Chapter 2:
A Very Peculiar Day
(Opening: I Am)
Gerardo was standing over the grassy field at which he and his sister had arrived a few minutes ago, with Sango, Shippou and Miroku behind. He had unsheathed Tessaiga and was trying to wield it, but…
- "What is it with this sword?" – he said as he swung it annoyed, but the sword didn't change at all and remained in its rusty and battered state – "Come on! Don't tell me you don't want to transform because I'm not your true owner" -
- "Most likely that is the cause. I also have to add that you don't have any youkai blood running through your veins, right?" – said Miroku as came up closer to him.
- 'That's why I said "Don't tell me"…" – said Gerardo crestfallen.
- "But that means you know about the powers that sword has, right?" – asked Sango with interest.
- "Yeah. They are the Kaze no Kizu, the Bakuryuuha, the Konsouha, and the Red Tessaiga" – said him counting them with the fingers and reminiscing how Inuyasha used those powers. He noticed that the others looked at him strangely because of how he was counting, as the people in Japan an inverse way of counting with fingers from that of the West: for them, closed fingers meant plus one, while open ones meant minus one.
- "I guess then that it's true that both you and your sister came from another world…" – said Miroku as he put his hand on his chin.
- "Gerar, I'd like to go get other clothes…" – said Gabriela pulling the sleeves of the haori Gerardo was wearing now with one hand while with the other she made efforts to keep the oversized clothes she was wearing on place while she had a very embarrassed face. This got her pitying looks from everyone.
- "I wish we could help you with that, but we can't because Kagome's backpack disappeared with them" – said Sango as she knelt in front of Gabriela to smile at her, to then look over her shoulder to the point where both siblings had appeared - "Still, I think I can do something to remedy this for now" –
Sango got out a couple of pieces of fabric she had prepared to use as bandages in case they were hurt in battle, and tied them as firmly as she could around the uniform's blouse and skirt, keeping them in place.
- "It might not be very comfy, but at least that will keep the clothes from doing something they shouldn't" – said Sango with a smile.
- "Okay, thanks a lot, Sango!" – said Gabriela smiling.
- "However, if we want a more permanent solution to this, we should go and pay Kaede a visit" – suggested Gerardo – "And maybe she'll know something that will help us go back to our world" -
- "Hmm, nice idea. I'd say you're an improvement over Inuyasha in that respect" – said Miroku as he patted his shoulder a bit strongly.
- "Hehe, come on. Don't exaggerate so much" – replied Gerardo embarrassed.
They began walking back to Kaede's village, which luckily wasn't very far away from the clearing with the well. However, after they had walked for a few minutes…
- "Ow, it hurts!" – said Gabriela as she tumbled to the ground.
- "Are you okay, Gaby!?" – said Gerardo as he rushed to his sister's side. The others also did the same thing.
- "Yeah, I just got hurt a little. It's 'coz I can't walk well with these big shoes and socks…" – said her as she pointed to her feet.
- "If they are so annoying, why don't you take them off?" – asked Shippou.
- "Uh? But mom and dad always say I should never go out of home without wearing shoes or sandals" – said Gabriela scared, fearing her parents could scold her for that.
- "Well, they aren't anywhere near us, so you shouldn't worry so much about it" – said Gerardo to calm her down.
- "And besides, it's pretty normal for kids your age to be walking around barefoot in this era. Don't mind it so much" – said Sango.
- "Umm… okay, if you say so…" – she took off the shoes and socks and gave them to Sango to then stand up again. She began feeling ticklish on her soles due to the grass she was stepping on – "Hehe, it feels ticklish and kinda itchy…" –
- "But it feels better now, right?" – asked Sango.
- "Yup! I think I can go on like this" – said Gabriela cheerfully.
- "In any case, we'll try to get you a pair of fitting zori as soon as we can" – said Gerardo. They then continued walking until they reached Kaede's village. They got some curious stares from the villagers due to Gerardo and Gabriela, but nothing really important serious happened until they entered Kaede's hut.
- "Hello, everyone. What I owe your visit this time to?" – asked Kaede.
