"Um... Mitsuru?" Mahiru timidly called, her voice a bit dimmed but a curious. Two simple red barrettes were holding back a few long strands of blonde hair from her blue eyes; her hair was pretty short so she didn't have to fuss with it much. She had been working on growing it out recently, though. The 16-Year-Old girl had been involved with the Lunar Race for almost two years now. Unfortunately, she'd been summoned to the Lunar Castle recently because Lord Shirogane had missed much of what had gone on when she first met the Lunar Race. This would be her first real formal encounter with Lord Shirogane and the rest of the royal family.
"..Hm?" Mitsuru grunted distantly, turned away from her and distracted. His hands were tucked into the pockets of his tattered jeans, turning his head a little so he could glance over his shoulder at her. She hadn't responded right away like she usually did.
"…What!" He demanded hotly, pressured on by her large eyes looking at him like she was trying to figure out what was wrong with him without asking. A red blush crawling over his pale cheeks as he looked away again. He had immediately become defensive at Mahiru's curious expression.
"Oh, nothing really... You just seem a little bothered by something, is everything okay?" She asked cautiously, learning how to be careful with her words when it came to talking to Mitsuru; he could be so touchy sometimes! She backed up a little to give Mitsuru some space; she already knew that he was uncomfortable here. She smiled kindly, adjusting the heavy plastic bag in her hands. Although she seemed content in knowing Mitsuru was just fine and still himself- Mitsuru felt pressured to say something more. He stared blankly at the tile, debating with himself if he should say something in return.

"It's nothing really-" Mitsuru started to say but stalled. He heard himself walking, but she wasn't walking anymore, he looked back again to see her looking over some of the other goods in the medieval-looking market place. Of course, she was also oblivious to the strange black werewolf towering over her and looking at her like she was little more than a snack herself. "Hey, you freak! You can't just stand there and space out like that- you're going to get yourself kidnapped!" Mitsuru snapped, immediately leaning over and grabbing her by the wrist to pull her forward and away from many demon's curious eyes. They didn't deserve to look at her anyway.
"I'm supposed to protect you- are you trying to die or something?" He demanded, realizing that Mahiru had no idea of the danger she was facing here just because she was a human. It didn't matter if she was the Princess' Descendant, it didn't matter if she had rounded up the Teardrops, and as long as she was human she was in danger.
"I was just going to get Lord Shirogane som-" Mahiru started to say, getting a little defensive about having been dragged off unwillingly. "Are you trying to die!" Barked Mitsuru angrily all over again, his grip tightening on her wrist. Realization sunk in, and he noticed Mahiru's almost invisible distress as she grew quiet and started to look a little worried.
"Mitsuru sneered, leaving it there and releasing her fragile wrist. He stopped walking, turning to face her and glancing into her eyes. He sighed, frustrated by her naiveté. "Look, I'm just saying you need to be a little more alert or you're going to get yourself kidnapped, or something." He kept himself occupied by snatching the plastic bag from her hands. It already looked like it was going to break, and he was stronger than she was.
"Sorry, I just guess I wasn't looking where I was going." Said Mahiru, a hint of hurt lingered in her voice. She was worried she had upset, angered or displeased Mitsuru. More than that, she was ashamed she couldn't be more aware of herself, even knowing what odds she was going against. Her eyes drifted to her empty hands, pretending not to notice that she didn't have the bag anymore.

"Just be more alert next… time…" His voice trailed off, catching sight of where she'd been holding the bag. A bloody wound opening on her palm- something bound to attract even more unwanted demons. His expression changed completely, staring at her injured state, frustrated at himself that he had let her get hurt by some dumb bag. She really was fragile."Mahiru I-" Mitsuru stopped abruptly, catching himself in time to shut up. His colorless eyes widening, he hadn't thought before spoke, his voice had sounded sincere and sensitive toward the girl who was picking up some nearby items she found interesting. He felt his heart beat faster, and he hated it at every beat as it thundered through his ears.
"Yes?" She asked, looking up from her 'shopping'. She noticed Mitsuru's wide-eyed expression, was something wrong? Had she said something to upset him again! Oh no… She'd probably gotten some food he hated!
"Oh um..! Don't worry it's just a small scratch is all, I'm fine really! Is this about the food! I can go get something else if you would rather-"
"…Just forget it." He said, almost too quietly for her to hear. Forcing himself to look away from her, "You buy everything you want yet?" "No," She replied sheepishly, smiling wistfully to herself. "I still have to get a gift for Oboro and all the others... After all they've done for me it's the least I could do."

