Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or its characters; that right belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. Nor do I own Heartwarming Aristocratic Marriage: Influential Master's Wife-Chasing Strategy (Web Novel) or its characters; that right belongs to Yuechu Jiaojiao.
Author's Notes: First, if the Author of the Web Novel ever finds this story and does not like it, I will immediately take it down out of courtesy to a fellow writer.
Second, this story will have triggering topics, so this warning is the only one you are all getting.
Third, due to the triggering topics and my (personal)situation that was aggravated my PTSD, I did not get to detail the topic graphically.
Fourth, if you know someone(or you, yourself) that has been in such a situation or something similar, I want you to know that you are still a person. That you are worthy of being loved and valued. Do not ever doubt your self-worth and that you are not the reason for a situation like that. It is never the victim's fault.
And lastly, I did my best to look up names and meanings in order of appearance: Cousin 1: Pei HaoLong - Abundant(surname Pei) Open Minded Dragon. Uncle 1: Pei HaoLin -Abundant(surname Pei) Open Minded forest. Uncle 2: Hao PeiWang - Straightforward(surname Hao) Admire King. Cousin 2: Hao PeiFang - Straightforward(Surname Hao) Admire Virtuous. And like many names, the way the Kanji/hiragana/katakana is written changes the meaning.
The sudden head rush had Kagome blinking as a bright light filled her vision.
"Alright, break it up!"
At the sound of an authoritative male voice shouting, Kagome frowned as she looked at the scene before her.
In the middle of a rather ostentatious-looking cafeteria were four boys, all in their teens, being pulled from their brawl. The tall, bespectacled boy delivered one last swift kick as he was yanked back by the collar of his school uniform jacket.
"I dare you to say something like that again. I'll beat you twice as bad, wuss."
Kagome recognized the speaker, although the voice was a few octaves higher due to youth. She knew the world she had landed in again. She did not want this level of daytime soap opera drama. The women were crazy over men, and the men could be insane levels of obsessive and possessive.
"Mr. Duan, restrain yourself."
Kagome bit her lip to keep from laughing aloud as she looked at a young Duan Linbai as he walked toward the young version of Fu Chen and Jing Hanchuan.
Giving a shake of her head, she muttered under her breath, "The next great scions of Bejings Noble families are human and act as normal roughens."
The comment had those around her going silent as a shadow hovered over her. Kagome's mind had chosen to recall a particularly obsessive and possessive man and watch him watch her as he cut her heart from her chest.
Lifting her eyes as she physically shuddered from the memory, she met deep, cold black eyes before turning and walking away without a care for that person's reaction.
"Excuse me; I am supposed to stand here."
The soft, feminine voice had him looking away from the graduation pamphlet.
The lifted eyebrows above blue eyes gave him pause. He'd wondered who Feng Kagome was, which had suddenly appeared before his name in the pamphlet. Since his graduation class was less than fifty people that he knew(though he'd rather he didn't).
"Take a picture if you want; it'll last longer."
The snarky retort had him grinding his back teeth as he stepped back. It was not his first time meeting this petite girl.
No, throughout the school year, he'd come across this freshman timid and again. She was distant, verbally rude, indifferent to social status, and didn't seem to care about anything. At all.
Yet he wasn't surprised she was the rumored freshman that had passed all the Senior tests to graduate early.
Often he had seen her studying in the library. She tended to lean towards Law, computer science, and coding. A strand mix if after he thought on it. He knew a lot about the two latter fields and had plans to start his own company and be independent of his Fu Family.
"Hey, come on, they will start the march soon. So move so I can squeeze in you bespectacled bean pole, big little uncle."
At the use of both monikers she had given him, Fu Sinian glared and took another step back to make 'more' room for her. Feeling irritated, he bit back a curt reply, knowing he'd only trigger this girl to be more verbally rude. He often wondered what he did in a past life that put this little angry ancestor in his path.
Hearing her give a soft snort as she stood before him, Fu Sinian couldn't hold back and finally retorted back, "There, be a happy tiny ghost."
The violent physical twitch that shook her body had him smiling as the teacher called to them to start walking as the music began to play, keeping the tiny girl from being able to speak.
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"Feng Kagome, what is the meaning of this!"
