A/N: I've been listening to a lot of Jazz music recently, and this idea sort of popped into my head a while back. Expect this to be a fairly short fic, maybe five chapters...

And for those of you reading Werewolves, the next chapter will be out soon, I promise. I'm just having a little creative difficulty, is all...

And by the way, no, this isn't the sequel to Kinetics. I know you want it. It's coming. Deal with it. =P

Anyways, without further ado, on to chapter one!

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My Funny Valentine:

Chapter one: Take Five

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Open mic night. Inuyasha loved the idea. For as long as he could remember, the sound of jazz had comforted him, and with a little bit of egging on from his friends, he had finally grown confidence in his voice. Although there wasn't much singing to be done in jazz, he had finally found a club with an open mic night. Now he just had to get out on that stage, and make a name for himself.

Well, first he had to wait until next Friday. But then, oh yes, then he would show the world who he was. And the world had better make way.

Inuyasha sighed as he shut off the engine of his old '88 Honda CR-X hatchback. The car was a piece of junk, but anyone who had the nerve to say so to Inuyasha soon met a fate far, far worse than... well... worse than a lot of sick and twisted things that public indecency laws prohibit me from describing to you. He let the song on the radio play out before he shut the battery off too, and headed towards the residence hall.

Inuyasha was a student at Sabaku University. He smiled as he walked down the hall, his long black hair swaying behind him. He wore a red button down shirt, left unbuttoned over a white T-shirt, with a pair a dark blue jeans. The thin frame of his glasses rested on the top of his nose, and his blue eyes said hello to the world from behind the thin layer of glass. People who knew him remarked to themselves about his uncharacteristic cheerfulness. Normally he would wander the halls with a bored expression, or a scowl.

Inuyasha opened and closed the door three times, counting as he did. This was his roommate's rule, so that Inuyasha wouldn't walk in on any sort of "intimate" moment. In other words, Miroku didn't want him to know where he hid his Playboy stash.

"Ah, hello there Inuyasha!" Miroku called to him, lying in the center of his bed with his hands behind his head. He wore an outfit similar to Inuyasha's, sans the glasses, and trading the Red shirt for a black one and the white t-shirt for deep purple instead. "What's up?"

"Nothing much," Inuyasha said, tossing his things to the side and flopping into the chair in front of his desk. He loved the furniture the school provided. Each dorm room came equipped with three beds, three desks, three desk chairs and a mini-fridge. Two of the beds were bunk beds on the left side of the room, and the other was a top-bunk bed suspended over one of the desks. The desks were large, and each had a soft reading light, and the chairs were comfortable. The legs were designed specially to be leaned back in. The closet was on the right side as you entered the door, and the bathroom on the left. The other two desks took up space on the far wall.

Inuyasha pinned the flyer he had found to the corkboard he had bought for the wall behind his desk. Miroku glance at it curiously for a second before turning his attention back to the TV he had been watching, which was between the two desks on the far wall, on top of the mini-fridge. Miroku got up from his bed, the bottom bunk, and walked over to the fridge, grabbing a coke. "Hey, Inuyasha," he called, "What's with the flyer?"

Inuyasha chuckled. "I thought you'd never ask," he said, turning to his friend with a grin. "There's a small-time Jazz club called 'The Pocket' just off campus. Friday night is open mic night, and I was thinking about trying my hand."

"Cool," Miroku said, turning back and resuming his position on his bed.

"So?" Inuyasha asked impatiently.

"So what?" Miroku said, turning away from the garbage that was on TV.

"Are you coming this Friday or not?"

Miroku laughed. "I can't, I might be scoring with a chick on Friday!"

Inuyasha gave him a deadpan look. "You've said that every Friday since I've known you. And yet I have never once seen you stay in the presence of a woman for more than five minutes without getting slapped, beaten, maimed or otherwise injured."

Miroku laughed. "Yeah, but you never know when my luck's gonna come through!"

