How did this topic of conversation even come up? It all seemed to derail at the mention of the word “boy” somewhere along the way. No other word had a mystique or power over them to bring up possible routes of embarrassment and bonding quite like that. Though such was the way of being a gaggle of tween girls. It was brave of Miyuki to be so forthright about her eccentricities with her friends but they were still eccentricities, even if she was quite beloved to them. Hence why she could reveal such a thing in the first place.

   “I see it in his eyes. They gleam and glimmer.” Miyuki gushed.

   “Probably just the stage lights.” Akane suggested, dour and unimpressed.

   “They have an intelligence to them, I swear.” Miyuki insisted.

   “Sounds like anthropomorphism to me.” Reika said.

   “Ayup, what she said.” Nao agreed and Akane nodded with her but by Akane’s expression, it was blatantly obvious she had no idea what the word ‘anthropomorphism’ even meant.

   “I’m serious!” Miyuki begged to be believed.

   Miyuki just moaned and groaned, feeling othered for her strange attraction to, well, an attraction at a fast food restaurant. But he really was everything she said and more. He even had the most heart-wrenching lore in the books that the Bad End Kingdom provided about their animatronic characters and on the online website, too, stashed in between all the mini games. She just had the biggest, baddest crush on Wolfrun and she would be heard and she would not be mocked for it. Her face was just going redder and redder as she felt exactly that. Mocked for her crush.

   “Why don’t we go visit this animatronic then, hm?” Yayoi piped up, eyes shining. She clasped her hands together and tilted her head to the side. “Doesn’t that sound like fun? We could all go together, have something to eat, and watch Miyuki make baby-doll eyes for her furry boyfriend.”

   “Yayoi…” Miyuki protested but she didn’t dislike the idea.

   In fact, no one did. Reika and Nao exchanged a glance between one another that turned into a smile. Akane was grinning cheekily, she was always down to not having to be the one who cooked or cleaned up after them when they had a social outing. And so, Miyuki slowly succumbed to the idea of introducing her very tangible friends to her animatronic crush.

   So, it was decided, right down to having a reservation: Sunday, twelve-thirty, they were going to have lunch at the Bad End Kingdom Diner. And, come the day of, it was everything that the other girls had been expecting. Cheesy, low budget, but oddly charming all the same.

   The diner was nostalgic but not for any defined time period, being more anachronistic than that to best encapsulate the conflicting mediaeval aesthetics of its main attraction animatronics. There was a science station where kids could harmlessly mix different coloured solutions to make potions with Majorina. There was a drum kit and rage station with clubs and bats to model off the weapon of choice belonging to Akaoni. There was a stage for comedy and children’s drama sets themed to Joker’s aesthetic and sensibilities. And then there was Miyuki’s favourite element of the diner’s various attractions, the one set up for her beloved Wolfrun: the forest themed play area which was home to stalking silhouettes of the big, bad wolf himself.

   Miyuki was certainly enraptured by it, taking over from their assigned waiter so she could show them around the diner’s campus, much to the beleaguered irritation of said waiter but hey. Less work for them. Miyuki was just all too excited by the prospect of sharing her beloved children’s entertainment and food franchise with her friends, she wanted them to see everything like she did.

   And for a little while, it was exactly like she had hoped and more. She played with Nao and Reika in Majorina’s potion creation station and made marvellous concoctions of pink and green and blue. She raced Akane through the various hanging bean-filled bags of the forest-themed play area, dodging them with skill and sometimes colliding, only to end up in the ball pit and swimming through it. She tried to teach Yayoi how to best hold her bat as they smashed up old coffee mugs and then later enjoyed the baseball arcade game pertaining to Akaoni’s domain.

   The various sectors of the diner’s entertainment section had a unique smell and mystique to them. They were over sanitised on account of all the vomit and urine they likely saw and mixed with the food the restaurant sold as well but the design aspects more than made for it. The games were fun, the paintings on the wall were larger than life and though they were very much on the cusp of ageing out of the diner’s target audience, being the oldest and biggest kids in the play centre, they still had fun. Plenty of it, even.

   In fact, Miyuki could have played and played with her friends for hours but, fortunately for them, her stomach growled. It was time to eat and it was going to be a feast. All tuckered out, she and her friends retired back to their table and their assigned waiter, who had pizza face acne oddly enough, took their orders. Shouldn’t be that long at all, they were promised.

   They chatted idly and drank various soft drinks as they waited for their meals to arrive and they smelt them before they saw them. The thick, salty smell of burgers and fries all piled onto large, novelty plates soon seiged them left and right and the grace was of two, four, six, eight, dig in and don’t wait!

