It was annoying. No, it was worse. Walking down the street, Daiki kept glancing over his shoulder every minute as if he was some paranoid boy that had done something illegal. But being deaf wasn't a crime as far as he could remember. Trying to not bump into anybody, he frequently kept using his sensory ninjutsu, but it could only do so much. It was effective in sensoring chakra signatures, but a cart that was pulled by some horses didn't have a chakra signature. A wall didn't have a chakra signature. It was puzzling as Daiki had been trained in his genin days to know what passive sensory ninjutsu was good for. But right now? It wasn't really being helpful.
In fact, it was confusing him to no end. Almost had he been walking against a cart that stood still as he was about to walk around the corner. And standing too long around a corner, not wanting to bump into anybody, he had been gently pushed aside. Which had only made him half-freak out as it was just too sudden. Getting more frustrated, Daiki kept on walking. If he couldn't be a shinobi, he had to be at least able to do some chore as groceries, right?
Wrong.
He was slowly getting lost in the city where he had grown up. The street that he had visited so many times was now alienate and confused him. The usual sounds that indicated that he was here or there and where he should go was now all absent. Glancing over his shoulder, Daiki tried to see if he wasn't walking too slow and annoying anybody behind him.
"Look out, man!"
The adult almost had shoved Daiki backwards as he was holding up a large vase with his left hand.
"Can't you look with those two eyes? Good god. Hey! Hey!" The man clearly grew agigated as Daiki seemed only to be confused. All that that he did was glancing at the vase, only quickly focusing on the lips of the man.
"Good... god? Huh? Wait.. what?" Taking a step back in his confusion as he was about to try to speak up, Daiki bumped against a horse. The animal reacted with shaking its head and producing a loud whinning response. "Look out! Damn boy! Get out of here! Out! Away!"
Raising his hands a bit, Daiki wanted to aplogize. All he could do was to shuffle away as he attempted to get his back against the wall and walk away. Noticing the disappointed and frustrated expressions on some of the bystanders, Daiki lowered his head a bit and bit his lower lip. This was really getting tedious, he thought as he would turn around and try to not continue to be a liability for others around him.
He would have to stop however as a girl appeared in his field of vision. She had been watching the situation play out as she had been walking home with her groceries. While the man had clearly been talking loudly and while the horse had clearly nickered, the boy had not responded to the sounds. He looked confused and scared with his back to the wall like that.
Nami wasn't sure why she approached him though. Maybe it was because standing like that, using the wall as support, had something familiar. On occassion she got terrified by the city. By the people. By the impact she had, unknown to them, made on everyone. They didn't know and they couldn't know. But as she walked through the streets it was always present. People were happy Rika was gone, that the times with that woman were over, and yet Nami could always only think of the way that one of the spliters had looked embedded in her eye. The dead baby in the box she had carried. At those times, when those images would flood back, she would cling to the wall just like this boy did.
Maybe it was that. Maybe it was just because she needed a distraction.
She deliberately made sure that he could see her before stepping it and stopping before him. With her hands held up she formed a couple of signs. First she used the index finger of her right hand to point at her cheek and then at the corner of her mouth, before pointing to him. She continued with a couple of others and raised her eyebrows to indicate that it was a question. Because what was happening to this boy was clear. He was simply deaf.
He didn't understand. It was obvious that the girl was trying to 'tell' him something, but she made signs with her hand. Trying to understand it, the usual apathetic expression hadn't been present on Daiki's features as he didn't even seem to be be able to differ left from right. His eyes moved to her lips, but she said nothing, making him only more confused. The lips of Daiki parted slightly, but he wavered. Without hearing his own voice, he couldn't know if he pronounced something right or wrong. His frustration however didn't increase with the unknown girl making signs.
Was she asking him something? He could understand that she was at least trying to communicate with him, until it hit him. Sign language. He had heard of it, but never thought of it or found it practically interesting. Now his opinion had drastically shifted over it. But what should he do now? Talk and say that he didn't know sign language or just shrug and wait what she would do? Licking his lips, Daiki decided to give it a try. His voice was a bit shaken, showing his lack of confidence, as he spoke to the girl.
