Previously on Until the Moon is Full:
Cure Moonlight had a close fight on Christmas Eve, already terribly injured by the start of the fight when she shielded Chypre and Coffret. Even though she won in the end, it was cleared that she overexerted herself.
Cologne notice, as did he notice something else. What conclusion has he arrived at?
Italics: thoughts
Chapter 11: Moonlight fell sick, what shall I do? (病気になったムーンライト、僕はどうする⁉︎)
"Ah, are you awake?" Yuri returned to her room to check on the fairies after breakfast.
"Yes-desu," Chypre and Coffret stopped drinking their Cureful Mixes for a moment to reply cheerfully.
Yuri nodded, then her eyes drifted to her window, "Cologne?"
Cologne was sitting on the windowsill, gawking at the view outside.
"What are you doing, Cologne?" Yuri walked closer, only then did Cologne look back inside the room.
"Ah, Moonlight..." Cologne noted.
"What's the matter? Sitting by the window like this, are you cold?" Yuri closed the tiny gap in the window.
"Nothing really."
"I see. Cologne, are you hungry? We still have some bread, I can make you a sandwich; you too, Chypre, Coffret."
"We're okay-desu."
"As am I," Cologne returned to staring out the window.
"Alright then, I'll just go and wash the dishes, like I should've," Yuri shrugged and backed away, heading for her room door. She leaned on it for a moment and let out a few coughs.
She threw Cologne another look before heading out.
Cologne flew to the door to take a peek, assured that she was nowhere near her room anymore, he heaved a sigh.
He turned around, "Chypre, Coffret, may I speak to you for a sec?"
The young fairies looked at each other, put down their Cureful Mixes, then flew to him.
"What is it-desuka, Cologne-san?"
"Ku..." he bit his lip, "Can I trust that both of you will keep this a secret from Moonlight?"
They wavered, but eventually agreed.
"Good, well then, let me cut to the chase," he lowered his head with such respectfulness it drew gasps from his kouhais, "Can I ask of you both to find a Precure partner?"
"W-why... so sudden-desuka?" Coffret asked, "And why in secret-desuka?"
"Sorry for the abruptness, but..."
I had a dream yesterday night...
I was surrounded by blackness, but I wasn't alone, Moonlight was there. I was relieved, so I flew closer, yet...
She was barely recognisable. There was a deep gash on her left arm, same goes for her back, her legs were covered with patches of black bruises. Her pale skin smeared with spots of blood.
Those were war wounds, that much was obvious.
But she wasn't crying in pain, she wasn't shedding a tear, her stubborn expression said that she would keep fighting despite her wounds.
I was so horrified I screamed, I screamed her name. And... I woke up.
My dream is telling me to do something, Moonlight...
"But... Moonlight needs help! If this goes on—"
"What are you three talking about?" Yuri appeared behind Cologne, crossing her arms, apparently she finished washing the dishes faster than Cologne imagined.
"...!" Cologne turned around to face her. Yuri was angry, he could tell from her countenance. Angry Yuri was quite scary, as shown by how Chypre and Coffret chose to hide behind their senpai.
"You want to get me a comrade," Yuri looked at Cologne with a stern expression, "and you chose to do that behind my back? Why, Cologne? What happened to the honest Cologne from when we first met?"
"Moonlight," Cologne, to be completely honest, wasn't entirely unafraid when Yuri gets upset, but he faced her head on, "you really need a comrade. I'm sorry for doing this behind your back but I know I'm doing the right thing, please..."
"I don't need one."
"Yes, you do! You're pushing past your limits! I explained to you already, Chypre and Coffret were born so that you don't need to fight alone anymore. If this keeps up, you could be seriously injured!" Cologne half-shouted, he didn't want to lose control of his own anger, but shouting couldn't conceal his concern, Yuri could see it in his eyes and sense it in his voice, so she hesitated to retort.
Cologne continued as he received no reply, "I know! You can ask Momoka to become a Precure with you, you two would make a fine team, don't you thi..."
