AN: Okay people, here is the next chapter. It took me a while to get it done. Ya see, my family has been planning our vacation and I've been babysitting my friends dog. Good thing she came back today and I was able to finish this chapter. So, this weekend I will be in California going roller coaster crazy!

Kyle: You're going on vacation!

DT: SSSHHHH! Not so loud! Ukyo can smell that word from a mile away!

Ukyo: Who said vacation?

DT: Umm, er, I said elation. Umm, I'm feeling such elation that you're here….hehehe.

Ukyo: Oh, okay. I feel so loved!

Kyle: (mumbling) I can't believe she fell for that.

DT: Yeah, so Inuyasha, Ranma ½, and Yu Yu Hakusho do not belong to me. So, don't try to sue me. Trust me, I am not making any money off of this. Now go on and read!

"Speaking"

'Thoughts'

/Chinese/

Ch 17 Instincts

Kyle sat in his classroom with Ranma, Akane, Ukyo, and two of Akane's friends. He was suppose to be eating lunch, but that wasn't going to well. Ranma was currently trying to dissolve the tense situation between Akane, Ukyo and himself, but it was all in vain.

"Ranma you're such a pervert! Why do you always have to flirt with Ukyo!"

"That's because he loves me! Why don't you just give up!"

"Just let me explain Akane!"

"What's the point? Everything it always you're fault!"

Akane then malleted Ranma to the ground. Ranma's body twitched under the mallet. Ukyo was mildly surprised that Kyle hadn't done anything to stop Akane from hurting Ranma. She observed him more closely now. He appeared to be deep in thought. He hadn't even touched his lunch. Ukyo waved a hand in front of his face, but no reaction. Akane noticed what Ukyo was doing and also noticed Kyle was acting weird. Ranma was slowly getting up. He saw Ukyo waving her hand in front of Kyle's face. Ukyo decided to snap her fingers, but that did no good either.

"What's up Ucchan?"

"Well, it's just that he's been staring off into space. In fact, he was like this in class too."

"Maybe he's not feeling well." Akane suggested.

Ranma went over to his friend. "Hey if you don't eat you're lunch I'm going to eat it for you!" he taunted. That still didn't get a reaction from the demon boy.

"Maybe he is sick." Ukyo said.

Ranma took a deep breath and yelled into Kyle's ear. Kyle fell back holding his ears tightly. He jumped up and glared at Ranma.

"What the hell was that for!"

"Well, that got his attention." Ranma said proudly.

Kyle sighed and rubbed his head. "You don't have to yell into my ear. My hearing is very sensitive and a plain scream is amplified. Next time try something less painful."

"Sorry, but you were way zoned out. I was even going to eat your lunch, but you didn't seem to hear my taunt." Ranma replied.

"Is something wrong?" Akane asked. "Did you have a fight with Shampoo?"

The mention of Shampoo's name brought back memories from the previous night. He sat down and tried to push those memories back. Ranma noticed Kyle's reaction.

"What happened?" he said a little more serious.

"Nothing. Don't worry so much. I just have a lot on my mind right now." Kyle faked a smile for them. However, they weren't buying it. Before they could ask anything else they heard a voice.

"Nihao Airen!"

Kyle froze up. Shampoo jumped through the window. She had her delivery box with her. Ranma though for sure that meant him and put his hands up to keep her from glomping on to him. However, to his surprise, she walked past him and glomped on to Kyle! Nabiki heard the Amazon and set out to investigate. The Furinkan student body gathered to see what was going on.

"So, when did this happen?" Nabiki questioned Kyle.

"It's none of you're business Nabiki." Kyle answered sternly. He looked down at Shampoo who was holding tightly on to him. "So, umm, what are you doing here?"

"I bring lunch for you." she said happily. She took his hand and lead him somewhere more private. The students moved out of Shampoo's way as she headed outside. Ranma, Ukyo, and Akane followed them to see what was going to happen. Shampoo found a nice tree and sat with Kyle. She brought out the noodles from her delivery box. Using a pair of chopsticks, she prepared to feed her husband.

