Curiosity Chapter 6: Curiosity :: Guitar, an inuyasha fanfic

Hi all! So… four years later, but I haven't forgotten about this story (or any of my others) don't expect any regular updatings cause I just can't promise that, but I've been sitting on this chapter for ages now, editing and changing, until I decided to just write it from scratch and I'm really happy with what came out – hope you guys will be too!

So, disclaimers and stuff:

I don't own Inuyasha.

I don't own any of the songs written in this chapter. They all belong to their respective singers/writers.

If you want to listen to the songs while reading the chapter, the songs are (in this order):

* Shake it out / Florence + the Machine (I listened to the unplugged and the acoustic versions while writing, to get a better idea of how it would sound if Kagome sang it),

* Short Skirt Long Jacket / Cake,

* Stadium Love / Metric,

* Little People / Les Miserables,

* Heartless / Kanye West (I listened to Dia Frampton's version from The Voice season 1, once again recommended to understand how it would sound if Kagome sang it. The lyrics correspond to that version as well, not sure if it's different than the original)

* Fidelity / Regina Spektor

* Whistle to the Choir / The Fratellis

Not all songs have the complete lyrics, but just enough so it'll make sense. I marked the missing lyrics with a '…' so you'll know.

All lyrics were copied from AZlyrics dot com, with the exception of Little People which was copied from lyricsforsongs dot net (and then edited a bit for spellings and added the last bit which was hidden by an advertisement. It's there, I just didn't notice it when I copied it…)

Smoking is Bad. Seriously, don't.

Enjoy ;)

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Kagome was, once again, completely and utterly lost. Not physically, of course – physically, she was traveling with her friends on their way back to Edo for restocking, and perhaps a few days of rest while Kagome went home. It was Kagome's mind that was lost, lost in thought and speculation, and had been this way since that night when she had read Sesshoumaru's poem. Her confusion from New Year's Eve multiplied by thousands, and her early decision to treat the kiss as merely a nice way to start the new year just wasn't enough for her, anymore. Not after that poem. Now, the 'what if's were killing her. 'What if the poem wasn't about me?' did nothing to calm her raving mind, and 'what if it was?' was even worse.

Hell, she didn't even know which she wanted it to be!

Needless to say, Kagome was a hot mess, and no amount of cigarettes could un-mess her. At best, it turned her into a cold mess, until one 'what if' or another popped in her head, and she was once again on the verge of freaking out.

The fact that her friends were worried about her did not escape her, this time. Sango, Miroku and Shippo would each ask her at least once a day if she was ok – to which she honestly had no reply, because while physically she was, mentally…

Even Inuyasha had started treading lightly around her. 'Thank god for small mercies.'

Kagome seriously needed some time to relax and think. No, scratch that. She needed time to relax and not think.

Which was why, when she noticed a soul-stealer hovering about just before they entered Edo, Kagome smiled. Inuyasha failed to notice, obviously, but her friends did. "Are you alright, Kagome?" Shippo asked his now-customary question once the hanyou was gone, and this time Kagome knew exactly what to answer.

"Yep! I have something I wanted to show you guys for a while now, and it looks like our afternoon just cleared up." She explained, still smiling. Sango and Miroku, baffled by her sudden change in attitude, merely looked at her as if she sprouted a second head. Shippo, however, was more than excited at this new development to cover for their silence.

"Oooh, what is it Kagome? Is it another story? Or candy?" Kagome laughed. "Nope. It's something very delicate, which is why I didn't want to carry it around. I'll have to go get it from home." With that, she turned to the demon slayer. "Sango, would you mind if I took Kirara with me?"

"Not at all," Sango replied with a smile of her own, deciding that it didn't really matter what caused her friend's change of behaviour – not when she expected Kagome's mood to worsen when Inuyasha went to Kikyou, instead of actually getting better.

"Great," Kagome said as Kirara jumped from Sango's shoulder to begin her transformation. "Meet me in the clearing by the well?" at the others' nod, Kagome sat on Kirara's now-large-enough back, and the two took off, not noticing as Miroku sent a confused look to Sango, while the latter shrugged back at him as they, too, started towards the well.

