𝗣𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗦𝗦; 𝗜𝗡𝗨𝗬𝗔𝗦𝗛𝗔

4

"Kikyo-sama! Another miko has arrived in he village and she wishes to see you," a female villager informed Kikyo as she made her way towards the miko. Kikyo stopped what she was doing and listened to what the female villager had to say. Another miko? This had peeked Kikyo's interest, she had only met a handful of miko's in her travels with Kaede. She wondered if she already knew this miko.

"Did she tell you her name?" Kikyo asked the female villager with curiosity. The female villager lips formed into a friendly smile, before she replied to the miko. Kikyo stood up from her previous sitting position on the wooden floor of the hut.

"The miko's name was Tsubaki, Kikyo-sama," the female villager replied and continued. "Is there anything you would like me to do for you?" She questioned, waiting for Kikyo to answer her. Kikyo thought for a moment, did she need the other women for anything? She didn't think so.

"Thank you for the offer but no," Kikyo said, the female villager nodded and left. "Tsubaki, huh," mused Kikyo. the name Tsubaki, seemed to bring a sense of déjà vu to her. If Kikyo's memory was correct then she would have to be cautious of the other miko.

Kikyo made her way out of the hut, only to be hugged by Kaede outside. Kaede gave her sister a smile as he greeted her. "Hello onee-sama! I heard that there was a new miko in the village and wanted to go with you to see her. I wonder what she'll be like?"

****

Kikyo and Kaede made there way into the hut that Tsubaki was currently staying in. Tsubaki was sitting in the seiza position, holding a cup of tea in her hand. "It is an honour to meet the miko of the shikon no tama and who is this with you?" Tsubaki's eyes tore away from Kikyo to Kaede, who gave a light smile to the other miko.

"Guarding the shikon no tama shouldn't be a big deal," comment Kikyo to Tsubaki. "And this is my imouto, Kaede," the two sisters took a seat, across from Tsubaki and poured a cup of tea for herself and Kaede

"It's very nice to meet you," greeted Kaede.

"But it isn't, Kikyo-san. Let me introduce myself, my name is Tsubaki. And I am also a wandering miko, like you Kikyo-san. I had heard of the rumours of you being at this village and so decided to see you for myself," explained Tsubaki. Kikyo's eyes slightly narrowed, anyone that came to see her often had a secret agenda in their minds, and from what she could tell, Tsubaki was no different.

"Tsubaki-san, what is your true purpose in coming to this village?" Asked Kikyo to the other miko. Kikyo wanted answers and she was going to get them. "Surely it wasn't just to see myself as flattering as that may be."

Tsubaki lips thinned, her eyes darkened for a moment before turning to her friendly act. "Recently there has been reports of a series of powerful yokai plaguing a village not to far from here," Tsubaki paused and then continued "I have come to ask for your assistance with taking care of them."

Kikyo could tell that the other miko was leaving out some details, leading her to be even more wary of the other miko. But Kikyo decided she would help her get rid of the yokai but her sister was definitely not coming with her, especially if Tsubaki had some other agenda aimed at her. "What a predicament," mused Kikyo.

"Will you work with me?" Questioned Tsubaki, bring Kikyo out of her inner thoughts.

"I will work with you Tsubaki-san," replied Kikyo. Kaede decided it was now time to break her silence, she was never one for staying silent.

"Onee-sama, may I come with you tomorrow?" Asked Kaede, the youngest miko in the room gave pleading eyes to her older sibling. "I promise that I won't get in your way."

"I'm sure that it would be okay if you came with use, Kaede-san," answered Tsubaki. Kikyo wanted to glare at Tsubaki but held it in. How dare Tsubaki make that decision for her!

"Imouto aren't you going to see the children in the orphanage tomorrow? I think that you should miss this trip," said Kikyo, slightly manipulating her sibling not to come with her. There was something wrong about Tsubaki and she didn't want Kaede to be in the middle of it.

"Oh I forgot about... I guess that I wont be coming," mused Kaede with a sad smile. Kikyo felt a pin in her heart for causing her sibling to be sad.

"That is a shame. Maybe you could come next time, Kaede-san," said Tsubaki to Kaede before turning to face Kikyo. "Kikyo-san we should we leave just after sunrise tomorrow. If we want to get to the village before midday." Kikyo nodded to the other miko. "Wonderful, I have already asked the villagers to stay the night, so if you need me I'll be here."

Kikyo and Kaede stood up, getting ready to return to their hut. "If that is all, we will be returning to our own hut to prepare. I look forward to working with you, Tsubaki-san," she said and left with Kaede. Tsubaki remained sitting and finished drinking her tea.

'The shikon no tama is so close to my grasp. Once Kikyo-san is gone, I will retrieve the shikon no tama from her dead body and will remain beautiful forever,' thought Tsubaki. She was very pleased with the plan that she had came up with to lure Kikyo. Tsubaki turned to look at the shikigami, who was a type of hebi and gave it a smirk. Yes, he plan would surely work.

****

'Tsubaki... Tsubaki, that name sounds oddly familiar," Kikyo couldn't put her finger on it, when she thought about Tsubaki all that she could come up with was a kuro miko*. Kikyo's eyes widened in realisation. That was it. Tsubaki was the priestess that curse Kikyo and Kagome in the future in hopes of gaining the shikon no tama.

'So Tsubaki-san intends to kill me,' mused Kikyo as she watched Kaede sleep. 'I not going to allow that to happen, not while I have someone to protect. Still I will need to prepare for tomorrow, no doubt that Tsubaki-san will probably have a plan in place." She turned to look outside, a smile placed on her lips as she watched the crescent moon in the night sky. 'It's similar to the one that Sesshomaru-san has on his forehead.'

Japanese terms

*Seiza is a japanese term for for the standard formal traditional way of sitting in Japan.

*Kuro Miko is a dark priestess.