As the fire rapidly spread across the soccer field and smoke started to rise, the Cures were the only ones left as the rest of the student body had evacuated outside school premises. Rin ran over to join up with the rest of her friends who were all as equally startled as herself.

"How did this happen?" she asked. Karen stepped forward with a determined look.

"We can speculate on that later, the fire is spreading too quickly," she said, bringing out her Pinky Catch. "We need to contain the fire before it gets out of hand and the teachers come to look for us."

Karen was surrounded in bright blue light and in mere seconds, she had become Cure Aqua. She readied herself to use her Aqua Stream, combined with the Aqua Ribbon to enhance the coverage of her stream if needed. She was able to put out a small amount before her leg was stuck to one spot and she cried out.

"This is—" Karen paled. "—spider web!"

As if on cue, a malicious laughter rung out and captured the attention of the remaining Cures. They turned to see their enemy, Arachnea, transformed and ready with her scarlet red eyes and numerous spider legs. Komachi in particular felt fear settle in the pit of her stomach, at the memory of having fought her once before when they were all trapped in Pirate Hurricane.

"Your days are numbered, Pretty Cures," Arachnea declared, spider legs at the ready. "No more will you make a fool out of me."

"Girls," Nozomi said and the three remaining girls nodded at the unspoken command to transform. They were all transformed within minutes and ready to fight. Rouge decided to throw the first punch, dashing over quickly to hit Arachnea. Their older opponent easily sidestepped her and increased distance between them, much to Rouge's annoyance.

"You ruin the school tournament and then you run away? I guess you really are a coward!" Rouge said hotly. Arachnea merely chuckled, completely unfazed by Cure Rouge' insult. Instead, she brought out a mask from her costume and tossed it onto the discarded soccer ball on the field. The ball proceeded to grow in size until it was incredibly large compared to a normal human. The Kowaina charged at an inhuman speed towards Rouge who had no time to react, much less jump out of the way.

Mint came to her aid, appearing in front of her with her arms raised.

"Pretty Cure, Mint Protection!"

Her signature shield surrounded both of them and saved them from the impact of Kowaina's attack. Rouge let out a shaky sigh next to Mint. "Thanks, I owe you one."

Mint gave her a smile. From afar, Arachnea was now engaging Dream in battle, her legs swiping and stabbing at the leader who was too quick for her. Kowaina charged towards Dream instead, who took notice and jumped to safety before she could be trampled to death. Dream had little time to recover before Arachnea had stuck her foot to the ground as well, leaving her in the same situation as Aqua. "Gah!"

"Dream!" Rouge called out. "That's it lady, you're going down for good this time!" Rouge's hands glowed a fierce red as she readied her signature move. "Pretty Cure, Rouge Fire!"

The fire was directed towards Arachnea who dodged at the very last second. Rouge' aim had inadvertently caused the fire to be fed and spread even more so than before. Black smoke was now covering most of the battlefield and blurring much of their visibility. "My, a little impatient, aren't we? And here I thought you sought to keep the fire from spreading," Arachnea taunted with a vicious smile. Rouge was mortified at what she had done.

"You. . !" she growled, jaw set and fists clenched in anger. Mint could understand her anger but also saw this as an opportunity. Nobody will be able to spot us fighting within all this smoke. And we can use the smoke for coverage to launch sneak attacks.

Right as she had finished that thought, Rouge was sent flying after having been taken out by both Arachnea and her monster. This fight was going in a very bad direction.

"Now to deal with the little blonde and the scaredy cat," Arachnea chuckled, scanning the field for the two. Mint saw a figure move in the smoke, running towards her fallen comrades. She knew who it was and what she had to do.

"Hey, ugly!" she called loudly through the smoke. "I'm right here! Come and get me!"

The piercing shriek that followed Mint's taunting was bone-chilling. Mint hoped she knew what she was doing, or Arachnea would surely make her live to regret her actions. Mint ran as she felt Arachnea hot on her trail and Kowaina was soon to follow.

"And where do you think you're going?" Arachnea hissed, sending out spiderweb to capture the soldier of Tranquility. Mint dodged the attacks behind the soccer goals and continued running, weaving through several sports equipment and obstacles in her way. Kowaina suddenly came towards her with its superhuman speed, forcing Mint to jump into the air. Arachnea flew up with a powerful jump, a fist at the ready to punch Mint. Mint blocked the punch with an open palm, however, Arachnea countered with one of her legs slapping Mint, effectively sending her towards the ground.

"Cure Mint!" she heard her comrades exclaim as she was lying on the field. The hot earth felt like it was burning her skin as she tried to stand up. Sharp pain shot through her right arm and she clutched it to her side with a slight whimper. Things look even worse now, Mint thought fearfully, as Arachnea approached her from afar.

