IKIGAI

"The reason to be."

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Page XIV

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"… the way in which the meat mask was expanding as it pursued me, was terrifying. For too long of a moment I believed it would catch me, and my skin, my hair, my entire being would become part of it." It isn't the first time I've read this, but I can't help taking an instant to think about the fear you must have felt. I am, and was back then, already used to facing such creatures, yet it was still all too new for you. "Through my mind, I kept repeating InuYasha's name. I had sent Souta for him, and I hoped he could convince him. I must add that, back then, I didn't think InuYasha would bother saving me, and that he'd only cross the well because of the Pearl."

In that moment I stop, and look at you.

"You know that's not true, right?" I retort, in the same way I did the first time I read this part. And the second.

Your eyes are on me, as the suddenly awakened afternoon breeze gently sways your hair, and then you smile.

"Keep going, Otōsan." Says Moroha, who is swinging her legs back and forth while seating on a branch of the same tree you are leaning against.

"When will you be the one to read?" I've made the question several times already.

"I like to listen to you." And she always answers the same.

"InuYasha arrived and faced the mask, which was now a mass of bodies, crawling heavily, yet even then it was dangerous. Its expression was one of madness, and the rest of it seemed able to swallow the entirety of the building still in construction we were in… "

"Moroha!" I hear Hisui's voice, Sango and Miroku's little boy.

Our daughter falls from the tree and elegantly lands on her feet. She is around eight cycles old, which makes her more and more independent from us.

"We'll continue later!" She says to us both, her voice with a hint of song and joy, before sprinting towards her friend, and his sisters, the twins.

You and I stare in her direction, the same one she disappears in, some moments later.

"Do you remember when this story used to frighten her?" It feels like something from not that long ago.

"I do." I hear the smile that comes along with your reply.

My gaze returns to the book in my hands then, and albeit I don't do it out loud, I read the part where you talk about Souta, and how relieved you were when you saw him. I remember how small your brother was back then, much like Moroha is now, and the memory awakes another feeling, a strange one that settled in my chest as soon as I found out our daughter was on the way. It was a strange mix between fright and expectation and, on top of everything, love for the life we both created.

The idea settles in my mind, and albeit having another child has been a possibility we've entertained, we have yet to talk about it seriously.

"Kagome." I say, turning my head to set my gaze on you. Your eyes observe me with the preceding innocence of someone who seeks understanding… yet soon the chestnut brown of your gaze turns intense, then bright, in that unique way that tells me you've read my thoughts.

Then, you smile.

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A/N

A new page of a story recreating moments I wish for this family.

Thank you for reading, commenting, and keeping me company.

Anyara.

This text is possible thanks to the translation of: Dezart