[I'm so sorry guys I didn't update last Saturday due to reasons; I got sick and I wasn't feeling quite well but I'm a bit better now and I've managed to get the second chapter up ^^ still I apologize with all my heart. I hope you guys aren't mad...still, I also hope you enjoy this chapter I wrote for you guys and now I'm going to keep a nice writing schedule for when I update. Every second Saturday (or like you wait one Saturday until the next one) I will update the story, I need time to think of how to continue and it gives me a bit of break. I promise I'll try to keep up with it and again, I apologize...but for now without further ado I present to you the second chapter ^^] _
The next day the sun awoke the ninja with a start, all except for one of course.
Jay was already in the kitchen.
Andrea had helped him sleep a few hours but not enough to catch up, and he felt sapped of all energy. But he figured if he were to train today like everyone else he should just suck it up and keep it to himself. How he would was a good question, with his features clearly resulting in lack of immense sleep. The others took note of that when they entered the kitchen aa they would when they woke up. They already knew he was become insomniac and they knew whenever he was like this they should keep him in bed; tightening the sheets always did the trick for that.
"He's still tired again..?" Kai asked, eyeing the ninja of lightning from afar with the rest. Zane could sense his exhaustion but knew he was attempting to hide it with coffee and a smile, it saddened him.
"Isn't there something we can do besides force him into bed like always? We could give him his medicine-"
"Turns out he cant take pills," Zane whispered, cutting Cole off, "Andrea told me last night.."
"Then how come he's letting this happen to him? Shouldn't he be trying to catch some sleep at least..!" Cole yelled lowly. Kai scoffed, "Yeah like he hasn't tried that, Cole.."
"I mean we could just get the liquified version and feed it to him, don't we have some in stock?" Cole questioned.
"If there was we could've just given it to him along with the pills..and if he is letting them happen I believe he wouldn't do as much to help with his condit-"
"I'm not deaf you know.." Jay uttered.
They were silenced, they looked over at Jay who had finished his coffee. They tried to act normal, "H-Hey..Jay..hows the sleep..?"
"You know how it is Kai," Jay uttered, he threw out the rest of his coffee down the sink and walked past, "and stop talking as if I'm not in the room..."
He left without another word towards outside, the others exchanged worried glances and followed him.
Jay stepped outside, his legs and arms aching from lack of sleep but it didn't seem as if he cared much. He sighed and got his nunchuks but was then stopped by Cole. "Hey buddy you cant train like this.." he stated.
"Oh look who's talking, the guy who doesn't like to admit weakness. When you're sick you hate staying in bed..so shut your mouth," Jay snapped. Cole narrowed his eyes at him. Zane and Kai came up behind them, Zane looked at Jay in a worried way, "Jay..this is serious..you obviously need sleep-"
"You think I haven't tried to get a good nights rest?! You think I want to be like this?!" Jay yelled in disbelief.
"W-Well.."
"Don't answer that! You obviously don't know whats going on! I cant sleep and I cant help it ok?! Who's to say I have control over whats going on?! HUH?!" Jay shrieked, glaring at all three of them.
The three were now met with an angry lightning ninja, who was obviously overreacting to his friends beliefs. Cole stammered, "J-Jay we're trying to help-"
"REALLY?! ARE YOU?! You could've at least learned I cant take DAMN PILLS! BUT YOU JUST HOPE THINGS WILL BE OK! WELL GUESS WHAT?! THEIR NOT!" Jay screamed.
"ENOUGH!"
They were all silenced by Sensei, the wise man looking down on them from the higher step of the Bounty. Behind him shook a very scared Lloyd who had awoken the first time Jay was shouting. It wasn't until Jay caught eye with the young boy's face that he realized he made a mistake. "Jay..come with me," Sensei ordered.
The lightning ninja had no choice but to obey, since he didn't want to cause anymore conflict. Sensei left Lloyd with the ninja, "Please comfort him while I speak with Jay.." The three watch as Sensei shuts the door behind them, they again exchanged looks of concern, "Oh boy.."
