Though Nakayama Yoko had feared that the Lily Class would discover her hobby of working on cars thanks to the theme of her and Kawada Asa's partner science project, it had gone off without complications, unless she counted how heavy the engine was that she'd had to drag to school. Afterwards, though, Binbeat had stolen another science project, a weather machine, and turned it into a Hidoinaa that snowed in the school. Cure Night and Cure Sunday made short work of the monster, and the Etherium agent left without a fight, sick to his stomach from having accidentally eaten moldy bread.

This was a small comfort, but they still had ten Moon Pieces to find, and there were still the problems of day-to-day life to deal with. Such as...

"Takashiiiiiiii!"

Yoko burst into the house from the garage, glaring around the foyer.

"Yoko, be quiet. The neighbours will hear you if you keep yelling like that." Her mother, Nakayama Sai, looked over from the living room, watching some soap opera or another. "And what did I tell you about wearing oil-soaked rags in the house?"

"I know..." Yoko crossed her arms and looked off to the side.

"That's better. Now what did your brother do?"

"He took my touchup paint!" Her eyebrow twitched. "My Red #61. I need it for that scratch on the Vita from when Dad parked it too close to the wall."

Sai shook her head. "I'll talk with him later about hiding your things again. He's out right now."

Yoko visibly sighed. "The gym, right?"

"Maybe." Her mother blinked. "I don't think he took his gym bag, though. He might have been going to the shrine."

Yoko looked back at her mother. "The shrine?"

Futari wa Pretty Cure Blue Moon

Episode 11: Takashi's in Love? Who'd Want Him?

The Awaya Shrine wasn't far from the Nakayama house. Of course, considering the size of Kazahana City, nothing was far from anything, but the Nakayamas lived in the northeast, and the shrine was at the very north edge of the town. The back of the main building was right near the side of a mountain. It was these mountains that sheltered the town from nearly all sides, a near-perfect circle in the middle of a rock shield.

Takashi stared at the coin in his hand and sighed. "One yen... Man, I'm a cheapo." He looked up and turned slightly red, despite nobody else being around. "Hey, spirits, no offense, okay? I'm just low on money right now. I bought a charm from these guys the other day, anyway."

No answer. He turned his head away and tossed the coin into the box, picked up his gym bag and left. A wind blew through the cherry trees, which by now had lost every leaf they had.

Something small and black sparkled by the gate. A white-gloved hand picked it up.

"The shrine?"

It was December now, and the Lily Class had settled into a new pattern in the days since the science presentations. Most of the girls gathered on one side of the room before class started, just as always, but the leftover ones were no longer strewn everywhere. Yoko now sat with Kawada Asa, who was half-looking at her and half-doodling DaiFighter in her notebook, Kondou Hoshi, who absently stomped on a refugee ant in her seat, Okamoto Yukari, who was hiding non-regulation jewelry under her uniform again (hey, it was a great deal!), and Ogata Mia, who fidgeted in her chair and occasionally looked over at the other group. On occasion, a few others would drift toward their side of the room, so their circle was growing a bit.

"That's what I said." Yoko gave a brisk sigh. "I don't understand him at all. He hasn't been to the shrine when it wasn't New Year's or a festival since we were kids."

Hoshi rolled her eyes. "Nakayama, I don't know about you, but I never understand boys. Brothers especially."

"Maybe he had something he really wanted to wish for?" Yukari played with her necklace before tucking it back under her uniform collar.

"Maybe he has some great destiny he has to fulfill!" Asa grinned. Everyone else in the circle sweatdropped. "...What? It could happen!"

Mia raised her hand slightly. "Do you think he's in love?"

Asa blinked. "What?"

Hoshi boggled. "You kidding me?"

Yoko's mouth dropped open. "Love? Who - who would even..."

Yukari giggled. "It seems you've rendered Ice Queen Nakayama speechless, Mia-chan. Congratulations!"

Yoko snapped back to normal. "Yukari, I told you to stop that."

Yukari played with a piece of the braid wrapped around her head. "Well, it's true."

Mia looked away. Hoshi frowned and snapped her fingers in front of her face. "Hey, Ogata, cheer up. They do sell charms there. You might be right, weird as it is."

Mia turned as pink as her hair bow, embarrassed at being pointed out. "If you say so."

