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I brought a first aid kit. Is there anything else you need?

Nah, this should be fi- Wait, it's dangerous out here, Akyu. You should get back in the ship.

No, I'm not entirely unrelated to this.

I understand. In that case, I'll take care of Keine.

Mokou is off to the side.

Yeesh, that was some answer you gave me.

Uwah, that looks painful. I guess it's okay since you're immortal though?

Even if you're immortal, you should still be able to feel the pain. You must have a lot of guts to be able to fight like that.

...There's nothing worth praising about me, as I am now.

I'll take a look at your wounds too, Keine. We wouldn't want them to get infected.

Sorry about all this. Even though I started the fight, you're treating my wounds.

I don't particularly mind, but don't be so reckless next time.

That's what happens when you hang out with Keine.

...I can't argue with that.

I hate to bother you in your conditions, but I have some questions I'd like to ask you two. You seemed to know something about that mansion, and the mastermind.

Mokou, even if you don't talk to them-

Yeah, whatever, I don't feel like being stubborn anymore.

Then allow me to ask. Who is the mastermind behind this incident?

...Her name's Kaguya Houraisan. She's the ruler of this mansion, the House of Eternity. Seems like she's THE Kaguya, from the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter.

Princess Kaguya herself...?

That's the story about the princess from the moon, right?

Yeah. She comes from the moon, just like the story. But at the end, instead of going back to the moon, she faked it and stayed on the surface.

Wait, hold on a minute! Then the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter actually happened?! And there are people living on the moon?! What? What?!

It might be hard to believe, but she's telling the truth.

Wow, so this time the mastermind's an alien.

So we just casually accept the existence of extraterrestrial life? That's Gensokyo for you.

But for someone like that, she's really trying to not stand out.

Indeed. Even I never noticed. I never imagined that Lunarians had infiltrated the Earth.

Okay, so now we know who the mastermind is, but why would she steal the moon?

I dunno either, but you can be sure it isn't good.

The one who's actually hiding the moon is definitely her attendant though. The spell loosened a bit when I gouged out her stomach.

So when a bit of the power of the moon came back, that was you, Mokou?

More importantly, the one behind the incident isn't really Kaguya, it's her attendant.

Yeah, but she'd never do anything that wasn't for Kaguya's sake. She's a doctor named Eirin Yagokoro.

...What?! Yagokoro?!

She's an ex-Lunarian too-

You know Lady Yagokoro?! Tell me more!

Rabbit shakes Mokou like crazy.

What's with her?!

She's a youkai rabbit we picked up on the way. She was being attacked by the rabbits of the bamboo forest, for whatever reason.

Attacked by rabbits? I thought all the rabbits here were unified...

Who cares?! I've been looking for Lady Yagokoro! Is she in the mansion?!

Well, yeah, but what are you talking about?

...That's right, why don't you calm down and answer some questions? How do you know of this Yakogoro person? Mokou is one thing, but even Lady Yukari had never heard of her.

That's right, the House of Eternity shouldn't have left a single mark on history.

Ah, um...

(This is bad. I got too excited and let it slip. Given the circumstances, I didn't even need to say anything...)

What going on, Rabbit?

D-Don't tell me you're one of her accomplices?

W-Wait, hold on! I've never even met her before, and I have nothing to do with the incident!

Then how do you know the name of someone who came from the moon?

Because... I'm from the moon too.

?!

What?! The moon?!

So that clears me of suspicion, right? I'm not one of those bad bunnies. So, you should probably just leave me behind and get back to the investigatio-

Ran, grab her.

As you wish.

Ran proceeds to wrestle Rabbit into captivity.

But why~!?

Wh-what are you doing?! Rabbit hasn't done anything wrong!

So it appears, but when our enemies are Lunarians, the calculus changes. And if she truly meant no harm, why did she feel the need to obscure her origins?

I hid it because I was scared! I thought all Earthlings were barbarians! Look, didn't I get attacked by rabbits the moment they learned I was an outsider?!

If you thought we were barbarians, why did you even come?

