Hey! It's SAYkokoro with the next episodes! Woo! Fireworks! Explosions! Thanking very once again to enarmonios for reviewing my story and also Guest,you know who you are ;) I also hit 9k views a while back so I just wanted to have a little happy moment about that :D hope you all enjoy!

*Please excuse all spelling and grammar errors

OP: Your Story Fairytale Pretty Cure! – written by SAYkokoro

ED: DREAM! DREAM! DREAM! ~Waking Up Your Future~

Episode 27: |The Melody of Wisdom! Secrets We Share!|

"And now presenting, the greatest violist in the universe, Tooomoookaaazuuu Fuuukuuumoootooo!"

"Oniisan," claps young Tomoka as she jitters excitedly in her elder brother's lap.

"Haaah! The crowd's going wild!" cheers Toshihiro as he holds up his baby sister's hands and excitedly sways their arms back and forth.

"Thank you. Thank you, ladies and gentleman," bows Tomokazu playfully. "Really, you're too kind. But, keep going."

The small Tomoka lets out a bubbly laugh as she bounces up and down. "Kazu-oniisan, play, play, play!"

"You heard the lady, Tomokazu," Toshihiro smirks.

"Loud and clear," he nods, brushing his overgrown bangs out of his eyes and readjusting his oversized glasses that refuse to stay in place. "The song I shall be performing this evening is Senbonzakura in D Minor."

"Try saying that five times fast," chuckles Toshihiro.

Tomokazu pushes up his big glasses again with the back of his hand as he picks up his violin in one hand and the bow with the other. He fixes his posture and leans his jaw up against the chinrest. With the bow hovering over the violin's strings, he gazes up through his thick bangs at his big brother and little sister sitting crisscross on the floor, ready for his greatest performance yet.

Toshihiro gives him a thumbs-up and, with that, Tomokazu presses his fingers down on the strings and brings to play.

Tomoka's light blue eyes widen as the beautiful music pores out of the wooden violin. The song is joyfully fast paced with a strong sense of elegance to it. But, it isn't just the violin that is captivating. Tomoka's brother eyes beam as his confidence grew with each note. It was like him and the violin were dancing together. His body moved with the violin, his fingers waltzing over the strings and his arms swinging along with the bow.

Tomoka closes her eyes and imagines herself being surrounded by thousands of cherry blossom trees. Spinning, twirling, and jumping with the delicate pale-pink petals dancing all around her; their soft touch on Tomoka's fingers and face like warm hugs.

As the song gets faster and faster, Tomokazu playfully teeters back and forth with the notes as he becomes utterly consumed in the song. His chin-length hair falling over his face and his fingers are a blur until he strikes the final note.

Tomoka's eyes burst open when she realizes the song is over. She ecstatically jumps to her feet and surprises her big brother with a huge hug. The small girl barely comes up to his waist. "I saw it, Kazu-oniisan! I saw the cherry blossom trees!"

Tomokazu blinks wide-eyed down at his sunny-faced sister. "I closed my eyes and I could see the cherry blossoms!"

Her older brother bursts into a shining smile and kneels down to capture her enchanted expression. "Were the cherry blossoms nice?"

"They were beautiful!" beams Tomoka, reaching her stubby arms out as wide as she can in hopes to measure her joy.

"I think you just got yourself your number one fan, Tomokazu," Toshihiro grins with warmth in his icy-blue eyes.

"That's right," says Tomoka as she points her finger at her elder brother. "So deal with it, Hiro-oniisan! You're stuck only being Kazu-oniisan's number two fan!"

Toshihiro leans back and laughs. "I think I can live with that."

"Who knows," Tomokazu muses as he places his precious violin in its case. "Maybe someday I'll get to play in front of hundreds! Thousands! Millions!" Tomokazu runs his hand along the grey-coloured violin case, stopping to outline the kanji of the family name engraved on the side with his finger. "Wouldn't that be something?"

Tomoka pouts. "Well, when you do have a bazillion or a huffle-wufflillion of fans just don't forget about me!"

Tomokazu eyes soften as he ruffles the top of Tomoka's head affectionately. "I wouldn't dream of it, Moka-chan."

"Do you think you could play it again?" asks young Tomoka eagerly popping her head out from behind the violin case. "Senbonzakura? Can you play that song again and again and again?"

Tomokazu smiles. "Of course."

"Oh! And Hiro-oniisan too!" grins Tomoka. "And mother and father!"

Tomokazu's smile falters. "I don't think father would like that, Moka-chan."

Tomoka blinks in confusion. "W-why not? I'm sure father would love to hear Senbonzakura. I bet it would make him smile so big!"

"Sorry, Moka-chan," says Tomokazu, his smile turning sad. "But, Senbonzakura is our secret song."

"Secret song?" echoes Tomoka.

"Yep," nods Tomokazu. "A secret, special song that's gonna belong only to the Fukumoto Siblings." Tomokazu looks up to Toshihiro who nods in return. "Senbonzakura is ours. No mother. No father. Got it?"

Tomoka smiles brightly up at her two older brothers. "Okay~!"

Indigo hair? No, dark purple.

Blue eyes? No, dark green.

Girl? No, unless this human is just incredibly flat-chested.

This left only one logical conclusion.

"You are definitely not Tomoka," concludes Bukku, looking up at Ryoma Aisaki.

Ryoma nods at this. Honestly, a little thrown-off by the pudgy little fairy prince standing before him. Didn't know that little sucker could fit inside a PreHeartBook. "You're right. I'm not,"

"Either that or you got a thousand-times uglier than before~buku," states Bukku.

Ryoma nearly loses it and falls flat on his head. T-that's what you say?! You're found out and that's the first thing out of your mouth?! Are you freaking kidding me?!

"I think you meant I am ruggedly good-looking," corrects Ryoma as he flashes the fairy his best smile.

"…"Bukku blinks up at him. "Nope~buku. Definitely ugly~buku."

Ryoma's right eye twitches. "Geez, what a charming space ferret you are." He makes himself take a deep breath and musters a grin. "Why don't we try this again, shall we? My name is Tha—Ryoma Aisaki."

Bukku lifts up a paw at Ryoma. "Your name doesn't matter, Tha-Ryoma-Aisaki. 'Cause I'll be destroying you in a second~buku."

"W-what?" stammers Ryoma.

"Don't say I didn't warn you," says Bukku simply as he stand up on his hind legs. "Now, prepare to face the wrath of the amazing and powerful Prince Bukku De La Hope Wish Von Dream Star!"

With that, the small fairy springs into action, launching off Tomoka's PreHeartBook and pounces at Ryoma, landing right on his face.

"Attack~buku!" Bukku starts scratching Ryoma's face, his small claws barely pressing into the skin. The prince nips down on his cheekbone, but it feels more like a tickle.

