1,000 Paper Cranes

Chapter Seven: Showtime

Kagome pulled her curtains aside to peek out at her front yard at seven o'clock sharp the next morning, still in apparent disbelief over Sesshoumaru's abrupt offer. Or rather, demand. He hadn't bothered to give her a choice in the matter, but sure enough and true to his words, Sesshoumaru's car was parked in front of her house.

Completely bewildered, Kagome; nonetheless, grabbed her purse and a light jacket before leaving the house. Cautiously, almost as if she were afraid he'd suddenly drive off without her, she approached the car. Her hand reached out to open the passenger side door and when her fingers had just begun to brush against the cool scrap of metal, the window was rolled down and she quickly retracted her hand. She peered into the vehicle in time to see Sesshoumaru slowly turning to face her, a grim expression upon his fast.

"You are late," he stated matter-of-factly.

Frowning, Kagome pulled the door open and climbed in, regardless of his sour mood. She cast a quick glance at his dashboard and suppressed the urge to roll her eyes and sigh.

"I profusely apologize for making you wait two additional minutes, Sesshoumaru-sama," she replied, unable to hide her sarcasm.

"What a peculiar method to show one's gratitude," Sesshoumaru remarked breezily with a single raised brow.

She was about to reply with another smart response when his words processed in her mind. Immediately, her jaw snapped shut and Sesshoumaru had to hide his victorious smirk.

"Thank you," Kagome quickly blurted out; her words filled with sincerity.

Nodding his head, he pulled the shift lever into the appropriate place and began driving toward Taisho Records.

And for the last couple of days before the first competition, the pair had built their schedules around each other. Sesshoumaru would be waiting for her in front of her house at seven every morning. Kagome would continue practicing at the company after hours and Sesshoumaru would arrive when he was done with his paperwork to assist her, despite having rejected that notion previously. Then, Sesshoumaru would drop her off at home and Kagome would stare at his tail lights blinking at her from a distance, with a warm heart, until it disappeared from her sight.

Finally, the day of the competition had arrived and Kagome was a nervous wreck although Sesshoumaru had assured her that she would do well.

She stood in a group with the nine other contestants, all of them staring in awe at their surroundings. Inuyasha and Myouga stood ahead of them, introducing them to Tokyo's Disney Resort. They explained the procedure of the competition and their form of judging before giving them a chance to explore.

Excitedly, the group broke into smaller pairings and they scurried off to have some fun before they had to compete.

"Remember to meet back at the performing stage in three hours time!," Inuyasha hollered after them.

Rin and Shippo both ran for the roller coasters, laughing and dragging Kagome along behind them, who had an equally wide smile on her face. Their happiness was contagious and Kagome found herself loosening up, knowing that when it was time to return, all those tense emotions would come back full force.

Until then, she would try to enjoy herself, so she shook her head to disperse all her negative thoughts. She turned her attention back to Rin and Shippo as they finally came to a stop to wait in line for the biggest and scariest rollercoaster Disney had to offer.

Three hours passed in a blur of excited chatters, terrified shrieks, and hyper laughter. Before they knew it, the three of them were backstage, preparing for their performance that would change their future, for better or for worse.

Kagome tried not to hyperventilate as she stared at herself in the mirror. Her eyes were wide and frantic and her face was pale. Even the baby pink dress she wore, meant to flatter her skin tone, only made her appear sickly.

"Are you alright?" Myouga asked, coming up behind her. She flinched as he startled her, but both chose not to acknowledge it lest it shot at her nerves even more.

"I'm not sure," Kagome responded, feeling a little lightheaded.

"Well, compose yourself, young lass," he said, placing a comforting hand upon her shoulder, "the show is starting in fifteen minutes."

"Okay," she whispered as Myouga walked away. She glanced at the clock quickly and closed her eyes to inhale deeply and exhale slowly. Everyone else was bustling to get into their appropriate placement or to jam in one final practice session, but she tuned it all out. She pushed all noise out of her mind and concentrated on herself and her steady breathing. All was quiet until the sudden wild applause shattered her concentration.

She knew, at that very moment, Inuyasha must have stepped out from behind the curtain to begin the introductions. Snapping her eyes open, she listened closely to Inuyasha's words.

"Welcome to Taisho Record's first annual singing competition," he greeted the audience, "I'm proud to introduce ten lovely contestants to you this fine afternoon. Each of them have worked hard to get to their current standpoint and; oh, what the hell. I'm no good at this."

Inuyasha paused as the audience broke out into amused chuckles. Even Kagome, nervous as she was, couldn't help but let out a small laugh.

"Anyway, this is the first round and you're going to be a part of the judging process. We want applause, cheers, and whatever else you've got to offer. The louder you are for someone, the higher they'll rank. So scream till you're hoarse!"

