Author's Notes: Let me tell you something. It's the simple things in life you treasure. This week I got along pretty good with my roommates. He took an entire case of empty water bottles and bowled with them in the hall of our suite. We then watched a couple of my MST3K DVDs. And next Friday, we're going to order a shitload of pizza and wings. It's the little things like this you come to really enjoy when you look back on them.
Anyway...
-x-
Lights, Camera, Action!
Chapter 12- We're Doing What?!
Kagome popped a couple aspirin and washed them down with a swig from a bottle of water. The week had been an absolute nightmare. First, one of the professors who was on the panel for Iron Chef Redrock came down with the flu and couldn't be on the show. So Kagome had to take his place. This of course filled Inuyasha with sadistic glee, especially when the theme ingredient that week was revealed to be peanut butter. It took a supreme effort of will to be able to go through with that, but all she had to do was remind herself what it would mean if they didn't nail the judging sequence in one take. Inuyasha inadvertently helped as a reminder as he stood there in his red apron and chef's hat smirking cruelly.
Then, some nimrod in the Video Editing class had wiped the latest episode of Ace Spade from the editing machines, meaning they had to spend the whole weekend re-editing it from scratch. As soon as she found out who that little bastard was, Kagome vowed to make him pay. Miroku and Sango had been pissed off about it too, since that was the weekend they had finally made time to go out together to see a movie.
To make matters worse, a blizzard came in the next day. All it took was twenty-four hours to bury the campus and most of the town under snowdrifts bigger than a person. In fact, the snow was still there. And the downside was that Inuyasha and Miroku had been cramming with Kagome and Sango in Ravencroft Hall the night that it started. After studying, they all fell asleep watching movies and awoke to find the view from there window looked less like New England than it did Norway. And the blizzard was still going.
Which brought Kagome to Day 2 of being snowed in and taking the aspirin to try and relieve her headache. Being trapped in the dorms for two days with this lot was less fun than she had imagined it would be. But that was probably because Inuyasha and Miroku couldn't change their clothes and refused to use the showers for fear of some... "awkward" situations. Add to that Sango and Miroku passing the time by almost constantly making out, and it was pretty clear why Kagome was starting to feel her last nerves fray.
She sat on the floor with Inuyasha playing cards. It's a good thing they weren't betting real money because he was a real card shark. The only person with a better pokerface was Miroku. "Straight-flush," Inuyasha announced when Kagome dealt him his two new cards and laid out his hand.
Kagome just dropped her hand in frustration. Three queens was not a match for a straight-flush. "This is starting to get old," she moaned. "There's nothing exciting about this if I lose every time."
Miroku stopped making out with Sango long enough to voice his suggestion. "We could always play strip poker."
That was of course met with a slap from Sango. "I don't think so. I'm the only one you're allowed to see naked, got that?" Of course, after realizing what she said, she turned bright red. "I mean..."
Miroku just smirked and pulled her into his lap. "Whatever you say, dear."
Inuyasha rolled his eyes without looking at the couple. "Jesus Christ. Not even two months and she's already got you whipped." That earned Inuyasha a slap that time. Right upside the back of his head. And Sango, being a martial artist could seriously injure anyone except for Miroku, who could probably get hit by a bus and live. "Ow, crap! What the hell was that for?!"
Sango just shrugged. "You deserved it. And I know Miroku is too nice a guy to do it himself."
"She's got a point," Miroku said thoughtfully.
"Wonderful," Inuyasha grumbled. "I got these two tag-teaming me now."
Kagome decided to try and alleviate the growing tension. They were all getting sick of being cooped up in there. The snow was slowing down at last, so it probably would only be another day or two before the campus was clear enough for students to travel safely. "Well we still need something to do. Does anyone have a suggestion other than strip poker?"
"Strip blackjack?" Miroku jokingly asked.
Kagome couldn't help but glare at Miroku. "Against Inuyasha, I would be completely naked in ten minutes."
"True," Inuyasha said flatly. "Very true."
Miroku raised an eyebrow at Inuyasha. "I would think you of all people would leap at such an opportunity."
Kagome felt her own face burning as Inuyasha turned beat red. "Miroku," Inuyasha snarled, "you've got thirty-two teeth. Would you like to try for eighteen?"
"Do you have any threats that don't come from Looney Toons?" Miroku retorted. That just earned him a pair of raised middle fingers.
Kagome was beginning to wonder how much longer this would last. Inuyasha was on the verge of a breakdown, and she herself wasn't too far behind. They had to find something to pass the time before they all started going at each other's throats. But what?
