Jay pressed his forehead against the cool wood of the door, shutting his eyes tightly. His ankle throbbed—a dull, persistent ache that he had been stubbornly ignoring for the past week. He had gotten away this time, but he knew Kai wasn’t going to just drop it. Kai was like a dog with a bone when he thought something was off.

"Okay," Jay muttered to himself. "Just act normal. Walk normal. Laugh normal. Be normal. Easy."

He pushed himself up, wincing as his injured ankle protested. He bit his lip to keep from groaning and forced himself to put weight on it. The pain shot up his leg like lightning, but he gritted his teeth and took a step. And another.

"See? Totally fine," he mumbled.

A knock at the door made him freeze.

"Jay?"

Jay’s stomach dropped.

It was Kai. Of course it was Kai.

"Uh—yeah?" Jay called back, trying to make his voice sound casual.

There was silence, then the sound of Kai shifting on the other side. "You didn’t let me finish earlier," Kai said. "You were acting weird, and I wanna know why."

Jay swallowed. "Weird? I always act weird, dude. That’s kinda my thing."

Kai sighed. "Jay, open the door."

"Nope!" Jay chirped, backing away from it.

"Jay."

Jay scrambled for an excuse. "Uh—can’t! I’m, uh… busy! Very busy! Ninja business, you know how it is—top secret, very classified—"

The door handle rattled.

Jay’s eyes widened. "Wait—are you—DON’T OPEN THE—"

Too late. Kai had already picked the lock.

Jay barely had time to react before the door swung open, and Kai stepped inside, arms crossed, expression unimpressed.

"You really thought that was gonna stop me?" Kai asked, raising an eyebrow.

Jay backed up, laughing nervously. "Worth a shot."

Kai narrowed his eyes, scanning Jay up and down. "You’re hiding something."

"What? Pfft, no, I’m not!" Jay said way too quickly.

Kai took a step closer. Jay instinctively stepped back—right onto his bad ankle.

Pain shot up his leg, and he yelped, stumbling. Before he could hit the ground, Kai caught him by the arm.

"Jay!"

Jay squeezed his eyes shut. "Dang it."

Kai carefully steadied him before crossing his arms. "Alright, spill. What’s wrong?"

Jay sighed, knowing there was no getting out of this now. "It’s nothing—"

Kai gave him a look.

Jay groaned. "Fine! It’s my ankle, okay? I kinda… sorta… maybe… hurt it last week."

Kai’s eyes widened. "LAST WEEK?! And you didn’t say anything?!"

Jay huffed. "I didn’t think it was that bad!"

Kai pinched the bridge of his nose. "Unbelievable." Then, before Jay could protest, Kai crouched down and grabbed his leg.

Jay yelped. "HEY! Personal space, dude!"

Kai ignored him, rolling up Jay’s pant leg to inspect the damage. His frown deepened when he saw the swelling and faint bruising around the ankle. "Jay," he said, voice filled with exasperation. "This is NOT nothing."

Jay crossed his arms. "It’s fine. I can still walk."

Kai gave him a deadpan look. "You just almost fell over."

Jay grumbled under his breath. "Okay, mostly fine."

Kai sighed. "That’s it. You’re sitting down. Now."

Jay opened his mouth to argue, but Kai shot him a glare that screamed do not test me right now.

Grumbling, Jay let Kai help him over to the bed. "You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?"

Kai smirked as he grabbed a medical kit. "Oh, absolutely."

Jay groaned. "I knew it."

"That’s what you get for hiding injuries from your medic brother-in-law," Kai said pointedly, wrapping Jay’s ankle. "Seriously, Jay, you need to stop pushing through stuff like this. It’s okay to ask for help."

Jay sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah… I guess."

Kai finished wrapping his ankle and patted Jay’s knee. "There. Now, no ninja-ing for at least a few days. Doctor’s orders."

Jay gasped dramatically. "NOOOOO!"

Kai rolled his eyes. "You’ll live."

Jay crossed his arms and pouted. "Debatable."

Kai just chuckled. "C’mon, let’s get you some ice before you actually fall on your face."

Jay sighed. "Fine. But if I die of boredom, I’m haunting you."

Kai smirked. "Looking forward to it."