Author Notes: First of all: Yeeeey! My beta reader answered me and she's willing to continue helping me! X3 Also I received a PM from another person who will also try to help me too ^^ thank you! =) ok, on the story today we'll learn who is the person living at this place, but I think you already discovered that hehehe and also we'll know what happened in the past thanks to Totousai. I must say this scene was originally in the next chapter, but when I wrote it I made a mistake in the timeline, so here's corrected. I hope you enjoy it ^^

Also we'll visit (that's why this chapter's title is named for) to someone from two years ago. This chapter was written at November 2 of 2010, Day of the Dead here at my country where we have a tradition of make honor to all the death and loved ones who passed away. I hope you enjoy it.

Sorry for not update last Wednesday and Friday. I got flu ~_~U I swear this fanfic has a curse or something, always something is happening that prevents me to translate the chapters on schedule, if while being healthy I have troubles with English, imagine my poor brain while having flu ~_~U

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 19: I'm nothing more than a Slave.

"Unbelievable, I cannot believe that even though classes have begun and despite the fact that you have your teacher at home, you're already behind in your studies."

"These subjects are really hard, Inuyasha. I'd like to see you try to study high school work; let's see if you think it's funny."

"Keh! I don't need to study all that crap…" Inuyasha looked around him. They were in Kagome's bedroom, which had a beautiful view of the garden. In fact it was the room next to his. If he recalled correctly, this room had belonged to Miroku, that's why it had a desk and bookshelves filled with lots of books and scrolls. It was a good place to concentrate and study… not that Kagome was willing to make an effort in doing so, though.

Every five minutes, the young girl would stretch, get distracted, and get up to get a glass of water or just to get out of the room. That's why Mrs. Higurashi had kindly ordered Inuyasha to watch her and make sure that she kept studying. It had been the only way to make Kagome read up to four pages of her notes.

"It's not as if I needed that, anyway," whispered the half-demon, with a note of melancholy in his voice, which made Kagome look at him, confused.

"Everyone deserves to have education, Inuyasha. Besides, this could help you in your future. When you get a job or if you want to buy your own house you'll need money and to have money you'll need a good-"

"I'm a Slave, Kagome," the boy reminded her, placing his hand on her head and making her turn again towards the book. "Sorry about that, it's because of your mom's order. As I was saying, I'm a Slave. Slaves don't have jobs, don't have their own homes, they don't have a life. Heck, I can't even grow old. I've been 18 years old for the past 500 years."

"Yeah… you're right, I guess you don't grow old…"

At that moment Inuyasha noticed that something was wrong. Kagome didn't attempt to avoid her homework and neither of them spoke for a couple of hours. The hanyou realized his mistake. He was with Kagome. You could say they were some kind of couple – the term 'boyfriend and girlfriend' sounded accurate, but he had never really asked her to be his girlfriend – but if he loved her and she loved him, didn't that made them a couple already? Weren't they dating?

The question was stuck on his tongue, and Inuyasha did everything he could to stop himself from asking her. It would be so embarrassing!

But going back to his line of thought, he had hurt Kagome with his words. Again. Somehow he was binding her to a life with him and he could never do anything for her. He was discriminated on the streets,—heck, if they knew he was a Slave he couldn't even go to the Movies!—he had no education or anything like that and much less could he ever get a job. He couldn't even…

He wouldn't grow up with her. In five more years she would be three years older than him. That wasn't so much, but soon she would turn out into an old woman like Kaede. She would have 70, 80 years. If she got lucky she could get to her 90th birthday… and he would remain a volatile young man of 18 years.

What had he done?

"… Do you regret this?" Kagome asked suddenly, not taking her eyes off of her book, waking him up from his dark thoughts.

"… Maybe I do." Kagome had entirely read his mind.

"Is not as if I cared about that, Inuyasha. I love you for who you are. I knew about the consequences of being together… but it seems I didn't think about the future as well as I believed I had."

