AN- At last, chapter four is finally finished! I'm really pleased that I was able to finish this, I haven't really been able to write anything for my chapter stories in awhile. Hopefully this is a sign of good things to come!
Selfish Heart
Chapter Four
Makoto's Painful Past! The Invasion of the Trump Kingdom!
As expected, Davie was mad at her.
It wasn't like Makoto could blame her, exactly. It was probably exactly this sort of thing she had been worried about when she had let Makoto go off on her own, second only to being discovered and mobbed by fans. Understanding this, Makoto chose to silently take the scolding she received from her fairy partner and manager. She knew that it was only a testament to how much Davie worried about her.
"I really am sorry, Davie." Makoto bowed her head, once the cat fairy had finished. "But like I said, we managed to find one of the Precure! Isn't that good news?"
Heaving a sigh, Davie let the tension roll out of her shoulders, finally giving Makoto a small smile. She had heard about the Jikochuu attack secondhand on television, and it had nearly made her heart stop for a second. "That much is true ~byi." She admitted, floating over towards Lance and Raquel, looking between the two. "So it was Cheryl who found her partner first, correct? What is this girl like ~byi?"
"Something of a busybody." Raquel answered bluntly. "She burst her way into a crowd when Cure Sword got surrounded by fans ~keru."
"I think she's a nice person ~de lance~!" Lance piped up, beaming brightly. "I hope that my partner is nice too, ~de lance!"
"I'm certain that she will be, Lance." Makoto gazed fondly towards the small fairy. "But I suppose she was a nice girl, if not a bit... forceful, in a way? Not particularly in a terribly bad way though, I suppose. She was able to properly defeat the Jikochuu in the end, and her identity wasn't revealed to Furia, so that's all to the good."
She still hadn't mentioned her own identity being compromised by a third party to Davie yet. She wasn't entirely certain how to break that news to her fairy partner just yet, though she imagined it was a bridge she would have to come to sooner, rather than later. Besides that, there was something about that boy that still bugged her- she just couldn't get his golden eyes out of her mind.
It probably was a coincidence, she had decided. He seemed too human to have anything to do with the Selfish, and the fairies hadn't sensed anything from him, despite being around him. As much as she had decided this, she still couldn't help but shake that feeling in the back of her head- perhaps if she got to know him a bit better, that would change. As much as she told him to stay out of Precure business for his own safety, if he was childhood friends with Mana, it would be inevitable that their paths would cross more than a few times in the future.
"It's only a matter of time before the Selfish Trio learn of her identity though." Davie pointed out, folding her arms in front of her. "Have you properly explained things to her yet, Makoto?"
"Not completely. She is a student after all, I couldn't stop her from going to school. Now that Furia has been defeated for the day, it's unlikely that she's going to return so soon. Making a Jikochuu takes energy, after all. Without King Selfishness being in this realm, it takes them longer to recover their dark energy." Makoto told her. "We were going to meet up after school, to properly discuss things."
"All to the good ~byi." Davie nodded. "I'll ensure that you have some time to discuss things with her, and see to it that she's given clearance to enter the building."
"Thank you, Davie!" Makoto smiled at her partner.
"Don't worry about, Makoto." With a poof of smoke, Davie transformed into her human form, pausing for a moment to adjust her glasses. "I'll go see to it that I can arrange for this right now. In the meantime, take this chance to practice a bit for the concert."
"Yes!" Makoto nodded her head, watching as Davie left the room.
Floating over towards the super idol, Raquel couldn't help but frown a little. "You're not going to tell her about that Hishikawa-san learning your secret, ~keru?"
"I'll save that for a later day." Makoto admitted. "One lecture was enough for today. Don't worry, it'll be fine."
"So, what's the deal with Aida today?"
Takuya Nikaidou's disgruntled voice met Ira's ears, causing him to perk up a little. He had been drifting off to sleep, this being the period right after lunch. Glancing over at the boy who sat next to them, he quickly came up with an easy half-lie to tell him.
"She got to meet Makopi in person today. Of course she's floating on air." Ira whispered back. Not that it mattered anyways. Their history teacher seemed to enjoy the sound of his own voice, from the way he droned on and on until class ended. He rarely noticed students chatting unless they were in the very first row. "Rather, I'm surprised you didn't hear about this morning's commotion."
