Clumsy by Profiler120

Entrance to the Stage

"No, no, no! All wrong. Sango, reset the CD, Kagome start from the beginning!" came the harsh rebuke from the back of the mirrored room.

The girl with onyx colored hair sighed deeply, moving back to her starting position as the other girl reset the music. She waited for the first soft tones of her melody to signal the beginning of the dance. She moved gracefully, slowly, her mind tracing every step in every pattern she needed to master her role for the upcoming performance.

"Relax Kagome," the deep voice intoned gently, guiding her.

She slowed her movements, willing herself to release the tension in her stiff, taut shoulders and neck and glide with the music. She let herself flow from one step to another sinking into her role.

"Wonderful, relax your hands. Let them smooth the air around you... glide softly with the music..."

She was caught momentarily between his voice and the music when the door slammed open roughly banging against the mirrored wall.

Kagome, startled, miss-stepped, and hit the hard wood floor, twisting her ankle sharply.

"Inuyasha, what the hell are you doing?" her instructor snapped viciously. "I am in the middle of a very important session, you do not have leave to disturb me!"

The rude young male was one of her instructor Masaharu Inutaisho's sons. He was the younger of the two male siblings. This one was named Inuyasha.

He looked startled at his father's ferocious tone and stepped back instinctively.

Inutaisho sighed. "What is it?" he inquired while directing his gaze toward the center of the floor where the other girl Sango was hovering over the fallen dancer. "Is she all right?"

"Yes Sir," Sango called out before Kagome could reply. Then the two began whispering to themselves.

"What do you want Inuyasha?"

"The principal's on the phone demanding to speak to you," the boy replied, his tone halfway between boredom and fear of what the man would say.

"I'll look at your ankle when I get back Kagome, until then just rest. I'll only be a minute,"

His son quickly stepped aside and Inutaisho brushed past him quickly and disappeared out of sight. Inuyasha peered into the room; the girls were still on the floor. The dark haired girl was rubbing her ankle, listening to the other one talk.

"Does it hurt that badly?" he heard one ask.

The injured one looked up at her with a warm smile, shaking her head. "I'll be okay,"

"I hope so. I know you've wanted to compete for a long time,"

"Thanks Sango, you're a really good friend."

That's when she looked up, her luminous blue eyes turned toward the doorway. "Did you want something else Inuyasha?" she asked, her tone polite.

"Yeah," Sango grinned wickedly. "Maybe a dance?" she winked at him and he almost blushed scarlet.

"Feh!" he crossed his arms huffily. "Who'd want to dance with you losers?"

He turned hurriedly away from the doorway and walked off.

Kagome stood. "You know, things could be worse. It could be raining,"

"How would that be worse?"

"I have to walk home today," Kagome replied with a wary smile.

"But you don't live that far from here,"

She shrugged. "A couple of blocks,"

"Okay!"

Both turned swiftly at the deep voice, giving him their full attention.

Inutaisho had been her ballet teacher since she'd started dancing years ago. He was the owner of an exclusive private dance company. He'd been a major ballet star himself before he'd been injured and turned his sights on teaching. He was tall but not overly intimidating if you knew him. He was extremely nice outside the dance hall. Inside however he could be an ogre demanding nothing less than perfection.

Everyone knew Inutaisho. The former star had radiant gold eyes and white hair that both his sons had inherited.

Sango, her closest friend at the private dance company hadn't been there as long as she had. She had only joined the company two years ago and they had gradually become good friends. Still, it was nice to be close to someone. The others she knew in passing and generally but she didn't see them outside the dance hall like she did with Sango.

"Sit down," he ordered and Kagome immediately did so while Sango went back over toward the CD player.

He examined her ankle briefly asking a question here and there before standing up.

"You'll be okay. Sango," he motioned quickly with one hand and she scurried onto the floor some feet from Kagome. He took her place by the machine and pressed play.

They were performing a play in several months and Sango was her replacement if she was injured. They enjoyed the practice sessions together.

The hour practice slipped away as one movement melted into another. All three glanced up as the clock in the room chimed.

"I'll see you on Thursday," he smiled at them turned the music off and sauntered off down the hall and off into his home.

Kagome was exhausted. She had practice with the class on Mondays, and Wednesdays and in between she had private classes with Inutaisho, Sango and a few other girls on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The only reason her mother allowed that was because he had a large room in his mansion dedicated entirely to dance and because he was a friend of her family's.

Today was Tuesday but only Sango and Kagome had made the practice. Most of the few other girls who came were involved in other after school activities. This was Kagome's only obligation after school hours, except for her chores and those didn't really count to her.

