Chapter 10:
The Cursed Rain
(Opening: Tomodachi no Uta - CORE OF SOUL)
- "Um… who're you and how do you know me?" – asked Kagome when they were halfway through the road to the well. She was in Inuyasha's back, while Gerardo and Gabriela were flying a few meters away from them.
- "We're your friends. As for our names, I'm Gerardo, the girl at my side is my little sister Gabriela, and the boy carrying you is Inuyasha" – said Gerardo as he flew a little closer to talk to her.
- "And what about the others?" – asked Kagome a bit confused.
- "We'll introduce 'em to ya when ya see 'em again" - said Inuyasha with a smile.
- "And what're you doing so far away from home?" – asked Kagome.
- "We're looking for the shards of two powerful jewels and trying to beat a couple of bad guys" – replied Gabriela.
- "Oh, you're heroes!" – said Kagome smiling – "But I wanna know how you know me, and how I got so far from home…" –
- "It's a bit hard to explain," – said Gabriela – "But we could say there's lots of magic involved…" –
- "Magic?" – said Kagome as her eyes started sparling.
- "Yeah. That let us travel through time between your home and where we're now using a special place, but there's also been some spells that have been messing around with your memories" – explained Gerardo as his lips curved slightly upward.
- "My memories?" – said Kagome tilting her head and blinking – "But I don't think I've forgotten anything…" –
- "Don't mind it much for now" – said Inuyasha smiling at her – "Just trust us and everything will be okay in some way or another" –
-"Okie-dokie" – said Kagome with a smile.
Luckily they didn't get more questions for the rest of the way and could reach the well with no more complications.
- "This is the special place? Then, can we go home if we jump here?" – asked Kagome as she looked at the dark inside of the well with apprehension.
- "Yeah. That well leads to the one in your home" – replied Gerardo nodding.
- "Uh, but there's no well in my home… it's in my grandpa's house… but he told me it's forbidden to go there!" – said Kagome putting both her hands in front of her mouth.
- "Oh, we'll go to your grandpa's home then. Your mom's waiting for us there, and don't worry: your grandpa won't say anything about it" – said Inuyasha as he jumped inside with Kagome on his back.
- "Hey, wait for us!" – shouted Gabriela as she and Gerardo jumped in when the portal's light began shining.
- "It's too narrow and dark here!" – shouted Kagome when they reappeared in the present.
- "What did you expect? A wide flower garden filled with sunlight?" – asked Inuyasha in a sarcastic tone.
- "You… you're so mean…!" – shouted Kagome as she began crying and throwing a tantrum on his back.
- "K-k-kagome… please calm down… don't cry…" – said Inuyasha as he tried to calm her down to no avail. She continued striking him with her feet and hands.
- "Well done, stupid! You made her cry!" – said Gabriela angry.
- "Enough already! We'll continue this once we're out!" – shouted Gerardo to make himself heard above the ruckus. He then flew out of the well and cancelled out his transformation once he was outside, which Gabriela also did. Inuyasha jumped out of the well with Kagome once he managed to calm her down a little, and once they were ready, they left the shed and ran into Kagome's house.
- "Higurashi-san! We're here!" – shouted Inuyasha from the outside. Kagome was at that moment giggling as she played with his hair.
- "I'm going!" – said Kagome's mother from the inside.
- "So, any ideas about what we're going to tell her?" – asked Gerardo to Inuyasha.
- "Isn't it obvious? We're gonna tell the truth!" – replied Inuyasha irritated at the question before he turned to look at Kagome – "And stop pulling my hair, Kagome!" –
- "I'm sorry…" – said Kagome as she stopped pulling his silver hairs with a saddened face.
- "Okay, but let's see how easy it is for you to tell her about this" – said Gerardo narrowing his eyes.
- "Tell me about what?" – asked Kagome's mother gently. All the others stood upright with widened eyes and gaping mouths when they saw her on the door of the house, as they still didn't know how they would explain this whole situation.
- "Ah, Inuyasha! I see you've turned into a child again! Is that what you wanted to tell me?" – asked Kagome's mother with a gentle smile.
- "Err… no… Mrs… Higurashi… it's…" – said Gerardo as he looked at the ground while he played around with his fingers, but he didn't manage to say the entire sentence because Kagome jumped off Inuyasha's back, ran from behind him, jumped to her mother and hugged her.
- "Mommy!" –
- "Kagome? Is that you, dear?" – asked Mrs. Higurashi astonished as she looked at her daughter.
