Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings etc. are the property of Takahashi Rumiko - Yomiuri TV - Sunrise. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media.

The Lost Symphony

Let your heart

be the conductor

of the beautiful symphony

that's your life

(Jane Lee Logan)

Chapter 1 - Prelude

A breeze blew through the maple trees of the autumn evening, ruffling their redden leaves gently. Across the road, an old school was standing surrounded by the fallen leaves. In one of an almost-deserted music room, sitting in front of a dusty grand piano, was a teenage girl. Her golden brown hair billowed from the autumn wind that passed through the open windows. Her eyes were closed, fingers hovering over the black and white wooden keyboards, as she prepared herself to play a song she'd already memorised by heart.

She hit the first melody, dancing her fingers across the keys. The sound of Chopin's Winter Wind – its opening started softly at first, then suddenly followed by its grand and sweeping arpeggios – was flooding the room with its glory. Any person with keen ears could hear the bewitching tunes she played even from the school's corridor. And that's when a young miko called Higurashi Kagome trotted down the hallway – her strides determined as she wished to go to the school's library, catching up on her courses that was abandoned during her adventure in Feudal era. As she passed the music room, however, she was surprised to hear a hauntingly beautiful melodies coming from the music room. Her steps came to a halt.

'Strange,' Kagome thought.

Looking at her wristwatch, she noticed that it was already 3 PM and usually most of the students would have gone home since tomorrow was Saturday.

It was unusual for a student to play the dusty old piano in the music room at this time of hour, and especially with that professional-skill of the mysterious person who was playing at the moment. She knew for certain that song was one of Chopin's hardest songs to play, as Kagome herself had to take an excruciatingly difficult music class that semester. She hated the class as much as she hated Maths.

But that didn't mean that she couldn't appreciate the good art of piano-playing, though. She recognized the song. It was Chopin's Etude Op. 25 No. 11; or more widely known as the "Winter Wind".

Indeed, the magic of the mesmerising melody drew the young miko's curiosity as she slowly crept to the source of the music, peeking into the room.

Her step was quiet, afraid that one wrong step would waver the music down. The sliding door was slightly ajar, so it eased her to see who was inside. Maybe it was her sensei playing? Or maybe Ayumi? She knew that her friend was quite good at playing piano, but never had she ever heard Ayumi playing this well before.

Surprisingly, inside the music room wasn't at all who she was expected. It was a stranger. Kagome had never seen this girl before – considering that she knew all her schoolmates as there weren't a lot of newcomers. She was a gorgeous young girl around Kagome's age, with her long golden brown hair cascading her pale and slender body. She dressed in the same uniform as Kagome, white top and green skirt, so she must be a student from Kagome's high school. Her pointed nose and ocean-blue eyes resembled those of the neighbouring people who came from the land of Europe or The States.

Fingers fluently dancing over the white and black keys with concentration, the said girl hadn't noticed an audience who was currently watching her with awe.

'Who is she? A foreigner in our school?' Mused Kagome, lost in thought. The girl wasn't just playing the music; she poured her heart and soul into the song. Clearly it was her passion.

As the girl ended the note with the sharp chromatics that is the character of the song, Kagome panicked as what she would do. She didn't want the girl to think that Kagome was snooping on her! Kagome turned on her heel quickly, but she unfortunately managed to tangle her feet in the process. She let out a loud yelp as she tumbled and crashed down into the music room. The girl's head snapped up to the source of the commotion. She was surprised to see her classmate, Kagome, sprawled on the floor. She instantly got up from her seat and approached the fallen girl.

'So much for slipping out quietly,' Kagome thought, her face flushed with embarrassment.

"Are you alright?" The girl asked while holding her hand out for Kagome to reach.

"Ugh, yeah I'm alright, sorry," Kagome grunted and let the girl help her up. Damn, her butt hurt!

"You are Kagome, right? Kagome Higurashi from class B?"

Kagome looked at her in surprise. How could a stranger know who she was? The girl raised one of her delicate eyebrows and looked at Kagome expectantly.

