Glancing at her surroundings, Kagome Higurashi briefly wondered how in the world they had arrived here.

A tattoo shop of all places.

Groaning a bit, she mildly played the events of the day. Ayumi, Eri and Yuka had all gone out for dinner, which followed a few drinks. Not much, but enough for Yuka to mention that she had been wanting to get a tattoo for the past few months. Rolling her eyes, Kagome was sure it had not been nearly as long as Yuka made it seem. Still, to her surprise, the outspoken woman with neck length brown hair quickly pulled up a design from her phone. An anchor. Kagome smiled at the small and delicate design. It was a perfect fit for Yuka since she was currently attending college to become a News Anchor. Although, she was sure the small image had much meaning than just her passion for her future work. Surprising everyone at the table, Ayumi nodded her head vigorously in approval while suddenly swiping through her phone as well. Proudly, she showed the group the image that she had pulled up.

A small black and white design of the map of the world.

It too was a small and delicate design.

"I was thinking of getting this on my foot!"

Much like Eri, it seemed that Ayumi had the desire to put something permanent on her body that was overly important to her. The image fit her so well, Kagome could not help but smile. Ayumi was in the process of becoming an interpreter and was fluent in several languages. In fact, her dream was to travel the world. Yuka squeaked in excitement, and before she could even form words, Ayumi nodded in understanding. Naturally, Kagome and Eri exchanged wary faces before the suggestion was shouted out by her two other eager friends.

"Guys, lets go!"

With that request, their new destination had become here.

The tattoo shop.

To be fair, it was not at all what Kagome had expected. The waiting room was beautiful and well lite, with displays of images covering the walls. Even the group of individuals in front of them had consisted of normal looking college students enthusiastically speaking about their designs. It wasn't until Yuka and Ayumi had gone to the back for their walk-in that she seriously contemplated the idea of a tattoo.

Years ago, such things would have been associated with criminals, or even those with deviance. She had heard that in western societies, they were becoming more of the norm, but here in Japan, they still carried a bit of a stigma in some groups. It was odd to think that something consisting of mere ink had such negative connotations. Thinking back to a certain daiyoukai, she stared at the images before her in awe. The ink that placed images on one's skin was nothing more than markings. Something that was extremely common in the Feudal Era—especially with youkai.

Artwork.

That's what tattoos were.

But also permanent.

At that moment in time, Kagome Higurashi came to one simple conclusion. For a girl that seemed to have nothing in her life that lasted forever, this would have to be it. This would be how she would remember them. How she would honor their memory. With that thought, she turned to the man that seemed to be patiently waiting for an answer from her. He had asked her what it was that she had wanted. A design. Without hesitation, she knew what it was.

"Do you have time to do a consultation? Or draw up a design?"

The male nodded simply and grabbed some materials.

"A mix of animals consisting of a dog, fox, wolf and a kitten."

Looking at her in surprise, the miko obliviously returned his gaze. The man before her was muscled, tanned, and heavily tattooed with short brown hair. For the first time in what seemed like forever, she thought back to a certain wolf prince. Something about this man reminded her of Koga. Was it his appearance of wildness? Or the similarity of hair color? Maybe the tan skin? Whatever it was, she couldn't help but wonder if the world had allowed them to live to this age, would they have been happy? Thrived? Or merely survived?

When the man seemed to consider her request, she elaborated.

"A kitten with red eyes, a diamond shaped marking on her forehead and two fluffy tails."

Nodding in understanding and curiosity, the man began sketching away.

"Oh, the dogs…they have to be silver. Make one elegant, and the other strong. Fluffy."

The chuckle that followed made her realize how odd her request more than likely seemed. But, didn't people come in here wanting all sorts of designs? Surely, something like this wasn't so over the top? Her friends were getting something that would constantly remind them of what was important, and to her disbelief, she wanted to do the same. Still, she couldn't help but bite her lip in embarrassment at the chuckle that had occurred because of her.

"And the fox needs to be a kit."

He must have noticed the sadness in her tone for her looked up at her in alarm and with furrowed brows. Still, the man said nothing, almost as if understanding her sorrow. Instead, he went back to his design. His bright emerald eyes seemed to almost glow in concentration.

"And the wolf—"

But before she could finish the man interrupted her.

"What color?"

Blinking in surprise, she hesitated before answering.

"Dark brown."

The entire time she had observed the artist she had only seen concentration and interest in the design, but suddenly this was different. He was alert and grinning to himself. Mildly confused, she wondered if he would explain. Sure enough, he did.

"Wolves are sort of my thing. I got this."

And just like that, he handed her over the design.