Sensei lead Jay to his dormitories in which he kept the staff of dragons in a protective case. Before Jay could seat himself, Sensei knocked the tip of his staff into his stomach, the blow forced him to drop to his knees in pain, "OW! What the fuck?!"
"That was for yelling at your teammates.." Sensei frowned, he then bonked Jay on the head, Jay yelped.
"..and that was for cursing," he finished. Jay groaned and stayed down, Sensei sat beside him. "Jay..I know and I've heard you've been lacking sleep lately...and the others don't know why..and neither do I..."
"Ignorant.." Jay mumbled.
That got him another bonk on the head, "QUIT IT!"
"Enough insulting..now..what I want to know is...do you know why this is happening to you? Do you know why you cant sleep?" Sensei questioned, eyeing him. Jay pondered, but his brain was too tired to function, "I..I.."
Sensei frowned, "So you attack your friends..all because you cant get enough rest.."
"I-It's not my fault ok?! I d-don't know! The others clearly wont find out and I s-simply don't know!" Jay yelled.
"So you attack them without any reason? Why did you do that?" Sensei questioned. Jay was about to protest, but no words came out due to realization. He couldn't bring himself to counter that statement because it was true.
"Jay..?" Sensei began. Jay looked distraught, he looked a mixture of upset and confused. Sensei could tell he was going to cry from the welling tears in his eyes, he sighed, "Jay.."
Jay shook, he thought about his mistake and how he just straight up yelled at his friends because he was tired and he hated it. That wasn't a valid excuse to act like an asshole, as he knew. All this made him bury his face in his hands, shedding tears. Sensei frowned and put a hand on his shoulder, "Jay..you can always talk to me..or your friends about this.."
Jay just shook, sobbing out of guilt.
Sensei frowned and rubbed his back in attempt to ease him, "It's ok..it's not your fault in any way..."
Jay buried his face in his knees, "Y-Yes it is..I-I don't have a goddamn reason to be mad a-at them..i-it's my own fault I cant sleep..!"
"How so..?" Sensei asked. Jay sniffled, "I-I..I-I don't know..i-its just..my fault.."
Sensei shook his head and sighed, "You seem to be comparing your fault to the situation..when you clearly do not know..that is not a reason for you to blame yourself..."
"B-But I-"
"Jay..you cant always blame yourself when things go wrong because this will all lead to a collapse within yourself...and you wont be able to function," Sensei explained, frowning.
Jay froze, shaking. Sensei made him meet his eyes, "I know you clearly don't know whats going on..but you need to understand that talking to your peers is vital to finding out what it is...perhaps start talking to your friends again to see if they can help you find the problem..?
Jay looked down, "A-After what I did...?"
Sensei bonked him on the head, Jay yelped, "OW! Q-QUIT IT!"
"You see..you are already beginning to blame yourself..now stop," Sensei stated in a firm tone. Jay frowned and looked down.
"Jay..its serious that you cant sleep, you need to seek help and we'll give it to you..you cant just let this happen," Sensei explained. Jay looked at his mentor, "B-But what can I do then...I-I've tried everything.."
Sensei shook his head no, "Everything except your friends help.."
Jay looked down, "I..."
"Why is it so hard to seek help from your friends..? They can help you solve the problem perhaps-"
"I-I don't...want to," Jay shook. Sensei cocked his head in confusion, "Don't want help..? Or..you just feel embarrassed to seek it. Jay gaped, how did he know? Sensei chuckled lowly, "Jay that doesn't make you weak at all..seeking help is the most smartest thing you can do when in a situation like this."
"B-But wont the others-"
"Stop thinking of how they would feel and start thinking about your wellbeing..its more important than fear," Sensei stated. Jay was silent for a while, he sighed, "O..Ok..Sensei.."
Sensei pat his back, "There we go..now lets go get you your medicine and for a few hours you can sleep."
Jay smiled and went to follow him, but for a mere second he felt as if someone was watching him, he turned out of alertness, only to see nothing. "Jay?" Sensei called.
Jay turned forward, "H-Huh..oh yeah, I'm coming!"
He went with Sensei, unaware of the shadows outside.