The kitchen of the Morino household was in complete disarray, thanks to Asuna and her late-night cravings. The fridge had been emptied with all of its contents placed on the counter as Asuna searched for something to eat. Normally, Asuna wouldn't go as far as to tearing up the kitchen for food but with only her and Nova in the house at this hour, Asuna didn't see any problem in doing so. Nova watched Asuna curiously as the redhead unloaded all sorts of things from the fridge before standing up and moving onto the cupboards without even putting back the things she found in the fridge.
Nova narrowed her eyes at her owner, saying," Are you sure you should be making such a huge mess? The fridge looked pretty packed when you first opened it, there must have been something in there to satisfy your cravings."
"Not really, most of that stuff is more suited to Tadashi's tastes, and he hasn't been home for days." Asuna responded as she removed a set of ramen cups from the cupboard," If anything, I'm doing my mom a favour right now. I could be ordering takeout instead but alas...the only child with money in their account is at our dad's place for the third night in a row."
Asuna closed the cupboard door and tried her best to carry at least half of the items she took out from the fridge to place it back in one go. She was mostly successful, though it appeared some items weren't where they were supposed to be. Asuna didn't seem to care and put the rest of the items back in the fridge. She opened up the freezer and settled on an ice cream bar, while Nova shook her head in disapproval.
Asuna paid no mind to her and went to the kitchen table to retrieve her phone to see if she had received any new messages. Asuna noticed a message from her friend Misa and immediately groaned after reading it, hanging her head backwards for a moment.
Misa was reminding her about the bake sale that Asuna said she'd helped Misa out with. The bake sale was planned to raise funds for the upcoming school fashion show and while the idea of a bake sale sounded appealing to Asuna (mainly just the thought of eating a bunch of desserts) actually taking part to help out was beginning to seem a lot less enticing.
"Ugh, bake sales are no fun if you have to make something for it." Asuna said as she bit off the chocolate coating of her ice-cream bar," It'd be easier to just hang around when they're cleaning up and getting rid of the leftovers."
"But Asuna, if you bake something, you can make some extras for yourself." Nova pointed out to Asuna, who shrugged in response and started scrolling through her phone.
"Plus...I don't actually have a lot of time this weekend to bake anything. I've got an old friend coming over for a visit." Asuna said as she put her phone down on the table," He was more of Tadashi's friend, but...it would be nice to see him again after all this time."
Asuna was staring at a message on her phone, a lengthy message detailing about how much they missed home and couldn't wait to come back for the weekend.
"Asuna, I hope we can hang out for a little bit during this weekend! I'd love to catch up with you, Tadashi, and Hayase, it'll be just like old times! If you have anything you think we should do this weekend, let me know, ok? - Hiraku." The message read.
Asuna stared at the text blankly, before a memory appeared in her mind, causing her to zone out.
The kids in the neighbourhood had gathered in the nearby park for a giant game of tag. It was summer vacation and all the kids in the neighbourhood were present for the game and excited to find that everybody was able to make it for today's big game. Asuna was surveying her opponents to the best of her abilities in an attempt to see who she'd oughta stay away from. She decided that the fastest runners in the game would be Tadashi, two of the older boys Yoru and Ryu, and herself. But, the three of them had something that she lacked in greatly; the ability to be stealthy. She was good at being quiet when she could get herself to a hiding spot, it was just transporting herself to the next one that'd give her trouble since she'd catch everyone's eye with her long red hair. In theory, she could've easily done a stakeout and waited until the game was over, but there wasn't any fun in that.
Asuna was fast and she didn't want people to forget it. She loved to show off her speed at any given opportunity and she wasn't about to pass this one up.
"Oh no, Ryu is it!" One of the kids shouted as they ran across the field. Ryu watched the kid run by, but didn't pay any mind to him.
Asuna had a feeling that Ryu wasn't interested in electing that kid as it since he wasn't much of a challenge to catch. She noticed Ryu was looking around the park in a desperate search for someone, until it dawned on her who he was looking for.
"I'm coming for you Asuna!" Ryu shouted as he ran in the opposite direction.
Asuna took a gulp and crouched down even lower on the ground, to the point that she was nearly lying flat on it. She then looked through the bushes she hid behind to see what was her best option.
The foursquare box, painted on the ground was the safe zone but you were only allowed to be in there for a minute and the person who was 'it' couldn't be within five steps around the safe zone. Any time longer than a minute in the safe zone and you either had to leave or quit the game. It wouldn't have been too hard to reach the box, but she'd have to run past Ryu in order to get there. He'd surely see her try to run past her and inevitably catch up.
"I either need to evade him, or outrun him." Asuna said to herself quietly as she narrowed her eyes at Ryu. She waited a few moments to time her mad dash to the safe zone, until Ryu's back was against her and he was too far away to reach. But, even if she was nearly at the safe zone, Ryu could probably catch up to her with ease, so she needed to pace herself and only run when Ryu was after her.
