The entire city had been ruined. Rubble and decimated buildings for miles, no civilians seen for just as far. What hadn't been destroyed crawled with darkness, writhing and destroying whatever was left. The sky was black and red, rumbling with something ominous, something evil. And with a burst of darkness, a thud rang out against the pavement.

And then, seconds later, twelve more thuds, each sounding harder than the last. Silence followed, before a faint series of groans.

Leo gasped as her eyes fluttered open, a groan escaping her before she could stop herself - it hurt to breathe. With a whimper, the small girl glanced around, almost relieved to see her fellow Cures - an array of reds, blues, golds and purples - though the relief faded as she saw they were just as injured as she was. The girl squinted, vision becoming more red-tinged, the ache (and blood) coming from her forehead seconds later. Leo knew she should be scared and she was, somewhere amidst all the pain - but she had to keep fighting. She was a Pretty Cure, a defender of Earth, a legendary warrior. Leo's pained gaze flicked around and she could see the same realization coming to the rest of the Cures.

Somewhere, far above, Ophiuchus screamed with rage. "Get up! GET UP!" she demanded. "I'll make you suffer before I kill you!"

Leo rose to a sitting position, trembling with the effort. Her uniform was torn, she could barely see through the agonizing pain. The small girl could feel bitter tears streaming down her cheeks, the fear ramming into her with the grace of a semi-truck.

There was nowhere to run.

There was no way they could win.

"Leo."

Instinctively, Leo looked up, greeted by blues. Scorpio - their leader, one of the water Cures - looked down at her, offered a shaking hand to Leo. With monumental effort, Leo pulled herself to her feet with Scorpio's help, swaying and shuddering once she was upright. It hurt. The small girl flinched when Scorpio ruffled her hair - even that hurt. "...I-I can keep fighting." Leo said as a reflex.

Scorpio shook her head. "No."

The solemn look on Scorpio's face scared Leo - immediately she shook her head, desperate to protest it. "B-but - !"

"Leo, Leo please..." Ursa spoke up, lumbering over, just as injured as the Cures were. (Leo found herself staring in horror - it was such an alien thing, seeing Ursa so hurt.) The hulking, bleeding mass of a mother bear - fur shimmering like she was the night sky given the form of a bear - butted her head against Leo's leg to get her attention. "You have to go - no arguing." The bear looked sternly at Leo when the girl readied to protest again. "You have a life to live, Leo - "

Leo's stomach sunk. No, no no no, they were talking like -

Like -

But in the time it took the girl to realize what this meant, Scorpio shoved a lump into her arms. Leo blinked, startled, and looked down, double-taking slightly. Usami - Ursa's son, who looked less like a bear cub and more like a cute little teddy bear with his pale blue fur and darker blue linings on his arms and feet, the bear's belly also colored in that darker blue, as well as the inside of Usami's ears - which were decorated with golden stars. The black collar around Usami's neck was decorated with a gold star, as well as three small gold orbs. The lump that was Usami shuddered in pain, Leo realizing with horror that he was bleeding as well. Grip tightening protectively around him, Leo stood her ground, refusing to move. "Libra, talk some sense into her!" Nothing. "Gemini, you can't tell me this is okay!" Nothing. "Taurus, Capricorn, Cancer...?"

Silence.

Ursa gritted her teeth. "...I'm sorry, Leo, Usami." she whispered. Glowing with power, a burst of light sprang forth from the guardian bear, surrounding both Leo and Usami like a capsule - a shield, Leo realized, as banging against it yielded nothing. The girl let out a yell when the capsule of light jettisoned backward, sending both Leo and Usami from the wreckage. Usami, having woken due to Leo's panic, joined in her yells, both trying desperately to change their minds - but nothing worked.

They didn't get far. Leo and Usami could only watch as twelve lights - the eleven Cures and Ursa - pooled together and blazed bright, a pillar of light shooting straight for the floating Ophiuchus in the sky. Ophiuchus shot back with her own power, darkness fighting against light -

- and then there was an earth-shattering explosion.