"I cannot hear." The pace of his voice was quite slow, which annoyed him further.
"Can read lips. Cannot hear." He tried to continue.
First Nami was surprised at his voice which seemed pretty steady and normal, but then an understanding expression crossed her face.
"Ah, I am sorry. I asked if you were deaf and if you were okay. You already answered that first part." She made sure not to speak too fast and articulate clearly. A reassuring smile followed.
"I was just..." She looked around the street for a moment where the people were all moving again without taking any notice of the two shinobi pressed against the wall. She turned back to him so that he could see her speak.
"I just saw what happened and... I wasn't sure if you were okay with all these busy people around, but..." She took a tiny step back. Suddenly this idea to approach him felt kind of stupid. What could she say to this boy? What did she want from him? Reassurance? Was it just she who had been scared there on the opposite side of the street and looked for someone to push that fear away? Her fingers played with fabric of her sleeves as she folded her arms.
"I probably shouldn't have intruded like that. I am sorry." She inclined her head slightly
A bit surprised by the rather kind gesture that the girl had shown, Daiki wasn't sure at first how to respond back. It wasn't everyday that he met with a kind person in Kirigakure, but he didn't blame anybody for that. Given the fact it had just recovered from a civil conflict, it should surprise him that he hadn't got a fist in his face a few moments ago.
"Am okay. Thank you." He paused as he wasn't too sure what to say further. Scratching his left cheek, Daiki tried to think of something.
"You do sign language? How?" It wasn't on purpose that his sentences were short or broken, but he felt still a bit too uncomfortable with trying to speak fluid lines as he tried to focus on responding without stuttering or sounding more insecure than he already did or felt like.
"Oh, eh, Father taught me that. Said it was a useful skill to have if you ever found yourself in a situation where you couldn't communicate out loud." Nami suddenly realized that she had nothing to say to this boy. She didn't know him, he didn't know her. But now the conversation was already going and somewhere it felt... nice. On a day to day basis she spoke to her family and the people that gave her missions. That was it. That was the interaction she had. Her brothers and sisters were nice and lovely and they all understood who they were and what their purpose was. But she never just talked to someone.
"If you are deaf..." she started, suddenly keen on keeping this seemingly random encounter going for a moment longer.
"Why don't you know sign language?"
Realizing that it would be probably a weird answer as he wasn't even sure himself what the cause was, other than what the doctor had explained to him, Daiki took a moment before he replied. Somewhere he felt ashamed, but why would he? He hadn't done anything to be ashamed off with being deaf.
"Got deaf recently." Trying to keep it to short sentences, Daiki managed to get a bit calmer and more confident. Not enough to however keep his voice from being deformed though.
"Never been taught. Are you deaf?" He asked, wondering why he hadn't instantly thought about sign language.
Nami shook her head, chuckeling at the question.
"No, I am not. And I am sorry," she said, again while inclining her head ever so slightly. Being born deaf sounded bad, but loosing your hearing at a later stage in life seemed even worse. All those familiar sounds would gone, no wonder he had seemed so distraught just now. She couldn't imagine not hearing the people around her. Their steps, their talk, their breathing. Sure, with sensory she could get an idea of a location far away and that was without sound, but she was still in a sound based world. She relied so much on it.
She repeated the sign with her hand that she had made when she first approached him. Her index finger ticked against her cheek before moving to the corner of her mouth. Then she pointed at him.
"It means: 'are you deaf?'" she translated for him, an awkward smile following.
She was sorry. It iritated Daiki a bit. She wasn't the cause of him becoming deaf. That he had some trouble with moving around in the city center. But he was happy somebody seemed to understand it, to a certain degree.
