((A/N: The first omake to say thank you for a year of The Higher We Climb! Thank you all so, so much! It's been so much fun writing the story so far, and I intend to keep on writing the story for as long as I can - or, I mean, until it's finished. I'm pretty sure I'm not gonna be writing this story until the day I die, but...

You get what I mean.

The first omake of the day!

Some Keiko and Kamiko time. This happens before THWC. Keep in mind - Rae and Keiko are not the same people. They have different personalities, ideas, thoughts, and memories, so if Keiko is acting differently than Rae, it's because she's not Rae. Keep it in mind, that's all.

Enjoy this chapter!))

A slender hand reached up to cover a grinning mouth, holding down the snickers that threatened to spill from the woman's mouth.

A head of messy white hair perked up at the noise. Turning her head in every direction, searching around wildly for the source of the noise, the younger girl held a sour pout on her features, even if she was rather entertained.

"Imouto," a quiet, feminine voice whispered. The little girl turns her head quickly to the side, eyes wide in an attempt to find her elder sister. However, instead of finding her sister hidden away behind the doorway she was sure her voice came from, however, she found nothing. Pulling back from where she had jumped into dramatically in the hopes of catching the older woman off guard, she crosses her arms and lets her mouth twist to the side as she looks around, thinking heavily.

Where could she be?

"Imouto," a voice whispered right by the little girl's ear. The girl let out a high pitched scream, jumping away from the spot the all too familiar voice came from. However, before she could turn around to yell at her older sister, two slender yet strong arms wrapped themselves around her waist.

Within moments, she was being tossed into the air.

"I found you, Keiko-chan!"

The little girl, Keiko, grinned at the voice. Her screams turned into laughter as she's tossed into the air and caught again.

"Kami! Let me gooo!"

The older girl let a soft smile color her features, staring at the back of the head of messy white, untamable hair as she tosses the girl into the air one more time. Then, she pursed her lips together and held the smaller girl to her chest, humming as if she was really thinking about the answer.

"How many times have I told you not to call me that, imouto? I'm not a Kami."

Keiko smiles innocently, blinking her wide, blue eyes up at her elder sister.

"What are you talking about, Kami-nee? I'm just shortening your name, is all!"

She rewards the younger girl's innocent look with a dry, deadpan look of her own.

Keiko giggles to herself.

"But Kami-nee, you're so cool! Just like a real Kami! Maybe I should call you Kami-sama..." Keiko adds the last part under her breath, but the elder girl heard it loud and clear and began to, in punishment, turning around in a circle quickly while still holding onto her dear younger sister.

"Aah! Kami-nee, no!" She protests, despite the giggles flying from her lips every few seconds. "No, no! I'm dizzy! I'm gonna throw up if you don't stop!"

White, smooth hair, much different than the wild mane in the older girl's arms, shake back and forth in denial.

"No, too bad imouto. You were being sarcastic again, this is your punishment!"

A squawk of protest.

"I'm four! I don't do sarcasm! I do humor. Something you clearly don't have, Kami-nee!"

She starts spinning quicker.

"Kamiko-chan, what is going on in here?" A sudden voice speaks up from the doorway of the house. The happy, careless grin on the older girl's face suddenly drops without warning, and her feet still in her spot. The sudden stop causes the younger girl to blanch - she really was getting dizzy now, and the sudden stop wasn't helping her situation. Looking up at her elder sister, Keiko was saddened to see that her dearest sister's fun, loving smile had smoothed out into an emotionless, blank mask of indifference.

Oh. It looks like Otou-san is home.

Truthfully, Keiko has never really known why her nee-chan doesn't get along with otou-san. Sure, sometimes Otou-san had to be a little meaner than usual because of Clan stresses, but he was always so kind to her, so why did nee-chan not like him?

Kamiko releases her sister gently onto the ground and turns on her heel to look towards their father - her back straight and arms at her sides, she looked like the very definition of a good soldier.

Keiko thinks it doesn't suit her happy, carefree sister. She wants the happy times to come back. She loved her otou-san, but if him being here meant her nee-chan was no longer happy, then maybe he should go away for a little while longer. Just five more minutes, please.

Turning towards the closing front door, Keiko watches as her otou-san and okaa-chan both enter the house, taking off their shoes and shrugging off jackets - at least okaa-chan shrugged on her jacket, but she took otou-san's for him.

"Okaeri, Otou-sama, Okaa-sama," came Kamiko's robotic reply.

Emiko smiled softly and nodded her head. "Hello, Kamiko-chan." Ice blue eyes turn down to Kamiko's side, and, ignoring Kamiko's response of shuffling a bit to the side to step slightly in front of her younger sister, Emiko smiled down at her as well. "And hello to you, too, little Keiko-chan!"

Keiko grinned, the dizziness mostly gone by now, and runs over to her mother with arms outstretched.

"Okaa-chan!"

Emiko bends down and catches the little four year old girl in her arms easily, picking her up and hugging her close to her chest.

"Did you miss me, sweetheart? Your father and I sure missed you!"

Keiko grins an excited, childlike smile and turns to greet her father as well. He sends her a simple, small smile, but moves further into the house without responding. Watching him leave from the corner of her eye, she sees him place a hand on Kamiko's shoulder and say something to her under his breath. Kamiko's face gives nothing away as to what she's feeling or what she's hearing from her father, and after a moment of silence, she nods to him.

"Imouto," Kamiko calls out. Keiko immediately holds out her hands to be grabbed from her mother's arms, something which Kamiko does so happily. Now safely tucked away into her elder sister's arms, Keiko sends a bright grin up to her sister, which is returned with a smaller, dimmer smile.

"Imouto, I have to go now, alright? Yondaime-sama has a mission for me."

Keiko's grin slips off her face, leaving a childish pout in its' wake. Her small hands grip the front of her elder sister's mission gear - she had just come back from a mission, couldn't she stay for a while? Just a few hours, at the very least? What was so important that her sister had to be ripped away from her the moment she finally got her back? Keiko tried to convey these thoughts by tugging on the front of her sister's grey chest plate, then slapping one small, chubby hand down onto her shoulder, right where Keiko knew the red tattoos were.

"No! Kami-nee, you promised to spend time with me!"

Kamiko's smile turned a bit sour, and Keiko did not miss the discreet look she sent to their mother who was making her way past the two of them. Her mother placed a delicate hand on Kamiko's shoulder and smiled at her.

"Stay safe, dear."

And then she walks off without waiting for a response.

"I know I promised to stay with you, imouto, but Yondaime-sama really needs me back. I'm the only one he can trust with this mission, okay?"

Keiko lets a sour frown take home on her face, and Kamiko lets out a quiet laugh.

"That's the price to pay for being the best, hmm imouto?"

With only the slightest bit of hesitation, Keiko nods along with her sister's words.

"Okay. I love you, Kami-nee."

A warm, soft smile is what she gets in return.

"And I love you, imouto."

((A/N: Ta-da! Kamiko is about 15 in this omake, since she's eleven years older than Keiko. Two years away from her death. Happy thoughts, right?

Enjoy the first omake of several to come! This was one of the requested ones.

See you next time! Leave reviews, reviews are love!))