The Way I Feel Inside
Chapter Eight

"Hello?" Sango said as she picked up the ringing cell phone.

"Hey. You called?" Kagome said.

"Yeah. I was curious if you were off yet. We were going to head to the concert a little early."

"Oh. Well, I just got off and have some things that I need to get done before I go. I had a close call at work."

"What happened?"

"He pulled the 'I expect your cooperation' card."

"Jerk-off." She muttered about him. "How'd you get out of it?"

"Hojo took the shift."

"Oh, he's saving up brownie points, huh?"

"No. He finally got the hint and asked me if there was someone else who I was interested in."

"And..."

"And I told him there was."

"Oh? And who is that? Mystery man?" Kagome sighed.

"I guess."

"I guess? Wait - there's someone else?"

"It's complicated. I can't explain it. Can we drop it for now?" Sango smiled. He has her completely swept off her feet.

"For now. Out of curiosity, what did you say to Mr. Online?"

"I've been sitting in front of the computer figuring that out as we speak."

"Okay, good luck with that. We're pulling in the the arena now. I better let you go."

"Alright. See you in a while." She hung up. There was a moment of silence before Souta broke it.

"What exactly is he going to do?"

"Who? Inuyasha?"

"Yeah."

"I'm not exactly sure myself. I don't know if he even knows yet, but I'm sure he's going through every possible alternative he has to come up with a plan and back-up plan." Sango said as they pulled up the the security gate. Rolling down the window, she scanned the pass through a machine. The light blinked red a few times before turning green. The gates opened automatically so she went through them, hanging the security pass from her rear view mirror, authorizing her car to park in the back.

"Well, I can say one thing for the guy." Souta said as Sango parked.

"What's that?"

"He knows how to take a punch." She laughed as they stepped out of the car. Her smile soon faded as she heard cursing and screaming... and not all of it was Inuyasha.

"Something's not right." They followed the racket to a stair case running up to side of the stage. You didn't have to be a genius to figure out what happened. The stage was a complete mess. Instruments and papers were all over the place. Three security guards were surrounding a man, who was taunting and threatening them. Inuyasha and Miroku were both nearby, extremely pissed off.

"YOU'RE FIRED!! Son of a bitch. I don't care how you do it. Tackle him, raze him, just get that asshole out of here." None of the guards made a move.

"Oh, hell. I'll do it." Inuyasha said, beginning to advance on the man. Whenever the man turned to face him was when Sango notice the knife in the man's hand. Her blood ran cold. What if he hadn't gone after the equipment? What if he attacked them instead? Souta watched as Inuyasha continued forward, unphased by the weapon. He decided to get around to the other side, while the man's attention was focused on Inuyasha. The way the man held the blade was enough to tell them that he was skilled with it. The man leaped toward Inuyasha, who simply side-stepped him and at the same time kicked the man's hand, causing the blade to clatter to the ground. Miroku, swift on his feet, swept up the weapon. When the man turned, only to see the fist land on his eye. He stammered back. Suddenly, the guards became aware of their duties. They successfully captured the man.

"Get this bastard out of here." Inuyasha said. They obeyed his wish. Inuyasha turned to Souta.

"Seems to be your favored move." He said. Souta wasn't amused by the situation, but nodded in amusement. Miroku turned around as soon as he became aware of Souta's presence. Upon seeing Sango's whitened face, he raised his arms.

"No harm's done. It's alright. I'm-" He was cut off when she ran to him. He caught her in an embrace, holding her tight against him. Inuyasha turned away and Souta followed suit. He began noticing all the damage that was done. The entire guitar rack had been dumped over. All of the strings were cut on the guitars. As it fell, an acoustic guitar was smashed into bits. The others were surveying the damage to their instruments as well. Inuyasha was beyond mad and beyond pissed. It was their grand finale. The media, the crowds, everyone was going to be crawling all over this. It was to the point where he couldn't speak. Since he wasn't relieving his anger some way, his body began to twitch to try to relieve the stress. Letting out his pent-up breath, he began to nod.

