Edited 6/16/2020

Beautiful Moon

Restlessness and Late-Night Walks

It was after one in the morning, and Mizuki still wasn't asleep.

She heaved a long sigh and sat up to stare at the wall across from her. Her watch ticked quietly in the silence, counting out the seconds of shut eye she was missing as she brought her knees up to rest her arms and head on. The sleeping bag Kagome had loaned her made her arms slip off her legs, though, so she gave up and just let them rest at her sides while she continued her staring contest with the wooden panels.

She had everything she needed for a decent night's sleep – comfortable sleeping bag, shelter, full stomach – but it kept eluding her. Apparently the one thing she was missing was an off switch for her brain.

"Come on, Mizuki," she berated herself. "You can think about this crap tomorrow."

That mantra was a background to her thoughts all evening, but it never took. She sighed; tomorrow was going to be a mess if this kept up.

It really was just her, and she knew that, but that didn't help matters. There were still so many unknowns about her situation. Sesshomaru had agreed to accompany her as far as seeking out the Yanagawa clan, and that had certainly helped, but now she was free to be concerned about other things. How long would his interest last? Would the information Kagome brought back be of any use? Could they even track down the family the pendant belonged to? What if she never got home?

Every thought led to a question that led down a road paved with uncertainties, and she didn't have the presence of mind or a suitable distraction to keep from wandering down them. Everyone else was sleeping, and the blank wall and ticking watch hardly helped.

Another matter entirely was that Inuyasha now insisted on following her and Kagome to the well in the morning, after she had informed them of Sesshomaru's intended presence. Things would probably be fine while Kagome was there; the teenager at least understood that Sesshomaru wasn't always the asshole Inuyasha expected him to be, and she didn't think Sesshomaru would attack her since he was curious about how the well was supposed to work and needed Kagome for a proper demonstration to happen. It was after the girl gave that demonstration that worried her. She didn't think she would be capable of keeping the half-brothers in check, and had spent a good portion of the evening trying to convince herself that they really didn't hate each other that much. She only had her own speculative confirmation of that on Inuyasha's end, and a passive admission of perhaps a step down from hate from Sesshomaru, neither of which were reassuring.

She had yet to trick herself into thinking that they could stand to be civil.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

She jumped, startled by the sound of the half-demon's voice intruding on her frustrations, and whipped her head back toward him. Correction: everyone except Inuyasha was sleeping, though he made a pretty good impression of it despite his uncomfortable position sitting up against the small cabinet.

He was lazily cracking an eye at her, though, with his arms crossed into his sleeves and his sword resting up against his chest. It dawned on her that he was probably just a very light sleeper. Given his protective streak, acting as guard dog was likely normal for him.

"I've been asking myself that for the past three hours," she replied in a whisper, resting her chin in her hands again. Her elbows slipped off a second time. She groaned and dropped her forehead onto her knees instead, giving up on the effort.

"Just close your eyes and sleep," he suggested as though it should be that simple and she just hadn't thought about it. Mizuki rolled her eyes.

"If it were that easy, I wouldn't be awake right now," she mumbled into her lap.

The annoyance in her tone came through without any attempt to dull it. If one thing had become clear over the course of the evening, it was that Inuyasha was far more comfortable with blunt conversations than forced politeness. The way each member of the group spoke to one another was different depending on who they addressed, with Kagome often receiving the politest tones and honorifics (which surprised her, given her age), and Inuyasha receiving less filtered words. He treated them all with the same level of respect, which was to say very little, but it seemed as though they were all close enough that it was normal for them.

Not having to worry about saying the wrong thing around him was a little bit helpful toward trying to be more comfortable in his presence. That was one point of similarity between the two brothers, though being blunt to Sesshomaru was apparently interesting to the demon, whereas Inuyasha simply expected it. It made her wonder about their respective upbringings.

