Mahou Sentai Magiranger

Courage and Innocence

By: MysticPhantasy

Chapter 14

(A/N: Sorry it took so long to get to this, but it's been extremely difficult to find time to get online together to collaborate. PhinalPhantasy has a new job that takes up most of his time and Mysticfireblood's internet access is sporadic. Anyways, we hope that this chapter was worth the wait.)

(Disclaimer: We don't own MagiRanger or its characters, we just own our minor OC Hoshi.)

A small rumble of thunder sounded, followed by the sound of pouring rain which interrupted the various activities that were going on at the party. Kai and Yuka broke apart from their dance for a second and looked around, making sure the rest of their family and friends were indoors.

"Kai-chan, I don't see Titan-kun or Houka-chan anywhere," Yuka said with a little worry.

"I don't either…wait there's Hou-nee, but it looks like something's wrong," Kai replied, seeing Houka crouched on the ground outside and letting the downpour drench her.

"Oh my God, she'll get sick if she stays out there too long," Yuka added, "Let's get her in out of the rain." The two of them quickly rushed outside and approached the elder sister of the Ozu family.

"Hou-nee," Kai said gently putting a hand on her shoulder, "What's wrong? Come inside so we can talk," but all he heard was his sister's sobbing.

"Houka-chan, you'll get sick, please come inside," Yuka insisted, but then looked around, "Where's Titan-kun?" she asked.

"He's…he's gone!" Houka cried out then turned around and clutched to her brother, "And it's my fault!"

Kai and Yuka looked shocked, "What could've possibly happened between you two…never mind, we can talk inside, let's go," Kai said gently but firmly.

"NO! I've got to wait for him to come back!" Houka insisted, "He was right to leave, all I can do is hope he comes back. I don't want to leave until he does."

"Hou-nee…I don't think he'd want you to get sick. Come on. Everyone will be worried."

"What if he comes back here and doesn't find me?" Houka said irrationally.

"He knows where his home is, doesn't he?" Yuka asked, "He'll know to find you there if nowhere else. Please do what your brother says, I don't think Titan-kun could be upset enough to want you to risk your health. Let's just go inside and talk." Houka nodded weakly, then Kai and Yuka helped her get to her feet and brought her back inside the auditorium to a table in the far side of the room away from notice from most of the other students.

"Come with me to the bathroom and we'll get you as dry as we can," Yuka said, "We'll be back in a few minutes Kai-chan," she added. By then, the other members of the Ozu family and their significant others noticed what was going on and went to the table.

"What's wrong?" Makito asked.

"Something happened between Titan-kun and Hou-nee," Kai replied, "Yuka is in the bathroom trying to help her dry off, she's been sitting out there in that rain for God knows how long."

"Come on Mare, let's go help," Nai said.

"Yes help," Mare replied, "We'll be back soon guys."

"Urara's still in there last I checked, could you see if she's okay too?" Hikaru asked.

"No problem," Mare said. Then she and Nai entered the bathroom where they saw Urara and Yuka taking a wad of paper towels and drying off Houka as best they could.

"Houka-chan, what happened?" Nai asked, "Things between you and Titan-kun were doing so well up to now."

"He…he left me…" Houka sobbed, "because I lied to him, because I got jealous of his friends when I promised myself I wouldn't…look what he wanted to give to me," she showed the other girls the necklace Titan had made for her.

"Oh wow…" Urara said looking at the inscription, "I knew he loved you, but this is serious…"

"It's very sweet," Nai said peeking over.

"Yeah, I'm so sorry Houka-chan," Mare said.

"So am I," Yuka added, "I think you should know that Hoshi and I helped him pick out that gift…you have nothing to worry about with me for obvious reasons, and you shouldn't worry about her, we both support you guys."

"Oh I'm so sorry Yuka-chan," Houka said, "I owe Hoshi an apology too."

"But not before you apologize to Titan-kun," Urara said firmly.

"I tried but he got upset and left," Houka pleaded, "He's out there, alone in this storm…what if something happens to him? Oh God I'll never forgive myself!"

"Calm down Houka-chan," Urara said, "We don't need you getting sick. Let's ask the guys to go look for him, okay?" Houka nodded weakly

"I think we should get you home now," Urara said. She gently led her sister back out into the auditorium where it looked like the party was winding down anyways. Isamu and Miyuki had joined the rest of the group at their table.

"Kai-chan told us what happened. I'm so sorry Houka-chan," Miyuki said.

