InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ To Begin Again ❯ Scroll Thirteen: Vows ( Chapter 13 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Scroll Thirteen: Vows


Winter came and went without much deviation from what had become routine. Kagome continued to go to school every day and spend her weekends in Sengoku Jidai, learning the things that she would need to know when she became the village miko. Inuyasha spent about as much time in her era as he did in his own and continued to go on ‘dates’ with Kagome. She and her friends dragged him along on doubles and to carnivals and various other events with their significant others. Though he still complained, he was beginning to not mind so much.


In Sengoku Jidai, construction on the house Miroku and Sango would inhabit was nearly complete. Though she couldn’t afford to bring real glass to plate their windows, Kagome did bring plexiglass as a wedding gift to help insulate the house which had three separate rooms: the main room, a bedroom for Sango and Miroku, and a larger room on the opposite side of the main room where the children would sleep. The monk had insisted on a larger children’s bedroom to house the ten or twelve kids Sango had promised to give him when he’d first proposed several years before.


As soon as the house was complete, the two planned to have a small ceremony, presided over by Mushin, the monk who had raised Miroku. It would only be their friends present and would take place at Kaede’s village. Hachi had agreed to transport the elderly monk to and from his monastery.


That January, as a belated Christmas present, Kagome’s little sister, Higarashi Hotaru, was brought into the world and Kagome was playing the part of proud sibling. The little girl’s birth had certainly been a starting point on the bridge between father and son as Souta began to spend more time Ikoku and Haruki in order to visit the child, determined to be a good and honorable big brother. The bridge between herself and her father was still a tattered rope bridge, unsteady and dangerous, but the construction for a sturdier one had already begun.


By February, the house was completed and Mika and her mother had finished sewing the kimono Sango would wear for the wedding. When they showed it to the two girls, both nearly fell out at the beauty of it. The silk was a pale blue from the shoulders to the obi and littered with tiny snowflakes that cascaded down from the collar to the bottom hem. The bottom half was a snow covered forest glen with a frozen brook that ran from the left side around to the front and disappeared off the hemline. The pattern continued on the sleeves so that when she stood, the sleeves fell over her hands and didn’t seem to break the picture. There was also a white and sky blue under kimono.


As Kagome helped her dress for the wedding, Sango fingered the silk carefully. “It’s beautiful, but its much too extravagant,” she said softly. “I’ll never be able to wear it again.”


Kagome laughed and combed through her friend’s hair, working it into a loose bun. “That’s the point of the bride’s dress, at least in my time. I know you think it was a waste of money, but look at it this way, you’ll have it if you need it and you can put it up so that when you have a daughter and she gets married, you can give it to her to wear.”


“I suppose so.” She ducked her head so that Kagome could stick a hair decoration into her bun. It was a silver chopstick with a curtain of dangling white crystals that cascaded over the left side of her head. Kagome had found it when she went through her mother’s kimono collection looking for a ceremonial robe to wear to Kikyou’s funeral and had borrowed it for the wedding.


Her own outfit was a champagne colored dress with a pleated skirt that hung to her knees. The dress was satin and sleeveless, but she’d matched it with a champagne cashmere shrug held closed by a citrine crystal broach in the shape of a butterfly. Cream colored Mary-Jane flats covered her feet, but the flesh-tone stockings she wore did little to shield her legs from the winter weather. At least the wedding would be taking place inside the main room of the couples new home and she only had to suffer the walk from Kaede’s to Sango’s.


She’d considered wearing one of the fancy kimono from her mother’s collection and decided against it since she wouldn’t be participating in the wedding but was simply a guest. She preferred her modern clothes even though the kimono were beautiful.


There was a light dusting of snow on the ground, but the weather hadn’t been as bad as it might have been. The heat-wave from the summer seemed to have had an affect on their winter season as well. However, Kagome was not complaining. Though she loved snow and New Years and Christmas, she did not like the cold.


The wedding was a small affair and as soon as it was done, the procession returned to Kaede’s for a celebration dinner. When Kagome told her about the wedding, Ikoku had offered to make a wedding cake and her mother had helped her make sandwiches, egg rolls, and soup (kept warm in a travel cooker). She’d also brought extra ramen for Inuyasha to have with his meal. Mushin was the only one who had a complaint with the meal and that was solved when he pulled a small jug of sake from his robes and filled everyone’s cup.


