(Volume 2) Super Sentai Couple Pairings

Nagi/Fuuka (Ninninger): When I Have You

As long as you have faith, I know I'll have the strength to make it work out for both of us... ー Florence Joyce

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"Remind me why I'm doing this again?" Fuuka asked while she and Nagi were heading to the river in the midst of the hot weather of that summer. But honestly, she could just groan at how insane the idea of accompanying him on this weird little trip around town was.

Not to mention--

"Because you love me."

She seriously had a strong urge to roll her eyes and punch this guy right here and there. "Ah, right." This had got to be a joke.

Then again, it wasn't as if Fuuka was forced to do this. It seemed that... Nagi knew she wasn't feeling well that day that he had to go out his way to pull her out of the room and let her enjoy the fresh air for once.

And so Fuuka didn't argue with him when he said they should spend some time together, instead choosing to sit in the grass and play her guitar for a while. At the end of the day, all that really mattered was that Fuuka did get to see some pretty cute scenery for a change.

"When was the last time you went out here and actually enjoy looking around?" Nagi asked after that long moment of silence between them.

Fuuka smiled bitterly and stopped walking, facing the river glittering because of the noontime sun's reflection. Honestly, she would've enjoyed that scene so much. But not when she felt so broken like this. Not when she knew that every time she saw something beautiful, she'd remember all those memories she lost along the way.

"Oh," Fuuka said, letting her hand fall back to her side. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "I don't know..."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

But she shook her head and faced Nagi. "You know, I'm fine. At least I know I have to try. Don't worry about me."

"But I do care about you." He stopped walking in front of her and put a hand on her shoulder, rubbing softly in an attempt to reassure her somehow. "If anything is bothering you, please talk to me."

"I guess I really made you worried, huh?"

"You guess? It's already obvious. But we can't think of anything to do to help you get out of that pain slowly drowning you."

"What kind of pain...?" Fuuka asked quietly, almost afraid to hear what answer might come from his mouth next.

"The kind where you feel useless and helpless," Nagi answered without missing a beat. And then he sighed deeply. "...I wish there was more I could do for you."

"It's okay," Fuuka replied with a sigh and stared at their feet. "It's just that... I feel like... my heart won't be able to recover from everything that's happened until I stop thinking about it. And the thing is I still don't think about it often enough. So whenever I see something beautiful, it feels like... it's not going to last long and something would take it away from me."

"...I see."

Fuuka nodded. Then she looked up at the sky for a second, trying to find the courage to say the rest of what she wanted to. But even though Nagi waited patiently for her to speak, she kept quiet. She bit down her lower lip and averted her gaze from him.

Nagi looked at her with gentle eyes. Then he leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Fuuka's shoulders. "Fuuka, I don't want to sound too dramatic or pushy but, I promise you that one day, nothing else will make you feel useless. You're important to me. Know that, okay?"

"I'm sorry," Fuuka whispered into his chest before burying her face deeper inside the fabric of his shirt. "Sorry..."

"Hey." He gently pushed her chin up with his fingers and tilted her head to face him again. He cupped her face and stroked her cheeks with his thumbs. "Don't apologize. Don't ever apologize for the pain you're feeling. That's a part of you. It's up to others if they would choose to understand it or condemn you for it. And I made my choice by understanding what you really feel since that incident."

For some reason, Fuuka couldn't bring herself to look at him. She stared at his chest and focused on the steady rhythm of his heartbeat. "Thank you... Thank you so much, Nagi."

He smiled warmly and brushed his thumb across her cheekbone before pulling her close against his body. "So don't apologize for being sad. For crying. Or whatever other reason you want to cry. If you can't cry it out, at least cry it out."

Fuuka sniffled. A few more tears trickled down her cheeks and landed onto his hand. But despite that, she hugged him tighter, buried her face deeper into his chest and sobbed silently.

As soon as she did so, Nagi pulled her closer and kissed her forehead tenderly. "Let it out."

Her sobs continued as he rubbed small circles on her back, his own tears flowing freely. After a minute or two, her breathing started to even out. And when she finally calmed down enough, she lifted her face from his chest, wiped her face with the sleeves of her cardigan and gave him a watery smile.

"Feeling better now?" he asked softly.

Fuuka nodded. Her throat felt sore and dry from crying. And yet she was smiling anyway. "Much better."

At least, she was honest about that. There was no way she could even lie to this guy, anyway. Not when he knew her way too much. Maybe he was getting used to that fact as well, but he never mentioned it in any other case, unlike her brother, who kept pestering her every chance he got.

"Well," Nagi said, wiping the stray tears off her cheeks. "Now that that is done with, let's go get lunch!"

"Lunch? Are you telling me that you came to my house without even eating anything?"

"No, I haven't eaten today. But I thought you could use some company today."

That sentence made Fuuka's heart skip a beat. The mere thought of him being alone in the house was making her nervous, but also excited, somehow. She didn't know what it was--

Then again, this wasn't the first time they were going to be alone in the house. So why she was feeling something strange about that thought? Why did her stomach churn and fill with butterflies and her heart race?

"Umm, sure," Fuuka replied, trying hard to ignore these feelings. It must be nerves, she thought. Nervousness. About having lunch with Nagi. Because she didn't expect him to come.

But was that the only reason?

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This is probably the first time I've written a Nagi/Fuuka fanfic and this definitely came out as AU-ish or something. But I still hope you don't mind that. Enjoy reading!