Author's Note: Thanks for your reviews all. Very much appreciated. :D! Sorry I took longer to update, but school and all… I have like up to chapter six written, but I still have to proofread it and check for errors (same dif) and I didn't get time for that, so I apologise. I haven't been getting any time to write further though… school's a REAL prison… They tried to go through TWO years of math work in effing FOUR hours… the idiots… well enough of my ranting.. this isn't a journal or any of that kind o-O They should really get a journal thing and a message centre like on DeviantArt. THAT'D be cool since half of the rules here suck so much… -.-'

Chapter Four

Inuyasha suddenly grabbed Tessaiga as it started to pulse again.

"Sou'unga…" Inu no Taishō spoke.

"Let's go!" Inuyasha said and started to run ahead.

'Brace yourself, Inuyasha,' Inu no Taishō thought and ran after him.

"Hey! What about me!" Kagome exclaimed as she was left behind ride less.

"Kirara!" Sango yelled out and Kirara jumped out of her arms and transformed.

"Kagome-sama, ride with Sango," Miroku said.

Inuyasha ran determined to get Sou'unga this time, his hand rested on Tessaiga's handle, ready to unsheathe it at any moment. He ran through the trees as quickly as he could then he felt Tessaiga's pulse calming down. 'Shit no! Sou'unga where are you going now!' Inuyasha thought then came to a clearing where there are no trees. Inuyasha stopped in his tracks his eyes wide. "M-mother!"

"Inuyasha!" Izayoi gasped. She ran over to him and hugged him. Inuyasha gladly accepted the embrace but was helluva confused. 'Mother, is it really you this time?' Inuyasha thought.

"Izayoi!" Inu no Taishō called and stopped a few feet behind his son.

"Dear!" Izayoi exclaimed and ended the embrace with Inuyasha. She started walking over to Inu no Taishō then ran into his arms.

Miroku stopped running when he entered the clearing, and Kirara landed. Sango jumped off and Kagome followed.

"Inuyasha, where's Sou'unga?" Sango asked.

"I don't know, Tessaiga stopped pulsing a while back…" Inuyasha spoke.

"Sou'unga?" Izayoi asked when the embrace between her and Inu no Taishō had ended. "Takemaru has it…"

"I think it's quite the other way around," Inu no Taishō spoke. "That fool is being controlled by the sword without realising it!"

Izayoi looked at everyone around her, "And who's this?"

"Forgive our rudeness, Izayoi-sama," Miroku spoke.

Sango shivered from Miroku just starting to speak. 'He had better behave himself! That's Inuyasha's mother! She's married! If he does any stupid, Inuyasha and his father will never forgive us… him… whoever!'

"I am Miroku a priest of Buddha (A/N: I think?), this being Sango a yōkai exterminator, Shippō a kid fox yōkai, and Kagome a…. miko. We're all friends of Inuyasha," Miroku introduced them all, not sure of what to call Kagome.

Sango sighed out of major relieve. 'Hōshi-sama handled that pretty well…'

Izayoi smiled. She was so happy that Inuyasha had finally found someone who accepted him for who he was, out of humans and yōkai.

The ground underneath their feet started to tremble.

"What's going on!" Shippō yelled.

"It can't be an earthquake, can it?" Kagome asked.

"Sou'unga!" Inuyasha suddenly yelled and grabbed hold of the pulsing Tessaiga.

"So it finally decided to show itself!" Inu no Taishō spoke and drew his sword.

Takemaru stepped into the scene with Sou'unga in hand.

"Heh, so you're Takemaru," Inuyasha said in his old bad ass voice and unsheathed the Tessaiga. "It's about time we met; now I can finally kick your ass!" Inuyasha charged at Takemaru without further delay.

Takemaru smirked at the hanyō and made sure their two blades met. "Not bad…" Takemaru spoke. "But you're gonna have to do better than that!" He pushed Sou'unga forward with extra force and slammed Inuyasha's balance over, causing him to slide through the sand on his feet, but his left hand grabbed the ground to remain upright.

Inu no Taishō ran next to Inuyasha then yelled at Takermau. "Fool! Can't you see you're being possessed by Sou'unga!"

