Chapter 1

The light of dawn had just crept over the crests of the hills, a prelude to a beautiful day. A figure was sprinting across a field, at an astonishing turn of speed. This individual appears, at first glance, to be a human male clad in a crimson kimono and has a katana in its sheath resting at his waist. His silver hair was fluttering in the wind of his passing, and was catching the budding sunlight as he ran. His destination is an unpretentious village located on the outskirts of a large forest. He paused to scan the outlying lands with his amber eyes, and then continued on his way. He arrived at a modest house, and called out to its occupants.

"Kaede! You in there, old woman?" Inuyasha inquired.

"Aye, I be here, Inuyasha. Now what are ye wanting?" replied the aging priestess as she stepped out from the doorway.

"Has Kagome come back from her world yet?"

"Nay, she has not. But remember, Inuyasha, that she said she would return at the end of the fourth day, and it is only the dawn of the third. Perhaps I should teach ye to count?"

"Hey! I can count just fine! I just thought maybe she came back early or something. Where are the others?"

"Shippo is sleeping inside, Miroku is performing his duties-"

"Feh! More like indulging his lecherous appetites!" interrupted Inuyasha.

"Do ye take me for a fool, Inuyasha? Do not answer that. I have been watching Miroku, and he has behaved himself, for the most part. Now, if ye shall allow me to continue," this comment prompted a baleful glare from the hanyou, "Sango is plying her trade as demon slayer in the neighboring town. Now why do ye wish to find them? What has happened?" Inuyasha then began to explain himself.

"Well, I was out practicing with my tetsusaiga, when I met a merchant walking down the road. He told me that some local lord up north got both himself and his vassals killed by some demons. The merchant said that the details were scarce, but the villagers who lived in the area said they heard lots of thunder, and it was a clear day. He also said that when the villagers investigated, they found several rows of graves, one of which had the lord's personal arms and armor placed upon it."

"That is interesting and somewhat distressing news, Inuyasha, and what do ye proposed to do?"

"I think that we should check it out. Whatever killed those men might have a shard of the Shikon No Tama boosting its power. But since Kagome is the only one able to sense and purify the shards, I guess it will just have to wait until she gets around to coming back here."

"Ye are correct in both observations, Inuyasha. The killer might indeed have a shard, and ye cannot be going anywhere until Kagome returns. Ye can, however, prepare for her arrival. I suggest ye go and find Sango and tell her your story. I shall tell Miroku and Shippo. Go, Inuyasha."

"All right, all right. I'm going," muttered Inuyasha as he sped off towards the next village to retrieve Sango.

"Kagome! Wake up now," spoke a deep voice tainted with slight agitation.

"…ZZZZ-Huh?" Kagome jerked into an upright position, her face masked in fatigue and confusion. Then cognition dawned upon her: she was in school, and her history instructor, a tall, gaunt Scottish ex-soldier by the name of Robert MacDunwald, was staring directly at her, his keen brown eyes seemingly drilling into her core. The teacher, noting that she was awake now, switched from Japanese to heavily accented English in his next sentence, which was more or less understood because learning English was a requirement at Kagome's school. MacDunwald sometimes switched languages during class as an attempt to keep the students on their toes, and to keep their knowledge of English in top condition.

"Ach, yes. I am sae pleased tae have ya back with us, lassie. Now then, back tae the lesson." Switching back to Japanese, he continued. "In October of 1805, England's Royal Navy, under the command of Viscount Horatio Nelson, met with and defeated the combined Spanish and French navies at the battle of Trafalgar. Napoleon's fleets had escaped the blockade at Cadiz when a heavy storm scattered the blockading squadrons, and Nelson's squadron intercepted them off the cape of Trafalgar, hence the name. Though Nelson was mortally wounded midway through the battle, he lasted long enough to see his victory…"

MacDunwald's voice was already fast fading into background noise to Kagome, who was finding that concentration was far beyond her grasp that particular afternoon. As she gazed through the classroom's window, her mind drifted to her friends back beyond the Bone Eater's Well, and her quest to collect and purify the shards of the Shikon No Tama. From there her thoughts turned to Inuyasha. He was never happy when she went back to her world for extended periods of time, so Kagome figured that by now he must be driving everyone else out of their minds. She would be going back tonight, so that should calm him down somewhat…

"Kagome." MacDunwald's voice startled her, shifting her back to the present. That is, she thought, if History class doesn't kill me first. Blushing, Kagome collected her thoughts and shifted her gaze back to her teacher.

"Yes, sir?"

"Tell me, just why was Lord Nelson's victory over the French and Spanish so important to England and her war with Napoleon?"

"Um… because it raised morale among the English?" She hoped that no one could recognize the panic and doubt in her voice and on her face.

"Well, I'll grant you that a rise in morale did occur, but that was only one part of it. What made it so important was that with this victory the Royal Navy had undisputed and uncontestable command of the waves. Before Trafalgar, England was in dire threat of French invasion. Her armies had been defeated in Continental Europe, and her allies, such as Prussia and Austria, had been cowed into submission by their defeats at Austerlitz and the like. The large, professional French armies would crush the small British armies and volunteer militias who garrisoned the British Isles. But to invade, Bonaparte needed troop transports and escort ships, as well as naval superiority. With both his navy and that of his Spanish ally's destroyed, Bonaparte lacked the capacity to get his armies across the English Channel. This left England enough time to marshal her land forces for a blow against France." As he finished his sentence the bell signaling the end of school rang out. "I want you have at least a basic understanding of the remainder of the Napoleonic Wars for next week, as well as the War of 1812 between Great Britain and the fledgling United States… Miss Higurashi, please see me in ten minutes."