/\/\/\

It took less than half an hour for Kagome to get back home, grab her guitar, and jump back through the well. It was getting darker, the setting sun casting red light all over the sky, as if trying to maintain its last bit of control over the heavens. It was beautiful, and Kagome paused to look at it, allowing herself to submerge in the beauty of nature that was so rare in her time. She didn't get to appreciate it for long, though, for soon enough she heard a cry of "Kagomeeeee!" just before Shippo attached himself to her in his usual way of greeting. "Is that the delicate thing, Kagome?" he asked, looking at the weirdly shaped thing on Kagome's back, in the place of her customary backpack. "Yep!" Kagome responded happily, noticing that Sango and Miroku had started a fire not far from the well, and soon they were all sitting around the fire, and Kagome finally opened her guitar case.

"This is a guitar," she explained to her friends.

"Is that a musical instrument, Kagome sama?" Miroku asked.

"Yep."

"You know how to play music, Kagome chan?" Sango continued, eyeing the strange instrument sitting in her friend's lap.

"Sure. I used to take classes before I fell down the well. I try to make sure to play around with it, even for a bit, every time I go home."

"Are you going to play for us?"

"Of course, Shippo chan. Why would I bring it if I wasn't? I just need to make sure it's tuned, first." They all nodded, watching her as she plucked random strings, all the while thinking which songs she would sing to them.

"What kind of music do you play, Kagome sama?"

"Mostly rock," Kagome answered, distracted with tuning her E string so it would be exactly right. They might not know the difference, but she would, and it would annoy her to hell.

"Rock?" Miroku repeated, and Kagome nodded absentmindedly. "As in stones?"

"I'm actually not a big fan of The Stones." Kagome replied, not taking her eyes off the guitar and the errant E string, and thus not noticing the looks her friends were sending her.

"What do you mean, not a fan of the stones?" Sango asked, entirely bewildered.

"I'm more into Indie Rock, maybe some Alternative… though I do enjoy the classics every once in a while." Kagome replied, giving one final pluck to the E string before passing her thumb on all six strings to make sure they all sounded right together. "Got it!" she exclaimed, looking up at her friends with a smile, finally seeing their looks of complete puzzlement, realizing that she had once again said something completely out of time.

"Right, sorry." She said sheepishly, hurriedly trying to explain. "Rock music is a genre of music popular in my time – though, Pop music is even more so, which is why it's called pop in the first place. It has nothing to do with stones, really, it's just the name. It comes from Rock 'n' Roll, which comes from… I'm not sure, actually. But that's not the point. The Stones I mentioned is a shortening of a famous Rock band name – 'The Rolling Stones'."

The silence coming from her friends – and their still befuddled expressions – told her that she still had some explaining to do.

"Rock music usually tends to have more than just a guitar as an instrument. A regular rock band will have at least a guitar, a bass guitar and a drum set, and sometimes a keyboard as well, to accompany the singer."

"Ok…" Sango started slowly, trying to make sense in what seemed – to her – as complete Gibberish. "So these bands are just groups of people playing those instruments together?"

"Yeah," Kagome smiled. "I think the best way to explain would be to demonstrate it. Of course, I don't have an entire band, but it'll be close enough." Kagome's smile widened at the slow nods she was receiving from her friends, strumming the strings to punctuate her words. She wondered for a short while which song to start with – if she were completely honest, she did have an ulterior motive for bringing her guitar. While she had planned before on bringing it for her friends to enjoy, playing the guitar had an effect on her similar to writing poems. It allowed her to let her feelings out and really understand them, which was why it was important that she pick the right songs.

"I'm going to start off with a song by one of my favourite bands, called Florence and the Machine. The song is called 'Shake it out'." She informed her friends, and with that, she started singing, her fingers joining on the guitar after a few lines.

