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Dissonance

Event XXV

Exhaustion Blowout

Nobody was there when the exile released her from unjust punishment. Appearing in the base, the Cure laid on the ground, the eyes empty and only half open. She couldn't speak or move. What she had seen, what she had been made believe, what she had felt, heard and endured, no words could describe the pain that had been inflicted upon the girl.

She couldn't tell a second apart from a minute or hour. Time seemed unimportant for there was nobody waiting for her anyway. There was nothing left to go back to. That was what the girl thought to herself.

But just two meters away was a shadow, something that just marginally contrasted against the dark of the room. Had death come to take her? The shadow moved, got bigger. Closing her eyes, ready to reunite with her friends beyond, Miyuki waited.

"Utopia." The painful memories, the abhorrent sights, the suffering, all of it became obscured by mist, cloudy memories like something that was on one's tip of their tongue but never surfaced. "Take my hand, Miyuki." She recognized that voice. She had waited for her, out here, in the cold, dark room? "Don't look at me like that. You're my friend. This is what friends are for, isn't it? Sunny and Beauty wanted to come too, but I told them I'd be fine on my own. Utopia only works continually if it's just you and me after all."

Picking up Happy, she put one of the mentally beaten girl's arms over her own shoulders. "Let's get you in bed." Just saying that caused Miyuki to grab her arm with enough strength to hurt Nozomi. But she didn't twitch. "You'll be fine." Powerfully shaking her head, Miyuki opened and closed her mouth a few times, trying to speak but unable to do so. Everyone was gone. They were all gone. And they wouldn't come back.

Nozomi wasn't the brightest girl alive or even among the others but she knew a thing or two about experiencing despair. The incident with Nightmare had opened her mind to quite a few things. Taking Miyuki to the others of her team could backfire really badly if the exile had involved them somehow. And they were all surely fast asleep at this time as well. But what was she supposed to do?

Starting to walk Miyuki towards her room, the girl never let go of Nozomi, not for the whole ten minutes that it took her to get Miyuki to her room. And a new problem presented itself. She couldn't get the door open herself, and Miyuki was in no condition to do it.

Turning about and walking past a few steps, Nozomi opened the door to her own room. Just as she was about to go in, Miyuki tightened her grip on Dream's arm, actively, but unintentionally, hurting her. Her expression was distorted by fear of the dark room ahead, her eyes reflecting a kind of despair that worried Nozomi. That she was still in such a bad shape despite Utopia being in full effect only rekindled her hatred for the exile.

Taking Miyuki into her room, Nozomi lifted the girl onto her bed, covering her with a blanket and sitting down on the bed herself, carefully forcing the girl's grip off her arm. Noticing a significant worsening of her condition, she took Miyuki's hand. "You're having a bad nightmare. Sleep." Trying to speak as softly as she could and continuing to hold on to the girl's hand, Nozomi felt her own exhaustion kick in again. Laying down on top of the blanket, in full Cure uniform, she kept watch over Miyuki. "You're safe with me." She couldn't tell in the dark if she was just imagining it, but, Miyuki seemed to nod just slightly, her expression easing up slightly, her eyes closing.

=== Dissonance ===

The first morning after the first room assignment was incredibly slow. For one reason or another, everyone was feeling sluggish first thing in the morning. Breakfast was turned into a come and get it yourself activity with most people just getting something and returning to their rooms. Miki had carried two trays by herself, for herself and Yuri.

Sitting on the foot end of Yuri's bed, she was quietly enjoying a coffee while next to her partner. Listening to her and Reika discuss details of a book written by Jules Verne, she really had no intention of bothering to take part of it. It was not often that she felt sluggish but after everything that had happened, things had finally caught up to her. And now that it was moderately peaceful all around, she finally got rid of some stress.

"A very interesting view on the events after the shipwrecking." Reika had moved her chair from the mirror to in front of Yuri's bed, Yuri herself sitting at the head end. Holding a cup of coffee with both hands, resting on her lap, Reika was experiencing the lethargy as well. She didn't feel like doing more than a little conversation about literature. Both she and Yuri were well read after all. Leaning back, Reika didn't quite know what to talk about next.

"It was intriguing to hear what kind of interpretations other people find when reading Verne's work." Turning around and looking at Miki, Yuri took a slice of bread from the tray and held it out towards her partner. "You haven't touched the food, Miki."

Shaking her head slowly, Miki smiled. "I'm not much of a breakfast person. At least not anymore." Seeing that Yuri didn't recede her offer even after she declined, she sighed with a smile and took it, almost cautiously nibbling on the slice topped with cheese. "If I bloat like a balloon, it'll be your fault, Yuri."

"You'll be fine." Getting on the bed, getting close to Miki and staring in her eyes, she smiled just before kissing her partner on the cheek.

Miki cringed a little. "You couldn't have picked a better time for the first time you kiss me?"

"My, I think I'll see how Miyuki is doing." Giggling to herself, Reika got up and left the two lovebirds behind, putting away her chair before leaving the room.

Leaning against the wall, sitting right next to Miki, Yuri leaned her head on her partners shoulders. "You're not going to jump me? Back in the garden you did look like you would, first chance we two were alone somewhere with a bed."

"That was only because you've been in one catastrophe after another ever since we got here. We all were. I had just gotten you back so I was really worried you might slip away again." Looking down at Yuri's long legs, Miki moved her index finger over her right leg. She wasn't jealous in the slightest, she just enjoyed the feeling.

"I'm not going anywhere. And you're tickling me." Taking Miki's hand, Yuri noticed a little bit of margarine on top of her index finger. Taking it off with her lips, she could tell that Miki was ever so slightly being turned on by it. Just like Momoka.

"What cup size are you?" After seeing Yuri in just a towel earlier that morning, she was confused. She couldn't remember seeing her in civilian form before so it had come as a bit of a surprise. "When I look at you now, I could guess it's A or even AA."

"Did you hang out too much with Erika?" Rolling eyes at that question and answer, she couldn't exactly blame her. Taking Miki's hand and putting it on top of her chest, she watched her partner realize what the deal was. "It's like a corset. I don't know how the others deal with it, but I prefer to have absolute freedom of movement. I usually don't really care if others think I don't have any breasts. It's irrelevant to my duties as Cure."

"I'm not complaining. I was just surprised." Smiling, pulling her hand away and poking Yuri's cheek, she repeated her question. "So? What size? Or do you want me to find out by touching?"

"Why is this so important? I didn't think you'd be the type to obsess over my breast size." Yuri knew that it wasn't really important to Miki but she somehow enjoyed teasing her just a little bit. But she wasn't ready for what happened then.

Grabbing her partner and pushing her down on the bed, Miki's expression was a sinful one. "Touching it is then." Lowering her face and kissing Yuri's cheek, Miki ran her hand over the extremely tight costume. "And I want to know because I want to know everything about your body."

"Just my body? You're shallow after all." Flicking Miki's forehead, Yuri knew that it wasn't really the case. But she liked how open and upfront Miki was about her feelings. She liked hearing that someone wanted to know about her.

"Your body, your thoughts, your likes and dislikes, your past, maybe even about your rather questionable decision to wear a corset like costume so your poor breasts are squeezed flat all day. I want to know about all of that. But right now, I wanted to know about your body. I love you and I want to love everything about you." Playing with one of the many long strands of Yuri's hair, Miki smelled it. It was freshly washed, she could smell the shampoo. Running her hand down the waist of the girl with lavender hair, her hand vanished under the wide, flowing skirt, feeling the smooth skin of Yuri's legs.

Yuri hadn't expected something that detailed and honest. Blushing hard, she couldn't remember the last time she had ever blushed. The way Miki took charge was another reminder of how things had started out with Momoka. The more time she spent with her, the more she realized that Miki was a lot like her. But she was moving too fast. Grabbing her arm, Yuri awkwardly shook her head a little. "Wait... you're going too fast."

Taking her hand off Yuri's leg but hanging on to holding a strand of her hair, Miki grinned. "Ready to spill the beans then?"

Yuri was saved by the door opening. Expecting Miki to be embarrassed and back off, she was let down immediately. Seeing Reika come back in, with a serious and sullen face, Yuri's own expression changed, making Miki pay attention to what was happening. Still kneeling over Yuri, she looked to the back, where Reika was just slowly walking towards her own bed. "What's wrong? I'm not doing anything against her will, if you think that."

"What? Oh. No. Don't worry. I am completely sure that Yuri is well capable of defending herself from any and all if necessary." Reika was a little cheered up by the misunderstanding. "I am worried by the state Happy, Miyuki, is in. Her room was empty and upon asking Dream, she told me that it would be best if I didn't see her for at least today."

That was serious enough to turn both Yuri's and Miki's mood around. Getting up and walking to Reika, the two tall Cures didn't bother to ask any questions that had obvious answers, such as if she was okay or if she needed something. "Dream is with her? Thinking about it, her ability really lends itself to taking care of exile victims."

"I am sorry to disrupt you two. I just did not feel like going anywhere else but return to my room." It was difficult to make Reika lose her cool but hearing that Miyuki was in a condition so bad that she couldn't see her friends had been a bit of a shock. She had seen people terrified to the bone, acting like anything moving around them was a predator out to kill them. Victims of terrorism, post-traumatic stress disorder among soldiers and police. There were all kinds of modern day horrors she was aware of. But she didn't anticipate meeting something like that in the place she was in now.

"I know that look on your face. It's the same look I saw every morning in the mirror, for a long time." Yuri could tell. The feeling to want to do something but unable to do so. "Happy will be back to her normal self shortly. The exile wears off eventually... unless you're stranded there for a long time." Yuri staggered backwards when a horrible image flashed before her eyes.

"Stop thinking about it, Yuri." Miki grabbed her partners hand. "I can see on your face that you just remembered something from your exile."

"What purpose does this serve?" Reika sat down on her bed, her expression changing again. "I understand the underlying motivation to try as hard as possible to avoid this punishment, but surely there are more civilized ways?"

"It used to be worse than this. The exile lasted for a full day and that was only if the exiled made it back out then." Yuri wanted to make Reika feel better. But it wasn't exactly her specialty. "The more cheerful people are probably fighting the after effects longer but they'll be back to normal soon."

"I take no issue with the fighting, the races. But the exile seems inappropriately cruel." Reika knew that it was likely futile to take issue with the system. If it could be changed surely that would have happened already.

"Stop being so pessimistic, you two." Miki hugged Yuri from behind. "Especially you. I forbid my girlfriend from brooding over this." Kissing her neck once, Miki looked at Reika. "You've had tough times before, right? Happy will be okay. She'll be happily running around soon."

"Miki... you're forbidden from making puns. You're as bad as Erika." Groaning but not resisting the embrace at all, Yuri took a deep breath. "It won't do her any good if we worry like this."

"Miyuki would scold us like an angry parent if she knew she had made us worry." Reika found a tiny smile return to her face.

"All the more reason for you two to stop sulking. Here, let me help you." Putting her fingertips on the corners of Yuri's mouth, Miki raised them just enough to create an awkward, fake smile. "See? So easy."

Reika could not look at Yuri that way without having to burst out in laughter, so she turned away. "You are quite the jester, Miki."

Yuri felt like she looked retarded but the situation was too funny to tell Miki to stop. Poking Miki's sides, she got the blue Cure to back off, letting out a very cute sound in the process. "I should poke you more often." With a grin, Yuri turned around and threatened Miki with just her index fingers raised. "Come here!"

Two levels below their room, Honoka and Saki had run into each other for the third time that day. Despite everyone only sparsely leaving their room, every time either of them did, they ran into each other, as if they were being pulled towards each other. It was getting to the point where Honoka was starting to be annoyed with it. "Now look, Saki... we're friends but don't you think it is kind of conspicuous? Everywhere I go, you either are or show up."

"I'm not following you!" Saki wasn't exactly eager to do anything that would make either of them relive the day they accidentally ended up in bed together. "We're just unlucky."

But the seed of doubt was already sprouting. Honoka hated to doubt Saki's loyalty to Mai, but she couldn't help it, not after everything that had happened. Mai getting abducted by Wither, going through god knows what because of it, keeping her distance from her soul mate, accidentally swapping teams... it could make even the most faithful waver. Walking away from her, Honoka remembered something she had preferred to stay forgotten. That night she slept with Saki. The sensations she had felt ruffling her hair, the sweet smell of Saki's excitement when she went down between her legs, the sounds Saki made when her tongue touched her. Covering her face, Honoka shook her head.

Why was she remembering it now? Because she was alone on a team with Saki? Because she kept running into her? Whatever the reason, she could have done well without it. The memories that were just resurfacing had made her horny. Abandoning her original plan of getting something to eat and enjoy a novel in her room, she simply returned to her room right away. Going back to bed would at least stop her from thinking about it any more than she already did.

Going up the stairs, she was so deep in thought that she collided with Inori. "Sorry..." Not even stopping to help her up, Honoka just wanted to get into her room. She felt anxious, nauseous even. Something wasn't quite right. Why were her memories suddenly surfacing? She hadn't been able to remember anything about that night back then. Why now? Slamming her door shut, she realized that it wouldn't help. The moment she was alone in her room, she heard Saki's voice. From that night.

"Great. Now I'm going insane. Just what I needed." Honoka wished she could have thrown herself into work. Having no intention of betraying Nagisa ever again, she wasn't going to succumb to whatever memories were going to bubble up. If necessary, she would stay bottled up in her room until Saki had gone to the other team again. If that was what it took, she would do it. Her loyalty to Nagisa was much stronger than that.

Outside her room, Inori was suffering from a headache that had plagued her since she woke up. The aftereffects of the ordeal a few days ago were finally kicking in at full power. It had taken some time and hopefully, it would only be a day or less before things returned to normal. It did beg the question what exactly 'normal' was, in a place like this. No mysterious beings attacking people, no villainous copies running around, no horrific system malfunctions, that was a normal day. At least as far as she was concerned.

"Inori?" Miki was coming down the stairs, arm in arm with Yuri, Reika tailing a little behind them, all three in a rather good mood. "Are you okay? You look a bit sick."

"Really bad headache." Waving to Reika, she looked at the couple next. "You two look great together. Like a pair of models. Well, one of you is one." Smiling, she felt the pain in her head intensify and lessen when her smile vanished. "Really bad headache."

Miki's group had not come yet all the way down the stairs when Blossom came up. Seeing Yuri, she smiled the same way Inori had a moment ago. "You look really great together, Yuri. Like two models." Tsubomi quickly covered her mouth. She realized that mentioning those things must remind Yuri of Momoka.

Both Yuri and Miki started laughing, hearing the same thing from different people within a minute. "Say Blossom, does Marine hold grudges? I want to buy a few outfits from her when I have the chance but we're not exactly on great terms with each other." Looking at her partner, she grabbed Yuri's butt. "I don't mind Yuri staying Moonlight permanently though, I really like her hair and dress."

