Edited 6/17/2020
Beautiful Moon
Of Anxiety and the Future
Sesshomaru could smell them on the wind. He was not entirely surprised by the presence of his hanyou brother appearing along with the two young women, but he spared a brief glance toward the two beside him because of that.
"They approach," he said simply as he stood from his position reclining against a tree. "Inuyasha as well."
Jaken interpreted the command beneath his words without trouble.
"Come, Rin. We must stand back," the imp directed her, tugging on the dragon's reigns. Ah-Un did not budge. It had come to dislike Jaken's handling, and Sesshomaru assumed that had something to do with Rin's much more tender care in comparison.
"What for, Master Jaken?" she asked in confusion.
"In case Lord Sesshomaru and Inuyasha should come to blows, of course! Have you no sense, child?!"
"You think they would fight?"
"Who can say when it comes to that half-breed?"
While they busied themselves with arguing over the appropriate distance, Sesshomaru took several steps toward the well, creating the space he deemed precautionary enough should Inuyasha prove to be as easily provoked as usual, though the two behind him seemed not to notice. He peered into the well's depths, contemplating the power he could sense from it and the future it apparently led to. It was unfathomable what that place could look like, but that did not keep him from entertaining thoughts about it, external influence present or not.
He found himself particularly interested in Inuyasha's interpretation of it should Mizuki's statement regarding where they first met be truthful. His brother had no elegance with words, of course, but so far as he was aware, he was the only inhabitant of this era that could pass through. Asking Mizuki or the young priestess about the place they originated from would yield him detailed answers tainted by their experience growing up in such a world. Inuyasha's experience would come from a place of ignorance, and he would be more likely to describe the future by comparing it to things they were both familiar with.
…The hanyou's ignorance being of benefit was never a thought Sesshomaru would have entertained before these recent events. He had found himself entertaining many thoughts since his conversation with Mizuki had ended last night. Contempt had been the word he used to describe to her the relationship between them, but he had killed for lesser offences than that, and he was left pondering just when he decided Inuyasha was interesting enough to let live.
He found no answer for that nor for the more pressing concern of just how Rin had taken such hold of him. The silence after Mizuki had gone with them had left him reviewing her words, because Rin had certainly grown on him, and he did not have to feel unusually curious about matters in order to turn that one over in his mind. It made sense why he did not see Rin the same way he saw others; her actions when they first met aside, she had simply been allowed to be near him much longer than any human. He had pondered if using Tenseiga to revive her had anything to do with it, or if it was simply that she had tried to save him (though her efforts to accomplish that had been frankly unnecessary), but both seemed inadequate explanations for the tightening in his chest when Mizuki had suggested his negative view on humans extended to her.
By morning, he only understood that it was unusual and that he would have to somehow curb the child's influence. He had two too many examples of just how dangerous an attachment to a single human life could prove.
When the three he was expecting finally made their way through the copse of trees and into the clearing, he was unsurprised to see Inuyasha leading them, effectively becoming a barrier for the women who trailed slightly behind him. His ears flattened in annoyance when they made eye contact, and the glare he was presented with told him he was hardly pleased about this situation, but he unexpectedly did no more. His brother's gaze flicked to Rin and Jaken briefly as if surprised to see them, and then returned to him with slightly less bite.
Inuyasha's concern for humans was predictable, but he did not realize quite how protective of them he could be until he watched his desire to fight become dulled by Rin's presence. Interesting; he had acted to protect Rin once in the past, but he did not believe he had any reason to feel the need to do so now, and certainly not by way of avoiding a fight.
His unusual behavior led him to believe that perhaps there was another reason for him to hold his tongue.
The young priestess appeared unnecessarily surprised by his presence before looking over to apparently gauge the state of mind of the hanyou just in front of her. The hands around the straps of her yellow pack relaxed slightly. She turned her gaze back to him, and then just behind him to Rin, he presumed, because she smiled brightly in greeting. Rin called out a friendly hello.
Beside her, Mizuki walked much less alertly.
…And albeit unbecoming of him to care about the reasons, he was suddenly more curious to know why she appeared to have not slept at all than he should rightly be.
He allowed himself a frustrated sigh. This influence was a mild annoyance, and one he intended to discover the root cause of. For now, he would simply take the opportunity to throw her words back at her from last night, though he made an effort to keep his tone impassive.
"Were you not meant to be well-rested, sleeping on something other than dirt?"
