Accidental Existence and Memories
A/N: the part in Dobutsu sentai where Hiromu, Ryuuji, Youko and J had to cease to exist made me really sad…sad especially for Hiromu and Youko whose relationship had to stop from existing too.
Don't read if you haven't watched Go-busters vs Dobutsu Sentai! (contains spoilers)
Their accidental existence was brought forth by the wish of one buddyroid who had been God's one millionth' client…
Green light continued to absorb the matter that was once filled by four heroes who were on their last life on earth. Albeit copies or products of accidental existence—their final glance on the original universe was grateful. With one blink, what befall them was void.
Yes, void. But the void was white.
Their physical life on earth was gone, but the spirit remained. Among the four, the blue and the gold's spirits were defragmented. The remaining red and yellow were to fade away—but theirs was slow.
The look on their faces was initially of shock—then of deep sadness. The red one tried to make a sound so as to comfort the yellow companion who was beginning feel the void in her heart.
"Youko—do you remember how we met?"
"Sou (yes). You hit my bike with Nick on our way to school."
Hiromu thought he heard his companion chuckled. It was a sweet sound so good to hear yet so painful in the heart.
"And then later in the morning, you became our student-teacher… Baka student-teacher who can't do his formulas right."
"You skipped my classes. You made me lose my balance because you said I was on your way. And then—"
"Vice Principal Kuroki picked you as red cheetah. And I was yellow rabbit. We fought many battles against Machine Empire. You were jealous at Green Hippopotamus because—"
Hiromu and Youko stared at each other with all regret. Void was already consuming their spirit form from downwards to up. It was soon catching its speed. Tears were swelling again from Youko's eyes. She fought the urge between choosing to play deaf or hear his declaration once more. She wished for the latter…no…she yearned for it. She patiently yearned while gazing bittersweet at Hiromu's eyes.
"because—I'm…in love…with you." Hiromu finished for her. He reciprocated the same regret by shedding tears. Though their physical forms were gone, Hiromu thought he felt his body shaking and he heard his heart beating fast. He can't breathe.
Youko reached his hand while being conscious of their legs being swallowed by the white void. He received it and gripped it tight.
"Hiromu—I'm glad that I've met you even for a short while. I don't regret loving you."
White void reached their waists. Their hands that were once entwined together were no longer seen. But Youko thought she could still feel the warmth of his hand on hers. In fact, he could still feel the same too.
"If you have one wish Youko, what would it be?"
The white void was increasing in its speed now. It finally reached their shoulders.
"…that even if we assume life in another world, accidentally or naturally—I wish to meet you again…and to fall in love with you again."
Satisfied by her answer, Hiromu uttered his final statement. "I love you Youko"
And was reciprocated by, "I love you too, Hiromu"
They smiled at each other for the last time. With this, their forms had completely vanished.
In the original universe…
Riiiiinnggg!
The alarm in Youko's room rang six. The light of the sun was creeping from the curtains. Youko was already sitting on her bed before Usada could do his usual routine of waking her up. It was only yesterday that they celebrated New Year together. It was also yesterday that they found out about the alternate universe and Dobutsu sentai gobusters. The Dobutsu sentai and their alternate universe had to cease to exist because Nick never had to die for the third time.
Youko felt feverish. Her temperature was rising and she found it hard to breathe. She put a palm on her face and felt something wet coming from her eyes. She frowned and buried her face on her pillow.
Her dream was so vivid and real that it made her feel that she was actually in the persona of Youko. She gazed at her right hand (the one that Youko used to hold Hiromu's hand) and felt a warm sensation coming from it. Could it be that her dream was real? Could it be that she actually held Hiromu's hand? She breathed hard and buried her face again on the pillow. This time, she cried even harder.
An hour had passed and Youko was still not present during breakfast. Hiromu and Ryuuji already had their full and were on their last part of their routine (consuming coffee). Ryuuji had noticed that Hiromu was silent all the time. The latter didn't also touch the latest edition of the EMC newsletter. He suspected that Nick told him everything about the alternate universe. But the truth was—Nick never told him anything, not even the part where Hiromu and Youko of the alternate universe were in an exclusive relationship.
