InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Siren ❯ Chapter 15 ( Chapter 16 )
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Drama / Comedy | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 12.24.2007 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.5K | Visits: 416 | Status: Completed
Disclaimer: I own nothing...Except perhaps the names of the bands...'Sacrament of Wilderness' belongs to Maestro Holopainen. 'Follow the Blind' belongs to Master Hietala. 'Die Alive' otherwise known as 'The-Catchiest-3-Note-Phrase-You'll-Ever-Hear' belongs to someone in Tarja's crew. Ruisrock, a Finnish music festival belongs to whoever came up with it.
A/N: This chapter is as short as it is because my flash drive has reverted to 'I-HATESES-You' mode and I felt bad about not updating before Christmas. So here's a pint-sized chapter from me to you...Just imagine that there's a little ribbon tied around it.
Three days into the tour and Miroku was on ‘Kagome duty’. Or Kagome was on ‘Miroku duty’. No one was really sure. Not even Kagome, who figured that she should have been indignant and/or informed.
They’d arrived in Springfield late the night before and the members of Nightcry were just heading out to see the town. Dead Right’s crew was at the venue setting up and the headliners were enjoying their last bit of privacy before they jumped back into the public eye.
David had announced through the band’s website that, because they hadn’t hit Springfield on the last tour, there was going to be a special show for the small city. Kagome wasn’t all too sure of what that meant, but she knew that Jaken had thrown a fit and the word ‘memorial’ had been said.
While not a rabid fangirl of the band, the singer knew that just after the end of the band’s fourth album tour their second vocalist and rhythm guitarist, Tobias Wincher, had been killed. She also knew that the band had talked about replacing him and had even gone so far as to say that they were in talks with someone before they abruptly dropped the idea and re-entered the music world as a three man unit.
Noticing that Miroku was eying Sango again, Kagome quickly smacked him upside the head before continuing her musing. She wondered if the guys had run into whoever it was they’d been in talks with.
Kagome was going to have to have a talk with a certain guitarist. He’d missed the sound-check and hadn’t been seen until moments before they were on. It made her nervous, and if there was one thing she didn’t need to be, it was nervous.
Sure, they were at the end of their set and he’d yet to miss a note, but that didn’t mean that she couldn’t be annoyed at him.
Mic in hand, Kagome braced her right foot against the stage monitor, thankful yet again for the earplugs Tero had brought, leaned into the crowd and sang out their final chorus for the night.
I want to hunt with the tameless heart
I want to learn the wisdom of mountains afar
We will honor the angel in the snow
We will make the streams for all the children flow
Yelling a ‘Thank you very much’ and throwing a kiss to the whole crowd, the singer told them to enjoy their night with Dead Right and made her way off the stage, following the band.
Frowning, she noticed that Inuyasha had disappeared again. Sighing in temporary defeat, she settled in to watch the set-up for Dead Right. Approximately 15 minutes later, David made his way onto the stage, followed by the other t- Wait.
One. Two. Three. Four?
The crowd seemed to be just as confused as she was until David spoke.
“How many of you remember our first album?”
Most of the crowd roared their response. David nodded and continued.
“I promised you guys a special show.” Forced to scream over the crowd he went on, “You’re gonna see everything: from where we came from, to where we could have gone. You ready?!”
Almost without waiting for a response from the crowd, they launched into Dead Right’s very first single.
David was true to his word.Over the next 50 minutes they covered material from each of the band’s early albums, none of the songs Tobias had sang, but Kagome doubted the crowd noticed nor cared.
The Nightcry singer grudgingly decided to forgive the guitarist that she’d been willing to kill: even though Tobias had taken strictly rhythm parts, they were in no way simple. She was surprised Inuyasha had managed to learn all of them in a day.
“You havin’ a good night so far?” David asked, calming down somewhat from the furious pace of the song they’d just finished.
As the crowd, obviously ready for more, screamed, David murmured something to Inuyasha, who nodded and made his way to the wings only to hand Tero his guitar and head back out.
In the meantime, David continued speaking, wiping his face with a towel.
“A lot of you remember Toby. He was a great guy; we still miss him.”
