A/N: So this was a request from That-girl-from-outer-space6 for one of her (and mine) favorite couples, MarvelousxLuka. There aren't really enough for them, are there? So love, I don't know if this is what you expected but I hope you enjoy it anyhow. And that goes for everyone else as well! :)
"This is getting repetitive," snarls Marvelous, using his Gokai sabre to block Basco's weapon. The other merely grins at him, aiming instead for Marvelous's abdomen.
"I thought you enjoyed it Marvy-chan," he says, sickeningly sweet. Marvelous frowns under his helmet and shoves Basco away, taking out his mobilate.
"Anyone ready to switch?" he calls out, taking a few steps backwards from Basco. He gets answering calls from the others as they agree.
"Boukenger anyone?" Gai kicks a gormin away from him as he raises his own transforming device.
"Let's do it," agrees Luka, taking out her ranger key. "Bouken yellow!"
"Do wait a moment," pleads Ahim as she transforms as well, avoiding the gormin going after her. The switch is done in an instant and he tosses her head. "Joe-san, shall we pair up?"
Joe nods, having morphed already and the blue and pink rangers quickly join hands. They have been training with a few new moves that they can only do when holding each other and now is a great time to test it out.
"Don-san, you too!" Gai grabs Don's arm before he can answer and drags him off to fight some more gormin as the green ranger (or black, as it were) protests weakly.
Marvelous and Luka glance at each other. "Together?" the leader asks and Luka nods.
"Together."
"You don't know what you've gotten yourself into," Marvelous tells Basco, who is simply smiling at them, guns held loosely at his sides.
"Oh but I think I do."
"It can't be, since you're attacking us in the middle of nowhere," points out Luka, gesturing around the barren valley. "I mean, it's better than the city but there's nothing out here."
"Or is there?" Basco raises an eyebrow and Marvelous sighs, annoyed.
"I hate your games."
"That's why I play them."
"I'm done with talking." Luka takes a swing at Basco with her bucket scoopers, which he easily dodges. He reaches for her belt, pulling out her suvrvi buster. "Oi! That's mine!"
"Was yours," the pirate corrects, twirling it around in his hands.
"Like we actually need it," Marvelous says, smirking behind his helmet.
Basco raises his eyebrows at the red ranger. "Getting cocky, are we? I may have rubbed off on you too much."
"He's nothing like you," spits out Luka, surprisingly fierce. Marvelous turns to her in surprise but the brunette doesn't notice as she charges again, exchanging blow after blow with Basco. He had been laughing but now he sees Luka is angry and his face hardens into a mask.
"You seem to be worked up about something," he comments, grabbing her arm and twisting it behind her.
Luka grits her teeth but jabs her other arm backwards, hitting him in the side harshly and he lets go. "I hadn't noticed."
"Was it because of what I said before?" Basco smiles and Luka feels her stomach twist violently. "I think Marvelous has become like me a little bit. Don't you agree Marvy-chan?"
"He's nothing like you," declares Luka, taking out her mobilate. She's had enough of this conversation. "Gokai change, Shinken yellow!"
"You are impatient, aren't you?"
Marvelous barges in this time, knowing as strong as Luka is, she's no match for Basco by herself. "You know who's annoying? You."
"At least I come clean with my feelings," replies Basco snidely and for a moment, Marvelous feels his heart drop. He can't possibly know…could he?
His eyes flicker to the girl beside him who's still as fired up as she was when they first started. But that's one of the things he loves most about her.
He doesn't really know if he's in love with her. It's…complicated. He knows he feels something more for the yellow Gokaiger but he's not sure exactly what it is. All he knows is, he doesn't want her to leave his side. Ever.
"You don't have any feelings anyway," retorts Luka, pulling her sword out. Basco's eyes darken for an instant.
"Harsh words, yellow."
"That's not her name," Marvelous says hotly, taking out his survi buster, still in Bouken form. Luka deserves much more respect than that. At least call her by her name. "And I'm done with you."
"Maybe I'm not done with you."
Basco lunges forward, catching Luka by surprise as he knocks her over, but she continues to spin, catching herself from falling. Basco then aims a kick to her knee but Marvelous stops it by grabbing Basco's silly coat and pulling him backwards.
