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!"

16. Ride 16: Look At How Far We've Come!

Hello Fanfiction readers and welcome back for another chapter of A New Legend! It's been a long while since I've done a chapter and something tells me it's gonna be long as hell if previous chapters have told me anything. 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.)

Okay, last time, it seems the Special Investigation team has officially learned of the girls' identity as Pretty Cure and have actually offered to lend them their assistance! How cool is that!? Not only that but we got introduced to a new brand of enemy, Zakenna possessing the corpses of Grongi. And did some thinking on my part and have decided to call these new enemies Grakenngi. They won't be a common occurrence, but they will appear every now and then. Anyway, it's time to get back into the adventures of Dai the girls so let's ride! Chou Henshin!

---

Ride 16: Catch My Heart! Working on a Farm is Exciting! Look at How Far We've Come!

---

(One Year Ago)

She had seen him on her way to the bathroom. A boy, probably in his second year of junior high, standing outside of the daycare that doubled as an orphanage. There he stood outside the fences looking at the children and vice versa. She didn't think much about the boy, probably curious as to why the kids weren't playing despite having everything a little kid would want. As sad as it is, she had gotten used to see the children like this, dark and gloomy. They all knew, somehow, that they were abandoned by their real parents for various reasons. They were young yet they were smart or at least aware. That's something adults always seem to underestimate when speaking around kids.

That's why she was so surprised that when she got back from the bathroom, wiping her hands clean, that when she looked outside, there they were. Smiling. Laughing. Playing. Just like kids their age should.

And at the center of it all was that boy who was giving a couple of kids' piggyback rides while trying to sound like a horse.

"Umm…" She had gone outside, speaking up to get the boys attention.

"Hm?" The boy stopped and turned to see the woman who owned the daycare/orphanage. "Oh! Kon'nichiwa(Hello)."

"Kon'nichiwa…" The woman greeted back, most of her attention on the children around the boy who were all still playing.

"I'm sorry if I'm trespassing here." The boy apologized, bowing and causing the girl he was giving a piggyback ride to smile and giggle when she went down with him in his bow.

"Oh no, it's fine. I'm just…surprised." The woman said as she glances around. "I've…never seen the children here so…happy."

"Yeah, I saw." The boy said, setting the girl down as he looked around. "They all looked really sad so I thought I try and get them to smile. Guess it worked." The boy smiled widely, as if he were a kid himself. The woman found herself amazed by the boy. In an instant, he had done something no one has been able to do before.

"Oh! I forgot to introduce myself!" The boy said before he bowed again. "My name is Ichi Dai. It's nice to meet you."

'He's well mannered.' The woman couldn't help but think before she introduced herself to the boy. "I'm Katsumi Minori. Likewise, it's nice to meet you."

---

(One Year Later)

"Nagisa, we're going on ahead!"

"Okay!" Nagisa responded back to her leaving teammates as she wiped sweat off of her with a towel. She had just gotten done with practice for her club and now that she was all alone, she slipped into her habit of recalling past events.

'It wasn't that long ago that Honoka and I got back from our vacation when that woman from the Dark Zone attacked us again. She cast a Zakenna into Yuka-senpai's shadow to create clones of her and worse of all, she used Zakenna to possess the remains of Grongi Dai-kun had defeated. Ugh, just thinking about it gives me the creeps! And if that wasn't heart stopping enough, the entire Investigation Team in charge of dealing with Grongi and helping Dai-kun with them now knows about us! Granted we're getting help from them now, but…'

The reason for Nagisa's mixed feelings was the fact that she and Honoka have been fighting in secret this whole time. Now that they're getting help from the police, they don't really know how to feel.

"I wonder how does Dai-kun work with the police?" Nagisa thought out loud. The Rider would tell them about his fights with the Grongi tribe and how the Investigation Team helped him. From the sound of it, it seems they all had pretty good teamwork.

"Come on, Shugo! You can do better than that!"

"Huh?" Blinking, Nagisa turned to where the voice came from and saw the boy she was just thinking about practicing with her crush, Fujimura Shugo. The latter was balancing and bouncing a soccer ball with his head and knees while Dai stood to the side and held a timer up to see how long Shugo could keep this up.

Nagisa blushed slightly at the sight of her crush before muttering, "Ganbare(You can do it)."

"Why don't you cheer louder?" Came a voice right behind her.

"Wah!" Nagisa felt her heart almost burst through her chest in surprise before turned and saw that the one who had spoken was none other than, "Honoka! How long have you've been there!?"

Honoka giggled as instead of answering her friend, she said, "If you don't speak louder, Fujimura-kun won't hear you."

"Wh-What are you talking about? I wasn't trying to talk to him. I was…trying to talk to Dai-kun! Yeah!" Nagisa blushed as she tried to play innocent. It didn't help since she was avoiding eye contact.

"Oh really?" Honoka had a look of amusement on her face before she changed subjects and asked, "Nagisa, are you free tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow?"

"Ichi-kun invited me to help out with a harvest on a friend's farm and I said yes." Honoka explained. "If you don't mind, could you help us out?"

Nagisa nodded. "Sure. I can do that."

"Yokatta(Thank goodness)." Honoka smiled. "I'm sure Fujimura-kun will be happy too."

"Eh?"

"That friend of Ichi-kun is Kimata-kun from the soccer club he's in and his grandfather's a farmer who needs help with the vegetable harvest. He invited Fujimura-kun to help out and he said yes." Honoka explained.

Nagisa turned her head over to where Dai and Shugo were. While the latter was still focused on practicing, the former saw her and flashed her a smile followed by a thumbs up.

'That Dai-kun! He planned this!' Nagisa thought.

"Jaa, ashita(See you tomorrow)." Honoka said before she took her leave.

Nagisa watched her friend go before turning back to where Shugo and Dai were. The former was still practicing and the latter had gone back to keeping track of his time.

'Me and Fujumura-senpai working on a farm?' She didn't know what the feel right now. But it was close to giddiness.

---

(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.

---

(Now)

"Hmm…hmm…" Nagisa hummed to herself as she faced the greatest challenge ever presented to her. It was a challenge every girl like her faces once in her lifetime and to overcome it, they must think long and hard about it. But if they think too long then chances of success were slim to none. What is this challenge that I speak of?

"What should I wear tomorrow?" Nagisa thought out loud. She was so deep in thought that she didn't notice her little brother, Ryota, sneaking into her room— "Knock before you enter!" Oh wait, never mind, she heard him coming a mile away as in an instant she grabbed her brother and performed her signature Cobra Twist.

Despite the pain his arms was feeling, Ryota managed to grit through the pain and speak. "You're laying your clothes out so neatly, could it be for a date?"

"N-No!" Nagisa blushed and denied. "I'm just going to help out on a farm with Honoka and Dai-kun tomorrow!"

"Then…why are you choosing clothes so carefully for farm work?" Ryota managed to grit through his teeth.

"Why…?" At that question did Nagisa's mind began to wonder. She could see it now. Just when she was about to pick a vegetable, her hand accidentally touched Shugo's and they both blush.

"What am I thinking!? Arienai(I can't believe it), arienai, arienai…!" Nagisa exclaims excitedly, not knowing that she had released her brother and was now rolling on the floor like a fool.

While Ryota was glad to be released, his sister's actions were now freaking him out.

"Okaa-san, onee-chan is acting weird!" Ryota cries out as he runs out of the room.

Once Ryota was gone, Mepple popped out from his cover and commented, "Lately, I wonder if it's a good thing for Nagisa to take care if me-mepo."

While Nagisa was currently lost in her fantasies, Dai was over in his room talking on the phone.

"You're sure you and the Investigation Team will be fine while I'm gone?"

-Yes, I'm sure. Having you gone won't affect us too much.- On the other line from Dai's phone came the voice of Ryō. –Despite the burden you've taken upon yourself, you're still a kid. You should take this chance to hang out with your friends and relax for a change.-

"If you say so." Dai said before he held the phone between his ear and shoulder as he sorted out some notes on his desk. "Then I'll send you some of my notes and potential Grongi that might show up when I'm gone and what to do when they appear."

-I'd appreciate that very much. Make sure you have fun while you're gone.-

"I will, don't worry." Dai said as he finished sorting his notes and held his phone properly. "Make sure to contact me if anything comes up."

-I will. You have fun now.-

"I will." Dai said again before he hung up and closed his phone. "Now then…" He turned to his bed which had some clothes laid out. "What to wear tomorrow."

---

(The Next Day)

"What is all this?" asked the voice of Kiriya dressed in a simple orange shirt and black shorts along with red and black sneakers with white socks sticking out.

"Train treats." Dai said, dressed in a white shirt underneath a red tracksuit jacket that had black sleeves and Kuuga's symbol stitched in black on the right upper side of the chest, black pants with red stripes going down the side, and white and black sneakers. "You've got some chocolate, some gummies, and nuts if you want something salty."

"I see." Kiriya said before looking to his right and smiling. "They seem to be having fun."

"Yeah, they do." Dai said, looking left from his seat as over an aisle was Nagisa and Honoka making small talk with Shugo and Kimata.

Nagisa is dressed in a pink jacket with black sleeves, pinkish-red pants that reached just past her knees, and light blue and white shoes.

Honoka was dressed in mostly white. She had a white tracksuit jacket with some beige on the sleeves, matching pants, and white shoes.

Shugo was dressed in a white shirt under a black button up shirt, beige cargo pants, and black and brown sneakers.

Kimata was dressed similar to Honoka, a black tracksuit jacket with matching pants and white and black sneakers.

They were all riding on a train right now as Kimata's grandparents' farm was pretty far from the city. It wasn't that surprising as farms needed lots of land in order to grow and harvest their food so they had to be away from the city. And sometimes, the farther, the better.