"I suppose we could have a little karaoke contest," Sango suggested. Inuyasha has his CD player, and Kagome and I have a bunch of pirated music.
"We could give that a shot," Miroku said with a nod. "But you mostly listen to instrumental stuff. You got anything on your hard drive with vocals?"
"A few things, yeah," Sango answered as she stood up. "Who wants to go first?"
Inuyasha stood up, signaling he wanted to get this stretch of boredom over with. "Put on track three," he said curtly as he handed her the CD labeled Custom Mix 9. As Sango followed his request, he cleared his throat and tested his voice out a bit. He apparently had gotten some vocal training somewhere along the way.
The song started with intense guitar solos before the main riff started up. Metal Meltdown by Judas Priest. That figured. Inuyasha grabbed a permanent marker from Kagome's desk, holding it like a microphone and started singing along with Rob Halford's voice. He actually had a pretty good voice. Sort of a sharp-edged growl with an almost lupine howling quality as well.
By the first chorus, Inuyasha was really getting into it. He was in one of the "power stances" like in that School of Rock movie and was layering the drama on pretty thick with facial grimaces and wild gestures. He acted totally off-the-wall through the guitar solos as well, just like at the Halloween dance. At the outro, he kept pumping his hand in the air, making the Sign of the Horns with each beat of the chant before dropping to his knees at the end, hand still raised in the air.
There was something about him that Kagome couldn't quite place. His confidence, his bravado, his Jekyll/Hyde energy. There were so many things that just made him stand out. He was his own person in so many different ways. It gave him a strange charisma. As anti-social as he was, you couldn't help but notice him.
"I give it an A for effort," Miroku remarked. "But you're still no Rob Halford."
Inuyasha just flipped him off. "Fuck off. Besides, who is?"
"Tim Owens?"
Inuyasha just scoffed. "Ripper is great in Iced Earth, but his work with Priest was mediocre at best."
"True, true."
"Seriously, he really shines though with Iced Earth. Declaration Day, The Reckoning, Valley Forge. All classic"
"Totally classic." With that, the two young man high-fived.
"Moving on," Sango interrupted, "who wants to go next?"
"Got any blues?" Miroku asked.
Sango suddenly got a big grin. "I have a better idea." She lead Miroku over to her computer and highlighted the song she had in mind. "Do you know the lyrics to that one?"
Kagome tried to lean in to get a better look, but it was no use. Though it must have been pretty amusing judging by the smile on Miroku's face. Like he couldn't believe he was about to do this. "What's so funny?"
Without answering, Miroku took up the marker from Inuyasha, holding it like a microphone just like the latter had done. "Alright, let's do this."
Sango clicked on the song. It started out a synth string intro and scrapes on the string of an electric guitar. It all sounded very dramatic, Miroku gently turning and swaying his head to the melody. Whoever did this song put a lot of effort into it. After minute, a rock beat came up along with a difficult to understand spoken word section.
"Sango, what song is this?" Kagome asked.
"Love Phantom by B'z" Sango answered with a smirk right before Miroku burst out singing along in Japanese with the voice coming out of the speaker.
It was actually a pretty catchy song, and Miroku was going along with the vocals much better than Kagome had expected. It was really cool how the songwriters managed to get the lyrics to flow so easily from one syllable to the next in such a pleasing manner. She absently wondered if this is what songs in English sounded like to people who spoke other languages.
Half-way through the song, Kagome glanced over at Inuyasha who was staring at Miroku trying to figure out just what he thought of this song. He was tapping his foot to the beat, so at least it was clear he didn't hate it.
At the closing, Sango was cheering happily. Who knew she was a fan of J-rock? But more importantly, what was she going to sing? There weren't a lot of female vocalists she particularly liked. Except... well, Inuyasha had gotten her to try listening to some metal, and if she remembered anything from those lessons she got years ago, now would be a good time to use them.
-x-
Inuyasha was still trying to figure out just what he thought of that song. Love Phantom by B'z, Sango had said. For some reason, he felt this warranted further investigation. "Who's next?" he said at last. "I got up and shredded my throat to give you people Metal Meltdown, now you two girls better do something damn good."
Sango just shot him a wry look. "We're doing this more for our individual entertainment, not yours."
"Point?"
"You can kiss my ass," Sango said, obviously mocking him with a bad impersonation of him.
"Don't give Miroku any ideas," Inuyasha shot back.
"Leave me out of this," Miroku calmly objected.
