Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters in this fan fiction are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. The original characters and plot are the property of Chiaztolite, who is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Summary of Previous Chapter: Shouri accepted Sesshōmaru's gift and wore the kimono to the inuyōkai ancient mating ritual of "Attempting", proclaiming to everyone there that she belonged to the western lands. Dissapointed that Ryoshin chose not to attend the ritual, she proceeded, but did not find a mate. Sesshōmaru revealed to his cousin Yuusou that he believed Zoichi's feelings for Shouri was more than sibling affection, and likely dangerous. Sakki, in the mean time, ran out of time to mete out her punishment. But before she found Sesshōmaru, he had found her first.

Rulers of Four Directions

Chapter 30: A Life for a Life

He sensed she was not alone even before he arrived.

As soon as he landed on a spot near the clearing, some distance away from her, he could spot two figures. Both were female. One of them, with hair and skin as pale as moonlight, and -strangely- blindfolded, was sitting demurely on top of a large boulder. The other one lurked in the shadows, but the moonlight shone brightly on the bone-white mask she wore to conceal her entire face with only two almond-shaped openings where her eyes would be.

Both had no aura. They were immortals just like her.

He was surprised to realize their presence irked him. He had never thought he preferred to meet her alone, or even entertained the notion that perhaps he enjoyed their private rendezvous.

Sakki turned around and he observed her face closely. Impassive as always, her mien never really gave away any emotions, but he caught a flicker of something in her eyes. Dismay? Fear?

The latter seemed ridiculous, since the female hardly ever shown any emotions in his presence, and least of all fear. In fact, even while emotionless, her actions had always been quite brazen: taking Rin's soul to the afterlife despite his numerous warnings, placing the curse on his hand, and her general habit of appearing out of nowhere.

There was silence in the clearing Sakki had chosen as the stage for their duel. Not even the crickets and the night insects dared to make a sound, for fear of disturbing something they knew nothing about. Sakki took a few steps towards him until they stood facing each other a few arm's length apart. Her grim countenance was matched by the black clothing she wore, and that ever-present black ribbon that encircled her throat. The wind blew, tousling those black curls about her face. The long sleeves fluttered to reveal a pair of pale, slender arms.

On the sideline, sensing the fight was to begin momentarily, the goddess Kinkō lowered her blindfold and opened her eyes, revealing pupils and irises the colour of the palest silver.

Lowering herself into a wide stance, Sakki put one hand on the hilt of her sword and charged. The scrape of metal against sheath was the first sound that broke the silence. The gleam of metal shone brightly under the moonlight. Sesshōmaru had just enough time to unsheathe his sword to block the attack. Naturally he chose Tenseiga, the sword that could cut any being not of this world. She leaped away at the contact, twisting her lithe body mid-air to swing her sword as she descended upon him. He leaped back, feeling the cold breeze from her sword's motions slicing at his neck. He leaped back again while she pursued, aggressively, relentlessly, and their swords collided again and again.

Sakki knew in terms of physical strength, she was no match for him. So she relied on her speed, her agility, the intricate footwork and the swordsmanship she had honed tirelessly for a thousand years as the Death God's Advocate. The condition of her punishment left her with only two things to do: fight with every ounce of her strength, and trust that the yōkai lord's skills matched hers at the very least.

But, as they thrust and parried, it was becoming more and more clear that the yōkai lord Sesshōmaru was not taking this fight seriously. He countered only because she attacked. His moves were all defenses; he had not swung his sword at her even once. When she pursued him with the aggression she had been certain would rise his ire, he leapt back out of reach and waited for her to proceed.

Sakki flashed a quick glance at their captive audience. How long before the Goddess Kinkō decided it was all a ruse and kill them both herself? How long before Sonemi whisper that idea in the Goddess' ear?