"What do you mean?" asked the hanyou, noticing how Kagome kept reading the book so she wouldn't have to force him to her mother's order. But he was sure that Kagome's attention was entirely focused on him.

"The other day I—well, when I saw Lady Kaede and Mister Myoga walking together inside the garden… I thought for a second: "I would love it if Inuyasha and I could be like that in the future. Two grown old people, laughing about the life, without worries… maybe… maybe even with our own family…"

Inuyasha's eyes widened with surprise and recognition. He remembered that she had wanted to say something to him but at the last minute she hadn't said anything. Had it been that?

"… I…I realized at that moment that it will never be that way… if something similar came to be it would be an Old Kagome, walking beside the same person I have at my side. You'll look exactly as you do now, won't you?" Kagome never lifted her gaze from the book, but her voice broke. Inuyasha could only nod.

"Kagome… I made a terrible mistake when I allowed you and your family to enter my life. If I just- If only I had stayed firm and not allowed myself to show any emotion, I wouldn't be making you suffer like this. I didn't think, I just… I'm so selfish," said the half-demon while lowering his gaze and clenching his fists.

"Maybe we both are." At this, Inuyasha looked up again and stared at her back. "Despite it all I want to live the rest of my life alongside you. But Inuyasha, I suffer, and it's not for me… I suffer for you." The hanyou could only stare at her in confusion; why was she suffering for him? "Even if we…" Kagome fell silent and turned the page of her book. A blush appeared on her cheeks. "Even if we… well… we had a family… you would see them all pass away one by one and… it's not fair. I don't think it's fair to you, but… I really want to have a family with you."

In the silence that followed, Kagome didn't dare to look up and kept reading. She watched him out of the corner of her eye as Inuyasha moved to take a seat in the chair next to her. After a few minutes, he began to move slightly as if he were thinking on something. After several more torturous moments of silence, Inuyasha finally stood up again and hugged Kagome from behind.

"The most wonderful thing that life could give me would be to see my children grow up and have you at my side…" He began to whisper, close to her ear and with his gaze lost on some part of the desk. "Of course I want to have a family too, Kagome. Even though I don't know if I'll be able to have my own because of my condition but… you said it, I may have you for over 80 or 90 years. But then I would lose you, just as I lost my father when he tried to defend us from a horde of youkai when I was just a pup. Just as I lost my mother who could never get over the grief of losing him. Over time I would lose you, my children, my grandchildren… damn, I could go on with my great, great, great grandchildren and still things won't ever change to me. That's why I never wanted anything like that for fear of losing them. That's why I was like that, rude, selfish and cold, even with the guys. I couldn't afford to open up to anyone else. It wasn't only the abuse from other people… my own fears had a lot to do with that…"

Kagome began to sob, placing her hands on Inuyasha's arms.

"But you know… it's thanks to you that I've learned that running away from that is the same or more painful. Spending an eternity watching my family growing up, expanding, being there to greet the newcomers and always being a part of them in some kind of way would make me feel special…" Inuyasha's voice broke off and he buried his face in Kagome's neck. After a deep sigh, he continued. "On the other hand… having to spend a whole eternity in solitude again… I…" Inuyasha cursed in his mind. Why those damn tears refused to be sealed inside his eyes? "Kagome… I don't think I could stand it again."

That was it. Kagome suddenly stood up and, turning around, hugged Inuyasha fiercely. She needed to feel him there with her. She needed to make him realize he wasn't alone. He needed her. Inuyasha returned the embrace with the same strength and after just a second he could hear some whispers coming from Kagome.

"…6=12, 2x7=14… Damn, I hate my mom right now… 2x8=16, 2x9=18… I swear if I don't do this the shackle could hurt you… 2x10=20, 2x11=22… I'm still studying something, crap… 2x12=24, 2x13=26…"

Inuyasha half smiled and placed her head against his shoulder. Lord, how he loved her!

