A Ninjago Oneshots Collection

Right Under Their Noses 1/2

TW (for part 2 (not necessary to read tho)): MENTION OF SEXUAL ASSAULT
Includes: Kai angst, kinda fluff? COMFORT FIC THAT'S THE WORDS, and Greenflame only if you want it to be, I literally just chose Lloyd cuz I've gotten good at writing him lol

"I think it'd be best if we didn't bring up the colour hazel again," Zane commented, stepping in between Cole and Jay. Cole laughed.

"Yeah, for Jay's sake."

"My sake!?" Jay retorted. And they went off at each other all over again. Nya shook her head in disapproval of their playful arguing.

"Just shut up, you guys! We need to finish this mech!" She complained. Cole shrugged and walked off and Jay started grumbling to himself. Zane looked defeated at their stupidity, and I laughed with Pixal.

"You two act like children," Pixal remarked with a sigh, patting Zane's shoulder.

"Well, he started it!"

"And don't you start it again, Jay!" Nya shouted down, threatening Jay with the wrench. Jay pouted and walked over to the toolbox.

That's when I noticed Kai, silently working away on some soldering near the bottom of the mech. He's usually the one to laugh the hardest at Jay and Cole's dumb disagreements, but this entire time, he had been silent.

Actually, he'd been kind of quiet all day. And all week. And... he's been getting progressively quieter all month.

I looked him over for a moment. He had a tired blank stare in his eyes, he seemed to be off in his own world, thinking about something serious, by the look of his expression. He looked angry, maybe frustrated is a better word? But... the way his brow is furrowed makes me think he's... upset... Kai has never been an easy person to read.

While the others poked fun at Jay for getting all serious over something so stupid, I went over to Kai.

"Kai? You there?" I ask in a quiet voice, not wanting to bring attention to him. He continued working with a sharp expression. I awkwardly shifted my feet. As he mindlessly reached for the next sheet of metal, I placed my hand on top of his while keeping my eyes on him. As soon as my hand landed on his, his expression changed to surprise. He looked up and gave me a confused look.

"Huh? Sorry-- What's up?" Kai asked me, setting down the sheet. I sighed softly.

"Are... are you ok? You've been quiet all day." I tried not to seem as worried as I really was, in case I was over-analyzing, but Kai's expression said it all.

Something was up. He looked shocked as he drew in a breath and looked around me to make sure the others weren't paying attention. He avoided my eyes and looked down at the ground, leaning against the mech.

"It's ... it's nothing..." I caught his eyes enough to give him the 'I don't believe you' look. "Nothing serious." He added turning to lean his back against the mech and cross his arms.

"If it's nothing serious, why have you progressively gotten quieter and quieter over the last month?" I confronted him. He looked up at me with a blank look.

"Actually, yeah, Kai, why have you been so quiet?" Cole asked from behind me, to which both Kai and I looked around. Turns out my confrontation had been a little too loud. Kai's face grew red.

"Nothing! It's nothing, I swear," Kai quickly went back to work in the soldering, avoiding all of our concerned looks. Nya jumped down from the mech's shoulder.

"It can't be nothing, Kai, I know you too well. When you get quiet, somethings wrong, really wrong." Nya and the others gathered a little way away from Kai and I. Kai's expression only grew more mad.

"It's whatever, it's not even a problem, it's stupid, no one can help anyway," Kai grumbled, shutting his eyes.

"Well... wouldn't it make you feel better if you talked about it?" I suggested with my hand outstretched. He looked at it and his expression softened. He rubbed the back of his hand with his thumb. He sighed.

"I..." He hesitated glancing over at everyone's worried looks. His gaze stopped at me. He gulped and stood straighter. "Like I said, it's not a problem. I don't even know how to put it into words! It doesn't matter," Kai stormed off the platform and down the stairs.

"Come on, Kai! Don't be so stubborn!" Jay called after him but he was gone, and left all of them concerned.