Afterword - A Doki Doki Precure Story

18 - Premonition For Disaster

The school day went by relatively quickly, and before everyone knew it, it was club time.
The first years made their way back and forth, looking at clubs and trying out activities before making a decision to join that club. If it wasn't for them, they would look at another club.

But out of the first years, only two students were adamant on joining a specific club.

"Mana? You want to check out the idol club too?"

Mana twiddled a strand of her pink hair between her fingers and wore a nervous smile.
"I-I'm just curious about it is all..."

Makoto smiled at the pinkette. It would be nice to sing and dance with somebody other than herself. She could give her singing lessons, and they could grow even closer as friends.
"Ai-senpai said it's over this way, so let's go!" She said rather eagerly, grabbing Mana's hand and quickly moving in the direction of the club room.

Approaching the door, she carefully knocked on the door before entering.
Inside, there stood six members of the club, their eyes focussed intently on the door.
They all seemed to be in their second and third years. Amongst them was Ai.

"Kenzaki Makoto?!" One of the girls screamed in admiration.
"Aida-san? What brings you here?" Ai asked with a puzzled expression.
After all, it was no secret that Mana was... slightly tone deaf.

"I want to see if I have what it takes to be an idol, like Makopi." Mana said calmly and with a smile.

"Awesome! Well, let me introduce you to everyone," Ai started. She pointed at the shortest of the group first. "This is Yuu. She's our song writer."
Yuu gave a small wave before furrowing her eyebrows. "Did you point to me first because I'm the shortest?!"

Ai laughed. "Maybe. Yuu just need to figure it out. Get it? Yuu, you?"
Mana let out a small laugh and Ai then pointed to the next girl. Ironically, she was the tallest.
"This is Yelena. Her parents are Russian. They moved to Japan before she was born. She's also our lyricist."

"Pleasure to meet you." Yelena said with a smile.
Mana took notice that Yelena was in fact a second-year, and Yuu was a third-year.
The realisation caused her to laugh seemingly out of the blue.

"Is something funny?" Yuu challenged with her arms folded.
"Gomen, gomen. Just a funny thought."

"It's because I'm the short third-year isn't it?" She asked with a defeated sigh.
Mana shook her head, not wanting to get on her bad side.

"These are Maki, Dia, Ayaka and Mai. Ayaka is our dance instructor." Ai explained with a smile.
Mana smiled back.

"It's a pleasure to meet you two. I didn't think either of you would ever consider the idol club." Explained Ayaka, playing with her icy blue hair.

"Why wouldn't I join? I love idol stuff." Makoto explained.
"What about you, Aida-san? Is there a reason you want to join?" Ai asked.

Mana thought hard for a moment. "I want to make people happy, and I've always wanted to be on stage and sing with someone. If I could make people happy through song, that would be great."

Everyone began to smile.
"That's a really nice answer, Mana."

~Later That Day~

"I'm home!" Mana called out as she entered her own home, taking a moment to take off her shoes and place them by the wall near the steps.
She also took this time to wait for a certain signal that let her know a certain someone was coming for her.

However that never came. Even after three minutes of waiting.
'Huh. Normally she would sprint down the stairs and jump on me. Is she late home or something?' Mana pondered to herself before deciding to go upstairs to her room.
She waved to her parents as she passed the open bedroom door and made her way to her own room.

The door was open however, and the person she was looking for wasn't there.

"Regina?" She called out. There was no answer, which was strange.
She turned around to look at the bathroom door. It was slightly ajar, meaning it was unoccupied.
Even if Regina was in there, she would have heard Mana announce that she was home.

She looked all over the house. There was no trace of her blonde girlfriend anywhere.

So she decided to switch on her phone. However there wasn't a single message from the blonde.
Which was also very worrying. Regina messaged Mana whenever there was an opening.

"She'll show up eventually." Mana thought out loud.

Two hours seemed to fly by and there was still no sign of Regina. Worry hit Mana like a ton of bricks. Which is why when she heard the door close she threw herself off of her bed and sprinted down the stairs.

However she felt disappointment kick in when it turned out it was only Yuki.
"Hey Mana. Everything okay?" She asked while putting her bag on the floor and heading to the kitchen.
"Hey. Have you seen Regina?" She asked.

Yuki stopped and shook her head. "No, why? Is she not upstairs?"

Mana shook her head. "I'm getting worried something might have happened..."

Seeing Mana's saddened expression, Yuki's expression shifted from confusion to determination.
"Come on let's go look for her. I'll try and call her as we walk."

Mana's eyes lit up slightly and she nodded. She grabbed her coat and put on her shoes and then stood by the door. Yuki grabbed a cookie from a packet and bit into it before making her way to Mana and opening the door.
"I haven't eaten all day. The line for food was hell." She said calmly.

—————

By now Mana and Yuki stood just outside Oogai Middle School. They had spent the last half an hour trying to contact Regina while simultaneously searching for any traces of her.
"No sign of her around here..."

Mana sighed and began to lose hope when a question popped into her mind.
"Was she at school today?"

Yuki's eyes widened as if she remembered something important. "That's right... she said she had to do something over lunch. But she wasn't in any lessons after that."

The pinkette felt her heart sink at the now new possibilities of what could have happened.

The duo spent the next three hours searching all over the town looking for a sign of the blonde. But as the sun set and the moon rose high into the sky, both Mana and Yuki had to call it a day, much to their dismay.

They returned home, defeated. Mana felt like bursting into tears at any possible moment.
She just wanted to know that Regina was safe.

The rest of the night was uneventful. Mana tried to stay awake all night for any sign of her lover, but eventually caved into a deep slumber.
Yuki watched over her until she too drifted off into a slumber.

The following morning was especially melancholic for Mana. She put on her uniform and sighed at the mirror.
Her stomach rumbled, yearning for sustenance. But Mana ignored it. How could she eat when her girlfriend was missing?

She made her way downstairs and was just about to leave when...

The door burst open with a loud crash and a familiar blonde figure rushed through the door before collapsing to the ground.

Mana took a moment to process the figure. Her blonde hair was in tatters. Her uniform was ruined with cuts and frayed fabric all over. Where there was a cut there was also a red stain to accompany it.

The familiar red bow that usually stayed in the blonde's hair was ruined and frayed, having been torn on one side.
There was bruises all over the young woman, and there was a glass shard lodged in one of her thighs.

Mana's eyes widened as she realised who lay unconscious in front of her.

Regina.