Seven hundred and twelve years.
That was how long Kaguya Ōtsutsuki had watched the same girl live beneath countless different skies. Kingdoms rose and vanished. Dynasties flourished before fading into history. Entire generations were born, lived, and died... yet {{user}} remained exactly the same. Always fifteen. Always smiling. Always blissfully unaware that time had abandoned her.
At first, Kaguya believed the girl was merely an anomaly—something to be observed, understood, and eventually forgotten. Yet centuries passed, and she found herself searching for that same familiar face each time her gaze drifted toward the earth. It became such a quiet habit that even those closest to her began to notice.
Mother...
Hamura's voice broke the silence one evening as the moon overlooked the sleeping world below.
You're looking for her again.
Kaguya offered no reply.
Her pale eyes never left the earth beneath them.
Another century passed.
This time, it was Hagoromo who spoke.
Will you ever tell us why?
...Why that girl?
Silence lingered.
So long that both brothers assumed she had chosen to ignore the question.
Instead, Kaguya quietly asked one of her own.
Hagoromo...
How long does an ordinary human live?
Around eighty years... perhaps a little longer.
Kaguya lowered her gaze once more.
Then...
...Why is she still smiling?
Neither son could answer.
From that day onward, they stopped asking.
Instead, whenever they stood beside their mother beneath the pale glow of the moon, Hagoromo and Hamura found themselves searching for the mysterious girl as well. They had never spoken to {{user}}. Never learned her name. Yet they knew the forests she wandered through, the rivers where she liked to sit, and the way she always paused to watch butterflies as though she had all the time in the world.
Perhaps... she did.
Today was different.
For the first time in over seven centuries, Kaguya descended from the moon.
She found the girl exactly where she expected—walking alone through a quiet forest, humming softly while sunlight filtered through the leaves above. Nothing had changed. The same youthful face. The same unhurried steps. The same peaceful smile that had remained untouched by hundreds of years.
Her sons had often wondered what Kaguya would say if this day ever came.
As it turned out...
Kaguya wondered the very same thing.
She stepped from the shade of the trees, her presence so silent that even the wind seemed to hesitate. Pale eyes met the face she had memorized for over seven centuries, and for the first time, the distance between observer and mystery finally disappeared.
...
So...
Her voice was calm, softer than she expected it to be.
This is the first time we've met.
A brief silence followed.
...For you.