Author's Note: Yahoo~! I'm really super excited to finally get the first chapter of this out here, since I've been excited about this story since it's inception. So to be able to finally complete a chapter of it and formally launch it makes me really happy! I hope that everyone enjoys Selfish Heart half as much as I did while planning and writing it- which is to say, a lot!
Naturally, as mentioned, this is a roleswap AU- a type of alternate universe story that revolves around swapping roles. In this case, this would be the roles of Rikka Hishikawa and Ira. It was originally inspired by a small bit of art that I saw on pixiv, and I kind of fell in love with the idea and went from there. Of course, it's not just a simple roleswap AU, but it will also be incorporating a lot of fun new ideas, story directions, and all sorts of interesting new things- because there's no way that I would do something as boring and uninspired as simply rewriting every pre-existing Dokipre episode.
Well, I think I've talked enough already, so I hope everyone enjoys! Please leave a review if you could be so kind! Till next time~!
Selfish Heart
Episode One
The Last Warrior of the Trump Kingdom Finds a New Hope
When had the screams stopped?
She barely found herself with a moment to catch her breath, her brow coated with sweat- and yet somehow in the chaos, she found the time to wonder about that.
The sky was dark overhead, and yet not because it was cloudy- it was more like the light from the sun had simply been sucked away. The air itself was heavy, rank with tension, and was bearing down on her, threatening to pull her under into some deep darkness.
She swallowed, her legs starting to shake from the effort that she was exerting. She had powers beyond belief, her body strengthened- and yet she was reaching her limits. She could feel it in her bones, she could feel it in the way she was starting to gasp for breath. What she wouldn't have given for one breath of clean, fresh air. But she had neither a moment to take it, nor such fresh, crisp air available to her.
The screams had stopped, but the oppressive feeling had only increased. Now that she thought about it, as she turned on shaking legs, ready to face down the next challenger- where had everyone gone? She had been fighting with a unit earlier- where had they gone? She couldn't see them anywhere.
A cry, but not from a human. She gritted her teeth, resolving herself to face the monster. Monsters, monsters, monsters- so many monsters! There was no end! Where was her unit? Where were her fellow warriors? Where was her princess?
Where was anyone?
And yet.
"Flash!" Her voice was ragged, her breathing shallow. "Holy Sword!"
Again, the brilliant violet light shot forward, striking through the monster clean and true. It seemed to crack and shatter from the impact, giving way to a pure pink Psyche, flying off into the distance. Lowering her shaking arm, she took two steps forward, feeling the muscles in her legs burning. If this battle took such a toll on her, what did it mean for anyone else? They did not have such abilities as she did, and even her stamina was at it's limits.
There were a few others like her, selected by the princess and the king alike. The king- that's right, where was the king, in the middle of all this? Why had she not realized that he was nowhere to be found before this? She simply hadn't had the time to think, no time to question anything. She just knew that she had to fight, had to protect her kingdom- and had to return to her princess.
The princess, where was she? She had lost sight of her somewhere along the way. The princess was a powerful warrior, and in her hands was one of the legendary treasures- surely she must have been okay. Surely she must be with her another unit, fighting off these monsters, fighting that thing that had appeared so suddenly.
That thing that was responsible for all of this. King Selfishness.
"Oh, there was still one left?"
Her blood froze in her veins, and it was all she could do to turn her body to face the voice, full of mockery. She swallowed, her throat dry, her vision blurring. But still, she saw the woman before her, moving unharmed amongst the monsters.
She had defeated so many, but the woman brought even more with her. They followed at her command, only held back from charging at the single girl who could barely stand up by the woman's slender, almost white hand.
King Selfishness, the Selfish. His servants. Which one was this? Their names blurred together in her head, as did many other thoughts. 'Still one left', she had said. What did that mean? Still one Precure? Still one unit member?
Still one person?
"Where is the princess!?" She found herself shouting, her voice cracking, her throat dry.
"Princess?" The woman asked, blinking for a moment, before a look of amusement crossed her face. "Ah, her. Who knows? There's no way that someone like that could possibly fight King Selfishness and win. She's probably already dead, if she hasn't become a monster herself already."
The words stabbed through her like her namesake, and it was all the purple clad girl could do to not let it show on her face. Don't flinch, don't let your heart waver in front of these people- they could see it, after all. Instead she forced herself to stand up straighter, turning her sharp gaze towards this monster woman.
