Five reviews! ^_^!!!!!!

Kisa: Yeah, I thought it was a rather original idea. It just suddenly came over me in waves, which was creepy, and this came out.

Sierra: Don't you worry about me writing more. I'm in love with this story. I think that of all the ideas I have, this is the best.

Rhonda: Thank you so so much! That is exactly what I wanted. I know it seemed awkward, but of the first three reviews, you were the only one who placed that in there. Now I know that of three, one will read my notes. Besides, there are many important things I will have to add to my notes, I do believe. And knowing how many people read them is a nice thing to know. Thanks!

Psyco: ARGH, NO!!!! NOT THE PUPPY LOOK!!!!!!!!!!!! Hey, no problem what so ever. More is on it's way!

Chiyo: Glad you like it. Yes, thanks for the "shark". It helps me out. Two of five read my notes.

Disclaimer: SOB . . . Do not own them, or I would be Shippou's mother, believe me. Not that Kagome's a bad mother, no, he's just so kawaii!!!

I PASSED MY DRIVER'S TEST!!!!!!!!!!!! For those of you who do not know why I'm so excited, the driver's test is the biggest test an American teenager will take in their teenage career. Sorta like the entrance exams, but much less. Important, but not that important. Okay, bad example. Never mind, but it's important to a teenager in the USA.

Enough of me! NEXT CHAPTER TO READ!!!!

ARE YOU WORTH IT?

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The Higurashi house was rather large for the day, but was still modest in many senses. Inuyasha could tell that in a moment. First of all, for a three-level house, it was rather small. Second, it was not made of stone or anything fancy. Simple wood with metal supports. Nice little place.

The first creature he saw around the house was another slave, like himself. She seemed to be working in the decorative bushes around the house, but when she looked up to see them, he saw she was a hanyou, like himself. Except, she was a neko. He knew he would have trouble with her.

She grinned in a cat-like way at him, as if she knew something he did not. The neko hanyou walked up to him, stripping off thick leather gloves, and she motioned him to stay as the others continued. "You are a lucky hanyou," she muttered. "Kagome-sama is a wonderful mistress. Don't push her too hard; I sense you are new."

Inuyasha glared at her. She was a pretty little thing, with bright yet sad blue eyes and her pale face framed with silky black hair. She had soft little ears that were on the top of her head, as his were, and they were focused entirely on him.

"Who are you?" he asked in a cold voice.

"Sayuri. The gardener," she said, her entire body stiff from the cold tone. "And if I hear anything, anything mind you, about you being cruel to her, I will have to hurt you. Her mother did so much for me, and I will not let you hurt her. Besides, she's nice and will consider you a person."

Inuyasha snorted and trotted into the home, intent on finding his new mistress. He gagged at the ring of it in his mind and his mood darkened. It was so dark, in fact, that when a feminine voice rang out near him, he spun dangerously on her, holding the hilt of his blade his captors had yet to take from him.

"Oh, dear! I am so sorry, Inu-sama! Please forgive me," the little nezumi youkai said, cowering before his rage.

"INUYASHA! You will not treat Keiki like that!" Kagome shouted, suddenly appearing on the stairwell to his right. "Sit!"

Inuyasha was thrown to the ground without a thought and he grumbled under his breath. "Inuyasha, this is Keiki, the maid of our home." Inuyasha grumbled again and glared at the redhead who was grinning widely. "I'm sorry that I had to sit you," Kagome winced as he was thrown down again. "Sorry. I forgot. But you cannot just jump at anyone you see!" Inuyasha grumbled again and was angered to see the nezumi's big brown eyes dancing. "Keiki, please! Be nice!"

The nezumi nodded meekly and went back into the room behind the staircase. Kagome ran back down the stairs, dragging Kouga with her. Inuyasha felt a strange anger toward the black-haired blue-eyed wolf as Kagome pulled him closer. Maybe it was because Kouga had felled him in one swoop in the slave yards. Maybe it was because he was her protector and he was already feeling his inu instincts acting up. Maybe it was the look in Kouga's eyes. Whatever it was, he hated it.

