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"Blake, is something troubling you?" Sensei asked. The human turned guinea pig looked up at him from his pocket.
"No, Sensei." The Winds' Sensei might have been turned into a guinea pig, but Blake had been raised to respect his teachers. He blushed, glad that the Ninja Master coudn't see it clearly.
"Indeed." Sensei's voice showed his doubts, and Blake wondered if Cam had *ever* gotten away with anything. Maybe it was a good thing that he and Hunter didn't live at Ops. They wouldn't have lasted five minutes.
"Hunter's still kinda ticked with me for inviting Tori to the film festival in the first place," Blake explained with a heavy sigh. Despite his reluctance to talk, he had to talk to somebody. Although, walking down the street looking for a quiet place to streak from probably wasn't the best time to be talking to his pocket. Fortunately, no one seemed to be looking too closely, they probably figured he was on a cell phone.
"Is this an unusual occurrence?" Sensei asked. Blake wondered how such a little guinea pig could be so intuitive. Except he wasn't a guinea pig, really.
"It was before we came to Blue Bay Harbor," Blake explained. He and Hunter rarely fought at the Thunder Academy. But now .
"Brothers are always the last to adjust when their siblings change," Sensei said wisely, and Blake wondered if it had anything to do with past experience. Or maybe Sensei was telepathic. "Especially an elder brother."
"Yeah, well, Hunter wasn't keen on me and Tori in the first place," Blake pointed out. "She was *supposed* to be The Enemy, after all." To say it was an understatement. How could one love one's enemy and hate them at the same time? Maybe he's thought of Tori as being a dupe. But he couldn't think that about her, not his Tori.
"The circumstances of your meeting were... less than amenable," Sensei pointed out. As if they needed to be. Sure, the plan had gone great... until he'd met Tori. Until he'd *used* Tori. Blake winced at the memory.
"Sometimes I think only children have it easier," Blake said, shaking his head. Then he realized what he'd implied, and added hastily, "But I wouldn't have given Hunter up for anything. We've been through a lot together."
Sensei nodded sagely. "Having something constant in one's life is a good thing."
"But he still didn't want me taking Tori to the festival," Blake said with a miserable sigh. Why was Hunter so adamantly opposed to Tori?
"Perhaps he wanted you to himself," Sensei suggested. Blake paused in shock. That hadn't occurred to him before.
"I guess so," Blake said guiltily. "Sometimes I like being the younger brother, sometimes...." He sighed. "I wish Hunter would understand that I need my own life. Like it's not going to hurt to let lil'bro go out on his own."
"Perhaps he fears losing you the way he has lost everyone else." Sensei's voice was soft and wise. The way the best instructors at the Thunder Ninja Academy were.
Blake sat down on a convenient step. "I know. Hunter needs someone else to love, and he hasn't got anybody else." Not with their parents, their foster father, and practically everybody they knew, gone. He didn't blame Hunter for wanting to know that he was safe. On the other hand, surely Hunter could love Tori almost as much as he did, and open their circle to her?
"Sensei Omino isn't dead," Sensei reminded him, gently. It was important to remember that Sensei Omino, at least, they could get back. "Never forget that. And as the two of you settle into the team...."
"Hunter doesn't precisely *settle*," Blake said miserably. Which was true. Hunter waited for the world to adjust to him, not the other way around, sometimes. Or for it to smack him over the head and make him see sense. "And, no offense, Sensei, but he's still having problems with me dating a Wind."
"There is room enough in your heart for both of them, is there not?" Sensei asked, as if probing Blake's feelings.
"Of course Sensei. No matter what happens, Hunter's still my brother," Blake said firmly. He loved Tori. At least he wanted to get to know her better. Or something. But Hunter wasn't bending. Hunter didn't work that way.
"Perhaps Hunter simply needs reminding of that," Sensei advised. "Perhaps he cannot see the way that you do, and you need to remind him that you are his brother, and will never not be."
"How?" Blake asked. "Me saying the words doesn't change anything." He stared at the small being. Hadn't Sensei realized what kind of person Hunter was?
"Still have time for him," Sensei said simply. As if he was sure Blake would have come up with it on his own. "And you might do better in future to talk to him before inviting Tori along."
"He did get three tickets," Blake mused. "Why would Hunter get an extra ticket if he wanted me all to himself?"
"Perhaps he expected you to invite Shane or Dustin," Sensei said. "Perhaps he was trying to connect with one of your other teammates."
Blake made a face. "I don't think so." The last thing Hunter would do would be to take one of the Winds along. Just because he'd accepted Shane as leader didn't mean that he wasn't still a Thunder.
"Then...." Sensei looked expectantly up at Blake.
"Sensei, as far as I can tell, maybe he'd met someone. Or maybe he was planning on taking Cam." The idea hit Blake like a freight train. He didn't know where it would come from or how it made sense, but there it was.
"An interesting hypothesis, Blake," Sensei said, curiosity evident in his voice. "Did you ask him if he'd had other plans for the third ticket?"
"No," Blake admitted, scuffing his shoes against the pavement. "I know it probably wasn't Cam. He and Hunter don't get along that great." His stomach lurched from the last time they'd had a conversation with Cam that didn't involve a Lothor attack... and that one had involved Cam implying he knew exactly where the two of them were currently living.
Had Hunter been trying to bribe Cam? Or maybe just reassure him they were OK. Maybe he should have asked.
"Maybe the two of you need to talk more," Sensei counseled quietly. "Regain what connections you have lost."
"Sounds like a good idea," Blake said, getting up and heading in the direction of that alley. "Thanks, Sensei."
"It is no problem, Blake. I understand that I am not your own Sensei, but I am here for you," Sensei said. His tone was soothing and gentle. It made Blake ache for his father, Sensei Omino and Hunter all at once.
"Thanks," Blake repeated. And he meant it.
End