AN: Apologies for how long this took to get out, but this chapter was a pain to write for a lot of reasons.

Day 2

Tsukuyomi didn't sleep very restfully, Setsuna noted dully. For someone who acted like she didn't have a care in the world when she was awake, her sleeping patterns were incredibly disturbed. In the past five minutes alone, she'd twisted around so much that the sheets were a tangled mess at the foot of the bed.

And the hour before that hadn't helped. Neither had the hour before that, come to think of it. Or the hour before that. And as for the hour before that—

Setsuna groaned quietly and pressed the palms of her hands into her eyes. She was tired. Her head ached from spending all day dragging Tsukuyomi around campus, and all she wanted was to forget about everything for a few minutes so she could fall asleep without dreading what would happen after she woke up.

She couldn't though. No matter what she did, her eyes and ears always came back to her charge, keeping her wide awake. How was Tsukuyomi going to handle being stuck in a class with thirty other students? Did she even know how to interact with other human beings without violence? How long was it going to be before she tried to kill someone?

Tsukuyomi moaned and flipped onto her stomach. Setsuna winced at the noise the bedsprings made; she wasn't used to anyone using the bunk beds. Mana showed up occasionally, but she didn't usually spend the night, and Setsuna always slept on the floor herself. The beds were too cramped.

Setsuna stared up at the ceiling. If she looked hard enough, she could see the faint blue of the room's wards. The color had gotten more obvious since Tsukuyomi had been sentenced to stay. New wards had been put in place so that she couldn't just walk out of the school at night.

Looking at them now, Setsuna felt significantly more trapped. Tsukuyomi had to stay here, and she had to watch Tsukuyomi. They were bound together even more thoroughly than most partners bothered with.

Setsuna mimicked Tsukuyomi and rolled over, curling up under her sheets with her hand on her pactio card.

She wondered if Konoka was still awake. If she was, maybe they could talk. Maybe that could somehow fix the mess Negi's compassion for Shiori had volunteered her for. They hadn't had a chance to talk at all since getting back to Mahora, and today they hadn't even seen each other. It was starting to remind Setsuna uncomfortably of the time they'd spent apart in the Magical World.

Even after meeting up with Asuna, Setsuna didn't manage a peaceful night's sleep until they found Konoka with Kaede. Worry and guilt had kept her up for hours after Asuna drifted off. She was supposed to be Konoka's bodyguard—they weren't meant to be separated.

That's why I can't sleep, Setsuna realized abruptly. Not because Tsukuyomi's here, but because Konoka isn't.

Before getting back to Mahora, they'd shared a room. Sometimes—and just thinking about that made Setsuna's face glow red in the dark—a bed. So now, even though they were back to the sleeping arrangements they'd had for years…

I miss her. Not—not the way a bodyguard misses a charge. That's not good. That's not good at all.

Setsuna clamped her eyes shut and let go of her card. She wasn't going to think about it. That would only make everything worse. She was going to go to sleep, and when she woke up in the morning, she'd take Tsukuyomi to class.

Konoka would be there.

"Ojou-sama, don't! I'm fine—you don't need to waste your magic on me."

"Set-chan, you're bleeding too much! I need to heal you before—"

"Kono-chan, please! Negi-sensei is the one who needs you right now, not me, so—Tsukuyomi, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Losing… I don't think it was… part of my contract. Even with Kurt-kun… I think I was supposed to win. So… I owe Fate-han. A… healed Negi-kun… since Fate-han… wants to fight him so badly… that would make us even."

"You didn't have to be so rough."

"It… won't… even bruise.

…

Senpai? Try… not to die. You're… cuter… alive."

Over the years, Tsukuyomi had come across many things that she did not like. Most of those could be dealt with quickly and bloodily, but every once in a while, something would come along that required her to be patient.

"Do I have to wear the tie?"

"It's part of the uniform," Setsuna answered curtly, not looking up from putting on her shoes.

Tsukuyomi sighed and threw herself down on the nest of blankets on the floor. Her tie fluttered down next to her. She'd been hoping that her cute little senpai would be in a better mood after a night of sleep. "It's uncomfortable. And it's not very practical at all—the material's too slippery to strangle anyone besides the person wearing it. Can't I have the ribbon instead?"

That got her brief eye contact and a glare at least. It might have been intimidating normally, but this morning there were dark circles under Setsuna's eyes and she was trying to fit her left foot into her right shoe.

Oh. That explained a lot.

"Aren't you used to waking up early?"

