A/N: This chapter contains mild physical abuse toward the end. This is your disclaimer/triggar warning, etc.

They’d set her up. Kuroihi knew they had the moment Kazawa and Aoki agreed she should be the one to check on Lord Sesshoumaru. Even so, she wasn’t in a position to refuse them. The pair exchanged pleased expressions as Kuroihi returned, passed them, and ducked into a quiet side room to straighten her hair and clothing.

She was growing tired of being the dupe for Aoki and Kazawa’s games. Sesshoumaru was above her judgments on the merit that, whether she liked it or not, he was her lord and master. It was well within his rights to administer punishment as he saw fit, no matter if it was cruel or unjust. The others, however, had no such excuse. They were her superiors in age and experience, true, but the extent of their disdain for her was becoming infantile.

‘Not that it matters,’ She thought bitterly to herself as she rejoined them, ‘There’s nothing to be done about it. I’m the only one that even cares.’

The rest of the day passed with the three of them remaining just within earshot of the still fuming prince and trying to avoid drawing his attention to themselves. As such, they were unable to replace the shouji doors Sesshoumaru had destroyed. Kazawa and Aoki pulled out a Go board and beads from one of the closets while they waited for his call, setting up against a wall to play a friendly match. Today, Kuroihi was comfortable with being pointedly ignored, simply observing the ‘tic’ and ‘tac’ of their black and white beads across the wood board. Outside, the downpour persisted and the sky darkened as the sun drifted below the horizon. The hours slipped by; twilight melting into midnight and then into dawn.

“I told you it was going to be a long night…” Kazawa muttered.

Aoki shrugged and stifled a yawn. “It isn’t the first and it won’t be the last.”

“Indeed. Shall we place bets on how long the prince’s anger will hold out?” He asked offhandedly.

“My dear Kazawa-san,” she teased, “you know your purse only grows lighter every time we do.” Aoki smiled gently. Their rounds of Go might see either of them win, but their wagers on Lord Sesshoumaru’s mood always ended in her favor.

“I will gladly trade a lighter purse for a higher score, charming Aoki-san.” Kazawa smirked as he plinked down one of his black beads.

Aoki’s smile lessened as she saw his game-long ruse come to fruition on the board, placing her in a position she could not recover from. Bitter, but true to form, she conceded gracefully and turned her attention to the contest she knew she would win.

They weighed previous bets against the current situation, taking into consideration the extent to which they expected to suffer. The pair decided that if this fit lasted for more than three days, it would be worth more than when Sesshoumaru had tossed one of the guards off the top of the castle. However, it would not be worth as much as when he had nearly drowned Kazawa in his early years of service. Kuroihi could only listen as they continued to recount and weigh the severity of previous occurrences. She was appalled by how casually they treated Lord Sesshoumaru’s violent outbursts and abuse.

Would she suffer as much as they had? The conniving expression on Lord Sesshoumaru’s face as he finally emerged from within his inner quarters soon after dawn convinced her that she would.

Sesshoumaru examined the beings he called his servants as they bowed before him. Aoki and Kazawa presented their usual showing of poise and grace, but the half-demon was hunched as though expecting, rightfully, to be struck. Each of them was alert, suffering none of the effects of sleep deprivation; at least, not yet. He knew demons could pass several days without rest and continue to function, however he did not yet know for how long a half-breed could. He would find out soon enough. While Sesshoumaru was perfectly aware Kazawa and Aoki had entrapped the hanyou, he blamed that creature as much as they for the incident the previous evening. They had used him and his anger to their advantage and for entertainment in the same manner he would employ a weapon or other tool. It was only fitting that they would, all of them, suffer for it.

“We are leaving.” he said calmly before turning to slip back into and through his quarters to the veranda outside. The three of them scrambled to fall into place, handling doors and geta as required. He took the path over the wall again to avoid being spotted and tracked by the gatekeepers, choosing a road that would take him into the wilds, but not near the pine forest where he had examined the hanyou.

“My lord,” Aoki began softly. Sesshoumaru did not respond, but she continued. “If I may ask…Perhaps, we could know where it is we are off to?”

Slowly, a passive-aggressive smile graced his features as he simply continued his trek away from the castle and into the wilds beyond. There was no need to explain; she would understand soon enough.