"Thanks." Mumbling the word, Daiki tried to think of something. He didn't want to bother her with asking where he could learn sign language. He didn't even know her name. Noticing her movement with her hand, he forgot to look for a moment at her lips. Managing to follow what she did and explain, Daiki slowly nodded. Raising his index finger, he would precisely follow the signs she had made. It would probably need something he had to practice a lot. And it felt a bit weird, talking only with your hands. At least casually.
"Thank you. How do you... say name?" He asked in return.
She shook her head again, her smile growing as he repeated the sign.
"Don't worry about it." Why was she so happy about this? She honestly couldn't tell. Maybe it was because she could teach someone something that would prove useful outside of fighting and completing mission. This had nothing to do with killing, surviving, obeying. This was just... something fun?
She brought both her hands up, her pinky and ringfinger curled up, thumb resting on top of them. The other two fingers were stretched out. She raised her right hand slightly higher than her left hand and, holding her fingers vertically, she ticked them gently together so that the middle finger of her right hand ticked against the middle of index finger of her left.
"Name," she repeated before pointing to him with her right index finger and doing the sign again.
"What is your name?"
He waited to repeat the movements with his own right hand, in order to observe how she moved her hand and then see what it meant. Following with his right hand, he hoped he was doing it right as he raised his right hand and holding his fingers vertically, further mimicking her movements. Pointing at himself, he spoke up.
"Daiki Shun." It felt good. Even while he had little faith in his voice now, he felt like he was making a difference. Repeating the motion, he ended with pointing at her. Though he wondered if it was okay and polite to point at her.
Shun? For a moment Nami wondered if her sensei and this young boy were related. Then again there were a lot of people who carried the name Shun. It was a rather common name after all. She decided against asking. When he repeated the question however, she shook her head.
"First you point, than you do the name sign," she said carefully.
"Though I suppose that doesn't really matter in this context. My name is," she made the corresponding signs,
"Nami." After she had said that she made three more signs. Her right hand sliding over her left followed by one where her index fingers were pointed upwards and moved towards each other, and ending by pointing at Daiki again. (
Sign for NICE TO MEET YOU | ASL Sign Language Video Dictionary)
"Nice to meet you," she said out loud as she repeated the signs.
Point and then the sign for the name. He tried to memorize it. Nami. He nodded. Trying to mimick her movement, he accidently messed it up. Instead of letting his right hand sliding over his left, he did it reverse. Recognizing his own mistake, Daiki performed the sign over again as he wondered if it was just one big sign for a nice greeting or if some signs were having separated meanings. Glancing at his hands, a ghost of a smile moved over his lips.
"Thank you. What's the sign? For thank you?" He asked, almost forgotten about the earlier encounter that had sparked this meeting.
She watching him try and fail and try again, a smile on her face. Those basic signs when performed slowly weren't so difficult. It got way harder when there was a rapid conversation going on. Her little stepsister and her would have those conversations on occasion, to test their skills. They would talk faster and faster until one of them messed up or got lost. Those were fun things.
"Ah, eh..." Nami raised her left hand to her mouth, palm to the sky, fingers slightly spread. She let her fingers rest against her lips before moving them outwards. It was almost like she was blowing a kiss to someone only without the lipmovement that was generally involved in such a gesture.
That one went way easier. Feeling that he got the hang of it, Daiki repeated it again, just to try to memorize it better. Trying to make a note at the same time to also buy a guide on sign language or at least look it up if there was one, he nodded again. Instead of saying something, the boy raised his left hand to his mouth, palm to the sky and his fingers lightly spread. Resting his fingers against his lip, he moved them outwards. That one was easier and caused him to smile more.
Nami's smile grew and she nodded.
"Don't worry about it," she said, not to bombard him with too many signs at the same time.
"I think it is actually kind of fun to do, but I don't have many people to talk to..." she trailed off as she realised that she didn't just mean that she didn't have much people to sign to. Then she realised that she might have implied that sign language is just for fun while here he was, dealing with being deaf.
"Not that it is fun that you need to depend on it," she added as a late afterthought.