The crowd was quiet now: most of them not only remembered Toby; they’d met him.
“After he died, we talked for a while about what we would do. We were going to continue: we didn’t know how. We decided that we’d only replace Toby if we found someone as good or better. Unfortunately,the little bastard turned us down.”
A few in the crowd laughed.
“But,” David announced, his voice becoming more upbeat. “We managed to drag him out onstage. So, now we’re gonna give you a taste of what could have been.”
Kagome recognized the heavy riff in seconds and was confused: Tarot was practically unknown in the States.
Inuyasha had somehow managed to produce a wireless mic and was moving towards center stage. The voice Kagome remembered from the Phantom performance was almost gentle compared to the rough-edged tones that came from him now.
Hear the mad dogs barking with the voice of men
Bodies thrown to the rocks broken, then alive again
Hear the rats are laughing with the voice of one
They’re all in heaven delivered by our guns
The next section ended almost on a scream.
With the multitudes we feed the grinder
The jaws are closing and the blades will find ya
It was very odd, Kagome mused, hearing David do high harmonies. Inuyasha’s voice became slightly less rough and slightly more mocking as he flung his right arm out away from his side, gesturing at something.
We need no gods of war
Petty excuses no more
His hand became a fist, hitting the air on the downbeat.
Just what we always wanted
The blood of our kind
Blind follow the blind
He turned from the crowd, crossing to stage left, voice dripping in scorn.
Follow the blind
The roughness returned as he changed style into more of a wail, flipping into higher tones easily.
Hear the possessed screaming with the voice of doom
The sun goes nova, the earth goes ka-boom
The almost gutteral tone of the last syllable made the hair on the back of Kagome’s neck stand up. He was back in the normal key and continuing almost before she caught up to what was happening.
Take a flight from Trinity to Novaja Zemlya
The pyre is blazing and the flames will find ya
David again added his unnerving harmonies.
We need no gods of war
Petty excuses no more
This time, the crowd was the one with its fist in the air, prompting a nod from Inuyasha as he again crossed the stage.
Just what we always wanted
The blood of our kind
Blind follow the blind
David took over for the solo as Inuyasha goaded the crowd. Almost too soon, the sound of the guitar faded out and the stage lights went to black. An eerie sequence of sounds played over the speakers. After a moment, the guitar played four harsh chords, each accented by a flash from one of the overhead spots. The final spot found Inuyasha crouching between two of the stage monitors at the very front of the stage.
He gave an unsettling smirk and continued in a whisper, somehow underlying it with a gutteral growl.
And the stones they’re sighing with the voice of the dead
Who lie below them with the worms they’ve fed
The whisper disappeared slowly, leaving an utterly dangerous growl.
And when all that’s living is shattered by thunder
He rose slowly,the growl working its way into a scream.
We’ll raise the dead you yourself will find ya
He turned his back on the crowd then, moving to face off with David.
There ain’t no noble cause
Just mindless applause
The whetting stones ride on
Stroking blades till dawn
We need no gods of war
Petty excuses no more
Just what we always wanted
The blood of our kind
Blind follow the blind
The riff from the beginning returned and Inuyasha adopted a peculiar blend of a wail and a growl, enunciating everything almost too clearly.
Follow the blind
A maniacal laugh began to echo throughout the venue as he continued, toying with the pitches in an almost insane way.
Follow the blind
Follow the blind
A second, even more disturbing laugh joined the first as he held on to a vowel, methodically sliding up the scale, continuing for longer than should have been possible.
Follow the blind
Instruments continued frenetically, nearly overwhelmed by the laughter. Then, abruptly,it all stopped. Still holding the mic in one hand, Inuyasha shook David’s hand and allowed himself to be half-hugged before giving the crowd a short wave and leaving the stage.
Kagome was definitely going to have to have a talk with him.
“You idiot!”
Inuyasha flinched,both from the obviously angry voice and the hand that violently made contact with the back of his head.
“What the hell were you thinking?” the voice continued.
Confused, he answered, “That this chair might be comfortable?”
“You turned them down?” she shrieked.
“Oh,” comprehension dawned. “That.”
“Yes, that.”
He turned his head and Kagome came into view, arms crossed and lips pursed in righteous anger.
