Freedom

Chapter5: Imbecilic Bliss

Oblivious to the Obvious

After about a week of being at the compound, Inuyasha was beginning to rethink his decision. The hanyou had been graced with many things that he had thought he would never have again. A raised bed for instance, and his own chambers was another. Despite this, Inuyasha was contemplating leaving this place.

He had been here for a grand total of 8 days and in that time he had done absolutely nothing. In a way, it was a good thing. He could catch up on all of the sleep he had missed for the last four years being ruled by Goshinki and he could spend that time to heal the gash on his arm and the cuts on his back. The wounds were almost finished healing, but they still throbbed from time to time. It would heal by itself in the next three days, so he didn't worry too much about it.

Another thing Inuyasha was completely content in was the fact that he had clothes. Not slave rags, clothes; real, bona fide clothes! They weren't fancy but they fit and they were somewhat clean; clean enough not to be filthy but dirty enough not to be as clean as the noble youkai that ruled Nanimo. That was fine and it was more than enough to satisfy Inuyasha for the time being.

But somehow, despite all this, Inuyasha wasn't sure if he had done the right thing. He had no problem with killing someone and hardly ever dwelled on the fact that he had a few times. He didn't go around killing people; he never had and had promised himself long ago that he wouldn't. Everyone that he had killed had attacked him first.

Could he really live with himself if he became a killer to entertain people?

Inuyasha sighed and opened his eyes, giving up the pretense of trying to sleep. He rolled over and gazed around his chambers. They were small; not actually 'chambers' more than a chamber. It was his though and that's what mattered. Bare stone walls, a doorway covered by a curtain, and a small window adorned the room. In the dim light that filtered through his window, he let his eyes rake over the small chamber. The stones that the room was made of were a dark green color, like every other building the compound. They were chiseled rather roughly, like someone hadn't bothered to make the stones look smooth at all. They were stacked in an irregular pattern that cast soft shadows around the whole room. His sharp nose could pick up a faint moldy scent, as if the room hadn't been cleaned in a while and he could still pick of someone else's scent in here. This room had belonged to someone before him.

Could he really expect more than this? No, but was it worth becoming a murder?

"I'm never gonna get to sleep," Inuyasha mumbled, drawing his arm over his eyes.

His training started tomorrow. Should he be relieved knowing that for as long as he could fight he would have a home here? He wouldn't have to pay Touran or her siblings anything. He didn't have to worry about being captured off the street and sold as a slave for a minute price because of what he was.

Hanyou…

Inuyasha made a small disgusted noise from behind his arm. To anyone who didn't know him they would think it simply angry and irritated. To the few that did know him (Miroku and no one else he could think of) it was filled with self-loathing. He was beginning to feel like a pansy. Who cared anyway? People died everyday in horrible, terrifying, pain-filled ways.

"Gah...oh screw it…" he griped to himself, as he tried and failed to stifle a yawn.

He would do anything he could to survive. He wasn't the one watching people kill other people for fun. He was going to do his job, and be damn good at it too.

And now he was going to sleep. Right now. Before anymore doubts could enter his mind and keep him up any longer. Sleep… right now.

Inuyasha groaned and dragged his arm from his eyes.

"I'm gonna be up all night…"

Maybe it would be better if he didn't think at all. Not thinking seemed much more preferable, especially when his sleeping patterns were concerned.

"We have some new people with us today that Touran just picked up. Everyone turn around and stare at them."

Fifty men turned around to stare at the two young men standing near the back of the formation.

Inuyasha had been roused by one of the many serving girls early in the morning and told to be in the main training area as soon as he could. He had met Miroku in the hall outside of his chambers and the two of them had followed the crowd of men out here. A few of the men had given the two of them odd looks but that had ceased as soon as the female youkai walked out in all her glory.

The training ground as silent as Miroku and Inuyasha were probed by all of the eyes in the area. The only sound as the breeze shuffling dirt off the ground and the slight rustling of the trees.

Inuyasha and Miroku barely reacted to being stared at so intently by so many people at once. Inuyasha began picking at his claws and chewing the tip of the index claw of his left hand. Miroku had his arms folded and was gazing blankly up at the sky.

A few more moments passed before the female youkai sighed loudly, drawing all the slaves attention back to her.

"Well it almost made Houjo wet his pants when he came. It was worth a try."

A couple of the slaves snickered at that and the youkai chuckled to herself. Her name was Karan and she along with her brother Shuuran would be in charge of training the slaves for the many tournaments that they would participate in.

Her hair was long, falling past her shoulders in tight curls. She definitely had the angled eyes of a cat and her irises were a dark crimson. She wore robes just like her sister Shunran did; more like armor made to look like clothes.

All the slaves had finally stopped staring and Inuyasha and Miroku brought their attention back to Karan, who was walking up and down the rows of slaves, pairing them off to spar with each other.

She stopped in front of the two of them and paused as if thinking.

Miroku took this chance to utter a greeting. "Hello Lady Karan. How are you today?"

Karan's eyes focused on the monk and hardened. Inuyasha was sure that the panther-youkai was remembering the serving girl that Miroku had groped a few days before. The hanyou couldn't figure out why Miroku did the things he did, but he was smart enough to stay out of it.

Karan's eyes narrowed and she pinned the monk with a weary look. "Stay away from me. I don't trust you."

Miroku blinked in surprise and looked away.

'Why am I so misunderstood? I haven't even touched her yet?' the houshi grumbled to himself.

Karan turned back to Inuyasha and sized him up, mumbling to herself and glancing at some of the other slaves as she did so.