The Inu no Taishou’s castle-base was built at a strategically advantageous point, as most structures of its kind were. In the General’s case, this meant it was able to monitor and make use of the nearby river and often traveled roads in the area. Anyone, demon, human, or otherwise, who wanted to move about in the territory within relative distance of the castle was subject to the General’s observation, influence, and command. As such, Sesshoumaru chose the most expedient path to take them beyond that invisible border.

The rainclouds had mostly dispersed, leaving only scattered swirls of gray above them. The leaves and grass still dripped with rain, and the road was still soaked and muddy. For Sesshoumaru, who could glide and fly, the condition of the road was of little concern. For his servants, who could not, it made all the difference. His greater stature meant his strides were longer, and the trio struggled to navigate the puddle-strewn path while attempting to keep pace with him. Despite their best efforts, the distance between them and their master gradually increased.

“My lord!” Kazawa called. “Please, a moment!”

Sesshoumaru did not slow his pace, for that would defeat the purpose of this excursion. The sun rose and passed its apex, the weather grew hot and muggy, and the scattered group crossed the invisible line that marked the edge of the General’s immediate influence. Kazawa, Aoki, and Kuroihi continued scrambling to close the increasing distance between themselves and their master, kicking up mud which caked their uniforms. Aoki groused, knowing how tedious cleaning them would be.

The scent in the air told Sesshoumaru he’d reached the stretch of road where travelers were often waylaid by malicious beasts. He took advantage of a slope in the terrain to break his servants’ line of sight and slip into the nearby trees. He watched the scattered trio, ignorant to his ruse, pass and he allowed himself to smirk. What would they encounter first, he wondered?

It did not take long for them to attract the attention of an ogre lying in wait behind a cluster of large bushes on the side of the road. With a deep grunt of excitement, it stepped out onto the road to block the way. It was an average specimen, standing three meters tall with beady black eyes, wicked horns rising from a wild mass of dark hair, dark leather-like skin, a mouth filled with jagged fangs, and three-fingered hands that ended in vicious talons. Its body was a tower of solid, lean muscle, wearing only a tattered loincloth and hefting a large bone club in one hand.

The ogre’s stomach snarled with hunger, and time suspended as Kazawa, who was in the lead, locked eyes with the beast. All three servants froze where they stood, holding their breath, and heartbeats thundering in their ears as the severity of the situation weighed heavily on them. Kazawa was the only one with anything resembling combat training, and even he was questioning his chances here.

Aoki’s involuntary scream of terror broke the spell. She quickly stifled it beneath her hands and Kazawa fumbled for the short tanto blade tucked into his belt. Despite his doubts, it was his responsibility as a male to defend these females, and as his master’s servant to protect Lord Sesshoumaru’s possessions. Aoki backed away to both put distance between herself and the beast and to give Kazawa room. Kuroihi’s feet would not respond, however, and she stood frozen to the spot some meters away.

            Kazawa forced all the authority he could muster into his voice.  “Back down, creature; and stand aside!” he commanded.

The ogre didn’t seem to hear him let alone heed him, hefting its enormous club high above its head and smashing it down into the road. Kazawa threw himself out of the way not a moment too soon. The slow-witted beast blinked, confused, and Kazawa took advantage of its delay to scramble to his feet, grab Aoki by the arm, and make a break for the tree line. He hoped the tight spaces between the trees would slow the beast enough for them to escape. The ogre smashed at the thick trunks with its mighty fists, but found it took longer to uproot even one out of its way than was worth the effort. Kazawa cursed silently as he watched the beast turn its attention to the half-breed, who was still frozen where she stood in the middle of the road. Why hadn’t she fled?!

Kuroihi watched, still unable to move, as the tower of living muscle turned its beady black eyes on her now. It stomped toward her, the ground shaking under its feet. It raised its club again to swing at her, and all at once her feet came unglued and her panic-fogged mind cleared. Her instincts screamed at her to run. The club missed her by a hair as she threw herself to the ground and bolted for the tree line on the opposite side of the road from Kazawa and Aoki. The ogre roared with anger over its continued failure. It abandoned its club, diving with claws extended to snatch at the last fleeing morsel. Kuroihi leapt and scrambled high into a tree, just barely out of reach.

