A trio of third-years at Nakagawa were walking outside the school and chatting amongst themselves, well two of them were while one of them had her eyes fixated on a fashion magazine. The quieter one of the trio walked behind the two, only half-listening to their conversation.
"But I don't want to analyze that scene for class, it's nothing but a bunch abstract thoughts from the girl!" One of the girls lamented as she laced her fingers behind her head.
"But, Mr. Natsume did say that ours was the easiest one to analyze." The other girl pointed out before turning to the girl behind them for her input," Takai, what do you think?"
The girl lifted her eyes from her magazine for just a few moments to properly deliver her response to the girls.
"I think you guys might just be intimidated by it. I read it over in class and I think if we just try and apply the literary device techniques to the extract we should be fine." The girl holding the magazine voiced. The duo in front of her exchanged somewhat suspicious looks and nodded slowly in response.
"Well, we have a student council meeting today, so we'll text you for a time to work on this later ok?" One of the girls said. The girl with magazine nodded and the two of them bade her farewell as their paths split. The two girls went back into the school and the girl with the magazine stared at them for a few moments before they were almost out of sight.
"Motou Teruko and Takehiro Setsuyo. Student council reps for our class who double as best friends. Of course there wouldn't be more unfit individual then myself, Takai Rumi, to get paired with such girls." The girl, Rumi, said to herself once the two were out of earshot," Well, it's ok. This is just a one time thing anyways."
Meanwhile, back in Gogo's classroom, Gogo was still fast asleep, with Ms. Hightower now poking her with a meter stick to wake her up.
"Hey, Mitsugi, wake up! I found something, or rather someone, that we might wanna look into." Ms. Hightower stated as she continued to jab Gogo with the meter stick, with Gogo finally waking up as a result.
"You found what?" Gogo asked groggily as she rubbed her eyes with a yawn.
"Just follow me." Ms. Hightower instructed as she walked over to the door to close it, leaving Gogo to look at her in question. In an instant, a cloud of pink and purple smoke formed around Ms. Hightower and in her place was Lulu the bunny. Once the puff of smoke had disappeared, Gogo continued to look at her teacher in absolute curiosity.
"Why are you using that form right now? It'll be easier for you to get seen or something wouldn't it?" Gogo pointed out after a single cough from inhaling the strange smoke.
"Not if I keep myself hidden!" Lulu declared in cheery voice as she hopped onto the desk in front of Gogo and pointed to her bag.
Gogo clutched her bag defensively and shook her head as she said," No way, it'd be weird to have my teacher crawling around inside my bag."
Lulu's cheerful demeanor was dropped within an instant as she side-eyed Gogo and asked her in a rather mischievous tone,"Have you already forgotten?"
Gogo felt her skin crawl at the question, with Lulu's voice less squeaky and reminiscent of her voice when taking the guise of Ms. Hightower. It was rather juxtaposing and of course,Gogo had no idea what she was talking about, yet she still felt mildly intimidated.
"Forgotten what...?" Gogo asked nervously, her gaze stuck on Lulu. The two of them were starting to stare each other down until Lulu finally announced,
"You already let that happen!"
Gogo seemed rather irritated now and almost shameful that she let herself get intimidated by a bunny and didn't say another word as she stuffed Lulu in her bag, though she did grumble and mutter under her breath quite a bit.
"So where to?" Gogo asked as she walked out of the school building and looked around for someone wearing a locket identical to hers.
"To the west entrance." Lulu whispered from inside the bag.
Gogo seemed confused for a moment and squinted towards the west of the building as she commented," I didn't even realize this school had a west entrance."
And so, Gogo began walking towards the west entrance of the school, though she wasn't exactly sure where this entrance was located. It was somewhat cloudy out today but the sun had managed to shine through the few clouds. So, quite a few kids had decided to eat lunch outside today. But, the closer Gogo approached the west of the building, the less kids she saw cross her path.
"Are you sure we're allowed to be here?" Gogo asked, her tone a little louder now that it appeared to be only the two of them within the vicinity.
"Of course!" Lulu replied as she popped her head from out of the bag.
Gogo sighed as she looked for the entrance of the building from here," Alright, let me rephrase that. Are you sure I'm allowed to be here?"
When Gogo reached the west entrance, she looked around for someone, anyone at this point and couldn't find a single person in sight.
