InuYasha lept over the side of his silver convertible and thrust the key into the ignition. He sped off down the road, easily topping the speed limit by thirty miles. He was late getting up for the auditions and was afraid that there would be hell to pay. He slept late by nature, they knew that, and still no one had chosen to wake him up or even check to see if he had risen. His white hair blew in the wind as he flew down the streets of Tokyo, getting tangled easily. He'd look like a train wreck by the time he arrived.
'Damn..' he thought as he approached the light, which had just turned red. 'Oh well...' he ran the light carelessy and hoped there weren't any police around to see him.
……………………………………..
A silver convertible blew through the red light, barely missing Kagome. She blazed with fury at the driver of the offending car. She took off, seeing as she'd had the right away all along.
"Dumb fuck!" She yelled and blew her horn. A finger of acknowledgment came as the only reply. "People are so rude!" She said, temporarily forgetting her own use of language. She saw the hotel in front of her and pulled into the already jammed parking lot. Kagome pulled out her guitar and placed the case's strap over her head to rest comfortably across her chest. Guitar on her back, she made her way through the lot and to the great glass doors.
People were jampacked into the lobby of the hotel, guitars with each one. Some looked like regular people, others leaned more to the gothic and visual kei style of the fashion spectrum. Some were as young as thirteen or fourteen, others as old as thirty or forty. Kagome took a place at the end of the line that stretched seemingly infinitely down the hall to the conference rooms. She wouldn't have beed surprised if it went up the stairs to the roof!
'Hope someone will bring around snacks or at least drinks. That pizza wasn't really filing and I think we all might be here for a few hours.' she thought to herself as she peered around the room. Some musicians had gotten out their instruments and were tuning them already, even practicing some songs. A lot of it was odd squeaking and banging, but some people were really good. She decided to follow suit and get ready. After all, it's always good to be prepared, wasn't it?
She pulled out her guitar and put on the black leather strap. Kagome proceeded to tune her instrument, a difficult task considering that everyone else in the room was playing different tunes at the same time.
"I'll never get this done right at this rate.." She sighed in frustration. The boy in front of her turned around with a smile.
"Hi! Having a hard time?" He asked and revealed a brilliant smile.
"Just a little." Kagome answered shortly. He looked awfully familiar and a little too preppy to be auditioning for the Tamas.
"I'm Hojo! Would you like to borrow my tuner?" Hojo pulled a little black rectangle out his pocket and handed it to Kagome. She accepted it gratefully, immediately plugging it into her cord. After a few short minutes she was tuned up and ready to go.
"Thanks Hojo. Good luck!" She said and gave him back the device. He chewed his lip nervously, as if considering whether or not to say something.
"Are you okay?" no reply. 'Man, this guy's just a little bit weird...' Kagome thought and turned back to her guitar, ready to practice some.
"What are you playing?" He asked, breaking her concentration. She grimaced and answered as quickly as possible, wanting to get back to work. Unfortunately, Hojo had other plans. He rambled on annoyingly, from asking questions to talking about his life.
'Just leave me alone! Is this a face that cares?' Kagome thought ruthlessly. She was trying to concentrate, and this guy wasn't helping. He never shut up! "Here, you can go ahead of me!" she said sweetly to the woman behind her.
"Oh no, I couldn't!" The black haired girl replied.
"Sure you can!" Kagome said, trying to retain her plastered on smile. She grabbed the woman by the shoulders and forced her ahead. 'Maybe that'll stop him!'
"Why don't you go ahead of me too. We were just talking." She heard Hojo say right, before showing up in front of her once more. He began to rant again when Kagome interrupted.
"I'm kinda trying to concentrate. Could not ask so many questions?" There. She had been kind, yet firm.
"Okay! Sure! All you had to do was speak up!"
"Thanks! Now where was I..." Kagome picked her little rift back up again before noticing a certain pair of eyes were staring at her, practically boring holes into her flesh. Could this boy be any more annoying? Now he was staring! That was the final straw, she had to do something, lest she go insane. She had seen this kind of behavior before in shy guys...maybe she could fix it.
"Is there something you want to ask me?" she looked up at him, teeth on edge.
"Well...would care to go out with me?" Hojo had a white knuckle grip on the strap to his guitar case. Kagome had seen it coming. Now for the gentle let down.
"I'm sorry, Hojo, I'll have to say no."
