Edited 7/31/2022
Beautiful Moon
Perspective
Mizuki's mother had a particular way of looking at her when she asked questions about things she was expected to understand intrinsically. The first time she could remember receiving the look was while she was too busy paying attention to her favorite melon cream drink to recall what it was she had asked, but her mother's answer was something she would hear again and again in various ways for years to come.
"You only have one set of eyes and one set of ears, and they will see and hear as much as they will be blind and deaf."
References to her inability to see and hear correctly followed her many mistakes, from larger ones such as when she missed a line of data or misinterpreted someone's proposal, to smaller, like when the strokes in her calligraphy were off or she wrote down an English translation incorrectly; despite both her eyes and ears working just as they should, the message she frequently received was that they were always deficient.
The meaning of the advice was something her parents thought she understood, but they had very different interpretations of the words, and Mizuki had decided at some point that she really just needed to figure out how to use both senses better. Efforts to do so were part of what led her to wandering on her own, something she considered a training exercise. When her parents told her to stop running away, she stubbornly refused to tell them what she was really doing and why, determined to prove to them that she could improve her eyes and ears without their help. As she grew older and realized her childish fantasy was just that, being alone had started to become a way to escape the stresses of her life instead, and so the habit remained.
Sometime in middle school, during a group session in mathematics, Mizuki had pointed out an error early on in Riho's work that would have led to an incorrect total. Her friend had laughed about it while she thanked her for the head's up, but a casual comment she'd made during that time had left Mizuki reanalyzing her mother's words, and eventually concluding that being alone was exactly the opposite of what she should have done to overcome her weaknesses.
"It's always great to have another set of eyes, isn't it?"
-/-/-/-
She had no idea how Sesshomaru saw all of this, but she had a sinking feeling that he was finding her just as pathetic as she felt. Blood pounded in her ears, her chest thumping as if the organ was attempting to break out, and breathing was a function that required effort suddenly. Her mind screamed questions at her in the meantime, the loudest of them: what the hell are you doing?
It wasn't a question she could answer because she had no idea how her anxious ramble had landed her in the position of begging, and she didn't see any way out of it. Of all the ways she had imagined broaching the topic, this hadn't been one of the scenarios. Planning always left her disappointed, she reminded herself. This was exactly why she generally didn't.
She scrambled to sort through what she had already told him. An embarrassing assortment of what could be construed as compliments, some vague explanation as to why Kagome's friends weren't an ideal option, how she felt about the stupidity of her own feelings… Her parents would be disappointed at how poorly she had presented her explanation. They would point out how disorganized and rushed she was, how she should have used her resources to prepare herself better, and then they would lecture her about how important it was that she present herself as calm, reliable, and strong.
She was none of those things, not now, and so she just elected to keep talking.
"I know my comfort shouldn't matter," she continued speaking to the ground, hands clenching the fabric of her jeans as she forced her words to come out evenly. "I know it doesn't. There are far more important things in your life than indulging my preferences. I know you're after that man Naraku as well, and I'm aware that I could be a liability and of the chance that I could be used against you. I'm weak. I'll be a burden, a distraction, an inconvenience, and I have nothing to offer you to make up for that, but I'm asking you anyway. Between your strength and your demeanor, I believe that you're my best option."
Sesshomaru remained silent, but she couldn't bring herself to raise her head. Between the tears in her eyes and the embarrassment coloring her cheeks, she didn't want to, anyway. When he finally did speak, she found the breath pulled from her lungs.
"You are wrong," he informed her with a flat tone. "Naraku cannot use you against me."
It was very apparent by the way he delivered that statement that she was not someone Naraku could leverage against him. She understood, of course, but it didn't prevent the sting of the realization of just how little he regarded her.
"As for the matter of having nothing to offer, you are also wrong."
Her thoughts were met with a roadblock at the unexpected follow-up, unable to process where the words came from and what he could possibly be referring to. What had she missed? Forgetting why she was keeping her head down, Mizuki looked up, only to be met with a look bordering on confusion.