- "Well, Kaede-sama, it's that…" – began Sango, but Kaede interrupted her by raising her hand.
- "Oh, who are these two? And why are they wearing Kagome's outfit and Inuyasha's clothes?" – said her focusing her gaze on Gerardo and Gabriela.
- "That's the reason for our visit… they two came from another world through some weird kind of bubble, and looks like Kagome and Inuyasha got sent to their world in exchange…" – said Sango.
- "Kaede-sama… If I may introduce myself, my name is Gerardo, and she is my little sister Gabriela" – said Gerardo bowing before her while Gabriela did the same.
- "Hmm, at the least I can see you're both very well-mannered" – said Kaede with a smile – "It's a nice change of pace from Inuyasha's rudeness and his constant quarrelling with Kagome" –
- "As for the exact reason for us being here, Kaede-sama, it's because we wanted to ask if you knew some way to send them to their world of origin, so we could find a way to bring Inuyasha and Kagome back here" – explained Miroku.
- "I see. Unfortunately, this is the first time I've ever heard of such an occurrence, so I'm afraid I don't know how we could do that" – said Kaede as she looked solemnly at the ground with her eye closed. This made everyone sad.
- "I see. We'll have to find out in some other way then" – said Sango as she looked at both siblings with sadness, as Gerardo was grabbing Gabriela by the shoulders from behind – "Aside of that, there's something else we needed to ask you" –
- "Hmm, and that would be?" – asked Kaede as she opened he only eye again.
- "Well, Gaby, ask it yourself…" – said Gerardo as he patted her on the back.
- "Okay… Kaede-sama… I was wondering… do you have any clothes I could wear?" – asked Gabriela fidgeting while she blushed – "As you can see, these clothes aren't exactly fitting me…" -
- "Oh, I understand. Wait here, little one. I'll go and see if I have anything that fits you…" – she stood up and went to the back of the hut to check. After a few minutes, she came back with another kosode she had found: it was pink decorated with red flowers, and it had a red obi. Gabriela received it from Kaede's hands as she bowed in signal of gratitude.
- "Thank you very much, Kaede-sama!" – said Gabriela cheerfully.
- "And it might be somewhat rude to ask this, but do you have any footwear for her?" – asked Gerardo with a supplicant face.
- "Unfortunately, I don't. Zori for children have become rather rare and hard to find in this time and age due to the constant wars, so I haven't gotten any in quite some time" – said Kaede saddened at the fact she couldn't be of more help.
- "It's okay, we'll manage somehow" – said Gerardo – "Anyway, thank you very much for having given her that kosode" –
- "Yup! Though I don't really know how to put it on…" – said Gabriela as she looked at the clothes on her arms – "Err… Sango, could you help me with it?" -
- "Sure" – replied her with a smile to then turn to Miroku and Shippou – "And well, Houshi-sama, Shippou, please go outside while I change her clothes" -
- "And why he can stay there?" – asked Shippou with an irritated expression that wouldn't have looked out of place on Inuyasha.
- "He's her older brother, right? That's enough reason for it" – said Sango stating the obvious.
So Miroku and Shippou got out of the hut to give Gabriela some privacy as Sango helped her dress, though Shippou needed some… convincing from Miroku in other to agree to go out. Kaede just went back to getting ready to prepare dinner for that night, while Gerardo stayed there, sitting over the wooden floor and looking at a wall.
- "By the way, I've just remembered something… Gaby, didn't you happen to have the Shikon shard Kagome was carrying around?" – asked Gerardo.
- "No, Gerar. Looks like it disappeared" – said Gabriela's voice behind him.
- "Oh no! If the shard is on our world, the youkai could go there in search of it… and I don't even want to imagine Naraku going there!" – said Gerardo shocked as he stood up, but without daring to turn around.
- "Then, we should hurry with bringing Inuyasha and Kagome back here!" – exclaimed Kaede alarmed.