Hiromu was staring blankly at the space. He didn't notice that he spilled coffee on the latest edition of the EMC newsletter. When Ryuuji uttered a surprising sound, Hiromu went back to his senses and said, "my bad". He grabbed the kitchen towel from a nearby nook and used it to absorb the spill on the newsletter.
Still, Ryuuji didn't bother to ask Hiromu of what he's thinking at the moment. That's how much he respected his personal space. But what he noticed unusually was of Hiromu taking glances at his left hand. He stared stealthily at Hiromu's face and was shocked to see an expression that he never saw before—
…that was, Hiromu's eyes were red and puffy.
At eight o'clock, Youko was still lying on her bed. Usada opened her door to check on her, but she likely fell asleep once more. The buddyroid thought that he had to let Youko sleep for more minutes because she needed rest from the battle they had yesterday.
It was true that Youko was asleep once more. Her door opened and a figure came inside.
Hiromu walked in silently and approached her bed. From his observations, it seemed that Youko had not slept properly. Her blanket was almost on the floor—exposing her yellow pajamas that Usada made. Hiromu took the blanket delicately and carefully tucked her in. When he was finished to cover her all up, Youko fidgeted. Hiromu's heart made a leap.
Youko moved again but she was still unconscious. Her right hand was exposed, as if reaching for someone to take it.
Without hesitation, Hiromu took her free hand and gripped it tight.
And as if Youko had the same dream again, she woke up quickly and sat on her bed. Her eyes were wide and her face was flushed than ever. She gazed at her right hand and felt the warm sensation being revived.
"Hiromu?—" She cried.
She looked around desperately, but no one was inside her room at the moment.
At 9 o'clock, Youko was found cleaning RH-03 outside the base. CB-01 and GT-02 were also lined up outside but their exteriors were already clean. She thought that maybe Hiromu and Ryuu-san were already done with their cleaning tasks.
She thought about Hiromu…
With only the wiping process left, Youko searched for the water tank to close the valve. Her right hand had almost reached the valve when another hand (a left hand) resurfaced to shut it down.
Their hands touched.
Youko looked up and saw Hiromu's equally surprised expression. But what she noticed unusually was Hiromu's red and puffy eyes.
Hiromu: "If you have one wish Youko, what would it be?"
Youko: "…that even if we assume life in another world, accidentally or naturally—I wish to meet you again…and to fall in love with you again."
"Ohayou" Hiromu greeted, so as to break the ice.
"Ohayou, Hiromu" She greeted back. Her tone was not only nostalgic to Hiromu's ears but also bittersweet.
Silence.
Hiromu had difficulty catching his breath. His red and puffy eyes were not helping. They're swelling up again. It was all because of a dream that he had that night. He dreamt that he was in the persona of Hiromu, who had a brief talk to Youko before vanishing from the void. That dream was personal and real that it had him crying most of the time.
"I've been waiting for you" he blurted out bluntly—his tone was in pain.
"Baka" was everything she could say. Her eyes revealed that she was crying all the time too. Tears formed and trickled down her flushed face.
Hiromu drew closer and landed his shaking hands on her shoulders. Without hesitation (since it's in his nature to be blunt), he asked the words,
"If you have one wish Youko…what would it be?" This was to clarify if his dream was the same with hers. He waited patiently—albeit anxiously—for her answer.
Youko replied nervously but surely, "…that even if we assume life in another world, accidentally or naturally—I wish to meet you again…and to fall in love with you again."
With this, Hiromu closed the gap between them by locking her in a tight embrace. They remained in that position for a while and not a single one of them wanted to let go.
From afar, Nick clapped silently and watched as the two were absorbed in their own world. The buddyroid blurted out happily, "We cannot change the past. The alternate universe was their past. They can only change the future. Hiromu and Youko-chan grabbed that future by themselves."
