Author's Note: So…second chapter. I didn't get any reviews…but I didn't expect any really. I only gave it one day before I finished the second chapter. . But review please after you read this! This chapter will feature a flashback to some interaction between Kagome and Kikyou and it shows what kind of sisterly interaction they got going on. Anyway, most of this chapter is about Kagome and Kikyou anyway talking about their Birthday.

Chapter Two

"K-K-Kikyou?" said Kagome, her voice shaky, as she stood rooted to the spot in the middle of a pitch-dark hallway. Her hands were outstretched in front of her as she shut her eyes close, hoping to drive away the fact that she was stuck in a dark hallway. Tears threatened to spring from the five-year-old's eyes as she kept calling out for her sister.

"Kagome? Where are you?" asked Kikyou as she stood several yards away from her sister. There was a worried tone to her voice as she turned around and around, trying to figure out which direction her sister was.

"R-right h-here," said Kagome, hiccupping a few times as she felt the tears flow down her face. "I'm a-afraid Ki-Kikyou…wh-what if th-the B-b-boogeyman comes…?"

"Don't worry Kagome, he won't come. I'm right here," said Kikyou as she began to follow her sister's voice. Her steps were carefully placed but she walked in a quick pace and suddenly felt her arm brush against Kagome's fingers.

Kagome uttered a small cry as she felt something touch her fingertips and recoiled back in alarm. Kikyou immediately grabbed her sister's hands and pulled the shorter girl towards her into a safe embrace, whispering soothing words into the girl's ear.

"It's okay Kagome, Mother and Father will be here soon," said Kikyou as she held her sister as the two began to walk slowly down the hallway. She could feel her sister's silent shudders as she kept crying deep into her shoulder. "The dark is nothing. There is no such thing as the Boogeyman."

Kagome merely clung to her older sister tightly as she led her down the hallway. Suddenly she noticed a small glow at the end of the hallway and turned her head to get a better look. The light began to grow bigger and bigger as two shadowy figures emerged from the darkness.

"Kikyou! Kagome! We were so worried!" cried Isuzu as she ran over quickly, leaving Kenji and the safety of the light behind.

"Mama! I was so scared! All the lights went out when we were playing and we got separated!" said Kagome as she rushed over to her Mother and clung to her light green kimono. Kikyou calmly walked over and stood beside her Mother and looked up as her Father approached as well, a small smile graced his face as he looked down at his eldest daughter. "Kikyou was really brave though…" Kagome said in a barely audible voice as she turned her head to gaze at her sister in awe in the warm glow of the lantern Kenji held high above their heads.

"Kagome? You're still out here?" said Kikyou as she stood in front of the gate leading into the garden. She peered down at the sitting form of her sister and smiled and shook her head. Her long black locks shook with her head, tumbling over her dark purple silk kimono.

"You're not mad?" asked Kagome as she looked up and gazed into her sister's dark eyes.

It was amazing how similar the two girls looked, even though they really had no family relation at all. Kikyou opened the gate slowly and sunk down into a part of the garden that was covered in smooth, flat stones.

"No, not at all. You've been working very hard this week, you needed a break," said Kikyou as she smoothed out the folds of her kimono slowly. Her long, slender fingers running over the soft material as a small smile came over her lips.

"I have been," said Kagome as she nodded and grinned.

"But I don't think Kaede will be pleased when she sees the mud stains on your kimono," said Kikyou as she chuckled.

Kaede was a very old friend of Isuzu's. She was there for when Kikyou and Kagome were born, as was Sango's Mother of course. Kaede had taken care of the both of them ever since then and to this day she thought of them as her own grandchildren.

"Well I was sure she'd have gotten used to it by now," said Kagome as she tried to wipe some of the dirt off of her butt.

"But that doesn't mean she still doesn't get angry over it," said Kikyou as she smiled. "She'll still love you in the end…they all do…" Kikyou silently whispered the last three words to herself as she said this.

"So what have you been doing anyway? I know you were doing lessons for this long," said Kagome as she leaned in close to her sister, curiosity blazing within her eyes.

"Well if you must know I was helping Mother finish up the decorations for our party," said Kikyou. "The colors she wanted to use and the tablecloths and silverware and such. I knew you wouldn't have wanted to do it."

Kagome laughed as she clapped her hands together. "You know me so well!"

"I settled on light blue and purple," said Kikyou as she smiled.

"That's perfect! My favorite color and yours," said Kagome as she grinned.

"Mother agreed too," said Kikyou. "But we decided some things you should have a say in."

"Like what?" asked Kagome excitedly.

"Well the cake for one," said Kikyou as she chuckled. "What kind of food we'll be serving, the music, and the refreshments."

"The cake will be fun!" said Kagome as she nodded.

