15

༊*·˚

I sit alone in the room, picking at my dinner which I've barely touched with a bored expression. I haven't been able to think about anything other than Haganezuka. Has he eaten the dinner I made for him? Did he like it? Genji and I spent a long time on it... and we made enough dishes to last him awhile... I also hope he liked the Sake I gave him, it was very difficult for me to get my hands on... but I managed to convince them to give it to me.

As I'm just about to give up on eating, and just try and get some sleep, someone knocks on the door making me sit up confused. I slide open the door, seeing one of the village people bowing his head to me.

"Miss Nakahara, you have a visitor waiting at the entrance," he says and I furrow my eyebrows. I follow him out to the entrance, my eyes widening as I see Haganezuke standing in the moonlight with the basket in his hands. The other man leaves us, and I quickly run over to him with a worried face.

"Mr Haganezuka?!" I say shocked while looking down at the basket. "Oh no... did you not like the food?! I'm sorry I didn't know what you liked so I just made lots in hopes that something was to your taste-"

"Miss Nakahara... will you... eat with me?" I freeze at his words, unable to process what he's saying to me. Instead I just stare up at the mask as he looks to the side to avoid eye contact. For a moment I swear I'm dreaming, since I truly believed Haganezuka despised me... and yet here he is asking me to eat with him?

"W-what?" Is all that I can seem to force out, my voice shaking.

"It's just... there's so much food and much more than I can finish on my own... If you don't want to then it's fine I just-"

"No no! I'd love to!" I say smiling widely, clapping my hands excitedly. He finally looks at me, nodding slowly. "Shall we go to your place?"

"Actually... I had somewhere else in mind..." He grumbles, already turning and beginning to walk off as I watch confused. "Well, are you coming?" He says looking over his shoulder. I nod happily, running to his side and staring at the ground as we walk side by side, a blush on both of our faces as we can't hold back our smiles.

I follow him silently, no idea where he's leading me. We walk up hill through the forest surrounding the forest, and it's quite dark with only the moonlight providing a bluish white glow down on us. My curiosity grows and grows as we get higher and deeper into the mountains... until we finally come to our destination.

I gasp, all words escaping me as we stop. He's lead me to a clearing in the mountain that's surrounded by bush and trees so it's quite secluded and difficult to find. There's a small pond as well as beautiful flowers growing all over the place, and the opening in the trees allows the moonlight to light up the area and reflect on the ponds water.

I walk around, taking in the beauty with an amazed expression. It seems like something out of a story, something unreal. I giggle as fireflies fly all around me and I crouch down to look at the flowers closer. I'm so enthralled with the beauty of my surroundings, that I am completely unaware of the pair of eyes that never left me.

Haganezuka stands back, watching with a full heart as she walks around amazed. The minute she stepped amongst the flowers, under the moonlight, he was at a loss for words. She smiles even brighter than the fireflies around her, and her eyes sparkle with a sense of awe as she seems to fit right into the beauty. He gulps, unsure what to say to her, now that they're alone like he intended.

He wanted to take her here, in hopes that the scenery will express what he isn't able to with words. He wanted to tell her that he's sorry for yelling at her, and that he appreciates he gesture, and from the way she looks back at him with a shining smile... something tells him that she understands perfectly his intentions.

I look back at him as he just stands there timidly. Giggling, I run over to him and begin to push him forward from behind. To my surprise, he goes with it as I urge him to a spot in the clearing where I deemed appropriate to eat. We both take a seat, and I still am just amazed at where he's taken me.

"Mr Haganezuka... this place is absolutely beautiful!" I say and he chuckles.

"I thought you'd like it."

"How did you find this! It's so secluded I would've never guessed it's here!"

"I've spent a lot of time exploring the mountains that surround the village... one day I stumble across it and it's kind of become an area for me to come to whenever I just feel like relaxing," he says and I blink in shock.

"Thank you so much for taking me here!" I gush and he rubs his neck, quickly beginning to open the basket.

"L-let's eat before the food gets cold," he says and I giggle. We take out all the food, and as I begin to happily eat he just sits there awkwardly.

"O-Oh! Your mask!" I say frowning and he nods slowly. I pout, thinking for a moment, before gasping. "I know! Let's sit back to back! That way you can take of your mask and I won't see your face!" I immediately turn my back to him, and after a moment I hear shifting. From the corner of my eye, I can see the mask being placed beside him and I smile widely while beginning to eat again.

"Were you able to complete your work?" I say and he hums.

"I was..." He replies softly and I giggle. "I would like to, apologize... for yelling today..."

"There's no need Mr Haganezuka! I understand!" I say and he hums. "I think I might need to do a better job at being... independent... and less pushy..."

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea..." I gasp dramatically, as we both laugh together.