"So, Dai-senpai, why'd you invite me here?" Kiriya asked as the only reason he was here was because Dai had invited him.

"I thought this would be a good chance for all of us to bond, especially you." Dai said.

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is you need to make some friends." Dai clarified. "I've seen how much of a loner you are during school. This trip is a chance for you to bond with some of some of us."

"Hmph! You're wasting your time. I don't need friends." Kirika replied coldly.

"Maybe, but it doesn't hurt to try. And everyone could use a friend." Dai said with a smile, not looking the least bit affected by Kiriya's cold reception.

The time it took from the city to the groups' destination took about an hour and a half. And after a bit of walking, the group finally made it to Kimata's grandparents' farm.

"Thank you, everybody," Kimata's grandmother, a humble looking old lady that seemed gentle, said to the group. "It's very nice of you to come all the way out here. My husband has a pain in his shoulder and I can't manage the harvest all by myself."

"We're glad to help, ma'am." Dai said with a bit of enthusiasm.

"I already told you I'm fine." Came an angry and grumpy voice from inside the house. Turning, everyone saw what everyone except Kimata guessed was said teen's grandfather. Despite the wrinkles, they can see the resemblance between them.

"Dear, the doctor said not to overdo it." Kimata's grandmother said to her husband.

"I don't like doctors." Said the old man.

"Jii-chan(Grandpa), it's better to take a rest sometimes. We can handle the harvest." Kimata insisted.

"Hmph!" Kimata's grandpa turned his head and went back inside the house.

Kimata sighed before facing the group. "Sorry about him. My gramps can be a bit…stubborn."

"That's okay, we understand." Honoka said.

"The guy seems pretty set in his ways." Nagisa commented to Honoka and Dai and the two just laugh awkwardly.

"Well then, allow me to show you to our field." Kimata's grandma said before she gestures for the group to follow. After grabbing a few boxes, gloves for everyone, and carts does the group follow the old woman out to the field.

"Eh!?" Nagisa exclaims in surprise as she gazes out to the vast field before her. There were lettuce fields, cabbage fields, radish fields, and so on. It was huge! "All these fields are a part of your farm?"

"Surprised, are you?" The grandma chuckles before answering. "Yes, all these fields are part of our farm. So I would like to ask you to harvest a lot today."

"You can leave it to us!" Dai said, pumping his fist.

"It's good to see you're all enthusiastic." The grandmother laughed a little before she takes her leave. "I'll leave it to you kids then. I have to make sure my husband is actually resting."

"Leave it to us, baa-chan(Grandma)." Kimata said before he turned to the group. "Alright, let's split up into pairs so we can cover more ground."

"Nagisa and Fujimura-kun should pair up since the both of them are so athletic." Honoka suddenly suggested.

'Honoka!' Nagisa threw a look of surprise at her friend's suggestion.

'Nice!' In contrast to Nagisa, Dai threw a thumbs up to Honoka who returned it with one of her own.

"Okay, that sounds fine." Shugo said, getting a surprised cry from Nagisa.

"In that case, I'll take Dai-kun here." Kimata said, slapping the back of his new partner.

"That just leaves Honoka-chan and Kiriya-kun." Dai said, pointing at the two in question.

"That's fine with me. What about you, Kiriya-kun?" Honoka asked the boy in front of her.

"Sure, that's okay." Kiriya said followed by a small shrug.

"I'm paired with senpai…" Nagisa muttered while glancing over at Shugo, blushing.

Honoka slides over to Nagisa's side and whispers, "Make sure you say what you want to say clearly."

"Misumi-san," Before Nagisa could respond back to Honoka, Shugo called out to her, getting her attention. "Let's go."

"Ah, right!" Nagisa said as the pair took a cart and were about to take a field when the girl saw Dai mouth "Good luck!" to her while also sending her a look that said, "Remember our training!" And when he meant by training, he meant all the times Dai's been trying to help her get together with Shugo.

Nagisa let out a gulping sound as the group all separated and went to tackle a field. For Nagisa and Shugo, they decided to start with the radish field. More specifically, a daikon radish field. It wasn't that hard to do. They just had to pull the radishes by their stems and pull.

As Nagisa worked, she took glances at Shugo, who was too concentrated in his work to notice the girl's glances, and thought back to what Honoka said.

"Even if you tell me say whatever I want, I don't know what I should say. What should I do!?" Nagisa contemplated to herself as she unconsciously pulled radishes one by one.

Shugo grunted as he struggled to pull one radish out, this one being pretty stuck. Taking a glance to Nagisa to see how she was doing, he paused in his work at what he saw.

"Misumi-san, that's amazing!"

"Eh?" Wondering what the boy was talking about, she followed his gaze and saw a decent pile of radishes by her side.

"You're quite the hard worker, I see." Shugo commented.

"Huh? I didn't even notice." Nagisa said, having been lost in her own thoughts.

"I thought girls tended to avoid this kind of hard, dirty work. Though I kind of understand their feelings, Misumi-san, you're pretty great."

At that did Nagisa's entire face go red as one could have sworn steam had erupted form her ears like a train blowing a whistle.

'He praised me? Did senpai just compliment me!?' Nagisa thought before mentally squealing as she started picking radishes one by one at a much faster pace than before.

While Nagisa is having her mental overload, let's see how the others are doing.

"Cabbage is a plant that originally came from the coastal areas of southwest Europe. It's the same species as broccoli, cauliflower, and kale. It doesn't start out round, rather it looks more like spinach during the early stages of its growth." Honoka, wearing a straw hat to provide shade for her head, told her partner as she cut a cabbage free and placed it in the box next to her. "Kiriya-kun, if you're done over there, next is…huh?"

When Honoka looked to find her partner, he was not by her side. Getting up, she looked around and found him laying down on a pile of hay, looking up into the sky with his arms behind his head.

"Kiriya-kun," Honoka called out to the boy on the haystack. "You shouldn't slack off. Everybody else is working very hard."

"There's no point to working hard." Kiriya said. "You can see how much cabbage there is, there's no way we can make it."

"One person can't do it alone, so we work hard together with others." Honoka countered back.

"Hmph. Humans sure are weak." Kiriya commented with a small laugh.

"Huh?"

"It makes sense, doesn't it? Nothing can be done if you don't cooperate." Kiriya said. When Honoka didn't reply back, he thought he had her when he heard a laugh come from the girl. "What's so funny?"

"Oh, I wasn't laughing at you." Honoka quickly said as a smile made its way to her face. "I was just reminded of something Ichi-kun once said."

"From senpai?" Kiriya raised an eyebrow at that, somewhat interested. He wasn't interested because he was curious to hear something about his rival(he hasn't admitted to that), it was totally not for that reason.

"Ichi-kun said this to me back when I was still a freshman at Verone." Honoka said as she began her little story. "He had this report he needed to do for class. He came over to my house to work and when I asked what his report was about, he said it was about the people."

"What? Did he say that humans can do anything if they put their minds to it?" Kiriya sarcastically said.

"He said humans were weak." Kiriya almost fell off the haystack he was on when he heard those words leave Honoka's mouth. That had gotten his full attention. "He said that humans were an unpredictable race. While people have the ability to do good, they also have just as much ability to do bad. A single success could easily turn into a failure. A single mistake can easily lead to one's life falling into ruin. Human history is filled with just as much failure as there is success."

"Senpai thinks that negatively about humans?" Kiriya asked, honestly surprised.

"Ichi-kun told me once that his parents were killed in an accident caused by a fellow worker." Honoka said as she looked towards where Dai was at. The boy was working together with Kimata in pulling cucumbers. "As a kid, he hated adults. He blamed them for the death of his parents and that he would have been an orphan if he wasn't taken in by his uncle. He might still feel that way today, I don't know."

"…Why tell me this?" Kiriya asked, wondering where the girl was going with this.

The girl turned to him and smiled. He was caught off guard by this.

"You see, while Ichi-kun thinks negatively about humans, he also thinks positively about them as well." Kiriya titled his head in confusion, a bit lost. "He said that humans have as much failure as they did with success. The same can be said vice versa. Human history is one filled with war, but by working together, wars can be ended. By working together, humanity was able to get a man onto the moon when most thought it was impossible. By working together, companies can prosper. None of these could be possible if humans worked all alone. You may be right, Kiriya-kun, that humans are pretty weak alone. But by working together can we be strong." Honoka flashes the secret Dark Zone General a smile. "Of course, these are Ichi-kun's words and not mine. I personally think that Ichi-kun just wants to see the good in people like I do."

Kiriya could do nothing but stare at Honoka in surprise. Slowly, he turns his gaze over to Dai who was still focused on working.

"I…still don't quite get it." Kiriya said, turning back to Honoka.

"You'll understand, if you work that is." Honoka said as she turned to get back to work, motioning Kiriya to follow her. "Now come and help me. These cabbages won't cut themselves free if we stay here talking."

Kiriya watched the girl leave before following after her. He didn't know why, but here he was, putting on gloves and cutting cabbages. Already, he was starting to get annoyed.

"Cabbages and more cabbages. Why do they plant so many?" Kiriya muttered to himself, looking up at the vast amount before him before turning to Honoka who was diligently working. "Hey, Senpai, what do we get for doing all this work?"

"Good feeling and a sense of achievement?" Honoka said, quoting something Dai once told her. "The cabbages we're harvesting go to the market, then to vegetable shops and supermarkets, and then to everybody's dinner table."

"What are you talking about?" Kiriya said before commenting, "Humans are strange."

"Hey, moves your hands, not your mouth." Honoka said.

"Oi! Honoka-chan! Kiriya!" Suddenly, not too far from them, Kimata was waving at them. "Let's have lunch!"

"Hai(Okay)!" Kiriya shouted back, breathing out a small sigh of relief before taking a step forward only to be held back by Honoka.