Asuna nodded to herself and moments later, she took off. She ran past a bunch of kids, who only saw a flash of red zoom past as Asuna ran to the safe zone. Asuna past Hayase and Hiraku, who only looked at her wide-eyed as she ran towards the safe zone.
"Whoa, she's like a rocket blasting off!" Hiraku remarked, making rocket sounds as he twirled around, while Hayase chuckled politely.
"Almost!" Asuna said to herself, before her eyes met Ryu's who was standing at the opposite end of the box," You won't catch me from there!"
Just before Asuna's stepped into the box, she tripped, and all of a sudden, it hurt to stand up or even move her leg. Asuna was in tears and all the kids gathered around her to see what had happened.
Tadashi stepped forward and took a look at his sister's ankle and surmised that she probably sprained it while running. The game was called off and the two siblings went home, where Asuna was forced to stay in bed with her ankle wound up in a tensor bandage. She didn't have anything to do but sleep so that's what she did. After a few hours later, Asuna woke up and found sitting on the chair next to her bed was a black cat plush with a gold ribbon and a note.
Curiously, Asuna reached for the plush and the note, reading the note aloud.
"Hey there Asuna, I've been wanting to tell you this for a while now but I've been too scared to say it. I think you're really cool for being able to outrun guys like Tadashi, Ryu and Yoru. You're amazing for being one of the few to actually be able to put them in their place when they get out of line too. I also wanted to say that I like you, and being friends with you is one of the best things that's ever happened to me. Thanks for hanging out with me after all this time. Sincerly, H.M " Asuna read aloud, her face turning red as she promptly closed the note.
Asuna tilted her head back, staring vacantly at the wall before her.
"Does Hiraku still feel that way? Probably not...right?" Asuna thought to herself, her cheeks flushed," We were just kids back then, we didn't know what we were saying. But...Hiraku was a cute kid. Hopefully he hasn't changed too much."
The next day, Asuna decided to take advantage of the amount of time she had this morning since she awoke early through calling up the one person who she knew had to have known a thing or two about baking.
"You're going to help out with the school bake sale?!" Mari said excitedly on the other side of the phone, leading Asuna to impulsively pull the phone away from her ear.
Asuna groaned and answered," Yes, so...do you know how to cook stuff? Maybe even how to use an oven?"
"Meet me at the school in about an hour, I know just what we can make!" Mari exclaimed before she hung up. Asuna looked down at her phone, wondering if this was going to be a good idea.
About an hour later, Asuna could be seen in one of the school's cooking labs with Mari, who came prepared with a bunch of baking supplies. Rolling pans, cake mixes, frosting, cookie cutters, sprinkles, you name it, Mari brought it. Asuna failed to see all the potential treats that could've been made today and only focused on how long and how much work it would take to make all the stuff Mari was planning for today. Asuna had her hands folded on the desk, while Mari was writing down potential bake sale treats on the whiteboard. The longer Mari's list grew, the more skeptic Asuna was about today's baking adventure. Soon enough, Mari stopped writing and turned her attention back to Asuna with a smile on her face.
"I'm so glad out of all the girls, you chose me to help you out with your bake sale!" Mari beamed as she placed the cap back on the whiteboard marker," I absolutely love baking but I don't get to do it very often."
Asuna shrugged and thought about the other two choices she had.
Kiriko, despite working at a cafe, was a cashier and Asuna had a feeling the workaholic probably had very, very limited baking knowledge so she wasn't going to bother her about it. Sophie was actually her next choice. Since she was the oldest of five, chances were she had to know something about cooking since the time she spent in Sophie's household, it appeared as if she often had to play the role of the third parent. But, Sophie had been busy these last couple of days and told the girls of how she wouldn't be available these next couple of weekends.
"You didn't really have much competition." Asuna stated plainly with a shrug," Anyways, so...what are we making today boss?"
"Well. as you can see, I brought a lot of different stuff for us to use so if you really wanted to, we could bake just about anything. As long as it's not something that needs refrigeration. " Mari explained to her as she walked over to the table where all the ingredients," It's a piece of cake to bake a pretty cake, but brownies are soooo good, then again, who could say no to chocolate chip cookies? Or even sugar cookies with royal icing on top or even..."
"I'm losing her." Asuna thought to herself, eyes narrowed at Mari who seemed to be in her own world as she talked about the desserts.
Asuna then cleared her throat to bring Mari bring back to Earth. Mari then chuckled awkwardly after realizing she had been rambling.
"Well, whatever we end up baking today, it won't be any good without the most important ingredient. You know what that is?" Mari asked, excitement creeping into her voice.
"Baking soda?" Asuna guessed.
"It's love, Asuna." Mari responded, with Asuna making a gagging sound in return," Well, let's get started!"
