After returning home from the mini weekend getaway, all Itose could think about was the strange girl who had appeared out of nowhere. That entire Sunday, she had been in discussion with the others about what to do but of course, could come up with nothing.
Stretching out her legs, drastically reaching her hands out into the air, she slowly slid out of her bed. She could already hear her brothers causing chaos in the kitchen and the last thing she wanted to do was see their annoying faces. How come every time she wanted some peace, her brothers thought it was a good time to be the most messiest and loudest people in the entire planet. Just for once, she wished they'd just move out.
Reluctantly opening the door, she was greeted by a compilation of pillows attacking her.
"NOW WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" she screeched as she attacked all her brothers while they interrupted in fits of laughter.
Seryuu, the second youngest brother, stared at them with a blank expression on his face before walking away. Clearly capturing every part of that moment with his phone.
"Seryuu! Delete that!" Itose yelled after him but to no avail as he had locked himself out of the world with his headphones
"Aw come on, Ito! Have a little bit of fun! Smile a bit!" The eldest, Raizou teased
"Tell me to smile one more time at 7 in the morning and I'll start giving you a reason to cry!" she huffed "and don't call me Ito!"
Running into the bathroom before anybody else did, Itose sighed with relief at the safety of the wall between her and her brothers.
"Pure chaos..." she muttered "ack!"
After her quick shower, she hurriedly slid out into her bedroom and fixed up her red shoulder length hair. Carefully brushing it, she split it into two before creating two low braids. Tying the completed braids with a small elastic, she quickly began to wrap one around the beginning of the braid before repeating the same step with the other. Every time somebody asked about her hair, she described it as a milk maid braid but at the back of your head. Once secured, she fixed her bangs, grabbed Bow and stuffed him into her bag before heading out. By this time, it was nearly late. Quickly munching on her breakfast, she sped down the stairs with her lunch bag in hand as she raced down the street.
Everything seemed normal, April was nearly coming to an end and May was on it's way. Reflecting on the past month, she had never experienced anything so busy in her life. Her arms and legs were always aching and that month must have been the entire accumulation of her exercise for the past 16 years. Physical activities were definitely not her best forte.
Soon, the school gates were finally in sight, along with the hundreds of students that had decided that the gates were a great place to socialise and create a barricade of uniforms. Squeezing through the crowds, a familiar face caught her attention.
A girl with bright yellow hair tied into two pigtails that curled at the end. With a brow raised, she recognised her as the girl from the other day.
"She goes to this school...?" Itose mumbled to herself "talk about coincidence"
Staring for a while, Itose tried to figure out who she was. After all, all this time it just seemed like some random kid who came to her. Maybe now there was a chance to help her out a bit, but as usual, Itose was out of ideas.
Just then, her eyes shifted to familiar figures who were standing hidden in the corner. Eyes and ears perking up, she dashed quickly towards them, squeezing through the students and trying not to knock anyone down. Both seeing Itose coming, the girls moved out of the way before she crashed into them because that would not have been a pretty sight.
"Good morning!" Itose smiled cheerfully
"Wow. You seem energetic" Aone commented
"I wasn't earlier but I saw you guys so" she grinned "oh right, before I forget" huddling the group together she turned around and beckoned at the person behind her
"What are we looking at?" Ryoka raised a brow
"Don't make it obvious!" Itose hissed "Look over there! It's the girl with blonde hair we saw on the weekend!"
Clearly not listening to Itose's warning of discretion, Ryoka whipped around and scanned the front gate, trying to find her.
"Gee, make it suspiciously obvious then why don't ya" The red head rolled her eyes as Ryoka finally found her
"Oh! Yeah she is... I didn't recognise her earlier because she wasn't in a uniform" Ryoka said "but she's in my class"
"She what now!? Woman, how can you not recognise her if she's in your class!?"
"What? I didn't have a need to pay attention to anybody in my class because frankly, I never cared. But now that I think about it, I thought she seemed familiar" Ryoka shrugged
"Don't just dismiss it like it's nothing" Itose mumbled "Anything you know about her?"
"Uh... not much but I do know she's rich."
"Well that explains a lot" Aone replied
"Her name is Kouseki... Kou... something"
"Koujiki." Aone stated "I guess is the name you're trying to remember. They're a well known rich family in this area."
"Ah... yeah that sounds about right" Ryoka nodded
All three of them continued to stare at the girl. There was something extremely young about her that it seemed weird to see her in high school. She had an air of fanciness but she also seemed like a little child. Strange.
