Disclaimer: I don't own 'Inuyasha' or any of its characters.
Chapter Thirty: Preparations
The morning after they travelled further in time and went to her mother's at the first light of the day when Grampa had just started sweeping the Shrine's grounds. Just as Inuyasha had predicted the day they went to Asagi to get their new clothes, Mr. Higurashi started squealing happily as soon as he spotted them and then made them settled in the living room, stealing them the pup.
They were all drinking tea there, even Sota was with them because the school will have started in two days. "Did you have your fun? Was the West interesting?" Kaori asked.
"Yeah, better than what we expected. Even if being surrounded by ladies there and ladies that was a little boring," Kagome replied. "Don't you want to know what happened?"
"Future Sesshomaru already told us everything," Sota answered her question; her family had learnt to differentiate between the two versions of the dai-youkai to avoid confusing the couple. "He told us Inuyasha got to kick a demon's ass. That's so cool!" The kid tried to giving him a high-five. Inuyasha looked at him quizzically, eyes blinking, while Souta remained with his hand raised as if he was waiting for something. Kagome laughed and then brought her son hand to his instead.
"He doesn't know the meaning of that gesture, Sota. At least explain to him before," his sister reasoned.
"Keh! Anyway, that bastard didn't even give me the possibility to brag about it," he huffed, "I wanted to be the one to tell you all the fun stuff."
They avoided telling what else had happened besides the whole kicking-a-demon's-ass. Since none of them approached the subject they presumed Sesshomaru had deemed safer not to tell it too; no point in worrying them anyway since he already knew the pup would have survived the attack without a scratch.
They stayed for a few days in the future, just as they had decided before returning from the West, and shortly thereafter Kagome began her last school year.
Life continued for them as it always had, with a few minor additions whenever Inuyasha needed to return west to solve some problem, have some meetings with the council or help his brother with other matters. Just as he had promised the kit, Shippo went with him the first time he came back and Kichiro even showed him some new tricks that Shippo repeated whenever he went back to the kitsune's inn for his training. Now, every time Inuyasha was requested West, Shippo happily joined him.
Demons in the West got acquainted with his presence quite fast, once he started to travel back and forth with recurrence. Now, they even welcome him quite warmly. That, however, didn't mean he didn't meet some fuckers occasionally or others who dared to question his presence there. Inuyasha had the opportunity to spar with some of them too because he started to visit the training halls every time he went to West. Katsuro and he got along easily at that point, and they usually supervised the training together. Inuyasha liked it and when the First Commander proposed to him the first time he enthusiastically accepted; he was learning new moves and fixing some of his stances this way too.
It was during those occasions that some too cocky demon thought he could be easily defeated and challenged him. That kind of thing stopped as soon as he sparred with Katsuro to show the cadets some moves. The First Commander wasn't easy to defeat, after all, he still was the head of the army and that had to mean something. Their spare provided a really entertaining fight and after that, Inuyasha asked him to repeat the performance some other times. Everyone had thought their Commander would have kicked the hanyou's ass, but when he lost, they stopped challenging Inuyasha.
He still encountered Shou and his brothers since they were still Commanders but they usually gave him the wide berth and Inuyasha found himself quite disappointed. He would have liked to brag about his victory or even spar with the other two. Lady Keiko, instead, still tried to get in Sesshomaru's good graces through his mother, who didn't know anymore how to spell to her that her son wasn't interested. It seemed that since Inuyasha had become heir, she was much more committed as if she was afraid to lose her rightful place completely. When Inuyasha laughed in her face one time he caught her with Kimi, Keiko turned her face and left.
Noboru, on the other side, still liked to make some nasty remarks every time they met and asked him about Kagome since she was not with him. The one time she came – although previous arrangements – the dog demon leered at her and that put Inuyasha in such a bad mood he requested Kagome to hide in their bed chambers. Kagome obviously refused and it caused the two of them to argue heavily, as he was still angry because of Noboru. In the end, the two ended up finding out about the joy of make-up sex and Inuyasha got his wish since they stayed closed in their room making love all night.
