Shinsei sat on the grass, listening quietly to Otsutsuki Kaguya's story.
Looking into Kaguya's slightly reddened, almost unreal, beautiful eyes, he was momentarily at a loss for words to comfort her.
Kaguya didn't wait for him to speak. She turned her head and looked at the charred and still smoking forest in the distance, her voice so soft it was as if she were talking to herself.
" Shinsei, you're from the future, aren't you?" she said. " The Chakra in you is very similar to mine. It's not from the Ōtsutsuki, but it definitely has my scent. That's why you're not afraid of me, and you don't hate me. Right?"
Shinsei nodded. "I guess so."
"What is the other me like?" Kaguya asked. She didn't look at Shinsei, her hands resting on her knees, her fingertips unconsciously twisting the hem of her dress.
Shinsei thought for a moment. He didn't want to lie, but he also didn't want to lay all those bloody things out in front of her.
He paused for a moment before saying, "Later generations called her the Rabbit Goddess. Some also say she was the Progenitor of Chakra. She was incredibly powerful, so powerful that everyone was terrified. She cast Genjutsu over the entire land, turning humans into white soldiers. Later, her two sons joined forces to seal her away."
He spoke slowly, rehearsing each sentence in his mind several times, trying his best to avoid letting emotions get in the way.
But Kaguya still listened. She slowly turned her head, staring intently at Shinsei.
"That version of me was terrifying," she said. "Why did she become like that?"
"I don't know," Shinsei said. "Maybe it's because I've lived too long."
Kaguya lowered her head, resting her chin on her knees, like a small, curled-up animal.
After a long while, she asked again, "Then... who did she have the child with?"
Shinsei hesitated for a moment, then said, "Legend has it that she was with the emperor of the Land of Ancestors. That's what everyone says in later generations."
Kaguya frowned but didn't speak immediately. Shinsei thought she would continue asking questions.
She gently shook her head, her tone calm yet resolute. "No. I will not develop feelings for the Emperor of the Land of Ancestors."
Shinsei looked at her. "Why do you say that?"
"I've seen him. That day in town, the way he looked at me was the same way my father looked at my mother. I recognize that look clearly," Kaguya said. "He treated me like an object. How could I possibly have a child with someone like that?"
Shinsei didn't speak. He knew Kaguya was right. The Emperor of the Land of Ancestors did exist, and they had indeed seen him.
That person's gaze was indeed no different from looking at a rare object. But history is right before our eyes. Otsutsuki Kaguya had descendants. Hagoromo and Hamura were real people.
The Sage of Six Paths didn't just spring out of a rock. What exactly happened in between is long gone.
"And what about my children?" Kaguya asked again, "What are they like?"
Shinsei hesitated for a moment, but then he told the story. He no longer held back. He began by talking about how Kaguya ate the God Tree Fruit, how she ruled the land, the era of the Rabbit Goddess, and the birth of the Sage of Six Paths and his younger brother.
He didn't speak for long, only mentioning the parts that clearly explained the ins and outs. But the more he spoke, the less color appeared on Kaguya's face.
" Hagoromo and Hamura were your children. They later stood against you. Hagoromo inherited your power and founded the Ninshu."
Hamura went to the moon to guard the Ten-Tails. They joined forces to seal you away. You were split into Nine Tailed Beasts and an empty shell. The rest of the story is longer than the legends say.
Kaguya didn't interrupt him. She just sat there, her fingers gripping the hem of her clothes tighter and tighter until her knuckles turned white.
"Are they also called Ōtsutsuki?" she suddenly asked.
"Hmm," Shinsei said, " Hagoromo Otsutsuki, Hamura Otsutsuki."
Kaguya slowly lowered her head. Her breathing was very light, as if she was afraid that if she exerted any force, she would crush something.
"Even my children... will betray me?" Her voice seemed to escape through clenched teeth. "Is it because they are descendants of the Ōtsutsuki? Does the blood of the Ōtsutsuki only lead to endless betrayal, endless cannibalism, until even the closest of kin become enemies?"
Shinsei looked at her profile, thought for a moment, and then offered words of comfort.
"This is not a fixed history. After all, it's been so long, and many of the stories passed down have become distorted. What exactly happened, no one but another version of you knows."
Kaguya lowered her head and remained silent.
After a long time, Kaguya finally loosened the hem of her clothes that she had crumpled.
She looked up, her eyes swollen but without tears. Her eyes appeared extremely pale in the greyish-white light, as if they had been washed too many times.
" Shinsei, don't call me Otsutsuki Kaguya anymore."
Shinsei looked at her.
Kaguya looked at him, her tone earnest to the point of stubbornness. "Call me Kaguya."
Shinsei nodded without hesitation. "Okay, Kaguya."
Kaguya seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. She sat back, resting her hands on the grass, and looked up at the smoke-filled sky above.
The wind blew her long hair up, and a few strands of white hair brushed against Shinsei's shoulder.
"I don't want to be Ōtsutsuki anymore."