Scuff Scuff
Scritch Scratch
Fwip
Scuff Scuff
Recently, he had begun to write things in a notebook. He never told me what he was writing, he just sat there and I watched. Each time he wrote the look of frustration on his face grew.
"Hey is something wrong?" I asked.
He looked down at me and growled but gave me the notebook. It each page was full of scribbles. A few of the scribbles looked like words.
"Are you trying to write?"
He nodded in response.
"Can you read?"
He shook his head. I got up and walked towards him. I put my hand on his back and rubbed soothingly.
"Let's get something from the store. I'll teach you how to read and write."
He looked at me confused for a few seconds but then he nodded his head. He grabbed my hand and led me through to a room. He sat me on the bed whilst he picked out some clothes. He came back with a beanie, an oversized hoodie, some overalls, socks and combat boots. It's seemed like this was his style. He took his clothes off and dressed in a similar beanie. I black and white striped shirt with a plain black shirt over it, black ripped jeans, socks and some high-top vans.
He held my hand and took me to a place I hadn't seen before. It was his living room. It was dark. The curtains were closed and the television was off. Energy drink cans were scattered everywhere along with some garbage bags. He led me to the door and opened it. I felt the fresh air brush against my cheeks, it felt cold but I liked it. The autumn leaves scattered against the ground. November.
"Hey, how do you earn a living if you can't read or write?" I queried.
He chuckled "Well, my little bunny rabbit, that story comes with a sad little story. It's about a guy, who's hated by everyone. Strangers, his peers. Heck, even his own family. All of them despised him, to the point where they paid him to stop existing. I'm a mistake, to my parents and everyone else for that matter. It's one of the best jobs I could ever ask for."
I frowned "I feel sorry for you. Nobody understands you. You may be strange but we all get thoughts like yours now and again. It's just you let them flow out of your mouth."
He looked at me, a little perplexed. He opened his mouth to speak just as the Uber pulled up. The car honked, silencing him. He held my hand tighter and led me towards the car.
We sat inside of it. It was a little warmer compared to being stood outside, but cold nonetheless. I began shivering a little, unconsciously snuggling up to Ichiro to warm myself up. He let go of my hand and reached inside of the bag that was in between his feet. He pulled out as scarf and some gloves which he dressed me with "I'm not looking after you if you get a cold."
I smiled, knowing he didn't really mean what he said. He hadn't returned his hand to mine. It as place upon his lap as he clenched it and unclenched it. I placed my hand on his and intertwined our fingers. He looked down at me and shook his head. For a split second, I thought I saw a smile.
We arrived at the shopping mall. I thought of all the things we might need in my head. It was busy inside. It was understandable as it was coming close to Christmas. I kept thinking about what things I would need to teach him. I'm glad I asked about his money situation. At least now I know I can get some quality items to teach him well.
I stopped thinking when I bumped into someone. I looked up at them and saw a tall male in glasses. I recognized him. As soon as I saw him, anxiety came flooding back. My body was shaking. Ichiro had been pulling me along but he noticed when our hands parted from me bumping into someone. He turned around and saw me staring up at the person, scared. The male smiled at me and said "Hello Mika~"
I began stepping back towards Ichiro. My back hit his chest but I couldn't take my eyes of the person in front of me. Arms wrapped around me, comfortingly. I looked up and saw my knight in shining armour. He scowled at the male and dragged me away. I smiled, relieved that I had been saved from the situation. "Mikaela, make sure it never happens again. Otherwise, I'll end up killing him."
I blushed a little at the gesture.
We walked into a store. It was filled with books and different pieces of stationery. At this point, I was the leader. I went from shelf to shelf picking up notebooks and different books to read. I ended up choosing "Green Eggs and Ham" by Dr. Seuss and Peter Pan by James Matthew Barrie. We got to the till and placed them down to pay. The cashier smiled "Adopting a child?"
Ichiro shook his head "No, he's my tutor."
As we walked out of the store with the items, the cashier just stood behind the till in awe.
We made our way home and sat down with the items. I thought it was best to start reading first. I picked up "Green Eggs and Ham" and opened it up to the first page. "Okay, let's get you reading this first. I want you to follow along and memorize the words."
I moved my gaze towards the book and began reading. As I read the book, I stopped for a few seconds once in a while to check if he was following along. Each time, I always saw his eyes glued to the book.
After going over it 4 times, I gave him a chance to read. He took the book away and stared down at the words. Each word was parted by a few seconds. He was doing well. It seemed like when he got to each one he was trying to remember what I had said. As he went on he gradually got a little bit faster. This book was a perfect choice as it contained a range of vocabulary which would make reading other books a little easier. My smile grew more as it got easier for him to read the book. He even smiled when he read the book fluently.
Once we had finished our first lesson. I packed up all of the books and equipment. I was smiling like an idiot and didn't even realise it. I was happy that I had done something to help him.
I turned around and saw Ichiro by the door. He looked a little upset. I tilted my head in confusion. Was he not happy with the progress he had made? He managed to read his first book in just a few hours. Was it not enough for him? In my opinion, he did splendidly.
He looked towards his feet then looked up to me "Thank you, for helping me. Nobody's ever done something like that for me before."
I nodded "No problem. But, if you don't mind me asking, could you tell me a little bit about your past?"
He began walking towards me. When he got close enough our faces were millimeters apart. He held my chin and rubbed my bottom lip "Better sit down Princess~"