YAY! Chapter three already! I'm on a role!

Thank you reviewers! Kurochan(another thank you! You're so nice!),

I forgot the numbers last time, sorry.

(1)I'm not sure what they're called, so I just said auctions. If I'm wrong, please tell me!

(2)I'll be doing mostly Kurama and Hiei's thoughts, but I might do more… just not often.

(3) Now, I'm not sure if Brunswick was a town back then, but Maryland was one of the slave states, so please work with the town for now.

(4)I don't know if they had little rooms in the buildings or whatever, but that's how it is in my story. lol I dunno.

Also, I didn't put it in there as a number, but I don't know how much a slave costs, so I just put bids in for Kurama. I… think they were about three to five hundred each… I dunno.

Here's the next chapter! Enjoy!

Slave or Save?

Chapter II- New home… and quite odd roommates?

As you oh, so well recall, Hiei had just purchased his… 'bundle' if you will, of slaves. As much as I'd love to, I'm going to skip the walk to there. So now, we're a few hundred yards in front of Hiei's estate.

"Awright, this is where you'll be staying." Another man on a horse pointed to some small huts on the outskirts of the fields, they looked very well taken care of (courtesy of Yukina, of course). "Just go on in to one of 'em and find somewhere to sleep. The slaves here will help you get started." With that, he trotted after the carriage the Hiei occupied.

So, without further ado, they walked towards the shacks, walking past some of the slaves that already lived here that were in the fields working. Kurama glanced around at them all and Ayaka waved too many of the children that were out there. Some of them seemed to like living here… but, that could have just been them happy to see extra hands too. Who knows, ne?

"They look like nice people nii-san. We should get along great here." Ayaka smiled up to him, and he smiled back. "Yes, they seem very kind." Once to the huts, they all went different ways, and some of the slaves from the fields came to help them accommodate. Kurama stood, seemingly lost and unsure as to which way he should go. "Hiya! You two must be new here! Welcome to Jaganshi Estate! Need some help?" Kurama jumped at the sudden voice and whirled around, almost knocking over another girl. "Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to startle you." She was about the same height as he, maybe a wee bit shorter. She had sky blue hair and amethyst eyes, which sparked when she smiled (and if you know who it is, that occurs quite a lot).

She giggled at his stunned face and took a step back, sticking her hand out. "Hi, I'm Botan!" He slowly reached out and shook her hand, "Hello, I'm Shuichi, but you can call me Kurama. This is Ayaka." Ayaka popped up near his arm and gave her a smile much like her own, "Nice to meet you too, ma'am!" Botan then thought it good to gush over her, "OH! You're so adorable!" She hugged her then, and they both laughed as Botan swung her in a circle in the air. "Kurama, you're so lucky! All I have is a cranky twenty year old!"

"Uh! That hurt, Botan! How cruel of you," came another voice. This came from a man jogging up to them, short brown hair with golden brown eyes to match. He had an odd tattoo on his forehead stating 'Jr.' in black letters. And… he… had a pacifier? He started panting after reaching them and Kurama thought, 'How the Hell's is it staying in?'

"Oh, Koenma, I'm just teasing! Kurama, this is Koenma, Koenma, Kurama." They nodded to each other and shook hands. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Koenma." He smiled, "Same here. Botan, who's that in your arms?" Ayaka giggled and stuck out her own tiny hand for him to shake, "My name's Ayaka, Sir! Nice ta meet ya!" He chuckled and shook her hand too. "So, are you two new here?"

"Yes, we just arrived, and were trying to decide where to stay," Kurama said, taking a step back and grinning. Ayaka jumped down and scampered to his side, "Is it alright if we stay with you? We dunno anyone else here really." Botan patted her head, and took her by the hand, "Sure! We have plenty of room, right Ko-chan?" He blushed, but nodded all the same. "Right then! I'll lead you there!" The two girls started to… ahem, 'skip' toward a hut while the boys were humans and walked.

"So… are you to together? From what Botan said earlier, it sounds like it," Kurama asked. Koenma nodded and chuckled, "Yes, we've been here since we were kids. I'm surprised we've made it this long. But, I guess Lady Yukina helped us with that." Kurama raised an eyebrow, "Lady Yukina? Is she the one running these fields?" Koenma scrunched up his brows in thought. "Well… in a way. She's probably about your age, but her and the master's parents died when they were young, so she and her twin brother run this place now."

