Yuki was relieved to see that his cousin was okay, though he did notice that she was standing beside the guy that kidnapped her. Judging by how close she was standing to him, he observed that they were friends. What kind of double life is she leading? He wonders, noting that she was in her school uniform, it was odd seeing something else as familiar as a school uniform in this era.

Kagome looked like she was panicking quite a bit, the look she was giving him was like he'd grown a second head, "Yuki!" she shouted, as if he hadn't heard her the first time, "What in the world are you doing here!?" she called across to him.

Kouga's eyes drifted from Yuki, to Kagome, and then back to Yuki. He'd noticed how beautiful the girl was, and it did nothing to calm his rising annoyance. Kouga has always been the jealous type; he sent a pointed glare towards the miko, but she didn't seem to notice.

"It's a long story," Yuki says sheepishly and takes a step forward, but a nearby wolf blocked his way and growled lightly at him. The blond bit his lip and remained where he was; he'd forgotten that he was technically a prisoner.

"Who's that Kagome?" a pretty lady standing next to Kagome asked.

"He's my cousin," she explained, "The one I'd thought I left behind in the modern era."

"You mean the cousin you went to go visit a few weeks ago?" a male who stood on the other side of the pretty lady asked, he was holding a staff in his hand and observing Yuki closely, "How did he end up here? And it seems that he knows that wolf demon."

"I wish I didn't," Yuki grumbled.

"I heard that you little brat!" Kouga snapped in irritation, unsure of why he was allowing all this chit-chatting. At least he'd learned that Kagome is Yuki's cousin, but it did nothing to cool the rising flames of his jealousy. Cousins getting married was considered normal in his era.

"If I'm guessing correctly, it seems that Yuki is being held captive."

"You'd be guessing correctly," Kouga smirked and glared tauntingly at the man holding the staff, making his way over to Yuki and putting a strong arm around his waist. Yuki knew Kouga was just doing it to prove a point, and he attempted to escape from his hold, "Yuki is mine, so you can forget about leaving with him."

"Can we get past all the arguing? Are we going to fight or not?" The silver haired guy finally spoke up, glaring right at Kouga, "I'll teach ya that you can't claim anyone as your property!"

"That's what I've been saying for the past week," Yuki grumbled and shoved against Kouga's chest, but Kouga held unto him so tight that he couldn't budge or move away.

"Inuyasha, please save him!" Kagome calls out from behind him.

'Inuyasha… What a strange name,' Yuki thought as he watched the silver haired male in question raise his sword a bit. The blond blanched at the size of the weapon, it was huge, it had to be hard to swing around.

"Don't worry about it, wench, I'll save him."

Kouga didn't look that impressed, he chuckled and finally released Yuki, cracking his knuckles, "Bring it on, mutt."

"D- Did you just call me a mutt?!" the silver haired male replied in astonishment, his mouth half open.

"No, that'd be an insult to K9's, you smell much worse!"

Yuk fought the urge to roll his eyes, were these two going to actually fight or just taunt each other? He took a few steps out the way, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire of whatever is about to go down. He's never seen Kouga fight someone before, and Yuki would be lying if he said he wasn't curious about Inuyasha as well… This era just got more and more curious.

"Oh yeah? How about I hack your nose off and see how well you can smell after?" the male challenged and leaped into the air, coming down towards Kouga with that huge sword of his.

Yuki was thrown back by Kouga, landing flat on his ass but he was a safe distance away as the wolf demon leaped into the air to dodge the big sword.

"Careful Inuyasha!" Kagome scolded him, taking a few steps closer to the battle, "You could've hit Yuki!"

Inuyasha growled and looked over his shoulder at her, "Shut it wench, I knew where I was swinging!"

This response, of course, only fueled Kagome's irritation to anger, "Well if you're gonna be rude then I won't tell you that he has jewel shards in his right arm AND his legs!"

Yuki was recovering from his fall as he registered the shouted words, he only had to wonder how she knew for a few seconds. The jewel shard in her bag, her presence in this era… Was it the same purpose as his? To find the sacred jewel shard? Was she a priestess as well? There were so many questions he wanted to ask, but he found his attention drawn back to Kouga and Inuyasha going back and forth. Kouga evading Inuyasha's attacks, and Inuyasha seemed to get frustrated at every missed swing.

Kouga got a safe distance away, side glancing at Yuki to make sure that he was safe. He was surrounded by his wolves, making sure nobody got too close. Yuki was his, and he'd kill anyone who tried to take him away.

"Hah, no wonder you're so fast, it's cause you have jewel shards jammed in your skinny legs and arm!" Inuyasha taunted, one hand resting on his hip, his sword laid over his shoulder in a casual manner.

"Doesn't matter, I'll kick your ass either way!" Kouga shot back; this mutt was so irritating!

"You don't get bragging rights for strength that's not even yours!"

"Then why don't you come over here and do something about it, dog breath?!"

Yuki was rolling his eyes and shaking his head. Surprisingly, those two were more alike than he thought. They were both hot headed idiots.

"Yuki!"

Yuki turned around in time to see his cousin running towards him. A wolf jumped in front of Yuki protectively and snarled in warning at her as two more wolves flanked its sides.

