A/N: So this is just some fluffy TakeruxMako I wrote for practice for a bigger story I'm writing containing two Super Sentai. It would really be appreciated if I could get constructive criticism by you guys pressing that Review button :D

It was time. As Takeru Shiba climbed the stairs shrouded by nightfall, his signature blue gi on, he tried to move stealthily careful not to awake his sleeping retainers in the house nearby. Every night it would be the same, ShinkenRed would flee under the cover of nightfall to the training grounds at the top of the mountain, practicing god-knows-what that would force him to train in solitude. Since the Gedoushuu were gone, what point was it to have an even greater power when they won with their current strength?

When the 19th head of the Shiba Clan reached the top, he pulled a disk from the inside of his gi and stared at it hard. The Shin ShiShi Disk. Takeru had the honor of piloting the ShiShi Origami, yet what was this disk he held in his hands? Shin was the title used when the Shinkengers used an attack aided by the Inroumaru, so is this an advanced disk of a previous one?

Although Takeru always checked to see if all his retainers were asleep before making his way up here, he couldn't have deducted that Mako Shiraishi, ShinkenPink, was wide awake in her room, all too knowing where her lord was. He was there.

Their first night back with their lord, the vassals noticed he wasn't in bed at the time he was when they were battling the Gedoushuu; if anything, they never saw him go to sleep since they returned. Mako, as well as the others, returned from their lives away each other to spend the last two-weeks of summer together, forcing the bond between them to not die out. Yet, the first week they were there, Takeru seemed to be withdrawn from them like he was when they first met.

It was strange, the previous days at the mansion, Takeru would have meals with his vassals as always, but he was always covered in scorch marks. When questioned, he would just reply with a "It was training, no big deal." Well, he wasn't lying, he was training, but pushing yourself way above your limits is not training in Mako's opinion.

He was hiding something, and tonight, Mako was going to find out what it was.

She knew that Takeru checked on them, hoping none were awake so he could go to top of the mountain and kill himself trying to get stronger. So, when Takeru slid Mako's door slightly open, she lay in her bed, her back turned to Takeru. In reality, the second Takeru closed her door, she sat up and moved to her window, watching Takeru ascend the steps to the top.

As Mako, clad in a pink nightgown, looked out the window located in the back of her room, her eyes saw the unmistakeable glow of Takeru transforming into ShinkenRed.

That's it, she's finding out what he's doing tonight.

ShinkenPink threw on a light jacket and made her way out the mansion and up the stairs to the training grounds. When she reached the top, she was thankful that Takeru's back was turned to her as he faced the other way in his ShinkenRed uniform, ShinkenMaru resting on his shoulder as he stood in his signature stance. Mako swiftly crouched behind a nearby rock, careful not to let her presence known.

And then she saw it.

Mako saw her lord take out the Inroumaru, place the Super Disk inside, and transform into Super ShinkenRed. He then attached the Inroumaru to his ShinkenMaru and took from his belt buckle a disk Mako had never seen before.

The disk had ShinkenRed's origami, ShiShi origami, on it running as usual. But, it was darker in color, and behind every frame, was the kanji for fire, ShinkenRed's element. When he placed the disk in the Inroumaru, Mako heard him say,

"Shin ShiShi Disk."

Shin ShiShi? She also knew Shin was the title given to all the enhanced disks they used with Inroumaru, so, this is an enhanced disk? So that's what Takeru's trying to master. When Mako saw her lord's arms raise the ShinkenMaru in the sky, the next moment she blinked, he was across the training ground, his weapon in the place it would be if he just slashed down.

"That's enough for the warm-up. Now for what I came here for."

When Mako heard, "warm-up" she couldn't believe her ears. How much training could Takeru do in the few months his retainers were gone? She saw Takeru turn around and raise his arms to the sky once more, so she crouched down lower behind the rock. She couldn't see anything for him position, but she heard a hum gradually getting louder followed by the grunts of pain from Takeru, and then...

The explosion of Mojikara.

She looked up slightly to see her lord on the ground a few feet away from his smoking ShinkenMaru. Under normal circumstances, a blast from a Mojikara attack wouldn't force anyone out of Super Shinken Mode. Then again, these weren't normal circumstances.

Takeru forced himself to his feet, and again lifted his sword, the Inroumaru humming once more. Mako could hear the sizzling of skin, the flare of fire, and the shouts of pain. All of them hurt her heart immensely to listen to. With a small boom, Takeru once again flew back dropping the ShinkenMaru, again sizzling.

ShinkenRed crawled to his weapon and repeated the process again, again, and another time after that. Mako could hear the repetitive boom of the failed attack, and the thud of Takeru. Shortly after she would hear him crawling on the ground, each time getting weaker and weaker. It was when she didn't hear the sound of him crushing rocks between his fingers, inching towards his weapon, when she felt a pang of fear go through her.

She looked up from behind her rock, and saw Takeru on the ground with his eyes closed, skin charred and barely breathing.

"Takeru!" She yelled in distress.

Mako ran to her lord and turned him on his back to get a better view of his wounded figure. His gi was torn with burn marks on his chest shown by the space in the gi. She place her hand on his neck, feeling for a pulse. When she didn't feel one, however, she couldn't stop the tears spilling out of her eyes.

"Takeru! Wake up!" She screeched.

She shook him, continually screaming for him to open his dark eyes and wake up. She continued to scream, alternating between his name and cries for help. It wasn't until the Kuroko came for their lord and pried her from his unmoving body when her screams had turned into a hybrid between screeches and cries as tears waterfalled down her face. As she watched the Kuroko carry Takeru's limpless body, she could only think that her beloved Tono was gone.

