Chapter Text
Kai grabbed the keys, shoving them into his pocket. He took one last look in the mirror to fix his hair before taking a photo and posting it to his story. He scrambled for his bag, throwing in last night's homework and a few books. Once he left his room he saw Nya talking to their neighbour in the hallway. He stepped out to meet her, locking the door of their apartment behind him.
‘Good morning Kai, I was just talking to Nya about how calm the city has been lately’
‘Uh.. yeah it’s been pretty chill. How have you been … sir?’
He heard Nya snicker behind him. Was it that obvious that Kai forgot the guy's name? Sir is a totally normal thing to call people! The old man didn’t look very impressed and raised an eyebrow, sighing as he spoke,
‘My name is Wu. Though feel free to call me Sensei, many people do’
Kai nodded and told the man that he and Nya had to get to school. As they were walking away his sister started to laugh at him, he rolled his eyes and shoved her towards the wall. ‘Shut up Nya! He was so weird… I’m getting actual chills…’ Nya only laughed harder at Kai, egging him on.
‘I’m serious! And how is his beard so long? That guy is a total freak show, I’m telling you we’ll see him on the news before we graduate.’ The spiky haired boy pretended to shiver as they got on the elevator, tapping on the button leading them to the ground floor. When they exited the building Kai saw Skylor waiting in front of his car. He shouted to her as he ran up to her, unlocking his car and getting in the driver's seat. Nya greeted the red haired girl and got in the back seats watching as everyone got comfortable. Her brother turned around to look at her,
‘Hey are we picking up your green friend today?’
Nya choked on the air she was breathing and started to freak out. ‘Lloyd? Why would he be green? He has NOTHING to do with anything green! Not a single green thing comes to mind when I think of Lloyd Garmadon! Why would you even think him and the colour green were related?’
Kai stared at his sister, honestly a little worried, before telling her that the kid is always wearing a green jumper. Skylor was stifling a laugh and Nya was so embarrassed she just sunk into her chair telling Kai that they did have to pick him up. The young girl was usually better at hiding the fact that her and her friends are the ninja, but she stayed up all night doing her maths homework and was really tired. The three fell into a relatively comfortable conversation before pulling up in front of a large apartment building where a young boy with a green jumper was waiting. Kai tooted the car horn signalling the kid to get in.
‘Hey green ninja’
Lloyd fell over, catching himself just in time. He looked at Nya freaking out over what her brother just said. The green and water ninja started a conversation with their eyes, trying to figure out the situation. Skylor, completely unaware of the two younger kids freaking out, groaned at Kai’s comment. ‘Kai, man, he’s not gonna get your shit jokes. Sorry Lloyd, Nya freaked out about you always wearing green and Kai apparently couldn’t think of anything else in the world that was the same colour.’
‘Nothing you just said made sense. And whatever, I don’t even know what you’re talking about, I was so funny’
‘It would’ve been funny if you called him the Grinch, or like, Mike Wazowski. The green ninja was just a stupid choice’
Nya and Lloyd were completely silent during the whole exchange, still calming down from the stress that was accidentally caused. As the four drove off, Lloyd pulled his hood over his head in an attempt to avoid the strangers staring at him through the car window. Nya noticed this and grabbed his arm in a silent promise, they smiled at each other and focused on getting to school. The two heard their names and when they focused on the source of the sound they saw Skylor holding out two small paper bags.
‘My dad made a shit ton of cookies and I NEED to get rid of them’
Nya thanked her and took the bags, giving one to Lloyd. Kai spoke up from his seat at the front,
‘Did he poison them? You’re dads freaky as fuck’
‘Oh my GOD Kai. This is why he hates you.’
———
Cole was leaning against his locker talking to Zane and Jay when his two other friends ran up to him. He smiled as he greeted them, smacking Lloyd on the back and giving Nya a fist pump. He watched Jay’s poor attempt at flirting with Nya, rolling his eyes before turning all his attention to Lloyd.
‘You alright? You seem pretty freaked out’
‘Yeah, sorry, Nya’s older brother just scared me out this morning’
‘Dude, what happened’
The black ninja was on edge for a minute, but his fear was quickly replaced with amusement when he heard the rest of the story. Cole knew who Kai was, everyone did, he was pretty much a celebrity. Not only did the entire city (and more) follow his socials, but every kid in school liked him. Cole didn’t know much about the guy at all, well apart from the things everyone knew. Like how Kai’s favourite colour was red, or that he only really hung out with a few people. Though that really didn’t count as knowledge, more like fun facts. Although at times, Cole found himself drawn to the other boy. It didn’t help that their lockers were really close to each other.
When Cole listened back into the conversation he noticed all his friends were laughing, he didn’t hear why and was too embarrassed to ask so he just joined in. He excused himself and walked to the bathrooms, slipping away just to take a moment to himself. Though as he passed through the halls he saw Kai talking with Pixal and Skylor; they made eye contact for a brief moment and the shorter boy smiled at him. Cole chose to ignore the sudden lightness in his head at the action.
———
Kai was bored out of his mind. He was sitting in maths class trying to concentrate because Pixal told him she wanted to work instead of talking. So yeah, he was throwing a pity party for himself. Suddenly a familiar alarm went off signalling the age-old dilemma of yet another Garmadon attack. He internally cringed hearing most of the class thank Lloyd, as if the kid could help it. Kai ducked under the table, meanwhile his sister and her friends asked for a bathroom pass. He watched them run out the room looking weirdly determined. He turned his head to Pixal, who was crouching next to him.
‘Hey isn’t it funny they have a synchronised piss schedule
‘Everything you just said upset me’.