Narrator
In a certain city in Kyoto, there is a very very inclusive town. In that town, everyone is very friendly and helpful towards one another, always going the extra mile to help others with their difficulties. You can always hear different volumes of voices. Some are soft and gentle like helpful citizens helping the elderly with their groceries, while others are loud and harsh, like citizens criticising other citizens that u those with disabilities.
This town is also well known for its spring breeze. The spring breeze is tinted with a Sakura scent so strong rumour has it said that it even cancels out the stench of garbage bins.
What makes this town even more special is that every 5 minutes, coloured lights falls to the city grounds. If an ordinary civilian gets hit by one of those lights, he or she is directed to the middle of the town immediately where a guardian Queen will grant them their powers.
This town is none other than Tayoseishi, or Diversity City in English.
One of the many citizens in this town is twelve year old Hanadera Reiko. She's just a regular preteen that is starting junior high really soon. However, what makes her unique is that she has two disabled siblings; one older brother that is severely autistic and one younger sister with cerebral palsy. As such, lots of money is spent on her siblings' medical fees, leaving little left for other needs like food and buying clothes.
Even though a lot of Reiko's belongings are donated or hand me downs, she does not let them get the better of her. Rather, she stays a kind hearted girl with a strong passion for drawing and the arts. She also has one close friend that stuck with her since kindergarten â Hase Masaru.
Hase Masaru is a boy that likes Maths and sports. He also gets along with people better than Reiko does. Despite that, Reiko and Masaru have a strong bond that have carried them from kindergarten till the present day.
Little did they know, a new adventure was awaiting them...
Story
Carrying a chair, Reiko screamed, "Sorry I'm late!". Her limping sister limped with her crutch in one hand and the picnic basket in another. As Reiko set the chair down for her little sister to use, Masaru soon came to lay the picnic mat down. Reiko then took out the food and lay it on the mat, while Masaru helped with plates and cutlery.
"It's sad that it's just three of us this year," Masaru remarked. "Usually it's all... nine of us."
"Couldn't help it," Reiko commented. "Your sister and parents are down with her ballet performance and as usual, my parents need to supervise my older brother very unwilling to go out..."
"Well, I just didn't want to watch her performance for once." However, those words caused his cheeks to pinched by Reiko.
"How many times do I have to remind you? Be careful with your words!" Reiko reminded in a creepy way. "But anyway, enough talk. Let's start with the Hase-Hanadera picnic."
"Thank you for the food!" Everyone chorused as they prepared to dig in into the buffet of food Reiko and her sister Shizuku prepared together. There were small sandwiches with chicken katsu, omelette and many more ingredients the girls got from their financial assistance scheme that provided "surprise free food" weekly. There was onigiri which were prepared by Reiko and Shizuku, made with many shapes made with only their bare hands. There was also mochi, something Reiko wanted to include in the picnic but couldn't afford, hence Masaru helped her buy it.
As they ate the food, Shizuku asked whether they were going to middle school that spring, to which Reiko and Masaru agreed. Shizuku continued asking what the duo thought.
Without much thought, Masaru replied confidently, "Oh, I'm really excited! That means I'm growing up, which means new things to do, new friends to make and new places to go! I'm one step closer to being a real man!"
"Onee-san (big sister)," Shizuku asked. "How are you feeling about being a middle school student?"
Reiko's face turned as red as a beetroot. "I-I only hope it's better than in elementary school..." she answered while stuttering.
Narrator
Looks like Reiko, Shizuku and Masaru all get along well! I hope Reiko can believe in herself that her middle school life would be "just fine".
But things aren't going well in the skies. Looks like two villains are all ready to crush the diversity in Tayoseishi, particularly that of Reiko, Shizuku and Masaru...
There are two villains scheming on a thunder cloud. One of them is Hitoshu-Oni and her cousin Ijime-O. Together, they are discussing on how to deal with Tayoseishi, the town they hate most.
Right now, Hitoshu-Oni is watching something on her tablet. Let's see what she's watching.
Story
"Onee-san (big sister)," Shizuku asked. "How are you feeling about being a middle school student?"
Reiko's face turned as red as a beetroot. "I-I only hope it's better than in elementary school..." she answered while stuttering.
Hitoshu-oni rewinded the video.
She found herself looking at the assortment of food. The white and green onigiris, the colourful sandwiches and desserts and the small cups of fruit punch. While watching the video, she noticed an onigiri that looked like a triangle but didn't exactly resemble one.