"Rin may benefit from a human presence," he continued, his tone taking on that familiar, haughty tenor. "Your knowledge of the future of this land could be valuable. Your manipulation of words and ability to use information to your advantage is likely useful in negotiation, something you demonstrated when it came to convincing me to lead you here. You are also not uninteresting, for a human, and thus you provide some amusement." He paused for a moment, raising his chin in what might have been a thoughtful gesture if it didn't make him look like he was looking down on her more, before concluding, "For the daughter of a tradesman, you seem extraordinarily unaware of your own value."
Slack-jawed, Mizuki found herself unsure just how to respond to that. "You…" she tried, promptly failed to come up with any other words to follow that, and then looked at anything but the demon for a moment. When her gaze fell back on him, she tried again. "I spent a good part of the last few hours trying to come up with anything useful to offer. How is it that you were able to pull all of that up right off the bat?"
"I could ask you why you failed to see such obvious approaches," he countered. "Are humans such blind creatures?"
Like the crack of a whip, Mizuki felt something snap to attention in her, the words he used too close to ones her mother often used in lectures on her inability to see everything. She was quick to shut out that echo as efficiently as she could before she started drawing anymore comparisons between the demon and the people from her own era, afraid of the roads that could lead her down, but she had to use her own voice to do so.
"You try finding all of the positive things about yourself in the middle of panicking!" she shot back, drowning out the ghost of her mother's words with the volume of her own. "My mistakes are the reason for this mess in the first place, so the last thing I want to do is analyze myself because all I'm going to see is everything I'm bad at! Besides, when you're asking someone for a service that has a disproportionate return value, that person and why they're the best choice are the most important things to focus on, so I don't even matter in this; you and how great you are do!"
He merely arched an eyebrow at her words, despite them being charged with a passion that wasn't at all directed at him. Eventually, he replied to her tirade with one simple question.
"How great I am?"
The flush on her face discovered a temperature several degrees higher than it had previously known existed. Unable to react to that with anything that resembled proper speech, she simply crouched down on the ground and hid her face in her knees. Hearing Sesshomaru chuckle made her slap her hands over her ears and groan out her mortification.
When she finally dragged her hands away from the sides of her head, silence greeted her, to which she finally muttered, "You know I didn't mean it like that."
"I am aware."
His tone was mostly neutral but still leaning toward amusement, which led her to believe that he had known precisely what she had meant and found the chance to fluster her by implying otherwise too opportune to let pass. She didn't know what that said of the demon's sense of humor, but she was beginning to think that her being a source of amusement to him had less to do with her being an interesting person and more to do with the way she reacted to the things he said.
This is who you feel comfortable around?
She ignored the question that came from some unreasonably noisy place in her mind and focused instead on regaining her composure, which she found to be a surprisingly less complicated task than it had been pre-humiliation. He likely hadn't meant for it, but the way Sesshomaru had derailed her entire thought process had also managed to dismantle her anxiety around asking him to escort her, a task far less complicated than her limited perspective had wanted her to believe. Her eyes were now opened to many more possibilities and ways to even out the benefits and losses. Calmer now, she unfolded herself into a much more comfortable position and raised her head to meet the golden gaze of the man before her.
"I can't guarantee my knowledge or skills will be a sufficient exchange for the service, but I will offer them all the same," she told him, and then took a breath that allowed her a moment to review what information she wanted to lay out to him. "I've tried to look at my options as objectively as possible, but the benefits and risks largely balance each other out. The only option that allows me to avoid the possibility of getting tangled up with this business regarding Naraku requires me to stay here and simply wait, and I refuse to do that. If you choose not to, I still have Kagome's help I can count on. I just feel more comfortable around you right now than I do Kagome and Inuyasha, and so I didn't think I had anything to lose asking you for help."