Meanwhile, Inuyasha and Kagome had arrived at Gerardo and Gabriela's house in the world, and were entering to the room both siblings shared. The room was painted in sky blue, and there were three posters fixed on the part of the wall next to which the head of the bed was located: one was of Inuyasha's group posing in front of a forest with a blue sky above, other was of a boy with long blonde hair dressed in green with a brown cape, a girl dressed in red with a curious two-pointed hat of the same color, and a girl dressed in turquoise tunic with a yellow and dark-yellow emblem near the neck, all standing in a plain looking at the sky melancholically; and the last one showed two large winged robots wielding purple energy swords and a rifle in their hands in space, which seemed to be locked in mortal combat. In front of the bed, there was desk with desktop computer, next to which there was wooden stand that has a large TV and multiple videogame consoles, a DVD and a VHS player, and at the sides of the bed there were two bookshelves filled to the brim. The wall at the left of the entrance had a wardrobe.
- "You should go to sleep, as you've got to attend school tomorrow early" – said Mrs. Gallucci.
- "We'll do so. Good night" –said Kagome very tired after all the while Inuyasha, Mrs. Gallucci and her had to explain to Mr. Gallucci about their supposed status as exchange students, as he was quite angry about the fact that both Gerardo and Gabriela had vanished like this, but something in the letters seemed to have calmed him down. Mrs. Gallucci then smiled at them and closed the door.
- "This is unbelievable… Tomorrow I gotta go to that place, and besides, this house's so much smaller than yours!" – said Inuyasha irritated.
- "Don't complain so much, as this is better than having to sleep in the street. But there's still the problem of what'll happen when they see you with your true appearance…" – said Kagome worried.
- "I don't wanna think about that…" – said Inuyasha scoffing at the idea.
- "Anyway, we better continue playing the exchange students role… there's nothing else we can do, anyway" – said Kagome to try and calm down him.
- "Still, I'd like to know where did her kids go. And what's happening back at our world right now?" – said Inuyasha as he looked at the wooden roof.
- "Hehe, it's weird to see worrying about others…" – said Kagome giggling.
- "I just wanna pay her back for being so nice! You know I hate owing something to others!" – exclaimed Inuyasha.
- "Okay, okay, simmer down! We should get ready to call it a day…" – said Kagome to then release a large yawn.
It was then that she noticed something… she felt a small glass flask move inside the blouse she was wearing.
- "Hey, look! We have the Shikon shard here with us!" – she said excitedly as she got it out from the blouse and showed the small pink crystal shard at Inuyasha.
- "It's that true?" – said Inuyasha as he looked at the flask – "We could use it to go back to our world!" -
- "Yeah, but we should leave that for tomorrow… Err… could you turn around a second?" – asked Kagome.
- "Huh? Ah, gotcha" – said Inuyasha understanding what Kagome was going to do to then turn and face a wall.
- "Okay, I'm ready!" – said Kagome. When Inuyasha turned around, he saw Kagome was now wearing a white sleeping gown that was decorated with blue birds.
- "What's it with that outfit?" – said Inuyasha confused.
- "It's a sleeping gown of the one used by young girls in my era. Given Mrs. Gallucci's daughter is supposed to be a girl of the same age I have right now, it's not weird at all" – said Kagome putting her hands in her hips as she made a sour expression
- "Okay, okay" – said Inuyasha turning his eyes. Kagome just climbed into the bed and tucked herself into it.
- "Good night, Inuyasha…" – said her as she closed her eyes.
- "Good night, Kagome…" – said Inuyasha as he turned off the lights and leaned against a wall to sleep.
Meanwhile in Kaede's hut, they all had finished dining and were now in the process of getting ready to sleep.
- "By the way, why your names sound so odd?" – asked Miroku.
- "Oh, it must be because we come from a western country" – replied Gerardo as he helped setting down the futons.
- "Ah, I see" – said Kaede – "And while you both have a paler skin that usual, I don't see much difference from us when it comes to your faces" -
- "Yeah, we get the same thing said to us in our world often" – said Gerardo a bit embarrassed, as while the eyes of both siblings were narrower than that of most people, they didn't quite reach the same level of the Japanese.
- "Anyway, it's gotten pretty late already. We better go to sleep and begin searching for a way to bring Inuyasha and Kagome back tomorrow" – said Sango as she stretched and yawned. They had already finished setting the futons down and were ready to go sleep.
