InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Double Life ❯ War Preparations ( Chapter 11 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Author's Notes: Daisuke's gay? o.O ...Aww poor Daisuke. I'm gonna have to give him a hug later. Well, no. He's not gay. Or I don't think he is...Lol. Well, I guess you're judging from his actions and so on, right? Well, honestly, I can say that Daisuke is a bit unsure on how to react with Kagome. At this point, he's confused about who she really is. Early in the story, Daisuke immediately knew that Kagome was keeping something secret from the start (doesn't know what it is yet). He had his suspicions and then later in the story, he convinced himself that Kagome was a guy and chose to accept that for the time being. Yet as time passed on, Kagome's getting pretty comfortable with her new atomsphere and is letting her guard down bit by bit. Now, hopefully I didn't imply that Daisuke's stupid. 'Cos he's not. Well, Kagome's still being careful about her identity, but she's dropping these really small subtle hints that something's up and Daisuke's perspective enough to pick them up. They're nothing big enough to confirm anything but they're enough to provoke some suspicions as we had established in the last chapter. Now concerning his feelings towards her, he likes her a lot. I mean, like as a person and a friend (not the gay way, my friends). If he knew that she was a girl, then yeah, he probably be attracted to her. But considering the present situation, he's gonna be pretty careful. Daisuke isn't the type of guy who will act solely on his feelings but one who will act on his feelings and his mind. So he's not going to rush into anything until he can 100% confirm his suspicions. So you can say that he's gonna keep his eye on her from now on. But I also want you guys to keep something in mind. If Daisuke ever does figure out that Kagome's a girl, think about the situation he's going to be in. He's the dorm head and along with that comes the responsibility of reporting big-time rulebreakers. Kagome, by now, is a really good friend of his so it'll put him in a compromising position. If he reports her, she'll most likely be expelled. Poor dude'll be torn and devastated to boot.

Now, if only I can apply what I just said into the story itself...Well! I got some work to do. Apparently my chapters need to be more emotional. ^_^ And I know it's been like...a month since I updated. And I'm terribly sorry. Believe me. I am. Hopefully the next set of chapters will be enjoyable.

Oh no! I have to go give Daisuke a hug first...

The large bronze bell of the Akoroshi Temple was sheltered by a wooden-roofed structure supported by polished wooden poles. It was set on a white-stoned platform that had stone steps climbing up to it. Sitting on its step was a sulky and distraught girl. A sulky and distraught Kagome to be more precise.

She just felt so...frustrated. In the back of mind, she had been anticipating this visit. She had a hunch that this was her one chance to find out about this accident. The one thing that everyone seemed to know except her. Inuyasha was such an enigmatic person. The more days she spent with him the more she wanted to know about him. But this proved to be difficult because of the intangible wall between them which she only managed to crack. Now, the source of her vision, the one solution to everything, was obliterated, and everything seemed hopeless. She was back where she started.

Her mind felt so weary and stressed, and her muscles were taut no matter how she tried to relax them. She wanted to help Inuyasha so badly but it was so hard to do since he adamantly refused to cooperate. It was a one-sided effort. She sighed. She had been told countless times that patience was a virtue but she didn't know how much patience she had left. But...she was going to keep trying, definitely.

As she started to focus on her surroundings, Kagome became aware of her strange sitting position. Her legs were spread out unceremoniously and she was leaning back on the stairs with an uncaring ease. She was about to bolt upright and snap her legs closed, but stopped. She let out a small chuckle and relaxed.

This boy act was getting to grow on her. Acting with this roguish carefree body language wasn't so challenging anymore. Trying to keep up with this act had always kept her mind on the edge but now it seemed so normal, like it wasn't acting anymore. But, she had to admit, she missed being a girl. She missed hanging out with her girlfriends whom she left in the U.S. She missed dressing up when going out. She missed her old life.

Kagome frowned to herself. It was a sacrifice she knew and was willing to take...she just didn't expect to miss it this much.

She turned and gazed on the old bell behind her. She liked it here, in this particular spot, right here on the steps near the bell. It felt so comforting. Just sitting there seemed to help soothe her mind a lot. It was also strange how the weather always seemed to be great here. Not only that, this temple was within walking distance from school. It was a great place just to relax from the workload from school and life.

But , Kagome's content smile soon faded. It was going to be time to go back to Yusako soon and Inuyasha would no doubt be devastated once he found out about what happened to Kikyou's grave. She, for one, wanted to be the one there to comfort him. And if he pushed her away? Kagome smiled to herself. Then she'd just shove her way back.

* * *

The second hand of his clock moved with small ticks within its repetitive rhythm. His steady stare stayed, unbroken, on the clock as Mickey Mouse's disproportionate arm slowly moved, announcing that a minute had passed. Inuyasha's eye twitched with irritation.

