Darkness from Within #2: Tension Rising (A Ninjago Fanfiction)

Chapter 8

Over the next few days, life began to get back to normal. The tension and wariness between Lloyd and the others faded. The green ninja was pretty much recovered, and everyone was glad to have no more injured friends.

Kai was the only one who still wasn't fully comfortable around Lloyd. He would often sit at the opposite side of the dinner table and pretty much avoid him all together.

The red ninja was now sitting on his bed, messing with his blanket nervously. There was no doubt he was thinking about Lloyd, as he always was.

As if his thoughts summoned him, a knock came from the door and Lloyd walked in. "Kai?" he called.

Kai froze and stared at the green ninja. An all too familiar scene flashed into his mind. Kai, sitting in his room, watching as Lloyd entered and shut the door. The red and green ninja—alone in Kai's room, battling as if they never knew each other.

"Are you okay?"

Lloyd's voice snapped Kai back to the present. "Uh..." He glanced around. No one else was in the room. His gaze fell on his sword, lying on the ground a few feet away from the bed. His eyes widened as Lloyd came deeper into the room, getting closer and closer to the sword. When the green ninja was about an inch away from his weapon, Kai's heart pounded and he jumped to his feet. His anxiety rising, the red ninja found himself slowly backing away from Lloyd.

The green ninja frowned. "Is everything okay?" he asked. When Kai didn't respond, Lloyd went on. "I only came to say that dinner's ready."

Dinner? Kai glanced at Lloyd, then to the open door, then to the sword on the ground. He realized the green ninja didn't even notice that the weapon was there. He sighed. What has gotten into me?

"Kai, Lloyd, you up here?"

The two ninja turned as Nya poked her head into the room. She glanced at Lloyd, then to the sword at his feet, then to Kai. She shook her head before continuing. "We're all waiting."

With one last suspicious look at Kai, Lloyd walked past Nya and out of the room. When he was gone, Nya walked over to her brother. "Did something happen?" she asked. "We were all getting anxious when you two didn't come down right away."

Kai twiddled his fingers. "N-nothing happened," he murmured. "But I'm glad you came in before something did."

As the siblings walked toward the door, Kai snatched his sword and slipped it onto his back. There's no harm in being ready for anything, he told himself. Like Sensei said, 'better safe than sorry'.

* * *

Lloyd sat down beside Zane at the dinner table. Mostly everyone was eating already. He turned his head as Kai and Nya came downstairs a minute later. Rubbing his stomach, Kai walked past Lloyd and sat down at the far end of the table.

Wu, who was beside him, asked him something Lloyd lipread to be: is your stomach feeling okay?

Kai shot a quick glance at Lloyd before replying: fine.

Lloyd shifted his feet, feeling down. He poked Zane. "Why doesn't Kai want to be near me?" he whispered to the white ninja.

Zane froze for a minute. He scratched his head, hesitating. He looked desperately across the table at Cole and made eye contact, but the black ninja only mouthed don't look at me! Jay shook his head as Zane switched his gaze to him.

"Uh..." Zane looked back at Lloyd. "Kai has been a bit claustrophobic ever since the fire," he lied, giving a nervous chuckle. "You know, with the... smoke and... stuff."

Lloyd glanced across the table at Kai, who was sitting comfortably between Wu and Nya. "Yeah," the green ninja muttered. "Claustrophobic... sure."

* * *

Later that night, Kai was standing out on the balcony, gazing at the night sky and completely lost in thought.

Lloyd slid open the doors to the area. He wanted to talk to the red ninja about what happened today in his bedroom.

Kai was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't notice the green ninja.

"Kai?" Lloyd called as he stepped onto the balcony.

Alarmed, Kai suddenly whipped around and drew out his sword. Lloyd staggered backward in surprise, lifting up his arms. "It's only me, Kai," he stammered, wide-eyed.

Kai blinked, panting for a minute, then lowered his sword. He turned back toward the sky and slipped his sword back into its case. "Sorry," he murmured. "I'm just a bit jumpy."

"I can see that." Lloyd joined him at the balcony's edge. He tried not to show his hurt as Kai inched away from him. "I get it, you need your space," he muttered. "The others said you've been claustrophobic since the fire."

What? Kai opened his mouth to protest, then clearly thought better of it. It's better for him to believe that than the truth. The truth was he still felt wary around Lloyd, especially when they were alone. The more space between them lowered the chances of the green ninja taking his sword and piercing his stomach again. Kai's wound ached just thinking about it, and he couldn't resist clutching his belly.

Lloyd looked down at Kai's bandaged stomach. "Was that from the fire?" he asked.

Kai stared down at his wound, hiding his expression. "Yeah... yeah," he murmured. "The fire."

"Does it hurt?" Lloyd wondered. Kai inched backward as he came closer. "If you want I can find Pixal—"

"No!" Kai gasped when he decided that the green ninja was close enough to him. Anxious, he took a big step back. "That's okay."

Lloyd frowned. "If you say so," he breathed. He clearly picked up on the tension between them and turned around. "It's getting late. I'm going to bed. Good night." Without waiting for a reply, the green ninja went back inside.

Kai sighed with relief. Any more of that and he would've burst out the truth. He drew out his sword. He knew that Lloyd was in his right mind again, but he couldn't shake off the feeling that the green ninja would lash out at him again.

Kai scoffed, inspecting his sharp weapon. He can try, he thought. But this time I'll be ready.

* * *

Lloyd let out the dejected sigh he was holding in when he was out of earshot from Kai. He had paused at the door to the balcony for a moment and heard Kai's sigh of relief after he was gone.

Lloyd's shoulders sagged as he walked down the hall. Why does Kai hate me so much? he wondered to himself. The two of them used to be so close—but now the red ninja wouldn't even talk to him. What did I do?

Something must've happened while he was unconscious... something that nobody wanted to tell him. And that's just fine, he thought. If no one will tell me, then I'll figure it out myself.