Lie to Me (Jayden Shiba)

Chapter 4

Tensions were higher than ever. Kana had recovered fully in two days, which for her wasn't that bad of a consequence for tapping into more power. She felt different, her skin tingled every time she used her dark power. Kana had been training ever since she recovered to be able to maintain the thirty five percent. It was taxing, painful at times, but nothing like when she first activated it. If she kept at it like this, gradually, she'd be able to achieve her full potential in a year or so. There was no time to rest, the Sanzu river was higher than ever and seeping more and more into their world, while Master Xandred grew stronger by the day. Meanwhile, Jayden was distracted. Kana knew Deker had said something that struck a chord, and it pained her that he didn't share it with her, when they used to talk about everything. Then again, she was also hiding secrets from him, maybe things had changed after all...

We're both warped, twisted...

Kana looked over to Jayden, worried as she saw him stop mid training.

"Dude, you just stopped," Mike noticed, the others stopping their swords practice to turn to Jayden, "it was like you were a million miles away. You okay?"

"It's nothing," Jayden brushed off, making Kana frown. He loved to shoulder the weight of the world on his shoulders, not letting anyone share the burden. Well, almost anyone. He used to open up to Kana, they always spoke of being the same; having so much pressure on their hands since they were young. It was one of the many reasons why the two bonded so closely.

But whatever Deker had said had gotten to him, and he was closed off now.

"I think being kidnapped by Deker has really gotten to you," Kevin voiced all of their thoughts.

"You can talk to us, Jayden. We're here for you," Emily assured. Before anyone else could say anything, Mia came outside dressed in regular clothing.
"You're not training with us?" Emily asked as the pink ranger came over.

"No, I'm cooking dinner tonight."

"Oh, no!" Mike huffed under his breath.

"Uh, what's the special occasion?" Kevin coughed, masking his horror.

"Antonio's been working so hard to program the black box, I wanted to do something special for him. I'll see you later," with a last smile, Mia headed out. Jayden abruptly left the group without saying a word, wearing a strained expression.

"Kana, you should go talk to him." Kevin suggested.

"Yeah, he'll talk to you," Emily encouraged.

"I'm not sure about this time," Kana shook her head, "it's different, I'm not sure what Deker told him, but whatever it was, I don't even think Jayden wants to admit it."

"Because maybe Deker was right?" Mike assumed, and the beauty sighed.

"Maybe." Kana had been training with wooden scythes that Mentor had gotten her, and she left them on the ground, "I'll try, you guys keep training." The three gave her encouraging nods and smiles, and she headed to seek out the red ranger.

Jayden had gone through the whole house out to the backyard, which was a simple Japanese style garden. He sat on the edge of the floor, just before the ground dipped into the garden.

Kana didn't say anything as she went and sat beside him. He'd barely looked up, his gaze so distant as he stared at the ground before him.

"Talk to me, Jay." The beauty's tone was soft as she said this. Jayden didn't react, didn't so much as blink. The beauty leaned back onto her arms. "You remember when we promised to hold each other up?" Jayden then glanced over to the girl, "we were, what, thirteen? Ji had told us how important it was for the two of us to never slack off, because we had the weight of the world on our shoulders? We swore we'd support each other; that much pressure can crush us if we don't stick together."