Jayden Shiba

The training went on with its usual blast. 

"Oh my gosh, Jayden! You are such a good mentor!" Bloom said cheekily as we entered the Shiba house after an intense training session. 

"I'm only as good as my own mentor," I replied, flashing a smile at Ji. We continued our usual post-training tradition, sitting at the counter with orange juice in hand, filling the conversation with warmth and light banter.

"Did you know that Lia is from the countryside?" She said. 

"She's your friend. How would I know?" I asked, guarded.

"Oh gods! It's just a figure of speech!" She threw her hands up in exasperation. I just laughed. 

"Does she know where you're from?" I asked, curiosity picking at me. 

"Yeah, she knows I'm from India," she said in a low voice. 

"And how did she react?" 

"She now thinks I'm half Indian. She also asked me to take her with me the next time I visit," she said, taking a heavy breath.

"And you didn't correct her?" I asked, surprised. She just shook her head and said, "I didn't want to go into personal details..."

"Sis, you've known her for almost 5 months now. You also happen to call her your best friend," I tried reasoning with her. She shut me out with a simple, "So?"

I didn't want to give up just yet. I may not have been very good at communicating with people, but the only thing that kept me sane when young was Antonio's friendship. I wanted her to have something similar.

But just then, something unexpected happened. The nighlok alert went off. Is there a glitch or something?

Only a little later did I realize that Bloom was breathing heavily while clutching her ears shut. "Hey! Hey, are you alright? Bloom!"

Ji rushed to stop the sound, and Bloom calmed down just a bit. With a silent exchange, Ji and I rushed to the meeting hall. The map was glowing with the nighlok attack's location. "How can this be?" I voiced my concern. "It's too soon."

"There is no powerful nighlok," Ji said. "Just moogers. But even that is worrying."

"I'll face it," I said and was about to head out, but Ji caught my arms.

"You're not going," he said sternly. Anger bubbled within me. All I could see was the flashing warning on the map and his hands on me. "Let me go, Ji," I said through gritted teeth. "No," he said sternly. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath in to try and calm myself. 

"Ji... there is a nighlok attack. I need to go," I said, trying so hard to maintain my patience. 

"Why can't you let him go, Ji?" Bloom's words pierced my ears like an arrow. Why is she here? I don't want her anywhere near trouble. Ji gave me a knowing look. I shook my head. This can't be happening. 

"Him and his team used up every ounce of their symbol power to defeat Master Xandred. Symbol power takes time to recharge. With usage of powers as such, it might take him years to reach his full strength," Ji explained while maintaining eye contact with me.

"I'm fi—"

"With his current contact, all he has to do is morph and it will put him in a coma," Ji finished. I heard Bloom gasp but my entire attention was now on Ji. "Don't do it," I warned.

"Jay, you are not going in," Bloom said sternly. My head turned to her slowly. "It is not as bad as he says," I try to reason. "I can manage."

"If that's true," she said. "Morph right here." I didn't know what to do. I couldn't meet her eyes. Ji's grip on my arm still remained. This can't be happening. 

"I can fight without morphing," I said, fighting the lump in my throat. 

"You're not going," she said sternly. 

"This won't be the first time I'm fighting without morphing!" I raised my voice. 

"One fight is OK. What about other fights. You can't fight every fight like this. What if the nighloks grow in power?"

"That won't happen!"

"That will very much happen and you know it!"

My throat dried up. This can't be happening. Please! This can't be happening!

"Ji. Where's my morpher?" I tore away from Ji's grip and held tight onto her shoulders. "Don't do this!" I said, desperate. 

"You've taught me well. It's time to put it into action," she said, placing her hand on mine. "Believe in me. Let me fight."

Tears threatened to spill out. She can't be doing this. She's just a kid! Ji opened the morpher compartment and brought out one of the new morphers he had bought. It feels like yesterday when I asked him why he needed a new set when we were still here. I should have spoken more sternly that day. Getting the morpher from him, she looked at me with determination. I don't want this to be the look she carries from now on out. I want her to be the crazy,  joking, completely unserious little girl, little sister I know her as.

"If it makes you feel any better," she whispered. "I want a ride to the location."

Despite the situation, I couldn't help but laugh at that. She doesn't even know the directions in this place! She can't be seriously thinking of fighting moogers. "Jayden please." Her voice broke me. I simply nodded as I ran out to start my bike.

The moogers had already surrounded the place when we got there. People ran back and forth, desperate to find a safe space. "Get to safety," I advised after helping few people up. Bloom already got to her fighting stance. There were too many people here. We can't risk people seeing her identity.

I threw the smoke bomb in her direction. The white smoke covered her entirely. When the smoke dissipated, a fully morphed red ranger emerged. A little part of me looked at awe, unable to digest the fact that the strong, majestic looking female was my little sister.

"Red ranger, ready!" She said. It was weird to hear my sister say the exact sentence I used to.

The red ranger slashed and swung her sword at the oncoming moogers, turning them into nothing but dust. The feeling to shout at her to be careful every time a mooger came too close to her was palpable, but she managed just fine without my commentary.

One of the moogers came towards me. He wanted to attack me, I guess but all it did was piss me off. Rolling my eyes, I kicked and tossed it into the sea.

"Hey!" My sister yelled. "The fight's mine!"

"Sorry!" I yelled back. "It was trying to get on my nerves."

I'm pretty sure my sister just rolled her eyes at me within the helmet. Suddenly, I knew exactly what Ji feels whenever he sends us to fight. The responsibility, the fear, the anxiety and most importantly, pride. Watching Bloom fight now, an immense feeling of pride coursed through me. That's my student! I wanted to yell, but was too mesmerized to utter a word.

"Jayden!" I heard her soft voice echo in my mind. "The number keeps increasing. What should I do?"

"Use your spin sword!" I yell, since the telepathy is a one way channeled power for her. She won't be able to hear me speak. I see her nod.

She takes out her disk from her belt and pushes it into the hilt of her sword. Fire blazes to life. A loud scream leaves her mouth as she lifts her spin sword for a hit. With a one great swing, fire engulfs her surroundings and the moogers turn to ash.

The fight was over... she did it.

As she demorphs, I watch her stumble back in exhaustion. I immediately run to her side and held her by her shoulder, steadying her against. She grins wide, a relieved laugh escaping her.

"I did it," she whispered in awe, mostly to herself, but I replied, "Yes. You did. And you were amazing!" It was clear that she didn't have the energy to reply, but I know she is happy.

I try throwing her hands around me to help her support, but realize in vain that she is much shorter than me. With a quick scoop, I lift her up and place her on my back in the piggy-back style. Her head rests on my shoulders and I feel her smiling against me.

She deserves all the rest she could get. She just defeated the moogers after just few months of training. That is highly appreciable.

Though, I am worried. Just the spin sword drained so much of her power. I wonder what will happen if she starts to use all the other weapons... the ones remaining, that is.

I look at her calm smiling face through the sideview mirror and decide that it could be worried about some other time.

But for now, Samurai Rangers, Victory is Ours!

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Hey guys! Hope you are doing good...

My sweet Bloom baby fought in her first ever battle and she was amazing! 🥹🥹
What do you think about the fight scene?

Another question: Who is your favorite character and why?
Mine is Jayden. Typical choice, I know. But something about him just pulls me, you know. Whenever I look at him, I get this caring big brother vibes. Do you guys agree?
Let me know in the comments!

Thank you for reading!
If you liked this chapter, please do vote.

Love you all!

❤️❤️❤️