Lady Kaguya looks beautiful that night as always. The nighttime always seems to bring out the most flattering angles of hers, her unusual paleness elevated to a near glow. Some of the other servants call her sullen (though seldom ever in Aino's hearing), though by far the grand majority of them avoid speaking of her at all.
Standing in the light of the moon seems to make her happy, but her emotions can be hard to parse.
"It's getting late, Lady!" Aino calls from the edge of the bridge, her hands cupped around her mouth.
Lady Kaguya tilts her head slightly, following the moon as it sinks down into the sky. There's no indication that she's heard, but there's no way she didn't with Aino so close.
She would stand there and keep watch until sunrise if Aino let her, but it isn't like Aino really lets her do anything. Lady Kaguya can be poked and prodded, sometimes persuaded with the right words whispered into her ear, but there's no forcing her to do anything she doesn't want to do.
Even Lord Tenji, who rules everything from the heights of their hills to the silt in their seas, gives Lady Kaguya the type of deference he would only ever give another man of his social rank, which makes her a powerful woman indeed.
Wary of splinters, Aino tiptoes closer until their arms are almost touching.
"Lady?" she tries again. Ordinarily, this would be where Lady Kaguya would either return inside with her or ask her to go on alone, but Aino gets no response. "Is something wrong?" she asks when several long moments pass, and the smile plastered across her face begins to hurt. "Lady Kaguya?"
"The moon is bright tonight," Lady Kaguya says cryptically. She cocks her head to the other side. Her loose hair very nearly reaches the ground, her face oddly relaxed despite the cold and the strange hour. "But there seems to be no cause for worry."
Aino has no real idea of what that means, but she can tell Lady Kaguya has finished her observances for the night. A lot of what Lady Kaguya says doesn't make sense to her, but Aino has learned to read her body language to fill in the gaps in her understanding.
She huddles closer and links their arms together to warm her, the way she and the other servants might have done as young girls on trips to the market.
"We're close to a full moon, so it might be even brighter tomorrow," Aino offers. When there's no response to that, she begins to lead them both back towards the main building. "I checked the farmers' charts, and they said so."
Lady Kaguya's lips press into a thin, amused line. "So you did."
Aino's next step is a little less certain. It's always a little difficult for them to walk so closely together, given their differences in height and Aino's clumsy feet. Lady Kaguya's stride is almost twice that of Aino's, but she is also much quicker too and nimble. Her steps are silent and smooth, and she does not so much as disturb a single stone as they walk.
If Aino hadn't attended to Lady Kaguya as long as she has, and in such an intimate capacity, she would almost wonder whether her feet ever touched the ground.
Aino's own toes are numb and damp with dew, and she leaves impish, foggy footprints behind her when they step onto the engawa.
She smiles and tugs on Lady Kaguya's sleeve to draw her attention. "That's funny." She gestures to the unmarked boards behind her Lady, before adding, "Yours haven't done that."
"I am wearing shoes, Aino," Lady Kaguya says dismissively. She withdraws her arm from Aino's and walks toward the door, where she undoes her white slippers, leaving Aino standing alone.
Belatedly, she realizes it's a task she probably should have done herself, but Lady Kaguya only frowns as she slides open the door. "Well? Isn't it time you slept?"
Aino laughs nervously as she rocks on her heels. She often does, unable to sit still if there's a thought working through her mind. Her eyes unintentionally turn to the sky, and she wonders if Lady Kaguya ever dreams about leaving the compound and following the moon, and going wherever it is she thinks of going when she stares off into it.
She draws in a long breath as she considers how best to air her thoughts. "Well… Are you…" Lady Kaguya turns to look at her, and Aino feels her face burn. "It isn't much, ma'am, I just—I was thinking…" Her tongue is, unfortunately, as clumsy as her feet. It doesn't float or weave the same way a courtier's does, but she's able to stumble through a few sentences, groping blindly in the dark as her face burns with embarrassment.
"Lord Tenji went to bed early tonight," she starts. Her mind is so damned empty that she is forced to shove out the first half-considered thought that jumps into her head. "He said… some things to me which maybe seemed a little odd, so I wanted to report them to you, in case you might also find them odd…"
Lady Kaguya tilts her head thoughtfully. Even in good moments, having Lady Kaguya's attention focused so closely on her gives Aino a slight twinge of anxiety.
