Days Go By | lavashipping

*.***-***.*

Kai's step was light as they strolled down the street, hands in his pockets.

“Does this mean I'll finally get to meet good old uncle Wu?”

“Nope.”

Cole threw his head back, frustrated. “You're no fun.”

“Why do you think we're only going now? I would've had you join the whole thing right away otherwise.”

“Isn't it a children's summer camp?” Cole argued.

“Well then, it's a good thing you're such a baby.”

The bright smile wasn't going to coax jim into ignoring such a vile insult, instead, Cole decided to make Kai's way to the dojo as hellish as possible – proving his point in the process.

“Put this on, it should fit you,” instructed Kai as he handed Cole a white uniform similar to his own. The locker room seemed to be more of an office. And a chicken coop, apparently. Cole didn't enjoy the idea of having to change his clothes in front of the chicken which seemed to have a personal issue with him but he had a more pressing problem at hand.

“Couldn't you have gotten me one of those fancy black belts?”

“No, you're a novice, that's how it works. You don't get to cheat the system.”

“But how will I look with all those kids?”

“Like the Hulk. Just less green and more conservative.”

Cole stared at his boyfriend, not even surprised at his antics. “You're really enjoying this, aren't you? You really want to humiliate me in front of kindergarten squad.”

Putting a hand over his heart and closing his eyes, Kai sighed in content. “Oh, I have been waiting for this day, it's finally here, life could not be more perfect.”

“What have I ever done to you? Is this what I get for my love and dedication? I promise I'll get better at cooking.”

“Cole, think about the kids for once. Do you seriously want to rob them of the opportunity to boast to their friends that they got to kick Cole Brookstone's ass one summer day in a children karate class? They're our future for gods' sakes, man!”

“Would you look at that, the history nerd cares more about the future than me,” Cole muttered as he took off his shirt, really hoping the chicken wouldn't disappear once she got out of his sight.

“Oh, I'm so going to enjoy this.” Kai stretched, practically doubling in size. “You done?”

“Changing or sulking?”

“Preferably both but you could see the pout from miles away.”

He was a huge blank spot on canvas in the sea of colourful belts. Cole found it quite unfair, being the only one with a bright white belt, while even the smallest kids had at least sunny yellow. What also didn't help were their curious stares, luckily Kai mastered the art of bringing all attention to themself. All Kai had to do was clear their throat and the class settled down in an instant.

Cole was fascinated, more so by the fact that he followed their lead without second thought, so maybe he should be more frightened by the sheer power of peer pressure. Then Kai flashed a bright smile, breaking the oddly tense atmosphere in milliseconds.

“Hey guys, how was lunch?”

The group erupted into a bunch of excited answers, the loudest and most excited being, “We got ice cream!” and, “Sensei Lloyd choked on the peas like ten times!”

“Really?” Kai asked, biting on the inside of his cheek which still didn't stop his lips from twitching upwards. “That would explain the ice cream.”

“Will you tell sensei Lloyd we told you? He made us promise to be quiet.”

Kai considered it, then asked everyone to sit down. Even then, Cole was towering over all the kids. Sitting in the far back at least brought little to no attention to it, which still didn't rid him of feeling like a clumsy giant. Somehow his current world was made of porcelain and a single wrong move could destroy the whole thing. Kai's cool attitude would've been a mystery, had it not been a regular occurrence. They sat cross-legged exactly at the opposite of the room, elbows digging into their knees as they propped their head up with both hands.

“Actually, I have a deal for you too.” He leaned closer and so did the kids. “You might've noticed we have a new student here, his name is Cole and he'll be joining us exclusively for today. He's a white belt so you have to help me teach him the basics.” Cole could only hope his queasy smiles weren't such an eye sore like his monochrome, stark white uniform. “If you promise to be nice, then we can just play games after snack break until the end. How does that sound? Not even a quick circuit exercise.”

Despite the reaction being even wilder this time, Kai still managed to quiet them down fast. “But you have to listen, all right? And if sensei Wu asks, it's all been Cole's idea.”

“What?”

“Yeah!”

Cole could only gape at him without any response, as Kai just announced a game of tag for warmup. Surprisingly, he wasn't the first to get tagged but that status didn't last him much long anyway.

Their team spirit got a chance to shine when Cole got teamed up with the kids with yellow belts and got to show them his lack of any knowledge whatsoever. Of course, even though they did manage to teach him a few moves fairly quickly, they even faster turned on him the moment Kai came to check on them.

His plan was to get back at them during the second half. Surely he can win some games, right? Granted, with their help but the stair have to be made somehow so you can use them. He was actually getting close, surprised at himself for lasting for so long in a round of sensei says when Kai ultimately betrayed him.

And that's how Cole found himself under a pile of laughing children in dogis. Truly an experience.