A young girl with short black hair is being led along by the hand. One look at her uniform and little yellow hat reveals she's a kindergartner, being walked to school by her father. She looks up, smiling with wide eyes, as the distinguished, if not a big weary, man smiles back down.

"You'll make lots of friends in school, won't you, Kurako?"

"Yup!"

The two of them walk past a middle-aged woman and a red-haired girl, going the opposite direction. This little girl, her hair in two tiny loop-odango, glances over her shoulder for a moment, sniffling as she wipes her tears with a tiny, grubby fist.

The woman stops, reaching into her coat pocket to withdraw some tissues, dabbing the girl's eyes and then putting the tissue to her nose. "Blow."

Mari shuts her eyes, blowing her nose before pulling back and hiccuping a bit. Her grandmother crumples the tissue in her hand, pocketing it again. A gross thing to do, but there's no garbage can.

And so the two girls with completely-different lives barely even noticed each other.

In her room, Mari slowly opened her eyes, staring up at the ceiling. "Gramma..."


OP: "Purikyua Club" - Bukatsudo Four


Gachan knelt on one knee before Nocturna, his head down. Nocturna's eyes were half-open as she stared down at him. "They haven't succeeded at all," she stated flatly.

"No, Lady Nocturna," he murmured.

The dark-haired girl sighed, sounding wearier than ever. "I can't decide if it's those Pretty Cure brats or if everyone's just weak..."

Gachan said nothing.

"Gachan, why don't you give it a try?" Nocturna asked, her eyes narrowing slightly. "You're easily the strongest fighter, and I know you couldn't fail me."

"I will not fail you, Lady Nocturna," the masked man said, rising to his feet. Nocturna smiled, cat-like, as she forced her hand out of the gelatinous substance around the chair, letting her most trusted lackey take hold of it. He pushed his mask up, only slightly, with his free hand, and gently kissed the back of her hand.


TODAY'S EPISODE: Parents' Night Rears Its Head! I'm Making You Proud, Gramma!


Mari took a deep breath through her nose, face a grim mask of determination. Suddenly she leaped into the air, doing a complicated set of hops and skips, flinging her arms out and bringing them to her chest over and over again, pom poms rustling. "Go, go, go! Fight, fight, fight!" she chanted in English. "Go, go, go! Fight, fight, fight!"

Pretty Cure stood in the doorway behind her, Fumie in front. Kaana and Hisa were in Kurako's arms, and they looked as puzzled as the others did. "Er-Fumie, is Mari alright?" Kaana asked.

"She's okay. Mari always gets like this before Parents' Night."

Kurako tensed up, suddenly sweating at the phrase "Parents' Night."

"What's Parents' Night?" asked Hisa with a frown.

"You don't know?" Kotone sounded surprised as she raised her brows at Hisa. "Oh, wait, maybe it doesn't exist in your world...well, Parents' Night is when the school invites everyone's parents to see how we're doing, check up on us...Some of us perform for them, like the school band, and we get to show our parents around and introduce them to our friends and teachers." She turned her attention back to Mari, still waving her pom poms and shouting. "It's more nerve-wracking for some than others."

"Yeah...poor Mari," Fumie sighed. "Hey, guys, are all your parents coming-" She suddenly stopped, blinking in surprise as she noticed Kurako had suddenly disappeared. "Hey, where'd Kurako go?"

Everyone turned their attention back to the gym, seeing that Kurako was now in her gymnastics uniform, doing a series of back-flips on the balance beam, her mouth set in a grim line.

"O-oh..."

Both girls turned to glare at the rest of the group. "If you're just gonna stand there not help, get outta here!" Kurako snapped, throwing a water bottle at Fumie's head.


"Owwwww, Kurako's strong!" Fumie whined as she walked out of the nurse's office, unaware that the green-haired woman was cheerfully waving goodbye to her. (Luckily, the other two girls did, and waved back.) "I guess it's what happens when you're a gymnast - all that exercise and pulling yourself up on those bar-thingies..."

Aoi sighed, folding her arms over her chest. "Poor Kurako...Mari's not the only one who gets so upset about Parents' Night, it seems."

Fumie straightened up, suddenly remembering something as she turned to look at the glasses-girl. "Hey, wait a second, Aoi," she said as the trio walked down the semi-crowded hallway. Everyone had been given a reprieve from classes that day, in order to prepare for their parents' arrival-rooms were being cleaned, laundry being done, various students were locating their best homework assignments to put on display. So the girls had to watch where they walked, occasionally stopping to let some frantic Atama student run across their path. "Aren't you going to make something for your parents?"