To the present day, Inuyasha still didn't know how to resolve the situation with Noboru and he was afraid the fucker could still try something with his mate.
Kagome kept going to school. Her daily routine was still too busy, and when Muteki started crawling, it became even busier. They couldn't leave him alone for a couple of seconds or they would find him destroying something, drenching with mud or worse up in a tree.
Kagome almost had a stroke the first time Muteki disappeared from under her eyes. Once he started crawling, it wasn't long before he learned to walk as well, and that's when the real trouble began. He was very fast for a one-year-old and considering he was also part-demon, she found that the baby could easily run away from her without being noticed. He didn't make a sound and always seemed to be waiting for the best opportunity to slip away. Sango that had not one, but two toddlers, seemed to have fewer problems, especially because Emi and Kimiko were nosier. Indeed, every time the three of them were together Kagome never had problems with Muteki, because one of the twins always made some noise when he tried to escape. That of course usually destroyed his fun and he had started pouting much like his father every time he got caught.
Once, Kagome was busy trying to study for her finals since the school was almost finished and they had gone to her mother's to get some peace. Inuyasha had been forced by Sota to play with some video games, her grandfather was in the shrine, so it was just son, mother and grandmother. Kagome panicked as soon as she discovered Muteki was gone, fearing someone could kidnap him or try to investigate the unusual colour of hair for a baby; her screams attracted Inuyasha that had swiftly started his search.
When they went outside, they found out that a small crowd had formed around the sacred tree, someone was pointing out a branch and Kagome fainted upon realizing it was her son up in a Goshinboku's tree branch. Inuyasha shooed everyone away and promptly retrieved his pup who has remained unfazed all the time. Muteki giggled when his father collected him and the hanyou praised him about his craftiness and agility when both the women weren't listening.
Kagome tried to keep him more on his baby carrier, while she was studying, to keep him under control but to no avail. He started complaining, crying and squirming as soon as she put him in and that prevented her from studying. That's why Muteki started spending some time alone with his father, while his mother had her head hidden in the books.
Kagome thought she had finally found the perfect solution, until one day, when she reached for them and found Inuyasha trying to teach him some combat skills. Her son was just a little over a year old for Kami's sake!
That had earned Inuyasha a few sits, to Muteki's delight who laughed wholeheartedly at the exhibition. Some days later, when she caught her son trying to formulate the words "Sankon-Tessou" and waving his little fingers, already adorned with little claws, Kagome sat her mate again.
Her training with Kaede still went on too, and she started meditating with Miroku too, trying to control better her powers and even find some peace when sometimes she thought she couldn't survive the day. He taught her to create a defensive barrier and she learnt quite fast too. She usually practised with Inuyasha, to test its durability and they found out that it didn't work with Muteki. He could easily pass and Kaede said that it was because of the spiritual powers he had inherited and his connection with his mother.
Muteki still had to show any direct source of power apart from that one time the first time at the western palace. However, everyone had seen what happened every time the pup met someone new and had a chance to observe them for more than a few minutes. Usually, he would stare intently into the newcomer's eyes, a type of attitude that already seemed odd for a toddler because he never lost his attention. The strangest thing, however, was that when the "unfortunate" persons noticed it and turned to look at him back, they found himself unable to avert their eyes.
They later said they had the feeling that Muteki was peering into their soul.
It was like the development of what Kagome had already started to notice when he was only five or six months old. What worried Kagome was that every time this happened, often the person undergoing his examination would call his son strange and sometimes even dangerous, woe if they later found out he was part demon. Strangers still didn't react well to the news that she was a married priestess, let alone married to someone with tainted blood; usually, these people were shooed away unceremoniously.
A monk who was passing by even tried to exorcise Muteki and in the end, he ran away from the village when Inuyasha threatened him with his sword. Although with that episode they also discovered that just as he could pass his mother's spiritual barrier, so he was immune to the power of other spiritualists. This, fortunately, calmed his father who remarked that at least he didn't have to be afraid of some monk or priestess trying to purify his son. Kaede agreed with him and Miroku added that this was a good omen. Muteki could be really strong when older if he was to be trained in both fighting skills and spiritual powers very soon. It was also possible that he could start showing his powers soon for real, like in four or five years.
