Chapter 26: Thousand Years of Love and Hate

"Full House."

"Straight Flush."

"Goddamit!" Mokou cried, "Double or nothing."

"You know you're not much different from Kaguya." The human sighed.

"Shut up!" Mokou cried, "I will make you strip!"

"You can't win." The human sighed.

"Why?"

"My power to utilize anything in any level of mastery isn't limited to weapons." The human sighed as he shuffled.

"You can use card as weapons?" Mokou smirked.

"I can throw them hard enough and with enough accuracy to score a bullseye on a metal board. And it's not limited to weapons aspect." The human placed down the deck.

Mokou reached for it, but the human fanned all of them out. With a flick the cards flipped face up.

"...AH! Why are there 8 Kings? And Queens! Jack and Ace!"

The human flicked his wrist, pulling a second deck from seemingly nowhere and fanned them out too.

"T-This one's missing their Kings and Queens!" Mokou cried.

"Understand now?" The human asked, "This is the kind of thing my power allows me to do."

"R-Really?"

"That...and 10 years dealing cards and noticing other player's cheating strategies. Then another 20 years playing the game."

"W-How old are you?"

"I'll tell you when you strip."

Mokou sat by the window, head in her arms. Bored, she snapped her fingers summoning a small flame before smothering it and repeating.

"...Hey."

The human looked up.

"If I offered...would you like to be immortal?"

"No."

"T-That was quick." Mokou said, surprised, "No hesitation? You're not going to even think about it for a bit?"

"No." The human said, "I don't want to live forever."

"Why?"

"Do you think I'd want to spend forever doing this?"

"Point taken. There's not much to do." Mokou sighed, "...So why did you do so in the first place?"

"Boredom."

"So why did you continue?" Mokou pressed, "You know Sasoku can be a Border Guard. Her power's more efficient too."

"She quit."

"I'm sure she'd take over if you asked."

"So you're telling me to quit my job?"

"I'm just saying. You have everything you need to retire. And they're certainly much better things to do if you do retire, so why don't you?"

"...Do I need a reason for what I do?"

"Of course."

"Then why do you hate Kaguya?"

"T-That's because she's a terrible person!"

"Why?"

"She rejected my father just because he can't do the impossible!"

"Why's that wrong?"

"My father was really in love with her!" Mokou cried, "And her turning him down so cold-heartedly..."

"So?"

"Eh?"

"So what? Did you think your father's the only one who ever confessed and got turned down?"

"I...T-that's..."

"Are you selfish enough to hate only for the sake of your father? Are hating simply because she didn't love your father? Do you even know if your father even wanted to hate her?"

"I...I..."

"What of all the other men that Kaguya turned down? Do you not care about them? Can you not sympathize with them? If not does that mean you're only selfishly sympathizing with your father?"

"...I..."

"Are you going to take in the feelings of all the other men that she turned down? If so, do you know what they're feeling? Do they hate her?"

"..."

"Is there even anyone that hates her?"

"Of course!" Mokou cried.

"Yeah, that last question was pretty stupid." The human shrugged, "I apologize."

"G...Good."

"..."

"...I know...I know I don't know what my father was thinking...But I loved my father. And that she made him sad...Can't I hate her out of love?"

"Yes you can. But you're not."

"What?"

"You don't hate her. Not to the extent that you're trying to exhibit."

"Eh?"

"You're a loner."

"...Y-Yes. I do like being alone...and Kiene even agrees."

"You like being alone. For that reason, you don't know what other people would feel."

"..."

"You don't know what other people feel so you can't do anything for other people. You didn't even know what your father felt like. You only knew what a daughter would do so you did it. But you never had a real reason to hate her correct? That's why you can even guide people to them, to your enemy."

"B-Because they needed medical treatment!"

"So you send them to your enemy."

"T-They're the closest!"

"You can heal them. If you wanted to you can learn how to heal them and never have to see the person you hate. But you don't."

"Because it's too much trouble."

"True."

Mokou stared as the human returned to his newspaper.

"...A-Are you done?"

"You made valid points." The human said, "I can't say anything more."

"...Why?"

"I can't say anything more until you can admit it yourself."

"..."