Yoko looked out the window. "But who would it be?"

On the other side of the room, Omemi Emiru narrowed her eyes at her group. Mitsuishi Seira choked on her water bottle, and Misaki Izumi quickly ran to help her. Emiru nodded to herself as the fluorescent lights gleamed off her glasses.

"No fair." Binbeat pouted, pulling himself out of yet another shrubbery. He was wearing modern children's clothing instead of the aged school uniform and eye mask he usually had, and leaves and twigs were sticking out of his hair. "I just got over being sick from poison food. Why do I have to do this?"

Mireyes sighed, standing behind him. Her eyes were still hidden by her veil, but the dress she was wearing was simpler than her Etherium uniform. "That was your own fault and you know it. Even being unable to read the language here does not excuse your ignorance at eating moldy bread."

"What's your problem today?" He scratched his nose. "Are you just mad 'cause I dropped the Moon Piece and now we gotta find it again? It'll turn up someplace."

"You aren't taking this seriously." The old woman rubbed her forehead. "We're supposed to be working together, yet I feel like your babysitter."

Binbeat groaned and went back to searching. "Fine, fine. I still say I shouldn't have to work for the next month."

Four white-haired men in labcoats appeared in the clearing. Mireyes looked up without alarm. If the teleporting hadn't given the people away as belonging to the Etherium, the fact that all four were completely identical meant that they could only be Tachimany.

"What brings you here?", she asked.

One body shrugged. "We just wanted to warn you."

Binbeat popped his head out of the bushes again. "Huh?"

Another one of Tachimany's bodies shook his head. "Kainatrol's got a Moon Piece and she's lording it over everyone. She found it at the shrine in the north end."

A third body sighed. "Try and stay out of her way or she'll tear into you for not finding one."

"We are finding one." Binbeat stuck his tongue out. "In your face and in hers too."

"Binbeat." Mireyes facepalmed. "What have I told you about shooting the messengers? They're being courteous by telling us."

Binbeat sighed. "Geez, fine. You remind me of my sister."

The others went silent.

He looked up at them. "Whaaat?"

Tachimany shook their heads in unison. "We've got to be going. Remember what we said." A magic circle drew itself under them, and they vanished.

Mireyes lightly swatted Binbeat on the head. "You should know better than that. Tachimany don't like talking about our original worlds."

Binbeat kicked a rock away. "No fair. I bet their world just sucked and that's why."

"All our worlds 'sucked'." Mireyes walked over to the bushes and rifled through them for the missing Moon Piece. "That's why we handed them over."

Binbeat grumbled and wandered away. Mireyes tilted her head down, her veil still covering her eyes. "You're still too young to understand."

The lunch bell had rung, and nearly everyone had left the classroom. Emiru stood at the door and counted who was still there.

Kawada, Nakayama, Kondou, Yukari-chan, Mia... Fujisawa? Oh, no, Fujisawa's leaving. Wait, what's Suzu doing with them? Her nails dug into her skin as she watched a green-haired girl lean over to the misfits' gathering and open her lunch box.

"Emiru-chan?" Misaki Izumi tapped her on the shoulder. "Aren't we going for lunch?"

"Yeah, we're going for lunch." Izumi Misaki lightly grabbed her opposite arm. "Come on, Emiru-chan."

Emiru turned around and adjusted her glasses. "Yes, that's right. Same tree as always?" They nodded. She began walking with the two of them and a handful of other girls from the Lily Class. "Oh, Alice, I needed to talk with you about something."

"Me?", Seira asked.

"Yes, you." Emiru smiled. "The rest of you, go on ahead, okay? We'll catch up with you later."

The other girls dispersed, and Emiru led her blonde companion into an empty hall. She stood between Seira and the shoe lockers. "So, I hear you have a thing for a certain someone in the Rose Class."

Seira nearly choked. "How did you - "

"I have my sources," Emiru said. She always did. "Besides, you made it just a little too obvious this morning when you heard Nakayama's brother might like someone. Am I right or am I right?"

Seira blushed and looked off to the side. "What does it have to do with you? Is this about your last birthday party when I got you the same thing Misaki-chan did?"

"Alice, Alice, Alice!" Emiru laughed. "What, do you think I'm mad at you? No way. I just want to help you out."

"You really don't have to do that."

