Futari wa Pretty Cure: A New Legend

by Ashbel Longhart

Ichi Dai had a somewhat good life. Working at his uncle's orphanage, taking care of the kids, and so on. But on his birthday, he was suddenly transported to PreCure no Sekai. After a year of living in this new world, he later finds out that Grongi are here, causing chaos and death wherever they go. As the new Kamen Rider Kuuga, he must protect this world's smile. "Chou Henshin!"

8. Ride 8: Reasons to Fight!

Hello Fanfiction readers and welcome back to my Kuuga story! So glad many people are still enjoying reading this story as much as I am when I write it. Last time, Dai obtained Kuuga's Pegasus Form, meaning he now has all colors except for black of course. You won't be seeing the black color or the Rising forms until much later as I have been getting some messages from people asking me about that. Don't worry, they'll show up along with all the Rising forms and when I mean all of them, I mean ALL of them, including Rising Ultimate. Anyway, before we continue, cue disclaimer!

(Disclaimer: I do not own Kamen Rider Kuuga or Futari wa Pretty Cure. They both belong to their respective owners. I just own this story and my OC's.)

Now then, today Dai shall be facing the last of Zu group, but that's not all. I have something people have been wanting to appear. What is it you ask? You'll just have to read and find out! Now, let's ride! Chou Henshin!

---

Ride 8: Pretty Cure Breaks Up! Isn't It Too Soon For That!? The Reason Why I Clench these Hands into Fists and Fight!

---

(One Year Ago)

"So, this is Verone Academy?" Dai spoke to himself, tugging on the neck tie of his new uniform as he stood by at the gate of the academy he was going to be attending as of today. It was a fairly big place with tons of space all around for students to walk around with enough elbow room and talk to one another, and there was even a field for sports teams to practice at. All in all, it was a good place.

"Is this really a junior high school?" Dai's never seen a junior high school this big and wondered if Mr. and Mrs. Misumi were able to cover the tuition for his education here like they said. "I'm supposed to meet up with Misumi-chan at the school's office. Now where is that…?"

"Abunai(Watch out)!" Suddenly, a voice called out to Dai.

"Huh?" Dai turned only to see a soccer ball heading his way. Quickly, Dai jumped up, bringing all of his momentum up and back flipped while successfully kicking the ball back to where it was, executing a perfect bicycle kick before landing back on his feet and turned to see the soccer ball going into a goal.

"Whoa!" Tons of guys said in surprise before they all turned to Dai who scratched his head in nervousness at all the stares.

"That was amazing!" Said a guy with shoulder length brown hair and eyes. "I've never seen a bicycle kick executed so perfectly!"

"Uh, thanks?" Dai said.

"I've never seen you before. Are you a new student?"

"Yeah. I'm transferring here today." Dai said as he thought now might be a perfect time to introduce himself and make a potential friend. "I'm Dai, Ichi Dai. I'm starting as a second year here."

"It's nice to meet you, Dai." The boy said before he offered a hand for a handshake. "My name's Fujimura Shougo. I'm a second year just like you. Nice to meet you."

"Yeah." Dai nodded, taking Shougo's hand and shaking it.

"Since you're new here, you probably don't have anything to do after school, right?" Dai simply nodded. "Then why not join the soccer club? We'd love to have you on our team."

"Huh? Are you sure?" Dai said, unsure. "I mean, I'm still new here."

"We won't force you to join. The choice is up to you." Shougo said before his teammates called out to him. "I've gotta go. Think about it, okay?"

"Sure, I'll think about it." Dai said.

"Great. See ya!" Shougo said before he went back to the field.

"Hm, he seems like a nice guy." Dai said as he smiled, glad he made a good impression before he entered the school that he'll be attending. He just has to find that office first.

---

(One Year Later)

The lights of the buildings of the city illuminated the night as stars littered the skies. On an open highway with nothing, but a simple semi-truck making last minute deliveries, the driver minded his own business as he listened to the radio to keep himself from getting board. However, the uneventful night was about to change.

"Hm?" The driver raised an eyebrow when he saw something head of his lights. Upon closer look, it was a man and he quickly honked his horn to warn the man to get off the road.

However, this was no man. It was none other than Zu-Zain-Da in his human disguise and he did not look happy. He was absolutely livid. Being the last of the Zu group, it was decided that he or rather the remains of his group were no longer worthy of participate in the Gegeru when all of his other kind in his group got the chance and died. Completely pissed, he went somewhere to take out his anger and as luck would have for him, something just arrived.

Seeing that the 'man' was no going to move, the driver stepped on the brakes and skidded to a stop. Angry, he opened his window to yell at Zain.

"Hey idiot! What do you think you're doing!? Get lost!"

But Zain did not move. One look at his angry face and the driver knew he fucked up. Zain got even more pissed at the noise the truck's engine was making through the exhaust pipes and finally, he snapped and transformed.

As a Grongi, Zu-Zain-Da's skin was stone grey as greaves protected his shins and shoulder armor sat on his shoulders with cloth covering his lower region. His muscles were exposed for all to see as his nose become a long, sharp horn as his head resembled a rhino.

"A-A-An Unidentified Lifeform!?" Seeing the monster before him, the man quickly opened the door and tried to make a break for it, but Zain was faster and grabbed the Driver before pushing him against his truck.

"If those bastards won't let me participate in the Gegeru, then I'll just do whatever the hell I want!" Zain said before he lowered his horn to the driver and proceeded to stab the driver to death as the drivers scream could be heard by no one, but himself.

---

(Insert STRIKE BACK by BACK-ON)

(Instrumental) The song starts as the camera rises up to show the legs of Kuuga before we get a sudden screen shot of Cure Black and Cure White before go back to Kuuga. Just as the camera is at the Arcle, we get a sudden shot of Mepple and Mipple before the camera gets to his chest. We then get another sudden shot of The PreCure cards surrounding Gouram before we go back to Kuuga whose back was facing the camera. He then suddenly turns around and punches the screen, cracking it as the title appears.

(Kidou sura kaerarenai kurai no kakuritsu da to shite mo) We now see Nagisa playing lacrosse with her team, catching a ball as Mepple is seen sleeping from Nagisa's bag.

(IPAASENTO demo areba mochiron teikou desho?) We then see Honoka with the members of the science club, doing an experiment that ended in an explosion as Mipple just giggles at the scene.

(Shosen, "unmei" to nagetsukerareta tte, No I won't!) We go to the city where police are examining a dead body. Ryō looks at the body before he walks away and gets out his phone, calling Dai.

(Hikkuri kaeshite, Because datte kimi to mirai wo miretara saikou janai?) Dai, riding on the TryChaser 2000, gets the call from his radio and speeds up, passing both Nagisa and Honoka as he races to meet up with Ryō.

(Bring it on! 'Cuz I'm just gonna grow up in the battle HEY! buchinuku donten!) Suddenly, the sky turns dark before the Dark King and his subordinates appears as well as an army of Zakenna appeared. Appearing with him was a shadow figure of N-Daguva-Zeba along with an army of Grongi.

(Still burning my fire ten wo kirsaku raimei I gotta kakikesu Nightmare tada mirai ga mitakute!) Nagisa and Honoka step in fear before Dai suddenly appeared behind them and gave them his signature smile and a thumbs up.

(Kako, mirai, soshite ikiteru ima, I ain't scared of my past and now for takusareta asu) Seeing his smile seemed to steel the girl's resolve as they took out the Queen PreCure and Dai summoned the Arcle belt.

(Screaming out for my pride!) A light then suddenly appears and appearing from it was Kamen Rider Kuuga along with Cure Black and Cure White, ready for battle.

(Namida mitakunai kara, sakebi tsudzukeru yo! Zutto...) Cure Black and Cure White engage a battle with some Zakenna before taking on Pisard, IIkubo, Poisony, Kiriya, and Gekidrago.

(I'm never falling down! oi kaze wo se ni fukitobasu Destiny!) Both sides trade blows for a bit before both girls held hands and fired their signature Marble Screw.

(Kono senaka ni aru, egao mamoritai kara! Zutto...) We see Kuuga kicking way a few Grongi, bashes them with the Dragon Rod while in his Dragon form, shoots a flying Grongi with his Pegasus Bowgun in his Pegasus form, slash a few more Grongi with his Titan Sword in his Titan form.

(I gotta blast off your pain for you and me! kanashimi nante Rest in peace!) Dai and the girls meet regroup as they face both the Dark King and N-Daguva-Zeba. Dai charges up a Mighty Kick before he jumps.

(Nando demo...) The girl then threw another Marble Screw as Dai kicks towards the two beings of darkness with the Marble Screw following close behind him before a light overtakes everything and we see a quick look at the blue sky before the song ends.

---

(Verone Academy)

Today was another school day for the students of Verone Academy. Like most students who were currently having their lunch break, Nagisa was talking to her friends.

"I've got an urge to go to get some cake, let's go to Shiruke!" Rina said.

"If we go, maybe I'll get some strawberry shortcake, or like, how can you forget that chocolate cake I got at that hotel." Shiho said.

"What kind of cake?"

"It had caramel mousse in the center and was flavored with a slight hint of ginger. It totally rocked!"

"No way!"

Well, actually, it was more her friends talking while she was thinking about yesterday's events.

"That new enemy has been trying to get the Prism Stones for a while. It's hard on an ordinary junior high student who has a lot of things to do." Nagisa said, not knowing that she was muttering out loud. Lucky for her, her friends were too caught up in their conversation to hear what she just said. "Hm?"

Suddenly, down below, she spotted Dai's friends, Shougo carrying a stack of papers.

"That's person…"

"Fujimura-kun!" Suddenly, Nagisa saw Honoka appear with some more paper for Shougo. Honoka placed the new papers on top of the stack that he was carrying before he could protest before the two walked together, talking about something Nagisa could not hear.

"They really seem close…" Nagisa muttered to herself. She knows that Dai said that Shougo and Honoka were just childhood friends, but childhood friends don't stay like that for long if the TV Shows she's watched before told her anything. And that thought alone distressed her greatly.

"Hey, Nagisa?" Shiho asked her friends but saw that she wasn't listening. Annoyed, she went and shouted in her friend's ear. "NAGISA!"

"Wah!" Surprised, Nagisa was thrown back and would have fallen if Rina wasn't there to catch her.

"Hey, were you even listening to what I said?" Shiho asked.

"Uh, no, I wasn't listening." Nagisa admitted.

"Mou(Geez), just what in the world were you thinking about?" Shiho asked.

"Uh, well…" Nagisa didn't want to tell her friends what she was thinking earlier and quickly thought of something. "I was just thinking of what happened yesterday."

"Oh, I see." Shiho said, calming down a bit as Rina pushed Nagisa back up. "I guess I can't be mad at you for thinking about what happened yesterday. It was a big surprise."

"It sure was. I never expected the police and an Unidentified Lifeform to appear at the stadium like that." Rina said.

"Yeah…" Nagisa said, glad she dodged the bullet but now had something else to think about. 'I almost can't believe one of those…things actually showed up at the stadium yesterday. Everyone was so happy that we won the game, but everything changed when Ichijo-kun and the police showed up. Guess it goes to show how different Dai-kun's battles are from Yukishiro-san's and I. After what happened at Hyoutan Pond, I can't help but worry about him.' Between the safety of one Ichi Dai and her thoughts concerning the relationship between Honoka and Shougo, Nagisa had a lot on her mind.

If only she knew how crazy these next few days would be.

