"That whelp needs to have his mouth washed out and his tongue permanently affixed to the roof of his mouth, seriously!"

Kagome hummed softly and responded to him silently, as everyone who was allowed to speak to him did, "Would you prefer it if I sit him every time he uses language wrongly? I will warn him now that it will begin to happen, so it won't be something he does not deserve."

Her mate sighed beneath her and Shippō-kun; her youngest son was taking an afternoon nap in the thick ruff of his father whilst Kagome rode her mate's back. They were travelling towards where she felt a couple of shards, and Toga was both amused towards and wary of this encounter. Kagome had a sneaking suspicion that this was one of her last-time-around suitors they were about to encounter. "Yes, please, Kagome. It is simply too much for this Toga to be able to stand listening to when he is so used to more cultured and far less offensive people. He can accept that this is not Inuyasha's fault entirely, but being surrounded by people who do not act as he does, he ought to be learning better by now!"

So she did. "Inuyasha, you had better listen to me and listen to me well."

That stopped the hanyō in his tracks – when she used his full name he was in trouble. Their relationship was already sliding towards platonic, especially because the clay Kikyō that had been created before Miroku-ni joined them – and really, that had not been as big of a deal as anyone thought, but only a select few people knew she wasn't actually Kikyō's reincarnation – kept coming around them. She was clearly aware that Kagome was not only not her reincarnation, but that Kagome was aware of that fact, betrothed to someone who was not Inuyasha, and no threat to her personally. Kagome rather felt bad for Kikyō and had sought her out once and asked if she would rather be sent back out so that she could be reincarnated truly, but the clay miko had said the Kami allowed her to be brought back for a reason, so she would serve her purpose.

Kagome had a strong respect for Kikyō. She might find the miko to be too obsessed with the Shikon and with Yasha, but she wasn't really a danger to them right now.

"Yeah, we-um. Yeah, Kagome?"

Oh, good, he just avoided being sat again. Kagome had already made certain that any time he addressed her by a degrading or otherwise unpleasant term (and because of the way in which he used it, bitch counted, although being inu like she was, it was actually an appropriate thing for her to be called), he would get sat. He mostly called her Kagome now. As Kagome had hoped would happen, Toga's ire towards his youngest was lessening when experiencing him – in part because he could tell that the poor hanyō's instincts were just so tangled up. Kagome was working on that now, teaching him how to interpret actions and instincts by showing him how he was supposed to do so. Toga could handle the majority of the sword lessons and culture lessons, but Kagome was going to be his mother, and so she was teaching him how to act and how to be able to trust those parts of him that had until this point only barely kept him alive.

"Your incessant use of crude language is beyond unpleasant, upsetting many members of our party, and frankly is entirely inappropriate considering that you are in the presence of a child. From now on, any time you use unpleasant or crude language in a manner which is not simply for extra emphasis or to properly express extreme upset or anger, you are going to get sat. I was hoping just being around people who do not speak and act as you do would help, but it isn't helping whatsoever, so I will force you to learn by using the beads. I highly suggest you listen to how the rest of us speak and take cues from that; I know you are far more intelligent than you let most people believe, so I fully trust that you can learn even without the use of the beads."

Two voices simultaneously congratulated her in her mind on not only threatening him but encouraging him with praise as a way to try and direct him towards positive behaviour. She would have flushed if she wasn't so composed, and promptly rebuffed their praises, then went back to awaiting his response.

And then she got the surprise of her life when Inuyasha turned towards her and plopped onto the ground – looking up to her exactly as a berated teenage pup would to his mother. What on earth? "This… This is what I'm s'posedta do, right? I've been thinkin' a lot lately. Sesshōmaru accepted you real easy even though you're ningen – or at least you look it, after more thought I realised you don't smell ningen. You never actually said you were Kikyō's reincarnation, you didn't even insinuate it; Kaede did an' you didn't seem too happy about it. Not t' mention that you'd've changed if you were actually her reincarnation an' part of her was torn away. It'd hurt like hell an' you'd lose whatever part of yourself she took t' give herself emotions. An' once I started actually payin' attention to how you treat me, it's more like how you treat Shippō, only less like a kid."

He looked down for a moment, released a gusty breath, and said quietly, "I never noticed th' yōki in your aura until a couple days ago, Kikyō pointed it out t' me, an' it matches his yōki."

