raised his brows.
Kenji leaned back and swung his left leg on top of his right leg. "Why did you skip school today?"
Akira covered his face. "I told you I was tired."
"Tired from doing what? Flipping the pages of your book?" Kenji snorted as he peered down at Akira's thin arms. "I can see that happening."
Akira felt his face turning warm. "L-look, who is talking. Have you ever see your lanky arms?"
"Hey, I exercise daily," Kenji said, his face turning red. "Fifty pushups a day. But that's not important. Tell me. Did something happen at school? Did you propose to a girl, and she turned you down?"
Akira frowned and grabbed the bottle on the table. "Stop joking around and just leave already," he said and began drinking from the bottle.
"Fine. Fine. You really want to keep it a secret." Kenji started getting up.
Akira choked on the water he was drinking and sprayed half of it out of his mouth when he saw the fridge behind Kenji rise in the air and began hovering out of the kitchen.
Kenji scrunched his face and was about to turn around and see the flying fridge when Akira threw himself over the table and grabbed Kenji's sleeve.
"What got into you?" Kenji asked and gave Akira a worried look.
"I..." Akira muttered. "I, I, I like a girl from my class and told her about my feelings. That's why I didn't go to school today," Akira said passionately while staring at the fridge that had now disappeared around the corner. Akira sighed and let go of Kenji's sleeves.
Kenji crossed his arms over his stomach and started laughing. "That's impossible," he shouted. "A wuss like you can never do that. If you don't want to tell, don't tell. But just don't say obvious lies."
Akira blushed.
"See you later, kid." Kenji laughed and shook his head.
Akira again grabbed his sleeves when he saw that Kenji was about to follow the fridge's path to the livingroom. "You are leaving?"
"Of course," Kenji said. "I told you I'm a busy man."
"Can't leave from the front door," Akira said at once.
"What? Why?"
Akira didn't answer and dragged the lanky man out through the backdoor. Soon they were standing in the backyard surrounded by grey, fence walls that towered over Kenji and Akira.
"What are we doing here?" Kenji asked, visibly confused.
"Climb," Akira said and pointed across the wall. "You said you do pushups every day, right? So, can you climb that wall?"
"Ah. I see. You want to test my arm-strength, huh? But isn't there a better way to test--"
Akira began pushing him toward the wall. "Just climb already."
"Woah. Okay. Okay. Fine, I'll do it." Kenji began pulling himself up the wall. A few seconds later, with some astronomical efforts, he was standing on the top of the wall. "See. I told you. It's easy for me," he said, breathing hard.
"That's great. I believe in you now," Akira said and glanced behind at the backdoor. "Now leave--"
"You are acting weird today," Kenji said. "It's like you are trying your best to hide something from me."
"I'm not hiding anything," Akira started, looking up at the man standing atop his fence.
"It's fine," Kenji said and gave him a genuine smile. "I only wabt know that no one is troubling or bullying you."
So, that's what he is thinking about? Akira thought; he thinks I'm being bullied!
"It's not like that! I'm totally fine," Akira said. "And climb down already. People will think you are a burglar."
Kenji snorted. "Look at me and my clothes," he said and grabbed the hem of shirt. "Can a rich guy like me look like a thief? Of course not--"
"Look, mommy, a robber!" Akira heard a little girl voice shout from beyond the wall.
"Don't point the finger at strangers, Ai," a woman's voice said, probably the girl's mother.
"What? Hey, miss, your kid has got a totally wrong idea," Kenji said and jumped down and disappeared on the other side of the wall. "Wait. Why are you going away?" Akira heard him say.
"Stay away," the woman said, "Please." Her voice was now coming from further away from the wall.
"This is a misunderstanding. Where are you going? Wait. Why are you running?" Kenji shouted.
Akira heard Kenji's footsteps as he alsi moved away from the wall. "Why are you running?" Kenji repeated.
Akira laughed as he imagined Kenji running behind the woman and her kid. Shaking his head, he went back into the house and found his fridge sitting in the middle of the living room.
"Yo," Pako said and poked his head out of the fridge. He must have heard Akira walking into the room.
"Are you out of your mind?" Akira asked. "Why did you move the whole thing out of the kitchen?"
"This thing tastes like crap," Pako said, completely ignoring Akira's question, and showed Akira an empty can of cheese.
Akira let out a tired wheeze. He didn't know if he should cry or laugh in this situation. "Please put this back into the kitchen," he begged Pako, slumping his shoulder.
"Ahh. What? Oh. Yes. Yes," Pako said. "Right away. Also, I'm completely full now. I think we can now start with your lessons."
"Lessons?" Akira asked. "Oh. Yes. Learning to control... What was it? Cosmic energy?"
"Yo," Pako said. "That's right, kid. That's what it's called. The cosmic energy."