Chapter Eight

Kagome ignored the urge to question Miho as she yanked hard on the silky fabric of one of the most beautiful kimonos that she had ever seen. Set on top of pearl white silk lay a several layers of color varying from deep sapphire blue to the lightest shade of lavender and detailed with white pond lilies. Miho's obi, which was what was currently occupying Kasumi and Kagome's time, was also white silk with a light splash of violet, lavender and fresh water blue, and neither female assistant could quite get a good hold of it to tie it properly. "Miho, stand still please so that I can finish!" Kasumi's voice snapped just above Kagome's head.

"I haven't moved one inch, Kasumi. Stop snapping at me." Miho sighed heavily upon hearing her 'sister's' unladylike growl in response. "Just tie it as best you can and let me be. Hisoka will be furious if I am late and it is your fault."

"It is not my fault that you cannot stop squirming!" With another good yank from Kagome, Kasumi secured the knot that was necessary to finish the job and they both stepped back to admire their handy work. "Now that is more like it!"

Miho breathed a welcomed sigh of relief to have survived the process of getting dressed for a good hour and turned to face the two disheveled females. Both of the women had a bright smile on their faces. "Perfect." Was all Kasumi whispered before she stepped to the side to reveal the hidden mirror.

The maiko was a little less than impressed but still admired the person glancing back from the reflective surface. Her face was spared of the heavy white faced makeup, which pleased her more than anything. Only a mature Geisha was allowed to wear it, but her lips were dusted with a light pink gloss that Kagome had provided from a curious little bag which the Miko had promptly named a purse. Even more curious was the magic black wand brush that somehow made her eye lashes longer, darker and made her dark brown eyes more visible. Kagome had even provided her with a light blue powder to color her eyelids and bring out the blue hues in her kimono. "I look like a princess from a fairy tale." Even her hair, which had been fashioned into a delicate bun with a few strands of dark hair hanging freely near her face, had been decorated with a rather snug fitting band close to the same color as the dust on her eyes.

Miho looked away from her own reflection and focused on Kagome's face, which was busy surveying her handy work with scrutiny. "What do you think, Kik…Kagome?" Miho's eyes widened in shock and her face reddened as Kagome's eyes stopped moving and followed with the same reaction.

Kagome didn't hesitate. "You almost called me Kikyo."

Miho screwed her eyes shut and bit her lip, tasting gloss and the oddly familiar flavor of several different berries.

Kasumi's voice interrupted the moment of silence. "Miho, who is Kikyo?"

It was a valid question…but she couldn't answer it. "I don't know!" No, it wasn't that she couldn't answer it…it was more like she honestly didn't know. The name just kept cropping up into her mind whenever she'd see Kagome's face and almost couldn't contain herself whenever she spoke to the priestess.

"Miho, please…do you know who Kikyo is?" This time it was Kagome, and the desperation in her voice made Miho open her eyes in wonder.

"I don't know. Really, I don't!" She knew from the look in her eye that Kagome was saddened by her response, but there was nothing she could do. She just simply didn't know why that name came to her mind.

Kasumi looked from priestess to Maiko and put her hands on her hips in frustration. "Will someone please explain to me what is going on here? I feel as if something is being hidden from me, and I do not appreciate it." She looked at Kagome as Miho refused to respond. "Kagome, do you know who this Kikyo person that she keeps speaking of is?"

For the first time in nearly seven decades, Kagome spoke of the woman that changed her own life forever. Sighing, the priestess looked away from Miho and stared Kasumi right in the eye and nodded. "Kikyo was the keeper of the Shikon Jewel."

Miho was stunned. In the blink of an eye, she was transported back to a dream that had seemed more like a passing memory.

The skin dissolved within the wind and left only bones before the kneeling woman. Suikotsu had finally perished.

Soft footsteps sounded and my own voice spoke within the silence. "Excuse me…Priestess?" The dark haired woman looked up from the remains of the man that had nearly killed me. Her eyes were dark and full of sadness, though I knew not why."Thank you so much for saving my life."

She gave me a kind smile and spoke softly. "You're welcome. I am glad you're not hurt. You must have been scared."

