Disclaimer: I do not own either Ranma or Inuyasha. Rumiko Takahashi has that honour. I'm just borrowing them for a little while.

Okay, I'm not one hundred per cent happy with this chapter but I've re-written it about five times now and if I didn't post it, it wouldn't ever get done.

Ranma, Kagome and Akane didn't move as the two strangers stood in the middle of the yard. The elder one had a smirk on his face that Ranma didn't appreciate but the younger of the two seemed to realise that the hanyou in front of them wasn't playing around.

"Kouga!" Kagome seemed to snap out of whatever shock she was in, stepping forward and like Inuyasha, placing herself between the strangers and the teens behind them. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Look, I told the mutt that I wanted answers-"

"And you were told that you would get them when the time was right," Inuyasha growled back. Kagome placed a hand on his shoulder and he snorted, his ears flattening into his hair.

"Well, I got impatient." He shrugged and Ranma glanced at Akane, seeing her do the same. While before, Ranma would have been in the thick of what was going on, his newfound instincts, while he hadn't completely got to grips with them yet, were screaming at him to stay out of it. The two others were youkai, that was obvious and the elder, Ranma was most definitely an Alpha. "I wanted to know what you were up to, mutt."

"Kouga, surely you know from coming here the last time that that was not a good idea." Kagome was essentially scolding the youkai in front of her and Akane felt in awe of her lack of fear. "And do you really think that bringing Jirou-kun here was a good idea? It was bad enough when you brought Ichirou-kun last time."

Ranma's eyes drifted from the older of the two, whom he now knew was called Kouga and looked to Jirou. He found the young man's eyes fixed on him, either moving past whatever apprehension he had or simply not caring about the threat Inuyasha posed.

"I would have come back sooner if I'd known it was just another mutt," Kouga shrugged, resting his hands on his hips, ignoring the snarl that came from Inuyasha at the reference to Ranma as a mutt. He had let Kouga's insult go when it came to him as he had figured out (eventually as Kagome put it) that it was merely to goad him. He had never stood for any such reference to his pups and he wouldn't stand them when it came to Ranma.

"Kouga," Kagome's voice was low and warning, one eye kept on Inuyasha and the other on Kouga, "watch what you say."

The wolf shrugged again, smirking at Inuyasha before looking back towards the teen standing behind him. He was also in a slightly defensive pose but his looked more towards the defensive rather than Inuyasha's offensive stance. Kouga wasn't surprised the he hadn't said or done anything thus far. Inu's knew that when it came to the Taisho clan, the fought their own battles. The Inu-hanyou behind the mutt would be looking to Inuyasha as his Alpha so anything he did right now would be seen as a challenge and wouldn't end too well for him.

Kouga had to wonder why Inuyasha was so protective of the one behind him. He looked old enough to look after himself. From the looks of him he had to be at least two fifty – going on what Kouga knew of Inu aging – but Inuyasha was poised in front of him as though he was a pup.

Kagome stiffened, turning behind her as a blur came from the trees surrounding the property. It didn't get far as it was intercepted quickly, a mix of red and silver that reminded the wolf very much of the mutt when he used to wear the fire-rat. Kouga may have been fast but keeping up with the Inu-hanyou without his jewel shards had been a nightmare.

Ranma and Akane winced as both figures went crashing into the ground, thankfully missing the buildings of the shrine but no doubt creating some other kid of mess that would need to be cleaned up. As the dust settled, they saw two figures emerging, once of which had the other's throat in a vice grip.

"Always gotta go for the dramatic entrance, don't you, Zumi?" Ranma looked up onto the roof of the house, seeing what looked to be a perfect replica of Inuyasha standing there, shaking his head.

"It wasn't like it was planned," he turned back to the figure in the dust being able to make out the woman standing there, her long silver hair gathered up in a high ponytail, glittering as the dust cleared. "But I couldn't have this wretch attacking our little nephew now, could I?"

Ranma blinked, her words sinking in. Nephew? These must be Inuyasha and Kagome's other children.