Inuyasha shared other similarities with Sesshomaru in unexpected ways, like the way his eyebrow arched when he was mildly surprised by something, or his often snarky responses to things said by his friends. He was curious like his brother, too, but was much more obvious about it and quickly grew bored when he decided he couldn't understand something.

Mizuki had a chance to observe that side of him when he had actively participated as the girls' attempt to put together a list of things she would need from the future devolved into explaining how some of the lesser-used items in Kagome's bag worked. He scoffed at the explanation of how batteries operated, noted that the one weird smell he picked up every once in a while was the lotion Kagome had but rarely used, and looked away sheepishly for some reason when she explained clocks and timers to the group.

He was still prone to jumping to conclusions, though, which was the one part of him that still unnerved her. When they had finished talking about how her flashlight had been forgotten in the well, she had taken it apart to demonstrate how the pieces went together and why the battery turned it on. The spring from inside of it had escaped a bit more dramatically than she was expecting, and Inuyasha treated it like an enemy for several seconds too long. The alarm going off on the clock caused him to jump, and she was glad the demonstration of the actual use of hairspray ended with him violently sneezing and not drawing his sword on the can. As Kagome explained it, though, he had reason to be worried; she had once paired it with a small candle to create an impromptu flamethrower. Mizuki found that creative and wrote it down on her list.

She'd been able to borrow a needle and thread from the girl to affix the broken strap of her own bag back into its original place, and had thus emptied everything out to make the process easier. The contents were, for the most part, uninteresting to them. Her rice crackers (ninja snacks, according to Shippo) were a flavor they were familiar with, the Weekly Jump magazine contained images similar to pictures Kagome had shared with them, and her water bottle and notebook were normal enough to them since Kagome often carried her own, though they found the clear plastic to be fascinating. The waterproof jacket was passed around since the material was strange for clothing, but that was about the extent of it.

The only thing of great interest was the camera she had packed along for her trip, and Kagome fawned over that herself for a while before trying to explain how cameras worked. They both agreed to do a proper demonstration after the risk of Inuyasha destroying the thing was much lower, since it was one of those super cool digital models with the screen, and Kagome hated to put it in danger. Mizuki didn't have the heart to dull her earnestness by telling her that she had two more at home, courtesy of one of her dad's business deals with an overly enthusiastic representative, and she figured if she ever got home, she'd offer one of them as a gift.

Inuyasha's reflexive protectiveness was sometimes amusing when she could keep from letting it worry her, though Shippo and the others made it pretty clear that he was somewhat more obvious about it today for reasons they couldn't name. Mizuki figured it had something to do with her being there and putting him on edge given their first encounter with one another. Inuyasha was adamant that he wasn't any different and clearly embarrassed by the whole thing.

The evening concluded after she and Kagome had worked to pare down the list to bare essentials. Discussing her options was set aside until after the information from the Higurashi shrine was gone over, which let Mizuki put off telling them about the arrangement she had made with Sesshomaru. Inuyasha's reaction to the demon planning to be at the well in the morning had prompted her to keep her mouth shut, lest his protective streak somehow extend to her.

The half-demon was currently yawning, fangs baring unabashedly. Being half out of it made him look deceptively puppy-like.

She sighed; tomorrow was going to be a long day.

Kagome turned beside her, revealing that she was awake for either part or all of their exchange. Mizuki hoped they hadn't woken her, but as cramped as they were in Kaede's hut, that was probably the case. She gave her an apologetic smile.

"Would you like to go for a walk?" the middle-schooler offered. "That might help clear your mind."

She thought about it for a moment before nodding. Trying wouldn't hurt, at least. Perhaps getting out of the house and away from everyone would settle her thoughts better.

As the two girls attempted to get up without awakening the others, Inuyasha stood as well, tucking his sword into the ties of his hakama as if he were planning to tag along. Kagome, hair slightly askew and pink pajamas rumpled, sent him a look that was as disapproving as it was half awake.

"What?" he asked when he caught the expression on her face.

