Title: A Perfection or A Tale of Victory

Chapter I: The Challenger

Sesshomaru was always a possessive person. Or maybe it would be better to say "a domineering demon"?

Even as a little child, he would dominate his brother and rule the little kingdom of their childhood. He would arrange their games, plays, and competitions; when the youngsters were playing around with their small wooden swords and light paper shields, he would always arrange their games around a scenario he desired the most. He would always, with a forceful tone, command who played a role of a brave samurai lord and who would play a cruel bandit. And, during their childish games, he would politely allow Inuyasha to become a good lord, and he would always take a role of an outlaw—only to beat him and take over his younger brother's imaginary kingdom.

Inuyasha would cry then, and Sesshomaru would smile. Because, regardless of whom he pretended to be, and of whom he fought with, he would always win. The victory was his; it belonged to him, like his name and his body.

And he could almost taste it; it felt like a warm liquid drowning him in waves of satisfaction. And he liked it. He would never let anyone to take the feeling away.

Even as a little child, Sesshomaru knew that if anyone would wish to take this feeling from him, he would fight. Till victory. Till death. And there was nothing childish about it.

This was how he lost his childhood façade. And this was how he became whom he was now. A perfection.

ooOoo

He looked at her with his eyes half--open. Was it her? He wasn't sure. If it was her, she changed—or maybe he was to weak to pay attention to details of her face now. He closed his eyes completely and sniffed the air around her. Yes, the woman in front of him smelled like his brother's young miko.

She was much taller and more mature than he remembered her to be.

He remembered as she used to run after his brother, like a lovesick puppy—following the silly hanoyu everywhere. She used to look at the world through a prism of his half—brother opinions and ambitions. It reminded Sesshomaru of an infant that learns about the world through his parents, and before he learns to see the reality for himself, he just fallows the advice and the teachings of his guardians unquestioningly. Trusting Inuyasha with her life and fortune, she naively rejected her past, her true life in different reality, her future.

Last time he saw her, after the battle with Naraku, she was still a child; A scarred, screaming teenager, with a broken bow and bloody knees, who somehow helped to defeat the evil hanoyu.

He recalled the moment when she saw his half-brother wishing on the sacred jewel to bring his dead mate back to life—the young miko stood in the middle of an empty battlefield and looked at Inuyasha with an empty expression. The emptiness of her eyes expressed something beyond sadness or despair. The eyes of little miko silently screamed You betrayed me! I loved you and you betrayed everything I ever wanted to live for… That night, as he walked through the blood-scattered battlefield, he knew that this was not only personal Naraku's End of the World. After all, Naraku and his army lost just their lives. She bid farewell to her childhood.

It was pitiful to look at, and Sesshomaru, who was never interested in pathetic and humiliating displays of human emotions, smiled sadly and left the battlefield.

Now, she was standing in the front of him, with her head held high, calm and proud. And she looked at him with a cold expression in her eyes.

"If you want me to help you, you must ask me, Sesshomaru." She said looking at his bloody form spread on the ground. She neither lowered herself to his form nor examined his wounds. She just stood there, waiting for his answer.

Even wounded, Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes in anger. His lips parted in an fuming frown, and a warning growl resonated quietly between them. Who do you think you are, bitch? He thought. As if in answer to his unvoiced question, she gave him a long and deliberate look. With her cold eyes, she slowly swept along his still body, her eyes calculated and cruel. For a moment he felt as if he was a broken toy and she a bored child. You will be sorry for that, bitch. She smiled.

"Do not growl on me, yukai. Not when you are helpless on the ground and depended on my mercy." her smile grew wider "If you want my help, you must only but ask, Sesshomaru." She repeated patiently.

She offered him her help, but Sesshomaru knew better. It wasn't a peaceful proposal. It was a challenge she threw in his face. She was stronger now, and she knew it. He knew it. His eyes grew red.

"You submit to me, ningen" he hissed with struggle. Each movement of his lungs caused him to chuckle on his own blood. Without an ease, she approached him and crouched next to him. Slowly, she brought her face next to his, so he could feel her warm breath on his skin.

"O, really? And how do you attempt to do subdue me exactly? Are you going to growl me to death, or maybe spray me with your blood? Because I don't really see what else you could do, since you can't move, demon." He growled again. "Don't struggle. You are smart enough to understand that in condition you are now, you could not possibly fight me. In fact, if I leave you here, you won't be able to defend yourself against anyone. Right now, a rabbit is stronger than you." She gave him another look and observed as his features stiffen at her words.

"If you want me to leave you alone, you will be dead by the end of the night." It was said calmly and with a soft voice; she spoke to him like a mother scolding a stubborn son. He considered the meaning of her words.

"In your situation, you have only two choices." She stood up again and waited for his response.

Sesshomaru looked at her and chew on her proposition. He could die, what unavoidably would happen if he rejected her offer, or he could submit himself to her and live on. He would survive only to admit his weakness to a human.

To win over death only to loose to a woman. He didn't like his choice. He closed his eyes again and thought if living was worth it. What was his life motivation anyway? A victory? a satisfaction? In this deal he wouldn't reach any. He thought for a while and announced his decision to the young women.

"I will take your offer, miko." Kagome looked at his face, surprised with his response. His face seemed to be so blank and unreadable for most of the time, but as he announced his will, he seemed to smile. Kagome noticed his face and tensed. No, you could not call this a smile. His eyes were half—open, serious and cold, pinned to her face, and only his lips formed into a curved line. It was a silent promise of a wounded predator, a pledge of payback, or maybe just a warning.

"Say that Sesshomaru." The girl's sight hardened.

"Will you help this Sesshomaru, miko?" Is words were calm and quiet, his head slightly bowed.

Without a word, she moved towards him and looked straight into his eyes.

"Yes, Sesshomaru, I will help you. In return, however I require your obedience and acceptance of anything I say. You will not harm me, or any of my friends. Do you accept?" frankly, she highly doubted that The Lord would agree to her terms, but it his submission was the only guarantee of her safety around him. Without it, without his voiced acceptance, he would kill her on a first occasion.

"This Sesshomaru accepts your terms, miko." The afternoon light illuminated his face and his eyes sparkled. Something was wrong with the way he looked at her now. Danger. The thought went through her mind as an arrow. He submitted to me. But this thought was not calming her down. Why he would do it? If he wants to hurt me, he cant—he knows that much. So why is he looking at me like that? A tension rose between them. He is weak and injured. He asked for help and therefore he showed you his lower position, it is a youkai law, after all. He cannot hurt you, Kagome. She thought to cool down. Just don't panic.

She broke the eye contact with him and moved to look at his injuries. I must take him to a safer place, she thought. With a fast motion, she stood up, and walked towards the forest.

"I have to find some branches to make stretchers for you, I should be back in a moment." She said leaving his side.

Sesshomaru watched her, as she disappeared behind the cover of bushes and trees. He could still smell her. His eyes sapped open and he smiled again.

ooOoo

If there was a single temptation greater than a victory, it was a challenge. She dared to submit him. She challenged his honor. You think that you won, miko. And I will let you think that for now. He narrowed his eyes slightly. Even when she was gone now, and he could not see her any longer, he stared at the dark shades of trees behind which she disappeared. But for the very thought that you can, for the naïve attempt to, for the audacity to submit this Sesshomaru, I will get you.

I'll get you for this, bitch.

A/N: I am waiting for reviews…