i hope nyall like rewrites cause i'm here, i'm gay, and i'm gonna try and fix dokidoki. hope you enjoy it.
i also keep forgetting doesn't have notes. please help me i'm a useless ao3 gay
"Rikka, Rikka, did you hear?!"
"Yes."
"Ehhhhh? How?!"
"I'm joking, Mana. What is it?"
"Makopi is supposed to be visiting Clover Tower right now!"
"Really? Right now?"
"Yeah, it's on Oogai First Draw! They say she was spotted just outside a few minutes ago!"
"Shouldn't we have seen her?"
"You, maybe. I was kinda busy, remember?"
"Yeah, and I was busy keeping you from helping literally anyone you spotted. We were both distracted."
Aida Mana grinned sheepishly at her friend's complaint.
"Well, they needed help! That's something that a Student Council President should do, you know!"
Hishikawa Rikka, however, only sighed and ran a hand down her face. She had heard this all countless times before.
"Can't you delegate that or something?" she asked. Mana grinned in response.
"Well suuuuure," she said, "but I like doing it!"
"One of these days, you're gonna collapse from constantly running around."
"As long as I help people, I don't mind! It's totally heart-pounding, you know!"
Rikka gave Mana a small smile at her stupid little catchphrase.
Mana widened her smile in return.
This wasn't the first time the two of them had talked about this, and knowing Rikka, it wouldn't be the last. But Mana did mean it.
She loved to help people. The smiles on their faces when they thanked her - they were better than anything Mana could ever do.
"Anyway, anyway! Makopi!"
Rikka blinked.
"Oh, right. So, is she waiting in this ridiculous line as well?"
The line to enter the new Clover Tower Observation Deck stretched out through the entire lobby, as well as outside the building. Mana and Rikka had only just gotten inside - the rest of their class was ahead of them, as Mana had kept straying away from the field trip group to talk to others.
Rikka had insisted on staying by Mana's side, so that she "didn't hurt herself" or something. Mana thought it was unnecessary, but she had to admit it was nice to have someone with her.
"Probably not! She's famous, after all."
"Pretty famous for someone who only showed up three months ago," Rikka mumbled.
"Yeah, yeah, but her songs, Rikka! Her voice is beautiful~" Mana gushed. So she was maybe the biggest fan of Mako-P she knew, or Makopi as her fans called her. So she was maybe obsessed over an idol who only just broke out of obscurity a few months ago. So she, just maybe, wanted every piece of Mako-P merch she could find. Just maybe.
"Ah, you love Mako-P a lot, Mana."
"Well, of course! Anyone would love her! She's so sweet, and nice, and pretty…"
"Oooh, does someone have a cruuuush?" Rikka teased, pulling on Mana's arm.
"Noooooo!" Mana protested, beginning to blush. Just because Mako-P was beautiful and had an angelic voice and was so, so sweet and kind didn't mean anything! Nothing at all!
"I don't think so!" Rikka pulled Mana back and forth harder, leaving her just rocking in place as she protested.
"Rikkaaaaaaa-chaaaaaaaaan!"
Rikka broke her grip, and the two girls burst out into giggles. Mana's face was still beet red, bringing on another burst of childish giggles.
"You look like a 12 year old who got dared to say they liked someone!" Rikka laughed.
"Rikkaaaaa-chan…" Mana whined. Her blush was dying down, but she was still completely embarrassed.
"Fine, fine! C'mon, if you love her so much-" Mana's blush flared up again, to Rikka's amusement, "-then you know her songs, right?"
"Of course!" Mana replied, indignant. "Why would I not?"
Rikka smirked mischievously.
"Dare you to sing one."
"Ehhhhhhhhhhhh?! Rikka, you of all people know I can't sing!"
"That's why it's a dare, Mana!" Rikka's glasses glinted as she grinned.
Ohhh nooooo.
"Unless you don't like Mako-P as much as you say you do."
That pushed Mana over the edge.
"Of course I do!"
"So you'll do it?"
"Yeah!"
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, I'll sing!"
Rikka smiled smugly.
For being such a mom friend, she sure was a troublemaker sometimes.