He seemed to contemplate that for a long moment before offering a slight correction to her analysis. "Naraku does not appear to find it beneficial to approach me as directly as he seems to Inuyasha. While the risk that he may discover you and therefore attempt to use you is still present, I believe it is less likely to occur in my presence."
"Then I now have a more significant reason to favor this route," she noted, and tried to reign in the premature excitement his words were triggering. The contribution of favorable information was not an answer, so she tried once more to ask, "Would you consider helping me find the Yanagawa clan?"
"…I am not currently opposed to the thought."
Between the relief, happiness, and simple release of tension she hadn't realized her muscles had still been holding, Mizuki decided the best way to express her gratefulness was saying thank you from her new position of laying on the ground once again.
Sesshomaru found the woman's actions following the agreement to the exchange of services incredibly reminiscent of Rin upon discovering a lush patch of greenery after a day of travel. From her expression, he gathered that she was likely experiencing the same sort of comfort being able to rest provided, and concluded that securing a preferred means of gathering information had weighed quite heavily on her. She was also possibly projecting upon him a sympathy that he wasn't offering.
"Do not mistake my generosity for kindness," he warned her. "There are questions I have regarding the pendant you bear that I want answers to." Specifically, why it or her or both affected him the way they did. "It is because you cannot supply those answers yourself that I am agreeing to this, and should that change, I will no longer have any reason to pursue this. This arrangement is merely convenient for my goals, not based upon wanting to help you."
She raised a hand lazily in response, as if unbothered by the revelation.
"You got it," she affirmed with a wave before dropping her hand to push back the hair that fell across her brow. "A partnership of mutual benefit it is, then, and I'll do whatever I can to make it worth your time. Minor caveat, though, since you brought it up," she added suddenly, peering up at him with a more serious expression. "When you stop caring, would you mind making sure I'm safely back here? I'm pretty sure I'll end up dead otherwise."
"That can be arranged," he assured her after a moment, and she offered him a gesture of a raised thumb that he gathered was merely a sign of agreement or acknowledgement based on the smile that accompanied it.
They fell into a mutual silence following that exchange, and Sesshomaru found himself analyzing the more interesting notes of information that Mizuki's nerves had exposed. She had an appreciation or need for quiet, something he had inadvertently offered her by his own preference for the same, and had thus influenced part of her decision to approach him on the matter of her request. She took responsibility for the actions that led her to this point, and was frustrated with allowing her emotions to drive her decisions. Challenging words and points of view as she had a tendency to do was likely something she found comfortable if she did so frequently with someone she considered close to her, though he still found the notion that she could relax in his company more than she could around the priestess from her own era and Inuyasha an absurd conclusion.
The fact that Inuyasha had hurt her was…disappointing, he decided, finding his thoughts caught up in the revelation. She had deemed the incident accidental, and the new bandages that dressed her upper arm indicated that the mistake had been rectified, but there was something about the idea of the hanyou having erred in such a way that disturbed him. Whether that was because he had assured her such chances of coming to harm by him were low or that his brother had operated somewhat outside of his reputation, he was uncertain. That he was unsettled by the thought was bothersome by itself.
"Can I ask you something somewhat personal?"
He had heard the sounds that indicated the woman was sitting herself up again, but he had failed to notice that something had come to her attention, lost somewhat in his own thoughts, and so the question came unexpectedly. He turned his gaze from where it had wandered back to her, finding her to be leaning somewhat casually into one hand, propped up by the crook of her knee. Her eyes were set in a narrowed, analytical look, a thoughtful frown gracing her lips.
The Mizuki that looked at him now was different from the one who had been bowing to him not long before. Her fear was under better control, allowing her to return to looking at and utilizing information in ways that benefited her, a trait he found much more stimulating than he rightly should even when he factored in the external influence on his interest.
"What is it?" he asked in return.
"Do you want to kill your brother?"
