She had no idea how long she had been running. The familiar landscape around her home was long gone. The entrance to the underground world she lived in had passed by. Parsee had jumped back, startled, and for once hadn't been envious when she saw who had been running by and had been chasing her. She couldn't possibly be safe here, though. She pushed on through her exhaustion and the throbbing pain in her side, and while her eyes were on the ground in front, the magenta third eye currently balanced on her shoulder flickered all around, watching for a sign of an attack.

The tall bamboo that stretched up on all sides was disorienting. Satori Komeiji couldn't tell if her attacker was close behind, or if she'd lost her. Her light pink-purple hair was messy, the thin flesh cords connecting her third eye to her body disheveled and one slightly bruised. Her hand was firmly pressed to her side, but her shirt was still staining scarlet around it. Her head was spinning, and she staggered, gasping for breath and managing to steady herself by grabbing a thick bamboo stem before she collapsed from the sudden wave of dizziness that swept over her.

"You managed to keep that up for a while, little satori," an amused voice practically purred behind her. Satori quickly let go of the bamboo and spun around, eyes wide and her free hand immediately going to her third eye, protectively pulling it to her heart. She didn't dare look at the youkai standing before her with it. The eldritch beast's true form was terrifying, and an accidental glimpse with her third eye had revealed things she wished to forget. To Satori's typical eyes, she looked to be a girl, not terribly old, with black hair and a black dress, red blades stretching menacingly from her back on one side and blue tentacles tipped with spades lazily coiling and uncoiling on the other. She held a trident in her hands, the sharp tips already stained scarlet.

"N-Nue… please, I… I didn't mean to read you, I just want to leave you alone and be left alone," Satori said, her voice shaky. She took a step back. Nue took two forward, her red eyes glinting in the light and her teeth bared in a wide grin.

"Even if I believed that," Nue said, stepping towards Satori even as the mind-reading youkai tried to back away, "Your kind has been a threat to my very existence from the beginning. I haven't spared a satori yet. Unless you count cutting their third eye from their body and leaving them an emotionless shell as sparing them. But I suppose I'll offer you this. If you tell me where I can find your sister, the last satori, then I won't draw this out."

"I won't help you to kill her! I care about Koishi, probably more than you care about anything," Satori snapped despite her body shivering with each step backwards, third eye pressed to her chest, and dizziness spinning through her skull.

Nue shifted her trident in her hands, and before Satori could step away or aside, lashed out with it, spearing the three prongs into the mind-reader's stomach. She lifted Satori off the ground even as the girl gave a cry of pain, and slammed her back-first into the ground.

"It doesn't matter if you're right," Nue said, twisting the handle of her trident. Satori screamed, eyes filling with tears and squirming desperately to try and escape. "Right now, I care about seeing you die." Stabbing the trident down so it would stay in place before letting go, Nue crouched beside Satori, and grabbed one of the thin cords of tissue tying the third eye to her body. This one connected to the back of Satori's head, at the top of her neck. She roughly yanked on it while holding the other girl's head down, hard enough that the skin and muscle tore apart, blood trickled from the now disconnected tube.

"AAAUGH! O-ORIN! Okuu-! Anyone, please, HELP!" Satori screamed again, her struggles growing erratic and agonized. The back of her skull burned with searing pain, so much pain, where Nue had partly torn her third eye off. She could barely feel the trident pinning her though her stomach in comparison. Nue grinned, and stood, preparing to give her a vicious kick.

She wasn't expecting to receive one herself, though. Nue was flung back, crashing into several bamboo stalks, and through the pain and tears, Satori could just faintly make out someone with white hair and red clothes standing over her. The jostling motions of the trident being pulled out and her injured body being gently lifted up barely registered, and she only stayed conscious from the feel of wind on her face as she was carried away somewhere faster than she could have run. When the wind stopped, and there was a slight impact of feet on soil, she could almost hear a faint voice trying to reassure her as everything went dark around her.

"Eirin! Eirin, open up or I'll kick the gods-damn door in," Mokou yelled, giving the door a few light taps with one foot. Not, of course, enough to follow up on her threat just yet. "I got a patient for you!" The white-haired girl glanced down at the limp pink-haired youkai in her arms. All things considered, her injuries didn't look that bad. Not enough to put someone unconscious, anyways. She was losing a lot of blood quickly from the back of her head and the damaged veiny thing hanging off the orb resting on her chest, though. The orb was open just a sliver, and she could see a thin line of a glazed-over red-purple iris.

Was… was that an eye? Mokou frowned slightly. This was one of the stranger beings she'd seen around this part of Gensokyo. The living umbrella still took the cake, though. She was snapped out of her musings by the door sliding open to reveal an irritated-looking Lunarian.

"Let me guess. You found someone injured in the forest, they are now unconscious, and when I ask how you intend to cover their expenses, you'll tell me that you'll burn Eientei down if I don't treat them," Eirin asked, tone flat as she gave Mokou a calculating stare, then glanced at the youkai in her arms.

"You read my mind," Mokou said, holding back a chuckle as Eirin stepped aside to let her come in. Eirin closed the door, and the two started down the hall.

"If that youkai you have there was awake, she literally could. Where did you find a satori? I thought they were extinct, nobody's seen one in quite a long time," Eirin said. The Lunarian opened the door to a small room, and gestured for Mokou to set the youkai girl down on it. Mokou did, making sure to be gentle with her.

"Wait, satori actually exist?" Mokou asked while Eirin started to look over the girl's injuries. "I had no idea what kind of youkai she was. I just saw her being attacked by some wacko with a trident and weird wings, and she was calling for help. So I helped."

"So you not only found a satori and didn't realize it, you also pissed off Nue? I never took you for the most intelligent, Mokou, but this is a new low," Eirin said without pausing. She walked over to a cabinet, and took out a small case with a few knives, thread and a needle, other surgical supplies.

"Nue? What? That's real too?" Mokou asked, while mentally debating whether to get back at Eirin later for calling her stupid. Eirin turned the satori's head to the side so she could start sewing the thin vein from the eye-orb back into place.

"Yes, and I've had her victims dragged in before. I don't know of anyone else with a trident," Eirin answered as she carefully stitched the satori's worst injury up. She wrapped the injured spot in cotton, and gently taped it in place before moving on to her other wounds.

"Shit. Well, it's not like she's gonna show up here, right…?" Mokou said, flinching. She'd heard about a youkai named Nue who was unpredictable and sometimes deadly, and who had so many disguises that nobody had ever seen her true form. And she had kicked Nue in the face. Just because she couldn't die didn't mean she had nothing to fear. There were worse things than death, Mokou knew well.