"Like what?" Aoi asked, smiling pleasantly.

"Like...like cooking," Fumie finished weakly. She then turned to look at Kotone, who was side-stepping another frantic student, hands in her pockets. "And you, Kotone-I thought the band was going to be performing for the parents. Why aren't either of you with your clubs?"

Kotone grinned, showing her teeth. "Well, we got our rehearsing out of the way early!" she beamed. "Not like the other saps who put it all off til the last minute. We'll be warming up later today; right now we're just doing whatever."

"And as for me," Aoi chimed in. "I got up early to make my mom some candy. That way I don't have to worry about crowds or trying to find a free oven!"

Hisa poked her head out of Fumie's bag, throwing the blonde a triumphant look. "See that, Fumie?" she chuckled. "Your teammates have good heads on their shoulders! I don't remember you doing anything productive for your parents."

Fumie just looked away. Seeing that made the smile drop right from Hisa's face. "Eh...Fumie?"

Fumie sighed, stopping where she was. The other two girls walked ahead two steps before realizing the blonde wasn't coming with them, and turned around. "Fumie?" Kotone asked.

Fumie shifted her feet a little, forcing a small smile onto her face. "My parents can't make it," she said simply, voice a little thick. "They never can...money issues, see..."

To her credit, Hisa at least had the decency to look guilty for her comment. The other girls' eyes widened; Aoi put her hands over her mouth. "Oh, Fumie..." Aoi gasped. "I'm sorry! Would you like to borrow my mom?"

"Or you can borrow Hibiki!" Kotone chimed in.

"Hibiki, the singer here?"

"No-Hibiki, mine and Uta's-"

"Ko-to-neeeeee!" Uta suddenly shouted, rushing down the hallway. "The band's already warming up! You gotta get down there!"

"Oh, man!" Kotone cried, looking a bit panicked now. She grabbed Uta's arm and the two ran off down the hallway. Kotone looked over her shoulder, waving at the girls as she went. "Sorry, guys-I'll catch you later!"

Aoi and Fumie just stared, waving awkwardly. "Uhm...bye-bye?" Fumie mumbled.


Kurako collapsed against the wall, breathing heavily as she slid to the floor. Mari, already sitting down and just as winded, fumbled for a water bottle.

"Toss me one?" Kurako mumbled feebly. She nodded her thanks as Mari pressed a spare into her hand, then uncapped it and started chugging it. "You have someone to impress, too, huh?" she gasped at last.

Mari, her face hidden in a towel, nodded. "Uh...uh-huh..."

Kurako stared down at her lap. "Wanna talk about it?"

"No..."

Well, there went that. The darker-haired girl sighed, sipping her water at a more leisurely pace now. For a few moments, neither said anything. Finally, Kurako tilted her head back, dabbing at her face. "Well," she said at last, clearing her throat awkwardly. "Well, with as hard as you were practicing back there, I bet they'll be plenty impressed with you."

Mari smiled uncertainly, nodding.


Eyecatch 1: Fumie stands at an easel, tongue poking out slightly as she carefully dabs some paint onto the canvas. Satisfied, she steps back and spins the easel around to reveal a watercolor of Cure Ink, the PCBE logo where a signature should be.
Eyecatch 2: Kurako, Aoi, Kotone, Mari, Uta, Kaana and Hisa all sit down on the floor, watching Fumie. Fumie stands at a podium and bangs a rubber gavel, calling the club meeting to order. The PCBE logo appears in the corner.


And finally, the parents had arrived.

Students and parents crowded the halls and classrooms, shuffled in and out of dorms, and looked around in awe at the various pieces on the walls-homework, art pieces, poetry that had been blown up and put on posters... The cooking and gardening clubs had borrowed the entire cafeteria and turned it into a buffet, with little signs over certain dishes to indicate which student was responsible for it. The band had already played a small medley for the visitors-Kotone was an excellent drummer, and Uta had gotten a solo in the vocals club's performance. Now all there was to do was spend time with family and show them around.

"Thank you very much!" Aoi smiled, bowing to a parent-and-child duo as they sampled some of her honey-chocolate. She straightened up in time to see her friends approaching with their own parents. "Oh, hello, everyone! Please, try some candy," she smiled, holding the plate out.