The two sisters sat in silence for a moment or two, watching as the sun finally disappeared behind the mountains and darkness blanketed the sky. Sparkling dots were splattered upon the black canvas and the half moon gazed down at them.

"We also finished double checking the guest list," said Kikyou.

"Let me guess…Kouga is coming," said Kagome with a sigh.

"Of course. Father wouldn't have it if the Lord of the Southern Lands wasn't there to celebrate his daughter's birthday," said Kikyou as she chuckled once more.

"Oh wait, is Lord InuTaisho and his family coming? That's what Sango says," said Kagome.

"Those are the only guests we're not sure about. Mother said to save settings for all of them just in case they do decide to come," said Kikyou. "Father is quite excited of just the thought of them coming…for obvious reasons."

"Reasons? What…reasons?" asked Kagome, quite oblivious to the facts.

Kikyou shook her head and couldn't help but let a small laugh escape her lips. "Well he wants to renew the alliance we have with Lord InuTaisho and because we're turning eighteen this year we're eligible for marriage. You know Lord InuTaisho has two sons."

"Are you kidding me? Marriage, already? We're just turning eighteen!" said Kagome in disbelief as she leaned back upon the fence once more.

"Well don't forget that Kagura married on her eighteenth birthday," said Kikyou.

"But Father wouldn't do that to us, would he?" asked Kagome suddenly.

"No, but I think he expects us to look for future husbands at our party," said Kikyou as she smiled. "and I think Kouga might be a match for you."

"What? No way!" said Kagome.

"He adores you Kagome, what else could you want?" asked Kikyou as she smiled.

"He's a bit creepy," said Kagome. "He calls me his woman. He's so rude and controlling!"

"Then…what about Bankotsu?" asked Kikyou. "Or any of his brothers."

"Ew, no! They're like family to me, you know that," said Kagome as she made a disgusted face. "Although I think Suikotsu might be good for you. He's really smart and knows a lot about herbs and medicine and stuff."

"Kagome? Kikyou? Where are you two? You're going to miss dinner!" came the voice of Isuzu as the two girls jumped hurriedly to their feet, while Kagome tried desperately to get the dirt stains out of her kimono. "There you are and Kagome, again? Isn't that the tenth time this month?"

"I'm sorry…I mean it'll come out though," said Kagome as she blushed.

"I know, but it's dinner and you don't exactly have time to change," said Isuzu as she laughed as her daughter began to become flustered.

"Don't worry Kagome, Father won't care," said Kikyou as she smiled as the three began making their way back inside the castle.

"Kagome…why do you have dirt on the bottom of your kimono…again?" asked Kenji slowly as a smile crept over his face as he watched his daughter try to shuffle towards her seat without turning around.

"It's not dirt! It's my new kimono…you know…the one with the big brown splotches on it…" she finished lamely as she sat herself down quickly.

"So then how is your garden?" asked Kenji as he waited for his food to arrive from the kitchens, which of course was in quite a mess because of Hojou, but they didn't know that.

"Great! I was thinking of planting more Morning Glories soon," said Kagome as she smiled.

"You might have put that off for awhile though because of the party," said Kenji as he stabbed his fork into the steak before him.

"Well yeah…I guess so," said Kagome as she looked down at her plate.

"You and Kikyou are turning eighteen, it's very important," said Kenji. "You're of age now."

"Not this again…" muttered Kagome under her breath as she stuffed a piece of broccoli into her mouth.

"There are a lot of men out there who would love to get the chance to marry my daughters. Like Kouga for instance, now he's quite the good man. A strong wolf demon and a strong leader," said Kenji.

"Why Kouga? What is it always Kouga?" asked Kagome, her mouth still half full of food.

"Don't talk with your mouth full dear," said Isuzu as she scolded her daughter and smiled and shook her head.

"Alright then, what about Sesshomaru and InuYasha? Now they would make good husbands, don't you think so Isuzu?" asked Kenji.

"Yes, lovely husbands. I've heard Sesshomaru takes after his Father in many ways," said Isuzu. "and Lord InuTaisho is a great man."

"He was quite polite when he was here last," said Kenji. "Wasn't he dear?"

"Such a darling he was, always quiet and doing as he was told. I do like InuYasha though, such a spunky young lad, he was always very curious. I think you'd get along with him Kagome," said Isuzu.

"They've been here before?" asked Kagome in confusion.

"When Mother was pregnant with us," said Kikyou, suddenly coming into the conversation. "Didn't you know?"

"No," said Kagome as she shook her head.

"Well they are lovely folk. Midori was such a wonderful woman, such a shame she passed away," said Isuzu as she shook her head.

"What about Rin?" asked Kagome.

"She wasn't born yet," said Isuzu.

"That doesn't make any sense then. She's younger than InuYasha and Sango said that she had a different Father," said Kagome.

"You shouldn't bring that up at the party," said Kenji.