Takemaru glared at Inu no Taishō. Inuyasha got up and when he just wanted to charge at Takemaru again his dad held him back. "Rise my army of dead minions," Takemaru spoke. Dead bodies suddenly climbed out of the trembling ground.

"What the?" Inuyasha exclaimed.

"ZOMBIES!" Shippō yelled and jumped into Kagome's arms.

"Not again!" Kagome moaned.

Inu no Taishō eyed Kagome, "You've come across Sou'unga's work before?"

"Yea… just before you appeared for the first time…" Kagome informed him.

"Ah yes!" Saya said. "We have! We have!"

Inuyasha's eyes wondered around then they landed on Takemaru. "I won't let you get away!" He growled. "Kaze no Kizu!"

Takemaru placed Sou'unga in front of him.

"Shit," Inu no Taishō cursed while fighting off zombies and protecting Izayoi and the others, though Sango, Miroku and Kagome had attempts in fighting the zombies. "Inuyasha, get away from there!"

"What's going on? What's gonna happen?" Izayoi asked worriedly.

"Damnit! We need to get out of here!" Inu no Taishō yelled.

"Heh, have fun dying. Gokuryuuha!" Were Takemaru's last words before Sou'unga let out the Gokuryuuha.

"Heh! Just what I've been waiting for! Bakuryuuha!" Inuyasha swung Tessaiga once again releasing the Kaze no Kizu. "What? It won't turn into the Bakuryuuha?"

"Inuyasha!" Inu no Taishō and Izayoi yelled at the same time.

By the time Inuyasha snapped back to reality it was too late. The Gokuryuuha was too close for him to dodge it now.

"Inuyasha! Osuwari!" Kagome yelled.

Inuyasha fell head-first to the ground, and surprisingly, the Gokuryuuha went right over him and into the zombies behind him.

"Inuyasha!" Izayoi gasped.

"O-osuwari?" Inu no Taishō said confused still busy fighting off the zombies who kept popping up.

Inuyasha got up and searched for Takemaru. "Shit! He vanished!"

"Inuyasha! Behind you!" Kagome yelled.

Inuyasha turned around and slammed Tessaiga against the zombies. "How do you kill these bastards!"

"Fire!" Saya yelled out. "They don't like fire!"

Inuyasha pushed the zombies away, "I don't have fire!"

"I can suck them up with Kazaana…" Miroku suggested, holding up his right hand, ready to take the seal off.

"No!" Sango yelled and knocked his hand down. "Under no circumstances!"

Inuyasha ran over to the group and instantly hit Miroku over the head, "Baka!"

"Now what?" Kagome asked.

Inu no Taishō's eyes twitched, they can't run, the zombie will follow them. They can't fight, because the zombies can't die unless they use fire, and they can't not fight then they'll die. He felt Izayoi's grip tightened on his arm.

Then suddenly, call it a miracle, but fire shot out form the forest and surrounded the group, only destroying the zombies. Inu no Taishō's eyes shot into the direction the fire came from. 'What is she doing here?' He questioned himself and let his guard down.

"What's going on?" Izayoi asked as she noticed Inu no Taishō dropped his guard.

A woman with silver hair walked out of the trees, where the fire came from. Yes, Sesshōmaru's mother.

"Who's that?" you hear random people in the group say.

She stopped in front of Inu no Taishō, and she shot one hell of a death glare at Izayoi. She looked up at Inu no Taishō. "I didn't come here to save your pitiful asses or anything, I came here because I need your help," she said to Inu no Taishō.

He sheathed his sword, "My help? With what?"

"Your son ran off into a cave, when I told him not to!"

Silence for a while. Everyone behind Inu no Taishō stared in confusion.

"Oh sure, when he's bad he's my son, but when he's good he's your son!" Inu no Taishō replied annoyed.

Everyone finally clicked.

"That must be Sesshōmaru's mother then…" Inuyasha said. "I think I'm beginning to see a pattern here…"

"Definitely…" Kagome agreed.

"Well yea, if it wasn't for your blood he would listen to me more often!" Sesshōmaru's mother argued with Inu no Taishō. "He even has a human companion with him! And he wouldn't have if it wasn't for your stupid blood running through his veins!"

