Epilogue

Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi

~5 Years Later~

Cherry blossom petals fell from the trees, carried along by the wind. The air was warm and the white clouds rolled through the blue sky as the sun rose, signifying the beginning of the day.

In a 4-bedroom house in a suburban neighborhood with the outside painted white, the sound of oil sizzling on a frying pan filled the air as scrambled eggs were poured onto it. In the living room, where 10-year-old Taro lied curled near the tea table and the TV was set to the news, there was a shelf full of all kinds of different photos.

There was one with Inuyasha and Kagome sitting with the Taisho Family and eating dinner together, about a week after the whole Naraku incident, then a picture of Inuyasha, Miroku, Kagome, and Sango taking a selfie together in the park with Inuyasha giving Kagome bunny ears. Following that was Inuyasha wearing a police uniform and saluting while Toga stood at his side, and then a picture of Inuyasha standing next to a woman in her early 40s, smiling at him warmly and kindly while he gave her a sheepish grin. It was the first time that he had met Kagome's mother and, though he was nervous, she made it clear that he made a good lasting impression on her.

Then came the photo of Inuyasha and Kagome, wearing traditional Japanese wedding kimonos as the former held the latter's hands in his own, gently touching his forehead against her own. After that came the photo of the pair standing on a sandy beach together. Inuyasha was wearing a pair of red swim trunks with a white claw mark pattern on the sides while Kagome wore a one-piece orange-and-yellow-striped bathing suit, her hair tied up in a ponytail with sunglasses over her eyes while she held up a card that said "Hello from Hawaii~!".

Then there was a photo of Kagome, leaning against a wall while wearing a light pink shirt and a pair of white yoga pants as she placed her hands over her bulging stomach, followed by another one of her in a hospital bed as she held a baby boy with grayish-silver hair and little puppy ears in her arms. She looked exhausted...and yet, she had the brightest, happiest smile that Inuyasha had ever seen. Following that was another photo of the baby, lying asleep against Taro's side while the Akita watched him, carefully, and then there was another photo of Inuyasha holding the infant, who smiled as he reached for the camera with his face and fingers covered in vanilla cake and white frosting, and in the background, there was a banner that said "Happy 1st Birthday, Ichiro!".

Then there was a photo of the infant curled up on Inuyasha's stomach and sucking his thumb while his father snored and drooled, followed by three more birthday pictures of Ichiro sitting in front of his messily-eaten birthday cake.

"Inuyasha! Ichi!" Kagome called as she put the eggs on the plate. "Breakfast is ready!"

"Coming!" Inuyasha's voice called from upstairs.

Kagome chuckled to herself as she put some sweet potatoes into a bento box, her left ring finger adorned with a golden ring. There was a bigger one that had some rice balls, some pork croquettes, some sandwiches, and some sweet potatoes, and the smaller one had rice, chicken karaage, some hamburger steak, and some mixed vegetables. As Kagome finished up the lunches, her eyes were suddenly covered by a pair of clawed hands, causing her to gasp for a moment before she laughed and turned around to see her husband, who also had a golden ring on his left ring finger, as well as his police uniform.

"Hi, hon," Kagome greeted.

"Hey," Inuyasha greeted back as he kissed his beloved wife on the lips.

"Where's Ichi?" Kagome asked.

"He's comin'," said Inuyasha, and soon, he turned to see his four-year-old son, who was wearing a cool gray shirt with a puppy's face on the front, a pair of blue shorts, and light blue sneakers. His pointed ears drooped slightly as he blinked up at his father, who smiled at him as he picked him up and put him in his chair at the table.

"There you go, pal," said Inuyasha. "So, you excited for your first day of school?"

"...No," Ichiro muttered.

"Oh, Ichi, it's okay," said Kagome. "Everybody gets nervous on their first day of school."

"...Can't I just stay here, today?" asked Ichiro.

"Ichi, you gotta go to school," Inuyasha began as he sat down to eat his breakfast, "just like your mom and I have to go to work."

"But...I don't wanna go to school," said Ichiro as he picked at his eggs with his chopsticks. "What if nobody likes me?"

"I thought the same thing for a little while," Inuyasha said, "but it won't be all bad."

"That's right!" Kagome added. "Roku's gonna be there! Plus, your dad's taking you in his police car~! You like that, right?"

"Yeah, Dad's car is cool!" Ichiro answered. "But...do I really have to go to school? What if...um...?" He then looked over to Taro, who snored as he lied on the floor. "W-what if Taro gets lonely?"

Taro only responded with a lazy yawn.

"...I think Taro will be fine," Inuyasha smirked, causing Ichiro to sigh.

"But...I'll miss you guys," he said.

