A/N: Per the norm thanks again to Achariyth1 for beta-reading. To my readers, I apologise for the delay, please enjoy!

Disclaimer: Touhou Project and all its affiliated characters are property of Team Shanghai Alice(ZUN).

Note: This fic contains lesbian/yuri/girl-on-girl content. If you are offended by such material I ask you to please stop reading here.

…

Part Three: Answered Affections

'I need you now more than ever.'

I woke up to astounding silence, as if I had reached the deserts of eternity where no life but me – If I still classified as living – remained. I spent a time just looking up at the ceiling, inspecting the cracks and slowly degrading wood. From within that wood I spotted something tiny and white wriggling into a hole.

A termite.

I breathed a steady sigh of relief, I wasn't the only thing still alive. Finding motivation to move I sat up from the futon and rubbed the sleep from my crusty eyelids. I pushed myself up and took in my surroundings. Keine's place. The building was far more degraded than I remembered it being. Besides the obvious case of termites there was rot overtaking some of the baseboards, ants were crawling around and the place was uncharacteristically untidy.

Casting my gaze over to Keine's desk I noted the state of disarray it was in. Usually well organized and clear of junk there were scrolls strewn about the flat desk, the ink had been spilled over and there was evidence of dereliction on some of the larger scrolls. With great trepidation I wandered my way across the eerily quiet home, noticing all the strange inconsistencies.

This was definitely Keine's house, the layout and furniture was hers. Yet, the decrepit aura was unlike hers, the shambolic mess contradicting her always spotless cleanliness. Crusty dried mud stained the flooring of her entrance, wallowing in the mud I found a dress of hers. It was splayed carelessly across the floor, a bitter scent like bile emanating from within its fabric. All of this so unlike the diligent Hakutaku,

I made my way into the kitchen where my fear finally began to take root within me, growing its gnarled roots into the core of my body. Knives and forks were haphazardly littered around the counter and the dishes in the sink were speckled with brown and green gobs of dirt. No, this house definitely didn't seem like Keine's but I'd seen many similar ones before in all my years. This house resembled one that hadn't been lived in for quite some time, one rapidly and suddenly abandoned.

In villages that had been left abandoned as war played its course, stood buildings of this nature, the villagers would take what little belongings they could carry with them and flee, deserting their homes and the lives they knew. The houses I'd explored in such villages were always the same, always like this. Soulless, slowly being reduced to ruin, weathered away as all things were under the mercilessness of time.

"No," I felt myself breathe, whipping my head all around the house to find evidence that supposed otherwise. "No!" My panicked mind began to run in desperate circles. Is Keine gone? Did I sleep through her entire life!? That's impossible! But what if there was a crisis in the village? Would she just leave me here like this? Surely she wouldn't, everyone else maybe, but not her, not Keine.

"Keine!" I shouted disrupting the broken-down silence that had overtaken this home full of my loudest memories. "Keine, where are you!? Keine!" I swung open the door and stepped into the dark, shrouding night. My bare feet crunched and sank into the soft ground of nature. I ran around the house, once, twice, three times. Not daring to explore any further, to find that beyond this house the confirmation of my fear.

"KEINE, WHERE ARE YOU!?" I wailed desperately.

"Imagine this," the memory of Kaguya's provocative prose began to replay, "That little teacher-girl you're so infatuated with lately. Picture her once she's dead. She's going to die you know, soon too. Imagine her dead, her body eaten by writhing maggots, the worms crawling underneath her skin. Disgusting, don't you think?"

"NO!"

I stubbornly refused to let the notion that she was gone sink in; I denied it with all my heart. Then I heard the sound of padding footsteps and rustling bushes. When she appeared before me, face flushed from exertion, I felt myself sink to the ground in relief. She looked well, healthy, young, rejuvenated. In a wonderfully magical voice that could never be replicated, nor could I ever properly recall she spoke.

"Mokou, what's wrong?"

"Ah, it's nothing. D-don't worry about it. I was just a little nervous is all." She closed the gap between us and crouched down to level our eyes. She placed a reassuring hand on my shaking frame and squeezed tightly.

"Thinking some stupid things were you," she said, lovingly wiping away the small amount of moisture settled around my eyes. "Sorry I wasn't there when you woke up, I was just finishing off something important."

"Jeez," I complained, now embarrassed at my irrationality. "Don't leave your house in such a mess then! What's up it's like you left me to sleep in a pig sty! There were ants, and termites and rot and you still haven't washed your dishes yet! Since when did Keine become such a slob?"

"I'd say you're rubbing off on me a little, and to be completely honest with you today's been more than a little rough." She teased pulling me back onto my feet. I scoffed at her and looked away. "Come on, let's get back inside. I bet you're starving."

My stomach decided to raise its voice in a rumble of agreement, Keine just giggled typically and took my hand in hers. The warmth and life of her smooth skin served to calm and reassure me of her presence as a person and not a psychotic delusion of my mind. "Sorry."

"About what?"

I took a deep breath in to calm my mind and rearrange my thoughts. "For fighting with Kaguya today, I caused you trouble and broke our promise."

"Oh, that?" Keine articulated nonchalantly as if that had been the last thing on her mind. She pulled me back inside and closed the door. "Don't worry about it. I'm willing to accept that sometimes you need to do what you need to do. It was selfish of me to suggest you stop doing something that entertains you. In fact because of it, well. I can't say for sure, but I've got a better grasp of you now. So in the end it didn't really hurt anyone."

Shocked and more than a little confused at Keine's change in opinion I answered unsteadily, "Still. I promise I'll never do it again. Ever. Not for the rest of my life!"

The compassion and acceptance I saw in her eyes when she looked at me, was at a level I'd never encountered before. It left me breathless, feeling warm and fuzzy. "Don't you think that promise is a tough one to live up to? Well, it doesn't matter. As long as you mean it now, then it makes me happy to hear that."

"Keine…"

"Now, what do you feel like eating? I've got some udon, or we could have soba. I was going to make manju but I forgot to fetch the right ingredients from your place. Think it up and I'll see if I can make it." She disappeared into the kitchen and I could hear the clink of metal and the burbling of running water. I was a little hesitant to approach her in this generous forgiving mood of hers and was left a little at loss for words.