She leveled that tone with a drowsy glare. Mizuki slept, sure, but not until about three in the morning, because kicking her anxiety into submission had still taken quite a bit of time after they returned, despite the efforts Kagome had taken to help her. Really, her problem was much smaller than the middle-schooler's. It shouldn't have taken so long to make peace with that enough to sleep.
Needless to say, she was exhausted by the time she, Kagome, and Inuyasha started the trek back to the well at a mockingly nice, bright, 6:35 AM. Sesshomaru was, true to his word, right there in the clearing, along with Rin, Jaken, and the two-headed dragon Ah-Un. Kagome's threat to sit Inuyasha ten times over if he caused a scene seemed to be holding well, though he had permission to act if Sesshomaru posed a reasonable threat, though she insisted he probably wouldn't do anything as long as Inuyasha held it together.
Apparently the only threat he posed at the moment was to Mizuki's somewhat shortened temper this morning.
"It's called being stupidly worried about my situation. Causes lack of sleep. Human thing," she explained shortly. He sounded distant again, same as he had been last night. Not quite enough to avoid making his version of a joke, but it was apparent in the lack of…well, anything that his words were delivered with. She wondered if being away from him was going to cause this reset in personality every time or if it was just coincidence.
She yawned as if to punctuate that.
"I really thought the walk would help," Kagome said apologetically as she turned to her.
"It did, honestly," she assured, absently running her hand through her hair. Her hair tie was currently around her wrist alongside her watch, she realized belatedly, and with a roll of her eyes, she began to pull her hair back into a much more manageable ponytail. "I wouldn't have slept at all if it wasn't for that. This whole situation was really overwhelming until I was able to compare it more fully to yours. This rock is at least mostly harmless."
"Are you still scared, Miss Mizuki?"
They looked down in surprise to see a worried Rin, who completely disregarded the yelp of disbelief from the imp behind her as she approached them quickly. Mizuki gave her a rueful smile; she had seen her much more upbeat last night, and probably couldn't understand what had made her so worried that she couldn't sleep.
Mizuki barely understood why she was going from positive to existential crisis at the drop of a hat herself, so she didn't have an explanation for the girl, but at the very least she could lessen the worry in her eyes.
"Unfortunately, I'm still a little scared. But having everyone helping has made it better than it was."
Before Rin could reply, Jaken squawked at her for disobeying Sesshomaru and not staying back. She turned to frown at him as he berated her.
"Jaken."
All eyes turned to Sesshomaru, who had apparently issued a directive for silence on the matter by simply calling his name.
"But your command, my lord…"
"They're not fighting, Master Jaken, so it's okay now because I won't get hurt," Rin explained in place of the demon. "Right, Lord Sesshomaru?"
He regarded Inuyasha for a moment before ever-so-slightly smirking, an expression Mizuki was rather beginning to dislike, because it meant he had one of his observations to share.
"He appears to be on a short leash."
Unbidden, Mizuki's hand came up to hide the corners of her mouth turning up.
"…Okay, that was unexpectedly funny. Rude, but funny."
"I'll show you a short leash, bastard!" he replied through gritted teeth.
"Inuyasha…"
Kagome's warning tone stilled him.
Mizuki tried, but she couldn't hold back a chuckle. Sesshomaru's comment hit a little too close to home for the poor half-demon, and the dog reference had killed her composure and the mild irritation she felt at his greeting. Sure, she was worried precisely about this kind of stuff getting out of hand after Kagome left, but the laugh escaped despite that.
Inuyasha turned to her and yelled an indignant response to her reaction. Mizuki turned to Sesshomaru after offering the irate half-demon a quick apology.
"Kagome made him promise to be civil," she explained, and then looked down at Rin and gave her a gentle smile. It was rather thoughtful of him to consider the young girl's safety. That probably said something about how often and violently the two brothers fought, but at least if they did, it seemed as though he would avoid getting those around him caught up in it.
"But if you try to fight like you normally do while I'm gone anyway, you better remember what I told you," Kagome reminded him, giving Inuyasha a stern look.
"I'm not gonna forget! Jeez, why am I the only one getting threatened, huh? Sesshomaru always starts it, anyway!"
"I'm not exactly a threat to Sesshomaru," she reminded him.
Inuyasha took a breath as if to retort, but seemed to think better of it before he could say anything. A softer expression consumed his features for a moment before he shook it away. Kagome seemed satisfied by that, and then turned to Sesshomaru herself.
"…Okay, this is a little weird."
