Chapter 12
That afternoon, Inuyasha waits patiently at the block where he dropped off Kagome. "Hey, you missed me?" Kagome leans in to tease him. "Not even the slightest." Inuyasha spoke back in the same matter. "We need to pick up Sota." Kagome tells him as they walk down the streets towards the school that Sota goes to.
When they turned the corner where the school is, Kagome sees her father waiting for him already at the gates. Even though that no one else but herself, Inuyasha and Sota can see him because he's a spirit for the time being. "What are you doing here, dad?" Kagome asks him as she comes up to him, pulling out her phone so that she doesn't get anyone around her suspicious. "I'm here to pick up Sota." Kaoru responds back to her. "But is that a bad idea to be out here. What if other people who can see spirits to spot you?" Kagome talks to him worriedly. Kaoru waves it off. "Remember, Kagome that Sota can only see me and no one else. Besides I told him that I'd make it up to him." Kaoru assures her.
The bell rings to let the students exit the school building. A few minutes later, Sota comes out with a few of his friends. He sees Kagome waving at him. Not just her but also his dad. "I'm off." He tells his friends and runs up to Kagome. "What brings you here?" He asks Kagome as she hugs him as they all walk off to go home. As soon as they get to their block. "Why were you at my school, dad?" Sota asks the father. "I just wanted to make up the missing times that I couldn't do with you." Kaoru answers him. Since then, Kagome walks up ahead with Inuyasha by her side. "What are you doing?" Inuyasha asks her curiously.
"I thought that it'd be best that they could caught up even though Sota never got those moments that I had with him." Kagome explains to him. Inuyasha gets it now. "Ok. Well, let's leave them alone then." He agrees with her. Kagome turns her head to see Sota so happy. "For once he's so glad that dad is here.
Later that day, everyone gets themselves ready for dinner. The only bummer part is that Kaoru won't be able to eat with him. No one would actually expect that. Before dinner, Sota begins to do his homework. Kaoru decides to help him out to make sure that he gets the homework done as soon as possible. Even Shippo is staying quiet as well as not pulling any pranks on them. After dinner, Kaoru even played with his son with the video games. Even though that Sota is holding his one remote control, the other remote control is floating in thin air. As such Sota finds it really cool.
Back in her bedroom, Kagome could feel a little jealous about Sota spending so much time with their father. But then again, she knows that she shouldn't be like that. This is about Sota. It means a lot to him. "You feeling okay, Kagome?" Sango asks her while stroking Kirara's back. "I'm okay. I'm just happy and yet jealous about Sota spending so much with dad." Kagome turns her desk chair to look at Sango.
Sango nods, "It's natural to be like that. I remember when Kohaku and I were mastering our weapons, father would favor me a bit more than Kohaku because he's having a hard time with his weapon." She explains to her friend. Even though meeting Sango when she joined the group, she told them about her times with just her family and nothing else. "I had to help Kohaku so that father would pay more attention to him than him." She continues on her story.
But then something crossed her mind. "I'm just curious about one thing Sango." Kagome tells her. "What is it?" Sango asks her. "What made you picked the Hiraikotsu?" Kagome asks her. Sango smiles. "I was chosen to inherit the weapon from my grandfather. When he was the village leader, he used it with great pride. Even though there other weapons for me to choose but from the way the weapon is used, I knew for sure that I was meant for it." Sango explains the backstory. Kagome can understand from the way Sango told the story. "So just let Sota have as much time as he can until that moment has ended." Sango advices her in the end.
That night, Sota and Shippo are getting ready for bed. "What story do you want me to read, boys?" Kaoru ask them. Sota spoke first. "How about you tell us a story instead." He suggested. Kaoru smiles. "Ok, so then what do you want me to tell you?" the father asks. "How about the time you and mom raised Kagome before I was born." Sota asks him. Shippo smiles. "Yeah, I want to know what Kagome was like as a kid." Kaoru nods at that. "Very well. For your sister…"
"Achoo." Kagome sneezes. "You okay?" Sango asks Kagome as she reads one of Kagome's books. "I might be getting a cold or someone is talking about me." She responds as she checks her forehead to be sure. "Well let's just make sure you're not getting a cold. Especially during this season." Sango comments to Kagome.
Through half of the story, Kaoru notices that the kids have fallen asleep. "We might as well continue tomorrow night." He spoke quietly. He kisses his son's forehead and leaves the bedroom. He comes out to go into the master bedroom to see Ai reading one her books. "Is Sota asleep?" She asks him as he sits next to her. "Yeah, he wanted to know how we raised Kagome before my death." Ai smiles at that. "I bet you were at the point that I was pregnant with him." She puts her book onto the nightstand. "I was about to get to that but he and Shippo were asleep." Kaoru chuckles at that part.
"Whenever I tried to tell the story to him, he wasn't interested because you were missing in the story." Ai explains to him. Kaoru gets into the empty spot in the bed. "I guess a story without the father isn't really fascinating. A family must have the father, the mother, and the children. Without the father in it feels incomplete." He describes the story. Ai smiles. "That's true. Sota only saw pictures of you and me at our wedding. And other pictures. But there no picture of you two together. So I think that we should have that so he can always remember you." She gives her one idea. Kaoru agrees. "Yes, that would be a good idea. I just want to make sure when we take that picture, we have to make sure you're in it. Otherwise, Sota would have a picture with just him in it." Ai can see that Kaoru is worried about that part. "We'll have to try to make sure that works." She takes hold of his arm in a comforting matter. Kaoru smiles in return and places his head onto Ai's head. "Let's do it."