Work Text:
________________________________
Reisen looked around nervously, they could be anywhere, any misstep and she could fall into a pit, get hit by a log, a piano or anvil would fall on her, or be met with a pie in the face.
Although Reisen had to admit that the pie was definitely the best outcome there, for some reason Tewi did seem to take her time when making them, so after the joke she usually ended up giving it to Reisen, and they normally tasted quite good.
No matter, she has to keep her guard up and her eyes on her feet, she knew Tewi's traps well enough to know you can't find one at a single glance.
The path was long, as were the bamboo around her, each in a silence that made Reisen feel like a bunny that at any moment could fall into a trap, into a prank.
But she quickly put that thought out of her mind, she wasn't just any bunny, she was a moon rabbit, from the moon (obvious) and she was also quite capable of taking care of herself.
A stupid trap wouldn't make her look bad... she hoped so, because knowing Tewi, it sure would.
At least there was no one around.
"Calm down Reisen, you're an expert at Tewi's traps, don't be intimidated" Reisen muttered, more to calm her nerves than anything else.
So she just kept walking, getting to Eientei wouldn't take that long, and if she was lucky, she wouldn't end up in any pits.
"Well, I'd have to be either very idiotic or very distracted not to see the trap, it literally is just-"
"Hello Reisen!"
Reisen gave a little yelp as out of instinct more than anything else, she jumped out of fright.
It was Tewi, unluckily.
"Tewi! What did I tell you about scaring me like that!" Reisen said, frowning and putting one hand on her hip, with the other she pointed accusingly at Tewi, who just let out a laugh.
"Ah, come on, what are you, a child? I just said hello, it's not for you to freak out like that either" Tewi replied, with a smile on her face.
"It's just that you took me by surprise! It's not like I'm a child" Reisen hastened to say, to which Tewi just hummed, taking a few steps closer until she was next to the moon rabbit.
"Never mind, why are you here anyway?" Reisen asked, as she resumed walking, being followed by Tewi "Well, I was just passing by, and I ended up running into you, you know"
"Just passing by?" Reisen said, raising an eyebrow, her tone of voice making it clear that she didn't believe that excuse, just passing by? Of course...
Tewi just shrugged "Well what can I say, it's just a coincidence" That didn't do much to calm Reisen's suspicions, but she decided it would be better not to keep asking.
They both kept walking for a while, strangely no trap in sight, Tewi didn't seem to be all that talkative either especially... something was up her sleeves.
"Spill the beans Tewi" Reisen said, her brow furrowed, though in her mind she was immediately regretting that choice of words "Where are your traps? I've been looking for one all day."
Tewi feigned surprise for a moment, her hand going to her face "Traps? Me? But how insensitive do you think I am Reisen? I would never prank you on one of your days off!"
Yeah right, and Reisen danced tango on Thursdays, a vile lie that's what it is.
"Don't play dumb, you play pranks on me even on my days off! Now the question that should be important is why I haven't encountered any yet" Reisen answered, despite all the walking she still saw no sign of any pranks, she could even see Eientei.
"I don't know, but I pinky swear not a single trap this time" Tewi assured, as they reached the entrance of Eientei, everything still seemed normal.
"Sure, I believe you" Reisen said, clearly not believing her, as she approached the gates, curiously now there were some little leaves on the ground, which Reisen didn't pay so much importance to them, they must just be some fallen leaves surely.
That was, until she felt a log falling directly on her head, crushing her until it left her as a little spot on the ground, and then she heard Tewi's laugh, now everything made sense.
"TEWI! I SWEAR WHEN I CATCH YOU TEWI" Reisen said, as she hurried to move out of the log, her form flattened and circled, in this state she knew she couldn't do much.
She had let her guard down, but that would not happen again, no sir.
Well she hopes.
________________________________
"Listen to me, shorty, I don't know what your games are, but I won't fall for any of them again!" Reisen assured, while pointing accusingly at Tewi, who just hummed with a little smile on her face.
"Don't be like that Reisen, this time it was just a hole and log, you know?" Tewi replied, crossing her arms.
"The log had spikes!" Reisen said without hesitation, grimacing a little angrily, remembering all the splinters and such she was left with after the log prank.
"And don't forget the arrows" Tewi said, shaking her head slightly back and forth.
"AND THAT!"
Tewi let out a chuckle as she turned and walked over, presumably to grab something "Come on, it wasn't that bad, look, I'll give you this in compensation" Tewi said, as she rummaged through a pile of her stuff.
Compensation? As much as Reisen didn't want to admit it, her ears betrayed how that had caught her attention by perking up.