Where in the fucking hell was she?!

It had been almost three hours and he had no idea where she was. It was irritating. It was annoying. ARGH!

This morning he woke up to find the top bunk empty. The first thought that entered his mind was that she probably went off to walk Jirou or something like that. But after circling and scouring the school campus three times and seeing no sight of Kagome and the golden retriever, it was apparent that he was wrong. Now three hours had passed and he had no idea where she was. She had some nerve going off like that and not telling him anything! Not even a note!

...Well, she didn't exactly have any obligation to but it would have been nice if he had a heads-up on what was going on.

Ever since he found out about her true gender, Inuyasha felt like he had an unspoken responsibility to look after her. When he wasn't with her, he kept on having this nerve-wracking feeling that she was going to do something stupid if he wasn't there to cover for her. Now that Naraku was on his ass, the more worried and tense Inuyasha found himself becoming. Kagome was innocent; she had no pertinence to his and Naraku's business. If she got sucked into it, her life would undoubtedly be in danger.

It was tearing him apart. Moreover, he knew that it was partly his fault. He knew that creating any emotional ties to anyone was always going to result in pain and suffering. But no matter how strong he tried to build his wall, Kagome would always crumble it and shove her way back into his life. No matter how many times he tried to cut his ties, she would always tie them back together. Her naïveté was going to break her. He knew because it was already breaking him.

If Kagome was ever harmed, he knew he wouldn't be able to handle it. He wouldn't be able to bear seeing another woman in his life suffer and be destroyed; and worse, he would be powerless to do anything. His world would crumble. His mind would break. He knew that. Naraku knew that. And that scared him.

He didn't know how many other people knew about Kagome, but common sense told him probably only one or two other people. He was pretty sure that Aki person knew. He was Kagome's best friend from America so he assumed he'd know. But Aki was a confusing person. When Inuyasha first met him, he thought he was another masquerader like Kagome. But from his attitude and personality, Inuyasha could only categorize Aki as a guy. If Aki was a girl, then he must be a brilliant actor because even a tomboy wouldn't be able to fool Inuyasha and he was almost positive that Aki was, in fact, a boy. And Jirou and his scent? Well, he figured that Aki must've been smothered by girls a lot (the dude wasn't exactly the ugliest shrimp on earth) or he had a lot of sisters to rub off their scent on him. The was the best logic he could make out of it, which wasn't much.

He frowned as he thought more of it. On the assumption that Aki showered occasionally, the sister part wouldn't make sense. The water muddled a lot of Aki's scent so Inuyasha wouldn't be able to make out much when he came out of the showers. Well, he probably would have to accept that Aki was smothered by girls regularly. That, or he would just not think about it now that he was on his way to Aspirin Land.

He stopped his thoughts when he realized he was rotating his ring around his forefinger. It had become a habit for a while now. It didn't bother him that much; instead, it just brought back memories. Memories he didn't really want to recall.

It was a plain ring. Its only decoration were the three silver bands that wrapped around it. Of course, it wasn't any ordinary ring. It was a gift from Kikyou. Well, it was really a -

Inuyasha stopped himself and grimaced as if he was physically pained. He shoved back the memories before more could flood his mind. He didn't want to think about it. He didn't want anything of this crap on his mind. He just wanted it voided of everything.

He let out a soft sigh. He reached over to his desk and switched on his radio. Something interesting was bound to come up. Anything would do. Just something to keep his mind distracted.

"Headline News: A Confusing Occurrence at the Akoroshi Temple. A tombstone was found this morning smashed to bits for reasons unknown..."

Inuyasha's ears perked up. This would be interesting...

* * *

Colorful banners hung high from the buildings. Streamers crossed in the air of the courtyards in strips of rainbows. Groups of boys were building stages and hanging up decorations. People were hurrying around with armfuls of chairs and tables. Food and game stalls were being set up and paper lanterns were being hung. Kagome wasn't sure if she was at Yusako High School anymore.

The atmosphere was so thick with festivity and excitement Kagome could almost taste it. People were chattering excitedly about the upcoming tournaments and the ones they were most eager to see or participate in. Kagome walked through, lost. The buildings were barely recognizable so it was difficult to confirm where she was exactly. Was she in the West Courtyard? There was where the Library was supposed to be...but everything was covered in myriads of colors! Yet, everyone seemed to be getting around with no problem. Maybe each building had a certain amount or a certain type of lanterns and banners hanging off of them...

Amidst the bodies and decor, Kagome noticed a small group of boys gathered around one of the trees. As she drew closer, she saw a boy with unkempt hair in the middle. Now there was only one guy she knew who could match that untidy hair of his.

"Daisuke!" She called out as she started to approach him. He acknowledged her with a look but quickly resumed what he was doing.

He had a clipboard full of papers in one hand and a walkie-talkie in the other. As she drew closer, she could hear him issuing orders to everyone. Every once in a while, he would scribble something down on the clipboard. Once she reached his side, he was continued to give out commands and the group began to thin out .

"- take a group to mow the field and double check the sprinklers. I want the field to be fresh and clean by tomorrow. Tell Akira to take his team and start painting the stage once Kurosaki and his people are done constructing it. Oh, and tell him I want red. I don't care how much he thinks orange is a cool color, I want the stage to be red. That's a direct order from me." The guy he was talking to nodded and left. Daisuke gave a Kagome a quick glance. "I'll be with you in a minute." He turned away to another person. "Start the setups for the Martial Arts Event. I want the sparring circles to be twenty-five feet in diameter and mark 'em with white spray paint. There's a large stock of them in the storage room behind the big gym -"

Eventually, Kagome grew uninterested and turned her attention to her surroundings again. So Daisuke was the one who was behind all this décor and sense of business that was filling the air. Well, the whole place was pretty ornate but in a kind of sensible and good way. He had managed to change the old-fashioned and plain image of the school to one of colorful festivities and modern exquisiteness. People would know that something big and exciting was underway, that some phenomenon was about to happen.

"So how was the Akoroshi Temple?" Daisuke asked as he finally was able to give her his attention.

"It was nice. It's really peaceful up there." She answered as she turned to face him.

He grinned. "Yeah. Did you go in the main hall? That's where all the incense crap that Izumi's crazy about are - Dammit," Daisuke scowled. The walkie-talkie that he had clipped to his pants was chronically interrupting him with short static sounds. Without a moment's hesitation, he turned it off.

"Should you be doing that?" Kagome asked. "I mean, you're in charge and all..."

"Well, they'll just have to suck it up. Besides, they have two other dorm heads to annoy." Daisuke sighed. "Man, this morning was hectic. It took me an hour to get everyone started." He shook his head. "Oh, by the way, did you tell Inuyasha that you were going to the Temple?"

"Ye...No." Oh, crap. So that was what she forgot to do...

"Um, yeah, that became a problem. He wasn't exactly in the best mood so..."

"I should go talk to him."

"For the best interests of everyone, yeah, it would be nice if you did." With a reluctant look, Daisuke muttered. "Well, I have to go back to work." He switched on the walkie-talkie and immediately shouting erupted from it.

"Daisuke? Daisuke?! Are you there?"

Daisuke spoke into it with a careless tone. "Yes, I'm here."

"Where the FUCK have you been?!" the voice screamed. "Things are getting crazy in the East Courtyard! Chiaki tripped over a streamer that was laying on the ground (some idiot didn't hang it up right) and tore all the shit on the Foreign Language Building down. And Akira is painting the stage orange! Kurosaki just tackled him down and a paint fight's starting- "

"Not having fun, are you?"

"Fukumoto, you better get your ass down here or I'll- "

"Alright, alright. I get it. Keep your boxers on. I'll be down there in a minute," Daisuke said as he disappeared amongst the student-workers.

Kagome looked sympathetically after him. Poor dude. Afterwards, she definitely was going to help him to make up for this morning. Well, it was time to deal with Inuyasha...

Oh boy.

* * *

"The grave of Kikyou Hiramoto was found smashed into pieces at 9:30AM this morning. No witnesses were present at the time of the incident so very little information was gathered. The monks at the Akoroshi Temple said that they had very few visitors this morning and none seemed suspicious. Many visitors blame the youkai monks that reside in the temple for this vile act of vandalism, but the other clergy retort that there is no reason that the youkai monks would perform such an act. Investigators, strangely, could only find a small amount of information on Miss Hiramoto when looking for motives for the vandalism. Kikyou Hiramoto was a teenager, who died at a young age of fifteen in a car accident. She was a well-respected student at the nearby Otasku High School, an all girls' school. So far, police have been unable to contact the girl's family..."

Inuyasha sat there, still as a stone. He was too shocked to move, almost too shocked to breathe. Part of that shock was, of course, the destruction of Kikyou's grave. The other part of it was the fact that he wasn't angry. He was upset, yes, but not angry and outraged as he thought he would be. He didn't have the urge to scream in rage and destroy everything in sight. He didn't feel any of the emotions or urges that he felt when Kikyou died. There was no remorse or pain building up in his insides. He was just surprised and disturbed. That was it. And well, he found that a bit weird.