"Where's Mas?" The figure on the roof asked and Ranma shook his head, turning back to Inuyasha to see that his posture had eased slightly. Though his attention was still on the two figures in front of him, his ears were turning and flicking in the direction of the two newcomers. He clearly didn't see them as a threat.

"Checking to see if there are any more hanging around," her response sounded so flippant that Ranma almost chuckled.

At least he did until he saw Kouga's expression. To say he was pissed was an understatement. But he wasn't looking at Inuyasha anymore. His gaze had turned to the one that had been caught by the woman.

"Saburou!" He growled and Ranma's eyebrows shot up. Seriously, had these kids just been named in the order they were born? From the sounds of it, that was the case. Ranma assumed that they belonged to Kouga and if that was true, he really needed an imagination. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

He stalked towards where he was being held which took his that little bit closer to Ranma, Inuyasha circled around the teen, keeping Kouga in his sights as he moved. Even though the wolf had his sights on something else, the hanyou's hackles were up and his instincts were in control.

The woman dropped the other youkai and walked away slowly as Kouga stood in front of him. There was no way that he wasn't Kouga's son. He didn't move and even though he was fully grown, he acknowledged the power of his Alpha. Ranma couldn't help but watch as she walked over to where they were standing and stopping not too far from Inuyasha, locking on to Jirou, who hadn't moved.

Kouga, still seething, turned to look towards Inuyasha and the group, his eyes locking on to Ranma once again. He hadn't missed Izumi calling the teen their nephew. Could he really be the one that the mutt and Kagome had been searching for for over a decade? Kouga would investigate some other time. Right now, he had to deal with his own offspring and find out what the hell he had been thinking.

"My apologies," he inclined his head towards the group, grabbing the back of his son's collar and pulling him up, "we did not come here with the intention to attack and I'm sure that Saburou has a good reason for doing so. I'll find out." With that, the three of them disappeared and Inuyasha finally relaxed.

"He'll be back," Inuyasha muttered, turning slightly, his head still facing the direction the three wolves had disappeared in. "He didn't get the answers he wanted."

"I have to wonder what Saburou-kun was doing though," Kagome said softly, standing next to her mate, thankfully seeing the agitation seep out of his posture.

"Whatever it was, Kouga didn't authorise it. He was pissed." Inuyasha looked towards the newcomers and Ranma looked up at the roof again, seeing another male Inu standing with the first. However, the new man had black hair while the other two had the same silver as Inuyasha.

Who were these three?

"Now, mind explaining what you three are doing here?" Inuyasha asked, crossing his arms over his chest, his ears perking at the female in front of him. Ranma swallowed, wondering if another confrontation was imminent but she just giggled, a brilliant smile on her face as she launched herself at Inuyasha.

"Is it so wrong of us to want to come and visit you, daddy?" Ranma blinked at the exchange, turning to look at Kagome as she placed a hand on his shoulder, giving him a warm smile. He turned back to see Inuyasha had wrapped his arms around her, his nose buried in between her twitching ears.

"Uh-huh," he lifted his head, looking towards the two on the roof. "Right. You three are just being nosy." He smirked and the other two jumped down, landing silently just behind Inuyasha.

"Is it so wrong of us to want to come and meet the new member of the family?" The black haired one asked, a very Inuyasha-looking smirk on his face.

"A little warning would have been nice," Kagome scolded lightly and the three of them shrugged, looking completely unashamed.

"We got here at the right time though," the female pointed out and Kagome nodded, smiling at her. She held out her arms and immediately engulfed the young woman, Inuyasha watching with a small smile on his face.

He turned to look to Ranma who gave him a wide-eyed look in return. "Come here, kid." Inuyasha beckoned him forward, wrapping his arm around the teens shoulders as he walked over. "Now, I'd like you to meet our three monsters," the three of them huffed at the reference, "this is Kazuhiko," he motioned to the male in front of him, who even up close looked exactly like Inuyasha, minus the markings. His hair, eyes and ears were exactly the same. If it weren't for the fact that he didn't have the same ancient look in his eyes as his father did, a look that told of hardships and pain, they would have been identical. "This is Masaru." The black-haired male gave Ranma a two-finger salute, winking as he did so. Ranma could see that he was the playful one of the three of them, even through that gesture alone. He could also see that Masaru's hair was not just black. It was a mixture of black and silver, the colours mixing in the low ponytail he wore. Ranma could also see that while his ears were silver, there was a large black patch on his left ear. He appeared to be an even mix of his two parents.

