I'm back! Hurray! Wow thank you all so much for the amazing support writing this story! We crossed 200 reviews! I never thought, ever in a million years I would get more than 50 or even 100 on Instinct, but over 200? You all are amazing and I am so grateful to you!

The amazing Laureninthsky96 has been beta'ing for me, catching all my spelling and grammar errors so thank you!

And I passed my finals! 4 classes left and my Bachelors will hopefully be done! So excited!


Mayumi-present

She watches him convulse through a crack in the door. No sooner does her uncle hit the floor than blood blooms from his throat, coating the tiles in red. "This isn't epilepsy," Yamamoto-sama says as he lands on his knees next to her convulsing Uncle.

Sesshomaru's fists are balled so tightly that he cuts into his own palms with his claws. Mayumi bites the inside of her cheek. Izayoi runs in with another needle filled with medicine. It's never been this bad before. He's choking on his own blood. For the first time, he can't control his transformation. Mayumi sees that his mokomoko is becoming visible. The power of the tremors and the sweat are washing off the makeup he uses to cover his stripes. His ears have fallen out of their hiding place. "Call Tsukimaru, quickly. If he doesn't answer, call Taiyomaru," Izayoi hands Mayumi a cell phone.

She can't take her eyes off him. The patient they were working on, with white eyes that are scarred around the edges is led from the room with her dog who won't stop barking.

"Now!" Izayoi yells at her.

Her fingers tremble as she unlocks the cellphone and brings up Tsukimaru's number. "Please answer…" she cries, finally entering the room.

"What is this?" Yamamoto-sama asks Izayoi.

The Mokomoko is visible, the fangs, the pointed ears and the markings. Izayoi tries getting the needle in, but this time she can't. He's shaking too hard for her to hit the neck vein.

The nurses rush into the room. There are four of them there helping in the office, all females. They slide on their knees through the blood that her Uncle chokes on. His white hair is now half crimson and he can't breathe. "Get me suction," one of the nurses is thrown off him as she tries to hold him down. It takes three just to pin one shoulder down and keep his neck still so they can suction the blood from his throat.

"He's not answering!" Mayumi cries to her sister. She tries Taiyomaru but it also goes straight to voicemail.

"Natsuki doesn't have a phone," Izayoi takes the phone and texts Tsukimaru, she hands the phone back. Their feet are covered in blood.

"Dilantin," Yamamoto-sama calls to Yoshi.

The younger doctor rummages through a cabinet searching for the drug. Mayumi can't move. She kneels down next to Sesshomaru. "Send for her, Ojisama? Please? If you can hear me, call her!" Natsuki can help when it's this bad, but she hates phones and computers. She refuses to use them, but their bond allows her to somewhat control his body.

Yoshi fills a needle and just as he is about to try to stick it into her Uncle's skin, Izayoi can be quiet no longer.

"No!" the elder sister screams at them while they hold her uncle down by the shoulders. "It's not epilepsy," she sobs as she removes her scarf from her head, bearing pointed ears as proof they have not been honest about themselves. They wiggle lightly to prove they are real and not just decoration. "He's not human…It's from a disease he was infected with five hundred years ago. He's a dog demon. He's in the end stages of the symptoms." The phone finally starts ringing. She throws it to Mayumi. "He's dying…"

The room stops and all becomes quiet. Yoshi drops the needle and then picks it up, unsure what to do. Izayoi blocks them from getting any closer to Sesshomaru, her ears drooping on the top of her head. "He's dying, this medicine won't help him. He needs his…um…wife," she snivels and wipes her tears. "And the blood of his children."

His mouth is foaming, he's choking. The vein in his neck is bulging and his eyes are changing from gold to red.

Mayumi answers the phone. "Tsukimaru," Mayumi wipes her nose. She's covered in her Uncle's blood. "He's sick. He won't stop throwing up. They can't…" she puts the phone on speaker.

"Izayoi, can you start an IV?" Tsukimaru asks, his voice tinged with pain.

"I can try," Izayoi says. "Sit on him," she tells the doctors and nurses. "You don't understand, it takes all four of his children-" she is cut off by a rush of energy and flash of white light coming into the room.

Mayumi knows the yoki well. Natsuki forms in front of them. "You idiot," she says to Sesshomaru as she kneels by his chest. "Get off him now." She has never made an effort to hide her form, not even when she visits the land. She is dressed in regal Japanese robes, a gold kimono, red and then another gold layer. Her hair is tied in an intricate weave of combs and jewels. Her mokomokai are wrapped over her arms.

"Who are you?" Yoshi demands.

"Shut up," Natsuki barks, weaving her fingers through Sesshomaru's hair and resting her forehead against his. "Calm down, dear one," she mutters against his skin. The yoki rises again, this time from his and from hers. Mayumi can almost see it dancing together. The tremors calm, "Now," Natsuki instructs them.

Izayoi comes in with an IV kit and starts the line in his left arm. "Mayumi, go get Tsukimaru's blood from the fridge. You know which one it is. Natsuki, we don't have Taiyomaru's," she says as Mayumi runs out of the room.

Now they're done for, and Mayumi knows it. The doctors will know that he's been using youkai blood. "I used the emergency phone and 'texted' Taiyomaru before I came. He'll be here soon."

"What's going on?" Yamamoto-sama asks, stunned.

