From the moment Hiro Higurashi heard his daughter's voice, he knew he would love her for forever. She had such a wonderful cry, and such a loud and powerful voice Hiro instantly felt proud. And when the doctors handed his daughter to him, he saw that she had the most perfect blue eyes.

Hiro decided that nothing in life would ever make him as happy as seeing his daughter would. He decided with his wife that they would name their precious daughter Kagome, after the childhood nursery rhyme. She was so small, but so perfect, and Hiro wanted to watch her grow into a great woman.

And as Kagome grew month by month, it was clear to the whole world how much she adored her father. They became an inseparable father and daughter pair, playing games and having fun together. Hiro always knew how to take care of Kagome, and seemed to know what she need before she began to cry.

Mari, Kagome's mother, didn't understand Kagome at all. The baby always seemed to be crying around her, and Mari was never one to like babies. She would leave the house early and come home late, rarely seeing her daughter and rarely cared. Hiro and Mari would get into fights about Mari's demanding job, and how she didn't pay enough attention to Kagome. She was already seven months old by the time Mari decided to spend a little time with Kagome.

By then, it was quite clear to Hiro that Mari wasn't the mother to Kagome he'd wanted her to be. And he accepted it. He'd married Mari because it would unite her impressive family background with his. He decided that he wouldn't push the issue of Mari being a more active part in Kagome's life, so long as Kagome didn't mind when she grew older.

Kagome never seemed to mind that her father was the one who was always taking care of her. Even as a baby who was interested in everything, she seemed to pay as little attention to her mother as Mari paid to her. So Kagome continued to grow older and better with each passing day.

It was only until Kagome began to speak when Hiro sensed something was truly different about his daughter. Her first word was, "Daddy," and then she began to say other words like yes, no and bottle. But somewhere along the way, Kagome began to say "Kikyo."

The first time Hiro had heard his little ray of sunshine talk about Kikyo, he thought he must've misheard her. Babies were prone to talking about nonsense. Then, once Kagome started speaking coherent sentences, he heard it again. She would talk about what Kikyo had done when she was three. Hiro dismissed it, thinking Kikyo was a friend from school.

Then Kagome began to talk about Kikyo more and more. She would talk about weird things, like how to plant seeds and old wives tales, like how you shouldn't whistle at night or you will attract spirits. Hiro wondered where Kagome had learned those things, and decided he should investigate. The daycare center that she visited while Hiro was at work told him that they'd never had a Kikyo spend time at their center. They also told him that they'd never taught Kagome how to plant seeds, which seasons were best for harvesting or any old wives tales.

"Kagome," Hiro asked his daughter one day, "who is Kikyo? Is she your friend?"

He knew all about imaginary friends. Imaginary friends were completely normal for kids to have at her age, and he wasn't too worried. He was just curious about how she had learned all of these old-fashioned ideas from Kikyo.

"She's my sister," Kagome replied, her bright blue eyes glittering as she began to dance her way around the kitchen.

Hiro nodded and let the issue pass. Imaginary sisters were just as normal as imaginary friends. Feeling silly because he had been worried about Kagome and her imaginary sister, Hiro stopped thinking about it altogether. It wasn't until Kagome was six when the matter was brought up again.

During the parent-teacher night at Kagome's school, her teacher Mrs. Tomo asked to speak with Hiro in private. She started out with telling him about Kagome's brilliance, how she was catching on to learning all written forms of Japanese quickly and learned fast. Hiro was filled with pride for his sweet daughter.

"But Higurashi-san, I think you should talk to Kagome about Kikyo," Mrs. Tomo told Hiro, meeting his eyes and trying to convey the importance of the matter.

"Kikyo?" He was surprised. Kagome talked a lot about Kikyo, but it was normal for children to have imaginary friends. And the stories Kagome told him about Kikyo—he was always surprised by how detailed and complex they were. She really was brilliant, to be able to have such an inventive mind.

"Kagome talks about Kikyo all the time. And though it is normal for children to have imaginary friends, this isn't the normal case. Kagome is in second grade, and by now most children have stopped talking about their invisible friends. They leave that for when they're playing by themselves. Kagome, though, plays with Kikyo all the time. She has few friends whom she talks with besides Kikyo."

Hiro frowned. So his daughter was a bit anti-social. She was fine, and he wasn't going to listen to some teacher who thought she knew everything about kids. Kagome was Kagome, and he wasn't happy she was trying to suggest her daughter was going to become mentally unstable.

"There are many kids who grow out of this phase, but something about the way Kagome talks about Kikyo that worries me." Hiro felt like he had time jumped back to a few years ago when he was worried about Kagome and her little friend Kikyo.