Wow, thinks Ryoma with a roll of his eyes. Careful, big guy, don't want to break a nail. Wait, do fairies even have nails. Or fingers for that matter.

"Okay, okay, tough guy, that's enough," chuckles Ryoma as the fairy prince continues his attempt of a vicious attack on his face.

Bukku kicks Ryoma, his paws like pillows as he climbs up his face to try and bite at his ear.

"I said stop it," huffs Ryoma. Okay, this is starting to get annoying.

Bukku stubbornly continues to attack Ryoma with pokes to his eyes and using his nose as a punching bag "Take this and this and some of these~buku!"

"Would you stop!" snaps Ryoma as he begins to irritably pry the fairy prince off his face.

"Never~buku!" declares Bukku as he digs his claws into Ryoma's cheeks and hind legs into his jaw. Ryoma tries to pull harder and harder. In their struggle, Ryoma falls over and rolls around on the carpet, trying and trying to shake off the pigheaded prince. Bukku response to this by biting down hard on Ryoma's nose. "Ow! You little—!"

Suddenly, the bedroom door opens and Ryoma and Bukku both freeze in place, the fairy's teeth still clamped down on Ryoma's nose and Ryoma's hands stuck wrapped around the prince's body as he was trying to yank him off.

Imari and Masato are looking down at the two of them. Imari is holding the cold glass of water she went to fetch Ryoma. They all look at each other with wide eyes.

Masato blinks once. Twice. "Is that a rat? I'll go get a broom."

"W-wait, wait, wait," stammers Imari. "It's not—" Masato already ducked out.

"—A rat~buku?!" scoffs Bukku in completely disbelief. "How dare you~buku! I am the Prince of Fanciful Kingdom, you—!"

"—Aisaki-kōhai," warns Masato as he charges back into the room with a broom in hand. He raises the broom into the air over Ryoma's head, "Don't move."

"NYGAAHHHH!" yells Ryoma and Bukku in alarm. The fairy prince quickly leaps out of the way and Ryoma is whacked right in the face with the broom.

"Um…ow," mumbles Ryoma against the broom still slammed in his face.

Masato eyes dart down to where Bukku managed to jump to safety. "Get back here, you stupid rat!" snaps Masato as he starts chasing Bukku around Tomoka's room.

"No, no, no! Masato, stop!" cries Imari as she tries to get his attention.

Meanwhile, Ryoma scribbles back onto his feet and look down at Tomoka's blue PreHeartBook still sitting on the floor. He swiftly tries to reach for it.

"Oh, we're not don't yet Tha-Ryoma-Aisaki~buku!" declares Bukku as he darts towards Ryoma, bearing with stubby fangs.

Ryoma lets out a yelp and runs around the room to get away from Bukku's ankle-biting teeth.

"—Bukku, stop—"

As Ryoma runs frantically around the bedroom, he looks behind and sees the vicious fairy prince and the butler with the broom hoist over his head and a crazed look in his eyes. "You're freaks! All of you!"

"—Ryoma!"

It's all a mess. Imari is chasing Masato who is chasing Bukku who is running away from Masato while trying to chase Ryoma who is trying to run away from both Masato and Bukku.

Imari lets out an annoyed huff as she stops. She watches the boys cause havoc to Tomoka's room completely unimpressed. With that, Imari takes a deep breath. "STOP RIGHT NOOOOOOW!"

Masato freezes mid-swing, Bukku stops right in the middle of biting the top of Ryoma's head, and Ryoma halts in mid-panic.

All eyes are on Imari as she lets out a built up sigh and put both hands on her hips. "Okay, first off: Masato, that isn't a rat. That's a fairy and his name is Bukku. Second, Bukku, get your mouth out of Ryoma's head. I don't imagine that tastes very good. Third, Ryoma, I'm glad to see that your headache seems to be gone. Of course, I'd believe you if you told me you couldn't feel it over all the bites and scratches on your face from a mixture of Bukku's teeth and claws and Masato's broom."

Gingerly, Bukku releases his teeth out of Ryoma's matted hair as he gazes up at Masato whose eyes are the size of two moons. "Um…haha…what's up, bro~buku?"

Masato drops the broom and blinks down on Bukku. "I-it's talking! He's…he's talking!He's a—you're a—a what?"

"Yeeeeah," says Bukku, sheepishly fixing his crooked crown. "I may be a fairy prince from another world~buku. And by maybe I mean I am~buku. And by a fairy prince from another world, I mean I'm literally a fairy prince from another world~buku. Haha~buku. H-how's your day going, Masato~buku?"

Masato's mouth hangs open. "…~b-buku?" He shakes his head. "W-wait, wait, wait. H-how do you know my name?"

"Oh, I know all about you, Jerk Face~buku," snorts Bukku. Masato flinches at this. "Ah, sorry, I've wanted to say that to your face for forever~buku. But, I promised Tomoka I'd stop calling you that behind your back~buku. Oopsy daisy~buku. Old habits die hard, I guess~buku."

Everyone can see the gears turning in Masato's head as he struggles to respond. "You…you're…y-you know Tomo—I mean—you know F-Fukumoto-san?"

"Uh, duh. By the way, for the love of light magic could you stop stammers over her name—I mean—seriously, it's annoying~buku," mimics Bukku with a roll of his eyes.

Masato frowns. "You know, for a fairy prince from another world, you're not particularly…nice."

"I could say the same thing to you~buku," grunts Bukku. "But…"—he huffs—"I know about you, Masato. With your family's scandal~buku. And…and I understand to some degree~buku. That's why I forgave you~buku. You know, for lashing out at Imari."

Masato gazes dumbfounded at Imari, but once their eyes connect, he can't hold it and his grey-coloured eyes flicker to the ground. "I-I'm sorry about that."

Bukku nods his head. "I know. Things like jealously can make people say hurtful things sometimes~buku." Bukku shifts his focus now to the purple-haired boy. "I know who you are too, Ryoma Aisaki."

Ryoma's face flushes. Oh god. He knows! He knows! He knows I'm Thames! I. Am. Screwed.

"Mr. Transfer Student," coos Bukku. "Mr. Hotshot. Mr. I'm-so-cool-for-wearing-a-leather-jacket~buku."

Ryoma hide a sigh of relief. Thank dark magic. He's just meant the "me" from school. The Ryoma Aisaki "me".

"I am cool," states Ryoma, snapping the collar of his leather jacket.

Still a bit dazed, Masato grabs Imari by the arm, her good arm. "Imari, you—how—you know this…fairy? Y-you and Fukumoto-san? How?" Masato moves towards the door. "I need to see Fukumoto-san. I need to hear this from her."

"Masato." Imari grabs his hand with her good one and stops him in his tracks. "I want to tell you. I really do. But, not here. Not now."

"Ryoma." Despite her injury, she reaches out for his too. "Both of you. You can't tell anybody about Bukku. I'm serious. You guys have to keep this a secret. Please."