She realized she needed to do something drastic to make Sesshōmaru understood the dire situation they were in. With all the strength and speed she could muster, she lunged at him, sword extended with its sharp tip pointed at his neck. He blocked her readily, the harsh sound of clashing metal ripping through the air. For the few seconds when their faces were merely inches away, Sakki sought Sesshōmaru's eyes, beseeching him to hear her silent message.

'Hear me, yōkai,' Sakki urged inwardly. 'You need to fight harder.'

The yōkai lord's brows suddenly furrowed as though he truly was hearing her thoughts, but Sakki knew she needed to make an impact now. Without wasting even a second, she swirled, swinging her sword as she made the full turn, and slashed Sesshōmaru across the chest.

The scent of fresh yōkai blood wafted in the air. Leaping backward and landing a distance away from her wounded opponent, she shook her sword free of his blood. Droplets of red were splattered onto the grass-covered ground. She had maimed him, though she knew the wound was superficial.

Once again they stood at an impasse.

"I did tell you that the next time we meet, I will have to kill you," she reminded him.

Perhaps he would be furious now and slay her with one swing of Tenseiga. She would perish forever, turned into dust, because of a decision she made based on the sympathy she felt for a young girl's plea for life. And for an unexplainable yearning to be connected to a certain yōkai lord, even if that meant affronting him with a curse on his hand. She felt oddly resigned. Over a thousand years of life, both in mortal and immortal realm, she deemed it enough.

Enough.

Sesshōmaru had the strangest feeling the wound she gave him was meant to be a warning. It was nothing but a scratch to him; it did not even deserve a reaction. But it was not until she reminded him of her parting words the last time they met that he realized what was happening.

She would have to kill him. Have to.

He understood now. She had broken the laws of the immortals by bringing Rin back to the mortal realm. To atone for her sin, the deities must have decreed her to kill him. A life for a life, a soul for a soul. Those two immortal witnesses… They were most likely sent to validate her efforts.

And judging from how hard she had tried to rouse his aggression, it appeared her success hinged on his participation.

He nearly smirked. She wanted to sample his true strength? So be it.

Pushing back, he watched her eyes widening just a touch. He drove her away with the strength of one arm, forcing her to leap back and retreat. Giving her no opportunity to rest or launch another attack, he lunged at her with Tenseiga aimed straight at her head. The blade glowed with ethereal blue light. She would have been turned into dust if she had not bent back, her agility and reflex saving her narrowly by the skin of her teeth. When she straightened, she cast him a look, those elegant eyebrows slightly arched, and he had the strangest urge to… smile.

It was not until then that he realized he was enjoying this duel. Usually he found his opponent vexing and the fight only mildly stimulating, if not downright tedious. Thus he despised lengthy battles. He had formed a habit of dispatching his foes quickly and efficiently for the sole purpose of not having to deal with them a second longer than necessary. This, however… He found sparring with her exhilarating.

Her sword glowed purple now, and as their blades collided once more, the ethereal aura of their blades mingled and weaved together. She held him at bay, gripping the hilt of her sword tightly with both hands, her teeth clenching with exertion. It was the most emotion she had ever allowed him to witness: this little bit of vulnerability during their duel. She caught him staring at her, and her unearthly amethyst eyes returned the stare right back at him. And at precisely this moment, Sesshōmaru heard — or thought he heard — a distant call echoing in his head. It resounded, reverberated through the entire fibre of his being, shaking him to the core.

Her eyes held no such recognition that he had to surmise she had not heard it. He did not know what it meant; or what it even was. This call… He could not describe it or explain it, but one thing he knew, all the way down to his bones: it was meant for him, and only him.

When she suddenly retreated, he pursued, leaping high in the air and swinging Tenseiga in a broad arc from overhead. If she had been a slower foe, he might have cut her head off in a clean swipe. But he knew her to be better than most. It did not surprise him when his blade only grazed a lock of hair by her neck. It disintegrated instantly.

