Raizen laughed as he stepped into the arena where Yusuke was waiting for him.

"It's a bit different to when you first fought me, isn't it son?" Raizen asked. "But I can still offer you the same stakes. You win, you get my life, and my throne."

Yusuke snorted. "Don't think you're gettin' out of it that easy old man," Yusuke said. "Like I'd know what to do with a throne. An' the fans want something bloody, so you'd better string this one out a bit," he added. "I know by now when I'm facing someone too strong for me. Of course, that doesn't mean I won't give it a damn good try."

Raizen smiled, proud. "That's my boy."

"Ladies and gentlemen, I don't know what to say," Koto admitted over the speakers. "Yusuke Urameshi, after having made a very clean sweep through the Demon World Tournament so far, has just said he does not expect to win this fight! Those of you who were betting on him to win, I would like to take this opportunity to announce that the fight is not fixed in any way, but this is a father-son face off, and we saw how that went between Shura and Yomi already. Though Yusuke is a lot older than Shura, and as such has much more fighting experience, as proven already by his progress. Well, they intend to fight, and Yusuke may surprise even himself yet. Regardless, we have been promised blood, so throw on your swim suits everyone, and let the bloodbath begin!"

After that, Koto's commentary was pretty much redundant. Raizen kept up his own critique of his son's fighting as they did battle. Sometimes he would compliment a hit, or some crazy idea, or laugh and accuse the boy of stealing a move from one of his earlier opponents. Koto still got to admire Raizen's occasional strike though, particularly since his few hits did more damage than five of Yusuke's most of the time.

"You know what Pops?" Yusuke said as he held himself up on his knees. "You'll be fighting Kurama or Shippo next, and I know someone who would not take kindly to their being damaged."

Raizen laughed. "Wouldn't want her upset with me, not after she saved my life."

"Yeah," Yusuke agreed. "So how about you get your big show done now? I think I can take it."

Raizen grinned and flared his power without thought, then he flexed, and Yusuke was pushed into the ground from the force of it. He kept that up for a while, just increasing the power of his display, and walked over to where Yusuke was being forced into the ground by the power of it all, lifting him up by the collar of his shirt. Grinning in a way that could almost be described as evil, Raizen took Yusuke in a headlock and messed the kid's hair.

"What the hell is that!" Koto demanded. "We've had such a fantastically brutal, bloody, action-filled fight, and now we get this!"

"Koto, that's every good father's ultimate finishing move when they've just defeated their favourite son," Kagome explained with a laugh. "The embarrassing noogie."

Koto blinked. "Are you sure about that?" she asked, clearly doubtful.

"Oh yes," Kagome said, trying to be solemn. "It's a killer. Pride is the usual victim. Yusuke won't be getting up again after this, he's exhausted and Raizen has only just broken a sweat – which is more than anybody else has brought from him so far. Getting a noogie on top of it all just ruins Yusuke's 'tough and cool' look for a while."

"And so the fight goes to Raizen!" Koto declared.

~oOo~

"Alright folks, it's the second match of the semi-finals, and for those of you who missed it, Shippo revealed in his interview with me yesterday that he is a fox demon, which means that we'll get to see two foxy males facing off. Oh, I don't know which one I drool for more – the hunks or their blood!" Koto cried.

"Kurama is taken," Kagome stated flatly.

"Right, their blood it is!" Koto yelled. "Now I have it on authority that these two met before the match and agreed to a traditional fox-fight, so we'll be getting to see both Kurama and Shippo at their most animalistic. As a vixen myself, I'm very interested to see this fight, but for those of you who aren't into animals the same way, I'm sure they'll be vicious enough to slate at least a little of your blood lust."

The screen lit up with an image of Shippo and Kurama walking towards the central arena and each other.

Kurama changed his form to the one recognised by the masses as Yoko as he walked. Shippo's form shifted to the one he had revealed on the camping trip in Human world so long ago – fox paws, elf-like ears, fur vest and long blonde tail to contrast his long brown hair. They both had grim, serious faces.

"Hey Kagome, you're with Kurama right?" Koto asked quietly, hand over her microphone, "do you know anything about Shippo? He said something about having people he cared about in Human World, just like Kurama does."

"Don't kick me for withholding information, but Shippo is my adopted son," Kagome whispered back. "And he thinks you're cute."

Koto blushed deeply, a small smile on her lips.

The two stopped with a couple of metres distance between them, and transformed again into their four-legged states.

"Now here's a surprise for us all folks! The infamous spirit fox, Yoko Kurama – the silver of the two foxes on your screen – known to have lived for a thousand years at least, has only seven tails of the possible nine. Shippo, on the other hand, has less than half that life-span and is a tail up on him! I can't figure that out unless something serious happened to these two," Koto said. "Kagome, Master Yuda, do either of you have an opinion on this?"

