AN: Yes yes… new story… Although, I've never written a Super Sentai fic before. Exciting, lol. Anyway, please let me know what you think of it so far.

Disclaimer: No, I do not own DekaRanger… unfortunately.

Chapter 1

He was there again… always there, whenever she needed him, no matter what. He could be in the middle of something, and he would still come for her, still protect her, still comfort her, whatever she needed. He never let her down. She remembered back to when she'd first realized she loved the man. He had cared so deeply for her, protected her. He hadn't wanted her to know the truth, but she knew. She had overheard them talking, and while the truth hurt, the truth that the man she thought loved her was only using her, he had been there for her. He had taken away all that hurt in just one night. Allowing her to cry upon him like he had, allowing her the chance to show her weak side, letting her know that it was okay, he had helped her wash away all that pain.

This time he was here because she had failed a mission. He was there, comforting her, telling her it wasn't her fault. But she still felt like it was. She still felt like a complete failure. They had lost an innocent today and it was all her fault. If she hadn't of been so careless, none of this would have happened. She cried upon his shoulder, his arms draped around her loosely. He patted her on the back, whispering comforting words to her. "It's alright."

It only reminded her of how much she truly loved this man, yet she couldn't tell him. She could never confess to him. She knew he didn't love her back. She knew he only saw her as a friend, a partner. There was nothing there telling her that he loved her back. But that was okay. She was okay with that. As long as she could have him by her side, she was content.

Finally, after some time, her sobs ceased. She pulled away and wiped what remaining tears she had. Staring up at him she flashed her usual cheerful smile. He could tell she was already back to her normal self. It never took long. He had no idea that was mostly because of him. If he wasn't there it would take much longer for her to cheer up.

"Thanks Sen-san! You really are a great help."

"I didn't do anything," he simply said but she just shook her head and continued to smile. Afterwards she bounded towards the door, her ponytail bouncing up and down behind her. Disappearing through the doors, she had left his sight. Sighing, he fell back into one of the chairs and the doors opened once again. He looked up, hopeful, but had just seen Hoji and Jasmine walk through.

"What's wrong? You look disappointed," Jasmine stated.

Sen only smiled and shook his head. "No."

"How's Umeko?" Hoji asked his friend, taking a seat next to the man.

"Better."

"That's good," Jasmine said, taking a seat as well. "We don't want a depressed Umeko going around." She smiled at Sen. "You really are a miracle worker when it comes to cheering her up."

Sen blinked at the girl, confused. "What do you mean?"

Jasmine just stared at the man for a moment and started laughing. "Don't worry about it. I'll leave it for you to find out on your own."

Sen was about to press further, but Tetsu walked into the room, distracting him from his yellow clad friend. "We got a call from Ban," the younger man exclaimed.

"Oh? How is he?" Hoji asked.

"Busy chasing Alienizers. You know, the usual." The younger man shrugged his shoulders and fell into a seat. He looked around the small room. "Where's Umeko? Weren't you cheering her up?" He looked over at Sen.

"I was. She left," the laid back man responded.

"Ah." Tetsu placed his hands behind his head and leaned back in his chair. "I see. That didn't take long."

Jasmine couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah. Well, she probably went off to hop in the bath. We won't see her for a while." She looked around at all her friends and they all just nodded, agreeing with her. "Ya know, what happened today, any one of us could have made that mistake. It's not her fault."

Sen stared around at all his friends, watching their saddened expressions. "But she feels it is because she was the one in charge of this case." They all fell silent. They knew that they would have made the same mistake had they been in the same position, but it still didn't change the fact they understood why she felt the way she did. They knew they'd blame themselves all the same. And Sen got to thinking, remember that smile she had flashed him earlier. Something was odd about it, unusual, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. What was it?

xxx

Umeko sat in the bath quietly for once. Today had been a horrible day for her, and she had never felt like a bigger failure than she did now. Earlier when she'd flashed her smile to Sen, she only did it because she knew the man worried about her. If she hadn't of, he would have known she still wasn't feeling any better. But this wasn't like the other times. She couldn't just cry once and get over what happened. Someone had died and it had been her fault. It was all due to her own carelessness. She was the reason someone died.

She sank into the water, and sat there for about a minute, finally coming back up for air. Tears formed yet again and she fought back the sobs. She curled over, hugging her knees to her chest. She couldn't take any more of this pain, but she knew she had to snap out of it. She had to return to her normal self, before her friends caught on to how she was really feeling. She didn't want them worrying about her anymore than they needed to. Taking in a deep shuddering breath, she calmed herself and nodded. Climbing out of the tub and draining it of all its water, she wrapped her towel around herself.

Staring in the mirror, she sighed. She knew with the way she looked her friends wouldn't buy that she was alright. He wouldn't buy it. How did he always know? How did he know so much about her? He could read her like a book that had been left wide open on a desk. No one knew her as well as he did. Yes, they had worked together for a long time now, but that still didn't explain how he knew her so well. It was like as if…

She shook her head, clearing her mind of that thought. She reminded herself that Sen had no feelings for her other than friendship. There was just nothing there. Slipping into some dry clothes she smiled at herself in the mirror, strengthening the smile till it was believable enough.

xxx

Unable to get the thought of the strange smile out of his head, Sen had decided to go see Umeko, but when he arrived to her room she wasn't there. He paced back and forth, wondering if she was still taking a bath. Umeko was known for long baths, but this one was unusually long. He was starting to worry, or rather, worry even more. Crossing his arms, he leaned back against her door.

After waiting a few minutes, he heard humming and looked over to see Umeko happily skipping to her room. When she had spotted the man, she looked up at him confused. "Sen-san, what's wrong? Why are you here?"

"I just wanted to check on you," he explained to the woman.

Umeko blinked and started laughing. "Why? I'm fine now."

There it was, that beautiful laugh of hers with that bright smile that he loved so much. He couldn't believe that he had doubted her smile earlier. Looking at her now, he wasn't sure how he could have ever doubted it. Giving off a smile he nodded.

"I'm glad. I just wanted to make sure. Well, get a good nights rest. I'll see you in the morning." He waved as he walked past her and down the hall to his own room.

Her smile slowly faded as she watched him walk away, his back now to her. She disappeared into her room before one of her friends could see her without her usual smile. These next few days were going to be tiring trying to trick her friends, but she had to do it. She just didn't want to worry them.