Chapter 4: On Thin Ice

The afternoon sun, occasionally covered by a cloud, lit up the tops of buildings in downtown where people bustled through the streets. Everybody had somewhere to be, except for an odd duo sitting on the flat roof of a tall office building. From up there, the people looked as small as bugs, and Marmo wanted nothing more than to rid the city of them.

'It's getting cold up here,' she said, rubbing her naked arm when the wind made her hair flutter around her.

Her companion, who was sitting not far from her, kept looking ahead as if he were lost in thought. The fact that he didn't react at all was unusual.

'You've been awfully quiet,' Marmo said, raising an eyebrow. 'When they kicked us out of the hideout, you whined like a baby.'

When he heard that, Ira crossed his arms and said angrily, 'Well, we could have gotten it back if you guys helped me.'

Marmo frowned, then shifted her gaze and sighed. 'I haven't seen Bel since he retreated. And we can't do it without him, since you're just a kid.'

'Hey! You think I can't fight?' Ira turned to her sharply and pumped a fist.

The woman sized him up, then looked away in resignation. 'We just have to wait until those goons realize they need us.'

Ira grunted, rolling his rolled his eyes, and continued to stare ahead, supporting his arms. When she got a closer look at him, Marmo noticed the scorch marks on his purple jacket.

'Hey, what happened to your jacket?' She asked haughtily, pointing at him.

The blue-haired boy twitched slightly as he looked at her, then replied dryly as if it didn't matter, 'Nothing, it's just a bit dirty.'

Marmo frowned with suspicion, but she wasn't in the mood to pester him about it. Instead, she used the opportunity and stood up to tower over him. 'You need a new one. Let's go to the mall.'

This made Ira hold his forehead in his hand and groan in annoyance. 'Don't you have any better way to kill time?'

Offended, the woman crossed her arms and replied dismissively. 'Well, if you don't like my ideas, you can go search for the princess.' She turned her back to him, making her hair sway, and teleported away with a swish.

The blue-haired boy really didn't care; he and Marmo only spend time together out of boredom. But searching for the princess seemed quite hopeless. The pretty cures had likely hidden her somewhere no one would find her again. Since he had nothing better to do, though, he decided to look around the outskirts. The buildings of downtown before him switched to detached houses as he found himself in a quiet neighborhood. When he appeared on one of the tiled roofs, he thought he could stretch his muscles by jumping from rooftop to rooftop.

As he was getting into the groove, ignoring shocked pedestrians below, Ira's ear-wings twitched, picking up a selfish thought up ahead.

Wow, this one's just begging to be corrupted, he thought. And as if he foresaw it, it didn't take long before he felt an outburst of dark energy like a blow of wind. A giant rat-like monster appeared among the houses before him, with dark purple fur, yellow eyes and a black heart shape with bat wings on its forehead.

'Jikochu!' it roared, looking around and sniffing before it grabbed one of the houses with its front feet and bit into the roof.

This could be interesting, Ira thought as he moved closer to get a better view. He stopped on a building with a concrete top and leaned on the perimeter railing. The jikochu was chipping away at the roof of the other house with its yellow incisors, while a bunch of people were running away down the street. One tall man with a top hat who stood still on top of a streetlamp, and Ira glared at him.

At last, four colorful figures came jumping across the rooftops from Ira's right side. He inadvertently fixed his gaze on the heroine in a light blue attire with an azure ponytail which bounced up and down. The monster was now breaking the windows of houses by sticking its snout into them, while its long naked tail lay on the ground. As soon the pretty cures arrived, they simultaneously jumped from the nearest rooftop and kicked the jikochu's back with a yell. The monster let out a cry and stuck its nose out of the window to see its attackers. The heroines leapt from its back and split into pairs, surrounding the jikochu. When one pair was on defense, the other pair attack attacked, and vice versa. However, the monster proved to be quite a tough opponent.

'My parents don't need the money anyway!' the jikochu roared when the girls wouldn't leave it alone.

'Don't you have any respect?' Cure Heart shouted as she and Cure Rosetta blew a punch to the mouse's side.

It turned its head around, and when the girls landed on the ground, it swept them both with its strong tail, smashing them into one of the houses. Cure Sword then summoned her crossbow to fire a blast of spade shapes at the mouse's head, stunning it. Cure Diamond followed suit with a kick to its face, while the pink and yellow cures got back on their feet. But the mouse focused on Cure Diamond and swung its tail at her, binding her torso with it. Cure Sword gasped when the monster lifted her friend into the air and rose to its hind feet.

'Diamond!' Raquel squealed from her pocket.

Diamond tried to get her hands free while the tail brought her closer to the mouse's open mouth head-first. Ira gripped the railing tightly and his whole body tensed when he imagined what would happen. At the last second, Sword jumped and threw Heart high enough for her to blow a punch to the monster's face before it could bite down. At the same time, it loosened its grip on Diamond, who came falling down before she was caught by Rosetta. Ira's muscles relaxed again as he internally sighed in relief.

Wait, what am I doing?

It was only then that he noticed a girl in white with voluminous red hair who entered the scene.

'You need to be faster!' she called from a rooftop where the other girls could see her. They were just as surprised by her arrival as the man in the top hat.

Cure Ace. Ira hated her the most. Both because she had wanted to take him out before, and because she reminded him of Trump Kingdom's princess. Speaking of which, why was she just standing there? She could take that jikochu down in no time!

