Trees wore the richly hued shades of June green and their leafy arms stretched over the paths like a canopy as Mikazuki walked with her brothers. She took one last backward glance at the palace, and felt the crystal-like teardrops softly roll down her complexion.

"Feh. You're pretty when you smile, why did you learn how to cry?" Mikazuki looked back to see Inu-Yasha with his amber eyes fixed on her."I'm not crying," She murmured hoarsely as she hurriedly brushed her tears away.

"Don't be a fool," Inu-Yasha scowled. "I know you are—"

"I am not!" His sister replied hotly. Even though they've only known each other for a few days, it was already quite obvious that they share the same temper.

Inu-Yasha rolled his eyes heavenward and gave a loud sigh as he grabbed her chin and unveiled her face.

"What are you doing?" Mikazuki demanded, trying to pull away. But the younger of her older brothers only gently turned her face so their eyes locked. Then he brushed a thumb across her milky, smooth skin, causing a fresh droplet of moisture to smear as it tried to make its way down her cheek.

"Then what's all this, hmm?" His tone was suddenly softer. He could only imagine how her world had been torn apart. Maidens like her—gently raised girls who were sheltered from the outside world—weren't equipped to handle sudden change. They weren't taught to. Given her upbringing, the half-demon thought she was handling herself remarkably well.

"My eyes are watering." She glared half-heartedly as she pushed his hands away and replaced her veil. "So there. Give up."

"Now, you know you were crying. What's so bad about admitting it?" Inu-Yasha countered.

"I was not crying." She states calmly, her steps quickening to their other brother.

"You were, too!" He argued.

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"I AM NOT!" She finally screamed in the most unprincess-like way.

"You are too! You're a terrible liar." He gave an arrogant sigh. "I don't know why you bother lying when nobody believes you."

"I am not a terrible liar." She sniffed. "I can lie better than you."

"You can not."

"I can, too!"

"Can not!"

"Can too!"

"I believe this has gone way off the topic of Mikazuki crying." Sesshoumaru muttered to himself up in the front. His ears were ringing at their voices. He turned around.

"Inu-Yasha, stop bothering Mikazuki."

"Wha—"

"Humph!" She stuck her tongue out before Inu-Yasha could complain. "So there."

"Pup."

"Yes, Lord Sesshoumaru?" Her tone immediately changed as she caught up to his stride.

"I will need to leave you with Inu-Yasha after we're out of the human territory."

"But why?" A look of contempt was cast to Inu-Yasha, who was trying to catch what they were saying.

"I will join you within a few days. I will count on you two behaving yourselves while I'm gone."

"Yeah, he just has to pick up his ugly idiot toad henchman." Inu-Yasha scoffed, snickering a bit. But he howled when something smacked him by the side of his head.

"Ow!!"

"Ha, you deserved that!" Mikazuki peeked from behind Sesshoumaru's kimono.

"I did not!"

"You did, too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!

Sesshoumaru gave a loud sigh and began walking again, leaving his siblings bickering behind him. This went on for the next two days. However, on the third day…

…the night of the new moon…

"I'm going down by the river, is that alright?" In her arms, Mikazuki held some clean clothes. Her white silk has been exchanged for a simple, short summer yukata. It was shorter than usual yukatas, because it was made by Mamotu especially to bathe and swim in.

"Why?" Inu-Yasha asked haughtily as he sucked on a blade of grass on a tall tree branch. Sesshoumaru was sitting underneath him in the shade.

"I happen to think hygiene is important, unlike you." She retorted, then looked Sesshoumaru for an answer. He looked up with half-opened eyes and said in his usual monotonous voice.

"Go. There is no danger about." There was a delighted squeal as their sister ran for the river shore not far from them.

Mikazuki set her clothes down on the dry, soft grass and stretched her tired muscles out under the sun. She pinned the narcissi that she had just picked into her hair and went to the stream, where she stood for awhile sunning herself in the brightness of the sun, not realizing that the oldest of her brothers had one of his golden eyes open and was keeping an eye out on her. She hummed a soft tune as she cleansed herself with the scented soap that Mamotu had packed for her.

