Giving Up The Game
Summary – Taking some time to himself to think brings Jayden to reveal something that could help the rangers and their fight against Deker and the Nighlocks. Prequel one-shot to my upcoming PRSamurai story. May extend into two-shot.
Jayden Shiba sighed gently. His blue eyes shifted over the residents of Panorama City. A pang of envy shot through his chest. The residents hustled and bustled, shopped, laughed, smiled at each other, ducked into stores all without a care in the world while he sat out in the sunlight, wondering—almost dreading what was inevitably going to happen.
Whether it be seconds, minutes, hours, or days, it was going to happen.
A monster would attack, and he'd throw his life on the line and the residents of Panorama City had no idea. Were blissfully unaware that he was the one who protected them time and time again. Didn't know he had that burden to bear. And it was a burden slowly starting to wear him down.
Jayden stretched out his legs, resting his arms on the top of the bench behind him. Worked hard to appear nonchalant, but it was only a matter of seconds until his fingertips repeatedly tapped the top of the bench and his knee bounced up and down.
Unlike the residents of Panorama, he wasn't basking in the sunlight because he had nothing to do. He waited. For a Nighlock attack, for Moogles running around somewhere…he expected all of that to happen in the next few minutes and it was the only thing that seemed to be keeping him sane lately. His mind had been running a million miles a minute, most of which having to do with the constant training he was going to be subjected to, to be able to control the next spin disk, to be a good leader.
He didn't want to admit it to the others, but…the pressure was starting to get to him. To be a leader and help the other rangers with their power was slowly starting to eat away at him. Kept him up at night. Angered him when he—and they—didn't get something right away.
They'd never get to his level, if he were being honest. Not as quickly as he'd like. He knew it to be true, and it was the hardest part of what he had to face. What happened when the monster that could defeat all of them came and he was the only one that could stand up to them?
He'd be as good as dead—
No! Jayden clenched his teeth, turning his head aside. He couldn't allow himself to think like that. If he let those thoughts come to mind, it'd break his confidence quicker than he could ever anticipate and doubting himself and others was not what a leader did.
Sighing again, this time in relief as his joints cracked when he stood, Jayden stood. He stretched his arms overhead, bringing a hand up to rub his neck. He looked around, eyes landing on the nearby coffee shop. He hadn't been there in so long but remembered they did make a good espresso. Not something he usually treated himself with, his body was a temple and he took what he put into it very seriously. The extra caffeine was probably not good for him, but he needed something to take his mind off things.
Jayden went inside and immediately moved to the counter to order. The barista looked up from purple notebook she was writing in and immediately moved to greet him. Her eyes flicked over "What can I get you, mate?" He heard the Australian accent and leveled his gaze at her.
She looked back at him, dark eyes patiently waiting to move to the register to ring up his order. His eyebrows furrowed, a little disarmed. He wasn't used to being around people other than his team. Observing others as he kept to himself was even a bit off-putting. He couldn't remember the last time anyone was actually nice to him, let along Mike when he was trying to butter up Jayden after breaking something in his room.
"Do you need another gander at the menu?" She continued, her smile widening. Almost as if she'd told a joke.
"Uh." Jayden leaned back and quickly looked at the menu that rested on the board above his head. As if he'd completely forgotten his order within the last second. "I'll just have an espresso," he finally said.
"Coming right up." The waitress plugged his order into the register and started to make his drink.
Jayden waited a second. "How much do I owe?" he asked.
"It's on me," She replied quickly and walked further down the counter before Jayden could protest.
His eyebrows furrowed even further, hand slowly moving to replace his wallet into his pocket. He hadn't meant to give any indication he didn't want to pay. It was a debt he owed, and he expected to pay for the service he was asking for. Nevertheless, the waitress seemed to be serious, so he went to a nearby empty table and sat. He resisted the urge to check his Samurizer for any messages.
Jayden turned away from his Samurizer and watched as the waitress continuously and effortlessly greeted and served the other patrons in the shop while her co-workers worked perfectly together. Though he couldn't help but notice, when the waitress called over his drink, that there was something written and scribbled out on his drink. Something that looked suspiciously like 'ASS FACE'.
Turning it in his hand, Jayden's eyebrows rose when he saw 'SAD GUY' written neatly on the side of the cup, free of scribbles. "Sad guy?" He questioned.
A few of the baristas behind the counter started to laugh while the one helping him shot them a glare. Then she turned back to him, tucking her hair behind her ears. "My mates like to think they're funny," she apologized. Jayden continued to stare at her. She shrugged, adjusted the purple knit hat that sat atop her hair. "I've seen you around a lot," she said, nodding toward the window that overlooked the street. "You always look a little down. I don't ever see you with anyone."
