Chapter Six

Miho swooned at the sound of her name.

Her lungs inhaled the steam from the hot spring and her mind was sent into a whirl of hidden memories while her body flushed deeply with faintness. Visions of blood filled her mind until her reality went black. The last image she saw was of a small green imp standing upright and staring at her in shock as she lost consciousness and slipped beneath the hot water.

There were no structures to be seen; nothing in which to hold her up, but she was not falling or moving in any direction. She looked around for a sign of life, but she was the only one until she took a step forward.

The white light discolored before her, and for a moment, she saw a fleeting image of a small demon and another creature that resembled a two headed dragon walking at her as if through a misty cloud. 'Hello?' She asked quietly to gain their attention, but they ignored her. Feeling annoyed, she advanced forward another step and that did it.

The two creatures stopped and glanced in her direction, and both cocked their heads as if confused.

She knew them instantly. In the back of her mind, she could feel their names trying to break free from the prison that she had created for them but for some reason, she couldn't find the keys.

Is that you, Rin? The smaller demon, who was clearly an imp, asked her curiously.

She was stunned. That name…I know that name…Rin…is…me. But who is me? Who am I to them?

She sucked in a frightened bit of air and almost choked on her amazement. 'You know me? Who are you?' She asked him quietly.

The small imp gazed at her with wide, sad eyes, and then turned and walked away with the dragon demon in tow.

She almost ran for them. No! Come back! I am Rin! I am! She struck something hard. Her vision was momentarily filled with sparks and wondered if she had contacted a wall. She blinked rapidly and noticed that she was still surrounded by white light, but there was no wall before her. Instead, she saw a tall figure…then all went black.

…Warmth…so very warm…and yet I see nothing…I hear nothing…it is such a pleasant warmth…but the more I am still, the more uncomfortable it seems to get…Where are my lungs? Why can I not breathe? If I try to draw in air…AH! Where is the air? I cannot move! I cannot breathe! Water…?

Miho grabbed for her mouth, desperate to keep the heated substance from breaking through the barrier of her lips. The moment she had attempted to bring in a life saving lung full of much needed oxygen, she took in hot water. The heat chocked her airway with fire and her lungs protested angrily as she felt it catching in her throat. Coughing was impossible, she knew. One little cough meant one more lung full of water which could bring her that much closer to losing her sense of reality.

Still covering her mouth, Miho tried to open her eyes to survey her surroundings…but the heat seared her already sensitive orbs and she was forced to remain blind. Where am I? Why am I under water? Help? Help…the ground! Where is the ground? Hoping that she was not in a body of water that was bottomless, she uncurled her tense legs and stretched them downward. Her toes then dug into a pile of smooth pebbles and she dared to execute her improbable plan to stand up just to see if her head might break the surface.

To her delighted surprise, she did indeed find her escape and she welcomed a slightly cool breeze wash away the remaining heat from her saturated skin. Releasing her mouth, she forced what was left of the already expired air in her lungs out, then drew in a fresher dose and swooned as her brain attempted to readjust itself too quickly from the sudden choice of action. "Whoa!" Miho took her right hand and pressed it to her forehead, trying to keep herself from swaying from side to side.

"Miho, are you alright?" A feminine voice inquired quietly from a few feet away at her left.

That doesn't sound like a voice that would belong to a little green imp...Miho braved a second try at opening her eyes and succeeded. Although the cool breeze was a welcome relief to her brief ordeal, it did little to improve the damage that her eyes had already been exposed to. They stung. Ah! It feels as if there are shards of glass littered within my eye sockets and they are poking and prodding with every blink. Miho did her best to rub some relief into them with her fists and then opened them again to scan the surrounding area. Her eyes landed on Kasumi.

The older woman was standing by the water's edge holding a bath towel and looking concerned, while another female stood at her right side dressed in a white cotton kimono top with flaming red pants. This new arrival wore her hair up in a loose bun, and Miho could see that it was only being held up by a pair of wooden chop sticks. But none of that caught her attention more than the strangers deep brown eyes.

