Take a Bow

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters. I do not own the song she sings either. It's actually a song that I loved a few years back called My Immortal by Evanescence! Listen to it! It's a really nice song!

Warning: This is an A/U (Alternate Universe).

Chapter 2

"And so, in order to find the anti-derivative of the function, you simply..." The voice of the teacher droned on endlessly.

The clock's hand ticked ever so slowly, as if time was being distorted in order to make him suffer. He hated math. He found it boring. Eventually he would have to look at numbers all day, but until that day came, Inuyasha refused to touch the cursed subject.

Sighing, he propped his chin lazily on his hand, eyes glazing over. Kikyou wasn't in class today. She had a photo shoot to attend in Tokyo and wouldn't be back for another three days. Without her beside him, he was completely and utterly disinterested in going to class. The only reason he went was because if he didn't, then his father would find out about all of his skips that month and that would be a whole bucket of worms he didn't want to deal with.

Stupid old man, getting involved with my business. It's my life. His thoughts went silent. I wonder if she'll be there again today. He shook his head and turned his attention to something else; the tree outside the window.

What a nice tree. Good for naps, good for hiding from people, good for starring at, good for...uh....it's a good tree. He smirked and silently congratulated himself for successfully distracting himself from thoughts of that nobody again.

Having grown tired of staring at the same tree outside of the window, Inuyasha's golden eyes languidly scanned the rest of the room. From his back corner, he had a view of the entire class. Sighing again, he found nothing of interest to him and with his mind completely lacking of entertainment, it drifted back to that girl...again. That damned girl and her voice. He still shivered remembering the sound and the feelings she stirred within him. Shaking his head, he went back to thinking about how boring the class was. It was safer to think about how bored he was than to think of nothing at all.

Feh, boring people, living their boring lives. How did I end up in such a retarded cl---

His train of thought stopped in its tracks, his eyes suddenly clear and alert, body now sitting up straight and at attention. Man did the fates have a way of screwing with him. Seriously? No fucking way. He quickly did a double take to be sure. There, in the front row, was a familiar head that carried a familiar scent. Damn. Has she always been in this class? How come I never noticed her? He scratched his head, thinking hard for a moment. Come to think of it, what was her name again?

Kagome blinked in confusion, her head tilting slightly to the left. She didn't get it. She just didn't get it. She hated math with a burning passion. She hated it almost as much as she hated the popular kids...almost. Anti-derivatives and all of these rules! She couldn't remember them all. Huffing quietly to herself, she scribbled down the note furiously trying to soak in the auditory information the teacher was spewing out at a mile a minute and while copying the board at the same time.

She felt it; eyes piercing into the back of her head. She froze for a moment, pausing in her note taking, before shaking herself out of it and scrambling to catch up to the teacher before he erased the blackboard. Stop losing focus girl! People stare at you all the time. This isn't any different...Maybe I'm just imagining it!

She breathed a small sigh of relief to herself as the teacher paused to take a sip of coffee from the mug sitting on his desk. She had a few seconds to catch up! She was almost done copying the board! Two lines away...almost....there...so...close......and he erased it. Standing with his back turned in a silent, what seemed to be poorly timed, self reflection, the teacher remained absolutely oblivious to the commotion going on behind him.

Kagome barely stifled a yelp of surprise when something smacked the back of her head. It didn't hurt, it actually felt like something really light weight, but it did catch her by surprise. Hm, she silently contemplated, To turn around? Or not to turn around? That is the question. She was curious, but at the same time, she wasn't sure she wanted to know what had hit her. It's probably another "kick me" sign or maybe a wilted piece of lettuce....it wouldn't be the first time.

By the time she had made up her mind to ignore it and simply bask in ignorant bliss, another piece of ... something.... smacked her in the head. The corner of her lip curled upward slightly in annoyance, but once more she ignored it. The attacks seemed to stop for a while until the teacher left the room for who knew what by now. Her curiosity was more than stoked and her frustration mounted as she was pelted by whatever the damned thing was every five seconds. Oh and the giggling, of course the giggling. The other students had taken pleasure in her short lived torment. Of course they would. They didn't know what it felt like.

It had been a long time since she had been so riled up and so far past her rational mind. Whoever this person was and whatever those things were, they were really getting under her skin. For a split moment, she forgot who she was and where she was. Her frustration and temper got the better of her. Slamming her hands down on the table, she turned around abruptly and shouted-

Inuyasha squinted as he wrought his brain for a memory that he couldn't quite recall. When did she ever....Since when...How come I never...ah fuck it. Picking up his pen for the first time that class, he scribbled something on a lined sheet of paper. Tearing it out of his book, he waited until the teacher turned around before hurling it at the back of the girls head.