"Are you sure the person you saw went this direction?" Gogo asked impatiently," Don't you think they may've...I dunno, went inside?"
"I'm certain they're around here, on the bench that's...around here." Lulu answered vaguely as she started looking around from inside the bag.
Gogo then went towards the corner of the building, looking to see if there was anyone there,"What makes you so certain someone's..."
Gogo's eyes then fell to a girl sitting on a bench by herself with a magazine in her hands, seeming completely uninterested in her surroundings. She had the whole bench to herself and took this to her advantage, leaving a pink, blue and white lunch box on the center of the bench and her legs crossed. Her hair was cut short and dark like a raven, with her bangs ending close to her bright green eyes. Her eyes were quite large and she wore eyeliner, her winged tips being perfect. Her skin was very, very fair and she wore a somewhat unusual berry shade of lipstick. And worn around her neck was a white glossy locket that looked just like Gogo's.
Gogo didn't realize she was staring but once she did, her cheeks were flushed and she stood behind the school, hoping the girl didn't notice her. She noticed her breathing quicken for a few moments and she shook it off but not before noticing Lulu had jumped out from her bag to get a better look at the girl. Gogo looked down to Lulu and asked unsurely,
"Are you sure she's my teammate?"
"Positively and without a doubt." Lulu responded as she tried to get closer to the girl, though Gogo wouldn't allow her to as she put her foot in front of the bunny.
"How can you be so sure?" Gogo questioned with her eyes narrowed as she tried to steal a glance of the girl on the bench," Plus, she couldn't be my teammate, I don't even know her."
Lulu then said to Gogo," Takai Rumi, a third-year who keeps to herself most times. I had to teach her English class last year. A quick learner but, she's pretty reserved and won't say much. I guess she's shy or something but I mean...Mitsugi are you even listening to me?"
Gogo was staring at Rumi again and Lulu's question snapped her back to her senses and caused her to hit her face against the wall as she repeated," She's pretty, what?"
Rumi noticed Gogo at the side of the building, giggled quietly to herself, and continued to read through her magazine. Though, Gogo didn't realize that Rumi knew she was there. Gogo then spun in the opposite direction and picked up Lulu to place her back into her messenger bag.
"Honestly, she doesn't strike me as a magical girl type. She's too cool for that of stuff." Gogo stated neutrally as she continued to walk.
"Then explain the necklace." Lulu reminded her.
Gogo shrugged and replied with," Maybe it's a fake. Just a coincidence that she has a necklace that looks like a smiling locket. Hm, speaking of which, Ms. Hightower-"
Just then, the bell had rang and left Gogo in realization that she only had five minutes to get to class now as she began to sprint towards the school.
"Oh shoot! I'll just have to ask you after school." Gogo decided as she ran towards the main entrance, forgetting that she had been right beside the west entrance.
Later, just before Gogo's session, Gogo had demanded that Ms. Hightower stay after school so the two of them could discuss more of Gogo's concerns at her place. Ever so reluctantly, Ms. Hightower complied but then, Gogo realized that she might have been having that meeting between her and Ms. Hightower sooner than she expected.
"They're...they're gone!" Gogo shouted in a frenzy as she slowly began throwing things out from her book bag on the floor. Ms. Hightower arched an eyebrow and looked over Gogo's shoulder before asking,
"What's gone?" As Gogo continued to fling objects out from her bag.
"My gym clothes, they went missing and they're always-!"
"-Excuse me, Mitsugi?" A girl said from behind Gogo and Ms. Hightower. She was standing with another girl who made her appear petite in comparison and had short brown hair with ombre tips.
Gogo recognized them, but a certain important detail of them had escaped her mind.
"What were their names again?"
"You had forgotten this last week," The shorter girl said in a somewhat nervous voice as she held out a bright orange and yellow drawstring bag.
"My gym clothes!" Gogo exclaimed as she took the bag from the girl and exhaled a sigh of relief," Ah, we better get to the track, otherwise Chitose'll probably kill us!"
Gogo ran past the two of them and awkwardly, the shorter girl laughed a little once Gogo was out of eyesight.
"I don't know Michi, I think she's a nice girl...just, shy." The shorter girl stated as the two of them started walking to the track.
"Maybe but...Hanami, she doesn't seem like your normal kind of shy." Michi replied as she wore a skeptic look on her face as she thought of Gogo.