- "I've missed you so much, mommy!" – said Kagome as she held tightly to her mother.
- "We should go in. I'd like you to explain me what happened…" – said Mrs. Higurashi as she picked up Kagome and turned around to go back into the house.
- "Now what?" – asked Gabriela as she looked in alternation at her brother and Inuyasha while she tilted her head.
- "We better get done with this as soon as we can…" – replied her brother after a big sigh, so they went into the house. Inuyasha walked while looking downward, and he didn't complain because he also had to explain this: he was blaming himself for Kagome's current condition.
They went into the dining room, sat at the table, and began telling Mrs. Higurashi about everything that happened. After the explanations, Inuyasha, Gabriela and Gerardo were looking at the ground, feeling guilty for what happened to Kagome. However, Mrs. Higurashi just smiled at them.
- "Don't worry, you didn't know that would happen. Kagome might be a young child again, but at least she's safe" – said her while she patted her daughter's head.
- "But we should have gone with her at that moment…" – said Gabriela placing her hands over legs.
- "At least you and Sango, as we'd have gotten a nice slap to the face if we tried…" – said Gerardo with an ashamed face as he cut her. Gabriela just laughed upon imagining that.
- "Well, but… do you have any idea of how to get back to her normal age and with all her memories?" – asked Mrs. Higurashi while her smile vanished from her face and looked at them quizzically.
- "Not yet. That's why we're planning on going to see Kaede as soon as we can to see if she can help us with this problem" – said Gerardo placing his hands over the table.
- "Mommy, what problem's that?" – asked Kagome yawning. She wasn't paying any attention to the conversation because it sounded very boring to her.
- "It's nothing, dear…" – said her mother with a small smile.
- "I'm back!" – they heard Souta's voice from the outside.
- "What're we gonna do now!?" – said Inuyasha spooked.
- "Don't ask me!" – said Gerardo as he instantly turned at him.
- "Who's that, mommy?" – asked Kagome tilting her head.
- "It's your brother" – replied her mother with a smile.
The faces of everyone present turned blue and a shocked expression appeared on them upon hearing that, as that was exactly what they didn't want to tell her.
- "Brother?" – asked Kagome placing a finger in front of her mouth.
- "You'll see soon" – replied her mother in a sweet tone.
- "Hi, everyone!" – said Souta from the dining room door – "It's great to see you all again: Inuyasha-nii, Gerar-nii and Gabu-chan! But where's nee-chan? Didn't she get back with you all?" –
- "Look by yourself…" – said Inuyasha as he pointed to the little Kagome.
- "How weird… Wasn't she able to go back to normal when she wanted? And why's she smaller than the last time she did this?" – asked Souta as he eyed Kagome from every possible angle.
- "Who's that boy? He's my brother, mommy?" – asked Kagome as she looked at Souta.
- "She doesn't remember me? And why is she acting like a little girl?" – asked Souta turning at Gerardo and Inuyasha.
In a couple of minutes, they explained him everything that had happened to Kagome. Souta simply was overjoyed about it.
- "That's great! Now I'm the big brother!" – said he jumping around before going to hug Kagome. The girl just giggled in response to it.
- "If you ever celebrate like that if something like what happened to Kagome happens to me, you can be sure you won't be left alive to tell it…" – whispered Gerardo to his younger sister.
- "Why? Because you'll sit down above me?" – asked her in an enraged voice, which made Gerardo and Inuyasha end up with their faces on the wooden floor of the house.
- "Are you planning on replacing Kagome?" – asked Inuyasha annoyed. His voice came out partially muffled due to coming out from the ground.
- "You could say that" – said Gabriela closing her eyes, smiling and placing her hands on her hips.
- 'Just when I thought she couldn't be any more presumptuous…' – thought Gerardo gritting his teeth.
- "Kagome, it's time for you to change your clothes: that kimono you're wearing isn't really appropriate right now" – said Mrs. Higurashi while a small frown appeared on her forehead.
- "Yeah! I don't like it… it's so ugly and dark… and I wanna wear the yukata you made me for the festival!" – said Kagome skipping around her.
Meanwhile, Miroku, Sango and Shippou were going back to Kaede's village in the Warring States Era to find a lead that would help them to restore Kagome's memories. Rin and Jaken were with them, while Sesshomaru was out somewhere taking care of other matters.
- "Houshi-sama, these clouds look very strange…" – said Sango pointing to the sky: the clouds were of a very unusual reddish color, even though it was still the middle of the afternoon.
