The Priestesses' Regeneration Song that Connects the Worlds

by aquagon

Two months later, Inuyasha's group welcomes back Miko and Yasha together with their friends from the alternate Earth. Now, they must fulfill the mission they were given by destiny: become the Seirei to save the world the Dragonia. While many hardships await them, they will also receive the help from a world called Ar Ciel... Sequel to Entwining of Destinies.

14. Miko's First School Day

Chapter 10:

Miko's First School Day

From smiles to tears

From happiness to sorrow

Linked memories

As well as emotions

(Opening: Natsu Kikyuu – Ootsuka Rie)

- "…And this concludes our report, Your Majesties" – said Gerardo while standing in front of the king and the queen with Gabriela at his side and the rest of his party behind himself. They had returned the next morning to Soleila and were now in the throne room delivering the report of their findings from their expedition to Seleila. The king and queen had requested all guards present excepting Fileia and Elaer to leave them alone and had placed the anti-espionage spell for good measure while the party was talking to them.

- "Thank you very much for your efforts, everyone" – said the king nodding with his head – "I see you were successful in finding the Epitaph and reading the prophecy written therein" –

- "Indeed, Your Majesty… But still, it was truly painful…" – said Kagome placing a hand on her chest.

- "Yes, I don't doubt you, Kagome…" – said the queen in an understanding tone while closing her eyes. She was holding back her tears – "To think the spirits of our children and their friends could have done that…" –

- "Even though we specifically placed their bodies in that place to avoid that from happening…" – said the king placing a hand on his forehead.

- "I apologize for asking this question, Your Majesty, but exactly why was that?" – asked Gabriela.

- "As their spirits told you and as Kagome inferred from sensing it, it is because the Holy Bell installed in the castle's front tower emits waves whenever it rings that serve to quell down and dissolve wandering souls. It was a measure put in place because of the abundance of such souls in Seleila due to the recurrent tragedies that happened in the Dark Ages and the large amount of lives that were lost in the Great Catastrophe" – explained the king lowering his hand back to the throne's armrest.

- "Your Majesty… And what do you make… about the second prophecy…?" – asked Miko while putting her hands in front of herself and grabbing them tightly.

- "I can only say it was unexpected and… it fell on me like a snowfall on springtime…" – said the queen – "To think there was a second hidden chamber behind the Epitaph and that it lodged such an ominous prediction…" –

- "Indeed… Had we known that was what the future had in store for them, we would have never allowed them to depart on that journey…" – said the king rolling his hands in fists over his throne's armrests, but trying as hard as he could to remain composed.

- "We apologize for causing you even more sorrow, Your Majesties…" – said Yasha looking downward – "But we felt it wasn't right to keep all that hidden from you…" –

- "We even had trouble deciding whether we should tell you all of it before we left Seleila this morning…" – said Henry closing a hand into a fist and looking away.

- "Don't mind us. We are still thankful that you decided to be sincere with us and tell us everything you discovered while you were there…" – said the queen while showing them a gentle smile.

- "There is something we must confess now too to respond in kind to your honesty: we actually knew already about the contents of the Epitaph because our children did return to the castle multiple times to keep us updated about their progress" – said the king closing his eyes and looking downward. This caused the party to look at each other agape and Tiffany, Inuyasha and Gabriela to growl and gasp in indignation, excepting Henry.

- "I had the suspicion that was the case" – said he crossing his arms while smiling – "I mean, it sounded pretty out of place that the prince and princess of a kingdom wouldn't return frequently to their castle regardless of how important the journey was" –

- "So that means…!?" – started Inuyasha about to scream, but Kagome silenced him with a glare meaning she was fully intending to sit him down if he kept going on.

- "I don't blame any of you for being furious at us for not coming clear about this matter" – said the queen – "But we needed to ensure that you would be able to handle the dark side of our history and that you had the same qualities as proper royal family members when it came to reading magically-proofed artifacts and opening sealed doors. That was why we decided this would be the best way to test you" –

- "However, I must add that both the hidden prophecy and the spirits of the former Seirei were not part of our plans, and we apologize both for having lied to you all and for unwittingly having placed you in such danger" – said the king while both he and his wife bowed before them.

- "Agh! N-No, Your Majesties, you don't have to act like that!" – said Gerardo flustered.

- "Well, it's true we're angry because we went into a mission that turned out to be pointless in the grand scheme of things, but…" – said Miguel with a hand on his chin.

- "We understand you needed to take these precautions so we wouldn't just be charlatans or liars attempting to profit from Dragonia's crisis"- said Kagome.

- "Still, and… Forgive me if this sounds disrespectful, please give us all details we must know in our next missions" – said Yasha while looking with a neutral expression at them – "I mean, it's pretty hurtful to have to learn that after the fact…" –

- "We don't mind. In fact, you have fully proven that you are worthy of our trust, so we have no reason to hide anything from you anymore"- said the queen – "In fact, now you have our guaranteed support for anything related to your quest" -

- "And with this settled, Your Majesties… We have a question" – said Roger – "Why was there a scary sign splotched with bloodstains and a blood trail next to it in the basement?"

- "Not to mention these awful screams, rotting smell and blade swinging sounds…" – scoffed Inuyasha.

- "Hmm, we have sent some researchers to investigate similar occurrences in the past, and we have concluded that these are all illusions, manifestations of the tormented souls who perished in these chambers ages ago" – said the king after a long sigh.

- "So, it's like we thought" – said Kagome sighing in relief – "Good to know there was nobody being killed there…" –

- "We have also tried to send in priests and exorcists to purge them, but even with the Holy Bell ringing outside, it has proved impossible" – said the queen shaking her head – "The regrets these souls have from the terrible tortures and executions they were subject to in that place are too strong" –

- "Your Majesty… So, that means you…?" – asked Yasha, to which the queen only nodded in response. Everyone but the king was stunned in silence.

- "Yes, I participated in these attempts during my tenure as Priestess of the Dragon as well. Suffice to say that calling them a disaster would still be a tremendous understatement" – said the queen while giggling to herself, which caused everyone but the king to look at each other spooked.

- "In any case, now you have read the Epitaph, you know what your next mission is, correct?" – asked the king while giving the party a severe gaze.

- "Yes, Your Majesty" – nodded Kember – "Next, we must find the Elemental Nuclei so we have a chance to fight Tenebross, right?" –

- "Indeed. Therefore, I will now formally give it to you: find the Six Elemental Nuclei and allow them to fuse with each of the Seirei. That will give you the strength to fight against Tenebross" – said the king with a smile.

- "We understand, Your Majesty, and we accept this mission" – said Gerardo nodding – "However, I have to take this chance to tell you we will need to return to our worlds for a couple days" –

- "Oh? Do you need to carry out some business in there?" – asked the king while looking at him with interest.

- "Yes, Your Majesty" – nodded Kagome – "Miko has never gone to a school in my world, and we supposed it would be a good time now to allow her to at least experience it for a couple days" –

- "There is also that we need to investigate something: we once found the Elemental Crystal of Water in a consecrated cave in Kagome and Inuyasha's world" – said Gerardo taking a step forward.

- "Wait a moment… One of the Elemental Crystals!?" – asked the king as he suddenly opened his eyes.

- "Impossible… The dimensional rifts even took one of them to another world!?" – said the queen getting up from her throne instantly.

- "As strange as that sounds… Yes… We even encountered Lord Iadlast there and He confirmed to us that it was indeed the Crystal…" – said Gerardo – "Therefore, we wish to go and check the crystal once again to see if it's possible for us to gain one of the Nuclei faster" –

- "In that case, you have my permission to do so" – said the king – "I just ask that you do not take too long to return here and that you inform us of your findings when you do" –

- "It will be our pleasure, Your Majesty. My heartfelt thanks for allowing us this short leave of absence" – said Gerardo.

- "Still, I need to warn you that you must be careful, as I'm not sure about whether you will need the Kialar and Pact Songs when you encounter it" – said the queen sitting down on her throne again.

- "Hmm, Your Majesty, what are those?" – asked Gabriela.

- "Little Gaby, the Kialar Songs are the ones you must sing at the entrance of the Holy Precincts where each of the Elemental Nuclei rest, and there is one for each main element" – explained the queen while smiling at her sweetly – "On the other hand, the Pact Songs are the songs you must sing so a Seirei Candidate fully establishes a pact with their corresponding Nucleus, which is when they fully become a Seirei. You need to be the one singing them too, as the Candidates must focus into praying and transmitting their feelings to the Nuclei while you sing for the pact to be established" –

- "But if she needs to sing a song for each Candidate and they need to pray while she does it, how's she supposed to sing the one for her own Nucleus?" – asked Tiffany raising an eyebrow.