"OK. Alright." He said as if he was acknowledging that it had happened. Taking a deep breath, he began to shout out orders to the crew and other band mates. As they all scattered to do what he assigned, he turned to Miroku.

"Is Hatchi here yet?"

"I don't believe so. Last I heard he was a couple minutes away." Miroku made sure that was all he wanted before running off on an errand of his own. Inuyasha looked around and saw everyone working, but Souta.

"I'll help out if you let me know what to do." Souta said. Inuyasha nodded gratefully.

"I could use some help over here. Let's see what we can use out of this." Souta nodded and began looking through the wreckage. He knew better than to say anything because of the unnatural shade of red Inuyasha's face had taken on. As they began to work, it began to fade little by little. After he seemed calmed down enough, Souta spoke up.

"Who was that?" He asked as took the cut strings out of one of the guitars.

"Our former guitar tech." Inuyasha said, muttering some more colorful terms about him under his breath.

"It seems like he didn't have much time. The only thing that seems unusable is-" Inuyasha groaned, looking at the remains of his acoustic.

"I know. That guitar was made to my exact specifications. It was my dream guitar since I was thirteen." Souta had know that already.

"So, what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to sue his ass for all he's worth, though I doubt it'll be very much." Souta couldn't laugh out loud, but he was highly amused.

"I meant - what about the show?" Inuyasha turned to him. There was a look in his eye that Souta couldn't specify.

"The show must go on." He said. A man came up from behind them, Souta saw him, but Inuyasha didn't. He followed Souta's gaze to the man.

"Thank God, you're here." He said, standing up.

"I heard the full story already. Just came to pick up my walkie. We shouldn't have to worry. I've been in worse situations than this. A friend of mine runs the local music place around here. He lent me some equipment in case some of ours is unusable." Souta could tell that he was a complete professional with years of experience. Visibly, Inuyasha calmed down after hearing it from him.

"What about the instruments?"

"We'll have to do our best with what we have. Is there anything we know for sure is broken?" Inuyasha pointed behind himself at the floor, not wanting to look again at the ruins of the guitar.

"Hm... Well, I think you'll have to cut all the acoustic from the set of improvise with electric." Souta suddenly got an idea, snapping his fingers.

"I think I can help you there." Both men turned to him. Hatchi was unsure, but impressed. Inuyasha was anxious to hear his suggestion. "Well, I have an acoustic that I left at Kagome's. It's not a customize PRS, but I built it to be a replica of yours. Visibly, it should be near perfect, but the sounds may be a little different since it's a mid-shallow instead of shallow." Both of them were now clearly impressed. Hatchi looked at Inuyasha, nodding.

"So long as he can be trusted, I think it's a good idea." Hatchi whispered. Inuyasha made no attempt to lower his voice.

"He can be trusted. I bet it'll be a perfect alternative." He said to Hatchi. He turned to Souta, looking him right in the eyes to show that he was serious. "Thank you. I owe you majorly already, Souta, but I have another favor to ask. Could you stay here and work as our guitar tech? I know it's last minute, but I'll double pay you for your troubles and-"

"I refuse to be paid for it, but I'll help you out." Souta said, surprised that he was now working for a man he had admired growing up.

"Well, we'll work that out later." Inuyasha said.

"There's just one thing." Hatchi said. "How is this guitar going to get here?" Inuyasha rubbed his chin.

"I could send Sango after it." Souta shook his head.

"No, don't bother. I'll have Kagome bring it." Inuyasha stopped short, hearing her name. He had been grateful when she didn't appear with Sango. Not that he didn't want to see her, but because it gave him less of a chance to screw things up.

"I guess that'll be alright." Souta took out his cell phone, heading off to another area for quieter surroundings. Hatchi was working on something with the gear whenever he spoke up.

"Who is that kid?"

"He's a friend of mine. Don't worry about him." Miroku came up onto the stage with Sango close behind him.

