Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, nor am I making profit from this story.
"You're my best friend, you know that, right?" Kagome's voice was soft, but carried far in the room. Inuyasha had his eyes closed against the flittering light of the fire heating up the small home, but opened them when she spoke.
Kagome was laying on her side, hands tucked up by her face and knees crooked. She was relaxed and comfortable, her face holding a gentle look as she watched the man across from her.
They were laying on their relatively new futon, enjoying the gentle, cooling breeze of an early spring night. Kagome has just come back, ready to start her life again in the feudal era a few weeks prior, so their home was bare and filled with minimal items.
This didn't bother them, though. They knew that soon enough it would be filled with goods and food, and memories would quickly follow.
Inuyasha was still sleeping in his fire rat robe. He had never owned a different outfit, so the thought of changing into a sleeping yukata was never on his mind. Kagome was sleeping in hers, a gift from Sango who, having just given birth, was still using her larger one to accommodate her stomach.
Once spring was in full swing, the merchants would be making their rounds and Kagome could get cloth to make her own. Until then, the kindness of her friend was much appreciated.
Inuyasha watched Kagome carefully for a long while, the light dancing across her soft features. He could tell the three years separated had rounded her body and her looks as she became more and more of a woman than a girl.
But the beauty she had was still her most prominent feature.
He considered her words carefully. He had never considered what they were. They had fallen naturally into a relationship with no definitions nor titles. Over time it had just become 'Inuyasha and Kagome', and everyone saw them as a duo.
Sometimes the villagers would pry and ask questions, but mostly they were left to their own devices.
Now that they were sharing a home, it was known they were to be married soon, although it was just a formality at this point.
Inuyasha turned from laying on his back to face Kagome on his side as well. "Yeah?" he asked her. "Your best friend?"
Kagome nodded, her eyes sparkling, sensing the tease.
"Not your lover?"
Kagome smiled and coyly tucked her face into the bedding, peeking only one eye at Inuyasha. "You're both." Her voice was soft and muffled but he heard her.
Inuyasha placed his face down on the bedding right next to hers and blew air into her face. "I thought I was annoying." He smiled at her crinkled face. "Worse than Souta ever was."
"Oh," Kagome said lifting her face to rest back on her hands, "you are."
She blew air up to his ears, causing them to wiggle from the sensation. "But you're still my best friend."
Inuyasha didn't respond at first. The room was filled with quiet peace as the two of them lay in silence. Inuyasha looked at her, seeing the rosy cheeks and striking eyes of the girl who had pulled the arrow from his heart all those years ago. He could still see the stubborn girl who fought off losing her soul with all her might, only to stumble when he called Kikyou's name. He saw the girl who cried for him, and shot a near fatal arrow at Naraku because he was calling Inuyasha names.
He saw the girl who paid no mind to the hateful words and looks that were thrown their way when they traveled. The same girl who had helped him build a family with strangers who had taunted and belittled him by making them see his worth. The girl who would proudly announce she was under his protection, so no one should mess with her.
He saw the girl who gave him love when no one else would, and asked for nothing in return.
It felt like an insult to her to call her his best friend. She was so much more than that to him. It was an oversimplification of their relationship. But he didn't know how to put into words what she was to him, so he went with it.
"You're my best friend, too." His voice was just as soft as hers had been, as if afraid to disturb their newfound peace.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.
"Daddy," little hands pressed hard on Inuyasha's cheeks as his daughter spoke with an absolute inherited from her mother, "you're my bestest friend."
Inuyasha's eyebrows rose slightly, but he knew better than to laugh or questions his little girl. At three – almost four – years old she was resolute in her knowledge of the world, and very convinced she was right. Any questioning of her authority would be an unforgivable crime. So, he kept his face as straight as he could.
He had been picking vegetables from their garden for dinner. Kagome, heavily pregnant with their second child, was on bedrest until the baby arrived, so Inuyasha had taken their daughter outside to help him.
She had picked a few good summer squashes, but was now wanting a change of pace and conversation it appeared.
Inuyasha put the pepper he as holding in his hand in the basket with the other vegetables before placing his hands on his daughter's cheeks, mimicking the hold she had on him. "Oh yeah?" he asked her. "I'm your best friend? I thought the twins were."
Patting her father's cheek in a child's way of miming a parent's comfort, his daughter tutted at him. "No, Daddy." She pressed her forehead against his. "You're my bestest friend."
"What about Mommy?"
"Daddy!" his daughter exclaimed, tossing her hands up in the air in exasperation. "Everybody knows that Daddies are their daughter's bestest friend! It's law of the land!"