Was he over Kikyou? Nowadays, he found himself dwelling less and less on her and her death. There were things...and people distracting him and he was allowing those distractions into his life. Maybe he was moving on? He never thought he would be able to but it felt like that was what he was doing. Kikyou had been the center of his life and losing her was traumatizing. And now? The destruction of her grave, the obliteration of the resting place of his loved one? Accepting it didn't seem so difficult now. Besides, it wasn't like she was completely gone-

Suddenly, Inuyasha's door burst open, slamming against the wall, causing the books on the shelves on that wall to rattle dangerously. Kagome appeared at the doorway.

"InuyashaI'msorryfornotleavinganotethismorningandnottellingyouw hereIwasbutbeforeyouyellatmeIhavetotellyousomething." Kagome inhaled deeply, preparing to speed through her next sentences, but stopped short.

Inuyasha didn't seem angry at all. She thought he would be but he wasn't at all. He was blinking at her with a blank look on his face waiting for her to continue. Now this was a scenario that she was not prepared for. She then noticed that his radio was on.

"...Investigators have been unable to find any clues at the scene of the crime. The reasons for the destruction of Kikyou Hokuto's grave have yet to be found. We'll keep you updated when more information is gathered. Now moving on. A famous superstar was found shot in a gay bar. Many know him as..."

Oh, dear.

Kagome scuffed her foot on the floor. "Um, so I guess you got the news already..."

Inuyasha's brows scrunched together in further confusion. He pulled his legs up on his chair, folded them, and he leaned back. "Well, yes, you should be sorry, and yes, you should have left a note. Yes, you should be sorry for not telling me or anyone where you were this morning. Yes, I was going to yell at you and what do you have to tell me?"

"Er, well, the Kikyou's grave thing..."

"Oh, I know about that already."

Kagome glanced at the radio. "Well, yeah, I figured." She looked at him, waiting for some reaction. But there was none. He merely looked at her back with a calm expression. After a long stretch of silence, Kagome spoke up. "So...?"

"So what?"

Kagome moved closer to him and sat on the bottom bunk of the bunk bed. "Well, I thought you would have some sort of say in it...I was kind of expecting a more...aggressive reaction too."

"Oh, were you?"

She scrunched up her face irritably and slapped her hands against her lap. "Oh, come on, Inuyasha! I know you're feeling something. Just spit it out already. You can't possibly feel all calm about this."

Inuyasha swiveled his chair so he could face her. "Why not?"

"Uh." Kagome bit her lip as she struggled for words. "Well, it's not like you. I thought you would be more touchy..."

"Well, I am a bit disturbed if that's what you mean."

She blinked. "And?"

"And what?"

"That's it?"

"Yeah, I guess."

Kagome wrinkled her nose. She was expecting more of a challenge. She shifted in her seat. "May I inquire why?"

Inuyasha shrugged carelessly and started to twist his ring around his forefinger. "I'm guess I'm over her now." He frowned slightly. "I was surprised when I heard the news but it didn't seem as upsetting as I thought it would. I mean, I am upset and shocked. It just occurred to me more quickly that I was gonna have to accept it sooner or later. So why not now? What?" He said guardedly as Kagome started to look at him skeptically.

"Are you really Inuyasha? I mean, those words would be way too mature to be coming out of his mouth."

"Hey, it is possible for me to move on, okay?" he said defensively. "I mean...it's kinda of refreshing. I feel like I can breathe again, you know?"

Kagome smiled. "Yeah."

She liked this. Not only that Inuyasha was actually talking to her (finally!), but to know that the burden on his shoulders was slowly lifting off was refreshing and a relief for her too.

"I mean, Kikyou's not really gone," Inuyasha continued. "The Kikyou I knew wasn't in that grave. She never was. She was in here." He pointed to his heart. "And she still is. So unless you ripped out my heart or something, I know she's always gonna be with me."

Kagome stared at him in awe. Wow. That was so sweet.

Then Inuyasha wrinkled his nose. "And I just realized how cheesy I sounded."

She grinned. That was okay. It wasn't like she minded. She was still a girl inside so she was allowed to savor these sweet words, right?

"So where were you?" Inuyasha asked.

"I was at the Akoroshi Temple," she answered.

"Like it there?"

"Yeah, it's really nice there. Very quiet. Very peaceful."

"It's got a big bell."

Kagome laughed. "Yeah, I know."

"It's pretty cool in the summer though. They hold the Obon Festivals there and it's pretty awesome." He cocked his head. "You've never been to an Obon Festival in Japan, have you?"

"Well, no. I go to the ones in America though."

Inuyasha snorted. "Then you've seen nothing yet. Obon Festivals in America are kiddies' birthday parties compared to the ones here. When the time comes, I'll take you."

Kagome grinned inwardly. Oh, then it's a date! Well, it wouldn't be one for him. It'll be a one-sided date kind of. But still, she was going to suck as much of her girl life into this one as she could.

