I don't know why they didn't send somebody else to help Pretty Cure instead of me ~susu.
What had been a beautiful temple was close to ruins in the space of an hour. It had started with the old woman. She foresaw the path with her crystal ball and blew open the doors with a gust of energy. The little boy she took with her summoned an organ and began to play, and tiny explosives appeared and went off, bringing down pillars and blowing holes in the walls. There had been a group of guards posted in the next room, but they never got the chance - to hear them tell it later, their minds were taken over by a woman with a red vest and yellow eyes. There was one final layer before the Moon Dial, and the last party member lifted a black crystal out of his top hat and used it to create a monster that broke in and stole it.
Starry had heard the noise and wondered what was going on. By the time that he ran over to the temple, five white-haired teenage girls were posted outside, blocking the path of a group of small citizens.
Was it because of my parents, or just because I was there ~susu?
He jumped a little and searched the crowd behind the people in white. They had to be there. Finally, he saw them: two fluffy creatures a little bigger than he was, one black with purple moon-shaped markings, one white with orange sun-shaped markings like his.
"Mama! Papa!" The little orange creature ran over to them. The girls twirled around in unison and pointed wooden swords at him. He flailed and stepped back.
"Don't get in the way," the five people said in complete unison.
"W-w..." Starry took a deep breath and closed his eyes tightly shut. "What are you doing at the Temple of the Dial ~susu? Who are you ~susu?"
"They're the Etherium ~muu!" The black creature pointed at them. "The people Pretty Cure fought twenty-five years ago ~muu!"
The white one nodded. "They're back for the Moon Dial ~sasa!"
"You're acting like we're stealing something." The girls closed their eyes and shifted into the form of twelve male knights in shiny white armour. "The Moon Dial belonged to us in the first place."
"That's right." The other four agents walked out of the front door, carrying the small black and white Moon Dial with them. The red-haired woman gave an amused look at the little creatures and continued speaking. "Your legendary warriors stole it from us, and we're just taking it back. Tachimany, you can stand down. These little things won't hurt us."
Tachimany stood to attention and shifted into the form of one boy. "If you're sure about that, Kainatrol."
"You shouldn't be." A very small, very old humanoid hobbled up towards the gathering, carrying a staff around her own size.
I can't even remember what exactly happened ~susu.
"Elder!" All three little creatures ran over to her.
"Sunbi." She smiled at the white creature.
He nodded. "I'm ready ~sasa!"
The Elder turned to the black creature. "Moonla, what of you?"
She nodded as well. "We've been through much worse ~muu."
Starry looked up at them. "What's going on ~susu?"
"Starry." The Elder frowned. "You're the only one we can spare to do this. Don't ask any questions yet. Just enter one of the devices when I say so, go through the portal, and try to remember where they land."
"Which devices ~susu? Where what land?"
The little boy from the Etherium stomped his feet. "This is boring! When do we get to go back?"
"Patience, Binbeat," said the old woman next to him, looking from under her head covering. "We'll be back soon enough."
The Elder raised her staff. "Now, lend me the power of your hearts!"
All I remember...
Starry's parents standing at the Elder's sides.
Light rising up from each of them.
Blue fire shooting from the Elder's staff.
Hitting the Moon Dial.
The base cracking. Thirteen pieces flying out.
A portal. To where? The world had so many names. Asa said it was Earth when he asked. Back home, they called it the Land of Legends.
Two devices. Phones. Cards. Pouches. Starry did what he was told.
The portal.
The clock striking midnight and ringing when it wasn't supposed to.
It's a little foggy, but I know I ended up here ~susu.
Present day. Starry woke up and popped out of Asa's transformation phone. He climbed up onto her bed and poked her face a few times.
"Nn... it's cold..." Asa shivered under her thin, well-worn blanket.
"Asa..." Starry sighed. "Asa, are the three of us a good team ~susu?"
"Hmm?" She rubbed her eyes and blinked. "Of course. What happened?"
"We don't have many Moon Pieces ~susu..."
Asa patted his head. "Don't worry. We'll get more, I know it. This is only beginning, after all." She closed her eyes. "I'll wake up later..."
Starry sighed and flopped down on the hard bed. Asa was right. It was cold in there.
Futari wa Pretty Cure Blue Moon ~solar eclipse~
Episode 14: Ami-sensei's Sick? A Class Visit!
