Reika had not bought anything during the Christmas shopping expedition, aside from a cup of cocoa from a food vendor's truck. The taste of the lovely chocolate lingered in her memory, but a sweeter sensation took hold of her as she hung up her blue princess coat in the hall closet.
To think she could have been, right then, starting her life in England for the study-abroad program!
If she had accepted the position, she would have departed for Europe during the winter break. Then she would not have just spent a delightful afternoon with her five dearest friends — Miyuki, Akane, Yayoi, Nao, and Candy the tiny fairy — and she would not have strolled through the winter illuminations, which had sprung to life around them as if awoken by magic. She would not have been present to help her friends summon the Pegasus and the Phoenix to defeat the Hyper Akanbe which Wolfrun, the Big Bad Wolf himself, had used to attack Cure Happy. She would have not been there to share in the joy as Candy collected the Cure Decor which Wolfrun's monster had dropped. They had just one more of the magical bibelots left to retrieve, and then the Queen of Märchenland would be revived.
Reika smiled as she stepped toward her room, barely noticing the December gelidity which hung even in the enclosed hallway. She heard her mother listening to the news on the radio inside her parents' room; although the winter sun had set, it was at least another two or three hours before dinner would be served. That gave Reika plenty of time to do a little reading before she helped with the meal preparation. Better yet, she might pull out her suzuri inkstone and prepare some sumi ink to practice calligraphy. The gentle grinding of the ink stick always relaxed her, which would be a welcome activity after the afternoon's excitement, especially as the thought of one remaining Decor quickened her heart even now.
She imagined the colossal Queen of the fairy-tale characters springing to life out of her literal petrified status to restore the joy to her kingdom. Reika had only spoken to her once, but she had sensed the motherly love the queen had for her realm. The loyalty of Candy, Pop, and the other fairies testified to her kind heart, and the magic of the Cure Decors — which could produce food, clothing, mermaid tails, flowers, and a host of other delights — spoke volumes of how nurturing and mindful she was of her people's needs. Most important, the Queen had the tremendous power to protect her subjects from the wicked Emperor Pierrot and his baleful servants from the Bad End Kingdom. That was a fight the Precure might have to participate in alongside her, which made Reika doubly confident that she had made the right decision to remain in Japan.
It had not been an easy decision to stay home and pass up such a rare opportunity, one which her hyper-intelligent older brother had not achieved when he was in middle school, but in the end Reika felt a peace about her choice. Unexpectedly, it had taken a despicable enemy trying to harm her to reveal her heart's chosen path. Joker, that smirking, malevolent lichen of a jester who served Emperor Pierrot, had temporarily kidnapped Reika, whisking her to an alternate dimension where he played upon her doubts and indecision to send her plummeting into despair. When he had Reika at his mercy, he had grown cocky and overplayed his hand by taunting Reika's friends to send her to England with a smile. The girls had instead confessed their sorrow over her departure, which in turn had made Reika see her need to stay with them.
Where would I be if Joker hadn't been so arrogant? she thought with a bit of a shudder as she passed her grandfather's door; she could hear him inside, no doubt creating another masterpiece with his calligraphy brush. What would he have thought if Reika... hadn't come home that day?
Fortunately for her, Joker hadn't injured her when he had gained the upper hand. She had defeated him, shattering that other world with her friends' help and gaining the Pudding Decor from the Akanbe Joker had wanted to use to destroy her.
Mercifully, he had only appeared a meager amount of times throughout that year, and even that was too much for Reika's tastes. At least during their duel she had been at her strongest thus far, tapping into a previously unknown power. She had far too much sense to let her guard down regarding him, even now, but she felt a grim confidence that when their paths would inevitably cross again, she would be prepared for whatever he had in store for her.
As she slid open the door to her room, she noticed several things in rapid succession. First, the shouji door of the opposite wall stood open, giving her a clear view of the shadowed courtyard and allowing the unwanted frigid breeze to enter. Second, the still falling snow had accumulated on the engawa, and deep, messy marks etched its white surface as if someone had dragged a body through it and tracked ice onto the clean tatami. Third, that very body laid on its side by her dresser, its head toward her, and the light of the hall streaked over her shoulder, casting her shadow over the lurid hair of primary colors, purple-and-white medieval garb and skinny arms clutching a narrow belly.
She stopped in her tracks, her heart withering up inside her chest.
"Joker!" she cried, plunging her hand into her skirt pocket for her Smile Pact. She held the pink compact up like a weapon, ready to transform and fight, vividly imagining what he'd do to her family if he got past her.
As Joker raised his head to look up at her, only then did she realize he was panting.
"Please..." he rasped. "Make it stop..."