Rikka pulled out her smartphone, pulling up the music app.
"Which song, then? I'll play it if you look up the words."
Mana turned away, indignent.
"I know the words-" she suddenly realized something, facing Rikka again. "Wait, you have her album too?"
Rikka winked.
"You do like her!"
"Never said I didn't~" Rikka sing-songed.
"It was heavily implied!"
The line moved slowly as the two of them bickered. It wasn't until they were just in front of the elevator when Mana successfully stole Rikka's phone, pulling up a song.
"Here. Missing Piece."
Rikka nodded.
"Sounds good to me."
Rikka turned the phone's tinny sound up to max as Mako-P's voice started coming out of the speakers.
"You just have to sing the first bit of the chorus," she said. Mana nodded.
As the song started, Mana rocked back and forth nervously. It was just a stupid dare, it didn't mean anything.
"Ah, this is totally heart-pounding!" she whined.
The song started, Mako-P singing to the catchy electronic beat, and Mana danced slightly to the beat. That got her a few giggles from Rikka.
Mako-P's voice continued, causing Rikka to hum along.
Namida no ato
Mana steeled herself. Rikka dared her to do this because she knew Mana loved singing and Mako-P, no matter how bad she was.
yūki ichirin
Well, actually, Rikka's humming was actually really good...
Mana broke out into a grin. She had a plan for this.
sakasetai
"Mamoritai hito," she started loudly and off-key, making Rikka burst out laughing.
"Mamoru tame ni-" Mana took Rikka by the hand, dragging her closer, "-nando datte-" Rikka was the one blushing now, being pulled squarely into Mana's chest, "-charenji suru yo!" Mana giggled, twirling Rikka around as she continued to almost yell the lyrics.
"Anata no tame-" Rikka joined in, just as Mana had wanted. The song became a mishmash of off-key and actually decent singing, creating a greater cacophony than before, "-kyō mo utau no!" The two of them danced awkwardly, getting stares from the civilians around them.
"Kokoro wo komete for you!" Mana smiled brightly at Rikka's singing, a rare occurrence from her friend.
"Itsuka aeru-" Rikka took control now, stepping one-two and bumping into probably too many people, "-kitto aeru-" Mana took it as a challenge to yell the lyrics louder than Rikka, who was doing her best at remembering them, "-mune no kodō-" Rikka yelled back, their voices rising above the din of the crowd, "-sore ga mejirushi!"
"Hitori janai tsuyogari demonai dokidoki shite iru nooo…" The two of them yelled, taking in breath for the last word of the chorus, "..ima!"
Mana breathed heavily, pleased with herself.
Well, pleased with herself until she went to collapse dramatically and fell right into the line's corders.
Mana and Rikka burst into laughter now, the reality of them being in a very crowded lobby returning.
Missing Piece continued on Rikka's phone, but the two girls were too busy laughing to care.
"That - was totally - heart-pounding!" Mana got out between spurts of laughter as Rikka pulled her up.
"I can't believe you did the whole chorus that loud!" Rikka replied.
"Well, you joined in!"
The two of them continued to laugh, not noticing how the line had completely stopped moving.
Instead, the crowd has swarmed against the corder holding them back as a single girl walked between the lines.
"MAKO-P!"
Mana looked up in shock.
"Did you hear…"
"MAKOPI?!" the two of them exclaimed in disbelief.
Sure enough, striding out of the elevator, past the long line, a girl held her head high and walked with controlled, trained elegance. Purple hair, purple eyes, a lilac sleeveless sweater, a violet bow with a sparkling charm - it was the signature color of a certain idol.
Despite the cries of her fans - and the confused noises of the unaware - Mako-P stared straight ahead, her gaze never wavering.
It was the poise of a famous idol, and Mana was amazed at the sight.
"Eh? Why's everyone-" Mana tore her eyes away from Mako-P to see Rikka staring at the dwindling line. People had abandoned their hard-earned place in line to swarm Mako-P, despite her manager and assorted security pushing them back.
"It's like...she cast a spell on them," Mana breathed. Rikka looked skeptical.
