Disclaimer; I still don't own Power Rangers Samurai.

A/N: There's a lot of exposition here, I'm sorry. I just wanted to show Kevin's perspective of the team. I don't know Kevin like I do Mike and Antonio, or even Jayden, so the chapter feels awkward in some places. Mr. Ed...was a talking horse on a TV sitcom a long time ago (A horse is a horse, of course, of course, but this is Mister Ed!). Princess Bride reference was deliberate and premeditated.

Kevin had lived a disciplined life for as long as he could remember. He's structured his days to optimum efficiency by the time he was six years old. His dedication to the Samurai arts had led to his swim training, and his efficient training methods and link to the water element had made him a serious contender for a spot on the U.S. Olympic swim team before he had been called to his true job. It had never been in question for him, he'd always known he would trade swimming for fighting when the time was right, he'd just never known when the time was.

Being Samurai wasn't as hard as he'd thought it would be, but it wasn't easy either. They weren't the same ages, which, ok he could understand that, and they had different personalities, again, something he had anticipated, but it was the seeming lack of dedication that bothered him.

Mia worried as much about her cooking as she did her fighting skills, sometimes even more. Mike didn't focus on being a Samurai as much as he did eating, video games and lately, pranking. Emily was a kid, the backup, and while she was easily one of the better sword fighters, she was young. Jayden had been the only other person with a strong self-discipline, who had admired his swimming career without implying it had been a waste of time.

This was the team Kevin had adjusted to, had been able to see himself fighting Mister Xandred and the Nighloks with.

Antonio had really shaken him, and maybe he had been harsh on the Gold Ranger, but it was because he didn't want an amateur on the team. Learning about Antonio's past, from his father to his training at the hands of the Watanabe family, plus seeing his utter devotion to Jayden had shown Kevin there was a lot more to the light hearted Gold Ranger than met the eye.

Kevin could see Antonio as part of the team, with the way he looked after Mike and Emily, and deftly steered Mia about cooking. He definitely knew that Antonio knew his way around a battle field.

Then there was Mikayla, who had come out of nowhere, without warning, and had flipped the team upside down. While Kevin could admire her devotion to the battle, and understand the costs, he didn't feel the same connection with her as he did Jayden. She had turned the team from their more relaxed off periods to near constant training, pushing them harder at every turn. She ordered Mia out of the kitchen, and took away Mike's video games and laptop, but it was Emily and to a lesser extent Kevin, who felt her tongue.

Mikayla always compared Emily to Serena, although Mikayla had admittedly never met the elder sister, she seemed to believe that Serena would have been so much better than Emily was. Sometimes, Emily would insist, even through her tears that Mikayla didn't mean to drive her down. Even in Mikayla, Emily was looking for the good.

Kevin, on the other hand, had made the mistake of mentioning his Olympic dream, and had been treated to a lecture on how he should have been devoting his time to being a better Samurai. She claimed that if Kevin hadn't spent all that time swimming, he would have caught the swordfish zord faster, and he would be better at his symbol power. The lecture had been issued in private, and Kevin never mentioned it, but now when he looked at Mikayla, he could hear her dismissive and offensive tone.

All of this was in the back of his mind the day Mike asked for help, for back up in a plan for Jayden. It was the reason he said yes, because he would have followed Jayden to the Sanzu River to fight Master Xandred, but he wasn't sure he'd follow Mikayla.

The night after Jayden came to see them, Mike came into Kevin's room. "Kevin," he said, holding up a letter, "I wanted to ask you about working with me tomorrow. My high side kick is weak and I was hoping you could help me out."

"Sure," Kevin said, taking the letter from Mike, "During free training, in the outer training yard?"

"Perfect," Mike said, "thanks. Lady Mikayla was…telling me…I needed to work on it."

Kevin smiled, "It's not a problem, Mike. Thanks for asking."

Mike left and Kevin sat down on his desk, opened the book he'd been reading and unfolded the letter.

Kevin,

I don't know the details, but Jayden and Antonio say that Mikayla isn't a Red Ranger. She is who she says she is, but her Ranger Color isn't Red. Since Mikayla's about as likely to listen to Mr. Ed, as she is Antonio, they're going to use an elaborate plan to prove it to her. All you really need to do, besides burn this, is tell Mikayla that the guy who looks like Dekker, well, looks like Dekker.

Thanks,

Mike

Kevin turned a page in his book and stared at it as he carefully tore the letter into shreds in his lap.

…

Three days later, Kevin was jogging behind Mikayla when she stopped suddenly. Only Ranger reflexes kept him from hitting her, "Lady?" He asked.

Mikayla pointed, "Who is that? I've seen him around before."

Kevin followed Mikayla's finger and frowned, "If I didn't know better," he said slowly, "I would have said it was Dekker." Standing on a hill off the jogging path was a man with dark hair, wearing tattered white clothes. He had a white band holding his hair back from his face, but otherwise looked remarkable like the half-Nighlok warrior in his human form. As if seeing that Kevin and Mikayla had spotted him, the man nodded to them once, turned around and walked away.

"But Dekker is dead," Mikayla replied, "you said so yourself."

"He is," Kevin agreed, with a shrug, "all I know is that he looks like Dekker, except he's not carrying Urumasa."

"Maybe we should follow him," Mikayla began.

"If you want to," Kevin began, but when Mikayla glared at him, he altered his words, "I mean, if my lady wishes."

Mikayla hesitated a moment then took off, "Let's find out who he is," she said. Kevin jogged after her, unwilling to let her go alone, but uneasy with the thought of confronting the pseudo-Dekker.

When they reached the top of the hill, however, the man had vanished. The hill sloped down about twenty feet before falling away to a river bed. The drop from the edge of the hill to the bed was steep, though a good climber could possibly have handled it, Kevin didn't think the man could have made it and gotten out of sight before they got there without help.

Mikayla glared at the drop for a long moment and then turned to Kevin, "I will find out who that man is," she stated, "whoever he is."

"As you wish," Kevin replied.

For a brief moment, he thought he saw Mikayla's lips twitch, but she turned away, "Let's go."

As Kevin followed her back down the path to Shiba House, he thought about that flash of a twitch. He also thought about how Mikayla reacted to the pranks that Mike set up. She often seemed furious during the aftermath of a prank, but even when it was clearly something Mike had done, the punishments were never as harsh as they could have been.