To say she was breathless would be an understatement.

It wasn't a large design, but that didn't make it any less stunning.

Kirara was the center of the design, and on both sides of her stood dogs with a coat of silver that seemed to blow in the wind. One had what appeared to be wavy elegant fur, and the other was much rougher around the edges. Behind them, was a fox kit peaking behind Kirara with wide green eyes. The entire design was perfect, but what had really drawn her attention was the wolf. The wolf was behind all of them, and yet somehow stood out. His ruffled dark brown coat and piercing blue eyes made her wonder how the artist had managed to get everything so perfect. Staring back once more at the image, she smiled at the protectiveness that was drawn with the three canines.

"It's perfect…"

The artist chuckled and his eyes reflected nothing short of pride at his design.

"Can you just add one more thing?

Shrugging, he waited for her request.

"A crescent moon on the forehead of the dog on the left."

She had expected perhaps another chuckle, or something to let her know how foolish her design was. Yet she received the opposite. The man's eyes narrowed at her in confusion, and when she frown at his reaction, it instantly vanished.

"Yeah, no problem."

Yet, if that had been the case, why was the artists' hands shaking? But the moment he had noticed that she had seen such a thing, the action ceased. Ignoring the odd behavior, Kagome Higurashi stared at the completed image now laying on the counter.

Now, it was perfect.

"I'm free right now if this is something that you want today."

The voice was a little bit rougher than it had been before, but she paid no attention to it. Instead, she stared at the man while attempting to find an answer for his question. Today? Right now? Was she ready for such a thing? The design't huge but actually much smaller than she had expected, but where would she have it put? Almost as if reading her thoughts, the artists began to speak again.

"What about above your wrist?"

Gently, he placed down a paper on the location to show her how the size would appear and look. Kagome nodded in immediate approval. It was small, and once the design was placed on the inside of her wrist, it was almost too perfect. Even now, as she rested her arm down on the counter she would be able to see the tattoo.

They would never be forgotten.

The tattoo would ensure such.

And with that, she followed the man into the room that the rest of her friends had already gone into almost half an hour ago. Handing back the forms that were now filled out, she sat down in the chair and allowed him to get to work. Cleaning her arm, he began the process. She had expected serious pain, but instead, the feeling was dull and minimal. In fact, the most intimidating part had been the loud bussing noise radiating from the tattoo gun. Closing her eyes in nervousness, she attempted to relax.

Sighing, she thought back to memories of the Feudal Era, and to her former companions.

Her other family.

It had been five years since she was brought back upon the completion of the jewel.

Just like that, they had all disappeared. Well, not everyone. It had been easy enough to find evidence of her former human companions and their genealogy. But it had been different for her youkai companions. History had simply erased them. For that, she would make sure their history would be left with her. Glancing down at the work in progress, she smiled in satisfaction at her decision. The hum of conversation was almost enough to lull her to sleep, and she almost had. Until a shout filled the room.

"Guy, boss is coming around!"

The voice that had shouted such a thing in amusement was not in the room, in fact it sounded like he had just entered the building. Quickly, she noticed the aura of concentration shift to that of excitement. The change in all the employees made her smile; apparently, their employer was loved. The thought made her warm inside, and she quietly giggled.

However, it didn't last long.

Within mere seconds, the person whom had yelled the announcement entered the room excitedly and Kagome Higurashi could not believe her eyes. There, in front of her stood an all too familiar individual that she had seen several years ago—in the feudal era.

White mohawk.

Tanned skinned.

Tattooed.

"Hakkaku?"

She hadn't even realized the name escaped her lips until she saw her artist give her a look of surprise. In fact, even though it had been a mere whisper, it seemed that every employee in the room had heard it. Including him. She watched in shock as confusion appeared on the wolfs face and he walked rather quickly to see whom it was that had spoken his name. Yet, even when he was in front of her, he looked unsure.

Until he glanced at the nearly completed tattoo.

Realization dawned and the man's mouth opened in shock.

"Sis?"

A/N: So, if anyone on here is reading my other stories, you know I typically updating every few days. I haven't done that this week and it's because I havn't been feeling my best, and with sickness comes lack of muses. I've tried guys, but nothing good came out of it but I still wanted to write. So, I wrote this. I don't know if it's good, or meh, or absolutely horrible but it's at least helped me attempt to get my muses back for my other stories. Anyway, I was driving home from work and passed a favorite tattoo shop of mine and thought of which Inu Yasha Characters would have gone best with such a thing, haha. Again, I know I have some weird plot lines for stories. Ignore my crazy ideas if they are not to your liking. :)