Images of imminent academic annihilation flashing before her mind's eye, she made her way to her locker to switch out books, and then back to the history classroom she had so recently vacated. Mr. MacDunwald was sitting behind his desk, and he beckoned that Kagome should take a seat in one of the chairs in front of him.

"Kagome, I asked to speak to you because I'm concerned about your studies. You just seem to drift off into your own world in class, and your grades have suffered for it. I know you are smarter than this, lass. Now, I hope that you feel that you can talk to me. What's going on, lassie?"

"I...I can't really explain it at the moment, sir."

"All right, all right, I'm not going to pry. If you ever just need to talk to someone, you know where to find me."

"Thank you, sir. Oh, and Mr. MacDunwald?"

"Yes, Kagome?"

"Is there anything I can do to improve my grade?" The teacher looked at the papers on his cluttered desk for a moment or two, and then spoke.

"Well, let's see. Write a two to three page report on a history topic of your choice. Run the topic by me before you write it, though. Have it ready in a month. I'm not usually one for extra credit, but if you do a good job, then I'd say you've earned yourself an exception. Now don't forget to read the chapters in the textbook, now. I shall know if you did or didn't. Now go on home, else you'll worry your poor mother sick."

As Kagome walked to her home, she pondered about what she should write her report on, but her mind was wandering. She was grateful to Mr. MacDunwald for letting her write the paper in the first place. He was among her favorite teachers, mainly because he was just plain fun. He truly enjoyed history, and his energetic zeal was infectious among his students. Just last week, he had shown up dressed in the green uniform and gear of a British 95th Rifles soldier, circa 1809; complete with a functional Baker rifle. After school ended he had allowed the class to watch him fire off a few rounds. Even Kagome, on the whole, took pleasure in attending his classes. Her inattentiveness in class of late was more of an indication of the extent to which her mission in the past was weighing on her mind than that the class was boring. Plus MacDunwald was definitely one very eccentric man. If history was his life, than military history was his very core of being. It didn't matter if the battle took place with swords or with tanks; MacDunwald could probably give you any vital statistic you could want to know, and if he didn't know it, he knew where to look for it.

"Oh, well," she said to herself, "I'm going back to the feudal era tonight, so I can probably find a topic while I'm there. Now that that's settled, I can enjoy the last meal I'll be having in the modern world for a while." As she walked along the sidewalk, Kagome admired the natural flare of color and beauty that autumn brought to the city. It was this exhibition that drew her concentration from other thoughts. It doesn't change, she thought, whether it's in the feudal era or in the modern world, the beauty of fall stays constant. I wish Inuyasha was here to see this. Inuyasha…She started, as she realized that she was daydreaming on Inuyasha again. I seem to be doing that more often… I wonder if that means anything, thought the young schoolgirl-turned-amateur priestess.

"Hello Mom," said Kagome upon entering her home and spotting her mother in the kitchen.

"Hello Kagome. How was school today?" inquired her Mother.

"Well, I suppose it went pretty well," came the reply, "When's dinner?"

"In an hour, dear. I believe there is someone here to see you, Kagome."

"Really? Who is it, Mom?"

"Why don't you go see yourself?"

"All right, all right, if you want to keep your secret, you can." Upon entering the living room, Kagome immediately spotted her visitor, who was currently playing with the family cat. Her little brother Souta was sitting nearby with an expression of awe and worshipfulness upon his shining face. "Inuyasha! What are you doing here? I mean, not that I'm upset or anything, but I said I'd be back tonight."

"Well, I got tired of waiting for you, and decided to come here to meet you halfway," Kagome started to feel the rush of blood to her cheeks, thoughts of "Does this mean he missed me?" sprinting through her head. "Besides, the food here was great last time I came." She still felt the heat in her face, but this time it was anger.

"That's all you have to say to me!" she exploded, ""Your food was great"? What, do you think that my house is your personal delicatessen?" Inuyasha was dumbstruck, with an expression of panic creeping slowly but surely overtaking the one of incomprehension that was currently upon his features. Please don't say it, Kagome, please don't say it, thought Inuyasha, but his hopes were in vain.

"SIT, boy!"

After the dust settled, Kagome's mother poked her head out of the kitchen. "Kagome, dear, please tell your friend Inuyasha to be more careful. I wouldn't want him to hurt himself falling like that. Souta, I told you to pick up your things so that people wouldn't trip." With this, she withdrew back into the kitchen.

"What did I do now?" inquired a most pained Inuyasha from his prone position upon the floor.

"You just don't get it, do you? Oh, just get up. Dinner will be in an hour, Inuyasha. So, then, how are things going back in the feudal era?"

"There's…ugh… the other, ow, reason I came." What he was thinking was along the lines of, How does she do that? I mean, how does she go from psycho girl from Hell back to innocent little schoolgirl in the blink of an eye? He happened upon a small, seemingly unimportant, but irrefutable truth. I'll never understand women.