[Kyoryuger] Fright During Movie Night

[alcesverdes]

Title: Fright During Movie Night
Fandom: Zyuuden Sentai Kyoryuger
Wordcount: +2700
Rating: PG
Characters: Utsusemimaru, Amy Yuuzuki, Gentle, Nossan.
Notes: Written for the "Rainstorm" prompt of the genprompt_bingo card.
Summary: Amy and Ucchii watch scary movies during a rainstorm. The power goes out and things begin to happen.

---

Amy's smile, born after Gentle told her his annual butler convention started the next day, died a quick and merciless death once he delivered the rest of the news.

"Of course, miss Amy, my conscience would perish at the thought of leaving you all alone for the weekend."

"You got me a babysitter?" she exclaimed. "I don't need one anymore! I'm eighteen already!" Never mind the fact that she fought monsters every other week to save the Earth, and it wasn't a secret anymore. At least not from Gentle.

"'Did you get me a babysitter?' Miss Amy, please, mind your grammar," he said. "I beg you to stop pouting as well. It's not ladylike."

Despite his warning, Amy's pout only grew. But the doorbell rang, distracting Gentle from scolding her further.

"Right on time. Just as expected," Gentle's said with a pointed look directed at Amy as he opened the door.

Then, to Amy's wonder and confusion, Ucchii walked in, smiling shyly, holding a bento box wrapped in a handkerchief, and Zandar Thunder strapped on his back. He bowed to both of them. "Good evening, Amy-dono, Gentle-dono. Pardon the intrusion."

Gentle bowed back. "Welcome, Utsusemimaru-dono. Please, make yourself at home."

Amy bowed too out of reflex. While part of her always felt happy to see his teammate and friend, she knew how seriously he took this kind of things, and how strict he could be. Ah, well. At least she had someone to train with the whole weekend.

"...the most reliable among the Kyoryugers," Gentle was saying now. "Therefore, I thought it would be a good compromise."

"I'm honored by your trust, Gentle-dono," Ucchii said. "I memorized the list of instructions you gave me."

Oh, no.

"There's a list?" Amy exclaimed.

"'Is there a list?,' Miss Amy," Gentle said. He picked up his luggage, which was on the floor next to him. "Very well, I must go now. Take care of yourselves. There is food in the fridge and the pantries. Miss Amy, please, present your best behavior to our guest. Utsusemimaru-dono, you are in charge from now on."

"I will not let you down, Gentle-dono!" Ucchii replied, a serious expression on his face and a hand on Zandar Thunder's hilt, although he didn't draw the sword.

One last firm nod from Gentle and he left, straight into the sunset.

Amy closed the door while Ucchii set down his bento box on a side table.

"Ucchii, is there really a list?" she asked.

"Amy-dono," he replied with an apologetic look on his face which meant that yes, there was a list, and yes, he planned to enforce it, "I am aware of how strong you are and I know that you can take care of yourself. But Gentle-dono worries about you."

Those words deflated most of Amy's defiance. Ucchii was really good at this.

However, it was only most of it.

Amy looked outside. It was still early for a Friday night. She grinned. "I know! Let's go out! There is always a party out there!"

Ucchii took a sharp breath. "We can't."

Amy pouted again. "Is that on the list?"

"No—I mean yes! But it's no the only reason! A storm is coming," he explained. "It looks bad."

A loud thunder rumbled not so far away at that exact moment.

"Did you do that?" Amy asked, gaping.

Ucchii flailed. "A-Amy-dono! I am the Thundering Brave, yes, but I promise you I did not!" He forced himself to calm down before adding, "Still, we should remain indoors."

"That's not fair!" Amy said, sitting down on the staircase, and propping her chin with her hands.

Ucchii went to sit next to her, facing her and playing with the hem of his coat. "My apologies, Amy-dono" he said, lowering his head.

Amy sighed. It wasn't his fault. Ucchii was always so well-meaning and true. He was her dear friend—and he looked so much like a lost puppy when sad. Previous babysitters weren't that lucky; she should cut him some slack.

"Is there anything I can do, then?"

That seemed to cheer Ucchii up. "Ah, yes! Lots of things..." He frowned. "Although—Amy-dono, do you enjoy knitting or sewing?"

"Not really."

"Right. Let us discard those then." He tapped his knee with a finger as he apparently went through the famous list. "How about movies?" He pronounced the word slowly to make sure he got it right. "Everyone likes those in the modern age, right?"

"Ah! Yes!" Amy stood up with one jump. Movies definitely beat knitting, sewing, and most other recommendations Gentle could've made. Ucchii was trying; it would be heartless not to react with enthusiasm. "We can use the big screen and all! You won't believe the high definition!"

"Excellent!" Ucchii said, smiling and proud of himself. "I'll prepare us some food while you take care of the rest, Amy-dono."

"What kind of movie do you want to see, Ucchii?"

