Hey, SAYkokoro here with a new episode! This is probably my longest episode yet so I hope you all enjoy and I hope everyone is having a great summer! Thank you MonoTheMonochrome, Komaeda Yuujin, and Cold-heart-Angel23 for your continuous support :3
*Please forgive and ignore all grammar or spelling errors
OP: Your Story Fairytale Pretty Cure! – written by SAYkokoro
ED: DREAM! DREAM! DREAM! ~Waking Up Your Future~
Episode 29: |Nijiko's Fiancé?! Lumière Magique!
"This'll probably sound like an oxymoron but, my family is simply complicated."
"I don't expect you to remember all of these names, but I'll explain my family's story as best as I can.
"It's not like a fairytale story.
"It's a story of two powerful households who clashes in every single way.
"The Ōmitsu Household, their surname meaning "great light", was once a clan of noble samurai. They were known from the late ancient era and their descendants carried their noble and perhaps old-fashioned ways to the present times. The Ōmitsu Household was also infamous for their rivalry with the Taiki Household, a family of aristocrats, who challenged the Ōmitsu Household with a name meaning "great shine".
"The two clans clashed over the centuries and caused many bloodshed to both sides, but as time aged, the Heir of the Ōmitsu Household, Akihiko Ōmitsu, found himself fearing that it would soon be the end of the Ōmitsu name as he only possessed one grandchild, a granddaughter who couldn't carry on the family name once she wed. The Heir reaches out to his old enemy, the Heir of the Taiki Household, Munenobu Taiki. The two men saw that the world had changed from the ways they were taught by their fathers and fathers before them and must join the two strong households or threaten to lose their names to time.
"The Heirs spoke for their children. They stated that their children's children would wed and carry on the honourable family name. Munenobu Taiki's side bowed their heads and went along silently with their Heir's wishes, but Akihiko Ōmitsu's granddaughter, the last heiress of the Ōmitsu Household set out to defy her family's wishes.
"The young heiress, Juri, the once quiet and obedient girl fell in love with a mysterious young man, who helped her find her voice and her dream: her unwavering passion for singing and creating music. The young heiress abandoned her family and ran away with her love. The two wed and have a beautiful baby girl with green-coloured hair and whose beauty shined like a rainbow across the vast sky.
"Akihiko Ōmitsu was mortified with the young heiress's behavior and was shunned by Munenobu Taiki and the rest of the Taiki Household. However, it soon became clear that they were cracks in the Taiki Household as well.
"The man, Hideyasu, the future Heir of the Taiki Household that the young Ōmitsu heiress was meant to marry met a young lady and the two had a secret son with sun-coloured hair. But, the lady never told the young Hisayasu of his son and went on to marry another man. However, after she had a beautiful baby girl, the young lady moved on to try and reunited with Hisayasu who finally got to hold his son. Hisayau married the young lady and decided to raise her daughter as his own. However, the rest of the Taiki Household didn't share the same openheartedness. Since the young girl didn't have Taiki Household blood, Munenobu Taiki never allowed her to have their family name.
"Nevertheless, the arrangement that Akihiko Ōmitsu and Munenobu Taiki made so long ago still stood. A child of the Ōmitsu Household and of the Taiki Household must wed if they are to combine the two families.
"That's when Akihiko Ōmitsu and Munenobu Taiki make note of the green-haired girl and sun-haired boy who possessed Ōmitsu and Taiki blood. The Heirs arrange for the two children to one day wed. With her love lost, Juri didn't have the strength to go against her family and Hisayasu agreed in hopes of allowing his daughter to gain the respect of his family and gain their family name.
"That day it was decided.
"Nijiko Ōmitsu was to marry Yasuharu Taiki."
Under a wilted cherry blossom tree, a small girl weeps. As she cries, her long green-coloured hair falls over her shoulders and gets stuck to her wet cheeks. The little girl tries to wipe away her tears, but only fresh ones replace them and make her bright green eyes sting even more.
"Y'know, crying doesn't look pretty on a girl."
The small girl looks up at a sun-coloured hair boy standing over her and immediately jerks her head back down, burying her face into her knees.
"Go away, Suru," grumbles the green-haired girl.
Young Yasuharu puts a hand to his heart dramatically. "You wound me, princess. And here I thought you'd be happy to see me again, Nijiko."
"Go and die in a fire," Young Nijiko growls.
Young Yasuharu shrugs. "No love lost I see."
Young Nijiko curls up into a deep ball like she wishes she could just disappear. Young Yasuharu shrugs at this and plops himself down beside her.
"I said go away," mumbles Young Nijiko.
"Afraid I can't do that," says Young Yasuharu simply as he reaches into his pocket and hands Young Nijiko a handkerchief. "You got booger all over your face."
Young Nijiko snatches away the handkerchief and frantically wipes at her nose. "S-shut up, you French pig!"
"One, I'm not French," Young Yasuharu snickers. "I don't even know how to say 'where's the bathroom'." The sun-haired boy sighs. "And two, is this about your dad?"
Young Nijiko sniffs and turns her head away. Young Yasuharu smacks himself in the forehead. "S-sorry! Sorry! That was stupid of me. Of course this is about your dad. I'm an idiot. A moron!"
He stretched out his arms out as fair as he could, "This big of a moron."
Young Nijiko giggles. "That sounds about right. You are a moron." She beams at him. "But, you're my moron."
Young Yasuharu blushes and anxiously scratches the back of his head. "Uh, i-is there a-anything I can do t-to help?"
"I don't think there's anything anyone can do," admits Young Nijiko. "I feel…I just feel…broken. Like someone ripped out a piece of my heart and I can't every get it back."
The young boy nods his head. "But…b-but you're happy to be back, right?" He nervously threads his small fingers through his blonde hair. "I-I mean, back home with your family a-and all."
Young Nijiko smiles softly as she puts a hand on Young Yasuharu's shoulder. "Of course I'm happy to be back. I've missed you so much, Suru." Yasuharu turns his head to try and hide his smile. "I just wish I was home for better circumstances. That's all."
Young Yasuharu bobs his head understandingly. He pressed his lips together timidly. "S-so y-you're okay with it." He starts fidgeting with the collar of his dress shirt. "W-with you and me…with you and me g-getting married one day?"
Young Nijiko bites her bottom lip as she takes a moment to contemplate her friend's question which only makes poor Young Yasuharu sweat.
But, she finally tips her head to the side sweetly and grins. "I know you care enough about me and I know you want me to be happy. So I think we'll be okay."
Young Yasuharu tries to give her a smile, but his eyes can't hide his disappointment. "I promise, Nijiko, I'll try my hardest to keep you happy for as long as I can."
Young Nijiko holds out her pinky finger. "Is that a pinky promise, Suru?"
Young Yasuharu chuckles, but holds out his pinky, "Of course, Nijiko."
The two kids intertwine their pinkies together.
"Cross my heart and hope to die,
Stick a needle in my eye,
Wait a moment; I spoke a lie
I never really wanted to die
But if I may and if I might
My heart is open for tonight
Though my lips are sealed and a promise is true
I won't break my word, my word to you."
"Pink promised!" announces Young Nijiko as the two let their let their pinky fingers pull apart from one another. "Don't let me down, Suru!"
Young Yasuharu smiles from the bottom of his heart at the small girl with long green-hair, "You can count on me, Nijiko!"
"Ooooh, mon amouuur, I haven't seen you in sooo long! I almost forgot what you looked like! Hey, did you cut your hair? Oh mon dieu, you did! I remember when it went right down to your épaules!"
Nijiko sits stone-faced in the school cafeteria as Yasuharu rambles on and on, batting at her braid as he does like an annoying kitten. A really, really annoying kitten. Not even a cute kitten, just plain annoying. She swears he can even hear him purring. Her friends, Eko, Mio, and Anzu, on the other hand, would pay to disagree.
"Her what-whats?" echoes Eko with a spoon in her mouth.
"Her shoulders, Eko-chan," translates Mio as she snatches the spoon out of Eko's mouth.
"My, my, my, parlez-vous français?" muses Yasuharu.
"Juste un petite peu," answers Mio. "My father had hired a French tutor for me back in first-year."
"Wow! That's amazing, Mio-chan!" beams Anzu, clapping her hands together sweetly.
Mio blushes and embarrassingly twirls a lock of her raven-black hair. "It's not that big of a deal."
"Of course it is!" insists Eko with a bounce of her hazel-coloured pigtails. "I can barely speak Japanese as it is. I would love to know another language!"
Yasuharu winks. "Maybe I can give you some private lessons."
"Aaand I'm gonna have to cut this conversation short," butts in Nijiko as she crosses her arms in front of her chest.
"What's the problème, mon amour?" asks Yasuharu, batting his eyes innocently. "I'm just trying to be nice to your friends."
"No, you're just trying to make me jealous!" snaps Nijiko.
Yasuharu raises an eyebrow mischievously. "Is it working?"
Nijiko's jaw tightens, "Phffft, no."
Just then, a crowd of schoolgirls crowd around Yasuharu with bright smiles sparkling across their faces.
"Welcome back, Yasuharu-kyun~," beams one of the girls, batting her eyelashes. "It's so good to see you back from France!"
"Yeah, how was it?" asks another girl, presses her lips together with newly applied lip gloss. "We want all the details."
"Did you bring back anything for us?" smiles a girl, threading her fingers through her long, wavy hair.
