Hello! This chapter is kinda short... But that's because, hey, cut me some slack, it's a school day.

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Rin ran outside. The amulet bounced uncomfortably against her skin. Kagome was waiting beneath the Sakura tree, like she had been earlier, in the exact same position. Her heart sank. Her friend was looking so... Lonely. Rin waved and Kagome's wistful disposition vanished.

"Hi! Rin!" The fake-ness of the cheer in her voice made Rin's smile waver. Kagome scooted over, a gesture that told Rin to sit down, which she gladly did. "You talked to Lady Kaede?"

Rin tried not to wince as she fingered the pendant.

It was still ice-cold, emanating that strong force that branded her fingers when she came in contact, yet Rin was sure she shivered for a very different reason. "Yeah."

Kagome's smile slid off her face and was replaced by a look of... Was it remorse? Rin nibbled on her bottom lip- what was wrong? Maybe she had a run-in with Inuyasha... She stared into her friend's eyes. No. This strange expression was definitely not remorse.

Then she spoke. Rin had to strain her ears to hear the words that she did not want to hear. "You're a priestess now."

"Wh-How did you know?" Rin jumped back in pain, she had bitten down on her lip, and then sat back down, feeling violated as though somebody had intruded on her peaceful life. Get a grip. That's silly. Kagome's your best friend.

"Oh, Kaede spoke to me earlier." Kagome's voice was once again fakely excited. It made Rin want to puke."Let's go get you into priestess wear!"

Rin stared. No way. She liked her plain white haori's- plus wasn't there more to do than just choose out clothing like all of the other shallow girls? Rin had been looking forward to killing more demons and practicing with her bow and arrow until she rivaled the previous priestess, Kagome.

She locked eyes with the fuming (resigned) priestess and sighed.

Rin gave in. It was hard not to. She let Kagome's cheer wash over her and allowed herself to be dragged, like a rag-doll to Kagome's vast closet for "outfit-picking."

"There! You look just like I did!" Kagome spun Rin around, awarded with a soft giggle from the newly-acquainted priestess. Rin blushed and fiddled with the sleeves.

"Thank you, Lady Kagome."

"No problem, Lady Rin." Kagome chuckled and Rin blushed deeper.

"Oh! Stop it!" She playfully slapped at Kagome who ducked and tossed Rin her bow and arrows.

"Go test out your new powers, Rin!"

"Are you coming?" Rin called, while busily strapping on her arrows and her dagger. She tucked her sword into her sash. It hung comfortably.

"Oh... I can't. But you go ahead and check out those new upgrades!" Kagome winked and waved.

Rin pushed aside the curtain and winced at the bright sunlight. Ah. She blinked and hurried down to the forest, trying to avoid any prying eyes. She was tempted to go over to Kohaku, who was helping men cut lumber with his weapon, but wisely thought against it, for he would have a heart attack if she told him. He caught Rin looking and grinned.

Kohaku waved. "Rin! Where are you going?"

"Oh..." Think fast! Think fast! "Back to the village."

IDIOT! She mentally slapped herself. What kind of excuse was that! Damn!

"Er... Actually, I was going to go take a bath." Aha! "I guess I'll be going!"

Kohaku didn't even bother questioning any further. He wasn't like Miroku and wanted to stay like that. Flushing, he turned back to the smirking men. "Aww! Shuddap!" He tossed his weapon down at the feet of the village men and stalked away. They chuckled.

Rin ran hard, legs strumming against the ground in an even beat. She was breathing hard, but barely noticed, her stomach was churning with excitement.

Suddenly, she felt a sour feeling of remorse. Where the hell did that come from? Rin stopped suddenly, clutching her abdomen, the source of the empty feeling that was eating away at her, and frowned. She gripped her bow, afraid that it would disappear into thin air and leave her waking from a dream. Damn it!

What is this...

Rin felt guilty. Guilty? Of what?

Nothing! No-THING!

She stood up, shaking herself of her fears and reassuring herself that it was her fate. She wasn't doing anything wrong. Afterall, Kaede was sick and could barely ingest food so Rin had no choice; how could she turn back?

Rin didn't like the idea of somebody else pulling the strings behind her life. Even if it was her "fate". How did Kaede even know?

Now, idiot. She forced herself to stop doubting Kaede. Kaede was strong and brave, there was no way that she would put her adopted child into unneccesary danger. Unneccesary danger. Does this mean she'll put me in neccesary danger?

Of course she will, moron. Now stop thinking.

She climbed over the wooden fence. Her pant got caught on the post. Dammit.

Rin yanked and pulled, cursing as her pants came loose from the snag. She fell down, arrows pressing against her neck in choking pressure. Dammit. Again.

A girl was watching her wild-eyed.

Wow. Way to start off your day. She mentally chided. Before long, even the villagers won't have respect for you anymore.

She stood, brushing leaves off her newly acquired pant. Kagome would be upset if her only pair were ripped.

Rin pushed out her chest, pretending that fall had never happened, and marched off into the forest.

You can do it, Rin! Let's go get 'em!

She broke into a run, feeling the wind against her face, leaves tangled in her hair, ground soft against her feet... Rocks hard against her face.

Her foot was stuck in a tree root.

Dammit!

YAY! DONE!