Super Sentai & Kamen Rider Crossover Short Stories/One-shot Collection

While Waiting For The Fireworks (KR Zero One: Aruto/Ryusoulger: Asuna)

My heart still yearns to have a glimpse of you... ー Florence Joyce

xxxxxx

The fireworks display was supposed to happen on that day. Asuna had been waiting for it for days. Well, she had reasons. Unfortunately, those reasons remained unsaid even as her friends kept pressuring her to blurt it out.

She sighed and looked at the sky. The colors were vibrant and the air smelled sweet with a few hints of burning wood and oil. As always, the atmosphere was filled with an excitement. There seemed to be no end to it -- nothing that couldn't be achieved through fire.

But the sigh she released actually meant something different. One that concealed the longing she felt ever since leaving the place that changed her life before. It was a secret that she never ever mentioned to her friends, and it was something she could never tell.

She fell in love, and 'he' never knew about it at all. That fact hurt just as much as everything else. Not just because she was still in love with him, but also because she knew that if she told anyone, she would probably lose them too. They would think she was weird or crazy for loving someone who didn't know or care about her. And neither of those options sounded very appealing at the moment.

"At least I got a reminder of you..." Asuna whispered as she looked up to the sky then to her wristwatch.

7:26 PM. The fireworks display would start at 8:30 PM. That means, she still had more than an hour left to contemplate whether or not she would watch the display again this year. Or... perhaps it was about time she finally gave up on expecting for a miracle to happen through those fireworks.

Maybe it was better to face reality. At least she hoped so.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she pulled it out. A message from Koh.

It read: 'Are you going? We're waiting in line. You can join us if you want.' She hesitated. These guys were really persistent when they decided to be. But she'd rather not give them any ideas at the moment.

She wanted to think. At least, she knew she had to before those thoughts that lingered in her mind all this time could take over. It wouldn't help her figure it out. She needed to have that clarity before she started worrying about things that could never be solved.

After a few moments of thought, Asuna replied: 'No thanks. I'll meet you there.' Then she tucked her phone away in her pocket. Yes, she had to think things over by herself. She didn't want to lose anymore of the sanity she had left in her mind if somebody else would start to influence her decision.

"No one has to know," she whispered as she took a deep breath.

Soon after, she took out her wallet and opened it to where a lone photo of a young man proudly standing on the stage with a big smile on his face was placed. It was the first photo she took using the polaroid camera that Ui had given her from one of her friend's travels abroad as a vlogger.

It showed him smiling brightly with one arm around the shoulders of a slightly shorter boy who participated with him on that stage. She couldn't help noticing that his smile matched hers perfectly.

She hadn't shown it to anyone yet. She liked looking at that picture every time she remembered the good times or when she just missed him so. That photo was the reason why she became friends with 'him'. And so she treasured that photo so much to the point that she hadn't shown it to any of her friends at all.

She did that even though she knew they would understand how she felt. They would accept her and support her. But she wasn't sure if she could do it herself right now. So maybe she should finally talk to Ui about it later. Maybe she should go to the fireworks festival with Koh and Melto and actually enjoy it without remembering something so sad.