Sho was the Seeing Eye kid.

He had to be, sometimes, because they didn't put brail labels on things. He and Shimazaki had gone to a combini, which in England was called a corner shop, and Sho had to be the one to read labels on things and also he had to pay, too, because Shimazaki didn't carry money on him. He said that there was no point to it because he stole when he needed things or he had other people get him things and stuff. Sho was seeing for him because he really wanted double chocolate pudding, spicy cheese chips, and cherry coke…and Sho was the only person who could help him.

"Sho, what's in this can?" asked Shimazaki. They were over at the fridge section now. They had baskets full of snacks, Shimazaki had decided that when they got there he wanted everything that tasted good and right, and Sho was happy to read all the labels on everything in the store for him.

This was kind of like they were on an adventure.

Big sis had gone on an adventure with Shimazaki and now it was Sho's turn. Their adventure had taken them to a combini. He had no idea where big sis had gone with Shimazaki on their adventure but it must have been less fun than this. Big sis was kind of boring and stuff, even when they went for snacks she always got the same thing, not like Sho. He would try anything, eat anything, and do anything. He was fun like that.

And Shimazaki liked fun people.

"Come on seeing eye kid, I need you." Said Shimazaki. Right. Sho out down what he had been holding and took the can from Shimazaki's hand. Their fingers brushed. Sho felt their fingers touch…and he felt sort of warm…but that was just because of how they had just shared body heat after having been standing in front of the fridge section for a while. He knew that they had been there for a while and that other people would have wanted a turn but…but he wasn't going to move. Not when he hadn't read every single can on the shelf. He didn't care if his basket was heavy, or that he wasn't sure how much all of this cost, or if he wasn't sure how much British money he had…or even how their money worked…he didn't care. He and Shimazaki were on an adventure, a combini adventure, and he was going to keep this adventure going for as long as possible.

"It says that it's…Vitmo." Said Sho as he read the can. He had thought that his English was better than that. He had thought that he had good English but, obviously, he needed to practice. Shimazaki probably thought that he was so dumb. Minegishi spoke a hundred languages or something. They were his closest competition for being best friends with Shimazaki. Sho was going to do his best to win, though, even though he had just made an idiot out of himself.

"What the hell is a Vitmo?" asked Shimazaki. Sho flipped the can over and red the ingredients. That wasn't helpful. The can had fruit on the front but, like, all of the fruits. He had no idea which fruit it was supposed to taste like…or if it was supposed to be fruit punch…and if he gambled and said that it was fruit punch but instead it was grapefruit or something…and then he would have looked like a complete and total moron and…

"Uh…I think…" said Sho. He had no clue what he was supposed to say, maybe fruit punch? It seemed like it would be more likely to be fruit punch flavor but things were different in this country and nothing was as it seemed. Like how fries were chips and chips were crisps and people wore their shoes inside and also biscuits were cookies and cookies were biscuits cookies weren't for gravy but he had wanted biscuits for his gravy because he'd had a glass of gravy for breakfast and that was not weird because dad ate ketchup out of glasses and gravy was a liquid so it belonged in glasses and they should have canned it and-and-

"It might be…uh…" said Sho. He had to make words so he made words but they weren't the words that he had needed but he needed to stall for time and he needed to figure this out and he was being so boring and Shimazaki hated boring people and he was going to teleport away and leave Sho alone and-and-and-

"It's fruity flavored vitamin drink. Sort of like punch but not as sweet. You'd be able to tell if you opened your eyes. Just saying." Sho turned around and almost jumped. There was a girl right next to him. How long had she BEEN there? How had not sensed-no aura. She had no aura because she was a normal person. Right. There were normal people around him now. It was hard getting used to being around them, being this close to them, and stuff.

Especially other kids.

"I doubt that would help but if you insist." Said Shimazaki. Sho knew what he was going to do and he knew that there was nothing that he could do to stop him. He always did this when people asked him to open his eyes. It was sort of mean to do it to girls and stuff. They hated gross stuff. This girl would probably yell or cry or something and then Sho would feel like a jerk even though he hadn't done anything. Not that he would tell Shimazaki to never do that again. That was just a thing he did.

And Sho didn't mind when he just randomly opened his eyes anyway.

His eyes were cool when he opened them. Sho had been a little freaked out when they had first met but he had gotten used to it. It was gross in the cool way. He was the only person that thought so. Everyone else thought that it was gross but everyone else was super boring and stuff. That was why he was Shimazaki's best friend…well the best candidate for being his best friend, because he wasn't a boring person at all.

And he was not going to freak out when Shimazaki opened his eyes.