"Open wide." she said.

Kyle sweat dropped. "You don't have to feed me. I can do it myself."

"I want to feed my Airen."

Kyle wasn't sure how to respond to that. So he complied and opened his mouth.

"What do you think you're doing!"

"Huh?" Shampoo and Kyle looked to see Mousse coming at them.

"Get away from her Ookami!"

Kyle quickly scooped Shampoo up in his arms and jumped out of the way of Mousse's chains. The chains smashed into the bowl of noodles. Once he was a safe distance he put Shampoo down.

"What you doing Mousse! You ruin Kyle's lunch!"

She didn't call me Fang-boy. He was surprised by that.

"Go back to Nekohaten." Shampoo said sternly.

Mousse however, looked like he hadn't heard what Shampoo said. "My darling Shampoo, I know it was Kyle who is forcing you to do this. He put you under some spell using his evil dem…."

Just at that moment Ranma came down on Mousse's head and sent him to the ground.

"You idiot! You're suppose to keep your big mouth shut about that!"

"Stay out of this Saotome!" Mousse flung Ranma aside and faced Kyle again. "I know you did something. Otherwise Shampoo would have never kissed you last night!"

"Oh my god! Did you hear that?"Yuka exclaimed.

"Yeah! Kyle and Shampoo made out last night!" Hiroshireplied.

The student body seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. Kyle's face grew red with embarrassment. He had a terrible feeling in the pit of his stomach. Nabiki was surly thinking of a way to make money from this.

"At least we know why he was acting weird today." Akane said as she helped Ranma up.

"YIIIIIIAAAAAAAA!" Mousse cried.

Shampoo and Kyle jumped away. "I'll take care of Mousse!" Kyle said to Shampoo. She nodded and went to join Ranma, Akane, and Ukyo. Kyle charged at Mousse. He gathered up his spirit energy in his fist.

"Shot Gun!"

Mousse wasn't about to let Kyle show him up. "Spirit Daggers!"

The two attacks collided in a spectacle of light. Mousse and Kyle went at it again exchanging fist for fist. Kyle sweep kicked Mousse and kicked the blind Amazon towards a tree. Mousse regained his balance in the air and used the tree as a catapult to launch himself at the demon boy. Kyle realized what Mousse was doing and jumped out of the way. Mousse threw one of his chains and it caught on to Kyle's leg. He spun it in the air. Kyle was getting dizzy from the spinning. He was kind of glad he hadn't eaten anything after all. He felt the chain loosen up and crashed into the ground. Kyle got up and looked around for Mousse.

"Shampoo is my bride and you won't take her from me!"

For some reason, Kyle felt his blood boil with that statement. He could feel his Youkai powers pulsing through his body. Demanding he teach Mousse a lesson. Mousse appeared behind Kyle and landed a kick to his back. Kyle skidded across the ground. Mousse smirked at the fallen demon.

"Hahaha! That's what you get for messing with the master of hidden weapons!" Mousse gloated.

"No way. Is he down?" one of the students asked.

Kyle slowly stood up. As he did he began to laugh evilly. The students and Mousse got a little scared at this. Kyle calmly dusted himself off. He looked at Mousse.

"Tell me Mousse, do you really believe you can beat me?"

"Of course I can!" he answered confidently.

"You fool." Kyle said in a cold tone. His eyes just as cold and emotionless. "Do you honestly believe you would be standing if I took this fight seriously?"

Ranma noticed Kyle's change in demeanor. There was something wrong. Mousse growled despite the chill he just got. "I can beat you! You are not as invincible as you think!"

Mousse charged again. "Take this!" he unleashed a barrage of punches at Kyle. After dodging a few, Kyle grabbed both of Mousse's fists and began to crush them. Mousse screamed in pain. He was brought to his knees. Kyle began to kick Mousses stomach, ignoring his screams of pain. Ranma was convinced. There was something definitely wrong with Kyle. Shampoo also noticed something was off.

