Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters.
Acknowledgements: I didn't come up with the idea of this story. I got it off a challenge on Ssp from Forest Karma.
Author: Jennie
[The Hidden voice]
Chapter 2
New Life
(The chapter starts off in Kagome's POV again but only a little.)
The music burned with the fire of anger, passion, fear, and joy. We were both trying to expose this red spirit burning so intensely within ourselves.
Its been long hard years. Not once had Aunt Fusae attempted to become any nicer. Maybe there were some days when she was in a good mood, but that had never warmed her heart enough for me to even consider her kind. It was on one of those rare days when I asked her. To my surprise, she allowed me. How strange. She won't allow me to partake in singing and yet she allowed me this.
My fire withers, shivering under the weakening fortress of my confidence, suffocated by the stress and fears of a lonely adolescent on the verge of despair, shrieking for the ears to listen.
Funny how things don't turn out the way you expected it to be. You yearn for one thing but get another. Though I must say, I'm not disappointed of the outcome. This is just a second wish I always had. Knowing I could never become a singer, I turned to do this instead.
They are deaf, but the eyes are not yet blind. And so I dance to shout to your eyes what your ears cannot hear. -Ling Ji Hon
I could feel the audience's eyes watching my every move. The smallest mistake on a single move could have been clearly seen. I've worked hard to perfect my moves creating graceful polished steps. I reached out my right arm toward the audience and then slowly drew them back in. Then I began the performance.
I took my first steps on full point, which stung my toes but only a little. I'm too experienced in Point Ballet to even notice the slight pain from time to time. My body seemed to have a mind of its own as my legs did complicated moves. I focused on the task at hand and completed it to the best of my abilities.
Something in the music aroused something so deeply enveloped inside of me that the movement seemed to flow from an invisible spring which had been sleeping for so long it nearly never rose again. Step by step, I glided down the stage making it look as if I were dancing on water. I fooled the audience making them believe that these very intricate moves were almost effortlessly done.
I knew what was coming up. The very difficult jump, in which both my arms and legs are fully stretched. My body would form three curves. Two curves are from hands to feet, and one curve is from foot to foot. I took in a breath, which was invisible to the viewers. I prepared for the jump by starting off by an elegant run. It wasn't really a run but a step that lunged fast gaining speed. And finally, at the precise moment, I pushed off the ground from strength of my legs creating the move called grand jeté. In the moment I was in the huge bound, I had separated my legs to create the perfect split while my arms soared freely above me.
And just as fast as I had jumped, I landed gracefully my heart still pounding in my chest.
And so, the reason of why I chose to dance was relived.
- - Flash Back - -
Slick beads of sweat dripped down from Kagome's skull.
' Focus, Kagome! ' She mentally scold herself.
Both tips of her toes were aching painfully but she disregarded it. Her right arm was curved to the correct position in front of her as her left arm was held out. Almost painstakingly slow, she began the same routine again. She could tell by the ragged breathing of the other dancers that she wasn't the only one exhausted and worn out.
She traveled to the right by turning several times, her eyes never loosing the spot toward the direction she was whirling to. She gracefully stopped and rearranged her pose to prepare for a pirouette. She bent her knees and right before she did a turn in place, she fixed a spot at her eye level before whipping her head around to quickly find it again. (AN: This is not easy to do, especially if you're doing more than triple turns. Or at least to me it isn't.... )
" Stop." Commanded a strict voice.
The music stopped abruptly at the stern command.
' What's her problem now? '
" Kagome, how many times do I have to tell you? When you're preparing to do that pirouette, your legs must plié."
The female Choreographer elegantly walked up to Kagome. Each step was followed by a soft ' thump' on the hard wooden floor.
" Show me the appropriate position when preparing for the pirouette." She commanded.
Kagome obeyed.
She bent her knees outward. Her right foot in front and left foot behind, both feet perfectly parallel from one another. She felt a slight pressure on her right arm before she realized that the Choreographer was readjusting her arm position.
Kagome sighed.