"Your face is burning red, Alice. I think I do have to do that." She smirked. "If you just do me a few favours - nothing big! You'd do them anyway! - then your problems will be solved this afternoon, or my name isn't Omemi Emiru."

Seira put a hand up to the side of her face. "Well, I guess I can rely on you..."

"You guess?" Emiru flipped back a piece of her short green hair. "You're just embarrassed, that's all. You know I can do it."

That's right. I can do anything I want. Even now...!

The core room of the Etherium was mostly deserted for the day, leaving only the red-haired animal tamer visibly inside. Kainatrol twirled the black, shiny Moon Piece between her fingers.

"The number on this one is twelve." She tossed it up into the air, where it caught in the middle of the room and floated there in suspended animation. "I'll hand this to you to hold on to, Boss."

The air rippled in the middle of the room. "Good work, Kainatrol. That's only our first, but Pretty Cure aren't likely to have much of an advantage."

"Speaking of Pretty Cure..." Kainatrol tugged at one of her wrist-length white gloves. "With all due respect, Boss, I'm sure you noticed all the activity between the worlds around us and the one they live on. Interference is at an unprecedented level. It's as if every faction out there decided to strike their targets all at once. You know what this means, right?"

The invisible Boss paused. "Go on."

"Any of these worlds that have been attacked are likely to have invoked the legend of Pretty Cure and gone to the world it requires. This means that there could be dozens, no, hundreds of active Cures where just a year ago there would have been clueless, weak civilians in their place. Why did we choose now to go to the Garden of Days to try and get back the Moon Dial?"

"For the very reason you gave."

Kainatrol adjusted her eye mask. "Excuse me?"

"If there are hundreds of active Pretty Cures, then there will be one of two outcomes. The first is that the planet may not be able to provide the power they all need, and the ones we oppose will fall quickly, allowing us to obtain the Moon Pieces and reconstruct the Moon Dial that much more easily. The second is that they all do have enough power to fight their battles, in which case we still only have to deal with the two in Kazahana City, but everyone the other teams are opposing is likely to fall..."

"...and, if that happens, we can take their worlds ourselves and erase them to expand the Etherium." Kainatrol nodded. The red jewels on her eye mask glimmered. "Either way, we win."

"As long as the Moon Dial is completed, that is," said the voice. "Remember that that is the top priority."

"Of course."

"You know this can't be a good idea."

Asa clamped a hand over Yoko's mouth. "Shh! They'll hear us!"

The two of them were hiding at the side wall of Kazahana City Flower Shoppe. It was an old building, with grey paint chipping and peeling off of creaky wooden boards, some with holes worn into them. It was through one of these holes that Asa was staring while Yoko pressed her ear to another weak spot in the wall. It may not need saying that this was entirely Asa's idea.

Starry popped open Asa's transformation phone and poked his little head out. "What are we doing ~susu?"

Asa put her finger over her mouth. "Yoko's brother just went in here." She picked up the phone and held Starry up to the hole in the wall. Takashi was looking over a few flower arrangements. "She said he's been acting weird lately, so we're checking it out."

Takashi coughed and walked up to one of the assistants. "Uh, hey. Is Mitsuishi-san around?"

"She should be off work in a few minutes," he said. "I'll go get her from the back."

Yoko looked at Asa. "Mitsuishi-san? Why is Takashi looking for her?"

Asa thought for a moment. "She transferred out a couple years ago to go to school in another country, right? Then she came back here, right?"

Yoko blinked. "Well, yes. That's what I've heard. I only moved here a few months before you changed schools, you know."

Asa held up her index finger and grinned. "I bet she was a spy. Your brother's probably working for the government and secretly meeting with her to get whatever information she found out while she was overseas. You know how everyone calls her Alice instead of her actual name? I bet that's her codename, and Mitsuishi Seira probably isn't her real name, either, and..."

Yoko put a hand on Asa's shoulder. "Just stop. Here I thought you were getting less ridiculous."

Asa pouted. "It could happen."

Starry gestured at the hole in the wall with his head. "Look ~susu!"

Asa and Yoko peered through it. A girl with long blonde hair in a bright orange Kazahana City Flower Shop apron was standing with Takashi. That was her, all right. She shifted around and forced a smile.

"Nakayama-kun! What did you need?"

