The Frozen Feelings
Once the clouds clear in the sky, Yukino believes this day would end decently. Becoming a precure was the greatest thing that happened but going homemade that moment shatter into pieces. She watches her mother stand tall with her straight black hair and devious smile. Yukino had no intention of seeing her mother again.
Spotting her intense use of makeup smothered around her face, her mother had an accurate reason for coming over. She pulls Yukino into a tight hug, trapping the air inside her chest.
"Koharu let the girl breathe!" Her grandmother demands.
Has her mother finally changed? Yukino attempts to place her freezing hands on her back. Could this finally be the chance of their bond reviving?
"If you put your dirty hands on me, watch what I'll do," Her mother whispers harshly.
Yukino drops her hands back at her side, all hope escaping in her heart. The mother-daughter bond she once wished for didn't have a chance to return. Koharu releases from the hug, revealing a fake grin directed at Yukino. Her fakeness was easily spotted at how fast her smile vanished. Yukino didn't want to smile back, she didn't need to. Uji watches the two closely, keeping still as a statue. He could easily be mistaken as an actual statue. Koharu looks down at Uji, raising her brow, unfamiliar with the penguin.
Uji never expected Koharu to notice him. He shakes a little, nervous with the sudden attention. Koharu takes her attention off Uji, uninterested with his presence. Yukino gently picks up Uji from the cold floor. He hides his face within her chest, not wanting to face Koharu again.
"Yukino, I didn't think you still liked playing with plushies," Koharu chuckles evilly.
"He's not a plushy, he's my friend," Yukino rudely replies.
"Hey, don't use that tone on your mother!" Her grandmother shouts.
Yukino shakes her head in disapproval. Uji turns his head, glaring at Koharu.
Koharu notices the little penguins glare, surprised to see it moved on its own. Uji bravely sticks his tongue out at her. Koharu became sick of Uji's unwanted presence. She grabs Uji out from Yukino's stiff hands and hovers him above Yukino's head.
"Hey give him back!" Yukino raises her voice, completely annoyed.
"You can't adopt a penguin, that's not even legal!" Koharu glares back at the penguin, in disbelief.
"Let go of me OLD HAG!" Uji shouts angrily.
"Old Hag... WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?" Koharu yells even louder.
Yukino snatches Uji from her grab.
"You're a penguin and you can talk… that can only mean!" Before Koharu could finish her sentence, Yukino runs up to her room. Yukino is sick of her mother's actions and the lack of her grandmother's ability to see through her rotten daughter. Koharu keeps her laughter inside, as she watches Yukino struggle to run up the stairs.
Yukino slams her door shut, the slam echoing throughout the halls. Uji watches Yukino breathe heavily, after running up a long flight of stairs. She sits on her door and stares at her open window. Uji felt bad he couldn't do anything to help her. He wants to help but with his size, he would only be a nuisance. Taking off his little top hat, he places it on Yukino's head, trying to cheer her up. She tries to put on a smile, but her anger overthrown her happiness. Forcing a smile, Uji became sadden at his failure of trying to make her happy. Yukino gently places Uji on her lap, allowing him to lay on her comfortable thighs.
Yukino hadn't noticed how fast time flies. The sun has set, and the moon has risen. They fall asleep by the door. No one could enter due to Yukino's blocking. Yukino had wished this day never happened.
With the long night of Uji snoring, thankfully Yukino wasn't bothered by it. She liked the company of her little new friend.
Is mom still here?
Yukino failed to pay attention to what was happening downstairs. She didn't care anymore. Her mother obviously came to ruin her life once again. Her grandmother was no help at all! Fallen into her fake smiles and personality, Yukino was the only one who can see through it.
Yukino remains in her dried-up tracksuit from school. No one would be concerned if she even got sick from staying in wet track wear. Yukino never have the slightest thought of changing out of her clothes. Surprisingly, her mother didn't care about hugging wet clothing too! Yukino left her bedroom, marching down the steps checking if her mother was still here.
"What are you looking for?"
Yukino jumps, startled from Koharu's random presence.
"Why are you still here?" Yukino rudely asks.
Koharu notices her grandmother was near, knowing she would be able to hear them. She forces on a small grin, petting Yukino's head lightly.
"I insisted on staying silly,"
Yukino stares at her confused. Did she change back to her old self? A nice loving mother or was it all her imagination?
"Now go change out of those clothes and get ready for school!"