Kotone grinned, taking a handful. "Thanks, Aoi! Oh, everyone..." She smiled, holding her hand out as if her parent were a new car. "This is Hibiki Suzuki!" Hibiki, a rather androgynous person with shoulder-length black hair, purple eyes, and a beauty mark on the left side of the mouth, smiled back at everyone.

"You call your...dad?" Fumie glanced at the elder Suzuki for confirmation. Getting none, she returned her gaze to Kotone. "You call Suzuki by their first name?"

"Well..." Kotone began.

Hibiki chuckled, resting a hand on Kotone's shoulder. "I like it when my children call me by my first name. It helps us feel closer, I think."

"Wow..." Kurako murmured, frowning. "I could never do that with my mom or dad." Speak of the devil, a dark-haired couple was approaching her from behind the minute she said that. Kurako jumped in shock as the man, a distinguished-looking fellow in a dark blue suit, patted her head.

"Kurako, you didn't tell me you'd made friends," he chuckled.

"I-I-It slipped my mind!" Kurako stammered, blushing and swiftly looking away.

Fumie covered her mouth as she snickered. "Kurako, are you embarrassed to have befriended me?"

"No!"

"Oh, sweetheart, don't be embarrassed!" Mrs Kaneyama said, covering her own mouth. Kurako's mother was a tall woman with short, wavy black hair that had tinges of gray. She wore a red dress-suit, and carried around a red-pink handpurse. She pulled her hand away, a smile on her own lipsticked mouth. "I think it's wonderful that you made friends! Especially after-"

"MOOOOM!" Kurako suddenly screeched, pulling away and staring in horror. Mrs Kaneyama covered her mouth again and looked away, though she was tittering a little. Kurako stared at her feet, blushing hotly as the rest of the group just stared.

Fumie was the first to speak. "Uhm...right then! I bet Mari could use some moral support, so I should just-" She turned around to leave, only to bump straight into Mari and her grandmother.

The elderly woman laughed good-naturedly, gripping Fumie's shoulder so she wouldn't fall back. "Ah, hello, Fumie...still bumping into things, I see."

"M-M-Mrs Saito!" Fumie stammered, blushing even redder. "I was about to-" She stopped. About to what, pretend to look for her just so she didn't have to see her newer friends embarrass themselves? She pouted, puffing her cheeks out a bit more as Akina Saito patted her head.

Mari, latched onto her grandmother's side, peered nervously at the rest of the girl as the old woman spoke. "Well, how nice to see you all! Let's talk somewhere, yes?"


A short time later, Pretty Cure's parents and Mari's grandmother were sitting at one of the smaller cafeteria tables, talking and laughing together. Kurako's father, Atsushi, pulled out a wallet of Kurako's baby photos as his wife, Fujiko, laughed. Kurako herself, sitting three tables away with the girls, looked very un-amused as she angrily ate chocolate after chocolate.

"Kurako, if you don't slow down, you'll get a belly-ache," Aoi murmured.

"Lea'me 'lone," Kurako muttered, stuffing her face again.

"Hey, Aoi," Kotone suddenly said, leaning forward on her elbows. "Where're your parents? Could they make it?"

"Oh-Mama showed up already before the rush," Aoi explained, waving her hand dismissively. "She didn't want to take attention away from anyone today."

"Take attention away?" Kotone and Fumie leaned forward, wanting to hear more. Aoi just laughed nervously and shook her head.

Mari, silent through the whole conversation as she morosely sipped her juice box, lifted her eyes to watch Akina. The elderly woman was smiling and nodding in agreement with something Hibiki was saying before showing off her new bracelet-and the pretty diamond dangling off it. Mari wondered what was going on over there...her grip on the juice box tightened, crumpling the cardboard a little. She suddenly jumped as she felt a hand on her shoulder, and looked to see Fumie smiling gently at her. The blonde tilted her head a little, mouth opening slightly, and Mari couldn't help smile back, still nervous.

High above the scene, Gachan stood in the rafters, a Dream-Eating Crane in his cupped hands. "So many dreams..." he muttered. "Surely, one of you has a Dream Shard...I can feel it," he intoned, suddenly crushing the crane in his hands. Despite the tenseness in his hands, the way they ground against the black paper, his tone was still calm as ever. He separated his hands, revealing the crane had been crushed to a fine black powder, and tossed it into the air, where it slowly rained down upon the people in the cafeteria.

One by one, the people in the cafeteria started to look as drained as the student Kemuri attacked had been - their shoulders slumped, they slouched where they stood/sat, and dark shadows appeared under the now-dull eyes. One woman looked to her son standing beside her, muttering "Your test scores weren't high enough..."