Miki started to wince when Yuri pinched her arm, whispering a warning to her. "If you grab my butt in front of others again, I'm making you wear a clown costume all week. I like that you're affectionate and open but we've just started going out. Show some restraint."

Hastily nodding a few times, Miki rubbed the spot Yuri had pinched. The small group dispersed, with Inori going into the bathroom to take a relaxing bath and Tsubomi going upwards to care for some of the flowers in the garden. The tall couple headed down to the first level, to see an usual scene. Lemonade was staring down Rose and Luminous, a very annoyed look on the yellow Cure's face.

Hikari was standing behind Kurumi, slightly uncomfortable with Lemonade in the mood she was in. The purple Cure was standing up to her. "You get to eat without doing anything every day, so what right do you have to criticize us when we take a day off?"

"Nobody's fucking criticizing you. I asked you on what grounds you locked the damn freezer." Urara liked to have pizza or other junk food for breakfast occasionally. And she knew that there was some in the freezer. Which was locked. "Want me to break open the damn thing? I've got no problem doing that."

"Shut up, Urara. That food is for dinner and not your private stash." Kurumi was as pissed as Urara was. She had left Hikari for five minutes and returned to find Urara staring her down. "And you know you're not going anywhere, threatening me with violence." Kurumi solidified just her arm and made a fist. "Eat breakfast like everyone else."

Urara knew she wouldn't get away in one piece if she picked a serious fight with Kurumi out here but she didn't want to back down either. "I contributed as much as everyone else to the team stash. So why do you get to call the shots on this?" Taking a step forward, she glared past Kurumi, at Luminous.

"Because we keep making the food you're not even grateful for." Kurumi was proud of being relied upon for dinner and breakfast. Especially that Hikari, who was a much better chef than she, depended on her.

Urara had always hated arguing with Kurumi. "I don't remember asking you to do it." It was just a giant pain in the ass, because that damn fairy was so stubborn!

"Make your decision." Kurumi's eyes were furious. "Break open the lock and make your own food as long as we're here or back off." Grabbing Hikari's hand, she slowly pulled her away. "And don't think you can intimidate Hikari when I'm not around. You don't want to make me really mad."

Punching the wall strongly enough to make dust fall from the ceiling a few meters above her, Urara grit her teeth. If she went ahead with it now, she'd have to cook for herself. And Ako wasn't there, so she couldn't ask her. No, that was absolutely impossible, both of those choices wouldn't work out at all. And letting Kurumi get away with talking to her like that? She didn't like that one bit.

"Oh, sorry." Bumping into Lemonade because she wasn't looking where she was going, Akane triggered a landmine she was only able to dodge because of Reika, who called her friend over. "Morning, Reika." Hearing Lemonade curse and swear for a bit as she walked towards to her friend, Akane got the impression that she really wasn't the most friendly person around.

"This is very convenient. Akane, you can prepare a decent breakfast, yes?" Reika and the two tall Cures heard the entire conversation between Luminous, Rose and Lemonade. "It would be great if you could fix something for us. I'm not an especially great chef."

"Hikari and Kurumi on break today? I guess it can't be helped then. Leave it to me!" Akane was brimming with confidence. "I'll go ahead and see what I got to work with." Not having any other plans, she was happy to have something to do. Just walking around the compound hadn't been very exciting.

"I will catch up with you two. Go ahead. I am sure Akane will appreciate having an audience." She still had something to take care of.

Yuri immediately saw what Reika was trying to do. "We'll see you there." Taking Miki's hand, she pulled her partner a step forward. "What will we do later?" Reika's way of talking was contagious.

Seeing that Lemonade had no intention of leaving her spot at the wall, right next to the stairs, Reika approached her slowly. "You should take the chance and eat."

"I don't need charity." Urara was still pissed.

Reika stopped walking a few meters past Lemonade. "Compensation."

"Huh?" She wasn't following whatever the blue Cure was saying.

"Compensation. For the backup plan Luminous and Rose did not prepare." She knew that it really wasn't their fault, but it would improve the atmosphere in the team if Lemonade's mood did not become any worse.

Urara was about to launch into a full onslaught of delinquent speech when the conversation she had with Ako the previous day came to mind.

"Can you blame me for me for being pissed? I don't even fucking understand myself anymore. I'm riled up just because you're not around. I never had to deal with that kind of frustration before!" Urara launched several chains into the ground and ceiling, creating a suspended chair for herself. "It pisses me off that I'm pissed off about not being able to touch you."

"Pervert." Ako's instantaneous response made Urara correct herself.

"You know I didn't mean that in the old lecherous man way." Sighing, she covered her face in her right hand. "God, I'm so irritated."

"I didn't realize you were that much in love with me." Blushing very slightly, Ako found a new sense of confidence that someone could like her so much that they were practically only half a person without her. "I'm not happy being on a different team either, but don't you think you're lacking a bit of self-control?"

That prompted a quick laugh out of Urara. "Hah, really? I'm the master of the self-control. Everyone is still in one piece."

"Listen to yourself. I'm not going to be impressed with your juvenile delinquent behavior. You're an adult. I want you to be my partner, not someone I have to take care of because she can't do that herself." Stepping as close to the barrier as she could, Ako crossed arms. It pushed her breasts up a bit, getting the expected reaction out of Urara. An attentive look.

"Who the hell can't take care of herself?!" Jumping out of her suspended seat, Urara realized that Ako was giving her a very specific look that said 'This is what I mean', and it really hurt to realize that. "Goddammit."

"I know you're smarter than you let on to others, Urara. You know you're irritated and you want to vent it somewhere, but it's childish to ruin whatever relationships you have with the others because I'm not around to police your behavior."

Walking up to the barrier, Urara laid her hands on it. "Then what am I supposed to do? I feel like shit."

Touching the other side of the barrier, only a millimeter of energy separating their hands, Ako smiled a little. "We'll get back together soon. Just pace yourself until then."

"There better be a reward if I get through this without turning someone into my punching bag." Looking sullen, Urara wished she could at least take her partners hand. But there was no way around the barrier.

"You're always so demanding. Who knows? If you're a good girl, maybe I'll want to find out if the whole sex thing really is as great as you say it is." Ako knew that she had a deal now. Urara would stop being out of control. She couldn't stop her from being somewhat of an ass as long as she was on the other team, but it wouldn't be as bad as when Windy met her at negotiations.

"I hate you." Urara couldn't argue with those terms. Looking in Ako's eyes, she reluctantly corrected herself. "I... love you."

Breathing a heavy sigh, Urara walked past Beauty. "Lets go. I'm hungry enough to bite you."

=== Dissonance ===

"Whose idea was this?!" Shouting at the top of her lungs, Karen was with Kaoru and Michiru, who had inquired about her involvement in something. Said something turning out to be a massive hole a small group of Cures had facilitated just outside the base in the labyrinth. It measured about six meters depth and thirty meters length. And it was filled with water. Itsuki and Erika had spend part of the last evening planning it.

Before she could react to Kaoru and Michiru instantly jumping away, Erika, wearing a bright blue bikini that really showed off her breasts, and Yayoi, who was wearing what looked astonishingly similar to a yellow school swimsuit, were right next to her, each of them grabbing one of her arms. "One." "Two." "Don't you two daaaaaaaa-" Getting thrown into the air mid-sentence, Karen's impact in the makeshift pool created a big splash, in various ways.

Erika had brought a whole pack of swimsuits with her early in the morning, staying up all night to make one for everyone that jumped on board with the plan, nine in total, including herself. Itsuki and Hibiki, Rouge and Rhythm, Passion and Beat, Black and of course Yayoi were all on board.

Nagisa, wearing her black surf top and girl shorts, immediately surfaced and held Karen over water. She could have sworn the water was heating up around her just as she was boiling with anger. "Erika!"

Finding her fortune in escaping, Nagisa almost collided with Rin, wearing a crimson colored tank top and the same, but in red, girl shorts as Nagisa. Submerging quickly and passing by Rhythm, who was wearing a sexy white bikini with side-ties and neck support, Nagisa quickly hit the edge of their makeshift pool, going up and sitting down on the corner. It felt really good to do some swimming.

Not too far from the blue Cure that was seething with anger, Itsuki, wearing a sporty surfer top and girl shorts, both in yellow, and Hibki, wearing a pink bikini that was not quite as skimpy as Kanade's, suspended their water wrestling match to copy Black and get away from the inevitable retaliation Aqua was going to unleash on Erika and Yayoi.

Setsuna, wearing a skin-tight red and black one-piece, and Ellen, wearing a rather complex and unusual one-piece that resembled a corset a little, were both watching from the edge of the pool, just their legs in the water. Knowing that the labyrinth reset itself really put Setsuna's conscience at ease. However, she was a little worried of what kind of punishment Aqua would rain down on the two short Cures, both of them laughing their hearts out at the front of the pool.

Trying to limit the wrath of the angry water Cure, Rin grabbed Karen's right arm. "Don't blow the entire pool, Karen. This area resets itself and the water comes from Marine's power. No harm done. If you want to punish them, drown them for a bit but don't botch it up for the rest of us."

Looking over to the sisters, Karen caught the redhead taking off boots and leg plating, enjoying a little dip. Kaoru was just calmly watching from the sidelines, not particularly interested in breaking the party up. "You all... is nobody thinking that the system might see this as an attack?"

"Marine babbled something about running tests yesterday with Bright and the weirdo didn't debunk that so it's pretty much a-okay. Why would the system care if it just randomly generates this place anyway?" Rin let go of Karen and dove down, seeing Kanade swim circles below them, like a shark. There were several dozen encased light balls at the bottom of the pool, giving more or less mediocre sight. The same light balls were slammed into walls and the ground all over the place. Courtesy of teamwork between Peace and Sunshine. Emerging behind Karen, Rin pushed her forward. "If you wanna swim, go buy a swimsuit."

Karen gave up. If she threw a fit now, she would just ruin everyone's fun. There were a boatload of issues with just making a random pool like that. For one, the dirt of the labyrinth would get in the water, which would get in people's eyes. Secondly, the water was likely all but the right type for a pool. Thirdly, the pool edges were very rough and people could cut themselves as they weren't in Cure form. The list went on. Karen was worried about the safety of everyone else.

Simply focusing, she created a corporeal platform of water that lifted her out of the pool. Jumping to the edge, she was completely drenched. Grabbing Erika, who had forgotten to get away in time, and lifting her up from her feet, Karen's fury was not to be taken lightly. "If you want to make a pool, you have to make sure you do it right."

"But it works fine as is, don't you think?" Erika was only very slightly intimidated. Maybe she shouldn't have flung Karen into the water.

"Until someone cuts their feet open and has to be taken for first aid. Or the dust in the water gets in someone's eye and god knows what happens next." Letting Erika down and turning towards the pool, she knew how to fix things. But there was something else to take care of first. "Negotiations are going to start soon, anyone want to go?"

Kaoru looked away immediately, having no intention of repeating the disaster of the day before. She was done doing negotiations for a while. Michiru wasn't too eager either, since she knew what happened between her sister and Lemonade.

Erika volunteered right away and Karen disregarded that just as quickly. She'd go herself, again, before letting that walking chaos take care of it. Who volunteered in the end had come as a surprise. After being in the last battle, Itsuki wanted to have a go at it.

As she left, Karen made several spots on the surface of the pool detonate. "If you want to use this, you're gonna have to fix it. Rin, I'm gonna need your help. Just making a big hole isn't enough." Raising her hand as soon as the others had left, Karen drained the water into seemingly thin air, making it vanish. It was created by magic to begin with so that much was an easy task for her. Water wasn't her element for nothing.

"We're starting with making this hole into something that actually resembles a pool. Rin, can you superheat the surface? I'll clean it up with high water pressure afterward." Grabbing Erika's right arm on instinct, Karen smiled at her. "You'll be assisting me with the pressure cleaning."

=== Dissonance ===

"Didn't sleep enough?" Itsuki was surprised to see who had come from the light team to handle negotiations. "You look like you just woke up, Tsubomi."

"Don't tease me... I just didn't sleep well today. And I thought I could get a few minutes of rest before... you would show up." Covering her hand and trying to suppress her yawn, Tsubomi felt a bit embarrassed. Not that Itsuki had seen her in much more embarrassing situations before, but still.

About to laugh, Itsuki successfully managed to hold it in. "Should we start?" At least her negotiation partner was someone reasonable. "I saw that the system didn't decide the number of people fighting today. You got anything in mind?"

"We seem to have quite a few volunteers on our side..." Making a decision was not very difficult for Tsubomi but she liked to think things through when it would affect the entire team. "I'd like to say seven or even eight people. But what if there aren't enough volunteers to fill it at the end?"

"They'll probably get filled up automatically. That's what I'm guessing. If it lets us have the freedom of deciding how many people will fight, I think that much is planned for." Going through the catalog and looking at all the options Itsuki realized something quite important. "Tsubomi... how many rules do you know?" She couldn't remember even half.

"I took a look before I came here... If I see the number and name I can probably say what it does."

"I'll be relying on you then to pick out... most of the rules. I'll check the terrain. That okay with you?" Itsuki wasn't comfortable picking out rules she knew nothing about. And constantly asking Tsubomi would be a real chore on them both. "And eight people is fine. Let's just go with that. It'll make a nice profit for everyone. If you can, pick out some high return rules, okay?"

Giggling for a moment, Tsubomi knew why Itsuki asked for that."Is Erika causing everyone to go bankrupt?" She envied the other team. But with the fierce competition in the exchange races, she wasn't likely to make it over easily. Today she would focus on improving her score. "You guys tried the Heaven & Hell Dive out yesterday, right? Was it fun?"

"I wonder... it would've been fun if the rest of the rules hadn't been a complete mess. I'll go with Beach and Sunny for the terrain. That doesn't give us any bonus, but after yesterday I'd like to have something that isn't dangerous." Entering her two choices into the console, Itsuki waited for Tsubomi to do her part.

"I'll try out the Oceanic Dive. Other than that... these have a really good bonus rate. Eternal Blast, Stalking Blast, Extra Chance and Invincibility Cage. Honoka asked me to pick rule forty-seven, too, to unlock some options."

"I only remember what the Dive thing is for. Mermaids, right? What does the other stuff do?" Itsuki leaned forward, looking at the temporary selection. It returned over hundred percent bonus in total. Letting out a whistle, Itsuki was definitely going to volunteer for that one.

"Ah, let me see... Eternal Blast makes energy attacks lasting. If I launch a blast, it won't vanish. Stalking Blast makes energy attacks home in on others. Extra chance heals you one time you're knocked out. Invincibility Cage... ah... I don't quite remember that one but it had something to do with taking no damage in specific spots around the battleground. Forty-seven is called Curse... Honoka asked me to pick this if I can, but I don't remember what it does."

"I'm good with those. On a beach, being able to use the ocean, we'll have plenty of room for this many people. And there are no weird rules like Magnetic Force, either." Agreeing to Tsubomi's selection, the bonus percentage value turned from green to red, going down to a round hundred percent bonus. "We just lost twenty-seven percent. Did you remove a rule?"

