All readers, the decision to include or exclude the Happiness Charge and Go Princess seasons is currently up in the air.
As I am rather indifferent (there will be plenty of seasons to add in the future) to both seasons, I am looking for your honest opinions.
Please leave your opinion via a private message, or a review, or just tweet at me KuuTenko on twitter. Much appreciated.
Dissonance
Event XXXII
The Chapter of Shadows
A million scents in her nose, a million lights, shapes and things in her sight, Reika couldn't think at all, much less straight. She had given up. There was no way out of the time loop. And spending her time like this, drugged out of her mind and engaged in mindless sex with the countless clones, was marginally better than killing herself. She was one of the nobles this time, someone, she didn't care who, and that meant she was not going to be useful anyway. Beneath her was one of Kanade's clones, above her as well, to both sides. The girl was younger than her and for these eight hours, she fancied the blonde. One of them was lying down on the floor, most likely dead. She didn't care. Not about herself, Nao, her friends. Not about anything.
The tongues of the clones, maybe one of them was not even a clone but she didn't care, were all over her body, the pleasure mixing with the ecstasy of the drugs. How many times was this now that she ended up like this? Six or ten times, something like that? She didn't care. It was all meaningless. By some sort of ill conceived event, they were trapped forever in this recurring illusion, where nothing mattered. Now matter how badly they were dismembered, how badly they suffered or how much they destroyed their body with drugs, they would always be perfectly normal in the next loop. The first time she had found an entire harem of Naos. Then Akanes. Then, others. Who was it again? She couldn't remember. Was it another blue Cure? Or a pink one? Now she just grabbed the first one she found and then grabbed as many of that version as she could, guards, servants, other nobles.
"Beauty… spread your legs more… more..." One of the Kanade's was indeed the real one and she was just as lost and uncaring as Reika was. She had long lost track of how many hours passed, how many loops passed. If things would always reset and everyone's memory would get screwed up so much, who cared if she slept around? It was just sex and drugs and alcohol. Not like it mattered any. She was pretty sure she had slept with a whole group of Hibiki servants before, spending nearly six hours fucking them until her body wouldn't obey her anymore. But there was no real satisfaction in this. Just physical pleasure, a way to pass the time. She wasn't one of the princesses so she was never gonna amount to much anyway.
Reika felt completely indifferent to the fact that this was the real Kanade. She had an excellent memory and still she didn't remember most loops. And as time passed, events melted together, distorting her memories. Did she really sleep with all those Naos? Or was that just something she thought she might have done and it was now a memory based entirely on delusion? In time, neither of them would remember this. Relationships didn't mean anything in this world, in this endless recursion of time.
Just a few rooms away, Kurumi, as the sixth princess, Kurumi Vivilfell Escalia, had amassed as many Hikaris as she could find and ordered them to have sex with each other. Just over two dozen Hikaris were there, fingering, licking, groping and kissing each other, all while the princess watched from her comfortable seat, masturbating furiously by herself, over and over, the cushioned part of the chair already soaked with her juice, through and through. She wasn't high on drugs, just drunk, but she didn't really care about the concept of modesty anymore. It felt like she had been there for years already and each loop, each eternally repeating eight hours, felt like an eternity themselves. "You… and you… and you, too… gang up on her… use your fingers, tongues, whatever, fill all her holes..." Kurumi just indulged in her position, abusing it to make her strangest and craziest fantasies come alive. Who cared if Hikari would find out about this? In a few hundred loops, or a few thousand, neither of them would even remember. There was no way to pass along information other than verbally. The castle, everything about it, reset with each loop.
"You two… lick my feet." This was the fourth time that Kurumi had done this. The first time, it was just one Hikari. The second, a dozen. The third, she had slept with as many as possible and now she was finding out that watching them fuck each other was turning her on even more than having sex with them directly.
Kurumi was half blacked out from masturbating too many times when the midnight bell rung. She shared a sentiment with Beauty in that she didn't care. After so many loops, she had given up. Great enemies, threats that were about to destroy the world, impossible obstacles blocking the paths between worlds… those were all things she could have dealt with. But not this. And giving up was the only way her mind could cope. Wasn't there… a time where we tried to break out by force? Fight our way out… only to find… what was it again… no, did we really do that? I don't… remember…
And so another loop started.
Down in the thieves den was Setsuna, just regaining consciousness. She had no idea how many loops passed but she was sure that she wasn't actually aware of herself, of her real identity, for some of those loops. The complete lack of being able to trace how much time passed was weighing heavily on her mind. How many days, weeks, months or years had she been here already? "Any Cures?" She didn't care about playing her role anymore. There was no solution to this time loop, to this puzzle. She had no doubt about that.
Only one of the thieves responded to that, and by coincidence, it was someone from her own team, Miki. "Thieves again, huh." Miki didn't even bother greeting Setsuna. She still had ample time to do that over the coming eternity of being trapped in this place.
"Want to drink?" Setsuna didn't see the point of trying anymore. Sneaking through tunnels, robbing the nobles, stealing from the kitchen and spying on the princesses. There was one thing the thieves could still explore, at least she thought so. Maybe someone had already found out it was a dead end. It had to be, considering that if it wasn't, they wouldn't still be here.
"Better than getting caught and thrown into prison." Miki hated being a thief. The large cavern with the thin river running through it, the wooden tables and benches and the large barrel with alcohol. It was boring beyond all measure. She had trouble remembering how many times she had been a thief already, but it always boiled down to one of three things. Die, either by traps or through the guard. Go around, steal stuff and possibly have some wild sex with strangers, get high on drugs and alcohol in some private quarter. Or stay down in the thieves den and just get drunk and have sex there. There were no games to play, no books to read, nothing but food, alcohol, drugs and sex to pass the time.
Getting six large wooden tankards all filled up, as many as she could carry with two hands, Miki walked over to the bench where Setsuna sat, put down the tankards and sat on Setsuna's lap. The red Cure didn't even look surprised when Miki suddenly put her arms around her, forcing an intense kiss on her that lasted for nearly a minute, tongues wriggling around each other and saliva running from the corners of their mouths. "Wish I was Love or Beat?"
"I can't remember when I last met the real ones..." Without so much as a grin, Setsuna shoved her hands under Miki's clothes to feel her tits. "Everyone gave up on their relationships… half the time we don't even know who we are, I think, and the other half we're all over the place with hundreds and thousands of clones around us. I'm still in love with Love and Ellen but… if I can't see them, if I can't find them, and neither of us will even remember this in a few dozen or a hundred loops, what's the point of feeling guilty and being miserable on purpose?"
Miki gently moved some of Setsuna's hair away from her shoulders, bending forward to lick the sides of her neck. It's all meaningless. Our lives, our feelings, our friendships. We're never going to get out of here and at some point, we'll lose our minds entirely. We won't remember who we are anymore and just endlessly repeat this loop, functioning like robots.
While Miki and Setsuna were making out without so much as a shred of feelings for each other, far above them, in the castle, things were different. Hundreds of bodies were littering the castle, cut down without purpose or mercy. At the head of the bloody trail was Hikari, completely indulgent of her persona as the second princess, Hikari Minerva Escalia. The thirst for blood, for carnage and battle, had lead her and those that sympathized with her cause to stage not a push but a battle of genocide, a play of mass murder.
Hikari was followed by the real Urara, the eleventh princess, Urara Faldirn, the real Reika, the fifth princess, Reika Milaine and dozens of guards, among them the real Bright and Windy, cutting down nobles, servants and other guards en mass. At the forefront, clad in plate armor and armed with a heavy sword, stood Hikari, her body, face and hair covered in bloody splatter, cutting in half another noble. Her mind had cracked under the never ending repetition, the pretense of playing the bloodthirsty princess, the nagging voices within her head that called for battle, for slaughter. She did not know this, but Urara and Reika simply joined in because they had no other plans. Urara relished the chance to unleash all the bottled anger within her on someone and Reika was consumed by a perversion of her own ideals. If her path of saving had gotten her into this situation, then a path of destruction and death surely could free her, grant her salvation from this hell that refused to let her die.
The guards around Hikari were blown back when the first princess, Ako Evangeline, crossed paths with Hikari. She didn't care if that was the real Hikari or not. She welcomed a chance to release some of that frustration she was feeling of being unable to do anything to change the situation. Wielding a longsword herself, Urara followed the instincts of her implanted persona to fend off Hikari.
The slaughter turned into a heated battle as Ako's forces rushed to the scene, facing off against Hikari's mindless rebellion. Bodies were piling up and neither side seemed to care how many innocents were killed in their battle. Ako and Hikari used human shields all the same, neither of them pulling their punches.
"Die, die, die, Evangeline! Die, and go ahead to the afterlife! I'll send our mother after you in a moment!" Hikari was consumed by the rage and volatile nature of her role and still she didn't even attempt to fight it. What did it matter if she went berserk and killed all those people? They would resurrect and not even remember this in a few hours.
It was the 1462nd loop. In the outside world, just over 487 days had passed.
216 loops later, 72 days after Hikari massacred everyone in the great hall until she and Ako impaled each other, the castle caught fire. Akane and Rin had figured that there was no harm in a little fire. Both of them burned alive while laughing, knowing full well that no pain, no death, would stop time from rewinding again and again. Though it was during this fire, this great, all consuming event, that Ellen of all people got past the trap that nobody had ever passed, arriving in a hidden treasury. But the flames caught up to her before she could figure out exactly what it was for.
===DISSONANCE===
Inori woke up, all by herself, and felt unbelievably horny. She couldn't remember what sort of dream she just had, but judging by the reaction of her body, it was definitely something erotic. Getting out of bed, naked, Inori noticed just how horny she was. She was dripping wet. What kind of dream did I have? It was really unusual for her to get that worked up. Heading for the bathroom, to take a shower and settle down at the same time, Inori felt like this wasn't just a normal dream. Stepping into the shower and turning on the hot water, Inori's wild, fluffy hair immediately clung to her skin. The water was like a million needle pricks on her skin because she was so overly sensitive. Starting to relieve her tension, Inori didn't really think of anyone in particular, at least not until she was nearly there. Her mouth slightly open, the water hitting her face, Inori moaned someone's name under the rattle of the shower.
"Miki..." Inori came just a second later and leaned against the wall, feeling a little dizzy. Did… did I just think about Miki while masturbating? Inori looked up at the fancy lamp outside the shower. I wasn't just thinking about her… I was imagining her, here, with me, touching me, two of her fingers going inside, her breasts… no, what am I thinking about? Inori turned off the water and tried to collect her thoughts. Did I dream about Miki of all people and that made me think of her now? I can't imagine… no, I know I'm not in love with her, so what was that? If there is anyone I would sleep with… well… Miki is beautiful, so I wouldn't rule her out, at least if we weren't such old friends. But Miki is in a relationship with Yuri, and I am definitely not her type anyway. And she isn't my type, either. I would much rather have Honoka or Reika… or maybe Diamond.
Turning the water back on, Inori tried to put those thoughts behind her. But it was bothering her that she thought of women that were already in relationships that way. She wasn't the sort to ruin someone's relationship out of petty jealousy and personal desire. She would find someone eventually, no doubt. Maybe… Kaoru might not be a bad match, although I worry that she would only come as a package deal with her sister. And it is one thing to teach her about people and another entirely to date her.
Inori was not the only one being bothered by strange dreams she couldn't recollect. Honoka woke while hugging a pillow, for some reason thinking it was Michiru. It was one thing to have a strange experience like that when her memories were all messed up and she thought she had a relationship with Saki, but to think of Michiru that way? The only things Nagisa and her had in common was their short hair and reliance on brute force in combat. Nothing else matched. So where exactly did that dream of hers come from? She hadn't really spent any significant amount of time with Michiru, ever, and most certainly not recently. So what was this about?
Getting out of bed, holding the pillow for a few more seconds, Honoka allowed herself the unladylike luxury of yawning with her mouth wide open and walked over to the closet, ready to pick out some nice clothes. Maybe a skirt today… Actually… Turning around, Honoka looked out the window. Wait… has that window always been there? There was a lot of strange things happening that morning. It looked a little foggy outside, and after opening the window, she felt it was cold. Too cold to wear just a skirt. Opting for boots, pantyhose, a short jeans skirt, a blouse and a vest, Honoka liked that they actually had a choice of clothing. In the back of her closet was the swimsuit that she was being loaned by Erika. I wonder if that is going to be the only swimsuit I will be able to wear. At least I picked something I am comfortable with. Honoka was the type that showered in the evening, so she was ready to leave her room, but she was still bothered by how she had woken up.Why Michiru? If I had to choose, I would prefer Kaoru, or Mai, if I had to choose someone from her group. Honoka deliberately avoided thinking about Saki. That incident was still troubling her, too.
Checking that she had her key, Honoka left her room and found Ellen and Setsuna walking towards the elevator. "Good morning." They were a little further down the hallway but turned around and waited for Honoka when they heard her.
"Good morning." They greeted her in the same breath.
"Oh, you two are in perfect sync." Honoka walked to the right of Ellen, the trio heading towards the elevator. "Is Inori still asleep?"
"I haven't seen her." Setsuna was just not that talkative this early in the morning, something that Love sometimes bemoaned.
The three walked in silence towards the elevator, only interrupted by a yawn from Ellen. She and Setsuna were wearing matching outfits, albeit very plain ones. Sneakers, jeans, a t-shirt and a light jacket. Both of them found it nice to be able to walk around in completely normal clothes for a change.
Waiting for the elevator to come up, Honoka yawned as well, covering her mouth with her right hand. Taking the elevator down to the lobby, it made a short stop on the 10th floor and picked up Alice, who wore something very uncharacteristic for a former rich girl. Boots, baggy jeans and a turtleneck. The others almost didn't recognize her. "Good morning to you all."
Arriving in the dining hall moments later, the four of them were among the last to arrive, yet judging by the full plates and busy atmosphere, they weren't that late. Looking at the clock, for the first time since waking up, Honoka noticed that it was past ten in the morning. Did everyone oversleep? Looking for Mai until she remembered she had been forced onto the other team, Honoka got a bunch of toast, cheese, and some butter, then sat at a table by herself. This isn't so bad. And with how noisy everyone is, it's not that different from being at home and watching Nagisa desperately try to shower, get dressed and have breakfast in time before work.
But Honoka didn't remain alone for long. "May I sit with you?" Reika was standing there with an entire can of coffee in one hand and an empty cup in another. She was planning on emptying that can all by herself.
"Of course." Honoka pulled her legs back a bit. She had sat there in a very relaxed way until now. "Did we pay the fee for the buffet or did someone do the clean up quest?"
"I heard that Dream, Blossom and Rhythm cleaned up while us others were still asleep. Strange, truly, that it seems that everyone but those three would sleep in."
"Speaking of Rhythm, are you two okay?"
Reika emptied half of her cup in one big take. "No need to worry." Reika finished the contents of her cup and refilled it. "If anything, it made me realized that I have been holding on to something merely out of habit."
Honoka munched on her toast for a little while before continuing the discussing, waiting for Reika to revise that statement. "That sounds like a tragic way for a relationship to end. So, are you going to ask out Kanade then?"
"Of course not. I still feel guilty that she will have to tell Rouge about this mishap that occurred between us."
"Don't. Strange things happen in this place, to all of us. Some work out well, like they did for Setsuna and Ellen, while others don't."
Reika was down two cups now and refilled again. "Is it strange to drink this much coffee?"
"A little. I do surprisingly well without it in the morning but when I work long days in the lab, I have quite the intake myself."
"I still sleep lightly because of my work if I can call it that." Reika looked around for a long minute and wondered what the future had in store for her. "But that is nothing compared to what Heart's team must have gone through."
"After what we saw in their time their performance in battle makes sense, although it was Rosetta, Heart and Diamond that were the truly terrifying ones. You and me both are the types that control our magical energy to achieve results. Diamond would most likely be able to adequately explain the science behind our respective powers but suffice to say, neither of us comes close to the pure level of mastery she has over her energy." Honoka was already thinking of counter measures against Diamond and Heart when the time came.
"What scares me more than Diamond's incredible control is Rosetta's application of scale and pressure. As a scientist, you are aware of what a neutron star is. It is nearly unbelievable that she should be capable of such a feat. Unhinged and out of control, she could be more dangerous than any weapon of mass destruction humans have ever developed. The pure level of destruction would fall far behind a nuclear weapon, but consider how quickly she can create these barriers of hers." Reika had done some thinking of her own. "And that is to say nothing of Heart."
"Nagisa likes those Terminator movies and she must be thinking that that is exactly what Heart is. An unstoppable machine that will recover even from torn off limbs or gaping holes in her body. But outside her healing capabilities, she is not much of a destructive force."
"Looking at it like that, they are all exceptionally capable in their respective fields. Heart is nearly indestructible, Diamond can destroy even the toughest target with some preparation and Rosetta is fully capable of acting as a human weapon of mass destruction." Reika refilled her cup again. "I have been honing my skills as a Cure for some time now, but I am only 18 years old. Most of Heart's team have been Cures for nearly three times as long as I have."
"Most of us trained and developed our powers for any what-if scenarios. But they had no choice. They needed their powers to survive in that war torn world. In hindsight, it isn't surprising that their powers would exceed ours. But even so, each of them has fatal flaws that their extreme specializations bring with them." Honoka enjoyed high level discussions like this. "Heart's extreme focus on her own endurance leaves her lacking in offense and speed. Her ability might allow her to attack recklessly and without regard for her own safety, but even that only goes so far. In a contest of pure strength, we have many Cures that match and beat her. Even so, the easiest way to stop her is to not engage in a tug of war with her."
"Most of us will deplete their magical energy before we manage to outlast her, I predict. Healing or not, the easiest way would be to disable her with mental attacks. Miyuki's Once Upon A Time would likely render her vulnerable and helpless. Pine's Domination similarly would render her a non-threat. Windy's Stormflair could also be used if neither option is available."
"Other than that, there is the option to trap her. You, Rosetta and Mint should all be capable of that. Diamond could also most likely kill her."
"It is strange to speak of killing each other when the most we retain are bruises. Never mind the moral insinuations of phrasing it like that." Reika understood the ramifications didn't quite apply there. It was just easier to say kill than to say something else. For most purposes, many of the things they did to each other during battle would end up killing them in reality.
"I overheard Setsuna and Ellen talking about you and Diamond yesterday, mentioning how both of you could be classified as Ice Cures."
"To a layman, it might appear right but quintessentially, it is completely wrong. It is true that I create magically reinforced ice and use that element to great effect for weapons. But what Diamond is doing is not truly cold related but rather, from what I gathered, an inversion of thermodynamic physics, something that violates the rules of entropy." Reika slowed down her coffee intake because she was enjoying the conversation. "I am quite curious how exactly she achieves that."
"Diamond's fatal flaw is that she needs preparation to attack. Someone very fast, like Egret, Rouge, March or Pine, will prove to be very dangerous for her."
"I actually believe that Melody's team, with their sound based abilities, will prove to be difficult if not insurmountable obstacles for Diamond. Her blindness is a heavy handicap and her reliance on picking up vibrations can be turned into a secondary disability by overloading her sensory input with those sound based attacks, creating far more vibrations, through the air especially, than she can analyze."
"A very unique and interesting idea. What do you make of stopping Rosetta?" Honoka wanted to hear Reika's take on it before she offered her own.
"The massive scale of her abilities make it difficult to effectively counter her. There is Mint, of course, to stall her, but without Mint, it will be difficult. To inspect countermeasures against Rosetta, we also need to look at Mint because their abilities are similar. Rosetta lacks the damage returning counter effect that Mint's barriers possess, but in exchange she is capable of far greater scale and intense compression rates, which means her barriers can likely withstand a lot of force. This in turn means that we require overwhelming force to break through them. Which means that Bright, Rose and possibly Moonlight are our primary choices against her. Due to her legs, it should be fairly easy to take her out if caught unaware. But she is most likely the most difficult to counter properly among all of us here."
"Diamond and Sword should both be capable of beating her in a contest of magical power. Other than that, our options increase if Luminous is on our side. Nagisa offers good speed and high offensive capabilities. If Rosetta is properly distracted, we might be able to take her out before she causes too much damage."
"The rules will play a large role in our battle tactics as well, some of them are very intrusive and challenging."
"You're thinking of rules like All or Nothing or the Exceed rules. I honestly believe that Cure Heart, with sufficient boosting from the Exceed rules will be nearly, if not completely, unstoppable."
"There are multiple situations like this. Granting Rosetta or Diamond a 60 second period of invincibility would give them ample opportunity to cause cataclysmic damage of catastrophic proportions to the battlefield." Reika refilled her cup one last time. "But for the time being, we have all three of the truly dangerous Cures on our side."
"Speaking of the rules. Are the rules for today not already posted?" Honoka was curious what was picked for today.
"They are. Bound to Ground, No ranged Combat, Reflection and Do as the Romans do. A total modifier of 310%, not counting the bonus the Reflection will provide. Essentially, a series of 1 versus 1 matches without jumping, grappling or ranged attacks. A true test of raw might between our close combat specialists. A minimum of four people have to register on each side today."
"I used to be quite adept at close combat techniques, better than Nagisa in fact, but considering our specializations now, I think I should be sitting this one out."
"I will be participating." Reika didn't have to explain why.
"With rules like these, Diamond and Rosetta certainly won't be participating either."
"As we concluded, rules will drastically change our approach to tactics."
===DISSONANCE===
"If that's all you got as an explanation then fuck you!" Akane's incandescent shouting suddenly disrupted the relatively peaceful breakfast time the light team was enjoying. And it didn't stop with just shouting. Standing up so abruptly that she knocked over her chair, Akane set the table on fire. "Fuck you for toying with my feelings!" And still Akane was not done. Slamming the table that was fiercely on fire with both of her fists, Akane smashed it to pieces, stepping over the pieces and punching Cure March right in the face.
And finally she stomped off, towards the exit, cursing loud enough for the entire room to hear, big glassy tears running down her cheeks as she left, threw open the doors and yelled something unintelligible at Majorina before she was thrown out of the skyscraper.
Karen put out the fire with a squall of water moments later. "What was that?" She hadn't seen Sunny that angry ever before. From the corner of her eyes, Karen saw Rin chase after Sunny.
Nao had a big red bruise on her face from Akane's punch. She was lucky to have transformed by instinct or that would have been a broken jaw. "I… broke up with her." Nao was not all that good of communicating her feelings so the break up hadn't gone exactly as envisioned. She didn't really know how to explain that her passion had just left, that the spark had gone out. So she didn't. She just dumped Akane, hoping that she would understand. But judging from the pain on her face and the wet cinders on the floor, she really didn't, not a bit.
"Wow, you're lucky she didn't set you on fire." Melody had shown up, curious what was going on. But she wasn't going to stay there long. Itsuki pulled her away by her arm, and not exactly kindly. "Ow, Itsuki, what's the big idea?"
"Breakups are messy and emotional grenades. You don't want to be caught in the fallout. And it is really rude to be so curious about someone's relationship ending." Itsuki dragged Hibiki all the way back to their table, halfway across the dining room.
"Did it look like that when I broke up with Kanade?" Hibiki had never seen a breakup as a third party.
"It wasn't any prettier than this. And you didn't like it when everyone was staring at you when you broke up with Kanade, right? So try to put yourself in March's shoes."
"Sunny sounded really mad. Like, I was totally serious when I said March is lucky Sunny didn't set her on fire. She incinerated a table and everything. People with a temper are scar- Ow, hey!" Itsuki had flicked her forehead.
"You don't get to say anything about people with a temper, Hibiki." Itsuki hoped that Hibiki realized what she was getting at.
There was a massive explosion outside. Everyone knew it had to be massive because the walls of the building were shaking and after what had just happened it was pretty clear who the cause of that was. "Wow, and I thought Kanade was taking getting dumped pretty bad."
"Kurumi, Kurumi, calm down~!" Hikari tried to stop the really annoyed looking Milky Rose that was stomping towards the exit in full combat mode. "I'm sure they'll stop any second now!"
And sure enough, Kurumi slowed down. "If the walls shake one more time I am going to give Sunny a time-out." Kurumi crackled her knuckles and went out of transformation. "I can't say no to you, Hikari. But if they don't stop-!"
"I'll go with you and give them some talking to!" Hikari had sympathy for Sunny but not enough to tolerate whatever it was that she was doing out there on the plaza that the walls of the building shook.
Nagisa was eating with Mai and Saki, despite the small awkwardness that was still lingering between her and Mai. "I think her blowing off steam and frustrating is actually better than bottling her feelings up inside."
"Imagining Honoka after you dump her out of nowhere is going to give me nightmares." Saki put another dish on the growing pile. That had been some scrambled eggs and bacon. She ate like the marathon athlete she was.
"Don't say that. I think I would die without Honoka. I should cook for you sometime. You'd know what I mean."
"You would do okay if I was there to step in." Mai thought that the best way to overcome the remaining awkwardness was to face it head on. And make fun of it, too.
"Hey, Mai!" Saki's complaint didn't go unnoticed by the tables around them.
"More break ups?" Yayoi was kneeling on her chair and looking over the back.
"The heck we are!" Saki complained again.
"I don't know, maybe I could take over Honoka's job as well while she isn't here." Mai couldn't help herself, seeing Nagisa blush like that was actually cute. "So Nagisa, do you prefer above or below?"
"Above or below what?" Nagisa didn't follow but she had no doubt that this was going to end in something very embarrassing for her.
"Sheets of course. Saki prefers-" Mai's mouth was sealed by Saki's hands, who desperately tried to put an end to this joke that was going entirely too far.
"I am best buddies with Nagisa but we don't talk about that! Especially not in front of the mangaka drawing erotic lesbian stuff!"
Mai pinched Saki's right leg and with all the muscle that Saki had, her legs were super sensitive. The athlete winced and let go of her girlfriend. "So you two don't talk about… sex? How unexpected. Honoka and I had quite the chat about the preferences of you two. For example, Nagisa is the type that prefers to turn off the lights, just like you, Saki." This is actually quite fun. I should tease these two a little more often.
"Don't tell that to people!" Nagisa covered her face in shame. I just feel embarrassed when the lights are still on because Honoka is so much prettier than me!
"When I try to leave the lights on, Saki always covers up with the comforter because she's really sensitive about letting me see that body of hers for which she works out so much." Mai continued to tease the two women.
"Mai!" Saki blushed even more than before and wished she had worn that wool hat she had seen in the closet to hide her face.
"Honoka told me more than that. For example-"
"Stop, stop, stop!" Nagisa got out of her chair and covered Mai's mouth with her hands. "Saki, help me before she blurts out even more!"
Saki got out of her chair as well but before she could do anything, Nagisa shrieked and backed away. "What now?"
"S-She licked my hand! Like a cat!" Nagisa couldn't believe this.
"Meow~!" Mai couldn't keep it together after that and burst into laughter, with her mouth open.
"They look like they are having fun over there." Makoto was enjoying her morning in relative peace together with someone that strongly reminded her of Mana.
"Those three, there is a fourth actually, Cure White, have a much closer relationship than us from the other teams. They knew each other from before we all came here." Love was eating Hamburgers for breakfast, of all things. Since she was a bit of an outsider in the team right now, she went and befriended one of the other outsiders, Cure Sword.
"It's amazing that there are so many Cures and yet most of them didn't know each other before all of this. Not that I can really talk about that, I only know what you've told me so far." Makoto on the other hand preferred a balanced breakfast. Dark bread, tomatoes, pickled cucumbers, picked radish, green tea, hard boiled eggs, marmalade and honey.
"There were a few times when the earth was in big trouble but we were all over the place and didn't really have contact to each other so things generally went back to normal before we could really jump into action. Like, one time the planet was turned into a big old desert because of… of… what was the name again? It was something really obvious. Sand? No. Anyway, this evil thing turned the planet into a big desert but Tsubomi and her girls beat him and fixed things. That was just one thing everything went down the sink."
"I am not originally from Earth so I don't know if Mana and the others know about that, but I think they would have mentioned it." Makoto paused eating to drink some tea. "And… thanks for eating with me. I haven't eaten by myself in so many years, I was a little nervous."
"You always put the cup back in that exact spot and you arranged all your dishes really neatly around you. Are you the really neat and tidy up type?" Love was very much not the type to keep everything organized, even though Setsuna often berated her over that.
Makoto looked at the table in surprise. "No. I don't know if you remember, but one of my friends, Cure Diamond, is… well, she's blind. She wasn't born blind or anything, it happened during a mission. But all of us sort of developed into this method of keeping everything in its proper place so Rikka wouldn't fall over anything or knock things over." Makoto smiled by herself. It had been really hard to pay that much attention to every single task, especially while working or after a long day, but she was glad she was able to make Rikka's life a little easier for her.
"That is so awesome of you!" Love reached across the table, nearly knocking over a glass of marmalade, and grabbed Makoto's hands. "To look after your friend like that!" Sitting back down, Love already liked this girl.
"It wasn't that hard for me since I am a fairly neat person to begin with. Regina really struggled for a while."
"Which one is Regina?" Love didn't say again because she couldn't remember if she had ever been told properly.
"The blonde. She was on the team until yesterday. It's really complicated but her and the really pretty brunette with the long hair come as a pair deal. They can't live without each other."
"Oh, they're that super duper in love?"
Makoto was so surprised to hear that interpretation that she swallowed one of the very small tomatoes whole and nearly choke on it. Coughing it up and chewing it properly, she shook her head, a big smile on her face. "No, I really mean they cannot live without having the other one close by. A long time ago, there was a princess from the same kingdom I come from. When the Selfish, our enemies, attacked, she fought to the end and separated into three. The selfish part of her heart, Regina, the pure part, Aguri, and her body, Ai, reincarnated as a baby. Regina and Aguri are like recharging batteries. Each of them generates magical energy that the other one needs to live."
"That is pretty complex." Love understood that it was most likely even more complex than Makoto wanted to explain.
But Makoto did want to explain it more. "Do you mind if I… talk about that some more?"
"Sure! But you gotta wait until I get back." Love pointed down at her empty plate. "If there is one thing I learned while traveling then it is that you listen better if you're eating something good at the same time."
Makoto waited with a smile, slowly enjoying her own breakfast. She really loved the fact that there were fresh tomatoes and pickled vegetables. Those had been immensely difficult to come by in their time. Our Time… I guess I'm no longer thinking of it as our world like we are the only ones that were protecting it.
Love returned with another burger, which was in fact just two buns of bread, a slice of hamburger meat that was known as a Frikadelle in Germany, a bit of lettuce, tomatoes she was now slicing up, some cucumber slices, cheese, everything that belonged on a hamburger.
"I used to serve the princess, Marie Ange. I told you that she split into three when our kingdom fell. Both halves of her heart were reincarnated as ten year old girls, Regina and Aguri. Aguri was adopted by a human woman and Regina was taken in by our enemies, the Selfish. For a long time, she was believed to be the daughter of our enemy's leader, which was really hard on her and Mana. Eventually, we obtained the sacred treasures that came from our kingdom. Among them was a crown that bestowed knowledge and it returned all of the memories of Marie Ange to those two. But because they had grown into separate individuals over time, they couldn't become one again. Marie Ange essentially ceased to exist."
"You were super in love with the princess, right?" Love casually asked her, with her mouth full.
"W-What makes you think that?"
"Your face lights up a little when you talk about her sacrifice and I just had a feeling that she wasn't just a princess to you. So what happened then?"
"W-We beat the Selfish. During the final showdown, they ripped a big hole between my kingdom, which became a republic later, which meant humans gained access to magical tools and such."
"Oh, I can see where that could go wrong. There is plenty of good people out there but almost none of them are in positions with power, you know, like prime ministers and stuff."
"It went sideways in every way, to quote Regina. A while after the Selfish were gone, Regina and Aguri started getting sick. They had symptoms for Narcolepsy, Lethargy, Malnutrition and a lot of other things and no doctor could find anything wrong with them. We consulted with a doctor from the republic that specialized in magical illnesses and because of how they were born, they lacked balance. Normal people are made up of multiple sets of energies and those two were lacking half, each. But because they were originally one, they could pass off the excess they generated and didn't need for themselves to each other. They need to recharge roughly once a day, twice if they go on a mission or battle."
"So how do they do it? Sexy times?" Ah… she's blushing, so that was probably super inappropriate.
"No. Aguri did say that they usually strip to transfer more efficiently, but they don't strip all the way and at most, they hold hands." Makoto especially was glad that this was the case. "Regina grew up looking pretty different from Marie Ange, probably because she was the selfish part of her heart. Aguri on the other hand looks a lot like the princess now. So much that she even adopted her name."
"Oh, I see. She's the one you like now. Is there someone on your team that likes Regina? That would make them kinda the same as me. You see, Setsuna, my partner, used to be part of Labyrinth and-"
"Love!" Nagisa was shouting and then whistling from the distance. "We're talking about going to the arena for registration and Karen wants to talk to us about strategy!"
"Do you want to talk again later? Looks like I have to go and dash. I'm a little low on funds so I really need to go participate in this one."
"I am coming with you, for the same reason."
"Oh, great! Good to have you." Love quickly shoved what was left of her hamburger into her mouth and then held out her hand to Makoto. "
The light team had an overabundance of close ranged fighters. So many that they thought there was no way the other side would agree to register that many fighters. But as it turned out, they could simply register as many as they wanted and the other side had to match it, at least today.
"I feel bad for Honoka." Nagisa wrote her name down on the registration form while Poisony was glaring at her with the biggest smile possible. They registered eleven people in total, which made strategy somewhat moot because the fights consisted of 1 vs 1 ground fights without jumping or ranged attacks.
Karen tried her best nonetheless. "The main obstacles you are going to face will be no doubt Heart, Beauty and Pine. The usual troublemakers, Lemonade and Marine, are severely handicapped by the rules. Considering that 11 of them have to participate means that some of them will be easy targets. Heart will be by far the most dangerous due to her extreme healing capabilities. You will definitely want to keep Peach or Sword in reserve to deal with her. Beauty is also problematic because of her ability to manufacture weapons and I have no doubt that she will retain that ability. Most of us fight with just our fists and feet, which are not a good match for magic swords, axes and what else she is capable of. Pine is dangerous because of her Domination ability. She can essentially force someone to commit suicide."
"Achoo!" Nozomi sneezed loudly, interrupting Reika's strategy meeting. Just like on the light team, the dark team was holding a strategy meeting with a blue Cure taking the lead. "Sorry!"
"Do not worry, I was finished." Reika smiled at Nozomi. Thinking about her, Dream and Miyuki are quite close now, are they not? Perhaps there is something more to their relationship than meets the eye?
"Because I'll totally get booted out of the penthouse later today, everyone is welcome to come up and help me empty the bar!" Erika wanted to make use of the penthouse for as long as she could. With the current rules for battle, she was sitting out a round because this whole gravity thing plus no ranged attacks were a real bummer for her.
"You just want to leave a mess for whoever gets the penthouse next." Yami ruffled Erika's hair and continued doing so even when Erika tried to resist and get away. Oh, being tall is great. I'm glad I'm Yuri's sis and not Erika's.
"Damn, busted." Erika didn't sound the tiniest bit remorseful. "No, no, it's a test! To check if rooms persist between people living there and stuff. What kind of awful person would intentionally leave the clean up to someone else?"
"You would," Tsubomi, Yuri and Yami all said in the same breath.
"Such negativity, much accusation, very mean, wow. Ouch! Hey, Urara! What the heck was that for?!" Erika was slapped in the back of her head.
"Do you think you're the only one that was on social media?" Urara was, to the surprise of everyone that knew, well acquainted with stuff like that. Making it as a musician wasn't just all about the music anymore.
"I had a feeling it was something like that." Tsubomi didn't really approve of how much time Erika spent browsing some questionable websites, most of which she couldn't remember the names of.
"It's culture, culture! New Japanese culture! It's not my fault you're all lagging behind the trends!" Erika defended her extensive 2ch and twitter browsing.
Urara raised her hand again and made a fist. "Memes are not a trend but a derailment of such."
"Boo! Buzzkill!" Erika puffed up her cheeks and retreated behind Yami in an attempt to get away from Urara.
"I'll kill your buzz alright if you keep complaining." Urara stared at Erika with her eyes wide open. She was basically Erika's height, which made her pretty short compared to Yuri and Yami, who were like a towering wall between herself and the blue Cure.
"Are you sure you want to spent your time throwing empty threats at me? Your girlfriend is walking off without you, you know!" Erika pointed towards the skyscraper, where Muse was just entering through the front door.
Urara briefly looked at the entrance and decided that she didn't give a shit. "Stopping your meme spouting ass comes first!"
"I can't tell if they get along or not." Ellen watched Lemonade chase Marine around the plaza. She could probably catch her right away if she transformed and used her powers, but… I think she knows that would be taking it too far.
Grabbing her partner's hand, Setsuna tugged a little. She wanted Ellen to teach her the bass a little more. She wasn't really in a mood to go go the penthouse and chances were that they could have some alone time in the practice room. "If they really disliked each other, they wouldn't banter like that. Let's go."
They were not the only ones that were going somewhere. Mana and her group were waiting in the lobby. They couldn't enter the penthouse without Marine. Ripples from a conversation earlier that morning were still taking hold of conversation now.
"How can you just give up all of that, Alice?" Regina gestured wildly in Mana's direction, who looked away, a little coy and mildly embarrassed at how much Regina was gesturing and emphasizing.
"Mana understands. Am I right, Mana?" Alice maintained a positive attitude despite this development. "But I can give you an explanation if you would like, Regina."
"Alice is not the only one that is letting go of Mana, now that things have changed." Aguri, Ange now, had cut her relationship with Mana off as well, just like Alice had done earlier in the morning. "And I imagine Alice's reason is similar to mine."
"Let's hear it then!" Regina was really eager to hear what in the world could move someone to no longer desire Mana.
Rikka groaned by herself. In a way, she was really glad to have Regina by her side again. Ange and Alice too. But she had forgotten how stubborn Regina could be. She was standing there with Mana, holding hands. She was somewhat familiar with the lobby now but it was still difficult for her to maneuver the complex without help, especially since many of the other Cures didn't really reveal themselves and their positions through talking the way Mana and the others did.
"Shall I go first?" Alice was mildly amused by this situation. Mana seemed to understand, maybe intuitively, maybe because she herself knew what exactly her relationship with Alice and Ange was like.
"By all means." Despite being so intimately connected with Regina, Ange often didn't understand at all what her other half was thinking.