"Isn't it difficult to make one rice ball?" Hitoshu-oni mocked. "Are you such an uneducated child? Sigh... Ms Weak Fingers, I'm going to hunt you down!"
(Cut to Tayoseishi)
The trio chattered heartily while munching on the handmade food the Hanadera sisters made. "Man... I'm stuffed!" Masaru blurted as he let out a quiet burp.
"Not bad," Reiko remarked. "That's like 90% of the food we prepared!"
"Hase Onii-sama(big brother), are you proud of me?" Shizuku asked cheekily.
"Very very proud," Masaru replied. "Now, let's quickly pack..." Masaru's train of thought was interrupted when both Reiko and Masaru were hit by something that felt like a bee's sting.
"Onee-san! Hase Onii-sama! Are you ok?" Shizuku squeaked out of concern.
"We're ok," Reiko replied calmly, picking up the thing beneath her blue shoes. However, Reiko's calm state turned upside down when she realised what hit Masaru and her. A singular light.
Reiko and Masaru stared at each other in a stunned way and screamed. Why would a random light? All of a sudden, the light formed a coloured path, which confused the duo even more. What was that supposed to mean?
All of a sudden, an adult with curly hair approached the stunned duo. "Sorry for bursting your bubble," the lady explained frantically. "But I saw you being hit by the lights. I've been hit by the lights before. Let me tell you, you two need to go to the centre of the park right now. Come with me, I'll show you where that is."
Knowing there was no time to waste, the duo followed the lady. In the middle of the park, there was a silver statue standing in the midst of the park. She was posed as if she was ready to propose to someone. It was believed when she detects someone being hit by a light, she would unfreeze. There was some writings scratched on it, but no one had time to care about it.
"Your Highness, two people have been hit by a light," the lady explained. "I would pass the time to you to help them start their journey as warriors."
The lady on the statue unfroze and bowed down politely. She then looked up straight at the duo and explained about their duties. They were chosen to be Precure, a term defining young middle schoolers that are granted magical powers. And since they were hit concurrently, they would be Precure together.
She issued an animal pet that came all the way from Ukeku as she felt their known profiles matched that of that animal pet. He was none other than Can-do. She then handed the time over to Can-do.
Can-do introduced himself to the duo, and the duo did so back. Can-do issued them their transformation devices, but as it turned out, it was just a mobile phone. As it turned out, that "mobile phone" was the InfiniMo, a transformation device that could be converted from a transformation device to a typical cellphone and vice versa with a button as the back of the device.
"This is so exciting!" Reiko squealed, jumping up and down. "I never had a real cellphone before, this is so cool!"
"Hold your horses," Can-do warned in a strict, flat tone. "Being Precure isn't for the title or the fact you can finally a real cellphone; it's all about responsibility. You two have huge responsibilities!"
He then explained to them what those responsibilities were. They had to help Can-do collect InfiniJewels to help restore his kingdom Ukeku, which has been destroyed by cousin duo Hitoshu-Oni and Ijime-o. They were also "diversity ambassadors" and had to set a good role model of inclusivity to the citizens of Tayoseishi at all times. To make things worse, they were not allowed to tell anyone they were the Precure.
"N-Now these are some crazy responsibilities we gotta bare!" Reiko screamed. "I promise you that I won't take my Precure duties lightly."
"That's good to hear," Can-do replied coolly,
But before the trio could continue their conversation, a strong vibration could be felt on the floor, followed by a lady with a strong accent. "I think your differences suck!" She exclaimed while pointing at Shizuku. Shizuku looked at the villian in shock as she pointed to herself, as if she was asking "Me??". "Go, Sabetsuta!"
Shizuku was locked in a portal where no one could see her. Followed by that, a big monster in the shape of an onigiri spawned on the spot. This caused the duo to freak out on the spot.
Sensing their worry, Can-do reassured, "Don't worry! There is a way out of this!" He produced a few tokens and those tokens landed in the duo's hands. "These are your transformation InfiniJewels. When your InfiniMo is in transformation device mode, lock the jewel into the device and say Precure, accept my difference!"
"Ok!" Reiko and Masaru chorused.
Transformation
Locking the InfiniJewels into the InfiniMo, Masaru removed his glasses while Reiko took off her headband. Tapping their shoulders next to each other, they chorused, "Precure, accept my difference!"