"Something's not right. I've got to stop him!" Ranma declared, but before he could jump into action Shampoo pushed him out of the way.

"Shampoo!" Akane and Ukyo screamed. Akane picked up Ranma by shirt and shook him.

"What going on Ranma!"

"Something's wrong with Kyle. Normally he just fights Mousse and knocks him out, but this time it looks like he's hurting Mousse because he wants to! That ain't like him. I know Mousse can be kinda annoying, but even I wouldn't want to hurt him on purpose."

Akane dropped Ranma and returned her gaze to the demon boy. Ukyo looked on worried. Ranma was right, there was something wrong. His eyes. You could tell by looking in his eyes. Shampoo knew that Kyle might kill Mousse if she didn't do something. She saw Kyle release his grip on the blind Amazon. Mousse's hands fell limp to his sides and fell forward. Kyle raised a hand. She gasped when she saw Kyle's demon marking were becoming visible. His raised hand turned into claws and glowed green.

"Learn your place human." he said in the same cold tone. He brought down his claws, but before he could make contact with Mousse, Shampoo lunged at him knocking him to the ground. She held on tightly to Kyle.

"Stop! Don't hurt Mousse!" she pleaded.

Kyle looked down at Shampoo. She looked up at him with teary eyes. Something within him stirred and his markings began to disappear. Kyle held his head between his hands. What was he doing? Shampoo released Kyle and stood up. Ranma was already checking up on Mousse. Akane and Ukyo weren't far behind him. Kyle sat on the ground staring at the scene. Had he done that to Mousse?

"Whoa….what happened?" Daisuke asked. Yes, that's what everyone was wondering.

Ranma shifted his attention to Kyle. "What the hell do ya think you're doing! You coulda killed him!"

Kyle had no idea what had happened. He remembered feeling really mad and then Mousse kicked him. Everything else was a blank. There was only one explanation. He lost control.

"Kyle? What happen to you?" Shampoo asked.

He wasn't sure if he should tell them. After what they had just seen, they might think he really was a monster. Kyle clenched his fists, jumped up and ran.

"Kyle!" his friends called after him. He ignored them and continued to run. What he needed now was help and he knew exactly where to go.

"Look after Mousse!" Shampoo told Ranma as she chased after her husband. She needed to find out what was wrong with him. However, Kyle was faster than her and she lost track of him. She decided to head back to the Nekohaten and ask her great-grandmother for advise. Shampoo arrived at the Nekohaten. Cologne was standing outside.

"I was wondering when you were going to come."

"What going on?"

"Shadow began to act strange a little while ago. He was seized in a fit of rage. I had to knock him out to prevent him from hurting anyone. I can only assume the same thing happened to Son-in-law."

" /He hurt Mousse really badly. It looked like he wanted to kill him. It kind of scared me. The way he looked and acted. It gave me the chills. /" Shampoo responded.

" /Do not worry. I have a feeling I know where he is going. /" Cologne hopped inside and to the phone. Shampoo followed. Cologne picked up the phone and dialed.

"Hello? Is this the Higurashi residence? This is Cologne. I was calling to tell you that Kyle is on his way to your house. I'm not quite sure what happened, but I believe he will be seeking your help."

Meanwhile Kyle was running to Kagome's house. He hoped they could help him. He arrived at the steps of the shrine. He calmly climbed the steps. Kagome was standing at the top. She seemed to be waiting for him.

"You made it." she said with a smile.

"How'd you know I was coming?"

"Cologne called me and told me you were on you're way. Come on, Inuyasha is waiting too."

Kyle followed Kagome to the house. Inuyasha was sitting in the living room. He took a seat while Kagome went into the kitchen. She brought out some tea. Inuyasha took a sip. Kyle stared at his. He really wasn't sure how to start.

"So, umm, where's Sakura and Kei?"

