InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Siren ❯ Chapter 13 ( Chapter 14 )
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Drama / Comedy | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 01.16.2007 | Updated On: 01.16.2007 | Pages: 5 | Words: 7.1K | Visits: 393 | Status: Completed
A/N: Oh my god, I am so eternally sorry that this took so long to finish! This one's a bit more filler than the others, but it demanded to be written. There are a few things that make me go O.o but they refused to be changed, so here they are. This chap is about 22 pages long and is the second section of the previous chap...The next chap should end both the meta-chap and Act I.
Disclaimer: I. Own. Nothing.
Note: Italic Lyrics are Kagome singing
Bold Lyrics are Her duet partner
Combo Lyrics are Both
Inuyasha, for once sitting down at his desk, stared at the teen in front of him. He nearly asked if the student thought he was an idiot, but somehow managed to hold his tongue. “You’re fine,” he finally said. “Get back to work.”
“But,” the student sputtered. “I feel really sick.”
“You smell like pot,” Inuyasha countered. “Get back to work.”
“Shit, man, you’re supposed to let us go!”
“Not to smoke,” shaking his head, the hanyou turned his attention to the tabs he was writing, signaling the end of the conversation. He didn’t look up when the door opened, figuring that the student was leaving.
“Kags!”
Nope, the twerp hadn’t even moved. “Tell this asshole to let me go! I feel sick!”
When the only response from the normally outgoing woman was a distracted hum, Inuyasha raised his eyes. She looked like an addict going through withdrawal: she was shaking, unfocused.
Worst of all, she looked scared.
“Oi, wench!”
No response.
“Woman!” he tried again. “What’s wrong with you?”
Nothing.
“Look, bit-“ she jumped.
Jessica, one of the more advanced students, snapped her fingers to get his attention and then looked to Kagome pointedly. The hanyou gave her a dry look before pointing to her guitar. The girl was worried, so he’d forgive her for flipping him off.
Returning his attention to the problem at hand, Inuyasha snapped, “Get back to work!” not missing the wince Kagome gave.
His next action may not have been the wisest. Leaving his desk, he stormed over to where Kagome was leaning dazedly against a wall, her head in her hands. Wasting no time, he grabbed her wrist and proceeded to bodily haul her out of the room.
Breaking out of her stupor, Kagome struggled against him, demanding weakly that he let her go. He stubbornly refused until they had left the room and were outside next to the stairwell.
“Talk,” he ordered tersely.
Apparently, she was still herself enough to be sarcastic. “A squared plus B squared is equal to C squared.”
He scowled at her. “You know exactly what I meant.”
She glowered right back. “OB/GYN appointment.”
“Bullshit.”
“Lost a bet.”
“Don’t think so.”
“Have a headache,” she pointedly glanced over his shoulder.
“That one I’ll believe,” he nodded. Hearing the somewhat muffled gossip going on just behind the door, he leaned against it, blocking the small window. “What caused it?”
“An aggressive asshole,” she sighed.
Inuyasha allowed a small smirk. “That the best you can come up with? You’re off your game.”
“Not you,” under her breath, she added, “for once.”
Frowning, the hanyou asked quietly, “Wha’d he do?”
Pushing a hand through her windblown hair, she turned her gaze to the ground. “Just talked.”
Eyes narrowing, he failed to notice that his tone had turned to that of a parent dealing with an uncooperative child. “Kagome.”
Kagome looked up at him, partially out of annoyance, but mainly to let him see that she was in fact serious.
For a brief moment, Inuyasha wanted to continue the conversation…But then he heard a few of the students, their view obstructed and their imaginations rampant, let out some rather lewd speculation.
Kagome smiled slightly as his left ear flicked, perhaps in an effort to shake off the words, and he turned his head to glare at the door. Her smile grew as his ear began an almost spasmodic series of flicks and his glare grew steadily more heated. “Maybe we should talk later?” she offered.
He nodded slightly, gave a small growl, and turned to open the door. Kagome heard several groans of upset.
Still smiling to herself, she wondered if that imperious gait was hereditary, or if both of the Mamoru sons just loved imitating their father. She moved to stand in the doorway, watching curiously as, wordlessly, the hanyou snatched an unused music stand and a sheaf of papers and arranged them near a stool in the middle of the studio.
Jessica was soon standing next to her. “What do you figure this is?”
