Disclaimer: We don't own the Power Rangers series, just the plot, the characters and anything concerning this story (arsenal, monsters, etc.) :]

Ashdown Residence, Saturday Morning

Aaron yawned as he got up from his bed. He didn't have to worry much today since it was a Saturday and there wasn't any school. He checked his cell phone for any reminders he had to do for the day. He promised to help Eve buy some more items for Sundae's Best since their opening in their new venue would be on the following week.

He put on a loose sweater and headed down for breakfast. It was still early in the morning so the only one downstairs was Lawrence, watching his early morning cartoons.

"Morning," he greeted him. His younger brother simply shushed him. Aaron yawned and went to the kitchen. "Oh, Lacy," he saw his sister, "you're up early."

"I wanted to finish my project," she answered, nodding towards the den. "I'm supposed to make this farm out of clay."

Aaron rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I remember that project. I got a C minus because it was messy."

"Sandra and Sherman got B minuses, Anthony got a B plus, Kris got a C plus, and Megan got a D minus," she rolled her eyes, "no surprise there."

"You forgot Merina," Aaron added, "she got an A plus."

"She gets an A for everything," Lacy said. She took another piece of an apple before heading out. "Mom and Dad left early today."

He grunted. "Anthony's on babysitting duty today."

Lacy frowned. "I don't like it when he's the babysitter!"

"You're going to have to," Aaron told her. "I promised my friend I'd help buy some appliances."

"Why you?"

"Because I'm the one who comes from a big family, I know which ones have good quality and are long lasting."

"Isn't she the one with four brothers?"

"Three. Two older ones, and her twin. But they're age gap is pretty big so it doesn't count."

Lacy sighed, lowering her head as she drew her attention back to her project. "All right, see you later."

Stone Rose Mall

After a few hours, Aaron put on his jacket over his red shirt, told Anthony he'd be leaving already, then he headed towards the Stone Rose Mall. He promised Eve he'd meet her there. He found a bench near the appliance centre and texted the pink ranger where he was waiting.

'Bench near the appliance store. Text me when you're here.'

'Okay. Meet you there.'

He only waited for about three minutes before the pink ranger showed up. She was wearing a pink and white striped shirt long sleeved shirt and white shorts. She had a pink string bag behind her back, which probably contained her skates and some other girl stuff. Her short dark brown hair was slightly windswept, but that only added to the natural, laid-back vibe she gave off.

She waved at him excitedly. When they reached one another, she gave him a grateful smile. "Thanks so much for coming out here with me, Aaron. I know you have to take care of your younger sib—"

"It's fine," he cut her off. "I'm actually glad to take the day off. How much is your budget?"

As he and Eve talk, Aaron's phone vibrated and he groaned. "Excuse me," he raised a finger. "What?"

"Aaron?"

"What do you want, Anthony?"

"Lacy's asking for help and I dunno what to do."

"Just tell her I'll help her once I get home."

Anthony sighed. "Fine."

Aaron put his phone back in his pocket. "Sorry about that. We'll start with the kitchen centre."

Barrymore Residence

"Are you sure you don't want me to come over tomorrow to help bring these to the store?" he asked her after giving her the last box.

Eve smiled as she placed it behind her. "It's fine, don't worry. Rod, Al and Evan both promised to help us tomorrow. We'll be bringing Rod's car."

"All right," Aaron nodded, "just call if you need me."

Eve hugged him. "Thanks, Aaron. I'll see you."

As the blonde teenager went down the steps of the Barrymore porch, he passed by Evan. They had a small, polite chat before he was called back to his house.

Ashdown Residence

"Where have you been?" Anthony asked him once he came in. "These people are about to kill me!"

Aaron looked around the house and frowned. "They're just doing their own business," he told his younger brother.

"Megan and Lacy are arguing, James and Herbert are running around. Kris keeps trying to get out. Merina's as smarty-pants as ever. And Lawrence…well, nothing really."

"Yeah? You think that's hard?" Aaron scoffed, stopping Herbert from catching James behind his legs. "Think of me when I'm baby-sitting them plus you."

Merina appeared and cleared her throat. "I agree with Aaron, Anthony. Have you ever thought about the problems you cause him?"

Anthony glared at her. "Don't you ever shut up?"

Aaron wacked his younger brother's head. "You have no right to say that to her." He looked at Merina and gave her a tight smile. "You know Anthony doesn't mean that, right?"

Merina pouted, blowing a stray lock of blonde hair out of her face. "Right, sure. Just like everyone else doesn't." She turned around. "I'll be in my room if you need me."

Aaron sighed. "Really, Anthony. Even Sandra is nicer than you when it comes to Meri."

Anthony groaned. "I'm not as patient as you, Sherman and Sandra."