---

(With Ryō)

"So they come in groups?" Ryō spoke to himself as he was currently eating his lunch in the cafeteria. He was currently looking at some notes Dai had sent over to him. He asked yesterday after Badjitsu had been defeated that Dai send over any info he could spare with him about the Grongi if possible and what he read so far both surprised and worried him.

"According to this, it seems we've taken care of all but one of the Zu group." Ryō looked at the vast notes Dai was able to send him so far. He said he'd be able to send him more once he sorted them out.

"This seat taken?" Ryō looked up to see Rai and Hiroshi with trays of food.

"No, go ahead." Ryō as he looked back at the notes.

"What are you looking at?" Hiroshi asked as he ate a bowl of noodles.

"Just some notes a friend of mine sent over." Ryō said before stuffing a takoyaki ball into his mouth. He had gotten some takoyaki from Akane before coming here and was now eating them with a cup of water.

"Is it from the kid?" Rai asked and Ryō just nodded. Seeing that Rai was curious, Ryō handed the notes over and let them read it with Hiroshi leaning over to read as well. "Grongi?"

"Apparently, that's what their kind is called." Ryō said. "And apparently, we're the descendants of a tribe called Linto."

"And the kid knows all this how?" Rai asked.

"He didn't say. But you can't deny that this info is useful." Ryō said before taking a sip of his water.

"I'm still having a hard time believing that that kid is actually No.4." Hiroshi said, a bit disturbed that they've been letting a 15 year old do most of the fighting against the Grongi. They were adults, police officers for god sakes. They were supposed to be protecting kids like him, not the other way around. "Anyway, have you guys hard about the reorganization of Investigations HQ?"

"Yeah. I heard about it this morning." Ryō said. "To face these Unidentified Lifeforms directly, we need the help of more specialists."

"Yeah." Rai said, putting down the notes to eat his lunch. "Though, with your charisma, it's obvious you'll be with us for a while."

"Seems so." Ryō said when an officer came up to him. "Can I help you?"

"There are some people from Nagano who wish to see you."

"From Nagano?" Ryō raised an eyebrow.

"Hai(Yes). It's a wife and daughter of Prof. Natsume who was in the ruin incident. They requested to see you since you were part of the investigation before you were transferred here."

'That was when No.0 first appeared.' Ryō thought before saying, "Okay, I'll meet with them shortly." Ryō quickly finished his takoyaki before drowning it down with some water before take his leave after he took back the notes he handed over to Rai.

"Hey," Rai spoke up once Ryō left.

"What is it?" Hiroshi asked.

"Have you noticed that Ryō's been getting a lot of takoyaki lately?"

"Now that you mention it…"

"There could only be one explanation." Rai said, taking a bite out of his sandwich before speaking. "It's a girl."

"Probably…"

---

(With the girls)

"Spring: Dawn. The light creeps over the hills, turning them faint red; purple clouds trail them." Honoka read from the book as everyone else followed. Well, almost everyone. Nagisa was still caught up in her thoughts and when the teacher wasn't looking, she glanced over towards Honoka. "Summer: Night. The moon shines and fireflies flutter to and from on the darker nights…"

'Once I get worried about something, I just get more and more concerned.' Nagisa thought. 'If what Dai-kun said is true and they are childhood friends, then that must mean that they've lived closed to each other and their parents were friends too. Yukishiro-san is smart and elegant while I'm the complete opposite. If I were a boy, she's definitely the kind of girl I'd fall for. Just how in the world did Dai-kun meet a girl like her? Actually, now that I think about it, why hasn't Dai-kun ever told me about her before?'

"Misumi-san." Yoshimi spoke up.

"What?" Nagisa said without even looking, still lost in her thoughts.

Seeing that her student was still daydreaming, she spoke up again. "Misumi-san!"

It took a while, but Nagisa finally remembered that she was still in the middle of class and quickly stood up. "H-Hai!?"

"Could I trouble you to read what comes next?" Yoshimi asked.

"My…My pleasure…" Nagisa said, rubbing the back of her head as the class started laughing.

After that was over, class was over. As the students waited for their next teacher to come in, Honoka went to the bathroom with Nagisa following after her.

"Yukishiro-san." Nagisa said.

"Hm?" Honoka turned to the girl after turning off the sink and wiping her hands dry. "What is it?"

"Um…" Nagisa began, but before she could even say the words she wanted to say, she was interrupted.

"Mipple! Mipple! Mipple!" Mepple called out, sensing his beloved Mipple nearby.

"That's Mepple's voice-mepo!" Mipple said, excited.

"Oi, would you be quiet?" Nagisa said, taking out the fairy from her pocket when in a puff of smoke, Mepple assumed his real form.

"Mipple!"

"Mepple!" Mipple too assumed her real form once Honoka took her out of her pocket.

The two hugged and started to twirl around as Nagisa panicked and looked around to make sure no one was nearby.

"Mipple! The time we are apart only strengthens our love-me-!" Mepple never got to finish as Nagisa grabbed him and brought him up to her face.

"Are you crazy!? What if someone had seen you!?" Nagisa said after making sure that the coast was clear. "Hurry up and transform back!"

"Nagisa!" Somehow, Mepple slipped out of Nagisa's hands and landed next to Mipple. "You also know what it's like to be in love-mepo."

'Uh oh…' Nagisa thought, having a bad feeling that Mepple was gonna spill the beans about her feelings.

"What do you mean-mipo?" Mipple asked, curious.

"Actually-mepo…" Mepple began as he whispered into Mipple's ear.

"What are you talking about!?" Nagisa practically shouted as Mipple developed a smirk at what she was hearing.

"By the way, Misumi-san," Honoka spoke up, getting Nagisa's attention. "Didn't you have something you wanted to talk about?"

"Ah, well, uh…" Nagisa stuttered as she quickly grabbed Mepple away from Mipple before he could say anymore.

'Dang it, I was hoping to speak to her in private, but I can't because of these two! Quick, think of something to talk about…I got it!' Nagisa thought before speaking up. "Actually, I was kind of wondering how did you and Dai-kun meet each other."

"How Ichi-kun and I met?" Honoka said, having expected something else before speaking anyway. "Well, it was a year ago. I was out getting some things for a school project of mine when some guys came up to me. I tried to tell them off, but they wouldn't leave me alone. That's when Ichi-kun appeared, drop kicking one of the guys."

"That sounds like something Dai-kun would do." Nagisa said. "So what? Did he beat up the guys bothering you?"

"Yes he did. After that, we exchanged names before he quickly ran off, saying he had some place to be." Honoka said, remembering that day perfectly.

'Some place to be? Was that on the day I found Dai-kun at the park?' Nagisa thought. If that was true, that meant Dai met her and Honoka on the same day they first met! Talk about a crazy coincidence.

"Hey! Let me go! I was about to get to the good part-mepo!" Mepple said, struggling.

"That's enough out of you. Let's go." Nagisa said as she went to leave when Honoka stopped her.

"Misumi-san," Nagisa stopped and turned to her. "While we're on the topic, how did you and Ichi-kun meet?"

"How did we meet? Well…" Nagisa scratched her head, thinking back to that day. "It was a year ago when I met him. I was at the park with my family when I found him on the ground unconscious."

"You found him unconscious?" Honoka said, sounding confused and worried.

Nagisa nodded. "Yeah. He had this weird burn around his waist. Now that I think about it, I think that area is where the belt is whenever Dai-kun summons it."

"Wait, wouldn't that mean he had the belt with him back then?" Honoka said.

"Hey, you're right." Nagisa said. "I wonder if he knew about it back then."

"Who knows?" Honoka said. "Though Ichi-kun strangely seems to know his powers better than we do even though we all transformed for the first time on that same night. Could he be hiding something from us?"

"Maybe you're over thinking it?" Nagisa said, not thinking much about it. "I mean, this is Dai-kun we're talking about. He doesn't even try to hide stuff from other people."

"True. His honesty is one of the many things people like about him." Honoka said. "Well, we best get back to class."

"Yeah." Nagisa agreed as she went ahead of Honoka and went back to class as Mepple transformed back to his cell phone form. Along the way, Nagisa thought, 'Could Dai-kun really be hiding something from us? We never really got the chance to ask him about his powers like we planned to do. Maybe it's nothing.' While Nagisa has only known Dai for one year, it was enough to know that Dai doesn't even try to hide stuff from other people. If he did something like break someone's vase, he would immediately tell the truth and take the punishment that came with it. He was that honest.

"Maybe I'll ask him when I get the chance." Nagisa said to herself. With everything that's been going on, the chance to talk to Dai about his powers never occurred. Hopefully, that wouldn't be the case today.

---

(With Ryō)

As he promised, Ryō was currently meeting with the family of one of the archaeologists that died during the incident with No.0 in Nagano. When he got there, like he was told there was a woman with her daughter waiting for him. The woman was older than him as she was dressed in a suit while her daughter was dressed casually wearing a white hoodie jacket over a yellow shirt and pink shorts. Her hair was cut short, giving her a tomboy look. Cups of tea were already handed to them as they had been waiting for him.

"Sorry for the wait." Ryō said once he got to them.

"Oh no, it's okay." The woman said as she got up and bowed. "Thank you for taking the time to meet with us."

"It's no problem." Ryō asked as he gestured for them to take a seat. "So, what did you want to talk with me? I won't lie when I say I wasn't much help during the investigation back in Nagano."

"Well, after all this time, it seems this place knows more about what's happening than Nagano." Ms. Natsume said. "Regarding the search for No.0, is there still no progress?"

"I'm sorry to say, but no." Ryō said.

"For my husband's sake, would you please?" Ms. Natsume said. One can already tell that she was still in grieving. "Hurry and…!"

"Yes, of course we will." Ryō said.

"At this rate, my husband won't be able to find peace."

"I understand. We are doing the best we can, Ms. Natsume."

Seeing that Ryō was sincere of what he was saying, Ms. Natsume turned to her daughter who was holding onto something in a bag. "Fumi." Knowing what her mother was talking about, she took out what she holding from her bag as Ms. Natsume began to tell the reason why they were here in the first place.

"I don't know if this will be of any help or not…" Ms. Natsume began before she grabbed what her daughter Fumi took out and presented it to Ryō. "This was among my husband's belongings. It was something else he found near the ruins before the incident happened."

What was presented to Ryō was a box case. Grabbing it, he undid the lid and opened it to revealing some sort of fossilized piece of stone that seemed rather metallic.

"It's a metallic piece of something?" Ryō noted as he looked at the unknown object closer.

"Other pieces like this were found in the ruins." Ms. Natsume said. "We were wondering if we should have brought over more than this."

Ryō opened his mouth to say something, but he was interrupted when Hiroshi came running up to him.

"Ichijo-kun! We have orders to dispatch and investigate the Ibaraki prefecture!"

"Is it the Unidentified Lifeforms?" Ryō asked, putting down the case.

"Most likely." Hiroshi said.

Ryō nodded before he turned back to Ms. Natsume and her daughter. "I'm terribly sorry, but duty calls. But don't worry, I know someone who might know more about this than we do." Ryō took out a pen and notepad before quickly writing down Dai's address. If there was anyone who would know more about this, it'd be him. Especially if it came from the ruins where the Grongi appeared from.

He quickly ripped out the address and gave it the woman. "This is his address. His name is Ichi Dai and tell him Ryō sent you.

"Thank you." Ms. Natsume said as she took the address. "If I may ask before you go, just what kind of man is this person?"

