For now I'm saying this is complete. It was supposed to be a short like 2-page little fic but it ended up longer than expected. I could probably write on it for eternity though, so I might add more later. Especially if it gets good reviews/comments?
Hope you enjoy and I don't own sentai! Thanks for reading!
"Which one?"
"Which one, what?" Kairi asked as he leaned next to Touma.
"Which one of the Patrangers do you like? You keep staring at them," Touma was fixated on the stove.
"They are our enemies, I have to keep an eye on them."
"Doesn't mean you haven't fallen for one of them."
Kairi rolled his eyes as he took the plates from Touma.
"Here you go, Sakuya. This one is yours, Tsukasa. And finally, here is yours, Keii-chan. Anything else I can get you guys?" Kairi smiled. After they shook their heads he sat down at the bar. It was slow that day and Umika had gone to stock up on supplies so Kairi was left to wait tables.
Kairi was lost doodling onto a napkin when Keiichiro brought him to attention, "Uh, I was wondering if you'd want to accompany me to the police ball this weekend."
Kairi opened his eyes with shock and excitement, "Are you asking me out?"
"I understand if you don't want to go," Keiichiro was beginning to lose his courage.
"Believe me, Keii-chan, I would love to go with you. But you deserve so much better than me. I'll just end up breaking your heart. I'm sorry."
"Oh, ok... I'll see you later then," Keiichiro awkwardly turned to leave with his team.
"So Red fell for 1gou, and 1gou fell for Red. Not what I was expecting," Touma came out of the kitchen and put a hand on Kairi's shoulder.
He shrugged away, "It doesn't matter, we have to stick to business. Speaking of which, we have no customers, so I'm going on break."
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Kairi walked back into the bistro hours later, having lost track of time.
"This bouquet of roses showed up," Touma informed.
"They are so pretty! I wonder who sent them?" Umika wondered, "He wouldn't let me read the note."
Kairi lifted the note up and scanned it. 'You say you want to go, so why not go? It's my place to decide who I deserve and I want you. If you had just said no, I'd leave it alone, but I can't make sense of what you said. Just please reconsider – K'
Kairi slumped into the nearest chair and handed Touma the note. Umika glanced over to read it.
"Who is K?" Umika questioned.
"It doesn't matter, we have business to work on," Kairi pulled out an envelope.
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"Umika, would you go to the police ball with me?" Sakuya begged.
"I'm pretty sure I have to work," she smiled, trying to find an excuse.
"We are closed that night," Touma reminded. She shot him a death glare as he smirked.
"I guess one night wouldn't hurt…" she accepted.
"Where is Kairi today?" Tsukasa wondered.
"Oh he probably got distracted on his break again," Umika turned toward the kitchen.
"So he's not completely ignoring me?" Keiichiro asked.
"Ignoring you?" Umika looked back in confusion, "Ohhh. No, I don't think he's ignoring you." She rushed to the kitchen and whispered to Touma, "Keiichiro sent those flowers?!"
Touma just nodded, knowing she'd bring the subject back up later.
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Lupin Red sat on the ledge of a building, surveying the area for gangler activity. Soon, he found himself in a match between the Patorangers and a gangler.
"I'm taking you in," Patren 1gou growled as he attacked Lupin Red. Kairi kept dodging the attacks. "Why are you not attacking back?"
"I'm just after the gangler," Lupin Red responded dodging a punch.
"You might want to pay more attention to us," Patren 1gou finally got a hit in.
"Just let me get the piece of the Lupin collection then you can destroy him all you want."
Keiichiro growled and went after him harder.
"You seem angrier than usual," Lupin Red noticed, then chuckled, "Are you having a bad day?" He swung in front of the other two Patrangers just as Lupin Blue and Yellow arrived. The others quickly retrieved the piece of the Lupin collection from the gangler's safe.
Yellow, Blue, 2gou, and 3gou worked on fighting the gangler as 1gou pulled Red away to continue their fight.