Yasuharu flashes the fangirls a charming smile. "France was magnifique. Or, the city of love as they call it and for good reason. And the French girls, mm, the pièce à résistance, but none of them are as belle as you mademoiselles."
The schoolgirls all let out fangirl squeals. "Oh, Yasuharu-kyun, you are just too perfect~."
"I try," winks Yasuharu as he flirtatiously twirls a lock of his blonde hair.
"Okay, girls, run long now," fusses Nijiko, waving the girls away. "We're trying to eat and your fangirl disease is getting into my food."
One of the girls sticks out her tongue. "You don't need to act so insecure, Ōmitsu. We're just trying to be hospitable."
"Well, take your hospitableness somewhere else," snaps Nijiko. "Or, even better, go moon over your Yasuharu Replacement. Ryoma Aisaki wasn't it?"
One of the girl's eyes dart to the entrance of the cafeteria. "Oh! There he is now! Ryoma-kyun!"
The storm of girls rushes over to the boy.
Ryoma straightens his jacket. "Okay," he murmurs tor himself. "Just get to Nijiko's table and try to snatch up her PreHeartBook. Easy peasy lemon squeezy—!"
"RYOMA-KYUN~!"
He looks up and depression lines drown him as a tsunami of fangirls knock him right over with their sparkling eyes and starts choking from their air that's dancing with big red heart eyes.
"No! No! Please, no! Someone please save me! NOOOO!"
All Nijiko and her friends can see from her table is Ryoma's hand reaching out to the sky as pink and red hearts and fangirls bury him alive.
"I wish I had a fan club," muses Eko with a pout. "It looks like fun."
Mio pats her friend on the head like a pet dog. "There, there, Eko-chan. You just stay adorable and I know it'll happen one day."
Eko sticks out her bottom lip. "But I want an Eko Tanaka Fan Club now!"
Anzu playfully sticks out her tongue. "Get daddy to buy you one then."
Eko jabs her friend in her side with her elbow, "Shut up, Anzu-chan!"
Mio, Anzu, and Eko burst into laughter and Nijiko can't help, but smile along.
But, just then, Mio looks up, stops laughing, and raises an eyebrow. "Hello? What do we have here?"
The group turn their heads to where Mio is looking. "What is the Club Flunk and the Ice Witch doing together?"
Nijiko's heart drops when she sees Imari and Tomoka walking into the cafeteria together with bento boxes in hand and wide smiles on their face. Nijiko tries to hide for face behind her friends as the two of them head over, but Yasuharu's face immediately lights up when he sees them.
"Hey, it's your friends from the concert!" smiles Yasuharu and he waves over to them, "Hey, mademoiselles!"
Mio raises an eyebrow, "Niji-chan? Since when are you friends with the Club Flunk and the Ice Witch?"
Her friends lean in curiously and Nijiko starts to sweat bullet. She opens her mouth to speak, but before a single word comes out Imari slams her hands down loudly onto the table and makes Nijiko's friends jump in surprise. "Okay, okay! I need details immediately! At once! Straight away! Right this flipping second! How did you and Yasuharu-senpai meet? When did you fall in luuucv? What was your engagement like? When are you getting married? Is Nijiko going to get your last name? Nijiko Taiki, there's a nice ring to that! There's a lot of Is in it! Like…four! How many kids are you going to have? Can I be Aunt Imari to Nijiko Jr. and Yasuharu Jr.?"
Nijiko coughs up a mouthful of chicken and rice and Mio calmly pat her friend's back as both Anzu and Eko exchange a giggle. "Geez, Imari! It's not like that at all!"
Imari tips her head confusedly to the side. "Oh?"
Yasuharu scratches the back of his head. "Yeah, actually, mon amour is right." With his chopsticks, he picks up one of his cubes of pork from his bento box. "To sum it up, my father and Nijiko's mom were suppose to wed to unite our families, but Juri-san ran away to marry Nijiko's dad and Yasuharu's father went on to marry my mom, Haruna."
Nijiko fidgets in her seat. "But, after my dad died, our two families were still determined to combine the two households. Without my dad to help support her, my mom and the Taiki Household settled on me and Yasuharu becoming engaged instead and…that's about it."
Imari blinks. "No offence Nijiko, but I'm kinda glad I haven't met your family yet…wait a second," says Imari. "Haruna Taiki. As in Principal Taiki?" Yasuharu, Mio, Anzu, and Eko nods their heads in unison.
"…"
"Your mom is the principal of Minwa Academy?! That's awesome!"
Yasuharu smiles, "Yeah, my mom is pretty incroyable. Honestly, she really whipped my family into shape. At least that's what my father always told me. He always said that she was supposed to be the new heiress. Elegant, sophisticated, and graceful in her kimono…but she was like, 'No thanks, I don't wanna do that. I'm gonna go run a school instead.'."
Imari giggles. "That's amazing."
"What can I say," hums Yasuharu as he nudges Nijiko shoulder, "I like rebels."
Nijiko rolls her eyes. "Gee, thanks for comparing me to your mother."
Yasuharu sticks out his bottom lip. "Why must you twist your poor Suru's words, mon amour?"
Imari's face lights up. "Oh! That reminds me. What's the story behind the nickname Suru?"
Nijiko huffs, "There is no 'story'. It's just what I use to call Yasuharu when I was little."
"And by 'little', she means back in the spring," chimes in Yasuharu as he leans back in his chair. "Back when we were little, ah, maybe four or five, I introduced myself and she got super mad, putting her hands on her hips and stating, 'Yasuharu? That's eight letters too long! Yasuharu. From now on you are Suru! Get use to it!'."
Imari and Tomoka try to stifle their snickers, but can't hold out long and soon burst into laughter. Nijiko just frowns at them. "You guys suck."
"Sorry, Nijiko," laughs Imari into her hand. "But, that's just so likeyou to say."
Just then, Yasuharu looks up from their table. "Oh, look! It's Rimaki-chan! Oh! Wakafu-chan and Saragi-chan too! Hey, mademoiselles~!"
Imari and Tomoka exchange a puzzled look, "Rimaki…Wakafu…Saragi…chan?" Both girls turn their head and their hearts drop, "…Oh."
Rio Aramaki struts into the cafeteria with her posse, Sara Hīragi and Fu Wakamiya.
Eko bobs her head. "'Oh' is right. This is gonna get ugly."
When Yasuharu's call lands on her ears, Rio heads snaps over to the table where Yasuharu is innocently waving. But, when Nijiko green-eyes and Rio's burgundy-eyes met, furious lightning is exchanged.
"Wow. Sitting at a table with the Club Flunk and the Ice Witch," Rio muses, her eyes darting over at Imari and Tomoka. "Congrats, Ōmitsu, you're really moving up in the world." With a flip of her pigtails, Rio stomps away with Sara and Fu lagging behind.
With his hand still in the air, a sweat drop appears on the side of Yasuharu's forehead, "…Um…nice to see you too?" Yasuharu turns to Nijiko. "Do you mind tellomg me what that was about, mon amour?"
Nijiko picks at her food with her chopsticks. "Well…me and Rio aren't exactly…friends anymore."
Yasuharu's eyes widen, "Q-quoi? Since when?"
"Back in the spring," states Mio, repeating Yasuharu's words.
"And she calls me the Ice Witch," mutters Tomoka.
Yasuharu continues to look at Nijiko with perplexed eyes. "What the heck happened here while I was away in France?"
"Nothing," snaps Nijiko, "Just back off, Yasuharu."
"Um, non," frowns Yasuharu. "Rimaki-chan's my friend too. Wakafu-chan and Saragi-chan for that matter as well."
"Good for you," snorts Nijiko. "Oh please. Every girl you give cutezee-wootzee names too are your quote-on-quote friends."
Mio, Anzu, and Eko chime in their nicknames to verify this.
"I'm Miojo-chan."
"Yoshizu-chan."
"And he calls me Koko-chan."
"You better believe it," winks Yasuharu.
Imari raises her hand. "Can me and Tomoka get cutezee-wootzee names too?"
Nijiko gives Imari a death glare. "Not now, Imari!"
"From this moment forward until the end of time, you shall officially be referred to as Suzuri-chan and Fumomo-chan," announces Yasuharu. "It has been decided!"
"I love it!" beams Imari, delightfully clapping her hands together.
"That didn't take you that long," comments Tomoka. "Not that I'm complaining. So embarrassing, but Suzuri and Fumomo sound adorable."
Nijiko lets her head flop down onto the table. "My god, you guys can't hold a conversation to save your lives."
Anzu pats her friend on the shoulder. "Niji-chan…did you just slam your face into your lunch?"
"…"
"…maybe."
"It's Nijiko's secret ingredient," snickers Eko as she pokes the top of her friend's head.
"Shut up, Eko-chan," mumbles Nijiko as she lifts her head up. White rice is stuck all over her face and one pickled plum is glued to her left cheekbone.
Yasuharu smirks. "Have I ever told how belle you look covered in rice…a prickled plum…and I think there's some chicken in there too."
Nijiko gives him an ugly smile. "I feel like a princess."
Yasuharu smiles, "Mon princesse." He leans across the table and kisses the pickled plum right off Nijiko's cheek.
"Soooo cuuuute!" squeals all the girls in unison.
Nijiko shoves Yasuharu away. "Don't you two dare turn into fangirls on me."
"Can you really blame them, mon amour," winks Yasuharu. "We are a perfect couple."
"Except we're not a couple," points out Nijiko.
Imari tips her head to the side. "Then what are you two?"
