Freedom

Chapter 8: The Art of Matchmaking

Through the jungle very softly flits a whisper and a sigh—He is fear, O Little Hunter, he is fear.

-Song of the Little Hunter, Rudyard Kipling

Everywhere…there was fire everywhere. He was small again and his mind wasn't able to keep track of all the horrible things happening around him. The smell of blood and smoke made the air heavy but for some reason he didn't fear it was much as was to be expected. His mother was dead…why didn't he feel pain? Her blood was smeared all over his face, dried and thick; why didn't he feel remorse?

"Run Inuyasha…don't let them catch you."

Inuyasha gazed down at his mother's corpse, his eyes oddly blank as he watched her lips form the words again.

"Son…don't let them catch you…"

Inuyasha could feel the heat now, burning into his skin, his lungs. His mother's dead body slowly reached out to him. The heat was beginning to melt the flesh from her fingers leaving stark white bone underneath.

'Why mother? Why me… why you…why do people die?'

"Run Inuyasha…"

'I can't move...'

His mother's face twisted into something ugly, angry and her fingers gripped his shoulder.

"Run! Keep running! Never stop!"

Inuyasha couldn't bare the heat anymore. He couldn't breathe. He clawed at his mother's hands.

"LET GO!"

"Don't let them catch you…"

He screamed as the fire consumed him.

Inuyasha gasped and coughed, trying to get the smoke from his lungs. It took him a few moments to remember where he was, that he wasn't burning. It took far longer to calm the sense of perturb that enveloped him; he couldn't stop shaking. He put a hand to his eyes and rubbed them as he panted, trying to shake off the feeling of horror that remained from his nightmare.

For several minutes Inuyasha sat on his bed, unmoving, willing the memories away. It wasn't worth it to get upset about it now.

With a groan Inuyasha untangled himself from his covers and climbed out of his bed, almost falling over because he still had a hand over his eyes. The room around him was still dark; it couldn't be morning yet. He blinked a few times before poking his head out of his doorway and peering into the corridor.

He guessed that he still had a couple hours until sunrise.

Inuyasha gave a quiet sigh before walking back into his room and grapping the upper half of his robes. He slipped them on as he made his way out into the corridor again. His footsteps were virtually silent as he made his way through the living quarters and to the main building of the compound. He checked that no one was around before he slid open the sliding door and stepped outside.

He was right in guessing that sunrise was close. It was pointless going back to sleep because one of those painfully annoying serving girls would be along soon to wake him up anyway.

Touran had come back a few days ago with two new serving girls from Kitanai. Inuyasha hadn't seen them yet but the men who had said that Touran probably spent a small fortune on them. He could only hope they weren't any more annoying than the ones already employed here.

The information had been pushed to the back of Inuyasha's mind however when Touran had announced that a tournament was coming up in the next few days and that he had been picked to fight in it. It was unusual for someone like himself who was considered a novice to be picked to be in a tournament. He and Miroku had only been here for a little over a month. Although some people thought that Inuyasha wouldn't last more than 5 minutes (and had even told him that to his face) the hanyou wasn't worried.

He had, of course wondered why he had been chosen, which was what he was doing now, which was why he didn't notice the person in front of him until he bumped into them.

The hanyou snatched his hand out to grab hold of the person that had run into him, to make sure they wouldn't fall. He blinked in surprise when he realized that it was a woman. What was she doing wandering around here?

"Thank you," she said with a smile as she straightened her dress from her near fall, one hand still wrapped around Inuyasha's.

Inuyasha only nodded and let go of her hand, moving to walk away from her.

"Hey! Where are you going?"

Inuyasha paused and turned to look at the girl again. Why did she want to know?

"Why do you care?" he asked, voice laced with confusion and suspicion.

"Did you plan to just walk by without saying anything?" the girl asked still smiling slightly.

Inuyasha crossed his arms and cocked his head to the side. Any human would have trouble discerning her features in the little light that he had, but Inuyasha wasn't human. Her eyes were large and trusting, her smile cute and girlish; nothing really extraordinary. Inuyasha blinked again as he thought over her question.

"Yes."

The girl continued to stare at him. "What's your name?"

Inuyasha frowned in annoyance. "Why?"

The girl sighed and shook her head. "You're very anti-social. I just want to know what your name is. Mine's Kagome."

"Really…" the hanyou drawled, shifting his weight to one foot.

"Wow, you're a major prick aren't you?"

"Isn't it a little condescending to judge someone that you don't know?"

"Well I'm new here and I don't know anyone and if you meet someone the first thing you do is introduce yourself, correct?"

Inuyasha didn't say anything as he narrowed his eyes on the girl he now knew as Kagome. She was annoying and talkative; two traits that Inuyasha loathed in a person. He really wanted to go back to his wanderings around the grounds before the other Shihitou woke up. The conversation had been over before it had even started.