"Oh. You have a boyfriend already?" He asked, disappointed. Kagome had trouble now. What did she say to that?
"Ummm..."
InuYasha stalked through the hotel doors and began the trek to the conference room when he heard something as he walked by.
"Oh. You have a boyfriend already?" A boy was asking. The girl in question didn't know what to say, that he could clearly tell. Obviously this guy was being a dumbass. InuYasha inwardly sighed. 'I guess I'll make this my one good deed for the week.' he thought and walked up to the boy. Luckily he had dressed in a long black coat, hat and sunglasses or else he would have been bombarded with screaming girls. His white hair was pulled up under a black bandana, with two thick locks hanging out the front. His shirt was slightly tight, showing hints of muscle underneath. InuYasha walked up next to the girl and stood as tall as possible while looking down his nose at the boy.
"Yeah, and I really don't like you messing with my girl, so leave her the fuck alone." He said as fiercely as he could without making the poor guy die of nerves. He then looked down at the shocked girl and squeezed her shoulder. "Don't let him bother you anymore. I have to go." He then swept off down the hall, smirking at the guy that he had just told off. Maybe today wouldn't be so awful.
~_~
'Whoa...I could have sworn that guy was the lead singer....no, be couldn't have been. He would have been here earlier to get the auditions.' Kagome shrugged off the deed, thinking it was just another wannabe. Some people went to weird lengths to look like a favorite star. Then again he was pretty handsome. She hadn't been able to see much of his face but she could tell he had muscles under his tight shirt and his white hair was gorgeous. 'Must stop thinking about hot guy I don't even know!' Kagome mentally screamed at herself and tried to practice more, but the notes wouldn't come. 'I give up. Maybe just short break...he didn't even introduce himself. Maybe I'll see him again later.' she finally gave into her thoughts now that Hojo wasn't being such a pain in the ass. He hadn't spoken since he was told off. Kagome looked over to make sure he hadn't had a teen heart attack and saw he was bothering the woman in front of him. Better her than Kagome.
~_~
"Where were you?!" Sango screamed as InuYasha walked in smirking. He took off his bandana and jacket, saving his sunglasses for last. He pulled his designer shades off to reveal shining golden eyes.
"Well, none of you woke me up even when we were supposed to go so I busted ass to get here and saw a girl in trouble so I helped out. I'm here now so let's get this show on the road, ne?" He said coolly and took a seat in one of the little black chairs. They had set up a table to sit behind and write down comments on the aspiring musicians performances. Miroku was attempting to balance a pen between his lip and his nose and Sango was still quietly fuming at InuYasha's tardiness. "Bring on the suckers!" InuYasha yelled unceremoniously, earning a swift punch from Sango. "Honestly, you think we attracted pros only?" he said as the first 'contestant' walked into the conference room. She plugged her guitar into the amp they had provided and began to play. Or more to the point, make noises as if someone had stepped on a cat.
"I never had any professional instruction." She said, voice quivering.
"It shows. Next!" InuYasha yelled as the girl rushed out of the room. Miroku tried to hide his laughter as the lead singer earned another punch.
"I would've asked her to bear my child if you hadn't hurried her so much. Slow it down some so I can throw out a line every now and then, please." The slightly lecherous drummer smiled winningly.
"Miroku, this is band tryouts, not a personal dating service with music on the side. Get a grip!" Sango fumed. Living with the two boys had a tendency of becoming trying at the worst of times. An older man stumbled into the room, guitar weighing him down.
"Sorry, this isn't a geriatric band. Bring on the next one." InuYasha said lazily while Sango glared ferociously. "What? I'm just making this go faster. You seen the line? It's long, which guarantees that it'll be a few hours here. I personally don't want to waste my day listening to old people play when we know we aren't going to pick them. Why waste time?"
"Fine. Have it your way. Why don't you just send a scout out to tell people to go home before they even get here?" She said sarcastically.
"That's not a bad idea! Oi! You!" InuYasha waggled a finger at the man who was in charge of opening and closing the door. "Here's the criteria: Late teens to early twenties, good looking with a slightly punk look. Not too visual kei or too goth, not too preppy. Now go eliminate those that don't fit." The man set off to do as told while InuYasha sat back in his chair, satisfied. Sango stood up and raised her hand as high as she could, before letting in fall in a sharp smack to the back of the white haired teen's head. "What the hell? You suggested it!" InuYasha howled while she sat back down.
