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.

15. Studying Hours

Chapter 11: Studying Hours

From out of sight

To spotlight,

From sketches

To pictures.

{Opening: I Am}

The previous night, the group had finished getting everything ready for starting their classes: Miko, Gabriela, and Tiffany would go the next morning to Souta's school, while the rest of the group excepting Inuyasha and Yasha would accompany Kagome to her high school. Henry and the others had already returned to their world for the night, while Gerardo and Gabriela had joined Kagome's family, Inuyasha and Yasha in that night's dinner.

- "So, is everybody ready for school tomorrow?" – asked Mrs. Higurashi as she and Kagome placed the dishes and cutlery over the kotatsu.

- "Yeah, Higurashi-san. And we're still really thankful that you accepted to be our hosts while we're here" – said Gerardo with a smile.

- "Yeah! That saves us a lot of trouble when it comes to returning home and finding lodging here!" – said Gabriela smiling while Kagome and her mother sat down.

- "I'm glad to know that! But is there any reason why you don't want to go back to your homes? From what I understand, you could do so by teleporting just like your friends did" – asked Mrs. Higurashi while she looked at both siblings with worry.

- "Well…" – said Gerardo as the smile disappeared from his face and he lowered his gaze – "My father basically banished me from our home…" –

- "What!?" – asked Inuyasha standing up instantly.

- "Are you serious!?" – asked Yasha slamming his hands on the table.

- "Your father… went so far!?" – asked Kagome horrified.

- "No way!" – said Miko covering her mouth with her hands.

- "Yeah… Our dad got mad at us for departing for Dragonia, and after a large fight, he told Gerar to never come back…" – said Gabriela shaking her head.

- "I see. No wonder you don't want to go back there, Gerar-nii, Gaby-nee" – said Miko saddened.

- "Don't worry about it. But that's also why we're so thankful that you're allowing us to stay here" – said Gerardo as he smiled at Kagome's family.

- "Well, it's pretty rare for us to get guests" – said Kagome's grandfather – "So it's kind of good for us too!" –

- "Hehe, you say that because you want more people helping you with the shrine's maintenance, grandpa!" – said Souta while laughing.

- "It'd be a good chance for me to learn more about Japanese folklore in any case" – smiled Gerardo.

- "Though it's not like we'll be able to be around all the time. After all, we've still got a lot of stuff to take care of both in the Warring States Era and in Dragonia" – said Yasha with a smile.

- "Ohoho, I better start coming up with more excuses then…" – said Kagome's grandfather as his eyes shone briefly.

- "Ugh, grandpa… Don't tell me you're planning…" – said Kagome flinching in response.

- "That's right! I'll be able to use the sicknesses as excuses not only for Kagome now!" – said the grandfather as he stood up and put himself in a resolute pose: a leg thrust forward and a fist closed over it, causing everybody else but Kagome's mother to facefault over the kotatsu – "I'll even give the excuse that Kagome infected you all!" –

- "You're going to make me look like a plague bearer, grandpa!" – shouted Kagome while her face turned as red as a tomato.

- "*sigh* As if I didn't have enough with having over half my first junior high year being marked with absences due to actually being sick…" – said Gerardo in resignation.

- "And I'm going to get my record filled with absences too" – said Gabriela as she pinched her nose's bridge.

- "I haven't even started going to school here and I'm already going to have more absences than attendances…" – sighed Miko.

- "In any case, I hope you all will do your best while studying here!" – said Mrs. Higurashi while she smiled with closed eyes, ignoring the whole thing.

- "Hehe, I'm really looking forward to starting school too, mom!" – said Miko while they all served themselves and starting eating.

- "As I'm too to go to class with my little sister!" – said Souta, which caused Miko to giggle and Kagome to smile at them.

After they had finished eating dinner, cleaning the kotatsu, washing the cutlery and dishes, and were preparing to go to bed…

- "Ah, Gerardo-kun…" – said Mrs. Higurashi as he was getting ready to go to Souta's room to go to sleep – "May I have a word with you in private?" –

- "Um, okay, Higurashi-san" – said Gerardo gulping down, as he had a feeling about what she wanted to talk about.

- "Gerar, let me go with you" – said Gabriela, but Gerardo stopped her by shaking his head.

- "No, Gaby" – said Gerardo with a serious gaze – "I'm pretty sure Kagome's mom wants to talk about that, and I promised I'd explain it next time we met" –

- "But wouldn't that be even more reason for me to be there with you? We're both from the same world after all!" – said Gabriela as she frowned.

- "I know what you mean, but this is my responsibility" – said Gerardo – "I'll also try to break it to her in a way that dampens the shock as much as possible" –

The others just looked at Gerardo and Kagome's mother as they left the dining room and went to the kitchen, closing the door behind themselves after they had gone in.

- "Okay, Gerardo-kun, remember what you promised the last time you and Gaby-chan were here?" – asked Mrs. Higurashi with a stern expression.

- "Yes, I remember. I promised I'd explain how Gaby and me knew about what happened to Kagome's father, correct?" – said Gerardo knowing how serious the situation was.

- "That's right. So please, tell me how you knew about it" – said Mrs. Higurashi.

- "Very well" – said Gerardo to then take a deep breath – "It may seem kind of strange that I say this, but… It's because Kagome's adventures are told in a manga and anime series in our world" –

- "I kind of knew that already, as Kagome and Miko have told me of it" – said Mrs. Higurashi – "Still, it's pretty hard to believe that my daughters' adventures could have been chronicled in a manga and anime series…" –

- "Daughter… In the manga and anime, Miko and Yasha don't exist" – added Gerardo shaking his head no, leaving Mrs. Higurashi stunned – "There's also that my presence and those of my sister and friends are inexistent in them as well" –

- "Then, was what happened to my husband ever shown in detail then?" – asked Mrs. Higurashi as she covered her mouth with both hands.

- "Not in detail" – said Gerardo as he brought out from his Dragtemn a small book. It was one that had Inuyasha drawn on it in a menacing posture and had Kagome floating over a blue background, as well as having what seemed to be pieces of a giant centipede below her – "Even though they were long-runners, the anime and manga never went into detail about it, and the only time the incident was mentioned was in this novel" –

He then flipped open the book and ran through its pages until he reached page 11 and showed it to Mrs. Higurashi: there it stated briefly in the very last paragraph how Kagome's father had died in an accident and they all had moved into the shrine with the grandfather.

