(A/N): Hi guys! My name's Kongetsume and I've been a huge KnM fan for over 4 years now. I used to write a bit here on FF dot net years ago when I was in high school but real-life caught up with me and it all came to a screeching halt. However, seeing as I've grown so much as a person, in my writing and in my interests, I've decided I should maybe pick this hobby up again even if only as a part-time thing. Therefore, please take into consideration my long hiatus from the scene as you critique this story. Oh, one last thing to keep in mind- I spent 8 months studying abroad in Japan, so I'll be drawing from actual locations in Kyoto and other cities I visited with occasional tweaks here and there. Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Kannazuki no Miko. That there series belongs to Kaishaku, NHK , Tokyopop and Geneon Entertainment. Basically a bunch of people who wear glasses, sat around a big table and decided on it a while ago.

And We Meet, Once Again

Chapter One

Two Halves of the Same Shell

A young woman of medium build with blonde hair that reached a few inches below the shoulder sipped languidly on a cool milk tea that was roughly three-quarters of the way consumed. She sat tucked away in a corner on the second floor of the MOS Burger. This section of the establishment was free of the hustle and bustle of cashiers taking orders and customers lining up, trying to make up their minds on what to purchase.

The woman took no regard of the surroundings as her mind was preoccupied with an event that had just transpired moments, minutes or was it hours, ago? She wasn't even sure exactly how much time had passed but it didn't even matter. Her heart was reeling with the remnants of the emotions that had hit her. Letting out a soft sigh, she brought a hand to support her chin as amethyst-colored eyes stared down at the now nearly empty glass.

'I'm such an idiot. I made a huge fool out of myself, didn't I?' she thought. Idly swirling around the ice cubes and seeking the satisfying clink sound as they hit the wall of the glass, the girl closed her eyes in meditative thought. It didn't take long for her to invoke the event that stood at the forefront of very recent memory.

At the huge four-way intersection in front of Kyoto Station, the aforementioned woman clutched a white opaque handbag while waiting for the signal to cross, humming a catchy tune in her mind. Knowing instinctively that the change was imminent, she stepped off from the pavement as soon as it changed to 'walk' and stepped out a few feet. She was surrounded by the continuous tapping of people's feet against concrete echoing around her ear drums and the whoosh of air as it caught in her clothes as she walked. It was such a pleasant day and she wondered idly at the magnificence of nature. She shrugged off her quizzical mental banter and set her focus straight ahead before her klutzy nature came out to play, landing her head first into unforgiving concrete. It was then that she looked up when her eyes met the sight of a woman of unparalleled beauty. All of her surroundings fazed out of focus and into a blank background the moment she laid eyes on her.

Another young woman of a taller build was coming from the opposite direction. Rays that caught in her long, midnight blue hair made it seem like it sparkled under the sun of midday. A white, sleeveless sun dress accentuated her curvaceous body perfectly and she held a piercing sapphire gaze that would render anyone self-conscious.

However, when she witnessed the small, pink shell that bounced to the rhythm of her movements against her graceful neck, her eyes widened and she stopped dead in her tracks. As if the floodgates of a thousand years were released, tears formed in her eyes, filling to the brim and freely spilling over. The young woman seemed to notice her distraught state and paused in front of her, head cocked to the side, wondering what could be afflicting the stranger that gazed at her as though she were someone lost long ago and now found. To her even greater surprise, this stranger ran the remaining distance between them and flung her arms around the taller girl's neck in a firm hug. Some may think she was crazy, maybe others think she had gone insane but, at that moment, an uncontrollable force gripped her body. Reason was sent packing when a feeling akin to instinct (how could it be?) drove her to perform the action.

