2. Meeting a Gentleman
It is the day of the picnic gathering as every Pretty Cure are rendezvousing in Yokohama's huge park that's consists picnic benches and an open grass field for everyone to play. Megumi and her friends, including Ribbon and Glassan, were in a monorail trying to reach their destination in time. They each had a bag of their fresh-made snacks in her hands.
"I hope we got on the right monorail this time." Hime said in concern. "Last time Megumi, you almost guided us to the wrong monorail when we were going on a summer trip."
"Don't you worry Hime." Megumi said with confidence. "This time I checked the schedule and listings back at station and found the correct monorail to meet our friends. So there's no need to worry."
"Are you sure?" Yuko said with a grin, but little concern.
"Don't you worry." Iona said in a calm manner. "If we did get on the wrong monorail…" she grabs something in her pocket and swiftly pulls it out to her friends. "I have all the maps and monorail listings we need in order to get back on track. I am well prepared for this." Iona smiled with little confidence. The girls were still surprised by Iona's well prepared actions and they never said a word.
The monorail stopped as it reached and arrived at its destination. It opens the doors and everyone, including the girls, got off. Ribbon and Glassan hid in Megumi and Iona's purses to hide themselves from the public. Megumi and her friends got out of the station and started to walk down the streets heading towards the park where the picnic area is. Megumi held the map and tries to figure out how to read the directions and finding the quickest way to get to the meeting.
"Let's see here…" she said as she was reading the map. "If we take up north after two blocks we pass…or maybe we can take the west route and get to…" Megumi was so confused that her mind was completely spinning.
"Megumi," Hime calls to her, "Do you know exactly where we are going?"
Megumi jolted a little and made a sweat drop from her head. She turns to her friend and laughs in embarrassment with her hand behind her head. "Hahaha…of course Hime-chan, I know how to read a map." She turns her embarrassing face into a confident look. "I can tell we are close to the picnic for sure."
"Really?" Yuko said in a little surprise. "How much further?"
"Just around the next corner and we are there."
Iona makes an unsure look on her face. "Why do I have this feeling that Megumi isn't telling the truth?"
Just before they the reach the corner that Megumi told to everyone, she makes a confident statement, "Alright we are here!"
"Finally," Hime said in relief, "I thought we never make it."
The girls were just about to turn around the corner. "I can't wait to see everyone again." Megumi said in extreme delight. "Okay everyone! We are-" But just as the girls turned around from the corner, what stand in front of them is dead end brick wall with trash cans on the side of the wall. Hime, Yuko, and Iona were a bit confused, but Megumi's face turn into a surprise look.
"Megumi," Yuko said, "This is a dead end." Megumi's face still remained the same and twitches her dropped jaw.
"Megumi, are really sure you know how to read a map?" Hime asked this time a concerned mood.
Megumi turns to her friends and laughs. "Ah hahaha, of course I do." she said while laughing at the same time. "I must've looked at the wrong street address, that's all."
Iona makes a firm look as she knows something isn't right with Megumi's sense of direction. She walks up to her and looks at the map Megumi is holding. Iona sighed in great embarrassment. "Megumi," she said, "You're reading the map wrong."
Megumi twitched a little and wondered what Iona meant by that. She looks at the map carefully and makes a great shock. She noticed the compass direction and the legend box were both upside down; she read the map upside-down. Iona and the other girls stared at Megumi.
Megumi's head went down in great disappointment. "I'm sorry girls." she said with sorrow. "I thought I can do it."
Iona took the map from Megumi. "From now on, I'll do the navigating." Iona said in calm manner.
"Alright…" Megumi replied still in disappointment. Iona guided her friends out of the dead end and back onto the streets again.
At the park where the picnic tables are being held, every Pretty Cure girl, including the fairies, is setting up their food and games for their picnic. Nao, Inori, and Komachi are placing plates and silverware on the edge of the three combined tables, and Kanade, Reika, Hikari, and Mana were placing their foods in the center on the tables. Some of the other girls were setting up sport games while the rest were having a friendly chat.