"Wrong," the black-haired youkai said, sliding the door open. Her eyes were narrowed to slits, her red blade wings spread threateningly and the blue tentacles on her other side twisting around each other as if she was miming tearing something to pieces. "But if you give me the satori, I'll leave quietly."

Mokou had never seen such an intense, murderous hatred in anyone's eyes before. The way Nue was looking at the satori girl, though, she would not stop at anything to kill her. It was terrifying. Despite this, though, Mokou took a step to the side, standing between Nue and the bed where Eirin was still calmly treating the satori as if two pairs of crimson eyes weren't staring at each other with readiness to fight only a few feet away.

"What did she do to you?" Mokou said, glaring back at Nue.

"If I told you, I'd have to kill you," Nue hissed, her wings all bristling at once. Even though this form put her shorter than Mokou, she still had a powerful, dangerous aura around her. Mokou wasn't sure if she'd be able to beat this youkai if they fought.

She decided to try anyways.

"I'll fight you for her. You win, you get her. I win, you never go near her again," Mokou said in the boldest tone she could manage while staring down the closest thing she would probably ever know to pure terror. "And we'll both sign a magic contract holding us to it."

Nue stared at her from behind her red eyes. For a moment, Mokou was scared that this youkai would refuse, and try to take the satori by force.

Instead, though the position of her wings was still menacing and expressing rage, Nue laughed, and folded her arms across her chest.

"You honestly think you're going to win. Oh, that's rich. I'll take you up on that, it'll get me all warmed up for my 'fun' later. You have anything to print that contract on?" the black-haired youkai said, lips parted to show a fanged grin.

"Mokou, you'd better win. I wouldn't be happy if I had to let Nue make off with my patient," Eirin said with a sigh. She pointed to a cabinet, and Mokou was quickly able to find some paper. The two of them printed the contract, and with their signatures and a single drop of blood each, it was made. Destroying the paper would do nothing, they were bound to it. Mokou led the way outside, and once they were in a clear area a suitable distance from Eientei, it was time.

"Let's do this, then!" Nue said, launching herself at Mokou with a feral grin on her face, trident at the ready. Mokou braced herself and stood still, gathering energy to herself. Just as Nue struck, she unleashed an immense blast of flame at point blank, engulfing the youkai in fire. Mokou crumpled from the force of the blow, almost fading out of consciousness, but a small flare of fire suddenly washed over her, and the sharp pain of having her neck broken was mostly gone.

She killed me once already, Mokou thought, worried, as she managed to catch herself after the sudden resurrection before she fell to the ground. Nue had already managed to put out the fire, though she was singed. She whirled around, and Mokou was ready to keep fighting until she couldn't anymore.

The two continued for what felt like hours. Once Nue realized she could kill Mokou and Mokou would simply get back up after flames washed over her, she stopped trying to inflict killing blows and just cripple her opponent. Whenever she was too close to being unable to move, though, Mokou would simply snap her own neck and revive fully healed. She'd killed herself to spare greater pain many times before this fight, and no longer hesitated. Eventually, Mokou managed to land a fierce kick to the side of Nue's head after they'd both struck each other countless times, and the youkai tried to get back up, but collapsed, falling to the ground and laying there, limp and still.

"Looks like I've won," Mokou said, standing over the battered Nue. She was exhausted, herself, and in a lot of pain from the wounds and deaths she'd endured during their fight. But she had won, the satori was safe.

"G-Gods damn you, immortal flame bitch," Nue managed to say, glaring up at Mokou with the one scarlet eye not squeezed shut in pain. "You're… agh… lucky I was having an off day… keep your gods-damn satori, I didn't want it anyways."

Mokou limped back to Eientei. She didn't offer to bring Nue back with her, just focusing on getting herself there. Eirin was already standing just outside, arms crossed.

"I'll assume by the fact that Nue hasn't come to take my patient yet that you were the winner," the Lunarian said. Mokou nodded, and regretted it. Her neck was beyond sore from having had it broken and repaired so many times.

"Y-Yeah. I think she killed me at least ten times. Killed myself several more. Can I lay down on the sofa or something?" Mokou asked, exhaustion slipping into her voice. Even though she didn't require sleep to live, it made her feel a heck of a lot better when she was worn out like this. Eirin sighed.

"Go home, Mokou. You can come by later when you feel better, you don't have to obsess over every patient you bring me," the medical genius said. The white-haired immortal sighed. She knew Eirin was right. She always hated it when Eirin was right. At least her home was nearby.

Satori slowly opened her eyes to the sight of an unfamiliar wall and some cabinets, the feelings of a bed under her and a dull pain in the back of her head. Her third eye was lying beside her chest, and she looked into her own red-violet eyes for a second, blinking at herself. With her headache, it took her a minute to recall what had happened.

Nue had tried to kill her. She had no idea where she was. And a person with white hair and red clothes had saved her. She lifted a hand to the back of her head, and felt bandages at the base of her skull. Her third eye was safe… that was good. She really did have to thank whoever had helped her.

She caught the sound of a door opening, and a youkai with white rabbit ears and long purple hair walked into her field of view. She shifted her third eye just enough so she could see the rabbit with it. From the hair color and the strange quality of her red eyes, Satori guessed she was a moon rabbit.

Oh good, she's awake. Took long enough, Eirin was worried and Mokou's been impossible to deal with, the rabbit thought while saying, "Hey. Are you feeling alright?"

"Yes, I… I'm fine. Who are Eirin and Mokou? And who are you, for that matter?" Satori said, looking curiously up at her. The rabbit looked taken aback for a second.

Wait, no, Eirin warned you about this. She's a satori, they read minds, she thought to calm herself. "Eirin's a medical genius, she fixed you up, Mokou's some annoying hotheaded girl who brought you here, and I'm-"

"It's nice to meet you, Reisen. That's a pretty name. I'm Satori," the satori said, managing a faint smile. Reisen frowned.

"I'm not going to get used to this anytime soon," she said. She thought, but didn't say, her name is Satori? When she is a satori? What kind of idiot names their kid after their species? Wait, shit, she's hearing this right now. Uh, sorry. Thanks for the compliment on my name.

"My parents were murdered before I was old enough for a formal naming ceremony and I simply took what others referred to me as," Satori explained. She'd had to tell this several times in the past. It wasn't as painful to say anymore because it had been so long ago. She managed to sit up at this point, quickly noticing that the bottom half of her bloodstained shirt was unbuttoned and bandages were wrapped around her body. "Actually, they were murdered by the very same youkai who tried to kill me. I suppose I was simply luckier than them."

