Darkness from Within #5: Uneasy Trust (A Ninjago Fanfiction)

Chapter 20

Kai draped his blanket over Nya's shoulders and rose to his feet. The two had cried together for hours, and Nya had fallen asleep. Kai gazed down at his sister and touched his hand to her cheek. She was so precious to him, and now she was all he had left.

"Kai?"

Kai turned his head as Wu stepped into the room. Kai signaled to him to be quiet and silently crept across the room and out the door after the sensei.

"Nya's asleep," he explained.

Concern glittered in Wu's gaze. "It's only noon," he pointed out.

Kai shrugged, pretending he was just as confused as Wu was. He didn't want to get into everything. "Hard night last night," he put in.

Wu shook his head to clear his thoughts. "In any event, lunch is on the table," he said. "But if you think we should let Nya sleep, that's fine."

Kai nodded. She's had a rough day so far, he thought. I don't want to ruin the only peace she gets.

He followed Wu down the hall, keeping his head low. He had gotten all his emotions out with his sister, and now he just felt hollow inside. He had no tears left to cry—he was sure of that—but he still didn't really feel up to seeing the whole family. He halted. "You know, Sensei, I don't really think I..." His voice trailed off as they reached the stairs and he found Lloyd nearby. The green ninja glared at him and Kai swallowed hard. But then he shook his head and straightened up. I can't let my weaknesses show, he thought. I'll just have to ignore Lloyd—no matter how hard he hurts me.

Deciding to go to lunch anyway, Kai walked forward again, passing Lloyd.

"Orphan," Lloyd hissed in his ear as he swept by.

Kai drew in a shaky breath and kept walking, pretending nothing happened. Am I really just an orphan? Self-consciousness swarmed through him as he entered the dining room. Is that how everyone looks at me? he wondered. As just some orphan?

Taking a deep breath, he sat down at the edge of the table, as far away from the others as possible. He looked at the ground as Lloyd came in after him, not wanting to be tormented any more than he already was. When did Lloyd get so mean?

So wrapped up in his thoughts, Kai didn't realize as Garmadon sat next to him. He gazed at the red ninja with concern. "Hey, you okay?" he asked.

Kai didn't meet his gaze. "I'm fine, Sensei," he stated tightly.

But Garmadon had seen that self-consciousness on Kai's face before and knew he was lying. He rested his hand on Kai's shoulder. "Is there something you want to talk about?"

Kai inched away from the sensei and pushed his hand away. "No, Sensei," he grunted.

Garmadon frowned. "Look, if this is about what happened yesterday—"

"I don't want to talk about it," Kai interrupted, looking down at his meal.

Garmadon nodded solemnly and turned away. "Okay," he mumbled.

Kai lifted his head slightly as Lloyd sat down across the table from him. The green ninja glared at him for a minute before flicking his gaze to Garmadon. "Hey, Dad," he said strangely, "is that the salt shaker, Dad?"

Horror shot through Kai as he realized what Lloyd was doing.

Garmadon glanced down at the salt shaker near his plate. "Er, yes," he stammered, also noticing Lloyd's weird tone.

Lloyd raised an eyebrow. "Can you pass it to me, Dad?" he asked.

Kai's throat tightened and he struggled to calm himself.