Mako stood by Takeru's doorway as the other Shinkengers paced back and forth behind her, worry written on all their faces. When the doctor Kuroko slid the door open, the Shinkengers wasted no time in rampaging into the room where their injured lord lay. As Mako and the others all sat around a semi-conscious Takeru, the Kuroko who was in charge of treating Takeru's wounds, handed Ryuunosuke a letter which he read out loud.

"The Tono-sama will be just fine. 1St and 2nd degree burns. Someone will need to apply cold water to burned areas routinely."

"That'll be me." Mako announced. The others only nodded their agreement. Mako was always the mother-hen of the group, while Takeru was sort of the father figure for them. It just... matched.

Just then, the five vassals heard a light, weak, voice.

"M-Mako.." Takeru muttered. He gently half-opened his eyes when he saw his vassals looking down at him. "Can.. you guys leave?" Mako turned to the others and nodded, telling them that they could sleep knowing that their lord was in good hands.

As soon as the four left the room, Mako slid the doors closed and made her way to the bucket of cold water and the towel the Kuroko left behind. She quickly made the towel damp and moved toward the weak form of Takeru. He was currently wrapped in tight blankets that covered his burns from the treatment that he needed to be given. Mako gently took off the blankets leaving her to see the sight of her shirtless lord with burns adorning his torso.

"This may sting a little." She said with a soothing voice.

Mako placed the cold towel on Takeru's bare chest and pressed down with delicate fingers, Takeru wincing at her action. As she moved the towel lower on his abdomen, she felt the hard-earned abs beneath the towel under her hands. Mako unconsciously pressed a little harder on his abs, feeling the results of years of training. Her constant pressing caused Takeru to let out a shout of pain to which Mako backed away from him.

When she focused on Takeru once more, she noticed he was shaking uncontrollably, mumbling incoherent words. She quickly moved toward him, taking his head in her hands forcing him to look at her as she stroked his hair saying,

"Shh, Look at me, Look at me." Mako was not unlike a mother consoling her son after a nightmare.

She continued to stroke Takeru's hair shushing him over and over until his body stopped shaking. What shocked Mako, was that Takeru wrapped his arms around her body, pulling her closer for comfort to which she complied by wrapping her arms around his head, pulling him into her chest as she continued to stroke his hair.

"Gommen..." Takeru mumbled into her as he felt her steady heartbeat.

"Shh. Go to sleep." Takeru slowly nodded and leaned back down into his pillow as Mako finished Takeru's treatment.

By the time Mako had finished, Takeru was fast asleep under the covers and comfort of his bed. As Mako damped a towel for his forehead, she glanced back at Takeru's asleep form. She made her way over to him and before she placed the towel on him, she slowly leaned down and planted her lips on his forehead, whispering,

"Please, get better."

The next morning, Takeru's eyes weakly opened, feeling the sharp pain of just this simple task. Located on a small table across the room, was his Shodophone, Inroumaru, and all his disks, including the Shin ShiShi disk. Takeru made to take the blanket off, but as he did, Mako entered his room carrying a tray of food, looking down at him with concerning eyes.

"How are you feeling?"

Takeru nodded his head slightly, looking away from her.

"Give the Kuroko who tended to my wounds my thanks." He stated bluntly.

Mako bit her lip as she replied, "I did it."

It was then when Takeru looked at her with eyes of confusion. He then realized that under the blankets.. he was shirtless; did Mako tend to the wounds on his chest as well?

"You don't remember anything?" She asked, sadness and relief covering her words.

She hoped he hadn't remembered the part where she inadvertently caused him pain by pressing down on his abs, but she also hoped that he remembered the part when she held him close comforting his pain.

So when Takeru shook his head no, she felt kind of sad. But it wasn't that time right now, she placed the tray on Takeru's lap and slowly helped him sit up. Mako could easily see that the simple task of sitting up caused him pain. As Takeru was brought up, the blanket slipped off him, exposing his bare chest, much to his embarrassment.

"Sorry." Takeru apologized.

Mako shook her head, thinking nothing of it, when Takeru's hand slowly moved toward the tray of food. ShinkenPink gently took his hand in her own when he looked into her eyes, his coated in curiosity. She slowly shook her head, and Takeru's hand slowly retreated back to his side. Mako then took a rice ball from the tray into her hands and brought it to her lord's mouth.

"Open." She stated. Takeru opened his mouth and took a bite, flavor coursing through his mouth.

"It's good. The Kuroko have gotten better."

Mako could only respond with a smile on her face as she said, "I made it."

When Takeru's eyes widened, Mako couldn't stop a small giggle that escaped her mouth.

"Mako, maybe you should become a Kuroko instead of a samurai." Takeru joked, a smile on both of their faces.

The next hour went by with Mako feeding Takeru and then placing cold water on his wounds once more. It was when Mako was drying the towel that Takeru spoke.

"Ehh, Mako?" When she turned to face him, he continued, "Thank you." Mako nodded at his thanks and turned once more to place the towel on the bucket. When she made her way across Takeru's room and to the exit, he stopped her with his voice. "Can I.. Can you do what you did last night?"

At first, Mako was confused at his request. Then she remembered. Before leaving Takeru the night before, she placed a small kiss on his head, thinking he was asleep. He wasn't. Mako's cheeks became a tint of pink as the floor suddenly became very interesting.

"Please?" He asked.

Mako slowly nodded, making her way to Takeru as she got down on her knees beside him. She then again placed a small kiss on his forehead as he closed his eyes.

"Thank you."

Mako nodded as she made her way out of his room. When she was gone, she let the smile that was covered by embarrassment fully grow, as inside the room Takeru did as well.

Yes, her Tono was a handful at sometimes, but he was her Tono.