"No, they're all there. It's my first time being here, so I don't really know what happened." Thinking about it for a few seconds, Tsubomi realized the obvious answer. With so many high percent bonus options, it was clear that there would be some sort of limiter in the system so they didn't simply pick all the highest bonus options at once. "We probably can't have more than hundred percent bonus."

"Wasn't this mentioned in the guide book?" Itsuki regretted never reading it thoroughly now.

"Itsuki, I only read a few of the rules." Smiling awkwardly, Tsubomi really wished Erika was there with her. "Oh, I forgot to agree to the terrain rules." Moving one of the tiny screens on the console with her finger, she looked at the two plus minus zero options. Pushing the 'Agreed' button, the console summarized the rules and then went dark. "Itsuki, why is your hair all wet by the way?"

"Erika got a few of us together and we made something like a pool. Aqua got really angry at us just before I came here, though." Grinning, Itsuki stood up. "I'm wearing my swimsuit right now, want me to turn back?"

"Geez, you tease." Turning away and walking towards the portal, Tsubomi smiled to herself. "I'm only interested in Erika's swimsuit, sorry Itsuki." Vanishing before the yellow Cure had a chance to respond, Tsubomi was happy that she managed to get a good result out of her first negotiation, despite being so ill-prepared.

"She really has grown up. I guess she's long past seeing me as someone that turned her down." Itsuki grinned to herself and left as well. Returning to just outside the base as Sunshine, she felt a bit cold and went up to level three, getting three towels, two for herself and Hibiki, one for Erika. Turning back into a normal human, she covered herself with the towel.

On her way back down, she came across Passion and Beat, both of whom still wearing their swimsuits and carrying towels. They had just left Beat's room and were headed in the same direction; downstairs. "Did they finish repairing the pool, or whatever they were doing?"

"When we left, Rouge had just finished evening out the hole with her ability. She looked really exhausted." Setsuna had kept a considerable distance while it was going on. Letting Itsuki go ahead on the stairs, Setsuna put a towel over Ellen's shoulders, noticing that her partner had been a bit cold and shivering. A thankful smile was more reward than she needed.

"Doing this every day would be a real chore. But we don't really have the funds to pay for a real pool." Itsuki didn't shy from hard work but if it was repeating the same work every day because the system reset it's layout, then there had to be a better solution. "Oh, before I forget it, I just came back from the negotiation." Giving those two a quick rundown of the rules, Setsuna volunteered right away, with Ellen followed suit a few moments later. "That leaves five vacant spots. I guess it'll be first come, first serve."

"The only one that wasn't at the pool when we left was Egret. I haven't seen her all day and she isn't in her room either. I wonder if she isn't feeling well." Setsuna hoped that Egret wouldn't get sick. They didn't exactly have an infirmary in this place.

"She was pretty depressed over swapping teams with her partner, so I can guess that she wants to be alone for a bit." Passing the first level, they saw Hibiki and Kanade, all alone, standing in a corner and talking. The blonde wasn't looking too happy and after a few more words, Hibiki walked away, unaware that Itsuki had seen her.

Leaving Setsuna and Sunshine behind for a moment, Ellen caught up to Kanade before she had a chance to walk away. "What were you talking about?"

"I was asking... what I have to do to be friends with her again." Kanade was really suffering under the fact that Hibiki didn't consider her a friend anymore. She wanted things to go back to when they were always fighting and shortly after making up. It was much better than barely talking at all.

"So what did she say?" Ellen didn't bother to say anything to Sunshine when she walked past. Setsuna was politely waiting a few steps away.

"Wait. She told me to wait until she feels she can trust me again." Kanade didn't need another reminder of how stupid she had been. To act overly jealous, to accuse her best friend and love of just playing with her, to sleep with Rin purely out of spite... it didn't surprise her that Hibiki still couldn't trust her.

"Just give her some time. You know her better than I do but even I see that she doesn't want to let things stay like this either. She just... needs some more time to work things out." Ellen had noticed that Kanade was changing quickly, and she worried that she was changing too quickly for her own good. "You should take things slow, Kanade. She's talking to you, so at least she doesn't hate you!"

"Kanade!" Rin was calling for her. After seeing Sunshine and Melody come back together, and seeing Kanade leave with her teammate, she was just a little bit worried about her. "Are you feeling okay?"

"No.." Clinging to Rin's arm, just as she had done all the time prior to the day before, Kanade rested her head against Rin's shoulder. With a sigh from the taller Cure, the two walked away.

"They don't make a bad couple from what I've seen." Taking Ellen's hand, Setsuna kissed her partner on the cheek. "Don't make such a long face. They're both your friends, things will work out between them."

Smiling a little, Ellen put both her arms around Setsuna's neck, kissing her, out in the open where everyone could have seen them. "I'm happy you and Love are with me."

Returning the kiss a little more passionately than Ellen had expected, Setsuna put her forehead against her partner's. "I feel the same. And I'm sure Love does, too."

Both of them turned their heads towards the labyrinth when they heard someone whistle. Seeing Marine and Peace grin and laugh, the two shorties were quickly grabbed by March, who was wearing a green bikini, and dragged away.

"Are you embarrassed, being with me in public?" Setsuna knew really well how that felt. But Love had given her little choice in the matter other than getting used to it.

"Yeah..." Hugging her partner, Ellen smiled. "But if it's with you, I don't care."

Out in the labyrinth, Erika and Yayoi both caused a big splash in the pool, Nao having thrown them in. Heating the surface and cleaning it with high pressure water beams, it was now a safe and more refined place. Karen, wearing a blue bikini, was swimming and diving on her own, wishing that Komachi could have joined her.

Nagisa has exhausted herself earlier and was resting on a rock that was still very much warm from Rouge's ability. Michiru, now in a blue bikini, and Kaoru, in red shorts and top, were both with her, asking about Mai and where she was, nonetheless enjoying laying on the heated rocks after taking a swim.

Ako was turning heads every time she surfaced from her diving exercise. Her long hair and great figure, the latter brought out by her fancy, black one-piece, made a few of the others really stare. Itsuki and Hibiki were still wrestling, the latter finding that Itsuki wasn't able to use her skills fully in the water. Rin and Kanade were simply enjoying hanging at the edge of the pool. The room itself was very much heated due to resident energy being stored in the rocks all over. It was very similar to an indoor pool. The dark team was really enjoying their day.

=== Dissonance ===

"There was an update to the guide book." Honoka had just returned from the dome after talking to Tsubomi. Meeting up with Yuri and Miki, the latter trying to feed the former and being rejected, in the dinner hall, she also noticed a passed out Lemonade, her stomach slightly bulged out. She could have sworn she saw a glimpse of Sunny over in the kitchen as well. But that wasn't exactly important at the time.

"An update? You mean like an update to software?" Miki wasn't a master of IT but she knew her way around a computer and various other devices.

"Is Reika not here?" Honoka was a little disappointed. It would have made things easier on her. "Yes, like the update to a software. Essentially, it added a new page, right in front of the battle rules."

Grabbing Miki's hand and forcing her to stop the futile feeding attempts, Yuri's attention was focused on Honoka. "So what does it say?"

"It explains the bonus conditions. I got suspicious after Blossom told me that they picked options that had a total of over hundred percent and it reset back down to hundred as they finished it up. So I wanted to look it up and there was a new page." Honoka didn't know if the system was still evolving or if it was merely a clarification since it had not foreseen that there would be combinations of rules that result in such high bonus conditions. "The actual bonus is a combination of three values. The terrain, the rules and special rules."

"Special rules meaning?" Yuri remembered most of the rules but she wasn't sure what exactly counted as a special rule or not.

"The Dive and War options. The most you can get out of the normal rules is a simple formula. Half of the terrain and special rule bonus plus hundred is the maximum for the regular rule bonus. Tsubomi and Sunshine picked a terrain bonus of zero and the oceanic dive has no bonus associated with it so their total limit resulted in a hundred, flat."

"The advanced forms of the dive options have a really large bonus, don't they?" Miki hadn't gone as far as to remember the exact amount of bonus.

"The one you guys were using yesterday hits hundred percent bonus all on it's own. I will participate today, so I'm going to get a bit of rest before it starts." Grabbing a dish and unused spatula, Honoka quickly ate one of the leftover okonomiyaki before she left.

"It certainly won't become boring like this." Miki leaned back into her chair, stretching. "Should we participate? I want to see you as mermaid, but I feel bad for the others."

"Maybe if there are no more volunteers. Having more money certainly won't hurt in the long run." With a brief smile, Yuri poked Miki's forehead. "If you pull yourself together, you can spend the night in my room. I'm sure Reika won't mind." Seeing Miki's face light up, she put a quick hold on her enthusiasm. "But! If you try to make any lewd moves on me, you go sleep in your own room."

Both of them were called back to cruel reality when Lemonade, fast asleep or simply passed out, let out a loud burp, after having buried her irritation in okonomiyaki. A second burp followed a few seconds later.

"I'm happy you're not like that." Yuri didn't know what she would do if Lemonade had become her roommate. The girl had no tact, grace or manners whatsoever.

"If I was like that, I'd throw myself down some stairs."

Honoka, down the hall by then, had just come across Tsubomi and Komachi, the two of them on their way up to the garden. Upon noticing the white Cure, both of them stopped. "Going to the garden?" Tsubomi didn't mind taking care of it on her own as there wasn't much work to begin with, but she liked being in there with other people.

"To my room, actually." Stepping past the two, she remembered something. "Did you ask around for volunteers yet, Tsubomi?"

"There are five others between you and me. We have one open spot." Tsubomi had already finished going around and asking everyone she could find. Bloom had declined because she wanted to participate in the exchange race again. With the high number of fighters that day, there wouldn't be much competition, she couldn't blame really blame her for wanting to try again.

"If you see Reika, ask her. She probably won't mind." Waving as she left, Honoka quietly yawned. She hadn't slept really all that well. Absurd nightmares about Nagisa cheating on her with Mai had woken her up twice. "It's time Nagisa comes over here..."

=== Dissonance ===

While there were few participants for the race on the light team, there were even fewer on the other side. Only Kaoru and Nagisa were participating on their side, everyone else was either content being there or going to be in the battle. The limitation of not being able to participate in the race if signed up for the fight annoyed a few of them quite a bit. "No hard feelings, whoever wins." Nagisa wanted to get out of the room with Mai.

Early that morning, when she woke up and saw Mai about to leave the room, she got up to tell her good morning. The reaction she got was more than just a little off-putting. Glaring at her like she was the devil, Mai slammed the door shut and could be heard running down the hallway. Trying to find her was a futile journey. And after meeting Erika, she gave up on chasing Mai.

Kaoru didn't say anything and simply stepped through the gate the moment it opened. She was going to win. With only one competitor, it should be very much possible for her to do that. Stepping through the door, a strong and cold wind, biting to feel on the skin, hit her straight in the face. But she could feel solid ground under her feet. Looking around, she couldn't see Nagisa.

She was on top of a mountain. One of many. There were hundreds of mountains littering the landscape, every single one with a large stone gate on top of it, all of them glowing. There was one right behind her as well. Observing the area for a few seconds, she saw someone else emerge from a gate on a distant mountain. Lemonade. The moment she came out, she slammed a chain into the ground and left for the next mountain.

From one moment to the next, someone crashed into Kaoru. Looking behind herself, she saw one of the new Cures, Sunny. Before she could even get up, she was gone, leaving through the same portal she had come. "This is absurd... to find the right portal among so many identical ones is just a case of luck." Kaoru grit her teeth and kicked the portal, which flickered for a brief moment. That gave her an idea. "Storm Cutter!" Unleashing a more than razor sharp wind blade against the stone portal, it was cut neatly in half, breaking apart, the portal gone. "I should have realized this right away." Jumping down the slope of the mountain, she saw Nagisa, going up an almost vertical wall through pure force, gripping into the stone wall itself.

Her chance to win against Nagisa at that point were less than forty percent. There had to be another trick to it, other than marking or destroying gateways. Each race had a specific theme to it. The last one had been survival and caution. She had to figure out what the theme of the this one was.

Climbing a steep slope and reaching the top in a matter of seconds, as Cures, they were very well able to climb and descend a whole mountain in matter of seconds, yet, there were simply too many mountains. Looking up, there was nothing exceptional about the sky. Clouds in arbitrary formations, no more. The mountains themselves were very plain as well. No vegetation, no rivers, waterfalls, fauna or otherwise distinct characteristics.

Wasn't that it? Looking around, she did see some distinct characters. While the mountains were all around the same height, some had steeper slopes than others, some had snow on their crown while some didn't, and others yet had muddy and wet terrain.

They were part of a larger category. The mountain she was on belonged to the snow crown category. Jumping through the portal, she immediately felt a much sharper wind blowing in her face. There was neither snow, wet ground or insane slopes at this one. That put it at four categories. But how would she see the distinction between a mountain with storm gusts and one without?

Looking up, she had her answer. The arbitrary cloud systems. While present in all forms and shapes over mountains that had belonged to the first three categories, the sky was clear above those with sharp winds. The answer to find the right gate was simple, knowing all that. A mountain that did not belong to any of the categories. That had to be the logical answer to the theme this time.

It seemed to obvious, now, that she bit her thumb. Had any of the others realized it yet? If she acted too obvious, it would work against her. If she didn't pursue it, she would lose by sheer coincidence at some point. Destroying the gate she was at with a single slice, Kaoru focused and tried to find a mountain that fit her idea of the goal.

Unable to spot anything in remote distance, she headed down and up towards the next mountain. Several dozen kilometers away from her, Sunny and Lemonade had a fierce competition about who would make it to the next mountain. It was just a habit of Akane to turn things like that into a competition. Urara on the other hand was very clearly pissed.

Losing six mountains in a row in only eight minutes, Urara decided to make a run for it and head into another direction. Turning around midway up the slope of yet just another stupid mountain, Urara headed for a different gateway. Hitting the snow crown and jumping into the portal, she came out of just another gateway, just another snow topped mountain. She was so sick of those oversized rocks by now that she wished she had Rose's or Dream's destructive capabilities.

Just as she turned around, the area around her started to blur. She felt cheated. The chances of the one mountain that Sunny scaled, while she decided to break off from her, being the exit were fifty-fifty. Bloom was around as well but she hadn't seen her the entire time. Regardless, she was incredibly pissed off. Another day without Ako. "Fuck!"

Hearing Lemonade's outcry in the distance and seeing a pillar of light erupt into the sky several dozen kilometers away from where she was, Kaoru knew that it was just her and Nagisa now. Jumping into the next portal, she immediately recognized one mountain as meeting at least three out of four necessary conditions. Noticing movement from the corner of her eye, she saw Nagisa, going up the very mountain she was at. She felt sorry for her, but she wanted to win.

