Work Text:
Izayoi Liko let out a yawn as she crashed into her bed.
There were a few...minor hiccups, and unlike when she was younger, she was now mature enough to admit that it did not at all go according to plan, but at the end of the day, she pulled it off. She asked the question, and Mirai said yes.
She and Mirai were officially engaged.
Liko let out an uncharacteristic giggle. She couldn’t help it! She was so. Damn. Happy!
Just a few more months, and she and Mirai would be married. They’d be bound together in a way that could never be broken. They could officially adopt Hā-chan, and maybe even give her some siblings in the future, if that magic research she’d heard about pans out. They’d officially be a family...not that they weren’t already family at this point, but it was nice to make things official.
She heard the door opening, as her fiancée stumbled into the room, and under the covers of the bed.
“‘Night, Liko. Luv you,” Asahina Mirai said, words barely intelligible through her drowsiness.
“Love you too, Mirai,” Liko returned, as her fiancée settled into sleep...only for her eyes to flutter open slightly, when Liko was unable to stifle the giggle that came through her lips.
“Hm? You don’t giggle like that very often...” Mirai muttered sleepily.
“Sorry if I woke you, it’s just...” she took Mirai’s hand in her own, holding up the ring finger, ring still on. “...I’m so happy you said yes.”
The blond-haired woman smiled at her, her smile carrying all the warmth of the sun.
“Did you really think I wouldn’t?”
“I don’t know, I just, I’m,” the purplette stuttered. “I’m just...having so much trouble putting into words how happy I am.” She then blinked, realizing something. “Although as happy as I am to see it on you, won’t it be uncomfortable if you sleep with the ring on?”
“Ah, right...” the blonde slipped the ring off, placing it on the nightstand beside her, sparing it a single ecstatic glance before turning to face her bride-to-be. “I’m super duper happy, too. Just a few months now, and we’ll be married! You and me! Together forever! I’ll be Mrs. Izayoi! I’m overflowing with excitement!”
“Huh? Mrs. Izayoi...ah, I forgot people from the Non-Magic World changed their family names when they got married,” Liko noted, then gasped when she realized what she said, “I mean I- I didn’t- I’d never forget something that-“
“Iss ‘kay, Liko,” Mirai assured her, shushing her with a sleepily placed finger that landed on the purplette’s nose rather than her mouth, but still did the job of quieting her down. “Unless you’d rather be ‘Mrs. Asahina?’”
“I...” Liko thought about it for a moment. “That’d make the most sense, wouldn’t it? ‘Asahina’ is actually your name. ‘Izayoi’ is just something I came up with on the spot when I was asked what my family name was. It makes the most sense for me to change my name.” That was what made the most sense, right? It might be a bit odd, not using ‘Izayoi’ in the Non-Magic World anymore, but it wasn’t like it was her actual name or anything. Just a thing of convenience she came up with for when she needed it. It’d be much better taking Mirai’s family name. Making herself a part of Mirai’s life.
So why did getting rid of it make her feel so...weird?
Mirai stared blankly for a bit, before letting out a yawn.
“We can talk about it tomorrow. Right now, we need to sleep,” she declared.
“There’s nothing to talk about-“ Liko started, pausing when she heard soft snoring coming from her fiancée. “...Asleep in an instant...typical Mirai. Fine. We can talk about it tomorrow.”
The next morning, Liko woke up to Mirai staring at her. It was rare for Mirai to get up first, considering how much earlier Liko needed to…get to…
“Did I sleep in?” The Magic World native gasped, sitting up quickly as she checked the alarm clock and found oh no, it was hours after she was supposed to be at the school, she needed to-
“Liko!” Her girlfr- fiancée’s voice snapped her out of her panic, the blonde grabbing her arm to stop her from frantically getting out of bed, before grabbing her face and gently turning her to face a wall-mounted calendar. “You’re off work this week, remember? We both are.”
That got Liko’s face to turn bright red, steam emerging as she saw the date circled and realized Mirai was correct, before she collapsed back into bed.
“I knew that,” she insisted weakly, even though she knew Mirai knew she really, really didn’t. “I just…”
“It’s okay,” her fiancée assured her, gripping her in a tight hug, “I get it.” They sat like that for a few moments, before Mirai spoke up. “So…remember what we were talking about last night?”
“Last night…? Oh, the name thing,” Liko quickly remembered, “like I said last night, there’s…nothing to talk about. Asahina is actually your name, it’d be…wrong to make you give it up for something…something I just thought up in a minute when I was put on the spot.”
“Is that really how you think about your name, Liko?” Mirai asked sadly, “I think ‘Izayoi’ is a pretty name. I really wouldn’t mind taking it.”
“But that wouldn’t be fair to you,” Liko insisted, “‘Izayoi’ is something I made up, not…not an actual name. Besides, every other Cure from a civilization with no family names that’s married a No Magic World Human has taken their partner’s name, right? Like Kurumi-senpai, or Setsuna-senpai.”
