Sōta Higurashi

is Kagome Higurashi's younger brother. During the course of Hanyō no Yashahime, he is the husband of Moe, mother of Mei, and adoptive father/paternal half-uncle of Towa Higurashi.

History
Sōta's unnamed father died in a car accident when his elder sister was four years old before he was born. They moved into the shrine before Sōta was born, and he never had a chance to know his father. He grew up with his older sister, grandfather, mother, and cat as a family.

During the Story
Throughout the series, he often watched his sister and Inuyasha argue with each other. When the Noh Mask chased Kagome with Shikon Jewel shards, his sister ordered him to go to the wellhouse into the Feudal Era but didn't work for him because the Shikon Jewel had connections with the Bone-Eater's Well. Inuyasha comes and takes Sōta to find and save Kagome from Noh Mask.

He was horrified when the bone-eater's well vanished due to Naraku's wish on the Shikon Jewel which sent Kagome in the darkness, and he, his mother and grandfather were worried about Kagome and begged Inuyasha to save her life. Eventually, the well reappeared three days later as Kagome wished for the Shikon no Tama to disappear forever after Inuyasha found her, and he and his family were relieved to see Kagome again.

Later Life
Three years later, after Kagome had permanently moved to the Feudal Era, Sōta was shown walking home from school with a group of his friends. He was in junior high school, and he explained to his curious friends that his sister wasn't around a lot because she was married right after high school. Then he arrived back home to his grandfather and his mother tells him that dinner is ready and he says goodbye to his friends.

Hanyō no Yashahime
When Sōta was twenty years old, he encountered a silver-white-haired girl named Towa. After seeing her outfit, he immediately realized that she was from the Feudal Era, similarly to where Inuyasha was from, and offered to help her in her search for her twin sister, despite knowing the futility of it. Eventually Sōta adopted Towa into his family, as well as marrying a musician named Moe, and since Sōta felt that Towa needed another sister, the two of them had a daughter named Mei. Sōta came to the shrine, and had a first met with Towa's twin sister and Moroha, Inuyasha and Kagome's daughter (according to his mother what she saw in her eyes), and brought them to their apartment as they stayed for three days.

Personality
During his childhood, Sōta is a very typical young boy. He likes to play soccer and enjoys hanging out with his friends. He is very perceptive, as shown when he is asking Inuyasha for love advice. He has the idea that Inuyasha and Kagome are in love and dating because he sees the way that Inuyasha comes around to care for her when she is sick, and notes how she misses a bunch of school just to hang around with Inuyasha. Sōta is also scared of the dark, like when he doesn't want to go in the well house to look for Buyo and when he didn't want to sleep in his own room when there had been a fire at the shrine. He is noted wishing he could travel back in time but Kagome dismisses this thought, saying that he would have been "too scared" on one of her trips back to the Feudal Era. Despite his fears, his caring side seems to outshine, like when he continued to visit his friend Satoru even though it was rumored his visits often resulted in something bad happening to the visitors. Everyone else had stopped going to see Satoru, but Sōta continued to visit him. He is also a bit shy, but Inuyasha and Kagome help him overcome this when they helped him get the courage to ask out Hitomi, a girl he had a crush on. Sōta is perceptive, loyal, caring, brave, helpful and easily scared.

His perceptiveness is a trait retained well into adulthood, having realized from their first meeting that Towa was a half-demon and that she would have to be taught to control her powers. In his adult years, Sōta was shown to be very reassuring, sensible and confident. As an adult, Sōta was mature enough to handle adopting a four year old Towa when he himself was only 20 years old and manage her upbringing along with his wife and in the decade after their own biological daughter was born.

Physical description
Sōta is a kid of average height and weight. He has black hair with distinctive bangs on his right side, brown eyes and pale skin. Physically speaking, he strongly resembles his mother and his older sister, particularly when he starts attending junior high school.

As a grown man, Sōta is reasonably tall, with moderately broad shoulders and a fit build. He tends to wear a cyan polo shirt, dark gray slacks, a gray watch, and brown shoes for his casual attire.

Family

 * Kagome Higurashi

Sōta and Kagome seem to have a pretty common brother-sister relationship. He is seen bringing up matters that annoy his sister, though this is not always done purposely. He has also prevented Inuyasha and Kagome from kissing one time; showing up right before their lips actually touch. Despite all this, there have been many moments where Sōta shows his sister how brave and helpful he can actually be. At some points, she even thanks him for his 'advice'. She has even said she's proud of him. They truly love each other like a brother and sister should, and are protective of one another like a brother and sister should be.


 * Inuyasha

Sōta looks up to Inuyasha as an older brother figure and says that Inuyasha is his hero. He feels close to Inuyasha, and even comes to him seeking love advice. Sōta and Inuyasha seem to develop a good relationship throughout the series. They become brothers-in-laws when Inuyasha and Kagome are married after her graduation from high school. Coincidentally, both Sōta and Inuyasha never met their fathers who died (after Inuyasha was born and before Sōta was born) and they both find Kagome to be a bit of a handful at times.


 * Towa Higurashi

Towa is Sōta's adoptive daughter and half-niece-in-law in Hanyō no Yashahime. He found her alone when she was 4 years old. For the following ten years, Towa has been living with his family in the modern era. Towa loves Sōta very much and considers him to be like a father to her.


 * Moe Higurashi

Moe is Sōta's wife in Hanyō no Yashahime. They appear to have a loving relationship and one of great trust, as Moe was aware of and believed Sōta's stories about his older sister and her half-demon husband, Inuyasha. Additionally, her trust and affection can be seen in how she eagerly accepted Sōta's niece, Moroha as well as Setsuna into the Higurashi family.


 * Mei Higurashi

Mei is Sōta's biological daughter in Hanyō no Yashahime. They appear to have a very typical father-daughter relationship, with Mei being close enough to her father to break down when her adoptive sister left with her twin and cousin for the Feudal Era.


 * Moroha

Moroha is Sōta's niece in Hanyō no Yashahime. Despite knowing her for a very short time, Sōta is seen to be both indulgent and easily forgiving of Moroha despite the young girl racking up considerable charges on Sōta's credit card while shopping.

Friends

 * Hitomi

Hitomi is Sōta's classmate, and later his first girlfriend. Sōta has a crush on her and the two of them date each other after he works up the courage to confess his feelings for her. In Hanyō no Yashahime, the two of them broke up at some point in time, as evidenced by Sōta being married to Moe.


 * Satoru Ikeda

Sōta is best friends with eight-year-old Satoru, going to see him while he was in his six-month long coma.

Sōta have a first met with Towa's homeroom teacher at, after he reunited with Moe, Sōta was surprised what Osamu saw for every 500 years: the Grim Comet.
 * Osamu Kirin

Trivia

 * In the Korean dub, Sōta's name is changed to Yoon Tae-young.
 * His second seiyū for Hanyō no Yashahime, Junya Enoki, also voiced Reiji Todoriki from another of Rumiko Takahashi's series Kyoukai no Rinne.
 * Since Sōta no longer lives at Higurashi shrine, he did not take over for his grandfather (yet), he along his wife Moe, his daughter Mei and adoptive daughter/half-niece-in-law Towa lives in an apartment.