The loud shout from the man who was her father(in this life) had Kagome frowning. She understood why he was angry. And the instigation from her stepmother Chao Qinmei and 'adopted' step-sister Feng Lili didn't help.
It had been a week since graduating, and her diploma had been mailed to the house. Kagaome had purposefully let it be seen. Because for her to graduate early and take all the Senior tests, she needed a parent's signature, and her Stepmotehr wasn't a magnanimous person.
"It is what you see, my high school diploma."
The sour faces of the two white lotus behind her father pleased Kagome. However, she had been sure not to show it.
"I don't recall signing a permission sheet for you to take the Senior Finals."
"Ah," Kagome sighed, fighting to keep from rolling her eyes. "Recall three months ago, I gave you a stack of school-related documents. It was in there; I will not be blamed if you didn't read them."
Instantly her father's face turned dark red. But her father said nothing since he couldn't refute her words.
"What about the separation notification?"
Kagome smiled brightly as she spoke, "The document for that was also in that stack of school papers. It's finalized; I am no longer a part of the Feng family. My last name has been changed to one of my choosing. Your wife and daughter should be happy, and so should you."
Not wanting to bother with them anymore, Kagome reached out and took her diploma and notarized document of emancipation from her stunned father. With a nod of her head, she went back to her room.
In short order, Kagome took three pictures and posted them on Weibo. In each, the civil bureau's seal was visible, and she wrote a short message stating she was no longer a member of the Feng Family—clearly saying that the choice was hers and was due to irreconcilable differences. Double-checking everything, Kagome pushed send and watched as it uploaded.
Tossing her phone onto her bed, she packed what little she'd bring and turned on her PC and Laptop. Her father had bought them as a gift for entering High School with the second-best scores. But in her mind, they didn't belong to her.
She watched with a few clicks as the files she wanted to keep were copied to an external hard drive. Then pulling out a thumb drive that had been her mother's, Kagome stuck it in and activated one of the three programs her mother had made on it. Enjoying the site as the program scrubbed everything three times from the PC and Laptop hard drive, then factory reset it.
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Pinching his nose, Fu Sinian glared at the screen and the people on it. He had returned from Country M and had been informed there was an issue with the company that needed an emergency Team Meeting.
And the building superintendent had informed him that the apartment across from him had finally been rented. And that the new renter was polite and respectable. Though at this moment, he didn't agree.
"Give me a moment to ask my new neighbor to be quiet."
Not waiting for a reply, Fu Sinian stood and strode to the door and into the hall. The loud 'now clear' sound of gunfire and explosions echoed in the hallway. Then the deep voice cursing rather colorfully followed before blessed silence fell.
Fu Sinian didn't hesitate, curled his hand into a fist, and beat on his neighbor's door. Then the sound of talking filtered out.
"What was that?"
It's my door. It's late; I wonder who'd be so rude. Give me a second to check, guys."
Feeling his mood sour even further, Fu Sinian was shocked when the door jerked open, and he stared at a living room lit by black light before dropping his gaze. The sight of a familiar face with large dark-blue eyes that seemed to widen as they stared back at him had Fu Sinina feeling mildly shocked.
"Hey, Kago, who is it? Do we need to call 110?"
Fu Sinian watched as the face smoothed into a blank mask, and the petite girl, no woman, now pressed a button on her headset mic and spoke in the masculine voice he'd heard before the door opened.
"Nope, I am guessing it's my neighbor," she said while looking at him. Then with a smile, she spoke to him. "Hello, sir, what's wrong?"
Not one to play nice, Fu Sinian wonders what she was getting at pretending not to know him. He saw how her eyes had widened upon seeing him, so he knew she recognized him after all these years.
"I'm in a business meeting, and your gaming is loud and interrupting me. So can you be a bit quieter?" Fu Sinian said, pausing before continuing. "Please miss?"
The cold stare he got as she nodded her head had left him a bit put off. He wondered if she had mellowed after all this time.
"Hey, your neighbor's voice is nice, deep, and sexy. Is he good-looking?"
Fu Sinian got a bad feeling as blue eyes raked over him from head to toe and back again as if he was some object for purchase. Then the smile that curled her pink lips confirmed his bad feeling as he watched her press the talk button once more to speak.
"No. It's a bespectacled uncle who is thin as a beanstalk, and his face looks like a cryptid."
