InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Playgrounds of the Mind ❯ Fame ( Chapter 8 )

Playgrounds of the Mind

Chapter Eight: Fame

[Disclaimer: Inuyasha, "Everlasting Love" and "Move it like this" do not belong to me]

Author's notes: Wow! I got so many reviews right away! Thank you so much! ^_^ Especially to my reviewers who review every chapter-your input is very important to me. Keep up the good work!

CHALLENGE ANSWER: Yes, it was Akane who said those words to Happosai when he was ill from an unlucky arrangement of the stars. Congrats to those who guessed right!

Akane: oh no! Oh no! Don't die, don't die!

Happosai: (jumps up and crushes himself to Akane's chest) Akane you saved me!

Akane: (smacks him down) Glad you're feeling better. (Rushes out of room to poison the rest of the family)

Hee hee, too funny! In a way, I see a softer side of Akane in Rin. And a slightly harder side in Kagome!

Well, on with the story! And next challenge at the end, as usual.

Sango could not believe Kagome's evening. Her eyes grew wide and she gasped for breath more than was necessary. At the end she finally burst into peals of laughter.

"You're not angry, are you, Sango?" Kagome bit her bottom lip.

"Only that you didn't let me come too! Why am I always missing the best interactions between you and Inuyasha? And how could I miss Miroku drowning in potting soil? Now that's unacceptable!" The girls laughed helplessly some more.

Sango became serious again. "Kagome, I need to warn you about something. Tomorrow is the first day of class, and as luck would have it, we're going to have Psychology first thing in the morning with Professor Chopin."

"Um, how is that bad?"

"Oh Kagome, you naïve girl. Professor Chopin is insane. She comes up with the worst and most embarrassing assignments, because she believes that humility brings out the id of the soul, or some such crap. It should be illegal under medical malpractice!"

"Embarrassing assignments?" Kagome questioned.

"Yes, and they're usually all in class, so everyone can see. And I saw the roster for our class. Every jerk's in it. I mean, everyone: Kagura, Yura, Kouga, Hiten, and upperclassmen and a bunch of freshman too. It's a big mix. I think I remember seeing Sesshoumaru's name up there too." She shuddered.

"What's the worst that could happen?" Kagome had to ask.

"Lets just say that last year, Chopin encouraged Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru to battle to the death. And in class too, so she could grade it!" Sango rubbed her arms in a comforting manner.

"And we have this class three times a week," Kagome added. Sango groaned louder. She got up and retrieved something from under her bed.

"Kagome, these are good luck charms I fashioned to protect against her insanity." She paused melodramatically. "I want you to have one."

"Thanks Sango," Kagome said, touched.

"You'd better make some too," Sango advised, clutching her charm box.

Next morning, early enough to still be semi-dark, Kagome sat up abruptly and tried to stop the wail of her alarm clock. She moaned in agitation and got up to get ready. She and Sango met in the dinning hall to eat a quick breakfast.

"Did you bring your charm?"

"Yep," Kagome affirmed.

"Let's hope they work."

"Oh lord, are you still doing that?" Miroku asked incredulously. "You've been trying that for the past two years, and it does absolutely nothing!"

"Yeah, it probably brings on more bad luck!" Inuyasha grumbled. He was clearly not looking forward to a class with his brother and best enemy.

"That's true. Give me that," he reached for the charm. Sango simply got up and let Miroku crash unceremoniously to the floor.

"Miroku has absolutely no coordination in the morning," she instructed Kagome.

The four classmates made their way to class, dragging their feet the entire way.

Kagome looked at the classroom in appreciation. It was state of the art, as was everything here. A large glass façade tempted the students with the freedom of the outdoors. She and Sango chose seats in the third row; Miroku and Inuyasha sat behind them. Other students filed in. Sango and Kagura exchanged death looks. Kouga and Inuyasha exchanged similar looks. Then Kouga and Kagura glared at each other.

This atmosphere is terrible, Kagome thought. It was so charged, she was sure if there were a sudden storm outside, lightning would strike the room. Seconds later, a middle-aged woman walked in. She smoothed her brown bob and put down her briefcase. She regarded the students as a cat would regard a mouse caught in a corner. She smiled primly.

"Everyone, get up now, you have assigned seats." The students shuffled to the side of the room.

"And it begins," Miroku sighed. Inuyasha glumly stared out the window. It was beginning to look gray outside.