"We'll have a blast," Inuyasha continued, unaware of the thoughts roaming Kagome's head. "Well, with the other guys, it will. Oh, and if the opportunity comes, we can play some great pranks. Usually me and Miroku can figure something out. Well, Izumi might be more on the look out this time...But I think we can still fish something out..."

Kagome's face fell slightly.

Oh damn.

* * *

Miroku hummed cheerfully as his foot waved in the air to the rhythm of his song. On top of the many storage boxes, he lay on his back with his legs bent, one on top of the other, and his hands rested behind his head. His wide grin stretched from ear to ear.

There was no way Daisuke would ever find him in here in the storage room (of the many that the school had). It was secluded, behind the tennis courts. Daisuke probably wouldn't notice his absence anyways. There was still that huge commotion in the East Courtyard and he was soon going to find there would be more in the quad. Besides, it wasn't like Daisuke told him to come back for more orders after he finished setting up the West Courtyard. So he was safe. Or. So he thought.

Suddenly the storage room doors burst open. Miroku cried out, half-blinded by the sunlight that spilled in.

"There you are, Miroku!"

He didn't have to see to know whose voice that was. Dang it.

"Go away, Daisuke," he muttered as he rubbed his eyes.

"What are you doing up there? Come on, we still have a lot of work to do. Is the West Courtyard all done?"

"Mm-hm."

"Okay then I need you to - why are you rubbing your eyes so much? You'll pop them out."

"Well, I don't think that'll matter because I think you seriously damaged my corneas."

Daisuke clicked his tongue annoyingly and pulled Miroku down, and towards the door. "Quit whining. I need you to help Inuyasha and Kagome pull out the taiko drums from the Music Building."

Miroku's eyes peeked open. "Hey, the front of your shirt's all orange," he remarked before rubbing his eyes again.

He heard Daisuke make a disgusted sound. "Yeah, I know. After I broke that fight up in the East Courtyard, I told Akira to do something with the orange paint bucket that he just opened. I mean, he really just wasted the whole thing and...he thought it would be hilarious if he...well, I guess we can say that technically, he did what I told him to. But I'm happy to say that he is now painting the stage (the correct color) along with the 30-foot long banners that we're hanging up in the front of the school. Now will you pick up your feet? I want those drums out quickly."

"But I don't wanna. I mean, they're really heavy," Miroku started as he stepped out of the storage room and blinked his eyes open. The sun was brighter than he thought. "Ahhh! My eyes!"

* * *

The Music Room was huge. It was almost as big as the school's auditorium. Along with many other practice rooms and offices, it was located in a one-story building next to the auditorium. One half of the room was an open space with chairs forming a semi-circle around a small platform and a single music stand. The other half of the room was filled with piles of instruments of all sizes and shapes stacked on top of another. Plaques, trophies, and other awards were placed along the walls and shelves. Of course, Kagome was too busy to give them a closer look.

"Come on, Kagome! Push harder!"

"I'm trying!"

"Then try harder!"

"J-Just- Inuyasha, just SHUT UP!"

"We're never gonna get this thing moving if you don't push harder! Come on! Exert yourself!"

Kagome threw her hands down to her sides in frustration. "Well, I'm sorry!" she said, words dripping with sarcasm. "Apparently, my 'girly strength' isn't enough!" she spat, referring to the offensive comment Inuyasha had made earlier.

"I don't need you to tell me that to know it."

"You know, Inuyasha? Maybe if you helped me, then maybe we can actually get this damn taiko drum moving!"

Inuyasha smiled conceitedly and gave a feigned sigh. "Yeah, I guess I should give you a hand. I mean, with my super inhuman strength and all."

"Go find a corner and rot, Inuyasha."

His grin grew wider. "Don't hate me because I'm stronger than you."

"You should be helping out!"

"Why?"

"Well, you didn't do anything this morning, did you?" Kagome pointed out. "So, you should do something now to make up for what you didn't do this morning."

"I helped you with putting those drums on the carts." Inuyasha said.

"That's not enough!"

"But I never help out on these things."

"Well why don't you use this time to make up for all the times you didn't help out?!"

"But then I'd have to do a shitload of stuff," he whined.

Kagome decided ignored him and put all of her weight on the giant taiko drum, urging it to move. It moved a centimeter.

In the last half hour, Inuyasha and Kagome were able to lug the big drums on carts so they could wheel them outside. But afterwards, Inuyasha got lazy and decided to leave Kagome to pushing it outside while he found a sofa and rested on it. Right now, never had she had this strong of an urge to strangle someone. That someone being Inuyasha.

Suddenly Inuyasha appeared by her side and he braced his hands on the edge of the drum.

"Oh, so you're helping out now?" she said wryly.