The physical reactions and feelings that hit her all at once were countless. Panging in the heart, butterflies in the stomach, sweatiness of the palms, warmth, security, protection, happiness, love… However, reason finally caught up to the blonde when she realized the embrace wasn't being returned and why it wouldn't be. She looked up at the captivating woman and broke into a huge blush when she observed the confusion yet trace of a blush found on the blue-haired beauty's face whose arms had frozen in mid-air. The other girl snapped out of her reverie under the shorter girl's captivating stare.

"Um…excuse me. The signal light is about to turn red in a few seconds. We should get out of traffic's way." A warm hand captured her slightly clammy one, leading her to the sidewalk the other woman had come from. The blonde felt absolutely mortified and embarrassed over what had occurred. Nonetheless, she secretly marveled at the delicious warmth of the other girl's hand. It served to appease her anxiety somewhat. She managed to wipe the trails of tears off her face with her free hand in the meantime, trying to regain some semblance of dignity.

Once out of harm's way, the taller woman let go and she instantly felt the loss. However, the more refined of the two seemed poised to speak and, gathering her wit, the blonde stood to attention.

"I'm sorry. I am not sure we've met before. And you happen to be…"

She wanted to answer immediately, yet her throat was raw and dry from the emotions that had hit her like a semi-truck and it took her a few moments to find her voice.

"K-Kurusugawa. Kurusugawa Himeko."

"Pleased to meet you, Kurusugawa-san. I'm Himemiya Chikane."

"Chikane-chan." The name rolled off her tongue so easily like she had used it hundreds of times before. How was it even possible? This was the first and only person she was acquainted with that had such a name. Himeko, having broken a very important rule of civility with a complete stranger, knew she had overstepped her bounds. How many more times would she make a complete idiot out of herself in front of this woman? Realizing her blunder, she bowed deeply in apology as if she had disobeyed orders from a superior. While doing so she did not notice the wide eyes and the slight blush of her counterpart who was starting to find her quite endearing…albeit just a tad strange.

"I'm terribly sorry…Himemiya-san." If having this complete stranger address her in a very familiar manner had struck her as a no-no, then when she heard herself addressed politely left a bad taste in her mouth and her brow furrowed in displeasure. 'I don't know why, but I want this girl to call me Chikane-chan...' Before she could even catch herself, the words were already flowing from her mouth.

"No…it's quite alright. You may call me that, Kurusugawa-san." At this, the blonde woman's expression lit up and she smiled at the blue-eyed girl.

"Please call me Himeko, Chikane-chan."

"Himeko…" Said girl blushed brightly at the way Chikane said her name. Chikane, herself, also liked the sound of it and enjoyed the tingly feeling that played on her lips as Himeko's name left them. It seemed inexplicably familiar and she never knew that she would enjoy saying someone's name this much. The smile that graced her lips when she did so sent a whole new wave of pangs straight to Himeko's heart.

"Did you confuse me for someone else, Himeko?" What else could be the explanation for this adorable stranger embracing her out of the blue in as precarious an intersection as this? Although no one until that moment had ever made her feel as wonderful and as coveted as the cute blonde.

"No, I just- I dunno. I saw your pink shell and, something just came over me. Before I realized what I was doing, I was hugging you. I'm so sorry!" Chikane flinched as she felt the sharp prick of disappointment. Inexplicable disappointment because it didn't seem like this stranger, no, Himeko didn't seem like she had done it out of her own will. Chikane then remembered the amethyst-eyed girl's words and gazed down at the blonde's neck. There, she found an eerily similar pink shell held by a chain made of some cloth and she looked at it in disbelief, remembering the old shell matching game her parents had taught her as a child.

'And I always thought that children's game was complete nonsense as I became older. It was meant for soul mates that are destined to be together but, in this case, we're both girls.' Chikane wasn't someone who believed in superstition or other kinds of ridiculous tales. She believed in logic, fact and reason. She also wasn't someone who had to deal with feelings of a romantic or sexual nature for either sex or beyond simple companionship and friendship, for that matter. Yet the moment they had embraced, every single emotion Chikane had, including ones she didn't even know she had swept through her entire being like a gigantic tidal wave.