"Matte(Wait)!" Honoka said, surprising Kiriya before she shouted over to Kimata. "Please go ahead, we'll come after some more work!"

"Okay, I got it!" Kimata said before taking his leave.

"Why…?" Kiriya began.

"You can go after you finish the work you skipped out on." Honoka said before dragging the boy back to work.

"Eh!? Can't we just do that later?"

"No, Kiriya-kun."

While the pair went back to work, much to Kiriya's displeasure, Dai and the others had set out a small picnic blanket before laying out some bento boxes. Kimata's grandmother even brought over some rice balls and a tea dispenser for everyone to share as she joined them in lunch.

"Honoka doesn't like to do things halfway, as always." Shugo said, he and everyone watching the pair continue to work.

"No doubt Kiriya's probably getting preached to." Kimata said. "Honoka-chan can be kind of rough in these cases."

"That's not it at all." Nagisa suddenly said, getting everyone's attention. "Honoka gives out advice to help people out. I think it's Honoka's good point."

"That's true." Dai said with a knowing smile, gazing up at the sky. "I've come to learn over the year that I've known her is that Honoka-chan goes out of her way to help anyone in need. Sanae-san comments that she got it from her father who got it from his father."

"I noticed Honoka likes to talk about her grandpa a lot." Nagisa brought up, unconsciously asking the Rider why this was.

"Sanae-san said that since her parents weren't around most of the time, she and her husband would take care and play with her, especially her husband. I never got to meet him, sadly, but I've heard a lot of things about him from Honoka-chan. No doubt they were extremely close."

Shugo watches the two talk before a smile appears and he speaks up. "Arigato."

"Huh?"

"As her childhood friend, I was a bit worried. I thought Honoka's strict nature might turn off people. But I'm glad she has friends who understand her well." Shugo said, smiling happily.

Once again, Nagisa went red and soon started to stutter.

"Misumi-san?"

"Ah! Uh, um, ah…" Nagisa quickly grabbed the tea dispenser. "We're out of tea, I'll go get some more!" Before anyone could blink, Nagisa and put on her shoes and ran towards the house.

"What was all that about?" Kimata asked.

Once she was far enough, Nagisa slowed down to walking before letting out a big sigh.

"Why can't I say anything in front of him?" Nagisa muttered to herself.

"Maybe that's because you can't stop stuttering."

"Wah!" Nagisa jumped up in surprise as she turned and saw that the one who spoke was Dai, smiling at her reaction. "Dai-kun! Wha-? When did you catch up to me?"

"When you started walking instead of running." Dai said as he walked together with Nagisa. "Didn't I tell you that you need to calm your heart down or else you can't say anything?"

"It's not that easy!" Nagisa exclaimed.

"Maybe it's not, but didn't we practice because it wasn't easy?" Dai said back. "If you can calm yourself down, then the rest should be easy. You can talk and get to know him better."

"Why can't you just tell me about him?"

"Because that would be cheating." Dai said as the pair made it back to the house only to come upon a peculiar sight. It was Mepple and Mipple in their true forms playing with some sort of device. Something happened which seemed to make them extremely happy.

"Mepple, you like me so much-mipo!" Mipple said.

"Of course, I love you-mepo!" Mepple said.

"What are you two doing?" Dai asked as he and Nagisa approached the couple.

"What is that?" Nagisa asked, pointing to the device in their hands.

"This is the Prism Love Checker-mepo." Mepple said, presenting said Prism Love Checker to them.

"Prism Love Checker?" Both Dai and Nagisa repeated in confusion.

"If two people touch these buttons right here, the Love Checker shows how much they love each other-mipo." Mipple explained, pointing to two buttons on the device.

"Like this." Mepple said before he pushed one button and Mipple pushed another button, causing the device to let out a tune and light up. After a while, the tune changed into one of congratulations as all the lights were lit up. Both fairies cheered happily as Mepple explained. "The higher the meter, the more you love each other-mepo."

"That's pretty neat." Dai admitted, he and Nagisa looking at the thing with interest, the latter more than the former.

"At the Garden of Light we used to use this to confirm our love-mepo." Mepple said before Mipple suddenly hugged him.

"It's always love love-mipo."

Nagisa smiled widely before she went and grabbed it. "Let me borrow this!"

"Nagisa-chan?" Dai looked up at the girl in surprise, surprised by her suddenly grabbing the device.

"Are you going to use it with that guy called Fujipi-mepo?" Mepple asked though he already knew the answer when he saw Nagisa's red face.

Mipple laughed a little and smiled. "Nagisa likes Fujipi-mipo."

"No, no!" Nagisa denied. "Senpai is Honoka's childhood friend, and since I'm Honoka's friend he should like me. I'm just checking as an experiment."

'Liar.' Dai thought though he didn't voice the thought.

"Is she getting shy-mipo?" Mipple said as even though Nagisa had her back to the fairies, she knew that girl was sweating bullets.

"Nagisa doesn't realize she's falling in love-mepo." Mepple said with a knowing look. "It's really troublesome being such a kid-mepo."

'Like you're one to talk.' Dai couldn't help but think as Mepple did tend to act like a spoiled kid.

"Nagisa-chan, don't even think about it." Dai said, taking the device from Nagisa's hands.

"Hey!"

"All that advice and practice we did will be useless if you don't do it yourself. Besides, how do we even know if this thing works with humans?"

Nagisa had no retort for the Rider had a point but snatched the Love Checker back. Would this Love Checker work the same way for fairies? Nagisa was about to suggest the both of them try it to test it when from the corner of her eye, she saw Kimata's grand mother heading towards them with a jacket in her arms. Quickly, Nagisa and Dai grabbed the two fairies and hid them behind their backs.

"Oh? You two are still here?" The grandmother asked. "I thought you two went to get more tea?"

"W-Well, the thing is, we don't exactly know where your kitchen is." Nagisa made a lie on the spot. It was a pretty bad one as the house the old couple lived in wasn't that big so if she just wandered around she would no doubt find it in no time.

"Oh, really? I'm sorry for not telling you earlier then." The grandmother said. "Just go straight through this door and then take a right once you reach the end of the hall."

"A-Arigato." Nagisa thanked the old lady, surprised that her lie had worked.

"What are you doing with that jacket, ma'am?" Dai asked, gesturing to the jacket the old lady was carrying in her arms.

"Oh, this? I'm just bring this to my husband. It's starting to get a bit chilly and as stubborn as he is, he can't do anything by himself." With a smile, the woman then took her leave.

"Heh, she's a nice lady, looking after her husband and all." Dai commented before grabbing the tea dispenser. "Come on. Let's refill this and get back to the others."

"You go on ahead, there's something I need to check." Nagisa, with a look that said she had an idea, followed after the grandmother and leaving Dai with both fairies.

"Don't tell me she's..." Dai let out a sigh while shaking his head. Maybe he should help Nagisa with her confidence next time they bring up this subject.

Taking off his shoes as to not dirty the floor be disrespectful, Dai went into the house with the fairies following after him since it was risky to just stay outside. They also didn't want to return to their phone forms just yet, wanting to stretch out their bodies while they still had the energy to maintain their forms.

Following the grandma's instructions, Dai found the kitchen in no time and did the process of making more tea. Meanwhile, the fairies looked around the place.

"Don't touch anything, you two." Dai told the fairies.

"We won't-mepo." Mepple said as he and Mipple took a look around the place.

"Hm?" That's when Mipple found something on the kitchen table. "What's this-mipo?"

"Did you find something-mepo?" Mepple said and his lover just pointed at what she found. Mepple looked and his eyes widen. "It's Dai-mepo!"

"Huh?" Wondering what the fairies were doing, Dai made sure the tea was at a temperature were it would overheat before going over to them to see what they had found that had caught their interest.

"Look, Dai! It's you-mepo!" Mepple said as he pointed down to what he and Mipple had found.

Looking, Dai was surprised to find what appeared to be a scrap book filled with newspaper cut outs. And on said cut outs were images of Dai as Kuuga. There were even articles cut out that talked about him as well.

"Now this is a surprise." Dai said as he picked up the book, looking at the image of Kuuga in Mighty form.

"Dai-kun? You in here?" From behind Dai came Nagisa who entered the kitchen.

"Right here, Nagisa-chan." Dai said as Nagisa saw them and walked over to them before presenting the Love Checker back to the fairies.

"You two can have this back, I don't think it works right."

"Th Prism Love Checker is always right-mepo." Mepple insisted.

"You tried it with Kimata's grandparents, didn't you?" Dai asked.

"I was just checking to see if it actually works." Nagisa defended herself. "All the lights lit up but they were arguing right after the results. They don't look like a husband and wife in love at all. Arienai(I can't believe this)."

"A relationship between a man and a woman isn't perfect. Arguments and disagreements will happen here and there from time to time. But that doesn't mean they don't love each other." Dai said.

"I don't think you have the right to judge seeing as you've never had a girlfriend yet." Nagisa said.

"True." Dai conceded before showing Nagisa the scrapbook. "Anyway, take a look at this."

"A scrapbook of...you?" Nagisa raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Mepple and Mipple found it here. It must belong to Kimata's grandparents." Dai smiled and laughed a little. "Seems I have a couple of fans here."

"I can't see that old guy being a fan of yours." Nagisa commented though she wasn't surprised at the fact that Dai, as Kuuga, has fans. His battles with the Grongi tribe were publicly known and Nagisa heard a couple of her classmates talk about him in school. It was no lie to say that Dai was a public hero.

"But man, these sure bring back memories." Dai said as he flipped through some pages.

"Yeah, I can see what you mean." Nagisa said as she joined Dai in looking through the scrap book. There were a ton of cut out images and articles about Dai as Kuuga and his past battles against the Grongi.

"It almost feels like it was just yesterday when Mepple crashed into my room and we fought that Pisard guy at the amusement park." Nagisa said, thinking about the time where she and Honoka first became the duo known as Pretty Cure.