He knew it would be difficult… of course he knew it but just as he managed to be with Kagome, he knew he could go through all that.

Kagome kept whispering multiplication tables the whole night.

"Sure you want to go by yourselves, my dear? Lady Kaede and Myoga could-"

"No, mom. Lady Kaede's car is broken and they couldn't keep up the whole way back with the groceries. Besides, is not like Naraku sent his minions to the center of the city, right?" Kagome continued with her hard work of braid the hair of Inuyasha in order to place a dark hair wig. She had discovered that even with his dark hair and brown eyes he looked really sexy and almost as if he was an ordinary human. – If only it weren't so difficult to make him wear the contact lenses!

"You can't know that" was Inuyasha's answer, who felt the slight rub of the brush dangerously close to his sensitive ear and he almost instinctively pressed it against his skull, making Kagome laugh. She was now wearing a red color wig with soft curls at the end of it. It ended almost at the middle of her arms.

"Inuyasha, you're not helping. I need to leave the house once in a while. I'm not sure about you, but I'm almost entirely certain that I've become claustrophobic."

"Your overreacting, Kagome," scoffed Inuyasha, with a half smile on his face.

It took them a while to convince Mrs. Higurashi, then Shippo and then Kikyo who kept saying that they would go with them. Then once they convinced them to stay at home, Kaede and Myoga began to lecture them – they almost seemed like their own grandparents! – but in the end they managed to get to the Center of the City without any trouble and were now buying the supplies that were needed at home.

When they walked in front of a restaurant, behind the glass window they could see Sesshomaru, Kagura and Kanna sitting at a table. Sesshomaru felt their gazes and turned around. When he looked directly at the couple, after a couple of seconds, he made a movement with his head telling them to enter.

"How did you recognize us?" Inuyasha asked, once they were standing next to their seats.

"Your scent. You're lucky that Naraku and his minions are all human. You shouldn't be outside."

"That color suits you very well, Kag," spoke Kagura, glad to be able to see her friend for the first time in a long time.

"And what are you doing here?"

"Oh, Kanna is now a fourth year student from the elementary school and before we hadn't had the chance to go out and celebrate with her. My mother has been hysterical about what happened and just recently she began to calm down.

"But I'm not happy…" pouted the small child. – "My best friend didn't pass last year like I did, even though her grades were good. And to make it worse, Hiroko told me that her mother was going to transfer her to another school…"

"Oh, Kanna." Kagome patted her head. "You can always see her on another time, right? Don't worry. You can invite her over to your house or something."

Kanna shook her head sadly.

"I don't even have her phone number, e-mail or anything. I don't even know where she lives. She never gave me any information because she said that her mother didn't allow her to do it… not even with her friends."

"That kid keeps lots of secrets, if you ask me," spoke Inuyasha, stealing a piece of the hamburger that Sesshomaru had been eating.

"Don't be paranoid, Inuyasha."

"Also… Mister Sesshomaru is afraid of her."

That comment made everyone stare at Kanna with disbelief.

"It's true!" she insisted when she noted how they were looking at her. "That time when he came to pick me up to the school and I came out with Hiroko. Mister Sesshomaru seemed scared when he saw her."

"I wasn't scared. She surprised me. That's all…" spoke Sesshomaru, looking out through the window.

He remembered her now. That girl had resembled his dearest daughter, Rin, so much. That's why he had been surprised. He could almost have confused them but… she hadn't made any sign of recognition when she saw him and he had to remind himself that Rin had been a human… it was just impossible.

Kagura noticed how his eyes began to look haunted and so she quickly changed the topic.

"And this is the last one." Kagome finished placing the bags of the supermarket between her arms and began walking alongside Inuyasha, who was carrying way more bags than Kagome.

It was getting dark and because of the chat with Kagura and Sesshomaru they had lost track of time. The sky began to get clouded, and soon, thunder could be heard. It wasn't long before a heavy storm fell over the city. Inuyasha took the rest of the groceries bags and carried Kagome on his back in order to search refuge. To reach home they would need to cross the open field and the main road and that wasn't possible with this weather. That was the only bad thing about living so apart from the city.

