A/N: Back again I see.

Then again maybe I don't.

Maybe there's actually no one there. Maybe these words aren't even being seen. Maybe I'm typing something for no one to see. How do I know someone will see them? Maybe these words aren't even there. Maybe I'm imaging them. Maybe I'm imaging these words being read…by someone who's really not even there either…

…weird…

The Phantom Killer

Chapter 7: Battle of the Blurs

Though he had a fresh look to him, he didn't feel comfortable. He had bathed and adorned new clothing and armor to make him look much more powerful than he was, but his irritability had not dispersed. He sighed in annoyance.

Out of all the womenfolk that he had ever had in his bed, he hadn't gotten what he wanted the most.

Only two have ever swayed his senses, so alike yet so different. And yet these two women were the only ones to ever reject his charm and desire, the only two he could never have.

Yuuyake was already taken, he knew, by an ice demon that had held her heart so close. She was caring, beautiful, laid-back and powerful when the need be. But she and her lover had fallen victim to a trap. Now existed neither of them.

But the second woman was very much alive. Though she was taken by nobody, her heart too bitter cold, she acted as if she was. Aloof, arrogant, stunning and too powerful for her own good, she was the one.

As he had known her, Toorima was indeed a very closed off person, cruel to the point of insane. To those that didn't know her well, she was a mysterious beast that ruled a deserted, haunted forest, starting fires that burned forever over land and luring men into an attempt to woo her blackened heart.

Hiten knew, though, there was much more to her than that. He'd known her for sometime, how long exactly was lost to him. But he knew her actions almost like he knew his own, knew why she did what she did, the who's, what's, where's, why's and when's and how's and any other question about her.

And the more he knew, the more he wanted her, to defend her, to woo her, to claim her as his own. He wanted her to call out his name in his bed. He wanted to be her reason for ecstasy, to break through her defenses.

But she resisted his charm and manner as if he were asking her to spare his life. And it was baffling.

"My dear Lord Hiten, what troubles you?" A gorgeous voice full of lust reached his ears. A pair of arms crawled smoothly down his chest as he came back into the moment. Behind him, hanging on his shoulders, a beautiful, topless whore with a stately bust pulled at his attention.

"Nothing, dear lady," he turned around to face this lady of the evening, to take in, again, the sight of this vixen.

Red wine hair flowed in ringlets down her shoulder, reaching just below them, coming to rest on her sloped chest. An orb on a silver chain dangled out in front of Hiten as he was pushed strongly onto his back on the bed. The girl followed, placing herself above him.

Hiten let his hands trace her figure as he stared up into the odd catlike eyes of yellow and black outlined darkly in black. Painted red lips on that pale face smiled down at him.

Why think of her now? Hiten reasoned, drinking in this new woman's visage. There's plenty of time to think of Toorima when I've had my fill of love from this slut.

This woman, he remembered, had thrown herself into his arms freely. Why fuss with one that resisted when there were so many who wanted him?

The more he thought about her, the angrier he became with her. What happened to her was the best thing for her, the evil wench!

He grinned pulling the woman closer to him for a night. Their lips connected and the process had begun…

To any unfortunate passersby, the two dueling demons seemed nothing more than curious blurs of colors and lights. Hues of black, white, red, green and orange danced in an odd display of power, going back and forth, spinning, dashing, charging and striking. At points, it was difficult to tell the two sets of colors apart.

Inside the blurs, however, all was clear and defined to both Sesshomaru and the mysterious woman who had claimed to be the Phantom Killer of the Toorima no Mori and was now showing extraordinary skill in hand-to-hand combat.

So far, she had been able to block or avert most of his attacks with amazing speed that matched his own and her body moved so easily to accompany her attacks and advances. How she could move in such manners as she showed in this battle and remain uninjured was still an unresolved mystery to the Lord of the West. Only a demon with unfathomable skill could move that easily and that fast.

Amazing, he pondered dully to himself as the poison swelling in his hand slid out in a narrow whip-like stream and swung around at her, slicing through the blazing air. Her skill is as good as mine own, he admitted very reluctantly after she spun and dropped to her haunches, avoiding the stream with room to spare.

He snapped the whip at her again only to have her dodge it. She pulled her arm back as it started to glow orange. She launched her arm forward and from the palm sprang a jet of hot, bright orange fire bigger than her torso.

Though it came fast, Sesshomaru had time enough to sidestep the attack. "Too slow," he said under his breath as he rushed at her with glowing green claws. As he slashed for her, she spun out of the way, throwing him off balance.

His hands hit the ground and he used the momentum of the fall to propel himself up and backwards to his feet. As he stood straight up, he turned and found her leaning against a tree. Back to square one, he thought venomously.

