Chapter 7: Family Wisdom

Inuyasha jumped quickly through the forest, watching the shadows on either side of him. Nobody was following him, that was a relief. He sped on until he reached the Bone-Eaters' well. He put one foot onto the lip, and looked around him. His ear twitched, and he stared at the bushes. A small rodent crawled out, and he sighed. With a heave of his arm, he swung himself down into the well.

White light blazed around him, and then he was in the dark, small white spots floating around him. His foot landed on dirt, and he looked up. He had made it. Kagome's family lived on the shrine were the well that connected their worlds was. The Sacred Tree was here too. He jumped out of the well, and his ear twitched. He opened the doors to the shrine, and walked out.

"Inuyasha?! It's been years since you've come!"

Inuyasha looked to his right, and there was Sota, Kagome's younger brother. He had grown a lot, at least two feet. That was to be expected, he hadn't seen him in over four years. Some of his friends were walking with him, and one jerked his chin towards Inuyasha.

"Hey, Sota, isn't that guy your sister's boyfriend? The one that got you and Hitomi together?"

Sota nodded, and jogged the rest of the distance. He clapped Inuyasha on the shoulder.

"How's Kagome?"

Inuyasha shrugged.

"She's a great priestess. But uh…she wasn't able to come cause she's busy. Doing healings and stuff."

Sota nodded, and pulled Inuyasha to the house.

"Come on in, Mom would love to see you. She's missed Kagome."

Inuyasha let himself be dragged into the kitchen, were Kagome's mother was cooking. Her hair had streaks of silver in the still bouncy curls, and she turned to look at her guest. Her face lit up with a bright smile, and she walked to Inuyasha, hugging him tightly. Inuyasha blushed, and hugged her gently back.

"Oh, Inuyasha, it is so good to see you after all these years."

He smiled.

"Uh…it's great to see you too."

She grabbed his shoulders, and held him a little ways from her to look at him.

"Half-demons don't really age do they?"

Inuyasha shook his head. She smiled, and clasped her hands.

"So, how's Kagome, is she here?"

Inuyasha scratched his head.

"Umm…great….and she's busy healing the village kids. She's the village priestess now."

Kagome's mother frowned.

"So she isn't…why are you here then Inuyasha? You usually came for Kagome, but she isn't here so…"

Inuyasha looked away.

"I…uh…want to talk to you about…your customs here…did you ever get married…?"

Mrs. Higurashi covered her mouth, smiling.

"Well, yes Inuyasha. I loved Kagome's father very much, so we got married. What do you want to know?"

Inuyasha blushed, and tapped his foot.

"Well I was thinking… that Kagome might want to…you know…get married. Since we've been together for a while now….and…so I thought that… yeah."

Kagome's mom gasped.

"You want to…propose to her?"

Inuyasha smiled shyly, and looked the other way.

"Yeah."

Mrs. Higurashi squealed and grabbed Inuyasha's hand. She began to drag him to the living area, but closed the doors before Sota could get in. She pulled him over to the couch, and sat him down.

"So, do you have a ring?"

Inuyasha puzzled.

"A ring? Ahhh…no. Do I need one?"

Kagome's mom scoffed, and leaned forward.

"Of course! That's how you propose! You get on one knee, and show her the ring, and then ask her to marry you! That's how it's done! With some more talking and such, in a private significant place, definitely."

Inuyasha blushed.

"Oh."

She stared at him openly.

"Well? Do you have a place in mind?"

He looked at the ceiling.

"Um… the Sacred Tree or the well I guess."

Mrs. Higurashi clasped her hands.

"The Sacred Tree will be perfect! Okay…you still need a ring. Come on, Inuyasha, let's go."

She go to her feet, and walked out of the room. Inuyasha stumbled after her, and watched her grab her purse.

"Ah..where are you going?"

She looked up at him.

"We are going to the store to pick a ring. Come on, I'm not getting any younger."

She opened the door, and Inuyasha followed. They walked to the steps, and began down them slowly. Inuyasha put his hands in his sleeves, and followed silently. Hopefully Kagome was busy with the sick boy. He didn't want her to find him doing this, not yet. Mrs. Higurashi stopped next to a sign, and sat on the bench. Inuyasha looked down at her.

"Uh…aren't we going to this store of yours?"

She nodded.

"It's downtown, so we'll need to take a bus."

Inuyasha scrunched up his eyebrows.

"Bus?"

The bus came down the street, and stopped in front of them. Inuyasha jumped back, and grabbed the handle of Tetseiga. Mrs. Higurashi jumped up, and grabbed his hands, prying them off of Tetseiga.

"Inuyasha, it's okay. Just follow me."