"You and Rikka unconditionally love everything about Mana. For me, it was primarily being attracted to Mana's formidable strength as a leader and her beauty. Me being with Mana provided her with emotional support that all of us so desperately needed during our own time, in a world that is no more. And for me, I felt happy that someone I admired and desired would rely on me like that. It was give and take, fundamentally different from how Rikka selflessly serves Mana or how Mana indulges you, Regina." Alice was much smarter than people often gave her credit for. Not on the level of Rikka, but she was quite capable of rationalizing emotions and relationships. "Because this emotional support is no longer necessary, I decided to seek something more… substantial and exclusive. I would never regret our times together but I am confident that among all these women here I will find someone I can love in the same way that Rikka and you love Mana."
Regina, Rikka and Mana were red as a blister. Regina in particular was terribly embarrassed somehow. How can she say that stuff without even blinking?! Business people are scary as hell!
Ange was far less embarrassed and continued. "For me personally, Mana was always someone I admired and wanted to be with because I aspired to be like her. I gave me solace to see that Mana, when with me, was not the fearless, invincible leader that could stand up to any evil but just a beautiful woman with a heart that had its frail moments, like the rest of us. This discrepancy between admired ideal and truthful existence is what attracted me to her. Mana knows that among all of us, our romance was the one that was the weakest and I am sure that it wouldn't have endured for much longer. I love Makoto and she loves me, which is why I decided to break things off before the situation became awkward."
Her too! I am pretty damn honest about my feelings but they're saying all that stuff and not even turning red! Aren't they embarrassed at all? Do they have no shame?! It didn't occur to Regina that of all people there, she was most likely the most shameless.
"Satisfied, Regina?" Rikka knew where approximately the blonde was and grabbed her hand. "Can we talk about something else now?"
"Would it not be fair if you and Regina explained how exactly it is that you two seem to be in love with each other almost as much as you are in love with Mana?" Alice could be a little mean at times.
Regina pulled Rikka so hard that the blue Cure stumbled forward and landed right in Regina's arms. "Mana and Rikka are both my partners. I'm not thinking about it all logical like you two, I just love them." And to put some emphasis behind it, Regina kissed the blind woman right there, in the middle of the lobby.
What was intended as only a show of affection turned into something else when Rikka took control from Regina the way she usually did. First, Rikka freed herself from Regina's embrace, putting one arm around the blonde's neck, using her other hand to intertwine her fingers with Regina's, Rikka pushed against her second lover. They were the same height but Rikka was bustier and because her other senses were so much sharper than normal, she could feel immediately how turned on Regina became. Tiny twitches of her fingers, the heat rushing to her hand and face, the little nubs that poked through Regina's black tank top.
Forcing her tongue into Regina's mouth, Rikka pushed more, taking a quarter of a step forward while Regina retreated, unable to break free in either direction. She usually kept her eyes wide open, at least when she kissed Mana, but with Rikka she closed them.
Rikka broke away from the blonde when she heard someone with heels approach the group. Little strings of saliva dissipated into the air as she pulled away from Regina, licking Regina's lips and then her own.
"I believe that was a point well explained." Alice still did not blush but she knew, any more than this and she would have. To see the usually subservient Rikka take control like that was quite something.
Regina still held hands with Rikka, refusing to let go. And now that she could see again, she also grabbed Mana's hand.
"I see Love is not the only one that has a beautiful girl on each arm." Miki was just passing through with Yuri, the two of them a little ahead of Yami, Erika and Tsubomi.
"Love… do you perhaps mean Peach?" Alice was still learning all the names. It was quite the undertaking, memorizing the first and Cure names of 32 people.
"Yes. Did you meet her on the other team yesterday? Lively, blonde, shoulder length hair?" Miki was curious to hear how Love was doing without Setsuna and Ellen.
"We had a brief chat. I was not aware she too was capable of captivating more than one girl." Alice thought that it was most curious that someone could emulate so well what Mana had achieved.
"Setsuna and Ellen. Passion and Beat, if that is easier to remember. Our Love has a penchant for girls that were originally enemies of us Cures." Miki knew that Love was completely okay with her saying this much. She was not a secretive person at all.
"With how much Rikka used to nag at Mana for overexerting herself with helping people, she might even quality as an enemy." Ange smirked and felt a sting in her heart when she realized that Rikka couldn't see that.
"We're going ahead, Nee-chan." Yami didn't even stop to talk to Yuri. Erika, Tsubomi and Yami walked past the group of seven and headed right for the elevator. I definitely want to go swimming again. I guess I need to go to my room and get my swimsuit. She hadn't bothered to wear it under her clothes today. It wasn't uncomfortable but she didn't really care that much. Going for a partner-look, black versus white, with Yuri was nice too. Yuri found it curious that among all of them, almost no one bothered to use any kind of honorific, but Yami did, almost as if to stand out on purpose. And she was right, Yami did it to stand out.
Alice didn't miss on the coordinated clothing. "A monochrome theme between sisters. Beautiful."
Yuri was a little embarrassed. The notion of having a sister had mostly set in now, but it was still somewhat strange, especially when others referred to her. It still didn't feel entirely real. "We'll be up in a minute." Yuri turned to Miki. This too still didn't feel too real to her. Ending things with Momoka without being able to tell her and moving on… it was terrible of her to do that, but she couldn't exactly call her. She still hadn't really done much with Miki either. Holding hands, some shallow kisses, that was it. With Momoka, it had always been Momoka who lead her on and took the initiative. Miki seemed to be holding back intentionally, probably wary of forcing herself on her new girlfriend.
"I have to say, tall girls are quite wonderful." Alice liked that about Mana. She was 172cm tall and from the looks of it, both… Miki and Yuri, were the same height as well. For a Japanese woman, that was quite tall. Alice herself was nine centimeters shorter than that, more in line with the majority of the girls, Cures, she had met here.
"I know. I love that about Yuri. It adds to her fantastic style, too." Miki was not very experienced with dating, even though she had heard a ton of advice material on the matter. So she was never sure just how much she should talk about how much she loved Yuri's looks and her cool demeanor.
She does have great style. But I wonder if she is self-conscious about her chest size. It seems to be quite common in the media and was also in nearly all the manga I read. Alice sometimes had a surprising lack of common sense.
Sasorina whistled. "Day condition just rolled over." After Tsubomi had brought her some rather delicious waffles early in the morning, while she had to mind the lobby, Sasorina was in quite a good mood.
Everyone was too surprised by the apparent niceness of the receptionist to continue their conversation. Rikka was the first to ask. "What does it say? I hope it isn't hiccups again. That was really unpleasant!"
"This might actually be problematic in it's own way." Miki could read the text all the way from the center of the lobby because she had good eyes. "Positive, All Cures are given a glimpse of powers they have yet to obtain, granting access to a new special ability." Miki read the text out loud.
Yuri wanted to know more about this. "Be right back." Because she had been holding hands with Miki, Yuri squeezed her girlfriend's hand and let go, walking over to the reception. "Sasorina, are we granted access to that power immediately?"
"Huh? Uh… honestly, I have no idea. Do you feel any new, awesome power?" Sasorina was quite surprised to see Cure Moonlight talk to her directly. They hadn't exactly passed on good terms last time. Although apparently it was time to let bygones be bygones.
Yuri transformed, took a deep breath and focused on her energy within. I don't feel any different from before. Standing there for fifteen seconds, Moonlight turned back into just Yuri and shook her head. "Nothing."
"So it's probably just for battle. Inconvenient, I guess? I don't make the rules and stuff." Sasorina wanted to keep things peaceful. After pushing any resentment she had aside, things weren't so bad. Just very boring. But her entertainment was just walking through the front door. Honoka had come back with three packs of cards. She was still working off the punishment of scoring the lowest in the last battle, although the work was mostly just keeping Sasorina company.
Up in the penthouse, Erika was already making the most of not participating in the match that day. The door to the patio, the veranda, was closed because it was not warm enough outside. Yami was keeping Erika company but laying off the alcohol because she was registered for the battle. Tsubomi was in the sauna, alone, because she wanted to clear her mind before the battle later that day.
"Hey, Yuri-nee!" Yami heard the elevator ding, knelt on the couch and looked over the backrest. "Bring your girlfriend, we need more players for poker!"
"I was hoping to use the pool." And upon saying that out loud, Miki realized that her swimsuit was in her own room, downstairs. "I suppose I can play a round."
"Watch out, Erika likes to cheat." Yuri had absolutely no intention of wearing that dastardly swimsuit again. She was proud of her figure, small chest or not, and she decidedly marched towards the pool and the same wardrobe that she knew the others had gotten their swimsuits from.
"I do not like to cheat!" I do cheat though, because I like to win. "We still need at least one more. Tsubomi should come out of the sauna already, she'll wither away if she stays in too long." Erika waited and hoped for a reaction. "Get it, wither, because she is Blossom."
Yami grabbed a pack of cards, one of several that Erika had bought, and hit Erika in the head with it. "Your puns are awful and so are you."
"Who are you calling puny!" Erika was hit by Yami again and Miki figured she'd rather go watch Yuri swim than endure Erika's puns any longer. Walking over to the pool, Miki heard the elevator ding but only gave it a passing look. The group surrounding Cure Heart had decided to come up.
Entering the pool area, Miki was surprised to find Yuri by the water, not in it, and in her regular clothes, minus her pumps, to boot. "I thought you wanted to swim?"
Yuri's expression revealed intense annoyance with something and for lack of better options, Miki figured it was something she said. "I mean, I am okay if you don't want to. I will happily spend some time just foot bathing with you."
"Erika got me good. Or maybe she is not even aware of it." Yuri was secretly about to explode in volatile anger, but she didn't want to leave Miki with the impression she was the violent type or had a short temper. "It looks… like..." Yuri said the next few words so quietly that Miki couldn't hear them.
There are only so many things that Erika could have done. If she isn't swimming, it is most likely related to the changing room. Maybe she cleaned out the wardrobe and removed all the swimsuits. But for what purpose? Walking past Yuri and opened the closet, Miki understood. Now that is simply inconvenient and a really terrible coincidence. Within the closet was only one swimsuit. Her own. That lead Miki to a pretty obvious conclusion. They each got one swimsuit and that was it. No replacements. And Yuri wasn't very… appreciative of her swimsuit.
Erika, the source of Yuri's current frustration, was losing badly at poker. How, how, how is this happening?! Playing against Yami, Regina and Mana, Erika was constantly losing hands to Regina, who was almost unrealistically lucky at dropping and drawing new cards.
"You have a pool here, is that right? Do you mind if I use it?" Alice didn't have the chance to do so the day before, when almost everyone had been up at the penthouse on the light side.
"Sure, sure, go ahead. Yuri and Miki are probably splashing about so you gotta take turns if you wanna swim and not just soak. Swimsuits are in the closet next to the changing room. Just pick any, there's enough for everyone." Erika was still blissfully unaware that this was not the case. I actually wanna go and watch… what size are those melons? Ace is pretty big but this is insane. They must be as big as Komachi's.
Regina flipped over the cards for the next round. She and Mana were sitting at one end of the table while Erika and Yami were on the other end, on the couch. "She is single. But if you keep staring like that, she might charge you." Pfft, her face! Regina couldn't hold it in and laughed at Erika's surprised expression. "But I know what you mean. Alice is pretty stacked. I prefer Mana and Rikka, though. When they get as big as Alice's, they start to get in the way."
"Tsubomi is a little on the small side, but I think it suits her best. I had plenty of time to watch and touch when I used Itsuki as a model. Hers are pretty big too." Erika was sensing some affinity with Regina.
"Just what we needed, someone Regina can talk to about breasts, all day long." Rikka groaned. She was sitting between Mana and Regina, her hands on their legs. It helped her stay absolutely calm. When she was in a room she didn't really know, she always felt somewhat nervous. But like this, with both of her lovers right by her sides, she didn't really feel the dread she felt out in the open, in the unknown.
"Hey. You like to talk about science stuff, Alice likes to talk about business stuff and I happen to like breasts." Regina didn't really see the need for any greater justification than this.
"I guess you drew the short stick in that department, though." Erika smirked wide. "Yami too." And then, Erika found herself in some serious danger. Yami grabbed Erika, the short girl's head in her armpit, rubbing Erika's head with her knuckles while Regina stepped over the table, making a mess of the cards, and started to tickle Erika.
Ange couldn't keep watching the chaos and headed for the sauna. This blue Cure was much more amiable with others using her living room as they pleased, compared to Milky Rose, that was. As she walked, Ange did feel slightly bad. Regina had a fantastic butt, but it was true, she was a little flat, a little flatter than Makoto even. Compared to herself, Regina's other half, the blonde had every reason to be jealous, considering how much she focused on breasts.
The elevator let off another ding and this time it was Urara and Ako. They didn't even bother to ask what the chaos at the couch was all about and headed straight towards the pool, just in time to catch Alice diving into the pool head first. The swimsuits, plural because she had run into the same problem that Egret had on the first day, that Alice had picked out were yellow and black.
Urara didn't really bother to stare, even though Alice was one of the bustiest girls she had ever seen, right up there with Komachi. Picking out swimsuits for themselves, Urara went with something flirty and rebellious. A bikini that had cross shaped straps in the front and the back. The sides of the bikini panties were also cut into thin straps to give it a more exotic look. Ako on the other hand was not finding anything that would just fit, so she opted for a black one-piece with a large cutout on the back and a smaller one up front, showing off her back and midriff.
The two didn't bother to take turns changing either. Meanwhile, Miki had convinced Yuri to just wear the swimsuit, even though she didn't like it. But letting a swimsuit and false embarrassment keep her from swimming was just a bad idea. Yuri swam from side to side, mildly annoyed by the extra drag of the swimsuit.
Miki watched from the sidelines, wearing a somewhat risque blue bikini herself. It was nothing special, just pretty revealing. If she had known that they wouldn't get a chance to pick another swimsuit, she would have gone for a competitive style one. She was used to showing off her body, but now that she was dating Yuri, she wanted to cut down on showing off, reserving the right to see that side of her for just her girlfriend.
I wonder if we could ask someone that hasn't picked one yet to give her something else. But if the system goes as far as removing all swimsuits but hers from the closet when she opens it… probably not a big chance. I hope she gets used to it. Miki just watched Yuri, her feet in the water. It was always a bit hot in the pool room, as if it was being heated a little too much, so it was fine to just sit around in a swimsuit. I can't believe I am thinking about this but… what size are they now? Yuri said there were inflatable parts sewn into the swimsuit but the way they're moving and everything they look pretty real. D… maybe E? Big in any case. And it doesn't suit her. I prefer her the way she looks normally, like a serene Valkyrie, clad in that aura of hers that makes her so breathtaking.
Ako was now swimming as well while Alice got out of the pool and headed straight for Miki. "Do you mind if I sit with you?"
"Not exactly a spot I can say is claimed." Miki didn't really know much about the new girls yet. They had a lot of baggage from their past but this one was dealing quite well with it.
"If I am not mistaken, the beautiful lady with the dark purple hair is your partner, is that right?" Alice wanted to make as much small talk as possible, to get to know these people. She was going to spend a lot of time with them and she knew so very little about them. To them, she, Mana and the others were the new arrivals.
"Her name is Yuri and yes, she's my girlfriend. You're with Cure Heart, right?"
"Well, a very recent development has resulted in myself becoming available again. But it seems like I am one of very few."
"I wouldn't say that. Let's see… on this team it's only Nozomi, Yami and Inori. On the other side, there is also Bright, Windy, Peace and Happy. I don't think they're going out but Luminous and Rose are definitely going to be dating soon."
"It's difficult to put faces to those names. I do remember Happy, Luminous and Rose."
"Peace is that super tiny girl with blond hair. She draws manga or something. Uses electricity." Miki couldn't really explain too well who was who without referring to them by hair color, height and sometimes their cure color and the way they did battle.
"Oh, yes, her. A very cute thing. Or actually, a very sexy thing, I suppose. It feels like a misnomer to call someone like that cute." Alice had a very good memory regarding what people looked like. Not so much in putting a name to their face right away.
"I think her face is more important than her breasts." Now that she brought it up, I can't not think about Peace's breasts. It's like trying to not think of pink elephants after someone tells you not to.
"A beautiful face is very important too." Alice conceded that. "But in bed, there are a few things that matter more than others. I'm sure you can agree on that."
I can't, really. I am not exactly highly experienced in that regard. "Well, yes."
"I just noticed this, but I was under the impression that your partner, Yuri, was more-"
"A prank from Erika that had unintended side effects."
Alice smiled politely. "Worse things could have happened."
Back in the actual penthouse, Erika threw down her cards. "Full house, kings and sevens!"
"Four of a kind, Queens." Yami had been sure she would win this hand.
Regina threw down her cards. She only had two pair. Mana only had one pair. Yami had some insane beginners luck at Texas hold 'em. Since they couldn't bet for favor, they bet for favors. The highest hand could give the lowest hand an order.
"I guess it's my turn. I'm ready." Mana was able to forget all about fighting and everything else when she played a competitive game like this. Even though she was very bad at it.
"Go to the private room, lock the door, undress, change into your cure form, undress again and put on your normal clothes!" Yami had some bizarre ideas. Erika had already suffered this treatment and was now sitting around with her long, wavy, cyan colored hair as Cure Marine but in her super normal Erika clothes.
"I can just do this instead." Mana took a deep breath and switched into Cure mode without actually overriding her clothes. "It's something I learned a couple years ago."
"You gotta teach me how to do that!" Erika absolutely wanted to be able to do that. It would be so useful!
"S-Sure. I didn't think it would be any use to you girls." Mana was very good with helping people but even she had just a little bit of trouble with the overbearing Erika.
"Next round. I am gonna win this one!" Regina collected the cards and shuffled. It was Mana's turn to deal, and after giving each player two cards, she dealt the board. Ace of spades, ace of hearts and three of spades. They played with a strange variation rule because they couldn't really bet. Each player could re-draw one or two cards once but only before the fourth and fifth board card was played. Regina put down both of her cards and drew two new ones. They were just as bad as the others.
While the four of them were playing, with Rikka still sitting between Mana and Regina, there were more Cures arriving. Kanade and Reika this time, the two of them a little uneasy around each other because they still hadn't been able to talk to their respective partners.
Reika headed towards the sauna, that Ace had just left, while Kanade headed towards the girls playing cards. "Poker?" She was not that good at card games but she knew at least the rules of a bunch of them.
"Do you want in? Lowest hand takes orders from the highest hand." Erika explained while trying to look all serious and mysterious, which just didn't work very well while she was sitting around as a Cure in civilian clothing.
"I don't have anything else to do, so I guess… but you're not going to make me do anything lewd, right?"
"Nothing big. Maybe flash your boobs to everyone at the table, though!" Erika had some very distinct preferences. "By the way, have you seen Tsubomi?"
Kanade looked around and spotted someone in a bathrobe on the bed. "I think she is taking a nap."
"She's such a spoilsport. Okay, Yami, move over, make some space and don't you dare look at my cards! You can start with the next round, Kanade."
Kanade just watched for that round. The rules were fairly simple, all things considered. Erika won and Yami actually lost that round. "He… he… he… you're at my mercy now, Black Lily!"
Black Lily? Is that the name of Moonlight's sister? Kanade was a little out of the loop with current events because without Rin around she just didn't have the courage to intrude on other groups all that much.
"Lemme touch your boobs!" Erika expected Yami to hit her with the cards again but to her surprise, Yuri's sister just got off the couch. "No leaving the table without cleaning your debt!"
"Just gonna go and get something." Yami got past Kanade and made for the elevator. "Don't worry, I'm not dodging my debt."
"There she goes." Regina was leaning onto the table, looking at the elevator close. "Really, touching her boobs? What are you, a fourteen year old boy in middle school? Well, you're about as tall-"
"Comments about height are forbidden!" Erika crossed her arms. "Boo boo boo!"
"Should I play for… Black Lily while she's gone?" Kanade hoped that this game of cards wasn't going to fall apart because Marine and one of the new girls were arguing.
"It's your turn to deal then." Erika collected the cards and handed the deck over to Kanade. She didn't really have any attachment towards this argument. She just didn't like comments about her height. At least I'm taller than Yayoi.
"So everyone gets two cards and then I put down three on the table, right? Any order I have to give people cards?"
"Everyone gets one. Start with the one to your right and go counter-clockwise. Then everyone gets a second." Mana was helpful and explained the dealing process.
Dealing out cards, Kanade had an awful hand. Heart 2 and Diamond 9 with Diamond Q, Club 6 and Heart 9 on the table. She had one pair, but that was not going to get her very far.
Playing the round, Mana won with a three of a kind. Erika sabotaged herself, discarding the Diamond 5 and Diamond A she had been dealt originally. The fourth and fifth card had both been diamond suit, which would have given her a flush.
"Tell us an embarrassing story about yourself." Mana was just playing along with the general theme of the game.
"Let's see..." Erika was deep in thought for all of five seconds. "Okay. So one time, Yuri invited Tsubomi and me to a reveal of a new line of clothes from a different designer. Gotta check out the competition and everything. So we put on our best clothes, went there, but couldn't find Yuri at all. And for some reason, there was no runway for the models either. So after some 30 minutes of waiting and thinking they would just do it on the floor, some labels do that, they suddenly announced something about cutting the cake or whatever."
Regina was already laughing, but covering her mouth. She could see where this was going.
"So, I figured, Cake? Sign me up! and we sort of got in line. And while I stand there in line, someone asks me if I am Kurumi Erika, and I'm all Of course I am. And then she asks me if I am okay, being at this wedding instead of that new design reveal of the competition that is across the street. Turns out we got the wrong side of the street! Whoops."
"How did you not figure out that you were at a wedding?" Kanade was a little taken aback by this. She thought Marine was much smarter than that.
"I was thinking about clothes the entire time and everyone was wearing pretty fancy clothes. Not exactly wedding stuff. But it all turned out okay, the cake was delish."
"So you still got some cake?!" Regina couldn't believe that girl. "Did nobody notice you weren't invited?"
"Nope! Impressive, right?" Erika was somehow proud of this.
"Not exactly what I would call it..." Rikka was impressed alright, by how brazen this Erika girl was.
Erika had been so focused on telling her story that she didn't notice that Yami was back, the tall girl leaning over the couch and pushing her significant chest on Erika's head. "Now you can feel me up all you want."
Mana looked away and tried to suppress the growing reflex to laugh. Not because of what Yami was doing but because of how perplexed Erika looked, the blue haired girl completely speechless.
"You're cheating!" Erika complained loudly and turned on the couch, kneeling and energetically grabbing Yami's fake chest anyway. "Damn, they're way more lifelike than I thought! And pretty big, too!" Her face, an annoyed expression, and her words didn't quite match up, which caused Yami to smirk. But that smirk was wiped off her face pretty quickly because Erika was not just touching her boobs but really going to town on her.
"E-Erika, c-can you stop?" Yami was starting to turn slightly red and feel strange. Fake or not, the swimsuit that was responsible for the expansion was sitting right on her skin, so in a way, Erika was still touching her breasts. And all the rubbing and moving was really turning her on.
"Why? It's not like you're feeling it! It's just clothes!" Erika could have the odd dense moment when it suited her instincts.
Regina got on the table, kneeling, and grabbed Erika by the back of her collar and pulled her off the couch, making her land roughly on her butt. "She is feeling it, open your eyes you molestation monster."
Yami was breathing a little faster than normal and had a bit of color to her face. I didn't think she would actually touch me that much. W-What do I do? My heart is beating like crazy now… I should just get back in the game and ask Yuri about this later… or maybe I'm better off asking Regina about it. Yuri seems like the type that wouldn't give me a straight answer about this stuff. "Count me in for the next round." Sitting at the long end of the table, between Regina and Erika, Yami was still wearing the same clothes as before. A black mini-skirt, black t-shirt and sneakers. And underneath that, the swimsuit that Erika had basically forced on her. She wasn't that bothered by it, so she just kept it on, even though Yuri would probably be mad again.
It was Erika's turn to deal now and with five players, it became a relatively risky game now. Yami won, still earning the benefits of beginners luck, and Kanade lost. "Please… go easy on me." Kanade definitely wouldn't be able to take something like what had just happened with Erika and Yami.
"Something easy… you know your measurements and stuff, right? Height, weight, three sizes, cup size, out with it!"
"E-Eh?!" T-That is going easy? Kanade was terribly embarrassed by her weight. She felt a little heavy for her size. "I'm 161cm tall and-" Kanade paused when Erika cursed. I guess I am taller than her. "My… three sizes are 84, 61, 87." The blonde was now blushing pretty intensely. W-Why did it have to be my measurements?! "I'm an E cup."
"No omitting your weight!" Thinking about it, I don't know my own measurements. I should ask Erika to take them. Maybe.
"..." Kanade whispered so quietly that nobody could hear her. And when everyone looked curious, she blushed even harder. "53 Kilos!"
"Eh, that's totally normal. What's there to blush about?" Erika didn't see the issue at all. "Being underweight is totally not good, believe me. Tsubomi basically has to feed me at work so I don't starve to death."
"You're a designer, right? You gotta take my measurements later. I haven't had time for that in years. Mana and Rikka too." Regina looked at her partners. "No refusing!"
"I was not going to. Don't be so pushy, Regina." Rikka looked her straight in the eye, metaphorically speaking. "You just want to know if your butt got even bigger."
"Hey!" Regina poked Rikka's cheek with a bit more force than was playful. "You told me you like my butt!"
"I do. But I know you're worried that all the growth that Ange got on her chest went to your butt in your case."
"It's so unfair! We're supposed to be half of the princess so why did she get all the tits and I just got the booty?!"
"Another round?" Yami wanted to steer the topic away from breasts and butts. It felt like that topic encroached on them constantly when Erika was around.
"Your turn to deal." Erika stared at Regina. "I'll take your measurements free of charge. After a few more rounds. I'll take all the measurements, from everyone!"
A hundred stories down, and beyond the fog, were Setsuna and Ellen, accompanied by Hibiki and Love. "No, you need to move your fingers like this." Ellen was still teaching Setsuna, who had good posture and stamina but was doing a little poorly in regards to moving her fingers to hit specific strings.
Love was taking a break and just watching Ellen and Setsuna from behind her drums. "It's kinda adorable to see Ellen teaching you, Setsuna. She is your junior, in more than one way."
"A-Adorable?" Ellen felt like this was a bit of an exaggeration.
"I know what Love means. The way you try really hard to explain this to me despite it being only vaguely similar to your own instrument. I really appreciate it." Casually kissing Ellen on the cheek, the guitarist blushed and turned away, only to stand face to face with Hibiki, whose smug grin was not helping.
"If I look at you three it makes me glad you're not like the two surrounding March. You should have seen what went down on our side this morning." Hibiki could say things like that now, because Itsuki wasn't around to reprimand her over it. "Sunny blew up. And then she blew up. I don't know the full story, but it looks like March dumped her out of nowhere. Majorina was pissed as hell because she burned down a table."
"Did something happen between them?" Setsuna didn't really know March, or anyone from that team, very well.
"I dunno. Only Rin was brave, or stupid, enough to go after her and try to talk." Hibiki shrugged. "Love, do you know anything?"
"Nothing about what happened with Sunny, but Karen tried organizing everyone to tackle that Test of Courage quest later today since she doesn't want to keep imposing on the penthouse for the pool. We need everyone to sign up for that though." Love had been asked by Karen to relay that request. "Setsuna, I think you should talk to Beauty about what happened between March and Sunny."
"You think so?" Love likes to meddle but… is it really our place to tell her about this? We barely know them.
"I think Love's right. Just imagine the fallout if Beauty snaps. Beware the quiet ones." Hibiki stretched, ready to get back to practice.
"You read too much Manga, Hibiki." Ellen couldn't believe what she was hearing. "But I guess telling her can't really hurt. Secrets just cause problems." I can only imagine how things would have turned out for me if Setsuna had kept secrets from Love.
"By the way, how is Kanade doing? Is she moping?" Hibiki was just a tiny bit worried about her since Rin was on the light team.
Ellen looked at Setsuna for a long minute, and it made Hibiki suspicious. "Okay, what did she mess up now?"
"We had a big party in the penthouse on the first day. I don't know what exactly happened but it looks like Kanade and Beauty got a little too close while drunk."
Hibiki pinched her nose bridge with her thumb and index finger. "Really? That same Beauty that March is most likely gonna break up with since she already dumped Sunny?"
"Everyone was pretty drunk." Ellen did feel bad for Kanade but what else was she supposed to say? They had already told Love that they had mistaken Mana for her on the morning after the party, and being hung over had been their excuse for that, too.
"I mean, that's how I met Itsuki but still. Hah… Kanade, you have the worst luck."
"You think Rin is going to break up with her over it?" Ellen felt bad for bringing this up now.
"I have no idea. Maybe? I don't know her that well." Hibiki shrugged again.
Love got off her seat and walked over to Ellen and Setsuna, hugging both of them at the same time. "Splitting couples up and keeping them on different teams is really causing some big issues."
"Are you lonely without us?" Setsuna actually liked that she could say us instead of me. Ellen's happiness was important to her, just like Love's.
"You bet I am. But I made friends with Cure Sword this morning. It's something."
"Now I wanna leave and find Itsuki." Hibiki was happy for Ellen but she was a little selfish too.
"We have 90 minutes before we need to be at the arena. It feels a little surreal, knowing that we'll be fighting each other then." Love gently poked Setsuna's cheek. "I won't hold back, you know."
"Am I supposed to be scared? The last time you beat me was when I was still Eas." Setsuna turned her head and softly bit Love's finger.
"Should we end practice? Half of us aren't here anyway. What are Regina and Ange even doing? They're free, right?" Hibiki really just wanted to go and spend some time with Itsuki now. There was always the small risk that either of them was going to be forced onto the other team by the battle exchange.
"They're stuck to Mana." Setsuna called her by her first name by reflex because they had spent some time together. And Mana was a bit like Love, too. Less nosy about the love affairs of others, though.
"Majorina said we don't have forever to put together a song and stuff, so tell them we they can't just blow off practice." Hibiki figured that Love was too nice to say things like that, and Karen wasn't around right now. So she said it.
"I'll tell them." Setsuna was much better at talking to new people than Ellen.
Hibiki left ahead of the other three, who stayed behind for as long as possible. The room would eventually kick them out, but this was the only way they could get some time alone.
Love sat down in one of the few spaces in the back, leaning against the wall. They had to get a little creative, now that there were three people in their relationship, but Love had no trouble at all making it work.
It was Ellen's turn today to be in the center. Sitting on Love's lap, Ellen tensed up a little when she felt Setsuna embrace her from behind, squeezing tight, Setsuna's legs spread wide so she could be as close as possible to both Ellen and Love.
It had been long enough that Ellen was now completely comfortable with the loving gaze with which Love looked at her now. But still, it made her heart beat faster. Love was just as beautiful as Setsuna, just in different ways. And even though she felt like she belonged with them, she couldn't help but get excited and tense whenever they shared an intimate moment. She was only sixteen after all.
Setsuna's arms slowly going around Ellen's stomach, sliding under the black top she was wearing, Ellen shuddered at the sensation of her fingers touching her skin, and she shuddered again when Love put her fingers on her chin, making her look down ever so slightly.
Her heartbeat was hammering loud in her ears when she kissed Love. Unlike Setsuna, she never started slow, always full of passion, which was a little funny to Ellen. Feeling Love's tongue in her mouth, Ellen responded with her eyes closed. She didn't have the nerve to look straight into those intense, pink eyes. They made her feel weak in the knees without even touching her.
With the lewd noises that Ellen and Love were producing in front of her, Setsuna pulled Ellen's long hair to the side, kissing and licking her nape, one of her weak points. The trembling of her body, the slight twitching of her legs and back all told Setsuna how much the girl liked it. Moving her hands upwards and pulling the shirt up with them, Setsuna revealed the cute but plain black bra that Ellen wore. She didn't try to take her shirt off completely, just in case someone might come, and because Ellen got very embarrassed very easily.
Love and Ellen were still locked into a mildly sloppy, passionate kiss, hot air running over their faces, exhaled wildly, no less than their motions, their movements. Ellen couldn't go on without taking a few deep breaths, and backed away just enough for their faces to part ways. Ellen had barely taken a single breath when her breath got stuck. Setsuna was massaging her breasts, gently, through the bra.
The blonde pushed Ellen further back by her shoulders, forcing Setsuna to hug her from behind so they wouldn't fall over. Bending over, Love slid Ellen's bra over her breasts, her still wet lips grazing the hot skin.
"Ellen.." Setsuna whispered to her lover, asking for her to turn her head. While Love was intrusive and passionate, Setsuna was gentle and sensual. Nibbling on Ellen's lower lip for a few seconds, Setsuna kissed her softly, normally, without her tongue. And with Setsuna, it was Ellen who forced her built up passion on her partner. The kiss stopped and Ellen breathed heavily through her nose when Setsuna pulled up her own shirt, revealing a fancy red and black bra that was quickly pulled out of the way, her hard nipples poking eagerly against Ellen's bare back.
Love left tiny trails of saliva all over Ellen's chest. Moving further up, Love had the torch passed to her by Setsuna, reigniting the fiery kiss from before, without letting Ellen change her posture, still leaned back and firmly resting against Setsuna's chest. With her arms free, Ellen pulled down the zipper of Love's vest, a pink sports bra underneath, which she quickly dealt with and pulled up. She didn't need to have her eyes open for this. Pressing her hands hard against Love's breasts, Ellen used that chance to break out of the kiss and attack Love's shoulders, forcing that vest off her.
Setsuna used this chance and reached for the back of Love's head, which she could barely reach, pulling her as close as possible. Love was very sensitive and gasped when she felt Ellen's nipples touch her own, rubbing against them as Setsuna kept pulling her in.
Ellen thought her mind was going to go blank when she felt Love's hand go under her black skirt, two of her fingers rubbing over her black panties. When she was with Love and Setsuna, she got wet really easily. And she wanted to return the pleasure. Reaching behind her, Ellen realized that she couldn't unbutton Setsuna's jeans with just one hand or behind her back, so she forced her hand inside from above. Silk… Ellen felt the smooth material of Setsuna's panties and forced her hand under them.
Setsuna was fiercely blushing by now. While Ellen was using her hands, Setsuna had started a powerful kiss with Love, right next to Ellen's head, their kissing noises almost amplified by the close vicinity. Each time their lips met and parted, they felt Ellen twitch a little. Love felt it through her breasts and stomach while Setsuna felt it on Ellen's back.
Forcing both Love and Setsuna apart, Ellen briefly stood up, while Love and Setsuna both adjusted their legs a little. Sitting down the opposite way of before, Ellen now faced Setsuna. Within seconds of sitting down, Love's arms were tightly wrapped around Ellen's waist, pulling her back so far that Setsuna had to move up a little.
Love and Ellen could feel each other's heartbeat, hammering against their chests. And as if she knew exactly what Ellen had been trying earlier, Love used her position to unbutton Setsuna's pants, even pulling them down just a little, enough to reveal her dark red panties.
Her red lingerie revealed, and her bra out of the way, Setsuna pushed up against Ellen, pressing her breasts against those of her partner, slowly moving up and down, their nipples rubbing against each other, each move like a sharp but pleasant pick from a needle.
Between the three of them, Setsuna's breasts were the biggest and Ellen's were the smallest, but that didn't bother either of them. Ellen moved her right leg over Setsuna's left and her left below Setsuna's right. She was good with her fingers, but she also had calluses on them from playing the guitar so much and she was a little ashamed of using them to make her lovers feel good.
Love caressed Ellen's nape, just like Setsuna had done earlier. And because she knew it turned Ellen on quite a bit, she purposefully moaned a little more than she usually would, right in the ear of the guitarist. She herself was really turned on as well and paused her caressing just long enough to slide her skirt a little up, far enough to make it easy to reach for her panties.
The youngest of the three noticed what Love was doing and reached to her back, right between Love's legs. She couldn't turn her head far enough to kiss Love, but she didn't need to. The drummer-in-training continued to cover her nape and neck in kisses. She only stopped to gasp for air when Ellen rubbed against her clit. She was immensely sensitive down there, which was why she always liked to have a lot of foreplay. Jumping right to sex meant it would be over really quickly.
Setsuna wanted more direct stimulation, not just tribadism with her panties still on, but taking them off now would ruin the mood. They probably didn't have a lot of time left within the room, so she started to move a little faster, which made Ellen bite her lower lip in surprise and excitement.
Love reached around Ellen's chest and firmly grabbed the girl's breasts, squeezing and groping pretty hard. Ellen throwing back her head, her long hair all over Love's face in passing, was Love's sign that she was doing it right.
Setsuna, needed her hands to support herself, was leaning back, but she didn't want to come like that. Pushing herself off the floor, just enough so she could sit up straight and lean forward, Love pulled away her hands when they were suddenly sandwiched between the breasts of her girlfriends. Love was so surprised by this that she called out for her by name. "Setsuna?"
Rubbing against Ellen with both breasts and crotch, Setsuna moved up even more, pressing Ellen firmly against Love's chest. Pulling Ellen's head towards her, making the youngest focus on her neck, Setsuna stuck out her tongue, a call sign for Love to kiss her.
Love's breasts were flattened by how hard she had to push against Ellen's back to get close enough to kiss Setsuna. And at the same time, Ellen got two fingers beneath Love's damp panties. Setsuna could feel how hard Love shook through their kiss when Ellen got two of her fingers into her partner.
Ellen came first, which caused her to twitch and shake, her fingers driving Love insane and right to the climax just seconds later. Setsuna came last and a little less intensely than her partners, but the erotic moaning from Love and Ellen more than made up for it. Setsuna grabbed hold of Ellen with both of her arms and moaned loudly as she came.
With both Love and Setsuna coming in front and behind her, Ellen came again just from hearing them. Trying to open her eyes and look at Setsuna, Ellen's mind was all blank. Love luckily rested against the wall, supporting Ellen and Setsuna alike, both of them leaned against each other and against Love together.
Setsuna was the first to regain some semblance of composure and transformed, her skirt tickling Ellen's oversensitive skin. "We should leave." With how much of a mess their clothes were, it would be easier to go out transformed.
Love switched over as well. "We should do it as Cures tomorrow." Love was never one to be afraid of voicing what kind of thing she wanted to try next.
"Love..." Setsuna was not terribly thrilled by that idea.
"I wanna try it." Ellen was a little more adventurous than Setsuna.
"You two… fine." Setsuna was still a little wobbly on her legs but stood up just fine. The room was no doubt going to kick them out any second now.
