Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was an average afternoon in Nanairogaoka. Miyuki was sitting at the kitchen table, working on a family tree assignment for school. “And there we go,” she said, looking proudly at the work she had done. “The complete Hoshizora family tree!” 

She showed the finished piece to her parents. “See, we have me, you two, Grandma, and the picture of my great grandmother that Grandma mailed to us.” Miyuki turned to Ikuyo. “Did I miss anyone?”

"Not that I know of," shrugged Hiroshi.

“Well…” Ikuyo studied the collage Miyuki had made. “There is one person I never told you about.”

“Really?” Miyuki was intrigued. “Who?”

"Yeah, who, kuru?" Candy, perched on Miyuki's shoulder, asked.

Ikuyo sat down with a cup of coffee. “You see, I have an older brother. His name is Hideki. Thing is, I haven’t seen him in fifteen years. He had a lot of problems with stealing and gambling, and he disappeared on us a little while before you were born.”

“Oh…” Miyuki paused for a moment. “Should I include him in the tree?”

Ikuyo sighed. “You’ve never met him, so I don’t think you have to.”

Miyuki looked over her project, thinking about her long lost Uncle Hideki. Surely that wasn’t the end of it. Didn’t anyone know what happened to him?

“...And she says no one in the family has heard from him since.” Miyuki, now seated at Fruit Parlour KASAI, finished telling the story. “But I know that some Cure’s parents must have heard about him too.”

“I understand how frustrated you must feel.” Botan placed a strawberry swirl in front of Miyuki. “But I’ve never met any Hoshizora Hideki before.”

“There are a lot of people you’ll need to talk to if you want more information about him,” said Amane. 

“You had better get cracking,” added Ran.

“I definitely will,” insisted Miyuki. “As soon as I finish my swirl.”

Regina rolled her eyes. “Typically Miyuki; food takes all priority.”

"Do you blame her?" Botan asked. "She paid good money for it."

"Let me see, kuru!" Candy yelped. "She always lets me have the strawberry chunks, kuru!"

The first place Miyuki went to investigate was the Nijigaoka household. “So you see, my mom doesn’t know where he’s been in the past fifteen years.”

“I see.” Yoyo stirred her coffee. “I believe I once interviewed a Hoshizora years ago.”

“Was it him?” Miyuki asked. 

“I can’t quite remember,” mused Yoyo. She led Miyuki to the storage room, where she dug out one of her old notebooks. “Ah, now I remember. This was from your grandmother.”

The two of them read through the notes. “She says that Hideki’s been secretive since he was a teenager.” Miyuki pointed out. “So he’s been acting weird for a long time.”

“Indeed.” Yoyo closed the notebook. “I don’t think this will be of much use to you.”

“Well, it’s a start,” said Miyuki.

Miyuki’s next stop was the Sawaizumi Hot Spring Inn. “Good afternoon, Sawaizumi-san,” she greeted Chiyu’s mother. “I’m here to ask if you know anything about Hoshizora Hideki.”

“Hoshizora Hideki…” Nao mused. “I’ll have to check our old record books.”

“What’s going on?” Chiyu came to the front lobby.

“I’m trying to find information about my mom’s lost brother.” Miyuki explained. “She told me about him while I was working on my family tree project, and now I just have to know what happened to him!”

“Wait, you just heard about him today?” Chiyu put her hands on Miyuki’s shoulders. “Come on, sit down for a bit. You need time to process.”

Chiyu brought Miyuki to sit with their feet in a hot spring and talk about her quest. “So, while you were doing schoolwork, your mother told you about her brother.”

“That’s right,” said Miyuki. “She says he disappeared before I was born.”

“And no one has seen him since?” Chiyu asked. 

“Exactly.” Miyuki gently kicked her feet to stir up bubbles in the water. “I’ve been asking around for anyone who may have met him before.”

“I see.” Chiyu mused. “Now, fifteen years is a long time. Longer than a lot of us have been alive for. Just running off without thinking isn’t going to help you much.”

“I guess you’re right.” Miyuki sighed. “I got really carried away.”

"That's just how Miyuki is, kuru," mused Candy. "She runs first and asks questions later, kuru."

