Buying sweets

Kirisame Marisa walked along the path to the Human Village, broom in hand as a walking stick, the frozen dirt crunching beneath her feet. Snow gathered thickly on the bending leaves and branches of the roadside trees, coyly just out of the reach of gravity.

But only just.

Out of a whim, Marisa fired a danmaku star at one of the branches, and the entire tree's covering of snow gave.

"Oi! Are you starting a fight with me?"

Marisa looked to a side path under the tree. The mini-avalanche she had caused had fallen just short of the feet of a youthful, lanky girl in red overalls. Her extremely long hair, as white as the snow about her, reached to her ankles and was tied up in numerous ponytails. As she approached Marisa, lugging a massive sack over her shoulder in one hand, her hair trailed like the tail feathers of some mystic bird.

"Don't you have Kaguya for that?" Marisa cheerily greeted Fujiwara no Mokou.

"Kaguya's down with a cold, so I've not been able to kill her these few days," replied Mokou.

"I should think it would be easier to kill someone when they're down with sickness though," Marisa suggested.

Mokou merely shrugged. "I'll have eternity to keep doing it. I can wait out a few days. Besides…" she gave the sack on her shoulder a heft. It easily weighed more than her, and had hard, rough edges jutting out all over.

"You're selling charcoal?" Marisa asked, as she and Mokou resumed down the path to the village together.

"Yup," Mokou answered.

"Buying anything?" Marisa inquired further.

At this, Mokou stiffened a little, her eyes gazing off to the side. "Not in particular," she replied after a while.

"Whelp, I'm looking to buy some snacks," Marisa said as she crossed her arms behind her head, broom still in hand so that it nearly knocked her large witch-styled hat off her head. "Woah there…!" Marisa quickly caught her hat, while Mokou glanced over in slight amusement.

"… Why don't you just fly?" asked Mokou.

"If I do, I'll get to the village too fast. And then I'll arrive at the shrine too early," Marisa explained, "Besides, walking like this can be pretty relaxing sometimes, right?" she gave Mokou a grin.

"'You'll arrive at the shrine too early'?" repeated a puzzled Mokou.

"Dinner isn't ready before six ze," quipped Marisa.

Mokou gave a 'hmph' and shook her head. "How does Reimu stand that attitude of yours?" she asked.

"Hence the snacks," Marisa twirled a finger in the air, and Mokou shook her head again.

"Is that all it takes?" Mokou remarked, before continuing, "You ever return the favour?"

"What do you mean?" asked Marisa.

"Invite Reimu to dinner at your place," Mokou clarified.

At this, Marisa's expression both darkened and reddened with embarrassment. "My house is… not exactly the best place for dinner," she mumbled, "Or any form of decent human habitation, actually…"

Mokou frowned. "What kind of lifestyle do you lead…?" she questioned aloud.

"A magician's lifestyle!" Marisa proudly proclaimed, to which Mokou merely raised an eyebrow.

"Tidy up your act," she chided.

The two reached the entrance of the Human Village. As the locations were deeper within the village, the two girls would accompany each other for a little longer. They walked in silence, in silence, for the streets were mostly empty. But while there were no outward signs of activity, the village felt teeming with daily life – every home had a small but intense light crackling from within.

"You must make a killing in this season," Marisa quipped, and Mokou could not help but give a small smile of affirmation.

The two reached a junction before a pharmacy. Marisa's destination was down left; Mokou's, right.

"See ya!" Marisa gave a cutesy salute. Mokou readjusted her sack and cocked her head in a half-nod.

As Marisa walked away though, she noticed that her footsteps were the only ones crunching through the soundless air. She stopped and looked over her shoulder. Mokou was still standing before the pharmacy, sack and all, looking at the medicines they advertised.

Marisa turned around. "Thinking of helping Kaguya out?"

Mokou gave a visible jolt, although her face remained inexpressive. "… Forget it. It's as you said, she'd be easier to kill when she's sick," Mokou turned away and proceeded down the road away from Marisa.

"… You know, she is staying at Eintei, so she would have received the best medical attention already," Marisa called out after Mokou.

Now Mokou outright froze in her tracks. Marisa could see snowflakes evaporate as they landed upon her exposed, crimson ears.

She forgot about that fact didn't she…? Marisa inwardly laughed as she bore a huge grin on her face.

"See ya!" Marisa repeated her farewell.

But as Marisa turned to go, she heard Mokou call back, "W-What exactly are you buying!?"

Marisa turned back and found Mokou still facing away from her, sack on shoulder, her right ear in danger of lighting her wares on fire.

"Rice crackers. Spiced, for the weather. Reimu's got simple tastes," Marisa answered, "I'm not sure what a princess would like though…" she added helpfully.

Mokou remained frozen in response for a few moments more. "I see…" she sort of grunted, before she walked away in silence.

"… How 'bout some mochi for the moon princess, da ze~?" Marisa cheekily suggested under her breath, before leaving proper on her errand.

A fair-skinned maiden lay in a futon, her long, glossy black hair fanned out beneath her like a royal robe. Her eyes were closed, but she was too bothered by her sickness to sleep. Opening her eyes, she found a white-haired nemesis leaning outside by her window, back turned to her.

"… Eirin, there's an intruder," Houraisan Kaguya called out half-jokingly, before breaking into a cough.

"Not getting better?" asked Mokou.

"Is this an assassination?" Kaguya quizzed.

Mokou glanced over her shoulder for but an instance, and Kaguya caught a glimpse of her flame-red eyes. It somehow reassured her; seeing Mokou's face affirmed that she was indeed speaking to her thousand year arch-nemesis, and not some delusion in her sickness.

"You want to die now?" Mokou offered her.

"Eirin's quite strict when it comes to the recovery of her patients. She will seriously kill you if you disturb my rest with a fight," Kaguya casually warned.

"Then I won't." Mokou got up from the window sill, the back of her head exiting the shade and into the fuzzy light of the late winter afternoon. "Here," she reached out behind her and left a small package on the window sill.

"What's that?" Kaguya gave another cough.

"Mochi," answered Mokou.

"I'm sick," Kaguya's eyebrows flattened.

Mokou spun around, her white ponytails swirling about her like billowing cloaks of smoke, and this time Kaguya could see her face in full. Their eyes met.

"Then get better," was Mokou's mocking reply.

"I'm trying, stop bothering me," Kaguya's brow furrowed.

"See you then," Mokou gave an offhand wave, before turning to leave.

"… The mochi will freeze if you leave it out on the window sill, you idiot," Kaguya called out after Mokou. Mokou stopped, returned to the window, picked up her gift then climbed right into Kaguya's chambers. Stepping out of her shoes, she strode all the way up to Kaguya's head. Kaguya could feel the weight of Mokou's steps on the tatami floor; the child was light.

"You know… you really are easy to kill right now," Mokou remarked as she gazed down upon Kaguya's delicate face at her feet.

"I can't eat your mochi without my head," retorted Kaguya.

"… You have a comeback for everything, don't you?" grumbled Mokou. She sat herself down by Kaguya's side, and the two immortals passed some time with aimless talk.

End

…

Kaguya: "Also, why mochi? I was just hankering for something crunchy and savoury, like rice crackers."

Mokou: "I'll seriously kill you…"

Stupid auto-correct keeps wanting to change 'mochi' to 'mocha'… If you find any mocha, it's mocha- dammit.

Another short story entry. Didn't really know where I was going, kind of ended up being Mokou x Kaguya as I went along.

I think I'll just dump all my casual shipping short stories together.

... That's what I'm naming it, sorry. (Unless someone else has a better name for it...)