"Inu-Yasha…" Inu-Yasha looked down to where his brother had just spoken to him.

"What?" He replied lazily. "What do you want?"

"Isn't tonight the new moon?"

Inu-Yasha bolted up from the tree, knocking into the branch above him and raising a waterfall of leaves to fall upon his brother below. He heard Sesshoumaru give a loud curse.

"So?" He tried to act casually. "What about the new moon?" The demon prince smirked.

"You should be careful, no?"

"Feh, I'm always careful."

"Yes, but one must always be more careful when they are human." Inu-Yasha jumped down and landed in front of his brother, his ears flattened.

"How did you know?" He growled lowly. Sesshoumaru, as usual, waved off any threatening act Inu-Yasha had displayed toward him.

"I know everything, little brother." The smirk grew wider. "So, you shall reek of human on the night of the new moon, huh? How interesting. Next time I attack you for the Tetsusaiga, I'll be sure to do it on the night of the new moon." He flexed his poisonous talons just as Inu-Yasha cracked his knuckles. They were just about to have a dog fight when a feminine voice interrupted them from behind.

"New moon?" During their little brother spat, Sesshoumaru and Inu-Yasha had forgotten about their sister bathing in the river, and now she stands before them.

"Yes," Sesshoumaru withdrew his claws and set them down. "The new moon is tonight. And Inu-Yasha shall be joining you for he is becoming human."

Mikazuki gasped. The new moon! She had forgotten all about it! Having heard nothing after the words "new moon" were mentioned, she hurried toward her pack and stuffed her wet clothes in. Her brothers eyed her curiously as she lift the bag to her shoulders and said in a hurry.

"We must go back." She said in a rush as she looked up at the sky. "The sun shall be setting shortly, we must be back at Kagewaki Palace by then." With that said, she began hurrying along the road that they just came from.

"Wha-what?! Wait—Mikazuki!!" Inu-Yasha was stunned for a moment. But he wasted no time in chasing after the sister that fled from them. Did he sense a smell of fear from her?

"Was that a look of panic I saw in her eyes, Sesshoumaru?" He asked as they flew through the forest. For a girl that complains about the speed they travel, she was sure fast.

"Yes. Something is wrong." Sesshoumaru was right behind Inu-Yasha.

Is it because I'm turning human? Inu-Yasha wondered with concern. What's so scary about that? I can still protect her.

There is something that the pup hasn't told us, Sesshoumaru was thinking.

How could I?! How could I have forgotten about the new moon? Mikazuki thought with frenzy as she ran between the trees and looked up at the sky. The large, red ball of fire was already disappearing down behind the hills. I'm not going to make it, I'm not going to make it… She finally faced the fact with fright that made her dizzy. What am I going to do? She sank down on her knee, sweat pouring down her forehead. What am I going to do? Kagewaki wouldn't be able to help me this time. I am on my own.

The sun disappeared another inch. In the next few minutes, the sun would be gone completely!

"Oh, God…" She whispered.

The sun slipped beneath the horizon. There was only a thin line of gold now.

Somebody help me… Her mind cried as she wrapped her arm around her legs.

The sun disappeared and darkness took over.

Inu-Yasha and Sesshoumaru watched with disgust as the hanyou's puppy ears began to disappear. His claws shortened to a normal boy's fingernails as his eyes transformed from the pale, fire orange to a dark, deep violet. His hair was as black as the night and his fangs vanished without a trace.

Inu-Yasha was just a normal boy now, like any human.

Sesshoumaru watched with amusement and almost snickered, but the brothers remembered their sister in time.

"Where is she?!" Inu-Yasha looked about the darkened forest around him. "How could someone with no power run so darn fast?" Without waiting for an answer, the now-human-hanyou dropped down upon his knees and began sniffing around on the ground in a dog-like fashion, forgetting that his sensitive sense of smell had gone with his doggy ears and canines.

