The sun was hardly rising as the many women were being pulled along by the make shift cloth chains that held their wrists together, each being held by another length of fabric holding on to the persons waist in front of them. " Come on ladies we still have 3 miles to go" a tall balding man in a heavily stained black and beige kimono called out . Orihime Inoue stood at the very back of the line of women being trailed in front of her, her bare feet splashed against muddy puddles on the long unawakened streets of San'ya. * I don't know how long I've been here* Orihime thought, stopping for the shortest of seconds before she felt an aching burn slash at her back. "Keep moving Number Ten" another man in a black Kimono called out, he didn't bother to know her name, so she didn't bother to know his. He held a tight burnt brown leather switch which he was using to lash at anyone who dared to delay their eventful morning. * It's almost over, from this nightmare onto another* Orihime's thoughts continued as she carefully made sure she was still walking. They were finally being bided off to the wealthier men of the district, for whatever reasons they could come up with. Orihime sighed as she saw the Wooden platform with many tree trunk stools in front of it, a sheen curtain made of thinly woven fabric split the platform in half as if to make some sort of stage. The Tall balding man guided the women into a line in which they would numerically be presented to the audience that would be arriving very soon. Orihime took in the ever rising sun as it finally was entering the sky, it shone onto everyone's heads in front of her, the nine other women's uniformed black hair shining with oil sat napped at the back of their necks their thin white underdresses spotted and spoiled with mud, sweat and the morning dew. * I probably look no better or even worse* Orihime thought silently, her underdress had the usual mud and sweat but it was evidently stained with the beatings she'd received, dried blood was making patterns across the back of her clothing as well as her left cheek playing victim to a bright purple and red bruise that covered most of the side of her face. She brought her mind back to reality as she heard the two women in front of her whispering, "I heard if we aren't sold today we'd be killed off like a pig in a slaughter" the woman furthest in front of her said, "Don't worry that crowd will be full of men, men always need something" the woman directly in front of her suggested. *always something, that's one way to put it* orihime darkly chuckled at this thought almost missing the final words of the two women's conversation hoping she had, "At least we aren't standing out too much" the furthest one said, "yeah we could have orange hair" the closer one said before she was cut off by the tall balding man. "Alright ladies, our audience is almost full, we will be starting at Number One, if you are failed to be sold today, we will be shipping you to Okinawa" Orihime trembled, she knew she stood out like a sore thumb, evidently she's only received beatings, but even she knew if she was shipped to Okinawa they'd make sex work of her easily. She could hardly even remember how she got in this trade to begin with, it felt like forever ago since she was free of the cloth made shackles that were digging into her wrists. * It was the only choice they had, who could blame them anyway, parading around someone that looks like me!* Orihime internally screamed, almost to Break her full lips apart and let it out verbally when the tall balding man yanked her forward. "Don't worry number ten, when no one buys you off I'll gladly take you home" he said staring at her breast through the thin fabric of her undress. Orihime must have been visibly disgusted, the tall balding man only chuckled as he shoved her through the sheen curtains and onto the wooden Platform.
She looked out at the crowd of men, who stared at her, some men already holding onto one of the women from her morning expedition. "Alright we'll start the bidding at 10 Yen". There was a moment of silence as Orihime stared at the men before her, most were disappointed, some even looked disgusted. "I thought you were only selling pure Japanese women!" Someone yelled from the crowd, "Yeah no one wants a Ginger in their Home, haven't you heard, soulless! Demon!" Another man yelled. Before the men could get anymore rowdy, the tall balding auctioneer grabbed at Orihime's cloths to drag her off stage, when she heard something she never wished she'd hear in a life time. "Hai, I'll take that woman for 10 Yen" the auctioneer stopped his walking and spoke back "too late Im already exiting her" before he could continue walking, the man from the crowd yelled back "I'll give you 100 Yen for that woman" the crowd audibly gasped, Orihime finally snapped her head up to meet eyes with the man willing to buy her, his eyes were like cold honey. "Fine give me 100 Yen and the Whore is yours." The tall balding man threw Orihime into the wooden platform and to her knees, as her buyer approached swiftly pulling the money from his pocket. *He has such fine clothing* Orihime thought, the rich brown pocket of his pants were clean, and well stitched to the rest of the fabric, which was long and straight legged trousers. Orihime lifted her eyes slightly up to notice a neat white shirt tucked into the pants and a black leather belt looped through the holes of his trousers. Before she could force her eyes any higher the auctioneer grabbed her by the back of her neck and lifted her from the platform snarling a whisper in her ear, "I'll be here when he Returns you" she twitched her nose at the smell of his breath, it was a concoction of stale sake and cheaply made miso soup. She deeply inhaled as he pushed her off the platform and into the hands of her buyer, she didn't dare look up as he took her forearm and dragged her out of the crowd of men who she could feel staring at her and the man briskly walking beside her. Her head only filling with the sounds of the mumbles and whispers that were escaping their lips until she saw the muddy ground turn into a slick stone path.
