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.

18. Ryuusei Revisited

Chapter 14: Ryuusei Revisited

Home is the place where your heart is at peace,
Even if it is not inside your own world.
But, do we call home the actual place where we are in,
Or just the place that reminds us of happier times?

{Opening: Kimi ga Inai Mirai}

- "Even though Mouryoumaru's tentacles pierced your legs and your wounds seemed so terrible, they've gotten healed now. It's amazing!" – said Kagome as she removed Kouga's bandages from his legs. It was nighttime now and the party had stopped at an abandoned shrine to rest for the day, as due to their friends' wounds they couldn't reach Ryuusei that same day.

- "It's just like I said. It'd be healed in a day or two at most" – said Kouga making motions with the hands as if he were swatting flies. He then gazed at Kagome – "Besides, Kagome…" –

He then grabbed her hands, much to her chagrin's and Miko's:

- "I healed faster thanks to the generous care you gave me. And that song worthy of a heavenly maiden you sang also sped up their healing!" – said Kouga while Kagome smiled nervously. However, this got him double-smacked on the back of the head: once by Inuyasha with his fist, and the second by Miko with her bow.

- "Inuyasha, SIT DOWN!" – shouted Kagome angry, causing both Yasha and Inuyasha to crash into the wooden floor and Shia to emit a shocked screech.

- "Ow! What was that for, Kagome-nee!?" – asked Yasha angry.

- "I'm sorry, Yasha!" – said Kagome – "But Inuyasha deserved it! And you Miko, you shouldn't be hitting people with your bow!" –

- "How did I deserve that!?" – asked Inuyasha angry, having his face covered in dust and dirt from the fall. Gouka and Pyrafile protested at the same time.

- "For hitting a wounded person!" – said Kagome angry.

- "Come on, Kagome-nee!" – said Miko pouting as Kouga growled at her and Neria glared at him – "Stop giving this guy false hopes and just turn him down already! Tell him loud and clear that he should be chasing after Ayame and leave you alone! Besides, it's no fair you hurt Yasha because Inuyasha-nii gave him his just deserts! And he wouldn't have gotten healed that well if you hadn't learned that song from me first!" –

- "Umm, Miko…" – said Kagome shocked at how Miko had stated plainly the things she thought about Kouga but she never had the courage to tell him. Kouga was left shocked with his mouth partly open – "I was looking for the right time to do that…" –

- "And that'd be when, Kagome?" – asked Gabriela exasperated, who was lying covered by a blanket alongside her brother and both of them were glaring at Kouga. The rest of their party were also lying next to each other covered by blankets, and they had band aids and bandages over parts of their faces, heads, arms and legs. Their bonded dragons were also lying next to each of them – "If you keep waiting for the right time, you'll never tell him anything!" –

- "Okay, enough! What's up with you and your brother always having a bone to pick with me!?" – asked Kouga angry as he stood up from where he was.

- "Gerardo-kun, weren't you trying to tell me something about it earlier today?" – asked Kagome as she eyed him.

- "I did say I'd tell you if we met mister bad wolf again" – said Gerardo narrowing his eyes.

- "WHAT!?" – asked Kouga upon noticing the mocking name Gerardo had given him.

- "Well, here you have him now, bro" – said Henry shaking his head as Anryuujin nodded in agreement with him – "If you plan to tell the party here about it, isn't this the best time?" –

- "Yeah" – said Gerardo – "Shippou, could do us the favor and call Miroku and Sango here?" –

- "Sure!" – said Shippou as he ran outside the shrine to call them.

- "Why're you guys making it seem like it's so important and all?" – asked Kouga with a nervous tick on his eye.

- "Well, Kagome and the others seem to have forgotten a certain atrocity you committed, so I'll do them the favor of reminding them. It'll also show them a certain truth they were never privy to" – said Gerardo with an annoyed smile.

After a few seconds, Shippou returned with Miroku, Sango and Kirara on tow…

- "Did you call for us?" – asked Miroku with a serious face.

- "Shippou told us that you needed to tell us all about something" – said Sango.

- "Yeah, it's the thing I promised Kagome I'd tell her" – said Gerardo as he tried to get up, but his attempt was only met with a horrible ache throughout his whole body – "Aggh! Damn, it hurts!" –

- "Ya better stay put" – said Inuyasha crossing his arms while Iadla bopped her head on Gerardo's and Gouka shook his head – "Yer not gonna recover so easily or quickly from that beating" –

- "I can't even use the Dragtemn like this…" – said Gerardo gritting his teeth.

- "We're all in the same condition" – said Miguel closing his eyes and frowning his brow at the same time Eolia growled softly – "Most likely, we won't be able to move until tomorrow at least" –

- "But if you need to use the Dragtemn, you could just tell us the terms to search for in the Draglimnt, right?" – asked Yasha tilting his head while Pyrafile opened his eyes wider.

- "No, we won't be looking this up on the Draglimnt" – said Carlos shaking his head as Chills looked alternatively at him and at Yasha – "This time we'll need to use our world's internet" –

- "In that case, how about I go up to you and you tell me what you want to show me?" – asked Kagome with a smile.

- "Sounds like a good plan to me" – said Gerardo smiling. Kagome nodded and then sat next to him, with Shia following her.

- "What's that interwhatever?" – asked Kouga, but he only got ignored.

- "Okay, so what I do here?" – asked Kagome.

- "Open up the network browser, select Internet, and input these terms into the search bar: Inuyasha anime episode 35" – instructed Gerardo – "I'd do it myself, but I can't touch the buttons or even enable the voice commands for it" –

- "Oh, so what you're going to show us also happened in the anime?" – asked Miko with a curious face.

- "Yeah. To make a long story short, Kagome, open the first video you find and fast forward it to 14:21. That's what I want to show you all" – said Gerardo as his face changed to a serious one.

- "Shouldn't you put the Dragtemn into projector mode too?" – asked Yasha as Pyrafile moved from around his shoulder to over his head – "Otherwise, the hologram screen's going to be too small for everybody here to see it" –

- "Oh? How do you do that?" – asked Gabriela as her eyes widened.

- "You press the Dragtemn's two upper buttons, and then you take it off your wrist and place it in a visible place" – said Miko with a smile – "That way you can use it as a cinema projector!" –

- "What's a cinema?" – asked Inuyasha confused.

- "We'll explain that later. And thanks for that, Yasha, Miko!" – said Kagome as she followed the instructions. She left her Dragtemn in the middle of the shrine after she had opened the video and had fast forwarded it to the point Gerardo had told her. The Dragtemn then projected a large circular hologram of the same thing that was reflected on its crystal screen, which was visible to everyone in that place.

- "Wow! It's incredible!" – shouted Miroku, Sango, and Shippou.

- "Huh? How didja guys make that weird light ball?" – asked Kouga raising an eyebrow.

- "Shut up and just let's watch this!" – said Inuyasha as the video started playing.

- "Wait! That's…!" – said Kouga recognizing the scene with horror: it was him surrounded by wolves and having a wolf youkai that had a scar over his left eye kneeling in front of him.

- "How generous… Are you going to spare me?" – asked the youkai. But Kouga just turned around with a sadistic smile on his face and cut off the youkai's head with a slash of his claws. They also saw Rin, who had her face filled with dirt, was missing a tooth, had an eye swollen and was wearing a poor-looking pink kosode with black markings and a yellow obi, looking at the scene with horror.

- "Oh sorry, I forgot to do that" - said the Kouga in the video. He then turned to the wolves – "Okay, we're done here. I'll be heading back to our lair now. You may now eat all the villagers you want!" –

- "What!?" – asked Inuyasha infuriated as he growled at Kouga, who was still staring horrified at what the projector was showing – "So ya DID order them to kill everybody in that village!" –

- "Inuyasha, wait" – said Gerardo trying to sound calm, though it was obvious he was seething with anger – "It's not over yet" –

- "Wait a moment… Isn't that girl Rin!?" – asked Kagome recognizing her from the pigtail she always had on her hair.

- "Yeah, she is…" – replied Gabriela looking downward as the scene continued showing Rin being horrified at how the wolves were killing all the people around her.

After a brief interlude showing Inuyasha's party, much to the surprise of Miroku, Sango and Shippou, the episode showed Rin running through the forest toward her imagination's projection of Sesshomaru, crying nonstop, while the wolves pursued her.

- "Wait… This happened around the time I learned to use the Kaze no Kizu?" – asked Inuyasha now having an idea of when that episode took place.

- "Correct. It was immediately after you almost killed off Sesshomaru using it" – replied Henry.

However, they then saw how Rin tripped on a tree's roots and fell down on her stomach. They then saw how the scene cut off with the wolves leaping at her and she staring at them, knowing what fate awaited her.

- "No... Don't tell me they…!" – said Sango spooked at this.

- "But Rin's alive now!" – said Shippou.

- "…Kagome, jump now to timestamp 17:37" – said Gerardo – "That's the last thing I need you guys to see" –

- "Okay…" – said Kagome, who was now covering her mouth with her hands. She got up, slid her finger over the crystal screen to move the video's slider bar, and then returned to where she was sitting.

The scene then shifted to Sesshomaru walking down the same forest path they had seen Rin running through to escape the wolves. After a few seconds, the camera changed perspective and they saw Rin's body lying on the ground in the middle of a blood puddle, with her eyes open and with no life in them…

- "No…!" – said Miko feeling as if all strength had been drained from her body.

- "This can't be…!" – said Kagome shaking her head in horror.

- "What is it, Sesshomaru-sama?" – asked Jaken. He then went up to examine Rin's body – "Oh, she's definitively dead. And the wolves did it all, they killed her. Sesshomaru-sama, do you know this human girl?" –

After a brief flashback showing Sesshomaru's memories of Rin smiling at him, they saw how Sesshomaru drew Tenseiga, scaring Jaken.

