Chapter 3
“Dinner is served!” It was a simple but tasty dish. Simmered fish. It hadn’t really taken him that long like Dai said it would but he didn’t really mind. He was just glad to finally be eating. After the boys had helped him set the table, they sat down to eat. It was dead quiet as they ate. Not that Dai was really complaining. At least it wasn’t the awkward type of silence. It was all fine until Kakashi popped a question out of the blue. “Are you feeling any better?” Dai almost choked on his food. Just great. “What are you talking about?” Kakashi furrowed his eyebrows, almost as if he knew Dai was trying to avoid the question, but he didn’t confront him about it. Instead he clarified. “Earlier today, you said you weren’t feeling well” Gai’s ears perked up at this news he was only just now hearing about. “You’re sick?” He asked. “I’m okay!” Dai replied quickly. And a little too defensively as well. He cleared his throat “I-I mean, I’m okay now that is.. It was just a little sickness! Nothing that I couldn’t handle!” Kakashi gave Dai a skeptical look and Gai just looked slightly concerned.
“Enough about me! How was your boy’s day at the academy? I’d love to hear all about it!” Kakashi seemed a little annoyed that Dai was trying to change the subject. Gai’s mood on the other hand did a full 180°. The rest of the dinner was just Gai excitedly talking about the new things he had learned and whatnot. The funniest part was when he and Kakashi started arguing about who had won some challenge earlier that day. Something about who did more pushups? Dai didn’t even know they kept count of the points for these types of things. But he supposed it just showed how dedicated they were to their rivalry. Despite how much Kakashi tried to act like he didn’t care. Dai didn’t mind the two of them talking whilst he just listened. Him and Gai do this all the time. He liked listening to him talk. Besides, he was just glad to have averted their attention from him. It’d been a while since somebody had worried for his well being. And he chose to keep it that way. He never really liked having to burden people with his problems. Usually it was him doing most of the worrying anyway. Specifically for Gai. Not that there was anything to be concerned about. He’d get a couple injuries here and there. And sometimes he’d get picked on. But he always kept his head high. A bright boy nonetheless.
After dinner, Dai cleared the table as the boys got ready for bed. By the time he was finished and entered the room, Gai had already fallen fast asleep. He leant over and placed a kiss on Gai’s cheek. “Goodnight, I love you..” As he was about to leave the room, he noticed that Kakashi was still wide awake. “Oh, Kakashi.. You haven’t fallen asleep?” The boy shook his head. Dai’s expression softened. He knew the kid had a habit of staying up and barely getting any sleep. “Kakashi, honey.. you can’t just keep doing this.. It’s harmful to your health” Kakashi’s expression was stoic. “I know..” Dai let out a small sigh and crouched down next to him. “At least get some rest tonight, okay? Please?” Was he really pleading with a child to get some sleep? Yes. Was it the first time he’s had to? No. Kakashi didn’t respond. But after a bit he raised his head to look Dai in the eyes and spoke. “You worry about me so much.. But do you ever think of yourself?” Dai raised an eyebrow “What?” Dai was confused now. Kakashi continued speaking. “You know what I mean. Earlier today when you were sick, you kept brushing it off and acting like it wasn’t a big deal..” Kakashi let out a tiny huff. “Because it wasn’t..?” Dai responded, followed by a sigh. “Trust me, Kakashi, I’m perfectly fine..” Kakashi shot him a glare.
“This is exactly what I'm talking about! You do this all the time!” Dai was taken aback by that statement. What did he mean by that? Surely he didn’t do it that often. “I do..?” He asked. “Yes!” Kakashi exclaimed. A little more loudly than he had anticipated as well. Thankfully this didn’t wake Gai up. “You think I don’t notice or something?” Kakashi spoke in a more Hushed and quieter tone. Dai had to give it to him. Heck, the kid was a literal prodigy. He wouldn’t put it past him to be that observant. He didn’t exactly know how to respond to Kakashi’s statement though. So he just sat there. Silently in thought. “Sorry..” Kakashi said after a couple minutes of awkward quietness. Dai shook his head “No, no, it’s quite alright. You have absolutely nothing to be sorry for, my dear boy. And anyways..” He took a deep breath. “You’re not wrong..” Kakashi’s eyebrows perked up at this and his expression changed to one of surprise. Dai smiled down at the young boy. “Here’s a deal. Promise me you’ll take better care of yourself and that you’ll come to me if you need genuine help.. And I'll do the same..” Kakashi was oddly quiet now and his expression was unreadable. He looked up at Dai, his eyes were slightly glossy. Was he… Holding back tears?
“Do you mean it..?” Kakashi asked. His voice a low mutter. As if Dai’s heart couldn’t break any more for the poor boy. Nevertheless, he nodded and continued speaking. “You know that you can always come to me for anything you might need. Whether it's just to talk, or if you simply just need someplace to stay, You name it.” Kakashi didn’t answer at first. “Okay..” He finally responded after a moment. Dai let out a sigh of relief. He gently ruffled Kakashi’s hair before standing up. Dai began to walk out of the room but stopped right as he was about to exit the door and turned around to say something. “You’re not in this alone, Kakashi. You may think you have nobody, but just remember that there are people in this world who genuinely care about you, okay?” Dai left quickly after that, not even bothering to wait for a response from him. Although he did genuinely hope that Kakashi would take what he said to heart. Dai on the other hand wasn’t really in the mood to sleep. Not after that dream he had earlier. But then again, he was way more tired than he’d ever been in a long time. Dai sighed, making his way over to his room and practically collapsing onto his bed. He decided he’d take his chances. What was the worst that could happen? After all, he made a promise. And he intended to do the best he could to keep it.