"Well, Mokou was there to save you, so yeah. Actually, speaking of Mokou, she wanted to see you as soon as you woke up, and she won't stop waiting right outside Eientei. You mind if I bring her in?" Reisen said. Her thoughts were mostly regarding wondering why Mokou was so worried, she didn't even know the satori girl, though she was also feeling sorry for Satori losing her parents and not receiving a proper name.

"I would very much appreciate it. Thank you, Reisen, you've been much more patient with me than many," Satori said, giving a small nod. The rabbit left, and Satori could read her relief at no longer having her mind scrutinized as she went.

It was true, usually humans and youkai got angry with her quickly for reading their minds. Though Reisen hadn't liked it, she'd been very agreeable. Satori found herself staring at the sheets covering her lower body and wishing others were more like Reisen. She didn't need to be liked, just treated like a person with feelings.

The door slid open again before too long, and Reisen walked off as another girl entered. She was tall and had long white hair, fire-resistance talismans tied into it like bows, with red pants held up by suspenders of the same color covered in more talismans and a shirt that would have been white, but seemed stained by smoke to a dirty tan. Satori could faintly smell smoke as the girl walked closer.

"Hey. Good to see you're better, I was worried about you. Don't worry about that Nue brat; I beat her to a pulp for you. You don't have to worry about her ever again. I'm Mokou, what's your name?" the white-haired girl said, holding out her hand with a warm, sincere smile. Satori took the offered hand and gave it a polite shake while her third eye picked up the only thing Mokou had thought but not said- Wow, all three of her eyes are the same color. The white-haired girl's gaze had gone first to the third eye resting lightly over her chest, but now she was making eye contact with Satori's more normal eyes.

"Thank you. I'm Satori, and why wouldn't they be?" she responded with a smile. She hid her surprise- this girl seemed human, aside from the traces of smoke scent drifting around her. And she had beaten Nue, and kept the shape-shifter from killing her. She had to be incredibly powerful, then…

"Whoa, Eirin wasn't kidding about the mind-reading!" Mokou said, blinking a few times. "Makes sense, though. Dunno why I wasn't expecting them to be." Satori giggled. This girl who had gone out of her way to save her was amusing. She could see that Mokou's thoughts were a bit conflicted. She wasn't sure whether it was neat that the youkai could tell what she wanted to say, or weird.

"I really am grateful that you saved me, Mokou. My sister and I are the only satori left, because Nue couldn't stand to have us alive… I honestly thought she was going to take my eye and leave me to die. How did you manage to get her to leave…?" Satori asked. She could see the scene replaying itself in the other girl's head as she formulated her answer, feel the fear when Mokou was standing between her and Nue, saw the contract, their fight.

"Challenged her for your life, made a contract, beat her up," Mokou said, neatly summarizing her thoughts while Satori was still trying to understand just how she was okay when Nue had inflicted fatal wounds many times over in her memory.

"I… I see. Is there any way I can repay your kindness? From how you remember it, you were hurt quite a bit for my sake…" Satori was honestly impressed by the fact that this person who had never met her before had stood up to Nue just to protect her. For a split second, she could see Mokou's thoughts flicker between don't die, repay me by staying alive and so she knows how fighting Nue went and she's the cutest youkai I've met in a long time.

"Don't worry about paying me back. Just don't die on me, and we're all good," Mokou said with a smile, reaching over and patting Satori's shoulder. Her fingers lightly brushed against one of the cords connecting Satori's third eye to her body, and the youkai reflexively shivered. With all the concentrated nerves, her third eye and related veins were so sensitive that the lightest touch would be intense to her. Any pain there was amplified too, as she was still feeling from her nearly-healed wound. She could see Mokou's worry, hear her think, is she okay?

Before the white-haired girl could ask, Satori said, "Yes, I'm fine. My third eye is just very sensitive to even a light touch on the veins. And no, it didn't hurt." She could immediately sense relief from Mokou.

"I didn't even have to ask, huh? You sure are good at mind-reading," Mokou said, giggling, while she thought, that's pretty convenient. Sure it's weird, but I bet I don't even have to say anything to have a conversation with this chick. Glad I didn't hurt her there.

"You don't have to say anything if you don't want to, really. And thank you, I like to think I'm quick to recognize what is being thought," Satori said. At this point, though, a Lunarian with white hair and red-and-blue clothes walked in.

"Reisen thought I ought to wait a bit for you two to talk before coming in, but I do have a patient to worry about," she said. Satori could see that she was composed and completely focused on making sure she was well enough to leave. Mokou took a step away from the bed so the medical genius could do what she needed, but remained as a friendly presence.

The Lunarian looked over both Satori's wounds on her stomach, which she told Satori were healing very well and would be safe to leave without bandages, and the one on the back of her head, which she said was healing well but would probably be sore for a week or so. Satori had to brace herself while she inspected that one so she wouldn't flinch away from the touch.

"I think you've healed enough that you can go home. Just don't get into any fights along the way," the Lunarian informed the satori after it was all said and done.

"Alright. Thank you, miss… um…" Satori said, hesitating. The thoughts she was reading were so complex, going through many unrelated things at once, that she almost missed the name- Eirin. "Eirin. Thank you. I will send you something nice when I get the opportunity."

"Mm. I hope I don't have to see you back here as a patient again," Eirin said, and left.

"She means that-" Mokou started.

"In the best possible way, I know. Her thoughts are… interesting. I can tell she means well, though," Satori said. She got out of the bed, and could stand easily enough without being too shaky. Mokou showed her to the door, and soon they were standing just outside Eientei in the forest.

"Do you know the way home from here?" Mokou asked.

"…no," Satori muttered. Almost at once, Mokou thought, I really ought to walk her home. I bet I could find it, and if anything tries to hurt her along the way…

"It's not anywhere nearby. You'd be going very out of your way," Satori immediately said. She didn't want to inconvenience this girl who had already been hurt for her sake, had already saved her life, any more than she already had.

"Don't care. It's not like I have anything I need to be doing. Where do you live, anyways?" Mokou said, grinning.

"Underground, in Former Hell," Satori said. She watched Mokou carefully for her reaction.

What the heck. There's a "former hell"? And a cute little youkai like this LIVES there? Did… did she WANT to live there?! Mokou didn't actually say anything, just staring in surprise. Satori sighed. She supposed it was best to explain.

