Nya had undergone a rather restful and pleasant night, falling asleep easily in Jay's loving arms.

Though, her poor boyfriend hadn't had the same experience. He was so used to sleeping without his binder for years now, and having it on for a whole night didn't only make it hard to breathe, but was actually really painful as well.

But he didn't get up to stretch, he didn't take it off, he didn't move at all. He didn't want to wake Nya, who looked so calm and tranquil in her sleep, and of course, taking it off would mean that she would see in the morning.

He prioritised her and her wellbeing. He loved her to bits, after all.

But, even so...

This decision to share a room was already proving to be extremely hard.

Despite everything, when Nya started to stir awake, Jay closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep. He didn't want to upset her in any way.

He heard her yawn, then let out a deep breath of wakefulness.

Jay wondered if she'd get up and leave him there, but... she didn't.

"... Jay?" She whispered softly. Jay lightly opened his eyes, pretending to just have woken up.

Nya smiled.

"Morning..."

"Morningggg..."

She placed a soft kiss on his lips, then sat up, stretching her arms and yawning again.

"How did you sleep?" She asked. Jay's heart sank.

"... I slept alright... what about you?" He replied, lying through his teeth.

"Pretty good. So... moving in... is it definite now?"

Jay nodded, but then had a thought.

"Sensei Wu doesn't know yet. We should probably ask him first, right?" He suggested, and Nya nodded.

"I don't see why he'd have anything against it, but, you always gotta listen to the wise old guy."

The two of them quickly got dressed and walked quietly over to Sensei's bedroom, careful not to wake the others who were still fast asleep.

They encountered a problem, though. Sensei was meditating in his room, still as a statue. Neither Jay or Nya wanted to be the one to disturb him.

They exchanged a glance that quite clearly said 'let's try again later', but, out of the blue, Wu spoke.

"... do you wish to ask something?"

Jay almost jumped out of his skin, though Nya seemed mostly unfazed.

"O-Oh! Sensei! I thought-" Jay began, but was interrupted.

"I would have heard you coming a mile away. You need to work on your stealth, Jay, Nya."

Jay sighed, making a mental note to train his light-footedness with some of the training equipment later.

"Sorry Sensei. We came to ask if... well... if Jay can move into my room..." Nya asked, surprisingly casual.

"Hmmmm?"

"It's just... we're a couple, and, it would be nice to actually have come privacy from the other boys."

Sensei seemed to think for a second, before giving his final answer.

"I see no problem."

The young couple were about to celebrate, but, he continued speaking.

"Though... it may put a strain on your relationship. Disagreements and breakups are the last thing we need, hmm?"

Both of them were a bit taken aback. Neither had ever heard Sensei talking about relationships before, and it was kind of odd to hear.

"I'm sure we'll be fine. So... can we start moving Jay's stuff in?"

"Of course."

Nya grinned and hugged Jay for a few seconds, before taking his hand and walking away.

"Thank you, Sensei!" She called back, still smiling impossibly wide. Jay almost forgot about the pain around his chest, while looking at her peaceful, joyous face.

They had a quick breakfast of cereal and toast, and soon enough, the other ninja began waking up and trudging through in their pyjamas. Cole was the funniest one, completely shirtless but still wearing his black pyjama pants.

"I was too hot." He groaned, speaking before Jay could even question him, "I took it off and now I don't know where it is."

Jay shrugged, not particularly caring.

"How did you sleep?" Zane asked, clearly directed towards the couple.

"Alright! We slept pretty well. Thanks for asking." Nya replied, full of energy. Jay didn't know how she did it. He was exhausted.

Kai sat down at the table, a glare even moodier than normal slapped across his face.

"... so I guess he's moving in." He muttered, crossing his arms and not bothering with food.

"Kai, for god's sake."

Nya lost her cheer and charm, directing immense amounts of disapproval at her brother instead.

Kai sent the disapproval right back.

"I'm not a little kid anymore. You don't need to look after me."

"I just... I don't want anything to happen."