“You could have been doing what you love, and you turned them down?” she shook her head. “What the hell were you thinking?” she reiterated.
“Hey, I was already doing what I wanted to,” he defended.
“What?” her head tilted and her eyes flashed in challenge. “Nothing?”
“I was sessioning, you dumbass!”
Her eyes widened and she looked like she’d choked. “Helping pop-tartlets climb their way up the ladder? That was what you wanted to do?”
His own eyes narrowed. “I didn’t say that.”
“Then pray tell, who did you session for?”
Changing tack, he glared at her. “Look, as much as I love doing,” he gestured vaguely in the area of the stage, “that: the same style day in and day out gets old.”
“Bullshit.” She shook her head, then repeated, louder. “Bullshit.”
When he didn’t respond, she turned on her heel, marching off to find David.
“I think I’m owed an explanation.”
The Dead Right members jumped nearly four feet in the air. Thom, ever reasonable, was the first to recover. “Look, we told him to tell you, but he-“
“I don’t care about that,” Kagome waved a hand dismissively. “Why’d you take no for an answer?”
The trio, slightly less jittery, exchanged glances. “It’s,” David began. “It’s a long story.”
Two days later, everything was back to semi-normal. Naraku, pointedly ignoring the rest of the bus, turned a page. Honestly, who had come up with Truth or Dare?
“Sango,” Kouga smiled.
“Dare?” The demon exterminator didn’t like the look in the Wolf Prince’s eye.
“Dare you to sit on Miroku’s lap for the rest of the game.”
Naraku caught the movement of a petite figure out of the corner of his eye. Raising an eyebrow, he shot the singer a questioning glance as she sat down with her own book.
Sighing, the woman murmured, “I can’t beat ‘em, but I sure as hell ain’t joining them.”
Satisfied with the answer, he returned his attention to his book just in time to hear an accented voice say,”I dare you to kiss someone on the bus.”
Given the hanyou’s growl, Naraku thought the Finn would be running for cover, but the figure that stalked past him was nowhere near as scrawny as the mixer. The keyboardist peered over the top of his book, only slightly curious.
“Can I help you?”Kagome’s slightly annoyed, slightly cold voice asked.
Naraku watched in fascination as, apparently deciding that it would be best to get it over with, the hanyou bent, quickly captured the woman’s lips, and stalked back to his seat. Kagome’s fingertips lingered a fraction of a second too long at her lips, a confused expression adorning her features, and Naraku felt a pang of pity for her.
“There!” the guitarist’s voice came. “It’s done. Ya happy?”
The singer deflated slightly, then shook her head and returned to her book, hands barely trembling.
Dark red eyes flitted from singer, to guitarist, to tech, before settling on the words in front of them.This was going to be a long tour.
It was past one in the morning when Inuyasha finally decided that he was not going to be able to sleep. He rolled out of his bunk and made his way towards what passed for the bus’s common area. He was rummaging through the overhead ‘cupboard’ when a vague presence tickled the back of his mind and a voice came from over his shoulder.
“Interesting day today, eh?”
He was willing to bet that the keyboardist had look of subtle interest.
“Not the word I’d use,” he sighed, giving up on his search for Ramen in favor of facing Naraku. “But sure.”
The eerie red eyes narrowed a fraction. “Have fun with your ‘game’?”
Leaning on the counter, Inuyasha crossed his arms across his chest. “There a point to this? Or you just wanna play Twenty Questions?”
Naraku ignored him. “I have to admit, I’m a bit confused. I don’t remember Kagome saying she was playing.”
Inuyasha rolled his eyes. “That’s what this is about?”
When the keyboardist didn’t answer, the hanyou growled slightly. “Look, Sango would have slaughtered me, and there’s no way I was going near any of you guys. That’s it. Alright? Satisfied?”
Giving a look that only a disappointed parent can manage, Naraku shook his head. “She’s got her own shit to deal with. She doesn’t need you fucking with her head.”
Inuyasha opened his mouth to retort, but Naraku cut him off, brushing past the hanyou towards the sleeping area. “Learn to fucking read people, would you?”