"Yeah. It was my first time transforming and fighting a Grongi." Dai said as he also thought back to that time. Him transforming into Growing form and fighting Zu-Guman-Ba.

"I thought I almost had a heart attack when I saw you get lifted up to the ferries wheel." Nagisa commented while placing a hand over where her heart would be. The first time she laid eyes on a Grongi, watching it and Dai fighting to the death, them falling from the ferries wheel, and then Dai bleeding. She honestly thought she had a heart attack that night.

"Hehe, sorry for worrying you." Dai said before looking down at another image of Kuuga. "It was only a few days later when I met Ichijo-san and achieved Kuuga's Mighty form."

"I can still remember you crashing into that vacuum Zakenna right when I was a tight spot." Nagisa said, thinking back to Dai suddenly appearing from the skies with Zu-Gooma-Ba. She also remembered the rage that radiated off of Dai as he ripped the Grongi's wings with his bare hands. She shivered a little at the memory. While Dai was calm most of the time, if one knew which buttons to push, the boy became super hotheaded and temperamental.

Dai flipped through the scrapbook again until he came upon an image depicting Kuuga in Dragon form.

"It's you when you're blue-mepo!" Mepple pointed out.

"You first turned into that form during the museum attack." Nagisa said, thinking back to that school trip. It was good until Pisard appeared again and attacked them.

"Actually, I was fighting another Grongi before I arrived at the museum." Dai said, thinking back to his fight fight with Zu-Badzu-Ba. "The guy was really good at jumping and was fast. My Mighty form couldn't keep up. But lucky for me, I was able to unlock Dragon form."

"You can really jump high in that form-mipo. It was so surprising to see-mipo." Mipple commented.

Dai flipped through pages again, finding more images of him in Mighty and Dragon until he came upon one that depicted Kuuga in Pegasus form.

"Now this form has been a big help against flying Grongi." Dai commented while thinking back to when he first transformed into Kuuga's green form. It wasn't one of his best moments.

"You used this form when a Grongi appeared during the game." Nagisa said, thinking back to that time. Everyone in the stadium was cheering and there was positive air to go around. But then the police came, there was a panic, and then Dai showed up and transformed. In all honesty, she wished the game hadn't ended like that.

"You can hear and see things from really far away, right-mipo?" Mipple asked.

Dai nodded. "That's right."

"Then how far can you see and hear-mipo?"

"Huh. I don't really know." Dai admitted. He had once thought to test out exactly how far he can see and hear in Pegasus form but considering that he was to wait two hours before he can transform again, he crushed the idea. Grongi could attack at any moment and he needed to be ready when that happened.

Nagisa went and turned the page for Dai but soon frowned when she came upon a cut out depicting Kuuga in Titan form.

"You got this form during our search for the Prism Hopeish." Nagisa said, still frowning. The reason for her frown were the memories that came with the purple form. The one where she and the group first fought Gekidrago and where Me-Giiga-Gi first appeared. She thought about Dai protecting her from the explosive ink, becoming critically injured that he had to be shipped to a hospital. She also did't forget about that pair that showed up only to soon die right in front of her. That experience alone made Nagisa understand just what Dai was fighting against, how dangerous it was.

Nagisa was brought out of her thoughts when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning to look, she saw Dai give her a reassuring smile.

"Daijōbu(It's all right). I'm still here standing with you."

Nagisa didn't say anything back. Despite the Rider's reassurance, that didn't stop her from worrying. After the incident with the Squid Grongi, she and Honoka made Ryō promise to contact them should Dai ever get himself into a hospital again.

Wanting to get rid of the depressing mood around them, Dai turned the page and smiled when on the page he turned to was of him riding his Trychaser 2000.

"Not a single day goes by where I don't thank Ichijo-san for giving me the Trychaser." Dai said, smiling.

Nagisa sighs at that. "You and your bike." Her friend did not hide it that he greatly loved his motorbike to the point where after it was repaired from its constant battles, Dai would give it a hug as if the bike was his own child. It was pretty ridiculous in her opinion.

"I'm still surprised no one is questioning you about your bike." Nagisa said. "I mean, you're fifteen! You don't even have a driver's license yet!"

"I had Ichijo-san pull a few strings for me." Dai admitted to that with no shame at all.

"Oi, are you really a hero?" Nagisa commented but the Rider did nor reply back as he turned the page and saw him riding the combination of his Trychaser and Gouram: The TryGouram.

"It's that huge bug that follows you everywhere-mepo." Mepple said while pointing at the picture.

"It's called the Gouram, Mepple. I told you this before." Dai said.

"I was so surprised when I saw this thing fly by." Nagisa said as she remembers seeing it following after Dai in his search for Me-Gyarido-Gi. What a day that was.

"It feels so long since that night where I became Kuuga and you girls became Pretty Cure." Dai said as he closed the scrapbook and placed back down on the table.

"Yeah. I still sometimes have a hard time wrapping my head around everything that's happened to us." Nagisa said. From the Dark Zone to the Grongi tribe. From she and Honoka's inexperience to fight to them training under Dai in the art of combat. So much has happened and they were still in junior high!

"The Me Group of the Grongi tribe are almost eliminated. Just two more Grongi's to go." Dai said.

"Really?" Nagisa asked, surprised that another Grongi group was about to become eliminated. It didn't seemed that long ago where Dai wiped out the Zu Group.

"Yeah, but after that, things are going to get even tougher." Dai said, thinking about the next group that will likely appear once he finished off the Me Group.

"...You once told me, back when I was still a freshman, that humans were weak when alone but strong when together." Nagisa suddenly said, getting Dai to look at her. She to turned to face him and said, "Don't worry. You've got me and Honoka, and Ichijo-kun and the Investigation Team on your side. You'll be just fine."

"...Yeah." Dai smiled. "Yeah, you're right. As long as I have you guys with me, I'll stop the Gegeru and make sure that everyone can smile."

The two heroes continued to smile, unaware that the fairies were whispering to each other.

"They look like a blooming couple-mipo."

"They so do-mepo."

"What are you two whispering about?" Nagisa asked, seeing the two huddled up together suspiciously.

"It's none of your business-mepo." Mepple rudely replied.

"Why you...!"

"Now, now." Dai stopped the girl before she could so anything. "Let's grab the tea and head back to the others. Honoka-chan and Kiriya must be hungry from all the work they're doing."

---

(With Honoka and Kiriya)

Kiriya breathed out a small breath of annoyance as he straightened up and wiped some sweat from his brow before looking up and scowled a little at how many cabbages there were still left.

"There really is just too many."

"Kiriya-kun," Honoka walked up to him carrying a box full of cabbages. "Take this and take the cart back to the house."

"Hai, hai(Yeah, yeah)..." Kiriya said as he carried the box, loaded it into the cart which had other boxes filled with cabbages. He tossed the knife he has been using to cut cabbages onto the cart before lifted the cart up and pushing it forward albeit with some difficulty as the cart was heavy. But then, the wheel hit a bump, thus causing Kiriya and the cart to topple down.

"Kiriya-kun!" Seeing what happened, Honoka immediately went over to the boy's side.

Kiriya groaned as he looked up to see the boxes filled with cabbages had been knocked over, spilling the contents on the ground. "Tch, and it was such a hassle to pack them."

"Daijōbu(Are you alright), Kiriya-kun?" Honoka immediately asked once she made it to his side only to see a cut on Kiriya's glove. "Oh no..."

"Huh?" Getting up, Kiriya looked at the glove and saw some blood through the glove. His knife must have cut it when the cart came toppling down. "This? It's just a scratch." Frankly, he was surprised that his arm didn't get cut instead of just a measly finger.

"We need to get this patched up."

"Huh?" Before Kiriya realized it, Honoka had dragged him up to his feet and led him to a facet to get the cut clean. "Senpai, what about the cabbages?"

"This comes first." Honoka said as she turned on the facet before taking off Kiriya's glove and moving his hand under the running water.

"This is hardly even a scratch." Kiriya said, confused as to why the girl next to him was making such a big deal out of this. It wasn't a life threatening wound.

"Even if it's a small one, it'll be a problem if it gets infected." Honoka said, remembering some of the stories her grandparents told her about their experience in WWII.

"...Nande(Why)?"

"Hm?" Honoka looked up at Kiriya.

"Why do you care about other people's wounds?" Kiriya asked.

"How can I leave a person who is injured." Honoka said as if it was the most obvious answer.

"Is every human like that?" Kiriya asked.

"Eh? Hmm..." Honoka hummed in thought before answering. "Yes, they are."

Once Honoka thought the wound was clean, she brought out a pack of bandages she was carrying and took one out, placing it over Kiriya's cut.

"It's luck that I had some band-aids on me." Honoka commented as she finished wrapping the bandage around Kiriya's finger. "Now then, let's get back to work and finish things up. Since your finger's hurt, I'll carry them this time."

Kiriya watched as the girl got back up and walked back to the cabbage field. He looks at the bandage the girl had put on him before looking back at Honoka. A strange feeling soon came over him. He didn't know what this feeling was, but the next thing he knew, he was putting his gloves back on and followed Honoka back to the cabbage field.

---

(Later)

After hours of working on the harvest, the sun was beginning to set over the horizon. And the fruits of everyone's work were placed right in front of them, placed in boxes that were ready to be shipped away.

"Minna, arigato(Everyone, thank you)." The grandmother thanked everyone for their hard work. "You all must be exhausted from all that work. Come inside, I made some tea for everyone."

"We'll come in after we put everything away first." Shugo insisted.

"Eh?" Suddenly, Honoka looked around.

"Something wrong, Honoka?" Nagisa asked.

"Kiriya-kun's not here." Honoka said, pointing out that the boy was missing from the group.

