Ray walked down the street with more questions than he had arrived at Kai's house with. What had happened that night to get Kai so worked up? He knew that there was only one place he would get the answers he sought as stepped up his pace to find them...

Chapter 10.

Ray entered the restaurant where Jiraya worked and walked straight up to the bar. He didn't know what she looked like so he asked the barman if she was in that day.
"No. This is Jiraya's day off. She'll be in tomorrow. What do you want her for?"
"I just need to talk to her. It's pretty important I see. Do you know how I could get hold of her?"
"I could give you her phone number I suppose, but only if it's important. I don't like giving people's numbers out without their permission."
"It's important." Ray said nodding his head earnestly.
The barman looked Ray up and dawn for a second as if deciding whether he was genuine or not and must have decided he was because he disappeared into the back of the bar and came out holding a piece of paper which he gave to Ray.
"Thank-you very much. This is much appreciated." Ray said beaming at the piece of paper he now held.
Ray left the restaurant and used his mobile to call Jiraya. She answered quickly and was surprised to find out who was calling. After a few minutes it was agreed that they would meet up at a local park in half an hour to talk in person.

Ray sat on the bench and watched the wind disturbing the surface of the river in front of him. It seemed like he'd been there for hours when in fact it had only been fifteen minutes.
"Ray?"
Ray stood and turned around to see the source of the question.
"Yes. I'm Ray. You must be Jiraya."
"Yes." The pair shook hands before sitting on the bench in a rather awkward silence, after all they had never met before.
"So why did you call me anyway?"
Ray had been sure he was doing the right thing before he'd made that phone call, but now that Jiraya was here, he wasn't so sure. However, they were both here now. He might as well do something.
"I saw Kai today, and he wasn't exactly himself. Well I suppose he was himself, his old self, but there was something else, and I figured it must have had something to do with your date the other night."
"Oh." Jiraya looked at the floor, remembering how that night had ended.
"I take it it didn't go well then?"
"No, well yeah... It did go well sort of. We were kind of uncomfortable at first. You know what first dates are like. Conversation was a bit slow, but then the music started and we went to the dance floor..."
"Wait. WE went to the dance floor, you mean Kai as well?"
"Yeah. He was a bit reluctant but he did come."
"Right... Go on..."
"Yeah, so he didn't seem to want to dance so I kind of...helped him. I held his hands and danced with him. He was stiff as a board, but he did move... sort of. But when the song ended, it was like a steel door came down. He just flipped and stormed off."
Ray listened to Jiraya's account of what happened and started to slot the pieces together. He knew Kai better than Jiraya did and he had an idea of what had made Kai change so suddenly. He sighed and looked up at Jiraya. The hurt was plain on her face. Kai hadn't treated her very nicely and it was obvious that it had affected her. Ray just hoped that it wasn't terminal. Jiraya seemed nice and Ray wanted her relationship with Kai to get somewhere.
"Ok. I think I may have some idea of what happened here, and I'm going to have to tell you something about Kai that I really shouldn't. But I want you to understand why Kai behaved that way and if I don't tell you this then you won't."
Jiraya looked a little puzzled but nodded anyway.
Ray sighed once more, and began,
"Kai is a very... private man. He's not had the greatest of lives, and has been brought up to believe that certain things that you or I would find completely normal and healthy to be wrong..."
Ray paused to watch the reactions on Jiraya's face, but as of yet, her expression hadn't changed.
"He believes that having feelings for other people is wrong. It took me along time to break through his barriers to become his friend and even now he can't always confide in me. This is why he's never been close to anyone before. The walls that he's built around his emotions just won't let him. He doesn't know how to let those walls down."
Jiraya stared at Ray. Was this true? Kai had never been close to anyone. No wonder he had run away when she had gotten close to him. He'd been scared. He didn't understand his own feelings.
"Why are you telling me this?... Wait, Kai ran away from me. Does he have feelings for me? But we've only just met."
Jiraya looked down at the floor as she ran through what Ray had said about Kai. They had only just met and Kai already had feelings for her, but then again, hadn't she had feelings for him. From the first moment she'd seen him she'd wanted to know him... She'd never seen him before in her life and yet she'd felt closer to him then she'd felt to anyone she'd ever been out with, but they'd spent perhaps 3 hours together, if that. Ray had been watching Jiraya all this time, and he was quite puzzled by her reaction. She hadn't been put off by what he'd said yet, there was an obvious confusion written in her expression that he didn't understand.
"Jiraya?"
"Kai has feelings for me?" Jiraya asked quietly.
"I think he does, which is why he's so...scared..."
Jiraya paused again.
"I...I think I have feelings for him too... but how can that be. I don't even know him; he doesn't know me. We're virtual strangers!"
Ray once again looked into Jiraya's eyes and realised something. He'd said something to Kai in that first conversation where this all started that he hadn't quite believed, but now he thought, perhaps its true. Here was someone who had known from their first meeting of another that there was something between them, and that other person felt the exact same way. However, whereas Jiraya was perfectly able to show her feelings and take this leap into the unknown, Kai was not. Kai didn't know how, Ray had tried and failed teach him, but maybe Jiraya could teach him. Perhaps she could teach Kai to fly...

I like this chapter, you may not, and your welcome to say so, but please only constructive criticism. I know the ending is bit corny, but if you think about it, Kai is learning how to have feelings and that is kind of, metaphorically, learning to fly. Anyway I've rambled on enough. Oh and just to clarify itallics is thinking.
Thanks!