   Even notable big eaters in their crowd, like Akane and Nao, were astonished as they watched Miyuki eat her food. She had gone for the Wolfrun-themed set lunch. It came with three little pig curly fries and a big, wide burger that was perfect to wolf down and she was doing just that, and following up with huge slurps of her drink as well, making a right mess of herself, getting ketchup and mustard on her cheeks but her enjoyment was more cute than anything else.

   It made the others’ anticipation of their own, greasy meals, not quite so elaborate as Miyuki’s, much better.

There was just one last thing on their agenda before they went their separate ways homes: actually meeting the legendary animatronics of the restaurant. They had eaten their foods and played their games but now it was time for the meet and greet. This was probably the part that Miyuki had been looking forward to the most and her friends, the least.

    It is not because they didn’t love her but surely this was a little too strange, even for someone as eccentric as Miyuki but apparently not.

    As a group, they approached the stage. The stage itself was cordoned off, for apparent safety reasons and yet, the animatronics loomed seemingly past the yellow and white tape and over the fancy, theatrical fencing. They looked… off somehow. Uncanny, perhaps? They were characters in a children’s entertainment franchise so maybe it was because the other girls were too old and lacking in nostalgia to see past what it was about their designs and executions that seemed so sinister for the bright cheery lights around them.

    Akaoni was mid-set playing the drums, dual clubs for drumsticks. Majorina had taken to the left of the stage with a tambourine and a microphone, mid-howl, her fake skin eerie and waxy. Joker to the opposite, sneering and giggling, his lips unmoving despite his overactive voice box. His hands were poised over a provided keyboard. And then there was Wolfrun, in the middle, bass guitar in front of him, claws shredding the strings and his wide maw leaned into a microphone: he was the lead singer of this motley crew of musical characters.

   He had such a deep voice in the recordings. All the better to greet the children with - and Miyuki especially, of course. He had such big eyes, all the better to scan the crowd for the faces of adoring fans, to see Miyuki especially, of course. He had such big hands - paws, really - and they were all the better to hug with and Miyuki did wish for his embrace. And then there was his mouth, the teeth that produced and gleamed, such a big mouth and it was that big so he could eat pizza and burgers, of course. Not Miyuki, that would be silly, if Miyuki was going to be near that big, bad mouth of his, surely it would be to kiss.

   Her heart pounded. She was as nervous before this animatronic the same way she would be nervous before a flesh and blood boy that she was attracted to. Miyuki bounced on the ball of her feet, excited to info dump about them, she pushed down the anxiety that she felt as she stared down the white eyes and white teeth and sable maw of her favourite Wolfrun.

   “Aw, look, she’s blushing.” Akane teased her, poking her side and making her jump out of her skin.

   “Akane! Don’t scare me like that!” Miyuki screamed.

   Akane just snickered, “But it's so cute how head over heels for him you.”

   “It's true, Miyuki, we can all tell that you really love Wolfrun, its sweet… if a little weird.” Reika agreed.

   “Hey, different strokes for different folks as they say.” Nao shrugged but yes, she was very much with Reika in thinking that it was weird.

   “I think it's totally normal.” Yayoi pouted. “People get crushes on fictional characters all the time. It’s happened to me, you know. Miyuki just takes it that extra mile.”

   “Yayoi…” Miyuki complained, blushing furiously.

   “I think you should take it that extra mile.” Akane snickered. “Go on, give your big, bad wolf-boy a kiss.”

   “Yeah, do it.” Nao dared her.

   “Do it, do it, do it!” cheered Yayoi, bouncing on the heel of her foot.

   Miyuki quibbled. She had more than a few reservations about this. Her stomach began to twist and knot. All that she had eaten for lunch was suddenly disagreeing with her and her knees were knocking.

   This would be her first kiss, right? Like, it would count, wouldn’t it? Sure, it would be with an animatronic, no different in logistics to kissing a mirror or a plush toy but given that she had very real and legitimate feelings, that made it weightier an action than it seemed. She had spent more time than she would like to admit dreaming about kissing Wolfrun but it was one thing to imagine it. It was a completely different thing to actually do it.

   Miyuki snuck glances around the room. Being good natured older kids, they weren’t under supervision by staff. It was just them. The five of them and the animatronics on stage, which were cordoned off but it would be all too easy to jump the rope. Miyuki swallowed a lump in her throat as she felt her palms sweat, her heart raced.

   “If you don’t want to do it, Miyuki, ignore them.” Reika said scathingly. She seemed to disapprove of the bravado around her.

   But to her surprise, Miyuki shook her head and her hand curled into a determined fist, “Nuh-uh, I wanna do it.”