"Marvy-chan, that was designer," the enemy pouts and Luka snorts. He looks ridiculous.
"I didn't realize you were so obsessed with brands," Marvelous answers, still feeling his fury from before. Basco couldn't know…no one could. He was just playing, is all. Just playing.
But why did it seem like he wasn't? Why did it seem like Basco could see straight through Marvelous and right into his heart.
His heart where his feelings for Luka so clearly are.
"How about we give you a new one?" suggests Luka, grinning beneath her helmet. "I can see it…Gokai-marked, right on his forehead."
"Splendid idea," Basco says icily. He shoots at Luka who rolls out of the way and for the next few minutes, all that can be heard are the sounds of fighting. Weapons clashing, heavy breathing, things hitting the ground hard.
"I'm so over this," Luka comments, catching her breath after being hit in the stomach.
"Good thing we're over too," Gai speaks up, appearing behind the two. They look back to see the others have defeated the gormin and are now awaiting instructions.
"Do you require our assistance?" Ahim inquires politely, back to her Gokai pink form.
"If you want." Marvelous shrugs and they all turn to look at Basco whose face has turned displeased. "Ready to go again, Basco?"
"Not now Marvy-chan." Basco fluffs the feather on his hat, getting some of his dignity back. "But don't worry, it won't be long." He lasers his gaze on Luka who has transformed to her original Gokai state. "By the way, you look nice in yellow…Luka."
"You-" is all Luka can get out before Basco winks and laughs, disappearing suddenly. Black smoke rushes by them and in a second, Basco is gone.
"I'm glad we're done with that," says Joe, powering done. The others do the same, Luka's cheeks a little pink from Basco's comment. Btu she passes it off as heat from fighting.
"Mou, that guy," she mutters, angry. "What did he mean by that?"
"Yeah, Luka-san looks good in everything," chimes in Gai but then Luka glares at him and his smile slowly fades. "Ano…"
"Luka-san is quite pretty," Ahim says sweetly. The yellow Gokaiger smiles back at her, pushing her anger to the back of her mind.
"Thank you Ahim."
"Why is she allowed to say it but I'm not?" pouts Gai. "Oi, Don-san, you trying saying it!" He pushes the green ranger forward whole gulps at Luka's expression.
"Ano, Luka, you…ano, you-"
"Drop it," Luka says breezily. "Come on, let's go back."
"You do look good in yellow though," Marvelous whispers quietly, a laugh in his voice as he passes by Luka, leaning down quickly. She turns to him in surprise but he is already walking ahead, a smirk on his lips.
"Mou, Marvelous!"
"Where's Luka?" Marvelous looks around the main room, searching for that head of auburn hair.
"Where do you think?" Joe takes a break from his sit ups to point up the stairs. "The crow's nest."
"She's always there anyway," points out Don, coming in from the kitchen and having overheard the other's conversation. "She really likes it."
"It is quite stunning up there," Ahim says, from the couch, continuing to knit. It's a habit she had picked up from seeing other humans do it and wanted to try it. "The diamond stars, the velvet night…it really is a beautiful sight."
"You are very good at describing things Ahim-san!" Gai bounds over to her and slides in the seat next to her. Ahim laughs lightly.
"Thank you, Gai."
As the others continue to talk, Marvelous slips out of the room quietly. He had noticed Luka had been careful not to use her right wrist at all since they came back. And it's highly unusual for her to do that so he suspects something's wrong.
He mounts the steps, making sure to keep quiet. He knows Luka will probably sense his presence anyway but it's not bad to try.
Peeking out of the doorway, he can see the back of her head as she counts the stars-a nightly habit of hers. But then he frowns as he hears a soft gasp of pain and Luka jerks her hand towards her chest.
Marvelous notices-she was counting them with her right. Her hurt wrist.
"How stupid are you?" he murmurs, coming to stand beside her. She flinches but doesn't give any other sign he startled her.
"You're going to have to be more specific."
"Your wrist-it's hurt."
Luka sucks in a breath before slowly blowing it out into the cool night air. "Not too much."
"But hurt enough to make you admit it."
A side of her mouth quirks. "Maybe."
