Hio!

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. But please, expect it at this pace. I'm now in the full swing of school (and yes, it only has been two weeks, and I got today off which is why you're getting this a full two days early), meaning I've been getting slammed with work. It'll all work out soon, but I still am going to keep this pace in order to keep me from going insane. Hope you don't mind.

I'll keep the rest of my rambling to the end of the story.

Enjoy!

Lynne

::123456789::

Teaching Instinct

::Dream::

Kagome watched herself as she crept silently down a dark hallway. A girl who seemed a few years older than her followed, but she looked sickly, because it was apparent that she was thin and tired. She was also bruised and scarred, along with the finding of a few fresh cuts that seemed to only have quite recently stopped bleeding.

"Hmmm...leaving so soon? But I haven't gotten around to entertaining you...or myself...Kagome." A voice sounded. It was youthful, but deep. It was also familiar. Too familiar...

"I wouldn't leave, Kagome. Sota here still needs to be saved. And Inuyasha..."

She watched herself freeze at the mention of her brother's name. Her image turned to the person behind her, whispering something to her, and the other person responded, slipping something to her. She watched herself watch the girl continue to creep silently past her, staying in the shadows.

The dream Kagome pauses for a moment, seeming to do something (but she couldn't tell what) and then she walked into an illuminated part of the passage. She stood tall, and looked up, as if she were addressing a higher power.

"What do you want?! Why did you take Sota?? What has he done?! And the same goes for Inuyasha!! If you want me so bad, then you can have me!!" she yelled. She looked ahead of her and then added quietly, "Just don't hurt them."

"Hmm...I knew I could get to you somehow." The voice sounded. She couldn't tell where it was coming from. It didn't seem to be coming from anywhere, but it also seemed to be everywhere.

A door –clicked- in front of her, and she reached for it, opening it. She walked through to find a furious Inuyasha and a scared Sota. Beside them was her captor, smirking evilly.

"Come here, Kagome, take my hand." He said.

She obeyed as she saw the gleam of a metal knife pushed against Sota's neck. As soon as she came within arm's distance of the three people, she paused.

"I do this, and they go free?"

"Absolutely. You have my word."

Kagome turned from her abductor. "Inuyasha, take Sota and get out of here. Forget about me." She said, solemnly. She was sensing something...something evil here. She could tell that it wanted to hurt her. If she took this moron's hand, she was sure to get hurt, if not die. But if that's what it took...

She raised her hand to take the one outstreched to her.

"Kagome - " Inuyasha started.

"Do it!" She took the hand, which pulled her toward her captor. She saw Inuyasha take Sota and run, giving her a heartfelt glance before he finally left. "GO!" She screamed.

He left.

"Finally, just you and me..." the voice said, as her captor's face was illuminated, showing that of Naraku's, and she started to scream in pain..

::End Dream::

Kagome sat up straight in a cold sweat. What was that? It had seemed so real. Her entire body was aching.

She saw Inuyasha wasn't next to her as he was when she fell asleep, but she calmed down when she heard his voice...howling? 'How cute!' she thought. She looked out the window, seeing it was still dark, but froze as she heard a chorus of howls after that of Inuyasha's. 'Is that normal?' she asked herself, swinging her legs over the bedside and pulling on Inuyasha's shirt. It was so big that it reached just above her knees. She also pulled on her own sneakers, and walked outside.

As she quietly padded to the source of Inuyasha's howl, she breathed in deeply, realising just how good Inuyasha smelled. The smell was like a forest and vanilla beans mixed with a hint of...honey? It was definitely something sweet. It had to be honey. She liked it. She liked it. Masculine, yet it still seemed gentle and loving. And sweet. Just like him.

"Inuyasha?" She whispered, coming up to a wall of silvery-white hair. He was listening to the howls that had chorused after his own, it seemed. "Um, Inuyasha? What are you doing?"

"You're supposed to be sleeping." He said, turning. His amber eyes were soft and filled with concern.

"I had an odd dream, and woke up, scared. You weren't there next to me, so I came to find you." She said quietly.

"Oh."

"So, what are you doing? You never really answered my question." She asked again.

"What does it look like?" he answered coldly. He didn't feel like getting laughed at.

She felt the iciness in his voice. 'Aww...he's embarassed...' she thought. 'He shouldn't be though...especially not with me...' she kept thinking.

"Well, it looks like you're howling at the moon. But why? I'm just curious." She said, her eyes shining in admiration. "It looks like fun."

'She isn't going to make fun of me?' He thought, confused.

"Uh...well," he started, unsure of how to explain it. He never really was good at explaining his demon urges. "You see, when I howl, I'm usually...uh...expressing how I feel. I guess...it's a way like if you get angry you punch something?...Um...Tonight, I guess I'm expressing how...er...happy I am. It's like an announcement of love, if you want..." he explained, with a decent amount of unease.

Kagome sat down next to Inuyasha, her knees folded under her, enjoying the tickle of the grass on her bare legs. "Oh." She said, nodding, looking ahead of her.