Professor Chopin read off the names of the students, rapping a desk where each would sit for the semester. Inuyasha found himself sandwiched between Kouga and Sesshoumaru. He huffed angrily and sat rigidly in his seat, staring ahead, his eyes boring a hole into the dry erase board. Sesshoumaru and Kouga followed a similar routine, of ignoring their neighbors. Sango, Kagura and Kagome ended up in that order, with Rin on the end. Kagome noticed Kanna and the freshman she remembered, Shippou, behind them, along with others she did not recognize. Sango spotted her brother across the room and waved quickly.

Well, most of the people I know so far are here, Kagome figured, so it can't be that bad. She looked over to Sango who was seething at Kagura's upturned nose. Or not, Kagome concluded.

Professor Chopin walked up to the front and started plugging something in. It looked suspiciously like the karaoke machines Kagome remembered from popular hangouts back home.

"To begin our learning this semester," the teacher spoke, "we will discover the means to freeing ourselves from inhibitions."

Inuyasha and Sango paled, but Miroku seemed to be interested. He sat forward in his seat, in front of Inuyasha's row, next to Hiten and Yura.

"Famous singers often have no inhibitions," the teacher continued, "so we will be attempting to free ourselves similarly, by singing, in pairs and later, solo." She took out some papers and distributed them.

Miroku now paled to match Sango and Inuyasha. Kouga and Rin did not look so good either; Sesshoumaru wore a mask of detachment as usual. Kagome did not know what to think or feel.

"Students, look over these songs I've chosen. Feel free to speak to one another for a few minutes while I continue to set up the equipment. In a flurry of movement, the classroom was in flux, with students rushing over to their friends to complain, the songs entirely forgotten.

Miroku reached the girls first, and he took Kagura's empty seat. "Your damn charms caused this!" He glared at Sango. "Give them up!" He reached over and grabbed one from Sango's hand, desperately trying to free it. She pulled back and pummeled his with her other hand.

"Stop it, Miroku! Are you crazy?" She demanded, safely tucking her charm away.

"Yes! She's trying to make us all mad! She wants us to become her next patients in the school's mental ward!"

"There are enough psychos in this room already," Inuyasha observed. "She doesn't need all of us." Kagome giggled lightly at this.

"Sure, you're laughing now," Miroku warned. "But she'll get the last laugh. She always does."

Inuyasha tried to study the sheet. "What kind of crap is on here, anyway?"

At that moment the professor motioned for the students to take their assigned seats once more. She looked over her charts.

"Let's see, first up we'll have Mr. West the younger, and . . . " she let her eyes wander over the room, and noticed Kagome staring at Inuyasha out of the corner of her eyes. "and Ms. Higurashi. You'll sing the first duet on the list." She popped a CD into the player. "Inuyasha, your lines will be in blue, Kagome, yours will be in yellow. Any questions?"

Kagome had not moved from her seat, frozen in fear. Inuyasha looked at the window as if he wanted to jump out of it, four stories up or not.

"Well, come now. Don't be shy," the teacher smiled, as if pleased with herself. "This is exactly what I was talking about, releasing our inhibitions."

"Our inhibitions," Kagome hissed to Sango, "she's not singing anything!" Sango gave her a sympathetic look and rubbed her charm furiously, wishing for better luck for herself.

Kagome shakily got up and made her way to the front. Inuyasha slinked out of his chair and sauntered over, whispering into her ear.

"Look, let's give this our best shot, or else we'll never live it down," he instructed. He nudged her arm and she nodded, tensely.

They stood facing each other, so that they could both still see the karaoke screen, where the words would be shown. Momentarily, the title appeared.

Everlasting Love.

What, Inuyasha choked internally. He had not had a chance to read the paper before now. He put a confident look on his face for Kagome's sake, so she would not pass out or something.

The music began and Kagome's heart seemed to thump harder and harder until she could not hear anything but the blood rushing in her ears.

The first words appear, in blue.

Inuyasha took a deep breath. "Hearts go astray, leaving hurt when they go/ I went away just when you needed me so"

Kagome saw the next two were in yellow, and she too took a deep breath. "Filled with regret, I come back, begging you/ Forgive, forget, where's the love we once knew"

Then the chorus came up. The lines were in both colors, so Inuyasha and Kagome figured they were both supposed to sing.