After a few long, uncertain seconds, Lady Kaguya approaches her and sets a gentle hand on top of Aino's head. "Aino…" Her lips quirk before she bends down to press them against Aino's forehead. "Thank you."
Aino's cheeks grow warmer in spite of the chill. "It—it's nothing, my Lady! It is my great honor!" she babbles.
"I understand that you worry," Lady Kaguya murmurs, her breath warm against Aino's skin. "Please do not feel worried. It is a matter that need not concern you."
"I… yes, ma'am."
"Have I been neglectful of you this night, Aino?"
Aino raises her hands and begins to babble again. "No, no! Not at all, ma'am! Never! You should never think so!"
Lady Kaguya backs away to get a better view of her. Her red lips curl into a close-lipped smile, and she sets one finger against them as her somber mood shifts into something that makes Aino's shoulders loosen with relief, and her stomach clench with excitement.
Her Lady is given a lot of grace from other members of Lord Tenji's household as it is, but where social conventions are concerned, she's almost entirely free from the same scrutiny other ladies endure. Something so small and innocent - a particular fondness for one specific maid, a kiss that lingers too long, that is perhaps too intimate between a lady and her servant - all of that is still so unremarkable, as strange as it is, when compared to all Lady Kaguya's eccentricities.
Given how unusual Lady Kaguya is in every facet of her life, Aino doubts any of the members of Lord Tenji's household would ever notice something amiss in the way Lady Kaguya acts around her.
Still, when they are in private, and there are no other servants or ladies to watch them, Lady Kaguya behaves quite differently. For a lord to take a servant as a lover is not unheard of, but for a lady to do so…
Well, Aino is sure it must have happened at some point, but no one here seems to have contemplated it much as Aino has.
"Does it bother you that Tenji is my husband, Aino?"
"I would not presume to be jealous of a lord, Lady," Aino huffs. Still, she crosses her arms in front of herself, as if warding off the thought. The insecurity strikes her at times - often to most inopportune ones - and it takes conscious effort to not indulge them.
She knows, for instance, that she could never stand as an equal to Lord Tenji, or hope to offer Lady Kaguya a fraction of what he has the capacity to give her. That she may never be loved first, or loved best, when there is no one else who could ever replace Lady Kaguya in her heart.
Still, as much as it may weigh on Aino's mind, the disparity seems to amuse Lady Kaguya, who has no notion of fidelity in relationships. "You are a very good woman, Aino," Lady Kaguya says again. She cups Aino's chin gently, though her hands are still cold, and she tilts Aino's head back to look her more fully in the eye.
Her face, at times so hard to read, is full of a lovely softness that few people ever truly get to see.
Lady Kaguya kisses her again, this time on her lips. Aino closes the distance between them. She is so much shorter than Lady Kaguya that when they kiss, Lady Kaguya must either bend at an angle that looks far too uncomfortable, or Aino must rise on the very tips of both her toes to meet her.
It is easier when they lie together on the floor, when Aino can either sit in Lady Kaguya's lap or lie in bed next to her.
Later, Aino thinks. There will always be time for that later.
Now that Lady Kaguya has initiated things between them, Aino is bold enough to wrap her arms around her mistress's neck. Their bodies fit closer together, until her Lady wraps her arms around Aino's waist, forcing her to arch backwards at an angle so precarious that Aino could never trust another person to bear her weight.
The rough material of her robe brushes against her Lady's silks, and her tiny bare feet tiptoe, almost weightless, between Lady Kaguya's own. Their kiss deepens, bodies swaying, and Lady Kaguya pulls her closer, coaxing Aino to lean further back and dip lower, tilting her head back.
Aino feels Lady Kaguya shift. Before she can pinpoint exactly what she's doing, one hand comes up to palm her breast through the material of her uniform. Aino gasps, her body shudders, and she's suddenly yanked upright again.
Lady Kaguya hesitates, before she rests her cheek against Aino's.
"No?" Lady Kaguya sounds unsure. "Or yes?"
"Yes—" Aino shudders and leans in further, seeking more of her touch. She averts her eyes, before mumbling, "Please, put your hand back."
Lady Kaguya smiles, close-lipped but pleased nonetheless. Her expressions are never grand, and her thoughts often inscrutable, but Aino is never unsure of her feelings. She returns her hand to Aino's breast, her thumb almost immediately finding her nipple with impressive accuracy and pinching it between her fingers.