"Ah, the Makopi business, huh?" Nikaidou leaned back in his chair. "That was sort of forgotten after the whole Jikochuu business, I guess. Did you see it, by the way?"
"I did." Ira frowned, his eyebrows knitting together as he recalled the incident. That pure black heart that Furia had removed in order to create the Jikochuu- he had more than a few questions about that. Perhaps he could pry some answers from Mana after her little talk with Makoto, seeing as the idol intended to keep him out of Precure business. While it wasn't an unreasonable demand, Ira couldn't help but be a little annoyed.
"Then, did you see the rumored new Precure as well?" Nikaidou asked.
"I didn't." Ira answered honestly. He knew who the new Precure was, but it was true that he hadn't actually seen the newly named Cure Heart in action himself. "I got away from there as fast as I could, because I'm not a idiot."
"Well, someone like you could probably survive a Jikochuu attack or two." Nikaidou observed, only grinning wider when Ira glowered at him.
"Exactly what do you think I am? Even I'm not unbreakable." Ira said, folding his arms in front of his chest. "It's not like I'm some kind of superhuman mutant or something. I'm just built sturdy."
"One wouldn't guess that by the looks of you, Ira. You're sure you're getting enough to eat?" Nikaidou asked, his tone clearly joking. "You're pretty slender for a guy."
"Hmph." Ira huffed, turning away from Nikaidou. "I don't want to hear that sort of thing from a guy who can't even properly confess to the girl he likes."
Turning bright red, Nikaidou stammered for a moment, before it was his turn to glare at Ira. "S-shut up! I keep telling you, I don't like Aida, at least not like that! I don't know where you would get that kind of idea!"
Sparing a glance in his direction, Ira merely quirked an eyebrow, watching a bright red color dance about in his inner heart. Well, even without that telltale color of love, it was pretty obvious that Nikaidou had a crush on Mana anyways- the only person who couldn't tell was Mana herself. She was that type of dense, after all. "It's pretty obvious."
"Shut up." Nikaidou hissed again, turning back towards the board, cutting off all conversation as he fumed. Ira merely snorted, deciding to resume his own interrupted post lunch nap.
He could use all the sleep he could get, after all.
"It'll be alright, Mana." Cheryl poked her head out from the girl's bag. The pink haired girl had come to a halt, standing outside of the building that hosted Makoto's talent agency. It was here that Makoto had agreed to meet her after school, to discuss Precure business with her. "I'm certain that Davie would have taken care of everything, ~sharu."
"Y-you're right." Mana took in and let out a deep breath, feeling the nervous beating of her heart settle a little. To admit the truth, whenever she came to an important looking place like this by herself, Mana got nervous. It was only when she had other people with her that she could charge forward with bravery- after all, she needed to set a positive example for those around her.
But today, with the exception of her very new fairy friend, Mana found herself alone, standing in front of a fancy looking high rise. The fact that Alice's family owned this building did nothing to calm the beating of her heart. Taking in and letting out another breath, Mana's grip on her bag's strap tightened, and she nodded her head. "Okay, let's go, Cheryl."
"Yes, ~sharu!"
Entering into the building, Mana glanced around, looking for someone who looked like a receptionist. Spotting a desk, she hurriedly headed over towards it, before someone could question why a middle school girl would be in a place like this.
"Um, I'm supposed to be meeting with Makopi- no, Kenzaki Makoto this afternoon?" Mana asked, swallowing back her nervousness. "U-um, I'm Aida Mana."
"Ah, Aida-san?" The receptionist gave her a gentle smile, before sliding what looked to be a badge towards her. "This is for you then. D.B. informed me that you would be coming. You'll find Kenzaki-san on the third floor, in her dressing room. It's the fourth door to your left when you come out of the elevator, you can't miss it."
"Thank you!" Feeling a surge of relief that this had gone over well, Mana quickly took the pass, giving the receptionist a polite bow, before she headed towards the security checkpoint. Passing that with ease, she found her way to the elevator, ducking inside one.
"See?" Cheryl poked her head out of her bag again. "What did I tell you, ~sharu?"
