Chapter 2: Selfless Fool

The sun was beginning to set over the skyline of Oogai Town, its amber glow spreading across the sky and tinting the landscape below. There, a lonely boy stood on a counter jib of a tower crane amid a construction site. He had a front view of the high-rise buildings surrounding the area that was yet to be built-up. Workers were already leaving and only the wind could be heard up there. Ira was oblivious to his surroundings, as he had been trying to make sense of what on earth had happened to him.

He couldn't tell if it had been yesterday or days ago when he had snuck into their old hideout. He remembered that Gula and Leva had forcefully kicked him out but... what happened then? How did he lose his identity? Between that time and the moment he had woken up on the beach, there was just blackness. As Ira racked his brain trying to recover his memory, he felt anxiety slowly building up in his gut. He remembered the black sky. Yes, there was a storm... above the sea... and then- CRACK! FLASH!

His legs gave under him, and before he realized it, he found himself fallen on his bottom, breathing quickly. It wasn't the memory, but the feeling that was so vivid now. A sensation so overwhelming that once he recalled it, he couldn't possibly forget it. He wished he hadn't remembered. Light. Thunder. Did- Did I get struck by lightning? It was the only explanation he could think of, but his mind just couldn't process it. He looked at his hands to see they were trembling, and he hold them together and tried to stop thinking about the experience.

He sat like that for over five minutes before he finally calmed down. The sky was turning a shade of red and everything was quiet. Ira realized he was lucky to be alive. He stood up and didn't want to think about anything anymore. But after a while, his thoughts started running again.

By the time he woke up, he was found by Cure Diamond, wounded, with no memory of who he was. And everything from that point onward seemed like a fever dream. He recalled feeling grateful and being polite. Feelings that he was never supposed to know. And she – Cure Diamond – why did she help him in the first place? She should hate him!

And the other cures too! Why hadn't they taken advantage of his weakness? Were they willing to forgive just anyone after befriending Regina? When he thought about her, a scary thought occurred to him.

What if I never got my memory back? Would they have brainwashed me into being friends, too? It was too degrading to even imagine. Then again, Cure Ace would have had ended him right then and there if the others hadn't stepped in. Good thing Gula had been there to bring him to his senses afterwards.

'I'll be the one to defeat the Pretty Cures.' That was what he had said when he had left the heroines with Gula before.

Ira knew that wasn't the real reason why he had protected them from the man's attack, but it was the only one he was willing to believe. He was sullen about showing the enemy this weak side he never knew he had. He couldn't accept that spending time with Rikka- Cure Diamond had actually made him feel good. But even now, the memories he had made with her carried a strange warmth that outweighed the humiliation. Was she always this pretty when not transformed?

Wait what? No! Ira shook his head to dispell the girl's face from his mind. He has to forget any of this ever happened!

With that, he began unwinding his bandages one by one. The sun was already low on the horizon, casting long shadows and bathing the city in a pool of warm colors. It looked like the sky was on fire, which Ira admittedly enjoyed. He was discarding his bandaging on the elevated platform until he got to his wrists. As he unbound one of them, the red branching pattern on his skin came into view. He felt sick again; he could only hope that it would heal like his other scars.

He paused when he set his eyes on the last bandage, tied with care around his left arm. For some reason, his determination faltered before he started unwinding it. He held the strand of cloth up as it fluttered in the breeze.

'I see. That's great,' the voice of Cure Diamond echoed in his mind. That was what she had said when he had recovered from the amnesia.

Ira bit his lip. Selfless fool, he thought. Why would she help me if she knew I would go back to normal? Out of all the Pretty Cures, she was definitely the strangest.

Ira didn't understand her, but there was no reason why he should try. He reached out his hand and let the wind take hold of the white piece of cloth. It twirled as it flew towards the tall buildings up ahead, getting smaller until it disappeared. With that, the boy turned around and took a few steps before vanishing from the counter jib.

Since the Selfish Deputies had been put in charge, Ira had no place to stay. When they had layed claim to their secret base, Bel had stepped down so Marmo and Ira had decided to retreat. Still, Ira doubted those two goons could defeat the Pretty Cures. They may have been strong but the heroines had gained a powerful ally in that Cure Ace, who could even take Regina on. As for him, he had been ordered to find Trump Kingdom's princess, who was hidden somewhere on Earth, again. And since returning to the hideout backfired, he had to spend his nights wherever possible.

He came across a stylish furniture store near downtown. The two-story building had a "closed" sign on the door, but that couldn't stop Ira from teleporting inside. Only a streetlamp outside shone light into the darkened hall through the store's frontal glass facade. There were tables, armchairs, cabinets and other pieces of furniture arranged into groups. Ira wasn't used to sleeping in beds, so collapsed onto a long couch on the ground floor. Some nights, he would hang around downtown and cause mischief. But tonight, he just wanted to sleep and wake up as if today had never happened.

Unfortunately, he wasn't able to relax. Never before had memories haunted him like this. If Marmo ever learned about this story, he would rather go back to being unconscious than endure her mockery. That wasn't his main concern now though. It was the image of a girl with long dark hair – who had treated his wounds, cooked him food and protected him – that wouldn't leave his mind. It was unnerving; he didn't want to think about her. In the end, he realised he couldn't keep chasing this feeling away, so he succumbed to it, hoping to sleep it off.

.

The following day felt more like Ira's usual days on Earth. He woke up to a ring of a doorbell when a salesman opened the store at 8 o'clock. The poor man was flabbergasted when he saw an intruder lying on a coach by the wall. But Ira didn't feel like getting worked up in the morning, so he just grunted and teleported away. His days typically consisted of exploring the town, stealing some street food or hanging out with Marmo. He had been wishing for a vacation, yes, but this was more like being out of work. Even if he happened to hear a selfish thought with a great potential, he had to let it go to waste.