"Well…" Ryō thought about what to tell them before he decided to just tell them the truth while he can. "Believe it or not, he's a junior high school student."

"Eh?"

---

(With Dai)

"Achoo!" Dai suddenly sneezed before sniffing, rubbing his nose.

"You alright, Dai?" Shougo asked as he and Dai were out on the soccer field.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Someone must be talking about me, hopefully something good." Dai said as he sat down on the bench, having just finished a game with the team. He went to reach for his water bottle when he heard his phone rang. Grabbing it from his bag, he answered it. "Hello?"

-Ichi-kun, it's Ryō. No.16 has just appeared.-

"Where?" Dai asked.

-Police currently have engaged him at Tsukuba City. Please hurry!-

"I'm on my way!" Dai said before he ended the call, grabbed his bag, and ran for the parking lot.

"Huh? Oi, Dai! Where are you going!?" Shougo shouted over to his running friend.

"Gomen(Sorry)! Something came up! I have to go!" Dai quickly said before he was too far to hear what Shougo had to say. Quickly, made it to the parking lot and set his things down on it before getting on, putting on his helmet, and driving off school campus.

As he was driving down the road, his radio beeped and he heard Ryō's voice.

-Calling Investigation HQ, this is Detective 04, Ichijo. What's the situation?-

-We've currently cornered No.16 under the overhead railway in Kamigou.-

-Roger!-

"Kamigou…" Dai muttered before he sped up, hoping to make it there in time before lives were lost. Not long after did Dai think that did another transmission come in.

-This is Ibaraki 02! We've engaged the Unidentified Lifeform in Kamigou at Tsukuba City-AHHHH!-

The transmission went static after that.

"Shit!" Dai cursed as he sped up again.

-Ibaraki 02! What happened!? Ibaraki 02!? Please respond! Ibaraki 02!? Ibaraki 02!?-

The transmission ended there. Dai feared the worst and continued driving despite knowing he might not make it from where he was at. His fears came true when another transmission came through.

-Ichi Dai, No.16 has moved towards Takura. I'm heading over there right now.-

"Understood!" Dai said before asking, "What about the others?"

-…They're dead. A survivor told me where No.16 was heading before taking his last breath. You have to hurry.-

"Leave it to me!" Dai said as he stopped, made a quick turn, and drove down a road that was short cut to where he needed to go.

---

(With Honoka)

The smell of okonomiyaki filled Mipple's nose as she enjoyed the smell of her dinner.

"Smells good-mipo." Mipple said, holding up a fork and knife as Honoka watched her in amusement. "I wonder if Mepple is also eating right now-mipo?"

"You two have a really good relationship." Honoka said, pausing in her homework to talk.

"In the Garden of Rainbows, I've waited a long time for Mepple-mipo." Mipple said. "From now on, my heart belongs to him-mipo."

"Is that so?" Honoka said.

"Honoka, don't you have someone you like-mipo?"

"Someone I like?" Honoka certainly wasn't expecting to be asked that. Thinking about it, she answered, "Not really…"

"You must be lonely then-mipo."

"No, I'm not because I enjoy studying and science club." Honoka said.

"Hmm, but it seems Nagisa is different-mipo." Mipple said as she finished her dinner and was now enjoying dessert.

"Eh?"

"She seems to be concerned with you and Dai's friend, Fujipi as you call him-mipo."

"Fujipi?" Why would Nagisa be concerned about him? Suddenly…

"Honoka." The voice of Honoka's grandmother was heard just outside the door.

"H-Hai!?" Honoka quickly got up as Mepple's eating bubble popped. Sliding the door open, Honoka greeted her grandmother. "What is it, Obāchama(Grandma)?"

"I brought some tea for you." Sanae said, handing her granddaughter a cup of tea on a platter.

"Arigato(Thank you)." Honoka said as she took the platter from her grandmother.

"Are you doing homework?" Sanae asked.

"Yes."

"Do your best then." Sanae said before taking her leave. "Ah, by the way…"

"Hm?"

"Is that friend of yours doing well?"

"Friend?" Did she mean Dai?

"Remember, that friend of who came here before with Dai and was so bright and cheerful." Sanae said, talking about Nagisa.

"Ah, you mean Misumi-san." Honoka said.

"Yes, that's her. You looked like you were really having fun then." Sanae said.

"I looked like I was having fun?" Honoka asked, confused.

"Yes, very much so. Almost like the times when you hung out with Dai or whenever you played with Kengo when he was still here." Sanae said. "I'm glad you've made such a good friend." And with that, Sanae took her leave.

"…Like Ichi-kun and Ojī-chan(Grandpa)?" Honoka said as she stood there, confused. "Friend…" For some reason, thinking Nagisa as her friend brought a smile to her face as she went back to her homework.

---

(With Dai)

Somewhere in Takura, workers scrambled in panic, running away from Zain who had just snapped another worker's neck right in front of them. Zain tried to calm down, but the noises of trucks kept annoying him and he would destroy anything that annoyed him with his strength! Seeing a man enter a truck, Zain found his next target.

The man who got into the truck didn't even bother putting on seat belts as it focused on one thing: Getting the hell out of here!? Unfortunately, luck was not on his side as the door opened right next to him and Zain dragged him out and held him up by the neck, choking him and attempting to kill him.

*VROOM!*

That's when Zain heard something and turned to see Dai arriving on his Trychaser, speeding up towards him. Not knowing what a motorcycle was, Zain stared in confusion until Dai passed by him, knocking over his legs using the back wheel of the Trychaser to make him fall as the worker was released from the Grongi's hold and quickly took the chance to escape. Zain didn't bother to run after the man. His anger was now directed towards Dai.

Dai came to a stop and looked up only to be met with a punch to the face that knocked him clean off his bike. The bike fell down as Dai's helmet came off as he fell to the ground, his face hurting despite the fact that he was wearing a helmet not too long ago.

"You've got guts, little man. But I'll rip those guts right out of you!"

Dai quickly got back up and went to summon the Arcle belt, but was stopped by Zain who ran up to him and grabbed him by his shirt before throwing him over his shoulder. Dai landed on his back as the wind was almost knocked right out of him as he quickly got up only to be punched back down by Zain who then picked him up, wrapped his arms around his neck, and proceeded to squeeze with Dai struggling.

'Shit! He'll crush my neck at this rate!' Dai said as he couldn't believe the crazy strength of this Grongi. And he was still in his human disguise! 'Gotta…transform…quickly!' Taking his hands off of Zain's arm to stop him from crushing his neck, he quickly summoned the Arcle around his waist and did a mini-version of the hand motions before gritting out, "Hen…s-shin!"

The pulsing noises of the Arcle sounded before the Mighty Armor formed all over Dai. Zain stood there in surprise at who he was actually crushing which gave Dai the chance to elbow his gut, making Zain loosen his hold as he instinctively let go, holding his gut before Dai took a few moments to breath before spinning around and roundhouse kicking Zain back.

"That was close." Dai said as he took in a few more breaths.

Zain quickly got back up and glared at Dai. "Kuuga, so you've come to kill me!"

"That's right, Zu-Zain-Da! You've taken your last life!" Dai said before entering a stance.

Seeing the man who killed most of his group, Zain roared before he assumed his Grongi form.

"I'll make you pay for what you did to my Group! I, Zu-Zain-Da, will kill you here!"

"You can try, but you'll fall like the rest!" Dai said before Zain charged towards him, horn first.

Acting quickly, Dai jumped and leap frogged over the Grongi as Zain's horn stabbed through a concrete wall. Removing his horn, Zain turned only to be met with a back heel kick that sent back against the wall. Dai went to kick Zain's face in when the Grongi grabbed his leg and swung around, swinging him into the wall. Still having a hold on Dai, he threw him away where he flew and skidded across the ground. Coming to a stop, Dai saw Zain charging at him, horn first again and quickly dodged the horn, knowing that if that horned stabbed him, it was game over for him before wrapping his arms around Zain's neck, attempting to stop Zain's charge, but the Grongi was strong and kept on moving forward. Eventually, Zain used his strength and flipped Dai over his shoulder. Not wanting to just crash onto the ground, Dai quickly raised his hands and when his hands met the ground, he pushed and flipped back onto his feet and turned around just in time to see Zain charge towards him again. He quickly went and grabbed the horn that was threatening to stab him through as Zain pushed him back. Thinking quickly, Dai went and kneed Zain right in the face, hitting his right eye. The pain of his eye getting hit caused Zain to stop charging and pull back as he held his eye. Seeing this as a chance, Dai ran up to Zain and dropped kicked him, pushing Zain back even further as Dai landed and quickly got back on his feet, preparing to use his Mighty Kick.

'Zain can only be defeated with a perfected Mighty Kick. Good thing I have been practicing.' Dai thought as for when he wasn't training the girls or fighting other Grongi, he was making sure he was in tip top shape for any of the Grongi. 'Now to finish this!'

However, before Dai could even charge up his foot for his Mighty Kick, something zoomed past Zain and sliced his chest, leaving a bleeding wound. Turning to see who had done that, Dai saw a new Grongi. Its skin was dark green as greaves covered his shin as on each arm were a pair of cutters, one having been used on Zain to hurt him. Its shoulder armor resembled fins as its head greatly resembled a piranha. This is Me-Biran-Gi, the piranha Grongi.

"Biran!" Zain said, recognizing the Grongi as the piranha Gringi attacked him, moving faster than the naked eye as Zain took a couple of hits before blocking one of Biran's attacks and grabbing onto his arm. "You bastard, don't get in my way!"

"Says the bastard who took my turn!" Biran said before the two of them ran off, struggling against each other until they both jumped into a nearby.

Dai chased after them and looked down to see no sign of them in the river.

"They're gone." Dai said as his armor disappeared.

"Ichi-kun!" Hearing his last name, Dai turned to see Ryō running over to him. "Where is No.16?"

"Sumimasen(Sorry)." Dai said as he looked back down to the river below. "I was fighting Zu-Zain-Da, No.16 when another one appeared and they both jumped off here."

"Another one?" Ryō asked as he looked down to the river below and saw so sign of the Grongies.

"Yeah, it was one called Me-Biran-Gi, a piranha Grongi." Dai said. "It came and fought with Zain, saying it 'took my turn.'"

"His turn?"

"Grongi from different Groups take turns on playing the Gegeru. I was gonna send you the notes once I was finished with them." Dai said. "For now, we should concentrate on taking down Zain. He's acting on his own for this one so who knows what kind of damage he'll do?"

Ryō nodded in agreement before looked back down to the river. "We'll take a look downstream then and relay a warning about No.16 in the area. I'll contact you if something comes up."

"Then I guess I better get back home before it gets dark." Dai said.

"You should." Ryō said. "I set a meeting between you and a couple of people."

"Excuse me?" Dai looked at Ryō in confusion.

"The wife and daughter of Prof. Natsume, one of the archaeologists that died during the incident at Nagano arrived today and had something that might help with the case with No.0." Ryō said. "I thought you might have some answers for them so I set up a meeting for you to meet. They should stop by your apartment soon."

"You could have told me that sooner!?" Dai said as he rushed over to his bike. If there were people that wanted to see him, then it be rude to make them wait!

As Dai was about to put on his helmet, he remembered something. "Ah, one more thing!"

"What is it?" Ryō asked.

"All the victims Zain has killed were idling in trucks." Dai said.

"Idling?" Ryō repeated in confusion.