Her tone carried a skepticism the origin of which he could not understand. While he had not outright said as such, and he probably should have made such things clearer given her lack of knowledge concerning demons, she seemed to know that he had at least made the attempt on more than one occasion. Inuyasha was likely to thank for that, or else the information was included in their discussions regarding how much danger she could likely find herself encountering.
"You seem to believe I do not," he observed. "I assume you were granted some insight into the nature of our conflict. Why would you draw any other conclusion?"
"A bit," she answered, referring to the information she had received. "Our opinions and experiences with you differ, so I think Inuyasha was feeling defensive of his perception and trying to make it clearer by telling me some of the bloodier details. Kagome was a bit more neutral in her position; she acknowledged that your past interactions were violent, but she was more willing to admit that things had shifted as far as whether you could be considered an enemy."
"We are not allies," he quickly interjected, lest she think otherwise.
"You have mutual goals, at least," she acknowledged. "But you're right; I don't think you want him dead as much as he thinks you do, and I believe the inverse is likely true as well. If you intended to kill him, he'd be as dead as the thing you saved me from, or else he's too strong for you to kill, and somehow I doubt that's entirely the case. Likewise, if he hated you as much as he tried to make it seem, he wouldn't have seemed regretful when I asked if one of his attempts to pay you back resulted in the loss of your arm."
He found the idea that Inuyasha felt in any way remorseful for severing the limb absurd, and he contemplated telling her as much, but eventually settled for allowing her to retain her understanding of what she had witnessed. It was not as though he had been there to confirm how wrong her interpretations were, after all.
"Obviously, I lack a lot of information, so I'm really just speculating based on a few minor things," she continued when he said nothing. "The contrast between Inuyasha's words and his reactions is a bit starker than yours, but it was a similarity I thought was interesting." He did not need to voice his question for her to understand that she needed to clarify exactly what those conflicting things were, so she elaborated, "You had an adverse reaction to him being brought up originally, so I figured things between you would be fairly bad, but… I can't say I knew what you were thinking standing here, but that's three times now that I've seen you looking at the scar on that tree, and I've got at least some idea of what made it. Then, despite clearly disliking the thought of him, you turned around and defended his character in an effort to help me trust him."
"You twist my words."
"You did mention that I'm good at that," she reminded him with a gentle smile.
He would concede that point, and it was not entirely untruthful to suggest he was trying to paint the hanyou in a better light at the time. He had simply done so for the purposes of getting her to meet with him, though, not to defend his brother's honor.
As far as why the tree had stolen his attention several times, it was merely that its connection with Inuyasha created an unconscious draw when his thoughts drifted to him. It would likely disappoint her to know that he regarded that connection disgracefully, but he supposed that he periodically contemplated the events that led to his entrapment suggested that he could stand the thought of the hanyou well enough to do so.
"…I will concede that I have been less inclined to see him to his death as of late," he admitted. "Inuyasha has a tendency to survive despite impossible odds. I suppose I am curious to see his limit. You will not, however, suggest that I am defending him. There may be a lesser degree of animosity, but there remains great contempt."
She nodded understandingly, though her expression remained thoughtful.
"It's probably because I'm human or just the nature of the era I come from, but it's difficult for me to wrap my head around people hating each other so much that they try to kill one another, especially family. I mean, you hear about it, but it's not common back home. I…can't really imagine what could lead to the two of you wounding each other so badly. I won't ask you to share; I just figured I should explain myself. Sorry for prying as much as I have."
He dismissed the apology as unnecessary, the information largely inconsequential to him. He was, however, curious about something else. She had never asked about the absence of the limb, nor had he offered any suggestion that his abhorrence of his brother was in any way connected to it, and her words did not implicate Inuyasha as having brought it up.
"What made you ask Inuyasha such a thing?" he questioned.
"About your arm?" she asked, and he returned the inquiry with a nod. "Honestly, I just guessed. I've been given the impression that people you don't like don't live long, but Inuyasha isn't dead. I figured if it wasn't familial ties, then it was because he could fight back, and something like that could explain the animosity between you."
