On a String

Chapter 6

He was bored.

(Not frightened by the interrogation; all those eyes silently watchingprobingtearinghimapart-)

Just bored.

Seated, but nowhere near silent, Jay raised one eyebrow in doubt. "You just estimated that a bomb had been planted in an abandoned pram!? In a supermarket?!" the disbelief was clear in his voice.

"Yeah," Kai shot back in a bored tone.

Bored was causal; unworried. Bored was carefree; relaxed.

(Of course he was just bored.)

Cole didn't look at all bothered by his uncooperative answer. The Ninja of Earth paused thoughtfully, causing Kai to stiffen slightly. Cole was thinking. The team leader who specialised in tactics and strategies was thinking out his questions carefully. That was fair scarier than the explosive Jay.

"Who was that man, Kai?" Cole asked offhandedly.

The tension in the room shot sky-high.

Not good.

"What man?" Jay asked, narrowing his eyes.

Not at all good.

Cole turned to look at the blue Ninja. "While we were outside the shop, this man walked out and bumped into a lady pushing a pram. When the man walked past us, Kai turned his head away, trying to avoid him. Afterwards, when we were shopping, Kai looked incredibly nervous. He must have been expecting something because of the man and immediately got suspicious when he saw the pram,"

Jay swung his gaze to look at the red Ninja, waiting for an explanation. The team stayed silent, watching Kai intently.

(Sosososo many eyes!) Giving a sharp scowl, Kai, refused to answer, staring right back at everyone. Since when had Cole gotten so sharp and observant? What happened to the upfront, down to earth, predictable fighter?

Oh, yeah. He'd been learning from Kai.

"Kai," Cole called softly- fluffy white clouds floating in a clear blue sky. "I need to hear the answer,"

"No..." Kai looked away, avoiding those sincere brown eyes. "No... you don't," (why was it so hard to say that?)

He wanted to trust his team- was sorry for treating them like this... but this was for their protection! Even though he did(n't) want to, he had to push them away.

They were safer that way.

Besides, what had happened was his secret! He was not going to bring up the past again. Some things were better left dead.

(Nothing truly dies)

You're just ashamed to admit how scared you were the little, accusing voice spoke up.

No. This was not happening again. He was not going to get into an agreement with himself. Arguing led to division, division to doubt, and that led to The Puppeteers winning (which meant that everyone would die).

Why don't you just trust them? The little voice asked and Kai ignored it. Trust was too fragile; easy to lose. It was like a beautiful ring or a shiny bead. Nice to have, but easy to misplace. (Easy to break)