"Yeah. The noises of trucks annoy Zain to the point where he gets angry and kills whoever's inside." Dai said.

"I see. I'll tell HQ to place a warning to all large vehicles in the area to not idle." Ryō said. Leave it to Dai to tell him a way to reduce the death count caused by Unidentified Lifeforms. One of these days, he was gonna ask how Dai knows all this.

"Then I'm off." Dai said before putting on his helmet and made sure all his stuff was still with him before driving off.

---

(Later, Dai's Apartment)

"That's wrong."

"Ah!" Nagisa erased the mistake and tried again. Currently, she was with Dai studying.

"Is something on your mind, Nagisa-chan?" Dai asked.

"No, why do you ask?" Nagisa lied.

"Because you just made the same mistake." Dai pointed out.

"Ah!" Leave it to Dai to see right through her.

"Come on, Nagisa-chan. You know you can tell me what's on your mind." Dai said.

"Well…" Nagisa wasn't so sure she should tell Dai what she was thinking right now. Would he laugh at her? Would he look at her stupid? Of course, the look Dai was giving her made her cave in. "It's about Yukishiro-san and her relationship with childhood friend."

"You mean Shougo?" Dai said and Nagisa nodded. "Why would you be worried about…Ooooooh. I see what's going on. You're jealous of how close those two are, aren't you?"

"W-What!? N-No I'm not!" Nagisa instantly denied what Dai was saying.

"Yes you are. Why else would you bring it up?" Dai said. "Didn't I already tell you that they're just childhood friends?"

"Well, yeah, but…"

*DING-DONG!*

Before Nagisa could say anything, the doorbell rang.

"Oh, that must be them." Dai said before getting up from the kotatsu table.

"Is someone here?" Nagisa asked, not knowing that someone was coming over.

"Ichijo-san told me that there were some people who wanted to talk to me." Dai said before he opened the door and were met with Ms. Natsume and her daughter, Fumi. "Can I help you?"

"Uh, domo(Hello)." Ms. Nastume said with a small bow before asking. "Are you Ichi Dai?"

"Yes I am. I'm guessing Ichijo-san sent you here?" Dai asked and the woman nodded. "Come in then. I'll prepare some tea."

"Oh no, you don't have to do that."

"No, no, I insist." Dai said as the two entered his apartment.

"Uh, Dai-kun? Who are they?"Nagisa asked once she saw the two.

"These are…Sorry, but I never got your names." Dai said once he realized that Ryō had forgotten to give him their names.

"Natsume Karen." Ms. Natsume said before gesturing to her daughter. "This is my daughter, Fumi."

Dai looked at Fumi and guessed that she might be around Nagisa and Honoka's age. He looked over to Nagisa and gestured to all the papers on the table. Nagisa saw what he meant and quickly gathered all the papers together to move them out of the way.

"S-So sorry for the mess! Dai-kun was helping me study!" Nagisa said as she moved all their stuff to the side and gestured for them to sit anywhere. "Dozo."

"Arigato." Karen said as she and Rika sat on Dai's bed as Dai brought over cups of tea for everyone.

"Here we go, one for everybody." Dai said as he laid the cups all on the kotatsu table and set down the tray. "Sorry if it isn't much. I'm not exactly made of money."

"That's okay." Karen said as she picked up her cup and took a sip. "Oh my, this is good."

"Thank you." Dai said before Nagisa leaned over to him.

"Oi, Dai-kun, who are they?" Nagisa whispered to Dai.

"Apparently, these two are the wife and daughter of one of the archaeologists who died in the incident back Nagano." Dai whispered back.

'That explains the mood.' Nagisa thought as the two guests were silent, casting a mood that told Nagisa enough to know that they were grieving. Even Mepple could tell from Nagisa's pocket and wisely stayed quiet.

She saw the one known as Fumi glancing towards them and not wanting to be rude, greeted her. "Kon'nichiwa(Hello)." Rika immediately turned away. Feeling that she must have scared the girl despite the fact that they were the same age, she thought of what to do until she saw a bracelet around the girl's wrist. It was a like a friendship bracelet, beads and all as it was decorated with pretty looking shells you could probably find at the beach.

"Those are pretty shells." Nagisa said when Rika quickly covered them as if she expected them to be taken away. Nagisa then chose to keep her mouth shut.

"Let me handle this." Dai whispered to her before speaking up. "I was told by Ichijo-san that you wanted to show me something?"

"Ah, yes." Karen said as he turned to Fumi who brought out the case. "He said you might know about this more than we do."

Fumi opened the case up and showed it to both Dai and Nagisa. Dai's eyes widen at what he saw.

"This looks really old." Nagisa commented as she looked at the fossilized metallic piece of…whatever it is.

"This is…" Dai said before he looked up at Karen. "Are there other pieces like this?"

"There is, actually." Karen said, surprised that Dai knew that there were other pieces. "Other pieces like this were recently found in the ruins. Do…Do you know what this is?"

"If it is what I think it is, then yes I do know what this is." Dai said as he looked down at what may be piece of the Armor Machine Gouram.

Then, for the first time, Fumi spoke. "This will help solving the mystery behind No.0, wont it?"

"Eh?"

"Won't it!?" Fumi raised her voice a bit as she pressed the matter.

"Fumi!" Karen spoke up, trying to calm her daughter.

'Ah, I see now.' Dai thought as the girl in front of him was this world's version of Natsume Mika. Though this world's version seemed more of a tomboy if her clothes and hairstyle said anything.

"…Sumimasen(I'm sorry)." Dai said. "While I know what this is, it won't be of much help in solving the case behind No.0."

"Sonna(That can't be)…" Fumi said. She bit her lips before she closed the case, grabbed her bags, and bolted for the door. "I'm leaving!"

"Fumi!" Karen and everyone else got up.

"Why!?" Fumi exclaimed, turning to everyone as tears threatened to fall from her eyes. "We come here, hoping this thing here might help with finding something about the Unidentified Lifeforms, but no one seems to know a god damn thing! They're all acting as if nothing has happened! No seems to care!"

"That's not true!" Dai said. "The police are doing everything they can to-!"

"The police!?" Fumi interrupted Dai. "They're not doing anything about No.0, the monster that killed my Otou-san(Dad)!"

"That's-!"

"I've had it!" And with that, Fumi swung open the door and ran.

"Fumi! Fumi come back!" Karen quickly chased after her daughter, calling out her name.

Dai and Nagisa along with Mepple who stuck his head out from Nagisa's pocket just stared at the open door, shocked at what just happened.

"…You should probably go home now, Nagisa-chan." Dai said as he went to pick up the tea cups. "I don't now is a good time to study."

"Y-Yeah…" Nagisa said before she quickly gathered her stuff and headed towards the door. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

Dai nodded. "Yeah."

"Then, oyasumi(goodnight), Dai-kun."

"Oyasumi, Nagisa-chan."

---

(The Next Day)

Nagisa yawned as she blinked her sleepy eyes as she stood at Wakabadai Station, waiting for the light to turn to green.

"So tired…" Nagisa muttered. After what happened last night, she couldn't catch a wink of sleep. Not only that, but she was still bothered by Honoka and Shougo's relationship.

She turned to Dai who was standing right next to her and asked, "How do you look so awake?"

"There's this thing called coffee, Nagisa-chan." Dai said. "I don't suggest you try it until you're older."

"Then why did you drink it?"

"Because I plan on stopping by the orphanage today." Dai said. "Katsumi-san called and said that the kids were acting a bit rowdier than usual and could use the help. You know how those kids are."

"Oh yeah…" Nagisa said, remembering the time she and Honoka learned about Dai's Sunday's at the orphanage. How Dai's been able to keep those kids in check for so long is beyond her.

"Misumi-san! Ichi-kun!" The voice of one Yukishiro Honoka called out to them from behind and they turned to see her with Shougo.

"Childhood friend…" Nagisa muttered once she saw Shougo.

"Ohayō(Good morning)." Honoka greeted the two.

"O- Ohayō." Nagisa greeted back.

"Yo, Dai. You looked a bit tired." Shougo pointed out.

"I had a hard time sleeping last night." Dai said when he noticed that the light was green. "Ah, it's green. Let's go." And with that, the four walked together. This was a first for Dai since he was always with Shougo and Kimata.

"Where's your bike, Dai? I thought you'd be riding it?" Shougo asked.

"I didn't feel like riding it today." Dai said.

"Is that so?" Shougo said before turning to Honoka. "By the way, Honoka, this week's after school student council meetings…"

"Tuesday and Thursday." Honoka reminded her friend.

Shougo sighed. "Why can't it be only once a week? It's a crucial time for the soccer club. I'm captain and I don't like having to always depend on Dai or Kimata like this." Shougo then turned to Dai. "I'm still wondering how I became class representative over you."

"Who knows?" Dai said with a shrug as he was glad he wasn't made class representative. It would get in the way of his job in dealing with the Grongi.

"And where in the world did you run off to yesterday? You've been doing this a lot lately." Shougo said.

"Gomen. I can't really explain it; just that it requires my immediate attention." Dai said, rubbing his head apologetically.

"Well can you maybe put it aside for a bit? This is a crucial time for our club and I hate to not have out ace with us."

"Oh come on, Shougo. You guys work just fine even without me." Dai said. "After all, you are the teams' 'back up ace.'"

"And I thought I told you to stop calling me that?" Shougo said with an annoyed face while Honoka giggled at the two.

"You've always been like that, Fujimura-kun." Honoka said.

'Always…' Nagisa thought, pointing out the word.

"When you're thinking of soccer, you can't see anything else."

"So true." Dai said, nodding in agreement.

"Fine, so I'm a soccer nut, sue me." Shougo said.

Honoka giggled again before she noticed Nagisa glancing at them before she blushed and turned away. She then remembered back to what Mipple said to her last night and was about to speak when Shougo spoke up.

"By the way, Honoka, how did you and Misumi-san here know each other? You never told me." Shougo asked, curious.

"Oh, Misumi-san here is in the same class as me. That's how we know each other." Honka said.

"I see." Shougo said before looking towards Nagisa who blushed when he looked at her. "I watched you during your game in the league tournament and I can see how you're the lacrosse teams' ace. You're pretty good."

"Th-Thank you…" Nagisa said, blushing at Shougo's compliment as she saw Dai give her a thumbs up and a wink from behind Shougo.

"Misumi-san," Honoka spoke up. "Did you know that everyone calls him Fujipi?"

"Fujipi?" Nagisa repeated in confusion as Shougo made an expression of annoyance.

"Honoka! Don't tell her that! I'm not in elementary school anymore." Shougo said as Honoka giggled.

"What's up, Fujipi!?" Suddenly, Kimata suddenly appeared out of nowhere and tackled Shougo to the ground.

"You too, Kimata!" Shougo said as the two got up.

"Why are you already angry in the morning?" Kimata said. "Not getting calcium, I bet."

"Huh?"

"You should drink more milk, right Honoka-chan?" Kimata said asHonoka just smiled.

"Sigh, Dai. You're my only friend who doesn't call me Fujipi." Shougo said as he dramatically leaned against Dai.

"Oh stop being so dramatic." Dai said as he pushed Shougo off of him.

'It seems they're all pretty close.' Nagisa thought as she felt left out.

"I'm glad you and Fujimura-kun know each other." Honoka said, speaking to Nagisa.

"Eh?"

"You've wanted to speak to him for a while, haven't you?" Honoka said, getting the boy's attention who had been busy talking.