"There's no need for you to tag along," she insisted.

"You attract trouble like honey attracts flies," he scoffed. "If I'm not there, who's gonna protect you? Her?"

Mizuki was only slightly wounded by the insult (he wasn't wrong, after all), but Kagome apparently took far more offense on her behalf.

"I do not!" Kagome countered. "And what's with your attitude toward Mizuki? You could stand to be nicer, you know."

"Well, it's true, isn't it?"

"That's not the point!"

"Uh, it's fine, really," Mizuki tried to intervene. "And maybe we should be a bit quieter?"

They clammed up for a moment, looking at the other sleeping forms around them.

"Anyway," Kagome continued in a whisper, "we'll be fine. We're just going to take a little walk. It's not like we're going out of the village."

"And I'm telling you, I'm going with you!" Inuyasha insisted.

"Since when do you follow Kagome around like a puppy?" Sango's voice suddenly drifted up to them, causing a blush to creep across the face of the other girl from the future, and an embarrassed and indignant look to consume Inuyasha's.

"I-I do not!"

"First the hot water, then Kagome's belongings, now the unknowns of the night; you're becoming a bit over-zealous, Inuyasha," Miroku added. "Commendable, though I might add that persistence can be off-putting to a lady."

"Can it, Miroku! I am not!"

"You are far more protective than I gave ye credit for, Inuyasha," Kaede noted.

"Makes you wonder what's gotten into him. Is it because Sesshomaru is around?" Sango speculated, propping herself up to look over at Miroku, who turned in her direction.

"He has targeted her before when she attacked him herself, but I doubt Sesshomaru would be so underhanded as to go after her to get to Inuyasha."

"Yeah, he's more direct than that."

By now, both Kagome and Inuyasha were red in the face, and Mizuki realized that everyone was awake because of her, which left her embarrassed as well. She looked over to where Shippo was curled up with Kirara, expecting a smart remark from the boy only to unexpectedly find that he was still fast asleep.

"Children really do sleep through everything," she noted, reminded of Rin sleeping through Jaken's complaints and her conversation with her demon guardian.

"Ah, enough!" Inuyasha finally relented, dropping back down to the floor in a flustered heap and crossing his arms over his chest. "Fine! Leave me alone already!"

Kagome wasted no time and quickly shuffled out the door. Mizuki muttered an apology to everyone and followed after her. When she caught up, Kagome had her hands to both sides of her face, trying to contain the redness.

"I just don't get him!" she grumbled in mortification.

"…Is he really that off?" Mizuki inquired, to which Kagome gesticulated frustratedly in confirmation.

"Way off!" she emphasized, hands dragging through her hair. "Maybe it is because Sesshomaru is around, but he's never been so jumpy about everything! I mean, yeah, he can get protective, but only when I'm actually in danger or when Koga comes around! Never just…for no reason!"

"Koga?"

There was a beat of silence in which the girl seemed to have realized she had said something she didn't intend to.

"He's… Well, it's complicated."

Mizuki raised an eyebrow. Kagome sighed in response, and motioned for her to follow.

For a little while, they walked in silence that was only interrupted by the insect life around them. It was dark, but the moon was on its way to full, so it wasn't difficult to pick out where they were going, and the stars overhead were still as clear as they had been when she'd first seen them after climbing out of the well. The lack of light pollution really did wonders for the view.

"You don't have to share if you don't want to," Mizuki eventually told her, concerned as the silence stretched on longer than she felt comfortable with. She'd pried enough into Sesshomaru's life; she didn't want to end up doing the same to someone else she was indebted to.

"No, it's fine," the middle-schooler replied. "Gives me the chance to vent a little, and it's nice to share with someone from home. I don't mind."

Her anxiety on the matter relaxed at that, and she offered the other a smile.

Kagome took a calming breath before she began, "It's kind of a long story. Koga is a wolf demon that's hunting Naraku, too, and we get along well enough that we consider each other allies, though it's a bit reluctant on Inuyasha's part. It didn't start out that way, though. He kidnapped me first."

