Been a while, but hey, it's finally here. ...Sort
of :D Chapter 3 is very long, the longest chapter in the novel (90
pages), so I decided to split it into 2 parts, and I hope I won't turn
into a Desertrian before I can actually complete it :")
You can read the translation right after 'Read more', and once I'm done with the second part, I'll compile them into a PDF like before.
cover art by Umakoshi-sensei obviously
Chapter 3 - The New Precures
part 1
A row of sakura trees ran along the banks of the park near the Botanical Garden, which was brimming with flower viewers. The cherry blossoms came late this year, and were not in full bloom until the beginning of April.
Hanasaki Kaoruko was walking through the crowd with heavy steps.
Almost a week has passed since Cure Moonlight was defeated by Professor Sabaaku and Dark Precure. During that time, Kaoruko would visit Tsukikage Yuri’s home at the Botanical Garden’s employee residence every day, yet, she wasn’t able to see her even once. Even though Kaoruko noticed the presence of someone inside the house, nobody responded to the sound of the doorbell, nor to her voice.
Once, she deliberately came at the time when Yuri’s mother, Haruna, arrived home from work. Kaoruko asked her how Yuri was doing, but apparently, she had shut herself in her room, and only came out for meals and to use the bathroom, and wouldn’t speak to Haruna either. She was at a loss at what to answer when Haruna asked her in return if she knew what might have happened to Yuri.
Spring break was almost over as well. Yuri should be in her second-year now at Myoudou Academy’s high school, but Kaoruko was worried about whether she would be able to attend school properly at all. Her chest tightened at the thought that she had turned Yuri’s whole life upside down just by making her a Precure.
Kaoruko wanted Yuri to get back on her feet somehow, and she has been relentlessly thinking about how to help her with that. Then, she remembered that Yuri had a classmate, the only person she could call a friend: Kurumi Momoka. The name came up from time to time in her casual daily conversations with Yuri; she was the daughter of the family who ran a fashion store called Fairy Drop next door to Kaoruko's house.
Kaoruko was just on her way to ask Momoka to drag Yuri outside in order to distract her from the situation. After getting out of the sakura viewing crowd, she headed towards Momoka’s house, where the girl had already been waiting for her. She came trotting towards Kaoruko.
“Hanasaki-san, I finally managed to reach Yuri.”
This morning, before going to the Botanical Garden, Kaoruko mentioned to Momoka that she had been worried about not being able to reach Yuri. Momoka also said that she had texted her several times since the start of the spring break, but didn’t receive any replies, and it got her concerned.
“And what did Yuri-chan say?”
“She promised to come shopping with me.”
“Really? That’s great! Thank you, Momoka-chan,” as Kaoruko thanked her, a petite girl cheerfully hopped out of the store. It was Momoka’s younger sister, Erika.
“Did you say shopping?! Which shop are you going to, Momo-nee?”
“That’s none of your business,” Momoka said with an annoyed expression, to which Erika raised her voice even more:
“You can’t leave your cute little sister behind! Take! Me! Too!” she begged as she latched onto Momoka’s arm.
“I’m going with a friend, so no way!”
“You can’t be serious! Pleaseee!” Erika persisted, like a small child throwing a tantrum.
Unlike the mature-looking Momoka, who had been working as a model since childhood, Erika looked very young for a second year middle school student. In fact, she could easily pass as an elementary schooler. Even in their personalities, Momoka was the reserved, ever-cautious type, while Erika was always enthusiastic and overly optimistic.
Since it looked like a sister fight would break out any minute, Kaoruko said:
“Then, Momoka-chan, when you meet Yuri-chan, please tell her to drop by at the Botanical Garden as well.”
“Of course. I will let you know how Yuri is doing when I come back.”
“Thank you. Well, then.”
Kaoruko was about to return to her workplace, leaving the arguing pair behind, when her cell phone began to vibrate inside her lab coat’s pocket.
As she took out the phone to answer it, she was greeted by the voice of her granddaughter, Tsubomi:
“Hello, Grandma. We have just entered Kibougahana.”
Hearing Tsubomi’s voice through the device, she unintentionally let out an “Eh?”, followed by a loud “Aahh!”
Momoka and Erika, still in the middle of their quarrel, looked in her direction as she exclaimed.
Flustered, Kaoruko turned away from them.
“Grandma, you didn’t forget that we were moving today, right?”
Kaoruko’s thoughts were so preoccupied with Yuri that she has indeed forgotten about Tsubomi and her parents, who were supposed to move into her house today.
“O-Of course not. In fact, I’m standing outside right now,” she said quietly.
“That’s right. You wouldn’t forget about it, Grandma,” Tsubomi replied, audibly relieved.
Kaoruko glanced at the building in front of her, apologising in her heart, and convincing herself that she wasn’t actually lying. Outside the neighbouring house, she saw Erika staring at her curiously, while Momoka dragged her back inside the shop by the ear. Kaoruko chuckled before picking up her conversation with Tsubomi again:
“The movers left earlier than you, right?”
“Yes. They left about 30 minutes before us, so I think they should be arriving soon.”
“I see…” At that moment, the movers’ truck pulled up in front of the house. “Oh, they have just arrived. I’ll hang up now.”
Kaoruko put away her phone, greeted the movers, and brought in the luggages.
Once that was done, she called the Botanical Garden to tell them she would take off the rest of the day.
While waiting for Tsubomi and her parents to arrive, Kaoruko recalled the time when she herself had moved to Kibougahana three years ago.