"Pretty Cure, Lemonade Flash!"

Golden butterflies of pure light pierced through the darkness and charged towards the spider lady, an explosion erupting from the impact. Lemonade came running to Mint's aid, her bright eyes taking in the bruised and bloody sight of Mint's damaged arm. "Oh gosh, Mint. . !"

Mint shook her head. "I—I can wait, Lemonade. You must free the others so we can defeat Arachnea. . !"

Lemonade hesitated, causing Mint to raise her voice with panic. The Cure of Effervescence was their only hope now. "I'll be fine, now go!"

Leomade nodded before leaving to untie the others, her figure engulfed by the dark smoke as she ran. Mint's legs were struggling to stay standing as she was forced to wait for Lemonade to complete her task, all the while keeping a lookout for Arachnea and Kowaina. Suddenly, she heard Lemonade cry out. "I'm stuck!"

No, Mint thought with despair. Who was going to save them now? With Rouge out of commission and the others immobilized, there was nothing Mint could do. Her arm was injured so it was unlikely that she could perform another protection shield to even protect them. Arachnea appeared before Mint, seemingly having taken Lemonade's attack head on. She had cuts and bruises littered all over her body and the side of her mouth had a trail of blood running down. Nevertheless, Arachnea looked as if she didn't have a care in the world when it came to her own wellbeing and truly, with the way things were going, it seemed Arachnea had the upperhand.

"There is only you left," she stated, raising her chin to level Mint with a look of disgust. "And from what I recall, you are hardly a threat at all, Pretty Cure."

Arachnea uttered her last two words with such distaste, it looked as if it physically pained her to be in Mint's presence. Regardless, Mint's back was against the wall now and she was running out of options. She could feel the blood from her injured arm seep through her fingers and drop to the ground.

"Before I destroy you all, I have one demand," Arachnea said, reaching out her hand. "Hand me the Dream Collet. And I will make sure your demise is swift."

Mint found it hard to breathe. Whether it was due to the smoke slowly choking her or the high-tension situation currently squeezing her heart and stealing her breath, she couldn't tell. It was hard to think, so so hard.

"I—I can't," she said.

Arachnea's eyes narrowed, dangerously so. "I see."

Arachnea charged at Mint and landed yet another slap on her. She fell to the ground with a groan and landed on her injured arm. The pain increased tenfold, flaring up her arm and out her mouth in the form of a scream.

Natsu was walking towards the school stadium at a normal pace, his hands stuffed inside his pockets. He wondered how he was going to approach this supposed second confession of his, hoping it would go smoothly one way or another. The last thing he wanted was to ruin his friendship with Komachi. Even if she did reject him for real this time, he still wanted to be there for her in good times and bad.

It's not as if this will be the end of the world, Nuts, he thought to himself determinedly. As he approached the school, Natsu spotted a bunch of students gathered outside. They looked to be scared and speaking loudly on top of each other as teachers demanded they be quiet so they could do a headcount. Natsu approached a student that he was acquainted with, Masuko Mika, to ask for details. "What's happening?"

Mika spent a second or two being in cloud nine when she saw Natsu speak to her directly but managed to recover. She bit her lower lip anxiously. "A fire suddenly started and disrupted the whole soccer tournament. The teachers haven't found the cause yet but the firefighters are on their way."

Natsu looked up to see a thick black smoke rise steadily from nearby. His heart fell to the pit of his stomach.

"Have you seen the girls?" he asked hurriedly. Mika already knew who he was referring to and shook her head again. "I think I saw them watching the matches earlier but I don't know where they are now. They should've been able to get out like the rest of us—"

Natsu needn't hear anything else. He made his way around the crowd and into school grounds, ignoring Mika calling for him. They're fighting an enemy, Natsu thought grimly and ran as fast as he could—

Komachi's faint scream made his blood run cold and his step faltered for the shortest of time. Gritting his teeth, Natsu made his way towards it.

"I believe I made myself perfectly clear," Arachnea spit out coldly, staring down at Mint. The Cure was squirming in pain on the ground and coughing. "The Dream Collet. Hand it over."

Mint turned her head slowly towards her enemy, dirt and blood smeared across her face. A trickle of blood made its way down from a cut on her lip. "We don't—" she began, throat closing up from both the smoke and the tears welling up in her eyes. "We don't have it."

"Oho?" Arachnea raised a brow. She bent down to easily pick up the struggling Mint by the front of her costume, lifting her up with one hand. Mint tried to pry off the older woman's fingers but it was hard to do so with her dwindling energy level and just the one working arm. Arachnea's piercing red eyes bore into the soldier of Tranquility, like bottomless pits of blood. "Bring me the one who does have it."