Wind and wreckage whipped around in every direction, ruining the city even more. There was silence, the dark form of Ophiuchus hovering in the sky. Twelve lights shimmered around her - and then Ophiuchus vanished. 4 lights shot away, streaking across the sky before disappearing to parts unknown.

Leo and Usami held their breaths. Had they...?

The capsule of light shattered, dropping the two unceremoniously on the ground.

They hadn't.

Leo felt it first - the loss of all her fellow teammates - and the girl dropped to her knees, silent tears streaming down her cheeks. Usami realized it second, the small bear bursting into heartbroken tears, before howling in misery:

"MAMAAA!"

OP: "Purikyua ✰ Wish!" - StarSHINE

EPISODE 1 - "My teddy bear talks?! What's a Pretty Cure, anyways...?"

Hirui Hidama gasped, jerking awake and struggling to control her panicked breathing. Eyes wide and heart racing, the woman sat up, running her fingers through her red hair. Gritting her teeth, Hirui found herself shaking her head, as if it would dispel the images playing in her head right that second. She didn't want to remember it, didn't want to think of it - that was what she told herself. And yet, the memories continued to plague her.

Slipping out of bed, Hirui laughed bitterly. She deserved it though. She'd left them - she could have broken out of it, that she was sure of now - and because of that, they had died.

"MAMAAA!"

Hirui felt herself pale. Was she hearing things now? The nightmares were bad enough, but if it was getting beyond that now...

"MAMAAAA!"

Wait.

That didn't sound like Usami.

"MAMAAAAA!"

The door to Hirui's bedroom flew open with a bang, making the woman flinch, steeling herself to not jump at the unwelcome noise. The woman glanced over toward the doorway...

...and offered a nervous smile to her newcomer. "Good morning, Mei."

Mei Hidama, however, didn't look up for laughter. Auburn hair still unbrushed and school uniform in disarray, the girl glared at her mother, cheeks puffed out in indignation and gray eyes narrowed in immense displeasure. "You didn't wake up early!" she accused, the girl's arms folded around her chest in a huff. "I can't get ready for school because Kouta and Miyo - "

Hirui winced. Kouta and Miyo could be a handful in the mornings. The woman raised her hand to silence her daughter, smiling apologetically. "I'll handle them, go get dressed." the woman added a shooing motion after glancing at the clock, but Mei remained at the door, the girl's expression shifting to one of worry.

"...mama?"

Hirui blinked - she would never get used to how quickly Mei switched moods. "Yes, Mei?"

The girl frowned, pausing for a long moment. Then - "It'll be okay!" - complete with a bright smile, thumbs-up and a fierce nod. Hirui blinked again, about to ask what had prompted this, but Mei interrupted her. "You look like you needed to hear that!" And with that, the girl hurried off. Speechless, Hirui could only watch as Mei darted back to her own bedroom, the girl trying to smooth out her uniform and brush her hair at the same time. The mother found herself laughing at the absurdity of it, before sighing. Was she that transparent?

A clatter in the kitchen jolted her out of her thoughts and Hirui maneuvered the hall, dodging toys and stray shoes - goodness, this morning had been a whirlwind! Reaching the den, she frowned, finding the source of the noise - Miyo had tried to pour cereal for herself and milk and cereal had spilled everywhere. Kouta, on the other side of the table, shifted guiltily - he obviously hadn't bothered helping his little sister out. "Go finish getting ready." she told her son, "Or else Mei will leave without you."

As if Mei was listening in, there was a cry from down the hall: "I'm almost donnneeee!"

Hirui bit back a laugh at Kouta's panicked expression - Mei was notorious for leaving on time, and when left to his own devices, Kouta wouldn't have time to see his friends before class. With a quick apology, the redhaired 12 year old hurried off to comb his unruly hair and get the rest of his uniform on. Chuckling now, Hirui moved to clean up the mess, ushering Miyo to go and entertain herself with TV for a bit - the 5 year old wouldn't need to go to school for another hour or so.

Miyo had just gotten settled on the couch when she gasped, realizing something. "Mama~!" she said, brown eyes alight. "I want omurice!"

