Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers
A/N: Welcome to the last instalment of Not Canon Samurai Rangers. If you haven't yet, there is an unfinished story entitled Jayden versus the Bully that has the backstory to events in this chapter. This is about a week after the end of The Eltare Adventure. This is, again, the final instalment of Not Canon Samurai Rangers Series, meaning that I will soon be exploring how Megaforce fits into the Rainbow Brotherhood.
Jayden paced through Shiba House, hands tucked behind his back. He hadn't actually said anything to anyone as he walked, but everyone could tell he was nervous about something. Mia and Emily had already given up trying to get him to talk and headed back into the house to pursue their own activities, but Mike found watching Jayden far more interesting than another round of practice. "What do you think is going on?" Mike asked as Kevin joined him at the table.
"Whatever it is," Kevin replied, "hopefully he'll tell us soon." Kevin seemed to have far more interest in the book he was reading than the odd behavior of their fearless reader, but Mike could tell that he was also watching Jayden go by.
The buzzer for the gate went off and Jayden froze, his head coming up and a look of hope on his face. Ji brushed past him to the intercom, "Hello?" He asked.
"Grocery delivery," a man said, barely understandable over the crackle of the speaker.
"All right," Ji said, "Come around to the left side of the building." Jayden's shoulders slumped and he bowed his head.
"Yes sir," the man replied.
Ji pushed a button and turned to Jayden with a patient expression. "We'll know, Jayden. You need to relax."
Jayden smiled at his mentor tightly and nodded slightly.
"What is going on?" Mike asked, getting to his feet and ducking Kevin's attempt to grab him.
"We're expecting someone to arrive today," Ji said.
There was a knock on the back door and Ji hurried to open it, "Groceries," someone said.
Jayden froze with an odd expression on his face. Mike tilted his head, but Jayden shook his head, the expression vanished behind a bland mask, and he headed for the kitchen. Mike looked at Kevin, who shook his head no frantically, then followed Jayden.
A tall blond haired man was standing in the kitchen with a wooden crate, "Where should I put this?" He asked.
"On the counter is fine," Jayden replied. His voice was cool in a way that Mike had never heard before, not even when Jayden faced off with the Nighloks, and it made him hesitate outside the kitchen door to watch.
"There you go," the man said, turning with a polite expression. It faded as he saw Jayden to be replaced by an expression both nervous and embarrassed. "There's one more box, Mister Shiba, and then I'll be out of your way."
Jayden nodded once, "Far be it from me to interfere with your job, Mister Carter." He pivoted and stalked away.
As Mister Carter headed back outside, Ji sighed and left the kitchen. When he saw Mike watching, he nodded, "That went better than it could have."
"What's going on?" Mike asked, he felt like he did back when he had first come to Shiba House, lost and confused, surrounded by people who knew so much more than he did. It was a feeling he had not enjoyed then, and he did not enjoy now.
"I will explain later," Ji began.
The doorbell rang, and they could hear Jayden run down the hall to throw open the front door, "Antonio!" He shouted.
Mike darted past Ji and into the hallway to find Jayden kissing Antonio, who seemed stiff. Behind the two, looking amused was Lady Mikayla. "Did someone say Antonio?" Emily asked as she and Mia came down the hall. When she saw Mikayla, she stopped short.
Mikayla watched Emily carefully, and then looked back as Jayden and Antonio parted, "What's wrong?" Jayden asked quietly.
Antonio was staring at the floor, whatever he said, Mike couldn't make it out, but Mikayla looked frustrated, and Jayden jerked back, as stunned and hurt as if Antonio had actually slapped him.
"Tony," Jayden said, cupping his friend's face and making him look up. "No, Tony. You saved Mikayla. You did nothing wrong."
"She could have died," Antonio protested. "If I hadn't been so angry."
"No," Jayden said, in that firm, leader voice that made something in Mike want obey instantly. "No, Tony, you did nothing wrong." He stared into his friend's face intently, "I don't need someone who is perfect, I just need you."