Aino shifts her knee, suddenly aware of the growing heat between her legs. "It is only—maybe we should go inside? Where things will be—ah, more private?"
Lady Kaguya does not particularly care for their customs, after all, but she is very sensitive to them, especially when they matter to Aino. Oftentimes, this will suffice.
Tonight, though, instead of leading Aino indoors, Lady Kaguya hums lightly into the base of Aino's throat and breaks their embrace with one lingering kiss below her jaw.
Before Aino can turn to go inside, though, Lady Kaguya gestures down, toward the engawa. "Here will suffice, Aino."
Aino's face immediately burns. "Lady…?" she starts. Her eyes dart back towards the eastern sky, where the horizon is ashy with the coming sun. "If I may, Lady, this is not particularly—"
"Ah." Lady Kaguya sets a finger against Aino's lips. "You want to please me, don't you, Aino?"
"I…" This is not an order, but an invitation Aino may decline if she chooses.
As rare as it is for a servant to be offered a choice from her master, Aino cannot imagine saying anything but yes, please, NOW. "Yes, Lady, I do."
Lady Kaguya's finger traces Aino's lips. She's gentle at first, but then she uses the fine tip of one nail to tug at her bottom lip. "Open your mouth for me."
A shiver runs through her, but she complies. How could she refuse?
"You are a very, very good woman, Aino," Lady Kaguya murmurs. Her fingers slip into Aino's mouth, up to her second knuckle. Her nails scrape over Aino's tongue in a way that makes her want to moan and gag and suck at them greedily, but that's not part of what they do, and that's not how a well-behaved servant ought to act.
(Exactly what it is they do, Aino doesn't think she could say, but she knows it by its contours.)
"Very good." Lady Kaguya's lips curl pleasantly as she begins to drag her fingers slowly in and out of Aino's mouth.
Aino's mind is so hazy by desire that she couldn't begin to form words if she wanted to. Still, the desperate sound she lets out is enough of an answer. Warmth pools in her stomach and the ache between her legs becomes almost painful. Lady Kaguya's fingers make wet, obscene sounds every time they pass between her lips.
Aino shivers at the contact, unable to feel shame for it, as if nothing else mattered more than being touched by Lady Kaguya.
"At times I wonder whether you know how lovely you truly are, Aino." She pulls away her fingers, leaving a warm, wet trail down to Aino's chin. "Do you?"
"Lady…" She wants to ask again to go inside, where their warm beds are waiting, but Lady Kaguya cocks her head aristocratically, in a way that tells Aino that she already has something else in mind.
"Do you like this, Aino?" she asks. Her pulse pounds so fast through her veins that she almost misses Lady Kaguya's next words. "And would you like more?"
"Yes—yes, please, ma'am."
"Kneel." Lady Kaguya backs away and stands up to her full height, her hands disappearing under her sleeves.
Aino wipes her own sleeve across her face and licks her lips, tasting a faint trace of salt. She kneels slowly, feeling her heart race, and tucks her skirt beneath her knees to give them some additional cushion.
Lady Kaguya looms over her, so tall from Aino's point of view that she almost seems to reach the roof of the engawa. She again sets a hand on Aino's head and pushes it back until Aino is looking up at her. "Well?"
"Yes ma'am!" Aino finds the hem of her dress and begins to lift it. The layers are as weighty as wet silk, and Aino's arms ache before it's even past her own shoulders.
Lady Kaguya keeps her head on the back of Aino's head, guiding her closer and tangling her fingers into Aino's hair. Aino strains her neck to reach Lady Kaguya's hips, to the place where her thighs meet. The washerwomen have been overgenerous lately, and the air between them is quickly filled with the jasmine perfume Lady Kaguya's robes were washed in.
"Lady…" Aino starts, unable to find the proper words to ask. She isn't sure how she'll be able to lean in further while keeping Lady Kaguya's dress suspended above her head.
And while she can't be sure just yet, she thinks Lady Kaguya would rather prefer that her hands be free.
"I've got them," Lady Kaguya says. She reaches down and takes the cloth from Aino's hands, lifting it and hiking it around her waist effortlessly, as if the fabric were weightless. Aino flushes as she finds herself staring directly at her Lady's nakedness. Her legs are soft and as silky white as the rest of her skin, but the shadows between her thighs are enticing, like the clouds that occasionally pass over the moon to hide its glow.
