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Iroha sighed, rubbing at her sleepless eyes. It was going to be one of those nights, then. Komugi barely stirred beside her as she sat up, silently slipping out of bed. She grabbed her jacket from its hook, and did her best to tip-toe down the hall.
It happened every once in a while, a night where sleep would just abandon her. She’d had enough of them to know that just waiting around for it wouldn’t help, all it would do was make her painfully bored. Usually, she’d get up and make herself a drink, or walk around the dog run a couple of times. Recently though, with the stress of everything making the sleepless nights more frequent, she’d taken to a different activity.
She pulled her jacket closer around her shoulders as she stepped out into the night’s light chill. Though, with summer visible on the horizon she might not even need it soon. She’d still probably bring it; the idea of walking around outside in nothing but her PJs, for however short a time, didn’t really appeal to her.
She stepped into the shadows around the back of the house, and pulled her Wonderful Pact out of her pocket. She took a moment, tracing the pink and purple details on top of it with her fingertips. It had been months now, since she’d first gotten it, but sometimes she still couldn’t believe it was real, that any of it was real.
“Precure, My Evolution,” She said, her voice echoing with power. The world around her melted away, and she let herself relax into the transformation. When the light faded, her disheveled PJs look was no more, replaced by her miraculously well put together form as Cure Friendy.
She stretched, cheerful energy running through her muscles, dulling the fatigued ache that had rested there before. A smile rose to her lips. No matter how many times she did this, it was still amazing.
Her skirt swished around her legs as she moved, and she ran her hands over the thick fabric. It was so soft and light, despite the protective nature of it. She’d be willing to bet it was better than kevlar. Speaking of, she experimentally pulled at her braids. She knew human hair was strong, but she was always surprised at how her hair changed when she transformed. It was soft and stiff at the same time, seeming to defy gravity, and strong enough to never get damaged in any of the fights they’d been in. She still couldn’t get over its length, either. She’d had shorter hair her whole life, so braids this long were mystical to her.
She crouched, and then leapt, clearing her whole house in one bound. She backflipped, just for fun, and landed on the tips of her toes atop the roof. Her smile widened into a grin. She was athletic normally, but the boost she got from the magic was something else entirely.
Her neighborhood stretched out before her, illuminated silver by the moon above. She walked along the tiles, each step confident as she moved with the best balance she’d ever had. It was a beautiful, serene, unbroken stillness. The perfect backdrop for-
“I thought I’d find you up here!”
Friendy very nearly fell off the roof in surprise, whirling around to find Cure Wonderful perched a few feet behind her, a perfect innocent grin plastered on her face.
“Wonderful, hi,” Friendy gasped, regaining her footing. “Did I wake you?”
“Not really,” Wonderful shrugged, walking closer. “I was hungry, but then I noticed you were gone.”
“Fair enough,” Friendy nodded.
“You can’t sleep again, right?” Wonderful blinked at her with her big, puppy-dog eyes. As someone who was usually a dog, she was really good at it. “You wouldn’t mind some company, would you?”
“Of course not,” Friendy sighed, smiling softly at her. Her nights were usually pretty lonely, the company would be much appreciated. “How’d you know I was up on the roof, though?”
“It’s where I would go!” Wonderful beamed.
“Of course it is!” Friendy laughed, patting Wonderful on the head.
“So what were you planning on doing?” Wonderful asked, peering around Friendy and out into the night.
“Well…” Friendy bit her lip. “You know those parkour videos you watched with me a while back?”
“We’re gonna do parkour?!” Wonderful exclaimed, her eyes sparkling as she started bouncing on her toes. Friendy laughed, nodding.
“That’s the plan! I’ve done it a few times now, it’s a good stress relief, especially when Precure powers make it so easy,” She hummed, stepping aside so Wonderful could come up next to her. The girl was almost vibrating, she was so excited. “We just have to remember to be back by sunrise, alright?”
“Alright!” Wonderful said, not waiting another second before leaping off into the night. Friendy sighed fondly, and followed.
Every single jump was a rush. The wind whipping through her braids, the impact in her feet, the power in the movements themselves. She was grinning bright as anything, barely paying attention to where they were going as they vaulted through the night.
As they went, Friendy spied several night critters, owls, bats, mice, and some others, going about their lives. At first glance, the night was silent and still, but if you look closer it’s just as alive as the day, a sort of life she didn’t get to see often. It was one of the reasons she no longer minded the sleepless nights as much.
“Friendy! Watch me!” Wonderful called from ahead, and Friendy obliged, grinning as Wonderful performed some over the top flips. Friendy laughed, speeding up to catch up, and show off a little herself. For one of her tricks, Wonderful landed perfectly on the head of a streetlamp. Friendy paused on a neighboring building to clap as Wonderful bowed.
“Impressive!” She laughed, flipping onto her own streetlamp.
“Hang on a second-” Wonderful said, her eyes growing unfocused as she sniffed the air. “Isn’t this close to Satoru’s house?”
“Huh,” Friendy tilted her head, looking around at the landmarks. “Yeah, I’d say we’re only a block away.”