"No!" Yuri raised her voice slightly, "Absolutely not! We are not dragging Momoka into this fight! She is busy enough already."
"But..."
"No! Not her, not anyone else! I don't need a comrade, I will carry on alone!"
"Moonli..."
"End of discussion!" Yuri declared. She stomped past the fairies and into her room.
Suddenly, she felt dizzy and the strength in her legs sapped away. She put a finger to her temple and tried to take another step, but it was no use, her thoughts went white.
She let out a little pant as her knees hit the floor and she lost consciousness.
"Moonlight?!" Cologne noticed her collapsing.
He was quick to change into a human, he slipped his knee under her back and his hand under her neck before she hit her head on the floor, "Moonlight?! Moonlight! Hey, answer me!"
He heeded her soft and irregular breaths and the tint of red on her ears and pale cheeks. Don't tell me...
He slipped a hand below her bangs and onto her forehead. A slight gasp escaped his lips.
"What happened-desuka?" Chypre asked with a trembling voice.
"She's burning...!" Cologne answered, not aware that his own voice was shaking too, "She must've caught a high fever..."
What do I do? He thought. Should I call Cure Flower? No wait, I remember she said she had a seminar today. Then what...?
Then he saw his kouhais, they were very scared. Just now Yuri was angry at them and now Yuri was unconscious, of course they were scared.
Pull yourself together, Cologne! You gotta do this!
Cologne moved to Yuri's right side, putting his left arm around her shoulders and his right arm under her knees, easily lifting her up, he carried her back to bed.
He removed her jacket and glasses before tucking her into bed. He gazed upon her visage, it had no tranquility of respite, she was breathing so weakly it almost seemed like breathing alone was painful for her.
"What now-desu?" Coffret asked as he and Chypre followed Cologne.
"Well..." Cologne honestly had no idea, he never thought about this kind of situation. Then he eyed Yuri's computer on her desk, if I recall correctly, she did use that to search for information, maybe...
He, Chypre and Coffret spent 5 minutes to figure out exactly how should he use the peculiar device known as a computer to us. He typed in what he wanted to know, "I see, I see. This device is very convenient, I wonder how I got all those answers."
With the help of Chypre and Coffret, Cologne followed the instructions he found to the letter. They opened the windows, got a cold towel to put on Yuri's forehead, put a glass of warm water next to her in case she woke up and felt thirsty.
"Congee, huh?" Cologne wondered out loud as he inspected the writings inside the rice cooker, "The device did mention this is a good thing for her to eat, it can't be too different to prepare than normal rice, can it?"
Cologne did his best at whipping up something for Yuri to eat if she wakes up, but the rice cooker needed time. So he fetched another towel and sat down next time Yuri's bed to constantly help dry sweat on her face and neck in the meantime.
Looking at his partner made him smile, but at the same time made him feel guilty.
He loved her so much, he realised, but it was always her who protected him.
I'm so helpless if she isn't here...
"Don't..." Yuri caught Cologne's attention when she mumbled something in her slumber, "Don't worry... I'm f-fine, I don't n-need..." The sentence ended with a weak cough.
Oh right...! She must've caught the fever on the night before yesterday when we fought the blizzard Desertrian, and it only worsened when she didn't do anything about it yesterday! Why haven't I found out sooner?!
He felt something hot in his eyes, he immediately rubbed them and shook his head. I can't cry! It'll only add to Moonlight's worries and scared Chypre and Coffret, pull yourself together!
Then he thought about the argument they had had earlier, the guilt showed on his face.
I'm sorry, I never meant to force you to do something you don't want to. He thought as he wiped away her sweat again. But... if I don't do this then...
He was conflicted, he only wanted to keep the one he loved most safe, how was that so hard?
Before he realised, he was holding Yuri's hand. It was warm, he noted, or maybe his own was cold because of the towel?
The rice cooker beeped, so he left the room and fetched a bowl, but not before kissing her hand without thinking it through.
Moments later, he returned and put the watery congee on Yuri's desk. (Seriously, not bad for his first try, especially considering he's a fairy)
"Cologne-san," Chypre inquired, "will Moonlight be okay-desuka?"