Rani had been studying a bath bomb, a grain of salt and a tablespoon of honey underneath the microscope in Kiriko's room. Rani had Kiriko's PlayPact at hand's reach in case she made a discovery so she could inform Knight River. Ever since Mari got in contact with him, the two of them had been exchanging information about the shards and the status of the kingdom. Rani knew as a knight, River didn't have a lot of time to spare, so she made sure to only contact him if she really needed it.
So far, Rani had been making more progress thanks to River's guidance, who suggested dipping fragments of the shard in different liquids to see its reaction in order to determine its chemical makeup.
Kiriko needed to study, but the idea of getting close to finding out what the shards were made of piqued her interests so she was hopeless in her attempts at studying today. Eventually she joined Rani at the table to see if she had made any discoveries as of yet.
"Anything good?" Kiriko asked as she watched Rani dip the shard into a jar of vanilla extract, with Rani shaking her head in response. Rani then typed up the reaction into Kiriko's laptop on a document with a table of reactions.
"Knight River was nice enough to show me a chart of elements the knights and alchemists use for reference, but so far, I've yet to identify any component aside from Everlight." Rani answered with a sigh.
Kiriko patted her on the back, saying," Don't worry, you'll figure out soon enough."
"With only one shard though, we can't really conduct all this experimental stuff continuously, otherwise we're going to run out of of the shard." Rani stated as she pushed back the jar of vanilla extract," And if that happens, we're right back to square one."
Kiriko fell quiet and then placed the shard under the microscope to get a better look at it while asking," Do you think there's a lot of components to the shard?"
"Not really, perhaps only two or three." Rani answered with Kiriko pulling her head back from the microscope in shock of Rani's response.
"Only two or three?" Kiriko repeated skeptically before she a look at the shard under the microscope.
Looking at the shard reminded Kiriko of looking at a cell with all the miniscule shapes unseen by the naked eye. It was interesting to say the least and definitely not what she was expecting. But, Rani was probably right since Kiriko could only see four different shapes in repetition, assuming that one of them was the Everlight that the fairies spoke of.
"Hmm...what if these components are made of a combination of two elements?" Kiriko suggested as she continued to look at the shard with the microscope.
"Kiriko, please don't say things like that, just the thought of such a thing is stressing me out!" Rani cried as she held onto Kiriko, who laughed in response.
"Sorry about that, but...these shards are really mysterious. We've had this piece for weeks now but we can only name one element it's made up from. If we want to beat Asperity with their own weapon, we need to get serious about finding out what this thing is made of. If we can do that and make something to counteract the shards, it'll be our hidden ace." Kiriko explained to Rani," In a situation like this, it wouldn't hurt to come prepared, right?"
Rani nodded and got back to work, feeling a bit more motivated now.
Asuna and Mari were hard at work in the kitchen lab at the school, and Mari was quite pleased to see that Asuna had been working much harder than expected, baking not only cupcakes but even brownies and chocolate cookies for the school bake sale. Mari smiled at the thought of Asuna showing up to the bake sale, hands filled with a bunch of delicious treats for her student body. It was an uncharacteristic thing of Asuna but, Mari liked the idea quite a bit. Asuna must've really wanted to be of help to the bake sale.
But, Mari failed to notice the distracted, almost vacant look in Asuna's eye as she worked away in the kitchen. She was awfully quiet today, but Mari simply assumed it was because she was focusing too hard in fear of messing up. In actuality, Asuna was thinking about her plans for tomorrow, where she planned to spend the day with her friend Hiraku.
"I remember Hiraku being big into desserts, since his mom always complained about his sweet tooth, but the question is...what was his favourite?" Asuna thought to herself as she beat the batter for the brownies, "You really can't go wrong with cupcakes, brownies, or cookies but it'd probably impress him if I were to give him his favourite. I should've texted Tadashi about this to see if he remembered instead of baking all this stuff. They were the best of friends before Hiraku moved away."
As Asuna furiously beat the brownie batter, Mari checked the timer she brought to see if the chocolate chip cookies they made earlier were ready. Mari then looked over to Asuna and saw a somewhat uneasy look on her face as she stirred away. Was there something wrong with the batter she provided? Mari then walked over to her and inspected the batter before she checked the box and its expiration date. The batter looked perfectly fine and it wasn't past it's expiration date, so maybe Asuna's thoughts were elsewhere.
Mari then decided it was about time that the brownie batter had finished mixing, so she tapped Asuna on the shoulder and let her handle the rest of it, motioned the redhead to go take a seat, it looked like she needed a break anyways. In the meanwhile, Mari scraped off the leftover batter from the sides of the bowl and poured it into the baking pan.
Asuna sat at the table full of high chairs, thinking about all the desserts that had been made today.
"Nova was right, I guess I am getting leftovers." Asuna thought to herself, but she didn't feel as satisfied as she expected to,"It's not likely that I'll be eating them though."
