A/N: AlrightY then! Sorry for the delay. I had stuff to deal with and blah blah blah excuses excuses. Anyway, down to the chase. Here's the next installment of my fic and prepare your self for some good old fashion Teenage angst. I mean, what KnM fic doesn't have at least some angst in it? Luckily there's not much after this but keep your tissue box handy. I almost cried while I was typing this but then again I've been emotional lately. Either way, just in case. So grab those hankies and Away we go!

In destiny's hand

(KnM)

Chapter 2

Himeko walked silently down the long winding path to Ototachibana Academy. The early morning sun shined pleasantly over the scenery and lit up the freshly dewed grass like diamonds on display, each glistening drop twinkled with their own personal rainbow. After last night's rain it was truly a sight to behold.

The birds seemed to share the same sentiments for they sang they praises to the morning sky and bathed playfully in the remaining puddles. The gentle breeze picked up the refreshing scent of wet pine and flowers as they reopened to release their pollen to the newly damp soil. It was a picture perfect morning that would make even Disney envious of it's beauty.

The normally happy girl inhaled the relaxing fragrant but was unable to take comfort from it. She couldn't find comfort in any of it.

Last night's events still buzzed around in her mind like angry hornets and destroyed any joy that threaten to lighten her mood. Though her visit with Makoto brought a smile to her face, it unfortunately didn't last.

Ignoring it wasn't an option. She tried at least a hundred times before but to no avail. It plagued her like a batch of grotesque weeds that no matter how many times she pulled them up, the roots kept breaking off in the soil to re-grow again.

Last night was supposed to be care-free and enjoyable; a time to forget her troubles and the world-pending burden that was thrusted upon them. At least, that's how Chikane voiced it.

Oh, her wonderful Chikane. She didn't know it at the time but ever since Himeko told her about Souma's date, she had been waiting breathlessly for any sign that Chikane didn't approve, didn't want her to go. That's all she really needed; an excuse. Just one good reason to go outside and tell Souma she couldn't go.

Sure it would break her heart to watch her childhood friend feel the cold stab of rejection but it broke her heart even more to watch Chikane prance around as they picked out clothes for her to wear, giving tips on where they should go. All while holding that perfect smile…and avoiding eye contact.

Looking back on it, Himeko could just smack herself right now for not putting two and two together. She should have thought more on it. Then again she could have never possible suspected such a thing. Not without knowing what she did now.

She remembered it, down to a T, the exact moment her life was turned inside out and everything became so clear, like she had been watching life though a foggy windshield, just now to find the switch for the wipers.

She felt so ….bleak…. hopeless.

It wasn't supposed to end that way. It just…wasn't.

The rain. It started with the rain. Himeko and Souma were walking down a vacant path, talking about nothing in particular. Then it began to rain and they were forced to find shelter. It started out harmless enough, just polite conversation, a little accident while she wrung out her clothes, and oh yes, the ever eventful Orochi attack. This seemed to be a reoccurring thing when she was with Souma.

As usual, push came to shove and soon they were fighting for their lives. Three against one wasn't very fair but then again, she might have been more worried if the battle lasted longer then ten minutes. Souma must have been training a lot lately. He was defeating those goons faster and faster each time. Not to mention destroying more and more each time, but hey, all battles had their collateral damages, right?

Soon the clouds dispersed and their view of the sunset was breath-taking. The battle was over and won, Himeko wasn't sure how she would ever repay him. Before she knew it, he was leaning in to give her a kiss. She wasn't sure what to think of it but he was so nice to her all the time, and it would be a shame if she couldn't give him something in return. It seemed harmless enough.

Closing her eyes, she waited and felt the soft pressure to press against her lips. And then it hit her. Hit her like a bolt of searing hot lightening that ripped through her body and battered it's way into her mind! The center of her chest throbbed and began to burn as if something was trying to jump out of her skin, her pulsing heart. She didn't even have enough time to gasp as the air caught in her lungs and forced her into silence.

Her head pounded as image after image ravaged their way into her conscious. There were so many of them, cluttering in her mind, each bring in a sense of familiarity and déjà vu but leaving before she could grasp what it was.

The voices! Oh my god, the voices, several of them, each one different but so similar at the same time. They cried to her, outraged at her, screaming betrayal! Betrayal of the only one she had ever truly loved, all in one innocently ignorant act.

She didn't understand. It was suffocating her. What was going on?

Then it came to her; exactly what she asked for, the images, the memories. She could see it so clearly, as if it was just yesterday. She could feel the gentle tug of the breeze against her robes, the innocent scent of meadow flowers, the sound of their care-free laughter as it echoed through the shine. Yes, there they were. Chikane and herself and yet…they weren't. They were someone else, in a different time.

