Sango took a deep breath, determined to get herself under control. She closed her eyes, feeling her strength running through her, still unsure as to how they had reached this stage, but determined not to let her companions down. Her eyes flicked over to her opponent, the self-confident, perfectly composed demon lord, standing in lonely solitude on the other side of the glade. She supposed this was only a development of her calling as a demon slayer, and it was always single combat, of a sort, but it was never like this, never honest competition with so much at stake.
She took her shots, closing her eyes in relief as she saw they had flown true, then bit her lip in fear as her competititor moved to take his own shots. His flew equally true, she was surprised, having expected them to be supernaturally perfect. He gifted her with a slight curl of his lips, almost a gesture of friendship, a shared secret in the private world of their competition, their eternal struggle.
They were alone in the glade, having elected to hold their pseudo-tournament away from the prying eyes of their companions.
He advanced on her and whispered "One last test my Shinigami*..."
She felt a shiver run down her spine, once more in vain trying to control her breathing, to hide her fear.
"Indeed?" she replied, tone artificially light and breathy. He kept moving closer, lifting his pale hand to cup her cheek. Her lips parted in surprise and he lent down, whispering
"Do you have the courage to kiss me?"
With that, he claimed her lips. It was all she could do not to jerk away immediately from this total destruction of everything she stood for, but she couldn't pull away from him, it was too intoxicating, too addictive, too powerful.
When they finally broke apart, they parted with a long glance full of meaning, communicating the agreement that the next full moon they would meet again, secure in the knowledge that each of them had a chance in the other to have something they would find nowhere else - understanding.
Sometimes enemies are the only ones in this world you can rely on.
* If that is an inaccurate translation, please PM me ASAP, I can't find a reference anyway and am relying on memory! Please either confirm or deny!