Disclaimer: I do not own or claim to own Kannazuki no Miko. Kannazuki no Miko is copyrighted to Kaishaku and Geneon studios.

(A/N: Sigh. I am not going to lie to you people. Kannazuki no Miko is not a favored anime of mine. In fact, if I were to rate it, it'd be pretty low. I'm sorry but there's something wrong when an anime makes giant robot fights boring and pointless. But I am a Yuri nut, so I should write some more. I do confess to liking the couple: in the beginning they fell into horrid stereotypes but managed to overcome them. I admit it's a good Yuri. Maybe even a good anime. But to call it a masterpiece? To call it a work of art? That's kind of insulting. Kind of insulting to Princess Mononoke, Spiritied Away, Akira, Journey to the West and other works of art. But that's besides the point. In a way, Kannazuki no Miko brings a lot of oppurtunity to the table because practically every fanfic is an Alternate Universe fic. This challenges me to create a setting, characterization, plot and bring more to the work. So now I put this humble fic into your hands, loyal reader and pray it is quality.)

Mahoroba at War, as Always

Himeko Kurusugawa wished for her 16th birthday that she would never grow up. Because when she grew up, she would have to talk about war as all adults did, and she hated war. The Elders talked about the old war, how the Himemiyas gained their own kingdom. The scholars and parents talked about the present war, how the want for independence versus order was a hot topic in all of the brothel's. She just wanted this war to stop.

She sighed knowing this wish was impossible, but who knows. Maybe it would come true. She stretched and arose from her feathered bed and looked in the mirror, brushing her long straw-colored hair reaching down to her waist, putting on her maiden's dress of white head scarf and dusting off the dirt of her apron. She gazed into her own purple eyes and sighed. Tomorrow was going to be her birthday, and she needed to look her best.

Storming down the wooden stairs, she paid her respects to her parents, now passed, and opened the door, the sunlight blinding her for a few moments. She closed the door and followed the cobblestone road passing the horse drawn carriages and citizens, dressed in the same rags as she was. Himeko looked around her Kingdom of Mahoroba, always appreciating its beauty. The surrounding forests highlighted the stone houses of with chimneys burning, the children running around playing Prince and Princess and the occasional preacher standing on a crate, proclaiming ill-omen to the city. If only the city would stand still, so I could draw its picture exactly as it is, she thought.

"Oi, Himeko!" A distant female voice called out. Himeko smiled seeing a full set of musty brown-hair with emerald eyes looking at her, in the same uniform she was wearing.

"Mako-chan!" Himeko cried as she caught her friend rushing into her arms. Makota Saotome, Himeko's childhood friend, measured the exact same height as her but possessed more energy than the common child. "It's really good to see you again; I thought I would miss you when I had to go to the Blacksmith's."

"You know me!" She smiled grinning and rubbing the back of her head. "I'm always there when you need it. Anyway, I came to give you your gift." She reached into a small pouch she carried and brought out a perfectly-tuned golden chain watch. "Mako-chan..." Himeko didn't know what to say. The watch ticked with absolute fashion with clear a clear notice to the second hand. "It's beautiful, but why now? My birthday's tomorrow!"

"Well, tomorrow's no good, remember?" The girl with emeralds for eyes leaned in and whispered, "We're attacking the palace, tonight."

"The assault's tonight?" Himeko nearly yelled out, only to have her lips closed shut by Makota.

"Shh. Baka, you want to blow our cover, especially with all these guards around?" Makota let Himeko's mouth go as an armed knight, broadsword nearly drawn out passed both of them, his heels clanking noisily against the cobblestone. Both gave a heavy relief that their allegiance to the rebel army was not exposed. "Don't tell me you forgot already?"

"Gomenmazai, Mako-chan." Himeko was simply no good at remembering important dates. "I was so caught up...anyway, I'll make sure to make it tonight. You want to walk with me to the Blacksmith's?" As the two of them walked, exchanging teases and comments, another figure, a boy near her age, bearing a set of brown locks with black eyes ran up to her. "Good morning, Oogami-kun!"

"Morning, Kurusugawa-san." He smiled looking at her. His clothing were no better than the rags of the other boys, but Souma Oogami was different. Being the brother of the rebel leader, he held himself to a strict code of honor, using formalities and dressing himself as clean as possible. "I was hoping to catch you before you left, wanted to give something to you." He reached into his own personal pouch and pulled out a perfectly red rose, its thorns clipped.

"Oogami-kun..." Himeko whispered slowly. She accepted the rose out of good gesture, of course, but the implications of it, the hidden thoughts and meanings of the rose were very complex indeed. She smiled as she put in into her pouch but thought hard about what he said without saying, speaking without speaking. "Happy Birthday." he spoke as he joined them walking to the Blacksmith's.

"So, you're coming to the bonfire tonight, right?" He asked looking straight ahead. Himeko nodded, still unsure. "That's good, I mean- not that you're coming, no, I mean-"

"Don't worry. I'll be there after work." Himeko smiled as she stepped happily. "It's just-" she stopped her speech unsure of how her friends would react to her thinking. This war, she had...doubts, uncertainties. War gave her a lot of bad memories. Her parents' death, her orphanage, the cries of other children who's lives had been changed because of it... "Do we really need to fight this? Can't we make peace?" She whimpered, already knowing the answer in her mind but not her heart.

