Red Rangers and Video Games
Kenta and Ryouma first started seeing each other a couple weeks after, as Kenta called, "The Megaranger and Gingaman Crossover Event." Like most of his days off, Kenta planned on chilling in his room all day and burning through his seemingly endless backlog of games. Meeting Ryouma on his way back home from the store, a good supply of snacks is very important in a gaming marathon, caused a slight change in plans.
"How do I jump again?"
Doing his best to hold his laughter in, Kenta points at a button on the controller from his place on the bed "You push the blue button, the one right there."
Nodding his head, Ryouma looks at the controller in his hands with a confused look before looking back up at the TV screen. He pushed the blue button and watched as his character jumped into the air, just as Kenta said it would. Seeing Ryouma gaining a bit of confidence from the simply action, Kenta watched as the fellow red ranger began to experiment with the rest of the buttons.
What followed was hilarious, slightly awkward gaming session in which Kenta, a self-proclaimed video game genius, attempted to teach Ryouma, who had little-to-no experience with technology, how to play a few of the countless video games in his ever growing collection.
While Kenta only expected Ryouma to spend a couple of hours hanging out with him, they ended up spending all night and a part of the following morning playing video games. Ryouma was gone so long in fact that the rest of Gingaman had sent Bokku out to find him.
Though they both got nagged, Kenta had still had work that morning, neither of the boys regretted their decision. In fact, both boys had a feeling that wouldn't be their last all night gaming session.
Over the course of the next few months, Kenta and Ryouma began to visit each other more and more often. Kenta continued to show Ryouma how to play video games, Ryouma began to share more and more of the Ginga Forest with Kenta. It eventually got to the point where the two were seeing each other almost every day.
Though both Kenta's family and Gingaman nagged the boys about their repeated late night gaming sessions, they eventually decided to just leave it be. As long as the boys didn't neglect their work and other duties, they figured the boys should have their fun.
"You're really getting good at games, aren't you?" Kenta asked as he and Ryouma fought each other in one of the many fighting games Kenta had.
Ryouma smiles "Of course I am. You're a really good teacher."
"Am I?" Kenta replied with a smile "I guess I am pretty good aren't I? Honestly, I wasn't sure if I would be able to teach you at first, but it looks like I-"
Hearing a loud scream, Kenta looked at the TV screen to see that Ryouma had defeated him, winning the match.
"EHHHHH?" cried Kenta "How did you-?"
"Don't get distracted in battle, Kenta," Ryouma replies, pleased with his victory.
Kenta pouted but said nothing. Looking at Ryouma, he could see that the man was quite happy with his victory.
"Looks like he's really getting the hang of things," Kenta thought before continuing his gaming session with the boy.
For a little while, things continued as normal. Things began to take an interesting turn however when, while running an errand for his mother, Kenta ran into Chisato.
"Thanks for the help, Chisato," Kenta says to his friend "My mom insists on this specific brand of rice and I just couldn't find it."
"Don't mention it," Chisato assures him "I like this brand a lot myself. It tastes really good when you put a little bit of sugar in while you're cooking it."
"That does sound good," noted Kenta "I wonder if Ryouma would like that. I was thinking about making sushi for us to have as a snack."
"Speaking of Ryouma, you've been spending a lot of time with him, haven't you?"
Kenta nods "He's gotten really good at video games. Now he can even beat me sometimes."
"That's nice and all, but I was actually hoping to ask you about something… other then video games."
"Like what?"
"Like… the relationship between the two of you," Chisato says with a grin.
"The relationship?" asked Kenta, raising an eyebrow "What do you mean? We're getting along pretty well."
"I'm aware of that," Chisato says "What I mean to say is, shouldn't you be thinking about taking you relationship to another level."
"Another level?"
Chisato sighs "When are you going to ask Ryouma out on a date?"
"Eh?"
Kenta looks at Chisato with a look of shock. The girl sighs again and shakes her head "All of us can see the way you and Ryouma look at each other and you both spend most of your free time together. You're pretty much in a romantic relationship right now. You guys just need to confess your feelings for each other."
Kenta opened his mouth to deny her claims, there nothing romantic about our relationship, but nothing came out. As embarrassed as he was by her blunt delivery, not that she had much choice, he couldn't bring himself to deny his feelings. Even now, the very thought of Ryouma's big smile was enough to make him blush and smile like an idiot.
Saying goodbye Chisato, who was more than a little annoyed by the lack of a straight answer, Kenta begins to make his way home. As he walks, Chisato's words continue to turn over and over again in his head.
