Chapter 4 Lift Off

Hana sat at the table in the middle of the rocket's main hub. Her head was resting on the top, and aside from a pencil, it was the only thing that was laying upon the table's surface. Hana was flicking the pencil just far enough away from her so that it would be able to roll back. She had been going about this activity for the past hour or so. The pencil came rolling back down the table again, and Hana prepared herself to flick it once more. This time she did it a little too hard, so the writing utensil rolled over the other side.

"Mechokku," Hana said. She didn't say it with the same energy that she normally did, but of course she was the only one who would notice that in this moment. She went over and picked up the pencil, and when she stood up she came face to face with Yuni.

"Bored?" Yuni asked. When Hana nodded, Yuni snickered. "I don't know why I bothered to ask that; it was obvious what the answer was."

Hana didn't respond. For the first time since her arrival, she noticed that Yuni had a pair of cat ears. Hana stared at the top of Yuni's head in wonder, and Yuni, who didn't appear to be unnerved by this display at all, smiled.

"I see that you're staring at my ears."

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Hana said apologetically. "I didn't mean to be rude!"

"No, it's alright," Yuni said with a chuckle. "I've also got a tail to match, in case you didn't notice."

Hana looked, and indeed it appeared that Yuni had a cat tail. Her amazement increased as she saw it swish.

"That's amazing!" she said. "Is there a story behind that?"

"Sort of," Yuni said. "I am actually an alien. Lala is an alien too, but we aren't from the same planet."

"Woah! Aliens?" Hana was growing more impressed by the minute. "Did you two come to Earth to join the Precure?"

"Lala did, from what I have heard. However, while I did eventually take up the mantle of Cure Cosmo, that wasn't my original mission." Yuni held up a perfume bottle and showed it to Hana. She sprayed it on herself, and a rainbow colored light enveloped her body. Hana watched in shock as Yuni's silohuette morphed and changed. When the light cleared, Hana couldn't not believe her eyes. Yuni's face looked more like a cat's than a human's, and her entire body was covered in a peach/tan colored fur. Her hair, while it was still the same shade of blue, was styled different in a pair of poofy pigtails. The only part of Yuni's appearance that was still the same was her eyes, which were still a citrus orange.

"I originally hail from Planet Rainbow," Yuni said to Hana. Her expression became somber. "My people were turned to stone by Aiwarn, one of the notraiders. I have since used my power of transformation to stop the notraiders, but only when I became a Precure was I allowed to officially take it up a notch."

"That's so sad," Hana said, and she meant it. It reminded her of the story that Harry had told about his village getting destroyed. It was why he and his friends had joined Criasu Corporation.

"It is," Yuni agreed. "And I don't care how long it takes me; I will fix my planet. You mark my words, Hana."

Hana could only nod in response. The dark tone that was present in Yuni's voice was a little scary. Yuni noticed Hana's fear, so she chuckled to lighten the mood.

"Sorry; I promise I'm not like this all the time. I conciously try to be cheery most of the time, especially as Mao."

"Mao?" Hana asked. Yuni's eyes lit up.

"Oh that's right! Oh ho ho, you are in for a treat, Cure Yell." Yuni took the perfume bottle out and spritzed herself again. When the light cleared, Yuni had magenta hair, green eyes, and a cutesy expression. The only things that remained of her feline appearance were her ears and tail. When she spoke, the pitch of her voice was noticeably higher. "Open your ears and listen to the space idol extraordinare!"

When Yuni started to sing, Hana felt enthralled by her voice. It was playful and light, but at the same time strong enough to carry throughout the rocket. The song was also extremely catchy and fun. Hana started to tap her foot and dance, and she saw that Hikaru's fairy partner Fuwa, who had been sleeping in the corner of the room, got up and danced too. All three of them were clearly having a blast, so it took them by complete surprise when Lala entered the rocket.

"Yuni, Fuwa, Hana, buckle up," Lala said. "We're going for a ride."

"Lala!?" Yuni said in shock. "School doesn't get out until later!"

"That's what I've been telling her all the way here." Prunce said. "But she's refusing to listen to me."

"Wait a minute," Hana said. "Lala, when you 'we're going for a ride,' you don't mean that we are going into space, do you?"

Lala nodded firmly, her expression serious. Hana's jaw dropped.

"Mechokku!" she screamed. Yuni took out the perfume bottle and changed back to the state Hana had originally seen her in. She then approached her teammate, her seriousness giving Lala's a run for it's money.

"Lala," she said. "What about Elena and Madoka? Didn't we have the team agree to wait for them?"

"Our team is one member short, so as far as I'm concerned it wasn't official lun."

Lala started pressing buttons on the dashboard, and Yuni's countenance became sterner.

"Okay Lala, I understand you're concerned; we all are. But we still need to be rational about this. What if we get attacked?"

"We are not going to get attacked," Lala responded without looking up from the dashboard.

"What if the rocket gets damaged again?"

"The rocket is not going to get damaged!"

"What if Hana gets space sick?" This time Lala was so frustrated that she had to look up from the control panel.

"HANA IS NOT GOING TO GET SPACE SICK LUN!" She then looked toward Hana, and Yuni did the same. "You aren't going to get space sick, right?"

"I...I don't think I will," Hana said. She cracked a tiny smile. "If this is even slightly similiar to an airplane, then I can see myself enjoying it, actually."

"It's settled then." Lala said as she placed her antenna on a big red button. "AI? Set our coordinates for the Star Palace."

"Well, that wasn't bad at all!"

The school day was out. Technically it had been out for several hours, but Hikaru hadn't managed to get back to Beauty Harry with the others until around sunset. The sight of the sky was pretty enough to warrant a picture.

"You did seem to be enjoying yourself," Homare pointed out. "Our classmates also seemed to appreciate you."

"You fit right in!" Saaya exclaimed. "Although, you didn't have to reveal where you came from in your introduction speech."

"But it was true!" Hikaru said. "Besides, if I didn't say that I'm from another universe, what could I have said?"

"That you were an exchange student," Homare said. She chuckled. "Technically, that also would have been correct."

"Regardless of Hikaru's place of origin," Ruru chimed in, "I think today is has been a long day for all of us. I believe we should all get some rest."

"I agree!" Dr. Traum piped up from across the room. "Besides, this will give me a perfect opportunity to upgrade your computer system, Ruru. Remember, you said you had a few bugs?"

Ruru cast a glare at the doctor.

"That was a while ago and I wasn't refering to my system," she said. "I was referring to how you constantly bug me."

Dr. Traum's face looked more surprised than anything else.

"Ouch," he said softly. Suddenly, Emiru spoke up from her place in front of the window.

"Hey! Come look at this, I say!"

The girls, Dr. Traum and Harry gathered around the window. Hikaru squinted and could see a huge, shadowy figure stomping around the town in the distance.

"What is that?" she asked.

"It's an Oshimaida!" Harry exclaimed. "You four need to get down there!"

Saaya, Homare, Ruru and Emiru nodded and bolted for the door.

"Wait! I'm coming too!"

The Hugtto team stopped and stared at Hikaru. While Ruru's expression was mostly stoic, the others wore their shock like a pair of glasses.

"But...you can't transform," Saaya said.

"Maybe not," Hikaru said with a smile, "but that doesn't mean I can't watch. Ever since we met, I've been dying to see you guys in action."