A giggle bubbles up her throat at the thought of being caught outside like this, on her knees before her mistress with her hands so inappropriately placed. There'd be no excusing it, she thinks. No way to explain what they are doing, in a position so compromising.
But it's a beautiful night, she tells herself. It's a good night to do something that would horrify the other servants.
"Continue," Lady Kaguya tells her.
"Yes ma'am."
Aino wraps her hands around her Lady's thighs and holds herself up until her lips reach the light curls between Lady Kaguya's legs. Lady Kaguya's hips jerk down toward her, and Aino feels immediately gratified by it.
She starts slowly, with tiny licks to accommodate herself to the taste. Lady Kaguya shifts above her, and her hand settles gently on the back of Aino's head again, coaxing her forward. She fumbles blindly between her Lady's legs until she finds her entrance, where she's wet and so warm that Aino's cold hands begin to tingle.
Lady Kaguya hisses, sharp and animalistic like a cat. Her eyes are narrowed to slits, and her nails dig into the fabric of her dress. Rather than pull away to apologize, Aino makes it up to her by sucking lightly on her until her hisses turn to breathy gasps.
Aino's knees begin to ache, so she starts building a rhythm, working Lady Kaguya towards her release. She presses her tongue flat against her Lady's body and inserts a second finger into her, working them together in the way Lady Kaguya taught her. Lady Kaguya tugs sharply on her hair and angles her face up towards her, grinding her pubic bone shamelessly into Aino's mouth and nose.
It isn't painful, but it sparks something in Aino's pulse that has her working faster, running her tongue over Lady Kaguya's slit just to have her buck against Aino's mouth.
Aino reaches down between her own legs and begins to fumble through the layers she's wearing, seeking her own heat, her own release. Lady Kaguya's hand fists in her hair, hard enough to almost be painful.
"No," Lady Kaguya breathes. "Do not."
With her mouth occupied, Aino can only whine with need. As much as she does not want to, she removes her hand from her clothes and leaves herself wet and aching to be touched.
Still, Lady Kaguya's hands are tugging incessantly at her hair, and her own needs can wait. She presses her tongue up against Lady Kaguya's entrance and slips one hand between her folds, stroking her with quick sweeps of her thumb. Lady Kaguya is drenched from her own arousal and Aino's mouth, and Aino's fingers and palm quickly become soaked with it. Aino sucks the delicate skin between her lips, rolling over the sensitive skin with her tongue.
The fingers in her hair begin to tighten and tighten until Lady Kaguya lets out a choked gasp and collapses against the wall, her monstrous strength holding Aino so close against her that for several seconds, she finds it difficult to breathe. Aino's entire face is pressed up against Lady Kaguya's body as she shudders through each wave of her coming.
While Lady Kaguya's hold on her gradually loosens, Aino dutifully continues to lick and suck at her until she rights herself and gives Aino a gentle tap on the head to let her know she can pull away. When Aino sits back to rest her thighs and aching knees, Lady Kaguya drops her skirt and sighs, her entire body seeming to sag with the effort.
Lady Kaguya raises one dainty hand and begins to settle Aino's hair around her. "Thank you, Aino," she murmurs.
Aino, very much aware of how disheveled she must look, cannot help but feel gratified by that. She bows her head meekly. "It was my pleasure, Lady."
"Mhm. You have been a very attentive companion tonight," Lady Kaguya continues. "How is it that you should be rewarded?"
Several answers immediately spring to mind, but Aino knows to answer properly. "However you see fit, Lady."
Lady Kaguya smirks, the deep red of her lips almost black in the night. She gathers her sleeves and bends down, reaching toward Aino. She dabs at Aino's cheeks gently, wiping away the remains of her own release.
In moments like these, it is almost impossible to ignore how beautiful, how etherial, Lady Kaguya truly is. Her hair is the color of moonlight and pearls, as long as her body and without a single tangle or snag. She tucks her legs under her with an impeccable air of casualness as she continues on to smooth Aino's hair away from her face, though Aino can tell just from the feel of it that the loose bun on the top of her head she styled earlier that evening cannot be salvaged.
She twines her hands together in her lap self-consciously until Lady Kaguya contents herself with her preening and taps Aino lightly on the cheek.
"Now…" Lady Kaguya lowers her hand to the center of Aino's chest and pushes her backwards, Aino's back hits the cool, wooden surface of the engawa.