"I, yes... yes I am her," replied Kagome, dumbfounded. "But how do you know me?"

The other' girl's eyes widen in surprise. Then she remembered that when the day she moved here three months ago, Kagome wasn't around. So it was natural for her not knowing who she was. Came to think about it, she rarely saw Kagome in class either.

"Ah sorry, of course you don't know me. I'm a new transferred student at this school. I'm Anna Watson. Please, call me Anna," smiled the pianist girl pleasantly. "And I know you because we are classmates, Kagome," she chuckled.

Kagome's mouth gaped. Anna was her classmate? God, Kagome should've really paid attention to her surroundings.

"You are? My God I'm getting blind, aren't I? I'm so sorry, Anna-Chan," Kagome rambled nervously. "It's okay for me to call you Anna-Chan, right? Even my friends tell me that I'm a klutz who is not aware of my surrounding sometimes."

Anna giggled in amusement and waved her hand dismissively, "Nah, it's no worries, really. I'm not that kind of a person who stands out in class anyway. I usually like to take a seat in the corner and observe; so that's probably why you didn't notice me in the first place."

"Now that you've mentioned it, I guess you might be right. I always try to focus in class and forget about other things since I have to catch up on every subject that I fell behind, you know."

"Speaking about falling behind, you rarely show up in class, Kagome," perked Anna curiously. "Sure, I saw you once in a while, but more often than not, you are absent from school."

Kagome got a sweat drop on her head. "Umm... That's because I have a weak body... so I often got down with various illness, that's why I'm bedridden most of the time," said the miko girl, giggling uncomfortably. 'Gee, thanks a lot Grandpa,' she thought, blaming her grandpa in her head for making the whole school labelled her as "Kagome, the girl with diseases". That didn't have a nice ring on it.

'It made sense,' Anna thought, although she got a feeling that Kagome didn't actually tell the truth.

"Well, I'm glad that you are well enough to attend classes now," said Anna sincerely. She was looking at her watch "Wow look at the time! Why aren't you home already, Kagome? It's past 3 PM,"

"I was actually on my way to the library to borrow some books for study. I've told Yamada-sensei and he will be there until 5 PM. Care to join me?" Kagome smiled, inviting her newly acquainted friend to go with her.

"Gladly. I'm done practising for today anyway," replied Anna while closing the piano lid and tidying up the chair. The two girls walked out of the music classroom to the library on the 3rd floor. They were chatting and getting to know each other. For instance, Kagome now knew a little bit about the girl's background.

Anna Watson was indeed a foreigner. Around 3 months ago, she moved all the way to Japan from London because her dad's company was opening a branch in Japan.

"That's so cool! I've never had a friend from England before. I've always wanted to go there. How come does your Japanese this flawless?" Kagome asked; her eyes full of admiration.

"Oh, my Mum was Japanese. She was the one who taught me this beautiful language ever since I was a little girl," smiled Anna proudly, even though her eyes suddenly looked sad, Kagome noticed.

"She used to read me a lot of Japanese fairy tales, like Kaguya-Hime, Momotaro, oh, and also about the great dog demon in the Feudal Era!" She exclaimed.

'The great dog demon? Could it be...? No, it's impossible,' thought Kagome, dismissing the idea quickly. Instead she asked, "Was? What happened to her, Anna-Chan?"

"She passed away ten years ago in a car's accident," said Anna, smiling sadly.

Kagome shot her an apologetic look. "I'm sorry for asking that question. It was insensitive of me."

"It's alright Kagome, really. It's been a long time and I have moved on. I still miss her sometimes, but still –," She paused and looked towards the sunset sky as its red colour penetrated through the corridor's window, "– life must go on, and we must cope with it" she added softly.