Sesshoumaru said nothing, but his nose twitched with the breeze and his sharp golden eyes observed their surroundings thoroughly.

There was a soft rustle, and he turned toward the source of the sound.

"Inu-Yasha…"

"She's been through here, I can smell her…kinda…"

"Inu-Yasha…"

"She smells kinda different though, unless that's just my nose." He wrinkled his human nose with detestation.

"Inu-Yasha!" It was an order barked this time.

"What?!" He looked up and glared, but his brother only pointed to something a few yards away from them. His eyes widened.

"Her bag!" They hurried towards it. Inu-Yasha lost his voice as he tried to talk next. "Her…clothes…"

"But, where is she?" Sesshoumaru grew apprehensively uneasy as he looked around. The demon lord hates it when he couldn't control any situation, and this was a situation he had no idea what was going on.

Something moved in a small patch of tall grass, and being on the nervous wreck as he already was, Inu-Yasha whipped out the Tetsusaiga poised it right in front of a grass. A low purr was heard.

"Meow…?"

A small cream-colored cat stepped out from between the blades of the grass. On her neck, was crescent moonstone hanging on a black ribbon. On her left shoulder blade, was a glowing outline of a crescent moon.

"ARGGHHHHH!!" The whole forest echoed with the brothers' scream of horror.

"It's a cat!" Inu-Yasha gasped, clutching his heart.

"And it smells like…" Sesshoumaru had long lost his dignity and was as horrified as Inu-Yasha was.

"AHHHHH!!"

The cat, meanwhile, had sat down daintily and fixed them with a bored look through her narrowed amber eyes.

"It's her! Look at that glare she's giving me." Inu-Yasha almost whimpered.

"She's a cat… How could she be a cat?!" Sesshoumaru said in a clipped voice. "Our father was a great dog taiyoukai. How could his daughter be a cat?!"

"Are you suggesting my mother had an affair?" The raven-haired teen snapped, insulted. Without waiting for an answer, he picked up the cat between two fingers by the scruff of her neck. She yowled and twisted under his grasp. "Seven hells! The irony. She's exactly the opposite of me!"

"Like?"

"I'm a demon at all times while she's a human. And my hair's white most of the time while hers are black."

"You're a mutt and she's a feline demoness." Sesshoumaru added helpfully. "You're wild, she's proper."

"And right now," Inu-Yasha peered into the cat's eyes. "Her eyes are the color of amber, like mine before I changed into human. She had violet eyes before she changed."

They both stared at the cat and they both saw the likeness compared to their sister, especially her eyes. She began to purr lowly, and it sounded dispirited.

"She can't talk, can she?" The demon prince asked automatically.

"I suppose not." His brother stroked the cat's soft hair. He hates cat. All cats. But his sister has to be an exception. "You can't talk when you're in your full demon form."

The were silent once again.

"What are we suppose to do?"

"It's dark. We should probably stay here for the night and return to Kagewaki Palace in the morning." Inu-Yasha nodded, the mischievous glint returning to his eyes.

With his hand, he gave a smack right on rump of the cat, above her tail. "Payback for being mean." He snickered. The cat yowled and twisted around, swiping at his eyes with her claws extended. Inu-Yasha dodged it and looked offended.

"Inu-Yasha!" Sesshoumaru's voice was sharp.

"She tried to scratch my eyes out!" Inu-Yasha sound offended.

"Serves you right. Spanking the cat." Sesshoumaru didn't even bother to turn from his position. "Not that you didn't deserve it. I'll spank you the next time you try it." Plucking the animal from Inu-Yasha, the elder of the two dog demons relaxed on the soft grass and gazed up at the midnight sky, scattered with glittering stars, like diamonds on black velvet. It got darker and the stars winked on, one by one.

"You're always going to be on her side, aren't you?" His brother accused, also collapse beside him on the carpet of grass.

"Mmm…" The youkai prince was almost asleep, but before he drifted off, he managed one last insult. "You're always dumber than you look."

