"Haruko, it was unbelievable of you to make us wait for so long!" Sensaina shouted strictly. Today was cloudy and it was little while after school. At the moment, Sensaina and Jonetsu were giving Haruko the silent treatment. Knowing she didn't deserve such a treatment for what she did, she felt the need to speak up.
"But, I did tell you I was working on an assignment with a friend.." Haruko defended.
"Yeah, but your friend was nowhere to be found." Jonetsu pointed out coldly.
"Well how is that my fault? What, do you think I made this friend up because I wanted to hang around the school a little bit longer? You gotta be kidding me!" Haruko scoffed as she turned her head away in disgust.
Haruko grumbled as the two completely tuned her out.
"It's not like I knew this was going to happen!" Haruko cried.
"Sensaina, did you hear that?" Jonetsu asked.
"No, it must just be the wind." Sensaina responded bitterly.
Haruko cracked her knuckles in frustration and was about to give the girls an earful when suddenly.
"-Maikos!" Sensaina cried.
"Huh?" Haruko asked cluelessly.
Within a short distance, a group of Maikos were standing outside casually.
"No way, I didn't know our town had Maikos.." Jonetsu said in shock.
"Oh, they're just so pretty!" Sensaina gushed childishly.
"They look kinda different from each other though," Jonetsu pointed out. Each of the Maikos were of course adorned with white powder and red lipstick and everyone of them had their hair up in the traditional Maiko fashion, the nihongami, with dainty little hair acessories, known as the kanzashi, dangling in their hair but they all wore different kimonos. Also, each of Maikos were a different height, the shortest one looking no older than Haruko.
"A Maiko must have such a beautiful life~!" Sensaina said in awe of the Maikos.
Haruko squinted her eyes as she stared at the shortest Maiko.
"Haruko, it's bad luck if you stare at a Maiko like that." Jonetsu whispered.
Haruko, still staring at the Maiko, shooed Jonetsu away," No it's not."
Haruko stepped backwards in realization.
"I know that Maiko!" Haruko said louder than intended. All of the Maikos looked up, but shortest one's mouth twitched as she saw Haruko.
"You're Rie, aren't you!" Haruko shouted as she pointed to the Maiko.
The shortest Maiko, who seemed awfully serene and gentle until now, gnashed her teeth and walked up towards Haruko.
"What's it to you?" The short Maiko barked.
Haruko gasped as she heard the Maiko's voice," You are Rie!"
The Maiko simply blushed and stomped on Haruko's foot with her guard down.
Haruko held her foot in pain, making the other Maikos giggle.
"You could've just told me you were a Maiko.." Haruko said neutrally.
"I'm not old enough to be a Maiko!" Rie shouted in frustration.
"Then why are you hanging around with a bunch of Maiko?" Haruko questioned.
"It was only for today." Rie stated.
"Rie, do you have something against Maikos?" Haruko smirked.
"N-no!" Rie reddened quickly,"I'm just-"
"The lifestyle of a Maiko seems so interesting~!" Sensaina thought aloud, not hearing a word of Rie and Haruko's conversation.
"She had no idea what she's saying does she?" Rie asked as she watched Sensaina daydream.
Haruko shook her at Sensaina, leaving her undivided attention for Rie.
"Being a Maiko in training isn't as fun as you think." Rie stated solemnly.
"I didn't say anything about me thinking it was fun." Haruko said quietly in her defense.
"Hey Rie, how about today you hang out with me and Sensaina and Haruko can spend today with the Maikos?" Jonetsu suggested.
Rie's expression made her seem delighted with Jonetsu's offer.
"Oh my goodness, you guys would really spend the afternoon with me?" Rie questioned in disbelief.
"Sure," Sensaina shrugged carelessly.
"But I don't want to spend the day with the Maikos!" Haruko protested.
"Haruko, didn't you know?" Rie asked as she walked circles around Haruko,"Maikos are good luck."
"R-really?" Haruko stammered, her curious side slowly getting the better of her.
"Of course.." Rie said gently,"The more you hang around Maikos, the better your luck becomes."
Haruko gulped down and hesitated. After a few moments, she gave her final decision.
