Hey guys, SAYkokoro here with the next episode! Thank you so much to AnimeGirl4Ever, enarmonios, Cold-heart-Angel23, That random anime fan, and Hosho-chan for revieing and your continous support. I always look forward to reading all of your guys' reviews. I hope you continue to enjoy :D
*Please forgive any spelling or grammar errors
OP: Your StoryFairytale Pretty Cure!– written by SAYkokoro
ED: DREAM! DREAM! DREAM! ~Waking Up Your Future~
Episode 22: |A Bittersweet Return! Behind the Smile!|
"AAAAARGH!"
Thames rips up a wall of curtains and shreds it away with his vicious claws. He doesn't even catch a breath as he ferociously smashes up a chair and crumbles it up into tiny pieces with a blast of dark magic. The very next thing he sees he throws it against the nearest wall and crushes it up with each blow from his blind rage.
Linda strolls into the room. Without a single word, she swiftly ducks out of the way from a flying chair that smashes the wall behind her. "Are you done with your little temper tantrum yet, Thames? This is the fifth room you've destroyed today."
"SHUT UP, LINDA!" shouts Thames angry as he picks up a whole table and chucks it at the Dark Charm Knight.
"I guess not," sighs Linda as she easily lifts up her hand. In a glow of dark magic, the table disintegrates with a single touch. "Such a temper Kuroizado-sama gave you. Be careful with that cadence, Thames. We don't want you turning into that loudmouth Xoanon now do we?"
Thames's green eyes light up with rage, "Don't you dare say his name!"
Linda rolls her eyes. "Jeez, why are you so mad?"
"I…I DON'T KNOW!" Thames confusedly punches the stone wall closest to him.
"And here I thought you would be happy," snorts Linda crossing her arms. "You've been saying you wanted to make Cure Fable cry ever since the day we encountered her. We destroyed her PreHeartBook and she sobbed waterfalls."
"No! Xoanon made her cry!" snaps Thames, pointing to himself with his thumb. "I want to be the one that makes her cry! No one else! Me! I want Cure Fable on her knees with eyes full of tears for me!" Thames furiously puts a hand on the wall and rests his head on top. "But now Cure Fable is gone. I can't make her cry."
Linda smirks and clicks her heels as she struts into the destroyed throne room. She playfully admires her luscious red jewels around her neck, tapping them each with her long nails. "Imari Suzukawa. Tomoka Fukumoto. Nijiko Ōmitsu."
Thames's elf ears prick up as he lifts his head, "W-What?"
Linda snaps her fingers and three files appear in her hand. She eyes Thames teasingly as she flips open the first file, "Nijiko Ōmitsu, birthday: May 31st, Gemini, blood type: B, age: 15, and third-year student at Minwa Academy, Junior High Division."
Linda holds out the file to Thames and he whisks it over with a wave of dark magic and looks inside the file. Inside was a small picture attached with a paperclip. The picture was of a young girl with short light green hair in a small braid in front of her left ear, lime green eyes, and sun-kissed skin. There was no doubt in the young Dark Charm Knight's mind. This girl was Cure Enchant, the Pretty Cure of Magic.
Linda grins and lolls over the second file, "Tomoka Fukumoto, birthday: January 29th, Aquarius, blood type: A, age: 14, and second-year student and student council vice president at Minwa Academy, Junior High Division."
Thames snatches the second file and looks inside. A pale-skinned girl with indigo hair curled in long ringlets, and light blue eyes behind thick-framed glasses. This had to be Cure Mythical, the Pretty Cure of Wisdom. For some reason, she reminded Thames of a grandmother owl with cartoonish glasses.
Linda opens up the final file with Thames staring at it intently, "Imari Suzukawa, birthday: March 17th, Pisces, blood type: AB, age: 13, currently attending Minwa Academy, Junior High Division."
Thames reaches for the third file, but Linda plucks it out of his reach. Thames frowns crossly and she gives him a mischievous smile before handing it to him. Thames snatches it right out of her hand and wastes no time ripping open the last file. He quickly takes in all the details of the picture. Chin-length chestnut brown hair with a pink-and-yellow crisscross hairclip, beaming pink eyes, light-tanned skin, and a beaming smile was spread across her face. Thames recognizes this irritating smile instantly. The one he hoped to destroy with his own hands. The smile of Cure Fable the Pretty Cure of Dreams.
"H-How did ya get this?" demands Thames.
Linda rolls her eyes, "Easily. Did you really think I just sat behind my desk all day gushing over myself in the mirror?"
"Well…actually…yeah," says Thames. Linda narrows her eyes and takes back the files. "Why did ya show me all this?"
Linda smirks, "Didn't you notice? All three girls go to this same school. Minwa Academy. Five days a week, one-hundred and eighty days in the years, eight hours each day, these girls are there."
"So," shrugs Thames.
