Garmadon's Spy | Ninjago x Reader

Ch.29 "Fool"

"What do you mean?" Brandon asked, his body shifting to stillness more than before.

"I mean that you seem to care about my safety more than you used to. And you just came in panicking a few minutes ago."

"Well...Do you not want me to care?"

"It's not like that." I said, "I'm just not used to people caring without being asked to." I added "Garmadon must have forced you to put on this sympathetic act, hasn't he?"

He was taken aback as I let the words out. His voice quiet as he asked, "You think I only care because Garmadon is making me?"

"Why else would you, then?" I met his brown eyes. "There's no other reason for you to care about a girl who's about four to seven years younger than you, or maybe more than that."

"Hold on." He asked, "How old do you think I am?"

"I'm not good at guessing ages." I guessed anyway, "Nineteen to twenty-eight or something? I don't know, a lot of people don't look their age."

"I'm twenty-one."

"Good for you, you don't have to deal with school."

"I don't feel like it's that much of an achievement."

"Why?"

"Because I don't really remember what it's like being in school."

"What do you mean?" I asked, suddenly interested in this turn of subjects.

"I never went to high school," he said, "I wasn't allowed to."

"Why didn't you argue with your parents about it?" I asked and corrected myself immediately, "I mean...whoever was preventing you from going to school."

He shrugged his shoulders. "The head general of our unit didn't give us that much freedom. The other kids were happy about not going to schoo-"

"Wait a minute. Kids? Didn't you join the generals three months ago."

He sighed and nodded. "I spent years training ever since I was a kid in a secret unit of Garmadon's."

"But everything about Garmadon's work is a secret." What is going on?

"You're right, but this one is a secret from everyone, even the workers of the volcano. And I shouldn't be telling you this...at all."

"So why are you telling me?"

He made eye contact with me and answered "Because I know I can trust you." Trust, huh? That's new.

"And for your information." I returned my attention to him as he spoke, "if I was only looking out for you and worrying about your well-being because Garmadon asked me to, I would've paid the hospital bill and left without even coming to say hi."

We locked eyes for seconds, minutes, I didn't know how much time exactly, it could be a moment. Do I look like a clock to you?

He cared about me. It wasn't just being friendly or work like I thought. It wasn't fake.

"Because you remind me of someone very dear to me. Someone I lost years ago."

He had once said in response to the same question I asked him today...and I didn't have the chance to reply at that time.

"Brandon."

"Yes?"

"Did you lose someone else other than your parents?"

You know that look on a character's face when they are doing something in secret and someone walks in on them? Brandon had that look on his face.

I waved my right hand in front of him. "Umm...hello? Are you still there?"