(Dance of the Dragon)

"When the ten Fangs of Ryuhogo reunite after thousands of years, the Dragon Guardian shall at last fulfill his destiny and rid this world of the Jewel that has caused so much suffering, and begin a new era for all."

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The sun was shining brightly over the lands of Musashi.

Miroku and Shippo were waiting by the well, and both lit up as they saw Tatsu and Kagome pop up with a large bag in hand "It seems that the two procured quite a bit of supplies for our next journey."

"Well what can I say?" Kagome gave a shrug "We don't get to go back as often as I'd like, and a girl has to keep the shopping gods appeased after all."

"So I take it you procured enough supplies to last us through our next journey?"

"Even if it's not, we've got three more bags waiting on the other side." Tatsu handed a can of soda to Miroku and a few pieces of candy to Shippo "This is just to tide you guys over for the next day or two. Speaking of which, where are Sango and Inuyasha?"

"They haven't returned from Sango's village yet."

"Seriously? It's been a full week, I figured Inuyasha would've dragged her back to the village by now."

"Well it's not that surprising." Kagome pointed out "Sango hasn't been in her village for a long time now, so she probably has a lot of stuff to do, besides repairing her Hiraikotsu."

"I get that, but I figured Inuyasha would've dragged her back by now. But then again, there is one other option to consider."

"And what's that?"

"Inuyasha is one thing, but chances are Sango isn't gonna want to come back, thanks to a certain perv who won't leave her alone."

"Excuse me?" Miroku was quick to get defensive "I'll have you know that I am guilty of no such thing."

"And I'll have you know that you're guilty of every such thing."

"Oh for crying out loud." Kagome let out a sigh "Sango and Inuyasha can handle themselves no problem, so I know I shouldn't be worried, but still…"

"Well in any case, this is sort of a blessing in disguise. First, I don't have to chain Inuyasha to the Sacred Tree again. Second, now we've got some more time back home until they get back."

"Something important happening in your world I take it?" asked Miroku.

"You could say that. It's something my brother's been working on for awhile, something to improve on one of the abilities I get from the Fangs. If this works, we could end up getting a huge advantage over Naraku."

"Really? Do tell."

"Can't right now, we just came to drop off some supplies. We'll let you know when we come back in a few days. Later." so with a simple wave to the group, Tatsu promptly dove back into the well, with Kagome following right behind him.

"This just became much more interesting."

"What do you think they're going to do?" asked Shippo.

"Hard to say. It could be Tatsu going after another one of his Fangs, it could be that he's working on a new technique. But in any case, if giving them a few more days in their world means that we can gain an advantage over Naraku, then it's an opportunity we can't afford to waste."

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Meanwhile, at the Demon Slayer village…

At the same time, Inuyasha was waiting by the gate of the village (or what was left of it), a bouquet of flowers in hand 'She's taking forever, we were supposed to be back by now.'

"Sorry about that, it took a little bit longer than I thought it would." this was when Sango made her way towards him, the newly restored Hiraikotsu in hand.

"You get it done?"

"It's not as good as my father's handiwork was when it comes to these things, but it's not bad if I do say so myself. I just need to take care of one last thing, and then we can head back to the village. Did you get the flowers from that garden like I asked you to?"

"I had to rip apart a badger demon to do it, but yeah." he handed her the bouquet "Just do what you have to do, I wanna be back at the village before nightfall."

"Of course." Sango gave him a small smile as she accepted the bouquet and got to work, laying down a few flowers on each of the graves before her "Dear father, my family and friends, we've finally come home at last, if only temporarily. I just hope you can forgive me for taking so long to bring back your remains. I did have some help with it as well." she glanced back at Inuyasha, only for him to let out his trademark "Feh" and turn away, which caused her to chuckle "Okay I'm done, we should go."

"Whatever." so the two of them grabbed their gear and respective weapons and left the village, walking in silence as they made their way along the path leading down the hillside.

The silence continued for a few moments, until Sango broke it "You know having to fix my Hiraikotsu myself brought back a few memories of my father." she was met with silence, but continued on regardless "There was one thing he said that always stuck with me, something I didn't really come to understand until recently. He said that he wanted more for me than to just continue the tradition of the Demon Slayers, that he wanted me to live a strong life. Only now do I think I really understand what it is he meant."

"And?"

"There isn't a true parent in the world that doesn't wish for the happiness of their child." that caused his head to snap up "My father didn't want me to just continue the tradition of the Demon Slayers, he was telling me to be strong inside. He wanted me to be happy. I think… No, I know that's what he really meant."

"...If that's what you want to think, I won't stop you." Inuyasha just glanced forward at the path ahead of them as the two of them climbed on top of Kirara, his own thoughts drifting 'Saying they want their kids to be strong means wanting them to be happy… Mother, you said something like that to me before you died… Is that what you meant?'

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The sun was beginning to set over the skies above.

Shippo leaned against the side of the well, sucking one of the candies he got earlier "It's kind of weird to think that Sango and Inuyasha still haven't come back."

"Yes, it is rather worrisome." Miroku suddenly popped up next to him "Tell me Shippo, would you mind if I asked you something?"

"Okay."

"You spend much of your time with Kagome when she's here, so you would likely understand this better than me. Do you believe that stroking the bottom of a woman could destroy the mutual trust between two people? Like if Tatsu were to do that to Kagome, would that damage the trust she has in him?"

"I did ask Kagome about that once, she said something about building trust by respecting the personal space between two people, and if you do grab their butts you need their, uh…"

"Consent?"

"That, yeah."

"Is that really how it is? Strange."

"Yeah their world seems pretty weird, but either way if Sango doesn't come back, it's you I'm gonna be pointing the finger at."

"She'll come back alright, I'm sure of it." and then he started pacing around the well in a way that seemed rather frantic.

'He sounds confident, but he sure doesn't look like it.'

"So for the sake of satisfying curiosity, even though I'll likely regret it, do you have any other flaws of mine you wish to mention?"

"You kidding, I've been waiting for this since the day I first met you." he pulled out a small piece of paper from within his clothes.

"You kept a list."

"With input from everyone else in the group. For starters, you're so much of a perv that it literally got your entire bloodline cursed by Naraku."

"That's not why-"

"That's the theory everyone came up with, and I'm sticking with it. You're a conman who feels no shame in scamming people, like the night Sesshomaru attacked."

"You had no objections to that."

"That was a bad call on my part. I thought it was gonna be a one and done thing because you were trying to impress everybody, I didn't think you were making a career out of it."

"I see. Any others?"

"Too many to count, but for now I'm gonna settle with the fact that you hit on anything and everything that has a heartbeat."

"Who ever gave you that idea?"

"I got it from Kagome and Tatsu."

"Well-"

"Plus Sango, Inuyasha, Kirara, Kaede…"

"Okay okay."