Linda rolls her eyes. "And so are their PreHeartBooks, you idiot. Um…I'm guessing you're not willing to destroy one and unleash a rain of light magic that will kill you?"
"Not. A. Chance."
"I thought so," sighs Linda, "Which means we have to do the next best thing. And by we, I mean you."
"And ya think I can trust ya!" snorts Thames in disbelief, "After what ya did to Xoanon?! You lie to him! Manipulated him! He was destroyed because of you!"
"Because this isn't about trust, Thames," states Linda. "This is about doing whatever it takes to win against the PreCure and make Kuroizado-sama victorious, to make him happy." Linda's eyes sparkle. "And, of course, become this world's new queen alongside Kuroizado-sama~!"
It was Thames's turn to roll his eyes, "Fine, fine. What's the plan?"
Nijiko and Kuiru are waiting on the end of Imari's street. Nijiko is impatiently glancing at her wrist watch and tapping her foot on the curb. She lets out a sigh of reflex when she spots Tomoka racing towards her with Bukku riding on her back. She is holding two baskets in her arms.
"S-Sorry I'm late!" gasps Tomoka out of breath. "I had to insist to my father that I didn't need a chauffeur. So embarrassing."
"No harm done, Cure Mythical," insists Kuiru.
"Is Imari okay~buku?" asks Bukku.
Nijiko shakes her head. "We haven't seen her yet after we got back. We were waiting for you guys. She needs all of us, you know."
Tomoka eyes darken. "I can't…I can't even imagine how Imari must be feeling right now." She perks up a bit and hold up the baskets. "So I thought I'd bring some sweets to help cheer her up. I tried to make them myself, but I messed them up so I had to get my private chef to make a second batch, but I thought I'd bring both anyways."
Nijiko looks inside the first basket. There were mouth-watering chocolate chips cookies inside. Baked to perfectly and a beautiful golden brown colour. The smell hit her nose and her stomach let out a small grumble. But, the other basket of cookies made Nijiko lose her appetite. They were funky-looking cookies if you could even call them cookies. They were a strange grey-brown colour and had meshed into bizarre shapes with the chocolate melting down.
A sweat drop appears on the side of Nijiko's head. "How the heck did you get them to look like that?"
"I accidently mistook the salt for the sugar and the flour with powdered sugar," explains Tomoka.
Nijiko chuckles as she pokes at Tomoka's sad excuse for a batch of cookies. "They look like melted faces. Please, kill me! I am a human being!"
Tomoka rolls her eyes. "Gee, thanks, Nijiko. That's exactly what I was going for. Not!"
"I would say 'it's the thought that counts', but maybe these cookies should have just stayed in your thoughts~buku," jokes Bukku, trying to hold back from laughing.
"You guys suck," pouts Tomoka.
Kuiru pats Tomoka on the shoulder. "Don't worry, Cure Mythical. I'm sure Cure Fable will love them~kuru."
"Then why don't you eat one, dear brother~buku," coos Bukku, raising an eyebrow.
Kuiru shakes with depression lines. "Um…I-I already ate~kuru. If I ate one more thing my stomach might explode~kuru! Dang it ~kuru!"
"If you did eat one of Tomoka's cookies, you're stomach would definitely explode!" laughs Nijiko.
The group burst into laughter, but are silence when Tomoka unleashes her ultimate scary-angry face. Face shadowed with terrifying ghost-white eyes glaring down at them and grinding her teeth furiously. "Stop mocking my cookies, you punks!"
The group shivers in fear of Tomoka's scary face. "T-The Ice Witch has returned!" stammers Nijiko frightened. "Run for your lives!"
Tomoka grabs Nijiko by the back of her collar and starts dragging her towards Imari's house. "We are going to see Imari. And if I hear one more peep about my cookies I'll kill you!"
"Kuriru! Bukku! Help me!" calls out Nijiko dramatically.
The brother's shrug their shoulder, "Sorry, Nijiko. We need to hide so no one else sees us~buku. But, we wish you good luck~buku!" The fairy prince's disappear inside the girls' PreHeartBooks.
"You traitors!" Nijiko cries out to the heavens.
Tomoka hauls Nijiko through the front patio with the petite tables and chairs with the cute pink-and-white striped umbrellas overtop and to the front door of Bell-Bell Café. The two friends stand in front of the white-painted front door with a red-and-white open sign through the door window.
Tomoka and Nijiko stare quietly at the door. Both girls exchange a look.
"Well, go on," ushers Nijiko. "Open the door."
Tomoka frowns. "You open the door!"
"Me?" snorts Nijiko. "It was your idea to some here!"
"Don't play that card," argues Tomoka. "Of course we'd come here. Imari is our friend!"
"You open the door!"
"No, Nijiko! You open the door!"
"Just open the stupid door already!"
Someone finally opens the door. But, it wasn't Tomoka or Nijiko. The door opens and the bell rings out. Imari's little sister, Izumi, pops her head out. "Hello! Welcome to Bell-Bell Café! Please—!"