   Miyuki trembled but she stepped up to the plate, to Reika’s dismay and to the other girls’ utter delight. Akane, Nao, and Yayoi all cheered and goaded Miyuki on as she navigated the rope. She awkwardly straddled it and tipped herself the other way and stumbled into the forbidden mosh pit. At the base of the stage, toes practically to it, the animatronics seemed even bigger - and got bigger again when Miyuki hefted herself up to the stage.

   Then, finally, she came face to face with the absolute love of her fourteen year old life: Wolfrun.

   He was beautiful. He was fake. He was everything that Miyuki wanted and absolutely nothing at all. The contradictions confused Miyuki but her feelings were powerful and undeniably real. She took another step closer and got up onto her tip-toes. She held her hands, maidenly, in front of her breast and she puckered her lips.

   She had her first kiss to Wolfrun. Her first and only kiss.

   His lips were cold, hard plastic. Despite having a furred texture in his sculpt, there was nothing hairy about it. Miyuki kissed him and her heart soared. This was it. Her ultra happiness. She was certain of it. What she felt, how her heart raced, how light she felt, this was pure and unadulterated bliss. Everything she had dreamt and more and then everything went black.

   Wolfrun’s head slumped forward and Miyuki’s ears pricked up on that noise. That creak. It scared her. She felt something jar inside her chest and she looked up. Wolfrun… Wolfrun was very large, his eyes were huge and gleaming. For a second, he almost looked alive and then he ate her. Consumed her innocent kiss for a ravenous meal. His wide maw opened - all but unhinged - and Miyuki’s head was right in the middle of it, his teeth sank into her neck, and blood spurted.

   The other girls - Akane, Nao, Reika, Yayoi - all scream, helpless before this scene as Miyuki was decapitated. Wolfrun’s head jerked back and he ripped Miyuki’s gouged neck off its stump. For a precious moment, the rest of her body, upright and balanced, remained so in shock until the second passed and it collapsed, leaking blood from her wound.

   None of them knew what to do. None of them knew what they had even just seen: just the draining terror and the shrill screams that left their mouths before their brains could even process what their eyes had seen happen to her friend. Guilt wrecking them immediately because… because she wouldn’t have done that if the majority of them hadn’t egged her on. 

   “You’ve got a thorn or something stuck in there, I can tell.” Miyuki observed and she nodded her head. “I can barely see it but it's always the teeny-tiny ones that hurt the most, yeah?”

   “Yeah.” Wolfrun mumbled.

   “Well this girl’s got two opposable thumbs and a pack of nail care stuff on her for emergencies since you never know when a hangnail or something will bother you so don’t worry! I’ll fix you up lickety-split, don’t worry about it.” Miyuki told him. She looked down at him with glittering eyes, “Don’t worry, I’ve got bandaids too! Since I’m always getting to scrapes so that might help as well.”

   Wolfrun snickered but with the way his lips pulled back, it came out tinged with a sardonic snarl. He didn’t like that side of himself anymore. Not since Miyuki had shown him such care and grace despite everything.

   Despite everything…

   He, Akaoni, and Majorina had been welcomed back to Märchenland thanks to the efforts of the Pretty Cure. Despite fighting week in and week out, Cure Happy and the others had come to believe them when they told them that they were in pain because of the ostracisation they faced as villains. Upon learning that, they changed the trajectory of what they considered victory: no longer did they want to clash as foes but rather to meet, in peace, as friends.

   They fought hard against that grain of doing what had always been done - heroes versus villains and all the manipulation in between - and for it, Wolfrun and the others were given a warm welcome back to Märchenland. Sure, there were still some adjusting but believe or not, there had been other fairies who had missed them. Their role in the story as agents of conflict were necessary, even if both sides sometimes took it too far. 

   With Princess Candy in power and the Pretty Cures by her side, they were trying really hard to reintegrate their villains back into their society. They visited often and they had a great time doing it, for the most part. Any group of friends had their spills and blues, they weren’t as horrific as they had been in the past. It was nice.

  Whilst the other Pretty Cures played and frolicked elsewhere, they were having a quiet moment by a tree. All because ickle Wolfie-kins here got a burr in his paw so she stayed behind to play nurse whilst her friends had fun making flower crowns with the Princess and eating as much gourmet food as their bellies could hold. Miyuki, notably the worst by Wolfrun’s standards for being a chaser of leisure and a glutton, had stayed behind. For him. And was doing it all with a smile.