"That's bloody brilliant. Were you born like that or did you both your eyes in an accident? Or a fight? Or did you see something terrible and you had to gouge them out?" said the girl. It took Sho a minute to figure out what she was saying. The English that they spoke here was so weird…but then again most of his English practice came from books and TV. Still, he spoke good enough English to answer before Shimazaki did. He just…didn't much like Shimazaki talking to other people…and stuff. But that was just what it was like when you tried to make someone your best friend. That was why Fukuda never let him talk to other people when they were together. That was normal and Sho was normal.

"He was born like that. Sometimes people are just born like that for reasons." Said Sho quickly. He tried to turn around and get back to looking at cans with Shimazaki but…for some reason Shimazaki wouldn't let him turn around. He pressed his hand to his back and kept him from getting back to what they were doing. He didn't get it…but it was nice being this close. Even if Shimazaki smelled all skunky again…but you were supposed to want to be near your best friend so this was normal.

"I think it's brilliant…and I'm not taking the piss or acting the prick. I really do think that's brilliant. One time I saw a person who'd been born with six fingers but that's not nearly as brilliant as not having eyes…sorry about you being blind though." said the girl

"Um…" said Sho. He was still translating in his head what she had said. He knew what taking a piss meant but he got the feeling that taking the piss meant something entirely different…and he had no idea what acting the prick meant. He went through all of the English he knew…and came up with nothing at all.

"No offense taken, I'm brilliant and I know it. My English is pretty limited though, his is much better than mine." Said Shimazaki. Sho turned to face him even though his hand was on his back trying to get him to face that girl for some reason. He turned fast and faced him even though he didn't have to face him, since he couldn't see and he still had his eyes opened so the whole world could tell he couldn't see, and was about to ask him what he was on about, his English was better than Sho's, but Shimazaki cut him off.

"I can only do so much for you as your wingman. Come on, talk to her, you have her attention and that's seventy five percent of it." Said Shimazaki in Japanese. Sho had no idea what a wingman was, apparently he was bad at Japanese too, but he didn't have time to argue because Shimazaki turned him around so he could face the girl. He was strong, very strong, and a lot bigger than Sho too. That was why Sho let himself be turned around.

"What were you speaking? Chinese?" asked the girl. Sho could feel Shimazaki walking away. Great. Now he was stuck talking to some girl in a language he was bad at. Great. This adventure sucked. Shimazaki had better have been getting a loaf of bread for them to throw at the winter park ducks. That was the only thing that could have made this worth it. Sho didn't dislike girls, he just didn't have a lot in common with them, and also they had a habit of trying to hold his hand and kiss him.

He really hoped that this girl wasn't going to try any of that.

She was acting like she might. Her face was all red and she was shifting in place…but maybe because she had come in out of the cold. Her face might have just gotten red in the cold like his did. She was pale like him and she had red hair too. Red haired people were pale. That was neat, actually, seeing another person with red hair.

"Japanese." Said Sho. She leaned in really close…and he took a step back. Girls only got that close if they were trying to kiss him…and he did not want that…he stopped taking steps back. There was nothing wrong with girls kissing him. Girls were supposed to want to kiss him. He was supposed to want to kiss girls. That was normal and he was normal and…and if she kissed him then he would let her…and he…he wanted her to kiss him…

He really did!

She didn't kiss him though, and he was relieved, even though he shouldn't have been. He should have been wanting to kiss her and hold her hand and stuff. He was ten now, not nine, and not a little kid anymore. He didn't know what was wrong with him and stuff. He had no clue. He was as clueless as big sis. He sort of wanted to, wished that he had, gone with her and dad on their trip to wherever dad was taking her…but…no. That would have involved hanging out with dad and he would rather kiss a hundred girls on the mouth with all of that weird stuff that the pink haired girl had tried to do to him at the holiday party….and he SHOULD have wanted to do that more than wanting to hang out with his dad…

He didn't understand himself.

And he didn't understand her, either. She was so close to him that their noses were practically touching. He could see her freckles. She had them on her face like he did but she had more of them. Her hair, the hair that he could see peeking out from under her hat, was red but not as bright as his. He had no clue why she was so close. Was he supposed to kiss her? But he had just met her…but that was how things went sometimes. Like in movies where two people met at a party and then kissed and did all of the other stuff and then the guy neve called the girl again so the girl went crazy and killed the guy and…

…and he needed to stop thinking about this. It was weird.

"Yeah, I can see it, in your eyes at least. They're nice." Said the girl. She was close to him, still close to him, and he could smell the gum that she was chewing.

"Um…thanks? Your eyes are nice too? They're….blue." asked Sho. This was…he had no idea what he was supposed to do here. You were supposed to tell girls that they had pretty eyes…and her eyes were…eyes. Blue. Like his. So they were nice…right?