"I suspect that Yoko Kurama's lesser number of tails is due to his becoming merged with a human body," Yuda answered. "It is likely he will have had to sacrifice a lot of his power to make that merger work, and in so sacrificing his power, lost one of his tails of power."

"Tails in fox apparitions are a measure of age and power," Kagome said. "When Kurama was reborn as a human it is possible he had to start all over again, building his power up from scratch. If that is the case then he will have acquired all of those seven tails in less than two decades. I think that counts as impressive in anybody's book. On the flip-side, Shippo could be using an illusion to intimidate Kurama, adding tails to his appearance that he does not actually have, or Kurama could be hiding tails so that Shippo will become over-confident. Though I don't believe that to be the case here, as they did make the change at the same time, and have not previously seen their opponent in this form."

"Either way, the traditional displaying of tails and running of shoulders – that means sizing up of your opponent in the world of foxes – is now completed, and the two combatants are ready to do battle. Expect to see a lot of kicking and biting here folks!" Koto declared.

Kurama was surprised to see that Shippo had more tails than him by even one, he didn't realise he had been so surpassed because of his loss of power when merging with the human foetus. What he did know was that he would not be giving this fight away to the cub.

Shippo was a brown fox however, a light golden brown, but a brown fox all the same. As a species of the animal kingdom, they were naturally larger than silvers. Kurama was larger than usual because he wasn't just a fox, but neither was Shippo, so the slight possible advantage was nullified.

This fight between pseudo-father and son, unlike the other similar match ups, would go very differently it seemed. Kurama had spent most of both his lives in his humanoid demon or human forms, only spending a few decades thieving in his pure animal form before he was caught and nearly killed. It appeared that Shippo had spent his last five hundred years switching between his humanoid demon form, and his fully fox form until he had more recently slipped into the human population in readiness for rejoining Kagome's life. It was almost inconceivable, but the younger of the two foxes had the advantage in both size and experience in this form. That didn't mean Kurama would just roll over and give Shippo his neck and belly though.

~oOo~

Yusuke let Kagome borrow Puu to fly up to the okaninju stalk and retrieve her two foxes when their fight was over. Both were injured, bloody, and exhausted, but Shippo had ultimately claimed victory by using his greater weight to subdue Kurama and hold onto the silver fox's neck.

Ears were in tatters, pelts were matted and torn, paws and legs were ripped at, chewed and beginning to clot. The only parts of their bodies that were unharmed were their tails, though the appendages were rather dirty as well from the way they had been rolling around on the ground and in their own blood during the fight.

She picked up Shippo by the scruff of his neck, kissing him on the cheek when he opened his green eyes. That hadn't changed at least. Shippo transformed into his humanoid demon form, his pelt and pants his only clothing, his hind paws still a bit bloody, as were his pelt, neck and chest.

"I won Kagome," he said quietly. "I won an important fight."

Kagome nodded. "Yes you did," she agreed, bending down to pick up Kurama and cradling him against her chest gently – he didn't transform, as he had fallen asleep to begin regaining his energy shortly after admitting his defeat – before turning back to her son. "When we get back down, you are both having a hot bath, and then I'm going to treat your wounds."

Shippo nodded. "You're not mad at me, are you?" he asked, worriedly.

Kagome shook her head with a smile. "My beautiful son grew up to be big and strong," she said softly, stroking Shippo's un-injured but still dirty cheek. "I'm so proud. Kurama will be too when he wakes up, I'm sure."

Shippo smiled, and his eyes became slightly glassy as he filled up with warm joy at such praise.

~oOo~

"I've found her soul," Koenma said, appearing in the suite where Kagome was healing Shippo and Kurama's wounds. "The woman Raizen lay with. I found her. It was a lot harder without a name to work with, but I found her."

"Yeah? And what are you going to do now that you have?" Kagome asked.

Koenma blinked. He hadn't really thought about that, he'd just agreed to look for her in Spirit World for Raizen. Nothing else had really been said.

"I mean really, what are the options? Revival? Reincarnation? Letting her spirit play catch-up with him without actually giving her a body?" Kagome suggested.

"Uh, well, you see..." Koenma said.

"I have a place in Spirit World now," a woman's voice said, stepping through the door to meet the small group. "My name is Atsuiko. I became a reaper after my death, my current area of collection is the Harajuku district of Tokyo."

Kagome stood and bowed politely to the beautiful woman.

"I see you carry and care for my sister," Atsuiko observed with a small smile, her gaze fixed on the jewel at Kagome's neck. "She seems to be at peace now. Thank you."

"You're sister was Midoriko?" Kagome asked, stunned.

Atsuiko nodded sadly. "We were close, but parted ways when we cold not agree on where to draw the line of who deserved aid. Midoriko was convinced that the majority of demons should not be granted any help but into their afterlives, I was more open. I am glad that she is now in such care as your hands," she said, stepping forward to hold Kagome's hands and look into her eyes. Her gratitude shining through that gaze.