Kagome shrugged. “No clue. Then again, it’s not my problem, is it?”
The red-haired student took a playful swat at the older woman.
“Uh, Teach,” Jayson, one of the more eccentric students, piped up. “What exactly is this?”
“This,” Kagome could hear the smirk in Inuyasha’s voice, “is your progress report grade.”
Among the balking moans, there were a few murmurs of “What the hell?”
“That’s not due for a week!” one student cried.
“Not my problem,” he didn’t even look up as he casually placed an electric and an acoustic on stands near the stool.
Jessica gave Kagome a look. The singer merely smiled.
“Now that you’ve shut up,” Inuyasha continued. “Any volunteers?”
After thirty seconds of absolute silence, Danny, the same one Inuyasha had been arguing with, snorted. “Damn! Bunch ‘a pussies! How hard can it be?”
“Nice of you to volunteer,” the hanyou smirked. “If you’ll take a seat right here…”
There was a series of goading ‘oh’s as Danny swaggered towards the stool. The teen studied the three piles of paper for a moment before he pointed to one and declared, “That’s not humanly possible!”
“Then don’t try it,” came the brusque answer.
Danny was quiet for a short while before he picked up the acoustic and began to play what Kagome recognized as a hesitant ‘Sailorman’s Hymn’. He made it through the first verse and chorus before replacing the acoustic, throwing an arrogant smirk towards Inuyasha, and swaggering back to his place.
The hanyou merely rolled his eyes, removed the papers from their stack, and called, “Next?”
The rest of the period consisted of the students sight-reading the tabs, which ranged from Iced Earth to Kamelot to what may have been Sonata Arctica, and declaring one of them unplayable.
When the bell finally rang, the teens filed out, alternately grumbling and chattering excitedly about the class. Jayson, who’d nearly flown through Iced Earth’s ‘Melancholy (Holy Martyr)’, called out, “Awesome assignment, Teach!”
Even though he only got a grunt in response, the student flung metal horns into the air before jogging down the stairs, humming.
Kagome let out a light laugh. Jayson had always been an interesting kid.
“I hate that class,” Inuyasha muttered, filling in grades.
“Yeah,” Kagome drawled. “They’re all completely mindless.”
He gave her a dry look before returning his attention to his grade book.
“Your little test,” she smirked slightly. “It didn’t really seem too hard.”
“No one would touch the difficult ones,” the hanyou responded.
“Really?”
“Yeah. The one they called ‘impossible’? ‘Elizabeth III: Fall From Grace’.”
Kagome was still laughing when Miroku meandered in.
The violet-eyed human stared at her, confused, for a moment before remarking, “I feel like I’ve wandered into a warped version of Lethal Weapon 4.”
Inuyasha simply quirked an eyebrow and went back to the gradebook.
Never taking his eyes off of the singer, Miroku tried to coax an explanation. “Perhaps I should be…Brought abreast of the situation…”
Kagome’s laughter stilled. “Is that even proper English?”
Inuyasha glared at his friend. “Shit Miroku, why don’t you just call ‘em ‘Tits’ and ‘Ass’?”
“You might be on to something,” the drummer acknowledged, pensive.
After giving the man an additional glare, to keep him quiet, Inuyasha looked over the grades one last time before turning to Kagome. “What happened?”
Kagome, who’d rather hoped that the hanyou had forgotten, said shortly, “He scared the crap out of me, told me he wanted to talk, and brought up a few things that should have been either taken care of months ago or left to die.”
Maybe it was the words themselves, or perhaps the tone of voice, or the way she slouched just the slightest bit, or how the corner of her mouth turned down ever so slightly. Whatever it was, it was clearly begging for this conversation to end.
Being contrary by nature, Inuyasha shook his head. “I don’t understand you.”
When his friend’s pause brought a weary glare from the singer, Miroku began formulating a plan to escape the topic, should the conversation become too…Involved.
“This guy used to hit you, and you let him drag you off ‘to talk’?”
“Where the hell did you get that idea?” she seemed more confused than angry. “Hiten didn’t hit me.”
“I had to drag it out of Sango that he was ‘abusive’,” he began counting off. “You call him ‘an aggressive asshole’ and you practically freaked out when I tried to pull you out of the room.”
Seeming tired again, the singer only offered, “You of all people should know that there’s more than one kind of abuse.”
