Bamboo as High as Immortal Smoke
版墓お相手タッチ相手一もrたsも毛が。
She wasn't a stalker, no. She was an enemy, waiting for the perfect chance to attack her prey. Her prey just happened to be entrancingly beautiful with a smile so sweet it could match the candies that black-white witch ate.
But anyway, there was no reason to believe Fujiwara no Mokou was a stalker. She would light up a cigarette and wander the tall bamboo forest in the night, and she would somehow always end up at her enemies home: Kaguya Houraisan's living space with that lunarian nurse.
Once upon a time very long ago, Mokou's father had heard of a exceptionally gorgeous princess who had come from the moon. After meeting her first hand, he immediately fell in love. As with many other young men, he asked for her hand in ceremonial marriage. As with those other young men, he was given the same answer:
"Find me my 5 precious relics, and I will take your hand."
As Mokou's father tried and tried to reach the five objects, he met the same fate as all the other daring men- death. Mokou could never forgive Kaguya for killing her father and those other men. Seeing as how the moon princess was going to live for almost an eternity, she could have said yes and let him live a happy human life. As Mokou hunted down the lunarian, her own life began to slip away as a human. It was then she bought a mysterious potion from that white-haired nurse, and drank every last drop. The Hourai Elixir, or the elixir of eternal life, guaranteed to the human girl that she would never die. It's promise meant that she could continue seeking revenge upon Kaguya forever. As life went on, Mokou found herself gaining powers and spells over her endless life span. She eventually took up smoking cigarettes to calm her nerves, and became able to control even the most hideous of fires. But even so, she couldn't find the princess. She became a guide to the bamboo forest her father lived in, and gave up on her search for revenge. However, the spark of infinite hatred and longing for settling the score with Kaguya still burned bright. The forever-young girl wandered upon a open area deep in the forest, where she saw the same woman who had sold her the elixir. After asking a few questions, Mokou had learned from the nurse that Kaguya did, in fact, live in the house Mokou found, and was in fact immortal. She ran off, planning to hunt the princess that night.
But as time went on, Kaguya almsot never left the house. After hundreds of years of searching, had Mokou's efforts really stopped right here?
Kaguya had decided to leave the house again that afternoon. "Eirin," She said in that calm voice of hers, interrupting the white-haired nurse as she counted pills, "I want to explore a little more today. I'll be back by this time tomorrow." It wasn't a question, Eirin knew. That royal twang in the princess's voice meant she was going to do what she wanted, no matter what the pharmacist said. "Alright, Kaguya. But remember to be careful of youkai, alright?" "I will." And with that, the princess was gone. Eirin just wanted Kaguya safe, since the moon people saw her as a fugitive wanted dead or alive. and that white-haired Mokou girl just wanted her to suffer.
Kaguya was sure she would stay inside the forest, where she could hear someone coming. She couldn't explain why but she would watch the bamboo get taller and taller as time went by; something humans surely can't do.
That girl who had been seeking her life for thousands of years had shown up in the forest a few times. They had dueled with magic, but she would never tell Eirin that, since Kaguya felt imprisoned by the forces who wanted her head on a silver platter, and Eirin was a bit overprotective.
Suddenly, a light flashed behind Kaguya. As she turned, she saw a girl with a camera giggling at her. "Oh! Great headlines!" she exclaimed, grabbing the printed polaroid she had taken. "'Moon Princess Wanders Lost In Bamboo Forest'! This will get Gensokyo popping with excitement~!" A few blinks later, Kaguya lunged at the reporter. Sparks flew.
Bursts of light had come from an unknown area in the forest. Mokou had never seen any danmaku shot like that, until it clicked in her head. That must be the princess! She raced through the tall stalks, hardly paying attention to the route she was taking. A break in the bamboo signalled a fallen body, and Mokou prayed Kaguya had fallen to her impossible death-
-cla-chik-
Aya, the star reporter for Gensokyo, looked as though she had been beaten with a rock. Her camera, however, was perfectly fine and snapping pictures of a motionless human frame. "'Moon Princess Defeated By Mere Reporter'! This is front-line news!" As the polaroids gently fluttered to the ground, Aya finally let the camera hang on a strap around her neck. She bent to pick them up. Mokou couldn't let Aya beat her to Kaguya! She charged a small fire ball at the pictures and their owner, burning the little pictures and causing the winged girl to flee, screaming. "This is not getting public!"