At that, the audience began clapping, whistling, and cheering to show their enthusiasm.

Inuyasha smirked, reveling at how easy it was to rile them up. "Now, the first contestant is Samuru Jakotsu!"

As soon as his name was called, Jakotsu sauntered out with a sway of his hips, belting out the first sound to the rock song he had chosen. The multicolored lights flashed and danced across the stage as Inuyasha quickly stepped to the side. The audience was wild and reckless in their support for him and Jakotsu soaked it up and used it to his benefit.

Kagome peeked through the side curtains and gulped at how many people were out there to watch their performance. She smiled though, at how well Jakotsu was doing. He was displaying his masculinity but also appearing feminine at the same time. It was truly a unique sight and one he would score well on, if the encouragement from the crowd was any indication.

When his song ended, he bowed gracefully, blew the audience a kiss, and left; still swinging his hips. Inuyasha returned to introduce the next contestant and so it went until Kagome's name was called. Her breath caught in her throat and her heart was beating rapidly as she stepped onto the stage.

It was quiet and the stage lights were warm upon her face, shining down directly upon her. She looked out at the audience. It didn't matter who was out there as long as she could see Sesshoumaru. She had grown to be comfortable singing to him and she vowed to do the same so she could succeed. But as she scanned the crowd, she couldn't see him.

Where was he? He had promised to be there. He was required to be there.

Fear seized her heart and she felt like fleeing when she heard the instrumentals begin to play. Frantic eyes darted across the area, but with each passing moment, she could feel her hope dwindling. Sesshoumaru was not there. Her chances to win had just gone up in smokes.

She gripped the microphone tightly with both hands, glad she had mild support from the microphone stand or she surely would have fallen over in fright. Determined, she resorted to closing her eyes and imagined that she was alone. It hadn't worked in the past, but it was the only plan she had and she had to try.

Kagome listened closely and when she heard her cue, she opened her mouth to sing and immediately winced. Her voice wavered and cracked, revealing how nervous she was. Still, she pressed on, refusing to give up even though she sounded completely weak.s

Even if it was the worst and only performance she'd ever give, she wanted to finish the song, unlike how she had been in the past. She didn't want to flee from the stage again.

She cracked her eyes open into thin slits to gaze at the audience for their reactions and it didn't look very positive for her. Then, out of her peripheral vision, she noticed a large crowd of people shifting positions. Opening her eyes fully to focus on that section of the audience, she watched as a figure pushed his way past the crowd.

It was Sesshoumaru.

He was rushing to the front and she knew it was for her; so that she could see him, regain her confidence, and overcome her stage fright. She fell silent during the song's interval and touched tears filled her eyes. Halfway through the crowd, he sensed her eyes upon him and he raised his head to return her gaze.

His confident, piercing eyes met hers, much like her practice performances, and she felt the world fall away. There was nothing and no one but Sesshoumaru and his eyes. With renewed courage, she sang with a new burst of energy that surprised both herself and the audience.

The cheers and whistles fell upon deaf ears since Kagome only had eyes for Sesshoumaru, her secret knight in shining armor. The way Sesshoumaru had pushed past the crowd replayed in her mind and she pulled the microphone off the stand in a raw display of genuine emotions. Her facial expressions and hand gestures as she sang were strong and firm and confident.

Others thought her tears were from being overemotional about the song, but Kagome knew the truth. A hand gripped the microphone tightly as she sang with a powerful voice and the other hand was clenched in a fist, but placed over her heart. She sung like she had never sang before and Kagome knew that she had truly shone and captivated the audience with her performance.

But was it enough to keep her in the running?

As the song came to a close, the audience went wild. They were perplexed at the sudden change in her abilities, but chose to support her regardless. Still, the sounds didn't reach Kagome's ears. The only thing she could focus on was Sesshoumaru's nod of approval and the warmth she thought she saw in his eyes.

It was in that very moment, Kagome realized something very important and something that she must never, ever tell anyone.

She was beginning to fall for Sesshoumaru.


A/N: Tehehehe. How did you like that? I LOVED writing it. =] Also, I wanted to take the time to tell you, my lovely readers, that I'm actually in the process of closing on a house so all my time for the next two or three weeks will be mostly devoted to that. That's why I haven't been able to update Flight of Love because I simply haven't had the time to sit down and write. If updating is a bit slow in the future, please forgive me and know that as soon as all my work is done and I'm stress-free again, I'll be updating frequently again.

auto review:

"Dear Raine,
NO WAY! Did he really do that? Sesshoumaru?
That's not possible!
Does that mean he's falling in love with her too?
UPDATE SOON!
I want to see what happens next!
Hurry, hurry!
Signed,
(enter name here)"