"Kouga, please! You need to show Inuyasha around the quarters!"

Kouga grinned as he finally was able to stop and cross his arms across his chest. "Oh, is it because you don't know anything about the quarters?" he asked innocently. Kagome nodded, the smile still broad. "Or is it because you know that that means going into the male's quarters?" Kagome flushed a bright crimson and stomped.

"Mou, Kouga! Please, just show him around!"

Kouga chuckled and turned to Inuyasha. "Fine. Come with me." With that, Kouga led him into the room the third door from the staircase. "This is the male's quarters. This," Kouga patted a wall to their direct left, "is the closet. That door leads to the bath. The females get it first, and since there are only two, they get it for two hours each morning. Half hour for Keiki, and one and a half for Sayuri. Darn neko, she's obsessed with cleanliness but always gets herself dirty.

"We are supposed to be ready at six or the dawn, which ever is first. As a guard slave, you will need to follow Kagome-sama everywhere. If she leaves, you will leave with her. You will greet her at her bedroom door each morning, follow her to breakfast, and sit at your spot in the slave's table. Understand?"

Inuyasha thought his mind was going to burst. Of course he did not understand. What was the slave's table? What were the first two doors? Where did his mistress sleep? What- what in the world was that?!

Inuyasha's eyes widened to find his worst nightmare walk through the door that led to the bath. A dark youkai stood before him, wrapped only in a towel. It scared him, dearly. (A/N: explanation: would you like to see Naraku in a towel? Exactly)

"Oh, Naraku. Good, you're out. Raidon will be pushing for it the instant he gets home. You know how those girls are," Kouga said, his voice holding only slight disdain. "Inuyasha-san, this is Naraku. He's the cook. Naraku, meet Kagome-sama's first slave."

"Servant," Inuyasha snapped, irritated. If his mistress was going to call him that, he was going to have the others call him that. Kouga gave him a harsh glare and then ignored him. "Where is the slave's table?" he snarled. Kouga led him out of the room and pointed at a rectangular table in the corner, large enough to seat six people comfortably. He nearly let an exclamation escape him, but he kept his mouth stubbornly closed. It was huge! The table in the middle was smaller, seating six people comfortably as well, but it had softer seats. That made sense.

"A warning, Inuyasha-san," Kouga said, his voice coming from a small distance away. "Don't raid the kitchen. That's Naraku's domain, and he will rip you limb from limb if you don't leave it be."

Inuyasha sneered at the thin, sickly looking youkai and snorted. "You'll sleep here," Kouga said, pointing to a bed closest to the wall. It was a good-sized bed, soft and clean. "Sorry you got the bad bed, but since we are senior to you, Master-sama insists you get the old one."

Inuyasha nearly frowned. Whatever it was, it was better than anything he had ever slept on before. "So, if I'm to meet Kagome-sama at her door," Inuyasha prompted, looking at the staircase.

Kouga nodded and trotted up ahead of him. At the top, Kouga pointed at the door to their direct right. "That's the Master's room. You will not go in there unless you are servant to Master-sama or his wife, which I and Raidon are." He pointed at the room to their other side. "That is Jii-chan- sama's room. Most of the time, he won't bother you. So you don't bother him, he won't bother you."

Kouga pointed to the door just before the next staircase. "That's the bathroom. The door across the hallway is Kagome-sama's room. Seeing what time it is, she should come racing out at about . . . now." Suddenly, there was a crash and Kagome dashed out of her room, plastic bottles crushed to her chest. She slipped into the bathroom as a young boy turned the corner and started pounding at the door.

"C'mon, Kagome! You already took a shower! Let me get in there!"

"That is Souta-sama. Kagome's little brother."

At his name, the boy looked up. "Uh, hello. Do I know you?"