"You are the biggest idiot sometimes." Sango said while Miroku shook with laughter. It was going to be a tough day.
~_~
"I CAN'T TAKE IT! I'm leaving to get some coffee. You judge the next ones. Miroku, I'm counting on you to eliminate them as fast as possible. Sango would let all of them play a whole set before politely sending them out with an 'I'll call you.' Tell me how it goes." InuYasha said and stormed out to get some caffeine. Miroku and Sango shrugged and asked for the next musician to enter.
After a few contestants had come and gone, InuYasha still hadn't returned. "Well, at least that last chick was hot." Miroku said with a small yawn. Sango gave him a disgusted look and then yawned herself. It had been a long day and both of them were hoping the line was almost through. A black haired girl entered the room and peered at the two yawning teens.
"These are the auditions, right?" She asked uncertainly. Miroku perked up immediately upon seeing how pretty she was. Her outfit and guitar were even coordinated.
"Yes. What's your name?" Sango asked politely.
"Kagome Higurashi. Is there anything specific I should play?"
"If you know any of Kikyo's old parts, that'd be great, but anything will work. Feel free to adjust the settings on the amp." The girl leaned over and fiddled with knobs for a few seconds and then stood back up to resettle her guitar. She strummed the strings lightly to make sure she had everything set and began to play.
~_~
InuYasha wandered back to the room, coffee in hand. He heard the sounds of an audition beginning. Whoever it was, they were good. Better than Kikyo. They added new life to the music, as if they had composed it themselves. He pushed the door open and nearly spilt his drink when he saw who it was. The girl he had helped that morning had made it through the line to try out. She played like an angel, heck she even looked like one, standing there playing her heart out.
"Amazing." InuYasha said quietly as he watched her play. She paused upon hearing the comment and looked over in his direction. "Sorry, go on." He said and walked over to his seat. Her eyes widened in shock upon sight of him. She didn't seem like she was going to begin again any time soon. Sango took the opportunity to thank the girl.
"Thanks Kagome. You were awesome!" Sango said with a warm smile.
"Best yet! Prettiest too. Would you-" Miroku didn't even get his whole sentence out before Sango smacked him soundly. Kagome smiled and tried not to laugh at the poor guy’s pain. InuYasha peeled his gaze away from the scene that was playing itself out before him to ask Kagome a question.
"That guy ever shut up?" InuYasha asked with a cocky smirk. Kagome's eyes widened again.
"I knew it was you! Thanks by the way." She said gratefully.
"It was nothing." He waved off her thanks with a clawed hand. "I think we have our girl. Can't we just quit?" He whined.
"No! We have to listen to the others. It wouldn't be fair." Sango said, though she sounded like she really wanted Kagome in the group.
"I think," Miroku said after regaining consciousness, "that we take her. She's the best out of all of them and meets the criteria. Why not just let her in?"
"I agree with the perv. Come on Sango!" InuYasha wheedled. Sango sighed in near defeat.
"Why don't we ask her? Kagome, do you want to be in the Tamas?" Sango said in a diplomatic way.
"Yeah! I'd love to! But-"
"Then it's settled! You can move into the mansion tomorrow." InuYasha declared.
"Unless you want to come over tonight?" Sango asked excitedly. It was all too much for Kagome. One minute she had been standing in line to audition with no hope at all, then the next the bass player was asking her to come over to the band's mansion that night.
"I-I need to pack and tell my family where I'm going. I can come tomorrow, if you really want me." Kagome suggested nervously. It felt as if she'd wake up and all of this would have been some amazing dream.
"True. Give a woman some time to get ready." Miroku mentioned.
"That's the first thing you've said all day about women that hasn't been lecherous. Congratulations! A whole day with little hentai!" InuYasha said as he high fived the drummer. Life looked like it'd be getting more entertaining from now on for Kagome. InuYasha jumped up and poked his head out the door. "Look! We got our girl, now all of you go home!" He yelled. A chorus of groans and some insults greeted his announcement. "Yeah, yeah, screw you too." he strode back over to his seat and grabbed his disguise. "Let's go." InuYasha left after arranging his hair while the others followed suit.
"You first, Miroku! I won't let you grope her. Might scare her off. Go! Shoo!" Sango ushered him to the door, leaving Kagome alone in the room. "You coming?" she asked. The girl rushed out the door and off to her little junker. She had just been accepted as second guitarist to the Tamas. 'Someone out there must really like me.' she thought as she left the building. She paused to make sure no one was looking before jumping up and down, squealing with joy. It had been a good day for at least one person.
