(A/N) Hello! Number three! Yay! Oh, um, if you ever see an asterisk (man, I was about fourteen before I found out what those "little star-y things" were called), it means that at the bottom of the page there will be an author's note. Okay, here we go.

Disclaimer: I don't own Crescent Moon. Damn. :(

-WithOneKiss,OurStareIsComplete – Chapter Three-

"Hum…" Mahiru mused, her pencil dangling perilously from her fingers. Today Mahiru was in the cluttered library. She exhaled a frustrated sigh. "Stupid maths." She growled, tapping her pencil impatiently on her paper. She leaned forward to closer scrutinize the annoying equation when she decided she fancied a break. She packed up her books with a loud snap, earning her a disapproving look from the strict librarian. She rushed out and leant against the nearest tree, enjoying the gentle tickle of a lonely breeze. She looked up at the sky, remembering Mitsuru flying away from the Moonshine just last night. Mahiru slowly walked away from the library, deciding to go back to Moonshine and continue her homework there as most of the chaos would have subsided, which had been the original cause of her taking refuge in the library. She suppressed a giggle. Oh, that Akira. He's adorable when it comes to his food. Mahiru dragged her feet along the ground, enjoying the scenery around her when before she knew it she was in front of the Moonshine. She pressed her ear to the door to check if the war was still raging, and judging by the muffled shouts coming from inside the bar, they were. Opening the door as quietly as possible, she tip-toed across the floor.

"What did you do to my food????" Akira was screaming, yet again.

"Nothing!" Replied Nozomu. "I didn't touch it!"

"If you didn't touch it, then why did it burn??" Mahiru reached the stair case, and glanced over into the kitchen. She saw Akira wildly waving the remnants of what looked like food underneath the nose of Nozomu, which was wrinkling in disgust from the smell of the bad food.

"You must just be a bad cook!" Nozomu said. Mahiru bit her lip. Ooh, bad move, Nozomu. She cringed. There was a heavy whack of metal hitting something solid. Mahiru reluctantly opened her eyes. Akira had hit Nozomu very hard around the head with his favourite saucepan. "OW!!!" Nozomu screamed, rubbing his head vigorously. "What was that for??"

"Hmph!" Was all Akira managed in reply, swinging the saucepan up above his head dangerously. Nozomu ducked out of his range with his arms above his head, trying in vain to shield himself. Akira started thrashing his arms from side to side, holding the saucepan with a double handed grip and hitting every inch of Nozomu he could reach.

"Alright! Alright!" Nozomu ran away on crouched legs, whimpering. Mahiru giggled and proceeded up the stairs. Around the corner, she met Mitsuru who had leant out his door to see what all the commotion was about.

"What's up?" He asked Mahiru with a strange emotion in his voice that Mahiru had never heard him use. But…no…it couldn't be…not pleasantly???? Mahiru stared at him.

"Nozomu insulted Akira's cooking." She explained, with a grin flitting across her features. Mitsuru nodded and began to retreat into his room, bowing his head. "Hey, Mitsuru?" Mahiru said boldly, taking a step towards the boy.

"Yeah?" Mitsuru regarded her suspiciously, before holding his door open a mite wider to show he was listening.

"Where have you been going lately? At night?" Mahiru looked down at her feet and fiddled with her fingers nervously, waiting for Mitsuru to slam the door. But, Mitsuru seemed taken aback. He pushed the door open a little wider and walked closer to Mahiru. He pressed his face near her ear and suddenly seemed nervous.

"What do you know about?" He asked urgently, studying her eyes intensely. Her eyes grew round slightly, a little shocked at being in such close proximity to Mitsuru.

"Uh…um…" She stuttered her reply a little, still taken by his eyes. She shook her head. "I don't know anything. That's why I was asking." Mitsuru's shoulder's sagged in sudden relief.

