Into the Fray Chapter 2: Battle of the Winds, an inuyasha fanfic

Hello…

Today, July 16th, 2004 is a day of mourning, for my younger plecko, Dave, died today. How, I really don't know… I was at my grandma's when it had happened… But I think what happened was that he sucked on the ick away pill that I had put in there… and that killed him… I found him floating when I came into my room… Poor thing, he was so little, too…

I want Dave back…

Anyway, I had buried him in the backyard, not really wanting to flush him, since that was… too cold for my taste. I put a few stones over where I had buried him for lack of any other gravestone… Sheik, Dave's tank-mate, is a little more down than usual… He's staying at the bottom more often now… except when I put food at the top. TT… ::sigh:: But of course, that could be because he has ick, hence the reason I put in the tablet. But if I hadn't put in the tablet, Dave would be alive, but Sheik would be closer to death…

Dammit…

Man, if I'm this bad over a fish that I had for a week, what will happen when Squishy (my oldest and first fish) goes…? ::shudders:: I don't even want to think about that…

::sigh:: …well… if you want a disclaimer, go see the first chapter… I don't feel like putting one up right now… Hopefully my mood won't affect the tone of the story… It probably won't, though…

Oh, and for you non-band nerds out there, all underlined words shall be defined at the end…

And another little note, Inu-chan is human. Apologies to those who thought otherwise.

Into the Fray
Chapter 2
Battle of the Winds

My school, on many aspects, is experimental. The fact that we now have separate classrooms for the teachers and the students have to travel to different classrooms is one. The other is the introduction of two new "sports": football and band.

These, from what I understand, are taken from mostly American schools and are being used to see if the Japanese school system gets any benefit from these two functions. Their study shows that schools with the best fine arts programs are generally in the top of the country, and I guess the Japanese school systems want to make us, the next generation, even smarter than we already figuratively are.

I myself, though at times I wonder why, joined into the experimental craze. And since it was new, I learned how to play two relative instruments, not just one. (What, did you think that I would allow myself to become a mindless jock and join football?) Those two instruments are the trumpet and percussion. (If you could somehow call percussion one instrument…)

Of course, the present was one such time when I wondered why I had even let myself join band, sitting in the band hall while our substitute director rambled on about some aspect of music theory. I had already heard all of this -how to figure out the minor scales from little parts of the major ones.

I then saw a little oboe player raise her hand in question. The substitute, an elderly man named Fokura, pointed to her and she asked her question.

"Where is Takegawa-san today?" she asked, to which all of us upperclassmen rolled our eyes at.

"Your director, Takegawa-san, is sick today," he replied in his monotone voice, meanwhile turning back to the dry erase board. I myself scoffed at the idea of Takegawa being sick… He was probably still stuck in Las Vegas.

My attention turned from the withered old man before me to my shining silver trumpet, one of the newer instruments that the school had bought. I looked it over and wondered if it was hard and heavy enough to knock me out, lest I try and use it to end my misery temporarily. I began weighing it when something small and pointed collided silently with the side of my head.

A paper airplane was sitting in the nook of my elbow, and, curious, I opened it to see what was inside. A crudely drawn picture of the substitute greeted me, stink lines and random parts of the picture's anatomy enlarged. (Like his nose for example) I sighed and crumpled the picture, throwing it to my side. Apparently, Fokura noticed this.

"Is there something you wish to share, Shirosenshi-kun?" he asked, his beady little eyes squinting to see me, even with his three-inch thick glasses. I fingered my trumpet and gave a glance at the discarded piece of notebook paper with the drawing on it.

"No, not really," I answered, shrugging as I responded. Many of the lowerclassmen and other little people turned and stared at me in awe, wonder and hostility. How dare I mouth back at the teacher, indeed?

Fokura thought this as well. "Well, if you want to be like that, then I will wait until you want to share." And, as if to try and intimidate me, he put his marker on the table beside the dry-erase board and crossed his arms. Everyone was now looking at me as if expecting me to do something, whether it be to mouth right back, or to apologize and give in to the sub.

As you can probably already tell, I am not one to back down from a confrontation. So, in silent rebellion, I crossed my own arms and stared defiantly into the sub's squinty eyes, daring him to even try and discipline me. I looked to the board where a digital clock was installed, showing the time 9:34. Second Period -the current period- lets out at 10:05. Oh well. I could last.