“Let’s go get him!” Wonderful said, throwing her hands into the air in excitement, nearly falling off her perch.
“What? We can’t do that, he’s probably asleep,” Friendy shook her head. As much as parkouring around the city with Satoru-kun sounded fun… “Plus, he doesn’t have powers, he wouldn’t be able to keep up.”
“It doesn’t hurt to check,” Wonderful suggested. “If he can’t keep up, then we just have to carry him!” She shrugged.
“I… I guess,” Friendy sighed. In all likelihood, he would be asleep. Heh, maybe she’d take a picture of his house to show him in the morning. He’d probably get a kick out of that. “Okay, let’s go!”
It took no time at all to reach Satoru’s house with their speed. Wonderful squealed, launching herself onto their roof. Friendy shook her head fondly, before following, doing her best to land as softly as possible. They really didn’t want to wake up his parents, that would be hard to explain.
“Look! His light is on!” Wonderful grinned, hanging over the side of the roof.
“Really?” Friendy raised an eyebrow. What in the world was he doing up? She wandered over to join Wonderful, hooking her feet around the drainpipe, and letting herself fall to hang upside down in front of his window, which was indeed glowing a nice yellow.
Unfortunately for them, Satoru-kun was a conscientious kid who kept his curtains closed. Still, she could see his shadow moving around inside. She sighed, and knocked, rapping three times on the glass. The shadow inside jumped, before slowly approaching the window. He threw open the curtains, and then jumped again, wide eyes scanning the two Cures upside down outside his window.
“Hi!” Wonderful waved jovially at him.
“What-” He said, opening the window. “-are you two doing here?”
“Um, parkour?” Friendy offered, a little sheepish. She honestly hadn’t been expecting him to be awake. “We were in the area, so…”
“We wanted to see if you’d join us!” Wonderful grinned, bracing her hands against the bottom of the window frame.
“You’re… inviting me out for parkour? At eleven at night?” Satoru-kun raised an incredulous eyebrow, glancing between the two of them.
“Yep! I figured since you don’t have magic that one of us could carry you! It’ll be fun!” Wonderful turned her puppy eyes on him, and he avoided her gaze by staring at Friendy instead.
“You know what? Why not,” He nodded. “Give me a second to get ready, I’ll meet you outside,” He ducked back into his room, gently prying Wonderful’s hands off of the sill before closing the window and the curtains.
Wonderful and Friendy both flipped back up onto the roof, before neatly sliding off and into the grass below. Wonderful bounced on her toes for the entire time Satoru-kun was inside, only stopping when he emerged. He was now wearing his tracksuit, and had Daifuku’s basket under one of his arms.
“Sorry to bother you, honestly,” Friendy rubbed the back of her head. “Wonderful insisted.”
“It’s no problem,” He smiled lightly, even as Wonderful dashed forward to grab Daifuku’s basket. “You couldn’t sleep again?”
“Why were you awake?” She deflected, a bit of a blush rising to her cheeks.
“Research,” He shrugged. “The more I know, the more prepared we’ll be.”
“You’re too good to us,” Friendy hummed with a smile, striding forward to sweep him up into a princess carry. With her enhanced strength, he was light as a feather.
“W-what-” He blinked at her, a rosy tint coloring his whole face.
“C’mon! The night awaits!” She grinned, leaping after Wonderful, who had already gone on ahead with Daifuku.
Leaping around the city was a little different with a person in her arms, but it wasn’t a bad difference, not at all. Now, she had the option to look down at any moment and see Satoru-kun’s face, his eyes blown wide in excitement and wonder as they dashed around from roof to roof, the wind ripping through them. Enjoying it on her own was one thing, but being able to witness Satoru-kun’s reactions the whole time…
“Y’know,” Satoru-kun said, once they had slowed down a little. “When Wonderful said you would be carrying me, this isn’t exactly what I pictured.”
“Oh? Do you want me to do something else?” She tilted her head at him. He’d been looking like he’d been having fun.
“No-! Uh, I mean, this is fine,” He said, breaking eye contact to stare out into the night.
“If you say so,” Friendy shrugged, leaping out ahead of Wonderful, to the other girl’s delight.
“I never knew the city could look like this,” Satoru-kun breathed, only just loud enough for Friendy to hear over the wind.
“I know, it surprised me too, the first time I did this,” She hummed, vaulting off a fence and out into the open air. The street was wide enough there were several uninterrupted seconds of airtime, during which she could feel Satoru-kun holding his breath. “Hang on a second…”
She looked around, and realized she recognized where they were. Wonderful, sly dog she was, had led them right back around to Mayu’s area. Friendy sighed fondly, giving in and following after her. If she wanted to pick up more tag-a-longs, then that was her right.
“That’s Pretty Holic, right? Mayu-chan’s place?” Satoru asked, raising an eyebrow at the building.
“Yep,” Friendy nodded, noting the soft glow coming from Mayu-chan’s window. None of them ever got any sleep, it seemed.
“Mayu-chan! Yuki-chan!” Wonderful called, leaping right onto their window sill. Friendy came to a stop on the roof, letting Satoru-kun back to his feet.