And sure enough, before Ellen could even turn around to kiss Love goodbye for that day, they were suddenly outside on the plaza. Once kicked out, there was no going back for that day.
"Setsuna! Ellen!" Nozomi was calling out to those two from the entrance of the skyscraper. Running over, Nozomi noticed that both of them looked a bit strange. "Are you okay? Did you practice too hard?"
"Things got a little intense during practice." Setsuna answered truthfully, even though she knew that Nozomi would misunderstand.
"The other team sent over a sign up form for the Test of Courage quest to unlock the beach. I'm going around finding everyone to sign up." Nozomi thought she smelled something strangely sweet. Is that their deodorant?
"A test of courage seems like a fun idea." Setsuna smiled at Nozomi and hoped the pink Cure didn't notice Ellen wiping her hand clean on her Cure outfit. I can't believe I agreed to having sex as Cures.
===DISSONANCE===
Miki stepped out in the arena, a massive circular field surrounded by a tribune, almost exactly like the Colosseum in Rome, Italy. And she faced a dangerous opponent right off the bat. Black. The aggression the system imposed on the fighters was a little weaker than usual because one versus one fights required some tactical thinking. And to add to that, she only just started to understand what that power was that she would one day be able to use freely, that glance in the future. The Empress of Spades. It was her suit, her ability.
With a loud gong, the match started. Miki started running, sprinting towards Black right away, and so did her opponent. Miki outsped Black and they first clashed a little closer to the eastern edge of the arena. Miki's height gave her the edge, enough to aim right at Black's head with one of her kicks, the attack blocked by both of Black's arms. The two sized each other up before they retreated, Miki pulling back her leg, standing tall in front of Black while Nagisa took a combat stance that emphasized her arms.
And from one second to another, they clashed again. Leg versus arms, Berry versus Black, they exchanged blows, first one, then a dozen, then dozens in mere seconds. And slowly, Black was forcing Miki back, each of her punches, of her blocks, just slightly more powerful than Miki's kicks.
Miki stood on one foot, spun around, her other leg as high as Black's chest and hit Nagisa's arms with her heel. "Spade Impact!" Nagisa was thrown back, sliding over the ground. She could feel the internal damage. And Miki was upon her in an instant. Hammering her knee against Black's chin, leaning back and kicking her in the throat with the same leg, Miki took over the initiative. Nagisa stumbled back from the assault but could deal with the damage because she was very tough.
"Spade-" Miki attempted another kick to Black's chest but this time her leg was caught by Black, who had stepped backwards, just out of range.
"Blacklight Devastation!" Miki's leg took the full force of the energy blast that was contained just within Nagisa's hands. She underestimates me. But I can do more than just blow up things.
Miki's center of balance was completely off and Nagisa pulled on her leg and attempted to whirl her through the air, but the second Miki's other leg left the ground, a 56 Kilos turned into 5600 Kilos and not even Nagisa could just lift something that heavy without preparing for it. Both of them crashed into the ground.
Miki recovered first. She couldn't use one of her legs for attacking anymore but that didn't matter. She had gotten a good idea of what exactly her future ability was going to do. She just needed a little break to use it properly. A break that Nagisa didn't look like she was going to give her. Running towards her, Nagisa grabbed Berry by her long hair, slamming her face into the ground while buckled over, and she kept running, grinding Berry against the rough ground.
Black suddenly fell when Miki grabbed one of her legs with both hands. "Spade Impact, Double!"
Nagisa fell to the ground and flipped over several times from the sheer force of the attack. Her shin was definitely broken but the pain was almost non-existent due to the battlefield. Still, it was impossible to stand on it like that. Standing on one leg, Nagisa changed her stance to a defensive one. The ability she had gotten from her future was useless for this. I can't use the Eternal Black without Honoka. Why couldn't future me come up with something better?
But this break, this change in stance, was all that Miki had waited for. Stretching out her hands, Miki channeled energy into them and drew a large spade into the air that glowed blue. "Empress of Spades."
Nagisa was nearly thrown off balance by just the gust of wind that gushed forth from Berry, whose hands and feet were covered completely by wildly frizzling blue energy. And just after blinking once, Miki had closed the more than ten meter gap between them, her foot about to connect with Nagisa's stomach. Crossing her arms and blocking the hit, Nagisa tried to endure. But it was like trying to stop a speeding bullet train with your bare hands. Nagisa was not lifted off the ground but the impact of the attack itself ruptured almost all of her internal organs instantly. Without gasp, without outcry, Nagisa just crumbled on the spot, her conscious erased on impact.
The Empress of Spades… what a terrifying attack. Sending enough energy into my opponent to attack every centimeter of their body from within, each with enough force to rival one of my Spade Impacts.
Nagisa vanished and the iron gates in the east opened, the second fighter from the light team already having been chosen. And of all people, it was Love. I won't be able to win against Love, not after just blowing my trump card and with one of my legs damaged.
But that was not the only problem. The gate in the north opened and through that stepped something that sent chills down Miki's spine. Cure Dream? No… that's…
"I am Nightmare!" Was the only thing the reflection said before rushed towards Miki.
Shit, shit, shit! Miki retreated backwards while Love was approaching from the other side. At least it looked like Love was having the same idea she had. Take out Nightmare first!
But that was easier said than done. Dodging the first blow of the reflection, Miki watched in shock as the mirror Cure caused the very ground to explode with black and pink energy. Pursuing Miki with the bloodthirsty attitude of a feral animal, Nightmare slammed Berry with an energy loaded punch, forcing her several meters backwards and burning the skin off of Miki's arms. Just how strong are these?
Love approached Nightmare from behind, suddenly stopping out of full sprint, using the momentum to whirl around thrice and slam both of her fists against the back of Nightmare's head, smashing the evil monster into the ground. Nightmare immediately tried to get up but Love stomped on her back, raised her other leg all the way up and stomped down on her. Trying to repeat the attack, Nightmare blasted the ground beneath her, without regard for her own safety. Peach was thrown off and Nightmare stood inside the crater she had just created.
Miki was there right when Nightmare, back on her feet, tried to direct her aggression towards Peach. Crossing her palms and putting them on Nightmare's face. Miki hoped that this would take her out. "Spade Impact, Double! Reverberation!" Nightmare was flung through the air like a sandbag and immediately crashed back into the ground. Miki didn't see any reason to stop until that monster was completely dead beyond doubt. "Spade-" Miki had to abort the attack because the Reverberation of the last one had damaged her arms. It created a ripple effect of the impact inside her enemy but it also created backlash from the impact itself. Before she could properly recover, Nightmare hit her with a blow, one that she blocked barely in the nick of time. Miki was forced several meters back by the force of the attack.
"Heart Blow!" Love had recovered and hit Nightmare in the back again. And this time she felt something crack and she felt relief. And that relief became a fatal mistake. With her guard down just for a second, Nightmare flung around and unloaded a massive blast of energy right into Love, blowing a huge hole clean through her stomach, big enough to fit a fist.
But Love didn't lose consciousness on the spot. Grabbing the arm that Nightmare had just used to attack her, Love showed off that she could be brutal if the need arose. "Retribution of Hearts!" Love exerted her new ability and Nightmare suffered the same wound she had just inflicted on Love. But that didn't deter her from continuing her onslaught. Slamming her fist on Peach's right elbow, Nightmare broke her arm in half and Love cried out in pain. A second hit and her other arm was broken but not severed. With all of this, Love couldn't go on. Falling backwards into the dirt, Peach vanished on the spot.
"Empress of Spades!" Miki knew she was not going to survive Nightmare, and if by some miracle she did, she definitely would just be beaten by whoever came in next. Forcing her body to produce the energy, she offered her very lifeblood itself to fuel the technique she was not going to truly learn for many years.
But Nightmare had other plans. Ignoring her gushing wound, the hole in her stomach, and her many cracked bones, she sprinted towards Berry, who couldn't finish her technique in time. A kick from the right, Miki blocked with her own leg, but she couldn't exert enough power to keep her balance and she fell. On the ground, with Nightmare above her, Miki saw only one way this was going to end.
Covering her head with her arms, she wanted to at least be a decoy long enough for the next light fighter to ambush Nightmare. But Miki had underestimated the next fighter. A large metal blade, reminiscent of a sword, was suddenly shoved through Nightmare's chest. And still the reflection lived, trying to turn to her newest assailant. But there was no more turning. A second blade soared through the air, firmly attached to an arm, and detached Nightmare's head from the rest of her body, the reflection dissipating into thin air just seconds later.
Rose! Miki tried to get up but she was too injured. And instead of granting her a momentary reprise, Rose stepped forward and crushed her legs with a stomp that could have broken a bridge pillar made of stone and iron.´The purple Cure wasted no time and cut down Berry without mercy. Because she could sense it. The northern gate opened again and she was not going to be able to take on the next reflection together with a weak and beaten Berry.
And she was right. The next fighter from the dark side was Moonlight, and while that alone was bad enough, the northern gate spat out reflections of two of the new girls. "I'm sloth..." One of them yawned, the reflection of Ace. "I'm Envy." That was Regina's, Joker's, reflection.
Yuri was one of the most experienced Cures so she understood her new power almost instantly. Manifesting a large glaive in her right hand, the shaft alone nearly two meters long plus a forty centimeter blade, Yuri also understood that she had to take care of that spear wielding annoyance. Rushing towards her, the reflection called Envy took the challenge.
At the same time, Kurumi was already trading blows with Sloth, who was very slow but extremely unpredictable, making it hard for Rose to land a blow. I could use my new ability, but it will leave me wide open… I should save it until I'm rid of this one or Moonlight takes care of that reflection. Kurumi jumped back and to her surprise, Sloth didn't follow her. True to your name, I suppose.
From the stands, where all the remaining fighters were watching the battle, Ange bit her thumb. "What is that! And what does it mean, Sloth?!"
"Reflections are corrupted, mirrored versions of ourselves. Don't think too much about the name. My reflection was called Flare." Itsuki hoped she would still get a turn. Rose was really powerful and slowly but surely forcing Sloth back without taking any real damage. Her elemental alignment of metal made her unbelievably tough and a monster in close quarters combat.
Despite Envy's theoretically large amount of experience, she was desperately outclassed by Moonlight, whose weapon was no mere glaive. I only need to cut her eight times. But that was easier said than done. The glaive was called the Lunar Cycle and it had a unique property to it. Yuri had already hit Envy three times. On the glaive, three of eight symbols, depicting the phases of the moon, were lit up now.
Yuri was not above playing dirty either. Slamming the shaft of her weapon into Envy's stomach, she kicked up dust from the ground, temporarily blinding the reflection. Instead of pulling back her weapon, Yuri spun 180 degrees and cut the girl's stomach, then whirled the weapon around once more and extended the reach by using just one arm, cutting Envy's shoulder. Five of eight.
Sloth was struggling just as much against Milky Rose. Both of her hands were broken and Rose still hadn't taken significant damage. Without being able to use ranged attacks and generally not being suited for combat all that much, Sloth was not nearly as dangerous an opponent as Nightmare.
But that created a unique opportunity for Rose. Luring Sloth towards Moonlight, Rose turned around and intruded on Moonlight's fight. No hard feelings Moonlight, but you're the one I am after!
Yuri could barely raised her glaive in time to block Rose's smashing punch. The shaft vibrating so hard that it took all her strength to keep hold of the weapon. Envy now changed targets and tried to pierce Rose with her spear but the purple Cure just grabbed the weapon and pulled on it, causing Envy to stumble forward. The sound of flesh being cut disturbed Yuri. Rose had the ability to manifest large metal blades on her arms, impromptu swords, and had stabbed Envy straight through the chest with it.
But despite Kurumi's expectation, that was not enough to kill the reflection. Envy let go of her spear and hit a vital point on Kurumi's back, blasting her with enough energy to send her flying forward, immediately crashing into the ground.
Yuri took the chance and cut both of Kurumi's arms, two of the moon's phases, icons on the glaive, lighting up, Kurumi merely carrying the physical cuts. Sloth interrupted the fight now, running towards them, her hands glowing red with energy. Kurumi rolled backwards, beneath Yuri, and kicked her ass, making her stumble forward.
While Moonlight blocked Sloth's powerful attack, and was forced back a few meters by it, Kurumi retreated, ran away, all the way to the edge of the arena where she hammered a metal spike, produced from her arms, into the ground.
Moonlight was hard pressed to deal with both Sloth and Envy at the same time, especially after Envy retrieved her spear by summoning it. Parrying an onslaught of stabbing attacks from Envy, Moonlight slammed the shaft of her glaive in Sloth's stomach, right behind her, using the recoil to spin forward and cut Envy on her ankle and her shoulder as she whirled her weapon around. She was still an amateur at using it, but she was making do. Luckily, it seemed that both of those reflections were not that creative with using their abilities without being able to go to range.
Intentionally taking Envy's kick to her back, Yuri threw up her weapon and caught it with her other hand, landing the final slash right on Envy's back. And now, all eight of the moon phases were lit up on the blade of the Lunar Cycle, a weapon she wouldn't master materializing for years to come. "Full Moon Banishment!"
And from one second to another, Envy was just gone, consumed by shadows, erased from existence. Sloth died with Envy, dropping dead on the spot. Yuri hadn't expected that and was now searching for Rose, before the north gate opened again and spat out the next reflection.
There she is… what is she doing? Yuri watched Kurumi race around the arena, hammering metal stakes into the ground as she passed, her metal plate boots and armor rattling as she ran with everything she had.
Yuri tried heading towards the suspiciously behaving Rose but was interrupted by the northern gate. "I am Grim." This time it was March's reflection and the green Cure in the audience covered her face in embarrassment. Do I really look that silly as a Cure? All that hair!
Why are they all introducing themselves? Yuri couldn't quite fathom what the reason behind that was, but she didn't really care. She barely had time to lock onto Grim before the reflection dashed away, moving so fast that not even Yuri's eyes could keep up. Is March really that fast?
Running circles around Moonlight, whose Lunar Cycle was quite the death sentence if used properly, Grim broke her pattern, hit Moonlight and continued her pattern. It happened in less than a quarter of second, not enough for Yuri to react more than by pure instinct. No matter how much she disliked relying on it, in situations like this it was unavoidable to do so.
What is Rose doing? Yuri saw her hammer even more metal stakes into the ground. There have to be at least- Yuri was hit in the face by Grim and stumbled backwards. Enough! Letting the glaive go, Yuri started to turn on the spot, whirling faster and faster until she was a silver spinning top. She still couldn't use any ranged attacks, but she could turn the terrain against Grim. "Lunar Silence!" Stretching out one leg, only far enough so that the tip of her boots barely scratched the surface of the ground, Yuri laced the ground with energy, causing her surroundings to explode with enormous intensity, large rocks flying in every direction around her, briefly stopping Grim.
And that brief moment was all that Yuri needed. Kicking the glaive from the ground with the tip of her boot, Yuri caught it and threw it like a spear, impaling Grim right through the chest. But having seen how much damage Nightmare could take, she was not going to go for half measures. Running towards Grim, Yuri went around her, grabbing her from behind, Grim's neck firmly between both of her arms. And with a singular brutal movement, Yuri broke Grim's neck.
In the audience, Nao was covering her face in embarrassment. "She got taken out so easily! Am I really that weak?!"
Grim's body had barely vanished when the north gate opened again and one of the worst possible reflections came out of it. "I am Azalea." Rose's reflection. And she headed straight for Yuri. As if one Rose wasn't enough, now I have to deal with two! And they look identical, too!
Azalea turned both of her arms to blades and rushed at Moonlight. To Yuri, she looked like a crusader from the middle ages, crossbred with an assassin from a fantasy world. I want to know what exactly went on in that head of hers that she came up with this attire?
Using her glaive to do a massive horizontal slash, Azalea had no choice but to block with her arm blades. And Yuri didn't let up. One horizontal slash after another, sparks from metal hitting metal were flying everywhere. Both the reflection and Yuri sensed extreme danger in the middle of their fight.
All around the arena the metal stakes that Rose had hammered into the ground were suddenly rising, growing, growing, until they were ten meter high hexagons with perfectly reflective surfaces. And there, at the south gate, that had no purpose, stood Rose. "The Queen's Knights!"
And the hexagons burst into pieces, revealing giant pillars of light. I can't believe this power. Rose felt her body almost torn apart by the energy that was surging through her. This feels just like… just like Hikari's power. Taking a step forward, the ground beneath Kurumi burst under the massive pressure she was exerting. This technique needs so much setup… but there is no way to defend against it. "Soldiers of Light!"
And out of each light pillar stepped a perfect copy of Kurumi, clad in golden armor, looking ten years older than Kurumi did now, wielding swords, spears, shields, axes and morning stars. It was an army. "Charge!"
There were precisely fifty of those soldiers of light, surrounding Yuri and Azalea from all sides. Yuri made the first move, using more horizontal slashes against those enemies but the blade went simply through them.
They are pure energy and have no physical form. There is no way to block their attacks or to attack them. And with this many, you can't run from them either. If the gravity rule didn't exist, this would be far less useful but like this, this is a death sentence for both of them. Kurumi felt her life energy being drained away. The technique devoured her very essence, something she would have more than ten years to train before being able to use the technique normally. I gotta keep up the tough act though.
Yuri slashed and slashed but the soldiers made of pure light just walked through her glaive. Dropping the weapon and trying to kick and punch her enemies, Yuri found out quickly that that was useless, too. What kind of impossible technique is this?! Yuri tried to destroy the ground and see if that did something but she was too late. A long sword of light impaled her chest. An ax chopped off her right arm. A spear went through her stomach and a morning star bashed in her skull. The soldiers swarming her was a gruesome and brutal thing to witness and many of the Cures in the audience averted their eyes as both Moonlight and Azalea were brutally massacred by Rose's soldiers.
Moonlight's corpse vanished and so did Azaleas. The warriors of light dissipated into bright particles as they detected no more enemies to fight. And with that, Rose was finished too. Without a word, without another step, she just fell over, landing face first in the dirt, unmoving and then disappearing. Using that technique had consumed all of her. Her magical energy, her life force, her consciousness. It was far too much for the not even 20 year old Kurumi.
The battlefield restored itself magically just as the next combatants entered the field, Lemonade and Melody. Hibiki had some bad memories of fighting Urara. She had signed up because she wanted to fight together with Itsuki and make some money but she had no illusions about actually being very successful.
Urara on the other hand also had limited expectations of how this would turn out. She could wield her chains as whips or to entangle her enemies but only in close range. And since she was specialized in binding her opponents, she was a little rusty regarding close combat. Spawning dozens of large chains and wrapping them around her stomach, legs and arms, Urara figured that this would at least grant her some protection.
Both Lemonade and Melody eyed the northern gate but no more reflections were appearing. Urara wasn't going to stand around forever, so she started running towards Melody, dragging several more chains behind her, causing a massive dust cloud to rise.
Hibiki assumed a martial arts stance, ready to counter most physical attacks. Taking the initiative with Lemonade was most likely going to end badly. Urara had a great idea as she kept running towards Melody. Forming more and more chains, she turned herself into a massive wrecking ball, rolling towards Melody.
But Hibiki had one or two tricks up her sleeve as well. "Disaster Melody!" Smashing the ground beneath her with an energy blast, something she had just seen being used to great effect by Moonlight, Hibiki stopped the golden sphere dead in its tracks. It rolled straight into the shallow hole and got stuck. "Destruction Melody!" I really ought to work on my ability names a little. Hitting the sphere with her fist, Hibiki made an intense vibration ripple through it. Sound was nothing more than vibrations in the air.
About to hit the sphere again, Hibiki was suddenly grabbed by both of her arms. Urara lunged from the sphere, wrapped a chain several times around Hibiki's neck and pulled her against the golden construct, slowly choking her to death. She didn't need a fancy win, just a win.
But Urara underestimated how strong Melody actually was. Focusing all her energy into her hands, Hibiki put her palms against the sphere and fired off blast after blast. Urara was hiding inside the sphere, and it became a disaster zone for her within seconds. The human brain can only take so much vibration before it started to malfunction. Urara felt her breakfast rise to her mouth and she let go of Melody, the sphere dissipating entirely moments later.
Urara couldn't keep it in and puked all over the ground. Her entire world was shaking. I think that bitch just gave me a concussion without touching me…
Hibiki had used up quite a bit of her energy to break free and if she wanted to use her Phoenix Song, she couldn't use any more than this. That was her special ability, something she would develop ten, maybe more, years from now. She understood execution and effect but not how it functioned. But similar to Rose, she knew that if she used that, she would probably faint right after. Probably. I hope not.
Urara's new ability was something she couldn't use with the rule about ranged combat. Something far more powerful than El Doraro or Iron Maiden. The one chain that could bind everything, even time itself. Gleipnir.
Urara regained her balance and seized up Melody. She didn't know anything about martial arts, only how to fight in a bar brawl, and that was hurting her now. Spawning extra long chains from her arms, she could make them about one and a half meters long before she felt the rules crack down on her, preventing her from making them any longer. But that was long enough to whirl them around, forcing Melody back, step by step.
Hibiki quickly noticed a pattern and let her right hand be hit only to grab the chain and pull on it with her full strength, forcing Urara to stumble forward. "Destruction-"
"Fool." Urara had just waited for that. Shooting a chain into the ground the instant she was within melee range, Urara tied Melody to the ground, stepped back and started to furiously whip the pink Cure with her chains, each hit leaving a satisfying impact sound. Urara was the spiteful type and that extended even into how she did battle.
Melody improvised and fired Destruction Melody into the ground through her boots, destroying the ground the chains were using to hold her. Jumping forward, grabbing both of the chains Urara used to whip her, Melody walked right into the next trap. While she held the chains to block them, they wrapped themselves tighter around her arms and Urara pulled her in, ramming her knee in Hibiki's stomach.
But Urara still underestimated Hibiki. Retaliating with a headbutt that was powerful enough to make Urara tumble in recoil, Hibiki figured that if she was just going to be toyed with, she might as well go out in a blaze of glory.
Urara sensed danger, great danger, when Melody suddenly exerted a fiery aura. Walking backwards while continuously creating chains to serve as a shield, Urara was not going to charge in blindly after getting taken by surprise twice because she underestimated that girl.
Gatrandis babel ziggurat edenalµ
That is not good. Urara could feel Melody's magic energy rising as an exponential level, so much that the air in the arena was starting to smell strangely of charcoal and iron. Urara created walls more than a meter thick all around her and above as well as beneath, a perfect cube of chains. Whatever that is gonna do, unless it is some broken shit like Kurumi's ability, it is not getting through this.
Hibiki finished singing her song and nearly lost consciousness. Everything had a red tint and she was barely able to take a step forward without excruciating pain. But at the same time, she felt insane power. Standing in front of Urara's perfect cube, Hibiki knew that she was going to have to try really hard to get through that. Pulling her arm back, ready to punch the cube, she created a growing energy sphere behind her elbow. "Gungnir!"
The audience was glad that an invisible barrier separated them from the events within the arena because it was like an atomic bomb went off within. The cube was flung across the grounds like it was a ping-pong ball hit by a speeding car.
And Hibiki was not done. Her skin was slowly burning away, her body giving off steam like she was being boiled inside. Urara's box crumbled, the yellow Cure covered in bruises and one of her legs broken. Hibiki walked all the way across the arena, where Urara was plotting, because she couldn't run. Her legs simply wouldn't obey that command. Standing in front of Urara, Hibiki readied a second blow.
But Hibiki had gotten too close. Urara lunged forward, ignoring her broken leg, falling on the ground almost right beneath Hibiki. And she put everything she had into controlling just two chains that were wrapped tight around Hibiki's waist. "Guillotine!"
With a horrifying sound, Hibiki's ribs were crushed, her organs squashed, and it would have caused the girl unimaginable pain normally. But Hibiki could not feel anything. With Urara right beneath her, Hibiki put everything she had into the second blow. Urara felt panic and wanted to create chains but she was not going to go out a coward. "Do your worst!" Urara shouted and so Hibiki did.
"Gungnir!"
Both Urara and Hibiki vanished in the near atomic blast, eliminated and eradicated by the unbelievable force that had no way to go but back to where it came from.
The gates opened again. The audience was thinning, one at a time. The dark side had lost three fighters, the light side four. Next up were Blossom and Sunshine, a fight between team members. I have no luck, Tsubomi thought as she stepped into the arena.
After seeing how Hibiki and Rose had basically committed suicide, Itsuki was wary of using her future ability. It looked like they came at too great a cost. Like almost all of the fighters before her, Itsuki started running towards Tsubomi,
Tsubomi was not a skilled close combat fighter and still she managed to avoid the first few of Itsuki's punches and kicks, the martial arts trainer forcing the pink Cure back with every step. "Seven-fold Sunlight Essence!" Seven small explosions surrounded Tsubomi after she blocked the hit, her skin being scorched.
Itsuki moved away from Blossom. I am sure I would feel bad if this was not a battle to the death, kind of. "Three-fold Sunlight Blast!" Kicking Blossom in the side of her chest, the pink Cure was thrown aside by the force of the kick, powered by three strong blasts, increasing the pressure and power of Itsuki's kick.
But Tsubomi was not staying on the defensive forever. Using her hands to support herself, Tsubomi suddenly launched a kick at Itsuki's chest. "Rose Leash!" Covering her leg with rose stalks made out of energy, Itsuki still took damage by blocking the sudden attack, both of her arms bleeding mildly.
Tsubomi rolled forward after the kick and turned around. But Sunshine was now taking the battle seriously. Tsubomi took a kick right to the face, recoiled and was hit in the face a second time with a punch, then a second punch, a third one, a fourth, fifth and sixth and then another kick. Her surroundings were completely distorted because she couldn't see straight anymore. Itsuki knew that a concussion was almost certainly fatal in a brawl which was why it was forbidden to strike the head intentionally in many martial arts. But this was not a training match but a real fight. Hitting Tsubomi with yet another kick, Itsuki's leg was suddenly stuck. Blossom had grabbed and held on to it. And then someone pricked Itsuki's leg.
Using both her hands to hit Tsubomi in the head, Itsuki got free but suddenly felt extremely ill. Her stomach was revolting, and her hands started to shake violently.
"Blossom: Nerium oleander." Tsubomi's hands were covered in strange fluid, created through her life magic. She was not good at close combat, but that didn't mean she couldn't be a deadly opponent. Because creation of life and restoration thereof was more than just healing other Cures.
Itsuki staggered backwards and vomited everything she had eaten that day. The world around her was spinning and she had a loud hammering noise in her ears. Tsubomi… poisoned me? I didn't think… she had that in her.
And Tsubomi was not done. After the reflections showed up… I figured out a way to use my powers for things other than healing. But she was badly battered. She couldn't heal herself, at least not with her normal abilities. But there was one thing she could do that was definitely going to kill Itsuki.
Sunshine could sense that she wasn't going to miraculously recover. I guess I'll have to use that super move after all. But… can I do it? Itsuki forced herself back up. There was a terrible taste in her mouth and she felt like her insides were on fire. Just how much did she dose me with?
Tsubomi felt the backlash of dosing Itsuki with a lethal amount of that plant. But no matter how bad she was at fighting, this ability that she was being granted by the day condition had the potential to carry her all the way to the end.
Itsuki put her hands together, similar to Buddhist prayers and started focusing. Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment. What we think, we become. No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path. It wasn't just the pose of Buddhist prayer.
"Infinite Cuscuta." Tsubomi put both of her hands on the ground and within seconds, enormous quantities of thin, leafless, yellow vines burst from her hands, creeping up on Itsuki, who was just close enough for the plants to reach. Tsubomi was disgusted by what the vines did to Itsuki, but she did it to win. Itsuki focused on her ability instead of retaliating, thinking it was just more poisonous plants. Until it was too late.
Intruding through every orifice that Itsuki had, the vines broke through her skin, through her meat, wriggling through her body, rapidly draining her of all nutrients, of water and even her energy. After fifteen seconds of exposure, Itsuki felt the dread of death and tried to free herself from the vines with no success. They had invaded her, a terrible parasite. Unable to even scream, Itsuki felt her body wither from the parasite until suddenly, she was gone.
Tsubomi had won, but at a tremendous cost. She was so sickened by her own ability that she threw up on the ground. This… is something I develop? For what purpose?
Sunshine was replaced by Bright, and to make matters even worse, Bright's reflection, Umbra, joined through the northern gate at the same time.
Tsubomi hoped she was fast enough to dodge their attacks but the backlash of her own abilities left her too unstable, too weak. I can probably use the vines one more time but that is going to be it for me.
Kaoru was wary of Blossom and simply waited on what Umbra would do. As it turned out, Umbra shared Kaoru's smarts and headed for the strongly weakened Cure, Blossom. Approaching the pink Cure, Umbra collected enough energy in her fist to punch right through Tsubomi. And Tsubomi simply ran straight at Umbra, knowing that she was not going to be able to kill her.
Umbra aimed for Tsubomi's head but missed her attack because the pink Cure suddenly dodged below, sliding over the ground. But Tsubomi underestimated just how strong Bright was, and how much stronger still, Umbra was. The ground exploded in a ferocity almost rivaling Melody's Gungnir attack.
What the… that was just a punch! A punch! Tsubomi's legs were completely messed up by rock shards flying at her so hard that they were like razor sharp bullets. But she was right where she had to be. Grabbing Umbra's legs, Tsubomi put everything she had into pumping her full of poison. So much that Umbra's veins bulged under the pressure, the toxins flowing through her skin, right into her bloodstream. Tsubomi had two large thorns growing out of her hands. It led the toxin infiltrate her body too, but since she was no doubt going to be dead any second now, she didn't care.
And sure enough, Umbra smashed Tsubomi's head to pieces with a single blow, splattering blood and brain everywhere. A second later, Umbra was standing over nothing, no gore or Cure Blossom. But someone was behind her. "Big Bang."
Even the invisible wall that protected the audience was shaking, cracking, under the unspeakable pressure that Bright hit Umbra with, annihilating every atom of her being. It was still no more than a physical punch but with so much force that not even a nuclear weapon could have competed.
"What a monster..." Makoto was watching from the tribune and glad that Bright was on her team. If she had to fight that, she didn't think she could even muster the will to try.
"Kaoru is probably the strongest among all of us, physically speaking." Saki was sitting with Makoto for no real reason.
"I can believe that. Looks like it is Dream's turn now." Makoto was seeing many of them fight for the first time.
Nozomi was not sure if she could take that attack just now even if she was in her Rose Guardian form, which was not available. There was was her new ability, but she needed a little time to figure out what it was. Bright on the other hand very clearly already knew.
Kaoru couldn't feel her right hand. I think every single bone is broken. Most of my right arm, too. That means I can only use Supernova one more time, because I do not believe my legs can endure the burden. Even in a situation like this she was quite logical. And again, she waited.
Nozomi waited as well, figuring out how exactly her new ability was going to work. Something I will be able to use 10 years from now… I cannot even imagine where I will be in 10 years.The ground all around Nozomi, and the entire arena in fact, was completely destroyed. Because of Bright's unbelievably powerful attack. If that hits me, I am definitely toast. Nozomi knew that using her Utopia was useless because of the system. It would just cause intense pain to everyone. Other than that, she was a balanced fighter. Against someone like that, I'm not fast enough to just evade everything and I am definitely going to lose in a contest of trading blows. So I need to get rid of her, if possible in one shot and before she blows my head off. Nozomi had learned a thing or ten about fighting in here, in Dissonance.
After almost a minute of doing nothing, the ground of the arena started to rapidly repair itself. And finally, Nozomi figured out what her new ability was. Is… is that really something I would come up with? And why would I develop something specifically against Cures?! Don't tell me I'll still be in here in 10 years! But for now, Nozomi had little choice but to use it. I am lucky Bright is just standing there and waiting. She wasn't really that quick earlier and… is her right arm broken? She hasn't moved it at all since she threw that punch. If she can only hit me with her left, I can probably dodge most of her attacks. Aw, why did my special ability have to be something like that?!
Slapping her cheeks, Nozomi was finally ready. She knew some pretty useful enhancing techniques and made full use of them now. Focusing energy in her legs, Nozomi moved fast, really fast, sprinting towards Bright at an incredible pace.
And there it was. The first blow. Nozomi dodged to her left, Bright's right, getting out of the path of destruction. But Bright was smarter than Nozomi gave her credit. She was suddenly swept off her legs and Bright already aimed for her head, smashing only empty ground because Nozomi rolled away in time. Getting back up, Bright was now chasing her. Even her kicks were unbelievably strong but not enough to break Nozomi's guard, both her arms in front of her face.
I need an opening. Nozomi blew a hole into the ground by simply releasing energy through her legs and started to run a circle around Bright, who stood still and closed her eyes, determining where Nozomi was by sound alone. But she underestimated her opponent too. Nozomi had left some energy in the ground that only went off after she had already circled halfway around Bright.
Punching thin air, Bright flung around, trying to kick whatever it was that could be behind her back and missed. Nozomi was right in front of her, close enough to see straight into her eyes. And there was something strange on Nozomi's face. Why are her lips glowing?
"Rose Temptation." Nozomi forced herself on Bright, kissing her with such vigor that Kaoru blacked out for a moment. And when Nozomi backed away from Kaoru, she felt her heart beat like crazy. Really, why did it have to be a kiss! Couldn't it just be touching her face?!
And to the surprise of everyone present, Bright fell to her knees and lowered her head in front of Nozomi. The ultimate power of enthralling. The Kiss of the Rose. Nozomi could sort of understand why she would want a power that could enthrall any enemy and make them obey her commands while keeping them conscious at the same time. But… but why do I have to kiss them?!
"Did she just make Bright into her servant?" Inori couldn't believe it. "It doesn't look like she is controlling her like I do with my Domination."
But the system locked up. Bright was not being registered as defeated and so Nozomi just stood there, unable to decide what she was going to do. There really were only two choices. Beat up Bright herself or make her kill herself. The latter seemed unnecessarily cruel of her. After bending her will like that, the least she could do was get her own hands dirty.
Kicking Bright in the face, the yellow Cure falling over, Nozomi kicked her in the sides several more times before she enhanced herself with energy again. Kicking Kaoru in her enhanced state, Nozomi's kick lifted the girl off the ground only to make her subject to the extreme gravity, making her weigh nearly seven metric tons, smashing her brutally into the ground.
Nozomi lacked that massively powerful finishing move to kill Bright quickly. Focusing her energy into her heads, Nozomi started punching her in the face, again and again until Kaoru looked like she had been toyed with by a dozen boxers.
Dream was mildly out of breath now. Continuing her assault on Bright, Nozomi finally succeeded in causing enough damage to put her out of commission. Her knuckles were covered in blood and pieces of skin and she felt somewhat disgusted by how far she had to go to knock her out. I would never have won this without using that… kiss ability.
With Bright out of commission, the next of the light fighters was brought in. And of all the people to fight Nozomi, it was Miyuki. Someone out there must really hate me, Nozomi thought.
Miyuki had seen what Nozomi had done to Bright and she was wary of falling prey to that ability. While the two of them were sizing each other up, the northern gate opened again and released Luminous' reflection who introduced herself as Aurora.
And both of them vastly underestimated the reflection because they only knew Luminous as the supporter type. That she was quicker than either of them came as a massive surprise. Nozomi was her first target and Nozomi lamented that her best choice of action would be to enthrall both Aurora and Happy. At least I won't feel bad about kissing Miyuki. She's so nice, she probably won't hold it against me.
Dream was hard pressed to just keep the distance between herself and Aurora. The dress Aurora wore, the same one Luminous wore, made it difficult to tell where exactly she was going to kick. And her nearly translucent scarf, or whatever it was, was irritating as well. And finally, Dream got a taste of how powerful Luminous really was. Because of a small mistake, dodging a kick in the wrong direction, Aurora grabbed her right arm.
The pink Cure screamed in agony as her arm was pierced by dozens of bundled light beams, not lasers, from the inside, ripping so many holes into it that it would have been more merciful to tear off her arm entirely. Trying to get some distance between herself and Aurora, Happy now arrived and joined the fray, trying to take out the reflection first. But Luminous had learned from both Black and White. Aurora sidestepped Happy's attack and kicked her in the back, the two pink Cures colliding with each other. Nozomi used the chance to her advantage however. Using her free hand, she grabbed Miyuki's hair and pulled her close enough to use her technique. "Rose Temptation" With her lips glowing again, Nozomi enthralled Miyuki and still felt guilty about it.
Miyuki jumped up, ready to defend her master, but Aurora had stepped around her, again, and was now upon the injured Nozomi. The same attack as before, this time Aurora killed the pink Cure, a dozen beams of light bursting forth from Nozomi's head.
The thrall wore off with Nozomi's death and left Miyuki confused and disorientated. She had been under Nozomi's control for less than five seconds. And this time, she wouldn't let Aurora get away. "Bad End!" Touching her whole palm against the back of Aurora's head, who was only just barely caught in the attack, Miyuki trapped the reflection in a realm of unspeakable nightmares. But she wasn't done yet. With Aurora screaming in imagined agony and pain, Miyuki reinforced the attack over and over and over, until Aurora was experiencing lethal dreams non-stop, so much that her entire body was convulsing non-stop, her organs and brain unable to endure the superimposed stress.
The next fighter from the dark side was Black Lily, who was quite eager to to avenge her sister and Tsubomi. But she was still a very new fighter, so she was just deeply confused by this new ability she was granted. I can't make head or tails of this. I'll just blast her with a ton of energy up close and that should be good enough. Yami was optimistic that being Moonlight's sister meant she was among the most powerful of the group.
Up ahead, Miyuki was literally torturing Aurora to death with nightmares. It was an unusually cruel and uncharacteristic move for Miyuki, but after hearing how much Nozomi had suffered because of the mirrors, she had zero compassion or empathy within her. Aurora suffered total heart failure shortly before Yami reached Happy.
Wow, I gotta be careful about letting her touch my head. That didn't look pleasant. Yami thought that if she didn't give Happy time to react, she could avoid that mental attack she just used to kill that reflection. Starting with a series of kicks, slowly advancing and pushing Happy back, Yami got confident enough to use her fists as well. She just made her attack names up on the fly. Just like the moon had a light and a dark side, for Yami, she thought of herself as the dark side. And she wanted to fight accordingly. "Shadow Blast!"
Miyuki blocked the black energy and she felt intense pain on her arms when she did. It wasn't frostbite or burned skin, it was something else. Like the life was being sucked out of those parts. I expected Moonlight's sister to have something strong up her sleeve, but I didn't expect this.