Takashi rubbed the back of his head. "Uh, I've been meaning to talk to you for a while, and someone told me you'd be here."

"Emiru-chan..." Seira sighed, slightly red. "It was her, right?"

Outside the wall, Yoko blinked and stared. "Ogata-san was right." She quickly turned to Asa. "We shouldn't be listening in on this."

Asa pulled away from the wall and sighed. "What a disappointment..."

Starry looked to the side, cried out "Ah!", and shut the transformation phone closed. Asa and Yoko turned around, only to sweatdrop. There, a child in ragged green pants and a grass-stained white shirt was rummaging in the garbage can. His dusty green hair and obnoxious humming identified him even without his uniform.

"Binbeat!" Asa pointed dramatically.

"Huh?" Binbeat stuck his head out of the garbage can. "Gah! You guys!" He flailed and pointed back at them. "You took the Moon Piece, didn't you?"

"Moon Piece?" Asa sweatdropped. "Which Moon Piece?"

"Don't give me that!" He stomped his feet. "I had one and I lost it and I've been wasting this whole dumb day looking for it again! Mean old Kainatrol got one and I want mine back too!"

The girls stared blankly.

"Um... we don't have it," Asa said.

Yoko grabbed her arm. "More to the point, they probably heard us through that hole in the wall!"

Asa gulped. "Run!"

The two girls ran down the alley, bowling past Binbeat as they did so. Judging by the "AAARGH!" followed by footsteps behind them, he was chasing them. They turned left behind the newspaper building and ran through the empty bike path.

"Thank goodness it's December!" Asa looked behind her. "Hey, Yoko, are you okay?"

Yoko stumbled, running at least a meter behind where Asa was. "Wait -" She wheezed. "Wait up, okay?" She gasped for breath. "I don't run!"

"Huh?" Asa nearly tripped over her feet. "Wha-!" Suddenly, she was shot backwards, bowling into the unathletic Yoko. The girls landed in a twisted pile on the pavement, straining to look up at what had caused this.

An old woman in a plain purple dress walked towards them. "Pretty Cure, I presume?"

Seira, still with her work apron on, and Takashi walked into the alley, confused.

"I don't see anyone," she said.

"Probably took off," he replied. "Least they didn't vandalize anything, hey?"

"Right..." Seira took a deep breath.

Takashi blinked. "You okay, Mitsuishi-san?"

"Yes!" She gulped. "And thank you."

"Huh?" He scratched his head. "You're welcome, but for what?"

She looked to the side. "Not calling me Alice. Everyone's called me that since I went on the foreign exchange. At first it was cute, but it feels like I've given up being Seira without meaning to."

They'd started walking again without meaning to. He shrugged. "Well, it's your actual name, right? If you want to be called it and not that, I don't care."

Her face turned red. "That makes one of you."

Takashi quirked his head to the side. "No one listens when you say you don't want to?"

"Not really." She kept walking. "I can't even say that. It would be ungrateful, right? I can't be the normal Seira anymore, even though I grew up with these people. I'm practically a foreigner to them. If that's the case, then I might as well be the cool foreigner, even if it's not me."

They walked for a moment, taking a left at the edge of the newspaper building. Seira looked up at the clouds. "I'm probably scaring you away, telling you my life story."

He laughed nervously. "Nah. I'm the one who's randomly talking to you..."

"...Yeah."

Asa pulled herself up off of Yoko and pointed at the old woman. "You're... um... that one person! The one from the construction site!"

"Mireyes." She pulled out a crystal ball and levitated it between her two hands. Instantly, her simple civilian dress was replaced by a white dress layered with purple and white shawls. "Remember it next time, girls."

On the other side of them, Binbeat caught up to them and slipped on his eye mask, similarly transforming into his green and white antiquated school uniform. "Yeah! Now give us that Moon Piece!"

"We don't have it!" Yoko stood up and put her hands on her hips. "Where did you lose it?"

"I looked there!" Binbeat stuck his tongue out. "It's really boring sorting through rocks and not finding one, okay? I didn't see anything black or shiny or anything with a number on it there."

Asa sweatdropped. "...You know they can change shape to look like other things, right?"

Mireyes crossed her thin arms, her crystal ball still levitating in front of her. "Binbeat, you didn't scan any of those rocks to see if they could be the Moon Piece, did you?"

