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Tightly buried beneath the covers of her futon as if it was the motherly womb, Reimu Hakurei was fast asleep. So deeply, in fact, that it took several moments until the sensation of the small, warm body that had crept under the blankets and cuddled up to her actually broke the torpor that had taken hold of her consciousness.
It was rather ironic. For all she knew, Suika was several centuries older than her; yet the Oni still would behave like a needy child every now and then; firmly insisting to sleep in the bed and at the side of the shrine maiden. The human, conversely, had first been startled – even embarrassed – by this kind of physical intimacy; only to realize that wrapping her arms around the diminutive, little frame of her long-term guest and holding her close as she did right now produced a feeling of quiet, content happiness in her.
Perhaps it was because their size difference simply produced however misguided maternal instincts in Reimu. Or perhaps it was because she knew that loneliness was something which scared Suika far more than any possibly prospect of injury or death could do.
It didn't matter. Did not matter at all. So long as she could comb through her orange hair and rub her lips across the forehead of the undersized alcoholic, Reimu knew that the blissful smile on the girl that was old enough to be her great-great-grandma and then some would not fade. And neither, for that matter, would her own.
But even as she slowly stroked the head of her bedmate, something felt off. Locked in her embrace, Suika's body should be soft and relaxed. Perfectly at ease. Not stiff like an animal that had become paralyzed in the face of a predator.
“Suika”, the shrine maiden mumbled, “... Suika, what's wrong?”
“Nothing's wrong”, the Oni replied, and immediately disqualified her statement through the tone of her voice. “I just wanna be with you while you're still here.”
“While I'm still here? Suika, listen: I'm not going anywhe- OW!.”
Without warning, the other girl had punched Reimu straight in the stomach. Not that it was a real punch, of course – Suika Ibuki could have easily torn the shrine maiden in half if she had wished to. And indeed, the face that now looked up to the human seemed to be in far greater pain and misery than she herself was.
“You of all people should know that Oni hate liars!”
It took a few seconds until the Hakurei miko could make sense out of these words. When she did, her features darkened, and she hurried to pull her tiny friend even closer to herself than she already was; silently consoling her as she tried to pretend that the inevitable would not come to pass eventually.
Each living being had its allotted lifetime. Some of them were shorter than those of others.