"...Houraisan?" The frame under the pink cloth did not move. There was no way she could be dead! Mokou hadn't made her suffer the way she herself had, since they were both immortal! She kneeled by the limp body, carefully overturning it onto it's back. A large slice had been made across her upper chest, shredding her ornate shirt, and blood trickled down her forehead to her cheek.
Mokou had never seen Kaguya up this close before, and her father was right. She was the most beautiful thing Mokou had ever laid her eyes upon. She carefully lifted the lunarian into her arms, then looked around. She had run directly where the action had been, and had not paid attention to where she was. For the first time in her history of the forest, Mokou happened to be lost.
After finding a flat area in the forest where a small stream lay, Mokou laid Kaguya's body in the grass and sighed. The gash across her collarbone would take a while to heal, but the head injury Mokou could handle. She slipped off the straps of her overalls and removed her shirt, folding it flat. Taking a deep breath, she unbuttoned what was left of Kaguya's shirt and slipped it off. She wrapped her own shirt around the chest right under the arpits, and tied it tightly. Unlike the moon princess, Mokou wore an underwrap. But Kaguya was bare-chested laying in front of her, with only a black corset around her stomach. A red blush spread across Mokou's cheeks, and she pulled the girl's skirt off. She ripped one side down the seam and laid it over the unconscious body, covering up everything that should be covered.
A long leaf was perfect to wrap around the princess's head to stop that wound from bleeding. Mokou took Kaguya's shirt over to the stream and began washing it, trying to get the blood stains out. After hanging it off a low bamboo stalk, Mokou sighed. It was getting dark and cold, and they seemed deep in the woods; safe. She was already tired, and carrying Kaguya didn't help at all. Figuring she wouldn't wake up until sunrise, Mokou laid down and curled up on the skirt, her back to Kaguya. Closing her eyes, she drifted off into a dream.
As Kaguya began to wake up, a warm presence brushed against her back. As she slowly turned, a glimpse of white hair reflected moonlight, notifying her of who it was. "Eirin, why are you out here with me...?" She looked at the profile of her saviour.
The moonlight illuminated the pale face of a young girl, definitely not Eirin like she had expected, who was left in a chest wrap and red overalls. Kaguya blinked, knowing she had seen this girl before. Where? She ignored a dull pain as she looked around, seeing her skirt covering her, and her shirt hanging on a bamboo pole, soaking wet. She wondered what they were doing there. Eventually it hit her like a bag of bricks: She was naked laying next to another girl who was in undergarments and overalls.
Kaguya sat up quickly, holding her skirt to her bare chest. The pain below her neck felt like a knife had been thrust through her, and she collapsed into a fettle position. A white shirt- now stained with crimson blood- was carefully tied around her waist. The moon princess found the truth. The girl had saved her from a gash across her collar, and had taken them into a deep, safe segment of the forest. However, no matter how hard she tried, Kaguya couldn't recognise where they were! She shivered and ducked under her skirt, burrowing her cheek into the soft grass. She fell back to sleep. A dream of remembering her personal heroine played in her mind.
The sound of snapping bamboo broke the glass of dreams from Mokou's head. "Ah, finally awake?" a sweet voice called to her. "Considering how much you helped me, I decided the least I could do was make breakfast. I hope you like fish." Mokou sat up slowly. After rubbing her eyes, she saw the princess making do with what she could. Her skirt was wrapped around her chest like a strapless dress. The corset was now over the skirt, holding it tight around her stomach and letting the rip down the seam expose the side of her leg. Her little white ribbon held her long, silken hair in a ponytail. "How's your wounds doing?" Kaguya blinked, then smiled. "They healed after I washed them this morning. Thank you, by the way," she said, bowing. "You saved me a lot of pain!" Mokou was stunned. Had Kaguya forgotten her? They're supposed to be arch nemeses, so how could she? "I-It's no problem. And I don't mind fish." "Mokou, why didn't you just destroy me and got it over with?" It was an honest question, and Mokou knew that. "Because killing someone while they're weak brings no dignity back. That, and I know you're immortal. That nurse told me you drank the elixir." Mokou sat down next to Kaguya, taking a piece of fish on a leaf. "I cooked it," Kaguya stated, smiling. "I used my fire danmaku and cooked it, then rolled it up in the leaf. It's really good." Mokou took a bite of the fish roll, and was impressed. "It's pretty good, yeah. Not bad, not bad at all." She nodded.