Hiding behind a particularly large piece of rock, Kaoru simply listened for the noise Nagisa was making as she ascended the top. Judging by her decision to climb that particular mountain, she had no idea that there was indeed a very visible pattern and logic to the race. And just as expected, she heard Nagisa approach the top and then the sounds vanished.

Climbing down and approaching the mountain she had in her eye, Kaoru realized that it fulfilled all four conditions. No absurd slopes, no wind, no snow, no wet terrain. If she was wrong, there was either a fifth category, or her entire logic to deduce the right path had been simply a coincidence. Approaching the top, there was absolutely nothing that would indicate the gateway being any different than all the others. The same structure, material and glow all pointed towards her conclusion being wrong.

But stepping through, she knew she was right. There was no instant teleportation to a different mountain. Feeling like she was in limbo for a few seconds, she found herself back in a somewhat familiar room, with two major differences. The Cures present were not from her team.

"Welcome to the light team, Windy." Peach was greeting her. Blossom was there as well and bowed politely. "Was it a hard competition?"

"I'm not sure if I should call it luck based or simply strategic. I don't know who made it to the dark team, in the event you wanted to know." What she wanted to know was where Inori was. For the past few days, she had carried an uneasy feeling inside of herself, unable to quite describe it, not even to her sister. "Do either of you know where I can find Pine?"

"Bukki? She had a headache earlier so she is probably in her room." Already on the topic, Love pointed down the hallway. "I'm sorry to say, but you swapped rooms with Sunny. She was last in the ranking yesterday."

"That doesn't bother me. I was ranked second last on my team so there is virtually no change in room assignments." Just as she finished her line, Honoka walked around the corner, having just come down the stairs.

"Good to see you, Kaoru." She didn't hide that she was a little disappointed it wasn't Nagisa. "Here to see Saki?"

"How is she?" Kaoru didn't want to rub it right in everyone's face that she was there to talk to Inori. She did care for Saki a lot, so it wasn't fake enthusiasm she was showing.

"Considering the circumstances, not bad. She spent most of the day in the garden, spacing out. Nagisa would probably confine herself to her bed." Laughing when she thought about it, Honoka stretched for a few seconds. "I just took a nap myself, though. I would say I've been feeling under the weather, but we don't really have that here."

"If you don't mind, I will go and check up on Saki. I am a little worried about her." Walking straight past Honoka and the others, Kaoru still couldn't properly define what was bothering her. It had become worse the moment she set foot on the light team's floor. She didn't feel worried or reluctant, so what in the world was wrong with her?

=== Dissonance ===

Running straight through the hallway after hearing from Aqua where Nao was, Akane didn't slow down at all before she jumped at her partner. She realized too late that the latter wasn't in Cure form. Both of them crashed into the pool hard enough to create a fountain, as if a bomb had exploded underwater. "Nao! Nao! Nao!" Overjoyed to be back with her partner, Akane held on so tightly to the green haired girl that she had to transform to get the redhead off her back. "Nao!"

"Akane, calm down! You're hurting me!" Finally getting the girl to back off, Nao swam to the edge of the pool, getting out and changing back to being a normal human. "Erika!" Looking around and calling for the shorty designer, Nao hoped she had a spare swimsuit somewhere. "Erika?!" Calling a second time, Hibiki reacted instead.

"She's passed out on one of the heated rocks over there." She was laying on one as well, in Itsuki's arms, who was peacefully asleep in her swimsuit. Hibiki had been disappointed that she wasn't wearing a bikini. She could have untied that one with ease.

Rin, seeing how popular the heated rocks were as sun loungers, had taken it upon herself to regularly reheat them. It only took a few seconds of channeling energy into it after all. She was still floating in the water while Kanade was sleeping on one of the heated rocks. Many of them had been cut to the right size by Aqua earlier.

Setsuna and Ellen were enjoying a snack on an improvised table, both of them covered with towels and really wet hair. "You guys are living in real luxury here!" Akane was really impressed. "How come we don't have a pool on the other side?" Swimming to the edge and getting out of the water, Akane realized how very much uncomfortable a soaking wet Cure outfit was. And she couldn't exactly just transform back on the spot. Going commando in front of all those people wasn't going to happen.

"We made it ourselves, without spending anything. Make a big hole, even it out, clean it up, fill with water. I feel almost sorry that the labyrinth will just swallow it up over night." Nao was immediately hugged again by Akane. "Let go! Gross! You're wet and cold, gross! Go change!" Even if it was just a new costume, it would still be dry.

Walking away with a slightly annoyed expression, Akane returned a minute later, the costume dry but her skin still glistening wet and her hair soaked. Taking her partners hand and pulling her away, back behind a large rock, Akane stood on her toes, eyes closed, hands around Nao's neck. The eight centimeters height difference always forced her to stand or her toes or wear high heels.

Blushing slightly and not saying anything, Nao kissed her partner. She could still taste the water of the pool on Akane's lips as the red Cure pulled her closer, seeking support from a wall, pushing her tongue into Nao's mouth, enjoying that sweet taste she had missed for the last few days.

Tightening her embrace, she could feel drops of water that ran down Nao's skin and vanished between their lips, feel her wet skin rub against her own. Akane was always in heaven when she got to spend intimidate time with Nao. Pushing her right leg between Nao's, Akane knew exactly what turned her partner on.

Nao's right hand moved over Akane's back, down to her butt, going under the skirt and slipping her hand under the costume's underwear. She had missed the sex with Akane as much as the redhead has missed her. Feeling tights rub against her crotch, Nao let out a suppressed moan. Breaking off the kiss to inhale some much needed air, Akane kept rubbing one of her cheeks and kissing the other.

Both of them almost jumped against the wall when they heard someone call for March in a very loud voice. Followed by that were the names of several other Cures. "You're in the battle?" Akane was a little disappointed they had been interrupted. Grabbing Nao's butt and kissing her neck, she wanted to continue. "Lets just ditch the battle for now. I'm sure someone is gonna stand in for you." Trying to pull Nao down, the green haired girl resisted.

"Don't be silly, Akane. I really love you but I'm not going to ditch my responsibilities. We can... continue later." Quickly pushing her lips on Akane's, Nao stole a kiss from her partner before running towards the voice that had called for her. Incredibly horny, Akane was left behind, ready to unleash some pent up frustration on the rocks.

"The battle is due in about ninety minutes. Don't be late." Aqua had gotten all the fighters together to go over the rules once. After spending a day at the pool, there would be a fight on the beach. The dark team was looking forward to it. Having still more than enough time to get rid of some pent up sexual frustration, Nao immediately returned to the secluded area behind the large rock.

I knew you'd change your mind." Before Nao could even react to those words, Akane had grabbed her right arm, pulled her in and forced her on the ground all in one fell swoop. "I can't wait. It's been a while." Licking her lips, Akane didn't waste any time and immediately took of the green bikini her partner was wearing. Using Nao as support, she was laying half on her, one hand groping, the other taking her lover's hand and playing with her fingers, her tongue teasing her nipples.

"Akane... wait..." Nao wasn't ready for such a sudden assault. But it was always like that. Where Reika was considerate, Akane was pushy. But she was never truly able to resist either of them. Akane's relentless assault forced a loud moan out of her, one that was quickly sealed away by the redhead moving up and resuming the kiss from before, a thin saliva thread running down Akane's cheek.

Despite being taller, Nao had no control over her body and the situation. It seemed cliché but Akane really was fiery when it came to sex and competition. Breathing harder and moving her hands over the firm butt of her partner, Nao returned the favor, forcing a suppressed moan out of her. Transforming back to normal, Akane was stark naked. Nao could tell from the warmth of it that what was running down Akane's leg wasn't the pool water. "Stop slacking Nao... touch me." Whispering in her partners ear, Akane went on her knees, topping Nao and moving her left hand between the green-haired girl's legs. "Look how wet you've gotten."

But she wasn't completely helpless. Using her left hand to fondle Akane's breasts and her right to tease her just around her hotspot, driving her crazy very slowly. "Stop being such a tease..." Suddenly moving up, Nao's hand landed automatically where Akane wanted it. Quickly kissing her, knowing that she wouldn't be able to stop moaning once she felt Nao's fingers inside, Akane pushed herself on top of her partner, their breasts rubbing against each others.

The passionate look in Akane's eyes drove a massive blush in Nao's face. Moving her fingers in, she loved that familiar feel of hot wetness that only intensified when she entered a second finger. Not surprised at all that Akane returned the favor right away, putting two fingers in with ease, Nao's nipple stiffened until they were so hard that it was pleasure and pain simultaneously when Akane's breasts rubbed over them.

It had been a while since she slept with Akane, so she had trouble holding herself back from coming. Forcefully breaking off the continuing kiss, Nao had to gasp for air, unable to control herself anymore. Resuming the kiss with her chest slightly puffed, Akane brought Nao to her first orgasm. Twitching, her eyes closing on instinct, Nao moved both her arms to Akane's back, embracing her so closely that she could feel the redheads heart hammer against her chest.

But they weren't done. Forcing herself loose from the heavily panting green haired girl, Akane sat up, rubbing her crotch against Nao's, their love fluids running down their legs. "Someone's... gonna.. hear us..." The possibility of being seen having sex right there only made Nao more excited but scared her at the same time.

"So...? They know... we're lovers..." Putting some force behind it, Akane rubbed against Nao, grabbing Nao's hand and starting to lick and suck on her fingers. Using her free hand to grope her love's bountiful breasts, playing with her nipples, Akane had complete control over Nao, who was covering her mouth with her free hand, thinking it unfair she didn't get to lick Akane's fingers.

A rush of excitement accompanied with the feeling of a powerful electric current running through her body, Akane came slightly before Nao had her second orgasm. Akane had enough stamina to keep going and pushed Nao back against a rock, forcing her to sit up. Sitting down on the lap of the heavily sweating and heavy breathing girl, she started to lick, kiss and play with Nao's neck and ears. Neither of them was in any condition to realize that they were being watched.

Yayoi, hidden between a pair of massive rocks far above the pool, was watching the two go at it. Getting there had been easy by just transforming briefly. Avoiding being spotted by transforming back, she was hastily scribbling drafts about the two girls' act on her sketchbook. Her bikini pants were completely soaked and her nipples were poking through the soft cloth of her top. The face flushed and her hands a little unsteady, every passing minute made it harder to watch and draw instead of watch and play with herself.

She completely panicked, dropping her sketchbook and trying to scream when a hand covered her mouth. "Quiet." From the corner of her eyes, she could see deep blue hair and the voice clearly belonged to Erika. How did she find her all the way up there, hidden? The shock wasn't helping her self-control any. "I didn't know you were into voyeurism..." She could virtually hear the impish grin on Erika's face. "I'll let go, just don't scream." Removing her hand, Erika had very much underestimated how horny Yayoi had gotten.

Grabbing the blue Cure's hand and starting to suck on her fingers, Yayoi quickly pushed the surprised Erika on the ground. "Wow, stop!" Erika wasn't going to add Yayoi to the list of people she cheated on Tsubomi with. Ember had just about been enough. Trying to wrestle free, she found that surprisingly difficult. Yayoi's hands were quickly moving under her bikini, taking it off, fondling her breasts.

Turning into a Cure didn't improve things much, as Yayoi did so as well, managing to keep Erika pinned between the rocks. And before she knew what was going on, the blue Cure was incredibly turned on. But that still didn't stop her from gasping and becoming desperate when the blonde moved one of her hands under her skirt. "Marine Blast!" Seeing no option but to stop her by force, Erika, face flushed and almost wanting to let it happen, knocked Yayoi off the platform, making her fall all the way down and crash into the pool. Trying to collect herself, she had trouble doing so. "That was... too close." She felt regret about stopping Yayoi. And that made her feel disgusted with herself.

=== Dissonance ===

Inori had been delighted to see Kaoru again. She had not forgotten about the offer she made to one of the two sisters and she thought that that had to be the reason she had changed teams, surely. Walking through the garden with Kaoru, it was far too stuffy to keep talking in her room, Inori listened to what the blue Cure had been experiencing. "What you've been feeling is anxiousness. I can't quite decide why that would happen, but I'm surprised you've never felt that way before."

"I'm not sure I really have never felt that way before. Years ago, Saki, Mai, Michiru and I went through a lot of dangerous times, yet I can't recall feeling this particular emotion." Putting two fingers to her forehead, Kaoru tried hard to remember but her memories of that time were very chaotic.

"Don't be bothered so much by this. Have you talked to your sister about my offer? I'm still willing to help." Inori was intrigued by the sisters. She had met all kinds of people, especially since coming to the pocket dimension. They all had rather unique personalities. But the sisters were by far those that were the most out of the ordinary. Thinking about it that way made Inori question what kind of results she would achieve by getting involved with them.

"Michiru was defiant since it would be only me who would work with you, but I know she understood the rationale behind my decision. If possible, I'd like to start immediately." Kaoru wanted to be normal, just like Saki and Mai. Experience laughs, thrills and even romance if possible.

"Fine with me." Checking her memory, Inori thought briefly with what to start first. "To get a better understanding of the underlying problem, for now, stay by my side at all times. Of course, this excludes specific things such as battle participation."

"What about private moments such as sleep, bathroom visits and intimacy?" Kaoru noticed the slight change in Inori's expression. "Did I say something odd?"

"Most people wouldn't inquire about those and would assume they're off-limits." Stopping walking and looking at the pond, she figured that lacking common sense seemed to be one problem among many. That didn't come as a surprise, though. "There is nobody I'm intimate with and there is little to be learned when asleep. And like everything else on this list, bathroom visits are best done privately." Teaching Kaoru common sense would be a real challenge.

"Observe how I act and try to deduce why I do so. Beyond that, I'll try to create situations where you can observe that the outcome changes depending on how well developed your common sense is. That's the first step to help you understand why and how people react. In turn, it will broaden your own understanding of how you, yourself, act and react to situations and people." Inori took a tiny stone and threw it into the pond. "Humans follow the principle of cause and effect, where as interaction is an exchange of those, and often, an effect caused will also be a cause for a new effect. Take the stone I threw into the pond. The immediate reaction is the ripples the impact causes. That reaction, however, is cause for fish to scatter; a secondary effect, down the line. This goes on and on. A conversation with other people is just like that." Inori raised her hand and pointed towards the ceiling. Kaoru looked up and immediately felt Inori poke her chin with her other hand. "And that is how you think, is it not?"

"It is a simplified explanation on human interaction, but, yes." Kaoru wasn't sure what the point of that explanation had been.

"You're probably confused on why I explained this to you and poked your chin. The simple explanation is that there isn't one. Trying to rationalize human interaction will stiffen your response and results in over-thinking. When a poisonous snake attacks you, what do you do?" Turning around, her back facing Kaoru, Inori realized that the problems were more deeply rooted than she had assumed.

"I will fend it off." Kaoru had difficulty following Inori's logic.

"You can say that with certainty?"

"Of course. A snake poses little to no threat to me."

