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Welcome to Oishiina Town!
Oishiina Town is home to many restaurants that allow people to taste delicious food from around the world. On a typical day, the streets would be crowded with tourists looking forward to seeing what delicacies the town had to offer. The main streets sold Japanese, Western, and Chinese food, yet those three main areas had so much to offer. And every day, those customers would be brimming with happiness upon trying out the delicious food.
Recently, that was not the case. A few popular restaurants had gone out of business due to sudden reviews complaining about bad taste, so business had gone rather quiet. However, the negative review influx had diminished for the past few weeks, but now the bigger issue came in the form of people temporarily forgetting why they liked certain foods. Of course, that didn't come without its consequences. Forgetting precious memories tied to foods usually meant a lack of usual customers, which was just as damaging as bad taste.
Yet for one particular resident, a foodie named Yui Nagomi, that didn't stop her from enjoying all the different foods her hometown had to offer. And at the moment, she was visiting an ice cream parlor with her three closest friends. Kokone Fuwa, a proper girl who loves beauty and fashion; Ran Hanamichi, a local food blogger; and Amane Kasai, the student council president who had recently joined the group. Much like any other day, they have decided to check out this particular shop thanks to a tip Ran picked up from a fellow food blogger. And at the moment, the four girls were enjoying their tasty treat.
"Delicious Smile!" Yui gushed after taking her first bite. And as if on cue, an ice cream Recipeppi had materialized near the group.
The sweet-tasting meal was met with the usual smiles and happiness, but on this particular day, Kokone noticed there was a girl standing right by the parlor's window, her fingers twitching as saw the happy customers. The girl had shoulder-length black hair and wore a school uniform that was identical to the same one for Shinsen Middle School. Yet for some reason, she seemed distressed about something, letting out a defeated sigh before leaving the restaurant.
That worried Kokone as her friends talked among themselves about the ice cream. Who was that girl, and why was she so upset about this parlor?
The next day, when classes were done, Kokone told Yui and Ran about what she had seen at the ice cream parlor. "Someone visited and didn't step inside?" Yui asked.
"Yes," Kokone confirmed, fiddling with a pencil. "But she did look pained for some reason. I think she was one of our classmates."
Recalling the description Kokone gave earlier, Ran spotted the same girl heading towards the door. "Hey!" she called out towards the girl. "Ran-Ran wants to talk with you!"
The girl froze up and her grasp tightly clenched the doorframe. But before she could leave, she was suddenly pulled in by Ran and forcefully dragged towards the group. "C-Can I help you?" the girl asked.
Yui just so happened to have recognized the girl. "Miura-san?" she asked.
"Oh... Hi Nagomi-san," Miura replied. "Are these your friends?"
Yui nodded in response. "I'm sorry for the rude interruption, but I saw you outside a local ice cream parlor yesterday," Kokone spoke up. "Is everything all right?"
Miura looked somewhat ashamed. "You saw that?" she asked in response as she pulled away from Ran's grasp.
"Then why would you just walk past a food shop without buying anything?" Yui blurted out.
"It's complicated, okay," Miura insisted. "There are just some things I can't eat."
Yui looked offended. "Can't eat?" she repeated. "But why? Food brings smiles to everyone, including you!"
That did it for Miura, who looked so upset that she speed-walked away from the group. "'Food brings smiles', huh?" she echoed before leaving the classroom, looking rather hurt by those words.
"Miura-san..." Yui muttered, a worried look appearing on her face.
That evening, Yui had a hard time sleeping, still feeling bothered by what happened after class. Why would Miura be averse to certain foods? It brings smiles, after all. Yet she seemed bothered when she heard those words.
"'Food brings smiles', huh?"
Yui couldn't forget how bitter those words sounded. She hoped her late grandmother had a saying that could help her in this time of distress as usual, so she tried to think long and hard about what would be helpful.
"Studying helps us to learn more things so that we can imagine more."
"Do not to leave your concerns stuck like fishbones."
"Fortune comes to the merry gate."
But sadly, nothing useful came to mind, which only soured her mood. She groaned as she tugged on her bedsheets and closed her eyes. As she wished for some kind of sign to help her a notification beeped on her phone. Picking it up, she noticed it was a text from Amane.
Meet me at Fruit Parlor KASAI tomorrow morning. We need to talk.
Although confused, Yui reluctantly texted her reply.
Sure. See you there.
The next day, Yui arrived at the fruit parlor. Sure enough, Amane was standing right by the door. "What is it you wanted to show me?" Yui asked.
