Chapter 21: An Almost Kiss

Mitsuki lay in her bed with her sheets pulled up to her mouth. She talked quietly to herself. "…Kabuki's in bed, sound asleep…Kabuto sleeping too…at least that's what I think…And I'm…here…" She shut her eyes. Why won't these damn memories leave me alone? Why?

She picked up a towel. "Hey, you could use this." She got up and started to walk over to him. Suddenly, she tripped. "Ah!"

"Mitsuki!" He jumped forward and held out his arms. She fell right in, a perfect save. "Mitsuki, are you okay!"

"No, no, no…" She shook her head.

She took off his glasses. "You're a wonderful guy."

"Huh?" He reached for his glasses, but she put them on.

"It's funny. There are men out there who look strange with glasses, but without them, they're really cute." He blushed. "And then, there are guys who are handsome with glasses as they are without glasses. You're one of those guys, Kabuto." She blushed. 'I can't believe I just said that…'

"O-Oh…" He blushed and looked down. "Th-Thanks, I guess."

She glared at the memory. "Dammit!" She suddenly began to pound on the bed. "Stupid, stupid, stupid! Argh! Stupid memories! Stupid Kabuto! Stupid…" she started to pant, "…Stupid me…" Knock, knock. "Eep! She pulled her sheets back up to her mouth. "C-Come in…"

The door slowly opened and Kabuto stepped in. "I knew you weren't asleep."

"H-How do you know that? You could've just woken me up!"

"I heard your yelling from my room. Why don't you keep it down to a dull roar, okay? Some of us are trying to sleep."

Mitsuki blushed. "…Oh…" They both looked around awkwardly before their eyes met again.

Kabuto rubbed his neck. "S-Since I'm here, I need to talk to you."

"'Bout what?"

He closed the door and sat at her bedside. "Mitsuki…do you have any regrets?"

"Regrets?" She tilted her head. "You know I do…"

"I mean about any of your recent choices in life…"

"Recent…choices?" She thought for a moment. "Nope, none."

He looked down. "I…was afraid you'd say that."

"What do you mean?"

He sighed. "Mitsuki, ever since you left, I've been miserable. My biggest regret is losing you to someone else…"

"Uh…Kabuto…About that…"

"I wish I could've been there for you. I'm sorry."

She crossed her arms and looked away. "Tsh, yeah right."

"What?"

"Does this sound familiar?" She grabbed his glasses, put them on, and held her hair back in a ponytail, then deepened her voice. "Tomorrow I'll come look for you, I promise." She let her hair down and took off the glasses.

"But I did come look for you! I…I couldn't find you though."

"I don't believe you." She looked at him with such a hurt look. "You made that promise. I waited…I waited for seven years. You never came. If you really wanted to find me, then you would've but…You said I could trust you but that just proved my point even further that I can't. And…I still can't forgive you."

Kabuto bit his lower lip. "Mitsuki, you don't understand what was happening. After you left, things started to-"

"I don't…I don't wanna hear excuses, Kabuto." She gave him back his glasses. "Is that all you wanted to talk about? It's late and-"

"You have a nice daughter."

She froze. "…Kabuto…" They just stared at each other, not knowing what to do or say. Kabuto…my most recent regret…is that I couldn't wait for you…I…I'm… They found themselves leaning in, their eyes slowly shutting.

Mitsuki…I just…I just want to…

"Mommy?"

Mitsuki pulled away from Kabuto and looked at her child. "Yes…Kabuki?"

Kabuki looked from her mother to Kabuto. "Mommy?"

"It's nothing baby. Kabuto and I were just talking. Now, tell mommy what happened."

"I had a bad dream…"

"Oh, sweetheart, come over here." Kabuki walked over to Mitsuki. "Come on, get in." She opened up her sheets and helped Kabuki climb in. "There. Don't worry, nothing bad is going to happen to you, okay?"

"Yes mommy." She yawned and closed her eyes.

Mitsuki kissed Kabuki's forehead and turned back to Kabuto. "Kabuto…"

"Yes?" Kabuto looked at her with a little bit of hope.

"I think you should go now. It's late. Good night." She looked back at her daughter and rubbed her head. "It's okay baby…"

"…Yeah, okay…" Kabuto got up and walked out of the room. "…Good night…" He walked down the small hallway to his bedroom. "I almost…We almost…" Something cold and wet touched his hand. "Hmm?" He looked down to see Fenrir. "You?" He bent down to the wolf's level. "So now what? You're finally going to call a truce?" The wolf licked his had again. "I'll take that as a yes. So what do you want?" Fenrir whined and put his paw on Kabuto's foot. "Oh, so you think I'm sad?" He touched Kabuto's foot again. "…Smart wolf…" He got up and went into his bedroom. "Regrets huh?" Fenrir jumped up on the foot of his bed and lay down. Kabuto crawled into bed and stared at the ceiling. "…Is it too late?"