"But I..." She looked away from him to the street and the people. She knew why she had had to learn sign language from Father. The better she could work for him the more she could repay him. The image of Rika flashed again through her head. Her hand looked for the wall and found it. She turned back to him.
"I don't know. It is just this thing I can do, but don't practice enough."
He didn't understand it for a moment that she had to say that it wasn't fun he had to depend on it. Only a moment later he realized that she was just not trying to be rude. It was something he had to get used to it, but thought it was better to show such respect or being polite than neglecting completely.
"Its okay." He said, hoping that it would make her ease a bit and not be too tense or focused on not trying to offend him. It was after all something he had just enjoyed to do, so he didn't find her comment offending or irking. When her hand however looked for the wall, Daiki wondered what had caused her to do such a thing.
"Do you have.. time?" He asked.
"My treat on d-drinks."
"I..." She stared at him. He was asking her for drinks, here in the street. He was asking a stranger who he had just met for a drink. And he was asking her. Her eyes dropped to the bag of groceries she was holding before moving up to the sun. She did have time. She had finished quickly because she didn't feel like being outside too much. She did have time, however saying yes felt... strange. No recollection of ever having been asked such a thing came to her. She should probably go home, there was always more to do and she always had to train more. But... but this was kind of fun.
"Eh..." she stuttered.
"Yes, I have time. I have to be home around four so I should have time."
Glancing at her bags, Daiki wondered if he had perhaps been too straightforward with asking her for a drink.
"I understand." He said. Glancing over his shoulder, he didn't want to make a fool out of himself by turning around and bumping to the next person, horse or whatever would be on his way.
"Want some help?" He asked, gesturing to the bag of groceries.
"No," was her almost immediate answer to which she added:
"Thanks." She shot another look over the street.
"And you probably can use the help better. Do you... have a place in mind? 'Cause then I can help us get there easier. These are busy streets."
Yeah, that was true. He waited for a moment, focusing on what she said to then follow her gaze. It annoyed him to no end that he was probably needing help to cross a street.
"No, I don't." He replied.
"There are some... uphead. Down the street." He continued on, trying to think of something. It would be easier to converse if they could just sit down. Glancing back at Nami, Daiki would wait for her before trying to cross the street and to see if she would say anything back.
She stepped forward to lead the way, confidence back in her strides. The street was busy and losing him would be annoying because she couldn't exactly call for him. For a moment she paused to take note of his chakra signature. Might he get lost at least she would be able to find him at some point.
"Let's go," she told him, urging him along past her as she kept a look out.
She navigated them across the streets, pulling him aside only once. It was almost a reflex when she saw that a cart was close to hitting him.
"Okay," she said when they got further down the road and she could turn to him again.
"That wasn't so bad. Lead the way."
Following Nami, it was kind of almost tempting to glance to the right or left. Only knowing however that he could lose track of her in the streets, Daiki kept her in his sight to prevent that from happening. It however almost led to the second time he had bumped into a cart, only prevented as Nami pulling him aside. Feeling slight ashamed, the boy raised his right hand as he would scratch his cheek. Wasn't so bad? He begged to differ, but wouldn't do so. Not now. Glancing around to spot a familiar landmark, he noticed at their left a sign. They could drink at a teahouse. Pointing at the place, he would glance back at Nami.
"Want to go over-r there?"
"Sure." Tea was one of the things she enjoyed drinking. It was also one of the things she drank a lot of at home as it was cheap and still tasty. One of the most fun chores was going to a tea shop to find new flavors. Nami still couldn't quite understand why and how there were so many different ones.
Without really waiting for Daiki to move Nami stepped towards the door. With a swift move she pushed it open and walked in. It would be annoying for Daiki to ask for a seat, probably, since speaking was no longer very normal. So she requested a table for two and beckoned Daiki to follow her. As they sat down she placed her grocery bag beneath her chair both to make sure that she didn't forget it later and to make sure that it wouldn't be stolen. Although the chair was comfy, Nami sat straight, her hands on her lap, like she had learned to. She made the thank you sign to Daiki before returning her hand to her lap.