Nijiko shrugs her shoulders, "Just friends."
Mio nods her head. "Right, just friends who are planning to get married in about three-years-time. Totally normal."
Nijiko whacks her friend in the arm. "Shut up, Mio-chan. You know what I meant." She huffs. "I'm just too lazy to try and find the luv of my freaking life at 15-years-old and Yasuharu just wants to unite the two Households just like the rest of them."
Yasuharu starts fidgeting in his seat. "Yeah, r-right, um, t-that's right…t-totally. T-that's solely the only reason. Definitely." He quickly stuffs a whole tempura shrimp into his mouth to shut himself up, "Délicieux."
Imari tips her head to the side. "Okay." She perks up with a bright smile, "If that's what makes you two happy, than I'm happy." She cups the side of her cheek with one hand. "I wonder if I'll ever have fiancé. That would be nice. What about you, Tomoka?"
Tomoka's blushes deeply. "I-I don't know. Gosh, Imari, you can't just ask those kinds of questions! So embarrassing!"
"She's fantasizing about marrying Masatoooo," coos Nijiko.
"N-no I'm not!" squeaks Tomoka, her face turning bright red.
"Tomoka and Masato sitting in a tree. Oh wait, no they're not 'cause Masato friend-zoned you. F-R-I-E-N-D-Z-O-N-E-D~."
"OOOOOOOOOOH!" The group comically fly through the sky and spinning around while flailing their arms.
Tomoka looks down at the ground and becomes surrounded by a depressing aura. "Nijiko. You. Are. The. Absolute. Worst."
Nijiko smirks. "And don't you forget it, honey bunny."
Imari and Yasuharu sit back down in their chairs. "Hey, Yasuharu, can I try one of your onigiri."
Yasuharu winks. "Go for it, mademoiselle."
Imari shoves the rice ball into her mouth, "Tanf youw."
"Je vous en prie," Yasuharu grins.
Imari swallows, "…I have no idea what you just said, but yeah, you look great too, man."
Yasuharu holds back a laugh.
Tomoka taps Imari on shoulder. "Imari, he just said 'you're welcome'."
"…Oh," says Imari, whipping a piece of rice from the corner of her mouth. "I still stand by what I said."
Yasuharu winks, "Merci, Suzuri-chan."
"Would you quit it with the winking!" snaps Nijiko.
Yasuharu smiles, "I'm not winking, mon amour. There's just something in my eye." Wink. "Oh, there it is again." Wink. "Oh, so annoying." Wink. Wink. Wink. "Can you get it for me, mon amour."
"No. But I will yank it right out of its eye socket," barks Nijiko.
Imari stuffs the rest of the rice ball into her mouth, "Thakz nise."
As everyone shares a laugh, Nijiko stays quiet as she surreptitiously reaches into her skirt pocket and pulls out her dad's broken cymbal from his tambourine.
Imari places the broken cymbal into Nijiko's hand and closes it tenderly close. "I think you can start a new beginning. Just be the best version of you that you can be."
"Easier said than done," mutters Nijiko to herself.
"Okay, Masato, I'm ready!" announces Imari as she races into the school dojo with her shinai—bamboo sword—in hand and her kendo clothing—hakama—clumsily thrown on.
No surprise, Masato is not impressed, "You know, traditional swordsman technique was once used by ancient samurai…a bit more grace wouldn't kill you."
Imari looks down at her sloppy work and gingerly scratches the back of her head. "Sorry. I was rushing! I'm just really excited to get started!"
"Clearly," says Masato as he finishes putting on his kote gloves.
"Oh, and looky-looky," beams Imari as she waves her hand out in front of Masato, "My hand is all better now!"
Masato nods his head. "That's good. Now, let's see if you can use that hand to get better at your kendo technique."
He tosses Imari her bamboo sword and she frantically reaches out to grab it, but it smacks her right in the forehead and makes her eyes go white and she tumbles to the ground.
Masato sighs and turns to one of the girl members with her hair in a high bun and motions her over to Imari. "Help her."
The girl rolls her eyes, but walks to Imari and hoists her back into her feet and starts assisting her with putting her armour on correctly before handed Imari her kendo sword.
"Thank you," beams Imari.
"Whatever," says the girl.
Imari's ears perk up as she recognizes the girl's voice immediately, "Hīragi-senapi?" Rio Aramaki's best friend, Sara Hīragi, glares her aquamarine blue eyes at Imari as she tightens her hakama. "I-I didn't know you were on the Kendo Team."
"Have been since first-year," states Sara as she puts the men helmet over Imari's head. "How Kashima-senpai let you join though is beyond me."
"O-oh," stammers Imari.
Despite their cruel history, Imari always thought Sara Hīragi was too beautiful to be mean. Almost like a princess with her light blonde hair up in a tight bun and her cute beauty mark on the left side of her cheek. There was always something about her aura that made her come off with a great sense of elegance, unlike her friends Rio and Fu.
Sara catches Imari staring. "What are you looking at?"
Imari blinks. "That's such an overused line."
Sara narrows her eyes. "What?"
"You know, 'what are you looking at?'" explains Imari. "Don't you think that line gets thrown around a lot."
Sara gives Imari a bewildered look and Imari expects to get clobbered in the face, but is more than surprise when Sara lets out a laugh.
"Omigosh, you are so weird," giggles Sara. "You can't be normal."
"Um…thank you?" says Imari hesitantly.
I mean, I am a magical girl who has to fight monsters nearly every day to save the word, so I guess I'm not entirely "normal" either. Of course, Imari keeps this comment to herself.
"You know, normally Kashima-senpai has us pair up girl with girl and boy with boy. For fairness, you know," says Sara as she picks up her wooden sword and swing up over her shoulder. "You want to pair up?"
Imari fumbles with her shinai, "R-really?" She tightens her grip. "What's the catch? What happened to the Club Flunk? Aramaki-senpai was still calling me that earlier."
Along with everyone else in this school, she comments to herself.
Sara shrugs her shoulders. "Despite Rio-chan, you are in a club now, right? I mean, you could still get kicked out, but I don't think Kashima-senpai would do that. That's not his style."
"Oh," is all Imari is able to say.
"I respect Kashima-senpai, if he says that you're a part of the Kendo Team than I respect his decision and I treat teammates properly," states Sara simply as she spins around on her heel and leads Imari over to a kendo mat. "Let's get started, 'kay?"
Imari smiles, than an idea suddenly pops into her head. C-could Hīragi-senpai…could Hīragi-senpai be our fourth teammate? She's beautiful, respectful, nice…that seems like good Pretty Cure material! And she could be a great fighter like Nijiko!
Imari nods her head. "Okay!"
Hīragi-senpai could be perfect for our final member!
Sara and Imari find their spots opposite of each other on the kendo mat and Sara holds her wooden sword out in front of her. "Now, since you're new to kendo, we won't be fighting today."
"Aw," Imari frowns.
"But, I can teach you ashi-sabaki," grins Sara, but chuckles when she sees Imari's puzzled expression. "Ashi-Sabaki just means footwork."
"Ohhh," tunes in Imari, "Gotcha, gotcha."
"There are four different types of ashi-sabaki," explains Sara as she takes her stance, "Okuri-Ashi, Ayumi-Ashi, Hiraki-Ashi, and Tsuhi-Ashi. We can start with that and see how—!"
"Bonjour, mes amies~!"
Yasuharu bursts into the dojo with Nijiko and Tomoka trailing behind him.
She rolls her eyes. "Yasuharu, do you have to do that when you walk into every single room."
Yasuharu shrugs. "I was going for a dramatic entrance, mon amour." He tries to put his arm with Nijiko's shoulder, but she swiftly whacks him away. "Eh, it was worth a shot."
Tomoka is caught in-between the two friends and is looking around frantically, flustered and unsure what to do with herself. "I-I'm just going to go…uh…over there." She rapidly races over to Imari. "Imari, save me! The lovebirds are scaring me!"
"We're not lovebirds!" barks Nijiko.
"Scary!" cries Tomoka, sticking out her bottom lip.
Imari brings her friend into a dramatic hug and pats her on the head. "It's okay, Tomoka. You're okay. I'm here now. You're safe now."
Nijiko runs her fingers through her hair ashamedly. "You guys are just ridiculous. Y'know that, right?"
Yasuharu spots Sara and waves, "Hey, petite sœur."
Sara waves back with a small smile. "Welcome back, Yasuharu-oniisan."
Imari and Tomoka nearly fell over, "O-O-ONIISAN!"
Sara shrugs her shoulder. "Yeah, Yasuharu's my older brother…well, half-brother."
Imari and Tomoka shove their faces into Sara's with complete focus in both of their eyes. "Explain. Right. This. Second."
Comical worry lines appear on the side of Sara's head, "O-okay…well…" she takes a deep breath, "…my mom and stepfather didn't get married right away, but they had Yasuharu-oniisan and my stepfather didn't know. My mom got married to someone else, had me. They ended up divorcing and my stepfather found out about Yasuharu-oniisan and my mom and him got married and lived happily ever after. The end."
"…"
"Huh," blinks Imari.
"Yeah," huffs Sara.
"Then, that means Haruna Taiki was Haruna Hīragi," realizes Tomoka. "Then why do you have your mom's maiden name?"
Sara rolls her eyes. "I wanted to have the Taiki name but, honestly, didn't want to get wrapped up in that mess with the Ōmitsu Household. Plus, since I don't have any 'Taiki blood', my grandfather wouldn't let me change my surname."
