A/N: Holy shit, I never meant to take this long to update, I'm so sorry, this was supposed to out last year, but December was a bit of a rough spot on my family. And also it's been taking me a while to find the right words and phrasing of sentences, I'm a perfectionist to some degree. And since the flash back is a longer one it's like any normal part of the story, but there will be markers for when it ends.

Disclaimer: I don't own it; if I did it'd take 5 million years to be released, and that's just for volume 1.

Word Key:

Text

"Talking"

'Thoughts'

"Thoughts also when two sides of the brain are arguing"

Dream

Tape Recorder

Chapter Nineteen: Tying Up the Loose Ends

"Mitsuru!" Mahiru exclaimed. He stopped and looked back at her. "Good night, I love you." That being said she lied down on her bed to go to sleep. The demon boy gave her smirk before closing the door behind him.

Meanwhile…

Misoka was standing on the outskirts of the festival, pleased with how well the plan had gone.

:Flashback:

"Okay, let's go, but try not to get caught again." Misoka looked for some place that was mainly void of people but couldn't find out. "Alright, forget secrecy, time is of the essence here."

He pulled Akira down and whispered a few things in the boy's ear. "Got that?"

Akira shook his head up and down. "Ya want both of 'em?" he asked.

"Yes, yes, now hurry, make haste!"

"Alright, alright, don't go all medieval on me." The werewolf joked before he started to run off.

"Don't forget to - ,"

"Yeah, I know where to meetcha!" In the blink of an eye Akira had vanished, leaving only a small dust trail.

The fox adjusted his glasses, checked his watch, and then set off in another direction.

When he reached his destination – a big area of brush over looking the beach – Akira arrived a few seconds later, out of breath and panting. "These…what you…wanted?" He held up two black cases, one slightly smaller than the other.

Misoka took them and unzipped the larger one first. Inside was a video recorder; the fox made sure there was a blank tape in there before nodding saying, "Good." He did the same with the other which was a digital camera. "Very good work Akira, I'm proud of it,"

The two quickly became silent, spying on their friends below them. Akira had to bite his hand to keep from laughing when Mahiru started dragging Mitsuru up from his perch. "Here's where I go now, meet at the spot where I told you. Later." Misoka whispered, draping the two devices across his shoulders, heading silently into the bushes,

A few moments later the werewolf looked past Mitsuru to see the fox give him a thumbs-up sign. The boy gave a silent nod in return and listened in to what the couple was saying. Mitsuru had been waving his arms, grabbing the girl's arms and looking around as if he sensed that Misoka was behind him. Then Akira heard the magic words after Mahiru had asked the boy what kind of dancing. "Ya know, the slow kind."

'That's it!!!' Akira shouted silently inside his mind, jumping up like an old silent cartoon character. He ran to the dee-jay booth, which at the time was unoccupied. As quickly as possible the boy switched out the CD playing with a different one that would set the mood perfectly for the occasion.

The werewolf ran back to his previous spot to arrive just in time to see Mitsuru and Mahiru's first precious moment. 'Aww, how sweet.' And, 'Finally! Took him forever!' Is what Akira thought as he watched the interaction take place. He also watched as the two flew away.

:End Flashback:

Once Akira saw that the two were far enough away he sped off to the outskirts where he found Misoka. "Hey…you look pleased." Akira said when he saw the older boy.

The older one nodded, "It went very well. That was some good thinking on your part Akira, I hadn't anticipated that element."

"Not a problem, just tryin' to help the process along. By the way, how'd ya do with the electronics?"

"Perfect shots with the digital camera and one precious moment caught on film…and I must say that it was great footage to be treasured for years and years to come," he said admiring his handy work. "Come on, it's getting late, we've left Nozomu at the bar alone for long enough, one only knows what'll happen if we leave him unattended any longer."

"Yeah…ya got a point there," the other said, lacing his fingers behind his head as the duo started the walk to their home. "Whadda ya think Mitsuru'll do when he finds out about this?"

"Tell me Akira, do you have a will drafted already?"

"Uh…no."

"Then I suggest you do that A-SAP." They made it back, going inside quietly; the entire place was silent. "We better check on Nozomu." The kitsune whispered. Creeping into the kitchen Misoka groaned, "Geeze, he really is off his damn rocker."