Mari then walked over to her, holding the tray of chocolate chip cookies and placing them next to the tray of cupcakes. She then took a seat opposite to Asuna and smiled to her, lacing her fingers and resting them under her chin as she said,
"I never expected you to like baking as much as you do. I can see you were really determined to bake as much as you could."
Asuna then waved a hand in dismissal responding with,"It was nothing, really. I didn't realize we did so much baking until you pointed it out."
Asuna then stared at her phone in her hands for a moment, looking at the text that Hiraku had sent her last night, the text where he told her that they could all spent Sunday afternoon together. Her eyes were glued on Hayase's name.
"Mari, what would do if you liked someone who ignores you constantly?"Asuna asked, her gaze failing to reach Mari.
"Well, I'd let them go on about their life, no questions asked."Mari answered plainly, causing Asuna to look at her in question,"They're entitled to feel however they want to. One thing I've learned about life is well, no amount of love can get your feelings returned. It's frustrating and easily not the best feeling in the world, if anything, it might just be the worst."
"But that's not fair."Asuna commented flatly, her eyes squinted at Mari.
"Life and unfair are sometimes synonymous."Mari said to her with an unreadable expression,"There are times where all you can do is just let the one you love most be happy. Even if that means making yourself unhappy in the process."
"Ok, but...what if they liked you before? Is that excusable, like a loophole of sorts? Asuna questioned, leading Mari to look at her with a somewhat unimpressed look on her face.
"Exactly what do you mean?"Mari asked.
Asuna opened her mouth to explain, but then her phone started ringing and Asuna groaned upon seeing the Caller ID.
Asuna was hesitant, but she answered the call with,"I'm busy, what do you want?"
"Geez, well hello to you too." Tadashi responded in an irritated tone,"Hiraku's at our place, can you come over?"
"Wait right now? Wasn't he supposed to hang out with friends from his elementary school?"Asuna reminded him.
"Nah, they bailed. If you're free, just head home so we can all hang out." Tadashi replied,"I'll see you later."
Asuna's call was ended and she glared at her phone screen for a few moments, holding back on a sigh.
Mari interrupted her thoughts, asking her,"Is it something urgent?"
Mari then stood up and started to cut up the brownies from the pan into squares as she said,"You were planning to share these with someone, right? I can clean this stuff up, you go see them and I'll just give you the rest of the desserts on Monday."
Quickly, Mari then reached for the small jar of peanut butter she brought today and spread a layer of it on a set of brownies she cut out for Asuna, then she placed a few chocolate chips on top. Mari put them away into a container and held it out to Asuna.
"I promise I won't eat any of them. You go have fun, alright?" Mari stated as Asuna cautiously took the container from Mari's hands.
Asuna looked at the brownies in the container before looking towards Mari and offering her a small smile in response.
"Ok, thanks a lot. I appreciate it."Asuna said before collecting her things to leave.
Mari smiled in response and Asuna took off in a few minutes.
Meanwhile, at the Morino residence, Tadashi and Hayase were sitting in the living room playing video games with a boy that had bleached blond hair and pink streaks in it. The boys were fully immersed in their game, it had taken them awhile to properly get accustomed to each other's company again, especially since they hadn't seen Hiraku in nearly nine years.
Even though the three of them seemed to be focused only on the game, Tadashi and Hayase were still thinking about how much had changed since Hiraku left.
Hayase thought back to how one by one, the kids in their neighbourhood moved away, most of them never to be heard from again. The two of them considered themselves lucky that they were able to keep in touch with Hiraku after all this time. Hayase then thought about how Hiraku didn't really speak much about his personal life and rather only told them of what life in his new city was like and what he planned to study once he graduated next year.
All Tadashi could think about was how Hiraku failed to mention the hair bleaching and streaks, since he thought they looked really neat and complimented his outfit.
"Yes! I win again!"Hiraku cheered as he jumped up from his seat,"That was too easy~! Clearly no challenge for yours truly."
"Not surprising, neither of us have played this game in months."Hayase commented with a chuckle while Tadashi groaned as he looked through his collection for other games to play. Hayase wasn't surprised to see Tadashi's competitive side creep out from the slightest provocation and simply went to the kitchen to see if Tadashi had any snacks for them.
Hayase sighed at the sight of the snack selection in the Morino household. Most, if not of Tadashi's snacks were habanero chips, his absolute favourite but Hayase's least favourite type of chips.
"When was the last time this house was without habanero chips?" Hayase wondered as looked at the boxes of mini-bags stacked up in the corner. Hayase turned around, about to head back into the living room empty-handed when he noticed the two of his friends were in the middle of a conversation, probably one they didn't want him listening in on since their voices were so soft.
"So, what do you say? Do you want in?"Hiraku asked, in a voice so quiet, Hayase wouldn't have been able to hear if he was standing right behind the kitchen pathway.
"I...as of right now, I don't think I'd be able to agree to that. Sorry, man."Tadashi responded, his tone apologetic yet there was a faint tense sound to it.