Amane led Yui into her family's business and brought her over to a salad bar. "My parents have a strict guideline when it comes to selling fruit," she revealed. "There are a limited number of serving spoons available." She placed her hand near a hole full of water. "When a customer is done using a spoon, they are required to rinse out fruit juice for later use."
"Why would you do that?" Yui wondered.
"Because some customers are allergic to certain fruits," Amane answered. "If the service spoons aren't rinsed properly, any leftover juice will spread to other fruits. For instance, if someone accidentally gets melon juice on strawberries, it would trigger an allergic reaction."
"And you're showing me this...why?" Yui asked.
"Kokone told me about what happened yesterday," Amane said. "How you indirectly got a classmate upset when they were in distress over not being able to eat certain foods. It's most likely that this particular classmate might have some kind of allergy to milk."
"Well that's silly," Yui dismissed. "How can you be allergic to milk? It's in so many different foods!"
"Yui, this is serious," Amane insisted. "Sometimes a food allergy can be fatal, so it's better to avoid that food altogether or find some kind of substitute."
That realization dawned on Yui. "...Fatal?" she muttered. Her fingers twitched slightly as her mouth trembled in horror. But she quite literally shook away the sadness, not wanting to focus on the negative. "Well no matter! If Miura wants to eat ice cream, I'll have to make stuff that won't hurt her!"
Amane smiled in relief, glad to see Yui understand how serious food allergies can be.
Meanwhile, over at the Layer of the Bundorus, Secretoru was going over previous attempts to get Recipeppis. "So not even Narcistoru's inventions are effective," she noted. She glanced at the empty monitor when Godatz should be. "I swear, things would be so much easier if I could deal with these Precure myself."
"What was that?" Narcistoru asked as he entered.
"Oh nothing," Secretoru quickly dismissed. "Anyway, it seems you have been quite tardy."
"Hey, what I do is none of your business," Narcistoru stated.
"That is true," Secretoru agreed. "And I'm sure you know your mission."
"Yeah, I get it," Narcistoru said, rather casually.
Secretoru's visible eye twitched as she raised her fist. "Ready?" she asked, prompting Narcistoru to raise his fist as well as they commenced their seemingly mandatory salute.
"Bundoru, bundoru!"
Back in Oishiina Town, Yui was determined to make amends. So after contacting Kokone and Ran, the four girls had soon found themselves going to various food stores in hopes of finding plant milk. According to Amane, that type of milk was special for not triggering allergic reactions. Unfortunately, finding such milk proved to be rather fruitless.
"Geez..." Ran sighed. "What kind of milk are we even looking for?"
"From what Amane described, it sounds like we should use plant milk," Kokone speculated, scrolling through various websites using her Cure Heart Watch. "Apparently certain people can't digest enzymes found in milk made from cows and goats."
Amane nodded in response. "Some companies nowadays have become aware of various food allergies," she explained. "So to keep their businesses thriving, they have made special products constraining food substitutes. Only a few of these companies do that, but it's spurring awareness throughout the world."
"That's so cool!" Ran gushed.
As for Yui, she was searching for plant milk to join in on the conversation. Despite her passion as a foodie, she never knew about food allergies until now. But can you blame her? The various businesses in town never promote those products. Or perhaps...the thought never crossed her mind since she doesn't have any allergies?
How could she even call herself a foodie if she had never stopped to consider how food might actually prevent smiles for some customers?
It was during this self-loathing that a miracle happened. Sitting right on the shelves was a carton of Glico almond milk. The pink-clad girl let out a happy gasp as she grabbed the carton and lifted it above her head.
"Almond milk obtained!" Yui cheered. "Now let's go make some ice cream for Miura-san!"
But just as the girls were about to head to a checkout, their Cure Heart Watches (or Heart Fruits Pendant, in Amane's case) started beeping, indicating the alarm that a few Recipeppis had been stolen. Two of them, in fact, representing salads and milk. While Yui didn't like the Bondoru Gang interrupting them, she was far more frustrated this time.
"Come on!" Yui shouted. "Let's go get Mary!"
Yet upon trying to find who would no doubt be Narcistoru, the girls ran by the ice cream parlor. But for Yui, a single glance through the window made it felt like time had slowed down. Sitting at one of the parlor's tables was none other than Miura, who appeared to be in pain. The shock made her freeze up as her team ran off without her, but that didn't phase the brunette Cure in the slightest. She was more worried about her classmate, so she entered the ice cream parlor and rushed over to her side.
"Miura-san!" Yui cried out. "What happened?!"
