"What's up with this?" InuYasha looked as sour as he sounded. "I knew we were a dedicated band, but isn't this going a tad overboard, huh? It's eight a.m. on a Saturday, or did you not notice that?"

Everyone else pretty much ignored him, knowing when he fully 'came to' in an half an hour or so he'd be more than willing to participate. He clearly was just not a morning person, even though when you really came down to it, it was a mere four hours away from being noon. It didn't help that Miroku and Shippou had invaded his house quite some time ago after setting up all their equipment in the Senshi's large garage, though. Call it cliché, but it was the best place to practice.

Finally tiring of all the grousing, Miroku paused what he was doing and turned to face the sulking silver-haired man. Rubbing his temples, he sighed. "Our big debut is in less than two months. If you don't want to totally flop in front of nearly all of the local population, then you'd better get used to it."

InuYasha gave in at last and helped the two finish hauling two vintage couches from the back of Miroku's Hummer into the dankest corners of his garage. They would strip them of their trashy covering after jamming, as Kirara was supposed to drop by later and make them suitable for lounging on. In their current state, even a homeless person might refuse them.

Perched atop a stool they had borrowed from InuYasha's kitchen, Shippou's eyes narrowed as he scrutinized the paper he held in his hands. "Okay…So we've been given a six song time-slot. That brings us to the important part."

"Which songs?" InuYasha supplied dryly.

"Exactly," Shippou nodded, taking it all quite seriously. "Since there are three of us, usually that would mean we each picked two songs…But since this is Miroku's first big break with us, it's his show and basically all up to him. Now the question is, my friend," He began, purposefully glancing at Miroku, "Songs of your creation, or already licensed ones?"

"My own, of course." Miroku responded without a moment's hesitation. He flashed a quirky little grin in InuYasha's direction. "You don't mind if they're dripping with teenage angst, do you?"

InuYasha avoided looking at him and merely folded his arms. "As long as they've got a good beat…"

Miroku and Shippou grinned at one another; InuYasha may deny it, but they knew he was a sucker for soulful, catchy lyrics. Both were surprised, however, when InuYasha turned on them suddenly and said quite earnestly, "I trust your taste, Miroku."

Wow. That was the closest thing to sentimentality that either of the two had ever yanked out of him. Not wanting to ruin the peaceful moment, they filed that juicy little tidbit away in the backs of their scheming minds for later abuse.

The trio sat around talking and joking for quite some time. Ironically, enough, it was InuYasha who reminded everyone of their true purpose. So while said young man went to fetch them something to chow down on, Shippou and Miroku warmed up. Upon his return, they feasted upon whatever their friend had been able to scrounge up and started the real practice.

The hours seemed to melt away and it wasn't long before they gave up their disdainful attitude towards to curb couches and gratefully collapsed on them. Nearly fifteen minutes passed, and not a word was exchanged.

"So anyway…" Miroku trailed off, eyes glossing over as the noise of a door slamming shut caught his attention. "Remember that song I wrote about three months back? Let's play that one before we throw in the towel.."

Shippou caught a flash of movement out of the corner of his eyes. Turning and smiling quite viciously at Miroku, he chalked up another blackmailing scenario in his head as he cheerfully agreed. "Sure thing."

InuYasha just rolled his eyes and removed himself from the old sofa, sauntering over to swipe his guitar up from where he had leaned it against the wall. Throwing the strap over his neck, he fondly thumbed the strings as he plugged it again, waiting for the others to get ready.

An odd sort of melody started up. It was rather peppy and almost sugary in nature; one could easily discern it wasn't your garden variety song. Miroku smirked to himself as he adjusted the overhanging microphone and chiming in with his own set of instrumentals. After a few more moments, the vocals began. As it so happened, Kirara made her entrance just as he did so, and she happened to be trailed by two other young women.

"C-C-C-Cinnamon lips and candy kisses on my tongue…Fun," He carefully dragged out the last word, taking delight in the peculiar expression that crossed Sango's face. The two had locked gazes the very moment she had stepped into the room. Had it not been for the distraction of the music, things would have been tense. "B-B-B-Buttery eyes, if only cries could come from those eyes…Oh,"

Moment's later, InuYasha's smooth voice joined his own. It seemed he was fighting his own battle, with Kagome as his bittersweet enemy. She had been captivated the moment she rounded the corner; he had almost choked up at first, thinking she was his beloved Kikyou. But as they say, the show must go on. "Have you landed yet, and if so would you let me know? I'm tired of looking up…into those starry eyes."

