AN: Important Information this time around instead of just random babbling. November is coming up, aka National Novel Writing Month. If you know where I'm going with this, great, just skip onto the story. If you don't, National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is basically a challenge to write 50,000 words in a month (a link to their website can be found in my profile). I participate every year, but unlike previous years, I have an unfinished story that I've been working on. This one.

So for the entire month of November, I'm not going to touch this story. That means that optimistically, an update will show up sometime in the middle of December. Realistically, this could be the last chapter of the year.

Enjoy.

Day 23

"I like you."

Those words had been ringing in Setsuna's ears for hours now.

She didn't know what to do about them.

All the good things about her watching over Tsukuyomi, all the bad things—somehow, this possibility had never occurred to her. She knew that Tsukuyomi viewed her a little differently than she viewed most people, but Tsukuyomi killed most people. Despite everything, Setsuna was still alive.

Their relationship was unique.

But—like?

Weren't they supposed to be enemies?

Granted, her loathing for the girl had clearly never been mutual—Tsukuyomi never looked anything but delighted when they encountered each other, which probably should have told her something—but they were still on opposite sides, weren't they? Not that Tsukuyomi really had a side anymore, what with Fate being dead, but—

They had tried to kill each other, and only a matter of minutes had kept them from succeeding.

Didn't any of that matter?

Setsuna looked down hopelessly at the peacefully sleeping girl in her lap. Apparently not to Tsukuyomi. If it did, she never would have said—

Maybe she was just misunderstanding the situation. Tsukuyomi couldn't possibly feel that way about her, could she? Maybe she just considered Setsuna a friend instead of something—deeper. Just because she had that look in her eyes when she said it didn't mean that she really felt that way.

Right?

Even in her head, Setsuna couldn't quite convince herself to believe that.

Because right then—when Tsukuyomi said those words, the way she looked at Setsuna—

She shut her eyes tightly, feeling an all-too familiar heat building in her cheeks.

That—that was the way Setsuna looked at Konoka. And to her, Konoka was so much more than just a friend. Konoka was her best friend, her partner, and her—her most important person. The person she would gladly die for.

But was Tsukuyomi even capable of feeling something like that for another person?

Setsuna had never felt so utterly lost in her life. She was completely out of her depth. While she'd be the first to admit she was best suited for dealing with Tsukuyomi, she was the last one any sane person would consider competent with feelings.

The fairly obvious thought on Tsukuyomi's lack of sanity flashed through her mind, and she shoved it away guiltily.

This would all be so much easier if she didn't care about Tsukuyomi's feelings. A few weeks ago, Setsuna wouldn't have even flinched at the idea of Tsukuyomi liking her. It would just be one more thing about the girl that made her uncomfortable. Now though…

She just didn't hate Tsukuyomi enough to brush off her feelings like that. Even if Tsukuyomi obviously knew that Setsuna wasn't anywhere close to sharing her feelings and probably never would be, ignoring them just didn't feel right.

Setsuna sighed and leaned her head back on Tsukuyomi's bed, staring at the top bunk and wondering how on earth she was supposed to deal with this situation. She started when Tsukuyomi reacted to the slight movement, pulling her closer with an impossibly tight grip that left Setsuna wondering if her ribs were going to survive the night.

Wincing, Setsuna placed her hands around Tsukuyomi's and delicately tried to detach them from her waist. Unfortunately, it didn't work precisely as planned. Tsukuyomi quickly found something new to latch onto, and when Setsuna looked down properly, she realized that she was now in the very awkward position of holding Tsukuyomi's hands while she slept.

The thought of that alone was enough to send blood rushing to her cheeks.

Completely unconscious and Tsukuyomi was still managing to drive her crazy. That struck Setsuna as incredibly unfair, especially since Tsukuyomi was the only reason she was still awake. She scowled at the utterly content girl lying on top of her, mustering up all the resentment she possibly could.

Only... when she actually looked at Tsukuyomi, sleeping properly for the first time in weeks—Setsuna could feel her glare melting off her face. Tsukuyomi was breathing so slowly that it was almost worrying, but she had a tiny, contented smile on her face, and her hands were soft and warm around Setsuna's own.

This was probably as innocent as a killer like Tsukuyomi ever looked.

Suddenly feeling like she was staring at something she shouldn't, Setsuna yanked her eyes back to examining the top bunk and tried to forget about the sleeping girl in her lap.

Her efforts weren't as effective as she would have liked. The pressure against her hands was incredibly distracting.

For no logical reason that she could trace the action back to, Setsuna started to babble. "I really am sorry," she muttered awkwardly. "You're right about me not liking you. But—" she gulped "—I don't hate you."