"You're going to have to be," Aaron said. He walked to the living room and joined Lawrence on the couch. "And how have you been, big guy?"

Stone Rose High, First Period

"Good morning," Paige greeted Aaron once he sat down on his chair. "How was your weekend?"

"So far, the only highlight was going out with Eve last Saturday," he replied. "How was your weekend?"

The blue ranger shrugged. "Homework, read…I made sure Demitri would still act like a person after being cooped up the whole weekend."

"Don't worry," he replied, "Sundae's Best is opening this weekend."

"Yeah, we'll let him out of that hole for a few hours," Paige agreed, rolling her eyes. "If only we didn't have a lot of maids."

"But your house is the only place with extra space," Aaron replied with a chuckle.

Stone Rose High, Recess

It was break time and Aaron had been hanging out with Liam and Marc when he stumbled upon Eve. She waved and ran to him excitedly. "Hi," she greeted.

"Hey," he replied with a smile.

She dug through her pink backpack for a while before holding out a few coupons. "As an expression of gratitude, here's some coupons for your whole family. There are twelve but since I know there's only you, your siblings and your parents, you might use the extra ones for friends," she eyed the two teens behind him, "so, yeah…." She gave him her award-winning smile. "You won't be able to bring Jackson, Sherman and Sandra. And I doubt your parents would want to come."

Aaron smiled. "Thanks! I can finally bring those little brats in there. It doesn't have to be on opening day, does it?"

"Nah. Use it whenever you want."

He stuffed the coupons in his bag. "Um…what does it do?"

"Oh! You guys get free drinks and dessert of any choice you want."

He laughed. "I'm not surprised that you can manage to make twelve drinks and twelve desserts for free."

She shrugged. "Mr. Pike's really grateful."

"Tell him it was no biggie."

"I will." She smiled, the grin reaching the corners of her dark brown eyes. "I gotta go, next class is all the way on the other side." She smiled at him then at the two friends. "Bye. See you later, Aaron!" Then she dashed away.

"How many girls do you have?" Marc asked, nudging Aaron's elbow. "And why are they all hot?"

"None," he answered frankly. "Eve's just my friend, you all know that I hang out with her, Paige, Finn, Sean and sometimes Ethan."

"Yeah? Then what about the 'see you later, Aaron!'?"

"We hang out in the afternoons," he told them. He began to walk again. "And I can't get Eve even if I wanted, she and Ethan are pretty much dating."

"So you do want her?" Liam confirmed, wiggling his prominent eyebrows.

He nodded. "Yeah, I'm not gonna deny that," a mischievous smile appeared on his lips. "But I'm a good guy."

Kale's Hideout

"A good guy, huh?" Kale echoed as he looked through the globe. "So what will it take for you to do something bad?" He walked around the platform. "Wait, he's in a big family and he clearly loves them." He nodded. "Thresh!"

The fire monster appeared in an instant. "How may I be of service, Master Kale?"

"I need you to make a background check on that red ranger of Demitri's. He's the team leader, without him, they'll crumble. See what makes him…fall."

"Right away, sire," Thresh said, bowing. "Anything else?"

"I have a few plans but I am not one for revealing all the cards dealt into my hand. Now go!"

Ashdown Residence

"Aaron, have you seen my shoes?"

"Aaron, Megan's taking up all the bathroom time again! And we're just preparing for bed!"

"Aaron, that's not true!"

"Aaron, Anthony's being mean to me again!"

"Merina, shut up! It's not my fault she's annoying! I've been trying to catch up on some sleep!"

"Aaron, the television's not working!"

"Aaron, I can't catch Herbert!"

"Aaron, we're playing catch!"

The red ranger sighed in frustration. He just returned from power training and all his energy is drained. He sat on the arm chair and groaned, rubbing his temples. "Solve your problems on your own, I've got a stupid migraine!"

"But, Aaron!" everyone whined.

He grumbled and sat up. "Everyone, shut up!" He had been getting better in controlling his power, but felt a burst of energy come out of him. "Oh no..."

Before he could warn anyone, before he even blinked, the energy formed into a gigantic wave which knocked everything and everyone in its path. James and Herbert even began to cry and they hit the ground with a 'thud!'.

"Is everyone okay?" he asked frantically. "Did anyone get hurt?"

"What the hell was that?" Anthony asked, rubbing the back of his head.

"The house is haunted!" Megan screamed.

"Megan, no," Lacy said.

'This is not helping,' he thought. "Everyone, to your rooms, now!"

Anthony's usual ignorant personality disappeared. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Aaron shook his head. "No, not really, but, yeah, just…it's a school night, we've all gotta wake up early tomorrow, all right?" He stood up from his chair. "If I hear a single sound, I'll fabricate stories to tell Mom and Dad so you would all be grounded." And with that, he marched up the stairs and slammed the door of his room.