- "Hmph, I understand" – said Sesshomaru after Tenseiga emitted a few pulses and the pallbearers from the afterlife appeared before him – "I can see the pallbearers from the underworld. It is time we put the powers of Tenseiga to test" –

- "A test!? Is that what you said, Sesshomaru-sama!?" – asked Jaken shocked. Sesshomaru then killed off the pallbearers with a swing of the sword and took Rin in his arms.

Her wounds had vanished and she had now closed her eyes. And much to his surprise, he saw how she awakened again, perfectly fine.

- "Okay, that's all, Kagome…" – said Gerardo – "You can interrupt the playback now…" –

- "Okay, so that explains how Rin ended up travelling with Sesshomaru" – said Sango.

- "But even so, I would have never imagined that…" – said Miroku, but before he could finish, a loud slap was heard throughout the shrine.

- "K-Kagome…!" – said Inuyasha having jumped back in shock from this, as Kagome had stood up once again and had walked straight to Kouga to plant a slap on his face.

- "Kagome-nee's scary when she's mad!" – said Yasha as he hugged Miko, though she also was glaring at Kouga.

- "Ow! What was that for!? Didn't you just say you can't hurt wounded people!?" – asked Kouga shocked.

- "So not only you annihilated whole villages for supposedly feeding your wolves…" – said Kagome closing a fist so hard that she was trembling – "You also made them kill an innocent little girl!?" –

- "W-Wait, Kagome!" – said Kouga rubbing the place where he had been slapped with a hand – "I c-can explain it!" –

- "You can't explain away that!" – shouted Kagome – "The fact your wolves killed Rin and had to force Sesshomaru to revive her is no different from if you had killed Miko before my eyes!" –

She then turned around and crossed her arms.

- "A-Are you mad!?" – asked Kouga nervously.

- "She doesn't want to see your face now" – said Miko as she kept glaring at him.

- "How you know that, brat!?" – asked Kouga as he growled at her.

- "Kagome-nee and I have our minds and feelings linked" – snorted Miko without backing away from his growls. Neria and Shia also started menacingly growling back at him – "So if you know what's good for you, you better leave her be for now" –

Kouga then just grit his fangs, got up and went outside the shrine.

- "Hmph, I wouldn't have thought that stupid wolf'd turn out to be so nasty…" – snorted Inuyasha with his hands inside his outfit's sleeves.

- "Well, that's precisely why neither Gaby or me can stand him" – said Gerardo closing his eyes – "And I thought it'd be faster and more effective to show you the anime episode that shows the causes" –

- "But does this mean Inuyasha-nii and the others never got to learn about the fact Rin ever died in the canon timeline?" – asked Yasha tilting his head.

- "No, you never got to know that" – replied Gabriela – "Sesshomaru never got to learn either about how she exactly died beyond the wolves mauling her to death" –

- "I guess" – said Shippou as he pondered over the whole thing – "Had he known, I think Sesshomaru'd have cut Kouga's head. And to think they could have killed a girl as cute as her!" –

- "You better abandon any ideas to flirt with her, Shippou" – sentenced Miko closing her eyes and crossing her arms. She then opened one of them to eye Shippou – "Otherwise, I think the head Sesshomaru'd be cutting is yours" –

- "Agh! No, I don't want that!" – said Shippou as his face suddenly went blue, causing everybody to laugh at his horror.

- "Anyway, Kouga did change in the end, didn't he?" – asked Miroku while he looked at the shrine's entrance.

- "Now you mention it, Houshi-sama, I haven't heard anything about wolves attacking villages ever since Kouga met Kagome, excepting for today's incident" – said Sango with a finger on her chin.

- "Kagome has that sorta effect on people, after all" – said Inuyasha as picked up Kagome's Dragtemn and went to sit next to her, who was still fuming – "We're not the same people we used to be before, right?" –

- "Inuyasha…" – said Kagome as she turned to look at him with watery eyes and a smile.

- "Hehe, it's true! You always bring the best outta the people you meet, Kagome-nee!" – said Yasha smiling.

- "Well, there's the exception of the disgusting poison cloud" – said Henry, causing everybody to laugh – "But yeah, Kagome's got that ability to make people be better. Even Kaede has admitted it" –

- "Thanks guys" – said Kagome as she hugged Inuyasha, who instantly blushed – "I'm glad to know you all think so highly of me" –

- "Well, you wouldn't have been chosen as an elemental of Light otherwise" – said Gerardo smiling while Inuyasha gave her back her Dragtemn and she put it on her wrist again – "Light-elementals generally have a high level of spirituality and exceedingly pure hearts" –

- "Hehe, even though I like stuff related to demons and the like?" – asked Gabriela smiling.

- "You like that sorta stuff!?" – asked Miko blinking twice.

- "Yeah. She's also fond of stuff related to horror and zombies" – laughed Roger.

- "Man, I still remember how she was cheering on when we played a zombie game, while Gerar was scared outta his wits!" – said Henry laughing.

- "GUYS!" – said Gerardo as he blushed, as the pain didn't let him cover his face with his hands. This only made everybody laugh even louder.

- "Still, Gaby-chan really has a very pure heart" – said Kagome smiling – "As one of your Assistant Priestesses, I could feel it quite well myself" –

- "As I did too, Onee-san!" – said Miko jumping on her and Inuyasha.

- "Come on, Miko! Don't do that!" – said Inuyasha spooked.

- "Hehe, sorry! It's just that I really love you two!" – said Miko giggling, causing Inuyasha to blush even more.

- "I love you, Inuyasha-nii! And I really love you like a sis, Kagome-nee!" – said Yasha joining the hug.

The others just laughed at this.

- "Anyhow, I'm kind of worried" – said Sango as she put her hands over her legs – "Naraku has been using more aggressive tactics lately" –

- "Indeed" – said Miroku.

- "And even though it was to get Kouga's shards, attacking all the wolf youkai clans at once…" – said Sango after sighing briefly.

- "Is like that bastard's gotten serious about getting the remainin' shards on his dirty hands, right?" - asked Inuyasha after the four had separated and had turned to face Miroku and Sango.

- "Yeah, it's kinda absurd" – said Yasha narrowing his eyes – "I mean, letting us trap Mouryoumaru and forcing us to fight him…" –

- "…And putting that shard in that kid Kai's legs and letting Mouryoumaru steal it" – added Inuyasha as he focused on the flames dancing in the hearth that Shippou had now lit.

- "Exactly…" – said Miroku – "However, it seems that Naraku left Kai's shard behind on purpose. Maybe it was an accident it fell on Mouryoumaru's hands?" –

- "It's no accident" – said Gerardo frowning – "All of this is one of Naraku's disgusting plans to reabsorb Mouryoumaru and make progress to getting the whole Pearl" –

- "There is no such thing as a coincidence on this world… There is only necessity…" – said Gabriela.

- "Hey, wasn't that a quote from Card Captor Sakura?" – asked Henry blinking, causing Gabriela to nod while smiling.

- "Heh, as expected, you recognized a quote from your first crush's series!" – said Carlos laughing.

- "Hey, shut it, Mr. I-substitute-myself-from-even-the-air-in-Narutime-Accel!" – shouted Henry as he blushed.

- "Umm, I didn't really get what you guys mean, but it really seems like everything went like Naraku planned, right?" – asked Kagome blinking twice while everyone in Gerardo's party laughed and the others just blink confused.

- "Yeah, that's right" – said Gerardo – "We'll have to watch our backs more tightly" –

- "Especially because we'll have to return to Dragonia tomorrow after we've finished our mission here" – sighed Miguel.

- "That said, will you guys be able to keep going like that?" – asked Yasha worried.

- "Hopefully a good night's rest will do the magic" – said Gerardo in a hopeful voice.

Some of them started yawning at that moment, so they decided it was as good a time as any to go to sleep and rest for the following day.

- 'Kagome…' – thought Kouga as he looked up at the night sky outside – '…I'm sorry about that… I've gotta get through to you that I've changed from the guy I was back then… And I'm not gonna give up on you…' –

The next morning, Gerardo and the others got up from their futons and stretched themselves.

- "So, how are you guys doing today?" – asked Kagome as she took out from her Dragtemn the items they'd need to make breakfast.

- "Pretty well!" – said Gerardo as he rotated his arms a couple times – "I'm still a bit sore, but we should have no problems flying to Ryuusei now" –

- "Yeah!" – said Gabriela putting her hands behind herself as the dragons all cried in a happy way – "It's all thanks to your song and the care you and the others gave us, Kagome!" –

- "Glad to know that!" – said Kagome as she and Sango started boiling a bunch of greens to make some stew.

- "The potions and medicines we brought from Dragonia also helped us a lot" – said Miguel as he grabbed the empty vials next to the futons they had used to sleep and disposed of them into his Dragtemn.

- "Yeah. I think it'd have taken us at least one or two weeks to recover if we used treatments from our era" – said Roger stretching.

- "Not to mention that could've left some sequels that'd take months to heal" – said Henry rotating his waist.

- "Ya guys are pretty squishy, huh?" – said Inuyasha with a raised eyebrow.

- "Well, everyone here excepting you, Yasha and Shippou are humans, Inuyasha" – said Sango as she started taking out a few bowls from her baggage. Kagome then placed a metal ladle in the pot they were using to cook to then use it to pour the stew into the bowls.

- "And we're lucky they ran out of energy at that point" – said Carlos remembering how the plates on the remains of their enemies' breastplates were blinking before they got downed.

- "You said it" – said Shippou jumping on Kagome's shoulder as he looked at Gerardo's party – "A few more seconds and you guys'd have been toast!" –

- "That didn't happen because Kagome-nee, Sango-nee, Yasha and I rescued them!" – said Miko with a proud smile.

- "But still, it's worrying to know Tenebross has now assassins with the express purpose of hunting you down" – said Miroku with a hand on his chin – "You should truly exercise caution while you're traveling" –

- "Yeah" – said Gerardo – "At least, it should take them some time to recover, as none of them seemed to be versed in healing magic, and Henry's copying of Tessaiga both caught them by surprise and left them pretty badly wounded too" –

- "That said, Henry-nii, how's that your naginata can copy Tessaiga?" – asked Yasha as he looked curiously at the black scabbard that housed it.

