Queen Ivorie sat in her room, holding the Miracle Tiara in her delicate hands. Her hair fell like a curtain past her shoulders as she gazed down at it, noting how many new jewels had appeared over the past several weeks. The tiara would be restored soon, she thought to herself.
And when that happened…
"Hey, yo, Ivorie!"
Ivorie looked up to see Sterling peeking through the small window in her door. "I'm leaving your food here, okay?"
Ivorie nodded. "Thank you."
Sterling hesitated, looking as if she wanted to say more. But instead, she ducked out of sight. Ivorie heard the sound of a tray being set down, then footsteps as Sterling walked away.
She looked back to the tiara. When it was restored… She could finally lower the shield and challenge the monster head-on.
OP: Your Glow
"Masako! Come to dinner!"
"Okay!" Masako put down the shoelace she was teasing Dinah with and hurried down the stairs, her cat hot on her heels. As she grew closer to the dining room, however, her good mood vanished. That smell… that awful, disgusting smell… that smelled like-
"Here you go," said Arisa with a smile, setting down Masako's bowl.
The girl recoiled in alarm, staring at the monstrosity before her. Her mom couldn't expect her to eat this, could she?!
Elijah noticed her expression and sighed, lowering his fork and shaking his head. "Oh, honestly," he muttered, popping a bite of the vile food into his mouth. "It's mushroom rice, Masako, it's good for you. You need veggies."
But Masako could only stare at the wretched mushrooms in her food. "E-Eugh…" she grimaced, covering her nose.
Episode 12:
"No More Gross Foods!"
"So you didn't eat?" asked Haru worriedly. It was the next day at school, during lunch, and Masako had just told everyone about the terrible dinner the night before. Haru, of course, immediately focused on the implications of Masako refusing to touch her mushroom rice.
"Oh, I did," grumbled Masako around an apple slice. "Mom tried to tell me 'If you don't eat what's in front of you, you go hungry,' but Dad thought that was mean. He told her I could eat a peanut-butter sandwich and no dessert, instead." She groaned loudly, making a fist and shaking it in irritation. "And dessert last night was a strawberry cheesecake Mom had bought! I was so mad!"
"It's totally unfair to make something you hate for dinner," Rui said with a nod. "My dads are always forgetting I don't like carrots and put them in the cream stew. They say I can pick them out but the taste is still there!"
"Ugh, carrots are nasty too," Masako agreed.
Kazu took a bite of a fruit sandwich. "I don't like daikon."
"Daikon? Wow, how do you eat anything for dinner?"
"I feed 'em to our dog, BonBon."
"The taste doesn't stay?"
"Well, I mean, if I try not to think about it…"
Kumi, not wanting to be left out, shot her hand into the air like she was still in the classroom. "I don't like beets! Or green beans! And my sister hates potatoes - all except fries and chips. That's it."
Everyone looked expectantly at Haru. She blushed and her glasses slid down her nose. "Well…" she mumbled. "I guess… grilled fish. It smells funny."
From Kumi's bag, Glimmer muttered to herself, "You're all ridiculous…"
Kumi nudged the bag in retaliation.
Ten minutes later, the bell rang to signal the end of lunch, and the kids all filed back into their classrooms. Kumi's heart sank when she looked at the board. Ugh, math was next. Great…
As everyone took their seats, Ms Abe had an announcement to make. "Okay, everyone. Now, in two years, we're all going into middle school-"
"Unless you suck at schoolwork," came a voice from the back.
Ms Abe shot them a warning look, then continued on. "As I was saying. You'll be moving to middle school in two years, and in Kirazaka Middle School, you'll all be eating in your classroom, with meals provided by the school."
Most of the kids glanced at each other, whispering under their breaths. Others whose older siblings had gone to Kirazaka Elementary sat quietly, knowing what was coming.
"In order to prepare for this transition, next year in sixth grade you'll be eating three meals a week in this manner, and starting tomorrow, you'll eat one meal a week like this. Volunteers will be coming to our classroom to serve you up, and what you get is what you eat. Is that understood?"
