Zane hurried into the bridge, Sensei Wu at his side, but was slightly at a loss when he only saw Kai at the table.

"... where are Lloyd and Nya?"

Kai shrugged.

"I said something kinda dumb... it upset Lloyd and he went to his room... I think Nya went with him." he answered in a low tone.

"... oh... shall I go and get them?"

"Well, yeah. He'll probably kill me if I walk in there."

"What on earth did you argue about?" Sensei Wu asked, stepping forward and giving Kai a disapproving look.

"... it wasn't an argument. I asked him why he chose to be gay and... he pretty much yelled at me because my question was so stupid. It was fair enough... it was pretty stupid..." he answered, quietly.

Zane sighed, and quickly walked through the Bounty to Lloyd's room, and the inhabitants were confirmed straight away, as he picked up their voices through the wood.

He knocked lightly, and heard their voices stop.

Nya was the one who came to open it, and there was a distasteful look on her face as she did.

"Kai, I really don't think that-" she started, but stopped when she saw that it wasn't her brother.

"Hello Nya."

"... I'm sorry. I though you were Kai."

"It is ok. May I come in?"

She stepped aside, allowing the nindroid inside.

Lloyd looked up at him, and rubbed his eyes. Zane couldn't quite tell, but it seemed like he had been crying.

"... oh dear. Kai really upset you... didn't he?"

"... he's just an idiot. A huge, stupid, f*cking-"

"Lloyd, take a deep breath. He doesn't matter. He just... he doesn't think before he speaks." Nya intervened, sitting back down next to him and putting an arm around him.

He nodded, then sighed.

"Sorry, Zane. You wanted us to stay in the bridge."

"I completely understand if you had to leave because of... reasons. May I ask what Kai said that upset you so deeply?"

Lloyd sniffed again, looking down at his hands.

"... he basically said that being gay was a choice. I don't know if I've heard him say something so stupid in his life..."

Zane frowned, worried about Lloyd but not quite knowing what to say.

"... Look. I came here to ask if you would come back to the bridge so that I could relay some information to everybody at once, but if you do not wish to be around-"

"No... it's ok. As long as he doesn't say anything else dumb... I'll come back." He spoke, and got to his feet, Nya following.

"I'll make sure of it."

The three of them made their quick way back over to the bridge, where Kai and Sensei were sat in near silence. When Lloyd saw how guilty and remorseful he looked, he almost said something to him, maybe apologise for how harsh he was... but he brushed those thoughts away. Kai deserved to be yelled at, after even suggesting something so ridiculous.

He and Nya took seats, as far away from Kai as they could without seeming overly passive-aggressive, and Zane stood at the head of the table, in a very dignified and calm manner.

"I talked to Jay earlier, about everything he's been though. His story, his side of things. Since he doesn't really feel comfortable explaining it to a crowd himself, and repeating the story another four times when he's already had to twice would be incredibly dull... I decided to record him. I had his permission of course, and... he wants you all to listen to it." He explained, a brief smile on his face the whole time.

"... alright." Kai said quietly. Nya simply nodded, and the last two did nothing at all.

"Well, here we go."

Zane lifted his arm and opened the panel, pressing the button to commence the replay of Jay's story.

Everybody in the room listened intently, as many of the questions they had harboured since last night were answers, and more haunting facts about poor Jay's past were brought to light...

---

The recording finally finished, and Zane closed his panel.

"... he forgot to talk about a couple of other things during the recording. They aren't too complicated, so, I'll just tell you. Jay has been diagnosed with Depression and Anxiety for a few years now. If any of you have questions about these disorders, I'm sure I will be able to answer them."

"... but... he's not sad all the time. And he's not shy either." Kai stated.

"Depression is not being sad all the time. It is struggling with motivation, self-deprecating thoughts, tiredness and other things. It can come in waves. Bad days and good days. Anxiety is quite the same, but with of course, anxiety and worrying thoughts instead of the depressive effects."

Nobody really had anything else to say. Finally, Sensei Wu broke the growing quiet.

"... he has been my student for more years than I can remember... yet... I never had an inkling."

"He didn't want you to know. He didn't want anybody to know. Had I and Cole not found his box... he would still be successfully hiding."

"... we all have to support him. It doesn't matter what his birth certificate says. He's Jay, and he's still our friend." Lloyd announced, in a tone that clearly made his words an order, instead of a request.

Sensei nodded, agreeing completely.

There wasn't much more to be done in the bridge. Zane said that they could all leave and do their own thing, and to think about Jay's story. The last part was directed at Kai, despite no names being mentioned, and he knew it.

Nya and Lloyd headed back to Lloyd's room. Sensei went to his room to meditate. Zane went back to the ninja's room to meditate as well.

Kai, went to the kitchen. Even though the lunch at Chen's had been very filling, he was starting to get a little bit peckish.

Last time he checked, there was a packet of ready salted crisps at the back of a cupboard. They were probably stale, but he didn't really care.

He wandered to the doorway, tired and conflicted, and almost collided with none other than Jay Walker as he went to leave the room, a bowl of pasta in one hand and a fork in the other.

The blue ninja scampered backwards, fixing Kai with a look of... fear.

Actual, fear, covered his face, as Cole stepped in front of his friend, holding his own bowl.

"C'mon Jay, let's go." He said, and lead him out of the kitchen, glaring at Kai as he walked past.

Kai watched them go. It wasn't surprising, after everything he'd said and done.

But... Jay's face. He was legitimately scared of him... and that made Kai feel like complete and utter sh*t.

Yes... he didn't understand transgender people. He didn't understand it, he thought it was weird and wrong and and something that needed to be fixed, not accepted...

But with his earlier conclusion that it couldn't be a conscious choice... along with the crushing realisation that Jay, his friend... was... afraid of him...

He really started to question himself. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe... maybe everybody else was right.

With a shaking fist, Kai wrenched open the cupboard and snatched the crisps from the back. He was right. They were a week or so out of date.

He opened them anyway and scarred scoffing them down, the occasional crisp escaping his teeth and scratching his throat as it went down.

He didn't care.

Kai walked back to the game room and collapsed to the floor, booting up the system again, but... was hit with a sudden lack of motivation. He stared at the starting screen, mulling things over in his head.

He groaned and grabbed two fistfuls of his hair.

"... you've screwed up again, Kai. You screwed up again." He whispered, and closed his eyes.

Jay was afraid of him.

He was such an awful friend.