"Do you automatically think this way or do you feel inclined to think that way for your own safety?"

"What do you mean? I'm not sure I understand the question."

Spinning around and jumping at Kaoru, pushing her down, Inori found out what she needed to know. Struggling for a few seconds before near instantly reversing the situation, it was pretty clear to the yellow Cure what was going on. "What makes people seem to act natural is that they do not think through every single decision or movement. You acted like a normal person when I pushed you down, until you processed what was happening and acted on rationale alone." Pushing Kaoru gently off her, Inori cleaned some of the dust off her costume. "This is going to be hard on you, but you will need to stop analyzing everything and then acting on it. Instead, you will act on your first impression."

"I didn't expect this to be so difficult." Kaoru wasn't certain she could do what Inori asked for. To act without thinking? Had she ever done that?

"Don't worry. It won't take long. After all, what you need to do is natural, what you're doing, is not." Inori knew a fair bit about the human psyche from being friends with Love, Miki and Setsuna for years, but she still was far from being a professional. The important thing was to make Kaoru lose grasp on her habit to rationalize everything. Even if she had to confuse her with statements that weren't exactly all based on proper academics. She still had a little time before the battle was going to start.

=== Dissonance ===

It was quite the sight, eight Cures preparing for battle. The room was packed with girls eager to go and score a bit of money. Or a lot, with that day's bonus rules. They had just finished discussing strategy. With a lineup like theirs, they would be hard pressed to lose. Unless the light team deployed all their top fighters at once, it should finally be a win for the dark team.

"Everyone aware of their role? Any question?" Karen was acting as the leader for now, organizing everyone as a single unit. Marine raised her hand. "What is it, Erika?"

"Can I go for the bathroom before we start?" Earning laughs from everyone around, Erika smiled. She liked to diffuse the tension in the air before a battle. She had reconciled with Yayoi shortly after her... loss of control. She only hoped it wouldn't happen again. No matter how much she loved Tsubomi, after lacking any intimacy for so long while expecting it, she wasn't confident about her self-control.

"The gate's opening." Setsuna was assigned a vanguard spot. The loss of the last few battles were attributed to a lack of teamwork and Karen wanted to change that. The stakes were high that round. The winning team would earn sixteen hundred coins at all once, without counting personal gains.

Half the team was assigned to be the vanguard, the other half would support from the back. The four vanguards immediately entered the gate, the rearguard following shortly after. Not needing much time to orientate themselves, Sunshine, Passion, Bright and March took position in a two and two position, covering the wings of their group. The center was left wide open, in anticipation of support from the rear.

The beach was about a hundred meters from the shore to a thin forest of palms and tropical plants, the ocean itself seemingly unending. The air was clean and fresh, only a very weak wind was carrying the sea breeze with it. There was no terrain more safe than that.

"They're coming!" Nao shouted, the rearguard taking their own positions. Seeing who the attacking Cures were, three in total, Nao's confidence wavered briefly. Pine, Beauty and Peach were approaching at a high speed.

"Leave Peach to me!" Setsuna had fought Love seriously before, even though that had been years ago. She wasn't scared of repeating that fight.

"Don't underestimate Beauty! I will take care of Pine!" Nao shouted towards the remaining two that covered the other wing, Sunshine and Bright. The ground was perfect for Nao. Launching at such high speed that the ground behind her appeared almost ruptured, she came face to face with Inori for a split second before both passed each other, turning and passed each other again, the process repeating itself several times before Nao launched the initiative. "Tempest Alley!" Turning instantly on a single spot, she experienced G-forces much beyond what a normal person was capable of withstanding. Using the force of her velocity to unleash a horrifying storm gale towards Pine, the yellow Cure dodged the attack by lowering her posture, passing just barely under the current, approaching March with her diamond blades readied.

"Rush Beat!" A near solid wall of blue notes appearing right in front of her, Inori decided to break through instead of playing around more. Beat was going to be a real headache if her range was this high. She couldn't spot her immediately in the chaos that surrounded them.

"Diamond Flash!" The notes exploded with a delay of less than a third of a second upon detecting the enemy and they were still too slow to hit Inori using her ability. Passing through the barrier, Inori was surprised that March had expected as much and had already taken flight towards the ocean. "Diamond Flash!" In raw speed, March would outrun her, but her ability exceeded even the top speed of the green Cure.

Not stopping at the shore, leaving the beach behind within a matter of mere seconds, March simply traversed the ocean surface as if it was but solid ground to her. Inori had to put everything she had into acceleration to keep up, unable to use Diamond Flash on the water surface. There was a slight delay between activating the ability and actually moving that slowed her down. She'd sink before the ability would fully kick in.

Back on the shore, Love and Setsuna were facing each other seriously for the first time in years. "Club Lash!" Creating a black energy whip in her right hand, Setsuna ripped apart the ground whenever she hit it. But Love knew her every move as well as Setsuna knew hers.

Her best chance was go to beat Setsuna in close combat as more of her abilities relied on having at least a marginal charge up period. Trying to use them with someone right in her face, she'd suffer a point blank hit, completely defenseless. Dodging the whip attacks just barely, Love was worried that if she couldn't close the distance, Setsuna would unleash one of her powerful abilities.

And she was right. Ditching the whip, Setsuna took a different stance, jumped back thrice and focused energy in her fist. Peach accelerated to her maximum speed but still didn't make it. Her first punch, aimed directly at Setsuna's face, was blocked by a high angle kick of the red Cure. "Quattro Assault!" Vanishing for a split second, Setsuna started a relentless combination of punches and kicks, every single one being blocked defended and rendered useless by Love's excellent defensive capabilities. "Jack!"

Love knew what would happen next. Sliding over the sand, she turned sideways, raising both of her arms to different sides. Setsuna split into two beings for a single moment, punching from both the front and the back, but Love managed to block them both. "Queen!"

She knew she would be unable to defend against Queen, King and Ace completely but there was a trick to it. Focusing not on her enemy but the wind, she noticed a significant stronger gust from her right side than from both her left and behind. Raising both her arms to block a powerful kick, she was pushed back and hit in the back and side by the clones. The copies only had a fraction of Setsuna's full power but it was impossible to predict where the real one would appear. The only way to defend was to focus fully on the real one, which could only be detected when the attack was already underway. "Heart Explosion!" Focusing energy into her knuckles, Love slammed the ground hard enough to cause a massive cloud of sand to rise into the air, blocking all view.

It was only an incredibly brief moment but the sand right in front of her was displaced earlier than the others. Three clones was King. Raising both her arms, she protected herself against the high angle kick from her partner. Jumping up into the air, she knew that the next attack would be impossible to evade or block, even for her. She had helped Setsuna perfect it, after all. "Ace!"

There was only one way to counter the omnidirectional multi attack that was carrying the full power of the Quattro Assault. Countless clones appeared all around her and vanished, both within a second, making it impossible to distinguish where the main body and the corporeal clones were. "Heart Flare!"

Powerful energy erupting from her entire body, Love appeared like an enormous signal flare from the distance, volatile and dangerous energy covering her entire body. To avoid the final attack of Quattro Assault, she had to lay a trap that would infringe much more damage on Setsuna than Ace would on her.

Setsuna knew that as well. Backing off, both of them landed on the ground, sand covering their clothes and hair, both of them slightly out of breath. The clanging sound from another battle near them was a sign to resume. "Heart Counter!"

Setsuna immediately regretted landing the next hit. Love's counter abilities worked in strange ways and always came with a downside but if used properly they were very dangerous to an opponent. Jumping away, Setsuna went on the defensive. And she would be the first victim of the bonus rules. Love's Heart Flare had locked in on Setsuna and was rapidly descending down. The explosion was powerful enough to shake trees several hundred meters away.

Setsuna had been soundly knocked out by the enormous blast. But Love was well aware of the rules in play. "Heart Fl-" She couldn't finish the activation phrase. Erupting from the dark cloud the explosion had left, Setsuna landed a clean and powerful hit on her partner's stomach. "Club Barrage!" Moving at more than double her normal speed, Setsuna unleashed an unending assault of quick punches, kicks, elbow checks and other physical attacks. "Club Pillar!"

Love was thrown several dozens meters into the air, lights out, when the final hit of the barrage hit. She knew there was no way to get out of the barrage and that Setsuna always followed up with one of two fatal finishers. A massive black pillar had erupted directly below her, usually vanishing immediately but still present now, like a permanent physical structure. Regaining her senses, she realized that it was high time to retreat from enemy territory for now.

The area right next to them had become more than just a battlefield. The ground was littered with hundreds of weapons, Sunshine and Bright struggling to take out Beauty, who was all on her own. But she was just about done setting up the stage. Wielding two swords, she discarded them immediately to replace them by two shields, blocking Bright's and Sunshine's powerful punches. Falling to pieces, she had constructed them so that the impact could not travel back to her body.

Instantly creating a long pole, both enemies were hit and thrown back. One knee on the ground to support her stance, Reika judged that it would suffice as it was. Dropping the pole and creating a majestic looking bow and arrow, she aimed high into the air. Shooting, the arrow exploded into a massive ice crystal, only to break apart a second later. A sign.

The light team mobilized before the dark team had time to react. Hikari, on standby until then, activated her special ability, providing a powerful boost to seven other Cures. At the same time, Mint, Rose and White took their positions.

"Passage of Solitude!" Creating extremely sturdy and powerful barriers in form of a closed gate and walls surrounding the gate, Komachi needed all her focus just to keep them in place. Rose and White, both pulling from Hikari's buff, were fully ready. "Now!"

"Abbadon!"

"Whitelight Extinction!"

The horrifying mix of destructive white energy and metal fragments piled up slowly, creating a whirl of danger that the dark team had no choice but to react to with defense. But while their planning and strategy had been sound, the light team had the advantage of much more detailed and conditional planning.

Sunshine, Bright, Peach and Passion were caught in Beauty's trap. Energy explosively streaming from Reika, she unleashed something that would stay in the memory of all for quite a while. "Certain path to victory! Doom of all that stand in my way! No tell or tale, no legend or curse! Judgment of the unwavering! Infinity Armory!" Her incantation could be heard all across the battlefield, her voice echoing with strength and grace.

With a wind of sheer cold, the beach and several dozen meters of the shore froze instantly, glacial structure erupting from the ground, each of the hundreds of weapons giving off cold that was straight from the void of space. The ultimate ability that Beauty was capable of.

The wind surrounding the area was cold enough to freeze blood within a second, turning all living beings into no more than ice sculptures. The weapons untouchable by all but the one that reigned over the cold. The ice as dense and durable as hardened steel. The master of the icy realm ruling over all.

Creating a large two-handed sword, Reika immediately rushed against Sunshine, attacking with full force. She and Bright had gotten separated during the creation of the changed field. Wielding the weapon like it weighted absolutely nothing, she drove the yellow Cure into a corner, surrounded by the cold emitting weapons. "Ruler's Domination!" Raising her right hand, several of the ice weapons levitated off the ground and pointed their blades at Sunshine.

"Aegis Octa!" Creating barriers all around her, she barely managed to deflect all the weapons in time. Breaking to pieces, she thought her turn to counter attack had come. But Reika simply raised her hand again, creating dozens of new weapons, raising out of the ground, the walls, anywhere that had a surface of ice. Launching them at Sunshine again, she knew the clock was ticking. Even she would have no chance of surviving what the others were planning.

Itsuki was well aware that she couldn't defend until Beauty ran out of juice. Abandoning defense, she rushed towards the blue Cure, ready to be taken out if she could do the same. "Sunflower Escalation!" A move that allowed her to move, for just an instant, from one place in her line of sight to another but no further than five meters away. Dodging most of the weapons Beauty threw at her,

But Reika was within her element. "Emergence of a Savior!" In a circular area around her, every centimeter was occupied by a floating weapon. There was no space to even approach her. The ultimate offensive shield. Itsuki saw no way to attack without automatically running into her own demise.

"Sunflower Blooming Ten Strike!" Waiting for Beauty to cut her to pieces or throw everything into one attack were her only choices. And she didn't like getting cut. Smashing through the blades that surrounded Beauty, she had forgotten about something very important.

Beauty was a master at arms. The ice cold blade ran through Itsuki's chest, emerging from her back, piercing her lungs. Coughing up blood, Itsuki tried to focus her energy. But she didn't get a chance to recover A second and third blade were rammed through her stomach. Getting hit by a massive mace after that, she was thrown into the air. Aiming the yellow Cure with her bow, Reika pierced each of her limbs with an arrow. "Madness of the Empre-" Reika was disturbed before she could finish executing Sunshine. A massive glacier next to her burst into pieces.

Creating over a dozen shields, Reika could feel the impact that Bright's attack had, even without directly being connected to the shields. "Planet Crusher!" Unleashing an equally powerful kick and smashing all the shields to pieces, she thought to have a free shot on Beauty. "Planet Crusher!"

"Heart Reflect!" Love had been caught in the trap, together with Setsuna. Jumping past Beauty, Love let herself be hit by the powerful kick. Her ability kicked in right away, returning two-thirds of the damage back to it's origin. It was still enough to send both of them flying. Passion approached Beauty from above, ready to unleash living hell on her. Just as she descended, the entire ground around the blue Cure turned into pole weapons.

"Conviction of the Queen!" The weapons shot up in the air but Setsuna was lucky. She was high enough up to ready an energy blast against the approaching attack.

"Quattro Lash!" Creating four black whips, she broke apart the volley of weapons with several brutal lashes. Noticing the sky above her, she saw one of the signals, a beam of water cutting through the sky. The notice to treat immediately.

"We will continue this in the ocean." Running over to where Peach was, still conscious but injured, Reika realized that time was up. The winds were starting to fade already. Picking up the pink Cure, she looked around. Sunshine must had lost both her lives since the weapons continued to exist. Bright was escaping with the help of Passion. Creating her glacier road, Reika escaped as fast as she could. And it was high time.

Hikari, Komachi, Kurumi and Honoka were hitting their limits. Blossom had kept up with restoring their power whenever she could but there were limits to that, too. Acting as a scout, it was clear that the dark team had realized the danger they were in. Dozens of walls made up of blue notes were floating all around the spot the dark team had used to position their rearguard. "This is going to devastate the surface. Get ready!" Honoka couldn't imagine what kind of destruction their combined attack would cause.

Having continued to inflate the by now deadly sphere of energy and metal fragments over the last few minutes, Komachi's barriers were about to crumble. "Ready?!" Honoka acted as the leader for now. All the others nodded. She could see Beauty, carrying Peach, in the distance, already heading for the ocean. Much further in the distance was the ocean covered in a massive storm system. Pine and March had to be out there.

"Release!" Honoka issued the order. All four of them dropped what they were doing and started to run towards the shore. But none of them had expected the power to be as great as it turned out to be. The barriers breaking down, the released shock wave was powerful enough to knock them to the ground.

"Peace, Marine, now!" Karen had her own idea of defending against that madman attack.

