Novaturience of a Ninja

On Brand

What am I supposed to do with this?

Kai frowned at the mirror, in which his classic, spiky hair had gone mysteriously flat.

When I said I was going for a different look, I didn't mean this!

And, unfortunately, it all began with the wrong hair product. Just one wrong move, and his hair had been ruined. Apparently, sending Cole and Jay to get a specific type of hair gel instead of getting it himself was a mistake. Of course he couldn't really blame them. He certainly would have liked to, however, especially as the time for his date with Skylor continued to draw near.

Is it a date? It might not be a date. Last time it was definitely a date, but maybe this time she just wants to meet with me about something...

He emitted a forlorn sigh. Love could be so complicated. More and more recently, he couldn't help but wonder where his former confidence had gone. The answer to that, however, was all too obvious. Everything had crumbled after losing Wu to time.

Huh. I guess the others are right, we really do need change. What I need to change right now, however, is my hair.

He ruffled it, groaning in displeasure as it flopped back down again. The hair would have to wait. It probably wouldn't do to greet Skylor in just his pajamas, date or not.

"Hey, bro! What's taking so long?"

Gritting his teeth, the teen tried not to explode.

My day's already going bad enough, I don't need my little sister to nag me about something too.

"If it's about your hair, I doubt it's worse than usual. I mean, what could you do to mess up your hair spikes?"

Oh, really?

He opened the bathroom door, watching in mild amusement as his sister gaped at him, trailing off from whatever it was she had been planning to say next.

"You—your hair!" she spluttered.

Kai responded by raising an eyebrow. "What about it?"

"It's... not spiked?"

"Pfft, nope. Cole and Jay got me the wrong product, and now it's... the opposite of spiked," he muttered.

"Well, what about your date?" After recovering from her initial shock, Nya punctuated her words with a smirk, wiggling her eyebrows all the while.

Kai frowned once more. "It's not a date. And, no, I have no idea what I'm going to do or if I even have time to do anything."

"Relax." Nya patted him on the shoulder, the awkward gesture at least somewhat comforting. "I'm sure she'll forgive you for having a bad hair day."

Then she left. Kai silently returned to his room to change, inwardly fighting back a wave of worry.

I'm really not usually like this. I just need to find out a way to solve my nova... novashure... ah, whatever Zane called it. Maybe Skylor can help. Facing himself in the mirror, he swallowed, unable to prevent his train of thought from straying back to his fears. If she doesn't laugh at the sight of me, that is.

The walk to the noodle shop took longer than usual as the fire ninja struggled with his heavy steps, and each passing thought reinforced his fears that this was in no way a good idea. A few citizens of Ninjago City took notice of him and shouted a greeting, but the words only fell on deaf ears.

I've never felt so numb before. It just seems to get worse, I don't know if I can even—

"Hey there, glum-face. What's wrong?"