Mint's hand stilled its movement at that. Natsu. There was no way she would bring Natsu to give up the Collet and ruin his dream of returning back to his kingdom. Coco and Nuts had been through too much and done so much for her, for all of them. She would never repay them like this. Mint returned Arachnea's glare with a vicious look of her own as she dug her fingernails into the lady's hand. "Never."

With a shout, Arachnea tossed Mint away like a ragdoll. Though painful and scary, Mint didn't regret her decision one bit. "Kowaina!" Arachnea shrieked, pointing towards the fallen Cure. "Trample her until there's nothing left!"

Mint's breath hitched as she heard the answering call from the monster, now charging in her direction. So, this was it then? Mint pulled herself up with her last remaining strength, wanting to at least go out fighting. She made a wish that her friends would survive this fight and live. Live to continue helping Coco and Nuts and to follow their own dreams.

"Look out!"

Mint was pulled away last minute before the Kowaina made impact, caught in the embrace of someone familiar. She looked up to see Natsu carrying her and her eyes widened. He was probably the last person she had expected to see right now. "Natsu-san?"

Natsu had been able to get her away from Arachnea, whom he was now glaring at. Mint tried to move but any slight movement set off pain in her injured arm. She whimpered, which caught Natsu's attention. He lowered her gently to the ground and tore off a piece of his shirt to make a makeshift gaze for her wound, his expression looking very pained and troubled. "I'm so sorry I couldn't get here faster," he said, strain audible in his voice. Despite everything, Mint found it in herself to smile.

"I'm surprised you came at all," she said, grateful. "I'm truly blessed to have you here."

Natsu's eyes snapped up to look at her, his mouth struggling to form words. "I—"

"Aha," Arachnea called out from nearby, slowly inching her way towards the two. "You must be the protector of the Dream Collet. How blessed must I be to have you fall into my hands this quickly?"

Mint tensed up immediately next to Natsu, no doubt thinking about how to get him out of harm's way, even in a situation like this. Natsu felt like smiling himself.

"You really are the protector of the group, aren't you?" he said, catching Mint off guard with how soft he sounded in that moment. A complete contrast to the words coming out of his mouth as he stood tall and confronted Arachnea. "We would rather die than give you the Dream Collet."

Arachnea's mouth twitched. She threw back her head and laughed, deep and wicked before readying her spider legs for combat. "That can certainly be arranged."

"Dream!" Natsu called out. As if on cue, Cure Dream materialized from the smoke, high in the air and ready for action. "Pretty Cure, Dream Attack!"

A pink butterfly flew towards the Kowaina and purified it, thus shattering the mask into tiny pieces. Arachnea screamed before launching herself at Dream once more. Natsu used this opportunity to carry Mint towards a safer area, her uninjured arm slung around his neck. "You managed to untie Dream?"

"Yes. I had to get you to safety so I told Dream to free the others in the meantime," Natsu explained, his gaze going over to someone in particular. "Particularly Aqua."

Mint blinked and followed his gaze. Aqua could be seen calling upon her Aqua Ribbon and using Aqua Tornado to carry forth a large body of water that spilled onto the bleachers and the now scorched earth. She's taking care of the fire, Mint realized with a smile. Meanwhile, Arachnea was furious. Her attacks showed her impatience and fury as she unleashed blows after blows upon Dream who was once more dodging and weaving through them all. Rouge came from behind to deliver a kick at Arachnea's side, sending her flying.

"Serves you right!" Rouge said, sticking out her tongue. Before long, Natsu and the Cures sans Mint had surrounded Arachnea as she laid on the hot ground, without any pawns or tricks up her sleeve. Dream took a step forward, glaring at the woman. "It's over."

Arachnea was seething, her eyes wild and her fangs out. Her eyes wandered from each Cure until they settled on Natsu. "It's not over until I get my—!"

"Time is up."

The air rippled behind Arachnea and Kawarino's form materialized, impeccably dressed and wearing a frown. Arachnea scrambled away from him, her eyes wide and afraid. The Cures reckoned they had never seen her in such a state of fright before. Her lips trembled and she bowed before him, begging like never before. "Please, sir! I wasn't about to fail, I—!"

"I have seen the extent of your uselessness and it is enough," Kawarino coldly stated before approaching her. "You will be brought to the organization for the termination of your employment."

"Sir, no!"

Kawarino needed only place his finger upon her forehead to dismiss Arachnea, her scream of anguish still lingering heavily in the air as she disappeared. The Pretty Cures found this incredibly unsettling, their battle stances still ready as Kawarino dusted himself off and readjusted his tie.