Bull's-eye! He thought as it smacked her. He saw her pause for a moment, before she resumed her studious behaviour. Feh! Doesn't the wench know a note when it hits her? Apparently not. He wrote her a second one before hurling it at her again. Still, she refused to turn.

Suddenly finding interest in actually using the pen and paper he carried around, he scribbled multiple messages on multiple pieces of paper. Tearing them out of his book, he scrunched them all up and waited for the opportune moment. As soon as the class was left unsupervised, Operation Blitz Krieg began. He pelted her one after another, refusing to stop until she either turned around, or he ran out of ammo, whichever came first. She'll probably turn around first....probably. The sounds of the class spurred him to increase his rate of fire as the volume of their giggling and laughter increased with his speed of launch.

......Damn.....friggen...stubborn.....fucking....wench....

Down to his last ball of paper, he chucked it at her. He flinched in surprise when she suddenly slammed her hands down on her desk and whirled around.

"WHAT?!!!!" She screamed, eyes wide and full of a burning fury. The class fell silent.

Inuyasha's ears were pressed flat against his head, suddenly taken aback by the outburst from the, otherwise, seemingly quiet geek.

"WHAT THE HECK DO YOU WANT YOU STUPID JERK?!!!" She panted, as the class finally recovered. A hushed murmur blanketed the class room.

Blinking, Inuyasha was the first to fully recover, "Oi, bitch... don't you know a note when you see one?"

Kagome blinked and her glazed eyes suddenly came into focus. Looking over at him, she stood frozen in shock. Her lips parted slightly and she struggled to swallow the lump in her throat. "W...w...what?" she managed to whisper weakly and pathetically.

"Note, bitch!" he pointed at the balls of paper surrounding her desk. "What? Still deaf? God, what world do you live in?"

Still blinking, Kagome bent down and a shaking hand picked up one of the many, very many, notes. Unwrapping it, she read it to herself silently. Biting her lip, she crumpled it up in her hand before sweeping up her books and dashing out of the class just as the teacher was coming back in. She nearly knocked him over, but the collision didn't slow her down.

A tense atmosphere remained before awkward laughs broke the silence. The awkward laugh eventually turned into full out chortles, until the teacher regained control of the class. He glanced at Inuyasha before carrying on with the lesson as if nothing had happened. All the while, Inuyasha remained glued to his seat, eyes wide, mouth ajar, nose slightly twitching.... Are those...tears?

Her eyes were squeezed tightly shut, the crumpled paper clenched tightly in her hands. She bit her bottom lip, trying to keep the tears at bay. Having gotten a hold of herself after a few minutes of deep breathing, she sat down on the toilet in the stall. Swallowing, she gingerly unfurled the note to re-read what she had already read time and time again.

Oi bitch, ...she grimaced at that part, but continued to read the messy scrawl that would easily be mistaken for chicken scratch, what's your name again?

A small bitter sweet smile graced her lips as memories of old flooded her mind once more. Looking at the note, she folded it neatly and tucked it into a secure pocket in her backpack. With a big sigh, she opened the stall and waited for the end of the school day, when she would finally have the auditorium to herself again.

The last school bell of the day rang brightly. Within seconds hordes of teenagers streamed out of the school into the warm summer day. Inuyasha sat still in his car. He drummed his fingers impatiently on the steering wheel. There wasn't any football today. There was no reason for him to be staying after school. Miroku and Sango had already left, so he wasn't really waiting for anyone. So why was it that he felt an urge to go back into the stupid building? He didn't like school in anyway shape or form. Heck, for the past few years, he'd cursed the existence of it. But today, today was different.

Today he made a girl cry, and he didn't know why, but it bothered him to hell. Feh. Stupid bitch isn't worth the thought. So why was she on his mind? She's just some stupid nobody. Some stupid, PSYCHO, nobody at that... The hell does that girl have? Split personalities or something?

He still flinched at the memory of her random, well maybe not too random, outburst in class. It was completely opposite of what he had seen of her so far...at least what he had seen so far in the week that he had noticed her. Regardless, why did he feel so compelled to see her? Why did he want to hear her sing? Why did he want to ... apologize?

It wasn't like he had done anything terrible. Even if he had, he'd never had problems pushing kids around before. Granted, girls were usually not in his daily menu of people to torment, but occasionally there would be a girl who happened to fall prey to him and his friends. Yet never had anyone really caused him to feel any form of remorse. Something about this girl seemed different.

