Chapter Eight

Back Home

Everything was right again. Miharu was back and the group was out hunting for shards of the Shikon Jewel. It wasn't until they had stopped by a little stream to rest that Michiyo remembered something.

"Hey, Kuroda," she said, poking the boy in the arm. "It's been three weeks since we were last in the present time. Don't you think we should return…at least for awhile?"

The two of them were sitting on the bank of the stream and drinking a soda which Kagome had brought in her backpack. He took a long sip and then set it down.

"Yeah, that's a good idea. Everyone's probably worried. And what about school? We're probably so behind it'll take us forever to catch up!"

Michiyo nodded and stood up. She brushed off her uniform skirt and walked over to her friend, who was laughing at a joke Naoki had recently told. She pulled her to the side and asked if she wanted to go back to the present.

"Yeah, why not?" Miharu smiled. "It's been while and everyone's probably missing us!"

Naoki had overheard and he agreed. The two guys went to pack while the two friends went to inform the others. Kagome, InuYasha, and Sango were relaxing by the fire. Miroku and Shippo were preparing lunch. InuYasha lazily stretched and scratched the back of his neck as the girls came over and joined him.

"Hey InuYasha?" Michiyo said nervously. "The four of us were wondering if we could go back to our time for a bit to catch up on things? We won't be long! Maybe just a week or so. Please?"

InuYasha looked at her like she was crazy.

"Are you kidding!" he growled. "Naraku could come after you! He did before remember! And besides there isn't enough time. We need as much help as we can get on the Sacred Jewel shard hunting."

Kagome was listening and she frowned. "InuYasha, be reasonable! Number one: They deserve a break. Number Two: They've been willingly helping us for a long time now and Number Three: You still have me! Let them go!"

"Shut up Kagome!" InuYasha snapped.

"I won't! Listen to me---"

"Feh!"

"InuYasha…!"

"Kagome, all I'm sayin' is they don't need a break! Miharu spent the past two weeks sitting down and none of them have really pitched in! Until I see them really helping out they can't leave."

"InuYasha?"

"WHAT!"

"SIT BOY!"

InuYasha shrieked as he fell face flat into the dirt and grass. Kagome crossed her arms and then smiled warmly at Miharu and Michiyo.

"You're free to go," she said kindly. Miharu and Michiyo squealed with delight and hugged Kagome before rushing off to inform the guys. Kagome was still smiling but suddenly heard a growl. InuYasha was looking angrily up at her from the ground.

"Kagome…"

"Sit!"

Naoki looked down into the blackness of the Bone Eaters Well. He gulped and took a step back.

"Are you sure Kagome said this will really work?" he asked cautiously. Miharu giggled and put a delicate hand on his shoulder.

"Naoki, I'm positive," she said reassuringly. "Now…go!" She thrust both hands forward and knocked poor Naoki into the dark well. He screamed loudly as he fell forward into the well. Then there was a flash of blue light and he was gone. The other three looked at each other but sucked in a breath and jumped.

Miharu glanced around as she fell. Blue, bubbly light was engulfing her small body and she could see a very frightened Michiyo beside her. Just as she was about to comfort her sister Kuroda came from nowhere and wrapped his arms around the scared girl. Michiyo looked over at him thankfully as they all landed.

The earth was soft and Miharu starred up. Naoki must have already climbed out. Kuroda let go of Michiyo and started his way up. The other two followed him up until they were safely outside of the well. Naoki saw Miharu and smiled, grabbing her hand and leading her out of the well house.

"So is this the Higurashi Shrine?" Miharu asked as they stepped out of the eerie well house and into the bright sunshine.

"Yeah. Kagome led us here the first time," Kuroda answered as he and Michiyo came forth. The four of them walked across the Shrine and down the long flight of steps to the city. Before returning home, the group stopped at a fast food restaurant and brought hamburgers and fries.

They took their meals to a nearby park and sat under a large cherry blossom tree. They discussed Naraku, InuYasha, and the jewel shards. Kuroda took a bight of his cheeseburger and sighed.

"How long do you think we'll have to keep this up?" he asked slowly.

"Maybe our whole lives," Michiyo joked. She took a sip of her soda and laid back. Miharu was actually thinking about it though.

"It's hard to say. There could be a million jewel shards out there. Now to mention a huge battle with Naraku is coming up in the near future."

Kuroda nodded and laid back with Michiyo. The two started their own conversation so Miharu got up to throw out the trash. Later on, when it was getting dark, the guys offered to walk the girls home. They agreed and walked along the sidewalk to their apartment. The street lamps were on and the many neon signs were lit up.

Michiyo had linked arms with Kuroda and was resting her weary head on his shoulder. Naoki had slung an arm around Miharu's shoulder. The group walked in silence, listening to the many sounds of the city. It wasn't long till they reached the apartment buildings, however, and the guys walked up to Miharu and Michiyo's floor with them.

Remembering her key, Miharu fumbled in her pocket for it. Finally finding it, she unlocked the door. Turning to face Naoki, she smiled and blushed.