Regrets collect like old friends
Here to relive your darkest moments
I can see no way, I can see no way

And all of the ghouls come out to play
And every demon wants his pound of flesh
But I like to keep some things to myself

I like to keep my issues drawn
It's always darkest before the dawn

And I've been a fool and I've been blind
I can never leave the past behind
I can see no way, I can see no way

I'm always dragging that horse around
Our love is questioned, such a mournful sound
Tonight I'm gonna bury that horse in the ground

So I like to keep my issues drawn
It's always darkest before the dawn

Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh whoa
Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh whoa
And it's hard to dance with a devil on your back
So shake him off, oh whoa

And I am done with my graceless heart
So tonight I'm gonna cut it out and then restart

'Cause I like to keep my issues drawn
It's always darkest before the dawn

And it's hard to dance with a devil on your back
And given half the chance would I take any of it back
It's a fine romance but it's left me so undone
It's always darkest before the dawn

Oh whoa, oh whoa...

And I'm damned if I do and I'm damned if I don't
So here's to drinks in the dark at the end of my road
And I'm ready to suffer and I'm ready to hope
It's a shot in the dark aimed right at my throat
'Cause looking for heaven, found the devil in me
Looking for heaven, found the devil in me
Well what the hell I'm gonna let it happen to me, yeah

As the last notes of the song faded away, Kagome looked at her friends expectantly. She hadn't dared look at them during the song, was too busy processing the feelings the song evoked anyway, so her eyes remained focused on her guitar while the rest of her was wondering when, exactly, she had decided to bury her love for Inuyasha, and how come it seemed so easy to just 'shake him off'.

"That was pretty!" Shippo exclaimed when she looked at them, and Sango and Miroku nodded, marveling in how little they knew of their friend when she wasn't with them. She played with obvious passion, looking at her guitar as if it was the most precious thing to her in the world. For all they knew, it might as well have been.

"How come you never told us you played music, Kagome chan?" Sango asked. The two of them talked about everything and anything, and she was slightly surprised her friend from the future had never mentioned it before.

"It just didn't seem relevant," Kagome answered. In her opinion, unless she could defeat Naraku with the sound of her guitar, it really wasn't. Sure, she loved playing, but she never thought her friends from the past would care about that.

"What made you decide to sing this particular song, Kagome sama?" Miroku asked knowingly. Kagome knew that if any one of the three were to pick up on the meaning of the song it would be him, so she wasn't so surprised at the question. "Inuyasha," she replied, still wondering at the lack of painful emotions, as Sango nodded in understanding, now realizing why her friend did not behave as expected earlier.

"Will you play another song, Kagome?" Shippo requested, and Kagome smiled. "Of course, Shippo chan! I didn't bring the guitar all the way here for just one song!" she thrummed her guitar, ready to start another song, before changing her mind, her eyes going back to her friends. "How about we make a game of it?" she asked. "I'll sing a song that describes one of you guys, and you'll have to guess which one is it."

"Oooh, that sounds fun!" Shippo excitedly answered, as the other two smiled and nodded. With that, Kagome smiled and started playing a completely different song than the one she had first intended, one with a much upbeat tune.

I want a girl with a mind like a diamond
I want a girl who knows what's best
I want a girl with shoes that cut
And eyes that burn like cigarettes

"That's easy!" Shippo exclaimed before she even finished the first verse. "It's Miroku!" Sango and Shippo burst out laughing while Miroku pretended to be offended – though he was smiling too.

I want a girl with the right allocations
Who's fast and thorough
And sharp as a tack
She's playing with her jewelry
She's putting up her hair
She's touring the facility
And picking up slack

I want a girl with a short skirt and a lonnnng jacket...

…

"The only girl I really want is my dearest Sango," Miroku informed them all as Kagome finished the song, causing Kagome to "aww" just before Miroku's hand found his favourite place on his dearest Sango's body – though how he managed to do so while she was sitting was unclear – causing the slayer to respond with a cry of "Hentai!" and a slap.

"He will never learn," Shippo said with a sigh, before turning back to Kagome. "Next song!"

With a smile and a nod, Kagome started the next one.