"The other day at recess, I tried to get Kagome to play with some other girls. I figured she would get along great with this girl Yuuka, but Kagome refused, saying she was playing with Kikyo. She told me that she had played with Yuuka yesterday, and she had promised Kikyo she would listen to Kikyo's stories that day." Mrs. Tomo bit her lip and frowned.

"When I asked her about the stories Kikyo was telling her, she said Kikyo was telling her about Kikyo's life, and Kagome had promised her she would learn from the stories. Then I asked her what Kikyo was trying to teach her, and Kagome said, 'Kikyo had a very sad life because she was a miko who loved a hanyou and had to fight a bad hanyou named Naraku. She saw Rin die, and she wants me to love my family a whole lot!'"

A tense feeling settled over Hiro. He'd never heard Kagome talk about someone dying, and he understood it wasn't completely normal for a little girl to be thinking about death. Nodding to Kagome's teacher, he asked, "So you think I should talk to Kagome about Kikyo?"

Mrs. Tomo shifted. "Well, yes. She seems to think Kikyo lived a long time ago, and won't listen to me when I try to explain that Kikyo is just imaginary."

Hiro left parent-teacher night and drove over to his brother's house. His brother, who had a ten year old son named Miroku, probably had experience with things like imaginary friends.

"Satoshi," Hiro greeted his brother with a firm hug as he opened the door to his house.

Hiro entered his brother's house and sat in a chair at the kitchen table. Satoshi sat down across from him and leaned back in his chair. "What's wrong, little brother?"

Hiro frowned. "It's about Kagome."

Satoshi leaned forward and nodded, silently telling his brother to explain. When Hiro told him about Kikyo, Satoshi furrowed his eyebrows. "Miroku never really had imaginary friends when he was younger—he had a lot of class mates he got along with. These days, though, my son seems to be causing a lot of trouble with the girls."

Hiro smiled and shook his head. "Miroku, you can come in here." The ten year old walked around the corner he had been sitting at eavesdropping and took a seat at the table.

"Has Kagome ever talked to you about Kikyo?" His father questioned him.

Miroku nodded, "Well, yeah. Kikyo's her soul sister."

Both men raised an eyebrow. "She's been telling me about Kikyo's life for years. Kikyo lived five hundred years ago." Miroku finished with a grand nod.

"So you're telling me," Hiro murmured, "my daughter has a spirit following her around and telling her how to live her life?" When Miroku confirmed his question, Hiro bid goodbyes and returned home.

For a while he couldn't get much out of his daughter. She told him all about Kikyo, but when he would suggest maybe she stop talking to Kikyo, Kagome would get mad. Her sparkling blue eyes would darken and she would say that she would never abandon Kikyo, because Kikyo was family.

So Hiro began to silently pay more attention to his daughter and Kikyo. If Kikyo was actually a spirit who was following Kagome around, he would worry Kikyo was a vengeful spirit. And if she was an imaginary friend, he would worry for his daughter's ability to make friends. Hiro didn't really know what to think anymore, but if he paied close attention to Kagome, he could see her listening to Kikyo.

When she listened to Kikyo, Kagome's eyes turned a placid blue color, and she would focus intently on some unknown voice. Then she would nod, and her face would return to normal, and she would stop listening.

Then one day when Kagome was ten, while Hiro was driving his daughter to her miko classes, Kagome told him Kikyo had stopped talking to her.

"It happened a week ago," she glumly stated. "Kikyo told me that since I'm ten now, and she's taught me as much as she could, she's just going to watch over me again. She also tells me that because I'm the new shikon miko, I have to focus on my miko studies more."

"Shikon miko? Kikyo told you that you're the new shikon miko?" Hiro knew all about the shikon jewel. It had been destroyed years ago by the last shikon miko, and was never seen again.

"Daddy, it's okay," Kagome said quietly, because she knew her dad was a bit distressed, "I am just a really powerful miko. Even though I can't use the power because I don't have enough control, Kikyo said that the power that was left over from the shikon jewel is in my soul."

Hiro frowned and pulled into the parking lot of Kagome's miko training school. "Okay honey, I love you," he kissed her forehead as she left the car. Hiro felt how sad Kagome was without Kikyo, and remembered what he really wanted for his daughter. He wanted her to be happy.

The summer break of Kagome's first year in college, she came home to visit her father. She had been studying history and business, and Hiro was so proud of her. Because Hiro was in the middle of a job change, Kagome had arranged to stay with her best friend Sango until he had his work sorted out.