They came to an alley that, thanks to several balconies of the buildings that formed it, was relatively dry compared to the streets.

Kagome got down from Inuyasha's back and took off her wig, which was soaked, and shook her long hair, trying to remove the excess of water from it.

Then, everything happened so suddenly.

Before Inuyasha could react, seven people appeared in the alley and attacked him. Kagome faced a similar fate when she was caught by a person who wrapped his arm around her neck and pointed a gun at her forehead with his other hand.

They could only hear thunder, the heavy rain hitting the pavement and Inuyasha's yells at their attackers. He was trying to get close to Kagome and defend her but no matter what movement he made, a new hit or someone pushing him came from any side. It was a perfect ambush.

A flash of lightning illuminated the alley enough for a few seconds and that made Inuyasha freeze. Kagome was being held by Naraku and he was ready to shoot her, yet when Naraku recognized who she was, he lost his look of triumph.

"You're not Kikyo," he spoke, irritated, and rolled his eyes. "This is disappointing."

Bankotsu, taking advantage of Inuyasha's state, tackled him from behind and made him fall with a thud. Kyokotsu then, a muscular man who was over six feet tall and Suikotsu, a man with a sadic face, moved quickly to keep him lying on the ground. The other five, Jakotsu, Mukotsu, Renkotsu, Ginkotsu and Bankotsu surrounded them, alert of any attempt to escape.

Inuyasha wouldn't give up, though and so he kept struggling, releasing himself sometimes only to be caught by another one of the brother's arms. That situation made Naraku lose his patience.

"Tell him not to move or I'll blow both of your brains!" Naraku yelled, crushing Kagome's neck, making it hard to her to breath.

Kagome felt her tears falling uncontrollably. None of the options were good. Yet, Inuyasha stopped struggling when he noticed how much in danger Kagome was. Without doubt they would kill her if he didn't bend before them.

"Dammit, Naraku! Do whatever you want with me, but don't touch her!" exclaimed the half-demon, staring with a pale face at the gun that was threatening Kagome's life. "Just let her go, please…" he begged when he noticed how terrified Kagome was.

"Whatever I want, eh? All right, you know how to talk, kid. You, brat, order him to stay still. I don't want any surprises here."

Kagome shook her head with desperation and that only made Inuyasha feel how his heart was about to explode from pain when Naraku took her from her hair and began shaking her, hurting her and still pointing at her with the gun.

"Do as I say!" Naraku yelled above the noise of the storm.

Inuyasha stared helpless at Kagome's face and when she opened her eyes it took only one glance at each other eyes to make her feel like scum. He was practically begging her to obey them… he was asking her to force him to not move…

"In-Inuyasha… don-don't move," whispered the girl while closing her eyes with pain. Then she heard thuds and groans from Inuyasha. Those bastards, the seven warriors, were beating and kicking him. Inuyasha's body was splattered on the floor and besides his cries of pain he was unable to defend himself.

"You cowards! Leave him alone!" Kagome yelled, making Naraku laugh. This was fun.

"I'll release you, brat, only if you order him to not do anything against us and no matter what, he must obey whatever we say."

"Over my dead body!"

"As you wish…" spoke Naraku, placing the gun against her head one more time.

"No! No, Kagome! Do what they say! Say it! Order me what he asked you to," said Inuyasha, from the ground, motionless. His lips were split and a line of blood came out of his mouth. His face was covered with blood and bruises and his left eyebrow had a cut that made blood splash over his eye, however, he didn't care about any of that. He was terrified because Kagome was determined not to obey them. Didn't she understand that her life was in real danger? Why the hell was she trying to protect him? He was just a Slave, he wasn't worth it!