"When will she wake up-desuka?" Coffret asked too.
"It's okay," Cologne soothed with a fake smile, not sure if he was assuring himself or his kouhais, "She'll be fine. It's just a fever, she'll get better with some proper rest."
Chypre and Coffret were still pretty edgy, so Cologne went to pat their heads, "It'll be alright, don't worry, you two go to rest, I'll take care of Moonlight."
Cologne walked to Yuri and took away the cold towel on her forehead to change it. While doing so, he heard clashing sounds from outside.
"What!?" he shouted as he looked out from Yuri's window despite knowing full well of what was happening — a Desertrian.
His arms grasped the towel more tightly as he looked back at Yuri. She's in no condition to fight...
He placed the towel gently onto Yuri's forehead, then he rested his hand on her cheek. "I'm sorry," he whispered as he leaned closer.
He turned into fairy form and floated back to the window, but before he could head out, Chypre asked, "Cologne-san, where are you going-desu?"
Cologne tensed, he didn't turn back to look at his kouhais.
"You're not going to..." Coffret probed.
"Stay here with her for me," Cologne responded, then darted out without hearing what else his kouhais wanted to say.
"TROPHY!" The Desertrian shrieked as it wrecked havoc everywhere while Sasorina stood next to it and laughed haughtily.
"Stop that at once!" Cologne demanded as soon as he arrived.
"Oh, there you ar... wait, it's just you?" Sasorina showed a disdainful expression, "Where is Cure Moonlight?"
"She won't be coming any time soon, I'm afraid," Cologne said, then turned into his human form, "But it doesn't matter, I'll be your opponent until then."
"Fine," Sasorina yawned, "But make it fun for me."
The Desertrian charged at him, firing two kinds of blasts at once, one made of water, the other made of gold. Cologne knew that whichever hit him was going to be very painful, but he didn't have a choice, he had to fight no matter how long it would take, for the sake of his partner.
He dodged the bullets swiftly, but he knew he would tire out if he carried on. So he used a few handsprings and kicked the bullets back at the monster. Taken aback by this, the Desertrian couldn't dodge in time and suffered damage.
"This is so boring," Sasorina whined, "Let's speed things up." She grinned wickedly as her Jewel of Ire glowed.
Cologne gulped silently as Sasorina turn the Desertrian more aggressive than it already was.
Yuri blinked a few times before she could open her eyes and sit up, "What happened...?"
Sensing her waking up, Chypre and Coffret rushed to her from the window and both started explaining things in their own ways.
Yuri didn't have the strength to tell them to calm down, so she listened for keywords. "Eh?"
She looked around her room, the glass of water, the congee on her desk, the towel that fell onto her blanket when she sat up, the fairies did all that for her when she passed out. She felt touched, but there wasn't time for that.
"Where's Cologne?" Yuri asked Chypre and Coffret with a weak voice.
"Well..." they averted eye contact before they answered.
Yuri leapt out of bed without another word and grabbed her Heart Perfume, then when she tried to take another step, she fell to the ground once again, coughing.
"Cure Moonlight..." Coffret looked at her, "You can't go... you can't even walk..."
"I have to..." Yuri panted as she willed herself to stand.
"But then you..." Chypre cried.
Yuri forced a smile at Chypre, "I'll be fine, I'll protect Cologne. Just... stay here, okay?"
Yuri hastily put on her shoes and staggered out without a jacket.
"Arrrrrrrrrrgh!" Cologne yelled as another bullet hit him in the stomach and threw him backwards.
"Isn't it about time to give up?" Sasorina yawned for the fifth time in a row.
"Not yet..." Cologne punched the ground with his left fist and stood up, "This is nothing..."
"Oh yeah? Desertrian, show him what you really got!"
The Desertrian mixed the water and the gold blasts to create a more destructive and massive one.
"TRO...PHY!" it yelled as it let go of the attack.
