The principal sighed tiredly as he stood fidgety in the car park as he watched the council worker removing all the boards with a crowbar. Thanks to the protest and Lloyd falling off the roof, Ninjago High had been closed down for almost a month. All the windows and doors on the ground floor had been boarded up and no one had been inside since. Most of the teachers hosted online and video classes for most students such as Jay, Lloyd, Nya, and Zane to carry on with their studies.
Others had to find other sources of education.
Pixal and Harumi's parents paid to hire private tutors for their daughters. There was only a handful of students that were still sent to Granite Hills High. They were Morro, Chad, Maggie, and Kai. Chad and Maggie's parents didn't put up much of a fight. Morro's foster parents were worried if they did try and fight Social Services would think they didn't want to give him a proper education. The only ones who kicked up a fuss about the move were Kai and Nya's parents.
Their parents fought tooth and nail, but in the end, it was that or home school.
Sadly that was something they didn't have time for, despite how much they loved their twins. They considered sending Cole there as well but Lou refused to let that happen. Even if his relationship with Cole was strained, he didn't want Cole to attend a school that didn't allow music or dancing. Those were the two things he wanted his son to dedicate his life to, so he sent Cole somewhere else. Thankfully, after the investigation was finished, the school was allowed to re-open and all the students were returning today.
Including the ones moved to Granite Hills High.
Even Lloyd was coming out of the hospital today and it would be a few days before he returned to school. Misako told the principal that she would be bringing him in with her so they could discuss the future. Unfortunately, it wasn't all a happy ending for everyone. Koko was going to receive a disciplinary hearing and it didn't look like it would go in her favor. If it did end badly, the best Koko could hope for was to be fired. When he heard that Koko was getting a disciplinary hearing, the principal argued with the council, saying that since he was the principal and Koko's boss then it should be him that was punished.
But they said that because Koko knew and helped the students organize the protest, keeping it hidden from the principal, that she was more at fault.
"Nasty business." The worker suddenly said as he finished the boards.
"What?" The principal glared.
"A kid like that jumping off the roof; you were here, weren't you?" He asked and gave the educator a look that reminded him of those parasitic reporters.
"He didn't jump off the roof, he fell."
"That's not what it said in the papers." The man shrugged as he handed the principal the notepad full of papers that needed his signature.
"Well, you shouldn't believe what you read." The principal frowned in disapproval as he fished out a pen from his pocket.
"But he was up on the roof, though, wasn't he?" The man smirked. "That's a terrible thing, kids like that running wild?"
"Our young people do not run wild! They are decent, respectful, and extremely well-behaved." The principal snapped as he shoved the notepad back into the worker's chest. The man shrugged and was about to leave when they both heard a thud coming down the hall. They both shared a look and went to investigate. The man armed himself with his crowbar and the principal pulled out his phone, ready to call the police. They nervously walked up to one of the stairs and reached the door that led to the third floor of the school.
The principal shared a look with the worker and was about to open the door until it suddenly swung open and scared both men half to death.
That is until the principal saw it was just Cole Brookstone who had opened the door. The noirette was dressed in a black tank top and dark jeans and was holding some coffee in a takeaway. The principal hadn't seen Cole since the accident that got the school closed for a month. Cole's father had sent him to the Marty Oppenheimer Boarding School of Performing Arts in temporary placement. Lou was hoping that he would follow in his footsteps and become a dancer.
Unwilling to do so but reluctant to displease his father, Cole secretly ran away from the boarding school.
For the last week, Cole had broken into the old school and been camping in one of the classrooms.
"You guys all right?" Cole smiled as he finished his drink. Seeing that it was just one of his students, the principal sent the smug worker away before heading upstairs to see what Cole was doing. He was stunned to see a makeshift campsite in one of the classrooms. There was a large sleeping bag with a flashlight and extra batteries. Scattered around the empty classroom were empty wrappers, dirty plates, and clothes used knives, and folks.
"Look at the mess!" The principal cried when he saw it all.
"You should have seen it before I cleaned up." The noirette grinned.