"It's more like people are crazy. Someone like that doesn't care what you do - they've seen it all before."
Sure enough, Mako-P's gaze was hard yet vacant, only focused on walking through the path her security was making for her.
One, two, three steps, each perfectly measured, as if she was walking a runway.
"Well, whatever. Less line to wait in, right, Mana?"
Mana shook herself out of her admiration once more.
"R-right! Yeah, it's good."
Rikka smirked.
"You're so smitten with her." Mana's face went bright red.
"Ehhhh? No, no, no way! I'm just a fan! A fan, Rikka!" Rikka's laughter was drowned out by the cries of Mako-P's groupies, but Mana could imagine it well enough by this point.
Mako-P's fans...they were being awfully rough for just fans. It wasn't like anything Mana had seen before.
It really was like someone had put a spell on them.
Hey, wait, someone was grabbing her bow-!
"Rikka, hold my place!" Mana was calling out the words before she knew it, tearing away from the line and sprinting towards Mako-P. They couldn't just fight over her like she was an object, idol or not!
"Mana, wait-!" But Mana was running, the only thought on her mind helping Mako-P.
And maybe, just maybe, she'll notice me!
Eh? Where had that come from? That wasn't what Mana was planning at all!
She'll be so greatful if I drive those groupies away and give her back her bow. She'll thank me, and smile, and she'll be all mine.
Ah, no, that didn't make sense! What was going on?
Mana slowed, putting her head in her hands. These weren't her thoughts, were they?
I can be a little selfish. It's Makopi, after all. Who wouldn't want to hear her voice, thanking them, being so happy?
But it'll be mine. She'll be happy because of me. All mine…
The thoughts were tempting, and that was the issue. Mana wanted to be selfish, wanted to see Mako-P's smile…
"No, no, no!" They weren't her thoughts! This wasn't the Aida Mana she wanted to be! Not for Mako-P, and not for anyone!
Mana turned to the fan she had seen earlier, who was cradling the bow and charm like a child, and snatched it out of his hands.
"This belongs to Makopi-san!" she reprimanded. It could belong to me, though. I could take it. She'd never know. And I'd have a little piece of Makopi, all to myself…
Aaaagh! What was wrong with her?
Mana pushed past the fans, past the security, throwing her hands out towards Mako-P before she did something she'd regret.
"HERE!" she yelled, louder than she had expected.
Mako-P turned, and Mana quickly looked down in an attempt to avoid her eyes. She felt as if Mako-P would be able to see her selfish thoughts just by looking.
She felt fingers brush against her palm, curling softly around the bow.
"Thank you," she heard, and the dark part of her heart pounded with excitement and admiration.
This wasn't the heart-pounding feeling she liked.
Yet, it felt so nice…
"Y-y-you're welcome," Mana stuttered out, lifting her head back up. That was a mistake.
As the idol fixed her hair, Mana could see a tiny smile on her face. A smile for her.
"Have, um, a good day, Makopi-san." She gave her a smile as her cheeks burned red, struggling to not do anything impulsive.
The world felt like it had gone still, as Mako-P looked at Mana. Looked at her, with the tiniest of smiles, with an awfully warm glow in her eyes…
"Please, everyone! My client does not have time for your roughhousing!" Mako-P's manager protested against the crowd.
"Probably. Should go." Mana said weakly.
"Ah, yeah." Mako-P nodded in agreement, still with that tiny little smile. She turned around to follow her manager.
And with that, Mana ran away as fast as she could.
"Uwaaaaah! What is with me today?!" she whined, holding her face as it flushed. Any other day, she would have been over the moon to get a 'thank you' from Mako-P.
My thank you. My smile. Mine, mine, mine.
But that little voice in the dark part of her heart flooded her with guilt. She didn't want to be selfish, honest!
What was going on?!
"Excuse me, miss?"
Eh?
"You might want to-"
Slam.
Mana, in all her hurry, had managed to walk squarely into some sort of stall.
This was not her day, was it?
"Sorry, sorry sorry!" She squealed, holding her forehead. "Ah, sorry, I was so distracted-!"
There was a clap of a large hand on her shoulder.