Her eyes light up when she sees Tomoka and a bright smile spreads across her face, "—Ohime-sama! Omigosh! I haven't seen you in forever!"
Tomoka gives Izumi a polite grin. "It's good to see you too, Izumi."
Nijiko leans over to her friend. "Why did Mini Imari call you Ohime-sama?"
Izumi looks up curious at Nijiko. "Who are you?"
"Who am I?" asks Nijiko, dramatically looking out in the distance. "I am everything, yet nothing. I am a god, yet an ordinary human being. I am—"
"—This is Imari and my friend, Nijiko Ōmitsu," cuts in Tomoka.
Nijiko extends a friendly hand, "Nice to meet you, Mini Imari."
Izumi blinks up at Nijiko straight-faced. "I don't like you," she states bluntly.
Nijiko turns white with her shock face, "W-What?! Y-You don't…O-Oh…so you're a frank-as-heck Mini Imari."
"My name is Izumi!" she pouts. "Not Mini Imari, Avocado Head!"
"Avocado Head?" scuffs Nijiko. "Oh, so it is gonna be like that, Mini Imari. Well, fine then. Bring it on!"
Nijko and Izumi exchange a lightning glare and Tomoka quickly steps in between the two of them. "Actually, speaking of Imari, we're here to see her!"
"Nice segway," murmurs Nijiko to her.
Tomoka holds out her baskets. "We come bearing chocolate chip cookies!"
Izumi's eyes sparkle, "Ooooh! I love chocolate chip cookies!"
She reaches for Tomoka's garbo-cookies, but Nijiko quickly jumps in. "Don't do! Take the other cookies! Tomoka's cookies are a death trap!"
Tomoka angry-scary face looms over Nijiko, "She can have whatever cookies she wants!"
"Aaaanyways," steps in Nijiko. "We're just here to check up on your big sis. Where is she—?!"
"—Oh! Hey guys!" The door swings wide open and Tomoka and Nijiko spots Imari waving out the window of the kitchen pass. She had just finished platting an omurice on the pass and rung the bell with her mom, Mari, grabbing it and serving it to a table.
Imari ducks her head out and steps out of the kitchen to greet her friends, wiping her hand on her apron as she goes. She has the brightest smile on her face. "Well, this is a pleasant surprise!"
Tomoka and Nijiko exchange a puzzled expression, "Um, h-hey, Imari. How's it going?"
"It's great!" beams Imari. "Business is busy and I was just gonna head out to get some more groceries. The strawberry shortcake is really popular today!" Imari pats her little sister on the head. "I'll see you later, Izumi-chan!"
"Okay, Imari-neechan!" she grins.
With a grocery bag in hand, Imari steps out of Bell-Bell Café and Tomoka and Nijiko follow her. Nijiko takes the chance and grabs her friend by the shoulder. "No, Imari, seriously, are you alright?"
Imari faces her friends and gives them a wide smile, "Of course! Everything is great! Supreme smile power!"
Tomoka's eyes soften, "B-But, your PreHeartBook…"
"…Ohhhh. Is that why you guys are here?" realizes Imari. She gives her friends a huge grin. "You guys don't have to worry about me. I'm great!"
Tomoka anxiously bites her lip as she holds up her baskets. "W-Well, I-I baked you some sweets to help cheer you up."
Imari takes the two baskets and peeks inside. Tomoka stands nervously, fidgeting with her fingers. "I-I, um, I-I tried to baked my own, but I-I've never baked before so I messed them all up. So I had my private chef make them, but I…"
Imari takes out one of Tomoka's chocolate chip cookies and pops it in her mouth. Imari's silence is killing Tomoka as she watches her friend swallow and finish the cookie. Imari looks up and smile, "Yep! They're terrible."
Tomoka drowns in depression lines, "So embarrassing."
But, Imari takes Tomoka's basket and puts them inside her grocery bag. "Thank you so much, Tomoka."
Tomoka looks to her confused. "B-But, you just said they were terrible."
Imari beams warmly. "I know, but you took the time to make them for me ever though you never bake before just to cheer me up. So I want to have yours, Tomoka."
"Imari," smiles Tomoka.
Imari takes the perfect cookies. "I'll give these ones to my family. My Dad's greatest weakness is chocolate chip cookies!"
"So, you're a hundred-percent sure you're okay?" presses Nijiko.
Imari smiles tenderly. "I'm glad you guys are so worried about me. But, really, I'm fine. Better than fine! But, I gotta get going to the market. These groceries won't buy themselves, you know!"
With that, Imari takes off hiring down the street. She waves to her friends as she goes. "I'll be back soon! You guys go inside a have some omurice!"
Imari skips down the road into the Town Square. She hums a lovely tune to herself as she bounces light-heartedly down the street towards the market. "Going to the market~! La-la-la-la-la-la~! Gonna buy some food~! Nu-nu-nu-nu-nu-nu~! That will make their tummies happy~!"