"Anyway, I'll go next," Sango said resolutely. She went over to her computer and put on Call Me by Blondie. Okay, so she was a fan of Blondie and J-rock in addition to Weather Report. This was an eye-opener. Of course, he was getting a little weary of the song pretty quick with the obvious subtext between Sango and Miroku as she sang with that little marker that he had picked up. It was a good thing she hadn't played anything dirty or those two wouldn't have been vertical for very long.
What was with these people and their hormones, anyway? Didn't they have some self-control?
At least Sango had a good voice. Neither she nor Miroku had any formal training like he had when he was young, but they could carry a tune. And their singing voices were pretty easy on the ears. Of course, male pride insisted he convince himself that they weren't as good as him.
When the song was over, Kagome was naturally all happy. Where did that woman get her energy? "That was really great Sango! Why didn't you tell me you could sing?"
"Because I can't," Sango said modestly.
"Nonsense," Miroku insisted. "Your voice is ambrosia, my love." It would have been very smooth were it not for the fact that his expression was pretty transparent.
"Miroku, do you actually think that being a sweetheart will get you 'reward sex?'" Sango asked bemusedly.
Miroku just shrugged. "I thought it was worth a try. I meant it, though."
"Just be patient, you lug," Sango said with a smirk. "Okay, Kagome. Your turn."
Inuyasha watched Kagome stand up and walk to her computer, a little nervous. "Promise me you guys won't laugh."
Miroku and Sango promised of course, but Inuyasha just held up a hand and raised his brows as if being defensive. That was the closest he usually came to a spoken promise.
Kagome took one last breath and clicked the song. Inuyasha recognized in no more than two seconds. Sacrament of Wilderness? She was going to sing a Nightwish song? He thought he was being a little full of himself by trying to sing along with Rob Halford, but she was trying to sing along with Tarja Turunen? She better have the pipes to back that up.
The lengthy intro finished and the lyrics began. Inuyasha felt his jaw immediately drop. Kagome was in perfect rhythm, perfect timing. She was on key and fully articulate. What's more, she had the operatic wails down perfect. Where the hell did she learn to sing like that? With formal training she could easily make it as a professional. At least, in Inuyasha's opinion. To him, any negative criticism of her voice was punishable by flogging and Chinese water torture.
As she sang, he felt himself being drawn in. He always liked this song. The mental images it called forth, the sentiments that connected with him. He wondered if she liked the song for the same reasons? It was one of the few things in this world he would ever describe as beautiful...
God, what was it about Kagome that made him feel like this? Women were too god damn confusing!
As the song finished, Inuyasha abruptly realized that he was leaning very far forward with his eyes fixed on Kagome and his jaw slack. Realizing they had seen him, he snapped his mouth shut, his teeth audibly clicking together, and straightened up.
"I was going to compliment you, Kagome," Miroku said, "but I think Inuyasha's impersonation of a drooling fanboy did far better than any words could.
Inuyasha went beet red. His face felt like a bonfire. And Kagome didn't look much better. Her blush even crept down her neck, past her collar, and vanished under her shirt as it most likely reached her- No, damnit! Don't finish that train of thought! Miroku's supposed to be like this, for god's sake! He gathered his thoughts and attempted to sound intelligent. "Kagome, we need to make a show that gives you an excuse to sing."
"What?" If possible, Kagome went ever redder.
"Man's got a point," Miroku chimed in. "You clearly have talent. It would be a shame to waste it."
"I don't know..." Kagome replied hesitantly.
How could she not know? Inuyasha was very tempted to grab her by the shoulders and ask that very question. She was a brilliant writer, a wonderful director, a beautiful singer, and she was drop-dead gorgeous! How could she be so damn modest abou-... Did he just think what he thought he just thought? Thinking was as confusing as women sometimes.
-x-
Shippo wrapped the blanket around himself a little tighter as he made his way out to the kitchen. Blizzards sucked. He was clad only in a T-shirt, a pair of lounge pants, and slippers. Kirara had been over when they got snowed in. And, of course, they had a personal way of keeping warm. The only hitch had been when his mother knocked on the door asking the two of them without coming in to keep it down so the rest of the house could get some sleep. That kind of killed the mood last night.
It was almost noon now, but no one particularly felt like getting up. Except Shippo, who was starving. Kirara had asked him to bring her up some food while he was down. The look she gave him made any thoughts of argument impossible. He sometimes wondered if maybe it would be a problem down the road that she could manipulate him so easily, but he always dismissed it as his male ego trying to heckle him.