He pointed to Toga, and then continued, allowing for her to interrupt if she wanted; but she was genuinely curious as to everything he'd realised and how it came about. "If I was mixed up and twisted around – like I was before Kikyō got pulled from you – noticin' that would really've killed me, so I'm glad I didn't. An' I s'pose that since he was dead before, he can't be in his other form right now, but I've seen Sesshōmaru's true form, an' they look awful similar. Kagome… you're my stepmom, right? Or you will be eventually? An' you were just waitin' for me to be all less mixed up and more settled before you told me, but you've been treatin' me right from the beginnin' like an inu mom would treat a son. An' I just wanna say thanks for lettin' me figure it out on my own an' not forcin' me to accept you or anythin' like that, an' I'll do my best t' learn what you're tryina teach me."

"Inuyasha, you saying that to your new mother is the second most unexpected thing that has happened to me in my life – the first was being abruptly pulled from my resting place to interfere in Kagome's life. You have just done your blood proud, son. There is much you have to learn, but this Toga is much happier to be in your presence than he was previously, because you have in such a short time shown remarkable growth and maturity. You have just earned the right to have my presence before my regeneration completes, and I will be aiding your mother in your lessons."

Not even bothering to say stepmother, because since it had been so long and Kagome was acting as a birth mother would, Izayoi didn't really fit into this situation at all.

This did rather explain why the last time Sesshōmaru-kun had visited them, Inuyasha had surprisingly not attacked him. And as for Sesshōmaru-kun! He now had an adorable little girl following behind him, which Kagome knew for a certainty was Rin, especially when she saw the helpless adoration in his eyes whenever he looked at the quiet child. She spoke; just sparingly. And as Kagome's beloved Rin-chan in her world, she spoke in third person – it was the most adorable thing ever. When they saw Rin, both Toga and Kagome had expressed a strong pride in Sesshōmaru, and he had had so much pleased warmth in his eyes that Kagome really did think that he was coming to see her as a mother; and instead of being aggravating, amusing, or weird for anyone, it just fit.

Yasha flushed and scratched the back of his head and then asked, "So, that makes Shippō my little brother, right? Can I teach him stuff? Like, the kinda stuff that kept me around an' shit; hidin' an' tree-walkin' an' scentin'? I know that eventually Dad or Sesshōmaru'll hafta take over, since I'm only hanyō, but since he's so young right now, an' Dad's stuck like that an' you're busy tryin'a make sure we get all the shards, an' while Sesshōmaru visits a lot, he's got his lands t' patrol…"

Kagome slid off of Toga and sat in front of Inuyasha, taking his hands in hers and squeezing them. "I would be most pleased if you could teach Shippō-kun some of the basics of fending for himself, Yasha; just try to curb your language! You just now proved you can do it when you try, and I expect you to try from now on, Yasha. Yes, it's easier to fall back and express light aggravation or impatience with crude language, but it takes more strength of will to learn when is the appropriate time to use expletives and only use them then, instead of using them constantly. And don't attack your ani-san; instead maybe ask him if he could teach you a few basics of how to use your sword so you aren't accidentally risking harming innocents. I bet he'd be amenable if you ask politely and call him ani-san or Sesshōmaru-ni."

Her middle son looked at Toga then, and then gave off a wry little laugh, "Lemme guess, Dad wants the pleasure of beatin' my sword lessons inta me once he's got his body back? So Sesshōmaru'll only be teachin' me enough to get by on, rather'n everything he knows?"

Kagome cleared her throat, and said one word that made everyone – even Toga – scram. "Privacy."

For once, Yasha was the one she was asking for privacy with, and Kagome said softly, "I am possibly about to hurt you very badly, Yasha; not because I want to, but because you have to understand some things about your father and his attitude towards you. The first thing you need to know is that he is my strongest soul-mate, I am his only possible soul-mate, and he had to watch the entirety of what I am about to tell you."

White ears flicked nervously, before falling back a little, "Lemme guess… Somethin' happened once an' you got hurt cos of it? An' it was my fault somehow."

A sorrowful look crossed her face – despite his brash abrasiveness and crude behaviour, he really had been getting better lately, and she was able to see why an innocent her could have fallen for someone like him; only, this time around that love was purely familial. "This is the second time my soul has done this quest. The first time, the Shikon decided that a good revenge for me wishing it away would be to have that Kagome, who was desperately in love with you, thought nobody else could love her, and had abandoned everything she had grown up with to be with you, end up alone and heartbroken. You cared for her, but did not truly love her, especially not to the extent that she loved you, but you stayed with her because you believed her to be the reincarnation of Kikyō. Twelve years after marrying her, you met your soul-mate and left that Kagome alone. She willed herself to death, which is literally the only way it is possible for any iteration of Kagome who has housed the Shikon to die naturally."

