This is a little something I came up with after watching my the entire first season to Spartacus on DVD all day.

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. Just this story.

1. New Home, New Rules

Kagome

The day my father died it rained. He was never a sickly man, so when he first came down with the fever we did not think much of it. It was after the illness had lasted multiple days and he seemed to weaken and get worse. There was no doctor that could help no priestess or potion. When he died a funeral was held, and everyone in the small village we lived in was in attendance. My father was a well-respected man. He was the only draftsman for four towns. That's how he made most of his money. He built many schools, temples and houses for people and gave fair prices.

My father's assets were left to my brother, Sota. I was left a sizable dowry and my mother was left some money as well. But with Sota being the only male heir in the family at eight years old, there was no way for us to take care of ourselves. My father left us a great deal of money but we were not wealthy, and could not live on his savings.

A few days after the funeral, my mother sat down with my brother and me. Apparently my grandfather who lived in the city, not too far from our home offered us all to move in with him in his home. And that's how you find me here, sitting in this all black town car. My grandfather sent it to pick us up. Behind us was a moving truck that carried all of our belongings, at least what we did not give away. Mother donated half of the furniture, only keeping a few pieces that belonged to or were favored by my father. Sota and I had most of our things.

I looked across at my mother as she sat in the seat opposite of me fast asleep. She was an attractive woman with a small frame. Her light brown hair was cut short, she was fair skinned, and when she was awake had dark brown eyes that always seemed to be filled with mirth. At least that was before Father died. Now she always looked tired and sad. Dark bags bruised the flesh beneath her eyes. She dressed nicely in a gray pant suit with a dark blue shirt.

I looked next to me. Sota was leaning against the door, also asleep, his game long forgotten lying in his lap turned itself off after not being used for so long. He looked like my mother, small face, brown hair and eyes. He had long arms and legs like my father did. He would be tall like him. Like my mother, Sota was in a navy suit and white shirt.

Then there was me. Now I took after my mother in stature. I was petite, though I had more filled in the breast and butt area. I had her face shape too, but after that I looked like my father with my thick black hair that I somehow managed to pull into a nice thick braid down my back. I also had his eyes. They were a beautiful and cerulean color, which is very rare to find in this part of the world. My mother always said that we were special because of it. I was not wearing a suit but I was wearing a nice dress. It was black with sleeves that ended at my elbows and a pleated skirt that went to my knees.

Mother wanted us to dress nice so we could make a good impression. We haven't seen Grandpa in seven years, Sota was still a baby and I was his age then. I honestly do not even remember the last time I spoke to him. Unlike us, Grandpa was loaded. He lived in a huge mansion where he had countless servants and even more slaves. The slaves were the reason why we had not spoken to him in such a long time.

Above all things, my father hated slavery. He thought it was the worst thing about the world. Forcing demon into slavery, treating them like they were less than us because they weren't human, he thought it was wrong. In our village there were a few freed demons that made a decent living. Some chose to live in houses like us, and there were others who lived out in the wilderness happily. Most people in the village would avoid them, but Father didn't. He offered his business to them without a hesitation. Many people thought he was strange for it, but he did not care.

Apparently not only did Grandpa approve of demon slavery, he was a main investor for several slave auctions, as well as a reputable owner of some of the strongest gladiators in the country. It was when Grandpa started participating in the gladiator fights Father cut him off. He could never understand why Grandpa couldn't quit, but all of the money that Grandpa made was from winning the fights.

The car came to a slow stop. I pushed the button to let my window down and stuck my head out. He had been driving down this long dirt road framed by tall trees and grasslands. Before us was a stone wall maybe thirty feet high. Then a stone gateway slid open, letting the car and moving truck through. We drove down an even narrower dirt road through green covered woods. The chill from the early spring air made me shiver. I rolled my window up but continued to stare out of the tinted glass. As we continued I saw the road break off to another. A sign was in the ground next to it:

Ludus

It was a strange name for a street, but as soon as the thought was in my mind it was gone when the screen separating the driver from us lowered.

"We'll be approaching the manor soon, ma'am."

Even though it was directed to my mother, I responded. "Thank you."

When the screen went back up I gently shook Mother's leg. She awoke with a start. I immediately felt bad for waking her. "Sorry, Mom."

"Its okay, Kagome." She answered on a yawn. "What is it?"