"I'm gonna have to challenge a bit of Kuiru's mature and responsible crud here, but you have to understand~buku," says Bukku as he hops up from Tomoka's desk to Imari's shoulder, "We don't want to put either of you in danger~buku."

"D-danger?" echoes Masato, hastily tightening his fists. "What kind of danger? I-is Fukumoto-san in danger too? No. no, no, no. Fukumoto-san would have said something. Tomoka would have told me!"

"Tomoka's only trying to protect you~buku," Bukku tries to explain.

"No, that's not how it's supposed to work!" exclaims Masato. "I don't need to be protected! I'm the one who supposed to protect her! She's…she's…" Masato storms past Imari and Bukku.

"Masato, wait!" calls Imari, but Masato takes off down the corridor.

Ryoma eyes follow the young butler. "Tsk."

Masato Kashima. You truly are a joke. It doesn't take a genius to figure out the kind of person you are. Two-faced. You act strong, sharp, and formal with your elite standing at school as student council president and captain of the kendo team, but the sad truth is, you're just a spineless follower. Like a helpless puppy. Following Tomoka around because that's the only thing you know how to do and who only stands up for yourself and others when it's convenient for you. Lost without your master aren't you, Masato Kashima? Just like m—

Ryoma growls in his throat as he shakes his head. Get yourself together, Thames. There's no time for this now. Stay in character.

Ryoma takes a breath to regain his composure as he turns to Imari. "Look, I don't fully understand what's going on, but I promise I won't tell anybody."

Ryoma can literally see Imari's relief as her tense shoulders fall. "R-really?"

"Of course," nods Ryoma, holding back from smirking mischievously. "Your secret is safe with me."

Imari lungs forward and ambushes Ryoma with a big hug. "Thank you, Ryoma! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"N-no problem," stammers Ryoma as his face heats up. He quickly pries away from Imari. "N-now come on. W-we better get after Kashima before he does something stupid."

"Looks like Leather-Jacket Boy's got some brain~buku," chimes Bukku as he hops into Imari's arms. "Grab Tomoka's PreHeartBook and let's get going~buku."

"Roger-roger," Imari grins as she bends down and picks up the bright blue PreHeartBook.

No, no, no, no, no!

But then, Imari winces as she tries to pick it up with her injured arm and the PreHeartBook falls to the floor.

"H-here let me," steps in Ryoma, eyeing down the PreHeartBook. "I'll get that for you."

"Yeah, I don't think so, Romeo," cuts in Bukku as he swaps from Imari's hold to Ryoma, leaning smugly into his arms. "We'll see how good your word is, ladies' man~buku. For now, you're stuck with me~buku."

Ryoma opens his mouth to protest, but sees Imari reach for the PreHeartBook with her good hand and carefully rubbing her harmed arm. Ryoma holds his tongue. "No problem. Whatever makes me the most useful."

"Good~buku," muses Bukku. "Then let's chase down that jerk-faced butler~buku."

"Bukku," warns Imari.

Bukku shrugs. "Sorry, not sorry~buku."

As the three of them leave the room, only one thing is on Ryoma's mind: where there is Masato, there is Tomoka, where there is Tomoka, there is her brother, and where there is her brother, there is the first Fairytale Instrument.

"So how long are you going to be in town for?" asks Tomoka, more than a bit nervous to hear her older brother's response.

"Don't know," admits Tomokazu as he swings his violin case over his shoulder. "A couple of weeks. Maybe. Depends on how well my gig goes." He shrugs. "But, let's be honest, not that many people are in the market for a side-hawk, ear pierced teenager with daddy issues playing the violin."

Toshihiro swings an arm over his younger brother's shoulder. "Are you suuure people aren't into that? Sounds pretty appealing to me. I'd pay money to see that."

Tomokazu chuckles. "Beats thirteen-year-old me with my overgrown jungle-bangs and huge glasses that constantly kept sliding down my nose. A real otaku if I do say so myself."

Tomoka lets out a giggle. "Yeah, you look one-thousand times cooler now than that little nerd, Kazu-oniisan."

"Little nerd?" echoes Tomokazu with a dramatic scoff. "I was a child prodigy in the makings! An artist. An artist I tell you, Moka-chan! How dare you call your poor, down-on-his-luck big brother a nerd?"

Tomokazu swoops in a gives his baby sister a pats on the head, making sure to mess up her ringlet hair.

"Quit it!" she laughs as she playfully swats his hand away.

"Yeah, Tomokazu," states Toshihiro, pointing a finger to the sky. "You know Tomoka's real weakness is touching her ears." With that, her elder brother nips his fingers on both earlobes.

"Eep!" Tomoka squeaks as she jumps away, guarding her poor little ears by cupping them with her hands. "I thought you forgot all about that! So embarrassing!"

"You still say 'so embarrassing'," laughs Toshihiro as he clutches his sides. "I thought you would've grown out of that habit years ago—!"

Toshihiro glances up and immediately freezes where he stands. His younger siblings follow suit and both of their hearts sunk when they trail their elder brother's gaze.

"Father."

What else is there to say?

The smiles and laughter, Moriki took them all away as he stands in front of his children. He's very good at doing that. It's like his superpower, or something.

It's strange though. As Tomoka looks on at her father, she doesn't see that stone-hearted posture towering over her that she always remembered as a little girl. Her father is just…standing there. His fingers grabbing and letting go of the sides of his suit as his fists tightening and loosening. And his eyes. His once cold grey eyes seemed…lost. Hesitant. Like he didn't know what to do with himself.

Tomokazu is the first to speak as he takes a step forward. "Look, Dad. It's alright. If you really want me to leave, I'll leave."

"Kazu-oniisan," swallows Tomoka.

Tomokazu turns back to his little sister and holds up his hand, the silence motion that in plain English asked for her to stay quiet. Toshihiro placed his hand on Tomoka's shoulder and shared the same expression.

"Look," he continues as he grips tightly to the strap of his violin case, turning his knuckle white. "I don't understand why you're so against me being a musician. I don't get why you're pushing so hard for us to be doctors. Okay? I really don't. But, I guess it works both ways though. Right? You probably don't understand why I want to be a violinist. Why I'm so passionate about playing music."

Tomokazu lifts his head to meet his father head-on. "But, this"—bumping his violin—"this is what I was born to do. This is my dream. I want to preform more than anything in the entire world! And if you can't accept that…if you can't let me raise and fall to pursue that dream. Then…I can't…I can't—!"

"May, may, may. What sorrowful hearts you all share. It's making my mouth water."

Tomoka's blood turns cold. No. Please no.

But, Tomoka's eyes couldn't lie to her as the bitter feel of dark magic washes over her, chilling her straight to the bone. Tomoka dares herself to look and sees the Leader of the Dark Charm Knights looming over her and her family with a wicked smile spread across her lustrous lips. "I could sense the darkness in your hearts from miles away. Such hostility should create a lovely Endingu."