"You're pathetic,"

Inuyasha almost leaped at the sharp insult when he saw his older brother watching him from an adjacent wall. Inuyasha had been standing by the row of windows that served parents if they came to watch their children dance and for sound proofing the room.

"Does she remind you of Kikyo?" he hissed.

The younger sibling snorted, with narrowed eyes. "She's nothing like Kikyou! And it's none of your business, Sesshoumaru!"

Sesshoumaru chuckled maliciously. "You're the one watching her. The same way you looked at Kikyo, always lapping at her heels... Where is Kikyo these days, I forgot,"

Inuyasha growled at him. "None of your damn business now-"

"Don't you two ever stop?" Sango brushed between the two not looking at either; her bag slung over her shoulder. She padded down the hallway without looking back.

He was about to pick up where he left off when Kagome stepped out of the room still wearing her leotard and skirt. She looked toward him with a hint of a glare.

"What you did earlier was not funny! This happens to be an important year Inuyasha. It would be nice to see you behave like someone your own age instead of a toddler!" she huffed. "Really! Slamming the door open like a raging child!"

"Hey! I didn't know you were doing your dumb dance,"

"Don't pretend you didn't know! You can hear the music from the doorway moron!" her voice hushed then from its angry tautness to a calm resolution. "This is important to me Inuyasha. I've worked hard at it for a long time, stop meddling! Everything's not a joke,"

She turned slightly and walked calmly away from them leaving a slightly stunned Inuyasha and an amused Sesshoumaru.

"Even more pathetic. Are you trying to get her attention by causing her an injury that will put her out for the upcoming play?" his brother purred spitefully. "Don't forget brother, you're toying with Father's favorite student. He thinks she's going to win him the competition this year..."

"Feh! That pathetic girl, she can barely walk ten steps without tripping over her own feet,"

"It matters not, she can dance exceptionally well."

The two boys straightened as their father came into sight.

"If you're going to be a nuisance Inuyasha, stay away from her! I want that title, and she can get it for me!" his father warned staring down at him sharply.

"Yes Father,"

"Good," he smiled brightly. "You guys hungry?"

Kagome stretched and then worked her way through the five starting positions. She'd been working almost non-stop with her dancing and trying to remember all the terms and steps for the past several months. Sometimes it was really stressful.

It didn't help that dancing in pointe shoes could be painful on one's toes, especially if you were unfortunate enough to get a blister. She'd been dancing for years and her feet, her toes especially had gained a lot of strength, but she felt she still needed to work on it. She wasn't even close to perfection, despite whatever praise her instructor lavished her with.

She was fortunate enough to have met some of the other girls before they'd left the company and gotten a few tips. One of which she was going to employ before the instructor got to class. It wasn't that she didn't want him to know, just so that she didn't hold up the class.

She sighed as she turned toward the barre moving from demi-plie's and then into grand plie's. She absently heard the door open and looked up to the mirror to see Sango stepping inside.

"Hey. Feet hurt?"

Kagome shook her head. "Not really. Yours?"

"No, but I haven't been practicing either,"

Kagome shook her head reprovingly.

"There's really no point. What's going to happen to you between now and the performance date?" Sango asked.

Kagome shrugged.

"You'll never guess what I heard!" the girl's eyes suddenly lit up as she moved toward her friend. "I heard Kikyou, you know her don't you?"

"Not really but I know who you're talking about,"

"Rumor has it that Kikyo's coming back," Sango whispered as though it were a great secret.

"Where was she? What difference does it make?"

"Actually I'm not sure where she was. Her family had something to do with sending her away but it was all kept very secret."

"Wow, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"Nothing really. I mean, she doesn't dance she's an archer. So it's not like she'll be any competition for your part or anything. But she will be competition for Inuyasha. They were an item before she picked up and left,"

Kagome turned sharply toward her, ruining her pirouette and almost sending herself tumbling to the floor.

"Inuyasha? I don't like that jerk!"

Sango blinked. "You don't? I always see you talking to him,"

"No, no, no, no, no! I don't talk to him; he goes out of his way to annoy me. I'm usually yelling at him. And don't say there's a thin line between love and hate because I think that's stupid."

Sango laughed. "Okay." She paused momentarily. "So it's the other brother you like then?"

This time Kagome did fall over. "No!"

Sesshoumaru stalked down the dance halls corridors, glancing occasionally at the throngs of girls clogging the slim passageways. If he could just get to his father's office, he'd be free of the female congestion plaguing the building. He spotted the door ahead and sighed. He slipped by and into the room only to find it empty. He growled softly to himself in frustration. Why couldn't he ever find his father when he needed him? He was always off in the middle of a crowd of these mindless teenagers!