Following Nami, again, Daiki wondered briefly if that was going to be a thing now. Following others as if he wouldn't be able to lead. Briefly it made him think about his occupation and station again, but he would sweep that away in his thoughts. Taking a seat as well, he noticed her sign as he sat down. Taking a moment, Daiki was visibly thinking as he would raise his hands a bit. He wanted to thank her back, but it would be more fitting to say she was welcome. But not knowing the required signs, he chuckled as he would give her a thumbs up.
Nami chuckled and turned her attention towards the menu laying before them. Her eyes moved over the various different tastes they were offering. Then she looked back up to Daiki and flipped the menu around to let him see. She pointed to the word tea on the paper and then brought her hands up. With her left hand she formed a cup shape and with her right hand, her index finger and thumb locked together, she stirred around.
"Tea," she said.
Daiki would eye her hand movements as he would then read her lips in order to see what she said, thought that was obvious as she had pointed at the word. Mimicking the signs twice, he tried to remember the previous signs she had shown him. It brought up a question.
"Do you practice a-a lot?" He asked, getting quite impressed as he wondered how much signs there were and how one could memorize them all.
"Not that much anymore, but Father says that I have to keep it up. So my stepsister and I try to practice regularly." Nami looked back to the card to decide what she was going to take. She felt for something with cinnamon and her eyes caught a tea simply called 'Winter.' With her finger she ticked on it indicating that she was taking that one. Then, when she was sure Daiki was looking, she pointed to herself before placing her hand on her chest and moving it outwards, bringing her middlefinger and thumb together. After that came the tea symbol.
"I like tea," she said repeating the signs and then pointing at him, her eyebrows raised in question.
That was great. Being able to practice this with somebody else. Daiki didn't consider or think for one second that Takeshi and he would do this. It was okay though. Takeshi had his life and occupations that kept him busy, so he had all the right to not spend time with Daiki. Perhaps it was just for the better, he thought. Noticing that Nami ticked on the menu, the boy was paying attention to what she pointed at. His attention then went to her hands as he understood it, making that aware with a nod. Trying to mimick the shown signs, Daiki pointed at himself and then proceeded with placing his hand on his chest. Moving it outwards, he shook his head while bringing his middlefinger and thumb together. While making the tea symbol, forming the cup shape, he spoke back.
"I don't like t-tea."
Nami looked confused for a second.
"Don't like?" she asked. Why would he chose a teahouse if he wasn't a fan of tea?
"Also it is 'don't like.'" Nami placed her hand against her chest again but instead of moving it the same way as she did with like she moved it side ways as if to shoo something away, middlefinger and thumb still coming together.
"I don't like tea." She repeated the signs.
"Though if you don't like it... why here?"
The sign she made was subtly different, making Daiki wonder if he should be more keen on how to make them in order to prevent mistakes. It could be as with talking, that the tone of somebody's voice could give a different message to a said sentence. Her question made Daiki scratch his right cheek as he let out a muffled chuckle.
"It looked nice. Sorry." He replied back.
"Water is fine, though." Getting a bit more confidence in talking, he placed his hands intertwined on the table as he briefly glanced at their right. He was trying to think of a way to keep the conversation rolling, only wasn't sure what he should or shouldn't ask. Perhaps she liked swords?
"Water is it then." She looked up from the menu to signal to a waiter that they were ready to order. After the man had left, one water and one winter tea on his list, she turned back to Daiki. Her fingers tapped lightly on the table. She honestly wasn't sure what there was actually to talk about. She couldn't really ask how he got deaf, that was rude. But what other basis did they have? They didn't know each other. They couldn't know each other. Father said that Nami should refrain from talking too much or too detailed about herself. So she didn't. Which meant that she had to keep asking him questions.
She held both of her hands up, palms upwards.
"What," she said, signaling that that was what the sign meant. Then she pointed at him followed by the like sign and then the what sign.
"You. Like. What?" She said it slowly to make the order of words clear.