"How did you even get in here?" The older man glared. All the outside doors and the windows on the ground floor were boarded up to prevent a break-in. In the principal's mind, there was no logical way for Cole to be in there. What the principal didn't know was that thanks to Cole's werewolf genes, he had incredible strength and could jump to amazing heights. Because of that, the teen was able to jump up and open one of the second-story windows that were boarded up.
Cole just shrugged and refused to answer.
The principal just sighed in frustration and pushed a trash can into the noirette's hands, telling him to clean up his mess.
"The boys' restroom might need a little TLC and you might want to re-stock the freezer in the cafeteria," Cole admitted sheepishly as he finished cleaning up his make-shift classroom campsite.
"Get your clothes and get dressed, I'm calling the police and your Dad to let them know you're OK." The principal sighed and left to make the call. He could already tell this was going to be a very long day...
Nya was extremely excited as she speed-walked through the hospital halls, clutching today's newspaper in her hand. While Lloyd had been recovering in the hospital, Nya had been visiting him. Misako was very angry and blamed Nya at first but after a week, she realized that Nya never meant for Lloyd to get hurt and that Nya's guilt was punishment enough. She was still upset that Lloyd was hurt, but she understood that Nya was not to blame.
But the school re-opening and Lloyd finally getting out of the hospital were not the only things causing her excitement.
Nya was ecstatic to see her brother again. The noirette had not seen or heard anything from Kai for nearly the whole month he was at Granite Hills High. For the first week, he called his parents, Nya, and Cole at least once a day. But then the calls suddenly stopped. They had all tried to call him but there was no answer and his new school rules told him that he wasn't allowed to leave the grounds during weekdays. But they couldn't see him on the weekends either because according to Morro, Kai was in detention.
There was a frown on his face as he said this and the pack knew there was more to it, but the lone wolf soon lost contact too.
Nya was glad that Kai and Morro were finally returning to where they belonged and she vowed that no one would take her brother away again. Nya burst into Lloyd's hospital room to see the nurse helping him into a wheelchair and Misako was making sure all his belongings and pain relief were all packed up.
"We've done it! The protest worked." She squealed as she showed Lloyd the front page.
"They've re-opened Ninjago High?" The blond teen gasped as he snatched the paper from her and his eyes widened when the story confirmed what she was saying.
"Better than that! They've also canceled the budget cuts, and it's thanks to you Lloyd." Nya smiled as she hugged Lloyd, being mindful of his injuries. "I mean, I'm sorry that you feel off the roof, but if you hadn't, we wouldn't have got on the TV and in the papers."
"It truly is amazing how much bad news can turn into such good news, just don't make a habit of it," Misako warned the teens with a glare before thanking the nurses and wheeling Lloyd out of the hospital to head to the school...
The principal sighed as he finished another set of paperwork and said goodbye to another entitled parent. All of the teachers had returned and most of the students had followed, bringing their parents to sort out all of the paperwork. While the principal loved seeing the school full of students again, he could do without their bossy, entitled parents and guardians. If he had to listen to another Karen screech at him to make sure nothing like this happened again, he felt like he would start screaming.
But now he had another problem.
The bus from Granite Hills High would be arriving soon to return his students.
He had heard what that school was like so he knew that he would have to be prepared for anything. He hoped that they were just rumors. But what he saw the four students step off the bus, he knew that some of those rumors were true. Chad and Maggie looked around fearfully as if something was going to jump out of the air and attack them. It looked like someone had tried to cut Maggie's hair and Chad had a large bruise on his lower leg, but other than that they looked mostly unharmed.
Morro didn't have a scratch on him, but he looked stoic, yet more aggressive at the same time.
Kai was the worse of all, however. His face, arms, and legs were covered in bruises and he had a huge black eye, a busted lip, and some bandages were wrapped around his left wrist. The principal noticed that he was wearing some clothes that were a bit too small for him and he recognized the clothes as Morro's. What worried the principal the most, however, were the dulled, lifeless, yet terrified eyes staring at the ground as they entered the school.
"Kai, what's happened to your eye?" The principal gasped when he saw the state the brunette was in.
"I'm fine." He muttered as he avoided everyone's look. The principal looked like he wanted to press the issue, but Morro quickly put his arm around Kai's shoulder.