"Ah, you made it." Miroku said when he saw Hatchi. "What's the assessment?"

"Everything will be alright. Nothing seems to be majorly damaged to the point of canceling."

"That's good news."

"We'll have a better idea in an hour after everything is tested. That'll push you for soundcheck. The only thing that would hold the show back any has been taken care of." Miroku turned to Inuyasha, who nodded confirmation.

"That's great!" Hatchi stuck around just to make sure that was all, and then scuttled off to do something elsewhere. Around the same time, Souta came back.

"She was in the middle of an important e-mail and was a little fussy about her looks, which isn't unusual for formal occasions, but is a little odd for concerts." Inuyasha looked down at the guitar he was repairing, simply to hide his smile. "But she's bringing it as soon as she finishes up." Inuyasha forced himself to stop smiling as he was and looked up. It was just the four of them around.

"Now that all of you are gathered, I have something to say, or rather, ask." That grabbed all of their attentions instantly. "I want you to know that I've been weight the options and thinking every idea all the way through. I just have a feeling that if I'm around her for very long before the concert that I'll end up breaking down. Will you guys, please, do your best to make sure that I don't blow it?" Each one of them sported a different expression. Souta seemed convinced that he was suitable for his sister and that they had a good chance to make it together. Sango had one of those silly, girlish gleams in her eyes that she had whenever she thought something was cute or romantic. Miroku just chuckled.

"What you really mean is - 'please be my self-control?'" Sango laughed, turning to Souta and Miroku.

"May I wish you luck as we attempt this mission." Souta huffed lightly.

"I'm absolutely sure that won't be easy."

"I never said it would be." Inuyasha said, smiling lightly.

As she walked upon the stage, she was in shock. It was an absolute mess. Souta was in the middle of it, so she approached him.

"What happened?" Souta looked up.

"It's a long story." He said, taking the case from her hand. He set it on a cleared counter, opening it up to make sure it was there. "Thanks for bringing this."

"Where is everybody?"

"Busy. Miroku and In- 'Dogboy' are getting a second set of equipment in case something goes wrong. A sneaking suspicion tells me that Sango is with them. Kouga and Shippo are signing autographs out in front." Souta said. He reached in his back pocket, pulling out a walkie. "Calling 'Dogboy.' Come in. Over." Kagome just gave his a curious look. "It's a long story." He repeated. A voice came from the walkie.

"Yeah, Souta?"

"It's here."

"Alright. I'll be there in a minute. Over and out." Kagome laughed out of confusion.

"Well, where to start." Souta said. "As far as I'm involved, I'm the temporary guitar tech for the guys right now. The man who was working as their tech went physco and created his mess, trying to sabotage the show." He said. Souta saw Inuyasha peek his head out of the doorway behind Kagome, then it went back in the doorway. Then, he marched straight out as if he didn't have any idea she was there. Souta was grateful he didn't take too long to prep himself, because he didn't hear what Kagome had just said. Souta pointed to the guitar he had set onto the counter. Souta also noted, with amusement, that his black eye had been covered up. I thought Sango was up to something. A little confused again, she turned around and saw he had shown up.

"Oh, hey there." He nodded his greeting back with a grunt. Walking over to the table, he inspected the guitar.

"It's similar, but it's modified a little differently." Souta said. "I found the soundboard and inlays for cheap on EBay. They're from the same model yours was. As I said, it's only mid-depth. I sanded down the fretboard and buffed the shine on it." Inuyasha was still in surprise.

"It's almost it's twin." He reached to take it out.

"Watch out! If you drop and break this one, you really are screwed." Souta said as a smirk passed over his face. Inuyasha just shot him a look.

"I think I know that. Why don't you get to work, smart ass?" Kagome watched this exchanged. The insults weren't genuine. It was out of friendship, almost like the way her and Sango carried on at times. They seemed to warm up to each other.

"What happened exactly?" She asked. Inuyasha began playing one of their tunes. It was smooth and had a nice, full sound.

