Ryu- Well, here is another update from me.

Seto's Darkness – Yeah, it had been the last day of summer, so I decided to update.

-xShiroi-chan – Who said she wasn't there. I implied multiple people.

alysael – I'm glad you like it.

Freedom

Back in the common room, Irie was thinking about what Byakuran was going to say when there was suddenly an invasion of his personal space. When Irie opened his eyes, two eyes were staring back at him.

"Gah!" Irie yelled as he fell back. When he looked up, he saw a innocent little girl who was now smiling.

"Nonsense-chan, you shouldn't do that." A rough looking man said.

The girl instant frowned. "Don't call me 'Nonsense-chan', jackass!" The girl yelled. Irie no longer thought the girl was innocent. Suddenly Irie's personal space was invaded again as a ragged person suddenly grabbed onto him.

"Wah, a new person. It's been a long time since I've seen fresh blood." The person said.

This person gave a creepy expression while saying that, so Irie backed away quickly, only to bump into something. Irie looked up, only to wish he hadn't.

Looming over him was a giants person with an oni mask on. The sight terrified him as he backed away from the ragged person and the giant, who choose to speak.

"Crimson hair like that of blood freshly spilled." The giant said, which chilled Irie. Before anything else could be said or done, the door opened to reveal the feminine like man, Kikyo.

"Now, now everyone. Let's not frighten the new slave. We were lucky the last one was strong willed. Judging by the expression on this one's face, states that he isn't exactly strong willed." Kikyo said, which stopped the actions of most the people. "Now, let's introduce ourselves. I am Kikyo, as you may have already heard."

"I'm Daisy." The ragged person said as he (1) picked up an equally ragged stuffed rabbit.

"Torikabuto." The giant said.

"I'm (kick) Zakuro, and (kick) the girl (kick) currently kicking (kick) me is Bluebell. (kick)" The rough looking man said.

"We are Lord Byakuran's most trusted people. He likes to call us his Funeral Wreathes, though one of our members is currently not here, but in an asylum." Kikyo said as he helped Irie up.

"Ah, good to know." Irie said shakily.

"Well now that we've been acquainted, let's get back to our duties." Kikyo said.

"Ah, if you don't mind me asking, where and what am I supposed to be doing?" Irie asked.

"Currently Lord Byakuran does not need you, so you are free to roam the mansion and it's surrounding land. Just be sure not to cross the territory marker, and don't be afraid (of us) to ask questions when you see one of us." Kikyo said as the Funeral Wreathes left, the two identical women had already left.

So Irie was left alone in the common room, but since he was told he could wander, Irie did just that. As Irie walked around, he had one thought on his mind.

'I don't feel like a slave anymore, it's like I've been freed, but I know I'm not.' Irie thought, then he remembered something. "Oh, I should probably send a message to my family, so I should go to where ever they send messages. This is a fairly large mansion, so there should be a avian room." Irie said.

That had been easier said than done. The mansion was larger than he thought. Irie had thought of going to the roof, where most avian rooms are, but he ended up in the basement, something Irie still couldn't figure out when he had just been walking up stairs.

So now, Irie was in the garden maze, how he ended up in there, Irie also didn't know. So now Irie was just trying to find his way out when he turned and saw a white tiger, which also saw him.

Irie's stomach started hurting, mainly because he was stressed, one for not being able to find the avian room, and two for the tiger right in front of him, so Irie fell on his behind. Irie closed his eyes and waited for the tiger to kill him, but nothing happened.

Sure the tiger was now standing in front of him, but all it did was sniff him, lick him, and then lay down. Before Irie could wonder out loud, he heard a voice.

"Ah, there you are." A raven haired person said as he came running over. "Ah, who might you be?" The person said.

Irie had a bad feeling about this person, but he shrugged it off and answered. "I'm Lord Byakuran's new slave. Irie Shouichi." Irie said as the person helped him out.

"Oh, well I'm Lord Byakuran's pet caretaker, Leonardo Lippi, though Lord Byakuran likes to call me Leo-kun." Leo said.

Irie's mood lightened up a bit. "Oh, so would you know where the avian room might be?" Irie asked.

"Oh yes. Lord Byakuran likes to keep his messenger birds with his many pets. I'll show you the way." Leo said as he started leading the tiger and Irie toward where the pets were kept.

When they finally got to where the pets were kept (which was the center of the garden maze), Irie was shocked. There were quite a lot of animals, all from different places.

"There are so many animals." Irie said as his eyes looked around.

"Yes, next to flowers, animals are one of his favorite interests, though he doesn't hunt them. Tigers are his top favorite." Leo said as he lead the tiger back to it's pen.

Just then something caught Irie's eye, so he walked over it. "Hm, a owl with a message holder. I never thought owls could be used a messengers. Mainly because hawks are faster." Irie said as he looked at the white owl.

Irie didn't notice the slight frown Leo gave. "Oh, that one is, special." Leo said as he had the owl fly onto his arm. "It was sent by someone, it's not ours." Leo said. "By the way, why did you need to get to the avian room?" Leo said.

"Oh, need to tell my family that I was bought. I believe they live south of here." Irie said.

"I see. Then you could use the owl. It's going back south anyway." Leo said.

"Okay." Irie said as he got a quill and paper and began to write. Soon Irie was finished and he rolled the paper up and gave it to Leo, who put it into the holder and let the owl fly away after giving instructions.

Irie got up and went to leave, but Leo stopped him. "Wait, you're probably going to need this." Leo said as he handed Irie a ring with a yellow stone.

"What's this?" Irie said as he put it on.

"It's to help you get around the mansion. As you might have noticed, strange things may have happened as you walked around." Leo said.

"How did you know?" Irie said.

"Well no one is allowed to come here unless allowed, and you being new, I assumed you weren't given the ring and had gotten lost." Leo said.

"Oh, I see. Well, thank you." Irie said as he actually left this time, missing the smirk Leo gave.

-TBC-

1. Not sure about the gender.

Ryu- Well, I hoped you liked this chapter.