Her feet were caked with mud but her buyer still briskly walked into town, her head still hasn't moved an inch to look up and take in her surroundings. *How long has it been since I've been in a town? Or even a village* Orihime contemplated *How long has it been since I've been heated by the sun* she concluded her thoughts as her buyer started to slow his pace, as they neared a large wooden building. She turned her eyes up to watch him open the door with his free hand, and guide her inside. She didn't dare a peep as he walked to a bar like counter "I'd like two rooms, preferably jointed and close to a Washroom" the buyer spoke, a deep and silky voice, although he had a slight accent. "And do you have the money for such *extravagance*" a whiny screech of a voice practically yelled out. The buyer must have simply nodded as the whiny voiced woman spoke again "that'll be 40 Yen" he simply pulled the money out with his free hand and slid it on the wooden counter. The woman scoffed and reached for 3 keys from under her bar like counter. Orihime shuffled slightly to allow the Inn Keeper space to lead them to the rooms, she walked to the stair case across the entrance room and started up the stairs. The buyer allowed Orihime to walk first, finally letting go of her forearm. Orihime still kept her head down as she watched her muddy feet patter up the steep wooden stairs, once reaching the top she watched the Inn keepers ankles walk to the last 3 doors on the thin hall that was sparsely lit with candles. "Here's your rooms, the last one is a master, jointed with a basic and the second door to the last is the washroom" the whiny sounding woman huffed. "Thank you miss" the buyer said in what was assumed to be perfect english. The Keeper just snickered and pushed passed Orihime and handed the buyer the 3 sets of keys before she went back down the stairs. The buyer then grabbed orihime by the wrist again and unlocked the basic rooms door, letting her in and then himself. He locked the door once they were both fully inside. "Alright this will be your room, settle yourself while I go into a couple of shops across the court right outside of here." Orihime didn't dare speak yet or even look up, she just nodded in response, the buyer turned to the right and went to the joined door, taking out the second key and unlocking it, which must be a universal key to the master room and the shared door. She heard him walk through, shut it and the lock turn back to its solid position.
She finally looked up at her surroundings, she was in a basic room with a small widow behind a short single bed frame, the bed wasn't too hard but definitely wasn't comfortable, the wood on the floors looked almost bleached from how often they must have been walked on, there was a medium wooden chest at the foot of the bed with a worn green carpet under it, there was a small bedside table with a candle on a brass holder that was already covered in white candle wax and a tall dusty dresser along the left wall. Orihime just sat on the too firm mattress and thought to herself * I wonder why this man bought me* trying to avoid what she deemed obvious, the first place he brought her to was an Inn, *But he did get two rooms* she tried defensively, letting out a small huff before giving up the entire mental conversation. She just stared out the small window behind the bed for what seemed like eternity before she heard the the joint doors lock start to jingle, she jolted up and got into a sitting position at least before the door swung open, the buyer turned his back again to shut the door as Orihime turned her head back to the floor. "I went and bought you some clothing, I do hope the sizes aren't too large or too small." He said placing a cloth bag at Orihime's feet, she didn't look up. The buyer stood for a moment before speaking. "You should get cleaned before you put on any of those clothes" he said again, Orihime just shook her head yes in agreement. The buyer simply grabbed her forearm again and led her to the wash room in which he allowed her in and shut the door, leaving himself in the hall, allowing orihime to be alone in the wash room.
She started a bath, in the wooden tub, she carried buckets of water from a small pushed sink that had a ragged circular cut mirror attached to wood paneling. She stared at herself for the first time in years, her long auburn hair was knotted, with leaves and small twigs napped at the roots. Her brown eyes had deep purple bags under them and her eyelashes were nearly clumped together from dried mud and sand. The bruise covering her left cheek was striking in comparison to the rather creamy color of her skin. She just sighed as she removed the thin underdress and ran her hands down her naked body. She could feel small scrapes along the back of her legs, as well as scars from lashings on the lower part of her back. The only thing she had left on was a greened chain, with two small blue hairpins attached to the simple stained pendant on the end. She grabbed some of the free soaps and florals to sprinkle in her bath water as she climbed in. She leaned back until her ears were submerged under the bath water, she could see the lavender and lilacs floating in her peripheral vision. She just laid and soaked, allowing the warm water to soak into her hair, and ease the sting in her back from that mornings lashing. Once she was finished soaking and sulking, Orihime grabbed a makeshift wash cloth from a stool next to the bath and the soaps to scrub her body from forehead to toes. *I do have to admit a bath is something I have grown to miss the most* she almost hummed pleasantly in her mind, *my predicament is not ideal, and I do not know what is to come, but I at least am allowed to bathe* she thought again, recalling the many weeks she would go without bathing, and even when she was it was by a house lady, who would strip her in front of all of the other women and throw a bucket or two of ice cold water on her body.