Aino's vision is filled with fading stars and the grey night sky. Her breath catches when she tilts her head to find Lady Kaguya staring at her, her pupiless eyes nonetheless following Aino intently. She swallows heavily. "Lady," she starts.
"Aino." Lady Kaguya raises her hand to cup Aino's cheek again, her thumb brushing just under Aino's eyes.
Her touches almost always start out slow and soft—like moonlight, Aino thinks. She stretches her arms out over her head and says a quick prayer of thanks to the God of Cool Floorboards and the distant but loving God of Warm Bed sheets.
(Aino is a small woman, after all, and her gods are equally small.)
Aino, rather impolitely, clears her throat. It comes out louder than she'd intended, and her cheeks flush. "Should we—" She tilts her head back, eyes searching for the coming sun. She begins to rise on her elbows, rising up to meet Lady Kaguya.
"Do not move," her mistress tells her.
Even though Aino always tries her best to be an obedient companion, this turns out to be more difficult than she imagined. Lady Kaguya is generous with her hands, and the feeling of her cool fingertips tracing over Aino's throat has her moaning softly, her back arching as warmth pools in her stomach.
Lady Kaguya starts with Aino's outer robe, loosening the tie that's around her waist and parting the cloth over her chest. Aino squirms under her touch, and Lady Kaguya's lip quirks. She doesn't have emotional outbursts, to vent her frustrations the way other lords and ladies do in solitude.
"Lady…" Aino breathes as Lady Kaguya begins to tug up her undershirt, bearing her breasts. She cups one gently from the side, stroking her thumb over Aino's nipple. It grows stiff in her hand, just as Lady Kaguya's other hand slides over the planes of Aino's stomach. Her touches are still light, but they are intimate enough to have Aino crying out.
Too late - and with one sharp look from Lady Kaguya - Aino recalls that she's supposed to be quiet. "Sorry, ma'am," Aino whispers.
Lady Kaguya hums, amused. "I'll forgive it once, Aino." She places one solid hand to Aino's knee and pushes the bottom of her skirt up, her hand gliding along the inside of her thighs and the thin leggings she wears.
She goes slowly, watching Aino as if waiting for her to cry out again. Aino, never intentionally defiant, but given to her own fits of stubbornness, bites her lip to keep quiet even as she parts her legs and pulls her knees back to accommodate Lady Kaguya's roaming hands. They don't stop until Aino's skirt is pushed over her hips, and her leggings are tugged down around her ankles.
Aino can't help but immediately press her knees together—the wind is soft and there is nothing but the strange hour to hide them from the other members of their lord's household.
Still… the wind is soft, the night is long, and there is not so much as a breeze to disturb them. Her legs relax, and Aino breathes deeply, her chest full of cool air.
Lady Kaguya looks to Aino curiously, her solid, moonstone eyes never giving much away. There is always curiosity in her mistress's touch, a need to explore, to learn more.
It's something, Aino supposes, that is faintly alien about her mistress.
Her Lady's hands are as adventurous as the moonlight, always searching for something in the shadows, engulfing anything presented to them. They seek knowledge of all things: the shadows beneath Aino's knees, the places that will make Aino sigh.
The ones that make her gasp.
Her mistress parts her thighs further, exposing the place where she's grown wet, and Aino arches up into her hand. "Ah—please?" she asks. She's uncertain if even that is too forward of her, if her Lady's admonition means she shouldn't speak at all.
If, as singular-minded as Lady Kaguya is, she even cares to hear what Aino has to say.
Her mistress gives her an indifferent sort of look, her expression unwavering as she runs her thumb over Aino's inner thigh, her fingers slick with Aino's growing arousal.
Aino squeezes her eyes shut and tries to stop her thighs from trembling.
Lady Kaguya's fingers slip inside of her easily. She doesn't give Aino time to adjust, though she is gentle and generous enough that the initial sting fades quickly. This is not unusual for Lady Kaguya, who goes at her own pace, and with her own curiosities at the forefront of her thoughts. Some days she will pile blankets in their room and have Aino bend over them while she explores Aino's most intimate places with a candle nestled between her legs.
Tonight, there is no preamble. She starts with two long fingers, pressing them deep within her until Aino feels the webbing in her hands brush up against her body. It sends a jolt of electricity down to the tips of her toes, and Aino has to bite down on the fabric of her sleeves to keep her cries silent.
