Immortal

: 月まで届け、不死の煙 Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke

I wasn't born with this dangerous power. It was born from me through my hardships.

My eyes remained as wide as saucers as I stared at the flame my hand conjured up.

The flame slowly grew as my shock petrified my body and eventually, the flame burnt my hand. Even when my hand broke away and fell to the forest floor in flames, I still could not snap out of my stunned state. How... how this...that...what?! W-what did I just do?!

I tried desperately to keep myself calm and when I did, I tried to create that flame again. However, tiny sparks danced about from my hand instead, teasing me for my utter failure. I felt my anger boil within my blood and tried again. Sparks. Mokou, cool down... This is new so naturally I won't be able to use it well... I guess I need to take my time mastering this annoying ability. With that, I went back to my dwelling in the forest and created a makeshift target dummy using the nearby logs.

For three hundred years.

I sighed as I watched my forearm fell off in flames yet again. It was a repeat of the first time I discovered this power, only ten times worse. My flames actually went out of control and nearly took down the entire area near the human settlement. I do not really care about the humans, but I was more worried about my control. It has been at least three hundred years already, and my control over this power over fire is far from perfect. Kaguya would most probably mock me for trying to defeat her with an 'immature power that is far from mastery'. Ever since, I haven't been getting my power under the control from three hundred years ago. I used to think that this power would suffice in defeated Kaguya... clearly, I'm wrong... I could feel my former confidence dissipate as I crouched over, staring at the charred dummy before me.

For three hundred years.

If I had a choice to fight against my power or Kaguya, I would choose Kaguya in a heartbeat...

It's so hard! How the hell am I supposed to control this bastard! I felt my frustration grow as I punched a hole in the bamboo dummy. I felt a human's presence approach me but I paid no heed to it. I had no time to waste when I couldn't tame this wild, yet dormant power within me after six hundred years since its discovery. Although initially I had it under tight chains, when I let the flame grow one bit too large, it instantly consumed my two hands and left me gaping at the flares like an idiot. After all this time! Was there... no meaning to it?! Was I too forceful? Was my training method wrong?! Why can't this fucking bitch of a power control itself?!

'If you need help, I'm willing to help you.' I spun round and glared at the human who spoke. Was she an idiot? Approaching me was like asking for a death wish, since the Human Village spread so many rumours about fire demons in the Bamboo Forest. However, I felt myself opening up to this woman, who showed neither fear nor anxiety in her form.

'It's back to square one for me. If you think you can pull me up from there, then do what you feel like doing. All this work will end up going down the drain.' I traced each word with a subtle bitter rage.

That woman chuckled a little before replying, 'Why do you think so? Using the wrong method will make your work total up to nothing, but I can help you find the right way and let you enjoy the sweet fruits of labour.' She walked up to me and continued, 'Though the right way may take quite some time to find.' I smirked silently.

This place... Gensoukyou... It has some pretty interesting inhabitants here.

For three hundred years.

Kamishirasawa Keine. That's a hellishly long family name, but it's a nice name.

Ever since she came to me, progress sped up drastically. When I finally controlled the bastard of a power within me, Keine clapped her hands in delight and handed me a bento box. Ever since she came to me, my hunger pangs cease to curse me for every hour of the day. We sat down on the forest floor and began to eat.

'Hey Keine, do you want to see the full moon with me tonight?' I asked. During these hundred and fifty years, Keine did nothing more than help me. I knew that there was no way I could return the favour to her, considering she was a human, but at the very least, I felt the need to thank her for all her help. Besides, she never appeared on nights with the full moon.

'Sorry, Mokou, I... got some work to do tonight.' Keine hesitated a little. She's hiding something. Eventually, I managed to persuade her to view the full moon with me with numerous pleas and threats to battle Kaguya, but I felt something was a little off.

'Mokou, I'm not exactly what you see now.' Keine said with a tinge of sadness before she packed up and returned to the Human Village. What does she mean?

Three hundred years ago.

Not today Madame Kaguya, I have someone to meet tomorrow night. Without bandages.

Tomorrow was the night Keine and I were supposed to meet but today, I didn't see her. She usually would be able to meet me once every day but today she never appeared. I guess she has too much work to do today... I sighed and created a tiny flame with my little finger. I never realised how fun it was to play around with a power like this. At least for today, while checking to make sure my control was okay, I can kill some time without doing much.

