Chapter 8:
A Fun Day
(Opening: I Am)
After having breakfast next morning, the group went shopping to the beach article stores to get some things they would need in their little relax day. Naturally, neither Gerardo nor Gabriela continued wearing their kimonos: instead Gerardo was wearing a blue shirt and blue jean pants he had brought in his baggage, while Gabriela was wearing the white blouse with the pink skirt she wore the night they first came to this world. As for Inuyasha, he had to wear a cap once again.
However, before leaving the house, both siblings went a moment to the Goshinboku to see it.
- "Whoa… so this is the Goshinboku…" – said Gerardo amazed as he looked at the tree and he touched its trunk.
- "It's much prettier in real life…" – said Gabriela as she did the same thing as her brother.
- "The place where everything began… and that it's so filled with memories…" – said Gerardo as he remembered all the events that had taken place at its side: the beginning of the adventures, Naraku's deceptions, the way in which the tree helped Kagome and Inuyasha during the battle with Menomaru, and the important role it played when Inuyasha told Kagome he was going with Kikyou…
- "What're you doing?" – said Inuyasha as he looked at them.
- "Just admiring the tree that served as the beginning of everything…" – said Gerardo without taking off his eyes from the tree.
- "You better get going, as we're about to set off!" – said Kagome as she walked at their side.
- "Hey, wait for us!" – they both shouted.
They walked through the city for a while until they reached the shopping center, and next to instantly, they were already buying things.
- "This day is going to be really memorable!" – said Gerardo as he grabbed a bag and began putting in several sunscreen bottles.
- "Yeah, but… why are you buying so much sunscreen?" – asked Kagome.
- "Because I hate getting sunburned whenever I go to the beach, so I'm always using a lot of it" – said Gerardo as his face turned bitter for a second, but he then changed it to a smile – "I'm also buying for the others" –
- "Ah okay. I'll be going to try out the swimsuits" – said Kagome cheerfully.
- "Don't you have one already?" – asked Gerardo confused.
- "Yeah, but well… you'll find out when we've returned to the Warring States Era" – said Kagome as she smiled in an enigmatic way.
- 'I'm pretty sure that all the girls' swimsuits are going to be one-pieces because of a certain monk…' – thought Gerardo as he shook his head.
- "Keh! I don't get why you've gotta bring so many things just to bathe in that puddle of salted water" – said Inuyasha scoffing.
- "Hehe, it's because going to the beach needs some preparation. Slow down and enjoy a little!" – said Gabriela laughing. Inuyasha only sighed to this.
After a while, they came out from the store carrying several things: a few umbrellas and chairs, and some bags containing towels and swimsuits, which they put away in their Dragtemns to not continue carrying them, though they tried to be as discreet while doing so as possible. However, Gerardo and Gabriela found odd that Kagome had bought three child size swimsuits for girls and two for boys, as there was one left over in both cases.
- "By the way, is it okay that we're having a surplus of two swimsuits here?" – asked Gerardo while they were leaving the store.
- "Yeah, don't worry about it. It's for something Inuyasha and I planned from yesterday" – said Kagome with a smile.
- "Keh…" – said Inuyasha without much energy. Both siblings looked at each other confused, but decided to not ask more about it. They then left the shopping center, though Gerardo had to drag away Gabriela more than once, as she got the whim to begin buying other things and they didn't have much money to be spending on them.
- "Can we get going now?" – asked Inuyasha impatiently when they came back to Kagome's house.
- "Yeah, just let me go for my baggage!" – said Kagome a bit absentminded.
- "Didn't you have it in your Dragtemn?" – asked Gabriela flabbergasted
- "Oops, yeah! But I still need to sort it out a little!" – said Kagome flustered as she ran through the living and up the stairs to her room.
- "Well, at least that gives us a chance to change our clothes" – said Gerardo with a sigh.
After Kagome finished sorting her baggage, and Gerardo and Gabriela were wearing their respective kimonos again, they said goodbye to Kagome's family.
- "Try to not get into much danger out there, okay?" – said her mother.
- "Okay mom, I won't!" – said Kagome smiling.
- "Are you going to come back?" – asked Souta to Inuyasha and the two siblings.
- "Of course. Whenever Kagome comes here, we'll be coming too" – said Gerardo with a smile.
- "Yeah. We need to be keeping an eye on her all the time" – said Inuyasha with a smile.
- "Or is that because you don't want to leave her alone?" – asked Gabriela mischievously.
- "What?" – said Inuyasha shocked, which made everyone laugh.
