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Learning

By kira

For Vega-chan...



"You busy, Jak?"

"Do I look like I'm busy, Sui?" he replied. The cross-dresser was sprawled out on the veranda, the top half of his kimono bunched up around his waist as he lazily fanned himself. "It's too hot to do anything..."

"Too hot to molest Oo-aniki?" the claw-bearer asked as he sat down on the edge of the veranda.

"Yeah...Besides, Aniki-chan's asleep."

Suikotsu chuckled. "He threw you out, hunh?"

Jakotsu laughed. "Yeah... He said it was too hot to sleep together." The cross-dresser sat up and stretched, his supple movements reminding the claw-bearer of a cat.

"Good, then you're free to come with me."

"What's this? Ren too hot and tired to nookie with you too?"

Suikotsu laughed. "No. He's busy puttering around his workshop. This is free 'me time' and I decided to spend it with you."

"Oooo! I'm flattered. So what do you want to do then that doesn't involve nookie or sleeping?"

"Come, I'll show you," Suikotsu said mysteriously as he hopped off the veranda and started walking away. "It's in my room."

Jakotsu laughed. "You're luring me back to your room and it doesn't involve nookie?" he said incredulously. "This I've gotta see!"

"Then hurry up or you'll miss it."

The cross-dresser trailed after him, peppering him with questions, which the claw-bearer steadfastly refused to answer. Minutes later they arrived at Suikotsu's room, where they were greeted by Renkotsu.

"Sui, you brought me all the way here to see a half-naked Ren and you couldn't even have the good parts naked?" Jakotsu teased.

"Shut up, you freaky lil girl. I just came by to get my sketchbook, Sui. Have fun you two," the fire-breather said as he kissed his lover good-bye.

"Hey! Where's my kiss?" the cross-dresser teased.

Renkotsu and Suikotsu exchanged glances and after the claw-bearer gave him a subtle nod of his head, the fire-breather walked over to Jakotsu. Taking the cross-dresser completely by surprise, he pulled him into a tight embrace and kissed him long and hard. Breaking the kiss, Renkotsu chuckled at the startled look on the cross-dresser's face. "Seeya later, Sui," he said to his lover and as he continued on his way, Renkotsu reached out and fondled the cross-dresser's bottom. "Bye, Jak," he purred, and chuckling, he left the room.

Jakotsu stood there for several minutes, blinking as he tried to figure out what just went on. Shaking his head, he sputtered incoherently at the claw-bearer for several minutes.

"You wanted a kiss good-bye, Jak, and he gave you one, so what's the big deal?" Suikotsu said with all the patience a parent had for a favorite child as he looked up from where he had seated himself.

"But he grabbed my ass and shoved his tongue down my throat! Aren't you at least a lil bit pissed off by that?"

"No, because you asked for it. Now calm yourself down and come over here." He patted a spot next to him on the low table he was seated at. "I promise I won't molest you too, if that's what you're worried about."

"No..." the cross-dresser said as he came over and sat. "But why'd he do that?"

"He's tired of your nonsense and I told him the best way to put a stop to it is to give into to you. Like when you flirt with me and I flirt back? Well, even though you have been good and have all but stopped flirting with him, you still do it on occasion and it makes him uncomfortable. So he took my advice, while he was a bit aggressive, I think it had the desired result, right?"

"Yeah..."

"And one other thing, Jak, I've given Ren permission to do whatever it takes to get you to stop completely. And if that means jumping your bones..." He chuckled at the look of shock on the cross-dresser's face, "Then so be it. But I don't think it'll go that far. Besides, I don't think you can totally stop flirting the way a bird can't stop singing and Ren knows that like the rest of us do. But enough of that, I want to get to the real reason I asked you here." Suikotsu took a sheet of paper from the pile to his right and picking up his brush, he loaded it with ink and made a few quick strokes. He pushed the paper towards Jakotsu, who picked it up.

"That says your name."

"Really?"

"Yes. Want to learn how to write it?" The claw-bearer asked.

"Yeah! You think I can do it?"

Suikotsu nodded. "Yes, I do. Now watch me while I do it..." Suikotsu took another sheet of paper and picking up his brush again, he slowly wrote it out again. "Now you try," he said, handing the cross-dresser another sheet of paper and the brush.

"I don't know..."

"You can do it, I know you can," Suikotsu encouraged as Jakotsu sat there, brush poised over the pristine sheet of paper.

"I can't..."

"You can. Here, relax...." The claw-bearer took Jakotsu's hand and together they wrote out the characters that made up his name.

"I did it!" Jakotsu exclaimed.

Suikotsu smiled. "See? I knew you could do it. Now just keep practicing and when you think you've got it down, I'll show you something else." The claw bearer left Jakotsu hunched over the table, happily scrawling his name all over the sheet of paper, while he went outside and tended his herb garden.