"Thanks for noticing. I'm Emmy McBride by the way." said the girl. She took a step back. Sho felt better. He had felt all…smothered…and stuff. Now he had room to breathe. Were all British people like this? All close and stuff? He had no idea. He felt around behind him. Shimazaki was pretending to read a magazine. He did that sometimes to mess with people. Sho wanted to be over there messing with people and not here talking to this girl….but he was not a jerk. He was not going to be a jerk to a girl that he had just met. He was going to introduce himself and-

How did that go in this country?

Bow? No, that was Japan. Shake hands? But she hadn't offered. Just…say his name? But that couldn't have been right….but still, that was what she had done, and this was her country so maybe he should just….copy her? Yeah, that must have been it. He should just copy her. He didn't much want to talk to her but he didn't much want to be rude either.

"I'm Suzuki Sho….uh…Sho Suzuki. Because family names are last here. Um…it's nice to meet you." Said Sho.

"Nice to meet you too. I've never met anyone who's Japanese before. This is so brilliant. What brings you here?" asked the girl, Emmy, her name was Emmy. Right, people liked it when you remembered their names. He felt around for Shimazaki again. He wished that he would just come over and teleport him away. He wanted to hang out with him, not talk to some girl, but Shimazaki was ignoring the way his aura was so clearly saying 'get me out of here'.

"Just getting snacks." Said Sho. He held up his basket to show her. Why else would he have come to a combini? Was she clueless…or was he? He didn't know. He didn't talk to a lot of kids his own age…and they made him nervous…even though they shouldn't have. Girls made him especially nervous. Well guys made him especially nervous but nervous in a different way….because he wanted to be friends with them. Girls made him nervous because he had never been able to predict them. One minute you're helping them up or pushing them on a swing or whatever else they asked you to do for them and the next they're leaning in to kiss you and stuff. It would have been a different story if they had just asked. Maybe he would have wanted to if they asked. Then he could have had the time to prepare himself and stuff.

Yeah, that must have been it.

"No, I mean why are you in London if you're from Japan? For the snacks? Because your snacks are much better. There's this Japanese shop over on the high street and they've got, like, fifty flavors of just kitkat. We've barely got anything here." Said Emmy

"Um….I'm here because of my dad's job…and you have a lot of…um…sodas." Said Sho. Maybe if he pretended that he was talking to big sis it would be easier. Maybe. Or maybe not because this wasn't his sister. This was a girl and she was pretty….well she wasn't ugly…and he was supposed to be trying to get her to hold his hand and kiss him and stuff…even though he didn't want…and he was sick of not wanting to! He was sick of just…being so weird. He was ten now and he was supposed to like girls and…and that was just what he was going to do. He hadn't liked vanilla ice cream but that was all Fukuda kept in the house most of the time so he had learned to like it…

So this was just like learning to like ice cream.

"No, we've barely got anything...and what's your dad do? I mean if he can't see." Said Emmy

"Him? No, that's Shimazaki. He's just my friend. Well he's my friend and also he's my body guard and stuff." Said Sho. He had thought that he was doing better. He had thought that he had been doing well but now she was making this face….well she was smiling….and now she was coming in really close again…

He wanted to take a step back but he didn't.

If she kissed him then she kissed him. He had gotten used to vanilla ice cream, he had gotten used to wearing long sleeves in the summer, and he had gotten used to take baths after…everything that happened. He could get used to kissing girls. He would have to, anyway, because he was going to have to grow up and get married and stuff and he knew that his wife would want to kiss him and also do all of that other stuff so he had better get used to it now. Dad had told him that he had to grow up and get married, and he was planning on picking out a girl for him to marry, so he had might as well get used to this. Being kissed.

She didn't kiss him.

"You've got a body guard? Bloody hell….that's brilliant! But why's he blind? Or is it like, he's a blind master or something?" said Emmy. She leaned in really closely and spoke really quietly…and he had no idea what she was doing that for. She could have just talked normally and at a normal distance…and stuff. But he wasn't supposed to complain so he didn't.

"He's a blind master. He's really cool, actually. He beats up people who try to kill my dad." Said Sho. He felt a lot better now that they were talking about Shimazaki. He was so cool. He could talk about Shimazaki for hours and hours and hours…and he had…though that was to big sis. She never told him when to stop talking but…but maybe he should. He knew that he couldn't tell her why dad was in danger all the time and why he needed body guards and why people kept on shooting at him and…and a lot of stuff. That was why he never talked to other kids. Well he wasn't allowed to first of all, but dad never stopped him…but there was no point because he moved around so much and also he had to keep a lot of secrets from people and…and that got kind of hard.

