A/N

I hope you're all enjoying this story so far! What do you think is going to happen next?

♡♡♡

"I mean, you just let her wander around like that? Especially with those strangers hanging around?" said Lei, leaning casually against the wall.

Kai went about washing the dishes, yet he paid close attention to his words.

He raised an eyebrow. "Aren't we hanging out with like two of these foreigners?"

"They're different," he shot back, but tried his best to keep up his friendly act. "They're alright dudes, I guess. The third one, though..."

"Tell me about it, he and that old man are freaking me out," he said. "They even had me considering the offer at some point... What Zane and Cole described sounded nice enough."

"Please, even I can make up better stories than these," he said, rolling his eyes. "Who would want to live in a Monastery, anyway?"

He relaxed a bit more, a smirk appearing on his face.

"By the way, have you told Nya yet?"

Kai looked at him with wide eyes, turning his attention to the oven, which he turned off at last.

"Of course not. She tends to get hopeful with these things and I wouldn't want her to be disappointed..."

"Better to stay where you're comfortable, right? No need for change."

"Exactly."

Kai smiled at him, but the one he got in return was strained.

Kai laughed at his own words. "And hey, they'll be gone in like a week or two anyway. Nya will forget about them soon enough."

Lei shrugged, hiding a mischievous smile. "I wouldn't put it past that blue guy to do something."

"The annoying one?"

"Yeah. If you don't trust the boys in Ignacia, imagine what he'd do to Nya."

His pace slowed down as he dried the last dish, setting the towel aside.

"Nya's smart, she'd tell me if something was going on."

He wanted to laugh at the irony, but he kept the thought to himself.

"You never know."

After a moment of silence (and a moment of thought in Kai's case), he grabbed his jacket from the chair.

"Better get going now," he said, putting it on.

Kai frowned yet maintained his friendly smile. "Come on, won't you stay for dinner at least?"

He tried not to grimace at the smell that was coming from the oven. "No thanks, I'm good."

"If you say so..." Kai waved at him as he left. "Night, bud."

"Yeah... night."

Lei's smile disappeared the moment the door closed. He took a deep breath, relaxing at last.

He took a look at the side porch extending from the door, what technically was their entire shop.

His gaze darted at the weapons on the wall, reminding himself of why he was doing this in the first place.

A loser was one thing, a loser with weapons was another.

He didn't get to start his walk back home before he spotted someone familiar down the hill, sitting on the only fence left standing with another figure.

He walked a bit closer; he couldn't miss out on that kind of gossip.

Lo and behold, Nya Smith herself.

"So... you made wings..." she said, trying to contain her laugh.

"Well, they did work for a few seconds... Then I crashed into a building."

"Ouch... The most pain I've gotten was scraping my knee with a sword."

"Double ouch."

And if the sight wasn't already good enough, between their chatter and giggles, their hands found a way to be intertwined.

Lei smirked again, this time at himself as he slowly backed towards the shop.

He simply knocked on the door and left, letting karma do the rest of the work.

♡♡♡

They were never really able to afford a lot, but it was moments like these that made Kai have an even bigger appreciation for the things their parents left behind.

In that case, the object in question was the oven, and just being able to enjoy the smell of fresh food on the rare occasion that he cooked there was more than enough to him.

Perhaps Nya would appreciate the gesture, she had been distant the last few days.

He heard a knock on the door.

... Well, Nya did tend to be forgetful sometimes. As much as he wanted to be annoyed at her for forgetting her keys, he simply couldn't be.

He opened the door, but no one was there.

"Nya?" he called out.

He went through the porch and down the hill, relieved to see Nya's figure a bit further ahead.

But as he approached, another figure started to form; one that he unfortunately recognised.

"Nya?"

They both jumped at the sound of his voice, letting go of each other's hands.

Nya quickly stood to her feet, dusting herself off as she put on an awkward smile.

"Hi..."

"Come inside."

She nodded, looking at the ground as she walked. When the boy waved her goodbye, she could only frown.

"Bring your friend too. He's invited as well."

Kai's smile seemed innocent, but Jay knew very well that he wasn't getting out of there alive.

He had Nya, at least.

♡♡♡

As Kai set the plates on the table, they both stayed quiet in their seats.

Nya was sitting at the end of the table, leaving Jay to sit across her brother.

Jay had to admit that the food looked tasty (he hadn't had chicken in a long time now that he thought about it) but the atmosphere wasn't the best.

Nya tried to speak to him, but she was interrupted by Kai.

He sat down, making them both silent once again.

"I didn't know you two knew each other," he remarked, playing with his fork.

Nya smiled. "We met at... the library, actually. Jay's really good at poetry and... stuff."

She knew she was lying through her teeth, but what she didn't know was that her words were at least partially true.

"What kind of poetry?"

Jay cleared his throat. "You know, like... sonnets and stuff."

Nya quietly ate in the background, nibbling on her food. She just wanted the ground to swallow her whole already.