"Huh?" Everyone looked around and true to Honoka's words, Kiriya was nowhere to be seen.

"That's strange. He was just with us a little while ago." Nagisa said.

"Dai's not here either." Kimata pointed out.

"Weird. Where did they go?" Honoka thought out loud.

Said boy, Kiriya, was actually out at the cabbage field. To his utter amazement, the entire field was clear of cabbages.

"I can't believe it." Kiriya said in disbelief. "Everything's finished."

"Surprised?" Kiriya blinked in surprise before he turned and saw Dai walking over to him.

"Senpai..."

Dai smiled at the boy sitting on the haystack before he stopped and turned to look out at the cabbage-free field.

"You must have thought it was impossible to clear out this field, didn't you?" Dai asked though it came out more like a statement than a question.

"Well, I mean, there was so many." Kiriya said, finding it hard to talk to his senior for some reason.

"It just goes to show you what humans can accomplish by working together." Dai said as he took a deep breath in and then let it out. An accomplished smile soon formed on his face as he gazed out into the horizon.

While the Rider was busy looking out, Kiriya was looking at said Rider while thinking back to Honoka had told him.

"Hey, Senpai."

"Hm? What is it?"

"While I was working, Honoka-senpai told me something."

"Oh?" Dai turned to look up at the boy. "What she tell you?"

"She told that...you thought humans are weak."

"Ah, she told you that, did she?" Dai didn't let his smile drop as he turned back to look at the orange sky in the distance. The two then just sat/stood in silence, not making a sound for about a good minute until Dai spoke up.

"It's true, I do think humans are weak." Dai admitted.

"But, why?" Kiriya asked. "I mean, you're human too."

"And so are you." Dai pointed out before explaining. "Humans are pretty hopeless people. Their prone to many failures and can cause many accidents."

"Like the accident that took your parents?" Kiriya said before he realized what he just said. Evil he may be but he had tact. "Uh! I mean, Senpai told me about-!"

"It's fine, I won't punch you for it." Dai said.

Kiriya breathed out a sigh of relief only to blink. 'Wait, did he just say punch? As in, with his fist?'

"The accident that took my parents' lives was just that: an accident." Dai said. "I was mad at the guy who caused at the accident. In fact, I completely hated the guy. But when my uncle took me to go see him, you know what the guy did when I met him?" Kiriya shook his head, prompting Dai to tell him. "He got on his knees. He literally got on his knees and did dogeza with tears streaming down his eyes like waterfalls. It greatly surprised me."

"So he felt bad about accidentally killing your parents?" Kiriya asked.

Dai nodded. "He did. Turns out the guy respected my parents greatly and owed them a great debt for something they did that helped him get where he was in life. He said that if he could trade places with them, he would and I could tell he was telling the truth from the way his eyes looked. It was then that I forgave him and I told him to keep on living."

"You forgave him? Just like that?" Kiriya asked and Dai nodded.

"It's true that I do think humans are weak. But at the same time, I think that humans are amazing. We all make mistakes. We all commit failures once in our lives. But we also have the ability to learn from those mistakes, those failures, and improve. And if we all work together, we can do some pretty amazing things." Dai then gestures to the clear field before them as an example. "Such as clearing out a field which you thought was impossible to harvest."

Kiriya gazes out to the field, a look of understanding clear on his face. Dai smiles at the boy's expression before he goes and takes his leave.

"We're all going to put everything away so all our hard work can be shipped to the market. Don't stay out here too long, we could use your help too." Dai said before he left Kiriya alone with his thoughts.

Kiriya watched as the boy walked away further and further away from him. He'll admit, the one known as Ichi Dai was a mystery to him. When he took on this mission of getting close to the enemy to learn more about them, he found himself a bit stumped. The girl known as Misumi Nagisa was easy to understand but it was Yukishiro Honoka and Ichi Dai that left him thinking. The way Honoka thinks and does things surprises Kiriya greatly such as how she wasn't like most of the girls at Verone and how bossy yet caring she can be. And then there was Dai. He acts like a carefree person yet he sometimes acts so mature that it made Kiriya think, 'Is this guy really fifteen?' The guy displays a brilliant mind from what he's heard from other students and has superb athletic abilities yet the guy never once thinks to show off or brag about this. He was...strange.

"This isn't very like you, Kiriya." Kiriya nearly jumps up in surprise as he turns to his right and sees that stand right next to him was his big sister, Poisony.

"You let your guard down." Poisony said. "If I were an enemy, you wouldn't be alive right now."

"Nee-san..."

"Even though you're trying to get the humans, isn't it more like that humans are getting to you instead?"

"That's not true!" Kiriya denied yet he turned his face away from her as to make sure his face didn't betray any emotions he was feeling right now.

"Really? You reacted pretty seriously there and I saw your little chat with that boy that's been giving the Grongi a hard time." Poisony said.

She was questioning his trust and loyalty. It was as plain as day. Putting on an evil smile, Kiriya said, "You're going to attack them again, right? That's the only reason why you're here. I'll help you out."

Poisony laughed a little. "Good. But if you're thinking about going after that boy, don't."

"Why? Think I can't handle him?"

"It's not that." Posiony's expression then changed to one of serious concern which Kiriya saw and wondered what was worrying his sister until she spoke. "That Daguva said something to me before I left to come here. Said something about the Go Group heading here to join in the game and that one was going to come pass through here."

"A Grongi?" That surprised Kiriya a little. A Grongi was going to come through here? A farm that was miles away from the city where the Gegeru was being held?

"That Daguva told me that Grongi from this so called Go Group are supposedly high-tier warriors. If we leave it alone, there's a chance that boy known as Kuuga will run into it. With any luck, the Grongi will kill him while we deal with those pesky girls."

'Does she still think those girls are easy pickings if Dai isn't with them?' Kiriya thought. He thought her previous two battles had proved that idea false but it seems his sister needed a third round. Whether the upcoming fight would end up in their favor or not, they'll just have to see.

Going with his sister into the nearby woods, Kiriya watched as Poisony snapped her fingers and the sky grew dark, a common sign of a Zakenna about to be summoned.

"Go, Zakenna!" Poisony ordered as what appeared to be a thunderbolt rained down from the sky and split a tree in too. While it seemed like nothing happened, in actually, the Zakenna had struck a worm, possessed it, and was now traveling through the ground towards where everyone else was at.

As for said group, they all felt the felt the ground rumble, making everyone stop what they were doing to turn to the source which came from the woods.

"An earthquake?" Shugo guessed.

"It's seems pretty strange for an earthquake." Kimata said, noticing how some of the trees of the woods were knocked over like something big had pushed them down. He and everyone else soon gasped in surprise when from the earth rose a worm the size of a train.

'A Zakenna!' Dai and the girls thought in surprise, instantly seeing the visible tick mark in the train-sized worm.

"ZAKENNA!" The Zakenna roared before it disappeared behind the house and the sound of crashing was soon heard.

"Oh no! Jii-chan! Baa-chan!" Kimata instantly moved, worry shooting through his body as his grandparents were no doubt in trouble. Shugo and Dai quickly followed and three ran through the doors to see that the Zakenna worm had broken through the walls of the house and was now bearing down upon Kimata's parents with the granddad standing in front f his wife in order to protect her.

"They're in trouble!" Shugo stated the obvious.

Acting fast, Dai grabbed a nearby picture frame depicting Kimata's grandparents in their younger days. Mentally apologizing, Dai chucks the picture frame at the Zakenna. His throw barely did anything to it but it did get its attention which Dai was aiming for.

"Hey, you big ugly! Pick on someone your own size!" Dai taunted the Zakenna over and it roared in anger. Then again, it always sounded like it was angry.

"ZAKENNA!"

"Okay, you got its attention, now what?" Kimata asked.

"What else? Run!" Dai said as he and the boys quickly ran for it, leading the Zakenna worm away. As they ran, they passed by the girls and Dai sent them a look which they nodded back to before the three boys ran past them with the Zakenna right on their trail. The girls watched the boys and the Zakenna leave before checking to make sure that the old couple was fine.

"Daijōbudesu ka(Are you alright)!?" Honoka asked as she and Nagisa ran into the house to see the grandma supporting her husband.

"I'm fine, but my husband..." The grandma looked at her husband in worry, having protected her from a falling storage closet.

"I'm fine." The gold man insisted, doing his best to ignore the pain in his back as he looked up at the girls. "We'll be fine. Go after those boys, hurry!"

The girls nodded at the old man who they guessed was worried for his grandson. They ran out of the building and made sure to grab Mepple and Mipple from their bags before running after the boys. Once far away enough form the house, the girls immediately transformed.

"Duel Aurora Wave!"

From beneath, rainbow light rose from them like always as from within the lights, the girl's clothes changed as they donned their battle outfits. A few seconds later, the light exploded, leaving glittering lights behind as the two girls were now...

"Hikari no shisha, Cure Black!"

"Hikari no shisha, Cure White!"

"Futari wa PreCure!"

"Yami no chikara no shimobetachi yo…"

"…Tottoto ouchi ni kaerinasai!"

As the girls posed, they soon realized...that there was no one around to see them. The boys and the Zakenna were still up ahead.

"...We really gotta stop doing this." Nagisa commented. If past experiences with Grongi said anything, it's that their introduction was kind of unnecessary.

"Quick! We have to go after the others!" Honoka said as the girls ran, now faster thanks to their transformation.

It didn't take them long to find the boys as all they did was just follow the huge form of the Zakenna.

"ZAKENNA!" The Zakenna roared as it drew closer and closer to the boys.

"Oh no you don't"! Nagisa said before she and Honoka both leaped up into the air and kicked the Zakenna away from the boys, disappearing among the trees before the boys could see them.

"What was that?" Shugo said, he and the others coming to a stop and taking a moment to catch their breaths as they saw the Zakenna roared at something, no doubt the girls, far away from them.

