Long Lost One - Part IV
Long Lost One... Disclaimer
Heh...I don't own the Power Rangers, so there. Phbbt. >.>;;

Part IV
It was a week since I first told everyone about the Zodiac Patrol and ever since, they along with Ransik had been playing it sorta quiet. I was starting to wonder whether they were trying to pull a bogey on us by acting like they were all gone now. In fact, the quiet was making me more nervous than when there was a fight about every day.

Anyway, now I was enrolled in the nearest high school, Public School #46, or to put it in a nicer title, San Miguel High School. Personally, I was wondering whether San Miguel was a real saint, but it was a school, so what else was I to expect? It was just a name; most of the kids said so anyway. At first, they gave me weird looks with my funky hair, wardrobe, and dialect, but now they were treating me pretty cool. There was this one guy that was acting really weird towards me and I didn't like it a bit. He was always following me around...

Like right now. After hearing some footsteps a few minutes ago, I turned around to see that he was following me. It wasn't that he looked bad; it was just that he wasn't my type. He was the type of guy that doesn't say "no" for an answer.

That's what I'm afraid of.

"So, Akira...doing anything tonight." He said it more like a statement of 'You're doing something with me' than a question. Mwee...

"Uh dude - and no offense - but what's your name?" I asked, weirded out.

"Name's Brandon Greenwood. Here's my phone number...feel free to call me anytime."

Seeing the clocktower out of the corner of my eye, I nodded quickly and laughed stupidly. "Ah yea...gotta go now, Bran, see ya at school, bye!" And with that, I sprinted towards the tower, headed straight towards the phone.

"Whoa," Katie said as I sped into the house. "What's up, kiddo?"

"Weirdo guy's wanting a date, wanna see whether he's credible or not to be my stalker, capiche?" I said at the speed of light as I jumped onto the phone and dialed one of my new friends, Nadia.

"C'mon c'mon c'mon...pick up pick up pick up - HIII Nadia!" I said, nervously twirling the phone cord between my fingers.

"Hi, Kira!" said Nadia, cheerfully making the word 'Hi' sound like a note out of a bird's morning song. Nadia Kornakov has one of the most beautiful singing voices that I've ever heard; she's the first chair in the best choir and usually gets the main act in the school musicals. She has beautiful curly, blond hair and amber-brown eyes. She's the perfect cheerleader type - but she hates all that. Instead of wearing contacts, which her parents are all for, she wears small half-moon shaped lensed glasses. Occasionally she'll wear her cosmetic contact lenses, which made her eyes red, cat-like, and all kinds of things. She also strictly wears black unless she has to wear a costume for one of the musicals. She had basically taken me under her wing and taught me how to get around San Miguel. I already knew she was going to be my best friend.

"Dude...sup? Uh, care to tell me who Brandon Greenwood is?"

"Oh dear," I heard her sigh over the line.

"Whaddaya mean, 'Oh dear'?!" I yelped, crunching into a ball on the couch.

"I mean, 'Oh dear, my poor Kira's going to get targeted by Bran the Shadow.'. Hon, the guy's really popular; hell, the guy was on the football team 'fore the season ended. Whenever he gets his eye set on a girl, he's detirmined to have her...whether she's on his side of the social line or not. Oi, and it figures...he likes your kind of type!"

"What kinda type?" I asked, worried. I also saw vaguely out of the corner of my eyes that some people were starting to crowd around me. Ghkk...

"Red hair, sorta skinny, has some hips and a bust and a half--"

"Mine aren't that big...Kami-sama!" I gasped, turning bright red.

"Not to mention that when he says 'girlfriend', he expects you to do a little more than's expected," she said, her voice starting to drift.

"You don't mean...oh no. You can't...uh uh!"

"Which is exactly why he's not going to get near you. I've seen your brother...he won't let Bran the Shadow get near ya...and whaddabout your other friends? 'Specially that Katie chick. She could throw him OVER the goal from the other end of the field!"

"Yea...that's nice."

"Besides, you like that kid with the wicked-cool green hair. Trip, right?"

"I DO NOT! He's just my friend!"

"You like him..."

"Do not."

"Dooo toooo..."

"Do NOT!"

"Doo too!"

"DO NOT!" I screeched. "Jaa NE!"

"Bye!" she chirped as I hung up the phone.

Looking up, I saw five people staring down at me, trying to stifle their laughter.

"Are you mocking me?" I choked, blushing.

"It was just the last part, Sis'," Wes said, trying not to snicker but failing.

"I know...it was just so cute, Kira...'Do not!' 'DO NOT!'," Jen giggled, trying to stop.

