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Kainora Week 2021
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Published:
2021-03-25
Updated:
2025-06-09
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42,416
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19/20
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Aerials in the Sky

Chapter 3: A plan in the works

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

She looked in the mirror at her outfit apprehensively. Her outfit was composed of a loose-fitting t-shirt with a long flowing spaghetti strapped dress on top. Her hair even decided to behave nicely today. It was curling inwards towards her face, resting just above her shoulders. She gave herself finger guns in the mirror- she could do this.

 

She arrived at school relatively early, hoping to find Kai before school started. She wanted to rip this off like a bandaid. Stepping out of her car, she walked towards school.

 

Yue Bay High School was probably one of the nicest high schools in the district. One of the reasons her dad relented to letting her attend here instead of a fancy private school. Apparently, Asami Sato, a former alumni, had personally poured some funds into the school and helped redesign parts of it. Their bathroom doors even had locks on them, couldn’t get more luxurious than that at a public school.

 

 

Walking in through one of the side doors of the school, she set off towards the track. Jinora was almost positive that track team had early morning meetings, and last time she checked, Kai was still on the team. He should really thank her for that. It was because of the remedial courses her family’s community center offered he didn’t have a criminal record yet. Well, that, and Mako’s soft spot for him- as much as Mako would deny it.

 

She arrived in front of the sports team’s locker rooms in time to face plant into a shirtless Kai, who was only wearing track shorts.

 

“Wow Jinora, if you wanted a piece of me so badly, all you had to do was ask,” Kai teased.

 

She backed up quickly, almost slamming into a wall in the process. His hands landed on her shoulders, stopping her from doing just that. Wow, he really would not make this easy. Being shirtless was basically psychological warfare. Maybe she should only apologize and quit while she was ahead. She normally was not affected by his bad flirting since she knew it was all a ploy to annoy her. However, today she could feel her face setting aflame thanks to a combination of nerves, Kai’s shirtlessness, and his embarrassing pickup lines.

 

“Look Kai,” she started off calmly, despite her internal panic. Focusing only on his face, she tried to pretend he wasn’t half naked. “I know we normally like to pretend nothing happened, but I wanted to apologize for what I said on Saturday. I was in the wrong and I overstepped my boundaries. It was none of my business, anyway.”

 

Kai dropped his hands from her shoulders, and he looked up thoughtfully. “Wow, am I still dreaming? Did I just hear the Jinora apologizing to lowly me? Aren’t you afraid your dad will find out we were seen together at school? Wouldn’t want a bad boy like me to tarnish your perfect reputation.’’

 

“As if you’re just a wannabe bad boy. Stop deflecting. I am being serious here!” Jinora glared up at him. Her urge to blush was completely gone now.

 

Kai met her intense stare, his emerald green eyes locking with her chocolate brown ones. “Fine. Apology accepted, or whatever. I was also out of line too, I guess. Anything else you wanted to add, or can I go to the locker room and get changed before class starts?”

 

“Actually, there is something I need to ask you. Can we discuss it after school though? Meet me by my car and I can drive us to bubble tea or something.” Jinora said, still making direct eye contact with him.

 

“Wow, Jinnie asking me out on a date for real? Aren’t we moving a little fast? You don’t even have my number yet.” Even though his answer seemed suave enough, he looked genuinely surprised.

 

Jinora snorted, turning around to avoid looking at his shirtless self any longer. “Come to my car after school and find out yourself.” With that, Jinora fled the scene, missing how completely flustered Kai was as he walked towards the locker room to get changed.

 

 

Surprisingly, Kai was already waiting by her car at the end of the school day. School had gone by so slowly today- she spent the whole day antagonizing on how Kai might react to her proposition. Seeing him standing nervously by her car, she figured this was her chance for some sweet revenge on him and all his bad flirting.

 

“Wow Kai, eager, much. Did you run here to see me as soon as possible? And you even remembered what kind of car I drive, how cute!” Jinora said as innocently as possible.

 

Kai rolled his eyes in response. “I guess I sort of deserved that. Not my fault you were being all weird and mysterious. And you’ve never asked me for anything before, so I figured it must be important. Are you sure it’s ok that I get in the car with you though, actually? I heard rumors that your dad has eyes everywhere.”

 

“Here I was thinking it was your goal in life to piss off my dad, and now here you are being afraid. Come on, just get in and let’s go get some bubble tea. I need sugar and caffeine in my body ASAP,” Jinora responded, laughing at the apprehensive way Kai was acting.

 

“Ok, but can we make this quick? I have a part-time job to be at in an hour.” Kai’s eyes darted around nervously, as if checking to see if they were really being watched.

 

Jinora realized they didn’t know that much about each other at that moment. She had no idea he had a job. Sure, they were in similar social circles because Bolin and Mako were basically like family figures to her, too. She had grown up around them, after all. Tenzin helped them out a lot because of the community center. Plus, she knew her dad had a soft spot for them because he even let them stay with their family for a while when they had gotten kicked out of their apartment as teenagers and were at risk of homelessness. After Bolin and Mako had taken over as guardians for Kai, they had gotten a lot busier with Kai and with life. They hadn’t kept up as well as they should have. Especially with Kai always getting into trouble. They had their hands full. Also, Bolin was in a committed relationship now with Opal, someone he had met through Tenzin. It was really a small world.

 

Shaking herself out of her thoughts, she got settled into the car. She handed Kai the aux cord as a peace offering. It was the least she could do to butter him up, since she was about to suggest something crazy to him. Kai’s eyes lit up as he plugged in his phone and immediately started blasting a song she recognized as a Naruto opening. This boy was certainly full of surprises.