"Kaa-san," Houka moved to her mother and the older woman embraced her, "I messed up big this time. I wasn't honest with him and he's gone out there…I don't know where."

"We should look for him, it's getting pretty nasty outside," Isamu said with a little worry.

"I'll look for him Hou-nee," Kai said cheerfully, "He can't be that far can he?"

"I don't know, he's pretty fast too remember," Tsubasa said, "I'll help you look for him."

"Thanks you two," Houka replied.

"Hey Aniki, could you take Yuka-chan home for me?" Kai asked.

"No problem. You guys better hurry," Makito replied.

"Come on Chii-nii!" Kai said rushing out the door, his older sibling soon behind him.

XXX

It was getting really late, close to midnight at the beach and it was still raining hard. Titan was sitting down on a large flat rock, staring out into the dark horizon, not caring that he was soaked to the bone. "Why," he called out to nowhere, "Why would she do that to me? Doesn't she trust me anymore? What am I supposed to do now? Can I even go home after this?" He got up and picked up a flat round stone and threw it towards the sea where it made a nice plop, "She would love to come here, if it wasn't storming," he sighed, and wiped his eyes, but which drops were rain and which were tears, he couldn't tell. "If nothing else, maybe Nai and Mare will take me in," he hoped out loud. Titan then heard the sound of something flying towards him. Looking into the air he saw MagiRed and MagiYellow on their Sky Hoki. They jumped down from their brooms and de-henshined.

"There you are," Kai said, "We've been very worried about you."

"Especially Hou-nee," Tsubasa added, "You should come home with us, it's pretty late and you need to dry off."

"I don't know if I can come home. Houka-chan really hurt me; I don't know if I can see her everyday knowing that she lied to me," Titan replied, "I'm thinking of asking Nai and Mare to take me in…"

"You shouldn't give up so easily!" Kai said, "Hou-nee still loves you with all her heart. Please forgive her."

"If she did, she would've been honest with me from the beginning," Titan said stubbornly.

"She was scared Titan-kun," Kai said, "Of exactly this kind of reaction if she did tell you from the beginning. I'm not saying she was right to do so, but I think you should at least understand her feelings before you give up on her."

"We're all human Titan-kun," Tsubasa added, "None of us are perfect, even the ones we love the most are capable of making mistakes. I know you're hurting right now, but if you don't forgive her, you'll be hurting yourself and her even more. You and Hou-nee are lucky to even have each other. I know what it's like to lose the person you love. It's the kind of pain that will never go away completely. I wouldn't wish it on either of you, but if you don't realize that you both will make mistakes once in a while, that pain will become very real for you."

"There may come a time when you do something that could hurt Hou-nee, even if you didn't mean to," Kai said, "Wouldn't you want her to forgive you?"

"Do you really think I could hurt Houka-chan?" Titan asked shocked.

"Not intentionally, no, but it is possible for you to do it without wanting to," Tsubasa said, "In fact she's hurting a lot right now."

"It took a lot for us to get her out of the rain and convince her to come home. She would've waited out there all night for you I think, even at the risk of her health," Kai pointed out.

"You're a member of our family don't forget," Tsuabsa pointed out, "You just can't run away from the ones who care about you when things get tough. It's during those times you need them the most. You still love our sister, right? You've gotten to know her a lot over the past several weeks so you tell us: doesn't she deserve another chance?"

Titan thought back to all the fun times he had with his girlfriend. He hoped that this one night wouldn't destroy all of his wonderful experiences with her. Then he realized, "It's really up to me isn't it?"

"Yes it is, so what do you say? Are you going to give up on Hou-nee because of one misunderstanding, or are you going to let the two of you learn from this and be closer than ever?" Tsubasa insisted.

"Okay then," Titan replied, "Let's go home."

"Great! I don't know about the two of you, but I'm getting cold from this rain and I don't think it's a good idea to be at the beach during a storm," Kai pointed out. He and his brother henshined and got on their Sky Hoki, Titan sat behind Kai on his. It only took a few minutes to return to the Ozu home and when they arrived, only Miyuki and Isamu were there to greet them.

"Kai-chan, Tsubasa-chan, Titan-kun, welcome home," Miyuki greeted them cheerfully.

"Makito took Yuka-chan home safely and is on his way back," Isamu informed his youngest son, "And Urara and Hikaru went back to Magitopia; apparently Urara wasn't feeling well and had to get home right away."