Hiraku nodded his head, as an awkward silence began to fill the room before Hiraku stood up to declare,
"Well, it appears you two aren't any match for me. Will Asuna be here soon?" Hiraku asked, turning towards the kitchen only to find Hayase trying to act inconspicuous as he thoughtfully looked at the box of chips in the corner.
Bounce was sitting inside a room with Lilith and Rubix, feeling a bit uneasy in the presence of both of them. If Bounce was simply just sitting here with Lilith, things would've been different, but with Rubix around, Bounce only felt powerless in her presence. Everytime she was near Rubix as of lately, these thoughts of how she was inferior to Rubix kept running through her mind, especially with all the progress Rubix was able to make these last couple of weeks. And also since she hadn't been here as long as the rest of the team.
"Today, I'll explain our final plan to you two." Lilith declared as she laid of a rolled up sheet of paper on the table in front of them," I've already went through this with Domino and did the adjustments he recommended. I wouldn't trust anyone else to modify this plan anyways."
Bounce crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair, wondering what Domino was up to. She glanced over to the doorway and narrowed her eyes at it, finding a thin lining of dark magic made to keep her and Rubix inside the room for the remainder of this meeting. Once their meeting was up, Rubix would be free to go, but Bounce would still be confined to the hideouts of Asperity. At least until the day of their final battle was to happen.
"I don't understand...Domino and Rubix have screwed up just as much as I have, so why am I the one who needs to be under house-arrest?" Bounce thought to herself, though she already had a faint idea as to why," I haven't done anything commendable to be out on the field again. I need something good, not just to break out of here, but to show them I'm not as useless as they think."
Rubix looked over to Bounce just to make sure that she was paying attention. Bounce smiled to her in response, only to roll her eyes the second Rubix looked away.
Meanwhile, Domino was out in the human world, looking around an empty park, literally not leaving any stone unturned as he searched through the park. After a few more moments of searching, Domino stopped and took a seat underneath a nearby tree. He looked up to the sky and declared aloud,
"Well, no sign of the Mage's missing Patchwork Heart here. Why is Lilith so certain about its existence after all these centuries? It would be pure luck to find it so easily, I mean...it was surprising enough we were able to get our hands on the King's Patchwork Heart."
Domino then sighed, staring at the empty park in front of him, his thoughts a mess as he thought more and more about how close Asperity was to victory. The thought of it alone may have sounded nice, but something was missing that made the idea of victory actually enjoyable.
Domino then held out his hand and then placed it on his glass dome protecting his domino head. He was reminded of his pre-modified self, and his brother whose face so closely resembled his. Even if Domino missed Jack, he was well-aware that it was for the best, that his brother wouldn't have been happy to stay here at Asperity, even if he was with his family.
"These actions will catch up to you."
Domino shook his head, remembering the last battle he had with the Pretty Cure and the almost predictable failure it resulted in.
Asperity wasn't the same, but all these changes, the modifications, the new additions, it was supposed to happen. It was what Lilith wanted all along. Though none of the three were ready for them, nor did they want them. All they wanted was to stay together, like always.
"What a fool, these actions have already caught up to me." Domino scoffed as he leaned back against the tree.
The image of Jack, smiling that earnest smile uncharacteristic for him when Domino last saw him flashed through his mind. It was a sight that warmed his heart, even if Domino couldn't comprehend the feelings Jack had when he decided to stay in the human world.
Even if Domino wanted to escape, to simply take his leave from Asperity, the human world wasn't going to cut it for him. It may have been charming with all the technological advancements, but...something was amiss.
A memory then ran through Domino's mind, and he laughed. It was a memory that would've left a smile on his face as his mind traveled back all those years, a memory long past and never to be relived again.
Three children were seen in a clearing in the forest gathered around a single of them, the boys, were play fighting with toy swords, while the last child, the only girl amongst them, was sitting up in the tree watching them.
The taller boy was knocked off his feet by his opponent, who only stood gallantly over the one who usually towered over him.
"See Dominique? Your height doesn't mean a thing in a game like this!" He shouted gallantly.
Dominique averted his gaze from his opponent, only looking at the toy-sword with a frustrated look on his face. Just then, someone cleared their throat and they spotted a boy with dark brown hair looking at the group curiously.
"Would any of you know where The Watchman's Berry Garden is?" The dark-haired boy asked.
Dominique opened up his eyes wide with disbelief, all of a sudden feeling unfit to be standing here simply playing around. Someone of his status couldn't even breathe the same air as him, so what was this boy doing here? The younger boy didn't seem to care though, he probably didn't even recognize him as a member of the royal family and only pointed in the direction of where the dark-haired boy asked. The dark-haired boy thanked him and went on ahead, but Dominique noticed his sister paying close attention to him, remaining silent.