He would have to add to his earlier list of somewhat useful qualities that she was apparently good at making connections between vague points and drawing relatively accurate conclusions from them.
"Our animosity toward one another is rooted elsewhere," he informed her.
"…His humanity?"
When his answer was a slight quirk of his mouth, Mizuki frowned. She could set aside a lot of things where it came to him, his terrifying strength chief among them, but his attitude regarding humans left a sour taste in her mouth, and was another example of discrepancies between what he said and what he did. He thought little of humans, but had taken the time to recognize the positive qualities she could offer. He hated his younger brother for being a hanyou, but he clearly liked Rin well enough despite being entirely human. Whatever way she looked at it, he was being hypocritical, and she was having a difficult time not dwelling on it.
"I know I'm new to the whole demons exist thing, but are humans really that bad?" she tested, unable to let this one slide. "I'll give you that we're generally weaker than demons and are probably pretty boring in comparison, and sure, I'm biased, but seriously; what's the issue with humanity?"
He was quiet for a short while, as though he were trying to come up with a way to answer that question so that a human would understand it. She hoped that meant he was considering being less insulting than he could be.
"Humans are inherently weak, and weakness is ill-tolerated among demons. The entire race is thus equated with great shame and disgracefulness, and demons' opinions of them are a reflection of that."
Or not. "Well, that's harsh," she said with an indignant look.
"It is truth," he corrected. "You are human. Understanding the makings of a demon's pride is hardly a capability you possess."
"Alright, so I can't understand how human is synonymous with shame to demons just because we aren't as physically capable, but I can point out that you're speaking in generalizations. Do you really think that? Not speaking as a demon, but as an individual."
He raised a brow at her, though she wasn't sure if it was because she had caught his particular wording or if he hadn't expected to be asked for his distinct opinion. His brow settled after a moment as he appeared to go into deeper thought about his reply, and she waited stubbornly for a response, eyes staring hard at him.
"…Recent encounters with humans have been…enlightening, I suppose," he eventually offered. "Humans are weak creatures I rarely spare a thought to, but I have found shameful to be insufficient to describe some."
"Good, because Rin would probably be very upset if you thought she was the embodiment of shame every time you looked at her, considering how much she cares about you," she replied bitterly.
He was suddenly consumed by an expression that didn't suit him, and the reaction surprised her into guilt. She'd only intended to make him understand her perspective, but using Rin to that end had thrown him in such a way that now he appeared ashamed instead, even as he quickly schooled his expression into something far more subdued, and Mizuki wished she could have swallowed her words before they had left her mouth.
"Sorry," she amended quietly. "I shouldn't have said it like that."
"…You merely used what was available to you," he replied, a clip in his voice that made her feel like shrinking, though there was no static feeling in the air that accompanied it. "Nothing more."
The dismissal did little to make her feel absolved of her guilt, though, especially when he put it like that. She had taken advantage of his relationship with Rin, whatever that might be, and using their bond for her own gain wasn't right. Sesshomaru's silence made that abundantly clear.
This is the guy you feel comfortable around, a part of her reminded. Don't screw this up.
She already had, though, and didn't really know how to go about rectifying her mistake. Explaining herself felt redundant. He already knew how she felt about his views regarding humans, so there wasn't a point in repeating herself. Even if she used different words, she would still end up coming back to the fact that Rin was human and subject to his views if he continued to frame them the way he did.
Why she was someone he could become attached to despite her being human, she didn't know and didn't think it was appropriate to ask at the moment. Prying into his past was something she had already done too much of as it was, and Rin's presence might be a more sensitive topic than even his relationship with his brother.
She was, though, an outlier, and part of Mizuki wondered how aware of that he was.
"Rin's different for you, somehow," she said. She stood after a moment, thinking it better to have this conversation closer to his own eye level, though she refrained from returning to the roots of the tree where he remained. "I think…it's not unreasonable since you know her well. You're close. When you get close to someone, it's a lot more difficult to put a general label on them."