'Must be Nagisa-chan and Honoka-chan.' Dai thought.

"Who cares? We're safe." Kimata said before running back the way they came.

"Hey! Where are you going!?" Shugo called out to his running friend.

"To my grandparents! I gotta make sure they're alright!" Kimata said as he ran off.

"That's right! Come on, Dai!" Shugo said as he went to follow Kimata only to notice that Dai was not moving. "Dai? What's wrong?"

Dai didn't answer right away as his focus was directed towards the deeper part of the woods. Once the Zakenna had been taken away by the girls, he sensed something. Something dangerous.

"There's something here." Dai said before came to a decision and ran off.

"Oi! Where are you going!?" Shugo cried out.

"I'm going to go check it out! You go back to Kimata!" Dai shouted back as he disappeared into the woods.

"Wha-? Like I'm just gonna let you get lost in these woods!" Shugo said before he ran after Dai.

---

(With the girls)

With the boys now out of harms way, the girls focused their attention on the Zakenna in front of them. It went to ram into them using its large body but the girls jumped up to dodge before they struck back with a kick to its head when it raised said head up from its failed attack. The Worm Zakenna was knocked back a bit by the combined power of the girls' kick but it quickly shook off the damage and roared in anger.

"It's tough." Honoka commented as she and Nagisa landed back on the ground.

"Then we just gotta hit it harder!" Nagisa said as she leaped towards the Worm Zakenna, a fist pulled back and ready to be launched when suddenly, a centipede the same size a the Worm Zakenna appeared and knocked Nagisa back.

"Black!" Honoka cried out in worry when the Worm Zakenna attacked her again, going for another ramming attack. She easily dodged the attack by simply jumping away only to get grabbed by the Centipede from earlier. Looking closely, she saw a tick mark on its head, confirming that it was a Zakenna as well. That's all she managed to figure out as the next thing she knew, she was dragged into a cave.

"White!" Nagisa, having recovered form the earlier surprise attack, quickly chased after her capture friend only for a stone covering to suddenly appear an block the only entrance into the cave. "What the heck!?" Worried for her friend, Nagisa punched and kicked the stone covering but her attack had no effect which was surprising considering that last she checked, she and Honoka were able to break stone when transformed. She knew this because Dai had made them transform during one of their training sessions to see the extent of their powers.

"Dammit!" Nagisa cursed as she punched the covering again to no avail.

Meanwhile, inside the cave, Honoka managed to free herself from the Centipede Zakenna's hold and jumped away, landing safely back on the ground. Looking around the cave she was in was dark as she could barely see anything in front of her besides her own hands.

"Yōkoso(Welcome), ojou-san(young lady)." Honoka felt anger spike in her as the dark cave was lit by a dark light and in front of her was none other than Poisony with the Worm and Centipede Zakennas at her side.

"Won't you give me the Prism Stones?" Poisony asked in a mocking manner.

"I will not!" Honoka said as she took a stance. Today's the day she kicks this woman's face in for what she did to her grandmother.

"Hmph. You're confident now, but I know your weakness." Poisony said with confidence. "You're a good fighter, I'll admit that much. But you're nothing without your partner."

Honoka didn't say it but she couldn't help but agreeing with the evil woman. Thanks to Dai's training, Honoka was at least able to defend herself. But it doesn't change the fact that she fought better when she had Nagisa by her side and vice versa. Still...

"I will not be defeated!" Honoka declared, hardening her stance.

"We'll see about that." Poisony said before snapping her fingers, sending a mental order to her Zakennas to attack.

"ZAKENNA!"

---

(Meanwhile, with Dai)

Deep within the woods, Dai is seen still running until he comes to a stop. He sensed something in the air. Whatever he sensed, it was close. His instinct kept ringing like an alarm as Dai took careful glances around his surrounding while slowly moving forward. The woods were quiet, too quiet. The sounds of the girl's battle had disappeared some time ago but the Rider was confident that the girls would be alright. He just has to focus on whatever threat lied in these woods.

Suddenly, the sound of creaking wood was heard from behind Dai. Quickly turning, Dai turned to see a falling tree heading right towards him. Reacting fast, Dai jumped to the left and rolled away just before the tree could crush him. Getting up, he saw that something had knocked over the tree using nothing but brute force.

Just as Dai was getting up, he heard footsteps coming up from behind him and he quickly turned to see a figuring twirling around a staff weapon before swing it at him. He quickly ducked under the swing but was stuck across the arm and sent rolling back to the ground when the staff had moved to hit him. Shaking off the pain, Dai quickly got up and summoned his Arcle Belt. He was about to perform the hand motions needed to transform only for the weapon that had struck him to come flying towards his face. Reacting quickly, Dai managed to knocked the thrown weapon away and jumped back to create some distance before doing the hand motions with success.

"Henshin!" Dai shouted as the Arcle hummed with power and soon, Dai was donned in his Mighty form armor.

Now ready, Dai goes to face his attacker only to find no trace of the attacker. Caution filled his body as he raised his hands for quick defense in case of any surprise attacks as he moves his head and body around to look for his attacker while still keeping caution in his steps.

*Caw!*

Suddenly, a flock of birds suddenly flew off, getting Dai's attention as he looked up and in a stroke of luck, saw his attacker coming down upon him with its weapon stabbed downward. Dai falls to the ground on his back but manages to stop the weapon which was a two pronged trident of sorts from stabbing into his neck. As Dai struggled to keep the weapon away from his neck, he got a good look at his attacker.

Said attacker was none other than a Grongi. Its skin was dark brown and the Grongi had plenty of muscle to show off how strong it was. Gauntlets and greaves covered his forearms and legs and a breast plate covered the upper part of his body with shoulder pads covering said shoulders. Besides its long nail-like claws, the distinctive features of this Grongi was that its head resembled a boar as said head even had a beard.

Mustering up his strength, Dai managed to push the weapon away from him and kick the Grongi away from him, allowing him to finally get back up and take a battle stance.

"You're..."

"Kuuga!" The Grongi spoke up as he twirled around his weapon before tucking it under his arm. "I am Go-Jiino-Da of the mighty Go Group! I have traveled far to battle you. I shall claim your head!"

'A Grongi from the Go Group? But that group's not supposed to show up until the Me Group's been defeated.' Dai thought. Then again, in the TV a Go Grongi appeared while the Me Group was still up and running. Dai then came to the conclusion that Grongi of the Go Group were making their way to the city. The thought brought grim visions into Dai's head, predicting what kind of damage the high tier group could cause.

'If I can take down this guy then that's one less Go Grongi to worry about.' Dai thought before he focused his attention on the Grongi before him. "I don't know how many lives you've must have taken on your way here, but it ends now. Come, Go-Jiino-Da!"

"Prepare to die, Kuuga!" And wit that, both fighters charged one another.

Jiino thrust his trident forward but Dai turned and blocked the thrust while pushing the weapon away at the same time. Quickly, Dai swung his left arm around and struck Jiino across the face before pushing the weapon away and swung his other hand around for a chop to Jiino's neck. Both attacks made the Grongi grunt in both surprise and pain. Dai grabbed the shaft of Jiino's trident and moved it to make an opening to Jiino's stomach which Dai wasted no time punching, sending the Grongi back stumbling. Confidence rose ins Dai as he moved in to attack Jiino again, aiming for a punch to his face but quickly stopped himself, barely avoiding a downward swing from Jiino's lance. But Dai's pause gave Jiino he chance to charge forth, catching Dai's left leg in between the prongs of his trident and continued pushing forward, knocking Dai up into the air where he flipped over and landed on his back. Dai quickly gets up and turns only to see Jiino's trident attack again. Quickly, he raises his right arm to block but that's what Jiino wanted as he twisted his weapon down, catching Dai by the arm before the Grongi uses its strength to lift Dai up and throw him towards a tree where he then crashes into, leaving a sizable dent in the trunk.

"Dai!" As Dai was getting up, his eyes widen in surprise and horror when he heard a familiar voice.

"Dai!" Suddenly, to the left of him, Dai saw Shugo emerging form the woods. The boy followed him.

"Dai-What the heck!?" Shugo, who had been looking for his friend came to a stop when right before him was the city hero, No. 4, fighting against, "A-A-An Un-Unidentified Lifeform!?"

"What's this? A Linto?" Just the sight of Shugo seemed to disgust Jiino as he twirled his trident before lifting it up to throw it at the boy. "Your kind has no business amongst the strong. Begone, weakling." The trident was then thrown and to Shugo's eyes, it's speed was comparable to that of a bullet.

"No!" Acting fast, Dai stomped down before kicking off to boost his dash. Thanks to the boost, Dai made it in time to kick the weapon away from Shugo who had frozen up when the weapon had been throw at him. Dai quickly turned to his friend and quickly shouted at his face, "Run! Get away from here!"

Shugo snapped out of his frozen state and went to run when he noticed something. No. 4's voice.

"That voice..."

Dai was about to go shout at Shugo again when a roar from Jiino alerted Dai that the Grongi was attacking again. Quickly turning around, Dai took a punch to the face that make the Rider bend back but Dai gritted his teeth, planted a foot back to stop himself from stumbling, and managed to dodge another punch from the Boar Grongi and hold him back as he shouted back to Shugo again.

"Run! Hurry!"

Nodding his head, Shugo goes to run but doesn't go far as he hides behind a tree and watches the fight from a safe distance.

With his friend now out of harms way, Dai can now focus back on the Boar Grongi he was holding back. But Jiino would not be held back for long as he still had both his hands and arms free. Raising both and grasping both hands together, Jiino brought down his fists to hammer Dai's back, sending the Rider face first into the dirt ground. Before Dai could even attempt to get back up, Jiino grabbed him by his shoulder pad and pulled him back up to deliver a head butt to the Rider's head before punching the Rider back where said Rider was sent back rolling on the ground.