They then went to the well's shed and jumped in.
- "Looks like I'm gonna have to carry you on my back again, Kagome" – said Inuyasha once they left the well.
- "We'll be going through the air again then" – said Gerardo as he and Gabriela put on their dragon armors again. Once Kagome was on Inuyasha's back and both siblings were ready, they went on their way. After a few minutes, they had reached the place where they established the campsite the previous day.
- "Ah, great! They're back! Kagome!" – said Shippou overjoyed as he went closer to greet them and climbing to Kagome's shoulder after she was on the ground again and the siblings had cancelled their transformations.
- "Kagome-sama! Gaby-chan! Inuyasha! Gerar-nii!" – said Rin cheerfully to greet them.
- "Hi, Shippou!" – said Kagome to then turn to look at the others, who were also exchanging greetings among themselves – "Hi, guys! Hasn't anything happened since we left yesterday?" –
- "Nothing at all, Kagome. We haven't seen any youkai or anything like them since yesterday" – said Sango a bit surprised about it.
- "Keh, these monsters are a bunch of cowards!" – snorted Inuyasha.
- "Or it could be that something else is scaring them…" – said Sesshomaru with his inexpressive voice.
- "Ah, of course! The presence of our high and mighty youkai lord!" – said Inuyasha in a sarcastic voice.
- "Or possibly it was the repugnant stench of your human blood…" – said Sesshomaru as he unsheathed Tokijin while Inuyasha drew Tessaiga. But when they seemed to be about to begin fighting…
- "Stop right there, you two!" – said Gerardo as he stepped in between both – "Inuyasha, you shouldn't let him get to yourself to easily! And you Sesshomaru, have you forgotten the conditions I gave you to travel with us?" –
Said this, both half-brothers calmed down and sheathed their swords, though they still kept glaring at each other. Kagome was surprised that Gerardo had enough courage to stand between them.
- "So, are we ready to continue our journey?" – asked Miroku, who surprisingly kept himself silent during most of the conversation.
- "I think so" – said Kagome as she looked at Inuyasha and sighed – "There's only one more thing we've got to do first, as the beach's so close by…" –
Kagome then took out her backpack from her Dragtemn and drew out a bottle filled with a pink bright liquid from it.
- "It's about time for our new friends to meet Miko and Inuyasha" – said Kagome as she gripped the bottle tightly with her hand and turned to see Gerardo and Gabriela.
- "Who're they?" – asked Gabriela, as the phrase sounded so weird to her and Gerardo.
- "And didn't we meet Inuyasha already? I mean, he's right here with us" – said Gerardo confused.
- "You'll see very soon… Inuyasha, coming?" – asked Kagome, to which Inuyasha only nodded in response – "Okay… Miroku-sama, Sango-chan… can you come with us?" –
Sango and Miroku knew already what Kagome was going to do when they saw the bottle, so they simply followed her and Inuyasha deeper into the forest.
- "I wonder what they're going to do in there…" – said Gabriela confused.
- "You'll know very soon…" – said Shippou in a mysterious tone, and they saw a flash of white light after a while.
- "What was that!?" – said Gerardo alarmed as he put his hand over Ryuuga's hilt.
However, nothing really important happened, and after a while, Sango returned carrying in her arms a little girl very similar to Rin, who was dressed in a red and orange checkered kosode that had white spheres as decoration and had her hair styled like Kikyou, held in place with a white ribbon. Miroku followed her soon enough carrying a silver-haired boy with dog ears and dressed in a red kimono, which had Tessaiga sheathed and tied to his hip. Both seemed to be unconscious. Gerardo and Gabriela were left gaping when they saw them.
- "These kids are Kagome and Inuyasha!?" – said Gerardo surprised when Sango and Miroku sat down and explained everything, as they left Kagome and Inuyasha sleeping on the grass near them.
- "Yeah, but in Kagome's case, she's Miko now, and you've got to call her by that name until she's wearing her memory medallion or she goes back to normal…" – said Sango with a serious look on her eyes.
- "What'll happen if we don't'?" – asked Gabriela stubbornly.
- "If you call her by her true name, or tell or show either of them anything that stirs their memories, they will be driven insane. That's the memory-sealing effect that the water brings with it" – explained Miroku, who happened to have a red hand plant on his face. Both siblings sighed knowing what he tried to do, but decided to ignore it and listen to the explanation.
- "And they drank it again? They're really stubborn…" – said Gerardo as he looked to both children as they slept.
