*Ding… Ding… Ding…*

Two silver ears quivered as the traditional 108 bells rang out over the shrine, the official welcome to the New Year. Golden eyes drifted over the Higurashi Shrine, taking in the sea of colorful kimono, even though the clock had just struck midnight.

It wasn't Inuyasha's first Hatsumode celebration, but it was the first he had helped prepare for. The week between Christmas and New Year's had been a flurry of activity at the Higurashi Shrine, and he had quickly agreed to help the family of his girlfriend of four months, Higurashi Kagome. The look of gratitude and affection in her chocolate eyes had made his heart flutter… a sensation he had never really understood until he had gotten to know the raven haired beauty from his college history class.

The first time he had seen her, her hair drawn back into a low ponytail, little tendrils escaping the confines of the tie, her eyes laughing at her friend as they had walked into the classroom, he had thought she was gorgeous. Her scent had called to him, soothing his irritation for being in the 9am class, creating a longing that only grew as the class had gone on.

When she had snapped at another classmate for making a derogatory remark to Inuyasha, the hanyo had been a goner.

It had taken him four months to work up the courage to ask her out, four months of sputtering, blushes, and arguments for both of them, but just before classes had resumed for their Senior year he had asked her out for coffee, and hadn't let go since. So when Kagome had told him that she needed to help prepare for Hatsumode and would need to be at the shrine the entire week, there had been no hesitation in his offering.

His eyes landed on the omamori booth, and the smiling young woman who stood behind it in her traditional miko clothing as she encouraged the visitors to purchase a lucky charm for the new year. Her gaze drifted up to meet his across the temple grounds and he found himself grinning like a fool, a new state for him, but one that was quickly becoming his go-to expression.

He really was a lucky bastard.

The week had flown by, him driving in first thing in the morning to sit and help Kagome and her family prepare for the three-day celebration, dinners each night with her family. He hadn't realized just how much went into the preparation: the bagging of the omamori, the preparing of the Omikuji fortunes, the stamping and calligraphy of the Goshuin that would be given to every visitor as they left, the sweeping of the grounds, cleaning and hanging new bells… he could honestly say he had a new appreciation for the Shinto practice and its place in history. He chuckled as he watched Kagome's brother Sota giving the seal stamp as people were leaving, it had taken him a little bit of practice to get it right but in the end, he and Sota had ended up making about 3,000 of them, and it gave him a sense of pride to hear people commenting about how beautiful they were.

That was another thing he could say. The week had definitely given him a deep appreciation of her family.

He had been nervous the first time he had set foot on the grounds that week; he had only met her family once before at a school function at the start of the year, but it had still been a new enough relationship that he had bowed out quickly, not wanting to make Kagome's time with her family uncomfortable. Most people he knew who were Shinto were not very… welcoming to those of Yokai heritage.

This week had shown him he had nothing to worry about there. Her family had welcomed him, her mother fussing and cooing over his ears (now he knew where Kagome got it from), Sota dragging him everywhere the first day as Kagome chided him to get back to work.

Her grandfather though…

How a man that barely reached his chest was so intimidating Inuyasha had no idea, but somehow the short statured man terrified him. Not because of his spiritual powers, all it had taken was one useless ofuda being slapped on his forehead to dispel that concern, even if it had been done in jest, but more that he was the patriarch of the family. Yes, Kagome was a modern, independent woman who made her own choices, and Kami did Inuyasha appreciate that, but he was still traditional enough to want her family's blessing if their relationship went any further, and he knew without a doubt he did.

She was it for him.

Inuyasha's grin grew into a full smile, his fangs glistening in the lantern light as Kagome waved to him. He saw her mouth 'thank you' to him, and he felt his cheeks heating as their gazes lingered on the others.

"It is going to be a good Hatsumode this year."

Inuyasha started at the sound of Kagome's grandfather's voice, his ears dropping as he spun to face the man behind him.

"K-keh."

Grandpa Higurashi's head tilted as he placed both arms behind his back, his dark brown eyes taking in the young man before him.

"I wanted to thank you for your help this year," he watched the silver haired man start before him as he continued, "it is not usual for those outside the family to help."

"Yeah, well…" Inuyasha shrugged, then cleared his throat, "I wanted to do what I could. Kagome was talking about how much was involved, and I have two hands and time to help so…"

"Hnnnn."

Grandpa Higurashi stepped forward, his gaze taking in each quiver of Inuyasha's ears, the tension that was growing in the man's shoulders. His attention shifted to his granddaughter, noting her stillness as she watched them, and gave a small smile.

"Next year we will have an official uniform for you."

"Sir I…" Inuyasha paused, his eyes going wide as he processed what the man had said, "wha…what?"

"Yes, we need help with omikuji station. We were fortunate enough to have volunteers this year, but I do prefer to have family members working the event."

"Fa…" Inuyasha gulped, not sure he was understanding what he was hearing, "family?"

"Yes, we will need to get you fitted for an official uniform, some robes, I think a nice red would be a good contrast to your hair."

Inuyasha was positive his brain had fried… what did, did this mean…

"The Haru Matsuri is in March, it should take about a month for the robes to be made, so have Kagome take you this month, ne?" Grandpa Higurashi chuckled at Inuyasha's expression, the young man's mouth opening and closing silently. He stepped forward, his hand reaching up to clasp the young man's shoulder and pat it a few times before making his way towards the temple.

Inuyasha stood there for a moment, stunned. Surely that– had that– he spun, his attention darting to Kagome, taking in the giant smile on her face and the slight shimmer of liquid as it trailed down her cheek.

Family huh? Yeah, yeah he was absolutely ok with that.

Hatsumode is the first shrine visit of the New Year in Japan, and visitors can visit either a Shinto or Buddhist temple.

The Omamori are fortunes that can be received during the start of the year, people bring their fortunes from the year before to trade in for new ones.

Omikuji are written fortunes, similar to the Fortune Cookie in the US. Tradition has it that if the fortune is bad, you can tie it to a tree or a wire kept on the shrine grounds, to have the bad luck there, rather than carried with the person who got the fortune.

The Goshuin are the seal stamps given out by shrines, both Shinto and Buddhist, that have the seal of the shrine and calligraphy, and are often collected.