- "I see… With this, I can understand how you knew about these things…" – said Mrs. Higurashi as she took the book and read the section Gerardo had indicated her – "But even so…" –

- "Yes… I know this sort of thing is shocking and hard to believe…" – said Gerardo as he lowered his gaze.

- "Still, this seems like it has a good side to it" – said Mrs. Higurashi as she flipped the book and went to the last page – "Huh? But this doesn't show any sort of ending…" –

- "Yeah, that novel ends after the battle Inuyasha and Kagome had after he came to pick Kagome here for the first time" – said Gerardo – "But I can guarantee you that things will somehow come out well. The manga and anime have a happy ending" –

- "I'm glad to know that…" – said Mrs. Higurashi as she let out a sigh and returned the novel to Gerardo – "But… What decision will Kagome take in the end? And if she does what I think she does, will we ever see her again?" –

- "As her mother, I think you know pretty well what she'll end up choosing. And…" – said Gerardo as he bit his lip briefly before answering – "I can't really answer the second question. Both media were pretty vague on that aspect…" –

- "I see… But still, it makes me happy that she'll ultimately listen to her heart and find her own calling in life" – said Mrs. Higurashi – "I just hope that choice won't be the last we'll ever see of her…" –

- "Even if that were the case, we'll do our best to avoid an outcome where you'll have to say goodbye forever to each other" – said Gerardo while giving her a relieving smile.

- "Just one more question, Gerardo-kun" – said Mrs. Higurashi, but this time her face changed to a sad smile – "Kagome's told me you and your friends came from an alternate Earth too… So, does that mean, none of us exist in your world…?" –

- "That's a question I can't answer" – said Gerardo as he shook his head – "It's possible you all have counterparts in our Earth, but you just live lives that have nothing notable to them and thus haven't ever drawn attention to yourselves. And by that same token, it's possible that neither I, Gaby or my friends exist on this world…" –

- "Hehe, you have a good point there. Still, thanks for giving me those explanations and answering my questions" – said Mrs. Higurashi with a smile as she started walking to the door that led back to the dining room – "I'm glad you were honest with me, and you've given me a more reason to be happy, since Miko does exist in this world too and I'm glad to have her as my daughter" –

- "Miko'll be happy to hear that, I'm sure of it" – said Gerardo as he followed her – "And I'm sorry I couldn't answer one of your questions" –

- "Well, the future wouldn't be fun if we knew all answers it holds" – said her as she stood next to the entrance to allow Gerardo to go out first – "But the fact you tried shows that you can be trusted, and I'm counting on Inuyasha, you and all your friends for my daughters to keep being safe as they continue their journeys" –

- "I promise we'll do our best so that continues being the case in the future too" – said Gerardo nodding.

- "And make sure you all don't lag behind in your studies!" – said her with a smile as she closed her eyes, making Gerardo end up crestfallen upon remembering that.

- "I'll… keep that in mind…" – said he as he exited the kitchen and returned to the dining room. When they returned, they noticed how everybody else seemed to have hurriedly headed back to their seats around the kotatsu.

- 'How more obvious can they get about the fact they were trying to listen in?' – thought Gerardo bemused.

- "W-Welcome back, Gerar!" – said Gabriela a bit nervous.

- "Whoa, you were there for a good while!" – noted Kagome as he sat down again on the kotatsu.

- "What'd you two talk about?" – asked Inuyasha raising an eyebrow.

- "Most likely, my dear daughter-in-law has been explaining to him our honorable shrine's ancient history!" – said the grandfather as he stood in dignified pose.

- "Come on, grandpa! You know mom wasn't going to talk about that with him!" – said Souta with an incredulous expression.

- "That's correct" – said Mrs. Higurashi as she entered the dining room and sat down back at her place in the kotatsu – "I just was asking him a few questions about several things" –

- "So, did you get the answers you wanted, mom?" – asked Kagome with a doubtful expression.

- "I hope you didn't hear anything bad or sad…" – said Miko looking downward

- "Yeah, I did, dears" – said their mother as she smiled at them – "Let's just say that I'm very happy for you right now, and I'm also glad to have Miko and Yasha with us right now" –

- "Gerar, was she asking you stuff about the series?" – asked Gabriela between whispers.

- "You know it, Gaby" – replied Gerardo – "I answered her everything I could, and I also told her when I didn't know about something. I mean, there's gaps in the information we got from both the anime and manga after all" –

- "I just hope yer not using that as an excuse to hide stuff from us" – said Inuyasha snorting.

- "Well, I did say before I couldn't reveal stuff about the future" – said Gerardo gulping down – "But there's a few things that happened in the manga's future that I'd like to try and change if possible" –

- "Such as?" – asked Yasha raising an eyebrow.

- "I'll tell you at the appropriate times" – said Gerardo – "Right now isn't the best moment for me and Gaby to be acting as oracles, and like I told you the other day, what happened in the manga and anime isn't set in stone for our future, given the large number of alterations this world has gotten from our presence and from the stuff from Dragonia that ended up here" –

- "So, can we trust that you guys won't hide critical information from us then?" – asked Kagome with a smile.

- "We wouldn't be friends otherwise!" – said Gabriela.

- "Still, if I see signs that something that happened in the manga is about to happen, I'll tell you guys right away" – said Gerardo with a smile – "You can count on me for that" –

- "Keh, nice! Maybe that way we'll actually gain an upper hand over Naraku, just like we thought!" – said Inuyasha closing a hand into a fist.99

- "Still, let's not get confident" – said Yasha – "Remember that the stuff from the manga isn't definitely what'll happen to us, and even the stuff Gerar-nii, Gaby-nee and their friends can tell us could end up being different from our actual future" –

- "Yeah, but it'll still be a great help in some way" – said Kagome smiling – "So guys, we're counting on you!" –

Gerardo and Gabriela smiled at Kagome and the rest of the family, and they then started going to their respective rooms to go to sleep.

The next morning, Kagome, Inuyasha and Gerardo were walking through the streets to go to school…

- "So, it's kind of late to be asking this, but how's the journey going exactly?" – asked Gerardo as they kept walking.

- "You should know it better than us, since you've read the manga from beginning to end, right?" – replied Kagome with a smile.