He looked away from her for a moment, his expression unsettlingly impassive, but she pressed on. "My general idea of demons before I came here had been mostly negative, but you're not like what I expected or even experienced with the first two. My first impression of Inuyasha wasn't fantastic, but I learned more about him the longer I was with Kagome, so I can't just write him off entirely as impulsive, even though it's still a quality that unnerves me. I don't have much experience with demons, but I know they aren't all the same.
"What I'm trying to say is that I find it frustrating that you can look at an entire population of people and write them off because they're weak, especially when you have an example of just what humans can offer otherwise in Rin. You find me interesting enough, too. Humans might not be as strong as demons, but I don't think strength is the only quality that someone's worth should be based on. You know that's true for Rin, so why not other humans?"
The silence after she finished stretched on, but she waited, worrying the edge of her shirt between her fingers as his gaze shifted away from her once again. Eventually, Sesshomaru found himself staring up at the waxing moon, wondering just what it was about the child that had caused him to shift his values so dramatically, and how a human who had known him for only so many hours had elicited such a response from him.
That he found himself so taken aback by her words was something he would analyze later. For now, he merely focused on the truth that Mizuki had so passionately laid out to him. Rin was human, but he did not regard her with shame. It was, in fact, quite the opposite; Rin's choice to follow him made her a facet of his honor. Those who meant to harm her challenged him by making the attempt. Jaken fell under the same umbrella, but he had uses that Rin did not, and so he could not explain how exactly she came to be regarded the same. That she was weak was quickly written off, though he could not determine at a glance whether that was because she was merely a child, that her lack of strength did not prevent her from attempting to aid him, that she was resourceful enough to make up for it, or some combination of the three.
Rin had, much too quickly, simply become Rin in his eyes. Mizuki had effectively outlined just how strong and concerning his attachment to the child had become. The mere thought of her regarding him negatively had unsettled him so greatly that the woman before him regretted the words she had spoken preceding the reaction. How had he allowed a human to become such an influence?
"And how many humans do you actually know?" echoed the question Mizuki had posed to him earlier that morning, and he recalled that his response was fairly dismissive of that factor bearing any consequence, but he knew that to be wrong. Rin's closeness was a significant factor in his view of her. It had to be, or else he could not explain his own actions here. Mizuki's proximity had allowed him to observe qualities other than her inherent weakness, qualities he himself had pointed out, and while he could attribute that to the influence he was experiencing, he knew it was not so powerful that it suddenly allowed him to acknowledge traits of others he had met. The priestess' tenacity and unwillingness to admit defeat, for example. The monk's vitality and efforts to gain information, despite having been poisoned by the wasps he had been loaned use of when they fought. The demon slayer's willingness to assist Inuyasha in the fight that had led to his meeting of Rin. The boy's resistance of Naraku's influence when the order was sent to kill her.
Humans in general were weak, but Mizuki knew well enough that strength was not the sole factor in determining the worth of any one being, human or demon. Her ability to regard him without the bias humans generally held for demons was as much due to her ignorance of them as it was her belief that every being had some sort of value. Her distaste with his explanation lie in the same; beyond being human herself, she found his understanding lacking and his unawareness of what she understood frustrating. Knowing and navigating the worth of things was something she was well-versed in, at least about things other than herself.
Rin had value to him, and to Mizuki, that meant that other humans could have value to him beyond strength, and so he should reevaluate his stance. He realized with a clarity that made him huff an amused breath that it was not difficult to do so when he thought of how he regarded most demons.
He said to the woman whose expression turned hopeful upon the slight upturning of his mouth, "I see your point."
"So, you get that even weak humans like me have valuable qualities?"
"I simply believe my wording was flawed," he shrugged. "I can acknowledge humans as being capable of having value beyond strength, but I do not consider anyone, human or demon, worth my time until they have proven their usefulness."