Souma sighed. "Yes, we do need to fight. The Himemiyas have ruled over us for too long. Sure they give us a lot of freedom, like freedom of religion and the ability to speak out is nice too, but the people rarely have a say in the matter. The common folk should be in charge of how this country is ruled, not some princess who's not even married." His hand gripped into a fist. Himeko looked at him, anger building up into his eyes. "And, then there's the other matter I have to deal with..."

Almost at once, the light tone of the day became heavy with seriousness. Souma referred to his own orphanage, by his father. Souma swore to kill his father for abandoning him to his now older brother. He swore it on the sword he carried with him, hoping to exact his revenge in a distant future.

"Oi, Kurusugawa." A dark voice creeping up behind them called out. "Your breasts are so nice and small, that I wanna touch them." Himeko blushed at the very thought of this as Souma cried out, "That's enough, Girochi!"

"I can't help it." Girochi said. One of the generals of the rebel army, the man having green hair of moss, brown skin with an 'X' scar in the middle of his head and an undeniable lust, slurped his tongue. "She's so beautiful for someone so young."

The man pushed the boy and Makota aside as he approached the blond, with ill intentions in mind. "Anyways, I just heard it was Kurusugawa's birthday, so I thought, 'Hey, what would be the best present in the whole kingdom?'" He leaned her against a building wall, smiling, "and I thought, 'A date with me.' So how 'bout it? Wanna date?"

"Uh...um, Gomenmazai." Himeko breathed heavily, her eyes filled with doubt. "I can't. I have to go to the Blacksmith's." She pushed the green-haired man aside practically running from him.

"Oi, don't matter. I know you'll be at the bonfire tonight." He rubbed his head and gazed at the other two.

"Sheesh. You think she's attracted to anybody at all?"

The night air breezed through the night, fanning the giant bonfire in the middle. There amongst all the wooden houses, men and women, raising their broadswords and arrows, standing near the edge of the wooden platform, warming themselves in chain mail and the warmth of the flames united for one purpose.

"Death to Himemiya!" A man standing on the platform with six others cried out into the night only to have the crowd join him.

"Yah!"

"Death to Himemiya!" Said Miyako, the violet haired woman who served as Lieutenant for the rebel army after a seemingly innocent life as a nun, "For each moment she lives, we suffer through raids and poverty."

"Yah!"

"Death to Himemiya!" Said Corona, a former singer at the pub before her life as a general in the army. The girl with ponytails enthusiastically, "For through her pretentious kindness, we are mocked."

"Yah!"

"Death to Himemiya!" The girl with thick bifocals, Reiko a former painter whose failure led to the rebellion, said dully as if distracted, "For her unfounded talent makes little to those who have to strive and struggle to succeed."

"Yah!"

"Death to Himemiya!" Neneko, the smallest girl with a strange obsession for cats cried out. "Because she's too rich for her own good, nya!"

"Yah!"

"Death to Himemiya!" Said Girochi, adorning a green jacket with chains surrounding him. "Because her breasts are too big!"

The crowd fell into a silent confusion while muttering a meek "Yah?" Swiftly after, the man wielding chains received a slap behind the head.

"Death to Himemiya!" Said the light green haired man, his body in a full suit of armor, save his face. "For every moment she breathes is a moment we suffer!"

"Yah!"

"Today is the princess Himemiya's 16th birthday." Tsubasa, head of the rebal army spoke, his crimson eyes daring to provoke the men and women before him, "Do I have any suggestions from the audience of what I should get her?"

"A slit throat!" One man yelled.

"No, a sword through the stomach!"

"No, her head rendered from her body!"

The man with crimson eyes laughed. "I'll tell you what. The first person who gets to her first, can give her their present!"

"Yah!" the crowd yelled in unison. "Tsubasa-sama! Tsubasa-sama! Tsubasa-sama!" they chanted. The man leaped off the stage only to be met by three people all dressed in black clothing: A young boy with brownish hair, a girl with even shorter auburn hair and a wide grin and a blond girl who hid away from the others.

"Tsubasa-niisan," the boy started "you were in great form tonight."

"Ah, Souma! It does my heart well that finally we'll be able to join in battle, hopefully for the last time." Souma nodded. He had wanted to join his brother ever since any resemblance of family, brothers and sisters of the orphanage, was killed on the first raid. Ever since then, Tsubasa has told him he was too young to join. But not anymore. Now, he was of age.

"Tsubasa-sama!" The girl said, giving a salute. "I'm Makoto Saotome! Ready to serve!"

"Good to hear it. And who is this?" He gazed at the small girl, shrinking from him.

"Uh…I'm Himeko Kurusugawa. It's an honor to meet you, Tsubasa-sama." Throughout her own speech, her voice trembled like a meek kitten.

"Souma, if you're to be in my stealth unit, then you can't bring her."

"But, Tsubasa-niisan!" The boy cried out. "These are the friends I told you about."

