Disclaimer: Toei's, not mine

Notes: Spoilers for the end of the series. This will be Domon X Sion at some point, but the canon pairings will be in here.

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It was always the same. After making sure all of the kids at the pre-school had gone home, Kijima Daichi would grab a bite to eat with a female co-worker about his age, Takasugi Asuka, before they went back to their respective apartments for the night. It was a tradition between the two of them that hadn't changed since he'd started the job, and he honestly believed that there wasn't anything that could change it... but then again, that could be said about pretty much everything in his life. Nothing unexpected or frightening ever happened to him, and if Daichi had his way, it never would. He knew some people would get bored-- Asuka never stopped complaining-- but he didn't mind. He had the kids at the school and he had his grandfather, so he didn't need some any sort of changes to liven up his life-- and seeing how those same changes could take all that away from him, he didn't want it. If changes and choices meant he had to wonder about what would happen tomorrow or if his choices were the right ones... no, he'd rather live out a boring life in peace. Let other people worry about things like that.

"You worried about something?"

Daichi stirred a spoonful of sugar into his coffee. "What makes you say that?"

Asuka waved a hand vaguely. "You keep looking around like you're expecting someone to jump out at you." She raised an eyebrow. "Are you?"

"What? No, of course not. It's just--" he leaned down and motioned for her to do the same. Once she had, he continued in a hushed tone. "You see those students in the back?"

"Yeah, they're here everyday. What about them?"

"That one on the right... I think he's looking at me." They looked in the aforementioned student's direction, a teenage boy who looked as if he'd never seen a comb in his life, and sure enough, he was looking back at them. Face bright red (most likely because he knew he'd been found out), he immediately turned away and laughed a little too loudly as something one of his friends had commented on.

"See what I mean?" Daichi's fingers drummed the surface of the rickety old table nervously. "He's been doing that since we got here."

Asuka shrugged. "Maybe he likes you."

"Your own, uniquely lame attempt at humor aside... no. It's more than that." He paused, trying to think of a way to explain it that sounded right (or at least didn't make him sound completely insane). "I can't shake the feeling that he has a reason to keep sneaking looks at me." He didn't add the part that he somehow knew that whatever the reason was, it was a good one.

Asuka shrugged again. "Maybe you like him back."

Daichi fought the urge to bang his head against the table, but just barely. "Look, it's creeping me out to no end, okay?"

His co-worker let out a long-suffering sigh as she stood up. "What you mean is that it's not fitting into the unchanging world you've worked so hard to build for yourself."

"That's not--"

"So once again, it's up to me to try and get you to do something outside your comfort zone." With a wink, she added, "Be right back."

Daichi watched as she made her way to the high school students. She wouldn't. Not even Asuka would go this far.

"Hi," Asuka began as she smiled at the messy-haired kid the same way she did when their kids showed up in the morning. "I'm the owner, and we're trying out a new blend of coffee." She plucked him out of his chair and dragged him in Daichi's direction. "My friend here already tried a sample, I was hoping you would as well? There you go, isn't that nice? Well, I'll let you two discuss this bold yet nostalgic new taste that will no doubt leave you coming back for more in peace." She then disappeared into the crowd, but not before leaning down to whisper in Daichi's ear.

"At least tell him your name, doofus."

Daichi half-stood, looking around frantically, hoping to find out where the hell Asuka had gone so he could get her to fix this... until he caught a glimpse of the messy-haired kid, who looked like he was deciding whether to run for it or hide under the table.

"Listen, I'm sorry... her name's Asuka, she works with me at the pre-school nearby. Sometimes I think she chose the job so she can be with people on her level of mental maturity." Daichi cleared his throat. "But, yeah. I am very sorry for what she put you through."

"No, I'm sorry." The teenager bowed slightly. "It was rude of me to stare."

"Well, you must have had a reason, right?"

The student looked at him in such a way that Daichi began wondering if he had said something wrong... but then he smiled. Just a little, but it was there.

"Yes. I suppose I did."

They were both quiet as Daichi wondered what would be a good way to ask him what the reason was (or if he even wanted to know anymore), but was interrupted when a schoolmate from the other table said they were about to go, so hurry up or they'd go without him. To Daichi's surprise, the kid who had obviously wanted to be anyplace else a few minutes ago seemed almost reluctant to go.

"Don't worry about me. I'm about to go home myself." The kid smiled and bowed again as he rejoined his group.

... He didn't want to do it, the day was enough of a mess already, but if he didn't Asuka would find out somehow and never forgive him...

"I'm Kijima Daichi." It'd come out as an outburst, and he shrugged helplessly as the kid looked back at him in understandable confusion. "Just so you know."

He smiled at him. "I'm Midorikawa Shin. It was nice to meet you, Daichi-san."

And then he... and then Shin was gone, leaving Daichi alone to deal with the new change in his life.

--

Author's Notes: This was actually going to be about twice as long, including events that would have started the plot. But considering my cracked-out idea for this fic (and that I'd have a prologue that was well over two thousand words), I decided to introduce the main characters first and then start the plot.

Also, since Daichi and Shin aren't really Domon and Sion (or are they? P), their characters are/will be a little different, although I'll try to stay true to the spirit of the Timerangers. I tried demonstrating this with Daichi's actions in the fic, but I'm not sure if it works.