'Damn! Those punches are no joke!' Dai thought as he shook his head to get rid of his dizziness caused by Jiino's headbutt. The Grongi was strong but that's to be expected from a Go Grongi.

Gathering back his bearings, Dai got back up only to see Jiino attacking with his trident again, having went and picked the weapon up. Quickly, Dai swung his right arm out and knocked the thrusting weapon away from him before Dai punched Jiino in the ribs, sending the Grongi reeling back and holding his side. Now with enough space to himself, Dai got back up to his feet, took a few seconds to gather some air and energy, before taking a stance again. Jiino, meanwhile, growled in anger before he goes and throws his weapon at Dai. The Rider easily knocked away the thrown weapon but he wasn't expecting Jiino to come charging at him, grabbing him by the waist and carried him off further into the woods.

Shugo saw all this and despite his brain telling him to run, his body instead followed after the two.

---

(Back with the girls)

"Hah! Tah! Hiya!" Nagisa cried out each time she struck the stone covering in front of her. She's been at this for about a while now but no a single scratch could be seen.

"It's no use-mepo! It's not normal stone-mepo." Mepple said. "It's been strengthened by some strong power-mepo."

"Dang it, I'm not getting anywhere like this." Nagisa said as she raced her brain for an idea. "Come on, think! Think!"

Meanwhile, inside the cave...

"ZAKENNA!"

A roar from the Worm Zakenna alerted Honoka and she jumped back to dodge the charging Zakenna. Once she lands, she leaps towards the Worm Zakenna and goes for a flying kick but get's blocked by the centipede Zakenna before getting sent flying but she doesn't get far as the centipede easily catches her and coils around her, squeezing her tightly and making her scream out in pain.

"You're very stubborn, I'll give you that." Poisony said, having been paying this game of cat and mouse for quite a while now but at last she's finally caught the girl. "I will say this one more time. Ojou-san, give me the Prism Stones."

As Honoka continued to struggle, unknown to her, Kiriya was watching from another part of the cave, hidden in the shadows as to not be seen while also making sure the stone covering that blocked Nagisa stayed up. He's been watching Honoka struggle against the two Zakenna, jumping here and there while getting very little chances to attack back. Now that she was caught, it would seem his sister was finally going to win for once.

"I'll never give them to you!" But like always, Honoka continues to surprise him and continues to struggle.

"In that case, I guess I'll just have to take them from your corpse." Poisony said as she goes to snap her fingers, ready to finish off Honoka.

Kiriya's eyes widen. Honoka was going to die? Why? Why did that idea scare him? While in his thoughts Kiriya didn't realize that he stopped using his powers to strengthen the stone covering, not that it was needed as in an instant before Poisony could snap her fingers...

*BOOM!*

A black thunderbolt blasted through the stone covering and struck the Centipede Zakenna that held Honoka, sending it flying back and setting Honoka free.

"What!?" Poisony exclaimed in surprise.

Honoka fell to the ground but was nonetheless fine. Getting up, she saw at the entrance Nagisa with her fist out, said fist smoking a little.

"Yes! I worked!" Nagisa cheered as she lowered her fist.

"Nice usage of the Black Thunder-mepo!" Mepple complimented the girl.

"Black!" Honoka smiled, glad to see her friend as she ran over to her.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, White!" Nagisa said as she smiled confidently. "The hero always shows up at the last second, right?"

"Don't you mean Heroine?" Honoka said with a slightly amused smile.

Nagisa blinked at her blunder before quickly changing the topic while ignoring the small blush on her face.

"W-Whatever! Let's just finish this!" Nagisa said and Honoka nodded in agreement before the two claps hands.

"Black Thunder!"

"White Thunder!"

*BOOM!*

As done many times before, the girls raised their free hands to the sky and a pair of black and white thunderbolts shot down and struck their raised hands. Soon, they were surrounded and covered in power.

"Purikyua no utsukushiki tamashī ga…"

"…Jaaku na kokoro wo uchikudaku!"

Sticking their hands out with great effort, the girls aimed right at the two Zakenna's who had gotten in front of Poisony to act as shields. But it was useless.

"Pretty Cure Marble Screw!"

The spiral energy of black and white flew from their hands and struck both Zakenna's and in the process, catching Poisony in between them as they crashed into a wall. But the finisher did not stop as Poisony and the Zakenna were soon blasted straight through the wall and flew out into the distance. Once gone, the sky soon returned to normal.

Seeing their enemy gone, the girls relaxed and smiled, Honoka more than Nagisa which the girl noticed.

"What's got you so happy?"

"Oh, nothing." Honoka said as she looked through the hole she and Nagisa had sent Poisony through. "Though I wish I had gotten a kick in before you showed up."

"You..." Nagisa sighed. It's official, her friend was never going to live that down until she finally got to kick Poisony in the face. She made a mental note to not get on the girl's bad side.

*BOOM!*

"Huh?" Suddenly, the sound of an explosion was heard and the girls turned to see a big explosion down into the woods.

"What was that?" Nagisa wondered out loud.

"Let's check it out." Honoka said and Nagisa nodded before the two ran off.

Back in the cave, Kiriya watched as the two ran off. After a while, he decided to follow them. As he ran, he found his eyes staring down at the bandage on his finger and wondered why he allowed Nagisa the chance to break through thus saving Honoka.

---

(With Dai)

A fist flew and struck Dai across the face. Gritting his teeth, Dai stood his ground and threw a punch back, striking Jiino across the face before delivering another punch to the Grongi's stomach, making the Grongi bend over which gave Dai the chance to uppercut Jiino across the face and send the Boar Grongi reeling back, holding his nose as it bled from being broken. Jiino then growled in anger before he went and charged towards Dai, aiming to ram him through. But Dai was not one to fall for the same attack twice. Using aikido, the second Jiino reached him, he grabbed the Grongi by the shoulders, fell back to the ground bringing Jiino with him as the Grongi continued to charge forward, and use the Boar Grongi's momentum from the charge to kick the Grongi off of him and send it crashing against a tree.

The Grongi groaned as he slowly got back up. Looking up, he saw Dai coming in with a fist aimed for his head so he quickly moved his head out of the way as the fist flew past and struck the tree behind him. Jiino then retaliated back by delivering a punch to Dai's chest, sending the Rider stumbling back which Jiino then too the chance to charge towards Dai and performed a clothesline, hitting Dai's neck and sending him flipping and down to the ground flat on his face. Jiino turns to check if the Rider was getting up but to his satisfaction, the Rider was knocked out.

"No!" A voice suddenly shouted out in disbelief. Jiino turned his head and saw it was Shugo who now just realized his blunder at exposing himself.

"Still here? Tch, you weaklings never listen and learn." Jiino said, cracking his neck before making his way to Shugo to kill him, confident that Dai would be knocked out for quite a while.

"Oh shit!" Shugo cursed as he turned to run but it seems lady luck was not on his size as he barely got ten steps in before he tripped on a tree root. The Jiino the chance to run up to the boy with a fist raised to punch straight through the boy's chest. Shugo could only close his eyes and brace himself for the pain that was to come...except it never came.

"H-Huh?" Confused, Shugo slowly opened his eyes and gasped as Jiino was held back by Dai, having awakened from his knocked out state and holding Jiino back by grabbing his waist and pulling back.

"Leave...my friend...alone!" Dai gritted out his teeth before he roared and pulled Jiino back with all his might, swinging around the Grongi and throwing him towards a tree crashing against the trunk. After doing that did Dai turn to Shugo. "I thought I told you to run?"

Instead of answer Dai, Shugo asked a question of his own. "You're Dai, aren't you?"

"W-What!?" Dai stuttered and continued to do so. "D-Dai? W-Wh-Who is this Dai y-you speak of? I-I Don't kn-know anyone like t-that!"

"It is you!" Shugo exclaimed, identifying the one trait made Dai a bad liar: his stuttering.

"Gh!" Dai flinched under his helmet. He really needed to control that stuttering of his. But he couldn't help it! Lying was bad! He firmly believe that!

"You're...You're No. 4?" Shugo said, looking at Dai's form from top to bottom.

Before Dai could answer back, the sound of growling was heard and Dai turned around to see Jiino getting back up and glaring right at him. The Rider quickly places and arm in front of Shugo and pushes him back.

"I'll explain later. Right now, either run away or hide. Just stay out of the crossfire." Dai said before Jiino's roar of rage signal Dai to run back into the fight.

"Wait, Dai!" Shugo reached out to grab him but the Rider was already off to meet up with the Boar Grongi as both fighters were determined to take down the other. Deciding to listen to his friend, Shugo quickly moved away and hide behind a tree before watching the battle unfold.

The second both fighters met up, they both instantly threw out a punch which flew past one another and struck their opposing foes; Dai's punch striking against Jiino's chest while the Grongi's punch struck Dai across the face. They both stumbled back, Dai more so since he was punched across the face again but he recovered quickly and so did Jiino as the Grongi was charging straight towards Dai again. Instead of using aikido again, Dai simply jumped up and flipped over the charging Grongi, dodging the ramming attack which promoted Jiino to stop and turn only to receive a kick across the face, causing him to stagger back and holding his face as his already broken nose was made worse. Anger soon clouded Jiino's vision mind with the only thing before him being Dai. Letting his anger control him, Jiino threw out wild and furious punches that would have devastated any normal foe if landed. But Dai kept a level head and was able to dodge Jiino's anger filled punches by either side stepping or quick stepping backwards. He moved his head out of the way of a punch swinging towards his head before he finally decided to counterattack and kick Jiino back with a quick kick to the chest, stopping the Grongi as he grabbed the kicking foot until Dai suddenly jumped using his free foot and used said foot to kick Jiino's head, making the Boar Grongi release Dai as the Grongi was stumbling backwards while holding its head, his vision blurry. Seeing that the Grongi was dazed, Dai knew that this was his chance to finish him off. So with that thought in mind, he took a stance and gathered energy from within him. Soon after, flames appeared from under his right foot and Dai soon ran towards the dazed Jiino. By the time the Grongi recovered, it was already too late as Dai had leaped up into the air, flipped over, and unleashed his Mighty Kick upon the Grongi. The flaming foot struck Jiino across the chest and he was sent flying back and crashed right through a tree, knocking it over as Dai landed on his knees.

