You're My Brother

Worst Camp Ever

    Keith had never seen a room so crowded as the dining hall of the old orphanage. He estimated there to be nearly a hundred and fifty occupants, both children and the staff.
    "This way." Shiro pointed Keith towards a long line. "It should be self explanatory... Ask for the meal you want and find a seat."
    Following by example, Keith asked for his food and took his tray in his hands.
    As expected, the tables were almost full, but luckily enough, the two found a spot. Thankfully, their 'area' was vacant for the time being.
    "Meals are much like a summer camp, or so I've been told." The teen began. "Everyone stays here and eats for a given amount of time. But, Ms. Mary explained that already, I won't bore you with the mealtime rules and what not."
    The child simply nodded, truth be told, he had no idea what was going to happen... someone decided not to pay attention to his orientation. Without saying a word, the two, now roommates began to eat their dinner.
    "You look ravenous." Shiro commented as he held back laughter.
Keith looked up at Shiro, before looking down at his plate. He didn't realize how fast he was eating... His plate was almost completely empty.
"It's like you've eaten nothing in days." He added, still amused.
Again, Keith stayed rather silent, only this time, he looked away from Shiro completely. When Shiro said nothing else he very slowly nodded, validating what he had said.
"Oh... Keith..." Quickly the teen's facial expression changed to a sympathetic one. "I..." It had dawned on him that Keith, in all likelihood, had been starving or eating very little the past few weeks.
    "Don't say anything..." Keith crossed his arms and lay his head down on the table.
    This new information broke Shiro's heart. It was bad enough the kid had no parents... But living off of whatever food had been left. That's a whole new issue.
    A slight scratching noise prompted Keith to turn his head back to Shiro.
    "Here." Shiro had slid the remaining bits of food on his tray in front of Keith. "I'm not all that hungry. You should eat."
    His father had always told Keith to be polite and respectful, and so he shook his head, refusing the offer. "I'm fine..." the boy mumbled.
    "Come on. You haven't eaten in... what...? Two days? Maybe more?"
    "I've eaten." Keith argued. He probably would've been fine if it weren't for his stomach growling suddenly. "Just... not a lot...." he quietly added.
    Despite his refusal, Shiro wouldn't give up. "Exactly." He took the empty plates from Keith and exchanged them for his. "Go on. You can have it." Kindly, he smiled at the child, hoping Keith would give in and eat.
    "Fine..." reluctantly, Keith picked up his fork and began finishing what was given to him.
"See, I'm not all that bad."
Keith gave him a look, one suggesting that he had no idea what Shiro meant by that. "I never said you were..."
"You're so uptight!" Shiro couldn't help but ruffle Keith's hair. "Relax a little. We're all friends here."
The very thought of being friends with anyone from this house made Keith sick. They're not here to be friendly. They're only here because their parents are all dead or gone.
Instead of arguing with him, Keith just kept his eyes on his food and held his tongue.
The rest of their meal was silent.
Keith was never one for talking... Except when it was just him and his father.
Shiro, being respectful of the younger boy's unspoken wishes, kept quiet, waiting for Keith to speak before he said anything.
    After a good twenty minutes or so, a bell rang out in the room. Dinner tie was over.
    Again, following by example, Keith took his tray and empty plates back to the kitchen and places them in a bin with the others.
    He looked around, wondering what to do now.
    Shiro quickly caught on to Keith's uncertainty and led him into the main hall. "So it's almost time for us to go to our rooms. Do you want to—"
    Without hesitation, Keith pushed past Shiro, making his way up the stair. "I'm tired... Can we go up now?"
    "Yeah... Of course." He followed closely behind Keith. "Is something wrong...? Normally the younger kids like stories or play outside for a few minutes."
    "I said I'm fine." Keith mumbled, still walking. "Just tired..."
    As any good companion would, Shiro didn't argue with Keith. "That's fine. You should probably get some sleep anyway."
"Look," Keith turned to Shiro when he made it to the landing. "I don't want you babying me, okay? You're not my dad and you're not my brother."
Hearing the aggravation in the child's voice made Shiro a little unsure of how to respond. He wasn't an expert in child rearing, that was the staff's job. Plus, he was just a teenager. Shiro also had no interest in being the one to look after Keith, he was only trying to help him become acclimated quicker.
In the end, neither spoke another word. Keith had his heart set on going to his room to sit in solitude. A conversation was the last thing he wanted.