However, not all of the students in the band hall appreciated my defiant act. The girl I had seen earlier in English sighed and looked to me, a very annoyed expression on her face.

"Dude, look," she said to me while leaning over the back of her chair. "I don't know what your problem may be, but apparently, you need to get some respect. The teacher is TRYING to teach us something, and you won't let him continue because, apparently, the need to prove your masculinity comes before other people's educations, as well as your own. So, get a life and let the teacher continue, hm?"

For a moment, I was a little stunned. I had never spoken to her, and yet here she was, already spitting her venom at me. My inner self snarled and worked to think up of quick barbs to respond with. I smirked and said, "And must you prove your femininity to question other people's motives and masculinity? I hardly think you are helping the teacher regain his place in the classroom with challenging me to a battle of wits, clarinet girl."

She glowered. "Pompous, arrogant, egotistical-"

"Way to go hitting me with synonyms…" I mumbled, interrupting her string of adjectives.

She began to smolder. "Selfish, infant-like trumpet man-whore!" she exclaimed, earning a collective "ooooh!" from the rest of the band. The sub was all but forgotten as I tried to work up a comeback. I saw Miroku smirk and begin to snicker from behind his trombone.

"Pig-faced, snobby, prep-like clarinet slut," I replied coolly, making the room say another "ooooh!" She snarled again, her bright, shiny teeth glittering in the band hall's light.

"You act all tough, Yankee, but can you even back it up?" she asked, earning a gasp from the rest of the class. What was this, a sitcom…?

"What do you mean by that, wench?" I asked back, fingering my trumpet and not paying attention to the insult. I got that all the time, being called a Yankee. Besides, if she wanted a play-off… Well, then she'd be well screwed over.

She growled and stood up out of her chair. "Listen, you!" she yelled, pointing her clarinet at me. "Get off your high horse and just apologize to the teacher so we can get on with class!"

I stood up as well and made my way to the clarinet row, which was a few feet from me. By the time I had made my way to the indignant girl, her snarl had faded slightly, my towering height the probable cause. "And why should I? I didn't even do anything wrong, so I shouldn't have to apologize. Also, whatever was in that piece of paper is my business, and I have my rights to privacy. Who do you think you are to order me around, girl?"

She snarled again, and held her clarinet at a threatening height. My eyebrow raised, and muttered, "What, are you going to attack me with your clarinet?"

Her snarl didn't fade. "Maybe."

I crossed my arms and let my weight go to my right side. "Really? Well, then, go ahead by all means. I would like to see the face of Takegawa when he finds out and also the face of your parents when they find out they have to buy a brand new clarinet. So go ahead, clarinet girl. Hit me with your best shot."

Her defiant demeanor faltered, and her clarinet went back to her side. My inner self began its victory dance, and I myself went back to my seat, disregarding any looks that anyone was giving me. When I reached my plastic chair, I looked up to the sub and nodded, signaling that he may continue. The sub sighed in acquiescence and went back to his lecture. I leaned back in my chair, and resisted the urge to put my hands behind my head.

Ah, life is good.

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Miroku sniffled in the dark room as he, myself, and the rest of the classroom watched the TV screen. I rolled my eyes and whispered, "What the hell are you crying for, Miroku? It's a fricken' movie."

He wiped his tear-filled eyes and looked back up at the screen, where Frodo and Sam were making their way up Mount Doom. "It's beautiful… Two friends supporting each other with the last of their strength… All to save the rest of the world… They're so selfless… So brave… This is humanity at its best!!" He covered his mouth when he sniffled again, a lone tear streaking down his face. A person sitting in the row in front of us handed Miroku the tissue box, to which he graciously accepted and blew his nose.

"They're not human, Miroku…" I reminded him, but my comment fell to deaf ears. He was staring at the screen again with starry eyes, holding the snot-ridden tissue in his hands. I rolled my eyes and rested my head on my fisted right hand, watching the movie with an air of boredom.

Of course, that was when Gollem popped out and shouted, "Clever hobbits to climb so high!!" He then attacked Sam and Frodo, to which Miroku shouted, "LOOK OUT!!" He jumped out of his seat and squeezed the tissue in his hands hard, making the snot fly everywhere like a mucus bomb. And, naturally, some of the snot landed on me.