- "Right, and we better do this as soon as we can" – said Gerardo as he tucked Gabriela into a futon to then lie down on it at her side – "Good night" -
- "Good night" – said everyone at the same time as Kaede extinguished the fire in the hearth.
The next morning in Gerardo and Gabriela's world…
- "Aaahhh!" – it was the first thing that was heard that day.
- "What is it? There's a youkai or something here!?" – said Inuyasha, who got on his feet as soon as he heard the scream.
- "Wha-what happened to you!?" – asked Mrs. Gallucci upon seeing Inuyasha's silver hair and dog ears, as well as his golden eyes, claws and fangs.
- "We thought your children had told you about it…" – said Kagome half-asleep.
- "W-what…?" – asked Mrs. Gallucci still scared.
- "That Inuyasha is half-youkai… err, half-demon, and he only had that appearance because on new moon nights he loses his powers and his demon aspect" – explained Kagome to then stretch and yawn. Mrs. Gallucci then remembered the poster above the bed, and it was then that she noticed that now Inuyasha was exactly identical to how he looked in that image.
- "Ah, I see… sorry for making such a ruckus" – said her calming down and blushing about the whole situation – "But how are we going to send you to Gerardo's school like this?" -
- "Keh, it doesn't matter! I don't think they'll really care about that!" – said Inuyasha with his typical bad attitude.
- "Actually, you're going to be quite an eye-catcher…" – said Kagome thoughtfully – "I should remind you that having that appearance isn't common at all, especially your demonic features" -
- "And you should take in account that neither monsters nor magic exist here" – added Mrs. Gallucci.
- "And can't we make some kind of excuse?" – asked Inuyasha annoyed about this.
- "Well, we could say you're some sort of cosplayer and that the glue you use for your costume was so strong that you couldn't take some parts of it off in time for school"- said Kagome as she laughed.
- "It isn't really the best excuse, but I don't think we have much room to work with here. And besides, I think that even if they end up believing it, my son's friends will suspect you…" – said Mrs. Gallucci.
- "Why?" – asked Inuyasha.
- "According they Gerardo, they're great fans of the series where you both show up" – explained Mrs. Gallucci.
- "Ah well, it doesn't matter" – said Inuyasha sighing.
They then changed clothes to put on the uniforms of the schools to which they were going: Inuyasha's was a beige short-sleeved shirt, a navy-blue pair of pants and black shoes, while Kagome's was a short-sleeved white shirt, a navy-blue skirt that went down to her knees, and black shoes. Naturally, Inuyasha left the room while Kagome changed.
Later on, it was recess time at Gerardo's school, and Inuyasha was quite in the bad mood due to the difficulty of the classes and the fact he had never gone to school in his life. This was only exacerbated by the fact that he was sick of the girls wanting to touch his ears and that or that everyone kept on staring at him.
- 'This whole thing is a pain in the butt… as also is being in this place, being the target of everyone's stares' – thought Inuyasha.
- "Hey!" – he heard a voice. He then was petrified like a statue when he saw two boys and a girl get close to him: one of them was about two years younger that Gerardo, had black short hair and black eyes, and the other was about three years younger, had slightly dark skin, black short hair and black eyes and wore glasses; and both of them wore uniforms similar to Inuyasha's, with the shirts being blue instead of beige. As for the girl, she had brown curly hair tied into a ponytail, black eyes, slightly dark skin, and wore a uniform similar to that of the boys.
- 'These must be the friends Mrs. Gallucci told us about… I better be careful' – he thought with apprehension.
- "What's up, you're the exchange student everyone's talking about at school?" – asked the first boy – "Pleased to meet you, I'm Henry. And from your looks, I guess you like anime too, right?" -
- "Yeah, kinda…" – muttered Inuyasha.
- "Hiya, Roger here!" – said the second boy – "And it's kinda weird to have someone in place of our best friend, but I hope we can be friends too!" –
- "Hi, I'm Gisely!" – said the girl greeting him cheerfully – "It's really weird to have someone with pieces of cosplay in this school, but it's cool too!" –
- "And it might be a stupid question, but… why do you look so much like Inuyasha? These pieces of cosplay look too darn realistic to be it" – said Roger as he looked more closely at him.