"Okay." He turned away from her and shut himself in his room. Mahiru stared at his shut door in vague shock. Slowly she came to her senses and started walking down stairs, thinking mildly of going to see Akira and cheer him up. She met Misoka half way up the stairs. She was grabbed by, yet again, another sudden impulse.

"Misoka?" Mahiru stopped walking and Misoka looked down at her from his stair which was two higher than Mahiru's.

"Yes, Princess?"

"Could I talk to you later, Misoka? Something's been troubling me…" Mahiru said quietly. Misoka's eyebrows raised an inch in surprise. He studied her thoughtfully before nodding.

"Certainly. See me after the Moonshine closes tonight when Mitsuru isn't around so he won't know you're talking about him. He's most likely going out again tonight, so, we will be safe." Misoka smiled at her before climbing the rest of the stairs. Mahiru continued down the stairs, and it wasn't until she entered the kitchen where Akira was still sitting looking sadly at the burnt food with tears welling in his eyes, that she realized Misoka had just told her the subject of their private conversation that was still to happen. She shook her head again, marvelling at Misoka's brilliance.

"Hey, Akira." Mahiru smiled. "How you doing, buddy?" Akira glanced at her miserably and then placed his head rather morosely on the table and began to sob.

"I'm not a bad coo-o-o-ook!" He wailed in between sobs, causing his words to break. Mahiru gave him a comforting hug.

"No, of course you're not, Akira. You're the greatest cook I've ever met. It wasn't your fault." She whispered soothingly. Akira's tail and ears made themselves present, his tail wagging hopefully, and his ears perking up.

"You mean it?" He sniffed, wiping away a few tears.

"Of course." Mahiru grinned. "Do you think you could make me some pancakes?" She added slyly. Akira jumped up.

"One order of pancakes coming up!" He began rushing around the kitchen making pancakes. "They'll just be a minute, Mahiru!" He assured her. But Mahiru had just seen Mitsuru cross the threshold moodily and storm out the door.

"Hey, Akira? I'll be back in a minute for my pancakes." She stood up, amid Akira nodding and whistling a tune as he beat the pancake batter, and headed out the door. She looked around wildly for Mitsuru. She spotted him rushing off to an alley. "Mitsuru!" She shouted, beginning to run after him, one of her arms out-stretched. Mitsuru looked around in surprise. He frowned slightly when he saw who was following him, not in annoyance, but in confusion.

"What's wrong?" He asked, not backing away like he usually would have done if Mahiru has been approaching him at such a speed. Mahiru stopped running, almost colliding with Mitsuru. Mitsuru stopped her by pressing his hands gently at her shoulder. "What's wrong?" He repeated.

"Nothing. I was just…" Mahiru suddenly felt silly, "wondering where you were going…" She finished, without the gusto that she had chased after him with. Mitsuru looked surprised, and his hands dropped from her shoulders.

"Oh." He said. He looked very mystified. He leant against the nearest wall and studied Mahiru, who was looking around at their surroundings to give herself something to do. Mitsuru found himself smiling as he watched her. His face slackened in horror and he pushed his eyes to the ground, anywhere but Mahiru. She makes me hate humans less…why??? He thought furiously to himself. Since I've gotten used to her, I've stopped hating humans so much. It shows with Saye…I mean, all she's done is asked me to kill a few for her personal gain. I don't like them, and you can't trust any of them. Why shouldn't I dislike them? Mahiru watched Mitsuru, with her head tipped slightly to the right. She walked in front of him and, very boldly, pushed her hand under his chin and lifted his head to her eyes. His mouth dropped open slightly, a fact Mahiru could hardly fail to notice as it was so refreshing to not have him scowling. Inches from each other, they stared once again. Mitsuru's arms had suddenly found a life of their own, and had slowly rested on her waist. Mahiru smiled and stepped closer, breathing in his scent. Mitsuru followed suit, recognizing the flowery smell of Mahiru as the one that had been in his room. Mitsuru picked her up slowly and brought her to his head height, holding her up effortlessly. He began to pull her towards him, seeing her eyes slowly begin to close, and feeling his head inclining towards hers. There was almost no gap between their lips, but they stopped. Mahiru suddenly remember Akira was waiting to serve her pancakes. She pulled back, biting her lip and knowing she would regret it.