He pulled the door open roughly and moved to the room at the end of the hall. His father's teaching room. He realized at once his father was inside when he heard the music. He knocked futilely knowing they couldn't hear and stepped inside discreetly. Approaching his father, who was seated at the back of the room conveniently, he handed off the envelope.

The seated man examined it before tearing into it absently and scanning the contents. He stood abruptly.

"Where'd you get this?"

"From a man out front,"

"Kagome, Sango sit down. The rest continue," he barked and slipped out of the room, his son following absently.

Sesshoumaru followed his father but held back as he met the man at the front door of the dance hall and then led the man to his office. Agitated by the presence of so many young girls he steered himself away from their groups and toward the front desk where only one or two mothers were present. The women were either digging through dance bags, or fixing the girls hair into buns that wouldn't slip out.

He hadn't realized he was standing by the window, lost in thought. He had so many things to do, he thought contemplatively when someone brushed past him out the doorway. He watched the man cross the parking lot and get into a green Toyota and a few moments later pull out of the lot. He sighed inaudibly to himself. He hated this dance studio, why couldn't his father have done something else? Anything else?

"So this is where you go everyday after school. I knew you were a lecher deep down,"

Sesshoumaru turned toward the doorway where his younger brother had just stepped inside and now looked horrified. The dark haired boy was a friend of his brothers.

"What are you doing here?" Inuyasha hissed.

"Following you, of course. Look at the girls! Please excuse me," he brushed past the white haired boy and then by Sesshoumaru wordlessly. He took a place by the class windows, passing from class to class.

"What beautiful lovelies!" he exclaimed.

Sesshoumaru followed the boy with his eyes as he moved from window to window, complimenting the mothers on the beauty of their daughters. Then remarking on their grace and talent.

Sesshoumaru almost scoffed when the boy in question turned back and came their way again. The noted boy was coming their way, because Inuyasha had since moved to stand next to his brother.

"You know, you two look remarkable alike. Are you related?" he asked after a moment of contemplation.

"Unfortunately," Inuyasha growled. "This is my brother. You haven't explained what the hell you're doing here. If you start going around groping the girls I'll get in a lot of trouble,"

"Really!" Miroku feigned offended. "I'm much smoother than that!"

Inuyasha tossed another insult in his direction. Sesshoumaru was about to depart from the childish banter when a group of girls he recognized as his father's advanced class came down the hall. Bags slung over shoulders, all chattering amongst themselves.

"No way! Is that Miroku?"

The indiscreetly loud whisper took all three males by surprise.

"I'm well known!" Miroku exclaimed happily then turned a smug grin toward Inuyasha. "Take notes Inuyasha,"

He departed from them approaching one of the girls who stopped, her friend beside her.

"Hello ladies. I am Miroku. May I have the pleasure of your names?"

"I'm Kagome," one replied. "And she's Sango,"

"Perhaps you'd like some refreshment after such a grueling class. Which I might add you performed beautifully. Like true professionals. I've never been more impressed," he gushed.

Kagome and Sango exchanged skeptical looks.

"Actually I have to go and make sure my brother is home from school. I'll see you tomorrow okay Sango?" she smiled, half waved, and started toward the door.

"Yeah and I ... have to go with her. Sorry," Sango slipped by him and hurried to catch up with Kagome whom had just moments before slipped out the door.

Miroku turned toward Inuyasha with a blank but not undefeated look. Inuyasha however was smirking smugly as though he'd known the outcome before he'd even approached the girls. Sesshoumaru pushed away from the counter he was leaning on, tired of the entire situation.

"Shouldn't you be rehearsing? I thought Inutaisho wanted you over at his house on Thursday's because he didn't have enough time to focus on you in class,"

"I'm going!" Kagome replied absently, still searching.

"You're going to be late," her mother, continued, oblivious of her daughter's frustration.

"I lost my box of hair pins. If my hair comes down during practice he'll complain that I'm wasting time and I should've taken care of it previously. Where's Souta, did he take them again?"

"I doubt it. He's been sitting in front of the television all day with that new video game,"

She sighed heavily plopping down at the kitchen table.

"Kagome," her mother warned.

She hauled herself up and began searching again.

"Why don't you check your room?" her mother suggested helpfully.

Kagome proceeded up the stairs mumbling angrily about having already checked her room. She pushed her door open and searched again when. She was leaning over her desk when she spotted the small box behind her desk.

"How'd it get down there?"

She crawled under and it picked it up, and then hurriedly fixed her hair, hoping it would stay. She skipped back downstairs and grabbed her bag, checking her supplies once more.

"Okay, I'm going. I'll be back in a while," she called out and stepped out pulling the door closed behind her.

[End Part One]