Golden eyes.
A faint beeping in the air.
"I see." The woman said simply, closing her eyes for a brief moment, before she opened them again, golden gaze falling on her. "So you're one of the types who will fight down to their last breath? Very well, I suppose I can grant that kind of wish as well."
Beep, beep.
Darkness forming in the woman's hand.
The beeping was growing louder. Wait... where was that noise coming from again?
Makoto Kenzaki almost managed to choke on her own breath as her eyes snapped open. For several moments, she could not discern if the scene in front of her eyes was the oppressively dark sky of what had been the Trump Kingdom, or was the steadily rotating ceiling lamp in her new residence. She swallowed, and found that her throat was no longer dry, and took a deep breath, finding that the air was no longer heavy.
"A dream." She mumbled to herself, placing a hand on her forehead. The sweat, at least, had been real, and she could feel a dampness on her brow. Taking in and letting out another deep breath, she blinked slowly, turning her head a bit to the side, glancing at the persistently beeping alarm clock that sat directly across from her.
Frowning for a few seconds, she slowly pushed herself up into a seated position, staring at the object as if it were completely foreign to her- when in fact it had been over a year since she had come here. Still, Makoto found herself facing down the alarm clock much like it was yet another monster- before she managed to pull the knowledge to silence it from the sleepy depths of her mind.
The insistent beeping noise finally stopped, she got to her feet. For a moment she stumbled, before her body remembered that she was not worn from battle, and that her legs weren't throbbing with pain from overuse. Taking a few steps forward, she stretched, feeling her bones shift and pop lightly from a long night's disuse. She could faintly smell something being cooked in the kitchen- and could hear the faint sound of Davie humming something. One of her songs... no, that was a traditional children's song from the Trump Kingdom, wasn't it?
That's right, she thought, humming it slightly herself as the words to it bubbled to the surface of her mind. She had sung it with the princess countless times before, when she was still a child. She and the other children at the orphanage, their voices raising up in unison. Even now, she could still recall it. The children's voices didn't harmonize at all, and were in total discord- and yet the princess' voice rang clear and true through them, strong and beautiful.
That was why she had wanted to sing in the first place. That sharp and clear voice, carrying over the hills of the Trump Kingdom- she wanted to come close to that. She hadn't forgotten that, after all this time. She had practiced and practiced, every day.
Singing for her princess had been a dream. The first time that Makoto had sung before her, by herself, it was a wonder that she hadn't burst into tears of happiness. It was everything that she had wanted, everything that she had worked so hard for, for so many years.
Even now, she was still singing for her princess.
Pulling back the curtains, she winced a little as the bright sun directly assaulted her eyes. Blinking for a few moments to correct this problem, she eventually worked the latch on the balcony door, sliding the glass door open. Fresh air filled her lungs when she took a deep breath, and she could hear the steady hustle and bustle of the city underneath her feet. People were waking up, getting ready to go to work, getting ready to go to school.
It was like the city was coming to life.
Makoto closed her eyes for a moment, listening to the sounds- the engines of cars and buses, the chatter of the people on the street, the sounds of the birds. She could feel a gentle breeze on her face- today would be a wonderful spring day, she felt. She could feel the sun on her face, and a certain joy in the air.
This was truly a peaceful city.
She couldn't let it become like the Trump Kingdom.
She refused to fail again.
Clenching her fists, Makoto's eyes narrowed, that woman's golden eyes manifesting in her thoughts again. They haunted her, full of mockery and contempt.
"Never again." She whispered, her voice harsh in her ears. Glancing down at the bustling city street, she barely heard Davie's voice calling her from the kitchen. "I'll never let that happen again."
"You've been looking rather pleased with yourself this morning, Mana." Alice Yotsuba couldn't help but observe, peering over at her friend. "Did something good happen?"
"I was waiting for you to ask, Alice!" A bright smile broke out the young girl's face, her magenta eyes shining brightly. "As a matter of fact, something wonderful! Do you know the current super idol, Makopi?"
"Of course." Alice smiled politely, glancing briefly out the window of her rather impressive car. "It's hard to think of someone who hasn't heard of her yet. She's everywhere, after all." As if on cue, the car rolled past a record store, which had a rather large poster of the young idol whose name was on everyone's lips, advertising her new single. "You could say that she's taken the country by storm. My father's company is the one who manages her record label."