Imari frowns. "Geez, that's a bit excessive, isn't it?"
Sara shrugs her shoulders. "Welcome to the world of the rich, Suzukawa. Being poor has its perks, doesn't it?"
"I'm not really poor, you know," points out Imari.
"Compare to everyone else here, you are," states Sara. "That's just a fact."
Well, at least she's honest, thinks Imari, brutally honest, but better than being a liar.
"And bonjour, mademoiselles," winks Yasuharu to all the girls in the dojo.
On cue, all the girls practically swoon, their eyes turning into bright red hearts. "Yasuharu-kyun~!"
All the girls crowd Yasuharu and he gives Nijiko a cheeky smirk, but she just rolls her eyes and pushes past him and his fangirls and heads over to Imari, "Hey, Imari and…Sara." She crosses her arms.
"Nijiko," says Sara with the same lack of enthusiasm in her voice.
"We're all friends here, can'tcha tell?" smiles Imari sarcastically.
Nijiko and Sara turn their stone-faced heads at Imari. "No. We can't."
"N-never mind," stammers Imari with a sweat drop appearing on the side of her head, but disappears when a thought pops into her mind. "What a second…Nijiko, you knew Hīragi-senpai was your fiancé's sister?!"
Nijiko raises an eyebrow. "Of course I knew."
"Which makes you two…" grasps Imari, her eyes suddenly lighting up with sparkles, "…that makes you two future sisters-in-law! That's so cool! I wish I had a sister!"
"…Imari…you do have a sister," snorts Nijiko, bonking her friend on the back of her head. "Izumi, remember?"
"Oh yeah," realizes Imari, "Sweet!"
"You forgot your own sister's existence," says Sara with in an unimpressed monotone.
Nijiko puts one hand on her hip. "Yeah, you just caught a glimpse of how the inside of Imari's brain works. Considered yourself lucky." Pause. "Or unlucky."
"Mon amour!"
Nijiko rolls her eyes as Yasuharu comes up behind her and swings his arm over her shoulder for a half-hug. "Mon amouuur, you didn't tell me Suzuri-chan was on the Kendo Team!"
"Oops. Must have slipped my mind," says Nijiko sarcastically. "Why do you care, you prefer fencing over kendo anyways."
"…What."
The group turns around to see Masato's back staring up at a Japanese artwork on the opposing side of the dojo.
He dramatically pushes up his glasses. "Fencing over kendo? Yasuharu, don't make me laugh."
A dramatic spotlight shoots down on him and Imari jumps in surprise. "W-where the heck did that spotlight come from?"
Masato spins around and points at Yasuharu, his glasses shinning. "Kendo is one-thousand-times better than fencing! End of story!"
Yasuharu scoffs at him. "Are you joking, Makkun? You gotta be joking me."
Imari tips her head to the side, "Makkun?"
Yasuharu struts over to Masato and snaps his fingers. "Fencing is a gentleman's sport."
The two begin to circle each other as Masato snorts in disbelief. "Oh please, kendo is the truest in honouring swordsmanship and traditional martial arts. All you do in fencing is dance around in a white nylon tutu."
Yasuharu pouts, "My, my, my. What cruel words, Makkun. You're gonna hurt my pretty little feelings." He turns it into a smirk. "S'il vous plaît, fencing and kendo doesn't even belong in the same league."
Masato glares. "What's funny it that you're trying to defend fencing over kendo."
Yasuharu shrugs his shoulders, "Can't deny the truth, Makkun. Fencing trumps kendo any day."
Masato pulls out his shinai and points it right at Yasuharu only an inch from his nose. "There's only one way to find out."
Yasuharu smirks. "I guess there is. D'accord, you're on." With a swift motion, Yasuharu rips off his school uniform to reveal white fencing clothing underneath.
Nijiko crosses her arms. "You wear your fencing clothing over your uniform."
Yasuharu blinks. "Yes."
He holds out his arm and one of the fangirls puts a foil—fencing weapon—in his hand as another fangirl puts a mask over his face.
Yasuharu slashes the foil through the air with a swift 'whoosh' sound, "On guard, Makkun."
Masato puts on his helmet. "May God have mercy on your soul, Yasuharu."
In a comical fight cloud, Masato and Yasuharu clash.
On the sidelines the fangirls are cheering and holding up pink banners with Yasuharu painted on it surrounded by big red hearts.
Nijiko rolls her eyes once again, "Really? You guys are ridiculous. Right, Imari—?"
"Woo! Go Masato!" cheers Imari, fist pumping the air. "Hit him in the head! In the head!"
Sara snickers. "Suzukawa, he can't do that. That's against the rules."
"I don't care!" announces Imari.
Sara lets out a laugh. "Well, sorry to side against you, Suzukwa, but I'm gonna cheer on my brother. Go Yasuharu-oniisan!"
"You two are so immature," scoffs Nijiko. "Right, Tomoka—!"
Tomoka is watching Masato with a smitten expression on her face. Light blush on her face and squirming on the spot.
Tomoka imagines Masato dressed up as a knight in shining armour arriving before her on a white stallion, the Prince Masato leaping off of the horse with his sword in hand.
"I will fight for my Tomoka's honour and win her hand in marriage!" proclaims Masato as he gets down on one knee and presenting a diamond ring to Tomoka.
"Why yes Masato-kyun, I will be your wife!" sings Tomoka.
A sweat drop appears on the side of Nijiko's head watching Tomoka mooning over Masato with her…crazy expression on her face. Or lovestruck. Honestly, they look the same to Nijiko. "Why is everyone at this school completely crazy?"
Nijiko looks up and sees Yasuharu strike Masato in the stomach before looking back at her and smiling. Nijiko sticks her nose into the air and turn away. She doesn't see it, but Imari catches a flicker of sadness wash over Yasuharu's eyes as he turn back to his fight with Masato.
Imari smiles softly and closes her eyes. "Ah, so that's how it is."
Before long, both Masato and Yasuharu were sprawled out on the floor completely exhausted.
Masato weakly lifts his wooden sword and taps Yasuharu on the knee. "Had…had enough…yet?"
Yasuharu pitifully lifts his foil and tries to swat Masato on the shoulder, but completely misses and the sword drops to the floor. "A-are you…kidding?" he pants. "I…I could go another…hour."
Nijiko bumps Tomoka in the hip. "Is Masato still dreamy to you, Tomoka."
Her friend's lovestruck expression has long since died and she stands there, her left eye twitching, "My…hero?"
By this point, the fangirls had already grown bored and had packed up and left. The only ones left were the members of the Kendo Team and Nijiko, who wore the same unimpressed expression the entire time. In all honesty, Imari ended up falling asleep from pure boredom and was slouched over on the side of the dojo mat.
The only reason she managed to awake up was due to the last bell of the day ringing through the whole school which acted as her alarm sent from heaven. Imari opens her eyes and lets out a yawn, "Aaaaaare you guuuuuys stiiiiiill fiiiiightiiiiing?"
"Huh?" two tired boys moan in unison.
"Well, if you ask meeeee…" says Imari as she stands up. She towers over the two tired boys and points dramatically at them. "…Kendo and fencing are both equally awesome in their own ways and you two need to respect each other's opinion and be mature upperclassmen to the lowerclassmen like me!"
"…"
Masato and Yasuharu are speechless as Nijiko and Sara burst out laughing.
"Get roasted by a first-year student!" laughs Nijiko, clutching her sides.
"Shut up, Ōmitsu-san," groans Masato as he takes of his helmet.
Yasuharu crosses his arms. "I think it's safe to say that I won."
Masato clocks Yasuharu on the side of his head, "Only in your dreams, Yasuharu."
The dojo screen door slides open, "Sara-chan, you still here? Come on, school's over. Let's get going."
Rio and Fu walk into the dojo. They both freeze in place when they spot Nijiko and Imari. Rio glares them down with her burgundy eyes.
This makes a sweat drop appear on the side of Imari's head. "Geez, if looks could kill."
Nijiko rolls her eyes for the hundredth time today, it making her eyeballs sore, "Back off, Aramaki. We were just leaving."
"I'm not talking to you," states Rio bluntly as she storms past her and grabs a hold of Sara's arm. "Come on, Sara-chan. We're going now."
Yasuharu steps in between the two of them. "Hold on a second, Rimaki-chan. What the heck is going on here? I thought you and Nijiko are best friends."
Rimaki whips her ginger pigtails at Yasuharu, "Ex-best friends."
"B-but why?" demands Yasuharu.
Nijiko snorts. "She just got annoyed that I quit the Tennis Team. That's all."
Yasuharu blinks at Nijiko in shock. "Y-you quit the Tennis Team? Quoi?"
Rio crosses her arms over her chest. "Oh, not just the Tennis Team. The Judo Club, the Golf Club, Basketball Team—all of them!"
Yasuharu shakes his head in disbelief and keep trying to meet Nijiko's eyes. "What is Rimaki-chan talking about, mon amour? W-why would you quit all your clubs?"
"That's the nail in the coffin," Rio snarls, glaring down Nijiko. "She won't say! No rhyme or reason. Just quit out of the blue at the start of third-year. Almost right after you left for France in fact."
Imari throat tightens up as she tries to swallow it down.
"I don't have to explain to you, Aramaki!" snaps Nijiko.
Rio stops her foot on the ground. "That's right! You don't have to explain yourself to anyone! You do whatever you want and never stop to think about anyone else's feelings!"