Miura groaned as she clutched her stomach. "...I don't understand," she muttered. "Why did I stop coming here years ago?"
Realization hit Yui. What Miura just said sounded very familiar to all the customers whose precious memories were stolen Narcistoru. Thinking back to the Recieppis who were captured earlier, she realized one of them was for milk. There was also what Amane told her back at Fruit Parlor KASAI.
"It's most likely that this particular classmate might have some kind of allergy to milk."
That was when realization hit the pink Cure. Could her classmate have negative precious memories related to her food allergy? But before she could check, Miura let out another groan as she clasped her hands over her mouth. Luckily Yui knew how to respond.
"Does anyone have a bucket?!" the brunette girl called out.
"Right here," Amane's brother, Mitsuki, answered, holding up a white bucket from behind the counter.
"Thanks!" Yui replied. And with quick thinking, she brought the bucket over to Miura. "Just hang tight. I'll be right back."
Luckily for Yui, it didn't take her a long time to find the Delicious Field Rosemary had probably materialized. So with strong determination, she ran into the field as KomeKome transformed into a rice ball.
"Precure, Delicious Standby! Party Go!"
In a flash of pink light, Yui changed into Cure Precious as she entered the field. Her timing was perfect. From what she could see, Black Pepper had already shown up and the other Cures (Spicy, Yum-Yum, and Finale) were having a hard time defeating this new Motto Ubauzo, which seemed to resemble a salad bowl carrying a whisk.
But now was not the time to ask questions. This energy Cure had a friend to save. So without wasting time, she delivered a total beatdown on the Motto Ubauzo, not even stopping to explain why. This was an emergency, after all. She could always explain later.
After landing a 1000 Kilogram Punch on the Motto Ubauzo, Yui tapped the screen of her Cure Heart Watch, ready to deliver the finishing blow. "Precure Precious Triangle!"
"Precious, wait!" Rosemary called out. "That might be too weak!"
But Yui ignored Rosemary's warnings, firing a blast of pink triangle-shared energy towards Narcistoru and knocking the bento box out of his hand. The box fell to the ground with a loud crack, resulting in it shattering as the Motto Ubauzo poofed from existence. Then the escaped Recipeppis flew towards Yui and entered her Cure Heart Watch.
As for Narcistoru, he was rather flabbergasted with what had just happened, but he scoffed at it. "What was with her?" he muttered before vanishing.
That afternoon, Amane had contacted Miura and asked her to come over to Nagomi Diner. When she did arrived, she was surprised to see the four girls sitting by a table waiting for her.
"What's all this about?" Miura asked.
Yui was the first to speak. "Miura-san, I'm so sorry about yesterday," she apologized, planting her hands in front of her and bowing deeply. "I didn't know you have a food allergy and I was such an idiot to not realize it." She relaxed her body and presented her gift. "So to make it up, I made something special just for you."
Miura sat by the table and saw what Yui had offered. "This is ice cream," she stated.
"Made from almond milk," Yui clarified. "Now you won't have to feel left out."
With slight hesitation, Miura picked up a spoon and took a spoonful of ice cream. After swallowing it, her eyes widened in bliss and she smiled wide. "This is incredible!" she exclaimed. "I don't feel sick!"
"That's not all," Amane added. She took out a small rectangle-shaped box and held it out to Miura. "This is from my family's fruit parlor. It's a special kind of candy gloss that doesn't contain milk."
"Thank you!" Miura replied as she accepted the candy gloss. "Thank you so much! You have no idea how much this means to me!"
"How did you find out about your allergy?" Yui wondered.
"It's...not a pleasant experience," Miura revealed. "When I was younger, I ordered some macaroni and cheese at a western restaurant my parents brought me to. But as I ate, I felt so sick and was unable to finish the meal. It wasn't until after that experience that my parents found out I have a mild allergy to animal milk."
The four girls were shocked to hear that. "That's horrible," Kokone remarked.
"Well you don't have to worry anymore," Yui said. "No one must be excluded from a meal. If you have an allergy, just find a substitute so you can enjoy eating with everyone."
"Whoa!" Ran exclaimed. "Was that something your grandmother said?"
Yui shook her head in response. "I just made it up," she revealed. She then eyed her own ice cream. "Now let's dig in!"
As the five girls enjoyed eating ice cream, two Recipeppis materialized above representing ice cream. But for one of the Recipeppis, it actually represented almond milk ice cream. And with the two food fairies flying above the happy environment, Yui was glad to know she was able to make a classmate smile, wanting to do the same to others who also had food allergies.