They stared at each other for a long moment, and Mike tried not to watch because it seemed too intimate a moment, whatever was going on between the pair, but his eyes kept sliding back, awed by their expressions, the intensity of what was between them. It wasn't until Antonio's shoulders slumped and he allowed Jayden to pull him into a hug that Mike felt like he could actually breath again.
Then Mikayla moved, slipping around the two men to approach Emily. She looked like she was bracing herself to do some difficult task, with her chin raised and her shoulders square. Mike stiffened and stepped forward, but Kevin caught his arm. "Wait," he murmured, lips barely moving.
"Emily," Mikayla said looking uncomfortable, her words falling out of her in a rush, as if she had to say them fast or she would never say them at all. "I need to apologize. I was thoughtless, I hurt you, and what I did was wrong. I'm not asking for your forgiveness, I only want to tell you that I am sorry for what happened between us."
Emily stared at Mikayla for a long moment, and then she smiled, "I forgive you," she said quietly. "I have a letter from Serena, it just arrived, and she's asked me a lot of questions about you. I didn't realize that you were the same age."
Mikayla nodded, "Thank you."
Whatever else she might have said was cut off by a crash in the kitchen. When Mike turned, he found the food deliveryman, 'Mister Carter', picking himself up off the floor, surrounded by the groceries that had been in the box he had landed on top of." Are you ok?" Mike asked, stepping forward to collect an apple.
"I tripped on the door jam," Carter said. He started to move the box he had dropped when there was a loud ripping sound. The sleeve of his button down work shirt flapped against his arm, ripped from shoulder almost to his wrist; Carter regarded his arm with a sort of weary resignation.
"Are you ok?" Mike asked.
"It just caught my sleeve," Carter replied, "not even a scratch, sir."
"I'm just Mike," Mike said, picking up another apple.
"You don't have to do that," Carter said as he began to collect groceries close to him.
Mike grinned at him, "And leave you to pick up all by yourself? My mother taught me better manners than that."
Carter winced as he straightened up. "My name is Will," he said finally, "and thank you."
"Here," Kevin said as he picked up the box, "I'm always tripping on that lintel too when my hands are full." He frowned as he looked down at Carter's arm.
"It's cursed," Jayden said, startling them. "Uncle Ben," he hesitated as his eyes darted down at Emily for a moment, "They used to tease him about being clumsy, and one day Uncle Damien said the wrong thing or something, because after that he couldn't walk over any of the slate floors with something in his hands without falling over. Most of the slate is not spelled anymore, but there are a couple of pieces. Some of it wore off, but a couple of years ago, we renovated and pulled most of the stone up. I think that piece of slate in that hallway is one of the last still in the house. It must detect your symbol power or something."
Mike had known, objectively, that Jayden had known the last Ranger team, but this was definitely the first time Jayden had ever mentioned it. From the smile that Emily gave Jayden, she was not upset to hear about the brother she had never known. "Are you going to juggle those or something?" Kevin asked.
Mike jumped and glanced down at the apples he was carrying, "Nah," he said with a grin at Kevin, "I can't juggle." He bent over to pick up a box of cereal when Carter's arm with the ripped sleeve came into view. Mike could instantly see why Kevin had hesitated when he had seen it; Carter's arm was covered in burn scars.
Mike swallowed and straightened up, and for a brief moment, his eyes met Carter's own. Carter turned away, "If there's nothing else, Mister Shiba," he said, "I need to get going."
"Just one question," Jayden said, his voice slightly warmer than it had been before, "I thought you joined the Army."
"Marines actually," Carter replied, "I'm home on leave and my aunt's usual delivery man called in sick."
Jayden nodded, "I see. Thank you for the delivery." He stepped past Mike and offered his hand, which Carter hesitantly shook.
"You're welcome, Mister Shiba." Carter said and started down the hall, one hand digging the keys out of his pocket.
Once the door shut, Antonio whistled, "Who was that?"
