Hi there!

Its mee agaiiiiin! haha I've been really inspired lately (as you can see I've been veeery hard working ;D) since I know school will start soon, and I need to get the plot up and running!

Anyways just one AN, at one point I mention Cerberus. Just in case you don't know, he is a guardian dog in greek mythology, with three heads (and ginormous I must say)

[ -is that even a word? -.- Oh hii Svetlana, decided to make an appearance did you? -seriously, americano its too late... children should be in BED! like NOW!- *Grumble* FINE JUST LET ME FINISH! -ook -.- -]

Anyways as I was saying before SOMEONE interrupted me, Cerberus guards the gate to the underworld.

Btw thankyou SO MUCH! for those who added a story alert! I was so happy I swear I almost cried.

Plus I'd like to proudly announce our first reviewer! YAY! *clap clap clap*

KIAME 711 I LOVE YOU! -creeeeeeepy... but yeah thanks a bunch, she was so annoying whining about nobody reviewing -.- -

Aaaanyways, sorry for this large intro... Ill just shortly say that I do NOT own Rumiko Takahashi's INUYASHA!

Enjoy :D

Last time:

The prince coughed, distracting him from his inner battle.

"Shall we begin?"

Both men bowed and switched into defensive stances. They were so concentrated, that they did not realise the pair of eyes that were watching them intently, invisible to the others.

Sesshomaru nodded stiffly, simbolizing the beginning of the battle. And then...

Neither of them moved... The blue, burning eyes of the prince stared into the cool, ruthless and uncaring amber orbs of the taiyoukai, both of them trying to read the other's thoughts.

The audience rustled nervously, at the unexpected calm.

"Just like the calm before the storm." Lady Sakura muttered displeased. "I should start arranging Kagome's funeral at this rate. Really, it is JUST like Kagome to get herself into these kinds of messes!" She thought worriedly.

Finally, oh so patient Inuyasha let out a rude grunt, "Aw, C'MON! Are you guys just going to do a freaking staring contest?" He yelled disgruntled and confused at the lack of action.

Kagome stirred, irritated. She had always been taught to await her rivals attack first, but this was taking too much time and it was taking all of her patience to restrain herself from cussing out loud.

She growled, displeased, causing the audience to wonder at the prince's actions. The growl contained so much anger it had not sounded human... More like a powerful Taiyoukai growling at an enemy.

"Interesting..." The owner of the invisible eyes murmured to itself, still attached to the wall, unnoticed.

Kagome sighed inwardly. She was going against any stragedy of an expierienced swordsman, especially as she was up against a powerful demon lord, but he didn't give her any choice. Humans aged unlike youkai, she could not be limited to a staring battle with The Lord of the Western Lands for the rest of her life...

She gripped her sword tighter, her thoughts racing, while watching her opponent intently...

And for the life of her, she could not explain what had happened next as she felt a dash of wind as something approached her face with blinding speed. She managed to dodge just in time, watching in disbelieve as a green and dripping coil thundered against the wall, creating a smoking crater.

"HEY, NO FAIR, THIS IS A SWORD DUEL! ONLY SWORD COMBAT IS ALLOWED!" Inuyasha growled annoyed that his half-brother was taking advantage of his situation as a demon with mighty powers.

"Inuyasha, unfortunately, it was forgotten to mention that the duel would solely consist in sword fighting. Ka-, eehm Prince Ryu will just have to deal with this situation..." Miroku murmured, worried for the safety of his friend.

Kagome gritted her teeth, moving from her deffensive stance, sprinting towards the impassive lord. She jumped in the air, raising her sword high, to strike a blow. She was sure that she would be able to hit him.

Or so she thought as she landed forcefully on the hard dojo floor, her opponent long gone and her strike having connected with the floor. She heard a rustle behind her.

"Oh HELL no!"

She bounced off the floor once more, escaping the sharp sword only by a hair's breadth. Literally. She felt some strands of hair fall to the ground.