"I'll just have some udon. Here let me do the dishes." She looked like she wanted to protest but I gave her a firm look that said I wasn't going to take no for an answer. Stepping back in defeat she let me take charge of the sink while she began to cook up the noodles.

"These ants and termites really are a pest though, aren't they? I wonder if I can get someone from the village to get rid of them for me, perhaps Wtiggle would be willing to help. Although this place is already in shambles as it is. It's one of the oldest houses around here you know?"

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yup. I've been living here for as long as I can remember, I'm thinking though that as much as I love it here. All things come to an end right?"

"Well not all." I remarked, finding a stubborn piece of dirt and scrubbing at it with force just below what was required to shatter the bowl.

"Well, yes. Not all things. I can think of a few that won't end. I don't see the sky ever ending, or the ocean, humanity will struggle on for a good while too. Then there's also immortals like you and Kaguya, oh, and of course my love for you."

There was a crash and the shattering of broken glass as my hand smashed through the bowl I was cleaning. "Ah, sorry, sorry!" I bent down and began to pick up the shards of fragmented glass.Ah Keine what the hell are you saying, now look what you've made me do.

"Mokou, you're bleeding." Keine grabbed at my arm and that's when I noticed the sticky crimson liquid running from the tip of my thumb to the base of my hand. She pulled my hand to inspect the cut and seemed relieved at its minority.

"Well it's a shallow cut. There's not much to worry about. For now we should just stop the bleeding."

"Ah, right. Uhh let's see, tissue, tissue." Finding nothing like a tissue around I used my unoccupied hand to seize the wash cloth. "How about this?"

"Don't be silly, Mokou! That cloth is filthy, we don't want to infect you or anything. Hmm, I've run out of bandages so…" For the next three seconds to any time around a minute my brain failed to function properly, or I was hallucinating. One of the two.

There was a feeling of wet warmth which wrapped itself around my thumb followed by a gentle sucking sensation, and the light tickling of something moist and slimy traversing its way across it. I didn't quite understand what this dainty feeling was, I stared at my thumb, and what was around it for several seconds before processing.

Sh-she's licking it! K-Keine's licking my thumb! Shouting that in my head only served to intensify my confusion as the words weren't making sense. I bit down on my tongue, hardly registering the pain at all too absorbed in the blissful sensations emanating from my thumb. I stiffened, unable to properly breathe and felt glued to my spot, slowly solidifying into a statue. All I could do was watch her suckle on my thumb and wait.

The warmth receded as Keine slipped my thumb out of her mouth. My eyes remained transfixed on the glistening sheen of hot saliva covering my thumb. "There now the bleeding has stopped a little." She took the ribbon from her house-hat and expertly tied it around my thumb, applying pressure on and closing the wound.

"There we go, you should probably leave the dishes for later. The udon's almost done so just lay down for now, okay?" Unable to maintain direct eye contact I nodded and slowly shuffled out of the kitchen. I sat down and lay under the kotatsu, replaying and rewinding the past five minutes over and over in my mind whilst not once taking my eyes of the cute ribbon wrapped around my thumb.

"Time to eat," Keine sang, gliding into the room with two bowls in each hand. She set the bowl down before me and instead of sitting at the opposite end of the kotatsu like usual, squeezed into the spot next to me.

"Th-thanks for the meal." I stuttered, wolfing down the bowl in front of me as an excuse not to participate in conversation. I finished with a satisfied smack of my lips and wiped the remaining contents of the delicious meal off my lips. "That was great, Keine!"

"Thank you, seconds?"

"Not right now, I think I'll have again in ten minutes." Yawning I stretched my arms out behind me and fell on my back, feeling full and sleepy. "It's so comfortable here."

"I'm glad you think so," Keine remarked finishing up the last of the noodles in her bowl. "Though to go back onto the topic earlier, I was thinking maybe fixing this place up wouldn't be worthwhile. It's already in such a broken-down state, maybe it would be easier to just build a new house."

"I don't think building a new house is easier than fixing one up."

"Well maybe not, but it could be more worthwhile. To just go at it and create the house of my dreams!"

"That does sound pretty nice," I admitted. "I've always just taken what's available, or quickly made something that could just as easily be taken down. A dream house, huh."

"Exactly! That's why, I was thinking maybe… you and I could build a house together. We could build our dream house, and realise our dreams in it. Grow closer together in it. Live the rest of our lives together in the house we created." Intertwining our fingers together she lay down on her side next to me, looking right into my eyes she grinned bashfully. "How does that sound?"

Several times tonight Keine had shocked and stunned me, this confession of sorts however took the cake. Unable to think, as truly now all the logical parts of my brain had been shut down by Keine's divine splendor, my heart answered. With strength and confidence, "That sounds like a dream come true."

I wasn't sure what to make of this new development. I didn't think my world could change so much in a short amount of time, it seemed illogical. Of course the kind of people who try to apply logic to love are the ones who haven't experienced true love. It's illogical, irrational and often times spontaneous, exploding in your face.

"I'm happy to hear that. I love you, Mokou."

"I love you too, Keine."

I still wasn't sure if our loves were exactly alike yet, however it was at the point where I felt that comparing our loves would be like comparing an octopus to a squid, dogs to cats, and iron to steel. They might look different on the outside, their inner workings might differ in the smallest, trivial ways but really, if you didn't think about it much, they were one and the same.

This kind of love I could settle for, this kind of love I want to indulge myself in for as long as possible before it becomes impossible to do so.

This is that love, the kind that will never end.

….

'Love makes your soul crawl out of its hiding place.'

"So I was thinking today after school we go have a look around for a place to start building the house, is that okay with you, Mokou?"

"All good with me," I replied beaming at her with a silly face. I reached over to grab a little piece of botamochi from the lunch Keine had packed. Nibbling on the snack I cast a sideways glance at her, smiling beatifically whilst watching me. Life had become far more relaxed as of late, the days seemed to pass by in a hazy blur of comfort and serenity.