- "Oh, that's its special property" – said Henry as he put a hand over his weapon – "Its name is the Shisen Naginata, and as long as I focus hard on it, it can transform into any weapon, and it can also copy any weapon I can think of, down to its special features and powers" –

- "But ya couldn't handle that for long, yeah?" – asked Inuyasha with an unimpressed face.

- "Yeah… The more powerful the weapon, the shorter the time I can copy it" – said Henry sighing in defeat – "For Tessaiga I could only use it for a single attack. After that the naginata becomes overheated and needs at least a day before I can copy anything again" –

He then removed it from its scabbard and they saw that rather than having its silvery liquid appearance, it seemed to be more solidified and it still had a weak red shine to it.

- "Looks like it still needs more time before it can use its powers again" – said Miko while she eyed the red shine.

- "In any case, let's eat breakfast and get ready to continue our way to Ryuusei" – said Sango as she and Kagome started handing out the bowls to everyone.

- "Shouldn't we call wolf-face too?" – asked Tiffany.

- "Keh, that guy won't eat anything that has greens!" – said Inuyasha with a smile, but it was then that Kouga decided to go into the shrine.

- "Hey, don't leave me outta breakfast, dog-face!" – said Kouga as he sat down a bit away from Kagome – "Even if she's mad with me, I'm not gonna miss a chance to eat Kagome's cooking!" –

- "…Do whatever you want" – said Kagome as she threw an icy glare at him, causing him to visibly flinch, before turning her face away. Sango then had to pass him a bowl filled with stew.

- "Man… She's REALLY mad…" – whispered Inuyasha scared, recognizing the glare from the times she gave him multiple "Sit downs" in a row.

- "It feels as if we had an icestorm right here with us, and not one caused by one of our puns either!" – whispered Roger shivering.

- "I can't even come up with a nice kage to complete that…!" – said Miguel as he finished off his stew bowl and put it on the floor.

But before they could continue getting scared over Kagome's murderous aura, they saw how Drago flew around the shrine and then swooped down over the pot containing the remainder of the stew, drinking all of it in a few instants much to the shock of everybody.

- "What's that dragon doin'!?" – asked Inuyasha angry as he tried to catch him, but Drago flew out from his reach and then landed behind Gabriela.

- "Drago! Why did you do that!?" – asked Gabriela irate as he saw the small scaly ball that her dragon had turned into.

- "I was really hungry, and you promised me some good food!" – said Drago.

- "Agh! That dragon left us without food for seconds!" – shouted Shippou rubbing his head desperately.

- "Time for some good old-fashioned punishment!" – said Inuyasha taking out his Tessaiga, much to Gouka and Pyrafile's horror, and Miko and Yasha's shock.

- "You're gonna get…!" – said Gabriela as she took her zori from the shrine's entrance and went up to him. But Drago just put up a ridiculously adorable face, with puppy eyes that seemed on the verge of starting to cry, and she just ended up hugging him. He then sealed the deal making his characteristic small form cry – "Too cuteeeee!" –

Kagome and Miko also ended up entranced by his cuteness, and went up to hug him, much to the surprise of Shia and Neria, and making it impossible for Inuyasha to punish him in any way.

- "Too cute! Too adorable!" – said Kagome.

- "I wanna hug it all day!" – said Miko as both sisters and Gabriela tried to hug him.

- "Ughh… I got out too much cuteness… I'm getting smushed…" – said Drago upon seeing how he was getting squished between the three girls.

- "That's your punishment for eating everything!" – said Gabriela smiling as she kept hugging him.

- "Anyway, I think we all managed to eat enough to last until lunch" – said Miguel as he helped Sango and Miroku to clean up and store the items they had used to prepare breakfast – "So, shouldn't we get going to Ryuusei now?" –

- "Yeah. We're kinda behind schedule due to the idiots from yesterday" – said Kember as they also picked up the futons and sheets they had used to sleep the previous night and put them away.

But when they were preparing to depart…

- "Guys, I'm gonna go by myself now" – said Kouga crossing his arms.

- "Huh? What flea bit ya now?" – asked Inuyasha glaring at him.

- "I'll be chasing Naraku alone" – he then around to not see Inuyasha's face – "Besides, wasting time and traveling with you pair of dogs doesn't really thrill me" –

- "Hey, how can you say that!?" – shouted Shippou as he glared at him

- "The feeling's mutual" – said Inuyasha narrowing his eyes.

- "Yeah. It's no secret that we don't like you" – said Yasha as he pouted.

- "You know that Midoriko is still controlling the shards in your legs, right?" – asked Kagome without turning to look at him.

- "Yeah, I'm aware" – said Kouga sighing. But then Kagome turned around to look at him with worry.

- "What are you going to do if you can't move again!?" – asked she while closing a hand into a fist.

- "Are you worried about me!?" – asked Kouga flinching – "Didn't you hate me!?" –

- "I'm still mad about the massacres you did…" – said Kagome – "But like Miroku-sama said, you've changed. If you still keep off from killing humans, I may end up accepting the change was real and not just to appeal to me" –

- "Kagome…" – said Kouga surprised, but he then smiled – "Okay, I won't be careless about the Midoriko stuff" –

- "Besides, we've still got the same goals, so we're sure to cross paths again" – said Inuyasha as he smiled confidently.

- "Inuyasha…" – said Kagome smiling.

- "But don't get too ahead of yerself, stupid wolf" – said Inuyasha as he opened his eyes and glared at Kouga – "If ya die at Naraku's hands, I won't be able to face these friends of yers" –

- "Aha, gotcha" – said Kouga as he narrowed his eyes and looked downward.

- "Looks like Inuyasha-nii's worried about you" – said Yasha with a smile.

- "Yasha…" – said Inuyasha gritting his teeth and closing a fist tightly.

- "I'm going to miss you a lot, Kagome!" – said Kouga as he suddenly hugged her, shocking Yasha and Inuyasha, and making Miko gasp – "Wait for my return!" –

However, Kagome just pushed him back with her hands, and he also got a kick on the butt from Miko.

- "You forgot I'm still mad at you, right!?" – said Kagome blushing and fuming.

- "Yeah! If you wanna hug somebody so badly, just go to Ayame already, promise forgetter!" – said Miko pouting.

- "Ahaha, looks like I've got to win you over again…" – said Kouga, who then had to jump aside to avoid a double slash from Inuyasha and Yasha's Tessaigas.

- "See you guys later!" – said he as he enshrouded himself into a whirlwind and rushed into the horizon until he disappeared.

- "That guy has no remedy…" – said Sango sighing.

The party then took off and flew to the north to reach Ryuusei. After around a half-hour, they finally saw the mountains and forests where the village was nested.

- "Guys, how do you know about this village?" – asked Henry as they dismounted their dragons and Kirara on the border of the forest that served as the last stretch of road to the village – "I mean, it seems to be pretty well-hidden and all" -

- "Kaede told us about it when we asked her about how to break a memory sealing curse that Naraku put on Kagome" – said Miroku with a smile as the dragons and Kirara returned to their small forms.

- "That also involved her whole village turning into kids, Kaede herself included" – said Sango as they started walking through the rocky path and going through the forest.

- "Ooph, sounds like you had a real mess in your hands the last time you guys were here" – said Roger blinking several times.

- "Yeah. We'll give you guys a detailed account of everything that went down during our last journey when we've got some downtime" – said Gerardo as they kept walking until they finally reached the wooden walls and large gate that served as entrance to the village.

- "This place looks kinda similar to the slayers' village, huh?" – said Kember while eyeing the pointed tips the pillars making up the walls had.

- "Yeah. It's common in this era for hidden villages to have fortifications of this style" – answered Sango – "It's in case we get attacked by human enemies or youkai" –

Although some of them had comments on their minds about how that didn't seem to help Sango's village to remain unscathed, they decided to bite their tongues to not rub salt on the wound.

- "By the way guys, you better make up some aliases for yourselves" – said Gerardo – "We all did the same thing for Gaby and myself last time, as we weren't sure how they'd receive foreigners" –

- "Though they didn't seem to have problems with us, Gerar" – said Gabriela tilting her head.

- "Still, we should be careful with that, seeing how secretive the people here are" – said Kagome with a hand on her chin.

Gerardo then knocked multiple times on the door, and a small slit opened over the center of the door.

- "Ah! You're the travelers that came a few months ago!" – said the guard recognizing Gerardo, Gabriela and the rest of the Inuyasha party.

- "Indeed! We have come to this village again because there is some business we need to conduct!" – said Miroku in a respectful tone – "If possible, we would like to discuss it with Taishin-sama and Takurou-sama!" –

- "Sure! Please give us a moment to open the gate for you!" – said the guard in a happy voice as he closed the slit. They then heard the sounds of the ropes and pulleys they were using to open the gate for them, and after a few more seconds, they were granted entrance.

- "Whoa, this place is beautiful!" – said Miguel as he and the rest of Gerardo's party looked at the vast expanse of greenness where the village was installed.

- "Kaede was serious when she told us about this place and said this was the best village to live" – said Gerardo with a smile – "And just wait until you see the welcome committee!" –

- "Huh? What you mean?" – asked Carlos confused, making one of the guards that had opened the gate and who had just finished closing it with his colleagues laugh.

- "Seiryuu-san here means that the children here like to greet the visitors to our village that have earned enough of our trust to be allowed entrance" – said the guard.

- "But is there any reason why Takurou-sama didn't examine the people that came with us?" – asked Miroku raising an eyebrow.

- "Oh, because they're being accompanied by people that we know are worthy of our trust" – said the guard with a smile.

- "Hey, it's Seiryuu-nii and Yumeko-chan!" – said a voice from the distance.

- "Yeah… And look! They've got a lot of new people with them now!" – said another voice.

- "Whoa! Is that Kagome-chan and Inuyasha!?" – said another voice.

- "Looks like they are! And look how there's also two kids that look just like them!" – said another voice.