It had been a quiet week and a half. It was still winter, and still a little cold, although it was still above freezing. Seira was saying more and more that it wasn't all that cold, or so Yoko said - she'd apparently been seeing Takashi more often lately, and even Yoko didn't have enough restraint not to listen to their conversations some of the time. She'd never admit it. This was all Asa's bad influence anyway.
Asa couldn't be blamed for everything, though, Yoko thought. It hadn't even been two weeks since the problems in the Lily Class came to a head and Omemi Emiru, one of their classmates, had inexplicably joined the Etherium. She had used her new powers to trap Asa and Yoko in an illusory world where she was supposed to kill them, but decided to work out her frustrations first by attacking them with Hidoinaa copies of each other that she'd enhanced with her powers. Just when the fake Asa had Yoko cornered, the real Asa had climbed through the window and freed Yoko by tossing an exploding card.
Where had she even gotten an exploding card?
Either way, ever since then, life at school had been different. Emiru hadn't spoken to them since they talked her into stopping what she was doing, but she hadn't exposed their identities like she'd said she would, either. Her friends had started to worry that she might be sick. The class atmosphere overall felt a little off, but they still sat around and talked every morning before homeroom.
"So there's a big sale on clothes at that one store Izumi-chan's parents own..." Okamoto Yukari, Yoko's first friend in Kazahana City. Despite her glasses and the long black braid wrapped around her head making her look serious and neat, she had a fun and friendly side and used to be one of the more popular girls in class. Now one could say that the class was in social upheaval, but most people liked Yukari, anyway.
"Okamoto, you told us that already. Yesterday." The girl with the messy brown hair was Kondou Hoshi. She'd hated Yoko when they first met, but she seemed to just be an overprotective friend. Yoko felt like she understood Hoshi a lot more now that she was part of their makeshift group, and things were a lot better overall.
"You guys are coming with me if we get DaiFighter Forever DX at the town theatre, right?" Kawada Asa. Blue hair, a bright red bow, and eyes that sparkled whenever she talked about her favourite subject: live-action shows intended for children about teenage boys in spandex and helmets fighting monsters. The situation with her was the opposite of that with Hoshi; ever since they made up after a fight and their little group of friends formed around them, Yoko wasn't quite sure what Asa was to her. A friend? Probably. No, definitely. Her fellow Pretty Cure? Obviously, but not just that. Yoko's head hurt thinking about it. She just didn't get Asa most of the time.
Hoshi groaned. "Asa..."
Yukari slammed her textbook shut, startling the others. "Hey, where's Mia, anyway?"
"You mean Ogata-san?" Yoko blinked. Since when was Yukari on a first-name basis with the other girls? Now that she thought about it, probably since that morning. Yukari was just like that. "I haven't seen her."
At that point, a girl with fluffy red hair and a pink bow slid the door open and ran over to the group. She stopped, panting, and leaned on the desk. Yoko raised an eyebrow. Ogata-san getting here just when we started talking about her? That only happens in bad comedies, doesn't it?
"I'm not late, am I?" Mia caught her breath and looked around nervously.
"The teacher's not even here." Hoshi scratched her head. "You're usually early. What gives?"
"Oh, that..." Mia sat down and shook her head. "I was taking Ami-sensei her medicine. She caught the flu on the weekend and she's sick in bed."
"What?"
Izumi Misaki leaned over from the other gathering of girls two rows away. "Ami-sensei's sick? That doesn't mean we get Nekoi-sensei, does it?"
Misaki Izumi, sitting next to her, made a face. "It doesn't mean we get him, does it? Because he's boring."
"He's boring." Misaki nodded and mimicked Izumi's face. "And he expects us to read the handouts."
"Aren't you supposed to read the handouts?", another girl asked.
At the far side of that circle, Omemi Emiru looked intently at her book. Yoko looked at her and sighed. She'd been like that for the past week. At least she wasn't threatening to blackmail them anymore... or trying to kill them, either. The bell rang and the students all moved into their proper seats.
The Etherium was blank as usual, save for occasional glimpses of ornately carved ivory walls fading in and out. Three old women in white and gold dresses stood before the ripple in the air.
"You have permission to leave, Tachimany," said the voice from nowhere. "Find the Moon Pieces this time."
