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It was almost by chance that Akashi Satoru had run into Captain Marvelous. The crew of the Gokai Galleon had returned to Earth to deal with some treasure relating to some animal people that SGS had been keeping a close eye on, and Akashi had seen the ship. It was nearly impossible not to. The Gokai Galleon had never been particularly inconspicuous. When he’d gone to investigate no one had been on board, so Akashi had waited. If he didn’t, he might never get another chance to talk to Marvelous about the real reasons behind their meeting five years before.
Silver had been the first back. Akashi had thought after half a decade of being in a sentai of his own, maybe Ikari Gai’s hero worship would have died down, but no such luck. But after another autograph and some small talk about how their teams had been doing in the five years since they had last met, Gai calmed down a bit and explained the adventure his team was on while he’d been out collecting new ranger keys, showing off the keys for the ToQgers.
“How do you keep getting in here?!” Marvelous groaned as he returned with his crew to find Akashi and Gai laughing over coffee and leftover cake. Gai jumped at his captain’s outburst, but Akashi seemed practicedly unphased. Gai looked from Marvelous to BoukenRed, one of the heroes of his youth. He knew why Akashi was here. Through their stories it had come up, but he remained quiet on the subject. It wasn’t his information to give.
Akashi laughed softly at Marvelous’s frustration and slowly rose to his feet. “Thanks for keeping me company while I waited,” he spoke to Gai, patting his shoulder but only briefly making eye contact as he turned to the captain and the remainder of his crew. Marvelous hadn’t aged much in the five years since Akashi had last seen him. Just enough that he could see the weight of the adventures Marvelous had been on with his crew. His family. Akashi wondered if his ten years with his own family were just as visible on his own face.
The crew around Marvelous seemed to sense the tension and disperse, though none left the main living deck, all keeping their Captain and his visitor unsubtly within their line of sight. Akashi Satoru was an ally, but they were pirates and weren’t so quick to drop their guard, even for fellow Super Sentai. Marvelous was aware of exactly where each of his crew members were, but kept his gaze fixed on the adventurer. “So what do you want? Chatting over coffee doesn’t exactly seem like your style.”
Akashi gave a slightly uncomfortable smile, ”I hate to have to admit that’s what I’m here for then. I was hoping I could get a couple minutes alone with you to talk about something important. I know a good curry place if you’re interested. On me.”
Marvelous eyed him, then shifted his gaze slightly to Gai, who nodded. Marvelous let out a groan, swaying slightly as he pretended to think it over. “I just got back. You’re such a pain, old man…” He turned for the stairs to the main deck, stopping just before he passed Joe, “Keep an eye on things. Call if something comes up. You know the drill.”
Marvelous reached out to place his hand on Joe’s shoulder. Joe’s back tensed as he felt Marvelous’s grip tighten. He was nervous, and even if he couldn’t let the room know, he wanted Joe to be aware that he wasn’t sure what he was headed into. Joe met Marvelous’s gaze, sure that his captain was aware that he didn’t have to go. Whatever the Boukenger had to say, he could say it in front of all of them. The fire in Joe’s eyes made Marvelous smile more earnestly than he let anyone other than his first mate see. And as quickly as the smile emerged, it was covered by the captain’s usual cocky grin. He patted Joe’s shoulder in approval and kept walking. “Keep up, old man!” Marvelous called over his shoulder. Akashi, all too aware of the meaning behind the silent exchange, fell into step, meeting Joe’s eyes as he passed. He hoped that Joe, who reminded him of his own quiet, serious partner, could tell that even in his urgency to speak with Marvelous he meant no harm.
Once on the ground Marvelous let out a sigh, “So what’s so important that you can’t say it in front of my crew?”
“I know you don’t like to get too emotional in front of them,” Akashi shrugged, “so I thought it was better to take personal business elsewhere.”
“Personal business?” Marvelous raised an eyebrow, leaning forward slightly to try and get a better look at Akashi’s face. “What the hell does that mean?”