School, the one major thing Yukino had forgotten. Did the school not call home for her sudden actions? All these questions boiled her brain. It is unusual that the school did not tattletale. Relieved yet confused, she marches back up to her room in silence.
Yukino had a couple hours before school started. Using the time wisely, she washes her dirty uniform and tracksuit, fixes her hair, organizes her bag, and cleans her shoes.
All ready to go to school, she left Uji in her room. Uji watches her leave with a little frown on his face. He was all alone until he noticed the window was left open. This was his chance to escape the room and get away from the evil Koharu. He launches himself out the window, landing badly on the thorn bush. A loud shriek was heard after he landed. Koharu hears the shriek but ignores it.
Uji waddles out from the thorn bush with tons of thorns sticking to his cape. He realizes he forgot his little top hat in the room. The hat that was part of him, left in Yukino's small bedroom. Sadly, he waddles away from the house, making his way wherever.
Yukino walks down the same road, leading to the school. She makes it with no disturbance from unwanted students.
Uji continues to walk helplessly down the roads while pulling thorns off his cape.
Mei and Hanabi accompanied by Momiji and Akito walk to school talking about the random things that can pop out of Hanabi's head. Mei notices a little penguin walking lost across the street from them. She blinks a couple of times making sure she wasn't seeing things. The penguin was still there. Hanabi notices Mei staring off at the direction of the penguin.
"A PENGUIN!" Hanabi shouts.
Hanabi launches at the little penguin.
Uji watches Hanabi sprint towards him. Waddling away would be hopeless with how fast she runs. He stood still, staring up at Hanabi.
"Hi little fella, aren't you supposed to be in the north with your mummies and daddies?"
Uji held a straight face. Hanabi became flustered.
"I have reason to be here missy," Uji confronts.
Hanabi gasps.
"THE PENGUIN CAN TALK!"
Uji spots the ring on Hanabi's finger.
"I recognize that ring… Is Nene with you?" Uji politely said.
Hanabi struggled to find the right words to say. Mei runs over to Hanabi, leaving Momiji with Akito, both confused.
Uji looks at Mei's finger, spotting her ring.
"Both precures… what a coincidence!" Uji playfully laughs.
"I don't what to say, Mei, I DON'T KNOW!"
"Me neither…"
"May I ask, where are my girls?" Uji asks.
Hanabi crouches down, tired of facing down. Mei does the same.
"You must be Uji then," Mei says.
"Yes, I am," Uji attempts to touch his head to do a little funny dance with his hat as an introduction but realizes he doesn't have it.
"Have you not found winter yet?" Mei asks.
"I did,"
"Then, where is she?"
"School,"
"Which school?"
"I have no idea,"
The conversation wasn't going anywhere with Mei's short and simple questions.
"Should we bring you home?" Mei asks.
"I'll be heading to school instead," He insists.
"You know where the school is but don't know the name?" Hanabi questions.
Uji nods.
"Shall we help you along the way or—"
"No more questions! I just want to be with Yukino"
"Who's Yukino?" Hanabi annoying asks.
"I SAID NO MORE QUESTIONS!"
"Hanabi!"
"I'm kidding, but seriously who's Yukino?"
Uji annoyed of the two waddles away from them in silence. Hanabi watches Uji waddle his way across the road.
"We'll see him, again right?" Hanabi sighs.
"With how clingy you are, most likely yes,"
"Clingy? I'm not clingy,"
"Hanabi you are,"
"AM NOT!"
"You may enter,"
Hail and Thunder in their most appropriate attire entered the throne room. The real Dark Nature laid on her enormous throne made from dead tree roots and wilted flowers. Her long silky black hair ran down to the floor. The huge room mainly was dark. The only light that shone was from her red eyes. Thunder carried a box of matches while Hail held the lit match. The room was naturally dark and difficult to walk through.
"Is it true?" Thunder stutters.
"Yes, all 4 precures have revived," Dark Nature says.
"How can this be…?"
"So, is it finally my time to shine?" Hail says.
Dark Nature shakes her head.
"Why not!"
"I want to examine the 4, and then you can go,"
"Promise?"
"Sure,"
Hail happily skips out of the throne room, her eyes sparkling with excitement. Thunder stood quietly, avoiding eye contact.
"Look at me" She demands.
"No,"
"You can't avoid me any longer, remember…"
"No…"
"I'm the only one that gets you,"
"You're not,"
She reaches her hand to him, but Thunder turns his back, exiting the throne room.
"It's all because you met that tramp that you're acting like this…"
Hail continues to skip down the hallway leading to her room. Behind her was Thunder, keeping his head down. Hail became curious about Thunder's lack of emotions.