"Heh." A snort. "Says you." But Inu-Yasha took one look at the sleeping cat lying beside him. His brother had curled his fluffy stole around her as she lay down next to him, wrapping her in the fur that served as the warmest blanket and softest pillow there ever was.

He gave a slight huff, then turned around and soon allowed the comforting darkness to swallowing him into a dreamless land.

Birds chirped in the trees above them as Sesshoumaru slowly came to awareness. He didn't immediately open his eyes, but lay motionlessly, listening for any threatening sounds near by. While he had been resting, his nose and ears never quitted working for him throughout the night. And through that, he had found that Inu-Yasha was more careful that he had given him credit for, for his half-brother had also been alert during the night.

Sesshoumaru slowly opened his eyes, allowing his golden orbs to meet with the golden sunlight. He gave a small yawn behind his hand and turned to Inu-Yasha, who was demon once again. He turned away from Inu-Yasha and twisted his head to Mikazuki. In the early sun that stroke upon her finely chiseled features, their sister looked even more innocent and naïve as she slept, her breathing deep and slow. Her thick, dark lashes almost brushed her cheeks as they formed a crescent shadow underneath. Her hair had not been put up and they spilt across her body.

Sesshoumaru suddenly caught his breath. And he sat up in a hurry.

Mikazuki's hair had twirled and swirled around her body, almost completely covering her like a silk blanket. But beneath, Sesshoumaru realized that their sister had no clothes on. Part of her slender leg peeked from under the cloak of hair, and her whole arm was bare as they held the thick mane, as one would hold their sheet.

Inu-Yasha, by this time, was stirring and one amber eye opened reluctantly. But Sesshoumaru paid him no attention as it finally dawned onto him why Mikazuki's hair was so important. Her own mother's hair had been long, yes. It was a magnificent beauty, yes. But it was also to protect herself from the night of the new moon. Right now, lying in front of him, was a young woman, shielded from the world only by her cascade of ebony hair, which wrapped around her protectively. Twice her height, it safeguarded almost every inch of her body, no matter how she tossed and turned.

"So, she's back to human, huh?" Inu-Yasha's voice came from behind them as he yawned widely. His eyes widened as Sesshoumaru whirled upon him, grabbing his haori.

"She's…not…wearing…any…clothes!" He hissed.

"So?" Her brother said boredly. Then, as the thought actually registered his mind, the eyes popped open and his ears flattened.

"It's morning already?" Said a drowsy voice behind them. The two brothers ducked their head and turned around. Mikazuki had sat up and was stretching. Inu-Yasha opened his mouth, but no words came out. They both froze with panic, so much that they couldn't even turn away.

But Mikazuki's hair, like an oyster determined to protect the pearl inside, stubbornly cascaded upon her.

"Uh…I don't know how to say this, Mikazuki—" Inu-Yasha began as he pointed. Mikazuki beamed up at him and struggled to her feet. Both brothers winced as she moved, but as she stood, the only part of her body exposed was her throat and her arms.

"You turned back, Inu-Yasha." She grinned. "You were a human boy yesterday, weren't you?"

Then her face did a 180° change. Clutching her body, she realized that she doesn't have any clothes on. Her face turned red, almost as red as Sesshoumaru and Inu-Yasha's and she began scrambling around for her pack. She grabbed her clothes and shrieked at her brothers to leave.

They fled for their lives.

But even though they tried to sooth her ruffled feathers on their trip back to the Kagewaki Palace, Mikazuki's gaze was still dark and moody because her brothers had not warned her earlier, but had just stood there and stared.

"This is all your fault, Inu-Yasha." Sesshoumaru grumbled as the pair of brothers retraced their steps back to Lord Kagewaki's castle. "I'm here to guide you and your sister through Father's lands, not baby-sit and chase after her if she throws a tantrum."

"Hey, she's half yours, too." Inu-Yasha pointed out sulkily.

Sesshoumaru understood why Mikazuki would feel offended, though their ignorance was not intended. She was from a respectable background, and felt as if her virtues had been hurt.

