Toga ran as fast as he could across the country side. He had to hurry because he could sense that his uncle was heading away from him and even though Sesshomaru wasn't as powerful as he was in this time, in Toga's time all his uncle had to do was transform into his true form and Toga would lose immediately. With that knowledge in mind Toga decided to make his yokai power pulse out in order to get Sesshomaru's attention. Thankfully it did and he felt his uncle no longer traveling away from him. It wasn't much longer till he finally caught up with them. The group had clearly been waiting for his arrival.
"I can't believe my luck in finding you," Toga greeted happily as he approached the group.
"And just who might you be hanyou?" Jaken questioned for his lord. Toga stared at the imp in confusion for a moment before realizing that the old imp must have been his uncle's old vassal during this era. By the time Toga was born Jaken had already passed on so he never got the chance to actually meet him.
"You must be Jaken," Toga replied with a smile. "I never got a chance to meet you, but my sisters and mother spoke highly of you."
"Master Jaken, do you know his family?" Rin inquired curiously as she clutched on to Sesshomaru's sleeve. Sesshomaru himself just stared emotionlessly at Toga as the three talked.
"I don't believe I do," Jaken answered with a frown.
"Well you all know my parents, Kagome and Inuysaha." Sesshomaru's eyes hardened at Toga's statement.
"How are you the son of that miko and Inuyasha?" the diayokai finally spoke. "Inuyasha has yet to claim a mate let alone sire any pups."
"I'm from the same time period as Kagome," Toga explained. "Her and my father's future selves are still alive in my time."
"Wow, so you're Sesshomaru's nephew," Rin said in astonishment.
"Rin, do not always believe what you hear," Sesshomaru scolded. "He has no proof of what he says."
"Would you like me to prove what I'm saying is true?" Toga offered with a smirk that Sesshomaru mentally noted looked very much like Inuyasha. "You may want the little lady to take a ride on A-Un though. This may be information you will not want her to hear just yet." It only took a moment for Sesshomaru to order Jaken to take Rin on A-Un and hover cloud level above them. Once they were out of ear shot Toga moved to stand a couple of feet from his uncle.
"Your proof, now."
"I know that you are the son of the great dog demon Inu no Taisho or also known as Toga, to whom I was named after. In this time period you and my father are at odds and you dream of one day killing him. Also Jaken was once chief of his imp village, but left to become your vassal."
"For the most part that is all considered common knowledge. You have yet to give me information that isn't already widely known." Toga knew he would say that. Now he was ready to lay down his trump card.
"I also know that Rin is your mate." Instantly Sesshomaru's eyes went uncharacteristically wide. "You knew the instant she first approached you back when my father gravely injured you. Her scent told you of who she really was and that was the only reason why you allowed her to nurse you back to health. That was also the real reason why you came back to resurrect her when the wolves killed her. After finally meeting Rin you were able to sense something was wrong and came to her aid. You hate knowing your destined mate is actually a human, but you can't bring yourself to abandon her. She is yours after all. No male yokai can ever turn his back on his mate. Even the great Lord Sesshomaru."
"How do you know all of this?"
"Like I said I'm from the future. In the future you and my father reconcile and are actually business partners."
"And what of Rin?" Toga smiled thoughtfully at his uncle. Sesshomaru's first thoughts after hearing everything was not of how him and his brother reconciling but of his mate, Rin.
"Rin bares you many sons and daughters," Toga answered with an affectionate smile. "All of them hanyou of course and she lives to my very day."
"How is that possible if she is human?"
"You're going to learn this soon anyways so I'll just tell you. Fully bonding with her allows Rin to share your lifespan. In the very near future you discover that Kagome had stopped aging and realize that when a yokai fully bonds with a human that said human takes on the yokai's lifespan. In the future it is proven by you and Rin that what happened with my mother and father was no mere accident."
"This information you have given me brings great relief, but what was your purpose for seeking me out?"
"I need a favor from you." Sesshomaru stared at Toga, waiting for Toga to continue. "I need you to attack my dad." It was only slight, but thankfully from being around his uncle so much Toga knew Sesshomaru was giving him a confused look. "You see the timeline got change and my father was suppose to have claimed my mother and impregnate her during this time, but something has happened to push back the date effectively erasing the existence of my three oldest sisters. If he doesn't mate with my mother soon then my sisters will be gone forever."