"What on earth could go wrong! Jay is my boyfriend, it's not like he's gonna choke me in my sleep."

"... I didn't mean like that."

"What did you mean then?"

"Ugh... I just... I don't want any babies running around here."

Jay was so tired and cynical that he actually snorted with laughter at Kai's statement, then drained his glass of water in a second.

Kai directed his attention to the Blue Ninja.

"What's so funny?"

"You really think we'd be stupid enough to not use protection?"

"I don't want my little sister getting knocked up, ok?!"

"Kai! I know what a bloody condom is!"

Kai shut up at that, and started moodily munching on the plate of toast Zane had kindly prepared for him.

Jay rolled his eyes and sighed. He knew all about contraception. If he had something that could get Nya pregnant, he'd most certainly be very careful... but... he didn't.

The crushing sensation around his ribs was getting unbearable, he had to do something to get out of his binder. Anything.

The toilet on the Bounty would work, but would only offer about 5 to 10 minutes, before people got suspicious of what he was doing in there.

But then... Jay had a better idea.

He got up and looked in the fridge.

Perfect.

They were low on a number of things.

"Hey... should I go to the shop? We need more food." He suggested out loud.

"Yeeeah. We don't have cheese, Zane and Kai just finished off the bread, no tomatoes, hardly any milk. A shopping trip is in order." Cole listed off, counting on his fingers.

"I'll go. You guys all look tired, but, I've been up for a couple hours already." Jay offered.

Kai and Lloyd nodded absent-mindedly, while Cole thanked him and Zane offered to go with him.

"Oh no... it's alright. It's no trouble, really."

Nya stood up and walked to him too.

"C'mon, let us come? It'll be fun!"

Jay bit his lip.

"But, Nya... I did notice this morning that you were a bit hot."

Jay felt awful, lying impulsively, to his girlfriend for heaven's sake. But he needed this. He needed a break from his binder.

He put his hand on her forehead and nodded, mockingly concerned.

"I think you might be coming down with a fever."

"But... I feel fine?"

"Nya, I think you should go back to bed. Don't come out with me, it's kinda cold today and that would be awful if you have a fever."

Nya scratched her head, confused but didn't question him.

"Oh... ok then..."

Jay breathed a breath of relief, guilty, but happy.

"Is there anything that anybody wants from the shop?" He asked to the room.

"Fire flakes. Extra spicy." Kai monotoned.

"Uhh... those tiny fairy cakes from the bakery, if they have any." Cole wondered.

"Some pads." Nya sighed. Kai, at her words, grimaced and mimed puking. Nobody laughed.

Jay took a couple of notes from the communal money pot and set off.

It was a bit cold, and Jay didn't have a proper coat on, just a blue hoodie. He was freezing.

But at last, he was free. He was going to head straight for a public bathroom and he was going to take off his binder and relish in the sweet, sweet, rib-freeing sensation.

Step after step, he got closer to the city centre, and soon enough, signs for a public bathroom showed up.

He walked faster.

Reaching the small building, rushing inside, throwing open the one cubicle in the men's and stripping off his top-half clothes as quickly as he could.

Then finally, his binder came off. If ribs could talk, then his would most likely be crying in relief.

He could breathe again, he could stretch his arms. All the uncomfortable feelings were gone.

Jay stayed in that cubicle for almost 30 minutes, not caring when somebody knocked on the door or called out to hurry up.

But soon, he did have to move. He'd promised to go shopping, and he couldn't hide in the bathroom forever. It was sort of grotty anyway.

So, after one last deep breath, Jay slipped his binder back on, followed by the rest of his clothes.

The uncomfortable feelings returned with a vengeance, arguably worse than before. He walked out, trying very hard to not wince with every step, and while washing his hands, Jay realised... he couldn't do this. Move in with Nya. Share a bed.

He couldn't do it.

At this rate, he'd permanently damage his ribs.

At this rate, he'd give himself lung problems for life.

At this rate... For moving in to work for him... he was going to have to tell her.