- "They're giving me a foreboding feeling. I think Naraku and Tenebross are planning something…" – said Miroku frowning as he looked at the clouds.
- "You're worrying too much" – said Shippou as he shrugged and just shook his head no with an ironic smile.
- "Shippou, are you stupid or feigning to be one?" – asked Miroku closing his eyes annoyed.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Higurashi had finally found the yukata she had been looking for in the present time after a long while searching, and Kagome was now wearing it in that moment. It was pink, adorned with birds and with a green obi. As for Kagome, she was playing with a doll her mother found in her room.
At that moment, they called at the door.
- "Mail!" – said a man's voice.
- "Oh, how unusual. We haven't bought anything, no one writes us, and it's still too early for this month's bills to be showing up…" – said Mrs. Higurrashi as she went to pick up the mail.
- "I wonder what they got…" – said Gerardo intrigued.
- "What's that mail thing?" – asked Inuyasha tilting his head.
- "These are like the messengers for the daimyos of your time, except for the fact that they serve everyone on this time" – explained Gerardo as he yawned and moved his hand away as if he were shooing bugs away.
- "Well, looks like it's only one letter…" – said Mrs. Higurashi as she returned from the entrance with the letter in her hands. She had already opened it and was in the middle of reading it – "Apparently, it's from Kagome's high school…" –
- "High school?" – said Kagome as she stopped playing and looked at her mother – "But I'm still a kindergartener, mommy…" –
- "Hehe, don't mind it, Kagome" – said Gabriela laughing nervously – "Wanna play with me?" –
- "Yay! Yeah!" – said her as she showed Gabriela a wide smile and jumped around her. Gabriela took out a dollhouse out from her Dragtemn and asked Kagome to help her set it up.
- "Talking about useless baggage… I told her that just a doll and a stuffed toy were pushing it…" – said Gerardo sweatdropping.
- "It's not like you could really stop her, huh?" – said Inuyasha sweatdropping too.
- "Anyway, shall we give the letter a read?" – asked Mrs. Higurashi with a smile as both girls continued playing. Both boys nodded in response, so she opened up the letter and read it:
"Esteemed Higurashi-san:
We have received news about a foreign student by the name Gerardo Gallucci that wishes to begin studies at our institution starting September of the current year. We have received excellent references about him from your daughter, Higurashi Kagome, as she has told us he is quite a diligent and intelligent young man. Therefore, we have decided to summon said young man to our institution for an interview that will be held in five days. Both you and your daughter must be present at the time of the interview, while Gallucci-kun may bring along his parents or any close family member he wishes.
With nothing else to make a mention of…"
After that, there were the signature and stamp of the headmaster, the school's stamp, and the signatures of the school faculty.
- "Oh, man… this isn't good…" – said Gerardo as his face paled.
- "Why? Having gotten this letter means you have good possibilities of coming here to study, and I think that's what you wish, right?" – said Mrs. Higurashi with a smile.
- "I really want that… but we can't take Kagome there like this! That'd stain her academic history, not to mention that'd blow open her cover about her trips to the Warring States Era!" – said Gerardo as he grabbed his head with his hands.
- "Yeah… I really want to support Gerar with this, but… not if it ends causing harm to Kagome…" – said Gabriela as she looked at Kagome with a sad face while she played in the dollhouse with her doll.
- "Then you better find out how to get her back to normal as soon as you can!" – said Souta gulping.
- "Mommy! And where's daddy?" – asked Kagome at that moment with a smile as she took her eyes off from her doll. Both Mrs. Higurashi and Souta put on a sad face, but tried to dissimulate it as much as they could.
- "Er… Kagome… daddy's working pretty far away and won't come for many days, okay?" – said her mother with a smile, though her lips were trembling.
- "Oh, okay" – said Kagome to then let out a large yawn – "I'm gonna take my nap… I'm sleepy…" -
She then climbed the stairs to go to her room without paying any attention about how different the decoration was to what she knew: she merely climbed into her bed and fell asleep. When they heard the sound of the door closing, Souta and his mother let out a sigh of relief.
- "I know very well what happened…" – said Gerardo with a sad face.
- "How…?" – began Souta with widened eyes, but Gerardo raised a hand to ask him to let him go on.
- "Before answering that, it'd be good for Inuyasha to know it too…" – said Gerardo.