Kagome hadn't forgotten his promise to Sesshomaru and she was still trying to acquire more medical skills, both with Kaede and Jinenji in the past and the future as an autodidact. Since she was still travelling back and forth, she was trying to find everything she could in the past that would equal future techniques. After all most of the future knowledge was useless without the proper tools.
They also decided to take the risk and keep some of the most useful books in the past, until the time Kagome learned everything on the subject. In her era, a lot was known about what could go wrong with pregnancies and the birthing process, while in the feudal era women still die frequently for unknown reasons. She was already applying her new knowledge with women in the village since she would be the healer there anyway, once she would have to take Kaede's place, and had started teaching something to Sango too. The slayer more than once was there to offer help while and both Kagome and Kaede had figured that someone else trained in the healing ways was always useful.
The more she learnt the more possibilities she had to save Rin's life in ten years or so.
However, her apprenticeship didn't stop in that sole area, Kagome was trying to learn everything she could about illnesses that were often deadly in the past and easy to cure in the future. She was filling notebooks upon notebooks of useful information and every time she found an appropriate cure, she noted it on them.
This way her free time decreased inevitably and it proved to be a problem when both Rin and her mother began to plan the marriage that Kagome and Inuyasha were to have in the future. Between school, her apprenticeship with Kaede, the medical researches that took up all of her free time, and a son who had just learnt to walk, she found herself without a second to devote to her wedding's preparation.
Not to mention find some alone time with Inuyasha, even if her mate had developed sneaky ways to kidnap her during the most unexpected moments.
Kagome has been disappointed at first because every girl wanted to be able to organize her own marriage, but her mother and Rin assured her that they would take care of everything and that she didn't have to worry at all. In private, Rin has also thanked her for all the time she was devoting to her "problem", but Kagome has waved her concern off telling her that she was glad to do it for her.
All of these brought them to the present day, it was the night of the new moon and Inuyasha and Kagome were laying on their futon thinking about the hard week that was waiting for them.
Kagome would turn eighteen the next week and it had been decided that Inuyasha and she would marry on the same day; she will start the finals two weeks later. Shortly after that, they were going to destroy the jewel definitely and the well would stop working. She had the feeling that the following month was going to be very hard for her.
At least, she thought while Inuyasha hugged her from behind, she was not alone.
The following day they went to the future where they would have to stay until the wedding because Kagome wanted to supervise the final preparations. Inuyasha wasn't so much happy about the whole thing, he had already understood that marriage here was a bigger process than in the past and that it required more from him. The only reason why he was getting along with it was that he knew how much it meant for Kagome's family and since they had been always understanding – see her mother – and they had been the first ones to accept him as part of a family, he had agreed that this was the least he could do.
The wedding would be held at the shrine and only a few guests would have been present. Sesshomaru and Shippo's families would come as his guests, while Kagome's grandparents and three squealing girls would be there as hers. After the ceremony, Kaori and Rin had convinced Kagome to hold a reception in a famous hotel, whose owner owed a favour to Sesshomaru. Every other people they wished to invite could come there and in the end, they had invited many more people than Inuyasha would have preferred.
Inuyasha didn't like to be at the centre of the attention and he had quickly understood that being the groom meant being the star of the evening. Not to mention, he had said, they still had to resolve the ear problem. Sesshomaru had reassured him, saying that he had already everything in check and that he would let them know the day of the wedding. Inuyasha had protested because he didn't like surprises either, but there had been no way, his brother hadn't given in. Later that day, Kagome had remarked that if the dai-youkai was actually able to solve their problem, then he shouldn't be worried; this Sesshomaru wouldn't have caused him more problems.
However, Inuyasha knew only one thing for sure: during the last few months he had begun to dread his wedding day, all these preparations made him less and less willing to go through with it.
