NPPC02/Transcript

*“What?!”*Safe stops moving entirely, freezing on the spot, causing Cure Identity to grab him and drag him along through the vents they are still in.

With a strong kick, the cover flies over the roof, sliding until it reaches the edge. The two cringe at the sound the metal makes. They climb out of the vent and Cure Identity stretches since her arms and legs had begun to cramp. Safe opens his mouth to say something, but the pink-haired Cure grabs him once again and starts running towards the building’s edge. As it comes closer, Safe closes his eyes in preparation for the inevitable fall.

To his surprise, it never comes and instead the girl jumps over the gap between two buildings. She doesn’t stop there, preparing herself for another jump. It doesn’t come as a surprise this time. They pass the second roof fairly quick, but the Cure takes a moment to look behind her. However, there’s nobody following them. Yet another running approach, it doesn’t look like Cure Identity is going to stop soon…

Safe has lost track of how many rooftops they have passed by now and he doesn’t even attempt to count them anymore, his adrenaline still pumping. Besides him, Cure Identity is heaving, having run out of breath from jumping around since they left the museum.

Suddenly, he is let go, the girl’s grip on him loosening as she falls forward, collapsing on the roof. With a poof, she detransforms, leaving regular Miwa behind. She doesn’t get up, stays laying face first but she is still awake. This is Safe’s chance.

He floats in front of her head before landing on the roof. He walks around the girl’s head a few times until she groans and reluctantly lifts it up off the ground, eyes focusing on the small mascot. He makes a sharp turn and faces her.

“What were you thinking?!” he shouts, clearly startling the magenta-haired teen. He continues “You can’t just take that with you and then just leave! This is clearly theft! You have to return it imm-”, Miwa cuts his rant off, worked up as well. “I defeated the monster, right? That’s what counts, you told me so! It might have hurt people!”.

Safe sees red. “How was I supposed to know this would happen? This is as much my first time facing those things as it is yours!”. He turns away before yelling “Idiot!”, then jumps off the edge of the roof, floating out of sight, leaving behind a dumbfounded Miwa, who stares after him. She’s too exhausted to follow him, not that she could anyways. All tension leaves her body as she sighs loudly, sinking back towards the roof once more, exhausted.

Her eyes catch the setting sun and she snaps upward again “That’s right, I have to get home!”. Glancing around, she finds the escape ladder leading down the building. With one last sigh, she begins making her way home.

“I’m home!” Miwa shouts into the house, leaning on the wall to take of her shoes, slipping into her slippers instead. She drops her school bag at the stairs leading up and then goes into their living room, only peeking in the room before actually entering it.

“Welcome back, Miwa.” her father greets her. By the way his long hair is tied up, he must have been cooking. Miwa’s suspicions are confirmed when he next speaks: “Dinner’s ready, if you’re hungry.” Miwa nods, so the two get up to move to the dinner table, where this day’s dinner sits, ready. From how it’s still steaming, it must have been only finished minutes before Miwa entered the house.

The two mutter a quick “Thank you for the meal” before they start eating. They’re sitting across from each other at the small table. It barely fits the food and their plates on it but Miwa’s used to it. After all, they don’t need more, as it’s just the two of them. Miwa isn’t home in the morning as she goes to school and her father, Mimoto Ryouta, works as much as he can during that time and in the afternoon. Usually, Miwa would be alone for a few hours at home before her father would come home and make dinner. On special occasions, Miwa herself would cook. Her father’s cooking is much better than hers though, in her opinion.

Miwa’s thoughts wander back to Safe. “What is he up to now?”, she wonders silently. “Is he alright? I hope he didn’t get hurt… What if he got captured again? Wait, not that’s not likely, he can fly, they can’t…”

“Miwa, are you alright? You’ve been oddly silent.” her father makes her look up from her food. He is right, Miwa notes. Usually, she’d tell him about her day or something, but she just doesn’t feel like it. The girl ponders a bit before coming to a decision.

“I had a fight with my friend today. We had different opinions on something and I just let him go. I don’t even know where he is right now and I’m kind of worried…” she admits.

Her father’s glasses glint in the light for a moment, obscuring his face from his daughter for a moment. “But you regret fighting, right? I’m sure your friend can take care of himself for tonight, and the two of you can talk it out tomorrow. You’ll have a clearer head after a good night’s sleep and you’ll have calmed down.” He affectionately ruffles his daughter’s hair, causing her to smile. “Thanks for your advice, dad!”. Miwa stands up once she’s done eating, leaving the table and quickly rushing upstairs, after leaving her plate in the kitchen sink.

