Himukai Mariko

Template:Infobox character
Template:Nihongo is a minor character who appears in *KiraKira☆Pretty Cure A La Mode*. She's the daughter of the owner of patisserie *Sugar*. She is a popular ballerina. She was the main side character of KKPCALM04.

## Bio

### Appearance

Mariko has brown hair tied into a low bun, as well as dark purple eyes. Her usual wear consists of a mint long-sleeve shirt with a pink scarf, a pale beige skirt, and pink heels.

For ballet, she wears a white dress with pale blue lines on each side of the chest to match the lace fabric over her skirt and around her shoulders. The torso is lined by white fluff to match the lining of her silver headband, which has a ruby at the middle. She also wears white opera gloves, tights, and ballerina flats.

### Personality

Mariko appears to be a gentle and genuinely kindhearted girl, inspiring Ichika to not give up on what she believes in. She was able to easily express her love for the girls at the end of episode 4, meaning she doesn’t have a hard time with emotions.

## History

Mariko first appeared in episode 4 when Ichika and Himari were visting her patisserie. When the girls see her doing a ballet move, she tells them that she has a ballet recital the next day. Intruiged, Ichika and Himari ask if they could come to see the recital together, which she happily welcomes them to do. The next day the girls come to see the recital, where Aoi happens to be. Then Mariko invites the girls to come see her ballet show, which they, of course, say yes to.

Her next appearence, in the same episode, was when Ichika was walking home from trying to make cream puffs with Himari and Aoi, but it not working out. Mariko happened to be taking a stroll when her and Ichika’s paths crossed. Mariko saw that Ichika was feeling down, so she asked her what was bothering her. Eventually, the two sat down on a bench and had a talk about what happened. Ichika made up her mind and asked Mariko what she does when she can’t dance well. Mariko, in confusion, asked her what she was talking about. Slightly embarrassed, Ichika stated that it probably didn’t happen to her. Mariko chuckles slightly and says that it happens often. She then said that during times like those, she tried to think about how it felt when she first started dancing and why she first fell in love with dancing. She said that those feelings made girls strength shine through. This inspired Ichika to keep trying, so she thanked her and quickly ran away.

The day after, she was shown being very grateful for the cream puff swan the girls made her. She stated that cream puffs were her favourite. She then tells them how the cream puffs rise, the simple reason being because of the maker’s feelings packed inside it, causing it to puff up, that also being the reason why she likes them. She then expressed her love for Ichika, Himari and Aoi to them.

## Relationships

Usami Ichika - In episode 4, Mariko inspires Ichika to not give up and keep trying because of how much she loves doing something. It eventually helped Ichika, along with Himari and Aoi, to finish their gift for her.

## Trivia

* She shares her voice actress with Shiku Nanami, a minor character from *Heartcatch Pretty Cure!*, and Midorikawa Hina, a minor character and one of Nao's siblings from *Smile Pretty Cure!*.
* Despite sharing the same last name with Saki kanji wise, it is pronounced differently.

## Gallery

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Template:KKPCALM characters