My name is Ichigo Hoshimiya.

I'm a normal middle school girl who helps out at our bento shop.

One day, I went with little brother, Raichi, and my best friend, Aoi, to meet the greatest Pretty Cure of all time, Cure Queen.

That meeting with her, made something switch inside of me.

Soon after, Aoi convinced me to work hard to one day become a Pretty Cure.

Not all went well, but before I was going to give up, I met a fairy named Bepp.

After being chased down by a servant of the Scandal Empire, my strong desire to save Bepp transformed me into a Pretty Cure!

XxX

"For those who were worried about Cure Queen being gone, do not fear, a new Pretty Cure is here!"

The announcer for the daily Pretty Cure news exclaimed in excitement. I ran hurriedly ran down the stairs as I grabbed something on the table and put it in my mouth. Raichi was calmly eating his breakfast at the table watching the TV.

"The cute ribbon of an angel! Cure Sugar!"

I almost choked on the piece of bread I was eating when I heard my own voice from the TV.

"That' right! Cure Sugar! A new Pretty Cure!"

"Oh!"

Raichi stood up from his chair excitedly seeing the footage taken of Cure Sugar.

"I-I gotta go! Bye mom, Riachi!" I exclaimed running out of the house as fast as I can. I remember Bepp telling me to keep the Pretty Cure thing a secret. I was terrible at keeping secrets. It was better to rush out of the house than almost spilling the beans about it.

But what I didn't hear was about the next thing the announcer exclaimed.

"Not only Cure Sugar, but another Pretty Cure who introduced herself as Cure Futurehas appeared here in our town!"

XxX

"I'm sorry for acting without your permission, Leader Royal." A small pink teddy bear bowed down to a lady who had her back turned, looking out the window. She wore a long blue dress as her long brown hair rolled down her back.

"There is no need to apologize. It was your decision to make her a Pretty Cure and I have no complaints about your decision." The lady said turned her kind eyes towards the bear. The bear smiled, already knowing that the lady, the leader of the Stralight Kingdom would understand her action.

"Cure Sugar… Ichigo Hoshimiya." Leader Royal murmured under her breath. She smiled hearing that name. She then went to the mirror by her desk to show a picture of Ichigo Hoshimiya in civilian form. Under that picture was, however….

"Cure Future…."

XxX

"Cure Sugar…" A dark figure pushed her long purple hair aside and looked inside the black mirror.

"You will one day realize the price of your mistake…" She whispered quietly.

XxX

"And this is the café that is rumored to be the meeting ground for pretty cures."

Aoi pointed in her notebook a picture of a simple but cute café that they were supposedly heading to until the Scandalian attacked them.

"It's also rumored to have been the former workplace of Cure Queen."

I nodded as Aoi flipped through her notebook, pointing out a few pictures from time to time.

"These are all the girls who have earned the title of Top Pretty Cure." Aoi explained.

"There were pairs, too?" I said pointing to one of the pages that seemed to be taken over with pictures of two girls.

"They're the legendary Pretty Cures group, Masquerade Pretty Cure." Aoi said with her eyes sparkling.

"Cure Royal on the left is the Aikatsu Kingdom's current leader."

"Huh, really!?"

The Aikatsu Kingdom was rumored world that was the birthplace of pretty cures. Not many people believed in such place, but for Aoi and I, we believed and even dreamt of such place.

"Yeah, Cure Royal and her partner, Cure Starlight, used to be known as the strongest pretty cures in the universe. But right after the battle that was able to seal the king of the Scandal Empire, they suddenly announced their retirement for unknown reasons. While Cure Royal became the leader of the Aikatsu Kingdom, Cure Starlight completely erased her presence from the world. Even now, nobody has figured out where she went."

"Wow…"

I stared at the beautiful pictures of Cure Royal and Cure Starlight when a heard Aoi speak to me.

"Let's do our best, Ichigo." Aoi smiled. Aoi really wanted to be just like the Pretty Cures and I felt the same way.

"Yeah! Let's become pretty cures and fight side by side together!" I said. However, Aoi looked away with a frown.

"I wonder if we're good enough…" She murmured.

"Huh?"

"Never mind."

Before I could ask anything else, the bell rang and Aoi took her notebook away, getting her textbooks out.

"It's time for class."

XxX

"Star-miya!" Bepp suddenly jumped out of my bag as I was walking home. I almost fell backwards in surprise.

