Disclaimer: Sadly I do not own any of the characters from Inuyasha. I only own my original characters: Jovan, Yoake (Dawn), Chūjitsuna (Loyal), and Itazura (Mischief), the other smaller less important characters that aren't mentioned in Inuyasha, and the ideas for the story. Any resemblance to any other Fanfics is purely coincidental since I haven't read anything like this story.

A Random Encounter

Prologue

It was another beautiful day in Feudal Era Japan. The birds were singing, the cherry trees were in bloom and all seemed right with the world. Well, as right as it can get when Kouga, the Taiyoukai of the Eastern Lands, and Inuyasha were once again fighting over Kagome. This meeting followed the same pattern as all the other meetings. It was as if the meetings were scripted or something.

Kagome would always sense two Shikon Jewel shards approaching fast. Inuyasha would smell the scent of wolf and growl about the "mangy wolf" while trying to keep Kagome behind him. By this time Miroku, Sango, Kirara, and Shippo would all just roll their eyes and watch the drama unfold. It was always a bit amusing. Kouga would breeze past Inuyasha, grab ahold of Kagome's hands, and ask how "His Woman" was. Inuyasha would start yelling and threatening, Kagome would get extremely embarrassed, and Kouga and Inuyasha would trade insults. After that two of Kouga's pack mates, Ginta and Hakkaku, would get close to catching up to Kouga, and he would take off in a cloud of dust, telling Inuyasha to take care of "His Woman." Poor Ginta and Hakkaku wouldn't even get to catch their breath before they had to take off after their Alpha once again, though Ginta would always take the time to tell his "Little Sis" Kagome hi before trying once again to catch up with Kouga. Then Inuyasha would usually yell at Kagome for not letting him kill "the mangy wolf" which would result in Kagome getting pissed off, yelling "Sit" and Inuyasha getting pounded into the ground, forming an Inuyasha shaped crater in the ground. While Inuyasha cursed and waited for the spell to wear off, the rest of the group would set up camp and gather the fire wood and water. That was pretty much the routine whenever Kouga would show up.

The whole group—except for the jealous idiot Inuyasha—felt really sorry for poor Kagome. Ever since the wolf youkai had kidnapped her three years ago, Kouga had been periodically showing up to see "His Woman." No matter how many times Kagome tried to tell him that she just wanted to be friends he still called her his. What the group didn't know was that Kouga had realized two years ago that he was never going to win Kagome for himself since she was in love with Inuyasha.

Kouga had long since given up on actually claiming Kagome and now thought of her as a good friend and an imōto in his pack. He had two reasons for keeping up the act that he was trying to win her. The first reason was that he was trying to get Inuyasha to realize that Kagome was a better choice of mate then the dead priestess, Kikyo. Kouga knew that Inuyasha loved Kagome and he wanted the stupid half breed to wake up and realize it himself.

The second reason Kouga kept up the act was simply that he really enjoyed annoying Inuyasha. He had tons of fun insulting him, sparring with him, and flirting with Kagome. He may not think of her as a potential mate anymore, but she was still a pretty girl and it was always fun to see her blush. Besides, since Ayame had decided to mate with Takeo, leader of the red wolf tribe, instead of waiting for him to get his revenge on Naraku, he didn't have to worry about any jealous wolf-bitch trying to hurt Kagome.

It was shortly after Kouga had left Inuyasha and his group that he came across the stench of Naraku. Swiftly changing direction, he ran toward the source of the smell. Within two minutes he came to a clearing that would have been beautiful if not for the deep gouges in the earth. In the clearing he saw the wind Kagura; the black haired woman was facing away from him using her Dance of Blades to send blades of light at a person at the other side of the clearing. He figured that anyone who would fight against one of Naraku's minions could be an ally. So while Kagura was too busy to notice him, he ran at full speed and kicked her with the full power of the Shikon Jewel shard in his right leg. Kouga could hear ribs break as Kagura went crashing into a tree. Unfortunately Kagura was quick to recover and before he could deliver another blow she took a feather from her hair, enlarged it and escaped.

"Damn you, you mangy wolf, you're always getting in my way. Someday soon your shards will belong to Naraku." She said as she fled from battle. Kouga would have given chase if he hadn't heard a moan of pain and smelled blood coming from the other side of the clearing. He started over to the figure that was leaning heavily on a tree trunk when the wind changed directions and brought a familiar scent to him. He looked closer at the figure, trying to figure out why his nose was telling him that Inuyasha was there, when the person he was seeing was clearly a woman.

Sure her long silvery hair was like Inuyasha's, but there were streaks of black running through it. She also had dog-like ears like Inuyasha, but the tips of hers were black and Inuyasha didn't have a silver tail with black streaks like she did. Her skin was a fair as Inuyasha's half-brother, Sesshomaru's was, and had plum-purple markings extending out from her eyelids, giving her an exotic look. She did have the same gold color eyes that Inuyasha had, but the expression in her eyes was softer, less jaded.

She was wearing black silk hakamas with a silver ivy design that wrapped around her right leg from her ankle to about mid-thigh, a black haori with the same silver ivy trailing down the left sleeve from her shoulder, a silver and purple sash that held a white sheath on her left side, and spiked bone and leather armor that looked a lot like the kind that Sesshomaru wore, but smaller. Her tail was draped over her right shoulder, much like Sesshomaru held his tail. The sword hilt that Kouga could see was wrapped with red leather and had a large emerald in the pommel, there was a faint youki to the sword, but it seemed to be muted by the white sheath. Everything about her reminded Kouga of either Inuyasha or Sesshomaru and he could tell by the quality of her clothes that she was wealthy, if not an aristocrat. Kouga stopped a good distance from the woman, not wanting to get too close in case she saw him as a threat and tried to attack.