"Normal type of shy? What do you mean by that?" Hanami asked as she looked towards the track through the school window, seeing Gogo getting lectured by Chitose who was ten feet away from her.
Michi didn't respond and the two of them continued to walk in silence.
Later after club, Gogo found Ms. Hightower grading papers in her homeroom and motioned her out of the classroom. Ms. Hightower collected her things and followed Gogo out of he classroom, but instead, she was the one leading Gogo out of the school.
"We'll have this discussion at my place, got it?" Ms. Hightower informed as they reached the gates of the school. Gogo eyed her curiously, still under the belief that she lived in a rabbit hole.
"Do you not like my place?" Gogo wondered aloud, trying to sound innocent in asking this but doing just the opposite. Ms. Hightower shook her head and answered with,
"There's a lot of people in your home right? Your brothers and your parents? We really can't risk them finding out anything about this you know."
"Well, can't you just pretend to be a stuffed toy or something?" Gogo suggested as she held a lifeless look in her eyes for a few moments as a demonstration to Ms. Hightower.
Ms. Hightower chuckled and responded with," Then how will you explain the alleged talking to yourself? Come on, I'm only ten minutes away from the school by foot."
"Human foot or rabbit foot?" Gogo questioned under her breath as she cautiously followed Ms. Hightower. They two of them went past the school, going in the opposite direction of where Gogo's place was, which happened to be a territory Gogo had yet to explore.
It was like the quieter side of town with only few people around here and there with a small strip mall with a grocery store on the other side of the street.
"Isn't this where the rich kids from school live?" Gogo questioned as they continued to walk to Ms. Hightower's place.
"I think they're farther down the street." Ms. Hightower answered as she stopped in front of an apartment building.
"Why did we stop? I thought the forest was over there." Gogo said as she pointed to behind the grocery store.
"Will you stop it with the rabbit hole thing?" Ms. Hightower requested as she opened the door to the apartment. The two of them walked into the lobby and Gogo couldn't help but stare and take in her surroundings. It felt as if she was visiting a friend's house for the very first time. But admittably, she hadn't done that in quite a while. The lobby was empty and they were a lot of things Gogo couldn't help but admire, like the mirror beside the elevators and the small sitting area in the center of the lobby with a glass and gold-coloured rimmed table.
"Mitsugi, elevator's here." Ms. Hightower called from the other side of the lobby. Gogo darted over to her and joined her teacher in the elevator. Ms. Hightower pressed the button for the seventeenth floor and the two stood in awkward silence until they got to the floor.
They walked to the room 1705 and Ms. Hightower showed Gogo her apartment. Gogo somehow still seemed suspicious as even though it seemed average for Ms. Hightower the high-school teacher, it seemed quite dull for Lulu the bunny. Gogo started looking behind Ms. Hightower's pale blue couches, and then under her tables intently, to the point where she was irritating Ms. Hightower.
"Just what the hell are you looking for?" Ms. Hightower questioned as Gogo continued to scope out the place.
"Where's all the magic?" Gogo asked from underneath the table.
"You think I could afford fancy stuff on a teacher's salary?" Ms. Hightower asked as she held back on a laugh.
"No like, I mean... the magic in here." Gogo asked as she pointed to her locket.
Ms. Hightower stayed silent as she tried to form a response and for a moment, it seemed like she was about to say something but decided against it. Instead, she said,
"I have to keep a low-profile if I want to stay, don't I?"
Gogo decided that was reasonable and sat awkwardly on Ms. Hightower's two-seater as Ms. Hightower walked to the kitchen.
"Mitsugi, what do you take in your coffee?" Ms. Hightower called out from the kitchen as she opened a cupboard.
"Nothing except chocolate milk." Gogo called back in a neutral tone. Ms. Hightower stopped looking for things in her cupboard for a moment to side-eye Gogo and replied,
"I've got plain milk and a bottle of chocolate syrup, will that work?"
"Homemade, I like that." Gogo responded, feeling a little more comfortable in her surroundings. Ms Hightower laughed quietly to herself as she collected ingredients for her coffee and Gogo's chocolate milk. After she was finished with preparing the beverages, she walked back to the living room and handed Gogo her drink as she waited for Gogo to begin their discussion.
Gogo took a deep breath and finally asked," Where do you get these lockets from?"
"Gachapon."
"Come again?"
"You know, those little toy vending machines." Ms. Hightower answered as she took a sip of her coffee.