Tachimany shifted into two businessmen and nodded in unison. "Count on us." They teleported out of the area. Immediately after, Kainatrol teleported into the area they'd been standing in and knelt in front of the empty air.
"Hello, sir."
"Kainatrol." The voice echoed in her ears. "Are you here to ask for another chance after your failure with the hypnotist?"
Omemi Emiru. Kainatrol winced at the mention of that incident. She'd been so sure that the girl's bitterness against Pretty Cure was enough to make her hate her world enough to destroy it, and to be fair, the girl who became Millusion had certainly wanted to rid herself of the Cures themselves. Something had happened to change her mind, and she'd left, sparing them. What had happened, Kainatrol didn't know, but it was driving her insane. She'd thought...
"No." She shook her head, cringing for the inevitable criticism from the boss. "I have to apologize again. I understand that that wasn't my job."
The voice didn't answer for a moment. Finally, he spoke. "Enough has been said about that."
Kainatrol blinked, her head shooting up. "Boss?"
"The cause of the Etherium is to revert everything to nothing. This requires the Moon Pieces. You have been more successful than most of the agents here in obtaining them. Furthermore, although you did fail, recruiting that girl in the first place was a sign of dedication by going beyond your job. You may continue as you were."
Kainatrol nodded, still kneeling, and teleported out. The ripple faded away.
Come the lunch bell, Asa, Yoko, Hoshi, Yukari and Mia walked in a clump down the sidewalk. This was Ami-sensei's neighbourhood. Yoko had been down this way before a few times to go to meet Asa, or at least to go as close to where Asa lived as she felt comfortable going.
"Homeroom sucked today." Hoshi grumbled, crossing her arms. "The sub droned on forever. And science! He didn't know a thing about what we were learning!"
Yukari put a finger to her lip. "Do you even think he was lecturing on the right unit?"
"Wouldn't be surprised if he weren't, Okamoto." She sighed. "Ami-sensei better get better soon."
"Hey, Mia," Asa said. Yoko quirked an eyebrow. When had Asa stopped calling her 'Ogata-san'? Maybe it was contagious.
"What is it, Kawada-san?"
Asa leaned toward her with a suspicious look on her face. "How come you were taking Ami-sensei her medicine, anyway?"
Mia sweatdropped and clasped her hands together. "Ah... You see, Ami-sensei is a good friend of the family. She and my mom have been best friends since they were our age. My parents even named me after her."
"Whoa, really?" Asa gaped.
Mia turned slightly pink. "Well, they'd already named Karei-nee as a variation on my mom's name, which is Kirei. So they thought it would fit, I guess."
"Small world, huh?" Yukari stretched out her arms. She'd already changed out of her uniform into a frilly pink top and white skirt, even though it was only lunchtime. "Which house is hers, anyway?"
"That one." Mia pointed at a small house painted pale purple. A strange system of wires ran around the top of the house and down to the front door, and more went into the house. She walked up to the front step, the other girls following, and pulled gently on one of the cables. Leaning to speak into a coloured panel on the wall, she said, "It's Mia." The door slid open and she let go of the wire.
The other girls stared.
"Whoa," Hoshi said. "Did she make that?"
"Ami-sensei makes all kinds of things." Mia sweatdropped. "Come on in. She won't mind."
The inside of the house was even weirder. The group followed Mia through a maze of inventions hanging off the walls and lying on the floor. Yukari nearly stepped on a robot rolling through the hall with a bottle of pills and a glass of water. It rolled on past them, and Mia motioned for everyone to follow it into a dark, messy bedroom with the door wide open.
Ami-sensei looked like a wreck. She groaned and reached for the pills and water glass, which the robot raised up to her. Once she'd taken them, she opened her eyes wide enough to see the five girls gathered in her room.
Mia bowed. "Um, Ami-sensei, my friends wanted to see if you were feeling better yet. I hope you don't mind."
"Of course - ugh - not!" Ami-sensei tried her best to inject some of her usual fangirlish vigour into her pained voice. "It's wonderful to see my students display care and compassion for others! Augh, my head..."
Yukari and Mia looked at each other, and Yukari straightened up. "Hey, Yoko, Asa, could you guys go get Ami-sensei some food from the fridge? We'll wait here."
Asa tilted her head and raised an eyebrow. "Huh? But we have our lunches right-"
"Come on." Yoko grabbed Asa's wrist and pulled her out of the room, shutting the door behind her. She dragged the blue-haired girl to the kitchen, dodging inventions all the while, and let go of her with a sigh.