Akira looked over his comrade's head into the kitchen that would have been pitch black except there was a large thick candle, surrounded by flowers, burning on the stove. Pushing past Misoka, Akira glided over to the display. Along with the display was a dated card. "'In remembrance of Mrs. Frying Pan and Mr. Spatula. May their poor twisted remains rest in peace.'" The boy read aloud, "Weird."

"Ughhh." Misoka sighed in disgust. "He acts like a person died." He started for the steps. "Come on Akira, and will you blow out that damned candle?"

"Sure thing." He extinguished the candle making it completely dark inside the kitchen. Akira could be heard shuffling across the room followed by a loud crash of a kitchen chair as he ran into it. "Oof!"

"Akira!" Misoka hissed.

"Oww…Sorry," the boy whispered as he sat on the floor rubbing his head where it had impacted with the floor. Grabbing the edge of the table he pulled himself up off the floor, then gently placed the chair he knocked over back on its four legs. He walked softly across the floor to where Misoka was and they started climbing the stairs. "So whatcha gonna do with the stuff?" He whispered.

Misoka replied, "Well, I'm probably going to be up for another hour or so making copies."

"What for?" By now Akira was at the door to his bedroom and Misoka was walking farther down the hallway to his room. Turning around he said to the werewolf, "Are you kidding? Think of what'll happen when Mitsuru finds out about these."

Akira laughed, "Right, they'll be completely obliterated. Well, night Misoka." With that he went into his room.

"Night Akira." Misoka said, but before walking into his room he walked across the hall, placed his ear on the door and heard only the deep breathing of sleep. "Well…at least maybe now he'll stop taking in his sleep." He then went into his own room, shutting the door behind him.

MmMmMmMmM

The next morning Mitsuru woke up to a painful stab of sunlight to his eyes. Groaning he rolled over so that the sun was behind him and swinging his arm behind him, using his wind power to shut the curtain. Once that was over with his hand grasped for the cover and threw it over his head.

When he thought he had peace and quiet to slip back into unconsciousness, a loud wailing ripped through his head. "Geeze aren't you done yet? You've been at that damn cryin' thing all damn night." 'But I have to leave you now! I dun wanna leave yet! Lemme stay, please, please, please!' "How can you leave? I thought you were just part of my mind or something like that."

The little voice gasped in shock, 'Oh yeah, you're right! So…I'll be going for a bit so…when you have the girl issues-which I know you will- just well…I dunno, just know that I'll be there.' "Whatever, just shut up so I can sleep."With that the little voice silenced itself for hopefully, a good long while and Mitsuru was on his way to more sleep.

Meanwhile, Mahiru was sitting up in bed stretching her arms far above her head. After she had finished she smiled thinking about the goings on of last night. But way far off in the back of her mind was the itty-bitty thought that maybe he really didn't mean any of it. Dismissing it though, she hopped out of bed and decided to see if Mitsuru was awake. She opened her door and crept quickly down to his room, opening the door, darting inside, and shutting it gently behind her.

"Mitsuru?" She tip-toed over, placing her hand where she assumed his head was at. "What are you doing still sleeping?" Crouching down so that her head was resting on the bed, she pulled the cover partially off his head, causing him to groan. "Ah, so it does live."

Mitsuru's eyes cracked open a sliver and he grinned slightly. "Mornin'." He lifted his hand from under the covers and stroked her cheek. Removing his hand for just a moment he used it to sit up and ran it through his sleep tousled hair. The entire time Mahiru hadn't said anything, just stared at him. "Is somethin' wrong?" She didn't answer, just stood up. "Hello, Mahiru, is anyone in there?"

Without warning she tackled the tengu causing both of them, along with the bedding, to go crashing to the floor. Mitsuru, being the one on the bottom of the pile, thanked the greater beings above that they had carpeted the floor of his room, but cursed them for giving this girl such a grip. "Mahiru…Mahiru…" he called to her softly but she seemed so caught up in some euphoria saying, "Yay! It wasn't a dream! You do remember last night!" Tears were starting to blossom at the corners of her eyes, all the while her grip around his neck was cutting off his air supply.