"Our former tech had been giving us trouble for a while now. We hired him for this tour only. The guy we usually have wife's had a baby and he wanted some time off. I have no idea what drove him to this, though."

"No idea? Are you sure?" Souta said. Inuyasha just glared.

"I thought I told you to get to work." Souta mock-saluted him.

"Yes, boss." Inuyasha rolled his eyes as he began working on a guitar nearby.

"Speaking of work, I better get back to it." He said, setting the guitar back into its case.

"What can I do to help?" Kagome asked. Inuyasha had avoided looking at her, but she was making it difficult. After working a job she absolutely hated, she was still willing to volunteer her time to give a helping hand. He did look at her. Their eyes managed to lock as they had the night before.

"Um..." Inuyasha forced himself to turn away.

"I can use some help over here." Souta jumped in, having enough amusement watching Inuyasha struggle. Inuyasha nodded gratefully to Souta before taking off to the other side of the stage where the audio booth was set up. They used his laptop for the special effect and added samples in their performance. He logged into the Internet. While it was connecting, he watched the Higurashi siblings. Both were working on the guitars, but it was obvious that Souta was telling the story of what he saw. Where he was, her back was to him. She was sitting on her feet. Her long, dark hair swayed with the slightest breeze that swept the stage, while her petite figure swayed as she tired to maintain her balance in that position. He shook his head. Stay focused on the show. Everything else must wait until afterward. He looked at his computer. In complete contradiction, he checked his e-mail, wondering what her response was. He was surprised to see he had no new messages. Hm... it must still be lagging behind.

Thirty minutes until they would start checking tickets and letting the crowds in and everything seemed to be running smoothly. All the instruments had been checked and set up in their positions. Everything was taken care of with the exception of soundcheck and small odds and ends. Sango had distracted Kagome by getting ready for the show. Inuyasha was grateful, because that would take quite a bit of time up. Souta had done his tasks and was helping out Hatchi and anyone else who needed a hand with their duties. There's got to be some way that we can repay him for this. Inuyasha thought as he watched Souta working with Hatchi back in the audio booth. Inuyasha looked around the stage when a thought occurred to him. He was both a guitarist and vocalist. It was too noisy to just call Souta over even though he was just a little distance away. He decided just to go to him instead. Before talking with him, he stopped off at his computer. The screen reported that there was no new messages. Inuyasha found himself nervous. Did she answer at all? Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that they had wrapped things up.

"Souta? Come over here for a second." He nodded, wiping the sweat from his brow. "Listen. We're really switching up the set list tonight. Not the typical stuff that you'd see us doing. I was thinking, why don't we add a collaboration to the mix?" Souta just looked at him, wondering what he was getting at. Inuyasha just looked at him, waiting for it to sink in. After he sent him and inquisitive look, Souta caught on.

"Me?" Inuyasha nodded. "Oh, well, of course. I mean, it's a pleasure."

"Great." Inuyasha said, taking out his walkie. "All band members: report to center stage. Sound crew: Sound check in 15 minutes." He put the walkie back into the holder he had clipped onto his belt. "Is there any song in particular that you're more comfortable with or you'd like to join us on?" Souta knew immediately which one he'd prefer.
"Are you playing 'Drive' tonight?" Inuyasha nodded. "I'm not sure if I play it the same way. I'm not sure how it'll sound either."

"We're doing plenty of improv tonight. It'll probably work fine. But maybe we'll run through it at soundcheck, just to make sure." Miroku showed up first.
"What's up?" Inuyasha grinned, having a feeling he'd know how he'd respond.

"I added a little something to the set list." The response didn't come from Miroku, but Kouga who'd walked up to hear that.

"I thought we had enough surprises for today."

"Yeah. We're booked full as it is."

"It's nothing major. I was just thinking of how deep we'd be if Souta wasn't here." Miroku put an arm around Souta's shoulder.