"He says he's fine." The lone wolf glared as he began to lead them away to find their lockers. As they turned a corner, however, the pair almost walked into Cole and Jay, the latter also only just arriving back at the school. As soon as Cole saw his boyfriend, a giant smile broke out on his face and he pulled the smaller teen into a big bear hug. He was so overjoyed to see Kai that he missed when the brunette flinched at his touch.
"Hey, baby!" He exclaimed in joy as he leaned in for a kiss, but that was when Kai pulled out of the embrace. Cole finally looked his lover over and was saddened and slightly enraged when he saw the bruises littering his tanned skin. "What happened?"
"They put us in Granite Hills High and he had all his stuff stolen," Morro growled as he recalled having to carry the barely conscious and bloody brunette back to their dorm. Cole flinched when he heard that and the icy guilt instantly flooded his heart. He had thought that his week on the run was rough, but that was nothing compared to what his boyfriend and Morro had been through. He wished that Lou had let him go to Granite Hills High, even if it was just so he could have protected Kai.
"Don't worry, you can have some of mine." Jay offered with a smile as he extended his hand for Kai to take. What shocked him and Cole even more than the news about what happened at Granite Hills High, however, was the fact that Kai looked to Morro for permission to go with Jay. When Morro nodded in approval, Kai turned back to the best friends and took Jay's hand. Trying not to be awkward, Jay glanced at all three of his friends before leading Kai away.
Cole scowled at Morro for a second, a pang of jealously rippling through him.
But he shrugged this off quickly. He knew that Kai only love him and that Morro wasn't gay and was dating Harumi. He and Kai must have just gotten close during their time at Granite Hills High. Kai might talk the big talk and he could be cocky, but Cole knew he had a big heart and could be sensitive so he would be an easy target at a place like that. Morro had grown up in the foster care system and had already been to Granite Hills High. So if Cole couldn't have been there for Kai, he was at least put at ease that the lone wolf was there.
"Lloyd's coming out of the hospital today," Cole commented, trying to ease the tension. "He fell off a three-story building and only got a couple of broken bones, pretty impressive." He hummed in amazement as he remembered Lloyd's diagnosis. Unfortunately, it seemed that not everyone shared his amazement.
"Yeah, well he'll have a couple more when I get hold of him; it's his and Nya's fault we ended up in that hell hole!" Morro snapped before he went storming off. Where he was going, Cole didn't know or care. He just hoped that the lone wolf didn't cause problems when Lloyd got to the school. Back outside, Zane helped his father out of the car and went to join up with Pixal, who had also just arrived with her father. The others were happy to return to their school and were even happier to be here together.
As they and their respective fathers were talking, another car pulled up and they watched as Nancy Kirby stepped out.
The official-looking woman gave the young couple a look before grabbing her briefcase and started heading towards the school.
"Have you come to close us down again?" Pixal glared as Nancy passed them.
"No, I'm just going to go in and see your principal."
"Is Miss. Koko still suspended?" Zane asked.
"I'm afraid so," Nancy replied and then respectively dismissed herself from any further conversation before heading into the school. The principal was waiting in the lobby, but he was waiting for Dr. Julien and Cyrus Borg, not Nancy Kirby.
"How can I help you, Mrs. Kirby?" He asked in a stoic tone, yet Nancy could still pick up on the hint of irritation and impatience in his tone.
"I need more information before I can finish my report for the disciplinary hearing." She explained as held up her briefcase as if that was her report.
"I've got to do Zane and Pixal's paperwork, so there's coffee in the teacher's lounge." He dismissed her, pointing down the hall that led to the teacher's lounge, before smiling at Dr. Julien and Cyrus Borg and leading them to his office with their children following them. She watched them leave for a moment before heading to the teacher's lounge. It took her a while to find it, but when she did, Nancy was a little surprised to see how empty it was of people.
She knew that all the teachers had returned but she hadn't thought that they were all teaching.
What shocked her, even more, was that the only person in the lounge was Koko. The teacher was standing beside an open locker, which Nancy guessed was hers, with a large, empty box on the ground beside her. Feeling eyes on her back, Koko looked over her shoulder and sighed when she saw the councilwoman.
