Chapter 2 – Please Find Peace! Seishin Reiki!
"I am the Light of Heaven, descended to bring back the smiles of those who have lost their hearts!"
The light radiated from her garments. It illuminated the shade of night around her, as if it was day. The Yomi shielded its eyes as Cure Tsukuyomi could not help but stare with awe.
"Cure Amaterasu!"
The girl descended onto the pavement, her arms spread out. She was shining brightly in the dark night, her robes brimming with a holy light that reflected off her gold ornaments. It was as if in her own space, she turned night into day by her mere presence. She truly looked like a god that had come down from the heavens. She opened her eyes slowly with a smile. But her amber eyes trailed down to her body, and the majesty she emanated in immediately was gone. "Wh-wh-wh-what is this?!" she exclaimed, flailing her arms wildly. "This thing on my head! My arms! Is this a kimono?! No, have I become a shrine maiden?!"
Cure Tsukuyomi could not believe what she was seeing. She thought that with the arrival of this new Pretty Cure, things would go well. But she did not seem to have the mental capacity to fully comprehend her situation. She furrowed her brow and grunted. "Calm down," she spoke harshly. "You've become a Pretty Cure, one who holds a mighty power granted by the heavens." She then pointed at the Yomi. "That is your enemy! With your new powers, you must fight it!"
"F-Fight?" Amaterasu looked at Tsukuyomi worriedly. Amane had never been in a fight before, nor did she like the idea of fighting. To raise her hand in anger, to physically confront someone, it was against everything she stood for. "W-wait a second! Isn't there another way around this?! That thing is human, isn't it?!"
"Fool! Here it comes!"
Amaterasu looked up to find a spear being lunged to her face. In a panic, she ducked. The blade shot over her head as she saw the Yomi's stomach in front of her face. She noticed it pull its leg back, so she dove to the side as it launched a kick. She tumbled and rolled on the pavement as she looked up at the Yomi. "Th-that's dangerous! This is too dangerous!"
"Tch, you're so useless…" Tsukuyomi cursed as she stood up. The Yomi stood up and lunged at Amaterasu, but Tsukyomi caught its spear. She held the Yomi in place in a deadlock, struggling against its strength. "Stop squirming, you worm!" she roared and slammed the head of the spear on her knee. The blade snapped off, falling and clattering onto the ground. While the Yomi was distracted, she lifted her left leg and slammed her ankle to its head, kicking it to a nearby tree.
"Wait!" Amaterasu called out. "If you hurt it anymore, the person that it's possessing will possibly…"
Cure Tsukuyomi stopped. She coldly stared at Amaterasu. "What of it?" she replied. "Those who've become Yomi have lost the right to become human. They are better off dead before they hurt any more people."
"But…that's horrible!" Cure Amaterasu didn't know what to do. She had to stop Tsukuyomi from hurting this Yomi further, for she had no qualms about whether or not the Yomi's host lived or died. To die…it was such a scary thing to think about. What if that person had children? A family? They will mourn him if he died. They will miss him, and they will be in so much pain. These thoughts raced through Amaterasu's head as she tried to find the words to make Tsukuyomi stop. "That's…horrible…"
"It's horrible…"
"Eh?" Amaterasu looked up. What was that, she thought. A voice that had seemed to come from nowhere, different from that voice that had instructed her to become a Pretty Cure. It was pained.
"What's wrong?" Tsukuyomi asked as she stopped. "Don't you have anything else to say?"
"My life is horrible…"
"Don't you hear that?" Amaterasu asked.
Tsukuyomi simply raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about? All I can hear is your senseless idealistic dribble. Now don't try to stop me."
"No, wait!" The new Pretty Cure stood up quickly. She walked towards Tsukuyomi, towards the Yomi. "You don't hear that?"
The Yomi moaned as it leaned on the tree. It held its slender bony hands to its stomach.
"It's…the Yomi. I can hear the Yomi."
Tsukuyomi's eyes widened. She looked down at the newer Pretty Cure. 'Hear the Yomi?' she thought to herself. 'What is she talking about?'