- "I don't know the exact point where we're at now though" – said Gerardo as he gripped his briefcase harder – "I mean, I know the first time we came here was after you guys rescued the Hourai kids, but knowing it's been two months since our last time here doesn't really help in pinpointing the manga chapter we're roughly at" –

- "Keh, we just finished the training with Youreitaisei" – snorted Inuyasha with his arms crossed – "Happy now?" –

- "Thanks, that's just what I needed to know" – replied Gerardo with a smile – "So that means you've already gotten the Dragon-Scaled Tessaiga and know how to use it to its fullest, right?" –

- "Yeah, he does. He did get some pretty nasty burns and beatings from it though" – commented Kagome.

- "Did Yasha comment anything about it?" – asked Gerardo.

- "Yeah. He told us that while he was in Dragonia with Miko, his Tessaiga suddenly lost its powers, then it got covered in cracks and it finally gained that same form" – said Kagome as she thought over things.

- "In other words, looks like both Tessaigas are synchronized to each other" – said Gerardo grabbing his chin with a hand.

- "So, whatever happens to mine'll also happen to Yasha's Tessaiga?" – asked Inuyasha as he glared at Gerardo.

- "Looks like it, Inuyasha" – said Kagome – "Looks like you both'll have to take better care of your swords, as losing one means losing both of them" –

- "That'd be pretty catastrophic, since none of us can handle the dragon power or Seirei Magic well anymore…" – said Gerardo.

- "Gotcha. Looks like I can't keep fighting as recklessly as always…" – said Inuyasha cracking his knuckles with a movement of his hands.

- "As long as you don't forget about it while we're fighting, Inuyasha" – said Kagome as she turned around and skipped backwards to face both boys with smile.

After a good while of walking, they finally reached the school, where they met with all the others near the entrance. They all were wearing the black school uniform typical of the boys in the school.

- "Hiya, bro, Kagome!" – said Henry as he greeted them.

- "Ah, Henry! Looks like you and the others got here before we did!" – said Gerardo as he and Kagome waved at them, and they rushed to the front door to meet up with them. Inuyasha just stood back near the entrance.

- "Hehe, you guessed it!" – said Roger smiling – "We didn't want to leave a bad impression in our first day after all!" –

- "Especially given with how important punctuality is here" – said Carlos as he scratched his neck – "Don't really wanna get detention or points deducted for lateness!" –

- "Glad to know you guys are taking this seriously" – said Kagome – "But you do know we'll end up having to excuse ourselves from class pretty often, right?" –

- "We're aware of that. Looks like we'll have to double down on the efforts to make sure we pass the grade then!" – said Kember looking fired up.

- "And we can talk about stuff on recess and on the way back to your home, Kagome!" – said Henry.

- "But is it okay for Inuyasha to be over there?" – asked Miguel raising an eyebrow.

- "Yeah. He'll be going to the roof after we go in, so he should remain out of view while we're attending class" – said Kagome moving her hand as if the question was not important.

- "Looks like he's going to end up bored out of his mind though" – said Henry – "Maybe we should have taught him how to handle the Dragtemn so he could browse the Draglimnt or something" –

- "Well, he's got now an excuse to learn from Yasha how to do that, doesn't he?" – said Gerardo as he let out a small bit of laughter. However, they then heard Inuyasha jumping around and going to the roof.

- "And what flea bit him now?" – asked Henry stunned.

- "We can be sure it wasn't Myoga at least" – said Miguel, causing everyone to laugh.

- "Hey, Kagome!" – said three voices behind them. Everyone was stunned and turned slowly upon recognizing who had called her.

- "H-Hello… girls…" – said Kagome dying from the nerves. It was Eri, Yuka and Ayumi, the first two having inquisitive gazes and Ayumi looking a bit forlorn.

- "Ah, great to see you again in school! We heard you had gotten some kind of neuralgia that left you unable to leave bed!" – said Eri as she laughed a bit.

- "Yeah… These days have been pretty painful…" – said Kagome looking at the ground.

- "And the grandpa attacks with his sicknesses more typical of the elderly…" – said Miguel sighing.

- "You guys better get ready, as he's already said he's going to make up diseases for everybody in our party…" – said Gerardo shaking his head.

- "Damn… Looks like we're going to end up with the longest clinical history in humanity…" – said Roger widening his eyes in shock.

- "Even then, we'd lose the Guinness record against Kagome's…" – said Henry blinking twice.

- "But doesn't she have more serious problems to worry about now…?" – said Carlos gulping down.

- "Kagome, there's some stuff we need to talk about" – said Yuka with a serious face.

- "Girls, what did we talk about before?" – said Ayumi with a serious face – "No that we wouldn't pressure her to tell us things?" –

- "Yeah, but we just gotta know!" – said Eri.

- "You said you wanted to know as much as we did!" – said Yuka.

- "Yeah, but I also said I didn't want to cause her trouble or invade her privacy!" – said Ayumi.

- "Thanks, Ayumi. Eri, Yuka… I'm sorry, but I can't tell you about these things for now…" – said Kagome turning around – "Please, wait a bit longer…" –

- "But Kagome…!" – said Eri.

- "I'm not ready yet… Besides… This isn't the time or place for us to be talking about it…" – said Kagome, but before the girls could reply or her friends could have intervened, the school bell rang signaling the start of the classes.

- "Come now, we gotta get in or we'll be late for class!" – said Kagome with a smile as she rushed in before anybody else, leaving the girls and her friends stunned.

- "Now that's what I'd call a quick retreat…" – said Yuka.

- "Guys, aren't you gonna tell us anything?" – asked Eri as she eyed the boys with suspicion.

- "If Kagome isn't going to tell you anything herself, what makes you think we'd do it?" – asked Gerardo crossing his arms and frowning.

- "Right! And I told you that we wouldn't talk about these things with anybody without her present!" – said Ayumi as she grabbed both girls by the arms – "And now, it's time for class!" –

- "Aaaah! Nooo!" – shouted Eri and Yuka as she dragged them into the school building.

- "Phew… Another bullet dodged…" – said Kember wiping some sweat from his forehead.

- "But we can't keep doing this forever… At some point, Kagome'll have to do it…" – said Carlos closing his eyes.

- "Yeah… Nothing like this ever happened in the manga and anime, but looks like in this timeline, she'll have to spill the beans at some point…" – said Henry as he looked in the school building's direction.

