Chapter 16:
A Calm Day
(Opening: Tomodachi no Uta - CORE OF SOUL)
- "Whoa! Is that you, Kaede-obaasan?" – asked Miko surprised when they returned to the village.
- "Yup, this is how used to look fifty years ago, as weird as it sounds" – said Kaede as she put her hands behind herself and blushed a little – "But please, drop the obaasan… it makes me feel old!" –
Everyone laughed upon hearing this. The group returned to the village that night and explained to Kaede everything that had happened during their excursion that afternoon, but it wasn't until now that both Miko and Yasha had turned visible, as they couldn't continue holding in their surprise at seeing Kaede as a little girl.
- "At least that means we can play together! Nii-san and Kagome-nee could also play with us if they want!" – said Yasha nodding as he floated around them
- "But, why ya two got so surprised?" – asked Inuyasha looking at both ghosts with an eyebrow raised – "Couldn't ya see our memories now?" –
- "Hehe, it's just that watching it second-hand like that and seeing it in person isn't the same thing!" – giggled Miko.
- "And while I'd like to play with you all too, we're all too tired from what happened today, not to mention it was pretty hard on Miko and myself" – said Kagome lowering her gaze.
- "Yeah… getting expelled from your body and getting told you're just a part of someone else… hurts as you can't even imagine…" – said Miko as she looked sad at the ground.
- "I'm sorry…" – apologized Gerardo as he lowered his head and closed his eyes.
- "Well, in that situation she would have responded exactly the same no matter how softly or gently you tried to handle her" – said Miroku trying to sound logic as he put a hand on Gerardo's shoulder - "Under such situations, no one would be able to keep themselves composed" –
- "Hehe, don't worry!" – said Miko regaining her smile and perking up again – "At least that allowed me to be with onee-san and you all as we're now!" –
- "Anyway, it's getting late, so we should make dinner and get ready to sleep" – said Sango in a firm tone. All of the children voiced their disappointment.
- "But I wanna go play now…" – said Shippou as he pouted.
- "But Sango's right. We'll have a lot of time to play tomorrow, so let's eat and rest for tonight" – said Kaede with a smile.
So they ate some ramen soup Kagome had in her backpack, and once they finished and cleaned the bowls they used to eat, they went to sleep. The next morning…
- "Hey, can't catch me!" – said Miko cheerfully as she ran around chased by Yasha, Kaede, Gabriela, and Shippou.
- "Wait there!" – said Yasha as he laughed.
- "I'm gonna catch you~!" – said Shippou in a playful voice. Gabriela and Kaede just ran to Miko from opposite sides.
- "Hehe, looks like we got you!" – said Gabriela.
- "Yup!" – said Kaede with a smile.
- "Aw, I was doing so well too! And it isn't fair! You can't join forces in this game!" – said Miko pouting a little.
- "Well, there are no rules saying that" – said Gabriela giggling – "Plus, it's pretty weird playing tag when the only thing we have to do is catch someone" –
- "Yeah, but I thought it'd be fun to give it a new spin" – said Miko with a smile as she placed her hands to her sides.
- "Anyway, can we play normal tag now?" – asked Yasha putting his arms behind his head.
- "Yeah, I'm fine with it!" – said Miko. She then went to Kaede and touched her – "Tag! You're it!" –
- "Hey!" – said Kaede, but everyone ran away from her laughing before she had a chance to do anything.
- "Looks like they're having a lot of fun" – said Kagome with a smile as she looked at them playing.
- "Are you okay with just doing this, Kagome?" – asked Gerardo crossing his arms as he looked at her – "Keeping your age while letting Miko have a physical form isn't being too draining on you?" –
- "Not much actually" – said Kagome. She felt a slight weight on her body, but she didn't think it'd be much problem to handle it – "I thought it'd make me feel more tired, but looks like it isn't so much of a strain on me" –
- "But ya could've just gone and played with them too" – said Inuyasha staring at her with his arms crossed and his hands hidden by his sleeves – "Doing this looks to me like yer just wasting yer energy" –
- "You're the one to talk, as you're doing the same thing as me" – said Kagome laughing a bit, which made Inuyasha scoff irritated and look away.
- "In any case, let's let them play a little more. Then, we'll get ready to go back to your time" – said Gerardo with a smile, to which Kagome just nodded in response.
After a while, Kagome called out to them to make Miko, Gabriela and Yasha know they were preparing to leave. They all looked sad, but knew they had to go. However, before they departed…
- "Kagome… I need to ask you something…" – said Kaede in a serious voice as she walked to Kagome.
- "Huh? What is it?" – asked Kagome a bit worried upon seeing her gaze and the way she was talking.
- "Please… return me to my true age…" – said Kaede as she looked at her with sadness.
- "Eh!? Are you sure about this?" – asked Kagome as she widened her eyes.
- "Are you really ready for that?" – asked Sango every bit as surprised as Kagome.
- "I am. I have regained all my memories now… and I know everything that has happened so far…" – said Kaede as she looked downward and closed her eyes with a pained gesture. She then smiled a sad smile at Kagome – "I actually have enjoyed all the time I spent being a child again, but… I can't keep doing this forever… I'm the miko that protects and leads this village, and I can't continue running away or shirking my responsibilities and duties… plus, I can't forget all the things onee-sama told me…" –
- "I see… it's still sad that you have to do this though…" – said Miko saddened as she placed her a hand over her own chest.
- "And we only got to play with you once…" – said Yasha as he looked at her with a sad gaze.
- "I know… but you understand me, right?" – asked Kaede. She closed her eyes briefly, and gave them a lonesome smile when she had opened them again.
- "We do. Still, I have to say that you're still the Kaede I respect so much despite having that appearance now" – said Kagome with a smile as she rummaged through her backpack until she found something and took it out: it was a bottle of aging water.