"I've just come to clear out my desk and locker." She reassured her, trying to give a polite smile.
"Not waiting for the outcome of the hearing then?"
"My union rep told me not to get my hopes up." She admitted sadly and with that she returned to cleaning out her locker. An awkward silence surrounded the two women as Nancy took a seat by the large coffee table and opened her briefcase. She began sorting and reading through the documents inside. After almost twenty minutes, Koko was getting ready to leave but Nancy suddenly cleared her throat to catch her attention.
"Miss Koko, you know me being here isn't personal, right?" She asked and Koko sighed again.
"When someone falls off the roof of a school, it's very, very unusual, thankfully, but when something unusual happens, someone's got has to be accountable." She explained with a smile, shocking Nancy by being so understanding before she got her box full of her belongings and left the lounge...
Nya and Lloyd tried and failed miserably to contain their giggles of excitement and joy as they raced down the halls of the school. Misako had dropped them off from the hospital and had to go and find the principal's office to sort out Lloyd's paperwork. Ray and Maya were working but they said one of them would fill out the paperwork for Kai and Nya when they came to collect their children. Speaking of Kai, Nya couldn't wait to see her brother after so long, and neither could Lloyd.
After wandering around for half an hour, they soon found him and Morro in a hallway
Kai was sitting on the ground against some lockers and Morro was leaning on the wall across from them. As soon as they saw Nya and Lloyd, Morro glared at them and Kai found the floor more interesting. Nya ignored both these reactions, however.
"Whoo-hoo! We're back!" She cheered as she pulled to her stop in front of them. Letting go of Lloyd's wheelchair, Nya ran to hug her brother, only for him to suddenly jump away. Nya was a little hurt by this, but she just shrugged it off as Kai tried to play it off cool. "Oh, nice to see you too! You guys heard the good news?" She squealed in excitement as she gestured to the building. But neither Kai nor Morro looked as excited as her.
"It's kind of obvious, isn't it?" Morro scoffed.
"The budget cuts have gone, too." She added, feeling very please, and still trying to get a smile out of them but it didn't work.
"Yeah... for now." Morro shrugged and all four of them found themselves in uncomfortable silence until Morro couldn't take it anymore. "Have you spoken to Koko and the principal yet? I heard they're looking for you."
"I'll, um, tell them that we're here, hang on a sec." She replied and left Lloyd with the pair, but they didn't even glance at the injured teen. Soon Nya found herself in the principal's office with him, Koko, and Nancy. Misako was waiting outside, waiting to fill out Lloyd's paperwork. But she had to wait until they had seen Nya first. The principal, Koko, and Nancy needed to talk with her and she wasn't pleased with what she heard.
"A disciplinary hearing? But I thought everything was back to normal?!"
"You caused chaos in the council and an unexpected council tax rise! That's not normal." Nancy scowled at the teen.
"Kept this place open, didn't it?" Nya shrugged, not seeing what the problem was. The point of the protest was to keep Ninjago High open and running and it worked, eventually.
"And put one of your friends in a hospital!" The councilwoman snapped, glaring at the girl in disbelief.
"So you're looking for someone to blame and it's Koko?!"
"Nya, you are NOT helping." The principal warned.
"Nothing will be decided until after the hearing; we've been here before, let's just let the process take its course," Koko said and Nya wanted to say something, but she was worried that anything she said would make things worse for Koko. Without a word, Nya left the office and went to where she had last seen her brother and their friends. She found them in the same places she had left them. The noirette almost thought that they were statues until Lloyd nervously wheeled over so his chair was next to Kai's.
Within the blink of an eye, Kai shot up from his chair and went to lean against the wall with Morro.
"I-I'm sorry they sent you to Granite Hills High." Lloyd apologized, but it wasn't appreciated.
"Oh, no, no, you mean you're sorry YOU sent us there." Morro snarled.
"Hey, it wasn't Lloyd's fault." Nya glared as she made her presence known.
"How do you figure that out? It's ALL his fault, your's too." He hissed, giving both her and Lloyd a glare.