- "Okay guys, that's enough already" – said Miguel giving a clap to call for attention – "Let's forget about this stuff for now and focus on our classes. I mean, some of us are gonna have a pretty hard time with numbers, aren't we?" –

- "You said it… In any case, let's hurry!" – said Gerardo as they all rushed into the school building.

- "Class, today I wish to introduce to you a new student" – said the teacher: a man in his early thirties dressed in a white shirt and white pants that wore glasses and had short black hair – "He is an exchange student from South America that came at the recommendation of one of your underclassmen and he will stay with us for the rest of the year" –

Gerardo then opened the sliding doors and stepped into the classroom.

- 'Okay, time to introduce myself… Here goes nothing, hoping I don't screw it up!' – thought to himself as he stood in front of the blackboard and wrote his name in katakana.

- "My name is Gallucci Gerardo… Pleased to make your acquaintance…!" – said Gerardo as he briefly stuttered before his classmates, some of which were looking at him with interest, but the others were just focused on getting out their notebooks and writing utensils for the class.

- "Thank you, Gallucci-kun. Please sit down over there" – said the teacher as he pointed to an empty seat near the window, with two boys, one behind and the other in front, and a girl to the right.

- "Thank you…" – said Gerardo as he went to the seat he had been pointed at, left his briefcase hanging from the small hook at the right and then started getting his notebook and writing utensils out.

- "Class, we will now commence with our first period: math" – said the teacher, causing Gerardo to stare at him in horror – "Today we will be reviewing integrals" –

- 'DAMN IT! Why it had to be math!?' – thought Gerardo as he cringed and reluctantly opened up a page on his notebook and started copying what the teacher was writing on the blackboard.

On the other hand, Roger had already introduced himself and was sitting a few desks away from Kagome in her same classroom.

- "Whoa, you didn't tell us that one of your foreigner friends'd be coming to our class, Kagome!" – said Yuka between whispers behind her.

- "Ehehe, yeah. It was kind of a surprise for me too" – said Kagome a she played a bit with her pen before focusing herself on the blackboard again.

- "And there's other stuff you're not wanting to tell us…" – said Eri narrowing her eyes, causing Kagome to shiver a bit.

- "Come now, girls! Leave her alone already!" – said Ayumi while scowling at them both, causing Eri and Yuka to fall silent in terror.

- "Phew… I didn't think they'd be so insistent with the prodding…" – said Roger as he looked at the four with widened eyes, train in vain to focus in the biology class the female teacher was giving them.

- "Kagome… Don't worry about them" – said Ayumi to her friend with a smile – "Even if they end up getting mad over it, I'll still stand by you" –

- "Thanks, Ayumi" – said Kagome with a smile – "But… Don't you want to know everything too…?" –

- "Yeah, I want it" – said Ayumi while keeping her smile – "But like I said, I also want to respect your space. So, I'll wait all the time you need until you feel you're ready" –

- "Thanks" – said Kagome – "I don't think it'll be anytime soon… But I promise I'll tell you everything someday…" –

Ayumi just replied by closing her eyes and nodding at her.

On the other hand, Miguel and Henry were currently having a chemistry class and were currently standing in front of the blackboard attempting to solve an equation balancing problem, trying to see who of the two would be the best.

- "And the solution is 2FeCl4 + MgO - Fe2O2 + 3MgCl2!" – said Miguel as he finished writing the last subscript number.

- "No way! It has to be FeCl3 + MgO - 2Fe2O2 + 3MgCl2!" – said Henry as he also finished writing his own solution.

- "Umm… I'm sorry Gallucci-kun, Trosel-kun, but both solutions are wrong" – said the teacher: a middle-aged man that had black graying hair and who wore a blue formal suit, who was a bit flabbergasted at the competitive edge both boys were showing. Their jaws dropped to the floor that instant.

- "WHAT!?" – said both, causing the class to laugh amused at this.

- "Check again the problem, and I'm sure you'll find out where you are mistaken" – said the teacher as he glared at both boys. Henry and Miguel started going back through their calculations and they both facepalmed upon noticing the mistake. They then both wrote the same result on the blackboard: 2FeCl3 + MgO - Fe2O3 + 3MgCl2.

- "Okay, now it's correct for both you" – said the teacher as he smiled at both boys – "Please take care to remember to do the procedure correctly, and don't be in such a rush to beat each other" –

- "Okay, thanks…" – said Miguel as he slumped back toward his desk – 'And I want to work in medicine-related stuff and learn Dragonian alchemy like this…?' -

- "I'll make sure to not forget that…" – said Henry as he did the same – 'Shit… Good alchemist material I'm going to make if I get so hotheaded over competing with Mige and the pentagonal thing…' –

As for Carlos, he was having a hard time with the language class, as they were currently in the middle of reading portions from a tale:

- "Umm, excuse me, sensei…" – said he as he raised the hand to ask the teacher: a woman in her 40s' that wore a beige formal suit. When she came over to his desk, he pointed her to a compound formed by four kanji in the page: 合縁奇縁 – "I don't really get the meaning of this phrase" –

- "Hmm, this compound is a yojijukugo" – said the teacher as she examined it – "And one of Japanese origin to boot. This one is particularly interesting too, as its meaning refers to peculiar relationships that were formed by the intervention of fate" –

- "Huh… So that's what it means" – said Carlos widening his eyes – "Thanks, teacher! I think I get what the tale is about now!" –

- "You're welcome. But make sure to put more enthusiasm into studying them, as these compounds are sure to be in the exams!" – said the teacher with a smile, which caused Carlos to smile nervously.

- 'But what a coincidence… I guess we could say this compound does apply to us all who're going back and forth between Dragonia and both Earths…' – thought he to himself.

Kember, for his part, was the only one among the boys that was spending a good time in class because they were having an art class:

- "Hmm, Lopez-san" – said the teacher: a man in his 40s that wore a white button-up shirt and blue pants. The drawing Kember had made was one of his friends from both Earths while standing over a hill – "Oh, that's a good landscape you've drawn! And the characters in there look pretty nice too! Are you planning to become a mangaka?" –

- "Oh, thanks, sensei! And yes, that's kind of what I'd like to do!" – said Kember as he smiled from the teacher's compliments.