"If I had said something to her back then, would things have been different?" Domino asked aloud, before the sound of a girl crying sounded through the park. He then turned his attention to a little girl, in the corner of the park, crying because her plush giraffe's leg had broken off.
"How am I gonna fix you?" The little girl said between sobs.
Domino was just about to make use of the opportunity laid out in front of him but then, he shook his head and only said,
"This time, I'd much prefer to reminisce."
Asuna was almost at her house when she got a call from a number she didn't recognize, though the area code looked familiar. She picked up the call and waited expectantly to see who was calling her while continuing her walk home.
"Hey Asuna, how much longer do you have? I'm at your house right now with Tadashi and Hayase.." The person on the other end asked her. Asuna stopped dead in her tracks upon hearing that voice, unmistakable, even if it hadn't been heard in ages. Asuna felt her heart begin to race and sputtered out,
"I'll be there super soon, just give me like a few minutes, ok? I'll see you then."
She immediately hung up and stood leaning against a nearby fence for a few moments to organize her thoughts.
"Why am I acting like this? Hiraku's just a childhood friend." Asuna said to herself as she looked towards the path she was supposed to go," So much time has past since then. A lot has to have changed after all these years."
Asuna stared at her phone screen for a few moments, as her thoughts wandered to a conversation that she and Tadashi had a couple of weeks back.
"You're gonna move out?!" Asuna shouted, slamming her hands onto her bed, with Tadashi shushing her in response.
"Keep it down, I haven't told mom as of yet. Plus, I'm just moving into dad's house, that's all." Tadashi explained," It's closer to my university and well, I'm there pretty often anyways, so it only makes sense."
Asuna fell silent, with an unreadable look on her face as she stared at Tadashi. Her heart felt like it was sinking, and somehow, this definitely wasn't the reaction she was expecting from herself. She knew this day would come, but she always thought she was going to be rejoicing upon hearing these words.
Tadashi knelt to face her at eye level saying," You should've seen it coming. Nothing's supposed to stay as is, you gotta start reminding yourself that."
"But...there wasn't anything wrong with how things always were." Asuna thought to herself before she continued her walk home.
Rubix was standing on top of one of the tallest buildings in town, looking over a busy street as she tried to concentrate. She felt herself tense and only sighed as she fought against her impulses. All this searching was migraine-inducing but she was the only one met with success in finding one of the two Patchwork Hearts they needed, so Lilith didn't give her any other choice but to continue their search.
Rubix was growing to hate all this searching, because the longer she concentrated, the less in tune she was with her surroundings, leaving her in a place where she could access memories of someone within her, deep in her subconscious. The memories were often fragmented, like they were from a dream, but she couldn't make out a single face or recognize any voices. Many of them were muffled and often spoke nonsense. But, there was one voice that appeared once in a while that spoke clearly and with meaning in their words, but hearing that voice gave Rubix the sharpest of headaches.
Rubix was trying her best today to focus hard, but not that hard. Though somehow, it happened again. The voice returned, as clear and kind as ever but Rubix didn't want to hear a single word as she clamped her ears shut in a desperate attempt to block them out. But of course, it was no use.
"Oh my...this set looks wonderful. You outdid yourself today. I...I truly hope you find a profession in this, but only if you want to." The voice said, her face a complete blur," But that begs the question...what is it that you'd like to do?"
"Agh, just stop it!" Rubix cried as she kicked the air, her eyes opening wide. Her breathing got quicker and she could feel a headache coming on. She was already dreading the feeling of it, knowing it'd probably be severe as this was one of the longer memories she encountered. Lately, she had gotten better at stopping the clear ones dead in their tracks, but that voice, as warm and compassionate as ever, was enticing and their words always left Rubix wondering if there had been a life she had left behind.
Rubix then shook her head, deciding enough was enough and took a break from searching. But, she didn't want to start thinking about that memory so to take her mind off things, she did the only other thing Lilith would approve of: Make a Defective.
Rubix took a good long look at the city below her to find a suitable target for a Defective before she spotted the same girl Domino found at the park crying over her broken plush.
"Good enough." Rubix declared as she disappeared to the park.
Asuna was almost at her home when she heard the cry of a Defective filling the air. Asuna groaned and turned to her right only to find a giraffe Defective in the distance.
"Disgusting." Asuna commented, her eyes narrowed as she reached for her phone and PlayPact, holding the latter up high as she shouted,
"Pretty Cure, it's Playtime!"
"The dame of courage, Cure Teddy!"
Teddy looked at the Defective curiously, narrowing her eyes to figure out exactly where it was located. When she noticed a tall slide and swing set within the vicinity, she felt uneasy and unwillingly darted towards the Defective.
Once Teddy got close enough to the Defective, she realized she had yet to be noticed by the Defective tall enough to touch the clouds. Teddy smirked, for once her height gave her an advantage and just dialed up some numbers on her phone. She leapt up into one of the trees and held her phone out before shooting a sphere made from fire towards the Defective's neck.