Inu-Yasha, however, was never as thoughtful and soon grew fed-up with Mikazuki's short temper. Cat/dog fights erupted in the middle of the forest, while they were rounding a lake, and throughout the soft dewy meadow.

Despite all the hurt prides, Inu-Yasha and Sesshoumaru fathomed how really dishonored she felt when they saw her fly into Kagewaki's readied embrace.

Nor did they forget the dark look that Kagewaki gave them before taking his protégé back into the house. It haunted them until the young prince summoned them into the greeting hall.

"Her first journey away from home. Her first night out alone." He ranted as he paced back and forth. "And she comes home to me shamed like she was."

"We saw nothi—" Inu-Yasha tried defending, but the lord of the castle as not about to be waved off. He was truly vexed.

"Saw nothing has nothing to do with this!" He turned and snapped. "You should know, Inu-Yasha. You also change on the night of the new moon. Why can't you be more considerate."

"What?" The hanyou's jaws dropped. "How did you know that I change?"

"Never mind that. The point is that Mikazuki was already feeling uncomfortable and you continued to irritate and snide her with rude remarks on the way back."

"That was for self-defense!"

"Don't make excuses, young man!"

"Young?!" Inu-Yasha drew himself up to his full height. Sadly, he was a few inches shorter than Kagewaki. "I'm not a man, I'm a demon. And I can say safely that I'm older than you."

"Body, yes. Concepts, no." Was the firm retort. Inu-Yasha threw up his arms in disgust.

"What were we suppose to do?"

"Not what you did, that's for certain! Oh yes, just stare at her while she wakes and scrambles for her clothes. Why couldn't you have gathered her clothes for her? She even had to ask you to leave. Can you not even leave on your own accord?" Was the demand.

"Feh. She should have known better to protect herself." Kagewaki exploded.

"She is still a girl, going on her first trip away from home! Away from the protection we've given her! She's still ignorant in ways like these! She's never had to protect herself from anything. I'VE ALWAYS BEEN THERE! Now that I'm not, I expect you to take me place and protect her in my place!!"

The half puppy shrank back.

"She's a blossoming young lady." The young man continued angrily. "Can you expect her to feel or act otherwise when she realized that she's been sleeping unshielded from the world about two demons?"

"Keh. I was human." The younger demon huffed.

"Nonetheless, a male, I hope." Came the sarcastic response.

Sesshoumaru watched the conversation like a tennis game. Words were thrown back and forth, until Kagewaki, who apparently had the better education, got the better of Inu-Yasha. After bitter words was finish exchanging, and each side was taking a break, then came the soft silk-like voice of the demon lord.

"Lord Kagewaki, I will apologize on the behalf of my brother and myself for what happened last night, even though portions of it were not our fault. It was our fault, however, to have brought upon the feeling of disgrace to Mikazuki." It was a respected and mild speech that calmed down the heir, who nodded stiffly and stood up.

"She will continue the journey with you, so she said herself. No matter what I said to try and change her mind, she refused, saying this was a duty for her to fulfill." A cocky little smile appeared on his features. "Though she said she felt better seeing me again."

Inu-Yasha stared.

Sesshoumaru stared.

"You mean…" Inu-Yasha's eyes darted over to Sesshoumaru. "She…" Kagewaki grinned.

"She was feeling just a bit disheartened, but it was her desire of seeing me again that brought her back. Or else she's a rather strong girl, she would have insisted on continuing your expedition."

"And that lecture?!" Inu-Yasha's fists clenched as he roared. The prince waved a hand dismissively.

"That was from me, made up on the spot. But it was not untrue and I don believe it hadn't done injustice, since you were rather dim-witted." With a parting grin, Kagewaki swept out of the room to visit with his protégé.

The two demons stared at him in openmouthed astonishment. The Hitomi heir was in a spot in the distant before the shock wore off enough for Inu-Yasha and Sesshoumaru to look at one another.

"I think we were manipulated." Inu-Yasha whispered. Sesshoumaru gave one of his rare smiles, more or a smirk.

"Masterfully so."

"We've been cheated!"

"You've been cheated."