Ick, this one's gotta be as short as, if not shorter than, the last chapter. But it introduces more into the story, so it's an important little thing. Hope you enjoy it!

-LizzyLucky

A few more days more passed and it had officially been two months since Dr. Julien's death. Or, at least, since the announcement of his death. If he really thought about it, Zane actually didn't know if he'd died in the same day that the announcement was made. It was an odd thought, but after this time, he'd learned to overcome the grief that came with those kinds of occurrences.

These were the kinds of thoughts that passed his mind as he awoke one morning, thankfully a weekend. As life went on, he had to continue being a teacher in Wu's school, though the world of crime seemed to take pity on him, as being a teacher was the only other responsibility expected of him up until he could start functioning more clearly again.

"Morning, Zane!" Kai greeted cheerfully, peeking his head over the edge of the top bunk. Zane almost flinched, remembering his dream.

But this isn't a dream, and Kai means no harm. He reminded himself.

"Good morning, Kai." He replied after a moment. Kai chuckled and jumped down to the floor.

"How's that sprain doing?" He asked casually as he walked into the bathroom to brush his teeth. Standing up, Zane turned around and grabbed onto the corners of his bedsheets to straighten them out.

"It has almost no effect anymore. I believe it would be safe to remove the bandage later today." He answered, moving his pillow to the side as he fixed his blanket.

"That's great!" Kai exclaimed cheerfully. Zane smiled gratefully. It wasn't really a big deal, but he appreciated the notion. These little things the other ninja came up with throughout the day to check on him really helped.

After a few seconds of silence, aside from the shuffling of fabric and running of the sink, Kai suddenly cleared his throat.

"Hey, uh, Zane?" He asked, almost nervously. Zane hummed in response, indicating he was listening.

"You think you'd be up to a picnic later?" Zane almost stopped what he was doing. It wasn't all that odd of a question, and he'd gotten pretty used to the questions directed to him starting with 'think you'd be up to,' but it seemed a little bit out of the blue. And, based on Kai's skeptical tone of voice, it probably was. Something about it was just... strange. But not strange enough, nor taxing enough, to turn down.

"I suppose so. Where will we be going?" He asked curiously, as he finished with his bed.

"Erm... I don't know. You'll have to ask Sensei." Kai answered, suddenly sounding just as curious as Zane.

"Hm. Alright. Where has everyone else gone?" Zane stretched out a bit, grabbing his own toothbrush from a bag in his dresser before turning toward the bathroom as well.

"They're already up. You seemed really tired last night, so we let you sleep in a bit. Cole's in charge of breakfast today. And wouldn't you believe it, it's actually edible." Kai explained, chuckling at his own joke. Zane smiled amusedly. As he took his spot next to Kai, he paused.

"How did you know? Didn't you only just wake up?" He asked, this time it being his turn to sound skeptical.

Kai choked. The scrubbing motion of his hand as he brushed his teeth stopped abruptly and he started coughing, a look of horror written on his face.

"Erm, heh- Uh... It was... I- Heh-" He stuttered for a moment. He rinsed briefly with a cup of water before coughing and turning to look at Zane, a look of both confidence and uneasiness making itself clear in both his voice and his stance. Then, with more confidence than he obviously had, he said,

"After I ate breakfast, I came back in here to take a nap. See, when you woke up, it woke me, and I figured I best get up..."

Zane eyed him up and down, not really believing him. And now that he thought about it, Kai was even already dressed for the day. Had he been... waiting for him? And if he thought about it more, he realized that Kai didn't generally brush his teeth until after he'd eaten in the morning, quite unlike most the other ninja, Zane included.

Instead of commenting on it, he simply shrugged and went on to brush his teeth. Kai let out a quiet sigh of relief, which didn't go unnoticed. As Kai had suggested earlier, he'd have to ask Sensei Wu.

-LizzyLucky

See? What'd I tell ya? Short little bugger, innit? Still, though, important. I hope you guys like it, because the next few chapters... Well, let's just say you're in for a doozy. Thanks for reading!

-LizzyLucky