"I'll do it!" She concluded. The Maikos giggled and crowded around Haruko.
"This afternoon will be fun, don't you worry!" Sensaina assured as the girls walked off.
"Anything beats spending a day with Maikos." Rie said, her Maiko outfit and makeup now off.
"Well, is there anything in particular you want to do today?" Jonetsu asked.
Rie stood in thought and rubbed her chin for a few moments.
"Let's hit the arcade!" She exclaimed.
"Arcade...?" Sensaina and Jonetsu repeated. Without the girls' approval, Rie grabbed their wrists and headed off into a foreign direction.
After twists and sharp turns, the girls wound up in an arcade that was a remarkable distance from the school. The arcade was filled with kids let out from school and the majority of these kids were eleven year olds. Jonetsu found this place rancid as she couldn't stand the arcade boys and their strong disliking of girls because of their 'cooties'. Sensaina on the other hand was overflowing with nostalgia as she remembered all the birthday parties she went to at this very arcade and how little times she won any of the games.
"This feels more like babysitting." Jonetsu groaned as she leaned against a vending machine.
"High-score!" Rie shouted enthusiastically.
Sensaina moaned," That's the fifth game you beat here."
"Then I must be pretty good!" Rie boasted.
"Rie, is there anything else you'd like to do?" Jonetsu hopelessly asked.
"Well..there was one game I wanted to play..but it's a two player game." Rie said innocently.
"Which game?" Sensaina asked.
"Dance Startopia!" Rie cheered as she dragged Sensaina to the game that was inconveniently located at the other side of the arcade.
Sensaina looked at the game.
"I've seen this sort of game of tv shows.." Sensaina stated.
"Do you know how it works?" Rie asked.
"Well, aside from the fact that your body is the controller, I'm afraid I don't anymore about the game.." Sensaina responded.
"Good enough for me!" Rie declared, only hearing half of Sensaina's response.
"Wait!" Sensaina wailed as Rie pulled her onto one of the dancemats.
"Ready?" Rie asked, now tuning out every single complaint from Sensaina.
"No.." Sensaina responded meekly.
"Let's go!" Rie exclaimed as the game commenced. Rie's dancing was instinct-like, while Sensaina gave up on herself three dance steps in.
"Well, at least it's good knowing Haruko's probably having a terrible time." Jonetsu shrugged as she watched Sensaina falter and quit the game.
"Wow, is this like a Maiko headquarters?" Haruko asked in awe of her surroundings. She was inside a very old fashioned house with the Maikos. The house seemed desolate but quaint, quiet but not eerie. It did seem like a fitting place for a Maiko house.
"Headquarters is quite a strong word." One of the Maikos said.
"We like to simply call it our Maiko home," Another of the Maikos said softly.
"It's so cool here!" Haruko exclaimed as one of the Maikos offered her a cup of green tea. She slurped it down and burped. The Maikos giggled once more at Haruko's mannerisms.
"Ex-excuse me.." Haruko reddened.
"So, what kinda stuff do Maikos do?" Haruko asked curiously.
"Well.." The Maiko sitting beside her began," We enjoy tea ceremonies."
"Yawn." Haruko thought.
"Anything else?"
"Practicing Kyoto dialect." The Maiko listed.
"Yawn, again." Haruko thought.
"Anything else beside Maiko regulations?"
"Well, every one in a while..we do like to dance." The Maiko stated.
"Dance..?" Haruko repeated flatly.
"It's very entertaining to watch and it has a strange uplifting effect on people, would you like to see?" The Maiko asked.
"I guess." Haruko responded.
The Maiko stood up and told the rest of the Maikos Haruko wanted to see them dance. The Maikos agreed to dance and so after turning on the music, the Maikos danced for Haruko.
At first, Haruko was somewhat bored with the dance but after a few more minutes Haruko became entranced. The movements of the Maikos were so smooth and elegant, yet their faces were expressionless. Each step seemed to be taken with grace and every step made the Maikos seem so enticing. Haruko watched intently, not realizing how long this dance really was. After roughly ten minutes later, the dance was over and Haruko sat wanting more.