"Bepp!?" When did he get into my bag?
"Yeah!" He said with a smile and landed on my head. "Kingdom Mother wants to talk to you!" He said pointing to my Aikatsu phone in my bag.

"Kingdom Mother?" I asked but obediently took out the phone and faced the screen towards the sky. Right when I did that, a bright light engulfed the screen and showed a holographic screen with a beautiful woman in a blue dress smiling towards me.

"Ichigo Hoshimiya."

Almost jumping at the woman's voice I quickly bowed to show respect. She just smiled and introduced herself.

"I am Aikatsu Kingdom's leader, Leader Royal." She said. "But before that, I would like to congratulate you for becoming a Pretty Cure and thank you for saving Johnny Bepp." She said kindly.

"You're very welcome!" I replied back. She chuckled at my response.

"Asuka, the Angely Sugar Mascot Fairy, has chosen you to become an Angely Sugar Pretty Cure."

"Angely Sugar…?"

"There are different 'brands' of Pretty Cures, and you were chosen to become the Angely Sugar Pretty Cure. The type of cards you have tell you what type of Pretty Cure you are.

"These?" Three cards that showed a pink blouse, skirt, and shoes.

"Yes. Those are called Aikatsu cards. Inserting the card in the Aikatsu phone help you transform into Cure Sugar."

Looking at the sparkling cards, I smiled and laughed seeing how cute the outfits were.

"These cards are your first step to becoming stronger. I look forward to your growth." Before she finished she looked at Bepp and smiled. "I'm sure you're in good hands, right?"

"Yes, Kingdom Mother! Leave everything to me!" Bepp saluted slightly wagging his bushy tail. Seeing his answer, she smiled then bowed lightly before turning off the communication.

I looked down, covering my eyes with my bangs.

"Star-miya?" Bepp asked worriedly but almost fell off my head when I suddenly looked up, eyes determined and with a huge smile on my face.

"I'm gonna be the best Pretty Cure I can be!"

XxX

After Leader Royal turned off her communication she froze forgetting to tell Ichigo something very important.

"I forgot to tell her about Cure Future…"

XxX

Ever since I became a Pretty Cure, I've persistently asked Aoi if we could train more, and surprisingly, she agreed without questioning me.

But…the training menu Aoi made was too hard! 100 laps around the school, three hours of combat training, an hour of posing practice…

"Gah, I'm exhausted!" After working out for the whole day, I fell to the ground panting for air.. However, Aoi who seemed to complete every assignment so easily looked satisfied with today's training.

"Aoi, you're too good."

"You think so?" She answered wiping off some sweat from her forehead.

"How can you try so hard?" I asked.

"I guess because I've always wanted to be a Pretty Cure."

"Huh?"

"I was a first grader in elementary school, I fell in love with Pretty Cures." Aoi started. "Back then, I did a number of traditional arts. They were all so fun I earnestly practiced each one of them. Then one day, I first found out about Pretty Cures. My heart raced!" Aoi sighed remembering the first time she saw a purple haired pretty cure on the TV screen. "It was completely different from the stiff performing arts that I did. I admired how she could be so strong and shine brightly at the same time. After that, everyday I would put aside half an hour to watch my recordings of daily Pretty Cure programs on TV. I finished my homework early so I would have time to learn more about Pretty Cures." Aoi remembered the time she searched online, finding ax many rare footages of the secret legendary warriors. "And eventually, I began to want to become a Pretty Cure myself. I used to want to work all by myself but now, I'm really happy that I'm now sharing the dream I used to hold alone with you, Ichigo. That's the reason I can work so hard."

I widened my eyes hearing Aoi's reasoning behind why she wanted to be a Pretty Cure so bad.

"Okay, that's enough talking, let's get back to work!" Aoi said clapping her hands together and throwing her towel to the side.

"Yeah!" I exclaimed following behind her.

"That's right. I've got to try even harder! I'll give it my all!" I thought.

XxX

"Kyaa!" Aoi and I stopped in our tracks hearing a scream nearby. Suddenly from the tops of the buildings, they both saw the sight of a black figure.

"A Scandalian!" Aoi exclaimed having a prepared expression in her eyes.

"Star-miya!" I looked down at my feet to see Bepp running towards me, giving me signs to transform. Luckily Aoi was still staring up at the Scandalian to notice.

"Aoi! Get somewhere safe! I'll catch up to you later!" I said as I picked up Bepp and started running towards the Scandalian.

"Ichigo!?"

XxX

I panted as I finally reached the Scandalian. Floating next to its large head, a familiar girl with purple hair.