Miroku took that as his cue. “You’re ‘Tits’.”
Both turned to him, and Miroku was amused to note that Inuyasha didn’t seem annoyed by the name, but rather angry that his friend would dare use it on Kagome.
The woman was just confused. “What about them?”
‘Oh, this is perfect!’ Miroku grinned inwardly, making a mental note to remind the hanyou that Kagome had started this. “Nothing. It’s just that you hide them so much; most men are beginning to wonder if you even have any.”
Confused turned to defensive. “Maybe I’d rather use other assets to get work.”
The lech shrugged nonchalantly. “Or perhaps you’re ashamed?” Amused, he noted that, as Kagome sighed and began reaching for the first button of her over shirt, Inuyasha began pointedly looking anywhere but the singer.
“Hey, I was wondering if y-“ the History professor stopped abruptly. “Y’know what? I don’t even want to know.”
Kagome shot Miroku a glare as Tai spun on his heel and made his way back down the stairs. Inwardly, she was thanking every deity she knew.
“So,” the lecher drawled. “I’m guessing the show’s over?”
“It never started,” the woman pointed out.
A sharp ‘thud’ and a mumbled ‘fucking hell’ came from Inuyasha’s corner. The hanyou was simultaneously glaring at the wall behind him and massaging the back of his head.
“Yeah,” the singer started slowly. “I’m gonna hightail it out of here before Dad calls, begging me to get Tero away from him.”
She was nearly out the door before she snapped her fingers, remembering something. “Tell your dad that Thursday’s fine for that…” she made some sort of gesture, “thing. And he wanted to know when the next Siren gig was. Tonight, about 8.”
And then she was gone.
The Siren knew they were restless. She knew this show had been a long time coming. This show would be one of the last. It would also be one of the best.
Kagome didn’t even bother with the opening notes.
Sweet boy, come in
I am the dark side of you
She could see Miroku’s grin from her place on the stage as she gradually allowed the chime-like synth to come in.
Die for my sins
Like the one once did
Tero, who’d not heard the whole of the song, was no doubt a wee bit confused as to why her normally mischievous smirk was wholly devilish. She didn’t even want to think of what would be going through his head in a few moments.
Cinnamon bed
For your unashamed appetite
A figurante
This dance will hurt like hell
The flabbergasted stare on her cousin’s face made it difficult for her to get through the refrain without snickering.
Her bandmates, scattered around the room, weren’t as amusing. They’d heard the lyrics repeatedly, mainly because Miroku insisted that they tweak it.
Just a child without a fairytale am I
If possible, her smile grew even more wicked, a bit of a pout showing through.
Dark but so lovely
A little match girl freezing in the snow
Come to think of it, Mr. Mamoru’s face was pretty damn funny too. He seemed to be sputtering, probably shocked at his former student’s rather seductive display.
Inuyasha had his own smirk as he watched his, admittedly old-fashioned, father. The smirk grew as he reminded himself of a specific track the Old Man would definitely hear.
A steady drumbeat signaled the beginning of the bridge. Kagome smothered an even broader grin when she caught Miroku miming an overly dramatic sigh.
Closing her eyes, she let a series of illusions take shape: nymphs, succubae…Nothing too explicit, though; she’d seen the family in the back.
A slight sigh erased the illusions, leaving only the robed figure. Kagome grinned inwardly: hopefully the kids wouldn’t get the next allusion.
Romantic scent
Spoiled Lucrece lies warm for you
Continuing the verse, Kagome mused that she’d just have to explain to Tero that every woman was allowed a ‘slut’ song.
Alright, so not counting Passion and the Opera she had one ‘slut’ song….
When done with me
Forget if you think I feel ashamed
A wild beast
Never felt sorry for anything
As she finished the final chorus, she noticed Sango preparing to bring up ‘The Box’.
Holding out a hand, the signal for Sango to stop, Kagome spoke, her voice and smile mischievous. “Why don’t we try something new? You know the rules for the questions, ask away.”
A few moments passed before Mac blurted out, “How long are you going to keep doing this?”
Inutaisho tilted his head, wondering how she’d answer the rather loaded question.
The hooded woman paused for only a moment before speaking. “I’d love to say ‘for as long as you’ll have me’-“
“But?” prompted a woman from the far left.
“But,” Kagome continued, “I’m afraid that I can only keep doing this for a few more months.”