I nodded. "Mmmhmm. At times he was frightening…but other times…"I paused to look down at the remains of the armored man and that was when I heard the familiar sound of my Lord's footsteps and turned in time to catch him as he was moving away. "Huh?" Quickly, I turned back to the woman with the kind yet sad expression and bowed before her in thanks. "Goodbye!" I called before turning and running to catch up with my Lord.

Miho sucked in a sharp breath and her eyes widened as she came back to reality. She glanced around quickly but no one had seemed to notice her black out.

Kasumi had completely ignored Miho intake of breath and was busy looking at Kagome with a cocked eyebrow. "You mean that priestess that was murdered by her half demon lover?"

Kagome pursed her lips in annoyance. "You could say that." No one had made that assumption in a really long time and hearing it from a complete stranger made Kagome that much more irritated at their ignorance about the past. "Kikyo was murdered by a half demon, but he was not her lover." Kagome rolled her eyes and fixed them on Miho's face, which to her surprise, was looking back at her with complete fascination. "Kikyo was an incredibly powerful priestess who fell in love with a half demon after being given the responsibility of protecting the Shikon Jewel. The half demon wanted the jewel in order to become a full demon, but the priestess kept getting in his way. With every attempt, she would find some way to fend him off, but never really killing him like she had done to all the other creatures that fought to posses the jewels powers. After a while, the half demon got annoyed with her for not killing him whenever he tried to get to the jewel, so he confronted her. Kikyo found him just as annoying, but for some reason, she began to allow her heart to be taken by this half demon, and in turn, the half demon for her. Finally, one day she and the half demon talked about why he had wanted the stone in the first place and she convinced him to change into a full human for her instead. To her surprise, he agreed and they planned to meet in a clearing one day to do just that."

Kagome closed her eyes and sighed before she continued. "On that day, Kikyo was attacked…by another half demon disguised as the one she had fallen in love with. She received fatal wounds, but vowed to kill the man who had aimed to end her life to posses the Shikon Jewel. But in reality, the half demon who had given her his heart was in the same situation as she. The same half demon that had disguised himself to get the jewel had also disguised himself as the priestess to end his life. Both were betrayed by an unknown rival, and in the end they both suffered in the same fate. Kikyo died, and the half demon she had loved was cursed to spend eternity pinned by one of her arrows against a sacred tree, never to be released."

"What happened to the Shikon Jewel?" Kasumi was enthralled by the story so much that she had leaned in closer to Kagome to make sure she had heard every word.

Kagome continued. "The jewel was burned with Kikyo's body."

Kasumi scoffed. "No it wasn't! It reappeared fifty years later and caused a huge war amongst the demons and nearly ended life as we know it."

Miho knew most of everything she had heard. Everyone knew of the story of the powerful half demon Naraku and his thirst to become a full demon. It was all common knowledge, but something was missing from Kagome's version of the story. "The jewel was reincarnated right along with the soul of Kikyo…it was reincarnated in the body of Kagome."

Kasumi was in shock. Kagome, however, was calm as she looked into Miho's eyes and nodded. "You're right, Miho. For fifteen years, my body held the Shikon jewel without my knowing it. And then I was brought back into the past, where fifty years had gone by since Kikyo's death and I found the body of the half demon who had supposedly killed her. I freed him from the tree, and I shattered the Shikon Jewel into hundreds of shards...of course you know all the rest, I assume?"

Miho nodded slowly, feeling a sense of de ja vu. "You are the priestess that ended Naraku."

Kasumi piped in. "But what about Kikyo?"

Miho interrupted before Kagome could answer. "Kikyo was brought back from clay and graveyard soil, along with part of Kagome's soul. She was not alive, but not dead either. She fought to kill Naraku, but in the end he killed her…for the second time, giving Kagome the rest of her soul back and giving her the strength to do the job Kikyo did not have the power to do."

Kagome's jaw had dropped, but Miho ignored her. "Kagome is Kikyo's reincarnation…which is why they resemble each other."