"Ah, I see… so her brother does most of the business type work?" he asked. Again with the nodding, "Lady Yukina has been sick since birth, and doesn't leave the house much. But when she does, she always plays with the children out here. Master Hiei doesn't like it though, I think he thinks we're the ones that are giving her the disease she has. Poor girl, she's so sweet to." Kurama's eyes went wider, 'Hiei… that was the small boy that was in the hall…'

"So, then they're both my age… hmm." Koenma thought this was a question, so he continued. "Yes, though Master Hiei's not so bad. I remember when he was younger, before his parents passed on, he was quite the spirited young boy, always running around with his sister… I miss those days." He sighed.

"C'mon slow pokes! We're already over here!" Botan shouted to them, both her and Ayaka waving their arms at them. "Hurry nii-san!" Koenma looked to her then back to Kurama, "You're Japanese?" He smiled and nodded, "Are you?" They were close enough and Botan had heard, "Yup! We sure are! You know, there are a few people in the mansion that are Japanese too. There's Yusuke, Keiko, Kuwabara… even the Master and Lady are Japanese!"

Botan lead them in and waved her arm to the room. "Here we are! Home sweet home, ne? Hehe, there's a bunk bed(1) over there that you two can use. And, here's a secret, under the bottom bed, there's a cubby in the floor. Here," she walked over to the bed and motioned for Kurama to duck down with her while Koenma kept Ayaka busy. "Under the first floor board to your right, that hole there. Just lift it up and it'll come out, you can stash whatever you want there. Only me, Koenma, and you know about it. Don't tell anyone, or they might take whatcha got stashed there."

Kurama lifted it up and looked in with wide eyes, "There's… money in there." Botan nodded vigorously, "Yep, you can use some if you need it. Lady Yukina gives some to us for when we got to town to shop for the mansion's cooks. She said to only use it on special occasions though, but you can have some."

"But I-" Botan waved her hand as best she could under the bed, "Nope, I insist. Even though we just met, I can tell you might need this too. So you just take some whenever you need it." Kurama just looked at her with wide eyes, then blushed. "A-alright. Thank you Botan." She giggled at him then came up from under the bed. Kurama soon after the blush left.

"Onii-san, Koenma-san said you and Botan were…" she giggled, "making out." Now the blush came back full force. And Botan, though he couldn't tell if it was anger or embarrassment (most likely both), also had a frightful red face. She ran over and covered his laughing mouth and playfully throttled him.

"You-you little-! How could you say that?! I thought we-! And to a child no less, her older brother!" Kurama coughed, "We're not blood related really… my mother and I just took her in." This stopped the tussle and they turned to him, Ayaka looking down at her feet dangling from the bed she sat upon.

"You have a mom? Cool! Where is she?" Botan asked excitedly. Kurama looked down and mumbled something.

"What was that? I didn't catch it."

"I said that she was bought by someone else…" he said a bit louder. Botan's face drooped and Koenma walked over and sat beside him, patting him on the back. "I'm sorry, Kurama. I-I didn't know…" He waved her off, "It's alright. Like you said, you didn't know." Koenma wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "Don't worry, you aren't the only one here without parents. Like I said, even the Master's parents' are gone."

'But my mother's still alive… and I don't know how she is…' he thought solemnly.

"I consider your class of demon very worthy, worthy to fight, and worthy to die." - Yoko Kurama

"Nii-san! Here, catch!" A small ball came toward his face and he jumped up and caught it swiftly, landing on his feet like a cat. "Wow! That was amazing!" He gave her a small smile and tossed her the ball. She fumbled with it and dropped it on accident, rolling down a hill near them. "Oops… I'll get it."

"You don't have to, I can. I'm the one who lost control of it." He shook his head and jogged after it. "No, I'll get it." He made it to the bottom of the hill and stopped when a shadow was cast over his back, turning to see who it was. "Hello, can I help you sir?"

The man smiled. Well, smiled might not have been the right word for it, it was far more evil than that. "… Yes… you can. Would you like to come with me?" The small boy looked at him skeptically, than after a pause, nodded slowly. "Where we goin'? And what's your name?" He smiled again and started walking the other direction of his sister. He could faintly hear her voice, but was interested in the man with him at the moment.

"We're going to my place. And my name is… Sensui." For some odd reason, he knew that name, but couldn't place it. He just nodded, not even noticing the wicked smile on Sensui's face, or that he'd dropped the ball awhile back…

"-ey… Hiei… wake up…" Hiei stirred and rolled over, falling off the seat and rolling onto the floor. "… What now?" Yusuke laughed and helped him up. "We're back, 'sleeping beauty'. I thought I'd never get you up." Hiei's eyes narrowed at the sleeping beauty comment, but said nothing about it. "Just… having an odd dream is all."

