Helpful hints: otouto – little brother/anesan – older sister / obaasan—grandma

POV: I'm experimenting with a writing style in this fanfic. Italics are first person Kagome, normal format is third person.

{ Damned Deed }
.•°.Chapter 01: Honor Among the Pick.°•.

{…}

We were once sweet and innocent, the lot of us. Life was once simple, it was my mistake. I wanted something more, I yearned for adventure and—worse—romance. I could have said no.

I should have said no… why didn't I just say no?

"Otouto," Kagome chimed as she cupped her hands around her mouth so that the sound would emanate further, "dinner!"

"Okay, anesan!" he shouted back as he reluctantly parted ways from his horde of friends to run up the hill to the stairs, that was when he chose a leisurely pace to reach the top where she stood. Together they turned to head back to their small hut beside the grand temple that they tended to, "obaasan, did you or anesan cook today?"

"I did, child," the elder woman replied with a smile as she stood up, a symphony of crackles snapped at the motion as she moved the pot off of the fire and to the ground.

"Good, anesan can't cook," he muttered only to feel a whack upside his head before she went about getting bowls and spoons before she began to serve the soup.

It was moments like that which I miss the most; Souta was always a pain in my rear but my little otouto all the same. Our constant back and forth bickering, bless obaasan's soul for always putting up with us, for taking us in as if we were family instead of mere orphans.

"Is anesan any good at being a miko, obaasan?" Souta gripped as he began to clean the dishes. "I thought mikos were meant to be nice."

"Oh, cry my a river," Kagome retorted, "you are only mad because I'm making you do the dishes instead of letting you go out to play again."

"Yes, I expect her to become one of the greatest, she is the best I have ever trained," Kaede replied. "She has a great deal of spiritual power, the most I have ever sensed in an individual."

Still, that did not impress Souta so he turned to stick his tongue out at his sister. He had heard it a thousand times, how grand her sister could become—not how grand she was. They both understood that, she was merely nineteen and continuously training but not yet to perfection—actually, she was nowhere near it.

Meditation and training in hopes to fine tune her spiritual powers and archery were the center of her days. She was rather horrid at the latter, though she kept trying her best to be able to hit her mark. What she was best at was herbal remedies, learning what root cured what, what flower healed what, and so much more. That was why she was revered along the coast where she lived, that was why she traveled all about to spread her helping hand. If anything, that was what Kaede had most to gloat about.

"Anesan!" Souta shouted, "obaasan! There are people here!"

"Coming," Kagome replied while they found their way from the only other room into the living quarters. Right away the younger of the two went blank before she lifted a brow to glimpse over the two stiff soldiers and the rather important appearing man that stood between them—a smug and full of himself aura swirled about. Her confusion only deepened when she caught a glance of Kaede bow deeper than she usually did.

"Kaede-sama," the centeral man replied as he bowed his head.

"Wanatabe-sama," she smiled back as she stood up as straight as she could with her hutched back, "it has been a while."

"Yes, it has," that was when his old gray eyes finally shifted to the young miko, "I have heard many tales of your latest apprentice. Higurashi Kagome, isn't it?"

"Yes," she nodded, with a bow. She was not an ignorant girl, she knew what his wardrobe meant and more importantly what the necklace with a fragmented pink jewel symbolized.

"I am Wanatabe Nobuyuki, it is my pleasure," he assured her with another bow. "I would like a moment of your time, both of yours if you wouldn't mind."

And that was the start of the end of my simple life.

"This is a very great honor," Kaede awed as her wide old eye, the only functional one she possessed, moved from Kagome to Wanatabe. "I am sure she will accept."

I remember thinking 'I will?' with shock as I looked to my obaasan. It was just so odd, out of nowhere the guards of Umaku appeared and to top that off one of the leading members of the Seimei council? "We need you," he had said before starting on a spew of all the ways I may be able to help save our world.

"I… yes," Kagome stuttered with a nod, "yes, of course. I would be honored."

"Good," Wanatabe grinned, "we will leave tomorrow then."

"When will she be back?" Souta inquired, winning everyone's attention. Their eyes shifted to the boy that had been hiding by the door the whole time, "when will my anesan be back?"

"That depends," Wanatabe replied in a soothing voice as he beckoned with a wave of his hand to allow him to walk into the hut. "If your sister is chosen it will be around a year, if you sister is not than it will be only a few months.

His big brown eyes shifted to his sister at that, through all the hardships they shared a bond had been created—one that needn't words. She knew what that look meant, don't get picked. To reassure him she smiled, she had no intention to be.

"I will write you, every day," she promised as she extended an arm for him to walk over and sit beside her so she could drape it over his shoulder.

"You better," he muttered.

...•¤°•.•°¤•...