"Yeah." Mana nodded her head. "I'm so excited to meet Makopi again though... and to think we'll be working together from now on!" It was almost enough to make her literally float on air with happiness. "With this, the two of us might even be able to become friends! Can you imagine that, Cheryl?"
Cheryl's answer was cut off as the elevator dinged, letting them out onto the third floor. Heading out of the elevator, Mana glanced to her left, before heading down the corridor. Stopping in front of a door labeled as Kenzaki Makoto's dressing room, she took in and let out another deep breath, before knocking on the door.
"It's Aida Mana!" She called out.
"Just a moment!" A voice that Mana didn't know answered, one that sounded like it belonged to an adult woman. After a moment, the door opened, and a tall, purple haired woman stepped out, looking down at her. "Ah, so you're the Aida Mana I've heard about, correct? Makoto just stepped out to get a drink, she'll be right back. Would you like to come inside?"
As the woman asked, she stepped to the side, allowing Mana to enter the room. Finding herself glancing around Makoto's dressing room- to think that she was inside Makopi's dressing room!- Mana took a moment to compose herself before glancing towards the woman. "Um, you are...?"
"I'm D.B., Makoto's manager." Davie introduced herself with a small smile. "And I'm also-" A poof of smoke later, and she had returned to her true form as a fairy. "Cure Sword's fairy partner, Davie ~byi."
"Oh!" Mana's eyes lit up, amazed by the transformation that had taken place in front of her eyes. "Amazing! Can you do something like that too, Cheryl?"
"Not yet ~sharu." Cheryl admitted, floating up out of the bag. "I was just born recently, transforming into anything but the Commune is a skill that's beyond me right now."
"I see." Mana said, unable to keep the tinge of disappointment off of her voice. "Ah, but it's very nice to meet you, Davie! I'm Aida Mana! I'm certain you've probably already met Cheryl here!"
"Of course ~byi." Davie nodded her head, as the other two fairies came out of hiding, floating over towards Cheryl. "I'm certain you've already met Lance and Raquel yourself ~byi."
"Yes, briefly." Mana inclined her head. "Um, thank you for having me, Davie."
"Don't worry about it." Davie smiled at her. "There's some important things we have to discuss with you after all, Aida-san."
"Ah, just Mana is fine." She said quickly. "Important stuff? Like what?"
"Like the reason you've gotten yourself dragged into this mess." Makoto spoke up, closing the door behind her. "Are you thirsty? I've got some canned green tea here for you as well, Mana."
"Oh thank you, Makopi!" Mana grinned taking the can of green tea from her. A can of green tea from Makopi! Half of her wanted to save it forever, and never drink it, but perhaps thankfully, the half of her that won out was the more sensible one who viewed that as a bit rude. Popping open the can, she gulped down a good bit of it, before setting it aside on the table. "Ah, that's refreshing."
Unable to help but laugh a little, Makoto set down her own can, unopened, on the table, before taking a seat herself. Motioning for Mana to do the same, her smile faltered a little as she thought about the conversation that she had ahead of her. Even though she had mentally prepared herself for this, it wouldn't be an easy one.
Pulling out a seat, and perhaps sensing Makoto's mood, Mana sat down in it without any further fuss. The fairies all took their places on the table as well, watching the two girls with interest.
"I'll start by introducing myself again." Makoto said, inclining her head. "I'm Kenzaki Makoto, and this is my fairy partner, Davie. I'm also known as Cure Sword, a Precure."
"Ah, it's nice to meet you!" Mana replied, primarily on instinct. "I'll be working with you from now on, my name is Aida Mana, also known as Cure Heart!"
"Cure Heart?" Makoto blinked, before allowing a small smile to grace her features. "So you decided on a name? That's good."
Clearing out her throat, Makoto returned to the matter at hand- explaining everything properly to Mana. "As you already know, your city of Oogai is currently under attack by beings known as the Selfish. The three members of the Selfish Trio- Marmo, Bel, and Furia, are causing chaos in this city by creating monsters known as the Jikochuu. I've called out here today to properly explain why, and where Davie and I come from- and what exactly we're up against."
"It's a long story, but will you hear me out?" Makoto asked.
"Yes!" Mana nodded her head. "I'll listen."
"It all started with a being known as King Selfishness."
"You'll have to report to King Selfishness, you know."