"You're right," he said dully before turning around and walking away.

"Hey! I have a question!"

Inuyasha groaned but didn't stop walking. 'Go away you annoying little…'

"How long have you lived here?" Kagome asked, catching up to him and walking by his side.

"Why are you following me?"

"Look…guy…it's just a question. Would it kill you to be a little nicer?"

"When someone I don't know starts asking me questions, I feel like I have the right to be annoyed."

"Is this really a Shihitou camp?"

"Yes it is. I'm a Shihitou in fact. Care for a demonstration?"

"Not necessary, thank you."

"Little girl…what is the purpose in this line of questioning?"

Kagome's mouth fell open and she stared at Inuyasha in indignation. "Excuse me? Little girl?"

Inuyasha smirked, 'I struck a nerve,'

"Yes little girl; only children pester people with meaningless questions."

"Now you're the one being condescending."

Inuyasha's eyes flashed and narrowed further. Why had he stopped walking in the first place? Why did he bother? Why the hell was he surrounded by annoyingly stupid people!

Inuyasha said nothing more as he turned his back on Kagome and walked away. He heard her huff angrily behind him but ignored it. He walked around a corner and out of sight. There was no point going back to his chambers, sunrise was in a few minutes anyway.

Kagome couldn't figure out the person she had been presented with. She had been unable to sleep and had gone out for a walk. She had simply wanted to wander around for a little while so she could go back to sleep for a few hours. The ride to the camp had been long and draining. Touran had stopped a few times but Kagome had the feeling the only reason the noble youkai had bothered was because she and Sango had been with her.

When the two girls had arrived at the camp they had been slightly surprised to find out why they had been bought. They were designated as official Enjo and told to wait a few days so their Shihitou could be assigned to them.

Kagome had been appalled at the thought and it had taken some convincing by Sango not to simply run away right then and there.

"We were extremely lucky to have people like this as masters. Much worse could have happened. We're indispensable now. We should wait it out a little longer."

Kagome had eventually agreed to wait before doing anything stupid (like running away and getting caught again), but she was still a little on edge.

She knew of the Shihitou; everyone in Nanimo did. Kagome was horrified at the idea that she would be an aid to that kind of person; the kind of people who killed without thought.

And she had just met one. She was hoping that they all weren't as rude as he had been, although he had caught her before she fell. She had just tried to be nice and it wasn't her fault that she couldn't see very well in the dark. He'd been able to though. She had seen his eyes rake over her as he had examined her. She could tell that he hadn't been human by those same eyes. They had shined an odd gold-amber color, a lot like her cat Buyo's eyes did. She hadn't been able to make out much more than that.

The fact that he was a youkai made a lot of sense since most Shihitou were demons anyway. She still couldn't understand why some youkai would sell and buy people of the same race as them. Some human's were the same. Anyone who didn't concede to the government was sold as a slave or killed.

Kagome sighed as she noticed the sky becoming a little lighter. How long had she been out here anyway? Obviously too long…

She stared at the corner where the rude youkai had disappeared for a moment before she shrugged and made her way back toward the entrance to the servants' quarters, which were actually quite nice. She even had her own room, a privilege she hadn't even been graced with at home.

Despite that, she promised herself that she would make it back to her family no matter what.

"As you know a tournament is coming up in a few days."

Inuyasha looked up from the bow staff he was fingering to pin Touran with a blunt stare. Shunran, who was standing next to her, giggled and reached up to tweak the hanyou's ear.

"You shouldn't look at people like that. It doesn't look right."

Inuyasha flicked his ear out of the young cat youkai's grasp and turned to glare at her, a low growl vibrating in his throat.

The Shihitou around them continued to practice hitting vital points on wooden dummies with their weapon of choice. Inuyasha had been a little confused when he had been called over by Touran and Shunran but then Shunran had made that crack about his ears. She had even touched them, damn it!

Miroku had also been called over by the two noble youkai but he was more focused on not laughing, knowing he would get chewed out by the hanyou later if he did.

"I've chosen the two of you for the next tournament, you know this correct," Touran asked sharply, knocking her sister's hands away from Inuyasha's ears.

Miroku answered for both him and Inuyasha, the hanyou being too absorbed in glaring at Shunran. "Yes, we know."

"So I suppose you know that you require Enjo for this too?"

Inuyasha looked up with a frown. "Why do we need Enjo? I don't need any help from anyone."

"You would be surprised how draining a fight can be. Every Shihitou has an Enjo. I think I've chosen well for both of you."

"Wait a minute, you get to choose? What if we don't like the person or something?" Inuyasha asked quickly, his eyes narrowing.

"Too bad, so sad, get used to it, no one cares," Shunran piped up happily from Touran's side.

Inuyasha started to glare at Shunran again but the panther youkai simply stuck her tongue out at the hanyou and giggled.

"Are all Enjo women?" Miroku asked with a small smile curling his lips.