Imari makes it to the market and starts humming to herself as she looks around at the various shops. "I am now in the market~! Na-na-na-na-na~! Looking for strawberries, eggs, and flour~!"
Imari quickly finds the right markets and buys her ingredients and speedily leaves just as soon as she got there. Imari swings her full bag of groceries back and forth, merrily continuing to sing her tune,"Strawberries, eggs, and flour~! I got the strawberries, eggs, and flour—!"
Imari was lost in song and wasn't paying attention to her surroundings. The next thing she knows, she knocks into without hard right in front of her and she loses her balance and falls to the ground right on her butt.
"Ahhhh mad," she huffs rubbing her bottom. "That's gonna leave a mark."
"What the heck is your problem, you klutz!" Imari gaze looks up puzzled and realizes that she had walk head-on into another person. "Jeez, have you eyes stopped working?" It was a boy. He was fallen down too and was angrily rubbing at a red mark on his forehead where Imari bonked.
"Omigosh!" Imari gasps as she bolts to her feet. "I'm so sorry! Here let me help you up!" She reaches her hand out to the guy.
He looks up at her extended hand then gazes up at her. He appears to be the same age as Imari. He has a pale complexion and dark purple hair with thick bangs and dark green eyes. He wore a black leather jacket with a dark orange dress shirt and turquoise undershirt, dark grey jeans, and black sneakers.
When their eyes met, Imari tips her head to the side and smiles friendly down at the guy. The boy's frustration immediately dissolved and his dark eyes fill with an emotion Imari couldn't quite put her finger on. The boy is hesitate at first to take Imari's hand, but he seems to shake the feeling away and reaches out and grabs hold of her offered hand.
Imari helps pull him back on his feet and he scrapes the dirt off from his leather jacket. "T-Thank you," murmurs the guy quietly.
Imari leans in with a cupped ear. "Sorry I didn't hear that. Could you repeat that?"
"I said thank you," mutters the boy.
"Still can't hear you~," coos Imari.
"I SAID I'M SORRY!" shouts the boy right in Imari's face.
Imari bursts out into giggles, "I'm just kidding you! You are very welcome!"
"Wait. Why am I the one apologizing!" roars the guy, pointing at Imari angrily. "You were the one who ran into me!"
"Eh, water under the bridge," shrugs off Imari. "Hi, I'm Imari Suzukawa!"
"I don't need to know your stupid name! You still need to apologize!" snaps the boy. "Quit trying to change the subject!"
Imari gives the boy a soft grin. "Aren't you gonna tell me your name?"
The boy lets out an irritated huff and glares at Imari. But, finally he lets out a short sigh. "My name is Th—Ryoma Aisaki."
Imari smiles brightly. "Well, it's very nice to meet you, Ryoma—AHHHHH!" Out of the blue, Imari lets out a cry of horror that nearly makes the boy jump out of his skin.
"What? What? What?!" he stammers, looking around panicked for any danger. "What is it?"
"My groceries!" cries out Imari, dramatically falling to her knees. She kneels over her grocery bag that she had accidently dropped when she fell. The eggs broke in the fall and were dripping from the bag, "Noooooo! The eggs have infected the strawberries and flour! Curse you salmonella!"
Imari looks up at the boy with tearful eyes and he rolls his eyes in disbelief. "Just go back and buy more."
Imari looks through her purse. "Can I buy strawberries, eggs, and flour with 1,000 yen?"
"No you cannot!" snaps Ryoma, "How much did they cast the first time?!"
"I can't remember," whimpers Imari.
"Omigod, you are hopeless," he grunts.
Imari grabs Ryoma by the arm and gives him her best puppy dog eyes. "Pleeease help me!"
The boy raises an eyebrow distastefully, "Um, no—!"
"Let's go!" cheers Imari as she pulls Ryoma by the arm straight back to the market.
"ARE YOU DEAF? I SAID NO!"
A long strand of drool dandles from Nijiko's mouth as the delirious aroma of the kitchen wafts into the dining room hits her nose.
Tomoka points her friend in the cheek. "Ew, Nijiko! That's gross!"
Nijiko whips her drool off with her sleeve. In the booth, Tomoka inches herself away from her drool-covered sleeve. Nijiko instantly notices this and gives her friend a mischievous grin, "Oh, Tomoka. Is the rich princess grossed out by my poor hygiene?"
Nijiko shoves her sleeves in Tomoka face, "No, no, no!" she squirms, batting Nijiko away. "Get away! Get away!"
Imari's mother, Mari, approaches the two girls with a bright smile and sets a small giggle slip through her lips. "You two are such close friends."
Nijiko and Tomoka both exchange a perplexed look, "Uh…what?"
Izumi pops her head out behind her mom with a confused look too. "What the heck are you talking about, Mom? All they've done this they got here was bicker and buttheads."