"Souta-sama, this is Inuyasha-san. Kagome's new . . . servant." Souta grinned and shook Inuyasha's hand enthusiastically.

"Nice ta meetcha! How 'bout you do me a favor and you bust that door down?"

Inuyasha was at a loss for words. His mistress (he grimaced) would dislike it if he did what Souta said, but Souta was his master as well. He did not know what to do before he finally decided. His mistress (he grimaced yet again) was higher in authority than her little brother. "I'm sorry, Souta- sama," he said, his tongue still stumbling over the mark of authority. "Your sister would not like it. I cannot do it."

Souta grinned widely. "Good thing you passed that easily enough. Listen, Inu-chan, I don't own you. Kago-chan does. You never have to obey me, just so that you know." Inuyasha found himself surprised. Was that only a test? And he had only one master, or mistress, Kagome? Inuyasha glared over at Kouga who was looking away innocently.

"I had the same test, and I passed it, mainly because I had learned that piece of information from other masters," Kouga said, his smirk wide on his face.

"Upstairs is the entertainment floor. And the Master's study. Never bother him while he's in there. Only his family."

There was a short bark from the lower floor and Kagome suddenly dashed from the bathroom, her hair wet and free. Souta dashed past them and Kouga's face cracked into a true smile. "The Master is home!" he cried before dashed down the stairs. Inuyasha followed in a quieter manner, thinking deeply. Either this master was very nice or they were all under a spell. He was more inclined to believe the latter of the two. Though he had had only one or two masters in his two-year period of a slave, he never knew a nice master.

Inuyasha looked up as his feet found the floor and he glanced at the man swamped by two women and a young boy. He seemed to be a nice man, and he was laughing as he hugged his family to him. What a nice man. 'Wait a moment,' he thought quickly, shaking his head. 'I will not think like that.'

He glanced back up to hear a snarl. The tall, thin kitsune beside the man was staring as if leery of him. This kitsune was dangerous, Inuyasha knew. His bright green eyes were all it took, and Inuyasha knew why this kitsune had been chosen to protect the head of the family. He could.

This had to be the Raidon Kouga had been talking about.

But why was the man home at this early in the day? The sun had just reached its zenith and Inuyasha could hear the grandfather clock up the road chiming the noon hour. "So, Naraku, how's lunch coming?" the man said, his eyes falling on the dark servant. Naraku grinned, unnerving Inuyasha as he slid gracefully into his domain.

Ah. Lunch. That sounded good. The man was looking at each of his wide- eyed servants and suddenly, his eyes fell on Inuyasha. "Well, well, well. Welcome to my home, my friend. I hope you will find it nice here," the man said. Master-sama, Kouga had called him. "May I ask your name?"

Inuyasha had long ago learned the ropes of keeping away from the abuse horrid masters wreaked on their servants, and one was catching the phrases of polite manners quickly. Some liked their names, others simple Master. He had also learned to hide his emotions, which meant a lot in his line of work.

"I am called Inuyasha, Master-sama."

The man grinned. "You learn quick. Kagome chose wisely."

Inuyasha glared at Kagome mentally, though he kept his face schooled to a blank expression. She was smiling weakly at this compliment to her and him, and he attempted a small grin.

Lunch was a quiet operation. Inuyasha said nothing to anyone, and no one said anything to him. There was much talking and laughing within the family and Inuyasha commonly heard Kagome laughing. Such a nice person. 'What am I thinking?!'

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Kagome stretched and sat up from the sofa, closing the book she had been reading. Glancing at the clock, she found that if she did not hurry, she would be late to the meeting with her friends.

"Mom, I'm going on a walk," she said, glancing at her mother in the far corner, in her own chair. Their two servants were lounging on their own couches, and Kagome looked at her hanyou expectantly. Her mother nodded, understanding.

Her hanyou did not move. Kagome sighed angrily and Kouga looked up. With a grunt, he swung his arm around and slapped the hanyou rather heavily.