"Daisuke's coming," he hissed.

Before Kagome could do anything, Inuyasha pushed the drum out of her hands and towards the door with unnatural ease. Kagome stood there gaping. He wasn't joking. Inuyasha was strong. 'Well' she thought as she pouted. 'He could have at least been modest about it.' And why did he say Daisuke was coming? She didn't hear anyone coming.

A couple seconds later, she could hear two familiar voices coming from outside. Ah. That explained it.

Daisuke and Miroku appeared in the doorway.

"Ah, good. You're working, Inuyasha," Daisuke remarked. He looked at Kagome who was still standing there. "Kagome, what are you doing? You should be helping Inuyasha."

Kagome glowered at Inuyasha as he turned and smirked at her.

"Miroku and Inuyasha, I want you two to take the taiko drums and set them behind the stage," Daisuke directed, ignoring the groans and moans erupting from the two. "Set them up where it'll be easy to pull them onto the stage. And Kagome, take out the music stands and find Shun. He'll tell you what to do with them. The stands are in one of those closets over there." He pointed across the room.

"Wait, why does Kagome get to take out the music stands?" Inuyasha complained.

Miroku joined in. "Yeah! These drums are freakishly heavy."

"One, 'cause you two are the only ones who I know for sure won't let any harm come to our expensive taiko drums. Two, 'cause I told you to. Three, 'cause you two need to suck it up," was the response Daisuke gave them. "Now come on. There're a lot of things that need to be done."

Before they could protest any further, Daisuke left them. A few minutes later, Miroku and Inuyasha pushed the cart of taiko drums out of the Music Room (with much muttering and grumbling).

Kagome turned around and walked to the other side of the instrument-crowded room. Daisuke said the music stands were in one of the closets in front of her. It would have been nice if he mentioned which one though...

As she drew closer to the closets, Kagome accidentally knocked over a opened instrument case and she instinctively moved to catch the falling instrument and its case. Immediately, a tang of familiarity shot through her hands as she caught it. Kagome put aside the case and gave the violin a closer look.

She ran her hand across the smooth polished wood of the fragile instrument. She plucked one of the strings and its sweet soft sound rang through the room. She hadn't touched a violin in years.

When she was young and before her parents divorced, they took her to an orchestra concert. There, she became dazzled with the violin and was determined to play one at least once in her lifetime. She took lessons and after managing to teach her how to read and play notes, her music instructor gave up on her. Kagome smiled as she traced the curves of the instrument with her fingers. No matter how hard her teacher tried, he could never get her to play the music on the music sheets right. She would start correctly and then transformed it into a completely different unwritten song of her own. Her teacher left in a huff, saying that she did not have the discipline or patience for the art of playing the violin. But Kagome didn't care.

Once she learned the violin positions and keys, all she wanted to do was play. She just wanted to play songs from her own heart. That way, she could say that they were her songs. Not Beethoven's or Mozart's. Hers.

They would be reflections of her mood. The melodies would change with the emotions in her heart and if she was upset or confused, hearing herself play would calm her down. But then, school started to become more important and Kagome had to set the violin down. It had been awhile now.

'I wonder if I can still remember how to play,' she thought as she looked longingly at the violin bow that still lay in the case. Kagome put the violin down and walked over to the door to shut it. The walls of the Music Room were soundproof, so that when the orchestra or band was playing, they wouldn't disturb the nearby classes.

Kagome walked back to the violin and picked it up, and reached for the bow. She positioned the violin on her shoulder and beneath her chin and adjusted her fingers on the stem as well as her grip on the violin bow. Slowly the feeling of unfamiliarity started to creep down her arms and into her fingers but Kagome forced it away.

Her mind might not be able to remember how to play but she didn't need it to. All she needed to do was to let her heart guide her fingers and the movement of her arms. Just from that, she knew some sort of a lovely melody would be produced. It would be enough to satisfy the part of her heart that ached to play again.

* * *

Inuyasha gripped his left shoulder with his right hand as he moved his left arm in circular motions in trying to soothe his aching muscles. He hated those drums. It was fun playing on them but moving them around was just a big pain in the arse. With an annoyed scowl on his face, Inuyasha made his way to the Music Room. On Daisuke's orders, of course. Scowl.

What was taking her so long anyways? All she had to do was take out some music stands and it had been twenty minutes. Maybe a piano fell on her. Now that would end all of his troubles for him. Well, he really was being hopeful.

Once Inuyasha opened the door to the one-story building, he stopped and he listened in rapt attention to the strange melody that caught his ears. He followed it a little down the corridor and stopped again. He turned to the door next to him. It was coming from the Music Room.

The walls of the Music Room were soundproof but for the ears of normal beings. Inuyasha wasn't normal.