"Just a second, Yukishiro-san!" Nagisa said.

"What's going on?" Kimata asked since he was the last one to join the group.

"I don't know." Shougo said.

'I've got a bad feeling about this.' Dai thought.

'This…This…' Nagisa then suddenly ran off. "Arienai(I can't believe this)!"

"Misumi-san!" Quickly, Honoka chased after Nagisa.

"Matte(Wait), Nagisa-chan!" Dai said as he too gave chase, leaving Shougo and Kimata to their lonesome.

The two just watched the three run off before Kimata asked, "Did I say something wrong?"

---

(With the three)

"Matte, Misumi-san!" Honoka called out to the girl who had stopped running; finally catching up to her as Dai was not far behind. "Did I do something?"

"Don't meddle in other people's affairs." Nagisa said as Dai finally arrived and watched what was happening.

"Eh? I just wanted to give you a chance to speak with Fujimura-kun…" Honoka said.

"It's none of your business." Nagisa said as she turned to face Honoka. "Don't decide such things on your own." She can deal with Dai trying to help her since they've known each other for a good amount of time, but Honoka, who's she only known for a couple of weeks? She was not taking that!

"Nagisa-chan…" Dai held out his hand, walking up so he was standing between the two in case something happened.

"How do you know what I want to do? Do you think what you decide is always right?" Nagisa said as the uneasy feelings she had kept bottled up were bursting out. "Aren't you just being insensitive?"

"Insensitive?"

"Nagisa-chan…" Dai placed a hand on Nagisa's shoulder, but she pushed his hand off her of and continued to speak.

"Yukishiro-san, you don't understand my feelings."

"Misumi-san." Honoka said as went and grabbed Nagisa's wrist to try and understand what Nagisa was trying to say to her, but to her surprise, Nagisa pulled her arm and back and pushed her away.

"That's enough! Leave me alone!" Nagisa said. "We may be Pretty Cure, but that doesn't mean we're friends or anything at all!"

"Nagisa!" Nagisa's eyes widen as she turned to Dai in surprise and saw his usual go-lucky face replaced with a serious one with his lips forming a frown.

Nagisa's eyes then widen, having realizing what she just said and turned back to Honoka who had a downcast look.

"…You're right. I might have gone too far…" Honoka said before she turned around and walked away, heading to school.

Nagisa went to go say something, but nothing came out as she looked down in shame.

"Nagisa," Nagisa turned to Dai quickly. When Dai didn't use honorifics with her name, she knew that she was in trouble. "Can you see me after school?"

"O-Okay…" Was all Nagisa could say before Dai simply walked past her.

"Come on, we're gonna be late for school." Dai said as he continued walking. Eventually, Nagisa followed after him.

---

(With Ryō)

"We've relayed a warning to all large vehicles to not idle like you said." Rai said as he and Ryō were at Date's Ramen Stand. "To think a kid figured out No.16's attack pattern before we did. Just how does he know all this?"

"Who can say? He's got information that makes him suspicious alright." Ryō said as he finished his second bowl and Date turned to hand him his third. "But one can't deny his drive to defeat the Unidentified Lifeforms."

"Yeah…" Rai said before eating a crab cake. Chewing before swallowing, he said, "But the question now is what to do about No.16? With less vehicles idling by, we've got no way to track him."

"Why are thinking about it?" Date said as he turned to them. "The answer is simple, really."

"Simple? Simple how?" Ryō said, sipping some water.

"If you can't track him, simply draw him out. Like a mouse to a mouse trap attracted to the smell of cheese, draw him out to the open and then you've got him." Date said.

"Like a mouse to a mouse trap attracted to the smell of cheese…That's it!" Ryō said before he quickly drowned his bowl in record time, finished his water, and slapped the pay on the table. "Date-san, thank you for the meal!"

"Anytime!" Date said before Ryō took off.

"Oi, Ryō! Wait for me!" Rai said before he quickly finished what was left in his bowl and chased after the man. There was only one car after all.

"Hurry up! If we act now, we can draw No.16 out before he kills anyone else." Ryō said as Rai got in the car.

"Geez, what's got you excited?" Rai asked as he got in and grabbed his seatbelt.

"If No.16 is attracted to the noise caused by large vehicles like trucks, then I'll use one to draw him out!" Ryō said.

"That's too crazy." Rai said. It was practically a suicide mission.

"We don't have any other options at the moment." Ryō said as he was about to start the car when his phone started ringing. Taking it out, he answered it. "Ichijo here…Nani!?"

"What's wrong?" Rai asked, seeing the distressed look on Ryō's face.

Ryō didn't answer as he was still on the floor, nodding a couple of times before saying, "I understand." He then ended the call and turned to Rai. "The daughter of one of the victims from the No.0 incident has gone missing."

"Nani!?"

---

(Verone Academy)

The sky was blue with clouds here and there as Nagisa with her friends RIna and Shito were at the roof eating their lunch.

"It's a nice feeling to eat outside once and while, right?" Rina asked.

"It's perfect, right Nagisa?" Shiho asked with a sandwich in her mouth.

"Yeah…" Nagisa responded absentmindedly.

Noticing this, Shiho started to get a bit too close for Nagisa's comfort as she and Rina backed away the closer Shiho got. "Nagisa! Is something up? Tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me!"

"Okay, okay!" Nagisa said. "You see…"

However, before Nagisa could speak, the door of the roof opened and out came Honoka who was no doubt trying to eat in private, but then she saw Nagisa and her friends. Still remembering what happened earlier today, both girls didn't say anything before Honoka took her leave, closing the door behind her.

"What was that about?" Shiho said.

Rina on the other hand saw the look on Nagisa's face when Honoka had appeared and left and asked, "Did you have a fight with Yukishiro-san?"

"Sort of…" Nagisa said as she got up and leaned against the edge of the roof, letting the light wind brush her hair. "Why did I say something like that?"

"What happened?" Rina asked.

"I don't want to talk about it." Nagisa said. "What I can say is that what happened caused Dai-kun to say my name…without honorifics."

At that info, Rina dropped her chopsticks while Shiho dropped her sandwich as they both looked at Nagisa in horror. Everyone and I mean EVERYONE in school knew that if Dai calls you by your name without honorifics, then you knew that you were in trouble.

"What the heck did you do!?" Shiho asked, worried for her friend.

"I can't say." Nagisa said.

Hours flew by and the sun was beginning to disappear over the horizon, casting an orange and red glow over everything as student began to leave.

"Nagisa." Shiho spoke up as she finished changing her shoes.

"Hm?" Nagisa turned to her friend after putting her school shoes back in her shoe locker.

"You know, if there's something…"

"Misumi-san." Before Shiho could continue, Honoka suddenly appeared, dressed in her science club lab coat.

Seeing that the two wanted to talk, Rina grabbed Shiho and dragged her away. "Ikou(Let's go), Shiho."

"C-Chotto(Wait a sec), Rina!" Shiho protested before giving in and walking with Rina to give Nagisa and Honoka some alone time.

Before they left, they stopped and turned to Nagisa. "You know, Nagisa, if you're upset you can tell us anything. We're on your side no matter what it is."

"That's right." Shiho said. "We're your friends after all!"

"Rina, Shiho…Arigato." Nagisa said, smiling for the first time since this morning.

"We'll get going…" Rina said before she and Shiho finally took their leave, leaving Nagisa and Honoka alone at the shoe lockers.

"Um," Honoka was the first to speak up. "I'm sorry about this morning. Since then, I've been thinking about a lot of things."

"Like what?" Nagisa asked when Honoka took out Mipple.

"I'm not qualified to have this."

"Eh?" Nagisa said in disbelief.

"If it continues like this, I'll just hurt your feelings again."

"Um…"

"And besides, I think these things would be better suited for people who can trust each other. Therefore…" Honoka walked up to Nagisa, grabbed her hand, and gave her Mipple before running off.

"Yukishiro-san!" Nagisa cried out to the girl, but Honoka was already gone. She couldn't believe all that just happened.

"Nagisa." Nagisa jumped and turned to see Dai at the door.

"D-Dai-kun…"

"Let's go. You're helping me with something." Dai said.

"Helping you with what?"

"Oh you'll see." Nagisa did not like how Dai said that.

---

(Minori's Orphanage)

"Get off me!" Nagisa demanded with a slight begging tone as three kids sat on top of her, weighing her down somehow as she struggled to get them off. "Dai-kun, tasukete(help)!"

"You're doing great, Nagisa. Keep it up." Dai said as he was being posing for the kids who were painting a picture of him to the best of their abilities. They weren't good, but they were kids. What did you expect?

'So this is what he meant by 'helping him out.' Nagisa thought before a child started pulling her hair. "Not the hair, not the hair! Stop pulling my hair!"

The kids on top of her laughed while other kids kept saying things like, "I want a turn! I want a turn!"

"I'm not a ride!"

"The kids think otherwise." Dai said before a couple of kids walked up to him.

"Dai-niichan! Do you think No.4 is a good guy?"

"No.4? The Unidentified Lifeform?" Dai asked as Nagisa listened too once she heard No.4.

"That's obvious, isn't it?" The kid said.

"It's a bad guy because it's an Unidentified Lifeform." One of the painters, a girl, said over her painting.

"I wasn't asking you!"

"Hey now, you shouldn't talk like that." Dai said. "Now, what do you think about No.4?"

"I think he's a good guy!" The kid said. "But what do you think, Dai-niichan?"

"Me? Hmm…" Dai thought about what to say to the kids since unknown to them, he was the same No.4 that were talking about.

'Talk about irony.' Nagisa said as she knew that Dai was No.4. It was crazy now that she thought about it. Dai's life was probably much more crazier than hers since she saw him as Kuuga on the news and newspaper from time to time. Everyone in the city knew about him.

"I like to think that he's a good guy." Dai said.

"Ha! See? Even Dai-niichan thinks No.4 is a good guy!" The kid said.

"Whatever." The girl said before she put the finishing touches on her painting along with the others who were painting as well. "It's done!"

"Really? Let me see." Dai asked and the kids who were painting showed them their paintings.

"Pfff!" Nagisa had to suppress a laugh once she saw the funny looking paintings.

"Wow. That almost looks like me." Dai said as he grabbed one of the paintings and tried to imitate it as best he could, getting some laughs from the kids. This continued as he picked one painting after another, imitating them to the best of his abilities and getting laughs from kids each time.

"He's amazing, isn't he?" Nagisa looked up to see Minori kneeling down to her. "Just his appearance alone got the kids all excited."

"Yeah…" Nagisa said as once they arrived, the kids all swarmed Dai like bees to flower and honey. "Um, could you help me out here?"

Minori giggled a bit before she got the kids on top of her to get off.

"Oh thank gods!" Nagisa said as she rubbed her back. "How do you and Dai-kun deal with these kids?"

"For me, it was years of practice. For Ichi-kun, I think it's just talent." Minori said when one of many kids walked up to her.

"Minori-sensei, I can't find the picture book for Hanasaka Jii-san."

"I think Daigo was reading it last time I saw him." Minori said as he looked around and found the one called Daigo currently reading the book. "There he is over there."

"I can go get it for you." A kid suddenly said who was the same kid that asked Dai about No.4.

"Really?"

"I'm No.4 after all!"

"Hm?" Da who was still making funny faces stopped and turned to the kid once he heard what he said. Nagisa too looked at the kid when he declared that.

They watched as the kid went over to the one named Daigo and said, "Daigo, hand that book over."