All in all, it had been a delightful afternoon.


By the time Kagome returned to the well, the sun had already set and stars glittered in a clear night sky. She walked a slow and leisurely pace despite the chilly breeze nipping at her legs and reached out a gloved hand to clasp Inuyasha’s. He’d insisted on escorting her since it was dark and she did still wear the completed Shikon no Tama around her neck. She hadn’t a clue how to purify it without making a wish and anything she came up with could have been misconstrued and caused the stone to become tainted again.


“You still plan to live here after you finish that school?” He asked glancing down at her from the corner of his eye.


She nodded. “It won’t be long either. I’ll graduate in May and then I can start moving my stuff to this side of the well and take full time lessons from Kaede. It’ll be a lot easier then.”


He gave a barely distinguishable nod. “You’ll need a hut, then,” he muttered, seemingly to himself.


“For what?” She wondered, tilting her head up to look at him curiously. “I was going to stay with Kaede. She’s got plenty of room for the three of us. She always has.”


He growled and let go of her hand, stuffing his hands into the sleeves of his haori in his signature stance. “I shoulda known,” he grumbled, turning his head away. “That ain’t what I was talkin’ about.”


Kagome frowned, not understanding what had made him so angry. “You said I’d need a house and I said I was living with Kaede, like we’ve always done. If not that, what were you talking about, then?”


He growled, covering embarrassment with anger as was typical with him. “I was gonna build you one, baka.” Even in the dark she could see the light hue of pink that spread across his cheeks as he said it.


“But I -“ The words seemed to fall, dying on her lips as something clicked on in her brain. Maybe it was the two cups of sake or the cold or, most likely, the fact that it was coming from Inuyasha that kept her from realizing just what he was saying exactly, but the moment she did figure it out, her eyes lit up with excitement.


Things were different in his era. Miroku and Sango could have had their wedding anytime during the construction of the house, but he’d said he couldn’t marry her until he had a home to put her in. A home he build for Sango.


Just like Inuyasha was saying he would build for her.


She took a steadying breath. “Inuyasha, are you saying...you and me...a home for us?”


“Here.” She found his hand held in front of her face with something clutched between two fingers, so close to her nose she had to cross her eyes to look at it. It appeared to be a ring. She reached up and took it from his hand, turning to examine it in the moonlight.


“Inuyasha, it’s gorgeous,” she breathed. The ring was a thin band of silver with leaves etched into the outside and a glistening blue stone held on top by three prongs. Inside, she could just make out the inscription in the pale light. Love. “Did you buy this while you were out with Ryu?” That would explain how he knew the purpose of an engagement ring, since that seemed to be what he was asking her. Of course, that only raised the question of how he paid for it...


“Toutousai had a friend of his make it.” He was still turned with his side to her, not really looking at her.


Nodding and still in complete shock, Kagome pulled the glove off and handed the ring back to him with her bare hand. He glanced from it to her, a melancholy look
beginning to come over him. “When a guy asks a girl to marry him and she says yes, then he’s supposed to put the ring on her finger,” she explained softly. “If that’s what you’re asking, then the answer is yes.”


As soon as he slid the tiny band over her finger, she launched herself into his chest, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing his cheek. "I love you, Inuyasha," she whispered, forcing back tears.


His answer was to bring his arms around her in a tight hold and capture her mouth in a heated kiss.


“Higarashi Haruki’s office, how may I help you?” The secretary sounded much too perky.


Kagome cleared her throat, willing herself to speak with a clear, commanding voice. “This is Higarashi Kagome, Haruki’s daughter. I need to speak with him for a moment, please.”


The secretary hesitated for a moment and Kagome could hear some papers being shuffled around. “Just one moment, let me see if he’s available, Kagome-san.” There was a beep and then silence.


Moments later the same perky voice came back on the line. “Higarashi-san is in an important business meeting at the moment. Is there a number where he can reach you, Kagome-san?”


Kagome made a face, glaring at the wall in front of her. "If you would slip a little note into the room saying that his daughter is on the phone and it's kind of important, I'm sure he’ll be more than happy to take my call.”


The woman stuttered on the other end and more papers were being shuffled. “Alright, Kagome-san. I’ll be right back. Let me knock on his door and see what I can do.” There was another beep and silence for several minutes before someone picked up.