One of Setsuna's hands slipped and the shoe fell to the floor. "What makes you think that?"

"Well, you always woke up before me when you were traveling with the princess. That was back before you and your friends made it to Ostia; after that, it was hard to keep an eye on you. Did things change after that?" If they did, that would be a little strange. The reason Setsuna got up so early was to train, and the need for that shouldn't have changed.

But she was rooming with Konoka-sama then. Maybe—

Setsuna broke into Tsukuyomi's oddly darkening thoughts. "Just how long were you following me around?" She sounded like she was trying very hard not to bring out her sword. Knowing Setsuna's stubbornness, that probably meant she wasn't going to lose her temper.

That was a shame. Even without being able to participate, Tsukuyomi would have liked to see Yūnagi in action again. It was a beautiful sword after all, and Setsuna's expression when using it was one of Tsukuyomi's favorite things in the world to stare at.

"It was only a few weeks—and I was ordered to keep an eye the princess, not you."

"So I was just a bonus."

"Exactly!" Setsuna rolled her eyes and picked her shoe back up. "It really was nice to see you with her," Tsukuyomi continued. "I was worried that I'd be bored following her around all the time, but you made things interesting."

That was resolutely ignored, which Tsukuyomi took to mean that their conversation was over. She rested her head on Setsuna's pillow and closed her eyes.

The pillow was still warm.

It was nice. A few days of no killing combined with no ki meant that she was running a little colder than she preferred, so some of Setsuna's heat was more than welcome. More of it would be nice, but that had been difficult even when she could fight Setsuna on a level playing field. Now, this was probably the most she could get.

Tsukuyomi frowned. I didn't realize Fate-han's loss would cause me so much trouble. I need to get rid of the Seal soon, so things can go back to the way they were.

Quiet footsteps approached the nest.

…But I'll make sure to stay around and play a little bit before I leave. After I escape, it could be a long time before we see each other again.

"Tsukuyomi, we have class in a few minutes. You need to finish getting dressed."

"Could you deal with the tie then?"

She heard Setsuna sigh and half-expected to be forcibly lifted off the blankets and thrown out the door. Lack of sleep did not make anyone very friendly, and her senpai was not well disposed towards her to begin with.

For some reason, that thought hurt a little.

Thankfully, Setsuna didn't give her time to dwell on it.

A few seconds of annoyed silence was followed by the oddest sensation of warmth around her neck that made her eyes snap open and her breath quicken. Setsuna was kneeling next to her with her hands very, very close to being wrapped around her neck. Only the tie and Tsukuyomi's shirt separated her from those hands. And the last time those hands had been this close…

Over a week ago. But she could feel it; she could remember the look of pure fury that had her senpai so completely absorbed in their fight—that look that never failed to remind Tsukuyomi how much she wanted—

Setsuna blushed when she realized Tsukuyomi was staring at her. "I don't want to be late. Introducing you is going to be awkward enough without running into class behind everyone else."

"Right," Setsuna's suddenly compliant prisoner breathed.

She needed her sword.

Her knife.

Blood.

Something to distract her from the sudden burning that was running through her body. She wanted Setsuna. Wanted her so. Very. Badly. And she couldn't have her. Not the way she wanted. There would be no fight right now, there would be a furious slaughter that Tsukuyomi could only experience once.

Once was not enough.

It's just until the Seal breaks it's just until I can break the Seal it's just until I figure out how to leave—

I can wait if it's just that long.

But I DON'T WANT TO.

Pulling away, Setsuna quickly stood up and moved to the door. The sudden blast of cold returned some small amount of restraint to Tsukuyomi's thoughts, and she was able to prop herself up shakily. Her hands were twitching for her confiscated weapons.

She didn't like it. She didn't like it at all, but if she wanted to keep herself thinking clearly enough to escape and take Setsuna properly, she'd have to put up with tying her tie herself. Otherwise she could never have the fun she wanted.

Tsukuyomi hadn't talked at all since they left the room.

And she wasn't smiling.

Setsuna was doing her best not to be unnerved by the abrupt change in attitude, but considering how inappropriately cheerful the younger girl was most of the time... To make matters worse, Tsukuyomi kept on looking at her out of the corner of her eye, leaving Setsuna with the uncomfortable feeling that she was missing something.

But nothing's changed. What is there to miss? I woke up almost exactly when she did; she didn't have time to do anything, and she was talkative enough—

"You should get more sleep," Tsukuyomi blurted out.

Setsuna started. "What?"