"Why are people trying to kill your dad? Are you in the Japanese mafia? Or, like, is there a big international conspiracy? Or-" said Emmy. Sho knew that he was not supposed to talk about this and she was talking about this and…and he knew that she was a normal person and he was not supposed to ever talk about his with normal people…and he needed her to stop talking…

"I think that you look really pretty." Said Sho. There. That was how you got a girl to stop talking. Just tell them that they looked pretty because girls cared about that stuff. Sometimes you just had to say stuff to get people to stop talking. She probably liked him anyway. Girls only talked to him when they liked him.

"Oh…thank you. I just got a haircut…um…you're pretty good looking too. I like your…hair…too…because it's all spiky like Goku's. So….yeah...I'm going to get some sweets. See you around Sho Suzuki." Said Emmy. Sho had never been so happy to see a girl walk away in his life. She was red and walking really fast, he had probably said the wrong thing but it wasn't like he was ever going to see her again, so he tried not to care…though he hoped that he hadn't been a jerk….

The last thing that he wanted to be was a jerk.

Which was why he didn't throw anything at Shimazaki. He was still standing there and still holding a newspaper upside down pretending to read it. Sho wanted to take the stuff from his basket and throw it at him until he ran out of stuff….and then he wanted to pick the stuff he had thrown up, put it in his basket, and throw it all over again…but he didn't. Because he was not going to be a jerk. Not to the person who he wanted to become best friends with.

He tried to stay calm….so he calmly tore the newspaper out of Shimazaki's hands.

"Hey, I was reading that." Said Shimazaki even though he knew that Sho knew that he couldn't read. There was no point in messing with him. Not about pretending to read or…or leaving him alone with that weird girl.

"No you weren't you can only read brail and that was in English. What the hell!? Why did you leave me all alone with that girl?! She was so…weird." Said Sho. He kept this conversation in Japanese in case she heard him. He had been trying to practice his English before but now he would not have minded if he forgot every single word of the English language. At least if that happened girls would leave him alone! The ones in this country, anyway.

"Hey, a good wingman knows when to step away and I am the best wingman there is." Said Shimazaki. He leaned back when he said that and he looked so cool…and Sho felt all weird….but that was just because he wished that he looked that cool. Also he was confused because he didn't know that word…so that was why he felt like this. He was confused and also he wanted to look as cool as Shimazaki did.

"What the fuck is a wingman?" asked Sho. He cursed to show Shimazaki just how upset he was…and also that he was good at cursing. Because he was.

"The friend who helps you pick up girls, you ungrateful little asshole, and you had that…mostly. Seriously. Smooth you are not…but you're like, ten, so you have an excuse." Said Shimazaki

"What?! Why would you…..I don't need help with that!" said Sho. The last thing he needed was help getting girls to like hi. Girls had always liked him, he didn't need help with that, and especially not from Shimazaki. He didn't need a girlfriend! He and Shimazaki didn't need girlfriends. Shimazaki had said before that he didn't do the boyfriend and girlfriend thing. So neither would Sho. Not while he could avoid it…because he wanted to focus on…on his friendships! Yeah, he was only ten and…and he had his whole life to find a girlfriend…and he just…didn't have the time. Yeah. He had Shimazaki adventures to go on…and stuff.

"Everyone needs a little help and since I'm, like, forty percent sure you like girls so-" said Shimazaki. Sho's aura flared. The magazine rack next to him almost tipped over. Forty percent…..? What?! No, that was….that was a hundred percent! Because he was normal like everyone else and…and dad could not know about…nobody could know about…because there was nothing to know about! He liked girls! They were…girls! And he liked them!

"I like girls! I like them a lot! I want to kiss them and marry them and-and-and do all that stuff that people do with them! Ok?!" said Sho. He was shouting, now, and maybe he should have been quieter…and stuff…because he knew that he was being looked at. At least he was shouting in Japanese.

"Ok, ok, ok. I must have been imagining things. Anyway come on. I'm starving and you're freaking people out. Pay for this shit and then we'll eat in the park and feed the winter ducks." Said Shimazaki. Sho took a deep breath and nodded. He knew that his face was red and he knew that his heart was pounding and…and he had no reason to feel like this because Shimazaki had been wrong. He liked girls all the way not just some of the way…and also there was no some of the way. You either did or you didn't and Sho did.

He didn't really have a choice.

Because it wasn't a choice. He was normal and he had to be normal. He didn't have a choice in the matter just like he never had a choice in any matter and…and that was it. That was it and…and he was not…he was…he just…he didn't want to think about this. So he didn't. He bought his junk food and left….well that girl had waved to him as he left…and he waved back because he had to be polite…but then he left. He left and he had never felt so good to have left a place.

Maybe the rest of their adventure wouldn't suck as much as being the seeing eye kid had.