"Mom! Mom! I got in!" Kagome screamed as she bounded into the shrine house. Her mother looked up from her cooking to see her daughter bouncing up and down with happiness. "And you said being a musician would never pan out! I'm going upstairs to pack because I'm leaving for the mansion tomorrow!" Kagome resisted the urge to add and 'in your face' to the statement as she took the stairs three at a time.
She entered her bedroom and rushed over to the closet, dragged out three or four old bags and began throwing every article of clothing she owned into the suitcases. After tossing in her clothes she began to work on forcing in some hygiene products and personal effects. After her packing frenzy her room was nearly bare, as all that was left in it was the furniture and a few decorations. She'd thought twice about packing her bed clothes, deciding the mansion would have some. Kagome polished her guitar quickly before packing it up too and then threw on her pajamas. It was late and she wanted to rest up for tomorrow.
~_~
A harsh knock sounded at the door to the Higurashi home. A young boy, about thirteen, jumped up from his seat on the floor and rushed to answer it.
"Hey. Some chick named Kagome here?" A tall white haired teen was standing at the door, looking down his nose at the boy, the picture of surliness.
"Yeah, she's my sister. Who're you?" The kid asked. The teen sniffed as if he needed no introduction and didn't enjoy being questioned by what he considered a child.
"InuYasha. You?"
"Wow! You're the lead singer of the Tamas! I love that band! My name's Souta by the way. Wanna come in? Kagome probably isn't ready yet; she never is. I could get you something to eat." Souta was practically bouncing out of sheer excitement. Hey, superstars didn't visit your house every day! InuYasha held in a smirk at the kid's antics and stepped in.
"Who's there Sou-" Mrs. Higurashi stepped out of the kitchen with a plate of pancakes in her hand. Silently she did a double take of the scene before her. A tall, white haired teen boy was standing in the living room, clad in black jeans and slightly tight red t-shirt bearing the band's logo. A black bandana covered the top of his head. Her son stood next to him, still in his pajamas, looking as if he'd known the guy forever. "You must be InuYasha. I'm Kagome's mother. Would you like some food?"
"Um, I'm okay." He answered, but his stomach chose that second to emit a large growl. "But then again, those pancakes look good. Obviously my mind and my stomach have different ideas this morning. Got any maple syrup?" InuYasha followed the woman to the kitchen and sat down at the table. 'May as well make myself at home. People who offer food can't be all that bad.' he thought as a steaming stack of pancakes was set down in front him. He began to pour as much syrup on them as humanly possible and dug in. Souta asked him questions about rock star life at every chance, which he answered happily between mouthfuls.
Right as he was telling a lively story about how he "kicked Miroku's ass" playing a new video game, Kagome thundered down the stairs into the room. She wore a tight pair of army green pants with straps down the outside of the calves, each strap clasped by an antique gold buckle. Her shirt was the same color green with a black floral motif across the chest. She wore a black long sleeved shirt underneath and black boots. Her hair was in the same spiky buns as yesterday. In one word she was gorgeous. InuYasha stopped mid sentence, mouth hanging open, still full of half chewed pancake. Mrs. Higurashi pointed to her mouth, trying to tell him to shut his own. He finally got the hint and swallowed loudly.
"Mom, you give everyone food, don't you?" Kagome asked and grabbed a plate, figuring if he was eating she would too. She took the seat next to InuYasha and began to dig in.
"Oi, what's he doing?" InuYasha whispered in her ear and pointed at an old man across the room. Her granpa had slipped into the room unnoticed and was doing something weird near the counter.
"Probably trying to exorcise the coffee machine. Don't worry, he thinks that a demon is inside everything and desperately needs exorcised. If you aren't careful he'll get you too, dog boy." He gave her a shocked look before she continued. "Don't think I didn't see those ears yesterday at the try outs. You hide them most of the time I guess, but you had your guard down yesterday. Don't let my mom see cause she'll mess with them. We're a curious family by nature." Right as she finished her last sentence, the old man snuck up behind InuYasha.
"DEMON BEGONE!" He yelled and slapped a scroll down on top of the star's bandana. InuYasha's eyes crossed at the shock of the impact and he began to choke on his pancakes. Kagome pat his back as he tried to expel the gob of dough from his windpipe, all the while yelling at her granpa.