- "Or are you actually Inuyasha?" – asked Gisely with suspicion.
- "No, I'm not!" – exclaimed Inuyasha irritated, thinking how annoying it was to feign to not be himself – "I just put on the clothes of him and the… paste was so hard that I couldn't take these pieces of the clothes off!" –
- "That phrasing sounds so badly made and weird…" – said Henry with suspicion.
- "Are you sure?" – asked Gisely as she touched his hair, which made Inuyasha turn his head to the side to keep it out of her hands – "Then why does your hair feel so real? This can't be a wig" -
- "Well, there's only a way to know for sure" – said Roger with a mischievous smile – "Who wants to do the honors?" -
- "What are you plotting?" – said Inuyasha a bit spooked.
Gisely then coughed to clear her throat and:
- "Sit down!" -
Inuyasha got so spooked at this that he made a backflip and fell on his back, unwillingly revealing himself. Of course nothing would have happened because he didn't have the rosary on, and even if he had, the spell only worked when Kagome said it, but as he was so traumatized by it, he couldn't help it.
- "Aha, you ARE Inuyasha!" – said Roger as he laughed at the failed acrobatics while Inuyasha was grinding his teeth and blushing in embarrassment.
- "Yeah, we guessed you'd react like that when anyone said that!" – said Henry as he was laughing like crazy.
- "Damn it, that isn't funny at all!" – said Inuyasha in a bad mood as he stood up again.
- "You're lucky that no one else happened to see what you did, or you'd be getting in trouble" – said Roger with a smile.
- "And here's something I've always wanted to do" – said Gisely as she began touching his ears – "Oh, how cute and soft!" -
- "Stop that already!" – replied Inuyasha furious, as he hated anyone that wasn't Kagome touching his ears.
- "And how is it that you're here instead of our friend?" – asked Henry guessing he could know the reason – "It's too much of a coincidence that you came here as an exchange student precisely in his place" -
- "Though he could be sick or something" – suggested Roger.
- "No way. He'd have texted us about it" – said Henry giving him a serious look.
- "Well, I came here through some weird magic or something. I don't know where your friend is, but I think he's on my world…" – said Inuyasha crossing his arms.
- "And what happened to your sword, rosary and clothes" – asked Roger confused.
- "They're in my world. They didn't cross over to this place with me…" – said Inuyasha making a horrible face: he didn't like getting reminded of the rosary, and his sword and clothes were his most prized possessions.
- "Wow. And you've got any ideas on how to go back?" – asked Gisely.
- "Maybe we could go back if we use the shard of the Pearl we have…" – replied Inuyasha.
- "Did anyone else come with you?" – asked Henry with a lot of interest upon noticing that Inuyasha was talking in plural.
- "Yeah, Kagome came with me, but she's at another school right now…" – said Inuyasha.
- "I see…" – said Gisely.
- "Now, leave me alone! I've got lots of things to think about!" – said Inuyasha irritated as he stomped away from them.
- "Whoa, Inuyasha in person…" – said the three of them as they looked at each other.
Meanwhile, on the Inuyasha world, the group had gone on a journey again in search of a method to send the newcomers back home, and bring Inuyasha and Kagome back to their side. Shortly after they left the village, they began walking through a forest…
- "*sigh*… If we encounter Naraku or any other youkai, we'll be useless" – said Gerardo depressed.
- "But I can fight using my bow…" – said Gabriela pointing to the bow and quiver she was carrying since that morning: Kaede had given it to her after she threw such a big tantrum after breakfast that not even Gerardo could calm her down out of it. Gerardo was still embarrassed about this, even though he had apologized countless times to everyone for his sister's behavior.
- "Don't be foolish!" – said Sango to scold her – "You don't have miko powers, so forget it!" -
Gabriela then began crying to this.
- "Oh no! Stop being so spoiled, Gaby!" – reproached Gerardo as he went and began patting her back – "Can't you understand you'd be only a burden in battle?" -
The others were staring at them.
- "And why are you staring at us like that?" – asked Gerardo creeped out while Gabriela stopped crying.