It happened when Kaoruko was appointed as head of the Botanical Garden. Before that, during her time as vice-head, she would commute from her old home in Kamakura. However, being over 60 years old, she found the commute on a crowded train tiring, so she rented a house, and started to live there alone. Being a grandma’s girl, this made Tsubomi cry, but Kaoruko felt like this could be a good experience for her granddaughter as well.
Tsubomi’s father, Hanasaki Youichi – probably by Kaoruko’s influence –, was a botanist, who used to give lectures at his former university in Tokyo, while also partaking in activities involving the protection of endangered plant species. Her mother, Mizuki, was a career woman at a well-known flower trading company. The two of them were often away from home because of their work, which left Tsubomi lonely. Until then, Kaoruko was the one who looked after her the most, but when her parents realised how reserved she became and how out-of-place she felt at school, they decided to quit their jobs for good and open a flower shop near their old home in Kamakura. That happened three years ago, around the same time when Kaoruko became head of the Botanical Garden.
Kaoruko thought that if the three of them lived together by themselves, it would strengthen their weakened family bond, and Tsubomi’s behaviour could gradually change as well, which is why she decided to move to Kibougahana City alone.
Then, this New Year, Kaoruko’s landlord offered to sell her the house she was renting, and after consulting with her son, Youichi, they decided to move here from Kamakura and start living together as a family of four again.
The renovations started immediately so that the flower shop could open, with the work being completed three days ago.
As Kaoruko was reminiscing these memories, a minivan pulled up behind the truck, and opening the rear door, a girl with glasses and a ponytail jumped out of it. She was Kaoruko’s granddaughter, Tsubomi.
“Grandma!”
“Tsubomi, welcome to Kibougahana!”
Kaoruko opened her arms, hugging Tsubomi with all her might, as she leapt out of the car.
***
In the evening, as the four of them were eating together again for the first time in a while, having some soba to celebrate their moving in, Kaoruko heard the bell ring at the back door.
Tsubomi was about to stand up, but Kaoruko seated her back.
“It’s okay, Tsubomi, I’ll answer it. It should be a visitor for me. Just eat.”
“Alright, I understand. Then, if you insist...”
Tsubomi’s polite way of speaking goes back to elementary school. It began with an advice from Kaoruko to speak politely if she wanted to become a good wife, since the other kids in the neighbourhood had picked up really poor language, probably from the TV. Tsubomi’s use of words became refined afterwards, even overly so.
Kaoruko once warned her that being too polite makes it just as difficult to have natural conversations with friends, but Tsubomi said that she liked to talk politely, so it stuck with her.
She must have got that strong will from her late grandfather, Kaoruko thought while smiling, walking towards the back door.
As she expected, her visitor was Momoka.
She informed Kaoruko that she has parted with Yuri just now; she wasn’t as depressed as Momoka had expected, and said she would go to school from the day after tomorrow.
“And did Yuri-chan tell you why she was feeling down?”
“It was something I didn’t expect. Apparently it was because her boyfriend moved to somewhere far away…”
“I see…”
Of course, Kaoruko knew the real reason was Cologne’s death, but since there was no way she could tell Momoka about that, she kept quiet.
“I didn’t even know she had a boyfriend, so it was quite the shock… Does Yuri not think of me as her best friend after all?”
“I don’t think that’s the case. I always hear a lot about you from her, Momoka-chan.”
“Really? I wish she was more open with me, though.”
“Fufu. Well, I’m relieved that she’s well enough to go to school at least.”
“When I told her that you were worried about her, Yuri said she would also visit you at the Botanical Garden when she feels a bit better. Well then, I will take my leave now.”
“I’m really grateful,” Kaoruko said, to which Momoka bowed with a smile, turned around, and headed back towards her own house.
Kaoruko was about to come back inside, when she noticed that Tsubomi was peeking over from the dining room.
“Oh, Tsubomi, if you were there, you could have come say hello to Momoka-chan.”
“Ah, sorry, she was just so beautiful that I couldn’t stop staring at her. I didn’t know you had such a pretty acquaintance, Grandma…”
“Her family owns the fashion store next door. Her name is Momoka-chan. She’s a high school student, and also works as a model.”
“Oh, is that so? I realised she was different from me. She had such an aura, or charisma about her.”
Kaoruko smiled, putting an arm around Tsubomi’s shoulder. They went back to the dining room, and returning to her soba, Kaoruko continued the conversation:
“Momoka-chan has a younger sister who is just the same age as you, Tsubomi.”
“Oh, is that so?”
“Her name is Erika-chan. She’s a very lively young lady, completely different from her older sister. She’s a second-year at Myoudou Academy’s middle school.”
“That’s the same school I will be attending as well, right?”
“Indeed. I think if you become friends with her, it might help you get accustomed to life easier here.”
“Alright. But would she want to be friends with me?”
Youichi and Mizuki, who were listening to them with a smile, joined the conversation:
“Hey now, Tsubomi, don’t be so negative.”
“That’s right. Didn’t you say you wanted to change?”
“Change?” Kaoruko asked, to which Tsubomi replied shyly:
“I decided to change from being reserved, like I was in my old school, and talk more confidently and make friends…”
“I see, so that’s what you mean by ‘change’.”
“Yes.”
“In that case, becoming friends with Erika-chan would be a good start.”
“Alright. I will do my best!” Tsubomi clenched her fists tightly.
***
The next day, Tsubomi’s parents were so preoccupied with arranging their belongings and meeting with the flower shop suppliers that by the time they could take Tsubomi over to the neighbouring Kurumi house to greet them, it was already afternoon.