Once in the kitchen, he set about putting together a tray of food. He sloppily put together some sandwiches from left overs and prepared a couple mugs of hot chocolate. He then scrounged up some fruit and took the whole box of Chicken in a Biskit. After pausing to think for a moment, he went back to the pantry and took the entire box of HoHos too.
On his way out of the kitchen, he spotted a rather large house spider crawling its way up the wall. Shippo shuddered involuntarily. Spiders. Nasty little sum-bitches. What's more, they reminded Shippo of the news he had managed to pry from Miroku last week. Kikyo had called Inuyasha. And after last summer, it was impossible to think of Kikyo without thinking of Naraku Tohya. And Naraku always reminded you of spiders. Something about that guy and bugs...
They all had their own problems with that oily bastard in one way or another. Shippo had only met him once when he visited last summer and he still hated him. He seemed to have a talent for messing with people's lives. Sango's family had put up with his for years. Miroku's grandfather had a rivalry with the Tohya family long before his son was born. And just last summer he had really given Inuyasha and Kirara reasons to hate him. What kind of sadistic mind would take pleasure in the kind of things he did?
Shippo shook his head to clear it. There was absolutely no point in worrying about this now. It wasn't his bridge to cross. This was something Inuyasha had to work out himself when the time came. He could probably use a couple friends backing him, but for the most part he had to resolve the whole thing on his own. The way Kagome had brought him out these last few months, maybe he'd be ready to face his demons for once in his life. Regardless, Shippo decided he would be there for his friends if he could when they needed him, and they would if things were about to get as complicated as he thought they were. Hopefully, Inuyasha wouldn't kill him first after the big surprise of masterplan.
All worrying was soon expelled from Shippo's mind however when he pushed the door to his bedroom open with his hip and saw Kirara's bare back facing him as she sat in his bed and channel surfed through the TV on his dresser. She turned to face him and smiled. "Welcome back, lover."
Shippo kicked the door closed behind him and smiled. "Hope you're hungry. It is damn cold down there." He set the tray with all the food on it down beside the bed, dropped the blanket from around his shoulders, and pulled Kirara into a warm embrace and a passionate kiss. They collapsed onto the mattress together and Shippo reveled in every moment of it. Her nude body pressed up against his, their lips locked together, and her gentle scent intoxicating him like a heady wine. She was his, and he just wanted a minute to soak in that feeling and drown in it.
-x-
It had taken three days, but at last they were free from the trap of Ravencroft Hall. As Redrock slowly recovered from the blizzard which had crippled the entire town, things went back to normal. The teachers were a little frustrated to have their plans screwed up, but finals would proceed as normal. Much to Kagome's frustration.
The first of the finals was for Fiction Into Film. Studying with Inuyasha and Sango had really paid off. She managed to breeze through it without too much trouble. The only thing keeping her from finishing quicker was the fact that the test started at 8 in the morning. As much as she hated having to move around in the mornings, she hated coffee even more.
The afternoon of that same day was the Astronomy final. Fortunately, this one was an introductory course for non-majors. That made things a lot easier.
Two days were the last of finals. Golden Age of Hollywood in the morning and TV Production in the afternoon. By Thursday, everyone was getting packed up for break tomorrow. That was when Miroku showed up at Ravencroft Hall to bring some interesting news.
"Hey ladies, you may want to visit the RA. I pulled some strings and got us a new arrangement." What was with that smirk on his face?
Kagome looked up from her packing with a raised eyebrow. "What are you going on about?"
Miroku leaned up against the threshold and pretended to casually inspect his nails. "Oh, nothing. It's just that a certain debonair producer might have managed to get the four of us a campus townhouse that will be empty at the end of break."
Sango and Kagome looked at him shock at the same time. "Say that again?" Sango said after a moment.
"I've got connections in good places," Miroku said simply. "I explained to the Residence Life office that if you ladies, Inuyasha, and myself were all in the same living space, it would be good for the TV station since we'd be in constant communication. It would also make it easier for others to get ahold of us."
Kagome arched a brow, one question dancing on her mind. "How many bedrooms are there?"
"Three," Miroku answered. "Prefurnished for the most part."
"I think I see where this is going," Sango said bemusedly.
Miroku just put on a mock-hurt look and placed his hands over his heart. "Why Sango, don't you want to share a bed with me?"
Sango shook her head, walked over, and kissed him on the cheek. "I won't object, but the clothes stay on until I say otherwise."
