It is probably safe to say that this chapter is long overdue. I have not forgotten about this story, life just had plans haha

I did notice I stated the type of yokai that the new characters were, but did not explain it in case anyone did not know.

Youko is a ningyo, which is a Japanese mermaid. Ningyo resembles fish more than humans. Kaito is a mizuchi, which is a dragon or serpent-like creature that lives near water.

In any case, I hope you enjoy this chapter and please forgive any bad grammar haha

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It had only been a day since Kimiko had awoken from her brief comatose state. The Lord of the West had given strict orders to her. She was to rest in her bed and not do anything that required a lot of physical activity. Though she was not happy about it, it was something the healer recommended. However, Sesshomaru would have ordered such things even if the healer had never spoken about it. Not much was known about her abilities or even the toll it took on her body. It was best to play it safe for the time being.

At first, Kimiko was ready to argue but, she knew better. Sesshomaru, just like Inuyasha, was stubborn and set in his ways. No amount of bickering or pleading would change his mind. So, she did what she knew would work best. Nod and agree in his face and the moment there was an opening, do exactly the opposite. She understood the concerns about her wellbeing but she honestly felt fine, excluding her stiff muscles due to being unconscious for a week and a mild headache. The fact that her body had been still for so long was even more of a reason to move around in her opinion. Going behind his back was sure to upset him, but he couldn't get mad if he never found out. Even though honestly, she didn't care if it made him mad or not. To her, how he felt about it seemed to be more of a personal problem for Sesshomaru, not her.

With her mind set on the plan she had made, Kimiko sat in her room as she awaited an opening to slip away. It wasn't until her dishes from her breakfast were taken away did she move. She waited a moment to give the servant enough time to be away from her room before she quickly got up. Her arms went up in the air as far as they could go as she stretched. As her back arched, her joints made a low popping sound and released some of the stiffness she felt. Kimi quickly went to her wardrobe and selected an outfit that allowed for easy movement. The yukata she held was black with pink floral designs and made of high-quality fabric. Though the sleeves were longer than she wanted, the length of it was shorter than normal, stopping above her knees. The outfit wasn't ideal for what she had in mind but she would at least look decent enough should she happen to run across visitors. Disrobing from her night attire, she threw on the new outfit with haste. She finished her outfit with a pink obi before striding over to the door. Slowly, she poked her head out before stepping out completely after seeing that the hallway was empty. Kimiko took a quick peek into Rin's room but found that it too was empty and closed the door.

Since her daughter was more than likely busy with studies, Kimiko decided that it was probably the best time to begin her training. She had been training with the general of Sesshomaru's army before the incident, however, seeing as how she is supposed to be on bed rest, asking him to train with her was more than likely a bad idea. Quietly, she walked down the hallway and through the castle, doing her best to avoid anyone seeing her. It wasn't long until she had made it outside. The castle's dojo was in a separate building in the castle's grounds but it wasn't that far away from where she now stood. As she walked forward to her destination, a hand reached out from behind and grabbed her shoulder. Out of reflex, she jumped and grabbed the hand, spun around while twisting the unknown person's arm. Lavender eyes widen as she realized who it was that had spooked her. Instantly, she let go and bowed while apologizing profusely.

Kaito placed his arm back to his side, unphased by what she had just done. Humor shined brightly in his eyes that were similar to the ocean. The corners of his mouth raised into a smile as he laughed gently. "Relax, Kimiko-san. I should not have snuck up on you like that. Please, forgive me." She rose to a regular standing position but blushed in embarrassment. Noting this, he decided to try to focus on a different subject. "I saw you stealthily moving around and became curious so I had decided to follow you. May I ask what you are doing?"

Embarrassed even more, she laughed awkwardly, "The short answer is that I was supposed to take it easy today but, I wanted to train. To prevent anyone seeing me and telling a certain someone I am doing the opposite of what I am supposed to, I tried to sneak away."

The Lord of the South only laughed more. Having a handsome noble yokai laugh at her like this only made her feel more embarrassed and stupid about the situation. After he finished laughing, he continued to smile but this time there was a smirk to it. "I'll tell you what. If you spar against me, I won't say a word. If I win though, you have to tell me about your eyes. However, if you win, I will do any one thing you would ask of me. Of any nature," he winked as he finished talking.

Kimiko felt hesitant about the situation she now found herself in. Kaito was trying to test her, more so the West. If she did poorly, it would reflect badly not on just her, but also Sesshomaru and all under his rule. Then there was the fact that if he won, she would have to explain her eyes. She had a simple way of explaining it without saying the full truth but the worry was if he pressed for more information or did not believe her. As she was thinking that over, the last part of what he said sunk in. Was he hitting on her? Mentally, she shook her head of the notion. Of course, he wasn't insisting on anything of the sort.

"Deal," Kimiko filled the silence between them before leading him to the dojo. Once inside, she went to a rack that held bokken, a wooden sword used for training. As she went to grab one, Kaito cleared his throat. With a quick turn of her head, she saw the mizuchi holding two actual swords he retrieved from a different rack.