Tsukuyomi woke up to the most peculiar feeling of being warm. Not quite fully awake, she spent the first few seconds after opening her eyes wondering who had been so considerate as to spill their blood on her while she was sleeping.

Then she remembered.

Wishing she could just blink away the blurriness, Tsukuyomi detached her hand from whatever it was holding and groped around on the bed for her glasses. It took an annoying few seconds, but she managed to find them and put them on with a minimal amount of fuss.

To her surprise, she was immediately treated to the pleasant sight of a sleeping Setsuna.

Whose hand she had just let go of.

Tsukuyomi stared for an indeterminate amount of time, trying to figure out if she was dreaming. Bloodless though it was, she was having a very hard time imagining why else Setsuna would hold her hands.

She dropped that line of thought carelessly and slid her free hand back over Setsuna's.

Warm.

So very, very warm.

She nestled her head closer to Setsuna's chest, listening to her Senpai's heartbeat. To think she hadn't even tried to touch Setsuna like this before. She wouldn't be making that mistake again—this comfort was beyond anything she'd ever felt, and she didn't think she cared to ever let it go.

That would probably cause problems when she finally got around to breaking the Seal. This and that and everything; Setsuna seemed to live to give her reasons to stay put and behave herself like a good little girl.

Setsuna would probably be pleased to know that.

Tsukuyomi didn't think she would be telling her.

And no matter how nice this was—with the way things were now, she had no intention of staying put.

She looked up at Setsuna's sleeping face, contemplating that for a moment. She wondered if there was any way to make Setsuna consider removing the Seal and letting her roam free.

Probably not.

Even if she explained that she was very likely to stay in contact with Setsuna and visit often, Setsuna would most likely have a huge problem with letting the person she was responsible for do whatever she pleased without supervision.

Her escape was going to be a very awkward affair indeed.

Tsukuyomi watched some of Setsuna's hair flutter across her face. Curious, she moved her hand once again and brushed the stray strands away. She kept her fingers against Setsuna's cheek, watching them trail naturally over her Senpai's features.

Setsuna really did have soft skin. Soft, smooth, and white, it would be so easy to cut into her and never stop. Tsukuyomi could easily imagine what her Senpai would look like in such a state, and it was far from unappealing.

She pushed the thoughts away before they went somewhere she couldn't follow.

Setsuna stirred a little under her fingertips, and Tsukuyomi reluctantly pulled back her hand. She wasn't particularly interested in having her Senpai jerking away from her the second she regained consciousness.

Tsukuyomi sighed and settled in to enjoy the few minutes she had before Setsuna woke up and realized they were late for school.

The second Setsuna opened her eyes, she knew something was wrong. Besides the unusual weight on top of her, the room was far too bright for so early in the morning. At least half of it should have still been dark because the sun didn't rise quickly enough for it to be up all the way before class—

Setsuna jumped to her feet in shock, practically throwing Tsukuyomi off of her in her hurry to stand up.

"What time is it?"

Tsukuyomi pouted at her from her position on the floor, rubbing her arms. "Was that really necessary?"

"Sorry," Setsuna said distractedly, stepping over her standard bedding and over to the closet to fling the doors open and grab a uniform. "Wait—how long have you been up?"

"Only a few minutes." Tsukuyomi stood up and joined Setsuna in rifling through the closet with an obvious lack of enthusiasm. "Do we have to go to class? We could just spend the day here."

Setsuna arranged herself so the closet doors were partially blocking her body and started undressing. "You hate being locked in here."

"Usually, yes."

Setsuna's fingers slipped trying to button up her shirt and she didn't quite dare to ask what had changed. She just focused on getting dressed so that they could rush to class and hopefully avoid making a spectacle of themselves.

She needed an alarm clock.

Setsuna finished dressing at the speed of light and staggered out of the closet, bumping into a somehow-completely-dressed Tsukuyomi on her way to the door. She chanced a look back at the window and cringed. They were going to be extremely late.

"Setsuna-senpai?"

"Yes?" Setsuna slipped her shoes on, preparing to sprint out the door, when she felt the familiar sensation of Tsukuyomi's hand in hers and she froze. Her heartbeat abnormally loud, Setsuna slowly raised her head to meet Tsukuyomi's eyes.

She didn't know what she expected to see, but it certainly wasn't Tsukuyomi looking at her with something approaching hesitance. "Tsu-Tsukuyomi?"

The expression vanished so quickly that Setsuna wanted to believe she had imagined it. Tsukuyomi smiled easily and waved both of their hands in the air.

"Since you were kind enough to keep me warm last night, I was wondering if you'd mind continuing the favor."

Setsuna stared at the girl, certain that her brain had stopped functioning. "Um. You—you only shiver at night."