Yami was just as surprised by the result as Happy was. "Shadow Blast!" She tried to hit Happy again, but this time her punch was simply deflected with a quick grab and then Miyuki was so close that Yami realized she was too close.
"Bad End!" Miyuki managed to touch Yami's head with two of her fingers but nothing happened. Yami sharply pulled her knee upwards, hitting Miyuki in the chest before she put her hands together. "Shadow Blast Void!"
Happy gasped in pain as she felt the skin, tissue and nerves on her back die abruptly. It's like… she's causing necrosis with her energy… Miyuki rolled over the ground and away from Yami, evading one stomping attack after another. The green Cure was quite the adversary, despite her amateurish moves. Why didn't Bad End work? Is she not afraid of anything?
Yami didn't leave Miyuki any time to formulate a new plan. The mental attack, Bad End, was Miyuki's trump card. She couldn't make sense of that new ability she had been given and she didn't have the offensive capabilities to compete with Black Lily.
Yami retreated a few steps and thought that if Yuri could create a weapon, she could, too. "Death Desire!" Raising her arms above her head and creating a massive sphere, nearly the size of her own body, Yami ripped it in half and it blew up in her face. That was not intentional!
Happy used the chance, approached Yami and forced both her hands against the girl's forehead. "Bad End!" And it failed again. But this time, Yami wouldn't let Happy get away. Raising her arms above her head again, Yami's attack was interrupted by Happy, who jumped against Black Lily, ramming her knee into the girl's stomach, first once, then twice, then thrice. Keeping going until Black Lily spew vomit, Happy focused as much energy as she could control into her hands.
Yami staggered backwards the moment Happy let her go. And then the decisive blow came, straight to her head. Everything went dark and she fell. She could just barely feel the impact as she hit the ground before she vanished.
Miyuki was breathing heavy. Her arms and back were causing her so much pain that she almost wanted to blow her own head off. But the next fight didn't wait. Pine was the next fighter and Miyuki could already see where that was going to go. The yellow Cure lost no time, speeding towards Miyuki so quickly that Happy had no time to properly react. Raising her arms in front of her face, Happy was cut twice, on the stomach and on her upper thigh.
Inori curved around, keeping all of her speed. Among all of the Cures that lived in the complex, she was one of the fastest, only losing to Egret and March in terms of pure speed. And with her energy hand blades, she could cause a lot of damage against an unprepared target. She's smart to raise her arms like that. It makes it too difficult to cut her throat. But the human body has a lot more important spots than just the throat.
Miyuki tried to keep her eyes on Inori but she was so fast that it was hard to see her as more than a yellow blur, running circles around her and occasionally breaking pattern to cut her. I saw this earlier. Grim was doing this to Moonlight. But I don't have Moonlight's power. What do I do? If I could touch her head, I could use Bad End on her, but she's too fast- Ow! Miyuki got cut again. She was bleeding from nearly a dozen wounds now. If I can't aim, I just need to aim everywhere at once! In Miyuki's mind, this made perfect sense. Focusing every bit of energy she had left between her hands, she lured Inori in by lowering her arms. The moment she noticed the yellow streak break pattern again, Miyuki simply blew the ground beneath herself up, the explosion flinging her to the ground.
Inori was too clever to fall for a trap like that. The second she noticed Miyuki move her arms, with all that energy collected between her hands, she changed direction so abruptly that it damaged her ankles a little. But in exchange, Happy's attack was completely useless. And targeting the moment after Happy unleashed her attack, Inori was right behind her, coming to a screeching halt. Before Miyuki even knew what was happening, Inori forced her to look up and slit her throat not once but three times.
Miyuki made gargling noises as she rapidly bled out and choked on her own blood at the same time. I guess.. this is as far as I go. Falling to the ground, Miyuki's suffering ended instantly when Inori combined her blades and rammed them right into Miyuki's heart and turned the blade.
I can still use Domination. And I think I am figuring out what this new power is. Inori was impressed that she would one day be able to develop a technique like that, even if it had limited use outside of fighting other Cures.
Inori was faced with one of her greatest adversaries yet. March stepped into the arena, Happy's replacement, intent on proving to everyone that she wasn't weak. If she can't see me, she can't dominate me! And with that thought, Nao started running, as hard as she could.
"Tch." Inori had feared that this would happen. March was faster than her, she could tell. If she can out-run me, there is no point in wasting my stamina. She will have to attack me eventually. And when she does, I will be able to use Domination on her. There is no point in playing my trump card against her, considering I won't really gain anything usable.
But Inori miscalculated. Nao was stalling for time. Racing faster and faster as she kept going, she had exceptional stamina due to her soccer career and her Cure powers gave her almost unrivaled speed. Only Egret could keep up with her, and only after she used that cheating speed enhancer of hers.
Inori noticed that Nao was stalling after a full minute had passed without the green Cure making any attempts to attack her. Inori was good at spotting weaknesses but it was difficult to spot anything about March when she moved so fast. I have no choice. Starting to run, in the opposite direction of Nao, Inori first stuck to a smaller circle, gauging how many seconds passed between each time she could see March for a split second. Seven seconds and a third, roughly. She couldn't get any more accurate than that.
A battle between two speed focused Cures was quite boring to watch for the remaining audience. But out of nowhere, Inori was taken out of her sprint, hit the ground and slid over it for more than twenty meters before she crashed into a wall. Her right shoulder was suddenly dislocated.
I didn't even see what happened. Something just hit me. Inori got up and saw March run small circles near the center of the arena. How did she hit me without me even seeing her? I should have at least seen or felt her connect an attack. Inori could only make sense of it with one explanation. Her ability? The one she will have in the future? That's problematic. Mine won't really be useful for anything if I can't target her.
Thinking all of that in five and a half seconds, Inori was suddenly hit again, right in the face, and slammed into the wall behind her before a second and a third hit nearly crushed her ribcage. Spitting blood, Inori tried to think of a defense against this attack she couldn't even see. Ranged attacks don't work, so how is she doing this?
Nao's ability was to move at Mach 2 for just two seconds, the Super Sonic Boom.It put enormous stress on her body and she couldn't use it continuously too often or her body just wouldn't support that extreme speed. But against Pine, she had to use it as much as possible. She could taste blood in her mouth already. Activating her ability again, Nao moved so fast that the world around her felt like it was moving in slow motion, including Pine. Ramming both of her fists against Inori's throat, she crushed it with the pressure her speed generated.
Approaching Inori, hitting her and using the wall to speed away from the yellow Cure all took a toll on Nao. She felt excruciating pain in both of her legs and she was feeling light headed despite running as hard as she could.
Inori was slumped against the wall, her throat crushed, and she was rapidly choking to death. I can't believe… I lost… to March… Miki is… going… to… make… fun… And her consciousness, together with her body, faded. And finally, Nao stopped.
No way can I do this against another Cure. My legs are on fire! But I beat Pine, the one Cure that can basically win any one versus one by using her ability. I am so going to brag about this to Miyuki.
Nao's worst nightmare came true when her next opponent showed up. Reika…
And Beauty didn't just enter the arena. She left a trail of ice behind her, freezing the arena with every step. Even you cannot run on ice this smooth, can you, Nao? Freezing more and more of the arena as she advanced, Reika knew that Nao had absolutely no way to beat her. Among those that were left on the dark team, Passion, Ace plus Joker and Heart, she was the only one truly suited to kill Nao.
Reika was so well attuned to her powers from almost daily use even before she came to this place that her new ability came to her with ease. And it was a cruel thing her future self had created. Creating a long sword in each hand, Reika made sure to freeze the ground thoroughly, taking light detours. The second she saw Nao start moving again, Reika decided that she would go all out right from the start. "Kuraokami."
Reika's skin froze over with extremely smooth and durable ice. The ultimate addition for her Infinite Armory. Reika stood still when Nao tried to land a punch, her attack deflected, Nao's hand injured by frostbite. The ice that Reika clad itself in was as cold as dry ice.
But Nao wouldn't just give up. Using her winds to her advantage, Nao believed that she just had to hit Reika hard enough to break the ice. But from one moment to the next, Nao found the world turned upside down and she could no longer feel anything. The last thing she saw was her beheaded body.
Reika had cut off Nao's head with a long sword without even flinching. Using Kuraokami had the unintended side effect that she became as cold of a person as her skin was, a cruel goddess of ice and war.
Reika's natural enemy stepped into the arena. The ice that had covered so much of the ground was melting from the intense heat that Rin was giving off. Even though she couldn't use Hell properly, she could still create a zone of super heat right around her. And the temperatures were still climbing, reaching several hundred degree Celsius already.
A battle of fire and ice. And Rin made the first mode, rushing towards Reika, swinging her claws at the frozen goddess. Flame claws met with a two-handed sword that Reika could create in an instant from nothingness. The blade withstood Rin's claws but Reika was feeling ill, the intense heat getting to her.
Attempting to throw several shuriken and daggers at Rin, they all melted the instant they left Reika's hand, fully subject to the dangerously high temperatures the moment they left her hand. It was dubious if they would have worked otherwise, as they were definitely ranged weapons. Weapons it is. Splitting the two-handed two into two long swords, Reika took the initiative away from Rin, forcing her to parry slash after slash, forcing the flaming hothead back step by step.
I can't believe she can stay this calm when it's this hot! Rin had entered the arena fully knowing that she was up against one of the monsters. There were a few of them; Cures that were exceptionally gifted with battle. If she failed, Sword would have to step in. Bloom was completely the wrong type to fight this walking snowman factory.
Trapping both blades between her claws, Rin kicked Reika with full force, her heat protecting her against the frostbite, but still she couldn't crack Reika's armor. There was not even a chink in it. I guess I'll have to turn up the heat even more.
Reika just dropped her weapons and created a new one, a two handed axe that she swung around like it was made of paper but left deep cuts in the ground when she hit it. Rin used both of her claws to block the ax and Reika just dropped the weapon again, creating a spear and getting a hit in, piercing Rin's side.
But Rin knew all about how to use fire. Sealing the wound by cauterizing it, she stopped the bleeding almost immediately. It were close to a thousand degree around Rin at that point and the ground was blazing hot beneath her but frozen solid just two meters in front, where Reika stood.
Dropping the spear, Reika created two more spears, unleashing a series of piercing attacks on Rin, who dodged from one side to the other, slowly backing away until she had enough. Grabbing the spears, Rin melted through them instantly. But Beauty just created more weapons, swords, axes, spears, continuing the assault until Rin was completely out of breath. I am not getting anywhere like this. I could probably turn up the temperature until I'm cooking through my own protection and she still wouldn't budge. That leaves only one thing… But holy hell, if that goes wrong, we're all toast.
Reika sensed that Rin was up to something. She couldn't use any projectile weapons, which meant she was stuck with medieval weaponry. Continuing her attacks, Reika landed another hit on Rin's leg. Slowly but surely she was whittling her down.
But Rin had other plans. Rapidly retreating, Rin extinguished her claws and turned off Hell, focusing all the heat she could generate between her hands. Reika's mobility was somewhat limited by Kuraokami which made it difficult to keep up with Rouge, now that she was purely retreating.
Reika changed plans when she saw just what Rouge was producing between her hands. But by then, her reduced mobility made her too slow. Rin grabbed the object in her hand, a tiny blue sphere, and felt the skin on her hand burn away and her flesh being scorched. Sprinting towards Beauty, Rin just accepted the ice spear that went straight through her stomach. She was going to be out of energy anyway after this attack so she didn't mind going down with Beauty.
"Blue Core!" The spear lodged firmly in Rin's stomach, she reached Beauty and slammed the burning mass right through her armor, into her body.
Beauty screamed in inconceivable agony as the mass, burning at more than 30,000 degree Celsius, was melting her on the molecular level from the inside.
But it didn't persist for very long. With most of her chest burned out inside, Reika created a massive broadsword and cleaved Rin right in half. A last act of revenge before she vanished.
With the arena damaged again and both Beauty and Rouge gone, the Colosseum repaired itself once more before letting in the new combatants.
Each side had only two Cures left now. And three of them were from the ruined timeline. Saki opted to go first, just in case she wouldn't get a chance to fight at all if Sword took down the remaining two of the dark team. She was also curious what her future self would come up with.
Stepping into the arena, Saki saw herself outnumbered. Ace and Joker were just entering from the western gate. And to make everything worse, the northern gate opened again, revealing the absolute worst possible reflection to come out of that.
Regina was already wielding her spear while Ace created an energy blade that mimicked Makoto's weapon of choice but lacked the special effect that Sword could infuse her weapon with.
Oh crud. Saki braced herself and covered both her fists and feet in three layers of energy. She lacked the high offensive power that Nagisa had but she could punch a lot harder normally instead. Running towards Ace, each of Bloom's steps kicked up stand. She was by far the heaviest of the girls and yet had the least fat on her. Ange was actually mildly intimidated when the really fit, pretty muscular Bloom came running at her.
Regina was having trouble dealing with the reflection that called herself Pride. Regina found that name obnoxious and rude and immediately stabbed her, a futile endeavor as she found out just seconds later. The reflection could heal herself the same way that Mana did. "Ace! Help me take out this fake!" Regina shouted. They were the only ones that were an actual pair instead of a single person. In combat like this, it gave them an advantage. But if their reflections were anything to go by, if one of them got taken out, both would go down.
But Ace was tied up. Bloom was surprisingly tough to handle. She had a few openings but her reflexes were insane and so was how well she could block even an energy blade with just her arms and legs. Finding one of those openings, Ace dug her heel into Saki's stomach, with little effect. Bloom grabbed her leg and rammed her knee against Ace's ankle.
The red Cure couldn't believe she was running into trouble not even two minutes after entering the battlefield. Switching to Mana's fisticuffs, Ace could match Bloom's agility but not her raw force. Taking a punch straight to the face, Ace saw no way to retaliate without taking some damage first. Grabbing Bloom's arm, Ange dropped to the ground and pushed her feet against Bloom's chest, trying to dislocate her arm.
But Saki was built too sturdily for that to happen. It took everything she had but Bloom managed to pull Ace up, forcing her to bend her knees and slamming her fist into Ace's face a second time. And now that she had the upper hand, which came as a surprise to Saki, she didn't let up. Forcing Ace completely on the defensive with just reinforced kicks and punches, Saki was glad her training was finally good for something.
Regina had her hands full just keeping Pride at bay, but she had to go and help Ace before she got herself taken out. Joker could outrun Pride with ease and Ace was avoiding any significant damage for now, but Bloom was clearly dominating their one versus one.
Saki backed away from Ace when she saw Joker running her way. Pride wasn't too far behind so she just had to wait until the reflection would target one of the two. Defending against a spear would be difficult, but only until she got past the blade. Once she was in proper melee range, the spear would be useless.
I really could use one of those special abilities that every got right now. But it looks like I can't use it without Mai. Focusing her energy into defending against spear stabs and Ace trying to get behind her, Saki figured that her chances of winning were pretty low, unless Pride took one of them off her back.
And sure enough, Pride followed Joker all the way back, trying to attack her again. Saki was relieved she didn't have to deal with her. I have no idea how I'm supposed to beat that anyway. Maybe if I can blow off her head or break her neck?
Regina tried to get away from Pride but the second she left her alone, the Mana clone headed for Ange, which was just as bad. "Ace, switch! You keep fake Heart busy, I'll deal with her!" Regina couldn't remember Saki's name.
Ange was surprised by how difficult it was to go face to face with someone that was specialized in close combat. That was more Mana's and Makoto's thing, but still, she had more experience than her! Switching back to an energy blade, Ace used it defensively, blocking the barrage of blows that Bloom was battering her with. And finally, another opening. Grabbing Bloom's right ankle, Ace pulled and caused Bloom to go off balance, giving her just enough time to turn tail and run away.
Regina had literally nailed Pride to the floor now but had no idea what else to do with her. Joker knew exactly how tough Mana was and this reflection felt even faster and stronger than Mana was. If she could heal herself just as well, or even more, than Mana, she had no way to kill her without her ranged attacks. I can pierce her heart, her head, whatever, her magic doesn't need her to be conscious once she's running at full power!
Ace sprinted right past Joker, without a word, and slammed her blade into Pride's face with all the force of her momentum. With a blade through her head and a spear through her chest, Pride still struggled. And Because they couldn't ignore Bloom, Regina made the spear dissipated into light and re-appear in her hand.
With Pride free again, she and Ace engaged in an exchange of blows that was heavily one-sided. Ange knew exactly how Mana fought and it didn't change with her reflection. They didn't seem to have much, if any, personality, operating only on basic instincts and knowledge of the powers the Cures had themselves.
Regina blocked the first of Saki's punches with the shaft of her spear and felt the vibration of the impact reach all the way into her shoulders. Damn, she's strong. No wonder, looking like that! To Regina, Bloom looked like one of those athletes at the Olympics, not body building level but definitely heavily trained. But with muscles like that, she's not gonna be able to keep up with me!
Regina backed away, rammed her spear into the ground and fired off an energy blast to catapulted herself forward, staying on the ground and immediately reaching maximum sprinting speed. Going around Bloom in less than a second, Regina used the spear to completely change her momentum again, a sharp and lightning fast forward thrust against Bloom, who couldn't quite dodge the spear entirely, coming from almost behind her, but did something else. Grabbing the spear with both her hands, she pulled on it with enough force to make Regina stumble forward.
She doesn't have enough experience fighting other Cures this seriously. Saki had been in enough fights to know that just hurting your opponent wasn't enough. Estimating where Joker was, Bloom spun around, using her elbow and landed a brutal hit that broke Regina's jaw, the girl now stumbling backwards, stunned by the sudden retaliation. That was what Saki had been fighting for. "Ten Flowers Blooming!" I am glad I worked on this.
Hitting Joker in ten vital spots, her nose, chest, stomach, both shoulders, both knees, both elbows and the final hit came from behind, damaging her spine. Using an enormous amount of magical energy to boost her movement and offensive power, it was a technique she could only use when her enemy stood still.
Joker fell and didn't move. She was still conscious but only barely. I can't believe… I'm this much worse off with just my ranged attacks and jumping sealed away…
Saki stepped over Joker, raising her arms over her chest, ready to put Joker out of her misery. But she made one fatal mistake. With a horrible sound, Regina's spear pierced her chest, going straight through her lungs. She was capable of remote controlling that thing?! Saki thought as she felt blood rise up in her throat. But this was not enough to kill her. Slamming her fists down onto the blonde with her full strength, boosted by magic, Saki smashed her ribcage, collapsed her lungs and crushed her heart. Joker's chest was concave for a brief moment before she disappeared.
And with Joker's demise came also Ace's, who just dropped on top of Pride, who she had been attacking non-stop to keep her locked in regeneration, before she vanished.
Saki was facing Pride on her own now, which was quite the problem with her lungs pierced and everything. The next Cure that came in from the dark team was Passion and Bloom knew right away she couldn't deal with someone like that in her current state. Trying to make the most of her short appearance, she ran towards Pride, feeling her lungs fill with blood. She had at most a minute or so left.
Setsuna had only heard of Heart's insane regeneration ability so far but seeing it over the last several minutes had been quite something. She was going to be the one to take out Bloom. Fights like this were all about dealing as much damage as possible, to everyone. Without any ranged attacks… or jumping… Setsuna decided that Cure Passion was not the most suited of her forms for this. "Memory!"
Saki was repeatedly exchanging blows with Pride, both of their faces looking terrible. Bloom was stronger and took less damage but Pride could seemingly endlessly heal herself. Neither of them paid any attention to the girl in black leather that was approaching them at an insane speed.
Her right leg covered in black energy, Eas spun on her left right in front of Bloom and hit her left arm with enough force to break it in two places, unnaturally bending the limb. Between Passion and Eas, the latter lacked almost all of Passion's short range teleportation techniques, but they weren't going to be of much use there. Instead, she had much higher physical attributes, using all her energy to enhance her movement and physical attacks.
Saki tried to block the follow up punch with her leg but she couldn't raise it in time. Her left hip was shattered by the punch, followed by another hit to her left shoulder, also broken. Eas used a type of energy reinforcement that was highly hazardous to Cures because it bypassed their natural magical protection. But the large drawback was that Eas took significantly more damage from Cure energy as well.
Saki's left side had taken so much damage that she couldn't avoid the next attack. Eas raised her leg above her own head, spun and slammed it into Saki's neck, causing a loud cracking sound and robbing the Cure of her consciousness.
Eas didn't take any breaks. Using the momentum of pulling back her leg after knocking Bloom out, she flung around and slammed her right fist against Pride's throat, then her other fist into her face, then her right into her chest. Eas was faster than Pride and very capable in close combat. A barrage of attacks slowly drove Pride back, step by step, her regeneration keeping her nearly uninjured but every counter attack from the reflection was instantly deflected by a skillful defensive movement from Eas.
Bloom's replacement, the very last fighter of the light team, was potentially the most dangerous of them all, given the rule set; Cure Sword. Armed with a large blade that she wielded with both hands, she was one of the few that could reliably beat Mana, in theory. They had never tested it because the damage that Sword's blades left were irreparable. But this was different! Even death didn't mean anything in these battles!
Eas was still throwing barrage after barrage of punches and kicks against Pride, starting to question just where the limit of her regeneration lied. I can't keep this up forever. Eas, Setsuna, could only use her switch over, Memory, for about ten minutes before it used up all her energy.
Having great situational awareness because of how she fought as Passion, Eas avoided the first strike of Sword's blade, rolling to the side, putting herself, Pride and Sword into a triangle position. And Sword made the first move. Using mostly horizontal slashes, with the occasional diagonal and vertical one, to force Eas back.
And just when things started looking dire for Eas, because she couldn't block those blades but only evade them, Sword changed targets so abruptly that Eas didn't counter, a sweeping horizontal strike to her back, a swipe that Pride narrowly avoided. But the follow up slash hit Pride's right arm, going right through it, severed all the magical connectors within, cutting off all magical energy from reaching that arm.
Makoto suffered a powerful blow to her back, mitigated only by the fact that Eas didn't go all in but kept herself a way open to retreat. But Sword could do more than just use her weapon. Retaliating with a kick, Eas was forced back. But this had been a miscalculation on Makoto's part. Eas was strong enough to endure the kick and grab Sword's ankle and violently twisted her foot.
Makoto winced in pain but focused on getting rid of Pride. If by some chance she was taken out before Pride, there would be no one left to beat her, unless the last fighter on the dark team was Rikka. Slashing at Eas only to get her to back off, Makoto cut her own ankle with a red blade, scorching the insides. She barely felt her right ankle now, but at least she could stand.
Without moving she switched the blade to her other hand in an instant, then Makoto hit Pride again, this time cutting off the regeneration and magical energy of her other arm. Crouching and dodging a kick from Eas, it still grazed her shoulder. Unlike most Cures, Eas wore normal high heels, not boots, which left her legs more exposed than her Passion form did.
Hitting pride across the chest with her blue blade, Makoto could change the type of energy she used to power her blade at will. Purple, to cut magical energy, red, to scorch organic matter, and blue, a freezing blade. Directing her attention to Eas, Makoto couldn't avoid the next kick entirely either, going right over her shoulder, and hitting the side of her head. And still she managed to mitigate the damage because Eas was fighting cautiously.
Makoto on the other hand threw all caution into the wind. Pressing Eas, whom she would have never guessed to be Passion from the way they looked, Makoto forced her back with lightning fast slashes and stabs, each of them proving to be potentially fatal. But every time Eas countered, Makoto couldn't avoid taking some damage. She's clearly superior to me in unarmed combat but…
Crouching again and slashing at Eas' legs, Sword followed up by using a sweeping kick. And out of pure instinct, it caused Eas to attempt to jump, only to be hit with 100 times gravity. Unable to cushion her extremely accelerated fall, Eas hit the ground quite roughly and fell over. Makoto immediately made use of that chance and rammed her sword into Eas' right leg.
But Setsuna was a tough cookie. Ignoring the sharp and unusual pain in her left leg, she used her right leg and landed a brutal hit right into Sword's face, breaking her nose but not doing much more than that.
Makoto, recoiling briefly, grit her teeth, threw herself forward and slid her blade all the way through Eas' leg, through her hips and to the center of her chest. "Thousand Maiden!" Ranged attacks won't work, but I am this close!
Eas' insides were shredded by a dozen smaller blades, physical manifestations of Makoto's energy, moving outwards from where her blade was impaling Eas. Such damage was far too much for Eas to handle. She couldn't even spit up blood before she vanished.
Makoto was hit in the back with a kick and toppled over, rolling over the ground. Pride was still there. Sword recovered, with her ankle barely functional, her nose broken and various bruises all over. The western gate was already opening, she had to take care of this quickly.
Lunging forward, her posture so low that her head was almost on height with Pride's hips, Sword slashed her thrice, the right leg with her purple blade once and then twice with her blue one. The leg was frozen in the exact place she had hit and Makoto only felt marginally bad about hitting the spot with her fist, shattering it, Pride's right leg severed from her body.
Makoto didn't let up, rose up and slammed her fist into the face of the already toppled Pride, before rammed her purple blade through Pride's chest, cutting off her magic supply entirely. "Thousand Maiden!" Shredding Pride's insides just like those of Eas, Makoto was suffering quite a bit from the damage she had taken so far.
And the damage increased even further. The last fighter on the dark team was Cure Heart, who had just missed taking out her own reflection, losing out on a 999% bonus. The moment Makoto looked up to see who her next enemy was, Mana was already on top of her, an upper kick hitting Makoto's chin and forcing her on the ground. Mana was well aware of how difficult it would be for her to beat Makoto, if she could at all.
But Mana was an expert in close quarters combat, even if her style was completely reckless. Before Makoto could even look up again, Heart was already upon her, kicking her in the sides several times. And when the inevitable retaliation from Sword came, she just took it head on. Losing the magic in her left leg, Mana used her significant physical strength to step on Makoto's wrist, forcing her to drop the weapon.
Sword, pinned to the ground, made the blade reappear in her free hand, but Mana still managed to get two heavy blows in against her chest and Makoto was sure she had broken one or two ribs. Cutting Mana's right side, causing intense tissue damage, Mana just intensified the pressure on Makoto's wrist, magic energy or not, breaking the delicate part through pure physical strength.
Mana was finally forced off Sword when the purple Cure used both of her legs to turn on the ground, her wrist unnaturally bent already anyway, and kicked Mana right in the face. Even if she could regenerate it, she would still be unable to see for a moment. And that moment was enough for Makoto to stick her blade into Mana's right thigh, turned to red, scorching all the nerves and muscle in it, leaving Mana unable to feel it for the next few seconds. Rolling over the ground and getting up, Makoto was hit in the face, again, and this time her jaw broke. The pain was strong but not something she couldn't deal with. Swinging her sword wildly at Mana, the pink Cure was forced to back away, Makoto hot in pursuit.
Mana was slowed down because of her right leg because her magical connectors were cut and even she couldn't regenerate those. Blocking a powerful kick from Makoto with her right arm, Mana was caught by surprise when Makoto suddenly switched her blade to another hand and hit her right arm. A second slash followed, also targeting her right arm and this time it was the blue energy, causing intense frost bite all throughout her arm.
Looks like I'm a really poor match for Makoto. Mana tried to counter with her healthy arm but was countered instead, Makoto deflecting the blow upwards and slashing Heart's stomach. "Thousand Maiden!" I wish the special ability that I was granted was not a ranged attack.
Mana couldn't heal the damage in that region because Makoto had cut her magic connectors again. It feels like fate that the ability I was given from my future self is completely useless against Makoto. With her intestines shredded, Mana spat blood and fell to her knees.
Sword quickly stabbed Heart a second time, this time in her chest. And for the last time, Makoto exerted the only close range special attack she had. "Thousand Maiden!"
===DISSONANCE===
Nozomi watched Reika with mild distress, the blue haired Cure emptying the second bottle of water right there in the waiting room. They went for a premium, 150 favor a bottle. And Reika still had a sore throat, but at least she was properly hydrated now.
A few of the others had similarly strange but harmless leftover damage from the battle. Inori had a bit of a cough, Setsuna had a lot of aching muscles everywhere Sword had hit her and Urara still had a bit of tinnitus every few minutes.
"They kicked our butts this time. But we'll get them tomorrow!" Nozomi tried to be optimistic. She herself felt oddly lightheaded and had trouble keeping her balance, leftover effects from being blasted by Aurora.
"I can't believe I was taken out by Happy! By Happy! I'm not happy about that." Yami had no real aftereffects to deal with but she was pretty depressed about how easily she went down. "Compared to Yuri-nee… hah..." Her heavy sighs of disbelief made it hard for Yuri to comfort her.
"At least… you aren't… itching all.. over..." Tsubomi was still reacting to what she had done to Itsuki and Bright's reflection. Her arms, legs, almost every part of her body was itchy. "Yami, could you-"
The girl with teal colored hair reached out and scratched Tsubomi's back, the botany student ever so relieved.
Just moments earlier, when they all returned to the waiting room, they found the scores and were told to stay put for a few minutes.
"What the fuck was up with Kurumi's ability? How is shit like that even allowed?" Urara rubbed the sides of her head, just sitting in the waiting room. They had finally put some cushioned benches in there.
"All of us attained abilities far beyond anything we are capable of." Yuri still remembered the feel of her glaive, but she couldn't remember at all how she had created it. It was as if her memories of that knowledge had just been removed, the same way they had been granted.
"Well, isn't that nice for you, you got one that was actually useful. I couldn't use Gleipnir at all because apparently it's classified as something that isn't a melee attack. Stupid fucking rule." Urara's tinnitus returned and she groaned. "When is this shit gonna stop?! I swear I will hang Melody from a tree!"
"Hey, it isn't my fault that walking Rhinoceros had it in for me!" Regina was arguing with Ange over their loss.
"You were the one that wanted to switch and look what happened. I was not exactly beating her but at least I wasn't being defeated either." Ange thought she shouldn't have listened to Regina.
"Well, we weren't getting anywhere. Just our luck we had a Mana clone on our hands." Regina looked at the girl right next to her. "Nothing against you Mana, but your power sucks if you're an enemy."
"It is designed to demotivate my opponents." Mana flinched when Regina tried to reach out to her. Just standing was a little uncomfortable already. Her body felt like she had the workout of a century behind her. "I was the last one to go on our team and I lost against Makoto."
"Makoto won?" Ange looked a little too happy considering what team she was on. "Do you think she has enough to transfer over?"
"You can ask her during the test of courage later." Mana was happy if her friends were happy.
The doors opened and Northa stepped in, but before she could say anything, Erika came running in and jumped Tsubomi, both of them crashing to the floor. "You totally showed Itsuki who's boss! Awesome, Tsubomi!"
Northa looked like she was about to have a vein on her forehead burst. "All of you get out of here. Skyscraper is closed until room arrangements are done."
"When will that be?" Reika was glared at for just asking.
"Ask your damn receptionist. If the top scorer wants to use the exchange, go run and talk to Regine." Northa walked away, looking pretty sour that they were all still alive. And one of them had been messing with Mamo, who was holed up at her shop since early in the morning. That was what put her in this bad of a mood. Mamo was one of the few good looking women around since those pesky Cures were obviously out.
The large group left the arena and passed through the fog. The weather was pleasant but a little dark, the sky blotched with big, dark clouds, as if it were about to rain. Most of them were complaining a little about the after effects but considering the level of harm they had gone through, that really was nothing.
"I watched you from the screening room in the penthouse!" Erika was pretty excited about the battle. "That really creepy life drain vines thing you did, what was that?"
Tsubomi didn't feel very good thinking about that. "I don't really remember. It looks like we're just given that knowledge for the fight and then it's gone."
"Boo! Stingy system! Demon! Devil! Corporate Lawyer!" Erika really wanted to know what her own ability would have been and she regretted not signing up now.
"I think that last one is a bit too harsh." Alice just commented on it while they walked past the quest board. She had been standing right next to it, waiting for the others to come out of the fog. "I think everyone fought quite well. Albeit we lost."
Sasorina was sitting on the stairs to the skyscraper, drinking coffee from a large paper cup, with a straw of all things. "Sorry girls, we're closed for the next hour. Since everyone handed off their keys in time, I can take it easy until then. Oh, right, whoever got the work penalty, you're going to work with Mizushita at the bathhouse." Sasorina's friendliness still weirded Erika out but Tsubomi was glad that their receptionist was not like the people working at the arena.
"Eh, so what do we do about the quest we signed up for?" Yami was raring to go. A test of courage sounded right up her alley, wherever that was. In any case, she wanted to go. She had never been to a beach either!
"Oh, you can do that any time. I just need to open the gate to the beach and call Majorina so she brings the other side." Sasorina really enjoyed her coffee and looked a little sad when she slurped up the last bit of it. "In any case, skyscraper is closed for another hour, give or take a few minutes."
"What do we do?" Mana was still feeling really sore so she wasn't very eager to go right that instant.
"A test of courage is something you do after dark, so we should go after dinner." Miki felt a small stinging in her chest that was no doubt a remnant of being stabbed by Kurumi. "I think we should at least wait until all the after effects are gone."
"The bath is closed for us right now, so maybe we could spend some time in the garden." Setsuna waved to Ellen, who was slowly getting past people, careful not to bump into anyone. About to hug her girlfriend, Setsuna took a step back. "Sorry Ellen, I'm hypersensitive right now..."
"You were so cool in how you beat Bloom." Ellen was swooning a little, which made Setsuna blush. She wasn't used to being admired.
"Regina, Ange, Ellen, Setsuna, time to work off that crushing debt for our instruments." Urara was still fighting her tinnitus. "Mamo wants a garden and we don't want to pay for our shit with the pennies we get." And the ringing got loud for a moment. "I am going to kill Melody." Urara made sure to grumble that last part just under her breath, lest someone take her seriously.
None of the four really had the mind to argue with Urara. They had all seen the score boards and, of all people, Urara just slightly won the room ranking. She was ranked first, thanks to her efforts in the battle of the day before, Moonlight, Heart and Ace plus Joker were ranked second, third and fourth. There was only 1100 favor between rank one and rank four. At least for the next three days, being on not so bad terms with Urara was a good idea.
Honoka was given some time off because Sasorina was also off duty. Mana on the other hand was sent to the bathhouse because she had been the lowest scoring Cure in the match, scoring lower than Lemonade by 15 points, which was mildly ironic because Lemonade was the highest ranking one in total. "Cure Heart reporting for work." Mana was only allowed to enter the bathhouse because she was supposed to work there.
"I guess you're both here. Well, for starters, go chop some wood out back. Fill up the storage." Mizushita knew that the system did this automatically around midnight but they didn't need to know that.
Mana didn't really recognize the other girl other than seeing her in battle. She was the first one to go out. "I'm Mana. You're…" Mana tried her hardest to remember but she wasn't sure she had even heard her name before.
"Nagisa. You probably know my girlfriend, Cure White? Looks like we're both gonna be working together." Nagisa held out her hand for a handshake and Mana smiled when she took it.
"Shoo, shoo, get working." Mizushita was reading a trashy boy's love romance novel that she had bought earlier. She had already given up on being particularly mad at the Cures. She couldn't hurt them, they didn't seem to care at all about her being here and she was just going to get wrinkles if she stayed mad all the time. The girls around the complex were already bad-mouthing Northa for being constantly riled up and plotting pointless excursions. Poisony was no better either.
Leaving the actual building through the employee only door that they had never even noticed before, they first went through some backrooms where Mizushita seemed to live. It was a pretty small living space, which made sense, considering the bathhouse was open almost around the clock. They heard Sasorina's and Majorina's voice from the entrance just before they walked through the wooden furnished room and reached the storage area, where tons of cleaning supplies were being held. There were three more doors, too, one leading to the main bath, another leading to the outdoor bath and the third finally outside the building itself.
"I remember now, you had some trouble with that blue Cure… what was her name? M… Mei? No, that's not right." Mana was still struggling a little with the names. It had only been roughly 48 hours since they arrived in this place and everything.
"Miki. Cure Berry. Don't worry, it took me awhile to get all the names down. It just comes to you naturally after spending a few days with everyone. Do you mind telling me how Honoka is doing? Black hair, smart, likes to take charge?"
"I know who you mean. She reminds me of Rikka, actually. I can't really say how she is doing, but it looks like she and Rikka have some things in common."
Nagisa picked up an axe and tried to turn into Cure Black and was denied. "My powers aren't working." Trying harder and harder, Nagisa turned red, then slightly blue, from being too tense and trying to force something that wasn't going to happen.
Mana tried twice as well and couldn't get it to work either. But for her, this was not much of a problem. Getting a real workout was something she needed, anyway. "Should we just go at it normally?" Mana was still really sore but at least her hands were fine.
"I'm gonna ache all over, even worse than I do now. How did the battle go, by the way? I… went out a little early." Nagisa felt embarrassed about that.
"I can't recount the entire thing from memory, but I think the blue- I mean Miki got beaten by that super tough Knight-like Cure from the light team. You should have seen that ability she pulled out. I don't think even I could have healed through that."
"Yeah, I heard about Kurumi going all out today. Hikari was giggling like a little girl. I wish I still remembered how to do that super move. I know what it was, but not how to do it." Nagisa only remembered that she couldn't do it without Honoka. "What did yours turn out to be? I mean, if you don't mind."
"Immortality, more or less. I have absolutely no idea how future me is going to make that work but basically, for as long as I have magic energy, I can put myself back together and regenerate, even if I get hit by a nuclear missile or get blown away by an asteroid." Mana was really impressed by this but not even half as much as Nagisa.
"Remind me to never get on your bad side. I was disappointed I couldn't do my thing without Honoka, but we're usually always together. I'm gonna try and switch over to the dark team later, I just barely have the money for it."
"What was it gonna do?" Mana was starting to felt warmed up now. There was a lot of wood to chop. There were tall trees as far as she could see, all throughout the fog, nearly side by side.
"Hm? Oh, my ability? It's… kinda embarrassing. Honoka and me, we're Cure White and Cure Black and future me and future Honoka apparently come up with something called the Shin Yin-Yang. I didn't figure out what it did, though, sorry."
"Don't worry. But you should worry about falling behind. Unless you want me to help you out with your stack. I don't really mind. Helping people used to be a hobby for me." Calling it a hobby… well, Rikka always called it an obsession, and it kinda is, and was, so I guess this is just me trying to not alienate her.