"The driver says we're going to be there in a few minutes."

She nodded and leaned over waking up Sota who grumbled irritated before sitting up straight. My Mother went through her purse, pulled out her compact mirror, fixing her hair and making sure she looked presentable. When she was done she put the mirror back in her purse then looked at us sternly.

"Now listen, your grandfather is doing us a great service by letting us move in with him. I want you all on your best behavior. Sota, if he asks you to do something do it. No arguments. Understood?"

Sota nodded and yawned. "Yes."

"Good. Also, as I've told you before, your grandfather is a very affluent man. He is highly respected among his peers and we must do our best not to embarrass him. There will be slaves in his house; I want you all to stay as far away from them as necessary."

"Even the gladiators?" Sota asked with hope in his eyes.

Mother's eyes narrowed on him. "Especially the gladiators!"

In no time we reached the house. It was magnificent. My jaw dropped. The gray stones that formed the outer walls of the L-shaped house were beautiful next to the ivory pillars that stretched from the ground to the third story. White painted windows with black shutters lined the walls. Four long wide steps led to the long wrap around porch framed by white painted railing and bushes along the sides. The car had to drive around a large fountain built in the center of the grey stone driveway.

The fountain was large enough to fit at least twenty people in it. It was a mermaid sculpture holding a conch to her ear. Water exploded around her. When the car came to a complete stop I could not help the butterflies that filled my stomach. Thrill of being in a new environment was making me anxious. I really hope everything works out fine. I really hope grandpa is a nice man.

The driver came around to open the door for us. First mother got out followed by me then Sota. An old woman waited for us at the top of the steps. Her hair was completely white and she was hunched over. The skin on her face sagged and wrinkled with age. She had to be in her seventies, maybe even older. We walked up the stairs and she smiled friendly at us.

"Hello, Mrs. Higurashi. How was your trip?" She asked.

"Good. I'm happy to be here.'

The old woman nodded. "Indeed. We're happy to have you. When the old fart told us you were coming, everyone got very excited." Sota snickered at her "old fart' comment, attracting her attention. "Ah! These must be your children, Sota and Kagome. How are you two? I am Kaede, your grandfather's personal assistant."

"Nice to meet you," we said in unison.

She smiled even brighter. "Likewise. Now come on inside so you can get acquainted with the household staff. While we are doing that the movers will take your things to your rooms.

They walked through the white painted French doors and entered a large foyer with marble floors and pillar and directly up a sky window. Directly in front of them was a double stair case going from each side of the room up to the second level of the house. A wide and long hallway led to another large well lit room with tall glass windows letting light in from outside. The right was a white sliding door that was slid closed, on the left it was the same.

All of our jaws hit the floor as we took in the sheer exquisiteness of the house we had just entered.

"We're going to live here?" Sota asked in awed disbelief.

"It would seem that way," I answered.

"The house has three stories," Kaede began turning to face them. "On this floor you can find our ballroom, where we entertain guest, the indoor pool, the kitchen, dining room, and drawing room. The kitchen and dining room are to the right. The ballroom is down the hallway straight ahead. To the left is our East wing. There you will find the pool."

"Yes!" Sota exclaimed with glee.

We followed Kaede down the wide hall to the ballroom. There standing in the empty space was a group of twenty people, men women ad surprisingly one child. After a longer look I could tell these 'people' were not human. They all wore matching clothes. The six men that were present all wore dingy white pants and white collard short sleeved shirts. The little boy was dressed similarly, though his clothes looked new and weren't dingy. The women all wore dresses of a sandy brown color. They were all short sleeved and varied in length. None of them wore shoes.

"This is our house staff. The men work outdoors for the most part, usually tending to the grounds or making repairs. Pretty much any manual labor. The ladies maintain the house. They keep the house clean, prepare and serve our meals, and perform basic duties that need to be done. Master Higurashi has picked special attendance to serve you."

I took note of how differently Kaede spoke of Grandpa in front of the… demon… She clearly had respect for him and wanted them to respect him.

"Everyone except the personal servants is excused." Kaede commanded.

The entire demon left immediately, except for two women and the small child. A boy. I realized. He was so cute! It took everything in me not to coo at him. He was so tiny, no more than four feet tall. He had tanned skin with large emerald green eyes, unruly reef hair, pointed ears, a blond fur tail sticking out behind him, probably the cutest thing about him was the one fang that poked out from the bottom row of his mouth.