   He stole a glance at her, his breath hitching as he lost all muster and bravado. The big, bad wolf reduced to nothing but a puppy and all because of something as small and insignificant as having a boo-boo in his paw. Ridiculous. He frowned, only for his eyes to go wide as Miyuki brandished her tweezers. She dug around in his paw something awful for that tiny little prick and it was like she was pulling a sword from the stone when she finished.

   “Got it!” she proclaimed. She laughed, bubbly and raucous, totally oblivious to how Wolfrun was howling and recoiling in pain, as she examined the thorn up close and personal. It certainly seemed huge when it was just about touching her eyelashes. “Wow, it did look like a bugger.”

   “Thanks…” Wolfrun replied. Mumbled. 

   “I’m not done yet,” Miyuki brightly rebuked, “I haven’t even kissed it better yet - or put the bandaid on.”

   “What?” Wolfrun sputtered. His arms flailed and his expression was shocked and wild. 

   “Uhh… I said I hadn’t put a bandaid on it?” she replied. She really didn’t get what the big fuss was about.

   “No you, powder puff, the other part!” Wolfrun barked at her, scandalised but there was a strange redness to his icy blue muzzle that didn’t seem to be a sunburn.

   Miyuki was still completely puzzled, she tilted her head and tapped the side of her mouth, “I said that, um, I’d kiss it better?”

   “Why would you say such a thing?” he asked, snarling, eyes wide.

   “Because, um, it’s part of the magic of getting better, I guess. That’s what my mum always told me, at least.” Miyuki replied, sheepish.

   Wolfrun growled. He frowned deeply and there was the hint of his alter ego as a true villain, not just a fairy, in his eyes and it was such a frustrated expression that it wounded Miyuki.

   “What’s the matter, Wolfrun, did I do something wrong?” Miyuki asked.

   “No!” Wolfrun snapped and then again, quieter, with his whole body trembling, his voice on the brink of cracking, “No,” he murmured, “you powder puffs do nothin’ wrong and that’s the thing, ain’t it?” Wolfrun lamented. “Even now, the only reasons other fairies’re nice to us is ‘cause you girlies said to be and I jus’ - I jus’ don’t get it…”

   “Oh, Wolfrun…” Miyuki murmured.

   She giggled on the inside, tickled pink that this Wolfrun was so soft and tiny as she reached out to him and picked him. He didn’t seem to like it but she pet the top of his head to help him relax in her lap. Even scratching behind his ears.

   “Why?” Wolfrun forced out in a growly voice.

   “Why what?” Miyuki asked, feigning ignorance, she just wanted to hear it in his terms, not the ones that she had gone and picked out for him.

   “We caused you- I caused you… so much pain.” Wolfrun said. “I can’t stand how nauseatingly nice you all are because, well, how do I know you're not faking it? That bein’ nice to me - to us - isn’t just some big joke to all you, little girls.”

   “I can promise you, I’m not, truly.” Miyuki assured him, stroking his face. “You told us you were hurting, that you were lashing out because the world hurt you first and I am a deep appreciator of villains, so please believe us and who knows? Once you get used to people being genuinely nice, you won’t be so suspicious. It’s hard, I can tell, but it's worth it, please believe it.”

   “But we - I, especially - hurt you.” Wolfrun replied, his voice all broken up over it and his tiny body quivering with rage. Rage directed at himself, or at the very least his past self.

   “Oh, you poor thing,” Miyuki said and she took his paw that had been punctured by the thorn and lifted it to her lips, a kiss ghosting over the fine fur and she turned it over, kissing it and successfully resisting the impulse to blow a raspberry onto the skin of her paw pad, “I forgive you.”

   Wolfrun snivelled. He didn’t feel worthy of genuine kindness or care. For so long, when he had sought it out, all he would be meant with was cold indifference at best or at worst, he would be outwardly turned away with a vileness that was just beyond his claws. Yet here Miyuki was giving him at that unconditional friendship that he had yearned for out in spades, it made his nose twitch and his eyes water and his heart go weak.

   Miyuki smiled and she reached for the rest of her little, miniature first aid kit. She fished out a bandaid - all prettily coloured in pink and white with a splash of yellow, too - and took off its backing. She pressed it down gently onto Wolfrun’s paw.

   “Here,” she said, “look, see? This cancels out the hurt.”

   Wolfrun sniffed, choking back tears and a lot of slimy mucus. Miyuki just smiled and she wrestled him up in a big hug, rocking him to and fro. Wolfrun squealed and whined and though it started out as a protest, it ended in jest, both of them toppling over and rolling in the soft grass of the shade with Miyu reeling with laughter as well. He needed that. They both did.