Today was a bit different though, because this didn't even bother him. His limbs still ached at times, so he had no motivation to look for the princess and just took it easy.

I wonder where Marmo ended up, he thought.

He had not heard from her since she came out with the "Cutie Madame" act. He had seen her on media but then they had stopped covering her. Did that get in her trouble? Not that he cared if the Pretty Cures defeated her, but if the Selfish Deputies got mad at her, he could be on their list too. For associating with the heroes. No, they wouldn't consider him a threat, right?

He was thinking these thoughts late in the afternoon in a secluded area of the Oogai park. Ira was sitting on a branch of a sturdy leafy tree, leaning against its trunk. Yesterday's events felt more like a dream to him now but they weren't as easy to forget. He idly tore leaves off the branches that shielded him, feeling rather sullen. Just then, he spotted a group of tree girls from above. One with pink hair, one with dark hair and one in a yellow dress.

'Pretty Cures,' Ira muttered.

The girls spread a light pink blanket out in the middle of the lawn and evened it out. Each of them took a bento box out of a bag she was carrying and placed it in the center. The yellow one brought tea cups, too. They came to have a picnic in this quiet area where their fairy partners wouldn't draw too much attention.

'It's a shame Makoto had to miss this' Alice said as they settled down.

'Yeah, but singing practice is important too,' Mana remarked as Sharuru jumped from her shoulder on the blanket.

The girls opened their boxes to share the food they had brought: rice balls, boiled eggs and colorful vegetables.

'Well, it's just the three of us, like old times,' Rikka tried to lift the mood.

'But now you have us~lance!' the bear-like fairy pointed out, making everyone chuckle softly.

Ira watched the girls from the tree but he couldn't make out what they were saying. While he subconsciously squinted at the one with dark hair, he heard a rustle in the tree. He turned around and found a woman sitting on a branch that grew roughly at a right angle from his. She wore an outfit that looked like a fusion of a white dress and a violet jacket, and a Cossack hat covered her long aqua hair.

'Marmo?'

'Ira!'

'What are you doing here?' their voices harmonized as they pointed at each other.

The woman huffed and lifted her chin, then replied as if it were obvious. 'I saw the Pretty Cures come here so I wanted to hide in this tree.' She bent forward and looked in the girls' direction. 'But it seems you beat me to it.'

Ira had to admit he was a bit relieved to see her, because if she was off the hook then he would be too. His lips curled into a smirk. 'What, did they blow your cover, "Cutie Madam"?'

Marmo's face turned pale with shock. But she suppressed her temper and asked subtly, 'You knew?'

'I'm not stupid!' Ira asserted, giving her the it's-obvious look now. 'You've got some nerve to think you'd get away with it.' It made him feel better to admonish someone who had committed worse treason than him.

Marmo's expression darkened at first but then she flipped the page, 'You're just jealous that I got to try out the Pretty Cure's power.'

This claim made Ira pause and raise an eyebrow. 'You can't have.' What was she talking about? It was just a cheap costume, right?

Marmo smirked, knowing she had his attention. 'Oh I did. I found a device like their transformation trinkets! But those do-gooders destroyed it along with my fame.'

Ira snickered at her misfortune and leaned comfortably against the tree trunk again.

'So I want to pay them back,' Marmo said and pulled the branches apart to glare at Alice. 'You coming?'

The boy blinked in surprise. He didn't expect another confrontation with the Pretty Cures so soon. This indeed was a good opportunity for a surprise attack, given that there were only tree of them and they didn't suspect a thing, but...

'Whatever. It's not our job to fight them,'

His nonchalant reaction surprised the woman. 'Huh? When did you get so lazy?'

'I've never solved your problems,' Ira said matter-of-factly, staring ahead.

Now Marmo was really getting irritated so she shot right back at him: 'You- And what have you been doing, huh? Stalking Cure Diamond?'

The boy's little ear wing twitched and he gave her a narrowed side glance. 'What?'

Marmo smirked, knowing that she struck a nerve, and said mockingly: 'Oh I bet you're happy you don't have to fight. Now you two can finally hook up!'

'That's enough!' Ira snapped at her with his fist clenched as blood heated up in his veins.

Marmo thought he took that jibe more personally than usual. But insted of feeling intimidated, she started giggling. 'Pff! You're blushing!' she pointed at his face.

Ira tensed up and touched his cheeks with both hands. 'N-No I'm not!' he protested but his companion only giggled more.

The boy felt embarrassement wash over him but he wouldn't stand for this. Marmo went too far this time! In a second, he jumped onto the branch Marmo was sitting on and pushed her back. The woman let out a shriek but managed to grip a tip of his jacket, taking him down with her. The two fell to the ground with a thud and groaned in pain simultaneously. When they pulled themselves together, Marmo grabbed Ira by the collar and stood up.

'How dare you push me!'

'You started it!'

Then the two took notice of their surroundings and looked in the same direction. Three girls sitting on a picnic deck and tree fairies were looking back at them with puzzled expressions. They stopped eating and drinking as if they froze in time. Somewhere a bird was heard chirping.

'We should go,' Ira said quietly.

Since their cover was blown, Marmo simply nodded and the odd duo 'glitched away' just as abruptly as they had appeared. The girls swiftly looked around to see if they didn't appear anywhere close to them, but they didn't see them anymore.

'Well... that was weird,' Mana broke the silence and tossed a piece of sushi into her mouth.