October 10

These past few weeks have been so crazy with everything going on at the shrine, the emotional roller coaster of being back in my era, and Inuyasha turning into a full demon. All I've really wanted lately is some peace and relaxation.

Luckily that's what I've gotten in the last few days.

Today was particularly nice. I went out this morning to deliver some medicinal herbs to a few of the villagers who had asked me for some. Along the way, I greeted the people I passed: the village headman, a few women Sango and I had spent some time having tea and sewing with, Emiko and her baby who I had helped her give birth to strapped to her back, and a few children I had grown fond of running around playing games.

Sometimes when I walk through the village like this in the mornings, I feel like Belle at the beginning of "Beauty and the Beast." Unfortunately, I can only laugh to myself at the joke because no one here would get the reference.

I stopped over at Kaede's house while we were out and we had tea together.

"Where's Rin?" I asked.

"She went on a little day trip with Sesshomaru. You just missed him."

"That sounds nice. Do you know where they're going?"

"I'm not quite sure, but she was very excited about it. She misses him a lot when he's not around, I'm glad they got to go off together."

"Me too. With all that time they spent traveling together, I'm sure both of them get lonely."

I said my goodbye's to Kaede and headed back home. On the way home I was greeted by Kina. She was a young woman a few years older than me and had a husband and a baby. I had met her a few times and had tea with her and some of the other young women in the village. As I passed by her today, she was folding laundry off her clothesline.

"Hi Kagome!" she said as I passed.

"Hi Kina, how are you?" I asked.

"I'm exhausted. Daisuke cried so much last night, it was hours before we were able to sleep. But the laundry had to be done and Jiro has taken him out for a walk."

"I guess that's expected with teething babies," I replied as I sat next to her.

"Oh for sure, and he's got it especially bad. I'm tempted to drop him off at my mother's for a week so I can get some sleep. But enough about me, how have you been? How's your husband?"

"We're both doing well. These past few days have been kinda calm for once. Miroku and Sango will be coming over our house for lunch this afternoon."

"That's so nice. Sango always tells me how you're like a sister to her."

"Definitely, she's the wonderful sister I never had."

"Every woman needs a sister, even if you're not related by blood. I've got four of them so I've always had someone to talk to."

"That's such a pretty kimono!" I said as she folded her next clothing item. It had some of the most vibrant blue and red patterns I'd ever seen here.

"You can have it if you want."

"Oh Kina, I couldn't…"

"No really, I insist. I have two of these actually," she said as she handed it to me. "With your eyes, this will be so beautiful on you."

"Wow, thank you so much!"

"You're welcome." By now she had finished putting all of her clothes into her basket. "Well, I should put these away before my husband gets home. I'll see you around, Kagome."

"You too, Kina. And thanks again!"

I found the house empty when I got home. I didn't know where Inuyasha was but I decided to change into the new kimono. It fit perfectly and it was so pretty.

Soon after I had finished changing, Inuyasha came through the back door.

"Hey honey, where were you?" I asked as I came over and kissed him.

"Just doing some work in the yard." He observed what I was wearing. "Where did you get this?"

"Kina gave it to me. Do you like it?"

"I love it." He kissed me again. "You're always so beautiful, Kagome."

The way he looked at me was always full of so much love and devotion. It made my heart melt. "Thank you, Yasha."

I kissed him and then we kissed again, and again...and again. His lips were so soft and his body was so warm. Whenever we got started like this, it was always so hard to stop.

"Honey...aren't Miroku and Sango going to be here for lunch soon?"

He stopped kissing me but the look on his face was playful. "Fine, but when they leave I'm taking this off."

We made lunch and had everything laying out on the table right when Miroku and Sango arrived with the children.

"Hey people," Miroku said when they came in. "It smells good in here. No doubt Kagome's delicious food."

"I can't take all the credit. Inuyasha helped," I said.

"Hmm, maybe we should be cautious then."

"Why you…!" Inuyasha said, raising his fist at him. There rest if us laughed and I pulled him over to sit for lunch.

"So we're planning a trip in the next couple of days," Sango said later.

"Ooh, where are you going?" I asked curiously.

"We're going to the demon slayer village to visit Kohaku," Sango replied. "Do you two want to come?"

"Of course!" Inuyasha said.

"I'd love to!" I said excitedly. "I haven't seen Kohaku since our wedding."

"He's grown up so much and he's doing so well," Sango said with a smile. "After you left, Kagome, Kohaku and I did a lot of training together. He learned so much so fast and was practically better than me. After that, he moved to the demon slayer village to rebuild it. He's recruited slayers from all over and has been training them himself. The way they've rebuilt the village is incredible."

"That's so wonderful. I can't wait to see it." For most of the time I'd known Kohaku he had been under the control of Naraku. Afterwards, I know he felt very guilty about everything he had done during that time. The way Sango's voice lit up when she talked about him, I could tell she was very proud. I was looking forward to seeing him grown up and doing well.

We'll all be heading out together in a couple of days and I'm incredibly excited to see the demon slayer village and everything that Kohaku has done. Inuyasha says he's gone a few times over the years but it's been a while since he last went so it'll be very new for him too. I know this is going to be such a fun trip.