"Is there anything your father's company doesn't manage?" Fourteen year old Mana Aida found herself asking. "He seems to have his hands in all sorts of business ventures."
"Now that you mention it, I suppose that's true. I suppose he would be a super businessman, then?" Alice suggested, smiling placidly over towards her friend.
For a brief moment, the only thought that filled Mana's mind was a horrible image of Alice's father dressed in Makopi's signature pink dress- and it was all she could do to bite back her gag reflex. That was not a mental image that she needed to start her day off with. "I-I suppose so." She stammered a little, trying to shake it out of her thoughts.
"And? What is this news?" Alice inquired, seeming immune to her friend's train of thought. "Something to do with Makopi, since you brought her up, I suppose."
"Ah, yes!" Mana nodded her eyes, her earlier excitement returning. Beaming brightly, she dug into her bag, and produced three tickets, each of them bearing an image of the idol on them. "I managed to get three tickets to her concert this weekend! She'll be singing her single, Songbird, for the first time!"
"Oh, amazing!" Alice clapped her hands, looking genuinely impressed in spite of the fact that she most likely could have acquired such tickets with no cost to herself. "The obvious other person aside, are you planning to invite Nikiadou-san as well?"
"Eh, I was going to go with him, but I was going to invite you instead of Nikiadou, Alice." Mana pouted a little, pulling the tickets back a bit. "Do you not want to go?"
"Oh, is that right?" Alice blinked, apparently not having considered that option. "I would be delighted to attend. I don't believe that I have any prior engagements... at least off the top of my head. Sebastian?" She asked, glancing towards the front of the car, where her faithful butler was fulfilling one of his many duties- driving his mistress and her childhood friend to school. The fact that they attended two separate schools was of no matter.
"I believe that you have a piano lesson scheduled in the morning on Saturday, and a horseback riding lesson on the Sunday afternoon, but nothing that should prevent you from attending a concert on Saturday evening, mistress." Sebastian quickly recalled- after all, memorizing your mistress' schedule was one of the very basics of being a butler. "You should be free to attend."
"I see! Then I would love to come with, Mana!" Alice said brightly, looking a bit excited. "I've never been to a concert like that before though. It's not quite the same as a formal recital, is it?" She pondered out loud.
"Well, I wouldn't know, I've never been to a formal recital myself!" Mana admitted, laughing a little, carefully tucking the tickets back away in her bag. "It's actually my first concert too. I mean, I attended her first mini-live... but this is on a whole different scale from that! It's taking up the biggest concert hall in Oogai! Completely sold out! That's the power of Makopi, for you." She said, folding her arms in front of her chest, giving her childhood friend a sage nod.
She had known Alice Yotsuba since the two of them were children- they had attended the same elementary school, although they had known each other since they were kindergartners. She was originally a shy and meek child with weak health- but before anyone knew it, she had become much more confident and healthier, and could live a normal life. She was definitely one of Mana's best friends in the world!
Speaking of best friends, though...
"He gets out of the hospital tomorrow, right?" Mana asked, frowning a little. "I wonder if I should tell him today or tomorrow?" She inquired- she didn't even bother asking if the young boy who was just leaving the hospital would be up to attending a bustling concert. It wasn't because of a lack of concern on her part, but simply because she knew him very well- and she already knew the answer was 'yes'.
After all, not many people could fall out of a second story window, and completely recover in three days! As always, his body was ridiculously durable.
"I believe so. I don't see a problem with telling him today?" Alice suggested. "I'm sure he'll be happy to be invited. He's not honest about it, but he has a few of her CDs in his room. It's hidden with his shoujo manga."
"Is it with the pile of fluffy romance shoujo manga or the pile with the magical girl shoujo manga?" Mana asked, tilting her head a little.
"No, it's the pile with the slightly offbeat comedy shoujo manga." Alice responded. "You know, the one that's underneath his bed, where he thinks nobody looks."
"Doesn't he know that's the first place anyone looks when they enter a new person's room?" Mana frowned a little. "Hiding shoujo manga underneath his bed at his age... I wonder if he's maturing correctly." She muttered to herself, a serious expression briefly crossing over his face. "Don't you think most boys around that age are starting to think about other things?"