"I figured we could use these instead," he smiled with an innocence that Kimiko was now beginning to question. "In a real fight you use these, so my men train with these instead. The idea of using a fake sword always seemed silly to me."

Slowly, she removed her hand from the bokken that she had touched and made her way to him. With each second that had passed, she was starting to regret leaving her room. Was the Lord of the South truly nice or was it a facade hiding a hidden motive? After grabbing the sword from him, the two went into the center of the room, then backed away to give space in between them. The moment Kimiko got into her stance, she let out a deep breath and carefully watched her opponent. Before she could finish her exhale, he moved with lightning speed. In an instant, he was in front of her swinging his sword. The only thing she could do was block as he continuously struck at her. With each hit, it took everything for her not to fall backwards. Annoyed by not having any openings, Kimiko decided to create her own. As his blade struck against her's once more, she took the chance and pushed with all her might. Her right foot quickly shot and out and attempted to make him lose his balance. To her dismay, he quickly realized her goal and lept back.

A snake-like grin appeared on his face and it took everything for Kimiko not to show how creeped out she was by it. Noticing her slight falter, he dashed for trying to take the chance to bring her down. With great speed, Kimiko jumped back, dodging every swing. At least she was until she felt her back hit against the wall. Mentally, she cursed at herself for not keeping an eye on her position in the room. Once more, he swung at her and all she could do was jump to her right. His blade did not cut her but it did cut the yukata she wore. It created a long slit on the left side, revealing more thigh than she personally liked. She glared at him before rushing at him, hoping to use the same tactics he used against her. It worked for a moment, but she did not expect him to purposely take a hit instead of block her attack. As her sword cut the front of his kimono, he punched her in the gut. The blow knocked her to the ground and caused her to let go of her sword. Before she could try to get up, he was on top of her with her hands pinned above her head and his face just inches away from her's.

"I must say, you weren't that bad," he smiled as he spoke and didn't move his face away from her's. As he went to speak again, his focused changed from her to something else. Following his eyes, Kimiko realized that it wasn't something, but someone. The moment her lavender eyes rested on his figure, she knew she was in trouble.

Normally golden eyes were red as they glared at the two on the floor. Sesshomaru did not speak a word, only growled. Noticing the danger in this situation, Kaito quickly stood up and helped Kimiko up. He turned to the Inu with an innocent smile, "Don't be too angry with her Sesshomaru-sama. I asked her to spar with me. I must say she is a pretty decent fighter." With a quick farewell to Kimiko, Kaito carefully made his way past the enraged Lord of the West and left the dojo.

In her opinion, how he just left her there to deal with Sesshomaru on her own was a bit rude. Then again, she was his alpha female. Even though normally it is a mate's role, it was still her duty to calm him down. The fact that he was furious that she hadn't listened to him wasn't going to help her, though.

"Sessho-"

"You disobeyed this one," he growled. "You were told to rest and instead of listening, you sneak out unattended knowing the fact there are yokai who I do not command that are present! Not only did you fight one of the said yokai, but you also used an actual weapon! Had actual harm come to him, there would have been enough reason for a war or for them to demand your life!" He gritted his teeth in rage as walked up to her. "Then there is the fact that you could have been severely injured! Lastly," he snarled, "I find you pinned to the ground with him on top of you!"

Lavender eyes widened in shock for multiple reasons. She felt stupid for all the different ways she didn't think that it could have all possibly went wrong. The fact that her safety was such a concern to him still shocked and amazed her due to the fact she was not used to it, at least from him. She may have been his alpha female, but she didn't feel she was personally important to him nor did she know why he would actually care about her. Duty and Rin were the only reasons she could think of on the spot that made sense. It wasn't until he said it out loud, however, did she realize of the position she and Kaito were in. Had Sesshomaru not known or had someone else walked in, it would've been possible to get a very different impression of what was going on.

"You're right." She stared at the ground before getting the courage to look him in the face. "I was stupid and didn't think of any consequences. Even though I am lucky I didn't, I could've possibly caused more trouble for you. I am sorry, Sesshomaru-sama."

The daiyokai stared at her as she apologized. It was true he was mad for her not listening, however, he wasn't concerned about the threat of war. He was sure he could win against the South. It was the fact that she once more could have been harmed and even more so due to the reason of how he had found them. Just the thought of her out of breath, pinned down underneath the Lord of the South with their faces inches apart, made his blood boil even more. The rumors that he knew about the said yokai did nothing to soothe his temper.

'Mine.'

Though normally he would argue with his beast about such ridiculous claims, he didn't this time. For once, he agreed. She may not be his mate and he had no intentions of such, but she was still his alpha female. No one was ever going to touch her or lay claims to her in such ways.

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"Sesshomaru-sama! Oh, it's been so long," Namika's high pitched voice echoed inside the castle as she ran to Sesshomaru. The woman almost threw her arms around him in a hug but, stopped when she saw the look he gave. Instead of being defeated, she just smiled brightly at him and tilted her head to try to look cute.

