Phase 8: The Gondola
Sango: Miroku! Where are we going!
Miroku: (assisting Sango into Gondola) My underground lair, my dear.
Sango: But we're all ready in a-
Miroku: My other underground lair… (Tries steering the boat and realizes how difficult it is) Hold on just a moment… (Shouting) Erik, how do you steer such a thing as heavy as-
Erik: (running up to the bank) You're not very strong, are you?
Miroku: (gets insulted) What are you implying?
Erik: Nothing Monsieur. Just observing…
Miroku: Excuse me, but I don't think you are capable of sucking up thousands of demons with your own left hand…
Erik: Yes, well, that doesn't necessarily make you strong, my friend…
Miroku: I believe it does!
Erik: Oh, yes, I'm sure… (Cough) not! (Cough)
Miroku: I heard that!
Erik: (Innocently) Heard what?
Miroku: What you said!
Erik: What did I say?
Miroku: What you said when you coughed and then you… (Quarrel continues)
Sango and Christine: (deep sigh) …..
Miroku: WHAT DO YOU MEAN I FAILED TO TIE MY NOOSE PROPERLY?
Erik: I had to tell you sooner or later. But don't worry, there's no shame in being a failure.
Miroku: OH! So now I'm weak and a failure! I've had enough of this! (Jumps off gondola and runs to his guest room to slam the door)
Erik: That's right, you run away from me! . . . And don't come out until your noose is perfect!
Chapter 12: Rehearsals for Hannibal
"Come on Inuyasha! Forget that ballet rat and come with me!" Jakotsu clung to Inuyasha's arm to drag him away from a gaggle of ballet girls. The group was now lining up for rehearsal. Inuyasha snarled, and broke free of Jakotsu's hold so furiously, that it caused the boy to take a step backward for balance.
"I told you, we're just friends! Now lay off and go put the backdrop up. I have to keep these drunken bastards from glancing a peak in the ballet girl's dressing rooms." He walked off, muttering a curse silently once he was out of Jakotsu's ear shot.
'Why can't you love me?" Jakotsu cried, running off into the back of the stage to drown out his sorrows in overloads of Sake.
"Get over it…" Inuyasha sighed, turning his attention to the catwalk to notice that Naraku was fastening the stage ropes around the levers and gadgets above the upper stage. The hanyou growled at the sight and walked onward to survey the crew. It was perfectly safe to say, Naraku and him didn't mix.
What really was harsh on his ears, and what really didn't mix with Inuyasha, was the horrible screeching sound sweeping through the room (which was more commonly known in the opera house as La Kikyo's fabulous voice).
"Wench. No talent as far as I can see." And Inuyasha stuffed two clawed fingers into his dog ears.
Xxxxx
Sango winced as Kikyo hit another high note. She had been practicing this piece for so long, and it still sounded horrible.
How could anyone come and enjoy this? How could anyone enjoy what sounded so greatly like a dying toad? Perhaps parents brought their children as a form of punishment. Sango debated on this for a while, and then decided that she was just being cruel.
It was probably all a matter of taste. Some people might like this kind of singing—she certainly didn't—but she just never met them. After all, Kikyo couldn't be this famous for absolutely nothing.
Finally it was time for the chorus to come on, and Sango followed Kagome out onto the performance area. She was so tired! Sango hadn't been good at this particular dance to begin with, but now she was doing even worse than usual.
She heard the loud crack of wood on wood, and grimaced slightly as Lady Kaede yelled out her name, telling her to get the dance right. She was off beat again, stumbling over her feet like a clumsy fool with little sense of direction. Kagome glanced at her over her shoulder and mouthed, "Are you all right?"
Sango nodded and continued the dance. Monsieur Toto-sai was commenting on something that the leading tenor, Bankotsu, had sung.
Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a few men walking onto the stage. The two old managers, Kohaku and Hachi, were the first two, but the other ones she didn't recognize. Then abruptly she remembered Miroku had told her that the Opera House was getting new managers.
Apparently Kagome had known, too, because she didn't look surprised at all. She just kept dancing, getting every step perfectly. Sango sighed and attempted to copy her. She didn't do very well.
She heard one of the new managers say her name, and one of the old managers said something along the lines of her being a daydreamer. She wanted to stop and correct him, but didn't.
She really wasn't a daydreamer! She'd just been so busy and tired lately; it was hard to keep up with everything. After all, she had been learning two parts for this opera, not only one!
The managers continued talking, stopping in the middle of the stage. Finally Monsieur Toto-sai, who wasn't a patient man to begin with, got irritated. "Messieurs, would you be so kind as to get out of the way? We're trying to rehearse, you might have noticed!"
"Yeah, I've noticed!" Ginta said cheerfully. "I would like to make an announcement, everyone!"
Monsieur Toto-sai was clearly trying to hold back a moan of frustration. "By all means! Go on, make your announcement-"
"AND THEN HE SAID WE WERE JUST FRIENDS!"
"There, there…"
Toto-sai turned on Jakotsu who was wailing to someone far off in the corner. The man was trying his best to understand Jakotsu's situation, but very much couldn't, as you could plainly see by the lost and confused expression on his face. So he continued patting Jakotsu on the shoulder, until his hand froze in mid pat, because everyone was now staring at them.
The ballet girls were now whispering fiercely among themselves about who the two men with the managers might be, as well as why Jakotsu was red-eyed from crying so hard. Sango's eyes widened when discovering from Kagome that Jakotsu was, in fact, gay, (and once again got rejected by Inuyasha, as he did every week) and then decided to take the bigger interest in who the two new men with their managers were.
"Your attention! Your attention, please!" Hachi called out. The whispers continued and, if anything, got louder.
Lady Kaede slammed her staff down on the stage, and everyone jumped, including all four of the managers, new and old.