Sara tries to step in. "Rio-chan, sleep calm down—"
"—You just drop the club like it didn't even matter!" cries out Rio.
Nijiko steps back in surprise when she catches a glimpse of tears in Rio's eyes.
"You just quit like me or the team didn't matter! And the worst part, you never apologized for just ditching us and never trying to explain yourself! You just gave up!"
Nijiko's eyes darken and look down at her feet. She stuffs her hand in her skirt pocket and touches the broken cymbal. She let out a painful laugh. "Haha, yeah, I always do that, don't I."
Rio's anger flicks for a moment and narrows her eyes in confusion.
Nijiko runs her fingers through her hair as she laughs. "Hehe. I guess it's funny, isn't it? I always act so confident and fearless. But, do you wanna know the truth, Aramaki?"
Rio hesitantly tries to stand her ground and unbeknownst to everyone, Ryoma Aisaki is on the other side of the wall, listening to everything with a wicked smile spread across his face.
He licks his lips satisfyingly. "What a delicious heart of anger and resentment. It's making my mouth water. Now all it needs is a dash of chaos from one of my gorgeous Endingu."
Nijiko laugh turns cold and the smile on her face trembles. "I'm so scared. So scared that if I'm not strong enough, others will get hurt because of me. I'm so fearful that I'm just gonna be a burden so I just isolate myself before I can let that happen. Haha. Isn't that hilarious, Aramaki?"
"Mon amour," murmurs Yasuharu, trying to reach his hand out to her. "You don't have to push us away. You're not a burden. You'll never be a burden to us."
"Yeah, that's right, Nijiko!" insists Imari with a nod of her head. "And it's not weak to lean on others for support. It shows that you're strong enough to admit when you need help. There is nothing weak about that!"
Ryoma smirks wickedly as he snatches one of the Voodoo Dolls from his belt. "Dance for me, PreCure."
He lets the evilized puppet fall to the ground.
Now, let's see how good my acting is.
Ryoma bursts through the dojo doors, "Imari!"
What the hell? Why did I call out Pinky's name?
"E-everyone get back—!"
Suddenly, the doors explode behind Ryoma and he gets launched through the air was the Endingu storming through, "ENDINGU!"
With its bright red eyes, the Endingu dressed as the Prince Charming breaks right through the school wall and towers over the Kendo Team.
Ryoma tumbles to the ground and gives his head a violent shake, trying to hide his mischievous smile. Dang. That was timed perfectly!
He feels someone grabs him by his arm, "Aisaki-san? Are you okay? Are you hurt?"
Ryoma looks up to see a naively concerned Tomoka staring back at him with worried wide eyes. And hanging right off her shoulder is book bag with her blue PreHeartBook tucked inside. Ryoma has to muster every ounce of strength not to just lung at her and steal it right there and then. But, he can't just throw away his identity on a whim. He had to be clever.
Ryoma's eyes shine red with a split second, short enough time for Tomoka not to notice and the Endingu shares the same glow in its eyes. By his command, the Prince Charming Endingu unsheathes its silver-coloured sword and pulls up over its head to chop down right at Ryoma and Tomoka.
"Look out, Fukumoto-senpai!" gasps Ryoma as he grabs her by the shoulders and pulls her out of the way as the monster's sword slashes down at the ground, breaking the smooth wooden floor under their feet. As the fall to the ground, Ryoma lets his hand jerk on Tomoka's shoulder, making her book bag slip off and fall to the ground.
Without hesitation, Masato quickly races over to the two of them and hoists Tomoka to her feet. "Are you alright, Tomoka?"
Tomoka anxiously puts a hand to her chest, but manages to nod. "I-I'm okay."
Masato turns his attention to his team. "We have to get out of here. Everyone, out the back door! Now!"
No one has to be told twice as all the students make a break for the back door of the dojo that leads out to the school field.
Ryoma takes the opportunity to grab Tomoka's book bag and disappear into the crowd of panicking classmates.
Ryoma's whole body is tingling as he feels the power of the PreHeartBook illuminating from inside Tomoka's book bag. I got it! Ha-ha. I can't believe I actually got it!
As Ryoma manages to escape out of the dojo, Fu grabs her friend by the forearm. "Come on, Rio-chan. Let's get out of here, okay?"
Rio silently bobs her head and the two quickly race for the back door, right past Nijiko.
Nijiko's eyes are shadowed as she grabs Rio's hand, making her stop in her tracks.
Nijiko lips make tighten into a straight line. "Aramaki…I…I'm sorry, y'know." She tightens her grip. "I…I know this is horrible timing."
The two old friends share a small chuckle, their red to bright green eyes losing their disdain. "I…I want to be able to explain myself. I really…really do. But, I just…I just can't. I'm…I'm sorry, Rio-chan—!"
Rio tenderly bonks Nijiko on the forehead, making her blink in surprise. "I'm sorry too, Niji-chan."
With that, Rio and Fu make a break for the door and Nijiko lets out a built up sigh. "I'll take it."
Nijiko looks around and sees that Imari, Tomoka, Masato, Sara, and Yasuharu are still stuck inside the dojo, the rest of the students blocking their way out.
Yasuharu is looking up wide-eyed at the giant monster, "Quoi? What is the heck is that thing?!"
"I don't know," admits his sister. "But, the PreCure call them Endingu."
Yasuharu blinks, "P-PreCure? I…people were telling me rumours when I got back but…but I don't think they were actually real!"
Sara nods her head. "Oh they're real alright and if we wanna remain in one piece, we gotta get outta here."
"Took the words right out of my mouth, Hīragi-san," agrees Masato, eyeing Tomoka intently. "Let's…let's get out of here and leave this to the PreCure."
With the rest of the students out of the way, the group manages to squeeze out of the dojo just at the Prince Charming Endingu strikes at them. "Endingu!"
"Go, go, go!" shouts Nijiko as she shoves all her friends out the door as the monster comes barreling through.
"Kyah!" The groups fumble to the ground as the Endingu crashes straight through the dojo, bursting out and thrashing onto the school field where all of the other Kendo Team are. Rio, Fu, and all the other students turning around and wailing in surprise as the Endingu storming towards them.
"PreCure help!" screams Rio as she curls up into a little ball as everyone around her begin to frantically cry out.
"Oh no!" gasps Tomoka. "We have to get them out of there! The Endingu is heading straight for them!" Tomoka reaches for her book bag and her heart drops. Tomoka looks around frantically as her heart starts to quake inside of her chest. "M-my book bag…w-where is my book bag?!"
Tomoka tries to hide the worried tone to her voice, but her voice cracks at the end and looks over to Imari and Masato with wide eyes.
Nijiko closes her eyes. "Go."
Her friends blink at her in surprise as she turns her back on them and starts slowly walking towards the Endingu roaring at the terrified students.
"W-wait, wait," gulps Tomoka, grabbing at her friends shoulder in a frenzy.
Nijiko doesn't turn around to face Tomoka head-on. "Go. Go and find your PreH—your book bag." Nijiko raises her head up. "I got this." She takes a deep breath. "No more running. No more hiding. I'm gonna face this head-on. All of it. I'm prepared to face the music."
"A-are you sure?" swallows Tomoka.
Nijiko smirks. "Yeah, I got this."
Tomoka nods her head. "Just…don't do anything reckless, okay? I won't be here to bail you out this time."
With that, Tomoka, Imari, and Masato take off back to the destroyed dojo. "Let's go check in here. It must have fallen off or something…"
"Seriously?!" scoffs Sara in disbelief, "A monster is attacking us and they're interest in finding Fukumoto's book bag?! Are you kidding me?!"
Nijiko smiles softly, "Yeah I know, such weirdoes. But, they're our weirdoes." Nijiko reaches in her book bag and pulls out her green PreHeartBook.
"Quoi? What is that?" asks Yasuharu.
This doesn't go unnoticed by Yasuharu and Sara, but it was inevitable. If she tried to sneak off, no doubt they would be extremely confused and follow her. Plus, all those students can't wait for Cure Enchant to slip away to transform in private. They need her now.
"Nothing much," states Nijiko as she starts walking towards the monster. "Just stand back, okay?"
Yasuharu looks at Nijiko in confusion as she continues to walk closer and closer towards the Endingu.
The Endingu stops and slowly turns its head as it noticed the green-haired girl walking towards it.
As Nijiko gets closer, she starts to speed up. Before long, Nijiko breaks into a run, then a full-on sprint straight at the Prince Charming Endingu.
As she raises full-speed at the monster, the PreHeartBook in her hands starts to glow and a pale green light begins to dance around Nijiko. Starting at her feet, her light brown penny loafers emerald green high heels and she jumps into a front handspring, her school uniform disappears and transforms into her green and yellow coloured magical girl outfit adorn with her arm gloves and star earrings.
"Story of Magic…"
As she reels her fist back, her green-coloured hair turns into her bright red braid and delivers a powerful sucker punch right into the Endingu's face.
"…Cure Enchant!"
"Endingu!"
The monster is sent pile driving into the ground, safely away from all the students.
Cure Enchant turns to the Kendo Team. "Everyone, get over to the school buildings. Now!"
The students didn't need to be told twice as they race over to where Yasuharu and Sara are standing. It seems that the students were too distracting by the giant monster trying to destroy them to notice Nijiko's transformation. Makes sense. A monster that is about to destroy you trumps watching a magical girl transformation. But, Yasuharu and Sara definitely noticed. But, I guess, if anyone was to see, might as well be Nijiko's fiancé and sister-in-law.