"I play professional lacrosse. Killer robot from the future or not, I won't fall behind!" After chopping wood very enthusiastically for a few minutes and not talking, Nagisa eventually took a short break. "Sorry about that. Calling you a killer robot and stuff. There's just this old movie-"
"We did have Terminator in our time, too. I can… sort of see why you would call me that after how that first fight went, yesterday. It's just… I was seeing red, completely in fight or flight mode. I couldn't even think about not attacking anyone from the other team."
"That's normal, don't worry about it. You did scare the hell out of me when you were still going after we… tore off your arm. Sorry about that by the way."
"I didn't really feel it, but thanks. I was a little worried people would be afraid of me."
"In battle, sure. I would probably sweat ten times harder than I do now if not for the stuff the system imposes. But I don't forget we're all actually on the same side, even if we're fighting."
"I was under the impression that Honoka was the smart one between you two but you do say some good things too."
Nagisa scratched the back of her head in embarrassment. It wasn't often that she was called smart. At least I think she called me smart. "You think so? Hehe… Thanks."
"Being here, in this place… with all of you, it kind of lets me forget what we left behind."
"From what we heard, that's probably a good idea." Nagisa picked up as much chopped wood as she could, and it reached so high that she couldn't see in front anymore.
"Lemme help." Grabbing some of the wood from the big stack that Nagisa was carrying, Mana's height came in handy for that, the unlikely pair headed for the storage behind the building.
On the light team's side, the garden was almost overcrowded. The remaining band members couldn't get to the store to work and with the skyscraper being closed for renovation so to speak, they didn't have anywhere else to go. The theater group was not getting their auditorium until the band actually delivered on their debt, having to play a concert in there. At least that was what Majorina told Komachi when she asked her about it.
Yayoi was on her lonesome, sketching something special. Looking up for the umpteenth time, she was glad that Miyuki actually kept still when she relaxed, the girl sitting at the side of the pond, her socks and shoes beside her and her feet in the water.
"I think Dream's boobs are actually a bit bigger than that."
Yayoi was so startled she threw up her drawing block and tried to crawl away in panic. She was always very focused when drawing but even more so when she drew real people. And especially so when she drew real people doing lewd things.
Hibiki caught the drawing block, hanging upside down from a thick branch. "Oh, this is really good." Hibiki flipped through the block. "Where is the one of Itsuki and me?" She wanted that for herself.
Yayoi got on her feet and ran up to Hibiki, trying to take back what was hers. "Give it back!" She was like a little girl being bullied.
"If it's not in there, give her back her stuff, Hibiki." Itsuki's voice came from above, the same branch Hibiki hung from. But she was just sitting there, technically. And looking up, or rather down, Hibiki's skirt. "I think you're wearing my panties."
"Eh, really?!" Hibiki moved about, getting her legs off the branch and turning in mid-air, but not turning far enough, landing flat on her face on the ground. "That looks so easy in movies..."
Yayoi grabbed the sketchbook that Hibiki had dropped and hugged it like it was about to get stolen again. "It's rude to peek at an artist's drawing before they're done!"
"It's also rude to draw adult rated stuff of people you know. I wonder what Dream and Happy would say about you drawing them having sex." Itsuki was just toying with Yayoi for a bit and had no real intention of running to Happy to complain.
"They kissed! It's fine!" Yayoi knew full and well that that kiss hasn't been a real kiss. But that didn't matter, she could argue against that if necessary.
"Yes, yes, whatever you say." Hibiki got off the ground and dusted herself off. "Itsuki, wanna go for a run?"
"Are you serious? How do you have the energy for that after how exhausted you were after the battle?" Itsuki refused to jump down. "I'm just going to take a nap up here."
Hibiki looked upset and opened her mouth but controlled herself. It's fine… expecting her to always tag along is selfish to the max. "I'll go run on my own."
"Don't cheat on me~." Itsuki waved at her girlfriend and moved to the side of the branch. It was at least a meter thick, which was quite insane for a tree that wasn't really all that big, but at least she didn't have to worry too much about falling down.
Yayoi had made off with her sketchbook in the meantime. She couldn't go back to drawing Miyuki after this. Maybe she would just draw some of the others from memory, away from prying eyes. Walking towards the far reaches of the garden, Yayoi wondered if it had always been so grand.
The voices of the other Cures were so distant now that she couldn't make out even the loudest of them. Finally a quiet place… Sitting down on a particularly large rock, Yayoi flipped open her sketchbook and flipped a few pages. Nao and Akane… I don't think I'll draw them for a while. Aqua and Nao… why did I draw that one again? Maybe because Mint and Nao are both using a green theme. Pine and Berry… they look good together, I wonder which one would be the dom and which one the sub…
Flipping past a few sketches that were just singular Cures, Yayoi stopped. Erika and me… Blushing all by her lonesome, Yayoi couldn't believe she was still fantasizing about her every night. That wild, unbound spirit… her unbreakable ego and confidence… and she's funny too.
There was a short manga in the back of her sketchbook and she would need to get a new one soon. She was running out of pages. Seeing the drawings of herself and Erika having sex, Yayoi got unbelievably horny. Looking to her right and left, behind and up front, Yayoi still got off the rock and squatted behind it.
Sitting down in the slightly cool grass, her legs at a slight angle, the blades tickled her legs and butt. Putting her sketchbook down next to her, flipped open, she looked at a sketch of Erika, the girl she liked posing on a bed, kneeling, arms pushing her breasts together and just barely hiding that little space between her legs.
Spreading her legs, Yayoi reached under the dress with her right hand, and massaged her breasts with her left hand. I'm glad they're big… Erika seems to prefer them that way. Ah… I'm such a bad girl, thinking about someone's girlfriend like that… so… bad… Squirming a little because the grass kept tickling her, Yayoi pulled her panties slightly to the side. Those lewd sounds I'm making all on my own... I wanna make Erika listen to them. What if… she could see me right now? What if Erika was watching me?
Moaning softly, Yayoi just kept looking at her own drawing of Erika. There was no better masturbation material than that for her. Do… Erika's boobs feel like this? What sound would she make if I squeezed really hard? A hollow gasp for air, her voice stuck in her throat, Yayoi felt a wave of pleasure roll over her, and a little bit of pain.
The grass beneath her was glistening now and her fingers were completely soaked. Sitting there, behind the rock, Yayoi looked lovingly at her drawing of Erika, her face flushed, her eyes half closed, her mouth slightly open. "Erika… Erika.." Moaning her crush's name, Yayoi tensed up. I get so sensitive when I look at her… My blue angel…
Shutting her eyes and mouth tight, Yayoi suddenly sped up her finger movements to the extreme, her entire body rocking with the movements, her breasts wildly bouncing up and down. Covering her mouth with her clean hand, Yayoi stretched her legs all the way, even her toes. Wild moans suppressed by her hand, Yayoi's stoked breath suddenly burst free, together with her desire.
Shaking and trembling from doing it, Yayoi was glad she had gone to the toilet just before the skyscraper closed. If I wet myself out here… I would be so embarrassed, I'd die! She just couldn't help it sometimes. If she came really hard, sometimes she would just let go. That's why she did it mostly in the shower now. Not in the bath though, that was a really bad idea.
Just sitting there and enjoying the afterglow, Yayoi looked at her drawing of Erika again. Blossom is so lucky… but I'm sure… I'll find my own Erika one day. Someone like her… doesn't matter if she's tall or short, busty or flat, Japanese or a foreigner.
"It looks like the garden did grow after all. We should monitor that over the next few days. Maybe it is related to our winning today's battle."
Yayoi froze. W-Why is someone all the way out here?! Her legs didn't fully obey her yet but she managed to get on her knees and peek past the rock's right side. Bright and Windy?! And they're coming this way! Staying on her knees and crawling away, Yayoi made it to a particularly dense patch of bushes, hiding herself. And when she peeked out, she noticed she had forgotten her sketchbook in all her panic. But now it was too late to go and get it.
"Kaoru. Did you hear something?" Michiru looked around. Both of them were in their Cure forms and had their usual expressions, which was to say, not much of an expression at all.
"You keep asking me and I keep reminding you that this garden has various small animals that are being disturbed by our survey of the garden boundaries." Kaoru was still the smarter one between the two. In that way, they emulated Saki and Mai. Michiru, with her short hair and aptitude for physical work, emulated Saki, while Kaoru, with her superior intellect and impressive logical thinking tried to be like Mai.
Michiru jumped on the large rock, her white boots creating a resounding impact sound that made several small animals and insects fly off all around the rock. While she stood there, looking around, particularly at the nearby fog, someone was desperately praying for her to not notice the sketchbook right beneath her.
And while Michiru didn't, Kaoru walked around the rock and picked it up without saying anything. Flipping through the pages, the blue haired of the twins looked at her sister when she was done. And it was a long look, long enough for Michiru to take an interest in what made Kaoru do it.
Flipping to a specific page in the block, Kaoru held up the drawing so Michiru could see it. "Pose like that for me."
"Why? It's not like you're going to draw me. You're terrible at art."
"This is erotic art. I just want to see my beautiful sister strike an alluring pose like this."
Oh my god, what are they talking about? Just give back my sketchbook! And they're almost standing in that spot! Yayoi thought she would die on the spot if they noticed what they were standing in and that the culprit was just a few meters away.
Michiru sat down on the rock and sighed a little. "Shouldn't you tell Inori about our relationship already? I think it is cruel to lead her on like this."
"I'm not leading her on. Don't you think she would have made attempts to flirt with me or something if she was interested?"
"True, but maybe she's just shy? Honestly, I'm a little glad she's on the other team right now. It would be hard for you to pretend you're still learning more about being human, right? What are we gonna do about that?"
Were they… like that before? I didn't really talk to them ever before but… I definitely don't think they were like that. Yayoi flinched and caused some leafs to rattle when Michiru looked straight at her. Don't come over, don't come over!
Luckily, Michiru's attention was focused on her sister, who looked mildly worried now, a rare look. "We definitely cannot tell anyone. You saw what state everyone was in at the end. If not for my Stormflair, who knows what would have happened?"
"It's a strange feeling, being the only ones to remember. But after seeing what happened to everyone, I think it is best if they never remember. It must be inconvenient for Moonlight, but I cannot even imagine the emotional and psychological fallout if they remembered what happened during those ten years." Michiru went quiet for a few seconds and enjoyed the atmosphere in the garden. We're pretty far away from everyone else. "Show me that drawing again."
Handing over the entire block to her sister, Kaoru pulled on Michiru's legs and got her to sit near the edge of the rock while she stood in front of her, Michiru's legs spread just far enough for her to stand between them.
"This is really good. And really erotic, too." Michiru didn't even react to her sister pulling her nearly off the rock. "Peace must have drawn these. She's the only one on our side that I recall having any artistic talent and experience."
"We'll return it to her later." Kaoru had figured that out almost instantly. There was only one person that liked to draw all of these girls having lesbian sex. "That one."
"You only picked that because her breasts are as big as mine, if not bigger. I really dislike this recent obsession of yours about my chest." Michiru frowned at her sister. Cure Mint, huh… I prefer long hair and long legs, like Berry and Moonlight.
"Oh cut it out Michiru. Everyone has their preferences. Do you hear me complaining about your leg and boots fetish? I don't know what's so sexy about boots, honestly. They're just clothing."
"Do you want me to do the pose or not?"
"Fine. Our usual arrangement?"
Kaoru leaned forward and casually kissed her sister. "Our usual arrangement." Taking a few steps back, Kaoru gave Michiru some space to get up. "Just stay on the rock."
The redhead looked at the drawing one more time and took a pose. Her legs spread apart, knees together and slightly bent, her arms supporting her large chest from below, her upper body leaning forward, making her breasts look even bigger. Trying her best to emulate the suggestive look and smile, Michiru put on quite a show for her sister, who just watched.
"If we ever return home, you need to look for a job as an underwear model." Kaoru was blushing intensely just watching her sister stand there. "I'm so glad all that physical work didn't ruin your looks."
"I really could have gone without having breasts like this. Mai has trouble finding bras already. I can only buy mine online."
"Stop exaggerating. You're only one size bigger than her. And large breasts are a thing of beauty. Especially if they're covered by tight clothing. Those wonderful shapes, the bulging through the fabric… I could look at it all day."
"You became a real pervert during the ten thousand nights. Legs are much more difficult to maintain than just having a big chest. Proper skin care, taking care of any bruises, preventing tearing, choosing the right stockings or pantyhose, the right boots and length of the heel… legs are an intellectual's pleasure."
"Aren't you lucky that my Cure outfit comes with these pretty white boots then?" The blue haired girl smirked. "You can stop posing now." And Michiru could see why; tiny nobs were poking through Kaoru's clothes.
"Then it's my turn now." Sitting down and spreading her legs already, Michiru waited for her sister to jump up on the rock.
Yayoi was still hiding in the bushes and her heart beat like a jackhammer. Are they… are they gonna have sex right there?! It looks like they're about to scissor… but… but… they're sisters, right? Love between girls that are also sisters! Forbidden Forbidden Love! Yayoi was watching so intently, she didn't even notice she was kneeling behind a bush, not exactly concealed very well, lustfully groping herself, feeling even more horny than before.
Taking her spot on the rock, putting her legs above and below her sister's, Kaoru was just a little embarrassed when Michiru started sliding her hands over her legs, not upwards but downwards. Michiru's fingertips tickled the skin beneath her pantyhose. She's got such a strange fetish… all because I ended up as one of the nobles so many times. But it could be so much worse.
"Take everything else off." The smoothness of these boots… and her legs… she's just a little taller than me, so why do her legs feel so much better? This texture, like peerless silk woven by a master weaver into a magnificent silk cloth… This unrivaled softness, with just the right amount of firmness to it… just a tiny bit of fat, barely enough for me to notice, invisible to everyone else.
Kaoru obliged her sister's whim and canceled everything about her transformation except her boots. The rock was cold to the touch and suddenly sitting on it naked sent a few shivers down her back, resulting in her trembling a little. Bending her knees more and more, Kaoru got so close so her sister that their hottest places were touching, rubbing against each other even. "Don't just sit there and ogle me."
The redhead followed suit and turned off most of her transformation. They had obtained quite some fine control over this during the long years of the Masquerade. Wearing only her dress, the boots and pantyhose gone, she too shivered from the cold of the stone beneath her. She really didn't get excited by scissoring that much, but it was the easiest way for both of them to get what they wanted.
Kaoru got close and bent her knees as far as she could. Her heels found purchase on the stone, and her sister's hands danced up and down her legs.
And just then, Kaoru noticed the sketchbook again, from the corners of her eyes, and remembered one of the drawings. Reaching for it and searching for the image, she found exactly what she was looking for. "Let's do this. And after that-" She flipped two pages ahead. "This one."
The first one was of no real interest to Michiru but the second made her so excited she thought she was drowning on saliva and swallowed hard. "The stone is going to be really cold."
"Your body heat is gonna make up for it." I need to have a word with Peace. If she is able to think up all of these poses, surely she will know of one that can satisfy both of our fetishes at the same time. Kaoru separated from her sister and laid down flat on her back, her legs spread wide, knees still bent and her heels on the ground. Although I can still make her feel good like this.
Michiru crawled forward, between her sister's legs, her breasts bouncing back and forth with every small step, exciting her sister so much that it showed on her face. Like the anticipation of someone about to receive a present.
Her breasts… swinging like that in front of my face. Like a pendulum of pure joy, condensed into those two perfect shapes, contained just barely by the thin cloth around her chest, struggling to bear the pressure of those heavenly spheres.. Kaoru's thoughts got away from her when Michiru lowered herself on top of her, Kaoru's breasts pushed down by her sister's. The blue haired girl just barely held back an orgasm from feeling this, trembling under the weight and touch of her sister.
"Want me to move?" Michiru just looked at her sister's face, who was visibly struggling to contain her excitement. "Do my breasts feel that good?"
Answering the question by raising her legs and crossing them over Michiru's back, Kaoru prevented her sister from going anywhere. "This is the best I have ever felt..." Kaoru grabbed Michiru by her red hair and pulled her head down, sticking her tongue into her sister's mouth without warning, wrestling her tongue for superiority in her own mouth. It feels so good, so good… I don't think I'll be able to live without this anymore. Thanks a lot, Peace. Rubbing her legs, her boots, across Michiru's back, she could directly feel her sister getting turned on by it, her nipples stiffening through the dress against her own, which were already as hard as the rock beneath them.
Kaoru didn't need to be touched between her legs to reach orgasm. Having Michiru's breasts pushed against her was stimulating her much more than having a finger or two inside her did. And with Michiru suddenly moving, adjusting only her legs, Kaoru was driven over the edge, unable to hold back the flood of pleasure, rushing through her, consuming her mind, making her wrap both of her arms around her sister, pulling her close, shaking with the force of an orgasm so intense, she was sure it was the strongest one she had ever felt.
Forcing herself up just a little, which was difficult because Kaoru was holding on really tight, Michiru looked at her sister's closed eyes, her slightly open mouth. "Kaoru, are you okay? That was intense, I almost thought you had a seizure." Michiru felt her sister still twitching a little, her legs, her boots still pressing down on her back. This is not bad at all either. Having her cling to me like this… feeling her on my back… I could get used to this.
"I'm fine… I underestimated your breasts..." Kaoru felt unbelievably light headed. "Give me a second to catch me breath.." Her legs didn't fully obey and she needed a second attempt to release her sister from the leg lock. I think… I almost passed out.
Michiru retreated away from Kaoru and sat cross-legged in front of her. She didn't really feel any shame whatsoever over being half naked. I still don't understand why she makes me keep the dress and my bra on. Wouldn't it feel better for her if we did this with me naked?
Behind the bushes, Yayoi's forehead touched the ground, one hand desperately covering her mouth to hide her erratic moaning, the other rapidly moving between her legs, fluid dripping from those fingers with almost every move. Pressing her face into the cool grass, Yayoi came for the second time in ten minutes. Shaking and still desperately trying to stay hidden, Yayoi drooled on the grass through her hand, bent over and on her knees. Taking away her hand, she quietly gasped for air.
Recovering from her second orgasm just enough to kneel upright, Yayoi saw that the sisters had changed positions. Windy was still on her back but had one of her legs raised against Bright, pointing right at the sky, her butt lifted off the rock just a little. I can't look away. I can't look away! Those two are too sexy!
Michiru sat on Kaoru's left leg, grinding herself against the soft skin of her sister's limb and her boots. Kaoru's other leg went against her shoulder, her boot, her feet, just the right height for Michiru to rub her face against it, kiss it, lick it. Lying on the rock, Kaoru still got turned on again when she stared at her sister's breasts wildly bouncing around, her own body being rocked back and forth ever so slightly by the redhead's movement.
Those beautiful legs… right there in front of me and beneath me.. grinding against me. Covering her pristine leg in my wetness, dirtying it, and still it feels as smooth as a polished gemstone, as pure and white as a diamond. And the texture of her boot against my cheek, the heel against the palm of my hand…
The blonde that still hid just out of sight reached between her legs again and she winced. It almost hurt to continue now but she was feeling so unbelievably turned on from what she was seeing she couldn't ignore it. Kneeling there, just barely peeking at the sisters, she striped off her dress, pulling it down to her waist. If she couldn't continue down there, she would just use her breasts. Starting by just rubbing them, Yayoi became obsessed with staring at the sisters. Moving her boobs up and down, squeezing and groping, Yayoi couldn't believe how hard her nipples were. Just touching them with her palm, grazing them in passing, hurt because of how hard and sensitive they were. I think… I'm into peeping. How awful.. but… it's their fault… for doing it out here…
Michiru came with a muffled groan and, for the first time since she had started sleeping with her sister, she squirted. Wetting the rock beneath her, she twitched and twitched until she collapsed, falling forward, barely able to break her fall with her arms in time, lying down next to Windy. Looking at her sister, her one and only partner, Michiru found herself saying words she had never said before. "I love you."
Kaoru felt confused by this sudden declaration. "I know. And I love you. Why say it now?"
"The others always say it after sex." Michiru closed her eyes and trembled, feeling the aftermath of the powerful orgasm she just had. "I don't… think I ever came this hard."
"My leg is a mess," Kaoru said and smiled at Michiru. "Did it really feel so good?"
"We need to do it again in the bath. Lucky I am ranked fourth right now."
Behind the bush, Yayoi still stared at the two almost naked girls that had just indulged in some pretty strange fetishes. She couldn't quite get to orgasm by just fondling herself. What good is being a G cup if nobody fondles them for me? Feeling disappointed, and frustrated, that she was too sensitive between her legs and not sensitive enough on her chest, Yayoi thought it was high time to get lost. Putting her dress back over her shoulders and slowly crawling away, Yayoi made it almost to a nearby tree that was exceptionally large, behind which she could hide. But just when things were looking like she was safe, she crawled over a branch and it cracked. Why are there always branches right where you need the least? I'm not one of my manga characters, so why does this happen to me?!
Yayoi's self inquiry found an abrupt end when a still mostly naked Bright grabbed her by her neck, lifting her up and slightly choking Peace. She felt something drip on her feet and a cursory glance confirmed that it was whatever was running down Peace's legs. "You were there the whole time?"
"Michiru, drop her, she can't breathe." Kaoru joined her sister, walking through the bushes, carrying the sketchbook.
Yayoi coughed and coughed. Bright was freakishly strong, likely the most physically able out of all the 37 Cures. "You… showed up while I was alone."
"So we almost walked in on you masturbating and you hid, leaving your sketchbook by the rock. But judging by how wet you still are, there was definitely more to this than masturbation before we got to that rock." Kaoru walked in front of Peace while Michiru was still behind her, catching Yayoi without a way out. "But there is a far more pressing matter and I am not joking if I say that your mental well being depends on what you are going to say next." Creating a few twirling wind blades in her right hand, Kaoru looked down at Yayoi with what could only be described as a threatening glare. "Did you overhear what my sister and I discussed after we arrived at the rock?"
Yayoi looked behind her and then at Windy. Are… they really going to hurt me? "I-"
"I am warning you, Peace." Windy's glare intensified and Yayoi froze like a small critter in front of a massive and starving snake. "Lie to us and I will know. Not only will I know if you lie but I will also need to make sure that you will forget what you heard because clearly, a liar is not trustworthy."
Yayoi turned pale. She's not joking! She's one of those… those characters from anime and manga that will silence someone they deem a problem. "I… I heard. About everyone not remembering. About you doing something with Stormflair. About something happening to everyone. That only you two remember. This is about the Masquerade, right?"
Kaoru looked to Michiru and both of them shared a deep sigh. Yayoi sensed that she had overheard something she really, really, shouldn't have. "I won't ask about it! I won't tell anyone! You said something bad could happen to everyone, right?"
"Bad is not the right word. Death, would be more accurate. Some things people just can't live with."
"D-Death?! You're exaggerating just to scare me, r-right?" Yayoi was as pale as a ghost. And when Windy didn't respond, she turned, looking behind herself. "She's just scaring me, right?!"
Windy and Bright's continued silence scared Yayoi so much that she was starting to feel sick. She wasn't good with scary stuff, especially not when it also concerned herself. "I… I really won't tell anyone."
Seeing how scared Peace was made Windy feel bad. She had seen tremendous suffering and pain during the last ten years and even though her body hadn't aged a day during it, her mind changed. "You're an artist, yes? And it looks like you enjoy drawing girls in an erotic way."
"Yes… but what does that have to do with this? I-I won't make any hidden messages through drawings!"
"That is not what I meant." Kaoru regretted not putting on clothes in the morning now. If she could undo her transformation, she probably wouldn't scare the girl as much. "A promise achieved through threats might hold for a while but only an exchange of goods or services is properly binding. To buy your silence, would you like the two of us to pose for one of your drawings? Anything you would like. Considering you have already seen us naked and-" Windy grabbed Yayoi's left boob through the dress and starting groping her. "Enjoyed the show quite a lot." Fondling Yayoi, Kaoru thought she definitely had to take her to bed at some point. Her breasts were divine.
"P-Please stop fondling my breasts!" Yayoi backed away and crossed her arms in front of her chest.
Michiru walked a few steps away. "Lucky you that Peace got those enormous tits on her."
"It isn't like you to be jealous, Michiru." Kaoru got up as well, leaving Yayoi cowering on the ground alone. "You know I wouldn't replace you. I certainly would not mind if she joined us some time, though."
J-Join them? I-In bed?! Yayoi blushed so hard it was like someone had painted over her face with water colors. "Uhm… I don't think I can-"
"After watching us in secret and masturbating to it so much that you were still dripping wet when Michiru picked you up I think you are far beyond the point of excuses." Kaoru was not going to let this slip through her fingers. Having Michiru in front and Peace behind her would probably be enough to send her to heaven, but she was going to try it anyway.
Yayoi couldn't really argue with that. "M-Maybe after I drew you a few times..."
"A few times?" Michiru was not really interested in the deal that Kaoru had offered Peace. She's so short… she's practically a dwarf. A stacked dwarf but a dwarf. Well, I suppose I can go along with Kaoru's wishes. Her happiness is my happiness too. But really, did we have to get peeped on by a dwarf? I wouldn't have minded to be seen by Moonlight or her sister. Those beautiful thin, long legs...
===DISSONANCE===
"Round up! No fraternizing with the other side!" Sasorina shouted and immediately grabbed Erika by her arm and threw her three meters across the beach. "Are you deaf, Marine?"
"I was just gonna say hi to Yayoi! Don't be so stingy!"
"The rules apply to you too. Now get in line."
All 37 Cures, although the system counted Regina and Ange as one person, were separated into two large groups on the beach. The light team was much more lively than the other side. Majorina had called them up via intercom and told them that swimsuits would be mandatory for the quest, to give it that authentic summer vacation feeling most of them hadn't experienced in a while. Komachi, the current resident of the penthouse, had been very forthcoming with that, providing everyone with their choice of swimsuit.
After rounding up 37 girls in swimsuits and making sure they stayed in two groups, Majorina and Sasorina conjured up boxes with numbered pieces of paper. Both of them were quite happy to be there because they got to go to the beach as well. Sasorina couldn't remember the last time she could wear a swimsuit.
Switching sides and boxes, to make sure there was no tampering going on, Majorina had everyone from the dark team draw a ticket while Sasorina covered the light team. After having everyone draw a number, it was time to introduce them to the task at hand. Majorina put her thumb and index finger to her lips and tried to whistle but nothing came out. She tried and tried but couldn't get it right. Blushing like a little girl, Majorina waited for Sasorina to pick up her slack.
Whistling and getting everyone's attention, Sasorina was so glad she had practiced whistling for nearly half an hour earlier. It can't imagine how embarrassing it would have been if both of us couldn't do it! "And now for the main event. Majorina, if you would?"
Majorina walked towards a massive cliff that cut off the beach in the western part. At least everyone thought it was the west, because it was left from where they first entered. And when looking at a world map, left was technically west. Standing in front of the cliff proper, Majorina raised her arms in the air and shouted. "Appear, cave of wonders!"
Isn't that from Aladdin? A few of the girls thought. But sure enough, the cliff trembled and a part of the wall split open, revealing a dark cave beneath that was devouring all light. The girls could feel a gust of cold air even in the sweltering heat of the beach. The weather system for the beach was separate, locked in perpetual summer. And secretly, Majorina shivered in the cold. Not that she would ever admit it in front of the Cures.
"The two that drew number one, come forward. Majorina will explain the rules to you." Sasorina stayed behind with the other Cures, who were prohibited from approaching the large, white beach house in the east and going into the water, despite how hot it was. Because technically, they hadn't solved their quest.
The two that stepped forward were a rather unlikely duo. "Let's just get this over with." Akane was still pissed. If anything, she was even more pissed now, because Nao, who was paired with someone else, didn't even want to talk to her. Saying stupid shit like I'm not talking to you until you calm down. Who the hell's fault is it I'm so angry, Nao?!
"I won't ask about your private matters but try to keep us from failing the quest." Yuri was not pleased with who she was having to go. Miki was obviously not an option because they were on the same team. Itsuki would have been optimal. But what really pissed her off was that she had to parade herself out like a self-deprecating tool in front of everyone with that damn swimsuit. Erika had apologized a dozen times already but that didn't make it much better.
"No Cure powers will work in there. You only get a flashlight and twenty matches. There are over one thousand different tunnels in there but they all lead to the exit eventually. Some are more… dangerous than others. A few might be very uncomfortable if you have irrational fears of some things." Majorina did a good job explaining things and handed Yuri the flashlight and Akane the matches.
And with just that, the first pair headed into the dark cave. The rock was smooth, ice cold and slightly wet. Akane immediately wished she had access to her powers to warm herself up. Her sports bikini, extra tight and nearly impossible to cause a wardrobe malfunction, was a fiery red, just like so many things about her.
By the time they were twenty meters inside the unnatural darkness of the cave had already swallowed the light of the entrance. If we get lost in here, it'll be impossible to tell where we came from. Yuri thought that this was not just a typical test of courage but one that could have some real consequences. After another twenty meters, they arrived at their first junction where the tunnel split into four more, all differently sized and going in different directions. Yuri hesitated to pick a tunnel which made Akane grab her arm and drag her along.
Ten minutes had passed outside and the next pair was up; Inori and Rin. "If I get scared, can I hold on to you?" Inori joked with a smile on her face.
"You don't seem like the type that gets scared of anything." Rin didn't really know Inori well, or, at all, if she was honest. A somewhat sexy smart Cure, was the full extent of Rin's opinion of Inori.
"But that won't be any fun. Well, you're taller than me, so you still have an obligation to protect me if something does jump out of the shadows."
"If by protect you mean beat whatever attacks us with my fists until it drops, then I guess I can do that." Walking over to Majorina, Rin felt like she was laying the delinquent vibe on too thick. I'm not Urara, goddammit. "If you do feel scared, feel free to hang on to me. I have a little experience with holding beautiful blondes."
"My." Inori grinned wide. Rin was not exactly her type, athletic, slim in many ways, and a hothead. The black tank top and trunks,, really suit her, though. The flame motifs on both is a nice touch, Inori thought.
"By Kagutsuchi, how is it that cold in here?!" Rin looked at Inori in her yellow bikini. "How are you not freezing in that?"
Inori saw a chance and grabbed Rin's face, pushing against her and keeping Rin's arm pressed against her breasts. "Now we won't be as cold."
Rin was usually the dominant type but she couldn't keep up with this one. And she got angry at herself when she felt herself blush. At least I don't think she can see my face.
Just as they had vanished into one of the tunnels, the third pair was up. Although it was more accurate to call it a trio. Ange and Regina, the former in a beautiful extravagant purple swimsuit that resembled a one piece but was not covering a lot of skin. The latter wore a black shirt with a skimpy black bikini top underneath and black jeans trunks as bottom. Both of them were dragged along by Love, who was overly excited to take this test of courage. She hadn't participated in one of those in so long!
Love's swimsuit was a completely average and normal pink bikini with a bit of frill on the rim of her top. Pulling the two to Majorina, Love handed the matches to Ange and the flashlight to Regina, making an educated guess on their personalities based on what kind of swimsuit they wore.
"And I thought I was raring to go! But let's do this! We'll be like the wind and get there ahead of everyone else!" Regina was not going to be outdone by Love's enthusiasm.
"Well said! Let's go! And I'm glad I get to know the two of you a bit more. I was talking to Makoto earlier and she's told me a bunch of stuff."
"Probably lied through her teeth and said a ton of bad stuff about me, I bet!" Regina complained preemptively and followed Love into the cave, illuminating her way. They were barely five steps in when the girl with hazel hair grabbed both her and Ange by their arms, keeping them locked together as a unit. "What are you doing?"
"Making sure nobody gets lost and we conserve some body heat. It's freezing in here!" Love really felt like this was an authentic haunted cave with the unnatural darkness, the cold and the strange nature of the rock itself. "And I'm glad I get to lock arms with two beautiful girls!"
She sounds like Mana used to. But Mana is much sexier than her! "Well, I don't mind but don't get any strange ideas! I'm Mana's and only Mana's!"
"You said you talked to Makoto? Is she doing alright, all by herself and surrounded by people she doesn't know?" Ange didn't mind locking arms with Love, even though the girl was being a little too friendly for her taste. But she too was reminded of Mana from years ago and it made her smile.
"If her appetite is anything to go by, she's fine. She did say she misses her girlfriend. I can absolutely see why that is." Love was sure that Setsuna and Ellen would understand if she playfully flirted with those two a little. They were taken, just like she herself was, so it was all harmless fun. "But you and Makoto? That's quite the visual clash."
"Tell me about it… she's got all the height and the tits and I'm left with a gigantic rump." Regina grumbled by herself and nearly fell over her own feet when Love pulled on her arm and got her close enough to look straight into the blonde's eyes. "W-What?"
"I think you're plenty beautiful. You don't need big breasts to be pretty. Your long blonde hair, that wild personality I am seeing play out right now, your model-like build. You probably turn a lot of heads. Mana is super lucky."
Regina blushed and looked straight ahead. "You're not bad either. You can't compare to Mana's dream sizes or her superhuman capabilities in just about everything but… you're good with words."
"What's that Regina, are you blushing? Does she remind you of Mana when she was younger?" Ange paused. "How old are you-" Oh you can't be serious, I don't remember her name.
"Love," Love introduced herself and got a strange look. "Yeah, I get that look a lot, you know! It's a really unusual name I know, but I like it. And I'm 18."
"You're younger than me?!" Regina not too stoked about having a younger girl flirt with her. "We're both 20. Everyone else on our team is 25."
"I think most of us are around my age." Love and her two escorts arrived at the junction and just walked straight ahead. "Ange, between you and Makoto, you definitely look older."
"Makoto is gonna cry if she hears you say that, Love." Regina felt a little strange calling her that. "Doesn't it get super confusing when people call you Love in public?"
"Only Setsuna calls me that in public. We travel around, seeing all sorts of stuff. Although I hope Ellen is going to come with us when we get back."
"Oh, that's right, you're that strange girl that is dating two other girls at the same time. And they both used to fight other Cures. I mean Mana is super special so it makes sense I'm all heels over head for her."
"I'm pretty special myself. It was my love for Setsuna that revived her after she was killed by her former masters." A little bit of a lie, but I'm sure Setsuna will forgive me. "Oh, and it is head over heels, not the other way around."
"I was really surprised to learn that it was practically perfectly normal for Cures to have relationships with each other. In a way, I'm relieved." Ange still held the matches in her right hand, walking next to Love. She's a lot shorter than me. About as tall as Alice, maybe? I can see why Passion and Beat like her, though.
Not far behind them was the next pair. Honoka, in her slightly risque white one piece, and Komachi, wearing a green bikini that was a little tight on her. "As an author, this must be an interesting experience for you." Komachi was holding on tight to Honoka's hand, the green haired girl not comfortable with very dark places. Especially when she should be able to hear echoes of her own voice but there was nothing.
"I don't really like horror or very suspenseful stories." And definitely hate them in real life! If I could transform, I wouldn't feel so vulnerable at least. But without my powers.. just slipping and I could get hurt.
"You scored quite a bit in that last battle. You have the penthouse on the light side right now, right?" Honoka changed the topic because she felt Komachi tense up when she brought up the nature of their visit here.
"Kurumi is pretty close. But living in the penthouse is very nice. Karen is staying with me, too. And I'm sorry, I'm sure you want to know if Nagisa is doing well but I haven't really had time to talk to her."
"You shouldn't worry about me. Nagisa and I have been through so much, especially lately, that a little time apart won't really hurt our relationship at all. When one of us finds the other, I'm sure there will be a lot of time spent in the bedroom." Honoka wondered if that was being too personal.
"I wish Karen was like that sometimes." The words just slipped out. "Not that I'm not satisfied or anything! Perish the thought! It's just… I love her cool and composed personality but sometimes I feel like… it would be really nice if she showed some wild passion. Like Rin or Urara probably do."
"I think those two are far beyond just wild passion. Maybe I should ask Ako and Kanade about this."
"Urara's relationship with Muse is… strange. And it is almost too much coincidence that two of our team are dating two of theirs."
"Reality is stranger than fiction. As real life magical girls, we know that better than most." Passing through the junction, the path they took had a rather steep decline, forcing Komachi and Honoka to progress slower than before, taking care to watch each other.
The fifth pair had just entered the cave and Ellen was already kind of lamenting her luck. She got stuck with Windy, of all people. One of those incomprehensible twins that always had that expressionless face on. But she couldn't stop herself from glancing at the girl. Her long blue hair was tied into a ponytail, and despite the overly serious look on her face, she was really beautiful. The azure blue colored bikini she wore pushed her breasts up and together, making them look even bigger than they were. She's bigger than Kanade… well, she's an adult. It makes sense.
They walked separately, without Windy looking at Ellen much, which made the self-esteem of the girl take a hit. I thought I was pretty cute in this… even if she doesn't like girls, it wouldn't hurt her to take a look, right? Distracted like that, Ellen stumbled over her own feet but managed to regain her balance, but not without stepping on the rocks too hard and cutting her foot. "Ouch!"
Before Ellen could even raise her foot and hobble on one leg, she was picked up and princess carried. "How much does it hurt?" Kaoru didn't have the nerve to go full pretending when a cute girl was hurt right next to her. "The ground is full of bacteria and we won't be able to go back out for a while, so I'm carrying you the rest of the way. Thankfully you're wonderfully light. Michiru must weigh… more than one and a half times what you weigh."
"I-I can walk! Who knows how long it will be before we can get out! You don't need to carry me all the way! I should be fine when it stops bleeding."
Thank god Michiru is not her partner. She is short but she has very cute legs. This would not end well for her if my sister was here in my stead. "That is exactly why. Walking around with an open wound like that, without your powers to protect you. That is just asking for an infection. And even if it is treated later, it could still result in serious pain and sickness. If you're uncomfortable with imposing on me, then-" Kaoru pushed Ellen closed against her chest. "I happen to have a small penchant for beautiful girls. If you could temporarily entertain a single woman by pretending to enjoy being carried, that would absolutely suffice as payment."
Ellen thought that as long as she didn't do anything that gave her the wrong idea, she could just snuggle up against Windy for a while. "So you… think I'm beautiful?"
Your breasts are a lot smaller than Muse's and that is a pity, but I suppose they are not terribly tiny. "From my perspective, yes. Not so beautiful that I would fall for someone of whom I know is in a stable relationship, but more than beautiful enough for me to enjoy her company."
I can't tell if she's complimenting me, flirting with me, trying to seduce me or being rude! Ellen was not good with people that were so brutally direct. But if she's calling me beautiful… and she's so hot… she probably means it.