- "About what?" – asked Inuyasha, but he then realized the room's atmosphere had gotten quite tense despite not knowing exactly what was happening. Gerardo took a deep breath and let out a long sigh: he didn't want to say it aloud because he knew how painful it'd be for Souta and Mrs. Higurashi to think about it, but he didn't have any other choice.
- "About… Kagome and Souta not having a father anymore… That's why they now live in this shrine… because their father died on an accident…" – he then covered his face with his hands: thinking about matters related to death was really painful for him.
- "I… didn't know that…" – said Inuyasha as he looked at the floor.
- "No wonder, as Kagome never wanted to bring that topic up with anyone. That loss was so painful to her… as her father loved her so much…" – said Mrs. Higurashi closing her eyes.
- "I can't even remember him…" – said Souta with his eyes filled with tears.
- "I'm very sorry for bringing up this topic… but I thought it was important for Inuyasha to know it…" – said Gerardo as he looked at the floor with great sadness, as Gabriela hugged him.
- "It's okay, he needed to know it…" – said Mrs. Higurashi as she patted him on the shoulder – "Don't feel so bad about it… that wasn't your fault…" –
No one said anything else, so they ended the conversation right there. When dusk started setting in, they decided to go back to the Warring States Era.
- "Kagome will stay here…" – said Inuyasha in a hard tone when they were about to enter the well's shed.
- "Have you lost it? Kaede hasn't seen her yet, and we won't know how to get her back to normal like this!" – said Gerardo angry.
- "But she's gonna miss her mother and get all homesick, and we'd get her in danger if we carry her around with us! She'll also be a burden in battle!" – said Inuyasha even angrier than Gerardo as he stood on the tip of his toes to try to reach Gerardo's height, which he failed spectacularly at.
- "Both of you are making very good points. However, I'm sure Kagome will be better with you: despite this happening, I've seen you can protect her, and besides, it is necessary for her to go back to normal" – said Mrs. Higurashi carrying Kagome on her arms: aside of the yukata, the little girl was now wearing zori and tabi on her feet.
- "Go back to normal? Mommy… I'll see you again?" – asked Kagome as her eyes started getting teary.
- "Yes, sweetie. We'll see each other again" – said her mother as she put her on the ground and allowed her to stand on her own. They hugged each other, and then Inuyasha allowed her to climb on his back - "Oh by the way... Gerardo-kun?" -
- "Yes, Higurashi-san?" - asked Gerardo gulping down.
- "Later on, I'd like to ask you how you knew about what happened to my husband" - said Mrs. Higurashi with a serious face.
- "I'll do so, Higurashi-san. At a later chance, I'll explain you everything" - nodded Gerardo with a neutral expression.
- "Very well. I'll be looking forward to hearing it" - said Mrs. Higurashi with a smile - "Now, be careful. All of you" -
- "Okay. Now, let's get going!" – said Gerardo smiling as he jumped into the well ahead of everyone else.
- "That's my line!" – shouted Inuyasha as he jumped inside with Kagome on his back, while Gabriela followed them shortly later giggling.
When they reached the Warring States Era, they noticed that Miroku and Sango had camped next to the well and had left Rin, Shippou and Jaken waiting for them.
- "Hey, guys! Welcome back!" – said Shippou smiling as he walked to them
- "Hi again! How have things been here?" – asked Gerardo waving at them.
- "Well, we've got a weird weather, but nothing else aside of that" – said Shippou as his smile faded away and he pointed to the red clouds in the sky.
- "Yeah, they're so odd… it's almost night and they're still red!" – said Gabriela as she raised an eyebrow.
- "Maybe Naraku did this…" – said Inuyasha growling at the clouds, but he then heard some snores: Kagome had fallen sleep on his back.
- "Hmm, looks like she got tired from playing around so much" – said Gerardo as he smiled while looking at the girl.
- "Hehe, looks like she needed a second nap after all that!" - giggled Gabriela covering her mouth with a hand.
- "Everyone, over here!" – shouted Miroku and Sango as they ran to them.
- "Miroku, Sango! We're back!" – shouted Gabriela as she waved to them.
When they reached the others, they greeted each other, and after having tucked Kagome into a sleeping bag, they began making dinner.
- "And what were ya two doing?" – asked Inuyasha with suspicion.
- "We went to the village to check if there was anything wrong, but fortunately everything was as always" – said Sango instantly.
- "You had a bad feeling about these clouds too?" – replied Gerardo interested.
- "They did, as did I…" – replied Sesshomaru behind them.
- "Oh, I see ya decided to come back too, Sesshomaru" – said Inuyasha in a mocking tone.