I thought I'd be worried yet, there was nothing that could possible bring me out of this wonderful stupor. Keine and I would be building a house together soon, we were practically living together already. Due to the state of her home she'd been staying over at my place day after day. It wasn't as cramped as I would have imagined, although it was certainly a small house for two people. We embraced the constant nearness and adapting our lives around each other couldn't have been a smoother, more natural process.

Although my house was much farther from the village so that meant Keine had to get up earlier in the mornings to make it on time. She also only came back at times when the sun had already set. Concerned that such a diligent and delicate lady was walking out alone at night I undertook the beleaguering task of accompanying her early in the mornings to school and guarding he from the creeps of the night. Even if she didn't really need it.

"I want there to be over twenty rooms and four different gardens! There should be running water nearby and oh a bridge connecting the two halves of the house over the river! Man and some giant pillars, statues of Maneki-neko and daruma dolls for good luck! And enough gardening space to grow our own food and uhh what else…"

I winced as Keine plonked me on the head, shaking her head exasperatedly. "I know I said our dream house but you have to be a little more realistic. We can't make a palace just for two people! There's no way the villagers would agree to help out if that were the case! Be a little more humble."

Rubbing the spot she had hit I laughed a little, "Yeah I know, I know. I think a smaller house is comfier anyway. Besides, any house that has Keine in it is a dream house for me."

"M-Mokou!"

I leaned forward leering at her. "Oh, did I embarrass you! My mistake, I didn't think the person who was bold enough to make such a proposition to me in the first place would be so shy about it." I poked at her rosy cheeks as she sighed.

"It was a spur of the moment thing, okay? I didn't think you'd be so pretentious about it like this. Always jeering at me when you get the chance," she shrugged off my approach and looked away as what most would perceive as angry, but I knew otherwise.

I backed off lifting my shoulders so-so, "What can I say, Keine's been super cute lately and I'm struggling to hold myself back." I placed my hands behind my head and laid down on her lap, the sweet pillow reserved solely for me. "Uwah, so comfy."

"Aren't you being a little presumptuous?" She intoned, coating the undertones of her voice menacingly. She gripped my cheeks and tugged on them, although I kicked and complained I couldn't feel any pain at all. Our eyes caught one another's, and we both blinked. Looking at my reflection I saw somebody I could hardly recognise as myself. With my face encased within her hazel orbs it was like I was inside her, in body and soul.

"Sensei! Sensei!" A whiny voice interrupted us breaking the mood. "Sensei! What's bigger the moon or the sun?"

"That would be the sun, Houtarou-kun," She pointed at the shimmering golden circle reaching the peak of its climb for the day, "When you look at a full-moon during the night it may look bigger than the sun but that's only because it's closer to us than the sun. The sun is actually a thousand times larger than the moon but it's so faraway that it looks smaller."

"Oh! That's amazing sensei! How do you know that!?"

"Well it was something I learnt a little while ago as well. Do you want to know something even more amazing?"

Leaning forward on the tips of his toes Houtarou looked at Keine with wide expectant eyes, breathing becoming even more excited. "What!? What is it!?"

"Well you see, you know how tiny the stars are?" She asked him, drawing him further in. Hysterically, Houtarou nodded, "Some of them, they're actually even bigger than the sun! Hundreds times bigger, the sun is like a baby to them. But they're so far away that if you ran for over a million, no a billion years you wouldn't have reached them yet."

His mind blown by this new piece of information he ran off to all of his friends to brag about his startling new revelation, talking spiritedly to the other plebeians as if he himself discovered it. I pushed myself off of Keine's lap and looked over the children.

"You actually managed to get rid of him quickly this time, usually they won't stop asking why, why, why? All their questions can get so tiring," I complained furrowing my brow in annoyance that now the moment was gone. "How do you do it?"

"Well little kids are always curious at this age, it's also the easiest time to get new information into their brains. So I think it's important that when they're curious about something you should try your absolute best to answer them. That way they'll learn something that they won't ever forget."

"Heehh, so that's how it works. Well as long as they ask you and not me I don't mind. I'd probably end up telling them the wrong thing by mistake." I glazed over the children again and focused on the oddest of them all, sitting alone by herself picking flowers. "That girl…Hanabi, can she still not talk?"

Keine followed my eyes and tracked the mute *girl. With* a disappointed sigh she nodded, "Yeah… I thought I knew how to approach the problem but nothing's worked so far. She just doesn't want to talk about it."

"Really, nothing?" I asked a little surprised at the girl's resilience, in a way – I don't think I was supposed to – but I could respect the girl's silent rigor. "That's quite something, did you do the numbers thing? That even worked on me."

With a grimace she nodded again, "I guess she's just more complicated than you are, more sophisticated somehow."

"How rude!" I looked at Keine's solemn expression, my anger dissipating. Deciding to give it a shot I stood up and wiped the dirt from my clothes. "I'll go give it a shot. I haven't tried talking to her yet so maybe all she needs is a more insistent approach. You know like… instead of just asking her to talk…make her feel like she needs to. The direct way is always the best way!"

Looking panicky Keine looked at me dubiously, "I don't think that's the best way to go about this… you might just cause her to regress if you're too insisting."

I held up my hand, telling her to stay seated. "Nothing you've done has worked so far, so it's time for me to work some ancient magic." Still looking skeptic and more than a little worried I offered her thumbs up to try and calm her down. .

With that little exchange, I began to approach Hanabi, still idyllically plucking flowers. However she seemed to contain an extreme prejudice for red and white. Bingo. I reached her and stuck in her sublime lethargy she had yet to notice me.

"Those are some really pretty flowers," I said casually, beginning to pick some of my own. Hanabi's own picking slowed and she shifted a little away, giving me a cautious stare.

"It's a little strange a girl with the name Hanabi would be so quiet don't you think? I mean 'hanabi' are fireworks aren't they, and they explode and make lots of noise! You should be making tons more noise, like boom!" I threw my collection of flowers into the air with an exaggerated motion. Hanabi froze, first in shock then loosened up beginning to watch the petals as they fell. She watched entranced as the petals arced and swung in the subtle breeze. When one deposited itself on the tip of her elfin nose she blew at it. So cute!

Wanting to work with this momentum I quickly continued on, "You know I see you've only collected red and white flowers there. Do you like those colours? I do too; they're some of my favourites. Reds so… heroic and white is so pure and pretty. I mean just look at my hair and clothes! Here, want to touch my hair?"