"I didn't realize how cool it was watching Maikos dance!" Haruko exhaled.
The Maiko she was sitting with before simply giggled at Haruko's enthusiasm.
"Say..you never told me your name," Haruko pointed out.
"My name.." The Maiko trailed off.
"Is a secret." The Maiko winked.
"No fair!" Haruko shouted.
The Maiko laughed once more.
"Man, that allowance of mine was well spent!" Rie stated as the three left the arcade.
"I don't think I've ever seen someone spend so much on arcade games." Jonetsu shuddered.
"Rie, do you want to go home now?" Sensaina asked, tired from Dance Startopia.
Rie abruptly turned around," No way, I'm just getting started!"
"Seriously?" Sensaina and Jonetsu groaned.
"Yup, there's no stopping me now!" Rie declared.
Rie then grabbed Sensaina and Jonetsu wrists.
"Off we go!" Rie screamed. With a skip in her step, Rie went in whichever direction she pleased. At this point, Jonetsu was through with trying to control her and Sensaina was rendered unable to get a word through Rie's thick skull.
"What the-?" Rie asked as she stopped to look up. The clouds were gone and the sun finally emerged. Rie marveled at the blue sky and ran off without Sensaina and Jonetsu.
"R-rie, wait!" Sensaina cried.
"Oh well.." Jonetsu said nonchalantly.
"Jonetsu, we have to find her!" Sensaina declared.
"Of course, because I bet you definitely want to spend more time with her." Jonetsu said sarcastically.
"I'll, give her an atitude check or something. But we need to find her!" Sensaina shouted as she jerked at Jonetsu's arm.
Hydra yawned as she awoke, her nap outside was longer than intended. She blinked for a few moments and stretched her arms. She sat up straight and looked at her surroundings.
"Well, it sure got sunnier." Hydra stated. She then remembered why she took a nap here, to get away from Kagekaze.
"Like hell I'm going to work any harder just because me and him are the only two Majors left," Hydra jeered.
"If anything, I should be celebrating because I outlived Ms. Electricity, that short fused Iggy, and the dunce." Hydra listed," And once Hatred gets rid of Kagekaze, and I get rid of Cure Songstress, he can be mine forever!"
Suddenly, Hydra heard a rustle in a nearby bush.
"What the...?" Hydra trailed off as she watched the bush move.
"She must be a water nymph!" Rie, the one hiding in the bush, declared.
"I can see you~" Hydra sang flatly to the bush.
Rie reddened immensely and slowly stood up and moved away from the bush.
"Who are you?" Hydra asked uninterestedly.
"I-I-I...the name's Rie!" Rie announced.
"Interesting."
"Really?"
"No."
"Oh." Rie blushed even more, avoiding eye contact with Hydra. Soon, an awkward silence fell between the girls. Rie then impulsively grabbed a fan from her pocket. As a child, she was told if she was ever put into a situation like this, she should hide her mouth with the fan and stare with a vacant look in her eye. She wasn't quite sure how the average person would react to this notion, but Hydra, definitely not being average, found Rie's sudden fan gesture to be adorable.
"That fan is so cute~!" Hydra gushed," Where did you get it?"
"Well, my mom gave it to me a couple of years ago.." Rie responded stiffly.
"It's so intricate.." Hydra remarked as she examined Rie's fan.
"I'm bored," Rie stated neutrally," Can we go to your place?"
"My place?" Hydra asked. Stunned with Rie's question, she eventually decided to take her to Malevolent. Rie was apparently astonished with how Malevolent could located at the interior of such an ordinary house.
"Can you do that thing with your fan again?" Hydra asked.
"You mean this?" With a flick of her wrist, the fan opened up. Hydra squealed with delight as she watched Rie open the fan up.
"That's so cool!" She cheered," Can I try?"
"Well, I don't know..my mom told me never to let anyone touch it.." Rie said solemnly. Hydra pouted.
"But I've never really listened to my mother.." Rie stated. She let Hydra play with her fan.