Despite being eager to sleep and talk with Safe the next day, once she’s lying in bed, Miwa finds it hard to fall asleep, too many thoughts running through her head. Her gaze wanders through the familiar room while she thinks and settles on the bookshelf next to her desk the opposite side of the room. Although she can’t read any of the titles from here, she knows what books are in the shelf.

She can’t help herself, her thoughts return to Safe. What might his his home be like? He’d talked about it a bit, but not in detail. A thought jumps out to her particularly. “He mentioned that it’s always night there, right? That must be horrible… and the monsters, he’s seen them, too. He recognized the Nokachi. Also, I know Safe’s not telling me everything…” she broods over her thoughts, worrying about him. “He doesn’t even know his way around the city. I hope he’s alright.”. Miwa frowns and full of thoughts and worries, she finally falls asleep.

Outside, night has long overtaken the city. Casablanca City however seems to still be wide awake. There are lights on everywhere, from the street lamps to the shop windows. However far away from all the life of the city, Safe has retreated into a corner. Just under the roof of an old house, where he will at least be sheltered from the elements, a fact that only slightly elevates the mascot’s spirit. Mostly, he is still annoyed by the whole debacle he has stumbled into and a certain magenta-haired girl’s connection to it. “Who is she, to just ignore order and justice just because she feels like it and thinks it is the right thing? She is just some naive girl that thinks she can do whatever she wants!” Safe mutters to himself as he squashes himself deeper into the corner to escape the cold and try to find some sleep.

“Pretty Cure…” and half-awake, between wakefulness and sleep, he does feel a tad bit remorseful. It was, after all, his goal to find the Pretty Cure, so he must have some part of the blame since he sought out these… ‘bad’ people. But he could not have known what they truly were! Not one of the texts he read ever mentioned these ‘heroes’ were thieves, phantom thieves!

"Hmm... They seem like good people, from what you said." is the conclusion Miwa reaches.

He trails off, recalling what Miwa had said on their way to the museum, when everything wasn’t as complicated as it is now. Even she had agreed, without much prior knowledge, that they were good people, as she had put it.

By now the small white creature is almost asleep, but at the last moment he startles awake. Now that the Pretty Cure are out of the question, he doesn’t have an alternative plan. He really should have planned this better, he scolds himself. But there is no way he would ever work with some thieves.

Also, despite his growling stomach acting up again, he will never steal himself. Would anyone hire him like this, so that he might earn some money… Unlikely?

Safe’s thought trail off, becoming somewhat nonsensical with his exhaustion finally catching up to him. After an eventful day and quite some time after his new encounters, Safe drifts asleep, hidden away by an old house to the rest of the world.

After what feels like no time at all, it is morning again. The sun crawls over the horizon and chases away the dark of the night and one after another, the street lamps shut off for the day.

Miwa is awoken from her slumber by her alarm blaring into her ear. With a groan, she sits up and blindly grasps for the offending noisemaker. She successfully shuts it of the room is silent again. Almost empty, even.

The magenta-haired girl blankly stares into the distance for a moment before ultimately standing up and making her way downstairs for breakfast. She opens her bedroom door but just before stepping out, she turns back into the room again. As if talking to someone, she opens her mouth but quickly shuts it again once the girl realises there is no one in the room. With a sigh, she leaves the room.

Later, she returns to the room shortly in order to dress. Her school uniform is hanging by her closet and Miwa quickly puts it on, struggling only shortly with the corset-like overcoat, before grabbing her school bag and leaving the room once again for school.

The change of scenery doesn’t help Miwa take her mind off of the events of the prior day and she remains deep in thought all throughout the lessons. Her encounter with a certain white mascot was only yesterday, but still she can’t help but miss Safe already. Miwa liked him and helping him had made her feel good, but now she only feels the opposite: guilty and bad.

“Mimoto-san, are you alright?” asks a soft voice. Miwa startles into awareness, seeing a girl standing beside her desk. She looks quite concerned, her brows furrowed and her mouth curled into a small frown. The girl in question is Aihara Kasumi, the class president.

“Ah, don’t worry, Aihara! I’m good!” Miwa is quick to assure her classmate, but she doesn’t seem convinced. The president’s frown deepens, but she relents, but not before adding “I won’t pry, but if you need help, I’ll be glad to lend an ear or a hand.”. With that, and a small smile sent towards her classmate, she leaves.