"I don't see how attacking Inuyasha will make him mate with the oddly dressed miko."
"If you attack him and get his yokai to surface it will see its mate unmarked."
"No male yokai will allow its mate to be unmarked once she comes of age," Sesshomaru finished for Toga. "Why would I want to help my half brother claim his mate? I don't see how it's any of my concern."
"It's very much your concern," Toga countered irritated. "It's my mother that helped you and Auntie Rin adjust to the changing world around you. Because she is from the future as well her knowledge was what gave your family the upper hand to rise in power over much of the world."
"Because you are their son you very much could be exaggerating for their benefit." Toga sighed and looked down to his waist. His last card that he could play. With another heavy sigh he grabbed the hilt of Bakusaiga and unsheathed the sword. Sesshomaru's eyes dilated, instantly focusing on the sword.
"You feel it don't you?" Toga questioned calmly as he moved the sword through the air. "This sword is practically singing for you. That's because in the future this sword belongs to you. After many trials of self discovery you receive this sword and you become even more powerful then your father. I know where this sword is kept right now and if you don't help me I will personally make sure you never see it."
"I could just kill you and take it right now." Toga laughed at the threat. He had a feeling Sesshomaru would threaten him.
"You could try, but you will fail. Another discovery made by my parents was that if a yokai is fully bonded with a powerful human then the offspring inherit both of it's parents' powers. I have both my mother's spiritual powers and my father's yokai powers along with decades of training with Bakusaiga," Toga paused to allow all of his power to radiate off of him, "from you. As you can tell that in this time period I am more powerful then you are." The two stared long and hard at one another. Both not wanting to concede to the other.
"As you wish," Sesshomaru finally agreed. "Once I do this though my part in this match making you are doing with the hanyou and miko is over."
"Of course," Toga agreed. "And you won't have to see my face for about another four hundred years." After hashing out the final details on what would be taking place Toga made his way back to his parents' group at a near by village. It had turned out that there was a rather mean yokai terrorizing the inhabitants of a local inn. The group was able to successfully eradicate it and now were enjoying themselves with their complimentary meals along with rooms for each of them.
"Toga you're back!" Miroku greeted cheerfully.
"Yeah Toga's back!" Shippo announced as he went to give him a hug.
"Wow that's a lot of food you guys got," Toga said as he stared at the feast laid out for them, but suddenly his eyes focused straight on Kagome. He could smell the shift in her body. His mother was going into heat. If Sesshomaru's unable to get his father's yokai blood to activate then all hope would be lost in bring his sisters back.
"We took out a really nasty yokai so the owner of this inn wanted to thank us for what we did," Kagome explained. "Grab a plate and help yourself."
"Why should he eat if he didn't fucking do anything?" Inuyasha argued.
"Inuyasha," Kagome warned as she gave him a look that clearly told him she was moments away from "sitting" him. Toga covered his mouth with his hand to stop the laugh that was threating to come out. He had seen that look before, but never knew what it meant until now. Though his father still wore the very same necklace in his time, Toga never once witnessed his mother using the subjugation word. He figured that his father must had stopped pissing her off so much or that his mother had gone soft on using the word. Maybe a little of both?
"Were you able to accomplish whatever it was you needed to do earlier?" Sango inquired.
"It went smoother then I feared it would go," Toga answered honestly. "Hopefully everything else will go just the same if I'm lucky. Did you guys happen to get me a room as well?"
"As a matter of fact we did," Sango answered sweetly.
"Though you did nothing to fucking deserve it," came Inuyasha's hard criticism.
"Sit boy." A very familiar thud echoed in the room. "They have a hot spring connected to this inn. After you're done eating you should go take a bath. Lord only knows when we'll come across another one again."
"That's a really good idea," Toga acknowledge as he ate his food. "I really am not use to going so long without a decent bath."