Sakki retreated only far enough to avoid a direct hit to her neck. In the split second that it took Sesshōmaru's sword to complete the full arc, she crouched low and lunged at him, striking him from below. Shucking in a quick breath, he dodged her attack just in time, though her sword did graze the side of his neck so slightly, just enough to draw fresh blood to bead along the gash. Sesshōmaru, undeterred, burst into another attack. Doubling his speed, he sprinted towards her and leapt, once again attacking her from overhead. She lifted her sword to block the blow, the ground beneath her cracked and shattered from the force of the collision.

He could feel the tremors in her arms as she blocked his sword with her own blade. Pushing more, he felt her arms starting to give way, but she planted her feet strongly on the ground, and glared at him with the ferociousness he had never expected to see on that aloof face. He was stunned. The auras of their blades crackled and sizzled; bluish purple glow enveloped them in a circle or light. When Sakki started to push his own sword back, he narrowed his eyes and clenched his jaw.

She would not best him.

He exerted his strength, his sword breaking free from Sakki's blade. One powerful swing of Tenseiga sent Sakki hurtling back and skidded across the ground. Not giving her any chance to regain her bearing, Sesshōmaru landed in front of her, the tip of Tenseiga merely a hair's breadth away from her neck.

If either of them shifted just a touch, she would be obliterated. Her position was precarious, as she was on her knees. Her gaze as she looked up at him, however, was unwavering. She showed neither the fear nor the panic any other creatures would have displayed in the face of imminent demise.

Sakki stared, wide-eyed, at the yōkai lord towering before her. The moon was large and bright behind him, the slight breeze made the silky strands of his silver hair swayed. The moonlight played across the chiselled features of his face, and those impenetrable golden eyes never left hers. A little voice inside Sakki's head told her to close her eyes and wait for him to obliterate her at his leisure. Yet, somehow, she did not want to do it. If she was to perish now, she would want the magnificent sight of him to be branded in her memory, for however long she could keep it.

But Sesshōmaru pulled back his sword away from her throat. "With this," he said, still looking down at her. "My debt is paid. I owe you nothing for Rin's life."

Sakki, at a loss for words, could only watch Sesshōmaru returned Tenseiga back into its sheath in one smooth motion. No one there had predicted the proud yōkai lord would rather sheathe his sword than to lop off the head of the female who had put a curse on him. Sonemi certainly did not. She stepped forward, enraged.

"Yōkai! What are you waiting for?! Finish her!"

But Sesshōmaru was not the type to take a command from an unnamed, faceless nobody. He fixed his cold tawny gaze on the female who had crudely ordered him about, not even deigning to response.

Sonemi growled at the mortal's rudeness. "Have you lost your mind, Demon?! You —"

"Sonemi," Kinko's calm voice cut through the fuming female's shouting. "They have fought with all their might. The yōkai has chosen to spare her, as is his right. The condition has been fulfilled; we are finished here."

"But—"

Lashes lifted, Kinko stared at the Advocate who, after seeing the goddess' eerie pale grey eyes staring at her, could only stammer and back down. Sonemi lowered her head and bowed stiffly.

"Very well, Goddess."

"I will make my report to the other deities," Kinko said, looking back at the yōkai lord and the other Advocate, still on her knees. "The two of you are free to go."

Goddess of Justice replaced her blindfold, retreated into the darkness of the forest, and disappeared. Sonemi, though hesitant, followed, but not before she threw them scathing glare. There was powerful hatred there that made Sakki shivered in uneasiness, thinking of what else her spiteful fellow Advocate might have in store for her.

Then, they were alone in the clearing. The wind blew freely now, and the crickets resumed their chirping. Sakki could barely believe she had not yet perished; the hard ground beneath her hands a continuous reminder that she was still anchored to this world.

She looked up to see the yōkai lord Sesshōmaru watching her with some unreadable expression in his face. Sitting back on her heels, her shoulders slumped with confusion. "Why did you spare me, Sesshōmaru?"

He turned and walked away as though she had not spoken at all. It was not until he disappeared beyond the shadows that she heard his answer.

"Because I would like to see you again."