His claws were currently digging into the grass, his whole body was tense and bordering on shaking, and he quite obviously was doing his damnedest to keep from crying, so Kagome moved from sitting seiza – her natural position; it was far more stable than sitting any other way – to sitting cross-legged, opening her arms with a soft growl.

Inuyasha might not have been trained and raised properly, but some things were all too clear, and he choked, rushing her and burying his face in her shoulder. After a while of simply crying with so many emotions tangled up that Kagome couldn't even begin to unravel them, he asked, his voice begging brokenly, "Please… tell me I didn't… I couldn't… I didn't know, did I? That you'd… Did I do that-"

Kagome growled softly and scratched behind his ears, shaking her head, "No, you had no idea whatsoever, Yasha-kun. You thought that since I could visit Sango, Miroku, and Shippō-kun that I'd be fine."

"Fuck, thank you for not telling me it like that."

Kagome was confused for a second, and then realised – in order to spare him from the complete pain of it she'd spoken as if it were someone else, instead of herself as she was now. He was thanking her for doing so. Kagome rather thought speaking as if he had directly hurt her personally – someone he had just accepted as his mother – would be overkill and cruel. Kagome was not cruel, and while Yasha still had so many things that needed to be fixed about his expression of his self and his instincts, in his heart he was not a bad person. He was just a mixed up boy who'd never gotten a chance to be raised because his mother died early and he was forced to survive on his own in a very hostile world.

"Toga, love, please come here, our son needs you."

It was a risk, but a calculated one. Toga still held a ton of resentment towards Inuyasha… But one look at this sobbing, choked up boy (yes, boy – Yasha-kun was not even really properly a teenager in his mind right now; his grief was built up and pouring out of him for far more than just the realisation that he had, in his previous existence as himself, killed someone that he should have loved), his ears flat against his head, broken apologies falling from his lips would firmly change him from "Inuyasha" to "Yasha-kun", like it had for her. Well, okay, probably just "Yasha" – Toga had never been one for suffixes unless it was a formal situation. Kagome, however, reserved the right to use any that she pleased. And all of her sons were "-kun" in her mind.

Never mind that they were all physically older than her by at least five and a half decades. Mentally, Kagome was well out of her teens, at the very least into her mid twenties, and all of her children were in their teens or childhoods. Sesshōmaru was definitely late teens, but desperately in need of affection. Inuyasha hadn't had any semblance of a good childhood once he'd been fully orphaned, so he bounced back and forth between being childish and being a young teenager, with bursts of maturity that showed he could grow up to be a great man if he was just educated properly.

Shippō was definitely a child, but he was far more mature than his actual age belied – that was a kitsune trait, though. They were naturally wise and cunning and intelligent. He could be pulling silly, childish pranks, climbing all over you and begging for attention, or he could be making comments that grabbed everyone's attention because they were so accurate and fitting that they should not be coming out of the mouth of a seven-year old kit. Whilst simultaneously clinging to her hair and perching on her shoulder or head in a blatant demand for cuddles.

Toga appeared, although he was walking forward slowly and cautiously, but she knew the exact moment that he actually saw Yasha-kun. "Oh, my poor boy."

Her betrothed enlarged himself and slid down to lay in front of them, Kagome shifted so that she and her middle son were pressed into his fur whilst he growled in comfort and acceptance – he couldn't before, because Yasha-kun hadn't known, wouldn't have accepted; but now he knew, now he accepted, and now he felt guilt so immense that if it weren't for Kagome and Toga it would probably break him. Suddenly Kagome felt her eldest nearby, and she warned him away with a slight flare of her reiki. She didn't mind if he saw – it would probably be a good thing and make him more sympathetic if he could see Yasha-kun as a truly little brother, like seeing Shippō-kun cry had done for him earlier. But he couldn't approach in a way that Yasha-kun would notice him. She felt him pulling in his yōki even more tightly – good, smart Sesshōmaru-kun, that way he could see closer without breaking up what was happening.

Kagome was also aware of the exact moment when Sesshōmaru-kun shifted from tolerating Inuyasha as a pest that he couldn't help be related to into truly accepting Yasha-kun as his little brother, and all it took was a choked and heartbroken "I'm so sorry Mom, I'm so sorry Dad, I'll do my best, I promise, to make up for what I did last time."

