CHAPTER ONE: Six Years Later…
InuYasha lazily opened his eyes as he lay back against the trunk of the tree he was sitting in. It was a hot, midsummer day. He didn't feel like getting up, but he knew Kagome would chastise him for lying around all day. He sighed and jumped down from the high branches, deciding to find out what everyone else was up to.
It had been six years since he had killed Tarumaru. His and Kagome's three children had grown. Shirrow, now 17, had begun learning swordsmanship from his father. He practiced with a human sword instead of his father's Tetsusaiga. InuYasha refused to let him use it until he said so, much to Shirrow's chagrin.
Noriko, now 13, was becoming quite the young lady. ((A/N: Everyone calls her 'Nori' now.)) She spent much of her time with her mother while she helped the injured villagers or at her grandmother's house in the future. When she wasn't with either of them, she was with her newest friend, Inari, the only son of Koga and Ayame. InuYasha didn't approve of her friendship with the young wolf prince, but he couldn't stand telling his only daughter 'no', so he allowed it grudgingly. But that didn't mean he wouldn't give the young wolf a hard time.
The youngest in the family, Kotaro, was now 8 years old. He still spent most of his time following InuYasha around and still dressed like him. He had also became best friends with Miroku and Sango's daughter, Sakura, which Kagome claimed to be the cutest thing ever. Other then that he spent his time following Shirrow around, which annoyed his older brother to no end.
After wandering around the clearing and not seeing any of his kids, InuYasha headed inside to find Kagome. She was busily going about doing her chores which she did every afternoon, like making her and InuYasha's bed, fixing dinner, cleaning up a few things, etc. The half demon came up behind her as she wiped the dust off of a photo album sitting on a shelf and wrapped his arms around her. She smiled.
"Hey InuYasha..."
He grunted in response and kissed her neck, making Kagome giggle.
"Did you finally decide to get off your butt and help around the house?"
"Feh..." He walked over to where their lunch was cooking and poked at it with a spoon. "What're we eating?"
Kagome rolled her eyes as she walked over to take the spoon away. She sat next to him by the fire pit. "Don't poke it!" She set the spoon down next to her. "It's chicken that Mom told me I could bring back here." She sighed. "She said that she wouldn't really need all of it since Gramps passed away last year and Sota's away at school most of the time..."
InuYasha placed his hand on top of hers. "You know that you can visit your mother as much as you want... I know you worry about her."
"I know... it's just I get caught up with everything I have to do around here..."
He crossed his arms. "So have the kids help out! You're too soft with them. All they do are a few things in the morning and go off by themselves by noon. Shirrow and Kotaro can clean, and Noriko knows how to cook, you need some time to yourself!"
"And what about you?"
"Huh?"
Kagome crossed her arms now. "Well aren't you going to help out too?"
He sighed in defeat. "Yeah, fine... I'll help too."
She smiled. "Good. That's the right answer."
She got back up to find some spices to put on the chicken. InuYasha watched as she sorted through her collection of modern era spices. She found what she was looking for but it was too high for her to reach. InuYasha stood up, walked over and handed it to her, then looked out the window as she sprinkled some on the chicken.
"So where're the kids?"
Kagome glanced at him, then back at the food before answering with a smile. "You were sleeping longer than I thought!"
"Feh..."
"Shirrow walked Kotaro over to the village so he could go to Sakura's house. ((A/N: ok so Miroku, Sango, Mushin, and Sakura moved into the village so that there would be more protection from demons close by.)) He said something about going somewhere to practice fighting with his sword with Mushin since he's learning too. And Noriko's with... umm... with a friend."
InuYasha growled and looked at Kagome. "She's with that wolf-boy again, isn't she?"
She sighed. "Don't get all bent out of shape. They're just friends."
"Yeah, that's what you say now. But what if that changes later on? I don't want that wolf in the family."
"What's wrong with that? It's not like he's trying to steal me away from you any more, so relax. If Nori and Inari want to be friends, let them." She sprinkled more spice on the chicken.
"Yeah? Well, now's he's just angry 'cause he couldn't get you, so now his only chance to get into the family is getting his son to seduce our DAUGHTER!"
"You're so paranoid! Inari and Nori are just friends, InuYasha. What are the chances that they'll marry?"
"Feh!" He crossed is arms and looked away. "I'd rather that we don't take that chance."
Kagome sighed and shook her head. "Well, if it bothers you so much then go watch them. But I'm warning you, if you do it might push them closer together..."
