Are You Sure I'm Not A Villain?

13

TW: some real cheesy shit

Casey quietly walked over to Kai, wanting to catch him off guard. Just as he was about to shake his friend's shoulder from behind, Kai looked up from his phone and smiled.

"You are so loud," he said.

"Am not!" Casey argued. "I was wantin' you to hear me so tha' ya didn' get too scared."

"Sure," Kai chuckled, tucking his phone in his hoodie pocket and smiling up at his gap-mouthed friend. "If that's true, then I'm an evil villain."

"Are you?" Casey asked, suddenly serious.

Kai blinked his eyes quickly in disbelief. "No?"

Casey looked skeptical at Kai, narrowing his eyes. Kai's eyes fluttered away and looked around the stadium rink. He looked very suspicious, but Casey put it into the back of his mind. Maybe his friend was just playing along. Casey laughed and punched Kai's shoulder. It was surprisingly solid.

"I'm jus' kidding, man," Casey said. "Ya don't gotta be so uptight."

Kai laughed nervously. "Yeah, yeah," he said. "I'm just playing along."

Casey suddenly spoke, breaking the moment of awkward silence.

"Do ya wanna go get something to eat? I'm hungry after tha' game."

"Oh!" Kai exclaimed. "Um, sure! Where do you want to go?"

"Ya like Murikami's?" Casey asked.

"I have never been there before," Kai answered. "But it sounds good."

Casey stood up and held out his arm jokingly. Kai stood up with him and linked his own arm with Casey's. Casey led Kai out of the stadium and out into the bright sunlight. They walked along the bustling streets, arms still linked. It was all in good fun until the two boys started to get looks from some passer-bys. Kai blushed at the attention and unthreaded his arm from Casey's. Casey noticed this action and frowned at the cold feeling it left.

He led his very awkward friend to his favorite restaurant, hopefully no Purple Dragons would appear. Casey wondered if he was being too forward, or not forward enough. He shrugged off the doubts and held the door open for Kai. The restaurant was more packed than it usually was at night, which was when Casey and the turtles went as a group. The two boys stood in line together behind a girl with short hair. Her hairstyle was remarkably similar to Kai's.

"What do you normally get?" Kai suddenly asked.

Casey thought about it for a second. He came to the restaurant so often that he had tried almost everything on the menu, that is, everything except the tofu sushi (which in itself is illegal).

"Murikami makes a wicked Pizza Gyoza," Casey stated.

Kai squinted at the menu. "It isn't up on the menu," he noticed.

"He makes it specially for me an' some of my other friends," Casey laughed. "But since you are with me, I'm sure he'll make some for ya too." He flashed a wink. Soon, the line dwindled down and the two were about to order. The blind chef was standing at the register, smiling.

"And what can I do for you, Mr. Jones?" he said.

"Two orders of the special gyozas, man," Casey said. He turned to face Kai. "I'll pay?"

"We can split it," Kai argued. "You deserve something after that awesome game today, Casey."

"Oh, who is this?" the man asked. Kai assumed that he was Murikami.

"This is one of ma friends," Casey announced. "His name is Kai..." He trailed off. "I just realized tha' I don't know ya last name."

"It's a mouthful," Kai lied. "It is best if you don't know it."

Casey shrugged, not questioning it. He turned back to Murakami. "This is Kai and he's ma friend from school," he reiterated.

"Oh, wonderful," Muricami said. "I'm so glad you are making some human friends, Mr. Jones."

"Human?" Kai asked. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, nothing," Murikami giggled. Casey's face went red. After a moment of awkward silence, Murikami held out his hand. "That'll be fifteen sixty-seven."

"Huh," Kai said, thoroughly surprised at the cheap price. He looked up at Casey. "I'll pay the full price."

"No," Casey argued. "I insist. I can' have ya pay for something I invited ya to come with me for."

"Please," Kai said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. He passed the money to the waiting chef. "I'm not a damsel in distress."

"Are you sure about that?" Casey joked, nudging Kai's ribs.

"Har har," Kai snapped. 

The two moved away from the register and waited for their food to be ready. It was much too crowded in the restaurant, so they walked with the white smiley-faced plastic bag. The two walked around the city, trying to find a spot to eat. They decided on a picnic bench overlooking a small playground that they probably both used to play on as children. There were two families there, more than likely on a playdate or something strange. Kai never knew what was so special about playdates, probably because he never was able to have one.

Casey sat the plastic bag on the metal grated table. They sat across from each other, grabbing their meals. Kai noticed that Casey reached for the fork that was sitting at the bottom of the bag.

"Do you not know how to use chopsticks?" Kai asked, clacking his own between his fingers.

Casey looked away embarrassed. "No," he mumbled.

Kai smiled. "It's fine," he said. "Here, look. I'll teach you."

Kai reached into the bag and grabbed the second set of chopsticks. He unwrapped them and held them out to Casey. Casey accepted the pieces of wood and awkwardly tried to copy Kai's finger position. Kai laughed and put his chopskits down on the table. He stood up and leaned over the table, moving Casey's fingers to better hold the chopsticks.

A slight red flush appeared on Casey's nose when he saw their intertwined fingers. Kai's dark hair tickled his wrist because of how close the two of them were. Why was he feeling this emotion? He never felt this way before and was just confused about these newfound feelings.

"There," Kai announced. He pulled away and picked up his chopsticks and picked up a gyoza. Casey followed his example and surprisingly was able to pick up the tasty food.

They ate the food in comfortable silence, sitting together and feeling the crisp breeze of the autumn air. They were soon finished and the city was lit up with the yellow glow of streetlights.

"Wow," Kai said. "It got dark fast."

"Yeah," Casey said dejectedly. "Ma old man probably wants me back soon."

Casey didn't want to leave just yet. Talking with Kai was fun when they weren't at school and they could just be themselves. He still didn't know Kai as much as he wanted to, but he figured that Kai had trouble opening up and trusting people. He didn't think anything of it.

They stood in silence, the plastic bag rustling under the wind, trying to escape from under Casey's phone that weighed on top of it.

"Want me to walk you home?" Kai suddenly offered.

Casey was surprised. "Sure."