Hirui laughed. "Yes, yes, I'll get that started..." she assured, wiping up the last of the mess. She almost sighed in relief at seeing the rice cooker on - Kouta may not have wanted rice, but Mei obviously had, and that would save on some of the cook time. There was still some chicken and tomato sauce left over from the other day, wasn't there? But as the woman made a grab for the eggs -

"Okay mama, we're off!"

"Neesan, wait...!"

Hirui turned to wave goodbye, but Mei and Kouta were already off, out the door and around the corner. "Be safe!" she couldn't help but holler, getting a duo of "See you laterrrr~!" in response. Shaking her head at the antics of her children, she busied herself with breakfast preparations, getting the omurice done with ease. But when Miyo started eating, Hirui couldn't help but feel troubled.

Silently, the woman slipped out of the den and into the hall, absently picking up things and putting them away before she gently pushed the door to Mei's room open. "Usami?" she asked quietly, frowning. Whenever the woman had nightmares, she always discussed with the small bear about it. But - huh. That was funny, wasn't Usami usually on Mei's dresser? "Usami?" she asked again, brows furrowed in concern.

Nothing but silence. Hirui felt herself paling.

Usami was gone.

In a place far from Hirui's concerns as to where Usami had gone, was a realm of darkness. It stretched as far as they eye could see and then some - nothing in the darkness but a floating mass...of all things, a ruined city, trash, skeletons and broken buildings littered across the land. What had caused all this damage? It couldn't really be said. Whatever had been here was no more, and whatever was left had been ruined a long time ago.

All except the one, lonely tower of gray at the very center of the floating land. There was nothing special about it - no distinctive features. It rose from the destruction, a pillar of solidity against the ruined landscape and the skyless darkness. This place was The Void.

One figure stood at the entrance to the tower - a young boy, he couldn't have been older than 12. His short, two-toned hair of gray and black was odd, as was his outfit of a black sleeveless turtleneck and pale green shorts, along with the thick black gloves and cape secured over his shoulders, but it was surely not as odd as a landmass floating in darkness. Red eyes narrowed, the boy made a disgruntled noise and stepped inside. There was no epic spiral staircase, no room at the top of the tower - rather, it was hollow, only containing a single floor. The ground floor was plain, its only furniture being an oddly frilly and fancy canopy bed - a bed far too large for its only occupant, a small, frail girl the same age as the boy. While a thick, fluffy blanket obscured most of her form, her dark purple hair could be seen, which contrasted starkly with her deathly pale skin. The hint of a plain white nightgown could be seen, making the color of her hair even more evident. The small girl was asleep, looking rather peaceful, and a small smile graced the boy's lips.

Like the darkness that surrounded the landmass, the inside of the tower was dark as well - but unlike the outside, the tower had light. For filling the hollowed tower were countless glowing lights, floating all around like fireflies, starting from the canopy bed and extending all the way to the ceiling - where ever that was - were stars.

The entire tower was filled with constant, glowing stars.

Smile vanishing, the boy's eyes narrowed even more. It was a beautiful sight, and one that surely meant he had triumphed many times - but it only served to make him unhappy. His steps echoed eerily against the empty place.

The girl in the canopy bed stirred, though her eyes stayed shut. "Rasal...?" she asked weakly, only barely managing to turn her statement into a question.

"He left. Cebalrai too." the boy answered, scowling. Apparently there was a plan he'd been left out of.

"Marfik." she said, only managing the faintest note of comfort. "Where - "

" - more stars." Marfik said flatly, taking a step closer. The annoyance he felt faded into worry. "Ophiuchus, are you...?"

" - okay?" the girl finished, a smile on her face for the scantest of seconds. The bed-ridden girl attempted to pull herself into a sitting position, but couldn't. "I'm just tired." she added as an afterthought. Hair framing her face, the small girl finally opened her eyes - if one could even call them that. For instead of actual eyes, there was nothing but pure darkness seeping out of her eyesockets, which proceeded to surround her - hazy, smoky tendrils of darkness floating every which way.

Marfik bit his lip, suppressing a shudder. It had been 35 years, but he couldn't get used to that. Somehow, some way, Ophiuchus was still able to see despite the whole lack of eyes. Not for the first time, the boy found himself wondering what the world looked like to his leader. "I - I'm going to go on star duty."

