Magical Girl One-Shots

Four Crowns, Three Smiles

Series: Princess Pretty Cure
Date completed: 25th May 2019
Content warnings: No gore or anything, just some major sad+lonely vibes from poor Haruka :( I don't like hurting best girl like this but depressing fanfics are all I'm good for 😢

Haruka had always dreamed of being a princess. It seemed a little silly, even when she was just a middle schooler, but she carried on valiantly, dreaming and dreaming of pretty frocks and handsome princes to dance away the night with.

She had a very vague memory of when she was a kindergartener, when this dream had first blossomed to life. She couldn't actually read yet at that age, but she had fond recollection of gently stroking the pages one by one, smiling at the colourful illustrations of pink princesses and flowery gardens. She'd sometimes make up her own stories to go along with the pictures, a tradition she carried on even into high school. It was just...fun. Being able to make up your own story, change the fates of the characters, even if their brand new happy endings were confined to your mind...

She'd been bullied a little for this when she was very young. Bigger, stronger kids would tease her, and Haruka would burst into tears. It was all stupid and childish, though.

Through elementary, she was mostly fine, until when she was about ten or so. Nobody said much aloud, but they clearly thought it was a little strange for someone their own age to still fantasise about fairy tales. Even so, there was no...bullying.

Then she started attending Noble Academy, the place of her dreams. She'd always kind of imagined it to be full of girls like her; interested in princesses, at the very least.

She was wrong.

Haruka arrived at the academy a year later than her peers, which didn't help her case. Well, Kirara came later on too, but she was fine. People liked her. She was stunningly pretty, very tall and mature-looking for a 14-year-old, and had a charming personality to win anyone over in seconds.

Haruka wasn't a model. She wasn't pretty, and she looked average at best, with a childish body and a childish hobby to match. She wasn't popular, to say the least.

People ignored her when they were feeling generous. When they were in worse moods, they laughed at her, sneering and pointing at times. Some girls tried to befriend her, but there was always a layer of awkward apprehension behind their seemingly kind eyes, and Haruka couldn't stand it.

She was glad she had Yui as a friend, and then later Minami and Kirara, and even later on, Towa. Not to mention Pafu and Aroma. But when she was alone, without them...it felt weird. Like she'd lost a part of her very existence. At least she could take comfort in knowing they'd always be back soon. Even in her lessons without the others, she'd still see them at breaks, and out of school times, and even as Pretty Cure.

She'd achieved her dream, though. She was a princess. A princess! It was incredible, a fantasy turned to reality. She could easily ignore the sniggers and rude comments if she was a pretty-as-a-picture, real life princess amongst a group of good friends. It was perfect, really. She was so happy.

But that was all gone now.

Haruka stared at her reflection in the pink, floral mirror. Her hair was long nowadays. She told everyone it was a stylistic choice, but it was more a case of her being too anxious now to even visit a hairdresser. She'd tried to cut her own hair before, but it hadn't ended well. Not that there was a point in cutting it anyway.

She'd also got it dyed as soon as she was out of high school, practically skipping to the hair salon and asking for vivid blonde, dip-dyed pink. She wore a bright, innocent beam as her hair was kneaded and partitioned bit by bit, expecting to see the face she missed so much when she looked in the mirror again.