Quickly, her thoughts return to where they previously were because really, she’s kind of the one to blame. Safe only wanted to free his home and he had put trust in her, only for Miwa to betray him by being a thief. Safe didn’t do anything wrong and despite how much she dislikes it, him running away is reasonable after she broke his trust. And oh, wow, look at that, now she’s not only in a bad mood but also ashamed of herself. Great going, Miwa!

“Pay attention, Mimoto-san!” Matsubara-sensei, the homeroom teacher, hits the front of her desk, startling Miwa once again. “I’m very sorry, it won’t happen again, sensei!” She quickly sits up and almost slams her head on the table in her efforts to apologize. Also, she’d like to hit her head on the table out of embarrassment, but that’d probably only cause more of an uproar.

In the front, Matsubara-sensei tries to turn the attention back on herself “Okay, now, let’s go on with the lesson!”. Miwa shoves her troubles away into the farthest corner of her mind and looks to the blackboard.

Meanwhile, a hooded figure is taking their sweet time wandering around the beautiful city. Strolling through the shopping district, taking a break at a small café at the corner of a busy street and then continuing with their journey. A particular jewelry store seems to have caught their attention, so they slip inside, unnoticed. They spend quite some time in there, but in the end don’t purchase anything. Just when the figure is leaving, they slide something into one of the displays and then they’re gone like they weren’t even there too begin with.

Once it’s lunch break, most of the student body rushes out of their classes, Miwa included. She spares a look back in the classroom to see a few students remaining. Aihara is among them, having just taken out her lunch from her bag. The other students are a group of two girls and a boy gossiping hurriedly among each other and another girl quietly eating her lunch while reading something. Her hair colour makes her hard to miss, grey does stand out after all. Although Miwa really can’t say anything, with her hair being rather close to pink and all.

Ah, she’s lost in thought again, isn’t she? Anyways, lunch isn’t forever so she should really get to eating something. Otherwise she’ll regret it later! Leaving the building, Miwa settles under a tree, facing the school gates and the city beyond them. It lives up to its name, as many of the buildings proudly stand tall in white. Sometimes in the winter season the lines between buildings and ground blur, when the city is covered in a blanket of white snow. It always looks very peaceful then, Miwa has observed in the past years.

Abruptly, that peace is shattered. Although she is too far away to really feel it, Miwa’s just as shaken up as she would have been had she stood right next to the plume of smoke rising up in the sky. Her lunch lies forgotten, the magenta-haired girl quickly stands up to get a better view. What she sees both surprises her and at the same time doesn’t. Unmistakably, it’s a Nokachi wreaking havoc upon Casablanca City once again. Or rather, for the second time.

“Alright, not really what I meant by distraction, but sure…” Miwa mutters to herself, preparing to leave. Fight the monster from the evil kingdom. Both she herself and her thoughts screech to a halt once she remembers several things. First, why she had wanted a distraction in the first place. Secondly, going out to fight would only create more trouble, because then she’d be stealing again and going directly against Safe, who is still missing. But stealing more would definitely not bring him back.

Her shoulders slump and she moves back to the tree, where her lunch still lays. She picks it up and continues eating. While ignoring the monster is definitely not what she wants to do, she has to reconcile with Safe first. “Maybe there’s another way or something…”. Then, the bell rings and Miwa sighs, returning to class with a heavy heart and even more on her mind than before.

School ending doesn’t really bring Miwa any peace. The city seems darker somehow, even if it’s still the same white buildings. The magenta-haired teen checks her phone, but there’s no good news there either. Earlier, another, second Nokachi had appeared and Miwa had seriously reconsidered, but being in class she couldn’t really leave and by now, she isn’t all that enthusiastic about fighting them, considering the consequences.

Heaving another big sigh, she has lost count of how often she had done so this day, Miwa begins her walk home.

Dark corners and alleyways are beginning to become his thing, Safe dejectedly thinks. Just a few streets down, a Nokachi is making its way downtown, crushing whatever happens to be in its way. The district seems empty, which is not really a surprise as most people have fled in the face of the monster.

It’s been here for at least the last twenty minutes, but Safe has checked and it seems to have appeared quite some time before that. Also, now it’s not only one but two Nokachis. He can’t come out of his hiding place and someone should really take care of this, where is the girl he had found exactly for this purpose? Even she should have noticed the disturbance by now and she shouldn’t be in school, so Safe seriously questions where she is.