Ophiuchus's brows creased for a second - she didn't want him to leave. "Can't you wait until Rasal and - "

"You're not looking well." Marfik answered, a little more sternly than intended.

Ophiuchus nodded just once. Then: "You have to come back."

Marfik wondered for a moment if that was actual worry in her tone or if he was projecting and just wanted her to be worried. Either way, he smirked. "Don't I always?" And with a swish of his cape, the boy was gone.

He reappeared in an alley, his clothing having changed to blend with the human populace, and stepped out to meet the crisp morning of where ever this strange place was. He felt ridiculous wearing a baggy shirt and jeans, and felt even sillier wearing a baseball cap, but no one would notice him this way, right? Previous missions had ended badly when he'd walked around in his normal attire, and then there had been the strange people who kept calling him a cosplayer, whatever that was...

"OUT OF THE WAAAYYYYY~!"

Marfik blinked and squawked when he realized a blur of brown (a uniform, was that what it was called?) was speeding right at him. He moved to avoid it but too late - the auburn-haired, pigtailed girl ran straight into him, sending him smacking into the ground hard. The girl herself lost her balance, but righted it at the last second, leaping over the fallen Marfik and taking off again. "Sorrrryyyy, but I warned you!" she called out.

"Neesaaannnn - ohgodi'msosorryshe'snotnormallylikethissorrysorryy yy!" a redheaded boy said quickly, rushing past the fallen Marfik. "Neesannnn, waiiiitttt!" he hollered after the pigtailed girl, struggling to catch up with her.

"It's your fault we're running late! I'm never trusting you with shortcuts again, Kouta!"

"Ehhh?! I said I was sorry...!"

Marfik grumbled curses under his breath as he got to a sitting position, about to shout at the two of them, but something caught his eye - a gleaming telescope, painted dark blue and decorated with constellations, a pink bow tied to the base of it. When the boy picked it up, he noticed the nameplate near the lens...

"What kind of name is 'Mei'...?" he wondered aloud. It had to belong to the girl - no boy he knew would enjoy something so obviously girly. But judging by the fact it looked like it had been a treasured object of the girl's for many years...

...Marfik found himself smirking, grip tightening on the telescope. Yes, yes he could do something with this.

"Mei-chan, maybe you left it at your desk..."

Mei Hidama let out a long noise of aggravation, startling several of her classmates, and startling even more of them when the girl turned to glare at them. "It's not at my desk because I didn't take it out of my bag!" she snapped, anger fading when she noticed the shocked looks on their faces. Mei was known for always being cheerful - not for getting angry, and especially not because of a telescope. "Sorry..." she mumbled, "It's just - the telescope's important to me..."

Her stomach growling reminded her she was wasting her lunchtime. She couldn't just keep searching through her bag - she'd done that several times with no results. Everything she expected to be there was there - well, except for the addition of Usami, her stuffed bear, she didn't remember putting that in her bag...maybe Miyo had put Usami there? She didn't know and it didn't matter! She needed that telescope. Glaring at her bag, as if it was its fault, she continued to search even more...

...and only stopped when someone put a hand on her shoulder. Mei jumped, looking over her shoulder to see a grinning face. The girl was a little taller than she was and tanned, which complimented the browns of their winter uniform. The girl's hair was short and black, fanned out on both sides, fairly unremarkable save for the stubborn ahoge that refused to stay down, and the green color of her eyes only served to make her grin look even friendlier. Mei smiled a little. "Ushio-chan..." Ushio Hoshizora was another classmate and one of her friends - her best friend, in fact.

"C'mon, Mei, you can keep looking after school, right?" Ushio continued to grin, giving Mei a pat on her shoulder.

Mei frowned. "But - " she started to protest, stopping when her stomach rumbled again. This time, Mei had the sense to blush. "All right, all right..." she sighed in defeat, making a grab for her cloth-covered bento. This time, she managed a smile - a hopeful one. "The usual spot, Ushio-chan?"

Ushio cringed, then clapped her hands together in a prayer of forgiveness, shutting her eyes and smiling nervously. "Actually, there's some club stuff I need to hash out over lunch..."

Mei hid her disappointment with a laugh, waving her hand in dismissal. "No no, it's okay! See you after school?"