Inu no Taishō rested his hand on his forehead, stopping himself from arguing further. "Setsuko… I'm not gonna get started with this. Sesshōmaru is a big boy and he can look after himself."

Setsuko folded her arms across her chest. "I think your fang, Sou'unga or something, went into the cave," she said annoyed.

Inu no Taishō eyed her.

"Sesshōmaru told me about the three swords you had wielded. And you gave him a freaking reviving sword, a REVIVING sword, what good is that!" Her eyes travelled through the group and her eyes landed on Inuyasha. "Let me guess," she started and walked towards him, bumping Izayoi out of the way on purpose, they both glaring at each other. Inu no Taishō put his one arm around Izayoi to prevent her from falling over. "This is Inuyasha, the hanyō. The one with Tessaiga," She turned to face Inu no Taishō again. "Well it's obvious who your favourite is, and it's not Sesshōmaru!"

Inuyasha growled behind her back.

"Setsuko, put aside this nonsense. Where's Sesshōmaru?" Inu no Taishō asked in a demanding tone of voice.

"I already told you," she said stubbornly with her nose in the air.

"Then where's this cave?" He rolled his eyes.

Setsuko walked forward, and when she passed Izayoi she so shot daggers at her, wishing she'd just drop dead right there. She stopped next to Inu no Taishō. "Follow. Me." Then she began to walk again. Inu no Taishō motioned with his head for the others to follow them. Setsuko let out a slight growl when she saw this.

"Here it is, your Majesty," Setsuko agitated with a sarcastic tone, stopping in front of the cave.

"A barrier?" Inu no Taishō pondered and raised his hand up to the barrier, feeling its strong power without even touching it.

"No really… did you figure that out on your own or did somehow write it on your head for you?" Setsuko said.

"Oh shut up, Setsuko," Ino no Taishō said highly annoyed. "Why did you call me here? You're strong enough to handle this alone."

"Hello? Lord of the dogs! I suck at bringing down barriers – you know that!" Setsuko exclaimed.

Inu no Taishō sighed at Setsuko's arrogance, "Very well. Inuyasha, bring this barrier down."

Inuyasha stepped forward and unsheathed Tessaiga allowing it to transform into the red barrier-breaking Tessaiga. "With pleasure."

"What!" Setsuko exclaimed. "Now you're depending on a hanyō! No! I refuse! Either you bring it down or you all get out of my sight!"

"Do you want to get Sesshōmaru out of there, or not?" Inu no Taishō argued back.

"Not that I want to barge in on your argument… but Sesshōmaru's a tough guy, he can handle this on his own…" Inuyasha spoke and rested Tessaiga on the ground, annoyed at the two adults arguing so much.

"Inuyasha," Inu no Taishō started. "If Sou'unga is in there, we want to get in there because Sesshōmaru cannot destroy that thing on his own. And this was obviously a trap set by Sou'unga."

"And we're going straight into it," Inuyasha argued.

"What a time to pick a fight with your dad…" Kagome slapped her hand against her forehead.

"Well it beats standing around doing nothing, so bring that thing down," Ino no Taishō ordered.

Inuyasha picked Tessaiga up again, with an annoyed expression on his face, "Kaze no Kizu!" The Kaze no Kizu smashed against the barrier and opened a hole in it.

"Alright, let's go," Inu no Taishō said.

"No! I refuse to go through that barrier if that hanyō brought it down! I won't stand for it!" Setsuko argued.

"Then sit," Inu no Taishō suggested and walked into the cave.

Inuyasha ran after his father with a small chuckle escaping his mouth. The rest followed after Inuyasha, Setsuko glaring at them, especially Izayoi. She growled then stomped into the cave.

"Wait for me!" Jaken yelled and ran in after them.

"It's moist in here…" Sango confirmed kneeling down and touching the ground. Kirara immediately transformed into her big form.

"Evil is everywhere…" Miroku whispered.

"This cave is creepy," Shippō shivered.

"We're best off sticking close together," Inu no Taishō said unsheathing his sword, "Inuyasha, do not let your guard down, not even for one mere second."