Mari grins. "Of course, but that's what makes them so close! You know what they say; if you wanna find out who's a true friend, screw up or go through a challenging time then see who sticks around."
"Yeah," Nijiko smirks playfully. "And weren't you fangirling over me when we first met, Tomoka?"
"Don't remind me," groans Tomoka.
Mari places scrumptious pork cutlet bowls in front of the girls.
Tomoka nervously bites her bottom lip. "Um, we didn't order…"
Mari gives her a wink. "This meal is on the house; especially for friends of my daughter."
"T-Thank you," bows Tomoka politely as Mari move on to the next table.
However, Nijiko doesn't share her friend's gratitude. She dives right in and stuffs herself silly with the fried pork and shredded cabbage. Nijiko smiles at Tomoka and lets the grease run down her chin. Tomoka make a sick face, her forehead turns blue and her eyes hidden behind her glasses.
"What?" says Nijiko innocently, whipping the grease from her chin with the same sleeve. "It's good. I can see where Imari gets her great cooking skills from."
Nijiko lets out a laugh and Tomoka looks to her curiously. "What? What's so funny?"
Nijiko shakes her head, "Nothing. It's just that…Imari didn't strike me as the cooking-type when we first met. Whenever I tried to picture her cooking, I either saw her burning down the café or her accidently cutting off her hand."
Nijiko snickers to herself and Tomoka bursts into laughter. Nijiko blinks in surprise and Tomoka smiles. "I was thinking the same thing when I first came here too actually. Imari always finds a way to surprise us, doesn't she?"
Nijiko nods. "Yeah, she sure does."
Tomoka suddenly saddens. "I was actually a bit surprised that Imari seems so…cheerful. I though she be depressed or something. Not cheerful."
"Me too," murmurs Nijiko as she takes another bite of pork. "I guess we don't know Imari as well as we thought."
Just then, the bell of the front door of the café rings out and Mari turns to greet the new customer. Her face lights up. "Oh! Hello, Yū-chan! I haven't seen you for a while."
Imari's best friend, Yū Shiraishi, skips into Bell-Bell Café, her fluffy honey blonde hair bounces with her movement and her sweet hazel eyes shining. It was nice to see Yū out of her school uniform. Come to think of it, this was the first Tomoka and Nijiko had ever seen Yū out of school. She wasn't the richest girl in the world, but she was dressed with delicately in a light green summer dress covered in pink tulips.
Yū smiles back, "Good morning, Mari-san. My tummy is singing for your world famous omurice please!"
"Coming right up," grins Mari as she jots it down and heads to the kitchen.
"Yū-chan!" beams Izumi as she races over Imari's best friend.
Yū picks her up and swings Izumi around. "It's great to see you too, Izumi-chan!" She puts Izumi down, and when she does, she spots Tomoka and Nijiko at the booth looking back at her. Her hazel eyes fill with puzzlement, "F-Fukumoto-senpai? Ōmitsu-senpai?"
"Yo," says Nijiko simply.
Yū grabs a chair from one of the tables and join the girls at their booth. "Well this is a surprise. W-What are you guys doing here?"
"U-Um," mumbles Tomoka, anxiously grabbing at her skirt.
"We're here to check up on Imari," explains Nijiko, taking another bite of pork. "But you just missed her. She's at the market."
"Oh," nods Yū, curiously tipping her head to the side. "D-Did something happen to Imari-chan?"
"Sort of," shrugs Nijiko.
The three girls are quiet for the longest time after that. The awkward silence was painful. It wasn't until Mari serves Yū her omurice that Tomoka had to courage to speak up, "Um, S-Shiraishi. Can I…Can I ask you something?"
"Shmur," says Yū with a full-mouth.
Tomoka nervously tightens to grip on her skirt, making it wrinkle. "Y-You're Imari's best friend. You know her better than anyone." Yū nods along. "I'm sure how to say this…but, when something bad happens, how does Imari…handle it?"
"Is this about Aramaki-senpai?" asks Yū.
Tomoka exchange a look with Nijiko, "Um…sure."
"No disrespect Ōmitsu-senpai," says Yū, putting down her chopsticks. "I know Aramaki-senpai was your best friend once upon a time.
"Don't worry about this," shrugs off Nijiko.
"But, I didn't how about any of it. That Aramaki-senpai was picking on Imari. Not until that day out in the patio," murmurs Yū. "Imari never said anything."
Tomoka eyes fill with confusion, "B-But why?"
"Because that's who she is." Mari takes a seat beside the girls. "Sorry, but I couldn't help over hearing you girls talking about my daughter. I might be able to help shed some light on what's going on."
"What do you mean?" asks Nijiko confused.
