Punch. Kick. Jump. Dodge. Punch. Smack.

Or so Kevin wished as he glared across the area, where Mike and Emily were training together. Of course, Jayden chose today of all days to announce a switch in partners. He was hoping he could vent out his frustration on Mike and teach the kid a lesson. He was really starting to hate the Green Ranger who thought he was entitled to everything just because he felt he worked hard. Everyone here worked hard. There wasn't a soul in this Academy who sat back and let the others do all the work. Mike was the closest think the Rangers had to laziness. Rather than possessing the bear or beetle Zord, Mike should have been given the sloth.

Suddenly, Kevin was knocked right off his feet by Mia. He grumbled. Another reason he hated Mike. There was no way he could ever hurt Mia. Training against her would only hold him back because he refused to put much effort into his work. He cared for her deeply, and didn't want to see her hurt, especially if he was the one causing her the pain.

As he sat up and rubbed his chest, he saw Jayden walking over to him. He sighed as the red Range knelt down.

"Are you okay, Kevin?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just spaced out."

"Why do my opponents always space out on me?" Mia asked as she offered Kevin a hand and pulled him to his feet. "Are you sure you're fine?"

"Definitely," the blue Ranger nodded. "I've taken harder hits. You're going to have to try harder, Mia."

Kevin smirked as he glanced at the pink Ranger. She nodded and gripped her katana, ready for a second round.

Kevin dug his feet into the ground and fell into a stance, ready for battle, until he noticed Mike and Emily were joking around. He turned, distracting himself from his training with Mia, and received a blow to the shoulder. It was hardly strong enough to take him out, but it still caused him to his attention back to his own sparring session.

He noticed Jayden had his own katana held out, indicating that he was the one who had smacked Kevin. The blue Ranger turned to his leader.

"You should be focusing on your own battle, Kevin," Jayden warned him. "What Emily and Mike do is none of your concern."

"They're fooling around!" Kevin pointed to the two youngest Rangers. "Look at that!"

"At least they're paying attention to each other," Mia frowned. "C'mon, Kevin, we've been at this for an hour! My arms are starting to hurt and you haven't even hit me yet! Let's just do this once and get it over with."

"I know the change was rather sudden," Jayden acknowledged, "But Mike requested a switch in partners for Emily's sake."

"Is that the excuse he gave you?" Kevin scoffed. "We all know Mia's the best partner for Emily!"

Mia leaned on her katana. She could already tell it was going to be a while before she actually got some decent training done. She looked over at Mike and Emily and noticed that what looked like foolish behaviour was actually a rather fun way of training. Mike and Emily were chasing each other around, jumping over obstacles and doing whatever they could to cut off or surprise the other person. It looked a lot more like a real fight that anything she had ever done during training.

"That's not a bad idea…" she muttered to herself while Jayden and Kevin continued to butt heads.

"Mike and I have discussed the new teams and we both agreed that the switch was for the best," Jayden said calmly. "In any case, their training method has no impact on you."

"It's distracting."

"Learn to block it out," Jayden shrugged. "In battle, there will be many things trying to grab your attention. A true samurai wouldn't let anything distract him from a fight."

"I know… it's just… it bugs me."

"Then discuss it with Mike and Emily outside of training," Jayden said. "Now, are you going to spar with Mia, or would you like me to finish the job for you."

"Sorry Jayden," Kevin bowed. He then turned to Mia, feeling a little guilty because he wasted her time, "Mia."

"Just ten minutes, Kev. I promise I won't go easy on you," Mia smirked. Kevin nodded his head. He couldn't make the same promise, but he did want her to improve and that was never going to happen if he went easy on her.

Jayden watched the blue and pink Rangers for a moment before he walked over to Mike and Emily. The green and yellow Rangers were sitting in the grass and taking sips from their water bottles. He approached them and took a seat beside them.

"Are you done?" he asked.

"I know there's still a few minutes left," Mike nodded, "But Emily's fast! I'm exhausted."

"I've never seen two samurais fight the way you both fight," Jayden said, "Kevin and I are worried you two aren't taking this seriously."

"We're completely serious," Emily smiled. "We're just having a little fun. But we covered everything you asked us to practice. I could show you if you wanted."

Emily pushed herself up from the ground but Jayden shook his head and touched her arm, indicating she could take a seat again.

"After the whole ordeal with Mike, it should be obvious that different people require different methods of teaching as well as different methods of training. As long as you continue to improve your skills and your fun doesn't take you away from serious training, I don't see why there should be a problem with how you train."

