This is my newstest story, as you can more than likely tell. This was a challenge that I got off of A Single Spark. I do not remember the name of the person who issued the challenge, but I will add her to my profile when I find her name and email again. I will update when I can, but I have a real job now and they have me working 6-8 hour shifts nearly everyday, so I do not have a lot of time.
WARNING: Um, nothing much this time. It is going to be a fairly clean story, just mainly cursing and such.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Inuyasha or the song "Left of the Middle" by Natalie Imbruglia.
One dream. One perfect dream that you will dream all of your life but will never come true.
Is this dream actually a dream? Or can it be a new reality?
"Where is she? Is she in wardrobe yet?
No, not my dream, but someone else's, the only difference is, she is living hers out, and I am there to help.
"Yes, she is in wardrobe. Do not worry so much, tonight will go along smoothly,"
And with my help she will become what I have always wanted to be and I will be left in the shadows, if only I could have the chance to leave a crowd utterly breathless.
Sesshoumaru's POV
"For the last time, Inuyasha, I will not being going to this concert,"
Reasoning with this idiot is like trying to tell a baby to stop crying and get a job, it does not matter how many times I say it, he does not understand the words that are coming from my mouth.
"Father said that I can't go unless you go, so you're going you fucking asshole!"
I was getting angry, something that happens a lot when I am in a room with my dear little brother for too long, but I was holding it back. I did not need a lecture from my father on how to treat Inuyasha, I knew how to treat him, maybe I should give my father a lecture for once, it would make for an interesting afternoon of fighting.
"No, I am not," I said before going back to the book I had been reading before Inuyasha came storming in here demanding that I go with him to that concert.
"Give me one good reason, afraid of having some fun?"
The little idiot would not give up, and normally I might admire that, but when it comes to him bothering me, it was just plain annoying.
"No, dear brother, I am not afraid of anything. What is keeping me from saying yes is the fact that I find that girl utterly annoying, and I do not want to be seen with you, simply for the fact that you have some strange notion that you are in love with that girl,"
It is never easy telling Inuyasha the truth, more so for the fact that he only believes what he wants to, but also because he runs to my father every time I say something that he does not like. The truth hurts.
"She is not annoying! She is beautiful and she has the most amazing voice, and I am in love with her. When she meets me I know that she will feel the same way about me as I feel about her,"
It is sad to find your little brother 'in love' with a girl he has never met. Sometimes I wonder how he could all of a sudden fall in love with some random girl like that, but then again, this is Inuyasha, he does do a lot of strange things.
"As poetic as that was, I am still not going," I said, still not looking at him, hoping that he would go away.
"We'll see about that!" The idiot yelled before storming out of the room, leaving me to get back to my book.
I could not help but laugh a bit at the look on his face when I kept dashing his dreams. It was a good day.
Kagome's POV
Here we are in another new city. The show last night had gone great, everyone loved her, but I must admit, there was something off about her. She did not seem like herself, like there was something weighing on her mind. I had never had a real conversation with her, she would never bring herself to talk to the help, but when I first started working here I could tell that she was someone who loved to perform, but the last few shows did not show that at all. She looked as though it was almost painful to stand up there singing to a crowd of people that would gladly give their right arm to meet her.
I know that I must sound bitter, and I really am trying not to, but it is hard when she is living my dream. I always wanted to be a singer, it was the one thing in the world that I could picture myself doing. Singing was my life, up until now. No, now I know that I will never be able to do what she does, I am just not good enough. I tried being a singer and I did not make it, I spent years singing at various places and trying to find a manager, and yet nothing happened. I needed a job though, so now I am working as a stage-hand. I get to be close to the stage, just not on it, like I really want.
There is another show tonight, and I will be there, it is my job after all. I stand by until the show is over, and then I get to take orders from everyone. It was never the kind of life that I had pictured for myself. I have been writing songs and singing them for years, but it does not matter now. I think I know the words to her songs better than she does. She does not write any of them though, she hasn't for a while now. Her songs never were that great, but they did come from her heart, making them so much better just for that reason. I would have to get backstage a few hours early, it always takes so long to get everything ready, but I do not mind as much as I should.
Sesshoumaru's POV
I should have known that the idiot would have gone to our father, he gets off when our father lectures me about family togetherness. I stood firm, for the first hour, but then I figured that it would be easier for me to just go and get it over with. I know why Inuyasha wanted me to go, he wanted me to go because he knew that I hated concerts and this girl that he claims that he loves. But now, because of my soon to be dead little brother, I am standing in a horribly long line to go and see some wench sing her songs about love, or whatever the hell she sings about.
"I hope you know that I am going to kill you later," I said to Inuyasha, as deadly calm as possible, I know it gives him chills when I do it.
"I'd like to see you try!"
"And I would like to see you use your brain, but it does not mean that I ever will,"
Mean, yes, true, very much so.
"Just shut your damn mouth!" Inuyasha finally shouted, more than likely not able to think of a good comeback, sad really.
I just smiled, not saying anything else, I did not want to have Inuyasha make a scene. Finally we made it to the beginning of the line, but to actually move around in this place was a challenge. There were at least a thousand people crowding around, and this was just the main lobby. I knew that children and teenagers liked this girl, but this is ridiculous. I am now going to have to torture Inuyasha for making me come here, because I know just by the looks of things that I am not going to be happy until I am out of this place.
Kagome's POV
Kikyou wanted water, but not just any water, she wanted french water. I was forced to go to every store that I could find until I could get the water that she wanted. I never saw what the difference between normal water and french water was, it all seemed the same to me. Water was water, but Kikyou had to have the most expensive and what she deemed to be the best. I walked backstage, heading for Kikyou's dressing room, and that is when I heard the shouting.