Touran's eyes narrowed. "Yes but…"

"Sounds good to me!" Miroku chirped happily, "Thank you Touran, Shunran. Let's go Inuyasha."

The monk grabbed Inuyasha's arm and pulled him away from Shunran who blew a raspberry at the hanyou as he left.

"Stupid, annoying little…" He waved the end of the bow staff at her, desperately trying to hit her with it. "I'll get you. Touch my ear will you?"

Shunran giggled again as Miroku succeeded in pulling Inuyasha away. When the young youkai looked up at her elder sister, her face was curled into a smug smile.

"What's so funny Touran?" she asked, as the siblings made their way back to the compound.

"Sango and Miroku…They would make such a cute couple!" the noble youkai squealed happily.

Shunran blinked in surprise and eyed her sister warily. "You won't do anything crazy will you?"

Touran laughed and put a hand on Shunran's shoulder. "Of course not, me do something crazy?"

Shunran lifted Touran's hand off her shoulder by her little finger and sighed. "I have to leave soon. Karan said that Kagura almost had an ulcer last time we reported late."

"Mm-hm…sorry you'll miss the tournament."

Shunran shrugged and started to make her way down the hallway that led to her room. She paused and turned back to look at Touran who was still staring into space in the foyer.

'I feel sorry for them I really do but…oh well!'

Shunran ran off to her room to pack.

Kagome blinked in surprise, put down the knife she was holding and frowned at Touran who stood in front of her.

"Pardon?"

Touran smiled and pointed at Inuyasha again. "There's your Shihitou."

Kagome peered back out of the kitchen window at the man who was waving a bow staff around hitting painted marks on a dummy made of wood. Kagome recognized him as the very same man she had met last night. Eyes like that were unmistakable. To say that she was surprised and a little appalled would be an understatement.

Touran was a little worried about the look of disgust that filtered across Kagome's face but masked it with a smile. "He's quiet but I think you would enjoy his company…after a while."

Kagome went back to cutting up carrots, her lips pursed in a tight line. Sango was also peering out of the window, eyeing up the youkai Kagome had been paired with.

"Well…at least he's not ugly Kagome."

Touran laughed as Kagome ducked her head even more, refusing to look up.

"I've met him before. He's rude and anti-social."

Touran frowned and looked from the window to Kagome and back again. "When did you meet him? I don't remember you meeting anyone but my siblings and I."

Kagome blushed and finally looked up from the carrot, seeing as it couldn't be cut up any smaller. "I met him last night. I couldn't sleep and went for a walk. We bumped into each other, literally, I tried to have a conversation with him."

Touran's frown was gone and her eyes were shining as she stared into space.

'I thought Sango and Miroku would be fun, with her being so shy and him being…him but now…Kagome and Inuyasha have already met. It must be fate! It is my duty to force them upon each other!'

As Touran stared into space, her hands clasped, eyes shining, everyone in the kitchen turned to stare at her. Kagome was blushing, her head bowed but for the life of her she didn't know why! Sango waved a hand in front of the noble youkai's face, looking a little confused.

"Touran…Touran? You haven't shown me my Shihitou yet. Are you okay?"

Touran's eyes snapped into focus and she looked over at Sango, blinking slowly.

"…Oh yes! Miroku! You two will fit well together. I'm sure you would enjoy him very much…" Touran paused rethinking her words carefully, "…after a while."

The noble-youkai peered out of the window again and searched for the little lecher. There he was, fitting together a double ended sword.

"That's him," Touran said pointing out of the small window.

Sango frowned in confusion as she sized up the man. "He's human, how can he…" her voice trailed off and her frown deepened as he began to practice on a dummy.

"Yes he is human, but I think everyone will be pleasantly surprised by his skill."

Sango shrugged and went back to chopping up vegetables. Kagome still had her head bowed but an odd frown marred her features. Touran moved to leave but Kagome's voice stopped her.

"You said if our Shihitou die in a tournament we would be free to leave legally right?"

Touran's face blanked and she gave Kagome a wan smile. "Yes that's true. You could leave now and I wouldn't stop you, but it is in your best interest to stay here. On the road you could simply be picked up and sold again."

Kagome's eyes flicked over Touran's face grimly and the cat youkai gave a sad sigh.

"I'm sorry but don't worry too much about it. You'll get to go home eventually."

With that Touran turned around and maneuvered her way out of the kitchen. Sango and Kagome glanced at each other before peering out of the window once more at the Shihitou they were to be paired with.

"I guess we met them officially at dinner tonight." Sango sighed with a flippant shrug.

Kagome nodded and they both went back to fixing dinner, their thoughts easily far, far away.

AN: Revised and reposted. Please watch this space. Review and no I don't own Inuyasha. (Don't look behind you…no really…don't…Damnit! I told you not to!)

Translations:

Enjo- Aid/Helper