Mokou spent the rest of the morning staring at the fire she conjured herself. She looked completely blank as she stared at it. She remained quiet throughout her trance. So quiet that it was a surprise when she finally spoke,

"...I am a loner...so I can't fully understand other people's feelings. But I do my best to. And then I...act on what I believe was the most reasonable feeling. For that reason...my hate for Kaguya...it's not...complete."

"..."

"What have I done for all these years?" Mokou whispered, "I deluded myself into thinking I hated Kaguya. I deluded myself into hating her...because I thought I loved my father. Did I even...love my..."

"...Yes."

"Eh?"

"You loved your father." The human said, "Otherwise, you wouldn't hate for him."

"B-But isn't that because I thought I loved my father? And because of that...I thought I hated Kaguya?"

"Think about it." The human sighed, "If you really didn't love your father, you wouldn't care if Kaguya rejected him. You wouldn't hate Kaguya. You'd probably think that it's alright. Kaguya's just another girl. But you took the time to consider his feelings and the effort to hate her. Those thousands of years that you hated Kaguya is also a testament. For your father you loved, you hated the person that you thought hurt him, even after his death, for thousands of years. For him, you took the Hourai Elixar. Your love for your father...is eternal."

Mokou blinked back tears. Or so she thought. Tears had already begun falling without restraint for a while.

"...What should I do?" Mokou sniffed, "I can't stop hating Kaguya because I love my father. But I can't in good mind keep hating Kaguya just because of that."

"Then stop."

"Eh?"

"You've already shown a thousand years of love for your father. I'm sure your father is eternally grateful. But I think he'd want a loner like you to have at least one friend."

"...You think I can be friends with Kaguya?"

"You already are." The human said.

"Are you stupid?" Mokou said, failing to restrain a smile, "I've shown her a thousand years of hatred."

"And that's more than enough."

"What nonsense are you spewing now?"

"...I think that no one can completely hate each other. There's hate, but I don't think hate would continue to exist if enough time was spent between the 2."

"...So...you're saying..."

"A thousand years is a long time."

"..."

"..."

"Can I...go home? Now?" Mokou asked.

"Normally, the answer is no." The human said, putting down his newspaper, his powers still dormant, "But for this one instance, I think it'd be better if you find it yourself."

"Eh? I-I thought you can't control your powers."

"You think I would become a guard with a unreliable power and guests that are immortal?" The human asked, "Besides...I really don't like using this."

"What are you talking about?"

"Nothing you will remember." The human said, a red glow surrounding his body, "The Crimson Watchguard."

~Epilogue~

"Mokou?" Kaguya frowned as once she opened the door, "What are you doing here?"

"I...I've come to tell you..."

"What?" Kaguya snapped.

"...thank you for being such a good friend." Mokou bowed.

Kaguya blinked, stunned by her words. She quickly glanced around, making sure no one else was there, "...Wanna play a game?"

"Eh? S-Sure."

"ARGUH! You bastard!" Mokou cried, "You just had to knock me off didn't you?"

"Of course." Kaguya smirked as they played Mario Party, "That's the point of the game."

Mokou grumbled.

"...Mokou."

"What?" Mokou snapped.

"That's good." Kaguya smiled, "You're back to your old self."

"Eh?"

"You were acting a bit weird when you came here so I thought I'd help." Kaguya said, "Think of it as pity for my worst enemy."

"E-Enemy? B-But I-"

"Mokou. Eternal Friendship sounds nice and all, but in reality, there's not as much things you can do as friends for eternity. Rivals on the other hand...we will always try to beat each other, striving to become something better. Mokou, with you as my rival, I will eternally struggle to become better. Eternally trying to beat you. And in consequence, eternally trying to understand you."

"..."

"It's your turn." Kaguya said, "I think we're fine the way we were. Being rivals and hating each other."

Kaguya stopped when Mokou's character landed on a Boo.

"O-Of course, it doesn't mean we can't be friends." Kaguya said, quickly realizing that it was too late when she saw Mokou's smirk, "W-We're friends! Right, Mokou? Friends don't steal each other's sta-GODDAMMIT!"

"Hey, Kyosuke."

"..."

"Do you know what they're going to do to you?"

"...Sensory Deprivation."

"T-That's not so bad."

"..."

"I-It's better than the other physical tortures...right?"

"..."

"...Ha ha...I'm going to miss your silence, my friend..."