Disclaimer: If I owned Power Rangers, I would not waste my time writing fanfiction; I'd be putting this stuff in the show every week. Clearly, I don't own it. So don't sue.

A/N: Some Conner/Kira fluff I was working on. Set prior to the White Thunder saga.

Wonderwall

The rest of the week passed fairly uneventfully. Mesogog must have been taking a few sick days, because there were no monsters or Drone attacks on Reefside, and there were no eggs to find, so Doctor Oliver didn't need them for anything. As such, Conner managed to speak to Kira only in science class, the only class they had together, and kept his afternoon busy by playing soccer. It was also good for clearing his mind, which he needed. Although Ethan was prone to randomly stopping him after class to give him the latest play-by-play in the saga of Trent and Kira. Conner told him repeatedly not to, but Ethan must have picked up on the soccer player's masochistic urge to hear it. But the news of the day was that Trent was going out of town for an indeterminate amount of time, a vacation whim of his psychotic father, the secret he had divulged to Kira the day Conner had started his vow of silence.

Conner wasn't sure how to feel about this, but at Ethan's urging, he found himself joining his partners in crime fighting at the Cyberspace that afternoon.

"Hey! Conner, long time no see!" Kira said.

"You saw me in class this morning," Conner pointed out, a half-smirk crossing his face at the thought that he was, for once, not the one making stupid comments that could be mocked.

"Yeah, well, you're not big on talking in class, so you might as well not be there. Where have you been, anyway?"

"Soccer. I have a tendency to miss it when I'm away." Sort of like how he was developing the tendency to miss Kira when she was away. He thought getting away from her would be good for his system, but the adage of absence making the heart grow fonder was apparently true. And now he was going to be here for Kira's weekly performance, which was just going to be hell on him.

"Understandable."

"Hey, Kira, you're cutting it kind of close, aren't you?" Hayley said, swooping in on them. "Your band is already here."

"Oops," Kira said, casting Conner a sheepish look before fixating on the floor with a much more humiliated expression, then retreating to the safety of her band.

Hayley continued to hover. "Welcome back," she said to Conner, handing him a large Coke.

"Yeah."

"I figured you couldn't make it the whole week."

"Well, Ethan begged and pleaded. You know how he hates to be alone," Conner cracked. Ethan glared at him, but that was the extent of the rebuke. Both boys knew that if Ethan kicked him under the table or the like, Conner could easily kick his butt.

"I meant Friday is Kira's stage time," Hayley returned with a knowing smile. Conner fought to keep from being rude. Hayley was nice enough, and she was smart, and Conner trusted her as far as his secret identity went, but her know-it-all attitude was beginning to get on his last nerve. Especially when all she ever talked about was his unfortunate infatuation with his teammate. "So, are you going to ask her to the dance?"

"Dance?" Conner repeated blankly.

"Dude," Ethan said. "I know you're more or less a dumb jock, but you're also one of the school's top pretty boys, so you must have had a horde of girls flocking around you, begging for dates."

"There's a dance?" Conner said again. He really hadn't noticed much of anything.

"Yes," Ethan said, rolling his eyes. "Next week. Dr. O. is chaperoning." He looked at Hayley. "Boy's useless."

"No kidding," Hayley said, walking away to deal with her other patrons.

"You know--" Ethan started, but the music flared up, drawing the boys' attention to the stage.

Once the set was over, Kira returned to their table. "You were great," Conner told her sincerely.

"Thanks."

"Hey, did you know about this dance thing?" Conner said, then realized that she might think it some kind of invitation or something, and covered with, "Of course you wouldn't."

"Why wouldn't I?" she asked hotly, a dangerous glint in her eyes.

Conner backpedaled. "I mean, it's just not your kind of scene…"

"And why not?"

"Well, it's, like, a dress up thing, and you're not the dressing up kind…"

"Dude," he heard Ethan mutter next to him, and he knew he was digging himself a deeper hole the more he spoke, but he just couldn't help it.

"What do you mean, I'm not the 'dressing up' kind? You think that just because I play the guitar and kick Meso-butt that I am somehow incapable of looking nice every now and again? Is that what you're saying?"

"That's not what I'm saying--" Conner said weakly, holding up his hands in a 'don't shoot' gesture, but it was too late for him.

"I don't know where you think you get off, McKnight, because there are so many things that you don't know about me, you know that?"

