The Kasumi brothers sat on the edge of a cliff, silently scrutinizing the Hurricanger training session in the valley below. The trio were suited up and duking it out with their Hayate Marus. 

“Why did you bring me here, big brother?” Isshu asked as Kouta split into two beings, one taking on each of his friends. Both were quickly defeated, and he rematerialized as his single self. “This is a waste of time. We already know all of their moves.” 

Ikkou grunted in agreement, and inwardly winced as Kouta threw Yousuke to the ground. Dirt flew everywhere. “We’re not here to study them.” He paused briefly, wondering how to phrase his intentions so that his brother wouldn’t take offense. Unfortunately, that was nearly impossible. “We’re here to help them.” 

“Help them?” Isshu’s head snapped towards his brother, his long hair whipping around his face. “I know we’re on the same side now, but…” he trailed off. 

“We’re not them” Ikkou acknowledged, finishing his brother’s thoughts. It was a fact he had considered heavily. They were Goraijer. They were of the shadow. The three training below came from the light. The idea of he and his brother fighting alongside such sweet naiveté had seemed absurd at first. It still did. 

The Hurricanger fought valiantly against their enemies despite being constantly outmatched. It was pure luck that they had gotten so far. ‘Luck’ he frowned, ‘Plus a lot of heart and hope.’ Ikkou didn’t have that. Neither did Isshu. They had the endless skills and deadly training to destroy their enemies, but lacked a purpose. To that end, Ikkou had latched onto the one thing he could: their hatred of Jakanja and their attempt to force the Goraijer into destroying each other. 

He stared into his brother’s cold, hard eyes, and knew the same harsh look was reflected in his own. They didn’t belong with the Hurricanger. They had been twisted and warped by their father’s influence for too long. Yet still, here they were, fighting alongside them against a common enemy. 

“No, we are not of the Hayate way” Ikkou mumbled. They turned back to the training session just as Yousuke disappeared and reappeared behind Kouta. Nanami was right there. His suit sparked as she hit him. Ikkou frowned in embarrassment for the young man. “If we’re going to fight on their side, they need to know a lot more” he commented, pushing himself off of the ground and standing up. 

Isshu frowned. “Big brother, what are you doing?” 

“Get up,” Ikkou commanded. “Since there’s no one else, we will train them.” 

Isshu’s eyes narrowed at the spectacle occurring below, but he complied. “We really have to do this.” It was more of a statement than a question. 

Ikkou nodded curtly. “To beat Jakanja” he said. 

“To beat Jakanja” Isshu repeated. 

“Jinrai, Shinobi Change!” They leapt into battle. 

Drawing their Ikazuchi Marus, they clashed against the Hurricanger, bouncing off of them and separating the two teams on opposite sides of the valley. Kouta and Nanami promptly landed on their butts, but Yousuke somehow remained standing. His visor came up. “Ah! Ikkou!” he jogged towards them, grinning. “I see you brought your brother with you.” He bowed slightly to the younger Kasumi. 

“Why wouldn’t he?” Isshu snapped harshly. Yousuke’s expression faltered and he looked towards Ikkou for encouragement. 

“It doesn’t matter” Ikkou dismissed him, his own visor rising. “Hurricanger!” he ordered “Put away your swords.” 

Yousuke glanced back at his friends, his confused look mirroring Kouta’s. “No way!” Nanami yelled back “You’re not my boss!” 

“Isshu” Ikkou nodded towards the blue and yellow Hurricangers. Before they knew what was happening, Isshu had leapt across the field and disarmed them. Ikkou snatched Yousuke’s weapon. 

“Hey!” Yousuke protested, shoving the taller man’s shoulder. “What’s the big idea?” 

“You want these back, Hurricanger?” Ikkou shouted. He sheathed the sword behind his back, out of reach of the red ninja. “Prove you deserve them. Use your special weapons and show us what you’ve got. He took his own Horn Breaker out and nodded at Yousuke. The younger man grinned and jumped up, streaking off with Ikkou close behind. 

The remaining ninjas watched them leave. Kouta and Nanami sighed with resignation. Isshu stared at the Sonic Megaphone in Nanami’s hands. “What the hell is that thing, anyway?” 

“It’s not my fault” she protested “It was made almost 500 years before I was born!” Kouta just laughed. 