Unfortunately, Momoka was away for her modelling job, and Erika for some personal programme. After briefly saying hello to the sisters’ parents, the three of them returned home.
Tsubomi was planning to help her parents, who were busy with preparing for the opening tomorrow, but after Kaoruko called her, she decided to check out the Botanical Garden instead.
The sakura trees in the Botanical Garden were already past full bloom, and more and more cherry trees could be seen with fallen petals.
Even though Kaoruko has been living in Kibougahana for a while, Tsubomi has never been to the Botanical Garden.
Kaoruko gave her a thorough guide around the greenhouse, which was home to some of the rarest plants in the world. Among them, the one that caught Tsubomi’s eye the most was a plant called Agave americana. Its Japanese name, ryuuzetsuran means ‘dragon tongue orchid.’ It originates from Mexico, but can be found in the wilderness all over Central and South America.
Despite being called an ‘orchid’ in Japanese, it looks more similar to the Africa-native aloe. Because of its slow growth, it is said to bloom only once every few decades.
Kaoruko told her that she had been growing it ever since she had first joined this Botanical Garden, and because the stalk had already started to grow, it would be this year that it would bloom and wither away.
“I wonder what its flowers are going to look like!”
“I’ve only seen pictures about it on the internet too. There are more than 200 species, so we won’t know until it actually blooms.”
“I’m so excited about it! Grandma, please make sure to tell me when it blooms.”
“Of course. You will be the first one to know, Tsubomi.”
“Thank you so much!”
“Fufu, you really are a flower enthusiast, Tsubomi.”
“Yes. That’s because I grew up seeing the lavender fields you planted with Grandpa.”
Kaoruko caressed Tsubomi’s head as she smiled cheerfully, then took her to a very special location.
The place was on the top of a hill about 15 minutes from the Botanical Garden.
“Wow, it’s amazing!”
The hilltop overlooked the entire city. Even the sea could be seen in the distance, making it an excellent viewing spot, and the sight impressed Tsubomi so much that it ended up becoming her favourite place in Kibougahana.
***
It was the following morning that Tsukikage Yuri saw Tsubomi for the first time.
Since Myoudou Academy’s middle and high schools were located next to each other, the tree-lined street leading up to the school gate was overflowing with students from both schools at the start of the new term, some of them being new students.
On the side of the path ahead, there was a girl wearing the middle school uniform crouching down and looking at the clovers – Tsubomi.
“I found one! The meaning of four-leaf clovers in the language of flowers is ‘happiness’...” she mumbled, staring at the four-leaf clover as it moved in the light breeze.
Mr. Four-leaf Clover, I want to change my withdrawn personality. Please, help me fulfil… wait, no, I cannot depend on someone else for that. I will definitely show you I can change!, promising to herself, Tsubomi stood up and declared:
“I will do my best! Yeahh!!” As she raised her right fist in the air, the students walking past behind her giggled. Tsubomi instantly turned red in the face. “Or maybe not,” she squealed, darting away towards the school gate as if escaping.
Momoka, who watched the scene with amusement, said to Yuri:
“I’ve never seen her around before. Perhaps she’s a freshman in the middle school?”
“I think she’s a bit older than that…”
“Then maybe a transfer student? Hey, come to think of it, Mama told me that our new neighbours have a daughter who’s the same age as my sister.”
“Oh, Erika-chan… right?”
“Yep. Looks like that girl will also attend this middle school. I’d feel sorry for her if she ended up in Erika’s class, though.”
“Why?”
“She’s pretty bad at reading the atmosphere, or I should say, she instantly forces her ways on other people.”
“Oh, I see!” Yuri chuckled.
Momoka was worried about Yuri being so gloomy two days ago when they went shopping, but after finally seeing her smile, she also smiled in relief.
***
Momoka’s prediction was right on point.
Tsubomi and Erika both got into class 2-2, and the homeroom teacher, Tsurusaki-sensei asked her to introduce herself.
She began by writing her name on the board, but being too nervous, her letters came out too small, and she didn’t quite succeed.
“It’s way too small, I can’t read it.”
That remark was made by none other than Erika. Tsubomi’s motivation of trying to change herself was taken away, and not being able to introduce herself as she planned, she became disheartened.
Nevertheless, her classmates gave her a warm welcome, and she was put to ease.
During lunch break, two of those classmates, Sakuma Toshiko and Sawai Naomi invited Tsubomi to eat lunch together.
The three of them sat on the grass in the courtyard, and while eating, Tsubomi was talking about Kamakura, the place she used to live before, when suddenly Erika appeared.
“So that’s where you were eating.” Upon squeezing herself next to Tsubomi, she immediately discovered that she had a piece of karaage chicken left. “Oh, karaage! I’ll trade you my tamagoyaki for it.”
Putting her tamagoyaki in Tsubomi’s lunchbox, Erika picked up the chicken with her chopsticks.
“Ah!” Tsubomi gasped in surprise, then said quietly. “I was saving it for last…”
Erika replied absent-mindedly, while looking at her:
“Hm? Did you just say something?”
“Erm, ah, no…”
Completely oblivious to Tsubomi’s disappointment, Erika bit into the karaage.
“Yummy!”
“Ah…”
Only when Tsubomi’s eyes were starting to well up did Erika finally notice herself.
“Huh? Tsubomi, you were the type who eats her favourite last? Sorry, I’ll give it back.”
“Ah, no, it’s fine…”
“Guess so, I already bit into it,” and with that, Erika tossed the remaining half into her mouth. At that moment, Toshiko and Naomi burst out laughing.