Her composure faltered for a moment as he stared down at her. His superior attitude had shined through when he had cracked the (ironic?) dog reference, but he was back to looking coldly detached, and Mizuki was left feeling intimidated by the sight herself. She wasn't sure what to make of it, but she thought this might be the Sesshomaru they typically saw.
Inuyasha stepping into the space between them seemed to confirm that. Apparently he found Sesshomaru's intentions questionable and his indifference hostile.
"You lay one hand on her, and I'll make sure you lose that one, too," he warned him.
Mizuki was taken aback by the threat. Given his reaction to her question about whether he was responsible for the absence of Sesshomaru's left arm or not, she had thought he felt badly about that. Either she had read him entirely wrong yesterday, or all bets were off when it came to Kagome. She wanted to believe the latter to be truer, but having only her own interpretation of the exchange that they had had about it, she didn't have anything reliable to convince her of that.
Jaken stuttered at the insult to his master, but apparently opted not to speak or was too stunned to form words. Rin only gasped quietly.
"Your ability to read a situation is as lacking as ever," Sesshomaru scoffed, the look crossing his face reflecting something of annoyance or disgust. "Your need to protect your woman makes you perceive danger where there is none."
While Inuyasha clenched his fists in anger, Mizuki watched in concern as Kagome's face turned a bright red. Sesshomaru couldn't have known about the topic of their discussion last night, but by labeling her as Inuyasha's woman, he had managed to highlight her recent frustrations with him on just that issue. Knowing what she did now, she could see how his actions could be misinterpreted so easily. Even Sesshomaru seemed to think they were an item.
"Like I should just ignore all the times you've tried to kill us?" he growled, oblivious to the way his actions were affecting his friend. "Why should I think this situation is gonna be any different? I'll protect her if it's the last thing I do."
Sesshomaru seemed to contemplate that for a few moments, but when his gaze traveled beyond him and took in the growing embarrassment on Kagome's face, Mizuki caught his expression morphing into a smirk that spoke of ill intentions. She stepped quickly between Rin and the three of them, but her attempt to cut off his reply was too slow to prevent his follow-up.
"It was almost the last thing you did once or twice," he noted, his tone haughty and his expression displaying his amusement just enough to make the words he spoke insulting. "It seems I have underestimated how deep your love for her runs, little brother."
Inuyasha's expression went from anger to confusion to embarrassment in a matter of a split second, and he suddenly sputtered like a child caught enjoying an unpopular hobby, eager to defend his reputation among his peers.
"L-love?! What?! No, I don't…She's not…!"
Kagome's face just went from bright red to scarlet as he rambled incoherently, until finally she couldn't take it anymore.
"Inuyasha, SIT!"
The command sent him hurling face-first into the ground in front of Sesshomaru, who merely raised an entertained eyebrow. Mizuki leveled him with a look of disappointment that he didn't appear to notice. Sesshomaru had a cruel sense of humor, but she hadn't realized just how easily he could use the people around him to satisfy it when he wanted to. This was different from the way he poked fun at her, but the intention was the same; he was looking for the reaction his words would cause, and both of them had played right into it.
"I don't need your protection right now!" Kagome shouted. "Everyone's right; you've been way overdoing it lately! I was only hesitating because talking casually to Sesshomaru is weird, alright?!"
Inuyasha was still trying to remove his face from the ground by the time she finished huffing in anger, so she turned to the aforementioned demon.
"And you! You did that on purpose, you jerk!"
He didn't deny it, though he didn't respond, either, which made her simply stomp off to the well's edge with an appropriately angry grunt.
"Don't either of you cause trouble for Mizuki while I'm gone!" she demanded, climbing onto the wooden wall before throwing a glare over her shoulder. "That goes for you, too, Sesshomaru!" she added, and then promptly jumped in, leaving an unspoken threat in the air behind her as she disappeared in a thrum of power.
"Damn it, Kagome!" Inuyasha, finally free from the spell, called after her as he quickly picked himself up from the ground and vaulted in after her. "Get back here!"
Silence reigned for a few moments after he vanished, and Mizuki found herself just staring at the well, unable to accept how easily it had opened. Rin and the imp peered into the well after exchanging a look.
"They disappeared!" the child observed in surprise.
"And good riddance to them!" Jaken added, his inability to speak apparently cured. "I can't believe he would threaten Lord Sesshomaru like that! And the nerve of that woman!"
Sesshomaru had, of course, been goading them into a reaction. Inuyasha was simply very easy to provoke, and he was no less amused by the result. It had been a sudden and unexpected development for them both to leap into the well and vanish. Mizuki's statement that she had met the hanyou in her own era apparently rang true.
