Aino

Aino gathers her long black hair into a bun and looks out through brown eyes. Her clothing is the standard attendant's garb worn by women of that ancient period, finished with a pink bandana.

Dutiful and warm-hearted, Aino cares about Kaguya's contentment as much as her safety. She is quietly delighted to watch Kaguya and the emperor grow closer, and she never wavers when the moment comes to trade her life for the children Kaguya carries. Her final words are a plea for those infants to be born strong and healthy.

A full millennium before the main story, Aino serves Tenji, emperor of the Land of Ancestors. When Kaguya arrives on Earth and is taken as his concubine, the emperor orders Aino to become her personal attendant. The two women share more openness with each other than Kaguya shows anyone else, even trading knowledge about the God Tree.

Trouble comes when the neighbouring Land of That begins pressing the Land of Ancestors and demands that Kaguya be handed over. Aino spirits her into hiding, but their pursuers catch up, and it is Kaguya who ends up shielding Aino as the pair flee toward the God Tree. Realising Kaguya has entered the earliest days of pregnancy and grown weak, Aino throws herself into danger without a second thought. Her death stuns the normally impassive Kaguya, one of the rare moments the woman shows open grief.