A Taste for music.

Six weeks.
That was how long it had been since Akane had joined Sesshomaru.
And not much has happened.
He was still distant, still quiet, and still didn't seem to care whether she was there or not.
At times she pondered if this had been a good idea after all.
The only help she was to him really was at keeping an eye on the child, Rin, while he was off doing who knows what.
Akane liked the girl, and was kept entertained by the bickering of her and Jaken, but she wanted to be of more use to the Yokai Lord.

'Don't you forget about me' by Simple Minds blasted in her ears as she leaned against the tree.
She was drifting in and out of sleep, and pulling her dark blue boys school uniform closer to her chin.
She messed with the collar so that it was facing up, covering half her mouth.
This was one of the many times she was happy to wear boy clothes, as she still did from time to time.
How Kagome didn't freeze to death at night was a wonder in Akane's mind.
She glanced at the two smaller ones that had crashed a while ago, she had given them her travel blanket, and she smiled at the sleeping figures.
She herself was getting tired, but she was trying to wait for Sesshy's return.
Like always, he did not say where he was going or when he would be back.
Simply had walked off. Akane was gonna give him a piece of her mind when he returned.
How was she to help him if she was always left behind?
She could fight, had even shown him what she could do, yet still he left her behind most times...

She was so busy watching the dying flames of the fire, lost in thought, that when a hand lightly removed her red earbud, she yelped and jolted away, causing the other earbud to come out.
Sesshomaru had somehow been crouching right next to her, and now was there staring at the earbuds in open wonder as the cord swayed in the night breeze. Akane shut off the music and quietly laughed at the baffled look on his face as he followed the cord with his eyes from his hand to the black MP3 in her own hand.

"You control the sound?" He asked, calm look returning as he collected himself.

"You scared me to death!" Was her response.

He stared. "You were unresponsive, clearly you could not hear me. Now, you control the sound?"

She rolled her eyes. "Thanks for saying sorry for the mild heart attack... and yes, I control the music with this part," she waved it and pulled the cord from his hand slowly.

Again, as he did whenever curious, he tilted his head slightly.

"That high pitched noise was music?"

She grinned. He was a dog after all, so of course he could hear it like that.

"It didn't sound right because you weren't wearing the earbuds."

He blinked.

"Come here," she reached out and pulled him to a sitting position next to her, surprized he had allowed her to do so.
But that didn't stop him from glaring at her actions though.

"Oh, shush," she teased and rolled her eyes. "Do you want to hear it or not? It's my favorite song EVER, so if you hate it don't tell me."

He frowned at her. But did not move.

"Well, do you want to hear it the right way?"

"Hn."

She smiled at his trade mark response.
He allowed her to place the earbuds in for him, and being that close to his face made hers red, she hoped it was dark enough he could not tell.
Feeling brave, she sat right next to him, leaning in close, claiming it was to cold to be alone, which wasn't an all out lie tonight.
But he didn't seem to care either way, so long as he got what he wanted.
He stared at the device as she messed with it. Turning it down a bit, given his hearing, she replayed the song.
Happy that he could speak and understand english so well. It would have a whole world of music for him to try.
And half of what she had was American 80's music.
He stiffened at the start of it, but once the lyrics started, he relaxed against her.
She placed her head on his shoulder and could make out the words just fine.
She could feel his eyes on her but refused to look up at him in case he was glaring.
Soon though, he leaned his head back against the tree and simply listened.
When the song was done, Sesshomaru's reaction was surprizing.
He removed the buds and had actually honest to goodness completley SMILED at her.
Now it was her turn to blink.

"Do you have more?" An innocent childlike question escaped him, exitment in his tone.

"Y-yes, hundreds more."

That made his eyes widen in wonder as he looked to the device in her hands.

"Hundreds more, in that small device?" He was acting so different, so open, golden eyes shining bright, she could not help but smile at him.

"Yes. Many kinds too."

He glanced over to the two sleeping members of the group for some reason, making sure Jaken didn't see his slip of emotion maybe?
His eyes then met hers, calm mask falling back into place on his handsome face execpt for the exitment in those golden eyes.

"Will you show me?"

And with that, Akane was awake for seven more songs, telling him the names and types of music, and showing him how to skip what he didn't like. Seemed to be rap and hip hop type music that he skipped right away with cute look of disgust.
Soon, she had drifted off to sleep on his shoulder, awaking the next day to find herself alone, with the MP3 player gently wrapped up and set by her side.

After that night, he would come to her once the others slept and they would talk of music, styles, singers, and she would explain how things sounded so different to anything he had heard before.
His mask would drop, revealing wonder and curiosity.
It was fun to have conversations with him, he remembered modern words and recalled the way she explained things.
They went from music to movies to cars. He was a fast learner and she wondered what it would be like to have him in her own world.
In truth, night became her favorite time.