"Oh, worry not. I haven't the slightest plan to take your Collet from you — at the moment," he reassured, smiling coldly. "Rejoice in your victory! I assure you, it will be your last."

With those final chilling words, he too disappeared, leaving them all with an ominous sense of foreboding. Lemonade broke the silence. "Is it over?" she asked timidly. Natsu breathed out a deep exhale but nodded.

"Yes. I don't believe they have anything else in store for us. For now," he added.

All the Cures breathed a sigh of relief and rejoiced momentarily at how they managed to defeat Arachnea. Aqua suddenly dashed towards Mint who was sitting nearby and trying to stop the bleeding in her arm. "Mint!" Aqua called out, terrified of the state her best friend was in. Mint gave a weak chuckle. "It probably looks a lot worse than it is, Aqua."

"Hospital," Karen said as she transformed back. She pulled out her phone to make the call. "You need medical treatment, now!"

"We also need to um, get the heck out of here?" Rouge said as she approached Mint, right before she transformed back as well. "The firefighters will be here any second now."

"I let Mika know I would be looking for you girls," Natsu said as they all joined around Mint. He gave her a reassuring look. "I'll take care of this."

Mint let out a shaky sigh as green transformation light surrounded her and dispersed. She was sweating quite a bit and her breathing sounded labored. "Thank you."

Natsu and the girls made it out to the rest of the students standing outside as soon as the firefighters came out to safely put out the rest of the fire. Teachers and students were swarming Komachi in her injured state and an ambulance stood ready to bring her to the nearest hospital. Meanwhile, Natsu and Karen explained to the teachers that the missing girls hadn't joined up with the rest outside because Komachi had been involved in an accident related to the fire and needed help. That seemed to satisfy the teachers but Karen still had to apologize on their behalf for not getting hold of an adult.

Komachi was taken to the hospital to get treated. It seemed her right arm was broken, as well as gashed near the shoulder which needed stitching. Her older sister came to her in a state of worry after she had been patched up and hugged her tightly. "Karen called and told me everything. I'm so, so happy you're okay."

Komachi could only chuckle and agree with her sister.

The following day offered Komachi a different kind of attention. A few students would come over to leave kind words and sweet encouragement on her cast, in lots of different colors. Someone even managed to slip a phone number. Where did that one come from? Komachi's friends left their own words as well, ranging from 'your arm is going to get so much stronger now!' to 'get plenty of rest, okay?'. Komachi was grateful for each and every sentence. She was blessed with great friends.

"Knock knock," Komachi announced as she entered Natsu House. Natsu was behind the counter, rearranging some jewelry at the display table when he saw Komachi come in.

"Hey."

"Hello," she greeted back sweetly. "I'm here with some red bean daifuku for you and Kokoda-san."

Natsu accepted the packaged gifts with a small smile. "Thank you," he said. "Kokoda has a class to teach this afternoon but he'll be home shortly, I imagine."

"That's good to hear. His sweet tooth is even greater than yours," Komachi giggled. Natsu's eyes fell to Komachi's arm in a sling, where the white cast was adorned with scribbles of different colors. "Who did that?"

Komachi followed his gaze to her arm. "Oh! It's just a thing we do here. People can write all sorts of nice messages on someone's cast to make them feel better."

"It accelerates your healing?" Natsu asked with a confused look. Komachi merely laughed.

"Not quite, but it does make you feel better in here," she elaborated, placing her good hand on her heart. Natsu considered that statement for a few seconds before he reached into a nearby cabinet and brought out a deep red marker. "Can I leave you a message as well?"

"Oh, sure!" Komachi said, taking a step closer to Natsu to give him access to her cast. "Go ahead."

It took him a few seconds to find a spot available for marking and then he got to work. Komachi's head was turned away, partly so his message could be a surprise and partly because the close proximity to Natsu was making her heart do somersaults. She heard him put the cap back on his marker and take a step back. "Done."

Komachi's eyes searched for the dark red letters that matched Natsu's marker and found them. He had written something near the rim of her cast, close to her fingers and easy to read from her position.

❤️— Natsu.

Komachi's cheeks darkened as her eyes were stuck on the drawing. She looked over to Natsu and saw him meet her eyes with equally pink cheeks.

"Kokoda said I had to be more blunt with my second confession," Natsu said quietly. "Is this not—?"

"Yes, it is," Komachi nodded, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "I understand perfectly."

Natsu nodded a little stiffly, rubbing his neck. Komachi decided to be brave. She went over and took one of Natsu's hands, squeezing it gently. "How about we talk over some of these daifuku? Green tea would go nicely with the sweet red bean."

Natsu was quiet for a short while, staring deeply into Komachi's eyes. He nodded, returning the squeeze with a soft smile. "That sounds lovely."