"What was that for?" Asa waved her arms in the air. "They're acting weird all of a sudden, and then you did too!"
Yoko sighed. "I know that was an obvious excuse to get us out of the room, but don't question Yukari when she gets like that. She probably has a good reason."
Asa pouted. "But letting people keep secrets always means something goes terribly wrong twenty episodes later! Like Yuu's secret origins and how he became GoldFighter and why he says he's DaiFighter's eternal rival, and how it's because of his relationship with Mako-chan and that's why she's lost in time forever, and..."
"What -" Yoko facepalmed. "Asa."
"What?"
"I'm not even going to start on how you keep bringing up DaiFighter. We're keeping Pretty Cure secret, aren't we? What's the difference?"
"There's plenty of difference!", Asa said. "Keeping up your secret identity is... well, it's just a thing that you do."
"Asa, just stop."
The transformation phone on Asa's bag opened up, and Starry popped out of it once he saw that no one else was around. He landed on the counter and glanced around.
"Starry, what's wrong?" Night looked down at him and gasped.
"What?" Asa turned and flailed. "Wha- wha- no way!"
Starry wandered over to the end of the table, where a wiry black contraption stood. It was plated with metal, with a TV screen in the middle, tiny satellites attached to the sides, and a metal claw at the top that seemed to be the resting place for a large jewel. A jewel much like the rough black one, with only one polished side that bore the number IV, lying on top of the plans.
"No way. A Moon Piece?"
"It's not even disguised." Yoko carefully picked it up and scanned it with her phone and Scan Card. "But the phone says it's the real thing."
Starry peered at the plan sheets. "It looks like she was using it as a component for this invention ~susu... What does it say up there?" He pointed at the top of the page.
Yoko leaned over to read it. "Hm... 'Communicator to Mars'? Is she serious?"
"Why not?", Asa asked. "I'd want a communicator to Mars. Then I could talk to aliens. She lives alone, right? She probably doesn't have other people to talk to, so aliens are the next best thing."
"Are you serious?"
"Of course I am! Hey, my mom's always out at work, and it's really boring being home alone every other day. Aliens would be welcome."
Yoko rubbed her forehead and put the Moon Piece down. "We should ask Ami-sensei if we can borrow this. It's bad enough that we had to steal the paperweight."
Asa sweatdropped. "Oh, yeah, that. I forgot all about it."
"You what?"
Starry picked the Moon Piece up from the ground. It was large enough to throw off his balance, but he tottered this way and that and hopped up to place it into the machine. He landed on the television component, put the Moon Piece in top-side up, and turned on the switch before climbing back down.
Asa was still fidgeting and rubbing the back of her head. "Aha... the paperweight, right."
Yoko frowned. "Seriously, Asa, you're-" She stopped and turned to look at the machine, Asa following suit. The screen crackled on and fuzzed for a bit before blinking to an image of an empty chamber in a rainbow-painted temple with black stars on the walls and ceiling.
Asa gaped. "It actually works?"
Yoko stared. "That's not Mars."
Starry shivered in shock. "It's..."
A fluffy black creature with purple moon markings stepped into view of the camera and looked straight at it. "It's the communicator again ~muu..." She blinked. "Starry?"
Starry cautiously stepped forward. "...Mama?"
Satisfied that Asa and Yoko were gone from the room, Yukari nodded. "Sorry to burden you with this, Ami-sensei. Hey, Mia, is this really a good idea?"
Mia looked down. "I know you're sick, Ami-sensei, and I don't want to bother you, but..." She fidgeted and looked up at Yukari. "Ami-sensei has always given me good advice before."
"Really? Her?", Hoshi muttered.
Ami coughed and pulled herself up into a seated position. "What do you need?"
Yukari ran her nails against the edge of the braid wrapped around her head. "What do you do when your friends have been keeping something from you and they don't know you've found out about it?"
Hoshi cut in. "It's been what, a week since we found out? And it's been going on for longer. And when they do say they're gonna come clean, we're all listening, and Nakayama just says she's been working on her dad's car secretly! Even if it's true, that's not the confession I wanted to hear! What's the deal here? Don't they trust us?"
Mia cringed. "Kondou-san, we were trying not to name names!"