- "But you know that's not an easy path, right?" – said the teacher as he frowned – "Becoming a mangaka requires having connections to be able to get in contact with the publishing houses, not to mention it requires a constant effort and discipline if you get a weekly serialization" –

- "I know… But still, doing this sort of thing has always been my dream, so I'm willing to follow it no matter what!" –

- "In that case, I hope you keep showing us more great art, and make sure to not lower your guard in your other subjects!" – said the teacher as he went to check up the other students' work.

- 'I lucked out because the first period was my strong subject… I wonder how the other guys're doing in their classes?' – he thought to himself as he started sketching another picture.

For their part, Gabriela and Tiffany were also dealing with their new class, given their age in this world was lower than their normal one and thus were a bit smaller than the other kids that were with them.

- "Whoa, you two must be pretty good to have gotten to this grade while being so little!" – commented a girl with long hair that wore a pink dress and red shoes.

- "And you're foreigners too!" – said a boy wearing a light blue shirt, blue shorts and black shoes.

- "How is the country you came from? What kinda games and stuff you play over there?" – asked another boy that wore a yellow shirt with a blue stripe and green shorts.

- "Ehehe… Pleased to meet you guys" – said Gabriela after Tiffany and her had sat down at their respective desks and gotten out their notebooks and writing utensils.

- "Yeah… I didn't expect we'd get so much attention just because of this" – said Tiffany while widening her eyes incredulously – "Hopefully Miko's having a better time about this sorta stuff" –

- "Okay class, we'll first have the science class!" – said the teacher: a woman in her 30s that wore a dark red formal suit and had long black hair – "I think you're all familiar with what happens when you make a volcano using baking soda, right?" –

- "Yeah!" – said the red dress girl – "It starts bubbling up and it goes over the crater, bathing the whole volcano!" –

- "Ah! That's because the baking soda mixes up with the vinegar inside the volcano!" – said Gabriela excited.

- "Yeah! And the mix creates carbon dioxide that tries to escape to somewhere, and it bursts through the crater because it's the only hole it can find!" – said Tiffany smiling.

- "Correct, Diaz-san, Gallucci-san!" – said the teacher – "Sounds like you two have done the experiment many times!" –

- "Hehe, I always helped my older brother with the things for his science experiments, and he explained to me how they worked" – said Gabriela pretty proud of herself.

- "My siblings never helped me with it, but my parents explained stuff to me when I made my own science presentations in my old school!" – said Tiffany smiling. Several of the students were looking at them impressed, although a few were giving them sour looks.

- "I see. In any case, I hope your ability with science also extends to other subjects" – said the teacher – "For example, I hope you won't have trouble with the least common multiple in math, and the kanji we'll be seeing this year!" –

This instantly caused both girls to cringe.

- 'Ahaha… math… Between my dyscalculia and the own dislike I've got of numbers…' – thought Gabriela to herself as she lowered her gaze.

- 'Agh, no…! I'm no good at memorizing these stick figures they call letters in here…!' – thought Tiffany desperate.

They both then got paper balls throw at their heads, and when they turned in the direction they had gotten them from, they saw some of the kids that had been eyeing them unpleasantly before sticking their tongues out at them and pulling their eyelids. The teacher had not noticed anything because she had her back turned to write the explanations for the next topic they'd see in class: photosynthesis.

- "Oh, so you think you're bullies?" – muttered Gabriela under her breath, and then she widened her eyes and gave a terrifying glare to the kids while her eyes shone briefly in white and silver.

- "I'll sear you to ashes if you try bullying me…!" – muttered Tiffany as she looked at another lot of bullies, who almost peed their pants upon seeing a brief flash of flames behind her.

- "Oh, is anything the matter, girls?" – asked the teacher dumbfounded when she saw Tiffany and Gabriela glaring at the bullies.

- "No, it's nothing! Don't worry about us, sensei!" – said Gabriela with a smile as she turned to look at her.

- "Yeah, we're fine! Please go ahead with the class!" – said Tiffany as she turned around as well.

- "These girls are scary…!" – said one of the bullies still shivering from the glares they had received.

A few hours later, the bell had rung in Kagome's school and all the students had left their classrooms to go buy food at the school store or stayed at their classrooms to eat their bentos. As for Kagome and the boys, they all gathered in the school roof to meet up with Inuyasha and talk about their first class day while they ate lunch:

- "So, how did your first day here go, guys?" – asked Kagome with interest as she sat down in a circle made up by her and the boys.

- "I wanna die…" – said Gerardo with a gloomy aura around himself – "I thought I had escaped the damn integrals when I passed that class last semester, but they followed me all the way here…" –

- "Whoa, was it that bad?" – asked Kagome blinking as she got out her bento and the others did the same. She then handed one to Inuyasha – "Here, Inuyasha. I've brought you one too!" –

- "Ah, nice!" – said Inuyasha as he took it from her hands – "I hope it doesn't have anything that makes my tongue burn!" –

- "Don't worry! I made sure to not put anything spicy on it!" – said Kagome as she eyed Gerardo, who was showing her his notebook, which was open on a couple pages filled with integrals problems, all of which were crossed and marked as wrong – "Don't tell me…" –

- "Yeah…" – said Gerardo with tears on his eyes – "Not even a single one of the problems was right…" –

- "I guessed so, even though I can't really understand how these things work" – said Kagome blinking.

- "Yeah. They're from a higher grade, so don't really worry about it" – said Carlos with boredom.

- "At least you didn't get yourself made a fool in front of the class" – sighed Henry – "Mige and I got a bit… hotblooded and we rushed solving a chemical equation balancing problem…" –

- "How so?" – asked Carlos as he ate a bit of the octopus-shaped sausages in his bento – "Did you two start blast through the process to solve it and got it wrong?" –

- "Yeah… The teacher had to call us out on getting the solution wrong…" – said Miguel sighing.

- "But you then solved it correctly, right?" – asked Kagome.

- "At least we got it right in the end. The problem was that it happened while we were standing in front of the blackboard" – said Miguel shaking his head.

- "As for me, I had to ask the teacher about a kanji compound I didn't know what it meant" – said Carlos – "Even though I thought we were supposed to understand everything about Japanese naturally…" –

- "Hmm, which compound was that?" – asked Gerardo with interest.

