Smile Precure: Shining Smiles

Chapter 1: End's Beginning

Miyuki closed up her fairytale and let out a contented sigh. The story had been so exciting, and she'd.. forgotten about the hangout session she was supposed to have with her friends. Of course she did. She hopped up from her bed and reached for her bookshelf, where she knew her friends would be heading now. They had planned to meet up at the Magical Library now. Usually, Candy would slip out and sneak over to the Magical Library to hang out with them, but she hasn't seen Candy in a while. I wonder why, Miyuki thought. She must be very busy, being the Royale Queen now.. Hopefully Pop is not overworking her! 

She smiled, then pulled out a book from a row of books. She moved the one on the left to the right. She then moved below that, and moved a book from the right to the left. Finally, above that, she pulled two books apart. The room glowed, and Miyuki was pulled into a bright pink light.

Miyuki landed face-first on the soft grass of the Library. She groaned and got to her feet, running into the large tree stump, where her friends were already seated. Akane was trying to convince Yayoi to show off her art, grabbing at the sketchpad, but to no avail. Nao was bouncing a small foam ball colored like a soccer ball against the wall. Reika was holding a tray with mugs of hot chocolate on it. She set it on the table and picked up a blue mug, then took a seat with the others. She smiled upon seeing Miyuki. "Miyuki-san." She greeted respectfully. 

Akane and Yayoi stopped wrestling for the sketchpad and looked up. Nao also stopped what she was doing to look at Miyuki. The three of them also grinned at seeing their friend.

"Look who's late again." Akane commented, pushing her chair away from Yayoi, to the blonde's undisguised relief. "I thought ya'd never show up." Miyuki shrugged and smiled awkwardly. "Yeah.. Well, I'm here now!"

"If I had to guess, you got caught up in a fairytale again?" Yayoi suggested, closing her sketchpad and setting it down as far from Akane as possible. Akane chuckled and nodded. "Sounds like Miyuki ta me."

Nao reached over the table and picked up Miyuki's favorite pink mug. She held it out to Miyuki. Miyuki smiled even wider (if it was possible) and took the mug. "Thanks, Nao-chan." She took a seat at the table. Awkward silence ensued.

"So.." Yayoi said, fidgeting with her yellow mug. "What do guys think about.. uh.." It was a vain attempt to try to converse, and break the silence. The former Precure sat there, feeling uncomfortable. They hadn't met up the the Library in a while, only hanging out at the park or at school. The Library didn't quite feel right without Candy.

"So what do you guys think about Yayoi-chan's new manga?" Nao suggested. Yayoi opened her sketchpad and pretended to be very interested in its contents. It didn't hide her tomato-colored face, though. 

"It was soooo good!" Miyuki sang. "The ending really gave me a shock! But.. it seemed familiar." To this, Akane nodded. "Yeah, glad I wasn't the only one! It reminded me of our final battle with Pierrot!" Nao, Reika and Miyuki nodded their agreement.

"Yeah, well, it was based off that. I thought it was a pretty cool battle.. even though it was absolutely terrifying," Yayoi said, embarrassed but happy to have a conversation topic after all the silence. 

"Were the extra characters based off the Precure? You know.. based off of us?" Miyuki asked curiously. Yayoi peeked up from behind her sketchpad. "Yeah, they were," she nodded. "I thought it'd make more sense if I added you guys too. After all, defeating Pierrot was a group effort!"

Akane leaned back on her chair, seemingly deep in thought. "I miss bein' a Precure." She announced wistfully. Nao side-eyed Akane. "There is no way you actually miss that terrifying, near-death experience we had with Pierrot," she said dubiously. Akane scoffed.