“I think Ichika-chan mentioned she was planning to take Ciel-chan’s family name, actually, though I suppose she still hasn’t proposed yet so who knows if that’ll change…”
“That-!” Liko hadn’t known that. But even so… “That’s…that’s different. Ciel has her business and reputation behind the name Kirahoshi Ciel. It makes sense that they might decide to keep that name instead. But Izayoi doesn’t have anything like that besides being my No Magic World family name. Since the Magic World doesn’t use family names, everyone there just knows me as ‘Liko’ anyways.”
“But you still don’t want to change your name,” Mirai surmised correctly, causing Liko’s breath to hitch.
“Wh-What makes you say that?”
“You talk about the reasons why you think you should change it, but never say that you want to. And you keep pausing and stuttering when you talk about those reasons.”
“That’s…” Liko was simultaneously touched and irritated that her fiancée knew her so well. It made hiding things from her close to impossible…but it was also proof of how much they loved each other, “…completely right.”
Mirai was quiet, sensing Liko was going to continue.
“I just…I don’t know,” she admitted anxiously, “I feel guilty about the idea of you changing your name for something I made up. But the idea of getting rid of ‘Izayoi’ makes me feel…really upset, for some reason.”
Mirai gripped her soon-to-be-wife in a hug.
“It’s okay if you don’t want to let go. I don’t mind changing my name,” she insisted gently. She frowned as another thought occurred to her, but voiced it anyway, “…or if that really upsets you too, we don’t really have to change our names at all. Not everyone does, you know?”
“Yeah, but…” Liko sighed in frustration, burying her face in Mirai’s shoulder, “…sorry I just…my mind’s a mess right now. Can we talk about this some other time?”
“Okay,” Mirai agreed easily, gently combing her fingers through her fiancée’s hair, “there’s still plenty of time before the wedding after all.”
Liko relaxed at that, letting herself drift back into sleep.
A few hours later, when she was feeling more awake, she and Mirai had finally gotten out of bed, sitting at the table with Hā-chan and Mofurun as they ate…well, it was really more of a brunch at this point.
“…Say, Hā-chan?” Liko spoke up as they finished.
“Hmm?”
“How do you feel about your name?”
“My name?” Her daughter repeated, “why?”
“We were discussing it earlier,” Liko explained, “in the No Magic World, it’s common for one person in a couple to change their family name to match the others’ when they get married. But our discussion on which name to take ended…inconclusively. And it’s relevant to you, too. I mean, when we adopt you you’re going to end up with whichever name we take.”
“I really don’t mind the idea of taking ‘Izayoi’,” Mirai pointed out again.
“And I told you, it isn’t fair to make you change your name, when mine isn’t even real,” Liko responded, before turning back to their daughter, “besides, I was asking Hā-chan.”
“Hmm…” Kotoha leaned back in her chair, pondering the thought, and what she saw of Mirai and Liko’s argument, “…the name ‘Hanami Kotoha’ is still precious to me. Both for what it means…and the fact that ‘Hanami’ is a name you gave me.”
“Ah, if you really want to keep Hanami, then-!” Mirai started, but was cut off by the pink-haired girl raising a hand.
“But…I don’t mind taking either of your names, either,” Kotoha explained with a bright smile, “besides, is there a rule saying I have to have only two names? There are people like Hime-senpai or Towa-senpai with much, much longer ones!“ Her eyes brightened, as she suddenly had a great idea. “If you can’t decide what name you should take, why not just take both? Then I can be Asahina Izayoi Hanami Kotoha!”
“That sounds like a good idea ~mofu!” Mofurun spoke up, “if you can’t decide, just have everyone share all the names ~mofu!”
“Maybe we could add something from Mofurun too?” Kotoha mused with a hand on her chin, “Asahina Izayoi Hanami Mofu Kotoha…”
“Let’s not get too overboard. Remember, whatever name you end up with you’ll also have to write down on official paperwork, so don’t make it too long,” Liko cut in dryly.
“Come to think of it, there are people who do like what Hā-chan suggested in some western countries,” Mirai offered with an uncertain look, “attach their spouse’s surname to their own to keep both.”
“That…I guess that’s an option,” Liko conceded in surprise, “but I-!”
“Besides,” Hā-chan spoke up again, not seeming to have noticed Mirai and Liko’s brief exchange, “the reason you’re worrying about this is because you don’t think the name ‘Izayoi’ is real, right? Then, Liko…what determines when a name is ‘real’ to you?”
“Eh? That’s…?”
“Is it what’s on your birth certificate? Or if your parents gave it to you?” She continued her questioning, an uncharacteristically serious look on her face. “Because if so, ‘Kotoha’ and ’Hā-chan’ wouldn’t be real names either.”
“That isn’t true!” Liko insisted.
“But I came up with ‘Kotoha’ myself, and ‘Hā-chan’ isn’t what’s on either my Magical or Non-Magical official records either,” her daughter continued quietly, as a soothing smile overtook her face, “but they’re both names that I consider to be mine, and they’re both real to me. As long as ‘Izayoi’ is precious to you…it isn’t any less real than they are.”
“That…” Hā-chan had a point. Liko knew Hā-chan had a point. But it didn’t change how she felt about it. “…can we talk about this some other time?”
The other three at the table shared a glance, but nodded and accepted the plea to change the topic.