"The Koujiki family are well off because they're all doctors or work in that field. I'm almost certain there are three daughters and that one is the youngest." Aone said "I don't know what her name is though..."
"Let's just keep an eye out on her today... maybe we'll figure out the reasonings behind her wanting to be different." Itose said before looking at Ryoka "and since she's in your class, figure out her name."
"Mhm."
All separating and dispersing to their classes, Ryoka sighed as she looked at the girl. This was going to be one tough day.
Settling into class, Ryoka couldn't help but notice the students for once. Since arriving in the city, she was so determined in going back to the country that she didn't bother learning about her classmates or even their names. Sure, she was well known but she didn't care. Now analysing her class, she could tell who the sociable and outgoing ones, the sports players, the studious ones and even the quiet ones. Just by their body language alone, it was quite obvious. She wondered how she never noticed it before.
Staring at the young blonde haired girl, Ryoka raised a brow. The girl had perfectly aligned each one of her belongings onto the desk, everything in perfect order and none out of place. Her feet touched the ground as she sat with her back completely straight. Her hair was swept out of her eyes and she had a calm solemn look. Almost robotic.
Class continued on and Ryoka was beginning to feel frustrated. The girls name was never mentioned and if she was called, it was just her surname. She was too far to see her name on her belongings and she couldn't just nonchalantly stroll over to say hi. If this was Itose, she would have just done exactly that.
Hours and hours of learning nothing, the final bell rang along with the eruption of chatter in the room. Quickly packing her stuff, Ryoka snuck around the classroom trying to figure her name. After what seemed like forever, a student finally called her.
"Kanae! Are you able to go to the library after school to work on the project?"
"Um... no not today unfortunately... maybe tomorrow?"
Her voice was quiet, restrained and yet calm. It was also high pitched and almost child like.
Leaving the classroom, Ryoka met up with Itose and Aone who were waiting for her at the shoe lockers.
"Her name is Kanae Koujiki." Ryoka said to them
"Great! At least we know her name now" Itose grinned "well, let's just go home and see what happens."
All agreeing, they split off and wandered away. Since school ended late, she could see the sun was beginning to set. A beautiful glow poured down onto her as she strolled
"Hey Bow..."
"Yeah? ~bo"
"Do you get sunsets like this? With the shade of yellows, reds and oranges."
"No unfortunately... since we always have to keep the sun on, there's no need for it to dim into night ~bo"
"Ah... I see..."
"But since being here, sunsets and sunrise have been one of my favorites. It's just so calming. When this battle is over, I can't wait for Pact's Country to see how beautiful it is ~bo"
"Yeah..."
As they walked, Itose distracted herself by wandering into stores, buying snacks. She couldn't care less about what she ate and thus, always ate whatever she wanted. As she walked through a park, a figure sitting on a nearby bench caught her attention. It was Kanae. Watching her, she noticed something was off. Since that morning, she could tell something was bothering her but she didn't know what.
Making up her mind, Itose quickened her pace and headed in the direction of Kanae.
"Hey!"
"Um..." Kanae looked up surprised "Hi..."
"How ya?"
A little unsure of how to answer, Kanae just looked down at the ground. Sensing that she was a little shy, Itose took a seat beside her and the two lingered in the silence for a while. After a few minutes of silence, Itose smiled and looked into the sun.
"What's your favorite color?"
"My favorite color...?"
Kanae raised an brow. She had never thought of the answer to that before. It was a strange ice breaker question but she still didn't know to reply. I mean, did she even have a favorite color?
"You look like a yellow"
"I look like a yellow?"
Now there's a sentence she never thought she'd ever hear. What was that supposed to even mean?
"You know, each person has their own color. Their own unique style, something that pops out as you. I just thought yellow because you look like a ball of energy ready to burst."
"Huh..."
Kanae looked up at the strange girl who had decided to converse with her. She wasn't a talker and always felt awkward around strangers but there was something extremely comforting being around her. As if, she could set her self loose and not be so uptight about everything.
"Anyways, I gotta go home now so see you around!"
With that, Itose got up from the bench and walked away. Leaving Kanae to watch behind her in bewilderment. A common feeling people feel after Itose talks to them.
"What was that about? ~bo" Bow whispered
"I dunno. Just felt like it."