Not down, just preoccupied. Jayden looked away. His fingertip absentmindedly thumped against the counter top. There had to be something that could help them, he told himself. Everything had a weakness, and so far the only weakness that was constantly found was his and the other rangers.
It had been embarrassing how easily they had been defeated. No amount of training had prepared him for it.
"Is something wrong, mate?" Jayden glanced up to see the girl watching closely. "Does something smell? I reckon I haven't checked the expiration date on our milk in a bit but-"
"No." Jayden briskly cut her off. "Why?"
"Because you have a look on your face like you just smelled something foul," she continued in a 'duh' tone. "So it's either that this place really isn't up to its health codes or there's something seriously wrong with you." She crossed her arms, leaning against the counter. Her eyebrows rose. "Frankly, it wouldn't surprise me if it were the latter, hey?"
Jayden frowned. "I have a lot on my mind," Jayden replied. There was a defensive edge to his tone that he knew the girl noticed through the quick quirk of an eyebrow.
"So, you don't just have that face when you're buy yourself," the girl continued, slowly nodding. "I hate to see what happens when you bloody smile." She reached out to take a glass a co-worker sat on the counter next to her.
She took a rag from the pocket of her black jeans, starting to rub it over the glass. Jayden's eyes shifted to the watch that sat on her wrist. A faceless silver mechanism that had purple stripes along the band. He'd never seen a watch look like that before. Tilting his head, he examined it a bit closer before her movements twisted her hand away.
Jayden sucked in a deep between his teeth. What he said next certainly was rude, but her words were not helping his mood in the slightest. Defeat did that to him. Mia always said he shouldn't take defeat too seriously—which would spur her in a disagreement with Kevin who espoused it was important to recognize your shortcomings. Still, he couldn't help himself form saying, "It'd be nice if I wasn't judged."
"Who said I was judging you?" She seemed unbothered by his tone. As a matter of fact, her smile widened. "Judgment is forming an estimation or assumption about something without having evidences to reinforce your claims. The fact that you're letting it bother you further is simply your adverse reaction to my opinion."
He blinked in surprise, listening to her politely tell him off. Finally, he could only say, "I didn't ask for it."
"No one ever does. My sister says it's one of my worst habits. But you should see her."
The girl smiled and put the glass down, picking up another one and wiping water droplets off it as well. She placed it onto a drying rack behind her and went to the window that had been cut into the wall, showing a glimpse of the kitchen behind them. Leaning forward, she said something to the chefs at the back then picked up a set of menus and came from around the bar, going to set up a few tables that had just recently been occupied.
Jayden returned to the table with his espresso and nursed it, his mind wandering over the last battle he and the team had faced with the Nighlocks. The monster had moved incredibly fast and seemed impervious to the numerous attacks he, Kevin, Mike, Mia, and Emily had shot towards it.
And the monster continued to sit laugh and laugh as each attack was blasted into the nearby buildings and cars that surrounded the fighting area. What was it that was going to be the deciding factor on how to beat it? If they couldn't defeat this monster there was going to be another one, even bigger, better, and faster that would do the job and finish off the rangers for sure.
"Here you go."
Jayden jumped as the girl placed a plate with a piece of a chocolate cheesecake in front of him. "Sorry," he apologized. "I didn't order this."
"No worries." She waved a hand. "I can't have someone with that long of a face leave looking like that. It's not good for our reputation." She turned and picked up a can of whipped cream and placed it onto the counter by the plate of food. "And whipped cream to go along with it." She wiggled a finger back and forth. "Just keep it PG, this is a family place."
Jayden chuckled, reaching out and taking the fork that was given to him as well, digging into the piece of dessert. He stuck a piece into his mouth and chewed gently, starting to cut another piece. He raised his blue eyes to the girl.
"I'm Jayden," he finally introduced himself.
"Bailey," she replied. "Nice to finally meet you." Her eyes flickered over him. "Are you waiting for someone?"
"No." Jayden shook his head. "I'm just…by myself. I needed some time away."
"I hope your 'time away' manages to loosen you up a little," Bailey commented. "You look like you could use a laugh." Jayden looked away as his Samurizer went off, making him surge to his feet, nearly knocking over the table and his drink. Bailey hardly reacted, she continued to watch him closely. Something flashed through her eyes. "And a change in wardrobe. You wear red a lot, mate."
"It's my favorite color," Jayden said quickly.
"I know the feeling."
A/N: If the summary wasn't clear, it's referring to Bailey helping out the samurai rangers. Just making that as clear as possible. Also, like I said, this is a one-shot prequel to my upcoming samurai story. I may make this a two-shot to extend to Bailey's POV in the next one, but who knows. What'd you think of their meeting?
~Av