Chapter 28: Ambition and Influence
Inuyasha and Kagome as in the middle of doing their homework, making sure they keep up with the school subjects. Kagome is focusing so hard she somehow is missing something important. Inuyasha sees the sight from the corner of her eyes. "Kagome, is something wrong?" He asks as he comes to her side, putting his homework aside. Being mates it's extremely important to assure the other whenever something is bothering them. Kagome sets her stuff aside, "I'm not sure myself, and yet it's at the tip of my tongue." She sighs and lies back, onto him from behind. Inuyasha can sense the confusion from her voice. He wraps her in his arms. "I wonder what is missing on your schedule and yet it hasn't been even mentioned throughout the time at school. Then it hit her, "It's the Talent Show this week. How could I forget all about it?" She gasps as she tries to look for something her room, as she manages to get out of Inuyasha's grasps.
Kagome runs incredibly fast to her room like no one didn't even see her pass by. Kagome gets into her room. She goes under her bed to find the notebook that the letter of her father left for her when he passed on. Inuyasha comes in to see her going crazy. "Where is it?" She asks mostly to herself. Nothing, not even the box is uder the bed. She goes to the desk to one side of the room. She goes in all the drawers and moves things side to side, hoping that the notebook is in any of them. After thinking of different places where the notebook could be. Then it hit her. She goes to her bed. "Di you looks underneathe there?" Inuyasha as he comes to her side. "I did but it has to be in between the spingboard and matress." She turns to him. Inuyasha looks at the gap in between, then back to her. Kagome turn back to the gap and tries to lift the matress, dispite the massive king size of it. Inuyasha sighs and helps her. Remarkably he does a lot more to lift it a few inches high enough for Kagome look. Just like she said the notebook is there. She grabs it. "Got it." She quickly said and Inuyasha gently lowers the matress back onto the boxspring.
Kagome opens the book up, reading the secret song her father wrote. Inuyasha looks over the shoulder. That somehow got him interesting. "Kagome, did you have a song like this in your own notebook?" He asks her seriously. Hearing that Kagome widens her eyes. She goes back to her desk and gets her own notebook she had in her side table in her old bedroom. (She had the notebook in her school backpack) She turns a few pages until one of them had the same lyrics from her father. "I guess I kinda copied it into my own." She comments the similarities. "Tell me Kagome, what was you're father like before he died." Inuyasha asks her gently as he sits down on the bed. Kagome sighs, "My father was one of the greatest musicians in Japan. He even had tours of his career that went around the world." She answers him from what her mother once told her. "He was one hell of a pianist and a voice from heaven. I might of inherited that as well." She adds. Inuyasha smiles, remembering the time Kagome sang her first day at school. "And how did he met your mother?" He asks her more as he pulls her into his arms. Kagome smiles as she leans onto his shoulder. "He met my mom in high school. She was one of the fewest students that admired his talents." Kagome closes her eyes. Inuyasha gets comfortable on the bed. "However she was practically invisible amoung the other students. That was when dad encountered her in the chorus room. She was a natural for playing the piano as well." Inuyasha listened as he strokes her hair with his clawed fingers. "He once asks why he hasn't seen her before, and she just said back that he could only find her with the music of the piano." She explains to him smoothly. She continued on until the time he had passed away. Inuyasha can sense the sadness from within her soul. He rocks her softly as well as hums his voice to calm her down, as well as she falls asleep.
Soon the door opens revealing Ai. "Inuyasha? How's Kagome?" She asks quickly as she comes up to the couple. Inuyasha looks up to her. "She's fine. She's asleep for the time being." He answers he and he gently lies Kagome onto her bed and wraps her in a blanket. "I just want to talk to you, alone." She asks him. Inuyasha looks back to Kagome. "I'll have your father look after her." Ai said to him quietly, not to wake up her daughter. Inuyasha nods and the walk out the room. "I assume that Kagome told you the story about my husband's past." She starts off. Inuyasha nods with a sigh. "Yeah. She told me from what you told her. But maybe there's more to it than she would." Inuyasha said back, he gestures her to follow him.
"Where are we going?" She asks him. "My dad's secret lab can help me read your memories, so I can understand how your life with Hige was like and how Kagome and Sota were born." Inuyasha answers her. He comes to the door by the end of the hallway. The doorknow has a code dial on it. He presses a few numbers in and the door unlocks itself to open up. Inuyasha walks in first to get his lab coat and pulls his long hair into a low ponytail and tuck into the coat. "Inuyasha, what are you doing here?" Rin asks him as she finds him with ai coming inside. "I just want to experiment Ai's memory." Inuyasha tells her. "Are you sure about this? It's crucial to do such a task." Rin tells him caustiously. "I'm already aware of that. But you didn't know that Sesshomaru fixed the problem so that it won't damage Ai's." He assures her. Ai looks a her puzzledly. "He's something else." Rin whispers to her. Ai smiles and follows Inuyasha to one part of the room. "Sesshomaru, do you have the equipment ready?" He asks his brother who was talking with the local workers. "Yeah. Ai all you have to do is lie down on this board." Sesshomaru instructs her. Ai does as she was told and waits for whatever comes next. Inuyasha and Sesshomaru turn on the machine. Then the board goes into a deep hole behind it. "Just relax and think back to your past." Sesshomaru tells her nicely so she wouldn't freak out. Soon then a portal opens up to the Shikon Academy. "alright she's a sleep as we know. You can go in Inuyasha." Sesshomaru said to his brother. Inuyasha doesn't waste another minute and walks in.