"Is that what YOU think?" Lloyd fearfully asked Kai, who just shrugged as if Lloyd just asked him the world's most boring question. When he saw this, Lloyd burst into tears and covered his mouth with his uninjured hand to muffle his sobs. Kai, his best friend, the person who he saw as a brother, hated him. Casting her brother a withering glare, Nya knelt next to Lloyd to try and comfort him, but she wasn't sure how.
"Aww, he's upset! Is that because all his stuff got taken and when he asked for it back, he got beaten up? No, wait, that wasn't one of you two, that was Kai!" Morro roared, causing Nya to flinch and Lloyd to cry some more.
"I never cried! You don't let them see you cry, do you?" Kai smirked at Morro, who nodded in agreement.
"YOU FUCKING FREAKS! THANKS FOR SENDING US TO HELL!" Someone suddenly screamed and all four werewolves to see Chad and his gang storming towards them. It was Chad who had to shout at them, and when he saw he had their attention, he suddenly threw a tennis ball at Nya. She ducked at the last second and it hit Kai right in the forehead. There was a minute of silence before Kai saw red and he suddenly charged towards the jock.
Before Chad or anyone could react, Kai had Chad in a tight headlock and looked ready to kill him.
Chad's gang didn't look so confident after Kai's sudden outburst and they took off running.
"DON'T YOU EVER HIT ME AGAIN, YOU BASTARD!" Kai bellowed and he made sure to punch Chad in the gut as hard as he could with every word. Chad's screams of pain and fear alerted almost the entire school and a crowd soon formed around the two. As soon as they saw what was happening, Cole, Nya, Jay, and Zane immediately jumped in to try and pull Kai off of the jock. Cole wrapped his arms around Kai to try and restrain his boyfriend and the others tried to pull Chad out of the brunette's iron-like grip.
The ruckus reached the principal's office.
That caused him, Koko, Nancy, and Misako to come running down to the chaos.
"What is going on here?!" Koko shouted, causing everyone to freeze. With a growl, Kai threw Chad into Nya, Jay, and Zane and shook Cole's arms off of him.
"Nothing." He spat before he and Morro walked and disappeared around a corner. Their friends watched them leave, and Cole and Nya wanted so badly to know what exactly happened at Granite Hills High to make Kai such a violent thug. Yes, he had always been a little hotheaded, but none of his friends had ever seen him so violent, let alone to a human-like Chad. As soon as she saw her son's distressed state, Misako rushed forward. She asked what was wrong and Lloyd just said that he wanted to go home.
After Lloyd and left and the crowd departed to go back to their classes, Nya headed to the library.
There she found Pixal who was catching up on some studying. She hardly glanced up from her textbook as Nya sat across from her.
"You OK?" The noirette asked her human friend.
"I don't think anyone is OK, do you?"
"At least the school's open."
"What do you want? A gold medal?" She glared before she suddenly snapped her textbook shut and stormed off to another quiet, far corner of the library. Nya just sat there in shock. She had thought that after the school reopened and the budget cuts were gone that everything would go back to normal. But after today though, she found that idea to be very unbelievable. Sadly, things for Koko weren't fairing much better. Despite being allowed to leave, she had insisted to stay until the end of the day.
That was something that confused and rubbed Nancy the wrong way.
She had expected that the teacher would want to leave and let someone else deal with the chaos while Koko prepared for the hearing tomorrow.
"I'm nearly finished, how about you?" Nancy asked as Koko helped organize files, clean, and do whatever she could to assist her former students and her fellow teachers. "It's probably time you left." She suggested as she got up to leave, but Koko wasn't so polite.
"I'm not going anywhere till the atmosphere here calms down, and you can stick that in your report!" She snapped before storming off to deliver some supplies to the art classrooms. Nancy stared after her, not saying anything. Koko knew that she needed to be nice to Nancy if she wanted her report to go in her favor, but right now Koko couldn't find the patience. This was a horrible way to end her time at Ninjago High. Nevertheless, she tried not to let it get her down.
Sometimes you have to know when it was time to move on.
Plus it might be great to have a fresh set of eyes on the high school...
That evening, Kai was safely back in his room in his family's apartment. When Ray and Maya had come to collect their children they were both furious when they heard that Kai had attacked another student. Yes they could see the bruises, and yes they understood he had had a tough time, but that was no excuse to behave this way. As soon as they had gotten home, his parents had sent him to bed without dinner and said he was grounded for a week.