"Mahiru-chan!" Mitsuru exclaimed hoarsely, putting a hand on either side of her head, forcing it up so that he could look at her face. A bit of his anger flickered in his eyes but when he saw her face it died rather quickly and was replaced by a somewhat sad look.

"I…was…afraid…," she gulped in air, "that it…was just a dream…and I got excited…"

Mitsuru shook his head and then as he brought her face closer to his, he whisper softly, "Stupid girl…"

Just as their lips were about to meet there came a very loud, "…GWARRRH…" from farther down the two. Mitsuru stopped and gave the girl an incredulous look. She then turned a light shade of pink. "I think I'm hungry…" she mumbled.

Mitsuru put a hand over his eyes, shaking his head, and letting out a small chuckle. "Wha? Wha'd I do?" Mahiru asked as he laughed a bit more. "Nothing Mahiru, absolutely nothing." He sat up as much as he could with Mahiru still on top of him. "Well, are you gonna stay there all day or get some breakfast?"

She scrambled up off him as fast as she could, and then blushed when Mitsuru rose up because he was shirtless. Mahiru quickly looked aside into a corner, but her eyes drifted back. He didn't notice, just simply went about tossing the bedding back on top of the bed then picked a shirt randomly from the chest-of-drawers. "Okay, let's go." Mitsuru said running his fingers through his hair quickly.

Mahiru followed behind him out the door of his room down the hall and while she was staring at his back she noticed something. It was the set of Mitsuru's shoulders; they were more relaxed now instead of having an upset, tensed look. (She would know, after all, his back was what she would see most of the time from his stomping off like a five year old.) Though as they became closer and closer to the kitchen that relaxed look slowly dissolved away to the angry, pissed-off look. "Um…Mitsuru?" she questioned quietly.

He whirled around; his glare was firmly in place he brought his hand up to gently stroke her face. "Don't talk to me." He growled and for emphasis on that fact sent a small shock of power through his hand, enough that it would sting a bit. Mitsuru turned around and went into the kitchen with Mahiru following behind slowly looking like she was about to cry.

Misoka was the only one who looked up from his newspaper as the two entered the kitchen; Akira was too busy looking for cereal that was high in sugar. Glancing between the two seeing Mitsuru's glare and Mahiru ready to let loose a dam of tears, Misoka sighed, muttering under his breath, "Damned idiot."

At that same time Mahiru was thinking she was an idiot for thinking he had truly changed as she sat down next to Nozomu who was practically sobbing into a cup of black coffee. Also at that time Mitsuru was at the refrigerator looking into it, having his own argument, more like scolding, inside his head.

'YOU MOTHER FREAKING IDIOT!! I LEAVE YOU ALONE FOR TEN FREAKING MINUTES AND YOU ALMOST MAKE A GIRL CRY! DAMMIT WHAT HAPPENED TO NOT NEEDING MY ANYMORE?' The little was livid with anger at the boy. 'Come on, what lame ass excuse is it?'

"Starting off," Mitsuru thought coolly ((it's the end of the world as we know it la la la la la la…ehheh, sorry, got a bit sidetracked)) "No, I don't need you anymore."

'If that were true you wouldn't have made her cry.'

"I didn't mean to it's just-," 'Just what?' "Well…" 'If this has anything to do with saving face in front of the other guys I'm personally going to take over your vocal chords and make you declare your undying love for Mahiru and the color pink.' "Ehheh."

While Mitsuru was handling that Mahiru was sitting at the table next to an even greater depressed Nozomu. He sniffled a few times into the mug of coffee, plus something a little stronger, he was drinking before he noticed Mahiru there on her own verge of tears. (I just realized I write weird…)

Thing with the vampire though, was that he currently believed anyone showing any sign of sadness, was sad over the loss of Mrs. Frying Pan and Mr. Spatula. Those showing joy –Akira- were the ones responsible for the deaths and were therefore, evil. While these thoughts were rushing around in his head Nozomu scooted his chair closer to Mahiru's chair; straightening himself he wrapped his arms around her head and pulled it to his chest. Then stroking her hair, patting her back and all while putting on a failing tough act said, "It's okay, we're gonna make it through this. It's okay."

"Erm…Misoka what's he talking about?"

"A frying pan and spatula."

