A/N: Sequel to My Only Hope! Yay! I know many of you wanted one, and I finally got around to starting it! Good for me! Ahem…anyway, please review and let me know what you think about it. This one will be shorter than the other one…so I hope you enjoy it!

Summary: Sequel to My Only Hope, we finally see Inuyasha and the gang in the future. What other types of problems could the gang possibly run into now that the hard stuff is supposedly behind them?

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What the Future Holds
Chapter One

"Taka! Toku! Sumire! Shippo!" Kagome hollered up the stairs. "Get up! You are all going to be late for school! Come on! Hurry!" she demanded. A lot had happened. Kaname had grown old and died a short while after her sixty-third birthday. Sango and Miroku's daughter Hikari died about a year later, but by then, Sango and Miroku had been dead nearly twenty years. It was at times like these when Kagome found her lack of the ability to grow old and die to be rather annoying.

She sighed. Beyond that, everyone had managed to stand the test of time. Inuyasha and the gang were now living the future that Mine had made sure they worried about. Everything had gone well.

Sesshoumaru had founded a school for demon and hanyou children in the same year that Kagome had first fallen down the well into the feudal era. Ironically, the school was built only a couple blocks away from the high school that Kagome had once attended. Her friends Eri, and Ayumi would be starting their ninth grade year this year…the same as three of Kagome's four children.

Sesshoumaru was proud of his school, which enrolled, much to his surprise, hundreds of hanyou and youkai children each year. The school taught the children their reading, writing, and arithmetic, but Sesshoumaru also made sure that there were specialty classes. After all, the children needed to know how to properly harness their demonic power…even if such displays of strength weren't really needed anymore.

"Shippo!" Kagome groaned. He slid down the curved banister that would take him to the first floor, and smiled at his mother when he landed.

"Hey mom!" he grinned, wrapping her in a hug. "I'll leave in a minute, I promise…" he added.

Kagome smiled at her adopted son. Shippo had grown up to be a rather handsome young man. He kept his fiery red hair just long enough to place it in a small ponytail. His tail, which had gotten at least two feet longer since he's aged, was no longer a puffy mess, but rather long and beautiful. His eyes were still a beautiful emerald green color, but Kagome now saw something else besides his natural playfulness in them. There was wisdom, age, and understanding…

Kagome blinked as Shippo asked, for the third time, what she could possibly be staring at. She shrugged. "It's nothing, Shippo. Just eat your breakfast, okay?"

Kagome heard several loud pounding noises, and not soon after, she saw Sumire, Taka, and Toku running down the stairs. Taka was beautiful. She still looked exactly like Inuyasha as far as Kagome was concerned, but her hair was less wild, and she often chose to wear the long mane in a ponytail. Toku was also a sight for sore eyes. His hair had grown rather long, and he wore it down as his father did. It had long ago decided that it was going to get darker, and was now only slightly lighter than Kagome's own hair. Sumire, although the youngest of the group, looked to be about Shippo's age. Her long black hair was smooth and silky as it was on her tail, and her eyes were very bright. Despite how old she looked, she still sometimes had the playful mind of a child.

"You guys need to hurry and get to school. I don't want your uncle mad at me, but he's right…you guys are perpetually late…"

"Don't worry about them," Inuyasha wrapped her in a hug from behind. "If they run, they can still make it."

"You're supposed to take my side, Inuyasha." Kagome whispered.

Sumire smiled at her mother. "Don't worry so much, mom! We're going to be fine. We'll get there on time!" she grabbed her toast and headed for the door. "Bye! See you when I get home!"

Shippo, Taka, and Toku took off only seconds later.

Kagome sighed and plopped down in the nearest chair.

Inuyasha frowned. "You're about as bored as I am with this time period, Kagome. If you hadn't gone and resealed that well…"

"I didn't, Inuyasha. The well no longer works because I lived in the feudal era." She explained. "But believe me, I wish we had something to do about as much as you do. I think that's why I loved going to the feudal era so much when I lived here…because it was so exciting…"

"It was exciting because I was there…" Inuyasha smirked.

"Oh, no. I'm not about to blow up your ego any more than it already is." Kagome frowned.

"You two act as if you are still teenagers…" smirked Jin.