Kasumi's confusion only grew. "None of this explains how you knew that Kagome and Kikyo resembled each other. How could you possibly know what Kikyo looked like?"

Both Kagome and Kasumi stared at Miho and waited for a reply.

Miho's face burned from the attention. How did she know? "Um…I…um…don't know exactly how…"

Silence followed her response and it felt like an eternity before Kagome finally spoke, and her voice was soft and shaky as if she were in the middle of a good cry. "…Rin?"

A sharp knock made them all jump nearly out of their skins and a voice followed close behind. "Miho, you are going to be late, child! Move it!" Hisoka's shrill voice sounded like nails on glass, making Miho cringe in unwelcome annoyance.

"C-coming!" Miho called before she turned swiftly on her sandaled feet. Refusing to meet either of the two older women's faces, she stepped forward and reached for the door. "Thank you for your help, Kagome." Was all she said before she disappeared out of the room, leaving an irritated Kasumi and a stunned Kagome behind.

Miho followed her 'mother' down the stairs and outside in absolute silence. Kagome's voice was still present in her mind with the soft yet audible whisper of a name that struck her with terror and beguilement. '…Rin?'

The two passed several buildings on their way to the main house, each one resembling the other with the same wood structures and small fences to keep stray animals out of various gardens. Stepping through several alleyways, Hisoka lead Miho out into a clearing where a medium sizes pond sat, illuminated by several torches surrounding the area. And there, sitting in the middle of the pond was the main house, surrounded by hordes of Cherry blossom trees that were barely dressed in the cool night air. Despite this, the scent of them had not faded and left a heavy perfume behind to permeate the atmosphere. It was giving Miho a sizable head ache.

Miho's 'mother' carved a path to the stepping stones with little effort and encouraged Miho to go first to ensure that her clothes stayed out of the water as she walked. "Move it, child, we haven't got all night. Your patron's await you."

"Yes ma'am." Miho muttered indignantly, feeling slightly resentful at her situation. She had never really wanted to be used at a toy, but at the moment that was exactly what she felt like. Some kind of play thing for all men's amusement. Father, if you could only see me now.

A hand touched her back and shoved her forward. "Honestly, you're moving like a slug!"

Eventually, Miho found herself at the front door and Hisoka pushed past her to open it, allowing the oil lamps from inside to bleed out and paint her face in orange light. "Gentlemen! I would like to present our newest coming of age Maiko, Rin Miho Sayuri!" Miho's new name was bellowed out like cannon fire and caused her to jump, startled.

Hisoka stepped aside inside the building to allow Miho to walk through the door. In so doing, Miho was welcomed by the scent of mint tea and freshly baked cakes…and the looks of three very familiar faces.

Miho's steps faltered as she first caught the sight a silver haired man's golden eyes. Her breath caught in her throat once the familiar stabbing sensation filled her abdomen and she had to freeze herself to keep from doubling over in shock. The man's eyes narrowed in confusion and concern, but he remained seated in the middle of the trio. For a moment, Miho thought she saw him sniff the air in her direction. He's a demon too…but this is not the one from the forest, though they resemble each other with their eyes and hair.

"Miho!" Hisoka snarled low behind her, knocking her out of her trance. "Show respect!"

"Oh!" Miho bent forward in a bow but kept her eyes focused on the silver haired demon. "It is an honor, my Lords."

The silver haired demon stood, along with his companions and bowed in response to hers. "The honor is all of ours, Miss Rin." The voice did not belong to the silver haired demon, who had chosen to remain silent. The owner of the voice was actually that of the elderly gentleman that was seated on the left side of him. "Please allow me to introduce ourselves. The gentleman at the far end is my dearest friend, Lord Shippou and to my right is my other dearest friend, Lord Inuyasha."

Miho held her bow, but broke her silence with a gentle voice. "And your name, my Lord?"

The elderly gentleman smiled kindly, but his violet eyes held a sense of mischief and wonder. "I, my Lady, am the monk Miroku."

Author's Note: I'll edit later after I've finished chapter nine, but I felt I've kept you all waiting long enough. Thank you all for being so persistent in the continuation of this fanfic. Enjoy!