- "Thanks" – said Kaede with a smile as she took it from Kagome's hands – "I know it could end up being impossible… but if there's ever any chance of me turning into a child and playing with you all again… I'd really like to take advantage of it…" –
- "I'd have turned into my child form and played with you too if I knew you were going to turn back so soon…" – said Kagome to herself saddened as Kaede went away back to her hut. Inuyasha didn't say anything, but he had a slight sadness in his hard expression too.
They decided to leave Kaede alone as she changed back, so they went back to the well in order to go back to the present, as Kagome thought it was time to go see her family and friends, not to mention she'd have to introduce Miko to them too. Miko and Yasha both returned to phantasmal form before departing.
- "By the way, there's something I've been wondering" – said Kagome as she looked at Gerardo and Gabriela as they walked to the well – "Why you still haven't gone back to see your family and friends?" -
- "Err… we've been communicating with them through the Dragtemn every day, but we haven't wanted to go back because something could happen that;d made it hard for us to come back here" – said Gerardo as he closed his eyes for an instant and closed a hand over his Seirei Crystal.
- "It's 'cuz our dad's very strict" – said Gabriela shivering a bit upon remembering the ways in which he scolded them.
- "You both should still go pay them a visit. And I hope you don't mind if I go too" – said Kagome with a smile.
- "Thanks for the offer, but are you sure about that?" – asked Gerardo as he let go of the crystal and tilted his head in her direction.
- "Yeah, don't mind it. Besides, I've gotta go with you, as it's the least I can do after everything you've done for us" – said Kagome as she smiled from Inuyasha's back.
- "It can't be helped, I'm gonna go too" – sighed Inuyasha – "I'll make sure ya don't take any longer than necessary" –
- "Well, it's always great to have you around…" – said Gabriela sarcastically before letting a small sigh. She then exchanged a glance with her brother: they both thoughts things possibly wouldn't turn out well like this.
After a while, they finally reached the well, bid their farewells to the others, and jumped in. When they felt they reached the other side, Inuyasha jumped out with Kagome on his back while Gerardo made a water column under himself and Gabriela in order to raise themselves out of the well. Once out, Gerardo reabsorbed the water into his body.
- "What? Couldn't ya just climb your way out?" – scoffed Inuyasha annoyed at how Gerardo got Gabriela and himself out of the well. He thought he was doing it just to show off his powers.
- "Sorry if you didn't like it, but I wanted to do something simpler to get Gaby and myself out of the well" – said Gerardo shrugging with a smile.
- 'He's such an annoyance at times,' – thought Inuyasha as he gritted his fangs – 'Always taking thing so lightly…' -
- "Err… is anything the matter?" – asked Gerardo narrowing his eyes severely as he looked at Inuyasha: he seemed to be throwing ice pieces from them.
- "It's… it's nothing…" – said Inuyasha as he turned around.
- "I hope so" – said Gerardo as they all left the well's shack.
- "I don't think anything important will happen with just showing mom, grandpa and Souta the new member of our family" – said Kagome cheerfully as they walked to the house.
- "But how're you gonna explain it to them?" – asked Gabriela.
- "You'll see soon. Don't worry about it" – replied Kagome with a smile as she winked at her.
- "Onee-san, I wanna meet our family now… I've already seen them in your memories, but I wanna meet them myself" – said Miko raising her closed hands at her chest while she smiled.
- "And you'll meet them. Just wait a little more" – said Kagome in a gentle voice.
- "Inuyasha-nii-san, I think this is gonna get interesting!" – said Yasha with a smile as he looked at Kagome walking to the house's door.
- "Do ya really think this is gonna be fine?" – asked Inuyasha to Yasha just to see how his younger self nodded back at him – "Fine, but don't start crying if ya get nostalgic about our mother!" -
- "Okay, okay, got it!" – replied Yasha annoyed crossing his arms and pouting as everyone entered Kagome's house alongside her – 'Shucks, he makes mountains out of molehills… this was what I turned into when I grew up?' –
- "Hehe… Gerar… looks like Inuyasha is having an inner fight" – whispered Gabriela as she giggled.
- "Yeah. I've heard about personality clashes, but I never thought they'd be so literal" – whispered Gerardo with a bemused smile, as they both made efforts to not begin laughing. After a few seconds, they followed the others into the house.
- "Mom, grandpa, Souta! We're back!" – announced Kagome to then look at Miko – "Keep yourself hidden to give them a surprise" –
- "What kinda surprise?" – asked Miko excitedly.
- "We'll split ourselves, okay?" – said Kagome as she winked at her.
- "Okay, let's do it!" – said Miko winking back as she softly vanished in the air.
- "Yasha, do the same thing" – said Inuyasha – "If we wanna make Kagome's plan a success, let's play along them. I don't wanna be the spoilsport here" -
- "Okay..." – replied Yasha as he sighed exasperated.
- "And we'll keep our mouths shut about this until the right time, okay? Gaby?" – asked Gerardo smiling at his sister.
- "Yeah, I'm fine with it!" – replied her as she laughed.
A few moments later, Kagome's whole family came to greet them. They then invited them to go into the dining room for dinner. When they sat down, Kagome asked her mother to bring enough rations for two more people.
- "Are you expecting anyone else, dear?" – asked Mrs. Higurashi gently.
- "Yeah, mom, something like that… you'll see once you've finished serving the food" – said Kagome with a smile.
- "Can you tell me at least the names of our guests?" – asked her mother tilting her head.
- "It's part of the surprise" – replied Kagome as she smiled mysteriously.
There were no more questions from Mrs. Higurashi, so Kagome called the others and Souta for them to help with the preparations for dinner. Once they were finished and sat down to eat, Kagome said it was time, so both she and Inuyasha changed their medallions to the "Separation" position at the same time.