"Yes, ma'am!" everyone chorused, but the four friends looked at each other in alarm. After their discussion of their hated foods, they had a bad feeling about this…
"I think it's an excellent idea," Glimmer said later, while Kumi was playing a handheld game. "It'll prepare you for later in life, and you'll get a variety of foods. Not to be rude, but I do notice you and your friends tend to have a lot of the same thing for lunch every day."
Kumi frowned, even as the princess in her game got a new dress to dance in. "Well, it's not Mom or Dad's fault," she pointed out. "It's hard making school lunches every day, they have to save their brain power for planning dinner. And anyway, it's easy for you to say!" she added as she glared over the top of her game. "You don't have to eat any yucky foods!"
Glimmer's quills puffed a bit. "It doesn't matter if you like it or don't like it, Kumi, you're all growing kids and you need good food."
"No way. When I'm an adult, I'll never eat beets or green beans ever! I'll eat fries and fried chicken and fruit sandwiches all day!"
"Kumi, that's not balanced!"
"Don't care. Green beans and beets are gross and you'll never catch me touching one. Never in a thousand years."
Glimmer's eyes got a steely look to them. "You know… it's not very lady-like or princessly to be a picky eater," she said in a warning tone.
Kumi stiffened. "Well… well that thing about that-! But actually-!"
"Kumi! Natsumi! Dinner!"
"Haha!" Kumi laughed, saving her game and tossing it onto the bed. "I didn't lose the argument, I was pulled away from it! You can't say I lost the argument, Glimmer!" she yelled over her shoulder as she ran down the stairs, ignoring Glimmer's call of 'I wasn't arguing with you!' Her heart felt a bit lighter as she hurried down the hall, the smell of hamburger steak and mashed potatoes permeating the air. She slowed down when Natsumi's door opened and two girls came out in front of her.
"Momoka!" Kumi greeted. "I didn't know you were here!"
"We were hanging out after school," Natsumi said with a smile while Momoka simply nodded her head. "Mom, Dad? Can Momoka stay for dinner?" she called down the stairs as the three of them hurried down.
"Sure, I don't see why not!" said Wakana. "Pull up a seat next to Kumi, Momoka dear, we have more than enough dinner to go around."
"Yaaaaay~" cheered Kumi.
Over at Masako's house, however, things weren't going as well.
Masako sat rigid in her seat, picking out the mushrooms from the gravy on her steak and dropping them onto the floor with her fork. She did it quietly and sneakily, while her parents were talking about their days. Under the chair, Dinah sniffed daintily at the gross little things. Masako had full confidence in her; animals ate whatever you gave them, so her mushroom problem would be over before she knew it!
"So, Masako," said her dad. "How was school?"
Masako hastily moved the mushroom she'd been about to drop back onto the plate so it looked like she was just moving it idly. "Fine. We're going to start eating lunch volunteers made, in the classroom. Ms Abe says we're doing it once a week so we can get used to being middle-schoolers."
"So soon?" asked her mother. "When I was in school, we didn't do things like that until sixth grade."
"Times are changing," said Elijah, taking a bite of potatoes. "And it's better than what we had to do. My teacher had us prepare for middle school by reading some of their assigned literature. I was reading Lord of the Flies at eleven years old… I thought it was Lord of the Rings. Imagine my horror."
Arisa laughed, covering her mouth with her hand. "Oh, I'm so sorry! Well, I guess it's alright, though… our little Masako is growing up. Soon we'll have to buy her middle school uniform and see her at the gate- Masako!" she gasped, seeing Masako drop a mushroom. "Have you been picking at your food?!"
"U-Uhm-"
"Poor Dinah… Masako, you eat the rest of those mushrooms or you won't get dessert tonight either!"
"But Moooooooom!"
The volunteers came in ten minutes before lunch officially began, to start setting up. There were four in total, all of them wearing white uniforms and white kerchiefs to cover their hair. As they lifted the lids to the warmers and soup pots, Masako could smell what they had brought in today. It smelled delicious, and her mouth began to water. She wasn't the only one, either. Kumi sneakily wiped her mouth on her sleeve, and near another desk Riko and her friends put their hands on their stomachs as if to quiet them.