"No!" Daigo said, keep the book away from the kid.

"But it's Miku's turn next!" The kid said, but Daigo turned away. Persistent, the kid went and grabbed the book, attempting to take the book away from Daigo, but he had a good grip on the book. "It's Miku's turn!"

"I said no!"

"Sensei…" The girl named Miku got behind Minori, starting to get scared.

"Oh dear…" Minori said before calling out to the two boys. "That's enough you two. Stop it."

The boys didn't listen as they continued to play tug-a-war with the book.

"Let go!"

"No!"

"Give it!" The kid said before he finally took the book away. Angry, Daigo went and slapped his arm and of course, the kid fought back with a slap of his own.

"This is starting to get out of hand." Nagisa said as she watched the two slapped and kicked each other like kids would do.

Then, the kid raised the book, going to hit Daigo in the head. Seeing this, Minori and Nagisa got up to stop the kid when they were beaten to the punch by Dai who quickly made it to the kid's side, stopped the book from hitting Daigo, took the book away and made the kid look at Dai face to face.

"That's enough, Jiro." Dai said with his serious face on. "What did you think you were doing?"

The now named Jiro didn't answer as he attempted to look away from Dai, but Dai shook him, making him look back.

"Don't you look away. What did you think you were doing?" Dai asked in a stern voice. While he was usually gentle and playful with the kids, there were times where he had to be stern with them and when he's stern, he is STERN!

"I was…I was just…trying to be like No.4 who beats up the bad guys." Jiro said after a while.

"But is Daigo a bad guy?" Dai asked and Jiro shook his head. "That's right, Daigo is not a bad guy, he is your friend." Dai's tone became gentler as he held up a fist. "Jiro, can you tell me what this is?"

"Um…a fist?" Jiro answered, afraid that this was some sort of trick question.

"That's right. This is a fist. And do you know what a fist does?" Dai asked as everyone around him, even Nagisa was silent as they watched what was happening.

"A fist…hurts people?"

Dai nodded. "That's right. A fist hurts people. Not just the people around you, but to yourself as well." Dai moved out of the way and gestured to Daigo. "Say for example, you hit Daigo like you were going to do. You would have felt bad because you didn't mean to, right?"

Jiro just nodded. Dai then developed a gentle smile as he began to speak. "Listen Jiro, when a man hurts someone, they hurt themselves too because they feel bad that they hurt that person if they didn't mean to. They feel guilty because they didn't want to hurt anybody. It's the same with No.4, he doesn't want to hurt anybody. But why do you think No.4 does what he does and beats the Unidentified Lifeforms?"

Jiro didn't answer. He couldn't because he didn't know how to answer. No one in the room did. Seeing that Jiro wasn't going to answer, Dai gave him the answer.

"It's because Unidentified Lifeforms are guys who want to hurt people. They enjoy hurting people. But No.4 is different. He doesn't want to hurt people and that's why he can't let the baddies do what they do so he clenches his hands into fists and fights everyday against the Unidentified Lifeforms so that nobody will be hurt. If you want to hit someone, Jiro, hit someone who's trying to hurt your friends. Never try to raise your fist on your friends themselves, okay?"

"Okay…" Jiro said, nodding.

Dai smiled before his face turned back to his happy-go-lucky expression. "Alright, who wants to hear me tell a story?"

"Oh! I do! I do!" The kids said as the jumped around.

Dai chuckled before he looked back at Jiro and said. "Now go apologize Daigo, okay?"

"Okay." Jiro said as he went up to Daigo and apologized. "I'm sorry I tried to hit you."

"Now Daigo, say you're sorry too. You hit Jiro as well." Dai said.

"I'm sorry Jiro." Daigo said.

"Okay, now that that's all cleared up, story time!" Dai said as the kids all gathered around him.

"Dai-kun…" Nagisa just stared at the Rider who began to a story while also acting for them.

"He's quite amazing, isn't he?" Minori said. "He's gentle with the kids, but can be stern when he wants to be. And when he is, he says things to them that make me wonder if he really is 15 years old. I'm lucky to have him around for the kids."

Nagisa can see what Minori was saying as she and Minori just watched as Dai told the kids an elaborated tale of him fighting a dragon.

---

(Later)

After helping Minori take care of the kids for today, Dai and Nagisa walked together as they made their way back home. The two were silent for a while before Nagisa finally spoke up.

"Hey, Dai-kun?"

"Hm? What is it?"

"Were you talking about yourself when you spoke to that kid?" Nagisa asked.

"Of course. And I meant every word." Dai said. "I know I get into fights sometimes, but it's usually because I just can't stand seeing people hurt. Remember Fumi-chan and her mother last night, right?" Nagisa nodded. "Because of what No.0 did is exactly why I fight. They kill for fun and they make people sad because of it. That's why I clenched these hands of mine into fists and fight them every time they show up."

"So that's why you're so accepting of your powers." Nagisa said.

"You felt bad for saying what you said to Honoka-chan, right?" Dai asked and Nagisa nodded. "Then tomorrow, try your best and make up with Honoka-chan, okay?"

"But how do I do that?" Nagisa asked. "After what happened, I don't know what to say."

"Why not use the Pretty Cure Planner-mipo?" From Nagisa's pocket, Mipple popped out and spoke.

"The Pretty Cure Planner?" Nagisa said, remembering the planner she and Honoka were given by the Stone Guardian.

"That's right. Why don't you try writing what you believe in order to sort out your own feelings-mipo?"

"My own feelings…" Nagisa muttered.

"It's worth a shot." Dai said. "Sort out your feelings and then try your best to make up with Honoka-chan, okay?"

"Okay…" And with that, the rest of the walk home was silent.

---

(The Next Day)

"Come on, Nagisa-chan. We're gonna be late!" Dai said as he was on his bike.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Nagisa said as she rushed over and got on the bike, quickly grabbing her helmet.

'At least he's saying my name with honorifics again.' Nagisa thought when all of a sudden, a car pulled up next to them and Ryō got out.

"Ichijo-san?" Dai said. "What brings you here?"

"I need your help." Ryō said. "Yesterday, I got call saying that the daughter of Ms. Natsume has gone missing."

"What!?" Both Dai and Nagisa said in surprise.

"It seems she called the police." Ryō said. "She said that if the police don't hurry up and find No.0, then she might die."

"She didn't mean that, did she?" Nagisa said as what Ryō told them sounded like Fumi might commit suicide!

"We already have our hands full with No.16. So I was wondering if you could maybe skip school today and help find her." Ryō said. "You met with Ms. Natsume and her daughter so you were the last person to see her. Do you have any ideas where she might have gone?"

"She ran out the door last I saw her." Dai said.

"I see." Ryō said. "I know this is asking much, but could you maybe skip school today and help look for her. She might try to run if we do find her so someone around her age might have a better chance."

"I'll do it." Dai said. "Just let me drop Nagisa-chan here at school and then I'll go look for her."

"You can't be serious." Nagisa said.

"You have more important things to do, Nagisa-chan." Dai said, talking about her and Honoka. "It's fine. I can afford to skip one day. Don't worry."

"…Okay." Nagisa said.

"Thank you." Ryō said. "I'll contact you if No.16 shows up."

Dai nodded before Ryō took his leave. Once he did, Dai revved the engines of his TryChaser, prompting Nagisa to quickly put on her helmet before Dai drove off.

---

(Verone Academy)

After saying goodbye to Dai and wishing him good luck in his search, Nagisa made her way to the shoe lockers and as luck(?) would have it for her, she met up with Honoka there who was just putting her outside shoes in her locker.

"Yukishiro-san," Nagisa spoke up, getting Honoka's attention. She promised Dai that she was gonna do her best to make up with Honoka. "Ohayō(Good morning)!"

"…Ohayō." Honoka quickly said before she ran off before Nagisa could stop her.

'She completely avoided me!' Nagisa thought.

Nagisa tried a second attempt with Honoka by asking her if she wanted to have lunch with her.

"Yukishiro-san," Nagisa spoke up, getting Honoka's attention. "Let's eat lunch together…"

"…Gomen'nasai(I'm sorry)." Honoka said as she got up and quickly ran off. "I have a student council meeting."

'She avoided me again!' Nagisa thought.

Nagisa's third attempt at trying to make up with Honoka was after school where they were assigned to clean up the class.

"Yukishiro-san," Nagisa spoke up, getting Honoka's attention for the third time today. "That sure looks heavy; can I help you with the trash?"

"It's light so I'm okay by myself." Honoka said as she quickly as possible moved away from Nagisa as the trash she was carrying was indeed a bit heavy for her, but that didn't stop her from running away.

'Avoided again!' Nagisa thought. 'Dang it, what do I do now? My last chance today is before she leaves the school. I gotta hurry and clean up!'

With the speed she gained from all her days of practicing lacrosse, Nagisa swept the floors of the halls as if her life depended on it. She finished record time and quickly ran down to the shoe lockers just in time to see Honoka leaving. Wisely not raising her voice in case Honoka might run off, Nagisa quickly changed from her school shoes to her outside shoes and ran after Honoka.

"Yukishiro-san," Honoka stopped at the gate of the school and turned to see Nagisa. "Want to…uh, walk home together?" Even a little kid could tell that she was getting desperate.

"No, I'm fine. Our homes are in different directions after all." Honoka said as she went to run when a truck suddenly sped past them at a speed that was fast for a truck.

"Geez, what is that driver thinking driving that fast?" Nagisa said as she and Honoka looked to see where the truck was going. What they didn't expect to see was Zain in his Grongi form hanging onto the truck.

"…Is that an Unidentified Lifeform?" Nagisa asked.

Honoka simply nodded. The both of them looked at one another before they quickly ran after it, knowing that someone needed help and since Dai wasn't here, they were the next best thing.

---

(Few Hours Earlier)

Putting his plan into action, Ryō successfully gained a truck and started driving around. He was searching for a place with little to no people before he could idle and contact Dai. Finding a good place under a railway, he stopped the truck and contacted Dai.

"Ichi Dai, this is Ryō. Where are you right now?"

-I'm near the coastlines. What about you?-

"I'm currently trying to lure No.16 out to the truck that I'm driving. With any luck, he'll show up. Any luck in finding Ms. Natsume's daughter yet?"

-No luck, but I do have some idea where she might be. Just tell Ms. Natsume I'll find her daughter for sure.-

"I already told her that." Ryō said. "I told her to leave it to you and that you never tell a lie-"

*BANG!*

"Gah!" Ryō cried out in surprise as the truck he was in moved forward despite the fact he had the truck parked.

-Ichjo-san!? What's wrong!? Ichijo-san!?-

Ryō didn't answer as he looked in his rear mirror to see who had moved the truck and to his surprise, it was Zain who just transformed into his Grongi form.

"No.16!" Ryō before he quickly shifted gears and was about to drive when Zain appeared at the door and used his horn to break the window, scattering glass everywhere. Zain then went and grabbed Ryō by his coat, but Ryō resisted and quickly stepped on the accelerator, moving the truck and dragging Zain along for the ride.

'Gotta get to where Ichi-kun is!' Ryō said as he drove to the coastlines while making sure Zain didn't get a good hold on him.

---

(Present)

"We'll never catch up to it!" Nagisa said as Zain got on top of the truck and was now attempt to rip open the top in order to get to Ryō inside who they didn't know was the one who was driving.

"You two need to transform-mepo!" Meppl said as he and Mipple popped out of Nagisa's bag.