"I wanted…to start a new life. I wanted to be successful. I wanted to live a wonderful life. I took family and parents here to Seitenka-machi, and I was supported by my company back in Etsukyo. But business here is not as I thought. No one wants anything to do with my company's product. I gave up everything I had in Etsukyo for a place in the sticks. There's no revenue coming in, and my pay keeps decreasing. Can I afford our house here anymore? Can I afford living anywhere? Will my family be put on the streets? Ah, this is all my fault…I'm so worthless…I just want to die…"
"No!" Amaterasu walked forward. Her zori slapped against the pavement as she moved towards the Yomi. "That is not right! To give up so easily, what will your family think?! If you die now, who will support them?! You can't just take the easy way out, in living and in business! You have to work harder to make progress, not limit yourself to what's within your sight!" She grabbed the Yomi by the shoulders and stared at its dead eyes through its basket. Tsukuyomi was at a loss of what this girl was doing. "Everyone here has struggled to make a living! But Seitenka-machi wasn't born from success, it was born from failure! And from failure, it flourished because the people learned from their mistakes! This is a simple town, and we are simple townspeople, but we are human! We change and we grow, for better or worse, so there's no harm in pushing yourself to the limit to become successful in life!"
Her kimono was radiating with a golden light. As she wrapped her arms around the Yomi's bony body, she gently pressed her head against its shoulders with a warm embrace. "Don't give up. There is so much in life to live for. And all it takes is a single step forward. Just keep smiling, and stay happy. You have so many accomplishments ahead of you, but you just don't see it yet. Don't worry. I don't know you personally, but…"
"I believe in you."
The Yomi stopped struggling. It dropped its arms, and instead of a lamenting moan, it let out a contented sigh. The light from Amaterasu engulfed them both, and it was too bright for Tsukuyomi to see. The silver-haired Cure shielded her eyes from the light, and as it dispersed, she lowered her arms. She was surprised to see in Amaterasu's arms was not a Yomi, but a young man in his thirties. He wore a suit, disheveled and sloppy. He was sleeping in Amaterasu's arms, but there was a content smile on his face.
Tsukuyomi watched the entire scene, and her eyes widened with shock. It was as if she had witnessed a miracle. The man had little bruises, ones that she had likely caused. But he was fine now. There was no sign of the Yomi's shade on him. "You…purified him."
Amaterasu slowly opened her eyes as she saw the man in her arms. Her cheeks turned red, and she pushed him slightly to the tree, slowly letting him down. "I…purified him? I don't understand. What do you mean?"
The taller Cure didn't reply. She stepped back slightly, but her fists were clenched tightly.
"Hold it!" yelled a woman's voice in the distance. "Police! Stay where you are!"
Tsukuyomi snapped back to reality. At the sound of being called, she quickly leapt into the air, jumping from building to building. "W-Wait!" Amaterasu called out. When she turned to the sound of the police woman, she saw a bright light. It was the police's flash light. But she could make out a figure behind it. It was… "M-Mom?!" she exclaimed and panicked. If Orihime saw her like this, there would be more questions than she could handle. Right now, she had to escape, and fast! On instinct, she leapt into the air. She was surprised on how light her body felt, and how high she had jumped. She panicked, flailing in the air wildly as she began to descend towards a building. In haste she made her escape.
Orihime arrived at the scene, panting slightly with her flashlight in hand. "Who were those two…" she asked herself. "Were those the assailants? Was there more than one?" As she looked around, she saw the man slumped on the base of the tree. She knelt down before him. "He's from that family that recently moved here," she said to herself. She examined his body, but she noticed that he had few bruises. He looked like he had been drinking, and his breath reeked of alcohol. But all the while, he had a very content smile on his face.
The next morning, Amane came down the stairs for breakfast, her school uniform on. There was not much different with her attire than yesterday, but now she has a golden bracelet attached to an amber jewel and two silver bells tied underneath. "Good morning, mom!" she called out to her mother in the kitchen.
"Ah, Amane!" Orihime called out as she turned off the stove. "Good timing, I just finished. Now, let's hurry and greet your father."
After having set the table, once more, they knelt in front of the small shrine dedicated to Amane's deceased father after having knocked on the bowl in the middle. They knelt in silence for a few minutes and stood up. Amane heard the bells around her wrist jingle, which distracted her. Those bells had reminded her of how dreamlike last night had been; and yet, having just prayed to her father, she felt much better knowing that last night was real.
The two began their breakfast, a grilled saba (mackerel) dish with rolled tamagoyaki and some tomatoes. Orihime looked at Amane as she ate, silently analyzing her. Finally, she asked, "Where did you go last night?"
"Hm?" Amane stopped eating mid-tamagoyaki. She quickly chewed her piece and swallowed. "What do you mean, mom? I went to the library like I always do and came home."