"There is indeed a former hell. The Yama decided to relocate Hell, and I live in a palace that was abandoned at the time of the moving. It's actually fairly comfortable, and though I did not choose to move there- it was the only place I could go, really- I wouldn't leave, as my pets require that sort of climate to stay healthy," the youkai said. "I have a kasha and a hell raven."

"Hot place, I'm guessing?" Mokou said, raising an eyebrow.

"Very," Satori said. "I'm rather tolerant to heat, fortunately."

"I think I'd do just fine there too. I mean, fire's really my thing," Mokou said. "Anyways, if you don't know how to get back from here, we can go ask my friend. She knows about a lot of things." In her thoughts, Satori could see an image of a young woman with silver-blue hair and a funny hat, who looked quite intelligent, and heard the name Keine.

"Alright. I'll follow you," Satori said. Mokou nodded and started walking on ahead, Satori tailing along almost beside her but slightly behind. As they walked, Mokou asked Satori about her pets, and the youkai girl responded by telling her all about how her hell raven, Okuu, had started some trouble before but was now being a good, helpful pet, and how adorable her cat, Orin, was, especially when she was trying to keep Okuu out of trouble.

"Actually, I bet they're worried about me…" Satori said, looking down at her third eye like she tended to do when she thought of things that sucked happiness out of her demeanor.

"Well, that just means they're really good pets! Heheh, I wouldn't mind a nice pet like that myself. Though I wouldn't be able to just up and understand their hearts like you, I don't read minds," Mokou said. She slowed her pace so she was right beside Satori, and comfortingly put her arm around the other girl. She couldn't avoid touching the veins of Satori's third eye in doing this, though, and the light almost-pressure sent a tingling feeling rippling through her entire body.

"Hey, so we're almost at the human village. I think you'd kind of weird everyone out, so maybe you should stay here while I go get directions from Keine. Or maybe I could fetch her so you can meet her?" Mokou said, lifting her arm off of Satori. The youkai usually hated anyone coming in contact with her third eye, but for a reason she wasn't fully aware of, she almost wished Mokou hadn't moved away.

"I doubt she'd like me. I'll wait right here for you," Satori said. She sat on a rock, and Mokou walked away.

"Keeeeeine! Keine. Keine. Keeeeine," Mokou called, knocking repeatedly on her friend's door. It was late afternoon, the sun was low in the sky but it was still nice and bright. After several minutes, Keine opened her door. Her silver-blue hair was a bit messy, a comb still stuck in it.

"I've had a really bad day, Mokou, what could you possibly want?" she said, sounding exhausted. Mokou frowned, feeling a bit sorry for her friend.

"Well, I met a pretty cool youkai. She's a satori, and I was going to take her home, but she lives in former hell and neither of us know how to get there so I was hoping you had directions and…" Mokou started, speaking quickly.

"Wait, you found a satori?" Keine cut her off with, suddenly much more interested. "I've only ever read about them. Interesting species, I've always wanted to meet one. I can of course tell you where the entrance to former hell is, but if you can introduce me to her…"

"Yeah, sure. She didn't think you'd want to, but if you do, there's no problem," Mokou said with a smile. It looked like she'd managed to cheer Keine up a bit. She was glad she'd saved Satori's life. Not only was the youkai really polite and sweet, she'd make Keine's day. Keine quickly ducked back inside to take the comb out of her hair and put her hat on, and Mokou was soon leading her back to where she'd left the satori.

Satori was still sitting calmly on a rock, and a butterfly had landed on the girl's head and she was talking to it. It took off and fluttered away, and she waved goodbye to it.

"Hello, Mokou. And Miss Keine, I see?" she said, watching them. Mokou noticed Keine looking her over, focusing especially on the girl's third eye. "I suppose if you've wanted to meet a satori for that long, you can inspect me as closely as you'd like."

Mokou had barely blinked when her friend had already darted over and was looking over the youkai's third eye and veins, asking her questions about her kind. Satori patiently answered, telling her about how the satori could see into people's hearts, how they'd all been banished, her family had fled underground and Nue had hunted down her whole species but her and Koishi, her sister, who had hidden and managed to go unnoticed. Keine didn't even seem to mind that Satori was answering her questions before she asked them, at least for the moment. Eventually, Satori hesitantly let Keine touch one of her veins, and flinched but didn't seem terribly bothered. Mokou simply stood there, glad that the two seemed to be getting on alright. She wasn't sure why Keine made Satori flinch when she hadn't with her, though.

"Thanks for being so patient with me. There are a few entrances to former hell, and the nearest one is near the Hakurei shrine. I'll think about it as clearly as I can for you so you'll have an idea of where you're going," Keine eventually said. It was getting a bit dark at this point.

"Alright, it's appreciated. Thank you for the directions, and I am glad you don't think poorly of me for my mind-reading," Satori said. They politely shook hands.

"I'll head back home. You two be careful now," Keine said, and waved cheerfully before walking away.

"She's very nice. I was surprised by how much she likes the idea of someone looking into her heart," Satori said once Keine had left. "I think she's lonely. You help, but she doesn't have anyone to really rely on closely and be with."

"Oh…" Mokou muttered. She had never really thought of Keine as lonely… she'd been more concerned with her own loneliness, her knowledge that her friend Keine would die in a number of years, a short number compared to her life of over 1300 years, and if she made another friend, they'd be fragile and short-lived like everyone else she had ever cared for. It hadn't occurred to her that in her own way, Keine could be lonely too.

She glanced at Satori, who was looking away with an almost-frown, only her third eye still focused on Mokou.

"D-Did I say something wrong? Er, think something wrong…?" Mokou asked, unsure. Satori walked up to her, and she blinked, a bit puzzled. She wasn't expecting the youkai to hug her, holding gently onto her, third eye held just aside.

"I'm sorry you've had to be alone for so long," Satori said in a soft, almost shaky voice. "If… if it helps, I promise not to die on you anytime soon." Mokou returned the hug, pulling Satori closer to her. She'd gotten good at ignoring her loneliness, but this youkai could tell that even if Mokou didn't let it affect her most of the time, it was still painful.

"Thanks, Satori. You're a really great youkai, you know that?" Mokou said, smiling as she took comfort in the other girl's hug. "I never met a youkai I really liked, a full youkai and not a mostly-human like Keine, before." She looked up at the sky. It was getting dark, and the first faint stars were visible. She knew it was dangerous to travel at night… while she was perfectly alright, being immortal and having fire-based powers that would easily illuminate the way, Satori would be in danger. And she couldn't allow that. Not when she'd promised Mokou something like not dying on her.