Fu Sinina felt like he'd been doused in cold water and missed his chance to retort when the door was shut on his nose. The low, happy laughter that filtered out only added salt to his bruised ego.
"Let's switch to our mains to test the new game engine we are building, ladies, and lay waste to the male chauvinist who looks down on us girl gamers."
It felt like those words were also directed at him, and Fu Sinian knew it'd be too tiring and a waste of time to get her to open the door. Besides, he had a meeting to finish. Though he was a hundred percent sure Feng Kagome recognized him.
After entering his apartment and sitting back down, Fu Sinian was silent for a while before speaking. Feng Kagome's words bothered him.
"Do I look like a cryptid?"
The shock on everyone's faces told him that he'd asked an irrelevant question.
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"Stop right there, Feng Kagome!"
The shrill pretentious voice echoed across the mall's fountain area, and Kagome did not intend to listen to its owner.
Her heart was beating fast in her chest. It'd been almost twelve years since she had seen this duo. A part of her subconscious had thought she'd be fine if she ran into them. Then again, it was her second run-in with Feng Lili. The first was a week ago, so she wondered if her (ex)step-sister was stalking her.
"You unfilial child! I am your mother, so stop right now."
Kagome felt her body stiffen when a hand grabbed her shoulder and painfully jerked her to a stop. Anger seemed to surge from a place deep inside her as people began to watch the spectacle.
"Feng Kagome!"
Spinning Kagome looked at Feng Lili and her mother, Chao Qinmei, a cold smile curling her lips.
"Excuse me, but I am not this Feng Kagome. Remove your hand, and please leave me alone, or I'll call the police for attempted assault and forceful detainment."
Her words had the two's faces shifting through a few colors. It was a little satisfying.
"Don't lie; you are my sister, Feng Kagome," Feng Lili shouted as Kagome watched her eyes grow moist with fake tears.
"I have my ID; I can show it to everyone present. It says Higurashi Kagome," Kagome replied calmly, pleased at how Feng Lili grimaced. "I heard over a decade ago the person you mentioned severed ties with your Feng Family, under official means no less. Didn't she even post the notarized documents on Weibo with the reason she chose to leave due to irreconcilable reasons? Then she froze that Weibo account and vanished?"
Hushed muttering spread through the crowd of people gathered. It had not made the top ten searches, but it had been up there since the Feng Family was a big business and one of Beijing's older families. So a few people in the crowd may remember it.
When Chao Qinmei opened her mouth to speak, Kagome snarled and spoke over her.
"Besides, if I recall this, Feng Kagome's mother's name was Pie HaoAn, and she died when Feng Kagome was six, right? And Pei HaoAn only had one daughter. So if you claim to be her sister and mother, isn't this falsifying information?"
Seeing both of them choke on their words, unable to reply, Kagome did a double 'V' in her heart.
Kagome had cut away her past the night she left with no regrets. She was stronger and more vicious compared to them. And she had a backer behind her that were not people these two could afford to provoke. In fact, Kagoem was supposed to be meeting one of them to report on the job she'd been helping them with.
"If nothing else, I have a business meeting to attend."
Turning, Kagome left the mother and daughter duo standing there, angry with the cold and dirty water she'd thrown at them.
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Fu Sinina looked at the pink and white phone on the hall floor. It was ringing incessantly and woke him. He knew it belonged to his little neighbor, who constantly seemed to antagonize him purposefully since that night two and a half months ago.
The ID flashed with the name Mi. Bending down, Fu Sinian picked it up and looked at the partially opened door to Kagome's apartment. He knew something was wrong since Kagome never let go of her phone or opened her door. And in the past week, she'd become almost paranoid and double-checked the door to ensure it was locked before leaving and entering(at least when he saw her in passing).
Walking to the open door, Fu Sinian flinched as the phone started ringing again. This time the ID said Mo. So he tapped on the screen to find it required a fingerprint to unlock to answer the call. It was further proof that Kagome was a meticulous person.
Cursing silently to himself, Fu Sinian looked inside the apartment and saw the light escaping from the bathroom door.
"Miss Higurashi," he called out after learning she had a new last name and reacted badly to the old one. He had researched and found the Weibo post from twelve years ago.