Yasuharu and Sara'a jaws are practically hitting the floor, "Uhhhhhhhh. Waaaaahhh. Huuuuuuh?"
"Get everyone to safety please," orders Cure Enchant. "I've got a monster to defeat." With that she rockets off the ground and clashes with the Endingu.
Sara shakes her head. "Let's go, Yasuharu-oniisan."
But, as she tries to lead the students away, her brother grabs her arm. "J-just like that, petite sœur." Yasuharu's hand starts trembling. "You're just going to accept that so easily. Mon amour…Nijiko…she's…she's a…"
"I know," snaps Sara. "But, we can't…we don't have time for this right now. We just need to listen to Nijiko right now and deal with…with all of this after. Please, Yasuharu-oniisan."
Yasuharu snorts in disbelief. "So you just expect me to push down my feelings about this?"
Sara narrows her eyes. "You do about everything else."
Yasuharu scoffs. "I do not."
Sara puts her hands on her hips, "Oh really? Have even talked to Nijiko about anything? About leaving Nijiko when you went away to France? About how you really feel about Nijiko? Let me guess no."
Yasuharu clenches his jaw shut. Without a word, he grabs his fencing sabre and races towards Cure Enchant and Endingu.
Sara's eyes widen. "W-where the heck are you doing now?!"
"Helping mon amour," snaps Yasuharu.
"You gotta be kidding me," Sara groans. "Come back here, you idiot brother!"
As Ryoma escaped out of the dojo, he ditched the Kendo Team on the field and made his way to a secluded side of the school, a shadowed corner of one of the Middle School Division buildings. He kneels down in, his hands shaking, and a fiendish smile spread across his face.
"Haha. I-I got it. Haha," laughs Ryoma maliciously, tangling his fingers into his hair. "I…I actually got it."
Ryoma opens up Tomoka's book bag and quickly sees her blue PreHeartBook softly shining inside. He hungrily reaches inside and extracts the PreHeartBook, tossing the book bag away without a second thought.
Ryoma runs his hand over the cover of the PreHeartBook and lets out a twist laugh, throwing his head back, soaking in the moment, "You humans, so naïve and trusting. Now you're going to lose everything over it. Haha! HAHAHAHA!"
Ryoma opens the PreHeartBook up and looks at all its pages filled with all their fairytales. He pinches the corner of one of the pages with his fingers. He smirks in satisfaction, "And now to destroy this stupid book."
Ryoma begins to slowly tear out the first page. When he hears the sound of tearing, the PreHeartBook suddenly flashes bright white.
"I was created to bring Kuroizado-sama happiness! Destroying you will make him happy!"
Ryoma finches and jerks his hand away from the PreHeartBook. "W-what the heck? What the heck was that? A…a voice? I…haha…I must be hearing things. Right?"
"No. No, it's too late for that. It's too late for me."
Ryoma bolts up in shock, dropping the PreHeartBook. It falls with its pages wide open. Anxiously, Ryoma takes a step forward and peers at the open pages. Ryoma swallows a gasp when he sees a picture taking form on the pages. Ryoma recognizes the image all too well. It was the throne room of Desolate Castle. But, what Ryoma sees next makes his blood turn cold.
A figure was kneeling down in the center of the throne room with the pink PreHeartBook in their hands. The figure was tall, strong with dark-tanned skin. They have turquoise-coloured hair in a short Mohawk with notches on both of their eyebrows, elf-like ears that stick straight out with purple markings on their cheeks. They're looking down at the PreHeartBook with dark golden eyes before slowly lifting their head and smiling up at Ryoma through the pages of Cure Mythical's PreHeartBook.
Ryoma almost chokes on the name, "X-Xoanon?!"
"Goodbye."
Xoanon rips the pink PreHeartBook in his meaty hands and illuminates a giant explosion of light magic, turning the pages of Tomoka's PreHeartBook blinding white, forcing the blue PreHeartBook shut, and making Ryoma stumble backwards and fall right on his back.
Ryoma is struggling for air, taking shallow gasps as his chest begins burning painfully. It was starts rushing back to Ryoma. If he destroys Cure Mythical's PreHeartBook, it will unleash all the light magic it harnesses and purify him. But, if it purifies him that means he will disappear too. Just like Xoanon.
A sharp pain stabs Ryoma in his chest as he feels his throat go raw.
Ryoma manages to pull himself up and crotch in front of the PreHeartBook.
"I know…I know I have to destroy it," murmurs Ryoma as he tries again, grabbing hold of the blue PreHeartBook. "To make Kuroizado-sama happy. To fulfill my purpose." As soon as he touches it, his hands begin to shake. "B-but, I…but…I…I…"
The corners of Ryoma's eyes burn and tears start to well up in his dark green eyes. "I don't—I don't wanna die!"
Ryoma kneels over, clutching his head in his hands and, through open eyes, tears flow over and stream down his face. "I don't wanna end up like Xoanon! I don't—I don't wanna disappear!"
"PreCure Kick!"
Cure Enchant dives down on the Prince Charming Endingu, but the monster manages to draw its blade and block the attack. That doesn't stop Cure Enchant as she swings around to strike the Endingu in the hand with a powerful roundhouse kick.
"Endingu!" The monster takes off its golden crown atop of its head and whips it like a Frisbee at Cure Enchant's head.
"Magic Armour!"
A bright green light shines around Cure Enchant's body as she guards herself with her forearm and takes the attack head-on without getting a scratch on her. The momentum of the Endingu's attack sends her falling to the ground.
"Magical Strike!"
But, she takes this to charge up strength and rocket herself back up into the sky. As green magic blazing like fire forms around her fists, she jabs the Endingu right in the chest and sends it tumbling backward, falling right on the back of its head.
"Endingu!" cries out the monster in annoyance and it staggers to get back on its hind legs.
Cure Enchant a drop of sweat off the side of her face. "Had enough yet, ugly?"
"ENDINGU!" answers back the Prince Charming Endingu as it raises its sword into the air. It tosses it into the air and Cure Enchant's eyes widen when the singular sword turns into a hundred swords filling the sky and launching themselves straight at her.
"I just had to open my big mouth," huffs Cure Enchant as she prepares to dodge all the flying swords.
As the sword come soaring down, Cure Enchant manages to jump out of the way of the first few, but one of the swords manages to catch her on the shoulder and another one of her knee. This makes her leg buckle and she stumbles to the ground.
Cure Enchant doesn't even waste any time though as she ducks out of the way of the rest of the swords still falling from the sky targeting her. Only one gets her on her ankle, but she swiftly dodges the rest of them.
Cure Enchant chuckles as she looks up at the towering Endingu. "If you think I'm gonna thrown in the towel from a few little paper cuts then you got another thing coming."
The Endingu's only response is pulling out a new sword and pointing it straight at Cure Enchant.
Cure Enchant smirks. "Nice sword. Now…let me show you mine. Emerald Blade!" Her sword made of pure light magic appears in her hand and points it at her opponent. She raises any eyebrow, "On guard, ugly."
With that, Cure Enchant launches off the ground and the two of them clash swords. It was all a blur. The green warrior would strike, the Endingu would block, the Endingu would attack, and the Green PreCure would block.
Cure Enchant finally sees an opening and slashes her sword, slashing the Prince Charming Prince right in its eye.
"Endingu!" roars the monster as it furiously. It clutches its damaged eye as it recklessly starts thrashing around violently.
Cure Enchant's eyes widen and she tries to jump out of the way of the monster's rage, but it completely bulldozes the green warrior and beats her into the ground.
"Kyah!" gasps Cure Enchant as she feel her whole body cry out in pain as the Endingu tramples her. It knocks the wind right out of her and the Green PreCure tries to crawl away only to get her arm and leg stomped on and scream out in agony, "You stupid monster! Get off of me!"
"Mon amour! Mon amour!"
Cure Enchant's heart rate quickens as she jerks her head up and sees Yasuharu racing towards her with his fencing sword in hand.
"Get away from mon amour whatever you are!" demands Yasuharu and he storms towards the Endingu and starts trying to slash him with his sabre. "Don't worry mon amour. I'll protect you!"
"You idiot!" snaps Cure Enchant as she struggles to stand up. "This isn't the time to be a show-off! Get out of here!"
Yasuharu pokes the monster in its leg and the Prince Charming Endingu turns around and looms down at the same boy, its single crimson eye glaring down at him.
Yasuharu's knee buckle with fear as the monster lifts its massive claw and tries to pummel him into the ground. But, just as the monster's palm skims the tips of Yasuharu's blonde hair, Cure Enchant leaps through the air and shoves him out of the way, taking the strike full-on.
"MON AMOUR!" cries out Yasuharu.
"Ryoma! Ryoma!" calls Imari as her friends frantically search the outside of the school.
"He might have gotten scared and ran inside," thinks Masato.
"Maybe," murmurs Tomoka worriedly.
"I'll go check," nods Masato as he races for nearest door and steps inside the Junior High Division building.
"I hope we can find him in time~kuru," Kuiru sighs, popping out from inside Imari's book bag. "I'm worried for Cure Enchant. I don't know if she can handle that Endingu on her own~kuru."
"All we can do is hope," agrees Tomoka.
"Nijiko will be fine," states Imari without hesitation. "She's the strongest person I know."
Tomoka shrugs her shoulders. "But, all that physical strength can't win every battle. That fight at the concert hall made that apparent."
Imari doesn't even bat an eye. "I wasn't talking about her physical strength."