"Mokou," the princess began, looking down, "I can't seem to figure out where we are, and I rather not try flying up past the bamboo stalks." "Yeah, I hear you, Kaguya. Looks like we're lost here together." Kaguya sat down next to Mokou and sighed. "Mokou, your father was a nice man-" "Shut up." The harsh words sliced the gentle atmosphere, burned it, and fed it to Myon. "I just..." Mokou looked away, tensed in anger. "I-I just don't want to talk about it right now, okay? Let's find our way to somewhere we know and then fight."
"Mokou, I don't want to fight you."
The immortal human turned sharply to the princess to find her looking down, her straight, black hair hiding her face. "Y-You have no idea how overwhelming it was, having lines of human men asking me to be their bride. I-I said no to every single one of them. Not just your father. If I had known it would make someone like you so mad at me..." Mokou blinked, then jumped as Kaguya took her hand. When she looked up, there were tears in her hazel eyes. "Y-you're so powerful and everything! You've got a great job, you're allowed to go everywhere... You're definitely stronger than me, and not to mention..." Kaguya stopped for a moment, her mouth cautiously opening, then closing, trying to word her sentence right. "H-Houraisan...?" Mokou felt the hand gently tug her forward, until their faces were so close, Mokou could smell sakura blossoms- Kaguya's hair? "F-Fujiwara no Mokou... You're beautiful." A light pink dusted Mokou's cheeks and she pulled away. "N-Nonsense. I'm just a normal person." Kaguya sat behind the girl with her bare shoulders slumped in sadness. "But you really are! You remind me of a porcelain doll!" "Houraisan, you're the doll. You're face is nearly perfect... You're nearly perfect! It pisses me off!" Mokou turned and grabbed Kaguya by the wrists tightly, her teeth clenched. The princess tried to pull away, then gave in to Mokou's strength. "Kaguya Houraisan... You had everything you ever wanted on the moon. Why did you give it all up?"
Kaguya stared into Mokou's glaring eyes, then looked down. Her wrists were aching from being squeezed to tightly, but she wasn't paying attention. "I... I hate the moon. I had Eirin make the Hourai Elixir for me... Because... I wanted to leave. I wanted to come down here and watch things change and grow and meet new people. I didn't want to be treated like royalty anymore." Tears began falling from Kaguya's eyes, but she hung her hair over her eyes to hide it. "I... I just wanted to be normal... But what do I get when I come here? A hundred men wanting me, another hundred wanting my body, and you, who wants me to suffer until I want to die... I'm not sure it was worth it, coming here. I should have stayed up there, so you wouldn't have had to sell your life for me-" Kaguya's wrists were let free. Just as suddenly, she was wrapped in a tight embrace by Mokou.
"Houraisan... I just want to get my father's dignity back... I... I just want to restore the Fujiwara name." Kaguya was stunned by the gentle gesture. She suspiciously hugged back, being cautious of a trap. "A-And I'm sorry, I really am. But would killing me actually restore your honor?"
The final distance was reached: Mokou and Kaguya had found their way to a part in the bamboo while discussing things and more things. One path led to Eirin's hut, and the other led to Mokou's. The girls stared at each other.
"Houraisan," Mokou began, lighting up a cigarette and leaning on a bamboo stalk. "I'm glad we got to talk this out a little. Hopefully next time we can understand each other or something." "Yeah," Kaguya replied, fixing the top of her dress. "I'll bring you some money for a new shirt, since Aya ruined yours." "Oh no, Mokou, don't worry about it." Mokou puffed out a smoke cloud and smiled a tiny bit. "Yeah, alright. Glad we figured this out." "Actually..." Kaguya blushed dimly and looked to the side. She cleared her throat. "Mokou, I was thinking on our way here... About a different way you can revive your father's honor." Mokou's eyebrows immediately raised, and she almost dropped her cigarette. "Really? Please, do tell, Houraisan!" Kaguya swallowed.
"Y-you could marry me, if you wish."
Just a brain child of mine when I couldn't sleep last night, just like Lost At Sea. Took about an hour and a half to write, lol, and at the end I got really really tired so I just stopped it xD That's why there isn't more of their discussions. And oh my gosh! I couldn't figure out whether to but this under Romance or Hurt/Comfort! So here. Also, I'm editing the final chapter of Young right now, so it'll maybe be on later tonight. Sadly, I probably won't be doing anymore Hetalia fanfics, because I grew out of it a bit. xD There might be a few oneshots or something that I write at night from insomnia, so stay tuned! :D