This was originally written for the Inuyasha Fanfic One-Shot Challenge over at LiveJournal, where it won second place (huzzah!). Thanks to everyone in that community for their wonderful comments, and to the ever-splendid Tailfluff for putting it all together.
Disclaimer: I don't own the sandbox, I just like to play in it.
A Simple Little Song
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The tune had been stuck in Kagome's head for hours. It had caught her quite off-guard when, as their group stopped for a quick lunch, she had glanced down at her eating utensils and that simple little melody had leapt into her head. She thought it very odd, considering she'd not heard or even thought about that particular song in several years. She supposed it was just one of those random little memories that liked to jump back into the forefront of the mind when least expected.
It stuck with her the rest of the day, and when they had stopped for the night, she could not help but hum it softly in an effort to possibly get it out of her head.
As her humming grew gradually louder, Inuyasha let out a frustrated growl. "Argh, do you have to do that!"
Kagome rolled her eyes and responded with equal exasperation, "Well, I'm sorry, but if I don't get this tune out of my head I'm going to go crazy!"
"Keh!"
But she ceased her humming, and instead held up her hand, lifting and dropping her fingers at random. At least, it seemed random to Inuyasha, watching out of the corner of his eye. Yet after a while, it looked as though there was reason to her motions, an assuredness to the rise and fall of her deft fingers.
"What's wrong with your hand, Kagome?" Shippou inquired.
"Hm?" She opened her eyes bemusedly, as though the melody and accompanying finger motions had sent her somewhere far away. Blinking, she shook her head slightly and focused on the kitsune. "Oh, it's fine. I was just remembering how I played that song on the piano."
Shippou hopped into Kagome's lap, eyes wide and questioning. "Piano?"
"It's a musical instrument that we have in my time."
"What does it look like?"
Kagome thought for a moment, wondering how to explain the complex instrument to the child. "Well… it's black, pretty large, and it has keys that you press to make music."
"And you know how to play it?" asked Shippou excitedly.
She screwed up her face in concentration as she tried to recall her days as an aspiring pianist – just one of the many childhood ambitions that had gradually faded with her youth, along with actress, astronaut, and veterinarian. They were days that had long since passed into memory. She hadn't even touched a piano in years.
"Sort of. I remember all the basics, but it's been a while since I had any lessons. I wasn't even that good when I still remembered everything."
"I'm sure you weren't so bad," Sango commented with a smile.
Kagome giggled, recalling her first piano recital. Her mother still had the photo, immortalizing the image of her eight-year-old self in a ridiculously frilly dress, solemn face deep in concentration while trying to look like she knew exactly what she was doing. "I don't know about that. If you'd heard me back then, you probably wouldn't be so generous." As she spoke, she once again began miming – this time with both hands – the motions for the tune that refused to leave her head.
Observing her gestures, Miroku spoke, "But you seem to be quite adept at performing that particular song."
"Oh, 'Chopsticks' is an easy song to play," said Kagome dismissively. "Everyone who's ever played a piano knows it. It was one of the first songs I learned, and probably the only one I could play really well." She laughed suddenly. "Dad was always telling me that mine was the best version of 'Chopsticks' he'd ever heard, though I'm pretty sure it sounded exactly the same as all the other renditions." But her amusement was brief, fading slowly to be replaced by a pensive look.
Sango regarded her friend with a gentle smile. "He must have really enjoyed hearing you play."
Kagome grinned wistfully. "Yeah."
Her fingers idly continued their practiced movements, while her thoughts drifted fondly back to the days when not even the music was complicated.
"Amazing, Kagome! You blew those amateurs right out of the water. I don't think I've ever heard 'Chopsticks' played so beautifully. You brought a refinement to the performance, a uniqueness that few have ever mastered for that particular tune." Grey-blue eyes attempted a gaze that was knowing, regal, and bordering on pompous; it didn't take long for those eyes to succumb to laughter.
Eyes that were smaller but in all other ways identical lit up at the praise. "Really?"
The merry laughter came again, and strong arms swept her up, frilly dress and all, to carry her the rest of the way home.
Inuyasha didn't protest the next day as, nestled against his back, Kagome softly hummed the cheery little tune, her fingers lightly tapping on his shoulders in recollection of her simple rendition of that simple song.
The End