Creative-hanyou-girl posted a headcanon on tumblr and my brain got inspired. Enjoy!
"Are you sure you wanted the headman to write that, Inuyasha? We could always go back –"
A clawed hand reached out and grabbed hers, giving it a squeeze. "I meant what I said in there," he replied gruffly, but his hint of a blush gave him away. With the setting sun most wouldn't be able to tell that he was flustered, but he knew his wife could.
His wife.
Despite it being written in the village records, he still couldn't wrap his head around it that Kagome was now his wife. The plan had been two wait. She had just returned to him. He had wanted to take it slow, to show her that he was more mature and didn't rush into things. He wanted to make up for all the time they lost being separated, court her like she deserved.
That resolve lasted all of a month at best, and he was pretty sure their friends – and probably half of the village – had been starting a pool on how long he could hold out. Kagome hadn't complained, in fact she had encouraged it.
If he blushed any harder his face would be glowing like a beacon before they returned home – something else that he'd rushed into. Come to think of it, it shouldn't have been surprising to anyone, knowing that he had built a home for her over the last three years. Inuyasha didn't want to dwell on it, instead scooping up his giggling wife and sprinting the rest of the way back.
"So?" she cooed, slipping her arms around his broad shoulders. "You want to explain why you chose to take my name?"
Mama Higurashi had her suspicions that they had interrupted something that evening. The half demon looked so put out as he left to go back to his time, not even interested in eating, that she felt a wave of guilt wash over herself. She knew it wasn't as though Inuyasha and Kagome were doing that, but he was certainly disappointed. It was almost as though he had been working up the nerve to do or say something for a long time – another thing she had her suspicions about. She thought that perhaps when he appeared next she could speak with him, but he hadn't graced their doorstep for over a week. Her next chance wouldn't come until the day that she found them outside of Kagome's school.
"Something almost happened that night, didn't it?" Mama tried not to laugh at how he appeared to panic. "I trust you, Inuyasha. I know you wouldn't be untoward –"
"I almost kissed Kagome!" he blurted out, his face now matching his robes. The scarf that she covered his head with still hung over his shoulders, and he had been twisting the excess in his hands as they walked back to the shrine. "We were talking, and I told her – I told her that I'd – p-protect her w-with m-my life and…"
The way he was scrambling to justify himself was both endearing and upsetting to her. The way he spoke sounded as though he were afraid she'd stop approving of him once she knew, and that couldn't be further from the truth. Mama held a hand up to stop him. it was sweet that he was being so forthcoming, but also…it wasn't her business to know all the details. "I'm sorry that we interrupted, dear. I know that took some courage for you to do."
Inuyasha nodded, and they fell into a comfortable silence the rest of the way. When they reached the steps, he spoke again, and this time he caught her by surprise.
"I want to be Kagome's husband."
"Oh. Um. Inuyasha, I think you might have that the other way around?"
"I don't. I want to be Kagome's husband."
The ascent was slow, and Mama took advantage of this, trying to figure out why Inuyasha was wording this the way he was. "I had a feeling," she started, thinking back to the day that Kagome came to the realization that she loved the half demon. "Perhaps it's me misunderstanding the way things are done in the past, but I thought that you would approach me and ask me if Kagome could be your wife?"
"It…it is…normally…" The half demon's ears drooped under the cover of the scarf. His hands weren't twisting it so much as gripping it now. "Men with something to their name will ask the woman's family for their daughter's hand. But when you don't have anything to your name…or even a name…"
Mama's feet stalled at that statement. Inuyasha had taken a few steps ahead before he noticed that she'd stopped. "Sweetheart, how can you say you have nothing to your name? You've done so much…"
Inuyasha's eyes wouldn't meet hers. "I…don't have a name. I have my father's sword, this robe of the fire rat, but I never learned his name. I…can't even remember my mother's name," he said softly. "She died when I was so young that I can't remember it. I thought… I thought maybe…"
She closed the distance the moment she saw that he was starting to shut down, and she wouldn't allow it. "Go on, Inuyasha. What were you going to say?"
"I… I thought that… if it were alright with you, if Kagome would have me – and you guys would have me – that…that I could take your name and be a Higurashi too?"
She hadn't meant to cry on him as she pulled him to her, but well…it couldn't be helped. "Of course we would have you! Just as I'm sure that Kagome would say yes." Now that they were out of sight of the general public, she pushed the scarf off of his head and down around his shoulders. Mama knew he didn't care much for wearing a hat, and though the fabric was softer, it still must have annoyed his ears. "And for the record, sweetheart – you have always been a Higurashi to me."
It had been three years since Kagome went through the well for the last time, and Mama felt her heart ache more now than it had in a while. Souta was going to be graduating from high school this week, and it took her back to the days when Kagome was the one stressing over the milestone. It hurt not having her here with them to celebrate, but she couldn't begrudge her daughter's happiness. Those three years had been painful, and she had wished each night that there had been something she could do to make her happy once more.
Looking at the framed piece that hung in the family room was proof that she knew her daughter was happy at last.
During one of the visits where Inuyasha helped Grandpa around the shrine, her father-in-law had discovered it. She was thankful that it wasn't shown to the half demon; there was no telling if it would have messed with time or not. After Kagome had left, she had gotten it back out, set up in a special frame to preserve its significance.
Mama had cried happy tears when, a month after hanging it, she had seen the names Kagome Higurashi and Inuyasha Higurashi appear on the family tree, denoting that they were married. That had made her heart feel so full, finally knowing that he was officially part of the family.
To see a new name appear that morning had been a shock. A happy shock, nonetheless, and a date that she would write down in the records.
Moroha Higurashi.
The family tree wouldn't be able to say so technically, because of the expanse of time, but she knew the truth. She was now a grandmother.