- "It's just that we noticed how much you looked like our friends a moment ago" – said Sango.
- "Yeah, we know they're always in that eternal plan of quarreling and loving each other" – said Gerardo turning his eyes.
At that instant, a youkai that looked like a horned oni appeared from the forest.
- "A group of humans! Breakfast is served!" – said as it tacked them.
- "Hold it there! Hiraikotsu!" – said Sango as she threw it her boomerang, but the monster jumped out of harm's way – "No!" -
- "Sango, let me take care of it!" – screamed Miroku to then remove the rosary around his right hand and open up the hole in it – "Kazaana!" -
He began absorbing everything in front of him as he pointed his hand in direction of the youkai. The youkai was instantly caught in the fierce winds of the hole, and it screamed as it disappeared inside. Miroku closed it up again as soon as he had done dealing with the youkai.
- "Well, other battle that comes to an end…" – said Sango as placed her Hiraikotsu on her back again.
Back in the other world, Kagome was now sitting on a bench of the courtyard in the school where she was. It was recess, and all children were either eating or playing.
- 'This is something I didn't miss when I turned into a child last time… once again reliving my elementary school days' – she thought irritated – 'At the least no one's asking me anything weird. I can only imagine how much Inuyasha's suffering right now'-
- "Kagome!" – said one of Gabriela's friends.
- "Y-yeah?" – said Kagome timidly.
- "Do you wanna go play?" – asked the girl.
- "Yeah… I wanna" – said her with a slightly depressed voice – "What're we playing?" -
- "Inuyasha!" – said the girl, which almost made Kagome's heart stop beating from the impression – "Who're you gonna play as?" -
- "Who else? The one with my same name…" – said Kagome – 'Can this get any weirder?' -
- "Huh? But you look so much like you'd like being Kikyou better… and that's who Gaby always played as" – said the girl confused.
- "No, I like more being that Kagome…" – said Kagome with a very irritated face.
Later that day, when Inuyasha and Kagome had finally left school and were back in Gerardo and Gabriela's house.
- "And how did your school day go?" – asked Kagome.
- "It was horrible! I couldn't get anything they were teaching, and I had people staring at me every damn second! And the friends of that guy tried to use on me that horrible phrase you're always saying" – said Inuyasha irritated, but after a brief sigh, he seemed to have cooled down a little – "And… how did it go for you?" -
- "It was so boring… I knew everything they were doing in class before they said it, but there was something interesting in there…" – she said a bit saddened, but she then cheered up – "the kids in this world play make-believe of us, as if we were characters from a famous TV show!" –
- "Well, that's how it is here" – said Mrs. Gallucci as she served them lunch: minced meat with rice – "My son has taped some of the episodes from your series, so if you want to take a look at them…"
- "You don't have to say it!" – said Inuyasha excitedly – "What we gotta do to watch them?" -
- "Let me handle that" – said Kagome to calm him down.
A while later, they were sitting on the bed of Gerardo's room and looking at the TV as Kagome was pushing the "Play" button on the VHS remote…
- "Whoa! I never imagined our adventures set to music!" – said Kagome with her mouth left open in awe upon seeing the first opening sequence of the series – "This song isn't bad at all!" -
- "I'm itching to see how we look in a real adventure!" – said Inuyasha, having gotten impressed over how he looked in TV.
A half hour later, after they had finished watching the episode and the ending credits sequence…
- "It's incredible… everything was just as we lived it, except for also having background music!" – said Kagome made a nervous mess, as the episode they had just seen was the one where Inuyasha fought Sesshomaru for the second time and forced her back to her era.
- "I hope you aren't mad at me…" – said Inuyasha, as the show also had their thoughts projected to the audience.
- "No… I'm not… it's just that… I'm glad that you did that to protect me…" – said Kagome blushing – "Even after I thought you did that just to steal the shards of the Pearl I had at that moment…" -
- "Didn't I promise I'd protect you no matter what?" – said Inuyasha as he embraced her, and they stayed like this for a few minutes.
- "Shall we watch another episode?" – asked Kagome after they separated.
- "Yeah, let's do it" – replied Inuyasha.