And before anybody in the party had any time to react, they saw how a group of children ran up to them to welcome them, earning shocked gazes from Gerardo's party due to the similarity some of them had to Gerardo, Gabriela, Kagome, Kikyou and Inuyasha.

- "Hi, kids!" – said Gerardo when they stopped before the party with excited smiles on their faces – "It's been a long time since we saw each other!" –

- "Yeah!" – said the boy who looked like a young Gerardo wearing a light blue kosode and matching hakama, Jousui – "Are these people your friends?" –

- "Yeah, we are" – said Henry – "The name's Ansai! Pleased to meet you!" –

- "Whoa, you look like a big version of one of our friends!" – said the youngest of the girls, who also happened to resemble Gabriela a lot, Akiko. She wore a light pink kosode decorated with yellow flowers and had it tied with a dark blue obi. She had her hair styled like Sango – "Doesn't he look a lot like Souin, Jousui-nii?" –

- "Yeah, now you mention it!" – said Jousui laughing.

- "That said, doesn't Seiryuu-nii look a lot like you, Jousui?" – asked the girl resembling Kagome, Akari, who was wearing a dark yellow kosode tied with a dark red obi.

- "And you look a lot like Kagome-chan and Miko-chan!" – said Midori, who wore a light green kosode decorated with dark green leaves that was tied with a dark green obi.

- "Ehehe, even though I'm older now?" – asked Kagome as she laughed amused at the children.

- "That's your real form?" – asked the girl who looked like Kikyou, Setsuhi. She was wearing a light blue kosode with a dark blue obi – "Whoa, to think you got turned into a little kid like Akiko!" –

- "Hehe, yeah" – said Miko stepping forward, though she seemed a bit nervous – "Kagome-nee got cursed and turned into a little kid, but she's back to normal now. By the way, I'm her younger sister. My name's Miko!" –

- "Ah! Pleased to meet you! And we didn't know you had a sister, Kagome-chan!" – said Akiko excited – "But your clothes now are kinda weird while Miko-nee's are like ours…" –

Miko felt a strange tinge of joy upon hearing how Akiko called her.

- "Ehehe, this is the sort of clothes worn at the region where I come from" – said Kagome – "And yeah, aside of Miko I also have a younger brother" –

- "It'd be so cool to meet him too!" – said the boy resembling Inuyasha in human form but with shorter hair, Daichi. He wore a dark gray kosode with navy hakama.

- "It's not like she can bring him here though" – said Yasha with a sad face – "Kagome-nee has kinda a hard time coming from her region to this one, and her brother can't really do it" –

- "Ooh, that's too bad…" – said Jousui looking crestfallen – "But I guess you're Inuyasha's little brother, right?" –

- "Yup! My name's Yasha!" – said Yasha smiling.

- "And did Inuyasha get cursed like Kagome-chan was?" – asked Akari with a smile, though she then started giggling – "Hehe, though I guess we oughta call you Kagome-nee now!" –

- "Nah. I just stayed as a kid so Kagome wouldn't get scared of me"- said Inuyasha crossing his arms.

- "Whoa, so I guess you got really annoyed with me wanting to test ya and all that last time, huh?" – asked Daichi blinking a couple times.

- "Ya said it…" – snorted Inuyasha as he blushed slightly.

- "And talking about that…" – said Kagome changing her medallion to Special Separation, turning herself into Miko's twin and changing herself into the kosode the master tailor of the village, Orimi had gifted her with – "What you guys think? I can still be a kid too!" –

- "Whoa, amazing!" – said Jousui – "But you're a bit bigger than how you were while you had the curse! And I see you can still wear the kosode Orimi-san gave you!" –

- "Hehe, of course!" – said Kagome smiling – "I wouldn't let a precious gift like it go to waste!" –

- "Um, but…" – said Akiko looking around, noticing several of the people that had accompanied them in their last visit were missing – "What happened to Kikyou-sama, Kaede-nee, Rin-nee, Sesshomaru-sama and Jaken-sama?" –

- "Um, they're travelling each on their own now" – said Miko placing her hands in front of herself and looking downward – "Let's just say they only were with us until Kagome-nee got back to normal" –

- "Ah, I see!" – said Setsuhi smiling – "I guess they had their own things to do too! Though I have liked to see and talk to Kaede-nee and Kikyou-sama too" -

- "Umm, sorry to interrupt your reunion" – said Miroku closing his eyes – "But I think you should allow Seiryuu-kun's friends to introduce themselves. You don't want to make them feel left out, right?" –

- "Ah, yeah!" – said Jousui as he and the other children blushed a bit due to this – "Sorry about that!" –

The rest of the party then started walking forward and introducing themselves: Miguel called himself Fuurai, Roger went by the name Dofu, Carlos called himself Ryuhyou, Kember named himself Morimitsu, and Tiffany named herself Youko.

- "Hehe, pleased to meet you all!" – said Akiko giggling. She then noticed the dragons each of the party had with them – "Whoa! Are these dragons!?" –

- "Yeah, they are" – said Miguel as Eolia flew from his shoulder to in front of Akiko – "They're like our partners, and they help us in battle and by taking us from a place to another" –

- "Huh? But how can they take you anywhere or fight if they're runts?" – asked Daichi raising an eyebrow, causing all the dragons to screech at him simultaneously, causing him to fall on his butt scared and the others to laugh at the mishap.

- "Anryuujin, show 'em!" – said Henry smiling. His dragon then jumped off his back to a place in the grass a bit away from them, enshrouded himself in a dark aura, and then he emerged in his larger form.

- "Whoa, so cool!" – said Akiko with shiny eyes – "It's like the statue in our temple!" –

- "Wait… You've got a dragon statue in your temple!?" – asked Miguel surprised.

- "Yep. According to Takurou-sama, the highest-ranked priest on this village, this place was founded after people gathered around Suijinryuu-sama and he asked them to protect a crystal enshrined in the sacred cave of the village" – said Kagome.

- "Suijinryuu-sama?" – asked Carlos confused, expression that Tiffany and Kember also shared.

- "It's Lord Iadlast, if you still haven't caught it" – said Gerardo shaking his head, causing the faces of the three to light up in realization – "In other words, this village is under Iadlast's protection" –

- "Yeah! That's why the village is so prosperous!" – said Jousui with pride – "Our parents tell us the outside is filled with evil people and fearsome youkai, but thanks to Suijinryuu-sama, we can live in peace here" –

- "By the way kids, we'd like to play around with you a bit, but we've got an important duty to do here" – said Sango as she smiled at them in a motherly way while Anryuujin returned to his small form and went back to Henry's side. Kagome also returned to her normal form that same moment, getting disappointed groans from the children – "We need to enter the sacred cave again, so we need to talk to Taishin-sama to get permission for it" –

- "Sure thing!" – said Akari smiling – "Come on, guys! Let's lead them to Taishin-sama's palace!" –

The children then walked ahead of them to lead them to the palace located on the highest part of the village, all while Gerardo's party was amazed at the larger size of the huts where they lived, and the fact they had schools in place like this.

- "Um, guys" – asked Henry as he looked around while they walked – "Why are your huts so large here, and how is it you've got a school too?" -

- "It's because our daimyo is really generous" – said Jousui – "Like we explained to Seiryuu-nii and the others when they were here last time, he made sure to build this place in a location safe from youkai and other daimyo, and he wants us all to have the best lives we can" –

- "Hmm, the opposite from most daimyo, I see" – said Henry with a hand on his chin.

- "There's also that he got counseled about it to do it by Takurou-sama, who's a long-time friend of his" – said Akari with a smile – "He told us that when Taishin-sama's father founded the village, Suijinryuu-sama told them about this place, and about the crystal they have to protect for our village's prosperity" –

- "Um, but does that mean that Takurou-sama is the medium for Iadlast's voice?" – asked Gabriela raising an eyebrow.

- "I think so, yeah" – said Setsuhi – "Akari and I are both training to be mikos, and we've seen Takurou-sama conversing with the statue in the temple sometimes" –

- "That makes it sound like you, Yumeko" – said Shippou with a smile – "Weren't you who could listen the Dragon Gods' voices?" –

- "Yeah. Looks like Takurou-sama has a role somewhat similar to one I have as Priestess of the Dragon" – said Gabriela thoughtfully.

- "Whoa! So you're a high-rank miko then, Yumeko-nee!?" – asked Akiko with a wide smile, which the other children also shared – "That's amazing!" –

- "Ehehe, yeah, I'm one, sort of" – said Gabriela laughing nervously – "But it's just because I've got the power to hear the six Dragon Gods' voices. I still need training to actually use my powers as such properly" –

- "But still, it's incredible you can listen to the voices of all the Muryuujin!" – said Akari looking at Gabriela, though the whole party looked bewildered when they heard the name she said – "Hehe, that's how we call the deities you call the Dragon Gods here in the village!" –

- "Though it's kinda curious. I mean, both myself and Kagome-nee are mikos too" – said Miko blinking a couple times – "Looks like we're more alike than we realized" –

- "Yeah, that's true!" – said Akari with a smile – "Hehe, let's do our best in our training then!" –

- "Yeah!" – said Setsuhi – "That way, we can compare our progress whenever we see each other again!" –

- "Hehe, though I'm kind of starting late" – said Kagome a bit nervous.

- "Still, it's not your fault, Kagome-nee" – said Miko with a smile – "Remember? You never really had a chance to use your spiritual powers until you first came to this region, right?" –

- "And even though it's typical for mikos to start their training at a young age, you shouldn't let that hold you back" – said Miroku with a smile – "After all, many have acknowledged you as quite a powerful one" –

- "So, don't let this get you down, Kagome" – said Sango smiling.

- "Keh! Yeah, we'll stand by yer side no matter what!" – said Inuyasha snorting.

- "You'll always have our support!" – said Shippou pumping himself up while Kirara meowed.

- "And guys, we've gotten to the palace" – said Daichi sighing when the whole group arrived before the palace gates – "Again, sorry but I hafta stay out" –

After Gerardo and the others explained them about the incident that got Daichi expelled from the palace, they laughed about it and they had talked to the guards, they were allowed to enter. However, Akari and Setsuhi stayed outside.