"It's not that I don't like my mother.." Rie began, though Hydra's attention towards her was long gone," It's just, I think she expects too much from me. See, she's a geisha and I honestly think the only reason she had me was so she could make a family of geishas. It's a lot of pressure and a lot of the time, all I ever want to do is kick back and goof around. So,today really meant a lot to me."
"That's nice." Hydra said carelessly as she attempted to open the fan like Rie. After a few more tries she was bored and gave her attention back to Rie.
"So," Hydra started," I know the perfect place where we can-"
"Hydra, are you kidding me?" Kagekaze asked in an unimpressed tone as he walked into the room.
"Oh hey!" Hydra greeted as she waved childishly to him.
"What's he supposed to be?" Rie asked as she walked circles around Kagekaze.
"I beg your pardon?" Kagekaze asked.
"He looks like a giant shadow!" Rie exclaimed," Is he a shadow sprite?"
"He's no one important," Hydra giggled as she attempted to push Kagekaze out of the room.
Kagekaze groaned and planted his feet onto the ground.
"Well, today's definitely a day I'm not going to forget!" Rie proclaimed," I got out of Maiko duties, met a water nymph and shadow sprite, got Sensaina and Jonetsu to take me to the arcade.."
Hydra stopped trying to push Kagekaze out for a moment.
"Sensaina.." Kagekaze repeated.
"...And Jonetsu?" Hydra repeated.
"Hey Rie," Hydra said as she walked towards her," Do you know where these two might be?"
"Heh, I guess they're probably looking for me or something," Rie replied sheepishly.
"I think I've found some fresh bait." Hydra whispered into Kagekaze's ear.
"Alright, so maybe you didn't screw up entirely this time." Kagekaze stated," But, that doesn't mean I'm not telling Hatred about this."
"Oh~" Hydra said as she placed her arms around his shoulders.
"I know you don't have it in you to tattletale on me~" Hydra said in a sickeningly innocent tone.
Instead of seducing Kagekaze, she instead was making him fear for his life. This more like torture than anything else because it was Hydra and her semi-flat chest.
"The only option I have is to do what she says.." Kagekaze thought as shivers were crawling down his spine.
"Fine, fine. I won't tell on you." Kagekaze said as he brushed Hydra off his back.
"Yay~" Hydra cheered.
"So what are we going to do next?" Rie asked excitedly.
The two Majors smiled down at Rie.
"We're going to find Sensaina and Jonetsu of course." Hydra responded.
"Rie! Rie!" Sensaina cried.
"Face it, we lost her." Jonetsu groaned," Let's go tell the Maikos."
"No way, I've never seen a Maiko mad and I don't ever want to!" Sensaina said through clenched teeth.
Jonetsu facepalmed," Again, how long have we been looking for?"
Sensaina ignored her friend's comment and began to search even harder.
"Rie!"
"Eh? Why are we here?!" Rie snapped. The three of them were in front of the Maiko house.
"Because, me and double K's pendants are flashing like crazy." Hydra stated.
Kagekaze shuddered at his nickname from Hydra," She's right, there must be a ton of corrupted dreamstones in here."
Just as Hydra was about to kick the door open, Rie halted.
"Wait!" Rie shouted. She drove her hand into her pocket and handed Hydra a key.
"If you're going to ambush, at least do it right." Rie scoffed.
Hydra rolled her eyes and used the key.
"I wonder where Rie could've gone?" One of the Maikos hopelessly asked. Moments ago, Jonetsu finally called and notified the Maikos that Rie was missing.
Suddenly, Kagekaze and Hydra bursted into the room the Maikos were residing in. Frightened, the Maikos migrated to the wall farthest from Hydra and Kagekaze.
"They all look the same." Hydra said blankly as she tilted her head.
"They're Maikos." Kagekaze commented.
"Mai-what?" Hydra asked.
Kagekaze shook his head. With the snap of both of his fingers, he was able to remove only half of the Maiko's dreamstones.
"Hydra, you get the rest." Kagekaze instructed.
Hydra sighed, but did as told. As they were about to leave, Haruko stood up.
"You're not going anywhere!" Haruko declared.
"I knew we were forgetting someone." Hydra said, remembering Cure Garden's existence.