I waved my hair in front of her and she looked up at me with round, deep blue eyes that were asking for permission. I nodded and hesitantly she reached out a small, hand and ran her fingers through it. Her face lit up in glee at the soft sensation. Perfect, just a little longer…Now! When Hanabi pressed her nose to my hair to smell it I yanked it away from her, the sudden action caused her to stumble and fall.

"If you want to continue touching my hair you're going to have to ask for it." I told her flouncing my hair just in front of her face. She stared at me, clearly irritated.

"I know you want it. All you have to do is say that you do." No response. "Come on, just say it." Again no response. Hanabi paid me no mind and went right back to her flower picking. That I found quite irritating.

"Heh, who knew you were such a spoilsport." Hanabi's fists tightened at that, but still no vocal equivocation was brought forth.

"Let me tell you something kid, this not talking thing of yours is really stupid. I think you're just trying to manipulate everybody like this, make them do what you want, leave you alone when you want and all that. It's pretty lowly." I smirked when I noticed her face scrunch up.

I felt a dagger-like stare directed at my back. I turned to look at Keine who was frowning in consternation and trying to indiscreetly skulk closer. I gestured for her to give me more space and stop hovering around us. With a dubious nod of her head and an all too apparent sigh, she conceded. "Don't do anything stupid!" She mouthed. Waving away her concerns I returned my focus to Hanabi.

"I'm not going to say I understand what you're going through because I don't. I get that you were really scared by those youkai, you probably never want to experience something like that again. Although do you want to let them affect you like this? They'll have won then. There would be no point in your father dying trying to protect you.

"You should speak! You should shout and scream. To show them that you haven't lost! And not all youkai are scary like those ones were, you know that Sensei is a youkai, right?" Hanabi was appropriately riled up now, no longer picking any flowers. I grabbed her at the shoulders and made her look me in the eyes. Now the battle begins.

"Keine-sensei is a youkai. You know that, Hanabi."

There were tears in her eyes and her lips were trembling like puppies lost in the cold.

"Hanabi, you know she's a youkai. I know you do."

A crackly wheeze, the struggle of a voice being forced between lips.

"She's a youkai, right?"

"Yes," A low hoarse voice replied in a volume just above a whisper. High and croaky like a rusted door hinge. I couldn't let myself be thrown off by this sudden breakthrough and so barreled onwards. I haven't won until I get sentences out of her!

"And she's not a bad youkai*is she?" There was no response and so I asked more urgently, "Do you think Sensei is a bad youkai? The nice sensei that's been trying to help you out, surely you don't think that."

Insistent, I pressed on, beseeching her to speak, "Think of everything she's done for you, all those pretty cards she made, all those times she helped you out when you were struggling. She cares about you. Don't you appreciate her work? You don't think she's bad, do you?"

"I don't," She answered again with that same dull screech, but this time with more power, less quaking. She looked down guiltily, letting go of the flowers in her hand.

"Of course you don't, you like Sensei don't you?"

"I do. I like sensei."

"You know what would make Sensei really happy?"

"What?" She was trembling now but the tears had vanished from her eyes. All that was left was eagerness.

"If you ran up to her and told her that in your loudest voice. You've got to really shout it out! You can do that right?"

"I can."

"Do you want to?"

"I do. I do want to. If it'll make Sensei happy then I do!"

"Then go on!" I roared at her giving her an intense shove forward. She recovered, found her legs again and looked back at me nervously. "You can do it, Hanabi."

Nodding her head she turned to an inquisitive looking Keine. She jogged up to Keine, footsteps light and uneasy. She looked into Keine's eyes and took a deep breath in.

"Sensei, I like you! Even if you're a youkai, I know you're a good person. I really do like you!"

Keine's shock lasted for half a second before her features softened and she offered the easiest smile I'd ever seen her make. She wrapped the delicate little girl in her arms. "I'm happy to hear that, I like you too, Hanabi-chan."

That actually makes me kind of angry, and really jealous for some reason.

"Well," I sighed, "that's my job finished." Of course seeing Keine so happy as well as helping the troubled girl brought warmth to my heart. Heh, as expected of me. The two were happily embracing and talking amiably, exchanging compliments and praise.

All was going well, until I noticed a very vexed looking girl walk up to Keine and Hanabi. She was one of the older kids in the class about twelve to fourteen years old and a constant troublemaker wherever Hanabi was concerned to hear Keine tell it.

The girl came in between the two of them and simply, without hesitation as if she was merely swiping at a fly.

She shoved Hanabi into the dirt.

…

'Love comes to everybody in many different ways. Attraction is the first thing, no? But loves must be more than that. Love needs to be magic.'

She was thirteen, with common russet coloured hair that ended just below her shoulders, decent enough grades, and the only daughter of seven children. The most striking feature of hers were her clear, forest green eyes that contained a certain charming steeliness. She was the kind of pretty you didn't notice or rather weren't made to notice. That was Yoko Nakagawa, the current target of all my unrestrained animosity.

Growing up surrounded by boys she'd definitely developed as a tomboy in both her speech and personality, dissonantly similar to a certain witch. From my brief encounters with her I knew the girl was ornery, mischievous, and temperamental, with a 'me against the world' approach to life. I generally liked the more fiery kids as we got on relatively well and I could relate to them. Yet this kid who remorselessly pestered Hanabi all the time found no place within my heart.

It was still break time outside for all the other children, however Yoko had been taken to the class where she was receiving a very thorough lecture about behavior. One I couldn't help but add my own input to.

"Honestly I'm at my wits end for what to do with you, Yoko-chan, you're disruptive in class and ever since Hanabi showed up you've been constantly picking on her. Ylu're forcing me to take drastic measures on you." All the while through Keine's talking Yoko remained looking towards, but not at Keine. She looked through the teacher with impatience and a sour grimace.

"How about we shove your face into the ground," I suggested with an acerbic hiss. "Or just send you home permanently."

She scowled at me and shrugged. "Whatever, there's worse things you could do."

Swallowing back as much rage as I could, I cracked my knuckles, twisting my smile threateningly. "Oh don't you know it."

