This is my first Dekaranger fic so please bear with me... it's Hoji/Jasmine. And by the way, I'm just assuming that Hoji is 25.
This is something like an AU, and the whole thing would (hopefully) start to make sense once I drop in the flashback. However, please do drop in reviews and suggestions.
By the way, if you want me to do any pairings, PM me or drop a review.
Hoji sat there, his head in his hands. His life had been crushed ten years ago, on this day. He was not like Tetsu, carefree, perfectly fine. He wished he was. But night had fallen on his life that very night when his parents had been murdered in front of him. The sunrise never came.
No one knew anything about Hoji except his name, his rank, his age and a few of his skills. They knew the superficial details, but not everything. If they knew him as he was, over ten years before, they would have been shocked at the change. Hoji never truly smiled. Not since his parents had been killed. By Sucubus.
"Hoji-san?" He looked up just to see a very concerned Jasmine standing in front of him.
"Are you all right? You look pale. Mission exhaustion?"
"No, I'm fine. Just-" Hoji was cut off by the sirens. Good. It saved him the pointless hurt of having to relive his horrible past by telling it again.
As Hoji ran towards DekaRoom, he suddenly felt a cold draft in the corridors. A pair of eyes watched him, noticing his unusual behaviour.
"What's wrong with him?" Tetsu muttered. He was determined to find out.
*~*
"Aburera has somehow assembled an army of Alienizers. They are wrecking the city. I hope you know what to do." Even Kruger seemed a little out of character.
"Roger!" As all of them filed out, Hoji felt a little sting in his eyes and his vision swam. Ignoring it, he morphed. There was no point letting the other Dekas see him cry. After all, he hadn't cried in years. Why should he now?
"Those pesky Dekarangers are coming AGAIN. Get ready. " Aburera didn't seem very surprised. After all, the Dekarangers always came. But now was the time to hit at their weak spot, which was very well hidden. DekaBlue. If Sucubus made him crack just a little more than what he could take, the Dekas would have a disabled second-in-command. Now as to how to get Sucubus to recognise the young man who had fought against her because she had killed his parents...he had a plan. As his apprentice liked to say, he made no mistakes. None at all.
"You know, that one down there, second row fifth column, with the nine antennae, he looks pretty cute." Everyone rolled his or her eyes. Just like Umeko to analyse the 'cute factor' of Alienizers when they were supposed to be fighting them.
"Fine, then you can take him out. Oh, while you're at it, take out the other ninety-nine while we go for lunch." Ban couldn't help but take a crack at her.
"Shut up, you two. Let's go." Everyone was shocked. Hoji usually wasn't so rude, even to Ban.
One by one, the Alienizers fell. Now there seemed to be none left. Suddenly, one more landed in front of them.
"Sucubus!" Hoji's voice seemed to hold fury that scared the others. Suddenly, their SP Licenses just emitted sparks and failed. They demorphed instantly.
"Ah! It's you. How is your sister?" Sucubus wanted the challenge. The last time she had fought Hoji, she had fought because of the double satisfaction of winning the fight first and then...
Hoji glared at Sucubus. How dare she taunt him about Miwa? He had been practicing for this day for ten years.
"Come and fight me, DekaBlue. I will kill you first, before killing your sister in front of you the way I did your parents." That was the final straw. Hoji snatched a laser stick (AU: Something like a lightsaber in Star Wars) and ignited it as he ran towards Sucubus. Today he would take revenge for everything that Sucubus had taken from him.
Laughing, Sucubus angled her blade. This was going to be too easy. Aburera had given her advice on how to make DekaBlue err in the fight. She just had to keep taunting him.
"So, you want to die too. I'm not surprised."
"By the way, Sucubus, how do you like that lightning scar on your face? Nice memento of the fight, isn't it?" Hoji sneered. Two could play at Sucubus' game. He laughed as Sucubus snarled and slashed at him. No big deal. He just sidestepped the blow. As the fight continued, Sucubus continued taunting him about how useless he was, how he had failed to save his loved ones when they needed him. Hoji only had the taunt about what he had done to her looks and it wouldn't work twice. However, maybe a taunt about what his parents had done might work...
"You must be really useless in sword-fighting too, or else my father wouldn't have been able to hit you so hard that you need that ridiculous regeneration suit for protection." Sucubus roared and slashed at Hoji hard before vanishing. Despite knowing that they were just facts which he had long come to terms with (or so he thought), Hoji was severely shaken by her taunts. The barriers he had built to stop those memories from haunting him were falling down all around him.
On the way back to DekaBase, Hoji didn't say a word. He was trying to figure out what he could do to stop the memories from killing him again. The others were still trying to figure out what Sucubus meant.
In the Aim Training Room, Tetsu thought of his parents. Genio had killed them in cold blood, but the Special Police had arrived before Genio could harm him. His social worker had said, "One day you will meet someone who can understand, who has seen this happen to his own parents. Then you might become friends. But his experience might be worse."
Tetsu didn't notice Hoji enter the Aim Training Room. However, he felt a pair of hands start adjusting his position.
"Ninety degrees, elbow locked, spine straight, left foot pointing forward, right foot forty-five degrees away. Seriously. Sometimes I wonder how you passed the Tokukyou exam. Keep your position straight. If you hunch, you'll miss." Tetsu heard Hoji's voice as he felt Hoji help him adjust his position. He just hoped Hoji didn't look at the counter...
"Hm...You've been in here an hour and you've only scored two? Impressive. They should consider kicking you out of the Tokukyou." Hoji tried to hide the shock at the score, but failed miserably.
"I'm sorry, I'm just...just thinking about my parents. What they would be like if they were still here." He felt Hoji's grip suddenly tighten on his arm.
"Ouch, buddy, ouch. Let go. Any tighter and my bones will break."
"Sorry." Tetsu could detect the clench in Hoji's voice. Well, everyone could, for it was extremely obvious.
As Hoji walked out, Tetsu had the feeling that Hoji was hiding something. Just then, he noticed something silver on the floor. It was a locket. As Tetsu opened it, he sort of understood what was extraordinary about this locket, why it somehow seemed to give off an aura of sadness and death.
Instead of a photo in each of its two windows, the left window contained a burnt wooden fragment and the right window contained a bloodstained scrap of metal. But from its aged look, Tetsu could see that this wasn't just any locket. He somehow felt its origin.
This one had seen the worst of the horrors of the Alienizers' invasion that had hit Earth. The murders of someone close to its owner, the loss of part of its owner. (Cliffhanger...)
Ten years ago.