"But the reason I called was serious! Some weirdo guy wants me to be his girlfriend, but I don't like him! He's a creep! And he won't stop following me! I just wanna be left alone, and this guy's been following me home every day ever since I started school! He's really popular too; if I say that I don't want to go out with him, he might use his influence to make me sound like someone I'm not...and you all know what I mean!"

Suddenly, Wes got a serious look on his face as he sat down. "This true?"

I nodded, sniffing. "He was a football player before the season ended for the year. He's really tall and even though I'm pretty good fighting, he's still able to crush me...and that doesn't sound like a pleasant way to die."

"Well, he's not going to get even remotely close to you," Trip said, sitting in front of me. "We'll make sure."

"They call him 'Bran the Shadow'...creepy," I said, shuddering.

"I said, they won't bother you," Trip said. He held his pinkie out in a guesture of friendship promise. "Promise 'till the end."

"P-promise?" I said, holding out my pinkie.

"Promise." We shook on it.

"But how'll we guarentee that?" Circuit said, flapping his wings. "You're forgetting that you aren't students!"

Trip sat there for a minute and then his eyes lit up. "THAT'S IT!"

Jen grinned, as if she had read Trip's mind - or if Trip had shared his thoughts with her. Turning to Lucas, she put on her authoritarian face. "Lucas, pick up Kira's friend Nadia. She'll be able to help."

"Already ahead of ya," Lucas said, grabbing the keys to Wes's car as he ran out the door.

"You're all crazy," I sighed, shaking my head.

___________________________

"So everyone, meet Nadia Kornakov," I said a few minutes afterwords, guesturing towards Nadia. She waved slowly, smiling softly.

"Sup, everybody? Some say I'm from Russia, others say Poland. Heh, I say I'm American...oi, that sounded SO much better in my head than outloud. Shalom!"

"Nadia's Jewish," I said to everyone in a whisper. They all nodded slowly, trying to act interested.

"Speak up, Kira!" she said, smacking me on the back. I ran forwards, sputtering.

"Ah...anyway. Kira, meet my, ah, new surrogate family!" I said, guesturing towards Wes, Lucas, Trip, Katie, and Jen. I hissed below my breath, "If you make ANY Trip accusations that aren't true - which means ALL of them - I will have your head on a platter."

"Chill, Kira. I'm gonna help Bran the Shadow get off your back, that's all. Matchmaking's next on my agenda."

I sighed, crossing my arms.

Wes cleared his throat. "Hey! How 'bout you come and talk with us for a bit while...Trip and Kira make dinner! It's sushi, isn't it?"

"YOU'RE REALLY GONNA LET ME MAKE IT? WOOHOO!" I squealed, running into the kitchen. Trip walked slowly behind me as the others went into the room in front of the kitchen.

"So," Trip said, looking at the ingredients; tub full of soaked rice (Wes musta bought it premade from the nearby Asian market.), nori wrappers, avacados, cucumbers, pre-cooked crab, small dish of sesame seeds, and seasonings, "this is all the stuff you make sushi with."

"Yep," I said, pointing towards two stools. "Pull a few up...they're high enough so we can sit down an' roll 'em." He nodded and scooted them up to the counter.

"Okay," I said, "first, you get a bamboo wrapper mat." I pointed to one of the small mats that looked similar to minature tatami mats. "Now watch carefully. Since we're making Cali rolls, you start with rice first. You get a good paddlefull out and press it all onto the wrapper. Make sure it's compact; if it isn't, it'll fall apart. That's the thing with California rolls; since they don't have any nori on the outside, they tend to fall apart. Next, you put a sheet of nori on top. Nori's basically a sheet of dried seaweed. It's not as bad as it sounds. Since it's been soaked a bit, it's pliable enough for me to roll it, but it's not dripping wet. Then, you put another layer of rice over that...you pack it down good too. Next's the fillings. You put a cucumber slice - only one since it's not supposed to be thick and it's long enough to reach both ends -, a few avacado slices, and a thin strip of crab meat in the middle." I held up a bottle of white stuff in a bottle. "I never learned what this white stuff is, but it really makes it good. Squirt some of that on. Now here's the tough part - rolling it tight enough. You start with the end closest to you and you roll out. After you roll the edge closest to you into a pretty compact ball, you scoot the mat back and keep on rolling with the wrapper end always on top. After it's all rolled, you put it back on the wrapping mat and then you cut it into half-inch pieces. After that, you sprinkle the outside with sesame seeds and then you're done." I showed him the finished product on one of my mother's laquered sushi plates. There was enough for eight from what I got over. "Try it."

"Okay," he said, gingerly picking one up. Putting it in his mouth, he chewed slowly. Eventually his face became more at ease. Finally he swallowed and turned to me, a smile on his face.

"Kira, you're a good cook."

