~ Part 10 ~ | Pride and Prejudice

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** I Don't Know My Name (Grace VanderWaal)**
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"I am lost, trying to get found
In an ocean of people
Please don't ask me any questions
There won't be a valid answer
I'll just say that"

~ Grace VanderWaal

This chapter is dedicated to Dee_Dee_Mclee . You haven't read this book but you let me squeal about it all I want, so thank you :)

(comment or PM if you'd like a shoutout!)

******

Breakfast was awkward to say the least.

Nya wasn't sure what else to do but eat her food as she watched Lloyd drown his pancakes in syrup. She caught Kai's eye and gave him a quizzical look. This is the criminal child he was so worried about?

The boy kept to himself throughout the day. Rarely raising his hand to ask questions or  to provide answers, mostly doing something else on the corner of his notes. The rest of the group wasn't sure what to do, they didn't exactly love the kid, yet so friendliness wasn't exactly happening. Though Jay did try when Lloyd dropped his pencil. Offering it with a smile and introducing himself. Lloyd just sort of stared at him, face pulled in confusion and shock.

The rest of the class held their breath as Jay's smile faltered and he just handed Lloyd the pencil before sinking down in his seat. Nya gave him a sympathetic look, hoping it showed her admiration for trying. Jay caught it and smiled back, sitting up once more and bending over his work. If Nya has been sitting beside him she would've seen the blush that formed on his cheeks.

The afternoon started and the students gathered outside to work on their spinjitzu again.

Nya strove for perfection. She wouldn't accept anything less from herself. So, when Wu wasn't totally satisfied with her moves, Nya made a personal goal to get it absolutely right.

She watched Wu carefully and begrudgingly observed Zane as well. She was doing it well. So why wasn't he pleased? Nya copied everything exactly, face set in determination as she worked through the fighting technique.

"Pair up and we'll all properly spar." Master Wu instructed.

"Do... we choose our pairs?" Jay asked hesitantly. He didn't want to shove anyone at Lloyd.

"Just go by roommates for now." Wu nodded.

They all paired off, Kai giving Lloyd the evil eye in warning. His glare screaming: if you hurt my sister I will END you.

Nya rolled her eyes and glanced at her opponent. The boy actually looked nervous.

"Don't worry about him." Nya tried to reassure Lloyd. "He thinks he has to protect me."

Wu signalled then to start and Nya took the first strike. She held back, thinking since Lloyd was slightly behind he wasn't very good. But to her surprise he stepped away with ease.

"Is that a brother thing or...?" Lloyd questioned, exchanging kicks. Nya was surprised to see her roommate actually trying to engage conversation. Maybe he wanted to know about Kai?

"It's a Kai thing." Nya shrugged, brushing a lock of her hair back. "We're from Ignacia and the place is pretty sexist. Though Kai doesn't mean to be sometimes that rubs off on him."

Lloyd tilted his head, catching her arm as it swung by and pinning it under his armpit. "How?"

"Stuff like: 'you shouldn't play with us, it's too dangerous for a girl to do football with a bunch of dudes.' 'I have to protect you because I'm the guy of the house'" Nya pitched her voice in a goofy lower tone that made Lloyd snort. The girl wriggled out of his hold and did a quick swipe. A smile graced her lips as she caught Lloyd's own grin.

She glanced briefly at the pairs around her. Jay and Cole were screaming at each other. Cole has Jay in a headlock and Jay was whining that he cheated. Master Wu simply observed, sipping his tea as they fought. Zane was butchering Kai. The lanky blue-eyed young man waited for Kai to come at him before he struck out and Kai was on the ground again.

A kick brought Nya back to her own sparring match. Lloyd was a little choppy here and there, Wu would sometimes correct him. Lloyd didn't say anything when he did, avoiding the master's gaze and silently fixing his mistake. But he was too good to be a beginner. Nya swung her leg in one of the moves that Wu taught them and Lloyd caught it, easily twisting it so Nya hit the ground. He pressed his forearm gently onto her neck. Enough to pin her down but light enough that she could wiggle away if she needed to.

"Ugh." Nya scowled. She accepted his hand back up. "How are you so good? You just got here!"

Lloyd's eyes flicked briefly to his uncle before back to her, wiping his sweaty palms on his pants. "Uh- I used to spar with my Dad when I was really young. Muscle memory and stuff. And Darkley's has a brawl and combat course."

Brawl and combat? Nya's eyebrows flew up but Lloyd had turned away to get his water bottle. Kai jerked his head to get her attention, eyes silently asking if something was wrong. Nya shook her head and watched as Zane sweeped his feet gracefully.

"Well done, Zane." Wu praised.

Nya felt her frown deepen. She was doing exactly what he was doing. What was she doing wrong?

"You need to treat the fight less like a formula to a math problem and more like an extension of your energy and controlled emotions." Lloyd spoke up.

She glanced at him. "What?"