"So then, it's not that unlikely that Takai found the machine and just cranked one out." Gogo replied," Maybe she isn't really a Pretty Cure after all."
Quickly, Ms. Hightower shook her head and said," That machine, it's...unique."
Gogo stared at Ms. Hightower curiously as she waited for Ms. Hightower to continue, though it seemed like she didn't seem to want to do any further explaining.
"Unique, unique how?" Gogo urged impatiently after she took a sip of her chocolate milk.
"It doesn't stay in the same place often." Ms. Hightower explained hesitantly," It has a tendency to relocate whenever it sense major danger. For example...Onyx."
"That snobby kid from Melancholy?" Gogo interrogated as she took a sip from her chocolate milk," She was considered dangerous enough for the machine to feel the need to relocate?"
"Well sure, you've seen what the girl's capable of." Ms. Hightower pointed out, though still Gogo didn't seem all too convinced that this was reasonable.
"Yeah but...I don't know. The more I think about it, the more she feels more like a little brat than an actual threat." Gogo expressed as she put down her drink.
"Don't underestimate her or Melancholy." Ms. Hightower declared imperatively," That could be your downfall. Anyways, the machine...it's very selective. Usually it eats up the 200 yen of those who try and get a locket. And if Takai was able to get a locket then...they might want her to become a Pretty Cure."
"They? Who's they?" Gogo asked as more questions started coming to her head," Just who gave me these powers? And what does it take for them to get lost or revoked or-?"
"-Mitsugi, just how long have you had these concerns?" Ms. Hightower interrupted, causing Gogo's eyes to widen suddenly before she looked away uneasily.
"You're worried that something might go terribly wrong, right?" Ms. Hightower asked as she looked up at the ceiling, seeing Gogo nod swiftly from the side of her eye,"...It's ok, I am too. But, as long as your intentions are pure, I think things will be fine."
The two of them fell quiet for a few minutes, and then Ms. Hightower abruptly cleared her throat to end the silence and said," So, we have to get Takai on board with this very soon. Tomorrow afternoon at the latest."
Gogo scoffed and answered with," Hell no!"
Ms. Hightower cocked her head towards Gogo in an instant and asked in agitation," Do you not want to have teammates? We don't have a second to lose!"
"I can't just talk to a third-year I've never even spoken to before and try and convince her that she's some kind of magical warrior that's destined to help me save a realm that I can't prove exists!" Gogo attempted to reason.
"You can't just expect your teammates to approach you, as leader, you have to be the one to recruit them!" Ms. Hightower exasperated before she took the pendant on Gogo's necklace into her hands," Plus, you do have proof."
Ms. Hightower opened the necklace and revealed the hologram of the castle to her again. Gogo took the locket back into her hands and looked at the mini-castle inside.
"If that girl were to get hurt, it'd be my fault wouldn't it?" Gogo thought to herself," But, if she has a locket, then maybe she'll be fine. Maybe it really is worth a shot."
"So tomorrow, we recruit Takai, got it?" Ms. Hightower reaffirmed, with Gogo nodding nervously in return.
"Oh shoot, that means I have to talk to a third-year..." Gogo said in head, with the mere thought of it twisting her stomach into knots.
That night, Gogo thought about how she was going to approach Rumi and ended up feeling more awake then ever with unwanted adrenaline coursing through her veins at the thought of talking to her.
"Me? A magical girl? As if!" Gogo imagined Rumi saying with a laugh following behind. Gogo felt her heart speeding up as these thoughts of Rumi laughing her off began to pile up in her mind.
"No one said this would be easy..." Gogo reminded herself quietly with a yawn before falling asleep.
That night, she dreamt of asking Rumi to become her teammate and she did this without any nervousness whatsoever and just when Rumi was about to answer, she woke up.
"If only it could be that easy..." Gogo groaned to herself as she sat upright.
During the entire morning, all Gogo could think about was the possible outcomes from her telling Rumi about the Pretty Cure. Didn't Ms. Hightower once think that this could've been risky? What if there was more than meets the eye about Rumi? What if she was some kinda spy trying to reveal the identities of magical girls around town and wore accessories like their own to gain their interest? It seemed unlikely but, it was just as possible as Rumi being the next Pretty Cure, wasn't it?
"So, Mitsugi are you ready?" Ms. Hightower asked before she shut the classroom door after morning class to transform.
