(Characters © ZUN)

An Eternity With You

Part Two

"Hey, Keine… you remember how I said that eternity wasn't so… so bad with…"

"Hey, Keine… When I said that eternity was better with… with someone to…"

No, that's not going to work!

Growling in frustration, Mokou continues pacing, passing the same seven trees over and over again.

After a hundred and fifty years of knowing her, one would think I'd have worked up the nerve to tell her how I feel, the immortal girl scolds herself, shoving her clenched fists further into her pockets. But every time… Every time, I blow it! I get this close, and then I get too scared to actually tell her. Why—?

"Goodness, are you thinking?"

Mokou snaps her head up to see Kaguya not even bothering trying to hide herself amongst the trees.

"Great. As if I didn't have enough problems already," the white-haired girl scowls, her face twisting into an expression of disgust. "Go away, I'm busy."

"You sure don't look like it," Kaguya snorts, hands on her hips. "Well, shall we?"

Mokou bites her lip.

"Not tonight," she shakes her head, turning her back to the lunar princess and walking off. "Maybe tomorrow. I'm busy tonight."

"What…? No — get back here! Hey!"

Mokou gets thrown to the ground, knocked off her feet by a sudden blast of danmaku.

"What the hell?" she snarls, quickly getting back up and turning to face Kaguya.

"You can't — you can't just walk away from a fight with me!" the princess snaps, holding her hand up towards Mokou. "Get back here and fight back already, will you?"

"I said I'm busy! If you're that desperate, then just kill yourself and spare me the work—"

Another blast of rainbow-colored bubbles flies towards her; Mokou gets knocked back down, her face bleeding profusely.

"Fight me!" Kaguya snaps, stomping her foot on the ground.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Mokou snarls, staggering back to her feet and wiping the blood off her face. "Crazed lunatic, you've been hanging with Reisen way too much, haven't you—"

"Me? Don't talk about my problems, what the hell is wrong with you?" Kaguya spits back, clenching her fists. "When I'm the one that has to go looking for you for a fight — I don't think you get the right to call me crazy this time!"

"Aaargh, fine! Fine! You want a fight?"

Mokou drops to one knee, slamming a fist into the ground.

An explosion of fire erupts around her, rising high into the air before crashing onto Kaguya.

If nothing else, Mokou decides, watching the lunar princess' body burn to ashes, I guess I can use the distraction.

"Ow! Hey, careful, I still need that arm!"

"Well, if you hadn't used it to beat Princess Kaguya's face in, it wouldn't be broken, now would it?"

Mokou grits her teeth, biting back another cry of pain as Keine pulls on her arm, pulling the bones in her forearm back into alignment.

"You two are ridiculous," the were-hakutaku sighs, carefully placing Mokou's arm back at her side before picking up a roll of bandages. "I swear, if Eirin and I weren't here to look after you two…"

"Ye… Yeah, we'd be a mess. Duly noted," the immortal girl mumbles, biting her lip as Keine wraps the wounds on her chest. "I swear I didn't start it this time — ow!"

"Sorry," the were-hakutaku apologizes, tying the bandages a little more loosely. "I know you didn't, but still…"

"I tried to walk away from it, too, but she was being stubborn! I walked away and she killed me twice!"

"Alright, alright. But… you said you let her kill you twice?"

"Well…yeah," Mokou nods slowly, closing her eyes as Keine finishes wrapping her wounds. "I mean, I didn't just go up and say, 'Here's your two free shots at me,' but… I was thinking, and wanted to be left alone. I only started fighting with Kaguya because I decided I could use the distraction anyways."

"Hm."

Keine stands up, nodding to herself.

"That should do it," she continues, setting the roll of bandages on the dresser as Mokou buttons up her shirt again. "We're out of medicine, so…"

"Tomorrow's going to be fun," the immortal girl grumbles, wincing as pain flares up her right arm. "My arm will probably still be broken…"

"I'll come back tomorrow morning to check on you, if you want," the were-hakutaku offers, frowning a little.

Mokou pauses biting her lip.

"Um… Can you… stay here with me instead?" she asks, gripping the edge of her bed with her left hand.

"I have to teach tomorrow," Keine shakes her head, lightly playing with her blue dress. "It's a school day, remember?"

"Oh… Right, I forgot. Sorry…"

"…But… if you don't mind, you could come spend the night at my home," the were-hakutaku offers. "How does that sound?"

Mokou stares at Keine for a few seconds.

"I… I'd like that," she finally nods, smiling faintly.

"Come on, then."

Mokou quickly slides off the bed, following Keine outside and through the bamboo forest.

She can't keep the smile off her face.

(The "medicine" referenced here is something I kind of made up for my other fic, which just helps Mokou heal faster.

This part was a bit longer than I anticipated, but it turned out better than originally planned.

Please review!)