Furia felt her breath catch in her throat at her father's words. Reporting bad news to King Selfishness was never a pleasant experience. Her lord and master might currently be frozen in stone, unable to move- but that did not reduce the vast amount of power he possessed. Even in that form, he could still enact punishment on the servants he believed had failed him.
"I understand, father." Furia said, clenching her fists tight. "I made a grave mistake, after all. Not only did I allow for the birth of a new Precure, I wasn't able to defeat her either. I deserve whatever punishment the King will give me."
If Bel's expression softened any, it was impossible to tell from underneath his sunglasses. "Perhaps King Selfishness' anger will be lessened should you quickly discover the identity of this new Precure." He said simply. "Such information will be vital to us- but I'm certain I don't have to tell you that much, Furia."
"No." Shaking her head, the look in Furia's eyes hardened. "I had intended to look into it promptly myself. Whoever this new Precure is, her secret identity will not remain a secret from us for long. I will then see to it to apply pressure to those around her- unlike Cure Sword, who has formed no significant attachments with the humans of that world, I'm certain that she will have many bonds that we can exploit."
"That's my daughter." Bel said, getting to his feet. "A new Precure, though. This is a most curious development." Narrowing his eyes, he seemed to be lost in thought for a moment.
"There is no doubt that Princess Marie Ange must have a hand in this." Furia said. "As the princess of the Trump Kingdom, she is the only one with access to the Cure Loveads recovered from the ruins of the old temple in the Trump Kingdom. The same could be said of the fairy partners she would have granted them to."
Bel's eyebrows only furrowed further as the mention of the princess, before he simply nodded his head. "That much is likely true. If you follow that thread, you might be able to find some clue as to the Princess' whereabouts."
"Yes, father." Furia inclined her head- though she was unable to help but wonder at his expression. At times she got the feeling that there was something that Bel was not telling her, or her mother, for that matter, about the Trump Kingdom's missing princess. But she knew it was not wise to press him on the matter- and so she observed him in silence, learning what she could from that.
"Where is mother?" Furia asked, glancing around their hideout. "I have not seen her since I returned."
"Your mother went out." Bel said simply. "I believe she might have some plans of her own."
"King Selfishness?" Mana blinked. "Like the ruler of the Selfish?"
"It's exactly like that." Makoto nodded her head. "Well, truth to be told, I don't understand much about his origins myself." She confessed after a moment. "I can only tell you what I know."
"King Selfishness is the ruler of the Selfish, and it's for his revival that the Selfish Trio are running amuck in Oogai. At the very least, it's part of the reason- as for the other part, I'll get to that soon enough." Makoto told her, feeling her heart squeeze in her chest as she even thought about speaking with her failures in regards to the princess. "Currently, King Selfishness is in a frozen state, and couldn't move even if he wanted to. It's in order to restore him to normal that the Selfish Trio are creating Jikochuu, in hopes of using their dark energy to replenish that of their King's own."
"And where exactly is this King Selfishness?" Mana asked. "Furthermore, what's dark energy?"
"What the Selfish are made of. It fuels their powers- one could say it's the negative energy given off when someone gives into their most negative thoughts. It's not the power of negative thoughts on their own, necessarily, but the power of people choosing to give into them. There's a great power there." Makoto explained. "What I do know about King Selfishness comes from what records of him that have endured after all of this time- the last time he appeared after all, was over ten thousand years ago, so there's not very many records left in regards to him in the Trump Kingdom."
"And that's the answer to your first question, Mana." Makoto said. "King Selfishness currently resides in another world, that exists parallel to your own- the Trump Kingdom. It's also the place where Davie and I were born, it's our home kingdom." Averting her gaze from Mana, she felt her breath catch in her throat. "It's also a kingdom that no longer exists. The fairies and I are all that's left of it- everyone else were turned into Jikochuu."
A silence hung in the room, and Makoto found it harder and harder to breathe as it went on. There it was, out in the open- a deep part of Makoto's guilt, a wound that was still fresh as the day it was dealt. Even if it wasn't a physical one, it nevertheless had left a deep scare on the young girl- one that she wasn't likely to recover from easily.