"What the matter~" She giggles.
"You females, I'll never understand the way you think," He mumbles as he casually passes Hail.
"What do you mean?" Hail questioned, confused by his comment.
"Never mind, you're not the type to think the way Dark does,"
Hail shrugs, continuing to skip, staying behind Thunder.
School finally ends, quicker than usual. With the arrival of summer just around the corner, school days end faster by the second. Yukino quickly packs up her belongings, unbothered by her classmates' annoying comments.
Before anyone can notice her, she bolts out of the classroom. Nobody notices her, and she leaves in peace.
Finally reaching home from the awkward atmosphere from school, all Yukino wanted to do was finish her homework and sleep. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.
"Welcome home sweaty," Her mother kindly greets, her back leaning against the wall.
Yukino takes off her shoes, ignoring her mother's greeting.
"How was school?" Koharu asks.
Yukino continues to ignore, marching upstairs to her bedroom.
"That girl, she's never grateful," Koharu angrily clicks her tongue.
"What did you say Koharu?" Her grandmother asks.
"Nothing Mom, just talking to myself… I guess," Koharu rolls her eyes.
Yukino tosses her bag onto her bed, releasing an annoyed groan.
"Uji I'm back…" Yukino yawns.
There was no response.
"Uji?" Yukino repeats, a little louder thinking he couldn't hear her the first time.
Still no response.
Yukino searches around her room, under the bed, inside the closet, but no sign of Uji. Where could he have gone? Yukino begins to freak out. She made a new friend and already lost him.
Uji was stuck with Mei and Hanabi but wasn't bothered by the two because of their hilarious conversations.
"Why can't you hear a pterodactyl in the restroom?" Hanabi asks.
"I don't know," Mei said.
"Because the P is silent!"
Mei bursts out in laughter.
Yukino notices the little top hat on the ground. She picks it up and continues to search. 10 minutes past and she realized the window was wide open. She immediately sprints out of her room, continuing to call out his name. Koharu runs upstairs to see what was wrong.
"Yukino?"
"Where is he? Did you do something to him?"
"What do you mean?"
"THE PENGUIN!" Yukino raises her voice.
"I remember hearing something fall into the bushes, but I—"
"You didn't care to check, because you don't care!"
"Yukino, calm your voice down,"
"Did you leave him to die? You would do the same if it were me RIGHT?"
"Yukino stop it,"
"Why are you acting like a mother? You never care about me anyway, for the sake of my sanity, STOP PRETENDING LIKE YOUR MY MOTHER!" Yukino finally snapped.
Tears started to stream down Koharu's cheek. Her mouth has been open the whole time. Automatically you can tell, they were fake.
"Why are you crying?" Yukino stutters, her voice calming down a little.
"So I look like the victim here," Koharu whispers.
Her grandmother runs to the stairs to see what the whole commotion was about. The first thing she witnesses was Koharu crying.
"Yukino, what do you think you're doing?!" Granny yells.
"I was trying to ask what was wrong and she just burst out at me," Koharu cries.
"No… listen I—"
"Yukino, your mother came so she can bond with you and you continue to be so disrespectful! Apologize right now!" Granny ordered.
"You don't understand, I'm not the one at fault here!"
"APOLOGIZE!"
Yukino looked directly at Koharu's eyes.
"I'm sorry,"
"Your forgiven," Koharu said with a smile.
"Stop lying,"
This is why I never get along with you, you always act like you're the victim. People wonder why I'm not happy. Blame her. She's the reason my feelings are so frozen.
Yukino runs past the two, heading to the door.
"Where are you going?" Granny says.
"To find my friend!" Yukino exits the house, slamming the door on her way out
"UJI!" She shouts, making her way around the neighborhood.
Dark Nature floats in midair, watching citizens doing their daily hobbies. From the ground, she looked like a little dot in the sky. Opening her palm, an Ursas is seen, lying down peacefully.
"Little Ursas, I'm not in the greatest mood to fight, so can you do it for me?" She peck's the little butterfly's wing.
The Ursas flies off her palm, darting down to a witling rose on the pavement. Black smoke begins to dance around the rose, as it began to get bigger and bigger. A thick green vine pokes out from the smoke. The smoke disperses. The flower transforms into a tall flower lady, with thick green vines as its arms and legs and wilted roses covering her body.
