Listen~

Summary: Kagome looked at the cd she held in her hand and frowned. "What do they know..." The rumors of how cold she was had circulated to even the new school which she was attending now. Hyotei Academy had no idea what celebrity gossip would ensue from the arrival of this new student, but they were sure as hell about to find out!

Anime/Manga: InuYasha/Prince of Tennis

Pairing: Kagome/Keigo

Genre: Romance/Adventure

Rated: M for Mature Content

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There were surely a thousand other things that Kagome would much rather be doing right now. However, here she sate in Music Theory and Composition. It was her last class of the day, and by far her most stressful.

"I-A-M-A...who in here can tell me what that stands for?"

No one put their hands up. Kagome had no intention of raising her hand in this class at all. She wanted to go unseen if at all possible. Even if she knew the answer...her classmates, especially her female ones...well, mostly only her female ones...hated her already. Yes, Kagome decided that invisible would be peaceful.

"Miss. Higurashi...considering the fact that you were their youngest semi-finalist, I assumed you would be able to tell us." The teacher smiled.

He was quite handsome, if she were honest with herself...but she was already annoyed by his charismatic way of placing the attention on her. "I...A...M...A...it stands for International Acoustic Music Awards, sir." She made to take a seat, but he stopped her.

"An explanation...of the event, please."

"..." Staring ahead at the refined man, she closed her eyes and straightened back up, "the I-A-M-A is held annually in different locations across the globe. Last year it was held in France, the year before that was England, I personally attended the competition when it was held in Korea. Entrants come from all over the world; Australia, Canada, Japan, Brazil, Germany, the US and even South Africa...to name a few. Judging is based on excellence in music performance, songwriting/composition, song choice, music production and originality/artistry. You can enter into any number of categories. Most who win are celebrities who have been singing for a number of years, that's not to say "no names" never win. This competition concentrates on the artist as a whole and as an individual. As, it's up to you to write the musical score, the lyrics, sing the song, and play the instruments, if any. From what I heard...they have changed the competition this year, and this year only. The only ones allowed to compete will be students, the prize will be one of three bundles depending on your placing..."

"Prizes?" A boy up front asked as he raised his hand after he spoke.

A girl stood and spoke her own inquiry from the back row. "Depending on your placing?"

Questions that were easy to answer, Kagome noted dully "Mmhm, first, second and third place winners get a bundle prize. First place is signed to the sponsoring music company of the category they win in from the country they are representing. So, if you place first in Best Male Voice for the Solo Artist category, you would be signed on with...S-M-E-J...they would be the ones you'd sign on with. First place would get a starter contract of four years, twelve thousand dollars in your countries currency, and a scholarship to the music school of your choice, fully paid, four year term."

"Whoa~!"

"What about third and second place winners?"

Kagome looked thoughtfully at the boy who was asking her all of these questions. "The runner-up gets a two year starter contract with their categories sponsor, eight thousand in their countries currency, and a handshake from the first place winner. Third place receives four thousand in their countries currency, and a six month sign on, not to be confused with a contract. However, it can lead to one if you put forth the effort. Also, a lot of the ones who don't make it to the quarterfinals still go on to be scouted by big companies." She turned her eyes to her teacher, "have I explained well enough, Sakaki-Sensei?"

"Impeccably. The competition will be held at the end of the school year, so we will be focusing on the composing of lyrics and music, harmonizing both. Ultimately...you should think of this song as a midterm worth half your grade. I want each of you to put forth your greatest effort in creating a song. You don't need to compete in the competition, but you will, along with anyone who is competing, be required to preform your score before the entire class. Like getting up and reading out your presentation in grade school."

"Sensei! Can we preform in a group?"

"No. Since this project is worth so much, these are to be solo performances. As," he gestured to Kagome, "Miss. Higurashi mentioned, this competition concentrates on the artist as a whole and...as an individual."

-x-x-x-

"Sakaki-Sensei~!" Kagome called out to her music teacher as she ran to catch up to him, ignoring the dirty and judgmental looks she was getting from her classmates as they watched her chase her teacher down.

"Miss. Higurashi," Sakaki stopped walking and let the girl catch up to him. "What can I do for you?"

"I wanted to talk to you about the competition."

"That's quite alright, if you don't mind, can we walk as we talk?" Sakaki asked as he looked to his watch, "I have somewhere I have to be at three thirty, and punctuality is very important to me."

"Understandable," she said as she kept pace with him, "the reason for me stopping you. I can't enter the competition for a couple reasons, and while I have no problem preforming my project before the class, I already am called in to preform live as a guest for the competition during the Finals."

Sakaki glanced sideways with slightly widened eyes before nodding.

"Besides that, I already have a label that I'm signed with, so there's no point."

"I see," Sakaki frowned, "that makes sense. Thank you for letting me know...and for earlier. You are well versed in music composition, Miss. Higurashi. Take it from someone who's taught the subject for longer than you've been alive."

"...that's hard to imagine, sir. You look considerably young."

He smiled, "I understand that you've been signaled out in jealousy, I may be out of line making such a request, but please, hear me out."

Raising a brow, Kagome watched him open the door for her, turning to look over her shoulder at the sound of whispers, she closed her eyes and turned back to Sakaki, walking through the door as he waited for her to accompany him. "I'm listening."

"I'd like for you to continue being treated like such. By being better than your childish peers, stronger than them, and more graceful in how you confront them...or...put them in their place. Be stoic, remain unimpressed, make them work hard for your attention, a compliment from you could turn heads...make them work for your praise. Don't let them know you aren't competing in the competition. I want you to push them...you don't have to agree if you truly don't want to. I simply feel that you could potentially be the fuel that burns the fire. A fire each of them have inside, but haven't felt burn strong enough to push them to their limits, to help them succeed...to be the best that they can be."

Kagome scoffed, "I'm fine with that. I had planned on simply ignoring everyone...but callously pushing my superiority on them is also acceptable...where are we going?" Asking as she realized she had been simply walking beside her teacher with no idea of their destination.

"Tennis courts, care to join me, Miss. Higurashi?" He gestured towards the courts.

"Not at all. I haven't anything else to do today." She continued beside him, "do you play, sir?"

"Me? Oh no...I'm just a Music teacher." He smiled charmingly.

"...and I'm just a student..." she said comically.

"Humph," he gave a soft scoff of a laugh. Controlling himself, he stopped at the gate to the tennis courts and turned to the girl on his right. "I would like to say one more thing, concerning the topic we were discussing moments ago."

"What?"

"If things become too difficult, come find me. It really isn't fair what I'm asking from you, but when I'm dealt such a good hand, I can't help but take complete advantage of the situation."

"If we were to trade places, I see myself doing something similar, sir."

"Ah, Sakaki-Sensei,"

Kagome glanced past her music teacher, "Ouja..."

Keigo's eyes fell to her and he held his arm out charmingly, "may I have the honor of escorting her ladyship?"

Laughing, she took the offered arm before looking back to Sakaki. "It shouldn't be too difficult considering just how kind Ouja is to me. You'll get your jealousy, sir...I should be fine no matter the outcome."

"Thank you."

-x-x-x-

Me: Hope you all enjoy this chapter, let me know in a review what you guys think, nyan~!