The Silent Man's Whisper [ninjago]

21 | endangered

Kai's temper had always been short.

Whenever something would not go his way, his usual next step would always be to either yell at someone or punch something (he was not allowed to punch anyone anymore, so he'd often go for inanimate objects), or both depending on who was currently getting on his nerves.

There were a few exceptions to this, however. His parents, of course, and Nya, whose temper was even worse than his, he was convinced. He would never say it out loud, though, too afraid of being targeted by her inevitable wrath.

But other than his family, there was only one person he could never dare be angry at.

Skylor Chen, daughter of Master Chen, Master of Amber, bearer of Kai's heart.

Though he would never actually tell anyone.

Kai was a flirt, a charming young man who could get anyone he wanted with only a nod of his head and a blink of his eye. But when it came to Skylor, he managed to do all the wrong things. He didn't know how to stop. He didn't know how to act.

Skylor had him wrapped around her finger, even if she didn't know it, even when they hadn't had any contact for a while. A long while.

Kai cringed when he realized how long it had actually been since he'd last talked to her, asked her how she was and how things were going. He'd been too caught up being a dutiful ninja. Whenever one intense mission would come to an end, another one would begin, meaning he would barely have any time for himself and his personal life.

The downside of that was that he was not able to establish a healthy romantic relationship. With anyone for that matter.

But the upside was that Skylor was not constantly endangering herself, so she was safe in her noodle shop in Ninjago, away from the danger Kai would throw himself into. Well, only if the current threat would not try to conquer Ninjago, which was not a rare occurrence, really.

So Skylor was still in danger...ninety percent of the time.

In his head, Kai sometimes compared his nonexistent relationship with Skylor to his sister's relationship with Jay.

Nya and Jay had been together for as long as Kai could remember being a ninja. At first, it had looked like Jay would be a ninja and Nya would stay behind in the Bounty, safe and sound, but then, when it had been revealed Nya was Samurai X, everything had changed for the two. And after that, Nya had become an official ninja, so the couple went on many missions together to fight side by side.

Kai knew Nya and Jay's relationship had to be tough because they would constantly worry about each other. When one was physically injured during an altercation, the other was mentally injured. Because the other half of them was injured and all that jazz.

And as much as Kai liked Skylor, he didn't want her to fight by his side if it meant he would have to worry about her twenty-four seven.

But he couldn't help but envy his sister's relationship. She had her significant other by her side almost always. They trained together, fought side by side, spent so much time together in their free time (if they ever had any), even shared a goddamn bed when they were not out on a mission and could actually go back home.

Kai did not have that. Hell, he didn't even know how to properly talk to Skylor without making a fool of himself.

Pathetic, Kai called himself. So. Freaking. Pathetic.

— — — —

"You look rough, man."

Kai's tired but fierce eyes darted over to Cole, who was sitting on a bench and holding a bottle of Gatorade. The Earth Elemental's tank top—the one he had been gifted by Hailmar himself, since their body types somewhat looked similar—was covered in sweat.