No, that’s a bad idea and he knows it. He shouldn’t want to associate with a thief, under no circumstances. Safe chastises himself. How could he even think about taking yet more, stealing more, becoming a criminal, against everything he stands for? No way is that happening.

…

..

.

A scream rips through the air and Safe freezes. Apparently there had been people still around and they had been found by the monsters. The mascot dares to peek around the corner of his hiding space to see both of the Nokachi now down the street. Whoever screamed he can’t see, but the Nokachi sure don’t hesitate in crushing whatever it was that was in front of them. More smoke rises and the Nokachi continue on their spree of destruction. The window front that had been there was smashed.

That takes him back to when the Nokachi had first started appearing in his home. He had watched one day as they destroyed a village, unable to do anything. The scene reminds him of it quite strongly.

A jolt runs through the mascot’s small body. What is happening to earth, to Casablanca City is the same thing that happened to the Welton Kingdom. He knows this, has known this since before coming here and yet, he hadn’t thought of this yet. Earth would end up just like his home has, with livelihoods destroyed and wreckage left behind.

Really, how stupid of him. He had sworn to stop King Deimos, halt his conquest but now he was doing the exact opposite, watching by as another world fell into his hands. As the Welton Kingdom had, as Earth now does. The situation isn’t similar, it’s the exact same.

When he jumped into that portal, he had decided he didn’t want another life to end up like his had, constantly on the run, living in fear.

He can’t deny that thievery is bad. That’s the law, objectively wrong. But it's nothing against the Nokachis destroying so much more. Okay, he’s made up his mind. Now where would he be if he was a magenta-haired school girl?

“Phew, almost home…” Miwa wipes her brow. She has so far successfully evaded the Nokachi and has almost made it home. It’s barely more than two blocks and then she can hide away in her blankets and forget this day ever happened.

“Miiiiiiiiiwaaaaaaaaaa!” a tiny voice yells. The girl in question looks around, but can’t find the source. Alert, she slowly walks on. Again, “Miiiiiiiiwaaaaaaaaaaaa!!”. It sounded both more urgent and nearer. And coming from her right, so the girl turns to that direction. She gets clocked in the head with something, or rather someone. Surprisingly, the magenta-haired girl doesn’t lose her balance.

Once her head stops spinning, her vision focuses and before Miwa hovers who she would have never expected: Safe! And the surprise is enough to send her to the floor and now the spinning is back and she’s getting dizzy. Safe is shouting at her but beyond realizing that, she doesn’t hear what he’s actually saying.

The world spins and Miwa stares while the mascot continues to ramble her ears off. “... so really, why are you still sitting around? Get up and fight or so help me - hey, are you even listening?!” the voice fades and Miwa takes a few more moments to process what had just been said. Then, “Wait, you want me to fight? As in, become Pretty Cure?” she asks in astonishment, staring wide-eyed at the mascot.

He begins to fidget and squirm in place, moving his gaze off to the side to avoid catching Miwa’s eyes. “I said I didn’t, but… I’ve had some time to think and…” he trails off. Miwa doesn’t let him, however, prompting “And…?”

Safe seems embarrassed. “Don’t make me say it!” The pair stare at each other, neither wanting to relent just yet. Ultimately, Safe caves in. “Okay, fine! I was… wrong. The damage caused by the Nokachi is so much worse than what the Pretty Cure are responsible for. So in order to save this world from the Welton Kingdom…” he hesitates for a moment but then steels himself and continues. “Please, I ask you once again, become Pretty Cure and fight against the Welton Kingdom!” he bows. Miwa relaxes and beckons him to look back up at her, smiling at the small white creature.

“Alright, then I’ll be in your care from now on!” Miwa stand up and dusts herself off and bows to Safe as well. She turns to rummage through her school bag and after looking through it for a few moments, the girl finds what she is looking for, pulling out the small rectangular device that is the Special Lock. The magenta-haired teen looks to all sides before sliding the lock apart.

“Pretty Cure Midnight Getaway!”

Once again, Miwa is surrounded by a bright light and her costume appears, her eyes change and her hair both becomes longer and changes colour. The stage is hers and the curtains wait to be lifted! "Ladies and Gentlemen! Clever and inventive, the trickster queen! Cure Identity!"