"Open up your eyes, then you'll realize
/ Here I stand with my everlasting love"

Inuyasha sang again, "Need you by my side, girl to be my bride
/ You'll never be denied everlasting love"

Then it was Kagome's turn, "From the very start, open up your heart
/ Be a lasting part of everlasting love"

The next lines were in blue again. Inuyasha took a more relaxed stance and looked directly at Kagome as he delivered his lines, "Where life's river flow, no one really knows/ Till someone's there to show the way to lasting love"

Kagome noted the upcoming yellow lines and similarly squared her shoulders and looked at Inuyasha. "Like the sun that shines, endlessly it shines/ You always will be mine, it's eternal love"

Inuyasha flipped the microphone to his other hand in a showy manner and sang, "When other loves are gone, ours will still be strong/ We have our very own everlasting love"

Kagome was beginning to feel braver and she too decided to show off some. She shook her head, throwing back her hair and launched more forcefully into her lines, "Open up your eyes, then you'll realize/ Here I stand with my everlasting love"

Inuyasha took the cue from her and continued to sing directly to her, but at the same time putting the whole thing on display for the class. "Need you by my side, girl to be my bride/ You'll never be denied everlasting love"

The two circled each other masterfully, keeping to the beat and came to stand where the other had just stood. Kagome sang her lines to artfully overlap Inuyasha's last, "From the very start, open up your heart/ Be a lasting part of everlasting love"

They sang the chorus together, managing to share the lines yet make each one seem like it was personal. As Inuyasha was singing his last few words, he got down on one knee and took Kagome's outstretched hand into his own. He held it, staring into her face as she sang. When she came to a finish he lightly kissed the top of her knuckles. Kagome blushed furiously and did a little curtsy to her partner.

"Well done," Professor Chopin said, startling the two who had somehow forgotten everyone else in the room. The duet partners looked around the room. Miroku seemed shocked and seemed frozen in his seat. Sango similarly had her jaw hanging open, her charm drooping loosely from her fingers. Rin was smiling fondly, as were a few of the other freshman. Kouga seemed somehow upset, although he tried to look smug, as if he were going to tease Inuyasha later. Sesshoumaru simply looked bored, although his eyes betrayed a sense of displeasure for having to even be in the same room as everyone else. Kagura and Yura both seemed a bit smitten, but covered it up with a look of arrogance or distance.

"You both managed to become much looser towards the end. I'm sure you can both do as well for the solos."

Inuyasha rose up and scoffed, "Heh. Not like it was challenging." The professor instructed the two to return to their seats. Inuyasha slid as far as he could go into his, crossing his arms and staring straight ahead. Kagome barely made it to her seat before she collapsed into it.

Sango leaned over Kagura, who tried to fend her off. Sango simply ignored her silent glares. "Kagome," she hissed, "that was great! You sounded good, that wasn't embarrassing at all!"

What was she talking about, Kagome gasped. She felt that her head would explode any minute. She looked over to the other side of the room. Inuyasha would not meet her eyes, and the way Kouga was staring at her. . . She shivered, and realized she was actually covered in a thin sheen of sweat. Trying to take her mind off of her discomfort, Kagome turned her attention to the professor again. The teacher had launched herself into a discussion of Inuyasha's and Kagome's body language, and other things. Kagome simply wanted to die. She sat for a good fifteen minutes, shakily running her pen over the same line in her notebook, over and over again until she had poked through to the other side.

"All right, enough of that," Professor Chopin decreed, looking to her notes again.

Finally, Inuyasha thought, slowly releasing a sigh. He had gone into partial meditation, trying to drown out her awful voice. What was Kagome thinking, he wondered, but he did not dare look. When is it going to be Sess's turn?, he snickered to himself. Now that would make up for his having to go first. Even better if Sesshoumaru sang a duet with Kouga. The thought almost made him laugh out loud.

Sango found herself rather jealous. I bet Miroku could never sing that way to me, she thought. Then she slapped herself mentally. What kind of though was that? The gods would curse her for sure, now! She was doomed. She would be paired up with Miroku, she just knew it. She wanted to scream but kept herself in check. She purposefully knocked over Kagura's book with her elbow, anything to extract a little steam. Kagura gave her a death glare and bent to retrieve her book.

"Okay, I think Mr. Monk will be next."

Sango felt the blood drain out of her face. It was coming true! She looked around for a distraction, desperately wondering if she could knock one of the overhead lamps off of its post and let in smack Kagura in the head. Medical emergencies usually took up a lot of time.

"Now we'll hear a solo to break up our analysis a bit," the teacher informed the class.

Sango's relief was almost audible, and she slouched across her desk, strangely feeling dehydrated. She quickly snatched up her lucky charm and kissed it passionately. Kagura stared at her, dumbstruck by the other's strange behavior. Sango turned her face to the wall. Kagura made a mental note to ask Professor Chopin for a seat change.

Miroku was now at the head of the room, looking at the paper he was given. He glanced up and gave Sango a wink.

Why . . . ?, she trailed off, feeling a new worry taking hold and crushing her cerebrum.

The class stared at the screen and Miroku launched into his song, evidently liking the one he got. The chorus was sung by the original songwriters, but Miroku enjoyed yelling them out anyway.