"The guy that comes by to give me new toys to use for my Fox Magic."

"Alright!"

"The point is that whenever you hit on women anywhere we go, at least half the time it ends with us gettin chased out of the village and having to spend the night in the woods, not to mention all of the others stuff it screws up."

"I believe you're exaggerating that last part."

"Do I really need to go through this again? Everyone we know in the village, people from the surrounding villages…"

"I understand the point."

"We can't show our faces in any of the villages throughout all of Musashi because of you!"

"Alright, but the worst thing doesn't happen anywhere near as much as you claim it does."

"That depends on what the hell you consider to be the worst thing."

Miroku and Shippo glanced over to see Inuyasha and Sango coming into view "Oh, you're both back. We were about to come and look for the two of you."

"We were?" Shippo glanced up at him, receiving a "Shut up and roll with it" sort of look that made him stay quiet.

"Yes, we were."

"Oh, I see." Sango made her way over towards Miroku, her face turning slightly pink "So you were worried about me?"

"Well call it a premonition if you will. I kept seeing your face Sango, no matter who I looked at and now matter how I tried to distract myself. Whatever the case may be, I simply couldn't get you out of my mind. It's the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth."

"Oh, I see." Sango's face turned red, but rather than embarrassment it quickly became anger as she felt a certain hand on her ass, which resulted in a loud slap "Thank you for your concern for my well being."

"No need to mention it." Miroku let out a chuckle as he rubbed the handprint on his cheek.

"Oh for crying out loud." Shippo breathed a sigh as he climbed onto Inuyasha's shoulder "When is he ever gonna learn? Please don't let me grow up to be like him."

"The world can only handle one of that lecher." Inuyasha noted dryly, and then he glanced over at the well "So where the hell are Tatsu and Kagome? I can smell them around here."

"Oh hey just came to drop off a few things, they said they're staying in their time for a few more days."

"Like hell they are!" Inuyasha prepared to jump into the well, only to stop when he glanced down at the bag sitting in front of him "You said they brought stuff?"

"Yep."

"There's food in that bag?"

"You can smell it better than me."

"...I'll see what's in the bag and go get them in the morning."

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Morning came, and the sun was rising over the skies above Feudal Japan.

Sota glanced over to see Kagome making her way to sit down at the breakfast table, and once glance was enough to make it clear that she was exhausted "Not enough sleep? I could hear you and Tatsu on the phone pretty late last night."

"Yeah well, he can get like that sometimes." Kagome let out a yawn "It feels kind of like old times actually, you know from before all of the craziness our lives had become."

"Before you got dragged into our family's magic well and ended up as the main characters of a real life Isekai?"

"...Yeah pretty much."

"Just checking. So there's that dance coming up at your school tonight, are you gonna ask him to go with you or what?"

"Wait what?" Kagome's head snapped up and her face turned red "Me and Tatsu, you mean like on an actual date?"

"He's loved you for years and it's pretty obvious that you love him, don't even bother trying to deny that. I know now's not the right time for you guys to have a full confession, but what's wrong with just going together as friends?"

"I guess you have a point, but even if I wanted to ask him to go with me, the deadline to get tickets was last week. There's no way I'll be able to get tickets now or-" she blanched when she saw two pieces of paper being placed in front of her "-or I'm going. Huh. These are tickets for the dance, but how did-"

"Yeah I know, I put in the request form with your name on it."

"But how did you-"

"I asked Arashi to get me a copy of it so I could send it in. I think all of us will agree that you need this. With all of the insanity and grief you and Tatsu have been put through lately, you guys both need to take a break and have some fun, at least for one night. You guys have done more than your fair share to earn it."

"Sota… you're a pretty good kid aren't you?"

"You can thank anime for that. Speaking of which, you said you were gonna skip out on breakfast this morning?"

"Not really skip out, just grab something to eat over at the dojo."

"He said something about Kazuma conducting some kind of test for him right?"

"Yeah I'm not sure what it's gonna do exactly, but he's my friend and we're fighting demons together a lot lately, so it's important to know each other's strengths and weaknesses."

"And you just want to be close to him."

"I will neither confirm nor deny." Kagome gave him a smile and made her way out of the house and across the shrine grounds, staring at the tickets in her hands 'A girl's choice dance… You know maybe Sota's right, maybe just one night of fun is what we need right now.'

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About a half hour later, at the dojo…

Kazuma was hard at work at a lab setup within one of the rooms of the dojo, equipment scattered throughout the place as he placed a harness on Tatsu's chest "I got so excited when this idea came to me."

"Yeah I know, it's pretty rare for you to come up with an idea that gets you hyped to the point where you lock yourself in a lab for almost a month." Tatsu pointed out "You haven't had one of those ideas in almost three years."

"Well call it a lack of inspiration, and being distracted by other things."

"Other things as in my sister?" Akira pointed out dryly.

"You said it, not me."

This was when Kagome rushed into the room, panting heavily and taking a moment to catch her breath "Sorry I'm late guys."

"Far from it, you're right on time. We're just about to get started, and if this works then Tatsu is gonna be able to blitz anywhere across the planet."

"I'm still kind of unsure about this." Tatsu told him "I told you before that the teleporting takes up a lot of energy, the further I go the more energy it uses, and I can only use it to go places I've been before."

"I know, but if this works then that's no longer going to be a problem."

"If this turns out to be successful, then this device is going to change that."

"Unfortunately it's gonna have to wait a moment." Akira glanced over at the doorway, with pretty much everyone else doing the same "We know it's you Inuyasha, come on in."

Sure enough, Inuyasha made his way into the room looking about as pisses as usual "Fuck, how the hell do you keep doing that?"

"I told you before, Tatsu isn't the only one who can sense Ki. So what brings you here?"

"What the hell do you think? These two are late so I came to bring them back." he gestured between Tatsu and Kagome "Come on let's get going, we've got work to do."

"Yeah well, we do here too." Tatsu told him flatly "Hate to break it to you but we can't leave yet, we've got something to do."

"Like what?"

"Accoridng to my brother, using something he created to push me past my limits."

"Let me explain." Kazuma was quick to elaborate "I have a theory I've been working on for awhile now. My thought is that whenever Tatsu teleports with his Dragon Warp technique, he's actually passing through another dimension. The device he's wearing now is going to slow him down while he's over there, and then we'll be able to gather information about it, and with that information we'll be able to improve on his teleporting."

"Which could be a huge help to us. Think about it Inuyasha, you know as well as I do that my teleporting has certain limits that has caused us our fair share of grief in the past." Tatsu glanced down at his torso, specifically where he still had the scar from Inuyasha's demon form, which caused both of them to cringe at the thought of it "But if my brother's plan works out then we can bypass those limitations, and that could give us a huge advantage over Naraku."