When no response came, he frowned, only to rush in when a loud bang of something fell in the bathroom. Fu Sinian paused only for a second before announcing his presence again and opening the bathroom door.
What he saw had him feel the heat rushing to his face. Kagome was sitting in the bottom of her tub wearing nothing but a dress slip that was soaked and clinging to her flushed body.
"Miss Higurashi?" He called out to get her attention.
Her eyes were blurry and unfocused when she looked at him, and he knew what was wrong with Kagome. She was under the effects of a potent aphrodisiac, which had him cursing aloud.
He moved to help her but was stopped as she shrank from him. He watched as her mouth opened and closed a few times before she could stutter what she wanted to say.
"No...t-touch t-transfer...l-leave."
Though her words were slurred and stuttered, he understood what she said. There'd been mention of a new type of aphrodisiac on the market called 'Succubus.' It could be transferred by touch and had a potency of ten times than the former most potent aphrodisiac. A few people died from 'Succubus' because it overheated the body if the person didn't have sex. It was a nasty piece of work that forced the person under its influence to have sex or die due to overheating. The hospitals could not do anything about it with infusions to flush it from the body.
Feeling his body locked up, Fu Sinian knew he could not leave Kagome under the cold water all night or alone. Looking around the bathroom, he found some towels on a wire rack over the toilet. Grabbing one, he was shocked when it was unrolled and was longer than he was tall at 190cm (6ft 2in).
Kagome was already an eccentric person in his mind, so he did not bother guessing why a short person like her needed an oversized towel like this.
Bending, Fu Sinian turned the shower off with one hand while the other threw the towel over Kagome. It was apparent she was weakened from her attempts to struggle as he rolled her in the towel like a cocoon. And her mewls of protest had him thinking of a kitten.
Shaking his head to dispel the thought, he picked Kagome up once he was satisfied she was swaddled sufficiently. Then Fu Sinian went to her bedroom on the opposite side of the apartment, mentally thanking the architect for mirroring the two flats.
He placed her in the center once he was by the full-sized bed.
"I don't want to know how you got drugged."
The grunt he got was amusing as he watched Kagome struggle to get free of the towel.
The sound of his phone ringing had Fu Sinian looking away and pulling it out of his pocket. Seeing it was from an unregistered number, he left the room to answer the call.
"Hello, Mr. Fu Sinian. This is Mi, Mo, and Mei. Are you home? Can you check on Kagome, please? She doesn't answer our calls, and she had a business dinner tonight."
Narrowing his eyes, Fu Sinian recognized the voice from that first night knocking on Kagome's apartment door. And his number was unlisted, to begin with, and getting it was no easy feat as he purposefully used measures to keep it hidden.
"I'm with her now."
A string of colorful curses followed by three distinct female voices mumbling amongst themselves came from his phone.
"Do. Not. Touch. Her."
"Yes, it's better if one of us came over."
"Dammit, we should have gone with her to this business meeting. Why did he have to assign this to her if he knew there was this risk!"
"Mei!"
"Mei!"
The spoken words had him debating whether he should hang up. He decided to be forthcoming with them as he spoke.
"Kagome's clothed and swaddled tightly in a huge bath towel. She told me not to touch her skin, and I could tell she'd been drugged with an aphrodisiac."
Before he could say anything, the call ended, leaving him speechless. No one but his grandparents, mother, or third uncle dared to do that to him.
Turning to the bedroom, Fu Sinian noted a few gramed pictures on a shelf by the door. Moving towards them, he saw each was of a young Kagome in their High School uniform. One, in particular, stunned him.
Kagome was standing by him, a displeased look on her face as the picture was taken of the computer club. He had been unaware Kagome was in the club with him. Yet the look on her face had him wondering(again) what he'd done to offend the gods in his past life to have a little ancestor ghost like her in this life.
The others were their graduation picture, one of her with a few people chatting in the cafeteria, and a school trip for the first-year class he'd been made to chaperone.
In each, besides the computer club picture, a genuine and warm smile was on Kagome's face.
Though he had limited interactions with her, Fu Sinian had a good impression of her beside her attitude and verbal spewage. She was cute with a vicious mouth. Kagome was a hard worker, diligent, and helpful to others. And unlike so many other women and girls, she saw him as a person, an individual, and gave him(in her own way) respect.
"Ah! Help! Make it stop!"