They were the Solar and Lunar priestesses. They knew of nothing else, it was who they were. They were raised together, lived with each other, loved each other. Wars spread and battles were fought but they stayed together, fought side by side until that fateful day. Duty was their master and they were the only ones to answer it's merciless call. With mournful good-byes, it was ended with cold remorseless steel as it purged it's way through her body. Himeko felt it, as if it was happening right then and there. The gut wrenching sharpens as it tore through flesh and blood, the heated pooling as her life drained away and left her numb; unfeeling of the arms that wrapped around her. That one last fading image that would surely haunt her; the Lunar priestess, Chikane, cradling her, speaking softly, her lips moving but she couldn't make out the words. Her eyes, those beautiful blue eyes, filled with tears as devastation and love battled for supremacy. And then finally, that last kiss as it was lost forever on her lips as her breath ceased.

The knowledge shocked her to the very core. She could feel it now. It hummed through her like a living thing; a surging comfort. There was no mistaking it. As if a veil had been lifted, she knew without a doubt that she was in love with Chikane. Always has been and probably always will be. Himeko wondered how she could have ever thought it was anything else. And even worse, she was going to be the one that killed her, as she had many times before.

It brought a whole new wave of agony that ripped through every sense of her being for what felt like an eternity but in reality, this didn't last longer than a few seconds.

Souma didn't even noticed until a strange light ignited between them and he pulled away from her stiffen form.

"Himeko? Did you see that?"

Whatever force that held her in such torment released her then. Air rushed out of her lungs as hot tears streamed down her face.

"Himeko? Are you alright? Oh god, I'm so sorry. I should have asked for permission or waited and-"

"Souma." Her voice didn't sound like her own. She hardly recognized it. It sounded so …empty, lost. "I think…we just made a mistake."

He didn't understand but he dare not ask. Himeko looked like a simple breeze would shatter her to bits at any given moment.

Her lips quivered as she spoke. "I need to get out of here. I need to think."

He nodded but didn't really understand what was going on. He began to follow her back to the mansion but Himeko stopped him.

"I need to think alone Souma, please." Her hands shook as she pushed him away.

She didn't even wait for his answer as she turned and stormed away. Thankfully, he did as she asked and let her be.

It was quite a ways back to the mansion but she didn't care. Even as it began to rain again and her clothes clung to her soaked frame, she couldn't bring herself to care about anything.

Her body felt so numb, her brain fought to catch up. It didn't make sense, this couldn't be real. A lie! It had to be!

Chikane would never, EVER do such a thing. Not in a million years. She was her friend, her comrade, her closest consort, her…her lover?

Her thoughts screeched to a halt! No, she couldn't think about that right now. She wouldn't make it through the night if she did.

Her troubled mind seemed to reflect the weather as it poured down, a relentless chaotic dance that drenched every surface. She approached the gate that coveted the winding road that led to the Himemiya's estate. Once a beckoning light of comfort and hope, now a reminder of a reality she couldn't face. Not yet anyway.

Taking a shape turn, She fled straight into the dense forest that guarded the estate. She rushed through the relentless trees, attempting to out run her agonizing thoughts, branches scrapping limbs as she dashed by. She didn't feel them. She couldn't feel anything over her burning lungs as they wheezed for air.

An overturned log stopped her reckless retreat. Her body crashed into the ground with enough force to knock out the little remaining air she had left in her lung.

Breathless and grief-stricken, Himeko curled up among the leaves and cried.

She cried for solace. Cried for Chikane. Cried for all the forgotten memories and tragic endings. Cried for all pain the Orochi ever caused them, in this life and the ones before and surely the ones that would follow. But most of all, she cried for the love that was given to them only to be ripped away and shattered into piece before their eyes.

She cried until her tears ran dry and her emotional storm cease, leaving her in an abyss of emptiness. Hallowed out, she stumbled to gain her footing and rested against a tree as the tumbling rain-washed away the mud that clung desperately to her dress.

After sometime, Himeko wasn't sure when, she had found the drive to make her way back through the forest. Her limbs seemed to taken on a life of their own. Leading themselves through the forest without much thought.

The Himemiya's homestead was warm and welcoming. If Himeko was in a more receptive state, she might have taken comfort in it from the rain. The maids' greetings fell on deaf ears as she made her way numbly through the house.

On some level, Himeko was aware of Chikane's presence and concern when the drenched blonde walked by without so much as a single word, almost as if she didn't even acknowledge the lunar priestess's existent.

In the confines of her room, Himeko flopped lifelessly onto her bed, staring unfocused at the ceiling. Even in her emotionless state, her heart jumped as Chikane gently knocked on the door, speaking softly.