Immediately, Tomoka's instincts kick in and she reaches for her sky blue ribbon wrapped around her summer dress. It was an amazing trick Kuiru had shown her. How her PreHeartBook could take the form of inanimate objects to better hide itself and to keep it more easily beside her. But, all Tomoka grabs at is empty air. Her stomach drops.

W-where is it? Tomoka looks down and sees her ribbon is gone. Panic quickly takes hold. No. no, no, no, no, no. Ohmigod! Why, why, why? It must have fallen off! Ohmigod! Where is it?!

"W-who the heck to you think you are?!" demands Moriki, his grey eyes turning to stone. "You are trespassing on private property! Get out now before I call the police!"

Linda trails her tongue across her bottom lip, causing it to make a click sound. "Oh, such big works for one tiny human."

Linda opens up her hand and a small orb of pure dark magic forms in her palm. "But, I sense great conflict inside of your soul. It's delicious."

The dark magic orb starts to squirm inside of Linda's grasp. "Oh, it seems my dark magic is taking a liking to you and your dark heart. I shall make a wonderful Endingu to add to my collection."

The dark magic shoots out at Moriki, prepared to drown him in darkness.

"DAD!"

Tomokazu jumps in front of his father and spreads his arm out wide to protect him.

"KAZU-ONIISAN!" cries Tomoka.

Just then, Tomokazu gets shoved out of the way and he falls to the ground, his violin case sprawled out beside him.

"W-what the heck?" gasps Tomokazu, rubbing the back of his head. "Why would you do…that…?" Tomokazu's eyes widen. "…Hiro-oniisan!"

Tomoka cups her mouth, holding back a stifling scream as burning tears start to stream down her cheeks. Her brother, her strong elder brother is kneeling over with dark magic splattered over his suit and crawling along his pale skin.

"W….w-why?" chokes out Toshihiro as he looks up at his baby brother, the nightmare-coloured dark magic slowely consuming his body. Toshihiro smiles weakly. "Because I'm your big brother." Toshihiro coughs, dark magic spurting out, "I-it's a big brother's job to protect his younger siblings. N-no matter what."

"Well, this is a shame," sighs Linda, irritably tipping her head to the side. "You hardly have the potential to be a powerful Endingu like your father." A wicked smile spreads across her face, "But, I'll suppose you will have to do."

Toshihiro collapses to the floor, his eyes pure black. Then, the dark magic shoots out at all angles, sticking to the ceiling of the mansion and lefts the elder brother into the air, stringing him in the sky like a puppet.

"Endingu…" slurs Toshihiro.

The dark magic completely takes over, wrapping the elder brother up like a cuckoo. What came out though was no longer Tomoka's brother, but an Endingu. The monster isn't as big as ones that Tomoka has had to fight in the past. Maybe even half the size. Maybe it's because of what Linda said. That Toshihiro didn't have as much potential for darkness. However, it didn't make it any less terrifying.

The Endingu slumps over as a white medical jacket forms around its body and a stethoscope hangs off its neck. "Endingu!" it growls as its eyes flash alive.

"M-Moka-chan!" gasps Tomokazu as he struggles to his feet. "W-w-what the heck is going on?! W-what is that?!"

Tomoka can't possibly form a logical sentence right now. So, she cries out the first word that pops into her head. "RUN!"

Tomoka reaches for her brother and father's hands and pushes them past the Endingu. They stumble down the hallway together as the monster sluggishly turns its head. Its crimson eyes are only thing slowing any swift motion to catch them. This doesn't last, however, as the monster suddenly lashes out and stalks after them, bolting after them like midnight lightning. Long claws dripping with dark magic reach out for the Fukumoto Family as the Endingu opens its mouth, fangs as sharp as diamond, ready to chomp them all down in one fell swoop.

As the claws of the Toshihiro Endingu strike out at Tomokazu and Moriki, Tomoka pushes them a headed of her with all of her strength and takes the hit for both of them.

"Kyaa!" The sharp claws catch the back of Tomoka's dress. The light fabric of her summer dress isn't much for protection as she feels the ebony-coloured claws tear right through and sink into her bare skin as she stumbles to the ground and crashes up against the wall.

Tomoka can feel the sting of the claws on her back, but she has no time to think about that right now. She quickly tries to stagger to her feet, keeping one hand on the broke strap of her dress and on her chest. She looks up and sees the Endingu leap over her and looming over Tomokazu and Moriki.

"No!" gasps Tomoka as she tries to pull herself up.

But, the Toshihiro Endingu gave her no such luxury as it whips a single finger at her, sending her toppling.

"MOKA-CHAN!"

Tomoka feels her head hit hard against the wall before everyone goes dark.

Tomokazu screams for his baby sister as he sees her falls against the wall of the hallway and slump over, scratches visible on her bare back. But, before Tomokazu had the chance to race over to help his sister, the monster turns its focus back to him and his father and lashes out at them.

Moriki grabs his son's shoulder. "We need to move! Now!"

"But, Moka-chan!" protests Tomokazu.

Moriki was having none of that. "If this thing's attention is on us than it won't be on her. We need to try to get this monster as far away from Tomoka as possible!"

Before Tomokazu can talk himself out of it, he races away alongside his father with the dark monster trailing hot on their heels. The two of them find the staircase that leads straight down to the grand entrance of the mansion.

But, on the final step, Moriki trips and lands hard on the marble flooring underneath him.

"Dad!" cries Tomokazu as he whirls around to try and help his father up.

He swings one of under his armpit and tries to pull him up to his foot. One foot. Two feet. No. As soon as he tries to put weight on his right foot, Moriki curses in pain.

"It's my darn ankle," grunts Moriki in grief.

"It's fine! It's fine," Tomokazu tries to reassure him with pure panic shadowing his voice as he desperately looks around. "We just gotta—!"

"Moriki-tan! Tomokazu!" Kana is suddenly there, racing towards her injured husband and her son. "I hurt a loud crash! What is going now?"

"Kana-tan, stay back! Stay back!" cries Moriki desperately, beckoning her to get as far away as possibly.

It's too late. The Endingu comes crashing down the staircase. It leaps through the air and hands dead-on in the center of the grand entrance, its claws grinding against the marble floor.

"Kyaa!" screams Kana with trembling eyes as she grabs hold of her husband like a lifeline.

"Endingu!" roars the Toshihiro Endingu as it raises its powerful claws into the air to slash down on the family.

Moriki grabs both his wife and son and pushes them behind him "I won't let you lay a finger on them!" he shouts up.

The dark magic-sharpened claws rush down and the Fukumoto Family squeeze their eyes shut.

But, the attack never hits.