Since it was going to be another Shinto ceremony, Inuyasha had thought it was okay for him to wear his fire-rat again, after all, that was what he had worn when Kagome and he had got married in the village. But Sesshomaru explained to him that marriages within a common village, centuries ago, weren't usually celebrated as they are nowadays and that lots of people simply declared their marriage to the headman. However, he began, Inuyasha was of noble birth from both their father side and his mother side, which meant he had to have a better-celebrated marriage this time around. This included the kind of crap Sesshomaru used to make him wear in the past when he travelled to the West.
Inuyasha had groaned at that realization.
His brother had brought him to the seamstress where he usually went to buy all of his clothes, both formal or not. He had discovered the moth youkai was the apprentice of Asagi who, in this era, even if was still alive, had retired and decided to live her old age in peace and without working. Nodoka had created the wedding dresses for all of them, except Kagome who was going to wear her mother wedding kimono, and this morning Sesshomaru was going to pick him and Muteki up to go to the shop and let Nodoka make the last adjustments.
When they arrived, Shippo was already there waiting for them and Inuyasha was itching to hit him on the head like he used to do when he was just a kit – or like he still did when they were on the other side of well for the matter – because his excitement was getting on his nerves.
Oh, he knew they had left little Shippo pouting because he really wanted to witness their future wedding but couldn't. However, Inuyasha would have never imagined that a grown-up Shippo would have babbling for hours about how he had waited for five centuries just to see the wedding he had never got to see in the past. Really?
The only reason he had still to bump him was that his hands were currently busy trying to stop a squirming toddler from running all around the shop ruining and destroy everything in his path.
"Oh, I remember this," Shippo started to say, in the middle of another nostalgic fit. Muteki was now the one on the stand, trying on his little kimono, white and blue with their royal crest on it and Inuyasha was really proud of how he looked. He and Kagome did make cute babies. "Kagome brought some pictures of the wedding to show us how it went and Sango and she went on squealing about Muteki's dress for hours," he exclaimed, clearly lost in his memories. "I remember being jealous of everything she showed us."
"Shippo," Sesshomaru interrupted him sternly, glaring at him.
"What?"
"You cannot tell them anything that regards your past but their future unless it had been approved. That's the rule," he answered, icily demeanour back in place. At that moment, he reminded Inuyasha of his old self.
"Oh, come on, Sesshomaru! Are you for real? I didn't tell him anything, Kagome had probably already told them that she going to bring them some pictures. It's already settled."
"Dad, you're really boring," Nibori remarked at the same time.
They shut up after Sesshomaru had shot them the death glare.
"So, uhm... I was saying," Shippo continued gulping, "Muteki is beautiful, just like I remember."
In the meantime, back at the shrine, Rin, Kaori and Kagome were checking the guest list. The young priestess was utterly shocked by the number of people her family plus Sesshomaru and Rin had gathered for the function. Wasn't it a little too much?
She was about to voice her opinion when the sound of the doorbell interrupted her.
When Mrs. Higurashi went to open the door she found herself looking at a beautiful woman of circa her age, white long hair held in two high ponytails and golden eyes just like her son-in-law and grandson. She was stunning and it took Kaori a couple of minutes before asking, "May I help you?"
"Yes! Is Kagome here today?" she asked back, excitement coming out of every pore and eyes gleaming.
Before Kaori could even formulate an answer on her mind, both her daughter and Rin came from behind and asked at the same time.
"Kimi?"
"Mother?"
Kaori looked at one and then at the other. She decided that Rin's comment was more important and asked aghast "Mother?"
"Oh, Rin dear, you are here too. I should have known, you told me you have been organizing the wedding after all," Kimi greeted her and then turned to Kagome. "Kagome, it's been quite some time, isn't it? At least for me. I'm sure my old self had been pestering you and the cute darling of yours a lot. I hope my coming here is not disturbing you, but I brought something that I thought you could appreciate."
At that moment, Kaori got out from his daze and told her, "Oh, I'm sorry for my rudeness, please come in and then you can all explain to me how you know each other and who exactly you are."
Once they were settled in the living room Rin began the introductions. "This is Kimi, Kaori, Sesshomaru's mother. She's is a dog demon too but she's now wearing her concealment charm. Kimi, as you may have gathered, this is Kaori, Kagome's mother."