"It's a bit complicated you see," said Isuzu. "Midori is a good woman, she really is but everyone makes mistakes. I'm not saying Rin is a mistake of course, I've heard she's a very sweet child, but Midori made the mistake of getting involved with another man and Rin was born. Lord InuTaisho is a very forgiving man so he took Midori back, but the poor woman died giving birth and everyone thought it would be better for Rin to go with her real Father. Although I heard that Lord InuTaisho wanted to keep her since she reminded him so much of his wife."

"But she was given back to him in the end anyway," said Kagome.

"Yes, of course," said Isuzu. "She's about…seven now?"

"She turned eight a few months ago Mother," said Kikyou.

"Oh yes, that's right! We sent those gifts," said Isuzu as she gave out a laugh.

Kagome made her way to her room as she shut the door silently behind her. A yawn escaped her lips as she let her kimono drop around her feet as she grasped her nightgown that was hanging off her bed. Draping it over her body she walked over to her balcony window and pushed it open and gazed out into the night sky.

"Six more days to go," whispered Kagome.

A small groan escaped her lips as she slumped over the edge of her balcony. Guests were supposed to start arriving in two days and she would have to be a good little host. She knew most of the time she would probably screw up one way or another and Kikyou would have to help her out. Why couldn't she be more like her sister? More calm, more graceful, more…princess-like?

"Stupid, childish me," she muttered as she walked over to her bed and slipped into the sheets. Kagome turned her head to look out the open window and gazed out into the darkness. After a few moments she felt herself getting quite drowsy she her eyelids closing shut.

"Kagome! Wake-up! We're here!" cried a male voice. "Get up sleepyhead!"

"I hear it's cake day today, do you think we could get a taster?" asked a second male voice.

Kagome groaned as she slipped back under the covers. She could feel two people jumped up and down on her bed, but currently she didn't care at all. She needed more sleep…who cared who they were. They could kidnap her for all she cared, as long as they let her sleep.

"I don't think this is the best way to wake her up," said a third male voice.

"Don't hurt her…" muttered a fourth male voice.

"We came all this way to see you! Get up!" cried the first male voice.

"Kouga and Kagome sitting in a tree…" muttered the second voice.

"FOR GOD'S SAKES, SHUT THE HELL UP!" screeched Kagome as she flung open her sheets and chucked her pillows randomly in front of her.

"Morning Sunshine," said the first and second male voices as they peered down at her.

"Go bug someone else Bankotsu, Jakotsu," groaned Kagome as she fell back onto her bed.

"Nope, gotta get to breakfast," said Bankotsu as he grasped Kagome by the arm and pulled her swiftly onto his back.

"I hate how you are whenever you're with Jakotsu, it's as if you're a completely different person," muttered Kagome as she clung onto the man's back. "I like you better when you're all serious."

"He's no fun then," said Jakotsu as he walked beside them.

"But Bankotsu gets twice as annoying when he's with you Jakotsu," said Suikotsu.

"It's true," said Renkotsu.

"Shut up," growled Bankotsu.

"So you got her up," said Isuzu as she smiled at the half-asleep form of her daughter upon Bankotsu's back.

"It was such hard work too," said Jakotsu. "We're really hungry now."

"Kagome, come on," said Bankotsu as he looked back at her.

"Just a few more minutes…please?" asked Kagome.

"You have a lot of work ahead of you," said Suikotsu. "You should eat now."

"A head start is always good," said Renkotsu.

"That's nice…" murmured Kagome.

"Kagome, get up," said Bankotsu in a rather firm voice.

"Alright, fine…" muttered Kagome as she slowly slid herself down Bankotsu's back and landed herself on the floor and yawned. She walked in a light daze toward her seat at the table and sat down, nearly missing the chair.

"It looks like she's drunk," said Jakotsu.

"Shut up," mumbled Kagome.

"Good Morning Lady Kikyou," said Suikotsu.

"Good Morning, I thought I heard yelling in the hallways," said Kikyou as she smiled.

"Hope we didn't wake you," said Renkotsu.

"If it was the racket, I'd like to apologize for Kagome's sake," said Jakotsu.

"You were screaming too," said Kagome.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," said Bankotsu.

"How come you're all nice to Kikyou and you pick on me," said Kagome as she made a face at Bankotsu.

"Because she's older," said Jakotsu.

"By a few minutes! Right Mother?" asked Kagome looking towards her Mother for reassurance.

"Yes, of course," said Isuzu, something like sadness flickered over her eyes, but no one seemed to notice it as the table (As in more like Kagome and Jakotsu) went on arguing. The woman looked down at the eggs on her plate and then up at Kagome wondering when it would be the right time to tell her. She was going to be eighteen soon and deserved to know who her real Mother was, it was the right thing to do. Wasn't it?