"Aegis of Ages!" Erika and Yayoi used the creation ability at the same time to create a shield able to withstand even the mightiest of attacks by deflecting it back at it's origin. Beat had covered most of the area in exploding notes, and Karen was generating a sphere of water all around them, with a small pocket of air inside, designed to counteract any shock waves and similar.

What happened next was beyond anyone's imagination. Erika, Yayoi, Karen, Ellen were blown several hundred meters into the air, unable to hear or see anything, their consciousness cleanly blown out by the shock wave of the energy blast being returned.

Honoka, Tsubomi, Hikari, Kurumi and Komachi were not off any better. The returned attack had carried them several hundred meters with it, all of them taking damage far beyond anything they could endure. Both team's rearguard lost one of their two lives.

Reika, carrying Love, had just barely avoided the immediate blast area but still taken significant damage from the shock wave and spread of the attack. She made a mental note that they should never attempt an attack like that again. The entire area that had been the beach and the forest were covered in a continuing storm of white energy and metal shards, a certain death area.

Freezing part of the ocean below her, she let Peach down, who watched the carnage with an expression of disbelief. "I hope nobody actually died..."

"The system most likely will not let that happen unless it is caused intentionally by one of us." Reika had not felt fear like right then for a long time. It looked like the type of attack that could destroy a whole city with ease.

It was that one moment that made Reika let down her guard. The assumption that nobody was both close and fit enough to attack her. Setsuna had approached the two, swimming at speeds much higher than any human could thanks to her new mermaid form. Her chest covered with a crimson colored cloth, the scales on her tail were the same color as her hair. Grabbing Beauty's ankle and dragging her down into the water, descending down into the depths, Setsuna wanted to nullify the tremendous danger Beauty posed.

Transforming into a mermaid, Reika tried to put some distance between herself and Passion. It was much harder to create ice underwater than it was on land, so she was on a disadvantage. To her own surprise, she didn't have trouble breathing even without her mermaid form.

"Quattro Impact!" Vanishing for a moment and re-appearing from all four cardinal directions at once, Setsuna approached the blue mermaid, aiming to take her out. Noticing the small disturbance in the current, she knew that Love had joined the fray.

Reika, unfamiliar with Passion's attacks, knew she wouldn't manage to protect against all four directions. Focusing on her back and front, she spread her arms and created solid ice shields. The force of Passion's two remaining mirages was enough to severely damage her internal organs. Coughing up blood that quickly dissolved in the sea water, she tried to surface.

Trying to intercept her partner, Love was caught off guard. With incredible force and speed, March rammed right into her, breaking several bones. Pine was close on her trail, both of them easily moving at more than three-hundred kilometers per hour underwater. Reika hesitated for a moment, knowing that Nao was likely going to aim for her, now that she had the advantage. Risking it, she turned her back towards her love, Beauty tried to surface, attempting to lure others out of the water where she had the advantage.

Setsuna, instead of pursuing Beauty, decided to take Love out of the race. "Quattro Impact!" Seeing that Love was unable to defend with several bones already broken, she felt a little bit bad. "Sorry, Love."

The impact finished what March had started and knocked Love out soundly and for good. Looking up, Beauty had almost made it to the surface. She wasn't fast enough to catch up and fighting the blue Cure one to one on land or ice would be extremely dangerous. Noticing a flash of movement from the corner of her eyes, she knew what was going to happen next. "Quattro Flash!"

March raced right past the waiting Passion who had started her attack motion when she had still been dozens of meters away. Inori, moving at speed high enough to be unable to stop or slow down fast enough, ran into Passion's attack at full frontal. The lightning fast strike hit her throat, crushing it by sheer force of impact. Before Setsuna could prepare her second attack, Pine recovered, her second 'life' and unleash pure hell on Passion.

Setsuna was unable to follow Pine with just her eyes and there was too much other stuff going to to trust in her ears. Her instinct was all she could rely on. "Ace of Clu-" Her throat was instantly cut the moment she was about to finish the activation phrase. Trying to cover and plug the wound, she was bleeding out rapidly. Setsuna was out of the game.

Above them, Nao had caught up with Reika and instead of dragging her down into the depths, both of them launched vertically out of the water, higher and higher into the air. "I must say I am a little jealous of Akane." Reika knew she had lost. No matter how quickly she could create weapons, high in the air, alone with Nao, that spelled doom.

"Tempest Rupture!" Turning back into a human and starting to spin around her own axis, she held on to Reika's arms, flinging her around. Using her magic to spawn a powerful tornado around herself, Nao watched the wind shred Reika's skin. Letting go, the blue Cure was flung even higher into the air, several hundreds of meters. "Tempest Shredder!" Unleashing a series of kicks, each creating a razor sharp wind blade, Nao took both of Reika's lives, cutting off her arms.

Having taken out all but each other, March and Pine faced each other again, Nao high in the air, Inori deep underwater. Their competition wasn't over yet.

Several kilometers away, a whole different battle was starting. Having recovered from the doomsday explosion, Hikari and Kurumi found themselves outnumbered by Marine, Peace and Beat. All five of them were using the mermaid form, their scales and chest cloths matching their hair color.

Yayoi was the biggest danger of all underwater, electricity being her element. Both Marine and Beat realized this and were now quickly racing towards the surface. Powering up for a massive discharge of electricity, Yayoi needed time.

Instead of fleeing, Hikari took the offensive. "Trails of the East!" Firing seventeen beams of light after Marine and Beat, Hikari focused solely on energy attacks, knowing that they would last permanently. She couldn't give Kurumi a boost that way, but she knew her friend would be okay. "Southern Lights!" Unleashing a second volley of beams, numbering thirteen, Hikari didn't change her position at all. Both of the blue Cures were trying to outrun her attacks but that would ultimately prove futile. "Stars in the West!" She wanted to prove she wasn't just a pretty accessory to Honoka and Nagisa. She could very well take care of herself. The third volley consisted of only nine beams. Focusing and setting up the stage for her most powerful offensive ability, Hikari shot the fourth volley. "Northern Aurora!" With all four attacks being used, she had created a prison of light.

Erika and Ellen realized too late that Luminous wasn't missing. She hadn't aimed at them on purpose. A cage of light had formed around them, making them sitting ducks. Luckily for Erika, five minutes had not yet passed since she had copied from Yayoi. "Aegis!" She couldn't do the ultimate version, but it had to suffice.

"Decree of Eternal Light!" Hikari's words echoed through the water, giving Kurumi the signal she needed. The cage of light beams lit up and Luminous herself started to glow in a light so bright that it was impossible to even look in her general direction. Ellen, covering her eyes, unintentionally moved away from the cover. It was not so much her mistake as Marine's luck. The cage focused entirely on Beat, every single bar homing in on her, powerful enough to cut through a wall of steel. Her skin burned, Beat was completely unconscious. But the attack didn't end there. The energy beams that made up the cage returned to Luminous, enveloping her in an even more intense light than before. "Punishment of the Queen of Light!"

Protected behind the powerful Aegis, Erika couldn't see anything, despite trying really hard. She was consumed by the sea of light that could blind any and all. "Marine Explosion Tornado!" Unleashing blindly powerful blasts of energy, Erika couldn't tell if she was hitting anything or not. It was from one moment to another that she felt bathed in soothing light, all her worries melting away, happiness filling her mind. Her body relaxed, trying to strip away the stress she had felt during the battle. The next moment was the complete opposite of the relief. Pain that begged the question of whether it was even possible to endure that much without dying. Screaming out in pain, she fainted.

Yayoi, who had been escaping blindly, and Kurumi, who had tried to track Peace, equally blindly, were finally able to see again. Luminous, exhausted and out of breath. Using her strongest combo put an enormous strain on her. And considering she had lost consciousness once before due to the shock wave, she couldn't afford to pass out from exhaustion.

But she had no such choice. Yayoi had finally stored up enough energy to unleash what was her most powerful defense mechanism. "Reign of Thor, Supreme Lightning Punishment of the Fallen!" Shouting the activating phrase, Peace unleashed enough electricity to have powered a whole modern city for several days all around her. Luminous and Rose had no way to defend against an attack like that. Hikari, already weakened, was taken out within seconds of being hit. But Rose was different. Knowing that Hikari would suffer greatly from an attack like that, a fit of rage enabled her to ignore the enormous tissue damage the electricity was causing.

Grabbing Peace while taking damage from her attack, Kurumi wouldn't go down that easily. "A-A-da-da-ma-mant On-sl-slau-gh-ght!" Touching the emitter of the powerful electric current was like touching a lightning bolt itself. Ignoring the pain, Kurumi slammed her coated fists into Peace's face, stomach, chest, an endless powerful barrage that only stopped when the current stopped, when Peace had lost consciousness.

But the damage done to her was far greater than what her body could take. Seeing Hikari avenged, she was content retiring from the battle. Her eyes rolling back as the pain set in fully, Rose was out.

On the other end of the ocean, far enough away that none of the others would make it there even if they swam several minutes at top speed, were Honoka, Tsubomi, Komachi, Michiru and Karen. Michiru was the first to come to and find the other four still unconscious, recovering from being hit by the impossibly powerful attack. Being able to breathe underwater even without her mermaid form, Michiru quickly changed forms and checked who exactly was present.

Attacking someone that was still unconscious was meaningless. They would simply need longer to regenerate. Swimming over to where Honoka was, who she perceived as the biggest threat, Michiru was ready to take her out the second she woke up.

But being so focused on the white Cure, she didn't realize that Mint had recovered, ready to crush Bright. Watching the yellow Cure from the corner of her eyes, Komachi created a three layer barrier around Bright. What she wanted as not to crush her, as it would severely injure Honoka as well, but for Bright to break the barrier, suffering the backlash of her own attack. That had been her plan.

The blade that poked out of her throat spelled a different scenario out for her. "I'm sorry, Komachi." Pulling the blade out, Komachi felt blood rapidly gush out into the water, unable to speak. She wasn't angry with Karen. It had been her own carelessness that allowed the blue Cure to ambush her like that. Even when Aqua had talked to her, she had not noticed her presence at all.

"Bright!" Calling out to her teammate, Karen wanted to make she was okay. Honoka was a danger to both of them, with her energy attack homing and being persistent. "Watch out!" Disrupting Bright's concentration had been an error. Honoka had been conscious for a while, only waiting for a chance to prevent Bright from attacking her.

"Whitelight Chaser!" Creating six small, homing projectiles, Honoka forced Bright away from herself and assumed her mermaid form, her dark blue scales giving her camouflage, again, in the water. Losing track of the white Cure, Karen used her own powers to avoid being targeted. Becoming one with her surroundings, Bright was left on her own, quickly turning again and again, trying to catch a glimpse of her enemy.

"Sakura Crush!" With Honoka taking their attention, they had completely forgotten about the last member of the light team, Blossom. Having approached Bright at high speed, she hit the physically strong Cure with a powerful energy blast, causing damage from the inside. Quickly separating from her enemy, Tsubomi returned to a safe distance for now.

"Enough of your tricks!" Michiru was losing her patience. ""Star..." Screaming as loud as she could, she knew how dangerous it was to use that attack. Turning back into a human as her time limit was up, Michiru focused energy in the end point of all her four limbs. "...Buster!" Hammering the water around her with her fists and feet, Michiru created powerful currents extending away from herself.

Blossom didn't react fast enough to evade the attack. "Sakura Ashes!" Trying to counter the artificial current with her own power, Blossom realized too late how powerful the opposing force was. Taking her and dragging her down into the depths, Karen took the chance and aimed well.

"Aqua Impale!" Unlike Bright's currents, which were merely the effect of her enormously powerful physical movements, Karen fired eight finger thick beams of water down at Blossom, hitting several vital spots. The red stain that slowly rose from her body as she sank confirmed that it was only Honoka who was left now.

And Honoka wouldn't give up easily. Appearing before Michiru almost out of nowhere, utilizing a blind spot of her attack, she was in perfect range to finish off Kaoru's sister. "Whitelight Brutalize!" A single, unfocused but extremely powerful, short range burst of energy shredded through Bright's body, causing most of her vital functions to cease working.

And she had lost sight of Karen. There was no word powerful enough to describe at how much of a disadvantage she was against her, down in the water. Would surfacing be what Karen expected? Would that also be something the enemy expected her to do? Honoka's time limit was about up, so she decided to risk it. Swimming towards the surface, she ran straight into a trap. She had ascended no more than a handful of meters before several thin blades pierced her chest.

Seeing that the area still persisted, someone else had to be still fighting. Karen surfaced and tried to look around but the only thing of notice was the devastated island, still being ravaged by energy bursts and metal fragments, the surrounding area resembling a catastrophe zone.

The only other survivors could see the zone as well. Nao had never battled someone who could keep up with her speed that well and long. Her stamina was not infinite but she could see that Pine was nearing exhaustion as well. Being careful now would only create an opening for Pine to finish her off.

Both of them were traversing the water surface again, moving at speeds far beyond what any living being could achieve. Starting to change her vector, Nao bent the route, drawing in a circle around Pine, who was forced to take more narrow turns with every round. Breaking out would mean turning her back towards the green Cure, something she absolutely couldn't do.

Yet, there was a way to escape. Stopping and quickly breaking the surface, Inori used her mermaid form again to descend. But her yellow scales were much like an underwater flare for Nao. Jumping, diving into the water, she used the mermaid form as well, accelerating only further.

Inori had underestimated March. Caught in what shaped up to be a powerful maelstrom, she tried to break out, only to be repelled from the current. Looking around, she couldn't make out the exact position of her enemy. The green scale formed a solid line around her, indicating a speed she wouldn't be able to attain even with Diamond Flash. Rushing into the current, trying to take out March, would take her apart.

Trying to blend into it by starting to move in the same direction, Inori lost control of how fast she was going almost immediately. But she saw her. Passing by over eight times per second, she couldn't even start to guess how fast March was moving.

"Tempest Gale!" Nao poured the last of her energy into the execution of her final attack. The maelstrom had completely trapped Pine. With the activation of her ability, the current launched innumerable water blades at Inori.

It only took seconds of being exposed to the high density multi-attack before Inori lost the last of her stamina and endurance. Blood running from dozens of wounds all over her body, she finally admitted defeat.

=== Dissonance ===

"Take care of this for me, okay?" Leaving the girl, who nobody could even remember the name of and everyone simply called 'Glasses', with the work of the entire group, her so-called friend walked away, to the rest of the group. "Man, it's so easy to have 'Glasses' in our group."

"Who are you telling this? You just have to pretend to be her friend and then you can force all your work on her." Giggling, another girl flipped open her phone. "But seriously, isn't she like, really gross? She almost never talks and she's got, like, no friends whatsoever."

"Yeah, it's like, seriously gross. Who the hell would want to be friends with 'Glasses'?" Laughing, walking away, they mixed in with all the other students that were leaving. It was four in the afternoon and most university activities were over.