- "We'll go to the temple to tell Takurou-sama that you're here and you need to talk to him!" – said Akari.

- "So, good luck in your talk with Taishin-sama!" – said Setsuhi with a smile.

After they crossed the gates and they left their dragons flying around in the main courtyard, they entered the palace proper, where they met with a boy, which caused the newcomers to Gerardo's party a bit of a shock.

- "Hi, guys! Welcome to our palace!" – said the boy with smile, who looked like a younger version of Henry – "I see we've got a lot of new visitors today! And whoa, nii-san, you look a lot like me!" –

- "Hehe, I said the same thing when I first saw him, Souin!" – said Jousui laughing – "He's Ansai-nii, and like all the other people here, he's good friends with Seiryuu-nii and Yumeko-chan!" –

- "I also see the Kagome and Inuyasha got a lot bigger, and there's kids that look like them with you now!" – said Souin with a smile – "Ehehe, I hope you guys don't forget I'll someday be the next king of the underworld!" –

This caused everyone in the party to sweatdrop instantly, excepting Henry, whose eyes were sparkling in excitement.

- "Hey, that's my dream! I'm not gonna lose against you when it comes to that!" – said Henry excited.

- "Great! Then let's race and see who becomes the king first!" – said Souin with the same excitement – "Ansai-nii, let's both do our best!" –

- "Yeah!" – they said as they both held hands as if they had just made a promise.

- "Umm, guys… Shouldn't we all introduce ourselves?" – asked Miko a bit stupefied.

- "Ah, sorry! I just got a bit excited because I met somebody who's so much like me!" – said Souin embarrassed after he and Henry had gotten separated.

After the introductions…

- "Wow, I never expected you'd gain so many friends! Also, that Kagome and Inuyasha were actually adults, or that they had younger siblings!" – said Souin smiling – "Anyway, you gotta talk to my father, right?" –

- "Yeah. We also need to talk to Takurou-sama, as we need to go into the crystal cave again" – said Yasha.

- "In that case, go ahead" – said Souin as he stepped aside to let them continue in – "I've got to finish some chores now, so I'm sorry I can't accompany you" –

- "It's okay, don't worry!" – said Gerardo with a smile – "Still, thanks!" –

Souin smiled at them, and the party then went to the palace's main hall, where Taishin was awaiting them sitting beside his wife on a cushion over the wooden floor.

- "Ah, welcome once again, esteemed guests!" – said Taishin with a smile as he and his wife saw them entering the hall – "Our guards had reported to us that you needed to conduct business with us once again! Is that correct?" –

- "Greetings, Taishin-sama" – said Miroku with a smile after he and the rest of the party had bowed before them in signal of respect – "Indeed. We needed to discuss an important matter with you and Takurou-sama" –

- "Oh, before that…" – said Taishin's wife, Miyoko, with a smile – "I would like you to introduce your friends to us. I see several people has been added to your group today!" –

The party did their respective introductions, everybody between Gerardo's friends excepting Miguel being a bit taken aback at the resemblance they both had to Henry's own parents, though with the typical characteristics of the Japanese.

- "It is a pleasure to meet you all" – said Taishin while nodding after the introductions had concluded – "Anyway, Takurou-sama should be coming any second now, so you can explain what is that you need to do" –

- "In fact, I have just arrived here, Taishin-sama" – said Takurou as he made his entrance into the hall – "Akari, Setsuhi and the guards have already informed me about your arrival and that you needed to discuss something with us both" –

- "Very well. Taishin-sama, Takurou-sama" – said Gerardo taking a step forward to then look at them both in succession – "We wish to request your permission to enter the crystal cave once again" –

- "Oh, and what is the reason you must do so?" – asked Taishin as he, Miyoko and Takurou looked at Kagome – "As far as I see, your friend Kagome is now back to her proper age and with her memories intact, although the child next to her, Miko, was it? She resembles her greatly" –

- "It's because we need to check something" – said Kagome with a serious face – "Iadlast… No, Suijinryuu-sama has chosen Seiryuu-kun as the bearer of his power" –

- "And so, we'd like to see if we can claim the Elemental Crystal of Water, as we need it to accomplish our mission" – said Gerardo as he then knelt before Taishin – "Therefore, we humbly request your permission to do so" –

- "Suijinryuu-sama has chosen you then, Seiryuu-kun?" – asked Takurou as he brought out a rosary – "In that case, I hope you won't mind that I put both your friends and your claims to the test" –

- "You're going to apply to Reigen to us, right?" – asked Sango recognizing the artifact.

- "Correct. I must see if the words he says are true, as well as I must check the souls of his friends" – said Takurou.

- "Even though the guards let us enter the village with no problem?" – asked Henry blinking twice.

- "It's not because we don't trust you. It's a mere precaution" – said Miyoko as her smile faded and she showed a serious face.

- "Guys, it's nothing dangerous or risky. They'll just take a look at our souls" – said Miko with a smile.

- "In that case, let's just do it" – said Miguel crossing his arms – "The sooner we can get to the Crystal, the better" –

Takurou then executed a series of complicated mudras to then expand the rosary in a circle in front of the party, who now had their eyes closed, releasing a white light from it. The light then created projections behind of each of them that reflected their souls, with the particularity that they all excepting Sango, Shippou and Miroku had dragons standing behind each of their transparent silhouettes.

- "Incredible… So, they indeed hold the powers that Suinjinryuu-sama has told us about…" – said Miyoko looking at them with her mouth gaping.

- "Indeed, dear. Looks like they definitively have been chosen by Him…" – said Taishin with widened eyes.

Takurou then started prying into their souls to see what they up to: their thoughts were unified in finding the crystal, but he also noticed they seemed to be thinking about other similar objects. He then ceased sending the light by closing the rosary, causing the projections to disappear and the party to open their eyes again.

- "It's enough" – said Takurou after he had finished – "From what I could see, there are no lies in your intentions, just like last time" –

- "In that case…" – started Miroku.

- "However, I have to ask you a question before we can grant you permission" – said Takurou with a serious face – "In your souls I noticed that you had thoughts about six elemental crystals. Does that mean the one we have in our village is just one of several, and that the Muryuujin each have one under their care?" –

- "That's correct, Takurou-sama" – said Gerardo as he put a hand over his chest – "Aside of the Elemental Crystal of Water protected by Suijinryuu-sama, there are other five ones protected each by one of the Muryuujin" –

- "Looks like the legend is true then" – said Takurou closing his eyes – "Very well. If Taishin-sama has no objections to granting you entrance into the cave, I give my blessing for you to do so as well" –

- "Guys, we did it!" – said Henry pumping a fist as everybody else started cheering.

- "However, keep on mind that the cave only opens at nighttime" – said Taishin with a smile – "Therefore, I'd advise you to spend the rest of the day in the village so you don't miss out on the time when you can gain entrance into it" –

- "Thanks, Taishin-sama!" – said Gabriela, Miko and Yasha.

- "We accept your generous offer" – said Gerardo – "In fact, we planned to spend the afternoon here to wait until the cave opened. I think this will also make the village children quite happy" –

- "We had that in mind, in fact" – said Miyoko with a smile – "After all, the children seemed to have taken a shine to most of you last time" –

- "Similarly, I hope your friends will also be friends with them" – said Taishin with a smile.

- "Hehe, I don't think that'll be a problem!" – said Roger smiling.

The party then bid farewell to them and left the palace to meet again with the children, who were all jittery and had frowns or worried gazes on their faces.

- "So, how did the meeting with Taishin-sama go?" – asked Jousui with an anxious face.

- "Did he tell you that you could go into the cave again?" – asked Midori.

- "Don't worry, guys! Taishin-sama and Takurou-sama have given us permission!" – said Gabriela with a smile, causing the children to erupt in cheers.

- "Yay! That's great!" – said Akari.

- "I knew you'd get permission for it!" – said Daichi.

- "They did it! They did it!" – said Akiko jumping up and down.

- "Come on, guys! It's not that big a deal!" – said Tiffany blushing at their excitement.

- "Ehehe, sorry!" – said Setsuhi when they finally calmed down – "It's just that we were unsure about they'd give you permission this time, since you're so many now!" –

- "But that means you've gotta wait until the night for the cave to open, right?" – said Daichi with a smile – "That means you've got time for us now!" –

- "Anyway, how about we give Ansai-nii and the others a tour of the village before we go play?" – suggested Jousui – "I mean, it's not fair that they're the only ones who haven't seen it all yet!" –

- "Sounds good to me!" – said Henry crossing his arms and smiling – "I mean, I'm interested in seeing just how you live here!" –

- "I don't have any objections to it either" – said Roger nodding – "And I think none of the others will have problems with it" –

- "Aww, I wanted to go see the Crystal already!" – sighed Tiffany as Flameck shook his head.

- "But you know we can't do that until the cave opens, right?" – said Gabriela giggling – "So let's take this time to relax a bit!" –

Tiffany groaned a bit, but she knew they wouldn't be able to do anything else for the time being. So, like the last time, Jousui marched in front of the group and alongside the other children, he started guiding them around the village. They first took them to the huts near the entrance.

- "As you can see, these are our huts. They're where we live and where we spend our nights" – said Jousui pointing to them – "By the way, the one I'm pointing at is where my family lives!" –

- "Hehe, though mommy is now in the fields collecting some crops while daddy is doing some repairs in the library!" – said Akiko giggling.

- "Wait… You have a library here!?" – asked Roger shocked, while Tiffany, Kember, Henry and Carlos were all taken aback.

- "Yeah, and a pretty large one" – said Gabriela laughing at their reaction, much like her brother, the children and Inuyasha's whole party – "You should've seen our faces when we first set foot in there!" –

- "I even compared to one of the mainland emperors' libraries!" – said Gerardo laughing, causing his friends' jaws to drop to the ground.