At that time, Miko and Yasha appeared in the room with physical forms, while Kagome and Inuyasha were reduced to half their ages, with Kagome wearing again the green kosode and Inuyasha wearing the same clothes as Yasha.
- "They are evil spirits!" – screamed Kagome's grandfather alarmed – "Beware everyone! They want to steal our souls!" –
- "They're nothing of that sort, grandpa!" – shouted Kagome enraged upon seeing how this made Yasha and Miko look down at the table in sadness.
- "Kagome, can you explain this?" – asked her mother covering her mouth with a hand.
Kagome nodded and started explaining everything as carefully as she could; helped by Inuyasha, Gerardo and Gabriela, telling all the details she could remember: the rejuvenating water, the memory medallion, and more recently, her forced separation from Miko and the change of her memory medallion into a link medallion.
- "And that's the gist of it, mom" – said Kagome finishing her explanation as she sat down next to Miko – "We could say she's my sister and your daughter. Her name's Miko" -
- "So I have three children now?" – asked Mrs. Higurashi blinking a few times.
- "Yeah, sorta" – said Kagome with a tense smile as she put a hand on Miko's back and gently pushed her so she'd stand up – "Come. Get up and introduce yourself" -
- "I… my name…" - said her as she started put her hands in front of herself. She blushed as she looked downward - " I'm Miko… pleased to meet you… mom… grandfather… Souta..." –
- "You're so cute!" – said Mrs. Higurashi as she walked to Miko and embraced her – "You look just like Kagome when she was your age!" –
- "Mom, I'm that age again…" – said Kagome after a brief sigh.
- "Well, I guess I have two little sisters now!" – said Souta puffing his chest proudly.
- "Mom… I'm so glad to have at last a place I belong to…" – said Miko as she began shedding tears of joy.
- "Miko… ah, of course… you had to go through many hardships in that time, right?" – asked Mrs. Higurashi gently, to which Miko just nodded – "Don't worry. I promise you'll never have to go through these things again" –
- "Mom… I love you…" – said Miko as she hugged her more tightly and began crying on her chest, which also made Kagome start shedding tears.
- "I'm so glad for you... my little sis..." - said her in a barely audible voice as she wiped her eyes.
- "Nii-san, I really miss mom a lot too" – said Yasha as she looked at Miko and her mother melancholically – "And I can't help but feel envious of Miko and Kagome…" -
- "Keh… that's why I told you to not get all nostalgic if you saw this" – scoffed Inuyasha.
- "Come on, there's no need to get all like that" – said Gerardo – "Don't you know there are moments for everything on life? For being happy, sad, and such?" –
- "Yeah. If Yasha wants to show his feelings, let him!" – said Gabriela.
- "Thanks guys, but I think I'm fine now" – said Yasha as he wiped his eyes with the sleeves of his haori – "A true man needs to have a strong heart too, right?" –
Gerardo and Gabriela nodded at him with a smile.
- "By the way mom, that means I'm the big brother now?" – asked Souta excitedly, which made everyone turn at her.
- "Not so fast, Souta!" – said as she placed her medallion in the special separation position, thus returning to her normal age.
- "Wow!" – said Kagome's grandfather surprised – "Kagome has gone back to being herself!" -
- "This medallion lets Miko and me exist in the same body, but it also lets us split up and keep my age when we split" – said Kagome smiling proudly before looking at Souta – "Sorry for not letting you get that dream made real, Souta" –
- "It's okay. I still have at least a little sister, right? Miko?" – said Souta, to which Miko just smiled in response.
- "Well, well, it's okay for you all if we begin eating and leave talking for later?" – asked Mrs. Higurashi gently – "Food's going to get cold" –
Everyone went back to their seats and immediately began eating. The dinner was steamd rice with some salad and fish. Miko and Yasha were enthralled with the food, and everyone immediately noticed how well-mannered Miko was being on the table, as well as how much Gerardo and Gabriela hated greens, as they completely refused to eat salad.
- "I'm very sorry, but I don't like salad at all" – said Gerardo after they both declined respectfully the invitation to eating it.
Kagome's
grandfather continued insisting, saying it was very healthy and many
other reasons, which despite being true, weren't enough for either of
the siblings to change their posture.
A while later, they all had
finished eating and began helping Kagome's mother with the cleaning of
the table and ware. Then it came the time to go to sleep, though it was
at this time that Kagome couldn't continue keeping the special
separation in effect and turned back into her child form. Then, she,
Miko and Gabriela went to her room to go to sleep, while Gerardo,
Inuyasha, Yasha and Souta had to share another room.
Kagome gave Miko a pink pajama decorated with yellow stars while she herself put on a light green one. Gabriela took out from her baggage a white sleeping gown with pink borders. After they all went to the bathroom, Gabriela lied down on the futon they prepared, and Miko and Kagome had tucked themselves on the bed, they all went to sleep. Similarly, Souta put on his pajama while the others took out and prepared the futon to then go to sleep.
Next morning, they ate some sandwiches for breakfast and prepared to go to Gerardo and Gabriela's world. But first, they decided to walk around for a bit in order to show Miko and Yasha how the present world was.
- "Seeing something isn't the same as experimenting it" – said Gerardo after they finished eating breakfast. Inuyasha scoffed, but as he also wanted to let Yasha have some fun, he accepted. Before going out, Gerardo changed his clothes again to a blue shirt with a pair of blue jean pants and brown shoes, while Gabriela put on a white blouse with a pink skirt with white sandals.
Kagome and Inuyasha used the special separation to let their younger counterparts appear, and then they gave Miko some space for her to change her clothes. She put on the same clothes Kagome's mother had bought for her previously, though she exchanged her sandals for a pair of socks and shoes, and decided to leave her hair tied. Yasha only donned a cap like Inuyasha did. Kagome herself was wearing a white dress with a blue jacket over it and sandals. They then announced they would go for a walk and went out.