“Okay. If you insist,” Mirai nodded, and turned their daughter and the living teddybear, “so, Hā-chan, Mofurun, anything you want to do while we’ve got the week off? Once the vacation ends we’re gonna be super busy with the wedding planning, so if there’s anything you want to do now’s the time!”
“Mofu!” Mofurun perked up, “I want to…!” As the conversation turned to plans for the break, Liko allowed the name issue to slip out of her mind.
A week later…
At the end of the week, Mirai and Mofurun had traveled to the Non-Magic World, a specific destination in mind.
“Grandma!” She called out, as she walked up to the family store and saw her grandmother in front, sweeping.
“Mirai! It’s so good to see you!” Her grandmother, Yuki Kanoko, greeted, before turning to the bear sitting in Mirai’s purse, “and it’s good to see you too, Mofurun.”
“Mofu!” The living teddy bear waved, “It’s good to see you too, Grandma ~mofu!”
Mirai smiled. It was nice not having to hide magic from her family anymore - Hā-chan not aging in five years had raised questions there weren’t many non-magical answers for, so the principal had given them permission to tell her family and some of the other people who’d known Hā-chan well the truth about magic.
(She was glad Kana was one of them. She deserved to know the truth after all the times she and Liko had to lie to her face after she spotted something unusual)
“Liko and Hā-chan had to go back to school today, but I’ve still got one more day off, so Mofurun and I decided to come visit!” She explained. “I’ve got some super duper exciting news to share, too!”
“My, is that so?” Her grandmother chuckled, gaze immediately drifting to Mirai’s hand, and the ring on her finger that wasn’t there when she’d last come to visit. “I can’t wait to find out what it is. Why don’t you come inside?”
Mirai could tell her grandmother had already figured it out, but didn’t lose her smile as she followed the older woman into the house. Her grandmother was as sharp as ever despite her old age.
“Mom! Dad! We’re home!” She knew this wasn’t officially her home anymore since she’d moved into Liko’s apartment in the Magic World, but she still had fond memories of this place, and old habits die hard.
“We’re home ~mofu!”
“Mirai!” She heard her father’s voice calling out as he ran into the room. “Welcome home!”
“Dad!” She greeted cheerfully, embracing her father, Asahina Daikichi, in a hug.
“Good to see you Mirai, Mofurun,” her mother, Asahina Kyoko, spoke, “are Liko and Hā-chan doing well?”
“Yep! Liko’s got work and Hā-chan’s got school, so they couldn’t come here today, though,” Mirai said regretfully, even as she fought to keep from smiling, “but I’ve got a super exciting announcement!” She knew she should probably wait a few minutes, maybe have everyone sit down first, but she just couldn’t contain herself! So she held up her hand, showing off the ring on her finger. “Liko and I are engaged!”
That caused her family to become dead silent for a moment, before her mother spoke up.
“That’s amazing, Mirai! Congratulations!” She cheered, sweeping her daughter into a hug.
“Congratulations,” her grandmother repeated with a soft smile.
Her dad, meanwhile, was struggling not to cry.
“Congratulations…!” He managed to get out with a smile. “You’re really growing up, aren’t you?”
“Geez, Dad,” Mirai admonished good-naturedly, even as she returned her mother’s hug, “you said the same thing when I went to live with Liko.”
“And when she graduated Junior High and High School too,” her mother teased, releasing Mirai to shoot a dry glance at her husband.
“I can’t help it! She’s just growing up so fast!” Her father insisted. “But really, I’m happy for you, Mirai. I know you and Liko are going to be very happy together.”
“Thanks, Dad,” Mirai nodded in appreciation.
“So, give us the details! When’s the wedding?” Her mother asked.
“Mm, we haven’t fully committed yet…but we’re aiming for early next year, on February 7.”
“In Winter?”
“It’s a bit unusual, but the place in the Magic World where we’re probably going to end up having it is the section where it’s eternally Spring, so the exact date doesn’t matter as much,” Mirai insisted, “besides…it’s the anniversary of the day we first met.”
“I see,” her mother acknowledged, “I’m still thrown for a loop whenever you casually mention something like that about the Magic World…”
“It sounds wonderful, Mirai,” her grandmother encouraged, interrupting her daughter’s musing, “but I don’t think we want to have that kind of discussion standing around the entryway, and I’m sure you’re hungry after traveling here all the way from the Magic World. Why don’t we continue this discussion over lunch?”
And so they gathered around the dining room table, food prepared quickly as Mirai and Mofurun continued answering their family’s questions, when a specific question came up.
“So, Mirai,” her dad asked, “considering you and Liko are both girls, whose family name are you keeping?”
“Ah, that…” Mirai hesitated, before sighing in resignation, “…we haven’t decided yet.”
Noticing her hesitation, the rest of her family traded glances.
“You’re both just being weird about it ~mofu,” Mofurun spoke up, “why not just do what Hā-chan suggested and use both ~mofu?”
“I’d be okay with that, I think,” Mirai shrugged, “I really don’t have much of an opinion on what we do with names as long as we’re together. But Liko seems so uncertain no matter which option we bring up.”
“Hmm, did she say why?” Her grandmother asked.
