Super Sentai Couple Pairings One-shot Collection

Takeru/Mako (Shinkenger) AU: One Thing After Another

Forgetting you will never be an option for me. There's always one thing after another that will make me think of you... ~ Florence Joyce

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Though most of us knew that losing someone important was both a sad thing to experience, many of us realized the possible pain that it could bring. And for a long time since it happened, Mako was sure of one thing.

Losing Takeru was definitely not the kind of pain she wanted to feel again.

As one among the Power Casters with the ability to live longer than normal humans, Mako could only think that such ability had always been a curse for her. And that curse led her to hate every faction of Power Casters.

What Sakuma Kotaro---a talented White Ice Caster she met the other week---had said to her was true. She had already abandoned the worth of everything in her life. The Red Fire Casters' faction where she came from, the humans, the other Power Casters, and even the world itself.

It all rooted to the death of the only man she had ever loved in her long life.

With a heavy sigh, she took out a certain disc from her jacket pocket. According to Takeru who gave it to her the day he was supposed to head out to the battle years ago, the creation of HiDen Discs was something that the White Wind Casters' faction had been keeping secret for a long time. Only selected people in the faction could create such a disc.

But for some reason, she couldn't help feeling that something was off about that particular disc. The only way for her to know the truth about that was to spin it. With that, she decided to find a hidden place where she could rest for a while after a long walk around that forest and also for her to see if her guess about the HiDen Disc in her possession was right.

A few minutes later, she found a cave just a few meters ahead of the path she was traversing. It was a small one, possible for a person or two to fit into. But even from her spot, she could tell that it was a deep one. With a sigh to prepare herself, Mako began walking towards the cave. Upon looking around one more time, she noticed that the sun was beginning to set upon reaching the cave. A wistful smile appeared on her lips at the sight of it.

When was the last time she was able to appreciate nature's beauty like this? Well, that is, if she would call feeling nostalgic to be the same as appreciating the view. But that wasn't the issue around here. She turned her back on the setting sun and proceeded to enter the cave.

With a flick of a finger, she was able to conjure fire on her right hand and used it to light her way to reach the end of that cave. She surprised herself with the fact that she was traversing the place without feeling any anticipation or even fear as to what could possibly be awaiting her at the end. Once again, a memory flashed in her mind that gave her a reason why she was like that.

"Why is it that every reason I could think of would always make me think of you, Takeru?" she uttered as the tears she couldn't stop anymore began to fall one by one.

It had been several years already. And yet the pain didn't seem to have dissipated one bit. Why couldn't she do anything about it at all?

Not long after, Mako finally reached the end of the cave. There was nothing to see there, though. She soon thoughtthat not being able to feel anticipation and fear---and now disappointment or relief, as well---was the right thing, after all. But soon after, she shrugged off those thoughts so she could finally do the real reason why she went in that cave.

From the bag she was carrying all this time, she took out a certain item---another of her reminder about Takeru's tragic end. It was his Shinkenmaru with a broken blade. All that remained there was the hilt and its guard. Even so, it was enough for her to use.