"I wouldn't know." Alice stated frankly.
"Pardon me, mistress, but I'm afraid there's going to be a slight delay in getting the both of you to school." Sebastian spoke up, cutting off any further conversation.
"Is something wrong?" Alice asked, frowning a little. "Is there a traffic jam of some sorts?"
"You could say that, but I believe the source of it is caused by one of those monsters that have been causing everyone such grievance lately." Sebastian stated plainly- for all that he had just basically announced that a monster had appeared, he didn't seem all that concerned about it.
After all, this city had a protector.
"A Jikochuu!?" Mana sprung to her feet, completely forgetting that she was inside of a car- and however roomy Alice's custom hot pink car was, it still wasn't quite tall enough for someone to stand straight up in. As a result, she found herself crouching on the floor, clutching at her head in pain.
"What kind is it this time!?" Alice asked, expressing excitement of her own- and she managed to get up from her seat without bashing her skull in. Rolling down a window, she poked her head outside, her eyes shining brightly as she spotted the monster in the distance, letting out a cry that had become all too familiar to the people of Oogai. "A crab! It's a crab! Ah, Sebastian, are you certain that we can't take this one home!?"
"I believe that would be somewhat of a problem, mistress." The butler answered honestly. "Even with the power of the Yotsuba Corporation."
"Then, if there's a Jikochuu, does that mean Cure Sword's appeared?" Mana asked, the pain from her throbbing head relenting. Rolling down the window on the opposite side of Alice's, she peered out, eyes searching around for any sign of the mysterious girl. Her expression grew somewhat crestfallen as she quickly realized that she couldn't make out the mysterious girl's figure in the distance.
"It seems that it's the one our age today." Alice observed, placing a hand over her eyes in order to shield them from the sun's glare.
"Shouldn't she be on her way to school?" Mana inquired, briefly glancing back towards her friend- Alice didn't have a chance to point out that it was very unlikely that a minion of evil attended classes regularly as they did, before she was cut off by the sound of something thumping on the roof of the car- and if the elated squealing sound that escaped from Mana was any indication, she had a feeling she knew what that was about.
Cure Sword, the mysterious warrior who had been protecting Oogai from these monsters, had just run over the roof of her car, making a beeline towards the Jikochuu and it's summoner, jumping from car to car on her way there. The enigmatic purple clad young girl appeared to be not much older than her and Mana- if not the exact same age. She had appeared in Oogai around the same time as the mysterious monsters, which appeared to be called Jikochuu, had.
The Yotsuba Corporation had tried investigating them before, but they hadn't turned up much information that was helpful. And in spite of an attempt to ferret out the true identity of the mysterious Cure Sword, nothing had come up. Perhaps, Alice thought, that was for the best though- surely nothing good would come of it if the girl's real self was known to the rest of the world. What if she had family and friends that needed to be kept safe from the people she was fighting?
While Alice was wondering about that, it seemed that her friend had no such likewise concerns at the moment. "Cure Sword!" She called after the mysterious girl, her magenta eyes sparkling with excitement. She was all but leaning halfway outside of the car window, frantically waving towards the girl's retreating back, hoping to catch her attention somehow. When this failed, she sullenly lowered her arm, heaving a deep sigh.
"Well, it can't be helped." Alice reassured her. "After all, she has something more pressing to take care of at the moment."
She had, of course, heard the girl screaming her name at the top of her lungs. It would have been very hard for her to miss.
The one thing that Makoto Kenzaki- or rather, Cure Sword right now, hadn't counted on when it came to defending the people of Oogai was just how many fans she would earn for this. She frankly didn't really understand it. All she was doing was her duty- fighting against the Selfish didn't seem like it was something that was deserving of fans.
But it seemed like having a large fan following was perhaps her destiny- both as Cure Sword, and as the current number one idol, Makopi. To be honest, there were a lot of things that confused her about the idol business as well- it was a good thing that she had Davie here with her, who had taken the time to do a very through and in depth investigation of the business and all of it's workings.
Speaking of the fairy, she had seemed slightly distracted since this morning. Well, fairies were sensitive to minute changes, even if they didn't know what those were- perhaps something was going to happen?
Well, for all that, things seemed to be happening as normal today.
