Sing a Song with Me

Cherry Mecha

Chapter 2: Tryouts

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Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or the characters from it. I also don't own the songs I mention. Heh.

~*~*~

Everyone stared at Kikyou. There was a silence. Did Inuyasha hear what he thought he heard?

"So you're leaving?" He cursed himself for not being able to think of something more intelligent to say.

Kikyou looked at the boy.

"Its just...Naraku has offered me another job and he's such a nice man..."

Everyone continued to stare at her. Naraku? Their rival? Was this the person who had wanted the Shikon no Tama under all costs? The guy who threatened to buy them out? What was Kikyou talking about?

"Inuyasha, I'm sorry. Our relationship is over as well. Naraku doesn't want me to date other men."

"Oh...Wait. WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY OTHER MEN?!"

Kikyou sighed and looked down, refusing to meet his gaze. Her words were barely audible.

"Well...he offered me such a good job and he wanted me to go out with him. I told him I wasn't sure but yesterday was my deadline in telling him. . .and things aren't going well with the Shikon no Tama...so I had to say yes..."

Inuyasha stared at her.

"You put your JOB before ME?!...uh...US?...WHY THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT?!"

Kikyou looked up at him with pleading eyes.

"Please Inuyasha...I have to leave. Don't you see? Our next concert was the only one we had scheduled in 6 months. Things aren't going well with the Shikon no Tama..."

"NO. I will NOT let you leave like this! Especially not to...HIM! Kikyou what about this?!" He gestured towards the group, his voice became soft "What about me?"

Kikyou thought that this was going to be difficult but she never expected Inuyasha to react this way. She thought that he understood they never had special. . .for her anyway.

Kikyou glanced at her watch and sighed.

"I'm sorry guys but I have to leave now...I'll see you around, okay?"

She headed towards the door but almost made it when she felt Inuyasha grab her sleeve.

"I told you. You're NOT going." He growled.

Kikyou jerked her sleeve out of his hand and turned around, annoyance present only in her eyes while the rest of her face was emotionless. Inuyasha had never seen Kikyou like this and stepped back slightly.

"I told you ONCE fairly PATIENTLY that I was going to LEAVE and I still PLAN TO."

Inuyasha stared at her. Kikyou turned around and was about to leave when she heard,

"But I thought you cared..."

Kikyou hated seeing Inuyasha like this, all mushy and childish. She turned around again, not hiding the disgust on her face.

"LOOK, you're annoying me right now with your stupid questions and no I don't care, not about this group, not about YOU."

Kikyou winced at her own words. She hadn't meant for it to come out that harsh.

"Inuyasha...I-I didn't mean for it to come out like that...I'm so-"

"Save it."

Kikyou looked at Inuyasha who didn't meet her gaze. Tears welled up in Kikyou's eyes. She hastily wiped them away.

"Then goodbye, Inuyasha."

And she left.

Inuyasha stared at her as she walked off. This was the only time he had loved someone and now she was walking away from him. She never even cared. He walked over to the booth and sat down. He stared at his half-finished milkshake and began to think. So Kikyou never loved him. Inuyasha cringed at the thought.

"Uh. . . so what are we going to do now?"

Miroku's voice snapped Inuyasha out of his ponderings. He looked up but didn't feel like talking. Instead, Sango spoke.

"I...I don't know. I suppose we can start by telling Kouga, unless she already told him..."

"Hm...then we need to hold tryouts, I guess. We do have a concert in a few days."

"Well, it's almost 1 now. I think we have time. Inuyasha? Why don't we give your brother a call to see if we can use his basement for the auditions? Inuyasha? INUYASHA?!"

"Huh? What?" Inuyasha had fallen back into his own thoughts and Sango abruptly interrupted them.

Sango rolled her eyes.

"I said why don't we call your brother to see if we can use his basement- ..."

Inuyasha cut her off.

"Uh-uh. NO way. I am NOT calling that bastard for anything!"

"So where else can we hold tryouts?"

Inuyasha thought about it for a minute and realized that they had no where else since Kikyou's garage wasn't open to them anymore. With a sigh, he gave in.

"Fine, but you guys owe me."

~*~*~

"Yo Higurashi! Great job back there! You blew them away with your voice!"