Inuyasha sighed. Sometimes he wondered if Miroku was really all there in the head. "Look, I'm sure there'll be plenty of hot girls there, an since I know you don't have any plans other than trying to sneak into the girls dorms, I'd really appreciate it if you came to hang out with me and did the chick-hunting on the side. What do you say, buddy?"

Miroku gave a slight frown, but nodded. "I'm only doing this because you're my friend."

"Thanks guy, I appreciate it."

Miroku grinned. He wasn't really as perverted as he let on, but everyone got a kick out of his antics, himself included. "So, you gonna ask Kouga to come too?"

Inuyasha scoffed at the idea. "And why would I ask that baka to come?"

Miroku sighed. "Oh come on, man. We've been rooming with him for three years now. You guys have so much in common. Why can't you two just bury the hatchet and get along like good little children?"

Inuyasha glared at his friend. "I'll get along with that idiot as soon as he decides not to be a prick anymore."

Miroku shook his head. Really, the two had been bickering since they first met, and for what reason? None. He sighed again, wondering if the two would ever get along.

"Besides," Inuyasha started again, "He'll probably be busying himself stalking that poor girl. When will he get it through his thick skull that she obviously doesn't like him?"

Miroku frowned. Despite the unnecessarily harsh tone, Inuyasha was right. Many a night Miroku had helped Kouga try to get over his girl problems, but it was always the same. "Yeah, I guess you're probably right about that," Miroku said, turning off the TV.

Kouga chose that moment as a perfect time to enter. "Yo!" he called as he opened the door wide, ignoring Miroku's rule.

Miroku sighed. "How many times do I have to tell you?" he asked, slightly annoyed.

"Relax, Miro, I knew you weren't up to anything anyway." Kouga took a moment to look around the room, giving the back of Inuyasha's head a quick glare before walking into the bathroom.

Miroku chuckled a bit and sat down at his desk, to the right of the fridge. Life was very dull at the moment, and since classes didn't start until Monday, he didn't even have homework to ignore. Maybe this Jazz club idea wasn't so bad.

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Kagome sighed as she crumpled up another note and tossed it into the waste paper bin at the side of her desk. When was that boy going to quit? When was he going to realize that she was NOT interested in him.

She gave a frustrated sigh. She didn't know why this happened. It seemed like whenever she became friends with a guy, they got the wrong idea. And for some reason, Kouga just couldn't take a hint. She sighed again. She knew she would have to tell it to him straight.

She heard the door open and turned, smiling when her friend Sango walked in. She wore a light blue dress that went down to her knees. "Hey Sango," she said cheerfully.

"Hey there, Kag," Sango answered, dropping a bag that landed with a heavy thud on the floor. "Finally bought all my books for this year," she said with a smile.

Kagome returned her smile and turned back to her desk. Not really having anything better to do, she pulled out some paper and started to sketch. She wasn't quite sure what she was sketching, but she let herself drift off as the art poured out of her hands.

The sound of the door opening again brought Kagome to her senses. She looked to see her friend Ayame walk through the door, carrying what looked like another bag of books. "Hey guys!" she called cheerfully, her bag slamming down with a loud thud next to her bed. The girl's dorms were identical to the boys. Kagome had the top bunk, Sango the bottom and Ayame the special desk-bed. "So what are you guys up to?" Ayame asked.

"Nothing," Kagome answered, "Just sketching..."

"Oooh, can I see?"

Kagome turned to look at what she had drawn. She me a face, strong and angry. I was a man's face. He seemed to be a powerful warrior... and yet his eyes betrayed him. The showed clearly a deep feeling of sadness. 'Loneliness?' Kagome thought, although not sure why.

"Uhh... yeah, I guess." Kagome said, handing the sketch to her friend.

"Ne, Kagome, this is beautiful! Who is it?"

"I... dunno, really. I just draw what comes to my mind, ne?"

"I wish I were so artistically inclined," Sango added, peeking at the sketch from over Ayame's shoulder. "What are you doing at this school? Shouldn't you be off studying at some art college?"