Both Yasha and Miko rushed in ahead of the others, while they just followed them with a smile on their faces.
They first went to the mall, and there they began doing some window shopping in the ones that caught their respective interests, though they pretty much had to drag Gerardo and Gabriela away from the music, book and videogames ones. They then went to the food court to eat some hamburgers.
- "Hmm… it's tasty!" – said Miko as she munched and gulped down a bit from it – "Onee-san, I knew it was tasty from your memories, but it feels even better to actually try 'em out!" –
- "I'm glad you liked it!" – said Kagome with a smile.
- "Yeah, they're great!" – said Yasha as he bit another part of the burger and gulped it down. He then turned to see Inuyasha and sighed – "Too bad nii-san doesn't know how to taste it..." –
He said this because Inuyasha was trying to gulp it down whole instead of eating it bit by bit.
- "Hehe, though it seems weirder to me that your personalities are so different from each other" – said Gerardo as he finished his and cleaned off his hands and mouth with a napkin.
- "Maybe it's because I could get friends, while he never had any…" – said Yasha saddened.
- "Keh, the past doesn't matter now" – scoffed Inuyasha.
- "Well, at least you have us now. Too bad we can't change that" – said Kagome saddened.
- "As Inuyasha said, we shouldn't worry about the past and just remember it when we have to learn something from it" – said Gerardo.
- "Hehe, Gerar always comes up with these phrases" – said Gabriela giggling.
- "His advice is always good, though he could also try paying attention to what he himself is saying" – said Kagome laughing a little. Gerardo blushed, though he didn't really know how to take her words. Kagome then seemed to have remembered something, as she added – "By the way, did you ask for the dessert?" -
- "Agh… heck, I forgot about entirely. Sorry" – said Gerardo as he stood up and blushed – "I'll bring it right away" -
- "His memory is awful" – said Inuyasha as they saw how he went to a nearby ice cream shop to buy the dessert.
- "Yeah, that's a terrible flaw of his" – said Gabriela sighing.
- "Well, at least it's only brief lapses. It's nothing out of normal" – said Kagome.
Gerardo bought one ice cream for each, and then returned to the table where they all were sitting.
- "Here you go. Sorry to have made you wait" – said as he gave everyone one until only he had one on his hands, which was a strawberry and pistachio one. Kagome got a vanilla and chocolate one, Gabriela a blackberry and strawberry one, Inuyasha a chocolate and mint one, and Miko and Yasha got ice creams of the same flavors as their older versions.
- "What're these?" – asked Inuyasha as he sniffed his ice cream in suspicion.
- "They are a very tasty kind of sweets" – replied Kagome as she ate hers.
- "The best way to describe it would be like snow with added flavors" – said Gerardo as he also gave a bite to his ice cream.
- "Come on, try it" – said Gabriela as she licked hers – "How many times you've eaten something that seems odd at first sight and you end up liking it after tasting it?" –
Inuyasha remembered all the foods from the present time that Kagome had made him taste and this made him notice Gabriela was right. Besides, Miko and Yasha had already begun eating theirs and were ecstatic tasting them. So he took his ice cream and gave it a small bite.
- "It tastes great!" – said he amazed – "How can this weird snow taste so well?" -
- "That's because they add flavors to it using different methods" – said Gerardo making a small pause from eating, looking at how Inuyasha was gobbling his ice cream down – "Ah, and I don't advise you to eat it too fast" -
- "Why?" – asked Inuyasha, and he immediately began having a strong headache, so he grabbed his head with a hand – "Agggh!" -
- "I warned you" – said Gerardo as he smiled in ironic fashion with his eyes closed. Gabriela, Miko and Kagome were laughing, while Yasha was looking with worry to his older version.
- "Why did he get that headache?" – asked Yasha.
- "Hihi, it's 'coz he ate the ice cream too fast, and got what we call a brain freeze" – said Gabriela, and upon seeing Yasha was going to say something, she added: - "Hihi, and don't worry: that doesn't mean he's actually gonna get his brain frozen!" –
- "Hehe! Yeah, that happens just because his palate got cold!" – said Gerardo laughing – "That headache will stop when it warms up again!" -
- "Ah, got it" – said Yasha as he began laughing with the others – "Hehe, nii-san, you shouldn't eat things so fast!" –
- "I know already!" – said Inuyasha annoyed. The pain was beginning to recede at that point.
- "Well, what do you want to do now?" – asked Kagome when they finished eating the ice cream and were getting up from the table.
- "How about going to the arcade?" – suggested Gabriela.
- "Sounds like a good idea" – said Kagome.
- "They'll have a lot of fun there for sure" – said Gerardo with a smile, to which Inuyasha only snorted.
They entered the arcade, and right away, Miko and Yasha got excited from seeing all the machines and different kinds of videogames strewn throughout the place.
- "And well, what'd you like to play?" – asked Kagome as they looked around.
- "How about that one over there?" – asked Yasha as he pointed to it. It was a racing game: Virtua Racer.
- "One about riding these weird vehicles?" – asked Inuyasha annoyed.
- "Yeah, let's go!" – said Miko cheerfully. They got closer to the game machine and Yasha got into it first. Kagome gave him some coins.
- "And what I gotta do now?" – asked Yasha confused.
- "Just put them in this slot, and I'll tell you what you have to do" – said Kagome. She began explaining to Yasha how the controls were and which the point of the game was. After a few minutes, Yasha had put a coin in and began playing. Everyone began giving him indications about how to play.
- "Go there!" –
- "No, speed up!" –
- "Push the brakes!" -
And he ended up in last place…
- "I lost…?" – asked Yasha disappointd.
- "Hehe, it's because you're not playing well" – said Miko with a smile – "Let me show you" -
Yasha gave his place to Miko, she put a coin in and began playing. She started off very well and it seemed like she was going to win… until halfway through the race, she made a mistake and got her car stuck in a hill, making her lose.