Paige's Garage

"He's stressed."

Paige looked at her house mate as she picked up a misplaced ball from Sean's practice. "Who?"

"Aaron." Demitri furrowed his eyebrows. "He's out of focus." He sighed and leaned against the white brick wall. "Did he tell you anything? Or did he talk to anyone? Does he have problems? At home? School?"

"I know he mentioned he had a hard time with his siblings last weekend." She placed the ball back inside the machine. "If he's still out of focus on Tuesday then I think we should talk to him."

Demitri nodded. "I'd like to talk to him as as soon as possible. As the red ranger, he has the responsibility to—"

"Dem," Paige cut him off, "he also has the responsibility to be a big brother of about eight siblings; I think it's better to prioritize that."

The prince sighed. "Right, of course."

Kale's Hideout

"And who do we have here?" Kale asked.

Thresh, who had been waiting for his master's arrival, straightened himself and bowed lightly. "Master Kale, I present to you Kinjaka. He's a very skilled ninja."

"Ninja…I see. Yes, and what do you have planned for our red ranger, name?"

The monster laughed. "Thresh has debriefed me about that boy, and I've got the perfect plan to destroy his little world."

"Please, do share."

Ashdown Residence

"Good morning!" Aaron's siblings greeted him, with beaming smiles and perfect synchronisation.

Aaron blinked, trying to get used to his siblings in the kitchen with big smiles and his school necessity. "I've been looking all over for my bag."

"Sorry, but we decided to get it for you instead," Lacy told him. "I hope you don't mind that Anthony snuck in your room."

"Not much of a choice anymore, do I?" he muttered. "But, thanks." He smiled at them. He looked around and checked his siblings: Anthony, Lawrence, Lacy, Megan, Kris, James, Herbert… "Where's Meri?"

Anthony held back a snort. "Didn't bother, she would've ruined it."

Aaron ran a hand through his blond hair. "An—no, all of you quit it with Meri, all right? She's just doing what she likes to do. She wouldn't be doing this if you actually paid attention to her, you know."

"I learned that it's called the middle child syndrome," Lacy informed, adjusting her rectangular glasses informatively.

"You do know that I kinda am a middle child, too, right?" Kris stated. "And I'm not like her."

James and Herbert ran to their older brother and clung to his legs. "We're sorry!"

He ruffled their hairs and sighed. "It's fine, it's fine." He turned to his sisters. "And you two?"

Megan and Lacy looked at each other before turning away from one another. "Sorry, Aaron, but it's not happening," Megan told him, and at the same time, Lacy said, "No. Just no."

A voice cleared her throat behind them. When they all turned to look, they saw their sister, Meri. She pushed her glasses up to her nose and tucked a strand of her dark, blonde hair behind her ear. "Um…I'm leaving now."

"Do you want me to bring you to school?" Aaron offered.

"No, it's fine." She shook her head. "I'll see you in later, all right?"

Sean and Finn waved at their leader when they met around the corner. "Morning, guys," Aaron greeted them.

"What's up?" Sean asked, taking stock of Aaron's dishevelled blonde hair and dark circles beneath his green eyes. "You look…stressed."

"You've been looking like that since yesterday," Finn commented.

Sean snorted. "It's Eve isn't? She gave you a hard time last weekend and she harassed you yesterday."

"Actually, she politely asked for his help to go to the mall with her last weekend and she gave him coupons for free drinks and desserts," Finn countered, raising an eyebrow at his brother. "Oh, and she had some extra ones, too, so she gave some to me, Paige, Demitri and Ethan."

"She didn't give me any," he informed them, running an irritated hand through his dirty blond locks.

"No surprise there," Aaron chuckled. "Anyways, no, it's not Eve, it's my siblings. And I need to connect with Meri…we all need to connect with Meri. I think she's actually trying, in her own way, but we just don't…mind her." He sighed. "Hey," his head snapped up, "Sean, aren't you a middle child?"

"Yeah…" he answered slowly, "why?"

"How was your life before you guys adopted Finn?"

GAH! I'M SO SORRY EVERYONE!

It's Rosie here, Rish wrote this chapter (and yes, as always, it's awesome!) I'm so sorry we haven't updated for so long! School started again...GAH. Thus we've both been seriously bogged-down in work...not to mention there was a lot of stuff to do with the press in my family's affairs...and, well, it's been a bit of a mess in all honesty!

And yet! We carry on! Any clues on what the cunning Kinjaka has in store for Aaron? Well, wait until the next chapter to find out!

Thank you for your continued support, and as always, reviews are appreciated...see you next time!