"Yeah it was hard for me too at first," Kagome admitted with a bitter smile. After Toga had effectively filled his belly he did as Kagome suggested and went into the hot spring for a bath. There he reflected on the events that occurred that day. It was very interesting for him to meet his uncle in this time. Though Sesshomaru was pretty much just as stoic in his time, the Sesshomaru he knew spoke with more emotion in his voice. Toga wasn't surprised to see his uncle with the same poker face, but he had to wonder what happened to make the Sesshomaru from this time turn into the one from his time. Toga guessed that it had to have been Auntie Rin. Having a good and loving mate can make even the hardest of yokai soften up. With hope and a prayer for tomorrow to go as plan, Toga left the hot spring to go to bed. He knew he had to be well rested incase the plan tomorrow doesn't go well.
By mid morning the next day the group was already out of the village heading in the direction the village chief had told them a lot of yokai were causing trouble. After a few hours Toga asked to break for lunch. Inuyasha tried to complain, but was immediately shut down by Kagome. Everyone, except Inuyasha, weren't exactly in a rush to get to the next yokai battle so breaking for lunch was a good idea to delay the inevitable next yokai battle. After eating Toga went to sit by the nearby stream to think. He knew Sesshomaru would be appearing soon.
"Please let this work," Toga whispered to the sky.
"Please let what work?" came Kagome's voice from behind him.
"Nothing really," Toga dodged. "I was just thinking out loud."
"You miss your home don't you?" Toga looked to his future mother with a sad smile. That wasn't what he was thinking at the time, but she wasn't wrong.
"Yeah, I do. I miss my mom, dad and sisters. My mother is actually pregnant right now with my first brother."
"Oh that's wonderful!"
"It'll be nice not being the only boy anymore. Being the only boy with twelve sisters is tough."
"I can only imagine."
"Plus I've never gone this long without seeing my mate."
"You have a mate?" Kagome exclaimed before pulling his collar to the side. "I knew you didn't have a mark so how to do you have a mate?"
"She hasn't come of age yet. When I met her she was only a month old, but the moment I smelled her I knew."
"Is she another yokai?"
"No actually she's one of Songo's descendents." A look of shock immediately washed over Kagome's face. "She looks almost just like her too. You can imagine my surprise when I first met you all at Kaede's village and saw Sango."
"How old is she now?"
"She's ten years old. I usually see her once or twice a week to help her with her school work or help with her demon slaying training."
"How does her family feel about her being your mate?"
"Her parents were very pleased. Since my family protects theirs, having a marriage only solidifies more of the bond. Before it was just a promise made by my parents to Sango but now there will be blood as well."
"Does she know that you two are mates?"
"Not yet. She knows that there is a connection between us and always wants to be around me. The childhood attachment she has for me will eventually turn into love and as she matures into a women she'll start feeling the urge to be with me intimately."
"This whole yokai mating and bonding sounds amazing."
"Kagome if you ever find yourself as the mate to a yokai don't deny him."
"You think I might be a mate to a yokai?" Kagome asked a little astonished. Suddenly though her thoughts were drawn to the only yokai whom had declared her as his mate, Koga.
"Who knows, but if you are please don't deny him. For a mate to refuse the other they are risking death."
"I didn't know yokai could deny their mates."
"It's extremely rare, but it has happened. When it does more often than not the denied yokai usually commits suicide." Kagome gasped at this.
"Suicide?" Kagome instantly felt very conflicted. She was glad that she never outright refused him. She never wanted to be the reason Koga killed himself, but could she really accept becoming his mate.
"Being mates goes deeper then a marriage," Toga began explaining. "The only bond stronger is that of a mother to her children. Being denied by your mate puts a yokai into such a depression that they would rather die then bare the pain. The remaining mate always end up single and alone for the rest of their lives." Kagome let out a deep sigh. She knew what she had to do. After they defeated Naraku Kagome was going to have to go to Koga and accept being his mate. She was not about to go against what the universe had apparently declared for her.
"Kagome! Toga!" Shippo shouted as he ran to the two. "Inuyasha's in trouble! Sesshomaru is here saying he's finally going to kill him!"
"Inuyasha!" Kagome shouted as she bolted back to their camp with Shippo right behind her. Toga slowly got to his feet and let out a deep breath.
"It has begun."