"You remind me a lot of him now that I look at you closely. You really are all beautiful in your family," Kaori giggled. "Kagome, dear, you are lucky, your children will be the most beautiful of all."
"Mom!" Kagome cried in embarrassment. She didn't need both the women to start talking about that.
"Oh, they will, I'm sure. Muteki is already a proof, isn't he?" Kimi agreed, winking at Kagome. "Now, anyway, I came to bring you something very important," she continued while putting on the table a quite large box. "I found it in the keep a couple of centuries ago by accident and it seemed to be like new. I've never given it to you in the past because I was specifically waiting for the day of your wedding," she explained. "Open up already."
Kagome looked up at her, still curious, but her sentence made her wonder. "You knew where I came from?" she inquired.
On the outside, Kimi was the usually controlled woman, but on the inside, she was trying to find a good answer without giving away too much. "Well, at some point you revealed your secret to me, Kagome, so I knew you would have married in a couple of centuries here too. I was sure you'd have appreciated." She gestured toward the box.
Kagome cautiously opened the box and looked agape at what was inside. "What? How?"
Inside she found a beautiful wedding kimono, of the kind princesses used to wear in the past. It consisted of a brilliant red and gold Uchikake decorated with motifs of cranes, which were considered a good omen for the couple for a long and peaceful married life, and a white Kakeshika to wear underneath. It was thicker than any other wedding kimono she had ever seen and the silk was very soft and in perfect condition. Not a single detail was out of place and it certainly showed no signs of wear; it really looked like new and freshly packaged. The difference was that this type of kimono, so meticulously decorated and sewn, wasn't even produced anymore today.
Of course, Kagome thought, the model was still produced for those who chose a Japanese type of marriage and not the Western one that was now more popular, but certainly, there it was so difficult to find a kimono so beautiful and well made. It also had the Inu-no-Taisho's royal crest embedded on the collar, she noticed.
"It is made of demon silk, that's why it is still like new." Kimi had found it when Sesshomaru had ordered the Lady's chamber in the royal wing to be prepared for Inuyasha and Kagome's first arrival in the West. Given that no one had been allowed to enter those chambers since the day Toga had died, no one knew of the painting he had commissioned or of the beautiful kimonos he had prepared for Izayoi.
Among them, Kimi had been surprised to find the one the princess had worn the day of their wedding; she had recognized it when she had seen the portrait. At that time she already knew of Kagome's futuristic origin and she had thought that she could save this kimono for Kagome for some special occasion there at the palace, then Sesshomaru had told her that Kagome and Inuyasha were to be married in her future with her family and Kimi had decided to keep it quiet for some centuries. Seeing the expression on Kagome's face now, she thought it had been worth the wait. "If you look at it closely you will recognize it."
"This was..." Kagome was stunned. Now that Kimi had made her notice, she recognized as the one Inuyasha's mother had been wearing in the painting that was currently in their office in the castle. "This is the Kimono Izayoi-hime was wearing in the painting," she managed to say. "Sesshomaru said it portrays their wedding day, doesn't it?" She looked up at Kimi. Her mother and Rin were just as shocked as she was and couldn't keep their eyes away from the magnificent kimono.
"It is," Kimi replied. "I thought it was the only right thing to do. You are marrying her son, after all. It is like you were her daughter. I'm sure both she and Toga would have approved it, Kagome dear." She patted her hand lightly. "You would look simply exquisite in it, I can't wait to see the look on Inuyasha's face when he sees you in it."
"But..." Kagome tried to say, looking at her mother. They had decided she would have worn her mother-wedding kimono.
Kimi must have read the uncertainty on her face because she hastened to add, "You will still wear your mother's at the ceremony here at the shrine. You could change into this one for the reception. What do you think?"
Kaori nodded and offered her an encouraging smile. "This way you could also honour Inuyasha's mother."
"I would be honoured Kimi-sama," Kagome said then, standing up and bowing low.
"Oh, there's no need of this, Kagome. When have you ever bowed to me? We've known each other for a long time now."