"That's for sure. We really do appreciate it, bud." Before Souta could say anything back, Inuyasha finished,

"I invited him to play with us on 'Drive.' Any opposed?"

"I'm all for it." Shippo said.

"Hell yeah." Kouga said. They all waited for Miroku's input.

"Like I'd say no. Let's do this."

"Alright. It's settled then. We'll run through Drive for soundcheck. That way we'll kill two birds with one stone." Inuyasha pulled out his walkie again. "Sound check in 5." He reminded. Hatchi came out to his area, preparing for soundcheck. Inuyasha looked at the computer, deciding to check it one last time before the show. There was still no message. "Hatchi?"

"Yes?"

"I'm expecting an important e-mail. I'm going to leave it signed in. Will you check it for me from time-to-time? Even if it's in the show, signal me."

"Alright." By that time, many people where bustling around the stage, getting in their positions. Miroku jumped up onto the platform where the drums were.

"Alright, y'all. Listen up!" He hollered. They went silent, pausing at what they were doing. "We almost had to cancel this show tonight, but thanks to your hard work and dedication, we managed to get everything back in order and ready. We couldn't have done this without you. Thank you for everything you've done. This is the final show of the tour, so let's end it on a positive note!" They all cheered and clapped at his little speech. After they had their fun, Inuyasha took the lead.

"In other orders, get to work! The sooner you started the sooner its done." Laughter streamed from the stage.

"Kagome, you're going to knock him dead tonight." Sango said, confidently. The more time that passed, the more Kagome questioned that. As they finished primping themselves, Kagome turned to her.

"What if he takes one look at me and leaves?"

"That's not going to happen."

"How can you be so sure?" Sango could have hit herself. She didn't necessarily say anything wrong, but her tone made it sound like she knew more about it than she let on. Even though that was the case, it was the last thing she wanted Kagome to think at that point.

"You said he's seen your picture, right?"

"Yeah."

"He already knows what you look like, Kagome."

"But what if he doesn't get my message in time?"

"He has a backstage pass. He'll come back anyways. I'm sure he'll recognize you."

"I guess so." Kagome said. Sango turned and looked her in the eye when she hear her start another "What if" question.

"Kagome, what is it really that's bothering you?"

"Oh, I don't know." Kagome said, finding her hands in her lap interesting all of a sudden.

"Like I've never heard that before. I've never heard you say 'what if' so often in your life. I know something is going on." Kagome looked up at her.

"Sango, I might be making the biggest mistake of my life."

"What makes you say that?" Sango asked, interested. She was caught a little off-guard by that.

"Well, what if- Oh, hell. There is too many what ifs." She said shaking her head at herself.

"Kagome, I first thought that I was making a mistake when I first talked to Miroku. Then, when I first realized I was attracted to him. Then when he asked me out, when we kissed for the first time, and when he proposed and I said yes. What if we don't make each other happy and don't realize it until it's too late?"

"That's not possible." Kagome said, switching from the one who needed comfort to the comforter. "You two are perfect for each other. I have no doubts about that."

"What if we fall out of love? What if when we grow older, we despised each other? What if- Do you see? As much doubt comes into our minds, we have to take a chance. The 'what ifs' of like can't take over. Love is all about risks. What matters is if you take that risk or not." Kagome smiled lightly.

"Thank you, Sango. I needed to hear that." Sango was about to say something when a loud drone blocked all sound.

"Sound check!" She yelled. "Are you ready?" Kagome nodded.

"Yeah. Let's go!" They made their way to the stage. By the time they arrived, it sounded more like music that a mass of loudness as they made their adjustments. Kagome was surprised to see Souta playing along with them. It soon came to a finish. As it did, they all met in the middle of the stage.

"Sounded great. What we'll do is have you do back-up vocals while Miroku is doing his verse. As far as the rest goes, you can jump in when you feel comfortable." Inuyasha said. Souta nodded. Kouga looked at Souta.

"I was really feeling that. I can't wait to preform with you. For that song, I'll start it, tapping the drum sticks in a one, two, one, two, three, four cue." The girls walked to the group. Miroku was the first to spot them.