"And you became friends?" Mizuki asked incredulously.

"It turned out he wasn't all bad," Kagome shrugged. "He didn't necessarily kidnap me for himself so much as for his clan, because the leader of a group of bird demons that they were fighting had a shard of the jewel, and he needed my help to take them down. Being used as a shard detector against my will wasn't exactly what I'd call good reasons, though, and at some point, he decided he wanted me as a mate. He was incredibly flattering at the time, but that's not something one person gets to decide, and I'm still not interested despite what he and Inuyasha seem to think."

"I've been given a very strong impression that demons aren't particularly fond of humans," she told her, reminded of her conversation with Sesshomaru. "I take it Koga is a bit of an exception?"

"He wasn't, really," Kagome explained. "He used to let his wolves feed on humans, though he's stopped doing that since I've been so insistent about it. And it wasn't like he just fell in love with me; his reasons were objective, things that could benefit him and his pack, not like, say, Miroku's brand of flattery."

She could imagine the monk's approach to involve cheap pick-up lines, given his impulsive request that she grant him a child and the way he spoke to Inuyasha before they left Kaede's place, but she kept that to herself.

"Between that and the way he tried to protect me during the fight with the other demons, I realized he wasn't that bad a person, just blunt and a bit too single-minded about his goals. He got pretty hurt, but Inuyasha was determined to fight him when he came to rescue me, and Koga wanted to take him out of the picture because he thought that would make me stay with him, and I put a stop to it. Inuyasha took it all the wrong way, and now he thinks I actually like Koga and want to be with him all because of the flattery."

"So Inuyasha's the jealous type," Mizuki noted, though wasn't surprised given his tendency to jump to conclusions.

Kagome groaned. "Yeah, but he and I aren't actually… Let's just say that it's clear enough I'm not going to be his first choice, so when he acts like this, it just frustrates me."

"Wait, you mean he's got someone else?" This time she was surprised. She hadn't gotten that vibe at all from Inuyasha. If anything, she thought they complemented each other well, or at least could match each other's fire. "He's totally got a thing for you, though; even someone like me can see that. He acts like he doesn't want to admit it, but then he gets all red in the face whenever anyone implies something, and he's protective of you to a fault. If he didn't like you, what reason would he have to be jealous?"

Her expression turned very dark, and Mizuki felt a chill go down her spine. Touchy subject, something warned her.

"Sorry," she quickly apologized.

"…No, you're right," she sighed apologetically after a long moment. "It's just like he's trying to send mixed messages. It doesn't help that I'm the reincarnation of the first woman he loved."

As far as Mizuki was concerned, that was just icing on the whole cake. "Oh, shit. That sucks."

Kagome gave her a look, and then suddenly broke into laughter that she didn't understand the origin of.

"What's so funny?" she wondered aloud. "Is it the language? Sesshomaru seemed to think it was funny the first time I slipped, too. I promise it's not on purpose."

"No, no," she insisted, trying to reign in her giggling. "Well, it made the reaction funnier, so I guess that's part of it. It's just, normally people look at me differently when they find out I'm Kikyo's reincarnation, and I just expected the same from you, but you said that and I realized you don't even know who she is, and it was just… It was so unexpected!"

She laughed lightly in response, reminded of how Sesshomaru's answer about humanity's usefulness to him caught her off guard. "Do you get compared to her a lot?" she asked soberly.

"Less than I used to," she said, a small smile in place of the dark cloud that had consumed her features before. "Kikyo died after Naraku tricked her and Inuyasha into attacking each other. She sealed him to the goshinboku and followed him to the grave, though Inuyasha didn't know that at first. He even mistook me for her when we first met. It would probably be less complicated if that was the end of it, but a while back, a demon sorcerous brought her back to life by using her grave soil and part of my soul. We think she wanted to use her to gather the shards."

