A fire's shadow

Thoughts in the mind

The city was just as noisy as usual. Cars driving past, people chattering with one another. Some places echoed with tables and chairs being moved, others with laughs and excited shouts.

But all those sounds were not noticed by the brunette walking next to the green ninja. The brunette instead had his attention on the thoughts in his own head, and some of it to look where he was walking.

Lloyd had noticed the absence of Kai's attention about ten minutes ago. But he had by that time decided it was best to leave the brunette to his own thoughts, otherwise, he'd just get distracted later anyway.

But the knot in the green ninja's gut wouldn't go away. He was still thinking about the argument he had with Kai a week ago.

A week.

Lloyd couldn't believe it had been that long since that night. The night he kissed Kai for the first time, even though they had argued just minutes before it happened.

Lloyd hadn't been able to sleep that night, there were two reasons why. What Kai had said that night had gotten Lloyd thinking, a lot. What if Kai was actually right, what if there actually was good in the black-haired teen that had caused Kai so much pain.

Lloyd had also been thinking about the kiss that night. He could still remember the way it had felt, the way Kai had tasted. He couldn't help but smile when thinking about it.

Lloyd was now, just as Kai, finding himself lost in his thought's.

But it was by this time that Kai had suddenly gotten snapped back to reality by a strange feeling, almost like a warning, a warning about something, or someone. Kai felt the sudden urge to hide, and thanks to his liking to hoods, he soothed the feeling by pulling his hood up. Kai placed his hands in his pockets and lowered his head, looking at the ground.

Things hadn't been the same for any of the ninjas ever since the whole thing with Shadow. Not only because of what was revealed when it was happening, but also because of what happened.

But it was the most different for Kai.

First for the fact that the others had changed how they treated him. They no longer teased him or pulled pranks on him. They had chosen to keep an almost constant watch on him, and he was also no longer allowed to be anywhere near knives or other sharp objects but since only Lloyd was the one to not allow this, Kai sometimes got away with training with his katanas. Kai had at first thought it was nice to see that they cared, but after a whole week, it became rather annoying. He would never say this to the others, but he was actually starting to miss the pranks and teasing. It was always annoying at the time it occurred, but after a day or two, sometimes only an hour, it was something he could laugh at.

But another thing that was different for the master of fire, was the new looks he had on the world and the people around him. He had always been a person that took a lot to earn trust from, but it had only gotten harder now. Kai had been more withdrawn from people and his sarcastic comments occurred more often than before.

The others had confronted him about this but he had just shrugged it off as a phase. But he knew it wasn't 'just a phase', it was the aftermath of all the pain he'd went through. All his injuries had healed, except for one. The cut he had given himself when he'd punched the mirror was still there. Kai had at first cursed to himself when he realized it would be a permanent scar, but after some time he had grown to like it. After all, now he had a full scar over his eye, instead of just over the eyebrow.

He had also developed a new style, a rather edgy one actually. Someone who didn't know him could almost mistake him for an edgy, rebellious teen.

After listening to the sentence in his head, Kai chucked at the irony. He had always been rather rebellious, and with his new style, he might as well be an edgy, rebellious teen. The increased amount of sarcasm that he now spoke with only increased that suspicion.