Of the Finer Things in Life by Rennie
A Dash of Curiosity
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
A/N: Written for the Six-Course Challenge on Dokuga-Contest as I attempt to blend two of my favorite things, food and music. Any music related material is drawn from my own knowledge (and Wikipedia) so forgive me if there are any discrepancies and any jargon will be explained at the bottom.
Prompt: Six-Course Challenge - Hors d'Oeuvres
Warnings: Excess music jargon
Chapter 1: A Dash of Curiosity
A tall, lean figure sat in the very back of the concert hall with legs crossed and arms folded against his suited chest as the ensemble on stage played impressively. Their conductor, a surprisingly young man, reached to his left and made a beckoning motion with his hand and the swell of violins responded to his simple movement with their concert mistress leading the pack.
“Mr. Taisho, I assure you, this orchestra is the finest one in the city and is well known for its exceptional talent,” the man beside him extolled. He responded with a contemplative nod and focused on the first two seats of the orchestra, the concert mistress and her stand partner. His eyes narrowed thoughtfully as he noticed the second chair’s striking resemblance to the concert mistress. They were close to twins although an age gap between the two was clear. While the leader of the orchestra was an elegant beauty with refined features, her stand partner exuded passion and liveliness that evident even in her playing.
Miroku noticed his company’s lack of attention and curiously followed the gaze of the stoic gentleman next to him. He wasn’t too surprised when his eyes fell on the first stand. Kikyo was a well known violinist, as expected, seeing how she was the concert mistress of the best orchestra in the city. Miroku, however, was surprised to see that Mr. Taisho’s attention was also focused on Kikyo’s stand partner, perhaps even more intensely. The woman in question was fully absorbed in the music, playing with a feverance not seen in many musicians. Miroku watched his partner’s expression carefully and noticed a subtle appreciation that wasn’t present earlier. He suppressed a smile with twinkling violet eyes and cleared his throat as soon as the orchestra finished their piece to uproarious applause, effectively gaining Mr. Taisho’s attention.
“Tell me Mr. Houshi, what would I have to gain if I were to accept your proposal?” Piercing golden eyes stared him down.
“Mr. Taisho,” Miroku said with a knowing smile, “I believe that if you joined our orchestra, you would gain something you never thought you would need.”
•••
“Ladies and gentlemen,” the conductor began, “All I have to say to you today is...”
The players all hushed and held their breaths. Their conductor was very hard to please and it took quite a bit to please him
“…I am so very proud of you.” He finished with a smile. The orchestra breathed great sighs of relief and cheers permeated the air. Chatter started and even the conductor loosened his bow tie and struck up a conversation with a pair of flutists. Soon, a few started packing up their instruments and got ready to leave.
“Wait!” The orchestra looked up from what they were doing and fell silent when they saw that it was their very own concert mistress who was climbing onto a chair. “I have an announcement to make!” She shuffled her feet before continuing. “As some of you may remember I told everyone that I was expecting a child a while back. And, well, most of you knew I had to leave the orchestra sometime to take care of myself in preparation for the baby. Unfortunately, the time has come. I’m officially resigning from the orchestra. It’s been an amazing experience being your concert mistress,” she said with a regretful smile.
A great wail came from the second chair violinist as she flung herself away from the table of hors d’oeuvres and at the concert mistress, nearly making her fall off her perch on the chair. “Kikyooooo!!!! Why didn’t you tell me! I’m your sister!”
Kikyo gave a smile and carefully stepped off the chair only to be grabbed and hugged by her sister. “I didn’t tell anyone Kagome, don’t feel too bad.” A sniffle sounded near her ear and her sister, thankfully, pulled away and Kikyo stared at teary blue eyes on a face so much like hers. “I wanted to keep it a secret and tell everyone at the same time,” she said as she patted her younger sister on the back.
Kagome pulled away and wiped her tears delicately, “You could’ve mentioned it to me or something,” she muttered. Kikyo smiled and shook her head.
“Sorry, the only people I really told were our conductor and Mr. Houshi. They needed to know.”