- "But… How did you guys get so many books!?" – asked Henry grabbing his head with both hands – "I mean, books aren't exactly cheap or easy to come by, right?" –

- "Takurou-sama and Taishin-sama were pretty scholarly, so they collected all the books they could and finally made a library using them" – said Setsuhi with pride – "I mean, I guess you should know that monks have a lot of scrolls and book by nature, right?" –

- "That's also why they made schools so we could learn how to read and write" – said Akari – "After all, the more you know, the better the world is for you" –

- "Hmm, though we have another saying that goes opposite to that" – said Kember with a hand on his chin – "It goes 'Ignorance is bliss,' and it means that some things are better off staying unknown" –

- "Well, it's true many awful things happen in the world that we wouldn't like to know about…" – said Jousui thoughtfully, but he then smiled – "But ignoring them isn't just going to make them disappear, right?" –

Kember was left stunned in reaction to Jousui's counterargument.

- "And the more knowledge you have, the better prepared you'll be to deal with any problems you get into!" – said Midori giggling – "Hehe, that's one of the things the teachers in the school tell us!" –

- "Hehe, that's what some of us get for being so pessimistic!" – said Carlos laughing.

- "Still, both positions have their advantages and disadvantages" – said Miroku closing his eyes – "On one hand, knowing too much about bad things could drive you to depression or even make you go insane. But on the other hand, knowing too little will cause you to have less tools at your disposal to solve any situations that may arise" –

- "So like everything else, the key is having both sides balanced, right?" – asked Kagome with a smile.

- "Correct, Kagome-sama" – said Miroku opening his eyes with a smile.

- "Anyway, can we continue the tour?" – said Henry smiling – "I mean, I didn't think we were going to engage in a philosophical debate like this!" –

- "Hehe, sorry about that! It's just that talking about this sorta stuff is fun!" – said Jousui smiling.

- "By the way, I noticed your huts are a bit larger than those from the other villages, and they even seem to have small gardens and stuff" – said Kember.

- "Yeah, it's because instead of just having a large room like most villages, our huts have a total of three rooms: the main room where we spend the day, store our ingredients, and where we cook and eat our meals, a washroom where we can bathe and do our necessities, and a bedroom where all the family has their futons. The gardens are for planting flowers, though we also plant some smaller crops too!" – explained Midori.

- "Yeah, we noticed that same thing when we stayed here last time. Most of the time was spent in the main room and we had to sleep in it, but I also got to use the washroom once" – said Kagome remembering their last visit.

- "Hmm, I used it a few times, since using my water powers makes my blood flow faster" – said Gerardo shrugging his shoulders.

- "Hey, the same happened to me with my light powers!" – said Gabriela blinking.

- "Anyway, let's keep going! Time to go to the river!" – said Jousui with a smile. They then followed the children until they reached the riverbank, where they saw several women and girls kneeling over large wooden tubs filled with water, which they were using to wash the clothes. They greeted the children when they saw them.

- "Ah, Jousui! Akiko! And everybody else!" – said a teenage girl that wore a blue kosode that was adorned with embroidered butterflies, a light blue mo-bakama and who had a triangular white bandana on her head – "Whoa! And it's also Seiryuu-kun and Yumeko-chan! And a lot of other people!" –

- "Ah, hi, Oriko-nee!" – said Jousui smiling – "We didn't expect to see you here!" –

- "Hehe, mom sent me to wash some of the kimonos that were stored for a while, since they got all covered in dirt and moisture!" – said Oriko laughing – "I see you're guiding the visitors again, and looks like there's a lot new people around!" –

- "Hehe, let's let them introduce themselves!" – said Akari giggling.

After they had introduced each other…

- "Hmm, I see pretty much all of them are nobles from their clothing" – said Oriko with an inquisitive face – "Also, whoa, Kagome! You grew up a lot! And I see there's a girl that looks like you now! Inuyasha also grew up a lot and there's a kid that looks like him too!" –

- "Hehe, thanks Oriko-san!" – said Kagome blushing – "These are our real forms, and the kids in question are my younger sister Miko and Inuyasha's little brother Yasha" -

- "So, you and Inuyasha actually about as old as me? How neat!" – said Oriko smiling, causing Kagome to laugh in reaction to the fact they were of about the same age – "But your outfit is pretty odd, as I've never seen kimonos with designs like those" –

- "Well, it's because we've come from a pretty distant region" – explained Kagome – "The outfit I'm wearing is composed by a blouse and a skirt, while I'm wearing socks and shoes on my feet" –

- "Hmm, I've never heard about pieces of clothing with those names…" – said Oriko as she went deep in thought – "And it's so rare to see people wearing stuff on their feet… Mom's trying to get us to start making zori too so we don't have to walk barefoot all the time, but it's not been easy…" –

- "Well, the village is all covered in soft grass, so it's not really a problem!" – said Akiko smiling.

- "But it'd be necessary if we ever need to walk on rocky terrain or leave the village" – said Midori nodding twice.

- "Yeah. The big problem is that you kids have sizes that change pretty often, and that's what makes it so hard for us to start making them" – sighed Orimi.

- "Though going barefoot like that'd be hell for me now…" – sighed Gabriela as a scared expression appeared on her face.

- "Huh? How so, Yumeko-chan?" – asked Kagome while she blinked twice.

- "Yeah. You once had to go barefoot for a few days, and you didn't seem to have any problems with it" – said Sango tilting her head.

- "It's because I didn't show it outwardly" – said Gabriela gritting her teeth and shaking her head – "I once got my right foot cut pretty badly, and because having that wound closed was a real trauma to me… Now just having my feet's soles touched by anything brings me flashbacks of that time…" –

- "Oh, my!" – said Sango recoiling from the surprise.

- "You went through such a terrible experience?" – asked Miko shaking her head while her eyes widened.

- "Yeah. Seiryuu was pretty flustered when he told us about that incident" – said Henry shaking his head.

- "Well, you can imagine her foot bleeding pretty badly and him trying to do everything to close the wound while she cried nonstop" – said Miguel remembering the description of the event as Gerardo had told it to him.

- "And that happened when she was barely four years old" – said Gerardo as he hugged her – "It was a real disaster for me and the attendant that was taking care of us, as our parents had to leave for work reasons" –

- "Ow, that must've been awful!" – said Akiko covering her mouth with her hands. She then went up to Gabriela and starting caressing her on the hand – "I'm sorry, Yumeko-nee! I'm sorry you went through that awful thing!" –

- "It's okay, and don't worry about it, Akiko" – said Gabriela smiling – "You don't have to apologize, as it wasn't your fault" –

- "That's just how she cheers you up" – says Jousui smiling in a sad way – "She apologizes for the fact you suffered, and even if it hadn't been in words, I think you'd have found a piece of paper with an apology written by her next to your futon when you woke up tomorrow" –

- "Oh, so she also likes to leave notes and drawings to people?" – asked Gerardo turning around to look at Jousui with a surprised expression.

- "Yumeko-chan does it too?" – asked Jousui surprised, to which Gerardo nodded with a smile – "Ehehe, looks like our sisters really are like each other!" –

- "Still, I'm sure my mom'd like to examine Kagome-chan's outfit later, as well as the clothes all the newcomers are wearing" – said Oriko after noticing their conversation had gotten quite derailed.

- "Yeah! We'll drop there for a visit later! And well, we've got to continue showing them the village, so see you later!" – said Jousui smiling while Oriko also bid them farewell and returned to her labors.

- "Well, as you can see, this is the place where we wash our clothes and collect water to take back to our huts. Further up there's also a small dammed part we use to raise fishes so we can eat them later" – said Akari as she pointed further up to the river's course.

- "We also like coming here to take baths in summer, when it's too hot!" – said Akiko smiling.

- "Umm, but how do you go into the water?" – asked Tiffany as she started blushing – "Don't tell me you go in…" –

- "No, we don't that" – said Midori shaking her head – "It'd be too embarrassing for us girls, so Orimi-san has made some special lightweight kimonos we all wear for bathing and playing in the river" –

- "Isn't it annoying or heavy to move around in those though?" – asked Shippou crossing his arms.

- "Kinda, but it's better than the alternative!" – said Akari laughing.

- "Is it the same case for the women?" – asked Miroku, though this got him a good ear pull from Sango.

- "Isn't that asking for too much information, Houshi-sama?" – said her as she glared daggers at him.

- "I was just curious, my dearest Sango!" – said Miroku laughing nervously while at the same time wincing from the pain.

- "Umm, I don't get why you ask that, Houshi-sama, but yeah" – said Setsuhi as everybody laughed at the shenanigans – "Women and men wear them just as us kids do" –

- "Looks like they have a modesty concept similar to ours" – whispered Gerardo to Gabriela – "We didn't get to learn this the last time" –

- "At least they're not like the rest of the people from this time, huh?" – said Gabriela smiling.

- "By the way, how's that you take your water from here and not from a well?" – asked Roger with interest.

- "Well, there's no underground water veins in here we can tap upon to make a well" – said Midori with her hands behind herself – "The water from the river is completely pure too, so it's perfect for us to drink and use!" -

- "Anyway, let's keep going. We'll now go to the school!" – said Jousui as he marched in front of the others. However, Miko crouched down, hugged her knees and started trembling.

- "N-No… S-School no…" – said Miko tightly grabbing her knees with her hands.

- "Huh? What happened to Miko-nee?" – asked Akiko worried upon seeing her reaction, while the others looked spooked at each other... excepting for Inuyasha's group and Gerardo's party, who were looking at her with sadness.

- "Um… It's because she went to the school that's in Kagome's region a few days ago, and the kids there bullied her horribly…" – said Yasha as he, Kagome, Shippou and Sango went next to her and hugged her.

- "What!? But how could they do that!?" – asked Daichi irate – "She doesn't seem like a bad girl or anything!" –

- "Apparently they didn't like that a hick from the countryside was doing the stuff the teachers asked for better than them" – said Yasha shaking his head, which caused the children to feel indignant about the whole thing – "They pushed her to the ground many times, called her all sorts of awful things and even dumped a whole bucketful of mud over her head" –

- "No!" – said Akari as she and the other girls joined in trying to console Miko – "Don't worry! Nobody in our school's gonna do that to you!" –

- "Yeah! Nobody bullies each other in there!" – said Jousui as he knelt next to her.