Instantly, another regular, Tammy, demanded, “Why?”
“I was offered a deal and I took it,” came the simple answer.
Tyson, who’d emerged from God-knows-where, innocently prompted, “Aw, c’mon! Tell ‘em why!”
Kagome frowned slightly, but complied. “Beginning this summer, I will be out of town. On tour. With Dead Right.”
A few ‘Holy shit!’s later, Mac piped up again. “Alone?
A gentle smile emerged from under the hood. “No. In fact, I think they’re all here.” She glanced around at her bandmates, with the exception of Naraku, who’d taken up his usual post against the wall. “Guys?”
Miroku jumped to his feet immediately, Kouga standing soon after. Naraku gave a miniscule wave. Inuyasha leaned back in his chair and raised an eyebrow.
“You too,” came the reply from pursed lips.
Sighing heavily, the hanyou stood.
“I’m sure that was painful,” the hooded woman remarked dryly.
“Excruciating,” he agreed.
Rolling her eyes, Kagome shot a glance to Naraku. Channeling Vanna White, she gestured to the keyboardist. “And if you’ll direct your attention to the right of the stage, you’ll find the final member of the quintet.”
“That may have been a bad idea, Seija,” Tero said quietly, climbing into the cramped car.
“The sooner they figure out who ‘The Siren’ is, the less questions I have to answer later,” Kagome replied reasonably. “I know what I’m doing.”
The Finn sighed heavily. “I still don’t like it.”
“Could we talk about something else?”
“Your phone wouldn’t shut up,” he handed the offending article to his cousin.
Checking the calls log, Kagome frowned. “I don’t know this person.”
Tero smiled mischievously. “If you want, I can drive while you call them.”
Slowly, the woman turned to him, stared at him for a second, then turned away, rolling her eyes.
“Or not,” he shrugged.
“Caveman, I’d trust you with my voice and with my life,” she said calmly, starting the engine. “Never my car.”
A few moments passed in silence before Tero asked, “So, when are you going to call this mystery person?”
“How about,” she paused for a moment, pretending to think about it. “After I get some sleep?”
Inuyasha had no idea as to why he was anywhere near the choir room in the first place, but the strains of ‘Dragula’ coming from it now piqued his curiosity and he opened the door.
“You’re kidding me!” he heard an extremely familiar voice groan from the office. “Since when do they start at eight?!”
“How the hell did you get in here?” he asked when the raven-haired woman appeared. “The window?”
Kagome studied the walls of the room before raising an eyebrow. “What window?”
Inuyasha favored her with his brother’s ‘You-Are-A-Moron’ look (guaranteed to shut them up or your money back).
The woman sighed before saying simply, “I’ve joined the ranks of the subs.”
“And just how did you finagle that gig?”
She laughed slightly. “Finagle?”
He simply stared at her.
“Mrs. Schirlet called me last night,” she finally answered. “She’s going on maternity leave starting today. Madame de Sade recommended me.”
“And she’s fine with you ditching her course?”
“I’ve already finished everything, so, yeah, she is.”
They bickered for a while longer before the door opened again.
“Oh. My. God. Taina!” a shrill voice came from the other room. “We’ve got a new one!”
“Soprano 1,” Kagome muttered as Inuyasha’s ears folded against his head.
“New what?” came Taina’s voice.
“A new kid,” the first girl answered. “Duh.”
Through the window in the office, Kagome saw the second girl frown. “I dunno, Kay. She looks like she’s thirty.”
Inuyasha snorted at that. Kagome merely rolled her eyes.
‘Kay’ scoffed. “Maybe she’s a ‘tard. Whatever, doesn’t matter. She’s totally flirting with that old dude.”
Amusement won out over offense. Kagome smiled at the hanyou’s glare. “Old man,” she sang.
He narrowed his eyes. “I’m not the ‘tard’.”
Taina had moved away from Kay and was now at the office door. “Hey, do you know where Mrs. Schirlet is?”
“Probably in bed,” Kagome smiled gently. “She’s just gone on maternity leave.”
The girl ‘oh’d and shared a glance with her friend. “I told you.”
Kay just snorted. “Whatever,” she reiterated.
Inuyasha took that as his cue. “I’m going to go open up the studio. Don’t kill anyone.”
Kagome smiled at him. “Ditto on that.”