Akashi smiled slightly and shook his head, “How’s your crew doing? They look good. Doesn’t seem like you’re having all that much trouble out there.”
“Tch!!” Marvelous shoved Akashi, “Of course not!! Who the hell do you think we are?!” Akashi just laughed and Marvelous continued to sulk. “They’re doing fine… Gai took to traveling better than I expected. I let him handle stuff with SPD. It’s fun for him or something.”
“Still getting into trouble with the law?” Akashi’s tone was light, not very concerned. He and Sakura had plenty of their own run-ins with SPD when working with SGS’s space exploration division, and he knew Marvelous wouldn’t do anything truly harmful.
“We’re pirates.” Marvelous responded, grinning. It was the response that Akashi had expected. “What about you? Still dragging your team all over the planet?”
“We’re adventurers.” Akashi responded with the same grin. It was what Marvelous had expected. “Sakura is holding down the fort for now. I’ve got some things to look into once I’m done here, but I saw your ship and figured this was the only chance I’d get.”
Marvelous sighed, “You still haven’t told me what you’re here for.” He could see Akashi trying to think of a way to change the subject and rolled his eyes, “If you don’t want to tell me, why did you drag me back out of my ship? I’m hungry…”
“I’d never planned on telling you at all. This was a bit of an impulsive decision on my part,” Akashi started before Marvelous interrupted.
“When isn’t it impulsive with you?”
Akashi laughed, “Fair enough. I just saw your ship and didn’t think much about it.” He tilted his head back, looking up at the sky. Clear and blue. What a coincidence that Marvelous had come from so far out there, but had ended up so close by not just once but twice. “Do you know where you came from?”
The question caught Marvelous off guard. He stopped, trailing behind the few steps until Akashi noticed his hesitation and stopped to look back. Marvelous quickly took the several long strides needed to catch up and shoved past Akashi, “Tch.. Who cares? It doesn’t matter. My home is on the Galleon. My family is my crew.” Akashi stayed a step behind him, the feeling of pride in his chest battling something painful that Akashi didn’t want to try to identify. Marvelous had a similar pain in his chest he chose to ignore. The only reason someone would ask that is if they had an answer he didn’t, and Marvelous wasn’t sure he wanted to hear what Gai’s favorite Boukenger had to say. It wasn’t until Marvelous went to grab the handle for the door leading into his current favorite curry restaurant that Akashi spoke again.
“It was AkaRed who told me.”
Marvelous hesitated again, unable to move for what was only a few second but felt to him almost like an eternity. Marvelous lowered his hand and looked over his shoulder. The adventurer’s gaze was serious, sincere… sad.
“You knew AkaRed?”
Akashi stepped forward, patting Marvelous on the shoulder as he pulled the door open. Let’s sit down. I’ll tell you everything.” Marvelous let Akashi lead him in, feeling like he was moving through a fog as he was guided to a table. He listened as Akashi spoke of AkaRed, of the way he’d aided BoukenSilver in gathering other Sentai members to help save the other Boukengers once, and how Akashi had been fond of him and befriended him beyond that. How they’d kept in touch, discussing the Sentai that kept appearing over the years until AkaRed abruptly stopped returning communications. Marvelous assumed that was at the time of Basco’s betrayal.
“It was just a hunch he had.” Akashi spoke over his dish of curry as he sat beside Marvelous at the counter, “He’d talk about you all the time… Sent me photos once or twice…” He shrugged, pushing his food around awkwardly, “The whole reason I boarded your ship that time was to see for myself.”
Marvelous shoved a spoonful of curry into his mouth, thinking this over. “And after that you were sure?” he mumbled around the food in his mouth.
“Pretty sure, at least.” Akashi shrugged, “You definitely seem like you’re my father’s son, and AkaRed said you didn’t know where you came from.” Marvelous just nodded and continued shoving curry into his mouth. Akashi pushed his dish back, no longer interested in eating, “I wasn’t close with my father. I’d only hear from him once every few years and it was always tense, so I never knew he had children other than me.”