The sudden cry from the bedroom was in a weak and pleading voice that seemed barely hanging on. There was a hint of huskiness in the soft tone that made him feel a bit itchy.
Fu Sinian knew there were only two options to deal with the aphrodisiac; he made a decision and left the apartment.
Staring in a daze out the car's back window, Kagome felt the need to curl into a small ball and die.
"Kiddo, are you ever going to talk to us?"
Her mind was still fuzzy from last night and the fever she had due to being drugged by the newest aphrodisiac on the market and the result of it.
"Pei HaoLong, leave your cousin alone. She will talk when she's ready."
The low, deep voice of her maternal uncle had Kagome shuddering. It was not the first time in her many lives being in this situation. But no matter how many times it happened, it never got easier. And she knew shoving it to the back of her mind and pretending she was okay would not fix it. She had to face it head-on.
But with this life, she felt shame deeply all the same.
"Dad! I want to know which beast did that to her. You saw the receipt, and the brand new box of condoms was a twelve-pack, and nine had been used. Then that bastard had the nerve to vanish, telling our precious star he'd be back."
Feeling a new wave of heat flooded her face, Kagome lifted her legs and double-kicked the back of her cousin's passenger seat.
Her mind wouldn't let her recall who had done that act with her, only that he'd told her he'd be back as he left early that morning. The fever left her body, and her mind started crawling from the haze. Yet she hadn't felt any sense of threat from the man. No, instead, Kagome could say she felt safe with him. It scared her. She felt that way.
"Fuck, Kagome!"
"Shut it, Haohao," she snapped.
His low whine had Kagome lifting her eyes and meeting her Uncle Pei's gaze in the rearview mirror. Kagome knew she'd be speaking privately with him later about this.
"You heard, Little Star, Hao Long, drop it. Besides, with Kagome's unique constitution, I need to do some tests first."
A chill ran down her spine as Kagome returned to looking out the car window."
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"Hey, stop! Don't touch me!"
The clear female voice rang in the air. Fu Sinian narrowed his eyes and rushed towards it before he realized his actions. Half a year had come and gone since that night had left him cold inside.
"Dammit, don't laugh at me, or I'll kick your ass!"
Fu Sinian had told her he'd be back, and they'd talk. Yet when he'd returned, her apartment had been emptied except for the furniture. He'd been in shock since he had only left six hours earlier.
Seeing the gates to the house next to Jing Hanchuan were open, Fu Sinian burst in. The sight of Kagome's Petite body swaying as she swung a fist at a tall youth who kept trying to touch her fueled his anger. Rushing over, he pulled Kagome into his arms and slapped the youth's (now stunned) hand away.
"Fu Sinian, what's wr-"
Keeping his eyes on the youth, Fu Sinian stepped back to put distance between them and him. Duan Linbai came in to his site. His words cut off as he saw him with Kagome.
What is going on? And why have you, Jing Hanchuan, barged into my courtyard with three prominent people?"
Slowly Fu Sinian shifted his and Kagome's body to gaze at a tall man in a white lab coat standing on the porch and looking directly at him. The unconcealed hostility in the man's eyes left him speechless and cold.
"Uncle Pei, I'm sorry," Jing Hanchuan spoke. "Fu Sinian heard the young miss cries for Young Master Pei not to touch her and ran to assist."
He felt his lips twist at Hanchuan's choice of words. They were mocking him for being an attempted hero of a damsel in distress.
"I see; let us enter the house to talk more and clear this matter," The man called Uncle Pei said. "Little Star, I bought you your favorite snacks and milk tea."
The soft squeal of delight from his arms gave Fu Sinian an ominous feeling he had come to associate with Kagome.
"Get bent!"
Fu Sinian blinked as he stared at the righteous fury in the blue eyes staring back at him. While the soft(not even attempted to be smothered) snickering came from those around him.
After telling Kagome he'd taken responsibility for his choice that night, this reaction was not what he'd expected. Then again, Kagome had never done anything by the book.
"Damn, Little Star."
"Shut it, Haohao. Uncle, I am going to the Dojo."
He could only watch silently as Kagome stormed out of the room. However, his eyes didn't miss the red tint to her ears and neck.
"Forgive my niece," Pei HaoLin said, smiling. "We've spoiled Kagome terribly since she was young. And even more, after her mother passed away. Hence her willfulness and temper."