Hibiki, Akane, Erkia, Rin, Nagisa were setting up the volleyball court. Hibiki who got out volleyball starts to make a worry thought to her friends. "Hey I'm a bit worried. Are Megumi and her friends lost? They're a little late."
"Don't you worry." Akane, who is helping with the poles and net, replied and smiled at Hibiki. "I'm sure they will be here right here as we speak."
"I hope so, otherwise I'll have to go out and find them."
"There's no need to worry." Erika said in confidence. "I'm really sure that they will be here the moment our picnic setup is done."
Hibiki smiled a little, "I guess you're right."
Nagisa and Rin got out the net and begin to untangle it. "Hey Hibiki," Nagisa called out to her, "Can you help us with the net?"
"Yeah sure." Hibiki responded as she puts down her volleyball and went up to Nagisa and Rin.
Back on Yokohama's city streets, Megumi and her friends were on the busiest street knowing that they are getting close to the public park to meet their Pretty Cure friends. Iona stops, still on the sidewalk, in front of a fast-food restaurant trying to figure out which way to go now from their position.
"Something wrong Iona?" Yuko asks.
"Well getting pretty close to the park according from our map," Iona pointed out to Yuko and the other girls, "but this part here is confusing." Iona pointed on the map to show her friends where to look at on the map. "We are here, and the park is just a couple blocks to go. However there's a river between the park and the city street we are on, and I don't see any bridges on this map."
"Hmm, now what do we do?" Megumi wondered in an unease mood.
"We promise to meet there exactly on time, but now we are running a bit late." Yuko stated as starts to worry too.
"Aw Man!" Hime cried, "Now will never get to the park and have fun with our friends." The four girls are now in a stump, not knowing what to do.
"You need some help girls?" said a young man's voice. The girls heard the voice and turned towards the direction of that sound. There they saw a young Asian man, look like he is 20 years old and about five feet and four inches tall, sitting on an outdoor chair and table drinking his soda. He has short black hair and his body is a bit overweight. He is wearing a white T-shirt with yellow stars on the left side of his chest, long blue multi-pocket pants, and brown slip-on walking shoes. The girls continued to stare at the young man as he looked honest and kind like a gentleman. "It seems to me you're lost." the man stated to them.
"Yeah we are." Megumi replies to the young man. "We're trying to meet our friends, but we're kind of…stumped."
"Can you help us?" Hime asked with a little cry.
"Let me see the map." The man asked. Iona walks to the man and gives him the map she holds. The man looks at the map and then looks back at Iona. "Where are you guys heading?" he asked.
Iona pointed the park on the map, "We're heading to the park here, but we can't seem to get across due to this river and no bridges."
The young man looks back at the map carefully and thoroughly. In a few seconds, he noticed something, "This map is supposed to have bridges, I don't see why. Unless…" he folds the map back to its small folded size and looks at the front cover of it. He then smiles. "It's no wonder."
"What? What is?" Iona questioned.
"You have an old map." He points out to Iona. "The new version just came out a month ago. This map you have is two years old." And it was true when Iona took the map back and looks at the date. Indeed, the map's update info stated it was last updated two years ago.
"Huh, how did we not notice that?" Iona wondered.
"I guess we were so busy finding our friends that we forgot to check when the last update on this map was since two years passed in this city." Yuko stated.
"I guess that explains why we ran into a dead end brick wall that time." Megumi followed as she rubs the back of her head.
"Uh Megumi, that was most likely your fault." Hime clarified.
Megumi froze in realization and sweat dropped, "Oh yeah…"
The young man takes one last sip from his soda and swallows it. "I have the map's latest edition to this city." he says to the girls. "Here you can have a look." The young man reaches for his blue messenger bag that's sitting next to him and pulls out the map. He then unfolds it and shows it to the Megumi and her friends.
Iona took the map and the girls looked at the updated map of the city. They found the park, the river, and the street they were on from the map, and they noticed bridges were added onto the river that connects to the street and park.
"Hey look," Hime said, "There's a bridge we can walk on that's not far from here."