And then Makoto found it a little easier to breathe, as a soft hand was placed over her own. Looking up, she found Mana looking across the table at her, her expression one of wanting to understand- but not of being judgmental. Her hand lightly placed over Makoto's own, she gave the girl a reassuring smile.
With it, Makoto found her breathing returning to normal. Taking in and letting out a deep breath, she continued her story.
"Before everything happened, I was a songstress living in the royal palace. I had been selected by our princess, Princess Marie Ange, herself, so it was a great honor." Makoto told her, deciding to tell the rest from the very beginning, as best she knew it. "One day, at an archeological site at the edge of the Trump Kingdom, amazing artifacts of great power were uncovered. They were the Cure Loveads, four magical items said to be able to grant upon those who possessed them the powers of a legendary warrior. It's with those Loveads that we can transform into Precure."
"Across the kingdom, four girls were selected to have this power, this honor, bestowed on them. I was the one selected by the Princess, once again. It was our duty to protect the Trump Kingdom." Makoto told her, a glimmer in her eyes as she recalled that day. It quickly vanished however, as she recalled the ensuing events. "However, it was only shortly after this that a great tragedy struck- before anyone could understand what was going on, a massive being had risen up above the royal palace."
"King Selfishness?" Mana ventured, and Makoto nodded.
"Yes. I only learned about it later, but apparently he had been sealed somehow deep underneath the royal palace for ten thousand years. I don't know how that the seal broke, but that doesn't change the fact that it happened." Makoto said, her expression growing more grim. "The three other Precure and I gathered together, alongside our Princess, and the royal army, to fight off the monsters it summoned- what we now know as Jikochuu. When the invasion first started, we didn't realize that they were being created by the people themselves- but we soon realized it."
"No matter how hard we fought, they kept coming. The Selfish that came out with King Selfishness kept creating them left and right, faster than we could defeat them. There was nothing we could do." Makoto shook her head, only the reassuring feel of Mana's hand over her own keeping her from losing her breath once more. "It was a futile battle. When I realized that I was the only one of my unit left, and that the other three Precure had fallen, I naturally began to search for the Princess."
"In our kingdom, there is a mirror that connected our world to those of others, that only those of royal blood were permitted to use. That is where I found her, making her last stand. We decided together that we would flee through it, and regroup our efforts, recover our strength- but..." Makoto trailed off, closing her eyes.
"One of the Selfish, Bel, followed us through. At that point, we became separated- I don't know what happened to the Princess after that. I've been looking for her while fighting the Selfish here ever since."
"I see." Mana said, taking a moment to take everything in. "Ah, but who was it that sealed King Selfishness? You didn't mention it."
"That was the princess herself." Makoto felt herself smile a little, a smile of pride. "Our princess is a great warrior, and was the only one who could wield our kingdom's legendary treasure, the Miracle Dragon Glaive. With it's powers, she was able to seal King Selfishness- though it's not a permanent solution."
"She sounds like an amazing person, this Princess Marie Ange." Mana said, slowly removing her hand from over Makoto's own. "But I understand the gist of the situation right now. We have to defeat the Selfish Trio, find the princess, and defeat King Selfishness, right?"
"And find the other two Precure ~keru!" Raquel spoke up, reminding the girl's of the fairies presence. "It can't be done without all four of you!"
"Raquel's right." Makoto said, reluctance clear on her voice. "That much has become clear to me. As much as I hate to drag you into this mess that you have nothing to do with, this mess that I dragged her myself, I do need your strength, Mana."
"You're not dragging me into anything, Makopi!" Mana replied, a bright smile on her face. "I'm fighting with you because I want to- and because it's the right thing to do. I want the people of Oogai to be happy- and not just Oogai, but the whole world- yours too! If they're happy, I'll be happy too!"
"Are you sure?" Makoto asked again, still uncertain. "It really should have remained a Trump Kingdom problem to begin with."
"It's fine, don't worry about it!" Mana beamed brighter in response to her question. "I'm certain the other two Precure will think the same way! After all, this is our town- we need to do our part to keep it safe. You can leave it to me, Makopi, I'll do everything in my power to help you!"
"Thank you, Mana." Makoto cracked another smile, finally reaching over to take a sip of her green tea. For as much as she had been dreading telling her tale, it had gone over better than she had expected. "Once again, I look forward to working with you."