"It's fine, kid."
Mana opened her eyes reluctantly. A large man with a bright pink and white plaid shirt towered over her, blue eyes sparkling with mirth.
"You sure?" she asked.
"It's all good. I swear, sometimes people do it on purpose." He shook his head, laughing softly. "Name's Joe. This is my jewelry stall."
"Jewelry?" Sure enough, the cart she had walked into was covered in sparkling charms, necklaces, and assorted trinkets.
"I saw what you did for that girl. She's an idol, right? Not many people would give up a chance to have one of her personal items like that." Mana smiled nervously.
"It was the right thing to do, I guess. I mean, yeah, I wanted to keep it. But it's hers, right? I can't just keep something like that and not feel bad about it." Joe looked at Mana with a grin that seemed too small in comparison to the rest of him.
"Hey, how about you take any of the little charms here? To replace the one you gave to her."
Mana's eyes widened.
"No, no, no! I couldn't! It wasn't even mine!" she protested, waving her hands. She didn't deserve something like that at all!
"I insist. Consider it an advertisement, for the store." Joe produced a small key, opening a case of silver and gold charms with a click. "Any that draw your fancy?"
As nice as the gesture was, Mana still felt unsure. Most of the charms were pretty, but she didn't want to just take something she wouldn't wear. Should she just turn him down? Would he be mad?
There weren't a lot of gold charms in the box, Mana realized. In fact, there was only one - a gold charm with a small heart-shaped arrow on it.
Wait, that looked just like Mako-P's charm!
"Isn't that what Mako-P was wearing?!" Mana exclaimed.
"Ah, so you noticed. I have to admit, I was inspired by that girl's jewelry taste. My attempts to reproduce them aren't the best, to be honest...but if you want that one, I'd be happy to give it to you!"
Mana gingerly picked up the charm. It seemed to glow at her touch, as if it was waiting for her to choose it.
But that'd be silly, and so Mana didn't dwell on the thought.
"Thank you so much, Joe-san!" she said with a bright smile. Joe picked the charm out of her hands, inspecting it.
"Yep, no cracks. Good. Here, let me pin it for you."
Mana closed her eyes as Joe pinned the golden charm to her hair bow, fastening it with a click.
"There. Just like that idol girl."
"Thank you! Thanks so much!"
Mana, now with a new charm atop her head, continued her path back to the line. Rikka must have been wondering where she was.
Okada Joe looked at the girl hurrying back towards the Observation Deck line, and smiled softly.
"I hope that charm finds you well, my Heart."
Elsewhere in the tower, a girl with a dress as black as her Psyche laughed loudly, spilling the chocolate-covered popcorn she had been eating.
"Hey, hey, Mammo-chan! You gotta see this!" she exclaimed, gathering up the snacks once more and shoving a handful more into her mouth.
The girl was a floor above the idol Mako-P, who was now struggling to move in the sea of people around her at the autograph signing. The girl, sat atop the safety railing in a remarkably unsafe position, continued to smirk and watch.
"What is it, brat?" A young woman with long, light blue hair pursed her made-up lips tightly, eyes narrow.
"Hey! I'm no brat. You shouldn't insult your superior!" the girl protested.
"What is it, Regina?" the woman amended with a sigh.
"I just did a little bit of magic! Just a little test, and these humans are losing their minds over this girl!" Regina giggled some more, popcorn falling off the edge of the walkway. "She's not even as pretty as me, yet look at them!"
"Idol, eh?" the young woman followed Regina's pointing finger to Mako-P, who had broken into a run away from the crowd.
"Isn't it funny?" Regina looked up at the woman for validation. The woman's supernaturally golden eyes were wide in shock.
"...did you cast a charm on Cure Sword, brat?!"
"Sword? Like that girl I'm supposed to avoid?"
"Not like, she is her! Take it off right now! She could notice you!"
Regina pouted.
"Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine," she whined, snapping her fingers. Immediately, the tension seemed to lift from the air. "Happy, Mammo-chan?"
"It's Marmo," the young woman said, almost a reflex at this point. "Don't call me Mammo-chan."
