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“Suspect apprehended!” Nya’s cheerful voice comes in loud and clear over the comms system.
“We will return to the Destiny’s Bounty shortly.” Alongside Zane’s words, a diagram of the group’s return route materializes on screen. You scan it, trying to mentally calculate how long it’ll take them before checking your answer with P.I.X.A.L’s estimate in the corner. You were a little off, but close.
With Misako gone, the gang has been trading off who stays aboard the ship whenever a new mission comes in. It’s probably a good strategy regardless of the current circumstance—you’ve lost count of how many times the mission group stumbled into a trap and had to call for backup—but that didn’t stop Kai from pouting and grumbling when his turn to stay behind came around.
Said very mature and very grown man is beside you now, pressing the intercom switch to talk before you get the chance to. “Great work, guys.”
“Thanks.” Lloyd’s voice. “We’ll see you soon.” With that, the connection clicks off.
You watch the colored dots on screen travel towards the police precinct. It was a simple and easy mission with no surprises, which was a nice gift considering how rarely simplicity and ease actually come to the ninja. You and Kai could fly the Bounty closer to try to-
Your concentration on the collection of glowing monitors is ripped from you as the worst contractions you’ve had in your life stab at you from the inside. You grab onto the console with one hand, the other pressing against your uterus in hopes that it’ll somehow subdue the pain. Eyes squeezed shut, it’s all you can do to endure and stop yourself from jumping off the side of the ship to make it all go away.
“Are you okay?”
You shake your head on instinct, because truthfully no, you’re really not feeling okay right now.
“Hey.” Footsteps thunk against the wooden floorboards as Kai rushes to your side. You crack your eyelids open to see him crouched below you, looking up at you with brown eyes blown wide with concern. “What’s going on? What’s wrong?”
“I just-“ You gasp and exhale, finally relieved as the pain starts to subside. “Really bad period cramp.”
“Oh.” Kai’s eyebrows furrow, a puzzled expression coating his face. He looks around the room as if a solution will magically appear.
You share his glance at the ninja’s expected return time. Nya won’t be back to take care of you for at least half an hour. That’s fine. You can take care of yourself, like you usually would. Being around such a caring group has spoiled you.
You start to make for the first aid kit attatched to the wall. “I’m gonna get painkillers.”
Kai puts out a hand to stop you. “Wait. I’ll help you.”
You gladly accept the assistance, standing still as Kai unlatches the kit from the wall and rummages through its contents. He finds the container of pills and hands it over to you.
You unscrew the lid and swallow two pills raw, not wanting to bother with the extra minute it would take for you to get water. One more minute could just become sixty extra seconds of pain.
“Thank you,” you say once you’re sure the pills are down, handing the container back to Kai. He returns it to the kit and mounts the whole thing back onto the wall. “I think I’m gonna go lie down.”
“Okay. Just let me know if you need anything.”
You probably won’t, just out of virtue of feeling bad about asking for help. You give Kai a thumbs up anyways then leave the bridge, heading to the room you and Nya share.
You collapse face first onto your bed, curling your legs into yourself. Ugh. It’s bad today. You feel like you could cry from how much everything hurts.
Thank god it was your turn to stay with the ship. You can’t imagine having to go through this while out on the field and trying to mask it in front of everyone. You know they would be understanding, but you’d hate to feel like a nuisance and bring the team down.
You lie on your side, body squeezed in on itself, and wait. There’s nothing more to do.
After a few minutes, Kai’s head pops into the doorway, his perpetually messy hair sticking out in every possible direction. His eyes meet yours. Seeing you’re awake, he steps into the room slowly. “How are you doing? Can I get you anything?”
He can, and you should tell him, even if you feel bad about asking for assistance. “There should be a hot pack in the bathroom. Underneath the sink.”
“Okay.” Kai backs toward the door. He has his hands open palm-down in front of him as if trying to virtually soothe you. “I’ll be right back.”
You give him a weak smile and nod. Kai turns and disappears in the direction of the bathroom. You can hear his quick footsteps as he rushes over.
You let your head fall back onto the pillow, wincing as another cramp tears through you. The painkillers haven’t set in yet. Hopefully you’ll pass out soon so you won’t have to feel anything anymore.
You can hear the opening and closing of cabinet doors on the other side of the wall, followed by creaking floorboards as Kai rushes back. For ninja, all of them are quite loud.
Kai reappears with a hot pack in hand, coming over to your bedside. “It isn’t very hot,” he warns, holding the red rubbery thing out to you.
You take it from him, feeling the water inside slosh around. It isn’t warm at all. He didn’t replace the water from the last time it was used. “That’s cause you’re supposed to warm it up.”
“Ah.” Kai presses his lips together in a flat line as he nods. “Y’know, that does make sense.”
Kai takes the hot pack back from you. You’re expecting him to go back to the bathroom to refill it with warm water, but instead he holds it between his hands. You watch as he concentrates on the hot pack for a few seconds.
After a moment, he visibly relaxes, turning the hot pack over in his hands before passing it over to you. “‘Kay. Here you go.”
It’s warm. Comfortingly so. “Kai.” You’re smiling, looking from him to the pack that he heated up with his elemental power.
“What? You told me to warm it.”
You press the hot pack below your stomach, sighing as the heat calms your skin. “You’re perfect.”
Whatever flippant saying was coming dies in Kai’s throat as he opens and closes his mouth wordlessly. His cheeks turn nearly as red as his gi, the man of fire burning even hotter.
Kai turns away from you, wiping at his face as if that’ll make the color go away. You bite your lip in amusement.
Kai throws a “feel better,” over his shoulder before rushing out of the room. You watch him go. Warmth beyond what the hot pack provides blossoms inside of you.
You lie back onto the bed, making sure the hot pack stays balanced on you. Eyes closed, you can faintly hear Kai talking over the intercom and Nya’s voice on the other end.
At some point, you must drift off to sleep, because the next moment of consciousness you have is from the gentle footfalls of several people at the door to your room.
Kai’s whisper might be too loud to even classify as a whisper, though you can’t make out exactly what he says anyways. There’s a bit of shuffling, then the footsteps retreat. You hear someone else’s very loud whisper of “Kai!” come from further away, then one last pair of footsteps slowly leaves.
Eyes still closed, you smile to yourself. Yup. You’re spoiled.