"Argh dammit all!" Mitsuru burst out, slamming the refrigerator door. "I've had enough of this!" He started stomping towards the hallway leading to the front door, grabbing his jacket as he went.

Mahiru's neck snapped up. "Mitsuru wait! Where are you going?"

"I'll be back in five minutes!" Then the door slammed shut. It was quiet after that; Nozomu had gone back into his quiet mourning, and Mahiru sat slumped forward in her chair. The only sound was that of Misoka rustling his newspaper every once and a while.

Finally while still reading his paper Misoka said, "Don't worry Princess, Mitsuru is trying to save his image in front of the rest of us."

"But…why?"

"It's Mitsuru; does he ever have a reason for why he does that?" Akira chipped in sitting on the counter top, ears and tail popped out.

"I always though that was to keep from being teased by Nozomu."

Misoka snorted, "Nothing and no one is safe from Nozomu." He paused and was about to add something more then stopped.

"But you don't have to worry Mahiru, Mitsuru will eventually come around."

"That's all fine and dandy," Mahiru said glumly, "It's the eventually I'm worried about…"

No one said much of anything after that. But sure enough, five minutes later, just like Mitsuru said, the front door opened and shut. He came walking through the door taking a large metal looking object out of a plastic bag. The item turned out to be another frying pan; he spun it around a couple of times before…

WHAM! "Oh mi gawd Mitsuru!" Mahiru screeched.

Mitsuru had smacked Nozomu as hard as he possibly could upside the head then placed the frying pan into the boy's hand. He calmly ignored Mahiru's screamings of why he did that, how could he blah, blah, blah. Mitsuru didn't care, Nozomu was a vampire, he'd survive.

"Ow! What the hell?" Nozomu was now staring dumbfounded at the frying pan in his hand. "At least he's stopped mourning over the damn thing." Mitsuru practically yelled.

Misoka rubbed his temples. "Mitsuru it's too early for you to be yelling so just shut up."

"Dammit all!" Mitsuru was about to walk away and leave when Mahiru grabbed his hand. Instead he stood there paralyzed, looking into her sad blue eyes.

Nozomu stared at the two for one moment, then two before giving out a gasp. "Holy cows eating turtles! What developments have I missed Misoka?" the vampire exclaimed. Mitsuru and Mahiru had both turned a light pink shade.

Misoka gave a devilish smirk and Akira started laughing, almost falling off the counter top. "What'd I miss!" Nozomu cried again.

"Nothin' much," Akira said once he stopped laughing, "just those two goin' out on their first date with a kiss involved."

"Akira…," Mitsuru growled, face becoming a darker shade of pink every second.

Nozomu, on the other hand, started wailing, "AND I MISSED THAT! WHAT WAS I DOING TO MISS THAT?" His previous memories dealing with the loss of the kitchen utensils had been forgotten. Akira reminded him of the past weeks, Nozomu gave a nervous laugh claiming long-term temporary insanity.

Propping his chin on his hands he sighed, "But still, I missed out on a great and memorable moment. I'm depressed now…I missed li'tle Mitty grow up and mature…" Here Misoka gave obviously theatrical throat clearing. "I did miss a memorable moment didn't I?" Nozomu questioned.

"We have pictures." Misoka stated simply.

"Yes, score! I still get to witness a moment in the making!" He jumped out of his chair to be led by the other two to see the evidence.

"Pictures?"

Akira hopped off the counter. "And video…" he added happily.

"Double-score!"

"And video!"

"…With audio." The werewolf said on the way out the door. Nozomu's response was a one-worded muffled response.

"Audio? That's it I'ma kill all of ya! Ya won't live to see the sunset!" Mitsuru threatened, his hand slipping from Mahiru's as he strode towards the door.

The girl quickly stood up. "Mitsuru hold up a sec." She wrapped her arms around him from behind, her cheek resting in the middle of his back as she spoke. "Just let 'em go…they'd find out eventually, it was only a matter of time…" She let a few little forced tears fall, "So please…" A few more tears fell.

As the tears started falling this was Mitsuru's thought process, "ohshit, ohshit, ohshit, fuck, ohshit, ohshit." Slowly, he tried the best he could to turn around; surprisingly, he was successful and Mahiru's face was now buried in the front of his chest.