"How good are you?" she asked Inuyasha after a few moments.

Inwardly, Inuyasha was smiling. "Pretty good,"

"I'll pair you with Houjo. He's 'pretty' good too. He's human though, so be careful," Karan said jerking her thumb at a rather scrawny looking human boy standing in the front row.

The boy looked up at the sound of his name and walked over. Inuyasha literally bit his tongue to stop himself from saying what a pushover it would be. When the boy walked over he was smiling and opened his mouth to say some greeting before Karan cut him off.

"Houjo, this is Inuyasha and Miroku. You'll be fighting Inuyasha today instead of Shio. I want to test his skills."

Houjo looked slightly hesitant at this and glanced over Inuyasha quickly. He eyes came to rest at the hanyou's claws which were rapping against the side of his arm impatiently.

"Are you sure that that is a good idea Lady Karan. He's new, what if I hurt him?"

Inuyasha blinked in surprise before his eyes narrowed into a scowl.

"I wouldn't worry about hurting me, Hobo."

"It's Houjo,"

"Yeah that,"

Karan gave Houjo a small smile, one that an adult would give a child after they've said something stupid.

"Don't worry about hurting him Houjo. Just fight your hardest like always."

She turned to the mob of surrounding slaves, who were talking amongst themselves as they awaited orders. "All of you clear out. Hobo and Inuyasha are first."

That annoying half-smile never left Houjo's face, even when his name was pronounced wrongly again. He turned to Inuyasha and his smile widened.

"Hello, I'm Houjo."

Both Miroku and Inuyasha eyed the human boy oddly.

"We are aware of that," Miroku said pleasantly, but slightly slower than he normally would have.

"What are your names again?" Houjo asked politely, still smiling that smile.

"Miroku," the monk said shortly.

He had already concluded that there was something wrong with this young man and he had no desire to have a conversation with someone lacking the ability to remember something from one minute to the next.

Inuyasha said nothing and walked away to examine the weapons he would be able to use. Karan was standing next to the rack in which they were stacked and she gave him a slightly suspicious look.

"Don't hurt him."

"If you don't want me to hurt him than way did you place him with me?"

"He's stronger than he looks and I want to see you fight on human standards. He has no idea how to fight you so you have the advantage. Just hold back when you need to."

Houjo had come to stand at Inuyasha's side and he smiled at the hanyou before he picked up a sword. Inuyasha thought for a moment before he picked up a bow-staff with metal enforced tips. The heavy wood felt good in his hands and he always had preferred long reaching weapons. He had a feeling that this fight would be a push over.

The other slaves had formed a wide semi-circle around the two fighters as they moved to face each other. Karan moved to the front of crowd and raised her right hand.

All movement and talking ceased as everyone awaited her signal. Inuyasha and Houjo both stared each other down, watching Karan out of the corner of their eyes. The female youkai gave a slight smile before she brought her hand down in one smooth motion.

"Begin!"

Houjo and Inuyasha circled each other, both taking in as much as they could about the other.

He holds the sword with his right hand…most of his weight is focused of his left foot, strange, but a weak point…

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes as he mulled over his observations. The fight might drag on a little but it should give him no trouble.

Inuyasha stopped circling and flipped his bow-staff in a defensive poison in front of him. He was openly challenging Houjo and was hoping the boy wasn't dim enough to miss it.

Houjo stopped circling as well and paused, eyeing Inuyasha critically before jumping toward the hanyou. Inuyasha saw the attack coming and side-stepped to the left, bringing the wooden bow-staff up to knock away Houjo's sword.

The katana glanced off the thick wood of the staff with a dull clang that was quickly followed by another and another.

Houjo pressed forward forcing Inuyasha to back step. The hanyou was loosing ground and that was never good. Inuyasha grit his teeth and waited for Houjo's sword to descend in a vertical sweep like he knew it would. Houjo's pattern wasn't that hard to figure out.

Horizontal sweep, thrust, step, low thrust, vertical sweep, step, block, thrust, block…

Inuyasha barely stopped himself from sneering when Houjo brought his sword straight down with both hands, just like Inuyasha knew he would. Instead of stepping back to dislodge the boy's sword like anyone else would have Inuyasha threw his weight to his left side; the same side Houjo's weight was focused. The hanyou pushed down on the bow-staff with his left hand, while pushing up with his right. The right tip of the bow-staff rested on the ground as Inuyasha gained the upper hand in the battle of strength. Houjo had changed his sword grip so that the flat of the blade was flush with Inuyasha's staff. He fought against Inuyasha's brute strength but with his own weight fighting against him it was a loosing battle. Inuyasha clenched his teeth again and made a quick decision, a lighting fast calculation, before using the bow-staff to brace his weight on the left side before sticking his right foot out, tripping Houjo.

The boy stumbled and his concentration on keeping the bow-staff from standing straight up waned. The sword flew from Houjo's hands and up into the air. Inuyasha caught it and flipped to Houjo's throat before the human could even move from his sprawled out position on the ground.

What was so remarkable about the fight wasn't the spectacular move that Inuyasha had just performed. The thing that left every pair of eyes wide open in amazement, that left every jaw agape was the fact that the whole fight had only lasted three or four minutes.

Neither Inuyasha nor anyone present knew it then, but this three minute battle would become famous. It was the beginning and the unveiling of the Shihitou Inuyasha.

AN: Revised and reposted. Continue to watch this space. Review and no I don't own Inuyasha. (Barbie does. They've bought out everything)

Translations:

Shihitou: Death-Fighter