As she walked away, the sun continued to beam down. Kanae thought about the words that this mysterious stranger said. Taking in a deep breath of the air around her, she smiled to herself. It was so freeing being outside. There, she didn't have to sit up straight, keep her elbows of the table, keep a calm expression and simply, don't stick out. Back at home, her parents were extremely suffocating. She didn't mind following rules if they made sure she was safe but the rules put on her were to keep her parent's reputation clean. Everything was about her parents and how they felt and looked to the public, never asking what Kanae felt about all this. But of course, since when did parents actually listen to their children?
Glancing at her phone, she realised it was getting late. Her parents hated if she wasn't punctual. She could already hear the lecture she was going to get echoing in her ears. Hesitantly standing up, she slowly walked back to the path home. With her backpack behind her, her twin tails swinging side to side with every little step she took.
Just as she was a few feet away from the park, she heard a loud crash behind her. Whipping round, a look of horror replaced her calm expression. There before her was the swing set turning into a monster and beside it, were three small figures laughing. Terrified, she slowly took a step backwards before running away. She wasn't exactly fast so the monster had caught up to her.
"Oh look! A scared little mouse" Tora laughed
"Scared mouse!" Guru giggled in excitement
"Come on Hageruze! Let's find those pesky Pretty Cure's and make them pay once and for all!" Ian shouted
Following his orders, the monster crashed into the buildings around her, causing it to fall on top of her. Closing her eyes tight, expecting the worse, a few moments passed before realising she was still alive. Looking around to see what happened, she saw a blue light surrounding her along with a girl with long blue hair.
"Are you okay?" Cure Haven asked "Good thing we got you just in time or you would have been squished"
"Um... I'm fine"
With wide eyes, Kanae watched the Pretty Cure's surround her. In the middle of them, Cure Corde glared at the TriTriplets.
"Don't you dare bring random civilians into this!"
"Hmph. If you ask me, they just asked to be in it. I mean, who cares" Tora shrugged "the girl isn't important anyways. You are."
"This girl is just as important as anybody else over here!" Corde shouted
"Whatever" Ian rolled his eyes
"Yeah, whatever" Guru crossed her arms and tried not to giggle
"What a pain" Aloe sighed
"Let's go stop them girls" Corde said with a serious expression before turning to Kanae "stay hidden"
"Uh... okay"
With that, Corde leaped into the air before being followed by both Aloe and Haven. Raising one foot out, Aloe aimed a kick towards the monster. Managing to aim for its head but the monster dodged out of the way, leaving Aloe hitting the ground. Groaning to herself, Haven ran towards her to help her up but as they were about to run, the monster grabbed them tightly. Placing them onto the seat of the swing, he swung them hard into a building, barely missing Kanae who immediately moved to safety.
"Are you- are you okay?" Kanae mumbled, completely flustered
"Yeah. Fine" they groaned as they tried to stand
"Oh look Ian. They're losing" Tora laughed
"Good for them. Now to find that stupid fairy and the magical object" Ian smirked
"Stupid fairy." Guru nodded
The TriTriplets raised their right hand in unison and pointed at Corde who glared at them angrily "Get her!"
Quickly obeying, the monster picked up a tree from its root and threw it at Corde who got crushed underneath it.
"Agh!" Corde groaned
Hurrying to her side, Haven and Aloe tried to heave the tree off of her.
"Finish them off. The others won't able to make fun of us now" Tora smiled
The Hageruze got ready to aim while Kanae watched in horror from the sidelines. Her head blank and feet frozen to the ground, what was she going to do to help the Pretty Cures? She wasn't a Pretty Cure who had cool abilities and powers. It's not like she's extremely athletic and smart. If she did anything, all she would be is a momentary sacrifice while the girls managed to get out. Puffing up her cheeks, her eyes moved quickly as the monster began to run towards them.
Unconsciously and without much thought, she felt her legs get up. Suddenly, before she could stop herself, she had run up to the monster to stall for time. The Cures all watched in shock at the blonde girl stand up against the monster, despite her shaky feet.
Determined more than ever to get out, Corde held her breath as she pushed the tree off of her. With Aloe and Haven's help, Corde managed to slide out and run to Kanae before she got hit.
"Watch out!" Corde screamed before pulling Kanae out of the way.
Once safe, the three looked at Kanae who was shaking from head to toe.
"Are you okay?" Aloe asked
"Uhuh... I'm sorry... I should have just stayed hidden..." Kanae mumbled, her lips quivering and almost in tears
"You're fine. Thanks to you, I found a motivation to get out of that mess and you did stall the monster. We really couldn't have done it without you" Corde smiled reassuringly and turned to the others "now let's get this over with."
