The imp looked between his master and the demoness, confused. "Lady Nishi, do you know Lord Sesshomaru?"
She nodded, a hand to her heart. "Once, a long time ago. He and his father were great friends of the Shikotsu Wolves."
"The Shikotsu Wolves? They died out a century ago, how is it that you know of them?"
"She is the last." Sesshomaru said, looking at her with narrowed eyes. "I did not think I would see you again, Kurome."
"You?" Jaken said, incredulously. "You are Kurome of the Rain, the last of the Shikotsu Wolves?"
"I left that life behind me..." Kurome said, looking between the imp and Sesshomaru.
"You are most definitely worthy of an opponent for Lord Sesshomaru. But why go by another name?" Jaken asked. "You are the last of your people, you should be proud and make your power known to the world!"
"'Lady Nishi' was a title given to me by the elder of a village, the first that accepted me for who and what I was. It means 'lady of the west'. They did not fear me, though they were all humans, and allowed me to stay with them for a short time." She looked at Sesshomaru. "I've gone by that name for nearly eighty years."
"So this is what you have done for a century? Run from your past, taking a new name and sympathizing with humans?" Sesshomaru asked, scoffing.
"I left to protect you! To protect your father!" Kurome said, taking a few steps forward.
"What good that did." Sesshomaru retorted.
Kurome was about to reply, but then she saw the glint of metal and saw her father's pendant, the pendant she had given to the Inu no Taisho before she had left a century ago, the pendant Yukinobu swore to treasure until the day he died.
"Sesshomaru, what happened to your father?" she asked, her ears flat against her hair.
"He was killed by a human years ago."
Sesshomaru's reply was filled with clear hatred towards humans. "'Sho, I'm so sorry..." Kurome said.
Sesshomaru felt a strangely familiar feeling rise within him when she said the pet name she had given him so long ago. "It matters not. Enough time has passed and I have moved on." He turned to leave. "It was refreshing to see you once more, Kurome of the Rain." He started heading west, his plans to return home not wavering. "Jaken, we are leaving."
"B-But, milord, your challenge!" the imp said, put Sesshomaru used his youkai as a whip and snapped it at the imp's feet.
"Do you mean to defy me, Jaken?"
"N-No, milord, of c-course not!"
"Sesshomaru, wait." Kurome said, taking a step towards him. The closer she got, the singing of his youki running through the earrings she still wore after all those years returning. "Why did you wish you to challenge me? Before you knew it was me?"
Sesshomaru stopped, the singing of her own youki coursing through his body as the pendant she gave him so long ago reacted to her presence. "Because I had heard of the skills and prowess of a great demoness, one who had no other rival to her power. I wished to test the rumors myself."
"And just because it is me you see here, you no longer wish to?"
"I know of your skills, Kurome. I know that last we sparred, I won." He felt a familiar sensation run through him as the playful banter began to rise out of him, just as it had before everything changed between them.
Kurome smirked at that. "It's been a hundred and thirty five years since then, 'Sho. I've changed much since then."
Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow. "Have you? Then why is it that your youki seems to be diminished?" He asked, releasing just a bit of his own.
Sensing his silent challenge as his youki crept forward to lick at her, Kurome smirked and unlocked her youki, letting it trickle out. "I've kept it locked away quite a bit over the years. I couldn't risk anyone finding me."
"And yet I did."
"True, but you didn't know it was me."
"True."
"Will you accept a challenge from me? For old times' sake?"
Sesshomaru huffed. "Perhaps."
"Then I, Kurome of the Rain, formally challenge you, Lord Sesshomaru of the Western Lands, to a duel."
"Very well, I accept." He stepped forward. "Jaken, return to camp and wait until I return."
"Y-Yes, milord!" The imp replied and hurried off.
"How shall we proceed with this duel?" Sesshomaru asked, beginning to circle around Kurome.
She smirked. "Same as our last one."
His ears perked up and he raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Penalties included?"
Kurome felt herself blushing as the memory of their last duel- or rather sparring match- had resulted in him kissing her as his collected penalty. "I-If you would like, then yes."
He smirked. "Very well, then. Let us begin when you are ready."
Kurome took her staff, Ryu no Ame- or the Dragon's Rain- in her hand and took her stance, waiting for him to make a move. They had never faced each other with weapons before, so it would be interesting to say the least.
Sesshomaru knew she was waiting for him, so he made the first move and lunged at her.
His first strike caught her off guard and flung her back, over a century having passed since they last faced each other, but she quickly regained her footing. He lunged at her again and again, but she had quickly adapted to his speed- once more becoming familiar with it- and dodged his attacks with ease. She planted the end of Ryu no Ame into the ground and used the momentum she had been building up dodging Sesshomaru's attack to fling herself out of his reach, then spin around and thrust her foot forward into his chest.
The force of her kick threw him back several yards and he only remained on his feet by his sheer will. The kick had left him momentarily breathless, caught off guard by the difference in speed and power Kurome possessed compared to what she had in the past.
"You have improved." He managed to say, wheezing.
Kurome smiled and blushed a little. "Time will do that to you. You have improved as well, young lord."
Sesshomaru smirked, regaining his composure. "This duel isn't over yet." He lunged at her once more, picking up his pace and increasing his attacks.