"Let me." Marvelous doesn't wait for an answer before taking her wrist and rolling it around in his hand. Luka bites her lip to keep from protesting the pain as Marvelous's fingers gently prod it. Maybe in the beginning it didn't hurt as much, but now that he's touching it, the pain feels as if it has intensified by millions.
Suddenly there's a sliding click, a sharp pang of hurt that shoots quickly through her body that is then replaced by relief.
"Better?"
Luka looks up to see him smirking slightly and she nods. "Thanks." Noticing he's still holding her hand, she slides it out of his grip. Not wanting to admit to herself that she would've rather liked keeping it there.
Marvelous stares up at the night sky. Ahim wasn't kidding-it is pretty. He can't see particular shapes of stars-just small circles of bright light against the black sky. It's dark, not too dark as with the stars light, he can still see every lovely feature of Luka's face.
"How can you count stars every night?" he asks, genuinely curious. He wouldn't have the patience for it. And he's surprised that Luka does, being the person she is.
Luka shrugs. "It changes every night. They're always in different positions and such, which is interesting. I don't really know, it just…calms me, I guess."
Marvelous nods, letting his eyes dart over to her quickly. She's outlined by the starlight and it's beautiful.
"Can I ask you a question?"
"Hmm," hums Luka, slouching against the rail of the nest as she leans forward. The red ranger takes that as a yes.
"What got you so angry today?"
Luka freezes. So he had noticed her sudden change. "Just…just Basco being Basco, is all."
"Don't lie to me."
"I'm not."
"Luka..."
The yellow Gokaiger huffs. "Fine. It's just…I didn't want him comparing you to him. You're nothing alike and the fact he thinks so…I disagree. The fact he thinks you have something in common…I just didn't like that he thought you two were similar, okay?"
"Hmm."
"Hmm what?" Luka is suddenly a little anxious. Did she go too far? She is usually outspoken but maybe she crossed some line this time.
"What?"
"You were the one who said 'hmm'!"
"I didn't realize that was what upset you."
"So it's stupid." Luka frowns.
"I didn't say that."
"Sounds like it." She turns to leave but Marvelous blocks her, pushing her back against the railing. Almost forcefully. She's not scared but she is wary because Marvelous is leaning close to her and the small distance between them is uncomfortable.
She doesn't know if she would rather him move closer or pull away.
"What are you doing?" She narrows her eyes at him, not liking the conflicting war going on inside her. And of course, she thinks he will think she's angry at him when he's really annoyed at herself for even having such thoughts.
"You were going to leave."
"Because you think it's stupid."
"I think it's…nice."
Luka is prepared to battle against Marvelous but when he says that, she freezes and looks at him questioningly. "What?"
Marvelous shrugs. "It's nice that you get mad over something like that. Something that the others didn't even notice."
"They don't notice you like I do." Did I really just say that?
One side of Marvelous's mouth quirks. "Is that so?"
Luka shifts, uncomfortable. Marvelous is still standing very close to her, trapping her in between his arms. It's not the worst situation she could be in but she really does wish she didn't talk as much. Why can't she have more restraint over her mouth?
"What do you think?" is her snappy reply instead.
Marvelous leans closer to her. In all actuality, he's quite touched that something as trivial as that would make her angry.
It makes him mad, of course, because he feels like he is turning into Basco. He doesn't want to be anything like him but as they days have passed, he can almost find himself doing small things like Basoc did. And he hates it. He doesn't want to be a traitor like that. Not to his crew, his friends. They deserve better than that. They deserve him.
"I think you're right."
Their lips touch only slightly but the sparks shooting through them last much longer, much bolder and brighter than they would have thought.
Luka is frozen, as Gokaired pulls away. She already misses the warmth, even if it was only for a second.
Marvelous is looking down at her, the barest trace of a smirk on his lips. Luka's eyes are shining like the stars above and Marvelous finds if he could look at these stars ever night, he would have no regrets.
"What comes before stars?" he asks her casually, like they didn't just kiss and changing the subject drastically.
Luka blinks, a little confused. "Ano…something like a sunset?"
"I've always been at my happiest when watching the sunset," says Marvelous thoughtfully. "But now, I think I've found it in something else."
"What's that?" Luka asks faintly, captivated by Marvelous's deep eyes.
"Counting the stars with you."