"And," Inuyasha turned Ranma to face Kagome who still had the female wrapped in a hug, "this is Izumi." She gave him a bright smile, as she had Inuyasha, a small giggle escaping. Much like Kazuhiko, she took after her father explicitly. Her amber eyes were bright and her silver hair shone in the sunlight but like her brother, she didn't have the markings that Inuyasha did. He wondered, not for the first time, what the significance of the markings was, as Sesshomaru had them as well.

"He looks exactly like her," Ranma started a little at the voice behind him, seeing Kazuhiko had stepped closer, his eyes fixed on Ranma as he took him in.

"Jumpy little thing, isn't he?" Izumi grinned and Inuyasha rolled his eyes.

"What do you expect?" He gripped Ranma a little closer. "He's still getting used to everything and having you three turn up is always a shock to the system."

"Hey!" Ranma's ears twitched at the volume of protests coming from the three Inu's at their father's jibe and Ranma shook his head, trying to clear it.

"So, what are you three doing here?" Inuyasha asked and the three of them started to explain why they had made the journey from the Western Fortress to Tokyo. Ranma tuned them out, looking past Kagome who had walked forward to where Akane was standing, a little ways off, watching with an unreadable expression on her face.

He held out a hand to her and she started, having been unaware that he was looking at her. She gave him a smile and he lifted his hand a little more, silently asking for support. She slowly walked towards them, aware that with so many youkai around, moving too quickly might not have been a good idea. She placed her hand in his and he intertwined their fingers gently, pulling her closer to him.

"Are you okay?" He asked softly and she looked up at him.

"I was about to ask you the same thing," she whispered back and he smiled. "You look a little overwhelmed."

"That's one way to put it." He sighed, looking at the other Inu's in front of him. While their visit was unannounced, he could see that Inuyasha and Kagome were happy to see their children. Who wouldn't be? And who knew how long it had been since they'd seen each other.

"Well, well, who do we have here?" Masaru has made his way around and was now standing on the other side of Akane, looking between the two of them. He could see that there was something there but there wasn't anything to really signify what. Nonetheless, it would have been stupid for him to try anything. Ranma's ears immediately snapped back to lay flat on his head and a low growl sounded from his throat. Masaru held up his hands, stepping away. "Easy, easy, I'm not gonna try anything. We just haven't been introduced."

"Izumi, Masaru, Kazuhiko, this is Akane." Kagome gave the girl a smile and Akane immediately felt the eyes of all three new Inu's on her. It was a little intimidating to say the least. "Akane, as I'm sure you've guessed by now, these are our children."

"It's nice to meet you," Akane gave a small bow and Izumi giggled.

"You won't be saying that about those two in an hour or so." She paid no attention to the glares her brothers gave her, looking Akane over, taking her measure as the girl stood there.

It wasn't too long before everyone filtered inside, Ranma's grip on Akane's hand never dropping.

"Mama?" Kagome stopped as Izumi turned, looking over towards the shrine. "Akane . . . are she and Ranma . . .?"

"She has to make the decision," Kagome said softly, watching her daughter as her ears twitched in the gentle breeze. She was so much like her father, Kagome could scarcely believe it, even now. But unlike Inuyasha, Izumi hadn't grown up with the world against her, so she hadn't developed the barrier her father had the was used to keep the world out.

Izumi had been the first Inu born since Inuyasha's own birth three hundred years prior and her birth marked something the Inu's had needed. While she had been hanyou, no one had cared, the arrival of a pup was always something to be celebrated.

Izumi nodded, looking towards her mother. "Do you think she can handle Ranma if she does."

"Oh," Kagome laughed, wrapping her arms around her daughter. "I have no doubt she'll be able to keep him in line."