- "It's simple: her Assistant Priestesses will sing the Pact Song for Light in her stead"- said the queen laughing a little at her confusion – "So, Kagome, Miko, I hope you will be willing to cooperate with her when the time comes" –

- "We won't disappoint you, Your Majesties!" – said Miko jumping up and down – "Gaby-nee can count on us to sing to the best of our abilities!" –

- "That's right! As a precious friend, we'll do everything in our power to help her fulfill her duties as Seirei of Light and Priestess of the Dragon!" – said Kagome nodding determinedly.

- "And we'll do our best to support them too!"- said Gerardo nodding as he smiled.

- "Yeah! Nobody's laying a finger on 'em while we're 'round!" – said Inuyasha extending a fist in front of himself.

After nodding in response to their determination, the king snapped his fingers to indicate he had dispelled the anti-espionage spell.

- "Good job, our dears" – said the queen with a smile – "I'm glad your investigation in Seleila went well, and I hope your future progress will be as smooth too" –

- "And now you may go" – said the king raising a hand with the open palm – "Remember you can always come back here whenever you need to help or to rest for a bit" –

- "Thank you… mother, father…" – said Gerardo after briefly gulping down – "We will make sure to not disappoint you" –

- "Yes… As Dragonia is really precious to us too…" – said Gabriela. They both looked at each other, and after briefly bowing before the monarchs and that Miguel had given his salute to them, their party turned around to leave the throne room.

- "Dear… Our children had such dreadful deaths… And even now they're still suffering…" – said the queen after they saw the door close after the party had left the room escorted by Fileia and Elaer, and she covered her face with her hands. Now nobody else was around, her dignified front was slowly cracking – "And we can't do anything for them… We can't placate their souls… We can't bring them relief…" –

- "Indeed, honey… And they must hate us too because we asked others to take their place… We can never ask enough forgiveness from their souls for it…" – said the king as he got up from his throne and went to hug his wife.

- "How much more must we suffer through just for being the royal family…? Not only we have to keep receiving these terrible news… We can't even share these painful feelings with anybody else...!" – said the queen as she kept sobbing and weeping on her husband's shoulder.

- "I know… Giova… I know…" – said the king while he started shedding tears as well – "It breaks my heart to know we'll never see them alive again… And that if we ever see them again… It will be with faces full of hatred and disgust…" –

- "Oh Illyusea… Oh Iadlast…" – pleaded the queen – "Please allow us to see them one last time… I just want to talk with my babies one last time…" –

- "I wish for the same thing… I need nothing else but to be able to talk to them to clear things up…!" – said the king as they both kept on crying as low as they could so nobody outside would hear them. But sadly, their plies went unheard…

As for the Earth party, they made their way outside the castle and soon they found themselves in the Seirei Plaza again.

- "The monarchs seemed to have taken the news we delivered rather well"- said Roger with his arms behind his head.

- "Yeah. I'd have expected anybody else to start crying right away after hearing their kids turned into this world's equivalent of an onryo"- said Carlos tilting his head.

- "It's just for show" – said Kagome looking downward – "I'm sure they must be suffering more than anybody else…" –

- "Yeah, and since they're the rulers of this world… They must not even be allowed to express that…" – said Gabriela while putting a hand over chest.

- "We have no proof of it, but no doubt either" – said Fileia shaking her head – "The monarchs have tried to remain strong in the face of everything, but as you can see…" –

- "Everything has a limit, and between us being dead ringers for them… Living reminders of their kids being gone… And us having broken to them the news of what they attempted to do to us…" – said Gerardo with a hand partially covering his face.

- "Yeah… I wouldn't be surprised if they started crying after we left…" – said Elaer closing his eyes. This caused Gerardo and Gabriela to look at each other with sadness imprinted on their faces, while the rest of their friends looked at them with worry.

- "In any case, we've got today's afternoon and the next two days free"- said Roger trying to cheer everyone up – "That means we've gotta get ready to go and attend school with Kagome, right?" –

- "Well, I'm not sure you'll get placed in the same class as me"- said Kagome smiling – "Plus, isn't Gerardo-kun already in university?" –

- "As also is Kember, but I think we can pass off as high school seniors"- said Gerardo smiling – "The only one that'd be in your same grade is Roger, if memory serves" –

- "And this is also supposed to be a chance for Miko to try out how school is on Earth, right?" – said Elaer looking at her with curiosity – "It'll be interesting to hear which school you prefer more when you get back" –

- "But is there any reason why Yasha isn't going too?" – asked Fileia tilting her head and crossing her arms.

- "Well, the people in our world aren't as welcoming of those that don't fit the standard criteria as the Dragonians are" – explained Gerardo after a brief sigh – "So to avoid problems, it's better if he just sits out and just keeps watch over Miko from a nearby place" –

- "Yeah. And like I said while we were in the school here the other day… Earth schools are boring, so I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to stay sat down for even a single full period" – said Yasha placing his hands behind his head while giggling.

- "It's sad to hear that, but at least Miko'll have somebody looking out for her" – said Fileia while smiling at her.

- "In any case, shouldn't we get ready and go back to Earth already?" – said Henry.

- "Yeah. Let's go outside the city so Gaby can sing Habreliarasa Burkei to open the gateway" – said Gerardo while nodding to show his agreement. Now the decision was made, they left the city and once they had taken a good distance from it, Gabriela sang the song to open the portal, they bid farewell to Elaer and Fileia, and they then crossed it, finding themselves in front of Kagome's house in the present.

- "Looks like we're getting better with pinpointing the exit era and area for the gateways!" – said Roger while patting Gabriela on the head.

- "Ehehe, I'm just doing the best I can!" – giggled Gabriela as they walked their way to the house.

- "It's nice we can still go back home despite the importance of our mission, don't you think?" – said Kagome while smiling at Inuyasha, Miko and Yasha.

- "Hehe, yeah! I think mom, Souta and grandpa are gonna get really surprised when they see us again!" – said Miko giggling while covering her mouth with her hands.

- "Doesn't that make the present ya gave Souta pointless, Kagome?" – asked Inuyasha while frowning at her.

- "Well, we didn't expect that coming back here would be so easy" – said Kagome as she opened the front door – "I mean, I thought the gateway would be sealed shut once we went there" –

- "That'd have made it impossible for us to go help Miroku, Sango and Shippou if that were the case" – said Gerardo shaking his head – "In any case, it's fortunate we can have access to this world whenever we can" –

- "And that'd be the case for our world too, right? Gerar?" – said Gabriela with sparkling eyes – "That means I can go pick up my cello to practice every night!" –

- "Weren't you saying you needed a teacher?" – asked Roger as they stopped in the foyer of Kagome's house.

- "Yeah, but who knows how long this journey's gonna be, right? So, there's nothing bad with me practicing whenever I've got time!" – said Gabriela smiling.

- "Are you really planning to carry something that big with you all the time?" – asked Kagome blinking in surprise.

- "Umm, remind me, what's the Dragtemn for?" – said Gabriela with a smug smile – "Besides, you're one to talk, what with your jumbo backpack and all, Kagome!" –

Everyone laughed in reaction to Gabriela's words.

- "Hehe, touché! You really got me there!" – said Kagome while laughing nervously.

- "But you better make sure to bring some scores with you. Otherwise, you're going to make a mess out of yourself until you learn how to read Dragonian music sheets" – suggested Gerardo.

- "Yeah. I think I'll get some of the pieces from the Suzuki book, especially Bach's minuets" – nodded Gabriela. They then followed Kagome and Miko's lead into the house, and once inside, they all took off their shoes.

- "Mom, grandpa, Souta! We're home!" – said Kagome and Miko at the same time.

- "Ah, nee-chan! Miko! Inuyasha! Yasha! And everybody else!" – said Souta as he ran to greet both of his sisters. He was wearing an aquamarine short-sleeved shirt and beige pants – "Welcome home!" –

- "Welcome home, dears! We didn't expect you'd come back so soon!" – said Mrs. Higurashi exiting the living followed by the grandfather to greet them.

- "Did you come up with any new diseases in that world you came from!? Or do you need an exorcism!?" – said the grandfather while grabbing Kagome's hands with tears of joy streaming from his eyes much to her shock.

- "Old man… Calm down already…" – said Inuyasha narrowing his eyes in disgust while separating him from Kagome with his foot.