"All of a sudden, this seems like a bad idea again..." Gogo responded softly before Ms. Hightower transformed.
"But Mitsugi~!" Lulu wailed after transforming," You already said you were going to!"
"I swear to god these are two entirely different people I'm talking to." Gogo thought to herself," What if Takai doesn't want to help us?"
"We won't know if we don't try." Lulu reminded her. Gogo took a deep breath and motioned Lulu into her bag. Gogo walked out to the west entrance where Rumi was yesterday, in hopes that she wouldn't be there. But unfortunately, Rumi was in that exact same spot as yesterday, having her lunch cross-legged with a new magazine in her free hand. Gogo stared at her for a few moments, feeling her knees grow weak and her heart race. The longer she stared at Rumi, the less she felt capable to tell her about the Pretty Cure. She bit her lip and felt her stomach writhe again as she clung to the side of the school building.
"Mitsugi, what are you waiting for?!" Lulu yell-whispered as she tried pushing Gogo's feet to get her move with little avail.
"I can't talk to a third-year like her!" Gogo confessed in a yell-whisper as she squeezed her eyes shut.
"My god, Mitsugi." Lulu muttered under her breath as she turned back into Ms. Hightower and gave her a push hard enough to push her away from the wall. Gogo nearly lost balance as she was pushed and had caught Rumi's attention. Now she really couldn't retreat without going unnoticed.
Anxiously, Gogo walked up to Rumi and kept her eyes on her and tried to put a welcoming smile on her face, with some avail. Gogo studied Rumi's face as she inched towards her, which inevitably made her more nervous. Today her lipstick was a more lilac colour and her eye-shadow matched and featured some grey accent to it. And course, her eyeliner was perfect again.
"Did you need something?" Rumi asked as she put her book down for a moment to look at Gogo. Her voice was soft, yet mature but not as stuck-up as Gogo expected. It fact, she sounded more down-to-earth if anything.
Gogo drew a blank and couldn't help but stare at her wide-eyed as she tried to deliver a response. Gogo opened her mouth a few times and could only stammer out,
"I...um, well...I just..."
Before Gogo was just about say 'never mind' and turn back, Rumi exclaimed," You're one of my fans aren't you?"
"Your what?"
"Wow, so um, would you care for an autograph?" Rumi asked as she rummaged through her bag for a pen and paper," To think, I'd be approached at school. I knew this day would come for someone to recognize me as the makeup vlogger Rumi T but I didn't expect it to be so soon!"
"What is she even talking about?" Gogo thought to herself as Rumi continued to search for something to write on.
"You know what? I'll do even better than an autograph. I'll give you a makeover after school and feature you in my next video!" Rumi exclaimed excitedly before the school bells rang," This will be great! Oh, by the way, what's your name?"
"Gogo...Mitsugi Gogo..." Gogo answered, trailing off due to being at a loss of words.
"Alright, I'll see you here at this very spot after school, alright Mitsugi?" Rumi declared, with Gogo nodding a single nod in return. Rumi ran off to her classroom after she collected all her things and Ms. Hightower walked over to Gogo, who stood there speechless.
"What just happened?" Ms. Hightower blurted out," Either way, you've got to go to her place and tell her about the Pretty Cure."
"I don't really have a choice do I?" Gogo asked weakly as she stared off into the direction Rumi ran in," But it's nice to know that she's as socially inept as I am."
"So, Mitsugi, how long have you been watching my videos?" Rumi asked curiously as the two of them walked to her place after school, with Lulu tagging along in Gogo's bag.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you..." Gogo responded vaguely, with Rumi gasping as she clasped her hands together in delight.
"Wow, not only have I met a fan today, I've met a long-time viewer today!" Rumi interjected, seemingly lost in her thoughts as Gogo desolately stared at the road in front of her.
"I only watched three of her videos during my study period today, but I don't think I'll tell her that." Gogo thought to herself," Just as I thought, for the most part, we're polar opposites. Despite being a bit of a dork, she's still one of those classy girls who really care about their appearance and stuff like that. Not to mention, she seems pretty mature for age. Despite-"
"This might be ones of my best videos yet!" Rumi squealed to herself as she clasped her hands together again.
"-the fact that does stuff like that."
They soon reached Rumi's house and Gogo took notice of the fact that they were the only two here quickly as they walked to Rumi's room.
