Street Rats (Ninjago fanfic)

Chapter Thirteen-The Dream Team

Jen's head shot up the moment Kai stormed into the kitchen with hot pink hair, the next morning.

"Yo asumiré la culpa." She muttered to Lloyd under her breath. (A/N: Translation -I'll take the blame.)

"¡No, no lo harás!" he started to say, but she had already turned her attention back to Kai. (A/N: Translation -No you won't!)

"I like the hair, darlin'." Jenny told him quietly, bravely, struggling to hold back her laughter. Kai's dark eyes fixed themselves onto hers, and she could see the furious fire flickering to life in his soul. In that moment, she wasn't sure if she was terrified or thrilled by it, by him.

"I knew it'd be you." He growled lowly. She saw Lloyd move slightly out of the corner of her eye, and knew what he was going to do before he did it.

"No-" she began, but it was too late.

"Actually, Jen shouldn't take all the blame," Lloyd told Kai firmly. "I was involved too." Kai said nothing, but sat down at the table and glared at them. Jen nudged Lloyd.

"What have you done?" she hissed at him. "I said I'd take the blame!" Lloyd smiled softly at her.

"We agreed we were in this together. You're not alone anymore." She blinked in surprise. True, she'd said that, and meant it. But she didn't think he'd picked up on that, or took it so seriously.

"Gracias." (A/N: Translation -Thank you.)

"No necesitas agradecerme." He replied quietly. (A/N: Translation-You don't need to thank me.) Cole and Jay chose that moment to walk in and sit down at the kitchen table. They glanced over at Kai then looked away, quite obviously trying to stifle their laughter. Jen shared a look with Lloyd, the two of them knowing that Kai would gradually become more annoyed the more someone took the mick out of his hair. And that would be bad for them.

"Looking good, Kai." Jay sniggered. Kai scowled at him. Next to enter the room, and add to his annoyance, were Nya and Zane. Nya glanced over at Jenny and Lloyd with a knowing smile, not really doing much. But Zane looked at Kai and frowned.

"Your hair's pink." He observed.

"I know." Kai responded through gritted teeth. Lloyd and Jen shared another anxious look.

"¿Seguiremos vivos a finales de hoy?" Jen asked him in a low voice. (A/N: Translation -Will we still be alive by the end of today?)

"No podría decirlo. Está furioso." Lloyd replied helpfully. (A/N: Translation -I couldn't say. He's furious.) And then Alex sauntered in. At first she ignored Kai, and busied herself with making toast. Then, just when Jen thought she hadn't noticed, her older sister glanced over at Kai as she was about to leave for training.

"Nice hair, by the way." And, with that, she'd gone.

"Estamos condenados." (A/N: Translation -We're doomed.)

Sensei Wu was either the captain of the Kenny ship, or really not on Jenny and Lloyd's side that day.

"Damn it," Jen cursed when Wu paired her up with Kai for training. "Alex, I'm gonna die."

"Why'd you prank him then?" Alex asked her. She'd been given Nya as a partner. Lucky.

"Because it's fun, usually," Jenny responded, and reluctantly walked up to where Kai stood. "Oh, shit, I'm terrified of him now." In that moment, all her instincts were telling her to run. Run, and never look back. She didn't know how she found the courage to step up in front of him, but she did.

"You might think it's funny," Kai told her coldly. "But I don't." The two of them stepped into their fighting stances, watching each other warily.

"Chill out, honey," Jen replied soothingly, dodging a kick from him and darting in to shove her shoulder into his stomach. He fell over backwards, but was up on his feet before she could pin him down. "The dye's temporary."

"And that makes it alright, doesn't it, Jennifer?" he retorted sarcastically, knowing she hated her full name. He threw a punch at her. She blocked it and light travelled behind him, knocking him to the floor. They wrestled on the ground for a while, both of them refusing to let the other person win.

"Oh, Kai. I've heard far worse from people." She told him quietly, but there was hurt and bewilderment in her dark eyes. She'd never seen him so bitter before. It was honestly kinda scary and painful to see him like that. Lloyd glanced over at her from where he was training with Cole and Zane, his dark green eyes full of sadness that she couldn't see.

"I'm worried about Jenny," Nya admitted to Alex, going for a spinning back kick. "I've never seen Kai so angry."

"She'll be fine," Alex responded calmly, blocking the kick and sending a punch flying at her chin. Nya blocked it. "Don't know why he's so angry though."

"Yeah, I know," Nya replied, and laughed. "I thought it was hilarious." Alex gave her a rare smile and knocked her to the ground.

"Boys, amiright?"

"Hey, speaking of boys," Nya rolled her over and they began grappling on the ground. "How was your date with the violinist yesterday? Good enough for a second date?"

"Good. He was kinda uptight though. We'll see."

Eventually, Kai managed to pin Jenny down, the two of them breathing heavily from the exercise. He'd been rough and unusually aggressive, but Jen had borne it without complaint: she had been the one to ignite his anger, after all. So she'd wait until it all blew over. She looked up at him, her blue eyes brightened by the exercise, and reached a hesitant hand up to stroke his hair.

"Oh, it's soft," she murmured, almost to herself and smiled softly at him. "You still look cute, darlin'. Eres preciosa." (A/N: Translation -You're beautiful/gorgeous.) He slapped her hand away and stood without offering her a hand up but, for a moment, she'd seen him lean into her touch. Her heart leapt in delight. His anger was fading. And perhaps there was hope for her to charm the notorious player, after all. She clambered onto her feet, tilted her head at him in acknowledgement, and ran over to Alex. "I think I'm getting through to him!" she told her excitedly. "I might actually win our game!"

"Cool. What's the point of it again?" Jen frowned.

"I think we're both trying to prove something to each other," she mused thoughtfully. "But mainly, it's just kinda fun."

"What are you trying to prove to him?" Nya asked her. Jenny considered this.

"I think," she began slowly. "I think I want to prove I'm not as gullible as I appear. I know I act like it, but I'm not weak and I'm not stupid."