The Mysterious Springs

Omake: The First Day Together

- "And therefore, I trust you will all be able to acknowledge the seriousness of this situation and act accordingly" – said Kaede authoritatively to the villagers that had gathered on the village's shrine upon being called by her.

Only a few minutes had gone by after Kagome and Inuyasha, the former now going by the name Miko, had been turned into children and brought back to the village by their friends.

- "But Kaede-sama... Is that true? That Inuyasha is now a kid?" – said a villager in a blue kosode with a dark beige hakama.

- "It is. The same thing happened to Kagome, and like I just said, we can't allow them to see anything that triggers their memories or tell Kagome her true name. You all must remember she goes by the name Miko now" – said Kaede shaking her head.

- "But that means we could kick that hanyou out of the village at last!" – said an old man in a dark green kosode and brown hakama.

- "Hey, that's acting ungratefully!" – said another villager wearing a blue kosode with dark blue patches on the shoulders with a dark blue hakama. It was Kaede's helper Rikiichi – "Remember that Inuyasha and his friends have saved our village many times now!" –

- "But he's who caused the death of Kikyou-sama!" – replied the old man.

- "Like I previously told you so long ago, Inuyasha was not responsible for my sister's death!" – said Kaede while scowling at the old man – "Her murderer was the demon Naraku, and Inuyasha and his friends have been hunting him to avenge her death!" –

- "We always have a lot of fun when he and Kagome-sama are around too!" – said a boy wearing a dark blue kosode and white obi.

- "Yeah, it looks like they like each other a lot!" – said a little girl wearing a mauve kosode.

- "Hey, if they're kids like us now, that means we could go and play with them too!" – said another boy that wore an aquamarine kosode.

- "I don't mind it if you do so, little ones" – said Kaede while smiling at them.

- "But won't that be dangerous, Kaede-sama?" – asked a middle-aged woman that wore a red kosode with the shoulder area colored pink, who had a worried expression on her face.

- "I don't think so. Since Inuyasha is now a kid, he won't think of harming others his same age" – said the blue kosode villager with a smile.

- "Exactly. Besides, Inuyasha would benefit from having friends now he's got back to that age. I have to add that he remembers nothing after the time he was like that, and so he fears we humans may attack or try to kill him like the youkai he's been running away from" – said Kaede while sighing heavily.

- "That means... He's a really lonely boy now..." – said another woman wearing a blue kosode.

- "Well, he's not going to be lonely anymore!" – said another little girl that wore a pink kosode with black markings.

- "Yeah! Let's be friends with him and Kagome-sama!" – said a little girl wearing a yellow kosode.

- "I trust that will be the case" – said Kaede with a smile – "That said, try to not badger them too much and let them have some time alone. They need to meet each other again, after all. And it would be good that you treated them as if you had always known them and that they just had forgotten you" –

The village kids nodded in agreement with Kaede's words, and while some of their parents seemed a bit worried about the idea, they decided to let them go ahead.

- "Also, we'd like for them to participate with us in what we've got planned for the village's harvest festival if you're okay with it, Kaede-sama" – said Asagi walking from behind the shrine.