“Funny, wench.” He stood and walked out of the room, ignoring Kay’s little squawk of surprise.
The door had barely shut behind him when the girl squealed, “He is so fucking hot!”
Kagome’s head dropped into her hands. “Oh, this is going to be a long day.”
Inuyasha dropped by again during his prep period, which, just her luck, happened to be her period with ‘Cantate’, the school’s most advanced choir.
Those kids were good, and she knew it. Worse, and more importantly, they knew it.
“And just how are you qualified to sub for Mrs. Schirlet?” asked Brad, one of the tenors.
Kagome, sitting in a chair facing the risers the students were on, pinched the bridge of her nose. “What, exactly, would reassure you that I could do this?”
“You could start,” Trichelle, an Alto 1, interjected, “by singing some of our music.”
The singer threw up her hands. “Fine! Pick something.”
The students loudly began arguing with each other over which piece they should force her to sing. Kagome watched them for a moment before getting up and walking towards the office.
Inuyasha smirked at her from his spot near the door. “Where ‘ya going?”
“To find an amazingly thick wall to dent,” she replied casually.
He shrugged. “Fine. But you’re never allowed to tease me again when I bitch about the students.”
“Hey!” one of the boys called. “Sub-lady! We’ve got something.”
Kagome’s hands clenched. “Higurashi,” she muttered. “Is it really that hard to remember?”
A cat-demon in the Soprano 2 section snickered.
The raven-haired woman smiled tightly and turned to face the class. “Alright. What is it?”
As if on cue, the entire choir chorused, “Agnus Dei.”
“I hate you,” Kagome mumbled.
An Alto 2 grinned at her. “Need the music?”
When Kagome opened her mouth again, it was hard to tell who was more surprised: the class or Inuyasha. The darker tones that colored her performances as ‘The Siren’ had been erased, leaving a more lightweight, sweeter voice.
After about thirty seconds she stopped and arched an eyebrow at the class. “Satisfied?”
None of the students said anything, so she continued. “Then let’s get to work.”
“Question,” Inuyasha narrowed his eyes slightly. “Why can’t you do that normally?”
Kagome seemed to consider for a moment before smiling. In the same sweet tone, she sang softly, “For whom the gun tolls…”
Nodding, the hanyou simply said, “Got it.”
Returning the nod, the singer led the class through its warm-ups before announcing the plan for the day. “If you’re working on a revue piece, do so in the other room or get a practice room key from me. If you want to talk quietly, do so. You can use the radio or CD player but you all have to agree on something. I’m going to be in the office; before you go anywhere, and I do mean anywhere, tell me. You have an hour.”
She’d barely made it into the office before six of the boys blew past her and into the other room, and Justin Timberlake’s ‘SexyBack’ filled the air.
“They are really trying to make me twitch,” Kagome mused before shutting the door behind the hanyou. “And what brings you down here?”
“Boredom,” he answered honestly. “And Jakotsu.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“He dropped this off with Pop,” he produced an overly large envelope. “And I think he’s still around here somewhere.”
“I don’t even want to know where you put that,” she took the envelope from him and opened it.
Her brow furrowed as she leafed through the photos. Preempting her question, he said, “Tobias uses hidden cameras to take photos at five second intervals. Says he prefers candid photos of people being themselves to staged ones.”
“Explains why you didn’t move.”
Inuyasha smirked. “Perk of being in the family.”
“Could’ve let us in on that.”
“And ruin shots like these?” He pointed to one of the glossy images.
Kagome wrinkled her nose at the picture. “That one’s getting tossed.”
He shook his head in mock defeat. “And that was Miroku’s favorite too.”
She arched an eyebrow. “Am I the last one to see these?”
“No,” he answered immediately. “Wait….Yeah.”
She was just raising her hand to take a swat at him when the office door opened.
“Miss?” It was Anney, one of the Soprano 2’s.
Dropping her hand, Kagome smiled at the girl. “What is it?”
“TJ and Joey are throwing Tashauna’s bookbag around,” the student sighed. “And I think Mick’s started a game of Texas Hold’em.”
The new substitute sighed heavily. Standing, she fixed Inuyasha with a weary glare. “Not one word.”
The hanyou simply shrugged before continuing to peruse the photos.