“Miyuki?” Nao entered the room. “I was able to find a booking for Hoshizora Hideki in our archives.” She showed her the book. “He spent about an hour in the springs, alongside a woman by the name of Ichinose Narumi.”

“Ichinose Narumi?” Chiyu and Miyuki shared a look. “Isn’t that Minori’s mom?”

The door to the inn opened up. "Good afternoon, Nao-san," greeted Yoko Omori, entering the building. "I made it in time for my massage appointment."

"I need to get outta here!" Miyuki tore right past her, leaving Yoko and the Sawaizumis in the dust.

Miyuki quickly knocked on the Ichinose door. Narumi opened up. “Hello?”

“Hi,” gasped Miyuki, out of breath. “I…I have to ask you…about something serious.”

“Okay,” said Narumi, confused and concerned. “Come inside and sit down.”

Narumi directed Miyuki into the living room, where Minori was already sitting. “Alright,” said Narumi, “what has happened?”

“Well, my mother told me today about how her brother disappeared fifteen years ago,” explained Miyuki, “and Chiyu’s mother said that you knew him back then.”

Narumi was confused for a moment, until she finished her mental game of Connect the Dots and figured out what Miyuki was talking about. “You mean, Hoshizora Hideki?”

“Yes! Yes!” Miyuki nearly fell off the couch. “That’s him!”

“Well…” Narumi blushed. “Yes, I knew Hideki. I used to date him.”

Miyuki gasped. “You did?!”

“Sheesh, Miyuki,” mused Minori, “how much caffeine did you have today?”

“Hideki and I went out for about a year,” explained Narumi. “He was a bit older than me, but he was so charming… we went just about everywhere together.”

“So, what happened to him?” Miyuki asked. 

“Well, after a while, his money problems began to pile up.” Narumi continued. “I knew he had a gambling problem, but the amount of debt he had racked up was beyond my belief. Eventually, he just disappeared, and didn’t leave any sort of note.”

She blushed. “But by that point, I was too busy to go looking for him. I had to look after a little one of my own…”

Miyuki cocked her head, then looked over at Minori, and the puzzle pieces in her head connected together. The two of them gasped. “You mean the two of us are cousins?!”

Chapter Text

“The Hoshizora and Ichinose families have been connected all along! I can’t believe it!” Miyuki was quickly pacing in a circle, losing her mind.

“I didn’t realize this meant so much to you,” said Narumi. 

“Are you crazy?” Miyuki glommed onto Minori. “I’ve always wanted a cousin! Isn’t this so exciting?!”

“I-I guess.” Minori wiggled out of Miyuki’s arms. “I’m just disappointed to learn that my father was a gambling runaway.”

Narumi sighed. “I suppose it was for the best, knowing how flaky that man was.”

Miyuki tugged on Minori’s hands. “Come on! We have to go tell everyone right now!” She pulled her off the couch and practically dragged her to the Magical Library.

Several Cures were hanging around in the library when Miyuki suddenly burst in, red in the face and on the verge of passing out. “Girls! Girls! You won’t believe this!”

“What is it?” Ran looked up from her book about pandas. “You’re completely out of breath!”

“Whatever it is, it must be good if she’s this anxious to tell us,” mused Ako.

"Wait for me, kuru!" Candy toddled into the library. "You took off without me, kuru!"

“I…was going through my family tree,” explained Miyuki through gasps for air. “And I…traced some lineage…to Minori! We’re cousins!”

“Cousins? You?” Ellen’s jaw dropped. “Unbelievable!”

“That’s incredible!” Akira put her book down. “How were you able to find that out?”

“Well,” Miyuki started up again, “I found out from my mom today about her brother who disappeared before I was born. I asked some adults around town about him, and Chiyu’s mom found records of him hanging out at her hot springs with Minori’s mom, so I went to Minori’s place to talk about her, and she told me they dated, and that he’s Minori’s father!”

"It's true!" Hinata yelped. "Even the encyclopaedia says so!" She showed the girls Minori's entry in the Pretty Cure Encyclopaedia.

Ichinose, Minori - A resident of Aozora City and cousin to Miyuki Hoshizora. She loves books and wishes to be an author in the future. Her Cure form is Cure Papaya, who has light powers.

