Freedom

Chapter12: How the World Turns Part II

"That was the stupidest thing I've ever seen!"

Inuyasha just sighed as Touran paced in front of him. Her face was flushed. Her hair was mused and her eyes flashed with burning rage.

"What the hell were you thinking?"

It was a few minutes after the day's fighting had ended and the first thing Touran had done after the camp had settled into their provided housing, was drag Kouga, Inuyasha, Kagome and Kouga's Enjo, Ayame, into one of the main sitting rooms. Karan was lounging off to one side, watching with an amused expression on her face.

Kouga and Inuyasha both glared at her as Touran continued to berate them in a voice that was quickly becoming hoarse with overuse. Suddenly Kagome raised her hand and Touran snapped her fangs together with a click, blinking at her in surprise.

"What?"

"Question."

"What is it?"

Kagome glanced at Ayame who made a 'go ahead' gesture with her hands. "Um…why are we here?"

Touran's face darkened with anger and her voice once again became firm and scolding. "Because as Enjo you two are responsible for making sure your Shihitou perform their job to the best of their ability."

"How the hell are we--,"

"How you manage to do that is not my concern," Touran interrupted. "Your job is to make sure they do their job and their job is to make us money."

Kagome once again raised her hand.

"What is it?"

"Number one, I wasn't aware my job required me to do anything but sharpen Inuyasha's sword and to bandage his wounds, so I apologize for not knowing your stupid rule." Touran frowned and Karan snorted as she tried to suppress a snicker. "Number two, how do Shihitou make money in the first place?"

There was a pause as Touran stared at Kagome with narrowed eyes as if trying to discern if she was being serious or not. During that time Kouga stared past Inuyasha at Kagome while mumbling something about 'loving women who take charge'. Inuyasha and Ayame glared at him but the ookami youkai ignored them.

"Didn't I tell you already?" Touran asked suspiciously, moving forward to sit down across from her.

Kagome shook her head and an irritated look crossed her features. "I think you were about to but those two over there started a fight in the middle of the hallway. I never got around to asking you again."

Touran groaned and rubbed a hand over her face as her younger sister moved to sit at her side.

"We're paid legally by the lord of each provenance for gracing him with our presence. Whoever's domain we're fighting in pays us to fight there because it increases the number of people that travel to that domain to watch the fight. More money for him."

Kagome nodded, as Ayame traced a knot in the wood table she was sitting at. Kouga continued to stare at her, and Inuyasha began to doze off where he sat, using his arms as make shift pillows.

"The less than illegal way, and the way Karan specializes in, is the underground betting circles. I couldn't tell you anything about it except that it makes us most of our money and that Karan seems to travel around a lot."

At this Touran glanced at Karan out of the corner of her eye, a slightly troubled look on her face. It was easily seen what she thought about that. The room fell silent except Inuyasha's quiet snores and Ayame's claws on the table.

The female ookami youkai looked up after a few more moments of silence and sighed. "Okay, can we leave now?"

Touran stared at her for a second before her eyes narrowed and she jumped to her feet once more.

"Of course not! I'm not done yelling at you!" Touran's eyes snapped to Inuyasha who was still snoring softly where he sat. "And we all know you're not asleep Inuyasha!"

The room fell silent as Touran waited for Inuyasha to respond or at least for him to stop snoring. Instead one of his ears twitched. Kouga waved a hand in front of the hanyou's face before he prodded Inuyasha's temple. A clawed hand swatting him away was the only response he got.

"He's really asleep?" Touran asked in surprise, sitting down again.

Karan sighed and gave her elder sister a slightly reproachful look. "Of course he is. He was injured and then he had to fight Kouga before fighting three massive Oni and then you dragged him in here to yell at him."

Touran's eyes narrowed and she glared at Karan for a moment before pointing an accusing, clawed finger at her.

"You're the one who made him fight the Oni!"

"I had a perfectly good reason for that," Karan snapped back.

"Oh really," Touran drawled, her tone slightly mocking. "And what was it?"

"The crowd loved him. The day after he fought a gang of nobles literally ran up to me and demanded that I sell him, or at least tell them where I'd gotten him."

Ayame sighed and rested her head on the palm of her hand. "As exciting as hearing what everyone thinks of the half-breed, I'd like to leave now and I have to tend to Kouga."

