Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, or any of the other copyrighted characters that are present in this fanfic. Much as I hate to admit it, they belong to Rumiko Takahashi. But the plot (or what little plot there is in here), is a creation of my own imagination, and belongs solely to me.

Summary: Kagome, the supposed and heralded "savior" of the human race, has been taught her entire life to hate demons, that they were evil and meant to be destroyed. The Prophecy has predicted that she is the pure and powerful miko (Japanese priestess), the Holy One, who will save the humans by ridding the world of all demons, monsters, and evil sprites with her purifying powers. But what will Kagome do when she meets a strange young man who is neither entirely man nor demon, but half of each? Will she be ultimately forced to destroy the hanyou Inuyasha, or will her strong heritage and natural miko instinct allow her to spare him because of his human blood? Her situation becomes even more complicated as the sixteen-year-old girl finds herself slowly falling in love with him, with each day that passes by in his company…

My Lady Miko

~ by Four-Eyed Bookworm

Chapter 1- Recollections of the Past

"My Lady, your meal is here!" A voice called out from outside Kagome's window. A young girl with raven-black hair turned around and sighed, exasperated.

" Really, Hojo, this is the fiftieth or so time that I've had to tell you, just call me Kagome!" She scolded half-heartedly as she walked over and took a large picnic basket from someone's hands.

"Oh, terribly sorry my Lady!" A slightly fearful face suddenly appeared at the window, and the person repeated again, "I'm terribly sorry, I forgot again. Please, I humbly beg you, my Lady, to accept my apologies for offending you! I swear I won't do it again, my Lady!"

The young girl frowned, then sighed again, "You're doing it again, right this minute! Oh well, it's all right. Just stop treating me like a hime or whatever. I just want to be an ordinary girl." She waved her hand carelessly at the young man whose handsome, yet strangely unintelligent face was at her window, "You can leave now, Hojo. I don't need anything else for today." Hojo bowed, accidentally scraping his brown, curly-haired head against the top of the window frame before slowly floating downward at disappearing.

"Enjoy your lunch, my la-I mean, Kagome!" A faint voice was heard from outside.

"Ouch!" Kagome looked out the window, and down below, she smiled faintly as she watched her servant rub his ankle briefly, having just clumsily tripped over a small rock in his path.

Turning back, she lifted the red and white-checkered cloth from the top of the basket as she mused, "Well, I wonder what my meal is today?" She peeked over the edge of the straw and grass-woven basket, smiling appreciatively at the whiff of sweet grass that she smelled, as well as the warm, tantalizing aroma of Oden and chicken teriyaki that drifted past her nose. "Oooh! Yum! Oden!" Her eyes sparkled happily at the thought of having her favorite food for lunch. Kagome only had a to walk few steps across the room to reach the other side. She quickly took out a series of covered plates from inside the basket and placed them on top of her polished cherry wood table. The steam that rose up from the uncovered dishes informed her that they had just been freshly prepared and brought up to her room as speedily as possible. The clean plates were made of the whitest, purest china, and the silverware was polished as brightly as a crystal mirror. She sighed. This pampered life that she led was fit for a princess, or an esteemed, high-class, noblewoman; it certainly didn't suit the former daughter of a small village cloth merchant.

Her blue eyes perused the room, pausing as she glanced upon her rich, elegant furniture, all made of the most expensive materials possible, and decorated with exquisite taste and style. The soft, warm, blanket and quilts with intricate designs patterned on them, differed so greatly from the ragged, patched, thin sheets of her old home. The comfortable, cozy chairs and polished wooden furniture was a stark contrast to the rough, splintery wooden chairs and tables of her previous house. How exactly had she been brought here? It had all happened so long ago that it seemed to have been a recent dream; a story that she had read long ago and no longer remembered. Kagome's eyes darkened slightly as she recalled her old life of cold and misery, and how she was suddenly, and without warning, picked up and dropped into this new one of comforts and riches.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Flashback~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Otou-chan! You're home!" A young, jubilant child in a faded, yellow dress ran out of the door and leapt joyfully into the awaiting arms of her father. The eight-year-old girl was immediately picked up and swung high, shrieking in delight, as she was spun around and around in circles until the dusky sky above her seemed to be spinning.

"Well, well, my little Kagome, how was your day? Did you stay out of trouble and act like a good girl?" A deep, cheerful voice asked as the storekeeper sat down on the ground and pulled his daughter into his lap.

"Yep!" The young girl nodded emphatically. "I waited all day for you to come home, n' I didn't do anything naughty, and I was a very good girl." She smiled sweetly up at the amused man with the short black beard, who chuckled.

"That's my little angel. Now, let me go get supper ready." Kagome's father tousled her tangled black hair affectionately, and got up, setting his daughter upon the dusty ground gently. Before he could walk towards the house, however, Kagome tugged urgently on his large hand. He turned back around and looked at her inquiringly.