"You were sleeping when I got home. Dinner wasn't even made."
This made Amane freeze. She had forgotten that she usually made dinner when she came home while her mother did her job. After the event with the Yomi and her transformation, Amane came straight home after fleeing from her mother on the streets and immediately fell asleep, and in her uniform no less. "I-I guess I was just tired last night."
Orihime raised an eyebrow and continued eating. "There was another victim last night," she brought up, "but something was unusual."
"Unusual?" Amane echoed.
"This man…he had no wounds." Orihime recalled checking that drunken man's body for any external wounds. "If anything, he had a cracked rib. But compared to the other victims, this is the first time we've found someone with the least amount of injuries."
Amane immediately remembered Cure Tsukuyomi, who didn't hesitate to fight the Yomi the man had transformed to.
"In any case, he's being treated at the clinic. From what I heard, he'll be fine. Better than the others, anyway."
"What a relief," Amane sighed.
Orihime looked at Amane and smiled. "You're so compassionate. But be careful not to let your compassion cloud your judgment. You're a big girl, Amane. I can't be there for you all the time."
"I know, mom." As Amane's wrist turned, the bells jingled once more. "I know…"
Sneakers sped through the track, kicking up dirt behind the heel as the runner dashed towards a girl on the side. As her body passed her, the girl clicked on the top button of the stop watch. "You're just three seconds off, Tohru-san," she said as she wrote onto the clip board in her other hand. "What happened? You're beginning to slip."
"I know…" The girl was hunched over the side, catching her breath as her black pig-tails hung by the sides of her head, revealing to be Amane's classmate, Hinata. She looked over to the side as sweat slid off her forehead. "I know, dammit…I can try harder."
"Hey, Tohru-san, you don't have to push yourself," said the time-keeper as she put her hand on Hinata's shoulder, but the girl slapped her arm away. "H-Hey!"
"I said I can do it!" Hinata exclaimed as she went back on the track. "I have to…everyone's counting on me." Once more, she got into position.
The girl looked at Hinata with concern and shook her head. "That's enough," she said. "I'm going back to homeroom. You can do this yourself if you're so intent with running yourself to the ground." She left Hinata alone at the track. Hinata watched her leave and bit her bottom lip.
"Damn it…" she cursed.
She looked down for a bit. But when she looked up, Amane was there with a towel and a water bottle, waiting for her. Her anger dissipated, but was replaced with a sort of sadness. Just seeing Amane's smiling face was really not something she wanted right now…
The day went off without incident. Amane had successfully avoided Yomi, who focused mainly on herself rather than the girls and guys fawning over her every class period. But all the while, Amane could not help but think of last night's events. Her mind was not in her classes like they usually were. The jingling of the bells on her wrist would get her thinking once more, and she would think about that mysterious girl called Cure Tsukuyomi and that scary ghoul-like monster called a Yomi.
She would remember the warm light resonating from her body. It was like that of the morning sun. It was comforting, like that of an embrace. Had her father answered her prayers that very moment when her life was in danger?
In fact, it started with the jewel the mysterious shop keeper of the antique shop, BOUNDLESS, had given her for free. Could that man have known about this event? Did he plan on this? There was only one way to find out.
As the students exited the building, Amane looked around the gates. She saw Hinata standing there in her track gear. "Hinata-chan!" she called out to her as she ran to her friend.
"Oh…Amane-chan…" There seemed to be less life in Hinata's eyes than usual. And she was usually apathetic in the first place. "Sorry, I'm in a hurry."
"Huh? You don't seem like it." Amane side-stepped in front of Hinata with her bag behind her back. "Is everything okay? You didn't really say much today. You didn't really talk to me, either."
"It's fine, everything's okay." Hinata pushed her way past Amane, who was hurt by this reaction. But Hinata didn't look back. She began to meld with the crowd of students exiting the school grounds.
"Hey…Hey! Hinata-chan! If something is wrong, you can come talk to me, okay!" Amane did not receive a response. Hinata had left. As she worried for her friend's strange behavior, she headed off to the shopping district.
Amane stood in front of the wooden door with the worn handle. Like before, the door did not have an OPEN or CLOSED sign. This is where she felt she would get the answers, but why was she hesitating? It felt that if she had entered this building once more, time would slow down for her. That was what she felt before. Maybe because it contained relics of the past, it felt historical. But if she entered now, there was no turning back.