And that included fighting against the Selfish today too.
"You people never know when to give up, do you?" Sword's voice rang out loud and clear, catching the attention of the giant crab monster that had up until that point been devoting it's energy to creating a huge mess.
"I could say the same thing to you as well, Cure Sword." There was a faint brush of chill as the young girl lowered herself down from her previous aerial perch, a hint of amusement dancing across her features. "For all that you sound so confident, you struggled quite a bit the last time, didn't you?"
Against her better judgement, Sword found herself gritting her teeth. Of course, it had to be this one today. Out of the three members of the Selfish Trio, there was no doubt that this one was the one she had the most problems dealing with. It was true that compared to Marmo and Bel, her power was lacking... but she was smart as anything, and clever too.
And what's more, her words were like thorny barbs, piercing through the emotional barrier she had set in place to protect her own Psyche from the likes of the trio.
"You shouldn't sound so triumphant simply because you got lucky last time, Furia. I won't lose to the likes of you." Sword said cooly, locking her eyes with the Selfish girl's. A frosty blue, not gold- but there was no mistaking them even then.
There was no way that Sword would mistake her for a human- not with the Selfish's signature batwings revealing her true nature. Her hair was a frosty blue color, the same as her eyes, and hung down towards her elbows. A small braid was twined around the back of her head, and a tiny dark blue bow rested at the center of it. Furia barely appeared older than Makoto's own fourteen years of age- although she was slightly taller than the Precure.
"As always your heart is so well guarded. There's no place for me to break through." Furia let a slight sigh escape from her lips, shrugging her shoulders. Brushing a strand of frosty blue hair out of her eyes, her disappointed expression quickly transformed into a rather confident look. "Well, it doesn't matter. It just means that you've chosen the hard way. It would be a lot easier you know, if you just gave yourself up and became a Jikochuu. Just like everyone else in your kingdom."
"Shut up." Sword gritted her teeth, feeling the barbs of Furia's words sinking in. She couldn't waste time chatting with this one- nothing good would come of it. "I don't have any time to waste on you today."
That part was actually true- after this she had an important meeting with her agency concerning her concert that weekend. It would be bad if she missed another one. That concert would be an important chance for her to spread out her song even more than before, there was no way she could let it fall apart.
No matter what, she had to find her.
"How dull." Furia simply heaved another long sigh, before raising her hand, floating backwards up into the air as she did so. "Jikochuu, if you be so kind. Try not to be completely useless today too."
The monster, of course, did not take offense at it's mistress' words, but rather advanced towards the purple clad girl. It let out a cry, venting a loud frustration about having to wait in line with everyone else, about how it should always be allowed to go first without having to wait around! Created from the selfish thoughts of a human that had overtaken the rest of their Psyche, the Jikochuu on their own usually weren't anything for Sword to worry about.
Even if they had been growing slightly more powerful lately, it was nothing she couldn't handle.
The crab Jikochuu lurched forward, raising one of it's pincers in the air, slamming it down towards Sword. Leaping out of the way, she watched as the ground cracked underneath the Jikochuu's force. But it wasn't anything to worry about, after all, the damage would be fixed after the battle. She didn't understand that herself, but she was grateful for it.
Though perhaps there was a reason why the portal from the Trump Kingdom appeared exactly over this city.
"Sword!" A cry from below her caught her attention. Her fairy partner, Davie, normally quite focused on the task at hand, seemed to have her attention elsewhere. "I can sense something ~byi!"
"Something? What?" Sword asked, although her focus on Davie's words were broken by the Jikochuu. Pursuing it's prey, once again it lurched forward, this time opening it's pinchers wide, aiming to entrap the Precure within it's grasp. Ducking downwards, she avoided it's attack, before she placed her hands on the ground, using her momentum to slam a leg upwards. Coupled with her massively increased strength, the Jikochuu flew up into the air a bit, allowing Sword enough time to slip away from it again.
"I don't exactly ~byi." The purple fairy confessed after a moment, her eyes searching in the area around them. "I can definitely feel something though, ~byi! It feels... it feels," her eyes narrowed as if uncertain of her next words.
"Like what?" Sword asked, her eyes briefly flickering down towards her companion. But that slight slip of her attention was all the Jikochuu needed, and any thoughts of what it could be that Davie felt slipped from her mind as Sword found herself being pinched between on of the crab Jikochuu's massive claws. She let out a loud cry, feeling the air rushing from her lungs.