“You did all that in one afternoon, lun?” Lala asked. “You must have been seriously dedicated, lun!”

“I know!” Miyuki once again squeezed Minori and bounced on her tiptoes. “It’s amazing! I finally have a cousin to talk to and hang out with and shop with and do all sorts of fun stuff with! And we’re both Cures! We can save the world together!”

“Yes, yes, that’s all well and good,” said Minori, prying herself free from Miyuki’s grip. “But we haven’t really spent a whole lot of one-on-one time together before this. We need to actually plan something out before we jump the gun and become best friends forever.”

“Okay, okay,” said Miyuki, kicking into her brainstorm mode. “What’s something fun for two cousins to do together?”

“Why don’t you start at the pool?” Yuni suggested. “It’s free, it beats the heat, and you both know how to swim.”

“Yeah! The pool!” Miyuki chirped. “That’ll be super fun!”

That weekend, Minori met a very excited Miyuki at the pool. The two of them took up a little table with a pink umbrella, and Minori laid down her towel; yellow with an orange pineapple pattern. Miyuki left her pink and yellow towel in her beach bag and jumped right into the water. “Wait for us!” The Natsuki twins raced after her, abandoning their crocs at their own table. 

Minori knelt down and stuck her hand in the water. It was rather cold, nipping at her fingers. She drew back, unsure if she wanted to get in. “Come on, cuz!” Miyuki reached towards her cousin, and with a powerful kick off the pool wall, she soared back into the water, while Minori leapt in like a graceful swan. “See? That wasn’t so bad!”

“I suppose it wasn’t,” mused Minori. However, she glanced to the side and spotted a grasshopper skidding on top of the water. She shrieked and swatted at it. 

From the top of the pool fence, the girls heard a cackle. “Look at you weaklings! You’re afraid of a tiny bug! What cowards!”

Miyuki and Minori looked up. “Battamonda!” Miyuki scrambled out of the water. “You don’t scare me!”

“Oh, good for you, do you want a cookie?” Battamonda sneered. “How about a nice Ranborg instead?” He snapped his fingers. “Come on! Undergu Energy!”

Purple, stinging energy swirled around and took over the little grasshopper, turning it into a tall, mecha monster. “Ranborg!”

“Oh yeah?” Miyuki fished her Smile Pact out of her beach bag. “We’ve got two against one!” 

She and Minori went back to back, holding up their trinkets. “Pretty Cure, Tropical Smiles!”

Together, in a swirl of pink and yellow sparkles, Miyuki and Minori transformed into Cure Happy and Cure Papaya. “Sparkling fruits, the light of the future! Cure Happy! Cure Papaya!”

“Come on! Let’s plant this guy into the ground!” Cure Happy leapt into the air, up onto the pool fence. Hopping along and taking in the heat from the metal, she charged up a tough kick, which she planted right into Battamonda’s ass.

“What? You’re supposed to fight the Ranborg!” Battamonda did his best to block Cure Happy’s attacks.

Meanwhile, on the ground, Cure Papaya ran along the Ranborg’s back, whacking it as she tried to flip it into the pool. “Let’s go! Panpaka Papaya Shot!” She sent giant papaya seeds hurtling towards the Ranborg, exploding as they hit it, and eventually knocking it over into the water, where it shorted out and fizzled, turning back into a regular grasshopper.

“Fight me, you big baby!” Cure Happy yelled at Battamonda. “You can’t let your monsters do all the work!”

“That’s right!” Cure Papaya leapt up to help her cousin. “Cures fight with honour!”

The two of them took hands, and created a storm of bright golden sparkles. “Pretty Cure, Papaya Shower!” 

“Ack! Yuck! Alright, I get it!” Battamonda spit out a mouthful of glitter. “You prissy princesses are still too weak for my full potential!” He smugly snapped his fingers. “Battamon-mon.” And he disappeared.

Cure Happy and Cure Papaya poofed back into their civilian forms. “See? I told you we’d make an excellent team!” Miyuki chirped.

Minori pushed her glasses back up her nose. “Yeah…I guess we do.”