- "And… whoa, these clothes look so nice on you all!" – said Mrs. Higurashi while looking at the shoufs that the whole party was wearing. She ignored the thing between Inuyasha and the grandfather, who just separated while the latter joined in admiring the exotic outfits.

- "Hehe, these are the shoufs, the traditional Dragonian attire!" – said Miko as she twirled around to show her family how hers looked from all angles.

- "They seem pretty similar to our kimonos, though the skirt looks more Western in style, as also do the pants the boys are wearing" – said the grandfather while eyeing the clothes with interest.

- "We were even planning to bring you one, mom, but we're a bit short on funds now…" – said Kagome while twiddling her thumbs.

- "Oh, don't worry about it. And where are our manners, family? Come everybody, let's go to the living and get comfortable so we can talk more about what's happened lately!" – said Mrs. Higurashi so Souta and the grandfather would open the way for their guests.

After a few minutes, everyone had sat down at the kotatsu or around the living, and Kagome had narrated the events from the few days. However, she refrained from telling her family about their recent ghost encounters, the grisly sights they had seen in the castle's basement and about the fact that most of them were replacements for the saviors of that world that had perished in their mission…

- "And that's about it, mom. The king and the queen have given us permission to come back home and settle any business we might have pending, and that's why we're here" – said Kagome with a smile.

- "I see. It's pretty generous on their part, and I was just thinking that it'd be nice if you had come back about now" – said her mother – "I wanted to tell this to you both: I went to the town hall yesterday to see if there was any way we could register Miko as my daughter, and we were surprised to find the hospital where Souta was born had submitted a record of birth for her the following year they did it for Souta" –

- "Huh!? That means… that means…" – said Miko while her eyes started trembling from the emotion.

- "Yes, that's what it means, dear: here is your birth certificate, and the updated copy of our koseki that shows that you're officially my daughter and the youngest sister of both Kagome and Souta!" – said Kagome's mother as she placed both documents before them on the kotatsu. Sure enough, Miko's name appeared as 'Higurashi Miko' on both of them, and the data on her koseki entry appeared after Souta's, with her having the same birthday as Kagome but 7 years later.

- "That's great, Miko!" – said Kagome while hugging her – "Now you're officially part of our family to the world at large too! You're no orphan or a mere peasant girl, but my dear little sister!" –

- "O-Onee-san… Mom… Thanks!" – said Miko while she hugged them both and Souta patted her on the head.

- "You were afraid of being called either of these things, Miko?" – asked Souta with a smile that was part bemused, part tender.

- "Well… Yeah… Since I was 'born' in the Warring States Era after Kagome-nee had her soul split and everybody among our friends had to act around me as if I were a peasant orphan so I wouldn't go crazy due to the Water of Restart's effects… And I was kind of afraid you'd hate me for being retarded, ragged, dirty, lowborn or something like that…" – said Miko as she started shedding tears, and covered her eyes with her hands. She was laying bare her fears in front of her family. Kagome also started shedding tears, although the cause didn't seem to be merely the empathy, or sorrow she got from hearing Miko voice her fears.

- "Now you mention it… You really seemed down about it during the first day we spent together…" – said Yasha while looking at her with sadness, remembering the first conversation they had after they played for a while during their first afternoon in Kaede's village – "And yet, I didn't want to tell you about our mother to help calm down your fears about not having parents because of my stupid fear of trusting others…" –

- "Ya have been holdin' that in all this time...? Even though ya seemed to be smilin' almost all the time…?" – asked Inuyasha while looking at her with pity. Kagome instantly recognized in his eyes the gaze he had given her several times, especially those in which Kikyou was involved. Miko just nodded while weeping a bit.

- "Miko… We would've never thought that way of you…" – said Kagome as she turned to look at her with sadness, now having a pretty clear idea of what the nightmare she saw in the Mirror of Shades had been about. However, she refrained from asking Miko about it or rummaging through her memories to find out, as she thought this wasn't the moment and that she'd ask her afterward in private – "We've always seen you as another member of our family, and that's never going to happen!" –

- "Yeah! You're just Miko! Kagome-nee's and Souta's dear sister, the daughter of your mother, the granddaughter of your grandpa, and a precious person to both Inuyasha-nii and me!" – said Yasha with a cheerful voice. With this Miko finally lowered her hands and smiled through tear-filled eyes at everyone in the room. She then regained her smile while she and Kagome both wiped their eyes.

- "Yeah, ya got that right! And we'll never let anybody call ya anythin' like that!" – said Inuyasha with a decided smile.

- "Thank you…! Thank you!" – said her with a bright smile on her face again.

- "By the way, I've taken the liberty to sign you up in Souta's school, and we've made sure that you'll be in the same classroom as him" – said her mother with a smile after they had separated – "If you feel like it, you can go to your first class there tomorrow" –

- "That's great! Right? Miko?" – said Souta while smiling at her, to which she nodded back while smiling widely – "That way we can go together to school, be in class together and even go back home together!" –

- "Hehe, I've got the feeling you've been wanting that ever since I first turned into a kid, right? Souta?" – asked Kagome between short bouts of laughter.

- "Ehehe, I'm so easy to read?" – asked Souta while blushing.

- "You couldn't be more obvious!" – said Yasha laughing.

- "Umm, sorry to interrupt the moment, but is the offer that Kagome made to Gaby and I still standing?" – asked Gerardo a bit embarrassed. Although Kagome had already told them that was the case, he decided to make sure just in case anything had happened.

- "Ah, of course, Gerardo-kun!" – said Mrs. Higurashi nodding – "Both you and Gaby-chan still have your registrations in both schools available if you wish to use them" –

- "Ehehe, even though I'm in a higher grade now…" – said Gabriela embarrassed.

- "Is that so? Though in that case, it shouldn't be a problem for you to get into advanced placement" – said Mrs. Higurashi – "That means you won't be able to be in the same classroom as them though" –

- "Yeah, but I don't really want to go through the same thing again, so I think it'll be okay if we can just keep seeing each other at recess and once we leave the school" – said Gabriela with a smile.

- "It's kind of sad that we won't share classes, Gabu-chan" – said Souta with a sad smile.

- "Yeah, I'd have liked to go to class with you too, Gaby-nee" – said Miko with a sad face, but she then smiled at her – "But I understand how don't you want to be repeating previous years, so don't worry about me!" -

- "In any case, we should go talk with the school principal this afternoon to make sure Gaby is in the correct grade tomorrow" – said Gerardo.

- "And talking about that, shouldn't we also go and purchase all the things you'll need while you're studying here?" – said Kagome.

- "Hehe, I'm ahead of you here, dear" – said Mrs. Higurashi laughing as she put a couple bags over the table – "I went shopping, so I've already gotten here all the books and notebooks Miko is going to need" –

- "Whoa… you're amazing, mom" – said Miko staring at the bags wide-eyed.

- "I've also bought some clothes for you to wear tomorrow, as I don't think the kosode, the shouf or the outfits you and Kagome have worn here before would go well for your school days" – said Mrs. Higurashi as she signaled her to open the second bag. Inside, there was a white short-sleeve shirt, a navy-blue pleated skirt with suspenders, white socks and a pair of black Maryjane shoes.

- "You're truly amazing, Mrs. Higurashi…" – said Gerardo blinking.

- "Thanks, mom!" – said Miko beaming with joy – "I'll make sure to do the best I can at school!" –

- "Still, we've all got to go and purchase our respective uniforms, textbooks and the like" – said Gerardo sighing in a lonesome way – "Though I don't get how we're supposed to do that with no funds…" –

- "Umm, Gerar… Maybe we should check our purses…" – said Gabriela upon noticing the inner pocket of her skirt felt a bit warm. Once she took out her purse from it and opened it: – "Eh!? All our Drack bills got turned into Yen ones…!" -

- "What!?" – asked everybody else shocked.

- "One moment… Maybe we should check up the Draglimnt on this…?" – said Miguel.

- "What's the Draglimnt?" – asked Souta with a raised eyebrow. But rather than answering him, Kagome took out her Dragtemn's holo-screen and searched for the currency's name.

- "Okay, talking about convenient… Here it says that Drack bills and coins can take the shape of the money used in any region of another world their holders go to..." – said Kagome wide-eyes – "I guess that means money's not going to be a problem for you guys, but…"-

- "That means another hit to our budget… Not to mention that this seems like a potential economic disaster…" – said Gerardo tilting his head.

