"Father?"

The male whom he had not seen in centuries raised a brow, and spoke in a rumbling voice, "Have you no respect, Seshomaru? Violating your own father's grave? Where is your honor?"

Seshomaru stared at him, ignoring his questions, "How did you cheat death, Father?"

His father glanced at the woman in his arms, "I had my ways. Now bring your brother. I wish to leave this accursed place."

"I am not a pup. I do not appreciate being ordered around."

His father gave him a pointed look, "That may be so, but I am still your Alpha."

With that he took into the sky, holding his precious cargo.

Seshomaru watched his father carry the human woman away and glanced at his brother's still form. "Jaken."

"Y-Yes M'Lord?"

Seshomaru turned on his heel.

"Bring Inuyasha."

He started walking away as his retainer spluttered, "B-But M'Lord - Can't we just leave him here to rot and die?"

Seshomaru stopped.

"Jaken."

The toad youkai froze and then shuffled across the sand, muttering to himself about arrogant dogs. The stone that hit him on the back of the head with such precise accuracy had him falling on his face with a loud squawk.

"Master Seshomaru!" He wailed. However, his Master had taken to the sky, following his father.

The Inu no Taisho landed in a clearing and as his feet touched the ground, he scanned the area for any lingering youkai before concentrating on the woman in his arms.

So young.

There was no doubt in his mind as to who she was.

Her scent had called him and her fear had brought him back. Her reiki had been so agitated that it had pulled onto the youki of the blade which he had gifted her. Nuzzling her neck, he breathed in her scent and his eyes flashed red as his beast purred.

She was his now.

For eternity.

When he had come across her before, he had been powerful but now he had reached the pinnacle of his power and now no one could take her from him again.

"Father."

Touga turned to look at Seshomaru, and raised a brow, "I thought I had told you to bring your brother with you."

His eldest son gave him an impassive look, "I do not touch such filth. Jaken will bring him."

The lightening whip that struck across Seshomaru's chest made him hiss with pain and he snarled. His father lectured mildly, "If I tell you to do something, pup, I expect to be obeyed."

Seshomaru was silent, yet his rebellious nature rose to the occasion, "It seems you have not learnt your lesson, Father. Trying to dally with another human female?" He raised an arrogant brow, "Did you learn nothing from Inuyasha?"

To his surprise and irritation, his father smirked, "Such an ignorant pup. Now go fetch your brother."

Seshomaru turned around but not before tossing over his shoulder, "I should warn you. The woman you hold is Inuyasha's woman. Do not get too comfortable."

Touga's eyes flashed red for a second before he once again scented the unconscious girl. Her scent was pure like the day he had met her. Untouched.

His eyes fell on her clothing. She was wearing a form fitting attire, however, he could scent blood on her. Not waiting for his sons to arrive, he sat down on the ground, pulling the girl onto his lap. He was about to cut the piece of cloth from where the blood felt most in concentration, when a moan made him lose his train of thought.

"Kagome."

The girl's lashes fluttered and he was met with a pair of hazy blue eyes. She blinked languidly, before asking in a hoarse voice, "Am - Am I dead?"

"No, little one."

The voice was so familiar that Kagome rubbed her eyes to clear the haziness. A pair of intense amber eyes swam into her vision.

"Uh, I -"

She squirmed as she realized that she was held in the lap of a male who was studying her with such intense scrutiny.

"Um, can you please let go?"

He didn't want to but he could sense her discomfort and so allowed her to scramble off his lap. The movement made Kagome's knees brush her scraped knees against the ground and she hissed in pain.

Within a second, the male was looming over her, his dominating presence making her shrink within herself, "What is it? Where are you injured?"

"It's just my knees," Kagome spoke in a small voice, more than a little overwhelmed.

Touga could see that he was frightening her so he sat back against the trees. Once free from the potent presence of this being who had not even introduced himself, Kagome looked around for her bag. Then it struck her that she had left the bag at their campsite.

She groaned. She needed to get out of these jeans. Sighing, she did the only thing that she could. Taking out her dagger, she did not notice the inuyoukai's widening eyes, and pinched one corner of the jeans, and started cutting it off.

"What are you doing?"

She looked up at the inuyoukai sitting across from her and swallowed. His eyes were an exact copy of Inuyasha's but they did not hold the innocence that her hanyou companion did. These eyes were intense, focused and held something that made her feel a lot of strange things, so much so that she found it hard to meet his gaze.

Focusing her gaze on her task, she said, "I hurt my knees and my bag which has my clothes and medicines is not here. I have to cut this or I'll be infected."

"Hnn."

Once done with her task, she didn't notice the heated look in those amber eyes as they travelled over the long bare legs of the girl. Instead she looked around for Inuyasha. She could not even sense him.

"Why do you fear me?"

Kagome's head shot up, her cheeks dusted with a light red, "I don't fear you." Then to herself, she mumbled, "I should, though."

The words were torn from her and she realized they were true. The stranger in the clearing cocked his head, "Then why do you not look me in the eye?"

"I - I don't even know who you are!"

For some reason this was the strangest situation Kagome had ever found herself in. She was not scared of this strange male. No, she felt perfectly safe and yet, a part of her was wary and on alert. She wanted to ask him where they were, where Inuyasha was, how did they end up here, but she couldn't find it in herself to voice her fears and concerns.