Wasn't anything she ever did good enough? Ever since she had won the lead role for the solo, it seemed that every one was going extra hard on her. Every morning at ten thirty she had a class for ninety minutes. Even then, the teacher still corrected her mistakes. After class, she rehearsed all day trying to learn her roles and her special solo. Kagome knew she should be thankful for having famous dancers themselves pass on their knowledge to her but that didn't stop her from thinking them as " Over devoted people ".
" How do you expect to do an important solo if you can't even do a simple posture correctly?" She questioned harshly.
Kagome gazed rather sheepishly at the choreographer.
' And they always have that nick for embarrassing her...'
The rehearsal continued, each and every minute bringing Kagome an inch closer to screaming in indignation.
- - - -
Kagome pushed open her apartment door. Stepping into her cool air- conditioned apartment, she let out a sigh. Fortunately for her, the rehearsal ended several hours early than usual. Instinctively, she reached out her arm to the wall right next to her in search of the light switch. She found the familiar small switch and flicked it up. Half of her apartment was vibrantly lit causing her eyes to slightly squint.
" Home at last." She said with an exasperated sigh particularly to nobody.
She closed and locked the door behind her then immediately walked up to her black leather couches that so resembled her Aunt Fusae's previous. She fell backwards into the couch while at the same time letting go of the bag she brought with her. The surface of the couch was cold and it sent shivers down her back. It felt so good to just relax for while. Tomorrow, she would go back to the studio and take her classes and repeat the same rehearsal once more.
' Maybe dancing wasn't really meant for me?' Kagome thought to herself.
No. Dancing was definitely for her.
' But then how come something feels missing? '
Kagome didn't have any more time to ponder on the subject because her cell phone rang.
Alarmed, she reached down her left arm out toward the ground to grab a hold of her bag. She lifted the somewhat heavy bag up and rummaged around it for her ringing cell phone. She found it and hastily brought it to her ear right before it stopped ringing.
" Hello?"
She couldn't distinct whose voice it was, though she knew it was unquestionably female. All she could manage to hear were sobs.
" Hello?" She asked again.
" K-Kagome " Said a rather familiar voice.
Kagome recognized the voice in an instant. But why was she crying?
" Sango? What's wrong?"
Kagome brought her cell phone closer to her ear in an attempt to catch everything Sango said. After a moment's pause, Sango spoke.
" It's...it's...Hiten."
" Hiten? Is he okay? What happened?" Asked the concerned Kagome.
She had sat up on the couch and was anxiously listening to her best friend she knew for years.
" It's nothing like that, he's okay. Hiten decided that we should s-stop seeing each other." Said Sango.
Her voice sounded desperate for some one to help her in this situation; some one to lean over to.
Kagome was just that person.
" Oh Sango...I'm so sorry. "
" He just said it to my face! He said that we weren't going anywhere and I just wasn't good enough for him!" She gave in and started crying over the phone. " Maybe it's true. I'm not good enough for him."
" Don't you EVER say that, Sango! Your better than what that Jerk will ever be." Kagome said in a firm voice.' How could that callous Hiten do this to her?'
Kagome had never admitted to Sango that the first time Kagome laid eyes on him, she knew he was calling up trouble. But later on after several months past, her detested feelings towards him melted away creating a kind friendship. A friendship he had just thrown away the moment he broke Sango's heart.
' Of all the nerve! Saying that Sango isn't good enough for him? Insensitive, uncaring Jerk! '
Unconsciously, Kagome's left hand balled into a fist showing bare white knuckles. Her right hand angrily clutched the cell phone. " Listen, Sango, why don't we go and have a girl's day out or something this weekend, just to take your mind off of him. He's not worth your tears. "
Over the line Kagome could hear her friend suppress a sob.
What ever happened to her strong Sango? The friend she knew for years that had never cried over a boy before. No doubt, Hiten must have meant a lot more to Sango than she led her to believe.
Kagome met Sango seven years ago when she was taking dance lessons. They both had the same Modern Day Dance classes together. The moment they met, they became instant friends. People would often confuse them as sisters. Not because of identical looks or physical attributes but on how close and friendly they were towards each other.