If his stuff hadn't been stolen while he was staying at Granite Hills High then they would have taken his phone away too.
Both Ray and Maya had to rush back to work because of an emergency, leaving Kai and Nya alone, but Nya was leaving soon to visit Lloyd. As she was getting ready to leave, Nya poked her head into her brother's room and saw him sitting in front of his mirror trying to cover up his bruises with concealer.
"I'm sure Lloyd would love to hear from you." She said after a moment, but Kai didn't look at her.
"My phone got broken at Granite Hills." He growled and Nya felt bad for forgetting. What she didn't know was that it wasn't a student who broke his phone. One of the teachers had broken it, saying that he spent too much time on it after hours and that was against the rules. Then after the teacher had finished smashing up his phone they slammed the hammer on the table right next to his fingers. They said that if he broke the rules again they would have to find other things to break.
"Well, I'm going over there now, do you want me to give Lloyd a message for you?" She asked but when he stayed silent she sighed and entered the room. Kai watched her cautiously as she took a seat on the bed behind him, staring at her reflection looking at him through the mirror. "Look, this has been difficult for both of you." She started but Kai scoffed at his sister's ridiculous statement.
"What's difficult for Lloyd? He's got a lovely new school to go to, you and everyone else jumping up and down for him every time he wants something!"
"Come on bro, he's your best friend." She reminded him, only to flinch when he turned around so fast she thought he broke his neck and glared daggers at her.
"No, he WAS my best friend." He corrected her. "People move on, that's what happens." He coldly added before turning back to stare at his reflection. Nya looked like she wanted to say more, but wanting to talk and knowing what to say were two very different things. She doubt he would listen to anything she said anyway. With a sigh she got up and made to leave, casting Kai one last look, hoping he would change his mind. When he still said nothing she reluctantly walked away and left her brother alone with his bruises and unshed tears...
Nya smiled as she knocked on the front door and Master Wu allowed her inside, clutching her bag of comics, video games, and junk food close. He led her into the living room where Misako was helping Lloyd walk with his crutches over to the sofa. Nya felt bad that it was just her visiting him at the moment. Cole was grounded by Lou for running away from the Marty Oppenheimer Boarding School of Performing Arts. Harumi had only just gotten home from her temporary boarding school and she was still getting settled in back home.
Jay wanted to be there with them but he said that he was working on something that might help Koko out with the hearing.
No one had been able to contact Morro since school had finished, but with how he had been acting, Nya wasn't sure she wanted to see him. Pixal was also giving Nya a bit of a cold shoulder, saying that she couldn't come because she needed to catch up on her studies. Zane also said that he needed to study and apologized for not being there.
"How's it going?" She asked as she dumped the stuff onto the coffee table and sat next to him.
"I don't think I'm ever going to get used to it." He sighed as he frowned at his crutches and wheelchair.
"No, you're getting better," Misako reassured him before he headed into the kitchen to make the teens some hot chocolate. "Maybe you should give Kai a call at the apartment in the morning?" She suggested to her son as she returned with the hot chocolate.
"He hates us, and I wouldn't know what to say," Lloyd muttered sadly as he took a sip of the warm beverage. Nya nodded in agreement at that statement, glaring at her drink as she thought about her brother.
"He doesn't hate you, he's just had a really tough time in a place where you get stamped on if you show your feelings," Misako explained, her eyes full of sympathy for the missing Smith sibling. "He needs all of you, he's just scared to say so." She added. Both teens could agree that Kai can be a bit too stubborn and proud to admit when he needs help. "When we're looking for someone to blame it's usually the people we care the most about who gets it."
"Your mother and father were the same way, when we were young they would blame me for everything." Master Wu said and Misako gave him an amused look.
"Exactly, although to be fair, it WAS always your fault." She teased and all four of them started laughing...
The next day Koko was certain that it would the worst day of her entire life. It was the day of the disciplinary hearing and Koko was due in court that afternoon. She sighed as she finished saying goodbye to the principal and her co-workers. Nancy Kirby had delivered her report so it was up to the disciplinary panel to make their decision. The principal told her not to give up yet, but Koko wasn't stupid. She helped to organize a protest against the council, a young person fell off the roof, and another got into a fight the first day back.