POW!

A laser from the sky struck the ground next to me, creating a large cloud of smoke. I hastily dodged away from the smoke and looked up. My eternal arch nemesis floated in the sky, looking down at me, smirking as she summoned another attacked. I dashed away and summoned several fireballs towards her, which were effortlessly avoided. What in the name of nine fucks is she doing here?!

As if she was reading my mind, Kaguya grinned as she said, 'Hey Mokou, I was bored you know, all these years after I left the Earth. That was until I heard you appeared here, though. How does a battle today sound, hmm?' As she cocked her head to the side, I narrowed my eyes and relaxed my arms. When she lowered herself slightly above me, I smirked as I spat in her face.

'Not today, mademoiselle Kaguya.' I sarcastically replied before dashing away.

I'm sorry.

The battle intensified with every second as my waves of fire scorched Kaguya's skirt slightly while she was summoning her jeweled branch of Mount Hourai to commence her attack. I felt bullet after bullet pelting me at all directions but concentrated on draining the life out of the black-haired woman before me instead. It'll be all over once I kill her.

As a barrage of rainbow bullets showered upon me, I furrowed my eyebrows and unleashed more flames towards Kaguya. In the process, the bamboo shoots around us drowned in a dancing sea of fire that gobbled up shoot after shoot of bamboo. As more bullets pierced my left shin, I engulfed myself in the flames that used to burn me. With my resistance to fire, I sped towards Kaguya in an orange blur and thrust my hand into her chest. Grabbing her heart, I ripped it out of her chest as her body tumbled down on the forest floor. I looked at the body of Kaguya for what seemed like an eternity. It was too good to be true. I... won... Pain, fatigue and my injuries joined forces and pushed me to the ground, coughing up blood. My head grew heavy as my eyelids came to a close. Just before darkness overtook my sight, the blurry image of a familiar lady in blue registered itself in my brain.

I woke up in a futon. Strange. Sunlight was streaming down on my face in pale yellow rays from a window. I am very sure I was having a bitch fight with Kaguya in the Bamboo Forest at dusk. This room does not resemble a bamboo forest. I tried to lift myself from the futon but the excruciating pain shot through my body in an instance, causing me to fall back on the futon. I groaned as the sliding door opened, revealing Keine.

'Oh, hi Keine. How long have I been asleep?'

'...Two days...' Keine mumbled. I could barely hear her, but the words remained etched in my memory. Her eyes were dull and drained of any of the happiness she showed to me in the past.

'Sorry for picking a fight with Kaguya. How about we view the next full moon, hmm?' I tried my best to brighten up her day. This sort of thing is new to me. I noticed Keine trembling as she knelt down next to the futon. Oh crap how did I make her feel worse than before?! This is bad this is bad this is bad this is-

'Yeah... I'll see you on that day... Don't do anything stupid like that again, please...' She rested her head on my belly, her tears staining the futon. I chuckled a little and struggled to place my hand on her head.

'Hey hey hey, don't cry now, you still have work to do, don't you?'

I smiled as I tilted my head to look up at the baby blue sky with fluffy white clouds before chuckling to myself. I directed my attention to the paper and brush on the table on the other end of the room.

Keine, thank you so much for all your help all this while. Even though words cannot describe my gratitude for you, I will still say these. Thank you for becoming my first friend. Thank you for helping me train. Thank you for being there no matter what happens to me. Thank you very much, for caring for me. No matter who or what you are or become, you will always be my best friend.

A/N: I originally wanted this to be about Mokou's thoughts on becoming an immortal after the 4 teams in IN fight her. Eventually I thought it was too boring and a bit too... senseless, in a way that whatever I wrote made no sense. Then I overwrote everything to be about how Mokou gained her power, since she's human and all. With how the story turned out... I don't really know what its main plot point is supposed to be - Keine to Mokou or Mokou's struggle with her powers. Anyways, there will be a sister fic of sorts in Keine's POV for this. When, I do not know, but it will definitely come.

Thank you readers, followers and those who fav this collection for reading my fanfics so far, I won't be updating for the next week for End of Years (EOYs). :)

-ImmortalMagician