"Didn't really have much choice about that," Kagome said with a glance down at the stone before she looked up to Atsuiko again. "But it's an honour to meet you," she added.

Atsuiko smiled. "As for seeing Raizen again, I can be granted a body of my own, but I would be required to continue to work as an agent for Spirit World."

"And you don't think that the new king of Demon World could use a Spirit World advisor or ambassador?" Kurama asked softly. "Surely that would be a legitimate enough reason for Spirit World to grant you a physical form?"

All eyes turned to Koenma, who bent his head and rested his chin in one hand, eyes closed as he thought on that. At last he nodded. "Yes, that probably is a good idea," he agreed. "Considering the two demons in the final fight. Either way establishing positive relationships, rather than negative ones, would be mutually beneficial to both worlds."

~oOo~

"And now, the moment you've all been waiting for: the final match of the Demon World Tournament!" Koto declared. "Of the three favourites to win this Tournament, only Raizen still remains, and his opponent, a previously unknown fox demon named Shippo, will have to pull something extraordinary out of his arsenal of tricks if he wants to win this fight!"

Shippo smirked at Raizen and transformed. Into Atsuiko. The fox watched as his opponent's breath caught and he stared.

"How?" Raizen asked hoarsly.

Atsuiko's face smirked slightly. "Not so pathetic I guess," it was her voice too, but then the illusion dropped and Shippo stood there in his humanoid demonic form – his best for fighting in, and one which required no energy to maintain the appearance of. His thin fox legs appeared out the bottom of his pants, and his pelt was worn like a vest over his torso, tied at the waist so that it didn't flap around too much. Behind him, his tail twitched, and his ears were pointed like Raizen's. The fox smirked, showing off his fangs.

They charged each other.

"Rocket spectacular! What a clash!" Koto said, off her seat in eagerness already. "Shippo and Raizen each launched powerful point-blank attacks, and have been thrown back by the extreme force! At a punch party like this, a girl can't help but dance! Of course we have come to expect a great deal from both contestants, and it looks like we won't disappointed as both of them appear to have landed on their feet and are charging again!"

Not only were they charging, but Shippo's hands appeared to be gathering balls of blue flames, which he threw at Raizen when there was still twelve metres between them.

"Wow! An impressive long-range attack by Shippo, engulfing Raizen in flames, and yet he continues to charge on, even as his clothing burns on him! Now that's what I call dedication to your follow-through!" Koto declared.

Raizen's fist connected with Shippo's stomach before swinging up and sending the fox high into the air. Raizen, now only smoking slightly, jumped up to follow him, locking his hands together in a double fist and smashing down on his opponent's back, sending him hurtling back into the okaninju stalk. Through the okaninju stalk and into the ground below.

"Oh the brutality!" Koto cried out. "If Shippo lives through this fight, then he'll definitely be feeling that one in the morning!"

A tiny white flag appeared above the crater where Shippo was lying, his hand holding it up, waving it a moment before the hand fell limp.

"Ladies and freaks, we have our king!"

~oOo~

Raizen saw them off to Human World personally. They had license from him as their king to live in Human World provided that they did so peacefully, would return to Demon World if he summoned them, and acted as guards to keep an eye on any and all demon activity in Human world. Each one of them was a strong fighter after all; he couldn't really just let them walk away without putting them to use at the same time.

Genkai and Keiko were waiting for them.

"Keiko, this is Raizen," Yusuke said, introducing his girl to Raizen. "Old man, this here is my Keiko."

Raizen looked down at the girl and smiled gently. "I see that my boy is in good hands," he said.

"It's an honour to meet you," Keiko answered, blushing slightly as she bowed politely.

"I hope you don't mind if I borrow him back now and then, I've grown to like spending time with my son," Raizen said.

Keiko blinked. "Of course not," she answered. "Just, not for years on end if you can manage it, please," she added, then shook her head. "Yusuke needs an older male influence he can actually look up to and respect like a father."

"Hiei, Shippo and I are apparently not old enough to fill the position," Kurama said with a light chuckle.

"Nah, you don't look old enough," Yusuke quipped. "See ya round old man," he said, waving as he turned, wrapping an arm around Keiko's waist and leading her away.

"King Raizen, this is Master Genkai," Yukina introduced. "She has been allowing me to live with her at her temple, and been very kind to me."

"The famous Genkai," Raizen greeted with a bow, then chuckled when he straightened up. "You know, Yusuke would frequently complain that my subordinates were being too soft on him, and that he should send them to you so that they could find out what it was like to receive a real beating. Not in so many words of course. I doubt he will ever be eloquent."

Genkai laughed. "That's my dimwit," she answered. "But at least he isn't as much of a slacker any more."

"Thank you for watching over him," Raizen said genuinely.

"He grows on you, so it's not too much of a chore," Genkai said, brushing if off with a shrug.

"All the same, I am grateful."

Raizen left back to Demon World not long after that.

~The End~