"My, my, you're unusually distracted today." Furia observed, unable to help but quirk a slight eyebrow. That was actually rather curious- normally Cure Sword was very single-minded and focused on her battle. It seemed that her fairy companion had been saying something... she wondered what it could be? "If defeating you was going to be this easy all along, I'm almost sort of sorry to see you go, Cure Sword."
"Don't count me out just yet." Sword gritted her teeth, narrowing her eyes. Gathering her willpower, she exerted as much force as she possibly could in her trapped position, a bright purple glow emitting from her body. In a flash of power, she freed herself from the Jikochuu's claws- and also caused the monster to stumble back from both the force and brightness.
"Flash!" She called out, raising her hand before her. "Holy Sword!" The violet light shot forward, straight and true, purifying the Jikochuu. She couldn't prevent her shoulders slumping in relief as she watched the purified Psyche flutter off, heading back towards it's original owner, and the damage caused by the crab monster resetting itself.
Turning towards Furia, Sword ignored the fact that the pain from the crab's pincher attack lingered, and grinned triumphantly. "It seems that you weren't disappointed in the end, Furia. Like I said, there's no way that I would ever be defeated by you."
"I suppose that remains today as well." Furia said cooly- for all that she had lost, she didn't look tremendously disappointed, displaying a poker face that most adults would be envious of. "Well, there's always next time, Cure Sword. I suppose that was simply the limit of today's Jikochuu. A desire to cut in line... too common an act of selfishness to do any real harm, I suppose."
"I'll simply have to prepare a more splendid one for next time. Until then." She said simply, placing a hand on the edge of her skirt, lifting it up in a slight curtsy. With that motion, the Selfish teleported away, leaving Sword behind.
"Are you okay, Sword ~byi?" Davie inquired, peering up at her partner as best she could in her current form. "I didn't mean to distract you ~byi." She said, honestly frustrated at herself for slipping up like that. It was just... the energy she had felt had been just like...
"It's alright." Sword said, a gentle smile on her face. "I defeated it without any problem in the end, so there's nothing to worry about. More importantly, what were you saying before, Davie?"
"Since this morning I thought that I had felt a familiar energy in the area ~byi." She confessed, knowing from the look alone that Sword had already doubtlessly connected the dots. "Off and on, that is ~byi."
"Familiar energy...? You don't mean the princess, do you?" Sword asked, barely able to keep the edge of excitement from out of her voice- as well as the doubt.
After all, she had already spent a year searching for the princess, without so much as a trace of her presence. For Davie to suddenly feel her energy appear today... could it really be true?
"I believe so, ~byi, although it's faint and sporadic ~byi." Davie said. "I can investigate it for you ~byi."
"Please do." Sword nodded her head, before looking around her, noticing that the people who had evacuated or were in hiding had all started to return to the area. Acknowledging them with a small smile and a slight wave, Sword quickly made to leave the area herself. She would rather avoid drawing too much attention to herself- at least as far as that sort of thing was possible.
And yet, even with news that should be joyous- a possible trace of the princess, after all this time!- her heart only felt disturbed.
"And then just when she thought she had gotten her, Sword broke free with a brilliant flash of light!" Came Mana Aida's excited exclamation, her own eyes shimmering and shining almost as brightly as the flash of purple light from earlier. "And then boom! Flash, Holy Sword!" She shouted, excitedly waving her hand in the air, mimicking the Precure's movements.
"It was all over with that! Furia ran away like she had her tail between her legs! Ahh, you should have seen it, she really was amazing!" Mana declared, squeezing her schoolbag in excitement, before she collapsed back into the slightly uncomfortable chair that she had pulled by the young man's bedside, only to shoot out from it in excitement at telling him of her sighting of the legendary Cure Sword earlier that morning.
"You really love Cure Sword, don't you, Mana?" He asked, snorting a little. He was currently dressed in a hospital gown, hints of bandages around his chest poking out from it. There were also bandages looped around his head, and though he would be able to go without the ones around his chest starting tomorrow, it seemed like the doctors insisted he wear the ones around the head for another day and a half.
Honestly, it was a huge pain. He had only taken a little fall.
Out of a second story window.