"Same here!" Mana said. "But to think that the famous super idol Makopi would be Cure Sword... I would have never imagined it! Where do you find the time to go to school between all this?"
"School?" Makoto blinked, both confused by the question and the sudden change of topic. "I don't."
"Eh, you don't?" Mana blinked. "That's too bad- school is really fun, Makopi! You'd get to meet all sorts of people there!"
"I really don't have the time for it." Makoto gave her a polite smile. "I would only bring trouble to the other students, I think. It's hard enough to dodge the paparazzi normally, I can only imagine that they would follow me to any school I went to, and bother the other students. I couldn't have that."
"I see." Mana frowned a little. Already in the back of her mind, she was wondering if there was something she could do about it. Surely if Makoto went to her school, she could do something to keep the students at least in line- and was certain that Ira would help out with that too! She could even recruit Nikaidou and Yashima as well- she was certain those two would help out!
But she didn't voice any of those thoughts at the moment- that was a plot to be hatched a bit later!
"Thank you for coming today, Mana." Makoto said, getting to her feet. "I hope I didn't keep you from anything."
"No, rather, I should be the one thanking you for finding time in your busy schedule to see me!" Mana said, taking that as her cue to stand up as well. "You have a concert on Sunday, right? You must busy."
"It's no problem." Makoto gave her a small smile. "Will you be coming to the concert?"
"Yes!" Mana nodded her head. "Alongside two of my friends. You've already met Ira, but I've got another friend of mine named Alice who will be coming with us!"
"Then, I hope you enjoy it, Mana." Makoto smiled at her. "I promise I'll put on the best show that I can."
"I'm certain!" Nodding her head, Mana blinked. "Ah, but I must be holding you up now, right? If that's the case, I can see myself out."
"You're not really holding me up." Makoto was quick to say- though it was true this was all cutting into her practice time more than a little. "But if you need to leave, I won't stop you. Ah, if you hang on to that pass they gave you, you can keep using it, by the way. It might come in handy."
"Is that so? In that case, I'll hold onto it!" Mana said. "It was a huge pleasure to finally be able to meet you in person, Makopi! I hope from now on, the two of us can be friends!"
Makoto couldn't help but blink at that, before she slowly nodded her head, offering the other girl her hand. "That would be nice."
"Yes!" Smiling, Mana shook Makoto's hand- before a thought popped into her head. "Ah, by the way, exactly how are Jikochuu created? I completely forgot to ask."
"Now that you mention it, I didn't really clarify that point, did I?" Makoto frowned, realizing she'd brushed over that topic. "They're created from human psyches. Our inner hearts, in other words. The Selfish turn a psyche pitch black with dark energy and selfish thoughts, and then use it in order to create a monster."
"Inner hearts? Pitch black ones?" Now it was Mana's turn to pause, the gears grinding in her head. Where had she heard something like before...? For some reason, it sounded almost unpleasantly familiar.
"It's just going to be filled with a bunch of black hearts again!"
"Mana? Is everything alright?" Makoto frowned. As soon as she had answered her question, the girl had gone almost stock still, as if she were lost in thought.
"Ah, no, it's nothing!" Mana shook her head, quickly pushing the thoughts aside. There was no way that Ira's special ability had anything to do with these Selfish people. It was just a coincidence. "It's really nothing at all!"
"If you say so..." Makoto trailed off, not looking convinced.
"Yeah, it's really nothing!" Mana reassured her. "T-then, I'll get let you get back to practice, Makopi! Come on, Cheryl, I've got plenty of homework to get down- we had better hurry back!"
When Mana looked back on that moment later, she wasn't certain why she hadn't voiced her thoughts to Makoto at that time. But for some reason, her gut feeling told her that Makoto didn't need to know about Ira's special power, even if she didn't understand why.
The second decision she made then was one that she understood a little better, though. In that moment, she vowed to do everything she could to keep that piece of information away from Ira's ears. Recalling the expression that Ira had wore in the past, when they had first met, she knew that there was no way Mana could let him know that the power that had haunted him for so long had any similarity to anything involving the Selfish.
The last thing she wanted to do was for him to ever make that face again. So no matter what, she vowed she would never let him find out.
It would be for the best.
