The dojo was silent, eerily so; aside from the blood curdling sound of hard meat and bone coming into contact with badly bruised flesh. Every so often, an involuntary moan or gurgle could be heard slipping past the lips of the unconscious Western General.

Despite the stands being packed with friendly spectators, none would come to his aid. None would dare. For the one dishing him out his punishment was the only one who would outrank him, aside from the newly appointed heir. And even those who had wanted to step in and put an end to this gratuitous display valued their own life too much to approach The Western Lord in his current state.

The match started out commonly enough. Each opponent had his sword in hand, and blows were exchanged. The crowd cheered and roared with excitement, as it had been some time since their leader had seen fit to step onto the platform to show off for them; and as Jiro was the only one who could give him even a slight run for his money, it was going to be a good fight.

It wasn't long before Sesshoumaru had disarmed him, and the fight should have stopped there. Instead, he tossed his own sword aside and began pummeling his general within an inch of his life. It had only taken a few forceful blows to the head to see him knocked down, but instead of halting his actions to claim his victory, he straddled the bloody and swollen demon to continue raining punches across his previously unmarked features.

These were supposed to be friendly spars. Even those who were hashing out disputes only remained in the fight until there was a clear winner, and then called a truce. Sesshoumaru, despite his vicious nature, was a demon of ethics. And though Jiro had not technically tapped out of the fight, it was clear that he would have, had he been able.

That was when cheers of encouragement from the crowd became muted, as all watched in morbid horror at the unbridled assault still taking place in front of their eyes. By the glowing red in his eyes, and the painful, dominating youki emanating from his being, any who knew Sesshoumaru could see that the powerful demon was no longer himself. His beast, usually kept reasonably at bay, had full control of his faculties, and was a lethal threat to any who would stand in his way. So they could only watch.

It was clear that this was personal. Whatever the Western General had done to deserve such a beat down, it had to have been quite an injury to their lord. Several in the audience had already seen fit to exit, whether in fear of their own safety, or simply unable to continue bearing witness to the gross overuse of force from the normally stoic and unaffected demon. At this point, it looked likely that he was going to kill him.

Inuyasha came onto the scene then. He was irritated that now this time he had been interrupted by a Western Soldier, as he had been enjoying his honeymoon with his new wife, and had not left his chambers since his wedding night. The guard's panic unsettled him enough to deign to leave his room, and at his request, come down to the dojo to try his hand at talking some mercy into his enraged half-brother.

His eyes grew wide as he saw what was taking place, and he didn't hesitate a moment before rushing to the daiyoukai's side. Even at his worst, he had never seen Sesshoumaru so beside himself with rage. So apparently inconsolable. He had borne the brunt of his displeasure on several occasions, though not in some time. And if he had thought that perhaps those days were behind the older dog demon, he was seeing that he still absolutely had it in him. It seemed he had just not seen fit to showcase it until this moment.

He was lucky to avoid getting battered himself, as he grabbed his brother by the arm and made to yank him off of Jiro. He didn't budge at first, but putting his whole body between them and pushing, had at least managed to get the dog demon to back off- whether it was by force or mercy, he couldn't be sure.

"Alright. Easy, psycho," he instructed lowly. His proximity to his brother's face made it easy to hear the growling tone to his breath, slipping past dripping fangs poking out over frothing lips.

Sesshoumaru regarded him a long moment as he breathed heavily, then took a step back to address the crowd. Voice ragged, he demanded, "Who's next?" Silence, of course, followed.

"Kouga?" He turned to the wolf, who was visibly shaken, but at least trying to hide it.

"Hey, no thanks. I'm good." He was sure he had wanted to thrash him by now, and wasn't about to volunteer for the opportunity.

"Too tired from molesting other demon's women to fight, cuss?" He wouldn't dare to respond.

"How about you, Haki? Have you anything amusing to say to me now?" Perhaps he had gone too far in ribbing him at the meeting. He in no way had mistaken Sesshoumaru's recent acts of kindness towards others as weakness, but perhaps his lord's fury had not been on the forefront of his mind as of late. Maybe it should have been. He simply looked down and shook his head.

"Yoshi? You refuse to negotiate with This One? We may settle our differences then right here!" He held out his arms in invitation, and the panther could only stare back wide-eyed, instincts preparing for a possible fight of which he wanted no part.

He turned to the bulk of the crowd. "You think to challenge This Sesshoumaru? Challenge him now, if you dare!" It was an uncomfortable silence. They were too afraid to even move a muscle to leave, for fear of bringing attention to themselves; bringing attention to his beast.

