Note: This work is completely fiction. The writer does not own Inuyasha. All rights belong to Rumiko Takahashi.

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Gemini

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February 23rd, 1999

Little girls were everywhere!

The room was filled from end to end with little girls. There were tall girls, short girls, fat girls, thin girls, ugly girls, pretty girls, plain girls, tiny girls and big girls. There were girls in bathing suits, girls in dance leotards, girls in performance costumes, and girls in lovely little girl gowns. There were even some girls who just ran around in their under things, laughing their little girl heads off while their mother or father chased after them with a dress in hand.

That's what it was like at the 1999, Little Miss Tokyo Pageant. Every parent there thought their daughter, niece, or granddaughter would be the next Little Miss Tokyo '99. Each of the possible Little Miss Tokyo's were different, a different shape or size, all except for two girls. Only two out of all the hundreds of girls in attendance looked exactly the same.

Well, almost exactly the same, which is probably why everyone there assumed they were twins. They were both beautiful little girls with their long black hair and bright blue eyes. They had dresses of the exact same color but of slightly different designs. They wore the same shoes with their filly white socks. The only noticeable difference was the way they did their hair.

One had her hair pulled back away from her face. Her name was Kikyo and she wore a simple straight sequined pink dress with no sleeves but thin shiny pink straps, making her look older than a girl at her tender young age should be. The second one, however, wore her hair up in two pig tails tied with pink lacy ribbons. This little girl was called Kagome, and she wore a pink dress with a tulle skirt and two large puffy pink sleeves trimmed with the same lace that donned her hair. While the outfit made Kagome seem much younger than Kikyo, everyone thought she was "just too cute." In fact that's exactly what they said.

The whole day people would look at Kikyo and tell the girls' father, "My, that's quite a young lady you've got there, Mr. Higurashi" Or "Higurashi, your daughter is so very mature for her age." Or even, "Goodness, are you sure you aren't at the wrong competition? I think that Miss Kikyo would be much better suited for the Miss Tokyo Pageant." And if the comments weren't all precisely the same they were certainly very similar in one way or the other. But then, they would see Kagome, and no matter whom it was the always said the exact same thing every single time: "Well, aren't you just too cute!"

Too cute! Kagome didn't want to be "too cute," she wanted to be like Kikyo. She wanted to be perfect, just like Kikyo was, Perfect.

But she wasn't perfect like Kikyo, she couldn't do things right like Kikyo, and as hard as she might try it seemed that she could never behave properly like Kikyo did. Kagome knew that she would never be as perfect as Kikyo was. Instead, she was "too cute," and it was hard for her to understand at her young age that that wasn't all she was. But if everyone thought she was "too cute" then she was going to be Too Cute! If she couldn't be perfect then she was going to be the best "too cute" that she could be (whatever that was suppose to mean).

A small chubby hand tugged on the pants leg of a handsome blue eyed man with light brown hair and a charming smile; when he glanced down he saw two smaller, but identical, blue eyes peering up at him.

"Daddy, what does 'to coot' mean?"

Chuckling, he picked the little girl up and listened to her delighted squeal as he spun her around. Hugging her tightly, he said, "It means that you are simply adorable, Kagome. Simply Adorable!"

She leaned away from him, but held onto his neck so that she wouldn't fall. Gazing up curiously at him she asked, "Is being 'sim-play a-door-it-a-bull' a good thing, daddy?"

Smiling he kissed her sweet pudgy little cheeks and she giggled joyfully. "Yes Kagome," he answered, "It's a very good thing. It's exactly why my girls are going to win."

Kikyo gazed upon the affectionate exchange between father and daughter with the emotionless expression that she had already begun to perfect in her short 7 year old life. They couldn't both win. She knew that. Kagome was going to win. She had won their father's love, and it was obvious to Kikyo that she would easily win the love of the judges and everyone in the audience too. Her eyes glittered, just slightly, with unshed tears as she spoke calmly, "Come on Kagome, the competition is about to begin."

"You'll take care of her won't you Kikyo?" asked her father. "You'll make sure she doesn't get lost, or picked on by the other girls, won't you? Oh and please make sure that she doesn't get her dress dirty until after the judging is over. I am trusting you to look after your sister, okay?"

The little girl who had matured so much in her short little seven year old life looked straight into her father's eyes as he spoke, and without saying a single word to him, she turned away. Pulling Kagome along, she walked with more grace and poise than any other seven year old had ever possessed.

"Come along Kagome." Kikyo stated regally, "It's time to get ready for the pageant."

The giggling little Kagome gazed up at her sister with complete adoration. Her sister was perfect, and someday, she wanted to be just like her. Holding onto Kikyo's hand, Kagome did her very best to walk just like Kikyo.

Hours later they announced the winners…

"And in the first time in the history of the Little Miss Tokyo pageant, we have a tie," came the booming voice trough the auditorium speakers, "Japan's new Little Miss Tokyo's of 1999 are Kikyo and Kagome Higurashi, the cutest little twins that I have ever seen!"

"Those are my girls!" shouted a man from the audience. A man wearing a dark suit and impossible-to-see-through sun glasses pushed his way through the crowd. "They won! Those are my girls up there." Mr. Higurashi boasted to several near-by members of the audience, "My girls won!" Then the man in the dark suit had finally narrowed in, and he caught Mr. Higurashi's attention enough to lean in and as quietly as possible began to discuss what was certainly a most pressing business matter.

Kagome was ready to burst with joy. They thought she was as good as Kikyo! She knew that she wasn't, but to share this crown with Kikyo was the best thing that she could ever remember happening to her in her whole life. Gazing up at Kikyo, Kagome thought "I have the best big sister in the whole world."

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Wicked Oracle