Social skills 101! Madoka develops herself!

Narrator

Last time on Accepting Diversity Precure, Yuu had just started on her physiotherapy. She was struggling with a certain skill needed for her to get her walking again. But with enough practice, she was able to master it after a week. Squee... I can't wait to see how much progress she eventually makes in her walking.

Story

"In a guy, what is the most important thing to look out for?" Reiko asked in curiosity.

"It's simple," Madoka replied without much hesitation. "Someone that does the housework and doesn't leave that all to me. Also, he's got to be physically, mentally and emotionally strong. Preferably no disabilities and absolutely no criminals. Rei, what's up with matchmaking?"

"You always said you wanted to get your True Clarity form, yes?" Madoka nodded. "Then if life doesn't awaken your feelings to change, we will. So we decided to push your social skills to the next level by matchmaking you with a boy for a date."

"And how do we get a boy?"

"The school's lunch broadcast programme! You know the most famous segment Love Talks. There, the host of Love Talks will pull out a form and then she'll talk about it. I'm going to try and matchmake you today."

During Morning Break, Reiko filled in the form in hopes of helping Madoka find a match.

Lunch break

"Without further ado, let's start Love Talks! Yaaaay!" The host said vivaciously.

"So today's matchmaking request comes from 1-3's Hanadera Reiko. Oh wow, she is helping our student council president find a match for a boyfriend! In a boy friend, Madoka values men that don't leave all the housework to her and strong men in all areas. For some reason, she has an aversion to men with stereotypes and she absolutely doesn't want to be dating gangsters. Do you think you could fit what she's talking about? Please drop by 3-1 if you think you have what it takes to be her man!"

Madoka blushed hard and covered her face with her hands. Onpu looked at Madoka coyly and said with sarcasm laced in her tone, "Looks like Ms 'I turned down an idol offer for Precure' knows you so well..."

"That's not the point!" Madoka screamed. "I told her everything and she just had to reveal it to the whole school."

"Come on. It could just be her way of telling you to loosen up. All you care about is student council and studying!"

"You'll get the story someday. After we finish our high school exams, ok?"

"You mean you? I'm not going to go to school after this. After this, I'm going to be a full fledged group with M5RRY GO ROUND."

After school

"You're Madoka, right?" A robotic voice echoed from the corridors. Madoka jumped from her seat as she rushed to attend to the boy that she had been matchmade with.

"Yes I am. Why?" Madoka asked in shock.

"Mind if we go on a date?"

"You're serious?!"

"I know your high school exams mean a lot to you. However, I think you need to expand your social circle. The only people I ever saw you talk to this year was the Happy Lucky Store founder and two other friends. Life isn't about the achievements; it's about the memories you make with the ones you love."

"Alright. Come, let's discuss about where we should go."

As Reiko and her friends walked to the bus stop, they saw Souta and Madoka talking together. Reiko smiled and said, "She's found her match. Let's help her experience her first date." Yuu and Maaaru agreed to her idea.

In secret, they bought her a dress, jewellery, the fanciest shoes and a makeup set. Yuu wrote a dating guidebook and Reiko filled in the illustrations. On Friday, they sent her two parcels with the wrapping "TOP SECRET—ONLY TO OPEN AFTER SCHOOL". Everyone gathered around her but Madoka gently settled the crowd, shocking the class of the stoic girl that was warming up to them in a short amount of time.

When Madoka got home, she opened the parcels only to find her outfit for the date prepared for her. She even found a guidebook guiding her on how to assemble her dating outfit and what she should take note of on a date. Madoka smiled and held back tears, thanking her juniors for their effort preparing her for her first date.

The next day

Nearest mall

"Souta should be here soon, huh..." Madoka muttered as she looked at her watch. All of a sudden, a robotic voice said, "Oh, sorry I'm late!"

"No worries, I got here five minutes ago," Madoka replied coolly. "Shall we watch a movie?"

"Alright! We planned that, right?"

"Definitely!"