Cologne blocked it with a silver barrier. Even so, the blast was too strong for him, the barrier shattered as the attack engulfed him.
As the screen of smoke settled, all you could see was Cologne, dreadfully injured, laying on the ground, but still trying to stand up once again.
"Pathetic fairy," Sasorina mocked as she teleported to him, she stomped on his back brutally as he bit his lips, "What did you even hoped to achieve? In the end you're just a weakling, incapable weakling."
"That's e-enough...!" a shaky voice sounded, it belonged to none other than Tsukikage Yuri, who made Sasorina scared for a second, but when she looked closely...
"Oh my," Sasorina chuckled arrogantly, looking at how weak Yuri was as she had to leaned on a tree trunk just to stand, "what an unsightly state you are in today!"
Yuri muttered up all the strength she had. She darted at Sasorina, aiming a Shouteiuchi at her. Sasorina evaded the slow attack, but it didn't matter, Yuri only sought to get her away from Cologne.
Cologne immediately sprang up in spite of his pain and grasped Yuri's shoulders to keep her from collapsing, "What are you doing here!?"
"Why... looking for y-you, of course..."
"You need to go back! You can barely stand!"
"Speak for yourself," Yuri then looked at him with pleading eyes, "I was so worried, don't you just take off like that..."
"Well, I was only—" Cologne tried to retort.
"Just... let me transform."
"Fine." He sighed and shrunk to his fairy form, "Come forth! Precure Seed!"
"Precure, Open my Heart! The flower that glistens in the moon's light, Cure Moonlight!"
Transforming didn't make her feel any less sick but it'll have to do.
Cologne had no intention of sitting out the fight. Though it took much of his strength and he couldn't stay human for much longer, he chose to stand with his partner.
"Stand back, you're wounded," Moonlight told him.
"You think I would?" he cast a mischievous smile at her.
Moonlight smiled back, "Let's finish this quick then, you can't stay like this for long."
They confronted the Desertrian with barrages of punches and kicks, it shouted, "Why did I had to sprain my leg at this time?! I want to swim! I want to win this trophy with everyone else! Why am I so useless?!"
Sasorina, as usual, started to enrage the Desertrian from a distance, "Can't do anything because you hurt yourself? Hahaha, such a loser!"
The Desertrian once again mixed its bullets, except this time, it wasn't one of them, it was countless of them.
"MOONLIGHT SPARK!" Moonlight countered it with an attack of her own, the counter attack wasn't very strong and there were fragments of the bullets dropping everywhere, but at least she weakened its attack.
"Is this okay with you?" Moonlight yelled at the monster, "Losing yourself because you are going to miss out on one competition? Remember what a trophy really represents?"
Cologne continued for her, "It represents the honour of a remarkable athlete! It doesn't mean winning everything, it's a reward for diligence and perseverance!"
The Desertrian hesitated.
"Everyone has downtimes, it doesn't mean that you are weak!" Moonlight yelled with all her strength.
Sasorina retorted to keep her Desertrian from completely switching off, "Uh... you don't actually believe that, do you? Losing means weak, and withdrawing means cowardice, and you would have to do both!"
"Quit toying with his heart!" Moonlight yelled again, this time, she fell to the ground as she was becoming more exhausted and more woozy by the second.
Sasorina saw the chance, "Desertrian, now!"
"TROPHY!" the Desertrian started spinning to create wind, it blew Cure Moonlight into a building nearby. Then it once again launched a bunch of gold and water bullet.
Moonlight couldn't dodge, her sense of pain was enhanced by her illness, the crash almost knocked the wind out of her. Luckily, Cologne came in at the last second and set up a shield.
"Hey, hang in there!" Cologne shouted at her as the attacks started to push him backwards.
"Cologne..." Moonlight wanted to help him with the shield.
"No! Just use your finisher!"
"Uh... right!" she quickly summoned her Moon Tact, "PRECURE FLORAL POWER FORTISSMO! Heart...catch!"
The Desertrian got hit and purified. Moonlight returned the Heart Flower and laid the victim on a nearby bench.