"Mokou, keep quiet! You're not helping!" I clamped my mouth shut and huffed, annoyed at the impish smile that crept onto Yoko's face. Yoko leant back in her chair sticking her eyes to the ceiling.

Bending down to her level Keine placed a hand on Yoko's knee. "What's the matter? Did Hanabi do something to you?" Startled at the contact Yoko quickly shifted her legs shaking Keine off of her.

"No," She admitted crossing her arms and shifting in her chair with a grunt. "Like that little brat could do anything to me."

"Then why did you push her?" Keine asked, entreatingly moving closer. Eyeing her suspiciously Yoko coughed watching her body movements intently.

"That's none of your business."

"Actually it is my business. When you have a grudge on someone, and act on that grudge by bullying them it becomes my business." Keine held the brunettes hand, stroking her thumb tenderly across Yoko's calloused palm. With a deepening shade of red colouring itself on the canvas of her face Yoko tensed. "Nobody's angry at you, Yoko."

"Yeah right," I coughed.

"Mokou!" Keine exclaimed, I held up my hands to show that I was backing off and leaned against the wall, watching the two. Brushing her hair across an ear Keine returned her attention back to the edgy girl. "Is everything alright at home? If there's anything at all going on, you can tell m―"

"Th-there's nothing wrong with home!" Yoko burst out, averting her eyes from either of us. "Well, not really anyway. We're a little low on food at the moment but Momma says that's alright because Kentarou's moving out to live with his fiancée soon and Daddy's income is a little more stable now…"

"Alright, then if there's nothing wrong at home is it school that's making you angry?" She shook her head. "Then why is it you keep picking on Hanabi?"

"I don't know why."

"Yes you do. You just don't want to tell me."

"Come on," I started, glowering at Yoko, "Why did you shove her?"

Shifting on her seat Yoko turned her head up, then shot it straight back down to her twiddling thumbs. Heaving her shoulders forward Yoko said: "Because she was talking, it was irritating."

"Some people really can irritate you just by talking, I can think of one prime example right in front of me." Keine's deathly glare following my remark was scalding.

"Hmm, yes she was. Mokou got her talking, but why would you be irritated by it?"

Swinging her legs underneath her seat she repositioned herself yet again. "I don't know."

This is getting nowhere! Just send her home already, I'm tired of this. Yet Keine wouldn't quit, it was like she'd latched onto something and was unwilling to let it go until it either wrung free from her grasp or she was finally satisfied with it.

"Talk to me, Yoko. You know you can tell me anything," Keine coerced the stubborn girl. They remained in their seats, neither of them moving except for the fidgety Yoko. I decided to occupy my time by watching the other kids play through the window.

"Wh―" She started but wasn't able to finish. She was on the precipice staring down, wondering if she could make it. All she needed was a little extra nudge which Keine was more than happy to provide. Kids are a real pain.

Switching nervously from me to Keine Yoko's gaze travelled. "Alright, I got it. I'll leave," I said shoving my hands into my pockets and moving towards wondrous salvation.

"No!" Yoko exclaimed suddenly. Damn it. "I-If it's you two then… you guys might understand." I spun around curious at her bizarre need of wanting me to stay.

"Understand what?" I asked.

"…How do you know when you're in love?" She asked her voice so timid and soft I almost thought I'd imagined her saying it. Keine and I passed quick questioning looks at one another.

"Well Yoko-chan, there's many kinds of love you know," Keine began treading cautiously.

"I mean in love in love! You know, like when you want to like… marry them and stuff." She looked up desperately, pleading to each of us for a suitable answer. "I don't know how to tell…And it's really frustrating and I'm confused!"

Carefully so as not to make too much noise I grabbed a chair and swung it around, sitting reverse and resting my arms on the back. "Well… When you're in love like that, then you'll know because you want to… kiss them, right?"

Slowly, as if considering very carefully the words I'd just spoken she minutely nodded her head. Catching onto me Keine elaborated, "That's right. When you love someone you get all nervous around them and your heart starts beating fast. You feel funny inside that and you know because you don't just want to hug them, you want to go further than that."

"Ah! But at your age you definitely shouldn't go beyond kissing and whatever! You should wait till you're fully grown and be one hundred percent sure of your love." I jumped in quickly, shocked at Keine's tactless approach. Jeez.

"B-but how do you make sure?" She asked.

Keine swept in first before I had the chance to set this in the right direction, "You've first got to make sure you can work together as friends! After all if it's just a physical attraction it's all meaningless. You've got to want to get to know them better on a personal level!"

I nodded slowly filtering her words for anything that could be misinterpreted, "Yeah, and when you're in love. You also can't get that person off of your mind…and you always want to spend time with them."

"Precisely! They're like a dog and you're a tic who just doesn't want to be separated from them! All you can think of is sucking on them and you never want to let go!"

"Yes… Wait I mean no!" I signaled at Keine to keep her mouth shut. Oblivious to my throat-slicing ministration Keine only tilted her head wonderingly. I hunched my shoulder forward on the chair. You suck at this! Haven't you ever talked to a kid about this before?

"What sensei is trying to say is that, they're like your favourite pillow."

"Hm. Right you want to sleep with them all the time."

I clamped my hand over Keine's mouth severely concerned as to where her common sent flew off to. Or is she just naturally this oblivious? "Again, what Sensei's trying to say is when you're in love with someone you want to wrap your arms around them so that you can always protect them. They make you feel comfortable and safe."

"When you think of the future you want to have kids and raise a family together with them," Keine managed to mumble out from my hands. A little annoyed at that reason I tightened my hold on Keine, slowly beginning to suffocate her.

"Well that may be one part but what you really want is someone who you can build your dreams with you know?" Tapping furiously on my arm I released the choked idiot and she sucked in huge, gasping breaths. "Look in the end you've just got to make sure that he's the right guy for you, that he only wants the best for you and vice-versa."

I mentally patted myself on the back for my great job and sighed satisfactorily.

"But, what if it's not a guy you're in love with?"

I felt my heart freeze over, winds of cold stirring from within and blowing through my body chilling it to ice. I looked at Keine motionless on the floor and felt dread rise like a wave, pulling back the ocean of my lungs and crashing into my gut.