"So, Takai, do you live here all by yourself?" Gogo asked as she looked around Rumi's room. It was rather large and shades of pink and blue could be found all over the room, from her pink white and blue polka-dotted comforter to her striped blue and pink desk lamp.
"No, my dad should be home any minute and my brother doesn't get home until about six." Rumi answered as she started looking through her makeup bag," So Mitsugi, what would you like?"
"Sorry what?" Gogo asked with a blank expression on her face.
"Smoky eyes? Lots of contour? Matte lips?" Rumi questioned, confusing Gogo even more," Though I don't think we should share lipsticks. Maybe if I have a lip brush on me and take colour from the sides of the lipstick.
"What is she even talking about? It's like she's speaking another language!" Gogo griped in her mind as she started picturing things like black eyes and lips with the texture of rugs on herself.
"You can just...do whatever you think suits me best." Gogo decided in a somewhat unsure voice, with Rumi giving her a confident smile in return. Rumi removed a few articles of make-up from her bag and brought them over to her desk where her laptop was. She pulled out a fold-in chair she kept in her closet that collecting dust for Gogo to sit on and she turned on her laptop.
When the webcam started recording Rumi said," Hey my makeup madames! Today we're going to be experimenting a new look with my long-time fan I just met today, Miss Gogo!"
"I,uh...hi." Gogo sputtered awkwardly as she looked down to her feet," Damn it, why didn't I just tell her about the Pretty Cure before she started filming?!"
"So to begin today's sunset inspired look, we'll start off with a clean face." Rumi said as she handed Gogo a moist towelette.
"She must be really new to this vlogging thing, considering she should've done this before she started filming..." Gogo thought as she rubbed the towelette against her face.
"So, starting with our foundation...Oh wait." Rumi said as she looked at the bottle in front of her, realizing her own foundation wasn't going to suit Gogo's skin tone at all. Awkwardly, she chuckled and said,
"Since me and Gogo have drastically different skin tones, which is ok, we'll just skip this step today. So, instead, we'll begin with the eye shadow. Today I'll be using KYX's "Masquerave" palette."
Rumi seemed a bit more awkward now as she held up the palette to the webcam. Gogo was quick to detect her uneasiness and figured it was because she screwed up so early in the video. But it seemed to slip her mind that she could just edit that bit out.
"So, start off with the colour "Ultra Nova" which is a very, very shimmery gold tone with lots of glitter in it." Rumi instructed as she dusted some of the eye shadow onto her makeup brush and looked over to Gogo, who's eyes were wide open," Um, Gogo, could you close your eyes for this?"
Gogo nodded her head in a robotic manner and did as told, feeling quite uncomfortable as Rumi powdered the eye shadow onto her eyelids.
"Come to think of it, have I ever even had my makeup done before?" Gogo wondered to herself as Rumi dabbed the eye shadow," One time I had a lollipop turn my lips blue, that counts right?"
When Rumi was done with the base colour, Gogo opened her eyes and all of a sudden, she felt a stinging sensation in them.
"Oh god I'm tearing up, it isn't from the glitter is it?" Gogo thought to herself as her eyes started watering," I gotta take this stuff off right now! But should I really do it on camera? Ugh this wouldn't be happening if I just told her why I came in the first place!"
Rumi turned her back for just a moment to take something else out from her makeup bag and a window for Gogo to remove the makeup had appeared.
"I don't see any of those towelettes..." Gogo thought as she spun her head around the room, until she saw them on the far end of Rumi's bed. It was close than she realized, but not as close as she assumed as she tried to stretch towards it so she wouldn't have to get up. She leaned the chair towards the bed with her and just when she was about to grab it, she lost balance and fell off the chair with the chair falling on top of her.
"Um, Mitsugi?" Rumi said blankly as she quickly turned her head in the opposite direction to see what had happened. Rumi then decided to stop recording and asked Gogo as she saw the bag of makeup removers in hand,
"Do you not like the makeup?"
"No, that's not it! It's just..." Gogo trailed off with uncertainty detectable in her voice as she stood up to place the chair back next to Rumi and sat on it, " I didn't come here today to receive a makeover. I needed to tell you about something important."
"Something important? Like what?" Rumi questioned curiously as Gogo stared at the necklace she wore.
"Where did you get that necklace from?" Gogo asked gently, her gaze falling to her feet.
Rumi looked down at her necklace and held the pendant of it as she looked at Gogo," This? I got it from one of those toy-vending machines. Why?"