Dai watched with bated breath as he watched the Boar Grongi slowly get back up. Jiino was obviously tired from his condition but so was Dai as evident by his heavy breathing and the way his chest moved up and down. Jiino slowly stumbled over to Dai but only got a few steps in when he stopped and gasped. Looking down, the Grongi saw the flaming print on his chest. Cracks soon started to form and slowly made its way to Jiino's belt. Once the cracks reached the belt, the buckle snapped in two and that's when Jiino screamed out before...

*BOOM!*

An explosion occurred and a rather big one at that. Jiino's form was blasted to bits and Dai made a mental note to call Ryō so he could send some men to collect the Grongi's remains.

"A-Amazing..." Shugo said, hardly believe at what he just witnessed. He turned his eyes towards Dai only to see the Rider fall down to his back. "Dai!" The boy quickly ran towards his friend to aid him. When he got there, he saw the armor that covered Dai's form disappear, revealing Dai and the injuries he sustained in the fight.

Dai breathed in long gulps of air as he tried to recover. He was then lifted up thanks to the assistance of Shugo.

"Dai! Hang on! Stay with me!" Shugo said as the last thing he needed was his friend to fall unconscious.

"I'm alright, don't worry." Dai said as he gasped for some air and breathed out. "Man, that was tough."

"Tough? I thought you were gonna die out there!" Shugo said, having been worried when Jiino had suddenly performed that wrestling move and did it with success.

"Haha," Dai simply laughed and smiled. "You know me, I can be tough as a horse."

Seeing his friend laugh and smile, Shugo couldn't help but sigh in both mental exhaustion and disbelief. "I can't believe you." His friend just had a death battle with an Unidentified Lifeform, beings who killed humans and sent chaos and panic throughout the city, and he was laughing it off like it was no big deal.

"Hehehe..." Dai laughed and continued to smile as Shugo helped him up to his feet and helped him back to the house. He knew he was gonna have to explain some things to his friend but right now, that would have to wait for a later date.

---

(Later)

It had taken some time for Shugo and Dai to make it back to the house but they made it back just as the girls did as well. And boy was everyone surprised at the state Dai was in.

"Oh my god! Dai-kun!" Nagisa gasped as did Honoka before the two ran over to the boys.

"Guys!" Seeing his friends, Kimata also went over to their side.

"Hey guys. We're back." Dai gave a weak smile as he lifted his arm up to wave.

"What happened to you?" Honoka asked as she brought over a first aid kit.

"I got attacked by an Unidentified Lifeform." Dai said, causing everyone to gasp.

"There was an Unidentified Lifeform here!?" Kimata's grandmother asked, the fear in her voice evident.

Dai sent Shugo a look and his friend got the message and spoke. "I saw it too, it almost killed him. But then that No. 4 appeared and saved him before beating the monster." Dai sent Shugo and thankful look and he returned it with a look that demanded an explanation later.

"No. 4!? As in the No. 4!?" Kimata's grandfather asked, excitement in his voice which surprised everyone since the old man usually sounded grumpy. The old man realized this and faked a cough while blushing a little.

"Yeah, but he left as soon as he beat the Unidentified Lifeform." Shugo said as he carefully placed Dai down on the porch of the house as Honoka tended to him.

"You're covered in bruises and blood." Honoka pointed out the purple spots and specs of blood on his face.

"I'm fine, really." Dai insisted before hissing when Honoka wiped some blood off before using an antiseptic wipe which stung for only a few seconds at best. He then looked towards Kimata's grandparents and asked, "How about you two? That monster from earlier attacked you and all."

"I'm fine, nothing but a scratch." The old man said before looking worriedly to his wife and asked, "Are you all right?"

The old woman simply smiled reassuringly. "Yes, I'm fine, thanks to you."

"Good." Was all the old man said as he reverted back to his usual self that everyone had gotten used to.

"You can't always tell if a relationships is working out from the way it looks." Honoka said while wrapping some bandages around Dai's head.

"Yeah." Nagisa nodded while trying to ignore the 'I told you so' look Dai was giving her.

"See-mepo? The Prism Love Checker's diagnosis was correct-mepo." Mepple spoke up from his carrier.

"The what Checker?" Hooka asked, confused.

"It's this thing." Nagisa took out said item as Mepple and Mipple had yet to take it back from her. "When two people touch these buttons here, the lights are supposed to show how much both sides like one another."

"Really? That's kind of neat." Honoka said. "Can you show me?"

"Um, well..." Nagisa sent a nervous glance over to Shugo who was talking with Kimata at the moment.

"Sure." Dai suddenly said as he went and pressed one of the buttons as Nagisa was already pressing the other unknowingly when she glanced over to Shugo.

Music played form the small item as lights lit up here and there. After a few seconds, the results showed as...all the lights lit up.

Silence soon fell over the group as they looked as the girls and the fairies were looking down at the item in disbelief.

"I...wha...but...wait..." Nagisa's mind was a storming mess as she tried to wrap her head around at the results. All the lights had lit up which meant that she and Dai...she and Dai...she and Dai...!

"Huh, I guess this thing also measures levels of friendship." One could have sworn a record player had scratched to a stop the second those words left Dai's mouth.

"Uh...what?" Was the brilliant response that came from Honoka.

"This thing measures love and I do love Nagisa-chan, but as a friend." Dai said as he let go of the button he was holding down and looked towards Nagisa. "You feel the same way, right Nagisa-chan?"

Nagisa could only stare dumbly at the Rider as she half consciously say, "Y-Yeah..."

"See, even she agrees." Dai said before getting up. "Anyway, I'm gonna go inside and rest a little. I'll be up and running again after some sleep so come get me when we're ready to head to the train station." And with that, with a hissing sound coming form his mouth as he winced when getting up, Dai limped inside the house to lay down and rest.

Once the Rider had gone inside, Honoka and the fairies all looked to Nagisa who was still frozen.

"Nagisa, are you alright?" Honoka asked her friend, her voice snapping her friend back to reality.

"H-Huh!? Uh, y-yeah! Totally fine! Just surprised." Nagisa assured her friend while rubbing the back of her head bashfully.

Yet in the back of her mind, she had an urge to punch Dai in the face and she didn't know why she felt that way. Honoka, meanwhile, was thinking if it was really Shugo her friend needed help with and not with a certain someone they both knew.

---

And...done! And once again, I've made quite the long chapter. Not as long as the last one, god forbid, but still a good length nonetheless. Sorry I haven't been around as much as I used to but big things are happening in life so I need to set my priorities like most people do. That won't stop me from making more chapters though. It's been a while since I've done this story and it's still fun. I just hope I can get this story done so I can get to the other crossovers I promised because I want to write them too. But that's for future me to handle. I hope you readers enjoyed today's chapter, I know I did when I introduced Dai's first Go Grongi to fight against and man did it do a number on him. Just goes to show how strong high-tier Grongi's are. Anyway, this has been Ashbel Longhart here, signing out. And as always, here is...

---

Pretty Cure: Rider Fun Facts

"Hello minna-san and welcome back to some more exciting Rider Fun Facts-mepo!" Mepple immediately greeted the readers while Mipple simply waved. Honoka stood to the side, smiling while Nagisa...was shadow boxing.

"Um, what are you doing-mepo?" Mepple asked his partner.

"I'm venting." Nagisa said as she is imagining that she is punching Dai's face in. But no matter what she did, that stupid smile of his would not disappear!

"Was this because you got friend zoned-empo?" Mepple developed a smile when he saw Nagisa freeze and he could have sworn a crack formed from her head in a comedic fashion.

"U-Urusai(Shut up)!"

"Ahem." Honoka cleared her voice to get the show back on track as she asked her fairy partner, "So, what shall we be talking about today?"

"Today we shall be talking about Dai's opponent that she just faced today-mipo." Mipple said as an image of Jiino appeared on screen. "His full name is Go-Jiino-Da, a Grongi with the characteristics of a boar. Besides his immense strength, his weapon of choose is a forked spear which he can use to great effect to either snag an opponents limbs against the two prongs or throw it like a normal spear-mipo."

"But despite having only these two things unlike previous Grongi that had special characteristics like Mebio's speed and Giiga's ink bombs, doesn't mean Jiino is easy to handle. He's a Go Grongi for a reason-mepo." Mepple said. "We all know Dai is quite skilled yet even he had trouble dealing with this guy which goes to show just how strong this Grongi is. Not only that, but this goes to show what Dai will have to face in the future-mepo."

"This Grongi managed to even knock Dai-kun out and that's not easy to do." Nagisa said, looking worried as well as Honoka.

"If this is only the tip of the iceberg, then I'm worried about Ichi-kun's future." Honoka said, expressing her worry.

"He has you two with him, right-mepo?" Mepple said.

"I'm sure he'll be fine as long as you two are with him-mipo." Mipple said.

"Yeah...yeah," Nagisa nods a few times as to try and convince herself.

"Anyway, that's all the time we have today-mepo." Mepple said as he and everyone turned to the audience. "Come back next time where Dai and the girls prepare for Mid-terms and much more! Until then, we'll see next chapter-mepo."

And with that, the four all wave goodbye as the title for the next episode is displayed.

Next Time: Heart-Throbbing Bonds! Midterm Tests are a Trial of Love and Friendship!