"Sota, you will be attended by Shippo." Kaede gestured to the demon child. "Your Grandfather specifically picked him for you."

Fear filled the young demon's eyes as he looked timidly at Kaede, then Sota, then Kaede again, and then at the girl to his left, before looking back at Sota.

"Mrs. Higurashi, this is Kagura. She will serve you very well."

A pale demoness with red eyes, a slender waist, modest curves and lustrous wavy black hair down her back, tied back by a ribbon bowed to my mother. Her beautiful face was passive as she stared forward, not at any particular person. All that was left was the girl, the little demon boy, Shippo had looked up at. She was very pretty. Fair skinned and like Shippo she had red hair, only hers was more auburn whereas his was copper. She too had bright green eyes. I wonder if they are related.

"And, Kagome, this is Ayame. She will be serving you."

The girl bowed but did not make eye contact. Kaede went on talking. "While your things are being moved into your rooms we will go meet with the Master of the house."

"Yes, where is, Father?" Mom asked.

"He is down at the ludus."

"Ludus?" I asked. I thought of the sign on the road I had seen coming here.

"The gladiator school. It's located just a few acres away."

We left the ballroom, and exited the house through the front door. Followed by the slaves. We got inside what looked like a golf cart, only with longer seats. We all took the seats in the front and the slaves in the back. It was all very awkward. Both Sota and I looked to our mother. We're not meant to be around the gladiators, we were meant to ignore the slaves and here we were, going to Grandpa's gladiator school that he apparently kept on his property, with our new personal slaves in tow. It was clear that we were in a new world with different rules.

It was a quick drive. We drove back down the dirt road and turned on the street. Before long we came to a clearing where a tall wall of at least fifty feet stood. At the metal gate Kaede typed in a password on a keypad and the door opened. We drove inside and immediately the environment changed. There was a wide open space framed by another wall, made of metal wire. On the outside several signs warning to stay away from the high voltage electrical fence. There was no grass, only dried dirt. Inside there was a group of shirtless men, wearing only shorts and armor on their shins, calves, arms, and shoulders. Only these men weren't men, they were demons.

There were at least sixteen of them because they were all paired in groups of two against each other. They were amazing. All of them were well sculpted and chiseled to muscled perfection. Standing off to the side was an old man who wore no armor and a baggy tunic shirt, and held a staff. He was clearly a demon with his pointed ears. A long white beard went to the center of his torso. His eyes were yellow, and long sharp claws came from his long bony fingers.

When we got out of the cart Kaede led us to a sizable house. When we walked in we were greeted by a tall and lanky man with beady brown eyes. He wore an angry expression and looked to be bald.

"Renkotsu," Kaede greeted. "These are the Masters late son's family, Mrs. Sanae Higurashi and her daughter Kagome, and son Sota."

The man Renkotsu nodded in acknowledgement. "The old man's upstairs on the balcony."

Kaede nodded. "Of course."

As we walked up the stairs, I glanced back at Renkotsu. Our eyes met and I shivered in fear. He looked very scary.

"Who lives in this house?" Sota asked.

"Your grandfather's guards. They live here and make sure that the gladiators don't get out of hand."

"Do they ever get out of hand?" Mother asked nervously.

"There's always a tussle between friends, usually over a card game or w woman. Nothing that cannot be easily remedied.

The hallway was split into two. The one to the left had several bedrooms. The one on the right only hand one at the end of the short hall and the door was open. That's the one we went down. It was a small office that had a balcony with the glass door slid open letting in the cool air of the day. On the balcony were two chairs, and in one sat a plump old man wearing a button down short sleeved shirt, khaki shorts, flip flops, and oval sunglasses.

"Mr. Higurashi."

He looked back at us and a broad smile appeared on his face. He jumped to his feet with a grace someone his age should not have and hobbled over to us.

"You're here," he said throwing his arms up in the air. He came over and hugged mother. "Sanae, it's good to see you!" He turned to me. "Kagome! My goodness last time I saw you were barely at my belly, now look at you! Almost a woman!" He came over and hugged me. It was a firm, warm hug, kind of like the ones my father gave. I hugged him back earnestly.

"Hi, Grandpa."

When he released me he then hugged Sota. "And this young man, I haven't seen him since he was in diapers." He stepped away from us. I am so happy you are all here. Come out to the balcony. I want you to meet someone."

