Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha

A/N: I can't believe it...The Epilogue... I thought this day would never come. And now that it has...I don't know what to think.

I'm so horrible at writing review responses, so this is for everyone; You guys are awesome. Seriously. I don't know what I would have done without any of you. Even if I write fics for my own enjoyment, it's so great to hear from you who actually read it and have something to say. Like I said, I'm not too great at this kind of stuff. So just read on...And know that, anyone who's reading this, you have been thanked!

The Final Chapter: Epilogue

It was only a few days after they went back to school that Nanami scheduled another concert for Faded Light. Kagome was - if only by a small margin - dreading the performance; what made it worse was the fact that both her and Sango had been asked to sing a solo each, which she didn't particularly agree with.

Kagome's free time she acquired was used to catch up on school work; and, to her surprise, she did actually have the potential to bring her grade up. She figured her teachers were all going crazy, that or it was the other way around.

Shippou seemed to be content to live in the Higurashi house; he hung out with Souta and Kagome when he was bored, and had been enrolled into grade school, just one class below Souta. They enjoyed his cheerful presence around the house, even if he did get irritating very easily.

Even so, Kagome dreaded going to sleep at night and having to wake up early in the morning. There was still the same recurring nightmare, but even that was slowly fading away. For this, at least, she was thankful.

And - to be on the safe side - both Kagome and Sango bought a pair of excessively short wigs, one being fiery red and the other a dark blue. "To help keep your identities safer," Nanami had told them. The news of the scandal and the incident had gotten around rather quickly. Kagome absolutely loved it; it was like she was stepping out of her own person and becoming somebody else - someone mysterious and happy in a dark sort of way - even if it was only for a few hours. And, since it was close to the new year, concerts and public appearances were being scheduled months ahead of time. The thought of it made the whole band sick. Of course, that only made it all the more appealing (not to mention hilarious) to Inuyasha and Miroku.

The weekend was - once again - over.

Kagome, perhaps for the first time ever, was the one waiting at Sango's door before school that Monday morning. Sango appeared shock as she answered the door, her eyes - though tired - opened wide. "What are you doing up so early?" she asked, baffled.

Kagome shrugged only halfheartedly. "I couldn't sleep," she admitted nonchalantly, inspecting one of her black fingernails. A red X had been painted across them, just because she had been bored. "Honestly, I'm not even tired...or hungry, for that matter." She snorted at the knowing and chastising glower she received. "Oh, cut it out. It's not anything like that. Shippou kept me up a lot last night because he's sick; in fact, he's skipping school today. So would you stop being so suspicious all the time? It doesn't suit you.

"And besides; do you think I'd actually be one to willingly skip out on sleeping or eating? Next time, be a little smarter than that." Sango responded sourly by punching in the shoulder, and even though it was unintentional, it still hurt. Kagome rubbed the sore spot carefully. "Ouch. You wound me, Sango."

"Where'd you learn that line from? Miroku?" Sango chided playfully, grabbing onto one of Kagome's wrists as she pulled her into the house and out of the cold; the weather was, however, definitely warming. "Wait here. I'm almost ready."

Five minutes later, after Kagome exchanged a few words with Kohaku and their father, the two of them left, as the had done not too long ago. Except now they had a new morning ritual; Miroku and Inuyasha would meet them at the corner by the four-way intersection, and their small grouping would walk to school together, uncaring about anyone who saw.

This, Kagome realized, was the perfect opportunity for her to stop and think, everything else pushed aside. She found herself more focused lately, more perceptive. Even if Inuyasha, Miroku, and even Kouga sometimes chose to stay with Kagome and Sango rather than anyone else, they weren't faltered. They were, however, straying further and further apart from anyone else at school. None of them cared, so they claimed, and Sango didn't argue with them. "Let them do what they will," she had said, smirking genuinely. "I guess it's nice to have some company once in a while."

As always, Inuyasha and Miroku met up with them. Sango greeted them absently, allowing her backpack to swing precariously on her arm, about ready to fall to the ground. She still wasn't quite used to the change, considering before it was only her and Kagome all the time, but she figured she'd get used to it eventually. Miroku slipped his arm around her shoulder, and she only slapped him when his hand began to wander too far southward for her comfort. "Pervert," she shouted in his ear, but instead of him being angry, he simply laughed. Kagome joined in, unexplainably glad for the simple distraction.

Unlike millions of other times before, science, math, and even history slipped by relatively well, even if her and Sango weren't exactly welcomed with open arms. Kagome was used to the familiar feeling of invisibility, something she gleefully accepted and clung on to. She had never been one who wanted too much attention; even just being the famous band they were sometimes got a little excessive, making her want to dig a six foot deep hole and bury herself in it.