"I'm sorry." She whispered. Mitsuru was looking very disappointed, at the fact that nothing had happened, but also at himself. "Another time?" Mahiru said, sort of rhetorically, and then turned and headed back to the Moonshine. Mitsuru jumped into the air to go meet Saye, as he had originally been planning.

---

Later that night at dinner, Mahiru picked at her food with her fork, tipping over a slice of carrot over and over until she had to send it in the other direction so it wouldn't tumble off her plate. She stared, down-cast, her shoulders hunched. She huffed, picked at her carrot, huffed again, did a little more picking, and then –

"Oh, for goodness sake, Mahiru. What is wrong?" Nozomu exclaimed, expecting more huffing which was almost beginning to annoy him.

"What? Nothing?" Mahiru looked down at the table, growing red in the face.

"Are you kidding? You've been sitting there huffing and puffing all dinner. What's up? Are you feeling okay?" Nozomu looked concernedly across at the girl he had always been affectionate of. Mahiru glanced discreetly at the empty chair that Mitsuru usually sat in, scowling, maybe, but still sitting in it all the same.

"Nothing." She said again. "Actually, I'm not very hungry. Misoka?" Mahiru looked across at him. "Could we rain check on the talk tonight?" Misoka bowed his head once. "I'm going to bed. Night." Mahiru raced up stairs and sat on her bed, gazing sadly out the window. She decided she didn't really want to go to bed. She glanced at her closed bedroom door, and against her better judgement, grabbed her swimming gear, climbed carefully out her bedroom and set off into the growing darkness.

---

Across town somewhere, Mitsuru was talking with Saye.

"So, Mitsuru. Today, I just need you to get rid of one measly human. Just a little girl." Saye was looking deep into Mitsuru's eyes, trying to capture him under her spell.

"It's not working on me anymore, Saye, you stupid woman!" Said Mitsuru irritably, jerking his head.

"Ohh, someone has their trousers in a twist." She giggled. Mitsuru rolled his eyes, throwing down the urge to throttle her. "I'll pay you good for it. Just one little girl." She waited for Mitsuru to answer.

"Fine…" He muttered eventually.

"That's a good boy." Mitsuru took great attention to his instructions, mainly focussing on the big money he would get. Just one more, he reminded himself constantly. Mitsuru jumped down from the roof of the building and used the wind to steady his fall so that he landed quietly on the deserted street below him. He started walking in the direction of the swimming pool like he had been told. "Murder the little girl that comes to the pool tonight." She'd said. "What little girl?" "Oh, you'll know." She'd said mysteriously. Mitsuru could see the building with the swimming pool getting closer, and he quickened his pace, anxious for this to be over. He stopped in front of the limestone steps, raising an eyebrow as he looked at the times the building was open. Right now, it was closed, so who would be here? Mitsuru heard glass shatter around the other side of the building, and frowned, swiftly ducking around to the other side of the building to find a low window that had been broken from the outside. Mitsuru squinted inside, but he couldn't see anybody inside. Curious, he followed in after whoever was there, casting a wary glare at the smooth, ripple-less water that was sparkling in the moonlight that flooded in from the higher windows. Mitsuru suddenly became aware of a presence in the room. He immediately tensed, and backed into a dark corner of the room and watched while a girl slid into the pool at the shallowest end. Mitsuru leaned forward a little to better see who it was. There was something familiar about her. But who was it?

---

Mahiru changed quietly in the corner of the pool are, not even believing her own daring, or stupidity. Stupid, stupid! She thought furiously. But she was here now. Why go home? She sighed, and walked into the pool. She paused in the shallow end, wanting to just be submersed in the cooling water. Mahiru grimaced into the silence around her, and sniffled. She was so sad. Nothing was going right. Mahiru let out a shuddering gasp as tears suddenly flooded down her cheeks, mingling with the water from the pool.

