~What happens when Hiromu and Youko go on patrol together~
~•~
The atmosphere in the black car was awkward, to say the least. Youko, sitting in the passenger seat since she was too young for a driver's license and had no time to get one anyway. Hiromu, seated in the driver's seat, concentrating solely on driving considering that he always used Nick when on patrols, so his driving skills were a bit lacking.
Of course, he would have opted for Nick any day, but the thought of Youko holding onto him from the backseat for 20 minutes or more was a bit overwhelming. Thankfully, it was the same for Youko, but she was much more expressive about it. By expressive, he meant begging for a solid 5 minutes for the car and promising not to bug him while driving at all. And of course, he obliged.
Youko was keeping to her word surprisingly well, though her pack of snacks was almost half empty from the 5 minutes they've been out. Usually, Hiromu wouldn't mind the silence, but silence from the hot-headed child besides him seemed a bit off.
"See anything yet?" He simply asked. From the corner of his eye he saw her freeze for a split second before opening her mouth.
"If I saw anything, I would've told you by now." She sharply replied, with her head a bit too high.
"Yeah, but last time you were on patrol with Ryuji, you completely miss-" Before Hiromu could finish, her hand smacked onto his mouth. He flinched away and gave Youko an accusing look instead.
"Don't bring that up, siscon!" He rolled his eyes at her childish nickname for him that she brought up whenever she started to get defensive. He quickly grabbed her wrist and pried her hand off his mouth before gripping the driving wheel again.
"But it happened cause you were careless and weren't aware of your surroundings-"
"SHUT UP!" Youko felt the irritation she always felt whenever Hiromu started his blunt scolding with her about how she could improve and what not. Like her heart wanted to pump out of her chest, and her face went red like a tomato. It was hard to deal with him everyday.
Hiromu was about to retort, but thought better of it and decided to leave it be for now. Instead, he changed the subject to something that hopefully won't provoke her.
"How's Tategami Lioh?" He asked, slowing down at a red light.
"You are really talkative today, you know that?" Youko pointed out with furrowed eyebrows.
"I'm just trying to save the dying atmosphere in here." He replied, looking over to her like it was obvious. She scoffed in response and rolled her eyes, taking an angry bite out of her chocolate bar.
"Tategami Lioh is good, actually, he's amazing." Youko said. "The zords we can make with him are better than the ones we make with YOU." She added, crossing her arms with her chin raised.
"Yeah, but I'M better at driving him." Hiromu argued back, with widened eyes and a thumb pointing at himself.
"Not when you see a chic- you know what!"
"That was once!"
"It was a cartoon!"
"But it was still a- you know what, forget it." He said, retreating out of the argument, knowing that he couldn't win and that Youko knew that. She smiled with triumph and looked ahead with a gaze of irritating joy.
It grew quiet again in the car. Youko had torn the wrapper of yet another candy and bit into it. Hiromu was a bit too intent on driving as perfectly as he could, checking the road, and maintaining the speed of 45 miles per hour at all times.
Finally, a voice broke the silence. This time, it was Youko.
"Tategami Lioh could never replace you though, Hiromu." She said in a quiet voice, so quiet that he nearly missed it. But he didn't, and he had to force his mouth to stay in a neutral frown, and for his eyes to not light up with excitement.
"Oh gosh, did Usami Youko just compliment me?" He teased. I'm so stupid, he told himself, you're supposed to say thank you, not 'oh gosh, did Usami Youko just compliment me?'
His response caused her to cross her arms and pout.
"I hate you."
"I like you."
It took a few seconds for those words to register into her brain, for in a million years, she never thought Sakurada Hiromu would say those words. To her.
Youko's set jaw relaxed, nearly hanging open. Her crossed arms unhinged, and she slowly turned her head toward the man who had just blurted out his true feelings in the matter of seconds. Even Hiromu was shocked by his words, and his foot accidentally hit the brake, causing the car to suddenly stop.
But her eyes were still on Hiromu. Waiting. Waiting for an explanation, any explanation. 'Oh, I was just joking, but you didn't seem to get it, sorry.' She was sure it would go something like that. She was sure.
But, as the moments passed, silence still engulfed the black patrol car. Soon enough, Youko couldn't keep her mouth shut any more, and broke the lingering quiet.
"T-that was a mistake, right? You got too into the argument, a-and just blurted that out, right?" She asked desperately, trying to pry the answer that she wanted out of him.
Hiromu merely nodded absent-mindedly without a word, with his eyes dead set on the road. Youko was satisfied enough. Even though there was a feeling in her stomach. One that said that that's the wrong answer. She pushed it away.
"Youko?"
"Yes?"
"I think I actually like you."
A/N: Hello, it's me with my first fanfiction! This is my first time writing freely so it may be a bit messy and rough but hope you enjoyed it as much as you can. I may or may not write a part 2, depends. Anyway, don't forget to request if you like, and au revoir for now!