She was, however, a bit perturbed by the fact that Kikyou was actually leaving her to be alone. Together, Kagome and Sango walked to lunch while they had a hushed conversation.

"It's because you practically broke her arm," Sango stated with a sly undertone. "She still hasn't gotten over it. But what can I say? The bitch got what she deserved."

Kagome nodded, only half listening. Minutes passed and Sango fell quiesce; they always knew when the other wanted silence or was simply too distracted to want to speak. Now was one of those times, and Sango didn't push the matter further.

They walked the oh-too-familiar halls until they reached the doors leading to the outside eating court; even if it was cold out, no one wanted to stay inside.

The icy air bit at Kagome's cheek and began to work on her hands before she shoved them inside her jacket pockets. The boxed lunch she brought dangled off one finger. It bounced rhythmically against her thigh as her legs moved, back and forth, at a somewhat fast pace. Many a time someone would tell her she walked too quickly, but she blew the matter off with a shrug.

Ugg boots now layered in snow, Kagome sat at their usual table...which was unusually empty. "Where's Inuyasha?" she asked, tapping her fingernails on the table. "And Miroku? Shouldn't they be here by now?"

Sango shrugged and gave the food court yard a quick scan. "I don't know. Maybe their class isn't out yet or something." Even as she said it, the suggestion didn't seem likely. Kenji - as he told the students to call him - was probably the most favorited teacher of their class. She shrugged again. "Whatever. What are you, his keeper?"

Kagome rolled her eyes and opened her lunch box. "What..." she stammered, staring into it; completely empty, the contents that had been so carefully placed that morning gone. Her eyes narrowed. "Where in the hell did my lunch go?" she demanded loudly, causing those sitting at the surrounding tables to stare. "My food is gone!"

There was blackness suddenly. Kagome blinked, but she was still unable to see. "Inuyasha..." she ground out between clenched teeth. He was trying her patience. "What did you do to my food?!"

Instead of answering, he grabbed onto her forearm and hoisted her off the chair. "You don't need that," he responded casually. He began pulling her away from the school. "Sango, you're coming too."

Sango, just as baffled as Kagome was, followed and left her lunch back at the table. Miroku wasn't anywhere in sight. But she didn't even attempt to ask, knowing full well that she wouldn't receive an answer anyway. She did, however, have to stifle a laugh as Kagome insistently tugged at Inuyasha's hair and ears, demanding where they were going and what had befallen her so perfectly cooked lunch.

She was utterly and completely ignored.

Sango still didn't know where they were going, but when Inuyasha led them into the parking lot behind the school, she saw Miroku standing next to a red car. An expensive red car by the looks of it. He was swinging what looked to be a ring of keys around one of his fingers, a wide smirk etched on his face.

"Inuyash-a," Kagome ground out through clenched teeth. "Please tell me we're not going anywhere. I'm telling you, I'd rather stay in school..." She was cut off when he suddenly stopped, whirling on her and gently putting one of his hands over her mouth.

"Shut up," he muttered, smirking. "You're only going to be missing one class, all right? So just calm down and trust me for once."

Kagome shot him a glare - one that told him he was going to pay for this later - but she continued on anyway, more willingly this time. Her stomach rumbled uncertainly, but she remained disputatiously silent. She crossed her only free arm over her chest; there was no doubt that she was still freezing. Inuyasha seemed to take notice of this and pulled her possessively closer, his arm situated so it was resting around her neck. "The heat will be on in the car."

Kagome nodded, quite obviously pondering something. "Who's car is that?" she asked, genuinely curious. She had never seen it before, not once in all the time she'd spent with Inuyasha.

He glanced down at her, a frown delicately pulling at his lips. "It's mine," he stated, as if it was the most obvious thing ever. "What did you think I was, broke or something?"

Kagome shook her head, turning her attention back to the red cruiser. "No, of course not. It's just that...I don't know, I've never seen you drive before."

Silence passed after that, and to the point where they made it to the car, no one spoke a word. Miroku greeted Kagome with a clap on her shoulder, and she only glowered wearily at him in return. Sango was already waiting in the leather backseats, her glance suspicious. From the red, smarting mark on Miroku's cheek that Kagome only now noticed, she had slapped him a good one. Quite literally.

The car was warm, thankfully, since Inuyasha had let go of her to move up into the driver's seat. Miroku situated himself on the opposite side; clearly, they had no intention of giving any hint as to where they were going.

"This could be considered kidnaping!" Sango yelped, more to be annoying than anything else. She kicked her now shoeless feet above Miroku's headrest, ignoring the dagger-filled glare that Inuyasha gave her.

