(Kyuranger/Ninninger Crossover: Stinger/Kasumi) How I Wish I Could

AU Setting

How I wish I could really tell you the pain that I've kept inside me for a while ever since you decided to turn your back on us...

xxxxxx

Different worlds.

That was how it had always been. At least, Kasumi was thinking of such while staring outside the window of her laboratory. For some reason, she seemed to have adapted that habit whenever she would find herself zoning out.

Yes, it had been a while since she did such a thing. But this time, she knew she was doing it for a reason—-the one that she kept in her heart for quite a while now.

"Kasumi, we're about to head out. Are you coming with us?" asked one of her colleagues that decided to check on her, soon putting an abrupt end to her musings.

A sigh escaped Kasumi's lips as she averted her gaze from the window and towards her colleague who was waiting for her answer. In the end, she nodded. She was done with her work, anyway. At least for that day.

Upon making sure that she was able to take her things and put them in her bag, she stepped out of her lab and her other friends greeted her as she went out.

They went to the usual spots that they would go even when they were still in college. Those were some of their amazing times that they still do even when they were working as scientists now. She was happy—-truly, at that—-that she become one after all of her efforts.

But Kasumi fully knew that her dream didn't come true without a price. And a heavy one, at that. It was so heavy that even those who had always known her to be tough and strong would never realize that she'd crumble and cry when no one else could see it. The pain had always been too much for her to bear, and yet she still wanted to keep things to herself as to not cause trouble to others.

"Three years, huh?" Kasumi just smiled bitterly at the words she subconsciously uttered.

She soon halted to a stop and sighed to calm herself, trying her best to release the pain that was starting to build up inside of her. With one last heavy sigh, she looked around—-only to be surprised to know where she ended up with, without her knowing.

"How did I get here?" she only asked to herself as soon as she realized that she had reached the mini-amphitheater near the park.

It was one of the most unique traits of that place... and also the place which held her most painful memory.

But Kasumi could even stop herself, she noticed that tears began to build up on the brim of her eyes. Again...

Does she really have to go through this again? It was already happened a long time ago. Stinger would never come back to her. He already ended everything between them a long time ago. And yet the pain... had only intensified as years passed by.

"Even if I cry like this... you would never know all about this..."

Kasumi found herself sitting on one part of that mini-amphitheater and looked below. Towards the stage...

"Will I see you sing there once again?" But why did she still keep on wishing for something like this? It would not happen anymore. So there was no use.

Even so...

"Just once... let me see you again..."

Unknown to Kasumi, a young man carrying a guitar on his back was eyeing her with the same sadness that her eyes would exude.

It wasn't Stinger's intention to head to the mini-amphitheater right after his rehearsal for a live concert that would happen several weeks from now. But for some reason, he had the urge to head somewhere he could somehow clear his mind from all the thoughts that had been disturbing him for quite a while now. Heading there would surely open up an old wound, he was sure of that.

In the end, he still went there. To his surprise, though, it was empty. Or at least, he initially thought it was until his gaze landed on one part of the area that made his heart skip a beat.

"Kasumi..." Stinger could only utter at the sight of a familiar young woman with a melancholic aura exuding from her.

He would never mistake that figure for anyone else. Even if three years had already passed since that one heartbreaking time, he would never forget her.

But then again, it was his fault that he couldn't approach her now. He was the one who ended everything between him and Kasumi. He should live with that decision as soon as he did that. He did manage to live on—-quite normally, at that.

And yet, at the end of the day, that was when he would feel that melancholy. At so many points in those three years, he couldn't help uttering Kasumi's name just to relish some old feelings he still had for her.

Let's just stay like this... for now. There's no way I could ever face you again. Not when I know I won't be able to let you go again once I get to face you and approach you... With a heavy sigh, Stinger decided to leave the place.

Maybe for now, they weren't meant to see each other again even as strangers. But maybe something might happen beyond their control.

Maybe by then, both of them could find the closure that their hearts needed in order to be free from the pain they were both feeling from letting each other go.

xxxxxx

So, yeah. As you can see, I've separated the crossover fics I'm planning to write right after posting the last crossover fic on the first collection of Sentai one-shots. And it's been a while since I last a Sentai fanfic. That's all I can say.