Against all her common sense, Reika hesitated. Her heart thundered like a steam locomotive going uphill, and adrenaline tingled through her limbs, urging her to protect herself, to protect her mother listening to the radio, to protect her grandfather working on his calligraphy, both of whom had no clue that a death sentence laid in her bedroom.
But she hesitated.
She stared at his constricted countenance. Sweat poured down over the front of Joker's white mask and down his sharp face; a sickly pallor blanched his pale skin further until it resembled the snow he had brought into her room. She glanced from him to the open door; Joker could teleport and fly. He didn't need to use conventional entrances to get where he wanted, so something big must have happened to put him in such a state.
Unless, that was what he wanted her to think.
She narrowed her eyes again. "What's going on here?" she questioned, her voice chilled with tranquil fury.
"Please... help..." he panted.
Surely he didn't expect her to fall for such an old trick?
She held her Smile Pact a little closer. She opened her mouth to cry out the words to start her transformation — and Joker groaned again, squeezing the eye holes of his mask so tight together that they seemed to disappear.
The words hovered on her lips, refusing to emerge. She swallowed them back instead. If it were a trick, it was an unnecessary one and completely out of character for him. Joker was like an ambush predator, waiting in hiding to attack his prey. He wouldn't feign sickness when he could just as easily sneak up behind her.
So it had to be real.
She moved half a step closer, studying him. "Are you in a lot of pain?"
He slurred something unintelligible into the floor.
"What happened to you?" she asked, shuffling a little nearer.
He raised his head enough to free his muffled mouth. "Star-Cake," he choked out. "Stupid Star-Cake... Magic didn't work. Can't fly home. Make it stop, Cure Beauty."
"Star-Cake?" she repeated. "Were you poisoned?"
He shook his head. "I don't know. Got it off Clown-san. Didn't work." He said Clown in English.
"A clown... gave you a Star-Cake," she repeated. Considering he was a jester who worked for a clown emperor, she wasn't surprised he knew more circus folk. "What's a Star-Cake?" she asked, picturing something like the snack foods sold at summer festivals.
Joker started to answer, but his limbs spasmed, and he curled up into a tighter ball. "What have I put in my body?" he moaned.
Reika tried to recall what she knew about first-aid, but nothing seemed suitable for a non-human who had consumed magical victuals. Did she induce vomiting somehow? No, that could be dangerous, and she could leave him in a worse condition—
She snapped her head up, shaking herself. What was she doing? Joker had tried to kill her before; he had no mercy within his dark soul. If she helped him recover, he would no doubt try to harm her again.
But she couldn't very well roll him into the side yard to die. Could she really ignore another living creature when he was suffering? Even if it was Joker? What else could she do?
She knitted her brows, giving Joker a sweeping glance. If only she could ask Grandfather for advice — if only her family knew her secret of being a Precure and knew about Joker's despicable character and could help her weigh the pros and cons of her options...
"Why should I help you?" she asked monotonously.
He turned his head, laying his cheek flat against the tatami to look blearily up at her with one dark eye.
"Because," he said in a pathetic whimper, "you're the only one smart enough to help."
Against her better judgment — and against the memories of every despicable thing he had done to her personally and to her friends — Reika's heart softened for him. If Joker could praise her so highly, it could only mean he was in genuine agony.
She reached for his hand, pushing back the thick, red bracelet on the end of his sleeve to check his pulse, which thundered beneath her fingertips. His skin felt uncomfortably warm and moist.
"What do you need me to do?" she asked gently.
"Need to go to... bakery," he said between pained grunts. He spoke so softly Reika had to bring her ear down toward his lips.
"A bakery?"
"That's where Clown-san got the cake. Cake made me like this. The bakers will know how to fix this. Can't fly. Can't teleport."
She looked over him as she helped him sit up. Joker was usually so calm, as if he could see around corners and had everything planned out. Sometimes, it had frustrated her when she fought him; she could push her physical powers to the breaking point, and he would just giggle, as if she were just a little dog playing tug-of-war with him. Now, his head leaned against her, and she could smell the sweat which soaked his variegated hair and made the points wilt. For once, he needed her, and she couldn't just call for one of the other generals to come to her house to pick him up.
But what happened when he felt better?
She exhaled slightly, narrowing her eyes.
"I'll help you this one time," she said, "but you better remember it the next time you want to cause trouble."
Joker only groaned, clutching his skinny belly.
Reika took the precaution of transforming. Within moments, her milk-blue dress, periwinkle sweater and matching socks vanished as the magical compact overlaid her slender body with the lovely blue uniform of Cure Beauty. With a burst of blue light, her dark-zaffre, mid-length, hime-style hair grew longer, lighter, and more elaborate, and a white tiara materialized atop her head, framed by two ornamental feathers. The fairy-like lights shod her socked feet with the calf-high, white-and-blue boots while white bracers hugged her forearms.