Tomokazu dares himself to open his eyes followed by Kana than Moriki. To their amazement, the petite Imari Suzukawa was standing in front of them. She couldn't do much. She couldn't transform anymore. She's just an ordinary human now. Nevertheless, that didn't mean she would put her tail between her legs and run away. She was going to make do with what she had as a human and what she held in her hands.

Imari had Tomoka's PreHeartBook up to her face, her only form of a shield, but was still putting in all her strength to keep the Endingu at bay. With the power of light magic coursing through ever paper of the PreHeartBook, it shines a soft glow of light as the dark magic claws continue to clash with it.

The Toshihiro Endingu only pushes harder and Imari stumbles back for a second as her injured wrist end a sharp pain through her arm. Even still, Imari regains her footing and pushes through the throbbing ache.

Please, begs Imari desperately to Tomoka's PreHeartBook as she squeezes her eyes shut. Don't be like mine. Don't disappear. I know I lost the right to hold a PreHeartBook. Even still, please, I just need a little bit of power. Just a tiny bit to protect everyone. Please!

As if the PreHeartBook heard Imari's silent prayer, the PreHeartBook's cover flashes a luminescent blue light right in the Endingu's face and makes the monster hiss from the pure light and falter back.

Tomoka opens her eyes to see Tomokazu and Moriki being chased down by the Toshihiro Endingu.

"No…" she murmurs just above a whisper as she struggles to get to her feet. Her head is pounding and the scratches on her back are burning, but she doesn't care. She has to stop the Endingu at any cast.

Tomoka manages to get to her feet, but much too quickly, the blood rushes to her head and she gets lightheaded. But, just as she about to stumble to the ground again, someone grabs her by her shoulder and holds her up, pressing her protective against their chest. In surprise, Tomoka blinks up at the person holding her. "K-Kashima?"

"Tomoka," murmurs Masato, his eyes full of worry, "Are you alright?"

Tears prickle at her eyes as she softens into his arms. She felt like she reverted back to when she was a little kid as she desperately clings to the collar of her best friend's shirt. "M-Masato-kyun."

Masato breathe hitches for only a moment before wraps his strong arms around her, rocking her gently back-and-forth. "It's okay. You're okay," he whispers. "I'm here. I'm right here."

But, this moment couldn't last forever. Tomoka knew this. She knows what she has to do. This isn't the time to go back to that fragile cry baby I was when I was little. Because…I'm not little anymore. I'm strong now. I have to power to stop all of this now.

"Come on," says Masato. "Let's get you out of here and—!"

Tomoka gently pushes away from Masato and starts walking down the hallway where she last saw the Endingu.

"Tomoka," Masato calls out alarmed, "W-where are you going? W-we can't go that way. We have to run, Tomoka!"

Tomoka stops, but doesn't turn around. "I can't run away anymore, Kashima."

"Why not?!" demands Masato irritably.

Tomoka takes in a deep breath and closes her eyes. Come to me. Shereaches out her arm to the empty air in front of her. Come to me…my PreHeartBook! Find me!

To everyone's—including Imari's surprise—Tomoka's PreHeartBook flies right out of her hands, shoots up into the air, and flies straight out of the room.

"W-where it going?" asks Imari out loud.

Masato blinks in astonishment as he sees someone flying towards Tomoka. A…book?

The PreHeartBook flies straight into Tomoka's open hand. Tomoka lets the PreHeartBook envelop her in its light magic as she turns her head and smiles softly at Masato.

"Because…I'm a Pretty Cure!"

Masato grey-coloured eyes fill with vivid blue as the PreHeartBook bursts open, its pages shimmering pale blue. In flash of snow-white sparkles, Tomoka's glasses disappear. Tomoka closes her eyes as the pages of the PreHeartBook flitter out of their binding and begin dancing around Tomoka like a flock of beautiful white doves. The pages flutter over every inch of Tomoka's pale skin, covering up the wounds on her back before bursting radiating bright sky blue colour. The powerful of light magic surges through Tomoka as her hair lights up and alters to a gorgeous lilac-colour and swirls up into a high ponytail with long locks that fall down her shoulders. As Tomoka snaps open her brilliant blue eyes, golden star earring appear in a pop of blue sparkle. Tomoka's once ripped dress and broken-heeled shoes transform into her warrior outfit.

"The Story of Wisdom…Cure Mythical!"

Masato's eyes shine in wonder as the lilac-haired girl turns her head and smiles at him with her bright aqua-coloured eyes. Once more that, those enchanting eyes belonged to his best friend.

"Hey, Kashima," murmurs Cure Mythical sheepishly scratching the side of her cheek, "This is kind of embarrassing. Hehe. I would love to explain myself. But, right now, I've got a job to do. But, do you think you can keep this a secret?"

Masato opens his mouth, but no words come out.

Cure Mythical grins bashfully. "Okay then." With that, the blue warrior takes off down the hallway, faster than any normal human, faster than Masato had ever seen his friend run. Masato tries to match her speed as he takes off after her.

Cure Mythical makes it at the top of the staircase and her eyes glare down as she spots the Endingu. She doesn't even hesitate as she launches off the top step of the staircase and rockets down on the monster. "PreCure Kick!"

The Endingu gets a well deserved heel to the face. "Hyah!" yells Cure Mythical as she digs in her heel into one of it red-coloured eyes and sends the monster crashing into the opposing wall.

The Blue PreCure heels click to the ground as she lands on the marble floor and spares no time to races over to her family. "Are you alright?"

Her mother blinks up at the magical girl in surprise, but manages to nod her head.

Cure Mythical helps her family up. "You need to get out of here. I don't want you to get hurt."

She turns around to fight the monster when Moriki grabs her by the wrist. "M-my daughter," chokes Moriki. "D-did you see my daughter? Is she okay? Please. Please tell me."

Cure Mythical almost lost her footing as she looks into her father's eyes. She had never seen such desperation in them before. Her eyes soften and she gives Moriki a warm smile. "Yes. Yes, I saw your daughter. And she's just fine. She's safe."

Moriki lets out a shaky breath and let's go of the warrior's wrist. "T-thank you. Thank you."

"Endingu!"

The Blue PreCure snaps to attention back to the monster and sees it starting to stagger back onto its feet, rage boiling in its crimson eyes.

"So glad you finally decided to join us, Cure Mythical," coos Linda as she teleports over her head.

"You know, you don't make any sense to me," glares the blue warrior. "How you and the other Dark Charm Knights can float there and watch this happening."

Linda looks down on all the human beings with terrified eyes up staring back at her. Her eyes stop when she spots Ryoma and smirks. "Maybe because we enjoy it. Chaos, destruction, pain; it's a beautiful symphony to us. We crave it."

Linda snaps her fingers and the Endingu's eyes flash bright red. "Endingu!"