Because I hate pounding mochi, and all that pointless training!

Even if that's true, those are pretty stupid reasons.

Now, now, if she really means no harm, then should take our time and interrogate her at our leisure~. Let's just enjoy the nice boat trip.

Ah, so you're still not letting me off the hook...

For now, let's take her to the bridge and have Unzan watch over her.

Part of the group escorts Rabbit away.

Dear me, that was a surprise. To think there were Lunarians on both sides of this.

We can ask her more later, so we should probably get started on breaking into the mansion. The problem is what we should do with the Palanquin Ship...

We shouldn't split our forces, so for now I think we should all remain aboard.

...In that case, there's a big hole in the center of the mansion. Head there. I can't show you the way, but you'll know it when you see it.

I see, it's the hole you made when you- Wait, you're not coming with us?

I won't get in your way, but I have to settle this my way. It's important to me.

...Besides, I want to talk to Keine about something.

Hm? What...?

...In that case, we should get going.

I'll leave the first aid kit here. Feel free to use it.

...I see. So you're leaving me behind with Mokou.

Later. We're going ahead to the mastermind.

Yes, I'll pray for your victory.

The Palanquin Ship takes off.

Looks like they're gone.

Yeah. I think they'll be okay without me.

So, what is it? You said you had something to talk about.

Hm, well, y'know. About what happened earlier.

Music: The Dream is Here

...I'm sorry. Really. This all happened to you because of my selfishness. I even thought I was protecting yo-

Please don't apologize, Mokou. I'm the one who created this whole mess. I tried to do what I thought was best, but I just made you worry.

No one's blaming you for this... But, there's something I wanna ask. Why would you do all that for me?

Why? You're asking why?

Yeah. Thanks to this body of mine, I can get away with being a glutton for punishment. It really helped out this time too. But your life is different, Keine. If you die, that's it. I don't want to see you EVER get hurt for my sake.

Mokou...

...If that's what you think, then maybe you can keep up with my selfishiness too.

Yours...?

That's right. Yes, it's true that I'll never be able to live as long as you have, Mokou. But that's why I want to leave something behind. Some trace of that briefest of moments when we lived together.

Is that how it is... That's hard for me, you know. Those of us with immortal bodies still can't really handle eternity. I wouldn't feel right taking away your time just to feel a little less lonely.

It's my choice to make.

It's fine even if, divided by your eternity, my life becomes zero. As long as that time was spent together, I'd become a part of your history.

My... history?

That's right. Whenever you cross paths with someone, some part of you changes. I believe that the accumulation of those meetings is a person's history, in other words their "life".

To change is to live...

Ever since I met you, I've been nagging you to get involved with people, both humans and youkai. That was because I wanted you to change, even a little. If you can form relationships with others, and change together, then I think you can call that living.

...

It's been more than a thousand years since I became immortal, and I've always thought of my time as eternal, unchanging. I wouldn't say I was either living or dead, just passing away the time. Forever.

But now I want to ask you, Keine. Can I change?

Would my own subjective opinion be all right?

Yeah, that's what I wanted.

...

You've changed since I first met you.

At first you seemed somewhat dangerous, but now you're opening your heart, even to Reimu and the others. But that's not because of anything we did. I'm sure you've always been changing, from the very beginning.

...I see, so I've been changing? Then I must've been living too.

Mokou...!

...Thank you, Keine. For being with me all this time. I finally understand the meaning of a life of being lectured.

Then, Mokou, from now on can we-

Yeah. We can live together, and change together.

Now that it's come to this, I guess we need to drag out that shut-in too. This is our chance to knock her off that eternal and unchanging pedestal of hers.

That's the spirit, Mokou. As you are now, I'm sure you could-

The screen flashes.

...!

You changed back?! Eirin must have fixed the spell!

It looks that way, but I've got a bad feeling about this...

! Look at the sky, Mokou!

!

The moon is moving... Is it heading towards dawn?!

Moving the stopped night... it must be her power... Looks like we're REALLY running out of time now!