"I--"

"That does it. I am going to go to that stupid dance, and I am going to prove to you that I am not this little cookie-cutter person that you seem to think I am."

"But--"

"We'll meet at the school, okay?"

"I…uh…okay…" Conner stammered. Kira got up and huffed out of the café, leaving Conner and Ethan staring after her. "Dude, what was that?" Conner asked, bewildered.

"I have no idea."
Conner had originally been planning on taking great pains to avoid Kira the next week, but she was doing all the work for him. She didn't once mention the whole dance issue, but on the flip side, she never revoked her pseudo-invitation, so Conner could only assume that it was still on. On Wednesday, Mesogog had apparently gotten bored, and inflicted a giant half-butterfly, half-panda monster on Reefside. It had taken awhile for the Rangers to take him down, but they succeeded without too much help from their plethora of extra Zords. Leaving headquarters, they'd heard Dr. O. complaining to Hayley about how, "Those kids have a Zord for every day of the week. When I started doing this, my Zord kept breaking down or getting controlled by evil forces…"

Thursday came and went without incident, and Ethan called up Friday afternoon. "So, ready for the big date?"

"Dude, shut up," Conner said, kicking his soccer ball at the wall of his room gently, again and again, although his mother had begged him millions of times to not practice in the house. "How'd you get my number?"

"Phone book. School directory. Name it."

"Right. You couldn't use the gems, save the quarter?"

"I don't think we're allowed to use them for non-Ranger purposes. Besides, what if you'd been eating dinner or something, and your wrist started talking to you? Kinda creepy, man. Think about it."

"Huh." Conner was too preoccupied to really pay attention, not that Ethan would ever accept an excuse for his bouts of utter stupidity. "Listen, dude, do you think this is really a date?"

"You think I know, man? I don't know. Kira's crazy."

"I'm not looking forward to this. She'll probably, like, castrate me or something."

"Whoa, check you out, with the big SAT words. Maybe situations of major freak-out, while rendering most people into blobs of quivering jelly incapable of complete sentences, have the opposite effect on you."

"Wait…what?" Conner said.

Ethan sighed. "Or maybe not."

"I'm gonna be late. I'll catch you later."

"I'll be the one laughing at you when Kira hands you yours in a paper cup."

"Yeah. You'll be the one in the corner, who can't get anyone to dance with him."

"Cold, man, real cold."

Laughing, Conner hung up. Moments later, he was on his way to the school, ready to meet Kira outside of the gym. But as he got there, he couldn't see her anywhere. "Maybe she already went inside or something," he said, checking the clock on the wall and seeing that he was on time. He headed for the double gym doors that a small group of kids was filing through.

"Missing something, Conner?"

He turned around…and there she was, hovering at the juncture of the hallway, in a silky yellow dress, her hair piled on top of her head. He swallowed hard; both at the unusual site of Kira all dolled up, and at the simple matter that she was just plain beautiful.

"Whoa."

"I've been waiting, I thought you'd forgotten."

"No, I, uh--" he swallowed again, then shook his head to clear his mind. "Sorry. You look incredible, though."

"Told you so," she said haughtily, then softened, and added almost shyly, "But thanks."

"You proved your point, then…wanna go home?"

"You mean you don't wanna go in?" she asked him, raising her eyebrows.

He matched her expression. "You mean you do?"

"Well, I thought that was what we came here for."

He laughed shortly, reaching up to scratch the back of his head, letting his hair fall over his fingers. "You've got me so confused right now."

"Doesn't take much," she jibed, then downcast her eyes. "Sorry."

He waved it off. He was more or less used to it by now. "So you really want to go in?"

"Well, I mean, I came here to go to the dance…it would seem kind of stupid to back out now."

"I guess you're right." Conner flashed her a nervous smile, which she reciprocated, and they shuffled into the gym. It was garishly decorated with streamers and balloons, and few people were milling about, but most were dancing to the pounding music. Conner leaned in to Kira so she could hear him better, and announced, "You're a million times better than this crap."

Kira looked surprised. "This is Kylee Styles," she informed him. "I thought you were all in love with her."

Oh… Conner covered by flashing her his most winning smile. Kira laughed and rolled her eyes, going towards the punch table. Conner stared at her for a moment, then went to join her. But as he reached for the punch ladle, there was a hand on his shoulder. He turned, fist raised instinctively, but it was only a guy from the soccer team, David, flanked by two more players.

