InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ What The Future Holds ❯ Return to Mushashi ( Chapter 29 )

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

Inuyasha had never quite considered Kusamura home. Although he wasn't born in Mushashi, after meeting Kikyou he had decided it wasn't such a bad place. Kikyou's village had been the only one to accept him. And with needing to return there every so often for Kagome to return home, it sorta became a base of operations for the group of travelers. And besides, he had grown somewhat fond of the elderly miko, though he would never openly admit it to anyone.

As spring arrived, the family began preparing for the long journey home. Nobody wanted to see them go, but Inuyasha and Kagome had decided when they first arrived, that once training was finished they would go to the area they considered home. Kagome began preparing food and clothes while Inuyasha began trading or selling off their livestock and belongings.

Inuyasha secured two wagons - one covered for the pups to stay in that would protect them form the sun during the day and that they could use to sleep in at night. The other wagon held what few possessions they decided to keep - Kagome's spinning wheel, her loom, Inuyasha's biwa as well as a beautiful, ornate oriental rug that Lord Suiren had gifted them with during the celebration of the end of the war. Inuyasha sheared the sheep before selling them, to make sure Kagome had what she needed to make new clothes for the winter months for their fast growing pups. He also traded his prize bull for two solid work horses to pull the wagons and his two milking cows for a modern plow that he could use to work on the land that he planned to use for his crops.

Very soon the naming ceremony came upon them. Inuyasha brought the wolf cub up first and named him Kieran, as his mother had wished, and his celestial being was the sun and Greek protector was Ursa Major. He also had permission to bring Kentaro up to be officially named and blessed, with Kentaro receiving the celestial being of a star and the protection of Perseus. Finally, Inuyasha brought his pup up and placed him in the bassinet. As the Mistress asked for his name, Inuyasha just looked quietly at his son. Kagome wondered what the problem was for they had agreed on the name Satoshi before he was born. The Mistress requested the name again, and this time Inuyasha looked at her and swallowed deeply. "The pup's name is ... is Kiyoshi.", he said as he heard a gasp from behind him and realized it was Kagome. He had been unable to talk over his decision with her, even though it wasn't required. He turned around and saw Kagome's face and knew she approved. "Does the mother concur with the chosen name?", she was asked. "Yes.", she replied firmly. Kiyoshi was granted the celestial being of the comet - a rare being to be placed on a child because of it's power. His protector was deemed to be Aries, the ram, another strong protector, especially for a child. The Mistress and Persephone were obviously surprised by what had been chosen for this particular child and the Mistress couldn't help commenting that something great must be in store for this child.

After the naming ceremony for the children, the Mistress announced that Lord Suiren had decided to bestow upon Inuyasha and his family the ability to choose a surname for his clan, thus elevating Inuyasha from commoner to royalty in the eyes of the townspeople. They gave Inuyasha some time to mull it over and he finally decided on the kanji for his name - Katei (family) and tenma (demon). He would now be known as Captain Lord Kateitenma to the townspeople and now Kagome had yet another name as Lady Kateitenma.

Shortly after the ceremony, Inuyasha and Kagome packed up the wagons and left, with Devi to assist them until they got into familiar territory (Inuyasha's nose!). The travel through the mountains was a bit slow going with wagons, but after the mountains were cleared, the road was smoother going. Inuyasha had purchased 3 additional yokes for the horses in anticipation of the rocky mountain terrain and was glad he did when 2 broke along the trail. The time came for them to part with Devi, as Inuyasha began recognizing smells from trails they had traveled while searching for Naraku.

Then they had some trouble. Along a muddy pass, they lost the other two yokes plus a wheel. Inuyasha used his tools that he had gathered during his time in as an apprentice and repaired them enough to get to the next town. The townspeople were friendly enough and Inuyasha was able to secure lodging for the next two nights so that he could barter his labor with a couple townsfolk in exchange for 3 new yolks and 2 wheels. This also gave Kagome and the pups a break and a chance for a much needed bath.

The only other problems after that was a few run ins with some simple bandits, which Inuyasha took care of with his fists (as his pups cheered him on from the safety of the wagon!). On their last nightly stop, Kagome realized they were within a few hours of home. By midmorning of the next day they would be back in Kaede's village. After preparing their dinner of some nice fresh water trout Inuyasha managed to catch, she took out the pups' bath basin and heated water that Inuyasha had fetched from the stream. She wanted her pups somewhat clean when they greeted their old friends tomorrow. As she gathered up six, whining naked pups and placed them in the tub, Inuyasha played "catch" - you see - Kagome only has two hands and pups will be pups - as she was washing one another would climb out and attempt to flee the dreaded water - or two or three would flee. Inuyasha would then gather them back up and put them where they belonged. This was a typical bath time that ended up with, finally, six clean pups in clean kimonos and 2 wet parents - with Inuyasha cursing his demon blood for not being able to resist his wife's heat cycles and having so many close together (he even began threatening to sleep in a tree the next time she was 'ready'). Finally, the infants were done and all in all, 8 shining clean pups were ready for bed. Inuyasha and Kagome dried off, cleaned up the site and climbed into the wagon beside their family. Kagome placed a spell of protection over the campsite so that Inuyasha could sleep undisturbed as Inuyasha pulled out his biwa and played quietly to lull the pups to sleep. Tomorrow would be a busy day!

Kaede's Village, Summer, 1550

Sango was busy assisting Kaede with pulling weeds in the herb garden. Without Kagome, Sango had begun assisting Kaede with healing duties around the village, to help the old miko out. Miroku was close by, playing with 3 little girls and a kitsune. He had finished working on his crops for the morning and was taking a much needed break. The kitsune was playing tag with the little girls (a game he learned from Kagome), when he suddenly turned to the outside of the village, nose twitching. "Hey Miroku, Sango,", he called excitedly, "I think I smell something familiar." Miroku got up and was joined by Sango and Kaede as they looked over the hill to see 2 wagons pulled by two horses, with a third horse walking beside, a woman perched on top and a figure clad in red walking on the other side. "Can it be?", Sango said to her husband and Miroku concurred, "I think so." Kaede finished by saying "There's no mistaking that red outfit, it's Inuyasha and Kagome."

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A/N: This was just a filler chapter to get us back to Mushashi where more adventures await.

To Avelyn Lauren - thanks for all the kind words. In reality, back in those days, women had babies constantly because so many were lost to disease and famine and war, but families of 15 or more weren't unheard of. Because they are demons, these children are heartier, but don't worry - Keade will help out when it comes to Inuyasha and his nose!!! And my daughter is 12, she's the youngest of my three kids - my other two are 16 and 17 so I'm no kid myself. My kids got me into Inuyasha!