Not too far behind them was the sixth pair, the two of them not very good with the dark. Both of them had never really talked to each other. Hikari, wearing a yellow one piece with a flower motif, was holding hands with Nozomi, who wore a pink one piece resembling a school swimsuit. This is so awkward. She helped save my life once but I don't really know what to say to her. She's always with Kurumi, so I don't really- oh! "I heard Kurumi lost the penthouse. Were you staying with her there?"
"I had a room on the 50th floor, so I didn't. It's a little strange for friends to just sleep in the same bed." Hikari smiled a little and nearly slipped on the wet floor but Nozomi immediately caught her. "Thank you."
Friends… Is that what you two are? Nozomi might have been not the brightest and the signs of a girl to girl romance were completely unknown to her but she couldn't quite believe that. Or maybe Hikari was just really, really dense?"I don't think Kurumi thinks of you that way. I don't mean you're not friends but- you know, she was Karen's girlfriend. Girlfriend. Kurumi likes girls." Nozomi hoped she wasn't coming across as too pushy. She had made some bad experiences in her life regarding that. "Maybe… maybe look at her and-"
Hikari started to giggle. "I've been Honoka's and Nagisa's friend for years. They're like a married couple. I know what romance between girls looks like." Hikari paused and thought about some of the times Kurumi was just staring at her, spaced out. Is Nozomi right? Does Kurumi think of me like that?
"You've known her for a long time. Has she always liked girls?" Hikari asked as they got to a junction. "The sun rises in the east, so let's go right."
"Not always. She was with Karen for a long time so maybe she just prefers girls now." Nozomi was just the tiniest bit uncomfortable discussing this with Hikari but since she had brought it up, she couldn't just back out of it.
"What about you?"
"I'm not really..." Nozomi really didn't want to talk about that. Certainly not with Hikari.
Hikari took the hint. This was the exact face that Nagisa would make when Honoka was asking her where the last bar of chocolate had gone. Why is she so against talking about this? I heard from Kurumi about her and that prince but… that was a long time ago, right? Is she still hurting from it?
"Wasn't it hard, with only three of you? I think you're the only team with less than four." Nozomi just wanted to think of something else.
"It was just Nagisa and Honoka in the beginning. I'm a bit different from them."
"Kurumi is actually a fairy even though she probably hasn't taken that form in years. Are you one too?"
"No. But if you can keep a secret… I'm not exactly human either. I actually..." Hikari jumped at Nozomi and hugged her. "Eat brains!" Nibbling on Nozomi's ear, Hikari hoped this would kill that strangely oppressive mood that was lingering in the air.
Nozomi screamed and pushed Hikari as hard as she could, the blonde falling backwards and dropping the flashlight, they were both drowned in darkness as the flashlight went out. Hikari rubbed her butt, which hurt quite a bit, and started looking for the flashlight in complete darkness. I hate the dark… It was something that just related to who she was.
Nozomi had been carrying the matches and lit one. "I'm sorry… I just really hate zombie stuff."
Finding the flashlight, Hikari grabbed it and got on her feet. "I'm sorry too, I shouldn't just jump people like that." Looking like a puppy that had been scolded, Hikari made Nozomi feel even more bad.
I can see why Kurumi would do a full turn of her personality. She's adorable. Nozomi shook the match out, as it was about to burn out anyway. And then she looked around. "Which way did we come from?"
"That way." Hikari pointed right past Nozomi. Continuing the test, Nozomi grabbed Hikari's hand again. She seems like a complicated person. Completely different from what I imagined she would be like.
In a different tunnel was the seventh pair, ahead of everyone else already. "Faster, faster! We'll show them that it's all about speed! And that we're the bravest!" Erika was shouting, followed closely by a tall girl with green hair, who wouldn't be outdone. "Come on, Nao, faster!" Erika had little regard for potential safety hazards. There was no way something like this would let them get seriously hurt!
Like a storm, the two girls rushed past Yuri and Akane, the first pair, who stood at another crossroads. Nao deliberately avoided looking at her and followed Erika. She's definitely going to take a different path now. But with how hard Erika was running, professional soccer player or not, Nao had to focus on not losing her.
Erika had the flashlight and as they cruised through the tunnels, it got colder and colder and the tunnels became more narrow, ragged and the ceiling decreased as well. Nao found that out the hard way. "That is a lot of blood." Erika was trying to play it up as being funny, but she was worried now. Usually, no matter how wild she went, she could deal with the consequences. But what was she supposed to do about this?
"I don't think it's broken..." Nao sat on the cold ground. They were going down a pretty steep decline and Nao had been too tall and hit her face on a stalactite, the kind that hung from the ceiling.
Erika's daring blue bikini didn't offer anything in terms of being able to rip out cloth. Nao's swimsuit however did. The green sport top, which consisted of two layers to keep any bouncing to a minimum. Nao suffered a great deal from her very large chest, especially because of her job. She wore a special sports bra that pushed her breasts so much that it started to hurt during the last ten minutes of every game and even then she needed to get a second sport bra over that. Her swimsuit was similar but more comfortable since she hadn't expected to be doing any kind of professional level sport. The bottom part of her swimsuit was just a regular green bikini bottom but she wore a skirt over it.
A skirt that was too sturdy, being made of the same material as swimsuits. Trying to tear out a part of it, Nao only exerted herself. When Erika offered to try, Nao just shook her head. "I think it stopped bleeding anyway."
Getting on her feet but buckled over, Nao made sure to mind the ceiling from now. "Today has just been one catastrophe after another." Following behind Erika, the pair arrived at yet another junction. It was at least the sixth one, and each of them had at least four tunnels to choose from. "How big is this cave?"
"I was thinking this is just typical cave with scary stuff in it, but I think they meant the test of courage part literally." Erika was not all that excited anymore. "Is your nose okay?"
"It still hurts. Let's not sprint towards the goal. And maybe… maybe that's just me, but what if some of these tunnels are exit points of junctions from before?" Nao was mildly scared of getting lost in these caves since everything looked about the same.
"I don't think so, least not right now. They're in the wrong direction for that. By the way, what's so catastrophic about today? You weren't doing badly in the match, that's for sure. I don't think anyone was feeling very confident they could beat Pine and you did, so well done!"
"This way." Nao picked the tunnel that looked like it had the highest ceiling. "I… I broke up with Akane. And I'm a little bad at communicating my feelings, so she blew up."
"Oh, break up drama is always nasty. Remember Hibiki and Kanade being together for like two days before they broke up and Kanade became like the Darth Vader of Cures? Only missing a mask." Erika faked some heavy breathing through her hands.
"That's a bad joke to make." Nao was still following after Erika. I had to get paired with the super loud blabbermouth of course. "Have you talked to Reika at all? I wonder how she is doing. She's as tough as a nail on the outside but inside not so much."
"Nope. But I think she either smelled you're gonna break up with her or she got way too wasted. She and Kanade had like a super fucked up night and apparently were all over each other." Erika hugged herself and made a lot of kissing noises. "I heard she looked super guilty and stuff since she couldn't even go and tell you about it. I think she just got too drunk though. I mean, Kanade? Eh, she's pretty but she's got nothing on you. You're tall, and you got that insane rack and butt. And green hair is kinda exotic looking, you know, like Okinawa people or something. I totally need to get Tsubomi to get a tan like those. I think she'd be super cute with it."
That was a lot of information for Nao to process. "Reika got drunk?!" Was the first thing that burst out of Nao.
"We all did. I had such a headache the next morning, like you wouldn't believe. Kinda like you got it into your head to wear a beehive on your head. Or in your head. Bzzzzzzzzzz." Erika's bee noise was realistic to an uncanny degree.
"I see… and she looked guilty about it?"
"Well, from what I can tell, super guilty. Like, accidentally drowned a bag of kittens level of guilty. Okay, maybe not quite that much but seriously guilty. But you are gonna dump her too, right? You, Akane and Reika had this bizarre double dating thing going on, like Love, Setsuna and Ellen but with no sexy times between Reika and Akane?"
"You're strangely well informed." Nao wanted to know where Erika got all that information from.
"Hehe, gotta keep your eyes and ears open and there's all sorts of interesting stuff happening. Anything saucy going on on your side of the fence?"
"Been a bit busy just dealing with the fact that I was dating just because it was a routine." Nao realized how bad that sounded and it wasn't really what she meant either. "I mean… I like Akane, but when we started going out, that was pretty different. Right now it's just… she's someone I get along with."
"Romance fizzled out, that just happens. If anything, it's way more strange that there isn't more stuff like this happening. You know a while ago, the whole group around Honoka was all messed up in the head but they're just moving on without being bothered by it now. Who does that? Do they have some kind of relationship superpower the rest of us doesn't?"
"You can be pretty rude." Nao didn't like Erika very much.
"The truth shouldn't be rude. And I mean, come on, look at Love and, what's her name? Cure Heart? Anyway, you'd think this whole harem stuff they have going would be the stuff of manga and anime, not real life. Though being magical girls, maybe we are more anime than we are real life." Erika kept talking and talking, even though Nao was not keeping up with the discussion anymore and sort of tuned out Erika.
The next pair, the eighth, were Reika and Hibiki, the former in a dark blue competitive style one piece, the latter in a somewhat simplistic pink bikini. "You think they'll make some strange stuff appear to scares us?" Hibiki had her hands behind her head, not all that interested in a test of courage. She had fought Noise, it didn't get much scarier than that.
"Perhaps. But I think there is something more to this. Just a gut feeling." Reika was not in the best of moods either. She had hoped to be paired with Nao so they could resolve any remaining issues.
And Hibiki read her like a book. "You wanted to go with March, right?"
"I was hoping to, yes. There is something… personal I want to talk to her about."
"Is this about her dumping Sunny this morning? I thought Kanade and I made a mess but she incinerated a table and then it sounded like she actually blew up outside. The walls were shaking and everything. Scary." Hibiki picked one of the tunnels at random. "Let's go that way."
"Nao… dumped Akane?" Reika hoped that had nothing to do with what happened between herself and Kanade.
"I never saw them holding hands or kissing or anything. Itsuki and I might be a little too show-offy, but I didn't even get the impression they were really dating."
"It's right that things have been a bit distant lately."
"She probably just cut off a relationship that wasn't working. If she dumped Sunny she's probably gonna dump you too, sorry about that." Hibiki hoped her big mouth was not going to get her in trouble. "I don't really get it. You're smart, strong and really hot." Hibiki glanced at Reika's beautiful long hair, her big chest and her really thin waist. If I looked like that, Itsuki might just not let me leave bed until noon.
"I was planning to talk to Nao and end our relationship either way. I guess that will go over much easier now." Reika felt strangely relieved, knowing that Nao felt most likely the same.
"So… are you and Kanade gonna get together? She's actually a good girl, even if she's super clingy. But you really need to show her where your boundaries are. And she always needs to have the last word! Even that one time when someone from her club ate her cupcakes, she accused me of doing it despite me not even being anywhere near it!"
Reika chuckled and smiled, something that Hibiki hadn't seen happen to her face until just then. "I think Rhy-" Reika thought it was high time she would at least call Kanade by her first name. "I think Kanade would prefer I not meddle with her relationship with Rouge."
"If I had to pick between you and Rin, I'd totally go for you. Well, on looks alone, I don't really know either of you well enough to talk about personality." Here I go with my big mouth again. What is it about being alone with someone that makes me always look to get in an argument with them? It's just like what Kanade does.
Reika smiled again and stopped. "I appreciate the flattery. It looks like the ground is getting rather slippery, so if you don't mind-" Reika held out her hand.
"Itsuki doesn't need to know I spent some quality time with a beauty like you." Hibiki realized she had unintentionally made a pun and groaned. "Sorry, that pun, that wasn't intentional."
"I have heard that very same gag from Nao so many times already, Melody."
"Geez, call me Hibiki already. You really like to be kind of stiff, don't you? It's a bit rude to call everyone by just their Cure name, considering we're going to be here for a while."
"It's rude? Really?" Reika hadn't even considered that possibility. "I thought I was being polite."
"You're polite even if you don't use any names already. Calling me Melody when I'm not even transformed is just bad and awkward."
"I-I see." Maybe I need to think over the way I talk to people.
The next pair was just entering the cave, a pair of girls that both liked martial arts but had fighting styles as different as day and night. "My, I am very lucky to have such a handsome and beautiful young lady accompany me." Alice was playfully clinging to Itsuki. She had only ever gone through something like this with Mana and the others, and there was really nothing to be afraid of when you had Mana with you.
"Young? You can't be much older than me." Itsuki couldn't directly look at Alice. Her right arm was pushed firmly against the woman's enormous breasts and it was such a difference from Hibiki that she couldn't put it in words. I should tell her to not cling to me so much but… I'm enjoying this, kinda.
"You keep averting your eyes. Am I not your type?" Alice liked Itsuki's looks. Other than her height she was not that much different from Mana, visually at least. "Or are you embarrassed to have someone in her mid-twenties as your partner?"
"So you're around 24, 25?" Itsuki was walking a bit slowly for her own taste but Alice seemed to want to enjoy this little excursion. And it would be really rude to shake her off and speed up.
"25. Even among my own team, I was the oldest by two months. It makes me a little bit of an old woman, compared to everyone else."
"You're laying it on pretty thick." Itsuki managed to meet Alice's gaze and ignore the bouncy sensations on her arm for the moment.
"I suppose you're not the type that lets herself be seduced then. You are the one doing the seducing with that nice body of yours."
"Aren't you dating Mana?" Itsuki had made sure to remember her name.
"Not anymore. I will be honest, for me at least it was mostly a physical relationship. In some ways, Mana is the perfect lover, but I would prefer someone a little flawed because I am flawed as well."
"I can appreciate honesty at least. It suits you more than that forced act of playing seductress."
"If you can appreciate honesty, then tell me honestly; why is it that every time my steps are slightly uneven, and my breasts rub against your arm, you ever so slightly avert your face. Are you embarrassed?"
"I don't think there exists a person in this world that wouldn't be embarrassed by that. Just what size are those breasts?"
"If we're talking about Japanese sizes, then I'm an I cup. A woman needs to understand how to use the assets she has been given."
"No wonder you had to get two bikinis if they're that big. Mine are E and I sometimes can't find clothes in my size."
"Well, I didn't exactly have much time or chance to go shopping back in our own world. I am glad to be able to actually wear a swimsuit again. I think it has been years, three or four at least."
"Can you cut me some slack and ease up on rubbing them against my arm? It's messing with my state of mind."
"As a businesswoman, I will need something in exchange. You're on the light team still and I am on the lookout for a new partner. So if you could tell me a little about those that are single, I think I might be able to let go of you."
I am really bad at dealing with people like her. Trying to get her to back off without giving in is probably going to be impossible. "Well, there is Bright, Windy, Peace and Happy. As of this morning, March and Sunny are single as well. Technically Luminous and Rose are also single but they're one of those couples where everyone but them can see that they will absolutely end up together."
By process of elimination, Bright and Windy must be the ones with long blue hair and short red hair whose names I don't remember. Maybe I should try for something very different from Mana. "How well do you know Peace?"
"Not that well but she's got a thing for drawing erotic art of other girls. She's a bit shy, too, I guess. Is that the type that interests you?"
"Mana is someone that is incredibly dominating because of her personality. I wouldn't mind being on the other end of that in a relationship."
"I think she's got a thing for Erika though. Marine, the one that had the penthouse on your side. Might be hard to compete with her. Not because she's better looking than you, you definitely have her beat there, but Erika has this really unique personality and if you like that you're not going to like much else."
"Well, I won't let myself be discouraged before I try. What about those in my immediate access? Are there any singles there?"
"I suppose there is Inori, but I think she's really into the intellectual type. Yuri's sister is obviously single but I think trying your hand on her is just playing with fire. Yuri would lynch anyone if they make her sister cry, I expect. There is Nozomi, but she's probably the one and only one among all of us that's not into girls. So there are really no good options on your side."
"Not right now at least. It looks like there are quite a few relationships that aren't passing the standard of time." Alice thought about her words for a moment. "I don't mean to wish a failing relationship on anyone but I won't be kept away from trying my own luck out of a sense of false courtesy."
"That sounds like what happened between Hibiki and me when she tried dating Kanade and it didn't work out. Let's go that way." They barely made it a few meters into the tunnel when they heard a waterfall in the distance. "The water will most likely be too cold to swim but I suppose, even if we get wet it won't be terrible."
"I definitely won't mind seeing you wet." Alice grinned wide when Itsuki blushed. This is far more fun than I ever imagined. I was only planning on playing this role for a little bit but it is actually quite entertaining. "Are you sure that golden bikini of yours will be able to handle you splashing around in the wet?"
"It will. I am not the one with the unreasonable cup size. They are real, aren't they?"
"Not all rich ladies have to resort to such measures. I for one was blessed with wealth in more than one way." Alice liked to flaunt her assets, money and body alike.
"Are you going to be fine? Even with two bikinis, they look like they might burst if you take too deep a breath." Itsuki tried to return fire, but Alice seemed to lack the capacity of feeling shame.
"Well, if that should happen, I will be counting on you and your capable hands to provide cover." Alice snickered a little when she saw Itsuki's helpless expression. "I jest. I picked these because they are made of very robust material. If I still had access to the resources of the Yotsuba Conglomerate, I would have a swimsuit custom made for me. But experiencing the limitations of the common people is interesting, too."
"So you were rich?" Itsuki had met a few rich girl types but none of them were really the millionaire type.
"Very. Yotsuba owned more than 12% of the entire industry in Japan and 4% overseas." Alice smirked at Itsuki again. "Are you the type that looks at material wealth only second? Beauty before wealth, so to speak?"
"I need to talk to Hibiki and ask her for help finding you a partner. The apocalypse will start if you come onto other girls like this. Not everyone is strong willed enough to resist this allure."
"My, I am glad to hear that." Alice was just toying with Itsuki now. "And now, since you told me about Peace, I have thought of letting you go and decided against it. I only ever agreed to think about it if you remember."
The tenth pair was now entering and it was a somewhat odd one, not quite in the same way the previous pairs had been. "Are we required to hold hands?" Setsuna was not really bothered by it, but the instant they had stepped into the cave, Kurumi had grabbed hold of her hand.
"Yes. You must have missed Majorina say so." Kurumi had an awful sense of direction and was not very good at being in the dark like this. Scared of being left in the dark with just some matches and no idea where to go, she was adamant about never letting go of Setsuna.
I am pretty sure she said no such thing. But it isn't really a bother and I think she would be really troubled if I forced her to let go. "Hikari already went in earlier. Maybe she is at the end already."
"I wasn't thinking about Hikari." Kurumi lied right through her teeth and squeezed Setsuna's hand. "How does it work?"
"What are you talking about?"
"You, Love and Ellen. I'm asking how you make that work. I couldn't even make a normal relationship work."
She must be talking about Karen. "There is no big secret. Love and I have been together for a long time and Love… well, Love might be special. A normal person would have been jealous and angry when I told them about my feelings for Ellen but Love just saw an opportunity for me to be happier. I guess you can say that she is very selfless. Although she has been quite touchy with Ellen lately. I wonder if she prefers younger girls." Setsuna looked at Kurumi's shocked face. "Just kidding. I know Love doesn't play favorites like that."
"So it's all about your personality?" Kurumi felt discouraged hearing that.
"Are you worried Hikari will reject you for who you were before?"
"N-Nobody was talking about Hikari. What are you even talking about?"
"Everyone sees it, Kurumi. Everyone. I am sure even someone like Nozomi, someone that isn't really interested in girls, can see that you like her and that she likes you back and neither of you is brave enough to come out and say so. It's adorable in a way, but if you're holding back because you're worried about your personality, you shouldn't. People change all the time and Hikari isn't the type to hold a grudge, right?"
"Hikari would never fault someone after doing their best." Kurumi hated it when someone led her around by her nose like this. "You… you think Hikari would go out with me?"
"I don't know her that well, but practically everyone thinks that she likes you. If you really have doubts, you should talk to Nagisa."
Kurumi didn't say anything and they entered a tunnel in silence, heading all the way through it and then taking another tunnel. Only when the silence became almost oppressive, weighing heavy in the air, did Kurumi ask something else. "Do you think my swimsuit is too fancy?"
"It looks kind of expensive. Purple suits you though. The rose adornments on your chest are cute, too."
"By cute you mean I'm compensating for something..." Kurumi was overly conscious of her figure. She had a little too much weight because of all those sweets Hikari had baked all the time. And from being a NEET at Karen's place. And then she wasn't really buxom either. The only one on her team that was smaller was Rin.
"I know it doesn't sound sincere if it comes from me, but I think breast size is really subjective. Hikari might prefer them small."
"I sure hope so."
"There are a number of disadvantages to them being big, even if it sounds like an excuse. For example, you will pay more for clothes and if you're really big, finding anything that fits is a pain. And a fitting and comfortable bra is pretty important." Setsuna gave Kurumi's waist only a cursory glance. "Swimming is very good for the figure and I'm sure Hikari will enjoy being on the beach with you a lot."
I think that is the most subtle anyone has ever been with calling me fat… well, not fat, but… kinda… like… not optimal. "First we need to get through this dumb cave."
"I'm sure a few of the others are already at the end."
"Are you not worried about Love? She went in here with that pretty blonde and that sexy brown haired girl from the new team."
"If that was enough to make me worry about Love's fidelity, we wouldn't have our current relationship. Did I mention Love and I travel around? We've been to Taiwan, Korea, China, the Philippines and a few other places. Love is not super good at many things when it comes to work but she makes a good waitress. And those cosplay cafes are actually popular not just in Japan."
"I have a hard time imagining her as a maid or bunny girl."
"You would be surprised. She is awful at picking up new languages though, so whenever she worked as a waitress, she would memorize what each menu item means and so forth instead of learning it. But I speak a little bit of a lot of languages nowadays."
"So you do all the talking while she works?" Kurumi thought that came out wrong. "I mean-"
"No, you're right. I make sure we have a place to stay, talk to people to find some part-time work and so forth. I also generally cook since Love only ever picks up strange recipes and anything hamburger."
They're so mature… and they're not any older than I am. I guess I really did deserve Karen dumping me. When I look at what everyone does with their lives, I am just… a leech. "I still don't know what I'm supposed to do in the future."
"Most people want to pick something they are good at. Actually, what they like, but most of the time that doesn't work out."
"Rin wanted to be a jewelry maker and she just didn't have the talent. I guess that's what you mean. And since she was always good at soccer, she made that her career."
"Something like that. If you can't settle for either, try new things. Love and I are doing just that. Traveling, seeing new places, doing all kinds of jobs." Setsuna smiled in the dark. "Nothing we shouldn't be doing though."
"I guess my first problem is that I don't really have anything I like."
"How about Hikari?" Setsuna tried hard not to giggle.
"I'm talking about a job!"
"Am too. Hikari probably wants to have her own business one day. You could work with her. Doing management or being a waitress or just learning what she learned. For me, it doesn't really matter what I work if I can work together with Love."
"You keep talking just about Love. What about Ellen?"
"We don't know yet. When we came here, we were overseas and Ellen has her band. Maybe we'll go back to Japan or maybe she'll come with us. Traveling as a musician is probably not easy so we're going to really think about going back."
Kurumi felt selfish all over again. Comparing herself to Setsuna was not a very fair thing, she knew that, but seeing how those two would change their life and go back to Japan just for Ellen was making her feel ashamed of herself.
The next pair was struggling with a wholly different set of issues. "I suppose I am not the white Cure that you were hoping for." Mai mused a little. She also wore two bikinis, much like Alice, but only for aesthetic reasons. A black and a white bikini top with a white button, her long hair tied into a ponytail, much like her companion. Miki, in her risque blue bikini, was trying very hard to not worry about the cave getting too low.
"Yuri is on my own team, so of course I couldn't have gone with her. I am just glad I didn't happen to have to go with one of the more… noisy ones."
"Do you want to hold hands?" Mai offered her hand and Miki took her up on her offer. "I didn't expect you to agree."
"Turning down a pretty girl just seems like bad manners." It also gives me something to talk about. I don't really know her all that well.
"A pretty girl, is it? I believe I am older than you." Mai had realized earlier that morning that being a little mischievous was quite fun. Only in appropriate times, however.
"So if something scary appears, you should be the one to take the lead then." Miki could play this game, too.
"You are taller than me, so you will make a great obstacle to hide behind."
"I wonder what your other half will think about you using a younger girl to protect yourself."
"She'll be impressed by my resourcefulness, no doubt."
Miki giggled, which was something she almost never did. "I think you are being influenced by the cave or something. I don't remember you being this kind of person."
"Everyone can be full of surprises. Which way should we go?" Mai would let Miki decide so, if the need arose, she could tease her a little for choosing the wrong way.
"This way." Leading Mai by her hand, Miki was back at not knowing what to talk about. "You're a painter, right?"
"Of minor local fame, yes. We get by." Mai was proud to be doing what she loved for a living.
"What kind of things do you paint? And what style?" Talking about her work is as good as anything.
"A lot of things. The paintings that sell the best are surprisingly ones of the sky and clouds. It's a little funny, considering what my Cure powers represent and me being Egret, but I do like painting the sky. As for my style, I think you would classify it as modern realism."
"Have you ever drawn a person before?"
"Plenty. But because I draw people different than I draw landscapes, they don't sell. In theory, they would, but considering the time it takes to make one, I would need to sell them far under value because interested parties are largely anime fans."
"I can't pay you directly, not with how the system works now, but if there is something from Mamo's shop that you want, I could pay you through that. I would like to have someone draw me. Call me vain if you want to."
"Vanity is an important aspect of human culture, so I think it is really silly- no, stupid even, to treat vanity as something you'd insult people with. After all, without vanity, nobody would want to have pictures of the sky drawn by me in their homes."
"I've never heard someone call vanity a good thing. Inori would probably disagree with you."
"Everything in moderation of course."
How is it that the conversation dies every time with her having the last word and me not knowing what else to say? "How long have you and Bloom been together?"
"If you're asking how long we have been dating, then about five years. We started shortly after we dealt with the threat for which we became Cures."
And it happened again. Is she… doing this on purpose? Or am I simply a boring conversation party?
"You don't need to force yourself to talk to me. I know I'm not the best conversation party unless we stand in front of one of my paintings."
"You have no problem saying awkward things, do you?"
"I consider it one of my virtues. Saki is not a shining beacon of conversation either, so we don't really talk as much as most couples do."
"I guess we're back to my vanity then because I like to talk and have others listen."
"Well, I am a good listener. I have to be. Saki likes to complain about her training regimen a lot. Or used to."
"I suppose I can talk just about myself then. But it won't be interesting if I just talk about work, so let me tell you the story of when Love and the others got an upgrade to their Cure powers during our fight against Labyrinth and I was the odd one out. The main manifestation of that power up were wings and, hah… as it turned out, while everyone else had beautiful angel wings, mine resembled gigantic translucent razor blades, like I was some sort of character from a science fiction story."
Mai had to try unbelievably hard to not laugh.
"You can laugh. Nowadays, even I do. But back then, it made me really depressed. I think that was already a sign of vanity. I was bothered that I, based on my view, got something far less enticing than the others did. I know now that it was really silly. After we defeated Labyrinth and decided to keep training, Love and the others thought of something quite funny. They trained for about a week in secret, and the next time we met for some sparring, they all had those same wings I was blighted with. I was so speechless."
"Because of their show of friendship?"
"Because having them myself was bad enough, seeing all four of us with them gave me a brutal migraine that wouldn't leave for days."
Mai burst out laughing, something that even Saki rarely managed to make her do. "R-Really? What did the others s-say?" She was having trouble breathing.
"After they took a good, long, look into a mirror, they decided on no more wings for anyone, ever. Of course, that was a long time ago now, over three years. Our abilities diverged and so did our outfits."
"I have been meaning to ask this, but with Cure Heart's team around, aren't they infringing on the theme you, Love, Inori and Setsuna have created for your abilities?"
"With that many of us here, something like that was bound to happen eventually. I don't really mind. I cover spade and Sword fights very differently from me. Inori covers diamond and the only thing she and Diamond have in common is their intelligence. Love and Heart do have similar fighting styles but their abilities are completely different. And Setsuna and Rosetta? That is not even the same ballpark anymore."
"I think we have found something to talk about at last. I didn't know you were so interested in the battle competition part of our existence here."
"If I compete, I want to win."
"I saw how you beat Nagisa. She was groaning and moaning for an hour after we all got out. How did you arrive at the idea of wanting to fight like that?"
"Won't the technical details bore you?"
"I told you." Mai pulled Miki into the next tunnel. "I'm a good listener."
Not too far behind, in a different tunnel, was the twelfth pair. Tsubomi and Michiru, the former wearing a pink tank top and light beige trunks, the latter wearing a swimsuit that she had picked specifically for her sister. A dark yellow form fitting but soft surfing top that covered all of her sizable chest. Complimented by her hot pants, of the same color.
Tsubomi was almost crushed by the awkwardness and the silence. She just didn't know what to say to this girl and it didn't look like she was going to start a conversation by herself. But she had to say something. Just walking slightly behind her, Tsubomi was also unable to stop thinking about that strange swimsuit. She knew this kind of top, it was the type that surfers wore, but it didn't seem to provide the same support those sport types did.
Michiru was a little annoyed with her partner. There were a number of tall girls on the other team and she got one that was maybe barely over 160cm. Not to mention that her legs were a little too thin even. I would have been really satisfied with Berry, Moonlight, Black Lily or Heart. Ace would have been great as well, but having Joker come with her as a pair deal is somewhat bothersome. I guess even Nagisa would be nice, even if it's risky to ogle her since she is really close to Saki.
"You don't talk much." Tsubomi just had to say something. She was a little scared of this woman, especially after the battle.
"You can ask me something then." Michiru just wanted to get through this trial. Being stuck with Blossom of all people was bad luck to the extreme. That girl dated Marine, which meant she was extremely observant and knew exactly when someone was pretending. And right now, right this instant, she was pretending hard.
"Did you base your fighting style on Bloom's? They seem similar and you're from the same team."
"Yes. I discarded the technical aspects that Saki includes into her fighting style to focus on brute force. My sister covers the opposite extreme which makes us perfect extensions of Saki and Mai."
S-So heavy! I just asked because I couldn't think of anything else! "You're really attached to Bloom and Egret then?"
"If they asked me to jump into a burning hole, I would. Both Kaoru and I would be long dead if not for them. And we certainly would not be living as humans, even if we had somehow survived." I cannot believe this is how I used to be. I sound like a robot. Hah… I want to lick someone's legs.
"L-Lets talk about something else! Like your three-sizes!" Tsubomi smirked. "Just kidding! I wouldn't ask-"
"167cm, 69 kilos, 96/63/86, G cup. 19 years old."
Listen to me to the end, geez! Tsubomi could deal with Erika just fine but this woman was driving her insane after just three lines. I didn't even ask for half of that! "O-Oh, that's pretty big. In many ways."
My sister likes that about me. Well, particularly my breasts, that is. She is such a deviant and plebeian. Any true lady would look at a girl's legs, not stare at her chest like a juvenile teenage boy. But I guess for all her intelligence, Kaoru wanted a simple pleasure. "The others will tell you that there are many discomforts you can associate with a large chest but the same is true about almost any extreme of a human. Weight, height, skin color, health and others. Any extreme comes with disadvantages but also advantages. I am not bothered by my large breasts, just like you should not be bothered by your small ones."
They're not that small… Okay, I'm just a C, but Erika is just one higher and she never complains about mine. It makes finding clothes really easy. Average is best. Yes. "Do you get along well with your sister?"
"I rely on her." For my leg fetish. "And she relies on me." For her tits fetish. "I don't really know what is considered well in terms of getting along but we trust each other and do not inconvenience each other." If she gets to fondle my tits, I get to put my hands all over her legs. "If you are wondering, neither of us has dated before." I am pretty sure Kaoru is going to lay her hands on Peace though. Maybe we could try and snatch March instead, she has beautiful legs and the biggest rack out of all of us.
The discrepancy between Michiru's words and her inner thoughts didn't show up at all on the surface. "If I am not wrong, you and Marine have not been together for very long, correct?"
"We've been… together for a long time, I just didn't ask her out. Or she me. But we know each other just as well as all those long time couples around!" Tsubomi was absolutely confident in that.
"There is no need for you to assert your statement that much. I have no reason to doubt you." Good for you, Blossom. Marine is cute. She's really short, but her legs are quite… quite good. I'm sure you are quite enjoying having your head between her legs at night. Although I doubt you can appreciate-
"Do you always talk like this? It sounds really, really stiff and makes it hard to have a conversation with you."
"Being around only my sister has been… an issue, regarding conversation. What do you suggest?"
"If you ever end up on the same team as Erika and I, you're welcome to… hang out with us sometime!" I'm sure Bloom and Egret won't mind if she and her sister spend some time with others.
"I see. I'll make sure to take you up on your offer when the time comes." This test presents an unexpected opportunity. If Kaoru and I can make use of Blossom and Marine, we can finally get rid of this farce.
Returning to silence, the two made it through another tunnel and then they stopped. "Which way do you want to go?"
"Let's just go straight ahead." Tsubomi misjudged the shadows thrown by Michiru and walked right into a large stalagmite, bounced back and landed on the ground. "Ow ow ow!"
This probably has happened to a few of them. She's… a little cute, acting all clumsy. If it is not an act, it's even cuter. But being cute is not enough. And she's not my type anyway, even though… the boots she wears as Blossom… they are quite something. Without waiting for Tsubomi to say or do anything, Michiru picked her up. "This way you can light the way and we effectively halve the risk of injury."
"Is… this really necessary?" Tsubomi couldn't help but blush, being carried by such a strong girl and all. "I mean I don't mean- it's not that I don't- I-"
"If you're extremely uncomfortable I can set you down but I expect that this will not be an isolated incident. The cave will likely become more cramped and dangerous as we continue."
It's so hard to argue with this girl! She's all logic, logic, logic, she makes Yuri look like a party girl! "N-No, it's fine. Let's go."
Pair number thirteen was avoiding the same pitfalls that Tsubomi had just hit. "Stalagmites indicate that this cave is potentially flooding at high tide." Karen touched a particularly large stalagmite. "Isn't it strange that the system would include so much detail? It's almost like it wasn't created from scratch but copied from somewhere."
"You remind me of Rikka, always analyzing her surroundings while looking stunning." Mana couldn't help herself. This was the first time she had been alone, on something like a date, with a girl she didn't really know.
Karen, in an elegant dark blue one piece that highlighted her waistline, breasts and butt, turned around and looked at Mana with a brief smile. "How charming." She's been slipping compliments into every line since we came in here. I can see why she managed to have an entire handful of girls at her beck and call.
"I'm sorry, I really am. I just cannot help myself around a beautiful and smart woman." Mana went down on one knee in her pink bikini. "Please forgive this fool of a woman."
"No matter how charming you are, Mana, I won't be swayed from my affection for Komachi. And as charming as you are, Komachi is more beautiful than you are."
Mana smiled and lowered her head. "Ouch. I don't think I've been shot down like this before."
"Instead of trying to work your charm on me, we should get going." Karen had the flashlight and walked up ahead, Mana right behind her. "I thought you would be having more of a difficult time fitting in with the rest of us, considering what you went through."
Mana caught up to Karen and walked beside her. "Oh? I'm a tough cookie. Tougher than I look, and you saw in battle how tough I look."
Karen had lived with Kurumi for so long, she could spot a liar easily, even a good one. And Mana was not a good one. Should I say something? It's not really my business, but she should probably talk to her partners at least. "A cookie made from steel and wine, considering how charming you are."
"I am Rikka's and Regina's prince charming, in a way."
"I don't really think that princes come with measurements like yours." Karen didn't really feel like playing psychologist with Mana, even though her conscience was screaming at her that the woman was hiding some real issues. I tried to fix Kurumi, I am not going to try and fix whatever she is struggling with. She has her partners and one of them is exceptionally smart. They'll work it out.
"Komachi probably thinks of you as her prince charming, in a way, too. And your measurements are probably-" Mana looked at Karen rather intensely. "It's a little dark but… your breasts, a bit bigger than mine, waist and butt a bit smaller. I'd guess over 90, under 60, under 90."
That's scary, she's right. Karen kept walking, trying to keep a neutral expression. "How many girls have you been with to make guesses like that?"
"Not telling." Mana grinned.
Making headway in silence, Mana eventually started another conversation. "Have you and Komachi been together long? Oh, is it okay if I call her by her first name?"
"I don't think she'll mind. And Komachi and I have been friends for a very long time. But… we've been together only for a little while. I used to date Kurumi and it didn't work out. When we were forced into this place together, I couldn't keep going with the state our relationship was in."
"That sounds messy."
"It was, a bit. But Kurumi changed for the better after it. And I did, too."
"Alice is already a good person so I don't think she will change much from now. I went from having five girlfriends to two overnight, almost. I'm a bit sad, but I want them to be happy, even if it isn't with me. Unless Rikka and Regina decide to leave me too, I would definitely fight for those two."
"What makes them different from the others?"
"Rikka and Regina… I feel embarrassed saying this but they're the type to love me unconditionally and I love them back that way. Any of us can't imagine life without the other two, although it's probably less pronounced between Rikka and Regina. Alice and I… she was the only one that could really make me let my guard down, but our relationship was mostly physical for her. Makoto and Ange I think liked me for part of what makes me, me, but that was not the genuine love the way Rikka and Regina feel it."
"I expected you to be somewhat dense and oblivious about this."
"I'm not an anime character." Mana smirked. "I know what you were getting at with that comment, yes. No, I only managed to have this all work out because I wasn't dense and oblivious to their desires and feelings."
"It's easy to underestimate you and Love in that regard. I couldn't even imagine splitting my feelings in half for two different people."
"That's the wrong way to do it. You don't split your love, you multiply it. If there are two people you like, you have to love both of them just as much as you would love one alone." Mana was glad that someone was actually taking her seriously when she talked about this.
"I still don't think that there are very many people that can handle something like that. It might be more common among us Cures because we… represent certain virtues of humans, but among all of us, you and Love are the only ones."
"Isn't it fine like that? Imagine if all of us tried to have at least two girlfriends. It would be chaos. And it isn't just Love and I who have to be special. Rikka and Regina have a somewhat unique relationship with each other. Hm… I don't know if Regina is okay with me telling you but she probably doesn't care."
"I don't actually know what the relationship between Setsuna and Ellen is like, so I have no reference point. But go ahead."