- "No… way…" – said Miko disappointed.
- "Looks like you are no better than me…" – said Yasha looking at her.
- "I don't need you to tell me that!" – said Miko angry. This surprised everyone.
- "Whoa, I didn't think you'd get so angry over a simple game" – said Gerardo as he adjusted his glasses.
- "Looks like there're still unpleasant parts from Kagome's personality in her…" – said Inuyasha. Miko blushed as she looked at the ground angry.
- "Inuyasha, what do you mean with that?" – asked Kagome irritated.
- "Uh… nothing…" – replied Inuyasha very scared.
- 'We almost got sat down by his big mouth…' – thought Gerardo as he grabbed his glasses by the rim while he sighed in relief.
- "Well… wanna continue playing?" – asked Gabriela.
- "Yup! I think I can do better if I practice a little!" – said Miko cheerfully.
- "Same here!" – said Yasha with the same happiness as Miko.
They continued playing, and after away, they had improved considerably. They even put up a good fight against Gerardo and Gabriela, who were pretty good gamers themselves.
- "You improved pretty quickly!" – said Gerardo amazed as they left the arcade and the mall. Yasha had beaten him in the last race they had, and Miko was pretty close to beating Gabriela.
- "Hehe, it was thanks to you both!" – said Miko laughing – "I had lotsa fun with these games! What about you, Yasha?" -
- "It was pretty fun for me too!" – replied he as he put on a large smile.
- "Well, want to go to the park before we go home?" – asked Kagome.
- "Yeah!" – replied both at the same time.
- "Keh, to continue wasting time?" – said Inuyasha.
- "We're enjoying a day off, so I don't see how this is wasting time" – said Gerardo smiling as he adjusted his glasses again.
- "Yeah, don't be so fussy" – said Gabriela pouting.
- "Keh, whatever" – snorted Inuyasha crossing his arms and turning around.
- "You should lighten up a bit, Inuyasha" – said Kagome laughing – "You're making Yasha seem more mature than you with that attitude" –
- "What!?" – he shouted turning around angry, and this in turn made everyone else laugh.
They continued their walking to the park, and as soon as they arrived, Yasha, Miko and Gabriela started playing on the roundabout while Inuyasha, Kagome and Gerardo sat down on one of the benches to watch them.
- "Hehe, they look like they're having a lot of fun" – said Gerardo as he saw how they laughed and played together.
- "Yeah, it's great we brought them here" – said Kagome as she sighed with some nostalgia – "Too bad we can't join them" –
- "Why do you say that?" – asked Gerardo puzzled.
- "My child form doesn't have clothes for this time prepared, there would be two Inuyashas and we don't have another medallion for you to use" – explained Kagome.
- "I see... However, it isn't so bad to be just watching over them" – said Gerardo with a smile to then blush – "And it was so embarrassing that you saw me like that…" –
- "Yeah… but why did it hit you so badly?" – asked Kagome – "Did you have an unpleasant childhood or something?" –
- "It's not that" – said Gerardo sighing – "It's just that… well, I was much more cowardly when I was a kid… not to mention I didn't like at all what my clothes turned into…" -
- "Ah, got it" – said Kagome – "I guess both Miko and myself would have gotten embarrassed if we had that kind of personality too" –
- "Aren't you taking things too lightly, Kagome?" – said Inuyasha in a reproaching tone – "Remember we're gonna get turned into kids again if we get too tired" -
- "You're right" – said Kagome thoughtfully, but she then smiled at both boys – "But don't worry! We'll go back before that happens!" -
- "Hi, Kagome!" – greeted someone from far away.
- "Ah, hi girls!" – said Kagome when she saw her friends coming close to them. Yuka was wearing a green shirt and blue jean shorts, Eri a white blouse and a yellow skirt, and Ayumi was wearing a pink shirt and a light blue skirt.
- "Hey, how are you?" – asked Yuka cheerfully.
- "I'm feeling great today!" – said Kagome with a smile.
- "That's good to know! We hadn't seen you in so long, that we were getting worried about you!" – said Eri excitedly.
- "Yeah, it's because… I had to leave the city for some time…" – said Kagome very embarrassed, to then think relieved: - 'At least gramps isn't here to continue making up weird sicknesses for excuses…' -
- "Ah, and you've brought another boy with you!" – said Ayumi with a voice showing great interest.
- "Uh… are you talking about me?" – asked Gerardo as he pointed to himself.
- "Hehe, are you Kagome's new boyfriend?" – asked Eri laughing.
- "What!?" – said Gerardo as he turned red – "O-of course I'm not! We're just friends and nothing else!" -
He was lucky to have instantly retorted with that, as Inuyasha was flexing his claws and scowling at him.
- "Sorry! It's just that it was pretty weird for us to see Kagome with her boyfriend and another boy" – said Yuka making a silly smile.
- "He's a pen pal of mine" – said Kagome as she and Gerardo stood up for him to introduce himself - "He came from South America to study here" -
- "My name is Gallucci Gerardo. Pleased to make your acquaintance" – said as he bowed. Immediately he was assaulted by a hail of questions from Kagome's friends.
- "What country you're from?" –
- "What kind of girls you like?" –
- "Do you study a lot?" –
- "What do you do in your free time?" -
Kagome had to try to calm them down while Inuyasha smiled evilly upon seeing how confused Gerardo was trying to keep track of the questions and answer them. After a while, the children came back to them.
- "Kagome-nee! Inuyasha-nii!" – said Miko and Yasha.
- "Gerar!" – said Gabriela.
- "Oh, and who are these kids?" – asked Eri as she looked at them with a smile when they were in front of them.
- "Hehe, she's my little cousin Miko" – said Kagome laughing nervously while Miko smiled at them and Yasha looked at them with his head tilted to a side – "I think you've already met her, right?" -
- "Ah, then he must be Shintaro!" – said Yuka as she smiled at Yasha. Yasha got embarrassed while Inuyasha made a face of extreme annoyance.