~I~R~I~R~I~R~I~R~I~R~I~R~I~R~I~R~

Once the initial shock of "the three invaders" as Inuyasha had labelled them had worn off, both Ranma and Akane started to relax. Akane, having grown up with two sisters, was used to the sibling relationship but Ranma, although he had been living with the Tendo's for some time, was an only child and it had just been him and his father as far back as he could remember. He didn't have the experience with large families so he was a little was feeling like a fish out of water.

There wasn't really any way he could describe being in the presence of the Taisho siblings. They were loud and rambunctious but there as a certain elegance to the way they moved and spoke, even though Masaru had managed to somehow wind Izumi up enough so that she was currently pursuing him around the house.

Both Inuyasha and Kagome had noticed what was happening and both rolled their eyes, Kagome shaking her head at the antics of her children.

"Are you okay?" Akane asked quietly, startling Ranma out of his slight trance. He turned to look at her, seeing her watching him, a small smile on her face.

"Hmm?"

"How are you doing?" She asked and he looked around at the organised chaos that was going on. Inuyasha had disappeared along with Izumi and Masaru while Kagome sat close to Ranma, talking with Kazuhiko, her proximity allowing Ranma to know she was there if he needed her but allowing him to adjust to the Inu siblings in his own way.

"Ummm . . ." he shook his head slightly, glancing at Akane and shrugging. "I don't know. Ask me again later." She giggled slightly, nodding, watching the teen as his gaze settled through the window that faced out across to where the field that Inuyasha took him to train was, his ears flicking and twitching although he, himself looked far away.

The four in the room turned towards the doorway as a loud crash sounded through the house. Kazuhiko looked to his mother, seeing the resigned look on her face as she realised that Izumi and Masaru had broken something. It had been a common occurrence as the pups were growing up. Masaru always knew what buttons of Izumi's to push to get a reaction and while Kazuhiko was most like Inuyasha in looks, Izumi definitely took after their father in personality.

Kazuhiko smirked as the sound of his siblings protesting reached his ears, glancing over at Ranma, seeing the confusion on his face. He couldn't help but chuckle at his great-nephew's expression, causing the teen to look at him.

"Don't worry about that," Kazuhiko shrugged, taking a drink of the water in front of him, reminding Ranma very much of Sesshomaru in that moment. "You'll get used to it."

"I'm used to it," Ranma admitted and Kazuhiko raised an eyebrow. "I'm just not used to it being someone else breaking something." He admitted and Akane giggled behind Ranma. Kazuhiko grinned and Kagome noticed the look passing between her son and grandson (she refused to add in the extra generations in that relationship. Acknowledging that Ranma as a grandson was making her feel old enough, she didn't need to add to it) and knew that she was in trouble. Kazuhiko might be the best behaved out of her children but he had a sneaky streak to him that could be just as effective as his siblings' rowdiness.

Jeez, they were in trouble.

A few moments later, Inuyasha appeared with Izumi and Masaru, loudly protesting and Ranma quickly saw why. Inuyasha, looking extremely frustrated, held them each by an ear, manoeuvring them into the room ahead of him in what was a practised move.

"You two do realise that this is not the Fortress, right?" Kazuhiko smirked at his siblings, receiving murderous looks in response.

"Hiko." Kagome chided him gently and he shook his head, winking at Ranma. Ranma blinked at the scene in front of him, watching as Inuyasha had the two kneel on the floor before letting go. They immediately rubbed at their ears, shooting their father dirty looks. Ranma took this to be a normal occurrence as the older Inu ignored the other two completely. "What'd you break?" Ranma and Akane glanced at each other, glad that for once, that question wasn't directed at them.

Kazuhiko sighed, looking over to Ranma and nodding towards the back door. Ranma looked to Inuyasha, who had seen his son's indication and nodded to the nervous teen. At the encouraging look on Inuyasha's face he stood up, noting that Akane didn't. He looked down and she smiled up at him before nodding towards where Kazuhiko had left through the backdoor.