Another sign. Daiki was starting to get afraid that he wouldn't be able to memorize them all. But didn't suspect that anybody would blame him for that, right? Turning his gaze a bit up to read Nami's lips, Daiki knew a good answer and hopefully keep the conversation going on. It was nice to talk to somebody that wasn't interested only in becoming a better fighter or trying to prove his or her worth.
"I like reading. Books, that is." He said, almost letting out a snort as he thought about reading lips.
"Do you like reading?"
"Reading..." Nami held her left hand up, palm towards her face as with her other hand, her index and middle finger streched out, she moved down twice before her left hand.
"I don't have a lot of time to read generally so I don't do it a lot. Which doesn't mean that I hate it. I just don't... do it."
The waiter arrived with their drinks and Nami gratefully wrapped her hands around the warm mug.
"What genre do you like?" she asked him as she waited for the tea to cool down a bit.
Mimicking her signs, Daiki tried to remember the first one she had showed him. It was the question if he was deaf, but he wasn't sure if he would be able to reproduce the signals well enough. But never the less, he would try to memorize and mimick the last sign she showed him. Her answer made Daiki wonder what she did then if she hadn't time to read. But before he could produce the queston, she asked him what genre he liked.
"History. Facts. Dull stuff." He answered back.
"And you?"
"Mostly the same," she said chuckling as she lifted the cup to her mouth. Carefully trying the tea she deemed it okay to drink. She only continued talking when she had placed her cup down so that Daiki could see her lips.
"History and facts. I read mostly when I have to study. I wouldn't call it dull however. It is very valuable knowledge and I think it is very good to have a good grasp of history. Father says so too."
Really? Though he found it a bit rude, he had expected she would be more fan of reading stuff as stories instead of authors going almost on a rant why the Great War was not a success for anybody if one would include this or that fact. Taking a sip of his water, Daiki paid close attention to what she said as he would nod as well lowering his glass with water.
"Do you study f-for something then?" He asked, trying to create a sentence that was a bit longer than those before.
Nami's expression remained calm though suddenly she wondered what she was allowed to say and what she wasn't. She studied to repay Father back. She studied to become better, to help, to know, to be useful. But she wasn't going to say that. However she knew that being a shinobi wasn't a secret. Not here. Not now. Lots of people in this city were shinobi. It was just a job.
"I am training to be a proper shinobi. Currently only a Genin," she said.
"What do you do?"
He hadn't honestly expected she was a genin. Not being part of the shinobi corps, that was.
"Chuunin." He replied back on her question.
"At least, was. Not sure now." His confidence started to waver, which was evident as Daiki lowered his gaze for a moment as he tried to think of a way to explain it properly.
"Need a talk with.. jounin commander." He spoke the last two words a bit slower as he didn't want to stumble again over his own words or believing he was messing it up, again.
"Chuunin. That is pretty cool. I am sure there are ways for people who lost their hearing to still serve the shinobi corps. They don't just ditch people." She stated it as matter of factly as she could. He looked very down about it, which was understandable, but giving up that easily was just stupid. Maybe he couldn't go out the same way as he had done before, but after learning to live with it maybe he could start doing something else. Though she was aware that even though she said that the corps wouldn't ditch him, it actually might do that. Unuseful shinobi were of no use to anyone so they better not be around.
"Can't you pick up sensory ninjutsu?"
Cool wasn't how he would phrase it, but it was nice to 'hear' that for a turn. While her stance and words were perhaps a bit motivating and nice, he doubted it still. He expected that he would probably be assigned to and administrative function. Which was actually alright with Daiki. It wasn't like he would be able to match Takeshi in any kind of manner, so as long he could be helpful, he would be fine with whatever function they would give him. As she mentioned sensory ninjutsu, Daiki nodded.
"I use that a-already." He replied.
"But it is not the same." Pausing, he wondered if he should try to explain it. But it was likely something easy to grasp and to understand. No, he wanted to switch the topic away from being deaf.
"Do you like it to be a-a shinob-bi?"