Kagome followed Anney into the other room. Sure enough, two of the boys were tossing a weighty backpack around and another five students were engrossed in a poker game. The substitute watched the group for a few moments. “What’re you doing?” she asked, using what Inuyasha would call ‘the Mom Voice’.
“Having fun,” Ray answered after the backpack’s thud.
“Right,” Kagome drawled. Marching over to the radio, she quickly shut Beyoncé up, then called to the students in the other room, telling them to come back.
When the boys reemerged, she ordered the class back onto the risers. Reclaiming her chair, she studied the students. “I know that you don’t know me,” she began, obviously trying not to appear too upset. “ And I know that most of you really couldn’t care less if I were hit by a bus, and, to be honest, I don’t give a damn. However, if I can’t trust you to obey simple instructions, I will have to play the evil stepmother. My six-year old on his worst day behaves better than you have.”
“C’mon, Teach,” one of the Tenors scoffed. “We get the point: us bad, you disappointed.”
“Disappointed?” she shook her head. “Disappointed was here,” she indicated a level around three feet from the ground. “I blew threw that roof,” she pointed to the ceiling, “around Morning Announcements and I’m hovering around an inch from ‘Pissed as Hell’. Believe me, you don’t want to see that.
“Now, I’m going back into that office. Your section leaders will guide you through every damn warm-up you’ve ever done until I get done what I need to, and then I’m going to dig up whatever music I feel like making you work with,” she grinned cruelly. “Have a nice day.”
As she was heading back towards the office, she heard one of the Basses mutter, “I think I hate her.”
Looking at him over her shoulder, she called out, “Good.”
Not looking up from the preliminary tour schedule she was studying, Kagome called, “You’re sharping!”
The singing in the other room stopped and grumbling took its place.
From his seat in the corner, Inuyasha griped, “You are having way too much fun with this whole 'bitch' thing. And I swear, if I hear another fuckin’ ‘do re mi’ I will kill someone.”
“Oh hush,” the woman smiled. “It’s only been ten minutes.”
“You’re used to this shit,” he countered.
Inclining her head in agreement, she gestured to one of the dates on the schedule. “That’s going to be difficult. We’d all be rushed to get to the venue: that flight’s long.”
“Nothing’s final yet,” he shrugged.
“I know. Still, it doesn’t make sense to ha- Now you’re flat!”
“How the fuck can you tell?” the hanyou frowned as the grumbling started up again.
“You mean, apart from your whining anytime they hit a sour note? Practice.”
“You need a life,” he diagnosed.
“I’ll go shut them up.”
The instant she exited the office, the grumbling intensified. Ignoring it, she asked cheerily, “And how are you guys feeling now?”
Most of the shouted answers contained profanity.
After about a minute and a half of simply listening to the students complain, Kagome decided she’d heard enough. “Alright,” she tried. They drowned her out. “Guys, enough.”
They still continued.
Rolling her eyes, she broke out the proverbial big stick: she hit a note that would leave Inuyasha’s ears pinned back for the next five minutes.
It worked though, and the onslaught of complaints died out, replaced with murmurs of confusion.
Eyeing one of the Soprano 1’s, who looked as if she’d found a new hero, Kagome said simply, “Yes, I did just hit that note. No, I can’t teach you how.”
Inuyasha’s voice came from the office, “And you’d better not do it again, Woman!”
Grinning mischievously, she whispered to the class, “Don’t mind him: he’s PMS’ing.”
“I heard that.”
“Hmm?” the raven-haired woman voiced innocently. “Heard what? You sure you’re feeling alright?”
He went quiet, probably glaring at something.
Trina, a Soprano 2, narrowed her eyes shrewdly. “Are you high?”
Kagome smiled brightly. “Nope. I’m like this all the time.”
“And it’s annoying as shit!” Inuyasha added.
“Shhh!” the seemingly giddy substitute scolded him. “There are children present!”
“Keh.”
“Anyway,” she shook her head. “Are we going to try to get along? Or should I just have a talk with Mr. Lontano?”
Hearing the principal’s name, the choir began grumbling again. After around thirty seconds, Kagome raised a hand. They went quiet.
One of the Basses raised his own hand.
“Nick?” the substitute acknowledged.
“What did you have to get done?”
She thought for a moment, trying to decide what to say without revealing too much. “I have to finalize a schedule and layout for a project, I have my own music to look over for performances, and I’ve got to create lesson plans.”