Such an enormous change from the person he had been a sennight ago, and a sign to Sesshōmaru-kun that not only was he intelligent enough to learn, but that he was only the way he was because he had no positive influences in his life. He was willing and eager to change, and truly sorry for his actions affecting his pack negatively.

For the first time, Inuyasha was actually being inu, and his visible grief and genuine wish to change firmly affixed Yasha-kun as Sesshōmaru-kun's middle brother. When Kagome sent a look in his direction he stepped from the trees enough to give her a nod and an affectionate, if wry, grin, before turning around and leaving – no doubt to go be with Shippō-kun who would likely be feeling a little bit left out now that his papa had left him alone.

She had Toga send him a sincere thanks, and then returned her attention to combing her fingers through Yasha-kun's hair and scratching behind his ears, growling in acceptance of his apology – he needed this right now, far more than he needed ningen platitudes. He needed things that spoke to his deepest, strongest inu instincts.

Kagome certainly had never, even in her wildest imaginings, expected something like this – but she

supposed that this only proved that at his deepest heart, her middle son was a kind, loving person, who just did not know how to properly interact with people and interpret his instincts. He wasn't inherently cruel, or truly intentionally hurtful just to be hurtful. He just reacted in screwed up ways to his negative emotions; making sure someone you loved wouldn't abandon you like you were afraid they would did not make abuse right, but it made sense if you'd never been taught better.

By the time Yasha-kun had composed himself, she gave a look to Toga, one asking for him to join her in a bit more of a direct support than he had been giving so far, despite the pain it would cause him, knowing he could not just do this whenever he pleased. It took a while decide – although that was probably because he wasn't sure if he wanted Yasha-kun to correctly deduce what was going on whenever they went off alone – but eventually he gave her a nod and pulled away.

Before Yasha-kun could do anything, she pulled Raimei from her obi and Toga transformed; half-visible and lacking solidity (they weren't on Higurashi Shrine grounds, after all) until the moment he grabbed hold of Raimei's hilt and slid it into his own obi, promptly sitting down and pulling Kagome – and thus Yasha-kun as well – into his lap, wrapping his arms around both of them and growling, before saying softly, "We forgive you, Yasha. You are very clearly not the Inuyasha who drove the previous Kagome to her death, and you would not only never do that to this Kagome but could not do so even if you had been the same type of person. It is time that this Toga lets go of his resentment and treats you fully as his son; not as the other existence."

Then, much to the surprise of both Kagome and their son, he chuckled wryly and spoke, very obviously not to them, "Amaterasu-sama, Omoikane-sama, Uzume-sama, Inari-sama, Hachiman-sama, Susanoo-sama, is this more like what You were envisioning for this journey?"

"Yes!" echoed through all their minds, as each of the Kami took turns speaking.

Amaterasu-Ō-Mi-Kami-sama spoke first to them, her voice serious more than filled with its usual amusement. "The well will be closed by the Shikon within another moon; so Kagome desperately needed a new family – the Shikon for once is not working to punish you. It truly believes that at the moment you have been punished enough, whereas last time around, Kagome had experienced far less emotional and physical pain in her life."

Following her was Omoikane-sama, "The clay Kikyō went so far as to allow Naraku to "accidentally" find out that Kagome was not her reincarnation; which the Shikon was unaware of. Half the reason for punishing Kagome had been to punish Kikyō from taking it from the time period where it could cause the most chaos."

Susanoo-no-Mikoto-sama continued on with their information dump, "The well will be closed because Naraku will learn of it and decide that taking over this other place is preferable to a place where he has to fight so much to take over, due to how much stronger this Kagome is. The Shikon, of course, knows that it will be more difficult to seed chaos in that dimension, since the worse lesser yōkai, those mindless, violent animals, have largely been driven to extinction there. Because shards or a direct connection to Kagome are all that is necessary to travel to the well, he would be able to go through it if he tried to."

Amaterasu-Ō-Mi-Kami-sama spoke once more, "In answer to your question, little Kagome, your family and friends will not notice any time passing from the moment you cease your visiting them and when they shift over to this universe – they will not suffer. Unlike the last time around, you are an experienced adult now; previously you needed your mother's presence to keep you sane. This time you just need a family."

Inari Ōkami-sama laughingly asked Kagome, speaking to them all, "This One believes it is suitable for you, Kagome-chan? Three sons, an older brother, and a heart-sister – not only larger than your birth family, but nothing like it whatsoever, so that similarities will not pain you unduly. Not to mention a powerful and intelligent daiyōkai kitsune son who is practically custom-made for you."