Why hasn't she left yet? God damn it, does the girl live in that stupid room?

Growling, he swore. "Aw, fuck it." Pulling his keys from the ignition, he flung open the door of his car and began the march back to the school. Most of the students had already left, after all who in their right mind would WANT to be in school for longer than necessary, making his journey to the auditorium much easier.

His pace slowed from its brisk walk as he neared the doors. Would she run again if she saw him? Would he even get a chance to say something? What was it that he even wanted to say? Why the fuck was he even there apologizing to some stupid nobody?

Questions fluttered about in his head as he tried to understand his out of character actions, but they fell silent as soon as he opened the door. The sound of music washed over him and he was once more captivated.

Today was different. Today, she sat on stage on the piano bench. Her fingers danced over the ivory keys as she poured her soul into her song.

She sat quietly on the bench, her fingers frozen in her lap. So long, it's been so long. Swallowing a lump, she slowly raised a shaking hand and rested it on the keys of the grand piano. The choir had left it on stage during their rehearsal at lunch and now it stood before her, calling to her. It's been so long. So many memories hit her all at once and before she knew it, she began playing a song as if she had never left the piano behind, as if she had never given it up. Tears clouded her vision and her throat clogged up, but no one was here to listen. She sang, her voice cracking at first, but soon soft and smooth.

I'm so tired of being here

Suppressed by all my childish fears

And if you have to leave

I wish that you would just leave

'Cause our presence still lingers here

And it won't leave me alone

Once more, Inuyasha found himself seeking sanctuary in the shadows of the theatre. He had was intruding on something personal, something private. It was a moment meant only for her, a moment he shouldn't be sharing, but he couldn't move. Goosebumps ran up and down his body as his throat went dry and knees went weak. His nose twitched and his heart fluttered. Tears.

Tears trickled silently down her face. Her eyes were squeezed tightly shut as she allowed all of her pain and suffering to surge forward.

These wounds won't seem to heal

This pain is just too real

There's just too much that Time cannot erase

When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears

When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears

And I held your hand through all of these years

But you still have

All of me

He was frozen. He was too afraid to even breathe lest he disturb her moment of reverie. She had stopped playing and singing some minutes ago, but the atmosphere of the moment still hung heavy in the air. He couldn't say anything, even if he wanted to. He let out a small sigh of relief as she finally stood up. It seemed as if she was done. Maybe he could say something now.

Fuck no. What do I have to say to her? Talking to me is a privilege and I don't do charity cases. I'm leaving this shit hole. But he didn't. He stayed in his corner and watched her.

She walked slowly towards the end of the stage, close to the exit. She stopped and turned to looking longingly back at the instrument. Her eyes were still glazed over. What happened next shocked him.

It wasn't the fact that he came to see her or even the fact that he had stayed the entire time to listen to her sing. It didn't shock him that he had been rendered motionless or that his chest felt weird, and almost ached, when he watched her cry. It was what she whispered with such familiarity, love and sadness that would leave him standing in the dark, confused, for a very, very, long time.

She stood up, emotionally exhausted and spent. A sad smile crossed her face and she turned to leave. Nearing the door, she paused. One last look. She turned around and stared at the piano, trying to remember everything about it: the look, the feel, the touch, the sound. Again, the memory of old hit her.

She released a shaky sigh. Licking her dry lips, she whispered softly a name that she had long ago left behind, but had treasured all the while, "Kikyou..." with a heart-rending smile, she left the auditorium, and unknowingly, a stunned half-demon.


Hey guys! Long time no see! Sorry it took so long for me to update _ I had exams and well... lol 'nough said! I'm glad you guys are liking it... it's gonna be a bit slow and there wasn't much happening this chapter but =P can't have people changing TOO quickly can we?

InuyashaMegaGirl: So sorry! _ I saw it spelled both ways and thought it looked prettier with a space, but now that we've cleared it up! =P I won't space it anymore! Thanks! ^-^

RenieLovesInuyashaAmore: yea... they won't be there forever =P ...

Shhkeepitasecret: oh don't worry! Lol I've got lots I want to do with them... just a matter of how to get there...

LunaP: sorry for the wait! Q.Q I hope this chapter kind of makes up for it?

Thanks for the review guys! I really appreciate it and the advice and criticism is always a great help to me! ^-^ Till next time! (Which hopefully won't be too long from now)

Your's Truly... Sylvien 3