"It's settled then, Kagome-chan," Rin suddenly exclaimed excitedly. "You are going to wear this splendour. You have to prove it immediately; we need to know if some changes need to be made."
Later that day, when Kagome had told Inuyasha about his mother's wedding kimono he had been surprised that Sesshomaru's mother would save the kimono for her. He had thought that since his mother had been his father's second wife, Kimi would have resented her in some way, especially back then. Kagome had reassured him, reasoning that since his father and Kimi had parted not only by mutual accord, but Toga had met his mother a couple of centuries later, there was no reason to hold animosity towards the human princess anymore since she had clearly overcome her old prejudices against human.
Inuyasha had then expressed his desire to see his mother's kimono but Kagome had refused, saying that it was bad luck to see it before the marriage.
"But I already saw it!" Inuyasha protested. "Remember the painting in the office? She was wearing it!"
"It's not the same thing. It's different than seeing it for real."
"We are already married anyway, Kagome. What bad luck should this bring? This whole ceremony thing is just for your family!"
"Just for that?" Kagome narrowed her eyes and gave him the hairy eyeball. "I'd let you know that this is the kind of wedding I've always been dreaming of since I was a little girl and my father used to tell me stories of princesses and knights. Just because we already married in the village, it doesn't mean I don't want this marriage to be perfect! The reason why we married before I finished school was the impossibility to live in the village otherwise; it wouldn't have looked good. However, this is the marriage I really wanted so please humour me when I am asking something like this." She had started crying, sending Inuyasha into a panic mode. He had hastened to soothe her, bringing her into his arms and caressing her back tenderly. "Don't you wanna the surprise? It'd be better when you see me wearing your mother's kimono for the first time. Besides, I'm not asking you to wait for months, the ceremony is in a week," she concluded still sniffing.
"You're right," Inuyasha complied, "I'm sorry I said those things. I know how much you care about it."
She looked up at him and brushed her lips against his, "I'm sorry I reacted badly too."
Eri, Yuka and Ayumi had been surprised when Kagome had told them the first time that Inuyasha had already asked her to marry him, but when she told them she was going to marry on her eighteen birthday they couldn't believe their ears. Why so soon?
They thought they were still too young for that and they had imagined they would still wait for some years. However, Kagome explained to them that she was going to move to Beppu definitely with Inuyasha after graduation, they wanted a proper marriage and a ceremony at the shrine for her family's sake; it didn't change so much if they marry some week before.
Overall, this explanation had been enough for the girls and after that, they started squealing happily and insisted on their presence at the shrine's ceremony; Kagome had easily given in.
From that moment on, her marriage was all the girls were able to talk about, not even the upcoming exams were that important anymore. In this way, almost the entire school came to know that Kagome would marry her long-time boyfriend by the end of the school year. All of this had been the gossip of the moment for a while, but like everything, a new one had soon replaced it.
Kagome decided to invite Kanako and her friends to the wedding reception, plus the girls' date and even considered inviting Hojo too, but Inuyasha put his foot down at that. Actually, he more like stumped that foot down and he offered a faithful representation of his young son when he was throwing a tantrum and wanted something that had previously been denied. There was no way he would have accepted that wimp's presence at his marriage; he would have probably caused some ruckus and tried to claim that Kagome should have been with him instead; he didn't want their day ruined by the memory of him. Did she want to remember the way he and Koga had reduced him in a bloody pulp during her wedding day? Because she could be sure, the wolfy would have backed him up in that!
Kagome remembered well the utter despair she had seen on Hojo's face when the news of her marriage had started spreading at school. Usually, they still talked at school and maintained a friend-like relationship but she could see that he was still hoping she would break up with Inuyasha to have his chance.
It had annoyed Kagome because Hojo was implying that Inuyasha and she were bound to separate eventually, but then she had realized that the schoolboy was just hopeless. That's why when he asked her aghast if it was all true after he had found out about the marriage, Kagome calmly answered that since they were very in love and she was going to live with him after school, it was simply the right thing to do. Why should they not marry if they were going to spend their life together anyway? A couple of years wouldn't make any difference.
