Gifted

It wasn't visible at the first glance, but they all were so gifted. Kagome many times approached them about their gifts, but they were rather reluctant to admit that their skills were something special. She as trying to come up with an idea how to show her friends how gifted they were. She told that about that desire to Kaede while sitting with her and fletching arrows and the old priestess was quietly pondering this matter with her. The young miko thought about the instants when she just had told them how amazed she was with their artistic skills.

"Gifted?" Miroku had asked, his hand steadily leading a brush across a slip of paper as he wrote a flawless calligraphy, copying a sutra. "Next time we visit my master I can show you some of the scrolls he wrote, they're much better that what I do."

"Who, me?" at some other time Sango had chuckled, had shook her head and had looked back at the intricate kumihimo she had been weaving. "It's just a cord to hold my gear on me, since the last one got torn."

"All kitsune can draw," Shippou at some different time had enlightened the future-born miko, not even looking from where he had been coloring his picture. "It's because we are very observant. We have to be if we want our transformations to look real."

"Keh, there's nothing artistic about trying not to die from boredom when you're late," Inuyasha had grumbled when she had sneaked up on him carving idly a tanuki from a piece of wood. "I'm just sharpening my claws stupid."

Kagome guessed her friends couldn't see how special their skills were. They treated them as mundane things that had to be done or pastimes. They were right, but there was something more to this, there was a certain degree of finesse in their works, elegance and simplicity, joining beauty and practicality. She wanted them to realize that they were way above average with what they were doing, even if there were others doing those things too.

"You are getting pretty good with fletching arrows, child," Kaede commented as Kagome worked, thinking about her friends.

"Huh? Thanks, I'm just trying not to mess them up too much," the young miko smiled at her teacher, not noticing the hanyou seated on a tree limb over her head rolling his eyes.

AN: Do you know Fruits Basket rice balls a plums scene? I tried to go for the same vibe, but aargh, it went so bad...