"Touga."

She blinked, "What?"

He couldn't help but chuckle, "My name is Touga."

"Oh," She tried to assemble her thoughts. The name wasn't familiar, yet why did he feel so?

"How did we - what happened?"

He wondered if he should tell her. She was already so much on edge. However, his silence had her reiki rising in agitation. "What aren't you telling me? Is Inuyasha okay?"

"Calm yourself, little one. The pup is fine."

"Then where is he? And who are you? How did I get here?"

The questions wouldn't stop flowing out of her, her reiki fluctuating. She was not prepared for him to wrap his youki around her, making her reiki retreat.

"Calm yourself. You will come to no harm here."

She stared at him, getting upset at how easily he was able to subdue her miko powers. Touga glimpsed the shine in her eyes, and frowned. When she rubbed her eyes with her sleeve, trying to hide a sniffle, he moved within the blink of an eye and sudden movement jarred her and she found herself once again in his lap.

"You will come to no harm with me, Kagome. You have my word."

Kagome froze, "How do you know my name?"

The fear overwhelmed her scent and he found he quite hated it.

"That is a tale for a later time. You reek of fear. What have I done to cause this fear?"

"N-Nothing."

"Kagome."

When she looked at him, reluctantly, her form stiff, he leaned his forehead against hers and murmured, "From this day on, I will be your protector. Fear has no part in our relationship."

Kagome scrambled back, shocked, "But why? You don't even know me. I don't even know who you are!"

She looked around wildly, "Where is Inuyasha!?"

Touga studied the frantic girl before him. She was not reacting as he had anticipated. Although she showed no fear of him, which was natural since her reiki did not consider him a threat, however, she was frightened and confused by the situation she was in.

He sighed inwardly, accepting that she was no longer the small, accepting child she had been when he had last seen her. Folding his arms in his kimono, he realized he would have to rethink his entire strategy of gaining her trust.

"My name is Touga." He repeated. "I am Inuyasha and Seshomaru's sire."

Kagome froze at that, "But you're supposed to be dead. I just walked through your skeleton." Just as quickly, she slapped her hand over her mouth in horror. She had just walked through him.

Touga focused his gaze on her lovely legs, "I was. But -" He looked up, his gaze sharp, "You summoned me back."

Kagome felt like she was lost in a world that made no sense anymore. Weakly, she tried to argue, "You can't just summon someone back from the dead."

"It can be done. If a youkai were to leave an item created from his youki, the item can be used to drag his soul back into the world of the living. It is a complicated procedure."

Kagome blinked at him and he smiled to himself. Curiosity it seemed was still one of her dominating traits.

"The youkai must have immense power. And the person who is able to summon the youkai must have a strong bond with the latter along with enough power to be able to pull the soul back. It is not easy. The mechanics of it are too intricate to explain. However, I took the necessary steps a long time ago and have just waited to be called back into this world."

"Wait, " Kagome looked confused a little hesitant, "I summoned you?"

He nodded, a small pleased smile playing on his lips.

"B-But how? I have nothing of yours, hold on -" Her eyes widened, "Tetsusaiga?"

"Not the sword, no. That was created from my fang, not my youki."

His denial forced her to think back. She hadn't touched anything of his...

He could see her trying to rack her brain and taking pity on her, he twitched his forefinger and the dagger lying on Kagome's lap lifted in the air and a glowing transcription of his name was forged onto the blade. Kagome touched it, awestruck. Raising her head, she looked him in the eye, "This dagger belongs to you?"

Touga smiled gently, "I gifted it to you once, long ago." Before she could protest or even argue, he interjected, "You fell down the well when you were but a child. This dagger was a gift to you at the time. I did not wish for you to forget me. It was also meant as a form of protection. It would have kept youkai away from you. However," He rested his arm on his raised knee, his eyes piercing, "When centuries went by and you did not return, I hope that you would use it one day to summon me back into the land of the living were I to perish."

Kagome swallowed, trying to grasp what he was saying. He had waited for her. They had met once. She recalled how the well house had been sealed in her childhood. She had never asked why but, maybe she should. Her mother would know.

Why did he wait for her?

Suddenly, she didn't want to have this conversation anymore, dreading the answer. This situation was one she would not be able to control. And right now she needed control. Inuyasha, she could handle because if he ever crossed her line, she could use the subjugation beads. But this male was no brash minded hanyou. He was not her friend. He wasn't an enemy either. He was someone else.

Thus all her instincts were in an uproar. She was not afraid of him but she didn't trust him. She didn't know what he wanted from her. She knew about the males of this era and that made her even more wary. Women were treated like cattle here. If he decided he wanted her, there was nothing she could do to stop him. Even her so called miko powers had deserted her when it came to this inuyoukai.

So, when a familiar voice yelled her name, she nearly collapsed with relief.

Inuyasha!

The hanyou darted towards her and taking a protective stance in front of her, he growled, "Are you okay?"

"Inuyasha." She murmured his name.

Her head shot up with shock when the sound of a loud growl filled the clearing.

Touga was on his feet, his eyes red. His youkai had flared and she couldn't help but whimper as she found herself unable to breathe the sheer power and weight of youki.

A.N: Longest Chapter Yet. I know Kagome seems a little weak here, but seeing as how she is still new to this era and she still hasn't developed into her powers. Plus, she will grow into her personality soon.