"Happy, Marmo?" Regina enunciated, rolling her eyes.
"Would have been happier if you stayed in the damn castle instead of flitting off to the human world like this," Marmo grumbled, "but yes."
"Now what am I supposed to do?" Regina asked, frustration on her face.
"Go home? Let us, the actual professionals, take care of the Pretty Cure instead of you almost giving away your existence?" Marmo offered,
"Hmmm…" Regina pretended to consider it. "Nah! I'm gonna go make a Jikochuu instead!"
"What?!" Marmo exclaimed.
"Gonna go do it~!" Regina sang, walking across the railing. "See ya, Mammo-chan!"
She snapped once more, and vanished into thin air.
"That little brat's gonna be the death of me," Marmo hissed.
Below them, Mako-P could finally breathe.
"Wooooaaah!"
Mana held Rikka's hand as she looked at the wide landscape from the observation deck.
"Rikka, Rikka, you think I can see our school from here?"
"I mean, probably," Rikka agreed. "You can see a lot from here."
"It's so pretty!" Mana squealed.
"Not as pretty as me, I'd hope!"
Mana didn't recognize that voice. She gently pulled her hand out of Rikka's and turned to see a young girl smirking, long blond hair cascading down the back of her gothic dress.
"Um, hi?" Mana attempted a smile.
"Ooooooh! You're that girl!" The girl's eyes sparkled as she practically skipped around in a circle before getting almost uncomfortably close to Mana. "That girl who was trying so hard to not be selfish!"
"Self...ish?" The girl couldn't mean what happened with Mako-P. No one could have known Mana's weird thoughts but Mana!
"Yeah, yeah!" the girl grinned like it was obvious. Her eyes went wide and doe-eyed in some sort of imitation of Mana. "Ah, if I give this back, she'll smile for me~! The smile will be all mine~ Makopi, all miiiiine~" the girl giggled.
"I didn't...I couldn't have…" Mana took a step backwards, almost colliding into Rikka.
"You were so funny! It was so cute to see you flail around like that! Should have done a bit more magic just to see you fawn over that idol girl some more~" came the sing-song voice. Wait, did she say magic?
"Don't worry, Mana." Rikka stepped in front of Mana, to her relief. "She's obviously just trying to get some attention. Magic isn't real."
"Maybe for you!" The girl stuck her tongue out. "You humans are so boring! Have to use magic just to get any rise out of you."
"Are you not human?" Mana couldn't stop the stupid question from escaping her lips. Of course she was human-
"Pfft, as if!"
Eh?
"I'm Selfish, silly!" The girl enunciated it in a way that it just seemed to have a capital letter. Like something in a manga, or one of Rikka's science fiction books. "You're talking to Regina, princess of the Selfish and general of the Jikochuu!"
"Coooool." Rikka seemed officially done with the girl's attitude. "Can you just leave us alone?"
"Leave you alone? Don't be silly! Not when you'd make such a wonderful Jikochuu!"
A wonderful what? ...was this Regina girl saying Rikka was self-centered?
"Rikka's not self-centered at all! What are you talking about?" Now it was Mana placing herself in front of Rikka, despite the weak protests from her friend.
"Not Jikochuu like that! You humans are so one-minded." Regina ran a hand through her hair, flipping it back. She strode forward, pushing Mana out of the way and cupping Rikka's face in her hand.
"H-hey!" Mana protested. Regina either didn't hear her, or just didn't care.
"I hear your heart, even though you don't. You want that girl to fawn over you like she does that idol, right, Hishikawa Rikka~? You want her smile, her happiness, her love, all to yourself." Rikka recoiled, trying to pull out of Regina's grip fruitlessly. Regina stroked her face with her free hand, making Rikka close her eyes and shiver. "It's your dark heart's desire, right? The one you'd never speak aloud..."
"Let her go!" Mana grabbed Regina by the shoulders, trying to pull her off Rikka. But in a flash, Regina let Rikka go, leaving her stumbling backwards, and turned to face Mana. Two hands lightly held her neck, strangely cold.