“People in the Magic World don’t normally have family names,” Mirai explained, “Liko came up with hers on the spot when she was asked at school. So she kept saying it’d be ‘unfair’ to make me change my ‘actual’ name for something she ‘just made up,’ no matter how much I insisted I didn’t mind, or that ‘Izayoi’ was a nice name. But she was reluctant to change hers, too.” She looked at the other females of her family. “Was it like this for you, too?”
“I don’t think either of us had any problem quite like you, considering we both married men,” her mother denied, “but to an extent…I do think I understand Liko’s reluctance. I spent years of my life as Yuki Kyouko, after all, and it was really jarring to think about being ‘Asahina Kyouko’ instead. But more than that…” she trailed off.
“‘More than that?’” Mirai tilted her head in a request for her mother to continue.
“…I was really excited too, you know? Being an Asahina, as scary as it was to change, also meant making Daikichi a part of my life forever,” she finished with a bright smile on her face, one matched by her husband as they looked into each other’s eyes.
“It was the same for me when I became a Yuki,” her grandmother offered, “but the only one who can ever know for certain how Liko feels is Liko herself. She might be feeling nervous about the change, or it might be something else. That’s something you need to talk to her about.”
“I know that much. But she doesn’t seem to know exactly what’s up with her thoughts either,” Mirai sighed, “she doesn’t want to change her name and she can’t answer why, but she keeps insisting she should…”
“I admit, I don’t have any experience in this regard like the women in this house do,” her father spoke up, “but while Liko’s feelings are definitely important…what about you, Mirai?”
“Me? I don’t mind either way, I’m just worried about Liko…”
“I don’t think that’s true ~mofu,” Mofurun suddenly shook her head, looking up from the cookies she was eating.
“Eh? What do you mean? Of course I’m worried about-!” Mirai stood up as she spoke with an affronted tone.
“Not that part ~mofu!” Her teddy bear insisted with raised paws, “the part about you not minding ~mofu!”
“Eh? But I…”
“You look a lot sadder when talking about Liko insisting she should change her name than about her wanting to keep it ~mofu! And this entire week whenever it came up, you didn’t suggest you using just Asahina with her getting both names unless Hā-chan or I suggested it first ~mofu! Your first response was always ‘I don’t mind taking Izayoi’ ~mofu!”
“That was just…um…” Mirai struggled to come up with a response…and realized she couldn’t.
“I think you should listen to her, Mirai,” her grandmother spoke softly, “if there’s anyone in this world who knows you as well as Liko, it’s Mofurun.”
“That’s true,” her mother conceded, patting the living plush on the head and causing her to giggle, “Mofurun has been with you more than anyone else, after all. She’s even been by your side for moments when we couldn’t be around.”
“Even if she spends most of her nights with Kotoha-chan now, her connection to you isn’t something that will fade so easily,” and that was her grandmother again.
“From what Mofurun’s saying,” her father took over the conversation again, “I think you should imagine people calling Liko ‘Asahina’ and yourself ‘Izayoi’…then ask yourself which one makes you the happiest.”
“Which makes me the happiest?”
“Right,” her father nodded with a gentle smile, “before you can come to a compromise with Liko, you need to know what it is you want first.”
Mirai thought about that in silence. Imagined going out with her family with them all under the name ‘Asahina,’ Liko introducing herself at Non-Magic World gatherings by the name ‘Asahina Liko’…and then she thought of the opposite. Of introducing herself as ‘Izayoi Mirai.’ Of her acquaintances in the Non-Magic World calling her ‘Izayoi-san.’
A smile crept onto her face, as she abruptly stood up
“I think I‘ve figured it out. Thanks, Mom, Dad, Grandma, Mofurun!” she thanked each of her family members in turn, before dashing off to gather her things, “I need to go talk to Liko. If I leave now, I might be able to catch her right when she gets out of work!”
“So soon?” Her father gasped, getting up to follow her, as did the rest of her family.
“Sorry!” She apologized, looking back as she finagled her shoes on. “But I really really don’t think I can wait any more!” She did pause to turn to Mofurun. “Mofurun, did you want to stay here longer or-?”
“I’ll go with you ~mofu!” The bear insisted as she hopped into Mirai’s purse. With everything gathered, Mirai stood up, then briefly turned around to pull her family into a group hug.
“Thank you so much,” she thanked again, before zooming out the door, “alright, I’m off! See you next time!”
Her family stared at the entryway, bewildered for a moment, before her mother sighed and shook her head.
“Geez, Mirai…even in your twenties, you’re still so reckless,” she groused…but was betrayed by the fond smile on her face, “as soon as you have a thought, you stampede towards it at full force…”
“That’s just how it should be,” her own mother chuckled, drawing nods of agreement from both of Mirai’s parents.
At the same time, at the Magic Academy…
Liko sighed, leaning back in one of the chairs in the staff room as she finished her lunch. The first day back after a vacation was always the most exhausting…and once she was done here, she had wedding planning to look forward to. And as much as she was looking forward to the wedding itself, the planning was looking to be a lot of work.
But it would be so, so worth it.