She closed the door to the engawa, and she noted Joker's trail came through the blanket of snow from an indentation by the courtyard wall, as if he had fallen from a significant height. How did he get here to begin with?
She helped Joker to his feet and draped his arm around her shoulders, looping her other arm around his thin waist. Despite his light weight and her enhanced strength, his height made it awkward to move, especially when he drooped over her after the first two steps. She considered picking him up bridal style, but she decided against it and guided him to the tall bookcase on the other side of her room, wincing a little as his wet curled shoes shuffled across the clean tatami. With three slides of books, she unlocked the Book Door, and the bright pink light took them to the little house within the Mysterious Library.
The cottage was actually an enormous tree stump, but the Star Decor had transformed it into a cozy hideout for the Precure, complete with furnishings and indoor plumbing. ("It's 'just right,' like in the Three Bears story," Miyuki often said.) Other the past year, the girls had added their own little touches to make it their own, from the harlequin tea cups to the cute knickknacks for the book shelves. Although Reika carried a boy who had tried to kill her more than once, as soon as the pink light faded from the quint-fold bookcase, the calming influence of the Mysterious Library touched her heart and made her tense limbs relax despite herself.
Joker, however, trembled against her. "This place gives me the creeps," he said, glancing warily about. His hold tightened on her like a child hugging his teddy bear for reassurance.
"Where do we need to go?" she asked, trying to get him to focus.
"Star Maidens," he replied, staring suspiciously at a vase of flowers Reika had contributed to the hideout.
"As in... stars who are maidens? Or maidens who live among the stars?" she asked. Given what she had seen over the past year alone, neither would surprise her.
"Star Maidens," Joker repeated, slurring slightly. "They make Star-Cakes. They'll talk to Cure Beauty."
It did not give her a lot of information. However, she remembered the first time she had ever visited the Mysterious Library. Her fairy friend, Pop, had been able to sense that a Bad End Space had been activated back on Earth. Although they had not known at the time where the attack had been located, by picturing in their minds the place where people's smiles were being taken, the girls had been able to navigate the Book Doors to save the day.
Reika closed her eyes, focusing. Star Maidens who make Star-Cakes. Star Maidens who make Star-Cakes.
Then she removed a book from the shelf behind them and began again the three movements of the Book Door Code. She sensed more than heard each magical lock clicking, and a pink light appeared where the communal library had been. It drew both her and Joker in like a magnet, and they soared again through the familiar tunnel of white light and rainbow colors.
She kept a tight hold of Joker as the other end of the portal appeared, a dark patch the size of a postage stamp and steadily growing bigger. At last, Reika hopped out of the air and back onto solid ground. Joker draped over her shoulder, limp. As the pink light of the Book Door vanished behind her, Reika's eyes adjusted to the new light, and she saw it wasn't quite as dim as it had looked from the portal. Thick curtains hung over several windows, but white light glowed around the edges, illuminating the room enough for Reika to see everything clearly. She stood in a large kitchen, the kind that one saw in restaurants or bakeries, with work tables and huge sinks.
"Well, yes," she said to herself, glancing about. "It would make sense for Star-Cakes to come from a professional establishment, wouldn't it?"
Reika spotted a stool by one table, and she guided her lanky burden over to it. Just as she reached the table and started to nudge Joker to shift his weight onto the stool, a sudden gale of feminine laughter arose behind her.
Two blonde women bustled merrily through a doorway. Taller than a human and slender, each wore long, loose, yellow robes which shimmered as they moved, and their clear skin seemed to have a glow which brought more light into the kitchen. Shining gold stars had been woven into their unbound hair, and five-point stars sat on fillet headbands. Golden earrings sparkled from tapered, elvish ears similar to Joker's. Both carried mostly empty trays suspended from their shoulders; each tray had a handful of star-shaped pastries.
The women were in the process of removing the straps of their trays from their necks as they entered. One started to say something to her companion, but both stopped dead at the sight of the visitors in their kitchen. Both dropped their jaws and released their trays, scattering the little white cakes on the floor.
"Gracious me!" one cried in English. "Where did you two come from?!"
A/N:
This was a fic I wanted to get done back in December, but things didn't work out that way. Ah, well. Better late than never, right?
"Star-Cakes" is inspired by the one-act play, "The Dream Maker" by Blanche Jenning Thompson, published in The Drama Magazine in 1922. It was something I thought would be really interesting to see in the context of the "Smile" universe.