- "Come on, Miko" – said Kagome, who herself was visibly trembling too – "We won't let anything like that happen to you again" –

- "Yeah! Anybody who tries doing that is going to have their butts kicked by us!" – said Tiffany pumping herself up.

- "And in more than a way!" – said Gabriela with a reassuring smile.

- "Thanks… Everybody…" – said Miko as she grabbed Kagome's hand and started trying to get up again – "It's just I couldn't avoid reacting that way when I heard we'd be going to the school…" –

- "It's understandable, as the trauma is still too recent" – said Gerardo looking at her with worry.

- "Still, you can't react that way all the time. After all, how're you going to return to Enterial like that?" – asked Kagome.

- "Enteriaru? Umm, what's that?" – asked Midori tilting her head.

- "It's the name of another school in a distant land where Miko and Yasha had been living the past two months" – explained Miguel – "And believe me when I say it's pretty far away" –

- "Still, the way Miko reacted isn't surprising, as the kids in Enterial and in the village where Kaede lived treated us both really well" – said Yasha shaking his head no as he frowned – "So you can guess how much it hurt her when she was treated like that" –

- "We can't really feel it ourselves, but we can get an idea of it" – said Akari putting her hands over her chest.

- "Anyway, let's keep going" – said Midori – "Maybe Miko'll feel better once she sees how things are over here!" –

So, they reached the school buildings, but they noticed they were all closed up.

- "Hehe, sorry everybody! I forgot today's our day off, so the school is closed today" – said Daichi laughing a bit.

- "In other words, you were just playing around today?" – asked Shippou raising an eyebrow.

- "Well, we were doing our chores a bit before you all arrived" – said Setsuhi with a smile – "Akari and me were helping clean the temple, while Midori was helping her mom reaping the crops, Jousui and Akiko were helping their mom cleaning their hut, and Daichi was helping the carpenters do some repairs" –

- "Now you mention it, wasn't Souin doing some chores too when we were at the palace?" – asked Miko with a smile.

- "Yeah. Even though today's the day off from school, he's doing some extra homework to learn how to administrate the village" – said Jousui with a smile – "Someday, we'd like to help him with that too!" –

- "And talking about studying, how about we go check out the library?" – asked Roger with a smile – "I mean, most of us here haven't seen it yet" –

- "Ugh, how boring…" – snorted Daichi.

- "I don't like books either…" – said Inuyasha making a rather comical frowning face.

- "Hehe, though they'd help you understand lotsa things better, Nii-san!" – said Yasha laughing.

- "Hey, wasn't that what Sesshomaru said when we were here last time?" – asked Kagome laughing a bit.

- "If I may, his exact words were that they'd help mold his worthless brain better" – said Miroku with an amused smile, which caused Inuyasha to growl at him. Miroku then sighed and closed his eyes – "Inuyasha, if you wish to pick fights with somebody, you should be looking for Sesshomaru instead of directing your anger at me" –

- "Still, the point stands that you should try to read a bit" – said Henry – "You know, you'll have a harder time learning to use Seirei magic if you don't understand a lot of things about the world" –

- "I know that! It's just…" – said Inuyasha looking aside and sulking.

- "Hehe, I can help him do that little by little, don't worry!" – said Yasha as he grabbed one of his older brother's hands, which made Inuyasha look at him surprised – "Nii-san, let's study together so we can learn how to use better magic!" –

Inuyasha just smiled at him and nodded.

- "Seirei magic? Is that like what Seiryuu-nii used in the demonstration he gave Kenzan-sensei?" – asked Jousui with interest.

- "Yeah, kind of" – said Gerardo with a smile – "It's magic you can use through chanting or singing to cause all sorts of effects by manipulating the elements. It's a gift that the Muryuujin give only to some people" –

- "Whoa, so cool!" – said Akari, who looked at Setsuhi to then nod at the same time as her – "Looks like the Muryuujin really see you as special!" –

- "Anyhow, the library is over there next to the school" – said Midori pointing at the larger building that was just a few meters away from the school's ones – "See it? It's that big one over there" –

- "Whoa, it's really large!" – said Carlos with widened eyes, reaction that all of the newcomers were having as well.

- "And just wait until you see the inside!" – said Gerardo as he, Gabriela, the children and the Inuyasha party started laughing at their expressions.

The group then entered the library, and they were taken a back once they saw the large number of shelves that were stacked up with books and scrolls.

- "Okay… You weren't kidding when you said it was worthy of an emperor…" – said Roger as his jaw dropped to the ground.

- "Wait, but weren't books and stuff pretty expensive and hard to find!?" – asked Tiffany as her arms were left limp at her sides, even though that question had already been asked and answered.

- "We can only say that Taishin-sama's family and Takurou-sama have a done a lot of work collecting all the books and scrolls that are housed here" – said Gerardo as they all left behind the door and approached the shelves, which had the books classified by categories – "And that's not all: there's also some books that seem to have come from Dragonia too" –

- "Seriously!?" – asked Carlos recoiling.

- "It was…" – said Gerardo going to one of the shelves – "Ah, here!" –

He then took out a book that had a green leather cover and that had written over it in golden letters Genealogy of the Dragons and Dragon Types (Includes Brief Introduction to the Dragonian Language) – "While the cover and contents are in Japanese, thecontents themselves don't seem like something that would be found outside Dragonia, especially the section explaining Common Dragonian" -

- "Yeah, now you mention it" – said Henry looking at the book.

- "Um, that book is actually a translation of one that appeared alongside the crystal 70 years ago" – said Akari with a smile – "Takurou-sama got taught how to read the original version's language by Suijinryuu-sama and he took the work of writing down the translation for it" –

- "Is the original book anywhere?" – asked Gabriela with interest.

- "Yeah" – said Setsuhi with a smile – "Takurou-sama has the original in his room at the temple" –

- "In that case, it may be worth giving it a look" – said Gerardo with interest.

- "Anyhow, looks like most of the books here are just about practical things" – observed Henry as he walked between a few of the shelves – "There's some on spiritual training, others on swordplay and combat, a few on horse riding and care, others on medicinal herbs and diseases, and others focusing on agriculture and raising animals" –

- "Well, not like you can ask much about science and technology here" – said Roger shrugging his shoulders.

- "Hehe, sounds like these things are a lot more advanced in the region you all come from!" – said Jousui smiling.

- "Yeah, that's right" – said Gerardo with a smile.

- "I'd like to someday learn a lot more about that sorta stuff!" – said Jousui pumping himself up as his eyes started sparkling – "Yeah, I know that being a scholar is only possible for high-rank priests and for nobles, but that's still what I'd like to do!" –

- "In that case, you better study as hard as possible" – said Gerardo putting a hand on his shoulder – "Sounds like you're a learned swordsman in the making!" –

- "Hehe, but you could help him by teaching some of the stuff you know, Seiryuu-nii" – said Gabriela giggling.

- "I'm not sure that I'm a good teacher though, Yumeko" – said Gerardo blushing.

- "Are you joking? Most of the things I know were stuff you taught me!" – said Gabriela pouting.

- "Hehe, I hope you'll be willing to teach us some stuff then, Seiryuu-nii!" – said Jousui smiling.

- "I wanna learn too! I wanna be smarter!" – said Akiko with sparkling eyes. The other children seemed excited about it too, so he had to relent.

- "Okay, I'll try teaching you some stuff once we're finished with what we've got to do here" – said Gerardo sighing, which made all the children shout in joy and his friends to start laughing. He frowned at them – "What're you guys laughing about now?" –

- "It's just we never thought you'd be also serving as a teacher here" – said Henry laughing – "If you don't mind, we'd like to chime in and help with the knowledge each of us have too" –

- "That'd be even better!" – said Setsuhi smiling – "The more we can learn, the better for us!" –

- "Anyway, shouldn't we get moving?" – asked Midori – "They still have to see the loom and meet Orimi-san, and at this rate the night's gonna fall and end before they can do the stuff they need to do in the cave" –

- "And our timekeeper has spoken" – said Akari smiling, which made Midori blush – "But yeah, we better show you guys the loom now. We can go play after that!" –

They then left the library and headed to a large hut that was located next to the river: it was the loom.

- "Now I think about it, we could have come here first instead of going to the school and library" – said Midori with a hand on her chin once they had arrived.

- "Yeah, it's just the idea didn't occur to me at the time" – said Jousui sighing – "I'm sorry" –

- "Well, it's nothing to be worried about" – said Henry with a smile – "So, this is the place where the tailor that makes all the clothes in the village lives?" –

However, that question needed no answer: as soon as they stepped inside the hut, they were greeted with a counter and how the walls were covered almost in their entirety with the kosodes that Orimi had made.

- "Looks like your question got answered, Ansai-kun" – said Roger laughing, though he and the other newcomers to Gerardo's party were stunned at the sheer number of outfits – "But… Whoa, looks like Orimi-san is really a prolific worker!" –

- "Hehe, I'm glad to hear my talent is still appreciated!" – said a woman with black hair rolled up in a bun that was fastened with a few hairpins, and who wore a blue kosode decorated with butterflies and tied up with a red obi – "I'm pleased to meet you, friends of Seiryuu-kun and Yumeko-chan" –

- "Hi, Orimi-san!" – said Jousui cheerfully – "Like last time, we're showing them around" –

- "I can see that, and I'm quite happy you all seem to have an eye for art" – said Orimi smiling.

- "Well, the embroidery in these kosodes is quite exquisite, Orimi-san" – said Kember as his eyes started sparkling – "These flowers, cranes, dragons, trees… All the designs are filled to brim with detail and delicately woven! Oh, by the way, I'm Morimitsu!" –

- "Thanks for the compliments, Morimitsu-kun!" – said Orimi bowing before him – "By the way you speak, I take it that you're an artist?" –

- "Yeah, Morimitsu is the artist between us" – said Roger nodding – "He's always spending his time sketching and painting landscapes and people" –

- "So while it's not the same thing, I have an idea of just how passionate you are with the clothes you make!" – said Kember still fired up.