"Mepple's right. We need to transform!" Nagisa said as she grabbed Mipple and handed her to Honoka.

"But…" Honoka said, having already said that she wasn't qualified to be a Pretty Cure.

"Why are you hesitating!? Someone's in trouble!" Nagisa said. "Stop dilly dallying and hurry!"

"I am not dilly dallying!" Honoka said as she grabbed Mepple and the two quickly swiped their Queen cards.

"Duel Aurora Wave!"

Instead of the usual pillar of light, the girls somehow jumped high into the air as they were surrounded by color. From an outside point of view, people would have saw a ball of multicolor light.

"That light!" Ryō looked through the rear mirror and saw the light in the sky that was slowly making its way to the truck he was driving.

Zain too saw the light and watched as both Nagisa and Honoka, now Cure Black and Cure White landed on the truck like a pair of shooting stars as they got up and introduced themselves as always.

"Hikari no shisha, Cure Black!"

"Hikari no shisha, Cure White!"

"Futari wa PreCure!"

"Servant of the Dark Power…"

"Return to the darkness from which you-!"

"Shut up!"

Before the two could even finish what they were going to say, Zain interrupted by jumping towards them and punching Nagisa right in the face.

"Black!" Honoka cried out in worry as Nagisa flew past her and off the truck. Quickly, Nagisa recovered and grabbed the edge of the truck before she fell off.

"That hurt!" Nagisa said as hanged on for dear life while holding the place where she was punched. Getting interrupted and punch before she and Honoka could finish their intro was first for her and is reminded that these are the kind of enemies Dai fights almost on a daily basis.

"Oga!"

"Huh?" Both girls along with Zain looked up to see none other than Gekidrago fused with a Zakenna tree dropping down upon the truck.

"Oh this can't be good." Nagisa said before Gekidrago slammed down upon the truck, throwing everyone up, even Nagisa from where she was hanging from as Ryō lost control for a bit, causing the truck to swerve before he regained control. Nagisa, Honoka, and Zain all hovered in the air for a moment, but a moment was all Gekidrago needed to grab all of them using his new tree root limbs.

"Let go of me you freak!" Zain demanded as he grabbed the roots wrapped around him and struggled to put the away with slow success. The girls weren't as lucky as they couldn't move the roots around them by an inch.

"What are you girls doing here!?" Ryō exclaimed when Nagisa and Honoka swung past his windows.

"We were just trying to help!" Nagisa said as she and Honoka were swung around.

"Just so you know, Misumi-san, I was not dilly dallying!" Honoka said while trying to get free.

"Are we seriously talking about this right now!? It was just a figure of speech!" Nagisa said as she too tried to get free. "Don't let it get to you!"

"And for your information, I do not think everything I do is correct!"

"Oh my god, we're seriously talking about this right now." Nagisa said. "Now is not the time to talk about this!"

"We have to discuss these things properly!"

"Talking about our differences now at a time like this, only a stuck up intellectual would come up with that!"

"My Ojī-chan was the one who taught me that! Don't you dare insult him! Besides, isn't it important to discuss these things to better understand each other?"

"As I thought, we're total opposites. And for the record, I was not trying to insult your grandpa."

"That's right we're totally different. And anyone who insults the teachings of my Ojī-chan , I will not stand for it!"

'They can't seriously be doing this right now, right?' Ryō thought as a part of him urged him to hurry up and meet up with Dai…fast.

---

(Coastline)

Everything was silent around her. The waves, the wind, the seagulls, everything was silent around her as Fumi walked to the edge of the open ocean. She had taken trains rides, walked miles alone, and found herself here, the beach where she and her family would usually go to during the summer.

She looked down at the bracelet around her wrist. Long ago, when she was just a little kid, she collected pretty looking seashells with her father and made them into the bracelet she was wearing right now. A gift from her father and now a memento along with the research her father did about those ruins, the place where he died.

Fumi wrapped her arms tightly around the case that held the piece of Gouram. It was found by her father before the incident and was also a memento to her of her father just like the bracelet and his research. She can still remember it now. Her father coming home to show everyone what he had found. She wasn't very interested in it as she and the rest of the basketball club had been preparing for a tournament that was coming up when it happened. Her friends understood that she needed some time alone and she was very grateful of them. One thing she was glad about was that she had some true friends that would stick with her.

She gazed around the area, remembering the happy moments she and her family would come here every summer to play in the ocean and do other activities. Those were fun times. But now they couldn't happen anymore. All because of one monster who could only be called No.0.

"I just don't get it." Fumi spoke to herself. "When a person dies alone, is it not worth caring about?" She looked out towards the ocean, not knowing what to do now. "Otou-san…what should I be doing now?"

"What indeed?" Fumi's eyes widen and she quickly turned to see Dai standing not too far away from her. "I wouldn't go swimming if I were you. Water looks a bit cold from here."

"How did you find me?" Fumi asked, backing away a little in order to run in case this man who was only older than her by one year decided to drag her back.

"Shells like the ones around your wrists are usually found near oceans, right? So I just kept searching the coastlines until I could find you and well, here we are." Dai said as he picked up a stone among the sand.

"You found me just from these?" Fumi said, looking at her shells before back at Dai who threw the stone into the ocean where it got caught up in the waves.

"I bet I can get it to skim seven times." Dai said.

"That's impossible." Fumi said, thinking Dai was an idiot.

"Oh really?" Dai said as he went and picked up a pretty smooth looking stone before he looked out into the ocean and threw the stone. To Fumi's disbelief and amazement, the stone skimmed seven times. "Ha! See? Told you I could do it!"

"No way…" Fumi said, slowly turning to Dai in disbelief.

Dai brushed his hands off of some sand before saying, "Believe…and have faith. When the time comes, everyone does what they can. That includes you. The time will come too for what you have to do."

"What can I do? All I'm good at is playing basketball." Fumi said.

"Then just do that. Play well, get into tournaments, and win or lose." Dai said. "I'm sure your father will always be watching you happily."

"And how would you know? You've never lost a parent before." Fumi said angrily.

"Actually, I have." Dai said, surprising Fumi as he walked up to her and she didn't attempt to run like she planned to. "I've actually lost both my Tou-san(Dad) and my Kaa-san(Mom). So I know what you're going through. You should feel lucky that you still have your mother with you. She's worried about you, you know?"

"Okaa-san is…worried about me?"

Dai nodded. "She lost her husband, your father. She can't stand to lose you too. You wouldn't want to put her through that, would you?"

"N…No, never!" Fumi said.

"Then hurry on back to her. She's worried sick." Dai said. "And don't worry. Believe me when I say that the police are doing everything they can about No.0. They just have their hands full with the other Unidentified Lifeforms." Dai then placed a hand on her bag which contained the case holding the Gouram piece. "And while I did say that this thing here wouldn't help with the case concerning No.0, it'll help nonetheless with other things. Trust me."

"…What was your name again?" Fumi asked having not paid that much attention back then.

"Ichi Dai, nice to meet you, Fumi-chan." Dai said, smiling and offering a hand for a handshake.

Fumi looked at it for a while before she accepted the hand and shook it. Dai smiled and said, "Now then, why don't we take you back to your mother?"

Fumi nodded and the two turned to head towards where Dai parked his TryChaser 2000. Just when Dai just got on it, the two of them heard a vehicle approaching and turned to see the truck Ryō was driving with Gekidrago still swinging around the girls and Zain.

"Maji(Seriously)…?" Dai said before he got off his bike and ran towards the truck. "Fumi-chan, stay here!"

Fumi simply nodded as she watched Dai summoned the Arcle belt around his waist.

"Henshin!" Dai shouted before he jumped, his Mighty Armor materializing on him before he came in with a flying kick, kicking Gekidrago right in the face hard enough to knock him off the truck and releasing everyone he was holding.

Feeling the truck was now lighter; Ryō skidded to a stop, parked the car, and got out to see Fumi. "Fumi-san!"

"Ichijo-san, take care of her!" Dai said, getting a nod from the man before the Rider went to the girls' side and helped them out. "You two alright?"

"We're okay." Honoka said, shaking the dizziness off of her before she and Nagisa turned to Gekidrago while Dai turned to Zain.

"You girls take care of your usual enemy; I'll go take care of mine." Dai said as he ran to go face Zain.

The girls nodded as Gekidrago attacked them with his roots. Remembering the training they had with Dai, both girls stopped and grabbed a root for themselves, surprising Gekidrago before the girls used the roost they grabbed to pull Gekidrago towards them where he was met with a double elbow strike. The girls didn't stp there as they attacked and pushed Gekidrago back with a barrage of punches and picks with Nagisa doing most of the punching and Honoka doing most of the kicking. One final punch and kick sent Gekidrago flying back, but he did not go far as the girls grabbed onto his roots again. He was beginning to think becoming a tree was a bad idea as he was pulled in and was met with a double punch to the face that sent him back, but was reeled back in to meet a double kick to the face that sent him back. The girls then worked together to throw Gekidrago over their shoulder, judo throwing him down to the ground.

"Wow…Dai's training has made the girls' scary-mepo." Mepple said as he was a both surprised and scared at how the girls are practically beating Gekidrago senseless. That or it was because of their anger at each other right now.

"Hai-mipo…" Mipple said, agreeing with her boyfriend.

Seeing their enemy down for the count and wanting to quickly resume their earlier conversation, both girls quickly clasped hands together and got ready to unleashing their finisher as always.

"Black Thunder!"

"White Thunder!"

*BOOM!*

"Purikyua no utsukushiki tamashī ga…"

"... Jaaku na kokoro wo uchikudaku!"

Gekidrago finally got back up and turned to the girls, ready to get his revenge but when he turned around to face them, he was only just in time to see the girls thrust their hands out at him.

"Pretty Cure Marble Screw!"

The spiral finisher of black and white energy traveled towards Gekidrago faster than he could dodge or block and he took the full force of the attack before being sent flying, leaving stars in his wake.

"It turned into stars…" Nagisa said as unlike the usual unusual looking stars from a Zakenna, sparkling lights rained down upon them.

"What amazing power." Honoka said.

"In any case, thank…" Both girls said at exactly the same time until then realized that they were still holding hands and quickly turned away from one another, letting go.

"Amazing…" Both girls' eyes widen as they turned and saw Ryō with Fumi who stared at them in amazement.

"Who are you two?" Fumi asked. She certainly hasn't heard anything about these two girls on the news.

"Uh…" Both girls looked at one another until Nagisa took the lead. "We're…Pretty Cure?"

"We're friends of Ichi-kun." Honoka said. "Speaking of Ichi-kun, how's he doing?"

Everyone turned to where Dai was fighting Zain just in time to see Dai roll onto the ground, dodging Zain's horn before kicking up and hitting Zain's chest, sending him flyover over him. Dai quickly got back up and turned to Zain before taking steps back until he was a good distance away. Dai got into a stance, gathering energy at his right foot before Zain got back up, turning to him, and roared in anger before charging at him. Dai met the Grongi's challenge and he too charge towards Zain, his steps leaving burning foot marks before Dai jumped, flipped, and kicked with his flaming right foot. The timing was right and Dai's foot struck Zain across the face, breaking his horn right off as Zain flew back while Dai landed back down safely. Everyone watched as Zain got back angry as always, but with a new mark right on his face that sent glowing cracks all over his body before they reached the belt around his waist. When they did, Zain gave out one last roar of anger before he exploded into pieces. The last of the Zu Group was no more.