Even if Nancy saw some positive moments too, Koko doubted that the disciplinary panel would take that into account.
She planned on coming back to the school after the hearing to properly to her students. All of a sudden, she saw Harumi and Morro rushing around the corner near her, laughing and snickering under their breaths. She looked down the hall they had just come from and saw Harumi's father walking away to the principal's office to sort out his daughter's paperwork. Koko resisted the urge to roll her eyes and turned her attention to the couple.
"Hey, babe, where've you been?" Morro asked as he gave Harumi a passionate kiss and a big hug.
"My parents sent me to this stuck-up prep school, but I managed to convince them to let me come back." She giggled happily as they linked arms and started walking to their next class. "So what's been happening here?"
"Where do I start?! It's all been kicking off!" He laughed and Koko watched them disappear down the hall. She was going to miss them. She wasn't going to lie that there were times she got fed up with Harumi's drama in the past, but she knew the diva was a product of her parents. Likewise, Morro's behavior could be attributed to being in foster care his whole life and being sent from home to home. But Koko always believed that deep down they were both good people and in recent months they proved that to her.
She liked to think that they had proved it to themselves as well.
Koko hoped that even if their romance didn't work out after high school they remained friends and that they would have happy, fulfilling lives. She was about to leave when she was suddenly stopped by Jay, who was holding something behind his back.
"My mom helped me make this for you tomorrow, it's for good luck." He smiled and handed Koko a bracelet made of small, peach seashells.
"Well, I feel lucky knowing that you're thinking about me." Koko smiled as she put the bracelet on and thanked Jay for the gift. The ginger-haired teen smiled before the bell rang and he realized that he was running late for his next class. With speed Koko didn't know Jay was capable of, he was gone. Koko examined the bracelet and smiled sadly, knowing that no amount of luck in the world would help her now. Jay Walker had a heart of gold and she hoped that he never changed.
As Koko made to leave, she suddenly came face to face with Nya Smith, who was looking incredibly guilty.
Koko just smiled, hoping Nya wouldn't blame herself anymore. She also hoped that Kai recovered from his time at Granite Hills High. The thing is, Nya and Kai were just the same. They were both stubborn, always had been will be. Sometimes Koko wanted to bang their heads together to get them to see sense and stop fighting. She hoped that Kai forgave his sister and Lloyd soon.
"Look, I just wanted to wish you luck for tomorrow, and to say that I'm sorry for everything," Nya said, trying to meet Koko's gaze, but was unable.
"What's done is done Nya, I know you did it with the best intentions." The teacher smiled before saying goodbye and left the school to go to court. When she got there, the atmosphere was thick with tension and everyone else was wearing a suit and tie. Koko felt awkward for only wearing her smart casuals. They were in the courtroom for the next three hours. Everyone present had given their testimonies and the board read through Nancy's report.
They talked about the facts of the case, hardly bringing up Lloyd at all.
They talked about the reason for the protest. They talked about why Lloyd was on the roof and why he fell. As they were being presented with the evidence, Koko felt like she was going to suffocate. After they had collected enough evidence, they turned to Koko to get her statement.
"Exactly what were you expecting to achieve by allowing Miss Smith to proceed with her protest?" One of them asked, looking down at Koko over the frames of his glasses.
"I wanted to give our young people a chance to fight for their school." She explained as calmly and confidently as she could. "Sometimes those in power forget that the way we treat our young people affects them for the rest of their lives." She said and the board members wrote down every word. Then they asked Koko to wait outside until they reached a decision. As soon as she was gone, the debate began. This next choice would decide Koko's fate.
She was the best teacher figure they had ever had at that school.
The grades and attendance records from her classes were some of the higher ones in Ninjago High. Unfortunately, Koko's popularity was not in question. The issue was one of the indiscipline at Ninjago High and if she was a threat to student safety...