"That doesn't mean that's the only time I'm cold," Tsukuyomi responded casually, completely at odds with the strange emotions Setsuna could see swirling in her gaze. "It's just that, to me, everything's cold. You're the only one who's warm, Setsuna-senpai. All of you, not just your blood."

Some the teasing Setsuna was more accustomed to slipped in with the final words, but looking at Tsukuyomi, Setsuna could see something the return of the hesitance that reminded her an awful lot of vulnerability.

She didn't think she could say no to it.

Getting the sense that she was letting far too many things go the way Tsukuyomi wanted them to, Setsuna withdrew her hand from Tsukuyomi's and stood up straight. "I'm not going to hold your hand all day."

Taking the words as an invitation, Tsukuyomi grinned mischievously and latched herself onto Setsuna's arm. "You'll sleep with a girl but won't even hold her hand the next day?"

Face burning, Setsuna glared at her charge. Tsukuyomi brightly ignored her. "We have class, right?"

It was disconcerting, how used she'd gotten to being warm in that short time resting against her Senpai's body.

Tsukuyomi had not expected Setsuna waking up and moving away from her to be such a shock. Unpleasant, yes, but the sudden jolt of loss that went through her when Setsuna got to her feet came out of nowhere.

And the return of the cold had done absolutely nothing to make her feel better about the situation.

Leading to Tsukuyomi asking for her Senpai's presence.

Love was one thing. Being willing to put up with not immediately breaking free of her prison because Setsuna was another. But she did not like the feeling of being so dependent on someone, even if it was Setsuna. It made her susceptible to something far too close to fear for comfort.

And… had the cold always crept on this fast when she didn't kill someone for a while?

Trying not to think too much on it, Tsukuyomi tightened her grip on Setsuna's arm, watching the conflicted emotions flit across Setsuna's face in amusement. At least Setsuna had been willing to comply with her wishes. She appeared incredibly unhappy about it, but willing was willing.

Sighing happily, Tsukuyomi walked the final steps to their classroom and opened the door, completely ignoring Setsuna's stuttered attempts at some manner of warning.

The faint noise of their classmates that she had heard through the door came to a complete halt when they entered the room, and Tsukuyomi thought that she might now have a very good idea of what Setsuna was trying to warn her about.

The entire room was now focused on her arm around her Senpai, and whatever lesson poor Negi was trying to teach had clearly been forgotten.

Their teacher smiled at them, apparently oblivious to the unusual attention they were already receiving.

"Tsukuyomi-san, Setsuna-san! I was starting to worry that you were sick!"

Setsuna smiled tightly back at Negi. "Sorry Negi-sensei, we just—slept in a little late."

"Oh is that what they're calling it now?" Tsukuyomi heard one of the girls snicker. She thought it might be the artist girl, but she couldn't be sure.

Setsuna's arm stiffened and Tsukuyomi found herself being practically dragged over to their seats. She sat down without a word, quietly awaiting the carnage their presence was sure to unleash.

"So were all those rumors about Sakurazaki-san's ex-girlfriend trying to steal her away from Konoka during the school trip true after all?" one of the mini-ninjas asked excitedly.

"Aw, no fair, I had my money on her having no experience!"

"Wait, you bet money on that? They must have just started dating then."

"So that's why they spend so much time locked in their room…"

On and on the comments went, getting more and more outlandish with each new contributor. Even some of the girls who knew Tsukuyomi from their magical adventures started to join in, apparently unable to resist jumping into the fray.

At the front of the classroom, Negi was just looking horribly confused as his lesson plan crashed around his ears.

Finally, just as Setsuna was looking like she wanted the floor to open up and swallow her whole, the Class Rep slammed her hand down on her desk to quiet the excitable class.

"Of course Sakurazaki-san wouldn't fornicate with that—that—wretch!"

There was a very audible silence as everyone processed their class representative's words, broken only by the coughing fit someone in the back row seemed to be having.

Then the redhead next to the Class Rep leaned back to address Setsuna directly. "So are you two dating?"

"No!" three people immediately shouted. Tsukuyomi winced, but she couldn't entirely fight back her curiosity.

Setsuna, who seemed to be fighting a losing battle against spontaneous combustion, at least looked guilty about her rapid response, but the princess looked so horribly revolted that Tsukuyomi felt a bit insulted, and Konoka just looked as surprised as anyone else over her outburst.

The vampire in the back wasn't even trying to stifle her laughter anymore.

The second class ended, Asuna dragged Tsukuyomi out of the room looking so annoyed that Setsuna wondered if she should worry for Tsukuyomi's health.

She rubbed her arm and looked down at the floor, trying to restore the circulation that Tsukuyomi's constant attention had pretty much stopped.

