Hey everyone... Please Don't Kill ME+gets on knees andbegs+ I am soo sorry for not updating quicker... But, atleast it's a chapter, right?

Carnivorous Canines

Chapter 5: The interrogation

Disclaimer: Of course, I don't own InuYasha... nor the song "Imaginary."

Last Time:

Kagome immediately pulled herself to a halt. "What!"

Sango stumbled a bit from the sudden stop, and looked back at the school girl with a scowl. "What, it's not like the first time you've played in front of people."
"Actually..." Kagome started.

Sango rolled her eyes. "Well, you said you're good, right?"

"Well, yeah..."

"Then why are we having this conversation? Come on!" With that, Kagome was ushered into the dark room, and the door slammed behind her.

Kagome's breath caught in her throat as her eyes adjusted to the darker room. In front of her, sat the four boys of Carnivorous Canines. For some reason, she suddenly felt reduced to a crazy school girl.

Silence stretched on for a few moments, until an agitated cough sounded from the far corner. The sound seemed to launch the boys into action, as InuYasha jumped from the couch, and Miroku stood from his chair. Koga slowly stood from his chair as well, his eyes studying the new arrival. As the three approached the girls, Sango and Ayame quickly slipped away, leaving Kagome to stand alone in front of them.

Kagome bit her lip as they approached, and she nervously clasped and unclasped her hands beside her. She then fixed her gaze on Miroku, him being the only safety net that she had at the moment, since she already knew him on a first name basis.

After a few moments of intense scrutiny from the trio, the long-haired rapper's face broke into a warm smile. "You were right, Miroku... she isn't too bad..." His smooth voice rumbled, his eyes scanning Kagome.

Miroku chuckled from his side, then winked at Kagome. "I told you Koga." He answered his bandmate as he looked into Kagome's eyes. "How are you today, Kagome?" He addressed her, breaking the tension.

"F-fine." She answered, keeping her gaze locked with his. She didn't quite trust herself enough to look else where yet.

"Good. By the way, this one's Koga," he said, jerking his thumb to his right. "And this, is InuYasha." He nodded to his left. When he mentioned their respective names, the two men seemed to jolt back to reality once again, as they were pulled from their gawking sessions.

Koga offered his hand first, smiling warmly when Kagome took it. He quickly rose it to his lips, and kissed it gently. "A pleasure to meet you, Kagome." Kagome blushed hard, and nodded at him. Koga smiled and dropped her hand, then moved away. Kagome then looked to InuYasha, who coughed nervously, then offered her a friendly smile. "Hi, glad to meet you." He said, shaking her hand when she extended it. Kagome nodded to him also, then stiffened as she felt an arm slide around her other side. Upon looking, she found Miroku beside her. Before she could say anything, he was leading her further into the room.

"So, Kagome..." He started, seeing the fact that he was the only one of the four men that had already met her as incentive to do the most talking. "Sango and Ayame told us that you could play keyboard." As he motioned for Kagome to sit on the couch, he looked up at the mentioned pair as he moved to join her. Upon seeing the seething glare that he was receiving from Sango, he quickly changed his mind and vouched for simply standing beside Kagome.

"Y-yeah, kinda..." The young girl studdered from her position on the tan leather.

"Kinda?" Miroku asked.

"Well, I do... it's just that, uh, I've never played in front of anyone... So, I'm not too sure how well I'll do..." She bit her lip after stumbling through her explanation, and finally chanced a quick glance around the room. Koga stood behind the couch, hovering above her, while InuYasha was perked on the couch arm farthest from her, to her right. The girls were standing a few feet behind the couch, watching her. She swallowed hard again, and returned her gaze to Miroku. Before she could speak, however, she was interrupted by a smooth, deep voice.

"We'll take the chance." Kagome jumped hard at the spoken words, knowing that it wasn't one of the three men that she had already met who had spoken, and quickly spun to her feet, looking around for the speaker. Her eyes immediately fell upon a tall youkai as he stepped from the far shadows. Kagome's eyes widened as she watched him approach her until he stood beside the girls. With his arms crossed, he didn't seem to be intent on offering anything more to the present conversation.

Kagome then returned her gaze to Miroku once again. "That's Sesshomaru." Miroku offered, then took her arm and led her to the from on the room, where a set of keyboards were set up, facing the gathered group. "All you gotta do to play us something. It can be any song, anything you're comfortable with. Just play." Leaving her behind the equipment, Miroku moved to join the others.

Kagome sighed, then looked toward them nervously. Before anything else, she had to get something off her mind. "Just a quick question, but why are you all wanting to hear me play?" Sango and Ayame had offered no explanation, and she was still confused about this whole ordeal. After a few moments in which no one answered, she saw Sesshomaru's lips quirk into a small smirk.

"Curiosity." His smooth voice answered.

Kagome frowned, only confused further by this, but decided to let it drop. Sighing, she turned to the keyboards in front of her. After flexing her fingers and adjusting a few things, she turned to the others, looking out at them over the top keyboard. They were all watching her intently. Kagome groaned, then bit her lip and rolled her shoulders. Placing her fingers on the keys, and moving her mouth to the attached microphone, Kagome began her song.

"I linger in the doorway, Of alarm clock screaming, Monsters calling my name. Let me stay, Where the wind will whisper to me, Where the raindrops, As they're falling tell a story..." The practiced words flowed from her lips as her fingers danced across the keys, the melody fine and crisp. Her eyes slowly closed as she continued, some of the tension easing from her body.