Inuyasha held back a snort at her comment and her outburst, dropping his hands to his knees. She had the same fire that he and Kagome had acted on in their youth, but bottled up in a smaller form. Her new favorite phrase to use was 'it's law of the land!' having heard it from some of the village men when discussing planting for the season.
Kagome thought they should perhaps curb that phrase, but it amused Inuyasha too much for him to make an actual effort to stop her.
"Law of the land, huh?" Inuyasha stopped his snort, but he couldn't stop his smile. "Well then, can't argue with that."
His daughter nodded, planting her hands on her hips and standing proud. "Don't you forget, Daddy. You're my bestest friend."
Inuyasha responded, "You're my bestest friend too, baby girl."
She looked at him, beaming from his statement. Inuyasha opened his arms to give her a hug, which she gladly took and ran into his embrace, giggling from excitement. Inuyasha planted a kiss on the top of her head, right in between her black dog ears that marked her as her father's daughter. He cherished this moment with her, just as he did with every moment that he had with her.
Much like the conversation he had with Kagome years prior, when they were new to building their family and new to living together, it all felt like it barely scratched the surface of how he felt.
He could still vividly remember the first time he held her, so tiny and squirmy in his arms. She had cried and screamed for the first months so much that Inuyasha was convinced she already hated him. Kagome had soothed away his fears by assuring him that she was a baby, and that babies cried. She didn't hate him; she was a baby.
He could still remember the day she got her feet under her and ran. She was fast, faster than he had expected, and took off with an alarming speed before he caught her. He was scared, but her giggles and laughs eased his worried mind and he laughed with her.
She was the most precious thing in his life, and so much more than words could describe. When he had found out he was going to be a father, Miroku had warned him that it would change his world forever, and the two men loved to regale stories of their daughters' antics to each other.
Inuyasha stored this moment away in the back of his mind, wanting to tell Miroku about the law of the land that a father is his daughter's best friend. He was sure that Miroku would ask his own twins about this 'law of the land', and would most likely be told they liked their mother much more.
Inuyasha's daughter may be stubborn and unwavering in her stances on life, but Miroku's daughters had his mischievous streak that bested their father most days.
But for now, he would just live in the moment that his daughter loved him and he was her best friend.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.
Inuyasha picked up the large stone pot from the fire and moved it so Kaede could add the final touches to the soup. Kagome was bouncing their little boy on her knee, listening with great amusement to the story their daughter was weaving about her afternoon with the twins.
Kaede had invited the family over for dinner a few weeks prior, wanting to celebrate the birth of their healthy little boy. Kagome swore up and down that the second time around was so much easier than the first, but Inuyasha still thought the whole process was a lot for one person to endure.
But they had a child from it, so he couldn't fuss too much.
Their son was a much happier baby than their daughter had been. He didn't cry nearly as much, and was beginning to figure out how to smile much faster than his sister had, although it was still funny facial expressions and snorts.
Kaede had showered both of their children in affection as soon as they stepped into her home, feeling a great grandmotherly love for them.
As Inuyasha put the pot before Kaede, Kaede touched his arm and told him, "You're a great friend, Inuyasha. I am thankful to have you."
Inuyasha blinked a few times, trying to figure out the meaning of her statement.
Once again, he realized he had never really put much thought into his relationship with Kaede. It just was what it was.
But now that she had said something, he realized that she was his friend, just as much as the others.
"What? Are you getting mushy in your old age?" Inuyasha couldn't help himself from taking a light-hearted jab at her, but his smile was bigger than his bite as of late.
Fatherhood had mellowed him out quite a bit.
Kaede returned his smile, and tossed the last remaining ingredients into the boiling soup before stirring it to cool it down before serving. "Maybe I am," she responded to his jab, "or maybe you don't give yourself enough credit."
"She's right, Inuyasha," Kagome called from across the room, her daughter now preoccupied with entertaining her little brother who was screaming in glee at the attention.
Inuyasha looked over at her, questions dancing across his face.
Kagome answered those questions, "You don't give yourself enough credit. You're a great friend."
Inuyasha thought about what they were saying, and looked at his children. They were the light of his life, and more. He hoped they would always stay close to each other, and want for nothing.
He had never considered what he wanted most of his life. He had focused on survival, and given little else much thought.
Now that he was here, thinking about his life and what he wanted, he knew that there was only one thing he had ever wanted.
To have a friend and to be a friend.
Now, here he was, years later, surrounded by friends.
It was a great place to be.