Kagome glanced knowingly to Anna. She could relate well to how the girl was feeling as Kagome herself was not a stranger to losing someone whom she loved. Her father passed away shortly after Souta, her brother was born. Kagome always looked up to her father. The fact that fate had cruelly intervened with her happy life was too hard for her to accept the real world. But of course now she still had her family, and also her best friends from Feudal Era, Sango, Miroku, Shippou, and Inuyasha.

Of course, as cliché as it might sound, time heal all things, even a broken heart. And Kagome somehow felt an instant friendship with this girl. Her calm demeanour had made Kagome felt comfortable talking to her.

Kagome clapped her hands and said, "Enough with the heavy things, let's focus on present matters for now."

"You're right, Kagome," Anna cheerfully replied. "We have English test on Monday, yes? Have you prepared for it?" Anna glanced to Kagome but suddenly gawked when she saw the gloomy cloud around Kagome.

"W, What's wrong?" Anna asked, worried etched to her face. Did she say something wrong? Kagome looked like someone just punched her in the stomach. She admitted to the blue-eyed girl that she had fallen behind on her courses.

"I just can't study when I was sick. The... situation just isn't possible for me to open a book and get words in my head, you know," sighed Kagome resignedly. It's true. If you spend your day chasing crazy demons and searching for Shikon shards every day, picking up a book and studying English grammar was just impossible. Especially if Kagome knew very little about the said language itself.

"Hey! This is an idea. What if I help you study for this test? That way, I can also review the material myself. What do you think? It's a win-win," remarked Anna enthusiastically.

"Oh my God that's a perfect idea! You're from London, right Anna-chan? Your English must be perfect!"

"Even so, I need to study hard for the theory. Sometimes grammar can be real bitchy." And they both chuckled together.

As soon as they reached the library, the girls nodded briefly to Yamada-sensei, the strict-looking librarian who firmly stated that the library would be closed at 5 PM sharp. Kagome dragged Anna to the table nearest the window and emptying her yellow backpack – which could carry a lot more than you'd think, as it was full of notes and school books.

As Anna promised, she helped Kagome with her study. They were staying in the library for almost two hours, scribbling and comparing notes. But as it turned out, Kagome was almost hopeless in English. Anna had to explain most of the vocabularies and grammar rules literally from zero.

Kagome shook her head hopelessly. "I'm going to fail this test, aren't I?"

"Don't be like that, Kagome. You still have two days to nail this – don't worry, as I've promised, I'm going to help you," cheered Anna comfortingly while patted Kagome's back.

Smiling brightly, Kagome thanked the girl gratefully. She promised to treat her after all these tests were finished. With that being said, the clocked chimed loudly, indicating that their time was up.

The girls gathered their belongings and said their goodbye to Yamada-sensei, wishing him a nice weekend – he looked like he could use one.

"Alright, I'm off to home now. I'll see you tomorrow then, Kagome?" Inquired Anna while checking her mobile.

"Will you come to my house tomorrow? I think my mum plans to make pizza. It'll be a nice treat for our tummies after studying!" Thrilled Kagome, looking excited. Her eyes were twinkling at the prospect of pizza. It was no picnic in the Feudal Era after all.

"Good company and good food? Count me in!" Anna replied as enthusiastically. "Let's see... about 10-ish? I'm going to need your contact."

After that, the two young girls exchanged numbers and said their goodbyes, promised to meet again tomorrow for a thorough revising. Little did they know, there was an inconspicuous shadow lurking at the corner, listening to their conversation quietly. It vanished without a trace.

Author's note:

Hello guys, welcome to "The Lost Symphony"! *Hats off* Thank you for reading my first story ever! I'm called Vampireluph. As you can see on the pairing, this story is going to be a Sesshomaru and OC story, with my OC called Anna Watson. This story has been in my mind for years now, yet I didn't have the will to start writing this until recently. I hope you like this first chapter. Click those favourite and follow buttons if you will, and most importantly, please leave a review so I know what you think of my story. :3 Actually, I'm not so confident to write this story as English is not my first language.

So please, if I made any mistakes or grammar errors, once again, please let me know so I can fix them. I'll see you on the next chapter, folks!