- "Well, they had a little argument over it right before you came here for the first time, about that they'd like to repeat the days they spent like this, and looks like this seemed like the best time to do it to them…" – said Sango with a smile as she looked at Inuyasha and Kagome: both were breathing softly and had a smile in their lips, as if they had been wishing for this for some time.
- "Well, I'll take Inuyasha to a separate place, as we need to explain some important things to him" – said Miroku when they began giving signs that they were about to awaken.
- "Right, but… what are we going to do about Kagome and her baggage?" – asked Gerardo.
- "You can keep her busy making her play with your sister or Rin. As for her backpack, you could store it in your artifact" – suggested Sango.
- "Okay" – said Gerardo while Miroku and Sango were carrying Inuyasha back into the forest. Gabriela went and called Rin so she would keep them company while Gerardo stored Kagome's backpack into his Dragtemn.
- "So Kagome-sama turned into Miko-chan again?" – asked Rin cheerfully when she saw her sleeping on the grass.
- "Yes, that's right" – replied Gerardo.
- "And now Inuyasha isn't around, no one can spoil our fun!" – said Shippou as jumped around in joy.
- "Well, don't forget he has a replacement" – said Gabriela laughing as she pointed to her brother, who had already made an unpleasant face worthy of Inuyasha.
- "Agh, yeah… got it…" – said Shippou scared.
Kagome, or rather, Miko awakened at that time and began looking around. She was a bit startled, and looked at the only people she knew.
- "Rin! Shippou! Where are we? Who are these people?" – said her flustered upon seeing Gerardo and Gabriela.
- "Miko, calm down! We're on the middle of a new journey, and these people are our new friends!" – explained Shippou with a smile.
Gerardo stepped in.
- "You're Miko?" – asked him with a hard tone that sounded more like Inuyasha's, making her nod a bit scared in response. However, Gerardo just smiled at her in a tranquilizing way – "Pleased to meet you. My name's Gerardo, and she's my sister, Gaby" –
- "Hi!" – greeted Gabriela with a smile.
- "Hi, pleased to meet you!" – she said with a smile – "But why are your names so weird?" –
- "It's because they're foreigners" – explained Shippou as if he knew everything about them.
- "Oh? And what's this shiny thing on my wrist?" – said Miko as she looked at her Dragtemn and saw her reflection on its white crystal screen.
- "It's a gift from us. It's a magical device that lets you talk to people far away and store things on it!" – said Gabriela joyfully as she raised her wrist – "And look, we have them too!" –
- "It's pretty handy, and it's beautiful too!" – said Miko smiling as she noticed them on their wrists, as well as one on Shippou's – "And... whoa, now I'm wearing tabi too? Where did I get them from?" -
- "Hehe, it's a gift from us all!" - said Shippou smiling - "Since you've been such a good kid and have gotten so good at being a miko, we've decided to buy them for you! You'll need them when you start wearing the miko garb, right?" -
- "Hehe, that's true! Thanks!" - said Miko giggling a little before closing her eyes and putting her hands behind herself. Gerardo and Gabriela took the chance to look at each other with raised eyebrows before Miko opened her eyes again and tilted her head to a side - "And talking about everyone, where're Inuyasha, Houshi-sama and Sango-nee?" –
- "They're further in the forest. They said they needed to talk about something important…" – said Shippou seriously.
Meanwhile, Miroku and Sango were explaining Inuyasha about Rin, Sesshomaru and about their new friends. When they finished explaining, Inuyasha was pretty confused, but he felt somehow that he also knew about them already. They then returned to the others.
- "We're back!" – announced Sango when she, Miroku and Inuyasha returned. Gerardo was sitting on the grass looking at how Rin, Miko, Shippou and Gabriela were playing as he kept a hand over his sword's handle in case anything happened.
- "They're our new friends?" – asked Inuyasha timidly.
- "Yeah: the one wearing the blue kimono is Gerardo, the girl wearing the white kimono is Gabriela, Gerardo's sister, and the one that looks like Miko is Rin" – explained Sango cheerfully. Inuyasha then went to Gerardo to look at him better. He didn't know why, but he gave him a weird feeling, as if he reminded him of someone he knew but he had forgotten.
- "Uhm… excuse me…" – began Inuyasha.