A bold Soprano II piped up. “What performances?”
“Well,” Kagome began. “One’s today. The other’s not for a couple of weeks, though.”
“What’s the one for today?” Diane, the Soprano I who’d been thrilled with the high note, asked.
“I’m supposed to do a presentation after school in the theater. Why?”
The entire choir silently made a pact to go, either to crash it or to see what they were up against.
The ‘Candide’ performance had been…Interesting was really the only word for it. Kagome had nearly fallen on her ass in those ridiculous heels and that had been enough to elicit a snicker or two from his corner…Of course, whenever one of those snickers emerged, he had been promptly elbowed by Miroku and Kouga.
And now Pop was bouncing around like a schoolboy on a sugar high.
“And you should have heard her sing Christine!” Pop was chattering away to some kid who’d had a question. “Too bad the Phantom was bad that year!” A sly glance in his direction drew a scowl from the hanyou.
No fucking way was he ever doing that again.
“That’s right!” Kagome chimed, obviously having just reemerged from the changing room. “You kept talking about that one-“
A nudge from Miroku.
“-Most interesting characterization!” Pop was grinning innocently now. “Definitely not traditional!”
The kid was just standing there with raised eyebrows. “How?”
“Well,” another look, this time with a grin. “He was pretty much screaming the whole thing.”
Another nudge from Miroku.
“-Should’ve recorded it,” Kagome was saying. “Would’ve been a good example for the rest of the classes.”
“If I could just get him back to the stage-“
Oh my fucking God. Pop was not trying to pull the puppy eyes on him! He’d perfected that face! Him! Inuyasha!
“-And you,” there was a slight growl beginning to underly his father’s words. “It’d be perfect.”
Translation: You lazy bum of a son. Get your ass up there.
Inuyasha snorted. Not happening.
“I know he’d probably love to do it again.”
‘Now, damnit! I’ll take your car!’
The hanyou laughed harshly. ‘Yeah, that’ll work.’
“Oh, I know I’ll find him-“
‘Fine. I’ll take the Tetsusaiga.”
Inuyasha frowned. ‘Not fair.’
“-It just might take a bit of wheedling.”
‘…And the guitar…’
There was a rather loud growl of frustration before Kagome was being dragged away by a fuming, cursing hanyou.
‘I knew you’d see it my way.’
That loony old bastard! Inuyasha was willing to bet good money that Pop was inwardly doing those ludicrous ‘Snoopy Dances’.
“What the hell?” Kagome wasn’t resisting; she was, shall we say, rather attached to her right arm. “What’re you-?”
He finally let her go when they were about at center stage. “Just play along.”
Pop had danced his way to the sound equipment and working things out with Vann.
She glared up at him. “Excuse you? I’m dragged across the building, up the stairs and onto center stage, and all you can say is ‘play along’?!”
Inuyasha kept his eyes on the little rat he called ‘Pop’ and shrugged.
“Oh, nice try, Bucko!” she spat. “Did ya really think I’d stay up here?!”
‘Bucko?’ he raised an eyebrow.
Kagome was about to storm off when an organ let out a harsh, and instantly recognizable, series of notes. She whirled around, putting two and two together…And coming up with five…The guy she’d never heard sing outside of his car was the one her old teacher had been raving about?
He narrowed his eyes at her. “Sing.”
She had to admit, she was really tempted to just stick her tongue out at him and flounce off the stage, but…Curiosity killed the cat…
In sleep he sang to me
In dreams he came
Was that even the right rhythm? God, six years ago she’d know exactly what she was doing with this song. Now though…Oh, well…
That voice which calls to me
And speaks my name
Tai was not ‘inwardly doing Snoopy Dances’ as his son thought; he was ‘Snoopy Dancing’ in place. Sure the years and the training had caused her voice to lose ‘girlishness’, but she was still pulling it off. Now if only his son would use that damn falsetto that had completely made the song last time…
And do I dream again?
For now I find
Kagome hated the next phrase, the jump annoyed her no end, but, until that smug smirk was wiped off Inuyasha’s face, she’d play his little game. Note perfect, too.
The Phantom of the Opera is there
Inside my mind
Damn. Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn. He’d really, really wanted her to storm off stage, not stand there and silently challenge him. Eh, time to, er, sing.
Keeping the smirk, he used as much of an anti-Broadway voice as he could get away with, moving towards her as he sang. Being a ‘metal head’ did come in handy.