"Souma, be serious. I can tell from her voice, this girl is too young."

"No she's not, she's 16!"

Tsubasa stopped and gazed at her. From what he could see, the girl was rather short, her blond hair reached to her hips and her eyes resonated of purple and of innocence.

"Since when?"

"Actually…" she started. "I don't turn until midnight." The chatter in the air immediately ceased. If the girl was to turn 16 at midnight, then she was born on the exact same date as Himemiya.

"Ha. Hahaha!" The crimson eyed man started to laugh. The rest of the camp joined him as he bellowed. "Truly this is a sign of good fortune."

He reached into his sack and pulled out a sheathed knife. "This is a sign that you'll be the first one to find Himemiya and kill her. Do so, and you and your friends shall be heroes."

"Yah!" The Crowd said in unison "Kurusugawa! Kurusugawa! Kurusugawa!" Little did the blond hair girl know that her story was just beginning.

The black mask alone suffocated Himeko to a large extent. But she didn't complain. She was an assassin, though this was her first kill. She would do the kingdom a great honor. The army marched carrying torches, with the bowmen in the back and the siege men in the front. There Tsubasa rode proudly on his steed and informed the three of the plan.

"I have an informant in the castle. He'll let us sneak in the back gate as we head toward the castle. Once inside, we'll set up ladders on the north and south walls while having mortar planted on the west and east walls. We can handle the guards outside while you three sneak in."

"But, Tsubasa-niisan," Souma said under his black mask, only his eyes showing. "Won't Himemiya be awake?" This was a cause of concern. Previous attempts on Himemiya's life weren't foiled by the guards, but rather Himemiya herself. She was a skilled bowman as well as trained with knives.

"We were able to drug her wine. She'll be asleep in no time."

"Couldn't we have poisoned her?" Makoto asked.

"Hmm, that would be a cheap ends of killing her. And even if I could, Himemiya's personal dogs constantly test the food. This was weak enough for the testers…"

"But strong enough for Himemiya. Tsubasa-sama, you're a genius!"

"Um…"Himeko began, her voice quiet as usual. "What does Himemiya look like?"

Tsubasa shot Himeko with a piercing look, but sighed.

"It is a face that mocks you. It is a face when you gaze into those dark blue eyes, they belittle you, make you small, unable to be significant. It is a beauty that cause you envy, makes you want to beat it until it is nothing more than a bloody pulp. It is a body that catches the gaze of men and pulls the most primal lusts out to you, that you would take that body and make it your own. It is the face of royalty, a face that must die."

Himeko nodded. Tsubasa-sama didn't exactly answer her question…

"Blue eyes, blue hair, you can't miss her." Makoto whispered.

"Begin the attack!" Tsubasa yelled when they passed the gate. "Souma, I expect nothing better than the best from you."

"Ha!" he said as the three of them disappeared into the night.

Himeko Kurusugawa, during all of her sneaking, her hiding around corners and leaning against the wall, couldn't help but admire the castle's beauty. For one thing, its exterior was beautifully designed with mortar and gray bricks lining each wall, casually, it didn't come to a surprise to Himeko that the rebels were so antagonistic toward the princess.

Now, the Castle itself was in complete chaos. The guards fought heavily outside where they were being barraged by bows and swords. The rebel army tried to push through the door, but the royalist army had blockaded it. Many of the armor clad guards rushed outside, not noticing the trio, climbing slowly on the ceiling, their hands gripping on the ceiling.

Himeko had never noticed how beautiful the castle was until she was far inside it. Crimson red carpet with patterns that dazed the eye lined the floor. A lengthy staircase was found at the center, leading up to the many chambers in the palace. Himeko had to be careful not to touch the many crystal chandeliers that lined the ceiling.

"The rebels are pushing! Where's the princess?"

"Don't worry; I've got two of my best men guarding her bedroom." The men left as did the trio. They crawled on the ceiling, staying in the shadows until they found the door.

As promised, two very frightful metal figures guarded the door. The three of them looked at each other and thought the same thing. Himeko would have to charge in while the other two would need to distract the guards. They all nodded in unison.

The guards didn't know what got them first, Souma's leg sweep or Mako's suplex. As the guards were distracted, expecting well armed rebels instead of young, nimble assassins, the two motioned Himeko to run to the door.

"Go, Hime-" Mako's voice was silenced by a guard. Himeko rushed in and drew out the knife. Its hilt may have been simple, but its blade was far from it. Made from the finest material, Tsubasa showed his pride by inscribing his name on it.

I hope I can do well, for Oogami-kun and Mako-chan. Let's see. Blue hair and blue eyes right? Himeko looked through the room.

Lavish was an understatement. The room contained a wide closet of clothes, mostly gowns and dresses, while her bedroom had dozens of mirrors. There were plants of many varieties when Himeko saw a figure, veiled in the bed. That must be it. She snuck slowly, but carefully, taking caution with each step. She got closer and nearer. The knife was gripped tightly in her hand, her heart racing. She pulled the veil, the knife overhead when…

Himeko Kurusugawa gazed on the most beautiful creature her purple eyes ever laid on.