As they stood up to walk away Cure Corde turned around and smiled at her "You're promised a bright future. Don't go wasting it being like everybody else, you are you and you are unique. You know, most times, people need to go find the light but sometimes, you just gotta be the light."
"Be the light...?"
"Color exists in everything. It's always there and never goes away. But at night, when the sun goes to sleep, you don't see color and all you see is darkness. To see that color once again, people would turn on a flashlight. But what if everything around you is sunny and bright but you're full of darkness what then? That's when you gotta turn on the light inside you."
"But... but how? How does one turn on a light inside them...?"
"Sometimes, it just starts with a smile"
Feeling reassured, she sat there thinking about Corde's words. Despite the battle, the warmth of the sun covered her up in a tight embrace. Just then, the corners of her mouth began to turn up. As if on cue, a bright light flashed before her. Taking all the attention away from the fight, everybody turned to look at her.
"What's she doing?!" Tora screeched angrily "Hageruze!! Stop her!"
"Yeah stop her stop her!" Guru copied
"Go on you big pathetic creature! We can't let her get that!"
A paint palette and a brush appeared in the light, Kanae raised a brow at it before grabbing them into her hand.
"Kanae!" Ryoka shouted "Transform!"
"Wha- what?!"
"You got this!" Haven smiled
Turning to Corde, Corde nodded at her to take it. Placing the brush onto the palette, a swirl of bright yellow enveloped her.
"Color it! PreCure Splash!"
As she said those words, her shy intimated voice disappeared as she felt a surge of confidence flow through her. Her hair tie vanished and her hair surrounded her face before it began to curl. Braiding itself on the side, it split into the low twin tails before tying itself with a flower. With her brush, she painted the dress and stepped into it. A color splash of yellow wrapping around her before turning into her dress with a pop. With the multiple layered skirt, she painted the small designs onto it. Kicking her left leg into the air, a ribbon wrapped around it before her shoes appeared. Finally, a large ribbon appeared behind her and a ribbon landed on her head, completing the transformation. Stars circulated around her before she landed.
"The Color that Revives Energy! Cure Amber!"
"ARGH! GET THEM!" Tora yelled at the top of her lungs
Amber ran to join the girls who all held their weapons ready. Haven's hand started to glow, Aloe held out her katana and Corde opened up her fan. Watching them, another weapon appeared which Amber grabbed. Nunchucks.
"Nice weapon" Corde laughed
With that, the four raced towards the monster. This time, not letting themselves get beat. Whirling round, Aloe and Haven held their weapons ready. With a surge of both water and nature, they aimed it towards the monster.
"Haven Justice!"
"Aloe Kaleidoscope!"
The monster now stumbling about, Corde held out her fan and a light escaped it.
"Corde Fantasy!"
Now down and ready to be purified, they all smiled at Amber to give the final blow. Spinning her weapon round, a group of stars were sent flying to the monster before immediately turning back into a normal swing set.
"Amber Charge!"
"Urgh! No fair no fair no fair!" Tora wailed, jumping up and down
"Better go home and rethink your actions!" Corde glared
"Hrmph!" Tora grabbed her brother and sister and disappeared into thin air.
Returning back to their regular forms, Kanae gasped to see who the girls were.
"You..." she mumbled pointing at Itose "and you're Ryoka from my class and... and Aone from the year above..."
"Surprised?" Ryoka grinned
"Very..."
All laughing, they smiled at Kanae who couldn't help but laugh back. For the first time, Kanae felt reassured of what was going to be coming next.
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"THERE'S A FOURTH ONE?!" Maruko yelled angrily
"YOU INCOMPETENT FOOLS!!" Rokkaku threw a glass at them
Dodging it, the three watched the glass shatter. Hiding behind Seihou, Rokkaku continued to throw random objects only to hit Seihou and miss the triplets.
"How could you let a fourth one join!? There's four now! One was fine, two we could deal with, three was pushing it and now four! Four! FOUR!!" Maruko groaned "What is the master going to say?"
"I don't know... get angry?" Tora mumbled
"WELL OBVIOUSLY!" Rokkaku yelled almost bursting their eardrums
"It wasn't our fault!" Ian stated "We were winning that battle but the Cure Corde girl said something and boom! She was a Cure too!"
"I can't believe there's more Cures now... We have to stop them or else they'll find the magical object-" Maruko paused "Have they found the magical object yet?"
"No." Tora replied
"Good... We've got to stop them before they find out the truth. Next time! I'll go out, I'll show you how a leader will stop those Cures once and for all."