"You're right." Megumi responded. "We can get to the park in the nick of time."
"So what are we waiting for?" Yuko said.
"Let's go over there now." Iona finishes Yuko's sentence.
"I'm going to the park too." said the young man. "Since we are both going there, is it okay if I tagged along with you girls?"
The girls looked at each other for a moment, and then looked back at the young man. "Of course." Megumi responded. "We're all going there, so I don't see why not."
"Great then let's go." The young man picked up his bag and puts around his left side on his neck. He grabbed his food tray that had his eaten lunch on it, dumps the trash into the trash can, and puts the tray on the top of the can.
Before they start to walk, Megumi starts to ask a question. "Excuse me mister," she called to the man. "What's your name?"
The young man looks back at Megumi and he smiled. "Matthew, Matthew Oda." he responded.
The four girls jolted a little after hearing Matthew's name. "Matthew Oda?" Megumi ponderd, "That's an odd name."
A few minutes later of walking, the girls and Matthew approached the bridge and start to across it. When they were on the bridge, Megumi starts to make a conversation.
"So how come you have an English name in your first name, and a Japanese name in your last name?" Megumi asked.
Matthew heard Megumi's question and looks at her. He then calmly smiles, "Well if must know miss, my ancestors live here in Japan, but me and my parents were born from America."
The girls jumped in shock, almost dropping the snacks they made for the picnic. "America!?" the girls shouted. This caused Matthew to stop walking sees the shocking girls.
"You mean the United States of America!?" Yuko exclaimed.
"That's right ma'am." Matthew responded.
"Then what are you doing here in Japan?" Hime asked.
"Well my parents and I have been thinking of going back here to Japan to learn about its culture and history. My grandparents, great grandparents, and etcetera, have spent their long years of lives in the Home of the Free, and the Land of the Brave for a long time, that in my time generation I should learn more about my family history in Japan and its culture."
"Oh I see." Hime responded.
"How long have you been here Mr. Oda-san?" Iona asked.
"My parents and I just moved here two months ago, and I am fitting well in this society." Matthew responded. "We also live here in Yokohama as a good start to fit in with the Japanese society."
"So you just arrived here in Japan." Megumi stated. "But I surprised you were able to speak Japanese even you grew up in the U.S.A."
"Well I took a Japanese class before we left the U.S.A., and I'm speaking fluently in both Japanese and English."
"Really?" Yuko said in astonishment, "Can you show us some of your English speaking skills, if that's okay?"
"Of course, listen." Matthew cleared his thought and speaks to the girls in English. He said phrases like 'How are you doing?', 'What time is it?', and 'Good morning'. The girls were even more astounded by Matthew's speaking skills.
"That's incredible," astounded Iona, "I never met someone who speaks English in my life."
"Indeed." Hime followed.
"So what are your parents doing here for their lives?" Megumi continued to ask. "Y'know, their careers?"
"My mother is a product seller going to her clients' companies to see if they could buy any of the clients' products, and my father is a high level skilled mechanic engineer making designs of motors for cars, and powered engines for trains and planes." Matthew explained.
"And how about you?"
"I'm only a college student, still studying hard as I can in all of my subjects. I haven't decided what my career or future life is going to be." Matthew then winks with one eye at Megumi. "But I can tell you, I really love Mathematics. Math is my favorite subject."
"Oh, so you're a mathematician." Iona pointed.
"That's correct." They all smiled at each other. Then Matt realized something. "Hey are we going to talk on this bridge the whole time, or are we going to the park?"
The girls widen their eyes as they forgot about the picnic gathering. "Oh yeah!" Megumi said in realization. "We were supposed to meet our friends at the park!"
"Then what are we waiting for?" Matthew wondered, "Let's go." The girls and Matthew continued to walk across the bridge.
As soon as they reached the other side of the bridge, the gang stopped and sees the huge opening scenery of the park. "Well here we are." said Matthew in great confidence.
Megumi and her friends smiled as they finally arrived at their destination. "Thanks for everything Matthew Oda-san." she said with great joy.