Amane pushed down on the lever and opened the door, entering the dark store. Looking to the side, she picked up the electric lantern once more and turned it on, illuminating the store a little. "Hello?" she called out. She began to walk deeper into the darkness, careful not to knock anything over. "It's me again. I just wanted to see if you were here…"
"Of course I am," said a voice behind her.
Amane squeaked, jumping and nearly dropping the lantern. She leaned on the nearby counter, holding her hand over her heart as she breathed deeply.
"I have to maintain the store, you know." The voice belonged to the middle-aged man from before. His long silver hair tied into a pony tail and covered with a bandana hung behind his back, and an apron was fixed in front of his samue. His round glasses sitting in front of his squinty eyes reflected off the light of the lantern. "Oh…it's you," he mumbled, recognizing Amane from the other day. He smiled as he walked to the counter. "A return customer, hm? How can I help you today."
Amane caught her breath and swallowed her saliva. She then held out her left wrist to the man, revealing the bracelet that was formerly the amber jewel he had given her. "What is this? I think you would know. You gave this to me, after all."
The man leaned in, examining the bracelet, its bells, and the jewel it was connected to extensively. A smile crept on his face. "I see. So you have awakened to your power." He leaned his arm over the counter and shifted his glasses. "Tell me, how did you feel when it happened? Were you scared?"
Thinking back to the experience, Amane realized that she did not feel scared the time she transformed. In fact, she felt compelled to. But how could she tell him that? Would he believe her? Maybe…he did give her the jewel.
"Allow me to explain, little miss." The shopkeeper pointed to the jewel. "That is the Left Eye of Heaven, a jewel with heavenly properties said to have been crafted by Izanagi no Mikoto himself. When it deems its possessor worthy, it becomes the Divine Brace that signals the descent of the gods of heaven."
What he had just explained seemed rather mystical and farfetched, but it did seem familiar. Amane had felt like something had possessed her, allowing her to transcend humanity for that moment.
"What you are right now is a Pretty Cure, a legendary warrior and herald of the gods. As one of the Pretty Cure, your mission is to protect the world from the darkest evils that threaten all life." Once more, he shifted his glasses. "But I'm sure you understand what I am talking about…"
"The Yomi…" Amane recollected.
"That's correct. The Yomi, originally fabled as the denizens of the dead, residing in the Yomi no Kuni. They seep to the world of the living as shades and take root into someone's inner darkness. They corrupt that person's emotions of despair and drive them to madness, taking over their body and in the process draining their life force. They exist only to kill, to fulfill an age-old promise."
"An age-old promise?" Amane tilted her head as she thought of it. Then it hit her.
"You are catching on. That's right. These Yomi serve directly under the god of death. Greater than what you will call a Shinigami, for she is what is considered the original Shinigami. The one who promised to kill a thousand of Izanagi's offspring each passing day, Izanami no Kami."
Her eyes widened. The man had just casually explained the existence of the Yomi and their master, the mythological deity of death only written in old texts. Amane could not believe that the existence of Izanami was true. Does that mean Izanagi also exists?
"You encountered one more last night, didn't you? A Pretty Cure like yourself?"
"Huh?" Amane remembered that girl who saved her life, forceful in her fists and her tongue. "Oh…yes…Cure Tsukuyomi…"
"She has been fighting the Yomi much longer than you have," the man explained. "If you can, please lend her your support."
"I…I don't know if I can." Amane fidgeted with her fingers and looked downward. "I'm…not strong like her. I don't think I can fight and hurt another human being."
"My child, there is more to fighting than hurting." The man took her hands and held them together. "It is to protect those who need protecting. To save those who need saving. After all, you saved that Yomi last night, didn't you?"
The first Yomi she fought, she did not hurt him. She welcomed him. She accepted him. And in the end, she held in her arms a man who had seemed to have severed his connection to his despair.
"You have a power Cure Tsukuyomi does not have, but it is up to you to discover it." The man slowly opened his squinty eyes, revealing small red irises. His gaze sent a chill down Amane's spine, but his smile was as gentle as a father's. "You just have to believe in yourself, just as you willfully believe in others."
Amane was silent, but as she realized he was holding her hands for too long, she pulled away in a blush. "Y-You have too much faith in me…"
"No," the man replied. "I have faith in the person in you. The person you don't believe yourself to be. The person that becomes Cure Amaterasu."
Amane had not even mentioned that name to him, and yet he knew. He knew everything from the start. "Who…are you?"