- "Well, it also says that a part of the Dragonian treasury called the Migrants' Fund, which comes from the kingdom's own yearly budget, teleports itself to the official treasury, national bank or whatever of the place the holders go to, since it's extremely rare for Dragonians carrying that currency to leave their world, and in the case these migrants return to Dragonia, the unspent money is converted back into Dracks and the amount of funds corresponding to them teleports itself back to the kingdom's treasury" – said Carlos while reading the bottommost part of the Drack definition – "At least we don't have to worry about causing an economic imbalance with our journeys" –

- "In any case, let's stop worrying and let's go shopping!" - said Tiffany heading to the living's door. The others were flabbergasted, but they just followed her and spent the rest of the day going around the city to purchase all they needed. They also went to Souta's school to talk with the principal so Gabriela would be in a higher grade, and took advantage of the chance to also register Tiffany so they would go together.

- "By the way, how're ya guys gonna go to Kagome's school? Ya didn't get the same chance Gerardo got, right?" – asked Inuyasha when they were finished with everything and were walking through the street on the way back to Kagome's house at sunset. They were all wearing their ordinary Earth outfits to not stand out too much due to their shoufs.

- "Oh, we found these in the pockets of our clothes this morning. They're school registration cards for each of us as exchange students, so I think we can go tomorrow too!" – said Miguel while taking out his card and showing it to everyone.

- "Oh man, and you got it easy, since I even had to take tests and all to get in…" – sighed Gerardo.

- "Another gift from the Dragon Gods, it seems" – said Kagome blinking multiple times – "Whoa, looks like my school is going to be having a lot of guests this period!" –

- "That said, where are you guys staying at?" – asked Gerardo raising an eyebrow – "Kagome's family is allowing Gaby and me to stay with them, but it's obvious they can't lodge so many people" –

- "We know that. I think the plan is for us to head back home every night while you and Gaby stay here, bro" – said Henry laughing.

- "Not like we blame you. After the stuff that happened with your dad, returning's not really an option, right?" – said Roger patting him on the back.

- "You said it. And I didn't want to head back to Dragonia either until we're done here for obvious reasons" – said Gerardo with a sad smile – "Still, let's try to make the best of our time here, since studying in Japan isn't exactly easy for people from our country" –

- "And let's hope we have the level required to understand and pass the classes here too!" – said Carlos laughing.

- "Oh, come on! Don't be such a downer!" – said Tiffany laughing.

- "Feh… But to think we'd have even more people dealing with those stupid tests now… As if Kagome alone wasn't enough…" – scoffed Inuyasha while looking to his side with disgust.

- "Well, they did promise their parents to continue their studies while they were traveling with us, Inuyasha-nii" – said Yasha with a smile.

- "And that also gives us a chance to study at a Japanese university, even if it's not in our original universe" – laughed Gerardo. After a bit more of laughter and some annoyed sighs from Inuyasha, they returned to Kagome's house, Henry and the others went back to their Earth for the night, while Gerardo settled down with Yasha and Inuyasha in Souta's room, and Gabriela did the same with Miko and Kagome in the latter's room.

- "Okay, looks like we're ready for school" – said Gerardo while looking at himself in a mirror in the room the next morning: he was now wearing the black jacket and black pants worn by the boys at Kagome's school.

- "Yup, and I've finished getting ready too" – said Souta, who that morning was wearing a light blue long-sleeve shirt and light brown pants.

- "It's too bad I can't go with you guys, but I'll be around the area to make sure Miko's okay" – said Yasha with a smile.

- "Yeah. It'll bore me to tears, but I'll do the same at Kagome's school to keep an eye on her" – said Inuyasha crossing his arms while Yasha put his cap on his head. Inuyasha then reluctantly did the same.

- "And about that, are the others coming?" – asked Souta.

- "If you mean Henry and the others, we agreed to meet up at the school's entrance" – said Gerardo as he grabbed the black briefcase he had purchased the previous day and walked in the door's direction.

- "Kagome's gonna give y'all a tour of the place, right?" – asked Inuyasha with a serious face.

- "Yeah, as I didn't really get a chance to get a feel for the place when I came for the admission tests so long ago" –

- "Talking about that, I wonder if the girls have finished getting ready" – said Yasha while looking to one of the walls with a curious face.

- "Can't you both hear what they're doing?" – asked Souta while blinking a couple times.

- "We could, but we decided to not do that to not intrude on them" – said Yasha with a smile.

- "Yeah. Don't wanna get on Kagome's bad side this early in the mornin'" – said Inuyasha crossing his arms and shuddering a bit.

- "Plus, it'd end up horribly badly for us if we tried entering the room without permission and while they were getting changed or something" – sighed Gerardo – "And I don't think any of us is in the mood for getting sat down, slapped, getting stuff thrown to our faces or kicked on the butt for it. I mean, we're not Miroku" –

Inuyasha and Yasha burst out laughing from that remark, which Gerardo himself also laughed at, much to Souta's confusion.

As for the girls, they had already finished changing their clothes from their pajamas to the ones they would wear for school in Miko and Gabriela's case, and her school uniform in Kagome's. At that point, Gabriela was helping Miko to tie her hair in her usual hairstyle after the latter and Kagome had helped her put her hair in two braids and tied them behind her head in a butterfly shape, leaving the rest of her hair loose under it.

- "And we're done!" – said Gabriela as she tied up the bundles of Miko's hair with a white bow – "It's a bit more complicated than the hairstyles I'm used to fixing up myself, but it's still relatively simple" –

- "Thanks for the help, Gaby-nee!" – said Miko with a sincere smile. She was wearing the clothes her mother had bought for her the previous day, excepting for the shoes.

- "It's nothing! I had to pay you back after you and Kagome helped me styling my hair!" – said Gabriela smiling. She was now wearing the same purple dress and white leggings she had worn the previous time they had come to this world.

- "I'd tell you we could try applying make-up to each other if we were in any other situation, but doing that is forbidden at all schools here…" – said Kagome with a sad smile – "But still, we could do it next time we're taking a stroll in any of the worlds" –

- "Hehe, wanting to take advantage of the fact you're not the only modern girl in our group now, onee-san?" – laughed Miko, to which Kagome nodded – "But I agree. Us and Tiffa-chan could have a lot of fun with that!" –

- "And we could even have sleepovers at the inns we're staying at in our adventures!" – said Gabriela clapping her hands once, to then go and pick up the red backpack they had purchased the previous day – "Though we'd have to tell everybody we'd have to pick separate rooms for boys and girls" –

- "Hehe, looks like we're going to enjoy a lot of girls' nights while we're out and about!" – said Kagome while she took her own backpack and handed Miko hers.

- "But for now, let's do our best at school! I'm really excited to meet my classmates!" – said Miko with a smile.

- "But aren't you nervous too?" – asked Gabriela a bit worried – "I mean, I'm a bit nervous because I'm a foreigner and all" –

- "Kind of… But Souta never seems to be having trouble at school, so I don't think my classmates'll be nasty or anything" – said Miko with a shy smile.

- "You know, Miko… We could use the medallions and have me pass off as your twin again if you're not too confident about just going with Souta" – suggested Kagome.

- "Thanks, Kagome-nee… But it's okay" – said Miko after shaking her head – "You've got to make up for all your absences in school too, right? So, don't worry, I'll be fine!" –

- "That said, hopefully your friends won't pry their noses too much into your business" – said Gabriela as she walked to the room's door – "I mean, I know what Ayumi said, but about the others…" –

- "Yeah… Hopefully I won't have much trouble dealing with them…" – said Kagome as the three girls left the room and went down the stairs to the living for breakfast.

- "Okay, looks like here's we gotta split up" – said Gabriela after they had arrived at school, as her classroom was one floor above the one Miko and Souta were heading to. She and Tiffany were about to head up the stairs to go to their class – "Good luck over there, Miko!" –

- "Thanks, Gaby-nee!" – said Miko as she and Souta waved their hands at her and walked through the student-filled hallway to their classroom, which was already full of people. Altogether there were around 50 students including them both.

Once inside, Miko sat down at a desk behind Souta, with all her classmates looking at her with curiosity.

- 'Ehehe…' – thought Miko nervously – 'I didn't think I'd be standing out here so soon…' –

- "Okay, class!" – said the teacher to call the attention of her pupils. She was a woman in her thirties with shoulder-length brown hair, who was wearing round glasses and a beige formal suit – "I know you're all excited to start today, but first, we have to welcome a new student!" –

Miko blinked a couple times while the class turned back to see her again.

- "Come, please!" – said the teacher with a smile – "Stand before the blackboard and tell us your name!" –

- "Uh… Okay!"- said Miko as she got up from her desk and Souta gave her a reassuring smile.

Once she was in front of the blackboard, she wrote on it her name using white chalk. She then turned to face everybody with her hands entwined in front of her abdomen.