She stared at him for a long moment before suddenly sputtering into laughter. He was not sure what she found so amusing, but he soon realized that she did not find his response so much humorous as she simply found it unexpected.
"You really do think pretty damn highly of yourself," she noted, her mirth subsiding into a smirk he found more agreeable than insulting. "Alright, fine, I'll accept that, but answer me this; how did I manage to prove my worth to you?"
"Your attempt to rescue Rin was the reason for my initial agreement to aid you," he informed her, unconcerned with how she viewed him. "Other things came to light during that time, and I found myself interested in your pendant and its power."
He debated about informing her that something about her or the artifact she carried may be directly influencing his curiosity in some way, but decided to withhold that information for now. Aside from the implication that he was not strong enough to ignore its influence, it did not seem necessary for her to know just yet that she was in possession of such a power.
She seemed less concerned about why he was interested in the artifact, however, and more that he was not interested in her.
"…You're saying it's technically the rock that's worthy?" she questioned him with a mildly indignant look. "What am I: chopped liver?"
He assumed that particular colloquialism meant something along the lines of worthless. "You may yet prove more valuable," he replied dismissively, and turned his attention to approaching footsteps. Mizuki groaned, unhappy by the revelation, but he made no attempt to ease that as Rin appeared in the clearing.
"Oh, Miss Mizuki is back!" she announced happily.
Mizuki looked over in surprise, not expecting Rin's entrance. She had assumed by hers and Jaken's absence that they had set up camp further from the village, perhaps as a precaution if the two brothers encountered one another, but it appeared they weren't quite as far as she thought.
"Hey, Rin," she replied with a wave. The girl returned the gesture with a smile, her hands occupied by a bundle of reddish-pink wildflowers she appeared to have gathered. She was reminded suddenly that she had been collecting flowers when they first met as well. Apparently it was a hobby. "Those are pretty!"
"Ah, yes!" she replied, looking at them fondly. "Would you like one?"
Mizuki didn't get to answer before the girl was holding one out to her eagerly, the wide smile on her face difficult to ignore. After she thanked her, Rin quickly turned to Sesshomaru, who had been watching the exchange silently. To him, she held up the entire bundle.
"I picked these for you because they reminded me of your kimono, Lord Sesshomaru," she explained enthusiastically. "Are you pleased with them?"
Though he did not take them, Rin was congratulating herself after a moment, the look he regarded them with apparently enough to convey his approval. Not for the first time, Mizuki wondered just how it was that he seemed able to communicate his thoughts so easily to those that followed him.
The girl eventually looked between the two of them and said, "I hope I did not interrupt. I heard laughing and wanted to know what was going on."
"You're not interrupting," Mizuki assured her when Sesshomaru remained silent, though she wasn't sure what Rin could have read in that. "I think we finished talking about the important things, anyway."
"Did you find out how to get home?"
Mizuki's smile fell a little, though she tried not to let her worries about how that was going to work out in the end show too much.
"Not quite, though I have some leads," she explained, looking at the flower in her hand as she turned the stem between her fingers. An idea struck her. "In the meantime, I might need your help getting used to this era. You think you could show me the ropes?"
"Of course!" Rin replied excitedly. "I can show you which berries and mushrooms are good, and how Master Jaken and I catch fish! Oh, and flowers, too! I know how to make a flower crown."
Mizuki smiled and looked across to Sesshomaru, wondering if he would approve of this as a beneficial human interaction for Rin. It seemed like he was about to acknowledge her question, but became distracted before he could, his attention turning to something beyond the clearing. His ear twitched slightly in a way somewhat reminiscent of a dog, a reminder of her speculations regarding his and Inuyasha's heritage, but she packed that away when he spoke.
"...It appears someone was concerned for your safety."
"...Wait, what?" Mizuki questioned, not comprehending.
"Inuyasha and his priestess are headed this way," he continued, an air of amusement developing in his tone. "She is trying to convince him that you are still alive."