Tomoka blinks in surprise, but before she can open her mouth to respond, she spots something out of the corner of her eye. Or someone. "Aisaki-san?"
"Ryoma!" chirps Imari and she bounces over to her friend.
Ryoma is curled up in the corner of the shadowed side of the school building, his head in his knees and his arms wrapped around his legs, pressed up against his chest. Tomoka's book bag is lying on the grass a foot away from him. She can see the blue of her PreHearBook twinkling inside.
"Aisaki-san, are you okay? Are you hurt?" asks Tomoka as she rushes over and kneels down in front of him.
Ryoma doesn't make a sound or even lifts his head to acknowledge her.
Tomoka bites her bottom lip as her eye flicker down to her book bag. "Thank you, Aisaki-san." She reaches out and picks up her book bag. "Thank you for protecting this. It's…it's very important to me."
Ryoma buries his head deeper into his knees.
"We have no time for this, Cure Mythical," murmurs Kuiru. "We need to go~kuru."
"R-right," stammers Tomoka as she stands back up and looks to Imari. "Let's go, Imari."
Imari nods her head and Tomoka takes off running and Imari starts chasing after her.
"How…"
Imari stops and spins around. Ryoma raises his head and stares up at Imari. An emotion flickers across his eyes that Imari cannot recognize.
"How do keep moving forward…knowing how…pointless it all is? I don't understand it."
Imari blinks in confusion, but that confusion quickly turns into a luminous smile. "It's not all pointless."
"HE KNEW WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN!" snaps Ryoma. "BUT HE DID IT ANYWAY WITH THAT STUPID SMILE ON HIM FACE! HOW?!"
Imari tips her head to the side, puzzled. "Is this about…about the person you said you lost? Remember. When we first met."
"How was he…" swallows Ryoma, "How was he so…at peace with it all? Like he didn't care it would affect m—affect others!"
Imari smiles tenderly. "I'm sure your friend cared very deeply about you—I mean—about others. Because it seems like you're friend believed in hope."
"Hope." Ryoma let the word roll off his tongue.
Imari nods her head. "Sometimes bad things happen, but those bad things are what put you on the correct path that will lead you to the best things. And hope…hope is seeing the smallest glimmer of light even when you're surrounded by darkness."
"But, what if…" Ryoma struggles, letting out a frustrated huff. "What if you are the darkness?"
Imari blinks perplexed at the question, but this expression soon melts away and is replaced by her light-hearted smile. "Then become the light instead."
Ryoma's jaw drops open, but no words manage to come out as Imari gives him a small wave and races to catch up with her friend. Speechless, Ryoma looks down at his hands. "Become…the light?"
As Imari runs ahead, she frowns, "Hey, Kuiru?"
"Yes, Cure Fable?" asks Kuiru, poking his head out of her book bag.
"The Fourth Pretty Cure," wonders Imari. "Is she…is she at this school? Like Sara Hīragi. Can you sense that she could be our final teammate?"
Unfortunately, Kuiru shakes his head. "If I am to be honest, one of the many reasons that the Fourth Pretty Cure has been a challenge to find if the fact that I haven't been able to sense her present at all since my first day at Minwa Academy~kuru."
"W-what does that mean?" asks Imari.
"I suspect that probably means that the final member isn't a student here~kuru," states Kuiru. "We were very fortunate, maybe even a bit lucky that all three of you attended the same school together and were easier to track down, but it seems that our luck has run out for the fourth member~kuru. I haven't even been able to sense her present anywhere~kuru."
"And what does that mean?"
Kuiru sighs. "It might mean that the last member isn't even in Yūkibarano~kuru. Maybe not even in this world~kuru."
Imari lets out a long breath. "Fantabulous."
In the middle of the giant shockwave, Cure Enchant lifts her legs into the air and blocks the monster from smashing her into the earth. But, the Endingu continues to press down and the Green PreCure struggles to hold it back, reaching out with her hands to stop herself from getting crushed.
"Get away from her!" shouts Yasuharu as he charges at the Endingu and tries slashing at its fist that's pining down the green warrior.
"Yasuharu! Stop!" snaps Cure Enchant out of breath.
But, the boy refuses to listen and desperately tries to strike at the Prince Charming Endingu.
Cure Enchant takes a deep breath and tries to muster all the power she has left, "Emerald Flash!"
The PreCure of Magic leashes a spark of bright green light, blinding the Endingu and causing it to launch back in pain. "Endingu!"
It takes the rest of Cure Enchant's energy to peak up from the concaved ground to see the Endingu has fallen back to a safe distance and lets out a weak cough as all the muscles in her body turn to jello and her head dropped back to the ground, the only thing in her line of sight is the summer blue sky.
"Mon amour! Get up! You need to get up!" gasps Yasuharu as he wraps one arm around her waist and the other over her shoulder and tries to pull her up on her feet. "We gotta get out of here, mon amour! That monster is coming back! Let's get you somewhere safe—!"
Cure Enchant pulls herself away from Yasuharu and turns to face the Endingu. The monster has shaken off her attack and has begun circling the two of them, waiting for an opening for the perfect strike. Cure Enchant tightens her fists and takes a step towards the monster, but is stopped by Yasuharu stepping in front of her.
"Mon amour, are you crazy? You can't beat that thing!" argues Yasuharu as he tries to take her hand. "Let the PreCure get it and then we can—"
"Enough."
Cure Enchant pulls her hand away from Yasuharu and he blinks at her in surprise.
"Stop trying to act like my knight in shining armour," states Cure Enchant, shaking her head as she looks down at the ground. "You're just gonna get yourself hurt." She lifts her head and looks him straight in the eye. "And I'll never forgive you if you do that."
"Mon amour?" blinks Yasuharu confusedly.
Cure Enchant let's a little laugh slip past her lips, only bringing more confusion to Yasuharu's eyes, "Y'know, it's funny, but every since I lost dad, I always thought I had to strong. And, for me, being strong meant stranding alone. Like I had to carry all my problems and struggles by myself because I had no one else to help lighten the load."
She gives her head a silly shake. "Even as a PreCure, I felt like I had to fight all my enemies alone. That I had to carry myself and my team on my shoulders and mine alone. I couldn't have been more wrong."
The PreCure of Magic clutches the bow on her chest. "I've never been alone. I always had others around who wanted to help me, but I was too proud to notice any of them. Mom, Rio-chan, Eko-chan, Mio-chan, Anzu-chan, and…you, Yasuharu."
"Mon amour," murmurs Yasuharu.
"You guys were always there for me," she grins. "But, I never saw that and just pushed you all away. Even as a PreCure, I was never alone to fight all these monsters. I have Imari and Tomoka. Bukku and Kuiru too. I was never alone. But, I was just too stubborn to see that I was always surrounded by people who cared about me and wanted to protect me and help me with my troubles."
Cure Enchant lifts her head and smiles softly at the clear sky. "Being alone isn't a bad thing. It shows you're strong enough to stand on your own two feet. But, one day, you're gonna trip and fall and no one is gonna be there to catch up and help you get back on your feet again."
The Pretty Cure of Magic pulls out her dad's broken tambourine cymbal and holds it up to the sky, letting it shine all the colours of the rainbow in the warm sunlight. "Friends give you a shoulder to cry on, make your problems their problems, so you don't have to battle them alone, and teammates give up support to keep fighting. All of those things make you stronger too."
"Nijiko!"
The Green PreCure looks out across the field and spots Imari and Tomoka racing towards her.
Tomoka fists bumps the sky.
"You got this Nijiko!" she cries out with a bright smile. "We believe in you!"
Cure Enchant bursts into a wide smile as she holds to the broken cymbal to her chest. "Yes. I am a Pretty Cure too. And with Cure Fable and Cure Mythical by my side…I will never ever give up."
Just then, the broken cymbal illuminates a bright emerald-green colour and Cure Enchant's eyes widen, "W-what?"
The broken cymbal becomes enveloped in a cyclone of gorgeous green colours of emerald, jade, and lime. In a flash of bright white light, the single cymbal transforms back into the tambourine it once was, but much more beautiful and powerful than it ever was before.
It becomes a white circle-shaped tambourine with a row of gem stars circling it, alternating between emerald-green and chartreuse-green. At the center is a green ring with glowing light that changes from yellow to green to turquoise. At the bottom of the tambourine is a green star with the same lock that Cure Mythical has on her Fairytale Instrument.
Cure Enchant looks on at her father's tambourine breathlessly. "M-my Fairytale Instrument." She lets its name pop out of her lips. "The Emerald Tambourine."
"Yeah!" cheers Imari. "Do it, Nijiko!"
Cure Enchant smirks, "Gladly."
With that, the Pretty Cure of Magic begins to rattle the Emerald Tambourine, the silver-coloured cymbals chiming like sweet bells. She beats the Fairytale Instrument with her hand, a burst of yellow-and-lime coloured stars dancing out with her touch. She beats it again with the side of her head and then again with her hip.
"Emerald Tambourine…"
Soon, the twinkles of stars waltz around her in a shimmering tornado. The storm flies through the air and begins to spin around the Prince Charming Endingu. They spin faster and faster as each star begins to pop, making a small 'gling' sound as they do and as replaced with sparkling emerald gems.
"…Mélodie de la Magie!"
Together, the emerald gems and star form one giant star and purify the Endingu as it lets out a peaceful murmur, "Ending…"
The giant glittering star disappears in a burst of yellow and green and the sparkle slowly dissolve out of thin air and settle to the grass below and dance across the dojo, restoring the building back to normal.