"Any kind you want will be fine."

"Perfect!" Amy said. She was already compiling a list of titles on her head.

"Perfect!" he replied with his own polite tone of voice, although he did high-five Amy before he left for the kitchen.

***

They finished preparing supper together, since it didn't take long for Amy to set up the TV. Ucchii didn't have a problem eating on the couch in front of the screen, although that might've been just because of an uncharacteristic oversight on Gentle's part. In any case, Amy was not going to ask.

By then, the rain had started. It served as a background noise, with some lightning and thunder here and there. Amy discarded the idea to keep teasing Ucchii about it, and focused on the task at hand.

"Ready? Here we go!" she said and pressed the play button in the remote control.

"It truly is a big screen, Amy-dono! Half the size of the wall!" Ucchii said with the wonder he reserved for everything he learned about the present.

Amy stifled a chuckle. She really needed to take Ucchii out to a real movie theater some day. However, as the logo of the movie company filled the screen, a small voice in the back of Amy's head told her there was something she forgot about. But it wouldn't say what. She shrugged it off; probably it wasn't that important.

Well into the movie, with half of Ucchii hiding behind her and barely daring to peek at the screen, she remembered: she neglected to tell him she chose horror films for the evening.

"I don't think I like this Sadako-dono," he mumbled. "Do—do you think Reiko-dono will be fine?"

"If I tell you, I will spoil the movie for you."

"I believe I would much rather have it spoiled," he said. "Ah! That is the cursed tape!" He closed his eyes tight and covered them with her hair. "Please, Amy-dono! Don't watch it! I beg you!"

She patted her hand. "Ucchii, this is the third time I've seen this one. Nothing will happen. Didn't you have ghost stories in the Sengoku period?"

"Yes," he whined, eyes still closed. "But we didn't get to see them so highly defined."

Amy bit her lower lip. Ucchii was going to have nightmares the rest of the month and it'd be her fault. She took a deep breath for resolve and reached out for the remote again.

"It's all right. We don't have to keep watching it."

"Oh, Amy-dono! You don't have to stop something you enjoy for my sake!"

"We can see something else." Disney, maybe. She had a lot of those.

However, at the exact same second she pressed the stop button, lighting and thunder happened in quick succession and so loud it could have only landed right above them. Of course, that caused all lights, television included, to go off.

Ucchii tightened her grip on Amy's shoulders. "Amy-dono...?"

"Don't worry!" Amy said, trying to sound more sure of herself than she felt. "It's probably some fuse. I know how to change them! And in the worse case scenario, we'll call Nossan and he'll fix the power!"

While he didn't let go of her completely, Ucchii relaxed. "Ah, yes. Nossan-dono can help!"

And he would come if called, but she wanted to try first so Nossan didn't have to go all the way there under the storm. Amy picked up a flashlight from the table next to them while Ucchii grabbed up his sword, which had been put aside while they ate. She decided not to make any kind of comment about the weapon.

She stood up. "Fine. Let's go. We'll need to go outside for a bit."

He nodded. "I have your back, Amy-dono!"

***

The storm was bad, as Ucchii had anticipated. The large umbrella he carried to cover them was pointless. The wind carried the rain sideways, soaking them. But they braved on, guided by the flashlight. As part of the Bravest Sentai in History, as Amy could imagine King telling them, they couldn't do anything else.

From the corner of her eye, Amy noticed the well in the back yard. She was suddenly glad they didn't get to the part in the movie where it became clear Sadako was trapped in one of them. Those were things Ucchii didn't need to know, specially under these circumstances. And yet...

More lightning struck down, and it showed a humanoid figure standing next to the well. She tensed up, her body readying for a fight, and directed the beam from the flashlight to the well. Nothing was there.

"Amy-dono?" Ucchii asked above the sound of the rain and wind.

She frowned. "I thought I saw something, but it was just a shadow."

"Do you want me to make sure?"

"No. It's fine. Besides, we need to fix the power first."

"Very well." He looked up, to the clouds. "We better hurry. The storm will get worse."

They kept going, although Amy glanced one last time toward the well, and she noticed Ucchii did the same.

The fuses turned out not to be much of a problem. Once the switch was up again, the light came back, and they could return to the house. Completely drenched but safe.

At least until they got to the main entrance and found the door wide open.

"I'm sure I closed it, Ucchii."

"I know you did. Um. Maybe the wind did it," he offered.

"Maybe..." she repeated. She closed it again, making sure it was locked. "We need to go change."

"Amy-dono!" Ucchii exclaimed, interrupting her. "My bento box! It's gone!"

"What?" Amy looked to where he pointed, the now empty bed side table. "But it was right there when we left and we are all alone... Are we?"

Zandar Thunder was finally unsheathed. "We shouldn't have seen that tape," Ucchii said, his face stuck in a expression half way through a pout and the determined one he used during a fight.