Wanna make a bet
We'll be neck and neck
Taking off the gloves

Spider Vs Bat
Tiger Vs Rat
Rabbit Vs Dove

Wanna make a bet
Odds are neck and neck
Taking off the gloves

Spider Vs Bat
Tiger Vs Rat
Owl Vs Dove

Every living thing
Pushed into the ring
Fight it out
To wow the crowd
Guess you thought
You could just watch
No one's getting out
Without stadium love

…

Kagome finished the song, looking expectantly at her friends. They were all looking at her with a confused expression. "Who's that supposed to be about, Kagome chan?" Sango asked.

"Actually, I thought it would fit you, Sango chan." She answered. "You're such a strong fighter, it's practically your way of life. And yet you still manage to care for others. I love that about you." This time, it was Sango's turn to "aww" as she hugged her friend.

"What about me, Kagome?" Shippo asked, intent on not being left out. "Oh, I have just the song for you, Shippo chan." Kagome replied, and started singing once again.

They laugh at me, these fellas,
Just because I am small.
They laugh at me because I'm not hundred feet tall!
I tell 'em there's a lot to learn down here on the ground
The world is big, but little people turn it around!

A worm can roll a stone,
A bee can sting a bear,
A fly can fly around Versailles
'Cause flies don't care!
A sparrow in a hut,
Can make a happy home.
A flea can bite the bottom,
Of the Pope in Rome!

Goliath was a bruiser who was tall as the sky.
But David threw a right and gave him one in the eye.
I never read the Bible but I know that it's true,
It only goes to show what little people can do!

So listen here professor,
With your head in the cloud.
It's often kinda useful
To get lost in the crowd.
So keep your universities -
I don't give a damn!
For better or for worse it is
The way that I am!

Be careful where you go
'Cause little people grow...

And little people know,
When little people fight,
We may look easy pickings but we got some bite!
So never kick a dog because he's just a pup
You better run for cover when the pup grows up!

And we'll fight like twenty armies
And we won't give up!

A worm can roll a stone,
A bee can sting a bear.
A fly can fly around Versailles
'Cause flies don't care!
A sparrow in a hut,
Can make a happy home.
A flea can bite the bottom,
Of the Pope in Rome!

A flea can bite the bottom,
Of the Pope in Rome!

When she started singing, Kagome noticed Shippo was looking slightly indignant – probably at being called little – but by the end of it they were all smirking, with Shippo's smirk being the largest of them all. "So I take it you like this song, Shippo chan?"

"Yeah! It's really cool!" he replied, and Kagome laughed. "Um, Kagome? What's a Pope?"

"The Pope it the head of a religion called Christianity," Kagome explained. "It's one of the biggest religions in my time. Do you remember when we celebrated Christmas?" Shippo nodded, remembering the gifts Kagome had given him. "Well, that was a Christian holiday, marking the birth of Jesus Christ, the one who gave Christianity its name."

There was silence for a short while, and it was Sango who broke it. "Will you play another song, Kagome chan?"

"Why not? What should I play now?"

"What about Inuyasha's song?" Shippo suggested. A look at Kagome's face caused him to add hurriedly, "You don't have to if you don't want to."

"I don't mind, Shippo chan. It's just that there are so many to choose from…"

"Then play them all!" Shippo answered, causing Kagome to giggle. "I think I'll just pick one." And with that, she started playing yet again.

In the night, I hear 'em talk,
Coldest story ever told
Somewhere far along this road,
He lost his soul to a woman so heartless
How could you be so heartless?
How could you be so heartless?

How could you be so, cold as the winter wind when it breeze, yo
Just remember that you talkin' to me though
You need to watch the way you talkin' to me
I mean after all the things that we've been through
I mean after all the things we got into
Yeah I know of some things that you ain't told me
I did some things but that's the old me
And now you wanna get me back and you gon' show me
So you walk around like you don't know me
You got a new friend, I got homies
In the end it's still so lonely

In the night, I hear 'em talk,
Coldest story ever told
Somewhere far along this road,
He lost his soul to a woman so heartless
How could you be so heartless?
How could you be so heartless?