The duo then bounced off each other. Reiko gained her warrior dress while Masaru gained his warrior suit. They then went back to each other and held each other's hand, tapping their feet for shoes and bumping each other's heads for their new style. The duo's InfiniMos went to the side of their outfit, their weapons were summoned and landed on their hands and the duo jumped down to pose.
"Embracing everyone for their true selves, I'm Cure Embrace!"
"Respecting others for their strengths, I'm Cure Respect!"
"One plus one is more than two! That's what differences do! Go, Accepting Diversity Precure!"
Story
Posing with their weapons, the duo looked at each other, stunned by whatever that had happened. "So who's Embrace and who's Respect?" Reiko asked in confusion, trying to digest her childhood friend's new looks.
"You're Embrace, I'm Respect," Masaru replied quickly.
"Then what's up with your dagger and my sword?"
"I don't know, just run with it."
Reiko ran off with that sword and squealed while running with the sword, "What's going on?! Are we supposed to fight with it?"
Masaru caught up to her. "Yes. But take this time to get used to your new powers." Masaru then sped up, running up to Hitoshu-oni and grabbed her and scratched her with his dagger. He pricked her with his dagger, causing a tap of blood to flow from her arm.
Feeling inspired, Reiko dropped her sword and ran forward and grabbed Hitoshu-oni by the hands. She started to "play" with the villain, having fun with her and distracting her. However, a few minutes later, her world became silent.
She couldn't hear what Masaru was trying to say. Reiko signed desperately to try to understand what Masaru was saying, causing a communication barrier between the duo. The villian watched the duo suffer and laughed manically, screaming, "Ahaha! Looks like my well-thought plan worked!"
"It's not well-thought if you harmed my childhood friend!" Masaru screamed while desperately throwing the dagger at Hitoshu-Oni. The dagger blade landed on her head and she fell unconscious, a tap of blood flowing from her head.
All of a sudden, Reiko could hear normally again. She gushed over Masaru's ability to defeat one villian just by throwing his weapon but Masaru teased her saying she did well too.
Can-do then flew to them again.
"For first-time Precure, you did really well!" Can-do praised. "I remember in Mascot School, some mascots were telling me how badly the pink cures reacted to their new powers. Keep this up!"
"Thanks," Reiko replied chirpily. "What's next?"
"Your new InfiniJewel for your duo attack!" Can-do bounced up and back down before giving her the Spectrum Wing Jewel. "This is the Spectrum Wing Jewel, a tool you'll need to perform your very first attack! Embrace, use your InfiniMo to insert this jewel into your InfiniMo!"
"Alright!"
Attack
Taking out the InfiniMo from her skirt, Reiko held the InfiniMo in her hand. Masaru inserted the Spectrum Wing Jewel into the InfiniMo hole, and Reiko released it.
Standing together, the duo put their hands together and raised it together. "Accepting ourselves and each others for who we are! Spectrum Colourful Splash!" The duo chorused. The splash of colours overwhelmed Hitoshu-oni and pushed her back to the sky.
Story
Reiko and Masaru detransformed, while Shizuku broke free from the cage and landed on the ground. Reiko picked her up and rested her on her lap. Can-do flew up to her and commended her for their hard work. They thanked him concurrently.
All of a sudden, a random InfiniJewel and casing fell from the sky. The casing was light pink while the InfiniJewel had a pink border and green image with a dango stuck on it.
"Every time you defeat Hitoshu-oni or Ijime-O, you will get an InfiniJewel. These InfiniJewels are collectibles and when you run these jewels with your InfiniMo, you'll get a little something that improves your overall well being. And this casing is the JewelAlbum to store your rewards from defeating the villains. Take this out to utilise the function of each jewel but please put it back once you're done," Can-do explained.
Reiko installed the dango jewel into the Jewel album before closing it.
Feeling a sense of hope for the first time in a while, Reiko jumped to the sky. "I can't wait for the memories we're going to make beings Precure!" She cheered.
"Yea, same!" Masaru responded enthusiastically. "I can see you're finally confident in something."
"Is that so? Thanks!"
Narrator
It's great that Reiko now has a little bit of confidence. Let's hope as the series goes on, she can build her confidence and hopefully stay consistently confident.
What adventures await our two heroes? Keep reading this book to find out!
(2576 words)