Ami-sensei frowned, sleepy-eyed and altogether looking sick. "Sometimes there's a good reason to keep secrets. What kind of secret is it? It's bad to cheat on a test and keep that sort of secret, but if you're hiding your identity because you witnessed a crime in a foreign country and had to move, that's done to protect yourself, your friends, and the pursuit of justice in the world!" Sick or not, she almost sparkled at the end of her statement.
"It's always justice..." Hoshi groaned.
Mia poked her index fingers together nervously. "But it would help them more if they knew they weren't alone, right?"
"You'll make Ami-sensei think they really are in witness protection," Yukari said.
Their bedridden teacher continued to sparkle. "I'm so-" She coughed. "I'm so glad! Your dedication to your friends is admirable! Friendship and happiness spread throughout the world as we speak!" She winced. "Oh, my head..."
"Ami-sensei... what should we do?", Mia asked.
Ami-sensei smiled, in pain or not. "If it's that important, just let them know you're there for them, but don't push it or confront them. They'll tell you someday, I know."
"You know? How?", Hoshi asked.
"Because that's what friendship is, isn't it?"
Mia and Yukari slowly smiled. Hoshi had to resist banging her head against the wall.
"You two are the new Pretty Cure ~muu?" Starry's mother looked up at them from the communicator screen.
Asa gave the thumbs up. "Yeah! I'm Kawada Asa, but I transform into Cure Sunday for awesome adventures and stuff."
Yoko sweatdropped. "Nakayama Yoko, Cure Night. If you're Starry's mother, you must be from the Garden of Days, right?"
She nodded. "My name is Moonla. I was the partner of one of your predecessors, Cure Dusk, the last time the Etherium attacked ~muu. We sent Starry to help you just like Sunbi and I helped the other Pretty Cure ~muu."
"Susu..." Starry looked down and off to the side.
"How did Ami-sensei manage to contact the Garden of Days instead of Mars?" Asa tilted her head.
Yoko sighed. "How did she manage it at all? Communication between different universes isn't even supposed to be possible, and she's just a ditzy science teacher!"
"A really smart ditzy science teacher," Asa said.
Moonla frowned. "Starry? What's wrong ~muu?"
Starry took a deep breath. "I haven't been useful at all ~susu. I'm not a good partner for Pretty Cure like you and Papa were ~susu."
"Wait, that's what you were talking about last night?", Asa said. "No way! You've helped us a lot! If you didn't explain anything to us, we'd have died one day into this!"
"You've helped me a lot, too," Yoko said. "If it weren't for you, I'd still be trying to hide who I am and I would never have tried to be Asa's friend."
Starry shuffled his little feet. "But I can't fight, and I couldn't help at all when we were trapped by Omemi-san last week ~susu."
"Starry," Moonla said. All three of them looked at the communicator, and she continued. "Not everyone can fight, nor should they have to ~muu. But you have a strong enough spirit to help Pretty Cure, the Garden of Days, the Land of Legends and the other worlds ~muu."
He blinked. "I don't understand what you mean ~susu."
"You will ~muu." Moonla smiled. "Not just you, but many other people both here and where you are are becoming stronger every day as they become themselves ~muu."
"Becoming themselves?", Yoko asked.
"Asa! Nakayama!" Hoshi called from Ami-sensei's room. "Did you get the food yet? Lunch hour's half over and we have to get back to school in time for Okamoto to change back into her uniform!"
"Coming!" Yoko snapped to attention. "Sorry, Moonla-san, we'll have to shut off the communicator. Thank you for talking with us." She bowed.
"That's all right ~muu." Moonla bowed in return. "I'm glad to have been able to meet you two, and to have seen you again, Starry ~muu."
Starry took another breath and nodded. "Me too ~susu."
"We'll see you again, okay?" Asa shut off the communicator and reached for the Moon Piece. Yoko swatted her hand away. "What?"
"We have to ask Ami-sensei for it first." Yoko swished around and walked to the fridge. "We don't have time right now, either. We only have time to make..." She checked its contents. "Hmm, probably just noodles."
Asa pouted. "Fine, can we ask later today? We can even bring the whole class over to visit as an excuse."
Yoko stopped where she was. "Wait, what?"
"Yeah! You can even ask Mitsuishi-san for some flowers. I mean, she is dating your brother, and she does work at the flower shop, and you could probably get some cheap, right?"