"Memory one or random?" Yusuke asked curiously. Hiei sighed exasperatedly, "Damn you… you know me too well…" Yusuke laughed again and climbed out with a wobbly Hiei. "Must have been sleeping pretty deep if yur wobblin' like that. Usually you jump when someone five feet away twitches…" Glare. "Seriously! I've done that before, remember? Kuwabara and I were experimenting and-"

"Alright, alright, I get it Urameshi. Just… go tell Yukina I'm back." Yusuke nodded and stomped off, literally, you could here him a mile away. Hiei rolled his eyes and walked upstairs to his room. Once there, he plopped down gracelessly onto the bed and went to sleep again.

"And I have the feeling that you'll die..."- Hiei to Kuwabara

"Kuramaaaaa! Over heeeeeere!" Botan was standing over in the field next to there hut. She had been showing Ayaka and Kurama around an hour earlier and now they were supposed to get to work.

"I'm," pant, pant, "coming!" And poor Kurama had to keep up with the hyper active girls the whole time. Who knew a seven year old and a twenty year old could move so damn fast? Kurama sure as hell didn't. "You two," panting now after reaching her, "are far to fast." They giggled.

"Maybe you're out of shape, nii-san. You've been pretty slow lately," Ayaka suggested/teased. Kurama blushed and coughed. "Um… so what do we do?"

"Well, all you have to do really is-"

"BOOOOOTAN!!!" A bellow sounded over the fields and everyone turned to see who it was. Kurama recognized him as the one with Hiei… Yusuke he remembered was his name. Botan waved to him and shouted back. "What is it Yusuke?! I'm trying to help the new people out here! Go bother Keiko!" You could tell, while he was almost there, that he blushed at the remark on Keiko.

He skidded to a stop in front of them, bring dust up behind him. "Phew! Man Botan, you need to work in the house! I hate having to run out here for you," he huffed. "Oh quit griping about it. Anyway, why don't you say hi to these two?" She waved her hands in Ayaka and Kurama's direction. "Go on, introduce your selves."

Yusuke looked up, and with wide eyes stared at Kurama. "Hey… I remember you…" Then he turned to Ayaka, smiling as if he hadn't said a thing yet. "Yo, I'm Yusuke. What's yur name?" Ayaka smiled and shook his hand. "Ayaka. This is my nii-san." Kurama blinked somewhat guiltily and innocently at the same time, which baffled Yusuke like mad. "Hello, pleased to meet you. I'm Kurama," he said, smiling a brilliant smile. For some reason, Yusuke felt uneasy under it and quickly shook his hand too.

"Like wise. Like I said, I'm Yusuke." Kurama nodded, noticing his unease and toned down the smile, much Yusuke's relief. "So, what did you need, Yusuke?" Botan asked, now smiling as well, obvious to what had transpired.

Yusuke cleared his throat, and stuck his thumb out at Kurama, "I was actually sent to see if you could bring Kurama in with you. Guess I was lucky you knew him, ne?" He grinned. Botan frowned. "What for? He didn't do anything if that's what you're impling. He just got here and-"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down. I didn't say that." He cleared his throat again, only this time mockingly, "Master Hiei wanted to have him in the house. Didn't say why, just to bring him in. I think he was still cranky though, he'd gotten woke up by Kuwabara's ranting over Yukina again." They chuckled. Kurama and Ayaka smiled along with their antics.

"But… I don't understand why he'd want onii-san so early. We just got here a few hours ago," Ayaka prompted, still not comprehending. Kurama had an idea… 'What if he did see me? Oh… this isn't good… not at all…'

"Well, why don't you come with me, too? I'm sure Miss Yukina wouldn't mind some company other than Kuwabara," Yusuke said smiling down to her. She beamed at this bit of news. "I get to meet the lady of the house? Yay! I'll go, I'll go!" Kurama slapped his forehead teasingly, but Ayaka wasn't fooled. She just laughed.

"Alright, I guess we'd better go…" 'To my death bed,' Kurama finished in his head. Yusuke held his hand out to Ayaka, "C'mon. Kurama, I'll take Ayaka to Yukina first so you can meet her, then to Hiei, alright?" He nodded. "See ya, Botan." She smiled and waved. "Ta ta! Tell Hiei and Yukina to come and say hi!"

"Will do!" They headed out to the house, walking side by side. Yusuke in the middle, Kurama to his left, Ayaka on his right. Kurama had a question though, and it was somewhat bothering him.

"Yusuke," he started. "Yeah?" Kurama started twisting his shirt hem, "Why… don't you speak formerly about your higher ups? Usually they get quite angry if they here you or find out…" he continued. Yusuke laughed. "Nah, I've known 'em for awhile. Hiei don't care, he warns, but doesn't care. Yukina doesn't like the formality, but everyone still calls her that because she's so kind to us."