Kagome smiled. "So do you…but I am not even going to entertain you with an explanation…" she sighed, standing up. "I'm going to go check and see how the shrine is doing…" she said, walking towards the door.

"Be careful, Kagome." Inuyasha warned.

Kagome laughed. "Inuyasha, remember what I told you a long time ago? Your time…the feudal era….it was a lot more dangerous than this time is. There isn't anything to worry about. I'm going to be fine…"

Inuyasha cleared his throat. "Need I remind you of the mall incident that happened after the twins were born?"

"We changed that, Inuyasha. People look at hanyous and youkai a lot differently now then they did a while ago…"

He frowned in agreement. "Fine." He sighed. "Just hurry back, please? I'll miss you!" he whined, and Kagome smiled.

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"Shippo…wait up!" called Taka. Toku and Sumire followed after them. Rin was walking home with her father.

Shippo turned to smile at his brother and sisters. "I waited for forever!" he told them. "I thought that you guys had already left or something!"

"No," smirked Toku. "We were looking for you…"

"Yeah, but you disappeared on us." Sumire agreed.

"I did no such thing!" whined Shippo as their small group rounded a street corner.

"Shippo, watch out…" Taka warned, but a little too late. Shippo nearly collided with a girl who was walking down the street. Shippo managed to catch the girl before she fell to the ground.

He blushed. "I'm so sorry. I wasn't paying attention, and I should have known better than to let my guard down…" he stammered. "Are you hurt?" He looked the girl over. She was beautiful, and she was wearing a school uniform that was a mirror image of the one that Kagome used to wear when they traveled through the feudal era. She must be going to the same school that Kagome had once attended.

"I'm all right," she whispered. "Thanks for catching me…"

Shippo blushed madly. "It was nothing. I…"

"You're a demon?" she whispered.

The color drained from Shippo's face. "Yes, I am, but I won't…I didn't mean to bump into you or anything. I didn't mean to hurt you if I did…"

"Don't worry about it," the girl smiled, getting quickly to her feet. "I'm fine. No harm's done…and I like your tail." She added.

"You like my…" Shippo blushed furiously.

She flashed him another smile. "It was nice meeting you, Shippo. My name is Hikari…"

"Hikari?" all four of them blinked.

She nodded, waved, and took off after her friends.

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"Is it possible?" Shippo wondered out loud. "I mean, is Hikari a popular name? She died so long ago…could she be a descendant of the Hikari we know?" he asked his parents.

Kagome shrugged. "Anything is possible, Shippo." She answered him. "Did she look like Hikari at all?"

Shippo nodded. "Yes, mom. She was beautiful."

"You like her?" Inuyasha smiled.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome frowned. "Don't pry!"

"He's been around for over five hundred years, Kags! I can't help but be just a little interested when he likes someone!" Inuyasha whined. "Aren't you? You know you are!" he accused her.

"Maybe…" Kagome admitted. "But you shouldn't pry!"

"It's all right, mom…" Shippo whispered.

"Well, Shippo, if you do like her, maybe you ought to pick a day to go and talk to her? Get to know her, maybe?" she suggested after a moment of uncomfortable silence.

He nodded. "I think I might."

"That's good, because I…" Kagome stopped, and gasped, her face contorting in confusion. She hadn't felt a feeling like this since…She reached out, grabbing Inuyasha by the haori, and spun him towards the door. "Inuyasha…I think I sense…but it couldn't possibly be…could it?"

Just then, Sesshoumaru ran into the house. "Can't you smell that?" he snarled at them. "There is a large concentration of demonic energy heading this way…and it is exactly like that of Naraku!" he yelled. Rin ran up the stairs, tossing her father his sword. Yuka came into the room. "Stay here." He demanded.

"But, Sesshoumaru…how could Naraku? We killed him!" Kagome stammered.

Sesshoumaru shrugged. "You are the reincarnation of the priestess Kikyou…how do we know that Naraku was not also reincarnated into someone in this time, as Kikyou was to you? There is one thing I do know. I would never forget that scent. It's him…"

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A/N: Bwa ha ha! Evil Cliffy! (smile) I couldn't help it! Anyway, please review, and I hope you like it! I will hopefully update soon!