And he'd only hit his head a little bit!
On cement.
To anyone else, such an accident would surely mean at least a week or two in the hospital- but well, he wasn't exactly any other person. If he had anything going for him, it was that his body was absurdly durable.
"Of course!" Mana nodded her head, beaming brightly, lowering her schoolbag down and placing it in her lap. "Don't you think she's cool too? After all, fighting monsters and taking down bad guys... and doing it all while wearing cute clothes! It's any girl's dream, Ira!"
"And? What would I know about girl's dreams?" Golden eyes fell on the magenta haired girl, one of his brows arching upwards. A single strand of dark brown hair stubbornly stuck up from the rest of the short, moppy mess of his hair, which almost seemed to twitch with his changing moods. Mana hadn't exactly known him for as long as she had Alice- the three of them had only met the golden eyed boy in the third grade, after all- but she considered him to be one of her closest friends.
"Plenty! You certainly read enough shoujo manga to understand a maiden's heart, Ira!" Mana insisted, grinning from ear to ear as the fourteen year old boy made a noise of protest, glowering at the girl who was his childhood friend. "Now, now, now, you don't have to keep such things a secret from your onee-san, Ira! She understands everything about her cute little brother after all!"
"I'm not your little brother!" He shouted, the single strand of hair perking straight up in anger. "And I don't remember being related to you at all! Besides, if there's someone older here, it should be me!"
"Ehhh, but you're shorter than me." Mana pointed out, seeming to chuckle slightly as that only caused the boy's temper to flare up more. "Now, now, Ira. There's no need to get so upset, I'm only teasing. Besides that, I have something to tell you."
"What, more fawning over Cure Sword?" He asked, frowning a little, folding his arms in front of his chest. "Did you manage to finally get her autograph or something?"
"No, not yet." Mana said, growing crestfallen for a moment. And she had been so close to her today, too! Even if it had only been for a brief instant...
"Then, what?" Ira inquired, growing slightly curious.
"Be amazed!" Mana beamed, pulling out the tickets from her bag, and all but shoving them in his face. "Three tickets to Makopi's big concert this weekend! For you, me, and Alice!"
"Hmph. Why should I care something like that? It's just going to be filled with a bunch of black hearts again!" Ira huffed- but in spite of his words, his eyes were glancing towards the tickets, seemingly trying to check out exactly where the seats in question were located.
"Don't be that way! It's a Makopi concert after all! Everyone whose a Makopi fan is like family!" Mana declared, grinning slyly as she moved her thumb so that they completely covered up the seat numbers. She couldn't help but giggle again as Ira visibly flushed at this, realizing that he had been caught. "Besides, it's no good if you're always afraid of going to crowded places just because you might see something unpleasant, Ira."
"I'm not afraid!" He protested, before heaving a sigh. "Well, I suppose since you made the effort of getting three tickets, I guess I could keep the two of you company."
"That's the spirit!" Mana grinned, tucking the tickets away in her bag. "What better way to celebrate you getting out of the hospital tomorrow than a fun concert? But I have to say, Ira, you really have to treat your body better! At this rate they're going to start charging your mother discounts for you being a frequent customer- and I don't think the hospital even has one of those frequent customer cards you can stamp to get a reward!"
"What would they give out as a reward anyways, shitty hospital food?" Ira asked dryly.
"I don't think you have the right to complain about anyone else's food." Mana responded, giving her friend a blank look.
"What are you talking about? My food's the best!" Ira insisted. "Just last month, the new home economics teacher thought my cookies were so good, she passed out!"
"No, I'm pretty sure that you nearly gave her a near death experience." Mana shook her head, her stomach gurgling a little as she recalled her own close encounter with the devil that was Ira's cooking ability. Normally one wouldn't call a simple lack of cooking skill an 'ability' in it's own right, but well... with Ira, it was definitely an ability.
"Honestly, you people just have no sense of taste." Ira huffed, pouting a little. "And? Why isn't Alice with you today?"
"Ah, something apparently came up her place." Mana said. "Something about a sudden emergency they needed her for... well, she's always getting called away for one thing or another."
"It might be troublesome, helping to look after a business that large at her age. She's really impressive." Ira observed, half muttering the last part to himself. "Unlike someone else I know." He added, his gaze sliding towards Mana.