"At school, like where you're suppose to be." Inuyasha answered.

Kyle grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, but I couldn't stay after what happened."

"What did happen?" Kagome asked.

Kyle took a deep breath. "Well, Shampoo showed up at school to….feed me lunch. However, Mousse also decided to visit and attacked me. So, uh, we fought."

"Hold it! They let you fight at school?" Inuyasha asked skeptically.

"Uhh, yeah. You could say they are really lenient with that."

"Maybe you should transfer to a different school." Inuyasha suggested.

"That's not my problem! I'm fine there. Don't worry so much about it."

"Okay, okay, you won't transfer. Now, back to you're story." Kagome said.

"So, like I was saying. We started to fight. Then he told me "Shampoo is my bride and you won't take her from me!" That really ticked me off. He kicked me and then I blanked out after that. When I came back around, Mousse was on the ground badly injured. I think I was about to kill him. I lost control."

Inuyasha looked to be deep in though. "Did you ever loose control when you were dating Yumi?"

"No, what's that got to do with anything?"

"You'll see. Has Shampoo done anything lately that would change her status with you?"

Kyle thought back to the kiss the night before and her declaration of love. "……..Yeah."

"Oh, I get it." Kagome said. "Kyle, you lost control because Mousse was challenging you're claim on Shampoo."

"But I haven't marked her!"

"That doesn't matter." Inuyasha responded. "As long as Shampoo has done something to make it clear that she belongs to you, then instinctively you will recognize her as you're potential mate. Whether you accept that consciously is a different matter. You must of not had that problem with Yumi because the human males must have been too scared of you to challenge your claim on her."

"Well, this is just great. That means every time Mousse mouths off how she belongs to him, I'm gonna want to kill him."

"Not necessarily. All you need is practice controlling yourself. Since this was the first time you lost control it makes sense that you blanked out." Inuyasha countered.

"I'm surprised you don't know this already. Didn't your father explain this to you?" Kagome asked.

"Well, he explained a lot of stuff, but I guess he figured we would figure it out."

"That arrogant bastard must have thought since you were his sons you were strong enough to control anything."

"So, what can I do?"

Kagome walked out of the room and came back with what looked like a necklace. "Lets head back to the Nekohaten and I can explain there. They need to know what happened to you so they can help too."

Kyle had no choice so they got up. Inuyasha decided it was best to drive there. He really wasn't up for walking. Meanwhile, Ranma, Akane, and Ukyo were heading to the Nekohaten. They had just dropped off Mousse at Dr. Tofu's clinic. They were hoping that Shampoo or Cologne got a hold of Kyle. They walked in and thankfully there wasn't many customers. Shampoo was serving tables, but she was not her usual cheery self. She saw her friends standing in the door way. She signaled for them to follow her and lead them to the stairs.

"Wait in Shampoo's room. I be up soon."

They nodded and went up. They walked in too see Shadow sleeping on Shampoo's bed. The girls took a seat on the ground while Ranma looked around.

"I didn't know they shared a room. Must have been the old ghouls doing."

"Shampoo must have been really upset with it." Akane added.

Ranma saw two swords hanging over Kyle's bed. As he took a closer look, he realized one of the swords was giving off a reddish glow. He reached up to touch it when Shampoo walked in. He quickly drew his arm back and stepped away from the swords. Shampoo removed her apron and sat on her bed.

"So, any news on Kyle?" Ukyo asked.

"No, but Great grandmother say he go to aunt's house."

"At least we know where he is." Ranma said as he sat down.

"How Mousse?"

"Dr. Tofu says he should be fine. He just needs some rest." Akane answered.

"That good. Mousse annoying, but he childhood friend. He first friend Shampoo have."

"Umm, Shampoo, we have another problem." Ranma said.

"What?"

"Nabiki."

That was all she needed to hear. Nabiki must have been taking pictures during the fight. That meant, she got a shot of Kyle when his demon markings were visible.