"I am but a humble shopkeeper," the man shrugged. "But you can call me…Mikoto-san."
Night had begun to fall, and the sound of footsteps on the pavement filled the air. Hinata, clad in a tracksuit, ran down the empty and lamp-lit shopping district. Her hair was disheveled, strands poking out of her pigtails and crown. "I have to get better…" she told herself as she tried to run faster. "I have to…everyone is depending on me! I have to get better!"
As she passed a darkened alley, she was unaware of a shade emerging from the shadows. It swiftly skittered through the lit streets behind her. Finally, it caught up to her heel. As soon as it touched the heel of her sneaker, it emerged from the ground, ready to engulf its unsuspecting victim.
A loud screech echoed in the darkened room of the antique shop. The relics that adorned the walls and shelves began to shake at the sound. One relic in particular, a circular but dull mirror, resonated wildly.
Amane covered her ears. "Wh-what is that?!" she gasped.
Unfazed, Mikoto looked at the crystal ball sitting next to the register. Hovering his hand over it, his glasses reflected a pale blue light shining off the crystal ball. The glass sphere began to cloud in a purple darkness. "A Yomi has appeared, just off the shopping district on the main street," he replied. He looked at Amane expectantly. "Are you prepared? If you leave now with the intention of combating the Yomi, your life from here on will change forever. If you want to back out now, I can remove the Divine Brace from you and let Cure Tsukuyomi handle it."
"What will you do, Tatsunagi Amane?"
Amane was silent. She placed her hand over her chest and looked down. As she stood quietly, she slowly reached out to Mikoto with her left hand, the wrist equipped with the Divine Brace. But Mikoto did not reach out for her, and before she could fully extend her wrist, Amane ran towards the door and quickly exited the store.
Mikoto simply smiled. "What nice eyes," he commented to himself. "Full of determination. Just what I thought I saw in her."
Amane ran down the street. Sweat slid down her cheek as she dashed through the pavement. Thinking of her talk with Mikoto, she wondered what she was getting into.
When she first encountered the Yomi, she was filled with fear. She watched a man engulfed in darkness from head to toe. She watched him suffer tremendously prior and during the transformation. She worried when she realized that the Yomi was still human, and Cure Tsukuyomi would not hesitate to injure it. It seemed like she had done so before. Was Tsukuyomi behind all those mysterious assaults?
As Amane turned the corner, she thought about what she should do as a Pretty Cure. Yomi drain the life energy of humans deep in despair. They take advantage of their inner darkness and feed off it, becoming stronger as the human slowly and painfully dies. When she heard that, Amane had thought that that was something no human deserved. Even if they were criminals, to die a slow and painful death was the worst way to go. Not that she knew what dying was like, or that she really knew people in her life that had died other than her father.
But if she had encountered this Yomi, what would she do? Rather, what should she do? A Yomi can possess any human. What if this human was someone she knew? A classmate? A friend? A relative? What if Cure Tsukuyomi had gotten to it first, then what would she do?
The answer to her question came as she finally came to a halt. It was a worst-case scenario.
"No…" she gasped as she watched the person in front of her contort herself in horror. "Hinata-chan…"
At the sound of her name, Hinata threw her head forward. Her pigtails were untied, and her black hair hung past her shoulders. Tears streamed down her whitened eyes as she reached out to Amane, not taking a step closer. "A…ma…ne…" she moaned. "Help…me…it hurts…it….huuuuuuuuuuuurts!"
As her words began to distort, a blood-curdling scream escaped her lips, as well as long strands of pitch-black hair. She began to vomit hair from her mouth until it began to engulf her.
"Hinata-chan!" Amane cried.
But it was too late. The hair stopped forming, now coming from an origin point at the very tip of a long black bush. Sprawled out onto the pavement, there was no sign of feet. A low croaking sound emitted from the hair. A grayed decrepit arm with long nails also rose from the bush of long hair. It was followed by a pair of decaying bony feet. What was once Hinata was clad in a long white gown tattered near the hem. Her face was covered with the black hair that hung over her shoulders. What Amane made out to be the head slowly lifted itself up. This was a new Yomi, a corpse-like face with stitches over the lips and pitch white eyes. A croak came out of her lips once more as she raised both her arms.
"No…oh no, Hinata-chan…"
"Ahh…ahhhhhhh…" The Yomi trudged forward to reach Amane, but she stopped short. It seemed moving was too much of a hassle to her. She croaked some more as she ran her hands through her hair until she covered her face in them. In a shriek, the hair on the pavement came alive and slithered its way to Amane, eventually rising and shooting out at her.