The monster charges at Cure Mythical, but she wasn't about to let it get one step closer to her family. "Cyan Rocket!"

The Blue PreCure releases a huge blast of pale blue magic straight at the monster. But, to her surprise, the small Endingu jumps easily out of the way and attacks the blue warrior, grabbing her by her arms and knocking her off her feet and sending her barreling towards the wall behind her.

With her arms stick to her sides, Cure Mythical manages to get her palm fixed behind her back. "Mythical Stream!"

With the strength of her stream of light, Cure Mythical manages to stop herself from slamming against the wall and launches both her and the monster through the air. But, the Endingu still refuses to let go of her. So, with all her strength, Cure Mythical lifts up the bottom half of her body and swung her legs straight in the monster's throat.

But, the Endingu doesn't just sit there and take the hit. The monster quickly grabs Tomoka by her legs and tosses her to the ground. Cure Mythical braces herself with her free arms and the Endingu leaps after her with its claws ready to slice her to pieces.

Cure Mythical thrushes her arms out in front of her. "Wise Safeguard!" Her translucent shield of light manages to block the Endingu's attack and the blue warrior wastes no time. "Blue Slash!"

With her sword of blue light in hand, Cure Mythical strikes at the Endingu, but it swiftly jumps away. The Blue PreCure has to take a moment to catch her breath.

This is bad, huffs Cure Mythical. This Endingu may be smaller than others I've faced, but it's easily making up for it with its speed. I don't know how much longer I can keep up with it.

On cue, the Endingu lunges at Cure Mythical. "Mythical Wave!" A huge swell of ocean-coloured light jets out at the monster, but it easily bounds over the wave of magic and claws the blue warrior in the shoulder.

"Kya!" gasps Cure Mythical in pain as she falls to the ground. She looks down and sees the nightmare-coloured claw mark on the side of her shoulder burning into her skin, but she has little time to think about that right now as the Toshihiro Endingu dives into another assault.

"Endingu!" the monster tries to chomp down on the poor magical girl, but she quickly finds her footing and stumbles out of the way.

However, the Endingu is faster and rapidly snags Cure Mythical by the ankle and rips her off the ground and into the open air. Then, like a puma, the monster leaps after her with its inky tongue gliding over it sharpened fangs. Its thick tongue dripping with dark magic shoots straight out of its mouth and smashes Cure Mythical to the ceiling of the mansion and gets its sticky dark magic saliva all over her outfit and hair.

"Hiro-oniisan, stop it!" begs Tomokazu as he watches on helplessly. "Please! Leave her alone, oniisan!"

Tomokazu's pleads fall on deaf ears as the Endingu begins to crush Cure Mythical to the ceiling, making her lungs scream out for air, but all she can manage is a desperate choke as the monster's thick tongue crushes her harder and harder.

"Oh, done already, Cure Mythical," coos Linda as she sits like a lioness on the head of her Endingu, scratching it chin affectionately. "What a shame. I was just starting to enjoy myself."

As Linda pats the Endingu on the head, its tongue grows and slumps itself over Blue PreCure's mouth, snuffing out her frantic gasps for air. That's when Cure Mythical begins thrashing furiously, shaking her shoulders, digging her nails in to the monster's flesh, and kicking violently.

"Stop that!" screams Kana. "Get away from her!"

Linda leans over the Endingu's head and glides her long nails over Cure Mtyhical, threading her fingers through her hair and tracing her jaw line slowly. "What a beautiful sight to see."

Cure Mythical tries to cry with all her might, but all that comes out a muffled coughs. "That's it, scream for me," muses Linda as she grabs the trapped magical girl by the chin. The blood red eyes of the Dark Charm Knight burning against the Pretty Cure of Wisdom's trembling aqua blue eyes. "I want to watch the light seep out of your eyes and your pounding heartbeat cease forever."

As Linda's ruby red eyes burn into Cure Mythical's heart, she can feel herself starting to slip away. Her arms and legs are suddenly incredibly heavy. She can't even twitch a toe if she tries. The blue warrior feels her eyes getting heavy too and everything around her is getting darker and darker.

Then suddenly, a soft melody fills the room. All she can hear is the soft sound of a violin. It was a song. A beautiful song that takes her back to her big brothers' room when she was a little girl, sitting in Toshihiro's lap as they applaud Tomokazu. Cure Mythical can feel it. She doesn't how, but she can feel the soft petals brushing her fingertips. She can feel the soft breeze on her skin and the can smell the sweet scent of…cherry blossoms.

Cure Mythical's eyes burst open as she looks down and sees her big brother, Tomokazu, standing on the top step of the staircase with his old violin in hand. The blue magical girl knew this song. She knew it all too well. That joyful paced, that bouncy tune that quicken with each note pouring out of the violin. Their secret song…

"Senbonzakura," breathes Cure Mythical then blinks in surprise that she managed to speak. That she was able to breathe!

"Endingu!" bellows the monster. The Toshihiro Endingu had released the blue warrior and was bounding violently at its head. It releases it tight grip on the magical girl and Cure Mythical falls to the floor just managing to land on her feet.

She looks up at the Endingu in confusion. "W-what just happened?"

"M-my—my Endingu!" stammers Linda as she tried to pat its head. "W-what's wrong, baby?"

"ENDINGU!" it cries out as it starts trashing about, knocking Linda right off. The monster whimpers out again, slashes at its medical jacket and stethoscope and broking them into a million pieces.

"I-it's Hiro-oniisan!" gasps Cure Mythical. "H-he can hear our secret song! He's—he's fighting back!"

The monster violently pushes off of the Blue PreCure and tumbles to the ground, ripping viciously at its dark magic skin. Digging its talons deep in and tearing chunks off its body like it was literally trying to pull itself apart. "ENDINGU!"

"That's it, sweetheart!" beams Kana to Tomokazu. "Keep playing!"

Tomokazu didn't hold anything back. He let the beautiful song of Senbonzakura flow out of him and his trusty violin. Everyone in the room is completely spellbound. Cure Mythical's eyes shine with pride. There is her big brother. No oversized glasses. No overgrown bangs. He isn't that little kids anymore. He had shed that old coat. Now there he stands. Piercings, buzz cut, and all. But, the one thing that hasn't changed was Tomokazu unwavering passion for the violin in his arms.

Cure Mythical could feel it. That same feeling from when she was a little girl getting lost in the song of cherry blossoms. How it felt like the song took her to a meadow of ten thousand cherry blossom trees. Back then, Cure Mythical didn't know how to describe that feeling. But, now, she recognizes the feel all too well. It feels like magic!

Light magic.

"Is that—?!" Linda sucks in a harsh breath. "One of the Fairytale Instruments! No! T-that's impossible! But, this power—" Linda digs her nails into her palms.

Linda's leers down on the old wooden violin, causing her pupils to become slit and her nails and fangs grow at the taste of light magic.