Kurome blocked each attack, parrying them with Ryu no Ame. Managing to get behind him, she shot a blast of youki his way, smirking as it took him by surprise and knocked him down. While he was dazed for a moment, she lunged at him from the side, jabbing at him with the spear, but he regained his composure and parried her attacks, stepping backwards as he searched for an opening.
Any onlooker who could see their movements clearly would see the two daiyoukai as they danced across the field, their youki swirling around each other. Icy blue mixed with brilliant gold as their youki surged. They were truly a vibrant pair, the years apart never changing that about them. They moved so quickly though, to any normal onlooker they would appear nothing more than a blur. Their shadows flitted over the field like a hummingbird moving from flower to flower, collecting nectar.
Sesshomaru struck high and fast to test her new stance as she switched into one he had not seen before, leaping up in the air to come at her from above, but she blocked it and grabbed his overextended arm. Using the momentum he gained coming down at her, Kurome flipped herself into the air above him and forced him to the ground. He tucked in and rolled, evading much of the damage that would have been caused by her driving her elbow into his shoulder. As he tried to push himself up to his feet, Kurome sped behind him and kicked his feet out from under him only to have him grab onto her as he fell and pull her down with him. Dropping Ryu no Ame, Kurome knew she was in trouble.
Being well practiced in grappling and wrestling, Sesshomaru was quick to overpower her and flipped her onto her back, his moko-moko coiled around her leg and kept her trapped as he pinned her to the ground. She struggled to free herself, but even after a hundred and thirty five years, she still wasn't practiced in this type of fighting style and couldn't get free.
"Yield, Kurome, this duel is mine." Sesshomaru said, his soft puffs of breath warm against her neck and ear as he leaned closer.
A soft and low growl escaped her throat as Kurome looked at him. "Like hell."
Sesshomaru shifted his weight and flexed his muscles in accordance to her struggling, a sense of renewed energy seeming to pop out of nowhere. He smirked when she gasped as his hips rocked into her and her cheeks burned when his grazed hers. "Submit. You will not win this."
Kurome gasped again as his moko-moko slid further up her leg, the soft fur grazing her thigh. It tickled and he tightened his grip even further as she continued to struggle. Her cheeks burned as the feeling of his grip around her sent a strange sensation through her body. She huffed, trying to break free, but was only able to free her hands and she tried to push him away.
Sesshomaru chuckled, a low and dark rumble in his chest, and thought he had her beat. "Come now, little wolf. Give up nicely and I'll be kind about your penalty."
Kurome felt the memories of their last sparring match rushing into her mind at those words, the familiarity of their duel clear as the sky above them. She was beginning to get irritated with his taunting and the moment he let go of her wrists to change his grip on her again, she forced herself from his grip and flipped backwards, landing softly across the room only to have him immediately on her again. She felt his moko-moko smack the back of her legs and she fell forward onto her stomach, dazed for a moment from the impact, but in that moment Sesshomaru was able to pin her arms behind her and trap her beneath him.
"You are stubborn, Kurome, even after all these years. You have lost this match, just concede." He huffed, nipping at her ear.
Kurome's body was hot, and not just from the sparring. She felt a strange yet familiar burning sensation rapidly overtaking her body. She managed to get her head turned to the side and gasped as Sesshomaru put more weight down on her. "You are still very persistent, Sesshomaru, but I do not give up."
Sesshomaru chuckled again as she continued to struggle. Somehow she broke free, but he was able to recapture her and pin her on her back, his moko-moko entrapping her ankle as he landed between her legs, his forearms bearing down on hers and pinning them to the floor above her head.
Kurome growled, fangs glistening in the light, her eyes narrowed. His breathing was as heavy as her own, his pupils dilating and constricting, and the heat from her body radiated against his own.
Sesshomaru looked down at her, seeing the rare wildness he knew every wolf had in the heat of battle, but it was clouded by something else. Her pupils were constricting and dilating, her breathing heavy, and her body radiating heat. He leaned in and pressed his forehead to hers. "Kurome, give in."
Kurome looked at him, seeing something in his eyes, a look she had never seen before. "Why?"
"Because this duel is mine and it is pointless to continue struggling."
Kurome laughed a bit at that, then relaxed in his grip. "And that should automatically make me concede?"
Sesshomaru pushed back from her, relaxing his grip only slightly on her wrists and reached down with his free hand to touch her cheek. "In this case, yes. Will you concede?" He leaned in closer to her and touched her cheek gingerly, moving a strand of loose hair from her face.
Kurome felt another flash of heat radiate through her body and she sighed. "Very well, I concede."
Smirking, Sesshomaru pushed himself away from the floor and helped her up. "Good. Now come with me."
Kurome took his hand and let him pull her to her feet. "Why?"
Sesshomaru smirked. "Your penalty is to accompany me on my travels."
Kurome blushed. "W-What?"
"You lost, this is the penalty I have chosen, and you must abide by it." Sesshomaru said, his eyes narrowing. "Now come along, lest we make the others worry."
Kurome stood there dumbfounded, racking her brain for answers. Seeing Sesshomaru stop and wait for her, she quickly gathered her things and hurried to catch up with him, following him in the direction the imp had gone- in the direction of his camp.
'What just happened?'