It was the night of a full moon. Driven by hunger, the girl roamed mindlessly in her oversized kimono. She had no idea who she was, where did she came from, or where was she heading to. Driven by her instinct, the girl walked slowly towards the sound of flowing water.

As she reached the riverbed, the girl kneeled and scooped up some water with the palm of her hand and brought it towards her mouth. The river water of that night was cold, yet refreshingly fresh and sweet. As the water soothes her parched throat, the girl could feel her focus coming back to her. Despite so, nothing, absolutely no thoughts came to her mind. It was as if her head was an empty jar, void of contents for her to dig in. Without knowing what else to do, the girl shifted her attention to her surroundings to take them in. Above her, shining through the night, was a round, silver, massive object floating in the sky. The words came to her mind naturally, "Sky, Stars.. Moon?" she thought. How she knew the name of those things, she didn't know.. Nevertheless, she continued to scan the area around her. Then, her attention fell to the next unusual thing that she found. On top of the river, was a woven net of threads, with its boundary stretched, tied unto the wooden pole that had been cut tidily and planted unto the ground. Curious, the girl pulled the net out of the water.

"Hey, kid, that's not yours!"

A voice shouted from behind her. The girl found herself understanding the words that were said, and it surprised her. As the source of the voice approached, a word came to the girl's mind.

"Human," she thought as she frowned ever so slightly. The word brought unknown pain to her heart, yet also brought her a sense of nostalgia and longing.

"What's with ya? Cat got your tongue?" said the human fiercely, his face expressed annoyance. "What were you going to do with my catch, you little thief!"

"Cat, thief?" the girl didn't understand the context of the man's word. Therefore, she just frowned silently as she tilted her head, as if it was natural for her to do in such situation.

"What's wrong? Ya can't speak?" said the man as he approached the girl and yanked the net out of her grip, and pulled the whole thing out of the water along with it.

"Speak?" thought the girl. Suddenly it came to her. "Oh right," she thought, as she brought her hand to her throat, before letting some air out through it and opened her mouth.

"Good evening," say the girl, unsure of what else to say. Her voice sounded hoarse. It was as if her voice had been unused for a long period of time. More than anything, she just wanted to test if she could, indeed, speak.

"Hoo?" said the man with surprise coloring his wrinkled face, which was reflecting the pale gleam of moonlight. "What the, you can speak after all," he added as he finished pulling another array of nets. The girl continued to watch with curiosity as the old man emptied the content of his net unto the buckets that he brought.

"Fishes?" the girl asked briefly, confusion was clear in her tone.

"Huh? You didn't know? Why did ya take my net then?" said the old man with a frown.

"I.. didn't took it. I was curious, that's all," words started to flow smoother from the girl's mouth. It was as if speaking had triggered a chain reaction within her brain, reminding her of how to hold a conversation.

"Weird kid," the old man scoffed as he put back the nets unto its previous location, as he continued to be watched intently by the girl. "Why are ya here at night, anyway? Forest at night time is no place for a kid, anyway."

" I don't know.." the girl answered. She really didn't know, it was as if a thick fog was covering her mind. Hearing the girl's answer, the old man shrugged. He didn't feel like getting involved in whatever trouble the unknown girl could bring him. However, contrary to his hope, the girl kept following him on, no matter how hard he tried to make her go away, scare her, or escape from her.

"Hhhh.. Hhh.. You're one resilient kid, I'll give you that," said the old man as he panted at the edge of the forest, his hut in view. Behind him, the girl was still following on his shadow, without any need to catch a breath. "Fine then, you can stay the night, but that's all, got it?" the old man continued as he straightened his posture and walked towards the hut. The girl didn't answer him, yet continued to follow him into his hut

"What's your name, kid?"

"Name?" the girl threw the question back. She knew the definition of that word, but nothing came to her mind. Unsure of what caused the girl's confusion, the old man added.

"For example, people call me Old Man Bocchon, so you can consider my name as Bocchon," he said lazily, without giving too much detail.

"Bocchon... Nice to be your acquaintance.." said the girl upon hearing the old man's introduction.

Her words confused the old man. The girl's choice of word was polite and her tone refined. There was a bit of old air to it, reminiscent to the language in his past, those used by the old nobles. However, there would be no reason for any noble kid to be there beside the secluded river, atop a forested mountain, in the middle of the night.

"Name.. I can't remember my name," the girl added, confusion and sadness in her eyes.

"Darn it, seems like I've taken in a troublesome thing," said the man out loud, unworried of the girl's feeling or opinion. Unsure of what to do, the man observed the girl closer. The girl was clothed in oversized, multiple layer of kimono. One look under the light, and he knew that it was something valuable. Indeed, only nobles could afford to spend on such quality cloth, or even multiple layers of it. The style and pattern was filled with classic elegance, depicting the moon, the cloud, and the night sky. The mystery just kept adding up, but the thing that makes the least sense of all was the way she wore the Kimono. It was worn and tied tidily with obi, yet too long for her feet and too big for her body, even if only by slight differences. For rich families, it's unthinkable to give their children unfitting clothes, or even hand me downs. The fact just didn't align, but he couldn't think of an answer on top of his head. Giving up on finding the answer, the old man turned her attention towards questioning the girl once more.