"You miss-stepped in your performance today," mumbled one woman, staring blankly at the floor.

"Why aren't you in the lead chair?" someone else muttered, staring blankly at his daughter. "You said you'd be lead chair this year..."

"Wha-what's going on?" Fumie suddenly cried, standing up as she looked around nervously.

"What's with the parents - our parents?!" Kotone cried, bolting away from the table. The same thought running through the other girls' heads, they followed her to the table where their parents/grandmother sat slumped over the table, dark auras around them. "Hibiki!" Kotone cried, shaking the adult by the shoulders.

The elder Suzuki slowly turned to look at her with dull, shadowed eyes. "Kotone," they muttered darkly. "Why didn't you get a solo like your sister did? You said you'd have one - I bragged about you to my friends..."

"H-Hibiki, snap outta it!" Kotone cried, trying to ignore the beginnings of tears in her eyes as she shook her parent.

"Kurako," Atsushi spoke up next, leveling his hardening gaze on her. "You shouldn't be here...gymnastics will only get you so far...Why didn't you go into real business, took care of yourself?"

Kurako flinched, the words cutting into her like a knife. "P-Papa?" she whispered, stepping back. Is that really what he thinks? He thinks I shouldn't have followed my own dream?

Mari was hugging herself in fright as she looked around the room, seeing all the students and parents suffering like this. This was nothing like when the student Hibiki had been infected. Now there were far more people...and parents, too, and-

-and her Gramma!

"Gramma!" Mari cried, tearing up as the elderly woman approached her, one of many parents finding their children, muttering about how their hopes in them were all gone, ruined. Mari covered her ears, shutting her eyes tight as she tried not to cry. No, no, no, I don't wanna hear any of it! I don't mean to disappoint you!

Something in Fumie snapped when she saw Mari tearing up. Clenching her hands into fists, she turned to catch the gaze of her teammates. "Everyone! We gotta transform!"

After only a few moments' hesitation, the girls nodded, casting desperate looks at their parents.

"Pretty Cure! Show my future!"
"Painting the world with new tints, Cure Ink!"
"Spinning with grace and strength, Cure Twirl!"
"Adding flavor and zest to life, Cure Spice!"
"Drumming a new life's rhythm, Cure Beat!"
"Protecting everyone's dreams, Pretty Cure Bukatsudo Energetic!"

And...none of them dared to move. The quartet just stood with their backs to each other, staring around the crowd of parents and students. Ink's lower lip quivered a bit.

"Pretty Cure!" Hisa cried, poking her head from Fumie's bag again. "What's wrong? Get out there and fight!"

"But...these are...these are everyone's parents," Ink mumbled, eyes shiny. "Twirls, Beat's, Mari's gramma..."

Gachan chuckled darkly, suddenly dropping to the middle of the room, catching Pretty Cure's attention. He landed gracefully, straightening up and adjusting the mask slightly. "So, I found a weak spot at last then," he said simply.

Beat paled. "Wh-who are you?" she demanded. "Have you come to destroy all worlds?"

"Hmmm...I don't plan on destroying any worlds. Just you," Gachan sounded like he was smirking, but with his entire face hidden, it was hard to tell. "And you daren't attack the parents, do you?"

"Kurako."

Twirl tensed up, turning around to see her parents glancing around for her, not recognizing her in her new form. To her surprise, they no longer looked so...dull. A little bit of shine was returning to her father and mother's eyes. Her mother held onto Atsushi's shoulder for support as she muttered. "Kurako...Little Kurako, you finally made friends...you're happy."

"M-Mama?" Twirl gasped as the shadows vanished from her parents' eyes and the dark auras dissipated, and the two slumped to the floor. "What's-"

"Kotone..." Hibiki murmured. "You didn't get a solo...but you looked so happy. You were on stage, just like you always wanted..." The aura started to fade as a small smile appeared on the elder Suzuki's lips. "I'm...so proud of you."

"What is this?" Gachan softly demanded as he looked around. All around him, parents were smiling, slumping to the floor, in chairs, against the walls, with their children. The dark auras were all fading away, color returning to their faces. "What's going on?"

"You don't see, do you?" Spice murmured gently, stepping forward. She smiled, clasping her hands at her chest. "None of the parents' dreams are taken from them...because all they wanted was to see their children happy. And we are happy, so their ultimate dreams came true."