Kagome smirked and rolled her eyes, "Not to mention that oh, quite possibly Your blessing is why this Kagome is so damn kitsune to begin with, hmm? Someone wanted to make especially sure that one of Their own had a suitable mother, didn't They?"

The Kami just giggled and spoke to Yasha-kun, "Do not feel slighted that Kagome favours Shippō – she has little choice as she received My blessing when she was but eight years of age, and My blessing inevitably makes people favour My beloved kitsune more than they would naturally; plus, being younger, she will have to raise him far more directly than you. This One expects you to be able to react and respond maturely to such favour, Inuyasha. Being a middle child is difficult, especially when all three siblings need a good amount of raising despite the disparity in their ages. Help your new mother out with the raising of your little brother and that will mean she has more time to spend on you as well."

Yasha-kun thought about this, before nodding. "Plus Shippō can't even really remember his first mom; at least I can remember my first mom. Yeah, she didn't manage to raise me right, but that wasn't her fault, she didn't know crap about yōkai and instincts and shit."

Hachiman-sama was the last one to speak, and his voice was thrumming with pleasure, "I firmly believe that it will take around half the time to end this threat to My people than it did the first time around. This situation is beyond ideal. We shall leave you now, Ours, and before you fear; whilst we hoped for this outcome, we did not cause it to happen – Toga can confirm that this is the same group as it was the first time around, only this time Kagome brought it about on her own rather than it forming by chance."

With that their Divine audience left them, and Yasha-kun looked at Kagome a little curiously, "So… Why aren't you upset with Inari Ōkami-sama's manipulation? Ningen generally can't stand being manipulated."

Kagome shrugged, leaning against her mate. "Toga raised me. Well, kind of. It was more like he was grooming me for the position of being his future Lady, or, if I decided I preferred a different place in his life, a Lady in the court he will be taking over after Naraku is ended. Besides, I'm not actually a ningen. I'm effectively immortal, and even in my previous existence took a far more yōkai outlook to many things than I did a ningen outlook. You have to realise by now that I shamelessly and blatantly manipulated you when we first met in order to gain your trust. And I do not regret it at all – although a large part of that is for a while you treated me like shit, and the rest of it is that now I have another son."

He blinked and groaned lightly, "Oh Kami please tell me this ain't some yōkai thing I was unaware of until now. Last time you told Shippō t' call that girl travellin' with Sesshōmaru "ane-chan" for a reason, didn't you?"

She burst into giggles at that, remembering when she asked Toga damn near the same thing. "Toga fell in love with me twice before I was ever even born, and Rin-chan is the first person to ever love Sesshōmaru-kun for who he was for no other reason than just because she wants to. There is no prior relationship or familial bond tying them together; she just utterly adores him, and while right now he adores her as he would a child – not a daughter, just a child pack-member – yes, it will grow into more as she matures. He doesn't really have a choice, anyway; they're soul-mates, much like Toga and I are. So no, it isn't some yōkai thing – I asked Toga the exact same thing when I was thirteen.

"Now, we'd best get going; it's been a while, I'm beginning to get hungry and wanna go hunting. There are an enormous amount of prey animals in the forest, even the large and medium ones; the ōkami around here must be eating something else, I know there are some ōkami yōkai around here and I really hope they are the same ones that ate Rin-chan so I can force them to stop eating ningen at the threat of an extremely slow and incredibly painful death by purification. Oh, by the way, Toga, you owe me a bite."

Yasha-kun was incredibly confused at that, but Toga understood immediately – Kagome had divined that the shards they were nearing were a suitor the last time around, and Kagome wanted to make sure that she had proof that the yōki threading hers was a claim that could not be denied. This time, instead of Sesshōmaru witnessing Toga marking her as his intended, it was Yasha-kun, as Toga leaned over and bit her left ear. Soon, in the shell of her ear, there was a fang with his yōki embedded into it. It could not be removed unless it was by Toga or herself, and only if they were completely willing under their own control. As she felt it, she envisioned it in her mind and decided that she definitely liked the piercing. It was her only one, but that fact made it even more of a statement – there were other ways he could have marked her as her intended; she chose the most visible, undeniable, and yōkai one possible.

"Toga, is this Kagome correct in assuming that there will be an abduction involved in our next encounter?"

"Oi, hey, we'd never-"

"Yasha-kun, please."