She decided not to fight the way his words suggested Inuyasha had ownership of Kagome, figuring she had already tackled enough of his uninformed perceptions for the evening. "I told them I'd be fine," she said exasperatedly, shaking her head. The concern was flattering, but entirely unnecessary. "I was going to be with you, after all. What did they think was going to happen?"
Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow at her. "I believe that is their main concern," he deadpanned.
"But that's...right, never mind," she groaned, reminded that Inuyasha wasn't likely to trust Sesshomaru in many situations. She supposed it said something about his kindness, in any case, if he was concerned about the safety of someone he barely knew. "I'm going to go prove to them that I'm still breathing. I'll be right back."
She turned to do that, but was interrupted by Sesshomaru's request for her to wait a moment.
"It would likely be more beneficial if you simply remain with them for the evening," he continued. Mizuki's face fell; there was the whole matter of preferring his company that he seemed to have forgotten about…or, more likely, hadn't, and was using this opportunity to force her to face her anxieties regarding Kagome and Inuyasha. "You mentioned the girl would be returning to your era in the morning; I will be here then. I am curious about the well and how it is meant to work, at least for those able to travel through it. Discuss other theories about your situation in the meantime, and learn how she has adapted."
She took a long moment to process that. He had a point; Kagome might not be in the same situation, but she was from the future, and would have had to adjust to this time period all the same. They might be able to come up with other reasons why she was stuck, but they could also come up with things she would need and discuss tips for things like food and bathing.
She really wanted a bath. She felt pretty gross as it was.
"...I suppose that would also give me a chance to sleep on something other than dirt," she mused. Her body did not appreciate the lack of proper bedding any more than it did the amount of time it had been since she'd showered. "And Kagome and I could come up with a list of things I need from our own time, too. There are a few things I'll need if I'm going to survive out here."
He raised an eyebrow, suggesting he couldn't imagine what she could possibly need that she didn't already have on her, and it dawned on her that they didn't have anything more than what she could see on them. He and his companions traveled very light.
"In the future, we have items of convenience that I'm not prepared to live without," she explained. "Like instant food, shampoo, toothbrushes..." She trailed off, realizing just how many things she was going to miss. "Oh boy. Yeah, there's a lot to figure out. I don't want to forget something."
"Asking her will likely prevent that," Sesshomaru reminded her.
"Right." She took a breath, feeling mildly rushed and uncertain again. "Okay. Meet you here tomorrow, then?"
He gave her a small nod, and she smiled in return. She lacked confidence in a lot of things, but an agreement from Sesshomaru was not one of them. He would be there in the morning.
"Goodnight, Miss Mizuki!" Rin called to her as she turned to leave.
"Goodnight, Rin," she replied over her shoulder. "And thanks again, Sesshomaru. Seriously. I owe you a lot for this."
He didn't reply, but she figured it was because it really didn't need repeating.
I think the actions and dialogue in this chapter have been some of the most difficult to work with out of all of them. Between pacing out Mizuki's anxiety and balancing Sesshomaru's responses on the scale of what I view as in-character for him and how her presence influences him, this one had been a pain in my side for a week. June is flying by, and I'm worried about meeting my self-imposed deadline of June 30th for a completed chapter 14.
Something I've been attempting with this revision is giving the chapters themes (which you've hopefully noticed, otherwise I'm doing something wrong). A lot of that choice came from reading Nicholas Eames' Kings of the Wyld and Bloody Rose (highly recommend if you're into fantasy in the same vein as Dungeons & Dragons). The pacing around each chapter was really great and interesting to notice, so I started applying it here. It's caused me to rework things to varying degrees, and those of you who pay attention to chapter titles may or may not have noticed changes if you've been following this, but I've found it fun and a lot more organized. Keeps me from getting off track and rambling through themes and events.
Speaking of rambling, I'll stop. As always, criticism is welcome and appreciated. I'm always looking for ways to improve.