Kagome felt so helpless at that moment and at the same time she felt so much self-hatred and self-disgust…

"Inuyasha… you mu-must obey… obey every-everything that N-Naraku and his minions tell you to do." Her voice break at that moment but Inuyasha sighed in relief when Naraku let her go and put down his gun.

The man began walking towards the entrance of the alley, with a twisted smile on his face.

"All right, Inuyasha. You can stand up and say goodbye to Kagome. I feel merciful, you have five minutes before I decide to kill this little brat… and you," he said pointing at Kagome. She looked at him in shock; this was just so much for her. "If you don't bring me Kikyo to this exact place in 24 hours, I'll not only finish with this insect's life. I'll also hunt you down and kill you and your entire family, you understand?"

During Naraku's threat, Inuyasha managed to stand up and began walking towards Kagome, a bit numbly because of all the pain. When he got to her side he hugged her tightly.

"Why, Inuyasha? Damn it, why?" she whispered, her eyes finally loosing the battle against her uncontrollable tears. She was terrified, she didn't know what would happen to him and it was all her fault.

The half-demon smiled sideways, causing the injuries on his face to hurt, but he didn't care. He just wanted her to be safe.

"Some time ago I told you… that I wouldn't be able to spend an eternity in solitude again… that's why no matter what happens to me while being with them, I know my existence was worth something because it allowed me, even if it was for a short time, to be with you. Kagome… you taught me how to live again."

"Don't talk like this is the last time we'll see each other…"

"Three minutes," Naraku mocked, staring at them with fun. They were just so pathetic.

"This will probably be the last one…" Inuyasha held her even more tightly and she clung to him in need. "Kagome…" he whispered, making sure that Naraku couldn't hear him. "Don't bring Kikyo here and if something were to happen to me- No, listen to me," he asked when she began to struggle and shook her head. "Please Kagome, I don't want to see you hurt, none of you, I'm not worth it, so please just get out of here, all of you get out of this place, please protect yourselves and promise me that you will go on with your life. If something happens to me, just get as far as you can and have a good life, please Kagome, be happy for the both of us. Find someone you can share your life with… someone who can give you everything that no matter how much I want to I'll never be able to give you."

"Don't ask impossible things, Inuyasha," she sobbed, wanting to send everything to hell right then. Let them kill them both at that place! Why did she have to suffer? She didn't want to get away from Inuyasha.

"…It is possible, Kagome. There will be someone out there who will be worth much more than me. Someone who's alive. Someone who can give you the family that you desire… someone with a job, who will be able to take care of you, support you, someone that will always watch out for you and your family. Someone who will be able to grow old with you. I can only offer you this."

And then Inuyasha took Kagome's face between his hands and kissed her passionately and vehemently. He was letting go everything into that kiss, he was giving her everything he had, his strength, his love, his own soul. That was everything he possessed. Kagome began to shake her head with desperation when she felt that saline kiss, a clear signal of a farewell, and hide her face in his jacket once more.

"I offer you my freedom, the one you had given to me…" he whispered quietly into her ear, "… my life, my strength, my own soul in exchange for your freedom, your safety. This is the most I could ever do for you, Kagome. Although I'm just a Slave, believe me, you made me feel like something much more than that. You gave me a life… and I'm grateful for that. Thank you, Kagome. I love you."

"Inuyasha, get away from her, it's time to go." The hanyou felt himself tense when the shackle forced him to let go Kagome and began to walk towards Naraku and the Shichinintai. With one last glance towards her, Inuyasha's silhouette was lost in the rain.

Naraku smiled psychopathically and walked towards Kagome, seeing that she had entered into a state of shock.

"Remember, you have 24 hours." And that said, he also disappeared into the streets.

Kagome couldn't do anything and falling forward, she began crying with despair. Why hadn't she been able to say anything? What was she supposed to do now? What the hell was wrong with that sick world?

"Inuyasha!" And then, only the echo of a heartbroken scream was heard among the alleys of the city, among the noise of the storm and the darkness of the night.