"Okay," Inuyasha replied and let Tessaiga transform back into its original transformed form.

Setsuko sighed and pulled her sword out as well. "I can't smell anything in this moist air, it's filled with the scent of the dead."

Inuyasha suddenly felt Tessaiga pulsing. "Either Tenseiga or Sou'unga is closing up…"

"Which direction?" Inu no Taishō asked.

"Right…" Inuyasha replied and they all started to move that way.

"Inuyasha, you cover the back," Inu no Taishō spoke keeping his defences up.

Inuyasha nodded then jumped to the back of the group and kept guard there. Inuyasha heard something move, but he doubted it… the cave was creepy enough it could've been a rat. A zombie jumped up out of nowhere and his and Inuyasha's blades clashed. Everyone's attention was brought to those two. Inuyasha pushed the zombie backwards, then more started to climb up from the ground. "Shit!"

"Looks like you guys are useless here without me," Setsuko smirked and swung her sword sending out a wave of flames. She moved her sword in the directions where the zombies were, not caring who or what got in her way.

Kagome, Miroku, Sango, Izayoi and Shippō backed up into a wall to prevent the fire from getting to them, while Kirara stood in front of them seeing that she is fireproof.

"Setsuko!" Inu no Taishō said in a deep angry voice.

Inuyasha turned around seeing the fire surrounding his friends then he smelt the smoke and brought his sleeve up to his nose. "Shit!"

Setsuko ignored Inu no Taishō and her target changed from the zombies to Inuyasha. 'I'll take care of that idiot hanyō with one swing of this sword. He'll never know what hit him!' Setsuko brought her sleeve up to her nose as the smoke was getting to her as well.

Kirara growled at Setsuko and her sword changed direction shooting the flames at Inuyasha. Inuyasha jumped backwards away from the fire, then soon, he disappeared behind the wall of fire. "INUYASHA!" Kagome yelled. Izayoi gasped.

"SETSUKO!" Inu no Taishō yelled angrily then his blade shot into her blade and send it flying through the air into a wall. She gasped and tried to grab it with a failed attempt. "Are you trying to kill us all! These flames will burn out the cave!" He yelled without any hesitation to if Inuyasha was still alive, he knew he'd survive this. He hoped.

"Well what do you want me to do about it?" Setsuko asked remaining calm.

"Take the flames down," he ordered.

"I can't do that, my sword only releases fire," she informed him.

"Shit," Inu no Taishō cursed. The fire was one thing, but the smoke another… Inuyasha might be able to survive the fire but with his sensitive nose and the smoke… that's another thing to worry about.

"KAZE NO KIZU!" The heard Inuyasha's voice and the Kaze no Kizu broke through the flames, smashing them apart and blowing them away.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome and Shippō cried out happily. Izayoi smiled, along with Miroku and Sango.

"Y-you… you survived that!" Setsuko exclaimed.

"Of course!" Inuyasha said annoyed, "I'm made out of stronger stuff than that!" Inuyasha yelled. 'But if I didn't have this fire rat cloak…'

Inu no Taishō sighed with relieve. "Get your sword Setsuko and let's get going," he said and walked to Inuyasha.

"Bosseeee," Setsuko moaned and walked over to her sword then pulled it out of the wall.

"Are you okay?" Inu no Taishō asked his son, resting his hand on Inuyasha's back. "Being surrounded by those flames can't do anyone good."

"I've been through worse," Inuyasha replied, panting.

"You sure?"

"Yea. Let's go," Inuyasha said smiling at his father. Inu no Taishō smiled back and gave Inuyasha a small embrace.

Setsuko eyed this while wiping her blade with her kimono to make it shine once again. The minute Izayoi walked over to Inu no Taishō and Inuyasha, her eyes filled up with jealousy and anger. She watched as Izayoi said something to the two, then Inu no Taishō ended the embrace, his one arm still around Inuyasha, then he wrapped his other arm around Izayoi and embraced her. Her orange orbs glowed like fire now.

Kagome smiled, she felt all warm inside for Inuyasha's sake. This is what he always wanted, right? His family with him, to meet his dad, to see his mom again…

"Well, c'mon, we can't afford to stand around and do nothing for any longer, let's get going," Inu no Taishō said, then walked further, deeper into the cave.

