October 12

We met Miroku and Sango at their house this morning then set off to go to the demon slayer village.

The girls and Sango rode on Kirara's back while Miroku, Inuyasha, and I walked alongside them for the half-day journey. Luckily the weather was very nice: not too hot, not too cold, and just the right amount of wind and sun.

"So what does the demon slayer village look like now?" I asked curiously.

"Kohaku has really done an amazing job with it," Miroku said.

"It's so lively now, just the way it used to be," Sango said happily. "There are about 40 demon slayers who live there. They take missions just like we used to. They have a training ground and weapons house...you're really going to love it Kagome."

"Mommy, can I be a demon slayer?" Midori asked.

"I wanna be one too!" Mieko said.

"Of course, my darlings," Sango said. "Being a demon slayer is in your blood. You can most definitely be one."

The girls went back and forth for a bit about what they would do as demon slayers. I thought it was cute. They would definitely make good demon slayers one day considering both of their parents.

"We're almost there," Inuyasha said after a while.

When we arrived at the village, I was amazed. Many years ago when I had first seen the demon slayer village it was a very sad sight. The dead bodies of the slain villagers littered the ground and many of the buildings were destroyed. Now it was very lively with new buildings and people bustling back and forth. A group of people jogged past us wearing demon slayer uniforms and carrying weapons. A few women were sparring to our left and to our right some people were just sitting around talking.

"You made it!" Kohaku said when he spotted us.

It was such a pleasant sight to see him after all this time. At 15 he had grown a lot, he was about Miroku's height now, and he wore a standard demon slayer uniform.

Sango hopped off Kirara's back and ran over to him. "Kohaku!" She jumped into his arms and the two of them hugged. "I've missed you!"

"I missed you too, sis!"

Miroku put the girls on the ground off Kirara's back. They ran over to their uncle as well and he picked them up to hug them and then came over to us.

"Hey you guys, thanks for coming," he said. "Gosh, Shinichi gets bigger every time I see him!"

Miroku chuckled. "I guess he'll be walking and talking before long."

"Kagome is really excited to see the village," Sango said.

It made me blush a bit. "I've heard so much about it."

"And I'll be happy to give you the grand tour," Kohaku said. "But first, let's get all your luggage put away and get you some lunch. I'm sure you're all starving."

He led us to a guest house towards the center of the village. We went into the big building and he showed us to rooms that had been set up for us. Once we were settled in, a delicious lunch was brought to us and we all sat around talking and catching up while we ate.

Finally, we got to go on the much-anticipated tour of the demon slayer village. Kohaku and Sango led the way. I looked around in fascination. I know it wasn't exactly the same as it was when they were kids, but I'd imagine this was kind of what it was like.

"Welcome to our humble home," Kohaku said. "It's not much yet, but it's getting there."

"Are you kidding? It's fantastic!" Sango said. "You've done such a great job."

"Well, I can't take all the credit. I've had a lot of help. A lot of dedicated people joined me a few years ago who wanted to become demon slayers and keep our culture alive." He grabbed the arm of a passing demon slayer. "Like Kenjiro here." The man gave Kohaku a curious look. "You remember my sister and her husband right? And these are our friends Kagome and Inuyasha."

"Hey there," Kenjiro waved. He was a big, muscular man with hair tied into a low bun. The sword that he carried at his side was massive.

"Kenjiro was the first to join on to the new demon slayer tribe. He's been instrumental in helping rebuild here."

"I had always heard about the demon slayers growing up and wanted to be one," Kenjiro said. "I was devastated when I heard what happened but when I met Kohaku and found out what he was doing, I didn't hesitate to join in."

"That's an impressive sword you've got there," Inuyasha said with interest. "Where did you get it?"

"I met an old swordmaster in the mountains where I was 14. My parents were dead by that time and I just kind of wandered alone. He gave me my initial training and gave me this. I've heard your sword is quite impressive too, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha pulled out his tetsusaiga. "You bet."

Kenjiro gave an impressed nod. "It's bigger than I thought. We should spar sometime."

"Hell yeah. You just name a time and place."

"The training ground tomorrow morning. This should be interesting," Kenjiro said with a chuckle. "I'll see you guys around."

"You've got some real competition, Inuyasha," Kohaku said. "Kenjiro is the best fighter in the village."

"We'll see about that," Inuyasha said. His eyes were already glowing with the excitement of competition.

Kohaku then took us to the weapons house. I was amazed. The building was full of hundreds of very dangerous-looking weapons.

"Wow," Inuyasha said, just as amazed as I was.

"Don't touch anything girls," Sango said to the twins just as Mieko was about to touch a sword.

"This is where we store and make all of our weapons," Kohaku said.

"It's more or less how it was when I was growing up," Sango said. "I used to come in here all the tune to try things out. This one was one of my favorites." She picked up a huge sword that had a blade shaped like a crescent. "Although hiraikotsu was always the best fit for me."

"What's in here?" Inuyasha asked, picking up a container.

"Don't open that!" Sango exclaimed. "That's more of that demon repellent."

Inuyasha quickly put it down and moved as far away as possible remembering his last experience with demon repellent.

Suddenly, there was a small explosion. "Duck!" Kohaku exclaimed.

We all ducked and Inuyasha immediately put his arms around me for protection.

"What the hell was that?" Inuyasha said.

We turned to find Miroku looking guilty after pressing a button. "Whoops, sorry."

"You don't touch anything either, honey," Sango scolded.

We soon left the weapons house and Kohaku showed us the training field and a few other places. Then went to an area covered in mounds of mass graves. There was a nice gate around it now and on the entryway, there was a plaque that read "Here lie the demon slayers of the past. We will never forget you, and we vow to carry on your legacy."

"We wanted to set up a nice memorial for them," Kohaku said. "It was the least we could do."

I distinctly remembered that first time we came into this village where the dead bodies of the demon slayers littered the ground. We took it upon ourselves to bury them, even though we weren't really sure what had happened at the time. It was very sad, but it's nice that their legacy still lives on.

"I caused a lot of damage back then," Kohaku said sadly. "I know I was under Naraku's control, but it's still something I'll never be able to take back. I feel like all of this is the least I can do."

"Oh Kohaku," Sango said. A few tears slipped from her eyes as she put her arm around them.

Miroku said a prayer over the dead demon slayers and we had a moment of silence for them. From there we continued our walk through the village while Sango and Kohaku told us stories of the old days.

It's been such a long and fun day. It's getting late now and I slipped away from everyone a little while ago to do some writing. Inuyasha still hasn't come to bed yet so I think I'll go take a bath until then. Then I guess we'll see what tomorrow brings.