Miroku rolled his eyes towards the ceiling. "Do you actually think we'd believe that you would ever call the cops on us for kidnaping? We're the same age, anywho, so I don't think that counts."

While Inuyasha maneuvered out of the overcrowded parking lot, Inuyasha fiddled with the radio and Kagome distracted herself by staring out the window. Pressed against the glass, her hand left an imprint, which she quickly swiped away and redid. Her black fingernails stood out against the frosty surface. She ended up quitting anyway when her hand got too cold, wiping the condensation that had formed on her sweat pants. "We almost there?" she complained, already getting irritated. A song by Metallica was pounding through the speakers.

"Kags...It hasn't even been five minutes," Inuyasha responded coolly, shooting her a wary glance through the rearview mirror. "I thought I told you to trust me." For a second, he almost appeared hurt; and for a fraction of that second, Kagome almost believed it.

"You're unbelievable," she muttered, and just for good measure, kicked the back of his seat. She figured that if she was annoying enough, he would give some indication as to where they were going. Her plan didn't work as well as she thought it would, because Inuyasha refused to speak up.

Another ten minutes passed, and Sango could tell Kagome was getting restless; well, so was she. "Miroku," she ground out, enunciating each word carefully. "Where. Are. We. Going?"

He sighed from the front seat, but didn't answer right away. Inuyasha said everything that was necessary; "Just shut your damn mouth and keep quiet back there. Kagome, quit kicking my fucking seat and I'll consider leaving your hands and feet unbound next time I take you somewhere."

The snide comment was brushed off with a lazy wave of Kagome's hand.

But she obliged, however, and clamped her mouth shut. She didn't think it was particularly fair to make him so angry, when he was willfully breaking her out of school...Even if it was only for one period. She could make do with that.

It was near ten minutes later when Inuyasha pulled into a parking lot; a parking lot for what looked to be some sort of restaurant, with a name that Kagome nor Sango was able to read. 'How frustrating,' Sango thought just as Inuyasha cut the engine and the car came to a stop. The first thing she asked was: "What is this place?"

"You honestly didn't want to eat lunch at school, did you?" Miroku chided as he opened Sango's door with an over exaggerated flourish. "And don't worry about payment, either; Inuyasha and I have it covered."

Kagome, for once during that whole day, was grateful. Her lunch probably wouldn't have been too good anyway.

The restaurant, Kagome was pleased to find, was probably the best one in all of Tokyo. They served food from different cultures of all kinds, and she had to admit that she was starting to feel sick when they went back to school. And as soon as she went home, she took a nap. They had a concert that night, after all, and she didn't want to screw up. Tai and Rizu would certainly do some ass-kicking for that.

The whole family was coming, as well as Sango's parents; and, as always, they would be backstage, hiding out with Inuyasha and Miroku. It was a comfort to have them there.

But it wasn't like Kagome was about to admit that to anyone.

When she woke up, it was still a few hours to the concert. The sun was beginning to sink lower and lower in the sky. She was instantly glad she didn't have any immediate homework that needed to be finished. Her mother wasn't yet home, but Souta was, and she found him after ambling rather clumsily to the kitchen. Her legs felt wobbly after crashing on the couch in the living room.

"Hey Souta," she greeted through a yawn, propping herself on the counter after pouring a cup of coffee. "What're you looking for? Hungry already? It's not time for supper yet. I'll be making something soon, anywho, so don't eat anything til then."

Souta shook his head, chuckling, but began running through the cupboards anyway. Something akin to humor was marked clearly on his face. "No Inuyasha coming over?"

Kagome scrunched her nose and furrowed her eyebrows. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Souta shrugged innocently, though his face betrayed anything he was trying to conceal. "He's over here a lot, you know. Even mom knows about it, but she would never kick him out; probably because she thinks his ears are just so adorable."

Kagome rolled her eyes. She kicked Souta in the shins as best she could; he jumped away quickly to avoid any further pain. "What do you care? Last time I checked, the two of you got along like you were related by blood or something. Why the sudden change of attitude?"

He shrugged again and perched himself next to her, though it took some more work, putting into perspective the considerable height difference between them. "Inuyasha's cool, and he pays more attention that you do."

Kagome choked on the gulp of coffee she had taken. "Inuyasha? Paying attention? Yeah, right, and Sango and Miroku are going to be breaking up in the next hour. Tell me another." She snorted. "Honestly Souta, how ridiculous can you get?"

An exasperated sigh sounded from the younger. "You wouldn't understand. It's guy stuff. And you're a girl, after all."