Ms Abe looked up from the lecture she was reading, smiling when she saw everyone staring at the volunteer staff and their food. "Alright," she laughed, closing the book with a snap. "I think it's close enough. Everybody line up over on that end, grab a tray, and move down the row. One at a time!" she added with a shout as everyone began scrambling for a place in line.
Masako felt herself being nudged and pushed when she went to the front, but quickly enough the other kids calmed down and stood in a single-file line. It moved quickly; the volunteers served the food with both speed and precision. As Masako grew closer, she noticed that somehow, everyone had equal portions. I wonder how they do that without measuring? she thought, eyes widening in amazement. But as she grew even closer, she had the strange sense something was wrong.
And when it was her turn in line, she found out what it was.
"Here you go," said the first volunteer, setting a bowl of white rice on her tray.
"Thank you."
"Pork in onion sauce..."
"Yum!"
"Here you go, a mixed salad with fish..."
"Thank you."
"And your soup."
Masako recoiled as the last person in line, a young woman with a few strands of blonde hair springing from the front of her kerchief and sparkling brown eyes, set a bowl of miso and mushroom soup onto her tray. The scent turned her stomach, and she bit her lip to keep from grimacing. First mushrooms at home, and now at school?! This was the worst!
Masako turned away, quickly making her way back to her desk. As she passed Riko and her friends, she could hear the three of them grumbling to themselves as well.
"Awww, I hate fish," muttered Kaoru, poking at her salad.
"Just give it to me, then," said Riko. "I'll trade you my pork - the onion sauce ruined it."
That snippet of conversation gave Masako an idea as she sat down. Kumi was already sitting in her own seat, her backpack on the floor between the two girls, the top unzipped. Masako glanced out the corner of her eye and could see Glimmer, sitting patiently. Masako glanced around to make sure no one was watching, then leaned to the side. "Psst. Hey. Glimmer."
Glimmer looked up. "What is it, Masako? Do you see something wrong?"
"No, it's not that. You wanna have some lunch?"
"Well, of course I do but-"
Suddenly, Masako fished a mushroom out of her soup and flicked it to the side, down into Kumi's bag. Or to be more specific, towards Glimmer. The little hedgehog gasped and grabbed it before it could land on any of Kumi's things and make a wet spot, then scowled up at Masako. "Masako! You shouldn't be- ah!" she yelped as another piece of mushroom flew towards her. "Masako!"
"Come ooon, it'll be fine!" Masako whispered. "You have nowhere else to put them, you may as well eat them." She put another mushroom on her fork, and flicked again.
Glimmer shoved the two mushrooms into her mouth, then grabbed at the new one. "You're bein' a baby," she mumbled around her mouthful. "Jus' don' ea' th'soup."
"I like miso soup. I don't like mushrooms." Flick.
Glimmer scowled, but couldn't say anything with her mouth full. She wordlessly caught the mushroom piece, swallowing her current bite and beginning another.
At that moment, however, the volunteer who had given Masako the soup looked in her direction. Her brown eyes widened when she saw Masako flick another mushroom into Kumi's bag, and then she stood and frowned. "Excuse me, young lady!" she called out.
Every girl in class jumped in alarm, only to relax when they saw who was specifically being called out. Masako and Kumi, however, sat rigid, their eyes wide as the volunteer left her post and began storming over to them.
"Were you throwing your food into this girl's bag?" the volunteer asked.
"No," said Masako.
"I saw you!"
"She wasn't, ma'am, honest!" Kumi protested. She looked into her bag, noting that Glimmer had suddenly gone still, like a doll. "I don't see any mushrooms, see?"
The volunteer frowned. "Then where did you throw them, young lady? Onto the floor? Your lap?"
"Miihi, come back here!" one of the volunteers called over anxiously.
"You need to eat all of your food, you know."
"But they aren't eating all their food!" Masako cried, pointing to Riko and her friends. "They switched foods!"
Everyone looked towards the trio, but Riko and Kaoru had stealthily switched food back when everyone was distracted. Riko blinked innocently. "No, we didn't."
"Sneaks," muttered Masako.
"Miihi, come on," one of the volunteers suddenly appeared next to the yong woman, putting her hands on her shoulders. "She doesn't have to if she doesn't want to. Let's go."