“Hanasaki-san, Erika has her own understanding of the world, so you need to be blunt with her,” Toshiko pointed out.
“O-Okay…” Tsubomi nodded, although she was disappointed in herself for not being able to change this time either.
“What are you saying? I just communicate in my own way!” Erika objected, but was retorted by Naomi:
“That’s what she meant by ‘your own understanding’!”
“Huuh?”
As she looked at Erika tilting her head in confusion, Tsubomi thought there was no way she could ever befriend such a person. But Erika had other ideas.
After school, the remaining two members of the fashion club, of which Erika herself was the president of, quitted, making it uncertain whether the club would be able to continue at all, so she tried to recruit Tsubomi into joining.
However, since Tsubomi liked flowers, she was planning to join the gardening club, and she declined.
“Doesn’t your family run a flower shop? At least in school, forget about flowers! Come join the fashion club!” Erika said, grabbing Tsubomi’s hand by force. “It’s gonna be fun! You’re a girl, no way you’re not interested in fashion!”
She tried to drag Tsubomi to the clubroom, but Tsubomi shook off her hand, saying:
“I like flowers! Please, don’t decide for me!”
Her reaction came off so strong that even Erika was left completely speechless afterwards.
***
However, as Tsubomi was going home from school, she noticed that Erika was following her from behind with a downcast expression on her face.
I turned her down already… and she’s still following me.
Tsubomi stopped, and with great determination, spoke out:
“Kurumi-san!”
Hearing her voice, Erika also came into a halt and lifted her head.
“Just Erika is fine.”
“Ah… Then, Erika…-san, why are you following me? No matter how many times you ask, I will not join the…”
Suddenly, Erika pointed in front of her, saying:
“My house is this way.”
“Aah… I see.”
Tsubomi had no choice but to continue her way alongside Erika.
However, even after turning at the crossroad right before their house, Erika still didn’t part from her.
“Eh? It’s still the same way?” she asked, when Erika pointed at the fashion store called Fairy Drop by the corner and said:
“That’s my house.”
At that moment, Tsubomi cried out in shock:
“Whaaat?!”
“Huh, why the surprise?” as Erika looked at her in wonder, Tsubomi’s mother, Mizuki, who was watering the potted plants in front of the neighbouring flower shop, noticed them and called out:
“Welcome home, Tsubomi.”
“Ah, I’m home.”
This time, it was Erika’s turn to raise her voice in surprise at Tsubomi’s words:
“No waaaay!! We are neighbours, Tsubomi?”
“... Looks like it.”
Then, suddenly grabbing Tsubomi by the hand, Erika rushed over to Mizuki.
“Nice to meet you. I am the daughter of the store owners next door, my name is…”
Mizuki smiled and finished her sentence:
“Erika-chan, right? Your mom told me about you.”
Erika let go of Tsubomi’s hand.
“Really?! Oba-san, we are classmates with Tsubomi!” Erika said, to which Mizuki looked at Tsubomi, saying:
“Is that so? Isn’t that great, Tsubomi?”
Tsubomi couldn’t possibly say it was not, considering the person in question stood right in front of her.
“Y-Yeah…”
Her answer was not convincing, but at that moment, Erika grabbed her wrist again.
“Oba-san, let me borrow Tsubomi for a bit.”
“Sure.”
Receiving Mizuki’s permission, Erika widely grinned.
“Let’s go, Tsubomi!”
“Go where?”
“To my place!” By force, Erika began to pull her towards their store. “To think even our houses were next to each other! It must be fate or something.”
“It’s a mere coincidence!” Tsubomi freed her hand from Erika’s grip. “Sorry, but I still have some things to do now, so please, excuse me!” declaring so, she turned her back on her, and while Erika couldn’t see, she made a fist pump, whispering to herself. “I firmly refused her. Maybe I have managed to change this time…”
However, unfortunately for her, Erika heard her voice loud and clear.
“Huuh, so you want to change!” Startled, Tsubomi turned around. “If that’s the case, you could have said so! I know just the thing that will change you!”
Grabbing Tsubomi’s wrist once again, Erika dashed into the store without even waiting for her answer.
***
The second floor of Fairy Drop was divided into a combined design and dressing room for Erika’s mother, Sakura, and a private studio belonging to her father, Ryuunosuke.
Tsubomi was made to stand in front of a giant mirror in the former area. In response to her wish of wanting to change, Erika swiftly removed her round glasses, untied her ponytail, and remade her hair into slightly wavy twintails. Then, she proceeded to coordinate an outfit that would look good on her. After several minutes of clothes picking, she held up the best-fitting one over Tsubomi’s school uniform; a pink one-piece with a big ribbon on the chest.
Seeing Tsubomi’s reflection in the mirror, Erika nodded in approval.
“What do you think? You look like a popular girl now, right?!” she said, handing Tsubomi her glasses.
Tsubomi put them back on, and looked at herself in the mirror.
“I-Is this really me…?” She was really fascinated; as if she were a different person, like some model from a fashion magazine. However, she quickly came to her senses, and shook her head violently. “Enough of this already!”
“Huh?”
“What I want to change is my personality… not my looks! We are not even friends, so please, stop doing things I didn’t ask for!”
Pushing it into her hands, Tsubomi returned the one-piece to Erika, and ran down the stairs to get away from her.
“Tsubomi… W-What’s up with you, at least you could thank…” Erika was about to say, when she heard someone’s voice from behind:
“The one at fault here was you.”