- "It was 合縁奇縁" – said Carlos, causing Gerardo, Kagome and Inuyasha to look at him in shock – "The teacher said it was a yojiyukugo that meant that some relationships are strangely brought together by destiny" –

- "Talking about a big coincidence…" – commented Inuyasha blinking – "Don'tcha find it pretty weird to get that in this sorta place?" –

- "You said it, Inuyasha" – said Kember, who was eating some of the onigiri from his own bento – "And from the looks of it, I was the only one who had a nice day, since my first period was art" –

- "Nice… So, you were the only one who got paired with your best subject" – sighed Gerardo.

- "Yeah, I even got compliments from the teacher for the drawing I made of us over a hill" – said Kember with a smile.

- "As for me, I've been getting a mess with the subjects we're seeing now" – sighed Kagome – "At this rate I won't even be able to attend the admission exam for the school I'm aspiring too without ridiculing myself…" –

- "I didn't really have much trouble with the classes I shared with you though" – commented Roger – "If you want, I can help you with the subjects that're giving you headaches!" –

- "Hey, we can do that too!" – said Henry with a smile – "Mige, Gerardo and I all are in higher grades, so we can give you a hand!" –

- "Thanks, guys!" – said Kagome – "The girls and Hojo have always given me a hand too, but it's great to know I can count on you all!" –

- "Excepting math, of course" – said Gerardo with an ironic laughter – "As we're all terrible with it!" –

Everyone laughed upon hearing that, although they knew well enough in the inside that they'd have to study harder to make up for their deficiencies in that department.

- "Looks like Kagome's new friends get along pretty well with her and her boyfriend" – commented Yuka as they spied on the group behind the door that led to the rooftop.

- "Yeah. I'm starting to feel like she's kind of replaced us…" – said Eri crestfallen.

- "Hey, Kagome! Mind if I eat with you guys?" – said Ayumi as she walked out and into the rooftop.

- "Ah, Ayumi! Yeah, come here and sit with us!" – said Kagome with a smile.

- "Maybe Ayumi is right and we're badgering her too much?" – said Yuka as she looked at how Kagome and her friends had welcomed Ayumi and they were cheerfully talking about their day with some envy in her eyes.

- "But still… I really wanna know all these things…" – said Eri. After sighing a bit, she and Yuka followed Ayumi – "Kagome, we wanna eat with you guys too!" –

- "You girls!?" – asked Inuyasha as he widened his eyes in shock.

- "Yeah, I hope it's not a problem!" – said Yuka as she laughed at his expression.

- "Not at all! Come, there's enough room for everybody here!" – said Kagome with a smile as she motioned to the boys to open two spaces for the newly arrived girls. Inuyasha and the other boys looked at them with some suspicion though.

- "So, how's the first day in a Japanese school treating you guys?" – asked Yuka to the boys, all of which excepting Kember looked depressed – "Um, looks like not too well…" –

- "It's just I got paired with my worst subject for the first period…" – said Gerardo with some hitodamas floating around his head.

- "And we started competing at solving problems and made stupid mistakes from it…" – said Henry.

- "But, how are the things with your classmates? Did they receive you well?" – asked Eri with interest.

- "Oh, if it's that, we haven't really had problems" – said Roger with a smile – "Sure, we haven't made other friends yet, but we didn't get bullied or anything" –

- "Right. Everybody seems to be looking at us with interest due to being foreigners and all" – said Miguel looking upwards for a moment.

- "You've got to admit your skin colors aren't exactly normal around here" – said Kagome with a smile – "Given Roger-kun's slightly dark skin and how both Miguel-kun and Gerardo-kun have pretty pale skins" –

- "Gaby'd be drawing a lot of attention if she were here too" – said Gerardo laughing.

- "As for you, Inuyasha" – asked Eri with interest – "Don't you study in a school or anything?" –

- "Umm…" – replied Inuyasha gulping down saliva – "No, not really" –

- "Huh? Then what do you do?" – asked Ayumi confused.

- "He spends some time traveling around, but most of the time he comes to the shrine to work for my grandpa" – said Kagome to excuse him. The girls could feel she was lying, but decided to let it be for now – "As for the rest, well… He tends to be looking after me a lot" –

- "Didn't you say he was a two-timer and that you were his second option?" – asked Yuka confused. Inuyasha seemed annoyed at her remark, but before he could reply…

- "Things have changed, so you don't have to worry about it" – said Kagome with a sad smile – 'Yeah, he can't forget about Kikyou… But looks like he's started giving me more importance, if the stuff that happened while I was one with Miko, and everything that happened after that means anything…' –

- "Great! So that means your relationship is going well!" – said Ayumi giving a clap while her eyes started shining.

- "Ehehe, looks like Hojo really has nothing to do here!" – said Eri after giggling a bit. The group then spent the rest of the recess conversing cheerfully among themselves about their recent events in life, how their classes were going, and discussing the prospects the four girls had for the school they were going to enroll in for next year.

However, they had to cut their chatter short because the bell announcing the classes resuming rang right after they had finished eating their lunches and were putting their bentos away.

- "Looks like it's time to go back to class" – said Ayumi sighing in a lonesome way – "Oh well, no going around it. Coming, Kagome? Roger-kun?" –

- "Yeah, just give us a moment and we'll go with you girls" – said Kagome with a smile as she, Yuka and Eri were standing up.

- "Hopefully the next period will be something less hellish for us all" – said Gerardo shaking his head – "Even English'd go well for me" –

- "Because languages are your specialty, right?" – asked Henry smiling – "I mean, we're all surprised you decided to go for Engineering rather than Linguistics or Translation" –

- "I still have time to change my mind on the topic" – said Gerardo – "But I think I'd prefer to go with Linguistics or Translation in the end" –

- "But we've got our minds set on what we're going to study as our degrees, right guys?" – said Henry with a smile.

- "Anyway, let's keep talking about this once the next recess comes" – said Carlos laughing – "Don't wanna get late to the next class!" –

And after they all had stood up again, they took their empty bentos, bid farewell to Inuyasha and followed Kagome's friends down the stairs to then split up and go to their respective classrooms.

A while later, Kagome, Gerardo and all the others had to rush out of the school, leaving their classmates and teachers shocked, after they received a text message from Miko on their Dragtemns that scared them out of their wits, and which caused Kagome to start uncontrollably crying.

They were now standing outside the principal's office in Souta's school, as Mrs. Higurashi and Gerardo had gone into the office to accompany Kagome, Miko, Souta, Hitomi and Mrs. Harada to file a complaint for the bullying Miko had received from Ryota and his cronies.

