Empty Seats (NINJAGO)

Chapter One

"Oooh... I do, I do, I do, I doooo~"

Kai groaned, covering his face with his pillow and trying to block out his sister's morning Hamilton session. It was bad enough that he had to wake up at 6 o'clock to reach their new school on time, and now he had to listen to Nya belt out Eliza's Helpless in the shower every morning. Not that she was bad or anything- in fact, she hit every note almost perfectly- it was simply because Kai was not a morning person, and people that liked to sleep in generally liked peace and quiet.

Deciding that he wasn't going to be able to get back to sleep once Nya began to sing Good Morning Baltimore, Kai lazily swung his feet out of bed and onto the floor. He rubbed at his eyes as he hunched over, slowly remembering that today was a Monday and the week was going to go by slower than ever. Popping in his earbuds and stretching, he quickly changed into a t-shirt and jeans, letting the music wake him up.

He fumbled around in the kitchen cabinets, trying to find something to eat and sighing in dismay when only one granola bar remained in the box. He'd give that to Nya, and hopefully he could hold out until lunch, where the school would provide him with whatever shitty food they could scrape up. In his earbuds, his favorite Depeche Mode song began to play.

"All I ever wanted, all I ever needed is here, in my arms..." Kai hummed along, gathering up some supplies for the day. Although his parents had put both of their children into voice lessons at a young age, Kai had never thought much of his talent for singing. Nya, on the other hand, fell in love with musical theater, and was apart of a multitude of productions. She had recently joined their current school's drama club and begged Kai to join her nearly every day.

Kai sighed, rubbing at his temples. Sure, it was impressive that he could sing, and he could probably act and dance as well, if he really wanted to learn. The thing was, Kai was already having trouble fitting in and finding his people, especially at the end of his high school years. Joining the drama club wouldn't exactly boost his popularity.

Besides, he already had to worry about work and potentially getting a second job, not to mention his grades, getting into college, and of course, taking care of his sister. If his parents hadn't taken the car that night, then this year would have been a different story.

"Kai?" Nya's voice interrupted his thoughts. "What's wrong?"

Kai realized he had been gripping onto the edge of the table, tears in his eyes. He faked a smile. "It's nothing, sis. I have a lot on my plate for the week and I'm feeling overwhelmed. That's all."

His sister took his hand and rubbed the back of his palm with her thumb. "Try to take it easy, okay? You don't need to do everything for me, you know."

Kai pulled her in for a hug, sighing heavily. "Yeah, I know. I want you to focus on school and drama though... you know, making friends and shit like that. I don't want you to worry about money or jobs, just... none of that adult stuff."

Nya sighed. "Fine. But if you need to take on a second job, then let at least let me take it for you. I need to learn to grow up, and you shouldn't be alone on that."

Kai nodded. "Okay. Deal." He wiped his eyes with the back of his wrist, smiling faintly. "Come on, we're gonna be late for school... and eat this granola bar."
-
Kai and Nya walked into the school gates and crossed the parking lot into the main courtyard. Ninjago High hosted a massive amount of buildings and a large campus, but surprisingly held less than 300 students, despite being one of the few public schools in the area.

"Hey, Nya." A lanky kid with copper hair and a faded blue sweater waved hello to the siblings as he crossed their path. He nodded slightly in Kai's direction, unsure of what to say.