When the princess was born, on the first day of the fall rains, no one rejoiced. There were no trumpets or celebratory games, only the dull silence of hopelessness. This birth would be of no help in the coming war. She could not be a warrior that would fight for the lands, and the kingdom was not prosperous enough to offer her as a marriage match. And besides, she could not compete with the existing princess, Kikyo.
No, they could not afford another daughter.
So they named her Kagome, the bird at the eve of the dawn, and they forgot her. She was never mistreated, never was in want of anything a royal offspring should have, but she was never seen. And gradually, she became myth.
The only one who never let herself forget was her older sister. Kikyo never allowed herself to ignore the possibility Kagome presented as her usurper.