Figuring this was a topic she could take her time to ruminate over in the privacy of her own home, the blue-haired girl decided to keep it on the back burner for another time. Instead, she decided to focus on the twin shells hanging around both of their necks. Chikane was practically itching to ask Himeko if she had ever heard about it and maybe even try to see if they fit together. It was a childish thought, but she figured she was seeking some sort of validation for the uncanny way fate had decided they would cross paths and knock the sails out of both of them.

"Chikane-chan, have you ever heard of the shell matching game?" Himeko inquired, answering Chikane's question for her without even having to say a word; like she had read her mind. Chikane held back an overly enthusiastic and knowing response and merely nodded her head in the affirmative. Chikane had let down quite a few walls today, way over the limit, yet she knew somewhere deep down that she couldn't help it. This blonde angel was taking Himemiya Chikane and slowly stripping her completely of who she was supposed to be...or thought she was supposed to be.

Himeko looked into Chikane's eyes inquisitively but completely forgot the next thing she was going to say when she gazed completely into Chikane's eyes. As the saying goes, the eyes are the window to the soul, and Himeko definitely started to believe the statement as she looked intently into those crystal blues. She gazed at a soul that was forcibly hidden but at the root of it all was utterly striking and enchanting. Her heart pounded loudly in her chest at realizing how lost she had gotten in those blue depths and the incessant blushing did not go unnoticed by Chikane, who had found a pure and beautiful soul staring right back at her through sparkling amethyst. She coughed softly feeling absolutely smothered and this served to break Himeko out of her stupor.

"Is it ok if I take a look at your shell for a moment, Chikane-chan?"

"Oh…sure."

Chikane watched intrigued as Himeko lifted the shell from her neck and attempted to join it to the one on her own. In the process, however, their bodies came into close contact once again and Chikane lost her strength of mind at the exquisite warmth radiating off of the shorter blonde's body. Himeko, too, did not go without noticing and enjoyed being, once again, in such near proximity to the midnight-haired goddess and blushed in contemplation of it all. She quickly realized, however, that the necklaces were too short and weren't going to give, so she decided to attempt a different approach.

"Um, would it be too much of a bother to ask you to take it off?" If Himeko didn't know better, the question came off as awfully suggestive.

"What?" Chikane replied uncharacteristically bluntly, visibly surprised, and with a faint blush to boot.

"Your necklace, I mean," Himeko added, mentally kicking herself for her phrasing. Her mind was beginning to tread through dangerous territory and it wasn't a common occurrence for her.

"Oh, yes." Chikane reached back and unhooked her necklace, dropping it into the other girl's hands. "Here you go." Himeko held it in one palm as she proceeded to do the same, pulling her own necklace over her head. Both women watched expectantly as the shorter one brought both shells together. Closer and closer, inch by inch, until they touched.

Any doubt they had vanished that very instant. Unmistakably, both halves were a perfect fit.

What did this all mean? Himeko and Chikane looked at one another incredulously, yet there was no denying the fact. Out of everyone in the world, these two wore two halves of the same exact pink shell. Matching shell game or not, the chances that two such people would meet were slim to none. It was as if it were a happening orchestrated by a higher calling. A calling beyond this sheer idle existence. The gods seemed to have lots in store for these two and only time would tell what would become of them.

Himeko, rather boldly, grasped one of Chikane's free hands and looked at her with a twinkle in the eyes. Like a lost memory of long ago, somewhere deep inside she knew this was the person she promised herself she would spend her whole life looking for. It was the reason why she rejected her childhood friend and guardian, Oogami Souma. It was a rejection that not only pained her friend but bothered her as well. She should've been able to accept and return Souma's kind love and protection but something inside her strongly believed otherwise. Her inner strength guided her through tough and painful times and it all resulted in this moment. A moment so fragile that it was more likely to never have happened. But in the here and now it did happen, and Himeko knew she needed Chikane forever.