They had arranged to meet at a café for lunch the day after she arrived, but Hiro arrive an hour early. Even though he spoke with his daughter often, and tried to visit her as much as his job would allow, he was thrilled to have her back home. He had finally worked out his job and home situation the day before, so she could stay with him now. But just to see his little baby girl… that was enough for him.

Kagome arrived thirty minutes before the scheduled arrival time, and smiled warmly when she saw him. "I knew you were going to be early Dad, but not this early."

"I knew you would be early," he teased back and ordered her a tea. His sweet daughter looked beautiful in the pink sweater he had sent her, and it warmed his heart to see her looking so mature. Nineteen years ago he had never expected her to look so charming, or to even grow up, for that matter. But now, he wouldn't have wished his or her life to turn out any differently.

"How's school?" He asked and they talked for a while. She told him about her friends, classes and teachers, as he shared his frustrations over his job.

"How is mom doing?" Kagome asked, sipping her second cup of tea.

A frown passed over Hiro's face and he glumly replied, "Your mother and I—we're going through a bit of a rough patch. She… wants to feel young again but I… don't. I'm happy with being the father I am."

"You guys are still young," Kagome patted her father's hand. "Don't short change yourself. You still have a lot of life left in you."

No sooner had the words left her mouth, when eyes glazed over. Kagome's hand stilled, and Hiro recognized the look on her face. Kikyo was talking to her.

They were silent for a moment until Kagome closed her eyes, and bowed her head. Hiro watched his daughter as she seemed to crumple from the inside out after hearing what Kikyo told her. A deep pit settled in his stomach and he began to pat his daughter's shoulder.

Kagome straightened and met her father's eyes. "Dad—I"

"What did Kikyo tell you?" Hiro gently inquired as his features smoothed into a kind, fatherly expression.

Kagome cleared her throat. "She told me to remind you that I love you. I love you so much, Dad."

Her eyes brimmed with tears. "I couldn't have asked for a better father. You mean the world to me—you've always been there for me. I want you to know I'll always love you."

Hiro felt his own throat choke up. "Kagome, I wanted to tell you. I just didn't know how," his voice broke, "Did Kikyo tell you that I have cancer?"

Kagome nodded, her tears spilling over her cheeks. "You can get past this. We can work through this…"

"Sweetheart," a tear leaked out of one eye, "you know it really isn't possible. I have colon cancer. I'll be gone in a few months."

Kagome sobbed quietly and Hiro took her to his car so he could drive her back to Sango's house. For a while, they just sat in the car together, weeping softly. Kagome wept because she would lose her father, her very first loved one, and so much more. Hiro wept because he would lose the opportunity to see his daughter grow older, and then see her have children of her own. He didn't regret anything in his life, nothing at all. Only not having a longer life, to see his perfect daughter grow into the woman she was meant to be.

After a while, Hiro broke the silence. "How did she know? Kikyo, I mean."

Kagome rubbed her eyes and smiled weakly. "She can see your black string of death. She's a spirit, you know."

Hiro nodded, and felt at peace. He had worried a long time ago about Kikyo and Kagome, but he wasn't worried anymore. Kagome would be just fine.

"She told me because she knew it was hard for you. Even though she hasn't spoken to me for nine years," Kagome let out a light laugh as another tear slid down her cheek, "she knew you were important enough to break the silence."

Hiro smiled at his daughter. She was so smart. He was so proud.

"Don't worry, Dad. Kikyo will be waiting for you."

How's that for a chapter? Nice and juicy, and thick with back story. I promise the next chapter has to do with the real plot. But I couldn't resist. I needed to write about Kagome's father. The chapter had started out centered around Kagome and Kikyo's relationship, but it swiftly changed to Hiro Higurashi: boy wonder has a baby. And I'm not even sorry!

Oh, and did you catch where Hiro said Mari his wife and Kagome's mother wanted to feel young again? Remember that four months after Hiro's death, she was already pregnant and hastily remarried. Looks like she wanted to feel irresponsible too, doesn't it?

Now here's one last thing that somehow I've forgotten to adress: where is Souta? My answer to that is: I don't know! XD I know it would make a heck of a lot more sense if Souta was Kagome's sibling (or Kaede, even). But I like Rin a lot, so she's the lucky little winner who was chosen to be Kagome's little sister. Kikyo's too, if you were watching. (that will come into play later.) Also, now that Sesshomaru and Kagome are married, Sesshomaru is also one of Rin's guardians, just like in the show. So sorry if you were waiting for Souta to show up in this story, because he's not going to. My condolences, if you are sad.

~Gracie

All Characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi.