Sophie stood up slowly, not ready to make eye contact with that woman again. She instead took a quick look around the bus to make sure everyone was ok. No injuries and everyone appeared to be safe thankfully. She watched as Shina forced Tadashi to stay in his seat before returning her gaze to the girl who blasted the bus a few feet back.
She stood there, patiently though a very upset look was on her face. Sophie looked at her and the minute she laid eyes on the woman, her gaze was immediately fixated on Sophie. Sophie took a step back nervously, taking out her phone and dialling up a number.
"Mari, there's this girl who looks like she's from Asperity by the library near your school. I need you to come over, do you think you can bring Kiriko and Asuna here too?" Sophie said, her heart racing as she watched the girl inch closer to the bus.
"Of course, we'll be there soon ok? Just try to stay calm." Mari advised her before she hung up. Easy for her to say, since she hadn't even learned that the mysterious girl had the strength of an average Defective. She was probably way stronger than one of them too. The thing that really bothered Sophie about her was that she appeared to just be waiting around for her. She didn't seem very intent on entering the bus, but she didn't stop glaring at Sophie. So eventually, Sophie slowly walked out of the bus, with a few people protesting her not to do so.
Shina and Tadashi were watching Sophie's every move from the back of the bus, not unlike the girl standing outside. The bus had fallen quiet now and most people had their eyes on the girl who blast the bus away. Tadashi tried to get a better look of the girl from his seat while Shina inspected Sophie.
"Isn't that the local model girl?" Shina asked quietly as she hid her face behind the bus seat,"Why does she feel so inclined to do something heroic here?"
Sophie then took a step outside of the bus and took a deep breath, feeling a bit less tense now that she had finally exited the bus. The girl continued to stare her down and she began walking towards Sophie. Sophie had a feeling that if the girl really wanted to, she likely could've sprinted towards her and do the same thing she did to the bus on her, so Sophie kept her guard up and walked cautiously over.
"I assume you're friends Jack and the rest of those guys?" Sophie asked awkwardly before the woman stopped walking to her. The woman closed her eyes and placed her hands on her chest.
"Regret, betrayal, anguish, abandonment. An absence of light, a force created from grief. That is what Pretty Cure fight against. However, Pretty Cure are weak and impure. I want to demolish and decimate the Pretty Cure, and I'll start with you." The woman declared as a large translucent magenta, blue and pink tiled square appeared behind her. Just then, Kiriko, Asuna and Mari rushed to the scene, all of them with their PlayPacts at hands reach. The girls stood by Sophie and the girl eyed them curiously.
"Are you a member of Asperity?" Kiriko asked as the square unfolded itself, enclosing the five of them inside of it. The girl didn't say anything in response and moments later, the group was completely obscured from the eyes of the bystanders.
"What just happened...?" Tadashi asked as he stood up, leaning to get a better look at the large cube," And...why were Kiriko and Asuna there?"
Inside the cube, the girls were standing before the woman who took a few steps back as she said,
"You make up for your lack of strength in numbers." The woman stated plainly as stretched out her arms," I am Rubix, and I am going to make sure you girls are reduced to nothingness."
"As if we just came back from training to hear stuff like this." Teddy said as she and the rest of the girls took out their transformation devices.
"Pretty Cure, it's Playtime!" The four of them said in unison.
"The princess of wishes, Cure Dolly!"
"The dame of courage, Cure Teddy!"
"The sailor of justice, Cure Bubbly!"
"The creator of dreams, Cure Fantasy!"
"When evil is near, playtime is here! Together we are..." The girls said in unison," Toychest Pretty Cure!"
Rubix then smiled for the first in the presence of the girls and immediately she darted towards the girls. The moment that Rubix looked ready to take off, Bubbly noticed and alerted the rest of her teammates quickly.
"Be careful of her! She's a lot stronger than she-!" Bubbly suddenly received a blow to the stomach from Rubix who she didn't even see coming. She looked up, but she wasn't nearby. Bubbly then saw Rubix going after Fantasy next and was about to call out for her, but then Teddy leapt up, with a pair of flaming spheres in hand.
"Quick, aren't we?" Teddy said as she stood between Fantasy and Rubix, only a couple of inches away from the latter. Rubix wasn't even the slightest bit impressed with Teddy's speed and immediately grabbed her by the scruff of her shirt and tossed her into the ground mercilessly. Once Teddy was on the ground, the pain shot through her instantly, she couldn't believe how strong the girl was, it didn't make any sense. All she saw was Rubix looking at her for a moment, an unimpressed look on her face before she set for her next target.
Dolly was apprehensive as soon as she saw Teddy fighting to get back on her feet. It would've usually taken a lot more than that to keep Teddy down and the fact that she herself had yet to be targeted was making her anxious.
"Where would she try and attack from? Perhaps, from a blind side like the back?" Dolly thought to herself as she turned around, her gaze meeting Rubix's. She tried to dodge Rubix's attack but Rubix was once step ahead of her and aimed her attack right where she moved to. A glowing black and turquoise sphere was blasted right into her chest and sent her flying a few feet back. Dolly felt a burning sensation emerge in her chest and she held her hands over her chest in an attempt to fight back the pain. Dolly didn't want to quit so easily though, so she tried her best to get back on her feet while Rubix took a hold of Fantasy by her wrists.
"Is this how you fight?" Rubix asked Fantasy, who had just tried immersing her into an illusion," Is this all you can do?"
Bubbly then darted up to her, holding her hands out as she shouted," Pretty Cure, whirlpool of justice!"
Tendrils of water then streamed out from her hands towards Rubix who let go out Fantasy and jumped up very high in the air. Bubbly wasn't discouraged that her attack missed though, she still had some tricks up her sleeve.
"I'm not through with you yet!" Bubbly declared as she conjured up another pair of tendrils, these ones sprouting up high, only a few inches away from Rubix now.
"Abolish." Rubix said tonelessly, and in that very instant, Bubbly's attack disappeared. Rubix floated back down on the ground, looking at all the damage she did. She wasn't surprised, nor was she satisfied. She had yet to defeat the Pretty Cure and that's all she wanted to right now.
"You fight for a hopeless kingdom. The Laruan Kingdom doesn't care about you girls, they only want your help. If you happen to save their kingdom, your demise will be in vain and you'll be forgotten, erased from their memories and lost to time." Rubix declared sternly as she walked around the Cures in a circle," You don't stand a chance. It isn't worth the struggle when you'll never be strong enough to protect the hopeless kingdom. Give up."
Dolly shook her head and choked out the words," Never! Not now, not tomorrow or next week, Never. Do you hear me? We don't plan on giving up anytime soon! Not after all we've been through so far."
Rubix clenched her teeth and took a deep breath, finally saying," Your mistake."
The cube and Rubix disappeared, leaving only the girls, with their transformations reversed, in the middle of the road.
"That girl was insane, I don't think we've ever fought against someone like her..." Sophie remarked as she slowly got up to her feet, with Mari nodding in response.
"Again, it's like..." Kiriko said to herself slowly as she thought about Rubix's words," ...We're missing details. We haven't been told everything."
That afternoon, when Kiriko got home she marched straight up to her room as usual but time, she walked with purpose with her mind stuck on that fight against Rubix. Kiriko took a deep breath and opened the door to her room, finding Rani holding a copy of the Lost Kingdom of Toys that Kiriko bought recently. Rani looked up, smiled and greeted Kiriko though Kiriko seemed tense. Rani just assumed she had a big assignment coming up which would typically lead her to crashing onto her bed and cuddling one of her soft toys, but she didn't do any of that today.
Instead, Kiriko grabbed her chair at her computer desk and took a seat in front of Rani, gesturing to see the book. Rani complied and handed the book to Kiriko, who closed it and pointed to the cover saying,
"We need to know more. And I think you've been withholding information from us."
Rani panicked slightly, not expecting such an accusation from Kiriko at a time like this, but Kiriko then retracted her statement quickly.
"I didn't mean to scare you like that! It's just, some of this just doesn't make sense and I have this need to fill in those gaps. Like...today we just met a new villain. Incredibly strong but I don't know where and how she came from and why she hates the kingdom so much. It's not just her too, we know Lilith clearly hates the kingdom but, why? What happened to make her so full of animosity towards the kingdom. What exactly happened?" Kiriko asked in an exhausted voice.
"We probably should've explained this before but, we weren't sure if we were allowed to. But, I think you deserve to know." Rani declared with a firm nod," King Sterling was not ever meant to be the king. He was the second-born to the family, the kingdom was supposed to belong to his older brother, Theo. Knowing that he was never going to be king, Sterling lived as a free spirit, and always left the castle grounds whenever he wanted to. Then one day, he met Lilith. Lilith was trying to get the throne, so she used Sterling to get it, knowing that Theo had fallen gravely ill. Once Theo passed, there was no other choice but to make Sterling king but, Lilith still wasn't able to obtain the throne. Imogen came from a well-known and powerful family in the kingdom, so Sterling saved the kingdom from getting ruled by Lilith. Or at least, that's what we thought."
"Was that when Lilith attacked the kingdom?" Kiriko asked with Rani nodding in response.
"Things took a turn for the worse once Lilith found out that she couldn't reach the throne through Sterling. So she showed her true colours and attacked. Cure Cheer fought with all her might and yet, she still couldn't defeat Lilith for good. Lilith is manipulative and some in the kingdom still chide Sterling for falling into her trap. All Lilith wants is power, to rule over others and make them miserable. That's all I know, I haven't heard of this Rubix person, so unfortunately, I can't do much explaining about her." Rani explained as Kiriko placed her in her lap.
"That's fine, you've explained a lot already." Kiriko said as she put the book down," But wouldn't it have been easier to have taken the well in the first place? I mean, if it were me, I would've gone straight to the well before trying to take the throne."
Rani shrugged and just then, Kiriko heard the door open from downstairs. Kiriko looked at the clock on her wall, wondering who would've come at this hour. Mom and Dad wouldn't come home until much later in the evening, so that only left one other person.
"Anybody home?" A familiar voice shouted from downstairs. Kiriko rushed down and found Kozue standing in the doorway, with a suitcase right next to her. Kiriko ran towards her sister and hugged her tightly, much tighter than Kozue expected and sighed just before the hug was broken. Kozue looked at her younger sister and studied her face. She might've looked mostly the same since her last visit, but things felt off. She looked worn out and drained, but Kozue couldn't figure out why. It seemed Kiriko was in dire need of some down time, though that wasn't what Kozue had planned for her visit.
"This weekend I want to do something very fun, alright?" Kozue declared with Kiriko nodding in response, though she didn't seem sure of what Kozue meant," This weekend I'll be treating you and we're going to do whatever you like!"
Kiriko wore a surprised look on her face, eyes wide as she only responded with," What?"
Kozue nodded vigorously saying," I feel like we haven't spent a lot of time together, even when I come home during my breaks so I was thinking we could have some girl time, you know? Just sisterly bonding over anything you want to do!"
Kiriko fell silent, but she no longer looked surprised but rather, suspicious while she narrowed her eyes at her sister.
"This is peculiar, is this really my sister? Or an imposter?" Kiriko thought to herself while Kozue took notice of how skeptic Kiriko appeared.
"Oh come on! I just wanna spend time with you! Besides, you don't ever do this kinda stuff anyways." Kozue pointed out as she rolled her suitcase besides the stairs before picking it up," You still do nothing but schoolwork and regular work, don't you?"
"Well...yeah I guess so." Kiriko responded hesitantly, biting her tongue as the thought of her Pretty Cure duties came to mind," But, I'm not really sure of what I would like to do."
Kozue then led Kiriko over to the couches in the living room so they could brainstorm some ideas. Kiriko was doubtful they could come up with any good ideas, not because Kozue wouldn't have good suggestions but because anything Kiriko would've enjoyed doing wouldn't have been deemed "fun" by her older sister. Kiriko racked her brain trying to thinking of stuff that she liked to do that was universally seen as fun. Apparently studying wasn't fun, according to Kozue, and neither was cleaning a room. Kiriko considered going bowling but it had been years since they went together and she didn't want to be watched by so many people.
"Well, since you'll be starting university in a few months, how about we go to the mall and reinvent your look?" Kozue suggested, excitement creeping up in her voice.
"My...my look?" Kiriko repeated in bewilderment before giving herself a quick head-to-toe inspection," What's wrong with my look?"
"Nothing, it is nice as it is, very mature and sophisticated but...you always look like that. And I know this isn't your real taste. Maybe we could find something you'd really like, like something pastel and cute!" Kozue said enthusiastically.
Kiriko forced a smile, not wanting to put a damper on Kozue's mood. The thought of going out to the mall and just shopping actually sounded quite nice but Kiriko's mind had been so cluttered with thoughts about the kingdom and the fight with Rubix that she wasn't sure if a mall crawl would be enough to lift her spirits. But, the afternoon had only just begun and mom and dad wouldn't be home for a while, so what would be the harm in hanging out with Kozue?
Kiriko shrugged saying," Yeah, that sounds like fun, I'm in."
Kozue smiled excitedly and scrambled to get her favourite purse from her bedroom, while Kiriko just took a seat in the meanwhile. She looked down at her lap, thinking about how much weaker she felt after today's encounter with Rubix. Just when she thought the team was getting somewhere and beginning to improve, that Rubix girl had to appear and ruin things. She fought like a machine with the utmost precision and free from error, just who was she? Before Kiriko had anymore time to think about it, Kozue came rushing back downstairs and led Kiriko outside to her car.
The two girls arrived at the mall shortly after, their car ride full of idle small talk that Kiriko was surprisingly not tired from. Despite the fact that she obviously had Kozue's number, she didn't have the chance to talk to her all that much during the last few weeks. Between school work, her job and her Pretty Cure duties, Kiriko found herself too busy and felt guilty as she as she started talking to Kozue. But, Kozue didn't seem to mind that Kiriko hadn't talked to her that much, she considered it inevitable since she appeared to be as busy as ever. Kozue also was too busy thinking about her plans with her parents and Kiriko she had yet to mention to even remind herself of how little the two of them spoke to each other as of recently.
"So, we'll head into whatever store you want. Today is all about you, alright?" Kozue declared with a wink, matching her pace to Kiriko's.
Kiriko smiled politely and then took a look around the mall. It was bustling with people, students and adults alike; not too surprising for a Friday afternoon. It had been awhile since Kiriko visited the mall, so she had been met with many new stores popping up in former vacant spaces. None of them really interested her though. She then noticed a group of high-school girls pass by them and Kiriko felt somewhat unsettled as they crossed paths before noticing the mall was swarming with students this afternoon. It only made sense that there would be plenty of students here but, somehow Kiriko felt out of place as she walked through the mall with her sister.
Hanging out at the mall with your friends was something probably every highschool kid had done countless times before, and the realization of this made Kiriko feel as if she had been missing out on something important. She wondered what it would've been like to come with her teammates, the thought of doing so bringing a smile to her face.
Kiriko then bumped into Kozue, not realizing her sister had stopped walking, and looked up to find that they were right in front of a new store.
"Cinderella's Closet?" Kiriko read aloud before taking a look at the store.
"Wow, it's nice to see this store's getting popular." Kozue remarked before turning to face Kiriko," They opened up their first shop in Tokyo, wanna go in?"
"Didn't Cinderella wear only rags? Why would they give the store a name like that?" Kiriko asked aloud plainly, before Kozue chuckled while dragging her into the store.
The store was gigantic and filled with all kinds of clothes. From dark neutral wear for the office to bright outfits for the summer, the store had it all. Despite the store's size, it wasn't extremely busy or flooded with people. But the amount of clothes here was somewhat overwhelming for Kiriko.
"Now remember, you pick what you want." Kozue reminded her,prodding her finger into Kiriko's chest," You don't always have to dress to impress. You can dress in what makes you feel like, well...you!"
Kiriko looked around the store and tried to find a section that she liked. From the corner of her eye, Kiriko found a spot in the store reserved for pastel coloured clothes, so she instinctively went towards it.
While Kiriko was looking through all the clothes, Kozue kept an eye on her, her expression getting tense when Kiriko wasn't looking.
"I can't get nervous now, I've been planning this for months." Kozue said in her head as she thought about her parents," This needs to be done."
Kiriko held up a white shirt with a frilled trimming in front of her body and looked over to Kozue for her opinion. Kozue flashed her a thumbs-up and gestured her to pick out some more clothes. Kiriko nodded attentively and searched through the aisles for more clothes, giving Kozue some more time to think. Kiriko inspected the rack of clothes in front of her, trying to envision herself in each garment to determine if it would look good on her. But then, Kozue's words rang through her head again. As long as Kiriko felt comfortable in it, then it would be fine. She kept telling herself that but trying to steer away from what she would typically wear was harder than she realized.
"Whatever you like, not what people expect you to like." Kiriko said to herself quietly, picking out a pale pink tank top and pastel blue shorts.
Kozue smiled as Kiriko began to pick out more clothes. Once Kiriko had decided on which clothes to buy, the two of them went up to cash register. Kiriko was just about to pay but then Kozue held her arm in front of her to protest.
Kozue then said," It's on me."
Kiriko was taken aback, already feeling guilty at the thought of having Kozue pay for her. Kiriko shook her head but Kozue was insistent and already had her wallet out. Once the two left the store, Kiriko took the bags from Kozue and to two began to walk around the mall, with no idea of where to go next. Kiriko opened up her bag to take a look at the clothes that Kozue bought for her, a small smile rising to her face.
"Thanks for the clothes, I really appreciate it." Kiriko said to her sister," So, where next?"
"Up to you." Kozue reminded her as the two stopped walking for a moment. The sisters stood in the center of the walkway, trying to figure out what other stores they could visit. Kiriko mentally ran through all the stores she liked in the mall to make things easier. She wouldn't mind walking into Omnimint, a store that specialized in alternative fashion but the store may have been too expensive for Kozue. There was also that one toy store on the other end of the mall, but Kiriko didn't feel ready to walk in there just yet. Finally, an idea came to her.
"How about we go to the bookstore?" Kiriko suggested cheerfully.
"There's a bookstore in here?" Kozue asked, making Kiriko freeze up on the spot," Actually, there is one in the plaza a few blocks down the road. There's also...ok, let's go there! But first, I want to take you somewhere special first."
Kiriko nodded and Kozue led them outside to the car. The drive there may have only been five minutes, but Kiriko wasn't very familiar with this part of town. She wasn't even sure if they were going to the bookstore anymore. She looked out the windows, keeping an eye out for the bookstore as they pulled up into a plaza. There was a bookstore there thankfully, but it appeared Kozue was leading Kiriko elsewhere. Kiriko surveyed the set of stores Kozue was walking towards and tried to figure out where they were headed.
Kozue led Kiriko to a place called the Water Lily Spa. Kozue held the door open for Kiriko and they walked inside. The spa was bright with it's multitude of fluorescent lights and there were a lot of women here getting their hair styled or their nails done. Kiriko exhaled at the sight before her, she had never set foot in a spa before.
Kozue walked up towards the receptionist and smiled to her.
"Just a mani-pedi for me and my sister." Kozue requested as the woman wrote it down into her notebook," Is Hana in today? If she is, could we get her?"
The receptionist gave her a curious look but then nodded and had the girls take a seat in the meanwhile. The girls didn't have to wait too long and soon, Hana appeared from the back.
"Someone requested me?" Hana asked the receptionist in a skeptic tone before her eyes met Kozue," Oh, Kozue! It's been such a long time."
"Hana, it's so good to see you!" Kozue said as she gave the older woman a small hug. Hana then ushered the girls towards a pair of lounge like chairs and went to get some tools.
"I went to this nail salon all the time when I was in high-school." Kozue explained in Hana's absence," My friends and I would get matching manicures, but we'd always get really detailed nail art so it'd get expensive really quick. Hana's great at nail art and she's very nice. We all enjoyed talking to her and including her when we'd gossip. There were times where she even gave us relationship advice."
Kiriko giggled and then said," I like her already, but...what happened to those friends from high school? Are you still in contact with them?"
"Some of them, but others just kinda went their own way and stopped talking to us." Kozue explained, her gaze dropping to the floor," I guess it was bound to happen but it's ok."
"Remember when you did tutoring at your middle school? Wasn't that how you met some of your high school friends?" Kiriko questioned just as Hana came back, with Kozue nodding in response.
"Did you like tutoring, or did you just do it because mom and dad said you should?" Kiriko asked as Hana instructed them to put their feet in a bucket in front of them.
"At first I liked it but then, it felt tedious after a while. I did it too much and then I got stressed out, plus once mom and dad found out they wanted me to do it way more often than usual. I felt guilty about quitting but, it was in my best interests." Kozue explained as she leaned back into the chair.
"Do you remember who was the last kid you tutored?" Kiriko asked curiously.
"Actually, I think it was Hana's son." Kozue stated," He was failing science in his first year so I helped him out. By the way, how are your boys doing? Is the older one still studying abroad?"
Hana nodded and drew out a sigh as she said," His term ends next month, just when things were getting quiet around the house! As soon as he steps into the house, I swear we won't have any peace and quiet as long as he's around."
"Aw, well I'm sure he's been missing his home an awful lot." Kozue reassured with a laugh," It's not like he's able to just drive down whenever he wants. It probably gets a bit dull in your house now with only the two of you anyways."