"It doesn't really matter," Keine cut in, her voice oddly calm and sweet, a tranquil sea of honey you wanted to permanently pander in, "does it, Mokou?"

"No…of course not."

"I think love is boundless, and that true love doesn't have a gender, or race, or any boundary that can't be overcome with determination and passion."

Keine…

"Really?" Patting Yoko fondly on the head, Keine beamed one of her most brilliant smiles, one that left me speechless and without breath.

"Of course, as long as everything Mokou said applies, why should something silly like that matter? Love is more powerful than you know, it crushes mountains, floods seas," she poked Yoko, finger placed right atop her heart. "And it makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, so much so that you do stupid things, don't you?"

"Yeah," Yoko looked up, grinning aloofly.

"Is that why you were being so mean to Hanabi-chan? She was making you have all these confusing feelings so you took out your frustration on her." Grin faltering, guilt replaced her delight, remorsefully she nodded.

"That was pretty stupid then. I don't think Hanabi-chan likes you very much right now. Don't look so down, I'm sure if you apologise earnestly she'll forgive you. After all she's a very nice person, that's why you fell for her right?"

"But you've got to be careful; because even if she decides she wants to be friends with you she may not feel the same way. You understand that, right?"

Solemnly Yoko replied, with all too familiar eyes of hopefulness, "Yeah, I know. But I want to try."

"And you should. But be patient okay. And know you're probably going to face lots of hardships. But a love that can weather the storm will only come back stronger than it was before. But you're strong and I know you can do it if you try."

Furiously Yoko nodded. "Thank you, Sensei; I knew someone like you would understand."

"It's my pleasure. Now just promise you won't ever do that again and that you're going to go apologise immediately."

"I promise."

"I'm sorry to interrupt your moment," I said just wanting to clear a little concern of mine. Hanabi's like seven years old! "J-just I mean, this is beautiful and everything. I'm stunned actually but just exactly how old do you think Hanabi is?"

"Hanabi's eleven years old, isn't she?" Yoko told me, looking at Keine for confirmation.

"Yeah, she's turning twelve next month. She is pretty small for her age, but if you look at her mother you would see where it comes from."

Whaaaaat? I thought for sure she wasn't even over ten years old.

"A-alright…Well, problem solved I guess."

"Now go apologise," Keine commanded Yoko, giving her a pat on the back, "do you want me to come with?"

"No thanks, Sensei. Oh and don't worry I'll keep your secret."

Simultaneously, our two brains operating on the same wavelength, Keine and I asked, our voices an echo of each other. "What secret?"

She gazed at us quizzically before answering directly.

"Aren't you two in love with each other?"

…...

'Dare to dream.'

It wasn't complete yet but already the house was beginning to look like paradise, if in my imaginations I had to conjure up my definition of a paradise you'd find that the image in my head and the one before me were almost exact matches.

Tittering on the edge of the dense bamboo forest, cross-sectioned by a small, gracefully flowing stream, situated in a patch of open, clean cut grass was my soon to be home. Our home, I corrected myself hoisting a plank of wood and handing it off to one of the carpenters. The area when not surrounded by taskforces of laboring men, kappa and earth spiders, was peaceful and quiet, cut-off enough from the world that it gave the illusion of being in a plane of its own. Yet it was close enough for Keine and the villager's convenience.

"If we keep up at this pace we should be finished with the exterior the day after next, so don't slack off anybody!"

"Hai!" I and all the other workers exclaimed in unison. Two more days! I began to whistle a tune, adding a specific swagger into my walk that clearly showed my glee. The work continued another hour or so until lunch time. A single mind as the time for rest came all the men concluded the tasks they were occupied with before pulling out their various lunches.

The usual clamor of grabbing for others food ensued and I was happy that this time at least I'd managed to retain at least one morsel of Keine's home-cooked meal. "This is really good! So Keine-sensei can cook to huh, I'm so jealous!"

I scratched my head embarrassedly and quickly tried to derail the topic onto something else. We all sat chatting, the men exchanging boasts of their 'conquests' and sometimes turning to me for advice on matters of the maze-like female heart. I gave advice as best as I can but the moment I caught sight of Keine making her way back from the village I quickly ducked out of the conversation and ran towards her.

"So it looks like the house will be finished in two days' time!" I declared excitedly, Keine looked slightly shocked and shook her head motherly.

"You're not overworking yourselves are you? I don't want you guys to push too hard," she told them.

"Not at all!" Ryuunosuke, the youngest of the men, shouted back at her before shoving his face full of food again.

"Yes, just like Ryuu-kun said," His father began, wrapping an arm around his sons neck. "This is the first time we get to thank you for your tireless work. We're not going to slack off on a task so important, otherwise we couldn't call ourselves real men!"

"We're going to make you a house that will last forever! No less than you deserve!"

A little flushed from all the friendliness Keine chuckled, "Thank you, the Shoji are coming along nicely as well, ah Mokou that reminds me what colour tatami would you like the most."

"Hmm, you can only really have white tatami, right?"

"I thought that's what you'd say, well, boys, I'm going to take Mokou to help with the sewing now, be careful now."

"Hai!"

The rest of the day progressed smoothly, as well as the one following. Keine and I helped out as much as we could wherever possible, after all this is our home we were supposed to build together. Keine wanted to participate in some of the more labour heavy work but the men were insistent that she not soil her image. Of course once she effortlessly carried twice as much as even the biggest of them they were forced to concede.

It kind of annoys me they never insisted I don't do manual labour. Do they think that I'm manly? Or… are they all perverts?

When one of us wasn't directly involved in the construction we'd be with the other women in the village sewing, knitting and crafting all of the interior pieces of the house. Keine managed to procure some of the finest silverware and bowls from generous families while I was given a thorough, deafening scolding on my farming practices.

Then finally the day came, the workers patted themselves congratulatory and we bowed bestowing upon everyone our gratitude for their assistance. The sun began to sink below the horizon and our little world transformed magically.

"Do you know why I picked this location for our house, Mokou?"