“Long day?” A voice asked from behind her, as she looked and saw…
“Onee-chan!” Indeed, her older sister Liz, with blue hair and red eyes, stood behind her, offering her a cup of tea, which she gladly accepted, taking a sip before letting out a sigh of relief, “yeah. And it’s looking like it’ll keep being long for a while. Is planning weddings always this much work…?”
Liz blinked in surprise, but smiled.
“I wouldn’t know, I haven’t found anyone like that yet,” she shrugged, “but I guess that means Mirai said yes?”
That caused Liko to sit straight up in her seat, as she realized she hadn’t told her family yet. They’d known her plan, but not how things ended up…
“Yes, she did,” she confirmed, not able to stop herself from giggling, “as much work as it’s shaping up to be…I’m prepared to go through all that and more, for Mirai.”
“I’m a bit jealous,” Liz mused, not for the first time, “you two always seem so happy together.” She shook her head, and offered a kind smile to her younger sister. “But if you need any help, don’t hesitate to ask.”
“Thanks,” her younger sister nodded gratefully, taking a sip of the tea again, relaxing into her seat. A thought then occurred to her, one she still hadn’t found an answer for that she liked. “Say, Onee-chan?”
“Hm?”
“How do you feel about the surname we use in the Non-Magic World?”
“I’ve never had any issues with it,” Liz shrugged, “why?”
“In the Non-Magic World,” Liko started uneasily, not looking at her sister, “it’s tradition that when two people get married, one person changes their family name to match the other’s. And I feel like it wouldn’t be fair to ask Mirai to change her name to something I came up with on the spot. But…for some reason, I don’t want to lose ‘Izayoi’. Not everyone changes their name, so we could just leave things as they are and not very many people would question it, but…”
“I see,” Liz pulled out a chair next to Liko and took a seat, “well…did you know Izayoi wasn’t the first family name we had for use in the Non-Magic World?”
“It wasn’t?” That caused Liko to gape at her older sister in shock.
“No - remember, Dad was doing lots of work in the Non-Magic World as well, and had already been given a family name to use. It’s standard procedure to assign people a family name when they travel to the Non-Magic World, and they’re recorded to keep families consistent,” her elder sister elaborated as she thought back, “but apparently the principal forgot to tell you what name they’d given Dad when he sent you there, which is why you ended up getting put on the spot. I hear the vice principal was livid when she found out.”
“I had no idea…” Liko leaned back in her seat as she considered that.
“Thankfully, Dad’s line of work is one where aliases, while not common, aren’t unheard of either, so he didn’t need to answer too many questions when the name ‘Izayoi’ got entered into the school system and all of his paperwork had to be updated to match it,” Liz sighed, shrugging her shoulders, before shooting a curious glance at Liko, “but I don’t think I ever asked…what made you decide on ‘Izayoi’?”
“Why? That’s…” Liko’s eyes widened, as she suddenly remembered, staring up in to space as she flashed back, “…the day I first met Mirai…that’s what the moon looked like in the Non-Magic World. That’s why I…”
Her first encounter with Mirai…their first transformation into Precure, Mofurun coming to life, her previous downward spiral of a life starting to look up…it all started right there. On that night with the ‘izayoi.’
“…that’s why I don’t want to stop being an Izayoi. Because…it’s a reminder of when Mirai and I met.”
“I see. I think you’ve found your answer then?” Liz asked with a knowing look,
“A part of it,” Liko acknowledged with a bright smile, “I’m still not fully sure what Mirai and I are going to do about our names…but I know why I feel the way I do, now. The stuff beyond that is a conversation I need to have with my fiancée.” She still couldn’t help the ecstatic giggle that came from her mouth when she used that word to describe Mirai. “Thanks, Onee-chan.”
“I’m glad I could help,” Liz gave her sister a small smile of her own, “now, we should probably get back to our classes before lunch break ends, right?”
“Right!” With that, Liko hurriedly packed up her stuff as the two teachers parted ways and returned to their classes.
A few hours later…
Once Mirai had left her house she went straight back to the Magic World and to the Academy with Mofurun.
Of course, teachers had to stay at school later than the students did, so Mirai watched as several students departed the school, some pausing to look at her, a few that knew her as ‘Liko-sensei’s girlfriend’ (or a few that even had heard the news already and knew her as her fiancée! She was overflowing with excitement!) pausing to wave or even casually chat with her.
But for the most part, she was nervously waiting for Liko as she tried to figure out what to say, the drive she had when she’d left her parents’ house now tempered with a worrying realization.
“What’s wrong ~mofu?” Her ever-faithful companion Mofurun asked. “You already know what you want to do, right ~mofu?”
“Yeah, but I don’t know how to explain that to Liko!” She groaned, laying her head down on the table that she and Mofurun had sat down at. “Liko’s already insistent that it wouldn’t be fair to change my name. Even if I tell her I want to change it and get her to agree, she’d still be upset about it if I don’t explain it well, even if she’d keep her worries to herself to try and avoid upsetting me. So I need to find a way to explain it and make her understand why I want to take her name.”
“Mofu…it makes you happy, doesn’t it?” Her teddy bear asked with a look of confusion on her face, “for Liko, I’m sure that will be enough.”
