Conquering Himself

Grumpy Tired

Kai's POV

We got back to the ship and Lloyd did a quick briefing, explaining how Jay is sure his parents saw the book before. We all agreed this is the best move and Nya set the course for the Junkyard.

Actually, Domonique did. Turns out it was handy for her to stay back with Nya. She set the entire course with only a small help from Nya. "It should take us a two hour flight," she informed us. Zane nodded and headed off to the kitchen, declaring that he would make breakfast. 

Cole smiled and followed the white ninja, knowing that we would soon have a late breakfast. Any extra pieces of food that Cole could sneak before Zane notices was one of the things that made his ego expand. Jay settled into a chair in the engine room and began typing away on a screen, mentioning something about the mechanics of something. Nya stood behind him, looking over his shoulder and pointing at a few things. Lloyd yawned and stretched, making a weird noise before heading out onto the Bounty's deck.

That left just two of us. Domonique looked at me. I huffed and turned away, heading toward my room. Sensei stood in front of my door. "Ah Kai. Just who I was looking for."

"What?"

His eyes narrowed. "The correct response is 'Yes Sensei.'"

I huffed again and folded my arms across my chest, leaning slightly on the wall. I refused to speak. We had a short stare down before I made my move to go past him into my room. I got a whack on my head with his sensei stick.

"No."

"What do you mean 'no'?!" I angrily asked him. I watched as he situated himself soundly in front of my door. "I want to sleep before breakfast is ready." 

"No." The man stood firm and I decided to just leave it, but as I turned away, he spoke again. "How are things with Domonique coming along."

"I don't want to talk about it," I hissed toward the older man, rubbing my temples. I was too tired for this. I glanced at my phone and saw it was only five AM. It was going to be a tiring day. I could rest on the couch in the game room and maybe catch up on a little lost sleep.

Sensei squinted at me. "I told you before, you need to accept the fact that part of you has Domonique as your sister. Are you trying to work on your relationship with her?"

I gave the man a half truth. "I am going to meals with the rest of the ninja again." He seemed to see right through it. 

"Hmm. Not what I meant Kai."

"What do you want me to do?!" I shouted at Sensei. "I am NOT going to just accept her! She is annoying and irritating and sometimes I just want to protect her while other times I can't handle her even looking at me!"

Sensei nodded slowly. "So, like a sister."

I growled. "She is nothing like Nya." I stomped down the hallway away from the conversation. As I stepped into the game room, Sensei spoke once more.

"Just work on it, Kai."

I shut the door behind me, louder than what was necessary. Slowly sitting down on the couch, I closed my eyes and let out a breathe that I didn't even know I was holding in. I sunk into the cushions and put my head back, breathing in and out one more time. The TV was on and I really did like the background noise.

I was really exhausted, now that I was sitting here. A little sleep would probably really help with all the grumpiness inside. Without opening my eyes, I swung my feet over to lay out fully on the couch. Instead of soft cushions, I was met with a weird hard object and an 'oof'.

My eyes snapped open and I whipped my head around to see Domonique, covered in a blanket, squished nicely into a little ball in the corner of the couch. She had the TV remote resting on the couch arm and a glass of water tucked into a crook of her arms. She had pulled her hair back into a pony, my guess so that she didn't have to worry about the static, and she was looking nervously at me.

I glared. "What are you doing here." How did I even miss her sitting there? 

She did a small smile. "Well, I wasn't tired enough to go to bed and nobody was in here so I thought I would quietly watch some news." She snuggled a little deeply into the couch, first drinking the rest of the water and placing the cup on the floor. Her attention turned back toward the TV but I could see her eyes darting over to me once in a while.

"You usually can sleep anywhere at anytime," I pointed out. "You aren't having trouble falling asleep, are you?" I talked softly to her before my mind seemed to catch up with the words I spoke. I hastily added, "not that I would care."

The younger girl sighed and rested her head on the couch arm. "Like I said. I am just not tired."

I rolled my eyes but decided that I couldn't really do anything about her being here anyway. I also couldn't go back to my room because I know that Sensei would still be there waiting for me. Wanting to talk.

I shuddered.

I turned my attention to the TV and the story that was playing, although none of the words hit my ears. I looked back at my sister on the couch.

Domonique. Not my sister. Ugh. What. I shifted uncomfortably on the couch. "Domonique," I told myself.

She blinked toward me. "What?"

"Nothing." I glared back at her and shook my head. I grabbed a blanket from the arm of the couch and threw it over myself. I settled in on the other side of the couch, pulling my legs up slightly onto Dom's side of the couch. I figured I was bigger and I need more room.

I turned my attention toward the TV once again and watched as the images flashed by. I didn't catch anything that was actually happening but the colors lolled me into a daze and the blanket felt like clouds. I closed my eyes and soon I drifted off.

FIRE NINJA O-U-T.