"That's just taking advantage!" Yoko huffed. "Although maybe if they had some that they didn't want anymore... I think I remember her saying she had to throw perfectly good ones out because they would die more quickly."
"Yeah!" Asa walked up to the fridge and started pulling out vegetables, Starry hopping from table to table after her like she hopped from roof to roof as a Pretty Cure. "And I have just enough money for a card. I was going to use it to buy a sweet potato from the stand after school, but..."
"Asa, I think that's the smartest thing you've ever said."
"Whoa, really?"
"Come on, let's get this ready." Yoko checked the clock and put the kettle on.
Asa looked back at the communicator with its Moon Piece mounted on the top. "Man, though... Moonla-san really knows how to do the mentor mascot thing. Think we could ask her for tips on how to be heroes?"
"Just cut the vegetables."
Tachimany were useful for searching for things. If it came down to it, they could just split up and search a number of different paths, perceiving everything all at once. And so, nine identical shrine maidens, hiding their eye masks under the folds of their robes, walked the streets of Kazahana City separately in search of Moon Pieces.
It didn't take long for one of them to spot two certain schoolgirls going down the street with their friends. Pretty Cure. They were easy to recognize, the one with the little side ponytail and crooked ribbon, the other with long grey hair and a seemingly permanent cold gaze. The body watching them frowned. Those two had Moon Pieces.
So taking theirs would be the plan.
Explaining the plan had been a little hard at first, but the class slowly went along with it. Yukari's charisma might have helped; alternatively, Hoshi's fiery glaring from the back corner did it, with the Lily Class whispering that it rivalled Ice Queen Nakayama herself. (Yoko resisted facepalming. That name again?) In the end, Emiru stood up from her seat.
"All right, everyone, let's go see Ami-sensei." She looked pointedly away from Asa and Yoko and walked out of the room. After that, those still unsure got up and agreed to go. After working together on the end-of-class duties so they'd go more quickly, the Lily Class filed out in a neat clump, stopping only at the changing room so Yukari and whoever else had brought their street clothes to school could go change again. Asa gave a small, relieved sigh that the majority of her classmates apparently only changed when they got home and she wouldn't be the only one still in her uniform.
"Standing on the beach, echoes of the rainbow wind..." One of their classmates started singing to pass the long walk. Nobody else knew the words, so Asa started up "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall" instead and was quickly shut down.
The long string of students taking up the whole sidewalk caught the eye of one white-haired shrine maiden, and the other bodies knew it as soon as that one saw it. They slowly began to converge around the house as Mia let the class in and they filed into every open spot in Nakata Ami's house.
"Ami-sensei, we're here!" Asa opened her bedroom door, and people started filing in. Yukari ducked and squished between people with the skill of a veteran shopper on the biggest sale day of the year and handed Ami-sensei a get-well card with every Lily Class member's signature. Seira placed a vase with five different kinds of flowers on the table, arranging it so the pink roses were in the middle, and Izumi Misaki and Misaki Izumi went around opening all the windows.
"Everyone..." Ami-sensei dabbed a tear from her eye with the corner of her bedsheets. "You are all such wonderful people, caring for your homeroom teacher in my time of need!"
Mia smiled a little and folded her hands. "We all care about you getting well, don't we?"
"And Nekoi-sensei sucks," Hoshi added. "The sooner you come back, the better."
Yoko coughed. "Ah, Ami-sensei, could we borrow one of your inventions for a while? The..."
"The communicator to Mars!" Asa smiled widely. "I've always wanted to talk to aliens!"
"Since when?" Hoshi made a face.
"Oh, of course!", Ami-sensei said. "I knew you would like it! The two of you are developing into visions of greatness, your bright minds reaching towards a wonderful future!"
At that point, amidst the chattering students, they heard a clink from another room. Asa's phone popped open and Starry looked through a gap between people. He snapped it shut and started to shake it. She looked down, then up at Yoko, and then at Ami-sensei.
"Sorry, just hold on!" Asa and Yoko bolted and forced their way through the sea of their classmates to the near-empty kitchen. The communicator was there, but the Moon Piece missing. Starry opened the phone again.
"Someone took it ~susu!" He popped out of it and landed on the counter, looking around. "Someone with white hair, I couldn't see very well..."
"None of our classmates look like that," Yoko mused.