Inuyasha put a brave, yet uncertain hand on his shoulder and pleaded, "Hey, man. Calm down." Sesshoumaru dramatically shrugged him away.

"You think that you are now heir, you are a match for This One? Are you so eager for my title? It is yours; you need only take it from me," he threatened. Daring his brother to fight. Begging him to. Inuyasha only regarded him sadly.

He thought he had changed. It was upsetting to see him still capable of such visceral, but he felt confident that though it was indeed still there, under normal circumstances it could be controlled. This must have been building up for some time. Perhaps this pressure cooker needed to release steam a little more often than as of late.

Kagome had been watching. She had come to the spars to watch Sesshoumaru in action, and had gotten quite a show for her first match. Normally, such a sight would have sickened her. She would have been appalled at his actions, and consumed by fear in his presence.

But seeing her incredibly strong, and devastatingly powerful demon lover impose his great force over the one who had wronged him brought out an entirely different emotion. She watched him render the demon useless, and taunt and challenge a room full of youkai to dare to cross him, and became overcome with a lust so strong she could no longer contain it.

She ran full speed to jump into his arms, and wrapped her legs around his waist as she kissed him with uncontained passion. This seemed to distract him from his previous bloodlust. Not controlling or tempering him, simply redirecting his dominance towards more pleasurable endeavors.

He grabbed her high on her thighs, pulling her against him forcefully as his claws broke her skin. The pain barely registered, as she was more focused on the unavoidable arousal only made stronger as she ground it into the throbbing erection pressing against her core.

He was kissing her roughly, inclined to display his dominance in one way or another. He held no shred of the tender care he had been showing her as of late, and when he shred her skirt and panties with a tear of his deadly claws, she only moaned in excitement to encourage him further.

If there were any in the fortress who were unaware that their leader had taken to fucking the human miko, they were certainly aware now. None would dare voice disgust, if that was what they indeed felt, as they watched the demon lord enter his priestess, and take her roughly in front of them.

The flaring of her reiki was terrifying to the defenseless demons in the crowd. Any previously in her presence could feel the power she harbored, and likely knew what she had done to Naraku. Seeing it displayed so outright, and warring with the unmatched youki of Sesshoumaru's display, was a very unwelcomed and uncomfortable threat, causing a mass exodus from the dojo from those not rendered motionless in fear.

Inuyasha didn't know what had come over Kagome, but he figured when she came to, she would likely be mortified at the way she was behaving. It wasn't entirely uncommon for demons to take their females in the presence of others, but the sensibilities of humans tended to be much more tender...usually.

"Everybody out!" he demanded to the crowd. That was all most had needed to hear. There were a few that opted to remain to watch the show, but Inuyasha ordered them again, "Out!" Though the couple didn't seem to mind at all now, he thought they might appreciate his actions once they came to their senses. He was a leader to these soldiers now, and it looked like this would be his first demand of them as heir.

He was snarling and thrashing as he took her while he stood. Whatever had been pent up in him these past few days was coming out in the form of this outlet. Taking his pound of flesh from Jiro was only the start. He needed a pound from his miko as well. Her recent behavior had pushed him to his limits. But if he had intended to put her in her place, she didn't seem to mind it.

He flipped her over the edge of the platform, bending her over like a demon bitch to assert his dominance. To show her why his word would be heeded. She was moaning loudly at the intrusion, the sounds echoing off of the dojo walls. He took the skin above her pulse point in his mouth and bit down, though not enough to draw blood. Her reaction brought him down slightly from his demonic high.

"Do it! Make me yours, Sesshoumaru!" That was all he had been wanting to hear, but he was unable to fulfill her request. Though he longed to sink his teeth in her supple flesh, his instincts were strong, and currently at the forefront of his being. And, for a reason unknown to him, were screaming at him to desist.

This was wrong. All wrong. Sure, he could take her. Make her his mate here and now, as he desired to do. But he had once told her that he would not take her while she was not herself. And as much as it pleased him to have her in such a state; as a demon bitch would be if she were, she was clearly not herself. Something had been off with her lately. And until he could be certain of what it was, he could not proceed.

That wasn't to say he couldn't still take her this time, in this manner. Make her bend to his will, and shout her pleasure so that it reverberated off the dojo walls. And so he did, tearing his name from her throat as she came hard; and with a deafening growl of his own, he followed.

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A/N: Double post Saturday! See, I'm not all bad... :)