Binbeat's mouth hung open. He laughed nervously. "Uh... maybe..."

"Binbeat." The old woman facepalmed. "I was trying to teach you to be more accountable for your actions by not using Future Sight. I see this hasn't worked."

"Hey! No fair!" Binbeat stomped and pointed at Asa and Yoko. "They got Moon Pieces, right? Let's just steal theirs!"

"No way!" Asa opened her transformation phone, and Yoko drew out hers and did the same. They slashed the Moon Cards and held hands.

"Dual Infinite Phase!"

The pillar of light was visible down the bike path. Takashi and Seira cautiously nodded at each other and ran towards it. They ducked behind a large tree and stared as two girls, one in orange and pink and the other in black and blue, emerged from the glow when it faded.

"On behalf of the light..." The one in orange put her hand on her hip. "I am Cure Sunday!"

"In the name of the shadows..." The one in black did the same with the opposite hand. "I am Cure Night!"

Their free hands shot up in the air. "We are Pretty Cure!"

"We'll defend at all hours..." Sunday took her raised hand down and pointed at the old woman by virtue of her being in front of her.

Night did the same. "To ensure a peaceful era!"

Takashi rubbed his eyes. "What was that?"

Seira shook her head. "I've seen them before. I was at the library, looking for books for my science project, when it was attacked by some weird thing. We all ran out just when these girls showed up. Nobody said anything, since no one wanted to believe it happened."

Takashi stared at the scene.

"Kyahaha." Binbeat, still standing behind them, summoned his white carved organ and slammed on the keys.

"Ow!" Sunday covered her ears. "We're trying to fight here!"

"Fine!" Binbeat smiled widely and began to play music on the organ. His hands started to give off a green glow as he did so, and small explosions peppered the bike path. The Cures jumped, ran and stumbled to dodge.

"Since when could you do that?" Sunday dashed to the side to avoid one blast and was knocked back by another.

"Since always," he shrugged. "I like Hidoinaa better."

In the meantime, Mireyes' crystal ball had vanished and a magic circle had drawn itself in the air behind her.

Night ran toward her and punched. "If Sunday has the kid under control, then I'll take care of you!"

Mireyes smiled. Her eyes flashed purple, the glow visible behind her veil, and she dodged out of the way.

Night stumbled and righted herself. "How did you move that fast?"

"Just because I'm old doesn't mean I can't fight," she snapped. "Especially when I can see what you're going to do."

"You can what?"

"Don't look so surprised. I am Mireyes, the Mystical Seer. What did you think my power would be?"

"Well, excuse me!" Night put her hands on her hips. "I'm not Sunday!"

Binbeat stopped playing and stretched his arms in the air. "You guys are losers. Can you just give us the Moon Pieces now?"

Sunday ran forward and kicked the organ. Her foot impacted with a loud crack, leaving a crumbling dent in the outside with a series of cracks coming out of it.

"Hey!" Binbeat jumped off the seat and threw a punch at her. "No fair!"

Sunday blocked the punch with her hand and pushed the child away lightly. "You weren't being fair either! You were just going to attack us once we gave them to you, right?"

He blinked. "Hey, how'd you know? Mireyes, this girl reads minds!"

Mireyes ducked unded Night's kick and sent her flying back with an invisible force. "I hate to tell you this, Binbeat, but you're just being obvious."

Binbeat crossed his arms. "Fine, I'm leaving." He teleported out with his fractured white instrument.

Sunday waved her arms. "Cheap!" She turned around and took a battle stance to face Mireyes.

"That boy." The old woman shook her head. "As easy as it would be to take the both of you down right here, I need to make sure he doesn't get into any trouble."

"Aww, come on," Sunday whined. "That's so cliche!"

"I don't care what it is." Mireyes glared at them. "I'll be going now." She vanished into the air.

Night sighed. "All right, Sunday, let's get back. We need to find that Moon Piece if it's around, don't we?"

Sunday pumped her fist in the air. "Yeah, you're right! I won't let lazy bad guys get me down! We'll kick their butts next time for sure!"

From behind the tree, Takashi and Seira stared.

"...what."

Kainatrol bent her riding crop backwards and forwards in her hands.

"Tachimany, you're back. You didn't find anything, did you?"

Tachimany had taken the form of two salarymen and were standing back to back. "Not everyone can be you, Kainatrol," they said in perfect unison.