"You are certain, Kaede-sama?" Wanatabe inquired as they lingered by the stairs, a safe distance from the hut that the two soldiers stood guard out of as the young miko gathered her few things.

"Yes, Wanatabe-sama," Kaede nodded back, "I have never met anyone with the level of spiritual power she posses."

"You have always produced the greatest mikos," he murmured as his gray eyes flickered down to her.

"I am honored you think so," she replied, "but she is not great, not yet. She has not perfected anything but is very good with her medical skills, she still needs to train, she is but nineteen. By the time she is twenty-two, twenty-three she will be amazing, but it will take a little longer."

"We don't have more time," he countered, "and none of that matters, just what is within her, the power… you are certain it is there?"

"Certain, as sure as I am about anything. There is great power within her."

"And that is all that matters," he muttered as his attention shifted to Kagome as she exited the hut, giving her younger brother one last kiss upon her head. "Do you think she will really accept the task?"

"Yes, I do, if she is the one that the Seimei picks she will accept, who else has been summoned?"

"Aoki Ayame, Kobayashi Sango, Kyototsu Kaugra have all been brought in already, Higurashi Kagome is the last one on the list."

"All very good choices," she acknowledged, "but I still would vote for my girl."

"I will take that under consideration," he assured before he began down the stairs.

"Goodbye, obaasan," Kagome smiled as she hugged her, "I will see you soon."

"I doubt that, child," she whispered back while she gave her a pat on the shoulder, "you should accept once they ask you."

"Obaasan, you put too much faith in my abilities," she countered before she nodded and headed off.

She didn't really have faith in abilities; I don't blame her for that. I wasn't very good at much yet. She had faith in my powers, what I could pass on to another. And really, in the end, that was all that mattered. Not that I was helpless, not that I was naïve, nothing…

...•¤°•.•°¤•...

"So, you are Higurashi Kagome?" A mahogany eyed woman whispered from behind her. It startled Kagome so much that she grasped her chest, gasped, and spun around to stare wide-eyed at the girl that surely had not been on there a moment ago. "Sorry about that, my name is Kobayashi Sango, it's a pleasure, I'm sure."

"Yes," she smiled weakly as she bowed her head slightly, "it is nice to meet you as well."

"You are the last one to be brought here; do you know what this is all about?" She inquired as she walked about her, analyzing every bit of the girl, "I assume from your wardrobe that you are a miko, yes?"

"Yes… and no, I don't really know what this is all about. I mean, I know what they told me—"

"That you will be doing a service to your country, to the world, by coming here. That you can somehow fix the problem that has been eating away at our world," she interrupted with a sigh as she stopped and tucked her arms behind her back, "yes, so vague. My father insisted I come; I really would have passed if I had a choice. I am a taijiya, you know what that is I assume?"

"One that exterminates unruly youkai, those with criminal inclinations," she summarized.

"There are two others here, a wolf youkai by the name of Aoki Ayame, from what I gather she is a princess among their kind and another wind sorceress and youkai by the name of Kyototsu Kagura. I cannot figure what connects the dots…" she sighed as she brushed her brunette bangs out of her face.

"I… see," she muttered, "perhaps they will explain it all to us later?"

"Perhaps," she replied with a shake of her head before she walked off without another word.

I thought her odd at the time but she had the right attitude about it all, I should have been more like her but I was excited. I wanted to be able to somehow by the mystical key to salvation. That seemed so… well, exciting. I yearned for adventure all my life, like in all the fairytales my mother told me before bed, and finally I thought I had found my own. I thought it would be like a fable… silly me.

"This place is amazing," she whispered to herself as she journeyed throw the grand corridors of the castle, giddiness brushed across her face as she looked about at the ancient artwork that hung all about. It was a considerable upgrade from the humble hut she had shared for years and years with her brother and elder teacher. She was a miko, she was meant to be modest and only had meek needs but she couldn't help herself—she was a woman, she had always been bad about hiding that fact. Not that she flaunted it but to dull the desires that brought was always near impossible to her.

She wanted love, she wanted romance, she wanted to feel the magic of the moment and a speeding heart beat from have someone precious so close.

Of course, that was all a mere fantasy… until she ran into him, rather literally at that.

"Oh my," she gasped as she stepped away and covered her mouth to let her hazel gaze lock with a pair of sunlit orbs; lucky for her a handsome face framed those pretty eyes.

"Sorry," he muttered before brushing her off and walking away without another word.

Not the most romantic first encounter, I'll admit. Nothing memorable, surely something I'd forget. His grunt actually offended me, along with the annoyed look in his eyes like it was fully my fault for running into him. I had thought 'what a jerk!' as I carried on my journey throw the hallways. Of course, ridiculous me, I got myself lost. I think I'd always would, it's so very large… so very cold, too.

...•¤°•.•°¤•...

