*Disclaimer- I don't own Inuyasha, or anything else!*

Chapter 9- The Mating Rituals

Inuyasha nodded " Yes, I know."

Kagome pulled him into a soft loving embrace. Inuyasha embraced her back and buried his nose in her hair, in the crook of her neck. They pulled away shortly after. Kagome gazed into Inuyasha's amber depths and then blushed and looked away.

"Uh, Inuyasha?"

"Yea?" Inuyasha was confused about her sudden behavior.

"Do you think you could explain the next steps of the mating rituals?" Kagome asked timidly.

Realization showed on Inuyasha's face. His face also grew a little red. "Right, sure." He took a deep breath. " The first step is to share blood, which we have already done. The second step is marking your mate as yours. The last step is,….. uh, well actually mating." Inuyasha felt very uncomfortable discussing this subject.

Kagome's blush deepened more.

"We can wait until we are ready though." Inuyasha quickly stated. Kagome nodded and then looked up at Inuyasha with a smile.

"So, shall we get back to the village now? It is getting dark and the others will begin to wonder where we are."

Kagome agreed, so they headed back toward the village. Kagome looped her arm through Inuyasha's and leaned her head on his shoulder. She was very content at that moment.

They entered Kaede's hut hand in hand. Miroku, Sango, Kaede and Shippo looked up when they walked in.

"Where were you guys?" Miroku asked while raising his eyebrows suggestively.

Inuyasha caught it and frowned.

"We weren't doing anything you may be thinkin of monk so get it out of your head you pervert!" Inuyasha shouted to Miroku.

"What were you guys doing?" This time Sango asked seriously.

Kagome sat down to explain their encounter with Kikyo. As she explained everyone sat in silence. The fire crackled as Kaede poked it to get the flame higher. The aroma of stew was slowly filling the hut as it cooked on the open flame. Inuyasha was seated next to Kagome with his hands in his sleeves and his eyes closed. When Kagome finished the tale he opened his eyes to see his friend's reactions.

"So, You mean she is really gone?" Sango asked.

Kagome nodded. "Yes, Kikyo has been put to rest at last."

"I would like to thank ye, Kagome. I did not want my sister to go on living like that. She was no longer who she used to be. Hopefully she will find some measure of peace in the afterlife."

"Your welcome, Kaede."

"Well, let's eat! The stew is ready." Kaede stated and passed everyone a bowl of stew. Everyone ate quickly.

"Thanks, Kaede, It was really good!" Kagome smiled. She then yawned and brought her hand up quickly to cover her mouth.

"Ugh, excuse me. I guess I'm tired. I am gonna go take a bath. You want to come, Sango?"

"Huh? Sure."

Kagome and Sango gathered their bathing supplies and headed to the nearest hot springs.

Kagome sat on a rock in the hot spring. The water came up to her shoulders, so her hair floated around her body gracefully. Sango slid next to her and also sat on one of the flat rocks.

"So, Kagome. What do you want to talk about?"

"Huh?"

"Whenever you ask me out here you want to talk about something. So, what is it?"

Kagome was shocked, but smiled.

"I guess you know me well. I wanted to talk about what Inuyasha told me earlier."

"Which was?" Sango coaxed her to continue.

"He vaguely told me the next steps of the mating rituals." Kagome blushed, embarrassed about discussing it.

"Oh. OK, so?"

"Do you know about them?"

"Yes, I do."

Kagome was very shy about asking what she wanted to ask, so she started to fidget nervously.

"Uh, do you think you could tell me more about it?" Kagome asked quietly.

Sango smiled knowingly.

"Kagome, I know it's a difficult topic to talk about. Yes, I will try to tell you. Inu-youkai mate for life. They mark their mate by biting their neck leaving a scar. The scar is almost like a signature. It has their scent on it and that lets other youkai know it is their mate. Next is mating. I don't think I need to go into detail here do I?" Sango asked while a blush slowly seeped into her face.

"No! No." Kagome said quickly.

"Good. Well, during this process a child is always conceived." Sango finished.

Kagome sighed. "Thanks, Sango."

Sango smiled. "Your welcome. Glad I could help!"

Kagome yawned, but stifled it behind her hand.

"What do you say we head back? I am really tired."

"Sure."

They got out and dried themselves off. They changed into their sleeping clothes and gathered their bath supplies. Then they headed back to the hut.

The girls entered the hut to find everyone sitting around the fire. Well, everyone being Inuyasha and Miroku. Shippo and Kirara were asleep in the corner and Kaede had gone to sleep as well. Kagome sat down next to Inuyasha and Sango next to Miroku. Sango eyed him.

"Touch me and die." She then directed her attention back to the fire.

"Why Sango, I wouldn't dream of it!"

"Of course you would! You lecher!"

"Kagome giggled and then yawned again.

"You tired?" Inuyasha leaned over and whispered in her ear.

Kagome sleepily nodded her head. Her eyes drifted shut and she slowly leaned over and her head fell on Inuyasha's shoulder. Inuyasha glanced down at her.

A/N:

OK, so no evil cliffy this time! Good, right? I am soooooo sorry for not updating in forever! I had really bad writer's block for this story and only recently got some inspiration. Well, send me those reviews and let me know what you think! I have another chapter of "The Student and The Teacher" coming soon. I tried my hardest to make this chapter long so I hope you enjoyed it! I will try to update as soon as I can.