"I've killed many a demon in my lifetime and many a human, all of whose names didn't matter much to me, their bones buried deep within the earth along with their names and inability to fight." Toorima's purple eyes flickered coldly onto his. "You, however, are a noble, that much is for certain. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were royalty, the son of a ruler, trained in warfare." The eyes intensified. "Am I correct?"

Sesshomaru said nothing, looking condescendingly across to the other. How could she know that much? Was she not just some peasant?

He heard a sudden gasp from behind her. Both of them looked up to the tiny fairy that clung to the branch of the tree where Toorima was standing.

"That is a noble, Lady! It's Sesshomaru, son of Inu no Taishou!" The pixie had finally found her voice in a sudden realization. "The Lord of the Western Lands!"

"Hmmm." Toorima acknowledged.

Sesshomaru held nothing back ofa murderous glare as he aimed it at the pixie. In a flash, the whip revealed itself from Sesshomaru's left handand slash through the pixie's body. The two halves of the sluttish pixie fell to the ground near Toorima, whose eyes found their way into his lethal stare.

"Ah," she announced archly, "Lord Sesshomaru of the Western Lands!" The pale red lips twisted up into a haughty smirk, while those intense eyes danced with fire and malicious intent. "Nobility with a late father that has passed his gall unto his offspring. And now that offspring's faterests within my hands."

"You seem to know a great deal about me, wench," Sesshomaru snapped, green fluids draining down to his talons for another strike. "Tell me how a low-life demon girl came about this information."

"'Low-life'? Now I shouldn't take that as an insult, should I? For that would be childish." Toorima threw her head back and laughed superciliously. "Are you a child, Sesshomaru?"

"Hold your tongue!" Sesshomaru hissed.

She laughed again, sweetly, as if taunting him. "You cannot command me here, dear Noble. Here, I am Nobility, out of your jurisdiction or territory or whatever it is you and your late father claimed as your own, and here, you are my victim." Her words were glazed with poison.

"However, you do deserve a certain level of respect if only for your skills and not your manners." The aura around her pulsed then ebbed away from her, as if she were setting something up. "Not many Nobles can use and conduct poison, regardless of their station. It's usually an innate ability, passed down through bloodlines. Consider yourself fortunate."

"And what of your station?" Sesshomaru asked carefully, losing no aloofness to this girl. "Someone wielding natural fire can only be a descendant of the Devil himself."

A brisk scoff came from her. "I see my reputation precedes me," she smirked again. "While I can assure you I am not an offspring of the Dark Lord, I have some of his abilities." A flash of light came from her right hand as she swung upwards with it allowing a whip of light far too similar to his slip out and strike out at him.

What! His mind ran as he ducked under the whip of bright orange light that carried with it waves of heat. It came back a second and third time, thirsty for blood. "Tell me, wench, how long you have had that power?" he demanded when he had gotten far enough from her that she retracted the whip.

"I didn't take it from you, if that's what you were wondering," stated Toorima coolly, her expression more cross. "Although there are definite similarities between our powers. At first, I believed you took my attacks, but I see that this is not the case. Curious, isn't it?" She snapped the whip again at him only to have him release his own and have it snap at her.

The two whips – one a blinding hue of orange, surrounded in heat and fire, the other a deafening shade of green poison with an aura so overpoweringly strong, it glowed – connected in mid-air. Before the two even touched, both demons realized their mistakes but couldn't take them back. A force so strong emitted from the connection, it forced both demons aback with the explosion.

Toorima flew backwards into a tree not far from her, breaking into the weak trunk, toppling the tree over, giving a groan of protest before it fell. Sesshomaru was hoisted off his feet for a split second and then placed roughly down on his heels not a few feet from where he left. But the force pulled him down onto his back before he could gain his footing.

As the thick black smoke cleared, Sesshomaru could see a blackened depression where the two powers must have connected in midair. He also noticed the girl getting to her feet and removing a large piece of timber from her back. With the slightest wince that was caught by the prince, the timber was removed and, to his surprise, Toorima laughed loud enough for him to catch over the sizzling.

"You laugh at such a sight, woman, as if it were amusing to you," Sesshomaru's voice dominated the evening, which was now much darker without the fires of the other. "Pray tell. What forces you to laugh in such a manner?"

Her eyes found his through the smoke, seemingly radiating with seething power. The irises stood out excellently next to the pale face and darkness.

"Was that result not obvious? If you are indeed as wise as you claim, then you, as well as myself, should have understood the outcome of those attacks combined." A mischievous look flooded her eyes plainly; as if she were planning something she wanted him to know. "Correct?"

Nothing from him.

"And if that were the case, then you released your whip in order for that to happen.