She smacked her riding crop into her hand. "You're mocking me."

"No, we're not," said one body.

"We have no reason to," said the other.

Kainatrol sighed. Maybe she was just being paranoid. "The others?"

Tachimany shifted into six little girls in white dresses, each carrying an armful of goldenrods. One twirled in front of the rest.

"We haven't seen Mekuramast all day."

"Mireyes and Binbeat were looking for one," another little girl-Tachimany piped up.

"He got mad when we said to hurry it up," said the third.

Kainatrol rubbed her forehead and then adjusted her eye mask. "Why am I not surprised?"

The Tachimany in the corner pouted and crossed her arms in a perfect imitation of a child. "He started talking about his world all of a sudden. Wasn't it his sister who...?"

Kainatrol's eyes flashed at that. She whipped around to face the other way and began walking away from them.

"Tch. What about his sister? Siblings do nothing but ruin your life. I'm going out." She teleported out of the room.

Tachimany raised their eyebrows all at once. "What's she doing?"

Takashi and Seira were walking down the bike path back towards the store. They looked away from each other awkwardly, occasionally starting a word but cutting out at the end.

"So, um."

Pause.

"Yeah."

And so on. A few meters away, Yoko was fighting the urge to peer past the edge of the large tree she was hiding behind, and Asa was on the ground by her, scanning various rocks and bits of metal with her phone and Scan Card.

"Hey, Yoko, I think I found the Moon Piece!"

"Shh!"

Seira looked behind her, saw nothing, and turned her attention back to Takashi. "Um... I have a confession to make."

He paused. "...Yeah? What is it?"

Yoko stared down at the very interesting Moon Piece that Asa had picked up off the ground.

"Actually, there's two. I, um. I was wondering if you wanted to go to Suzu-chan's party..."

Asa looked up at Yoko. "She was having a party?", she whispered. "She never mentioned that at lunch today."

Yoko did not feel embarrassed or at all like a voyeur. Really. Very interesting Moon Piece.

"And, uh... okay, I'll just tell you." Seira looked down the alley next to them, saw no one, and sighed with relief. "Probably the only reason Emiru-chan helped set this meeting up is because she wants me to get blackmail on your sister."

Serial number two, that's very interesting - what! Yoko froze, wide-eyed. Asa scrambled to stare over the side of the tree.

"Blackmail? What?"

Seira crossed her arms. "Normally I'd be able to stand up to her, but it's an embarrassing subject, and - oh, who am I fooling? She can do anything she wants. She's got something on everyone in class. I'm sure she was resting on that until Nakayama-san and Kawada-san became friends."

Takashi raised his eyebrow. "What's the deal with that?"

"What is the deal with that?", Asa whispered.

"I don't know ~susu," Starry said. Yoko was still frozen in shock.

Seira sighed. "She thinks they're stealing people away from her. I guess they kind of are, but Mia-chan wanted to leave anyway and Kondou-san wasn't really our friend and Yukari-chan was always closer to Nakayama-san. I don't get this at all, but I want to have friends, right?"

Takashi scratched his head. "Hey, I could tell you stuff like that anyway. My sister's weird."

Yoko squeezed her eyes shut. Don't do it, don't do it, don't do it!

"But that's kinda unfair, you know?" He shrugged. "I mean, I hide her stuff, and I pick on her at home, but if she doesn't wanna say stuff that's her problem. Besides, it's not even you wanting to know, right, Mitsuishi-san?"

Asa looked up at Yoko. She'd opened her eyes again. Meanwhile, Seira blinked with the same look of shock, only considerably more red-faced.

"Nakayama-kun..."

He shrugged. "I don't know how to do this girl stuff. Just make something up she can't prove. Everyone wins. Right?"

Yoko slowly began to let out a sigh of relief. Asa stood up and smiled at her, meaning to ask later what that had all been about.

Seira's expression returned to normal. "I'll try it. Something weird, right? Like..." She giggled. "That stuff earlier this afternoon! No one could prove anything like that!"

Takashi blinked. "You're gonna say my sister is Pretty Cure?"

Seira shrugged as they turned down the alley. "If it works, right?"

Yoko froze up again.

So did Asa.

Starry looked up at the both of them. "...We might be in trouble ~susu."