Author Notes: Thank you for all your readings ^^ I'm glad to see that you haven't entirely forgotten about me. Well, let's keep going before I lose my strength again LOL

I hope you like this chapter, it's not one of the bests, and there's not so much movement or development, is more like a transition, but I hope you enjoy it anyway =)

When I originally wrote this chapter I had troubles on focusing and not making the characters too much OOC. That may be noted at the beginning of the chapter but while I was writing it went smoothly and I managed to move forward. I hope you like the end of it ^^

Disclaimer: Besides the plot line, I don't own anything. Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and Yomiuri TV Corporation. I'm not getting any profit from this story; this was just made for fun.

Warning: Maybe there is bad language? I'm not so sure what you consider bad language... ^^U

Thanks to: My beta reader, PandaStarz, for her wonderful work on this chapter.

Slavery.

Author:MikoAucarod

Chapter 17. Searching for a new home.

Finally, after they had been walking for a few minutes, Inuyasha stood at the side of the lake, the same one where he had found Kagome when Kikyo had forced him to kiss her.

"Now which way?" asked Sesshomaru, walking beside Totousai, who was staring calmly at his surroundings.

"Shippo said that he had left a trace; it must be somewhere near here." Inuyasha put old Myoga down from his back and started walking around the lake, searching for any sign of Shippo's magic.

"He said that it would be something like a crying plant, didn't he?" Sesshomaru observed around them, completely alert to any single sound or shadow he could catch. The memory of the earlier attack made the tension and adrenaline keep running freely through his veins.

"I think he said crying mushrooms…" Finally, when he stepped over a flat rock near the north side of the lake, Inuyasha spotted how a small plant emerged from the earth. It was a small mushroom with two big eyes from where lots of tears were falling and a small whimpering could be heard. As a chain reaction, more and more plants began to appear, creating a path for them to follow.

"They're not answering… They're not answering!" yelled Kagura, moving her arms as if she were ready to throw her mobile phone against the rock walls of the cave where they were, but her common sense told her not to throw it.

"Relax, Kagura. Maybe they're out or they're already sleeping. Maybe they-"

"Maybe they're dead!" exclaimed the young girl, glaring at Kouga, who only sighed at her negative thoughts.

"Kagura, don't yell like that," said Kagome to the red eyed woman, whose face was pale as a candle. Both of them were really scared. Kagome herself was worried sick for Inuyasha. "We don't know what's happening and it'll be better for all of us if we keep our heads clear, none of us is hurt and we should be thankful for that. All we can do is to remain calm and-"

"They're here!" interrupted Shippo, while running towards the silhouettes that were approaching the cave. Kagome stared in disbelief and relief at the couple of Slaves that were slowly walking, with the company of their neighbors, towards them.

Everyone got out of the cave to receive them; aside from being covered from head to toes with soot and debris, they weren't injured.

Kagome was the first one to reach them and launched herself to Inuyasha's arms. He had just put down Old Myoga and hugged her tightly, finally calming at the sight of her unharmed, safe.

It wasn't long until they explained what had happened and their story left more than one person really perturbed.

"There's no doubt, they were the Band of Seven Warriors," spoke Kouga, sitting in front of a fire that they had managed to turn on in order to protect themselves of the cold of the night. They had lost everything during that attack. "They finally shared the same fate we had, didn't they? Being enslaved because of their abilities…"

"But, how could they have ended up under Naraku's orders? He's in prison!" Kikyo was terrified of the simple idea of him being free and on the streets.

"Do you remember what I told you some time ago?" It was Sesshomaru's turn to speak. He was standing against the wall of the cave and had his arms folded over his chest. His glare was almost a reproachful one. "It was highly probable that he had contacts outside prison. Somehow he managed to escape, that's a fact. If he wasn't, he couldn't have given that order to Bankotsu. Maybe they're Slaves of someone else and they were just given to him in order to fulfill his plan for tonight."

"There's a high probability that he's only coming for us," said Inuyasha, looking at the girls. "I think that the best we can do is for Ayame, Kagura and Sango to not be near us. If he's looking for Kikyo as revenge for what we did to him, he'll take whoever gets in his way to get what he want. The whole family is already involved."

Everyone stared at the floor, feeling bad.

"It's cruel… but Inuyasha's right. You'll only be at risk if you stay near us," admitted Kagome, after some minutes in silence.

"And what are we supposed to do? Just watch you die?" exclaimed Sango, standing up and staring at them, clearly upset. "We're your friends and we're in this together. I'm not going to allow some idiot to tear us apart."

"This isn't any of your business at all. It's me who he's looking for," was Kikyo's answer. Her eyes were filled with tears, but she didn't let them fall. "If that's the case then everyone should get away from me and you won't have any more troubles, no one is going to be in danger only because I-"

"Kikyo, we're a family, we can't let you go by yourself and be at risk." Kagome's mother approached the girl, who was shaking, and hugged her, making Kikyo finally snap and begin to cry on her shoulder. "I'll make it clear to you: You're not alone anymore, understand that. And we're not going to allow Naraku to get near you ever again."