She was about to ask Satori if she'd mind staying the night at her place, but of course the mind-reader responded before she could speak.

"I suppose Orin and Okuu will be alright without me for a while longer. Lead the way," Satori said. Mokou released her from the hug, and Satori let go slowly, almost as if she wanted to hold on just a little longer. Mokou knew her way around this forest well, and was easily able to find her way home, glancing around as they went to be sure nothing was going to hurt Satori.

Soon, they arrived at her small, simple home. It wasn't much of a house, more of a shack made of the forest's bamboo. It wasn't particularly roomy, but it held Mokou's few belongings, and had enough space for a couple of people to rest.

"Sorry, it's not nearly as nice as Eientei where Eirin lives," Mokou said apologetically. "You can have my bed. I don't need to sleep." Her 'bed' was really just a sleeping bag and pillow on a bamboo mat. It didn't usually bother her, but she couldn't really have a guest like this.

"Don't worry so much. I'll be fine, and I appreciate you letting me stay here. You are right about the more dangerous youkai tending to go out at night, after all," Satori said. Mokou smiled, relieved, though she hoped Satori wasn't just saying that to make her feel better.

The two of them talked for a bit, Satori asking Mokou about how she lived. The youkai seemed concerned for her when she heard about how Mokou often had to fight off youkai who wanted to attack her or the human village, and had actually been defeated before, sometimes even eaten by more feral youkai or ones who knew that she was immortal and they wouldn't be responsible for her permanent murder.

Eventually, though, they stopped talking, and Satori curled up to sleep so she'd be well-rested in the morning. Mokou laid on her back on the floor, staring up at the ceiling and thinking about her day, as she often did.

She was really glad to have a new friend. Satori… Satori was a bit strange. A youkai who could simply look at someone with the third eye connected to her only by thin strands of flesh, and see everything they thought… she was unlike anything Mokou had ever seen. But she used what she saw in others' hearts to comfort them, or comment on their plans, or answer questions they were too nervous to ask. Mokou turned her head to look at Satori. The pink-haired girl was already asleep, all three magenta eyes peacefully closed and her breathing soft and even.

"Good night, Satori," she whispered, smiling. Though she didn't need to sleep, she was comfortable and had a comforting presence nearby… it wouldn't hurt to close her eyes for a bit.

The smell of smoke, stronger than Mokou's scent, woke Satori. She sat up, rubbing her eyes. It was light out, light sneaking in through tiny openings in the bamboo walls and roof of Mokou's tiny home. Mokou wasn't there, though, and she could see no fire. So she got up, still a bit sleepy, and walked outside.

"Hi, Satori!" Mokou said cheerfully. She was sitting cross-legged on the ground, and was tossing a small fireball up and down in her hands. She cupped her hands around it, extinguishing it.

"Mokou. Good morning. Do you usually play with fire when waiting for someone?" Satori asked. She could see Mokou's thoughts flicker to several other occasions of tossing fire around. "…I see that you do." Mokou gave a sheepish grin.

"So uh… I'm walking you home, of course, but do you wanna stop and get some food? I don't know if your kind of youkai needs to eat, or even what you'd eat, but…" Mokou said. She trailed off, but Satori still got the idea, as she was thinking if she needs to eat, I wouldn't want her to have to travel running on nothing. I hope she eats something fairly normal, not like… fear or something…

Come to think of it, she was a little bit hungry.

"Yes, satori require food. Normal food by your standards, though never meat," Satori responded. "I don't eat fear, that's Nue." She giggled a bit, and Mokou chuckled herself.

"Okay, good to know. Why don't you eat…" Mokou started, when she was suddenly hit with a realization- oh. She reads minds, including animals… so it'd be like me going and eating that silly night-sparrow youkai who sells grilled lamprey…

"Exactly," Satori said. "Luckily, I don't need it to live. I'm just fine on fruit and vegetables." She gave Mokou a reassuring smile.

"That's good. You know, where the bamboo forest meets up with the Forest of Magic, there are some peach trees that should be in season right now, and that's on our way, since we'll be near the Hakurei shrine," Mokou said. She was thinking of the peaches, and trying not to drool. Satori giggled, and Mokou looked away, face turning slightly red.

"I love peaches, your idea to go by there is wonderful," the satori chirped, giving a cheerful smile. Mokou lightly hopped up to her feet.

"Then let's go!" Mokou cheered. For a second, Satori could see her consider offering Satori her hand to lead her, but immediately shook that away, thinking, no, that would be too blunt… and started leading the way. Satori chuckled, and Mokou turned even redder as they walked on.

After a few minutes, Satori felt she ought to break the silence. Mokou's thoughts had been distracted, flickering to Satori and about her and wanting to protect her, skirting the idea of wanting to hold her hand, then hastily snapping to thinking that she couldn't think about her like that, she was listening, but soon her thoughts would settle back onto the same train.

"If you really want to hold my hand that much, I really don't know why you wouldn't just ask me," Satori sighed, walking up to catch up to Mokou and reaching out to take Mokou's hand, answering her unspoken request.

"W-Was it that obvious…?" Mokou asked, sheepishly rubbing the back of her head and turning a similar shade of red to her pants. Her thoughts echoed this with a well, I have been thinking about nothing else for the past what, 5 minutes…?

"Eight," Satori chuckled.

"Oh gods, that's embarrassing," Mokou said, looking away. Satori tilted her head to the side, not sure why it would be.

"I'm not sure why that would be embarrassing. I mean, you want to protect me, and those trying to protect another often express this by holding hands," Satori said.

"Yeah… you're right," Mokou said. However, her thoughts betrayed her. Yeah, I do want to hold her hand to protect her, but… she's also so nice, and… she's cute…

Ah. Satori understood now. Mokou… Mokou had the same feelings for her as that girl with the dolls did for the black-and-white witch thief. It was nowhere near as strong, but the doll girl had known the witch much longer than Mokou had known her.

Satori could read another's heart as easily as a sheet of paper, but she couldn't read her own heart even if she stared straight into herself with her third eye. She wasn't quite sure if she shared the feelings, or if she would be like the witch and only want friendship from the one who wanted more. She had really enjoyed Mokou's company, of course, and wanted to repay her somehow for saving her… and she hadn't exactly complained about the feeling of Mokou's oddly-warm hands brushing against the veins of her third eye, which was rare. There was still uncertainty, though… she really wished she could see her own heart through another satori so she could know exactly how she felt. She was perfectly fine holding Mokou's hand either way, though, and so she didn't let go.