Marvelous finished his plate and sat back in his chair. It was a lot to take in, but he wouldn’t admit to being overwhelmed. “AkaRed never mentioned it to me,” He finally spoke, still unsure of how to feel. He grabbed Akashi’s plate and began eating it.
“You don’t have to think of him as your father, or even me as your brother. Your family is your crew. My family is my team,” Akashi turned to face Marvelous, “Just, when I saw the Galleon, I regretted not telling you the last time… I wasn’t sure if I’d get another chance, so I just decided to do it.”
Marvelous finished Akashi’s plate and sat back in his chair with a frustrated groan, “How am I supposed to respond to all of this?” He pressed both of his hands against his face, pushing them through his hair, “I never asked for a father and a brother. But if I just ignore it, I’ll feel like an ass.” So much of his crew had lost family. None of them had homes to go back to. He’d made a home for them. But now he was the one with a home somewhere else. Marvelous growled and slammed his fists on the counter, “Either way I‘ll feel like an ass!”
“Like I said, you don’t--”
“Then why did you tell me?!” Marvelous snapped.
Akashi flinched, but tried to keep the hurt off of his face, “I felt you had a right to know. He was never a great dad. I probably know him about as well as you do, to be honest.” Akashi signaled for two beers. If Marvelous didn’t want the other, he felt as though a second might keep himself from feeling too hollow. A weak smile crossed his expression, “But maybe it’s just that I’m just being selfish.”
“Selfish?” Marvelous raised an eyebrow curiously, turning his head to look at the sullen adventurer as he began to drink.
“I got a letter a while back…” Akashi shook his head, “No, our engineer, Makino, got a letter from him. It wasn’t for me. He didn’t even mention me in it.” Marvelous watched Akashi wrestle with frustration and grief that he could tell Akashi had been carrying and pretending to have dealt with for a long time. Akashi drank more from his glass, “In the last few days of his life, he wrote to Makino about his illness, and to thank him for his help over the years. Makino gave the letter to me. He was my father after all.”
“So he’s gone already...” Marvelous felt his throat sting and grabbed the second glass to drink as well.
Akashi nodded, “Sakura… BoukenPink… She thinks he just… didn’t have anything to say to me.” He finished his glass and set it down, signaling for another, “He’d seen my team. He’d seen the adventure I chose to take on. She thinks that he was satisfied with who I’d become and didn’t want to get in my way.”
“Who knows?” Marvelous shrugged, “I mean he left me without any indication of ever wanting me to know who he was. Doesn’t sound like he ever made much of an effort with you either.”
“I’ve never really had any relationship with my family. I don’t remember my mother. Makino took care of me a lot when I was young. SGS is all I’ve ever really known.” Akashi explained as he leaned on the counter, staring off at nothing in particular, “And I love them. I wouldn’t trade my team for anything in the world. But…”
“But we’re still brothers,” Marvelous affirmed with a half-hearted grin, “Had to at least try, right?” Akashi nodded. Marvelous knocked back the rest of his glass and exhaled, feeling slightly more settled now that all of the cards seemed to be on the table. “You know I’m not going to be sticking around this planet, right?”
“I know. I’d never expect that,” Akashi returned the same half-hearted grin. Marvelous suddenly saw the resemblance. Akashi finished his second drink, seeming a little more settled as well, “You’ve got your own adventures. I’m the last guy who’d stand in the way of that.”
Marvelous laughed, “Always an adventure of some kind, isn’t it?”
“Always,” Akashi affirmed proudly. He gestured for the bill, “But I’m sure you can figure out how to get in touch if you really felt like it. AkaRed always did.” He paid the check and got up, “Oh… But maybe at least try and be back around this time next year.”
Marvelous cocked his head, “Why?”
“I’m getting married.” Akashi grinned, “Bring the whole crew. All of my little brother’s family is welcome.”