"You shouldn't have done that."
He looked up to find Mizuki giving him a disapproving look that he did not quite care for. After a moment, she sighed and turned her gaze down into the well again, apparently deciding that confronting him was a useless effort.
"Inuyasha being protective of Kagome has been hard on her for various reasons. We were just talking about that last night because he's been more extreme about it than usual, so it's a difficult issue for her," she explained instead.
"I find it strange that she seems resentful of his protection, though I can see that his approach likely leaves something to be desired," he quipped.
"I guess you wouldn't understand without context, but I don't want to assume I have permission to give it."
He gathered from that that there were complexities to the relationship he thought he at least understood on the surface, and decided he had no desire to look deeper into the matter. A moment later, he came to an important realization; there was no unnatural draw to force his curiosity on the subject.
His gaze traveled over her. She was certainly distracted, her attention on the interior of the well, a sadness to her expression that was then interrupted by a yawn, but his interest in her had not lessened. The initial, passing curiosity he had for her and the stone around her neck was still present and inflated by her being there.
Which meant that the influence could not create curiosity where there was none. It could only cultivate what was already present, lacking the power to plant the seed itself.
Sesshomaru packed that information away, and turned his attention to something he had wondered about earlier.
"Was your discussion the reason you did not sleep?"
She gave him an inquisitive look, as if she had not expected him to be concerned about her lack of restfulness, but seemed to realize he was not concerned so much as simply curious.
"No, it wasn't that," she explained with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Just kept thinking of questions and what if scenarios about my whole situation. The talk with Kagome actually helped, eventually. Understanding her struggles helped me put mine in a different perspective, especially looking at how screwed up the hand she got dealt is."
"Having that knowledge hardly changes anything," he noted.
"Technically, but it does give me a basis for comparison. At least I'm not responsible for gathering a bunch of tiny fragments of a stupidly powerful jewel while also fighting what sounds like the most vile man in existence. Kagome even tries to keep up with schoolwork and everything on top of that. Just figuring out how to get home seems easy in comparison."
He supposed he understood how that might ease her concerns, but it still did not explain why she held those worries in the first place, given that she had so little information to work with.
"Did you gather necessary information?" he continued, setting the matter aside.
She sighed, coming up to the well and sitting so that her back rested against one of its walls after shrugging her bag off of her shoulders.
"We managed to go over supplies, and she had some advice," she explained. "Kagome is the only one who knows about our agreement for now, because I wasn't sure how Inuyasha would react. Between her and her mother, they'll get the supplies I need."
"What agreement?" Jaken suddenly interjected, looking between them with concern.
"You didn't tell them?" she asked him, appeared to realize that he had not felt the need to do so, and then turned back to Jaken. "Sesshomaru is going to help me find the Yanagawa clan. Not for free, of course," she added as the imp's mouth hung open in disbelief.
"F-for what purpose would Lord Sesshomaru want to help you?!" the demon balked, looking back to him for an explanation. Rin, having already gathered as much from Mizuki's request for help regarding her ignorance of the time period, looked confused by the disapproval apparent in his tone.
"We have a mutual interest, is all," the woman explained with a flat look. "I can't survive on my own and he has questions I can't answer. It's not like it's a permanent arrangement, so relax, Jaken."
"And how long is this arrangement supposed to last, hmm?!" he pressed. "Lord Sesshomaru is very busy himself, you know!"
Mizuki looked away then, shrugging noncommittally. "Who knows," she answered. "Might not even find them, anyway."
Sesshomaru found himself frowning at the way she seemed to so easily fall back into a mood similar to the one she had been in preceding her flustered proposal the night before. That she lacked confidence in their ability to locate the clan was perhaps acceptable given that she had no prior experience with tracking to such a degree and had little knowledge of how easily such a task came to him, but it was bothersome that she seemed so focused on the possibility that their efforts could prove fruitless before they had even begun.
It was a habit of hers, he realized. She had assumed Inuyasha might attack her, that she could not survive so removed from her own time, and that he would reject her proposal because she viewed herself unable to repay the debt. Considering failure was important for planning alternative strategies, but she appeared to dwell only on the possible outcome and not on ways around it, and that she did not yet have the information the priestess had just left to retrieve made the ridiculousness of it starker.