"What were ya doin' there anyway?"

"I was thirsty.."

"Before that?"

".. I don't know.."

The old man squeezed his forehead with his fingers. The girl seemed so out of it, she didn't know who she was, or what she were doing. Honestly, it sounded like more problem than he would like to take. He had never been a selfless guy, but he also didn't have the heart to let the girl return alone to the forest. After all, he used to have a daughter himself, even though his no good wife and daughter had decided to leave him in favour of money, taking the last shred of his selflessness with them.

"Wait a minute," he thought. "If this girl is indeed, a noble girl, wouldn't her parents pay a big ransom for her?" He had doubted her identity, but thinking in that way gave him an excuse to take care of the girl. In the meantime, while waiting, he could try to find her parents while selling her clothes to fund their livelihood. But first..

"Gotta give ya a name for convenience huh," said Bocchon. If possible he would like to avoid unnecessary attention towards the girl. If anyone got a whiff on her identity, they might take away the girl to claim the ransom for themselves. Therefore, he needed to pretend that the girl was someone he knew.

"River.. Full moon…" pondered the old man, remembering the circumstances where he first saw the girl. "How about Mitsuki for your name, huh?"

"Mi..tsuki?" the girl repeated as she blinked. Somehow, it felt right. Something about the name felt close to her. The girl nodded in approval, understanding the old man's purpose of giving her a name to call with.

"Ya should switch up your clothes to somethin' more convenient," said the old man, as he took one of his old, smaller clothes from his drawer. "Your clothes should be worth something, ain't it? For now I'll try to sell it to fund your livelihood here, as well as my reward for taking care of you, is there a problem?"

"Money, is it?" the girl muttered, she felt like she understood it, as if it was a familiar concept. "Buying, selling, trading.. nothing is free in this world, was it?" a thought popped in her mind. Realising that it might be the case, the girl nodded.

"Change into this," said old man Bocchon as he handed over his old clothes to the girl for her to change into. He was then ready to leave the room, but not before he noticed the girl's odd movement. To him, it seemed as if she didn't know how to take off the complicated set of Kimono that she wore. Seeing it, the old man frowned at the girl. "Darn, I forgot that noble kids are pampered brats.." he thought to himself.

"Here, I'll help you," said the old man. He was way too old to be embarrassed anyway, and being used to living alone for so long, along with the painful memories of betrayal, he no longer had any interest in women, especially towards such a kid.

Not long after, the old man managed to help the girl untie the complicated thread of obi tying her layers of kimono together. The girl took off her clothes, there was no shred of embarrassment in her face, it was as if she had gotten used to such treatment. There's no question about it, the language she used, the mannerism, and the calmness as he helped her, the girl had been used to being attended by retainer, and it was like second nature to her.

"Am I her retainer now?" Old Man Bocchon scoffed at his own thought. As the girl took off her clothes, the old man noticed.

"She is not a kid?" thought the old man as he saw the girl's figure. Previously, judging from her tiny build and her oversized, loose clothes, the old man had mistaken her for one.

"This is troublesome," he thought. Judging from her figure, the girl seemed to be in her teenage years, and girls that age are prone to be interested in love. If such innocent, pampered girl, happen to fall in love with any of the villager, it will spell for trouble for him. Firstly, noble girls were assets for their family to build connection and relation with others. Their purity were valuable, hence the family wouldn't appreciate it if the girl was sullied by any of the low-born civilian. Worst, they might not even want to take her back off his hand if that had ever been the case. Secondly, teenagers in their puberty were indeed a troublesome thing to deal with. He had been a teenager himself once, after all, and he remembered all sort of his rebellious behaviour on that age. Now, being old, he didn't feel like he had just the energy to deal with it if any behaviour of such. Therefore, the old man decided that the way to keep her out of trouble was to keep the girl out of other's sight and limit her interaction with another people. As for protecting her chastity..

"Let's take advantage of her small build," the old man thought, remembering his misinterpretation.

"Wait a minute," the man stopped the girl as she started putting on her change of clothes, and handed a long strand of bandage over to her. "Tie your torso with this, as hard as you can. Make sure to cover up your ugly mound as much as you can and hide it from sight."

"Ugly?" the girl frowned at the word, as if finding it offensive, yet she didn't know how to rebuke.

".. and don't go interacting with other people, especially guys. They are just like wolves, they will eat you up any chance they could. Stay out of sight, unless necessary, even from women and child," the old man spouted his half-truth, hiding the true reason behind his words

Somehow, the girl feel doubtful about the man's word, it was as if something was just not right, but she couldn't find any reason within her to disagree just yet. And so, she nodded in understanding.