After a while of walking in silence, Satori's delicate hand gently held in hers, Mokou could see the change in the leaves on the ground and the few scattered trees that meant they were approaching the peach grove. As soon as Mokou recognized this, Satori perked up, looking as far ahead as she could. It was almost easy to forget that the girl beside her could read her thoughts until she did something like that, speaking about what she hadn't said or anticipating something that she knew about but hadn't mentioned.

A surprise birthday party would be completely impossible for her, Mokou thought, holding back a chuckle.

"Orin tried once. I played along to humor her, but of course she was aware that it wasn't that much of a surprise. The karakasa that they paid to hide in the cake was quite a surprise, though," Satori said, giggling. Mokou laughed. The mental image of that umbrella youkai suddenly popping out of a giant cake and yelling "URAMESHIYA~!" was hilarious.

"Yes, that's pretty much how it went," Satori said, getting another chuckle from Mokou. They stepped out of the forest into a clearing. On the other side, there were only normal trees and the rare scattered bamboo, and lining both sides were peach trees with ripe fruit hanging in the branches.

Sitting under one tree with a half-full basket of fruit at her side, though, was someone neither Satori nor Mokou had expected to see. Reimu Hakurei, the red-and-white miko of the Hakurei Shrine, looked over at the two with confusion evident on her face.

"…Um. Hi, Mokou and Satori…?" Reimu said, puzzled.

"Hello, Reimu. No, there's no incident. I got lost when a youkai tried to kill me, and Mokou here saved my life and is walking me home," Satori said in a pleasant tone. She tightened her grip on Mokou's hand, though. Mokou figured that the shrine maiden had probably attacked Satori and beaten her up at some point, like she tended to do to everyone.

"Jeez, stop doing that. At least you aren't saying my thoughts out loud this time…" the brunette miko said, crossing her arms. "I'm kind of glad there isn't an incident right now, though, to be honest. I've got enough to worry about…" Mokou wondered for a moment what was troubling Reimu.

"I'm very sorry to hear that you're low on both money and food. If I had anything on me, I would leave it in your donation box on our way by, but I don't," Satori said. Ah, okay, that made sense. She was probably gathering peaches here to build up her food stores.

"Eh, the thought counts… didn't think I'd be saying this, but thanks, Satori," Reimu sighed. Mokou had never seen Reimu just ignore something that bothered her all of a sudden like that. It must have been pretty serious. She figured she ought to do something.

"Hey, Reimu. If I hop up in one of the trees, I can throw you down the nicest fruit," Mokou offered. "Of course, I'll toss some to Satori too. But you can have the best ones." From the way Satori quickly flashed a sweet smile that almost made her melt, she knew she'd done the right thing.

"I'd appreciate that, Mokou. I kind of feel bad for not really thinking much of you guys. You're pretty alright," Reimu said, going from staring distantly at the forest behind them to having a faint smile and the spark of energy back in her eyes. Mokou climbed up, balancing easily on the thin branches. Not just anyone could get up in a peach tree like that without falling or breaking it, but Mokou had experience. She started to pick the fruit, and dropped the best-looking ones straight down to Reimu. When she came across one that was still quite tasty-looking but not the prime fruit of the tree, she tossed it to Satori, who almost immediately took a bite out of the first one and held on to a few more. And she also took a single fruit for herself. Once Reimu's basket was full and the shrine maiden had even stuffed her sleeves and pockets with peaches so she could carry more, Mokou jumped down, landing lightly. Satori was still distracted by the peach in her hands, and she had tossed a couple pits onto the ground where they could possibly grow into new trees.

"Thanks for the help, Mokou. Have fun walking the mind-reader home," Reimu said. She waved goodbye, an actual smile on her face now, and walked off with her peaches.

Once Reimu was out of earshot, Satori looked up from her peach and said, "That was good of you to help her out. She's really desperate right now, because her friend who usually stays with her and helps to buy food is off traveling. I didn't explain while she was here, but she's down to begging the black-white witch for edible mushrooms so she can actually eat. I think I'll send her something when I get home."

"That's… pretty desperate, all right," Mokou said, sighing. Poor Reimu… even if she was a bit aggressive, it was common knowledge that the Hakurei Shrine had almost no visitors, and that Reimu would reward any donations with countless thank-yous. It was rumored that its god had died and become an evil spirit simply because nobody had believed in them for hundreds of years. Even in Gensokyo, a god could still fade away from lack of faith, and this had only served to make more people stop going to the shrine. "Yeah, you should send her something."

Mokou was glad that Satori had pointed out that Reimu was having issues in the first place, really. Otherwise, she might have just left the miko to fend for herself. And that would have been cruel if Satori was right about her situation. Satori was a lot more kindhearted than she let on at first, Mokou decided, a faint smile sneaking onto her face.

"Aww, thank you," Satori said, tossing the pit of her peach aside. She walked up to Mokou and leaned over just a bit, resting her cheek on the side of Mokou's arm- she wasn't quite tall enough to reach the immortal's shoulder. Mokou had always been fairly tall.

Mokou smiled, and put a hand on Satori's head, lightly ruffling her hair. Why even was this youkai so adorable? It shouldn't have been possible for a mind-reading youkai to just be so cute.

"Ready to get going again?" Mokou asked. Satori nodded, and stopped leaning on Mokou. She still had one peach left, which she attempted to put in her pocket. It didn't quite fit, so instead she offered it to Mokou. Mokou slipped it into her own pocket for later, where it actually did fit, and led the way with the youkai following her.

Near the Hakurei Shrine, about a ten minutes' walk from it, a large hot spring had formed from a very unnatural geyser. Satori sighed and made a mental note that Okuu was not to alter the environment again.

"This hot spring looks pretty awesome," Mokou said, dipping her hand in the water. Satori was glad that her new friend was resistant to heat, or she'd probably have gotten severely burned by the water, which was near boiling. As it was, though, she could see Mokou thinking about taking a swim in it at some point.

"Actually, I believe my pet raven is responsible for this," Satori said, holding a hand out several feet above the water and frowning. Yes, this was hot enough to cook even a youkai like her who lived near the former site of hell.

"I'll thank her for it if I get to meet her, then," Mokou said with a giggle.

"The way to the underground is over here," Satori said, walking around the edge of the hot spring and inspecting a large rock with a crack through it. The crack was large enough for her to comfortably walk through, and led down into a cavern entrance that quickly widened. Mokou walked over to look. Satori considered offering to walk home by herself from here, but considering the adventurous way Mokou was eying the cracked rock and the way the white-haired girl felt about her, she decided it would be inappropriate. She started down into the cave, and Mokou eagerly followed, lighting a small fireball in her hands to illuminate the way.