Mari eyes soften. "Well, when my Imari-chan was very little, we had a family kitten named Mochi. Imari-chan loved that cat. But, one day, Mochi got hit by a car and passed away. Osamu and I thought Imari-chan would burst into tears. But, she gave us a wide smile instead. We were glad she was handling things okay. However, one night, when Osamu and I were heading to bed, we could hear Imari-chan crying alone in her room. The next day, she had a beaming smile on her face."
"That's the kind of person Imari-chan is," nods Yū.
Tomoka narrows her eyes. "I-I'm sorry. I-I don't quite understand."
Mari smiles tenderly. "Imari-chan has never told me herself, but I'm her mother and I understand her feelings. She doesn't want others to worry about her. She never wants to burdens others with her own troubles. Imari-chan wants everyone to always be happy. So she puts on a brave smile and carries her burdens alone. But, Imari always takes on other people's burdens too. She puts the weight of the world on her shoulders and wears that smile of hers like a mask."
Tomoka and Nijiko exchange a look and share silent words. The two share a nod and stand up from the booth. "Thank you very much for the help, Suzukawa, Shiraishi. I think we understand what we have to do now."
"Let's go find Imari," says Nijiko.
Tomoka and Nijiko head for the door and Mari follows them. She reaches out and grabs Tomoka arm. She faces her and Mari's dark pink-coloured eyes at locked with her. "I don't want you to misunderstand. I love my daughter and carrying everyone's hopes and dreams is what her strong. But, please take care of my Imari-chan for me.
Tomoka eyes refuse to waver when she nods. "We will. I promise." She looks to Nijiko as she opens the front door. "Let's go, Nijiko."
"Thanks for helping me carry the grocery bags back to Bell-Bell Café for me!" beams Imari cheerfully as she skips through the market.
A big, red cross-popping vein sticks out of the side of Ryoma's head. "That's for your thanking me for?! How about paying for all of this?! How about not ditching you when you tripped over a box of tomatoes and then having to pay for the tomatoes you crushed and ruined?!"
"Oh yeah," realizes Imari. "I guess thanks for that too."
"THAT DIDN'T SOUND SINCERE AT ALL!" snaps Ryoma in disbelief.
"Oh look!" gasps Imari, racing over to the nearest shop, "Dango!" Ryoma lets out an irritated sigh and follows her. Imari points at the bakery display cast.
Ryoma follows what she points and sees shelves upon shelves of small balls of dough in a stick; three of each. Some had strange colours, some were covered in a white powder or golden sauce, but they are looked mouth-watering.
Ryoma hungry licks his lips. "They look like lollipops!"
Imari shakes her head with a giggle. "These are not lollipops. They're sweet dumplings. They're called dango."
"I. Want. One."
Imari grins and looks at all the options. "Well, which one do you want? There's anko dango, chadango, bocchan dango, denpun dango, kuri dango, chichi dango, hanami dango, goma dango, kibi dango, kinako dango, kushi dango, mitarashi dango, nikudango, teppanyaki dango, or sasa dango."
Ryoma eyes are buggy out as he stares at Imari completely lost and overwhelmed. "Uh...W-Which one is your favourite?"
Imari looks through the display and points out a batch of dango. "I personally love the hanami dango. They're the pink, white, and green ones."
Imari waves the server over to them, "Two hanami dango please!" Ryoma curiously watches the server pull out two sticks of sweet dumplings and hands them both to Imari as she places the rest of her money into the server's hand.
Imari turns to the boy and holds out one of the hanami dango and for him and gives him a bright smile. "This is thanks for all your help, Ryoma."
Ryoma's eyebrow pull together and he looks away, but quietly takes the hanami dango and sticks it in his mouth. "Thanks," he grumbles as he swings the grocery bag over his shoulder and walks out of the shop. Imari skips behind him.
She takes the pink-coloured sweet dumpling off the top and pops it in her mouth. "Oh, this is so good~! It's like taking a bite of a cherry blossom~!"
Ryoma scoffs at this. "You think dango taste like a cherry blossom?"
"Well…" hums Imari. "…Let's find out!"
Imari stops a cherry blossom tree at the edge of the market and races towards it. The boy rolls his eyes and follows her. Standing up on her tippy toes, Imari reaches up and snatches a blossom from the tree. She takes off a single petal and pops it in her mouth.
Her whole body trembles and make her lips scrunch up and turns her face a shade of sick green, "Nope! Haha! Definitely tastes nothing like dango!" she laughs with a wide smile to the boy.
Ryoma gives her a cold look. "You're not fooling anyone with that forced smile." In a state of shock, Imari's smile collapses and she loses her grip on the blossom and it flutters to the ground.
The boy pushes himself past her and sits down under the cherry blossom, pulling at his legs, pressing them into his chest and burying his face into his knees. Imari quietly walks over to him and sits down beside him.
Imari stares at the boy soundly for a long moment before speaking up. "Hey, are you okay?"
Ryoma slightly lifts up his head but his dark green eyes look away from her. "Yes…no…I don't know!" His feet fidget, like he was hesitating to say anymore. "I…I lost someone recently okay!"