He sulked a bit but settled back down against her shoulder. Toga smiled and responded with strong amusement colouring his voice, "Yes, in fact, and considering that last time you managed to get him to promise to cease preying upon ningen even without knowing about Rin or having to threaten him with purification, this Toga was planning on allowing the encounter to happen as it naturally does – of course, with the difference being that you will probably finagle a trip returning you to us out of the ōkami in question and the betrothal piercing will prevent him from coming onto you constantly whenever we run into each other. He is strong, trustworthy, loyal, and a good leader. If you could convince him that the shards he holds would ultimately bring danger to his tribe and/or that relying on them will ultimately weaken him because he cannot strengthen his natural abilities if he is using them, it will prevent a highly unnecessary slaughter and could give us a strong ally – not just against Naraku but for our future; he is the prince of his tribe, and betrothed to the daughter of the Elder of the Northern Tribes, Chōrō-san."

Ooh, that really would be a good alliance – they would support Toga's claim to the Southern Lands once he killed the current leader and took his place. Considering that Sesshōmaru-kun would support him as well, there would be nobody actually able to contest that he won those lands fairly and it was now his right to rule. Not even if the Northern Lands themselves held some residual enmity over Ryūkotsusei – they would not risk going against anybody with ties to both the Western Lands and the Northern ōkami tribes. Not to mention, considering his position and that she was aware that the Eastern Lands had no actual ruler, this ōkami prince was likely as close as it came to an Eastern Lord… Yeah, she'd work on an alliance with him too.

And, if Kagome was reading between the lines correctly, this ōkami prince was either running away from this betrothal, or not fully aware of it (it could be a childhood promise – many yōkai made them and forgot about them), and if Kagome could get him to be interested in this princess again, then they would owe Kagome a debt. "Hmm... I think I would very much like to meet this daughter – is she around my age, love?"

Oh, and she could tell that he knew where she was going with that query and that he was beyond pleased with her initiative. "Yes, indeed, Ayame is. You would probably find her to be a good friend, if a bit young; Sango is beyond passable for a ningen female but truly you need more experience with yōkai females. Ōkami do not have the best hygiene, but they are a good example of yōkai who wholly live by their instincts, both controlling them and letting them remain in the forefront of their actions and minds. And they are the only greater yōkai whose members that cannot assume a humanoid form live alongside the members who remain in humanoid form – to the point of many of them not even having a beast form unless they surpass a certain amount of yōki power."

Kagome nodded, "After I am returned, we will go meet the Elder of the Northern Tribes; he deserves to know that his old friend is alive once more, even if not able to take on a humanoid form at the moment. It would be best to secure his alliance before we begin fixing the Southern Lands. Now, let's go; I'll fetch us our dinner, Yasha-kun you go help Sesshōmaru-kun with Shippō-kun, let the tachi know exactly what the direct plans are so none of them try to come after me, and ask Sesshōmaru-kun if he would be available to travel with us to go meet the Northern Tribes; his support of Toga's endeavour will sweeten the deal, especially when I convince this ōkami prince that this Ayame-san would be an incredibly suitable mate and someone who could help him protect his pack even better.

"While you go do that, Toga will go grab Rakurai and my quiver. You, dearest, need to practise restraining your yōki more fully, especially in this era. It is best to be underestimated; the third lesson you ever taught me. So you will be my mount for this hunt instead of me using the trees as I usually do. There truly are an overwhelming abundance of prey animals in the forest. It's disgusting that these ōkami prey on ningen but I'll definitely fucking fix that."

At that her son and mate left her to centre herself, mask her scent, muffle her sounds, and pull in her ki to the point where she might as well have been a rare void yōkai, with no detectable ki whatsoever. Her mate needed to learn how to do this now that he had a physical form – he had to relearn how to do essentially everything after five centuries without having a proper physical form. But he was intelligent, she could aid him in his learning, and she had full faith that by the time his regeneration was complete, the most powerful daiyōkai to ever exist would once more be roaming the lands of Nihon at full power – considering how long he had been alive, despite only being a ghost, he was far more powerful than before.

But now it was time to hunt.

A/N: I had expected Inuyasha to take well to the lessons, but his complete and utter acceptance of the situation – not to mention his reaction to finding out about his previous existence – was so totally unexpected. The warning about him changing positively a few chapters ago was written as soon as he began bawling his eyes out over causing her death last time around in this chapter. XD I normally don't edit my author's notes, I keep them as is so you guys see my thought process during the writing of the story, but felt it necessary so people don't assume this whole fic is Yasha-bashing.