“Kagome, I'm in a meeting right now. Leave your mother’s telephone number with Reika and I’ll call you when I get out.” Her father’s voice was hushed and more than a little peeved.


Not that she cared. She smiled a sweet and sadistic smile and, though he couldn’t see it, he could hear it in her voce. “Look, what I need to talk to you about won’t take but a minute if you’d just let me talk.”


“By all means.”


“I’m getting married, Dad.”


“Married! To whom?!” The startled exclamation caused a ruckus in the background. She supposed the other voices belonged to the people he was meeting with.


“Who do you think? Inuyasha, of course. He asked Mama if he could ask me and she said yes. It took him a while, be he finally worked up the nerve to ask me and I said yes.” She couldn't help the happy little sigh in her voice.


“You’re gonna marry Inuyasha?” His voice had dropped to a harsh whisper. “The hanyou?”


Kagome growled loud enough for him to hear. “Yes, the hanyou. What's wrong with that? I love him and he's a good person. What I need from you is for you to use some of your contacts and secure some official documents on Inuyasha. Things like a birth certificate, high school graduation diploma, anything that we might need to get the wedding done and a marriage license.”


“Why?” He asked curiously. “They had different customs then, no ceremonies…just living arrangements, right?”


Kagome rolled her eyes. “Hai, they did, but Inuyasha and I are getting married in a ceremony here with a license and everything because when we have children I want them to be born in this era - it’s safer for me and the baby and I want them to have birth records and I want them to go to school here. We’ll be living in both eras.”


Haruki muttered an agreement, seeing her point. “How do you expect me to procure these documents?”


Kagome smiled mischievously. “You’re a high powered business man. You know a lot of people with high up jobs - people who probably owe you a favor or two. Pull some strings. Call in some favors. I don’t care, just get the papers.”


He sighed and she could hear him finding some paper. “Alright, what’s his full name.”


“We've been calling him Taishou Inuyasha, so that should be it.”


“Age?”


She made a face. “Umm...relatively nineteen years old and his birthday is around February 10.”


"Relatively? Around? Doesn't he know?" Haruki sounded skeptical and Kagome sighed, rolling her eyes.


"Dad, he's from another era! Their calendars weren't the same as ours and from what he knows and I can figure, that's close to his birthday. He was on his own for a long time and he was sealed to a tree for fifty years so I'm saying he's probably nineteen...or close to it."


“Alright, you're the one who knows the best," Haruki relented. "Mother and father’s names?”


“His father’s name was Inuki and we're giving him the Taishou name since he was tai youkai. His mother’s name was Fieori Iyazoi. Both are deceased.”
“I also need to know where you want him to have been born and gone to school, his hair and eye color.”


Kagome scrunched up her face in thought. “I don’t care what city you have him being born in and going to school in so long as you can come up with some records. His hair is silver, you know, and his eyes are golden…amber.”


There was a pause on the other end as he wrote down all that information. “I'll see what I can do."


"Great." With that she hung up the phone and went to her room to get cleaned up for dinner, feeling quite pleased with herself.


“What kind of wedding are you planning to have, Kagome?” Yuka questioned excitedly from where they sat in the family room. Her gradfather was flipping through the news stations nearby.


Kagome tapped her chin. “I don’t know yet.”


“If you have a western styled wedding,” Eri put in, “you and me could have a double wedding. Wouldn’t that be cool?”


“Yeah, it really would.”


“She’ll be having a Shinto ceremony,” her grandfather piped up, looking over his shoulder at the girls. “It’ll be a traditional Shinto ceremony or no ceremony at all.”


“Jii-chan…” Kagome grumbled, fixing him with one of her best ‘stay out of it’ glares.


The old man ignored her. “Don’t Jii-chan me, young lady. You’d better concentrate on your part of the rituals instead of some foreign get up.”


“But Higarashi-Jii-san, it would be much easier and less expensive for Kagome to have a western wedding like mine.” Eri sat up from where she’d been lying on her stomach and brushed her hair out of her face. Yuka was nodding in agreement, having already decided that if Sanjay was to ever propose to her, she would certainly have a western wedding.


The old priest was not going to be budged, however. “Kagome is a miko. She comes from a long line of Shinto priests and priestesses. She lives in a Shinto shrine and she will most certainly have a traditional Shinto ceremony whatever the cost.”


Kagome sighed. Well, that was that.