"Please sit," Wanatabe requested as she entered the dimly lit stonewalled room. Her stare shifted all about as she walked in to do just that in front of the table he was at. "I am sure you are curious at what exactly is going on. Let me explain further, if you wish to resign from the pick and reject the prospect we will understand. There will be no forcing any of you to do anything against your will, especially this."

"And," she paused as her hazels finally landed on the well aged man, "what exactly… is this?"

"You have noticed, I am certain, the strange things that have been happening in our world lately…?"

"Sir," she coaxed, "you'd have to be more specific, I'm afraid I'm not sure what you are speaking of."

"The rapid illnesses, the strange ailments no one has experienced before, the villages that… just disappear," he elaborated upon; he saw a sign of recognition in her eyes and the nod she gave him. "Yes, you see… we have a solution to that problem. We hope that one of you may be able to assist us with it."

"How so, sir? I would like to, if I could," she promised.

"This will sound odd," he began as he cupped his hands together to set them upon the desk as he leaned forward. "We need to create… a child, an ideal one that can do the task we need it to. All four of you have something unique that we believe would be a fine trait to pass on to the child. We have a pool of males trying to locate the perfect father."

Her eyes widened, her body tensed, and breathe hitched.

They had brought her there… to become a mother? To be impregnated? "O-oh?"

"Strange, I know," he smiled briefly, "but it would be vital. I cannot explain to you why unless you are the one chosen, I hope you understand."

She nodded with the best synthetic smile she could muster up.

"All we would be asking for is you to carry the child to term and give it life. I am sorry to say you wouldn't take part in its development."

That caused his brows to flex together, "is that so…?"

"I understand that might be difficult, it's only natural to have material instincts but it is for the best, besides you are a miko… I also comprehend that this would be going against your training, your choice of life, but it is for the greater good."

The greater good, he had said, he often said, everyone said. It was for the greater good, it all was. That's why it was okay. That's why it was an honor to be picked. That's why it was fine to make sacrifices. That's why…

"I see," she muttered as she nodded and let her gaze drop, "this all seems… very odd."

"It must, but if you are chosen it will be explained further to you and hopefully enough to your liking. All I am asking you now is if you would be willing to accept the task if you are the one within the pick that is the ideal mother."

"Why ask now, why not before?"

But I know why, it was to show me all I could have during the pregnancy. The grand castle, the amazing room, the pretty garden, the fine village, the servants and everything else to make a girl feel like royalty, it was a subtle—you know you want this, and can have it jab without a word. It was affective, too.

"Your brother was around, I didn't think you would have wanted him to hear," he had faultlessly lied with a charming smile.

And that was enough, it made sense and she nodded once again.

"So, tell me, Higurashi-san, do you accept?"

She took a breath in then turned her attention up to him, for a moment everything stilled before she nodded, "I accept."

"Good."

...•¤°•.•°¤•...

"Kobayashi-san?" Kagome called out as she skipped down the stairs to catch the attention of the woman with her things gathered, "are you leaving?"

"I am," she replied with a shrug, "did Wanatabe-san talk to you? Tell you what we were meant to do if chosen?"

"Yes," she nodded, "I am assuming you said no."

"I'm a taijiya," she stated, "I'm warrior, not a mother. I have no desire to be lame for a year to produce a child for a task I do not know of, beside, they have others that are willing to. I would have taken it more seriously if I were the only one in the world they could use; I doubt I would be as fitting. Though I am honored they think of me so highly as a taijiya. I am assuming you accepted?"

She shrugged as she let her fingers roam across the stone walls, "I did. I doubt they will pick me, though."

"Perhaps," Sango mused, "but perhaps they will, and if you are truly fine with what they are asking of you I have a great deal of respect for you."

"I'm miko," she reminded her, "I am not meant to know a man's touch so… intimately, and I will never get married and have a family…"

"So this would be your way," she guessed and watched the nod she received as an answer. "That is understandable; he did tell you how you would play no role in the child's life, though, didn't he?"

"Yes," but she simply shrugged again as her eyes met with the others, "but it is for the greater good."

"I have been assigned to take up post as a guard for whoever is chosen, though, so I am just moving to one of the homes outside the castle," she explained. "I will still be around, feel free to come visit. If you are chosen I have a feeling we will get to know each other very well."

"That'd be nice," she smiled.

"I will see you around then, Higurashi-san," Sango nodded before turning around and walking off.

Sango-chan, she had always known best. Unlike me, she was not naïve to the ways of the world. Unlike me, she was independent and strong. Unlike me, she didn't have her head up in the clouds. I learned to love Sango-chan like a sister; I think she was the best thing to happen to me throughout the whole ordeal. I just didn't know it until it was too late…


A/N: I'm trying a new writing style for this so hope you don't mind.