Whether he'd ever admit to anyone but himself or not, the reality was that he missed her. True, he saw her often - bringing her gifts and listening to her stories - but it wasn't the same. Leaving her in the village meant that he could no long look forward to going home where she was and being greeted by her cheerful smiles, musical laughter, and unusual optimism, but he knew it was the right call. The village was safe and his palace is, well, debatable. While he had quelled most of his father's former rivals, he was wise enough to know it wouldn't take long before someone else came after him to challenge his domain. His empire grew stronger by the day and so did his influence, but that only meant the invitation for rivalry grew stronger in turn. Between keeping his territory and palace safe, his mother's incessant rambling to pressure him into producing an heir, and the task of expansion of his kingdoms as was his father's ultimate dream, he had not the time to spend raising a fragile human child whilst ensuring her utmost safety. There was chaos where he went and his little ward deserved more than living in constant danger. With his choices laid out in front of him, it was a clear path he had to take: he had to leave the girl behind.

But time flew and it flew fast.

One day, she was just a little girl following him around, picking daisies on their way, the next, she was a woman of immense beauty unlike no other. He had seen, been with, and bedded many pure blood demon women before - if only to understand men's stereotypical obsession with physical pleasure - yet none of them came close to the how beautiful his ward had matured to be, and somewhere inside him was a change he hasn't yet decided whether to consider an objectionable one. He visited her often - as often as time permitted - but despite that, he felt as if he never saw her enough. With each time he came and went, he came back to a different Rin than the one he left before, the way time affected humans was evident in her quick maturity. It would only be a matter of time till she was of age, and then the time to hear her final decision would come: the day he both dreaded and looked forward to all at once.

His lonesome journey came to a halt when Kagura offered to join him.

The bold, stubborn demon insisted on tagging along despite his unspoken protests, and since Jaken had been re-stationed to care for the palace in his absence (for the reason that Jaken knew his preferences well and could make proper decisions befitting his liking, having traveled with him for so long), the company wasn't completely unwelcome.

Their first travel together was to the South, in lieu of investigating a rumor that a conspiring party had gathered north of the southern borders to overthrow the dog demon's regime. While he found this news to be non-threatening, his council insisted on the execution of the perpetrators as a show of power and to serve as an example of their empire's intolerance towards treason. They left at the break of dawn, walking briskly through the pine forest that covered most of the western border.

"Are you always this quiet when you travel?", she asked after what seemed like hours of nothing but the sounds of woodlands.

He didn't answer; his choice of response was self-explanatory.

He could hear the soft sigh escape her darkly painted lips and the sound of ruffled cloth as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. Even without looking back, he could sense that smug look on her face, staring at the back of his head as if she was trying to drill a hole through his skull with her mere gaze alone.

They kept walking until they reached the edge of the forest, past the tightly knit trees, into a clearing up ahead. The could see a river only yards from where they stood, the crystal clear water winding through the woods like a ribbon of living turquoise, boldly flowing amid the green of the forest. Out of habit developed from traveling with his human ward, he decided to stop and rest, an action that was, though appreciated by his new companion, also came as a pleasant surprise. Kagura had pictured the demon lord to be much more... demanding.

With the pulsing heat of the midday sun, her skin glistening and the nape of her neck damp, her fingers undid the obi on her waist, pulling it aside and letting her kimono fall to the ground, leaving only her kosode on. The unusual sound of linen against the dried rocks caused the demon lord to turn his head, only to be greeted by the sight an undressing woman only a few feet behind him. He regarded her with curiosity; she wasn't beautiful in the classical way, no flowing long locks or perfectly flawless skin, no piercing eyes of green. She was shorter than average and built with more slight and an hourglass figure, but in her ordinariness, she was stunning.

She raised her deep, blood-red eyes, meeting his observant stare with her very own, as if trying to comprehend just what goes on in the daiyoukai's labyrinth of a mind. Their gazes locked for a few seconds, neither seemed interested in back down.

Finally, the wind sorceress shrugged turned her gaze back to herself, loosening the small sash that held her kosode close. The cloth hang loose on her ivory skin, her chest partially naked but for her breasts, as part of her untied undershirt lightly covered the sides of her torso. Reaching up at her hair, she pulled her two feathers off with careful fingers, placing them in a neat pile on top of her crudely folded clothes laying by her bare feet. Gingerly, she took small steps towards the running water, dipping her feet slowly against the weak current. Slowly, she walked deeper in, letting the cascade of deep, blue water cool her sweaty body and run through her short, tangled hair.