"You will pay for this Royal's fallen hair, youkai!" She growled hoarsely at her oponent earning herself a surprisingly confused stare from the demon lord.

With almost supersonic speed, she made a quick dash at the nearest wall and grabbed at the weapons. With a grin, she clasped her hand around an arabic cimitarr, as sharp as an eagle's beak and positioned herself in an offensive position.

The whole hall stirred with excitement and admiration at the scene displayed before them:

A calm and collected (beautiful as hell) demon lord, with high cheekbones, decorated with two neat magenta strips, an indigo crescent moon stamped proudly on his marble forehead. His silver hair cascaded down his shoulders, amber eyes impassive, holding his magnificent sword losely, seemingly uninterested.

Opposite of him, a proud, raven-haired man, displaying an alluring boyish charm, eyes ablaze and passionate, a deadly scowl set on his face grasping a japanese katana, clearly overwhelming him in size and a lean and sharp cimitarr with ease.

An almighty Cerberus against a raging dragon could almost replace the silent silhouettes of the two.

Most demons now realised, that, although Prince Ryu was mearly human, it would not be wise to provoke his wrath. He was so much more demon-like in behaviour than human.

"Just like a crimson dragon" Sango whispered, not aware at the silent nods of agreement of the youkai that had clearly heard her.

"Heh, Kagome has just earned herself a well deserved nickname!" Inuyasha thought, grinning widly.

Kagome panted, handling two swords was beyond any normal human's strength. She needed to get over this as soon as possible, win or lose.

She lunged forward brandishing the katana against her opponent's right arm, which in turn, moved the sword forward to block her attack.

She grinned widely as she swung the cimitarr she held in her left hand, knowing that the great Lord Sesshomaru had fallen into her trap.

She felt the blow connect, felt her weapon tear through silk and skin.

Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed in response.

But she did not expect what would happen next... The next second, he simply seemed to vanish into thin air

A sharp object caressed her neck, making her skin crawl.

"Well, no such luck as him vanishing, huh?" She thought grimly.

"Do you wish to forfeit, human?" the taiyoukai whispered into her ear, causing her to shiver and lose concentration momentarily. Her barrier wavered and shook, reflecting the rush of emotions whirling inside her brain.

Sesshomaru, being the powerful taiyoukai he was detected the sudden power fluctuations of the barrier and smirked mentally.

He had realised that he had a certain, 'confusing' effect on females, but it did interest him that even a strong human male would fall into his cunning trap.

"Hey, Mr Ego! I think you should pay attention to the boy's barrier... Something is... not right..." his beast murmured, confused. "Be quiet obnoxious bra-" He faltered. He had caught a sight of the boy's emotions as his barrier crashed on him for a milisecond. He had caught the scent of the own boy's skin.

He was utterly confused.

What was the meaning of this?

Meanwhile, the audience watched the immobilized pair intently, restless at the sudden change between pure and violent action and complete silence.

Kagome was still trying to regain her composure, so as to not reveal her secret to any of the extremely sensible youkais present. But she felt her barrier crash and burn. Just for one milisecond.

She groaned as she felt the taiyoukai behind her stiffen in response.

"Boy, oh boy, Kagome, you've really done it this time...!"

Analyzing the situation, she thought it best to escape her enemy's claws before she revealed anything more of importance to him.

She ducked, sweeping her leg under the shocked demon lord's feet, making him stumble and fall, his eyes widening in surprise.

His body however did not hit the floor, as he had gracefully caught himself in a backflip, landing nimbly on his feet, his sword set up before him.

They stared at each other for a few seconds...

And then, came the surprise:

"Enough." The Lord said in a cold voice, bowing his head in dissmisal and stalking out of the dojo, graced by the astounded silence of its audience. As he passed the guards at the door, he glanced back briefly and narrowed his eyes at Kagome as she stared back.

"Kukukuku, hoooow interrrestiiing. Veeery interesssting!" The invisible observant mused. "This human will come in handy sometime, I just k-n-o-w it!" And with that, the unnoticed presence vanished just as stealthily as it had appeared.