When he returned, Suikotsu came over to check on Jakotsu's progress. "That's very good, Jak, you catch on quickly."

"Thanks..."

"Would you like me to me to show you how to write Oo-Aniki's name?"

"Please do!"

"Okay..." The claw bearer took the brush and slowly wrote "Bankotsu."

"You see this, Jak." He pointed to the second half of the name. "You see how it's the same as yours?"

"Yeah...?"

"You sure you see it?"

"Yup!" Jakotsu took the brush from the claw-bearer and wrote the second half of their names. "See?" he said smugly.

"Good! You've just read something..."

"Really?"

"Yes. And just for that I'm going to show you a little more. See this?" He wrote a word down. "That says 'Sweetness' and that," he wrote another one, "Says 'Dumpling.'"

"Amazing..."

"This says..." He wrote out a whole a whole sentence. "'Sweetness loves his dumpling.' You see the words for sweetness and dumpling? That one is 'loves.'" He pointed out the unfamiliar word.

"Can I try writing that?"

"Okay."

"Sui...?"

"Yeah?"

"How do you write 'Sweetness loves to eat his Dumpling'?"

Suikotsu laughed. "Must you bring sex into everything you do?"

"Yeah..." The cross-dresser giggled.

The claw-bearer shook his head and wrote it down. "Before you get the idea to start bugging me every two minutes to write something else, I want you to stop and practice what you have. When your handwriting looks as neat as mine, I'll teach you how to write everyone else's name. And if you're really good, next time I go into town, I'll look for a book of love poetry for you to copy from."

"Really?"

"Yes. When you know enough, you'll be able to write your own, and then I'll get you a blank book."

"A blank book?"

Suikotsu nodded. "You can write all sorts of bawdy stuff in it as well as serious stuff."

"Like a high class whore's pillow book!" The cross-dresser giggled. "Thanks, Sui."

"You're welcome. We'll make a geisha out you yet..."

"Yeah!! And then Aniki-chan'll never leave me because every man wants a geisha!"

"Exactly. But you do know they don't nookie with their clients?"

"What?! Where's the fun in that? And how do you know that?"

"Remember that last mission Ren and I went on?"

"Yeah...?"

"We got invited to a tea house."

"No shit! I've always wanted to see what a tea house looks like..."

"It looks like any other dining hall, except there was a woman there..." He chuckled at Jakotsu little sound of disgust. "She sang songs, and played games with us and just generally entertained us. You know, the kinds of things you do at dinner time to cheer us when a mission goes badly."

"Oh..."

"And you would have liked her kimono, Jak, it was a soft violet and it had iris sprays along the hem and butterflies. And it was long like some fancy lady in the emperor's court would wear."

"Really?"

"Really. I'll tell you more about it at dinner. Now if you don't mind, I want to take a lil nap. The heat has made me feel sleepy."

"Not you too!" Jakotsu playfully wagged his finger at the claw-bearer. He smiled. "It's okay, Sui. I want go see if Aniki-chan's awake. I can't wait to show him this! Thanks, Sui..."

"You're welcome. Now go, Jak, before I throw you out."

The cross-dresser laughed as he stood up. "Bye, Sui"

"Later, Jak," Suikotsu said as he tidied up the table, pausing long enough to watch his friend leave.

Jak made his way quickly back to the room he shared with his lover. He clutched his papers to his chest, and humming a bawdy tune, he imagined Bankotsu's reaction when he showed them to him. As he approached that part of the house, Jakotsu hid the papers behind his back before he turned the corner and entered the little courtyard just outside their room. He smiled a greeting at his lover, who was sitting there waiting for him.

"Hey, Sweetness, where've you been all afternoon?"

"I was with Sui. Want to see what we did?" He smiled saucily at his lover.

"Okay..."

"Look! That says 'Jakotsu' and that's your name and that," he giggled, "says 'Sweetness likes to eat his Dumpling.' Sui taught me how to write stuff and read a little while you were sleeping!"

"That's great, Sweetness."

"Yeah, and he's going to buy me a poetry book so I can practice writing and when I get good enough he's going to buy me a blank book so I can make a pillow book!"

Bankotsu smiled as he welcomed his lover into his arms. "I can't wait to read it."

"Hey, how come you never taught me to read and write?"

"Because I'm not much of a teacher for one thing and besides, with a pupil as pretty as you I'd be too distracted."

Jakotsu giggled. "You don't mind if Sui teaches me then..?"

"Nope. If this is what you want to do, it's okay with me."

"Thanks, Dumpling..."

"You're welcome, Sweetness," Bankotsu said as he leaned into Jakotsu for a kiss...