When she turned around, she saw Momoka standing there.
“Momo-nee…!”
“You have a really bad habit of forcing your ways on other people, you know.”
Erika was taken aback; Momoka really hit the nail on the head.
“This has nothing to do with you, Momo-nee! Leave me alone!”
Furiously, she passed by her sister, and headed inside the living quarters.
“You just can’t admit it, huh,” Momoka smirked.
***
As she entered her room, Erika threw herself on the bed, rolling onto her back.
Momoka’s words kept repeating inside her head.
“Well, I’m sorry for not admitting it! Easy for you, being beautiful, working as a model while still in high school, and being popular. And meanwhile, I’m just… Aaaahh!” Scratching her hair with both hands, Erika got up and looked out of the window.
When she did so, she saw Tsubomi on the veranda of the neighbouring house as she was watering the flowers in the planters, her glasses on, and her hair still left in the style Erika did for her.
“Ah,” Erika let out a quiet sound of surprise. Noticing that Erika was looking in her direction, Tsubomi put down the watering can, and went back inside her room, even closing the curtains.
“...”
Realising that Tsubomi was still mad at her, Erika flopped onto the bed once again.
***
Tsubomi sat down on her bed, picked up a potted cactus from her bedside table, and spoke to it:
“Maybe I overreacted a little… But it wasn’t my fault, right?” Tsubomi let out a small sigh, then putting back the cactus to its place, lay down on the bed. “I guess you can’t just change your entire personality overnight…”
The exhaustion after her first day at school must have caught up to her, as she fell asleep right on the spot.
***
Tsubomi had a dream.
It was a recurring dream she had been seeing lately about a female fighter called Cure Moonlight being attacked and defeated by another, evil warrior called Dark Precure and a masked man named Professor Sabaaku, in front of a large tree, the “Great Heart Tree.”
Just like always, she woke up at the part where Dark Precure delivered the final blow to Cure Moonlight, who began to scream.
“The same dream again… I wonder if it means something…?”
Hoping that talking to Kaoruko, who always knew everything, would help her figure it out, Tsubomi decided to head towards the Botanical Garden.
***
Unfortunately however, Kaoruko had a meeting to attend with her co-workers soon.
“I’m sorry, Tsubomi. Is it alright if you wait about an hour? Or is it something urgent?”
“Ah… It’s not that important, just a dream I have been seeing recently and wanted to get some guidance about it. Please, go ahead to the meeting. I will wait.”
“Alright. Sorry then,” Kaoruko said, then left in a hurry.
While waiting for Kaoruko, Tsubomi went up to the hill overlooking the city to pass the time.
Arriving at the top, she stretched herself, while admiring the view of the city, when suddenly, two small silhouettes came tumbling down from the sky.
They were none other than the two fairies, Chypre and Coffret.
“Huhh?!” The astonished Tsubomi tried to dodge away, but it was too late, and the fairies crashed right into her. “Ouch, that hurt… Wh-What are these?!” Tsubomi shrieked, looking at the creatures.
The fairies immediately snapped out of their woozy state.
“Bad guys are chasing us~!”
“Please, help!”
“T-Talking plushies?!”
Tsubomi began to back away while still on her bottom.
“No time to explain!”
“Hide us~!”
Thus, Chypre and Coffret jumped into Tsubomi’s sweatshirt through its neck.
“W-W-What are you doing?! Stop it, that tickles!”
As Tsubomi grabbed the bulge on her shirt, she heard them speak from the inside:
“By the way, I am Chypre~.”
“I am Coffret. Nice to meet you.”
“My name is Hanasaki Tsubomi… Wait, it’s not really the time for introductions, I guess…” Tsubomi was about to say, when the two of them spoke again:
“Shhh~!”
“Sasorina is coming!”
“Who?” Turning around, Tsubomi could see Sasorina approaching with quick steps. “W-Who is that creepy-looking woman?” she asked in fear, but the fairies remained silent.
Sasorina stopped in front of Tsubomi, and asked:
“Hey, little girl, haven’t you seen two fairies fly by just now~?”
Tsubomi shook her head, trembling.
Not knowing the fairies were hiding in there, Sasorina stared at Tsubomi’s “big bust”, then with a “tch!”, she went back down the hill.
Tsubomi sighed in relief, and the fairies stuck out their faces from the sweatshirt’s neck as well.
“It’s safe now~. Thank you~.”
“Who on earth was that frightening woman just now?”
“A member of the Desert Apostles…” Chypre began to explain, but Coffret intervened:
“Even if we tried to explain, it would be just nonsense to Tsubomi. Let’s hurry to the Botanical Garden instead.”
“You mean the Botanical Garden of Kibougahana?”
“Well, yes…”
“Actually, I’m on my way there as well.”
The fairies looked at each other, then smiled in agreement.
“Then, we’ll have you take us there~.”
“Please.”
“Okay. But the scary woman also went in that direction…”
“It’s fine, we’ll hide.”
“Tsubomi, let’s go~.”
Tsubomi, kind as she was, took the fairies with her as she descended the hill.
***
The three of them reached the playground at the foot of the hill, when Tsubomi saw Erika there, leaning against the horizontal bar, thinking about something. She was holding an eco-bag in her right hand, so she must have been in the middle of shopping.
But before Tsubomi could approach her, Sasorina appeared in front of Erika.
“Hey, little girl, haven’t you seen two fairies around~?”
“Who are you? Weirdo woman.”
That single nonchalant remark from Erika had Sasorina infuriated.
“What did you say?!”