Kagome blushed as she exited the school auditorium. The girl who made the comment, Yumi, walked beside her. The auditions for the school play were coming up and she wanted help from her music teacher since they had a while to practice.

"Thanks Yumi. You did great too!"

Yumi looked doubtful.

"Yeah...but you could be professional, Kagome!"

Kagome blushed again and started on her road home, chatting happily about the school play with Yumi. The girls parted outside the Higurashi shrine and Kagome went immidately to her room to start her homework so she could enjoy her free time.

~*~*~

Sango was sitting in Inuyasha and Miroku's sofa living room. She was waiting while Miroku called Kouga and Inuyasha called Sesshoumaru. A minute later, Miroku came out from the kitchen looking grim.

Sango looked up and winced. Apparently, Kouga didn't take the news well.

"Kouga wasn't too happy about it. He's giving us until tomorrow to come up with a replacement for Kikyou. Otherwise, we have no manager."

He plopped down next to Sango.

"I wonder how Inuyasha's doing."

Almost on cue, they heard a yell from his bedroom.

"Look, I just need a place for the auditions and...No I will not BEG for your help Sesshoumaru!" Pause "Fine." He hung up.

Inuyasha stepped out from his bedroom looking very pissed off. He sat down across from Sango and Miroku.

"I hope you guys are happy. I now have to pick up Sesshoumaru's little girl to her piano lesson tomorrow."

He put on a fake smile and said with sarcasm dripping from every word,

"But my DEAREST brother managed to lend us his basement for today out of the KINDNESS of his HEART."

Miroku, ignoring the sarcasm, grinned.

"Great! Let's get started!"

~*~*~

After several phone calls, half an hour of posting flyers and sitting around waiting for people to show up in Sesshoumaru's basement, Inuyasha, Sango and Miroku looked annoyed, bored and exhausted simultaniously. Inuyasha began pacing.

"When is anyone going to show up?"

Just then, the doorbell rang. Inuyasha rushed to the door and jerked it open. It was a boy dressed in what resembled a kilt.

"Aye, I'm here the auditions m'lad." He said with a Scottish accent. Inuyasha sweat dropped. Well, this was better than nothing, he decided.

"Um...yeah...this way please."

~*~*~

Inuyasha collapsed on the couch in the basement. It has been four VERY long hours of tryouts. Sango and Miroku were leafing through the notes they made on everyone. Inuyasha was just trying to figure out how to get rid of the migraine headache he got from listening to what these people called 'songs.'

He looked over at Sango.

"So was there anyone that was HALF qualified in the group?"

After the Scottish boy, who decided to yodel, came several stranger people. One girl of about 6 years, came and burst out crying because she had gotten separated from her mom in the grocery store. Another man came dressed as a purple monkey and proceeded to do a tap dancing act while humming the national anthem. The rest of them were just as bad.

"Well," Sango replied, "the little girl who got lost had a nice voice. Notice how she wailed on tune?"

Inuyasha groaned. That means another day of FUN tryouts tomorrow.

Sango looked at her watch.

"Oops. I gotta go. I can't keep my boss waiting." Sango held another job in a restaurant as a waitress. Sometimes it was hard to get by on the money made from gigs.

Sango grabbed her keys and rushed out the room.

Inuyasha looked at Miroku.

"Well, there's no point in staying HERE anymore." He said with obvious distaste at the nicely matched furniture, walls and windows. "Let's go."

~*~*~

The next morning, Miroku and Inuyasha headed towards Sesshoumaru's house again. The auditions started at 11.

They reached the basement to see that Sango was already there and with a line of people who looked like they missed their share of sanity.

Sango ran over and grabbed both of them by the arm.

"Thank God you're here. I have no idea how to handle all these people!" She gestured towards the mob.

They sat down and Inuyasha spoke to the crowd.

"Well.uh.who's first?"

A man dressed as a clown stepped out holding a bouquet of balloons. Inuyasha sweat dropped. This was going to be a LOOONG day.

~*~*~

"Kagome! Phone call!"

Grumbling to herself because she was disturbed from the middle of playing her concert piece, she walked to the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Kagome? It's Myouga. Remember me?"

Kagome's face lit up at the sound of her old piano teacher's voice. (a/n: Yes. He's a piano teacher. Don't ask.) She didn't get to see him anymore because she had stopped her lessons and she was becoming more advanced than her teacher was. She still admired him and considered him her teacher while she was skilled enough to teach him. Ironic isn't it?