- "Yes? You must be Inuyasha… and as far as I see, you're a hanyou…" – said Gerardo in a tone that sounded similar to Sesshomaru's. Inuyasha showed a face of fear and sadness when he heard 'hanyou' coming out from Gerardo's lips because he thought he'd get rejected. However, Gerardo simply smiled at him and put a hand over his shoulder: he felt sorry about seeing the little hanyou so sad and looking like he had been alone for a long time – "Don't worry: I don't really care if you are a human, hanyou or youkai, as they are all the same to me! At least while they don't try to kill me" -
This made Inuyasha really glad, as it meant he had made another friend.
- "Ah, Inuyasha! Over here!" – said Miko calling at him as she and the others ran to them.
- "Miko! Let's play together!" – said Inuyasha cheerfully upon seeing her.
- "Okay, but…" – Miko turned to Gabriela and then looked at Gerardo.
- "Hmm, what is it, Miko?" – asked Gabriela a bit worried.
- "It's just that I feel a strange presence coming from you…" – said Miko upon noticing the blue aura that Gerardo emitted, as well as the white and silver one that came out from Gabriela.
- "And you both… smell as if you were humans, and weren't at the same time…" – said Inuyasha as he sniffed in their direction.
- "We'll explain it later. And why don't you go to play?" – said Gerardo with a smile.
- "Okay! I wanna show you something I saw deeper in the forest! Follow me!" – said Inuyasha as he and the others ran into the forest.
- "Hey, wait!" – shouted Gerardo when they were going away – "Oh well, I'll go after them to make sure nothing happens" –
- "But Inuyasha can defend himself, so why don't you leave them alone?" – asked Miroku carelessly.
- "Houshi-sama, we can't leave them alone! What if Naraku attacks them?" – said Sango angry.
- "The slayer is right…" – said Sesshomaru coming closer to them, as he had limited himself to just watching from a distance – "If that pseudo-hanyou trash comes here, none of them will be able to match him…" –
- "Huh, first time I see Sesshomaru worried about someone…" – said Gerardo surprised.
- "I only care for Rin's well-being…" – said Sesshomaru.
- "Okay, I'll go keep an eye on them" – said Gerardo as he ran into the forest. After a while, he heard them laughing, and when he entered the place where the laughter came from, he found himself in a wide and beautiful glade. The place was still covered with a few tree branches through which the sunlight was filtering, there were several butterflies flying about, they could hear the birds singing all around, and the grassy ground was covered in flowers of all colors.
(BGM: Shikon no Tama wo Motomete (second half))
Gerardo simply sat down at the border of the clearing to watch over them as they played. It was a cute sight: seeing the children playing together, either tag, hide-and-seek or joining their hands and forming a circle, chasing the butterflies and laughing.
A while later, the others arrived, Sesshomaru included, and sat down to watch over them for a little. After a while…
- "We should call them for lunch" – suggested Sango to Gerardo.
- "Agreed. Everyone, it's time to eat, as we'll be going to the beach afterwards!" – said Gerardo.
The children just turned in their direction and ran to them. At that moment…
- "Oof… Sesshomaru… sama… I've brought… the food you requested…" – said Jaken as he appeared from the side of the glade dragging a large boar. Everyone looked at him impressed that he managed to carry such a burden by himself.
- "Wow, Jaken-sama! You could really carry that large boar all by yourself?" – asked Rin surprised, but she didn't receive any reply: Jaken had fainted from exhaustion.
- "Let's just let the frog rest while we eat" – said Inuyasha as he poked him with his finger.
After they roasted the boar and got out some onigiri, they began eating it. Once they were done, they continued their way to the beach, making all the children excited because they, excepting Gabriela, had never gone to the beach before. But when they were about to depart, Gerardo stood still as he pressed the buttons of his Dragtemn and touched parts of its screen, which made everyone look at him.
- "What are you doing, Gerar-nii?" – asked Inuyasha, which made Gerardo trip and fall on his back from the shock.
- "W-w-w-what!? Did you call me what I think you did!?" – asked Gerardo.
- "Yeah, because you're as nice as Sango-nee is with me!" – said Inuyasha smiling, which left everyone astonished. Even Sesshomaru had a face of surprise that under normal circumstances he would have only if he reencountered with his father. However, Miko wasn't among them: instead, she had a wide smile on her face too.
- "You're like that with me too, so I'll call you that way too, Gerar-nii!" – said her cheerfully, which made Gabriela angry.
- "But I'm his only sister, okay!?" – said her irritated and embarrassed.
- "Hehe, okay. We know you really love him, and we don't want to take him away" – said Miko with a smile, which made Gabriela sigh and blush.