Chikane was caught in a whirlwind of thoughts and sensations. Had it been any other stranger, she would've already expressed her displeasure and sent the person away. Without muttering obscenities, mind you. But she couldn't. Not to Himeko. This girl had just moments ago abruptly entered her life and was throwing her for a loop. Just who was she? She felt like she was someone she was supposed to remember but couldn't put her finger on. Oh, would it make life so much easier if she did! At any cost, she was determined to stick around until she found out. She looked entranced at the shorter girl and felt herself start to lean down towards her.

The cell phone in her left pocket rung unceremoniously loud, causing Chikane to jump slightly. She politely excused herself to pick up the call, knowing what was coming.

"Hello?"

'Chikane? Where on Earth are you? You were supposed to meet us at the office ten minutes ago.'

"I'm sorry, Mother. It seems like I lost track of time, I'll be there in less than five minutes."

'Is everything alright? It's unlike you to be late.'

"Yes, everything's fine. I'll explain myself later."

'Okay daughter, I'll see you soon.'

"I'll see you there." She hung up with an audible click of her flip phone.

The look on Himeko's face tugged on Chikane's heartstrings. She looked like she had lost a puppy or some precious pet and the color of her eyes had become a sad purple.

"I'm really sorry, Chikane-chan! I didn't mean to interrupt you or waste your time…" Chikane shook her head vigorously.

"No, Himeko, this definitely wasn't a waste of my time. But I do have a commitment with my mother I have to uphold." Chikane racked her brain to come up with something quickly, not wanting to leave the girl on such a hasty note.

"Do you own a cell phone?"

"Yeah."

"Can it do infrared transmission?"

"Yep, why?"

"Let's exchange numbers and e-mail so we can chat more again at some other time, okay?" Chikane was nearly blinded by the bright smile that came forth from Himeko and a small smile tugged at her own lips.

"Okay!" Himeko reached for the phone in her bag while Chikane flipped hers open again. Bringing them together, it was only a matter of seconds before the data transfer was complete.

"I really have to get going now. Feel free to call or text me later." Flashing the other girl an award-winning smile, Himemiya Chikane was back off in the opposite direction. Himeko stood rooted to the spot, still in semi-disbelief over all that had transpired in the last –she checked her watch- about fifteen minutes of her young life. She was sure she had made a complete moron out of herself in the presence of such a regal person like Chikane. Himeko shrugged. She would surely learn more about the taller girl in due time.

Right now, though, she was really thirsty after the whole ordeal and she decided to head to the MOS Burger she knew was nearby. There, she would quench her thirst with a nice, cool glass of milk tea. Suddenly remembering the shells, she glanced down and noticed she still held both her and Chikane's necklaces.

'Stupid!' she thought of herself.

Himeko's trip through memory lane came to a halt when a low ping signaled the receipt of a text message. She opened the message and found it to be from her best friend, Saotome Makoto.

Hey Himeko! Wanna catch some dinner later with me? I wanna know how your day went, details and all. ;-) See ya!
- Mako

The recipient smiled. She had known Makoto since her first year of high school when they were roommates and they had remained close ever since. She knew all about her, according to Makoto, stupid rejection of Jin-sama and the resolve to find the other half to her shell. Boy, wait until she heard about all this! Himeko was determined to shove it in her face. Nicely, of course. She typed a response accepting her invitation, asking about the time and place. She looked it over once before pressing send.

Himeko knew that things would surely begin to get more interesting in her life. She was absolutely sure of it.

(A/N): Well, I think that's enough for one chapter, don'tcha think? I really wanna know what you thought of it. Flames, criticism, praise- all of it. If you really like it and want me to keep going, let me know too. I aim to please! Thank you! ^-^

Edit: Anyone interested in being my RP partner? I wanna experiment with some possible situations I could use later in the fic. PM me for further details.