"Idiot." Growled Mitsuru in frustration, combing his hand through his messy black hair. He shut his eyes and gave a loud, irritated sigh- how could she be so stupid!
"Can't you worry about that later?" Hissed Mitsuru with a streak of urgency. She had other, better things to do- besides it wasn't like he didn't deserve something for himself. Why was she always thinking about everyone else? Couldn't she bother to think about him for a change?
"That might be wise." Murmured a deep, husky voice from nearby.
"I didn't ask you-" Mitsuru started to say, cutting himself off as he looked at the speaker. It was that same black werewolf, his smoldering reddish eyes drifting from Mitsuru down to Mahiru. His lips curled back in a smile, his jagged teeth glinting down at her. She didn't mean to come off as afraid, though she did, squeaking timidly she slipped behind Mitsuru who raised an arm to the side to defend her if necessary. "What the hell do you want?" Growled Mitsuru, creating a small wind around himself as a warning.

His eyes were large, bright red, and the pupils were thin cat-like slits, narrowing slightly at Mitsuru's unspoken warning. Though he did take a step backwards, he fought back the urge to growl at this Tengu.
'How dare he show such insolence!' He willed himself to keep calm, though the hackles on his back started rising anyway, his back hunching into a defensive pose.
"I beg your pardon?" He asked gruffly, standing at his full height of at least seven feet and smoothing out the fur on his back. He looked confused, his ears pinning back.
"I asked you what the hell you wanted with us." Mitsuru smirked; this one was deaf and stupid.
Mahiru risked a timid glance over Mitsuru's shoulder, looking up at the Werewolf in front of them. He was huge, intimidating.

His matted black bangs hung in his face; his hair was long pulled back in a messy braid that was twisted over his back. Strings, ribbons, and smaller braids were all curled into this big braid held by one red rubber band. A white mark was blazed on his forehead, shaped like a V with a dot in the center and a line across it. His face and muzzle were slim, and there were three white dots under each eye- sort of like freckles though they looked a little bit more like tattoos. One of his ears had a few white speckles on it, a blank coin attached to it by a silky blue string.
He was skinny, too! No abs, muscles or anything, not like one would expect on a werewolf anyway. He wasn't as well defined as Akira, though there were a few similarities here and there. She realized that he had a red collar stretched around his neck with a small pink heart, his name etched in white.
"Rasta..." She read it aloud.
It was only then that she realized that he wasn't wearing anything at all, and maybe she would have noticed more if she hadn't noticed he was naked and hadn't felt like he was out to kill her. Mahiru went bright red in the face, ducking even more behind Mitsuru. Mahiru started to ease up; she wasn't as scared as she was before though she still didn't know what to think. She held her breath, clutching the back of Mitsuru's shirt in worry.

"Tengu Mitsuru and Princess Mahiru right?" Purred the werewolf, leaning back a bit, not having to bend over to get a good look at them. "I'm Rasta, your guide to the Moon Palace."
Mahiru's grip eased, and Mitsuru's jaw dropped. This thing was their guide! Her bodyguard! This thing that had looked like he was going to kill her not two minutes ago! There was no way in hell he would let this pass- his eyes narrowed and the wind whipped up around them, his eyes gaining those familiar red swirls.
"Don't you dare touch her!" Growled Mitsuru, two thick black lines appearing on his cheeks- he would kill this thing if he had to.
"That won't be necessary." Came Rasta's voice, thick with unamusement. "My orders are from Lord Shirogane, Sir Mitsuru." The word sir had a certain amount of sarcasm in it, it was easy to see that this whole thing had started off on the wrong foot.
"Um..." Mahiru started to say, stepping cautiously up from behind Mitsuru, who restrained himself only for her sake, struggling not to go all out on this stupid little puppy. Seeing her step out brought a strangely pleased glint to his eye, the corners of his mouth pulling up into a knowing grin.
"Princess Mahiru... It's a pleasure." His voice rumbled into a pleased purr, getting down onto his knees, settling into a crouch. Bending over into a slight bow, his ears pinned back once again. "It's a pleasure to be of service."