"Don't worry, kid," Inuyasha placed a hand on his shoulder. "He's not gonna hurt ya. Just keep calm and you'll be fine. I'll be right in here." Ranma nodded, feeling ridiculous at being nervous. He felt stupid. All the things he had been through and he was getting worked up about someone – by all right's, his uncle – wanting to talk to him.

Good thing his pop couldn't see him.

He followed Kazuhiko outside into the sunshine, feeling the warmth of the summer as he stood there. Kazuhiko had taken off the sweater he had been wearing, tossing it over a chair that had been set up at the back of the house, away from the shrine. Ranma noticed that he wore a bracelet on his left wrist, much like the one that was now wrapped around Ranma's arm. So it wasn't just him Inuyasha worried about? He was concerned about the youkai in his children as well.

"You okay, kid?" He looked towards the older Inu, shaking his head as he moved towards him. "Spaced out?"

"A little," Ranma admitted, feeling stupid again.

"Don't worry, you'll adjust." He shrugged and Ranma snorted softly. He couldn't adjust quickly enough in his mind. His transformation into hanyou had happened over a week ago and things still felt completely off. He was starting to think he would never get used to it. He looked over to see Kazuhiko watching him closely, feeling a little uncomfortable at the scrutiny. While Inuyasha, Kagome and Akane had watched him, even stared at him on occasion, he hadn't ever felt like he did in that moment. Like he was being analysed in some way.

"Sorry," Kazuhiko sighed, turning away. "It's just . . . you look so like her." Ranma looked down at the table, unsure of what to say. He hadn't ever had to deal with a death in the family before. It had always been him and his father. He didn't remember his mother having left her when he was two. He hadn't had to think about losing someone before. "Even though she was only an infant, you look just like her." He sighed again, noticing Ranma's unease. "I'm not trying to make you feel bad."

"You miss her." Ranma stated and Kazuhiko nodded.

"Every day." He whispered though Ranma's new ears picked it up with ease.

"Inuyasha and Kagome told me what happened." Ranma told him and the older Inu's ears flattened at the memory of being told that his infant sister wouldn't be coming home. He had been confused and angry, taking it out on his father. It took him a long time to realise that his parents hadn't had a choice with what they had done. He had never seen either of them so heartbroken as when they had come back without Honoka.

But now . . . having found Ranma. It was as though they had a little piece of Honoka back.

"So . . . martial arts, huh?" Kazuhiko grinned as Ranma perked up. He had heard a little about the teen from his uncle Sesshomaru when he had returned to the fortress a few weeks prior and apparently, his new nephew was quite an accomplished martial artist.

He could see Ranma's eyes sparkle at the thought of sparring. People thought that Kazuhiko actually resembled Sesshomaru when it came to his actions and movements but when it came to fighting, his style was the same as his father's.

The sat in the sunshine, having found a common ground in the various fights they had had over the years – Kazuhiko somewhat wondering how Ranma had ever survived as a human, the amount of trouble he used to get into – while he was sure the other two were still in trouble for whatever it was they broke.

Middle sibling smugness was definitely in full force.

He noticed Ranma stiffen as they heard a soft yowling from a few meters away. Ranma's ears swivelled picking up the sound as Kazuhiko noticed his mother's extraordinarily fat cat ambling around not too far away. Ranma was staring at it, his muscles tense and wondered for a moment if the canine instincts that had been woken in the pup were starting to kick in.

After all, dogs do chase cats.

But there was more to it than that.

Ranma didn't move as the cat ambled around, wary of the two Inu's nearby but not nearly enough to make a run for it as he had done when Inuyasha had started coming around. Kazuhiko was wary about what was running through Ranma's mind as he sat stock still.

"Dad," he whispered softly, knowing that his father would hear him. "You need to come outside. Quietly." Silent as a breeze, Inuyasha appeared behind his son, his eyes flicking between him and Ranma.

"Dammit," he hissed, following Ranma's gaze towards the cat. "Buyo." Kazuhiko, Izumi and Masaru didn't know about the neko-ken and this was not really the way they wanted to have to explain it. Akane had explained that Ranma's reaction to cats was extreme and Inuyasha had hoped that they wouldn't have to expose him to the trauma it appeared to bring on.