Kagome laughed. "I'm not that good, and besides, it's just a hobby."

Sango shook her head. "Well, it's a really good hobby then..."

"Thank you," Kagome said, slightly embarrassed. She took the sketch back from Ayame, and as she went to put it in her art drawer, she changed her mind. Grabbing a thumbtack from her junk drawer, she pinned the picture up to the wall behind her desk.

"Ne, Kagome, you're gonna hafta pay for that at the end of the year you know..." Sango said.

"Pssh, I'm sure I'll be able to afford enough paint to fix a thumbtack hole, Sango."

"Ne, guys," Ayame started, "What are you guys doing this Friday?"

"Nothing," Sango said, sitting down at her desk.

"Yeah, I've got nothing either," Kagome said, turning her chair to face into the room.

"Cool. I heard about this little Jazz club just off campus, I was wondering if you guys wanted to go check it out."

Kagome thought about it for a minute. She knew Ayame was very in to Jazz, but she wasn't so sure herself. She always thought Jazz got hard to listen to after a while. She shrugged, deciding that one night wouldn't kill her, and turned to her friend. "Sounds like a plan to me."

"Yeah, I'll go too. Not like there's anything better to do around here."

"Sweet! Thanks guys!" Ayame cried, doing a gleeful little dance in the middle of the room.

Kagome turned back to the sketch on the wall. 'Who knows?' she thought, 'Maybe I'll have a good time?'

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Friday rolled around without anything important happening. Kagome checked herself in the mirror one more time. Even if she was just going out with friends, she wanted to at least look decent. Her dark wavy hair flowed freely behind her, wisps curling around her face and accenting her dark brown eyes. She wore a white dress with a green trim that reached to her knees, and her makeup was done lightly. She smiled at her reflection.

She walked outside to find Sango and Ayame waiting, Sango wearing the same blue dress she had on the other day and Ayame wearing a pair of jeans and a leather jacket with a fur trim. The girls made small talk on their way out to the parking lot, giggling as they piled into Kagome's car.

Meanwhile, Inuyasha was checking himself in the mirror again. He pushed the glasses up on his face as he gave his most debonair smile. He smiled as he looked over the suit he picked out. He wore a black sport coat with matching pants and a red shirt, with a white tie. He smiled at his reflection. He was one sexy beast.

He stepped out of the bathroom and found Miroku in his usual attire, sitting and watching Kouga play some video game on the TV. "Yo, Miroku, you ready to go?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm ready."

"Where are you guys going?" Kouga said, pausing his game and eying Inuyasha's suit suspiciously.

"Inuyasha found some Jazz club with an open mic night, and he's dragging me along as a security blanket," Miroku answered, earning himself a thwack from Inuyasha.

"How come I wasn't invited?"

"Keh," Inuyasha grunted, "Why would I invite a moron like you?"

"Feh, it's not like I want to see your ugly ass get up on stage anyway," Kouga retorted. Inuyasha flipped him off and made for the door. Miroku just shook his head.

"Later, Kouga!" He called as he walked out the door.

Kouga watched them leave with a pang of rejection. "Arrogant bastard..." he muttered, turning back to his game.

Inuyasha smiled as he stepped in to the club. 'The Pocket' was exactly what is claimed to be- a small hole for Jazz lovers, without much room for anything else. Hell, there wasn't much room for anything, period.

Inuyasha grabbed a seat at one of the small tables near the stage. Despite the size of the place, the sound was booming. Inuyasha was amazed at the amount of music you could cram into such a small place. He looked around the joint again. There were three more small tables like his own, a bar, and a lounge hidden discreetly in the corner. The stage was medium to small, but it was large enough to fit an upright bass, horn player, guitarist, drummer and pianist, as well as a small area at the front for a singer.