- "Do you think of me as a coward, hanyou brat?" – said Sesshomaru with a mocking smile.
- "Don't-dare-to-call-me-that-Sesshomaru!"- shouted Inuyasha in a single breath from the rage.
- "Sit down!" – shouted Gabriela, which made Gerardo and him fall to the ground.
- "What was that for…?" – asked annoyed both from the ground.
- "I'm sorry Gerar, but I had to stop Inu" – said Gabriela giggling.
- "Don't call me dog!" – said Inuyasha irate as he stood up again instantly.
- "That's how she tends to call you when she finds it a bother to say your name in full…" – said Gerardo as he rolled his eyes in annoyance after he stood up – "Well, whatever. Tomorrow's plan is visiting Kaede to check how to get Kagome back to normal, right?" –
- "Yeah. We already went to talk with her, and she told us we could find out how to get her back to normal if we take Kagome to see her…" – replied Sango.
- "We'll go tomorrow first thing to see the old hag then, as these clouds aren't giving me a good feeling" – said Inuyasha as he looked at the sky.
- "Agreed. Besides, I don't think it's a good idea that we move after it has gotten dark, or that we move Kagome while she's asleep" – said Miroku in a serious tone.
A bit later, everyone was sleeping except Inuyasha, who was looking at the sky with melancholy from the tree branch where he was resting. Kagome and Shippou were tucked in the same sleeping bag, which was placed at the base of that same tree.
- 'Kagome… will you come back to us soon?' – thought Inuyasha as he looked at the stars.
- "Inuyasha, are you okay?" – asked Gerardo: he had gotten up and went to see him.
- "Yeah, but why do ya care about it?" – replied Inuyasha with suspicion.
- "You can't sleep, right? Because of how worried you're about Kagome…" – said Gerardo as he looked at him before gazing at the starlit sky.
- "That's none of yer business!" – said Inuyasha unpleasantly as he blushed, having the feeling he was having his thoughts read.
- "Well, I just wanted to talk a bit, as I couldn't really sleep either… as I really care about her too… Kagome's very special to me too…" – said Gerardo blushing and looking downward.
- "What do you mean!?" – said Inuyasha getting angry, beginning to guess what he was trying to say.
- "I've dropped enough clues, so I'll let you find out by yourself. Now, we better try going to sleep again, as we can't be all sleepy if the monsters attack us, huh?" – said Gerardo as he turned around and went back to his sleeping back.
- "Keh… what a weird guy, but why he said all that? What is he planning?" – said Inuyasha to himself, and then he kept on staring at the sky until he fell asleep.
Next morning, they went to the village immediately after they finished eating breakfast.
- "What a waste of time… making that human brat regain her memories…" – said Jaken as they crossed the Inuyasha Forest to reach the village.
- "Jaken-sama, don't be so mean to poor Kagome-chan…" – said Rin with a look of sadness. However, Inuyasha couldn't contain himself and punched him on the head.
- "And I'll make ya see hell if ya insult Kagome again!" - shouted Inuyasha.
- "You don't mind him punching your friend?" – asked Kagome to Sesshomaru innocently, but he didn't reply at all – "I guess no…" –
When they were about to reach the village, Gerardo stood still and looked at the sky with a hand open aloft.
- "Everyone, rain's coming…" – said him. He already had the ability to feel when it was about to rain before all this began, and now he had received powers over water, this amplified that ability to the point that if he said it was going to rain, that was what would happen shortly later.
- "We know, but if it rains, we can be sure it won't be normal rain…" – said Miroku as he looked at the sky too.
- "Keh, like we thought. Naraku must be behind this" – said Inuyasha arrogantly.
- "But… what reason does he have for this?" – asked Sango as she stopped in her tracks and placed a hand over her mouth.
- "Sango, you can't even imagine what is about to happen there… Mwahaha!" – said Naraku as he watched them from his hideout – "Kagura… make the cursed rain fall…" –
- "Very well…" – said Kagura irritated as she swung her fan in circles. This made the rain to start falling upon the village.
- "What's happening!? It's raining, and the rain is dark pink-colored!" – said Shippou scared from Sango's shoulder, while the girls shrieked and covered their heads with their hands and the boys prepared to fight.
Instantly, Gerardo's and Gabriela's Seirei Crystals began shining and formed a barrier around them, covering Inuyasha, Kagome, Miroku, Shippou, Sango, Kirara, Rin, Jaken and Sesshomaru. However, this didn't allow them to hear or see what was happening outside.