"But if that were true," she continued, as if musing out loud, "it would mean that you knew that not only myself, but you, too, would be injured as well…Unless you didn't remember or even know the outcome of the mixture of poison and fire… For I assure you, the two don't mix willingly…"

Still their eyes held each other and did so until Sesshomaru decidedly broke the silence.

"You're not like ordinary women," came the Prince's blunt and livid retort.

"Really?"

"Most women would have run at the first sign of strength. Run home to their husbands or lovers or their masters of the evening." Hints of arrogance laced within his words.

But Toorima only smiled wryly. "I assure you, I have none."

Finally sick of her and her tongue, Sesshomaru rushed through the thick smoke with his poisonous talons at the ready. Though he liked the idea of her being caught off guard by this sudden charge, the Lord knew better, for her sharp eyes followed him the entire time. Forward came the greedy claws, but back went the maiden of the flames, flipping back onto her hands and twisting in midair so that she landed facing him.

He chased her with another slash, and still another. While she managed to easily elude each of these, he did manage to return with a few strands of silken black and red hair.

"Heh. I'm surprised a young maiden such as yourself knows how to battle with powers so above your status," spat Sesshomaru, still feeling the strands between his fingers.

Her image wavered in the intense heat that pushed out and away from her. Around him, the air became thick and almost intolerable. He could feel himself begin to perspire. A bright aura surrounded her slender figure and her eyes closed. The aura changed into flames that raged savagely around her, spiraling up to the sky,casting an eerie glow on the forest around them. The heat intensified, forcing Sesshomaru to take a step backwards.

Eyes, no longer with purple irises, but furiously vermilion throughout the entire lids, shot daggers at him as they found their target. The fires raged on violently, ingesting their mistress into a tomb of thunderous flame.

But Sesshomaru would never let himself be afraid of such a trick. Instead, he looked straight into the red eyes and the fading outline of the girl, predicting what her next move would be. "What reasons have you to fight? You've no children, no lover, and no husband and, you say, no master. You fight for no reason."

"I fight for a reason beyond your understanding," the image throw back in his face, only proving to distemper the Lord. The fire pushed out at him. "Prepare to die, Lord Sesshomaru!"

Within his own accommodations, the odd reptilian-looking brother cared not what whores his elder brother held in his arms this night. Now that Manten had his own rooms away from his brother's business, he didn't care how much noise Hiten and his girls made during the night.

Though he knew that these women fell into Hiten's arms, it came close to disgusting Manten how many Hiten always had. All men were allowed to take their pleasure with women, but there was no logic in Hiten's actions. Soon there would be no women left virgins to either of them.

Manten sighed. He had never had his way with beautiful women like Hiten had. Somehow Manten had missed out on his father's good looks, unlike his brother. Instead, he was short, round, bald and part reptile like his mother.

Fate was a bastard. He pushed the curtain out of his way as he walked out on the terrace. Dark cloud covered the moon here and the air was cool on his skin. Manten opened his mouth wide, gathering his lightning charges and fired them into the clouds.

In return, the clouds took in the stream of electricity and waited before wringing them out all over the place, lightning raining down unequally around the mountain of the Thunder Brothers.

And for some reason, Mantan smiled.

With what he believed was her left arm, shecame at him along with the fit of flames, as fast as ever. Though he bypassed her as well as he could, he couldn't get away completely.

A sharp metal grating sound filled the air over the flames as her claws carved into his breastplate and shoulder guard. Sesshomaru flinched at the sound but managed to get away with only broken armor. They parted, Toorima in flames at one end of the clearing and Sesshomaru at the other, where the loose pieces of his armor fell to the ground with a heavy clunk! He lifted his head and glared at her in a secret dismay.

"Why do you hold back?"

She sneered. "I hold back? What of the blade at your hip? Throughout this entire battle, you've laid not a finger on its sheath." A disdainful grin arose on her refined lips. "Am I not worthy of your sword?"

He seethed in anger. "Hardly." Tenseiga was hardly worth calling a sword.

The shadowy girl laughed again. "My blood is too rich, I suppose," murmured Toorima, just loud enough for Sesshomaru to catch.

But Sesshomaru taunted back, "My sword desires clean blood of nobler demons than that of a maiden who acts like a warrior."

The smile faded from Toorima's face and somehow flew to Sesshomaru's. The energy around both of them grew as he gathered strength and her aura grew, the fires spurring again and reached up to the heavens.

He rushed in and the battle continued.

"Lord Hiten?" A finger traced the muscles in his chest delicately, and then her hand raced across his torso, just skimming his skin enough to get his blood flowing again.

"What?"

Her head landed ever so gently on his chest as the hand went around his breast and neck. But the voice that left her lips was serious. "Payment?"