"I was hoping you wouldn't say that." Gogo thought to herself as she kept her gaze adverted from Rumi.
"Rumi, I am a magical girl, a Pretty Cure, and...you are too." Gogo blurted out, keeping her eyes shut so she wouldn't have to look at Rumi gawking at her in suspicion.
"But, how can that be? How am I supposed to believe..." Rumi asked, trailing off when Gogo opened her locket to reveal the holographic castle,"...You." Just then, the two of them heard the roar of an Endopath from outside Rumi's house and the two of them rushed towards her window to see what it was. Outside in Rumi's front yard was a young girl curled up with her arms around her knees and a paddle-ball Endopath towering beside her. Floating beside the Endopath's head was a woman with short dark brown hair dressed in a maroon dress that had a high-low skirt. She had a rather gaudy necklace worn around her neck along with bronze coloured boots. She was an average height and an average build for a woman who appeared to be in her late twenties or so. She also had her lips painted bright red and wore a suspicious stack of what seemed to gauze around her forearms.
"Oh my, poor little Onyx was having so much trouble trying to defeat that Pretty Cure girl but it would appear that the Pretty Cure just wasn't all that intimidated by her." The woman scoffed," I, Nijoux, on the other hand can instill so much fear into those who's path I cross that I don't have to face things like enemies. They just quit while they can when I get involved."
"Who the heck is that, and what is she doing with an Endopath?" Gogo muttered under her breath as Rumi continued to look at the scene beyond her window.
"That girl over there is my neighbour's daughter, what happened to her?" Rumi asked as she kept her gaze on her before abruptly turning to Gogo," Mitsugi, do you know what's going on?"
"Unfortunately, I do." Gogo said as she placed one of her feet on Rumi's windowsill.
"I've always to do this." Gogo said to herself quietly as she put her other foot onto the window and leapt off while shouting," Pretty Cure, turn that frown upside down!"
"M-mitsugi?!" Rumi stuttered as she watch a swarm of light appeared around Gogo in midair that vanished as quickly as they came, leaving Cure Joy in Gogo's place.
"Really? She always wanted to jump out of a window?" Lulu asked as she looked out the window-sill beside Rumi. Rumi quickly spun around and looked at Lulu in pure bewilderment, eyeing Lulu uncomfortably while Lulu continued to watch the Endopath.
"Just when did you get here?" Rumi asked quietly, her eyes wide before her attention was brought back to Cure Joy shortly.
"A warm ray of sunshine to brighten up your day, Cure Joy!" Joy announced once she landed to the ground.
"Aw, so the Pretty Cure was here all along." Nijoux stated with a slight pout," Well, no matter, she won't be here for long anyways. Endopath, eliminate her!"
"I don't think so." Joy said under her breath with a grin as she darted up towards the Endopath, and leapt up shouting," Pretty Cure, Vivacious Spark!"
Joy emitted a tri-beam of pink, orange and yellow lights from her hands and directed them at the Endopath. The spiraling attack damaged the Endopath a little bit, but not enough for it to retaliate and kick Joy towards the house.
"I didn't know she could do that..." Lulu remarked as she watched Joy getting flung towards the house, still thinking about her new sub-attack.
"Excuse me, but...that girl just told me that I have powers, just like her. Is she telling me the truth?" Rumi asked Lulu all of a sudden, leading Lulu to get a closer look at her locket just before she could confirm.
Lulu inspected it and gave Rumi a nod free of doubt and said," You're to be her teammate; the second Pretty Cure."
"I'm just getting started!" Joy claimed, though she sounded somewhat exhausted as she said this.
"Then, how do I transform like her? I want to help her and I don't want to see her fighting all on her own." Rumi declared in a near frantic voice.
"You and me both." Lulu replied," But, even if you've been gifted one of the Smiling Lockets, you can't ever transform unless you put in under the flame of one the Everlasting lights of Cheer.
"Well, where am I supposed to get one of those?" Rumi probed," Wait, if Mitsugi transformed, that means she has one of those lights so I could use hers couldn't I?"
"I'm afraid you'll need to find your own candle." Lulu answered grimly, causing Rumi to dash out of the room in search of a candle," Hey, what makes you think you could find one around here-?!"
"Jeez, you're a rowdy one aren't ya?" Joy asked as she dusted herself off and stood up a few feet away from the Endopath. Just then, Rumi swung the front door to the house open and startled Joy greatly.