Amane screamed as she held up her left arm, and the bells jingled. The Left Eye of Heaven began to shine and repelled the hair away from her. As Amane opened her eyes, she stared at her gem.
"Are you okay?" asked a disembodied voice.
"Mi-Mi-Mi-Mikoto-san?!" Amane squeaked.
"Calm down. I am communicating to you from your Divine Brace. But it's rather unfortunate that it had to be your friend who became a Yomi. So…what will you do?"
Amane fell silent. She looked up at the Yomi, knowing that Hinata was still in there. She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. There was only one thing she can do. And even if it was a method different from Cure Tsukuyomi's, it was all she can do.
"I like that look in your eyes," Mikoto commented. "Tatsunagi Amane…become the light that shines from the heavens!"
The petite girl raised her left arm while touching her upper arm with her right. "Hinata-chan…I'm coming." Then she looked up at her wrist. "Pretty Cure!" She swung her wrist left and right. "Divine Descend!" The bells attached to the Divine Brace crashed against each other as their ring resounded in the night. Once more, Amane was engulfed in a bright, heavenly light. As she was stripped bare, the light formed around her body, transforming once more into the miko (shrine maiden)-style. As she opened her eyes, she raised her arms in a cross until she brought them down and locked them to her sides with clenched fists. Her transformation was complete.
"The light that shines from the heavens!" Once more, she spread her arms out in an inviting matter, as if to embrace. "Cure Amaterasu!"
The Yomi shielded herself from the light and sent her hair towards Cure Amaterasu. It extended from her head, growing longer and longer as it slithered on the pavement quickly. When it had reached Cure Amaterasu, it separated into clumps and formed a sharp point, like spears of hair, shooting out at her. She narrowly dodged the first one, but the second one had cut it a little close.
Amaterasu looked up at the Yomi and ran towards her. She dodged more hair spears as her zori sandals slapped on the ground in a dash. But as she drew close, the Yomi retracted her hair and raised a wall of hair in front of herself, preventing Amaterasu from getting closer. Amaterasu skid to a stop, and the wall began to collapse on her, but she quickly jumped back to escape.
"I can't get any closer…" she grumbled. "How…how do I get to her?!" All of a sudden, she felt a pain in her right wrist. She turned to look, only to find it wrapped tightly by long wrangled hair. 'How did she-' But she didn't have time to think. The hair wrapped around her left wrist, her tabi-covered ankles, as well as around her waist. The Yomi groaned as she used her hair to raise Amaterasu up into the air, high above the pavement. The Pretty Cure began to fear what would come next.
Immediately, the Yomi brought down her hair, slamming the poor girl onto the pavement. "Agh!" she gasped as her body left an indent in the ground. The Yomi then lifted her up once more and slammed her to a nearby building. It swung her around endlessly until she stopped moving. Bruised and battered, Amaterasu laid on the ground, and the Yomi slowly let go of her grip. She croaked as she trudged slowly towards her once more. But then she stopped when she saw Amaterasu struggle to get back up.
"This pain…" Amaterasu groaned, "…is nothing…compared to what you're going through. Right…Hinata-chan?"
The Yomi tilted her head and shrieked, launching a hair spear at Amaterasu's face. But the Pretty Cure caught it with one hand before it made an impact.
Her eyes were closed. She had a calm look on her face. She could hear it, the Yomi's cries; Hinata's cries.
"I have to get better…everyone is counting on me. The school is counting on me! I am representing our school in Etsukyo! But…I didn't want to. Why did it have to be me? Why do I have to endure this much stress? We're a small town, and a simple school. No one will notice us no matter what we do! But they told me that I am the pride of the track team. I've beaten the other schools in Seitenka-machi, and I've trained endlessly every day! I only did it because I wanted to accomplish something on my own! I didn't ask to bear the weight of the school's reputation on my shoulders! You're expecting too much of me! I'm just a simple girl who's only started living a young adult life! I'm not ready to handle this kind of responsibility!
Why do I have to be alone in this…why won't you all help me?