"But we worked so hard on this, and-!"
"Miihi, let's go. It's no big deal." The other volunteer led her away, and the class slowly and awkwardly returned to their food.
Masako just sulked, waiting til Miihi's back was turned before flinging another mushroom to Glimmer. Who cared if she didn't eat the mushrooms or not? Mushrooms were gross.
Eyecatch 1: Kumi, Masako, Haru, and Rui are shown one by one wearing a princess dress in their theme colors. Then the four pose in front of a mirror together as the Crown Jewels Pretty Cure logo appears in the corner.
Eyecatch 2: Kumi is shown in front of a vanity, holding a series of earrings up in front of her. She cycles through pink hearts, blue diamonds, yellow teardrops, and green clovers before settling on white crowns. She then clips the crown earrings onto Glimmer's ears as the Crown Jewels Pretty Cure logo appears in the corner.
A week passed, and Miihi had almost forgotten the incident. She stood in the kitchens of Kirazaka Elementary School, carefully stirring the bubbling pot of mushroom sauce. She yawned, covering her mouth with a hand. Cooking was such hard work, but satisfying, and it made her happy to see everyone enjoying such good food.
She wished she'd had lunches like this when she was a kid.
"Miihi!" called one of her friends, a slightly-older woman with brown hair in a low bun. "Is the mushroom sauce for the tofu ready?"
"Yep! What about the vegetable kimchi?"
"It's all done," said her friend, Manaka. She covered the vegetables with the lid, and loaded it on the cart. "Is everyone else ready?"
"Rice is done!" called a young man.
"And the soup!"
"Great!" Miihi's smile widened. "Then let's get it to the kids! I bet they're starved - I can't wait to see their faces!"
"Very good, Meiko. You read perfectly," said Ms Abe with a smile as the young girl took her seat. Meiko smiled proudly, though her happiness seemed to fade a bit when Ms Abe's expression turned stern. "Alright, now, it's nearly time for the in-class lunch, and I want to have a word with all of you about what happened last week."
Masako groaned.
Riko raised her hand. "You mean how Byron was throwing food at people?"
"She wasn't throwing food at people, Chino, stop it. I'm referring to the disturbance caused by picky eating, yes." Ms Abe frowned deeper, her gaze slowly sweeping the room. "Now, while it may be fine to not eat something included in the lunch, you don't make a big scene out of it. And when someone else gives you food, you at least make an effort to clean your tray. These volunteers are working hard for us and went out of their way to prepare this nice food; we don't repay them by wasting food or throwing it in such an obvious way. I don't want to have a repeat of what happened last week. Is that clear?"
"Yes, ma'am," everyone chorused, though Masako was less enthusiastic than anyone else.
The door opened, and the volunteers came in. Masako flinched a bit when she noticed Miihi. But Miihi didn't seem to recognize her, as everyone lined up and began to move down the row with their trays.
But when she sat back down, her stomach dropped. And, looking around the room, it looked like she wasn't the only one.
The lunch today was fried tofu with mushroom sauce, kimchi mixed vegetables, sweet potato miso with fish, bread, and white rice. And it seemed a lot of people had problems with it.
Kazu was grimacing and daintily removing the daikon from his salad. Haru and Kaoru were fishing out the pieces of fish from their soup. Rui was taking out her carrots. A few other kids were trading dishes so they now had two soups, or two tofu dishes. One kid had pushed everything but the soup to the edge of his desk and was eating only that. And one other girl was putting her bread inside her napkin.
At the front of the room, Miihi watched all of this. She gripped her ladle tightly, her knuckles turning white. 'Don't waste food!' she wanted to scream. 'If you don't like it, just don't take it! Don't just push it somewhere else!'
Masako poked at her tofu and grimaced. Maybe if she avoided the sauce, it'd be okay… She cut a tiny piece of tofu with her fork, and brought it to her mouth. The fork hovered for a few moments, but… in the end she couldn't do it. She dropped her fork back to her tray, and without meaning to, blurted out "Blegh!"