"That not good." Shampoo said worried.

Just then, Cologne, hopped in. "Son-in-law is back."

They followed her down the stairs. Sure enough, Kyle was sitting at one of the tables with Kagome and Inuyasha. Cologne asked the few customers they had to leave so that they could have some privacy. Kyle turned to look at his friends. He avoided eye contact with Shampoo.

"Umm, hi. Sorry I took off without saying anything."

"I'm sure you had your reasons." Cologne said. "Do you mind telling them to us?"

Kyle sighed. "Look I lost control and my demon instincts took over."

"Why? I thought you could control your demon powers." Ukyo commented.

Kagome saw Kyle was hesitant to answer. So, she took the liberty to do it for him. "He has control of his powers, but his instincts are a different matter. Instincts aren't something you can control easily. From what we can tell, he lost control because Mousse was challenging his claim on Shampoo."

Cologne nodded in understanding, while the others looked confused. Kyle laid is head on the table in an attempt to hide his face.

Inuyasha decided to take over. "Okay kids, here's a lesson on demons so pay attention. First off, you must know that Kyle is a demon dog. Demons can be very possessive when it comes to their mates. When Kyle decides to mate he will place a marking between the neck and shoulder of the female. This marking is used to let other demons know that the female is taken. Now while Kyle hasn't marked Shampoo, she has done something to let him know that she belongs to him. For example she could have kissed him or told him she loves him. That is enough to make her his. If any other male is to challenge that, he will protect his claim. That usually involves fighting and maybe a death."

Kagome nodded. "Yes, so what we must do is help Kyle if he ever feels like loosing control. So, I brought this for that purpose."

She held up a necklace with some beads and small fangs. Inuyasha smiled evilly at Kyle. He knew all too well what that necklace was used for. Kyle caught his uncles smile and got a bad feeling.

"How's that going to help Kyle?" Ranma asked.

Kagome smiled. "You'll see. Kyle could you please stand up?"

Kyle hesitantly stood up. Kagome closed her eyes and concentrated. She said a spell and the necklace flew to Kyle. It placed it's self around his neck. Kyle looked curiously at the necklace. He didn't feel anything. Kagome looked at Shampoo.

"Okay Shampoo, now I want you to choose a magic word to subdue him."

"Magic word?" she asked confused. Kyle was also confused as to what they were talking about. Shampoo thought of what word to use. Well, Kyle was a demon dog, so why not use a word that pertained to dogs?

She smiled. "Sit!"

Kyle felt something pulling him towards the ground. Before he knew it, he was plunged into the floor face first. The others looked on is surprise. That was definitely something new.

"What did you do?" Ukyo asked.

Kagome giggled. "Easy, I used the Prayer Beads as a medium to subdue Kyle. To activate it, all Shampoo has to do is say 'sit'."

"Kinda ironic, since that's what you used for me." Inuyasha told Kagome.

Kyle pulled himself off of the floor. He rubbed his head. This was not what he had in mind at all. He sat up and tried his best to pry off the necklace, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't get it off.

"What gives? It won't come off!"

"Of course not. Only Shampoo can remove it from this point on. Just keep it on and until you have better control of your instincts. Got it?" Kagome said sternly.

Kyle hung his head. "Yes, ma'am."

Ranma sat next to his friend and pat him on the back. "The necklace isn't as bad as you, a demon dog, turning into a cat!"

Kyle felt like he got stabbed in the back. "Ranma, that doesn't make me feel any better."

Kagome and Inuyasha looked at him confused. Kyle decided it was now or never. He went into the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water and a kettle of warm water. Shampoo got the honor of helping him demonstrate to his aunt and uncle. Shampoo poured the glass of cold water over him. Kagome and Inuyasha's eyes widened when they saw Kyle disappear. They looked down at his pile of clothes and saw a cat pop it's head out. Ranma quickly ran behind Akane and hid. Then Shampoo dumped some warm water on him and he turned back to normal.