"Don't say I'm out of touch, With this rampant chaos- Your reality! I know well what lies beyond my sleeping refuge, The nightmare I built my own world to escape..." She sung the words meaningfully, every tune carried perfectly. Her movements became braver, and soon all nervousness was gone and she sung and played as she always did, when she was alone.

Kagome smiled as she finished the last chords off, letting her voice trail a little longer. She sighed and stepped back from the keyboards, finally allowing her eyes to open. During her performance, she had kept them firmly closed, not wanting the sight of the others to interfere with her actions. Finally, she let her gaze roam the small room in front of her.

All six of her fellow occupants were staring at her, a few members open-mouthed. Kagome laughed nervously, not sure if she wanted to step out from behind the instruments.

"You said you were good, you didn't say you were awesome!" A squeaked accusation finally broke the silence, and Kagome looked at Ayame, who had been one of the open-mouthed watchers.

Kagome couldn't resist laughing softly at her reaction, and shrugged. "Well, I never thought that I was... I only did this in my free time, as a stress relief. It's my only passion, really..."

InuYasha smiled at her words, but otherwise kept silent as he continued to watch the girl in front of him. She had been awesome, as Ayame had said. His smile widened, and he suddenly jumped to his feet. "Yes! No Kikyo!" He exclaimed, shaking his fists triumphantly in the air, breaking the awe-filled atmosphere.

Kagome looked to him confusedly, then back at Miroku.

"That was great!" Miroku said, coming to her side. "You are exactly what we need!"

"Need?" Kagome asked, her confusion becoming deeper. "Need for what? I thought I was only playing for-"

"Curiosity?" Koga broke in, coming up to her other side, his statement tinged with amusement.

"Well, yeah..." Kagome answered, helplessly gesturing at Sesshomaru, who still stood, watching her. Nothing had changed about his appearance, rather unlike his companions. This unnerved Kagome, and she quickly swung her gaze back to the two men in front of her. Their smiles were also unnerving her, and she frowned. "Well then what?" She asked, suddenly defensively.

Before they could answer, a commotion behind them erupted, and all three turned. InuYasha was standing between Sango and Ayame, who both were tugging on his arms. "You gotta ask her!" Sango snapped, tugging sharply.

"You're the one that wanted this so damned bad!" Ayame hissed, jabbing a foot at his shin. InuYasha hissed in pain at the action, then glared at the two girls.

"No I don't! Leave me alone!" He growled, pulling back from their valiant efforts to drag him toward Kagome.

"If you don't, none of the rest of us will." Sesshomaru suddenly growled, annoyed and slightly embarrassed by his brother's actions. "Then you'll be stuck with Kikyo." He couldn't help but add, a teasing smirk on his lips.

InuYasha glared at his brother, then sighed, suddenly defeated. Giving the girls another annoyed look, he shrugged them off and trudged up to the observing trio. Miroku and Koga watched him approach with amusement while Kagome watched with complete confusion, and a little uneasiness. When he reached them, the other two left them alone.

Kagome couldn't stop her gulp, and starred up at the man in front of her. He was much better looking up close and personal, and she could feel her face start to redden.

InuYasha smirked at her. He was used to this sort of reaction, and actually reveled in it a little bit. However, this time, he was too nervous to make any of his usual snide remarks. He watched her a bit longer until she started to fidget. He then decided that it was best to get this done, so he took a deep breath, and began. "Um, well, you see, we're short a keyboardist, and were sort of hoping that, well..." He chuckled nervously. He had never been good at this sort of thing... He sighed and leaned in closer to her, bringing his face level to hers. He quickly started over. "Listen, Kagome... I would really appreciate it if you would become a part of Carnivorous Canines. We could really use a keyboardist and female vocalist, and well, you seem to fit the part quite nicely." Smiling his best boyish grin, he straightened back up, watching her face for a reaction, hoping that she would accept.

Kagome was in slight shock. He wanted her to be in his band? Little old her, little old Kagome? Kagome, whom had never thought that she was all that good, who had never played anything besides her own written music... who had never played in front of anything over a six-person room!

Kagome was broken from her thoughts by InuYasha clearing his throat, and she quickly looked up at him. "I-I don't know..." She answered brokenly. She really didn't know if she would, or even could accept his offer. "I'm not really a people person... I can't guarantee that I'd be good on stage... I-I'm a real slow learner..." Kagome wrung her hands, and suddenly felt trapped as InuYasha frowned down at her.

As InuYasha watched her fidget and listened to her feeble excuses, he couldn't help but feel a little annoyed. "We can work on all that, don't worry." He assured her. "You're great on the keyboards, and a great singer, too. Everyone starts out nervous, and the songs are real easy to learn... especially after what you just played." He added, smirking as her nerves seemed to settle a little at his words. "So... will you do it?"

Kagome gazed up at InuYasha, and before she knew what she had done, nodded her consent. A wide smile broke out on InuYasha's face, and he let out a loud whoop. Moments later, the room was full of pleased exclamations from everyone but Kagome, whom stood rooted to her spot behind the keyboards, and Sesshomaru, whom simply melted back into his shadows, apparently indifferent to what had just happened around him.

Soooo sorry for the long ass time between updates. You see, I am now.. overly interested... in Harry Potter. Heh heh. I swear it's not obsession! Well, anyway, school is starting again soon, but I promise to try harder to update my stories. Well, enjoy my first update of 2006! Woo-hoo!

Also, thank you everyone one who reviewed! I really appreciate it!

Much Love,

Lora