Present Affairs

"I love you". These were the last words said by Michiru Kururugi to Kagome Higurashi right when he was being transported back to his time from Feudal Japan. The next moment, he found himself lying on the floor of the family warehouse. He grunted as he slowly opened his eyes.

"Where am I? Hey wait, now I remember!" Michiru said to himself as he stood up and looked around the storeroom. "Does this mean I'm... home again?"

He walked out of the storeroom and saw the Kururugi Annual Doll Festival was still going on, despite how much time he had spent in the Feudal Era.

'I'm back. I've come back home,' Michiru thought to himself as tears started to appear in his eyes. 'I should feel happy. So how come I don't?'

"Excuse me," Michiru heard someone say.

He looked down and saw a little girl holding a clay doll.

"How come you're sad? Is something wrong?" the little girl asked.

Michiru then kneeled in front of the girl as he dried his eyes and shook his head.

"It's nothing really," he said to the little girl.

"Did you come to the festival to make a wish on a doll too?" the little girl asked.

"Huh?" Michiru asked, to which the girl held out the clay doll she was holding.

"If you write a name on the doll and throw it in the fire, you'll get to see them again," the girl said.

"Yeah? That sounds pretty cool," Michiru said, but then he noticed the star pattern on the doll's chest. 'Hang on, is this...?'

In Michiru's mind, the doll and everything surrounding it faded and he saw the same star pattern on a talisman that he had once seen in the Feudal Era.

"I see. Alright then, let's go make our wish," Michiru said to the little girl.

"Okay," the little girl said with a smile.

The two walked over towards the bonfire after Michiru got a doll and wrote a name on it. He and the little girl then threw the clay dolls into the fire and Michiru stood back, watching the fire grow.

'So this festival is based on Utsugi and the others,' Michiru thought to himself.

An image of Utsugi, Michiru's ancestor, appeared in the fire, but only Michiru himself could see it.

'I'm happy for you, Utsugi. You've been laid to rest at the Kururugi Shrine,' Michiru thought to himself as he remembered burying his ancestor at the shrine in the Feudal Era after Utsugi had been killed by Naraku.

"New text message," a voice said.

"I wonder who's calling," Michiru said to himself as he reached into his pocket as his cell phone had gone off.

He checked his new message and just smiled.

'I hope you're doing alright, Kagome,' Michiru thought to himself as he looked to the sky, seeing an image of Kagome.

On his cell phone was a picture of Kagome posing with her fingers in a "V for victory" or "Peace" sign. His cell phone then went off again.

"New text message," his cell phone sounded.

"Huh?" Michiru wondered as he checked his new message.

"Turn around" was all the message said. Michiru's eyes widened and he quickly turned around. Standing in front of him now was...

"Kagome?" Michiru said, not sure if his eyes were deceiving him.

"Hi, Michiru," Kagome said.

She was wearing a beautiful pink kimono.