"You should get more sleep," the blonde repeated. "You're cuter when you don't have dark circles under your eyes."

Did—did she really have to say it like that? "Maybe when you stop tossing and turning on your bed all night long I will."

Tsukuyomi tilted her head, her more typical—evil—grin returning to her face. "You could always share it with me. I'm sure I wouldn't move at all if it meant sleeping with you."

"No." Never. Not in a thousand years. Sharing a room was bad enough.

"You really don't like those beds, do you?" Tsukuyomi asked, seemingly oblivious to the more obvious reason Setsuna didn't want to share a sleeping space. "Are they too small for your wings?"

"Something like that," Setsuna answered tersely. She changed her mind. She didn't care how disturbing it was; she preferred having Tsukuyomi silent and unhappy. At least then she was cooperative and didn't seem to mold her behavior around the sole purpose of harassing Setsuna.

Whether it was due to emerging common sense or lack of interest in Setsuna's sleeping troubles beyond the desire to make them disappear, Tsukuyomi stopped eying her and changed the subject.

"Is Negi-kun a good teacher?"

Now there was an interesting question. As fond as Setsuna was of Negi, his leadership skills were more effective outside the classroom than in it. He knew how to prepare them for their exams, but most of his students were either too caught up in how adorable he was to pay attention to his lessons or had more interesting things to think about than English.

Setsuna herself was usually in the second category thanks to her extracurricular duties, and since she was supposed to spend so much of her time and energy on Tsukuyomi, that probably wasn't going to change. If anything, it would get worse. Killing demons was easier than minding the bloodthirsty blonde.

"He does as well as can be expected considering the class he has to manage," she answered honestly. Even Takahata had his difficulties with them—the Baka Rangers probably never would have been formed if their class was capable of staying quiet for a reasonable length of time.

Tsukuyomi would fit right in if half the class didn't know about her involvement with Fate, Setsuna thought wryly.

"Hmm. Is Luna-chan going to be there today too?"

"Should I be worried that you keep on bringing her up?"

Tsukuyomi's eyes went wide. "What could I possibly do to hurt Luna-chan? She doesn't have any seals on her and Negi-kun likes her. Attacking her right now wouldn't help me at all. I'm simply curious about an ex-colleague's current living situation."

"You never ask about Kotarou-kun."

"Fate-han was a better boss than Chigusa-han," Tsukuyomi said, "so I care more about his other subordinates. Besides, Kotarou-kun wasn't around much in the first place. He was a late addition to Chigusa-han's plan."

Setsuna was about to ask why, if that was true, Tsukuyomi didn't seem too concerned about Fate's other subordinates, but before she could, a head poked out one of the doorways they were walking past and yelled at her.

"Hey, Setsuna-san! Four-eyes! You're late!"

Setsuna winced. They weren't that late, but she was willing to bet they would have been on time if not for Tsukuyomi's dislike of sensible clothing. "Sorry, Asuna-san."

Asuna rolled her eyes. "Don't worry about it. Just get in here already and show Konoka that the two of you didn't murder each other in your sleep. She spent almost all day yesterday worrying about how you were handling… her."

Setsuna's face heated up. "Kono-chan was worried about me?" she murmured.

Asuna's gaze briefly drifted over to Setsuna's new roommate. Her expression darkened. "Well, can you honestly blame her?"

Tsukuyomi coughed softly, drawing Setsuna's attention away from happier thoughts and her friend. The blonde was running her eyes up and down Asuna's body, devouring her relaxed stance with a sharp smile that was dangerously similar to the one she wore when threatening Setsuna.

"I thought we were late, Princess?"

Asuna scowled at Tsukuyomi and waved them in. Negi and the members of the class not currently mobbing Shiori smiled or nodded a greeting when they saw Setsuna.

Including Konoka.

Setsuna got precisely three seconds of staring happily into her partner's eyes before Negi explained to the class that they had another new student joining them, calling Tsukuyomi's presence to their attention.

Half a second before Ayaka's eyes widened in recognition, Setsuna remembered that the people who had joined Negi in the Magical World were not the only members of the class familiar with Tsukuyomi.

"You're the street performer who dropped a giant cat on me!"

Tsukuyomi thought she might understand Setsuna's reluctant explanation of Negi's teaching skills a little better now. She had never bothered with traditional schooling, but she didn't think most classes considered trying to mob new students appropriate.