"Yeah," I answered her placing my hand atop hers on the door. I regarded my surrounding momentarily, taking in the sublime atmosphere. "This is where we first met. In a way it's kind of poetic." Together we pulled open the door together, stepping into both metaphorically as well as literally, the start of a new chapter in our lives. We slipped off our shoes, replacing them with slippers.

"Of course, building our future life by the place in the past that started all of this, it's beautiful." We strode hand in hand through our new home together, it was a startling seven rooms in total, a lot larger than I'd anticipated but the villagers insisted on providing Keine with a house that fit her status of village protector.

There was a garden in the middle of the house that all the rooms opened up to. The stream cut through the middle of the garden, a quaint, intricately designed bridge sufficing to transverse the calm water. The garden was decorated with beautiful flowers of all kind, bamboo stalks rising in the one corner and outdoor seats for relaxation.

The entrance hall was the one of the two largest rooms in the house, a twelve-tatami mat space decorated with various welcoming and hospitality statues and figurines. Branching off the right and left side of the house were two six-tatami mat rooms, one serving as Keine's study and the other as a comfort room. Growing upwards from each side were five-mat tatami rooms. On the right, one a tea-room, the other the kitchen. The two on the left were bedrooms and closing off the two sides of the house at the top was the twelve-mat dining and entertainment room, and of course detached from the rest of the house was the washroom.

"Walking through here like this, doesn't it feel like we're two newlyweds?" Keine chortled looking at me expectantly with calm, satisfied eyes.

"I suppose it does," I whispered pulling the two of us closer together. We continued our leisurely stroll around the interior of the house, all of it seeming a little like a fairy-tale to me. It reminded me of living in the Fujiwara manor all those years ago, before the darker days, before Kaguya. Except this time there was Keine. I'm going to live her from now on, live here with Keine. It all seemed so surreal; we pinched each other to make sure neither of us was dreaming. We weren't.

"Two bedrooms, huh," I muttered under my breath, "which one do you want? I don't mind either."

"I-if you don't mind, why don't we just keep the one as a spare…and share the other." She suggested opening the door to two already laid out futons. "It would be a lot warmer that way wouldn't it? I've… grown fond of sharing a bedroom with you ever since I've been staying at your place. So…"

The odd contrast of Keine looking both bashfully shy, her cheeks a rosy complexion and innocently erotic had the combined effect of making me want to jump on her, ripping apart the strung together collection of threads we call clothes.

"N-No problem," I sputtered biting back my urges.

This might be tougher than I thought.

…

'I think we dream so we don't have to be apart for so long. If we're in each other's dreams, we can be together all the time.' – A.A Milne

Somehow or another, through trickery and masterful deception the wonderfully clever, yet eternally innocent Keine had fooled me into 'breaking in the bath' together with her. Her choice of words were yet again wonderfully suggestive.

So now I bathed, face half buried beneath the hot water, the heat a wonderful excuse for my blush, with Keine loosely relaxing beside me. Naked. I tried my hardest to ignore that specific detail. Feeling oddly inadequate I brought my knees to my chest, hugging them tightly. Against my will my eyes would ceaselessly wander to Keine, skin slick and rubicund. No matter how many times I forced them back to the blandness of the wall, they would revert impossibly drawn to their greatest allure.

"Say, Keine… Why do you keep doing that?" She paused, a lustrous lock of my hair resting in her palms.

"Well I couldn't stop thinking how long and beautiful it was, so I wanted to touch it. You understand that right?" Loping her hands through my hair she continued unperturbed with her ministrations. I gulped. Of course I understand that. "Say, Mokou…"

"What?"

"Can I wash your back?"

Exasperated at her innocent unawareness I nodded, "Sure. I'll wash yours afterwards." I parted my hair with open palms and brought it over my shoulders. My white hair pooled in front of me, bobbing evenly up and down. She moved in place behind me, pressing the sopping washcloth to my skin. I tensed, then relaxed as she began kneading the muscles of my back.

"Aren't you two in love with each other?"

I wonder, Yoko. I know how I feel towards her, but Keine… well you might not know it but she can be kind of dense. I don't want to read the situation wrong and make everything awkward between us, or risk losing her. Although she wouldn't necessarily be against it… she said so herself, that true love has no barriers. Could that mean… but, what about kids? Keine loves children so, surely.

"Mokou what's up? You haven't said anything for a while now, is the heat getting to you?"

"Ah, no, it's nothing I was just thinking about something."

"Ohh, what were you thinking about?" She asked sliding her hand softly across my shoulder. I tightened my grip on my knees and felt the tips of my toes twinkle.

"You remember when Yoko asked us about love? Well, you said you thought that it didn't matter who or what the person you loved was. As long as you have determination and passion."

"I do remember that." Keine stopped scrubbing my back and I turned around so that I was able to see, and hopefully read her face. "Although I also think that you can't be selfish with love. You have to consider the other persons position you know. Like how it may affect their family life, their future, or how they may feel about it after you're gone. You have to consider the effect you're going to have on their lives and if it's going to benefit them or drag them down… So sometimes it's tougher for some people."

"But it's like you said, sometimes those extra challenges help to serve and strengthen your love." I closed the distance between us, perhaps I was affected by this the bathwaters heat, it was muddling my mind. Though I knew the truth of that, there was no way external fire could ever influence my state of my mind. Although this slight, unexplainable and slightly irritating inner passion might.

"Yeah, that's what I think at least." She met me halfway, eyes glittering with nervous anticipation. She dropped her voice to a whisper, perfectly bashful she fluttered her eyelashes, unsure of where to look. I felt my heart race faster and that uncomfortable, yet pleasant center warmth grew hotter.

"You know, this really is a dream come true for me. Getting to live in this house with you, but ever since Yoko… I can't stop wondering if what she said might be true. And I'm sorry but I get this really selfish feeling sometimes, I want more than what we are now. Keine you're my dream and I want to love you more." There, I said it. Now it's either sink or swim.

"Keine…" My breath came out rushed, pushed desperately out of my lungs as my gut clinched. She was crying, she didn't whimper or sob. Yet the tears were all the deafening noise I needed. I winced at the sting of rejection, feeling my limbs wanting to give out. "Keine I―"

She placed a single, stout finger on my lips. "Just let me say one thing," she said, her mouth twisting into an honored, melancholic smile.