The doors opened up, and people flooded out. Once the flow stopped, they walked on the bus. They sat in the back, away from wandering gazes. Mrs. Higurashi fumbled around in her purse until she came up with a scarf. She tied it around his ears, and then sighed. Inuyasha looked at it, and then 'harrumphed.' The bus lurched forward, and Inuyasha grabbed his sword again. Once the bus drove at a steady pace, he let go of the sword. The ride was several minutes, all of which Inuyasha tapped his foot impatiently, wandering about how he was going to get back without the others knowing. The bus stopped, and they got off. People bustled down the sidewalk, going in and out of shops. Mrs. Higurashi looped her arm through Inuyasha's and walked down the sidewalk. He let her drag him like a gentleman, and they turned into a shop.

Jewelry sparkled in glass cases, and the clerk looked up. She smiled at them, and went back to typing at the cashier. Kagome's mother walked around the shop, looking at rings, and stopped. Inuyasha looked down at the case, and saw the ring.

It was nestled in black velvet. The ring itself was silver, and was a medium width. In it, was green jade flower inlay. Mrs. Higurashi pointed at it, and gasped.

"It's perfect! Excuse me, how much is this?"

The clerk sauntered over, and looked at the case.

"This is on sale, nobody has looked at it in ages. I'll give it to you for…3000 yen?"

Mrs. Higurashi squealed.

"That's a bargain! I'll take it!"

Inuyasha looked at her.

"Do you think Kagome will like it?"

Mrs. Higurashi giggled.

"She'll love it."

She put her hand on his shoulder, and brought him to the desk. She leaned towards the clerk.

"This young man is going to propose to my daughter! Isn't that exciting?"

The clerk smiled up at her, and looked at Inuyasha. He blushed, and looked away while the woman laughed. She rang it up, and handed the box to Mrs. Higurashi.

"Here you go, have a wonderful evening!"

Mrs. Higurashi thanked her, and walked out of the store. Once they were on the street again, she clapped her hands.

"Ooooh! Everything is going to be perfect!!!"

Inuyasha took the box when she handed it to him.

"Okay Inuyasha, you need to figure out what you're going to say to her. It better be good."

He looked at the ground, and thought.

"Kagome, will you marry me?"

Mrs. Higurashi nodded impatiently.

"Yes, yes. But what are you going to do?"

He looked at the ground again, and scratched his head.

"I'll walk with her to the tree…at…during sunset…"

"Yes…"

"And I'll have her face the tree…and me…then I'll…kneel on one knee…and ask her to marry me."

Kagome's mom laughed, and rubbed his back.

"Okay okay, that's good enough for me, just try to spice it up a bit."

Inuyasha blushed, and they walked onto the bus.

He put one foot on the lip of the well, the little box in hand.

"Bye Inuyasha! Come back when you propose!"

He blushed, and jumped down the well.

White light shone brightly, and his foot hit solid dirt again. He jumped up and out of the well, landing near it. With quick glances to either side of him, he started to walk into the forest.

"Ah ha! See Inuyasha! We knew you would go!"

Inuyasha froze, and looked to the side. There was Shippo, with Miroku and Sango crouching behind the bushes. He loomed over Shippo.

"What. Do. You. Want. With. Me."

Miroku and Sango climbed from behind the bushes, and showed him their palms.

"We only want Kagome to be happy, that's all."

Inuyasha growled, and ran into the forest.

"Inuyasha!"

He ignored them, and raced back to the hut. He heard Kagome inside, and tucked the box in his kimono before walking in.

"Yo."

She looked up from the fire, and smiled at him.

"Hey, how are you?"

He smiled.

"Great. Is the kid better?"

She nodded.

"Yeah. Where were you anyway?"

He scratched his head.

"Uh…out for a walk… the sunset looked really nice."

She smiled.

"Did it? Maybe we can watch it tomorrow."

He nodded.

"Uh…sure. We can do that."

Inuyasha smiled faintly as he watched Kagome's eyes flutter closed. She smiled, and snuggled deeper into his chest, so he wrapped his arms tighter around her. She breathed a sigh, and soon her breathing was deep and even. He stared at her placid face, a twinkle in his eye. He loved her so much, probably more than Kikyo. Kikyo had died for him, and he could never forget that, but Kagome taught him how to laugh, to make friends, to be kind and likeable. She helped others accept him, and that was more than he could ever wish for. She had given her safe life in her own era to live with him 500 years in the past, filled with terrible demons.

He stroked her cheek, and pecked it gently. She mumbled in her sleep, and smiled a small smile. His heart swelled, and he knew that she was who he wanted to devote himself to with a strong assurance. He breathed out deeply, and pulled the covers to his chin, and fell asleep.