Mitsuru felt his anger bubbling to the surface, his hands curling into threatening fists. How dare he... Mahiru's gentle hands glided over his shoulders, and he could feel his emotions being pushed back, glaring down at the puppy kneeling at her feet.
"I don't think he's lying to us, Mitsuru. I don't think it's something that they'd try to fake here." She whispered urgently into his ear, he glanced over at the busy market; she had a point. The people here wouldn't fake something like that, such high respect for a human was met with rebellion if not downright profanity. He was risking his hide for helping them at all, seeing as how most of the other creatures here probably wanted Mahiru dead.
"Fine... But if you touch her, don't expect my mercy." Warned Mitsuru.
"Oh no, I wouldn't dream of it." Rasta merely lifted his head and gave Mitsuru a sarcastic smile.

When the Moonlight Bandits cruised back into town, it was raining. Not one of them saw it as an omen- just unavoidable, it rained often enough in Japan. The car ride home had been eerily quiet, but that had also been expected. Katsura ended up turning on the radio, and each one of them fell off into their own private world of thoughts for a little while. Akira had even dozed off, but when he woke up he was as chipper and talkative as ever. Nozumo politely gave "Mmm"s and "Aaah"s when the time called for them, and Misoka stayed completely silent.

Nozumo stared out the car window, wishing the dreary day would hurry up and end. Everywhere he looked there seemed to be a shadowy patch calling out for him to lie in it. How much harder would it be to keep from dozing off once they got back to Moonshine? It wasn't as though Nozumo actually slept, but he did rest. Nozumo rubbed the back of his neck, getting tired of exclusively devoting his attention to his thoughts. He already missed Mahiru, and the more he tried to press it out of his mind the more it kept on bugging him. He sighed and tried to focus on what Akira was babbling about this time.

Akira was animatedly making sweeping hand gestures, literally talking a mile a minute.
"We should write a song for her too, as a surprise for when she comes back!" Akira suggested proudly, winking studiously at no one in particular. Nozumo lifted his head a little bit, raising a thin brow at Akira's suggestion, his blue eyes smoldering with a fiery curiosity. It was a simple idea, but the thought of doing it caused him to smile to himself. A simple, good idea.
"That's not a bad idea." Nozumo agreed quietly.
"You'd help us, too, wouldn't you Misoka?" Asked Akira eagerly, grinning ear to ear with his stroke of brilliance.
"Of course." Misoka murmured, turning his head to glance at them with a rare smirk. Even if they were idiots, he respected them. They had saved his hide, even when he wasn't worth anything in battle.
"I'm sure the Princess would like that very much," Complimented Katsura calmly from the front. "We're back." He announced, the car slowly coming to a stop in front of Moonshine.

Misoka's smirk disappeared; it wouldn't be long until they had to start working. Clearing away some of his long dark green hair and tucking it behind his ear casually he risked a glance at the digital clock, "One hour until opening time."
"Crap!" Exclaimed Akira, practically leaping out of his seat. His amber eyes wide with alarm, that wasn't much time to set everything up. Without any regard for the rain, Akira opened the door and raced out into the parking lot his coppery hair dampened down very quickly, his clothes sticking to his skin. Akira paused at the doorway to Moonshine, fumbling through his pockets desperately for the keys. Finding them he beamed, unlocking the door and racing in eagerly. Akira had always been very fond of the job, and very engrossed in it- Nozumo was relieved to see that hadn't changed. Nozumo glanced over at Misoka knowingly, hesitating.

"What are you waiting for? Let's go." Instructed Misoka, picking up an umbrella off the car's floor and slipping out of the door with a surprising grace. He opened the umbrella, standing a few feet away from the car, waiting for Nozumo. Nozumo slipped out next, ducking under the safety of the umbrella and closing the car door behind him. The engine gave a roar, and the car slipped away, heading towards the safe, dry parking garage. Nozumo slipped the umbrella into his own hands, and glancing down at Misoka he winked at him grinning in that charming way of his. Misoka fought back the urge to roll his eyes, "I don't see why you waste your time."
"Is there a reason I shouldn't?" Asked Nozumo, chuckling to himself as he escorted Misoka over to the door.

One hour before it all started.

Authors Note: Before anyone starts eating my face, this is not a Mary-Sue/Gary-Lou or whatever. ;) You don't have to worry; Mahiru will not be paired up with Rasta or any fan-character. Either way, whoever's added will be essential to the up-coming plot. Yes, there actually is a plot! -Gasp- Shocking, I know... Thanks for the reviews last time around, I'd love to get more! Anything I can do to improve, let me know. I'd also love to hear your opinions on other things about the story.