- "Anyway… I was just setting a pointer in this place, so we can use it to come here whenever we want" – he said when he recovered from the impression. His Dragtemn then shone in blue as a 'Pointer Registered!' notification appeared on the screen – "All set. Whenever you want to come back here, just tell me" –
- "That device can also take you from a place to another?" – asked Sango as she looked at her own Dragtemn.
- "Yes, it can transport you instantly to any place you've gone before, as long as you've set up a pointer for it first" – said Gerardo proudly.
- "Hmm, I'd like to hear the explanation for how you do that" – said Miroku as he looked at his own Dragtemn with interest. However, he began laughing nervously when he saw the murderous glare Sango was giving him.
So they continued walking until they left the forest behind and reached the beach. The children immediately were overjoyed when they saw the sand and the sea shining under the sunlight. They wanted to jump into the water right away, but Gerardo stopped them.
- "Wait a sec! You can't just go bathe into the sea with your clothes on, and you shouldn't do it either without anything on!" – said him shocked.
- "So what we do then?" – asked Miko confused.
- "We have to put on our swimsuits!" – said Gabriela excitedly – "We have some here, right? Gerar?" –
- "Yeah, just gimme a second…" – said Gerardo as he took out Miko's backpack from his Dragtemn.
- "Ah, these are my things!" – said Miko a bit upset.
- "Yeah, but Sango asked me to store them away for you" – said Gerardo as he checked its outer pockets and took out the sunscreen filters and the swimsuits – "Hmm, three for the girls, two for the boys and three for us the older ones…" –
They then began giving out the swimsuits, of which the ones for the girls were all one one-pieces just as Gerardo predicted, which had the following appearance: Miko was given one that had the same colors as her kosode but as blots instead of in a checkered pattern; Gabriela was given one green decorated with pink fishes; Rin was given one green and red; and Sango was given a white and pink one that had the same pattern as her kosode.
On the other hand, the swimsuits for the boys were trunk-types and had the following appearance: Inuyasha's was completely red, Miroku's was green and white, Shippou's was yellow and orange, and Gerardo's was completely blue.
They then took turns to go back into the forest to get changed, and even though Miroku tried to go peek on the girls, the only thing he got was getting hit on the head with the hilt of Gerardo's sword for being a pervert and a bad role model to Inuyasha and Shippou.
After they were ready, they were a bit skeptical about the sunscreen and how it worked, but in the end Gerardo and Gabriela convinced them to put it on. They also took out the chairs, umbrella and towels out from the Dragtemns of Miko, Gabriela and Gerardo to complete the set, which also left Miko amazed; while Gerardo stored his glasses on the inner pockets of his kimono.
They then began enjoying the sun and the sea while Sesshomaru and Jaken just leaned against the shadow of the trees near the forest's border.
- "Humans and hanyous like so much wasting their time…" – said Sesshomaru annoyed.
Meanwhile, the others were already splashing about in the shallow part of the water.
- "Gerar-nii, have this!" – said Inuyasha as he splashed Gerardo.
- "Ah, so that's how you want it~" – said Gerardo laughing as he clapped his hands and all the others were playing around with water. As Inuyasha was laughing, he received a nice water stream on the face for lowering his guard. After he wiped off the water from his face, he began spitting on the sea the little water that got into his mouth.
- "Bleagh… it's salty! And I swallowed up a good part" – he said as he made a displeased face.
- "Hehe, don't worry! A little salty water doesn't kill anyone!" – said Gerardo laughing with the others.
- "Gerar, I think you went a little far with that!" – said Gabriela cheerfully as she threw him water.
- "Oh, yeah? Have this!" – said Gerardo as he raised a small mass of water from the sea and dropped it over his sister's head while she laughed.
They continued throwing water to each other for a good while, until they got hungry and decided to rest a bit under the umbrellas. They got out the food they had prepared from Miko's backpack and began eating.
- "By the way, how you can do these things with water, Gerar-nii?" – asked Inuyasha, which made Gerardo embarrassed and Gabriela jealous once again.
- "Well… it's because I have the power to manipulate all kinds of water I come across, as well as the one I can make out from the moisture in the air" – explained Gerardo with a smile.
- "And I can control the light!" – said Gabriela releasing of flash of light that blinded everyone.
- "Did you really have to show it off like that!?" – said Gerardo furious after as they rubbed their eyes to try to regain their vision. He still saw everything blurry.
- ""Sorry! And by the way… SIT DOWN!" – shouted Gabriela enraged, which made Gerardo and Inuyasha instantly end up eating sand.
- "But why does that happen to them when either I or Gaby-nee say that phrase…?" – said Miko a bit scared when she saw the effect of the rosaries. Gabriela blushed upon getting called older sister by Miko.