Cinema counter

"So two buckets of popcorn, and two cups of Pe—" The counter staff said.

"You want another drink?" Madoka asked softly.

"I'm fine with Pepsi," the robotic voice told her.

"Ok so two buckets of popcorn and two cups of Pepsi. You need any blankets?" The staff continued asking.

"You need?" Madoka continued asking.

"Haha, just one would do," the robotic voice talked.

"Don't speak on my behalf," Madoka muttered angrily, but thankfully, it didn't destroy the mood of the date.

After the movie

"Let's get lunch!" Souta declared.

"Um, didn't you eat two buckets of popcorn?" Madoka asked in suspicion.

"I know! Shouldn't we get a proper meal first?"

"More like shouldn't we test our stomached before having our proper meal?"

"Then what are we going to do?"

"Just walk around. I have some cash with me. If we don't overspend, we will still have money to get a proper meal."

Narrator

The date thus far has been paused with this cliffhanger. Madoka is doing everything she can to think about her date, but it's proving to be a challenge. We learn.

And I sniff something worse than rotten popcorn. It's Hitoshu-oni ready to destroy the day!!

Story

"Why can't you be the lone wolf you always were?" Hitoshu asked Madoka in exasperation. "Why should you think about someone else? Why should you even be talking to others?"

(Cut to accessory shop)

Gently placing a cap on Souta's head, Madoka turned Souta to the mirror. "Do you like this? You won't need it until summer but it's best to shop early," Madoka asked.

"I like how it looks on me," Souta replied in concern. "Kirigaya-san, you want to get something for yourself?"

"I'll pass..." But before Madoka could find a reason for herself why she didn't want to buy anything from the accessory shop, she felt her earrings being snatched away from someone. Turning around, to her horror, it was Hitoshu-oni!

"Hey, don't mess with my date!" A robotic voice shouted.

"Hey, don't mess with me then!" Hitoshu-oni retorted. "I think your differences suck! Go, Sabetsuta!"

"Sabetsuta!" The earrings monster echoed.

Thankfully, Reiko, Masaru and Yuu were in the same shop when they saw a pair of earrings approaching them. They approached Madoka's side, only to find her wincing in pain.

"Madoka, are you ok?" Reiko asked in concern.

"I'm fine..." Madoka replied while visibly wincing. "But I can't care about my pain right now. I have to save Tayoseishi with all of you, for Minamino-san's sake!"

Transformation

Locking the InfiniJewels into the InfiniMo, Masaru removed his glasses while Reiko took off her headband. Yuu sprung out from her wheelchair and slowly saw herself stand in the presence of gravity in the first time. She then looked up to the sky and the InfiniMo and InfiniJewel came to her hands. Tapping their shoulders next to one another, they chorused, "Precure, accept my difference!"

Waving her phone in the air, Yuu released it before curling up into a ball, gaining her green dress. She admired her feet as if taking in the fact she can walk again, before clasping her hands and closing her eyes. Masaru and Reiko then went back to each other and bumped each other's heads for their new hairstyle. The trio's InfiniMos went to the side of their outfit, their weapons were summoned and landed on their hands and the trio jumped down to pose.

Madoka swiped the brush across the makeup pad. She did her eyeshadow before opening her eyes and screamed, "Precure, make my difference!"

Throwing the makeup brush into the air, Madoka then threw her glasses away. In the process, she picked up some eyeshadow and placed it on her lips, before swiping the lipstick away. This formed her gloves.

Looking up, Madoka swiped her fingers across her shoulders, forming her crop top. She sent the magical power to her legs, forming her new skirt and heels. To top it off, Madoka curled herself into a ball and gained pigtails. Her makeup mirror was kept at the side before she joined her juniors in a pose.

"Embracing everyone for their true selves, I'm Cure Embrace!"

"Respecting others for their strengths, I'm Cure Respect!"

"Uniting love and peace once more, I'm Cure Harmony!"

"I'll accept you no matter what! I'm Cure Accepting!"