Without a second thought, Haruko took out her dreamkeeper.
"Pretty Cure, Dream On!" Haruko shouted as green shimmering lights surrounded her.
"Growing everything in a lifeless land, Cure Garden!" Garden introduced.
"Hydra, we'll just use one of the dreamstones." Kagekaze said as he took a corrupted dreamstone from his little collection in his hands.
"What's going on?!" Rie shouted as she bursted into the room.
"Rie?" Garden said as her jaw dropped," What are you doing with them..?"
"They're my new friends." Rie announced proudly.
Instead of freaking out, Garden just attempted to reason with her.
"They're the bad guys.." Garden confessed.
"Says you." Rie countered childishly.
"Why do you think all the Maikos are unconscious?" Garden asked.
Rie blinked for a few moments," What?''
Garden waved her arm in the unconscious Maikos' direction.
"How did this happen?!" Rie hollered in confusion.
"It was them." Garden stated tonelessly.
Rie gnashed her teeth and walked towards Kagekaze and Hydra.
"If you think for a second I'm ok with this, then you're terribly mistaken!" She screamed.
Instead of listening to Rie, Hydra was looking at the girl's dreamstone. She chuckled and took Rie's dreamstone without hesitation.
"Can we make a Malvoid out of this one?" Hydra asked.
"Why not," Kagekaze said thoughtlessly.
Hydra grinned and found Rie's fan lying nearby.
"Escape, Malvoid!" Hydra shouted.
"Malvoid!" The monster like fan roared.
Garden raised her guard and defensively took a few steps back.
The Malvoid opened itself and blew gusts of wind to Garden.
Garden shut her eyes and was thrown against the wall.
"That's it.." Garden said as she recovered from her collision with the wall.
"Pretty Cure, Bouquet of Radiance!" Garden shouted.
All she really did was throw off the Malvoid's balance.
"Either our Malvoid's are getting stronger.." Hydra said from the side,"..or the Pretty Cure are getting weaker."
Garden clenched her teeth and attacked once more.
"Pretty Cure, Budding Charge!" She screamed.
The Malvoid fell to it's feet and even though it was barely harmed, Hydra felt the need to energize it.
"You shouldn't be so generous with your energizes." Kagekaze whispered into her ear.
"Pretty Cure, Melody of Lust!" A pair of voices echoed from beyond the doorway. The violet and red attack hit the Malvoid's blind spot and it fell once more.
Just as Hydra was about to re-energize it, Kagekaze covered her mouth.
"Well, fine." Hydra said as she removed his hand away from her. She then took a dreamstone from her lap and threw it to the Malvoid. The Malvoid grew in size and regained energy.
"Wait, what are you doing?" Kagekaze yelled.
"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm re-energizing the Malvoid." Hydra answered.
"But you're wasting the corrupted dreamstones!" Kagekaze shouted.
"You know what? I don't like your tone of voice." Hydra stated as she stood up.
This was the reason Kagekaze disliked women, well at least Hyra in particular.
Furious, Hydra threw all the dreamstones she collected today to the Malvoid.
"She was also holding the one's I collected too." Kagekaze reminded himself in frustration.
"It's huge!" Matchmaker gawked at the still growing Malvoid.
"At this rate, it's going to go past the roof!" Songstress cried.
"Guess there's only one thing that can hold it." Kagekaze stated as he stood up.
"Can I be of help?" Hydra asked willingly.
All Kagekaze did was whisper into her ear, "Sit down for a moment."
"Ok~" Hydra once again did as told as so Kagekaze left her alone.
He clasped his hands together and as he separated them, a black suspicious energy was coming from his hands.
"Enter, Shadow dimension!" He shouted as he placed his wrists to the corners of the room.
Suddenly, the Pretty Cure, the Malvoid and Kagekaze were transported to a pitch black wider terrain.
"Why does my body feel so heavy?" Garden asked as she fought to stand up.
"Because here, your shadow now has mass and that mass is added onto you." Kagekaze explained.
"So then, why isn't it affecting you?" Songstress asked.
"Are we really asking this?" Kagekaze smirked.
"So that means, the Malvoid will be even heavier.." Matchmaker said as she lifted herself up.