How could you be so Dr. Evil,
You bringin' out a side of me that I don't know
I decided we weren't gon' speak so
Why we up 3 A.M. on the phone?
Why does he's so mad at me for?
Homie I don't know, he's hot and cold
Won't stop, won't mess my groove up
'Cause I already know how this thing end

In the night, I hear 'em talk,
Coldest story ever told
Somewhere far along this road,
He lost his soul to a woman so heartless
How could you be so heartless?
Yeah, how could you be so heartless?

Talkin', talkin', talkin', talk
Baby let's just knock it off
They don't know what we been through
They don't know 'bout me and you
I know you can't believe
I could just leave it wrong
I'm gon' take off tonight

Into the night I hear 'em talk,
Coldest story ever told
Somewhere far along this road,
He lost his soul to a woman so heartless
How could you be so heartless?
How could you be so heartless?

"Fits him." Sango said once the song was over, causing the rest to nod. "Are you really not mad at him for going to Kikyou?"

"No," Kagome responded. "He made his choice – quite obviously. I'm sad he can't see just what Kikyou turns him into, but I have given up on him a while ago." Her friends nodded at the wisdom in her words, though Miroku was getting that lewd expression and she had a feeling she knew what he would ask next.

"Does it have anything to do with Sesshoumaru's group spending more time without lately?"

Jackpot. Despite anticipating it, Kagome couldn't help but blush. She wondered if Miroku knew that Sesshoumaru has been hiding in trees by the clearing for a while now – she had felt him when she started singing the first song, but she was so insistent on ignoring her confusion about him that she had ignored him completely, had even managed to forget he was there, until Miroku decided to bring him up. "N-no!" she managed, wondering how convincing she sounded. She didn't know exactly when she had decided to let go of Inuyasha, but it was definitely before she read Sesshoumaru's poem, and even before the kiss she had been experiencing feelings of… well, content, at Inuyasha's absence. So maybe she wasn't blatantly lying to her friends.

"How about I play another song?" she suggested, unwilling to continue this line of conversation.

"Yeah! You didn't sing a song for you, Kagome!"

"A song for me, huh?" that was a hard one. Sometimes when she would listen to music – or play it – a song would remind her of one of her friends, but she didn't usually think that a song reminded her of her. There were songs she related to more, or songs she related to less. It was quite the hard choice. Deciding to go with the one she felt she related to the most, at least in this moment, she started playing.

I never loved nobody fully
Always one foot on the ground
And by protecting my heart truly
I got lost in the sounds
I hear in my mind
All these voices
I hear in my mind all these words
I hear in my mind all this music

And it breaks my heart
And it breaks my heart
And it breaks my heart
It breaks my heart

And suppose I never ever met you
Suppose we never fell in love
Suppose I never ever let you kiss me so sweet and so soft

Kagome couldn't stop the smile creeping on her face as she sang. She hadn't told anyone about her kiss with Sesshoumaru on New Years – not even Sango – and while she didn't think it was love, not really, especially not on his part, thinking about it made her unable to refrain from smiling.

Suppose I never ever saw you
Suppose we never ever called
Suppose I kept on singing love songs just to break my own fall
Just to break my fall
Just to break my fall
Break my fall
Break my fall

All my friends say that of course its gonna get better
Gonna get better
Better better better better
Better better better

I never love nobody fully
Always one foot on the ground
And by protecting by heart truly
I got lost
In the sounds
I hear in my mind
All these voices
I hear in my mind all these words
I hear in my mind
All this music
And it breaks my heart
It breaks my heart

I hear in my mind all of these voices
I hear in my mind all of these words
I hear in my mind all of this music

Breaks my
Heart
Breaks my heart

She could tell her friends were confused at this – well, Miroku was smiling knowingly, but Sango was sending questioning looks at her direction, and after all their talk of her not really loving Inuyasha anymore, Kagome really couldn't blame the other girl. Shippo, however, was already dozing off, so Kagome allowed herself to ignore Sango's unvoiced questions in favour of announcing that they should call it a night. Shippo protested quite loudly at that (apparently he wasn't sleepy), but they all agreed that it was getting late and they should go to sleep, with Kagome promising the others that she would put the guitar back and join them – with the help of Kirara – back at the village. She watched them until they were hidden in the forest, before giving herself a shake and turning back towards the fire to put it out.