They descended into the depths of the cave as it started to transition to stairs instead of simply smooth stone. The cavern opened up at last into a vast underground world, with a stone bridge leading across a chasm as the only route into it.

A blond girl with acidic green eyes was sitting to the side of staring at the floor, looking a bit sad, but when she heard their footsteps, she looked up with an annoyed expression.

"Hi, Parsee," Satori said. She was a jealous youkai, a hashihime, formerly a human who had been transformed and bound here by her emotions. But she was the one person who Parsee wasn't jealous of, and so they got along alright in comparison to Parsee's rather strained relationships with everyone else who went by.

"Oh, it's just you. Who's your friend?" Parsee said. She hopped up to her feet and moved aside, a gesture of allowing them through that she only ever performed for Satori and her sister.

"Hi, I'm Mokou. Nice to meet you, uh, Parsee," Mokou said. Since there was a constant glow of fire from here onwards, she put out the ball of fire in her hands and offered the youkai a handshake. Parsee stared at her, suspicious, wondering what this girl had that she'd inevitably be jealous of.

Satori decided to intervene. She knew that Parsee would not be jealous of those condemned to loneliness and suffering, something the satori and hashihime shared, and Mokou shared as well. She walked up to Parsee.

"Parsee. Mokou is immortal and has lived for over 1300 years all alone, and will outlive everyone she loves until there are no more humans or youkai for her to care about," she whispered into one of the girl's pointed ears. "Even if she has happiness for a time, she'll have to live with the loss for many times longer than it lasted once it ends. You should not be jealous."

She could see the understanding hit Parsee's thoughts, and the blonde's distrust and annoyance faded. Parsee wordlessly accepted Mokou's handshake, and gave her a polite nod. Satori was rather pleased with herself for getting Parsee to be nice to at least one more person. She hoped someday to free Parsee from her curse, even though the hashihime would probably die in the process, but she didn't see that happening anytime soon.

They made their way over the stone bridge into the underground proper. It was warm here, but nowhere near as warm as the area around Satori's home. Off to one side, there was a city, but Satori started off along the path that skirted around it.

"It's actually pretty neat down here," Mokou commented, looking up at the black haze of underground's 'sky'. "I could come by here on a regular basis, wouldn't mind."

Satori could tell she was hoping to be allowed to, she wanted to see Satori. She didn't want to part forever, she wanted to continue to know the satori girl and talk to her and learn about the heart of the one who could so easily read hers. Satori found it ironic that Mokou might, in fact, come to know her better than she knew herself. A satori should be able to see their heart through others, but there were no other satori but her and her sister, whose third eye couldn't see.

The idea of Mokou coming to visit, actually, stirred some sort of emotion in her. She felt light, almost like she was flying instead of walking. She could only assume she was happy to have a friend, that Mokou was important to her. Maybe, she thought to herself with amusement, Mokou's feelings were rubbing off on her and she was starting to echo them.

"I think Parsee would let you through," Satori said, looking over at Mokou with all three eyes and smiling at her. Mokou returned the smile. "And I wouldn't mind having you over, either." Seeing the surge of happiness through Mokou's mind made her glad she'd said it.

"Awesome," Mokou said with a grin as they continued on their way.

Mokou was really enjoying the underground. It was open and expansive, not the narrow caves she'd expected, and the sky was a black haze with the ground lit by wells of flame. The heat was comfortable, settling into her as if it was a part of her, and she was completely comfortable in it, unlike the way she always felt just a bit cold up above.

If it wasn't for the fact that this was a land of only youkai, with no Keine, where she wouldn't be able to protect humans, she might just have decided not to leave.

"We're here," Satori said, snapping Mokou out of her musings. They had arrived at a lone building far from anything else, a big, sprawling palace that was beautiful even though one side of it was worn and collapsing and much of the stained glass was cracked or smashed entirely.

"You live here? Man, this is a lot nicer than my place," Mokou said admiringly as Satori opened one of the large stone doors with some effort. She helped to pull it shut once they were inside. It was quite dusty, and there were very few lights, but it still held a mysterious charm.

Almost at once, a small cat with two tails padded over and rubbed against Satori's legs, purring. She picked up the cat, who meowed and snuggled its head into Satori's chest.

"Hi, Orin! I'm sorry for making you worry. Nue found me, and she almost managed to kill me… Mokou here saved my life, actually," Satori said to the cat. "And she made a contract, so Nue has to leave me alone. You ought to properly introduce yourself." The cat listened intently, then leapt down from Satori's arms, shifting into a youkai girl with pointed cat ears and red hair before her feet hit the ground.

"Thanks for saving Miss Satori! I'm Rin, you can call me Orin, and she said you're Mokou? Neat name," the kasha said, offering Mokou a handshake. Or was it technically a paw-shake? Mokou accepted the gesture.

"Nice to meet ya, Orin. You're a pretty cute kitty," Mokou said, getting a smirk from her in return.

"I try," she said with a chuckle. "It hot enough here for you?"

"Perfectly toasty, actually," Mokou retorted, poking Orin on the nose. She responded by licking Mokou's finger, and they both laughed. Mokou was starting to really like this cat. While she'd never been one for pets, she recognized that a youkai animal like Orin here was a great idea. Especially one with Orin's sense of humor. And if the way Orin had responded to her so far was any indicator, she thought Mokou was cool too.

"Orin, is Okuu around, or is she at the reactor?" Satori asked, interrupting them for a second. Orin glanced back over her shoulder, but said nothing. She didn't need to. "I see. The reactor. But Koishi is home? That's unexpected."

"Surpriiise!" a cheery but oddly empty young voice suddenly chirped from behind Satori. Satori turned, and Mokou leaned a bit to the side of Orin, to see a girl a bit shorter than Satori with a hat perched on top of her green-white hair, her bright blue eyes near emotionless but for the hint of cheerfulness in them, and a third eye like Satori's, only with dark blue skin on it instead of red and with only three veins coming off of it instead of Satori's five.

"Koishi!" Mokou was surprised by just how quickly Satori dashed over to her and how tightly and protectively she hugged the girl. But only surprised for an instant- this was the satori's younger sister, and only other surviving member of her entire species.

"Hi, sister~ Who's the new person with you?" Koishi asked, tone very even, almost monotone but just a bit perkier. Mokou could feel the girl's eyes on her, almost as if they were looking into her soul.