"Oh, honey, we'll miss you, too," Kagome said as she gently cupped her son's cheek, "but we'll see you later this afternoon! I'll come and pick you up, later, okay?"

"...Okay," Ichiro replied.

"Oh, jeez!" Inuyasha exclaimed as he looked up at the clock. "Speaking of late, we gotta get going! It's almost 8 o'clock!" He hurriedly scarfed down his breakfast, which prompted Ichiro to do the same, then he grabbed his and Ichiro's bentos, then grabbed Ichiro, who grabbed his bookbag, then rushed out the door. "Bye, Kagome!"

"Bye, Inuyasha! Bye, Ichi!" Kagome called. "Have a good day!"

She then sighed as she shook her head, then looked over at Taro, who blinked at her and wagged his tail.

"...What a life, huh, Taro?" Kagome asked, causing the old Akita to bark as he stood up and walked up to her, licking her fingers.

XXX

"Well, here we are," Inuyasha said as he stopped his police cruiser in front of the school building, where other children his age were making their way inside. "This is where you're going to school, Ichi."

Ichiro stared out the car window with nervousness, which prompted his father to ruffle his hair.

"It'll be okay, pal," he assured. "I'll even go in with you, okay."

"...Okay, Dad," Ichiro replied as he got out of the car, and Inuyasha got out with him, went around the front and held his son by the hand as they entered.

"Let's see," Inuyasha muttered as he stopped in front of a door with a cute, smiley-faced bat on it. "'Bat Class'...here we go." He then opened the door, revealing a small classroom full of children. Some of these children looked human, but on closer inspection, other children had some differentiate them from the rest, such as pointy elf-like ears, tanned skin, and even little horns or fuzzy ears growing out of the top of their heads.

"Hello," said a young woman with tanned skin and bluish-white hair. She had on a white shirt and a pair of blue overalls, plus cute ribbons tied into her hair with seashell ornaments. "I'm Shiori, the teacher of this class. Can I help you?"

"I'm here to drop off my son, Ichiro Higurashi," said Inuyasha as he looked down at his son, who stood behind him, shyly.

"Well, hi, Ichiro," Shiori greeted. "I'm Miss Shiori. I'll be your teacher as long as you're here."

"...Okay," Ichiro said.

"Hey, Ichi!" said a boy with dark brown hair that was tied up in a ponytail and wearing a navy shirt and a pair of purple shorts. "Isn't this great? We're in the same class!"

"Hi, Roku," Ichiro said.

"Roku," Shiori said, "since you know Ichiro, why don't you show him where to put his things?"

"Okay, Miss Shiori!" Roku replied as he took Ichiro by the hand and dragged him to the cubby holes. "This is where we put our things until it's time for us to go home."

Ichiro nodded before putting his bookbag in the cubby hole, but then his pencil case accidentally fell out. As he reached down to grab it...but then, he noticed something peculiar: a red string tied around his pinky finger.

"Huh?" Ichiro muttered as he stared at it. "Where'd this come from?"

"Hi!"

Ichiro looked up to see a girl with pointed ears, turquoise eyes, dark brown hair, wearing a white shirt with hot pink stripes, a pair of black shorts, and yellow shoes with the laces untied on the left one...not to mention there was a dark brown bushy tail sticking out of her rear. This girl was definitely a demon...a wolf demon, at that. However, as Ichiro saw her...he noticed that the other end of the red string was tied around her pinky finger.

"...Hi," Ichiro greeted as his face flushed a bit red.

"I'm Tsukihime!" the girl said. "What's your name?"

"...I'm Ichiro," Ichiro replied. "My Mom and Dad call me 'Ichi' for short, sometimes."

"You wanna come play with me, Ichi?" asked Tsukihime, causing the 4-year-old quarter-demon to blink at her...then he smiled at her.

"Okay!" he exclaimed, causing Tsukihime to giggle before she went over to play with the blocks, and Ichiro and Roku followed to join her...but not before he turned to his father, who smiled at him, lovingly. Ichiro blinked before he ran up to Inuyasha, who kneeled down and caught him in his arms in a tender embrace.

"Bye, Dad...I love you."

"I love you, too, pal...you have a good day, okay?"

"Mm-hmm!"

Ichiro then turned and went back to play with Tsukihime and Roku. As Ichiro and Tsukihime began to build a block tower together...the red string swirled around the two of them as they laughed and talked with each other.

"...Yeah," Inuyasha grinned as he turned and walked out. "He'll be okay."

THE END

And there we have it. ^^

Now, I know some parts of this story weren't the best, but still...I'm proud of the effort I put into it and I hope that those of you who were reading enjoyed.

Special thanks, once again, to LenBarboza and KeiChanz for the inspiration. ^^

Review, please!