- "Okay, explain to us how this is permissible!?" – shouted Mrs. Higurashi angry due to the fact her younger daughter had her arms and legs covered in bruises and how she was drenched in mud from head to toe. She was still crying in silence while Kagome kept hugging her, ending up with mud stains all over her uniform and face – "You saw the bullies doing this to her, didn't allow her friends to be at her side to prevent it, and now you're telling us the school can't do anything about it!?" –

- "Please, calm down, Higurashi-san!" – said the principal: an old man in his 60s with balding gray hair that wore a brown suit with red tie – "As I said, the school administration cannot be held responsible for this regrettable case of bullying your daughter has suffered!" –

- "It happened in the school grounds and during recess, so it's the school's responsibility!" – said Gerardo irate – "To think nobody among the teachers or guards had the gall to break up this before it got so serious until Mrs. Harada made that announcement over the PA!" –

- "And if I may ask, who are you, young man?" – asked the principal as he looked at Gerardo with a suspicion.

- "An exchange student that Higurashi-san is hosting right now, and who considers Miko as his own younger sister" – said Gerardo narrowing his eyes.

- "Gerardo-kun here and his friends came rushing here when they received a text message from Miko asking for help. Even my older daughter Kagome, who studied here years ago, did the same thing when she received that message" – said Mrs. Higurashi as she looked at Kagome, who still kept on hugging her younger sister.

- "Don't tell me you're planning to give detention to Miko, Hitomi, Gaby-nee or Tiffa-nee or me because we were out there defending her!" – said Souta halfway between angry and nervous, who had a black eye and had several scratches on his hands and face.

- "Mr. Principal, that would be absurd!" – said Mrs. Harada angry – "Senjou, Hirata and Mihara were the ones that started this whole mess, and these children only got into that brawl to protect my most vulnerable student from being bullied!" -

- "We have decided we'll be lenient with your punishments because of what you did" – said the principal lowering his gaze, although Mrs. Higurashi, Hitomi, Gerardo and Mrs. Harada were staring daggers at him – "Still, like I said, the school will not be held responsible for this regrettable incident" –

- "Very well. I will raise this case to the city school board so they take the appropriate measures then" – said Mrs. Higurashi as she turned around to leave the office, followed by everybody else – "I never thought this school would disappoint me so badly. Miko, Kagome, Souta, we're going home now" –

- "H-Higurashi-san…" – said the principal in a scared voice, but Mrs. Higurashi and everybody else excepting for Mrs. Harada had already left the office and slammed the door shut behind themselves as they left.

- "Mr. Principal, you better consider that this school's honor, as well as your own reputation and position are in risk due to how poorly this whole matter has been handled" – said Mrs. Harada as she grabbed a bunch of folders and files, and prepared to leave as well.

Later that night, after Kagome had announced to everybody that they would be returning to the Warring States Era the next day…

- "I've got to get stronger…" – said Gerardo as he exited Kagome's house and walked until he reached the area between the house and the well's shack. There, he drew his sword and started doing practice swings – "If I really want to reach the same level Iadlase had, I've got to polish my swordmanship and magic skills, and at least regain the abilities I used to have before…" –

- "Watcha doin'? Out for some practice?" – asked Inuyasha from the rooftop.

- "Inuyasha!? Weren't you watching over Kagome and Miko?" – asked Gerardo surprised.

- "They're fast asleep now" – said Inuyasha as he jumped down and stood in front of him – "They pretty much cried themselves to sleep from all this stuff they went thru today. Yasha's also sleeping soundly now" –

- "I see" – said Gerardo as he eyed him, and then he got an idea – "Inuyasha, I want to ask a favor from you" –

- "What's it?" – asked Inuyasha raising an eyebrow. Gerardo then sheathed his Ryuuga, knelt in front of Inuyasha and bent down until his forehead touched the ground – "Huh!? What's that dogeza for!?" –

- "Please, spar with me. I can't continue standing the idea that I'm inferior to Iadlase and that I might end up being a hindrance to you during our travels… So please, practice with me so I can grow stronger…" – said Gerardo swallowing his pride as he gritted his teeth.

- "So that's what ya wanted… Fine by me!" – said Inuyasha smiling.

- "Thanks!" – said Gerardo as he raised his face with a smile – "It might not be much, but I'll try to pay you back for it somehow!" –

- "Keh, don't mind it! But it'd be nice if ya could teach me some stuff too!" – said Inuyasha as he whipped out his Tessaiga.

- "Okay. How about we start now?" – asked Gerardo drawing Ryuuga again – "I'll try to teach you the stuff I know about fencing, and who knows, maybe some strategy tips I wish I could have given you while I watched the series" –

- "And I'll teach ya how to fight seriously again! Okay, here I come!" – said Inuyasha as both boys rushed toward each other and made their swords clash against each other.

- "Nice blow!" – said Gerardo as their blades were locked. He then jumped back and did a vertical slash.

- "Too slow!" – said Inuyasha as he parried the attack and responded with a diagonal one, which Gerardo tried to block with his shield. However, he didn't balance the weight properly through his body, so he slipped and fell on his butt from the impact. Inuyasha then pointed Tessaiga to his face – "Looks like ya need to learn how to absorb the blows better!" –

- "Okay, I'll take that in account. Now, let me ask you something" – said Gerardo as he jumped at him to take him by surprise, grabbing Tessaiga from his hands and reverting it to his rusted state.

- "What're ya…!?" – shouted Inuyasha, but then Gerardo threw it away from his reach. He then pointed his sword to Inuyasha's chest.

- "Here's the question: what'd you do if the enemy disarmed you in a similar way and Tessaiga was out of your reach?" – asked Gerardo with Ryuuga still trained on Inuyasha's chest.

- "I'd go running and jumping for it?" – asked Inuyasha annoyed.

- "I know that's the natural course, but you've used a better way to solve that before" – said Gerardo shaking his head.

- "A better way…?" – asked Inuyasha while scowling, but he then got an idea. He pushed Gerardo back by grabbing Tessaiga's sheath and invoking its barrier, and then he pointed it toward the sword while his opponent was still recoiling – "Tessaiga, come forth!" –

The sword instantly reacted to his call: it unstuck itself from the ground and flew through the air until it reached its owner's hands.

- "Nice, that's just what you had to do!" – said Gerardo with a smile.