"The Instrument…" gargles Linda. She rips through the air. "The FAIRYTALE INTSTRUMENT! Give it to me NOW, you WORTHLESS human!"

Tomokazu's eyes widen as the Dark Charm comes barreling toward him.

"No!" cries Cure Mythical.

Without thinking, she leaps to save her brother. She grabs hold of him and pulls him into a tight hug, preparing to take the hit for him if that meant he comes out unharmed. Tomokazu jumps in surprise, but grabs the mysterious girl and the two of them squeeze their eyes shut.

Cure Mythical's fingers accidently brush the bridge of the violin. Suddenly, something inside of the Pretty Cure of Wisdom's heart clicks and she and her brother are consumed in a flurry of pure-white sparkles.

"NYGAH!" hisses Linda as the light magic burns her hands and she's focused to jerk away. "No…NO!"

Cure Mythical and Tomokazu both open their eyes in wonder and look around them at the beautiful shimmer dancing around them. Tomokazu looks down at his violin and lets out a yelp of alarm. The blue warrior down and gasps in surprise too. Neither of them recognizes the violin in Tomokazu's hands anymore. It wasn't that old wooden violin they remember.

Now, the violin was pearl-white adorn with pale blue line detail, hearts, and small silver circles going down the center. At the middle is a gorgeous deep-blue gem—a sapphire—with a pair a bright white wings like the ones that adorn Cure Mythical's ponytail. From the neck of the violin down to the base were the strings that shined like silver that disappears into the chinrest which is shaped like a blue-coloured heart. Resting beside the new violin is the bow, now a breathtaking powder-blue colour with a small sapphire on the end.

Cure Mythical looks at the violin in Tomokazu's hands and nods. "I know what to do." The Blue PreCure grabs her brother's hands. "C-could I…um…borrow this f-for just a second?"

"G-go for it, girl," says Tomokazu still shaken up a bit as he hands his violin over to her.

With the violin—no—with the Fairytale Instrument in her hands, Cure Mythical spins around on her heel and faces Linda and the Toshihiro Endingu with nothing but determination in her eyes.

"You're done," states Cure Mythical. She cuts through the sparkles waltzing around her with the bow like a sword as she rests her chin down the violin's heart-shaped chinrest and hovers the bow other the strings.

"Sapphire Violin…"

Cure Mythical let the magic guild her fingers, a soft melody filling every inch of the mansion. It isn't fast paced or bouncy like her brother's song. It was delicate, simple, but just as equally beautiful.

As the bow continues to glide across the silver-sparkling strings, the shimmering sparkles around Cure Mythical storm towards the Endingu. They begin to spin around the monster and the gentle sparkles start to change, shaping into soft pale blue-coloured cherry blossoms with fragments of sapphire gems twirling around with them.

"…Melodia di Saggezza!"

As the magic words are uttered, the blue-coloured petals and sparkles begin to quicken their pace. They soon turn into a furious twister as they spin faster and faster around the Endingu. Soon the monster can't even been seen through the fury of light magic. All that can be heard is the soft murmur, "Ending…"

The millions of petals form one giant bloom of a cherry blossom before they burst apart in a pop of aqua-coloured sparkles, gently fading away just before they touch the floor.

"Kuroizado-sama is going to kill me for this," mutters Linda as she teleports away. But, not before making one pit stop.

She teleports behind Ryoma and grabs him by the forearm. "We're going now," she hisses into his ear.

Ryoma snorts. "Why? Too much of a coward to face your defeat, Linda?"

Linda dug her nails into his skin and Ryoma winces. "We have to report this to Kuroizado-sama. And I am not leaving you here to break your cover."

"Who says I was gonna?" snaps Ryoma.

"We're going to Desolate Castle. Now," repeats Linda. "That's an order."

Ryoma grinds his teeth angrily, but teleports away with Linda.

The Endingu is gone and in its place is Toshihiro lying motionlessly on his back.

"Hiro-oniisan!" calls Tomokazu, wasting no time as he bolts past the blue legendary warrior and collapses to his knees beside his elder brother. "Oniisan? C-can you hear me?"

"Mmhm…" moans Toshihiro as his eyes slowly flutter open.

Overjoyed, Tomokazu flops down on top of his brother's chest and buries his face into the crook of his neck. "Oh thank god you're okay! Y-you are okay, right?" He jerks up his head "Oniisan? Oniisan? Does anything hurt? Can you feel anything? Quick! How many fingers am I holding up?"

"I'm fine. I'm fine, Tomokazu," chuckles Toshihiro as he pats his baby brother on the top of his head. "Just a bit of a headache, but I'm alright."

Tomokazu lets out a well needed sigh of relief and quickly helps his elder brother up on his feet, making sure though to keep one arm slung firmly around his shoulder.

In no time, Kana rushes up to hug both of her sons, tears of joy streaming down her face. Cure Mythical smiles brightly from afar, whipping a single tear from the corner of her eye. She wants nothing more than to race over to hug her mother and brothers. But, she can't right now. Not while she's the Pretty Cure of Wisdom.

As Cure Mythical takes a step back, she spots her father. He's standing at the bottom of the staircase looking up at his family. The Blue PreCure sees it, for only a moment, she sees Moriki smiles of relief. How he is about to charge up the stairs, but stops. Just like that, the moment is gone. Moriki's grey eyes fill up with hesitation which quickly turns to sadness as he takes a step back.

With that, Cure Mythical understands. How her father would always lash out. How he always looked so cold. How he stood so intimating. He's just like her. Exactly how she use to be. Confusing anger with fear. Never having the courage to say how she really felt. Snapping at fellow students because she didn't know how to talk to anyone.

I got that all from you, father, thinks Cure Mythical to herself as she approaches Moriki. You're not a bad guy. You don't mean to be cruel. You're just scared. Understand. I understand, father. That's just how I was before…

Cure Mythical reaches out and grabs Moriki's hand. He jerks his head up and blinks down at her in surprise.

…Before I met Imari. Before I met Bukku and Nijiko and Kuiru.

Cure Mythical smiles softly at her father.

But, I'm changing. Bit by bit. I'm become the person I want to be. They all gave me the courage to change. They gave that to me. So now…I want to give you the courage too, father. Because it's not too late to change.

"Don't be afraid," she says. "Take the first step."

With that, she lets go of his hand and the next time Moriki looks up the lilac-haired magical girl is gone.

Moriki shallows his breath and looks back up at his family. His beautiful wife sobbing softly on Toshihiro's shoulder as she reaches her hand out to cup Tomokazu's cheek; her dark blue eyes sparkling with proud at him.

Then, her eyes find Moriki's. She smiles gently and reaches her hand out to him. One step. Just one step.

Even with his bad ankle, Moriki puts his weight against the railing and lifts his foot onto the upper step. Another step. Take another step. One, two, three. Moriki walks up the stairs. One more. One more step. His shoe clumps up the final step and he finds himself in the arms of his love.