However, Gerardo had taped them out of order, so they had a rather unpleasant awakening for their romantic atmosphere due to the next episode being the one where Inuyasha turned Kagome's bicycle into scrap metal, as well as being when he first met Kagome's friends for the first time. Both were shocked into speechlessness when they finished watching it between Inuyasha being embarrassed at what happened there and Kagome being unable to sort out her feelings about these events.
Back on the Inuyasha world, the group had left the forest and was taking a brief rest over a hill that allowed them to see a large and wide plain in front of them.
- "Gerar, we've gotta settle something…" – said Gabriela as she looked at him enraged.
- "Err… what is it, Gaby?" – asked Gerardo as he gulped down and took off his glasses to give them to Sango.
- "Sit down!" – said Gabriela.
Gerardo crashed into the ground with force.
- "Why did you do that!?" – said Gerardo enraged.
- "Because you said I'm spoiled!" – replied Gabriela.
- "Excellent, now I have no authority whatsoever over her…" – muttered Gerardo bitterly from the ground. He then thought annoyed – 'I'd have loved to tell her "Because that's what you are!", but I'd have gotten buried into a crater if I had done that'
Gabriela then turned around and went a bit farther from the group to begin playing tag with Shippou.
- "By the way, Gerardo… are you a member of nobility in your world?" – asked Sango after Gerardo stood up again and was dusting himself.
- "No, I'm not! You think just because I wear glasses?" – asked Gerardo embarrassed as Sango gave his glasses back so he could put them on again.
- "Yes. So far, I have only seen nobles wearing these things" – said Miroku watching him closely.
- "But in my world and in Kagome's time they are worn by people of all classes, and everyone thinks that they are sign of intelligence and wisdom" – explained Gerardo – "Anyway, I just wear them because I need them to see, as my eyesight is terrible" -
- "Well, it's a bit hard to believe that you aren't a noble, but I can't deny you're smart" – said Sango thoughtlfully.
Gerardo then turned to see Shippou and Gabriela, who were still playing in the plain a few meters away from them.
- "You can't catch me!" – said Gabriela laughing.
- "Come on, you're bigger than me! No fair!" – said Shippou a bit mad.
- "Wow, this is the first time I've ever seen her dressed like this. She looks just like a girl from this time" – said Gerardo smiling at the sight.
- "That was the same thing we thought when we saw Kagome turned into a child like her" – said Miroku.
- "Huh? When did that happen? I know all about your adventures, and I never saw anything like that happening" – said Gerardo as his eyes became the size of saucers.
Sango and Miroku began telling him about everything that happened at that time: about Goukira, the springs, the medallions, and how their personalities changed when they turned into children.
- "Hmm, so that was what happened" – said Gerardo thoughtfully after they finished telling him about these events – "And no wonder that Inuyasha has such a personality and that he became much more shy. I understand very well how he feels" -
- "Why is that?" – asked Sango – "You aren't going to tell us that hanyou also exist in your world, right?" -
- "No, it's not that" – said Gerardo as his face filled with sadness, though his eyes also had a tinge of rage and hatred in them – "It's just that in my world, it's very common to bully and ridicule those that have unusual tastes, hobbies or that are particularly gifted at some things… and that was the sort of things that happened to me… so I know how it feels to be something of an outcast…" -
- "So it is also something that takes place frequently in your world among the humans, correct?" – asked Miroku.
- "Yes, unfortunately…" – said Gerardo bitterly.
At that moment, they saw that someone was getting close to them, so Gerardo called Gabriela and Shippou to return to the forest's border. After they had gone back to their side….
- "Who could that be?" – said Gerardo. They couldn't distinguish the figure because it was moving through the parts where the clouds in the sky were blocking out the sunlight.
- "Any ideas, Houshi-sama? – asked Sango.
- "None. I just hope it isn't who I'm thinking it could be…" – said Miroku with apprehension.
The next instant, the clouds moved away and the sunlight illuminated the stranger, scaring everyone.
- "This can't be possible! Not right now!" – screamed Miroku.
(End of Chapter)
(Ending: Shinjitsu no Uta)