Everyone's heads turned to look at Masako. Ms Abe frowned, standing up from her desk and placing her hands on top of it. "Miss Byron!" she snapped. "There was no need for that! Apologize to the volunteers."
Masako stood up, keeping her eyes downward. She felt her face burning; she couldn't imagine what the volunteers' faces must have looked like. "S-Sorry…" Masako murmured, shoulders slumping. After Ms Abe gave the okay, she sank back down into her seat, idly poking at her fried tofu. She didn't really feel hungry anymore…
At the front of the room, Miihi scowled, wiping her hands on a towel and throwing it down a little harsher than was necessary. "Miihi!" Manaka called out in a hushed voice. "They're just kids, come back!" But Miihi didn't listen.
"Seriously, you did that?!" Rui squawked in astonishment. It was still lunch period, but the girls had finished their lunch and had decided to meet up outside, partly to get some fresh air and partly to talk to Rui. Kazu stayed behind, wanting to use the extra time to finish some schoolwork. That was fine by Masako; the fewer extra people had to see this, the better.
"Yeah…" she sighed, dropping her head into her hands. "I didn't mean to, though! It just slipped out!" She lifted her head, peeking between her fingers. "I tried to eat it, I really did, though…"
"It's alright, Masako," Glimmer chimed in, popping out of Kumi's backpack. "That's the important part, you did try. It was still rude of you to react the way you did, but you gave it a shot."
"I guess I should apologize to the volunteer again," Masako said glumly. "She seemed so upset."
"We'll find her before she leaves," offered Haru. "We can go look for her right now. She and the others are probably getting ready to go now, so if we're fast we can catch her."
"Yeah," Masako said. "This won't be easy…"
Miihi left out a door in the back of the kitchen, storming out into a side garden. The garden was near the common yard area, and several students enjoyed coming out here and growing vegetables that would be prepared for lunches and snacks. But fortunately for her, nobody was outside at the moment. That was good, she needed some alone time and to catch her breath. She removed her kerchief, running her fingers through her hair and exhaling deeply.
All that work cooking. All that hard work, all that nutritious and tasty food, and the kids didn't care.
It was so frustrating.
And it wouldn't have been such a big deal if they just refused what she offered. Fine, more for leftovers, for the kids who would want it. But throwing it away? Making faces? She would never have been allowed to do such a thing, she had been raised better than that!
Unseen by Miihi, Sterling suddenly appeared in one of the trees near the garden. She sighed, sitting on a branch and gently swinging her legs. "What am I going to do...?" she murmured, hugging herself. A soft twinge in her chest made her look down, spotting Miihi in the garden. Sterling could see her Sparkle, how it was dim and agitated. She bit her lower lip. No, this wasn't really good anymore... It wasn't fun, doing this. And for all her hard work, Onyx was...
But... maybe if she did it one more time, it would be all there needed to be. Once more, that was it. With a heavy sigh, she heaved herself to her feet, and extended her arm. "Welp. Here I go," she declared. "Fade Away!"
Snap.
"You can do this, Masako," whispered Glimmer from Kumi's bag.
Masako, leading the group as they walked towards the garden, nodded resolutely. Her hands clenched over her stomach, which was tying itself into knots. She swallowed painfully, but nodded again. "Yeah. I can do this," she agreed.
But then a roar sounded, and the ground shook, pitching the girls off their feet.
"Oh no, not now!" Rui cried as she helped Haru back to her feet.
"That came from the garden!"
Masako led the ground around the corner, skidding to a halt at the edge of the garden. And yes, there it was.
Sure enough, a giant shadowy creature, its outline blurring and pulsating, was roaring in fury and slamming its feet at the door that led to the kitchen. the metal bowed under its onslaught, and the girls could hear kitchen workers screaming in panic inside. "GET OUT HERE!" the Usugurai roared in fury. "I'll show you what happens to people who waste food!"
"Waste food?!" Kumi gasped. "It can't be-"
But it was. The girls saw a statue of Miihi, her eyes wide and stunned, expression frozen in pain and horror.
"Girls!" Glimmer shouted.
"Change! Elegant Crown Jewel!"
"Summer's jewel is full of love! Cure Ruby!"
"Winter's jewel is filled with light! Cure Diamond!"
