disclaimer: oh, isn't it painfully obvious or something?

so, I've re-watched Gekiranger and found out that I like Ran and Retsu together.

I apologize in advance for the OOCs ness.

To cheer you up, my darling.

We are like chameleons, we take our hue and the color of our moral character, from those who are around us.

-John Locke

"Do you always color in line, Retsu?"

A sweeping turn, a nasty spiral, a swift upturn of the wrist, a splash of color on the canvas that whiter than the cloud - but nothing.

Nothing outside the lines.

Retsu sighs wistfully, and wonders why he's still doing this before placing down the paintbrush and scowls to himself. What is he doing, really? It's just Ran, a girl who spends her time practising and catching leaves, whose head is full of clouds and dreams and eyes are full of starlight - and it's Ran that reduced him to this with only single, curious and absent-minded remark.

"This is ridiculous." He mutters, Gou is going to laugh at him when he finds out, and Miki is going to smile in her mysterious smile that irks him more than Gou's teasing, and Jan - he's so lucky that Jan isn't here, or Retsu isn't sure what he's going to do if Jan decides to ask an idiotic question, no matter how naive it may sound ('Why does what Ran says matter to you?'). He stands up, ready to roll up the canvas and places it aside until a light voice interrupts him.

"What's ridiculous?"

He's taken part in saving the world, then why is the world being so cruel to him?

It's Ran, eating ice-cream in the middle of winter and looking perfectly find, totally unaware of the distraction she's caused to him. Well, it's not like she'll get a sore throat from eating too much this icy thing, either.

"This whole painting business." She blinks, clearly doesn't understand. "Don't get me wrong, Ran. I like painting, I just don't like... painting outside the lines."

She shrugs. "Well, you don't have to. I mean, you're using watercolour, not marker or something. It's easier for you to color in line, right?"

He's always known that Ran has an incredible leap of logic, but it is too much sometimes. Like now. When she blinks at him and says those words as if it's the simplest thing in the world - what...?

"What're you talking about?"

She's smiling, but Retsu doesn't find anything funny about it. Furthermore, she doesn't even bother to answer him, instead, she looks down at the children who are practising. "I don't really know much about painting, Retsu, but I know what this painting needs." He raises an eyebrow.

"Oh, enlighten me."

"Have you tried watercolors and charcoal together?"

"Why did you think of such -?" He protests (which sounds weak in his ear, honestly), but she's already got that light in her eyes that she does when she has an unusual idea, a kind of Ran-like that he doesn't want to test, and Retsu understands that there is no point in arguing with her now.

"Okay, Retsu." She claps her hands together. "I'll show you what to do."

He opens his mouth to say something, but closes it anyway because he doubts his words will come out intelligent. When Ran grabs his arm and drags him to find some charcoal, Retsu thinks, maybe - just maybe - painting outside the light isn't bad at all.

notes: please don't favorite without reviewing.