Inuyasha finds himself back about 30 years ago. The building of Shikon Academy looks as new even to the present. He walks around the outside and can see the door to the side of the building opened. Before he goes in he spots Hige Higurashi reading under the Sakura Tree. Soon a music of a piano gets his attention. "Who could be playing at this hour?" He asks himself. He puts his stuff into his bag and enters the building. Inuyasha follows him, making sure Hige doesn't see him. Hige walks a few yards down the hall, as the music gets louder. Soon a voice starts singing.
You just wanna change
You try your best
But I don't want you to
I try to say
I wanna be with you
For it's all you knew
Hige looks into the music to find a woman about his age, possibly slightly younger. He finds her back towards him, and can see her playing the piano. He leans to the door frame, unexpectedly Inuyasha does the same.
Chorus
Could hear me out
I love you for the way you are
Do you know what this is about
That I'd think we'd be apart
It's in your heart
I love you for the way you are
And it's not that hard
I love you for the way you are
Inuyasha and Hige smile for how beautiful her singing voice. Hige couldn't help but keep the smile on his face as he continues to watch her play.
You want to be someone
That you used to know
I see that you'll be gone
You could just have to go
So maybe for what you do
Just so I can understand
I can see it too
Might be easy to take a stand.
Inuyasha sighs, luckily he's just a vison as in a spirit that no one can really hear or see him. He sits down on the bleachers where the students sing for the class.
Repeat the Chorus 2 x's
I want to see
For what you've done
Doing it all for me
I thought I was on my own
Repeat the chorus 2 x's until fades
As the singing ending the piano keys come to an end. Hige claps his hands, alerted the player. She turns around slowly and gasps and holds her heart, trying to stop it from its rapid beating. "I didn't even know you there." She said to him. Hige walks up to her. "I was minding my own business and I couldn't help but to hear the piano being played. So I came here to check it out." Hige said to her nicely and takes a seat by her. "Oh I didn't know that any other students would be able to hear my music. I guess I was wrong." She said to him with a shy smile, and blushes. Hige looks up to the piano stand and see the music sheets. He reads the title, "I Love You For The Way You Are. That's quite an interesting name. Where did you get it?" He asks he as he takes it and gives it to her when she gets her backpack. "Oh I'm kinda a secret singer. I didn't want anyone to know about this. That's why I only play it alone when no one is around." She said to him. Hige nods and reads the name on the sheet. "So your name is Ai Hikitube." He asks her name. Ai nods, "Yeah and I think you're Hige Higurashi?" She asks his name. "Yeah that's me. I just didn't see you before. How come?" He said to her tilting his head. Ai hesitates before answering. "Let's just I'm no visible to anyone her except the teacher, but they don't want me to give any attention in front of anyone." She sighs and stands up and takes her backpack and slip it over her shoulders. "No wonder I didn't see you before. Did you want anyone to see you?" Hige stands up afterwards. Ai sadly smiles, "No I just came here to do my best to pass the year until graduation. I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea of what I do in my spare time." She explains to him. Hige understands her immediately. "But I find it ironic that I want to show myself to the world, but to the school I'm too scared to do that." She comments her position as they leave the school building. "Why wouldn't you do it? You great as far as I know." Hige asks her, getting more out of her. "It's just what people would think of me if they see me sing. I might get bad views, bad comments, or be rejected on the spot." She murmurs to him.
Inuaysha can see why Ai would pass her hesitation to Kagome, not to mention her singing voice. "I might as well leave them alone. My work is over." He said to himself and concentrates on getting back to the real world.
Inuyasha steps out the portal in the laboratory. Ai wakes up from her slumber. "Inuyasha you know how I was afraid to do such a thing." She tells him with a soft tone. He nods. "I can see why Kagome would've been in the same situation. Not to mention, she wouldn't dare to expose her talent in front of the school." He said to her as well. "But I don't want her to do so, or even her new transformation. She can't do that. She'd be the laughing stock throughout the place and the rest of her years." Ai fears her daughter's can sense that coming out of her by her scent. "Mrs. Higurashi, I know what you mean, but I think it's time for her to make her decision on what she wants to do for the rest of her life. Isn't that your parents wanted you to do?" He asks her, quite a little more of a demand instead. Ai looks down to her legs. "I had that chance, and whe Hige met my family. My father made sure that Hige was there by my side, to protect from the public, not expose my secret to except the family. That's when he proposed to me and that's how I had Kagome and Sota." She admits her past to him and she stands up and stares at he sincerely to him. "I see what you mean. But you need to make that Kagome is protected from anything or anyone who dared to harm her in anyway." She warns him. Inuyasha has enough of her stuff and takes hold of her shoulders to calm her down, "Listen, Kagome is one great person, and she has pride that effects my own. Whenever happens to her, will let me know immediately. You have my word." He assures her. Ai knows for sure she can argue with his personality and stops herself from making anything else harder on him. "Just do what you have to do." She tells him. He
simply nods and leaves the lab to go back to his mate.
Author's Note: The song "Love you for the way you are." Reflects on a person I cared about and I didn't want him to change, not matter what.