Inuyasha sat up, snarling. "What was that for?" he snapped, his voice rather loud for the reading room. Kouga pointed at Kagome, who was looking very impatient. "What?"

"Must I remind you, Inuyasha-san, of the main duty of a bodyguard?" Kouga muttered. Inuyasha looked about to answer smartly when he saw that his mistress, he cringed yet again, was waiting impatiently. He grumbled under his breath and stood to follow her down the stairs and out into the streets.

Once on the streets, she was not the soft, kind little girl he had seen in the house. She was a confident young woman outside. Inuyasha could not help but notice how she alone drove away possible assailants. What she did not, he did. No wonder she wanted a slave. He could protect her against the rest.

If he chose to.

She met her friends in a local café and talked a while, about basic things that he had rather little interest in. What he did have interest in was her friends. They were the craziest group of three there could ever be. The boy was the strangest thing he had ever met. He would always say something suggestive in a bad way and the two girls would knock him over the head with their fists, and he was used to it.

The girl was something else. She was totally serious. Sure, she smiled, but she did not smile all the time like the boy. The girl was mysterious, dangerous, sleek, and entrancing.

Kagome had introduced them as Miroku and Sango. Each had their own servants with them; both were small youkai that did not really communicate easily. Sango had a small neko that she called Kirara. Miroku had a hawk- like youkai that sat on his shoulder and called out at anything that passed by. Several times Miroku restrained the bird, ending up with a mass of feathers stuck to the ceiling. Inuyasha dimly wondered what would happen if he restrained the bird outside, but he stopped thinking when the bird of his imagination started to explode.

Before long, he had the chance to see what would happen. The threesome went out for walking around a little bit, but the hawk youkai, Kazou, did not even chirp. Inuyasha silently cursed the bird for ruining his fun before he turned his attention back to his charge.

Miroku was standing rather close to her. And his hand was on her back, and slowly slipping down. Kagome was stiff, but Miroku did not seem to notice.

"Inuyasha," she murmured for his ears only. Inuyasha could hear the sharp tone of get-this-freak-off-of-me-now-or-I-shall-"sit"-you-to-infinity in her voice. Inuyasha let out a sharp growl as the hand lowered slightly. Miroku slipped away, muttering under his breath.

"So, Sango, how's your work?" Miroku asked, moving to stand on Sango's side, rather than Kagome's. Sango sighed deeply.

"It's dangerous, as always, Miroku. I would think you of all people would know."

"Catch anything interesting?"

"Several small youkai, and one inu. That's all, I tell you. Soon, there won't be any more youkai out to catch." Inuyasha glanced at the sleek body walking ahead of him as he realized what she was. She was one of the Hunters.

He hated the one that had captured him. Suddenly, Inuyasha had a thought. The one who had captured him had long, dark hair. Well, it had been dark that night, but Sango had long, dark hair. But, their voices were similar . . .

Inuyasha was knew instantly it was her when Miroku tried to place his arm around Sango's waist. Out of nowhere came a huge, boomerang-shaped weapon, slamming on Miroku's head, leveling him easily.

"You!" he cried. Sango turned, a look of shock on her face. "You were the one that captured me!" A look of confusion crossed her face before it was replaced by recognition.

"Ah, yes. Two years ago. It was a good haul; two inu youkai in one night, one pure and a hanyou. That was the best haul of our entire life."

Inuyasha could feel himself shaking in rage. She had captured him, made him a slave, and made him submit to human rule. She had been the one. Without a thought of what she was or that his mistress was right next to her, he leaped to attack.

"SIT! INUYASHA, SIT SIT SIT SIT!"

Never before did he feel such a heavy jerk on the restraining necklace. It threw him into the cement with such ferocity that he whimpered as the other four came. "Never will you ever attack Sango again! It was two years ago, baka!" Inuyasha glared up at his master and felt a growl rise in his chest. "I don't care if she left you for dead, she is my friend, and the top rule of bodyguards is to not harm their master in any way, and to harm Sango would be killing me, Inuyasha!"

