The little things:)

Little brother of sorts

Kai and Nya's chapter:)))))
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Kai knew the ways of life. How to find peace even in the darkest and rowdiest of times, where to look to see a light, and how to not let his temper get the best of him.
He could handle fight after fight, war after war. He could handle having patience for centuries. He could handle extreme pressure and stress every single time.
But he could NOT handle one small son of a demon child that had crawled his way into their lives.
That's just gone too far.
To be honest, Kai didn't know what issue the little green gremlin had with him. He was always the centre of pranks, always the one Lloyd would target, always the one he would pester.
And he hadn't even DONE anything to the little kid yet!
When he looked around, it seemed the other ninja didn't have the same problem he did. In fact, it seemed as if they had worse.
Lloyd avoided Nya as if she were the plague. He and Jay couldn't be caught dead looking at one another, let alone talking. Lloyd seemed to like Cole a little, although you wouldn't be able to see it unless you look really hard.
But Zane and Lloyd were always together. Well, not always. But nonetheless.
They seemed to have gained a connection. Maybe it was because Zane never reacted to his pranks, maybe it was because Zane took him out on little nature walks whenever Lloyd got too fidgety.
Kai had no idea. He didn't want to know.
What he did know was that he would sacrifice his fire power, if it meant never seeing Lloyd again.

At least, that's what he thought.
It's funny, how one person's opinion can change so quickly, after hearing from another.
It was a normal morning for Kai.
And when he says normal-?
Walking out of his bedroom door just to have a bucket of- is that kinetic sand-?- onto his newly gelled hair.
Yep, normal.
The fire ninja heard the familiar cackle of a certain golden-haired kid and he glared at the disappearing red eyes, before a lump of green covered his vision.
He wiped the sand off his brow with a shaking hand and turned away, stalking back into his room to get a new shower, and maybe just to kill himself.

"Zane! How do you do it, man!?"
The metallic man straightened up at this question, in the process of trying to tame Cole's hair.
Cole, indefinitely, had fallen asleep, head lolled to the side and Zane's fingers still brushing out the curls.
Kai tried to ignore the fondness he received when he looked at Cole, and tried to pay all his attention to the confused robot ice ninja.
"Do what?" He asks and resumes the brushing.
"Put up with Lloyd! He's like a demon spawn. And a big ol' brat," Kai replies, exasperated and annoyed.
Zane tilts his head a little, as if not understanding what he was saying.
"Whatever do you mean?" He asks again, Kai tried to look for any sense of sarcasm in his eyes and gasped when he found nothing but sincerity.
"Lloyd. The demon brat spawn. You know? The kid? The annoying kid? The annoying bully-"
"Yes, Kai. I know Lloyd. What I don't understand is the 'demon-spawn-annoying-bully-brat part," Zane smiled.
The fire ninja slumped and fell backwards onto the carpet. He rubbed his hands down his face and groaned.
"You frustrate me so much, Zane..." he says weakly.
Zane, taking some pity on him, smiles once again and his voice is perky and questioning from behind Kai's eyelids.
"You know, he isn't so bad once you get to know him," he says slyly and Kai shot back up and pointed a finger to his chest.
"Don't give me that crap. Wu has been telling me that too. What he doesn't know is that it took a SERPENTINE ARRIVAL FOR HIM TO REALISE LLOYD IS ALIVE," he scoffed.
"Some uncle he is."
Zane looked sympathetically at Kai, who was gazing at the sleeping Cole, almost dreamily.
A knowing look sparkled in his eyes but he pressed on.
"I'm serious, Kai. Have you ever tried talking to him?"
The red ninja raised a hand pointedly to his hair, which still had some traces of the green kinetic sand from this morning.
"Does this answer your question?"
Zane laughed, soft to not awake the black ninja's rest.
"He's just a kid, Kai. A ten year old boy."
He let that information sink in a bit, before continuing.
"He was abandoned by his mom, left in a school made to grow villains and then abandoned all over again. Do you really think this wouldn't influence or change him?"
And there was the guilt, slamming straight into Kai's chest and he swallowed deeply.
Zane's eyes crinkled at the corners and there was a little dull sparkle in them.
"He likes you, y'know," he says and laughs again at the look on Kai's face.
"It's true! He told me himself."
Kai leaned forward, eager to hear this new refreshing news.
"Really? What else did he say?"
Suddenly, the robot's expression grew dim, and he looked down at Cole's hair.
"He doesn't really know how to express himself. Lack of parental roles in your life so early does that to a kid."
Zane looked back to Kai, who stared expectantly.
"Why don't you try talking to him? Physical affection might work too. Who knows? You don't know unless you try."
Kai already knew it was gonna be some long couple of weeks.