- "But, is this girl a relative of yours too, Kagome?" – asked Ayumi as she looked at Gabriela.
- "No, she isn't" – said Kagome laughing.
- "No. I'm Gabriela, and I'm his younger sister!" – said her cheerfully as she jumped to her brother's arms.
- "Hehe, Gaby, that was a bit rash…" – said Gerardo smiling nervously as he caught her.
- "Hehe, well I see they do have a lot of resemblance to each other" – said Eri – "But she still has a bit of a resemblance to you, Kagome" -
- "We know…" – said Gerardo as he let out a little sigh.
- "Well, sorry to leave so quickly, but we've gotta do some shopping. See ya later!" – said Yuka as she and the others began walking away.
- "Okay. See you later!" – said Kagome as she waved a hand at them.
- "See you later!" – said everyone.
- "…At least we could get out of this one easily…" – said Kagome as she plopped down back on the bench sighing in relief.
- "Why do you say that?" – asked Gerardo.
- "And why did you say Miko was your cousin, and Yasha had a different name?" – asked Gabriela confused. Kagome explained briefly everything that happened when they returned to this time after obtaining the memory medallions, but before they got back to their normal ages.
- "I see" – said Gerardo – "I guess it was pretty tough" –
- "Yeah, it was" – said Kagome sighing.
- "And we didn't like that name… right, Yasha?" – grumbled Inuyasha.
- "Ehh… nii-san… I don't think you hafta remind her of that every time…" – said Yasha a bit scared.
- "Okay then, shall we go back home?" – said Kagome as she checked the hour in her Dragtemn – "It's 2:00 pm already, and you still have to go visit your family, right?" -
- "Agreed, we should go back" – said Gerardo. No one was against the idea, so they stood up from the bench, left the park, and went directly back to Kagome's house. When they were about to arrive, they found Hojo in the entrance to the temple.
- "Ah, Higurashi! Good afternoon!" – said Hojo waving at her – "How did your trip go?"-
- "Hi, Hojo!" – said Kagome a bit embarrassed – "It was great!" –
- "I'm glad to hear that! And I see you have your cousin and some friends with you today" – said Hojo upon noticing her little entourage.
- "Yeah, it's because we were taking a walk through the city" – said Kagome. Everyone then introduced themselves.
- "Pleased to meet you all. And well, Higurashi, I came to see how you were doing, and I brought you this" – said Hojo as he gave her a bag filled with medicines and vitamin supplements, much to her chagrin – "Try to continue being as healthy as today!" -
He then went back to his house.
- "Hojo is as weird as always…" – said Gerardo shrugging and shaking his head.
- "Well, at least he's so thick-headed that he never realizes how things are!" – said Gabriela laughing.
- "Keh, his ancestor is even worse" – said Inuyasha smiling.
- "Yeah, as his family is buried on cursed artifacts and is always sending him to get rid of them" – said Yasha laughing.
- "Come on, don't be so cruel to them" – said Miko pouting, but she then looked at Kagome with worry: she was sweating and seemed to be breathing heavily – "Are you okay, onee-san?" –
- "Yeah, I'm just feeling very tired" – said Kagome. At that point, her medallion changed by itself to its normal separation position, turning her into a little girl wearing a green kosode.
- "I guess you ran out of energy" – said Gerardo as he blinked in response to her transformation, Gabriela recoiled a bit, Yasha looked wide-eyed at her and Miko covered her mouth with her hands.
- "And she isn't the only one!" – said Inuyasha irritated with a higher pitched voice: the same thing had just happened to him.
- "We better enter my house before anyone sees us!" – said Kagome scared as they all ran into the house.
A few minutes later...
- "I've got to admit it's kind of weird to see you two in a sort of role swap" – said Gerardo eyeing both "twins" after they all had gone in and taken their shoes off – "Given that Miko was 'born' in the Warring States Era, and Kagome in this one, it's funny to see you both at the same time wearing clothes from each other's time" -
- "Hehe, yeah it's weird. But now we've gotten to this point, what isn't?" – said Kagome laughing.
- "You've got a point there" – said Gerardo smiling.
- "And looks like the kosode Orimi-san made you is coming in pretty handy, huh?" – laughed Gabriela.
- "Yeah, but it's still pretty strange that it disappeared from my backpack when we first split up, and that it still fits me so well even though I'm physically three years older than what I was when she gave it to me…" – said Kagome thoughtfully.
- "Something similar happened with the kosode Kaede-obaasan gave me…" – said Miko remembering that both attires had disappeared from the backpack – "Do you think the medallions have anything to do with this?" -
- "It's certainly possible" – said Gerardo as he looked at his Dragtemn – "If that's the case, I can only say they really think of everything in Dragonia" –
- "And are ya ready to get going to yer world?" – said Inuyasha annoyed – "I wanna get this done this as soon as possible" –
They all nodded, so after they told Kagome's family they were back and that they were about to leave, Gerardo, Gabriela and Miko used their Dragtemns to change clothes. Kagome and Inuyasha then returned their medallions to their standard positions, returning Miko and Yasha to their spectral forms.
They bid farewell to Kagome's family on the main door, saying they would come back soon, and then they crossed the well back to the Warring States Era. Once there, they reunited with the others to then unseal the portal that went back to Gerardo and Gabriela's world and crossed it. The portal sealed itself as soon as they reached Gerardo's room.
- "Ah… it feels great to be home" – said Gerardo as he walked to the door. It was Saturday, so it'd be logical for their parents to be home too.
- "We're back!" – said Gabriela after they crossed the door and exited into the living room. The next moment, their parents greeted them back with hugs.