Another cringe.

"If we get a chance?" Mei added. Ushio was always doing something or other with the Marine Life club. The pigtailed girl smiled when Ushio nodded, giggling when her friend hurried off - and had to bite back a laugh when she could hear Ushio smacking into a wall outside. Always so clumsy...

Apologizing to her classmates for the outburst, Mei retrieved her things and headed out, down the hall and up the steps - up and up until she reached the roof access door. Etoile Academy wasn't a very big school in any sense of the word - the building was fairly standard and the school housed maybe 800 students total - and because of that, most students were happy to eat in the cafeteria. But the roof was never stated to be off-limits, and when she and Ushio had figured this out a few years back, they'd made a habit of eating on the roof. Smiling at the memory, the pigtailed girl reached for the handle - and was pleasantly surprised that the door was already ajar. It swung open with ease, and Mei stepped onto the roof, blinking at the bright sunlight.

There, in the furthermost corner, was another girl. Small and pale, wearing the long-sleeved version of their uniform, which only served to make her more mousy looking, her short, straight cut dark green hair pulled back with a blue bow - Sumire Mabataki, another student from her class. How many years had they been classmates? Mei wasn't sure, but she was starting to realize that she and Sumire had never really...spoken before. Her classmate not having noticed her, Mei took a few tentative steps forward, clearing her throat. "...Mabataki-san?"

Sumire looked up in alarm, freezing once she'd noticed Mei. (The pigtailed girl couldn't help thinking of a deer in the headlights - Sumire had that same expression, what with the girl's hazel eyes as wide as they were.) Hurriedly, Sumire grabbed her lunch. "SorrysorrysorryI'minterruptingsorrysorrysorryyyyy - " the girl said in a rush, dashing past Mei and hurrying down the stairs before the girl could even protest. It had happened so fast that Mei could have sworn she saw smoke trails rushing past too.

Mei pouted. "I was going to ask her to have lunch with me too..." she mumbled, kicking at the ground. With Ushio gone and Sumire fleeing in terror, she didn't really have anyone to talk with - still, it wasn't the total end of the world, right? Besides, eating lunch alone meant she could focus more on where her darn telescope had gone...

With a sigh, the pigtailed girl took a seat at the only bench on the roof, placing her bento beside her and putting her school bag at her feet. She'd just begun to unwrap her lunch when -

- her bag rustled.

Mei blinked, looked down at it. Maybe she was so hungry she was starting to imagine things. But no - it rustled again. And then again. No, but that was silly! Bags didn't rustle of their own accord! Shaking her head, the girl lifted the lid off her bento, stomach growling even more at the smell of food...

"Uwaaah! Mei-chaaaan, are you going to share?!"

Mei smiled, about to assure of course she was, she wasn't a hog or anything - when she realized the speaker was completely foreign...and she was completely alone up here. Stifling a noise of fright, the girl looked around in a panic. Was there a ghost she didn't know about?!

"Mei-chaaannnn, down here!"

The girl looked down, gray eyes widening as she saw that Usami - her beloved blue teddy bear, the one she'd had her whole life, the doll she'd confessed her deepest secrets to, the doll she'd always changed in front of without a care - was standing at her feet. And smiling. And alive. The girl's jaw dropped, eyes widening even more.

"Haha, Mei-chan, your face looks really funny!" the bear laughed. "But anyways, there's something really important I need to talk to you about!"

Usami was alive. Usami was a boy and he was alive and he was talking to her and -

"Mei-chan? Heyyy, can you hear me?"

Mei stared. And stared some more. The girl's mouth opened, but no sound came out. Sputtering, the girl pointed at Usami, trembling all the while - and when she touched the bear, she had the realization this was all real. Going deathly pale, the girl immediately jerked away and then finally found her voice:

"EHHHH?!"

[eyecatch 1 - A close up of Cure Aries, flames dynamically surrounding her. Eyes narrowed in determination, she looks as if she's going to attack an enemy and she sends off a volley of flames - only for the scene to pan out and reveal Usami and Cure Pisces at campfire, and that Aries is simply building the fire up. Pisces and Usami hold skewers with marshmallows on them and roast them over the fire, while Aries grins and makes herself a s'more, winking playfully at the viewer. The Starshine logo appears in the corner.]