"Thanks, Jayden," Mike nodded. "And I think this way is better for both of us. You know how much I hate doing what I'm told and Emily's always bouncing around."

"Do you feel you two would be good partners?" Jayden asked. He immediately noticed the blush appearing on Mike and Emily's cheeks. He added, "Training-wise, I mean. This arrangement was only supposed to be temporary, but if everyone feels comfortable I could talk to mentor about establishing a more permanent partnership."

"Definitely," Mike smiled.

Emily titled her head slightly, "I like training with both Mia and Mike. I can learn a lot from both of them."

"I can give you all a few more sessions with your new partners," Jayden offered, "Nothing has to be set in stone."

"Okay," Emily chirped. "But I do want to train with you and Kevin too. You know, that way we all get the chance to work with everyone."

Mike shot Emily a mock hurt look, "You would rather train with Jayden then me? I can't believe it!"

"I… I don't mean anything by it!" Emily said quickly. "It's just… I can learn from everyone."

"Well, you're about to learn something knew from me," Mike teased before squirting the water from his bottle in her face, "I am a master at water fights."

"Mike!" Emily chuckled. She wiped the water away from her eyes and glared at the forest samurai. Mike grinned before dumping the contents on his bottle over her head, effectively soaking her head and most of her upper body. Emily growled, but the laughter was evident. Mike sensed she was about to retaliate and jumped up. Emily did the same and took off after him.

Back on the training grounds, Kevin could see Mike running around and having fun. This was still training time. Everything was serious! How could he expect anyone to take him seriously, or consider him an important part of the team if he treated everything like it was just a joke.

He ended the match with Mia and walked to the bench to grab his towel. He gripped it tightly and his knuckles turned white.

"You're seriously pissing me off, Mike," he muttered to himself. "How the hell can you think you deserve more responsibility than Mia, if you continue to act like a child?"

"What?"

Kevin turned and noticed Mia was standing almost right behind him. She was obviously heard him muttering to himself, and most likely heard her name as well. Kevin shrugged and scratched the back of wiped the back of his neck with a towel.

"Uh, nothing; I'm just talking to myself."

"I heard my name."

"Yeah, I was saying how cool it was to be partnered with you. You're a much better samurai than Mike."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Kevin," Mia smiled, "But we all have our strengths and weaknesses, and I think Mike's proven that he's working just as hard as the rest of us."

"By running off every time something doesn't go his way?" Kevin shook his head, "I'm sorry, Mia, but I just don't see it."

"Maybe that's why Jayden's the leader, and you're the blue Ranger," Mia shrugged. "I don't mean you wouldn't make a good leader, but if Jayden or Mentor thought that Mike was headed off the rails, they would definitely do something about it."

"He's a manipulator, Mia."

"Is this about me giving up the beetle to Mike?" Mia asked. She had sensed a little bit of tension between Mike and Kevin since the battle. She knew she had gone against her word to Kevin when she gave up the beetle disk to Mike, but she truly thought he had earned it. "I know I promised I would stand my ground, but there will be other Zords, or other power-ups. Maybe I'll get something better. But Mike's been working hard. He deserved some recognition."

"You've been working hard."

"Just seeing everyone finally working together and smiling is good enough for me," Mia grinned. "Mike's back to being Mike, Jayden's still the same old leader we all know and love, and Emily seems to have come out of whatever slump she was in. Can we just stay happy for a few days before there's anymore drama?"

"What do you mean; Emily's come out a slump?"

"Well, you remember when she ran off crying to her room? I don't know what Mike did, but last night he talked with her privately. He said he wanted to ask her about eggs, but my guess is the topic was something a little more personal. I don't know what it was about, but Emily's happy again."

Kevin clenched his fist. Another thing that irritated him about Mike was his crush. Kevin knew it was impossible to control who you had feelings for. He remembered, for a while in elementary school, he had a crush on the cafeteria lady. He thought she liked him best because he always got a little more tater tots than the other kids in line. He quickly outgrew that, though.

He knew Mike liked Emily. It was obvious to everyone except Emily. At least, all the guys knew. He wasn't sure if Mia saw it as well. The only difference between Mike's crush and Kevin's weird crush was the choices being made. Mike was obviously acting upon it, while Kevin had chosen not to do anything. He had only been a kid at the time, and the cafeteria lady was older. Even at ten years old he knew that was inappropriate.

Mike was a bad apple. He was manipulating Emily, he had manipulated Mentor, Jayden, and, worst of all, he had manipulated Mia.

Kevin wasn't going to fall for it. And he wasn't going to watch someone else get hurt because of Mike.