"Amazing…" Fumi muttered as Dai walked over to them. When he got to them, the first thing he did was give everyone a thumbs up as always and as if it were contagious, the girls and Ryō all did the same.

"You're No.4?" Fumi asked.

Dai looked at her before his armor disappeared and he simply smiled at her saying, "Yeah, I'm No.4. I bet I really surprised you, huh?"

"You think?" Fumi said as she slowly turned to Ryō who looked at her and waited for her to say something. "Um…I…"

Seeing that Fumi wasn't about to say anything, Ryō spoke first. "I'm glad you're safe."

At that did the flood gates open and Fumi cried tears. "Gomen'nasai… Gomen'nasai…I just…!"

Ryō let the girl cry her heart out before saying, "Come on. Let's get you to your mother."

Fumi could only nod as Ryō led her to the truck.

"Um, who was that girl?" Honoka asked as she and Mipple do not know Fumi unlike Dai and Nagisa.

"I'll explain later." Dai said. "Why don't you hitch a ride with Ichijo-san? Nagisa-chan can ride with me."

Honoka just nodded and went after the two as Dai and Nagisa headed to where Dai parked the TryChaser.

"How did you find her?" Nagisa asked out of curiosity.

"It's thanks to her shells." Dai said as the both of them got on and put on their helmets. "Have you and Honoka-chan made up yet."

"No, not yet." Nagisa said.

"Keep trying. These things take time." Dai said.

Nagisa didn't say anything as she looked towards where Fumi was being helped into the truck before Honoka followed and Ryō got in before the truck came to life again and drove off.

"What did you say to her?" Nagisa asked.

"I simply told her to believe." Dai said.

"…You really are amazing, you know that?"

"I wouldn't say that. Come on, let's go home."

"Actually, can we go back to school? I kind of left my stuff there."

---

(Later, Nighttime, Honoka's house)

After a long day, Nagisa and Honoka got to get their stuff they left behind in order to help Ryō earlier before the two went their separate ways and Honoka was dropped off at her house. Along the way, she learned about Fumi and what had happened before saying her goodbyes to the two and entered her house where her grandmother was waiting for her.

"Did something happen?" Sanae asked as she and Honoka were out sitting at the porch.

"We had a little fight." Honoka told the truth instead of lying. She needed someone to talk to right now. "I guess we just don't match."

"Really now?" Sanae said. "What do you want to do, Honoka?"

"Eh?"

"I think the important thing is that you do what you feel is right. Whether you match or not is not as important. If it is an important person for you, it's even more crucial that you are true to yourself."

Honoka looked at her grandmother in amazement at her wise words before smiling and saying, "You've come to know everything, haven't you, Obāchama(Grandma)?"

Sanae laughed a bit before saying, "Of course I know, because it's for my precious granddaughter."

"Are you sure it isn't something you learned from Ojī-chan?" Honoka asked.

"Hmm, it was more like what he learned from me." Sanae said before getting up. "Well, I think now is a good time to sleep. Oyasumi, Honoka."

"Oyasumi, Obāchama." Honoka said before getting up and heading into her room. "Oh, that's right. I still have to do my homework." Quickly, she grabbed her bag and took her all her work as well as her Pretty Cure Planner when she saw a bit of light coming from it. Curious, she opened it and realized that this was not her Pretty Cure Planner.

"This notebook is Misumi-san's." Honoka said as she quickly closed the book, knowing that it was a bad to look at another's personal thoughts. However, curiosity got the best of her and she opened it back up and held up the light that would allow her to see the hidden words.

"Chocolate cake…" Was the first thing she saw before reading.

Pretty Cure Planner: I love chocolate cake. I've never liked onion. I like to move my body. Studying is boring, but Dai-kun makes me do it anyways. I like the smell of grass. My socks are a little smelly, just kidding.

"I wonder if she's always like this?" Honoka said as she smiled in amusement. How does Dai deal with this girl?

Pretty Cure Planner: I like sunny days. Rainy days are depressing. I love my friends. Dai is scary when he's serious. I hate…fighting. I want to know more about Yukishiro-san. I can't believe that we could stay like this forever.

Honoka stared at those last words written. Yesterday night, she had written those every same words.

---

(With Nagisa)

When Nagisa and Dai got back, her mother demanded to know where they were all day, especially Dai. Dai said a friend had asked him to help him with something very important and Nagisa joined in by saying that she helped him after she got out of school. Rie seemed to buy the story and let Nagisa slide with a warning, but punished Dai by making him do all the shores for the family for a week. He accepted it with no resistance.

Right now, Nagisa was helping her mother clean the dishes after they just had dinner while Dai gave Ryota some new manga's that he made and let the young boy read and he was not disappointed.

"Why did it get like this?" Nagisa said as she sighed.

"What's wrong?" Rie asked her daughter.

"I got into a fight with friend and tried to apologize, but I just got angry again." Nagisa said, lowering her head in guilt. "I feel like I'm the worst person ever."

"I wouldn't go that far, Nagisa-chan." Dai said while Ryota was trying to suppress laughter as he read Dai's manga.

"Sometimes fighting isn't such a bad thing, you know." Rie said. "I mean, you don't fight with people you don't care about, right?"

"Ah, you're right." Nagisa said, understanding what her mother was saying when Ryota couldn't hold it anymore and laughed out loud, annoying her and Rie.

"Urusai!" They both said, successfully getting Ryota to stop.

"Ryota-kun, bad timing." Dai said before he got up and went up to Nagisa's room. "Come on, Nagisa. We still have some homework to do."

"Ah! Wait for me!" Nagisa said as she quickly dried her hands and went upstairs. She grabbed her back and took out her stuff when she noticed that her Pretty Cure Planner wasn't as lumpy as before since she stuck the light that allowed her to read the words of her notebook in-between some pages. Curious, she opened it and soon realized that this notebook wasn't hers.

"This is Yukishiro-san's…" Nagisa said before curiosity got the best of her and she took the light out to see the words.

"You do know it's rude to read another person's thoughts, right?" Dai said, reminding Nagisa that he was still here.

"I-I'm just having a quick look." Nagisa said as she read the words on the first page. "Misumi-san and I are completely different…

Pretty Cure Planner: Our personalities, way of thinking, and values are also different. I don't understand what she's thinking. I made her angry by doing things I thought would benefit her.

"She uses such big words." Nagisa said.

"They're not that big." Dai said as he decided to read too.

Pretty Cure Planner: She and I are completely different. But it's fun to be with her along with Ichi-kun who I haven't had fun with in some time. I want to become friends with Misumi-san. I can't believe that we could stay like this forever.

"Aww, I was barely mentioned." Dai said before looked at Nagisa and asked. "So, what are you going to do?"

Nagisa simply gave Dai a look that told him all he needed to know.

"Good luck." He said with his usual smile and thumbs up.

---

(The Next Day)

Both Nagisa and Dai were at the place where Nagisa and Honoka had their fight.

"Do you really think she'll be here?" Nagisa asked as she looked down at the notebook in her hand that belonged to Honoka.

"Why don't you ask her yourself?" Dai said as he pointed over to Honoka who had arrived like Dai predicted.

"Ohayō." Honoka greeted the two.

"Yukishiro-san, why are you here?" Nagisa asked as she can't believe Dai was right.

"For some reason…" Honoka said as she handed Nagisa her notebook. "Here, this is yours…Nagisa…"

'She called her by her first name.' Dai noted.

Nagisa noticed this too and smiled before she got up and grabbed Honoka's hand, saying, "Ikou(Let's go), Honoka!"

Honoka instantly noticed Nagisa calling her by her first name and she smiled. "Yeah!"

Dai smiled as the two ran off to school. He looked up to the sky, blocking the sun so it wouldn't blind him as he gazed up at the blue sky with barely any clouds in sight. Just from seeing the sky alone, Dai knew that today was going to be a good day.

---

And done! Oh my god that took longer than I thought! But I got it down and am happy with how it turned out. Took a few turns here and there, but I got what I wanted. I hoped you all loved today's chapter as Nagisa and Honoka's bond is now stronger and Gouram is nearing soon. I can't wait to see the girl's reaction to that. Until then, this has been Ashbel Longhart, signing out. And like always, here's…

---

Pretty Cure: Rider Fun Facts

"Hello, minna-san!" Mepple greeted everyone as he, Mipple, and their partners took the stage. "So glad you could all join us for another Pretty Cure: Rider Fun Facts-mepo!"

"We're sorry we've been gone for about a month, but the other stories of author-san keep him busy-mipo." Mipple said.

"I'm starting to wonder if author-san can even finish this story along with the other future crossovers." Nagisa said.

"Who can say? He's got a lot on his hand-mepo." Mepple said.

"What are we talking about today? Ichi-kun didn't gain a new form today." Honoka said.

"I'm glad you asked! Today, we're going to be talking about the antagonists that Dai has to face, the Grongi Tribe-mepo!" Mepple said.

"The Grongi Tribe are the antagonists of Kamen Rider Kuuga and were the main villans back when the show started in 2000-mipo." Mipple said. "They are a mysterious ancient civilization made up of beings that can transform into monsters to kill people for their ruthless game which is translated into the Gurongi Language as the Gegeru-mipo."

"You mean the reason they're killing people is all a game to them!?" Nagisa said in anger. "That's sick!"

"We know and it's the reason why Dai fights them in the first place since he knows them better than anyone-mepo." Mepple said before he took the lead. "By the police, the Grongi Tribe are refered as Unidentified Lifeforms are there are a total of 200 Grongi that appeared from the ruins in Nagano."

"You mean there are 200 of those monsters that Dai needs to fight?" Honoka said, worried.

"It's a long, exhausting fight, but one Dai takes up whole heartedly-mipo." Mipple said. "The Gurongi have a three-part naming scheme that all members have, consisting of 'Group-Species-Creature type'. The first part of their names indicates their rank and which group that Gurongi belongs to; the second part is their personal name, which contains a reference to what animal/plant their Gurongi forms are based on; and the third part indicates what animal groups they belong to: 'Ba' for insects and arachnids; 'Da' for mammals; 'De' for plants; 'Gi' for fish and other aquatics animals; Gu' for birds and other animals with wings; and 'Re' for reptiles and amphibians-mipo."

"Today, we will be talking about the Zu Group as Dai has now just wiped out the entire group-mepo." Mepple said as the faces of each member of the Zu Group appeared on screen. "According to the wiki, the Zu Group is a group that contains lower tier Gurongi. The one that are qualified to fight in the Gegeru are brought into the game by writing their names on a portable black board and using the beads of their bracelets to mark the number of people they have killed. Their leader is Zu-Zain-Da who Dai just defeated-Mepo."

"Wow, I can't believe wiped out an entire group.' Nagisa said.

"Don't get your hopes up. There are plenty of more groups Dai has to take down. The Zu Group is just one group he no longer has to worry about-mepo." Mepple said. "Well, that's all the time we have today. Next time, watch as the others try and save me from the evil clunches of their Vice Principal as hints of Gouram will be dropped here and there-mepo."

"What is Gouram?" Honoka asked.

"We don't know-mipo." Mipple said. "The author won't tell us, wanting it to be a surprise-mipo."

"Well, whatever it is, I'm sure it's fine. And you guys better save me! Until then, bye bye-mepo!" Mepple said as he and everyone waved everyone goodbye.

Next Time: Get it back! The Great Mepo Mepo Plan! As they do in Rome…