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Yousuke landed with a grunt a few kilometers from the rest of the team. Ikkou was beside him a moment later. He immediately drew his Dry Gun and pointed it at the taller man. “Why did we separate?” he demanded, still suspicious of the formerly evil ninja’s intentions. 

“Look at our weapons” Ikkou said disinterestedly. He walked around Yousuke as a predator would circle its prey. “We are the only ones with firing weapons. How much experience do you have with yours?” 

Yousuke had to admit not much. 

“The triple gadget is powerful, that we know” Ikkou admitted. “But if you are ever alone, or if Nanami or Kouta are killed, you will need to know how to use Dry Gun alone.” 

Yousuke nodded. “All right then,” he lowered the weapon “What shall we do?” He never received a response. Spinning around, the air ninja realized that Ikkou had disappeared. Typical. That was just like a Goraijer. 

Ikkou had relocated to the top of the quarry where Yousuke couldn’t see him. He smiled cynically. The air ninja had no idea what was going to happen, and yet he was ready to try and take on anything. Determination was a wonderful thing, but it would only get the Hurricanger so far. The Goraijer would teach them about more than just guts. 

“Iiiiiikkouuuu,” Yousuke’s teasing call interrupted his thoughts. The tall man glared down the ravine, wishing at that moment that he could shoot lightning from his eyes like his brother. The red ninja was leaning on his Dry Gun like a cane. He seemed completely unconcerned about their training session. “Come on! I though we were going to have some fun!” 

Ikkou smirked. His visor slid down as he took steady aim of a nearby boulder. He would have fun, even if Yousuke wouldn’t. He fired and watched in grim satisfaction as the boulder rocked back and forth, finally dislodging and hurtling towards the young man standing so carefree in the quarry. He didn’t waste any time to find out its fate, leaping up and shooting at other boulders along the quarry’s edge, hearing but not seeing them crumble from their places to the gully below. 

“What the…? Are you crazy?!” Yousuke screeched at the quarry’s walls. He dodged the first flying boulder, trying to make out the form of the Kabuto Raijer. What was Ikkou thinking? He somersaulted over the next rock, but slipped on the stones tumbling down behind it. He gasped as another came crashing towards him, raising his Dry Gun and firing. 

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Minutes later, when the air was so thick with dust that no one could see, Ikkou finally stopped. He took a deep breath, crossing his arms over his chest and smirking. Now that was the proper way to train. If one was to learn, one had to be on the edge at all times. Yousuke would thank him for it later. He waited for the inevitable swearing that was sure to come… and waited some more. His smirk turned into a concerned frown. Where was the hyperactive cursing? He waved his arms to clear the dust around him, moving back towards the quarry’s edge to find out the fate of the young warrior. 

… and walked straight into the barrel end of the Dry Gun. He stared at the weapon, then slowly let his eyes follow it up to the hand that held it, up a gray clad arm to see Yousuke’s smug, dirty, unmasked face. “Bull’s eye” he winked. Ikkou was speechless. 

He removed the gun from the Goraijer’s chest and flicked his nose in triumph. “The Hayate way recruits potential ninjas for different reasons,” he said, grabbing Ikkou’s hand and pulling him towards the quarry’s edge. “My specialty was good marksmanship.” He took a concentrated breath, blowing out ninja chi and clearing the dust away. “See?’ he bragged, sweeping a hand over the battlefield. “Nothing there!” 

It was true. Ikkou’s eyes widened behind his mask. There wasn’t a single boulder left. Yousuke had blasted them all away. 

They stood there for a moment watching the rest of the dust settle. It took a few seconds for Ikkou to realize that their fingers were still entwined. He wasn’t sure how to take that, and quietly slid his hand out of Yousuke’s grasp. He was glad his visor was still closed. He probably looked as perplexed as he felt. 

Yousuke’s surprise, however, was open to the world. “That, uh… I… uh…” his blush rivaled the color of his suit. “We should, uh… we should go back! To the others, I mean, not to…” he stared at Ikkou’s hand “That… um, yeah.” Hoping to avoid any more humiliation, he slid his mask back down and streaked away, back towards where their friends had been. 

Ikkou raised his gloved had to his face. Why hadn’t he stopped the physical contact the second it happened? Goraijer were not touchy people. He hardly even laid a hand on Isshu, and they were brothers! He sighed and decided he would have to analyze it later. Right now, he had to go find out what his aforementioned brother had gotten into with the other Hurricanger. He streaked away silently, leaving behind the stones in the quarry.