"Really strange how you two seemed to click together," said Kai. "I'm guessing the old guy sent the other two to my friends, but why did you go after Nya?"

Nya raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

"Nya and I are just good friends, that's all." Jay tried to keep his cool and smiled. "We've only known each other for like a week and a half."

"That didn't seem to stop you from getting so close."

"Kai!" Nya said behind gritted teeth.

"I... I think I'll maybe go," Jay got up, hoping his nervousness wasn't showing.

He looked at Nya and frowned, but she didn't return his gaze. She was just looking at the ground; and he couldn't blame her either.

"But you know... Maybe you should question who you're hanging out with too," said Jay. "You never know when someone's making fun of you behind your back."

Surprisingly, Kai stayed silent at that.

He waved at Nya, but of course, she didn't respond. He made his way out the door and left.

Nya was still staring at her food when Kai looked at her. He tried to speak, but she interrupted him first.

"Do you know how embarrassing that was for me?" she said, her tone harsher than usual.

"Nya..."

"Leave me alone."

She took her food to her room and slammed the door shut, leaving him alone.

Slowly, he started to eat.

♡♡♡

She had woken up quite late the next day.

If she was being honest, she didn't want to get up.

Just like everyone else, Jay left. She didn't blame him, of course, it was expected to happen.

Kai had scared him off and that was that. It was to be expected.

And why would he come back, anyway? Who would want to deal with the mess that was her life?

She buried her face in her pillow, trying to fall back asleep.

There was a knock on her window.

She jumped up, crawling across her bed till the very edge where the window was.

When she saw him on the other side, her heart skipped a beat.

Surprisingly, however, he was just as nervous as her.

"You came back?" she said when she opened the window.

"Yeah... I thought that Kai would see me going through the door so... here I am," he said, his tone awkward for some reason. "I like your pyjamas."

She looked down at herself, blushing slightly as she hurried to fix her hair.

"So, um..." He took a deep breath. "I was wondering if you'd like to go out. Like, just the two of us."

She snickered. "Well, it's always just the two of us."

He mentally facepalmed. "Yeah... I meant it more like... a date? Maybe?"

There was a moment of silence between them, both dying inside for different reasons; he had probably just destroyed their friendship in his mind while she was trying to find a way to process his words in her brain.

Eventually, she nodded, hoping that her face wasn't as red as his. "Wanna come inside?"

"Isn't Kai going to..."

"He's tending the shop. Now, come on."

She opened the window even further, helping him up as he slowly went inside.

But when she heard a click on her door, she pushed him back out, not getting to apologise until someone came in.

"Oh, you're awake."

She shut the curtains quickly, though her smile disappeared when she looked at him.

"Have you been crying?" she asked, but she didn't get a response.

Instead, he sat down at the edge of her bed, looking at the ground.

"I'm sorry, I really am," he said. "But you know how strangers can be. You can't really trust them."

"You don't want me to trust the people in Ignacia, Kai," she said. "And besides, you didn't even get to know him first."

"Maybe I'd be more open to it if you hadn't lied," he said. "You expect me to believe he likes poetry?"

"Yeah, that was dumb..." She rubbed the back of her neck. "But I've seen much crazier things, and he's still a good person."

He raised an eyebrow. "What things?"

Maybe it wasn't the best idea to tell him about the whole ninja thing. "You know... weird but not dangerous things... But that's besides the point."

He sighed, pulling her close. "A couple of years ago I was talking with the librarian..." he said. "He told me that before our parents... you know..."

She frowned. "Yeah?"

He swallowed the lump in his throat. "They were last seen with a couple of strangers threatening them."

He tightened his grip on her gently. "Nya, if something like that were to happen to you..."

"How do you know that it will?"

"I can't be sure, but... I'm not taking any risks." He sighed. "You know I couldn't live with myself if something were to happen."

She let his tears fall. Her mind had calmed, she was only focused on comforting him. She rubbed his back gently, trying her best not to cry as well.

"It's just that I don't want anyone to manipulate you... Talk to anyone you want, just... please stay away from strangers, Nya. Be careful."

He buried his face into his hands. "FSM, I'm an awful brother."

"You're not awful," she said, frowning.

"Go back to sleep now, we'll talk later..." he said, getting up and wiping his tears as if nothing had happened.

He stopped right at the open door.

"Nya?"

"Yeah?"

"About Lei and the others... was what that guy said true?" he said. "Do they..."

She was ashamed to nod.

But all he did was nod back. "Okay... Sweet dreams, Nya."

And with that, he closed the door.

She took a deep breath, trying to reorganise her thoughts.

When she finally remembered Jay, she panicked.

She opened the curtains swiftly, leaning out the window.

"Are you okay?"

"Yup, not a scratch..." he said, getting up from the ground. "I... understand if you don't want to, especially after..."

"It's still a yes, Jay."

He looked up at her. "It is?"

She still blushed whenever their gazes met. "Yeah. And... I'm sorry you had to hear all of that."

He shrugged. "No worries..." he said. "Anything you need, I'm here."

She smiled. "I know."