"Mama...Mama and papa don't care I'm a gymnast!" Twirl snapped, stepping forward herself and clenching a fist. "They're just glad that - that I'm not lonely anymore!"

"Hibiki got to see me perform in front of a crowd!" Beat smirked. "And thought I was awesome! That's a dream come true right there!"

Away from the crowd, Mari still trembled, hands over her ears. She tensed up as her grandmother touched her shoulder, but when nothing else happened, opened her eyes and pulled her hands from her ears.

Akina smiled sweetly, staring into Mari's eyes. "...you're a good girl, Mari. I love you."

"G-Gramma..." Mari whimpered, suddenly rushing forward to hug Akina as her legs buckled.

"We don't need to fight anyone here," Ink began. Then she surged forward, leaping into the air and driving her knee into Gachan's masked face. "But you!"

The man fell backward, growling slightly as he regained his balance. "Why, you-" he began. He was interrupted by the rest of the girls just then. Pretty Cure, having followed Ink's lead, jumped at him, one after another, each driving either a powerful kick or a straight punch onto him, each blow making him fall back. He stumbled backwards from the last blow, courtesy of Twirl, glaring at the girls from under his mask. "Pretty Cure...you don't know what you're causing...what you're enabling to happen..."

"You can't fool us with lies!" Beat cried just then. "Not getting the best of us today! Pretty Cure Drum-Roll Anticipation!"

The purple light shot straight at Gachan, smacking his face. As he fell back, hairline cracks started to appear in the center of the mask, moving vertically until the mask broke in half, both pieces clattering to the ground. And pretty Cure finally saw his face. "My...mask..." Gachan gasped, lifting his head. Beat gasped slightly; Gachan had a thin, handsome face, with one gold eye and one ice-blue. But the side with the blue eye had a black mark all over it; a large black mark that looked like cracks and webbing covered the right side of his face. For a moment, his expression looked positively murderous, but he snatched half the mask up, pressing it to his face to hide the blemished side. "I will remember this, Pretty Cure," he intoned, vanishing into the dark void.


By sunset, everyone was back to normal. No one remembered what had happened to them, simply thought that the time had flown by without their noticing. And now it was time for the parents to leave. Kurako and the Suzuki twins stood off to the side to bid their parents farewell (Kurako surprised them both by lunging forward to hug them tightly), while Fumie and Mari stood before Akina. Aoi stood in the background, giving everyone some privacy.

"Now," Akina said to Mari, petting her head. "Just continue what you're doing, Mari dear, and you'll be fine. I'll see for the holidays."

Mari nodded, sniffling a little bit again. "I will, Gramma..."

"Oh, and Fumie..." Akina turned to the blonde, reaching up to unfasten her bracelet and hand it to her. "I can't quite explain it, but I feel like I should be giving you this..."

"Huh?" Fumie looked down at it, gasping as she recognized the Dream Shard on it. "B-but how-?"

"Oh dear!" Akina gasped, checking her watch. "My train leaves soon. Girls, just do what you're doing already, as I said before." She smiled warmly. "I'll tell your parents that you're doing well, Fumie."

Fumie nodded, holding the bracelet to her chest, feeling the warmth that the Dream Shard gave off. "Thanks, Mrs Saito!"

And then, all five girls waved as their respective guardians left.


"So you couldn't get 'em either, huh?" Kemuri snickered, leaning over Gachan's shoulder.

The man said nothing.

"Hey, Gachan!" Chuusha called from where she stood. "Don't look too glum. After all, now you're in the Losers Club with the rest of us. And we'll crush Pretty Cure next time for sure."

"Mmmm..."

"Hey, Gachan," Fureyaa spoke up, suddenly appearing over Gachan's other shoulder. "How come ya didn't show us your face sooner? Even seeing only half of it is pretty cool-and you look awesome!"

He paused. "Do I now?"

"Yup!" Kemuri and Fureyaa chorused, giving him the thumbs-up as Chuusha just shrugged.

Gachan allowed a tiny smile to grace his features.


ED: "Lead Me There" - YUME featuring Mari


ON THE NEXT EPISODE:
Kotone: "U-Uta, what's gotten into you?!"
Fumie: "Mari too! They're both acting so weird!"
Kurako: "Girls, stop it! We're your friends, remember?"
Mari: "Why are our dreams being taken away...?"
Fumie: "Next time on Pretty Cure Bukatsudo Energetic: A Downer of a Downpour! Uta and Mari are Brainwashed! Don't be late for next meeting!"