He stood in silence for a minute or two, observing, before walking over by a huge tree a few feet back, and seating himself against it's rough bark, hands to his side, his eyes still locked on the bathing woman. Out of all the demons he's ever been around with, both male and female, he's never been around one so casually... uncaring. Most women would - regardless of species - would have been uncomfortable undressing around a man; or does she not consider him as one?

The theory had left him with a feeling of annoyance and utmost displeasure. His eyes narrowed, and his posture went rigid.

Is she too comfortable around him because she didn't think of him as a man?

"Why don't you join me? I imagine its even worse for you, lugging all that armor around. The water's perfect."

She didn't even bother turning around to look at him as she spoke, and he was beginning to take her unconscious actions as a personal insult. He said nothing back; not because he had no come back for her halfhearted invitation, but mostly because he didn't want to say too much and give away his bruised ego. He just watched her in silence, convincing himself his shameless staring was for the purpose of mere observations, not because of her understated beauty; one that she was so disarmingly unaware of.

After what felt like like hours, she walked out of the water towards the rocky shore, sharp stones underfoot. She was dripping for head to toe, the corners of her breasts showing even more than before as her kosode slid partially off her upper body. Her soaked, jet black hair stuck to her face, something she hopelessly tried to remedy by tucking the clumps of heavy wet strands behind her pointy ears. She regarded her companion with little care, picking up her discarded clothing in one hand as she walked over to him with the intentions of hanging her wet clothing to the branches of the tree where he sat, allowing for her to use her wind to dry them off faster.

Her aloof behavior did nothing but fuel the primal rage of mixed emotions brewing deep inside his gut. From a wounded pride of a self-depicted assumption to something else entirely he hasn't quite yet pinpointed, the silver-haired demon felt his chest tighten, his balled fist and bone-white knuckles speaking loudly in defiance of his stoic, deadpan expression.

As she got closer - her soaked body so close to his that he could clearly smell the minty oils on her hair and those flowery human perfumes she grew fond of wearing, somewhere inside of him, something broke. Perhaps it was the sweet smells that overwhelmed his senses, or maybe it was the sensual way she looked with the wet cloth stuck so closely to her body, highlighting the figure he couldn't help but admire m- but something tipped him right at the edge where his body acted on it's own accord, pulling her hand roughly from where he sat, dragging her to the grassy earth with ease and speed that she barely even knew what hit her until she was looking up at a stream of silver so close to her face, her wide, surprised eyes gawking at his calm, golden hues burning with an almost uncontrollable, primal fire that shook her very core. In a flash, he was on top of her: clawed hands pinning her small body to the green grass as he knelt over her hips, one hand holding both of hers over her head, his free hand holding his looming figure next to her cheek. She let out ragged breathing, her mind haven't yet caught on to her current situation.

"W-What are you doing?!"

He could hear the panic in her voice as it cracked slightly when she spoke. His heightened senses could feel the pounding heartbeat in her endowed chest.

"What are you doing?"

She blinked, trying to wash away her feeling of surprise and regain her sense of calm - which was admittedly far harder in that situation than she'd have thought it'd be.

True, she was teasing on purpose - not that 'tease' would have necessarily been the word she would have used up until that moment. Her admiration and romantic interests for the daiyoukai had always been out in the open, albeit she had not openly and directly addressed it, but he had shown no interest for any woman in the years she's known him, and part of her wondered if maybe perhaps he was into... other things. She found this opening he had provided her to be an interesting opportunity to test her theory, and when he had shown no reaction at all, she had began to accept her hypothesis might be a little more than accurate.

But it wasn't that he didn't react, because he certainly did. No, it was only that she didn't know him well enough to see the subtle hints: his clenched fists, his rigid posture, his pacing heartbeat, and those sharp eyes that eyed her with lurking anticipation - she missed it all and now she's learning the price.

"I wasn't doing anything. But you certainly are."

