PLAYING WITH FIRE

03

We ended up coming home after hours of shopping and getting ice cream. I sat on my bed, thinking about how I felt earlier. There's no way I could feel guilty. What is there to feel guilty about? I was just shopping with some kid who's on his own.. I'm just trying to help him. But am I really? What am I doing this for? Because of some dumb nightmare I had?
But that nightmare never occurred again once Lloyd moved in with us. It's probably because he's safe now; it's not like anything bad is gonna happen to him since he's here. Yet I still worry about it, but I don't know what I'm worrying about. I can't tell if it's about the situation or about Lloyd. Honestly, I don't want to know what I'm worrying about. Maybe I'm too into my head... who knows.
  "Kai," I felt a tug on my shoulder and looked to the side to see Lloyd standing there. "Are you okay?" He asked me.
This kid always catches me off guard.. "I'm okay, Lloyd," I gave him a fake smile. "Did you need something?"
  "Uhm, well, not really," he mumbled. "I just.. I wanted to know if maybe you'd want to play with me?"
  "Oh, sure," I agreed. "What will we play? Tag? Hide and seek?"
  I could see him anxiously playing with his fingers. "Well uhm... maybe with.. with my new toys? Specifically the.. the cars.."
  I chuckled and leaned forward, reaching my hand out and gently patting his head. "I'll play cars with you," I said with a smile. "You don't have to be afraid to ask, you know."
  He immediately gave me a wide smile. "Okay! Lemme go and get my cars!"
  I stood up from my bed and stretched. "Let's go play in your room instead, Lloyd. Kai's room is too messy to play in here."
  He looked at me and nodded, grabbing my hand and dragging me to his room. Well, he wasn't really dragging me; his room wasn't even far anyway. It was right across the hall from mine, and he was lightly tugging on my hand, so it doesn't really count as dragging.
  I pushed his door open and was taken aback from seeing it; his room was the literal definition of aesthetic. Why the hell is everything.. GREEN?? "Oh wow," I breathed out. "This is.. awesome! Who painted it like this?"
  Lloyd tapped on his chin. "I forgot his name.. that really calm one with the blonde hair? And the.. the blue eyes."
Oh, Zane... Duh, Kai. You were here with them! "He's really good at painting, considering he's a nindroid after all.." I mumbled to myself. "Well, he definitely did a wonderful job painting your room!"
  "I know right? It's amazing! I really like it," he said with another wide smile. "Anyway, lemme get my cars so we can play together!"
  I nodded and sat on the ground, waiting for him to bring his new toy cars to play with. In the mean time, I was looking around his room admiring it. His room was pretty cool, considering it being green everywhere. One thing I noticed was the whole "nature" vibe; there was fake vines and leaves hanging from the ceiling, and vines running down the walls. I can't tell if Lloyd actually wanted it like that, or the others thought it'd be somewhat a good design for someone who's about six years old... uhm, well... hell, I don't even know how old this kid is. Even if he had told me... I probably had forgotten.
  "I'm back!" Lloyd said with a smile still plastered on his face. "Here you go, Mister Kai! You'll be using this red sports car, 'cause your character is a billionaire!"
  I tilted my head in confusion but laughed. "Oh really? Who's your character then?"
  He thought about it for a second before smiling wider than before. "Mine is a secret agent, but don't tell anyone! I'll definitely get fired for saying so."
  I laughed even more and nodded in response. "Okay, I promise I won't tell anyone. I don't need you getting fired."
  You know, playing with a kid feels like it lasts a lifetime. I swear, it really felt as if we were playing together for almost a week straight, but it had only been two hours. What the hell? I thought to myself in the midst of our story. Is it really okay for me to be doing this? I mean, I'm a ninja. I should be going out into the city and save people, not play some roleplay game with a child. But, then again, I never played as a child. No matter how much I wanted to, I just couldn't.
  I didn't have my parents, so I was left alone running the blacksmith shop with Nya. Even then, although she's younger than me, she took care of me. I didn't do much for her in return. I remember too, that at one point Nya really tried her best to play with me like I'm doing with Lloyd. But I just... couldn't. It felt wrong to play. It might be because of responsibility, who knows. I just accepted the fact that it didn't feel right to play, which is why I never did.
  So why can I play now? What's the difference between my sister and some kid? They're both younger than me, and are both similar in many ways. Why?
