Kannazuki no Miko and all of its related characters, places, etc., are copyright to...whomever actually owns them...which is not me. Sadly.
Seriously not mine, though I wish it was. Okay we're all cool.
"All great and beautiful work has come of first gazing without shrinking into the darkness." ~John Ruskin
Chikane glanced exhaustedly at the beautiful ivory wristwatch that hung delicately from her thin wrist. Nine forty one. Pm… "Oh gods I'm in for it now." She thought to herself nervously. She had promised Himeko earlier thatweek that she would be sure not to overwork herself; that she would be home for dinner at night. "Especially tonight… "How am I going to explain this?" She thought with a resigned sigh, throwing a mental glance at the paperwork she had just left behind in the lonely classroom. Her heart stuck quickly in her chest when she did a double take at the miniature clock on her wrist, fumbling with the strap. "NINE-FORTY ONE!? She's going to kill me this time!" The gravity of her grave error hit her like a truck. Chikane grabbed her small blue sports bag out of her locker as she ran by, barely remembering to close it and turn the lights off. As she rushed out of the door of the school leading down and off the grounds, she quickly remembered that she was supposed to lock it up after she had left. Groaning at how things were slipping in her mind in her haste, she stopped in her stride and rushed back to lock the glass door, cursing how the small brass key seemed so very unwieldy and awkward when attempting to be put in the lock. Now quickly back on her way she began trying to think of any reasons or ways she could try to justify her tardiness to her blonde sister, who right now was surely at home in the kitchen fretting over why her raven haired twin was so very, very late…over two hours late…
The worst part to Chikane was that the girl waiting anxiously back at home for her probably wasn't angry in the slightest, but rather, worried that something had happened to her. Gods she was awful.
"Now I've not only ruined our dinner date, she's probably worried sick about me too." She mused dejectedly. Chikane quickly pulled herself out of her thoughts and hurried down to the bus stop. Hopefully the one is running late tonight she thought desperately, running down the slate-gray sidewalk in what was almost panic, yet retaining a grace to her stride. Her honest-to-death blonde sister often complimented her on such things, saying that she always seemed like a princess, no matter what the situation or how stressed she was. But being reminded of her twin's adoration and praise made her only feel all the worse. She quickened her pace, and to her absolute relief, saw bus headlights growing slowly larger in the darkness.
Chikane slowed to a gentle walk as she went up the stone laid path leading to the front door of her family's house. There were vibrant hedges on either side of the walkway, and as you approached the front door, flowers bloomed from everywhere in the garden lovingly tended in the front of the otherwise unassuming house. Himeko and Chikane had helped their mother plant the garden many years ago, but as Chikane had become more involved with such things as school and the like, she found herself with less and less time to enjoy it with her family than she used to. She reached the front of their house just as she snapped back from her nostalgia, but stopped, realizing that she hadn't actually come to any real solution to her mistake. She had planned to say something encouraging while at the same time distracting to her sister after she announced her presence, but anything she had thought of on her way there was now just a haze of excuse. She reached out and slid open the wood paper door carefully, but deliberately and surely as she stepped inside the darkened welcome area of her house.
The girl with raven blue hair slipped off her shoes deftly and put on her house slippers gently and called out into the house "Tadaima!" then mentally, emotionally, and physically braced herself for what she knew was about to happen. It took just an instant for her voice to ring through the walls of the house, but then she heard it; a small unsuppressed gasp, followed by the scratch of a kitchen chair being knocked over, followed by another loud thump which the slender beauty assumed was her sister tripping and falling over herself in a hurry. At the same time she noticed that the only lights on were coming from the kitchen and dining room area, which was the same place the noises originated from. As she turned the corner into the room, Chikane's thin frame was immediately sundered by the force of typically gentle arms wrapping around her neck and a feminine body colliding against her own with a fury. All she had time to see and process was a flashing whip of lustrous blonde hair racing at her chest as she was practically tackled to the ground by her sister's enthusiastic embrace, or at least that's where they ended up anyway. She struggled to keep her balance as the younger girl's mass plowed through her center of gravity, but ultimately failed. Chikane was forced to embrace the other girl back, and fell backward to the floor with the blonde still grasping her tightly and attempting what seemed to be trying to meld her face and head into her big sister's chest cavity.