"Blue, Yellow, our business is done here," Red ordered as he tried to grapple away but 1gou shot the cord making him fall.
"You're not going anywhere." Red tried to stand but Keiichiro pushed him down. He pulled out a pair of handcuffs, and got one hand cuffed before Blue and Yellow landed down and pushed 1gou away.
Red jumped up and slipped his hand out of the cuff, "I'd love to go with you, but I don't look good in handcuffs," Red chuckled and grappled off, "Adieu."
They arrived back at the bistro.
"You were going easy on him, Red," Umika accused, "I don't care if you like him or they are friendly to us, they are the enemy."
"I know they are. The gangler was defeated and we recovered another piece."
"We'll have to do more than just dodge to get their lupin pieces," Touma reminded.
"Yes, but for now we are still using them. Speaking of which, I heard you are going to the ball, Umika."
She rolled her eyes, "I wouldn't be if Touma didn't insist the bistro was closed."
"Good chance to get intel."
"Then why aren't you going?"
"I am, just not with a date. The theme is masquerade and I've already copied tickets to sneak in."
"Masquerade? They will realize who I am in no time."
"Don't wear yellow then," Touma decided.
"Plus, at least Sakuya is too into you to connect the dots."
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"Care to dance?" Kairi was dressed in black and purple with a purple mask on. His hair was styled different making him less recognizable.
"Uh, sure," Keiichiro was in a black suit with red accents and a red mask, "Do I know you?"
"Isn't that the fun of wearing the masks? Not knowing identities?" Kairi spun Keiichiro around before grabbing the other ranger's waist.
"With the Lupinrangers out there, I think it was poor taste that the police picked this theme."
Kairi lost himself to the music and staring at Keiichiro. He knew he shouldn't have even asked the other leader to dance but Kairi couldn't resist Keiichiro in a suit and mask.
"One more dance?" Keiichiro asked bringing Kairi back to focus.
"I guess I have time for one more," Lupin red grinned, "So why aren't you here with a date?"
"I need to put more focus into my job than dating."
"Doesn't sound like much fun."
"I had asked someone but he couldn't come."
"Do you like him?"
Keiichiro nodded, "I don't know when I fell for him, but it's hard to resist his charms."
"He'd be lucky to have you."
"He doesn't think so," Keiichiro spun Kairi around.
"Maybe he just has other things going on in his life that he doesn't want to drag you into," Kairi shrugged. He noticed the song coming to a close and he reached up and kissed Keiichiro. Keiichiro was surprised but gave in and kissed back. When he opened his eyes though, the mysterious man was gone.
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"Maybe Sakuya isn't terrible. But he's still our enemy," Umika walked next to Kairi.
"You couldn't even give in and have fun for one night?"
"I was gathering intel like I was supposed to. Unlike someone…"
"Just one fairytale night. We've been so focused on our mission, it doesn't hurt to take one night off."
"Are you serious? You know what getting the Lupin collection means, for all of us."
"I know, it's just…"
"Keiichiro is clouding your mind. Get yourself over him before you get us all into trouble," she entered the bistro and headed up to her room.
Kairi unpacked his jacket pockets of multiple cards and even a tape recorder. He had actually been busy, but Umika had only noticed his dancing with Keiichiro.
He listened to the tape over and over and wrote down anything he thought would be important. There was a surprising amount of talk about the ganglers.
When Umika came down stairs in the morning she noticed him asleep in a chair with notecards scattered on the table. She looked at a few of the cards and sighed. "Hey, Kairi," she shook his shoulder, "We are about to open."
He lifted his head and yawned, "I didn't mean to crash out here. I just wanted to get through all of this."
"Sorry I was scolding you last night, but I'll be scolding you even more if you don't clean this all up soon."
"I'm going to shower, then I'm following a lead."
"Are you really skipping work?"
"You told me to focus on the Lupin collection, didn't you?" Kairi smiled as he headed up the stairs.