- "What's happening outside? And why did our crystals do this?" – asked Gabriela looking around scared.
- "I don't know, but there must be a very good reason for this…" – replied Gerardo with a serious face while he had a hand over Ryuuga's hilt, which made everyone look at him worried.
Meanwhile, outside the barrier…
- "Kaede-sama, we're in trouble!" – said a villager.
- "What is it?" – said Kaede at once.
- "There's a weird rain falling outside!" – said the villager.
However, Kaede didn't even have the time to rise from the wooden floor, as the rain had the property of phasing through solid matter and began drenching them.
- "Looks like the rain is ending…" – said Sango when she noticed how the water droplets were sounding less and less frequent on the barrier.
- "Great! I was getting bored with being here!" – said Kagome as she yawned.
- "And I was getting sick of having humans around…" – said Jaken, which only got him beat up by everyone around him, except for Inuyasha, Kagome, Shippou, Rin and Sesshomaru.
Shortly later, the barrier dissipated by itself, and when they could see what was taking place at the village, they couldn't believe it: there were children crying everywhere and calling their parents, most of which were wearing clothes several sizes larger than their own. The few that were actually wearing clothes that fit them were trying to calm down the crying ones.
- "What in hell happened here!?" – said Inuyasha looking from a side to another, while the others stood frozen in place with their mouths open. Sesshomaru didn't even react to this.
- "Look! Strangers, and they came with three youkai and a hanyou!" – said one of the children, and instantly they all ran into the huts to hide. The only ones that didn't do this were the ones that had been trying to calm the others, which stood and looked in a plying way to the group.
- "Looks like they have something of an aversion to hanyou and youkai now…" – said Miroku rubbing his forehead.
- "Excepting for them…" – said Gabriela as she pointed at them with a closed hand.
- "Erm… can you tell us what happened here?" – asked Gerardo as they went to the children.
- "Um, a strange dark pink rain began falling over the village…." – said a girl that wore a dark blue kosode.
- "Yeah, and that rain went through the roofs of our huts, and while it didn't do anything to us, it did that to our parents, grandparents and all the adults in the village…" – continued a boy wearing a green kosode.
- "They all turned into kids like us and didn't remember anything about us… they thought we were from another village or something…" – said another girl that seemed to be at the border of tears who wore a red kosode.
- "Hmm, okay… thanks…" – said Gabriela bowing before them.
- "But, what we're gonna do now?" – said a boy wearing a brown kosode.
- "We understand more or less the situation now, but we need a moment to come up with some ideas" – said Sango to calm them down for a moment as she went back to others and they began thinking.
- "Well, looks like the rejuvenating water doesn't affect children at all" – said Miroku to Sango with his eyes closed.
- "Yes, and it doesn't even erase their memories of anything… how strange…" – said Sango placing a hand on her chin.
- "Huh? What're you talking about?" – asked Kagome while she tilted her head.
- "About nothing!" – replied both nervously.
- "However, this is quite a predicament… we can't leave the village with how things are now…" – said Miroku as he looked around. But then, they began hearing some shouts from in front of them.
- "Kikyou-onee-sama! Kikyou-onee-sama!" – shouted a girl who was wearing a miko outfit several times her size. She had black hair, brown eyes, and had quite a resemblance to Kagome and Rin. She had a black patch hanging from the right side of her head, even though her eyes seemed fine.
- "Huh? Who is that girl, and why is she calling Kikyou?" – asked Sango puzzled.
- "Hey, never call my sister in such an impolite manner!" – said the girl in an irate voice as she ran to them, but she tripped with the hem of her oversized hakama and tumbled into the ground. The patch she had on her head fell to the ground - "Ah!" -
- "Hey kid, are you okay?" – asked Inuyasha as he walked to her and knelt next to her.
- "Yeah, I think so…" – said the girl with her eyes closed, but she when she opened them again, they grew wider as she focused them on Inuyasha – "Is that you, Inuyasha?" –
- "How do you know my name!?" – said Inuyasha shocked.
- "But how can you be him, if he's so tall? And how did you get the rosary my sister made?" – asked the girl sitting up next to him when she saw him and noticed the rosary.
- "How do you know Kikyou?" – asked Inuyasha, but upon checking the girl's face more closely, he hit himself on the forehead – 'Can I be any more stupid? I've already seen this girl, even though that was 50 years ago!' –
- "You're Kaede, right?" – said Gerardo as he stared at her with eyes the size of saucers..