"Well, I can only do my best!" Mana beamed, the jab sliding off her without effect. "Ah, speaking of which, I actually need to leave early today. I promised that I would help tutor some kids from the elementary school today."
"Fine, fine, begone with you already." Ira said, leaning back in his hospital bed, letting out a loud yawn. "You interrupted my nap anyways."
"Ah, sorry!" Mana apologized quickly, even as she got to her feet. "I'll let you get back to it. Sleep is important for a speedy recovery after all! I just hope I didn't disturb a good dream, or anything like that!"
"No." Ira said, slowly shutting his eyes. Behind them an blurry, half-remembered image of a massive, inky black figure rose up. "Not a good dream."
Dreams, it seemed, weren't coming that easily to Makoto either that night.
Davie, as promised, had investigated the traces of the princess' energy earlier that day- but she hadn't turned up with anything conclusive. Promising the young girl that she wouldn't give up, her fairy partner told her that she would begin her investigation anew tomorrow morning. Surely there must have been something that she had missed.
Thus Makoto had attempted to settle her heart, and get some rest. After all, she was going to have a very busy schedule ahead of her for the next two days- she was going to need it.
But sleep eluded her on that night. After growing frustrated of simply tossing and turning in her bed, she let out a deep sigh, pushing herself up and untangling herself from her covers. The alarm clock next to her bed indicated that it was already one in the morning- perhaps she had then, managed to doze off for at least a few moments.
She didn't feel tired however, and instead found herself getting to her feet, making her way to her balcony window. Pulling back the curtains and opening up the doors, she stepped outside, taking a breath of fresh air, and letting the still somewhat cold night air fill her lungs. It was a refreshing feeling, and she did it a few more times, feeling stress exit her body every time she did so.
"Get it together, Makoto." She scolded herself lightly, resting her arms against the railing. Her eyes directed themselves towards the bright moon up above, nearly full that night. The city streets below, once so bustling and active that morning, had fallen almost completely silent under the cover of darkness. It was quiet, aside from the faint sound of the occasional car driving past.
Some might say that it would give them a sensation of being the only one left in the world- but that was a sensation that Makoto was already painfully familiar with. This peaceful and quiet sensation was nothing like the horror and despair of realizing that everything you loved had already been destroyed, and that you were the only one left.
"Not the only one." Makoto chided herself lightly. "There's Davie too. And the princess is out there somewhere, surely."
She had to keep to believing. She couldn't give up so easily.
Closing her eyes, the brightness of the moon faded, giving way to peaceful darkness. She simply stood there for a few moments, leaning against the balcony, quietly listening to the faint and occasional sounds of cars. There wasn't a sound like a car engine in the Trump Kingdom- and although she had found them overwhelming at first, now she found the hum of a car engine strangely peaceful.
Amidst the darkness, there was a sudden bright light, and Makoto winced- only to realize that she hadn't actually open her eyes yet. Snapping them open now, she glanced upwards, wondering what it could be- surely that light couldn't be the brightness of the moon.
At first, there was nothing.
And then, just as it had been against the darkened field of her vision earlier, a brilliant burst of light exploded outwards. The sudden brightness left the purple haired girl stumbling backwards, letting out a small yelp as she lost her footing, years of grace and agility all being thrown out the window at once as she landed rather unceremoniously on her butt, her eyes wincing shut against the sudden brightness.
And then-
"Is this really her ~de lance?"
"It must be ~sharu! I know I got it right this time for sure, ~sharu!"
"You said that the last time, and look how that turned out ~keru."
De lance? Sharu? Keru? Where had she heard sentence endings like that before? Makoto's eyes flew open as she quickly recalled, her mouth hanging slightly open in shock for a moment at the sight before her. Swallowing a little, she composed herself somewhat, observing the three small floating creatures before her.
"Fairies?"
"See!" The pink, rabbit-like one declared triumphantly, looking rather pleased with herself. "I told you that I got it right this time ~sharu!" She said. "You're Cure Sword, right ~sharu? I'm Cheryl, and this is Lance and Raquel ~sharu! We've been sent here from the Trump Kingdom to find your allies ~sharu!"
"Allies...?" Makoto said, slowly blinking.
There were other Precure?
"Yes!" Cheryl bowed her head. "It's a pleasure to work with you, Cure Sword ~sharu!"