“But I want to explain it in a way that makes Liko happy too,” Mirai insisted, before letting out a frustrated sigh, turning to look around the school…as something caught her eye.
It wasn’t someone in a uniform exiting the school, but rather, a dark shape she caught by the gate, darting out of view whenever someone turned to look at it. Suspicions growing, Mirai cautiously brought out her broom and expanded it to full size.
“Mofu?”
“Wait here, Mofurun. I need to check something,” she instructed sternly, as with a flick of her wand and a ‘Cure-Up Rapapa!’, and silently glided up over the gates, Mofurun watching in confusion from the table.
Mirai took a good look as the shadow creeped closer again…then gasped as she realized she recognized the figure. That silver hair with a few pink streaks, the pale pink dress and peach themed accessories, the blue and pink butterfly wings on her back…
“Pea-chan?” She called out as she drifted to the ground behind the fairy, who whirled in the air as she was called out to - confirming that yes, it was exactly who Mirai thought it was…and she didn’t look any different than she had all those years ago when they first met. Guess fairies really didn’t age that much.
Though, something about her still seemed…lonely.
“Ah-! Who-!” The fairy blinked her pink eyes rapidly as she realized who she was looking at. “You’re…one of my last ‘moms.’ Mirai, wasn’t it?”
“Mm, that’s me! It’s good to see you again, Pea-chan!” Mirai confirmed cheerfully.
“‘Good to see me?’” Pea repeated incredulously, her face scrunched up in confusion. “I made your life hell last time we met.”
“Mm, but you learned your lesson, didn’t you?” Mirai explained easily. “So I forgive you.”
The silver-haired fairy recoiled back, eyes wide with shock, yet looking like they were starting to water. She huffed and turned away, hurriedly rubbing them.
“That’s…that’s ridiculously naive. How has someone like you lived this long?” She scoffed, as she even as she tried to hide her tears. “But, um. Thanks. And…I don’t remember if I ever really apologized, but…I’m sorry.”
“I already told you, I forgive you!” Mirai insisted, walking closer. “So, what brings you here, Pea-chan? Are you a student here?”
“No…I…,” Pea sighed, her posture visibly slumping, “I’d…like to be. I know plenty of magic, sure, but what I know is pretty…specialized for…the kinds of things I did before. And…I thought maybe at a school like this it’d be easier to…to make some friends,” she admitted the last part in a very small voice, poking her fingers together anxiously. “Things did kinda look up for me after we last met, and I at least have a few people that I’d consider friendly acquaintances, but…I’d already developed a reputation for myself, and the Fairy Village didn’t magically become more accepting of me because I’d realized what a piece of work I was. Which is fair, but…I still wanted to try and make a real friendship, without the…tricks I used before. So after thinking on it for a few years, I remembered your family seemed to come from here, so I thought, maybe if I…” she trailed off, too busy trying to get her raging blush under control to continue, sparing a longing glance at some of the students still hanging out in the Academy’s front yard.
“So what’s stopping you? You won’t become a student here by loitering outside the gate.”
“I…I found out your girlfriend was a teacher here and…it’s hard to face her after what I did,” the fairy admitted contritely, still avoiding Mirai’s eyes.
That…made sense, Mirai supposed. She had to admit, what Pea had done to her family was one of the most awful things she’d ever experienced. But…Pea had been hurting too. She had been alone ever since she was born, and had been trying to ease her pain the only way she knew how. And given she was a fairy, who knows how old she actually was? Just how long she’d been suffering for? And it was years ago besides, and she clearly hadn’t been up to the same tricks anymore. That’s why it was so easy for Mirai to forgive.
“Liko, Hā-chan, and Mofurun all have very fuzzy memories of their time under the influence of those fruits,” Mirai explained with a reassuring smile, “and even if they didn’t, none of them are the type to hold grudges. Liko won’t hold anything against you.”
Pea didn’t look convinced.
“It’s true. If Mirai’s forgiven you, I forgive you.”
“Me too ~mofu!” Two more familiar voices cut into the conversation, causing both human and fairy to jump in shock as they turned to see Liko coming out of the school gate, holding Mofurun in her arms.
“Liko!” Mirai gasped in delight. “I really really wanted to talk to you, so I came to see you!”
“I can see that,” Liko noted with a smile, “and you, Pea-chan? I just got here, but I think I got the gist. You want to be a student here?”
“That’s…! Yeah. If that’s okay,” the human-sized fairy spoke awkwardly, “even after everything I did…”
“You wouldn’t be the first student I had who I’d previously met in a more…antagonistic circumstance,” Liko assured her, walking closer with a gentle smile, “one of my top students was a man named Batty, who had some…altercations with Mirai and I in the past. We first became Precure during one of those altercations, even. He graduated at the top of his class in magic zoology, and he now runs a pet shop on Magic Shopping Street,” she passed Mofurun back to Mirai, then held out a hand towards the fairy that had once played at being her daughter, “It doesn’t matter what sort of past you have. If you’re willing to put in the work for your future…the Magic School will be there to help you.”
Pea looked at the woman with a bright, disbelieving smile, before blushing and schooling her face back into a more disinterested look.