"Well, I'd prefer that then the headache I'll get as soon as Toya comes home." Hana confessed as she opened up a binder filled with nail art photos,"So, what will it be today? Holographic prints? Or maybe shellac, or acrylics, oh this colour is really in season!"
Kozue nodded and looked over to Kiriko, who still seemed to have her eyes on the holographic finish. Kiriko leaned in closer to get a better look at them, resulting in Hana to reach out for a sample manicure board next to her. Hana tilted it up and down to show Kiriko how the sparkles would catch in the light.
"Pretty, isn't it?" Hana asked her with a smile," Perhaps you two would like to get matching manicures?"
The two of them nodded and so Hana got to work, starting with Kiriko.
"You haven't gone to the mall lately, have you?" Kozue asked while Kiriko was getting her nails done, with Kiriko shaking her head in response," I see, well, I noticed you're always busy and you seem to do nothing but schoolwork and stuff. I know your studies are important but I just wanted to say, your life shouldn't be spent doing nothing but work, you know? I haven't seen you do something just fun in a long time and when I do, it's typically just watching you hole yourself up in your room with a new picture book. Not that it's a bad thing, it's just...I don't really see you hang out with friends or anything. I think you'd enjoy some time spent with like-minded people."
Kiriko thought about her sister's words for a few moments, her gaze on her lap as an unreadable expression appeared to her face. Maybe it would've been nice to do something like this with the rest of her team, just hang out at the mall for a day or get their nails done with matching nail art like how Kozue did with her friends. The thought of it made Kiriko smile and then she remembered Kozue's exact words.
"Oh, do they really need to be like-minded?" Kiriko asked her sister curtly, though Kozue didn't seem to follow," You said to spend time with like-minded people, but my friends are exactly like me."
Kozue's eyes widened in surprised as she said," Kiriko, you've made new friends? And it's not just the boys from your student council team, right?"
"Yeah, I guess I forgot to tell you about that." Kiriko said sheepishly as she pulled out her phone," Would you like to see pictures of them?"
Kozue nodded attentively and Kiriko passed her the phone, though all her pictures came from their social media pages. Kozue didn't seem to mind that Kiriko wasn't the one who took these pics as she scrolled through them.
"Oh, is that the model girl from the magazines? Wow, I would never expect you to meet her, let alone be friends with her," Kozue remarked as she inspected Sophie's picture," Ah, she's quite pretty."
Kiriko leaned towards her and saw that she was talking about Asuna. Kiriko nodded in response, she never really thought of that word when describing Asuna until now. Kozue handed her the phone.
"I'm glad you've been making friends, it's good to see you've become more outgoing and open. It's surprising, but it's the good kind of surprise." Kozue stated, her tone sounding quite relieved.
Kiriko nodded as a smile rose to her face, moments before they heard a loud sound come from outside. It sounded like a collision, and then a car alarm went off. Everyone in the spa tried looking out to see what was going on. Kiriko stretched a bit and sat straight to get a better view. She saw a familiar face and suddenly, her heart dropped.
Standing on top of a car in the parking lot was Rubix, looking around as if she lost something here at the lot. Kiriko then ducked down, having a nagging feeling that the thing Rubix was looking for was her. Kiriko sighed and shook her head. She just got beaten by her hours ago, so what was she doing here again? Kiriko glared at Rubix, who was looking away, wondering if she ever got tired.
Kiriko then remembered how earlier she was lamenting to Rani about how she didn't know anything about Rubix and how frustrating it was to her. So, an idea came to Kiriko's mind. She stepped up from her seat and removed her feet from the little tub and started to walk outside. Kozue then tried to pull her back insistently, but Kiriko shrugged her off.
"What are you trying to do?" Kozue asked her in a panicked voice.
"I just want have a word with her." Kiriko said in the calmest voice she could manage as she walked outside towards Rubix.
Rubix jumped up from the car, looking as if she was ready to take her leave from the parking lot. Rubix grabbed onto a lamp post and swung herself from it, ready to leap onto the building across from her, but then Kiriko called out to her.
"Whatcha up to?" Kiriko asked, but Rubix didn't pay any attention to her, it didn't even seem like she heard Kiriko. She drew out a deep sigh, almost certain that Rubix was ignoring her as she walked closer towards her.
"You sure know how to keep yourself busy, I'll give you that." Kiriko remarked in a snide tone, continuing to walk closer," I can't say I usually see someone from Asperity twice within the same day."