Hachi smiled weakly. "Thank you for that, Lady Kaede."
She smiled slightly, obviously noticing how much it had startled him. "My pleasure, monsieur."
"Anyway, everyone, it is with regret that I have to announce that my partner and I will be retiring this year. Immediately, as a matter of fact." He didn't mention the reason for their hasty retirement, but he didn't need to. Everyone in the room, except, perhaps, the new managers, knew it was because of the ghost.
If the new managers thought that any of this was strange, however, they didn't say anything.
"I would like to introduce your new managers as of now, Messieurs Ginta and Hakkaku." There was a polite round of applause from the on-lookers.
Kikyo immediately pushed her way over to a rather startled-looking Ginta, and then batted her eyes at him. Naraku, who was a little ways away, glared.
"May I introduce the lovely Kikyo, our lead soprano." M. Hachi proclaimed at once.
"Ah!" Ginta exclaimed, a smile now appearing on his face, "La Kikyo, sorry man, I did not recognize you, you look so… different… this close."
Kikyo scrunched up her nose at his use of grammar-especially the part where he called her a 'man'-, but continued to put on a sugar coated smile.Hakkaku, meanwhile, was looking past the prima donna at the ballet dancers—a wolf demon girl in particular—and completely ignoring her. Kikyo began turning faintly red at the realization that she was being ignored.
Ginta, seeing the trouble, hastily tried to take her attention away from his oblivious comrade. "Lady, I am one of your biggest fans. Do you think that, well, you might give us a cool performance now? I hear that there's quite an awesome aria in act three…if you want to show us, of course."
Kikyo, seeing the chance to get everyone's attention focused on her, smiled widely. "Of course, sir, if my manager commands! Monsieur Toto-sai?"
"If my diva commands." Kikyo gave him a look that said quite clearly she did command. He sighed. "Will two bars be sufficient?"
xxxxx
Miroku listened from above as La Kikyo began to sing, completely mutilating the song. He wasn't too impressed with his new managers. Ginta was plainly besotted with the well-known soprano already, and Hakkaru was busy staring at the ballet rats, who were giggling furiously and whispering to each other.
Miroku cringed as Kikyo hit a wrong note, then suddenly noticed one of the backdrops was almost perfectly positioned above her head.
The one the queer boy put up…
Naraku, the chief of the flies, was evidently no where near his post. He was probably too busy attempting to look up La Kikyo's skirt somehow.
A smile came to Miroku's face.
Silently he stalked over to where the backdrop was tied tightly to an iron bar. He snorted derisively at the shoddily done job, and quickly untied it.
The backdrop went sailing down, cutting La Kikyo off mid-note. Miroku smirked. Perfect. With a swish of his cloak, he vanished down through one of his many trap doors.
xxxxx
"Kikyo!" Ginta screamed, "Are you all right?"
Hakkaru rounded on the two nervous-looking ex-managers, whose eyes were flitting around anxiously. "Guys, I want an explanation for this!" he hissed. "Someone could have been seriously hurt, and we have a full house coming up!"
The ex-managers exchanged looks, and finally one of them shouted, "Naraku! Naraku!" after a moment, a pale faced, evil looking man appeared and made his way over to them. "Naraku is our chief of the flies." Hachi explained, "He'll be responsible for this."
They turned to him expectantly, hoping he would make up a cover-up story. This wasn't what Naraku had in mind, however. "I'm sorry, good messieurs, but I wasn't at my post! If anyone is held responsible for this... well, it was most probably the ghost!" he smiled wickedly, meeting his fingers together at the tips and producing a soft 'ku ku ku…' to himself.
Hachi couldn't suppress a groan as both of the new managers turned to stare at him. "Well, good messieurs, congratulations on your new Opera House! We are quite busy, unfortunately, and cannot stay. Goodbye! ...and good luck. If you need me, I shall be in Australia. " Hachi quickly ran off stage, followed by Kohaku.
Hakkaru and Ginta exchanged looks, wondering just what they had gotten themselves into.
"Why were they retiring again?"
"Their health, I think." Hakkaru responded.
"Oh…"
Suddenly there was a frustrated, terrified scream, however, and Ginta ran to help Kikyo up. Naraku instantly pushed him out of the way and helped the lady up himself.
"This… this is an outrage! I cannot stand it anymore! I am leaving this hell!"
Kikyo shouted, "Sayo! Bring me my coat! And my dog! Let us go!" The prima donna turned on her heel and marched out.
She was gone. Ginta turned desperately to Hakkaru who, in turn, turned to M. Toto-sai. "There's an understudy, right!"
M. Toto-sai shook his head, dazed and bewildered. "There is no understudy. It is a new production."
Suddenly Lady Kaede stepped out of the shadows. "Sango Youkaitashi could sing it, sir." Everyone jumped. They had forgotten she was there.
"Youkitashi? That chorus girl? Don't be stupid!"
Lady Kaede smiled slowly. "Let her try, at least, messieurs. I assure you she has been well taught." she glanced at Sango, who just stared at her.
"Well?" Hakkaru demanded.
Sango hesitantly stepped up, and M. Toto-sai resignedly began to play the same introduction he had for Kikyo.
She began to sing quietly, and tried not to pay attention to the scathing comment Hakkaru made. Ginta nudged his partner to make him be quiet.
As Sango continued, she got progressively louder and more into the song. Weeks of rehearsal for this piece had been drilled into her, and she got every note correct, and all of the dynamics perfectly. She put her soul into her song, just as her Angel, her Miroku, had taught her to.
When she finished breathlessly, there was a stunned silence. Then Ginta began to applaud ecstatically. "Brava, brava! I believe we've found our new diva, Hakkaru!"
Sango's heart skipped a beat. Once again, her angel had been right. She wouldn't let him down!