The next moment, Sasorina’s eyes lit up with a mysterious glow.
She sensed Erika’s Heart Flower, a white cyclamen, wilting, with its petals already starting to turn red.
“What a perfectly wilting Heart Flower you have there. Heart Flower, come on out~!” she shouted, stretching out her hands towards Erika.
At that moment, several streaks of light emanated from the ground under Erika’s feet. Erika began to scream, her body disappearing with a flash of light, soon to be replaced by an upside-down octagonal pyramid crystal and a crystal sphere attached to its tip. It floated over to Sasorina.
“Erika-san…?!”
The fairies went on to explain the situation to the horrified Tsubomi:
“She took out her Heart Flower.”
“If she doesn’t get it back soon, her white cyclamen flower will turn red and eventually die~.”
Tsubomi had no idea what they were talking about.
In the meanwhile, Sasorina noticed the doll of a little girl lying near the bushes, and tossing away the spherical part of the crystal, she said:
“This will do~. Your turn now, Desertrian~!” Fusing the octagonal pyramid crystal and the doll, Sasorina created the Desertrian: a giant version of the doll. “Now go on a rampage to lure out those fairies~!”
The Desertrian let out a roar, and, in its frenzy, began to break the playground equipment.
Coffret took that chance to pick up the crystal sphere that had fallen on the ground, and showed it to Tsubomi.
Inside the sphere, she saw a shrunken version of Erika in a sitting position, unconscious. Her expression reflected distress.
“Hang in there, Erika-san!” Tsubomi shook the sphere, but received no reply.
“Unless the Desertrian is defeated and her Heart Flower is retrieved, she will not regain her consciousness~,” Chypre said, when Sasorina suddenly heard her voice.
“There you are, fairies~! Desertrian, go get them~!”
With a roar, the Desertrian charged at Tsubomi and the fairies.
“Let’s run!”
In their desperate attempt at escaping from the Desertrian’s attacks, Tsubomi and the fairies managed to hide inside a clay pipe.
The Desertrian ripped the board off from a nearby seesaw, and tried to smash the pipe with it. However, the board broke, and it was forced to continue the assault with its hands.
Whenever it struck down, the inside of the pipe echoed loudly, making Tsubomi shudder.
As the Desertrian was delivering the hits, it began to shout:
“I hate you, Momo-nee! Don’t be so full of yourself just because you’re a little pretty and have a good figure!”
This caught Tsubomi by surprise, and turned to the fairies:
“What is this creature talking about?!”
“It’s the cry of that girl’s heart whose Heart Flower was stolen~,” Chypre answered, pointing to Erika inside the crystal sphere, whose face was contorting in anguish.
“Erika-san…!” Tsubomi muttered, when the clay pipe began to crack under the Desertrian’s swings.
“Momo-nee just breathes and people go crazy over her, meanwhile I have to go out of my way just so my friends won’t hate me!”
Hearing the Desertrian voicing Erika’s inner cries, Tsubomi realised she had misunderstood her.
“So Erika-san also has her own problems…”
At that moment, Coffret noticed the clay pipe breaking apart.
“It’s not safe here anymore! We have to run!”
The moment the three got out of the pipe, it was crushed down by the Desertrian’s attacks.
“If we don’t do something, the petals of her Heart Flower will fall, and the Great Heart Tree will wither~.”
Chypre’s words made Tsubomi gasp in surprise. She mentioned something Tsubomi often hears in that dream.
“By the Great Heart Tree, do you perhaps mean a giant tree?”
“You know about the Great Heart Tree?”
“I often see it in a dream.”
The fairies’ eyes widened in surprise.
“A dream?! I-It can’t be that…”
“This girl?!”
Just then, the Desertrian let out a roar and threw a punch at them.
The three of them managed to evade it and flee just in the nick of time, only for Sasorina to block their way of escape.
“Fufufufu, no more running away~. Now, hand over your Heart Perfumes this instant~!”
However, the Desertrian stopped attacking, and began to claw at its head instead.
“Even Papa and Mama never scold Momo-nee, why am I the only one who gets reprimanded?! It’s not fair!”
“Hey, you! Stop saying nonsense, and catch those two instead~!”
Sasorina’s words made Tsubomi’s shoulders tremble with anger.
“Exploiting Erika-san’s troubles to let this monster go on such a rampage is just cruel! I… have had enough of this!”
The moment she blurted that out, the heart mark on Chypre’s chest began to shine.
“This means…! I can entrust it to her~!”
Chypre summoned her Heart Perfume from the heart mark, and gave it to Tsubomi.
“W-What is this?”
“A Heart Perfume which can turn you into a Precure~.”
“A Precure?!”
Tsubomi was taken aback upon hearing a term from her dream again.
“I will take care of your friend until then!” Coffret took the sphere from Tsubomi with Erika inside.
“Go, Precure Seed!” The heart mark on Chypre’s chest glowed up, and a Precure Seed sprang out of it.
Tsubomi’s hand moved on its own as she grabbed the Seed and set it inside the Heart Perfume.
“Huh? Huh? What is happening?”
“There’s no time to explain~. Just shout ‘Precure! Open My Heart~!’”
“W-Whaaat?!”
“Just do it already~!”
“Okay, I have no idea what’s going on, but… Precure! Open My Heart!”
In that instant, the Heart Perfume began to shine, and as Tsubomi’s body got wrapped in light with it, a white dress appeared on her.
Even Sasorina’s jaw dropped.
“I-Is this for real…?!”
The Heart Perfume started to move by itself, spraying its holy fragrance over Tsubomi’s body, materialising as a pink-coloured Precure costume on her.