Lloyd stood. "See, when I just do exactly what he does I'm doing it right but the moves seem lifeless." Lloyd went through a small kick and punch. "But when I focus on the energy connecting me to the air and the ground, and the passion of my emotions it seems to make the moves more graceful and purposeful."

He repeated the moves, at first Nya didn't get what he was saying but as he did she started to see what he meant. The technique was more fluid, he seemed to get lost in his concentration.

"I see now." Nya breathed.

"Want to..." Lloyd said hesitantly. "Try again?"

Nya nodded. They readied their positions and this time Nya went back to the forest walk. The feeling of the grass under her toes, the pent up energy seemed to power less with adrenaline but more with something else that gripped her spirit and helped her parry and tackle with ease.

There was a grunt as Lloyd hit the ground. Nya caught her breath, glancing up at Wu. He stood near them, smiling and nodding simply.

"Well done."

*****

"What if I said: 'He's an idiot from a school of ex-convicts, why shouldn't you believe me.'" Kai suggested, throwing and tossing a ball of socks on the air. The brunette missed terribly when it came back down and ends up getting hit in the face by them. "Oof!"

Lloyd snorts, covering his mouth with one hand as he does something on a piece of paper. His free hand moves quickly, working away at whatever he was doing. Kai frowned with displeasure, giving Lloyd a squint-eyed glare as he sat up.

"You'd think that would be enough to convince them." Nya mused, typing away on the laptop she borrowed from Wu and scrolling through articles.

The group was spending their free time thinking of Kai and Jay would say on the interview. Nya enduring they knew what was appropriate and what was most definitely not.

"I suggest you move away from insulting him in any unprofessional manner. You need to appear mature and responsible." Zane spoke up.

Cole snickered at the idea. Casting a smirk at the two boys. Kai was sprawled on the ground and had tossed the socks aside. Jay went to sharpen his pencil and accidentally knocked the top of the sharpener, causing the shavings to spray everywhere.

"Stupid sharpener." Jay muttered, getting on his hands and knees to pick at it.

"Yes, this is going to go so well." Cole said sarcastically.

"Maybe we should all go to the interview to....talk about the school!" Nya said hurriedly, moving to get the vacuum from the closet.

"All of us?" Cole questioner skeptically. His eyes moving towards Lloyd. The boy didn't notice, seeming to ignore their existence as he worked. Nya chewed on her lip, unsure.

She handed Jay the vacuum. "Well, maybe not all of us. We'll see."

Kai raised an eyebrow questioningly. His gaze sliding to the boy across the room. The younger student seemed oblivious to the silent debate around him and carried on scribbling away.

Master Wu came in, face neutral as he focused on Lloyd. "Come, nephew." He said, his words were calm, welcoming, but he held argument.

Lloyd glanced up, pressing his lips together. "I'm not a dog." He rolled his eyes, ripping the paper out from his notebook and crumpling it up. As he walked by the door he tossed the smushed ball into the garbage.

Kai watched him go, waiting until the door shut before curling his lip in distaste. Nya caught his glare, giving him a scolding look.

"Kai!"

"What?" Kai whined, flopping back down. "That kid's trouble. Who knows what kind of stuff Darkley's taught him!"

Nya still didn't look happy. "You hate it when people make assumptions about you!"

"Uh yeah, because it's me!"

"I'm sure Lloyd will...come around." Jay offered when Nya's jaw dropped. "It's only the first day."

Kai grunted, unconvinced. "Maybe we should ask Wu to switch roommates. I don't think it's a good idea to leave him alone with a girl."

Nya narrowed her eyes and marched up to her brother. Everyone else scurried away quickly, not wanting to risk being the victim to her wraith.

"Listen here, and listen well." Nya growled, jabbing him with her index finger. "I can handle myself just fine. You're the one that has the issue. If you suck it up and stop being a jerk then everything will be a-okay!"

Kai made an offender noise. "I'm not being a jerk!"

"Oh yeah? Prove it!" Nya shot back challengingly. "Be little less..." she made a vague gesture at him before turning and stomping away.

"What does that even mean?" Kai shouted at her as she left.

There was moment of silence before the rest of the group bolted. Kai scowled, huffing like a two-year-old and kicking at the garbage can. Paper, pencil shavings, and wrappers went flying with a crash. Kai waited a moment, feeling the roiling irritation leave his body as he stared at the mess.

The boy sighed and crouched to pick everything up. Picking around at the garbage and tossing it back into the righted can. His hand snagged a crumpled ball of paper, he was about to chuck it in when something made him pause. Maybe it was the pencil sketches covering the ball or maybe it was instincts, but for some reason his hands were moving and he was suddenly pulling apart the paper ball.

His eyebrows flew up as he focused on on the intricate drawings, the lines forming jagged words and unique shapes. A careful, unfinished, drawing in an all-to-familiar graffiti style.

Lloyd was the Green Ninja.