Inuyasha curiously opened the door a peek and musical notes flooded out. Curiosity provoked him further and he opened the door more. He froze, clearly caught off guard at what he saw. There, in the corner of the room was a petite figure that he immediately recognized as Kagome's.

What in the hell fire...?

Unable to do anything, he just stood there, watching her as her arms moved in subtle triangular motions with an unmatched grace and her fingers on the stem of the violin danced small steps to make the song's vibrato stronger. But she wasn't reading any music off of music sheets. Her eyes were fixated on her fingers on the violin like she was watching from a bystander's perspective.

And the song itself? At first, he thought it was Beethoven's 'Moonlight Sonata', but when he listened more closely, he realized how contorted and different the song sounded. It sounded like for every note or measure she couldn't remember, she added one of her own, which seemed to be a lot.

But from listening to the song alone, he could almost feel the emotions being poured out from it. It was content and happy, as if a longing ache in her heart had just been relieved. As cheesy as it might sound, Inuyasha knew that this song was coming from her own soul. It was uplifting, simple in melody yet elaborate in tone. It was like he was actually watching her soul at play, expressing feelings that no words can ever describe.

It felt like he was watching her emotions dance through the air as the tempo picked up and slowed down, enchanting his ears to listen on forever.

Inuyasha closed the door partially, leaving it a crack open so the music could still flow through. He sat down against the wall and stayed still as he listened to the soft impressions of the haunting melody.

AN: Sorry, again, for not updating in such a long time.

Aw yes, and the part with the superstar being shot in a gay bar. Yes, after reading Rosefire's Dead Famous, I couldn't resist. So yeah. There's my disclaimer. ^^

Analysis

You know when you're reading a book for school, how your teachers make you analyze it? Like, what were the themes? Or, what was the point of this scene or the importance of this character? You continue into the story, you find the depth and meaning of it as everything builds up to the themes, and they make you go, "....Ohhh..." That, or you know it, it's just that you don't actually take the time to sit down and think about it. At first, you kinda hate it though, 'cos, you know, more work for you to do (aside from the part that the story just makes a whole lot more sense). Well, after every couple of chapters, I'm thinking of putting in a story analysis, 'cos yes, I'm actually trying to make a say through this story and not just wasting space on the ff.net server with my collection of incoherent words. Not everything that an author tries to show in his/her story can be directly put in. A lot of these things are subtle and if they are directly stated, it disrupts the flow of the story, and we don't want that. The reader needs to stop and think about the story and try to interpret on their own on what themes or teachings the author's trying to point out in their stories.

But of course I realized that if you're lazy like me, you're not gonna want do that on your own. So a story analysis is going to appear at the end of some random chapter which will be written by yours truly. Some of you may ask, "Why? Why are you doing this to us, Renko? We just want to read without thinking!" Well, I'm sorry, but I realized that there're gonna be parts where the story will be confusing without knowing the depth and meaning behind it. I want you guys to run through this story without any confusion and come out thinking, "Hey, not only did I finish this story, but I actually understand it too!" But if you really don't care about this 'depth' stuff, you can just skip on ahead and review, telling me that I'm just being a butthead and wasting space (um, I'm kidding...you know that right?) So in this particular analysis, you will understand the characters more (their motives, ideals, etc.) and if you have any questions, they will be answered in here. This is really a big benefit on your part. I mean, all you guys have to do is sit back and read and I'm really doing all the work. So please enjoy this. ^_^

All right, so here we go. We'll start with analysing the characters.

The Expectations of Society

Kagome. Oh our dear Kagome. She's practically a total failure as a guy but has the brains to make up for it (which isn't much of a card to play...). I'm pretty sure I mentioned that Kagome came to Yusako High knowing what she was sacrificing in this choice. But as we all know, we don't realized the value of things until we lose them. This is what's happening to Kagome. The absence of her feminine life is starting to take a toll on her as she struggles to convince others that she's a guy. Unconsciously, pieces of her feminine personality are falling into her all boys' school life which is why some of her actions may seem a bit more girlish than we'd want. I guess, you can say that she's going through a bit of an identity crisis. How can she be herself when she's under this male mask?

Our society's definition of a male adolescent is someone who is strong, tough, rough, and "manly." Sensitiveness, display of fear (of small things, usually), bashfullness, understanding, or an open display of caring for a friend (even of the same sex) rarely make a stand in this "man-ness" and those who possess such characteristics are considered gay. And being humans, we don't want to be called something that we don't want to be (although sometimes the other person may be right). You can say that I'm wrong and that it's not true, but realistically, aren't I right? (<- what a weird sentence) When Kagome openly showed her concern for Inuyasha, or Daisuke to Kagome, people made comments like, "Oh, you just made Kagome sound gay". Or "Daisuke must be gay". It's not necessary a bad thing, it's just the influence that our society puts on us. In real life, there are guys who are sensitive and open about their concerns for others and we know that they aren't gay. So we shouldn't judge too quickly.