"Three plus one is more than four! That's what differences do! Go, Accepting Diversity Precure!"

Story

"Go, Sabetsuta!" The Sabetsuta screamed.

"Sabetsuta!" The sabetsuta echoed.

"Everyone, to the mall corridor!" Reiko commanded and they did what they were told. She then proceeded to begin the fight.

Reiko flipped her braid arrogantly in the air before putting on her game face. "Precure, Lovely Yo-yo Attack!" She whacked the yo-yo on the Sabetsuta.

"Huh, so that's all you're made of, Embrace?" Hitoshu-oni asked with sarcasm laced in her tone.

"If you say that, you're trying to say I'm made of more!" Masaru replied with confidence. He got on his feet, dashing as fast as he can while preparing a punch. "Precure, Fiery Fist Firework Style!" He yelled. The sparks were only enough to burn part of the Sabetsuta.

"You chose the wrong attack today! You can't burn metal, only paper." Hitoshu-oni sent insults hurling the cures' direction, as if she was a human gun made out of insults.

"More like you chose the wrong person to throw an insult at?" Yuu added with the same level of sarcasm.

Attack

Placing her InfiniJewel into her InfiniMo, Yuu released it and put her hands on her chest. She said, "Precure, accept my difference!" and that was all it took to get her next upgrade.

Putting her hands in front of her chest, she gathered enough light to form a medium sized ball. She then placed it on her hands and brought it back. As she prepared to throw it, she screamed, "I'm throwing my change to your face! Precure, Harmony Throw!" However, the magical ball ended up wacking her face and she was knocked out.

Story

"No one messes with any of my juniors!" Madoka commanded.

"Hm? But I thought a month ago all you could do was think about yourself," Hitoshu-oni added slyly.

"Not anymore. I'm working in a team, so I have to think about my teammates when we fight. I have friends now, so I have to think about what I say to them so they don't get angry at me. I might even have a boyfriend from this point, so I have to think about my boyfriend's feelings whenever we go on dates. Hitoshu-oni, intelligence only takes us so far in life. We also have to think about others if we want to go far."

All of a sudden, a shining purple brush landed in Madoka's hand. This was her substitute for her True Clarity Jewel and it was now the True Clarity Jewel.

Attack

Madoka swiped the brush across the makeup pad. She did her eyeshadow before opening her eyes and screamed, "Precure, make my difference!" That was all it took for her to pose in her True Clarity Form.

She pulled out from her hair a coloured card. Slamming it on the ground, she screamed, "Queen of Hearts! I can and will read you like a poker player! Precure, Accepting Poker Swipe!" She swiftly flung a poker card and defeated the enemies instantly.

Story

The hot dog Jewel fell from the sky. Reiko did as she usually did with the Jewel before she heard a thud behind her. Turning around, she realised Madoka had passed out!

Everyone freaked out as an ambulance was dialled. She overheard from frightened witnesses Madoka had detransformed and passed out, and it was outed she was Cure Accepting indeed. Putting two and two together, Reiko suspected it was the stress of her earrings being pulled out accompanied with the exhaustion of fighting as a Precure warrior.

Epilogue

The next day

Madoka's hospital ward

"My ears were actually bleeding when fighting with you yesterday," Madoka explained. "Thankfully, there was minimal damage after Hitoshu-oni pulled my earrings out. I'm relieved I can still hear properly." Everyone heaved a sigh of relief. Things could've been worse.

"I won't be back until next week, so take care of yourselves then. And Minamino-san-"

"Can we go on a first name basis?" Souta asked.

"Sure. I'm Madoka."

"Souta here. I think you're the coolest. Fighting and protecting Tayoseishi even after some hooligan injured your ear. Thinking about your juniors before your own injuries. I know this is early, but shall we become dates?"

"...we can, even though now it's in moderation."

"Well, better than nothing." Everyone giggled as Souta kissed Madoka on the cheek playfully before leaving and wishing her well.

(2257 words)