"With me, Regina takes the lead and I essentially let her take it. Not just in bed but with everything. She's wild, stubborn, a bit selfish but that is why I love her. Rikka on the other hand is extremely devoted and self-sacrificing. But when they aren't with me but with each other, their roles are changed. Rikka is the one that takes control and while Regina pretends to struggle against that, she enjoys someone taking the lead with her."
"You said when they're not with you; so how do you know this?"
"I've lived with Regina for ten years and I've known Rikka for much longer than that. I've been dating them for nearly ten years, too. Alice, Makoto and Ange came in much later though. I can tell."
"Maybe I am the one that is actually dense, considering how I treated Komachi by choosing to date Kurumi instead."
"Dating is super complicated. You probably think I'm some kind of superhuman womanizer but I had my share of fights with all of them. I think the one that scares me the most when angry is Alice. Rikka nags a lot, Regina shouts, Ange lectures me, Makoto gets angry and complains but Alice? She just smiles with that icy smile of hers that says hostile takeover."
"I suppose everyone has their lot to carry. And the grass is always greener on the other side."
"Something like that I suppose." Mana stopped when they reached another junction. "Let's go that way."
The fourteenth pair was moving so slowly that one of them decided they couldn't keep doing this. Rikka wasn't cold in her competitive style swimsuit but she was irritated. Going through a cave without being able to see and without her powers was an abysmal idea. And her pair, Happy, was not that great a help either.
Miyuki didn't really know what to do. The freezing temperature aside, despite her pink one piece with frills covering a decent amount of skin, she had to lead Diamond by the hand and very slowly. "We could go back out and ask them to make an exception since you can't see."
"They're just doing what the system tells them to do. I hate to ask this of you, Happy, but could you carry me? I suspect that if we keep going like this, we'll be the last to finish if we finish at all. And just imagine how irritated everyone will be if the quest fails because of us."
"I don't mind carrying you at all! You're a lil' bit taller than me but it'll be fine. Do you prefer one way over another?" Miyuki was glad to be useful. She had hoped to go with Nozomi and spend some time with her alone though, but there was always time for that later.
I cannot believe I need her to carry me. I would not mind if it was Mana, but to rely on someone I don't know like this… it's shameful. "However you feel most comfortable is fine." Rikka couldn't see anything but she felt Happy move next to her. She tensed up when she felt her arms go behind her knees and back. Like a princess…
"Is this okay?" Miyuki adjusted her grip a little. She's lighter than I thought.
"Yes. Please take care not to fall. That would be a problem for both of us." Rikka slowly reached out with her arms, somewhat able to tell where Happy's mouth, and thus her head, was, until she felt her hair at her fingerstips. Pulling in a little, she managed to put her arms around Happy's neck. "Is this a bother?"
"Not at all. You don't really have to worry about me, you know? What kind of person would I be if I felt bothered helping out a blind person. And she's pretty to boot." Miyuki had hoped to make her smile but Rikka just remained rather motionless in her arms. "Okay, here we go."
Feeling every step Happy made, Rikka felt ashamed of herself. Hanging there, in Happy's arms, she couldn't even participate in a simple quest like this without having to rely so much on someone else. So when I can't use my smarts or my powers, I'm this helpless? I appreciate her being so willing to help me, but… I really wish I was the one helping.
"I think it's amazing you can walk around safely with your powers. You could be carrying me if we had our powers." I hope this cave is not that big. I don't think I'll be able to carry her for a really long time.
Rikka didn't want to be rude but she also didn't like to talk about her disability. Her dream of being a doctor had died with her sight. Blind doctors were a thing that only existed in fiction. "It took me a long time to get used to it. If there is anything about it I will never get used to, then it's not being able to see Mana."
Aw… what do I say to her? I can't tell her everything will be alright. She's blind. That's not going away. But… "Doesn't Tsubomi have a healing ability?"
"Magic cannot cure my eyes because what is making me blind is that I have magic, that I'm a Cure. The curse energy that blinds me, regenerates by consuming and corrupting magic. And even when I don't use my powers, we all have magic energy going through our bodies. To dispel the curse, I would need to lose all my magic, probably for several days or weeks even."
"That went a little over my head I gotta admit." Miyuki was a little air-headed but she wasn't stupid. "So because we have magic even when we're not Cures, your eyes won't heal?"
"Yes." Rikka had tried various things to make that happen but nothing really worked. "I had hoped that Blossom could cancel out the curse completely but her ability is pure magic. It is like trying to dry out a pool by pouring boiling water into it."
"I… don't know what to say."
"I appreciate you being sad for me but please focus on not walking into a wall." Rikka rested her head a little more against Miyuki's shoulder. "It's been a long time for me. The worst part of it all was, and still is, how Mana feels about it. I can… almost feel her guilt ooze out of her whenever she sees my eyes. That's why I always keep them closed."
"But you're not giving up, right? There has to be a way! Like extracting your magic from you."
"If I have to choose between being Cure Diamond and Hishikawa Rikka, I will choose being Cure Diamond." Rikka opened her eyes, staring at Miyuki with completely black eyes. The only part of her eyes that wasn't consumed by the curse was the white. "Ugly, isn't it? Regina tells me they're like black spheres, undefined and creepy."
Miyuki did feel a little appalled by it. "What color were your eyes before?"
"They were navy blue." Rikka sometimes couldn't help herself, bringing it all up and making everyone around her depressed. She was like an engine that occasionally had to let out steam or she would explode.
"We have so many smart people here, I'm sure if you all get together, there will be a way!" Miyuki was the type that didn't like to just let things be.
"I understand that we're the second group to appear after the initial big transport. If, but this is a gigantic if, more Cures appear, and one of them has the ability to cancel out magical energy completely, then perhaps… but even with the advanced science of 2022, a science that incorporated magic a great deal, had no cure for the curse energy. It is like a magical cancer. And I don't want to trouble everyone with a problem for which there is no solution right now." Rikka felt Miyuki's grasp tighten on her. "You're one of those types that refuse to give up. Are you perhaps a pink Cure? From what I heard, this seems to be a trait that most of them share."
"I am! And giving up hope is something nobody should do!" Miyuki smiled and felt sad immediately because Rikka could not see her smile.
"Enough about me. Tell me about yourself. I'd like to know who exactly is carrying me." She stopped. Does she not want to talk about herself?
Miyuki just stood there and waited for Rikka to say something until she realized she couldn't see what was up ahead. "The cave splits into four tunnels." I can't imagine how much the people around her had to change, too. Miyuki had never dealt with a blind person before, which made all of this new ground. "Which way should I go?"
The next pair was struggling with unexpected situations as well. Makoto, in her modest purple bikini, was suffering because the girl she was paired with was a little insufferable. Or a lot, if she was being honest. "Could you stop hugging my arm? This is not a date."
"Isn't it? Kind of? Erika said that tests of courage are something teenagers do on summer vacation during a beach visit and they're usually paired up as couples, so act like a couple I do!" Yami smirked wide and enjoyed herself. She had Makoto's left arm locked up tight between both her own arms, pushed firmly against her fake breasts. Because much like Yuri, she didn't get a replacement. Although she didn't mind, which was the big difference between her and Yuri right now. "And aren't my breasts nice? All big and bouncy and soft, right?"
Makoto tried to get free but Yami was holding on so tightly, she would have to punch her to make her stop, causing an incident three days into her staying in this place. "They're not even real, are they? It's just that swimsuit. Your chest was nowhere this big when you were in the battle earlier."
"Does that matter? They feel real, don't they?" Yami tried to prove the point by jumping a little, causing Makoto to be pulled back and forth and her breasts to bounce. "Sexy, right? Cool, right?"
"I can't imagine what goes on in that head of yours. What kind of person picks a swimsuit like that?" Makoto was aware of the no change policy the system imposed because after picking her own swimsuit, she wanted to switch to a one piece, only to see that she couldn't.
"Wouldn't know. Erika picked for me, probably as a gag, and now I'm stuck with it but I'm not complaining. I mean-" Yami finally let go of Makoto and once again jumped up and down. "Yuri and I got pretty lil' in terms of boobs, so this is really nice."
"There is no need to feel inferior just because your breasts aren't the size of medicine balls. I am proud of my body and Ange has not once had a problem with mine."
"Hey, that's not what this is about." Yami stopped and let Makoto get ahead a little before she grabbed her from behind, pushing her chest against her partner's back. "This is all about enjoying the nice things in life without holding back. I don't mind my body, either, and neither does Yuri, pretty sure about that. But why would I shun this, huh? It feels super nice to have big boobs some of the time but that doesn't mean I'm all insecure about my normal looks or want to have them non-stop, you know?"
"Do you have to explain that to me while you're humping my back?" Makoto pulled ahead and immediately turned around, grabbing the large bulges on Yami's white one piece swimsuit. "You can't even feel that, right?"
"Hmmm~, I totally do!" Yami moaned loudly, which made Makoto immediately back off. "Of course it's different from you rubbing my chest straight, but the swimsuit rubbing on my chest, it's like rubbing my chest through a thick sweater, kinda? It feels pretty good."
"You're seriously strange." How am I going to deal with her?
"Of course I am. I was cloned from my sister, used for evil, fought my sister, got killed by her and then revived years later through means none of us even remember. I didn't even have a personality beyond find Moonlight, fight Moonlight, turn the planet into the biggest sandbox anyone has ever known and make sure to break all sand castles.So I'm still experimenting, but I like being like this. Makes you all hot and bothered, right? Or at least bothered."
"You're bothering me all right. Let's go." Makoto turned towards the tunnel at the far left. The right was where the ocean was, that had to be a dead end.
"Not much for letting loose, are you?" Yami followed Makoto, the matches lodged firmly under her swimsuit, just below her neck. They hadn't been allowed into the water so there was no harm in keeping them there.
"Not in a dark cave, without my powers and with a strange girl that sounds like she's out of her mind. How much is even true, about what you told me? Anything at all?"
"All of it." Yami sped up a little. "I really was created, made to fight my sister and died. I'm really glad Yuri, Tsubomi, Erika and Itsuki don't hold a grudge. And that the others aren't treating me like I am about to relapse into evil warrior of destructive darkness and general awfulness. They'd have a right to, because..." Yami turned around and grabbed Makoto's arms. "I'm a monster! Gao! I devour pretty ladies! Gao Gao!"
Makoto tried to be seriously annoyed but the girl's attitude made that really hard. "Don't you have any shame?"
"Not much. I wouldn't strip naked if you asked me, unless you asked real nicely and… got a bit touchy."
"You do realize I'm in a relationship, right?"
"You do realize I'm mostly kidding, right? Mostly, because I think I'd go for a different type. Something more aloof." Yami let go of Makoto and went two steps ahead. "I just want to have fun. I'm sure there's gonna be a ton of issues for me to wade through after we get out of here."
"It can't be any worse than the world we came from." Makoto started walking again, shining the light for Yami, Black Lily. Or just Lily, as Yami had told her earlier. Since Luminous and Rose both had people omit the first part of their name and everyone dropped the Cure in names too, she wanted to fit in a little. And it was a pretty name, too, considering Yuri was the Japanese word for Lily. "Why did you name yourself Black Lily? Your theme is green."
"You're purple and your name is Sword. And the spade pick of cards is black."
"Most of us didn't pick their names like that. They just came to us naturally. Like some kind of passed down legacy. But you chose your name, didn't you?"
"Well I used to be Dark Cure, and I am Yuri's sister, so can't I justify it that way? Dark, Black, Yuri, Lily."
"You really have not a care in the world, do you?" Makoto knew that her own behavior was a little too uptight for the circumstances but it was hard to behave normal after years of living like a soldier.
"A few cares." Yami stopped when they got to another junction. "How far does this go?"
"Middle. The left will most likely take us back to the start or somewhere close." Makoto went up ahead now and without fail, Yami caught up, grabbing her left arm again. I'm too tired to complain any more than this.
"What it's like, sleeping with a beauty like Ace?"
Makoto looked at Yami with big eyes. "What?! That's none of your business!"
"Stingy. Come on, share. I promise I'll share once I find someone I like. Or at least someone sexy. Maybe I'll try hitting on… what's her name again, using ice to make weapons… right. Beauty."
"I don't want to know!" Makoto refused profusely.
"I thought girls brag about stuff like that all the time."
"Who the heck have you been asking?!" Makoto didn't crack under stress but she just lost her composure.
"Erika, Regina, Mana… and White." Yami forgot her regular name already. She really had to sit down and memorize those names already.
"Regina and Mana." Makoto groaned. "Those two… they really ought to know better."
"I've been wondering about this, but are Regina and Mana sisters? I thought Regina and Ange were sisters, or something like that, but Mana and Regina have the same last name."
"That's a complicated mess. Basically, after it was all out in the open anyway about who we were, Regina and Mana asked her parents if they could adopt Regina. So that made her last name Aida. Ange had already been adopted by someone else, which made her last name Madoka. Ange and Regina were originally a princess but this is how they ended up with their names."
"Thinking about it, Yuri is gonna have one hell of a time explaining who I am to our mom. Maybe it'll go over better if I just storm in there and hug her real hard."
"Or maybe she will be scared to death by some green haired girl hugging her so hard her soul is about to leave through her mouth." Makoto didn't even care anymore.
"Add to that that Yuri got a girlfriend she could bring over and has to introduce. And I should totally have one, too."
"Are you even sure you like girls?"
Yami laughed so loud that Makoto lightly pulled away, or tried to. Yami needed a moment to recover. "With the way I keep thinking about some of the beautiful ladies on my team? I am pretty sure. But I wanna put it to the test, just to make sure."
"May whatever powers got us into this place have mercy on your team." Makoto groaned again.
Ahead of those two, by making good pace and picking another tunnel, was the fifteenth pair, Nagisa and Ako. While Nagisa had picked a black bikini top and swimming trunks, Ako had a much more elaborate swimsuit. Her swimsuit was also black, but that was where the similarities ended. Cut like a normal one piece, her swimsuit had a large opening to show skin on both her stomach and her back, covering only just more skin than Nagisa's piece.
They didn't really talk and it was bothering Nagisa a little. "So the band was put together, but you didn't join? I thought with your music powers you'd be doing vocals or something."
"They're music powers. They can do all sorts of things but they're not for just singing carelessly. The wrong song and it could have catastrophic effects. Do you not remember what happened when Ellen was in exile and her powers went wild? Mine have the potential to do much worse." Ako enjoyed lecturing people and she didn't get to do it nearly as much as she liked with Urara.
"Like what?"
"Well, the worst case scenario would be if I sung Nullascension."
"And that does?" Nagisa was just walking next to Ako, trying to keep the conversation going.
"It converts all energy within my domain into a volatile mass and detonates it with myself as the trigger. In a place like this, it would probably… imagine a bomb the size of the moon and it blowing up."
"Are you sure you're not secretly a super villain?" Nagisa tried cracking a joke.
"My dad used to be one. Maybe there is a parallel universe out there where I joined him and we killed Melody and Rhythm."
"That's… not funny." Nagisa had not been ready for how morbid a thing Ako replied with.
"Not meant to be funny. I'm telling you that my powers are not there to use them for entertainment. They're the supreme abilities of the royal family of Majorland."
"OK, OK, I get it. No magical singing. But just out of curiosity, what else can you do?"
"There is Replekia, which channels the magic energy of all Majorland citizen into me and releases as an energy beam capable of piercing the moon. There is also Plutonious which converts all the anguish, rage and hatred of myself and the people around me into a powerful fire attack. Other noteworthy ones are Suspend and ReNation. One allows me to completely cancel out all magic in the target area, the other is for passing down the crown and the central link to my people. Only the queen of Majorland is able to sing all of these safely. If I tried now, it would almost assuredly kill me."
"I was gonna say you're super serious about all of this, but I guess this is what it means to be a princess, right?"
"Good that you understand." Ako went back to being quiet and hoped the cave was not too long.
Passing another tunnel, the two continued on until Nagisa could take the silence no longer. "I thought you were the most mature of your group but I didn't know how much. I guess you're the oldest for a reason."
The oldest? I'm the youngest, by three years no less. But should I even correct her? I've gotten used to looking like this and it seems like everyone else has just forgotten that my real form is something else. But I expect there will be a lot of misunderstandings if I don't correct her. "What you see right now is actually me five years from now. It's a special kind of magic I can use, unrelated to my powers as Cure. You should continue to think of me right now as my real form."
"I'm sure you have your reasons. It would be really strange to see a teenage girl say the things you say, too, so I guess it works out fine." Nagisa stretched her arms a little as she continued. "So how does a serious girl like you end up with Lemonade of all people? You like the bad girl type?"
"Urara is not as bad as you all think she is." She swings back and forth between slightly better and worse. "But I like her. I suppose I could even say I'm in love with her."
"You suppose?"
"Well… I haven't exactly been in love the way most of you have."
"Oh. Yeah, makes sense. I started dating Honoka around your age, assuming you're 14 or 15 or something since you look about 20."
I am not going to bother to clarify that one. She'd probably freak out if she knew a thirteen year old girl was sleeping with an eighteen year old delinquent girl."So you've been dating Honoka for five years?"
"Pretty much. Honestly, I've been thinking of asking her to marry me, but it looks like we would need to get married overseas and most parts of Japan don't really accept that as legal marriage. I keep hoping they're going to change the law but it'll probably take a few more years."
"You usually sound like a bit of a buffoon, but I guess you do have it together when it comes to Honoka."
"I've never been called a buffoon before. But I also never talked to a princess before."
"Now that I think about it… there aren't a lot of us who are in relationships that have lasted a long time."
"Well, we're 20 now, so we're among the oldest. Or used to be. Mana and her friends are like 5 years ahead of the rest of us. That's kinda unbelievable actually."
"How so? There are several reasons that speak against Cures getting into relationships with normal people and not every team was blessed with a setup where everyone has an assigned partner. You saw what happened between Hibiki and Kanade."
"I guess Honoka and I were lucky." Nagisa considered herself more than lucky in fact. She couldn't imagine life without Honoka.
"I consider myself lucky. Urara has her problems and everything, and she can be a real pain in my neck, but she is my pain in the neck."
"Everyone has their preferences." Nagisa couldn't see what Ako liked about Urara, but she didn't want to judge. "I suppose she is really pretty, though. And her chains are really a pain to deal with."
"She will make a great king one day." Ah… I shouldn't have said that. "Forget I said that." I let my guard down for just one moment because I was proud of who I could call my girlfriend.
"A king, huh? Is that how it works? If you two marry, she becomes the king despite being a woman?"
"Technically, yes. I will owe you one so don't mention it to anyone. I haven't really talked to Urara about what we will do after all of this. My mother the queen and my father the king will make it hard on me but after being with Urara I cannot imagine even considering a political marriage of any kind."
"Is that something that still happens? Political marriages, I mean."
"Our realm is just one of many. I talked to Urara about this before, and it so happens that I have heard of most of the otherworldly realms that the others know of. Our land, Majorland, is not connected to Palmier directly. Palmier is the fairy kingdom that the fairies come from that dealt with Urara and her friends. I heard about it during my studies to become the proper crown princess. Generally, you need to understand that fairy worlds, or otherworldly realms, like to mind their own business. And many do not even have the means to go to, or contact, the other realms, other than the human world, that is."
"Slow down, slow down, I'm getting a bit lost here. Why were we suddenly talking about complicated stuff like multiple worlds and stuff? That is more Honoka's area of expertise."
"I am trying to explain to you why political marriages still exist in the realm of non-humans. Strictly speaking, Ellen and I are not human. Luminous, Rose, Passion, Black Lily, Ellen and I, none of us are strictly speaking humans, even though some of us are extremely close to that, biologically speaking. Some otherworldly realms associate with each other and in those cases political marriages can happen for example."
"You look pretty human to me. So do all the others." For some reason I want to cheer her up. It sounds like she is dissing herself for some reason.
Ako picked up on what Nagisa was thinking just through her expression. "Whatever you're thinking, it's almost guaranteed to be wrong. I am royalty. If you asked anyone that lives in the realms that deal with mine, they would all say that we, the royalty of Majorland, are far greater than any human. I personally don't think so, but that is how people see us. When I call myself not human, I don't mean that in a negative sense."
"I think my head is about to start overheating. It's unbelievable how much you can talk when it's a topic you're good at. I don't think I've ever actually seen you talk this much with anyone."
"Am I being unpleasant company?"
"Oh, no, no! That's not what I meant. I just didn't expect you were even the type that talked a lot. It's a nice surprise actually, I'm learning some important stuff, I think. But just between you and me… when you have a private moment with Urara, who takes the lead?"
"I let Urara take the lead after she fights for it a bit." Ako made a decision because she wanted to see if Nagisa was actually the innocent type that got embarrassed easily. "Sex with Urara can get a little rough. How about you and Honoka, who leads? Any strange fetishes you indulge?"
But Ako's attempt misfired. Nagisa was very open about her intimate affairs as long as she believed herself to be in trustworthy company. "Most of the time I start but Honoka takes over. And she really likes to do sixty-nine, that's as weird as it gets between us."
Ako blushed. I… didn't think she would actually answer this. Maybe I should be less presumptuous.
"Achoo!" Urara sneezed. "Someone must be talking shit about me."
She was in the very next pair. And as fate willed it, Saki was assigned to her, the Nagisa look-a-like as Urara had already called her. "Talking shit about you… is that really a thing that causes sneezing? Pretty sure everyone would be sneezing all the time if that was a real thing."
"Feels real enough to me. Also, Ako went up ahead with your original, so let's get a move on." Urara didn't waste any time and was pretty hostile right off the bat. "And damn it is cold in here. Would it kill the bloody system to not send us down some stupid cave that's like a giant freezer?" Urara wasn't so glad about her choice of swimsuit. A yellow bikini that had cross shaped straps in the back and the front, they just barely covered more than half of her breasts. Her hips were also rather exposed.
Saki on the other hand had chosen an uncharacteristically cute swimsuit, a one piece with some frills just above her legs and her shoulders, with a small ribbon on her chest. It looked pretty out of place on the well trained body of hers. "You got a serious attitude problem, you know that?"
"It's only a problem around people that think everyone has to act like a saint when the world is full of human trash. I'm not going to pretend I didn't see the darkness of people and society."
"There is a difference between giving people that deserve it shit, and giving me shit when I haven't done anything to you."
"You think just because I don't have my powers in here you can talk big?"
"Your powers wouldn't change shit." Saki was not scared of standing up to Urara. "You can talk to me like you're not a delinquent from a 2000's girl's manga. Honestly, it doesn't make you sound like a badass, it makes you sound like a teenager that goes tch at everything and writes I hate my mom in her black diary." It was high time someone told her to put a sock in it.
"I didn't know we had people with actual backbone in here, other than Ako it is. But this is who I am, if you don't like it, feel free to lecture a wall next time. I talk however the fuck I want, to whoever the fuck I want."
"Still not impressed. Nor gonna be."
"And also, screw you, delinquents from 2000's girl's manga were awesome. Tough as hell, fighting behind convenience stores, but to a select one, they're kind."
"So your select one is Ako? I wonder if she's gonna call you kind, I kinda doubt it."
"Ako is my special one alright, but I'm not the type to be sickeningly sweet just because I'm mad in love."
"Mad in love, huh?" Saki didn't like Urara but her brutal honesty was quite something to deal with. "That's a pretty strong way to put it."
"If you want to be with Ako you need to be mad in love with her. Someone like her, royalty, you don't really get to date someone like that with half-cocked determination or feelings. She'll be queen one day. Queen No matter how successful or rich any of us get, we'll never be queens. And she's got the disposition of a queen already. Do you have any idea how hot it is to date a princess?"
"I can't tell what exactly you get so hot and bothered about. Her authority? The idea that you get to be part of royalty? That seems really shallow."
"Is your head filled with muscle too? It's her character. Personality, you know that thing other than looks? That's what makes Ako so hot. I mean, she's also super hot physically, but that royal air about her, her character, that is what makes Ako truly hot."
"You're the type that's attracted to personality? Wow, now I'm surprised. You seem like the sex, drugs and rock 'n roll type."
"You think I'm shallow and you are making the shallow assumptions. Nice job, muscle head." Urara had the flashlight and made a right turn.
"Okay, that was my bad. But I'm seriously surprised." Saki followed and caught up, walking next to the foul mouthed ex-idol.
"With a pretty girl like Mai as your wife, and don't kid around, you two are practically married already, you could probably get away with not being deep into personality stuff, but you don't seem that type. Funny how that works out, isn't it? All muscle and shallow assumptions on the surface and actually cares beneath that."
"You can fight with words, I give you that." Saki had expected Urara to launch into childish tantrums but this was very different.
"What, you thought I'm one of those childish temper tantrum throwing edgy adults that sit in their basement all day and post angry shit on the internet? Shouting on twitter Ruined forever and hashtag boycott this and that because they changed the colors. Well, glad to disappoint. I do drink a whole bunch of alcohol and I got basically zero decency in me nowadays, but I do my job better than most and as you can see plain as fucking day I am very presentable. And to top it all off, I got the jackpot of all girlfriends."
"You're one strange character." Saki didn't know what to make of her.
"What, stranger than the robot twins, the back from the dead sister of Moonlight, that damn girl called Cure Happy who's all ultra happy all the time. And then we got a real life Terminator, a killer robot from the literal future. Nothing to say of all those now we're enemies, now we're friends, and now we fuck girls."
"It's tiring me out, keeping up with all the slang and stuff."
"Too much input for that muscle brain of yours."
"If you're as creative with your lyrics as you are with your insults, I wonder how you can afford alcohol or to live at all."
"You'll be swallowing those words when we put on a show so good you'll bang your head so much that you can't go down on Mai for a week."
"Whatever you say. Which way now? And don't tell me we're lost already. The only ones behind us are Kanade and Yayoi."
"If we have to rely on them, we're toast. This way."
The last pair was just sent into the cave by Majorina and Sasorina, the witch and the desert apostle watching them enter. Sasorina didn't know the details of the quest other than the Cures had to get through that cave. "Say, Majorina, why is it a test of courage to get through a bunch of tunnels in the dark? They're not frightened high school girls."
"The cave takes away their powers and it brings out some undesirable parts of themselves, I believe. I don't really know either, but that's the sort of magic I can sense from in there. The test is probably for them to not mess up their relationships with each other or something strange. You know how this whole place looks pretty real but is slightly off, just beneath the surface? This is most likely more of the same."
"How big is the cave?" Sasorina thought that the first pair was probably bored out of their mind by now.
"I have no idea. And I think our job here is done for now. I am going to get a bit of a tan. Want to join me?"
"Are you asking me on a date?" Sasorina wasn't sure if Majorina was coming on to her now, influenced by all those gay Cures.
Majorina slowly walked away, leaving foot prints in the smooth sand. "Afraid you're not my type. But feel free to join me anyway if you feel like it."
Sasorina took a last look inside. She couldn't see the last pair anymore. I might as well join her until they come back out.
Within the cave, the last pair was not very good with the dark. Kanade, wearing a very frill loaded white bikini that made her breasts and butt appear even bigger than they already were, was struggling to shine the way with the flashlight and pretend to be completely fine. Because her partner was Yayoi, who was clinging to her like her life depended on it. "Could… you squeeze a little less?" I am going to lose my mind otherwise.
Kanade's arm was held hostage by Yayoi, who refused to even think about walking around in a cave that was possibly haunted, or worse. "I can't help it. I really hate the dark." She was wearing a yellow bikini that had strings go around her back and her neck twice, to provide more support than usual. Support Yayoi needed. The bottom piece was fairly simplistic on the other hand.
Yes, so do I, too. But how exactly does squeezing my arm with your massive chest make you feel any better? If you did this to Erika or Regina they would probably do unspeakable things to you on the spot. "It's making it really hard to walk. You can hold my hand if that makes you feel better."
Yayoi was well aware of how uncomfortable she was making Kanade and had planned for this from the start. By imposing on her too much, Kanade would offer a compromise. And with a tsundere, they had to make the offer. If I asked her to hold hands, she would have given me a typical tsun tsun response and I would have to walk around on my own.
Walking a little while in silence, Yayoi wanted to start a discussion because the lack of faint echoes from other pairs were worrying her. "How is Reika doing? She's all alone on your team."
Kanade didn't crack but she unintentionally squeezed Yayoi's hand pretty hard. Much too hard to go unnoticed. "Did something happen between you and Reika?" Reika can end up in lecture mode pretty easily. Maybe she got scolded for something. I can totally see that.
Despite being a year younger than Yayoi, Kanade was 7 centimeter taller, which was definitely not nothing. And as the taller one, the more mature one, in her mind at least, she couldn't let herself be rattled so easily. "N-Nothing happened. Nothing. We're just getting along fine. It's not like we talk much or anything."
"You stammered. And you're looking at the walls. Something happened. Something lewd." Yayoi could forget all about being shy and feeling unwelcome in the dark when a dark secret like that was right in front of her nose. "But actually, I don't really care. Was probably nothing like you said."
Kanade knew she was being toyed with, she knew it! And still… and still! She couldn't resist. You were the one who asked! At least listen to the answer! "Reika… and I, we-"
"Eh, did you say something?" Yayoi pretended to look at a nearby stalagmite. People like Kanade were a staple of the manga world and unsurprisingly, they behaved much like the more realistic tsundere people found in the medium.
"Hey! Listen!" Kanade nearly burst a fuse when Yayoi started giggling by herself right after she said that.
Oh… oh no. She said the thing. Navi's thing. Yayoi liked older games, albeit she didn't play much. Sometimes she would just put Let's Plays of games like that on in the background and listen to it during work. While Kanade tried to get her to listen, Yayoi tried to contain herself, trying not to burst out in laughter. H-How is someone like her even real? She's like right out of an anime!
"I slept with Reika! I was all over her! And judging by how I looked the next morning, she must have been all over me too!" Saying it like she was bragging, Kanade realized too late she had been played and slapped her own palm against her face. Idiot. Stupid, easily manipulated idiot.
"Oh, that's fine. Nao dumped Akane and she's 100% gonna dump Reika too in that case, so she didn't even cheat on anyone with you." Yayoi's behavior changed instantly, as if she dropped a mask. "Oh- Rin. You're still together with her, right?"
Kanade didn't say anything and just looked away, tightly gripping Yayoi's hand and almost pulling her along against her will. Walking faster and faster, the taller one of the two blondes wanted to really hit herself. Why did she have to get so upset when something didn't go like she wanted?
Yayoi understood that people's relationships were really not something she should mess around with. The real world had consequences and fallout, unlike an anime or manga, where shipping characters together didn't hurt anyone. "You know her much better than me. Isn't she gonna forgive you if you drop the tsundere act and just tell her why it happened?" Yayoi could be surprisingly mature for what her personality was usually like.
"Maybe. I don't know…" Kanade didn't want to go through another break up. Not after seriously falling for Rin and finally, sort of, treating Hibiki like just a friend. She still sometimes fantasized about her, but she had it all under control.
If it doesn't work out between her and Rin, then Reika will definitely feel responsible. Should… I say something to her? But what if I mess up and it's my fault that they break up? Reika would grill me, definitely. Or turn me into a Cure Popsicle.
"I will tell her when I can… not when we barely have any time." Kanade would not repeat the mistakes she had made before. She might be bad at dealing with her feelings and expressing them in a not crazy way, but she wasn't stupid.
"Now I feel sorry about asking." Yayoi lowered her head. "Sorry."
"Apology accepted." Kanade didn't look at Yayoi but away. She was a little upset about all of this.
"So… how was it? Sleeping with Reika? She's got some really awesome looks! And she used to date Nao, so she must be amazing!"
Kanade blushed so hard that Yayoi noticed it in the darkness of the cave. W-Wow, that good? That good? I can feel my inspiration boiling! "Was she the dom or the sub?"
"I… don't remember."
"I already apologized so what's the harm in telling me? I only want to know for… reference. I don't go and tell people about it."
"I really don't remember! We were both super drunk, I think!"
"My condolences." Yayoi lowered her head again, this time in a comedic manner.
"It's not funny!" Kanade's red face was like a flashing hazard light.
===DISSONANCE===
"F...Finally we're out..." Nozomi fell backwards and hit the sand. She was still freezing, hungry and had probably said way too many things to Hikari during the test. Hikari was right next to her, kneeling in the sand, exhausted and a little pale. "H… Hikari, are you okay?"
"Don't worry… I'm fine… just… hungry..." As if to emphasize that point, Hikari's stomach growled loudly. "Really hungry."
"I see you made it, Nozomi." Rin walked up to her leader, covered in bruises, her hair and swimsuit a complete mess, and she was covered in dirt as well.
"Rin! What happened?" Nozomi tried to get up but she was just too tired. The last half hour, they had go up and up and up, and her knees were killing her.
"We did not see a chasm." Inori was also covered in bruises and also covered up by a large towel. "Luckily, Rin is pretty strong even without her powers. And she has a lot of stamina."
It was harder on my mind than on my body… I don't think I will ever be able to forget the feeling of her naked body on mine. But what terrible luck she was, to rip both parts of her bikini like that during our fall. We're lucky we didn't break anything, now that I think about it.
"The others had their own issues, it looks like." Rin pointed over at the Love group.
Love was sitting by herself near the water, forbidden to go in. In the middle of the test, Regina and Ange had run out of charge and because they couldn't just sit down and spend some thirty or sixty minutes charging, they had to use emergency measures. Even though Love had gone as far away as she could without losing track of them, she had heard the lewd noises really vividly. After that, the atmosphere had been really awkward. Ange and Regina had retreated to the privacy of the overgrown underbrush to charge up properly the moment they came out.
"What happened to Akane?" Nozomi saw Akane sit right under a palm, a big red handprint covering most of her right cheek.
"Apparently she got so riled up talking about Nao that she tried to jump Yuri and that didn't end well for her." Rin had heard this from Yuri, who was nowhere to be found. They all had to be on the beach somewhere, since it was impossible to leave, so she couldn't have gone far. They were not allowed to go into the water either. When Rin had tried, she got an electric shock and was pushed back. "We still got no powers by the way."
"I suspect the system simply does not allow us to use our powers in this location." Honoka had joined the new arrivals. She and Komachi had made it out first, which had come as a surprise to everyone that came out later. They had found just the right combination of tunnels to avoid major pitfalls. Although there had been one incident, and they needed to either have a serious talk with their partners about it or pretend it never happened.
"W-We're out!" Ellen's jubilant voice informed the others of the arrival of pair number five, arriving after pair six, which had been Nozomi and Hikari. And Kaoru was still carrying Ellen, adamantly refusing to let her walk the potentially infection rich cave ground on her own. But finally, Kaoru let her down and Ellen plummeted nearly face first into the sand. Her legs were sound asleep.
"Someone charmed her way out of walking. I wonder what Setsuna and Love will be thinking of this. Hey, Love!" Rin shouted and was immediately punched on the shoulder by Inori. "Hey!"
"Don't we have enough trouble already?" Grabbing Rin by her arm and dragging her away, while making sure with her other hand that the towel didn't get lost, Inori dragged the hothead away.
Honoka helped Ellen up. Komachi was getting some shade in under a palm after staying right in the sun for too long and starting to feel dizzy. She had warmed up too fast after being so cold in the cave.
While Ellen was picked up by Love and carried away again with a slightly sour expression, two more girls emerged from the cave, Mai and Miki, pair eleven. And they were both shaking, desperately sticking together and started to run, hobble, toward the sun, ignoring everyone in front of them.
Inori had put Rin into a time out near Komachi, asking her to look after the green haired girl, and was just back in time to see Miki desperately walked around in the sun, together with Mai. Both of them had dripping wet hair and very, very pale lips. "Stupid… underground… lake..." Miki couldn't believe her rotten luck.
But they were not the only ones that had picked some bad tunnels. An unbelievably annoyed looking Erika almost dragged a frightened Nao behind her. "Look, it's the sun! We're out! Cut it out already!" Erika had spiderwebs all over her hair and so did Nao. And not just her hair. It was absolutely everywhere.
Nao adamantly refused to let go of Erika's hand, even after they were well in the sun. Constantly mumbling by herself, Erika just sat down with her, knowing full well that this was not the time to crack a joke. She was sure that Nao had pierced her eardrums at least twice.
"Are we finally out? Is this the real exit now? It better be!" Kurumi's irritated shouting echoed out of the cave, which made Hikari look up, blush and quickly get away. After everything Nozomi had said to her, she needed some time to collect herself before she could face Kurumi.
"It really better be. If we get stuck in another dead end opening I am going to be pissed." Setsuna's voice was no less irritated sounding.
When the two finally appeared, nobody could quite believe what they were seeing. "How did you get sunburns like these in a dark cave?" Honoka didn't understand.
Setsuna and Kurumi were covered in red skin, neck to toe. "We found another exit. Just it wasn't an exit, it was a damn death trap!" Kurumi stayed in the shadows of the cliff and was grateful that the cave was actually dark.
Setsuna explained with a little less vitriol. "We found a very small beach and thought it was the exit. But it was a trap. The hidden beach gave us these sun burns in just fifteen minutes of sitting there and waiting for others that would never show up." Setsuna did not even want to think about what going to sleep would be like. She definitely was not going to be able to have any kind of intimate anything with Love and Ellen for a while.
The next pair that showed up right then, giggling and laughing like they were completely insane. Mana and Karen, arm in arm, leaning against each other so they wouldn't fall over, barely managed to get out of the cave and into the shadows before they fell over, laughing still, until Mana turned over and threw up all over the sand while Karen did the same not ten seconds later.
"What happened to them?" Kurumi didn't want to see Karen like this. "And do I even want to know why they're wearing each other's swimsuits?"
They both felt so sick and yet couldn't stop laughing, Honoka helped up Mana while Rin came running and helped Karen. The only words that Mana could get out between laughing fits were "Big, big puffy mushroom, yay~!" Putting the two insane people near the palms, but still on the sand just in case they had more to throw up, Honoka hoped that there wasn't going to be any lingering effects on whatever had caused this.
"I am so glad that didn't happen to me and Hikari." Nozomi was still there, just resting, too hungry, too weak, to keep going.
Kurumi didn't want to see Hikari right now. She was so annoyed, so angry, she didn't want to bother Hikari with her mood like this.
The next pair had similar symptoms as Mana and Karen. Walking unsteady and with their arms around each other, Yami and Makoto staggered out of the cave, their pupils enlarged so much that it was difficult to tell if they were drugged or has ascended to a higher plane of existence. They didn't even seem to recognize anyone, just swaying back and forth a little, walking forward. Yami had her hand on Makoto's ass, too, and it didn't seem to bother her at all.