“Oh, you worry to much, Sango-chan,” Kagome chastised as she climbed up the ladder to the inside of the well house. “I know how dissatisfied you were with my wardrobe when you were here before.”


Sango blushed as she joined her friend at the mouth of the well and headed for the stairs out into the shrine courtyard. “No, I think that your clothes are perfectly suited for you. It’s just that I’m not used to being so…exposed. Even in my taijiya fuku I'm covered.”


Kagome giggled as she slid the door open and blinked against the sunlight. “Which is why I made sure you had something you could be comfortable in.”


She grabbed Sango’s wrist and tugged her towards the house calling a quick hello to her grandfather as he swept by the Goshinboku. She couldn’t help but continue to smile, her excess energy and excitement bubbling up as she quickened her pace towards the door. “Mama! I’m home!”


Keiko came out of Souta’s room with a basket of clothes in her hands. “Afternoon dear. Welcome back, Sango. It’s nice to see you again.” She smiled at the younger girl who bowed to her. “Eri called this morning, Kagome. She wanted to make sure you were meeting her and the girls at six tonight.”


Her daughter nodded and grabbed a folded pair of pants from the top of her mother’s clothes basket then tugged Sango’s hand again, dragging her towards the stairs. “I’ll call her as soon as I show Sango what we found for her. Thanks Mama!”


Sango came to a stop at Kagome’s bedroom and practically fell onto the girl’s bed. She had never seen her friend so excited about anything as she was about this party tonight. The younger girl had practically been bouncing off of the walls all morning. Her concentration was completely shattered and Kaede had finally sighed and dismissed her from her lessons. That had been when Kagome had gone to remind Inuyasha she’d be gone all night and practically threw Sango down the well with her.


When Kagome had first come to her and asked her to be a part of the bridal party, Sango had been tempted to decline. She was not exactly comfortable in Kagome’s era. At least, not the way that Inuyasha had been. He had strolled through the crowded streets that day as if he had lived there his entire life. In fact, he had been more comfortable there, it seemed, than he ever was walking through the paths of Sengoku Jidai.


Still, despite her initial uncertainty, Kagome’s enthusiasm had rubbed off and she had found herself excited as well. This entire thing was a new experience for her and something she felt she should experience with an open mind. This was what her world would one day become, long after she was gone, and she was getting a forward glimpse.


Kagome was rummaging through her closet and dresser drawers, piling clothes over her arm before turning back to the now curious taijiya. “I found a few things I thought you might be more comfortable in.”


She tossed them on the bed piece by piece, revealing several outfits for the girl to choose from. There was a pair of blue jeans, a pair of khaki crop pants and a denim calf length skirt. To go with them was a long sleeved black shirt decorated with a heart and the kanji for “Heartbreaker” in pink glitter; a white tank with a long-sleeved, hunter green shrug; and a short-sleeved blue, button up blouse. Each was made to cover a modest amount of skin so that Sango would not be overly exposed.


Sango studied each individual piece and finally gave a nod of approval. “Which one should I wear tonight? What do people usually wear in a club?” She spoke the foreign word carefully. Kagome had explained the concept to her, but it was something she supposed she would just have to see to understand.


Kagome picked up the blue jeans and sparkly shirt, handing them to her. “I’m gonna go call Eri-chan back. Think you can manage?” She grinned and winked when the other girl made a face at her.


Strobe lights cast a funny look throughout the club and multi-colored spotlights moved around the dance floor spotlighting various dancers at random intervals. There was a bar at north end of the dance floor and a metal staircase on the west and east walls with another bar at the south end. While the dance floor opened all the way up to the ceiling, there was a second floor with couches, chairs, and another bar that lined the wall, going out about nine feet to a banister that overlooked the floor. At the north end of that second floor was the DJ booth and there was a third bar on the south wall. Also, from the second floor one had access to the VIP towers; six round towers that were spread across the club with bridge access from the second floor. Round couches, private attendants and tables were set up at each one.


“Follow me!” Ayumi yelled over the booming music and noisy crowd. She led them along the wall to the east staircase and up onto the less populated second floor. From there she escorted them all to one of the private towers. A bouncer checked her id and then unhooked the red velvet rope that blocked other patrons from the tower. Someone had already delivered several gift bags and a bottle of champagne in an iced bucket to the tower and five wine glasses sat on the middle table.