“…Okay.” But she still nodded, taking the hand and following Liko as she went back into the gate, Mirai cheerfully following both her fiancée and her once-daughter…hmm, she’d had a thought now. But it was a thought that needed a full family conversation before she could voice it, so it’d have to wait until Hā-chan got back from school.
“By the way,” Liko spoke up as they headed back towards the building, “what is your actual name? Because considering Mirai and I are the ones that named you ‘Pea-chan’ when you pretended to be a baby, I doubt ‘Pea’ is your real name.”
“Oh! That’s a good point!” Mirai suddenly realized. “I’ve been calling you that this whole time! Sorry, I didn’t even realize.”
Pea - er, not-Pea - flushed, before mumbling something that couldn’t be heard, as she looked away again.
“What was that?” The soon-to-be-married couple asked in unison.
“Pea is my real name…or it is now, at least,” she repeated, louder, still refusing to look at the two.
“Eh, really? That’s one odd coincidence!” Mirai gasped.
“Pea-chan was really your real name the whole time ~mofu?”
“Now that I think about it, part of the reason we called you that was because of the ‘Pi’ noises you made when we found you, like how we named Hā-chan,” Liko recalled, a finger on her chin, before she raised an eyebrow at the fairy, “did you guide us into choosing that name on purpose?”
“It’s not a coincidence, and I didn’t deliberately make you name me that either,” Pea muttered, “I did have a different name when I was born…but the one who gave birth to me gave it as an afterthought before throwing me out. To be honest, I interacted with others so rarely that I almost never used it, and when I started pulling my…you know…every family I targeted gave me a different name and would never find out my original one, and I honestly don’t remember what it was either, at this point…but after you guys changed my life, I just…decided to keep Pea.”
“Pea-chan…you’re really okay with that?” Mirai asked in confusion.
“Why shouldn’t I be?” Pea shrugged, finally turning to look at the women again, “I…you guys had the most truly positive impact on my life of anyone I’d ever met. Even after what I did, you still took time to encourage me, and that…that meant a lot.” Her face was bright red, but this time, she didn’t look away or try to hide it, looking Mirai and Liko in the eyes for the first time since Mirai had called out to her. “Maybe it was selfish of me, but…I wanted to hold on to that proof of how you changed me…I wanted to keep that reminder of when I met you. Whatever my ‘original’ name was, I didn’t see a reason to keep it. At the end of the day, a name is a word that describes who you are…if you want to describe yourself differently, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.”
That caused Mirai’s eyes to widen. The words echoed in her head, and she finally understood. The thoughts she wanted to communicate to Liko.
They needed to have that family discussion the moment they got home.
“Mirai?” Speaking of which, her fiancée was calling out to her and all three of the other girls present were giving her concerned looks, looks like she spaced out a bit.
“Sorry, just…thinking about what Pea-chan said,” Mirai explained - which was true, sort of! Though in the process of searching for something else to say and change the topic, a previous thought she had slipped out before she could catch herself, “say, Pea-chan, how would you feel if Liko and I adopted you for real?”
There was a silence in the area as that thought worked its way through the heads of the others.
“Are you serious?”
“Mirai!?”
“Mofu?”
“Ah, sorry,” Mirai apologized sheepishly to her soon-to-be-wife and her teddy bear, “the thought occurred to me a few moments ago and I meant to have a family discussion with the two of you and Hā-chan and see what you all thought before I actually said anything to Pea-chan, but it sort of…slipped out. But…” with that out of the way, she turned to Pea herself, who was still staring gobsmacked at her, eyes and mouth both wide open, “…even if you only did it as part of your plan to break us apart, you were a part of our family for a while. And, if you really want to change so much…I want to help you. I want to be able to be there for you when no one else was.” Unspoken but probably picked up on by her fiancée and teddy bear, was that Pea had been sad and lonely and Mirai saw a way to make her not be sad and lonely. Really, she could already see Liko’s facial expression shifting from ‘shock’ to ‘typical Mirai’ with an eye roll. Rude, but also probably true, so Mirai would forgive her this time.
“You’re…you’re a naive idiot, you know that?” Pea spoke, again looking away as she desperately tried to keep from tearing up. “Forgiving me is one thing, but…after I infiltrated your family once to tear it apart, you’re inviting me back in willingly? Are you insane? Aren’t you at all worried I’ll do that again?”
“Nope!” Mirai shook her head. “I can tell you won’t! It’s a mother’s intuition!”
“You stopped doing those things and want to do better ~mofu,” Mofurun encouraged, recovering from her own shock - really, she might have suggested it herself if Mirai hadn’t, she seemed more surprised it happened so suddenly, “as long as you don’t do them anymore, it’s fine ~mofu!”
“‘Mother’s intuition,’ you say…she hasn’t agreed yet, you know?” Liko rolled her eyes again, but smiled fondly and shook her head, before aiming that smile at Pea. “Well, I don’t disagree. Despite everything, I still want to help you too, Pea-chan. So with Mirai and Mofurun on board…I don’t mind adopting you either.” She did shoot a look at Mirai. “We’d need to run it by Hā-chan before we can make any promises, though.”
“Ehehehe…” Mirai chuckled sheepishly.
