ELEMENTAL SWITCH AU CHAPTER 10: Talk to Nobody

Another long wait, oof. Sorry guys, but don't worry, don't plan on quitting this story just yet! I wanna thank all of you for your great advice and encouragement! Keep it up!

"We need to talk"

The words reverberated in Kai's head like a hit gong. He debated whether or not to give a grunt of response, or simply to glare at his former teacher through his arms. He settled for the latter. His Sensei gazed guiltily back at him, whatever he had planned to say appeared to be caught in his throat, and his light coloured eyes seemed to bore straight into Kai's dark sea green ones. Eventually, it became too much. Kai's glare broke, and he looked down towards the bedsheets instead. Wu sighed again. Kai guessed he knew him well enough to realise that he would not be talking first, especially if he was holding a grudge.

"Kai…" Wu began, "where have you been?" Kai shrugged, the movement letting more moonlight illuminate the many cuts and bruises he had attained.

"Everywhere. Nowhere." Came the muffled response.

"The others informed me that you were sleeping in a cave?"

"Yeah. Nowhere." Kai thought that pretty much summed it up. But Wu seemed to think otherwise.

"How long do you think you were away?" At this point, Kai was starting to show he was at his limit with questions, his tone sharper and more forceful, yet still not above a growl. As hard as it was, he managed to force himself to lift his head and look Wu directly in the eye.

"Not long enough."

His intent was to make the old man back off, to tell him that he was still angry and that they should've just left him alone, but Wu portrayed no sign that he had understood the undertone. Instead, he fixed Kai with a searching gaze, his pitying expression remaining unchanged. Kai suddenly became painfully aware of his curled-in posture, no doubt making him look weak - but then he noticed how his shoulders were shaking, possibly from the strain of keeping himself upright in a barely awake body. He just hoped it didn't look - oh. Oh. That's what he thought. Wu thought he was frightened.

Kai scrambled out of his curled-up position and tried to square his shoulders, attempting to make himself seem bigger and more confident than he felt. He told himself that he was not intimidated in slightest. Though it was hard to look tough when he had clearly lost weight. His bones were just showing through his skin, making him seem even more venerable. Wu nodded slightly, seeming to finally understand Kai's 'leave me alone' message. He stood quietly, and made his way over to the door. When his hand rested on the doorknob, he turned to face his former student and spoke one soft, yet commanding word. "Sleep."

…

Kai wasn't sure how long it had been since he woke on the bounty. It seemed like weeks, though it was probably just a few days. Time blurs together when one is stuck in a bed, constantly being berated by people you don't want to talk to, or stared at when no-one thinks you're looking. Throughout the painfully long hours, Kai remained silent. He no longer protested against their help as he had done in the first few days on the ship, now he simply obeyed their orders of 'lie down' or 'show me that cut' without question, but not without glaring at no-one - or everyone. He could tell that this made them feel worse - like he was admitting defeat.

But he had a plan. If he could convince them that he would not leave, maybe they would let their guard down just enough for Kai to slip free. But for now, he was stuck. They were constantly peeking through the door, checking up on him every few minutes, which wouldn't even leave Kai enough time to get a mile from the boat. The ninja had the odds stacked their favour. They were flying half the time, so Kai had no way down, they had taken away his armour and his mech was still in that cave, which could be halfway around the world at this point, and he was still weak with sickness. Zane had concluded that he had some kind of food poisoning, which wouldn't last too much longer, so at least that was good news. He still found it suspicious that no-one else had food poisoning, as they were eating the same food, but Zane assured him that it must have been something he ate before he helped them. Kai was still unsure, but managed to keep his mouth shut.

His sickness had already lasted longer than a usual case of food poisoning, which supposedly went away after about five days. The others had themselves utterly convinced that it was only because he wasn't healthy when he caught it. After about two weeks, Kai was feeling a lot better, though he was still confined to bed. He knew his days of freedom were creeping ever closer, and he could hardly contain the smirk spread onto his lips every time he went over his escape plan. "This time," Kai thought, "this time I'll prepare. I'll think of every possible outcome. I'll be ready."

He was just running through the plan again in his head when he heard the door creak open. He was already laying facing away from the entrance, so faking sleep wasn't hard. Closing his eyes, he breathed deeply through his nose to give the impression that he was lightly snoring. But the person had clearly come to speak with him, and they intended to do just that.

"Psst" the voice whispered. Kai rolled his eyes. He knew exactly who it was. "Pssst," it hissed again. "Blue. Wake up. Psssst!" Kai sighed and turned over to face the kid.

"What do you want?" He asked bluntly. Lloyd looked surprised.

"To talk to you, silly. I figured you were too sick before, and any other time I came in, you were asleep."

"I was asleep this time!" Lloyd giggled and waved his hand dismissively.

"Psssh. No you weren't. I grew up at darkly's -" he puffed out his chest "- I know how to fake-sleep, and you weren't doing it right."

Kai rolled his eyes again and started to turn back to face the wall, when Lloyd said "Are you mad at me?" His voice sounded a lot smaller now, making Kai feel 10x more guilty.

"You told the ninja where I was." Kai grunted, deciding to be blunt and not dance around the answer.

"What? No I didn't! I swear!"

"Well buddy, I didn't tell anyone else."

"No, no, no. It was Nya! She put a tracking device on you!"

Kai pulled himself upright and stared down at the kid with a mix of confusion and horror. He exhaled deeply and ran his hands through his long hair.

"Outside Ouroborus." He muttered to himself. "When she hugged me."

"Oh." Lloyd sounded small again, realisation dawning on the young boy.

"Why didn't you try to stop them?" Kai inquired, his accusatory tone gone and replaced with a calm one.

"We were worried. You didn't show up all day." Kai nodded. After a few deep breaths, he looked down at Lloyd again.

"Sorry, kid. Looks like I've been glaring in the wrong direction." Lloyd perked up.

"Does that mean we can talk again?" Kai chuckled. It was the first in a long time. It felt good. He shuffled over on the bed and patted the space beside him, smiling softly at Lloyd. Lloyd's tiny face lit up, and he grinned from ear to ear as he clambered clumsily onto the bed. They talked hours into the night.

…

The sight Nya was met with was possibly one of the sweetest she'd ever seen. Kai slept with his face to the door, clutching tightly onto the kid. Lloyd was curled up into a tiny ball of fabric, his face buried in Kai's chest as he snored loudly. It was the most peaceful and quiet Nya had ever seen either of the boys. She quickly whipped out her phone and took a few pictures - just to commemorate the moment, you see. Admiring the photos, she crept out of the room and closed the door behind her. Seeing her brother as peaceful as that, well, it made that horrible decision worth it. Just like she'd never admit to have taken those photos, she'd never admit to the lengths she'd gone to keep her brother safe.