Kagome would rather put up with her stringent choreographers than to see Sango get hurt this way.
" Okay...."
- - - -
Several weeks later...
" You know, this isn't really a good idea."
Kagome sat in the middle of her living room completely content with a Jumbo- sized potato chip bag that she happened to have a death grip onto. Sango on the other hand stood with her hands on her hips eyeing Kagome as if she was misbehaving.
" The company wouldn't like it if you gained several pounds." Sango stated in a matter-of-fact tone. She went over and sat next to Kagome. She stared at a bag full of shrimp chips suspiciously.
" Give me a break, Sango. We're supposed to be having a little fun for a while! Try to forget about the company." Finally giving into temptation, Sango grabbed the bag and started munching happily on the shrimp chips. Kagome rolled her eyes at Sango. She was truly happy that Sango was able to move on from Hiten. At the moment, they were having a little sleep over.
Maybe Sango could easily forget about the dance company but Kagome certainly couldn't, no matter how much she pretended to do so! The company's performance was to be publicized in one more week. Just thinking about it made a nervous flutter feeling in Kagome's stomach. How was she going to pull this off? She was almost positive that she would misstep. After all, this WAS her FIRST solo performance! Ruining this performance would create the downfall of her career.
The career she worked so hard for...
After all the sacrifices she made...
Kagome stood up suddenly and started pacing back and forth across her living room. She lightly bit her lower lip while thinking. Sango watched her friend walk back and forth. Obviously, she was very nervous about the up coming performance. It's still a week from now! Surely Kagome couldn't be that edgy?
" Don't tell me your nervous about your solo." Sango said in a tone that suggested that she had better not be.
Kagome gave a defeated nod. Anxiety etched in every part of her face. Her hands meddled together, and her fingers were intertwining together fretfully - another obvious clue that she was agitated.
" Don't worry Kagome-Chan! I'm sure you'll do fine." Sango said reassuringly.
If Sango's greasy hands weren't preoccupied feeding her mouth certain tasty contents, then she would have been tempted to slap her friend hard on the back.
" But, I can't help notice how exhausted you look after your classes. Don't you want to try some Modern Dance classes?"
Kagome eyed Sango apprehensively.
" Are you saying I suck in Ballet? " Kagome asked Sango.
When Sango didn't answer right away, Kagome's eyes became round as plates. She fell down into the couch in a defeated like manner.
" Of course I didn't mean that! " Protested Sango. Kagome crossed her arms. Pouting just like a young child would have.
" Uh huh. Sure, Sango. Why did you suggest for me to take something other than Ballet? " Kagome bit out sarcastically.
" I just thought you might want to try something new. I bet you could make it if you audition to be a backup dancer! Remember those old days when we use to take dance classes together?"
An odd gleam took over Sango's eyes as she recalled the old days. Kagome considered the idea for a moment until deciding it wasn't meant to be. Though the thought of dancing as a backup dancer for a famous person was...enticing... Kagome smiled at a mental picture of herself performing on stage while wearing baggy pants and a shirt that rose a little above her stomach. She would be shown on T.V and could be on a tour-
" You know what, Sango? That's not a bad idea...."
- - End of Flash Back - -
My solo finally came to an end as the music slowly stopped. I posed in the proper position to end the dance. The curtains, from where they hung high, slid across the stage, shutting the audience away from me.
Even through the thick curtains, I was still able to hear the loud clapping and cheers from the spectators. I smiled inwardly to myself and hurriedly walked off the large stage knowing I had a lot of time because of the intermission.
[Author's Notes]
grand jete: gron shet-ay It basicly means "big jump," it's a large traveling jump. The legs are outstretched. Think of a perfect split while being at least five feat off the ground. This move came from The Fountain of Bakhchisarai.
pirouette: There are two types..
pirouette en dedans: piroo-ette on deh-don. A turn in which the dancer turns inward, toward the supporting leg.
pirouette en dehors: piroo-ette on day-or A turn in which a dancer turns outward, away from the supporting leg.
Thank you for reading this story so far. PLEASE review..... please? pllleaaaasee..