"Thanks," I said, turning somewhat pink. "Now you try, Trip."

"Uh...sure," he said. And he basically copied everything I did perfectly, down to rolling it tightly and cutting it perfectly.

"Ohmigod...you're really good at making it!" I squealed happily after munching on his first piece.

"I have a photographic memory," he said, grinning. "Now let's make the others."

We quickly rolled everyone else's sushi and got the table set, complete with some wasabi and shouyu - aka: soy sauce - on the side.

"Minna," I shouted, "dinner's ready!"

As everyone sat down, Wes blinked.

"Hey, doesn't look that bad, actually..."

"Yea...did you actually use raw fish with this stuff?"

"Nope. This stuff's got all precooked stuff...Cali rolls always do," Nadia said, grinning. "Oh yea, Kira. Your 'surrogate family' came up with the coolest system on how to keep Bran the Shadow off your tail!"

"Oro?" I said, looking up from practically gorging myself with sushi.

"Y'see, they explained to me about all the...Power Ranger stuff. Thought since you had candied onto me so fast that I could be trusted, which I thought was pretty cool. So after we compile every single thing that could possibly distract Bran, we'll make this gadget that'll enact all of them enough so you can escape. Mainly, his past girlfriends. Anyway, he'll forget it after a few seconds - enough for you to safely get away. Of course, it'll only work at school for some reason. The rest of the time, you'll have the 'guys' around, anyway."

"I have no idea how you're gonna do it, but it sounds PERFECT!" I squealed, grinning.

"My idea," Trip said, grinning. "Don't worry...I still remember 31st Century technology."

I smiled. "Great! Nip the problem in the bud, right?"

"Yea, you could say that," Jen said politely, her hands in her lap.

"So Trip, you say you're an alien?" Nadia said, still trying to take it in. "I never thought that I'd meet a person from another world!"

"Yea," was all Trip said.

"What can you do? I mean, all aliens have some cool kinda power!"

"Well, I have some limited psychic powers...they aren't as powerful as Kira's telekinesis, though--" He then promptly clamped his hand over his mouth.

"TRIP!" I screamed. "YOU SAID YOU WOULDN'T TELL ANYBODY!"

He sat there for a moment, stunned that he had spilled my secret. Then he stood up, just as angry as I was.

"Eventually it had to come out!"

"But not now! Not in front of one of my friends! Now I look like I'm a freak!"

He started to get even more angry, probably exasperated at my good point. "But what if suddenly your powers backfired? No one'd know why you were glowing! They might think you're sick...and then what'd happen? If they'd try to get to you, they'd be instantly repelled by the aura you throw out! Ever think about the fact that you might hurt someone with your powers?"

Ouch. That one hurt.

"Besides," he said, putting a hand on my arm, "the more honest you are with the people you care about, the better it is. Lies like the one your father must of told Wes to keep him from knowing that you existed tear families apart and make people more distant to you. It's better that they know now than later--"

I yanked his hand away. "Don't give me lecture shit! Whenever anyone finds out, they alienate me! Same thing happens all the time...damnit, I can't believe I was so stupid to trust you!" And with that, I ran out of the clocktower.

___________________________

I sighed, watching her run out. Shaking my head, I silently thought, Yea, and in some ways, I was so stupid to care enough to tell your secret. But that's your definition of stupid. Mine's different. 'Sides, already started to care now, so I can't really stop.

Turning to everyone else, I sighed. "Better go after her. She might actually get lost."

Wes just nodded. Lucas and Katie had their hands over their faces and for some reason, Jen and Nadia were smiling really oddly for some reason. Creepy.

I nodded back and got my hat and backpack. Once I got outside, it was pretty clear by the tennis shoes tracks in what direction she had started to run. Seeing the bicycle that was beside the tower, I jumped on it and started to follow the tracks.

They turned into an alley about four blocks down and I set the bike down beside the alleyway opening. I faintly saw the flash of the reflective tape of Akira's backpack going farther and farther down the alley. Hmm.

Then suddenly I saw a bright flash of light and a scream. Running down, I saw a horrifying sight.

Akira was trying to fight one of her monsters - she had pointed it out to be one of the Darksirens. Yet the Darksiren had the upper hand by one small variable:

Akira was pinned on the ground by a very large hunk of concrete.

Turning around, her face froze in horror almost at seeing me right behnd her.

"Trip...for the love of Kami-sama, don't stay here! You'll get hurt!"

"And you aren't?" I protested. "I told you that you shouldn't run off," I scolded in return, shaking my finger.

"Trip," she sobbed, "RUN!"

End of Part IV

^^; Yes...it's going along quite well, ne? ^_^ So adorable...*cackles manically* Ano...any questions/comments are VERY welcome! *grin* - Yoshiko