Normally, Kimiko gives a chance to get to know someone first before she makes opinions. However, she couldn't help but find the daughter of the Lord and Lady of the South, annoying. She was a stunning spitting image of her mother except for her eyes which resembled an ocean just like her father's. Her raven black hair was beautifully pinned up with blue hair ornaments that matched her deep blue kimono that had a wave pattern on it. All in all, the woman was gorgeous and put any female near her to shame, but Kimi couldn't help but feel the personality didn't match. All of her cute smiles and high pitched voice just seemed fake. At that moment, she would have rathered to go back to earlier that day where she was dealing with a furious daiyokai than to deal with this.

"Oh! You must be the new alpha female!"

Kimiko snapped out of her thoughts and focused back onto Namika who now stood in front of her. She fussed at herself mentally for zoning out and quickly bowed. "Nice to meet you, I am Kimiko." As she stood back up, she tried her best to give a sincere smile.

"What a lovely name you have," Namika exclaimed. "It is so pretty! Such a shame the looks do not match but they do say it is what is on the inside that counts!"

A sincere smile grew bigger as it turned into a fake grin. Kimiko knew this was a moment that she should exercise self-control, but she couldn't help herself. "It's such a shame that my looks cannot even compare to yours! You are such a beauty that you must be the treasure of the South. I'm amazed that no one has tried to bury you 6 feet under yet."

Namika's smile faltered as the room got silent. Jaken stood by Kimiko with his mouth dropped open, growing scared by the second of what would happen.

Laughter filled the deadly silence. "I must say, Lord Sesshomaru, you have found a really unique one. Quick on her feet and quick with words. I can see why she is currently your alpha female," Kaito continued to chuckle. His grin was once more snake-like which only set Kimiko on edge. Something about him just continued to creep her out.

The Lady of the South went to her daughter and placed a hand on her shoulder. "She is correct that our daughter is such a treasured beauty. If you factor in that and her exceptional bloodline as well as her intelligence and strength, she would make a wonderful mate for you." Youko's orange eyes gleamed with hope as they focused on Sesshomaru. She expected a lot from her daughter during this visit, something that did not go unnoticed by anyone.

"As This one has already informed you, matters of that nature are not of this one's interest," Sesshomaru stated coldly. If he were to be entirely honest, the whole formality of greeting his newly arrived guest was not in his interest as well. Nor was dealing with them after the fact. Namika seemed the same as she was when they were younger, annoying. He had better things to do than waste his time with her. The only thing he was currently interested in was getting away from them and dragging Kimiko with him. The image of her pinned under Kaito still plagued his mind and having them near each other in person did nothing to soothe his pent up rage.

It was not hard for Jaken to pick up on the fact that his lord wanted this exchange to be over. Deciding to take quick action, he announced he would show Namika to her room. Though she was far from ready to leave Sesshomaru's presence so soon, Namika smiled and excused herself from the group. Not wanting to pass up on the chance his servant created for him, the Lord of the West took his leave as well. He stated there were matters for both him and Kimiko to tend to. With a swift pace, he left for his study.

Bright orange orbs narrowed in contemplation as they focused on the daiyokai's back. With a barely audible sigh, Youko faced away and took her leave to catch up to her daughter. Based on how the brief events that took place during the introduction, she was sure that having Namika seduce Sesshomaru was going to take a lot more work than originally thought. A devilish smirk, that no one was around to see, appeared on her face. The extra work was of no consequence, after all, she loved a good challenge.

After seeing Youko walk away, Kimiko turned the opposite direction to catch up to Sesshomaru. The moment she took a step in that direction, a hand shot out from behind her and grabbed her right wrist. She swiftly spun around, only to be greeted by Kaito's face being only inches from her's. His ocean blue eyes were nearly closed slits as he smiled at her innocently. Kimiko couldn't help but compare his face to that of a serpent again.

"I do look forward to hearing the story about your eyes," he whispered with a silvery voice. "After all, it is safe to say I won."

Kimiko unintentionally held her breath as she just stood there. Unease spread through her body like wildfire. Her mind willed for her body to move and put distance between them, however, it didn't listen. No matter what she did, her legs would not move. Her feet felt as though they were rooted in the ground at that very spot. Panic began to engulf her as her body remained unmoving.

A hand tightened on her shoulder from behind her. "As it has been stated, we have matters to attend to," a deep toneless voice said.

Kaito released his hold and smiled, "Of course. I shall take my leave."

After the yokai walked away, she felt as if she could once more breathe. Her toes curled in her shoes as she secretly tested her regained ability to control her own body. Realizing a familiar hand still clutched her shoulder, she lifted her head to gaze at its owner. Though Sesshomaru's face and voice held no emotion, she could see some type of anger in his eyes as he glared at Kaito's retreating form.

Gently, she placed a hand on top of his and lightly squeezed. The small comforting gesture broke Sesshomaru from his thoughts and his eyes met hers. The moment did not last long, however. He quickly released her shoulder and once more continued back to his study. No words needed to be said for Kimiko to know she was supposed to follow. She didn't fully know what the "matters" were that they needed to tend to, but she had a good idea it would involve another lecture.