- "Welcome home!" – said their mother, who was wearing a brown blouse and blue jean pants – "Have you been well? Have you been eating healthily?" –
- "And haven't you gotten into any dangerous situations?" – asked their father, who was wearing a green short-sleeved shirt and brown shorts.
They all sat down on the sofas as they began telling everything they had done so far, helped by the rest of the group. Their parents were impressed by the feats they and the others had done, as well as proud of their children. However, they were also concerned due to how dangerous these battles were.
- "Are you sure you want to continue with this?" – asked Mr. Gallucci crossing his arms as he looked at his children with a serious gaze
- "We are, as it's important to keep our world existing" – said Gerardo as he noded with a glare of similar intensity to his father's – "And besides, we're the only ones capable of doing this" –
- "I see. Anyway, I also have to thank Kagome, Inuyasha and the others for having taken care of you two" – said Mrs. Gallucci with a smile a she looked at the group.
- "It's nothing, Mrs. Gallucci. It's the least we could do for all the help they've given us, and to repay you for having taken care of us" – said Kagome blushing, to which Mrs. Gallucci responded with a gentle smile.
- "Keh, they're always givin' us problems" – said Inuyasha scoffing.
- "Come on, nii-san. You've also taken a liking to them both, right? And you want to spar with Gerar-nii to see who's stronger too, right?" – said Yasha laughing.
- "Hey, don't rattle that out!" – said Inuyasha enraged.
- "Hehe, looks like ya got found out!" – said Shippou laughing.
- "Even after being with us for so long, Inuyasha still hasn't learned to be open around others, huh?" – said Miroku amused.
- "Well, it's no surprise" – said Sango as she thought back to his attitude when he first got turned into a child. She then looked at Gerardo and Gabriela with a smile – "But anyway, it's true we're glad to be able to count on you two" –
- "Same here!" – said Gabriela with a bright smile.
- "Anyway, before you continue adventuring, let's take advantage of the fact you're home" – said Mr. Gallucci standing up and smiling in a rather unsettling way.
- "What do you mean?" – asked Gerardo as he started sweating. He felt he wasn't going to like what was coming.
- "I need you to wash the cars" – said his father. Everyone face-faulted backwards.
- "What!? Again?" – asked Gerardo with a dismayed face. The cars in question were a van and a small car, and washing just the first one was an exhausting task in itself to him.
- "Yes, as you haven't washed them in a long while, and we need them clean for work" – replied his father nodding while closing his eyes – "You have all the tools in the storage room, and if they want, your friends can give you a hand" -
- "Shucks… not like I can shake this off…" – muttered Gerardo as he grit his teeth and looked downward.
He went back to his room, and after a while, he changed into a white shirt and green short, which were the clothes he always used for these works. He got out the hose and hydro-jet, and prepared the soap and detergent to begin cleaning.
He first cleaned the inside of both cars with a vacuum cleaner and took out the plastic carpets to clean them by brushing them. Once he finished, he sighed with resignation as he connected the hydro-jet to the hose and plugged it in an inlet on the house's porch.
- "Want me to help?" – asked Gabriela as she walked up to him with a smile. She had changed into a simple white blouse and blue shorts.
- "Thanks, Gaby. But I'd rather not have you involved, as you could end up making a mess" – said Gerardo as he frowned. He had just finished mixing the detergent with water in a blue bucket, and was now grabbing the sponge to start scrubbing the van.
At that point they heard the door opening, and when they turned to look at it, they saw Kagome and the others coming out.
- "And… how about us?" – asked Kagome tilting her head.
- "Are you sure?" – asked Gerardo widening his eyes before putting a hand covered in soap behind his head, getting his hair full of foam – "You're our guests today, so I don't want to bother you while you're visiting us" -
- "Well, we don't have problems with giving you a hand" – said Sango winking.
- "And it looks fun!" – said Shippou jumping up and down. Miko and Yasha on the other hand were in spectral form and were looking at the cars and the tools in awe.
- "The fact is that we're gonna help ya so ya finish faster and we can go back to our world to continue our search" – said Inuyasha as he crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes.
- "Well… I can only thank you for this" – said Gerardo embarrassed but happy as he bowed his head in their direction.
- "Anyway, what we have to do?" – asked Miroku as he rolled up the sleeves of his outfit.
- "Well, are you familiar with bathing a horse?" – asked Gerardo as he gripped the sponge a bit harder.
- "Hmm… somewhat, as not many people have one" – said Sango as she rolled up her sleeves and tied a triangular kerchief around her head.
- "I've seen how these stupid nobles do it from afar" – said Inuyasha snorting while he and Kagome were also putting kerchiefs around their heads.
- "I have done so myself, as I sometimes I had to do it before selling off a horse I received from doing an exorcism" – said Miroku with a smile.
- "Well, that speeds things up a bit. Washing a car is kinda like bathing a horse, except for the fact that the car won't get into fits while you're bathing it" – said Gerardo as he walked for a moment to the storeroom and brought out a few more sponges for the others.
- "In my case, I've never washed a car before, but I have somewhat of an idea of how to do it" – said Kagome as she also put on a plastic apron that covered her from the neck down and grabbed one of the sponges.
- "In that case, shall we teach the others how to do it?" – asked Gabriela with a smile. Kagome nodded in response. She then took out from her backpack a few more aprons for the others and several pairs of rubber gloves.
After they had finished putting on the aprons, kerchiefs and gloves, they began applying the soap to the body of both cars with the sponges, while Miko and Yasha just stayed watching them from above with curiosity.
- "…This is more tiring than it seems..." – said Miroku sighing in exhaustion as he, Inuyasha and Gerardo used industrial detergent to brush off dirt and mud from the tires of the van.
- "Ironic that you say that, as this kind of wheels are called tires" – said Gerardo, which caused everyone to laugh a little upon realizing that fact – "But yeah… that's why I dislike so much doing this kind of work..." -
- "And if ya wanna end faster, why don't you use yer powers?" – asked Inuyasha after they finished cleaning the van's tires and were about to begin with the ones of the car.