And there was Sesshoumaru.

She smiled. She had expected him to show up eventually. She was still confused – she didn't really end up figuring out what was going on in her heart – but the fun she had singing with her friends allowed her to at least be calm about her confusion, instead of frantic and crazy.

"So, what did you think?" she asked him, still smiling, sitting back down and lighting a cigarette while he did the same.

"It was interesting," he replied, and Kagome wondered just what she'll have to do to make him admit that he liked – or disliked – something to her. 'Maybe,' she thought, 'it doesn't matter if he actually says he liked it.' If he'd ask her to sing another song, she'll know he does.

"Do many people in your time play music like this?" he asked.

"Yeah. But not just like this – there are many genres of music that people can play or listen to. Some people make it a profession and make money from it. Most people just play for fun, though, like me."

"Hn." He replied. They smoked in silence for a while, before – "Will you play another song?" he asked, causing Kagome to smile brilliantly as she flicked her cigarette.

"Sure! What shall I play though?" She half expected him to ask for his song, like she had done for her friends, and she had even had one ready – You're Only Second Rate, Jaffar's song from Aladdin's Return of Jaffar had fit him like a glove. She could practically see him singing it to any – and every – one he met. That is, if Sesshoumaru was ever a person inclined to singing, which he wasn't, because he was Sesshoumaru and such things were undoubtedly beneath him.

Sesshoumaru, however, didn't appear as someone who liked to do what was expected of him. "Your favourite song." He said, startling her. "Err…" was her reply – she wasn't sure she wanted to sing that particular song, especially not to him. But he had asked, and besides, it wasn't like he'd know it was her uttermost dream to have someone sing it to her, one day.

"Okay," she replied eventually, her fingers quickly finding the right notes – she had played this song more times than she could remember, after all.

Well it's a big big city and it's always the same
Can never be too pretty tell me your name
Is it out of line if I were simply bold to say "Would you be mine"?

Because I may be a beggar and you may be the queen
I know I may be on a downer I'm still ready to dream
Though it's 3 o'clock, the time is just the time it takes for you to talk.

So if you're lonely why'd you say you're not lonely
Oh you're a silly girl, I know I hurt it so
It's just like you to come
And go you know me no you don't even know me
You're so sweet to try, oh my, you caught my eye,
A girl like you's just irresistible

Well it's a big, big city and the lights are all out
But it's as much as I can do you know to figure you out
And I must confess, my heart's in broken pieces
And my head's a mess
And it's 4 in the morning, and I'm walking along
Beside the ghost of every drinker here who has ever done wrong
And it's you, woo hoo
That's got me going crazy for the things you do

So if you're crazy, I don't care, you amaze me
Oh you're a stupid girl, oh me, oh my, you talk
I die, you smile, you laugh, I cry
And only, a girl like you could be lonely
And it's a crying shame, if you would think the same
A boy like me's just irresistible

So if you're lonely, why'd you say you're not lonely
Oh you're a silly girl, I know I hurt it so
It's just like you to come and go
And know me, no you don't even know me
You're so sweet to try oh my, you caught my eye
A girl like you's just irresistible

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

A/N:

Whew, that was long! I tried to make it as long as I could cause the lyrics took up a lot of space. Hope you enjoyed!

If you guys have some more ideas of what Kagome could bring from the future please let me know, my well of ideas is starting to run dry :\ I have a few more for a couple more chapters, maybe more, but when I started this I wanted every chapter to have something new, and I have way more chapters planned than ideas for new stuff. But this is not over just yet. If I'll have to recycle ideas I'm gonna do it, for the sake of the story ;)

Crossing my fingers to find some extra time for another update within a month (and not four years)

~Lyla