When he was heading out to leave, the Patrangers were entering the building.
"Hey," Keiichiro greeted awkwardly.
"Hey, did you have fun at the ball?" Kairi asked.
"It was ok."
"Ok?" Sakuya interrupted, "You had a mysterious person swoop in, dance with you, and leave you with a kiss. It's out of a story book."
"Well, I don't even know who that was. Just one fairytale night. It means nothing."
"Of course you would write off something like that as nothing," Umika brought them their drinks. She then handed Kairi a piece of paper, "Get this stuff on your way back."
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"Looked like you had fun at the ball," a morphed Lupin Red greeted Keiichiro who was passing by.
Keiichiro looked up at the noise, "I knew masquerade as a bad theme. What did you guys do?"
"Danced. Got some intel. Danced. It was a party after all, had to have some fun."
Keiichiro pulled out his VS Changer.
"I'm not here to cause trouble, but it seems like you have a gangler working in the police force. I stole his collection piece last night, but I didn't plan on rushing into a police station to attack someone who looks human."
"What proof do you have? Why should I trust you?"
"Just look at it as an act of kindness. You want to defeat the ganglers, right?" Kairi threw a card at the other ranger. When Keiichiro looked up, Lupin Red was gone.
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"I can't believe there was a gangler hiding in the police force," Sakuya stated as he entered the Jurer.
"I can't believe you got information from a Lupinranger," Tsukasa pointed out.
"Well, this time things worked out, but I don't trust them."
"They do save a lot of people," Umika brought them their drinks. "Not justifying their actions, but they have destroyed quite a few ganglers."
"It doesn't matter, they are still thieves."
Kairi, who was sitting at the bar, took off his apron, "I'm going on break."
"You just had a break an hour ago," Umika complained.
He gave her a look then asked Touma, "I need another break, don't I?"
Touma glanced up from the stove, "Just don't be long."
Kairi grinned at Umika before leaving.
"He keeps leaving when I'm here," Keiichiro realized.
"I'm sure it has nothing to do with you. He's just lazy," Umika rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, give up on him and try to find your fairytale mystery," Sakuya reminded.
Keiichiro was about to respond but soon got a call, "We have a gangler situation."
Tsukasa handed Umika some money before running out the door.
When they arrived to the area, there were a lot of people hugging each other.
"What's going on?" Tsukasa wondered.
"Just sharing the love!" The gangler laughed.
"How is that evil…?" Sakuya wondered.
"If they are forced to love someone they don't want to, it's going against their heart's desires," Keiichiro responded.
"It has to be his Lupin piece," The Lupinrangers entered the scene.
Before they could morph or start attacking, the gangler hit the Patrangers with his love beam. "They'll fall in love with whatever they see first!" 2gou and 3gou saw each other and started hugging.
1gou noticed the Lupinrangers, and ran to hug Lupin Red.
"What are you doing? Get off me."
"I don't ever want to leave your side," Keiichiro begged.
Lupin Red sighed, "Blue, Yellow, please don't get hit. Get his collection piece. I'm going to get them to safety because they're useless like this."
Yellow laughed at the situation but both her and Blue quickly morphed.
"Come on." Keiichiro automatically followed Kairi who grabbed both Tsukasa and Sakuya and dragged them into a nearby building. They sat down with the two hugging each other and Keiichiro staring at Kairi.
"What?" Kairi wondered.
"You are cute."
"You can't even see my face."
"Still, the mask is cute."
"I wish I could record this as blackmail."
"Blackmail is cute."
"Is there anything that isn't cute?"
"Anything that isn't you."
"You need to stop. We are enemies. I'd only break your heart."
"You could join us. We could get you pardoned for your crimes if you help us fight the ganglers."
"Sounds nice, but you are only saying that because of the gangler's love spell."
"All we need is love, the rest will come together."
"I wish that were true."
"It is."