We followed him to the balcony. Leaning against the railing watching the gladiators below with a focused stare was a young man who looked to be about my age. He had shaggy black hair. His wide eyes were dark blue, almost indigo. He had tan skin, mostly from being out in the sun, you could tell. He was well built with thick muscles on his exposed arms and chest. He wore a similar shirt as Grandpa except his was open with no shirt beneath it.

"Bankotsu, I want to introduce you to my family. This is my daughter in law, Sanae, and my grandchildren Kagome and Sota."

Bankotsu came forward and stood next to Grandpa. He was only an inch taller than him, but grandpa was short himself. Bankotsu smiled politely at us and waved.

"Nice to finally meet you all. Are you going to be staying at the big house or are you staying somewhere off property?"

"We'll be living in the Manor," my Mother answered.

Bankotsu nodded. "Good, then we will all be seeing much of each other."

I gazed out beyond the balcony at what was going down below. "Would you all like to get a better look?" Grandpa asked.

"Sure," Sota answered as he ran forward. I walked over to the edge and watched as the gladiators battled each other. Some held swords, others nets, spears, or even hammers.

"What are they doing?" Sota asked, voicing my thoughts.

"Training," Bankotsu answered looking down at the fighters. "The games will be starting soon. We need to make sure everyone is in the best of shape."

"You mean they're going to fight?"

"Of course! That's what gladiators do."

I listened to their conversation as I observed. At the rear of the training camp was a long brick building that had many doors and a window on the left side of each door.

"What's that building?" I asked pointing.

Bankotsu came around and stood between Sota and I. "That's where the gladiators sleep. There like little apartments for them. Actually on the other side of the building are another set of apartments for the other slaves that are on the property."

"All of the slaves live in those buildings?"

"Except for the women who work in the house. They stay in a separate building closer to the Manor.

I nodded as I scanned the ground below and suddenly my eyes stopped on a troubling sight. A man was nailed to a cross by his hands, bound at the ankles by metal twine and around his neck. Thick silver hair hung over his face, obscuring it from my vision. The heavy rise and fall of his grime covered chest showed that he was still living. He was so thin his ribs were sticking out from lack of eating.

My breathing was rugged and my eyes burned with ready tears creepy forth. When I opened my mouth to speak my throat clenched painfully. "Why is he like that?" I demanded, turning to my grandfather.

They all looked in the direction I was. Grandpa sighed and moved forward. "He's being punished."

Punished? What could he have possibly done that was so wrong? I was almost afraid to ask. Almost. "Punished for what?"

"He tried to run away." Bankotsu answered. "Again! It's stupid really; he should really just give up."

"That's your punishment if a slave tries to run away?" I demanded, not hiding the contempt from my voice.

"We must discipline them somehow," Bankotsu answered again, "otherwise they try to do it again. You shouldn't be angry, that's a very merciful punishment."

"How so?" I asked crossing my arms over my chest.

This time Grandpa answered. "Well… Punishment for runaway slaves is execution by beheading. I figured this was a fair trade."

I turned back to face the crucified man. "He may be better off dead," I grumbled. "How long has he been up there?"

"Three days. Today is his last day."

"We should have just killed him," Bankotsu said to my grandfather. "All he's going to do is run away again. This is his third time being up there."

"They say third times the charm."

"With all due respect Mr. Higurashi, Inuyasha is a waste of time and money."

"With all due respect Bankotsu, let me be the judge of that. I'm still the boss here. How about we all get some lunch."

"Yeah, I'm starving!"

Everyone left the balcony. I remained there; staring at this demon they called Inuyasha. I do not know why, but my heart swelled with sadness when I saw him there. "Inuyasha," I whispered.

Suddenly his head popped up, and a pair of gold eyes met mine, and for a moment I swear the world stopped. All sound went away and all I could see was those eyes totally focused on me. It was like he was looking through me, seeing everything that was sewn into my soul. I did not even want to breathe; too afraid I would lose this moment.

"Kagome!" I heard my mother call.

"Coming," I yelled back. I looked at him again and he was still staring at me. I offered a smile and only received a snarl, but I was not afraid. In fact I was curious. I wanted to know more about this Inuyasha. Quickly I left the balcony to catch up with my family, but my mind still went back to the demon Inuyasha.