- "It's because these rosaries have a spell on them that reacts whenever either you or Gaby say the words 'sit down'… and it makes us do this…" – said Gerardo annoyed after they both got back on their feet and he sat down with his arms and legs crossed, pretty much like Inuyasha in his normal form.
- "Ah, so that's why he fell down that time…" – said Miko recalling the time they were preparing for singing in the festival.
- "But… why did you call me Gaby-nee, Miko? We're both the same age…" – said Gabriela a bit embarrassed.
- "Hehe, it's just that you seemed like a gentle older sister to me" – said Miko smiling – "And since you're Gerar-nii's sister, I just felt like I should" –
- "I see…" – said Gabriela embarrassed, but very pleased about the fact of getting a little sister of her own… sort of.
- "Okay, let's go swimming again then!" – said Inuyasha cutting off the conversation, but Gerardo stopped him.
- "Hey, hold it there! You've gotta wait at least half an hour after eating before going back to the water, or you may get cramps!" – he said as he held a hand in front of him.
- "Okay, okay! Geez!" – said Inuyasha as he sat down again. He then focused his gaze on Gerardo's sword, which he left next to the chairs – "And does that sword have anything special, Gerar-nii? I can feel a lot of power from it…" –
- "Ah, you mean my Ryuuga? It's my sword, forged out from a personal treasure of mine combined with the scales, claws and a fang from the Dragon God of Water, as well as dust from the elemental crystals!" – said Gerardo proudly as he took and unsheathed it.
- "Wow, it's cool! But it's not better than my Tessaiga!" – said Inuyasha equally proud of his own sword.
- "Yeah, I've heard it was made from a fang of your father, that it can absorb the abilities of the foes you defeat with it, and that it holds great powers!" – said Gerardo excitedly.
- "And I have always wanted to have it in my hands…" – said Sesshomaru, which made everyone look at him.
- "He may be my brother, but he's so mean… I can never give him my sword, it's the only memento my father left me…" – said Inuyasha saddened while Sesshomaru glared at him.
- "As well as the Fire-Rat wool clothes…" – said Gerardo patting his shoulder.
- "Wasn't it a gift from my mother?" – asked Inuyasha.
- "Yeah, but she got it from your father… err, that's what I heard at least" – said Gerardo nervously.
- 'I can't tell these two about how I learned about that. Don't want to risk them going crazy…' – thought him a bit scared, and he then perked up. - "Hey, how about playing with the ball or with the sand while we wait until we can go into the water again?" –
- "Yeah!" – said everyone.
- "Argh, Houshi-sama!" – screamed Sango, which made everyone excepting for Miko, Inuyasha, Rin and Sesshomaru sigh exasperated. She then began slapping Miroku with all her strength until she left him out cold on the sand.
- "You deserved that, lecherous monk!" – said Gerardo as he, Shippou and Gabriela burst into laughter.
- "What happened now?" – asked Inuyasha confused.
- "Looks like he groped Sango and also pulled the bottom of her swimsuit" – said Shippou as he looked at them.
- "And is that bad?" – asked Inuyasha, while Miko and Rin also looked at him confused. Gabriela just sighed in exasperation while Gerardo went up to him.
- "Inuyasha… that's something you never should do to a lady" – said Gerardo in a very serious tone – "Of course, unless you want to make girls angry and end up like Miroku did, or even worse" –
- "Ah, gotcha. I'll never do that" – said Inuyasha with a smile.
- "As for us, we mustn't never allow a guy do these things to us" – said Gabriela to the other two girls – "We've gotta protect our dignity, right?" –
Both Miko and Rin smiled and nodded.
- "Well said!" – shouted Sango irate as she walked as far from Miroku as she could. She stomped on the sand with every step she made, leaving pretty deep footsteps on it.
- "Leaving that unfortunate series of events aside, can we go back to what we were going to do?" – asked Gerardo with a smile. The children just agreed to the idea, so he went back to Miko's backpack and took out the beach toys they brought with them. They spent the next half-hour making sandcastles and looking at how the waves washed them away.
- "These castles are pretty weird-shaped…" – said Inuyasha upon seeing how Gerardo and Gabriela made a pretty simple European-style castle.
- "Yeah, but they also have something of a pretty look to it" – said Miko with a smile.
- "Well, remember that princesses and such used to live in castles like these in the side of the world we're from a long time ago" – said Gerardo, pretty much equating America and Europe in that phrase despite that not being true.