"Don't Kagome!" The woman standing next to her stopped her, "Those wolves will tear you apart. Let me take care of them!"

She jumped into the air and threw what looked like a giant boomerang towards the wolves. Some moved out the way, but the one in front got hit and split in half.

Now that the coast was clear, Kagome shouted a quick, "Thanks Sango!" before she ran towards Yuki and threw her arms around his shoulders, "I can't believe you're here! Thank kami you're safe now."

Yuki smiled gently, the warmth from his cousin was familiar, and comforting. He hadn't felt such a hug in over weeks, except from Kouga. Although Kouga seemed intent on jumping his bones, so it wasn't the same as receiving a hug from him. He wrapped his arms around her and returned the hug, letting out a relieved sigh.

Kouga turned from his fight with Inuyasha and glared daggers at the wench, "Get your hands off him, filthy girl!" He leaped into the air and away from Inuyasha, now running full speed for Yuki and Kagome. Inuyasha gave chase, but he was not as fast as Kouga was.

"Leave them alone! Your opponent is me!"

Inuyasha's yell was ignored, but it jostled Yuki to look up and see Kouga running right for him with his claws extended.

Yuki, thinking fast, shoved Kagome away with all his strength. Kagome landed a few feet away, and Kouga ended up only hitting the ground in front of Yuki, the exact spot Kagome was standing in a few seconds ago.

"You could've killed her!" The blond scolded the wolf, smacking him on the shoulder. The smack did nothing but hurt his hand.

"That was the idea, yeah," Kouga responded with a sly grin thrown at Yuki, "No one touches what's mine."

"I'M NOT YOUR PROPERTY!"

Kagome sweat dropped, 'I wonder what the relationship is between these two...'

"Are you okay Kagome?!" Inuyasha called as he rushed to Kagome's side and helped her to her feet, "Did that mangy wolf hurt you?"

Kagome shook her head, "I'm fine, thanks to Yuki."

Kouga turned to Inuyasha, "Why don't you tell your woman to keep her hands to herself?"

"YOU'RE one to talk! You're the one who kidnapped her cousin!" Inuyasha fired back, stepping protectively in front of Kagome.

Kouga scoffed, "Look here mutt- you and your friends bore me."

"Hand over the boy!"

"You'll have to make me!"

They went back to fighting, Inuyasha swinging his deadly sword while Kouga dodged his attacks rather easily. More wolves crowded around Yuki, probably on Kouga's orders.

Yuki watched the fight, awed by Kouga's style of fighting. He sure was fast; he was dodging Inuyasha's attacks like the silver haired male was going in slow motion. He landed a few kicks, but seemed to be waiting for more of an opening.

Suddenly, Kouga pulled away from the fight, "Let's get outta here!" He yelled as he landed on top of a nearby house, "This fight is too dangerous!"

Before Yuki could react to what was happening, Kouga was in front of him and picking him up bridal style. Then, they were moving swiftly through the forest.

"Yuki!" Kagome yelled after her cousin, but he was long gone.

"He ran away?" Sango says, confusion etched into her tone.

"I guess so," Inuyasha says as he walked over to join the others, "Don't worry Kagome, I have his scent memorized, and it hasn't faded yet. We can catch up to them."

That soothed Kagome's worry a little bit, "Yeah, and I can still sense his shards, too. We'll find them."

"What do you think your cousin was doing here, Kagome?" Miroku asked curiously.

"I haven't the slightest clue," she admitted, shrugging her shoulders, "Maybe he slipped and fell down the well and couldn't get back."

"Doesn't matter how he got here," Inuyasha says and sheaths his sword, "Only matters that we get him back. Let's hurry up and go after him, alright Kagome?"

She nodded, giving the hanyou and grateful smile, "Thank you, Inuyasha."

"Well that could've gone better! You could've killed my cousin!"

"Why do you care so much about that wench?!"

"Her name is Kagome and it's because she's my family you jerk! Now you listen here, if you ever make an attempt on her life, you can forget about me finding you jewel shards or helping you at all! I don't care what you do to me!"

Kouga gritted his teeth and groaned in frustration. Yuki just didn't get how the woman was a threat to what they have, "She'll come in between us."

Yuki's cheeks heated up, shimmering to a slight pinkish color, "She's my cousin, not my girlfriend! And I'm not interested in her like that! Besides, there's nothing for her to come in between! I'm not your boyfriend, or mate for that matter!"

Kouga burned with anger and jealousy, his hands curled into fists by his sides.

"I'd hate to interrupt Kouga," Ginta suddenly approached, his expression showing that he was practically forced by the others to deliver this news.

"What is it?" Kouga asked, grouchily.

"Two of our patrols were hit by the birds of paradise," Ginta reported, "No survivors."

"Dammit, this has gone on long enough," Kouga growled, turning from Yuki to Ginta, "We're going to have to end this tonight, the longer we drag it out, the more men we lose. Tonight, we go to the nest and we kill every last one of those sons of bitches!"

Kouga turned to look at his intended, "You need to be prepared as well. You're going to be with me in the battlefield, hunting down the leader of the birds of paradise. He's the one who has all the jewel shards. Think you can manage that, little human?"

Yuki twitched at that stupid nickname but nodded in response, "Guess I'll have to."

A/N: thank you for reading my story :)