Now, going back to Kagome, how can she go by society's expectations yet still be herself? The amazing thing is, she manages to do both. Kagome manages to lodge it into her peers' heads that she's a guy despite the influence that society had forced upon her peers. That, and she's still Kagome. Her honesty, her need to help others, and her open cheerfulness still shines through her actions and words, brightening the lives around her. What I'm trying to say here is whether it's guy or girl, Kagome can still be Kagome. It isn't necessarily the gender that influences who we are, it's us. We are the ones who determine who we are going to be. We are the ones who make the choices in our lives, whether it's to defy society or to go along with it. You can say that's what so special about Kagome. She can still be herself no matter what situation she's placed under, or in this case, gender.

Now, I mentioned before about the sacrifices that Kagome makes in order to be successful in Yusako High. I think we can see that it's obvious that Kagome clearly misses her old life. Because of this, she accidentally drops hints that she isn't who she says she is (which later leads to Daisuke's suspicions). You can say that this is because Kagome's naive. Because she dwells so much on what she lost, she doesn't realizes the danger she's putting herself in. But does she regret sacrificing her past life? Probably not. If it weren't for those sacrifices, she wouldn't have been able to meet Inuyasha, Miroku, Dr. Izumi, and Daisuke - people who will become important figures in her life. Although, that doesn't stop her from trying to relate her girl life into her boy one as much as she can. Even though she may not be able to live her girl life completely, it doesn't mean she can't put parts of it into her current one.

Now, Doctor Izumi. God, I love this guy. He's smart. He's hot (I will somehow show you a picture). He's cynical. He's logical. He's a doctor. He's gay, but I could really care less. We have yet to see him in any gay acts but I don't want to ruin your virgin eyes too quickly. *insert BIG grin*.

Now, why is he so cool? Well, first of all, it's his gayness. Yes. His gayness. Everyone knows that he's gay but have you seen anyone say anything cruel about it? Again, because of the influence of our society, we tend to discriminate against homosexuals. BUT, do you see anyone discriminating Izumi? No! His personality is so strong and fearless and it demands respect. And people give it to him. (And also, because I say so. ^_^) He's a no-nonense kind of guy but he's always helping people through his own subtle ways. What's also awesome about him is that he's not afraid. He doesn't care about what other people think. He knows he's gay and he's open about it (note his blunt, "'cos I'm gay" speech). And people respect him for that. He has great doctoring skills (which we will see soon) along with great listening skills. Although he complains about it, he gives great advice because he's understanding enough to do so. He's like, 27 years-old. He can do that. You can see now why Kagome goes to him all the time. But of course, (bad points are:) he has horrible organizing skills. He gets angry a lot (and easily) and becomes quite a menacing guy. I still love him though.

Now, Aki. Our lovely, witty, funny, bitchy Aki. Who also has a short temper and is a tomboy to boot. She's also pretty judgemental. When Aki first meets Inuyasha, she immediately disliked him yet she barely knew him. Instead of geting to know him, she draws her conclusions from the image that she builds up for him. There's seems to be a lot of bad things about Aki, huh? When I created Aki, I wasn't sure if I wanted you guys to like her or not. Well, do you? I mean, I do because I created her (duh) and because her personality is so complex.

Aki is kinda like Kagome's pillar. She's the one who will catch Kagome when she falls and hold her when she cries. This is evident in the beginning when Kagome seeks Aki's support. Kagome relies a lot on Aki because she's kinda like the older sister that she never had, and Aki knows that. But this creates a flaw in their relationship. Because of this, Aki becomes a bit too overprotective of Kagome which foreshadows unwise decisions that are made later in the story. But Aki's actions are subtle so Kagome doesn't see that she's suffocating from the lack of freedom. Also, Kagome depends a bit too much on Aki. In the scene where Kagome goes to Aki to discuss her first vision, Kagome could've figure it out on her own but the insecurity in herself prevents her from doing that and she runs to Aki for help instead. A part of growing out of our immaturity comes from figuring out our troubles and problems by ourselves. Kagome's preventing herself from growing by depending too much on Aki and Aki's overprotectiveness isn't helping her either. But we'll see how that will go...

Okay, well that's gonna be it for now. I'll continue more next time. I hope this was helpful. Give me some feedback about this analyzing stuff. I mean, if you don't like it then there's really no point in having this and I'm really just taking up space (since this is all really for your own benefit). Hm, well, review and tell me, and we'll see if this analysis thing will continue. ^__^