[eyecatch 2 - A close up of Cure Pisces, water trails surrounding her. She winks and then spins, sending the water flying out in a fierce attack - and the scene pans out to reveal that she's working as a fountain to a chute-like waterslide (which has a sieve and a bucket at the bottom to catch the water and excess noodles.) Sending water down the chute with one hand and holding a bowl of somen noodles with the other, she adds the noodles to the chute, watching them slide down. Aries and Usami pluck the sliding somen noodles with chopsticks before dipping them in tsuyu sauce. The three of them laugh. The Starshine logo appears in the corner.]

The notebook ended up on her desk with little fanfare during the lecture. Mei almost didn't notice it, too focused on - on what? On not thinking, on anything that wasn't what had happened on the roof. Ugh, it made her stomach churn! That - he - Usami had talked to her and had started panicking when she'd screamed, which had only made her scream harder and then she'd ran off without her lunch! (The fact she'd remembered to grab her school bag was a blessing in disguise.) Usami had shouted after her, tried to get her to listen, but Mei hadn't wanted any of it.

It was just a dream.

It had to be a dream.

A dream based on the fact she hadn't eaten lunch! Yeah, that had to be it. Talking bears was silly, right? Especially bears that could eat your normal human food...

A nudge at her chair leg reminded her of the notebook at her desk. Careful to not draw the teacher's attention, the girl flipped through the pages, past all the letters and the like, and finally ended up on the latest page. Ushio's scribbly handwriting greeted her and Mei couldn't stop the smile from appearing on her face. Years ago, she and her friend had gotten into the habit of passing a notebook back and forth, using it to chat and communicate. They'd never really decided how to split the notebooks fairly, Mei recalled...

Sorry for not having lunch with you today! It was really important club business, ughhh. Did anything interesting happen? A sad face, an annoyed face and a curious face accompanied the writing, which made the pigtailed girl smile. There were a few skipped lines, then: Hey, are you doing okay? You've looked really bug-eyed all class long...

Mei blushed guiltily as she finished reading. If it was that obvious to Ushio, how obvious was it to the rest of the class? The girl bit her lip, struggling to figure out a good way to explain it all. Ushio was one of her friends, she didn't really want to lie, but...

Hehehe, I don't think you'd believe me if I told you... Mei wrote back, passing it and glancing over her shoulder to make sure Ushio received it.

The notebook was back with surprising speed. Oh yeah? Try me.

Mei hesitated, then put her pencil to the paper. Mabataki-san was already up there when I got there. I wanted to have lunch with her but she ran away. She added a sad face for effect before passing it back.

Ushio coughed, though Mei had the distinct impression that she was trying to hide a snort. Pff, is that seriously all that happened? An unimpressed face followed it.

Mei had to bite back a nervous laugh. Well no, I wasn't finished yet...

Get to the meat of it then! C'mon, you can't go saving the best part for last!

Isn't that how you're supposed to tell stories though...?

...now you're just avoiding the subject. Tell me, please? I promise I won't laugh!

Mei cringed, debated what to even say. What was left of the blank page mocked her. Ushio would think she was crazy! But...but maybe, just maybe she would believe her. Yeah! They were friends, right? The girl readied to put her pencil to the page again -

"Hidama-san!"

Mei jumped when her teacher called her name. "Y-yes?" she replied as she flipped the notebook shut, secretly thankful for the distraction.

"Please solve the problem on the board." her teacher instructed, gesturing to a complicated looking math problem. Mei hid her cringe - she'd never been good at math - and pushed out of her seat to head over to the front of the classroom. Her stomach growled loudly halfway over, which made the girl stop - and then she blushed with mortification when the class laughed at her. "Settle down, settle down..." the teacher ordered, frowning.

Just as Mei was about to walk past the podium, something caught her eye. Something blue. Against her better judgement, the girl turned toward it to get a better look.

And there, waving frantically at the windowsill, was Usami. It seemed as though the little bear had climbed down from the roof and desperately wanted her attention. Mei stared in horror as the little bear was so darned eager to get her attention, grinning from ear to ear and not concerned in the least if other students spotted him.