- "I'm sure you'll get used to them the more you see 'em" – laughed Gabriela.
- "I'd like to learn to make them too, Gaby-nee!" – said Rin.
They then continued making them for a little longer, and then they changed to playing beach volleyball after Gerardo, Gabriela and Shippou explained to them how it was played.
- "Hehe, what do you think? I know how to play it too!" – said Shippou proudly.
- "You're so smart, Shippou!" – said Rin.
- "But he's pretty rude too, you know?" – said Miko. She still hadn't forgotten about what he did to Inuyasha.
- "Come on, Miko! I already apologized for it!" – said Shippou scared.
- "That's true. I even accepted it and all" – said Inuyasha shrugging.
- "I know… it's just there was something fishy about that apology…" – said Miko thoughtfully.
- 'And too bad I can't comment on the fact that he's taking away the credit for learning about the game from Kagome' – thought Gerardo a bit irritated.
To end the discussion before it got worse, Gabriela and him divided everyone into two teams: one of boys and other of girls. The game ended in the girls defeating the boys three to two, though this was because in the end Gabriela did some cheating by releasing a flash of light that blinded the boys, leaving them unable to shoot back the ball to them.
- "Hey, no fair! You can't use your powers for this!" – said Inuyasha angry.
- "Right! I didn't use my powers over water either, so that's a foul!" – said Gerardo irritated.
- "Whatever, the fact is that we won and you lost!" – said Gabriela laughing.
- "Gaby-nee, that was very mean…" – said Miko a bit saddened.
- "Cheater!" – said Shippou.
- "When we get back home, I'm gonna…" – said Gerardo, but he was interrupted before he could finish his threat.
- "SIT DOWN!" – said Gabriela, and thus Inuyasha and Gerardo ended up eating sand yet again.
- "You didn't have to do that…!" – said Miko angry at her.
- "Yeah, and it wasn't fair that you did that light thing either… I'm feeling so disappointed…" – said Rin.
- "You're right… okay…" – said Gabriela sighing as she began looking sad at the ground: she was hit by how Shippou, Miko and Rin were looking at her, and decided she was acting wrong. She then looked at them in the eye – "I won't do it again… I'm sorry…" –
- "At least try not sitting us down again…" – said Inuyasha from the place where he was lying on the sand.
- "Agreed…" – said Gerardo.
After this, they decided to apply themselves another dose of sunscreen before going back to the water. They continued swimming and splashing around until night began setting in, so they went to a hot spring they had nearby in the forest in order to get the sand and salt out of their body.
- "Well, I don't know what else to call this but a fun day!" – said Gerardo cheerfully when he entered the hot springs alongside Inuyasha, Miroku and Shippou. The girls were bathing in another spring that was hidden behind some bushes and trees – "And we even get to finish it with a visit to the onsen!" –
- "I'm in total agreement with you, Gerardo-kun" – said Miroku with a smile as he tried to climb out of the onsen with just a towel covering him, and into the bushes leading to the springs where the girls were bathing.
- "Miroku, I wouldn't do that if I were you…" – said Shippou with an unimpressed face.
- "Why do you say that, Shippou?" – asked Inuyasha, but his question was answered right away: Sango heard Miroku and Shippou, and as soon as he got into the bushes, he was hit right between his eyebrows by a rather large log she threw him, making him fall backwards into the water before he got to see anything.
- "Pervert! Pedophile! Try that again and I'll make you see hell!" – shouted Sango's angry voice from the other side.
- "Warned ya, Miroku!"- said Shippou as he, Gerardo and Inuyasha broke into laughter, while they could hear the voices of the girls laughing at the other side, excepting for Sango.
- "You got your just deserts! You should change that behavior of yours!" – said Gerardo laughing.
- "That's right, Gerar-nii!" – said Inuyasha.
- "You three, be quiet!" – said Miroku angry and embarrassed as he climbed out of the spring to go dry off and get himself dressed. He still had a circular red mark over the upper part of his forehead.
- "And how weird that he didn't come out with the bad excuse of it being the fault of his cursed hand!" – said Shippou.
- "Yeah, but it's because he has another kind of curse: his attitude!" – said Gerardo, which made everyone laugh even louder.
After a while, they decided to leave the springs too. Once they dried off and got themselves dressed, they began making dinner, which was stew made by Sango.
- "You gave him a good punishment, Sango!" – said Gerardo with a smile.
- "I don't want to talk about that!" – said Sango very angry.