"Oh," blinks Imari in surprise. "Were…were you close?"
"No!" he snaps. "I mean, yes! I mean…I don't know!" His eyes are like a storm. Flurries of emotions races through them; sadness, rage, sorrow, despair, but all sporadic and clashing with each other, "I don't…I don't know who he was to me."
"That's good."
Ryoma's head snap up and looks over to Imari perplexed. She's looking up at the clear blue sky and smiling to herself. "If you're unsure about how you feel about someone you lost. That means your heart is confused. So maybe he meant more to you than you realized."
The boy looks at the ground. "Maybe," he mumbles.
Imari goes to take the last bite of her hanami dango, but stops herself and hands it to Ryoma. "Here. You can have mine. Sweets are the perfect cure for a hurt heart, you know."
"Where'd you here that?" mutters Ryoma.
"Nowhere," beams Imar. "I just came up with it!"
A small chuckle escapes Ryoma mouth and smirks up at Imari. "You are a strange one, Pi—Imari Suzukawa." Imari leans over and cheekily grins at Ryoma, "W-What?"
Imari's eyes sparkle. "I finally got you to smile."
Ryoma lets out an annoyed snort and Imari can't help but giggle.
"ENDINGU!" Imari's blood runs cold as that cry hits her ears. She sees a looming shadow strike out from around the corner of the market and jumps into action.
"Look out!" gasps Imari as she pushes Ryoma out of the way and guard him with her body.
This is bad, Imari panics. I gotta transform!
She reaches for her bag and reaches inside for her PreHeartBook. She puts her hands inside and accidently pulls out a bag of flour. No, no, no! My PreHeartBook! Where is it!
Imari opens the bag up wide and looks inside. Eggs, sugar, strawberries, but no PreHeartBook. Where is it? Where is it?! Where—!
Then, Imari drops the bag and her whole body turns colds. All at once, the memories start to flow back. Desolate Castle, Kuroizado, Xoanon, the explosion, her PreHeartBook. Xoanon is gone, her PreHeartBook is gone, she can't transform, she can't be Cure Fable anymore.
"Uh…Imari?" says Ryoma, grabbing her by the arm and pulls her off. "You might need to get some glasses. I don't think that's an Endingu." He points back to the frightening shadow and Imari follows his gaze.
The giant shadow splits off and a group of little kids come racing around the corner. The last kid is wearing a Noh mask and scary his friends, "Endingu! Endingu! Boo!"
"Stop it," giggles one of the kids. "You're so scary!" The group of kids run past Imari and Ryoma they stand up together and watch them go.
Quietly, Imari brushes off the grass from her skirt and picks up her grocery bag. "Thank you for all your help, but I can take it from here."
Ryoma raises an eyebrow. "Uh, are you sure?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine," says Imari, giving the boy a brave smile. "But, I hope I'll get to see you again."
"Don't worry," smirks Ryoma, "Are paths will close very soon."
Imari narrows her eyes confused for a moment, but shakes it off and takes off running down the road. She looks back one last time and waved to the boy. "Bye, Ryoma!"
The boy watches Imari go until she disappears out of sight. A wicked smile spreads across his face and a flash of red echoes across his eyes. "See you soon…Pinky."
"Imari! Imari!" calls Tomoka and she and Nijiko walk down the street towards the market for their friend.
"Darn it Imari. Where are you?" huffs Nijiko.
With no one around them, Bukku and Kuiru pop out of their PreHeartBooks. Kuiru flies out ahead beside Nijiko while Bukku jumps into Tomoka's arms.
"How does that idiot get lost from going to the market~buku?" pouts Bukku, crossing his paws in front of him.
"I'm sure that's not it at all, Bukku," assures Tomoka.
"We should have brought a chocolate cake with us~buku," states Bukku. "A slice of that bad boy and Imari would come sprinting~buku!"
The group let out a soft laugh, but distress creeps back over their shoulders and their smiles vanish. A silent serious aura swarmed around them as they hurry to find their friend. As they walk up a tall hill, their eyes darting around for the short girl with chestnut brown hair with her cute, pink-and-yellow crisscross hairclip and sparkling pink-coloured eyes.
"Guys?"
At the top of the hill, there is Imari, standing alone with a full grocery bag in one hand and her eyes full of confusion. "What are you guys doing here? I thought you were gonna wait for me at Bell-Bell Café?"
Tomoka swallows nervously. "W-We were. But…"
"We're worried about you, you idiot~buku!" speaks up Bukku bluntly.
Imari sighs. "Guys, I told you, I'm fine." Her friends' eyes fill with worry and she frantically waves her arms wildly, "Really guys! It's no big deal, you know! Everything will work itself out! Supreme smile power, remember? I'm fine—"
"—This is all my fault!"