InuYasha scoffed and walked towards the door.
"Tell Nori to be home in time for dinner."
He stopped and turned around sharply. "I'm not going to spy on them! I'm gonna see how Shirrow's doing practicing with Mushin. That's all!"
Kagome suppressed a giggle as he turned and walked out the door. He's such a baby sometimes...
"C'mon, Mushin! At least TRY to attack!"
Shirrow was getting frustrated. Mushin was his best friend but he was no where near being a good training partner.
If Dad wasn't being lazy and sleeping all day, I could be training with him instead! I guess I can't blame Mushin, though... I mean, he's only a human... Shirrow sighed. "Mushin, you're supposed to be helping me!"
"Well, quit going so fast! I can't keep up with you and you know it!"
"If I go slow then how am I s'posed to get better?"
Suddenly a hand grabbed the hilt of Shirrow's sword, allowing Mushin to get a clean hit with his. He got a cut on his side, which fueled Shirrow's frustration.
"OW! Dammit, Mushin! What was that for?"
"What? I didn't mean-!"
THWACK! Shirrow fell to his knees and rubbed the newly acquired lump on the back of his head.
"Shut up. You know your mother hates it when you swear." Shirrow looked up to see his father still holding his sword in his hand. "Get up. I didn't hit you THAT hard."
Shirrow growled, stood up abruptly and grabbed his sword out of his father's hand. "Why'd you grab my sword? I might be half demon but it still hurts when my side gets sliced open!"
"It's not like it won't be healed by the time we get home. It's not even that deep of a cut."
"Keh..."
"Why're you training with Mushin anyway? You could win a fight with him with your eyes closed!"
"Hey!"
InuYasha turned to look at the 17 year-old boy. His clothes were disheveled from the training, and his black hair, which he had tied back in a pony tail much like his late uncle, Kohaku, had become a mess. "What? You know it's true. It's not like it's your fault for being human."
Mushin rolled his eyes. He was used to InuYasha's constant put-downs about not being as strong as Shirrow.
"Mushin!"
Everyone turned to look at the source of the voice. They saw Kotaro running towards them with the 7 year-old Sakura. The young girl had grown to be very cute. She had long brown hair tied back like her mother's and wore light blue, sleeveless kimono that went down to her knees, with a pink sash around her waist. She was the one that had called to them.
"What is it, Sakura?" her brother asked as she latched on to him in a hug.
She looked up at him with her bright blue eyes. "Mama says you have to come home, because she's leavin' with Daddy soon."
"Okay."
InuYasha's ears perked up. He looked curiously at Sakura and Mushin. "Where're they goin'?"
Mushin let his little sister climb on to his back for a piggyback ride. "They're going to the village south of here to get a few things, so I'm watching Sakura for the night."
"Yeah," she agreed happily from his shoulders. "And we're gonna have lotsa fun!
Mushin smiled playfully at his sister, the looked back at Shirrow. "Anyway, I'll see you later, Shirrow. I guess I gotta get home."
Shirrow looked at his father. "Yeah, I guess we're goin' too." He turned and started to walk away with InuYasha and Kotaro. "See ya..."
After a few minutes of walking, InuYasha turned to Shirrow. "So what do you think about this whole thing with Nori and wolf-boy?"
Shirrow turned to his father curiously, then returned his attention to getting home. "I dunno... I don't really see why it matters. They're just friends, right?"
Kotaro jumped on to InuYasha's shoulders for a piggyback ride. "Nori says that she likes Inari, and that he likes her back!" Shirrow's and InuYasha's ears perked up.
"Yeah? And what do you think of him?"
The 8 year-old thought for a moment before answering. "I like him. He doesn't beat me up." He shot a nasty glare at Shirrow, who rolled his eyes.
InuYasha looked up at the sky. They still had time before dinner was usually ready. "Let's go see what Nori and wolf-boy are up to."
"Umm... like, spy on them?" asked a curious Kotaro.
"Umm... like, yeah." InuYasha turned to look at his younger son. "Why? Got a problem with spying?"
"Mom says it's not a nice thing to do."
InuYasha chuckled. "Well, Mom isn't here right now, is she?"
Shirrow smirked. "Yeah, and she won't find out if a certain someone keeps his mouth shut. Get it?"
Kotaro rested his chin on his father's head between his ears. "Okay... I won't tell Mom. I promise."
InuYasha raised a hand to ruffle the 8 year-old's silvery hair. "That's my boy. Now let's hurry before it gets too late."