The ogre swiped and snatched at Kuroihi, catching only her hakama, which ripped easily in its talons. Kazawa chewed his lip. The half-breed would be no great loss, in fact none would even think of her in two days’ time should she never return. But she belonged to Sesshoumaru, the same as himself and Aoki, and Kazawa was unsure Sesshoumaru would react to her loss. His mind raced. The ogre bashed its fists into the tree, trying to shake Kuroihi loose. Both females screamed for their master, who did not respond. Kazawa tasted blood from his lip, and finally made his choice. He dreaded the possibility of Lord Sesshoumaru’s anger and punishment more than the social censure of protecting such a repulsive and shameful creature.

Blade in hand, he rushed across the road. With the ogre focused on Kuroihi, Kazawa was able to set up a clean slash at the beast’s ankle, severing the tendon. He leapt out of the way as it collapsed to the ground, claws snatching out for him. Emboldened by Kazawa’s success, Kuroihi took a gamble and pounced on the creature. It twisted to snatch her up as she bolted away, exposing its neck, and Kazawa took advantage of the opportunity to plunge his tanto into its neck. Thick, dark blood spurted from the vein, turning the ogre’s roars into gurgles. Kazawa stared at the beast in wonderment; had he truly managed to injure it so fatally?

“Kazawa-san!” Aoki cried from the edge of the road, snapping Kazawa back to the present. He circled the ogre well out of its reach to rejoin with his companion. A quick examination told both that neither was injured, just shaken and filthy, and together with the equally-shaken Kuroihi they raced down the muddy road to try to find their master. The ogre was unable to give chase, and would bleed out soon enough.

From his watch point deeper in the trees, Sesshoumaru sneered. He was both satisfied with the success of his servants and irritated they had not suffered more.  ‘No matter’ he thought haughtily, ‘there will be many more encounters before this journey is over.’

Several days passed before the three servants encountered their master again. They found Sesshoumaru standing leisurely in the middle of the road, examining the forked path before him. Where he was immaculate, calm, and focused, the trio was filthy, exhausted, and fog-minded. On the surface, he seemed unaware they had lagged behind at all, blinking curiously at their ragged states as they finally caught up.

Sesshoumaru maintained a stoic expression, tone chilled with irritation as he reprimanded them. “Keep up.”

Without another word, he turned and began the journey home. Kazawa and Aoki snuffed the sparks of anger and fell into step behind their master. Kuroihi, however, bit her tongue and allowed her anger to smolder like embers in her belly. Even Fuyutoka had showed more regard for her than this! She frowned at the leading forms of Aoki and Kazawa, wondering how the pair had managed to endure this for years on end.

The group returned to the General’s castle-base without incident, and the three servants were equally relieved as they passed through the front gate. Their bodies ached, their stomachs were empty and throats dry. Fatigue pulled heavily at their limbs and eyelids, fogging their minds, and bringing them to the precipice of hallucination. Kazawa had fared better than the females, having travelled beyond the castle walls with Lord Sesshoumaru in the past. Kuroihi never left the safety of the General’s immediate territory, however, and the most ferocious thing Aoki had ever encountered before was an irritated swallow. Neither had been without the warmth and safety of the castle for so long or encountered legitimately life-threatening situations. For them, this past week had been hell.

            Once inside the castle walls, Sesshoumaru dismissed the group long enough for them to make a quick trip to the kitchens for food and tidy themselves before he summoned them again to attend him. There would be no reprieve for the enervated servants for the next several days, their lord demanding their constant attention and severely criticizing every minor imperfection. If they were caught, or thought to be delaying for rest, he was perfectly willing to show them just how displeased he was with their neglect. Each was littered with various marks from his manhandling, bruises from being kicked or shoved if they were in his way, and burns from his scalding tea if it wasn’t a flawless brew.

For Kuroihi, the worst came when she sneaked away for her day of weakness. She knew he would punish her for leaving without his permission, but she had no choice…

She managed to slip away while Sesshoumaru was reading and the other two, exhausted and inattentive, were distracted. She left and returned in her usual manner through the hole at the base of the wall, going immediately to the kitchens. With any luck, her absence would go unnoticed, or at least be excused by her arrival with Lord Sesshoumaru’s evening tea…she hoped… 

Neither would be the case.