"Good, Aino," Lady Kaguya murmurs. Her words make something hot flutter in Aino's stomach, and her muscles clamp down around Lady Kaguya's fingers. Aino throws her head back, her lungs burning with the urge to cry out.
Lady Kaguya hums, tinged with the hint of a laugh. "You like to be told that, don't you, Aino?" she asks. She molds her palm to Aino's body, making an obscenely loud noise when she continues to work her fingers in and out of her. "That you are so very good for me?"
"I-I do," Aino whispers. Her eyes burn from a lack of oxygen, from withholding her cries and gasps and moans.
"I know." Lady Kaguya is skilled with her fingers, moving them deeper within her until Aino lifts her hips off of the floor and pants for more.
Aino nods, her head bobbing nonsensically. Her nails scrape along the floor, scrambling for purchase until, devastatingly, Lady Kaguya pulls away. Aino groans, her head hitting the floor when she falls back.
Instead of chastising her, Lady Kaguya only tuts. She repositions herself between Aino's legs, parting them even more to make room for herself. She lift's Aino's thigh with one hand and pushes it back, then snakes her other between Aino's legs to stroke her apologetically.
Her fingers curl up inside of her, stroking some deep and sensitive inside of her, and Aino falls to pieces, panting as she grinds down erratically onto Lady Kaguya's hand, her mind gone completely blank.
Lady Kaguya continues to thrust her fingers inside of her until all of Aino is trembling, spent and overstimulated. "Good, Aino," she murmurs. "So very good."
She continues to writhe until the feeling begins to ebb, and Lady Kaguya pulls away.
With a well-deserved sigh, Aino lets her head fall back and feels her entire body go lax. She spreads her arms wide above her head and basks in the feeling, in the moonlight. It never burns like sunlight does. Heat fills the space between her and Lady Kaguya, and the night kisses it away, the chill leaving behind gooseflesh on her exposed legs.
The time they have left alone together on the engawa is growing increasingly short, but Aino's mind drifts, drawn toward the moon like the bright clouds above them.
Lady Kaguya is seamless with the sky, the stars lighting her hair like the jeweled pins other ladies of the court wear in their hair. Her eyes are drawn to something far away, so Aino has a perfectly unobstructed view of her long, pale throat and her bright, reflective eyes.
There is a poet whose name Lord Tenji's courtiers pass casually over golden-rimmed cups of sake. Aino has never been taught to read, but she listens earnestly to those who have, and the most learned readers of Lord Tenji's household sigh with longing over the poet who so loved the moon that he drowned trying to embrace her.
Aino can't read his words or recite his verses like they can, but she thinks she'll always understand something about him much better than the courtiers ever could.
The moon is too far for her to reach, but she understands what it means to desire it. To reach for it, to feel it within your grasp, and to still be uncertain whether you've ever truly held it. No one ever crosses the boundary of what's human and what's not and returns unscathed or whole.
Lady Kaguya, whatever she is, wherever she has come from, has never felt whole or unscathed, and perhaps she never will. Her eyes have already returned to the sky, seeking answers that, perhaps, a simple woman like Aino could never provide.
Her Lady's gods are big gods, as deep as the shadows on the moon and just as far away.
Aino doesn't mind. She's never dreamt of a god big enough to rival Lady Kaguya's own, but her own gods are big enough to be shared. As long as she has these nights, these stolen kisses, and Lady Kaguya's long fingers gently carding through her hair, she can be content in that.
When the warmth between them begins to dissipate, Aino sits up and begins to tugs her leggings back up into place. Her legs feel like jelly, unsteady like the heaps of it that Cook piles into bowls when she makes anmitsu, but that's all the more reason to scurry back indoors, where she and Lady Kaguya can lie together and rest.
"Mm." Aino yawns, stretching her arms out again. She leans against Lady Kaguya to get her attention. Rather absentmindedly, her mistress reaches over with one hand and again smoothes Aino's hair out of her face. Aino links their arms together, resting her head on Lady Kaguya's shoulder for support.
"Perhaps I could sleep like this," she murmurs, already half-asleep.
Across the yard, a small candle flickers in the window of one of the nearby buildings, a sign that the maids and cooks will soon begin their rounds and early morning preparations.
Lady Kaguya places a firm hand on top of Aino's head. "Come now, Aino," she says. "It's time we rested."