"Ah, don't get me started on you~ Aida Mana...your heart strives to be selfless. So cute~!" Regina smiled so brightly it could almost be mistaken as a friendly compliment. "But," she continued, the smile breaking into something darker, "your little love...it's so cute, so sweet, but it's so...selfish."
Regina let her go all at once, shrugging with a ear-to-ear smile.
"Not that there's anything wrong with being selfish, Mana-chan! It's just so cute to see you be all distressed over it!" Mana backed up slowly, trying to put as much distance between her and Regina. As much as it pained her to leave Rikka like that, her fear was overriding everything else. "Just let yourself be selfish for once! Just a little bit...it wouldn't hurt anyone, now would it~?"
Mana swallowed hard.
"No," she said.
Regina's sweet expression hardened into something sour.
"Well. You're no fun," she stated flatly. She strolled over to Rikka, who was leaning against the observation deck window for support.
"Leave Rikka alone!" Mana cried. Regina simply scoffed.
"You're not involved in this anymore~!" She snapped, a ball of dark red and purple energy appearing atop her pointer finger.
Regina pointed at Rikka as if shooting her with a finger gun.
"I'll turn you into a wonderful Jikochuu!" With that, she skipped around, almost seeming to float above the ground in places.
Then, she took aim-
And fired the bolt of energy straight at the wide-eyed Rikka with a small "pew".
"NO!" Mana cried.
A few things then happened all at once.
The charm atop her head seemed to glow with a golden energy.
The door to the emergency stairwell slammed open.
And the beam of purple energy pierced Rikka through the heart.
Mana dropped to the ground.
"RIKKA!" she cried.
Almost in response, Rikka screamed, a dark heart-shape pulling its way out of her chest. Regina didn't seem alarmed, only blowing imaginary smoke off of her finger gun.
As Mana watched in horror, the dark heart sprouted twin bat wings, pounding and growing larger. A red crack began to split it in half.
"Pretty Cure! Love Link!"
The heart split in half, a dark, almost cartoon-like bird monster erupting from the middle.
"L-O-V-E!"
"Jikochuu!" it roared. Mana scrambled backwards, not taking her eyes off of the dark purple bird.
"The blade of courage!"
Rikka's body collapsed to the ground, pale and still. A heart-shaped hole had appeared where the dark shape had pulled itself out of her.
"Cure Sword!"
Mana couldn't move.
Fortunately, she didn't have to. In a blur, someone sprinted over and picked her up with ease, effortlessly carrying her.
In a flash, Mana was on the other side of the observation deck, being put down gently.
"Are you alright?"
Mana looked up, still slightly in a stupor. A girl stood before her, with a sparkling purple and white uniform and too-light purple hair.
"Cosplayer?" Mana asked dumbly.
The girl shook her head.
"I am Cure Sword," she stated. Oh. Her eyes were startlingly purple, Mana noticed. "I'm here to fight that Jikochuu."
Jikochuu. That's what Regina had said.
"You're going to help Rikka?" Mana's eyes were wide, pleading. Someone had to help Rikka. If no one did, she'd do all she could...which probably wasn't much, to be honest.
"Yes," replied Cure Sword. "I can purify the Jikochuu and get your friend's Psyche back."
Another word pronounced with a capital letter. It was kind of silly, Mana thought. RIkka would love all these fancy terms.
"I need to help," Mana said, pushing herself up into a wobbly stand. "You can't do this alone."
Cure Sword smiled, but her eyes were hard.
"Yes, I can. I have been." She turned to leave. "Just stay put," she said to Mana. "I don't want you getting hurt."
And with that, Cure Sword darted off to where the Jikochuu and Regina were.
"I have to help," Mana said to no one. "I have to help…"
"Cure Sword, sharu!"
Eh? Who now?
Mana turned just in time to hear a squeak, three small colors flitting back behind the stairwell door.
"Someone there?" she called.
There were whispers that Mana couldn't quite make out.
"Did you see Cure Sword, sharu?" came the small voice from before.
"Um, yeah! She went to go fight that monster."
"Oh, sharu. Guess she's busy, sharu..."
Mana had an idea. It wasn't the best of ideas. It wasn't even a mediocre idea. It was a terrible, awful idea.