Kagome gaped at the set up in surprise. “How... I thought when you said we were going clubbing, you meant dancing at the club! How’d you pull this off?!”


The girls laughed and fell onto the leather couch that lined the edge of the tower, motioning for Sango to join them and Kagome to sit in one of the leather chairs next to it. “Ayumi set it all up! Isn’t it great!”


The other girl nodded. “Sanjay’s uncle is one of the investors and Sanjay spins some weekends. He’s in there now.” She waved towards the DJ booth which wasn’t far from their tower. “I told him how cool it’d be to have a private box for your bachelorette party and he got his uncle to reserve one for us.”


Sango sat quietly on her edge of the sofa, taking it all in. The music was loud and unusual and the strobe affect was giving her a headache, but she’d told Kagome she’d come and she could only hope she’d get used to it soon.


Kagome, on the other hand, was excited. The bouncer would keep their personal possessions safe and get the attention of a staff person if they needed anything. “This is so cool, thanks Ayumi!”


Ayumi waved her hand in dismissal. “Yeah, yeah, now open your gifts.” She pointed to the set of bags beside Kagome’s chair.


The bride-to-be readily reached down and grabbed one, shifting through the tissue paper for a gift box with Eri’s name written on it, indicating the gift was from her. When she opened that up, she found a rhinestone collar and red leash.


“I thought that might be more appropriate than a ball and chain,” Eri explained as the others, Sango included, fell into a fit of giggles. “My mom always said men had to be kept on a short leash.”


Kagome laughed and stuffed the gag gift back into the bag, mentally deciding she would not show that particular gift to Inuyasha. The next bag was from Ayumi and, when she’d unwrapped the tissue paper around it, she found an assortment of chew toys. Yuka’s gift was similar, being a black whip and silver dog whistle.


“I should be mad at you guys for this,” Kagome told them, trying to keep a serious expression while the girls wiped their eyes from laughing so hard, their faces flushed. “That was very bad.”


Yuka straightened, being the first to calm down enough to talk. “We couldn’t resist, Kagome-chan, not when we know what we know about Inuyasha. Those aren’t our real gifts anyway. The fourth bag has our real stuff.”


Kagome winked at them to let them know she was only teasing and opened the fourth and last bag. It contained a red, silk teddy from Ayumi (“Useful in any era, you know”); a blue gemstone bracelet from Eri (“Something blue. You can’t mess with tradition”); and a small sign with the words “Home of Inuyasha & Kagome” carved and painted from Yuka (“Something for both of you”). Sango had already given her a wedding gift a few days earlier. She had taken Kirara and returned to the slayer’s village and had finished one of the old youkai bone bows, stringing it with youkai hair so that it wouldn’t break. It was now stored in the hut they’d completed the week before.


She stood up and hugged each of her friends, thanking them for their gifts and then took the champagne bottle out of the ice bucket. “Now, let’s party!”


A/N: I know very, very little about the Shinto wedding ceremony, so I’m not going to embarrass myself by trying to describe the wedding.


While only her closest friends and family had attended the actually wedding, the reception which they’d held in the shrine courtyard was a different story. Classmates from school, her mother and brother’s friends, as well as distant relatives all gathered around to wish the happy couple their congratulations and luck in their endeavors. Kagome had changed out of her wedding kimono and washed the makeup from her face for the reception party and wore a white tube dress, tea-length, with pink sash and pink embroidered flowers around the hem. She kept her hair pulled back with chopsticks, but removed the rest of the hair decorations.


As a gift to the newest member of their family, Keiko and her father-in-law had given Inuyasha a set of black haori and hakama to wear for the wedding and he opted to stay in those for the duration of the reception since they were just as comfortable as his usual fire rat hair clothing.


Miroku wore a similar set in dark blue. It was still odd to see him in anything but his monk’s robes, but she was becoming more familiar with it. Sango wore a dark green kimono with a lighter green sash. The couple didn’t look as out of place as they had worried they might as several other members of Kagome’s reception group had also worn more traditional styled clothing. Not even Shippou seemed that out of place when a longer pair of pants covered his fox-shaped bottom half and his tail was stuffed into the back of the britches, then covered by a longer haori.


They celebrated long into the night and by the time everyone had returned home, they had only a few hours sleep before the sun rose on the next day and they prepared to make their permanent move into Sengoku Jidai, only visiting her era on occasion.