"Meaning what exactly?" Inuyasha just crossed his arms.

"Meaning that if I can get past the limits of my teleporting, I might be able to teleport us right into Naraku's castle and be on him before he even realizes it. Understand?"

"...Stop wasting time explaining it and just do it already."

"Good enough for me."

"Me too." Kazuma promptly finished strapping Tatsu's harness around his torso "So are you ready to do this?"

"About as ready as I'll ever be, so how long am I gonna be in there for?"

"We'll start with about 5 seconds, this chronometer will allow me to set your speed. Speaking of which, Kagome you mind strapping the breathing mask onto him?"

"Sure thing." Kagome was quick to strap the breathing mask over Tatsu's face "But what's the breathing mask for?"

"Some of the scans I've taken of his teleporting in the past indicates that the atmosphere in that dimension might be toxic. The Fangs may or may not protect him from that, but it's still not something I think is worth risking. So how about it little brother, are you ready for this?"

"About as ready as I'll ever be." Tatsu gave a shrug as the breathig mask was secured onto his face.

"Good. Let's start with something small, try the main plaza of the Higurashi shrine. That's not too far away, so it's a good starting point. When you get there, give us an update on that headpiece attached to your breathing mask."

"Got it. I'm ready."

"Okay, let's go." so Kazuma flipped a switch on the lab setup, followed by Tatsu disappearing in a flash.

"You really think this is going to work?" asked Kagome.

"I think I spent the last three weeks working on this, so it's at least worth trying out."

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Meanwhile, in the middle of teleporting…

Once the flash died out, Tatsu looked around in awe at his surroundings, as he found himself floating in mid-air 'Okay, let's see here… Looks like some kind of volcano realm, lots of molten rock and stalagmites, not to mention the river of lava. Shit, with all of the volcanic properties around here, it looks like Kazuma made the right call with the breathing mask.' a low growling noise attracted his attention, but he flashed out of the scene before anything else.

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Now in the aftermath of the teleporting…

With a flash of white, Tatsu appeared in the middle of the Higurashi shrine grounds, just in time to see Grandpa Higurashi there sweeping the grounds "Uh… hey."

"Working on a new ability?" Grandpa Higurashi guessed with a raised eyebrow.

"Well you're half right, it's actually one of Kazuma's new inventions meant to improve on an ability I already have, and holy crap it worked. Anyway I'd better get going, I've gotta report back to them." and so he disappeared in another flash.

"Hm, I suppose breakfast is ready now." and so Grandpa Higurashi promptly made his way inside, not noticing a rift flickering where Tatsu had appeared.

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About a half hour went by, and school was well underway.

Before class started, Tatsu met with Arashi and Raidou on the roof, discussing the experiment and what he had seen in the other dimension "It's kind of hard to explain, like it was seing a 3-D movie without the glasses, or just the insanity that my life has become. The fire and brimstone, the river of laval, and even the red skies to make it even creepier."

"Doesn't sound like anywhere you'd wanna stick around in for too long." Arashi noted.

"No it sure as hell isn't, but I can't wait to go back there."

"I hope this testing works out." Raidou told him "The more improvements you can make to your abilities, the better for all of us."

"No doubt about that, and my brother was really excited about it too. You guys should've been there to see the look on his face."

"Unfortunately I couldn't, I had some business to attend to since my uncle has been out of the country."

"No worries, I get it."

"He's not the only one who's got stuff to deal with." Arashi grumbled.

"Why, what's happening on your end?"

"In a few words, my grandmother." this caused both of them to shudder.

"Oh god, you mean she's coming to visit?"

"Yep, my mom is driving her down here as we speak. She doesn't come home too often unless it's something really important, like this. Bottom line she put me on lockdown, school and home and nothing else."

"Yeah you'd better follow through on that, I still have nightmares from the last time we pissed off your mom."

"You and me both. So going for a change of topic, what are you going to do about the dance tonight?"

"There's nothing to do, it's a girl's choice dance and I doubt Kagome would ask me."

"Hey don't doubt the master of the culinary arts, I can sense these things, and I'm not just talking about my gaydar either."

"I'm pretty sure that's not what gaydar is." Raidou pointed out dryly.

"Hey my people get to discern what gaydar is."

"...Come again? You mean you're-"

"Gay? Yep."

"Oh. Huh. I was not expecting that. Not that it's a problem or anything, you just kind of caught me off guard and-"

"I know I know, it usually takes people by surprise. But in any case, let's stick to the actual topic of our conversation."

"You seriously think Kagome is gonna ask me to the dance?" Tatsu rolled his eyes "Come on man, we talked about this. I just don't think now is the right time to start a relationship, at least not before I find all five of the Fangs."

"Which means what then?" Raidou shot a raised eyebrow at him "You're saying that if she asks then you're gonna say no?"

"I never said that, and whether I would say yes or not doesn't matter because she's not going to ask me. Anyway that's enough about my lack of a lovelife, what about you? I've noticed more than a few girls eyeing you in the halls and in class lately. Do tell."

"There's nothing to tell."

"Whatever you need to tell yourself."

"I'm serious, cut it out."

"Hey guys." this was when Kagome showed up and gave them her signature smile "Hey sorry to interrupt, but you mind if I borrow Tatsu for a minute?"

"Go ahead, I'm sick of this conversation anyway." and so Raidou promptly made his way to the other side of the room, dragging Arashi with him.

"So you told them about Kazuma's experiment with the teleporting?"

"Yep." Tatsu gave a shrug "Raidou seemed pretty interested in it, and Arashi did too. If only he wasn't stuck at home because his grandmother is coming to visit."

"Oh." Kagome cringed at the thought "Well that's…"

"You want to say he's screwed but you're too nice to say it."

"You said it, not me. So what's up?"

"Well there was something I've been meaning to ask you. I was talking with Sota earlier this morning, and it turns out he got me two tickets to the dance."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, he said that we could use a night without any insanity, and now that I think about he's right. So would you maybe want to go together, just for fun?"

"...Oh shit, Arashi is never gonna let me hear the end of this."

"What?"

"Nothing, just musing about the ridiculous accuracy of his gaydar. But anyway yeah, it sounds like fun and a night without demons or insanity does sound nice. I have to run another test with my brother over the whole teleportation thing, but I'll pick you up afterwards, does that sound good?"

"Yeah, that sounds great. So what's everyone else doing?"

"Well Kazuma is working on the stuff he needs for the experiment, and Inuyasha is being kept occupied at the dojo by Akira. Turns out they've been bonding over ramen and beating the crap out of each other in swordfighting."

"Huh. Go figure."

"My thoughts exactly."

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Meanwhile, at the dojo…

At the same time, Akira stood in one of the rooms of the dojo, two cups of ramen in hand as he glanced over to see Inuyasha brooding in the corner "Well this is new, I enter a room with ramen and you're still brooding." he then looked down to find one of the ramen cups missing, and then looked up again to see Inuyasha slurping down the missing cup "And just like that, all is right with the world again."