"Where is she? We can not have the concert without her! Check every inch of this building until you find her!" shouted the man that I knew to be Kikyou's manager, he always seemed like a creep to me.
I almost shrugged it off and continued about my work, but then what he said sink in. Kikyou was missing and the show was to start in thirty minutes. This was not going to turn out well, I had a gut feeling about it. Kikyou has never missed a show, so something had to be very wrong wit her to miss this one. I set the water down on a nearby table and then continued to try and find someone to talk to. No one seemed to want to stop and talk, they were all busy looking for Kikyou. They checked everywhere, that includes every closet and bathroom that they could find. They looked for nearly twenty minutes, but she was nowhere to be found and everyone started to panic.
"Here she is!" someone next to me called, and then I felt a hand grab my arm.
Before I could say anything I saw Kikyou's crazy manager running towards me, seeming relieved until he got closer. I opened my mouth to say something, but someone beat me to it.
"Does this look like Kikyou? No! This is a worker-wait, she does look like Kikyou!"
So says her crazy manager, but me, I say that we look nothing alike. She wears fancy clothes and is always made-up, but me? I like being comfortable and besides, I have no need to be dressed up.
"Um, sir? Can you let me go, I do have work to finish," I tried to be polite, but with the way the two were looking at me, I was getting nervous.
"You're right, you have to get ready and go on stage,"
Now, I did not get what he said right away, but after a second I could feel my eyes bug-out.
"I what?"
Yes, I screamed at the one person who could actually get me fired, so sue me. I just found out that this crazy man wants me to go out on stage and pose as a famous singer. Not something that I am told to do on a day to day basis.
"You! Over there! Take this girl and dress her in Kikyou's dress for tonight, and fix her hair an make-up to look more like Kikyou,"
Again, I could not say anything as I was ushered to Kikyou's dressing room by a very large woman that I do not ever remember seeing before. I could not get away from her or state my dislike for this plan. I was thrown in a chair and then attacked by people with brushes, clips, lipstick, and whatever else they could throw on me. When they were done I did not even recognize myself under all of that stuff that they had put on my face. When I started getting over the shock of it all so that I may have been able to speak, a dress was shoved into my hands and I was told to put it on. I did what I was told, still fearing for my job and the shock still most of the way there.
"This is not going to be good," I said to myself as I stepped behind the changing curtain and changed into the dress.
I had never worn a dress like this. It was clearly satin, but it had silver glitter all over it, sparkling whenever I moved. I stepped out from behind the curtain to find Kikyou's manager in the dressing room, waiting for me to come out so that he could make sure that I had done what I was told.
"If I did not know any better I would swear that you were Kikyou," he said with a sick little smile on his face, it made me want to vomit all over him.
"Sir, I am not sure if this is a good idea. I mean, do you think that I could actually sound like her out there?" I asked, seriously worried out singing.
I wanted to sing out on stage, I was not scared of it at all, but everyone would think that I was Kikyou and I do not want to lose my job if people found out that I wasn't her.
"Of course it is! You will not actually be singing, you will be just be moving your lips to all of the words," he said with a little laugh, making me dislike him even more.
"I see, well, then I suppose that I can do this,"
I was somewhat sad for the fact that this had been my dream and I wanted deep down I really did want to sing, but this is better. This way I get to keep my job.
"Now get out there, the show is about to start!" he yelled before leaving the room.
I walked out of the room and to the right side of the stage where Kikyou was to enter from, and I waited until one of the guys I worked with told me to go on. I was nervous when I first stepped out onto the stage, I had always dreamed of this but I had never done it before. So many people were out there, screaming Kikyou's name as I came on stage, and that made my spirit drop a bit, but I recovered. I smiled and waved as I stepped up to the mic, the lights were shining in my eyes, but dimmed down after a second.
"I can do this," I told myself right before the music began to play.
It was one of my favorite songs on Kikyou's album, it held some sort of personal value to me, so I was happy when it began to play. I knew the exact part that I would have to start mouthing the words at, but when that part came there were no words to mouth. The CD that they were playing only had the music, and I could hear Kikyou's manager yelling at everyone to do something, so I did. I started singing.
End of the third round
As I put the phone down
Chasing the same lines
Over the old ground
I'm pushing zero
Where is my hero
He's out there somewhere
Left of the middle
And your world falls down
And you're there calling out
But it's something I can't say
Though it seems the only way
But it's a game that I can't play - not today
I got my ticket
And I got a straight road
But I'm passing the same signs
Over and over
And my world falls down
And you're there calling out
But it's something I can't say
Though it seems the only way
But it's a game that I can't play - not today
And my world falls down
And you're there calling out
But it's something I can't say
Though it seems the only way
But it's a game that I can't play - not today
I need to tell you
Trying to get it through
It's not always easy
Left of the middle
Sesshoumaru's POV
Everyone in the crowd began cheering at one point in this mind numbing evening, so I looked up to see that this Kikyou person had walked on stage. I never liked her, too much make-up for my taste. Inuyasha seemed to go crazy, so I had to pretend that I did not know him, like usual. I really did not see what he saw in this girl, her music did not sound like something that a boy should be listening to anyway, though I do doubt that is why he likes her so much. I had a book with me, and when I heard what song she was about to sing I pulled it out and began to read.
"There she is! She's going to sing!" Inuyasha shouted as he bounced up and down like he had to use the bathroom.
I just glared at him before turning my focus back to my book. A moment later though, when she began to sing, something drew me in. I put my book down and looked on stage, something seemed different about this girl. I had seen Kikyou perform before, and Inuyasha played her CD's enough for me to know what her voice sounded like, and this was not it. She seemed more passionate about it, like this was her last night singing and she wanted to make it special.
"That is not Kikyou,"