"Miss Kurusugawa? Are you alright?"

Himeko didn't answer.

"….Miss Kurusugawa? Can I come in?"

" Go away."

There was a pause before she heard shuffling outside, Chikane had pressed herself closer against the door, but made no move to open it.

"Himeko?"

"Just leave me alone. I just want to sleep. I'll talk to you in the morning."

Chikane's silence pulled at her heart.

"…if that's what you wish."

And with that,she left, if possible making Himeko feel even more empty.

Whether they would actually talk in the morning or not, she didn't know. All she knew was that she couldn't handle this right now. She didn't want to deal with it. She never wanted to deal with it. She'd rather go back to not knowing anything at all!

Himeko paused...No. No she didn't. She couldn't lie to herself like that. She wanted to know this. She would never want to go back to not knowing how she felt or how the lunar priestess felt about her. At one time at least. Those memories were dear to her and just as precious as the ones she shared with Chikane now.

They loved…had loved each other so dearly. Just remembering such a feeling …was enough for her….for now anyway. What she would do when it wasn't, she didn't know.

Himeko didn't sleep at all that night. Not for the lack of trying. Every time she closed her eyes the sight of her last moments with Chikane 's past life flashed before her. She won't be asleep for more then a few minutes before she jerked awake, clutching the invisible wound she swore was there. She shuttered at the fading reminiscent of steel soldering flesh only to find nothing was there. It was just a dream.

In the early hours of the morning, before the sun ever rose, Himeko gave up on any attempts of sleep.

Wanting to get away from anything and everything that even resembled her destiny as a Priestess of any kind, she went to see the only person she knew that had nothing to do with it. Her dear injured friend Makoto.

And so, leading her to where she is now.

Near the gate she found Chikane, waiting. Most likely for her but Himeko wouldn't allow herself to admit it, though it was clearly obvious. The solar priestess was surprised though. With the Himemiya's limo nowhere in sight, the young heiress must have been standing out there for a while, shockingly without any members of her fan club swarming her. Himeko couldn't help but wondered how she ever accomplished that. Seeing her arrival, the heiress went to approach her but stop, leaving several feet between them.

Unlike herself, Chikane looked as she always did. Proper, well groomed, her face pleasant but unreadable; though this time her chin was held slightly higher.

To everyone else she may appear normal but to Himeko, she looked like a woman who tried ever so patiently to wait for her punishment with dignity.

She flinched at the thought. Punishment? Was that was this was? She supposed through Chikane's point of view it would seem like it.

Himeko inwardly shook her head. She didn't deserve that. For all she knew, Chikane didn't remember a thing that happened before this life and she sure as hell wasn't going to bring it up. Just in case. Even if she did remember, the solar priestess just didn't have the heart to do something like that. Chikane was just…just a friend, who cared and tried her best to see her happy….like friends do.

The very thought made her heart ache. A longing older than herself rooted itself there but she refused to act on it. God knows what Chikane would think if she did. Especially with no memory of their past lives...of all the things they've done, she's done. Even in the end of it all. What a dark thought.

It wasn't the lunar priestess's fault anyway. It needed to be done and they were just the unfortunate few that were helpless to fight fate's course. What's done was done and there was nothing they could do to stop it.

Yes, it was fate who had did this to them. If not, then the Orochi was surely the one to blame but not Chikane. No, never her.

It was then that she knew what she needed to do. She needed to make things right, to make them okay again. Even if Chikane was unaware of the real problem in the first place.

With her determination renewed, Himeko let a small smile form on her lips as she bowed, deeper than usual, and the clutching around her heart lighten a bit as she said. "Good morning Ms. Himemiya"

Chikane's perfect composure shattered as her face took a form of confusion yet her eyes sparkled with overflowing joy before slipping back under her pleasant unreadable mask.

This took only a matter of seconds, in which time no one would have notice the change was even there. No one but Himeko of course.

With a small smile of her own, the heiress bowed; a slight incline of the head, insuring eye contact between the two wasn't broken.

"Good day Ms. Kurusugawa."

A/N:Okay maybe I over exaggerated. Anyway, I actually watch the episode 7 again and realized Himeko and Souma weren't actually walking around. They were riding his mo-ped bike thing, whatever it was. Not that it matters. I hate that episode. Himeko is such a flippin' moron. That's going to change by the way. After this chapter she's going to go through something and is somehow going to make her less annoying. I can't tell you exactly what yet but if you're reading this expecting Himeko to be a sweet little idiot like she is in the series, you might as well drop this story now. I'm not going to make her totally OOC but seriously...what use is she like that? Can someone just warn me if I'm making her a little too extreme?