Send up your wish, find the highest star

Follow your heart, your dreams can't really be that far

Our yearnings will take us to them today…

Awe.

The look on the faces of my family, which I had only met that day, was one of complete and utter awe.

All of them knew the story, had seen the statues in the quad of my college. Those same statues that represented courage and determination to all of Japan.

Seeing them live and in person was as much of a shock for my mother and my cousin as it was for me. The only person who wasn't totally blown away was Souta-jii-chan, who smiled widely and said, "welcome home, nee-chan."

Kagome made a face. "Wow, I really have been around long, huh" she remarked, figuring instantly that this old man was supposed to be her younger brother. She waved a hand in front of her face, as if to clear her thoughts. "Souta, do you…"

"Upstairs in your old room. You still have the key, right?" he grinned. The pair headed up the stairs, but as Inuyasha passed Souta-jii-chan, he swiped a hand in the air and said "Sankontessou!"

Inuyasha smirked, nodded, and followed Kagome, understanding the inside joke that the rest of us missed.

A few minutes later, Kagome and Inuyasha returned downstairs, wearing relatively normal clothes. Sure, they were bit out of fashion, but nothing too strange. Inuyasha turned to me immediately, and commanded "Let's go."

And then I was again piggy-backing with Kagome on his back. If the ride through the forest was breath-taking, the ride through the busy streets of Tokyo was exhilarating. On top of a building somewhere in Shinjuku, Inuyasha stopped, and sniffed the air. He then changed directions and continued leaping from rooftop to rooftop.

I began to notice where we were going when I saw Chiyoda University's clock tower. With a great deal of aplomb, he landed smack-dab in the center of the courtyard. Since it was Sunday, we weren't really noticed. After dismounting, Kagome caught sight of the statue that had haunted my childhood fantasies.

"No matter how many times I see it, it still freaks me out," she muttered, shaking her head solemnly.

Inuyasha's mind was elsewhere. He bent down, and began sniffing the ground. After some nosing around, he picked up whatever it was he was searching for, and ran off. Kagome and I followed, to the best of our abilities.

We finally caught up, and found him banging on a door in one of the classroom buildings, and screaming "I know you're in there! Come on out!"

The door finally opened, and to my absolute mortification, Professor Tezuka answered the door. I bowed deeply, and began mumbling apologies as quickly as I could. He stared blankly at me for a moment, then eyed Inuyasha suspiciously, then burst out laughing.

"It's all right, Higurashi! I knew that this moron would come looking for me one you found him. Congratulations."

Now I was really confused.

"Well," sighed Professor Tezuka. "Guess there's no reason for me to stay like this." There was a pop, and my forty-something literature professor was replaced with a twenty-something, somewhat hot, kitsune.

Then it hit me. Shippo. Professor Tezuka was Shippo the fox demon. The small, almost fluffy kid perched on Kagome's shoulder out in the courtyard was someone I had been around almost an entire year and I hadn't even noticed.

"So, Izayoi," he said, facing me. "How does it feel to meet your great-grandparents?"

"With all due respect, professor, you could have at least warned me. It would have saved me the trip to Kiba, too."

"I never said you COULDN'T ask me," he retorted. Then he turned to Kagome. "Kagome! It's been so long!" he cheered, hugging her.

"How did you survive the exorcisms, Shippo-chan?" she asked, once she pried the fox off of herself.

"The same way that Kouga, Sesshomaru and a lot of other more powerful youkai did. And I should remind you that I'm at least 500 years older than both of you!"

"Same old Shippo you always were…" Inuyasha muttered to himself.

"I'm not a kid anymore, Inuyasha."

"Wait, Shippo," Kagome cut in, "did you say that Kouga and Sesshomaru were still alive?"

"Yeah. Kouga's teaching history. Sesshomaru's the Prime Minister."

I almost choked at that last statement. "But I thought…" I began, but Shippo cut me off.

"He said that thing about Miroku and Sango to throw conspiracy theorists of his track."

"Hey Kagome…" Inuyasha asked. "What's a prime minister?"

"Um… that's kind of like the daimyo."

"WHAT THE HELL! Who let SESSSHOMARU be the daimyo?"

"Actually, everyone. He won by a unanimous vote," Shippo remarked, leaning back against the wall.

A door down the hall banged open, and Professor Ohyama, one of the most popular professors on campus, stuck his head out of his office. "Hey, shut up down there! I'm grading papers!" He then regarded the scene before him.

"Hey! Mutt-face! Where'ya been?" He removed a ring from his middle finger and revealed himself to also be 20-something, and apparently, a wolf youkai of some sort.

"Man, Kouga. You REEK!" Inuyasha replied, stepping between the wolf and Kagome. So that was this Kouga that Kagome and Inuyasha kept mentioning.

"Hey Kagome!" Kouga was trying to talk to her around Inuyasha, who kept standing in the way. "When dog breath dies, you can still come and be my second wife! You'll also be my favorite, of course! Whaddya say? Huh?" Each sentence was said around one of Inuyasha's shoulders, in a strange sort of dance.

"Sorry Kouga, I couldn't do that."

"Well, if you ever change your mind…"

"She's NOT changing her mind, wimpy wolf!" Inuyasha snapped.

"It's been 100 years for them, and 500 years or so for us, and some things will never change…" Shippo remarked, half to himself and half to me.

The reunion of Those Who Battled Naraku and Lived to Reminisce About It continued, and, feeling very left out, I retreated, unheard and unnoticed.

As I made my way through the courtyard back to my room, I stopped next to the statue. I had seen these people for myself, in real life. I again took note of the determination on their faces… and wished to be like them.

My life was boring. Prior to meeting Inuyasha and Kagome… my great-grandparents… I never even noticed. But after seeing history alive like that, I realized that my life was incredibly dull. The rivalries that I had heard in the hall, the battles, the romance…

None of that had ever happened to me. Was it possible that the most fascinating pair in all of legend gave rise to the most average person on the planet?

I was descended from the greatest hanyou to ever live, and I didn't even get any of the genetics.

I trudged back to my room, depressed. Oh well, at least I could start brainstorming for the essay.