“Wha- Wonderful?” Mayu-chan said, opening her window.
“Us too!” Satoru-kun grinned, crouching over the edge so she could see him.
“Satoru-kun? Friendy? Huh?” She blinked up at them, flabbergasted.
“What business could you possibly have to be loitering here at this time of night?” Yuki hissed, hopping onto the window sill and glaring at all of them in turn.
“Also, Satoru-kun, what are you doing on the roof?” Mayu asked, squinting at him.
“Parkour, apparently,” He sighed. “Though I’m not sure if it counts if Friendy just carries me the whole time.”
“Friendy was carrying you?” Mayu asked, a glint of something filling her eyes.
“We’re having fun!” Wonderful barked, “I was hoping you two would join us!”
“Absolutely not,” Yuki sniffed, wrapping her tail around her paws. “We need our rest for school tomorrow.”
“Well…” Mayu said, glancing between Friendy and Satoru-kun. “It wouldn’t hurt to have some fun for a little while, right?”
“I… suppose,” Yuki admitted, though she was still glaring at them. Friendy thought it was sweet, just how much she looked out for Mayu-chan.
“Precure, My Evolution!” Mayu said, and a flash of light later Lillian was there, already climbing out her window to join Friendy and Satoru-kun on the roof.
“Happy to have you!” Friendy laughed, giving her a quick hug.
“Fine. Precure, My Evolution,” Then Nyammy was there too.
“We’ve got everyone now!” Wonderful said, joining them all on the roof and holding Daifuku’s basket aloft.
“Do you actually have a plan, or are we just going to wander around?” Nyammy asked, crossing her arms and rolling her eyes.
“Well, up until now we’ve mostly been moseying around, but…” Friendy shrugged. “How about a race?”
“A race?” Lillian’s eyes sparkled, and she held her hands close to her chest excitedly.
“Yep! To the school! What say you all?” Friendy put her hands on her hips, grinning and raising an eyebrow at her companions.
“I’m exempt from this, right?” Satoru said, sheepishly raising a hand. “I can’t exactly…”
“Friendy can keep carrying you, right?” Lillian said, clapping excitedly.
“Sure,” Friendy shrugged. “Carrying you earlier didn’t really impact my speed, so I should still be good.”
“Right,” He said. If it had been a little lighter, Friendy would have seen him blush right down to his roots.
“I don’t have any objections,” Nyammy said, raising an eyebrow at Wonderful. “Lillian and I will be crushing you two.”
“Oh it’s on! ” Wonderful grinned, showing off her canines.
“How about we just have fun, right?” Lillian suggested, and Friendy nodded emphatically.
“Just a fun midnight parkour race!” She said, putting a hand on Wonderful’s shoulder.
The four of them lined up, with Friendy once again sweeping Satoru-kun into her arms. They made sure they were facing the general direction of the school, and then Satoru-kun started counting down. When he reached zero, they all burst into movement.
Despite what they’d said about a friendly match, Friendy still wanted to win, so she put everything she had into her jumps. She propelled herself higher, faster, kept her feet light on tile and stone, and all in all became a blur in the night. She could feel Satoru-kun’s iron grip on her mantle, and could hear Wonderful’s whooping laugh next to her, it all blended together into the perfect heart pumping experience.
Nyammy was ahead of her, that wouldn’t do. She slowed just a little, just enough to really power up her next jump. She sailed four, five, seven stories above the street, looking up until all she could see was sky. By the time she came down, she was in the lead.
She ended up as the victor, skidding to a stop on their school’s roof moments before Nyammy and Lillian, with Wonderful bringing up the rear. She pouted briefly, but really she hadn’t lost by much. They were all equally matched.
“That was… something,” Satoru-kun gasped as Friendy let him down. He hadn’t done any of the jumping, but he still looked winded. He'd never been all that athletic, and the lack of magical enhancement must have made the race a bit strenuous on him. Whoops.
“The ride home will be smoother,” She assured him, lightly patting him on the back.
“Friendy! You were AMAZING! Wonderful!” Wonderful whooped, running around in circles.
“Your speed is impressive,” Nyammy admitted, tossing her long white hair over her shoulder.
“Yep!” Lillian said, though her eyes were darting between Friendy and Satoru again.
“Though, Lillian, it is very late, and we should be getting home,” Nyammy insisted, putting a hand on Lillian’s shoulder.
“Nyammy is right,” Lillian sighed, shooting Satoru one last significant look. Friendy wondered what that was about. “See you all in the morning!”
“See you! Nyammy! Lillian!” Wonderful called, waving them off.
“We should probably be getting you and Daifuku home too, huh?” Friendy smiled, gesturing in the vague direction of his house.
“Yes please,” He smiled back, dipping his head in thanks.
As promised, the trip back was much gentler, something she could tell he appreciated. They dropped the boy and his bunny off, before heading home themselves.
Usually, a sleepless night meant she wouldn’t be sleeping at all , but after all that… Iroha was out as soon as her head hit the pillow.