As the school day was reaching its end, everyone was anxious to hear what happened at Koko's hearing. They prayed that things worked out for the best, but Zane was quick to remind them that that wasn't likely. Most of the students and teachers had already gone home, but some were staying behind until they heard from Koko. Lloyd asked his mother to take him to the school so that he could say goodbye to his favorite teacher. By the time they got to Ninjago High, there was still no news.
Misako decided to find some of his friends to leave him with before she left for her car.
Unfortunately for the Garmadon family, it seemed that all the others were too busy to hang out with Lloyd at the moment. Harumi and Morro were busy catching up. Jay and Nya were busy signing back up for their clubs and so were Pixal and Zane. They were beginning to give up when they came across Kai and Cole cuddling on a bench near the entrance of the school. Before Kai could say anything, Cole invited Lloyd to join them. Misako smiled in gratitude and left her son and the couple alone to go back and wait in her car.
There was a moment of very awkward silence before Kai turned to him, but said nothing.
Lloyd stared at him for a moment before wheeling forward and taking hold of Kai's hand. This caused Kai to jump at the contact, but he didn't pull away.
"Kai, you're my best friend and I hate it when we fight, so I've come to say sorry." Lloyd apologized and Kai could only stare at him. This was the first time that Kai got a good look at the blond teen. Even with the bruises and the bandages, Kai noticed something else. Lloyd had looked so small and defeated and endlessly tired. More tired than when it was a dark moon or when they had to pull two all-nighters in a row. Much too tired for a kid in high school.
Then he had another horrible realization.
He had treated his sister and best friend just like everyone had treated them at Granite Hills High. With fear, suspicion, and no small amount of hostility on Morro's part. It felt bad to the brunette. It made him feel icky and gooey on the inside like black sludge was pooling in his stomach. It made him feel sicker than when he first tasted Cole's cooking.
"What's HE doing here?" A woman suddenly snarled and the trio turned to see Maggie and Chad glaring at Lloyd. Cole looked like he wanted to say something, but instead, he kept glancing at his boyfriend. Part of him was scared that another fight would break out while another wanted Kai to speak up.
"Yeah, HE doesn't go here anymore." Chad sneer and that was the straw that broke the camel's back. Before anyone could blink, Kai and shot forward, grabbed Maggie and Chad by the collars, and shoved them up against the lockers. Cole and Lloyd froze and Maggie and Chad trembled in the angry brunette's grip.
"HE is my best friend, and I've had enough bad goodbyes and I'm not having another one, and you WILL be nice to him, OK?!" He snarled and they both quickly nodded. Satisfied, Kai let them go and watched them run away. Kai chuckled and rejoined his best friend and his boyfriend. Cole gave him a small, disappointed glare at his violent reaction, but Kai quickly got rid of it and gave the large teen a quick kiss on the nose. Lloyd laughed at Cole's blush and was overjoyed that he had his friend back.
Their laughter continued until they were reunited with their friends outside the school after the final bell rang.
While they were a little shocked to see Kai and Lloyd hanging out after what happened yesterday, but they were glad that they had made up. Morro was still a little angry at Nya, but he knew that she hadn't meant any harm so he tried not to hold a grudge.
"I'm sorry about Koko, I hope I get to see her again," Lloyd said as they ate some cupcakes Cole had brought.
"I'm sure we will all get a chance to say goodbye," Pixal replied and as they started talking again, the pack caught a few familiar scents approaching them. They all turned and saw the principal, Koko, and Nancy Kirby heading over to them.
"What's she doing here?" Morro snarled, but a nudge from Harumi shut him up.
"You come to say goodbye?" Cole asked the teacher with a sad look in his eye.
"Nope! Thanks to Nancy's report, the panel found in my favor!" Koko exclaimed and after a moment of shock, they all cheered for their favorite teacher's success.
"I just told the truth; I found a sensitive woman, who's firm when she needs to be and always has the welfare of her students at heart." Nancy smiled before saying goodbye to the principal and Koko and made her exit. The teens all laughed, cheered, and if Cole and Kai weren't grounded they probably would have gone out to celebrate. Nya smiled warmly as she watched her pack. Things seemed a little rough at the beginning there, but she had a feeling that things could only get better from here on out...
NEXT CHAPTER: A ghost from Morro's past arrives, but the pack is worried that might not be who she says she is...