- "Huh? How do you know me? Who're you?" – asked Kaede tilting her head.
- "We're Inuyasha's friends!" – said Gabriela smiling.
- "So you're actually Inuyasha, and you even got friends… but… how did you get so little?" – said Kaede puzzled.
- "That's a long story…" – said Inuyasha sighing.
- "And haven't you seen my sister?" – asked Kaede looking around for signs of her.
- "Yeah, we met with her a few days ago…" – said Inuyasha blushing. Kagome felt a tinge of irritation upon seeing this for some reason, but didn't know exactly why.
- "I hope you didn't try to snatch away the Pearl from her hands…" – said Kaede with an accusing voice.
- "You mean this thingy?" – said Shippou as he jumped to take away the flask with the Shikon shard from Kagome's neck and flashed it to Kaede.
- "That's a shard of the Pearl? The Pearl's then…" – said Kaede as her eyes widened even more, but then she lowered her gaze to the ground – "But how…? My sister was protecting it… how could it have been shattered?" –
- "That's an even longer story…" – said Inuyasha exasperated – 'And one I'm not really in the mood to tell now… Plus, I don't wanna think how she'd react if she knew everything that happened to Kikyou…' –
Inuyasha didn't have many hopes for this working due to Kaede getting her memories wiped, but he still decided to try his luck:
- "By the way… do you know any methods for restoring memories to someone?" – said him crossing his arms.
- "Why do you ask?" – asked Kaede raising an eyebrow.
- "Because this girl, Kagome, lost her memories and we're trying to make her regain them. That's why we came here, to see if you… err… if Kikyou knew something about it…" – said Inuyasha a bit nervous as he brought Kagome in front of Kaede, and he shook his head as he corrected himself. Fortunately, Kaede didn't seem to notice the little change he made mid-phrase, and instead she just looked at Kagome to then examine the medallion she had around her neck. Apparently, she understood everything once she did.
- 'This girl doesn't look much bigger than me… but she feels kinda wise, like grandpa… Why's that?' – thought Kagome with her mouth gaping as Kaede examined her. Kaede just nodded and turned to Inuyasha.
- "Hmm, looks like someone put some kind of curse on her to erase her memories and null out the restoring effects of the medallion. This is also what caused the memory jewel the medallion had to be destroyed…" – she explained with a frown on her brow.
- "How do you know all that?" – said Miroku blinking several times.
- "My sister explained several things to me, Houshi-sama…" – said Kaede in a mysterious tone as she smiled with her eyes closed.
- "And do you know if it's possible to find another jewel for the medallion?" – asked Sango.
- "It is, but you'd have to go to Ryuusei Village, which is pretty far away from here…" – said Kaede sighing in a lonesome way.
- "Well, that's no problem! We can go there right now!" – said Gerardo rolling one hand in a fist and smiling.
- "Then, I wanna go with you! I wanna go and learn about that village!" – said Kaede as her face lit up with a smile and her eyes started sparkling.
- "But haven't you gone there before?" – asked Sango recoiling from her reaction.
- "No, I've only heard rumors about it… but I've also heard that's the best village among them all, and I wanna see it!" – said Kaede closing both her hands into fists and placing them before herself. However, she then focused on Sango – "Uh, onee-san? Are you part of the youkai slayers?" –
- "Uh… y-yes, I am… you guessed it from my Hiraikotsu?" – asked Sango as she turned around a bit so her boomerang was more visible to Kaede.
- "Yup, but it's so weird… I saw all the members of the youkai slayer clan when they gave the Shikon Pearl to my sister, but I never saw you…" – said Kaede as she looked at Sango puzzled.
- "Err… I'm sure it was because I was carrying out a job request at that time in another place…" – said Sango smiling nervously, remembering her father told her once that her grandfather was the chief of the clan 50 years ago, and it was him who gave Kikyou the Pearl. Kirara then meowed on her shoulder.
- "Ah, okay… Well, shall we get going?" – asked Kaede with a smile.
- "Um… I hate to ask this but… are you going dressed like that?" – asked Gerardo, pointing out the obvious. Kaede looked down at herself, and when she noticed how the clothes she was wearing were so large for her size, she screamed in embarrassment and ran off back to her hut, pulling up the hem of her hakama to not trip again and leaving the tabi and zori she had been wearing up to that point on the ground.
- "Well, I think it's pretty obvious what happened here" – said Gerardo looking around.