 

 

They arrived at the Jasmine Dragon, one of the nicer bubble tea stores around. Kai was shifting around awkwardly, looking out of place.

 

“Come on, I will buy yours since I am the one who dragged you out here.” Jinora's motives were not completely honorable, but she did feel a bit bad for dragging him out here.

 

After ordering a classic milk tea with tapioca, she motioned for Kai to order as well. He proceeded to order a lychee black tea with tapioca, popping pearls, and two types of jelly.

“Dang Kai! Would you like a little tea with those toppings?” Jinora said after paying for the drinks.

 

“Like you have any room to talk. A classic milk tea, really? Let me guess you order plain vanilla ice cream when you go to the ice cream store? Seriously, ever learn to live a little?” Kai quipped back.

 

Before Jinora could protest back the lady working the counter was calling them to get their drinks. “I just wanted to say, I think you guys make a great couple.” She complimented as she handed them their drinks. Both her and Kai sputtered at that. “I could tell by the matching outfits.” the lady added before going back to the cash register, not even giving them a chance to respond. She looked back and forth between their outfits and realized the barista did have a point. Their outfits looked really color coordinated that day. He was wearing a hoodie with the same red and yellow colors as her t-shirt and dress.

 

“Wow Jinnie, I guess we really are made for each other” Kai teased as a way to break the ice after such an awkward moment.

 

Jinora rolled her eyes and looked for a table.

 

Finally, they both took a seat at a table. “So, I actually have a really crazy suggestion to make, so hear me out.” Jinora began. “You know how you were talking earlier about how much my dad watches over me and is really helicopter-y?”

 

“Yeah, but what does that have to do with me?” Kai raised an eyebrow.

 

“Well… it’s no secret my dad is not too fond of you and my parents told me yesterday I was allowed to bring a plus one to Varrick and Zhu Li’s wedding… soIwaswonderingifyouwouldgowithmeasmyfakedate- maybe?” This was more difficult than she thought it would be. She shut herself up by taking a long sip of tea. Thankfully, she did not choke on any tapioca at such a critical moment.

 

“Say what now!? Did you say THE Varrick’s wedding? Like the destination wedding that went viral on Twitter, Varrick? CEO of Varrick Global Enterprises Varrick?? Not to mention Zhu Li is freaking running for president!!” Kai seemed more hung up on Varrick and Zhu Li than anything else she had suggested.

 

“Yes, that Varrick and Zhu Li. Varrick and my dad are close business partners, and now my dad is running as Zhu Li’s VP. So, our attendance at his wedding is basically mandatory. But you’re missing the point! I want you to go to the wedding with me as my fake boyfriend!” Jinora had slowly gotten louder through the duration of her speech in frustration. Kai really had a special talent for driving her insane.

 

“Has anyone ever told you it’s hot when you’re bossy?” Kai smirked at her.

 

“Stop dodging the question, asshole!” Kai had the audacity to look scandalized at the fact she had just cussed at him. Her reputation of being a goody two shoes must precede her more than she originally thought.

 

“Look, I am not going to ask again!” She continued, since he was taking too long to respond. “If you come with me, you get to go on an all-expenses paid vacation, meet lots of famous people, and give my dad a heart attack. It’s a win-win-win situation. Please, I am willing to do almost anything to convince you!” She had a feeling she was going to regret proposing almost anything to someone as annoying as Kai, but she didn’t really have any friends to ask to this wedding. If it wasn’t him, she would probably not end up bringing anyone.

 

“Almost anything, huh?” Kai had quite an evil look in his eyes. Jinora gulped and shook her head, not trusting herself with words anymore. “Well perfect! Because I am actually doing really bad in my English class, and I am at risk of being kicked off the track team. So, you write my English essay, and we got ourselves a deal.”

 

Jinora pondered on this. That didn’t sound too bad, but still had the potential of getting her in trouble if the essay was traced back to her. “Read the essay the book is on, and we got ourselves a deal. I don’t want you to be caught for cheating or get me caught for helping you cheat. I have a reputation to uphold, as you know.” She was still getting the better half of this deal because Kai was going to be the one put through hell with her family the entire trip, but she wasn’t going to mention that now.

 

With no hesitation, Kai responded, “Deal! Now, how exactly is this going to work? Do you think you dad will honestly believe we’re dating?”

 

“Well, I mean, I have never lied to him before... I am the golden egg child, after all. I don’t see why he would doubt me. The thing is, since he keeps tabs on me all the time, we probably actually have to be seen together before the wedding or it will be suspicious. My dad is close friends with Principal Tarrlock, remember?”

 

“Wow, so this really is a large kind of commitment. Is this really worth a free vacation and an English paper?”

 

“No take-backs! You already agreed! Besides, if we go anywhere, I will pay with my dad’s credit card. That’s only another win for you!”

 

“Hmm… you do make excellent points. Jinnie, go on.”

 

“Ugh, you’re so annoying. Maybe it’s not too late to ask someone else.” Jinora jokingly started making the motions like she was going to leave him at the bubble tea store. She didn’t get it too far before he grabbed her hand, pulling her back to the table they were sitting at.

 

“No take-backs~ as a wise Jinnie once said. So now about that plan.” Kai waggled his eyebrows at Jinora.

  

 

 

Notes:

Shoutout to Theresa for always trying to leave me whenever I offend her in a conversation- she inspired greatness in this chapter.