"Shiz, man, that is GROSS!!" I flicked my hands in an attempt to try and get the Miroku-snot off of me, but alas, it was fruitless. I glared back up at my best friend, (soon to be X-best friend if he didn't stop acting like a lunatic), grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled him back into his seat. "What do you think you're DOING?" I asked in a harsh whisper. He turned to me and glared right back with his tear-filled eyes.

"How are you so immune to such emotion and heart-filled drama?" he asked, grabbing another tissue from the box. He heard a scream come from the TV and whirled back to it, engrossed in the fight between Frodo, Sam and Gollem. He began to punch at the air, as if trying to make the characters fight like him.

My head went to my right hand again, this time letting the hand cover my eyes. Why, WHY did I have to be friends with the one person that couldn't watch a movie and not cry? Miroku had even cried when watching the first Pokemon movie, claiming that Mewtwo's epiphany and Ash's death and revival were so moving that he had to cry. (Of course, when Ash died and was being revived by the other pokemon's tears, he cried too, believing that his tears helped Ash reanimate.)

I let my hand slip to the desk as I looked around the classroom, ignoring Miroku's cheers of "That's it, Frodo! You can do it!!" Man, I needed some Cheetos…

I put my hand in my pocket and looked for spare change, disregarding Miroku's cries of "JUST DROP IT, FRODO!!" When I found that I didn't have enough for Cheetos and lunch combined, I cursed and was about to go around the classroom and "borrow" money. That was when I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see Kagura, the infamous leader of the Prep Squad. "Can't you do something to shut up your delusional friend?" she asked while chewing a piece of multi-colored gum.

It was strange, that piece of gum. It was really big, and was probably comprised of many pieces of different brands and flavors, making one super gum piece. I stared at that piece of gum, hypnotized by its crevices and dents, so deep, yet changing each time Kagura chewed it. And it was so big… It took up half of her mouth. The colors were blending into each other, purple, pink, blue, green and red, and becoming one color, one mass of strange gum. There was no way that it wasn't radioactive… My lip went up in disgust as I spotted something wedged in Kagura's molars. …Was that spinach?

"Uh… Helloo?" she asked waving her hand in front of my face. My reverie was broken and I looked at her in the eye once more, but keeping a watch on the gum below with my perrifial vision. "Are you going to shut him up or not?" she asked, pointing to Miroku who had just screamed "NOOOO!!!" because Frodo had put the ring on.

"Doubtful…" I replied, taking another look at my friend, who was now bawling, convinced that the world -or at least Middle-Earth- was going to end. I shrugged as the girl gave an exasperated scoff.

"Look, you shut him up or I will," she threatened, attempting to scare me. I rolled my eyes, since I was impervious to all womanly glares. Her scowl became deeper when Miroku started shouting "Don't let go, Frodo!" as the said hobbit was dangling above the lava of Mount Doom.

"What are you going to do, suffocate me with your radioactive gum? Besides, I can't do anything anyway. When he's this engrossed in a movie, the only way for him to stop is for the movie to end. So why don't you sit back down and put more plutonium in your gum or something?"

I turned back around and put my head on my crossed arms, ignoring Miroku's cheers for Frodo and feigned sleep. Maybe if I did it long enough, I would really fall asleep and I wouldn't have to listen to the trombone player cheer for two hobbits on a TV screen.

My thoughts meandered, ranging from how I could get some money for some bags of Cheetos and how to get the clarinet girl back for this morning. I opened my eyes as her defiant face came up into my head. Oh yes, she would pay dearly. But how? Hmmm… maybe if…

Suddenly, my inner self brought up a plan, a plan so ingenious that I was surprised that I had come up with it. A cruel smile formed on my face, and I almost began to laugh maniacally, but caught myself as the bell rang. I got up stoically, picking up my stuff in the process. I went to the door and waited for the teacher to usher Miroku out, since he was crying and refusing to leave until the movie ended. As I gazed out the door into the hallway, the smile came back.

Oh yes. She would pay.

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Vocabulary….

Minor and major scales: Scales are the basic fundamentals of the wind instruments and mallet percussion instruments. A player learns the major scales first (there are twelve) and, after learning more theory, the minor scales come into play. (Also twelve)

-kun- a suffix used for either between male friends/colleagues or for a superior speaking to an inferior. This case -the latter.

Well, how did ya'll like it? I myself was laughing while writing that last part… My mom read it and she was laughing too… Wow…

I wonder what Inu-chan's "ingenious plan" is, hm? No, really I do… I haven't figured it out yet…

Ja ne minna-san!