On the other hand, while Amy didn't use weapons in her civilian form, her feet and fists were ready to present a challenge to anyone.

"It can't be that, Ucchii," she said. "Sadako doesn't live in our well."

"Pardon?"

"...never mind."

The storm took the turn for the worse as Ucchii predicted. The water hit the windows hard, startling them and making them turn around. Then, the lights went off again.

"Ucchii!"

"I'm here, Amy-dono!"

She went through her pockets to get her mobuckle. "I'm—I'm calling Nossan!"

"Maybe we should call Tessai-dono and Ramírez-dono first! They should know how to handle ghosts."

Amy wanted to answer that there were no ghosts—at least not there, but the mention of the Spirit Rangers made her not that sure about it anymore.

"We should—But do they even have a mobuckle?"

She heard Ucchii swallow loudly.

"I will have a serious talk with Torin about giving them one each."

A noise on their left made them jump again. Amy dropped her mobuckle in her hurry to turn on the flashlight again. When she finally did it, the light beam show them a couple of fallen chairs, and no culprit.

Amy felt Ucchii's side pressing against her.

"Amy-dono, perhaps it would be safer if we go somewhere else and come back in the morning."

Amy pursed her lips. 'Strategical retreat' wasn't in her vocabulary. No silly ghost was going to scare her away, and she'd seen enough movies to know how to deal with them.

"No. This is my house and I will fight for it."

Ucchii was taken aback for a moment, but then he answered, in a clear voice, "As it's your right as the lady of this palace. Amy-dono, you have my sword at your disposal."

The pride in his voice made her heart swell. However, it was only for a moment, since another noise, this time to their right.

"Let's go get it!" She dashed there, followed by Ucchii.

"Ghost-dono! Whether you intend to pass on or not, give back my bento box! It's a present from Yuuji-dono!"

The next noise they heard was down the hall, toward the kitchen. A broken vase awaited them at the entrance. They exchanged a look and stepped over the pieces. Yet, before then entered the kitchen, Ucchii extended his arm to stop Amy.

"Wait, Amy-dono," he whispered. "Listen."

She did. It sounded like someone was panting. Amy frowned. What kind of ghost did that?

The answer: none.

"Stay here, Ucchii. I'll take care of things."

Amy marched into the kitchen with long strides, the hand that didn't hold the flash light closed in a tight fist. It didn't take her long to find the very human and very alive thief and reduce him to his knees.

"What should we do with him?" Ucchii said once the intruder was tied up to a chair. The bento box had been recovered and was unharmed, but the samurai still used a cold tone of voice and attitude, like back when when he tried to hide his true nature from the Kyoryugers.

"What did you do with his kind in your time, Ucchii?" Amy said, folding her arms after putting her mobuckle in her pocket. She had just called Nossan, who promised to go as soon as possible.

Ucchii pointed his sword toward the man. "He would say goodbye to his head. Or at least to one of his hands, if my lord felt generous back then."

Amy tapped her chin while she pretended to consider it. Of course, neither of them would do anything like that, but maybe they could scare the thief into behaving from then on.

It worked.

"No, please!" he cried, eyes fixed on the tip of Zandar Thunder. "Call the police! I'll confess! Promise!"

"What do you say, Amy-dono? How generous do you feel today?"

She shrugged. "Let's call the police. We couldn't dump the body in the well."

The last part had the thief whimper right in the middle of his happy nodding.

"As you wish," Ucchii said. He lowered his sword, but didn't put it back in the scabbard. It was enough so the man to start breathing again, though.

"I'll be right back," Amy said, and went for the phone.

***

"You seem to have been busy," Nossan said once he heard the story. He got there after the police had taken the thief away, when the storm was over. He finished tinkering with some cables, pulled a switch, and the power came back. This time for good, hopefully.

"Why don't you stay, Nossan? We still have a lot of movies to go through," Amy said.

"None of them about vengeful ghosts!" He turned to Amy. "Right?"

"Right!" she said. "No ghosts!"

"So no fright in movie night, huh?" Nossan grinned and put his tool box aside. "We should call everyone, though! It'll be more fun."

Both Ucchii and Amy agreed readily, and thus the calls were made. Once the rest of the team showed up, they all voted for a non-ghost movie. The winner was one about dinosaurs coming back to life.

As Amy pushed the play button once more, a small voice in the back of her head told her she forgot something. But she shrugged it off. It probably wasn't important, and right now she had a trilogy to enjoy with her friends.

She would remember Monday morning, when Gentle returned and got some official calls. However, as the butler himself admitted, catching a thief was far from being the most preposterous thing she'd ever done.

Ucchii would be allowed to return next year—along with the rest of the team, which Amy considered a bigger victory than no babysitters at all. So much that she didn't dare to ask for no lists next time. But she still had a whole year to negotiate that part.