Not for her, though. Trying to fit all the papers into her handbag, her stomach growled and she felt a little weak. One of her 'friends' had taken her lunch, claiming to have forgotten their own. It was something that happened every other day. Somehow managing to fit five times her own workload into her bag, the introverted girl left the room, heading to the library.

There weren't many students left at that time of the day but of the few that were present, not a single one even noticed her. Looking for a free table, there was at least one student everywhere. Approaching one of them and asking if a seat was free was a completely impossible feat for her. Even if someone spoke to her first, she often wasn't able to give an answer.

Her bangs hanging into her face, the large glasses, few knew the gentle but meek face of the girl. Finally finding an empty table, the one that was the furthest in the back and rarely used due to the long way to the front, she sat down and started to work on the group project, all on her own. She didn't want the others to hate her, even if they only pretended to be her friends.

It was still better than how she had spent high school. Those three years of solitude had been very hard on her. She could count the times she had actually talked to someone on one hand. The teachers had ignored her completely. She was always left over when it came to pairing up and group work. Most of her classmates didn't even realize she was there.

Finishing the first of the papers, she looked at her wristwatch. It was five thirty. She still had work to do at home so she needed to hurry. She would probably have to skip dinner, to finish at least the stack of one of her 'friends'.

Working in silence, more and more people left until the outside was completely dark. "We're closing. Pack up." The librarian knew the girl but didn't particularly like her. Her face was hidden behind those glasses and her long hair and she never talked, it was more than just a little creepy.

Stuffing the papers away, she carried her heavy bag towards the front of the university. It would take her twenty minutes of walking to get back home. She came on foot after having her two bicycles 'borrowed' by friends who never spoke to her again after. Living alone, she had little in her apartment. Her parents were financially supporting her but she lived too far away to go and see them often. Reaching what she could call home, it was merely two rooms and a bath, she opened the door, flicked on the light and sat down at the low table in front of her bed, pouring out the papers again.

When she finally looked up again, a headache preventing her from going on, it was past midnight. Getting up and walking to the very back of her room, she looked after a few small potted flowers, the only thing in her life that gave her a little bit of joy.

Watering all three, she smiled just a little bit as she looked at them. Ever since middle school, that had been her sole source of joy. To take care of flowers and plants. Without a single friend all the way through middle and high school, now, in university, where she studied botany, there were at least people that talked to her. Even if all they ever did was use her.

Taking a brief bath and eating just a few rice balls that were left over from breakfast, she soon went to bed at one in the morning. She didn't enjoy sleeping. Whenever she was in bed, hearing the noises the neighbors made, she realized just how incredibly alone she was. It hurt, to not have a single real friend. To have nobody to talk to. It was often that she quietly cried herself to sleep, wishing that she had found just one person that would have been her friend. Maybe her youth would not have been an adventure in solitude then. But she had long given up on that, now.

She was twenty years old and had never managed to change who she was. With nobody reaching out to her because she herself would not reach out, she remained alone. Finally falling asleep, she had that one dream again. Of a world where she met people, where those people helped her change, helped her become a better person, one that had many friends and a happy life. How many times had she had that dream? It had started when her parents opened the flower shop. The neighbors were kind but their only child was much older than she and they never had any contact.

Her alarm rang and woke her up. It was five thirty in the morning. The early morning sun was shining lifeless and pale into the room. The forecast had said it would be cloudy all day. Wiping the salty traces of tears from her eyes, she knew that she had dreamed again of her student days. Those were her happiest memory in life. Even if she had only had pretend-friends, she at least had talked to people occasionally.

Getting up, she looked over to her desk as it was covered in papers and research. It had been fifteen years since she graduated from university and started to work as researcher in a lab. She still lived in a small apartment but in a different town. Research papers were covering the walls. Finally succeeding in putting on her glasses, she got up. Walking to the built-in kitchen, she did not even touch the fridge. A single cup of coffee constituted her breakfast now.

Taking the mug to her desk, she picked up where she had stopped the evening before. Searching a few papers she had misplaced, she finally found them near the window. Grabbing them, she paused for a moment. A single, withered white cyclamen was resting in an empty glass. Looking at it for a few seconds, her expression remained unchanged. She had long since lost the passion she had once had. As the years went on, solitude and isolation became normal but they took their toll on her. Gradually, her passion for flowers faded away, and only the drive to work and continue the research her father once did.

Sitting at her desk until ten thirty, she got dressed and left her apartment behind. The pay at the laboratory was not bad but she had never gotten a drivers license so she walked or rode a bicycle to her workplace. Arriving, she didn't need to prove her identity. Security and all co-workers knew her, even though none ever spoke. A year ago, she had become head researcher and the few words the director of the institute had said to her had been the only time that year, and the last time since then, that someone had directly talked to her in a way that was not asking for research papers or a report.

Getting to work at eleven, she would stay in her lab even during lunch break. Leaving at seven thirty, she rode her bicycle back to her home. It was an unchanging pattern. Wake, work, eat, leave, work, leave, eat, work and sleep.

There was no special person in her life. She had never dated, kissed or even embraced someone since she discovered romance. She had held feelings for others but she had never had the courage to tell any of them how she felt. Sometimes, she remembered her first love. The student councilor back at her middle school. She never saw him again after graduating.

Returning to her apartment, she sat down at her desk and looked at the papers. From time to time, she wondered how her life might have changed if she didn't end up as the shy, introverted transfer student. But memories like that were painful. Even those she counted among her happier ones were still painful.

Crossing her arms on the table and resting her head on them, she wished for nothing more than a single friend in her life. If only she had the power to go back in time and do things over. But she knew that it would not change anything. It wasn't in her power to change all on her own. If only someone... anyone... had held out a helping hand. But miracles didn't happen in reality. They were reserved for stories and tales.

Tears slowly ran down the cheek. How long had it been since it hurt so much to be alone? Falling asleep, tears continued to fall until her eyes were dry and she could no longer cry.

A cold winter sun woke her. She could just see the gray sky of Tokyo beyond the large windows and the stack of thick books. Her back ached and her eyes had trouble telling what numbers the clock were displaying, even with her thick glasses. Noticing she had fallen asleep while reading an article about herself, she looked at the news line. 'Breakthrough in creation of starch from cellulose. Professor Hanasaki improves food situation for billions.' Her life's work.

Fifty years had passed since she graduated from university. She had become an international resource in botany. Reporters asked for interviews daily, but she had not the energy or interest to talk to anyone. She was old. She was nearing her seventy-third birthday. Her parents had died a few years before her research had finally bore fruit. She had no other living relatives or friends. Colleagues in the same field were jealous of her success and she was shunned as hermit and anti-social. It had been weeks since she last spoke.

Retired and living off the money she made from the patent, there was no purpose in her life anymore. Her research had kept her going for fifty years. But what had it all been for? When her parents died, she finally realized that there would be no one to attend her burial. She was alone. Bitterly and utterly alone, just as she had been her entire life.

Standing at her desk and watching the gray sky, she felt nothing at all. Loneliness and solitude had eaten away at her heart until she was no more than a machine, researching because it was her only purpose.

Lately, she had started to have weird dreams. A short girl with blue hair was sitting next to her bed just as she was dying. "Are you sleeping?" The girl always asks. Her face was bright with enthusiasm, something she herself had not felt for over half a century, and she energetically whipped back and forth on the chair.

"Not yet." She answers. Her body feels heavy and she can't move much anymore.

"I can't tell! Your eyes were hidden behind those big glasses!" Reaching out, the girl takes her glasses away. She has trouble seeing the girl's face without them, so she asks to have them back. The girl becomes silent, and usually, she stays silent until she wakes up again.

But last night, the dream had continued. "What is your name?" The short girl asks with a bright smile.

"Hanasaki. Professor Hansaki." She could not remember the last time someone had asked her for her name. Had it been years? Maybe a decade even? Her sense of time had long since stopped working properly.

"Your first name is Professor? That's a very odd name." Laughing, the girl turns around on the chair and looks at the window. "It's almost dark. I'll go home soon."

"Tsubomi." She says, her voice crackling a little bit.

"What's a Tsubomi?" Facing the old woman again, the young girl curiously asks.

"My first name. It's been so long... that someone called me that. Could you...?"

"Tsubomi." The blue haired girl grins and repeats her name a few times. Each time, the old woman feels like a nail is driven through her heart. Decades of solitude and loneliness rushed out of the stone that her heart had become. But the time of being able to cry had passed. Seeing the last rays of sun pass through the window, she watched the short girl stand up and stand next to her bed. "My friends are calling for me." And just as she reached out to the girl, desperate for her not to go, the blue girl smiled one last time. "Goodbye, Tsubomi." Just as the last ray of the sun vanished and the room grew dark, the girl was gone without a trace.

Even now, she was still alone. And knowing that she would always be alone, solitude finished what it had started and her heart broke from loneliness. At the age of seventy-two, Hanasaki Tsubomi died, alone and isolated, from a broken heart.

=== Dissonance ===

"This is most unfortunate." Reika was a little irritated that the battle had been lost. Unable to pick up a fork, her arms so sore that moving them even a little hurt quite a bit, Reika created a miniature dagger that pierced a piece of the fresh bread Bloom had prepared, and levitated it to bite it off her weapon.

"You can go to the circus with that." Urara was impressed, not by the act, but by the way everyone was beaten to a pulp. True, Nozomi and Moonlight had not been there, but with Komachi, White, Beauty, Luminous and Kurumi, there should have been some serious one-sided carnage. "So what the hell happened?"

"We lost. Can't you see that?" Honoka was not exactly in the best of moods after the fiasco that had been the aftermath of that catastrophe mid-battle. She hadn't expected their extinction cannon to go wild like that. She still hurt all over the place from the part that came back, reflected by whatever the dark team did. "I had no idea that attack could be reflected. Rose, have you ever run into an issue like that?"

"No. Even Komachi's shield only return the damage, not the actual attack." Kurumi was hurting all over twice as bad as White. She had skin irritations and scratches all over the place while her hair refused to stay down. Thankfully, Hikari had lent her some hair ties and took care of disinfecting her scratches. "It stings!" Twitching, Kurumi quickly shook her head. "I'm fine, Hikari." She didn't even need to look to know that her friend was making a worried face whenever she twitched.

"I never thought I would meet someone who could outrun me, even with my Diamond Flash." Inori was half resting on the table, her legs absolutely killing her. "I think I got enough exercise to run fifty marathons. Or through all of Japan."

"Kurumi, look at me. I need to take care of the scratches in your face." Laying one hand on Rose's face, Hikari gently forced Kurumi to look at her. Holding perfectly still, Kurumi endured for a little longer.

"We won twice in a row. This was bound to happen eventually." Love rubbed the back of her head. Setsuna wasn't an easy opponent by any means. Her balanced tech set really made it difficult to get an advantage no matter what specialty one had. "Setsu looked so cute as mermaid..." Swooning a bit over the mental image, Love absolutely didn't regret participating.

Despite what had caused her to lose, Reika wasn't mad at her partner. It had been a fair battle and considering what she had done to Sunshine, it would've been surprising if nobody had sought revenge for it. "Komachi, would you mind passing me the butter?" It wasn't a warm dinner, since both Kurumi and Hikari had been in the battle, but it was more than sufficient for Reika.

"Of course." Putting the butter in front of the blue Cure, Komachi watched with slight astonishment as Reika controlled the dagger well enough to put butter on the bread and her plate was still much less messy than most of the others. "Honoka, I feel bad for Tsubomi... don't you think it is somewhat our fault that she ended up as the exile?"

"Blossom isn't stupid, she knew what she was agreeing to. Without her, we would have failed halfway into our plan. To be honest, she was an key element that allowed us to... blast the island to bits." Honoka had done volatile experiments before but nothing that caused fallout on that scale. Hearing from Inori about the level of carnage, she was quite sure to not try that again. "Of course I don't like her being in the exile, but that's the same for everyone. Nobody wants anyone to be in the exile."

"How much did you make? I heard the bonus rules were ridiculous this time." Urara was worried that she would have to really work her ass off to stay in one of the top rooms. She didn't mind kicking someone's ass in the battles, but it wasn't like she was some super powered terminator like Moonlight or Kurumi.

"I think everyone made at least over two-hundred." Honoka didn't really want to put everyone on the spot. It would only kindle fear of who almost became the exile instead of Tsubomi.

"Over three-hundred for me." Kurumi knew exactly why she had such a high score. The massive extinction cannon they had designed to wipe out one or both lives of the entire dark team in one massive blast. Instead, the island had been wiped out and basically everyone near the blast had lost a life.

"Sounds like we're getting a lot more than we spend." Urara was hoping that the massive gains would prompt the others to share some of their coins with the team and get a nice room, like a pool. She had heard about it from Ako while the others had battled.

"We haven't really explored the best options yet. A lot of the more extreme Dive and War options provide a significant bonus. We didn't have any terrain bonus this time either." Honoka finally felt hungry enough to eat, cutting a piece of french bread in half and putting some cheese on it.

"I am so getting a TV and blu-ray-player when I get money to blast." Urara hoped Ako was weak to horror movies. That would provide some excellent pretext to get her in bed.

"You don't know if the system will allow you that. And how will you power it? There aren't exactly electricity sockets in the walls here." Komachi wasn't too fond of TV. A good movie with Karen, however, did seem tempting.

"Before I blow my money on something like that, I'm going to get a decent wardrobe from Marine." Honoka really wanted to wear something that wasn't her Cure outfit for a change. "Come to think of it, where are Miki and Yuri?"

"Probably out fucking somewhere." Urara's explanation didn't impress anyone at the table. Kurumi glared at her from the distance. "What? Did I land in the Club 'O Prude or something?" Getting up and starting to walk away, Urara yawned. She would have killed someone to be able to make out with Ako right now. She was bored out of her mind. "Speak of the devil. Ask her yourself." Walking past Yuri and Miki, both of them coming into the room side by side, Urara planned to just go to sleep.

"I can tell what the result was just by looking at your face. Should we have participated?" Sitting down next to Honoka, Yuri watched Miki bend over her and snatch a piece of bread before leaning on the chair she was sitting on.

Letting out a sigh, Honoka lowered her head. "We had enough volunteers. And to be honest, I don't think it would have made a major difference. I didn't expect Karen to be so dangerous in the water. Peace was there as well and... I assume it was something she did that messed up our main plan."

Miki bent over Yuri again, her breasts pushing against Yuri's head, to snatch a second piece of bread. "This is great. Who made these?"

"I did!" Waving to Miki, Saki had been quietly listening to the situation while enjoying the sight of people eating her bread. "I'm happy you like it."

"Yuri, Miki, have either of you seen Nozomi?" Komachi was worried that she still hadn't shown up.

"Dream?" Speaking with her mouth full, Miki was glared at by Yuri and let her partner finish the explanation instead.

