Rabbit Princess [Gaara] [3]

☾ Interlude: Tsukiko ☽

Konohagakure was dissolved into darkness of the night as the coldness set into streets of the village, a cool breeze rustling the leaves that represented the village. The sky was faintly littered with thin clouds but the full moon was not daunted by such small clusters of vapour. It shined its white rays down upon the earth and the people who lived upon them.

It shined down upon the sleeping village in the Land of Fire, the sweet scent of winters in the air. That pure white moonlight was seen only by those who stood guard around the village, or those souls who could not find any sleep that night – whether with pain or pleasure.

At the edge of residential areas was a two-storey building where a small family lived downstairs, the landlords to the girl that rented the small flat upstairs by herself.

Every single window in that flat was covered tightly with curtains, not allowing a single shard of moonlight inside as the girl laid by herself on her bed, covered by her blanket.

Tsukiko was not having a very good night, as it always was for her on the nights of the full moon.

Within her dreams, however, Tsukiko was not alone, and she was not in pain. She was not in her room, rather her head rested upon the lap of a beautiful woman. She had pure white hair and blue eyes, looking down at Tsukiko with a smile as she tenderly stroked her hair.

The girl felt like she was in peace, and Tsukiko slowly closed her eyes, wanting to rest herself but she found herself slipping out of sleep. Her eyes opened wide and she was suddenly very conscious of the pain that was within her body. Tsukiko curled up, hiding herself under her blanket but it was of no help, for the majestic moon hurt her even when she was invisible.

Scared of this moonlit night, all of the windows were covered in the apartment, and the sheer deepness of the place was scaring Tsukiko even though she had been the one who had done this. There was no one else in the apartment, not even that pretty woman.

Even though that woman visited Tsukiko's dreams often, she had no identity – no name, no relation, no existence. Yet Tsukiko found herself yearning for the warmth of that person.

All of the remaining night trailed with such longing, and the burning of pain in her body.

Morning found Tsukiko sitting on her dining table in the small kitchen by herself, feeling sick as she looked down at the breakfast that she had made herself for herself.

Today, Tsukiko had accidently burnt her food before she could've realised it – she was far too out of everything in her tiredness and the remaining pain in her body. On her wrist, she nursed the sting she had gotten from splashing some oil onto her skin whilst doing so.

Although the day had barely began, something told Tsukiko had it was going to be terrible. Mornings like these were always very lonely to spend by herself. She wanted to be among people.

"You know, there are people who are alone even when they are surrounded by other people," spoke the voice in the corner of her head, belonging to someone whom she called Usajii.

"Talk about good things," Tsukiko muttered, chewing on the burnt food, fighting the feeling in her eyes that wanted to prompt her to cry.

"In that case, there are people who are happy even when they are by themselves," replied Usajii. "But that can only be achieved once you are comfortable with the kind of person you are,"

But Tsukiko was not comfortable with the person she was.

It was a Saturday, and weekends meant that Tsukiko would stay at home all day long. She avoided leaving her home for long stretches of time. If it was up to her, she would never leave.