Rubix was muttering something to herself, her eyes pressed shut as she placed her hands against each other. Kiriko crept towards her slowly, trying to figure out what Rubix was trying to do since it appeared she wasn't here to fight.
When Rubix opened her eyes, she spread her hands apart and said something quietly, causing a translucent blue and pink cube to appear and grow at a rapid rate. The cube enveloped her and Kiriko moved closer towards her, only to get caught up into the cube too. The cube suddenly shrunk in an instant and both Kiriko and Rubix were transported to somewhere far from the salon parking lot.
Kiriko stood feeling somewhat disoriented before she took a good look at her surroundings. They had appeared to have been taken to some small forest outside of town without a single soul in sight. It was an unsettling kind of quiet in the little forest, but Rubix didn't seem to mind. She had yet to even notice that she brought Kiriko along with her. Kiriko decided to spy on Rubix since it appeared that she hadn't come to the salon for a fight. Kiriko hid behind a tree and kept a close eye on Rubix, who was standing completely still with her eyes closed.
"I'm closer...but she is still quite far away..." Rubix said to herself as she slowly opened her eyes.
"Who is she looking for? Someone from Asperity?" Kiriko thought to herself before a realization dawned onto her," The Princess!"
Rubix kept her eyes close for a few moments then abruptly, she opened them and asked aloud," Did you follow me here?"
Kiriko felt as if her heart stop for just a moment and then quietly stood up from her hiding place, reminding herself that Rubix had other priorities. Rubix turned around and watched as Kiriko walked a little bit closer to her, but still keeping some distance between the two of them.
"So Lilith has instructed you to search for the Princess?" Kiriko asked, with Rubix nodding slowly," Shouldn't that be her job?"
"It should, shouldn't it." Rubix responded, her voice toneless before she returned her attention to the view of the city behind her," There's many buildings, so many people, so much life, yet a lack of magic. Why is that?"
Kiriko looked tense in Rubix's presence, worried that she would strike at any moment while putting some thought into Rubix's words. Kiriko joined Rubix in looking out to the neighboring town and kept quiet. Rubix turned around to face Kiriko again and started walking towards her.
"Why has your world never had magic? How have your people survived all this time?" Rubix asked while Kiriko fished for her PlayPact in her back pocket," Your world never had a chance, did it?"
Kiriko shook her head as she said," That isn't true, we've had to evolve and learn all different things about the earth in order to get where we are today. We-"
Rubix then shut Kiriko into a translucent blue and pink square, saying,"-Perhaps the kingdom was privileged with its magic. But, the kingdom is corrupt, and that wasn't even Asperity's doing. I'm sure even the Princess knew something wasn't right with the Laruan Kingdom."
Rubix then quickly made the box disappear and let Kiriko free, but Kiriko didn't seem as calm as before, only irritated.
"It was you guys who made the kingdom fall apart, Lilith was the one to try to hurt the kingdom, so just why do you wanna pin the blame on the kingdom? They didn't do anything wrong." Kiriko said to her, her patience wearing thin.
Rubix offered her a look, one that Kiriko had a hard time reading while Rubix said," You're awfully trustworthy of them, what have they done to deserve it?"
Kiriko narrowed her eyes to Rubix as she continued to speak," You should be more skeptic of the world around you. You do seem smart but yet, you act carelessly. And to make matters worse, you've not only gotten yourself tangled into this ordeal, but you've dragged a whole team into it too."
Rubix walked closer towards her, only a few inches away and said," You shouldn't be speaking for a kingdom that you don't belong to. Especially one you know nothing about."
Rubix then waved her hand in front of Kiriko and returned to the front of the salon. Kiriko took a few deep breaths before looking inside of the salon to see if Kozue was still around. Kozue wasn't there, but in her place was a set of missed calls from her on Kiriko's phone. The sight of list filled with Kozue's name on her call log made her heart want to start racing, moments before she received another call. But, it wasn't from Kozue.
"Hey, do you have some time to come over for a bit?" The person on the other line said," I've got something important that I need to talk about."
"Um...sure, ok. I'll be there soon, just let me tell my sister where I'm going. I'll see you then, ok?" Kiriko told them moments before the call ended. Kiriko held her phone tightly and shook her head, thinking about her encounter with Rubix.
"Who am I to believe?" Kiriko thought to herself as she took out her PlayPact and stared into it, a vacant look in her eye.