Disclaimer: I do not own Kekkaishi or any of its characters.

Time: A few months after Gen's death and the defeat of Kokouboro.

Note: Please take into consideration that this is definitely an AU story, will have my own characters included, and the characters may be out of character. Also, songs may be included in the story, though I'm not entirely sure yet.

Summary: How important are you to your family? Relatives? Friends? What about your village? In the eyes of others, what is your importance? She was told there was nowhere for her, the other was told her powers were too wild. Where do these sisters belong? And how important will they be to the ones around them, the ones who supposedly care for them? When an impending doom strikes Karasumori and those connected to it, will they still have friends? Or are they destined to forever stand alone?

Kekkaishi:
Importance

Chapter One
Mission

"Amaya," Hatori said, standing outside of the girl's room.

The sixteen or seventeen year old girl turned towards the paper door, where Hatori's shadow was cast across it, lightly regarding the Vice Chief with passive, cold, indigo blue eyes. Her room was a small and simple one. She had a desk in the corner, where she sat with her legs underneath her, with a comfortable white mat to sit upon. Her futon was folded and place in the opposite corner.

On her desk were three pictures. One, a landscape one, was of her standing amongst a small group of Yagyou members, including Masamori, Hatori, Atora, and a small eight year old girl standing in front of her. The portrait style picture in a special silver frame was the most recent one and depicted herself and a fourteen year old girl who had purple eyes and long, jet black hair. The third and final picture was also in a portrait style, and was held in an old, faded wooden frame. She looked to be seven. The picture held the purple eyed girl, five, held by a man while a woman had her arms around Amaya. Amaya's hand held the one on her shoulder, revealing a 3-D pyramid on the front of her left hand. The lamp sitting on her desk cast a glint across the faces of the man and woman.

Kikumura Amaya was a sixteen year old girl with cold, passive indigo blue eyes and long, silky, straight blue-violet hair that reached the small of her back. The side bangs of her hair were wrapped with crisscrossing white ribbons. Around her neck was a black choker with a gold chrysanthemum hanging off it. While on duty she wore the Yagyou uniform, but at present she wore a long, off the shoulder, white dress with short ruffled sleeves. In her hair was a silver Chinese hair ornament with three silver lines dangling from its end, each a different length and with dark blue gems shaped like raindrops hanging off them.

"Hai, Hatori-san?" Amaya questioned through the paper door.

"The Chief would like a word with you." Hatori answered, "It's regarding Aya-chan."

Amaya's eye grew wide. She immediately stood and threw the door open, "Nande!?"

"I'm not sure." Hatori replied, "Please come with me."

Amaya looked to the room directly next to hers. The light was off, the room completely dark. Amaya sighed quietly and nodded, following the older girl across the wooden floor of the outdoor hall. They continued in silence, passing many other rooms, before reaching Masamori's.

"Good luck, Ame." Hatori said, "I too wish to know what this has to do with Ayame." With that, Hatori left the hall to return to her own quarters.

"Thank you, Miki, for you concern." Amaya told the fleeting girl.

"Amaya? Are you out there?" Masamori questioned from behind his doors.

"H-hai!" She confirmed.

"Come inside. I need to speak with you."

Amaya folded her legs beneath herself and bowed her head to the floor before opening his door, "Yes, Chief?"

"Come sit." Masamori said from the mat he sat upon. He beckoned her to sit on the mat in front of him, "You said you liked all manner of tea, right? I hope you like jasmine."

Amaya nodded and stood. She walked across the floor and to the mat without a sound, sitting with her legs beneath her with a small swish of her dress. Masamori poured a cup of tea and she graciously accepted. She began to sip the steaming cup, the warm liquid calming her jumping nerves.

"So, how are the new trainees doing?" Masamori asked casually, "Coming along well as usual, yes?"

"Mm? Oh, yes."

"When do you think you are planning the final stage of their training? Next week?"

"Mm…" She replied distractedly.

"That's the one where you usually bring them out onto the mountains, right?"

"Yes…"

Masamori frowned, "You seem distracted, Amaya. You better not let your guard down, or the older new recruits will chew you out."

"Of course I'm distracted." Amaya said rather angrily, her usually passive eyes narrowed with concern.

"I see. What is it? What's wrong?"

"Didn't you ask me here so we could talk about Ayame?" Ayama questioned bluntly, "What about her? She hasn't gone into the Dream State since Gen's death."

"Yes, I am aware of that." Masamori said calmly, "I'm also aware that she hasn't slept very well since then either."

"If you know that – ?"

"I want to renew her mission of going to Karasumori."

"Nani!?" She said disbelievingly.

"As I'm sure you knew, before she went under the Dream State last time, I was planning on sending her to Karasumori a little while after Gen went."

"But you didn't, even when she awakened." Amaya commented.

"That was under special circumstances." Masamori countered, "Ayame herself asked me to delay me sending her there so she could council one of the new recruits at that time. Now that she's done doing that, I would like to send her there with you and Hiba."

"This may be too forward of me," Amaya said with what should have been a hesitant voice, though she didn't sound a even a bit hesitant, "But I do not approve. As an ability user, she seems completely normal, but as a Gahaku, a user of the Gahou technique, there are still many mysteries about her powers that we have not yet been able to solve. Sending her to a place like Karasumori, that seems to alter circumstances quite a bit, seems to be a bit…Risky."

"That is one of the two reasons why I want to send her there. This way, we can observe her powers. You and Ayame are supposed to have the same abilities, so we'll see which ones are stemmed from different sources."

Amaya bit her bottom lip, "I still cannot approve…" She said quietly, looking at the floor.

"Oh?" Masamori raised a brow delicately, "Why is that? I explained this to you before, and you seemed to be alright with it then."

The hands she held in her lap clenched tightly, knuckles white. Her serious blue eyes met Masamori's evenly, "It's because of Gen."

"A, soo desu ka." Masamori said calmly, "I knew he would come up eventually. I understand that Ayame is still saddened by his death – "

"No, you don't." She cut in audaciously, "If you did, you wouldn't send her there, to the land that he died upon. Gen never smiled for anyone, nor did he directly ever say that he cared for anyone within the Yagyou." Amaya paused, calming herself, her voice becoming quiet. "However, despite this, I know that he and Ayame were close. When we first learned of his death, she refused to believe that he was gone. And when she finally accepted it, she couldn't stop crying. I can't understand why you'd want to send her there!"

"To help her get over it." Masamori answered, "There are a lot of people who didn't seem to like him, but among those who did, we were able to move on with our lives even after his death. She hasn't. I see her standing in front of that rock he slashed before every day."

"You shouldn't force someone to cope with the death of a friend!" Amaya argued.

"I will if I have to. This is beginning to become a problem. Her counseling is slipping, she's not taking care of the little ones or helping out with cooking. She doesn't do too well on the few missions she goes on, and she can barely get to sleep at night. This is dangerous to her health and the well being of the other Yagyou team members. I know you're angry with me for making this decision, but in the end you'll see what I mean. Besides, you and Hiba will be there if anything happens to her. You are dismissed."

Amaya stood, her entire stance showing her rage. When she reached the door she said, "Sumimasen. I overstepped the boundaries of a simple Trainer. I will accept your mission. I'll get Ayame and Hiba prepped by next week. We'll depart as soon as I finish the training regiment set out for my current charges." She closed his door, nearly slamming it, before stalking back to her own room.

Masamori sighed, scratching his head, "You say you're sorry, but I can tell you're still angry. Well, anyway, you'll see the benefits of sending Aya-chan there eventually. What could happen?"