Cologne dispelled the shield while at the same time he ran out of stamina and turned back into a fairy. He flew to Cure Moonlight and beamed, "We did it!"
Moonlight looked at the unconscious athlete, "He must be an excellent sportsman, with gladiolus as his Heart Flower, he must be filled with strength and honour."
"Strength and honour," Cologne smiled at Moonlight, "Just like you."
She was about to take her fairy into an embrace, but an auburn braid shot in between them.
"I'm not giving up this easily today!" an exasperated Sasorina shouted.
Sasorina's braid morphed into a scorpion tail, she proceeded to extend it and shot it at Cure Moonlight again and again.
"Moonlight!" Cologne exclaimed anxiously.
"Don't come here!" Moonlight shouted back while dodging Sasorina's poison braid.
Cologne watched as the fight unfolded, distressed. But he soon realised that Moonlight wasn't just dodging, she was looking for a chance to strike back.
This is it! Moonlight thought as she caught Sasorina's braid an inch away from it stinging her neck, she smirked triumphantly, "MOONLIGHT SILVER IMPACT!"
The magic transmitted through Sasorina's hair and shattered the headband embossed with the red gem.
"No!" Sasorina exclaimed as she sensed her Jewel of Ire being destroyed, "Ugh! And today was such a big chance to defeat you too!"
"Leave!" Moonlight put a palm on her brooch, prepared to summon her Tact again.
"Fine," she retreated.
Moonlight's transformation diffused instantaneously as she collapsed in exhaustion.
"Still think you don't need a comrade?" Cologne let her rest for a while before he asked. And when he did, he held her hand in his tiny arms, however little success he might achieve, he tried to help her to her feet.
"Maybe I need one..." Yuri spoke with a hoarse voice, her throat was burning from all the shouting and the lack of water, "but I won't allow one..."
"What?"
"Don't drag someone else into this, Cologne," she looked him straight in the eyes, "please!"
Cologne was rendered speechless.
Moonlight...
In truth, he knew. It wasn't hard at all to read what his partner was thinking. He knew that she understood just how much pain this battle brings. And he knew she would do anything in her power — or even not in her power — to avoid forcing that fate onto another girl.
If only your kindness could alleviate your pain...
"Come on, let's head home, I still haven't eaten the congee," Yuri smiled at him, slowly and shakily rising to her feet.
Cologne really wanted to keep her safe more than anything, but he didn't want to go against her resolution, not right now.
It's okay, she doesn't need to fight alone. If she wants to carry all the burden by herself and make everyone safe from this war, at the very least, I will stay with her and fight for her, I will shoulder the pain together with her, I will fill in for the comrades she doesn't allow. I swear it upon my life, I will protect her.
Cologne prepared to turn into the flying cape and said, "Let me help you get home."
"But..."
"No buts, let me take care of you just this once at least."
"No, that's not what I meant..." Yuri pulled him into an embrace.
"—?"
"I'm happy... that you're okay..." Yuri's voice was shaking.
Cologne spaced out for a second before smiling, "Are you really the one to talk, you crybaby?"
He gave her hand a light kiss. I feel the same, Moonlight.
End of Chapter 11
Behind the scenes and spoilers:
Cologne (human form): So, since Moonlight is sick and al...
Yuri (walks out from the room next door): I'm here.
Cologne: Moonlight, what are you...?
Yuri (walks next to him): I'm fine, look, I... (suddenly loses balance and falls forward)
Cologne (catches her shoulder reflexively): I told you! Don't force yourself! You just fought against a Desertrian at least 15 times your size in this condition!
Cologne escorts her back to the next room and makes her sit down.
Yuri: Jeez... you're worrying too much, really.
A/N: Yuri-san, it's best that you rest, listen to Cologne.
Cologne: You have to hear the author out, Moonlight.
Yuri: Yeah, yeah...
Cologne: (sighs) Let me just end this real quick, next chapter: Please Remember Me! The Almost Lost Love! (お願い!僕を覚え出して!もう少し失いの愛情!) See you next time.