- "Okay, as you wish" – said Gerardo a bit startled. It was obvious that touching the topic any further would be a bad idea, so they decided to leave it aside and wait until dinner was ready. They all served some of it, and after everyone left their bowls empty due to how tasty she made it, they decided to go sleep.
However, they didn't suspect Naraku was watching them through Kanna's mirror and his Saimyoushou from his hideout, located in an unknown place.
- "Tomorrow will be the perfect time to carry out my plans…" – said him as laughed in a sickening manner.
- "I expect your plan to bear fruits, Naraku…" – said a sinister voice behind Naraku.
- "Tenebross…. You should know that it is very easy for me to attract flies to my web" – replied Naraku in a hypocritical tone.
- "Perhaps, but that girl is of great importance to us… if we can corrupt her powers, we could use her to our benefit, beginning with further staining the Shikon Pearl and bringing further darkening to the crystal where my essence is sealed away. We cannot allow ourselves to fail" – said Tenebross with an evil voice.
- "Be patient, soon enough she'll be in our hands…" – said Naraku as they both began laughing evilly.
- 'Something about that Tenebross is creeping me out… and I can't go and give Inuyasha's group or Sesshomaru information about it without being found out…' – thought Kagura as he spied on them from behind a wall.
- "What are you scheming, Kagura?" – asked Hakudoushi with an evil smile.
- "N-nothing…" – said Kagura as she made an effort to keep her mind blank, so Hakudoushi wouldn't try to find out about what she was thinking.
- "Remember that if you betray Naraku… you'll lose your life…" – said Hakudoushi mocking her.
- "I know that… very well…" – said Kagura bitterly.
The next morning dawned in great calm, so the only sounds that could be heard when everyone awakened were those of the birds singing. The children decided to go playing hide-and-seek while the others made breakfast.
- "Looks like they're having a lot of fun" – said Sango with a smile.
- "Yeah, at least that lets us make breakfast in peace" – said Gerardo as he got out what they were going to eat out from Miko's backpack. He then added with an ironic smile – "Though this can hardly be called making breakfast" -
- "Are you finished with your little day of fun?" – said Sesshomaru as he walked to them, who had a very bitter look on his eyes.
- "We are. We will get back on our way after we eat our breakfast" – said Miroku.
The breakfast was just some sandwiches they made the previous day before coming back to the Warring-States Era. Then, Sango took out the memory medallions of Inuyasha and Miko and handed them to both children.
- "Put them on. You've got to be wearing them for what we're going to do now…" – she said in an authoritative manner. Both took their respective medallions and put them on. Their eyes blinked for an instant, and then…
- "You all know what they say… all good things come to an end…" – said Miko with a sad face, but in a more mature-sounding tone.
- "Is that you, Kagome?" – asked Gerardo surprised. While her appearance hadn't changed much, something about her gaze and expressions seemed more mature than the childish ones she had while she was Miko.
- "Yeah, I'm back to being myself while I wear the medallion" – replied Kagome with a little smile.
- "The same goes for me" – said Inuyasha, whose expression had become stiffer, losing the relaxed appearance he had until a moment ago.
- "Anyway, I've gotta go back to my normal form…" – said Kagome as she went and took out a uniform and the bottle of blue water from her backpack – "Don't worry, I won't take long doing it" –
- "But shouldn't someone go with you? I mean… like Sango, just in case that psychopath Naraku is scheming something…" – said Gerardo anguished, while making that addition so they didn't think he had any ulterior motives.
- "Don't worry, I'll be okay" – said Kagome smiling, and taking both her uniform and her bottle, she went a bit further into the forest.
- "I'm really hoping nothing happens while she's in there…" – said Inuyasha worried. He still was in his child form, and he didn't want to go back to normal until Kagome did. However, it would be a lie to say the others weren't worried, as they had their faces filled with apprehension, but decided to comply with Kagome's wishes and wait for her.
After a few minutes, Kagome had already returned to her normal form and was wearing her uniform again. As she finished getting ready to go back to the others, something grabbed her from behind and took her away.
- "Aaaaagghhhh!" – shouted her terrified.
- "Kagome!" – screamed Inuyasha as he stood up instantly.
- "What happened!?" – said Gerardo worried upon seeing Inuyasha's sudden reaction while the others prepared for anything that could be happening.
- "I just heard Kagome screaming… and I can feel Naraku's nasty odor very close to us!" – said Inuyasha as he ran off.
- "Wait for us!" – said Sango as they ran after him.
(End of Chapter)
(Ending: Fukai Mori)
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