“The flower blooming from the earth… Cure… wait, what am I even saying?!”
“Announce how you want to be called~!”
“As if it were so simple…” Looking around, she noticed that the late-blooming double-flowered cherry blossoms in the park were still in full bloom. “That’s it! The flower blooming from the earth… Cure Blossom!” Tsubomi declared, finishing with a stylish pose.
“Amazing~! So she really was a Precure~!”
“I am… a Precure?!”
Transforming into Cure Blossom made Tsubomi amazed and bewildered. At the sudden appearance of a Precure, Sasorina also raised her voice in shock:
“A… A new Precure…?! In this case, Desertrian! Beat them all up, together with the Precure~!”
Howling, the Desertrian raised one of its legs in an attempt to crush the trio under its feet.
Just before that could happen, Cure Blossom jumped away with the fairies in her arms to avoid it.
However, she didn’t expect her jumping abilities as a Precure would be so extreme to end up more than 50 metres up in the sky.
“Eehhh, w-w-why on earth can I jump so hiiigh?!”
“Because you turned into a Precure~!”
Chypre’s reasoning still didn’t make sense to Cure Blossom, and the moment she looked down, she cried out:
“I-I’m afraid of heeeights!”
Stopping in mid-air, Cure Blossom began to flail with her limbs, but as she had no way to win against the gravitational force, she started to plummet headlong towards the ground.
As she fell, she let out a scream, and crashed into the ground, sending a cloud of dust rising up.
As the dust cleared, it revealed Cure Blossom, lying there in a daze, collapsed.
Chypre and Coffret watched her from above, dumbfounded.
“Are you sure it was a good idea to make this girl into a Precure?” Coffret asked Chypre.
“Ugh…” Chypre didn’t reply, but she could feel the sweats of embarrassment on her body.
At that moment, the Desertrian approached the unconscious Cure Blossom with a smile on its face, trying to catch her.
“Cure Blossom! Run~!”
Upon hearing Chypre’s voice, Cure Blossom suddenly came to her senses, and took off in a panic. However, the superhuman speed made her scream out:
“Uwaaah, too faaast!” As she looked back, the silhouette of the Desertrian chasing after her suddenly seemed smaller. “I can get away like this!”
An expression of relief finally passed over her face, but the fairies caught up immediately, and said:
“You can’t run away! Wait, look ahead, ahead!”
“Huh?” Cure Blossom looked forward, and saw the jungle gym looming in front of her. “Uwaaaaah!!”
She tried to stop, but in vain; as she crashed into it, she left an indenture after her on the iron toy.
“Ow-ow-ouch… Ah, the children’s jungle gym!”
Cure Blossom began to fix the iron bars one by one that got bent like they were nothing.
“There’s no time for that~! Behind you!”
The Desertrian caught up, and delivered a punch at her.
“Hyaaahh!”
Cure Blossom managed to jump to the side, but this time, the horizontal bar came into view.
She caught the handle with both hands immediately, but as she came with too great of an impulse, she ended up doing a giant swing.
I thought I couldn’t even do a back hip circle!
Her eyes began to spin, accidentally letting go of the iron bar. Her body drew a parabola in the air as it was sent flying, and upon landing, she got knocked out.
Chypre and Coffret flew over to her in a hurry.
“Pull yourself together~!”
“Open your eyes.”
They shook her body and lightly patted her cheeks, but she remained there motionless.
Seeing her in such a sorry state, Sasorina mockingly laughed at her.
“This is the legendary warrior, Precure? Just how pathetic is that~?”
At that moment, Cure Blossom finally regained her consciousness.
“What happened to my body? I gained so much strength that I lost control over it…”
“Ahahahah! Desertrian, here’s your chance, attack~!”
The Desertrian began to charge at them anew, roaring.
“Hyaaaah!”
As Cure Blossom was about to escape, the fairies pulled her by the skirt with all their might to stop her.
“You can’t keep running away~!”
“You’re a Precure, you have to fight~!”
“L-Let me goo! You’ll pull off my skirt!” she begged the fairies with teary eyes.
Reluctantly, the fairies let go of her, and she fell on her face with a “Wah!”.
“What an idiot. She’s just got to be the weakest Precure in history~,” Sasorina said, as she kept making fun of her.
In the meanwhile, the Desertrian started to attack, assaulting Cure Blossom with powerful punches.
She bent down immediately to avoid it, and fled once again.
The Desertrian began to chase after her, while throwing a series of strikes at her, but she managed to dodge them with her constant running around.
She was starting to get on Sasorina’s nerves.
“Heey! Stop jumping about!”
Transforming her own hair into a long braid, she extended it towards Cure Blossom with a swift movement, wrapping it around her legs.
“Aah!”
With a pull of her hair, Sasorina slammed her to the ground.
“Kyaah!” Cure Blossom screamed, when the Desertrian came rushing towards her, trapping her in its grip. As it squeezed her torso with its enormous strength, she lost her breath, and her expression contorted in pain.
“Cure Blossom!!” the fairies cried out in despair.
“Desertrian, crush her at once~!” Sasorina ordered.
All of a sudden, a whirlwind arose, bringing several rose petals with itself, concealing Cure Blossom and the Desertrian from view.
The next thing Sasorina noticed, the Desertrian tumbled in front of her, shrieking.
“W-What the?!” Sasorina cried out in surprise, when the rose tornado dispersed, revealing a young man in its place with Cure Blossom in his arms. It was Coupe in the Taishou-era shosei uniform he wore when he came to Cure Moonlight’s rescue as well.