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" I repeated blinking back hissing tears, "what f―"

Softness like a cloud overwhelmed me, a lightness like if I didn't hold on tight enough to the earth I'd float, bubbled from within my stomach. Her lips were sweet, molding into mine seamlessly. From light tremors, to viscous uncontrollable emotion I could feel it all. This kiss was a silent plea, communicating that simple, deeply convoluting abstract entity we call love.

Melting away my doubts, my fears, providing me with a fullness so complete I worried I'd never be able to swim because all I'd do is sink, like a rock. That's what this kiss did to me, it sucked away my breath and in that emptiness love flooded in. So heavy and absolute, so radically explosive I worried for my safety.

When I saw you I was afraid to meet you. When I met you I was afraid to love you. When I loved you I was afraid to kiss you. Now that I've kissed you it feels like I've run in a complete circle.

Because when I kissed you I was afraid to lose you.

…

'I used to lie awake at night, wondering about you, fretting about you, thinking only of you. Not much has changed, except now I lie awake at night loving you.'

The moon at its peak,
the night completely devoid,
of all sound but us.

Within our bedroom, our silent world, the air is thick and heavy with her bewitching fragrance. Sake lies discarded, our small celebration abruptly ended.

Heaving chest, dishevelled hair, slipping kimono,

I took her to bed,
in passion we are reborn,
lost in lovers hold.

She lays down and I follow her body, like crackling tails follow their fiery source. Hesitantly, as if she would shatter at the slightest touch her existence a delicate crystal, I caress her.

Tender touches, electric kisses, sensual waves,

Above her in bed…
Little breaths lifting our bodies,
Eyes, fingers, dreaming.

"Wait," She breaths greatly, her voice husky and excited.

"Should I slow down?" I intone, sinking my head against her.

Hot breath, sweltering skin, naked flesh.

The pulse in her neck
revealing her heart racing
although she lies still.

"N-No, it's j-just… I feel like my hearts going to explode." Smiling, my hand atop her chest I feel her heart. Racing, roaring, pounding against its cage, for me.

Shut eyes, tense muscles, flowing life.

Integral desire,
Swallows our grounded beings,
Elevating lust.

"Mine too," I whisper, saccharinely intense leaning forward, "Feel," Her breasts against mine, our hearts drumming in sequence, forming their own melodious rhapsody. Short, mischievous peck, followed by a long, intrinsic dance of tongues.

Shallow moans, sweet flavour, loving embrace.

Speaking in tongues,
My body understands,
Every word.

We break apart, her eyes trailing after me desirably. Leisurely, I open her kimono. Touching and feeling her bare flesh, working the muscles of her tone stomach, goosebumps, shivers. "You're beautiful," My heartfelt whisper tickles her ear and she whimpers.

Playful blowing, devilish nibbling, lustful sigh.

Tightly her fingers,
Coil, press, sink into my flesh,
Scratches marking me.

"M-Mokou…"

"Shh," I silence her with my lips, "don't worry, I know. I'll be gentle." I kiss her lips again, her forehead, her eyes, ears, neck, collarbone, the supple flesh of her bosom, the sensitive tip of it all. She shudders and my tongue creeps forward, coating it all in a glossy sheen that mesmerises me.

Bated breath, shut eyes, palpable sensation.

Tasting salty wet
Still thirsting, my tongue pursues
her hot sweat again

I send my hand curving along the contours of her body, across her navel, her hip, stroking her inner thigh. Slick, sultry and warm. "I-I don't k-know what's wrong with me, th-that's―"

"I know what this is, you don't?"

"H-How would I know? This is my first time…"

"Well I'm not exactly experienced either but…You're a teacher and yet you don't know about this? No wonder you were so clueless." I chuckle at her virtue.

"Sorry."

"There's nothing to apologise about," I lowered myself, goading her legs apart. She bites at her lower lip, eyes focused expectantly. When she caught me looking she averted her eyes. "I'll be using my mouth then."

Testing touch, teasing, the discovering of pleasure.

Sweat dampens our sheets,
her soft body and warm breath,
echo in my mind

Wet wells from her core, perspiration lies slick in her deep, swaying valley. The flick of my tongue holds her at the edge of anticipation. The suspense is thick, goosebumps rising on our skin, blood running hot below. Seeking more, I plunge into her.

Stunning surprise, bracing, the shock of intensity.

Her hips rise and fall
to the relentless cadence
of my dancing tongue.

Ecstasy begins to cloud her mind; frenzied senses alight in rapturous sensation. Tightly her legs close around me, enticing, refusing my escape. I dive deeper, igniting my body and hers in carnality. Breathlessly she pleas:

"M-Mokou!"

Curling toes, arching spine, deep gasp.

Her pleasure a song,
Delivered raw in pure verse,
Crescendo of love.

In her quaking, she becomes the embodiment of eroticism. From her amatory scent, to her seductive cries, and her addictive taste.

Subtle satisfaction grows, body trembles, eyes white-out.

She hangs on the edge, breathing rapidly until I murmur: "It's okay. You can come now."

A rush of wetness,
as her muscles push me out
and her back arches.

In a soundless roar, she succumbs to nirvanic delight. Letting herself be taken on a blissful journey, high, above herself and all. Reaching the closest thing to heaven that can exist on this earth. She rides each wave, every ripple, till the waters calm and finally die down.

Bathing in angelic afterglow, I confine her in my loving embrace. As I caress her cheeks, she bats her eyes singly, they droop as if stuck between dreams and reality. With little insistence she pulls me in and we kiss, her taste still fresh on my lips. She shudders noiselessly, sighing in fulfillment.

"It's your turn now."

"You don't have to."

"No, but I want to."

Gently our eyes meet. Hazel, wide. Beautiful. Her silver-blue hair glistens in the subtle light. Caught lost in her splendor, the fiery ache of my core throbs. I sink myself onto her knee, moaning at the thrilling arc of delight that singes my skin on contact.

We kiss again and continue our passionate consummation of love.

We become lost at sea, in the dark night our soft cries, rise and drown out everything. All there is, is us. We love each other till the sun rises on a new day, and on a new chapter of our lives, where from here on out our stories will be told together.

THIRD PART END