"Oh, if it isn't the wannabe Pretty Cure." Hikari scoffed looking down on me.

"I won't let you get away with playing with someone's feelings!" I exclaimed taking out my Aikatsu phone.

"Aidoru Katsudou, start!" I was engulfed in a bright pink light and transformed.

"The cute ribbon of an angel, Cure Sugar!" I exclaimed making my signature pose.

"Scandalian, get her!" Hikari pointed and me and ordered the Scandalian to attack. I blocked and dodged a few of its attacks. The training was really paying off because I could easily keep up with my enemy's movements. But that all disappeared when a certain blue haired girl came into vision.

"Aoi!?"

Aoi was panting trying to catch her breath. I was going to take her away to somewhere safe, but Hikari seemed to notice her faster than me.

"Scandalian, attack that blue girl!" He demanded and the Scandalian obediently answered.

"Aoi!" Trying to protect my best friend, I took the hit from the Scandalian and fell to the ground in pain.

"Ichi- I mean – Cure Sugar!" Aoi exclaimed coming towards me. However, that was exactly what Hikari wanted. The Scandalian came above us and brought its leg up, ready to stomp on us. Too scared, and unable to move I closed my eyes bracing myself for the attack that never came.

I opened my eyes to see Aoi standing in front of me and a blue light protecting her and me.

"Aoi...?"

"I won't let you hurt my best friend." I widened my eyes in shock when I saw what was in her hand.

"Aikatsu cards…!?" Bepp said my thoughts before I could respond.

"Aidoru Katsudou, start!" Aoi exclaimed as a bright blue light engulfed her. When the light disappeared, she was wearing a pale yellow blouse with white cuffs and white neck. A blue cloth went around her neck and white cuffs. She wore matching blue skirt and blue boots. (Blue Stage Coord) Her hair was the same except went longer, her side tail reaching to her ankles.

"The futuristic dream of a star! Cure Future!" Aoi said and made a signature pose.

"Another one!?" Hikari couldn't hide her shock and panic as she hurriedly ordered her Scandalian to destroy both of them.

Cure Future just smiled at her best friend and flew into the air, giving the Scandalian a good kick. She kept an offensive and continued to attack. Seeing that the Scnadalian fall backwards Cure Future began skating around the Scandalina, surrounding it in a diamond. She then entered the midst of it and posed.

"Cool Flash!" With those words, the diamond lighted up engulfing the Scandalian and turning it back to its original form.

"I'll get you next time! You wait and see!" Hikari yelled before disappearing into thin air.

All I could do was stare in awe at Cure Future as she returned to her civilian form of Aoi Kiriya.

XxX

"I was so surprised you were a Pretty Cure! Now we can work together to protect this town!" Aoi and I exclaimed and hugged each other.

I stood up from my bed and decided to have some fresh air. I walked outside into our backyard and sat down on the bench we have set next to the large tree. I sighed and thought about today's battle.

"I had fun, but Aoi was really strong." She easily beat the Scandalian with ease and seemed so graceful doing it. It made me feel…weak.

I sighed once more.

"Ichigo Hoshimiya." I looked up in panic hearing a soft voice calling my name.

"Huh?" When I finally spotted the owner I widened my eyes to see a familiar figure with long purple hair held up with a black tiara.

"I saw your fight today." She said coming out from the shadows of the tree. She was standing on the large tree branch, leaning against the branch.

"Cure Queen!?"

"Even though you have trained hard, you still weren't good enough." She said with a smile, but here eyes seemed so cold.

"Um, Cure Queen?

"Hm?"

"I-I want to become a top Pretty Cure just like you. I want to be strong so I can protect many people like you. I'll try my best! I'll become a top Pretty Cure alongside Aoi!"

"I wonder about that…"

"Eh?" I was confused on what Cure Queen was trying to say.

"You understood from today's fight, right? No matter how close you two are, you won't be able to continue rising together."

The cold wind blew between us making our hair sway in the wind.

"For every person who gains happiness, there are dozens of people who are left with the depression. That's the truth of life" She walked across the branch not losing balance and turned her back towards me.

"Your battle from now on will become harsher and harsher."

"S-Still, I'll do my best."

Cure Queen chuckled at my answer and turned around, showing her bright red eyes.

"Let's see how long you can last then. Well then, good night."

And with those words, Cure Queen disappeared into the night sky, leaving a trail of black and red jewels and roses that disappeared the second they appeared.