A/n: Hey again! Sorry this took so long. Eeep! It was written a while ago, just haven't had the time to type it up. And this one is going to be long (compared to the last two chapters) because I wanted to do all the auditions in one chapter. Anyway, enjoy!

"So you need to perform in order to get the shard?" asked Val, trying to make sense of it all. Kagome had just finished explaining why Inu-Yasha was in Kagome's room as they headed to the village.

"Yeah, that's right," replied Kagome, "How long will it take you guys to finish the auditions?" Rose and Val had volunteered to conduct the auditions because they both had backgrounds in music.

"Not too long. Maybe a few minutes per person," said Rose.

"And we're not even cutting anybody, just seeing how they sound," added Val.

When they arrived, Rose, Val, and the village leader set up in a clearing in the nearby forest so the auditions could be private. Kagome told everyone what was going on and to send them to the clearing. One by one they came.

"Miroku, you're a baritone. I love your energy!"

"Shippo the tenor. I kind of saw that coming." He laughed.

"Sango, that was beautiful! Your tone is so sweet!"

"Kaede, your voice is so beautiful and mysterious! I'm hooked..."

"Come on, Inu-Yasha, sing!"

Inu-Yasha fidgeted. "I don't want to sing."

"But the group needs you!" wailed Kagome, who was helping Rose and Val oversee the auditions.

"No way. Leave me alone!" He got up to return to the village. But as he was leaving, he stopped suddenly and sniffed the air. "Wait," he whispered, "That smell, it's..."

Before he finished his sentence, a familiar figure stepped out of the forest. Kagome gasped and Inu-Yasha's eyes grew wide. Rose and Val just stared. The village leader...grinned. "Ah, here you are. Everyone, this is Kikyo. She has generously offered to help us in this endeavor."

"Kikyo...what are you ding here?" breathed Inu-Yasha, "Wait a second, you sing?"

"Yes," she replied, "Just like your friends, apparently."

The village leader eyed the two before a sly grin crossed his face. It was quickly wiped off as he pretended to be surprised. "Eh? What's this? Inu-Yasha, from your expression, you obviously don't believe that Kikyo can sing."

"Yeah, so?"

"How about this: if she shows you what she can do, you have to show us." Kikyo stared at the leader, suddenly alarmed.

Inu-Yasha, catching the apprehension in her eyes, grinned at the little man. "Deal."

The village leader turned to the priestess. "Well? Do you accept the challenge?"

Her eyes darted around the clearing, which suddenly seemed crowded. Two mysterious girls wearing the same outfit as her reincarnation, her incarnation herself, the village leader, Inu-Yasha. Was she willing to set herself up for possible humiliation?

"Please, Kikyo?" asked the raven-haired girl.

"We really need both of you in this," her brunette friend added.

And while he didn't say anything, Inu-Yasha was begging her as well.

Begging her not to sing.

Finally, she turned to the village leader and said, "Why not?"

Through the corner of her eye, she saw Inu-Yasha's shoulders slump.

On the other hand, her auditioners beamed. "Here, start on this note..." He hummed a rather high pitch. "And work your way up."

She opened her mouth...

And out blasted a powerful soprano tone, with a force none of the other auditioners could quite match. Inu-Yasha actually took a step back, her voice a bit too much for his sensitive ears.

As she moved impossibly further up the sail, her volume increased, until not only Inu-Yasha, but everyone in the clearing lamped their hands over their ears wincing. Finally, Kikyo stopped singing, panting slightly. She couldn't help but grin at the others' open-mouthed shock.

"Well, Inu-Yasha?" she asked. "It's your turn," she added sweetly.

Inu-Yasha muttered incoherently under his breath. As much as he didn't want to sing, he couldn't back out. Not with Kagome there, armed with an endless volley of "sits".

He sighed. "Fine."

"Excellent! Okay, Inu-Yasha, start here..." He hummed a new pitch, mercifully lower than the one he had given Kikyo. "Repeat after me: do re mi fa sol fa mi re do."

With ears almost flattened to his head in self-consciousness, he followed the villager's instructions.

Kagome's eyebrows flew up in surprise. His voice wasn't light and energetic as Miroku's had been. Instead, it was soft, still strong, with the barest hint of a growl.

But maybe the last component was due to the fact that all the blood was rushing to his head.

The village leader led Inu-Yasha up and down the scale, each note impressing his onlookers more and more. When he was done, the little man started clapping. "Excellent, Inu-Yasha! You have a wonderful tenor voice!"

"Feh," came the reply.

Suddenly, Kagome, Valerie, and Rose burst into applause. "You kicked butt, Inu-Yasha!" Rose exclaimed.

"Very nice," Valerie added.

"I didn't know you had it in you, Inu-Yasha!" Kagome patted his arm. "You did very well!" The half-demon turned away, grumbling about the stupid shards and the cursed village leader, as well as the girls who had convinced Kikyo to sing...

Notes were taken.

The last person to go was Kagome. She stepped in front of the village leader timidly. He started with a note in the middle, then went down low, then high and higher.

Kagome's voice was gorgeous. It was full, feminine, and very expressive. It bloomed like a flower when she moved up and down. She made those few scales sound like the most beautiful hymn in the world.

A few minutes later, Rose, Val, and the village leader stepped out of the forest. All eyes turned on them as Rose held her notebook above her head like a trophy.

"Behold!" she bellowed, "The results!"

Val rubbed her temples in an exasperated fashion.

"Ok, but seriously," Rose said, "Here goes..."

"I will be playing various roles that only appear in one or two scenes," smiled the village leader. The girls took turns reading names and parts.

"Kaede will play Madame Giry, the mysterious ballet instructor."

"Sango is playing Meg, a dancer and best friend of the main character."

"Shippo will be playing André and Miroku is Firmin, the two managers of the opera."

"Kikyo will be playing Carlotta, the opera's diva."

"Inu-Yasha will play Raoul, the main character's lover and childhood friend."

"And the main character, Christine, will be played by..."

"KAGOME!" Everybody's heads snapped to the direction of the voice. There stood Koga in all his unwashed, rugged glory. He immediately grabbed her arm. "Hanging out with the puppy again? Why do you waste your time with him? Come on with me."

An evil glint appeared in Rose's eyes as Kagome wriggled out of Koga's grasp. "That...that demeanor!" breathed Rose.

Val mirrored the gleam. "That utter possiveness!"

They simultaneously exchanged glances. "HE'S PERFECT!"

Koga stared at them blankly. "Huh?"