We continue to eat and talk... and even laugh together... until most of the food is finished. The whole time I didn't see his face, but for some reason that didn't bother me. I feel as if I don't need to see his face to grow closer to him, because even though I have no idea what he looks like, each day I learn more and more about him.

"Would you like some... sake?" He mumbles after finish eating and my eyes widen.

"I... I'm not good with alcohol..." I say laughing and he chuckles as well.

"That's alright, I wouldn't expect anything less," I scoff, crossing my arms.

"Alright then! I'll drink with you!" I say with my head held proudly making him laugh. He pours us both some Sake which we drink.

One thing lead to another... I may have drank more than I anticipated. I lay on my back, staring up at the stars and moon as he lays next to me with his mask now back on. My face is bright red and flushed as the alcohol completely wrecks my logical thinking. I giggle uncontrollably, and Haganezuka just deadpans. He wasn't expecting her to get this wasted... and he has no idea what he's supposed to do with her.

"Haven't you ever wondered about where the sun goes when it's night time?" I giggle, pointing to the moon.

"No not really."

"How sad that the sun and moon have never met... destined to be apart for all of eternity!" I pout and he rolls his eyes.

"I don't think the sun and moon care..."

"But what if they do Mr Haganezuka! What if... What if they're in love!" I hiccup mid sentence, holding both my hands up and using them as if they were puppets of the sun and moon. "What if they were once human lovers... the sun a warrior! A warrior so strong and confident and powerful that he never lost a battle and had many of admirers!" Haganezuka buckles in for yet another ridiculous story. "And the moon... the moon... she was the epitome of beauty. Her skin pure white and her hair as black as night... but she never spoke a word. She was seen as strange because of her shy tendencies, and because of this she could never find a husband since people assumed she was cold hearted and cruel. What if, the sun and the moon fell so deeply in love! The moon, she saw past the sun's loud and shining personality... seeing his insecurities and sorrows... and the sun he saw past the moon's reserved nature and he was able to uncover her true inner beauty that no one else saw!"

"I think you're overthinking this-"

"And they were so in love! The sun proposed to her almost immediately, because he couldn't imagine a life without her! But... but a Goddess was in love with the sun! She had been watching him all his life, and she was furious! She killed the moon and the sun was so furious that he killed himself over his lovers dead body! The goddess couldn't bear for her love to die, so she made a compromise to make him the sun so he could shine brightly for the rest of eternity. The sun however demanded that the love of his life be offered the same, but the goddess wouldn't keep them together. Instead, she gave the same offer to his love... but so they would be destined to never be able to meet. The sun lights up the day, and the moon lights the night..."

Haganezuka lays there stunned, looking over to see a single tear drop roll down her cheek making him furrow his eyebrows confused.

"Miss Nakahara? Are you alright?"

"Isn't that just so sad?" I whisper and he sits up.

"I think you may have drank too much..."

"Do you think I'd ever find my moon?" His eyes widen as she sniffles, sitting up and wiping her tears. "It's silly... I mean what man would want to have a wife who's strong enough to kill demons... who's trained as a fighter... I'm not desirable at all..." I continue to sit there with tears rolling down my cheeks and Haganezuka sighs.

"Any man would be a fool to not take you as his bride," he grumbles, and I look up at him with wide and glossy eyes.

"You think so?" I say hopeful and he nods slowly.

"I mean... it's not like you're as hopeless as me!" He says and I giggle. "What woman would want to marry a man with a temper like mine! At least you're friendly, men like that!" I laugh more, using the sleeve of my Yukata to dry my tears.

"I'd marry you Mr Haganezuka!" Haganezuka's breath catches in his throat, and he hits his chest as he chokes. I laugh more, falling back onto my back. "Of course, that's only if you'd take a foolish child like me as your wife!"

"O-Of course I wouldn't! Are you insane!?" He scolds and I giggle.

"Don't worry... I know..." I sigh and he shakes his head. "We'd be like the sun and moon though! Me the warrior... and you the mysterious moon!"

"Ha me? Mysterious? You're insane kid," he says and I laugh.

"Mr Haganezuka... I'm tired..." I hum and he sighs deeply.

"Can you walk?"

"Of course I can!" I huff, trying to stand but as I do I stumble forward into his arms. He catches me, rolling his eyes as I hum. "Ok... maybe I can't..."

"Ok... let's go kid..." with ease, he hoists me onto his back as we begin to leave the clearing.

As we walk, I close my eyes and lean my head against his back. His warmth envelopes me and I smile softly to myself... letting myself drift to sleep as his familiar scent surrounds me.

Haganezuka's face is a bright red as he holds onto the bottoms of her thighs, her arms tightly clinging around his neck and her chest against his back. He internally scolds himself, wondering how he got himself into a situation like this... carrying a drunk girl home... feeling as though his heart will burst from his chest.