---

Mitsuru's eyes widened as he heard crying. He wondered what was wrong. What am I thinking?! He scolded himself a second later. I'm killing this girl, remember? He walked forwards quietly, still keeping in shadow. Soon he was directly behind her. His heart stopped a beat when with a sudden jolt, he realised who the "little girl" was. Mahiru. His mouth dropped open, curiosity filling him like balloon at the fair being pumped with helium. Why are you crying, Mahiru? Why? You don't deserve to cry…

---

Mahiru turned over in the water and looked at the bottom of the pool, crying still. She dimly registered that she wasn't sure why she was crying. She brought her head above the water but contented herself to look at the pale blue water.

"Mum…Dad…" She cringed again, tears welling in her eyes and she sobbed again. It echoed as though ten Mahiru's all stood sobbing in the room. "I want you back! Nothing is going right! I feel so weird…and, it's because of…" She trailed off, still not having noticed that Mitsuru was leaning forward, desperately trying to hear. "Damn that Mitsuru!" She suddenly shouted. Mitsuru's eyes popped in alarm at the sudden noise, and then he frowned. What have I done to you? He growled in his head. But Mahiru was still talking. "Why does he make me feel the way I do? I can't stop thinking about him…" Mitsuru stared at the back of Mahiru's head, desperate to announce himself, declare that…he too had feeling for her. Though she is the only one allowed to know. But then he heard Saye's voice in his head.

"Kill her…" It whispered. Mitsuru shook his head roughly. No! "Now!" Hissed Saye in his head. No! I won't! "Do it! Now!"

"No!!!!!!!!" Mitsuru shouted, his head tipping back as he shouted it for the whole world to hear. Mahiru whipped around in the water, staring in shock at Mitsuru. Then a woman appeared behind him. She had blue hair and green eyes, and a very superior look on her face. Mahiru's face suddenly became very confused.

"Mitsuru, who's that?" She jumped out of the water and back away from the strange woman, wanting Mitsuru to protect her. But Mitsuru didn't answer.

"Mitsuru, do it now." Said the woman, picking disinterestedly, almost bored, at her nails. Mitsuru shook his head, looking as though someone had cemented his mouth together. "Fine, if you won't…I'll just have to get her to do it." Mitsuru looked up in alarm. "It will be easy. Oh, very easy." She told Mitsuru with a malicious grin. "Just one look at my eyes, and she'll be throwing herself off the nearest bridge." Mahiru had backed into the wall.

"What do you want?" She shouted, looking desperately and wild-eyed around for somewhere to escape. Somewhere, there was a quiet whisper so full of emotion that Mahiru could barely believe it could be coming from who it was.

"Mahiru, get away. Now." Mitsuru's chest was heaving with suppressed emotion. His and Mahiru's eyes met, and they both nodded. But for different reasons. Mitsuru nodded, thinking that Mahiru would be leaving. But Mahiru nodded, thinking they would be leaving together. Mitsuru stared disbelievingly when Mahiru wasn't running. "Argh! What are you doing, Mahiru? Run! Now!"

"No! I'm not leaving without you!" She screamed. They stared at each other, but Saye giggled. She moved behind Mahiru, pulled a knife from nowhere and held it against her throat from behind.

"Well, Mitsuru. Too late, you're not getting the cash for killing her now." She pushed the knife a little harder against her throat and Mahiru whimpered, tears cascading down her front. Her hands balled into fists, and her whole body quivered. Mitsuru froze, his heart beating rapidly, breath coming in ragged, and with one word pulsing through his head: Mahiru…

(A/N) Whoo! The end. Oh, yeah. Here's the asterisk thing:

: If you think I spelt "Mom" wrong, I didn't. I spell it like this "Mum". So, that's just for future reference.

Okay, well, thanks for reading! I really appreciate it! Please review, it helps!

Have a good one.

-ChildOfTheApocalypse