Inuyasha smiled as some familiar notes erupted from the keyboard. He tapped his foot to the odd count, letting the edgy feel of 5/4 time pulse through him. Soon the guitar and bass joined the edgy pattern, and the horn played a basic solo. The song continued, each player taking his turn at a solo as the familiar chords of Charlie Parker's "Take Five" filled the club. A few minutes later the song was finished, and the band was met with intense clapping. The horn player walked over to an open mic, and addressed the audience. "Good evening. That was a song that I feel needs no explanation. Hope you enjoyed it!

"As some of you may know, tonight is open mic night. Don't feel shy, just come on up, tell us what to play, and feel the music."

Inuyasha could feel the sweat gathering in his palms, and decided to sit a few songs out. After all, he also wanted to hear some stuff. Miroku gave a small chuckle and leaned over to him. "Don't be so nervous, you'll do just fine!"

"Easy for you to say," Inuyasha said with a joking glare.

Meanwhile, Kagome was sitting at the back of the room, on one of the corner stools of the bar. Her friends were sitting to her right, sipping their drinks and chatting quietly as the band got ready for the next song. Kagome yawned. That last song had been pretty good, but the scene was already starting to bore her. She took another sip of her soda, cursing herself for being the designated driver, and leaned her head in her hand. 'Well,' she thought with a sigh, at least it's better than sitting around at home...'

About an hour passed, with a handful of people going up on stage to perform and a few more instrumental numbers in between. Inuyasha was still trying to gather the courage to get up on the stage.

"Alright," the band leader called into the mic, "This is gonna be the last call for a singer, so if you wanna sing, you better get up here fast."

Inuyasha nearly fainted. He wasn't ready yet, but this was his last chance. Giving a sigh of defeat, he quickly thought of a song to sing as he made his way to the stage. "Alright," he said to the band as he took his place on stage, "can you give me a blues in A? Keep it really jazzy, and maybe have a light shuffle with the brush on the drums."

The band gave him the thumbs up. Few people ever came up asking them to play bluesy, so they were looking forward to what he had to offer. Without and introduction, Inuyasha signaled the band to start. Letting the band vamp on the first run through the chords, Inuyasha gathered his wits as he launched into his song.

Hello there, my old friend,

Not so long ago, it was 'til the end,

We played outside in the pouring rain,

On our way up the road, we started over again,

Livin' our dreams, are you on top?

My mind is achin', Lord it won't stop,

That's how it's happened livin' life by the drop,

Up and down the road in our worn down shoes
Talkin' about good things and singin' the blues
you went your way and I stayed behind
We both knew it was just a matter of time

You're livin' our dream oh you on top
my mind is achin', Lord it won't stop
That's how it happens livin' life by the drop

Inuyasha let the Guitarist take a solo. He listened intently, surprised at how well the song made the transition from slow blues to Jazz. The guitarist wasn't half bad, and as the chords came around again Inuyasha took his hint and started the vocals again.

No wasted time, we're alive today
Churnin' up the past, there's no easier way
Time's been between us, a means to an end
God it's good to be here walkin' together my friend

We're livin our dreams
my mind's stopped achin,
That's how it happened livin life by the drop
That's how it happened livin life by the drop

The song ended, met with a heavy round of applause. Inuyasha took a quick bow, and let his eyes wander the room. They caught on a girl sitting in the back, staring at him quizzically as if trying to remember where she had seen him before. He blinked for a second and turned to the mic, explaining his song briefly before stepping off stage.

Kagome couldn't stop herself from wondering what it was about that man that had gotten her attention. Sure, he was moderately good looking, but Kagome wasn't normally drawn in by looks. Perhaps his voice? She admitted that he had been one of the best singers of the night. But as she looked at his face, she felt some familiar feeling. Like a sort of deja vu. She pictured his face again in her mind. He was handsome, with a bright smile. But his eyes betrayed him.

Kagome gasped quietly. His eyes. The face was different but... he had the same eyes as her sketch. 'What's that supposed to mean?'

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A/N: Like it? Hate it? Room for improvement? Let me know in your review! =D

Expect another chapter... soon. I dunno, I'll try to get it out ASAP, but if I don't start working on my other fics I'm afraid I'll start receiving death threats.