She points her vine towards the end of the road, the vine extending from her arm, aiming for the well-dressed man near the sidewalk. With his great sense of danger, he dodges the sudden attack. He runs the opposite way, avoiding the danger that is right behind him.
"Great, now find the precures…" Dark Nature whispers.
The Ursas nods, launching up in the sky.
After school was finished, Mei and Hanabi meet up with Momiji. Momiji took Uji from Mei's hands, giving him the comfort, he needed.
Hanabi stops, having a sudden chill down her spine.
"Hanabi, what's wrong?" Asked Momiji.
"I feel like someone is watching us…" Hanabi scratches her head a couple of times.
Momiji looks around, to make sure if anybody was.
"I don't see anybody,"
Uji pokes his head out from Momiji's arm. He looks around a bit.
"I hear someone calling my name…" He exclaims.
"UJI!" Yukino shouts in the distance.
"Yukino!" Uji jumps out from Momiji's reach, waddling towards the sound.
Yukino spots Uji, running as fast as a lion to him. With such a heartwarming moment, Uji loses his balance, falling face flat on the ground. Yukino picks him up, brushing off the tiny rocks on his face. She kneels, placing his little top hat on his head.
"You dropped this" She grins.
"My hat!"
He hugs her.
"So, you must be Yukino," Hanabi smiles.
Yukino looks up at the three, bowing her head down.
"Thank you for taking care of him," Yukino kindly responds.
"Ah, no problem,"
Yukino kept Uji in her arms, making sure he wouldn't disappear again. The girls began to introduce themselves one by one. Yukino felt more comfortable around them. She felt that she could easily trust these girls.
Yukino reveals a small grin that twitched a bit. Hanabi stares weirdly at Yukino.
"That smile of yours sure is interesting," Hanabi chuckles.
The girls talked casually but had no idea what was coming for them.
The Ursas watches the four carefully, preparing for its next attack. Bringing its hands in the air, thorns begin shooting out from it, charging towards the four.
Momiji, having a sudden sense of danger, tackles the three to the other side of the road, dodging the thorns. They all look at the direction where the thorns came from. The Ursas brings its hands to its side, launching itself towards them.
They hurry back on their feet, dodging the Ursas's attack.
"Should I even ask why?" Hanabi said as she brushes off tiny rocks on her arm.
"Let's Transform?" Mei looks confusingly at the Ursas.
"I don't see the butterfly," Hanabi mentions.
Yukino remains quiet, unable to find the right words to say.
"Me neither," Momiji studies the Ursas' appearance.
They examined the Ursas body carefully, but still no sign of the butterfly.
"How are we supposed to defeat it, if we can't find the butterfly?" Momiji asks.
"We got to be careful, we don't know if it's possessing a human or a plant," Mei suggests.
They all nod.
"Let's just transform and see what we can do!" Hanabi insists.
Yukino gently places Uji on the ground.
"Be careful!"
"We will," Yukino said with a gentle smile.
"Everyone…" Mei starts.
"LET'S DO THIS!" Hanabi shouts.
They each peck their rings and a little light shines through. They all circle their hands around forming a circle, placing their hand through it, then touching their chest.
The flow of light circles their body, new outfits appearing one by one. Their hair grows longer and the color changes. As their transformation finishes, they stand side by side.
"Blooming flowers, marking the season of spring!"
"Cure Daisy!" Mei strikes her pose.
"The blazing sun, marking the season of summer!"
"Cure Flare!" Hanabi strikes her pose.
"Amber leaves, marking the season of autumn!"
"Cure Maple!" Momiji strikes her pose.
They all look at Yukino.
"Glistering snow, marking the season of winter!"
"Cure Snow!" Yukino strikes her pose.
Snow looks at the three, confused as to why they were staring at her. They dart their eyes back at the Ursas.
Uji squeals like a fangirl, excited to see them fight.
Flare starts off first, charging right at the Ursas. She brings her fist up, flames ascending out from her knuckles. Sending a hard punch directly at the Ursas's stomach, the flames burn its skin.
Daisy being right behind her, checks if the butterfly was somewhere located on the Ursas's back. Still no sign of the butterfly.
Snow and Maple aim their palms at the Ursas', sending a mix of snow and leaves at it.
Flare moves out of the way, the attack directly hitting the Ursas.
The attack finishes, leaving the Ursas on the ground. Its wound begins to patch up.
"It's healing itself!" Daisy gasps.
"Let's think of another attack!" Flare says.
"I think I have an idea!" Snow said under her breath.
"Flare, create light, Daisy trap the Ursas, and Maple you and I will check for the butterfly!"