"Pipe down and let me eat." Inuyasha let out a snarl, then went back to slurping, and he let out a sigh once he was done.

"Alright start talking, what's the matter? You're in a worse mood than usual if not even ramen can cheer you up."

"It's such a fucking pain, I don't know what the big deal is with this school stuff. It'd be so much easier if they could just stay in my world so we could keep hunting down Naraku and the shards of the jewel."

"...Okay, judging by that answer you pulled out of your ass, I think I know what your actual problem is. It's something I'm worried is gonna happen to Tatsu at some point. You let yourself get overtired."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"I've seen it happen to a lot of people over the years, and it's happened to me too more than a few times. Spending so much time travelling across the country, and spending a good chunk of that fighting for so long and so hard, it can wear a person out."

"I'm not like every other person, I'm half-demon remember? Besides, hunting down Naraku and the jewel shards is too important to waste time screwing around."

"First of all, even if you are half-demon you're still half-human too, and you need to rest every now and then. Second of all, no matter how important a task is, you're not gonna be of use to anyone if you end up burning yourself out."

Inuyasha let out his typical "feh" and looked away.

"Besides, you and Tatsu are a lot more similar to each other than you realize. There's one big thing the two of you have in common."

"Are you gonna give me some big speech about how we both have hearts of gold or some crap like that?"

"Of course not, we all know it's true so that would be redundant. What I was going to say is that both you and Tatsu are high strung as hell, neither of you know how to relax. I know your life in the past has been hell, faced with prejudice from both humans and demons alike, neither of them will accept you, but now you're among people where that doesn't matter. Now you can take the time to stop and smell the roses, enjoy the little things around you. If you do you'll be able to see things you could never see before, and hear things you were never able to hear. Life can turn out to be a lot of fun, all you have to do is stop and give it a chance."

Inuyasha's gaze lost some of its hardness, but only to a certain extent "So I'm supposed to just go around like some giant ball of sunshine?"

"Of course not, nobody is that happy and cheerful in real life. Except maybe Kagome. My point is, you should just stop and enjoy the little things around you. It can be anything really, even something as simple as sharing a meal with a friend."

'...Shit, I hate it when wise jackasses like that make sense. Alright alright, maybe you've got a few points. Maybe."

"I can live with that. So in the meantime, are you up for some sparring?"

"Unfortunately, that's gonna have to wait." this was when Kazuma made his way into the room "I found a few things I think the two you should take a look at."

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A few hours had gone by, and now it was time for a lunchbreak.

Arashi burst out laughing when he listened to Tatsu's little story "Oh there's gonna be a cold day in hell before I let you live this down."

"Yeah, I figured that much." Tatsu noted dryly, then he let out a sigh "Still though, I never even considered the thought of her asking me to one of these things. What do I wear? Is this thing meant to be formal or semiformal?"

"Go with semiformal, collared shirt but no tie or blazer. You don't want her to be freaked out or anything like that, and sure as hell no gloves or anything."

"You're as reliable for this as ever."

"What can I say, gaydar is as effective as ever when it comes to stuff like this."

"And thank god for it."

"You know you're not using that term correctly." Raidou pointed out dryly.

"That's the thing about it, we don't care. Seriously though what about you, you get asked to the dance yet?"

"Not since the last time you asked me about three hours ago. I don't even plan on going to the dance if I'm being completely honest."

"Hey come on man, don't be like that. There's still an army of rabid fangirls inside dying to ask you to go with them."

"And that's supposed to make me want to go more?"

"Whatever, you get my point."

"And you get mine. Putting aside the dance itself, a real relationship is the last thing I need or want right now."

"Uh-huh."

"I'm serious. Between taking care of my uncle's business and conducting research on the last two Fangs, I don't have time to pursue a relationship or anything like that. The work that I do is too important to allow any sort of distractions. If you want to put your focus on something like that then I say more power to you, but I know where my priorities lie."

"...Okay you know what, I need to be honest with you about something. You mind?"

"If you have to then go ahead."

"I've been watching you for a few months now, and as grateful as I am to have you helping me with the Fangs and having you as a friend, there's one glaring thing I've noticed."

"Go on."

"From what it seems to me, it looks like you're feeling bored with life. You have such a huge and important task driving you on that requires so much focus, that it becomes so anticlimactic after awhile, whether you notice it or not that it leads to you feeling depressed and despondent, and so to try and distract yourself from those feelings by burying yourself in the task in question."

"The Fangs of Ryuhogo aren't just some pet project to take up my time, they literally have the power to change the world and we can't afford to let anyone or anything get in the way. There are more important things in life than just getting a girlfriend or worrying about a dance or anything superficial like that."

"Yeah I get it, but even so you're not happy, and you know why? It's because your mind isn't in the right place. You focus so much on trying to find the Fangs and use them to change the world as we know it, that you forget how to let yourself be truly happy. There were a few times where I was the same way growing up. Back when I was in the early stages of training with Akira, I was dealing with a lot of stuff. Between trying to focus on my training, my feelings for Kagome, and the fact that I had never really come to terms with my dad dying, it was really taking its toll on me. It wasn't until my brother posed a sort of intervention that I got ahold of myself. I know damn well that having an important goal to strive towards isn't all glamorous and it takes a lot of work, because if you're not careful then it can end up consuming you, and I've almost had that happen to me a few times. I'm just trying to get both sides of this argument."

"I get the idea."

"I think I do."

"Take a look up above us, what do you see up there?"

"You mean the sun?"

"Exactly, so what do you think of it?"

"It's pretty I guess, but I'm not exactly one who wastes my time staring at the sun all day."

"And that right there is exactly the problem I'm talking about. You're letting yourself get so consumed by everything with the Fangs that you're completely missing out on the little things in your life."

"If you're trying to get a point across, then just say it."

"I'm just trying to emphasize the fact that if you don't stop and look around in life, you're not going to get anything out of it. You're only focused on one thing, and it ends up doing more harm than good."

'...Huh. You know I never actually thought about that.'

"This dance is supposed to be a time for students and friends to have some fun, and overall it's a chance to have some fun and make the most of this time. If I were you then I'd go ahead and try to take advantage of it. I'll see you later man." and so Tatsu promptly walked away from the scene, with Arashi following after him.

Now Raidou was left alone with his thoughts, his mind drifting 'If you don't stop and look around in life, you don't get anything out of it. Huh. Maybe it's worth keeping in mind.'

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Meanwhile, at the dojo…

By this point, Inuyasha and Akira had both been summoned by Kazuma to help him look through the information they had recovered during the initial experiment "So what the hell are we doing right now?"

