Chapter 3! Things should begin to get a bit more interesting...

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, Ranma 1/2, Trigun, or Lord of the Rings where I have a quote from. Bet you can't find it!
I don't own anything other anime or book or whatever I may have mentioned in this story either.

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They all showed that they were paying attention, yet at least half of them were wondering what kind of a name Hojou was. "I won't ask how you all know Naraku," Hojou said while looking over the odd group, "but you were all listed on his will. You will each get an equal share of his fortune."

Each one of them hand an expression of glee on their faces, and began whispering excitedly to one another. Hojou cleared his throat loudly, and they stopped talking. "However..." Their looks of happiness disappeared almost instantly. There was a catch.

"The shikon no tama and the mansion are another story." Hojou continued. "This estate is very beautiful, and if you inherit the mansion you get everything inside as well. Save the money and the jewel, of course. As for the shikon no tama, it is priceless. The jewel has many unknown powers." "What kind of powers are we talking about here?" Inuyasha asked, and Hojou grinned. "They're unknown." This wasn't the answer he was looking, for, but he crossed his arms and shut up. Hojou continued to speak. "You can simply take your share of the fortune and leave, or you can aim to get a larger sum of money, along with the other items."

Kouga blinked. "How could we do that?" He asked, and Hojou replied, "I'll be answering that in just a moment. Now listen carefully, everybody. All of you are required to stay in this mansion for 24 hours. You may not leave, even if you aren't interested in the fortune. Seeing as you all came, though, you are. You may still go outside, but there is a barrier all around Naraku's property connected to the gate, and I have the key to unlock the gate and disable the barrier."

"You've trapped us in here?!" Kagome exclaimed, in shock. "Don't think of it that way." Hojou said. "Only for 24 hours. In those 24 hours, you will decide whether to stay or go." "What do you mean by that?" Kohaku asked, and Hojou sighed. "I'm going to explain it to you, so please stop interrupting me. You could either leave with your fortune, or stay with a chance of gaining more. If tomorrow you choose to stay yet the next day decide to leave, you will not receive your share of the fortune."

Hojou handed them each a small red token. "These tokens will represent your share of the fortune. Tomorrow, you will either trade it in for the money and leave, or you will return it to me and stay. If you stay, and are the last one still here, then you will receive all three things. The money, the mansion, and the gem. If there are two of you left, the money will be divided between you and you'll have to decide who gets what. If there are three remaining, one will get the money, one will get the mansion, and the other receives the jewel. Who gets what is up to you. Now, you may ask your questions."

"How long will we have to stay?" Shippou squeaked. "Longer than the others." Hojou replied. "Are we allowed to spend some money while we're here? Like make bets with each other, or order food?" Kagome asked, and Hojou nodded. "You may." Sango asked her question next. "Can other people come and go, like if we hire a mechanic or if a pizza guy comes?" "Yes, the barrier only has an affect on you. After and if you decide to stay, you may exit the barrier but it will not allow you to come back in."

"We wouldn't have to order food every time we're hungry, would we?" Kanna asked, and Hojou shook his head. "There are two chefs that will serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner." "What about second breakfast?" Souta asked. Everyone stared at him. "Never mind." He muttered, shortly. "There is also a maid, and a guard." Hojou added. There were no more questions. "There are a total of eight rooms. Find a partner, and each pair gets one room. One of you will share a room with the maid, and another will share a room with me." "I'd be more than happy to share a room with the maid." volunteered Miroku. "In you're dreams, hentai." Sango said, with a scowl.

Sango and Kagura found their partners immediately. "I'm sharing a room with Kagome." Sango said, clinging to her arm. Kagura had said and done the same thing, though used the name Kikyou instead of Kagome. The two girls that were being clung to sweatdropped. "I'm Kikyou" the girl who Sango clung to said, and at the same time the other one told Kagura that she was Kagome. They quickly switched partners after realizing their mistake.

Souta and Shippou decided that they'd be partners, and the other roommates ended up being Inuyasha and Miroku, and Sesshomaru and Kouga. Kanna would be placed with the maid, and Kohaku with Hojou. The pairs were taken upstairs and shown their rooms. Each of the rooms had two beds, a bathroom, a dresser, random board games, a small TV, and a few small tables and chairs. The rooms that Sesshomaru/Kouga and Inuyasha/Miroku were put in were slightly larger than the others, and all of the girl's rooms had larger bathrooms.

Five of the rooms were lined up next to each other on one side of the mansion(Rooms in order from left to right -- Sesshomaru/Kouga, Sango/Kagome, Kikyou/Kagura, Shippou/Souta, Inuyasha/Miroku), and three rooms were lined up next to each other at the opposite end(Still left to right -- Kanna/Maid, Kohaku/Hojou, Chef/Chef).

In the large open space between the sets of lined up rooms was what could be described as a giant square hole being bordered by a beautifully decorated fence of some sort. You could lean over the fence and see down to the first floor if you pleased. All twelve of them were eager to explore the mansion, and they did just that. Miroku spotted the maid cleaning the TV screen in the living room upstairs. As soon as the introduced each other and he learned her name, he asked Shampoo to bear him a son. She declined, and said that she already had a fiancé.

Kagura and Kikyou found the bodyguard outside, or to be more accurate the bodyguard found them. He was a tall, blonde haired man in a red coat who showed immediate interest as soon as he saw the two ladies. "Good evening!" He said loudly, waving a hand. "What brings you two lovely ladies outside tonight?" "We were just checking things out," Kagura said, "and why are you out here?" The man laughed a maniacal laughter for about 3 seconds, then he immediately put a serious expression on his face. "The guard. I am known as Valentanez Alcalanala Sehawk Sushila Boharas," There was a pause, "Gumbigo Vella Blue Stratavare Tallan Tres Pierre Andre Chartanhimo Vadavinche Boldos George Doytzle Kyser III. Don't hesitate to call."

The two girls stared at him in puzzlement. "Or you could just call me Vash." He said, with a shrug. Their puzzled stares turned to amazed ones. "Vash the Stampede?!" Kikyou exclaimed, "That's impossible! Vash has earrings, a red coat, and short legs!" She said. "What are you talking about?" Kagura asked, "He's a giant man with a huge weapon and a mohawk!" Vash blinked. "Naw, Vash the Stampede is a blonde man in a red coat with a big handgun." He smiled. "The handgun part is a bit too literal, though."

Miroku found his way to the kitchen on the first floor, and the chefs were in there. They were young women, one with red hair and the other with short, dark blue hair. There was a kettle boiling on the stove. "Ah, I see the guests have arrived." The blue haired one said. "Which one are you?" "I'm Miroku," He replied, "and you?" The girl grinned. "Akane." She said. "Ranma Satome." The red haired girl said shortly. "I see..." Miroku murmured. "Ranma, I have a favor to ask of you." He stated, eyes set on the prettier one. What he asked pretty much goes without saying, and Ranma had to use the steaming kettle of water to explain to Miroku why 'she' had declined.

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Megami: Poor Miroku! I wonder if I'm being too mean to some of the characters...
Sesshomaru: You are.
Megami: You're just mad about what's in store for you ^_~
Sesshomaru: *sarcasm* Do you really think so?
Megami: Hm... yep!
Sesshomaru: -.-
Megami: Ahahahahahaha! *cough* Well, Ja ne!