"Chikane-oneechan!" The blonde cried out. "What happened? Where were you? Why are you home so late? Did something happen on your way back!? Are you alright? I missed you so much! Onee-chan! Chikane!" She practically sobbed her inquiry into her sister's shirt. She was almost crying and in-between each question she gasped and struggled to squeeze Chikane even tighter than she already was. The older girl didn't know how her younger sister was able to find time to breath.
She felt a little bit of relief that her adorable little sister was concerned for her, rather than mad, but then the blonde released her vice-grip and looked up into her sister's face, like a puppy whose owner had just returned. Any scrap of relief the slender girl had felt was gone, instantly replaced with crushing guilt and penance. Her cute little sister's face was reddened with anxious worry and her questioning eyes were glistening wet and threatened their release. Her usually gorgeous hair was astray from their short "struggle," and her luscious bottom lip quivered ever so slightly, awaiting answers to the questions… … … … … …
It was almost more than Chikane could possibly bear at once. She tore her gaze from the drops of amethyst in her sister's eyes staring at her and turned her head to the side, and with a weak smile she offered "Sorry I'm late."
She had meant it to sound like a sort of joke, but it ended up coming out as more of a question; she was so ashamed to have caused her twin such obvious anxiety that she couldn't bear to look into her loving face anymore, because it made her hurt too much inside.
But Himeko was having none of that. She needed to know now what had caused her onee-chan to be so late and if she was alright.
What if something bad did happen?
"Ne, Chikane-chan, are you alright?" She asked quietly but still concerned, though she had calmed herself from her hysterics. Her sister turned her head away, not looking at her still. Himeko's heart was churning, and she needed to know. She straddling her elder sister's legs on the wood floor, although neither of them really noticed at this point, and the young blonde slowly lifted her hands to either side of her twin's face and gently guided it back towards her own so that they were looking at each other again. She gazed into the cerulean pools of her sister's eyes in front of her own and she was about to ask again why her sister looked so upset, but then a thought came to her. A slightly unpleasant one. Chikane didn't look sad; no that wasn't a sad face, but rather she had that look she gets when she feels guilty about something. "Typically something related to me" Himeko thought worriedly. Upon further inspection of her sister's face, and the lack of her usual response, she came to a realization, and then she glanced away and back to the blue eyes. She started again in a smaller voice.
"You weren't…at the school working were you? Chikane-chan?" by this point she had more or less figured it out, but she didn't want to hear it anyway.
"You didn't forget…did you?" she asked even softer and more timidly. Then her twin suddenly looked up with a look of passion on her features. "Of course not Himeko! I could never forget! I was just—I didn't—I was going to come straight home but I just got caught up in work and time slipped away from me I swear!" she cried in response. The blonde haired angel straddling her legs looked back at her with a face of mild relief at first, but suddenly rearranged itself, and a strange expression appeared on her face; one that Chikane had seen only rarely in her life, but more frequently as of the past few months. Her little sister's face lit up with some kind of relief, but at the same time it seemed like she was fighting back pain. The girl on her lap lowered her head gently; resting it on Chikane's right shoulder and wrapping her arms around her body, and began gently nuzzling her neck with her nose in a gesture of security.
Chikane fought back a twitch.
Her sister whispered against her vulnerable skin in a pained voice, laced with emotion that Chikane could practically feel.
"I missed you…" she began. "I haven't seen you in two-and-a-half days, and then you were so late…" Chikane winced at her last words. "I know, and I'm sorry Himeko. I'm so sorry." The younger girl straightened back up and faced her sister, glancing back and forth between her face and the floor repeatedly. She spoke again, with another tone Chikane couldn't quite place.
"I've been…feeling it onee-chan…feeling sick again these past couple days Chikane-chan," she said quietly, laying her head back on her twin's shoulder. "I was getting scared…it hurts…" It tore Chikane apart to hear her precious sister recall her pain, and she wrapped her arms around the younger girl and pulled her close, and began to soothingly stroke her golden hair, trying to let her forget her mysterious illness.
This is my first shot at a KnM story, and I found it quite an entertaining experience. Special thanks to Obsidan and Cobalt, DezoPenguin, To. you-From. Me, Mugen no Koi, who I find are all fantastic writers and inspiration for me to start writing. So read it. Review it. Like it. Hate it. Whatever. I want to update this as much and as fast as I can, and if you think of something you might want to happen, go ahead and mention it. Oh and I will be posting further stories, so keep an eye out.
Make peace.
/Souji/