"I'll have to thank Aniki when he gets back," Kai said.

"I hope Ura-nee's okay," Tsubasa added.

"Titan-kun, Houka is up in her room…" Miyuki said.

"Thanks," Titan began to run up the stairway before she could finish.

"Titan wait a second!" Isamu shouted, but it was too late, everyone downstairs heard Houka's high pitched scream. Isamu was about to rush towards his daughter, but Miyuki put a firm hand on Isamu's shoulder.

"It'll be okay, trust me," she told him.

XXX

As Houka was drenched from the storm, she thought it'd be a good idea to get ready to take a nice hot bath to warm up and also think things over as soon as she got home, so once she was in her room, she quickly stripped out of her soaked clothes and found her pink bathrobe, which she was in the middle of putting on when suddenly the door opened and Titan was standing at the entrance.

"Houka-chan I'm home," he announced, but then his eyes widened, his jaw dropped, and his face turned a deep red all at once as Houka let out an ear-piercing cry, "Houka-chan…I'm so sorry!" he said, trying to avert his gaze but between Houka's scream and the eye-full he was getting of her body, he was like a deer caught in headlights. Finally Houka threw her wet clothes at his face, driving him out the door with a grunt before she slammed it shut. "Now I forgot what I was going to say…" he thought out loud. He was still blushing and thought it better to wait for Houka to calm down and was about to go back down the stairs when the door opened again and this time Houka was covered by her robe.

"Titan-kun. I'm sorry, that was a reflex," Houka said sadly when she saw Titan wasn't looking at her

"No I'm sorry, I should've knocked first," Titan replied hesitantly, still not turning around.

"No I should've locked the door, but it's okay to look now, I'm covered," Houka said. She reached out with her hand but pulled it back, not wanting to upset him further. Titan turned around and took her hand before she could retract it completely, "Titan-kun…" she said.

"I didn't mean to see anything," he said in his child-like manner that Houka had come to love.

"Well did you at least like what you saw?" Houka giggled.

"Uma…uma…uma…" Titan blushed and stammered.

"I'm sorry Titan-kun, I don't mean to make you uncomfortable," Houka replied, "In fact, I'm still so very sorry about tonight. I'll understand if you don't want me anymore, but please at least let us still be friends," she pleaded.

"It's okay Houka-chan…I forgive you. I still love you and I don't want what we have to be over. Your brothers helped me understand that. If you know how I feel for you is stronger than what I feel for my friends then I still want you as my girlfriend, but please, no more jealousy. I don't like that part of you."

"Okay Titan-kun, deal. No more jealousy…I still love you and I want us to be together," Houka nodded.

"Do you still have that present I wanted to give you?" Titan asked.

"Oh my God," Houka exclaimed. She went over to the pile of wet clothes to find her jacket and rummaged through its pockets. Titan was very careful to turn away as she bent down this time and then he felt a tap on his shoulder, "Found it," Houka said with relief.

"So did you get a good look at it?" Titan asked.

"Yes and I love it…can I still have it?" Houka asked cheerfully.

"Yes, this can be our promise not to let another stupid argument break us up again," Titan replied. He then took the box out of her hands and opened it up seeing the necklace was still safe. Smiling he took one end in each hand, then wrapped his arms around Houka's neck and clasped the necklace together, "I love you, Houka-chan."

Houka smiled and hugged Titan close to her, "I love you too Titan-kun," she then kissed him softly on the lips but Titan had other ideas. He licked her lips, surprising her, but she let him in and they began to dance in each other's mouths, Titan holding her as close as possible to him. Just as they were about to lose themselves in the moment, Houka felt damp all of a sudden. She gasped in surprise and pulled back.

"What is it?" Titan asked, "Did I do something wrong?"

"No it's not that…it's just…you're soaking wet and I didn't realize it!" Houka giggled.

"Oh I forgot too," Titan chuckled back and they were both laughing.

"Seriously though, you should get changed too. I don't want you getting sick," Houka said

"Alright then, I'll go to my room and get ready to shower after you're done," Titan replied. He gave her another quick kiss, "I love you Houka-chan."

"I love you too Titan-kun," Houka smiled, then turned around and skipped towards the bathroom, happy that her boyfriend had forgiven her.

(A/N: Well we hope that you enjoyed this chapter. We can't say when the next one will be; just that it'll have to be a weekend. Anyways, your reviews, as always are very welcome.)