Kairi reached over and kissed Keiichiro, "I was the one who danced with you at the ball. Feel free to hate me more when you get the sense knocked into you."
"I could never hate you."
Kairi laughed and kissed Keiichiro on the forehead, "I wish we were on the same side. Things would be easier. But we aren't, so forget about me."
Kairi grappled off as he heard an explosion, figuring the Patranger's would be coming to their senses.
Keiichiro heard his two teammates, "Get off of me!" "That gangler is going to pay." He focused trying to fight through the fog of what had happened.
'I'd only break your heart.' Lupin red said that. Didn't Kairi say the same thing? 'I was the one who danced with you at the ball," Keiichiro hadn't had any idea who his mystery man was but he knew he felt sparks when they kissed. 'Maybe he just has other things going on in his life that he doesn't want to drag you into.' Wait… Are all three the same person? No. The gangler must have screwed with his mind. Though, the others had thought the Jurer crew was the Lupinrangers before. Had they found a way to trick the patrangers?
"Keiichiro, we need to go," Tsukasa pulled him back to focus.
"Right," he nodded, his mind formulating a plan.
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The Patrangers entered the Jurer which was packed with customers. Umika greeted them, but as Sakuya and Tsukasa sat down, Keiichiro went up to Kairi and kissed him. All of the other rangers just looked on in confusion. Kairi was surprised but gave in to the kiss. He felt a hand wrap around his side which he caught, just as it was uncovering his VS Changer. He pulled his shirt back over it and pulled away from the kiss. He smiled at Keiichiro and whispered, "Whether this is going to turn into a brawl or a make out session, I suggest we take it outside," he glanced at the customers. Keiichiro just nodded. Kairi grabbed his hand and waved at his friends before pulling Keiichiro out the door.
As soon as the door was closed, Keiichiro punched Kairi in the face, making him fall back.
"You were the guy at the ball, weren't you? And LupinRed?"
Kairi stood up against the side of the building, "I told you I'd just end up breaking your heart." He sighed as he noticed blood start to drip from his nose, "I'll give myself up if I have to, just leave my team alone."
"You three are the nicest people I know; I just don't understand."
Kairi moved to a nearby bench. He noticed his sweater had drops of blood already so he took it off, revealing a t-shirt underneath. He held the ruined sweater against his nose to try to stop the bleeding. It took a while, but Kairi explained how the Lupinrangers were formed.
"Do you think it will really work?" Keiichiro wondered.
Kairi shrugged, "We hope it does. We just want the people we care about and to take out the ganglers."
Keiichiro sighed as he looked up to the sky. He was about to start talking when Umika and Tsukasa came outside.
"I told you they were fine," Tsukasa showed.
"Kairi?" Umika asked.
"You have nothing to worry about. Just discussing some business," Kairi responded.
"What kind of business?" Umika squinted her eyes, "Don't forget what I warned you about."
Kairi sighed, "I know. It's too late now, I screwed up already."
Umika stepped toward Kairi and looked like she was about to slap him. Keiichiro caught her though, "Don't worry," he smiled, "You have customers to get back to, right?"
She glared at him before nodding and heading back inside. Tsukasa gave them all a confused look before following Umika.
Keiichiro sat next to Kairi, "The public loves the Lupinrangers. Maybe if we work together, the Patranger's will grow in popularity."
"I know you don't care about popularity."
"Well I do hate seeing the Lupinrangers plastered all over the newspapers. And it would get our bosses off of us."
"You know, even if you work with the Lupinrangers, they will still be plastered all over the newspapers."
"I'm trying to give a reason for me not to arrest you right now, don't push it."
"It also wouldn't look good if a police officer's boyfriend got arrested, would it?" Kairi kissed Keiichiro's cheek.
Keiichiro raised an eyebrow like he was going to question it, but then he just smirked, "I guess not."
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"I don't care if we are working together, you can't just give my team orders," Lupin Red told Patren 1gou.
"If you don't want to be arrested, you will listen to my orders."