"I've just got to confess my feelings," he repeated to himself.
Even as he played his new video game well into the afternoon, his mind continued to return back to Ryouma. What was he going to do…
Hearing a knock on his front door, Kenta considers just ignoring the door and continuing his vain attempts to get his really cute bo- friend off his mind and let his mom answer the door. Remembering that his parents weren't home however, something about going on a date night, the boy sighs before pushing pause on his game and heading to the front door. Opening the door, Kenta is surprised to see Ryouma standing outside.
"H-hello, Kenta," Rouma says, bowing his head "C-can I come in?"
Nodding his head, Kenta allows Ryouma to walk inside his house.
"I'm sorry to just barge in like this unannounced," apologized Ryouma "I just wanted…to…um…wanted to play a game with you, if that's ok."
Kenta smiles at Ryouma "Come on, let's go play."
The boys return to Kenta's room and replace Kenta's new game with a fighting game they both liked. Taking a seat up against Kenta's bed, the boys begin playing the game. Together, the boys played well into the night, laughing and having fun with each other like that always do.
In that time, Chisato's words leave Kenta's head for the first time since he first heard them. For a brief moment, things are simple again.
"K-Kenta, I've really enjoyed the past few months we've spent together."
And with that, her words were back again.
"To be honest, I never could have imagined that video games could be this fun," Ryouma confesses "If it wasn't for you though, I never would have been able to figure that out. Thank you."
Kenta smiles "Don't mention it, Ryouma. I'm happy to help."
Ryouma turns to look back at the game but, before he does so, Kenta calls out to him.
"Ryouma," Kenta says "I have something to tell you."
Ryouma raises an eyebrow but says nothing as Kenta continues to speak "Ryouma I…really like you."
"You like me?"
Kenta nods "And I'm not just talking about in a friendship way. I'm also talking about in a romantic way. Whenever I see you, I want to hold your hand and tell you how much you mean to me. A-and also I…I…"
Kenta puts both of his hands on Ryouma's shoulders and looks into his eyes "I want to take our relationship the next level!"
Ryouma looks at Kenta with a look of shock. Worried that he made Ryouma uncomfortable, Kenta looks down at the ground and moves to remove his hands from Ryouma's shoulders.
"You really feel that way as well?"
Eyes growing wide with shock, Kenta looks up to see Ryouma smiling back at him. Kenta smiles and nods at Ryouma's words, causing the fellow red to smile in response "I'm really glad. I've been wanting to tell you my feelings for a while now, but I just didn't know how to do it."
The boys both begin to laugh at their own awkwardness, Kenta's hands still resting on Ryouma's shoulders. Once their laughter died down though, Kenta looks back into Ryouma's eyes "Hey, Ryouma. Is it alright if I…"
Ryouma watches as Kenta points at his lips, his checks as red as his suit. Ryouma nods at Kenta and watches as the boy draws closer to him, their lips eventually connecting. Moving his hands down to Ryouma's arms, Kenta drew his fellow red ranger closer as they kissed, an electric feeling unlike anything they'd ever felt before flowed through their body.
It was a feeling better than any video game they'd ever played before. It was, without a doubt, the best feeling either of them had ever felt before. When they finally pulled their lips apart, they found themselves unable to look away from each other.
Kenta smiled, Ryouma smiled, and the boys began to giggle childishly. Reaching up onto his bed, Kenta pulled down his blanket and draped it over the two of them, cover their entire bodies from the neck down.
Ryouma laid his head Kenta's shoulder as the boy turned off the video game in favor of a movie, wrapping his arms around his waist. Looking at Ryouma, Kenta kisses him on the forehead before wrapping his arm around Ryouma's shoulder.
When Kenta's parents returned home that night, they found both boys asleep in front of the TV, the soft light illuminating both of their sleeping faces.
Author's Note: It's not a Christmas themed story, but I'm still going to call this my Christmas special. I just finished Gingaman at the time of this writing and, while I thought that the show was just OK, I really liked Ryouma and thought that he was really adorable.
The Gingaman vs. Megaranger crossover was, in my opinion, the best part of Gingaman by far, something that isn't all that surprising given how much I love Megaranger. Like, seriously, it's like my favorite Sentai. Seeing Kenta again was amazing and his interactions with the Gingaman were awesome. I just had to write this after watching that.
I hope you enjoyed the story and, if you liked it, take a look at my others.