"You cause yourself needless stress by assuming negative outcomes," he noted. Mizuki leveled him with a flat glare that told him she failed to see why he felt it necessary to point that out, and he resisted narrowing his eyes in response before proceeding to clarify. "I do not understand the point of dwelling on the possibility of failure to the extent that you appear to, especially as you wait here knowing that more information is forthcoming. Why waste the energy focusing on undesirable outcomes if you are not also considering paths to avoid it?"
Her tired glare eventually softened into something more thoughtful, apparently realizing that he was not necessarily belittling her so much as pointing out that his focus would be different were he in a similar position.
"…I mess up a lot," she eventually replied, her thoughtful expression falling into something more wholly weary. "I don't normally care that much; I just tend to roll with whatever happens because it's easier if I don't think about it. I try not to plan ahead anymore because the outcome usually disappoints me, and I tend to find adapting to some of the challenges that brings more fun than terrifying.
"But…there's so much more at stake with this," she continued, gesturing to nothing in particular. "Usually the consequences are little things, like coming up with a reason for being found somewhere I'm not supposed to be, or having to do some extra assignments because I was late. This is bigger than me, bigger than just being bored and tired of the way things go in my life, and it's difficult to stop thinking about all the ways this could go wrong. I've lost everything I've ever known, and I don't know if finding the Yanagawa is actually going to lead to me getting home. Believe me, I'd rather not be so anxious about all of this, but-"
Their conversation was abruptly halted by the return of Inuyasha, who jumped out of the well and nearly onto Mizuki before he realized his trajectory and corrected with a yelp and a flip. She tensed and yelled in turn, ducking to cover her head.
"Watch where you're sitting!"
"Watch where you're jumping!"
The two of them managed to shout at the other at the same time, which in turn led to a moment of silence as they stared in surprise. Mizuki was the first to break eye contact, sighing heavily and putting her forehead on her knees.
"I really needed more sleep…"
"Well, sleep somewhere else," he replied shortly. "When Kagome comes back and throws her bag over the side, it won't care if you're there."
"Noted," she mumbled, fingers carding through her hair before she looked up at him with a more serious expression. "Kagome okay?"
He huffed, turning away.
"I'll take that as a no," she surmised. "I hope you at least apologized to each other."
"Me?! What did I do?!"
"You overreacted," she explained calmly.
"I overreacted?!"
"She did, too," she added, before turning to Sesshomaru. "…You're responsible for provoking them, though I have a feeling you aren't the type to say sorry."
"Of course, he isn't," Inuyasha barked. Sesshomaru said nothing, knowing confirmation was implied by his silence. Mizuki simply sighed.
"In any case, she'll feel better if you apologize. Sometimes saying you're sorry is all a person needs to hear."
"...Whatever," the hanyou replied, arms crossed over his chest as he looked away, apparently considering the thought and loath to admit it.
Mizuki shook her head, thankful that a relationship was not something she had ever had to juggle in her life, before heeding Inuyasha's advice about inevitable flying backpacks and relocating to the base of a nearby tree. She didn't feel like trying to finish explaining to Sesshomaru why she couldn't just stop worrying about the future when her life was on the line, so she didn't say anything more on the subject when they fell to silence, instead tipping her head back until it found the support of the trunk behind her.
Rin followed her, taking a seat beside her and giving her a gentle smile that she found difficult not to return despite how she was feeling. The girl was really good at that.
"If you would like to rest more, I can wake you when Lady Kagome returns," she offered.
Her eyebrows rose slightly at the honorific attached to the other's name, and she wondered why Rin had any reason to use it in relation to the teenager. She hadn't gotten the impression that they were much acquainted beyond names. Sesshomaru had referred to Kagome as a priestess, though, so perhaps her perceived occupation warranted the title.
"Thanks, Rin," she said, trying to focus on the girl beside her instead of her own thoughts. "I don't think I can, though."
Not with these two around was implied by the way she looked over at the two half-brothers as they traded glares, Inuyasha's more visually intense than Sesshomaru's, though the full-demon still managed to be just as intimidating. Rin gave an understanding hum and a nod that got the former's attention.
Inuyasha scoffed as his ears twitched in irritation. "I said I wouldn't start a fight, so I won't," he reminded her. "Didn't you hear me earlier?"
"Your efforts in self-control have been rather impressive given that your leash-holder is no longer present," Sesshomaru noted, his tone lightly humored.
The half-demon curled his hands into fists at that, but managed to keep himself together. "Oh, I'll still kick your ass if you start throwing punches," he clarified, "but I won't be labeled the bad guy. You want to be the one to make the girl feel worse than she already does? Be my guest."