At least most of her classmates already knew her, so she only had to avoid a few people and listen to a pair of twins ask if she had another cat they could drop on the Class Rep, who, as it turned out, was the excitable blonde girl at the front of the room. Tsukuyomi didn't like her very much. Mundanes were usually boring, and being forced to pay attention to one just in case any revenge plans were being formed was not Tsukuyomi's idea of fun.

Besides, she could barely remember dropping one of her shikigami cats on the girl. She was a little preoccupied with her Senpai leaving their duel to get shot at the time.

Tsukuyomi sighed and spun her dull-enough-to-be-harmless pencil (had that really been necessary?) around in her hand. Negi was droning on about something and writing on the blackboard, but she couldn't bring herself to pay attention.

This was boring.

The pencil fell through her fingers and Tsukuyomi leaned back in her chair. Looking around, everyone else seemed to be coping a lot better than she was. They were obviously used to this sort of thing. Even the more interesting ones—the ones who caused Fate-han so much trouble—were acting like listening to someone talk about a language was interesting.

Wait—no, that wasn't quite right. A lot of them were just staring at Negi. Tsukuyomi didn't think there were many actually listening to what he was saying. She had to smile a little when she counted Luna as part of that group. Without those feelings, she probably wouldn't have been allowed to stay with Setsuna.

Speaking of which…

Tsukuyomi picked her pencil back up and spun it with a little more force. Dull or not, if she split it in two, the wood could be useful. But that would probably be noticed. There were a lot of people with sharp eyes in this class.

Though… the girl next to her was being oddly inattentive.

Setsuna kept sneaking glances at Konoka.

It was annoying.

Maybe their adventure in the Magical World had spoiled her a little, but Tsukuyomi wasn't used to her Senpai paying so little attention to her. Before, even with Konoka around, there had been no doubt where Setsuna's focus lay.

It's not like it doesn't make sense. I suppose I'm not much of a threat anymore, and Setsuna-senpai likes Konoka-sama quite a bit. Otherwise she never would have agreed to—

Some things really shouldn't be thought, Tsukuyomi reminded herself. She looked over at Konoka, still spinning the pencil.

The Konoe heiress was very pretty, and that air of power that had made her such a satisfying target all those months ago had only increased. New mages weren't usually very much fun to play with, but the amount of raw power contained in Konoka had more than made up for that.

Everything about that job was fun. Setsuna there to fight, and a powerful mage there to claim.

Konoka was starting to return the looks now.

Are they close enough that even a tiny separation was enough to make them miss each other?

Interesting.

And… bothersome.

When class ended, Setsuna half-expected Tsukuyomi to jump out of her chair and dash out of the room. The entire time Negi was speaking, the blonde had either been playing with her pencil or scowling at Konoka. Both actions were incredibly distracting, and had done very little to make Setsuna comfortable with having her partner and her charge in the same room. She'd ended up spending an inappropriate amount of time looking over her shoulder to make sure her friend was still alive.

Which Konoka noticed.

Setsuna's face went hot. She couldn't remember a single word Negi said due in no small part to the staring contest Konoka had—continued. Not to say that she was always paying perfect attention during classes, but between Konoka and Tsukuyomi, she'd be very lucky to escape failing.

As if she didn't have enough to worry about.

Tsukuyomi's voice broke through her thoughts. "Senpai, do we get to leave now?"

Setsuna started to answer, but before she could, a possessive arm wrapped itself around her, halting all brain function.

"You can leave whenever you want, Tsukuyomi-san, but if you don't mind, I'd like to keep Set-chan here with me for a while," Konoka said sweetly.

To think she had considered her face red when Konoka was just looking at her. Setsuna looked down, eying the oddly fierce grip her partner had on her and doing everything possible to hide her discomfort from Tsukuyomi.

"But isn't Setsuna-senpai supposed to stay with me at all times?" Tsukuyomi asked innocently. "I thought that was part of the arrangement that's letting me stay here. If I go on without her I'll probably have to leave."

"And wouldn't that just be a shame?" Asuna broke in.

Setsuna looked up, face still burning. Konoka didn't seem to be letting her go. "She's right, Asuna-san. I'm not supposed to leave her. The headmaster told me that I wasn't to let her out of my sight." Wait. "Ah, not that I don't want to spend time alone with you, Kono-chan," she hurried to explain. "Er—no, that's not right; it's just that—"

"For crying out—I can watch her, Setsuna-san," Asuna said, already in the process of dragging a startled Tsukuyomi out of the room. "You don't have to worry about her running off to start a massacre."