"…Demons can do that?"

"Some, apparently," she replied, giving Mizuki a knowing look. "You get less surprised by what demons are capable of over time."

"I suppose," Mizuki shrugged. She was still getting over demons being real, to be honest. "I guess literally raising the dead isn't something I considered."

"Well, she's not technically alive, but you'd never know just looking at her. Anyway, it's really hard on Inuyasha since he found out they were tricked. He still loves her. I've tried to accept that, but he has a tendency to act like he likes me, too, so…"

"So mixed messages galore," she concluded. "I don't mean to come across as rude, but why do you stay here? The guy you like is in love with someone else, it's so much more dangerous here, and you're free to travel back whenever you want. All I want to do is go home, personally."

Kagome paused then. They had made it out to the middle of the rice fields, and as the girl looked up, she followed her gaze to the moon.

"I don't…want to be away from Inuyasha."

It was a quiet admission, like saying it out loud was something Kagome could only manage in a whisper.

"It hurts that he doesn't share the same feelings, but it's worse to not know if he's safe," she continued. "In the beginning, I wanted to go home and never come back, just like you. I almost did, but when Inuyasha came to get me and accidently brought something dangerous with him, something that wanted the shards of the jewel, I realized just what I had unleashed when I shattered it. I was the one who brought it into the past with me, even if I didn't know it at the time, so it's my responsibility to get it out of the hands of people like Naraku who would use it for evil purposes. Inuyasha isn't going to stop going after Naraku, and I'm not going to stop worrying about Inuyasha. I want to help him and stay by him, no matter how dangerous it is."

Mizuki didn't know what to say.

She was two grades ahead of Kagome, but she felt like the middle-schooler was lightyears ahead of her in terms of responsibility and maturity. Her current problem seemed so small compared to the journey ahead of the girl that she suddenly felt embarrassed for being upset about it at all.

Kagome had assured her twice more over the evening that her having stolen the stone really was nothing to be ashamed of considering the connection she shared with it. It still bothered Mizuki despite the assurance, but she realized now just how small a concern a comparatively harmless artifact was to someone whose life encompassed so much more complexity. She was juggling school, a complicated relationship, battling demons, hunting down tiny fragments, and while she had the choice to stay home, she was choosing to be here because she felt like she had a duty to see things through and cared so much about one person that she wasn't willing to let them do it alone. Mizuki was fairly certain she would have chosen to stay in the future were she in Kagome's shoes, unsure that she would have been able to handle the pressure.

"…I can't even figure out what I want to do after high school, and here you are committed to saving the world," Mizuki chuckled somewhat bitterly.

"I don't know about saving the world," Kagome laughed.

"Japan, at the very least," she insisted. "I would say I'm jealous, but I can't envy your situation. I just feel a whole lot less significant right now."

"Oh, don't feel that way!" she told her, looking for all the world like it bothered her to think she had caused that feeling. "I couldn't keep doing this without everyone, really. Even Sesshomaru has helped, though I think he'd say otherwise."

"Probably."

They shared a laugh at that for a few moments, the heavier atmosphere dissipating between them. Reminded of the man she'd left in the woods not long ago, Mizuki eventually found herself sighing, deciding that Kagome should know part of their conversation from earlier.

"Speaking of Sesshomaru, I didn't want to say anything in front of Inuyasha at the moment, but…he agreed to help me find the Yanagawa clan, at least while it benefits him."

Surprised, Kagome's laughter sputtered into a cough.

"Wait, really?!"

"He's only interested in this," she noted, pulling at the chord around her neck to indicate the stone connected to it, slightly annoyed by the memory of that revelation. "I may yet prove more interesting, according to him. I figured since Inuyasha was worried about me being targeted by Naraku if I went with you that I should at least try to ask him. Apparently the guy doesn't go out of his way to target Sesshomaru for some reason."