Miroku dropped down onto one knee and took one of her hands in his, kissing it sweetly. "As you wish, my love."
Kagome rolled her eyes and went back to packing. Those two made such a cute couple. Hopefully living together next semester wouldn't cause them to get tired of one another.
At last, Friday morning rolled around. Everything was all packed up and Kagome and Inuyasha were waiting in the lounge of the college center for their families just like in October. Just under different circumstances. Sango and Miroku were already getting packed up and were simply waiting on Inuyasha to make the trip home together.
In a strange case of deja vu, Inutaisho came in first, his only protection against the cold being a stylish leather trench coat. He held the door open and in came the Higurashi family.
Kagome immediately got up and rushed to her family while Inuyasha casually strode up to his father. "Mama! Gramps! Sota! Oh, I missed you all!"
"It's so good to see you again, dear!" her mother said as she crushed her in a hug. "By the way, we have a surprise for you." She then turned to Inutaisho. "Would you like to tell them?"
Inuyasha furrowed his brow and Kagome just looked toward Inutaisho confused. What was this all about?
Inutaisho just grinned. "I thought it might be nice if our families could spend Christmas together. You're all welcome to stay at our home as guests for the holidays."
It took a moment for that to sink in. Kagome looked at Inuyasha at the same time he looked at her. They both turned beet red. For Kagome, it was a matter of thinking about the fact that she was going to be constantly around Inuyasha for three weeks, living in his home. And after the little karaoke thing, he had been acting a little confusing around her. They way he kept looking at her...
In unison, the two of them turned back to their families and voiced the same question together. "We're doing what?!"
-x-
Author's Notes: Another chapter done. Now we can get on to Act II. I think I spent a little too much time building this up, but what the hell. I'm going to have to rework the as-of-yet unwritten storyline to try and make proper use of time and plot, but that shouldn't delay things too bad. Meh.
Anyway, reviewers...
Divine-Red-Crayon: Either your tired eye are playing tricks, or there's something you're not telling me. Anyway, Christmas break is where things start to heat up. It will get very interesting there.
Father Malvado: I think you'll be reasonably pleased with Kikyo as I portray her. Think about what happened in the series to make her such a bitch. Would she be that way if that hadn't happened? You have to consider that human beings are a product of their own experiences.
Izayoi: As I've made a theme in this story, women have an inordinate amount of power over the minds of men whether they realize it or not.
Mockingbirdflyaway: Eerie. On a side note, I'm beginning to wonder if I can keep going with Shippo's personality. I mean, this is probably just me being neurotic again, but so far everyone has liked him and I'm starting to wonder how much longer I can keep that up. Then again, I do this a lot, so it's probably nothing.
Magellan-chan: I hope you're still paying attention to those hints in this chapter. You never know just what's going to be important later on.
Concrete Angel: Oh, I promise that it will be most amusing.
inulova4lyfe: The last chapter didn't feature Kagome because I intended to give a quick spotlight into the lives of Inuyasha, Miroku, and Sango and show that they did have a life before Kagome came along. That chapter was about them. That's part of the challenge of doing an ensemble piece like this. I have to balance out time for the characters and make sure they get appropriate stage time.
Sea Temptress: Maybe not so dramatic, but... Anyway, City of Heroes is an online game in which you can create and play a superhero in a near-future reality with other superheroes. Shippo mentioned it a few chapters back.
Araine: I'd like to see them sometime. It's quite flattering. I'm working on Bad Moon right now, but I can't seem to get the flow right.
SakuraBaby: I hope this wait wasn't too long.
Fanny T: Yeah, there are a couple things here and there I want to improve on, but it's good to know that the visual, cinematic element I try to work into my writing is coming through. In regards to your comment in the review for LTMBYM, tell your friends if they want terrible noise music, leave Blind Guardian alone and pick up a Cannibal Corpse album. I admit, death metal is extremely technically demanding music, but I have a hard time liking a band or taking them seriously when they have a fixation on forensic pathology that leads to song titles such as "Devoured by Vermin," "Hammer-smashed Face" and "Meathook Sodomy."
demented-squirrel: Why do I always say everything I write is bad? Because I'm crazy.
Darkness-Kitsune: This is the second time I've been a participant in fanfic payola. I'm actually feeling pretty good about this.
Decrescendo: Revulsion was the reaction of most people I know to the Killer Shrew. Though your concoction sounds interesting. And I backtracked on Chapter 5. I actually did write her putting her shirt back on. But it was a few words at the end of the sentence and pretty easy to miss.