"Autumn's jewel is filled with truth! Cure Topaz!"
"Spring's jewel is filled with energy! Cure Emerald!"
"The sparkling jewels! Crown Jewels Pretty Cure!"
High above, Sterling watched the scene unfold impassively. Her chin rested on her palm as she leaned against the tree trunk, humming quietly. "Eh," she mumbled. "Even if they do purify my Usugurai, I should still get plenty of dark energy..."
Pretty Cure, meanwhile, was racing into the garden, towards the Usugurai. "Be careful!" yelled Topaz. "Don't hurt the vegetables!"
"Ugh, can we?" asked Diamond, earning a horrified look from Topaz.
"What was that?!" roared the Usugurai, turning its head towards Diamond. The blue Cure briefly froze, startled by the intensity of the monster's red-eyed glare. "You want to destroy food?!" it screamed, pawing the earth and turning towards her.
"Whoa, whoa, no, I was just joking-!" Diamond began, before suddenly throwing up a wall of ice as the Usugurai charged towards her, its head bowing like a bull. The monster smashed against the wall, causing numerous cracks to form across the surface.
Emerald took the opportunity to help Diamond run to the side, away from the Usugurai. "Find the bright spot!" she yelled, flinging her arm and causing a blast of wind to buffet the Usugurai a bit. Unfortunately, the wind also uprooted several carrots and made some trees bow.
The sight made the Usugurai even more furious.
"Those vegetables!" it shrieked, whipping its head around. Its eyes locked onto Ruby, and a second later, the pink Cure was shrieking as the Usugurai slammed a foreleg into her, sending her flying against the fence. "People worked hard on those! People work hard to grow them!" It sensed Topaz running up towards it from behind, and suddenly bucked its legs back. Topaz barely managed to avoid the hit, yelping in alarm. "People work hard to grow your food! And you waste them! You don't care about the hard work that goes into any of it!"
"That's not true!" Emerald yelled, throwing more bales of wind at the Usugurai. "I just - we just don't like all foods, that's all!"
"So... don't... TAKE THEEEEM!" the Usugurai roared an earth-shaking roar, tossing its head back-
-and exposing a brief, sparkling spot under its chin.
Diamond's eyes widened, and, despite the guilty twinging in her heart, she raced forward. "Alright!" she shouted. "We won't! We're sorry! We'll respect your hard work! We already do, we promise - we'll show you from now on!" she yelled. "Pretty Cure Diamond Freezing!"
As the Usugurai dissolved into ice and snow, and Cure Diamond delicately caught Miihi's Sparkle, Sterling sighed again. "That should have done it, at least," she intoned, and teleported away.
The next week in class, Masako joined the line and grabbed a tray. She paused, sniffing the air as the kids made their way down the row of pots and warmers. White rice, mackerel, miso soup, and mixed veggies. And the veggies included, she realized as she approached Miihi, mushrooms.
Miihi began to move the spoon towards her but stopped. "Oh, you're the one who doesn't like mushrooms," she said. "Keep going."
Masako paused, biting the inside of her cheek. Her tray felt a little bit heavy in her hands as she said, "Actually… Can I have just a tiny bit?"
"Oh?"
"Y-Yeah… I want to try them."
Miihi smiled warmly and gave Masako a fraction of the vegetables, with only one mushroom in the mix.
Masako smiled back, nodded, and moved down the line. After she had gotten all the rest of her food, she made her way back to her desk and sat down. Taking a deep breath, she grabbed her plastic fork and speared the lone mushroom. Her hand trembled a bit as she brought it towards her mouth, but after a brief hesitation, she closed her eyes, and shoved the fork into her mouth.
Remembering Kazu's words from several weeks ago, If I don't think about it… she chewed. Once. Twice. Thrice. And swallowed.
After another short pause, Masako opened her eyes. That… hadn't tasted so bad, actually. She wouldn't eat it all the time, and she'd say no if asked, but… Well, it hadn't killed her or anything. At least it was over. Masako exhaled, then smiled as she began to properly eat the rest of her lunch.
Neither she nor the other kids noticed the big smile on Miihi's face, nor the way she wiped her eyes.