"McKnight. What's up with you, dude?" David proclaimed.

"What're you talking about?" Conner said, lowering his hand and relaxing.

"I mean, you miss practices, you don't hang out with the team anymore, you've started making yourself seen with those two weirdos…"

"What two weirdos?" Kira said hotly, turning around and fixing David with her patented death glare. Conner did not envy David in the slightest; Kira looked like she was one unkind word away from bowling David over with one of her supersonic screams.

"Aren't you that Avril wannabe chick?" David said.

"You mean one of the weirdos?" she retorted bitingly.

"Listen, David, just back off, would you?" Conner said in his calmest voice.

"Don't you tell me to step off, McKnight. You're the one hanging out with the freaks and ruining your reputation."

"Hey, listen, they're my friends, all right?" Conner said, stepping in between David and Kira (who was looking at David with intent to kill).

"Yeah, right," David scoffed. "Come find me when you get bored and decide to stop slumming it with losers, McKnight. You're better than that. You'll remember who your real friends are." With a final half-snarl at Kira, David and his friends started to stalk off.

"Hey, Wingate!" Conner yelled, and David and the cronies turned back to look. "Kira is my real friend, thanks," he announced, grabbing Kira around the waist and giving her a showy kiss on the lips before turning to an awestruck David again. "How about you come find me when you get bored and decide to pull your head out of your butt."

David and the cronies gaped at Conner and Kira for a few moments, before heading into the crowd. It was only when they departed that Conner realized what was going on. He had just kissed Kira, of all people, and now half of the school was looking at him.

He wanted to run, and was debating whether or not it would be a good option. But Kira saved him from making the decision, and ran out of the gym herself.

"Kira--" He started to chase after her, but Cassidy jumped in front of him, Devin next to her, fumbling with a camera, and looking embarrassed. "Cassidy Cornell, Reefside High News," she announced in her usual grandiose tone, sticking a microphone in Conner's face.

"I know who you are, Cass, we have science together," Conner said impatiently, pushing the microphone away and gazing at the doors that Kira had just evacuated out of.

"Whatever," Cassidy said dismissively. "Conner McKnight, inquiring minds are dying to know, what's the deal with you and Kira Ford? Is the mighty soccer star finally off the market? Why on earth would--"

"Cassidy, stuff it," Ethan said, coming out of nowhere and pushing her and Devin aside. He stood in front of Conner, dragging the taller boy's attention away from the doors. "Conner, man…"

"Dude, I don't have time for this," Conner said, shaking his head and shoving his friend aside and deciding to follow Kira. As he went into the hallway, he found that Kira was already gone. With a swell of music from the gym doors being opened, and then silence again, Ethan joined his teammate.

"What are you on, man, are you crazy?" Ethan said.

"So you saw, huh," Conner said.

"Everyone pretty much saw, Conner."

"Oh…" Conner squinted his eyes shut, grabbing a handful of his hair and groaning. "Oh, great. Just great. Just…"

There was another swell of music, and Dr. Oliver was joining them. "If it isn't Romeo…"

"Don't you start," Conner cautioned his teacher, then collapsed against the wall with another piteous groan. "You should maybe start looking for a replacement, Dr. O. Because Kira's probably going to kill me."

"If she was going to kill you, don't you think she would have stuck around to do it?" Dr. O. said.

"She's probably plotting something."

"Conner, man, I don't know too much about girls--" Ethan snorted at this, and the teacher flashed him a dirty look. "--but I can guess that Kira probably isn't as ticked off as you'd think. Girls who run out of dances are probably somewhere crying."

"Kira's not your average girl," Conner pointed out, thinking that that was what had gotten him into this whole mess in the first place. "Aw, man, and when Trent finds out…"

"Please, you're a Power Ranger, and you're scared of a busboy?" Ethan said, smirking.

"Good point." He glanced to Dr. O. "What should I do, dude?"

"Don't call me dude, for starters. How many times have I told you that? And as for the rest of it…well, find Kira and try to explain yourself, I guess. If you can do that."

Conner wasn't sure he could explain himself, but he nodded. He looked to Ethan. "Hayley's should still be open, right?" he asked.

"Yeah," Ethan said, obviously bemused. "It's not too late."

"Okay, great." Conner started down the hall.

"Wait, you suddenly want a smoothie now?" Ethan said.

"It's Friday, isn't it?" Conner called over his shoulder.