"I'm so glad you're safe, Moriki-tan," weeps Kana.

Moriki pulls away to cups her face in his hands. "Are you okay, Kana-tan? T-that monster—t-that crazy lady, they didn't hurt you, did it?"

Kana shakes her head through her tears. "No, I'm alright."

Moriki smiles tenderly at his wife and carefully wipes her tears away with his thumbs. "T-thank goodness."

Then, Moriki looks past Kana and his eyes lock with Tomokazu. Kana turns her head to her son before looking up at her husband. She quietly takes a step to the side and lets Moriki come face-to-face with his son.

Tomokazu can't meet his father's gaze and fearfully shoves his hands into his jean pockets. "L-listen…um…a-about what I said b-before…it's—I'm—we're—argh!" He gives his head a shake. "No. You know what? Screw you! Do you really hate me playing music that much? Why can't you just—!"

Moriki throws his arms around his son. Tomokazu stumbles back in surprise, but his father only tightens his hold. Like if he let go, Tomokazu would disappear.

"I'm sorry."

Tomokazu eyes widen. "Y-you…you w-what?"

"I'm so sorry, Tomokazu," apologizes Moriki as he hugs his son.

Tomokazu blinks. "Okay, who are you and what have you done with my dad?"

"I-I don't hug a lot, you know," stammers Moriki defensively. "I-is this considered too long?"

"Yeah, about fifty-seconds gone too far," snorts Tomokazu humorously. But, Moriki doesn't pull away. "Um…dad?"

"I lost the right to be called 'dad' a long time ago," murmurs Moriki. "So I don't if this will be fix things, but I'm proud of you, Tomokazu. That song was beautiful. The most beautiful thing I've ever heard."

Tomokazu felt his whole body go numb as those words left his father's mouth. His eyes tremble as tears burn at the corners of his eyes, asking to spill over. Those simple words that meant everything to him. The words he hoped with all of his heart to one day hear. It was wishful dreaming. And maybe he is dreaming. I mean, he just witnessed his brother turn into a monster that got defeated by a magical girl in a miniskirt so the chances of this actually being a dream was not out of the realm of possibilities.

Hesitantly, Tomokazu wraps his arms around his father and hugs back. It wasn't what he expected. He thought it would be like hugging a cold statue, but it actually wasn't too bad.

Tomokazu nervously shallows a breath. "D-did you s-see them? T-the cherry blossoms? D-did you see the cherry blossoms?"

He could feel his father smile. "Yes. And they were breathtaking."

The tears finally won. "Dang it," chuckles Tomokazu as he pulls away to wipe away the tears with the sleeves of his jacket. "Come on, Tomokazu, pull yourself together. Grown men don't cry. Haha."

"Awww, you getting emotional on us, Tomokazu?" laughs Toshihiro, throwing an arm around his baby brother.

"S-shut up, Hiro-oniisan," snaps Tomokazu embarrassingly. "I-it was an in-the-heat-of-the-moment thing, okay!"

"Whatever you say, cry baby."

The Fukumoto Family all share a well needed laugh.

Tomoka quietly steps out from behind the staircase. She feels a hand on her shoulder and turns to see Imari smiling back at her.

"That. Was. Amazing!" Imari gushes. "Incredible! Dare I say supreme smile power? We did it—well—you did it, but we found the first Fairytale Instrument! Excitement ensue!"

Tomoka lets out a giggle. "I know, I know! I still feel all jitter!"

Bukku pops his head out from under Imari's hair. "Um, I'd hate to spoil the moment here, but we still got a big problem~buku. I.e. your boyfriends Masato and Ryoma."

Tomoka's face lit up like a Christmas tree. "Kashima is not my boyfriend!" she squeaks.

Imari looks around confused. "Speaking of Ryoma, where his here? He was just with me a second ago."

Bukku rolls his eyes. "Probably scared him off with that monster fight, magical girl, magical item stuff~buku. But, I swear, if he blabs, I'll throttle him~buku."

Imari pats the fairy prince's head. "What a gentleman."

Tomoka lets out a small giggle when someone taps her on the shoulder. "Um…Fukumoto-san?"

Oh boy. Here we go.

Tomoka spins around. "Kashima! Heeey~! H-how's it hanging? D-did you get a new haircut? I'm not acting weird? Not at all! Who said I was acting weird? You're acting weird!"

"Can I speak now?" says Masato.

Tomoka sighs. "Yes. Yes you can. I know you're probably angry with me. You have every right to be."

Masato shakes his head. "I'm not mad. Well—okay—I'm a bit mad that you kept this secret from me. But, I'm more…shocked? I guess. I mean, you're Cure Mythical!"

"Yeah," laughs Tomoka gingerly, pulling nervously at one of her locks. "Trust me, it was a shock to me too when it first happened. Believe me."

"If anything, I'm just glad you're okay," admits Masato, scratching the side of his nose. "You mean a lot to me, Fukumoto-san. Just the thought of you being in any form of danger drives me crazy!"

Tomoka blushes with a small smile. "R-really?"

"Of course," Masato grins. "You like a little sister to me."

Tomoka's smile twitches as a little bit of her just died on the inside. L-little sister? LITTLE SISTER?!

"Hahaha! Yeah! Back at you, Kashima! Haha!" Tomoka laughs forcefully, awkwardly punching him lightly on the shoulder.

Tomoka sighs and turns back to her family and can't help but beam up at them. Tomokazu has fished Toshihiro's glasses off of his face and is chasing after him angrily. Kana is laughing along and Moriki stands there with a small grin on his face.

It's a step, smiles Tomoka. A baby step, but it's a step.

Out of the corner of her eye, Tomoka catches the glimpse of a cherry blossom petal and, with a blink of an eye, it's gone. In the end, maybe we're like a cherry blossom tree. Thought to have wilted and dead out, but now small buds are beginning to show on those drooping branches. In time, maybe they'll even be in full-bloom.

"Sooooo," lulls Imari offhandedly. "How are we gonna explain all of this to Nijiko and Kuiru?"

"…"

"Oh boy~buku."

Next Time on Fairytale Pretty Cure!

Tomoka: Um…so…m-my brother came home after two years. No big deal.

Nijiko: …

Imari: And Ryoma and Masato kinda know about Bukku now.

Nijiko: … …

Tomoka: And I may have transformed in front of Kashima.

Nijiko: … … …

Imari: Oh! And we found the first Fairytale Instrument too!

Nijiko: … … … …

Tomoka: Um…Nijiko?

Nijiko: What the heck? Are you kidding me right now? I was only away for two freaking episodes?!

Imari: Don't worry, Nijiko. The next episode is gonna be all about you, I promise!

Nijiko: A Father's Wish! My Rainbow!