"It's nice of you to offer, Princess, but I prefer Setsuna-senpai."

Setsuna valiantly ignored the implications of that statement and tried to relax as Konoka pulled her closer.

"…Right. Too bad."

Asuna had Tsukuyomi out of the room so quickly that the door was slammed shut by the time Setsuna was spun around and looking into Konoka's eyes. Her attention very well caught, Setsuna forgot for a moment that she should be very, very embarrassed to be resting so comfortably in her partner's arms.

For the first time since the end of her fight with Tsukuyomi, she felt something like peace.

Kono-chan has really… really pretty eyes.

"You look exhausted, Set-chan," Konoka murmured, cupping Setsuna's cheeks and rubbing the dark circles under her eyes. "Didn't you get any sleep?"

"I got some," Setsuna muttered back. "Things are just—taking some getting used to." She carefully didn't specify which part of the new sleeping arrangements was bothering her so much. Hopefully Konoka wouldn't ask; it would be easy enough to say that Tsukuyomi didn't know how to sleep peacefully, but… it would also be really hard to keep from telling Konoka the whole truth.

"I could ask Daddy to watch over Tsukuyomi-san if you'd like."

Setsuna smiled ruefully. "But if Eishun-sama became responsible for Tsukuyomi, the Ouroboros Seal on her would have to be removed. The Kansai Magic Association doesn't really approve of using it—they consider it too restrictive. Most magical groups do. If Tsukuyomi leaves Mahora, the Seal has to be taken off."

Konoka bit her lip. "Set-chan?"

"Yes, Ojou-sama?"

The title came out automatically—Konoka looked too serious for Setsuna to think of her as Kono-chan right now. She winced and waited for the reprimand, but it didn't come. Instead Konoka kept watching her, concern shining through her eyes.

"Does the idea of Tsukuyomi-san being somewhere you can't see her when she has all of her power… does it really bother you that much?"

Setsuna tore her gaze away from Konoka and went back to her earlier examination of the floor.

"Eishun-sama already has too much to deal with, doesn't he? Especially with Gödel-san's trial coming up. So even if the Seal wasn't an issue, I wouldn't ask him to take over the responsibility of guarding Tsukuyomi. It wouldn't be fair."

"Set-chan." Konoka stepped closer; they were practically breathing the same air now. "Maybe she doesn't have to be with Daddy, but she doesn't have to be with you, either. Kaede-san would be happy to take over for you. Grandpa asked you first because he trusts you the most, but you don't have to watch her. No one will force you to."

Setsuna saw and recognized the look in Konoka's eyes. Her partner wasn't any more comfortable with this situation than she was. As long as Tsukuyomi was around to deal with, they wouldn't be able to spend as much time together as they wanted to.

And… Konoka knew more about her history with Tsukuyomi than anyone else. Asuna had only been around to see the beginning of their first duel in the Magical World. Konoka had seen all of the last, and heard more of the words coming out of Tsukuyomi's mouth than she should have. She had every reason to want Tsukuyomi away from Setsuna.

But those same reasons were why Setsuna knew she couldn't let someone else guard Tsukuyomi. It wasn't just the idea of the blonde running free with her power that she found disturbing; it was that, if she wasn't the one watching the girl, there would always be a chance that Tsukuyomi would find her and fight with her again.

The memories of being pinned to a roof—of collapsing on a cold stone floor and watching the cracks fill with her blood—they were still too real for Setsuna to risk the slightest chance of Tsukuyomi being able to fight her ever again.

"I know I could get out of guarding her if I really wanted to," Setsuna said slowly, "but… I need to know that she's not still following me. And the only way for me to know that is if I keep her by my side."

Konoka sighed and wrapped her arms around Setsuna in a tight hug. Setsuna carefully hugged her back.

"I suppose it was a little selfish of me to ask. But I really don't like this."

"I don't really like it either," Setsuna reassured her quickly; she didn't want Konoka to think she was doing this because she wanted to. It was just something that was necessary if she wanted to walk around without constantly looking over her shoulder.

"And it's not like this will last forever, right?"

"Right." A few years at most. She and Konoka were going to have much more than that together.

Konoka pulled away with a small smile on her lips.

"Good. Because I don't sleep as well without you either."

"Wait—what? K-Kono-chan! I didn't say—"

Konoka laughed happily at her partner's scrambled stuttering, and despite her extreme embarrassment, Setsuna found herself smiling back.

That's right. Forever was reserved for them. Not Tsukuyomi.