Both of them made it nearly ten meters out in the sun before they just fell face down into the sand. Worried about their symptoms, Nozomi went after them and turned them over, to find them out cold. Holding her hand over their mouths and noses, she made sure that they were still breathing at least.
It took twenty minutes before the next pair arrived and it was not one pair but two. Urara and Saki were accompanied by Nagisa and Ako, all four of them covered in bruises that had already turned blue and purple. They didn't look at each other, never mind talk to each other and the aura they exerted made everyone else back away from them too. Saki and Nagisa didn't stop to talk to Mai and Honoka either, they just kept walking.
"I've never seen her this mad." Honoka was a little intimidated by just how sharp Nagisa's brows were making her eyes look. Mai didn't even take notice of Saki until she was well past her and she was still way too cold to jump up and run after her.
The next pair followed ten minutes later. Miyuki, who looked unbelievably exhausted, put an almost equally, but mentally so, exhausted Rikka down. It wasn't the first time and Miyuki had a completely new found respect for both blind people and those around them. Luckily, and unfortunately, Nozomi was there to catch her when she was about to drop dead on the spot. "Nozomi..." Miyuki blushed like she had been injected with an overdose of a fever virus, but she was too weak to get away.
Rikka on the other hand was now completely lost, only hearing voices around her and the ocean behind her. "Let's get some sun." Honoka led Rikka, who was a little wobbly on her legs, towards the sun.
While some slept, others continued to laugh and throw up again and again, most of them just bathed in the sun, getting the cold of the cave out of them. Twenty minutes after Miyuki and Rikka had made it out, the next pair came out. Or rather, didn't. "Anyone out there? Hibiki? Erika? Tsubomi? Yuri?" Itsuki's voice echoed out of the cave. "Can someone throw something to cover up with inside?"
A number of towels had been prepared next to the cave and luckily survived in intact so far. Rin, who had returned to the entrance just in case someone needed help, crumbled the towels into a ball and threw them as hard as possible. Kicking them was just gonna get them unnecessarily dirty.
A good minute later, Alice and Itsuki came out of the cave, hair ruffled to hell and back and both of them smelling strongly of sex. "Do I even want to ask?" Rin knew Itsuki really only because the girl she herself was dating, Kanade, was friends with the girl that Itsuki dated, Hibiki.
"Please do not." Alice excused herself, looking very displeased.
"Yeah. Just don't. Has Hibiki come out yet?" Itsuki didn't see that conversation going very well, but at least she wasn't stark naked anymore.
"Not so far. I think we're short one; Reika, Hibiki, Tsubomi, Michiru, wait the redhead is Michiru, right? And Kanade plus Yayoi." Rin made sure to remember all the names because it was such a pain to use Cure names all the time.
"Crud." Itsuki was really unhappy with the situation. Sure, there had been extraneous cause for this to happen, but still. What was done, is done.
"I'll send her your way when she shows up." Rin didn't have it in her to not offer help when someone who was usually so cheerful looked that dejected.
"Thanks. I'll be over there." Pointing towards the end of the cliff, where the sun hit the end of the beach, Itsuki followed Alice. This is going to be a catastrophe, isn't it?
Rin almost dozed off before the next pair came out, consisting of Tsubomi and Michiru, both of them not covered in bruises but countless cuts. "Are we last to arrive?" Michiru wanted to know for no reason other than to start a conversation. Her swimsuit was in one piece and undamaged, but her pride was not. And Tsubomi just couldn't even look at Michiru anymore and immediately headed for Erika who was still trying to get Nao to calm down properly.
"Trouble on your path?" Kaoru had spent her time resting near the palms, on the comfortable grass, until she saw her sister come out of the cave.
"Part of the tunnel collapsed beneath us and we were trapped with a very dense thorny ticket in front of us." Michiru really wished for Rin to get lost so she could talk to her sister normally, without the robot pretense. Michiru raised her surfing top halfway, revealing most of her breasts shamelessly and revealing numerous cuts on her breasts. "There was no doubt our swimsuits would have been torn to pieces so we had to get through the thicket without them."
"Ouch." Rin cringed at the thought of that. And then, out of nowhere, someone ran into her from behind, wrapping her arms around her. But she recognized those arms and the breasts pushed against her back. "Kanade. About time. I was getting worried." Trying to look over her shoulder, Rin found that it was a little difficult with Kanade holding on to her like that. And there was something else. Kanade was heavily shaking. "Kanade, are you okay?" Forcing her to let go, pushing her arms away, Rin turned around and Kanade immediately hugged her again.
Yayoi came staggering out of the cave when she thought nobody was watching. But Michiru and Kaoru noticed her, albeit they didn't talk to her. Getting a little away from Rin and Kanade, the sister's exchanged knowing looks. "No flashlight. And she smelled like piss." Kaoru felt bad for Yayoi. She was definitely not going to tell anyone about this.
"Going through that cave without light would be scary all right." Michiru was not going to tell anyone about Yayoi wetting herself either but she was definitely going to use it to tease her.
The last pair was incredibly late. Pair 8 arrived over twenty minutes after pair 18. Reika and Hibiki arrived, so tired they were out of their minds. Both of them looked cold but even that could not stress them anymore. "We… made it..." Hibiki was ready to just drop dead. Even talking was a pain.
"I'm… so glad..." Reika was not doing any better than Hibiki. Taking Hibiki's hand for a brief moment, Reika nodded at her and Hibiki nodded back. The sun was setting on the horizon now and most of the girls were just taking naps or otherwise recovering from the ordeal.
"Oh, everyone back out?" Sasorina and Majorina appeared out of seemingly nowhere, both of them with a bit of a tan. "Looks like this was a lot harder than we thought it would be." Sasorina felt a bit bad for some of them. She had no idea what exactly went on in that cave but it didn't look pretty.
"But, congratulations everyone, the quest was successfully completed. An unmarked bonus is that the beach will be a shared location for the first three days." Majorina had only learned about that minutes ago when their orders from the system were presented to them as a piece of paper slowly floating down from the sky.
The Cures were not very excited. They just wanted to go home, eat and sleep. And in some cases, think about how to fix the issues they had created during this test. "Well… let's get all of you back to where you belong." Majorina looked at Sasorina and nodded towards the palm trees. "You take your lot, I take mine."
Sasorina still wielded significant power on the beach and simply clicked her fingers thrice, transporting the entire dark team to their respective rooms. Majorina followed suit just moments later. And then the beach was empty, just as the sun set behind the horizon.
===DISSONANCE===
"Are you feeling any better?" Rikka changed the ice pack on Mana's forehead. She and Regina were looking after Mana, who was still suffering from the after effects of the test now, hours later.
"No, but sorry to make you worry about me." Everyone on Mana's team knew how important it was to never pretend they were fine when they weren't. Even the smallest thing could potentially become lethal when ignored. A mindset that didn't go away overnight. "Ugh… it's tough just looking at you two. Rikka's a big snake and Regina is a sloth. And the ceiling is made of cotton candy and… ah… everything is spinning."
"If you're doing this bad I cannot even imagine how sick Karen must be feeling. At least Komachi is there to take care of her." Rikka was a little worried about Karen as well but her primary concern was just Mana.
"I'm glad I didn't get hit by those mushrooms. If I was hallucinating like that, who knows how things would have ended up with Ange and me. Or worse, I could have done something with Love." Regina sat on the edge of the head end of the bed, right beside Mana while Rikka was on the other side and a little more in the center. "Ange says Makoto was non responsive for the entire time, just stoned out of her mind, exactly like Yami."
"Aren't both of you… mad? I probably did something with Karen. I can't imagine we just swapped swimsuits." Mana felt guilty about not knowing and guilty over what she didn't know as well.
"Look at the state everyone was in. I doubt you were the only one that did something. Heck, I had to basically fuck Ange in front of Love because we were gonna kick the bucket if we just kept going. And we couldn't send her away because how else are we gonna find her again or she us? And we thought, screw doing this a second time because we caused it to fail, so there."
"That was more a test of luck than of courage." Rikka was glad nothing dramatic had happened to her. If Miyuki had someone been incapacitated, they might still be stuck in that cave now. "Stripping us of our powers is… not convenient."
"It's a hassle beyond hassles. I was worried as heck about you because without your powers you can't really find your way around in some new location. Though I didn't say anything to Ange and Love. Didn't want them thinking I'm the type that's up all night worrying or something dumb like that."
"Regina..." Rikka hoped she wasn't blushing. Even with her senses a little keener than before she went blind, she couldn't tell when that happened very well.
"Say Mana, you're not gonna be up for anything tonight, right?" Regina was not looking for sex but she didn't want to spend the night alone.
"I think… if someone hugs me, everything will spill out. I feel like a sponge… a squishy soft sponge, full of syrup." Mana suddenly felt like throwing up when the entire ceiling turned into rotten bread, crawling with worms. Surging out of bed, Mana knocked over Rikka and sprinted towards the bathroom.
Rikka hung half off the bed, Regina holding her back by her right wrist. Puking noises emerged from the bathroom, the door still open, while Regina pulled Rikka back on the bed. "Ange is in our room. Mana needs her own room tonight. Your room is kind of shit. I did ask Ako for her room since she's staying with Urara in the penthouse. Want to spend the night together?"
"I'm not really in the mood tonight." Rikka wanted to ensure Mana was doing okay.
"Not like that. Just… together. I'm not in the mood after that thing with Ange, either. And I think we're not actually helping Mana by staying here."
The toilet was flushed and a distraught and staggering Mana returned from the bathroom. "Just… let me sleep it off… and give me a bucket..." Mana had been drunk, and very drunk, before; but this was much, much worse. Like her insides were decaying. She had made the grave mistake earlier to transform and that had just made her condition so much worse because her healing ability didn't really purge her body of whatever she had been exposed to.
"If I had some equipment I might be able to run some tests on what you breathed in and if you're in any danger." Rikka wondered if Mamo was selling some syringes, centrifuges and microscopes. And about a dozen other things she wanted for a lab.
"I'm gonna be fine. Just need to sleep it off-" Mana turned on the spot and retreated to the bathroom.
"We just keep her from sleeping." Regina went around the bed and grabbed Rikka's hand. "Let's go. I'm staying with you tonight." Regina lost her balance when Rikka suddenly pulled her close, falling halfway onto the bed. Rikka knew exactly where Regina's mouth was because the blonde had audibly exhaled after being pulled. A fleeting kiss, brief enough to surprise Regina twice, because it happened and because it was over so quick. Thank you, Rikka whispered to her.
"Mana. We're leaving. Even if it hurts, drink some water, go to sleep. Regina, can you get the bucket from the closet?" Rikka knew her away around the room in general but grabbing things was still a hassle.
"I left the bucket by the head end, left side." Regina peeked into the bathroom and Mana was still just hunched over the toilet, enduring her reflexes when nothing was coming out anymore.
"We'll come check on you in the morning so I'll keep the door open a little bit just in case." Rikka grabbed Regina, who was having second thoughts about leaving, and dragged her out the door, leaving a thin book just between the frame and the door itself. "Don't suggest something and back out a minute later. Stupid."
"Who are you calling stupid?!" Regina raised her voice and immediately regretted it because Rikka pinched and pulled her cheeks. "Ow, stop, I apologize, I'm sorry, ow, stop, Rikka, stop!" Regina was able to push Mana around without issue but when she was with Rikka, she just couldn't get into that same routine. She couldn't push Rikka around. Instead, it was it always Rikka who ended up putting her in her place.
"I need to apologize to Miyuki the next time I see her. She carried me almost the entire way through the cave, without her powers." Rikka could still only walk slowly. She was too mentally tired to use her powers and vibration crystals, or as Miyuki had dubbed them, vibrals. Rikka chuckled as she remembered that conversation.
"What's so funny? And really, you need to stop apologizing for your blindness, Rikka. Nobody thinks Oh damn, I got the blind chick, what a bother, even if you think they're thinking it." Grabbing her partner's hand, Regina provided herself as an additional point of reference for Rikka's sense of direction. "I fell in love with you because you're smart, just, driven and beautiful. I don't want you to apologize over something that's only happening because you sacrificed yourself to protect Mana. She'd be an actual bother to take care of if she was blind."
"You're so bad with words but you're also so good at communicating what you feel. It's one of the things I like about you. Miyuki was asking so many questions about Mana and me, and then you and me. How it happened that we two fell in love with each other."
"It was while I helped you get through your depression and self-hatred over failing to save Raquel and the others." Regina didn't enjoy remembering that time or even bringing it up. "It was really hard for everyone but you took it the hardest of everyone because you felt you were responsible."
"Mana tried to cheer me up, even though she was so hurt herself… and that only made me feel worse. You got me to stop wallowing in self-pity and self-loathing with your really blunt way. I thought you were so rude at the time. But being angry at you got me out of that hole."
"I couldn't stand the smartest and second most beautiful girl on our team beating herself up because she wasn't the scientist of the century. And you're the only one that Mana really listens to." Regina was the type that was extremely honest and direct with her feelings. "When I kept thinking about you when I wasn't with Mana I knew right away."
"And I shot you down. As would anyone have. You just showed up in my room, pushed me on my bed and said Be my girlfriend right to my face."
"That's how I got Mana to go out with me. It worked, so I figured it would work with you too. Elevator, five steps." For Regina, things like telling Rikka how many steps of leeway she had was almost second nature at this point.
"I wasn't blind back then. Your blue eyes were frizzling with desire and passion. I had never seen a look like that in Mana's eyes. Unbridled, wild… it made my heart race, then. Mana was always the only one that made my heart race but it was different." Rikka stopped after exactly five steps. She trusted Regina with her life. Not once had Regina pulled a prank on her with wrong directions.
"And you slapped me. I didn't understand at all. We got into a huge fight that Mana had to break up." The elevator came up and the doors opened. Instead of announcing the steps, Regina just lead Rikka in, the blue haired girl following behind exactly one step.
Rikka leaned against Regina. "It took me a while to understand what I liked about you. Mana is caring, strong, always ready to help. She is truly the selfless prince. But if she is my prince, you are my tomboy princess, the wild, smart and impossible to tame heir to the throne that upsets all the court with her antics but is well loved by her people."
"You always take comparisons too far, Rikka." Regina changed from holding Rikka's hand to putting her right arm around her girlfriend's waist. "It's the other way around for me. You're that strict and notoriously difficult prince that I want to love me and Mana is the loved princess that I pursued and made my own."
Rikka loved Regina. She couldn't say that she loved her exactly as much as Mana, because the way she loved her was different. And no matter how much time she spent on thinking about it, there was no way to quantify her feelings or measure them the way she wanted to. "You know, talking about this reminds me that Miyuki asked me about the jewel embedded in my chest."
"Did that bring back bad memories?"
"Some. But it also made me remember the light that helped me through that dark time. That burning flame in the night, devouring everything around it, burning down everything in its path until it had what it wanted. You're that fire, Regina. My fire."
Turning her head towards Rikka, Regina was glad they were exactly the same height. Rikka felt her partner's breath, the warmth of her skin before their lips met. For her, kissing was something just as sensual as sex, if not even more so. And Regina understood this better than Mana did. Rikka relished those thoughts, the fleeting fire of Regina's kiss, when she put her arms around the blonde, resting her head against the top of Regina's shoulders when their kiss passed, a moment of passion no more.
"I'm sorry I don't have any fancy names to call you. You're just Rikka for me, the only woman I love other than Mana. Saying it out loud like that never sounds not terrible. I promise I'll come up with something fancy."
"I am your sky, the only thing that limits you. I am the air that lets you burn but stops you when you become too grand, too devouring."
"You should have become an author instead of a scientist." Regina led Rikka out of the elevator when the doors opened down on the 25th floor. With her arm still around Rikka, Regina found the door to Ako's empty room slightly open. The idea of just keeping something in between door and frame to to make rooms available for people that didn't rightfully own it had been Rikka's idea.
Barely in the room, and the door properly shut, Regina took off her skirt and just let it slide down her legs, leaving it on the ground. The black tank top was next and also landed flat on the floor. She kept her black underwear because she didn't sleep naked unless she had sex with Mana and Rikka. And she was too emotionally caught up to even think about sex.
Rikka found her way to the bed on her own and sat on the edge, near the center, and started to undo the buttons of her shirt. Sensing Regina crawl over the bed, the mattress depressing with her arms and legs ever so slightly, Rikka instinctively grabbed Regina's arm that went over her shoulders, about to undo the buttons for her. "Hands off."
Regina would have just pushed with Mana but Rikka was the type that would just pinch her hand and force her to give up. Turning on the spot and putting her back against Rikka's, Regina just enjoyed being alone with her. She was with Mana to exert her dominant side. And Rikka was for when she wanted to be someone else. Everyone did, sometimes.
Rikka neatly folded her shirt and put it next to her and got angry immediately when Regina picked it up to smell it. "Don't you think it is kind of strange to smell my clothes when I am right here?" At least she learned how to fold them back up.
"It's different from just smelling your hair or your body. And I only do it because it bothers you." Regina never hid anything from Rikka or Mana. She was honest; selfish, but honest. And after Rikka had lost her eyes, she was even more straightforward with everything because a blind person couldn't see it if you made a funny face to indicate sarcasm.
Rikka jolted forward and then backward, hitting her back against Regina's. "Put it down already." Taking off her pants next, Rikka just briefly got off the bed, pulling the trousers down her legs, leaving one foot inside the article and pulling it up like that, like a slob. Rikka enjoyed wearing pants almost as much as Makoto did but both Mana and Regina preferred her in a skirt so she alternated between both.
Regina folded Rikka's shirt and put it back down next to her. Moments later, Rikka got off the bed again. "Two steps forward, little to the right. Chair has a high back." Regina didn't even need a prompt to tell Rikka these things.
Rikka heard the sheets being thrown around quite a lot and after putting her clothes on a chair, she returned to the bed and found her way under the cover with no problem. "I am letting you being a slob with your clothes slide today, and only because that test was gruesome."
Instead of cuddling the traditional way, Rikka and Regina had their backs turned towards each other and backed up until they could feel each other's skin on their own. Regina was the one whose hand found Rikka's first, her right arm slightly bent behind her back while Rikka's left did the same. "This life here is not bad." Regina intertwined her fingers with Rikka's and squeezed her hand a little. "It's a huge step up from flying around in that plane, always scared of finding the next war zone."
Rikka poked Regina's feet with her own and started to play around with Regina's toes. She liked playing footsies, something she couldn't do with Mana, because Mana was too ticklish. Regina always tried to turn it into a little bit of a contest, resulting in wilder and wilder playing around until Rikka gave her a little push with her hips.
"I don't know if I ever told you this, but; I'm happy you fell for me. I would probably be a different person now if you didn't get me to snap out of my own misery. Mana is not the type to yell at me and tell me to get over it. That the rest of you still needed me. That you still needed me. I was so happy to hear that, at the time."
"That was all true, though. We needed you, we still need you now. Mana needs you, and so do I."
"You still need me?" Rikka smiled, happy to hear that.
"I'm only half-happy without you."
"You are such a simpleton." Rikka bumped against Regina with her hips again and rolled over after that, letting go of Regina. "But you're my simpleton." Putting her arms around the blonde, Rikka left just enough space between herself and Regina to be comfortable. Just lying there, next to each other and holding hands, Rikka felt happy. A different kind of happy than when she was with Mana but it was just as important.
Regina played a little with Rikka's fingers, rubbing against them with her own, while she slowly drifted away to sleep. "Rikka?" She hadn't even said goodnight yet.
But Rikka didn't answer, her chest lightly moving as the breathed in and out, a small smile frozen on her face. Rikka was someone very composed naturally, which sometimes made it hard to tell if she was asleep on a chair, which had happened before, or asleep in bed, all because she kept her eyes closed all the time. She refused to wear shaded glasses, saying that it would cheapen her sacrifice and symbolize resignation to her fate.
Squeezing her partner's hand a little, Regina closed her eyes as well. "Goodnight. I love you."
The embrace from Rikka suddenly got a lot tighter. "I love you too. Goodnight."
===DISSONANCE===
"Come in."
Earlier, on the beach, Itsuki and Hibiki had spent some awkward moments together after what had happened in the cave to each of them. And after that, they decided to spend the night in their own rooms, respectively. But neither of them could sleep. Itsuki took the first step, got out of bed, transformed, because she didn't want to bother putting on any clothes, and left her room. Hibiki's room was the very next one down the hall and she hesitated just for a moment before knocking. Hibiki had just moments ago opened the door, in just her underwear, and let Itsuki in.
"Did I wake you?" Itsuki was not very good at patching up a relationship in trouble because she had absolutely no experience with that.
"I couldn't sleep." Hibiki walked past Sunshine and sat down on her bed, on the head end, hugging her pillow, knees pulled towards her chest. "Are we really not gonna talk about it?"
"That was never my intention. I… just wanted us to sleep over it so we had a more clear head. Every time people discuss this in dramas and the like, they get super riled up and everything, so I figured we could sleep first."
"I don't see myself sleeping in peace without you or at the very least without talking about this." Hibiki tried really, really hard to keep her desire to just blame Itsuki in check because she couldn't keep the impish thoughts out entirely.
"Do you want me to start?" Sunshine walked over to the bed and sat on the foot end, her feet on the floor and she canceled her transformation, sitting there fully naked. She always slept like that and so Hibiki didn't even bat an eye.
"I'm gonna get angry. I don't have enough control to hear you out and be calm." Hibiki figured that a fair warning was something that Itsuki deserved. "Really angry. And you can get angry at me after that."
"You can get as angry as you want. I can't think of anything you can throw at me I can't throw back." Itsuki transformed. "At least not physically."
"So… what happened?" I'm glad she is going first. It doesn't look like we're the only ones who got messed up in there but.. if she goes first, I can get all my anger out of the way first.
"Alice was flirting with me early into the test and I figured that was okay. I told her that I'm not available but letting her flirt with me was not going to hurt anyone. She eventually stopped because I was not reciprocating the flirting in any way and we got a little lost in the cave. At some point, maybe after twenty or thirty tunnels, we hit a downward slope, fell, and landed in a tunnel filled with some kind of pink mushrooms. Turns out that they were the type to fill the air with spores. They didn't make us hallucinate stuff or drug us but they made us horny. Unbelievably horny. I thought I was going to lose my mind. My nipples were so hard, it felt like they were going to fall off. I was dripping through my swimsuit all over the ground and Alice was, probably, too. I want to claim she started it but we couldn't handle just how aroused we got. It was like sex was the only thing on our mind. I want to be able to say I resisted it like I'm some kind of enlightened martial arts master badass but I'm just a girl. And Alice too. We went at it three times, making it a little further into the tunnel after each time. The effects were gone for about a minute before the spores got to us again."
Hibiki was expecting boiling, explosive anger to burst out of her at any time now but the brutal honesty and straightforward truth that she was being told made it really hard for that to build up. But she was angry. So angry that she wanted to punish Itsuki. "Tell me about how you had sex. And turn around. Whatever you hear, you're not allowed to turn around and look at me."
Itsuki felt ashamed of herself when she could recall everything in great detail. "I pushed her against the cave wall, ripping off her bikini top, grabbing those enormous breasts of hers. They were like soft, spongy marshmallows, malleable in my hands, constantly trying to escape from me. The more I squeezed, the more my fingers sunk into them. We started to kiss, sloppily, like teenagers in the backroom of a disco, and we didn't care about any of our saliva drooling down on our bodies. I felt Alice fondling my ass really hard before she pushed me back, only to pull on my arms really hard, making me almost fall on top of her. The ground was too hard so we had to do it while standing. I was so dripping wet, I didn't notice her hand between my legs until she put two fingers inside." Itsuki could heard covered moaning from behind her and it made her feel terrible, much worse than right after the fact.
"Continue." Hibiki insisted, fondling herself, her bra pulled up.
"The tunnel was filled with the noises we made, not just moaning. I pushed her this time, forcing her back against the wall, kissing and licking her collar bones, going down and sucking on her tits. I-"
"How big? How big are they?"
"Way bigger than mine. Bigger than Ako even, for sure. They were stretching a little when I sucked on them, bouncing like crazy when I let go. I went further down, my nose so full of her scent I couldn't smell anything else. I felt like I was trying to plug a leaking valve with my tongue alone. Her juices flowed into my mouth, down my throat and I greedily swallowed it all up. She pushed my face against her crotch so hard I could barely breathe but I didn't care. I stuck my tongue so far inside that it hurt." She could hear Hibiki masturbate now. If I stand up she'll see I am already soaked. And it looks like she's turned on too.
"She grabbed me by my hair, pulling me up, all of her juices sticking to my face. She licked me clean while I sunk my fingers between her legs, stirring her insides, her hot boobs repeatedly slapping against my own as she violently threw her hips back and forth against my fingers. She stuck her fingers inside me right after she had finished licking her own love from my face and-" Itsuki felt Hibiki take her left hand, pressing it against her crotch. "Yeah, like that." Starting to get Hibiki off, Itsuki was starting to feel significantly better. The association of that story was changing from being one of shame to just a sex story she told Hibiki to get her off.
Holding onto Itsuki's back, Hibiki moaned into her ear, shaking her hips just enough to give the story credit. "G-Go on."
"We competed to see who could make the other one orgasm harder. Her free arm went around my back, pulling me close with surprising strength. It felt like my own boobs were lost under hers, pressing down on my chest with so much pressure, rubbing my nipples so much I thought I would go insane. I used my free arm to support her, going under her long hair, leaving red marks with my fingernails on her back. I was moaning constantly, like this." Itsuki moaned loudly, without regard for who might hear her. And with a muffled moan, coming through gritted teeth, Hibiki climaxed, squirting all over Itsuki's hand.
Breathing heavy, hanging onto Itsuki's back, Hibiki hadn't planned for it to go like this. She just wanted to make Itsuki feel bad. But the more she listened, the more she imagined she was Alice, being touched by Itsuki. She wasn't all that mad anymore. Just jealous, really jealous. Is this how Kanade felt? It's terrible…
Itsuki felt Hibiki back away and still she didn't turn around. She probably doesn't want me to see for now. "The other two times pretty much went the same way. She went down on me once, I put a finger up her ass once. We were so aroused, it didn't need much for us to reach a climax."
"Did you enjoy it?" Hibiki was recovering nicely, back at the head end of the bed.
"It felt good but I didn't feel happy. It also didn't feel as good as when we have sex."
Hibiki pouted a little because she got embarrassed. "Then… you're forgiven."
"What happened between you and Reika then?" Itsuki still didn't move. She was so wet and leaking onto the sheets, she felt like the sheets would stick to her if she tried to get up now.
"We were almost out when we walked right into a ravine. We must have fallen like ten meters or something before we hit ice cold water. We couldn't see, the matchsticks were soaked, the flashlight sunk to the bottom of the lake or whatever it was. Reika didn't even wait for me to scream before I heard a loud splash and she dove down. When she got the flashlight, I already had blue lips. The water was a couple degrees maybe. It was freezing. I felt a thousand needles in my chest and every muscle in my body was burning. Reika got back up and luckily the flashlight didn't die. She shone it around and we saw a couple of small islands and some basically completely vertical walls."
"Are you okay, Hibiki? You should have told me that you almost died."
"We got onto one of those islands and started freezing our asses off. Reika was the one to suddenly grab me and pull me into a close embrace, telling me we had to share what little body heat we had to warm each other up since we had nothing else. But it didn't really work. We just got colder and I was starting to black out. So Reika apologized and took drastic measures, starting to feel me up, rub my breasts and then kiss me., Her cold tongue and skin on my own, I wanted to push her away but I was really afraid of freezing to death. So I got into it. Feeling her up, grabbing and massaging her tits… returning the kiss, I still didn't feel much warmer. So we took off our swimsuits, pulling them aside. My nipples were like granite from the shock of the cold water, piercing her soft, cold and damp breasts. I finally felt my body heat rising. I got on her lap, rubbing myself against her. I didn't even notice when she did it but suddenly my hair was tied into a ponytail without any hair ties. Her hands over my bare back, her now warm body in front… I couldn't stop. I wanted more heat, more warmth, I wanted to kiss her more because she was really good at it."
"Better than me?"
"Don't know about that. We got really into it and suddenly, before I even realized, I put my hand between her legs, feeling her insides, trying to crack that composed face she still had. I was squirming on her lap until she finally put one hand between my legs as well, just rubbing and pinching my clit. I thought I was gonna come without even a finger or two inside."
Hibiki had been hiding her face under a pillow, leaving just enough space to talk unhindered. But now the pillow was ripped away and Itsuki pulled her forward, forcing her onto her lap. "You mean like this?" Playing with Hibiki, Itsuki's body was burning hot.
Hibiki grabbed Itsuki's arm and pulled her hand away. "No, like this." Using her own fingers to tease Itsuki, Hibiki found out just how wet her girlfriend was. "And then she did this." Sticking two fingers inside, Hibiki suddenly bent them so strongly that Itsuki gasped for her but she couldn't breathe, her body convulsing. Putting both her hands behind herself, on the sheets, Itsuki climaxed, gasping moans escaping her.
"We were still cold so we continued, like this." Hibiki put her arms around Itsuki's neck and rubbed her body against her partner's, igniting a fiercely aggressive kiss the second Itsuki showed even a hint of regaining her breath.
But Itsuki was too tired to have sex right then and there. She was horny, but she had also just climaxed and she could tell that Hibiki was forcing herself to copy what had happened earlier. Sealing Hibiki's lips with her index finger, Itsuki slowly and gently pushed her away. "What happened then?"
"We managed to warm up enough to think about finding a way back up. Luckily, there was another tunnel just down there and we made it there by jumping from tiny isles into shallow water and waiting a little to warm our legs for the next jump. We stuck close but we didn't have any more sex."
"So you did it to survive."
"That doesn't mean anything… I still had sex with Reika."
"Yeah, you did. But did you enjoy it?"
Oh… "It felt good… but I didn't like it. Reika is not my girlfriend, you are."
"Then you're forgiven." Itsuki smiled and pushed Hibiki off her lap, just softly enough so Hibiki mostly did it on her own. "I need to use your shower."
"You and me both." Hibiki smirked. She really was tired, but she was not too tired to make out with Itsuki in the shower. And she felt so much better now. She was still miffed that Itsuki had sex with someone as beautiful as Alice, but Reika was beautiful too, so it kind of canceled each other out.
===DISSONANCE===
Nozomi looked up at the black, starless sky. Did I… do the right thing? Talking to Hikari about Kurumi. What if they don't feel that way about each other and I'm wrong? What if they will hate me because they can't be friends anymore if one of them rejects the other? Nozomi was so anxious that she couldn't sleep.
Walking out in the stone plaza, she thought about going to the beach but she really had enough of swimsuits for one day. Just standing there, not too far from the quest board, with her back to the fog, Nozomi kept looking up at the sky. I really wish I could talk to Miyuki right now…
"Hah… why can't I do anything right? Ever since Coco went back to Palmier to marry Crepe, my life has been a mess… I still want to see him, but am I gonna be like this forever? Longing for someone who moved on… who is a king now and probably has a family. If he even remembers me in whatever time or world we get back to. I have so much power but I'm so powerless to do anything about my own situation." Squatting and feeling pity for herself, Nozomi just wanted someone she could love. Someone nice, someone that understood her, was there for her, but also someone that wasn't passive, someone that would take her hand and start running, pulling her along. Someone that thought the same things as she did. "Maybe in the world we get back to, Coco and I will be together." Nozomi smiled by herself. "Just kidding. The world isn't that convenient."
"Yeah, it really isn't." A low pitched voice said that right into her ear while golden chains wrapped around Nozomi. "Hey, Rin, pull!"
Nozomi barely had time to look behind her, seeing Urara clad in a frilly white dress, her long hair tied into a wild and frizzled ponytail. No… No! Before she could transform, Nozomi was pulled towards a dark swirl in the fog. "Hel-!" Nozomi's outcry vanished with her through the darkness. But the journey lasted but an instant. Landing in lush grass, damp from the cold of the night, Nozomi tried to transform and couldn't. Looking up, there were two people standing over her whose faces she recognized. And the fear that gripped her heart was nearly immeasurable. "Aurum! Blaze! But… but you're dead!"
"What is she talking about?" Rin looked at Urara. "Did you hit her in the head or something? You know Nozomi is going to kill you for real if you mess her up, right? This is supposed to be a surprise for her."
"Hey, don't look at me like that! I just wrapped her! And she didn't even land that hard." Urara raised her hands. "Fine. You take her! I am not the one that's gonna get chewed out again."
Nozomi watched in total bewilderment as Urara and Rin kept passing the chain to each other, trying to make the other one do whatever they were supposed to do. And they had said Nozomi. That meant Nightmare was there. Here. Somewhere around. I need to get out of here. Now. Or I'll be killed! Nozomi waited until the chain was passed another time, to Urara, before she suddenly bolted off the ground, rammed her shoulder in Rin's stomach, kicked Urara and made off, her upper body still wrapped tightly into golden chains.
She didn't get very far. Stumbling over something, she landed face first in the lush grass, sliding half a meter over the ground. "Wow… that was… amazing." Reika was taking a nap in the grass under the night sky. Her hair was cut short in the back, barely reaching over her neck, while it was very long up front, completely obfuscating her eyes and most of her nose. "I didn't know you were into bondage, Nozomi."
But Nozomi just ignored this odd Reika, got up and ran. And this time she was stopped before she could even get five meters away. Someone pulled hard on the chain extending from her back. "Not so fast." Itsuki held her back. "Geez, there is no need to run like that. In case you haven't noticed, we're not reflections. Well, technically, I am, but not the kind you're thinking off." This Itsuki had amazingly long hair, reaching past her butt almost down to her ankles. It wasn't very well maintained and looking sort of damaged in some places. "Rin, Urara, I told you that this was not gonna be fine."
Reika was already back asleep and snored lightly behind her hair curtain. She didn't care about what they were doing. The night sky was too beautiful to be disturbed by those fools. The night sky, powerful, grand, indomitable and the only thing that could banish the vile sun. There was no existence more beautiful than it. And to sleep in the open right beneath it was to bathe in its beauty.
Nozomi was so confused that she just followed when Itsuki told her to follow. Rin and Urara, both of them looking like they had an axe to grind with her now and mildly in pain, walked in front of her, making sure she didn't get any funny ideas.
Walking past a lot of wilderness, Nozomi noticed vegetable fields just a dozen meters to her right. And the sounds of a river from her left. Where am I?
"Welcome to Banished. I think the name is a little corny but it won the vote. This is where we live." Itsuki figured that she would leave the explaining of we to someone else.
Up ahead was a singular large cottage, made entirely of wood and a little crude. In front of it was a large camp fire with a dozen wooden stumps that served as chairs. Above the campfire was a large metal pot and Komachi stood in front of it, stirring the contents with a humongous wooden ladle. She only noticed the entourage when they were getting close. She had her hair all grown out and tied into twin tails on her back, hanging all the way down to the ground.
"Karen, Karen!" She called out to the short haired woman that was sitting on one of the stumps nearby, making something out of a very large piece of wood with a minuscule precision water beam that shot from her index finger.
Karen looked up and noticed Rin and Urara, waving to her. And then she saw who they had tied up. "Did Nozomi get into a fight with Miyuki again?" Karen looked to Komachi who looked very frantic. "What's wrong?"
"Our Nozomi is in the cottage, getting ready!" Komachi's panic now spread to Karen.
"Are you serious? Those damn- Hey, Urara! Rin! What the hell are you doing?!"
The conversation caught the attention of one more girl, who had been sitting on the ground, next to the large point, maintaining the fire. A long haired Akane that tied her hair into a ponytail just above her right ear. "Oh, come on… Rinrin! What did you do now?!"
Bringing Nozomi near the campfire, Urara and Rin looked proud of themselves. "You know, after hearing the story a thousand times we thought we'd reunite them for a touching moment!" Rin was especially proud of having this idea in the first place.
"Did all those warnings not to mess with the light go into one ear and out the other?!" Karen shouted at Rin so loud that Urara squinted and stepped away. "You too! What the heck are you thinking?!"
"Hey! I am just helping!" Urara defended herself.
Another girl, Nao with a large ribbon tying her hair together in the back into a single winding ponytail, came just out of the nearby woods, carrying a large pile of firewood. "What's going on?" She couldn't see very well over the pile of wooden logs she was carrying.
"Urara and Rin abducted Cure Dream!" Karen shouted at both Rin and Urara again.
Nao groaned. "How long ago?"
"Too long. The gate is closed." Karen wanted to hit both of them and then did just that after contemplating it for a second. Slapping both of them in the face, Karen's own face was red like a stop light. "Are you really this stupid?!"
"There's no need to hit us! You're not our boss! Nozomi is!" Rin had really felt that slap and was rubbing her cheek. "You abusive delinquent!"
Clenching her fist, Karen was about to show Rin what abusive really meant when Rin was pulled backwards and forced on her knees by none other than Miyuki. "Mind explaining to me why Nozomi just up and disappeared from inside the cottage right while we were making love? It couldn't possibly have anything to do with some kind of inane idea you had about bringing Cure Dream into this place, right? Surely, that has nothing to do with it!"
"Miyuki, calm down. Beating Rin up is not going to solve anything." Yuri, with short frizzly hair, grabbed Miyuki's arm, the end of which had been about to violently connect with Rin's face.
"How hard is it to follow a rule that says don't go and mess with the Cures?!" Miyuki shouted so loudly that Yuri rolled her eyes.
"What do you even mean, Nozomi vanished? People don't just go poof!" Urara had no idea what the heck Miyuki was talking about.
"You think I hallucinated her kissing me and then being gone the next moment? Nozomi was okay with messing around with Mamo because she's just a clerk, but this is on an entirely different level! Release her already you dipshits! Miyuki's angry shouting made Urara oblige immediately.
Nozomi was too confused to do or say anything. At least until the short haired Yuri put her hand on her shoulder. "I apologize for all of this. I'm sure we will find a way to fix this."
"We damn well better! If my Nozomi is gone, I am going to have Rin and Urara steak for breakfast, lunch and dinner!"
"She's not joking, she's really gonna eat you, you know?" Nao said to Rin in secret, making the girl very afraid of Miyuki.
"What do you mean, your Nozomi?" Cure Dream finally got a word in.
"My Nozomi. My Dream. The girl that I love! My love! Dark Dream!"
===END OF EVENT XXXII===
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