- "It's nice to know that" – said Orimi to then turned to the others, and she immediately gasped while she took her hands to her mouth – "Oh goodness! Is that you, Kagome? And you too, Inuyasha?" –

- "Hi, Orimi-san!" – said Kagome smiling – "Yeah, this is my natural form" –

- "Hiya. Yeah, that's how I'm actually" – said Inuyasha crossing his arms.

- "I see you were about 10 years older than when you were cursed and that Inuyasha also is supposed to be as old as you too, but it's a relief to see you're back to the way you should be" – said Orimi smiling at them both. She then focused on Kagome – "Oh, and who is the little girl that looks so much like you?" –

- "Hi, Orimi-san" – said Miko stepping out from behind Kagome hesitantly – "I'm Kagome-nee's younger sister. My name's Miko" –

- "Ah, pleased to meet you!" – said Orimi with a smile – "Still, I see you are wearing a kosode I hadn't seen previously, while Kagome here is wearing an outfit that's unlike anything I know" –

- "Hehe, this is what students wear whenever they go to school in the region we're from" – explained Kagome – "The designs and color vary somewhat from a school to another, but this is how they look basically" –

- "Whoa, a lot of people must live there if there are several schools, Kagome-nee!" – said Akari with a smile.

- "That's right" – said Kagome to then turn to look again at Orimi – "The clothes I'm wearing are called a blouse and a skirt, and they're basically clothing types that were imported from the West" –

- "Ah, that explains why I never saw them before" – said Orimi smiling – "I'd like to ask you if I could borrow them so I can examine them and see if I can learn anything from how they're made… But I think that'd be quite impolite" –

- "Well, I do have other outfits aside of it…" – said Kagome as she smiled at her

- "By the way, did you do anything with the kosode I gifted you with?" – asked Orimi with interest.

- "Ahaha, as a matter of fact…" – said Kagome smiling nervously, but before Orimi had a chance to ask, she used her medallion to turn herself into a child and change her clothes to the kosode in question – "Hehe, I'm still wearing it!" –

- "Ah, Kagome-nee's a kid again!" – said Akiko surprised – "It's the second time she did it!" –

- "Oh, so you can control your age somewhat and you use the kosode whenever you turn into a child?" – said Orimi with a tender smile – "It's kind of unexpected, but I'm glad you're still giving it use!" –

- "Like I said to the kids, I don't want to let a gift like this go to waste!" – said Kagome smiling.

- "By the way, shouldn't we all introduce ourselves?" – asked Gabriela to address the elephant in the room – "I mean, Seiryuu-nii, Ansai, Miko and Morimitsu have all introduced themselves, but there's still a lot of us that haven't done so" –

- "Oh, indeed" – said Orimi looking embarrassed – "I was so excited over meeting another artist and about seeing Kagome and Inuyasha like this that I forgot about it. My apologies" –

- "It's okay. Let's get the introductions done now" – said Roger to not give the incident any importance. The rest of the party introduced themselves.

- "Pleased to meet you all. Any friends of our visitors are friends of us as well" – said Orimi with a smile.

- "By the way, Orimi-san, I do have more copies of my outfit" – said Kagome smiling – "If you want, I can lend you one of them so you can study them" –

- "Seriously? That'd be quite an honor for me, Kagome" – said Orimi with a smile.

Kagome nodded, used her Dragtemn to pull out another uniform, surprising the children and Orimi, and then she handed it to Orimi.

- "Whoa, that bracelet-like thing can bring out stuff from nowhere!" – said Daichi shocked. They all had their eyes widened and were staring at Kagome.

- "Yeah. It's a special type of storage where we can put stuff in and then get it out whenever we want" – said Gabriela – "As you can guess, it's pretty convenient while you're traveling" –

- "In any case, thanks, Kagome" – said Orimi as she left the blouse and skirt folded over the counter – "I'll make sure to study them. Who knows, I may even come up with ideas for new kinds of outfits from this!" –

- "I'm glad to be of help!" – said Kagome smiling.

- "By the way, do you mind if I examine the outfits of the friends that didn't come with you last time?" – asked Orimi smiling – "I mean, I'm quite interested in seeing how much they match with their elemental energies" –

- "Please, go ahead" – said Henry smiling – "Seiryuu told us how you did that last time and how that also helped break the curse Kagome had, so that'd be good for us too" –

Orimi nodded and exited the counter to start examining the clothes of the newcomers, including Miko and Yasha. After a while, she finally stopped and stood looking at everybody.

- "Well, I'm quite surprised" – said her with a serious face – "From what I can see, your outfits are all perfect matches with your elemental energies in color and design, and they all express your personalities quite well" –

- "Hehe, well, we really like these clothes" – said Carlos laughing.

- "As for Yasha, as far as I can see, your outfit is identical to the one your older brother is wearing" – said Orimi while smiling at the boy.

- "Yup! It's an heirloom from our parents, and they left us these as mementos" – said Yasha.

- "I'm pretty surprised too to see they're identical down to the smallest details, leaving the size aside" – said Orimi, which made Inuyasha and Yasha nervous – "Normally, making two sets of clothes that are so similar should be impossible" –

- "Hehe, maybe mine'll get different when I grow up. After all, fire-rat wool clothes change their size to fit their user" – said Yasha smiling awkwardly.

- "I see. I'll be looking forward to examining it again when you have grown up" – said Orimi as she smiled at him, though Yasha and Inuyasha both sighed in relief after she focused on Miko – "As for you Miko, your kosode is kind of conflicting with your elemental energies, but it does fit your personality well. It also feels like it exudes a great deal of love" –

- "Yeah. My miko instructor gave it to me as a gift when I started my training, and I really appreciate her a lot for taking care of me while I'm not with my parents" – said Miko as she looked downward and smiled. Her cheeks then turned red.

- "In that case, I don't think you have to worry. You aren't under a curse either, so there's no need for you to use another outfit to get you released from it" – said Orimi with a smile.

- "Anyway, it's pretty surprising how Kagome-nee and Inuyasha can both turn into kids like us, huh?" – said Akari as she tilted their head in their direction – "Ehehe, but I think that means you can spend the day playing with us!" –

- "Yeah, that'd be fun!" – said Akiko jumping up and down.

- "In that case, you should go have fun and take advantage of today to rest" – said Miroku smiling – "After all, it's not like we can do anything until the cave opens tonight" –

- "Yeah, I think I'll take you on the offer" – said Kagome smiling – "Anyway, it was great to see you again Orimi-san! I hope we can see each other later again!" –

- "I'll be awaiting your next visit" – said Orimi as she bowed. Then the party left the hut with the children in the lead and headed to the larger field that was near the village's entrance.

- "And before we start playing…" – said Shippou as he brought out three flower crowns from his Dragtemn – "Akari, Setsuhi, Midori… I didn't get the chance to do this last time, so… Here are gifts for you three!" –

- "Again!?" – said Gabriela and Miko at the same time. The three village girls were pretty happy to see the crowns and instantly took them.

- "Ah, they're so pretty!" – said Akari as she put it on.

- "The flowers are really well-entwined!" – said Setsuhi as she looked at how hers was made.

- "Whoa, these flowers are really beautiful!" – said Midori.

- "Ehehe, I'm glad you liked them!" – said Shippou smiling while swooning over the three girls.

- "Hey! What about me!?" – pouted Akiko.

- "Akiko-chan, don't mind it" – said Gabriela sighing as she put a hand over the younger girl's head – "You're about to see why it's so bad that fox boy does that" –

Akiko just blinked twice and turned to look at Shippou and the three girls again.

- "Yeah, it's a real nice way to show we're friends!" – said Akari, which came to Shippou like a stab to his heart.

- "It's the first gift I've gotten from a friend from outside the village!" – said Setsuhi smiling, which made Shippou feel like he had taken an arrow to his head.

- "Thanks, Shippou! You're a great friend!" – said Midori putting her flower crown on while Shippou fell to the ground while grabbing his stomach, as if he had been punched there.

- "Hehe, Shippou, you never change!" – said Kagome giggling.

- "Umm, what happened to him?" – asked Akari while she blinked.

- "Well, he's always trying to pick up the girls he meets in all villages we visit" – said Miko facepalming while the girls giggled in response to learning about this – "I almost fell for it once, but it all went sour when he insulted Yasha" –

- "Yeah, that was pretty nasty from him…" – said Yasha looking sad while Inuyasha glared at Shippou.

- "Wait… How is that the fox's never tried to pull that on me too then?" – asked Tiffany crossing her arms while raising an eyebrow, feeling offended.

- "Ah, right! Youko, here's one for you too!" – said Shippou as he brought out another one and ran to her. However, the only thing he got was getting burn to a crisp by Flameck's breath. The crown turned to ashes while he spat out a small smoke cloud.

- "Don't come running to me as a second option!" – shouted Tiffany while Flameck snorted, causing everyone to laugh in response and Shippou to start crying.

- "This situation sounds quite familiar to me…" – said Miroku sweatdropping at what just happened.

- "Because you did something like that to me once too, Houshi-sama…!" – said Sango with a vein popping from her forehead at his selective obliviousness.

- "Hehe, I see what you meant, Yumeko-nee!" – said Akiko giggling upon seeing the whole scene.

- "Right? So, don't mind it!"- said Gabriela laughing. The whole group continued laughing for a few more minutes.

- "Anyway, let's start playing! Let's show you some games from the region we came from!" – said Kagome as she brought out a ball from the Dragtemn and started teaching them to play volleyball.

- "Hehe, yeah! We didn't get any chance to play together the last time you all were here!" – said Akiko skipping happily.

The children then spent the rest of the afternoon playing with the ball alongside Gerardo and the others, while they then started playing hide n' seek and tag between themselves after they had gotten tired from playing with the ball.

{End of Chapter}

{Ending: Fukai Mori}