Mei stumbled. Everything seemed to be spinning.

"Hidama-san?"

Mei's mind was racing - it was too much to take in. The girl tried to open her mouth, tried to assure she'd be fine, but everything was slipping out of focus, spinning faster and faster. The pigtailed girl took a step back, and then another, before she felt herself falling, everything fading to black. She was unconscious before she even hit the floor.

"Hidama-san?!"

Mei was vaguely aware of the darkness all around her. It was quite nice, actually, having nothing bothering her or trying to get her attention, and she felt at peace, even if she knew she had to wake up soon. But it was nice and warm and -

"Mei-chan."

Poke. Something was touching her face.

"Mei-chan."

Poke, prod, bother. Whatever it was, it was insistent about it.

"Mei-chaaaaan!"

It pinched her nose. Mei's brows creased in annoyance as a response, though she still kept her eyes shut. She felt a vague pinch at her mouth, though that didn't bother her as much, except why did her mouth feel dry and why was her chest suddenly feeling tight and why could she suddenly not breathe -

The pigtailed girl shot up in bed, face flushed as she panted heavily, vaguely aware of the fact her airways were cleared up now. Judging by the shriek as she jolted awake, whatever was poking and messing with her face had been shaken off of her, also evidenced by the thwap as the whatever-it-was hit the floor. Breathing steadying, the girl looked around, feeling more than a little confused. This - this didn't look like her classroom. In fact, it was the nurse's office. But why was she - ?

Oh.

Right.

She'd fainted. Her stomach rumbled at that moment, reminding the girl that she hadn't eaten since breakfast - she groaned in annoyance, she was hungry! - but she hadn't fainted because of that. It had been that...

"Mei-chan~!"

...thing.

Said thing had hopped onto her bed with a fwump and was smiling brightly up at her. Usami, her teddy bear, her beloved stuffed toy, the toy that was alive, bounced up and down to get her attention. "You're awake, you're awake! Oh, I was so worried that you wouldn't wake up again - " a strange expression crossed over the small teddy bear's face, but it was gone before Mei could even name it, " - but you're awake! That's the best news, you know?" An even brighter smile. "I didn't even get to talk to you earlier either, you screamed and ran away! And I've gotta tell you something REALLY impor - hey, are you even listening?!"

At some point, Mei had closed her eyes tight, her hands balling around the crisp bedsheets. "There's no place like home, there's no place like home..." she said under her breath, scrunching her eyes shut even tighter. It was a dream. It HAD to be. There was no way something like this could be reality! Talking animals - that was something out of a manga! "There's no place like home, there's no place like home..."

Usami tilted his head in confusion, a fuzzy blue paw tapping at Mei's wrist. "Don't you need those red slippers for that to work?" he pointed out.

Mei froze. He was right, of course, but if he was right, that meant - that meant -

"And besides, this is no time for games, Mei-chan!" Usami continued, looking as stern as a cute teddy bear could, before pointing straight at her. "You're the person I've been looking for!"

The girl stared at him. Then: "...what."

Usami nodded fiercely. "I mean it! Your Inner Star's been getting stronger for years, it's amazing! I just knew they weren't all lost and I just knew you'd be the one and you're finally strong enough to become a Pretty Cure, I can feel it and - "

There was a soft knock at the door. "Hidama-san?" the nurse asked.

Mei clapped her hands over Usami's mouth amidst the bear's muffled protests, hurriedly stuffed the bear in her school bag - dimly she realized her things must have been brought to the nurse's office, goodness how long had she been unconscious? - working as fast as she could. "A-ah, yes, hello, I'm feeling much better - " she stammered out, hissing an urgent "Keep quiet and don't move!" to Usami before forcing the bag shut.

The door swung open and the nurse eyed Mei curiously. "That's strange, I thought there was someone else in here." the woman remarked, confused. "Hidama-san, who - "

Mei grabbed her things and rushed past the nurse with all the speed she could muster. "There'ssomewhereIhavetobesosorrytorunbutit'simpor tantbyeeee!" she said in a jumbled rush, speeding down the hall and vanishing around the corner before the nurse could even stop her.