   “Aw, kid, look you’ve gone an’ made me soft.” Wolfrun complained, awkward as to where to put his paws now that he was on top of Miyuki. He might have been small but he was still a man and she was still a girl. A girl with superpowers and a pure heart but a girl nonetheless.

   “Good!” Miyuki barked back at him. “I love it a lot when villains are soft.”

   Being a Pretty Cure who had successfully defeated the Bad End Kingdom, rehabilitated Pierrot’s henchmen, and protected the royal siblings through thick and thin, Miyuki was free to waltz between the worlds as she pleased. Same for the other girls. It was all part of their Pretty Cure privileges. They were to be celebrated and cherished, adored by all the inhabitants of Märchenland and yet, for reasons beyond Wolfrun, Miyuki wanted to spend time with him.

   He didn’t really get it. Why hole up with him in a small hut on the edge of town? Especially after everything he did but Miyuki just smiled because it just made sense to her. Of course, she would want to spend time with the big bad wolf! Who wouldn’t?

   Well, in this particular instance, Wolfrun wouldn’t complain that someone wanted to be his friend. Maybe even more than that but he really shouldn’t assume just because Miyuki was nice and cute and friendly and was famously villain crazy. Because just look at him. He wasn’t exactly strutting around at six foot eight anymore. Still, Miyuki liked him for him. The inner him who had been found again after corruption.

   It was just a shame she had weird tastes. Not even just company (him being the point blank example) but in movies, too. 

   Movies were a wonderful invention, actually. The DVD and video player and television set were great. Märchenland was more than happy to welcome them. Recorded reproductions of famous stories to play and replay, they were fantastic. They didn’t replace oral tradition or theatre but instead breathed new life into these revered art forms. The human girls were always bringing their favourites around, it truly seemed there was a genre for everyone.

   And this movie wasn’t too bad. Not really. Even if it was another smarmy fairy tale where the hero defeats the villain at the end of the last act. Aside from that, it had flashy action on the high seas and gawky jokes. It was pretty good but the fact that it was Miyuki’s absolute, all time favourite elevated Wolfrun’s opinion on it overall from pretty good to rather excellent.

   Miyuki, meanwhile, was completely enthralled in contrast to Wolfrun’s mild amusement. He was more beguiled by the novelty of a TV set in Märchenland than anything else but her favourite movie was, of course, nothing less than perfection to her. Perfect paced, witty dialogue, gorgeous animation: it was all poetry in motion to her.

   She didn’t want to miss a thing. Especially since Wolfrun was experiencing the escapades of this movie for the very first time beside her but… She was oh so sleepy.

   Prior to their movie night, Miyuki had had a full day of school and after school activities. She had even wanted to pregame Wolfrun by showing him another of her favourite movies first but time had just gotten away on her. She was too much of a creature of habit. Bedtime was ten o’clock sharp. No exceptions.

   So, for all her bluster full of praise for her favourite movie, Miyuki had been eyes glazed over - but gallantly open - and head slumped forward. Her commentary getting sparser and sparser as she traded whispered observations for hushed yawns. It was rather adorable, Wolfrun found.

   They were both cuddled up on his “lounge”. Furniture conventions between the human world and Märchenland weren’t one to one so Wolfrun’s lounge was a fluffy, comfy hidey-hole in front of the television where they could both hole up. Miyuki was propped against the wall, padded with blankets and pillows and Wolfrun was in her lap. It was all rather idyllic, actually. Soft and cosy, hidden away so they could enjoy themselves in the bliss of entertainment.

   “You can go to sleep now, glitter puff.” Wolfrun murmured.

   He was ready for bed, too, actually. He hadn’t started his night in Miyuki’s lap, rather sitting beside her but as the movie session went on and on, he found himself leaning more and more to the left until flop. He was all over her lap.

   “Thans, Wolfrun…” Miyuki mumbled, getting her words all mushy.

   “Y-Yeah, you can get up an’ use my bed, I don’t mind.” Wolfrun said.

   “S’fine, I like it here.” Miyuki said and she chittered contentedly to herself.

   She practically melted into the soft fluff that she and Wolfrun had been sitting in. She smiled and ran her hand through Wolfun’s fur. Her fingertips sent shivers down Wolfrun’s spine and he quivered.

   “You’re like a warm blanket, it's really… nice.” Miyuki said.

   Wolfrun’s lips pursed together. His ears flicked and he felt flattered to hear that. Miyuki slumped forward another inch and already she was deep asleep, her hand still in the thick of Wolfrun’s fur. He smiled to himself and buried his snout in his paws. Wolfrun closed his eyes and inhaled deep Miyuki’s smell of saccharine body spray. He got comfortable himself then… flomp.