Miroku had managed to swallow the huge lump in his throat in time to belt out his next set of lines. "Does it rain where you are, does it snow? And if so: remind me not to go there, the weather affects my knee."

Shippou took great pleasure in the fact that one of the weirdest moments in the song belonged to him. The music changed drastically to an almost church-like melody behind him as he nearly spoke his lines in what he could only hope was a deep enough voice. "I've never felt this way before."

The bouncy lyrics resumed. So far, all three girls -- yes, even Sango, though she wouldn't admit it -- were delighted by the performance. As bizarre as the song was, it was certainly catchy and somehow very endearing. To Kagome and Kirara, anyway, for they happily pranced around to the beat, making a spectacle out of themselves. Sango on the other hand, remained glued to the spot.

"C-C-C-Cinnamon lips, go powder your cheeks and meet your new beau…Oh," Much like in the beginning of the song, Miroku's voice exaggerated the word. This time, however, it was extended with a sad tone. Which, while it came with the song, could rather appropriate depict the feelings currently stirring deep inside him.

"C-C-C-Counting sheep, if only sheep could put me to sleep…Oh," InuYasha's voice seemed to perfectly mimic the inflection of Miroku's voice. Kagome was quite surprised by this display of talent. She assumed them to be good, of course, but the thought that they were more than your average garage band had never occurred to her for some reason.

"I've never felt this way before." Shippou's voice cheerily interrupted the angst-session. It seemed his role in this song had been decided long before, though they were really assigning the lines impromptu. Which was amazing when you thought about it, since they were managing to not cut each other off. Catching Kirara's tender smile, Shippou repeated with resolve: "I've never felt this way before."

"Some day," Miroku began, with a bit of nostalgia in his voice.

"One day," InuYasha affirmed.

"You'll miss me," Miroku added moments later.

"You'll miss me," Shippou sent a weird little half-smile in his friend's direction at the repetition.

"Mundane Sundays when I'm gone." InuYasha filtered out, his eyes fluttering closed for a moment as he thought about all the personal implications this song held. Unfortunately, they were just that; implications, which contained no substance. Kikyou didn't miss him. She never would. They'd never gone out in the first place, so why should she? "One day,"

"Some day," Talk about role reversal.

"You'll miss me…" Shippou trailed off, glancing at his two companions, who appeared to have taken the lyrics to heart.

At long last, their voices melded together. Okay, so they had been practicing the song a lot more than Miroku had implied. "One day when I'm gone. Adieu and so long. One day when I'm gone…" For a little while, the background music took over. Though after awhile, their voices resumed the perfect harmony. "No-no-no-no-no-no-no-wa. No-no-no-no-no-no-no-wa." There was an echo each time. "No-no-no-no-no-no-no-wa-wa-wa-wa. No-no-no-no-no-no-no-wa."

The song gave way to instrumentals once more. The earlier light-hearted mood was joined by InuYasha's hard guitar playing. Eyes still closed, he near murmured, "Have you landed yet and if so would you let me know…?"

And to steal the show -- it was his song, after all -- Miroku took over Shippou's line as the music slowed into that organ-like beat and tempo. "I've never felt this way…before." And then the music died out and the musicians were met by applause.

Sango felt like her head was spinning as she recalled a conversation she'd had with Shippou. Miroku's a drummer?

A/N: Ehh. I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter, but as I'm one chapter closer to completing this fic, I guess I should be thankful. How many of you thought this chapter would include a kiss because of the chapter title, lol? Do tell, I'm really quite curious about that. Anyway, it seems a bit cheesy to me, the music bits, but I thought it was better than just scrolling past meaningless lyrics that no one probably cares about anyway. I wanted to include a song in this chapter so you, my readers, could get a better visual of them being in a band AND I wanted to test out the including-the-lyrics-in-the-text bit, since that was how I planned on doing the concert deal, so I could work in the hidden thoughts and meanings of why I chose the songs I did. Anyway, leave me your opinions. If it's too crappy, I guess I'll just mention the song names and describe them playing. Oh yes, before I forget…

Disclaimer the Second: "C-C-C-Cinnamon Lips" is a quirky little song by OK Go. Not mine. Though I'd love to own it and the rest of their songs.

Please Review!