"That's Mokou. She saved my life, so she's definitely a friend," Satori said in a gentle tone, slowly and reluctantly releasing her sister from her embrace. Mokou stepped to the side so she was no longer behind Orin, and Koishi skipped up to her, staring at her with those wide blue eyes.

"You seem like a nice lady," Koishi declared after a minute, the ghost of a smile appearing on her otherwise blank face. She stepped back, just watching with that hollow smile still in place. Mokou had the impression that something was terribly wrong with the girl. And what was with that stare?

"So… uh. Mokou, I ought to show you around. Orin, can you play with Koishi until I finish?" Satori said, still not taking her eyes off her sister.

"Sure thing," Orin said, shifting back into her cat body and pouncing on Koishi, who gave an empty giggle. Mokou walked over to Satori, who started to lead her away.

"Heeey~ Smoky and Tori~" Koishi called before they could leave. "You should kiss already~"

Satori quickly dragged Mokou off, blushing.

"…Okay, what was that all about?" Mokou said once Satori slowed down. "You said your sister couldn't read people anymore. You didn't say anything about… that!"

Satori stared at her third eye.

"…She… she hurt herself emotionally when she sealed off her third eye. Actually, she… she cut off pieces of herself," Satori started to explain, her tone distant and pained. She lightly touched one of the veins connecting her third eye to her body, and Mokou suddenly realized exactly why Koishi's third eye had less of them. She shuddered at the idea of someone inflicting that on themselves.

"Anyways… she's recovered a bit. At least she can be curious, and cheerful, she used to just be empty…" Satori went on. "And she can feel others' subconscious minds, even if she can't read them the way I can read conscious thought." Mokou blinked, taking that bit of information in. So… Koishi could sense her subconscious. And presumably Satori's.

And… her sister was hurt. Both sisters were, really, only Koishi didn't seem to realize that she was hurt, and Satori was constantly reminded of it every time she tried to read Koishi. Mokou admired Satori's resilience. She could function just fine, even despite the pain she was clearly feeling. The immortal didn't need to read minds to see the suffering in Satori's eyes and the way she wouldn't look up, to have noticed the desperate way she'd hugged her sister. She wanted to comfort the youkai, though… didn't want her to be in pain.

Satori had apparently taken the thought as an invitation, because Mokou suddenly found herself with the satori clinging to her, dropping the pretense and sobbing into her smoke-stained shirt. She wrapped her arms around the shorter girl, holding her close, and noticed that one of her hands was right beside Satori's third eye. Hoping this would be comforting, she lightly stroked the smooth, soft skin of the eye-orb. Satori shivered in her arms, and let out a small gasp. She immediately moved her hand, hoping she hadn't hurt the poor girl.

"N-No, it… it didn't hurt at all," Satori said in a quiet voice, the pain not quite gone from her voice but much more subdued. "If anyone else did that, it would have hurt… but… I don't mind it from you." The youkai showed no sign of wanting to let go of Mokou, so the white-haired girl continued to hold her, and took Satori's third eye in her hand again, tracing light lines on it with her fingers. After a few minutes, Satori had stopped crying completely, and after another, she loosened her grip on Mokou slightly, though she didn't let go.

"Mokou," Satori said, her voice now no longer pained. Mokou looked down to meet her eyes.

"Yeah?" the immortal asked, wondering if she'd helped the satori to feel better. She hoped so.

"I figured out why it doesn't hurt when you touch my third eye," the satori said, looking up and meeting Mokou's crimson gave with her own magenta eyes.

"Why is that?" Mokou said. She hadn't been wondering before, but if Satori had an answer… well, it was making her curious.

Satori released Mokou from her hug, pulled her third eye away from the immortal's hand to hold it in its usual place. Mokou let go as well, and Satori gestured for her to follow her. She walked after the youkai girl, wondering why she was taking her somewhere else and where she was taking her. They walked through the halls, until finally they came out into a large open room, illuminated in colors by the beautiful stained glass back wall. The blues, yellows, pinks, and reds of the luminescent mosaic mirrored Satori's colors perfectly, and Mokou admired how much more elegant it made Satori seem, standing in the room with her own colors playing out on the ground around her. There were large, unlit torches at the corners of the room.

"Mokou, could you please light the torches for me?" Satori asked, smiling. Mokou immediately went to it, not about to turn down her friend. Once all four were lit, the dancing fire lightened the room more, though without washing out the brilliant colors from the stained glass. Satori gestured for Mokou to come join her in the center of the room, where she stood in the only circle of uncolored light. The immortal walked over, a bit confused.

"Satori, why'd you bring me here?" Mokou asked. "I mean, it's a beautiful room, but I don't get it…"

Satori giggled, her eyes twinkling in the light.

"Mokou, you heard what my sister said as we left. And she can feel our subconscious minds… the parts of us that are truest to us," the mind-reader said. "You didn't hurt me because I trust you and care about you, and you care about me and trust me. Isn't that right?"

Mokou flushed red, knowing exactly what Satori was getting at. But she couldn't argue, it… it was true.

"So would you like to listen to Koishi's suggestion, Mokou? I, for one, don't see why not," Satori said.

"I… I…" Mokou stuttered. She hadn't… hadn't kissed anyone in… over a thousand years? Had it really been that long? And Satori… was cute… and she had enjoyed spending time with her, and she was the nicest youkai she'd ever had the pleasure of knowing… but, she'd known her for only a couple days, this was ridiculous…

"You're trying to suppress your feelings, Mokou. And you haven't kissed anyone in a thousand years? I've never kissed anyone in my lifetime," Satori said, a calm smile on her face.

Mokou stared into Satori's eyes. There was a minute of silence. Finally, Mokou gave a defeated sigh. She couldn't turn down someone like Satori, someone fragile who needed her protection but who would endure as long as Mokou could keep her whole, someone who knew exactly what the immortal wanted even when she wouldn't admit it to herself, someone who honestly cared about her feelings and whose feelings she had already started to honestly care about.

"Thank you," Satori muttered as the two drew together. Though the youkai had to stand on her toes to reach the immortal's lips, and she had told Mokou that she'd never kissed before, it felt completely natural. Completely right. When they had to separate, Mokou felt as though it had been entirely too short.

"You're welcome," she said in response.

Satori was of the opinion that Mokou had left entirely too soon.

The immortal had reassured her that visits would be frequent, that she'd bring Keine sometime. She was still sad to see her go, though.

At least she wouldn't have to be lonely all the time anymore. Neither of them would, really. As long as Satori was still waiting for Mokou, it would all be okay, no matter how long she had to wait there for the immortal to return.

Because she would return. Satori was sure of it.