Sing once again with me
Our strange duet
‘Strange’ was definitely the right word, Kagome mused. The, well, the best term for it was ‘wailing snarl’, that he was using completely went against the song’s Broadway origin…But she had to admit that it rather fit the character.
She looked to Tai for confirmation that this was what he’d meant. Immediately, she became fixated on what looked like his imitation of a series of convulsions.
My power over you
Grows stronger yet
What the hell was she looking a- Oh, for the love of god! ‘I cannot possibly be related to him!’ Shaking his head lightly, Inuyasha helped bring Kagome back to reality by gently turning her head to face him.
And though you turn from me
To glance behind
‘Falsetto, falsetto, falsetto,’ Tai had an inward chant going on. What? He couldn’t help it: the falsetto made the part so much more fun.
However, he’d have no such luck. His son stayed in the lower key, ending on a somewhat defiant snarl.
The Phantom of the Opera is there
Inside your mind
Kagome narrowed her eyes at her ‘costar’. If he could get away with touching her, she could sure as hell return the favor, and that unruly strand of hair was the perfect target.
Keeping her touch light, she gently pushed the hair out of his eyes.
Those who have seen your face
Draw back in fear
Taking his complete lack of reaction as a good thing, Kagome began to slowly and lightly trail her hand down the side of his face.
I am the mask you wear
Ok, that was it. Inuyasha grasped her wrist, pulling it away from him and turning his head from her at the same time.
It’s me they hear
Tai grinned. They were getting into character. Good.
The following harmony was interesting: his snarl nearly disappeared, leaving what was mainly a wail, and she, in turn, dipped into her lower register…Essentially, they traded keys.
My/your spirit and your/my voice
In one combined
So he wanted to play. Fine. Kagome decided to switch back to her own key.
At almost the same time, Inuyasha decided to get his father off his back and use the damn falsetto.
The result: He matched her exactly, pitch for pitch.
The Phantom of the Opera is there/here
Inside your/my mind
Kouga blinked. When Kagome had first done this, Hojou, the year’s Phantom, had never even tried to pull that off. Judging by the look on her face, she hadn’t expected the hanyou to either.
The melody changed abruptly and Kagome was jolted from whatever thoughts she’d been having…She didn’t remember this part, and, judging from the look on Inuyasha’s face, he knew.
The smirk, if possible, grew even more smug.
In all your fantasies
You always knew
‘Words not coming back,’ Kagome was about to panic. This verse had not been in the movie.
Inuyasha tried not to grin. Her lips were moving, no sound was coming out, and her eyes were darting back and forth. She’d blanked.
Hoping to prompt her, he continued.
That man and mystery
It worked.
Were both in you
Kagome glared half-heartedly when the only acknowledgement her memory received was a miniscule incline of his head.
And in this labyrinth
Where night is blind
Tai was crossing his fingers for another falsetto, but apparently his son had decided that once was enough.
The Phantom of the Opera is there
Inside your/my mind
Inuyasha had been slowly backing away throughout the verse. And why not? His part was pretty much done. Kagome was just wondering where the hell Tai’s accusation of ‘screaming’ had come from when he let out a very controlled scream, “Sing my angel of music!”
Kagome simply stared at him, prompting him to glare and demand, “Sing!”
And she did, beginning the well-known end descant.
Tai grinned even more broadly. As Kagome’s voice went spiraling up, his son dropped his own pitch to a near growl. They weren’t even paying attention to the setting now; they were having too much fun playing off of each other.
The first of the High C’s came from Kagome and Inuyasha went silent for a moment. ‘What the hell,’ he mentally shrugged. When the second of the notes came, he began a trip up the scale, nearly matching pitch again with her on the third.
He left her alone to finish with the E.
As the final note rang in the air, the hanyou turned to his father. “Can I go now?”
Tai, seeing Vann prepare the recorded track for burning to a CD, was far too happy to object.
Coming off of her music-induced high, Kagome glanced around the now-empty stage and then voiced the thought on everyone's mind, "What the hell just happened?"
A/N 2: Yes, I do have recordings of Nightwish singing Phantom. Yes, Marco does nearly match pitch with Tarja on the C6. Yes, he does have a very strange falsetto.
Anyway, I'll try to update faster this time. Until then, drop me a line.