While he was thinking this, the boy suddenly heard a swish right behind him. He swiveled around, and was met with the huge belly of a hulky man with oversized arms who grinned down on him.

'Hey Ira,' he said, grabbing the boy's shoulder with his big hand.

Before Ira could react, he felt a tingle run through his body as it traveled through space. He realized he had been teleported with Gula and was now in a dimly lit place with stuffy air.

'Huh-?' Ira backed away from the man, but Gula grasped his forearm and lifted him off the ground. Now he could see the illuminated empty bar in the large dark hall of their former hideout.

'You little brat!' Gula snapped in a menacing voice, 'You think you can just switch sides?'

The boy was so shocked he froze for a moment. 'W-What are you doing?!' he squeaked, wiggling his feet above the linoleum. He knew that Gula would be angry about his intervention last time, but this was much more serious.

'First Marmo decides to play hero and now you!' he grumbled, piercing Ira with his Gaze. 'That's why Leva had me observe the fight today. And guess who I found!' He poked Ira's chest with his thick finger, making him sway.

'But- I was just watching! That's all!' Ira protested with a hint of desperation. He hadn't expected Gula to actually think he was on their enemies' side...

The man narrowed his eyes at him incredulously. 'Then why did I see you with the pretty cures two days ago?' he said and squeezed Ira's forearm with force. His hand was so big that Ira feared it could snap his bone like a twig.

He grimaced and cried out, 'Stop! I'll explain!'

This got the man to loosen his grip on him. He watched as Ira rolled up the sleeve on his other arm and shoved it in front of him. 'You see these scars?'

Gula had to take a closer look to see the reddish branching pattern that had already faded significantly. 'Huh? What is this?' he said, squinting.

'They appeared when I got struck by lightning!' Ira proclaimed with urgency and had to take a moment to take it in before he could continue. 'I was wounded, so when Cure Diamond found me, I couldn't do anything. So I thought... I could pretend to have memory loss to get closer to them. To learn where the princess is! B-But when you attacked me, I had to drop the act, idiot!'

Gula stared at him silently as if gears were creaking inside his brain. He recalled that Ira had had a bandage on his head back then, but this story seemed too bizarre to be true. 'You got struck by lightning?' he said finally.

'That's what I said!' Ira repeated. He knew that trying to convince Gula that he had really had amnesia would have been even harder. He just hoped that he would believe him.

The man, however, furrowed his brow and lashed out at him, 'I don't care, Ira! You got in my way!'

Holding the boy like a rag doll, he drew back his arm and flung him over the couches across the hall. Ira crashed into the tall black wall, making a deep crack in it that spread like a spider web. It was no surprise; Gula was the strongest out of the five remaining Selfish Agents. Ira slumped to the floor with his head thumping. He winced as he sat up when Gula teleported in front of him. Clearly, he already had pent-up rage for Marmo, and now, Ira was going to get all of it.

'Okay okay I won't interfere!' He held his hand up defensively while shuffling backwards, now truly desperate. 'But I'm not a traitor! Just give me more time and I'll find the princess to prove it!' As Gula towered over him, Ira was aware that he couldn't win in this fight; he had to flee.

'Marmo's the one plotting against you!' he shouted finally and mustered his energy to teleport before Gula could grab him.

In a second, he appeared in the shade of one of the blind alleys of Oogaitown where he had taken a nap once or twice. The daylight shone down through the gap between the buildings as he sat on the dirty tarmac, panting

'Oh no…' He mumbled as he leaned against the wall with his knees bent. I really messed up.

He had never been so worried about his future before. Gula actually suspected him of treason! The scars that Ira had hated so much because they reminded him of his trauma were now the only proof of his innocence. And they were disappearing! He just hoped that Gula would shift his focus to Marmo and get off his tail.

He held his head with his hands, his thoughts running wild. What do I do? If they're suspicious of me, they could decide that I'm a threat to the King! If that happens, then... then everyone would be my enemy! He clenched his teeth and shut his eyes, wondering how he got himself in this situation.

Then he realized he was acting like a coward. He lifted his head and pumped a fist, giving himself confidence. No, I can prove my loyalty. I just have to find the princess like I promised. Yeah, I have to take this seriously and find her before the others do. Marmo was too easily distracted and Bell was too lazy, so they shouldn't be a problem.

However, his enthusiasm died down when he thought of how big this country was and how long it would take. Argh! How could I have promised that? He punched the ground and leaned his head back in disappointment. Only the pretty cures would know where she is...

When he thought of that, his eyes sparked with hope as he remembered that he had a huge advantage. Oh yeah, I know where Cure Diamond lives... I can just go there and make her talk. He wondered why he hadn't done that earlier.

But before he could get up, a strange voice inside his mind objected, Can you do that without hurting her?

Ira hadn't realized it before, but it was this voice that had kept him from making a move all this time. Why wouldn't I want to? he thought.

But the voice wasn't so easily convinced. She saved your life, remember? It said in an accusing tone, and somehow, it made Ira stop and ponder if there was another way. After a moment, though, he shook his head.

You don't have time for this! He lifted his forearm and rolled up the sleeve to wake himself to reality.

What will you do when those scars heal, huh? That was his reason talking, and for once, Ira should listen to it.

He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. What was with this battle inside his brain? This was the only option he had; to go back to Rikka's house and get the information he needed. Ira didn't know why he still remembered that girl's real name. But even though he wouldn't admit it to himself, he really hoped she would talk...