"True, but what harm can come to it..when you girls can barely stand?" Kagekaze asked.
"This is your end, Pretty Cure!" Kagekaze shouted as he threw blasts of wind to the girls.
The girls fell to their feet and attempted to catch their breath.
"I can't even stand up.." Matchmaker panted.
"I wonder what's taking him so long.." Hydra wondered, still on the ground.
"No way, he couldn't be..getting rid of the Pretty Cure, without me?!" She gasped," That does it."
She stood up angrily, but didn't know what else she could do.
Meanwhile, the shadow dimension began to fluctuate.
"What the..?" Garden said as the atmosphere around them began to collapse.
"Hydra must've stood up." Kagekaze said as he gritted his teeth. They all were transported back into the Maiko house.
"We're back!" Songstress exclaimed.
"Why does the Malvoid seem so...sluggish?" Garden asked.
"Must be from traveling back from the shadow dimension!" Matchmaker exclaimed.
"Guys, now's our chance!" Songstress shouted.
Matchmaker placed the dreamstone into the Casket as soon as Garden opened the Casket.
"Specialize!" The three called out.
The atmosphere around them turned white.
"For Destinies!" Garden cried.
"For Hope!" Matchmaker shouted.
"For Dreams." Songstress said.
"With the miracle of magic, Pretty Cure shall arise!" The three chanted.
"Pretty Cure, Dreaming Wonderland!" The three cried. Within the white atmosphere, the Malvoid was soon cornered and was soon rendered trapped.
"Awake!" They yelled as they purified the Malvoid.
They received an abundance of duplicated dreamstones which Doki collected.
"We hit the jackpot-kore!" Doki cheered.
"That was supposed to be our jackpot.." Kagekaze groaned as he glared at Hydra.
"Purifying that Malvoid was kind of tiring though." Garden panted.
Kagekaze and Hydra left as the girls gathered the dreamstones.
Later, the Maikos forced Rie to apologize to Sensaina and Jonetsu.
"So I'm sorry I ran off and I made you take me to the arcade.." Rie apologized.
"It's alright.." Sensaina said awkwardly.
"Well, the important thing is you're safe now." Jonetsu pointed out.
"I guess, it's just..I don't get to unwind like this alot so now even I can tell I went a little overboard.." Rie said sheepishly.
"What matters is you fun today, right?" Sensaina asked.
"Right!" Rie beamed.
"I really did screw up today.." Hydra groaned. At Malevolent, she and Kagekaze were standing in front of Hatred who was sitting at his throne.
"You're telling me.." Kagekaze said under his breath.
"Well, let's see..today you both retrieved and lost a significant amount of dreamstones, you almost defeated the Pretty Cure..anything else you would like to add?" Hatred asked.
Hydra shook her head and Kagekaze just stood there.
"It seems as if Kagekaze is at fault here." Hatred concluded.
Kagekaze stood there stoically while Hydra was alarmed with Hatred's statement.
"What? No, the only reason he screwed up today was because of me!" Hydra claimed.
"Are you saying you dragged him down?" Hatred asked calmly.
"Yes, and don't even think about getting rid of him anytime soon! He's better than me and we all know that!" Hydra shouted.
More silence.
"Hydra..." Hatred placed his hand in front of Hydra's pendant.
"What, no way! I know I messed up but I deserve a second chance more than anything!" Hydra claimed as she clung to her pendant.
"You're the one who said I couldn't get rid of Kagekaze anytime soon," Hatred reminded her.
Hydra's jaw dropped as she realized Hatred used her words against her.
"Well fine! If I could never have you, then at least I'll have this.." Hydra said as she let go of her pendant. She looked towards Kagekaze and without another word, she kissed him. The kiss was broken as she fully disappeared.
"You just had to make her think you were going to get rid of me." Kagekaze sighed.
"Well of course, otherwise she would've done something spiteful." Hatred stated.
"Would've done something spiteful?" Kagekaze repeated as he rubbed Hydra's saliva off of his lips.
"But.." Hatred glanced at a glass of icecubes beside him," Her powers will be missed."