"Oh, Kagome-san! Are you having trouble with your hanyou?"

Sango, Miroku and Kagome turned to the voice, hatred filling their faces. "Good afternoon, Kikyo. How are you?" Kagome managed genteelly.

The young woman that stood before them looked exactly like Kagome. Well, rather close to Kagome. Scratch that, Inuyasha could tell that they looked a lot alike, but looked nothing the same. Behind Kikyo were two youkai, each grinning widely. Or, at least one was; the other was simply staring blankly at them. From her clothing and the bearing these two held, Kikyo was a powerful miko. Sure, Kagome had a lot of potential; he could smell the power radiating off of her most of the time, but Kikyo had managed to control her power.

"But then again, a half-breed and a half-rate slave are all that a half- rate miko would get, wouldn't it?" Inuyasha slowly sat up, glaring at the imprint in the cement he had made. But his mind was not on the punishment he had received. Half-breed. Half-rate. Slave . . .

"And what sort of a miko are you?" Inuyasha snarled. "Surely, if you were that powerful, you would know that I am no slave. I am a servant, and I will not allow you to insult me like that!" Inuyasha was on his feet now, and he could feel his instincts telling him to attack her, to rip her throat out, but the last time they had said that, he had ended up ruining the street.

Kikyo was shocked. "Did you just insult me, a miko, Hanyou?"

Inuyasha took in a deep breath. "You call yourself a miko; you dress like a miko. I doubt you are. A miko would not insult her fellow miko." Kikyo looked like she had been slapped by a baby. A soft insult, but an insult none the less.

"Kagome-san, I demand that you restrain this hanyou for the insult he caused me," Kikyo demanded, her nose in the air. Inuyasha instantly remembered the time Kagome had asked for Kouga to be restrained. Her mother had answered it quickly. He quickly braced himself, staring at the ground.

"No."

"Wh-what?" Kikyo screeched.

Inuyasha looked up, wonder filling his eyes. She was not going to sit him. "No," Kagome said, her voice painfully calm. "If he had not said it, I would have. He is no slave; he is my servant, and I'm proud of him defending himself like that. Though, of course, insults are never nice, but in this case, I might make an exception."

Silently, Inuyasha did a victory dance and stuck his tongue out at Kikyo. The older miko scoffed his childish antics and turned away, her two slaves following her. Inuyasha blew a raspberry after them, but stopped when he heard laughter.

Sango was on the sidewalk, laughing her sides out. Miroku was chuckling under his breath and Kagome was just barely restraining giggles. Inuyasha turned completely around and glared at them. "And what, may I ask, is so darn funny?"

Kagome held in her giggles long enough to spit out a few words: "Very adult- like, Inuyasha." And suddenly, she dissolved into fits of laughter. So, she was laughing at his dance and his raspberry? She'd see more of it, he'd be sure.

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When night came and darkness started to fall, Inuyasha pulled his charge away from her friends and started pushing her towards home. On the outside, he was worried about making it home in time; on the inside, he was thinking of bullying Naraku into giving him something to eat.

He was wondering just how he should do it when he sensed Kagome stop in front of him. He pulled up to stand just behind her and to her right, so if she needed help, he could give it.

If he chose to.

There was a drunk man standing there in the darkness; if Kagome could smell the alcohol on him, Inuyasha was nearly fainting. "Gimme yur mummy."

Inuyasha stared at him openly. "What?"

"Mummy! Mummy! Gimme it!"

"Money, Inuyasha. Well? You are my guardian. What are you going to do about this?" Inuyasha glared at her. He still hated her for making him a slave. He hated her for putting the restraining spell on him and making him hers.

"Nothing. Why should I do anything?"