"I'm fine Ayumi," Kouga said without looking at her.

"It's Ayame."

"Hmm."

Ayame sighed and rubbed her temples.

"You were saying, Karan," Touran cut in impatiently.

"A few of the nobles offered…" Karan voice trailed off as her eyes glazed over. "…you should have heard the numbers, 1000 gold pieces… 1500 gold pieces. They were even offering up to 5500 gold pieces! Just for one Shihitou!"

Touran gave Karan a suspicious look. "You didn't."

"Of course I didn't sell him. And of course they got a little…flustered. One thing led to another…Bets were made…"

Touran wrinkled her nose. "You're a whore for money. You do know that, don't you?"

Karan just smiled and shrugged.

"How much did you make?"

"Almost 7000 pieces and a nice plot of land that I sold back for double. That makes nearly 11,000 gold pieces," Karan said dreamily. "All in one fight. This is going to be a good year."

Touran shook her head and looked to Ayame, who seemed to be thinking of just getting up and leaving without being dismissed.

Although the Hyou compound was far more lenient when it came to slave behavior, practically giving the Shihitou, Enjo and workers the same rights as everyone else, some mannerisms were conditioned in slaves. No matter what Touran or her siblings did to dissuade this behavior, some of the people living at the compound continued to bow to them, give them titles, do little pointless things without asking and a whole number of things that where drilled into a slave's brain from the moment of enslavement.

Ayame could have left anytime she wanted to, but she wouldn't because if she had tried to do so in anyone else's household, she would have been whipped, beaten, sold or maybe even raped.

All of this ran back and forth through Touran's brain as she sat there staring blankly at the female ookami youkai. Ayame shifted uncomfortably under her gaze for a moment before asking if she'd done anything wrong.

Touran's eyes snapped back into focus at Ayame's softly asked question and the hyou youkai blinked a few times before giving her a soft smile.

"Of course not. You could've left anytime you wanted. Actually I don't want you here anymore. Get out and take the hormone bucket with you."

Ayame blinked in surprise and gave Touran a slightly wary look, as if she expected the other youkai to suddenly attack her in mad rage. When Touran merely continued to stare at her, Ayame sighed and rose to her feet. As she moved toward the door she grasped hold of Kouga's long pony tail and dragged him along with her.

"Oi! What the fuck do you think you're doing! Release me, Aymai!"

"It's Ayame, you idgit!"

Touran stared after them as they disappeared through the door and down the hallway. The sounds of shouting and a number of things breaking reminded her very much of Kagome and Inuyasha.

Speaking of Kagome and Inuyasha. The hanyou was still asleep and Kagome was fiddling with a lock of his hair as she sat deep in thought. Touran found the scene to be rather endearing and she smiled at them.

"Did we answer your questions Kagome?" Karan asked suddenly, breaking the young woman out of her thoughts.

Touran suddenly wanted to smack her younger sister.

"Yeah you did. Thanks," Kagome answered.

Karan smiled at her and smoothly got to her feet. "Well you must be tired and we know he's tired. Let's get him to his room."

Kagome glanced over at Inuyasha's slumbering face and frowned. "We don't have to wake him up do we?"

Her reply was Touran also getting to her feet and moving to Inuyasha's side only to throw him over her shoulder like he weighed nothing at all. Kagome's mouth dropped open and she blinked in awe as Touran moved toward the door. She paused and looked back at her.

"Coming?"

"Oh…yeah…I'm coming."

The three of them, with Inuyasha still konked out over Touran's shoulder, made it to the room that he and Kagome shared without mishap. Kagome watched as Karan pulled back the blanket on Inuyasha's cot before Touran laid him down. Karan pulled the blanket back over his shoulders and the two hyou youkai cocked their heads to the side simultaneously as Inuyasha rolled over onto his side and curled in on himself.

They both smiled at him before turning toward the door. Karan paused to look back at Kagome. "We'll be leaving tomorrow evening. Thanks to all the money I made off of Inuyasha we don't have to fight the last day of the tournament."

Kagome nodded.

"Okay then. Get some rest. Tomorrow's a busy day."