"…K…Kikyo…?" Miho let the name slip through her whispered breath and then bit her bottom lip in shock, unsure where the name had come from. And from the looks of it, the new guest was just as taken aback by the sound of it as her.

Kasumi gave Miho a look of annoyance, not caring that something had just occurred that would change to course of their lives forever. "Miho, are you alright?" She inquired again.

The young maiko's only response was a soft, yet audible, "Yes," and then she turned her back to keep the two women from seeing the disbelief in her already pained eyes.

Kasumi crossed her arms and huffed. "Well really, Miho! That is no way to act in front of a guest. Honestly!" She shook her head in embarrassment for Miho's disrespect and turned back to apologize for her to Kagome, but did a double take at the matching look of shock that had also painted the face of the new guest. "Are you alright, Kagome?"

Kagome heard her name, but was too frozen with disbelief to bother with a response. I have only just met this girl…How could she possibly know that name? It…it's…impossible! "Um…excuse me? Miho, is it?" She took a step closer to the hot spring and crouched down near the edge and looked on at the girl who refused to turn around despite her questions. "Where did you hear that name?"

Miho's only response was to splash the water around her as she scrubbed her skin with rice soap.

Kagome was positive that no one had mentioned that name since Kikyo's death several decades ago, nor had anyone mistaken her for the doomed priestess in nearly seventy years. Even Inuyasha had failed to mention the woman's name since her demise. It was absolutely impossible that anyone could know or even remember that Kikyo held the very soul that was now within Kagome unless they had been somehow connected with Naraku…and not one of her human friends from that time were still alive to tell about it except her. The only explanation she could come up with was that there had been a demon to pass through here that had been a part of Naraku's destructive reign and had told the story. Nothing else made sense in Kagome's mind…unless…

Kagome sucked in a sharp breath and dropped the contents of her arms and stepped into the water, not caring if she was still clothed or not. Something wasn't adding up in the situation, and she just had to find out if her new suspicion was true. "Miho? Please…turn around?" She reached a hand out as she got nearer to the evasive maiko and attempted to touch Miho's shoulder.

Kasumi stared on in disbelief. "What in the…?" She whispered to herself as she watched the priestess attempt to confront Miho. "Kagome, what are you doing?"

Kagome ignored her and wadded forward until her hand touched the scorching bare shoulder of the still turned Miho. "Miho…?"

Every fiber of her being jolted from the new contact from the foreign woman, and Miho jerked forward to break their connection. Still feeling the sting in her eyes, she took her hands again and rubbed them until she was sure that she would crush her eyeballs. "Kasumi, I'm done here! I need to hurry up and get ready before I'm late and Hisoka becomes upset." With that, she covered her chest with her arms, feeling slightly modest, ignored Kagome as best she could, and took off out of the hot spring with only a towel and her slippers.

Kasumi's jaw dropped. "I don't know what is going on with her this evening, Kagome, but rest assured that I shall find out."

Kagome simply stood, waist deep in hot water, fully clothed, and permanently shocked. The skin on my hand feels as if it is on fire…the moment I touched her, I felt instant pain and deep sadness. Who is she? I could sense trouble inside of her heart…but also loneliness…agony. I haven't felt any of those feelings since… "Kasumi…how did Miho come to find herself here?" She asked, still unmoving.

Kasumi was taken aback by the unprecedented inquiry, but answered despite her reluctance to reveal Miho's personal history without permission. "Well…to put it simply, my Lady…Miho is an orphan. She has been since she was eight years old. Her family had been killed during a hunt for dangerous demons." She took a deep breath and continued. "She has been with us ever since, training to become a geisha in order to support herself."

Every word, Kagome drank in with greed and soon to be understanding. "I…didn't think it was possible so soon…" Could it really be her? Could it really be Rin?

Author's Note: Sorry for the delays guys. I've been pretty sick for the past couple weeks and I haven't been getting much rest, but at least I'm trying to get these chapters up as soon as possible. Is anyone else having trouble logging on to their accounts every so often? It is driving me up the wall when I've finished a chapter and I can't upload it due to an inability to log in, and no matter how many times I email site administration, I get no reply about the issue.