As everyone's gazes suddenly turned to her, Mizuki tucked her head into her knees, trying to hide both her embarrassment and concerns.
Kagome had outlined everything to Inuyasha before they left because he had gotten angry thinking she was trying to protect Sesshomaru when she told him he wasn't allowed to fight, but getting him to understand that it was actually to protect her meant having to be straightforward about everything. Between Sango pointing out how she would feel about two people she saw as allies fighting and Kagome following up with how difficult simply watching the well work for someone else would probably be, Mizuki had kind of wished they hadn't tried and just left it at the threat to sit him.
That they hadn't been wrong didn't help her embarrassment, either. She was pretty sure that the only reason she hadn't started crying the moment Kagome and Inuyasha both had vanished was because of the events leading up to it and the abruptness of their departure.
"You and Lord Sesshomaru really do not get along very well, even though you're brothers."
Rin's unexpected observation was a distraction that allowed her to look back up, interested in how they might explain that. The look on the girl's face remained inquisitive, staring patiently at Inuyasha who looked mildly uncomfortable with the attention.
"Of course, they don't!" Jaken chided her before the half-demon had formed a response. "Why should they? Inuyasha is half-huACK!"
A rock met the back of his head, cutting him off and knocking him to the ground.
Alarmed, Mizuki quickly followed the trajectory of the projectile, and found herself surprised to be staring at Sesshomaru's hand. He idly shuffled another stone between his fingers, a neutral expression on his face that seemed both displeased and bored, though she wasn't sure how she had drawn that conclusion.
Inuyasha, shifting his gaze between the rock, the imp, and his brother, eventually attempted to pick up where Jaken had been cut off.
"What the toad was saying is that Sesshomaru hates me because I'm half- What the hell, Sesshomaru?!"
The second rock had smacked audibly into the side of his head, and though clearly thrown with more force than the previous one, it had only slightly unbalanced him. At his angry outburst, the demon merely smirked.
The half-demon picked up the rock and chucked it back, but his sibling dodged it with a mere tilt of his head. Angered by his failure, Inuyasha found another stone and tried again with similar results and earned himself another rock to the forehead. Mizuki didn't even see Sesshomaru move to throw it.
The stone-throwing continued, an entirely one-sided fight, and she suddenly found herself having to suppress laughter at the poor half-demon's expense. The whole situation was unexpectedly juvenile. Sesshomaru was forcing both Jaken and Inuyasha to remain silent on his distaste for the latter revolving around his human blood, as if to prevent Rin from being given the wrong impression, but instead of providing any explanation at all, he was simply cutting them off with rocks and had now involved himself in what amounted to a more injurious version of a snowball fight. Mizuki couldn't help but make the comparison to children, an analogy that was incredibly humorous because of how little sense it should make with Sesshomaru being part of it.
"They have their reasons," she explained to Rin as Inuyasha continued to throw stones at Sesshomaru, who seemed to exert no effort to dodge or bat them away. "It has to do with a demon's pride."
"I see," Rin replied with a nod as though the concept were simple. "They look like they might be having fun, don't you think?"
"How does this look like I'm having fun!?" Inuyasha demanded mid-throw, only to have several rocks rebound off his head in quick succession. Sesshomaru retained his bored look, his smirk having receded, but the rock bouncing up and down in his hand betrayed his amusement.
Inuyasha, apparently tipped over the edge by that last wound to his pride, dislodged a tree from where it was rooted to the ground and held it over his head, a dangerous glint in his angry eyes and a maniacal scowl on his face. Mizuki froze while Rin made a sound of awe at the display of strength, and Jaken, having picked himself up from the ground and removed himself from the crossfire as soon as he was conscious, ran for further cover behind the tree that had been supporting her back.
"You expect to be able to hit me with that?"
"I'm gonna smash you with it!"
"Sit, boy!"
The subjugation command that activated the beads around his neck suddenly rang out loudly, and Mizuki braced herself for the impact of both the half-demon and the tree on the ground. Inuyasha tensed and ducked his head, prepping for the inevitable…that was not quite so predictable, after all.
Curious about the absence of the result she expected, Mizuki glanced to the source of the voice and realized it was not coming from the well. Instead, it had come from the direction of the village, and she was met with the sight of Sango, along with Miroku, Shippo, and the cat Kirara. The demon slayer had her hands on her hips in a disapproving fashion.
Apparently, the command only worked for Kagome.