- "Yeah. Sometimes I forget the sheath can do that" – said Inuyasha happy as Tessaiga turned back into its true form – "Shouldn't ya also work on getting back yer old skills?" –

- "You said it… I think the next one I could relearn is the Water's Scar, since it's so similar to your Kaze no Kizu" – said Gerardo pensively – "If only I could remember the feelings and words that I needed for it" –

- "I can't remember the words or feelings, but I remember ya just put energy into the sword and swung it contrary to how I do it" – said Inuyasha observantly.

- "Yeah… I can't smell or perceive the energy currents, and Ryuuga isn't designed to cut them anyway… But if what Iadlase said about the Seireiterfa circuit is true…" – said Gerardo as he tried putting a hand over the blade and attempted to focus his energy into it.

- "Trying to send yer energy into the blade?" – asked Inuyasha.

- "Yeah, maybe that'll make something happen…" – said Gerardo as he kept focusing. His hand started glowing in blue and the circuitry patterns on the blade started shining in a similar color. He then opened his eyes and tried swinging the sword in arcing motion upward to the sky… But nothing happened.

- "Hmm, pretty close but no dice" – said he disappointed – "Looks like I really need the spell to invoke the skill" –

- "In that case, why don'tcha try remembering how you felt in battles?" – asked Inuyasha – "Even better, watch this so ya can remember how to do it!" –

He then pointed to a stretch of sky that he made sure was completely empty.

- "Kaze no Kizu!" – he shouted as swung the sword downwardly to the sky. A quintet of yellow energy waves dispersed from the area he had cut and continued rushing through the sky until they disappeared from their sight. However, they saw what seemed a bunch of meteors falling a few seconds later.

- "Umm, looks like your Kaze no Kizu brought down some space debris…" – said Gerardo sweatdropping.

- "Is that bad…?" – asked Inuyasha nervous about the fact Kagome could end up sitting him down for it.

- "Well, looks like the debris got itself burned into nothingness when it fell down, so don't worry about it" – said Gerardo while he saw how the meteors grew smaller until they had disappeared entirely – "And point taken… Let me try to remember how I felt back then…" –

Gerardo then started focusing on the first sparring battle he had with Inuyasha, and the many encounters he had with Tenebross' demons the previous time they had come to that world…

- "Righteous rage against those that harm people for pleasure… Excitement about sharing battles with him and the others…" – muttered Gerardo while he kept his eyes closed and let these memories come back to him – "Use the energy of the elements… Make it into the power that destroys your enemies… Concentrate a single blast of water into an energy wave… I got it!" –

Gerardo then put a hand over the blade and started chanting. His blue magical circle and markings then manifested at his feet and over himself:

- "Whoa, looks like ya got it!" – said Inuyasha pleasantly surprised.

- "Poil plia, hydrast xyaza cezet paewat ika," – said Gerardo chanting excitedly as he motioned his open palm over the blade from the hilt to the tip, causing its circuitry lines to light up in blue more strongly than previous times and the whole blade to start shining in that same color a few seconds later – "yst hakisa tastsaks ika! Water's Scar!"

He then grabbed the sword with both hands, opened his eyes, which had now changed to a blue color and repeated the upwards swing he had done previously to the same place Inuyasha had aimed at before. This released a quintet of blue waves that rushed to the sky, but which vanished after a few seconds.

- "Nice one! It's not as powerful as my Kaze no Kizu, but that was good!" – said Inuyasha smiling at him.

- "Ehehe, thanks!" – said Gerardo smiling, whose eyes had now regained their usual color. The magic circles and marks had also vanished – "I need to get used to invoking it again, but at least I've regained it. And it's all because you allowed me to spar with you" –

- "Don't mind it. We'll all need to get stronger to kill these bastards after all" – said Inuyasha gritting his fangs.

- "Yeah. So, what do you think? Why don't we all spar together whenever we've got time, or before going to sleep?" – suggested Gerardo – "Miguel is a better strategist than I am, so I'm sure he can also teach you some tricks" –

- "And that way they all can learn new techs too, right? Fine by me!" – said Inuyasha.

- "And like I said, I can teach you more about fencing. That way Sesshomaru won't be able to keep saying you swing Tessaiga around like a monkey!" – said Gerardo.

- "Yeah… I wanna shut him up so much…!" – said Inuyasha scowling, causing Gerardo to laugh. They decided to leave their practice there for the night and went back to the house to go to sleep.

But as for Gabriela…

- "Hello, I hope I'm not interrupting your beauty sleep" – said a voice identical to her own. Gabriela was lying down on her futon in Kagome's room, but as she was about to fall asleep, a wisp of white light appeared before her.

- "That voice…" – said her while a bad feeling pervaded her. She instantly sat up over her futon and took out her bow – "Illyusa!?" –

- "Whoa, don't shout so loudly! And put that bow away! You see now why I said before that you're lacking in sophistication and patience?" – asked the voice as the wisp of light took a proper form: a girl identical to Gabriela with the same shouf she wore in Dragonia, who had an amused expression on her face.

- "Now what? Did you come all the way to this world just to keep insulting me?" – asked Gabriela scowling and with her bow still trained on her, fully intending to fire a light arrow at the ghost.

- "As tempted as I'm to do that, that's not the case. I've come to tell you a few important things" – said Illyusa as a serious expression appeared on her face.

- "What is it?" – asked Gabriela.

- "You no longer have the techniques and spells you used to possess, right? Not to mention your knowledge about our rituals and customs doesn't even reach the passable level" – said Illyusa crossing her arms. Gabriela gulped down, unable to rebut her – "So, I've decided I'll give you a hand with these things" –

- "And what's the reason for you wanting to help me now? What kinda ghost bug bit you?" – asked Gabriela as she lowered her bow.

- "In the unlikely case your mission is a success, it'll be of benefit to us too. So, all of us, excepting my brother, have decided to at least attempt to help you somehow" – said Illyusa with an irritated face – "After all, we have nothing to lose trying it out" –

- "Okay, so what're you going to teach me today?" – asked Gabriela as she raised an eyebrow.

- "Today, I'll show you the basics of being the Priestess of the Dragon and give you pointers on focusing your feelings for weaving Light-elemental magic. I'll also show you how you can use medical knowledge to improve the effectivity of your Healing Light…" – said Illyusa with a smug smile…

{End of Chapter}

{Ending: Sakuramioka}