- "H-Hi, everyone…! M-My name's Higurashi Miko, pleased to meet everyone…!" – said Miko to then bow before everyone. After she did, most of the class clapped before her introduction.

- 'Ehehe… This is reminding me of when Yasha and me had our first day at Enterial… Hopefully things will go as well here as they did there…' – thought Miko as she blushed.

- "Thanks, Miko! As you all can see, she's Souta's younger sister and she just got transferred here from another school in the countryside, so I hope you all will be good with her!" – said the teacher after the clapping had subsided. She then signaled Miko to go back to her seat.

However, Miko noticed that two boys and a girl a few desks away from hers seemed to be eyeing her unpleasantly. One was a boy that had a shaved head, black eyes and was wearing a yellow shirt, black shorts and black shoes, another was a boy with glasses that wore a green shirt, blue pants and brown shpes that had his black hair in a bowl cut, and a girl wearing a blue short dress that had brown hair in pigtails and wore pink shoes.

- 'What's their problem…? I've just met them and they're already throwing daggers at me with the eyes…?' – said Miko visibly shaken up as she sat down again.

- "Are you okay, Miko?" – asked Souta upon seeing her expression.

- "Souta… These kids over there were giving me the evil eye…" – said Miko as she gestured at them with her head.

- "Ah, Ryotaro and his two cronies?" – said Souta frowning his brow as he looked at them – "Don't mind them. These guys are like the class bullies, so you should just ignore them" –

- "Is that okay…?" – asked Miko a bit anguished.

- "Yeah. I'll be with you this whole time, so I won't let them do anything to you" – reassured Souta while he smiled at her. Miko smiled not too convinced, but she decided to trust him.

- "Oh, so you're Souta's sister? Pleased to meet you!" – said a girl next to her. She had shoulder-length brown wavy hair, brown eyes, and wore a yellow jacket over a white blouse, a pink knee-length skirt, socks and pink shoes.

- "Oh, you're…!" – said Miko recognizing her from Kagome's memories – "Hitomi-chan, right? P-Pleased to meet you too! Souta's told me and Kagome-nee a lot about you!" –

- "Oh, come on" – said Hitomi blushing a little – "I'm not that important! But I hope we can be good friends!" –

- "Yeah, me too!" – said Miko smiling. However, they both had to fall silent and focus on the teacher because the class now had started.

- "Okay then class, first we'll go over math today!" – said the teacher as she drew some multiplication exercises on the blackboard – "I hope you've memorized your tables today!" –

Most of the kids moaned upon seeing this, but Miko didn't really mind it much. Instead, she focused on copying down the exercises on her notebook.

- 'Hehe, this is going to be easy!' – she thought while smiling to herself – 'Even without Kagome-nee's knowledge, we went through this at Enterial only two weeks ago!' –

- "Wow, Miko! You're pretty good!" – said Souta as he looked at her solving the exercises after a couple minutes.

- "Yeah! Looks like you're pretty smart!" – said Hitomi smiling at her.

- "It's only because I got taught this at my old school, don't mind me!" – said Miko blushing.

- "Ah, looks like you're doing pretty well, Miko!" – said the teacher as she walked to her after hearing Hitomi and Souta commenting on her work – "Can you please head to the blackboard and write the solutions to the first two exercises?" –

- "Um… do I have to…?" – said Miko while twiddling her thumbs. She wanted to stand out as little as possible.

- "Yes, please. Go ahead, don't be shy!" – said the teacher to encourage her. Miko nodded, gulped down, and got up to walk to the blackboard. She then wrote the solutions to the first two problems.

- "Correct! Well done!" – said the teacher clapping at her – "Class, please make sure to remember how she's done the multiplication here, including the leftover number you need to pay attention to when the result is over 10!" –

However, while some of the kids were impressed and even applauded her, around half of the others were just looking at her with annoyance, with Ryota's trio outright looking at her with disgust.

- 'Why…? Why are they doing this…?' – thought Miko scared – 'The only thing I did was solve the problems like the teacher told me…' –

She then went back to her seat even more distraught than after her introduction, and before Souta and Hitomi had any chance to ask her what was wrong…

- "Gosh, what we needed, yet another bookworm here…" – said the shaved-head kid, Ryota.

- "Yeah, another annoying whiz kid" – said the bowl cut boy.

- "You said it, Shinjiro" – said the girl scoffing while glaring at Miko from her seat.

- "Yeah, Mira. She thinks she's so great and smart because she solved these two stupid problems" – said Ryota crossing his arms. The other kids that had looked at her with annoyance just started murmuring among themselves after this, while none of the others did anything beyond looking at how others had started going up to the blackboard to solve the remaining problems.

- "She comes from a countryside school and thinks she's so good?" –

- "Look at the new teacher's pet!" -

- "Oh my, Souta's little crybaby sister is so nice and good, boo-hoo!" –

- "What's she gonna do? Curl up in ball and cry?" –

However, this stopped when the teacher clapped her hands loudly to call for attention.

- "Everybody, stop this right now!" – said her with an angry face – "Miko is now our friend, and thus I won't allow anybody to be making cruel comments about her! If anybody does, they'll be given detention!" –

This ceased the murmuring instantly and made the kids focus on the class while they shivered, but Miko just was sitting at her desk with a sad face, trying to hold in the urge to start crying, while Souta and Hitomi whispered at her encouraging words. As for Ryota's trio, they were forced to face forward, but still kept their annoyed expressions on their faces.

- "Don't worry, we're here for you" – said Souta while looking behind himself.

- "Yeah, ignore them" – said Hitomi with a gentle smile – "They won't bother you if you do as if they didn't exist" -

- "Thank you…" – said Miko showing them a grateful smile.

However, that wasn't the end of it: during a moment the teacher was turned around, Ryota went and threw Miko a paper ball to her head, and since she was focused on writing down kanji for the language class, she didn't see it coming. Souta was angry at this, but he couldn't retaliate for it because the teacher had turned again to face the class.

Miko also received a note from one of the girls that upon unfolding it, she noticed it was a horrible drawing of her with arrows that marked her as "ugly" and "stupid", and it also said she had a ridiculous haircut. She couldn't do more than bear with it… Meaning it was a great relief for her when the bell finally rang and announced recess. All the kids made a stampede to leave the classroom for the school courtyard.

- "At long last… It ended…" – said Miko after a long sigh. Souta and Hitomi had stayed with her on their desks.

- "Oh man… To think the class could have treated you so badly…" – said Souta scratching his head, stumped at what they had done to her.

- "Yeah… I don't get either why they're being so terrible to her…" – said Hitomi grabbing her own hands.

- "Is anything the matter, you three?" – asked the teacher while walking to them to see why they hadn't left yet.

- "Harada-sensei" – said Souta with a sad face – "The class has been giving Miko a hard time, and look how sad she is…" –

- "Yeah… Can't you please do something?" – said Hitomi as she showed her the note Miko had gotten.

- "I have noticed it too. I'll be going to the principal's office to see what we can do to get the class to behave, as it's not fair that she's getting treated this way even before her first day is complete" – said Mrs. Harada after seeing it.

- "Thank you, sensei" – said Miko with a smile.

- "On the meantime, why don't you go outside to play with Souta and Hitomi?" – said Mrs. Harada – "I'm sure that will help you take your mind off this" –

- "But…" – said Miko a bit scared.

- "Don't worry, I won't allow them to touch even a hair from your head" – said Souta while he put his hands on his hips.

- "Me neither!" – said Hitomi with a smile.

Miko nodded and then walked to the courtyard accompanied by them. They also met up with Gabriela and Tiffany as they reached the lockers for the shoes.

- "Ah, hi guys! How's Miko's first class day going?" – asked Gabriela with a smile while they changed their shoes.

- "Umm, from the looks of it, not very well" – said Tiffany upon seeing how Miko seemed anything but happy.

- "You said it… I've gotten insulted, stuff thrown at me…" – said Miko looking at the floor – "And all only because I solved a few problems in the blackboard…" –

- "I don't get it… What's happening to the kids in your class?" – said Tiffany shaking her head. They had now finished changing their shoes and were leaving the school to spend recess in the courtyard, while also bringing their bentous with them – "Over here we had a bit of trouble because of being foreigners, but that aside, we haven't really gotten bullied" –

- "That's what I'd like to ask too!" – said Souta annoyed – "I don't get why my class is acting nastier than usual!" –

- "In any case, you know you can count on us to protect you, right?" – said Gabriela smiling – "So for now, let's go to the courtyard to take some air" -

- "Hmm, who are you two?" – asked Hitomi confused.