"Dammit, Sango!" Inuyasha yelled at her. "You know that doesn't work!"
"It made you stop," she shrugged. Inuyasha bristled at the realization.
"We decided it was probably best not to leave you to deal with him alone, Miss Mizuki," Miroku explained, looking somewhat baffled by the scene. "I expected Inuyasha would lose his patience, but I'll admit, I was imagining swords."
"Did you really think you could hit Sesshomaru with a tree, Inuyasha?" Shippo added.
"Ah, shut up!" he hollered, dumping the tree behind himself in a huff. It crashed loudly on the ground, sending a shockwave through the earth that made the leaves of the surrounding trees shake. Several birds voiced their disapproval and took to the sky.
Mizuki, grateful for the three for their thoughtfulness and timing, exhaled in relief.
"Are you okay, Mizuki?" Sango asked her, coming up to her side and offering Rin a quick smile in greeting.
"I'm fine," she replied, looking between the two brothers before smiling herself. "Honestly, Inuyasha was doing fairly well until Sesshomaru pelted him with a rock."
The look on Sango's face said she wanted to know why, but Mizuki just shook her head. Best to avoid the conversation for both the siblings' sakes.
"Need I remind you that Lady Kagome promised to bury you if you two fought, Inuyasha?"
Sesshomaru watched as the hanyou sputtered with the realization that he had broken his apparent agreement with the priestess, and found himself disappointed by the disruption, and then suddenly disturbed by his own behavior. Fighting Inuyasha was never something he enjoyed, per se, but he had begun to do so here and couldn't place why. It was strange and unfamiliar to him in the same way that his inflated curiosity felt, and though he was overly curious as to how long it would take for Inuyasha to draw his sword, he had not known Mizuki's presence to affect something other than that until this point. This was much more difficult an effect to define or place, but as wrong as it felt, it had to be because of her.
Mizuki and the stone she wore around her neck affected more than simply his own curiosity, and Sesshomaru was less pleased by this discovery as he analyzed it in conjunction with what he had noticed earlier regarding her inability to create curiosity where there was none. The implications left him with more to think about than he would have liked.
He could not understand how he was so affected by something as minor as a human woman or a polished bit of rock.
If he was subject to her influence to such an extent, then he could not imagine others being so immune. Despite lacking much information on their general behaviors and personalities, Sesshomaru set himself to the task of watching her interactions with Inuyasha's companions, determined to discover something that revealed her range of influence. The demon slayer spoke to her amicably, until interrupted by the indignant squeal she gave in response to the monk making a pass at her behind. By the expression on his face before her fist connected with it, he was surprised with himself or skilled at feigning the look. Mizuki joined the woman in glaring at the man.
The fox kit had abandoned the monk's shoulder at the start of the incident, running to Inuyasha for protection as the hanyou added his own scolding to the mix. The man nursed his bruised eye and insisted he had not intended to, though Inuyasha and the fox made it clear that no one would believe that.
If she was influencing any of them, it was difficult to tell. The monk, perhaps, if his concern was to be believed. The slayer and kit offered no clear differences compared to what he had observed of them before, and Inuyasha, aside from his efforts to avoid clashing blades, was not so starkly different. To him, at least; Sesshomaru suddenly recalled the priestess's reaction to the way Inuyasha had jumped to the conclusion that she was in danger simply from being uncomfortable addressing him in a neutral setting. Overdoing it, she had said. Mizuki had clarified that his efforts to protect her had been more extreme lately after they had left, and he had thought nothing of it, but perhaps that was an indication that he was just as susceptible to the effects of the woman's presence.
That he might be influenced differently was something he would have to ponder himself until they found out more about the stone.
"Does it really take that long to get a few scrolls?"
The fox had relocated himself again, this time to the edge of the well where he cast a forlorn look into its depths, apparently missing the other woman's company. Upon noticing their proximity, he flinched, but before he could decide where he might flee to next, Rin came up beside him, questions in her eyes.
"Can you go through like Inuyasha?" she asked.
Her presence seemed to be enough for him to decide he was safe, and he shook his head, disappointment clear on his face. "Only Inuyasha can. I really wish I could, though, because then I could go after Kagome whenever he makes her angry."
Across the clearing, Inuyasha's ears flattened against his skull, overhearing that remark and coming up to grab the kit by the scruff. "Excuse me?" he asked, as if he hadn't heard clearly enough.
Rin interrupted his reprimand of the young demon with a question Sesshomaru had himself.
"What's it like on the other side of the well?"