Sparing no time, Cure Identity sets off to fight, running to where the Nokachi were last spotted. However, the pink-haired Cure stops abruptly before she has come far. “Ne, Safe?” she asks. Doesn’t turn around until said mascot prompts her to “Yes, what is it?”. The girl faces him and a smile forms on her face.

“I promise I’m gonna find a way to turn them back to normal.” she looks determined. “The Rheingold?” he asks and the magical girl nods. “Yes, if that’s what they’re called. I promise.” and with those final words, she leaps away.

Finding the Nokachi wreaking havoc is not a difficult task. Cure Identity follows the path of rubble and destruction, soon catching up to the two monsters. Still between the somewhat narrow streets of Casablanca City.

“Alright, here we go!” she exclaims and jumps right into one of the two, causing it to topple over. A cloud of smoke forms upon its impact with the floor, obstructing the magical girl’s vision. So much so that she almost gets punched by the second Nokachi, but she quickly avoids its fist before it can hit her.

“Maybe taking on two at the same time wasn’t that good of an idea…” the pink haired girl wipes dome dust off her cheek and the two monsters continue their assault on her. When they strike from both sides she jumps out of the way directly into a building on the side of the street, having forgotten the limitations on space due to the fight. Cure Identity slides down the side, but before she can regain her focus, the faster of the monsters has caught up to her. It reaches for another punch and Identity prepares for the pain sure to follow. The whoosh of the fist cuts through the air and then…

Nothing.

Certainly not what she had expected, the magical girl slowly dares to open her eyes. In front of her is Safe, having blocked the punch. For a moment, she is frozen, admiring how he blocked a punch that easily.

“Hey, don’t just stare. You’re the one supposed to be fighting, not me!” that does the trick and Identity shakes herself out of her amazement and uses her chance while the monster is distracted.

A kick, a punch and then it lies on the ground, defeated and ready to be purified. So that’s what she does and takes out the Special Lock again. “Pretty Cure Identity Finale!” A kick to the heart, a wink and the Nokachi explodes.

Now that there’s only one left, defeating it shouldn’t be hard and the girl goes to face the second one, completely missing the piece of crystal left on the ground. Safe doesn’t so he picks it up. It’s smaller than the first one, although he did not get a good glance at it before it got taken by the magical girl. It’s different in colour too, and certainly rounder than the first one. Maybe it used to be an earring? Safe can only guess.

More bright light indicates that Cure Identity has defeated the second Nokachi as well. Said girl is on her way towards him, clutching what appears to be the second (no, technically it’s the third, isn’t it?) Rheingold with her.

Safe reaches towards it with his paw and she hands it to him without protest. Then, she detransforms and when the teenaged girl stands before him, Safe asks her “Say, what happened to the first one?” raising the two crystal pieces up for emphasis. Miwa is quick to respond “Oh, that one’s at home! C’mon, I’ll take you!” and without waiting picks him up and carries him to what he assumes is her home.

Miwa shifts Safe from two arms to only one so she can open the door and step inside. She shouts “Dad, I’m home!” into the house while toeing off her shoes. There’s an “Welcome home!” from inside the house before a man, which Safe assumes is Miwa’s father, sticks his head out of a door. He smiles at his daughter.

“You’re late, but you look happy! I take it you two made up?” and his daughter responds with an enthusiastic “Mhm!” and walks towards and through the door her father is standing in.

The pair sit down to eat and Miwa sets down Safe in her lap, looking at him guiltily. With food on the table, Safe remembers that he is actually hungry as well, but it seem he will have to wait.

Luckily, Miwa’s father finishes before his daughter. Although Miwa deliberately seems to have eaten slower. “I’ll do the dishes, so go ahead and leave dad, I’ll take care of it!” Miwa says. “Thank you, Miwa.” her father responds and smiles before leaving the room.

The teen takes it as a sign to set Safe on the table and hands him what is left on the table. “I know you’re hungry, so dig in!”.

He doesn’t need to be told twice. Miwa finishes before him and starts on the dishes and Safe floats over to her once he is done. Glancing back, the girl startles. “Wow, you were really hungry, weren’t you?”. There’s nothing left of the food on the table. Miwa breaks out in giggles and it’s contagious, so Safe ends up chuckling along as well.

The magenta-haired girl settles down and finishes drying the last plate, putting it away. She turns towards Safe. “Hey.” the mascot perks up at being spoken to. “Hey.” he responds. Miwa smiles at him again.

“Welcome to the team, now that you’re officially on board!”

She holds out her hand and all Safe can do is take it.