“Seriously, you too?” Despite her harsh tone, Pea’s voice betrayed the tears she was trying to hide. “Fine, go talk to that weirdo daughter of yours. Maybe she’ll talk some sense into you idiots.” She finally looked back at them, a smile on her face, tears of happiness finally escaping from her eyes. “But if you’re somehow still on this after that, sure. I don’t mind playing ‘happy family’ with you doofuses.”
“It won’t always be happy. There will be tough times, sad times, times where we fight…but if you’ll let us, we’ll be there with you through it all, good and bad,” Mirai promised, drawing her soon-to-be-second daughter into a hug, “that’s what family is.”
“What Mirai said,” Liko agreed, joining the impromptu family hug as well, “and though I can’t say for certain…Hā-chan takes after Mirai in terms of her attitude towards forgiveness and other people. I’m afraid now that I’m convinced, I don’t think there’s anyone left who’d try to take her off this crazy train.”
“We’re all in this together ~mofu!” Mofurun leapt out of Mirai’s bag to cling on to the silver-haired fairies arm.
“Whatever,” Pea scoffed, “now hurry up and let go of me so we can get me signed up for this school already!” but despite her words, she made no attempt to escape the hug.
That night, after they’d had that family discussion about Pea with Kotoha (Kotoha had no complaints, and in fact was thrilled to have her one-time ‘younger sister’ back in her life, even if Pea would later insist she was the older one and had only been pretending to be younger - but that’s a story for another time), Liko and Mirai had both gotten some alone time in their bedroom.
But before anything could happen, sleeping or otherwise, they needed to have one more talk.
“So,” Mirai spoke up, “about the issue with our names and the marriage…”
“Ah, I was actually wanting to talk about that as well…” Liko admitted. But even with them both knowing what they wanted to talk about, it still took some time for them to steel themselves enough to say their thoughts, both thinking about the advice they’d gotten from others.
“As long as ‘Izayoi’ is precious to you…it isn’t any less real than they are.”
“…what made you decide on ‘Izayoi?’”
Hā-chan and Liz’s words echoed through Liko’s head, as she took a deep breath.
“…ask yourself which one makes you the happiest.”
“…a name is a word that describes who you are. If you want to describe yourself differently, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.”
Mirai could still remember the words of her father and Pea-chan, as she took a deep breath.
As one, they exhaled. At the same moment, they both began to speak.
“I really want to take the name Izayoi! I know you said you didn’t want me to change my name, but-!”
“I really want to keep the name Izayoi! I know it’s selfish to ask you to change your name, but-!”
They both stopped at the same moment, as they realized what the other was saying, and stared at each other…before starting to laugh.
“Pfft, so we both came to the same conclusion? At the same time?” Liko giggled.
“Haha, of course! We’re always, always on the same wavelength! Even if we don’t realize it!” Mirai chuckled. They collapsed into their bed as they laughed, before embracing each other tightly.
“‘Izayoi’, to me, is a reminder of the day we met and my life was changed forever,” Liko whispered, “I don’t ever want to give it up.”
“I want to take a part of your name, Liko,” Mirai whispered, “I want everyone who hears my name to know right away that you’re a part of my life, and I’m a part of yours.”
They took a moment to bask in each other’s presence for a bit, before their lips met. When they separated, Liko couldn’t help but giggle again.
“All that worrying…and we got it done and over with in less than a minute.”
“I know, right?” Mirai laughed along with her, snuggling up closer to her fiancée. “But I think we needed that time thinking about it. I went to talk to my parents and grandmother and they helped me figure out what I wanted, but if we hadn’t met Pea-chan today, I don’t think I would’ve figured out how I wanted to tell you.”
“I had a chat with my sister too. Between that and Hā-chan’s words from earlier this week, it…really helped me finally figure myself out,” Liko explained, running a hand through her fiancée’s hair.
“I know we’ve still got a lot more time until the wedding…but now that we’ve got this all figured out, I’m overflowing with excitement all over again!”
“Yeah. Me too, Mirai.”
The engaged couple shared another kiss, before deciding to celebrate their happiness like the mature adults they were.
Several months later…
The wedding had gone off with…almost no fuss. There was a brief scare when Yamoh had suddenly warped in during the reception, but he’d calmly dropped off a gift, congratulated them on behalf of both himself and his master, grabbed a slice of cake, and left as quick as he’d arrived, so things got back on track pretty quickly.
And now, the two newlyweds, exhausted, collapsed into their bed.
“That was so much fun…I’m still overflowing with excitement!” Mirai sighed, leaning into her wife(!)’s arms.
“Mmm. I can…can hardly contain how happy I am,” Liko admitted, snuggling up to her wife(!).
“I can’t wait for the rest of our lives together, Liko!”
“It’s the same for me…Izayoi Mirai.”
Letting out a delighted shudder as her new name was called, Mirai snuggled deeper into her wife’s arms. There were so many other things she wanted to do now that she was married to Liko, now that Kotoha and Pea were officially their children, and tomorrow was the beginning of the honeymoon…but that could wait.
Right now, the Izayoi couple was happy just to be with each other, as they drifted off in each other’s arms.