The hanyou paused to look at her, eyebrow raised. Of any of them, he likely had the most difficult time understanding Sesshomaru's acceptance of the child accompanying him, given their long history founded on his opinion of humans. He frowned, apparently setting whatever thoughts he had aside, and looked into the well.
"Noisy," he finally replied, letting the fox-child down. "Less green. It's harder to track scents. Buildings tall as small mountains and lights everywhere, even at night. A lot of humans, too. Thousands of them. They ride around in metal snakes and carts that move without horses. It's like a completely different world."
Mizuki chuckled from across the clearing, having overheard and finding something in his description amusing.
"They're trains, not snakes," she clarified, though the word was foreign and did little more than remove the animal comparison. Inuyasha's description at least gave him some kind of image, however rough. "And the metal carts are called vehicles. They run on fuel, so we don't need horses for them."
"I'm afraid it's still difficult for us to comprehend, despite seeing the paintings in your books," the monk noted with a smile. "Even Lady Kagome's iron contraption is rather baffling every time I see her riding it."
"I at least know that's a bi-cycle," Inuyasha muttered, crossing his arms.
"A bi-cycle?" Rin questioned him, head tilted slightly with curiosity.
"It's like an iron horse…" the monk began, trailing off for a moment in thought. "Except it has two big wheels instead of legs, handles like reigns that direct the first wheel, and pedals that you turn with your feet to make the second wheel spin to move you forward. If you can balance on it, it's a quick mode of transportation."
"I ride in the basket on the front when Kagome takes it along," the kit explained with a smile. "The wind feels great! It's like flying!"
"There might be a picture of one in here…"
Sesshomaru looked over to where Mizuki was sitting to find that she had opened the dark pack she carried, removing a tome of paper. She swiftly turned the pages in search of the picture she mentioned, until she exclaimed in success and stood to bring her findings over to Rin, crouching down and placing the tome on her legs.
"Here," she said, pointing to an object on one of the pages. "That's a bicycle."
Her pronunciation of the word was slightly different from Inuyasha's, but the general description the monk had given appeared to be correct. He could see from where he stood the contraption with two thin wheels, and how someone was meant to operate it.
He could also see a foreign landscape, devoid of the forests and plains he was familiar with. Inuyasha mentioned tall buildings, but he had failed to mention just how many there seemed to be. An endless sea of tall structures he could not begin to think of as homes filled half of one page. The other showed closer views of humans in clothing that resembled both the priestess's short kimono and Mizuki's odd garments, of the things Inuyasha described as iron carriages absent of horses and Mizuki called vehicles, and suddenly Sesshomaru had just a small understanding of the world the woman knew as home.
For a long moment, Sesshomaru found himself contemplating the future and the empire he wished to build, and attempted to reconcile it with the images of Mizuki's era. It was difficult to fathom such changes.
"There's no way humans could have built such things!" Jaken insisted as he looked over the images in her tome. "Such structures would require much more strength to build than humans are capable of!"
"We make machines to help us with the heavy stuff. These aren't even the biggest buildings in my era."
"Impossible!"
"You've got two eye-witnesses that say otherwise, imp. We've even put humans on the moon!"
"Really?!"
"I refuse to believe it!"
As Jaken continued to argue the unlikelihood of humans achieving such feats, the well beside them pulsed with power, and everyone collectively turned their attention to it. After a moment of contemplation, Inuyasha reached down, wordlessly offering a hand to the priestess who had returned, and she apparently accepted it despite their earlier argument.
"Kagome, you're back!" the fox exclaimed.
Upon being pulled from the well, the woman turned to Mizuki with a somewhat bewildered look.
"Your dad's the president of Tochuu?"
Sesshomaru could not make sense of the question and why her father was of any relevance, but from the way Mizuki's expression fell in response to it, it appeared it did not bode well for her.
Having Sesshomaru wrestle with discovering things about himself is rather fun, and that was the largest change that came in this revision. Instead of the quick thought on whether Inuyasha is affected by Mizuki or not and why it might be different than how she affects him, there's now a much more natural (and effortful) build up to that. He's not really the type of character to be anxious, but he's also rarely put into a position where he isn't able to be in control. I enjoy writing him into situations where he has to question himself and what he understands to be true. Mizuki is somewhat designed for that purpose in the same way Rin is in the series, but she talks back, so there's a bit more give and take that I can play with.
I think if he were ever to allow himself to, Sesshomaru and Kagome could have pretty interesting conversations.
As always, criticism is appreciated.