"In an unavoidable case, from now on you are Mitsuki, my relatives visiting from afar, got it?"

Again, the girl nodded.

For the next few months, thinking of how he could make use of the girl before he could manage to find a buyer for her sets of clothes, the old man taught her all he could about hunting. The girl seemed to have a penchant for agility, and she seemed to enjoy her newfound freedom of movement in a simple set of oversized clothes. At first, the girl seemed reluctant to take a life, but it was nothing that an education about circle of life couldn't solve, especially since the girl seemed to enjoy eating meat herself. Before long, the girl was capable of taking out small animals on her own, reducing the load that the old man had to bear in feeding the girl. Not only regarding knowledge about animals, the old man made sure that the girl would be able to find and differentiate plant food source from the surrounding forest, as well as arming her with basic survival skill. He wished that in time, she would become capable enough to take care of herself, or even becoming as far as providing help to the old man's livelihood.

Mysteriously, she had always been able to detect the location of the hunt with ease, as if she could see them through the thick foliage within the forest. Not interested in finding out how, the old man never asked the girl about it. After all, he had been keeping a wall between them from the start, not to let her, or himself, get too attached to each other. Why? It was because ultimately, his purpose was to trade her for ransom, after all. Eventually, they would have to say goodbye to each other, and emotion wouldn't make it easier when the time comes. Besides, the old man already had his own share of disappointment and betrayal coming from his relationship with people. He had had enough, and would not want for more at his old age.

As soon as he assessed her to be proficient enough to be left alone, old man Bocchon set out to the faraway city to sell her Kimono set that he had tried his best to restore to its best form. Why did he need to go to so far? It wasn't because of his kindness, nor was it for the girl's sake. It was because he was sure there were no longer any noble families left in the village at the foot of the mountain. If she had to come from somewhere, no matter how illogical, it would be from the nearest cities. Besides, if he were to find a good price for her clothes, it would have to be in the city anyway. No one from the poor, small villages, would be able to afford such luxury after all.

After reminding the girl of her promise, the old man then set out for a long journey to the city, leaving the girl unsupervised.

Despite never showing it outright, the girl, now known as Mitsuki, was a curious sort. She had long got the inkling that she was not the same being as the old man. After all, something that was within him, and other living being, was absent from her. She didn't know what that thing was, but she just knew how it looked for her. Other than that, she had long noticed that she could see what the old man couldn't. Whether it was normal or not, she didn't know. But, for her, it was easy to tell an animal apart from each other, and track them even without using her eye. Meanwhile, it seemed to be something that the old man couldn't do. And then, there were those variously colored flame that she could easily see inside every living, sentient being, if she mustered her focus a bit more. She had never known what that was, but she had an inkling that it was the essence of someone's being, and reflexively, instinctively, understood the context behind every color she saw in it. Then, the thing missing from within her, tends to be present within those flames in the other being, bestowing a unique pattern in each and every one of them.

Knowing that now was her chance, the girl decided to set out on her own journey. While the old man Bocchon was there, she had never been allowed to leave the mountain for too long or stray too far from the hut. He had also been trying to scare her with various stories, but all it did was just fuelling her curiosity more.

"If I don't show myself or interact excessively, I won't be breaking my promise, won't I?" the girl made an excuse for herself in her heart as she threaded down the mountain path.

Author's note:

Eeeeh!? We're jumping to Mitsuki's past with old-man Bocchon, now?

Heheh, it seemed out of nowhere, because I'm thinking it might be good to use this chance to establish what had shaped Mitsuki's character as well, what made her different from Inaba, her moral value and things she learned during her life with the humans, realising that she was the odd one out, and how it will affect her decision afterwards. After all, it won't be easy for her to deal with such conflict in her mind every time. She had to eventually choose on how to best continue on with her life.

Also, I just noticed this because my friend mmoralImmortal mentioned, but I've never actually talked about how Mitsuki's soul looks like for herself. However, it did appear in the illustration actually sometimes.

Unlike plants which has its life energy and soul spread throughout, or animals and human with semi fluid shaped soul that shows their elemental compatibility from its shape, added with unique chakra pattern which amounts also affect the size of the soul,

Mitsuki's soul, or other Gods, are more fluid, with everchanging shape and color, and it was more like a light source, with the divinity as its core in the shape of gem (hence before regaining her divinity, Mitsuki's soul was just like a gas of light, without a core, and without chakra pattern as well). The core serve as an anchor of immortality, and as long as it is not destroyed, the soul would always return to its anchor. By itself, the shape and size of the core could change as well, so does the color. Normally, the Gods color represent light, but in the event a God turned into evil God, their core would undergo a major change which includes the change of the color and the nature of its emitted light (which will be shown in other AU cough)

So yeah! It's for next time I guess :3 the flashback arc won't be long btw so no worries we'd be back to everyone soon~