- "I don't really want to do it. If the neighbors notice this, it could end up being very problematic" – said Gerardo as he began brushing the tires. He said this because his house was the last one in a dead-end street from a suburb, so they were in plain sight of other twenty houses in their current location due to the garage being actually an open garden closed off by a white wooden fence – "Even more problematic than having you all here. No offense intended, guys" -
- "But I can use my powers to make it look like we're the only ones doing it the normal way" – said Gabriela as she dropped her sponge in the bucket for a moment and put a finger on her chin.
- "Hmm, in that case, you really should. You mean to use a light veil to refract light, right?" – said Kagome as she stopped scrubbing for a moment and looked at her.
- "Making illusions again?" – asked Inuyasha annoyed.
- "But would you be against it if that reduces your work load?" – asked Miroku with interest.
- "Keh…" – he snorted in defeat.
- "Okay, okay… let's do it, as I want to get this over with already" – said Gerardo exasperated after he had finished brushing all the car's tires – "Gaby, make sure to cover us well. I want to make sure no one else learns about this" -
- "Got it!" – said her smiling. She then raised her hands aloft, causing the whole garden to be encased by a veil of light. She then began chanting to keep it active – "Alt tok, xiung paph lusya kivaul tsuconnu serkisv..." –
- "Okay, thanks! Try to bear it for a while, as I'll try to not take too long with it!" – said Gerardo in a decided voice as he used his powers to take out the water from the buckets and pass it at full pressure over the van and the car, removing the soap and dirt from them in a single stroke.
He then gathered all the water that remained in both cars, raised it up to turn into a mass of dirty water, and finally he evaporated it over the trash can to make all the dirt fall inside.
- "Phew… I'm done..." – said Gerardo in a satisfied voice, but his smile quickly turned to concern when he saw how, while Gabriela was still chanting, she also was sweating and her face showed she was trying to bear with a large strain. He then signaled everyone to the house's door – "Everyone, go inside, as it's time for Gaby to lift the veil!" -
Gabriela stopped chanting right after everyone was inside, which cancelled the effects of the veil. She then went inside while Gerardo stayed out a bit longer to take all the tools back to their respective places in the storeroom.
- "And we're done…" – said Gerardo as he plopped down on the sofa in the living room. Gabriela sat down at his side completely exhausted, as also were the others.
- "Yer making such a fuss. It wasn't as hard as ya said it'd be" – said Inuyasha in a mocking tone as he looked with a derisive smile at him.
- "Inuyasha-nii" – said Yasha shaking his head as if he were giving up on something – "You forgot they're humans?" –
- "Remember we don't have the monstrous strength you have" – said Sango sighing.
- "We're all tired, as we all had to do something with cleaning the cars" – said Kagome as she looked at him with an unimpressed face.
- "Though Gerardo-kun and Gaby-chan must be the ones that are tired the most" – said Miroku as he leaned his head in their direction – "Given they used their powers to accomplish this task and they are quite draining on their strength" –
- "And you have to do this all the time?" – asked Miko as she covered her mouth with her hands.
- "No, usually it's only once or twice per month" – said Gerardo shaking his head as he got up. He went to the kitchen, and after a few minutes, he returned with a silver tray on which there were several glasses of varying sizes and a water jar which he put in the small table that was between the sofas – "Please drink from it, as you all must be thirsty. Also, could you wait here for a while?" –
- "What're ya gonna do now?" – asked Inuyasha annoyed.
- "We're just going to take a bath" – said Gerardo sighing – "I don't intend to leave until I've gotten off all the dirt I got from the cleaning. If you want, you can also turn the TV on or read some of the books on my room while you wait" -
- "And I don't plan to leave like this either!" – said Gabriela as she motioned her hands as if he were showing the state of her dirt-stained clothes, so they both went to their room, got out their clothes and went directly to bathe: first was Gerardo, and after that, it was Gabriela's turn. Kagome took Gerardo's word and got out a couple of books from his library: an atlas, a history book, and some others; so the group spent the time listening to the explanations Kagome gave them about how much the world had changed in a little less than 500 years.
Everyone was fascinated listening to her and checking the inventions that became standard for the humans in the present, such as illumination, internal plumbing and such, until Gabriela and Gerardo returned to the living room, once again wearing their kimonos. Their parents then left their room to see them off.
- "Be careful out there and be a good girl, okay?" – said their mother as they bid farewell to each other.
- "Don't worry mommy, I'll be good" – said Gabriela with a smile.
- "And make sure to not get yourself killed out there, understood?" – said Mr. Gallucci as he patted his son's shoulder strongly.
- "Dad, I'd like you to give me some more credit" – said Gerardo frowning at his father. He then showed him an ironic smile – "I don't intend to die out there, so please wait for our return" –
After this, they returned to the portal, unsealed it, and then crossed it back to the Inuyasha world.
- "Well then, are we ready to go?" – asked Inuyasha looking back at the others.
- "Yeah, we better continue right away" – said Kagome nodding.
- "Agreed" – said Gerardo with a serious face - "Who knows what things Tenebross'll have done during the time we took off" -
At that point, they saw a black light falling to the east.
- "A Fragment of Shadows?" – asked Kagome as she followed its dark trail with her eyes.
- "Yeah, there's no doubt about it!" – said Gabriela as she gripped her Seirei Crystal.
- "In that case, we better begin chasing it!" – said Miroku. Instantly, the siblings summoned their dragon armors, Kagome saddled up on Inuyasha's back, and Miroku, Shippou and Sango rode on Kirara.
- "Come! We can't waste this chance!" – said Sango as they all took off in the direction the fragment was falling to.
(End of Chapter)
(Ending: Fukai Mori)
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