  "Kai?" I was snapped out of my thoughts and looked at Lloyd. "Are you okay?"
  I forced a smile. "Yeah, sorry, I was thinking about what to say," I told him. "My apologies. What did you say?"
  "It's okay.. uhm, I was telling you that your friends are calling you," he pointed to the doorway. "They're waiting for you in the.. control.. room? Wherever that is."
A mission, perhaps? Why suddenly meet at the control center? "I see, thanks for letting me know," I smiled and gently patted his head. "I'll be back.. hopefully." I mumbled the last part to myself and got up from my spot, heading out the doorway.
  On my way to the control center, my mind was thinking of all the possibilities as to why we were going there. An attack? A new upcoming villain who's planning to destroy the city again? A low stock of noodles? It could be any of those options, maybe even worse. But that's the best part of being a ninja; expecting the unexpected. Who knows what could happen?
  I reached the control center and slammed the door open, causing a small hole in the wall. "My apologies for the door," I said, my breath a little heavy. "What's the problem? A villain? We need to make a market run? Tell me!"
  Cole gently placed his hand on my shoulder. "Dude, relax. It's not like that," he said. "We do have something to discuss, but meeting here specifically was to get you away from that kid."
  I could feel myself filling with confusion. "Huh? Why get me away from him?"
"Kai, have you ever asked him of his last name?" Nya spoke suddenly, pushing herself away from the wall where she had been leaning.
His last name...? What does that have to do with anything? "Well, when we first met he did try telling me, but then he stopped," I said, tapping my chin. "Why? Does this have anything to do with him?"
  "A lot," a voice behind me. I turned to see Master Wu walking in the doorway. He had a displeased face from my sudden burst on the door. "Kai, you must fix this later."
  "Ah, yes. My apologies, master." I bowed apologetically.
  He nodded. "Thank you. To answer your question, Kai, this does have something to do with Lloyd. His last name might sound familiar to you all."
  "What is it?"
  "His full name is Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon," he said. "He is my brother's son, and my nephew."
  I looked at him in shock. "Wait, what?! Your nephew? Garmadon?! SON?!" My gaze turned from the doorway then back to everyone else. "That innocent kid?! No fricken way are they related!!"
  Cole slapped me on the back of my head. "Hey, relax! He may seem innocent, but we don't know his true intentions. Remember, he might not have been raised or lived with Garmadon, but he's still his son. He can take after him in ways we won't know."
  "His attitude could be one of them," Jay piped in. "Or a fighting style— who knows? We gotta be careful with him."
  I blinked. "This doesn't make any sense..."
  Master Wu patted my shoulder. "I know it's a lot to take in and understand, but we must stay alert. We won't know until—"
  "That's not what I mean," I shrugged his hand off my shoulder. "How can you all say this now after being so kind and gentle with him? Wouldn't he catch on? And why even bother to be caring with this— this... this child, when you're now planning to basically turn your backs on him?! What's wrong with you?"
  "Kai, that's not our intention—"
  "It might not be your intention, but that's how he could take it. I get that we're ninja, and we should always think of any possibilities that may happen, but I will not harm a child's happiness for my so-called 'safety'. I'm sorry, but I can't."
  Cole glared at me. I haven't seen him make that face in a while, but I knew he was really pissed. "You're only speaking like that because you grew an attachment to him. The minute something bad happens and he's the cause of it, you'll see what we're talking about."
  "Nothing bad will happen. I'll make sure of it," I huffed with a glare. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a game to get back to. Only call me if there's a mission, got it? I don't want to see any of your faces or hear your voices until we have something... important." 
  I stormed out of the room. I could feel my blood boil and my fists clenching in anger, but for the first time, it was only temporary. Who could blame me? Whether I grew an attachment to this kid or not doesn't matter. I practically devoted my life to keeping this kid safe from all harm the moment we crossed paths. I don't care if I'm considered crazy or too attached. I'll protect him.

Even if it means dying in the process.
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Words: 1764
Sorry that this chapter took a while!! A lot has happened lately, but I do hope you enjoy!!
• Pheonyx <3