"Of course I remember you! How are you?"

"Sadly, not too well."

Kagome stopped smiling immediately.

"Omigosh. What happened?"

"Apparently, a client of mine called me a blood-sucking flea and left. While he was exiting the room, he tripped me by accident and I got flattened under my shelf full of piano books."

Kagome winced. She remembered how tightly packed that shelf was.

"So now I have to rest for a few days but I still have students coming. Would you mind taking over for today? Its okay if it's too much trouble."

"Oh no, not at all! I'd love to help!"

"Great! Now come over as soon as possible. I want to tell you about some of the students coming."

"Sure! I'll be right over!"

With that, she hung up, told her mom about her conversation and left. It was a five-minute walk on a brisk morning. She didn't mind going. If anything, she thought it would be fun.

~*~*~

After Kagome arrived at the MANSION, Myouga showed her each student's pieces and what to teach in each lesson. Ten minutes after she saw that Myouga was safely in bed, the bell rang, showing that her first student of the day had arrived.

Kagome couldn't stop herself from smiling.

"This is gonna be great!"

Then her potential student walked in. It was a boy of about 6 with a ponytail in a vest with blue shorts. He was adorable but pouting.

Kagome frowned but decided to give him a chance. Quickly, she put a smile on.

"Hi there! I'm Kagome and I'll be your piano teacher for the time being. What's your name?"

The little boy turned his pouty face toward her.

"I'm Shippo and I DON'T WANT TO BE HERE!"

Ah, another one of those kids who get forced into this. Kagome thought to herself. The day was promising to be a very long one indeed.

~*~*~

"Okay.That's the last of them!"

Sango rubbed her eyes. Today wasn't any better than yesterday.

"What do we do now? Chances are tomorrow's not gonna be any better."

Everyone sat in silent thought. Inuyasha's watch went off and interrupted them.

"Oy. I gotta go pick up Gin or whatever her name is from her piano lesson right now. I'll catch you guys later."

Inuyasha sighed as he walked out the door.

~*~*~

"Okay Rin, you place your fingers on these keys and .Oops. Well that's all we have time for today! It's been really nice meeting you."

Kagome smiled down at the girl at her side. Rin, her name was. She actually cooperated unlike the 4 students before her.

Rin smiled back in response.

"Rin has to use the potty. Can Rin go to the potty?"

Kagome smiled. Rin could be so cute.

"Of course. Do you remember where it is?"

Rin nodded as she skipped out the door.

Kagome turned to the piano, her back facing the door. There would be a few minutes before Rin came back and she hadn't played any of her own songs in a while.

"Hm.how did it go?" Kagome picked out the first few bars of Adieu from Cowboy Bebop. It was her audition song for the school play. She had chosen it because it showed off her voice and the piano part was pretty easy. It was definitely a good song for her.

Kagome began humming as she played but soon she found herself singing.

~ Been a fool been a clown

Lost my way from looking down

And I know, yes I know.~

She was so wrapped up that she wouldn't have noticed if someone were standing at the door listening to her.

~*~*~

"Damnit."

It was too confusing for Inuyasha to get around in this castle Rin's piano teacher called a house. He turned another corner and found himself where he began.

"How the fuck am I supposed to find my way around here?" Inuyasha muttered to himself.

He walked down a hallway he hadn't taken before and saw one room with the door half open and light spilling out.

He stepped closer to the door and he heard someone singing. He stepped up to the doorframe and stood there. The girl who was playing had her back turned to him so Inuyasha thought that there was no harm done as long as he kept to himself.

He stood there mesmerized by the song the girl was playing. Her voice displayed the emotions of the song perfectly.

~ My love for you

Burns deep inside me, so strong

Embers of times we've had.

And now, here I stand

Lost in a memory

I see your face and smile.~

The girl played the last few notes of Adieu and stopped. Despite himself, Inuyasha clapped. So much for keeping quiet. The girl was startled by the noise and turned around.

"Who are you?"

~*~*~

A/N: HEHEHE another cliffhanger. Sorry if there wasn't much of Miroku or Sango. I have to try to develop the story first. At the beginning, I was going to make Kikyou evil but I decided against it. Well, she is kind of evil here but atleast it goes better than what I had before. I'm going to thank people in the next chapter!