She Who Bears The Mark
Cast:
Cure Pine, Yamabuki Inori - age 22
Cure Passion / Eas, Higashi Setsuna - age 21
Cure March, Midorikawa Nao - age 19
September, 2016
"What is love?"
"None other than your best friend and sister," Inori replies.
Setsuna scowls. "If you're not going take me seriously, I'm going home."
The two are sharing a small table in a cozy teahouse. Inori reaches across the table to lay her hand over Setsuna's. "I may not be perfect, but I am your friend and I'm here for you."
"I appreciate it. There's nobody I would rather turn to for love advice."
"Love advice? I'm glad that you'd come to me, but it is Love's actual name."
"'The pink heart is the mark of love', right? I don't doubt that she'd tell me to go for it."
"I can't promise that I won't, you know."
"I know that, but you'll at least think about it first."
"I suppose I will. What's troubling you?"
"Wester confessed his love to me."
From right next to the table comes the sound of a sudden intake of breath. It is the waitress who has brought them their tea. Framed by dark green hair tied up in a long ponytail, and a face that both other girls know well.
"Cure March?!" Setsuna fails to hide her surprise.
"I didn't know you worked here, Nao."
Nao sets their tea on the table before answering. "I just started recently, and I didn't mean to overhear your secret. Sorry!"
Setsuna takes a sip of her tea. "I know you'd never eavesdrop on purpose."
"Wester, he's the hunk who runs Star Donuts, right?" Nao's green eyes sparkle with the question that she knows she should not ask.
"I haven't decided whether I'm going to accept. We've known each other for ages, after all. How can I be sure that he's not somehow pining for the past self that I've thrown away?"
"I'd face him head on," Nao says. "But I guess that it might be different for you. Not that you asked me- I'm sorry, again!"
Setsuna sighs. "You might as well sit down. You're a part of this conversation now."
Inori moves to make space for Nao, then turns her attention back to Setsuna. "I'm not sure quite what you mean by the past that you've thrown away. You act like talking about Labyrinth embarrasses you, but when was the last time you asked Wester to call you something different?"
"He never listened anyway."
"You helped Love create her Zenith persona, didn't you?"
"That was a reflex! I had bad conditioning from when I was a dumb kid!"
"A reflex, you say. Crimson is-"
"The crimson heart is the mark of happiness! Freshly ripened, Cure Passion!" She even claps in the middle of the phrase, then blushes at the end. "What did you just get me to do?!"
"Just checking your reflexes."
"Those reflexes are exactly the problem! What if I get together with Wester and I get worse?"
"I don't think it would bother him."
"Don't you think such childish impulses might get in the way of an adult relationship?"
"The fear of being seen as childish is a mark of childhood. I don't think Wester has ever been bothered by that."
"You think I'm the childish one?! Why don't I just accept his confession, then? What would you say to that?!"
Inori smiles. "Congratulations."