The woman stared at where Mei had retreated to, before blinking in belated surprise. "What an odd girl..."

It wasn't until Mei reached the empty sports utility shed that she finally slowed down, face flushed as she doubled over, panting and struggling to catch her breath. She hurriedly opened her bag, breathlessly pointing accusingly at Usami while trying to choke out words of indignation at the bear, though all she could get out was angered sputtering as her face flushed even more. Usami thrashed his way out of her bag, glaring at the pigtailed girl.

"That wasn't very nice!"

Mei focused on steadying her breathing, though she did glare at him. "I-I - t-the nurse - she heard you - "

"Well, if you'd just listened earlier, I wouldn't have had to show up in there!" Usami shot back, his arms folding around his fuzzy chest. "I told you, it's important!"

Mei straightened her posture, glare giving way to a slight curiosity. "The - the Cutie Pri thing?" she asked. Hadn't she watched an anime about idol princesses the other night? Wait - no, no! That - that was impossible!

As impossible as a talking animal, in fact.

...huh.

Usami sighed. "Pretty Cure." he corrected. "You're a legendary warrior! You're one of Earth's protectors and it's really good I found you because I think something's bad's gonna happen and there have been suspicious things in the news and - "

Mei turned to leave.

" - wait, where are you going?! I'm not done yet! Don't leave!" Usami cried indignantly, going after the pigtailed girl as fast as his stubby legs could carry him. "I know it's a lot to take in, but it's all true! Really!"

Mei sped up her walking. "You've got the wrong girl! I'm not a legendary warrior or whatever that is!" It was true, wasn't it? There was no way she was a - a magical girl or anything! She was just Mei, just a girl with friends, just a girl with a mom who was busy and a dad who left a lot but it didn't matter because she loved them both to pieces anyways and two siblings that she loved to bits and -

"Mei-chan, just listen to me!"

- she was just a normal girl and all she wanted was to keep getting good grades and get a boyfriend and maybe she'd get married far off in the future and maybe she'd run and then Usami couldn't catch up with her and -

- and she barreled straight into the person right in front of her, hurtling both of them into the ground. The girl groaned in pain, rolling off said person and pulling herself up to a sitting position. "Ow ow owww, I'm sorry, I wasn't - "

"Yeah, yeah, sorry but you warned me or whatever." came the annoyed reply, the 12 year old boy with two-toned hair and red eyes glaring at her. "You - you're Mei, right?" he asked after a moment, eyeing her suspiciously.

Mei blinked. Oh. Oh! She'd - she'd ran into this kid on the way to school today, hadn't she? The girl blushed in shame as she recalled the incident, though she had to blink at the kid's question. "Eh? Well, yeah, but how'd you - "

The boy smirked, held up the telescope. Her telescope. "Nice t'meetcha. The name's Marfik." he introduced. "You dropped it this morning." he added by way of explanation, something strange twinkling in his eyes. Still, he held it out for her to take.

Mei's eyes shone with gratitude. "Oh, thank you thank you thank youuuu~!" she said happily, reached out -

Usami, who had been eyeing the situation from several paces back, suddenly bristled, every strand of fur on edge as he eyed the telescope Marfik was holding. "Mei-chan, DON'T!"

- and the second Mei's hand touched the telescope, it turned pitch black, tendrils of darkness latching hard onto her arm.

ED: "Twinkle Twinkle" - Yui Horie

ON THE NEXT EPISODE:

Mei: H-hey, wait a second, I'm the main character, aren't I?! I didn't even get a henshin or even an item or -
Usami: We've got bigger problems! A monster's attacking a school and there's no way Mei-chan can help!
Mei: But the main character never gets targeted and this isn't how Pretty Cure works and -
Ushio: It's okay, Mei, I've got this~!
Mei: USHIO-CHAN?!
Ushio: You could sound a little more optimistic about it, you know...
Mei: ...I'm not even going to get a henshin next episode, am I...?
Usami: Enough of that! Next time on Starshine! Pretty ✰ Cure: I won't stand for this! Cure Pisces awakens! Don't forget to make a wish next time too!