He raised her chin up to look at her face. Then the boy spoke two words, "You big faker." (Okay, apparently we can't count and he really said three.)

Mahiru looked at Mitsuru somewhat dazed. "Wha?"

"You heard me," He smiled a bit since he believed there was no one in sight, or hearing range, "you were tryin' to make me feel guilty fer bein' an asshole."

"Well…did it work?" Mahiru could not believe Mitsuru had picked up so easily on it.

He gave a small snort, "Took 'bout a damn year off my life…you're a pretty good…"

If there had been anything more to that statement Mitsuru didn't finish it. Instead, he wound up giving an apology for being a jerk; in Mahiru's opinion, it was one great apology.

As he had spoken his words Mitsuru's face had gotten closer and closer to Mahiru's until finally their lips were touching. This was not just a regular soft quick kiss, it was one that would be long, deep, a little awkward- it is only Mitsuru's about third time kissing-, maybe made up of one or two others and eventually wind up with Mahiru pinned in between the counter top where the sink was and Mitsuru's body.

Finally their mouths broke away as they gasped for air. Mitsuru had moved so that he was stand next to Mahiru grasping at the top of the counter looking a little more pale and shaken then when they had started; as if he couldn't believe he just did what he did.

"Mitsuru?"

"Yeah?"

"I think we just made out."

"Really?"

"Yeah…really."

He leaned in towards the girl again and they started kissing again. Mitsuru seemed to be losing some of his awkwardness every time they kissed. Then just as two were about to experiment a little more into the realm of French kissing the door separating the kitchen from the hallway and stairs opened up revealing the heads and torsos of a vampire and werewolf. (Of course the fox was there but was smarter than to stand where he was visible with the possibility of having something thrown at him.)

Nozomu brought a fist up making a loud theatrical cough into it.

Akira then spoke, "By the way if you two love birds decide to do anything else, please keep it quiet and don't do it on the table. We eat off there."

Instantly the two separated from each other, faces darker than any shade of red on a face should be that it almost seemed to become purple. They were frozen to their spots, Mahiru from embarrassment, Mitsuru from anger and wondering which one to kill first.

"You damn…I'M GONNA KILL ALL OF YA!" He started towards them but they were already on their way up the stairs.

Nozomu yelled back at the extremely pissed tengu, "And also, could you please stay off the countertop too? That would be just disturbing!"

"What are disturbing are your damn minds!" Mitsuru yelled back, starting his way up the stairs. The three other boys ran and claimed sanctuary within Oboro's upstairs office by locking the door.

They, of course, had already been in there earlier, for that was the only place with a television up there so they could watch last night's events. All other copies of it were safely hidden away, where Mitsuru couldn't, or probably wouldn't ever, be able to find them.

While Mitsuru was upstairs yelling threats through the door at the other boys Mahiru was still downstairs in the kitchen. She stood by the sink for a minute or so before she slowly sank down onto the floor.

Mahiru fell against the cabinets behind her and let out a contented, almost relieved, sigh. Then she smiled thinking about what had just happened. She and Mitsuru were definitely and officially boyfriend and girlfriend; aside from that new development things were still pretty much as they normally were.

She heard crashes coming from upstairs before there was silence then speaking, "Mitsuru…you just broke Oboro's door…man you're in deep shit." "Oh shut up." Yep, things were definitely back to normal.

Several Months Later…

It was now summer time, in the middle of June and Mahiru was out of school.

Since the fiasco with the tape changes had occurred that one could call drastic. Oboro and Katsura returned, finally, from their trip to find that Nozomu and Mitsuru were constantly beating each other senseless. When they finally got the two apart it was discovered that the fights happened because of Nozomu's constant taunting and following Mitsuru and Mahiru around like a second shadow. Though neither Oboro nor Katsura said it aloud, they too were happy that Mitsuru and Mahiru were together, for it meant that they didn't have to deal with a quite as moody and hormonal teenager. (One down, two to go in their opinion.)

The solution was a simple one- much to Mitsuru's disappointment, it didn't involve killing the vampire- that the couple would get a designated where absolutely no one was to bother them while they were there. (Except Oboro and Katsura of course.) The area that was given to them was the roof; which later on had a hammock put up and then after a nice long amount of rain a small wooden gazebo was built. (a/n: I wonder how many building laws/permits I broke with that sentence.)