- "Ah, sorry. They're Gabriela and Tiffany, friends of mine who came from another school too" – said Souta to introduce both girls.

- "Pleased to meet you!" – said them both.

- "Please to meet you too!" – said Hitomi to then start giggling – "Hehe, looks like we got many new students today! And from abroad too!" –

- "You said it. But still, it's kind of sad things are turning out this way" – said Gabriela, guessing the answer to her next question before she had asked it – "And did you make any friends?" –

- "Aside of Hitomi-chan, none…" – said Miko shaking her head.

- "Darn… Well, at least we'll make sure nobody else bothers you!" – said Tiffany. Now they were in the courtyard, they noticed the weather was slowly getting bad: it was overcast at that moment, and they heard a few thunders booming in the distance.

- "Gerar were here, he'd say it'd start raining any second now" – said Gabriela giggling.

- "I'm sure of that!" – said Miko smiling at her.

The girls then sat on a bench overlooking the soccer court to eat their lunches while they saw the kids playing around.

- "Still, it's not much longer before the day ends. It's just two more hours after recess, right?" – asked Gabriela while she munched on a ham and butter sandwich.

- "Yeah. We all get released at about 3 PM and recess ends at 1" – confirmed Souta as he ate some onigiri.

- "But still… you'll continue coming to school the next days, right? Miko?" – asked Hitomi with a smile as she ate some fish and rice with her chopsticks – "I mean, I want to know you better!" –

- "I can't think why I wouldn't do that, Hitomi-chan" – said Miko as she ate some of her fish and greens – "I mean, with Souta and you, maybe I can get the class to start treating me better" –

- "And don't hesitate to call us if things get nasty. We'll rush to your aid at once!" – said Tiffany while she ate a salmon sandwich.

However, the next instant the school's PA let out an announcement…

- "Higurashi Souta-san and Takahara Hitomi-san, please come to the principal's office. We need you to tell us about what happened to Higurashi Miko-san in her class. We repeat. Higurashi Souta-san and Takahara-san, please…" – said a woman's voice through it.

- "Agh… What an awful timing…" – said Souta gritting his teeth.

- "Yeah…" – said Hitomi with a sad face – "Even though we promised we wouldn't leave Miko alone…" –

- "Go ahead" – said Gabriela with a smile – "She still has us, right?" –

- "Yeah. And anybody who bullies her is gonna be on the receiving end of a nice beating!" – said Tiffan closing a fist.

- "Okay…" – said Souta not too convinced, but he knew that he couldn't disobey an order issued by the principal.

- "We leave her in your care then" – said Hitomi while bowing before both girls.

- "Miko, take care" – said Souta as he patted her head.

- "Thank you, both" – said Miko.

Souta and Hitomi then returned to the school building to go to the principal's office.

- "Look at the bright side" – said Tiffany – "Aside of us, you've also got Yasha looking after you" –

She then pointed at the roof of the building in front of them: Yasha was there waving at them from the distance, his silver mane waving in the wind while his ears were covered by his cap.

- "Gallucci-san, Diaz-san…!" – said a girl that had come running to them and was now gasping for air. She had her brown hair in a ponytail, black eyes, wore a blue blouse, a blue skirt and black sneakers, and was a bit taller than the three – "We need you… in the classroom… now!" –

- "Eh!?" – said Gabriela raising an eyebrow – "But we're still in the middle of recess!" –

- "Yeah! What could Ms. Takeda want now, Shimura?" – asked Tiffany getting up and putting her hands on her hips.

- "She needs you to come with her for a while to finalize some stuff about your registration in school for the advanced placement program" – said Shimura after breathing in and out for a few moments – "So, you've gotta go and read some documents to then sign them" –

- "Agh… But we promised we'd stay here with Miko… We have to look out for her…" – said Gabriela while turning around to face Miko with a sad face.

- "Yeah! We can't be leaving her alone after we promised her brother that we'd keep watch for her until he returned!" – said Tiffany extending her arms.

- "But this is important, so we need you to come now" – said Shimura while looking at the three girls with an apologetic face.

- "Can't Miko at least come with us?" – asked Gabriela crossing her arms while facing Shimura again.

- "Unfortunately, you can't bring anybody with you two, since the documents in question are important stuff. I mean, I personally wouldn't have any problems with it… But Takeda-sensei and the other school staff…" – said Shimura while shaking her head.

- "If the class delegate says so, looks like we've got no option…" – said Gabriela sighing in defeat to then turn around to look at Miko – "I'm sorry, Miko… But we've gotta go…" –

- "Yeah, and after we promised Souta and all…" – said Tiffany gritting her teeth.

- "No, it's okay. Go ahead and do it. I'm sure Yasha will come and help me if things get tough" – said Miko shaking her head and smiling at them – "Plus, I can call for help if I need, right?" –

Both girls realized she was talking about the Dragtemn's communicator.

- "Okay. But if anything happens, make sure to shout as loud as you can!" – said Tiffany while putting her hands on Miko's shoulders.

- "Ok, Tiffa-chan!" – said Miko.

- "Are you sure you're going to be okay, Miko?" – asked Gabriela while still looking at her with apprehension.

- "I'm still a bit scared… So please, try to finish with these documents as quick as you can…" – said her looking downward.

- "Okay. Shimura-senpai, lead the way so we can end this quickly" – said Gabriela turning to the girl so she'd lead them back to the classroom.

- "Okay. I'll also try to make the staff finish as soon as possible" – said Shimura nodding as she guided Tiffany and Gabriela back into the school.

However, as soon as the three girls had disappeared from sight and Miko had turned around…

- "Oh, look who's here! If it isn't Souta's stupid crybaby sister!" – it was Ryota, who was accompanied by his two cronies and to make matters worse, was glaring at her with an evil smile. He also had a green plastic bucket on his hands.

- "And she's all alone and all! It's perfect!" – said Shinjiro adjusting his glasses.

- "Umm, hi everyone. Can I help you with something?" – asked Miko trying to sound friendly, but she took at couple steps back from them. However, she crashed onto somebody when she tried backing away even more: it was some of the kids who had sneered at her in the classroom. They had circled her and she had no escape.

- "Yeah! We want you to stop being the teacher's pet and acting like you're so great in class!" – said Mira as she stepped from behind Shinjiro's back.

- "B-But… I never wanted anything like that… I just solved the problems and wrote these kanji like I was taught to in my old school…" – said Miko grabbing her own hands tightly as she looked downward.

- "So, you mean a stupid hick like you is better than us!?" – shouted Ryota.

- "Eh!?" – screamed Miko, feeling as if something was breaking inside herself.

- "Plus, what's up with that ridiculous hairstyle?" – said Mira while laughing as she walked behind her, which some of the girls behind Miko also echoed – "You think you're in some TV show or period drama?" –

- "No! My family has owned a temple for generations, so it's natural for me to have my hair like this!" – shouted Miko, now resisting the urge to start crying. It had now started raining, and while she wanted to go into the buildings to take cover, the bullies weren't allowing her to go anywhere.

- "We should've known that, since you have a name so blatant and stupid too!" – said Shinjiro while he laughed at her.

- "And what's up with these stupid clothes?" – said Mira – "You think you're better for wearing a uniform?" –

- "No! This is just what I used to wear at my old school!" – said Miko while shaking her head.

At this point, Yasha had noticed something was wrong and jumped from the rooftop where he was to head to Miko's side.

- "Damn it…! These stupid kids…! Hang in there, Miko! I'll be there in a moment!" – said Yasha to himself.

- "And what's up with that stupid-looking wristwatch and those trinkets you've got around your neck?" – said Mira as she pulled out Miko's Seirei Crystal, elemental medallion and Medallion of Link through the cords that kept them suspended around her chest.

- "These are my treasures! Don't touch them!" – shouted Miko as she jerked off the cords off Mira's hands to get her away from them.

- "Oh, how cheeky!" – said Mira while looking at her with disgust – "Let's see how you like this!" –

She said as she bumped Miko in the direction of the other bullies, and they kept her shoving and pushing her around until she had fallen on the ground over her chest.

- "Waaah!" – screeched her when she hit the ground.

- "Oh, and we've got some nice rain going now! Looks like we can give her the welcome we had planned!" – said Ryotaro while he looked upward.

- "What do you mean…?" – asked Miko while she gulped down and tried to stand up again, feeling she wasn't going to like whatever they had planned.

- "A bucket, rain, and some soil" – said Mira after a brief laughter – "You're not stupid enough that you can't do some math, right?" –

Miko's eyes then widened in horror upon realizing just what they were going to do to her.