Then, to his surprise, her head whipped in his direction as it seemed as if a light bulb went off in her head. "Can I try?" She asked, a girlish excitement in her voice.

He stared for a second. She asked WHAT?

"Um, do you know how? I mean there's different types of howls....and um...I mean..." he stammered. He wasn't expecting this.

"Well, you could teach me!" she said, eagerly.

"Uh...ok...I guess. Well, watch me first, if you want." He closed his eyes, trying to forget his embarassment. He whipped his head back, and howled, letting his joy come out once again. When he finished, he got the chorus, as expected. The dogs in the neighborhood and the wolves in this forest already knew and accepted him as the alpha-dog. And they liked to join in with a reason to howl.

She scooted closer to him while he had let his emotions fly free in order to really see what he was doing. She really wanted to try this!

"Ok. Well, first, straighten out your back." He said, placing a hand on her lower back and pushing to get rid of the slouch she had. She complied easily. It was weird, trying to teach an instinct to Kagome.

"Next, I usually take a good look at the moon before I let myself rip. It gives me power and also a good feeling, ya know?"

She didn't answer, she was too busy observing the moon like he had told her to. Kagome had never realized just how absolutely beautiful it was. It was a perfect full moon and somehow seemed to call to her. She had already started to feel the joy she felt the first time Inuyasha had said he loved her, so many nights ago in the hospital.

She heard his voice talking, saying, "Now this is when I look up at the sky, breathe deep and how. The sound comes from...deep...within...my...chest?" He stopped talking.

Kagome's head had whipped back, and was now howling like he had been minutes before. Her hands were placed beside her knees and her back arched sharply, allowing the sound to consume her wholly. He'd never seen a human howl at the moon, but even if he had, he didn't think they would have been this good. And she looked so...good like this too. Like it was natural.

She looked ahead of her as the sound ended, reverberating off of the house and the trees surrounding them. She then turned to Inuyasha and smiled brightly.

"Did I do ok?" she asked.

"Heh. Yeah." He answered, smiling right back at her. This girl was truly a piece of work. "You hear them answering you?" he asked. All of a sudden, a loud and long chorus of howls sounded, surrounding them. Inuyasha's ears twerked towards the wound. Kagome had jumped at the unexpectedness of the chorus.

"They're wishing you good luck, although I don't know why you'd need it." He said, his smile switching to a smirk as he tackled his girlfriend to the ground.

"Ha. I will need it. I should say thanks." She replied, sticking her tongue out at him. "Would you get up? I wanna try one more time, and then I'll leave you alone." She pushed him off.

She got back in her original position, knees tucked underneath, hands by her sides, but this time, she didn't need to look at the moon. The emotion welled up inside of her automatically.

Her head lashed back again, the howl escaping her lips as her back arched again, even more sharply then before and her hands tightly gripped the grass. It looked like she was in sheer ecstasy.

Watching her, Inuyasha got an idea. He sat next to her, and slid his hand over hers. He took a long breath, and joined her howl, them both ending within seconds of each other.

They looked at each other, and started laughing uncontrollably.

"We're doing this again." Kagome said, when they caught their breath.

"Sure, whatever you want." He replied, pushing her head onto his shoulder.

They laid back on the cool grass, and fell asleep, just like that.

::123456789::

Kagome woke up the next morning, to find herself smiling. Her sleep was not haunted by nightmares like it had been earlier the night before, but instead was a dream with her and Inuyasha ten years from now, with their children.

There were exactly how she'd imagined her and Inuyasha's kids to be. Two girls and a boy. One girl, the eldest, looked like a younger version of herself, down to the size of her hands and feet and the shape of her eyes. The only difference? She had a nasty set of claws. One that she kept neatly sharpened should the need arise. The other girl had Inuyasha's mane of silky-white hair and those ears, although everything else looked like either Kagome's or her mother's. She also had his arrogance, which resulted in her and her twin brother getting into wrestling matches very often. The boy was a mini-version of Inuyasha, with his father's attitude, but in addition, he had her warmth and love deep in his heart.

She smiled to herself again and pushed even closer to Inuyasha. This was the life. They didn't need to kiss, or have sex, or any of that crap that everyone else had always expected from her and asked her about. Just having each other around was enough to make them happy.

Inuyasha wrapped his arms around Kagome, and sleepily opened his eyes. "Sleep well?"

"Mmhmm." She answered. She ignored the fact that she had about thirty bites on her arms and legs.

"Good. Cuz we gots to go. Sesshomaru will be waiting at my place."

"Mmm...'kay." She answered, getting up.

"You know, that shirt looks even better on you than it does on me." He said, eyeing her as she stood up.

"You think so? Well, I'm wearing it back to your place. I don't feel like changing. I'll just put on my shorts. She said, stretching her hands above her head so the shirt rose up a few inches.

"Ugh, fine. Just pack whatever you don't wear with the food we didn't eat. It should still be good." He said, getting up as well.

"Oh, and do you have any medical tape?" she asked. She had gotten an idea as she looked up at the tree canopy.

"Yeah. It's in the first aid kit by the stove." He said, passively. She was just about to turn and go when something clicked in his head. "Wait. Why?"