"Umm…thanks for the meal," was all she could think of saying. But before she could say anything more Naoki had brought his lips to hers in a gentle kiss. Miharu blinked but eased.

Meanwhile, Michiyo was rubbing the back of her neck in embarrassment.

"Well…I had a nice time today," she said. "I mean, not like I'm saying it was a date or anything but you know it was a friendly sort of outing after a great time in the feudal era and as friends it was a nice thing to do you know have lunch or brunch or whatever you call it---"

Kuroda had brought his head down and locked lips with hers. Michiyo had been so taken by surprise her mouth had still been wide open. She quickly shut it in confusion and blushed a deep shade of red. But it was sort of…nice. So she shut her eyes and relaxed her tense body.

After a couple minutes, the girls pulled away and said a quick good night before shutting the door hard. They starred at each other in amazement and then squealed in delight and shock. They went to bed very happy girls.

"Oh my God…!" Suzuki Yamashite cried the next morning in shock. "Michiyo? Miharu? You're back! Oh my God, where have you been! Do you know how long it's been since you were last in school!"

Michiyo and Miharu had just walked through the school doors when their friends had spotted them. Now they simply and calmly walked over to their lockers and opened them.

"Oh, we've been on a long…uh…" Michiyo stumbled.

"Vacation!" Miharu supported. "Yeah! We were in…America! A place called Hawaii! Really nice there, you know, lots of beaches and sand and friendly…uh…people…"

"Wow! My sister went to Hawaii as an exchange student," Hasegawa Ishimaru piped up.

Just as Michiyo shut her locker Kuroda and Naoki came walking up. Kuroda leaned over and kissed Michiyo softly on the cheek and smiled. "Hey," he said.

All the girl's friends backed up and gasped. One of them even stumbled and tripped over someone's shoe. Naoki came forth and embraced Miharu. "I missed you," he said shyly. Miharu blushed and gulped as she looked at her friends.

"Mi…Michiyo," Chiaki Kawazoe gasped. "Are…Are you and K-Kuroda g-going out!"

Michiyo blushed as well and her eyes grew wide. "Actually…" she looked up at Kuroda. He hadn't really asked her out. Not yet anyways.

"We're going out, Chiaki," Kuroda smiled, pulling Michiyo close.

"And so are we!" Naoki grinned, slinging an arm around Miharu's shoulders like he had the previous night. The girls' all gasped and started chattering all at once. Michiyo and Miharu couldn't even speak. They were so devastated When class started they were still in shock.

"All right class, it seems two of our best students are back," the Math teacher announced. "Michiyo and Miharu. Let's all welcome them back. But to begin, we're going to review for the test tomorrow."

Miharu nearly fell out of her chair. TEST! WHAT TEST? She looked at her sister from across the room helplessly and her eyes were pleading. Michiyo understood and raised her hand. She was called on.

"Do Miharu and I have to take this test?" she asked. "We haven't been here for at least three weeks and have fallen so far behind."

The teacher frowned. "I'm very sorry, Miss Saruwatari, but absence is no excuse to miss a test."

"But---"

"No complaining Miss Saruwatari. It is your own fault."

Michiyo wanted to die right then and there. How did he expect her and Miharu to pass the test when they'd been gone for nearly a month! After Math, they met up with the guys and informed them of the horrible news. Kuroda and Naoki seemed sympathetic…that is…until they got to their Math class.

"The exact same thing happened to us," Naoki scowled. "Damn Math…it's a waste of time and pointless! We should just stay in the feudal era for the rest of our lives!"

"If only we could," Miharu sighed. They went over to Kuroda's house to study for the rest of the afternoon and night. He had a very large house. It was two stories and built on a shrine just like Kagome's.

"Masato Shrine, huh?" Michiyo smiled as they hopped off the city bus and started up the walk. "I had no idea your family ran a shrine."

"Yeah well…I guess you really never knew me that well," Kuroda answered, finding his house key and unlocking the back door. The four entered and seated themselves in Kuroda's living room. He brought out cookies and tea but soon switched the tea with soda. The group got to work studying. It wasn't long before the phone started ringing.

Kuroda got up and went to answer it. "Hello?"

A few moments silence. "Sure! Of course! Do you know where I live?" More silence. "Yeah, past the market. So you fell behind too?" Silence. "Uh-Huh. Yeah, we're all here. It's an all night studying group!" Laughing. "Ok, come by then. Bye."

He hung up and turned around to see everyone starring at him. He smiled. "That was Kagome. She's back too and fell behind like us. She's coming over in an hour to study with us. Is that ok?"

"Of course!" Miharu smiled. "Kagome's probably smarter then any of us! Well, no offense or anything, but she is."

They laughed and got back to work. When Kagome arrived things livened up. It was a long and tiring night but they got in a lot of studying. The next day was the test and each of them took it with some difficulty. Afterwards, though, they all went out to celebrate it bring over and stopped by an ice cream place.