Quickly, Reisen approached Tewi, leaning over to get a better look at the supposed compensation, her head resting on the smaller rabbit's shoulder.
"Here" Reisen was taken by surprise when something cold touched her cheek, making her jump slightly, then she looked at the object Tewi was supposedly handing her as compensation, a can, if Reisen didn't misremember, it was supposed to be called soda.
"A soda? Really? You think that's enough to buy my forgiveness?" Reisen asked, indignation visible in her voice, Tewi for her part just raised an eyebrow, still with her arm outstretched and the soda in hand, Reisen just watched the compensation for a moment, having an internal struggle.
A few moments later, she sighed and accepted the compensation "Well I hate that you're right, forgiven" She said, grabbing the soda from Tewi's hands, who grinned at the easy acceptance of her apology.
Reisen hummed a little, looking at the can in her hand, grape flavor, really? well, there really wasn't much she could do, Tewi was the one who gave it to her after all, though Reisen still wondered how the can was still cold and all, even though Tewi probably had it stored in a pile of trash or similar.
But she decided not to make a big deal out of it, instead, the more distrustful part of her mind kicked in.
Tewi apologizing for her pranks? That was not normal, much less that the apology was little more than an half-hearted "I'm sorry" and nothing more, there had to be a hidden trick, maybe it was another liquid inside? Maybe it was agitated and the moment she opened it, it would explode and soak her completely? Tewi's little smile as she watched her with the can in her hand did not give her a good feeling.
So she simply did what any other normal person would do, she shaken the can a little more and pointed it at Tewi, then opened it.
Great was her surprise when suddenly, the bottom of the can was the one that exploded, sending its entire contents straight towards Reisen at explosive speed, the sheer force of the liquid hitting so hard that Reisen was sent flying, crashing into a wall, through it, leaving a Reisen-shaped mark on the wall, through two others, and finally crashing into a final wall, soaked and sticky from the grape soda.
Reisen could hear Tewi's laughter from the other three rooms, her rabbit ears perking up catching the sound.
What the hell happened there? Reisen wondered, had Tewi seen the distrust of her apology coming? And somehow managed to shake the can in such a way that it came out at Reisen and not at her?
Had it been luck? Master-level planning? Calculating all the outcomes?
It didn't matter now, what mattered was to get out of here and take a shower, Reisen felt her clothes sticking to her skin, later she could give Tewi a reprimand for her prank.
Either that or go cry to Eirin and tell her to do it for her, because even if Reisen didn't want to admit it, she knew that if she was going to try to demand a real apology from Tewi it would only be half-hearted... or like now, another joke.
Anyway, she didn't even like the grape flavor.
________________________________
Reisen looked to her sides, no one, not even a bunny nearby, perfect.
Reisen chuckled to herself, as she took a few steps towards the nearby bush clearly not out of place in the bamboo forest, hiding.
But what a clever idea! If Reisen couldn't avoid Tewi's traps, she could make the earth rabbit fall into a trap as well....
The creation process was not as complicated as Reisen thought, the hardest part was getting the anvil, and the rest she already knew thanks to being a victim of those same pranks, multiple occasions.
Quite a few times.
Then, Reisen got to remembering the several times she had been the victim of so many pranks, different ones, each with its own kind of humiliation.
Damn, Tewi sure acted like a brat sometimes, with that attitude Reisen sometimes just wanted to go and correct-
Just as she was deep in thought, she heard the signal, jackpot! It was the signal that someone had fallen, oh, she could already imagine Tewi's squashed and ridiculous face when-
That's not Tewi.
THAT'S NOT-
Reisen's eyes widened when she noticed a tuft of white hair under the anvil, plus a voice somewhat deeper than Tewi's underneath, Reisen then, understood that the one she had pranked was none other than the immortal who usually roams the bamboos.
"Woah, so you played a prank on Mokou huh?" And then it appeared, the very person that Reisen had wanted the anvil to fall on, Tewi stuck out her tongue slightly, in a mocking manner as she looked between the anvil and Reisen.
Tewi grinned, in a dismissive manner, as Reisen tried to get the words out of her mouth.
"W-w-... how-.... eh?" Reisen managed to say, barely a noise showing her confusion, this made no sense, NONE.
"Come on, I didn't do anything at all this time, you know," Tewi started, crossing her arms, but Reisen believed that was a lie, or at least, she wanted to think so "So, this isn't my fault, her getting crushed was because of your trap, wasn't it?" Tewi asked, knowing the answer all too well.