Hiten sat still for a moment before laughing in confusion. "Payment?" He laughed again.

The girl stopped caressing him. "Yes. Payment." The voice sounded more irate now.

"What about it?" Hiten's anger began to rise.

"When will I be getting –"

"If I remember correctly," Hiten cut her off, sitting up in his bed, making the concubine do the same, "it was you who throw yourself freely into my arms."

The eyes of the girl hardened and glared. She slipped out of his bed and began to dress. Her hair was a mess and she looked tired and angry. But Hiten wasn't done with her yet.

"Wench!" He jumped out of the bed and grabbed her by the arm. "Where do you think you're going?"

She was barely half dressed as he pulled the furious doxy into him and pressed his lips against hers. But to his surprise, she pulled away with a newfound strength and swung her hand at his face, connecting powerfully. The lash made Hiten turn his head for a second or two, though his hand kept hold of the wriggling woman's arm.

As his face turned back around, he saw defiance in the face he had slept with not hours ago. "Ignorant wench!" He raised his own hand and backhanded her as hard as he could, forcing her out of his grip and onto the floor where she lay unmoving. A second passed where she lay completely still, unconscious. Then she moved, groaned and looked up at him in utter fear.

"I was deciding whether to let you go free to your whorehouse where I found you or whether I was going to eat you alive," boomed Hiten, enjoying the palpable fear in her eyes. "Now you've picked your own fate." The color drained from her face. He slapped her again and she began to cry.

He walked away, placing his clothes and armor on angrily. When he made himself descent, he turned to see her leaning up against his bed, crying silently. A bruise was starting to form on her right cheek, swelling already with colors.

Seeing her pitiful sight and the weaknesses she had made him disgusted with her. Toorima would never cry at such an injury. Their eyes met and she backed away like a battered child.

He approached her and grabbed her by the arm, throwing her on the bed. She cried but did nothing to stop him. "Lord Hiten, please. Let me go!"

"Shut up." He pressed his talons into the skin covering her ribs. She screamed as the skin parted and he pressed his lips to the cut, drinking her delectable blood.

Manten sat on the stairs that led from his terrace up to Hiten's and looked around when he heard his brother.

"Manten!"

"Aye, Brother?"

"There's a woman in my chambers. Do with her what you will. I have no use for her anymore." His voice was annoyed and on the edge of exploding, but he was distracted too. His teeth were tainted red and his eyes seemed to be glowing.

"Yes, brother," responded the younger. "But tell me. Did you drain her blood?"

Hiten looked at him calmly. "Not all of it." He jumped into the sky and called down. "But she is dead, I can assure you." And the elder brother laughed under his breath.

"And where will you be going this late in the eve?"

The clouds roared and Hiten responded with, "out."

But Manten already knew before he said anything. Toorima was like some main attraction to Hiten.

Hiten left charging on the dark army of clouds that rumbled with lightning.

Manten sighed deeply. He could not blame Hiten for being so infatuated with the Angel of Death. Regardless of her cold temper, she was certainly lovely. Manten had seen her only twice and yet her image stuck with him. With beautiful black and crimson hair that flowed generously and fully down to the small of her back, her eyes a dazzling and luscious shade of purple and perfect features carved into ivory skin, Toorima was the closest to perfect a woman's looks could be. To add only more to her image of an angel, she had the type of body any man would love to have beneath him in the dead of the night.

But her aloofness was ever present and both him and his brother knew that she'd never lower herself enough to sleep with Hiten. And that made her even more desirable.

Yes, Manten secretly wanted her for himself, but he knew that it would never come to pass. He would never tell a word of his desires to Hiten, either. It was a dangerous subject to discuss between them, though Hiten spoke blunt about it.

Just one more thing that separated Hiten and Manten.

With his blood boiling beneath his skin, Hiten pushed the cluster of clouds onwards and forwards. Not completely over what had happened earlier, his mind wandered onto different subjects, most of them connected in some way to Toorima or another.

He was having second thoughts about visiting her this night before he saw lights coming from the Forest.

"What is this?" He asked himself. The lights dashed back and forth and he recognized fire.

Maybe this night will become interesting, he reasoned.

He spurred the clouds to move further.

To Be continued and what not.

Hmmm. That last part wasn't really needed, was it? I don't know. Anyway, feel free to review. I've been trying to keep up. Totally took the day off outta school to do this chapter. Not really. I was kinda sick. Whatever. You don't care.

Yeah. I made the mistake last chapter saying that this story wasn't gunna be posted up on only here or something. Well this s the only website that this story's gunna be posted on. For now anyway. I took it down off of AnimeSpiral. In case any of you know this from there. Whatever.