"No problem," he responded, "Oh and by the way, call me Matt for short."
"Thanks Matt-san." said Hime with glee. "We'll never forget your kindness today."
"What are you going to do here since you're at the park now?" Yuko asked Matt.
"I'm here to draw stuff." Matt responded, "Drawing is one of my hobbies."
"Oh, are planning to become an artist one day?" Iona asked.
"No ma'am, I just like to draw for the fun of it. If you like, I can show some of my drawings before you meet your friends again."
"Really?" said Megumi in great surprise. "Can we?"
"Sure, give me a sec." Matt reaches into his bag again and he pulls out a sketchbook. He opens the sketchbook and shows the pictures to Megumi and her friends. Megumi and the other girls looked, and with great amazement, they were astounded by Matt's work of art. Some pages were colored in crayons, some were in markers, and some were in colored pencils. All of his pictures were well drawn and detailed. "Yep, I worked really hard on these drawings. A few are pictures here in Japan, but most of them are from the U.S." He even showed pictures of New York's Statue of Liberty, Hawaii's O'ahu beach, and Seattle's Space Needle.
"Oh wow," said Hime in great excitement, "They look so good that it's almost real."
Matt puts the sketchbook back in his bag. "Well you better hurry and get to your friends that are waiting at the picnic, otherwise they'll start go on a search party."
"Right Matt." Megumi responded and nodded. "Thanks again for everything."
"You have a good day." said Yuko with glee.
"Take care Matt-san." Iona followed. The girls headed towards the opening grass field and start to find their other Pretty Cure friends.
"You take care girls," Matt calls out to them, "and have a good one." Matt went to other direction and walks to place where he can draw quietly and peacefully. "Those girls sure are something, although I didn't catch their names. Oh well, I'm glad I helped them."
At the picnic, every Pretty Cure girl has finally set up their food and games, except now they're patiently waiting for Megumi and her friends to show up. Some of the girls were a bit impatient and begin to worry.
"Jeez, where are they?" Erika said growing impatient.
"They shouldn't be this late." Tsubomi worried.
"Perhaps they got on the wrong train," Reika noted, "or their train is delayed."
"If that's true, they would've called us that they were going to be this late." Karen stated.
Nao and Hibiki looked at each other and nodded. They both stood up in front of the all the girls. "Gang, Nao and I are going to look for them." Hibiki commanded. "We'll be back in flash."
"You can count on us." said Nao in confidence.
"Alright but don't get lost." Aguri noted. Hibiki and Nao nodded.
"HEEEYYYY!" someone shouted. Every Pretty Cure girl heard the voice and turned towards the sound. There they saw Megumi and her friends running towards the other girls in a heap of rush. "Sorry we're late!" Megumi continued to shout. "But we made it!" All the other Pretty Cure girls smiled and felt relieved that Megumi and her friends arrived just in time. Megumi and her friends arrived as they were panting heavily. "Sorry about our tardiness." said Megumi while breathing at the same time. "Did we make you worry too much."
"Almost." Ellen stated.
"Hibiki and Nao were about to search for you guys." said Ako straightening her glasses. "But it looks you showed up at the right time."
"Well everyone is here!" Nozomi shouted in excitement. "So let's get this party started. It's decided!"
Everyone, including the fairies, shouted in excitement.
Meanwhile high above the skyscraper buildings, a rainbow portal opened in the middle of the sky. Out popped Tint, the butterfly fairy. She looks all around Yokohama from her bird's eye view with a concentrated look. "So this is where the Pretty Cures live." Tint said as she was looking around. "I got to hurry and find them." But just she was about fly out, another portal opened behind her, but this time it's black and goopy. She looked behind and sees six blobs coming out of the black portal. "GAH! How did you find me!?" she shouted in fear. One of the blobs moves its finger telling Tint to come to them. Tint was scared, but in a flash, she bolted and headed into Yokohama. The blobs changed their form into black ravens and pursuits Tint. The blobs were behind Tint's tail. "Pretty Cure! HELP ME!"