She didn't think she was letting Tsukuyomi touch her outside of their room ever again. Even if some cruel twist of fate meant that she was the only one Tsukuyomi could feel warmth from without bleeding her dry, she was not going to force herself through another class as chaotic as this had been. She was used to their classmates being a little more rambunctious than was strictly normal, but she was not in any hurry to have that energy focused on her again.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Konoka take a few steps forward. Setsuna looked up nervously, unsure why she felt the strong desire to kneel on the floor and start apologizing and explaining that it really wasn't what it looked like.

"So, you and Tsukuyomi-san are getting closer," Konoka said awkwardly. For the first time in Setsuna's memory, she looked as uncomfortable as Setsuna felt.

"It's not what it looks like," she said in a rush. "We didn't do anything, I was just—"

She trailed off, not having any idea how to phrase what she had 'just' been doing without telling Konoka about Tsukuyomi, and she didn't think Tsukuyomi would appreciate that. More than that, revealing someone's vulnerability like that just didn't sit right with her.

Leaving her without the faintest clue how to repair whatever damage she had caused.

"We didn't do anything," she repeated.

"I heard the first time, Set-chan." Konoka smiled a little, and a few of the knots in Setsuna's stomach untied themselves. She took a few steps closer and placed her hands on Setsuna's shoulders. "And I know you wouldn't do anything with Tsukuyomi-san. It was still a little shocking for you to come in like—that."

"I'm sorry," Setsuna said automatically.

Konoka shook her head. "Don't be. You have nothing to be sorry for Set-chan. And besides," she smiled a bit brighter, "it's good that you're getting more sleep than you were."

Setsuna smiled gratefully at her partner. Then she blinked, noticing a look in Konoka's eyes that she hadn't seen since…

"Pactio!"

Konoka's hands were around her neck, tugging softly, and Setsuna felt herself giving in to the pressure. Almost against her will, her eyes were fluttering shut, and she could feel Konoka's breath against her lips. Her hands fell to Konoka's waist, holding her close.

Warning bells were going off in her head, telling her that they were too close, that this wasn't proper behavior for a bodyguard—but for once Setsuna found it was blissfully easy to push those worries away. There was only her and Kono-chan.

But that fantasy faded away with the classroom door being slammed open.

Setsuna jumped away so quickly at the noise that she almost fell over the desk behind her. Konoka's reaction, though equally startled, wasn't quite as spectacular, but she still pulled away faster from Setsuna than she ever had in their lives.

Blushing heavily, and not having anywhere near enough courage to look at her partner after determining her safety, Setsuna looked over to see who had walked in on them.

Asuna was standing in the doorway, just as red as either of them. To Setsuna's relief, Tsukuyomi was nowhere to be seen. Asuna opened and closed her mouth a few times before coughing awkwardly and choosing not to stare at them.

"Uh, we should really be, um, going off to our next class now. Places to go, things to learn."

Setsuna thought she saw Konoka nod at that, but she was more focused on keeping her knees from giving out and trying to stop her heart from beating so fast. It was loud enough that there was no way the other two people in the room didn't hear it.

Konoka cleared her throat and picked up her bag. "Yes, we really shouldn't be late, Set-chan. You were already late for one class today. You don't want to get in trouble."

Setsuna nodded blankly and grabbed her things. She wondered if she could make it to the door before passing out. She waited for Konoka to make her way over to Asuna before she trusted her legs not to collapse on her.

Outside, Tsukuyomi was waiting on the other side of the hall with a very disgruntled expression. Setsuna found some trace of resolve and walked over to her.

"You don't get to touch me outside of our room anymore."

"So what are the sleeping arrangements going to be tonight?" Tsukuyomi asked cheerfully.

Her beloved Senpai was standing between the beds and her nest, not looking at them or Tsukuyomi. She'd been doing that since her conversation with Konoka, which was irritating, but right now it was probably a good sign. At least she wasn't saying that Tsukuyomi would be going back to her bed alone.

"I'm not going to share your bed," she mumbled.

Tsukuyomi shrugged. "I know that, but that still doesn't tell me what we're going to do." Setsuna stayed silent, her eyes shifting about until they settled on her nest. "I don't mind sleeping on the floor."

Setsuna nodded and made some movement that seemed to be a halfhearted attempt at flipping the sheets aside. Tsukuyomi sighed and walked over to it. Slipping easily under the sheets, she reached out for Setsuna's intoxicatingly warm hand and pulled her down.

Her Senpai came close to tripping herself, but she managed to roll over and get under the sheets, unfortunately avoiding the option of resting on top of Tsukuyomi.

Tsukuyomi smiled and buried her head into Setsuna's side, relaxing completely into her Senpai's tense—but so unbelievably soft and warm—body.

"This—this isn't going to happen every night," Setsuna muttered weakly.

Tsukuyomi didn't think she believed that. But either way, it didn't matter. Right now, they were going to bed together.

It was nice.