Everything looks up to Nijiko. Her face is shadowed as she looks down at the ground with her fists are clenched. "If I wasn't so reckless, if I hadn't charged in to fight Kuroizado, none of this would have ever happened. I'm so, so sorry, Imari."
Overwhelmed, Imari anxiously reaches her hand out to her friend. "No, no! It's okay, Nijiko—"
"—I should have been there too!" lets out Tomoka. "If I had just been faster, if I hadn't froze I could have transformed and helped you fight. But, I didn't."
"No, no! Don't say that, you guys!" gasps Imari. "None of this was any of your faults—"
"But, this is how we feel, Imari!" cries Nijiko. "This is the burden we've been trying to carry alone."
"But, we're a team," nods Tomoka. "We have each other to rely on, to help carry our burdens together."
Nijiko pushes past Tomoka and grabs Imari angrily by the shoulders. "They're four of us, you know. They're four PreCure who are meant to save our two worlds. We're friends, Nijiko. We're here for you. To fight by your side and help carry your burdens."
Imari is taken aback and tries to pull away, but can't escape her friend's grasp as she digs into her shirt. "Isn't that what you told me, Imari? You don't have to carry everyone's burdens alone! We're here for you! We want you to honest with us and yourself!"
"Stop it, Nijiko!" cries Imari, trying to pulls away. "Stop it!"
Tomoka tries to step in, "Nijiko! Enough—!"
Kuiru holds out his paw and stop Tomoka. "No, let them~kuru."
"Tell us how you're really feeling, Imari!" shouts Nijiko with tears burning at her eyes, trying to look her friend in the eye, "What make your heart hurt?! What makes you frustrated?! We want to know all of it! We want to help carry your burdens too! Don't hide behind a forced smile for us! Be honest, Imari!"
"Let me go! Let me go! LET ME GO!" screams Imari.
Nijiko refuses to back down and grabs at Imari's wrists. "Face your feelings, Imari! Your PreHeartBook is gone! You can't transform anymore! You can't be Cure Fable anymore—"
"—I KNOW THAT!"
The world went silent. No one could hear a thing. Not the cool spring breeze sweeping through the fluffy petals of cherry blossom trees, the sound of car tires kissing the segment as their drive by, or the sweet sound of singing birds. All any of them could hear was the sound of their own heartbeat and Imari's tears streaming down her cheeks and pitter-patter to the ground.
Imari tries to wipe away her tears with her sleeve, but the tear refuse to hide any longer. "I-I know I can't be C-Cure Fable anymore," she cries in-between sobs. "B-But, I thought…I thought I had finally, finally found a place where I belonged."
Imari looks up at her friends and smiles with her burning tears falling everlasting down her face. "B-But, I guess…I don't belong anywhere—!"
Nijiko and Tomoka wrap their arms around Imari. With tears in both eyes, they bury their face into each of her shoulders, "—You will always belong, Imari," cries Tomoka.
"Cure Fable will always be inside you," smiles Nijiko through her tears. "You are the Pretty Cure of Dreams! That can never be taken away from you! You will always be a part of us and we will always be a part of you! You will always be a part of Fairytale Pretty Cure! No matter what!"
Bukku hops over Tomoka's shoulder and grabs hold of Imari, each paw on either side of her face. "We will find a way to turn you back into Cure Fable. I promise~buku."
"Bukku," beams Imari with eyes sparkling with tears. "Thank you, you guys! I love you all!"
Linda is in deep thought at her desk when someone walks into her office. She looks up and smirks. "So, how was your first day in the big scary world…Ryoma Aisaki?"
The dark purple-haired boy strolls into the wall and leans up against the back wall. "Tsk. What a dumb name. What's it with humans havin' two names anyways?"
"Then why are you still using the Mask Spell?" asks Linda curiously.
"'Cause I look goood~," coos the boy, striking a pose.
"You look like a weak human," snorts Linda. "Change back before my instincts kick in to destroy you."
The boy rolls his eyes and snaps his fingers. In a burst of dark purple sparkles, his hair turns grey-lavender, his stubby ears become pointed elf ears, and his eyes back to bright green with blue markings down them once again.
"You wouldn't believe how hard it was holdin' back from using magic." He snaps at the collar of his leather jacket and it turns back to the short-sleeved turquoise jacket. "Or flying—god—I tried a dozen times!" The young boy twirls the hanami dango with his fingers before popping it in his mouth.
"Don't worry," grins Linda wickedly, leaning her head into her arms. "It will all be worth it when you slip through the cracks and steal their PreHeartBooks…Thames."
Next Time on Fairytale Pretty Cure!
Imari: Oh wow! We're getting a new transfer student?
Tomoka: Hey, I think he want to be our friend, Imari!
Imari: Really? That would be great!
Thames: Hey there. Ryoma is my name and stealing your PreHeartBook is my game!
Imari: Uh? Did you say something?
Thames: Uh…nothing!
Imari: New Transfer Student! Thames's Mission!