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Kai opened the door to the training room and slowly walked over to one of the punching bags. Flicking a finger, he lit up one of the lanterns in the room, illuminating the small area with a flickering light. He smiled. He was glad to be able to sneak out of his room for a bit of unsupervised training, something that the group had been very adamant in not letting him do for the past few months.
He put some boxing wrap onto his hands and began to do some simple moves. Overtime he moved up into sharp kicks, dodging the punching bag, and then pretending it was an actual human. Which is probably how when Kai jumped and side kicked it pretty hard, it fell off of the hook, pinning his leg to the ground. Kai bit back a shout of pain, and slowly attempted to maneuver the bag off of his leg. The room he was in had the lighter punching bags, but it was still pretty heavy -- probably enough to sprain or fracture something, which was his primary concern at the moment.
Eventually, Kai managed to roll the bag semi off of his leg, which is when, in the absolute silence of the room, he heard it. An unsteady, buzzing sound like wires sparking and circuits glitching. He couldn't see all that well, so Kai illuminated his hand in a ball of fire and brought it closer to his shin, careful not to burn the bag.
"What the..?"
---
Zane awoke to their door sliding open, and saw Kai poke his head in. When the brunette spotted them awake, he came further into the room, then sat down on the chair at Zane's desk.
That's when Zane noticed his limp.
The sparks faintly flying from Kai's ankle.
His downcast look.
"Kai..." Zane tried to speak but trailed off, unsure of what to say. They sighed, and stood up from their bed. Grabbing the spare toolbox Zane had on their desk, they walked over to Kai and knelt down. Zane slowly began to fix the broken circuits and wires while Kai had his head buried on his hands and his other knee. It was an odd moment of silence. It wasn't uncomfortable, but it wasn't comfortable either. However, none wanted to break it, afraid of the truth that may come spilling out. The truth neither wanted to say, nor hear.
When Zane finished with Kai's ankle, they moved onto the shin, which was in a better condition, but still not stable enough to maintain a walking function for prolonged periods of time.
"Zane?" Kai whispered, snapping the other's attention towards him. "How... how long? Since I've been... like this? I remember bleeding, so don't lie to me." Zane stayed silent and continued fixing Kai's shin.
After a couple more minutes, Zane was satisfied with the repairs, and stood up, walking back to their bed and sitting down. Kai, still insistent for answers, followed them and sat down next to Zane. They averted his gaze until Kai sighed and grasped Zane's cold hand, intertwining their fingers.
"I won't be mad. I just want to know the truth," Kai said honestly. Zane seemed reluctant, but eventually managed to mutter a few words.
"You died."
Kai widened his eyes, not expecting that answer. Zane continued.
"A while ago, after the Hands of Time incident, I discovered that my power source was made of a material called chronosteel, which is also what the Time Blades were made of. Then, the whole Never-Realm thing happened, and around a week after we returned, you were still suffering from prolonged hypothermia," Zane sighed, bringing their other hand to their face. "Your chances of death were 97.8%. I thought that... if I somehow managed to secure your memories and experiences into something electronic, then transferred your elemental powers into a piece of chronosteel, you would survive. A-and you did!"
Kai stared at Zane, unable to comprehend what the nindroid had just said. Eventually, Kai spoke up and quietly asked, "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I... I was scared. That you would hate me."
"Why would I hate you for basically saving my life?"
"Because I didn't. You still died, which is the whole reason this is all happening in the first place."
Despite the situation, Kai still smiled, and rested his head on Zane's shoulder, admitting, "I would follow you into that master-forsaken realm in every damn universe if that meant I could get you out of there."
"But-" Zane tried protesting, but Kai cut them off.
"But nothing," he stated. "Besides, I guess it's just destiny that this specific thing happened, and now I have you to teach me all the ropes, because you're my amazing nindroid datefriend." Kai smiled as he felt the warmth begin to radiate off of Zane from their processors speeding up because of the compliment.
Eventually, Zane rested their own head on top of Kai's.
"Thanks, firefly," they whispered.
"Anytime, frosty."