Behind her, Kanako and her friends shook their head at Hojo's ingenuity and Eri, Ayumi and Yuka pitied him because he clearly couldn't get over his crush on Kagome.
Her friends couldn't even understand why Kagome seemed to be so relaxed about everything. She was going to get married, start her life as a married woman and probably even start thinking about children when she was still 18 years old. Wasn't she nervous?
If only they had known that Kagome had been having a married life for almost two years now and she already had a son too, they would have probably fainted.
Koga, Ayame and their big family were coming too, but only at the reception; Koga had claimed that it would have been strange to stand as the Mutt's family and couldn't pass as Kagome's either.
It would be also the first time they get to meet each of their daughters. They had already met their two sons and their little girls, but since the others were already mated and with children of their own, they hadn't had too many opportunities to meet them. Luckily, they weren't going to bring every child of them at the wedding since fifteen daughters and sons with the respective mates and children, would have been too much even for Kagome.
Inuyasha and Kagome had met Ginta and Hakkaku too during those last two years, and the first time they had excitingly greeted Kagome as their usual, calling her 'sister'. They knew that they were the ones from the past and the secret of her origins had been revealed to them; they had always been loyal and trustworthy so Sesshomaru had had no real concern with that, as long as they didn't let it slip with someone else. His cold stare had been enough for them to nod and promise they would be extremely cautious. However, no one had told them what exactly the time portal was, nor where they could find it. One more precaution, Sesshomaru had stated.
The two wolf demons were coming to the reception too, to Kagome's delight and Inuyasha's dismay who claimed his marriage was going to be overcrowded with stinky wolf demons.
"I warn you 'Gome," Inuyasha started after Koga had confirmed his presence at their marriage, "if he doesn't keep quiet the whole time and avoid being as loud as usual or if even makes some inappropriate comment just to embarrass me, I won't hesitate to kick his ass; I don't care if it's our wedding day or not."
Kagome couldn't do anything but scrub a hand over her face.
Kagome's three school friends also discovered Rin was the one organizing everything and when they met her again they insisted a bachelor party should be organized. Even if it wasn't a Japanese tradition, everyone had one by now and Kagome must have one. Rin gladly complied and promptly started organizing it, thinking about all the fun things they could without over-protective jealous mates and crying sons around.
When Inuyasha found out what women usually did at a bachelor party he went in full rage mode and claimed that there was no way he would have let his mate have one and that he would have kept her closed in their room if it was necessary. Obviously, his reaction earned him more than one SIT and when he finally calmed down, willing to listen to her, Kagome explained that it wasn't certainly mandatory to bring men to the party and she had already refused when Eri, Yuka and Ayumi had suggested it. They would probably just go to a club, dance a little or sing. He finally gave in after Kagome had to sit him some other times and in the end, Rin suggested Sesshomaru they organized something to keep Inuyasha busy the same night.
They could never know, he could always show at their party and ruin their fun. They couldn't let Kagome sit him into the seven hells either, it would have been hard to explain why he face-planted down every time Kagome said the magic word.
Sesshomaru agreed and organised a simple night between men in a club, while Kaori and Gramps watched after Muteki.
While the girls had their simple fun without men, dancing, singing and some of them drinking too much, the men's night hadn't gone quite so smoothly. What Sesshomaru and Shippo hadn't predicted was that Koga would have done one of his. He may have been an adult wolf-demon with a wife and many children in tow, but sometimes he still acted like an immature cub.
Indeed, that night, while they were quite drinking in a club, they discovered his idea of fun when a scantily-clad woman approached Inuyasha and tried to sit on his legs, going so far as touching him suggestively. At first, Inuyasha had been too shocked to react; he hadn't ever seen a woman dressed like this, in his time even within the brothel women dressed more appropriately. When he finally came out of his daze he rudely shooed the woman away, demanding an explanation and glaring at Koga's laughing figure.
Apparently, the wolf demon had predicted everything. Koga had known that Inuyasha would have likely pushed the woman away and thought could have been fun. He even took a couple of pictures to remember the fantastic night.