"You ok?" Kouga asked. The woman raised her head and looked him in the eye. There was no fear in her gaze.

"I'll be alright in a few minutes," she said, her voice was soft and pleasing to Kouga's ears. "Thank you for helping me, but I'll be fine. My aniki is going to meet me here and he doesn't always get along well with others. He will be here in a couple of minutes, so it may be best if you continued on your way."

"Sorry, I'm not leaving an injured woman out here by herself. Besides, I want to know why one of Naraku's minions was attacking you." Kouga answered. The woman looked at him for a moment before she shrugged and started checking over her wounds.

"Who is Naraku? I have no clue why I was attacked, but my aniki will make sure that the youkai who attacked me pays for the insult. Now you really should go; aniki will take care of me if these minor injuries haven't completely healed when he gets here." She replied.

"No way am I leaving before your aniki gets here. Kagura or one of Naraku's other incarnations could show up and finish you off before your aniki gets here. Or even worse, we are on the border of Inuyasha's Forest and the Western Lands. You should wait for you aniki further away from the Western Lands. Lord Sesshomaru dislikes hanyous, and you smell enough like his half-brother, Inuyasha, that he'll probably kill you on sight." Kouga said.

"I didn't know Lord Sesshomaru had a half-brother, and you say he smells like me," she replied. "Well obviously someone has been keeping secrets from me. Aniki, please come out from behind that tree, it's not nice to spy on people."

"Assessing a situation is not spying, dear imōto. Had I rushed in when I first arrived Lord Kouga would be dead and then I would have a war with the Eastern Lands to deal with." A cold, emotionless voice answered as Lord Sesshomaru stepped into the clearing. His face was as emotionless as his voice, and could send a grown youkai running for his mommy.

"Is there a good reason why you have kept this Inuyasha a secret from me? Does Lady Mother know about him?" The woman asked.

"Yes." Sesshomaru replied, but from the tone of his voice it was clear that he was unwilling to explain further.

"Well, I suppose I'll have to ask Lady Mother about this Inuyasha." The woman turned back to Kouga and bowed, "Thank you for your concern, Lord Kouga. It was a pleasure meeting you; my name is Lady Jovan. Perhaps we will meet again someday."

Kouga cocked his head to the side and studied Lady Jovan. She really was an attractive woman and Kouga decided right then that he wanted to know her better. Then he looked at Sesshomaru and smirked.

'I can't wait to see the reaction on Inuyasha's face when he finds out what Lord Sesshomaru has been keeping from him. I wonder if the brothers would object to having a wolf in the family,' Kouga thought.

"It nice meeting you too, Lady Jovan, and I look forward to getting to know you better. Lord Sesshomaru, it was nice seeing you again as well. You might want to keep an eye on Inuyasha, though. Most of the Shikon jewel shards have been found, so the day we defeat Naraku is not far off. I know that you want be there for his defeat as much as I do," Kouga said.

"Perhaps it is time to see if Inuyasha would care to try working together. Come, imōto, it is time for you to head back to Mother's palace," Sesshomaru replied as he started walking away, escorting Lady Jovan towards the west, then paused and looked back at Kouga.

"Lord Kouga, should I find out that you have told Inuyasha anything, I will be most displeased," Sesshomaru commented. Kouga quickly caught the thinly veiled threat and smirked.

"Inuyasha won't hear anything from me, Lord Sesshomaru. It's none of my business what information you choose to give your half-brother," Kouga assured him.

"Good. After Naraku is defeated I will be sure to invite you to the annual harvest fair. I'm sure Lady Jovan will need an escort, since this will be her first time attending," Sesshomaru remarked. Lady Jovan looked over at Sesshomaru and smiled.

"Does this mean that I will be moving into the Western Palace this year, Aniki? I have waited so long to be able to meet more people. It gets quiet lonely at Lady Mother's palace," Jovan asked.

"Yes, imōto, it does," He replied as he looked down at Jovan. Sesshomaru didn't show any change in his expression, but Jovan could see that her aniki was just as happy about her moving into his palace as she was.

"Then will you be the one to tell me about this Inuyasha Lord Kouga mentioned or will I have to go to Lady Mother?" She inquired with a slightly raised eyebrow.

"I will explain everything once Naraku is defeated and you have moved into the palace. Until then you will refrain from questioning Mother; she is sensitive when it comes to talking about Inuyasha," Sesshomaru told her.

"Very well, Aniki," she said then she looked over at Kouga. "I look forward to attending the harvest fair with you, Lord Kouga. Thank you once again for the help with that Kagura woman," Jovan said as she and Sesshomaru started walking. Within seconds Kouga couldn't even smell them; they seemed to have just disappeared.

Shortly after they left, Ginta and Hakkaku finally managed to catch up to him. When Kouga didn't immediately take off again, the two wolf youkai sat down to catch their breath.

"Hey Kouga, we camping here for the night?" Ginta asked.

"Yeah. You two go scare up some dinner and get some rest. Tomorrow we have another long day of hunting for Naraku. Be careful though, Kagura was here earlier," Kouga answered.

'Funny how a random encounter can change your life,' Kouga thought with a smirk. 'Two random encounters have brought the two most interesting women into my life. I just hope Lady Jovan isn't already in love with someone else; 'cause I think I just found my new woman. I can't wait to see mutt-face's reaction to this.'

It was with that thought in mind that Kouga settled down for the night, and the beautiful day in Feudal Era Japan faded into night.