They all agree with Snow's quick plan.
Flare launches herself up in the air, bringing her hands up.
"Precure! Solar Ray!"
Part of the suns light focuses directly on the Ursas.
The Ursas closes its eyes from the enormous amount of light. Daisy takes this chance. She brings her hands together. Tree roots ascend from the ground, wrapping itself tightly around the Ursas's feet.
From the bright light, they were able to see the insides of the Ursas. Maple notices a black butterfly figure inside its waist.
"It's waist!" Maple shouts.
"How are we supposed to defeat it if the butterfly is inside of it?" Daisy asks.
"Let's just see what we can do!" Maple says.
"Daisy keep it trapped!" Snow commands.
Flare lands on the ground, her legs shake a bit from the rough landing. She regroups with the girls.
They circle around the Ursas, holding each other's hands.
"We're sorry if it's painful," Daisy bows her head.
"Spring!" Flower petals begin to fall from the sky, sticking to its body.
"Your hospital bills will be covered by Mei,"
"Summer!" Flames stick to its body.
"Since I'm older, most likely I'll be covering the bills,"
"Autumn!" Leaves stick to its body.
"I'll visit your funeral,"
"Winter!" Snowflakes stick to its body.
"Funeral?" Daisy giggles.
"I didn't know what else to say,"
They all laugh, leaving Snow flustered.
"Precure! Season grand evolution!" They take a step back, the Ursas lighting up and exploding into multiple pieces.
The Ursas' remainings begin to reattach to each other.
"Not on my watch!" Maple stomps the butterfly with her heels. The butterfly crumbles into ashes and the Ursas body parts vanish and return to its original form: the wilted rose.
"It wasn't a human…" Daisy sighs in relief.
"It's dead though," Flare frowns.
"Looks like I'll be visiting a funeral…" Snow sighs.
The others laugh again.
"I'll just heal it" Daisy smiles.
She kneels to the small rose, hovering her hands above it.
"Precure, Spring Calming Sensation!" A small glow of green shines on the wilted flower. Nothing changed. The flower remained wilted.
"That's strange"
"I guess its time is really over and plus it probably hasn't been fed for quite a while and hasn't drunk any water, so it's dead," Flare explains.
Daisy sighs, patting the flower gently.
"Snow totally jinxed its death," Flare shakes her head in disapproval.
"I didn't mean to…"
"Don't take it seriously Snow, Flare is only joking," Maple comforts Snow.
Daisy dug a small hole in the grass and gently returns the flower. She clasps her hands together and bows.
"Rest in peace,"
They all de-transform. Uji rejoins them, continuing to fangirl.
"You all were amazing!" He shouts.
"Aw thanks," Mei smiles.
"Now we're all together and it feels nice," Hanabi says.
"What now?" Momiji asks.
"Well…"
"Uh…"
"Hm…"
"I have no idea," Yukino confesses.
"Let's just regroup with Nene, Purin, and Mochi and decide what we need to do next!" Momiji recommends.
They all agree.
"Let's go home and we meet tomorrow at my house," Momiji proposed.
Yukino watches them have a normal conversation. She couldn't wait to spend time with her friends but had an uneasy feeling. What is going to happen at home?
"Yukino?"
"Yes?"
"You don't mind meeting at my house, right?"
"Not at all…"
Yukino came up with a plan: keep her business to herself, and don't mess up this friendship.
They all say their goodbyes and head home.
Yukino nervously enters her house. It was awfully quiet. Nobody was home. Uji waddles up the stairs to her room.
Yukino also enters her room and changes into her pajamas. She had little excitement for tomorrow but didn't know how to express it well. She glances over at Uji and watches him sleep with his little top hat on his belly.
I assume, my feelings won't be as frozen any more thanks to this little guy. She pecks Uji's forehead.
"Thank you," She whispers.
The day concludes and Yukino finally sleeps with a smile.
Mei: Did our attack really kill that flower?
Hanabi: Why are you still thinking about that?
Mei: I'm concerned…
Yukino: I really did jinx its life then….
Momiji: No, you didn't
Mei: Hanabi was kidding!
Hanabi: I was?
Mei: Yes, you were… right?
Uji: You girls are weird
Yukino: Next time on Season touch Precure… The search for a name!
Hanabi: I wasn't though
Mei: Hanabi!
Hanabi: I'm kidding
Momiji: Can we just go home?
You can slap me for taking forever. School isn't easy lol, hoped you enjoy the chapter ;)