I should've talked to her…she kept offering her hand to me, but I never took it. Everyone thinks I've got a grip on things, but I don't! No one else asked if they want to help. They only expect 'great things' from me. But you were different…you didn't expect anything from me. You saw me doing my best and rooted for me on your own. You're such a simple person. You aren't expected to do or be anything, but you go out of your way to be there for people. I should've come to you…I shouldn't have shouldered everything on my own…Amane-chan…it hurts so much…I don't know…what to do anymore…"
"Don't give up!" Amaterasu called out. She opened her eyes and stared at the Yomi. "You're a hard-working person! You've pushed yourself to the limits farther than anyone else in our school ever has! You should be proud that you've been acknowledged for your efforts! In fact, I envied that about you! You have a purpose, a goal to become even better. You become stronger every day, but you don't realize it because you're worried about these expectations of others. Don't think about that, think about yourself and what you want! I can't do anything like you can, and I've never invested myself into anything but reading old myths! Who will recognize me for that? But you've got the potential to make yourself even greater, and you're too worried about the stress of expectations to even see that!
"You're not alone, Hinata-chan! I believe in you! I've always believed in you! More than anyone else in school, or in this town, I believed in the great things you can do! Even if no one will help you, I will! And even if I can't do the things you do, I will still do my best and be there for you! Because you're my friend, Hinata-chan! You deserve more than what you credit yourself for, and I will help you see that to the end!"
The hand gripping the hair began to glow a warm light. The hair began to melt through her hand, as if burning in the light. When Amaterasu let go of her grip, she held her hand outward. The light formed into a bronze wand. At the tip of it was a large sun-like ornament, and two zig-zag streamers dangled down from it. "Wh-what's this?"
"That is the Heaven's Wand!" echoed Mikoto's voice in Amaterasu's mind. "You have awakened the first of your Pretty Cure powers! Use it!"
"It…looks like a gohei?" Amaterasu examined it thoroughly. "The ones that mikos use?"
The Yomi croaked once more and launched more of her hair at Amaterasu. By instinct, Cure Amaterasu raised her Heaven's Wand. There was a light emitting from the sun ornament, and it formed a barrier of light that prevented the hairs from touching her. "W-Woah!" she gasped as she looked at the wand. "I guess…I can do this!"
She held out her wand with her left hand, her right hovering over it. "In the name of the Light of Heaven, Amaterasu, please find peace!" She brought down the sun ornament and spun around, forming a circle of light underneath her feet. "Pretty Cure!" Now holding out the Heaven's Wand with her left hand again, she made a small circle of light in front of her. "Seishin Reiki!" (聖神靈氣, Divine Healing) A ball of light formed from the sun ornament and shot through the circle in front of her. It tore through the Yomi's hair until it touched her body. The Yomi screeched as rays of light shot through the long strands of hair. As her body disintegrated, Hinata slowly floated to the ground, unconscious.
Amaterasu looked at the Heaven's Wand, then at Hinata. "I did it…I purified a Yomi…"
"You did," Mikoto replied. "Now you have awakened the power to save human souls. You've become more than what I expected…"
Hinata groaned as she slowly opened her eyes. She found herself on a bench, but her head was not resting on wood. It was resting on Amane's lap. "Are you okay?" she asked the waking girl.
"Amane-chan…" Hinata groggily mumbled and sat up, rubbing her eyes. "What happened…"
"It seems you passed out," Amane replied. "You probably overexerted yourself. You should rest more often."
Hinata looked down as she fiddled with her hands. "…Mm…" she nodded. "Hey…Amane-chan…can I tell you something?"
"What's that?"
"I'm…actually scared. I'll be going to Etsukyo, where they say some of the best runners in western Japan are. If…if I fail, or if I lose the extramural, I will only bring shame to our school."
"Does it really matter?" Amane asked, tilting her head. "What is it that you want to do?"
"I…what I want to do is…I wanted to get better. I took up track because I loved the feel of running. The wind going through my body, blowing against my cheeks. I felt free, I felt like I could go the distance. But…they saddled me with something I wasn't ready for. I don't know…if I can do it."
"I think you can." Hinata looked up at Amane. "You're pretty good. But they say there is always someone better. Don't sell yourself short because you think you can't do any better. The whole journey of surpassing your limits is…hm…I guess what it takes to get there." She looked at Hinata with a smile. "You're limiting yourself because you're afraid. But if you let go of the fear, then you can do anything. You can become anything. You'll become a better person than you were before. That's what growing up is all about."
Hinata blinked, and a stifled laughter came out of her nose. She began to laugh away from Amane, who panicked. "Wh-what's so funny?!"