- "Yeah. Looks like the rain was made from rejuvenating water, and someone tried to keep us from meeting with Kaede…" – said Miroku looking up at the sky with a frown on his brow.
- "Keh, but it failed: we still got info on how to get Kagome back to normal, so we just gotta go to that Ryuusai Village…" – said Inuyasha smiling.
- "It's Ryuusei…" – said Gabriela sighing.
- "Keh, whatever!" – said Inuyasha turning around and crossing his arms. The next instant, Kaede got out from her hut wearing an orange kosode with black markings and a green obi: she looked exactly like she did 50 years ago, when Kikyou was still alive. She also was carrying a small bow and a quiver filled with arrows and had zori on her feet.
- "Can we get going then?" – asked Kaede with a smile.
- "Eh… but what about Kikyou?" – asked Gerardo crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow.
- "I wrote her a letter explaining I'll be going away for some days" – replied Kaede smiling, without giving much importance to it.
- "Umm, and where did you get these zori?" - asked Gabriela crossing her arms and tilting her head.
- "Um, there was a new pair next to the place where I got this kosode" - said Kaede looking downward at her feet - "It's so weird too, since it's been months since onee-sama bought a pair for me..." -
- "Maybe she had bought them for you in case you needed them?" - whispered Gerardo at his sister.
- "Yeah... But it's kinda late for that now, don't you think?" - said Gabriela while smiling sadly at him.
- "However, we still have a problem… who's going to take care of the children here? There are no adults around…" – said Sango as she looked at the group of children that were looking at them all.
- "That's true… and so weird…" – said Kaede noticing the situation in the village was anything but normal.
- "Kaede-sama!" – they heard some voices behind them: it was a group of six children that went up to them.
- "Huh? Who're you?" – asked Kaede upon seeing them, and recoiling a bit from the fact they were all hanyou.
- "Kaede-sama, we came from Hourai Island and settled on this village a very short time ago. We hope we can be useful to you!" – said the oldest of the girls, Asagi with a smile.
- "And you're all hanyou?" – said Kaede a bit surprised, but after seeing how the smile Asagi had on her face had become slightly bitter as she nodded in response, she smiled – "Oh, but Inuyasha's one too, and he isn't so bad!" –
She then began petting Inuyasha on the head as she giggled, which irritated Inuyasha.
- "Why in hell are you treating me like a pet!?" – asked Inuyasha as he went a bit away from her.
- "Hehe, sorry about that… I couldn't help myself" – said Kaede with a smile, she then turned to Asagi with a puzzled expression – "But why do you call me "sama"? We're about the same age…" –
- "Err… it's because we hold a lot of respect for you, as you're Kikyou-sama's younger sister…" – replied Moegi closing her eyes and smiling, as Asagi couldn't come up with an answer fast enough.
- "By the way, allow us to introduce ourselves…" – said Gerardo as he and Gabriela introduced themselves. Rin also did the same thing, as also did Kagome, even though everyone already knew her.
- "Great, Dai… Inuyasha has two more weaklings on his group…" – said Roku sneering at them.
- "Yeah, they even look weaker than him…" – said Dai, but both received a blow to the head from Gerardo and Gabriela for their lack of respect.
- "You better mind your manners…!" – said Gerardo gasping in exhaustion as Gabriela stuck out her tongue at them.
- "Well, can I trust in you for this? To take care of everyone here while we're out?" – asked Kaede to turn back the conversation to its original topic.
- "Yeah! We'll gladly help you!" – said Ai smiling.
- "Umm… can I stay? I'd like to play with them…" – said Kagome pouting.
- "Sorry Kagome, but it's important you come with us" – said Sango looking at her in an apologetic way.
- "Yeah. You can play with them as much as you wish once we get back" – said Miroku patting her shoulder.
- "And I'll play with you as much as you want too, Kagome-chan!" – said Rin smiling.
So with everything settled and ready, they departed for Ryuusei Village.
- "Inuyasha-onii-chan, come visit us soon!" – shouted Ai when they were leaving the village.
- "I'll do it!" – said Inuyasha waving at her.
- "Take care!" – shouted Shion and Asagi, while Moegi just waved at them while she put on a couple of bandages on the heads of the twins, who were still crying from the pain.
- "Don't worry about us! Take good care of them!" – shouted Gerardo.
- "See ya!" – said Gabriela smiling.
- "Bye-bye!" – said Kagome and Rin.
And thus, they began their journey to find the village and return Kagome to normal.
(End of Chapter)
(Ending: Every Heart)
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