"Then what do we do?" was the quiet question of Shippo, who looked at everyone, waiting for a magical solution.

"We have already imprisoned him once, we can do that again," stated Inuyasha. Miroku stood up.

"Well, then I suggest that we should go to sleep now, the cave is big enough for all of us and tomorrow we can see what to do. Being well rested and more relaxed we can formulate a plan to-"

"I already told you that this isn't of your business!"

"You're no one to control our lives, Kikyo! It's our choice and we choose to help you, it's our responsibility." Ayame got near both women, since Kagome's mother kept holding the black haired girl, in order to calm her down. "My parents have a very good position inside the Government and the Justice's Department, I can be of help."

"And with that you'll only involve your family in unnecessary risks."

"They're not answering!" yelled Kagura again, finally breaking into sobs and at the next moment, Sesshomaru was kneeling besides her and letting her hug him, seeking comfort.

"My sister is very worried because she thinks that Naraku may also attack our families. Since we got to the cave she's been trying to reach them but no one's picking up the phone," said Kanna, making a big drop of sweat run over everybody's heads.

"I don't think Naraku is the kind of guy to go over all the city randomly killing people."

"Kouga, don't say it that way."

And they kept arguing for a long time that night.

The next morning, Inuyasha was resting on the branch of a nearby tree. Despite not having felt any presence during the whole night, he just couldn't sleep.

"Inuyasha, are you ok?" called Kagome, standing under the same tree and at the next moment he got down from there, standing in front of her. Her expression turned into one of worry. "You didn't sleep at all last night?"

"As I can see, neither did you."

Both of them had large dark circles marked around their eyes.

"Well, I'm grateful that my mom didn't get all hysterical or begin to yell like a crazy woman but… I just lost my home, Inuyasha. I think I couldn't have slept even if I had tried to… I think…I'm… I'm scared," she finally whispered, and at that moment, Inuyasha held her against him protectively.

"Don't worry, Kag. We're all fine, and I'll always be here to protect you, you must not be scared. I'll protect you," he vowed, kissing her forehead softly. "I would die before I let them hurt you."

"That's what I'm scared of the most." Inuyasha let out a small 'Keh!' and then he kissed the girl in his arms, wanting to bring her comfort, peace and mostly security, love and hope. Her soul needed that. "I just couldn't stand that-" she spoke again, after they broke the kiss, and placed her forehead against the half demon's. "… That you should have to sacrifice yourself to save me or my mom… or anyone… I don't want to lose you, Inuyasha."

"You won't, Kagome. You won't."

And then both got inside the cave, waiting for everyone to wake up and try to find a solution, wishing that some kind of magical or divine power had pulled it out of nowhere.

It was then that Kagura's cell phone began to ring. She hastily picked up.

"Hello? Mo- Mom, what the hell happened to you last night that you never answ-! What do you mean you went on a trip as a second Honey Moon? You have no idea how worr-! What? The news? No. Well we don't have a TV in here so- No, mom, I'm not dead! No, neither is Kann-! No, mom, I don't think heaven has a cell phone recept- How I'm supposed to know? I've no idea if they could work or not, I'm not dead! I thought you were the ones dea-! Dad, hang up the other line! It's not funny! Yeah, we're ok. No, I'm not going to tell them th- No, I won't put the speak-! Mom, I'm telling y-!"

Kagura was interrupted by Sesshomaru, who calmly took her cell phone away and turned the speaker on.

"Sesshomaru, this isn't funny."

"Oh, believe me Kagura, it is."

She looked around and she could notice that everyone was having a hard time to not laugh out loud. Maybe it was because of the tension, or the accumulation of stress of the last few hours, but whatever it was it finally broke their common sense and they began to laugh as if there was not a tomorrow. It was good, definitely good to laugh as crazy maniacs and not to fall down and cry like desperate people. Everyone, even Kagura, began to laugh hysterically.

After some embarrassing moments for the red eyed girl, finally they could hear Abi and Haku's voices through the phone.

"I'm glad to see that you're all right. We just got back from our second honey moon, taking advantage of neither of the girls being here, but when we saw this morning's news they published a report of the building were Kagome and her family were living. It was completely destroyed and the van you had rented was totally burned. They didn't find bodies but we couldn't help but worry."

"It was Naraku. He sent a group of warrior Slaves to destroy us."

"How do you know that?" Haku asked, with a serious tone of voice. "Do you guys have any proof?"

"No. Well, my mom was there earlier but…" Kagome then looked at her mother, who was sitting over a rock in the cave, and she shook her head.