"Shut up," Natsuki barks at him.

Mayumi rushes out of the room but is followed by Yamamoto-sama. She swallows hard as she searches through the bags of blood. She knows which one is her cousin's. It's labeled carefully. She needs the bag that isn't used for their treatments.

"What is going on?" The doctor grabs her by the arm and pins her against the wall. "What is this? Are you human?"

"Mostly," Mayumi tries to push his arm off, "and then not," she lets her blades loose against his skin, enough to graze but not cut.

He curses, sucking on his thumb. "What are you?"

"A quarter dog-demon…my father is a hanyou. He'll start convulsing again if I don't give this to him," she holds up the large bag of blood. "Please?" her voice breaks.

"Come on," he leads her back into the room. "You have a lot of explaining to do," he says as he opens the door for Mayumi.

The nurses have lifted his body onto the stretcher and secured the IV line. Mayumi hands them the bag of Tsukimaru's blood. They connect the bag to the line in his arm and then turn to face a staff that cannot believe what they are seeing. Mayumi lifts up Sesshomaru's hand and squeezes his palm. "Ojisama?" she whispers helplessly. "Please don't die."


Please Review...omg another cliffhanger!

Coming next: Thursday March 12th, 2020 Natsuki-past

Story Recommendation: Warrior Princess by Spiritedranger Not sure the pairing it might be Rin/Kohaku or Rin/Sess...we shall see


Kimmigirl9: I know, I also laughed and cried in that last chapter. Taka is hysterical. Like poor thing having to deal with Nina's dreams.

Luin-Fanel: Yes we are going to cover the entire 10 years in the past and the future...well I'm not sure, if I say, I might give away the plot. I did finish my finals thank Goodness and passed with flying colors! I want to party, but it's tax season and my husband is an accountant so it's like I want to but I can't, so I do my best.

Mechine: Thank you for the well wishes. Yes, short hiatus. I got to the point that I was feeling too overwhelmed with posting and getting the rest of my schoolwork done. Why does schoolwork have to trump my fanfiction life? So hiatus over and we are back on track unless school overtakes me again! I know, now I left you another cliffhanger! What are we going to do? I think you can see after this one that Natsuki has been sustaining Sesshomaru's life. I couldn't resist Taka saying something to Harutoga...it was hilarious.

Inu-fan 24: Let's try it again...why would any mother in their right mind let go of their kids like that? It's not like there is email, facetime...

Moralityx2: Will check it out! I'm always looking for new stories to read. I love stories that make me feel. I will check out What She Desires.

New Readerx2: You can spam me all you want! Really the moderation like I said was to protect some of my other stories and also trolls come out in the Sess/Rin pairing because they are used to it being written one way and if you deviate, it's not always good. Sess/Natsuki was not supposed to happen until after Rin died, it was forced in Instinct, which broke my heart to write. OOOO I hope Kensaku backs off and after the next chapter that's the last we see of him forcing Natsuki into their lives. I agree with the line of thought on Sesshomaru basically getting manipulated into having sex which is so wrong and so well rape.

Gina: Thank you! I know school must come first, but...I wanna play!

Smmahamazing: I think you just followed me on twitter! Thank you so much! I know angst stories get to me too, but I love them. I made myself crack up too writing Taka and Harutoga with the sex life...I mean poor Taka, why should she get all the mental pictures?

Harukasempai14: What a thoughtful review thank you! So you hate Taka because she is Natsuki's daughter but love Yuki because she is Rin's daughter, but obviously Taka is better behaved than Yuki, which cracks me up. HEHE I love both girls. It basically was Rape that happened to Gobodo-sama when she conceived Touma and yes I agree, what Sesshomaru is having done to him is also the equivalent of rape, no matter if it was with Natsuki in Instinct or what happens possibly in the next chapter. Your force them into a situation where instinct takes over, it's not right. I definitely think it's just that Rin's reincarnation is coming during Natsuki's time with Sesshomaru because it drives the point home a bit.

Gogox2: I agree...rape changes everything. A 13 year old being trafficked and put in that situation is awful but I'll tell you something I told Esther247 after we talked about Kiss of Fate, we often avoid these topics because we don't like them, they hurt us, maybe they bring our own fears in but about the people who use these kinds of stories as avenues for healing? I don't 100% agree with the idea that we are damaged for life, but we do live with our scars. As Abraham Maslow says, when we shine our light, we unconsciously give others permission to shine theirs. That's why no one should be afraid to write about sexual abuse.

itzatakahashi: Oh wouldn't you like me to tell you! LOL You'll have to read to find out what happens to Sess/Nina...or if anything happens to Sess/Nina...cryptic!

Nightbird755: I can't wait for you to read it all!

Guesswho: Thank you! I did well thank Goodness and I am so relieved to be done with these two classes. Sess/Sessmom convo broke my heart but I imagine those two got closer because of Rin and their children and yes, her name getting put in there made me happy. Nastuki does not know about Nina yet...at the moment Sesshomaru is well convulsing on the floor so I guess we'll see what happens. HEHE so many questions we have to wait for more chapters for.

Ivriel: Yes please read and review my other stories. Reviews make me soooo happy! Sorry I didn't come quiet when I said! I messed up the date of my finals. But they are done and I am back and yes Instinct was a heart breaker. It made me cry like a baby! Hope you liked this chapter!