Kagura had regained her composure and she was back in the game; calculated and stoic just like her opponent. His unexpectedly forceful response weren't completely unwarranted and definitely not unwelcome, and so she played her part. Raising one leg up, her wet skirt falling high up her thighs, she made a risky move, testing just how far she can test the prideful demon lord. She had never seen him lose his control and the opportunity to toy with him like this, in his state of lustful powerlessness was beyond amusing, and she had only gotten started. With him this close to her, she could see the details to his physique she hadn't noticed before; she could smell tinge of mint in his breath, see the honey-colored lining to his heterochromic gold eyes, feel the pace of his beating heart. His silver hair glowed bright, single strands seemingly reflecting sunlight like pieces of glass. For a moment, she wondered just how far he would go if she pushed him. Would he force himself onto her? Would he stop right before the final act and pretend nothing happened? Would he try and seduce her? (Not that she could even picture that ever happening). Can she even push him any further at all, to the point of no return?

She didn't have to wonder long.

His nails dig deep into her wrists, the tightness of his grip slightly numbing her fingertips. He leaned closer, stopping short a few inches from the bottom of her face, close enough that she could feel his breathing against her neck. His silver hair draped around her head, blocking any view outside his beautiful facial features. His free hand wandered gingerly towards her almost-bare chest, softly dragging one, long claw across her soft skin, from her collar bone, down to the base of her stomach, leaving her with a feeling of warmth between her legs and a reddening face; all while he kept his fiery gaze locked onto her deep red eyes, watching her every reaction. But she didn't struggle - she feigned a calm facade, though her hot face, reddened ears, and pounding chest told a whole different tale. She felt her skin tingle under his uncharacteristic ministrations; she didn't peg him to be the gentle, seductive kind when picturing this elusive scenario.

Unsatisfied by her lack of adequate response, he upped his game one more notch, leaning even closer, letting his cold lips touch the base of her neck, blowing warm breaths on her quivering body as his palm pressed firmly between her breasts.

She gasped audibly, jolting in surprise at the sudden contact of his soft lips against her wet skin, her eyes widening as she tugged against firm grasps subconsciously, the look in his eyes bringing about a feeling throbbing in her lower stomach she didn't quite know how to react to.

That was all the reaction he needed. He pulled back casually, leaving her laying down on the ground with a mix of mild shock and disappointment written all over her face. Raising a clawed hand, he swept a mass of his silver hair off his face, sitting back down against the same spot in the tree he originally was. For a second, they made eye contact, and in that moment, the wind demon could have sworn she had seen a small, smug smirk on his lips and a look of victory in his eyes, right before that stoic facade took over and he closed thin lids over those golden hues in a pretense of a small nap.

"If you were going to dry your clothes, you best hurry up. We leave at sundown."

She sat up from the grass, grasping at the seams of her kosode, shutting them closed. Her face was red, but whether it was from the anger, the feeling of shattered pride, or the sense of sexual unfulfillment, she couldn't quite tell. Not that it mattered. The prissy daiyoukai certainly knew he won that round and had gained an advantage.

"I was already planning on it."

Pulling her fan from the pile of clothes that lay dropped by his feet, Kagura called a gust of wind around her, drying her hair in cold breeze and blowing the remnants of earth and grass off her now-drying attire.

In that moment of Sesshomaru's amusement, he found her company well more than gratifying. It had been long since he found entertainment in such kind of matter, let alone from the presence of a woman. Whatever worried and plagued him effectively cleared from his head temporarily as he could only remember the sensual touch of her slightly arched body towards his fingertips, as if subtly begging him for more, all while her face held that bogus apathetic expression in an effort to deny his obvious upper hand. He undeniably liked this game that she had started, and for the first time, he looked forward to his nomadic days with a new consort. In the quiet part of his mind, an image of Rin flashed in his memories - her flower crowns and cheery laugh reminding him he had to come and see her soon and for a moment, he wondered how she would feel about traveling with Kagura instead of Jaken, but alas, he pushed the thought aside. The libido of his momentary encounter with the red-eyed demon had yet to settle down, and his mind in that flash, was wrapped only in the youkai before him.

She regarded his sham of a nap with mild annoyance, her wounded ego getting the best of her. Somewhere inside, she cursed her own unpreparedness. She should have anticipated it, but how could she? She didn't know much of his personality outside his cold demeanor and the ruthless conqueror he was known to be. It was hard to read him, and she wondered if anyone had ever really read him or if they just projected their thoughts on the blank canvass he provided.

No matter.

With a slight hint of a sly smile in the corner of her arched lips, she made it a goal to make sure she learned his every little quirk. To know him better than anyone else.

Next round, she though, I'll definitely get you back. The game, after all, had only just began.