"Ah ha! We're blessed to have such beautiful women in our audience tonight." He said, walking over and putting an arm around Sango's waist. Kagome just looked at Souta in curiosity. Since the guitar rack was right next to her, he went over to her, setting the guitar back.

"They wanted to repay me for helping them out and it was always a dream of mine to play with them. Who knew it'd actually happen?" Kagome thought something else was going on, but let it go. She was glad that it had happened for him. Since he'd been back, his attitude seemed to do a complete 360 from what it was.

"Congratulations." Inuyasha had been entranced by her since she had walked out. He was in complete awe of her. She was beautiful without all the make-up and dolling up. There was just something about that smile that only Souta could get from her. He could feel his heart leaping out of his chest. Fortunately, Miroku went and stood in his view as a warning. As Inuyasha became aware of everything around him again, he noted the security guard were taking their places. That meant that the gates were opening and they were going to be checking tickets. He went to the end of the stage where the security guards were.

"Excuse me." The majority of them turned.

"Yes, sir?" The one directly in front of him said.

"Do you see these three?" He asked, pointing at Sango, Kagome, and Souta. The guards nodded. "They're going to be right up from. The two girls have backstage passes and the man is part of our show. Anytime that they want to, let them come forward. Alright?"

"Yes, sir." Inuyasha nodded.

"Thanks. But there's no need to call me sir." The guard nodded, and returned to his duty. Inuyasha shrugged. "Souta, Kagome, Sango..." They looked up from the group chat that was going on. He waved them over. "I just had a talk with our friends here and let them know that you can come forward out of the crowd at anytime, but there's not a chance you can get those spots back once you leave them." They nodded, showing they understood. Inuyasha raised his voice. "Alright. It's time." Everyone began to scatter. Miroku crept up behind Sango and literally swept her off her feet from behind. She was completely unaware, and a little squeal issued from her lips. He laughed, gently lowering her from the stage. As they were face-to-face, Sango gave him a quick kiss. Miroku smiled as he let her go. As he walked back to soundcheck, he jumped up and clicked his heels together. Sango laughed.

"That man..." She muttered, under her breath even though she was smiling widely. She looked down at her engagement ring and grinned like a child in a candy store. Kagome smiled as she watched. They really were perfect for each other. Will he be the one for me? She sighed. There we go, back to square one: confusion.
"Need help down?" A voice asked from behind her. Turning, she met the cause of all her confusion. She didn't want to say anything about it to anyone. It would sound like a childish crush on a celebrity.

"I think so. I could see this ending up badly if I tried it by myself." Inuyasha smiled, amused. He took a hold of her hands, helping her down. As her feet reached the ground, she looked up at him. He was crouched at the end of the stage.

"Thank you." He did a half smile, half smirk. It was his trademark on many magazines.

"Your welcome." Souta quickly delivered a swift warning to his backside. Inuyasha stood up, turning around to look at him. He just raised his hands in innocence. Inuyasha shook his head, walking over to the kicker.

"Drive is the fifth song. You'll have to be up here at the end of the third or beginning of the fourth." Souta gave a curt nod and jumped off stage. Inuyasha watched as they took their places on the other side of the rails. With a smile appearing on his face, he thought it'd be better if he got out of there before he said anything.

AN: Alright. The next chapter starts the concert. I'm going to have I believe 8 songs. I'm going to try to find a way for you to hear the ones that I don't know if you've heard, or are least likely to have heard. If your interested, let me know by way of review or PM.

Songs are:
Tell Me Baby - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Geeks Get The Girl - American Hi-Fi
Love Song - The Cure (or 311)
Drive - Incubus
The Way I Feel Inside - The Zombies
How Many Times - Zack Hexum
Beautiful Disaster - 311
Lovely Day - Lit

I believe those are all of them. I can't recall anymore right now. Let me know if your interested in hearing them. Cheers!!