That's where the couple was most of the days during the summer before the bar would open for the night. On this particular day, the boy and the girl were laying in the hammock. A warm breeze was lazily blowing across the roof making the hammock swing slightly. With a small hand held radio's volume was turned down playing a pop music station nearby.

While the two were swinging there Mahiru was nestled up against Mitsuru's chest with his arm wrapped around her shoulders. Sleepily, she played with his fingers, sometimes wrapping and unwrapping their fingers. When she was doing that Mitsuru gently kissed her hair. At times like these Mahiru could hardly believe the boy was the same person that had said so many times before that he hated her.

Of course it had taken Mahiru forever to get Mitsuru this relaxed. Before, even when they were alone he would be very tense, uptight, and awkward. That would intensify whenever Nozomu and the others were around since the vampire teased him constantly. Though now since they were not allowed to be bothered when they were on the roof, he had gotten much better, calmer.

The breeze that had been gently blowing had turned into a strong gust. Quietly Mitsuru stated, "Storm is comin' in." He gazed up at the sky, the wind whipping his hair into his face.

Mahiru was drifting off to sleep at the time so she gave her response that was general to everything, "Okay…that's cool." She closed her eyes and wriggled around so that her face was buried in the boy's chest.

He quirked an eyebrow, since the words 'that's cool' still were not considered a general response to him. (Don't know why it just isn't) "Well what if I said the sky was on fire or… I dunno some other natural disaster?"

Mahiru looked up at him, "Yes, no, I dunno, it just all depends."

The boy shook his head in exasperation, "You're so weird sometimes." She leaned up and kissed his lips, "You're weirder."

They were about to kiss again when Mahiru felt Mitsuru tense up underneath her and saw that the vein in his forehead looked like it was going to explode. "What's wrong Mitsuru?"

"Listen," he said through gritted teeth. She did; faintly, she thought she could hear someone giggling. In an instant the hammock violently rocked back and forth once as Mitsuru stormed out of it. "Nozomu! Akira! You two are dead!"

"Oh Shit, Run Akira!" Sure enough, from some random, some-what well placed hiding spot, out pops the werewolf, followed by the vampire with the video camera that had become glued to his hand.

"No amount of running'll save yer asses!" The trio then commenced running around the rooftop in a circle.

With the expertise of a skilled cameraman Nozomu was able to run away from the angry tengu while having the camera turned around to film him chasing them. "Aww c'mon Mitsuru. You're finally growing up and we want to catch every possible moment of it."

After that a string of obscenities came from Mitsuru's mouth as he chased the other boys.

Mahiru took a deep breath and sighed. Carefully, she leaned over, turned up the radio then opened her purse that was nearby and pulled out a book. The girl leaned back into the hammock, opened her book, sighed once again, and began to read. While she was reading there was only one thought that crossed her mind, 'Yep…it's just another day at the Moonshine.'

Pan camera up to the sky where it the fades to black.

THE END.

A/N: First off, I want to thank all the readers and reviewers for sticking through and also putting up with my really really extremely late updates, you guys are awesome. Then everybody after this for reviewing, thanks bunches to you too, don't know where I'd be without any of you guys.It over finally, after two years and a couple of weeks after starting this, it's over. Really and truly over, I had a bunch of fun sleep deprived times writing this fic; it was, in a way, a big part of my life. A security blanket like one of my library books. Also, it's a major accomplishment for me, for this is the first multi-chaptered fanfic I've ever finished, and this is my longest chapter, 13 pages in word. Since this is the last chappie for this fic, I ask that you would please review.

Other goings on: Well I've finished this so it does prove that I can start something and then finish it, so HOPEFULLY, I'll be updating Shadow in about a month I don't want it to be more than two though. I stopped writing that so that I could get this one finished. Greatest Day of Our Lives will also get updated sometime soon also. Well it's after 3:30 a.m. I'm tired, my demon Mitsu is tired, so we're gonna head off to get some well deserved rest in our room with all our black and white horror films. Thanks for sticking with the story everybody, hope ya come back to read more. Love ya all!