"Oh, you'll see!" she said, and then ran full sprint towards the house.

::123456789::

A/n: Ok, as I write this note trying to juggle talking to like 20 people and listen to my brother's horrible bass playing and drooling over a very nice picture of Inuyasha...(I'm giving up the URL...you might like it!!)

http : www. devianart. com/ deviation/ 10652951/

Take out all spaces.

I'll just respond now, I'm tired, and I wanna get this posted since my consience has been bugging me for the past like, three days.

Oh, and I also want to apologize for my outburst last chapter...I was being a little stressed out and took it out on all you guys. I meant what I said, but I also spoke -privately- to the reviewer and we came to an understanding.

DraGonMistress704: Yeah, me and mad do not mix well...Some people get whiplash from my tongue and my words. Its part of the reason I don't get very angry often. I'm a small character and don't fight if I don't have to, but words are another story. Thank my mother for that gift... And thank you for letting me know I "kick ass." I like to think of myself as 'special' but hey, whatever works.

Tiger5913: As far as Sesshy and Rin, Naraku threatened that if Sesshomaru made any attempt to get her back, then Rin would die (that was part of his thought process last chapter.) So, he left her, trying to find away to indirectly save her. And he found that...in Kagome.

Inuyasha-death-dealer(): I already spoke to you. Hopefully, all is well...and remember I share your pain in a lot of ways. ::Smiles meakly::

Secret-punk-rocker16: Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!!! You know, I'd love to do that. I really would like to make sure he wouldn't be breathing without aid of a machine for a long time. Unfortunately, in this country of freedoms, I have not the freedom to do that because of the laws...hrm.

ktakn-yeni: It's ok if you didn't review the others! Don't worry. I just like knowing you like my story. That's what makes my day.

Yeah, I know Kagome got bitchy. BUT, we're all allowed personal days of pure bitchiness, I think Kagome's allowed them too.

Another thanks to MissMariel, Kimitoshi, IcyAsh, Sakuzha, lyn, InuyashaKagome10, Forbidden Miko, someone (), whogivesacow, and Kaida Mai for reviewing as well.

I also want to thank EVERYONE who sent me their sympathy. You all touched me, and although it's been a bit since most of that stuff happened, it still warms my heart to know so many people -care- when they really don't have to. It's a dog-eat-dog world, and it's nice to know that there's still truly good people out there.

Although some people write for the sake of writing on here, and don't respond to their reviewers, I find that whomever does review and I respond to, we seem to have a little conversation going, and even a bit of a friendship in a ways. It's nice to seem to have a personal connection to those who constantly review my work. You all rock, and I really want to thank my reviewers.

As far as my story goes, I like to keep you posted: I am thinking this will be ending within 20 or so chapters? I know that's far, but still. The emotional climax already has passed, but the action climax will be coming soon...hmm...I wonder what's gonna happen? Also, Inuyasha and Kagome's lemon will be after the action climax. So I'm thinking about 7 chapters. (Think at most 2 months. Probably less.) For those who want to know.

I'm working on two stories (not up yet) that have actual plotlines, and then I'm thinking of doing a story that has a plotline, but revolves around a lot of lemon activity. It's gonna be posted on MediaMiner as well (I've got this posted on MediaMiner just in case someone decides to report me...same name and everything) and probably will have even more citrus then what I put here. But that's not until probably mid-schoolyear, after I'm sure I've got this story done. I want this complete before I start any other ones.

I'm done rambling. Here's your preview:

Chapter title: Forests, Sesshy and Bullshit

That was it. Kagome had had enough. She walked up to Sesshomaru calmly and said, "M'lord, I don't care if you had my life in your hands. You will not talk to me as if I was some person able to be disposed of like a dirty Kleenex. I expect to be shown the same respect as I show you!" And with that, she landed a roundhouse kick on his jaw. One powerful enough to draw blood.

Sesshomaru touched his jaw tenderly. A human had not attempted to strike him and successfully hit him and draw blood in a while. "This Sesshomaru will do as he pleases." he said, placing his hand around her neck. "And though this Sesshomaru is not stupid enough to do anything severe to the one his brother claims as the one he loves, I doubt he bout opposed to my teaching you a lesson." he said, tightening his grip and allowing his claws to just graze her skin, enough for her to feel the pain they were capable of causing but not anything enough to actually hurt her.

A growl issued from deep in her throat. "Get off of me." No fear was in her voice, only pure hatred and disgust. Her breathing was even and calm, even though it was somewhat restricted due to the hand on her throat. She was used to it. There wasn't much that fazed her anymore. Not even death.

She repeated her warning, her voice even firmer. "Get off of me." She allowed the power she was just learning to control to come out of her. "Unlike Inuyasha, I have no care for whether or not I leave you dead. Do not underestimate me, Sesshomaru"

::123456789::

Seemed like a good place to stop. ::Grins Evilly::

Stay well, and (if you're in school) don't read my story until you're done with your homework!! (haha I probably sound like yer mom...)

Ja ne,
Lynne