Turning to Komachi, Yuri pinched Miki's leg while she was at it. "She was here earlier, with Happy. They looked both really worn out and Happy seemed a bit down. They ate and then left again, together." Yuri didn't know either of them well enough to judge whether there was anything going on between them.

"Nozomi must be taking care of her." Komachi was relieved that she was fine. Exhausted or not, Nozomi helping someone was a great sign of her being really part of the team now.

"Or maybe she has taken an interest in Happy." Love grinned, looking to Komachi. "She is not my type, but there is no denying that Happy is very cute. I wouldn't blame Dream if she fell for her."

=== Dissonance ===

"Thanks a lot for taking care of this, Hibiki." Floating in the pool, Erika watched Hibiki turn some of the meat on the grill the blue Cure had sponsored in celebration of winning the match. The entire team was very much delighted, both by how much they had personally gained and that the team had won. Rin had taken the liberty to facilitate torches and placed them everywhere, giving the pool a great outdoor feeling. Kanade had prepared a lot of salad on Rin's cue, working together with Hibiki at times even.

"Second batch done!" Shouting, Hibiki watched Sunny slowly swim over, a dish balanced on her head, sporting a flashy red bikini. "At least come out of the water." Hibiki laughed, taking the dish from Sunny's head and putting a nicely done piece of beef on it. "Anyone prefer sausages over beef?"

"Give me two each, Hibiki." Ellen was carrying two dishes, one for herself, one for Setsuna. "I still feel all sore from the battle. And my ears ring a little when I jump."

"You guys did great. Here, two each. Tell Passion bon appetite." Turning back to the grill, Hibiki adjusted the leather apron Erika had sponsored, made from leftovers. She had already half a dozen sauce stains on it.

Suddenly being embraced from behind, Hibiki knew exactly who it was. She recognized the way Itsuki's hair smelled when it was wet. "Are you okay, without a towel?"

"The grill is pretty hot and Rouge did a great job warming the place up. And you're so hot, I could probably smelt iron right now." Gently biting Hibiki's ear, Itsuki twitched slightly when she moved in a bad way. After Beauty had turned her into Swiss cheese, she had woken up feeling all sorts of sore.

"You're such a flirt, Itsuki." Erika was still floating along the pool, the grill standing right by the water and a few torches, so everyone could get there from either the pool or normally. The labyrinth had become very much dark by now, but that didn't bother anyone. The torches provided enough light to find the way and eat and also left just enough dark to be more than just friendly with a partner. Nao was still exhausted from her battle, resting her legs by hanging them into the water. Akane had taken it upon herself to spoil Nao after swimming through the pool again, balancing the dish on her head.

"Say aaah!" Picking up a piece of beef with a fork Nao had kept, Akane tried to feed her partner. Without much of a fight, Nao gave in and let herself be fed. "Were you okay in the battle?"

Chewing and enjoying the taste, Nao blushed a little. "I was fine." Grabbing her partner's arm, making sure she didn't drop the dish, Nao kissed her quickly. "It's good to have you with me."

"Missed me, didn't ya?" Feeding Nao again, Akane moved closer to her, enjoying the body warmth of her partner.

Back at the grill, Hibiki was trying to shake off Itsuki. "I can't turn the meat like this."

Holding on to her partner, Itsuki tugged on her bikini. "One more minute."

"Need a hand, Hibiki?" Erika floated by, offering help. "I'll cool her passion right away."

Trying to turn and taking Itsuki's hand off her butt, Hibiki didn't like being bothered when she was doing work. "If she doesn't want to deal with a horde of hungry Cures that will only get charcoal, she'll let go."

Reacting to the threat, Itsuki finally let go and walked past the grill, sliding into the water but staying near Hibiki. "I can see your-" She couldn't finish what she was saying before Erika jumped on her back and pushed her down.

Sitting a little sideways from the grill were Rin, Kanade, Ako, Karen and Yayoi, watching and working on emptying the salad bar. Karen in particular was very much thankful for having an alternative to meat. She didn't like to eat heavy in the evening. Kanade was cutting some tomatoes since that salad had been completely eaten already. Yayoi was leaned against a large heated rock, sound asleep. "She actually looks peaceful when she's asleep."

"I'm thankful you never picked up comedy, Rin." Karen could not even groan at the obvious pun. "I'm not surprised she is asleep already. The battle was really hard and I heard that she took out Kurumi and Luminous in the end."

"You know, I bet Urara is pissed that she missed out on the money. I'm a bit annoyed, too." After hearing just how much some of the others had made, Rin felt like she had missed out.

"Wouldn't surprise me if she tried to guile someone into spending it on a room or something she wants." Ako was eating half a piece of beef, Kanade's leftovers. "She's not really a bad person deep down but there are a dozen iron walls all around it."

"I'm thankful you're with her. Urara changed in the last few weeks, for the better." Karen put down her dish and tableware. "She was, even all things considered, a bad person when we got here." Noticing that Rin was giving her a certain look, she leaned backwards and whispered. "What?"

Leering at Kanade, who was completely in her element preparing food, Rin was happy that she was steadily improving. "Don't bring up that Urara and I used to be... friends with benefits. Kanade knows, and so does Muse, probably, but I don't want to ruin the atmosphere."

"I agree." Returning to her seat, Karen grinned at Rin. "No, I don't mind if you go and get yourself something from the grill. I dislike heavy eating, not meat." A simple white lie so the others wouldn't suspect a thing. And she would be able to talk to Muse without Rin overhearing for a moment.

Leaving, and taking Kanade with her while she was at it, Rin didn't mind letting Karen ask Muse a few personal questions.

"There is something I want to ask you." Karen thought about it for a moment. "Or rather, ask of you."

Looking at Karen, Ako emptied her dish and put it down."I'm listening. I'm not sure why you made Rouge leave for this, though. I'm well aware that Urara and she used to be together in a way. It doesn't bother me." Ako knew that it was naive to expect that a woman like Urara had been living a celibate life so far.

"Urara used to be a kind person. I'd like you to try and bring out whatever is left of that. Rin, Komachi, Nozomi, Kurumi and I... we all used to be friends. Most of us are friends, thanks to this place, but Urara is still not a part of that, and while I think she has become more like her old self thanks to you, she likely needs a push in the right direction." Karen wanted things to be at least somewhat like five years ago. With all six of them being friends. Not just five of them.

Ako hadn't known that Urara's old team was caring so much about her. It was quite unexpected. "I'm actually happy to hear that you still want to be her friend. Urara really needs people that care about her. I'll see what I can do, but if I were you, I wouldn't hope for a civil and harmless Urara. I believe she just feels too comfortable the way she is now to abandon that entirely."

Karen smiled and watched Rhythm jump up and down next to Rin while Melody was laughing so hard she was bent over. "Nobody wants that. Urara is Urara, no matter what she acts like. But I still want her to be our friend."

Back at the grill, Kanade refused to even look at Rin anymore. Standing there with her arms crossed, eyes closed and nose in the air, it was quite the sight. "Oh come on, Kanade, I remember you making carrot salad and Ellen simply kept handing you way too many carrots and you made them all! I'll never forget that mountain of orange scraps!" Hibiki was still laughing, and now that she had told the quick story, Erika and Itsuki were laughing as well.

"You left out who ate the whole thing. Alone. In one day." Kanade faced Hibiki and pointed at her stomach. "You house a black hole in there, don't you!"

"Says the girl who kept making so many cup cakes that they could be used to supply an entire African country!" Hibiki was now pointing at Kanade with her spatula.

"And who ate all those cup cakes? So many of them that no matter how many I made, it was not enough?!" Kanade leaned forward and pointed at Hibiki.

"I'm doing a lot of sport! I'm a growing girl!" Pointing back, Hibiki realized she had forgotten about the grill and quickly took care of it.

"Growing in all directions, I may add." Itsuki raised her finger. "If only all those fats would go to her chest instead."

The roaring laughter that came from Erika, Kanade and Rin at the same time made Hibiki's head almost turn more red than the raw meat in the box next to the grill. "Itsuki!" Shouting and throwing a piece of unlit coal after her partner, the yellow Cure dodged by diving.

Not too far from the girl, opposite to where Karen and Ako were, was Ellen, taking care of Setsuna, the latter was much enjoying being spoiled for a change. "It's so sweet of you to get my share as well." Taking a bite from the bread she had brought, Ellen wanted to do something else for her. The laughter and noise of many conversations all around the pool made for a great atmosphere but something was missing.

Getting up and turning into a Cure for just a moment, Ellen summoned her guitar, sitting down next to her partner. Starting to play a soothing and simple melody, Setsuna rested her head against Ellen's shoulder, taking great care to not make it difficult to play.

Ellen could play a melody that simple with closed eyes and so she did. Resting her head against Setsuna's, she felt extremely comfortable. Noticing footsteps coming closer and opening her eyes, she saw Bright, who was carrying a dish and sat down on one of the heated rocks nearby, quietly listening.

Starting to hum with the melody after a little while, Setsuna moved in closer, enjoying both Ellen's voice and play. It took a few more minutes until the audience grew. Nao and Akane, holding hands and walking very slowly, sat down not too far from Bright.

Snuggling up to each other, their backs against a large heated rock, they closed their eyes, listening to Beat play, their hands tightly holding together. There was something about just sitting there, listening to the simple tune and humming, that made them feel incredibly at peace.

It didn't take long before her audience grew again. Nagisa, after eating her fill and swimming for a bit, had come as well and sat with Michiru. And she wasn't the only one that had joined. Ako had brought Karen with her, the latter carrying Yayoi. Putting her down at one of the heated rocks, both she and Ako sat down, both of them appreciating the tranquil atmosphere that Beat was creating. Just listening to it seemed to clear away their exhaustion.

Back at the grill, Hibiki was just putting out the fire. The last few pieces of meat and sausages had been taken care off. The leftovers from the box could be used in next day's dinner. "I never realized how good Ellen had gotten." Hibiki just stood there, listening to the melody with all her heart, happy that she was there.

"I didn't either..." Kanade did the same, but standing a few meters away from Hibiki, leaned against a large rock, Rin a little distance away, with Itsuki. Taking a cue from the mood, both of them didn't want their partners to suffer anymore because of what happened between them. Rin still didn't like Melody or Sunshine very much, but she was in love with Kanade and wanted her to make up with a friend.

Leaving, slowly moving towards what had now become a ring of people listening to the blue Cure, Itsuki appreciated that Rouge was trying to help. "Thanks." Speaking softly, so that nobody but Rin could hear her, Itsuki felt grateful.

Looking at Itsuki, Rin smirked for a moment. "Kanade is important to me. Just like Melody is to you."

Being left alone, listening to the music next to the now cold grill, Hibiki and Kanade realized only that they were without their partners when a loud splash from the pool tore them from their tranquil state. Looking around, Hibiki didn't see her love anywhere. Thinking she might have gone to where the music was coming from, Hibiki turned around and was about to leave when Kanade grabbed her hand. "Kanade?"

"I'm trying, Hibiki... I'm trying to be a better person. So please... don't hate me." Kanade's voice was shaking just a little bit. She was trying very hard not to be pushy or demanding.

Hibiki could tell. The shaking of her hand, her voice, the desperate undertone of her words. Kanade wasn't just sorry. She was feeling real remorse. And it made her angry.

Why couldn't she forgive her already? Why did she feel like it would only end in another catastrophe if she trusted her again? Where was that silly mistrust coming from? Was she really that petty? Did she really have to hold on to a grudge like that? Did she really want to cut Kanade from being a part of her life permanently?

"I..." Hibiki glanced towards the girl she had seen as her best friend in the world for a long time, and even as her lover for a short while. She could see that the way she looked at her now was different than two weeks ago. The jealous glint was no longer there. "...I don't hate you." Forcing her hand out of Kanade's Hibiki turned her back to her. "It hurt a lot when you accused me, when you acted like I'm just something you own. I know you're sorry. I want to forgive you. But I can't. Not yet. Just give... give me some time, Kanade." Taking one step away from her former best friend, Hibiki felt like she would cry if she left Kanade all alone now. "What are you doing?"

Kanade, who had tears in her eyes, looked up. "What?"

"Everyone else is already with Ellen. Let's go." Only looking at her briefly, Hibiki could feel how happy Kanade was. Because she was, too.

=== Dissonance ===

All the others had gone to their rooms after Beat finished playing. Nobody had said much. Those who were with their partner walked arm in arm. The others seemed simply tranquil. She had stayed behind to take one last swim before going to sleep.

Nagisa liked swimming, even though she would never make a hobby out of it. Deciding to do one more round, she couldn't remember when she last enjoyed an evening like the one that had just come to an end. If Honoka had been there, it would've been even better.

A sudden loud splash at the back demanded her attention. She suspected that someone else had come back and do a little swimming. "Hello?" No answer, not even after she had waited a full minute, just floating on a spot. It was a little spooky. Had a rock fallen? That was quite likely, the labyrinth was probably going to reset itself soon.

Putting it off as a rock falling, Nagisa turned around and dove one last time. She almost screamed out underwater. In the dark, right before her, was Mai. But she could tell that there was something seriously wrong. She was completely naked but in Cure form, her hair an utter mess and blood was running from her wrists. Before she could react to the sudden appearance of Saki's partner, she was grabbed. The force of Mai's grip crushed the bone in her arm right away.

Trying to turn into a Cure, Nagisa found out that she couldn't, for some reason. Trying to scream for help wouldn't work because she was underwater. Trying to wrestle free, she was punched hard into the stomach, but not hard enough to make her spit out blood or pass out.

"Nobody will come." Mai's voice rang in Nagisa's ears despite being underwater. How was she talking? She didn't think Mai could do any kind of telepathy. "Nobody will help you."

Letting go of Nagisa's arm only to grab her throat with both hands, Mai's eyes opened wide, a sinister smirk on her face. "Azure Collar." Nagisa could feel the energy around her neck. "Scream and it will cut off your head, my love."

What was she saying? Did she mistake her for Saki again? But then again, she would never purposefully hurt Saki. Nagisa could feel fear rising up inside her. There was something incredibly wrong going on with Mai but she couldn't make sense what.

"You're... mine... my love... my love... mine... Nagisa..." Grabbing her again and throwing her up, out of the water, Nagisa hit the ground hard. She didn't doubt Mai's abilities in energy manipulation. If she screamed, the collar would cut off her head for sure. Trying to get up and run, she only got to the stage of getting up before being pushed down on the ground.

Laying on her beck, she felt energy cut her slightly. Mai had shredded her swimsuit. "Remember... last night... we had... so much fun... Nagisa." Her grin was scaring the living daylights out of Nagisa. "I'll.. make you remember... with your body..."

Sitting down on Nagisa, Mai immediately started moving, rubbing her crotch against Nagisa's. Groping her breasts without any consideration for how Nagisa felt, Mai started moaning in a loud voice just before bending over and drooling on Nagisa's face. "I'll make you feel really good." The black Cure had no choice but to watch in horrified silence as Mai was raping her.

=== End of Event XXV ===