The moment Kuroihi slipped into the tatami room, she could feel his jyaki thrashing in anger. The air was electric, Aoki and Kazawa still as statues as Sesshoumaru’s blazing golden eyes fixed on the half-demon. He rejected her mumbled excuse about perfecting his tea, pointing out that she smelled of the wilds, and Kuroihi silently cursed her oversight. His absolute rage and utter disgust with her were indescribable. She had violated his command and authority, and by so doing had challenged him. He slapped the tray of tea out of her hands and made Aoki and Kazawa watch as he beat her.

Fuyutoka had lashed her countless times in the past, but where the Overseer avoided inflicting any long-term damage, that very outcome seemed to be Lord Sesshoumaru’s intent. Every blow he landed left a bruise or welt. His mokomoko left an angry red burn around her ankle where he had employed it like a whip to drag her back within striking range. His expression was cold, twisted with malicious pleasure as he savored every yip and whimper she failed to stifle. 

Kuroihi felt each shock of pain deeper and deeper in her bones, reaching through her marrow to the tightly-wound bundle of darkness at her core. All her anger, all the resentment, and every ounce of bitterness she had shoved away and swallowed over the decades resided there. It trembled, it cracked, and as she felt one of her ribs break, it ignited.

Heat flashed through her veins, tingling in her fingertips and behind her eyes. Livid hatred bubbled at the back of her throat, threatening to spew forth a savage scream of malediction. She bit her tongue until she tasted blood and felt the scream subside. As much as she wanted to fight back in that moment, she understood her Lord well enough to know that even perceived resistance or complaints would only incite him further.

After what felt like an eternity, the fog of her own rage lifted and she realized Sesshoumaru’s onslaught had ceased. Her senses told her his jyaki had calmed but she remained as she was, a huddled ball of thrumming pain until she heard him step away from her and retake his seat on the zabuton. Carefully, and with his permission, she eased up to sit on her knees, quieting her labored breaths to soft, shallow gasps.

Kuroihi would not be allowed to rest. To add insult to injury, Sesshoumaru tasked her with tidying the mess she had made with the tray of tea and with bringing him a fresh pot. The silence in the room was charged, suffocating, and Kuroihi was all too eager to straighten her appearance and return to the kitchens.

With the half-breed gone, Sesshoumaru turned his attention to his two remaining servants. Neither had moved during his display and even now they were as statues for he had not given them permission to move. Both Kazawa and Aoki continued to examine the tatami where the hanyou had lain, which was sprinkled with what little blood Sesshoumaru had drawn from it.

“Tell me,” he cooed, “my dearest servants, did my little show amuse you the same as it did last time?”

Their fear perfumed the air, their hearts skipped, and he could almost hear them sink into their stomachs. Surely, they understood now that they had brought all of this upon themselves.

Pure hatred; that was what Kuroihi chose to call this new emotion festering in the back of her mind. With the nature of her existence and manner of living taken into consideration, it was assumed she’d experienced varying degrees of dislike, but until now she’d felt nothing so intense as this. It was unbecoming of a servant to hate their master or mistress. It was also considered unbecoming for a creature like her to even exist. For all she cared, whoever was keeping note could add it to the list of other unsightly things of which she was guilty. Her dreams twisted into nightmares haunted by Sesshoumaru’s wretched smile, and his imagined presence lurked in every shadow the same it had the first night she’d encountered him. It felt as though he was always listening, always watching, waiting to reach forth and crush her again. It disturbed her greatly, keeping her nerves constantly on edge.

Neither Kazawa nor Aoki spoke much in the following days, either to each other or to Kuroihi. Even as Kazawa counted out the agreed amount for Aoki winning their wager, only essential phrases were exchanged in accordance with propriety. Neither scolded Kuroihi when she made a mistake, which was a frequent occurrence now, when she was late, or otherwise was out of form for a good and proper servant. They seemed broken somehow, lesser than before, and Kuroihi wondered what Sesshoumaru had said or done to make them so.

            That Sesshoumaru… she snarled mentally. The mere thought of him was enough to re-ignite her hate. That hate led to distraction, which led to gaffes, which led to paranoia. The repeating cycle quickly made it obvious to the hanyou why Sesshoumaru had been through so many servants over the years. She considered taking the same path many of them had and requesting reassignment.

She longed more than ever to be free of this place and its horrors but understood that enjoying that freedom was predicated on her being alive. She knew now that she could not survive the road on her own for long, and who in their right mind would help her? But at the same time, she didn't know how long she could survive her master’s temperament.