"They told me not to do this but…" Teddy said as the Defective roared, loud enough for it to startle the girls on the other side of the line.
The girls were chiding Teddy for alerting them like this and all she could say in response was, "See you soon!"
The Defective was on the lookout for Teddy, now that it knew a Pretty Cure was around, but it was having a hard time finding her, since she blended in well with her environment.
"Hm, who would've thought wearing neutral colours as a magical girl would've come in handy?" Teddy said to herself quietly as she hid behind a tree," But still, I don't have a lot of time until it finds me, so what can I do against it?"
"Actually, a better question would be how would I even go about fighting this thing?" Teddy thought to herself, her eyes narrowed as she looked at the Defective skeptically," I don't think it'd be very good at fighting, it'd be best to just detain it if anything."
Teddy surveyed the park closely, she knew this place much better than the Defective, so deciding on a way to detain it shouldn't have been too hard.
Just then, Teddy heard a voice shout out," She's over there!"
She looked towards where the voice came from and discovered Rubix floating near the Defective.
Teddy squinted her eyes at Rubix and sighed, before fleeing her hiding spot. The Defective chased after her, being much faster as Teddy was expecting. But, once Teddy realized it was only chasing her, with little intent on doing anything else, Teddy felt like she had an advantage again.
She skidded to a stop and turned around to face the Defective, shouting out," So what do you plan on doing? Chasing me around to death?"
Teddy backed in a tree without realizing it and suddenly, Rubix appeared before her.
"This Defective isn't much of a fighter, that's why I'm here." Rubix explained casually as she looked at the pawprint brooch on Teddy's bow. Rubix took a swift step closer to her and in the next moment, placed a translucent pink cube around Teddy's wrists to keep her from attacking. Teddy tried taking a step back but Rubix grabbed her by the scruff of her shirt and took a deep breath before she tried to rip the brooch off of Teddy. But, it wasn't to any avail as a gold light bursted out from it and shot Rubix back a few feet.
"What the hell was that?" Rubix questioned as she tenderly held onto her left hand, which felt like it was burning right now.
Teddy ripped the cube cuffs apart and walked up to Rubix. When she got close enough, she knelt slightly and remarked,
"That was low, even for you."
"I should've been able to grab that brooch, I don't understand." Rubix thought to herself as she held her hand tightly.
Rubix then looked up to Teddy, who didn't seem interested in giving Rubix more time to think.
"I just picked a troublesome Cure to try revoking the powers of." Rubix said to herself quietly while reminding herself of how much she had already achieved for Asperity,"But it's fine, you'd be much more troublesome with your teammates."
Rubix then lifted her hands up and a bright blue cube with a grid on it surrounded her and Teddy.
"As an opponent, I actually quite like you more than the others." Rubix stated as she took a step forward," You're not dependant on your magic, you don't craft elaborate schemes, you just like fighting. So how about it?, No Defectives, no magic, just two enemies settling things the old-fashioned way."
"Whatever." Teddy answered flatly as she dashed towards Rubix, who only knelt to the ground for a moment and touched it lightly. Just then, the cube shifted and Teddy was running along the side of it, just before she fell on the ground.
"I probably shouldn't have trusted her when she said no magic." Teddy said to herself as she got up.
The Defective had roamed off a while ago and found the three Pretty Cure who were just as unsure of how to fight as it as Teddy was. The trio was currently running from the Defective and trying to come to a decision on what to do against the Defective.
"Well, I mean…" Dolly began briskly, her pace slowing as she watched the Defective," We could always-"
"-You don't fight giraffes!" Bubbly exasperated as she held her hands out towards the Defective," They are peaceful creatures who mean no harm!"
"Bubbly, remember. It's not a real giraffe. It's a Defective." Fantasy explained to her patiently," But...it doesn't seem like much of a fighter, I think our best bet is to simply calm it down and try to get through to it."
"I don't think it'd be willing to listen though. Unless we find a way to keep it from running around for a bit."
While they were running, Dolly then noticed something in the park that would've been of use to them. She ran a bit faster than the Cures and turned around to face the Defective while running.
"Is running all your good for?" Dolly asked the Defective, who got riled up from her comment and chased after her quicker. Fantasy and Bubbly took a break from running after realizing that the Defective only had its sights on Dolly.
"What is she up to?" Fantasy asked, before Bubbly pointed out the jungle gym structure a few feet away.
"Will that actually work though?" Fantasy questioned skeptically, with Bubbly only shrugging in response.
Dolly leapt through the jungle gym and emerged out and the Defective tried following after her, only to get tangled up and stuck inside of it. It tried to break free, but it had trouble in doing so.
"Alright, so we're going to have a little talk, Ok?" Dolly declared to the Defective as she stood on top of the jungle gym, before taking a seat in front of the Defective.