Fu Sinian could say Pei HaoLin wasn't being sincere at all. But he couldn't say anything since Pei Hao Lin was his elder.
"Can someone tell me why my niece, Little Evening Star, is in a bad mood and drug my son to the Dojo for a 'sparring' session?"
The loud booming voice filled the silence, and Fu Sinian once more felt cold as he lifted his eyes and met the cold, fathomless black ones.
"And Jing Hanchuan, why are you at my brother's house when we agreed to meet at yours?"
Fu Sinian felt his scalp begin to tingle as he glanced at Jing Hanchuan, who was smiling like he was the devil himself. And Fu Sinian, the sudden invite to Hanchuan's house, was a setup. The man before them was one of China's five generals, Hao PeiWang.
"Uncle Hao," Jing Hanchau said. "He, Fu Sinian, is the man you've been looking for. Also, now the task you asked me to do is finished."
The words confirmed his suspicion of this being a setup.
Before he could reply, Fu Sinian flinched as Duan Linbai had to speak up.
"Jing Hanchuan, you know one of the five generals? Not to mention the head of the first, second, and third Beijing Hospitals? And Fu Sinian, is Kagome the girl you've been looking for after sleeping with? And just how can someone as small as Kagome fight?"
A low chuckling erupted from Pei HaoLong as he lifted one of the remotes from the coffee table. A few seconds later, the TV was on and connected to the security system.
"Damn, Kagome, who pissed you off? Was it Jing Hanchuan again?" A young man said as he raised a wooden sword to block the one Kagome was using.
"No, the effeminate iceberg did not, Hao PeiWang."
Fu Sinian hissed as he watched Kagome's foot lift and connect loudly with the young man, General Hao's son, stomach.
"Damn, don't kill me because of someone else."
"Don't be a pansy ass bitch," Kagome snapped. "Besides, it was someone he brought with him."
"Oh, you mean Jing Hanchuan finally completed Father's mission?"
The screen went dark as Kagome rushed at the young man.
"As I said, we spoiled our niece, so she is willful and has a temper."
Fu Sinian looked at Pei HaoLin. His hand now held a scalpel that he spun expertly.
"Let's talk about why you made the choice and how you could be a beast to do it nine times in one night."
Releasing a breath, he wasn't aware he was holding, Fu Sinian lowered his head in shame. But he knew this would be a long night and very embarrassing with the three sitting next to him. Fu Sinian knew his third uncle would be telling their grandparents. And Duan Linbai had a mouth that couldn't be kept shut.
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Kagome smiled coldly as she watched the mother-daughter duo sink to their knees. The despair on their faces lifted a weight from her chest. There was no way they could refute the evidence she'd been gathering since she moved out of her father's house.
The sudden warmth on one of her hands had Kagome looking up. It'd been three months since her 'reunion' and 'rejection' of Fu Sinian.
He'd learned a lot about her and the maternal side of her family, how the military Hao family and the medically inclined Pei family were one and that klagome had a unique constitution(due to her Horeiki).
Her Uncles and Cousins had put Fu Sinian and his family through a ringer.
After surviving it, Fu Sinian began to earnestly pursue her, though she kept him at a distance since she didn't want the drama that would come from being associated with him and the other three. Thus, she was the 'only' legitimate daughter and heir of the Feng family, even though she cut ties with them at age fifteen.
He'd even helped her plot the scenario that led to two who had tormented her until she got her freedom. She was grateful for his help, though he was teasing at learning she was a hacker and her alias was 'Tiny Ghost.'
Things still needed to be settled between them. But Kagome had chosen to let him be by her side for now. She allowed them to get to know each other better slowly, even if she had occasional anxiety attacks due to his presence, thanks to the aphrodisiac.
"Take these two to the military base and lock them up," Hao PeiWang said. "And brother-in-law, after clearing your import and export company, you can come to Pei HaoLin's house to seek Kagome. You two have to talk about a lot, especially Pei HaoAn.
Kagome watched as her father nodded and looked at her wistfully.
Let's go, Sisi," She said, squeezing their joined hands.
It'd been a long and bumpy road, but Kagome knew instinctively he'd be by her side(whether she wanted it or not), supporting her the whole way.
THE END!