"At the moment, we're looking through the information Tatsu's harness gathered during his trip to the other dimension." Kazuma told him "From what I can tell there's some pretty nasty stuff present in that atmosphere, and some of these readings are even indicating that there's a presence of organic molecules."

"...What?"

"It means that there's something else in that dimension, something that's alive. I find it kind of hard to believe that anything would be able to survive in conditions like those."

"I probably would."

"Not the point."

"Here's the point, I think I just found your organic molecules." Akira paused the footage on the screen, revealing a silhouette with teeth and claws "Great, it's like we're dealing something right out of the shadow realm."

"We're definitely going to need more information on this. If there are other creatures like this in that dimension, then they might pose a danger to Tatsu."

"It's not like he can't rip apart something like that." Inuyasha pointed out "Tatsu can take care of himself no problem."

"I know that, but if he's teleporting with other people then there's a chance of them getting hurt as well. In any case, I don't think he should teleport alone next time." Kazuma then turned to look at Inuyasha "I hate to ask, but would you mind going with him next time? Putting aside the magic dragon fangs, I care about my little brother's safety more than anything else."

"...I'm expecting more ramen for this."

"Deal."

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Another few hours had gone by, and the school day had just come to an end.

Raidou stood up from his desk, packing his things as he watched the other students make their way out of the room, his mind drifting as he did so 'Maybe Tatsu does have a point. Even if I do have my destiny with the Fangs to focus on, maybe it doesn't have to be my only focus.'

"Excuse me, Raidou?" this was when a girl unexpectedly came up to him, with deep brown eyes and wave shoulder-length black hair "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure, talk away. Right this is one of Higurashi's friends, or as Tatsu had described her, the only one that won't get all up in your business and try to convince you that every decision you make is wrong because they don't like it. I think her name is… Akane? Amaya? Ayame? Dammit, what was it?'

"So have any of the other girls asked you to the dance yet?"

"Not as of yet, but if what Tatsu has told me there are plenty lined up, and he claims that I should be terrified of all of them."

"Oh, I see." Ayumi found herself blushing as she glanced up at him "So if you wanted, would you be willing to go with me?"

'...If this goes south, Tatsu will pay for this. Alright fine why not, it might be worthwhile."

"I understand if you don't- You will?" Ayumi lit up when she heard this "Great, so I guess I'll call you latter then."

"Don't you need my number?"

"No, Tatsu gave it to Kagome and she gave it to me. Bye!" she gave a bright smile and waved at him as she walked away.

'...Ayumi, that was her name.'

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Another half hour went by, and the sun was starting to set.

By this point, Tatsu had returned to the dojo and was quickly informed of what had been found from his first experiment that morning "So to sum up, I might end up encountering some kind of lizard creatures like something out of the Shadow Realm?"

"Well one thing is for sure, this does raise some new concerns." Kazuma noted "We can't say for sure if these creatures are hostile or not, so we'll need to run a few more tests."

"Which means that you want me to go back in there, but are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Before you start freaking out just stop and think about it, you've been teleporting numerous times now and nothing has happened yet. The only reason we saw this thing now was because my invention slowed you down."

"I guess, but how do we know they won't be able to follow me back here. I don't know if this is worth it if it means putting you guys in danger."

"It doesn't matter if they do or not, if they do we can just kill them." Inuyasha let out a loud snort that attracted the attention of the others "Besides, these two idiots are giving me ramen to make me go with you, so let's do this already."

"I suddenly feel much less secure about this."

"Shut up, there's ramen on the line."

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About 10 minutes later…

It didn't take that long for Kazuma and Akira to hook up Tatsu and Inuyasha in the harness, protective gear and breathing masks "I'm going to slow you guys down a little bit more this time so we can get more footage of your time in that dimension, only about 30 seconds or so."

"Alright if I have to, just not too much." Tatsu told him.

"I know, but if you do find any of them in there then be sure to keep eye out so you can aim the cameras at them, and the chains you made with your Fangs will keep you and Inuyasha from being separated."

"Made it with my own draconic metal, it has the properties of iron but it's reinforced to be stronger than steel."

"Works for me, so you guys are going to the auditorium at your school this time?"

"Oh yeah, I figured I could check out the decorations for the dance."

"Okay then, activating in 5 seconds." Kazuma flipped the switch.

"You head the man, let's do this." Tatsu gripped Inuyasha by the shoulder, and the two of them disappeared in a white flash.

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In the other dimension…

With a white flash, Tatsu and Inuyasha appeared in the other dimension, floating in mid-air down the river of lava once again "Well here we are, pretty intense isn't it?"

"It smells like fucking smoke all over the place." Inuyasha grumbled.

"Why exactly do you have a breathing mask? You're half demon, does it even do anything for you?"

"I said the same thing, but your brother said he wasn't taking any risks."

"We're in another dimension floating down a river of lava, I think it's safe to say we're way past taking risks- Shit, there they are!" the two of them snapped their attention towards where a number of the lizard creatures were running through the river of lava, and then a few of them were waiting to try and pounce at them from atop a nearby plateau "You see them?"

"I've got them!" Inuyasha quickly drew Tessaiga from its sheath and ripped through both of the creatures above them, only for one of them to pounce and bite down on the chain connecting the two of them, dragging them down onto a rock hanging over the river of lava "Shit!"

"I've got this one! Iron Gauntlet!" Tatsu covered one of his arms in metal scales and slammed it down on the creature, causing it to evaporate "Looks like these things can't take that much damage, which works to our advantage."

"Yeah well we've got more of them coming. Blades of Blood!" Inuyasha dug his claws into his shoulder and fired a barrage of blood blades at the creatures, causing all of them to evaporate as they were struck "Keep moving, get to higher ground!"

"Not really an option, we've got more of them coming! Iron Spear Storm!" Tatsu turned to aim at the group of creatures looming over them from a higher plateau and fired a barrage of iron spears from the fingertips of one hand, the recoil sending him crashing into Inuyasha, but then the two of them disappeared in a white flash.

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Now for the aftermath of the teleportation…

With another white flash, Tatsu and Inuyasha both faceplanted in the school auditorium, glancing down at the blood of the creatures that stained their clothes "Well I'd say they were pretty hostile towards us, what about you?"

"You've seen the world I live in, there's almost nothing that doesn't try to kill you." Inuyasha pointed out dryly as he pulled the mask off his face.

"Well in any case, I think it's safe to say that we've both had enough of that for a good long while. Come on, let's get the hell out of here and head back to the dojo, maybe pick up some ramen on the way."

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About 20 minutes later, at the dojo…

"Hold on a second, what?" Akira shot a look at Inuyasha like he was insane "You only agree to go in there after being bribed with food, then you guys nearly get mauled by those things, and now you want Tatsu to go back in there?"

"I don't get how all of this stuff works, but if we can get the jump on Naraku then we have to make the most of it." Inuyasha told him flatly "Tatsu would say the exact same thing."

"No he wouldn't, because he knows that self preservation exists for a reason, to make people think before they do something insane and reckless that could get them killed."

"People die every day in my world, you idiots are way too soft to-"

"That's enough, both of you give it a rest." Kazuma shut both of them up as he shut down the machinery being used in the experiment "No matter how much of a benefit this might give you, I'm not going to force this issue. I did tell you before, as much as I want to do what I can to help you, making sure that my little brother is safe comes before all else."

"...Fine, whatever." Inuyasha let out a "feh" and looked away.

"I did tell you about this beforehand."

"He did, he always does." this was when Tatsu made his way back into the room, now clad in a pair of dark blue jeans and a blue collared shirt that showed off the muscles he had gained from his years of training "So what do you think?"

"You look like a teenage girl's wet dream." Akira told him dryly.

"I choose to take that as a compliment. I've gotta admit though, this whole thing makes me think that maybe I should lay off the teleporting for a little while."

"Well keep in mind Tatsu, I highly doubt that these creatures are any real danger to you when you teleport normally." Kazuma pointed out "When you go through that dimension you're too fast for them to even notice your presence, and even if they do you're gone before they can act on it."

"Yeah I know, but just to be safe."

"You want to err on the side of caution. I'm sorry about this, I was trying to help."

"Yeah I know, your heart was in the right place."

"The technology however, you can't say the same for that."

"Here's a thought for you guys then." Inuaysha looked up from his brooding "Are you sure those things aren't gonna be able to follow him back here?"

"I wouldn't worry about that just yet, the only possible chance of that happening would be if the dimensional gateways Tatsu opens during his teleporting didn't close behind him all the way."

"And is that gonna happen?"

"I'd say the odds of that are pretty slim, or else it probably would've happened by now."

"Well in any case, let's just hope that it never does happen." Tatsu removed the Fangs from around his neck and handed them to Akira "You mind holding onto these?"

"You're seriously giving them up?" Akira shot him a raised eyebrow.

"Only for the night, I can't rely on them to solve every problem that comes my way. Besides, we need one night where nothing batshit insane happens, so we're gonna make tonight something to unwind a little and then we'll head back out in the next day or two."

"Yeah yeah." Inuyasha just leaned back against the wall "Two days at most, no excuses or distractions."

"Good enough for me. I'll see you guys in a few hours." and with a simple wave, Tatsu made his way out of the dojo.

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About 10 minutes later, at the Higurashi shrine…

'This is definitely not what I was expecting to happen.' Tatsu made his way up the stairs leading to the Higurashi shrine, and then across the grounds to the household, his mind racing with every step he took 'I was so damn sure that she would never ask me, but now… I mean I said that I wanted to wait until we found all of the Fangs, but when an opportunity presents itself…'

"Oh Tatsu, you're here." the door suddenly slid open to reveal Mrs Higurashi standing before him, and she quickly ushered him inside before he could protest "I can't tell how excited all of us are about you and Kagome."

"You are?"

"Not too excited though my boy." Grandpa Higurashi popped up next to Tatsu "I think it's time we had a serious talk, grandfather to… you."

"It is?"

"We want Kagome to be happy."

"We do."

"I'm glad you understand, it's my responsibility to ensure that my granddaughter is happy and safe to the best of my ability. Because if she isn't, then you'll feel my wrath." he held up a series of sutras in one hand.

"Yeah, I'm getting that idea, and it's not just because I know the Fangs make me vulnerable to spiritual powers. Lucky for me I didn't bring them tonight."

"Sorry to keep you waiting." this was when Kagome made her way down the stairs, drawing all eyes to her. Her tanned skin was shining as if the sun was shining down on her, her eyes sparkling with life and pure joy, and her beautiful raven locks were cascading down her back until they reached the middle of her back. Her new attire consisted of a tight sleeveless black dress that reached down to the middle of her thighs and hugging every last one of her curves. A pair of black stiletto heels adjourned her feet, which increased her height by around 2 inches, but she still wasn't beating him in height. Once she stopped in front of Tatsu, she gave him her trademark smile "I like the look, I think it works for you."

"You think so?" Tatsu quickly snapped himself out of it and studied her for a few seconds 'She looks like an angel. So we should probably get going."

"Yeah right, we've only got the one night and we wanna make the most of it." her smile grew a little bit wider as she latched onto Tatsu by the arm and started dragging him away "So how did the experiment go with Kazuma?"

"To be completely honest, it could've gone better. We thought it was gonna be a shortcut we could use to get to Naraku, but it turned out to be more of a dead end. There were too many risks involved that weren't worth taking."

"Oh man, sorry to hear that."

"So was Inuyasha, but he was more pissed than sorry. But in more positive news, Raidou texted me a little while ago and apparently one of your friends asked him to the dance."

"You mean Ayumi? Yeah she texted me about that, I think Raidou is supposed to pick her up any minute now. That may be a problem for him."

"How so?"

"You haven't seen Ayumi's dad before, the guy is as big as he is intimidating."

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Meanwhile, with the other wielder of the Fangs…

'How do I let myself get stuck in these situations?' Raidou found himself musing as he made his way up to a certain house and knocked on the door, clad in a white collared shirt, a pair of gray pants, a gray blazer and a blue tie 'Seriously, ever since I met up with Tatsu and his group to search for the other Fangs, they've been getting me roped into one ridiculous situation after another. I can't help but wonder, what would she think of me if she saw me right now?' it was then that he heard the door open and he looked up to see a tall, muscular man in a suit and tie himself, with a thick gray moustache and eyes hardening before him "I'm gonna go out on a whim and assume you're the father?"

"Good assumption." the man set his glare directly on Raidou "If you hurt my little girl, you and I are going to have a violent talk."

'Yep, it's gonna be one of those days.'

"Come on papa, you don't need to scare him." this was when Ayumi made her way out of the doorway, clad in a strapless navy blue dress and a pair of elegant black heels, and she turned towards Raidou and gave a gentle smile "We should go or we're gonna be late."

"Right. Okay she's pretty cute, so maybe this won't be so bad.'

"Have a wonderful evening baby." the angry father then levelled his angry gaze on Raidou once more "I know where you live."

"Then you also I know I sleep with both eyes open." Raidou didn't even flinch at the man's gaze, and then he promptly took Ayumi by the hand and left.

'He didn't even flinch. What has that boy gone through?'

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Soon enough all parties had arrived, and the dance was underway. And nowthe slow dance had started.

Raidou was currently engaged in dancing with Ayumi, gently holding her close when the slow dance started playing "Tatsu and the others will probably never let me hear the end of this, but this actually isn't that bad."

"You say that like this is something new to you." Ayumi leaned in a little bit closer "Are you saying that you've never been to an actual dance or party before?"

"Not necessarily, I attend benefits on business all the time."

"But that's just it, those are on business. They're more like a job or chore. This is just something you're doing for fun. If you don't stop and look around in life, you won't be able to get anything out of it."

"Yeah, Tatsu gave me that whole speech at lunch today."

"I know, I kind of overheard you. I'm glad you agreed to come with me."

"It's… not as bad as I thought it would be."

"You shouldn't be afraid to try something new or out of your comfort zone. If you're willing to take the chance, you just might end up getting surprised by how much you enjoy it."

"So I've been told four times this week alone."

"I know that feeling pretty well." Ayumi glanced up at him "Listen Raidou, there's one thing that I have to confess."

"Your father wants my head on a pike?"

"You already knew that, so no. The truth is… I know about you, that you can do certain things that other people can't."

"It's not that hard to figure out. I've spent most of my childhood travelling all over the world for the sake of business, I've trained in 12 different forms of martial arts and studied dozens of different cultures."

"I know, but not that. I think you know what I mean."

"I'm… not sure I do."

"I mean the incredible things you can do that you hide from everyone else. Every since I saw these abilities for myself, I haven't been able to stop thinking about you."

"I'm serious, I really don't know what you're talking about. I'm what you see and what you know already, that's all there is to it."

"It's okay Raidou, you don't have to try and defend yourself or hide it. I won't force it. I can wait to see it for myself, at least until you're ready." she leaned in to nuzzle his chest as the slow song continued.

'Is she talking about… No, she couldn't know about them…' Raidou glanced down at the Fangs hanging on the necklace he wore, tucked underneath his shirt 'What in the fuck have I gotten myself into?'

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Meanwhile, at the dojo…

"Well this was three weeks of my life I'm not getting back." Kazuma let out a sigh as he carried on with boxing up the equipment he was using "I didn't mean for this to be such a failure."

"Well think of it this way." Akira packed away another box in the corner "There's no such thing as failure until you give up."

"Not in the mood for any wisdom from Ninja Turtles right now." he let out a sigh "Besides, I think it's a pretty reasonable time to call it quits after your little brother and his half-demon friend almost get mauled by a pack of lizard creatures from another dimension."

"As if those fucking lizards could hurt me." this was when Inuyasha made his way into the room, a stack of empty bowls in hand.

"Whatever the case, I'm calling this a failure. Sorry for wasting your time like this."

"Forget it, you were trying to help. Besides, nobody said getting the jump on Naraku was gonna be easy."

"You're being a lot more understanding about this than I thought you'd be. I guess 15 bowls of ramen will do that to a guy. In any case, I just hope this whole ordeal hasn't caused permanent damage to Tatsu's abilities." he received no response "You still listening?"

"What the hell is this?" Inuyasha made his way to the center of the room, towards a red-colored rift appearing before the group, from which a lizard creature emerged and started snarling at all of them.

"Is that what I think it is?"

"Whatever it is, give me a few seconds and it'll be dead." to that end, Inuyasha brought down the Tessaiga on the lizard creature, causing it to evaporate into nothing.

"That's one of the creatures from the other dimension."

"I thought you said those things couldn't follow us back here."

"I said the chances of that were low, but it's still a chance. In the meantime, let's focus on the actual problem we have right now. This is where Tatsu left and came back when he was using his teleportation for the experiment, and it's where he reappeared. If one of those creatures was able to come out here, there's a chance it's going to do so at the other places he visited."

"So more than one of those things came through?"

"More than likely at this rate."

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Meanwhile, at the dance…

"Note to self, never do anything that stupid again." Tatsu let out a groan as he leaned back against a wall, his arm hanging limp at its side "Try and crack the whip you said, it'll be fun you said, you won't hurt yourself you said."

"Alright alright, it seemed like a good idea at the time." Kagome let out a sigh as she formed a series of hand seals and gently placing her hand down on his dislocated arm, letting her healing energy flow into it, allowing it to move properly again after a few minutes "There, you're good to go now."

"Thanks, the Healing Hand is a godesend."

"Thank my grandpa for teaching it to me. Speaking of which, you think I should talk to him about learning how to use my powers better?"

"I doubt it would hurt, if he says yes then you learn to control your powers better and that works out for all of us. If he says no, then that's the worst that can come of it."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." then her head suddenly snapped up "Speaking of the worst that can come of something, what's that?" she directed his attention to where one of the lizard creatures was walking towards them with its claws barred "No seriously, what the heck is that?"

"That's one of the things that tried to kill me and Inuyasha a few hours ago. They're strong and fast, and they bite, both figuratively and literally."

"So how do we stop them?"

"While Inuyasha and I did amost get ripped to shreds, we did learn one important thing about these lizards from hell." he quickly leapt forward and dealt the creature a spin kick to the jaw, causing it to evaporate "They're about as durable to physical damage as wet paper."

"That's definitely good to know. Now if only I brought my sword." she was met with him holding out a sword to her "Is that one of yours?"

"No it's just an extra that Akira had lying around, I know we said a night free of insanity but I just brought it for the sake of piece of mind. Anyway let's get moving, if one of those things showed up then chances are the others did."

"Right." and so the two of them bolted back towards the auditorium.

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Meanwhile, at the auditorium…

'Okay, let's analyze the situation…' still in the middle of slow dancing, Raidou glanced around the auditorium somewhat frantically, his mind racing 'So there's a small chance that she knows that I have the Fangs and that I'm Guardian, and probably more. Maybe if I can aim just right, I can hit the fire alarm and set off the sprinklers, then use the cover to bolt without anyone being able to notice.' he was about to try and follow through with this plan, only for a rift to suddenly open up next to him 'Or wait for some kind of interdimensional rift to open.'

"What is that?" Ayumi glanced up at him "Is that-"

"No idea, but I can already tell this is probably going to be bad." this was followed by three of the lizard creatures emerging from the rift, which caused most of those present running away screaming in terror "I rest my case." he motioned for Ayumi to get behind him and dealt one of them a quick fist to the jaw, causing it to evaporate, and then he proceeded to do the same to the other two, only for several more to emerge from the rift immediately after "I imagined this going differently."

"Story of my life." this was when Tatsu and Kagome rushed onto the scene, with the latter cutting down one of them with her sword, causing it to evaporate "They've got claws and fangs but they can't take a hit, one blow is enough to make them disappear."

"Yeah, I'm starting to figure that out. You guys got this?"

"We got this." so Tatsu and Kagome shared a look and two simultaneous nods, and then they split up and started attacking the creatures, one with a sword and one with regular martial arts.

"Leave it to him to show up when there's a fight." Raidou glanced over to see several more lizard creatures appearing from within the rift 'Dammit, at this rate they're gonna keep coming out faster than they can be destroyed.'

"This looks bad, we have to get out of here." Ayumi latched onto Raidou's arm.

"And you're looking at me like I have the answer to that problem?"

"You can make us disappear, I've seen you do it before. Please!"

"...Tatsu's gonna pay for this." so with a sigh, Raidou clutched Ayumi close to his chest, and the two of them disappeared in a white flash.

This white flash didn't go unnoticed by Tatsu, even while he was in the middle of kicking a lizard creature in the face 'Okay, that's something we'll have to talk about later.'

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Meanwhile, with the other two…

With a flash, Raidou and Ayumi materialized in one of the hallways, and he glanced over to see her kneeling on the ground in apparent pain "Are you okay?"

"Yes I'm fine, it's just…" Ayumi let out a groan as she clutched her stomach "I felt myself cramping up a bit down there."

"That takes some getting used to. I think it's safe to say that both of us have some questions we want answers to, but for the time being my focus is getting you out of here. Let's go." he grabbed her by the hand and led her down the hallways.

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Meanwhile, with the main power couple…

"That's another one!" with a single stroke, Kagome cut down yet another lizard creature, causing it to evaporate "There's no end to these things."

"They've got strength in numbers, but that's about it." Tatsu dealt one of the creatures an elbow to the jaw, causing it to evaporate as well "Seriously though, the one time I don't have my Fangs with me something has to happen. Now I feel like a jackass."

"Don't let yourself feel bad, you couldn't have known."

"Maybe not, but from here on out I think I'm gonna live by that old saying. Better to have and not need than to need and not have."

"Probably for the best." she cut down another lizard creature, only to see another one pounce at her, right before a surge of energy caused it to disappear "What just happened?"

"He just happened."

"And a good thing I did too." as it turns out, Kazuma was standing before the two of them with a canister in his hand, the tip of it surging with energy "You guys okay?"

"All things considered, yeah I think we've been a lot worse. So what's that supposed to be?"

"In short it's a dimensional rift sealer, the description for it is in the name. That should take care of it in here, I have Akira scouting the rest of the school for any you might have missed."

"So those things open wherever I teleported when I had that harness on? Dammit, that means that there's one open at the shrine."

"Don't worry, I sent Inuyasha to take care of that and I gave him another rift sealer."

"You think he'll know how to make it work."

"I explained it enough times to annoy him enough to slap me." he gestured to the red handprint on his face.

"Good enough for me." Tatsu glanced down at his phone "Raidou just texted me, he says that he got Ayumi out safely."

"Good, we can't let anyone get hurt because of these things."

"So how did those things get here in the first place?" asked Kagome.

"I'm sorry to say that one's my fault. The harness I was having Tatsu wear during the experiment stopped the gateways he opened with his teleportation from closing properly. When one of the creatures showed up in the dojo, I knew that they would probably end up here too. Good thing it's taken care of."

"But you said one of those portals opened at the shrine, that means my family-"

"Easy, I told you before that Inuyasha's taken care of."

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Meanwhile, with a certain other couple…

At the same time, Raidou and Ayumi had relocated to a nearby rooftop overlooking the city "I like to come here to clear my head, and the view isn't bad either."

"The view is breathtaking." Ayumi looked on in awe, but then she glanced down in the direction of the school "Are you sure it's okay for us to be up here?"

"Tatsu and his group have it under control, they would never let those things get out of control or hurt anyone."

"You have faith in them."

"It's mostly based on experience." he then glanced over at her "So what about you, how long have you known?"

"It was a few weeks ago, the day of that fire that broke out at school. I had already kind of had a crush on you back then, but I don'd think you even knew who I was."

"To be honest, I didn't even know your name until today."

"I kind of noticed. Me and my friends were trapped in one of the classrooms, and the windows had been blocked off. I thought for sure that we were going to die, but then… Then I saw a figure in a kimono and samurai helmet with those Fangs around his neck burst through the wreckage and use these incredible poewrs to save us. You caught me in your arms as a piece of burning debris hurtled towards me, and then… I saw your eyes beneath the helmet. I couldn't believe it at first, I thought it was just a trick or a coincidence."

"But?"

"But I couldn't deny what I saw, and I couldn't stop myself from thinking about it. I haven't told anyone else, not even Kagome or any of my friends. I mean even if I did, I doubt any of them would've believed something so crazy, that one of our classmates has superpowers?"

"I think you'd be surprised by that, but that's not for me to tell."

"Okay, but in any case, all I knew was that I had to get to know you."

"I'm… not really sure what to say about this."

"Just please tell me, how is it you can do these things?"

"...Well I've already come this far, what more have I got to lose?" so with a sigh, he pulled the necklace out from his shirt, revealing the Fangs attached to it "The power comes from these, a series of demonic fangs that grant the user a variety of powers."

"These are… These look exactly like the Fangs that Tatsu wears. Does that mean he can do the same things that-" she was cut off by Raidou holding up a hand to her.

"I've already shown you more than I've shown most of the people I come even close to opening up to. I know you have a lot more questions you want answered, but I can't guarantee I can or will answer them. All I can say for now is that I'm using this power to do what they're meant to do. To make the world a better place. But beyond that-"

"It's okay." this took him by surprise, especially as Ayumi gave him a gentle smile and cupped his cheek with one hand "I know you have your secrets, and I know you don't have that much experience with opening up to people. But that doesn't matter, because right now I know all I need to know about you. I know that you're a good person, you're kind and you're gentle, and you want to help people. That's enough for me."

"Huh. You're… taking this surprisingly well."

"I try to see things from the perspective of others whenever I can. But even so, if you wouldn't mind spending some more time together?"

"...To be completely honest with you, I don't think I would mind that."

"Thank you." Ayumi's smile widened as she gently gripped his hand "I know a good ice cream shop not far from here, if you like."

"If you insist, I might as well pay though."

"You don't have to."

"Chivalry isn't dead, and I'm, what's the word? Loaded."

A/N:

So yes, this one is another slice of life chapter before we get back into the next little story arc, focusing more on building character relationships. Some of them take place in the Modern Era, some of them in the Feudal Era. All of them focus on character development, one of the most critical parts of any good story.

This chapter is mainly a breather to focus on some downtime in the modern era, a little bit of fluff between Tatsu and Kagome, and some more character development for none other than Raidou, as he starts bonding with Ayumi. Yeah I'm gonna go ahead and point this out now, Kagome's friends from the Modern Era (Eri, Yuka and Ayumi) are not particularly well liked among the fandom, and for some understandable reasons. The only real exception is Ayumi (the one with the curly hair that actually supports Kagome throughout the series), and since she's the most well liked of the three of them, I figured that I would give her some more character development. Plus having her act as Raidou's love interest gives me opportunities to do that for both of them, especially if she knows that he's Guardian.