"Takai, just what do you think you're doing?" Joy asked as she spun her head around.
"I...I'm going to prove to you that I don't need one of those lights to transform!" Rumi proclaimed, receiving a dumbfounded look from Joy.
"Now that would be a sight to see." Nijoux remarked with a chuckle following behind," But even I know such a feat would be impossible."
"Nope, I'm gonna make it happen!" Rumi declared as she held up her necklace high just like Joy had done earlier. Rumi had her eyes pressed shut and focused all of her energy into that pendant and concentrated, yelling,
"Pretty Cure, turn that frown upside down!"
A set of blue, pink and white lights did emerge out from the locket, but that was all that the locket seemed to be able to do as of currently. Nothing else happened after that, surprising Rumi and Cure Joy.
"I told you, you won't ever have the power to transform if you don't get your locket lit by one of the lights!" Lulu scolded as she hopped out of the house from the front door.
"Well fine, I'll just look right this instant!" Rumi decided as she began searching her mailbox and behind some lawn ornaments.
"I can't believe she wants to be a Pretty Cure this badly." Joy muttered under her breath as she watched Rumi search desperately around the front yard for one of the lights.
"It's not that she wants to be a Pretty Cure, she wants to help you." Lulu explained quietly before the Endopath started attacking again. Joy looked at her in suspicion just before she began to attack the Endopath.
Rumi's search became more and more dire to her as she watched Joy continued to fight and saw Miho, her neighbour's daughter, mourn to herself. Joy continued to defend the three of them, getting depleted of her energy slowly as the fight dragged on. Rumi attempted to advert her gaze her the fight so she wouldn't have to see Joy get wounded so badly, but every time she saw saw a flash yellow and pink fling past her eyes after being thrown towards her, Rumi winced and looked even harder. The sight of watching someone fight and knowing she could've helped if she had just one last requirement to administrate the power to be of some help made her heart grieve. The longer she searched, the more futile it all seemed. But, Joy was still fighting after all this time and if Joy wasn't giving up, then why should she? Despite the feeling that this wasn't getting anywhere and that she was putting herself in danger by letting herself look around frivolously while Joy was in the middle of a fight, Rumi searched as hard as ever and finally, she found a very foreign object, a pale blue candle, sitting deep within one of the bushes in her front yard. Rumi's eyes enlarged as she took hold of the candle and displayed it in front of Lulu and Cure Joy.
"Now how did that get there?" Lulu and Cure Joy wondered aloud in unison, the latter taking a brief moment from her fight to examine the candle.
"That's the Candle of Solace." Lulu stated as Rumi continued to look down at the candle.
Rumi took a brief pause to stop staring at the candle for a moment and to take in her surroundings one last time.
"I don't know what that woman's intentions are but...all she's doing is making a mess of my yard and causing everyone here to grieve." Rumi thought to herself as she saw Miho crying to herself and Joy trying to wince away the pain of crashing into the tree in her yard," And I absolutely won't let her continue doing this."
Just then, the candle had been lit in Rumi's hand and quickly Rumi did as she had been previously instructed as she put her locket over the flame of the candle.
The locket turned blue and Rumi cried out," Pretty Cure, turn that frown upside down!"
The blue, pink and white lights had once again emerged from her locket and had enveloped her entirely. Her body was glowing blue and pink shade and she twirled around once, having a white dress appearing on her body that had pink and blue ruffles on it at the ends with cerise trimming around it. The dress also had off-shoulder sleeves and shiny silver buttons at the center of it. She held her hands up and on them appeared a pair of perwinkle and pale pink sleeveless gloves. Then she knelt down and covered her legs with her arms and appearing onto them were a pair of bright blue and pink boots with smiley faces on them at the top. Next, she then pulled her hair back behind her ear and it became white with pink and blue streaks and held up in what appeared to be a bun with two sections of hair on either sides of her face. She then snapped her figners and appeared on her head was string of silver beads with a large bue smiling face along with a bright pink choker and a blue bow on her lower back. Finally she placed her hands over her chest and made a large pink bow with another blue smiling face in the center appear.
She struck a pose and opened her eyes as she announced," A soothing sensation to bring you at peace, Cure Delight!"
"Wow..." Cure Joy exhaled, speechless as she stared at her new ally.
Cure Delight then pointed to the Endopath and declared determinedly," I'm ending this now."