"H-How?" stammered Inuyasha and Kagome.

"There's a place called Jusenkyo in China. It has cursed springs and if someone is splashed with the water from one of those springs they turn into whoever or whatever drowned there." He said as he dried himself off with a towel Shampoo brought him.

"Is there a way to get rid of it."

"Yeah, Koenma is working on it."

"That's good to know. I can hear your father screaming from hell about it." Inuyasha said. Kagome punched his arm for his comment.

Kyle smiled sadly at the thought. His dad would have been ashamed of him. Inuyasha realized his mistake.

"Sorry. I'm sure you're dad is proud. He can't be that cold hearted."

Kyle waved it off. "Don't worry about it. Besides, this will get fixed and it will be a thing of the past."

Kagome and Inuyasha decided it was time to leave. They said their good-byes and made their way home. Meanwhile, Kyle was informed about Nabiki. He wasn't happy about what happened, but he told them he would handle her on his own. Ranma, Akane, and Ukyo left a short while later. Kyle headed to the bathroom for a bath. It annoyed him that the necklace wouldn't come off. It would be hard to get use to it, but it was for the best. He went to his room afterwards to work on homework. He had a lot of catching up to do. Shadow barked happily at his masters return. Kyle felt kind of bad that he hadn't been paying a lot of attention to Shadow. Maybe a trip to Genkai's would make him happy. It would make him happy too. It had been awhile since he visited or called. So, he began to diligently work on his homework.

Later that night, Shampoo came in for bed. Kyle was finishing up the last bits of work. Shampoo crawled into bed followed by Shadow.

"You not going to bed?"

"Naw, I still have some work to do."

"But you be tired tomorrow."

"Not, necessarily. Since I'm a demon, I really only need to sleep every couple of weeks."

"Then why you sleep everyday?"

"Because it's not like I have anything better to do. Besides, sleeping isn't so bad."

They sat in silence for a couple minutes. "Hey Shampoo?

"Yes?"

"How's Mousse doing?'

"Ranma take Mousse to Dr. Tofu. He only need rest."

"That's good. I was worried I might have hurt him real bad."

Again silence, took over. It was really uncomfortable. Shampoo gained the courage to say something.

"Goodnight Airen."

Kyle almost fell off his chair. "Umm, er, goodnight." He still wasn't sure how he felt about being called Airen.

After an hour, Kyle finished. He put his things away and looked over at Shampoo. She was fast asleep. Quietly, he slipped out of the room. He made his way to the kitchen to get a kettle of water and some matches. He walked out to the back yard. Before he began, he poured some water into the cup and set aside the kettle and matches. Today he would begin to train in his cat form. He knew he had to be able to fight in his cat form in case his weakness was discovered. With that, he poured the water over himself and began his training.

AN: Okay guys that's the end of this chapter.

Kyle: So what's next?

DT: I'm glad you asked. I will tell you right now. In the next chapter Gosunkugi purchases a scroll. This scroll contains a spell that can switch bodies. When Gosunkugi's brilliant plan to switch bodies with Ranma goes wrong (big surprise there), the gang finds out the scroll can't undo switches. They find out that Gosenguki's scroll has a twin that undoes switches. Now they must find the scrolls brother to set everything right.

Ukyo: Do I switch bodies?

Kyle: Yeah, how about me?

DT: I'm sorry but that's for me to know and you to find out.

Shampoo: How come Shampoo never in authors notes? Shampoo have more reason than Spatula-girl.

Ukyo: Hey, that's not my fault. Personally I need a vacation from this. I'm overworked and underpaid.

Kyle: You're not even paid!

Ukyo: See what I mean!

Shampoo: This DT's fault!

DT: Oh no, not again!

Kyle: Run DT Run!

DT runs away in fear as Shampoo and Ukyo chase after her.

Kyle: Please review and no flames. I promise DT will make it out of this alive. Otherwise, how will you enjoy the next chapter? Later!