They've been walking for so long, and no zombies came to attack them again… They were still walking with their guards up.

"Sesshōmaru-sama!" Jaken called out to his master. "Rin!" He tried the girl.

"Oh shut up Jaken!" Setsuko said. "I think I'd be able to smell my own son, and it's not like Sesshōmaru to answer to a call like that anyway."

Jaken sighed. She was right.

Inu no Taishō stopped in his tracks.

"What?" Izayoi asked.

"What is it?" Setsuko asked.

"Don't you hear that?" Inu no Taishō asked.

Setsuko opened her ears and tried to hear anything. The only thing her ears heard was the big BOOM at the back of the group.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome gasped.

Everyone turned around.

"Shit… Why does everybody target me!" Inuyasha murmured annoyed. A zombie had bitten into Tessaiga. "Get your slobbering mouth off of my Tessaiga!" Inuyasha yelled and swung Tessaiga hitting the zombie into a wall. Inuyasha studied the Tessaiga's blade and saw no scratch in it. The zombie jumped up and ran towards Inuyasha once again.

"What's up with that thing!" Inu no Taishō exclaimed, getting ready to help his son, when zombies attacked him from behind. Again the entire place filled up with zombies, this time more than last time.

Kagome grabbed her bow and arrows and started shooting them down, but they kept coming back to life.

"Hiraikotsu!" Sango tried her luck, but it was the same as with everyone else.

"Kitsune bi!" Shippō released his fire, but it wasn't nearly big enough.

Jaken used his staff to burn the zombies. Miroku used his scrolls, and Setsuko used her sword to blast off small amounts of zombies, in order to NOT burn down the place.

"What's up with these zombies? They bite!" Sango said as one zombie bit into Hiraikotsu.

"I don't know- ah!" Kagome yelled.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha yelled looking behind him and seeing a zombie biting into Kagome's arm. "KAGOME!" Inuyasha yelled then pushed the zombie he was currently fighting with away. He jumped over to her and knocked the zombie over pulling his teeth out of Kagome's skin. Kagome yelped in pain.

"Oh this is not good… no," Saya said.

Kagome rested in Inuyasha's arms. "I'm fine, really…" she said and tried to get up but the pain in her arm was unbearable.

"Shit…" Inu no Taishō cursed. "Setsuko, Jaken, hurry up and eliminate these zombies!"

Izayoi ran next to Kagome and Inuyasha. She picked up Kagome's arm. "Can you feel your arm?"

"Yes…" she said in pain, "I just can't move it…"

"That's just a sign of the poison running through your body…" Inu no Taishō said and walked up to the three.

"Poison?" Inuyasha exclaimed.

"Don't worry, I know how to cure it. I'll have to go outside to find the herbs though," Inu no Taishō spoke. "Setsuko, I'm leaving you with them. You better behave yourself!"

"Yes sir," she said annoyed.

"Kagome, do not move a muscle in your body," Inu no Taishō then ran to the exit. 'I better hurry, she's only human…'


Author's note: I promise in the next chapter there will be more Inu no Taishō and Sesshōmaru bonding father-son moments. Please note that I'm, not TRYING to bash Setsuko… this is just how she is, she's jealous and when you're jealous you often do embarrassing things that would be considered bashing yourself… or something… I don't care if I'm making sense or not… But another definite pairing in the story will be Inu no Taishō and Izayoi. I'll try and put more fluff on them… not like that'd be hard to do, Inu no Taishō's got TONS of fluff :P

I won't "bash" Setsuko through the entire thing, I mean she's like Sesshōmaru… not all bad… she'll most probably realise the error of her ways before the fic ends. Did I just spoil that? Well I had to get it off from my shoulders before someone complains that I bash her too much… She IS my character after all… I can make her do what I want, even have her dance on potatoes… oo tempting thought… x)

Somehow this chapter seemed boring and rushed to me... I think I wanted to remove some scenes and add others, but since I haven't worked on this particular chapter... I have forgotten... forgive me...

Kiyoshi Kaiiki Rindō