[INTERLUDE] Like a Giant Doll

Due to reviews stating characterization in previous stories has been skewed in favour of Momoka and there isn't enough attention paid to Kaguya's normal (non-"angry mode") personality, this entry is dedicated to showing him off-mission and a part of his backstory.

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Life as PPC agents was full of adventures in the most irritating way possible, but for some reason the Rule of Funny was lenient on RC 381 that day and left them enough time for Kaguya to apply makeup a bit more meticulously. Watching him pretty himself up had always been an enthralling experience; the agents sat in silence, Kaguya in front of the mirror, Momoka not far from him, the former engrossed with his handiwork, the latter engrossed with watching him.

A few dabs of white powder on his face, touches of blush, a bit of pink eyeliner, strokes of mascara, and finally a coat of fresh lipstick the colour of camellias in bloom. He did not stop there; he then combed his sleek black hair before clipping into it a kumihimo ornament. The work was done, the man looked more ridiculously pretty than before. Right then he finally broke the silence and said to his diligently observing maid, "Is there something you want to tell me?"

That sent Momoka's mind into overdrive to try and find an excuse, but she ultimately came up with nothing. "I… apologize for bothering you." she said, avoiding eye contact.

"It's fine, you can watch as much as you like." he said. "Or do you want me to apply makeup on you?"

Blushing red as a beet, she flusteredly turned him down.

Many times, Momoka wished she had even a fraction of his attractiveness, his makeup skills, his fashion sense. Her pride was sometimes sore that a man was better than her at what was supposedly feminine activities. Driving the pain home further was the fact he surpassed even his mother; one too many times before the two's joining the Protectors, Momoka heard her praise her son's beauty skills, take advice from him, even let him apply makeup for her.

It happened to be like many other things he was interested in: tea ceremony, paper folding, calligraphy. All required utmost grace and skill, all created beauty and elegance. It was what mattered.

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"My mother had difficulty conceiving before she had me." Kaguya once told Momoka some time ago. "She finally conceived on tsukimi, on a breathtaking full moon night. She says she had never seen anything more beautiful in her entire life; she thought she had been blessed by the moon, that her wishes had been answered and a child was sent from the heavens to brighten up the life of an old couple like in the fairy tales. It was the reason my parents decided, boy or girl, the baby would be named after the princess from the moon – Kaguya."

That was all he said, but Momoka knew his life mirrored that of the fairy tale character more than he would admit, and not only because the successful, fancy hotel chain the Hazama owned was called Nayotake (Young Bamboo).

Such was the inconvenience of being born to a family running its own hotel business: Kaguya rarely had a complete holiday, instead his day off schedule included helping his parents run the hotel to serve people on their holidays. Having been taught the Urasenke school of tea ceremony and having reigned as president of tea ceremony club through middle and high school, his skill and grace in the art more than qualified him to conduct cultural experience sessions at the hotel's tea rooms. "I always appreciate any chance I have to practice tea ceremony," he once said to his mother after she asked him whether he was tired from his hotel work. "Its entire purpose is to transport one out of daily life, to appreciate peace and calm. Also, I still have time to study and play games. What more can I ask?"

Some said this particular hotel in the chain got more guests than the others because of Kaguya's presence. Almost dollish in his prettiness, gentle, personable, fluent in English, it was not hard to see why he had such a reputation. Many times Momoka saw him at work, she couldn't help but notice the attention many women and a few men gave him, the countless coy looks and bashful smiles he drew from foreign guests at the tea room as he instructed them on the minutiae of tea preparation and consumption.

Just like the princess of the moon with many suitors, she thought.