"Can you move it like this? I can shake it like that/ Can you move it like this? I can shake it like that/ Can you move it like this? I can shake it like that/ C'mon ladies rock the party Shake your body everybody!"

Miroku made full use of the stage area, flaunting moves and acting very much like a pop star.

"C'mon everybody/ Let's move it all night/ Let's take it back to the old school/ Can you feel the vibe yeah/ Just dance to the rhythm and let me/ See ya wind your waistline/ Jump back and the do the twist/ And the electric slide yeah!" Miroku imitated the dances he was singing, twisting and then doing the electric slide.

The eighties live, Inuyasha smirked to himself. Watching Miroku completely make a food of himself was not as funny as it would be if it were Kouga or Sesshoumaru, but it was better than nothing. Inuyasha began to enjoy the show, deciding to record it. He pulled out a mini-video camera and started committing the act to permanent film. He figured he could sell this to Sango, or blackmail Miroku.

Miroku meanwhile, was in full force, "Remember back in the day/ When we used to dance the Boogaloo/ Everybody used to rock the beat/ Solid Gold kickin' up too/ And everybody rock together with the DJ when he plays/ Smooth music is kickin' clippin'/ We rush back and we keep dippin'." He grinned and masterfully slid across the room on his knees, coming up just short of Sango's desk.

"C'mon baby let's rock let's rock," he crooned, proffering a hand to Sango. She tried, in turn, to keep from kicking him. It was so tempting.

Shrugging his shoulders at her demeanor, he jumped up again and went over to Yura. "We gonna get up on the dance floor and do the Pee wee Herman/ So shake it up/ And do the bus stop," he motioned for Yura to join him. She smiled alluringly and ran her ankle up against his leg. Sango nearly burst out of her seat. By now, everyone in the class was cheering and egging the two on. Sango wanted to stand up and scream at everybody to shut up.

Why isn't he embarrassed? Sango could not figure it out. By all means, he should finish his song by jumping out the window and ending it all. I mean, she though hard, I'm embarrassed for him, it's so bad! But why? A smaller voice asked. Is it because you see him as your potential boyfriend, and his embarrassing escapades become yours? My god, Sango thought, Professor Chopin really was making her crazy. Already, she had kissed a lucky charm, attempted to cause bodily harm to Kagura (not really so out of the ordinary, but still), gotten jealous over nothing, and now was having a conversation with a voice in her head. A crazy voice on top of that! Sango groaned, letting her head fall into her crossed arms on her desk. Maybe she could convince the headmaster to let her transfer to another class, for health reasons.

Miroku finished his song with a flourish, "Yeah New York! You're beautiful! I love you!" He wiped his brow and went to sit in his seat. He gave Inuyasha, Kagome and Sango the thumbs up sign. Inuyasha shut off his recorder and carefully hid it away. The students were cheering and clapping energetically. The guys yelled out congratulations to Miroku.

"That was excellent, Miroku," the professor smiled. "We'll have to find you an equally talented partner for the duet."

I'm not talented, I'm not talented, Sango chanted to herself, her hands finding their way to her charm again, although now she did not know if it were cursed or lucky or a bit of both.

Thankfully the bell sounded, and class was over. Everyone gathered his or her possessions. Professor Chopin yelled out to read chapter two of their Modern Psychology textbook.

"I hope it's the chapter that discusses the signs for when someone needs to commit themselves," Sango mumbled to no one in particular. She hoped the voice would not answer.

"Miroku-" Sango began when he drew near, but was cut off.

"Hey, man, not too shabby."

"Inuyasha!" Sango wailed, "don't encourage him!"

"Miroku, you were wonderful!"

"Kagome! Not you too!" Sango sobbed, "He was awful, I was so embarrassed I couldn't breathe!"

"Why were you embarrassed?" Kagome innocently inquired.

"You didn't see the show she put on all by herself," Kagura muttered as she pushed past the four friends.

"Huh?" Inuyasha watched her go. "What was she talking about?"

Sango just hung her head. "I give up," she sighed. She trudged after the other three, on their way to their next class, vowing to throw out all her CDs so that she would never hear music again.

Author's Endnotes: Well, there you go, karaoke! Poor Sango, I wonder if they even make headache medicine strong enough for that. But the singing isn't over yet! That's right there's more! BWUhaha! But it's not the same kind of situation. . stay tuned for the next twisted installment.

CHALLENGE: Why is this chapter called "fame"? There are probably lots of different responses you guys can come up with, so I'll be waiting in anticipation to hear some of your great ideas! ^_^

REVIEW please! Did you like the songs? Hated them? Let me know!