"It's those guys!" Asa waved her arms. "The ones who transformed and divided! What's-their-names!"
"Tachimany," came a voice from behind. Asa and Yoko spun around to face four white-haired doctors in labcoats with golden embroidery of the number four on the pockets. They put on their eye masks in unison and took turns turning the Moon Piece around in their hands.
"What are you guys-" Asa started, but was cut off by Yoko storming up to Tachimany. "Yoko?"
"You intruded into someone's house!" Yoko pointed at them, glaring as intensely as she could. "What is wrong with you people? You didn't even have permission like we did! Ogata-san didn't let you in! What's more, taking that Moon Piece is outright stealing! Even we asked nicely for it! What's next, making a Hidoinaa in the house and wrecking everything? There's a limit to what you people can do!"
Asa sweatdropped, "Uh, Yoko, there's something more important here..."
Starry sweatdropped along with her. "This is just like the time with the Hidoinaa in the library ~susu."
"We just might do that." One of Tachimany's bodies drew out a Hidoinaa diamond.
"After all-"
"-there are so many things-"
"-around here to choose from."
"Absolutely not!" Yoko swung to smack one of them, who stepped back to dodge. "If you have to fight us, take it outside. Ami-sensei's got a yard. There are thirty-one people in this building other than you, and I don't want anyone to get hurt."
"What makes you think we won't just teleport out of here now that we've got this Moon Piece?"
Asa stepped up beside Yoko. "Because we have three more. You want those, right?"
"Asa..." Yoko's hand went to her transformation phone.
Tachimany looked at each other and then the trio in front of them. "You'd fight us-"
"-just for this Moon Piece-"
"-if it meant you could get it-"
"-and no one got hurt?"
Starry jumped down from the table and ran between Asa and Yoko and Tachimany. "Asa and Yoko are brave and they care about other people ~susu! Even people who used to be scared or make fun of them ~susu!"
"Starry!", Asa said.
"Get back or you'll get hurt!", Yoko warned.
"But..." Starry stepped back nervously. "But I want to help ~susu."
Tachimany frowned. "Even people who..." They shifted into one body, still holding the Moon Piece, and walked out the back door. "It's a deal. Come on, then. We may be actors, but we're honest."
Asa, Yoko and Starry each let out a small sigh. Starry hopped into Asa's phone.
"I'm sorry ~susu."
"Sorry?" Asa blinked. "Don't worry about that, they agreed to leave! Now let's go kick their butts and get the Moon Piece back!"
Yoko paused and nodded, and they both ran out onto the deck.
Tachimany stood there, smiling and shifting into the form of six girls with gold flowers in their hair and frilly white dresses. One stood in the back of the group, holding the Moon Piece in her arms, and the others held little bouquets.
"Are you ready-"
"-to face all of us?"
"If you can beat our Hidoinaa-"
"-and take our Moon Piece-"
"-then we'll leave you alone-"
"-and we won't hurt your classmates."
Asa and Yoko drew out their phones, slashed their Moon Cards through the slots, and held hands.
"Dual Infinite Phase!"
The light surrounded them and flashed away as soon as it had appeared. They stood, transformed, and went into their speech complete with posing.
"On behalf of the light, I am Cure Sunday!"
"In the name of the shadows, I am Cure Night!"
"We are Pretty Cure!"
"We'll defend at all hours..."
"...to ensure a peaceful era!"
Tachimany shifted into two businessmen and searched around the area. They tossed the tiny black Hidoinaa crystal at a wiry contraption hanging off of the side of the house. The two items merged, and the invention hovered into the middle of the tiny yard and shifted until it grew into a monster with a glowing cut-out face.
"Hidoinaa!"
"One of Ami-sensei's inventions?" Night blinked. "Do you know what it does?"
"No clue." Sunday climbed up onto the railing of the deck and launched herself into the air. "Let's beat it!" She kicked the Hidoinaa and landed on the ground.
"Everyone, look!"
The students crowded around the back windows, staring at the fight. Two girls, one in black and blue, the other in orange and pink, were leaping around in the air and punching and kicking a giant technological monster, trying to keep it boxed into Ami-sensei's small yard. Two men in white and gold stood on the deck, watching them and holding a large black chunk of stone. The students' jaws started to drop.
"Pretty Cure..."
"They really exist!"
"I saw them once, but I didn't want to say anything."