- "No, please! Stop! Not that!" – she pleaded trying to find a way to escape from them, but it was in vain. Additionally, she was doing all she could to suppress both her Seirei and spiritual powers to not harm anybody unnecessarily.

It was then that Yasha finally arrived at the scene.

- "Miko! You bunch of idiots! Get away from her!" – said Yasha punching the kids that were in the outer part of the circle.

- "Oh, looks like the idiot's got some kinda knight in shining armor! Let's see how he likes it!" – said Ryota looking back at how the other bullies were holding Yasha back. The inner circle also tightened more so both Ryota and Miko would be right in the center.

- "Please, Yasha… Hurry…" – muttered Miko. She then quickly opened the communicator in her Dragtemn and input a single word into it to send to all her friends.

- "Too bad, looks like your stupid knight won't get here in time!" – said Ryota as he started using his hands to fill the bucket with the mud that had formed from the rain striking the ground – "And if you were doing something with that stupid watch of yours, it won't work either! Everybody, hold her down!" –

The other bullies, including Mira and Shinjiro, forced Miko on her knees. He then, slowly approached Miko with the mud-filled bucket…

- "No, please! No! Stop!" – said Miko increasingly more desperate.

- "No! Miko!" – shouted Yasha seeing what was about to happen while he still tried his hardest to cleave a way through the bullies.

The next instant, everybody else received on their Dragtemns a single text message from Miko: "タスケテ！！ (HELP ME!)"

Gerardo, Miguel, Henry, Roger, Kember, Carlos and Kagome were in class at that moment, while Inuyasha was watching over Kagome from the school rooftop, but as soon as they got that message and it displayed itself automatically on their Dragtemn's crystal screens, almost all of them felt their blood go cold.

- "No, Miko!" – shouted Gerardo out of nowhere, closing his notebook and throwing it and his writing utensils into his briefcase as he jumped up from his desk and rushed to the classroom's door – "Yamada-sensei, I apologize, but I must leave the class this instant!" –

He then rushed off the classroom and ran as fast as he could to leave the school and go to where Miko was. His other friends also went through similar motions. Kagome for her part, first saw the message, but right after it… She stared at the blackboard as if she had gotten a large shock, and then she started crying in the middle of the classroom… She didn't know why, but she couldn't avoid breaking down into loud sobs and cries and burying her face into her hands, much to her classmates and teacher's confusion…

- "Kagome, what happened!?" – asked Ayumi as she went to her friend's side and tried to comfort her. Eri, Yuka, Roger and her other classmates were also shocked at all this, while Inuyasha was horrified and frustrated over seeing her cry and Miko's message.

- "I… I don't know…" – said Kagome as she could amongst the sobbing – "I just… felt an indescribable horror… and then I started crying out of nowhere… I don't get it…" –

- "Higurashi-san… Please, head home… Looks like something affected you deeply and you're in no condition to continue the class… Takagawa-san, can you please take her home?" – said the teacher while looking at her worried.

- "Yes, Itou-sensei. I'll do it" – said Ayumi with a decided smile as Kagome tried in vain to stop crying.

- "I'm sorry, Itou-sensei…" – said Kagome. But then, when they had left the classroom, she understood… These feelings weren't coming from her herself… Her eyes widened as tears continued streaming from her eyes - 'No…!' –

- "Kagome, what is it?" – asked Ayumi upon seeing her reaction.

- "Ayumi… Please take me to Miko's school… I've got to go see her now…" – said Kagome as she clung to her friend's arm.

- "Miko… She's in the same school as Souta-kun, right?" – asked Ayumi. Upon seeing Kagome nod at her, she smiled back – "Okay. I was told to take you home, but let's go see her first!" –

They then ran as fast as they could, followed by Roger, to leave the school and head to where Miko was while Inuyasha jumped through the buildings to go see what happened. As for Gabriela and Tiffany, they had seen everything that had transpired from the window of the room they were in signing the papers, as also did Souta and Hitomi…

- "Paperwork schmwork! I've gotta go help her!" – said Gabriela when she saw what was happening as she was signing the last of the papers.

- "These stupid kids…!" – said Tiffany shivering from rage. They then stood up from the desks and rushed out, leaving the teachers and staff dumbfounded.

As for Souta and Hitomi, they were still in the headmaster's office providing the account of what had happened in the classroom…

- "No, Miko!" – said Souta as he saw what the bullies were about to do to her – "And you still don't believe us or Harada-sensei!? I've gotta help my sister!" –

- "I'll go with you, Souta!" – said Hitomi as they both ran off followed by Ms. Harada.

The five were the first ones to arrive at the scene, but it was already too late by then…

Ryota had grabbed the bucket he had filled with mud and had dumped it over Miko's head… Miko first was dumbstruck from horror, but then… She started sobbing, until she couldn't bear with it anymore… And started crying in full… Her Seirei Crystal stopped shimmering at that instant, and instead covered itself in a layer of thick, opaque crystals…

- "No way… How could you…?" – said Ms. Harada upon seeing what they had done to her pupil and their own classmate.

- "YOU DAMN CRETINS!" – screamed Yasha upon seeing this: he couldn't hold himself back anymore and drew Tessaiga in its true form, which caused the bullies to start screaming in horror. He then glared at them with utter hatred…

- "He's a monster! Run!" – shouted one as he tried to scramble with the others, but to his misfortune, Gabriela and Tiffany had caught a few of them already, him included.

- "Hoh, so you make a mess and then try to run away from it!?" – said Gabriela looking at them with her face contorted with hatred. She then kicked at one in the nuts – "Let's see how you like a nice kick on the groin!" –

- "Or getting slapped to unconsciousness!" – said Tiffany as she grabbed one of the girls and started slapping her repeatedly. Souta and Hitomi also arrived, the first rushing headlong to catch Ryota.

- "You stupid Ryota! I'll make you pay for what you did to my sister!" – said Souta tackling him to make him collapse into the muddy ground.

- "What the…!?" – said Ryota shocked as Souta punched him in the face. The bucket he had used to torment Miko had now fallen next to him.

- "Go, Souta! Beat him silly!" – said Hitomi while she cheered for him. Ms. Harada first was petrified, but then she grabbed Mira and Shinjiro by their arms.

- "Hold it there, you two! You're in more trouble than you can imagine!" – said her as she took them by their ears and pulled them into the school building despite their protests and cries of pain.

At that point, Inuyasha arrived, and was horrified to see what was happening before them…

- "These damned brats! Yasha, ya okay over there!?" – asked Inuyasha as he rounded up several of the bullies and held them by the collars of their clothes.

- "Now I am, Nii-san!" – said Yasha irate as he punched one on the stomach while he held Tessaiga with the other hand – "I'm gonna make them pay for everything they did to Miko!" –

Then arrived Gerardo, Miguel, Henry, Carlos, Roger, Kember, Kagome, and Ayumi, who were all shocked to see what had happened in the courtyard, but before the boys could also join into the fray…

- "Attention! All students that are fighting in the courtyard!" – said a voice over the PA, which everyone recognized as that of Ms. Harada – "You're all grounded for your behavior! Senjou, you will come to the principal's office this instant, as we have already called your parents and those of Hirata and Mihara to decide your punishments!" –

- "Oh man, looks like we got here too late for the action…" – said Henry disappointed.

- "Look at the nice side: apparently the kids already did a good work mopping up all that trash" – said Roger pointing at how Souta had Ryota pinned to the ground and was repeatedly punching him in the face, despite having gotten his face bruised, at how Gabriela and Tiffany were systematically grabbing all the bullies they could and disabling them with some nice kicks and slaps, and at how Yasha and Inuyasha were dealing some old-fashioned intimidation between Yasha's Tessaiga and Inuyasha's own imposing appearance, as well as some nice beatings the elder one was giving to the bullies on their heads.

- "But still…" – said Gerardo upon seeing how Kagome was behind them: she was drenched by the rain due to having walked outside the umbrella Ayumi was holding and her tears hadn't stopped yet. She then walked to Miko, who was now kneeling on the ground looking downward and crying endlessly, with her hair and clothes covered completely by mud and soil stains…

- "Miko…" – said Kagome as she went closer to her.

- "Kagome, no! You'll get your clothes dirty too!" – said Ayumi as she approached her.

- "I don't care…! Look… At what they did to my sister…!" – said Kagome sobbing while turning to see Ayumi with a heartbreaking expression. Ayumi looked at her, and about to break into tears herself, decided to let both sisters be.