Confused and annoyed, Inuyasha couldn’t tell if it was a soft snore or a sniffle that came from the bunks.
Mary-fuckin’-Sunshine had emerged, in the form of a maroon-eyed keyboardist.
“I’m heating some water,” he told the bleary-eyed singer. “Go wash up. It should be ready when you get back.”
Inuyasha watched as Kagome smiled gratefully, if not sleepily, at Naraku before stumbling off towards the broom-closet of a bathroom. The keyboardist gave him an irritatingly disapproving glare and the hanyou felt a growl build up.
Trying to ward off a keyboardist-induced headache, Inuyasha was a little short with Kagome when she returned. “How many times do I have to tell you to take that fucking thing off?”
Noticing her stricken look and the way her hand trembled slightly when she set the offending bracelet in front of him, he felt like the world’s biggest ass.
Naraku handed the singer a mug of tea and shooed her off towards where the rest of the group was crowding a PlayStation before turning an even stronger glare on the hanyou.
Defenses in place yet again, Inuyasha simply raised an eyebrow before turning to stare out the window.
This was gonna be a really long fucking tour.
Night four of the Great Ramen Hunt and still no success. A growl a mere decibel from emerging, Inuyasha slammed the umpteenth cupboard door and leaned against the wall. If he’d ever admit to doing something as childish as pouting, that would be what he’d say he was doing.
He’d checked the overhead compartments. Three notes. He’d checked all the- three notes- cupboards in and around the ‘kitchen’. Three notes. He’d checked the- three-
“Would you just write them down and be done with it?” he hissed to the woman humming to herself.
There was a thud, probably what she’d call a ‘headdesk’, and a keening, “But it’s not even a line!”
Letting his head hit the wall, he retorted, “Then make it one!”
He could hear her fingernails tapping against the table in the same measured rhythm she’d been humming and moved toward the sound.
Her fingers never stopped moving as she addressed him, inserting random sung phrases as she tried to fit words to the melody in her head.
“Miroku thinks- my whole life- that you’ll be- tie your mind- the first to crack.”
“Kouga says the same about you.”
“Kouga is a- minor lie- nut.”
He slid into the booth across from her. “And Miroku isn’t?”
“Point- dying cry- taken,” she shook her head. “This is getting me nowhere.”
Raising an eyebrow and trying not to smile, Inuyasha simply suggested, “Stick with ‘die’, then.”
That sent her off on another bout of phrases- everything from ‘die with pride’ to ‘clowns should die’.
His smile was a bit harder to contain when he announced, “Jaken says he got us a slot at Ruisrock this year.”
“Die in time- Jaken is a little crackmonkey.”
He snorted outright at that. “Really now?”
“JP is sick,” Kagome nodded. “Tony called me- Die for life- JP being sick means neither Charon nor Northern Kings can perform.”
“Which leaves two slots open,” he nodded. “Which Sess naturally snatched.”
She shrugged. “At least I’ll miss the annual Karaoke Party.”
“I get the feeling there’s a story there that I don’t want to hear.”
“Oh no,” she smiled. “According to Tero, it’s the funniest thing since that drinking song he’s so fond of. Die alive- I must be getting tired,” her forehead rested against her folded arms. “That doesn’t even make sense.”
Shrugging, he stood. Then, a thought hit him and he gently ruffled her hair. “Sure it does.”
Her head lifted slightly and her brow knit before she smiled slowly. “Game room, left wall, third set, second door.”
Golden eyes narrowed accusingly. “It was you!”
Azure eyes widened in the infamous innocent ‘moi?’. “So, when are we flying out?”
Spinning on his heel and heading for the game room, Inuyasha grinned evilly as he answered, “Where d’you think we’re going now?”
There was a moment of silence before-
“Goddamnit!”
A/N: So, Yash and Kags are feuding...Or are they? Either way, Naraku's had enough. And just what is this about a 'Karaoke Party'? Anyway, please check out Tarot: they're awesome (and nearly impossible to import, sadly). And also, check out Tarja's solo album: she's showing off her own style and it works.
Anyway, Happy Chrisma-Channu-Kwanzaa-ka to you and yours. Stay safe. Stay warm. Share love. And, as always, review please....