"You're not cut out for this advice stuff, Amane-chan!" Hinata giggled. But listening to Amane right now made her feel whole. "I had a dream…that I was running through endless darkness. I didn't want to stop, or else I'd be swallowed by that darkness. So I kept running, hoping to outrun it. But no matter where I went, the darkness was there. But then…there was a light. And in that light was a girl. A miko, I think. She told me not to give up and that she believed in the things I can do. She said I can do great things. She was warm and heavenly, as if a goddess was encouraging me. It's unfair to compare you to her, but…you remind me of her."
Amane blushed and looked away. "R-Really now? I wonder…"
"Thanks, Amane-chan…I think…if I have you and that mysterious person…then I can do anything. If I put my mind to it, if I just purge out all those negative thoughts, I can do anything." She inched towards Amane and hugged her in a tight embrace. "Thank you…I really really needed this…"
Amane smiled and stroked Hinata's long black hair. "If you ever need anything, I'm here for you…I promise."
The next morning, Mikoto stood in front of a stove top with a red pan in his hand with two eggs frying in the pan. He wore a white apron over his torso. He heard the door behind him open. "Good morning," he said.
"You gave her a new power," replied a female voice at the door. "What are you thinking?"
"What I'm always thinking," Mikoto smiled. "We need more allies against Izanami and the Yomi. Whether you like it or not, that's how it is. But you know…she has a very unique ability. She purified the Yomi last night."
"So I heard," the person groaned. "And?"
"What do you think of her? She got the job done, didn't she?"
The girl scoffed as she moved towards the table. As she pulled the chair back with her left hand, two golden bells jingled from the silver brace they were attached to. The navy jewel gleamed in the sun. "She's an amateur. Her hesitation will get her killed."
"She hesitates now, but I believe she will do great things." Mikoto slid the eggs from the pan and onto a plate. "She has a certain quality you have not yet realized."
"And what's that?"
Sneakers kicked the dirt as a female figure ran through the track. Her form was top notch, and she sped through the track like nothing stood in her way. As she dashed past the finish line, another student clicked the stop watch. "Amazing!" she gasped. "You're a whole three seconds over your previous record! What's with this sudden change, Tohru-san?"
Hinata panted as she was slumped over, and then she pulled herself up. Her hair was no longer tied into pig tails, but more into a ponytail. "Hm?"
"You've been training all this time, but you always seemed to be getting slower. But now look, you're a whole six seconds! What's with this? What happened?"
"Huh? Oh, well…" Hinata looked out at the side of the track. There was a girl with medium-length black hair, holding a towel and a bottle of water. "I had a nice talk with someone."
As Hinata ran to Amane, she took the towel and ran it over her head. Amane then handed her the water bottle, which Hinata promptly squirted at Amane's face. The two laughed as Hinata began to chase Amane towards the track with the water bottle. Both of them had the brightest smiles on the field that day.
"She brings people together, and makes them closer."
Mist covered the floor of a dark cave illuminated by chilling blue flames. Two figures stood alone in the cave, facing a large and endless shadowed path before them. One of them had silver hair, and the other gold, both of which were spiked. They bore identical faces, but the figure with gold hair had a large taiko drum with a mitsudomoe, three comma-like swirls spiraling into the center. "That is all we have to say," he stated.
"Are you sure?" asked a woman's voice in the darkness. "Is there really a force that can defeat my Yomi? A force that can save a human heart?"
"From what we've gathered," said the silver-haired figure, "she is a new Pretty Cure. We believe her name is…Cure Amaterasu…"
Long white robes slinked from the shadows in front of them. A pale but smooth arm with long, pointed red nails reached out to the two. "First Cure Tsukuyomi," she started, extending a slender index finger, "and now Cure Amaterasu…" and extended her middle finger. "And with the birth of Cure Amaterasu, there is now someone who may pose a threat to us…"
"What should we do, mother?" asked the golden-haired figure.
The blue flames grew, illuminating the shadows more. A woman with long silver hair sat atop a throne made of bones. She had beautiful but pale skin, and her eyes gleamed a crimson red. "What we've always done. We'll send more Yomi, and the Pretty Cure will eventually be overwhelmed. There may be two, but Cure Amaterasu is just one girl. And I will do good on my promise to that wretched lover of mine, but I'll go beyond that. I will eradicate every last human on Earth as I've always done. But we will kill the Pretty Cure first and show them what death awaits the living! For I am Izanami no Kami, queen of the Yomi no Kuni, and Goddess of Death!"