"She quit." InuYasha said as he stalked wearily into the large livingroom. He held a small paper in his hand, which he promptly thrust under a young woman's nose. Her name was Sango and was one of what was once four band members. A dark haired boy named Miroku sidled over to see what all the fuss was about. Kikyo, their second guitarist, had finally quit the group after breaking up with InuYasha, the lead singer and guitarist.

"My god..." Sango breathed as she read the furiously scribbled note.

"What the hell are we gonna do know, huh? We're short one guitarist less than a month before the tour starts. Do open auditions?" InuYasha said sarcastically as he ran clawed hands through his long white hair. Miroku merely sighed and flopped down onto the large couch.

"You know, you don't have a bad idea there, InuYasha." Sango grinned, making the taller boy worry. He was being sarcastic and hadn't meant what he said.

"Aw, shit." he said after seeing the gleam in her eyes. It would be a long day tomorrow if she had her way.

……………………………………..

Kagome Higurashi sat lazily in front of the tv, still in her pajamas. She quietly munched her breakfast, which consisted of a leftover slcie of pizza that she had heated up in the microwave. She was all alone in the shrine house since her mother had left to take her granpa to visit an old friend that was in the hospital and her brother Souta had spent the night at a friend's house. He still hadn't come home; the other boy probably had some new video game they were playing. Suddenly a reporter interrupted the usual stream of morning rock videos with some kind of news.

"Hello and I'm Akiko here with breaking music news. Kikyo, second guitarist has quit the Tamas. After a long breakup with boyfriend and lead singer and guitarist, InuYasha, the girl has decided to leave the group forever. No one is clear on why the breakup occurred as neither party has agreed to comment on the situation. Today the Tamas will be holding open try outs at the Tokyo Suites hotel. Anyone with guitar experience can try out. Now back to your regular programming."

Kagome gaped openly at the screen. She had just finished her third year of high school and still didn't know what she wanted to do with her life once she graduated. Her mother said being a musician would probably never pan out and she didn't want her daughter flipping burgers at WacDonalds while she waited to be 'discovered'. Maybe this was her big break! She loved the way the Tamas played and had learned a lot of their music. Kagome shot out of her seat on the couch and up to her room.

After some debate, she decided on an outfit. She had put on a red plaid skirt with fish net hose and black boots. For a top she had pulled out a red t-shirt with cap sleeves in a matching plaid. Near the hem there was an inscription that read 'Make a break for Freedom. A thin silver chain ran across her chest, connecting to the sides of the neck. She pulled her hair up into spiky buns on each side of her head and then looked in the mirror, satisfied with her slightly punky image. She wore no makeup as usual, everyone called her a natural beauty.

Kagome picked her guitar and put it into its black cloth case. The guitar was her baby; she had spent months working up the money to afford it. The base was a red that matched her shirt perfectly, the pick guard a shining black. Each knob was a matching black. She hefted her case and headed down the seemingly endless steps to the street after dashing off a short note to explain where she had gone. Kagome jumped into her car, placing her instrument in the back seat, and sped off to the audtions.

……………………………………..

InuYasha lept over the side of his silver convertible and thrust the key into the ignition. He sped off down the road, easily topping the speed limit by thirty miles. He was late getting up for the auditions and was afraid that there would be hell to pay. He slept late by nature, they knew that, and still no one had chosen to wake him up or even check to see if he had risen. His white hair blew in the wind as he flew down the streets of Tokyo, getting tangled easily. He'd look like a train wreck by the time he arrived.

'Damn..' he thought as he approached the light, which had just turned red. 'Oh well...' he ran the light carelessy and hoped there weren't any police around to see him.

……………………………………..

A silver convertible blew through the red light, barely missing Kagome. She blazed with fury at the driver of the offending car. She took off, seeing as she'd had the right away all along.

"Dumb fuck!" She yelled and blew her horn. A finger of acknowledgment came as the only reply. "People are so rude!" She said, temporarily forgetting her own use of language. She saw the hotel in front of her and pulled into the already jammed parking lot. Kagome pulled out her guitar and placed the case's strap over her head to rest comfortably across her chest. Guitar on her back, she made her way through the lot and to the great glass doors.

People were jampacked into the lobby of the hotel, guitars with each one. Some looked like regular people, others leaned more to the gothic and visual kei style of the fashion spectrum. Some were as young as thirteen or fourteen, others as old as thirty or forty. Kagome took a place at the end of the line that stretched seemingly infinitely down the hall to the conference rooms. She wouldn't have beed surprised if it went up the stairs to the roof!

'Hope someone will bring around snacks or at least drinks. That pizza wasn't really filing and I think we all might be here for a few hours.' she thought to herself as she peered around the room. Some musicians had gotten out their instruments and were tuning them already, even practicing some songs. A lot of it was odd squeaking and banging, but some people were really good. She decided to follow suit and get ready. After all, it's always good to be prepared, wasn't it?

She pulled out her guitar and put on the black leather strap. Kagome proceeded to tune her instrument, a difficult task considering that everyone else in the room was playing different tunes at the same time.

"I'll never get this done right at this rate.." She sighed in frustration. The boy in front of her turned around with a smile.

"Hi! Having a hard time?" He asked and revealed a brilliant smile.

"Just a little." Kagome answered shortly. He looked awfully familiar and a little too preppy to be auditioning for the Tamas.

"I'm Hojo! Would you like to borrow my tuner?" Hojo pulled a little black rectangle out his pocket and handed it to Kagome. She accepted it gratefully, immediately plugging it into her cord. After a few short minutes she was tuned up and ready to go.

"Thanks Hojo. Good luck!" She said and gave him back the device. He chewed his lip nervously, as if considering whether or not to say something.

"Are you okay?" no reply. 'Man, this guy's just a little bit weird...' Kagome thought and turned back to her guitar, ready to practice some.

"What are you playing?" He asked, breaking her concentration. She grimaced and answered as quickly as possible, wanting to get back to work. Unfortunately, Hojo had other plans. He rambled on annoyingly, from asking questions to talking about his life.

'Just leave me alone! Is this a face that cares?' Kagome thought ruthlessly. She was trying to concentrate, and this guy wasn't helping. He never shut up! "Here, you can go ahead of me!" she said sweetly to the woman behind her.

"Oh no, I couldn't!" The black haired girl replied.

"Sure you can!" Kagome said, trying to retain her plastered on smile. She grabbed the woman by the shoulders and forced her ahead. 'Maybe that'll stop him!'

"Why don't you go ahead of me too. We were just talking." She heard Hojo say right, before showing up in front of her once more. He began to rant again when Kagome interrupted.

"I'm kinda trying to concentrate. Could not ask so many questions?" There. She had been kind, yet firm.

"Okay! Sure! All you had to do was speak up!"

"Thanks! Now where was I..." Kagome picked her little rift back up again before noticing a certain pair of eyes were staring at her, practically boring holes into her flesh. Could this boy be any more annoying? Now he was staring! That was the final straw, she had to do something, lest she go insane. She had seen this kind of behavior before in shy guys...maybe she could fix it.

"Is there something you want to ask me?" she looked up at him, teeth on edge.

"Well...would care to go out with me?" Hojo had a white knuckle grip on the strap to his guitar case. Kagome had seen it coming. Now for the gentle let down.

"I'm sorry, Hojo, I'll have to say no."

"Oh. You have a boyfriend already?" He asked, disappointed. Kagome had trouble now. What did she say to that?

"Ummm..."