It all depended on one thing.
"Um, are you guys magic or something?"
A tiny pink head with large, bunny-like ears peered around from the door.
"We're from the Trump Kingdom, sharu! Cure Sword is gonna help us find Pretty Cure, sharu!"
Yep. A terrible idea.
She said it anyway.
"If I help you, can you help me fight that monster?"
The pink fairy came closer and closer to Mana, who did her best to stand tall.
"It doesn't really work like that, sharu. You need something, sharu-"
"Sharuru, look, keru! That girl has a Cure Lovead, keru!"
Sharuru stopped mid-sentence, and looked up at Mana's head. The gold charm on her bow sparkled.
"You...you have a Lovead, sharu? How, sharu?!"
"I just...got it?" Mana said. It wasn't exactly a lie - Joe had just given it to her. Even if it was anything special, he wouldn't have known, right?
"Okay, sharu! You're the one I'm looking for, sharu!"
This was suddenly going a bit too fast for Mana.
With a poof of smoke, Sharuru turned into a sort of cell-phone with a touch screen. Her pink face was still very visible. It was the strangest phone Mana had ever seen.
"If you're gonna be my partner, I should know your name, sharu!" said the cell phone. Mana made a face.
"You can still talk like that?"
"Of course, sharu!" the fairy almost seemed offended. Mana winced.
"Sorry. It's Mana. Aida Mana."
Whatever the fairy was going to say next was cut off by Sword's scream.
"That was Cure Sword, sharu!"
Mana ran, cell-phone-fairy in hand, to see Cure Sword crushed by the Jikochuu falcon's talon, the roof above her broken.
"What...is this Jikochuu?" Sword choked out. "Why is it…so strong…?"
Regina laughed from her seat atop the broken roof.
"It's my Jikochuu, silly! I wouldn't just use a weak one for you, Cure Sword!"
The Jikochuu's talons closed tighter, and Sword cried out.
"Mana, sharu! We have to help Cure Sword, sharu!"
It may have been Mana's idea, but suddenly everything was blurring into pink and black and purple.
"Okay," she said anyway.
"Put your Lovead into the slot, and shout out 'Pretty Cure Love Link', sharu!"
Cure Sword finally seemed to notice Mana's presence as she climbed out onto the roof, still gripping Sharuru tightly.
"Sharuru, you can't…!" Another squeeze from the Jikochuu, and Sword's words were lost in a scream.
"Please, sharu! She won't last long against a Jikochuu like that, sharu!"
Mana undid her ribbon, her hair falling down against her neck. The gold Lovead glinted in her hand.
"Sharuru!" cried the fairy as Mana placed the Lovead into the white slot.
"Pretty Cure Love Link!" Mana called, almost too loudly. Pink light erupted from Sharuru's phone form to surround Mana, covering both Cure Sword and Regina from view.
On the heart touchscreen, Mana's hands moved on their own, spelling out letters.
"L-O-V-E!" Sharuru called in response.
Suddenly, every feature of Mana's body was covered in shimmering light, ribbons of pink shaping a uniform almost identical to Cure Sword's, only pink. Large cuffs covered her hands, hearts shining over her hands.
Light flowed over her head, her hair expanding into a oversized blonde ponytail, pink headband seemingly holding it in place.
A heart brooch appeared along with a long, pink bow as Mana twisted, landing on thin air.
"Brimming with love!" Her mouth was on autopilot, saying words that didn't seem to belong to her. "Cure Heart!"
The light dissipated, an amused Regina and wide-eyed Cure Sword left behind.
The autopilot left her, but Mana - or Cure Heart, she supposed - wasn't quite done yet.
"Seems like you've lost your love, you sad falcon!" She held up a heart shape with her hands, positioning it next to her face and winking. "I, Cure Heart, will restore your heart-pounding excitement!"
"Cute~!" Regina sang. "Cure Heart, you're so cute!"
Heart smiled.
"I want to keep you! Jikochuu, kill Sword and capture Heart, please!"
Heart's smile froze on her face.
This was a bit too heart-pounding.