No, it probably wasn't the same. For Nami sensory ninjutsu was like a second way of breathing, but even then it wouldn't be the same as actually hearing what was going on around you. And then his next question came. Did she like being a shinobi? Yes, she did. It was her way of repaying the kindness that was shown and it was her way of being useful and feeling useful. But that first kill, that moment when she had seen Rika dead had shaken her up more than she wanted to. She wasn't going to tell that of course. Not that anyone would actually believe her if she told them that it was her who had killed the Mizukage. That was just ridiculous.
"Yes, I do," she therefore simply stated.
"I have a nice team with a nice sensei though he is really busy now and I don't work a lot with him anymore. He is lazy though..."
That was good. Having a nice team was always a plus. Hearing she had a lazy sensei made him briefly think about Takeshi. But he doubted that she mentioned his brother. The odds for that were just so slim, that he would just focus back on their conversation. Instead of speaking up, he would give it a try. Glancing at his hands, both making it clear that he was going to try to use what she had taught him, Daiki would focus on making sure that he wouldn't mess it up. Pointing first at himself, Daiki would try to continue. Placing his hand on his chest, he moved it then outwards with his thumb and middlefinger together.
"I like to be a shino-bi too." He said.
"But like theory more. More than actual prac-ctice." Slight frustrated, he would try to cut his words in order to pronounce them better.
"Got many friends as shinobi?"
"Not really." Nami's reply came almost instantly. Her expression remained calm as she took another sip from her tea.
"I have my teammember, of course," she added though she wasn't actually sure if she could consider her teammember a friend. It was not like they had done much together. They had had once mission. One during which Nami left half way through.
"And I have five siblings. They are my friends. But besides that no." It didn't seem to bother her much as she said it.
"I don't mind," she added before Daiki could say sorry or anything.
"I don't see the need to have many anyway."
Nodding in understanding her, he found it interesting that they had some things in common. Both like reading the same 'dull stuff' and he considered having a lazy sensei and siblings as one thing. It was the case at least with him.
"I can relate." He started. Half tempted to try to make a sign, but he wasn't sure if it would make much sense if he would suddenly just make one sign and then continue just talking.
"Being a shinobi, means not much free time." He briefly chuckled.
"That and I've seen people come and go. Sometimes seems m-more like a waste of time and... y'know." He tried to find a way to explain it. But the message had likely already been convoyed.
Nami hummed, her eyes dropping to her tea. Father said that her siblings were the only ones she should really trust, the only ones that were her true friends. They were family, that meant something. She finished her tea. It was good. Placing the cup down she looked back up to Daiki and then outside. Time was ticking by. Friends. It was a strange word for her. She felt like she did not understand the concept fully. Suddenly determination appeared in her eyes.
"Would you like to learn," she made a sign where her left palm was facing upwards and her right hand seemed to be grabbing something from it and lifting it to her forehead. The sign for learning.
"sign language? I could teach you."
Nodding, he tried to not smile like an idiot.
"Yes, please." He tried to reply with a modest amount of joy given present. He wondered briefly if he should bring up some payment as he reckoned that it wasn't something simply learned and as well taking up some time for both of them. Scratching his cheek, Daiki pondered for a second.
"If its no problem." He decided to mention.
Nami's own smile grew and she shook her head.
"It is no problem. I need more practice and by teaching I will get that practice." That was not why she had offered it though, but she wouldn't tell him that. It was a part of the truth so it was not a full lie. She pushed her chair back.
"I should go. Groceries." She gestured to the bag next to the table.
"Next Saturday? Here?" she offered him.
Nodding again, Daiki replied back.
"Next Saturday." For a moment he almost had said that it 'sounded' good, but he didn't want to give the idea that he was that much over it to joke about it. Pushing his chair back as well, Daiki attempted to flash a friendly smile and a small bow.
"Many thanks. Again."
Returning the smile Nami picked up the bag, hoisted it on her arm and pushed the chair against the table.
"See you then," she said before turning around and walking away. She would see him again soon.