Karan then slid the door closed and walked away. Kagome collapsed back on her back and groaned. Everything seemed to be moving so fast. From being sold into slavery, being bought by Touran, living in the compound, and being the aid to a rude (but cute) anti-social, jackass, she had no idea where her life was going.

The prospect of getting home was shrinking as she settled into her new lifestyle and the way she had lived before, doing the same thing over and over again: wake up, hoe field, get water, mend clothes, prepare meals, sleep, and repeat. It paled in comparison to what she was doing now.

She was meeting strong people. People who had suffered at the hand of a society that treated them like property. Her village seemed like a small insignificant floating paradise. Where everyone was happy because no one knew that they were surrounded by pain and suffering.

She loved her family. She loved where she lived and deep inside herself, she longed to be innocent again. To not know what was going on; the way people suffered. But then she thought about the people she had met, like Inuyasha. Could she really turn her back on his suffering like so many people were doing? It was easier that way. It was easier to turn a blind eye to a child being beaten on the street or a man standing on a box, auctioning off girls.

Kagome frowned and turned over to her side, propping her head up so that she could watch Inuyasha.

He was more than sixty years old, but she had thought he was just a few years older than her. What kind of pain had he been through? She'd seen the scars on him, the ropey raised scars that covered his back, chest and waist. His arms were covered in slash marks, his legs as well.

He was thin, his muscles corded and sinewy. His arms and legs were long and powerful. She knew; she'd seen him in action. But compared to most of the Shihitou here, Inuyasha was quite small.

She wondered how he had survived as a child. He said nothing of having a family so she assumed he didn't have one. How many people like Inuyasha were suffering right now?

The hanyou interrupted her thoughts by suddenly emitting a soft groan. His body jerked onto his back and he began to mumble something under his breath.

Kagome blinked in surprise and raised her head slightly so she could see Inuyasha better. His limbs twitched and he continued to mumble, a frown marring his features.

Kagome remembered being awoken by him having a nightmare before and it seemed he was suffering from another one. She had no idea what they could be about, but she wasn't one to watch someone suffering when she could do something about it.

The young woman eased herself off of her bed and made her way to the other side of the room. She kneeled down next to Inuyasha and gave his shoulder a gentle shake. He jerked under her hand and his upper lip curled back in a silent snarl. Kagome gave a hard swallow and pulled her hand back. She didn't want to be lashed out at trying to wake him up.

The hanyou's back arched off the bed and he gritted his teeth together.

Kagome's face hardened and she got to her feet, scanning the room quickly for anything that could help. Her eyes found a roll of bandages she had been using on Inuyasha and she gave a wicked smile. She snatched them up off the floor and she aimed at Inuyasha's heaving back before flinging the heavy roll of cloth at him.

Just as it made contact, Inuyasha body jerked, his eyes flew open and he twisted around and shredded them with his claws. He stared at the ruined bandages for a long moment, his chest still heaving. He frowned in confusion and shifted so he was sitting locus-style on the bed.

Kagome cleared her throat to get his attention.

His eyes shifted to hers before looking back at the slashed bandages. A strange look crossed his face and he looked away. He reached up to scratch behind one of his ears and shook his head.

"You tried to wake me up."

Kagome nodded and gave him a bright smile.

"Yep! Aren't I so smart?"

Inuyasha glanced up at her before looking down at his lap again. "I could've hurt you."

"But you didn't, because I'm so smart," Kagome demolished at once, still smiling.

Inuyasha looked up at her with a little frown and sighed, getting to his feet at the same time. "Well you're not stupid," he said as he passed her on his way to the door.

Kagome face-faulted and her mouth fell open in shock. "H-hey! I just helped you out and that's the thanks I get!"

Inuyasha just continued through the threshold and slid the door closed behind him with a sharp click.

(AN): The Hold is over and I live! Thanks to all you people that reviewed me with your thoughts about the person who flamed me.

The flames have been fanned out and dirt has been thrown over them. I said I didn't plan on stopping this story and I haven't. But I hope you keep on reviewing, 'cause that really helped me get back in the mood…

(Not that mood Dogma!)

…to write again. I know that this chapter…well it blows. But I've already started on the next one and I plan on coming back and reediting this chapter later.

Great, Gotcha, Good!

Watch this space. Review and No I don't own Inuyasha. (Is alright? Is alright. Is alright? Is alright.)