Epilogue

After the longest week of her life, Sango drops off the face of the Earth.

Rin calls Miroku, wondering if he's seen her. He hasn't.

Miroku calls Rin five minutes later with a long list of people she should call to ask after Sango.

She goes down the list only to find that not a single soul has seen Sango. When Sango returns, her secretary is a nervous wreck, and for the first and last time, Sango sees Rin cry. After that, they resume their usual professional relationship, in which each feel somewhat uncomfortable with anything too personal. Eventually, after Sango retires from her job as a detective, the two lose touch, and that is alright.

When Sango tells Miroku that she was on a trip with Kohaku, he sighs with relief. He then (unsuccessfully) pretends he wasn't worried at all. He receives his first punch then, and it shuts him up for at least thirty seconds before he tells her that he was extremely worried and that he's moving into her home.

He doesn't; it's much too soon for that. Besides, Sango reminds him, they're not even dating yet. It's inappropriate for him to live with her when they're not romantically involved.

Without missing a beat, Miroku tells her they need to change that at once. He leans in for the kiss but Sango punches him again. She says she won't go on a date with a man who used her so shamelessly just to get ahead in his career. The next day, he shows up at her office and refuses to leave until she will agree to watch the new Star Wars movie with him.

And thus begins their relationship.

Governor Takashi and Izayoi are happily reunited. They have a large dinner with their family once every two months. Inuyasha comes begrudgingly. Sesshomaru eats in silence. Inukimi Takashi doesn't change her last name even after she remarries. Sango and Kohaku are also invited, but they only go after Inukimi Takashi is named the next governor to celebrate.

After seven months, Miroku proposes to Sango, proclaiming that this is the longest he has ever been with a woman. Sango turns him down.

To prove he is responsible enough to take care of her and Kohaku, Miroku buys a kitty. He names her Kirara and promises Sango that Kirara is hers to raise if she would just marry him.

That's how he gets his third punch.

She is given ownership of Kirara anyways. While buying cat food for her new companion, Sango meets a girl named Kagome, who is also shopping for her cat. The two become fast friends, and after a few years, Sango finally admits that the only reason she pursued a friendship with Kagome was to get more information about raising Kirara. Kagome laughs it off and says she doesn't mind.

After nineteen months, Miroku proposes again. He emphasizes the fact that it's taken an entire year to recover from her last rejection, and that he doesn't know if he will be able to recover again. Sango rolls her wet eyes and accepts. He pretends that he knew she would say yes all along, but in private, he whispers all of his relief and thankfulness to her in the middle of the night.

Their wedding is simple and sweet. It's where Inuyasha and Kagome meet, and for years after, Miroku will hold that fact over Inuyasha's head whenever the two bicker. I'm the reason you met the love of your life, so you do what I say, because you owe me for life.

It doesn't usually work.

Kirara is given to Kohaku, who becomes a detective just like his older sister. Sango steps down from her job and focuses her attentions to her twin girls and to her husband's goal, as well. By the time Naraku Incorporated is exposed and shut down, their fourth child is two years old and there is another baby on the way — but they can say they did it together, and that night, as the two celebrate in the dark of midnight, Sango can't stop telling him how proud of him she is.

One day, when they are old and their sixth child is napping in second period of high school, Miroku asks her about her fourth punch. Sango smiles and recites 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. He smiles and tells her that's beautiful, and when he leans in for the kiss, she punches him.

He groans and she laughs. And then, they live happily ever after.