- "Onee-san…" – said Miko with a cracked voice as she raised her face to look at Kagome, who had turned to face her again. Her face was also stained with mud and tears were still spilling from her eyes.

- "Miko… I'm sorry… I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you…!" – said Kagome as she hugged Miko… And they both started crying as loudly as they could…

- "Well, at least the three bully leaders got a very well-deserved expulsion for all they did" – said Miguel. They were now in the living of Kagome's house going over everything that had happened during that afternoon.

- "And apparently, the teachers decided to be lenient with Souta and to not punish Gaby or Tiffa, since they were there to protect Miko, not rushing into a fight just because" – said Roger rubbing his forehead.

- "Not to mention the teacher in charge of them also gave them a nice one" – said Carlos remembering how Ms. Harada gave them a nice ear pulling and vouched against them, and Ryota had gotten beat black and blue by Souta.

- "But talking about useless… What the hell were the school watchmen and the teachers doing while these brutes did that!?" – said Henry while throwing a punch he caught with his other hand.

- "Looks like the watchmen were more worried about the other kids not getting drenched by the rain than about this horrible bullying case, and the teachers with making sure their respective classes were in the hallways waiting to go back to their classrooms" – said Kember shaking his head.

- "Well, Gerar and Ms. Higurashi both gave the principal a hell of a time for this" – said Carlos as he looked at Gerardo, who was still fuming from indignation – "Ms. Higurashi also stated she's going to raise this to the city school board due to this gross display of utter incompetence" –

- "Even so… Well, Kagome and Miko have already taken baths already to remove all the mud, but Miko has locked herself into their room…" – said Gerardo while looking at the floor with rage, which gradually degraded into sadness.

- "Come on, Kagome" – said Ayumi as they walked down the stairs – "It wasn't your fault…" -

- "I promised her I'd protect her… I promised her I'd be there to look after her whenever she needed me…" – said Kagome while grabbing tightly to Ayumi's arm. She was now wearing a light blue dress with a short yellow skirt – "And look now… She got mistreated by these kids and even had mud dumped on her… And I couldn't do anything to avoid it…!" –

- "We all feel guilty here, Kagome" – said Gerardo to then tightly grab his own head with his hands and then leave one on his forehead – "We all wanted to help Miko however we could, but we arrived too late…" –

- "If only I had been stronger, or if Nii-san had been with me…" – said Yasha punching the floor.

- "Don't blame yerself, Yasha" – said Inuyasha while he had his arms crossed – "Ya did everythin' ya could for Miko" –

- "I should've drawn Tessaiga right when I got there! At least that'd have given the bastards a reason to run like the cowards they are before they had done anything to Miko! But I didn't do it!" – said Yasha as he started hiccupping and tears spilled from his eyes – "I promised too I'd protect her for the rest of our lives! What kind of man I'm now if I failed to keep a promise as simple as that!? Waaah!" –

Yasha then jumped onto Inuyasha's chest and started crying on it. Inuyasha also had to lower his head, so the others wouldn't notice his eyes were overflowing with tears in the same way his younger brother's were.

- "Kagome, how's Miko doing?" – asked the grandfather as he returned from the kitchen to see how his granddaughter was.

- "She's curled up on the bed and doesn't want to see or talk to anyone…" – said Kagome shaking her head – "Mom's up there trying to console her, but she can't do anything more than hug her for now…" –

- "I see…" – said the grandfather with a pained expression – "For the time being, looks like we can only support her until she feels better…" –

- "And what about Souta?" – asked Ayumi.

- "He's still in the bathroom… Looks like he's planning to drown himself in the bathtub…" – said Kagome in a joking tone, though she felt herself the joke was pretty out of place.

- "Umm, I just got out" – said Souta behind them, who was now wearing his classic sky-blue pajama and was drying his hair with a towel. He had a blacked eye, a swollen cheek and band aids pasted throughout his face. He then lowered his gaze – "But yeah… I'm her older brother and I couldn't do anything…" –

- "Damn, these stupid teachers had to come up with sumthin' ridiculous to make y'all leave Miko alone!" – said Inuyasha out of nowhere. He then gritted his fangs and continued growling.

- "Don't remind us" – said Gabriela, who had changed her clothes to a white shirt decorated with a heart and blue pants after having taken a bath. She had a few scratches on her arms, a cut on a cheek covered by a band aid and a couple bruises throughout her face – "We wanted to do all we could to stay at Miko's side, and when that wasn't possible, we tried to finish all that stupid paperwork as fast as we could" –

- "And by the time we saw what they were to do to her, it was already too late, no matter how fast we ran…" – said Tiffany, who was now wearing an aquamarine blouse and blue shorts. She also had bruises on her cheeks, scratches on her arms and hands, and her forehead was swollen on the left side.

- "Not to mention the principal didn't want to believe me or Hitomi when we and our teacher were telling him about how horribly they were treating Miko in the classroom" – sighed Souta. However, they were interrupted then by the sounds of footsteps coming from above and they noticed who it was when she came down the stairs: it was Mrs. Higurashi.

- "Kagome, Miko says she wants to talk with you in private" – said her with a sad face.

- "Huh? Okay…" – said Kagome as she went up the stairs. Once she reached the door's room and opened it, she noticed the room had its lights off and Miko was still curled on the bed, now wearing her pink pajama decorated with yellow stars and having her hair loose.

- "Miko…? Can I come in…?" – asked Kagome cautiously. She saw Miko nodding at her, so she went and sat at her side.

- "Onee-san…" – said Miko – "I'm sorry for being so stupid… such a hick… and all these things…" –

- "Miko, don't get like that…" – said Kagome as she hugged her – "Souta and Hitomi-chan told us everything that happened… These stupid bullies were the ones in the wrong here… You did nothing bad…" –

- "I know… But I feel so badly… Why are kids here so awful…?" – asked Miko in a sad voice.

- "I don't know… I think you've seen my memories too… And I even told you about it before… About how other kids used to bother me about my name…" – said Kagome shaking her head.

- "But they never dumped a bucket of mud on your head…" – said Miko.

- "Yeah, that's true…" – said Kagome, knowing there was no way to rebut that.

- "And after how nicely the kids in Enterial treated me and Yasha… despite being complete strangers to the point where we couldn't even understand each other at first… And how the kids from Kaede's village… treated us both as if we had always been part of them…" – said Miko shaking slightly.

- "I know…" – said Kagome, feeling at a loss for what she could say to console her.

- "Onee-san… I don't wanna…" – said Miko as she snuggled more closely to her.

- "Huh? You don't want…?" – asked Kagome.

- "I don't wanna… Go back to that horrible school anymore…" – said Miko as she started crying again – "Please… Let me go to the Warring States Era again… Or return to Soleila… But don't make me go back there, please…!" –

- "There, there…" – said Kagome patting her on the head, who now had started crying herself – "It's okay… We won't force you to go back there… Don't worry…!" –

- "Really…?" – asked Miko as she kept hiccupping.

- "Really… If you don't want to… We won't make you go there…" – said Kagome as she hugged her younger sister, which Miko responded to in kind – "Let's tell mom and Souta to let you off going there… okay?" –

- "Okay… Thanks… Onee-san…" – said Miko as they kept hugging each other.

After a few minutes though, they received a call in their Dragtemns and they had to separate so Kagome could answer it.

- "Miroku-sama?" – said Kagome upon seeing their friend's name appear on the display. She then answered.

- "Ah, Kagome-sama! Miko!" – said Miroku's hologram after he appeared over the Dragtemn's screen with a smile, but then he stopped himself upon seeing their expressions – "By Buddha, but what happened? You seem to have gone through some terrible times!" –

- "We'll explain it later, Miroku-sama" – said Kagome as she wiped her eyes – "And it's so rare to be getting a call from you" –

- "Oh yes. We wanted to inform you and all others that we have received news about Naraku! So please, come back to us as soon as possible!" – said Miroku with a serious face.

- "About Naraku!? Okay, we'll get back there tomorrow!" – said Kagome nodding. Miroku nodded in response and then the call got cut off.

- "Onee-san… Can I go too…?" – asked Miko.

- "Of course, we're all going!" – said Kagome. Miko still had some tears on her face, but at least this caused her to smile a little.

- 'At least, I hope that helps you take your mind off this horrible day… My dear sister…' – thought Kagome as she looked at her. Miko wanted to be left alone for a little more time, so Kagome went back by herself to tell the others about Miko's current condition, and after Ayumi went home, to her family and friends about their imminent return to the Warring States Era.

{End of Chapter}

{Ending: Doko e – Akiko Shikata}