"Sounds a lot like blackmail."
"You don't really have a choice."
"Then arrest me," Lupin Red held his hands out.
"You know I don't really want to."
"You say you want to uphold the law yet you refuse to do so once a pretty boy comes around. Where's your resolve?"
"Why are you pushing me? Do you really want to get arrested?"
"You know I don't, I just want to know where your heart really lies," Lupin Red grappled off.
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"Kairi, flower delivery for you," Umika called up the stairs.
He walked down, "Honestly thought I'd have to apologize first. We've not seen them in a week." He smelled the roses as he picked up the card attached.
"Kairi –
I shouldn't have expected you to change everything. It was wrong of me to want you to. I'd still like to work things out on that front, if possible.
As for where my heart lies – I'd liked you since I first stepped foot in the Jurer. I then fell for the mystery man who kissed me at the ball. Finding out they were one and the same was a surprise I never expected. Though I was upset about your secret, you are one of the best people I know. No matter how much I fight it, my heart lies with you.
Keiichiro"
Kairi grinned as he hid the note from the peaking Umika.
"You just better know what you are doing, we don't need more trouble," Touma reminded as he started setting up for the day.
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"These arrived for you while you were out," Hilltop motioned to the flowers on his desk.
Keiichiro picked up the note,
"Keii-chan,
Thank you muchly for the flowers.
I'd like to work something out, but just know we are dedicated to our goal. Even if I had to give up the goal for you, I can't do that to them. We made a pact and I intend to keep it. Let's try leaving work at work and not let it affect our relationship.
My heart lies with you too.
-Kairi
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"I don't understand why we didn't go after the Lupinrangers," Sakuya voiced as he entered the Jurer.
Tsukasa looked around making eye contact with the bistro workers, "I partially understand, though I am not sure why we don't have them arrested."
"Welcome," Umika greeted.
"We might be able to work things out another way," Keiichiro informed as he sat down, "And that's all you need to know right now."
"Bonjour," Kairi smiled as he brought them drinks.
"I'm not sure what you were fighting about but I'm glad we can come back here," Sakuya admitted, "A week without the Jurer was hard."
"I'm glad you find our food enjoyable. Or did you just miss seeing Umika?" Kairi joked.
When they were done with their meals, Keiichiro approached Kairi, "I like the idea of leaving work at work. There's a concert tonight, in the park, if you wanted to go?"
"I'd love to." Kairi kissed his cheek, "You don't have to be so nervous."
Keiichiro blushed, "You know I'm not used to this dating thing."
"It's ok," Kairi grabbed his hand, "I'm not either."
"You never seem nervous."
"I'm good at putting masks on," Kairi whispered.
Keiichiro rolled his eyes, "I can't believe you really just said that," he smirked, "I'll see you at 7."
"Adieu," Kairi laughed.
7 came around and Keiichiro entered the Jurer.
"Should I be in a suit too?" Kairi wondered looking down at his attire.
"You look great. I don't have a lot of casual clothes," Keiichiro admitted.
"We'll go shopping sometime," Kairi grabbed Keiichiro's arm.
"Have fun," Touma spoke as the two reds were exiting.
"Adieu!"
"Thank you for coming with me."
"Of course," Kairi smiled, "So what do you do for fun?"
"Outside of fighting ganglers? I like listening to music. I like to visit my mom and sister."
"Must be nice."
Keiichiro paused his walking, "I'm sorry."
Kairi pulled him along and smiled, "I'm used to it, even Umika and Touma go visit their families sometimes."
"Must be lonely not having anyone."
"My team is my family," Kairi admitted, "Plus I have your team as friends so it's not terrible."
"Well, hopefully you'll get your brother back," Keiichiro reminded, "but even then, I'll be here to make sure you aren't lonely."
"Such a gentleman," Kairi joked as they arrived at the concert. He just hoped that both of his desires, finding his brother and dating Keiichiro, wouldn't come in the way of each other.