"You know how it is, being that she's immortal, it's not like it really harms her much, but those things can hurt, and it'll probably take a little while before her brain regrows enough for her to have the consciousness to break free" Tewi continued, not waiting for an answer from Reisen, who just stared at the anvil blankly, they both knew that Mokou really wasn't dead, just flattened and probably very angry now....
"So you don't have to feel bad you know? I mean, it was your fault that this happened to her, you probably could have done something to prevent it, or maybe not, who knows?" Tewi continued, her head going from left to right slightly, she knew what she was doing here, "But hey, nice trap you got there, tehehe." She added, giving Reisen a playful little nudge.
Now, on the bright side, Reisen hadn't fallen for any prank.
But she doesn't feel she has won, at least for this time, Tewi keeps grinning at her as if she had won, and Reisen had fallen for a prank.
Moments later, a figure flattened and too angry to die came out of the anvil, it was Mokou "KAGUYA! COME OUT AND FIGHT LIKE A COWARD- I MEAN LIKE A WOMAN!" she said, too angry to realize that there was no Kaguya here.
"Ah, wow, looks like someone's back in the ring" Tewi commented, laughing a little bit, before giving Reisen a little look "I guess while you're at it, you might as well wear this" Before Reisen could reply anything, she was quickly silenced when Tewi threw clothes at her.
Clothes...
"But what-" Reisen looked at the clothes in her hands, she had also given her a wig in passing... wait a minute, weren't these Princess Kaguya's clothes?
"Well Reisen bye!" Tewi quickly said goodbye, rushing away as she laughed, leaving Reisen and Mokou alone.
Then, Reisen turned to see the very angry Mokou in front of her, and understood what was coming.
Damn it, she had fallen into another trap!
But that didn't matter now, the important thing was to try to calm Mokou, who looked like she could pounce at her at any moment, she had to calm her down in any way necessary, any way.
________________________________
Reisen growled in despair, she could not, she had not succeeded, she had enough, she even had to calm Mokou down... she didn't want to elaborate that last part.
"Okay, I admit it," Reisen said, her gaze lowered and sighing, tired and defeated, Tewi smiled in anticipation, she had won, as always "You beat me, Tewi, you beat me..." Reisen admitted, her voice almost dry, her gaze low, she couldn't even look the earth rabbit in the eye.
Tewi hummed, victory felt good, so she nodded, her eyes closed and a winning smile on her face.
"I just... I couldn't, you're... you're smarter than I thought, I tried..." Reisen said, her voice low, her hands tensing into fists, but quickly giving up, there was no point in doing so.
Tewi hummed a tiny bit lower, her eyes now focused on the moon rabbit, a hint of something something hitting her directly, while it's not like Tewi cared that much for Reisen and all, seeing her like this was... not good.
Tewi looked around a bit, she couldn't just leave Reisen like that, victory would taste bitter that way, among other things that in short would make her feel like a bad person, which normally she wouldn't mind, but now it wasn't normally.
So, Tewi came up with an idea, even if small, something was something, so she had to try.
So she reached out her hand, looking more cheerful as usual, in a way to say something like "good pranks" or something like that, something to end this.
Reisen also looked up a bit, noticing Tewi's hand, waiting, one last thought crossed her mind, so she ran a hand over her face, wiping anything but unshed tears, must be the dust.
So, she reached out her hand, going for a handshake.
And then, as she was about to complete the handshake, she went even higher, leading Tewi to squeeze the nothing, a small joke, yes, but it was enough to make Reisen let out a chuckle.
"I..." Reisen began, chuckling a little, Tewi meanwhile, found herself feigning surprise, how was it that she had been fooled by something so simple? And by Reisen of all people.
"Haha! I caught you there" Reisen said, now, looking much happier than before, that had been enough to lift her spirits.
"Ah, would look at that, I have to admit, you caught me by surprise there" Tewi commented, a small smirk on her face, as Reisen quickly nodded.
"Hehehe! You should have seen your face, it was like... in the end I'm the one who had the last laugh" Reisen said, a smile on her face, her hands raised in celebration, she still couldn't believe it had worked out something like that.
Reisen hummed, turning around and starting to walk, "I beat you Tewi, that means I win there!" She said, probably going now to go tell Eirin about her accomplishment, or just celebrate by herself.
Tewi smiled to herself, one hand resting on her waist, the victory felt so much better now with Reisen acting this happy, it might not be a masterful victory anymore without having been teased and such, but Tewi thought, maybe, just maybe.
Maybe this victory was much more to her liking.
________________________________