Teddy and Rubix were still fighting in the cube, both of them evenly matched, especially since they both had control over the shifting of the cube. Teddy thought being able to shift the cube's movements would've given her the upper hand but, Rubix was adept in fighting as she said and was quick to adapt to the cube-shifting. Teddy was about the change the cube's position with a touch on the cube's side, but she could tell Rubix was anticipating it, so instead she ran towards Rubix, with her fists balled. Rubix stood close to one of the cube sides and evaded her attack with ease, but then Teddy punched the side of the cube and sent Rubix thrashing around the cube against her will.
Rubix was thrown onto the ground by the cube and sat with her back against one of the cube sides.
Teddy stepped towards Rubix, much less tense now and declared," Remember, the chances of winning may seem low against the likes of you, but they aren't at zero."
Rubix wore a frustrated look on her face fell silent in Teddy's presence, her thoughts muddled before she noticed the giraffe Defective getting purified by bright lights in the distance.
A few moments later, the rest of the Cures rushed to the scene and found the two of them. Rubix simply pressed her palms against the ground and finally said,
"We should be the ones saying that, especially when we've already found the Princess, the King's Patchwork Heart, and the Well! We have nearly everything we need and when we've collected all our pieces, we're going to unleash an army of Defectives so great, you'll wish I ended your Pretty Cure careers sooner." Rubix responded, excitement brimming up in her voice," Trust me, you won't even be able to reach Lilith when we're through with you."
Rubix dispelled the cube and stood up, smiling as she noticed that Dolly turned slightly pale.
"Are you still sure of your team? Because it doesn't quite look like it." Rubix pointed out, before she disappeared.
Dolly was too caught up in her thoughts to listen to the others Cures discussing how this could've happened, and all she wanted to figure out was what their missing piece was.
"She mentioned the Patchwork Heart of the King. Was she talking about...the Mage's Patchwork Heart?" Dolly thought to herself. Dolly looked over to the group and tried settling them down, saying,
"Either way, we're in no position to quit. I don't want to feel sad and guilty right now, I want to get even. So for that, we have to work as effectively as we ever have as a team, find the thing that they need first and figure how to disengage their Defective army. We have to make a plan worth relying on, it's all we can do now."
The Cures nodded in response, and all Dolly could offer them a pained smile.
The girls parted ways, and eventually, Asuna reached the Morino household and found Hiraku sitting by himself in the living room. Asuna failed to recognize him though and only cautiously stood near the doorway, studying the bleach-blond sprawled out on her couch.
"Hello?" Asuna asked cautiously, with the boy bouncing up excitedly, who smiled and ran to her.
"Asuna! Finally, you're home!" Hiraku exclaimed cheerfully, as he led her to the couch," C'mon, we've got so much catching up to do."
Despite the fact that Asuna had been taken aback by Hiraku's appearance, she realized soon enough that his personality hadn't changed all that much. He was still that energetic, kind-hearted boy who Asuna always felt comfortable around. After all these years, Asuna's social skills were still lacking, so she didn't allow people to become all that close to her. She didn't even consider her friends from her own circle that close. But, Hiraku was different because he did everything he could to make Asuna feel welcome in his presence without even trying that hard. Even if a lot of time had passed, Hiraku was still like a breath of fresh air to her.
"Um...I wasn't intending on asking this, but...I had been curious to know…"Asuna began awkwardly," Do you remember the time I twisted my ankle and you gave me a cat plush with a note?"
"I remember when you twisted your ankle but...I never gave you a cat plush and a note." Hiraku answered tonelessly," Did you want to ask the sender about that note?"
"Someone in the neighbourhood liked me…" Asuna explained, before a realization of who the sender with the initials of H.M was," And they've moved on. Now I'm the one who likes them."
Asuna drew out a sigh and continued, "But, no matter what I do, I can't get through to them. I can't change their mind so I just-"
"-You know, you've said 'I' an awful lot of times, have you only been thinking of your feelings?" Hiraku then curiously asked," If you really love them, then their happiness should matter more to you, not whether or not they like you. I fell for someone in this neighbourhood too. But they couldn't return my feelings. I'm not mad at them, I'm not going to question their choice. Instead, I'll accept it, and do whatever needs to be done for us to stay friends."
Asuna nodded hesitantly in response, and Hiraku placed a hand on her shoulder, as he said in a reassuring voice," There's nothing wrong in trying to be their friend, right?"
Tadashi and Hayase were upstairs, trying to pack away some of Tadashi's belongings into moving boxes. When Tadashi's back was turned though, Hayase was using magic to put some of the heavier items away in the boxes.
"I'm glad Asuna and Hiraku were able to spend some time together this afternoon. She never did admit it, but I knew she liked having him around." Tadashi remarked in a somewhat prideful tone as he pushed a full box near the door," Plus, I think she could've really used his company and advice at a time like this, maybe you could learn a thing or two from him while he's here."
Hayase rolled his eyes and the two continued packing things up.