Of course, there were neko-youkai in the Western Fortress, where Sesshomaru would no doubt they request – or rather demand – they bring Ranma for the Autumn Festival but he knew they would have to deal with that when the time came.

The majority of the youkai there remained in their human forms so it shouldn't have been an issue.

Inuyasha watched Ranma as the young hanyou's keen eyes followed the cat, watching as Buyo waddled across the courtyard, muscles coiled, waiting for a reaction from the teenager. Ranma blinked as the cat moved out of sight, confused by his own reaction, or rather his lack of reaction.

For as long as he could remember, whenever he had come into contact with a cat, even from a distance the Ailurophobia that had developed after the neko-ken training had kicked in. While he hated that he had such a strong reaction to cats, it was something that had been a constant.

But when he had laid eyes on what appeared to be the fattest cat he had ever seen, there was nothing. There wasn't the paralysing fear that always accompanied the spying of a feline. He shook his head slightly, looking around and seeing Inuyasha watching him closely.

"Are you okay?" Inuyasha asked walking around Kazuhiko to stand next to Ranma.

Ranma blinked, looking in the direction that Buyo had disappeared in. "I don't know." He answered honestly looking up at Inuyasha. He could see the worry in his ancestor's eyes, worry for him. He understood why he would be worried after what he and Akane had told him. "That's never happened before."

"Umm . . ." Kazuhiko was extremely confused, wondering why his father would be worried about Ranma being around a cat. There was obviously something he was missing. Being an Inu, there was definitely no way that Ranma should have been afraid of a cat. It must have been something from when Ranma was human because as an Inu-hanyou, instincts regarding cats were pretty much the same as the non-youkai counterpart.

Hell, he remembered when they had to try and catch Masaru when he had been chasing a neko-youkai around the fortress.

"Hiko," he turned, hearing his mother's voice as she walked out to where they were. "What's going on?" He shook his head, indicating he wasn't sure and she stepped out a little further.

"The cat," Inuyasha stated and Kagome's eyes widened, looking for Buyo. "He's gone now. Hiko, can you tell your mother what happened?" He nodded, following his mother inside, still confused.

Inuyasha looked back towards Ranma, who looked more confused than anything. "Looks as though I don't have to worry about cats anymore." Ranma gave Inuyasha a nervous smile and the older hanyou let out a relieved a sigh, shaking his head as he took the chair his son had just vacated. He could hear Kagome explaining to their pups why they had been worried.

"It seems your new instincts have overridden the neko-ken, which I can't say I'm too upset about." Ranma looked towards his great-great grandfather. "The neko-ken was never meant for humans. The fact that your father managed to find the instructions for it was a mistake and that he chose to 'train' you in it make him irresponsible. And it's not giving me much confidence in sending you back there."

Ranma let out a sigh, biting his lip. "You know why I have to go back. It would raise too many questions if I didn't."

"I know," Inuyasha grumbled, his ears creasing back, showing his displeasure at the thought. "Doesn't mean I have to like it." Ranma grinned to himself upon hearing Inuyasha's tone.

"If . . ." he bit his lip, not wanting to get his hopes up.

"If what?" Inuyasha leaned forward, wondering what was running through the teenager's mind.

"If the . . . if turning me hanyou, bringing out that side of me counteracted the neko-ken, do you think that . . . it could have affected the Jusenkyo curse?"

"I'll be honest, I've thought about it." Inuyasha admitted, leaning back in his seat. "There's only one way to find out." He shrugged and Ranma gave him an unhappy look, glancing inside. He didn't really want to have his curse revealed to the three inside, hating that people from school knew that he turned into a girl. He didn't want the entire youkai community to know as well. "You think they're going to judge you?" Inuyasha snorted. "Trust me, I could tell you stories about what they've got up to over the last few centuries that would make Jusenkyo seem like nothing." He stood up, walking to the side of the house, picking up the end of the hose. "You wanna find out?"

Ranma sighed, looking down at his hands before looking at Inuyasha and nodding. He squeezed his eyes closed, hearing the others run out of the house and gasping slightly as the freezing water hit him.