"…That's probably true," Kagome agreed, hand coming to her chin in thought. "Sesshomaru doesn't appear to be interested in the jewel shards, so other than attempting to absorb his power, Naraku doesn't gain much going after him at this point. We have jewel shards and more people attempting to take him down; between Inuyasha and Sesshomaru, Naraku is better off focusing on us."

"Wait – absorb his power?" Mizuki asked, confused by just how the demon could go about that.

"Naraku is a conglomeration of demons," Kagome explained. "He's apparently attempted to take Sesshomaru into his body before, but Inuyasha interrupted that. I suppose Sesshomaru would have managed his way out somehow, though. He's pretty strong."

"Ew," she retorted, disgusted. "That's an unpleasant thought."

Kagome smiled apologetically. "It's not entirely uncommon for demons. A flesh-eating mask tried to absorb me into it once."

Mizuki balked.

"Anyway," Kagome redirected with a wave of her hand, "Sesshomaru agreeing to go with you is surprising! I know you say it's about the stone, but you had to do something to convince him, right?"

"You mean aside from rambling and begging pitifully?" she laughed. "I don't know that I actually did anything to convince him. I failed pretty miserably trying to explain myself, to the point where I'd say he took pity on me if I believed he were the kind of person to do that. I didn't think I had anything to offer, but he turned around and pointed out things I couldn't see at the time. It threw me completely off, and he found the whole thing funny."

"Wait, so he pointed out good things about you?!"

Mizuki blushed slightly. Kagome's words had a giggly undertone that spoke of a giant misunderstanding she should probably clear up for Sesshomaru's sake.

"Not like that," she contended. "Objectively. Like Koga, but without the whole mate angle." She wasn't enthusiastic about relationships as it was; the idea of some demon just deciding they wanted her for something like that was downright repulsive. "He really just focused on things I could offer, like negotiation skills, or information about the future, or just companionship for Rin so she has some human interaction. Things like that."

Kagome looked unreasonably disappointed as she sighed, "Ah, that seems more likely. Still, he seems a lot nicer compared to the way he's been in the past. I wouldn't have pinned him for the type to give compliments."

"I wouldn't call them compliments," Mizuki laughed. "I think observations is a better term."

"Still, those are observations about a human," she noted.

"It helps that I hung around him for a little while," she shrugged, reminded of the conversation she had had with the demon about generalizations and how they fell apart when you had too many details. "He didn't have much of a choice when Rin asked if she could tend to my arm in return for trying to save her. In his shoes, I don't think I would have ignored a sudden, very out-of-place stranger among the people I protect."

"…We don't blend in much, do we?"

"You're wearing pink pajamas in the middle of the Sengoku period," she deadpanned.

They simply stared at each other for a few moments until Mizuki couldn't suppress a laugh anymore, and they both ended up doubled over at the absurdity of it all.

It felt good, being able to laugh so fully, sharing the moment with someone who understood so much better than anyone else, and by the time they found their way back into the village, Mizuki realized that there was a lightness in her chest that she could only attribute to Kagome's presence, the anxiety that she felt around the girl replaced with a bond and a trust that she could rely on.

It did not cure her restlessness, but at the very least there was one less question worrying her.

This chapter is one I struggle with the very existence of, mostly because it doesn't necessarily push the plot forward as much as the previous chapters. I feel like having this interaction between Mizuki and Kagome is important enough to keep around at this point, though, for reasons other than having them bond so that Mizuki feels more comfortable around the only other person who can possibly understand where she comes from. I can't really get into those without giving some things away, so I'll leave it up to you to draw conclusions. Once this project is actually completed, I'll make the decision on how necessary it is to keep or how I could scatter the necessary points to the surrounding chapters.

As usual, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Did Kagome's characterization seem correct to you? I don't shift to her perspective at all in this story, so I have a little leeway as far as how Mizuki and Sesshomaru might view her, but as the bridge between eras, she plays an important part in the story. I want to get the feeling of her correct, with some minor tweaks.