The look on Kagome's face promised a slow and painful end. Inuyasha glared defiantly back at her. "Fine then. I'm going to sell you, then, if you won't help me and do your duty. Maybe I'll go find your half-brother; and maybe you'll get sold to this raving drunk!"

Inuyasha felt a deep fire of hatred in him kindle. A drunk. He had had a drunk for a master before, and it was no good. She would sell him to a drunk. He hated her; he hated her with a deep passion he had not felt before. She would sell him to a drunk.

If she got out of this alive. Just because she was confident did not mean she could overpower a desperate drunk.

That was when he felt the soft, gentle energy pulsing from Kagome. It was tender, pleading, imploring, and suddenly, the drunk fell to his knees. The smell of alcohol was on his breath, but it did not cover him. "Oh, please, Lady Miko! I'm so sorry! Please forgive me!" Kagome smiled gently at the man and nodded.

"Just don't get drunk anymore," she demanded. The man nodded quickly and jumped up and ran off. There was complete and utter silence before Kagome turned to Inuyasha, a sad look on her face. "I don't need you. Now you know it. It's up to you if you stay or not."

Inuyasha felt the hatred flare up, but a small voice started in his head. She will not sell you to a drunk if you prove you are worth what she paid.

What did she pay? Coins, that her father could earn back with a job.

No, much, much more than that. She paid with her honor. A miko would have a pure youkai. She bought herself a hanyou. She paid with her relationship with her parents. Her mother does not like the idea of another hanyou.

Why was Sayuri in there? She had said Kagome's mother did a lot for her. What had she done?

"What did your mother do for Sayuri?" He found his question voiced before he even knew what he was doing and he instantly sensed the pain rolling off of Kagome.

"She bought her from a raving drunk." Inuyasha nearly started speaking before Kagome spoke again. "We had owned her before that. She had been just like you," she murmured. Inuyasha felt his entire body shiver. "We sold her because she refused to help out, and then we gave her a taste of other masters, crueler than us, just to let her know what she had. She hasn't refused an order since."

"And she thinks you did her a favor," Inuyasha muttered. "What a baka."

"No, not a baka, but a grateful servant. She knows that being free doesn't have all the greatness of being under a good master. My father is like that."

Inuyasha found he could not say anything. There was too much. The hatred was burning brighter, deeper, but he could not help but wonder if his hatred was misplaced. It was not Kagome's fault he was a slave. If anyone's, it was Sango's. But, then, it was the first Hunter's fault, or even the one who figured out how to restrain a youkai.

No one could take full blame for it. Not even him.

Sayuri was happy. Why was he having trouble? Because he hated them for making him a slave. Suddenly, Inuyasha was very, very confused.

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I did not put on a translated section. If you really need to know the definition of some words, just tell me and I'll translate them every time.

Okay, these thoughts were a little random. I guess he's just confused and scared. I'm sure anyone who has had a run in with a family drunk (they're horrible) knows what he was talking about. Not that I've had first hand experience, but I have heard things.

Once again, I'm going to ask that anyone who read my notes puts a word in their reviews, but I'm going to ask for a different word! Yukalalie! I think that's how you spell it. It's one of those Hawaiian guitars that are really high, you know? If you know how to spell it correctly, just tell me.

********************Um, my notes are not over! If anyone knows anything about Sapporo and another small sea village nearby, please tell me. I was looking for a small town for this story, and I need it. If you know anything about Sapporo, I do think it is on the island north of the island Tokyo is on. Can anyone anywhere tell me about this place??? Like, the streets, the names of good restaurants, what the people are like, anyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

**TEASER! Next chapter is named: Crime and Punishment**

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Inuyasha turned his glower to the nezumi, Keiki, walking up the stairs. "What?"

She faltered at his expression but continued. "There's been talk started from Raidon that a male is going to be sold!" Keiki was not sure, but she thought she saw a look of pain cross Inuyasha's face before it disappeared. "The Master says he did something bad to Kagome-sama.

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Ta ta for now!!!!!!!!!!!

~ Kay Kylo