In the faint shimmers of emerald gems and stars, Cure Enchant turns around to face Yasuharu and gives him a breathtaking smile.
Yasuharu puts a hand to his racing heart, "Mon amour."
"Nijiko! That was amazing!" Imari beams as she leaps out and bombards her friend with a huge hug.
"Kind of ticked off though that you let your identity slip in front of Taiki-senpai and Hīragi-san," chimes in Tomoka.
"Oh bug off," snorts Nijiko. "Masato knows about you and Imari's guy knows about her so I'd say we're even now!"
Tomoka laughs. "Okay, okay, fair point."
Imari tips her head to the side, "My guy?"
Tomoka points over. "Speaking of which…"
Nijiko follows Tomoka's finger and sighs. She's pointing directly at Yasuharu and Sara who are waiting off to the side of the field. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Gotta rip the band aid off now, I guess."
Nijiko awkwardly walks over to Yasuharu and Sara with her hands in her skirt pocket. But, as she approaches, Yasuharu shakes his head and storms off back to the school.
"Yasuharu, wait—"
"—Let him go," Sara tells Nijiko. "Just give him a minute."
Nijiko sighs, "Right."
Sara crosses her arms and raises and eyebrow at her, "So."
Nijiko scratches the back of her neck, "Sooooo."
"You're Cure Enchant," states Sara, "Gotta tell you, I feel a combination of amazement, annoy-ment, and idiocy."
"Yeah, can't say I blame you," shrugs Nijiko. "But, listen, you guys can't tell anybody."
"Uh huh," hums Sara.
"I'm serious," says Nijiko. "I don't want you guys to get targeted and…and—"
Sara sighs. "No, no. I get it. I'm just a bit…overwhelmed. But, you know you didn't have to quit all your clubs over this."
"Well, I know that now," Nijiko sighs, kicking a pebble on the grass. "At the time it seemed like the right thing to do."
Sara puts her hand on her sister-in-law's shoulder. "Look, Nijiko, it's okay. But, I think Yasuharu-oniisan needs to hear all of this more than me."
Nijiko takes a breath. "I know."
Yasuharu runs his fingers through his hair. "This is crazy. Oh mon dieu."
"That means 'oh my god', right?"
Yasuharu looks around and sees Imari standing there. He chuckles. "I thought you said you don't speak French."
"That one seemed a bit more self-explanatory," explains Imari.
Yasuharu sighs. "I can't believe all of…this has been going on with mon amour and I had no idea. I'm an idiot."
Imari's eyes soften. "It's not your fault. Nijiko was the one who decided to keep all of this from you. Not the other way around."
"I know, I know," huffs Yasuharu. "But, I just wish mon amour…I wish she trusted me enough to tell me this stuff. I don't know."
"Do you love Nijiko?"
Yasuharu nearly falls over as his face turn bright red, "Q-quoi?"
Imari doesn't even blink. "Well, you two are going to get married one day. So you must love her, right?"
Yasuharu grabs at his face to try and get the blush to go away. "I-I mean, I l-love her as much as s-she'll let me."
"What does 'mon amour' mean?" asks Imari.
"STOP ASKING SUCH BLUNT QUESTIONS!" squeaks Yasuharu.
Imari shrugs her shoulders. "I was just wondering. You always call Nijiko mon amour. What does it mean?"
Yasuharu scratches the side of his eyebrow. "My love. Mon amour translates to my love."
"I knew it!" Imari beams. "Omigosh, you and Nijiko are so much alike!"
"W-what do you mean?" stammers Yasuharu perplexedly.
Imari grins. "When me and Tomoka first met Nijiko, we thought she was just being a show-off. But, then we came to realize that she was just trying to impress us and show that she was worthy of being our teammate." Imari raises an eyebrow at Yasuharu. "It's the same way for you too, isn't it? You weren't showing-off in front of Nijiko, you were trying to prove that you're worthy of standing by her side. Am I right?"
Yasuharu laughs. "You know, Suzuri-chan, you are incroyable."
"Um, thank you?"
Yasuharu scratches the back of his neck. "I knew, even if we got married, she would never see me in a romantic light. So, I wanted to impress her and become someone who she could genuinely fall for one day."
Yasuharu looks up at the sky with determination in his eyes. "When I turn eighteen, I'm going to marry Nijiko and I'll do everything in my power to make her the happiest wife in the world because she deserve ever bit of happiness."
"Why don't you tell Nijiko how you honestly feel?" asks Imari.
"'Cause I know she doesn't feel the same way," sighs Yasuharu, shoving his hands into his pant pockets, "If today didn't make that apparent enough. All day she's giving me the cold shoulder. If she wants…" Yasuharu anxiously runs his hands through his hair. "If she wants to call off our engagement, she can just come right out and say and I can try and move on."
Sadness washes over Yasuharu's light brown eyes. "I don't…I don't want her to feel like I'm forcing her to marry me. I don't care what our family wants. I want to marry Nijiko because I want to marry her! And spend the rest of my life trying to make her as happy as possible!"
Imari smiles and looks behind her. "Well, Nijiko, what do you say to that?"
Yasuharu's eyes widen when he looks behind Imari and sees Nijiko standing a few feet away, coming out from behind one of the school building walls.
If Yasuharu's face wasn't red before, it sure was now. He frantically waves his hands in front of him feeling completely flustered. "N-Nijiko! Oh cher! Oh cher! I-I-I um, h-how much of that did you hear? A-all of it? Y-yeah p-probably all of it! L-listen, i-it's not w-what you t-think! W-when I said all that s-stuff i-it was—I mean—I just meant that I—!"
Stone-faced, Nijiko walks up to Yasuharu with her face glued to the ground.
"M-mon amour?"
Nijiko lightly punches Yasuharu in the shoulder and keeps it there as she rests her forehead on his other, "You idiot."
Yasuharu's breathe hitches as he looks down at Nijiko and sees a light blush across her cheeks.
Without a word, Nijiko lifts up her pinky. "I wanna make a pinky promise with you."
Yasuharu nervously swallows a breath, "O-okay."
He lifts up his pinky finger and intertwines it with Nijiko's.
"Cross my heart and hope to die,
Stick a needle in my eye,
Wait a moment; I spoke a lie
I never really wanted to die
But if I may and if I might
My heart is open for tonight
Though my lips are sealed and a promise is true
I won't break my word, my word to you."
Nijiko rests her head in the crook of Yasuharu's neck. "I promise to share my happiness with you, Suru."
"M-mon amour," blinks Yasuharu in surprise.
"I promise that I'll give you my all and do my best to make you happy, just like you've always done for me." Nijiko lifts her head and gives him a shaky smile. "Is…is that okay?"
Yasuharu lets out a breathless chuckle, "More than okay." He grabs both of Nijiko and holds them out in front of both of them. "Come back with me to France!"
Nijiko's eyes widen, "W-what?"
"Come back with me to France," smiles Yasuharu. "Then we can start the rest of our lives together."
"Suru," Nijko sighs. "I…I can't…"
Yasuharu drops his head and tries to let go of Nijiko's hands, but she holds on.
"…Right now," corrects Nijiko. "I…I can't come with you to France right now. But…after this is all over…after me, Imari, and Tomoka defeat Kuroizado—the bad guys—I'll join you in France. Will you…" Nijiko bites her lip, "…will you wait for me?"
Yasuharu's eyes light up, "Always, mon amour."
On the outside of the airport, Nijiko looks up to the sky where Yasuharu's plane just took off back to France and gives it a sad smile. She waves up at it, hoping Yasuharu could see her, but laughs to herself knowing that she must only look like a small dot from all the way up there.
"My family is simply complicated.
"The arrangement that Akihiko Ōmitsu and Munenobu Taiki made so long ago still stood. A child of the Ōmitsu Household and of the Taiki Household must wed if they are to combine the two families.
"That's when Akihiko Ōmitsu and Munenobu Taiki made note of the green-haired girl and sun-haired boy who possessed Ōmitsu and Taiki blood. The Heirs arranged for the two children to one day wed.
"That day it was decided.
"Nijiko Ōmitsu was to marry Yasuharu Taiki.
"But, what the Heirs didn't know was that they didn't have to force the green-haired girl or sun-haired boy to do anything. Yasuharu Taiki had already given his heart to the beautiful, yet feisty Nijiko Ōmitsu and had no intentions of taking it back.
"It took Nijiko Ōmitsu a little longer, but she found that she couldn't imagine standing by anyone else's side other than Yasuharu Taiki.
"They may have been brought together by force, but the love that bloomed between the green-haired girl and sun-coloured boy was true.
"I guess this is where I'd say 'and they lived happily ever after. The end', but honestly, that's sounds to cliché for me and unrealistic.
"So, I'll say this:
"This is not like a fairytale story, but it's our story. And we wouldn't change a thing."
Next time on Fairytale Pretty Cure!
Imari: Huh. Who knew Nijiko had such a sensitive side.
Nijiko: Oh shut up, Imari.
Tomoka: Imari was just giving you a compliment, Nijiko. It's new seeing new sides to you.
Nijiko: Well then you would have seen a totally different side of me when I first met Kuiru.
Imari: Really?
Nijiko: Oh definetly. I was a lot more…you know what…what if I just tell you that story.
Imari: I'll grab the popcorn.
Nijiko: Before Pink and Blue! How Nijiko Met Kuiru!