"This is so weird."
"Why are they here?"
"Where did that monster come from?"
"Wow! The orange one just punched it in the face!"
"I like the black one. Her costume's prettier."
Yukari stared out the window. "It's really true..."
Mia wrung her hands. "I hope they're all right."
Hoshi punched the wall. "Argh! Why won't they just tell us?"
"Don't worry." The three of them turned around to see Emiru, bracing herself. "They'll be fine. They're stronger than this."
"Omemi!" Hoshi shook her fist in front of her. Mia nervously tried to shush her, but the rest of the Lily Class was paying attention either to their sick teacher or to the fight outside anyway. "Did you have anything to do with this?"
Emiru adjusted her glasses to stare Hoshi down. "No, I didn't. I don't blame those two if they told you about me, but I'm not even a part of that group anymore." She looked past her to the crowded windows. "Have a little faith in Pretty Cure, why don't you? This is what they do. It's who they are." She shivered, like she couldn't believe what she was saying. "They believe in you, so the least you could do is return the favour."
Hoshi took notice of the crowd around her and lowered her voice to a whisper. "If they believe in us so much, why aren't they telling us anything?"
"Ask them, not me." Emiru rolled her eyes and turned around. "But they do, and you had better know it." She walked off, weaving through a crowd all too happy to part to let her through.
Yoko leapt into the air and spun forward, kicking the Hidoinaa as her leg came down. It stumbled backward and she landed on the ground. "Sunday!"
"Got it!" Sunday ran from behind it and shoved her hand out to knock it forward before it came crashing down on the fence.
"Yeah! All right!" The voices of their classmates came from inside the house. Tachimany turned around, startled.
"The people who hurt you can change...?" They clenched their fists in unison. "Are you simple? How could you believe that?"
"It's like I told you the last time we met." Night didn't take her eyes off the Hidoinaa as she blocked its punches. "You shouldn't stay with someone because you think you can change them, but that doesn't mean people can't change."
Tachimany turned back around to look at her from the deck. "That's a contradiction in itself!"
"No, it's not." She jumped onto the Hidoinaa's fist and ran up its arm to punch it. "People change... but only if they want to change!"
"Hidoinaaa!" The monster flailed.
Tachimany's two bodies' attention were now both on Night. Sunday grinned and nodded at her partner before flinging her phone into the air and right at the two businessmen.
"Wha-" They noticed the object flying at them a second too late, and Starry popped out of the phone in a stream of light, snatched the Moon Piece out of their hands, and landed on the outdoor furniture.
"Yes!" Sunday pumped her fist. "Night, now! We have to finish off this Hidoinaa!"
"Right!" Night ran over to her partner and grabbed her hand. Blue fire began to grow around them as they chanted.
"Sun Limit!"
"Night Limit!"
"You've used up your days..."
"...and you're out of time!"
"Pretty Cure Second Spin!"
They launched themselves like a burning rocket and pierced through the Hidoinaa, curving their flight path up and then looping down. The two of them landed right on the deck, not crashing this time, as the Hidoinaa burned to a crisp in the yard. They put their arms out and stood between Tachimany and the house.
"...It looks like we've lost," said one body.
"But only for now," said the other. They teleported away, leaving Sunday, Night, Starry and the Moon Piece on the deck and Ami-sensei's invention sitting untouched in the yard.
"I heard you were speaking with the Boss today," Mekuramast said, twirling his wand. "Were you apologizing for enlisting Pretty Cure's classmate?"
"Boss". He means Lord Eiender... the one who hasn't used his own name since we were defeated by the last Pretty Cure.
Kainatrol nearly snapped her riding crop in two from bending it. "That is no business of yours."
"I didn't say it was your fault per se." He smirked. "There must have been a reason she failed, or left us, or whatever went on back there. Right, Kainatrol?"
"Don't mock me. For all I know, it was your fault."
"How could it be my fault?" He shrugged. "You're imagining things."
At the time, I didn't think much of it. He continued to be "the boss" to us either way. Just like I was "Kainatrol" ever since I got rid of my old name and that disgusting world we lived on.
"Go away." She pushed past him and walked into a gap of nothingness. After she was sure he was gone, she looked down at her hands and up around at the empty Etherium.
Today, he didn't talk about himself or even use "I" the entire time I spoke to him.
She smiled.
It must almost be time.