"Naraku wasn't there. It was just a group of Slaves who entered the house and began to destroy it all, demanding me to tell them where you were. Shippo managed to fool them and get us out of there before something bad happened to us."

"Without any proof I'm afraid there's not so much what we can do."

"Stupid government!" yelled Sango, gaining lots of weird looks. "Ok, stupid police… or stupid whoever had invented that stupid and foolish thing that if someone attacks you and you have no proof to demonstrate who it was, you lose no matter what."

"I think someone needs to get her breakfast," said Miroku, smiling at the others. "When she's hungry she gets all crazy."

"I heard you, idiot monk!"

"You see?"

"Guys, guys, we're not discussing that. The important thing right now is for you to find a shelter or return to your homes and make sure you're safe."

"What they must do Mrs. Abi, is to leave now and let us handle this."

"Inuyasha's right. Kagura, it's better for you, Kanna and Sesshomaru to just return home."

"But mother! They're my friends, I can't-!"

"No buts, Kagura. I want you here at home in an hour, maximum. Sesshomaru, that's an order, even if she says otherwise. You must bring her home."

"So it will be, Sir," spoke the taiyoukai, with a slightly resigned voice.

"All right, if there are no more objections, we'll be waiting to hear news about you, Inuyasha, Kagome, Mrs. Higurashi… I'm sorry for your loss, if there's anything we can do…"

"Oh! Don't worry, we have enough money to find a new place to live, that's not a problem."

"Fine then. See you later, guys."

And the phone fell silent.

"All right, then what will we do?"

And just then everyone remembered that Totousai and Myoga were still there.

After a few more discussions, orders that began to contradict themselves and more scolding from a hungry Sango, finally, Inuyasha and the Higurashi family managed to send everyone towards their homes. Totousai would go with Sesshomaru since he firmly said that they needed to talk. Kouga went home with Ayame, and Miroku was the one who had it worst since he would have to bear with an angry and hungry Sango who was only convinced to leave when they swore to her that they would keep her informed of their moves.

"… I think I know where we can ask for help," spoke Kikyo, after a while of being walking inside the forest, not willing to go back to the main road, to avoid the risk of being spotted or seeing the remnants of the building.

"As long as we don't have to walk so much, young lady…"

"Don't complain, Old Myoga. I'm the one carrying you."

"That's why, young Inuyasha. I don't want to be a bother to you."

"I'm really sorry, Mister Myoga… because of us your home is now-"

"Oh, my little Kagome, don't worry. It was just a house."

Finally they got out into a clearing, near a rich neighborhood. From where they were standing they could see the immense gardens of every single house, all of them really beautiful. Kikyo, without doubts, and not looking at anything else, began to move forward to one of the houses.

"So this is where you always came, dear?"

"That's right, aunt. I- Well, I made everyone believe that I lived in one of these houses. As I said to you before… money and that stuff… and well, the house from where I came out has a side garden with a broken wall. I entered the house from that part and then used to go out from the main entrance."

"Hey, this place-"

"Hold on, Inuyasha. Kikyo, did you ever think that's burglary and you could have been accused or incarcerated?" scolded Kagome, ignoring Inuyasha's sudden looks around them.

"To tell the truth, yes I did. But this house in particular… I had been going out from there for some time ago when I found a note taped to the side wall. It said that as long as I never damaged or mistreated her garden, it wouldn't be any problem if I passed through it."

"Wow, then the owner of that place should have known what you were doing and gave you permission." Mrs. Higurashi smiled at the confidence of this person, who she supposed they were now heading to ask for help.

"Emm… Kikyo, are you sure where are you going? I mean… it's here, you sure?"

"Of course, Inuyasha. It's this way."

Finally they found the house. It was a majestic mansion. The side wall, as Kikyo had said, was destroyed, as if someone had punched it lots of time until one part of it was broken. They entered the garden and they could see lots of beautiful flowers, roses, tulips, sunflowers, exotic flowers, fountains and birdbaths scattered all over the place. They were vines climbing over the four floors of the old house in front of them. The air around it was stately. It was as a big and noble mansion.

"Oh Lord, no…" the half-demon stopped in his tracks and stared at Kikyo, with an incredulous look.

"What is it, Inuyasha?" Shippo approached the man, noticing his nervousness and looked all around, feeling scared. But everything seemed normal.

"Kikyo… out of all the houses, on the whole country, in all the rich neighborhoods around the whole town, you had to choose this one?"

"What's wrong with it? You're making me nervous." Kikyo turned pale and looked around her, fearing that at any moment Naraku would appear from behind a bush with a knife to attack them.

"What's wrong, Inuyasha?" Kagome was the next one to approach the hanyou, and then looked at Myoga, who, over his back, looked just as confused and scared as everyone else.

"It's just that this place-"

"Oh, my! Israel! Long time, no see!"