It's Hard (A Power Rangers Samurai Fanfic)

Little Kids (Part 3)

Ji had pulled over two hours later to sleep, deciding they could finish the journey in the morning. At about 5 am, Ji heard one of the car doors opening and closing. Ji opened his eyes and looked out his window to see Jayden. He got out of the car. "What are you doing?" Ji asked. Jayden was startled and jumped as he turned around. He put his hands in the pockets of his jeans and tightened his legs. "I have to go, Ji." Jayden said. "Do you wanna go to a gas station or something and just use the bathroom there?" Ji offered. Jayden shook his head. "It's bad." He replied. "Can I go now?" Ji nodded and Jayden continued down to one of the trees nearby. Ji figured that now would be a good time to wake Antonio, seeing as he probably had to go too, and then they could go have breakfast somewhere. Ji shook the teen awake, but before he could even say anything, Antonio hunched over and stuck a hand between his legs. "Ugh." He groaned. Ji decided he wouldn't have to ask, it would be pointless. "Jayden's down there," he said. "Go, quickly." Antonio nodded and hurried out of the car. When he and Jayden came back Ji looked at the time. He decided that it was too early to go to a diner, and they could just have breakfast at the temple. "How much longer?" Jayden asked when the car started moving. "Two hours." Ji replied. "I'm bored." Antonio said. "Go back to sleep." Ji told him. "That's boring!" The gold ranger complained. Ji looked back to see Mike sleeping soundly. "Take Mike's video game." He offered. Antonio smiled at that, and reached behind him to steal the game. He did so successfully, and started to play. "I'm hungry." Jayden said. "We'll eat when we get to the temple." Ji replied. "But I'm hungry." Jayden argued. "You're not going to starve to death Jayden." Ji told him. "Yes I am." Jayden replied, a whine in his tone. Ji reached into the plastic bag next to him, lucky for him he bought some food from the gas station the day before. "Do you want a bagel?" He asked. Jayden nodded eagerly and Ji handed him one. "You want one Antonio?" Ji questioned. Antonio looked over to see Jayden eating a bagel. He also nodded and paused the game. Ji gave one to him, and was happy that the car was quiet, even if it was temporary.
The sun was just peaking above the horizon when Emily woke up. She yawned and rubbed her eyes with her fist. "Morning Emily." Ji said. "Mornin' Ji." Emily replied. She looked around the car. Jayden and Antonio fell back asleep not long after finishing their bagels. Mike was awake, and also eating a bagel. "Breakfast?" She asked. Ji pulled a bagel out of the bag and gave it to Mike, who gave it to Emily. The five year old happily unwrapped the bagel and started eating it. Within five minutes, Ji was pulling into the driveway of the temple.

The Head happily greeted Ji and his students. When they got out of the car, Jayden, Antonio, Emily, Kevin, Mike, and Mia were immediately whisked to the infirmary to see exactly what was causing the age-change and how to fix it. After hours, they were returned to Ji. "So what is it?" He asked, looking down at the kids. Each of them was eating a lollipop. "It's a simple poisoning of the blood." The doctor told him. "Unfortunately, it will take us about a week to make an antidote." Ji was shocked. "A week? What if there's an attack?" The doctor looked at him. She managed a small smile. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." "What do you mean 'what if there's an attack'?" Jayden asked, looking angry. "Me and Antonio can still fight." The doctor looked at Ji, then back at Jayden. She placed a hand on his shoulder. "Of course you can, sweetie." She said. Jayden pushed her hand off and moved away. "Don't patronize me." He grumbled. Then he walked away. Ji turned back to the doctor. "Please tell me I don't have to deal with this on my own." He said, pleading. She chuckled. "No, we'll have someone return to a hotel with you. She can help you out." The doctor told him. "Hotel?" Mike said, tearing away from his lollipop for a minute. "Why can't we stay here?" "Reasons." The doctor replied. "Off you go!"

They checked into the hotel, and when the team got to their room, they found a woman there. She was young, maybe in her twenties. She had curly brown hair and green eyes. When the kids entered the room she smiled at them, it was a warm smile. "You must be Melanie." Ji said. "Yes, I am. Nice to meet you." She replied. Melanie then looked down at all the kids. "You're all so adorable!" Jayden and Antonio mumbled something under their breaths, but moved to sit down on the beds. "Thank you so much for helping." Ji said. Melanie just nodded. "So I was thinking we shouldn't stay cooped up in this hotel room all day." She started. "How about we go to the park in town?" "Park!" Emily grinned happily, jumping up and down and clapping her hands. "Sounds great." Ji said, though in his mind, he was just thinking it'd be a great way to wear out the kids "Great!" Melanie said. "Let's go!"