He immediately changed his idea when both Inuyasha and Sesshomaru gave him the death glare and the half-demon chased him until he was sure each copy of the picture was destroyed; he even stumped his foot on the camera for good measure, much to the wolf demon's dismay.
Inuyasha was still too angered even when he came back to the shrine and demanded to know why no one had thought to explain to him that this kind of party envisages nude women for men too. Kagome and Ayame hadn't been happy either and both had their talk with Koga, but the miko was sure that the one held by Ayame would have been harder.
In the end, the last week had been busier for both Inuyasha and Kagome than they originally thought, but at least, Kagome reasoned, having so many things to do kept her away from nostalgic and sad thoughts.
The day before the wedding, they just picked her mother's parents up at the station. Since they knew Inuyasha and Kagome were already married, her mother had explained to them that they had been waiting for Kagome to finish school before having a proper reception and that was why they hadn't been invited before. That had settled them, it didn't take long to convince them.
Inuyasha had been worried Kaori's parents would reveal to everyone Muteki's real identity at the reception, but he had been reassured that even if it happened, no one would have believed them. They used to babble up about a lot of sense anyway.
Everything for the following day had been prepared and Kagome was starting to feel a little bit nervous; this was the first step to her new life, after all. She was laying supine on her bed, alone for the first time in a long time, not even Muteki was sleeping with her.
Inuyasha had been hard to convince when they had told him that he couldn't spend the night with her before the wedding. He had complained that there was no need because she was already married and certainly, she was no virgin. Gramps had even packed him a good wallop at that and said that he didn't care if they had been living as a married couple for almost two years, his granddaughter was going to sleep alone that night and he couldn't say anything to dissuade him. It was as tradition wanted.
Inuyasha, still too shocked because the old geezer had slapped him with something else than a fake ofuda, had tried to protest again saying that tradition wanted also the woman pure, but he had shut his trap as soon as he had seen the glare both Kagome and her mother were sending him. He had given in, bringing Muteki with him; they would be sleeping in Sota's room tonight. Grampa's voice, that said he would even place a pair of ofuda on Kagome's door to keep him away from her, had followed him.
She glanced at the clock on her nightstand and she noticed that midnight had come and gone. She had just turned eighteen and for the first time, she found herself thinking about all that had happened to her in the last three years.
She turned on her side, from her position she could still see the Goshinboku from her window, the scar that represented Inuyasha's confinement there for fifty years still visible.
She saw herself looking up at him, wondering why the boy had clear non-human ears, Kaede explaining to her about Kikyo and the sacred jewel, starting her journey with Inuyasha reluctantly. She remembered the first time he had called her for her name or he had acted like a jealous boyfriend. The first time she had really understand the depth of his feeling for her or the various times he had confided to her some memories of his past.
She turned again, belly up, and stared at the ceiling.
Who could have known, after everything she had been through in the first year, that she would marry him, that Inuyasha would have found the courage to tell her his true feeling?
After all the pain, the tears and the fear of dying at the hands of Naraku, they were going to take another big step.
Finally, she relaxed and a smile appeared on her lips. In the end, nothing really mattered, because she had gotten her wish: a life with Inuyasha. Tomorrow she would have the marriage of her dreams, but she had been living her dream for quite some time now.
A/N: A little bit of fluff at the end sounded good to me; I hope you liked the chapter.
For everyone who had been disappointed I hadn't described the marriage ceremony in one of the first chapters, the wedding is coming next!
Shinto ceremony in Japan are still common, but more often than not people prefer to have a western wedding even if the number of Christians is not so high; even brides who chose a more traditional marriage usually decide to adjust their wedding kimono.
Usually, they wear one kimono for the ceremony and then a second one for the reception. The first one is completely white and is called Shiromuku. It should symbolize pureness, cleanliness and virginity. This is not the case with our Miko, but since she will be wearing her mother's kimono, this one will be completely white. The second one is called Iro-Uchikake or simply Uchikake. It was typical of noblewomen centuries ago and could also be worn in winter, not only for weddings. The colours were usually red and golden, but today it can be found in purple too. This last one is the kind of kimono Kimi brought to Kagome.