Unaware of his identity, Cure Blossom looked up at his face with amazement, blushing, then passed out in his arms.
“T-That’s…!”
“How cool!”
The fairies began to squeal happily, soon joined by Sasorina:
“Oh my, a hot guy! …I mean, who the hell are you~?!”
The Desertrian bellowed in anger, pounding its chest like a gorilla, and attacked Coupe as he stood there in the form of a young man.
Coupe swiftly jumped away with Cure Blossom in his arms, landing on the top of the jungle gym and suddenly raising his left index finger towards the sky.
When he did so, the whirlwind of roses appeared again, covering up their silhouettes.
After the whirlwind finally stopped, the two of them disappeared from sight.
“T-They’re gone?! What’s happening~?!” Sasorina and the Desertrian both surveyed the surroundings, but the young man was nowhere to be found, and even Chypre and Coffret were gone. “Oh boy, even the fairies got away~! Desertrian, we have to find them no matter what~!”
The pair took off towards the Botanical Garden.
***
When Tsubomi woke up after her Precure transformation got undone, she found herself on a thick tree stump inside the Botanical Garden’s Plush Toy Hall.
Her grandmother, Hanasaki Kaoruko was gently caressing her head.
“Looks like you’re finally awake,” Kaoruko said to her, and Tsubomi sat up in surprise.
“Grandma…?!” As she looked around, she spotted the giant stuffed animal, Coupe, standing right next to her, with that spaced-out expression of his. “Huh? How did I even get here?”
“I found you passed out here when I entered the greenhouse,” Kaoruko replied, oblivious to the fact that Tsubomi had turned into Cure Blossom.
At that moment, Chypre and Coffret dashed into the greenhouse.
“There you are~!”
“Ah! It’s Cure Flower!”
The fairies clung onto Kaoruko.
“Chypre, Coffret, long time no see,” Kaoruko smiled widely, hugging them.
“Eh? Huhh? Grandma, you know these two?”
“I do.”
“It sounded like they just called you Cure Flower…”
“Actually, I used to be a Precure in the past.”
“R-Really, Grandma?!”
“Indeed. Coupe?” Kaoruko looked over at Coupe, when suddenly…
“Ah, the legendary fairy…”
“Coupe-sama~!”
The two fairies leapt in front of Coupe, cuddling up to him and beginning to rub their cheeks against his.
“The legendary fairy, Coupe-sama?”
“Coupe was my partner back when I was a Precure. He’s a big senpai fairy to Chypre and Coffret.”
Even as the fairies were rubbing their cheeks against him, Coupe remained expressionless, continuing to space out.
“He’s a fairy? He doesn’t look like one at all…”
“He’s so cool~.”
“I want to hurry up and become like Coupe-sama too!”
Tsubomi’s jaw dropped when she heard them say such strange things.
“W-What’s so cool about him?” she said, causing the fairies to send her intense glares.
“That was rude, Tsubomi~!”
“Coupe-sama is an idol to us fairies! The weakest Precure in history has no right to talk about him like that!”
Kaoruko’s expression stiffened as she was listening to their conversation.
“Wait a minute. Did you just say Tsubomi is a Precure…?”
Chypre flew over immediately.
“That’s right~! Tsubomi said she saw the Great Heart Tree in her dream, so I gave her my Heart Perfume…”
Coffret joined her by her side as well, saying:
“She successfully transformed into Cure Blossom.”
Once again, Kaoruko was taken aback.
“Tsubomi… Was your dream about Cure Moonlight getting defeated, perhaps?”
Tsubomi nodded.
“It keeps coming back so many times. That’s why I wanted to ask you about it, thinking you might figure out what it means, but then I met these two, and they made me into a Precure…”
“We were attacked by a Desertrian and one of the Desert Apostles generals, Sasorina, who was chasing after us.”
“I see… I never thought Tsubomi might become a Precure.” Kaoruko looked troubled for a minute, but quickly put on a smile, and said: “Well, with her love of flowers, she is more than qualified for the task.”
“Hey, Grandma, what exactly is the Great Heart Tree?”
“The Great Heart Tree is the source of every Heart Flower.”
“The source of Heart Flowers?”
“Every individual has their own Heart Flower inside their hearts. Each Flower is of a different variety and colour, and no two are the same.”
“Do I also have a Heart Flower?”
“Of course you do. The Great Heart Tree is connected to Heart Flowers by an invisible force, so when a Heart Flower withers or discolours, the Great Heart Tree gets weakened as well.”
As she listened to Kaoruko’s explanation, Tsubomi remembered Erika’s Heart Flower.
“That’s right, the fairies said Erika-san’s Heart Flower has turned red…” Tsubomi suddenly gasped as she spoke. “I almost forgot! What about Erika-san?!”
“Don’t worry.”
The heart mark on Coffret’s chest glowed up, and the sphere containing Erika emerged from it, floating in mid-air.
As Kaoruko looked into the sphere, she saw Erika’s body curled up in a foetal position with a look of agony on her face. Tsubomi examined it as well, and noticed that her expression appeared to be more painful than before.
“Poor girl… Her Heart Flower is starting to weaken.”
“It’s the work of Sasorina and the Desertrian~!” Chypre said angrily, when Coupe’s face suddenly turned stern, and he looked towards the entrance.
Soon, screams could be heard from outside of the greenhouse.
“They are getting closer!” Coffret shouted. Tsubomi and Kaoruko looked at each other, then rushed outside.
***
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