Kagome ruffled Souta's hair playfully, knowing full well that it irritated him. Instead of responding, she jumped off the counter, gave her coffee mug a quick rinse in the sink, and ambled up towards her bedroom. Sango would probably be stopping by soon - like she did before every concert - so they could practice.

She started herself a shower once she got to her bathroom; steam quickly filled the room, the promising moisture clinging to her skin. It would be a good night, she swore to herself. The heat in the bathroom seeped into her skin, and she let herself sink into pure relaxation.

"Inuyasha...TURN THE DAMN MUSIC DOWN!!"

Sango couldn't actually believe she agreed to let Inuyasha drive the van. Tai and Rizu were - thankfully - already at the concert stadium in Kyoto. She was going to strangle Kagome, since part of the agreement came from her. Now that Inuyasha was driving, and the two of them were stuck with Miroku in the back, he figured that he had the control of everything. And now, he was going to blow their eardrums out before they even left Tokyo.

Kagome had her hands clapped over her ears, her eyes closed tightly. It was a few minutes later when Inuyasha finally obliged and turned down the music to a volume they could stand, just as the van skirted its way out of Tokyo's city limits and into the suburbs.

"It's going to be almost an hour drive," Kagome announced, running a hand through her still damp hair. "I don't know about any of you, but I'm taking a nap." That said, she sunk to the floor and turned onto one of her sides. She fell silent instantly afterward.

The trip was, as she predicted, around forty-five minutes long. Sango and Miroku conversed quietly enough while Kagome slept - tried to, anyway - with Inuyasha throwing in a comment every now and then. Miroku shared the exasperating story about Kagome had to drive the van when they were looking for her. Sango thought that was particularly hilarious, even more so when she found at that Kagome nearly killed them all with her reckless swerving turns.

Kagome managed to jerk herself awake to look outside the back window of the van; Inuyasha had just gone over a huge bump, and didn't think to slow down. They were in Kyoto, and close to the concert stadium by the looks of it. The streets were overly crowded with cars and people heading out as night drew close.

She grabbed onto her guitar case and stood up, barely managing to balance herself as Inuyasha picked up speed. "Oi, slow down up there!" she yelped just as she fell back down on her rear. "Ouch! Dammit, Inuyasha, you'll pay for that!"

The rest of the trip was relatively quiet. Inuyasha hadn't even parked in a concealed area of the parking lot when Kagome and Sango thrust open the back door and flew out. "See you backstage!" Sango called, and then they were gone.

Inuyasha and Miroku followed; at a much slower pace, of course.

A speaker from somewhere in the dressing room beeped.

"Where are you guys?" A voice crackled through the static. "We need you backstage, like, right now."

It was Nanami. Sango cursed under her breath and attempted to kick away the cord wrapped around her feet. It was, she realized, connected to the compact sized radio sitting on one of the counters circling the room.

They were late (as always) and Nanami sounded about ready to blow a gasket.

Kagome groaned and clutched the neck of her guitar til her knuckles turned white. "Everyone's obviously waiting, so I guess we should go. It sounds like Tai and Rizu are already set up, so we only need to plug this stuff in and we're good to go."

Sango nodded and followed Kagome out the doors. She was carrying a map to ensure they didn't get lost in the huge place; through hallways and small rooms they wound, more than once having to backtrack and go in a different direction. It was almost ten minutes later when they found the backstage area; both families - plus Inuyasha, Miroku, and Shippou - were there, waiting. Nanami was first to rush at them, fuming.

"You two...I swear...If I wasn't your publicist, and I didn't actually care about what happened to your band, you would have a crater-sized dent in those thick skulls of yours..."

Sango cocked an eyebrow, watching as Kagome began discreetly sidling away. "Calm down, all right? We're here and we have...almost five minutes. Plenty of time." That said, she began running towards the stage.

Kagome and Sango stood center stage. Kagome could feel that flutter feeling in her gut, which only made her grip on the microphone tighter. She sucked in a deep breath, barely turning her head so she could glance off to the side, where Inuyasha stood waiting. He smirked at her; she gave him a discreet thumbs up.

Lights faded.

Strobe lights turned on.

The black velvet curtain rose, exposing them to the crowd.

There was someone announcing them, the noise booming through the speakers, but she didn't hear it.

And when Tai began his drum solo,

and Rizu set the notes on his keyboard,

Kagome began singing for all she was worth.

THE END

A/N: Wow...I can't believe I'm done...That's it. Kaput. I think I'm gonna cry. I'm feeling very...emotional. Is that the right word? It's the damn story's fault that I'm feeling like this.

Take time to review. xD I'll be awaiting your input patiently. That's it. Peace. I'm out.

-Scarlet Flames13

P.S: Check out my other stories. I'm going to be posting another one soon.