Once Orihime was finished bathing, she grabbed a thin but long cut of fabric from the other bath table, and stood up to drape it around her body, the fabric hardly contained her bust and bosom but it was better than walking into the hall completely nude. She reached back into the water only to release the plug to allow the tub to drain, she could hear it leaving out of the hole in the floor as she deeply inhaled and opened the door back out to the hall. She moved her head back down into the hanging position she was now accustomed to and waited for her buyer. He just took her back to her room, opening the door and closing it once she was inside. Orihime walked slowly and lifted the cloth bag off of the floor and placing it on the mattress of the bed. She opened it and pulled the clothing out, there was a white set of undergarments, which to her surprise seemed like they would fit, she blushed a little realizing that her buyer at least had to look her over, she pulled out a pink Yukata that had navy blue swirls and leaves all over it, the fabric was very thick and felt luxurious to Orihime, she hadn't felt such silky fabric in her many years of being in San'ya. There was a simple pair of sandals and socks, a hair brush and tie, and to Orihime's surprise a small yet delicately shaped bottle of perfume. She slipped into her undergarments, which the bottoms fit perfectly, the bralette was a little tight but it was nothing that wasn't too uncomfortable, she slid her arms into the Yukata and folded it in front of her, wrapping and tying the navy blue Obi around her waist, it cinched her, making her already hour glass figure far more noticeable and showed a moderate amount of cleavage even with the Obi and yukata tied properly. She slipped her sandal socks on, and then the sandals which made a slight clank on the worn wooden floor of her room when she finally sat down on the bed to battle her knotted hair. She brushed and brushed until the auburn locks were smooth, she took the luxury of leaving it down and wrapping her hair tie around her right wrist as a simple gesture of gratitude for her newly gifted clothing. Before getting up to allow her buyer into her room, she twisted the delicate perfume bottle in her hands, slightly opening the bottle to inhale a floral fragrance, she dropped only half a tear of it on her left wrist and dabbed it at her neck before tightly closing the bottle again. Once she returned the perfume and brush to the cloth bag, she faced her head to the ground and walked to the door to her room, twisting the handle to let her buyer know she was decent.
The door opened once more and the buyer walked in, and he walked to the center of the room, gesturing Orihime to the bed. *this is it, I knew this was going to happen* Orihime braced herself for whatever odd inappropriate behavior her buyer now had in mind. He spoke once she sat herself on the mattress, not moving any closer to the bed. "I would prefer if you looked at me while I spoke, it is extremely rude to treat someone who spent a nice amount on you like they are a mere piece of trash on the street" Orihime immediately looked up and directly at her buyer, she noticed he had unruly orange hair, even more orange than hers, it spiked at all angles, he had a sharp square jaw line, with those very serious honey brown eyes, his mouth looked permanently scowled, turned down in almost distaste or maybe boredom? He wore a deep green velvet suit jacket over his white tucked shirt that had sparkling golden buttons and black stitching, his shoes were a shiny black leather.His eyebrows were taunt and raised evidently. The buyers eyebrows smoothed and his scowled slightly slacked into a one sided frown, obviously questioning if she had any common sense or knew how to speak. Orihime slightly wet her lips and spoke, "I'm sorry for my behavior" she said almost in a panic. The buyer chucked a little and spoke again, "No harm, No foul, what's your name?" Orihimes eyes widened slightly at this man's question, no one had asked her name in years, she deeply inhaled and spoke, this time she wanted it to be clear, "My Name is Orihime Inoue." She said without a stutter, she watched her buyers lips twitch, this must be entertaining him. She sat there for a second, almost in an awkward silence, *did he have anything else to say?* she thought, her worry starting up again wondering if this was some kind of sick sexual fantasy. The buyer cleared his throat and answered a couple of her unspoken questions of the day, "I'm Ichigo Kurosaki, and you, will be joining my Estate."
Authors Note: That's it! Chapter 1 is complete, Ichigo and Orihime finally properly introduced themselves. I may or may not add more to Orihime's back story I do have ideas for it, and as for Ichigo's Estate, I'm still debating on who to have working there already! Almost all of the chapters I am hoping to have around 1.5-3.5k words per, I'm going for fairly detailed and not super super fast paced, please leave a review or any story suggestions, here's to chapter 1.
Disclaimer, most characters belong to TITE KUBO