"Today a message came from a rider on horseback. He was wearing lots of silk robes an' looked really important, so I went out to greet him. He asked if you were home, but I told him that you weren't because you were working down in town at the store. So he gave me this really pretty scroll with a very pretty sakura blossom seal stamped on it with red ink and tied with a pretty blue and gold ribbon; said I should give it to you when you came back. I didn't open it, but I was wondering if I could have the ribbon to tie my hair with because my other green one got torn the other day, while I was playing Tag with Souta?" Kagome looked up at her father, whose frown had gotten deeper and deeper with each passing word.

"Wait, Kagome, you said that the messenger's scroll had a sakura blosson seal on it?" The girl nodded confusedly.

"Why? Is something wrong, Papa?" The girl asked worriedly. Her father shook his head slowly, his brows drawn together.

He asked slowly, "Think carefully, Kagome. Was there anything else on the scroll that you noticed as particular? Any special symbols on the outside?"

The child opened her mouth, took a breath, as if to speak, then stopped upon seeing her father's head bend closer towards her, an intent yet apprehensive look in his eyes.

"Go on, dear."

Kagome furrowed her eyebrows in concentration, then said slowly, "Well, the outside of the scroll also had little silver swirls on them, which were kinda shaped like leaves. Oh, yes, and there was a golden dragon there, too-" Before she could get any further, Kagome's father started and abruptly whirled around, running into the house.

He came back out, a moment later, with the scroll in his hand. He started reading it aloud for Kagome's benefit. The message said in a beautiful, curling script:

"By the order of his royal majesty, the esteemed Emperor Tomihatsu Shirakawa, anyone who bears a strawberry-colored birthmark that is shaped like a circle on his or her left hip must immediately report to the palace physician to be physically examined. Whosoever fails to do so shall suffer the full wrath of His Majesty and must be prepared to face the consequences."

Young Kagome looked scared when her father had finished. She stammered, "B-but, I do have a birthmark on my hip!"

And that was how it all started. The young girl was brought to the capital and presented to the palace physician, to be personally examined (or more specifically, poked and prodded relentlessly) by the stern, gray-haired doctor. Once all the courtiers found out that she had been born with a small, round, pinkish jewel in her body, which had been violently coughed out when she was three, they started muttering and whispering darkly to each other. And when Kagome was unwillingly led into the throne room to meet Her Exalted High-Mother Empress, her eyes and fingertips started glowing eerily when the frightened young girl touched the wrinkled hands of the emperor's mother, who was incidentally a miko herself. Then, everyone was quite sure that this girl was the one whose arrival the Prophecy had long foretold.

So it was, that at the tender age of eight, the young girl was dragged away from her family and friends, and torn from the only life she had ever known. Without even completely comprehending the reason -for no one had bothered to explain it to the little girl- Kagome was almost forcibly brought to the wide, stone tower where she resided now. It had a single entrance at the very bottom, but that was locked, and the long winding staircase inside the tower led up to another door, which had been locked for so long that it was practically rusty from disuse. Kagome was literally imprisoned inside her room. She had not stepped foot outside the tower's grounds since she had entered, for her food and other needs were brought by Hojo, and her education tended to by strict, long bearded, old tutors who rambled on and on about philosophical matters and deep theories of life.

Of course, it was not to be assumed that Kagome was mistreated here. She was provided with the best food, clothes, bedding, furniture, books, and other amusements. Her living quarters were small and cozy, but clean. She had a bedroom, and living room, a bathroom, and a small kitchen, in case she ever wanted to experiment with the culinary arts herself. She was never bored, for there were always new things that Hojo brought up for her to fiddle and play with. Altogether, it was quite a comfortable life. She often longed for fresh air and a glimpse of the world beyond the range of the forest that surrounded the tower, but she had no choice but to content herself with pictures and paintings of the world around her.

And so the years passed, and the eight-year-old girl grew, and thrived under the healthy conditions in which she lived. Her lean, thin body filled out into a pleasing, shapely slender figure, which was both graceful and athletic. (She had a special room to practice archery in, which she used to her full advantage by running, jumping, and shouting around in it when the pressures of being a proper, well-behaved lady became too much to handle.) Her dirty, straggly hair grew long, thick, shiny, and luxuriously soft. Her skin shone softly with healthy, vibrant beauty, and her long slender limbs knew just how to fold in the proper way as to seem graceful, not awkward. Kagome was also very well educated, as sheltered a life as she lived. She knew everything that an ordinary teenaged girl of her time should have known, and more. Besides her regular education, an old, wise priestess named Lady Kaede came about once a week to teach her about properly using her miko powers, though the young girl never actively tried to use them.

Little did she know that the time was fast approaching when she would be called upon to fulfill the words of the prophecy that had changed her life so drastically more than seven years ago.

Author's Note: Hi minna-san! I started a new fic, because it seemed to me that my other one was starting to wander along the lines of having no plot whatsoever. Hope this one is as interesting to you guys as my other two were! I hope you enjoyed reading it! See ya next time, when I post another chapter! Ja ne!