"She sounds very sweet," Kurama murmured. Yusuke smacked him on the back in a friendly way, but it still stung a bit. "Yeah, but don' let Kuwabara here you say that. He'll get all jealous and stuff." This made him laugh and he saluted goofily, "Aye sir."

They laughed.

"Being lucky seems to be your greatest tactic."-Hiei to Kuwabara

Hiei stood by the window, looking down on the slaves working the long hours in the fields. He did feel bad about it, but what choice did he have? It was either them or he and his sister, and he wouldn't do that to her. She deserved so much better, but if they let all the slaves be free or went against it, they would be sent to slavery themselves.

Life could really suck, in other words.

'Why do the Gods have to punish everyone for only one or a few of mans sins?' Hiei asked himself this so many times in a week, he sometimes wrote it down on paper to help clear his head. But that only lasted for a day at most.

He sighed, and looked back to the window… and noticed red again. He looked closer and found it to be Yusuke with the redhead, and the little girl. They were talking, but that's all he could discern from his current position. He huffed, and decided to change his train of thought and studied the eavesdropping red haired boy.

He couldn't see from here, but remembered the color of his eyes from the room. A vivid, shining, emerald green that sparked with mischief. Red hair that looked a little lighter than his own odd, blood red eyes. Only his hair looked like waves, especially with the wind playing with it like that. Hiei traced his finger on the glass where the red was, wanting to just feel it…

Hiei shook his head violently snorting the very idea of such a thing. 'Hair, pfft. I can't believe this. All it is is long, wavy, silky looking…' "AUGH!" He punched the wall, leaving a dent the shape of his fist in it. "This is ridiculous! Stop it!" This time he struck his head against it. "… Damn… I'm going senile, and I'm only a teenager…" he laughed bitterly.

"Thank you for your offer, but I'm really not interested in those kind of things…"- Kurama to Hiei (but in this fic they are…)

"Konnichiwa Yukina! Have some new friends for you to meet!" They walked into a small open room in the mansion, where Yukina was feeding some birds that had flown in. She sat on a green painted wooden bench. When she heard Yusuke, Yukina turned with a smile like the sun on her face.

"Yusuke! You're back again I see. New friends? Who…?" she then spotted Ayaka and Kurama, both smiling at her. "Oh! Hello there! It's nice to meet you," she greeted joyously. She stood up and walked over to them. "My name's Yukina. And you two are..?" Ayaka popped up then, you know, the way little kids do when attention is near them. "Ayaka! Nice to meet you milady!"

Yukina giggled, "Please call me Yukina, everyone else is always calling me that too." She turned to Kurama next, "What about you?" Kurama bowed slightly and smiled up to her, making her blush. "You can call me Kurama." She nodded and patted his shoulder. "You really… don't have to do that…" Yusuke laughed and put a hand on her shoulder. "Well, Yukina, why don't you and Ayaka hang out while I take Kurama to see Hiei, then?"

Yukina blinked, confused. "Why does my brother need him? Has something happened?"

"No, no! Nothing like that! Just… well, I dunno. He didn't say why…" Yusuke scratched the back of his head and laughed nervously. Yukina got a determined look to her face then, grabbing Kurama and Ayaka's wrists. "Well, I can tell by the attire who these two are, and I' going to have a talk with him about this."

"No, ma'am, that's not-"

"Milady, hold on-"

"But, Yukina-"

She cut them all off by practically dragging them down the hall, Yusuke desperately trying to keep pace with the girl. She may have an illness and all that, but damn, she could move!

"Brother! Can I come in? I need to speak to you, it's important!" Yukina called through the door. Kurama was rubbing his arm, though she still had a firm hold on him. There was shuffling behind the door and a quiet "Just a sec" could be heard before the door opened.

"Yukina- Yusuke, what the Hell?" Yusuke looked innocent, or at least tried to look it. "I tried," he mouthed. Yukina gave Hiei a stern look, and you could tell he somewhat withered under the stare. "C-come in…" he muttered stepping out of her way.

Yukina walked in, and once inside, let go of Kurama and Ayaka. They sighed in relief and rubbed their wrists. "Hiei, how could you make someone as nice as these two be workers? That's so harsh…" she began. Hiei squirmed and looked at the ground.

"Well… I…"

Ah… well, I have to stop there. I need to think of some more stuff for this… sighs

I hope you liked this chapter! Hey, I also need a few ideas for later chapters. If you can believe it, I'm playing this by ear… just writing as I go, you know? Well, anyway, please review!