Jayden turned so that he could see Antonio, "You don't remember him?"
"No, should I?" Antonio asked.
Mike put his armload on the counter and began to unload the grocery boxes.
"That was Will Carter," Jayden said, "does that ring any bells."
Mike could hear Antonio muttering for a moment, "Oh," he exclaimed, "babies."
"Exactly," Jayden said, sounding a little amused.
"Did he ever stop bothering you?" Antonio asked.
"Call it what it was," Jayden said, "Will Carter was a bully, and a bad one."
"You were bullied?" Emily blurted out suddenly.
Mike flipped open one of the cabinets to put things away and jumped with Kevin stepped up beside him. He smirked at his friend but continued to slide the various boxes into the cabinet.
"Carter's dad worked at FTP," Jayden said, "for all that I was homeschooled, we ran into each other on occasion. He was taller, and heavier than I was for the most part, and older too, I think."
"He also had a troubled home life," Ji said, "Thank you Kevin and Mike."
"Not a problem, Mentor," Mike said.
"It doesn't excuse Will from being a bully," Jayden said, his tone harsh. "And I still came out the worse for our encounters."
"Jayden," Ji began.
"He's got some burn scars, because he pushed me too hard just when my powers were coming online, he experienced a one percent reduction in flexibility of his arm and shoulder." Jayden said with quiet intensity, "but compared to my encounters with him. Do you need the list again, Ji?"
"Jayden," Ji said.
"Bruises," Jayden began, his voice deadly calm, "a black eye, broken nose, a broken arm, a sprained ankle, and how could I ever forget the words ocular penetration. For all that how I did it was wrong, that he walked away with a one percent reduction in flexibility is a minor price to pay."
Mike wanted to turn around, to watch this odd showdown between Jayden and Ji, but he could not do it. He kept sorting out the groceries instead, trying to pretend that he was not within five feet of such an impressive show down.
"Jayden," Mikayla said, an odd tone in her voice, "what did you do?"
"You know how you can't really control your power when it first wakes up? My first manifestation of fire symbol power came about when I was fifteen. Carter decided he wanted to torment me for wearing glasses and being shuffled off to FTP's empty boardroom again. I object, he punched me in the head, I threw my hands up to keep him from hitting me again and his shirt caught on fire."
Something clicked in Mike's brain and he spun, "Wait a minute," he said, "You're the mystery kid who tried to torch one of the high school kids?"
Everyone in the room stared at him, "What?" Jayden asked.
"I was about ten," Mike said, "It was this big rumor going around that some crazy, mystery kid tried to torch one of the high school football players. A lot of the older kids were pretty freaked out by it, they thought they'd be next, and Mom almost transferred me to a school on the mainland."
"I remember that," Ji said, "I spoke with her and she understood what happened."
"Did you hear about it, Kevin?" Jayden asked.
"Me?" Kevin said, "No, I don't remember hearing anything like that. I was homeschooled, and the guys on the club team weren't encouraged to gossip, we were there to swim."
"He was ok though," Jayden said, "almost no loss of function, and people finally figured out just how far he'd gone as a bully. They shipped him off to military school, and apparently it turned him around completely." He tilted his head a little and leaned over as Antonio put his arm around Jayden's shoulders, "It doesn't mean that I've forgiven him or anything."
"Jayden," Mikayla said.
Jayden pivoted to face his sister, his tone was cold and flat, "Mikayla, with contacts right now, my vision is 20/90. That is after having vision correction surgery. My doctor says I cannot try again, my eyes would not take it. The reason for that is because he pushed me face first through several bushes and into a tree when I was a child. Excuse me for finding forgiveness a little hard to offer over that."
Mikayla held up her hands, "Easy, Jay, I get it." She glanced at Antonio, "Tony's told me some stories about how you became friends."
Jayden glanced at Antonio, who shrugged and smiled, "It was only fair, and it wasn't anything too embarrassing." He paused, "Not for you, anyways."