“Well alright,” her younger sister pouted and Kikyo swept her into a loving embrace. Fellow orchestra members crowded around the two to express their sorrow while wishing her well nonetheless. Kikyo had been a wonderful concert mistress and they were all sad to see her go. She had been their fearless leader for years and had been a member of the orchestra for even longer. Although leaving something that had been a part of her life all these years would be hard, she had a new stage in her life to begin. She was becoming a mother.
Kikyo squeezed her sister and bent down to whisper in her ear, “Kagome, I’m leaving this orchestra to you. I know you’ll take good care of it. I trust you, make me proud, okay?” She pulled away and patted her sister on the cheek. “I’m gonna miss being a part of this orchestra.”
“And we’ll miss you.”
•••
Kagome flipped through the music given to her and looked up at the conductor with a grin. “Lemme guess, this concert’s water themed huh?” she asked, waving a piece of music at the conductor.
“River, Sea, and Ocean, actually, to be precise,” Shinichi Chiaki said, handing her another piece of music.
Kagome glanced down at the music and let out a whistle, “Scheherazade? We’re gonna need a concert master who’s really confident in his skills and can move an entire audience if we wanna play that. Especially if we’re playing the Moldau and Fingal’s Cave, he’s gonna need some stamina if he wants to play that well in concert.” She looked up at him, “Are you sure about this program?”
Shinichi shrugged, “It’s hard, I know, but you guys can handle it.”
“Yes, but can the new concert master handle it?” Kagome began straightening the music and putting it in order. “Actually, do we even have a new concert master?”
“Well we would have one easily…” he trailed off, giving her a pointed glance.
Kagome sighed and rolled her eyes. “I know, I know, I could be concert mistress since I’m second chair and everything but I just don’t want to.” She looked down at her music in thought, “I don’t know, I guess I don’t think I’m right for the position.”
“But Kagome, you’re an amazing player, you’re perfectly capa-”
“I know that! I meant, I’m not the concert mistress type.” She shrugged and looked at the Shinichi who was frowning. “That position just isn’t me. I like being support. It’s comforting.”
The young conductor gave her an appraising stare and she shrugged it off. “Really! The concert mistress title comes with too many expectations and flashiness. You know me, I’m subtle, but excellent.” Kagome shot him a wink.
Shinichi rolled his eyes at the giggling violinist. “Whatever you say Kagome. I still think you’d be a wonderful concert mistress.”
“Oh enough about me. Do we have anyone vying for the position yet?”
“Well, there are a few violinists from our orchestra but-”a wide smile broke out across Shinichi’s face and he waved Kagome closer to which she obliged, “Apparently, we have someone very well known interested in the position.”
Kagome scooted closer to him eagerly. “Oooooooh, who?”
Shinichi grinned at her conspiratorially. “Does the name Sesshoumaru Taisho ring a bell?”
“Nooooo!” Kagome’s eyes widened in glee. “You can’t be serious! Him?? No way!”
“Oh yes,” Shinichi nodded, “Miroku was telling me how he saw our last concert and was interested in becoming our concert master. Apparently he took it upon himself to invite and escort Mr. Taisho.”
Kagome blinked, “Oh so that’s why he hadn’t pestered me before and after the concert like usual!”
Shinichi snorted, “Yeah, I guess our perverted manager is good for something.”
Kagome swatted him playfully on the arm. “Hey! That’s not nice. You know you appreciate him the most out of all of us.”
“Yeah yeah yeah,” he muttered, “Just don’t tell him that.”
“Oh whatever, you two are best friends and you know it.” Kagome stood from her chair and gathered her things, getting ready to leave. “Well, I think I’m off, I’ll see you two weeks from now!”
“Oh Kagome, wait!” The conductor stopped her momentarily, “If you’re interested, a week from now, the auditions for concert are being held and if you want to see Mr. Taisho play….” He trailed off suggestively.
Kagome flushed deeply and averted her eyes, “Well, I’ll think about it I guess.”
Shinichi let out a loud chuckle and patted her on the head, “One o’clock, Wednesday, warm-up room A.”
She brushed of the offending hand and muttered a quick thanks before leaving the chortling conductor.
Sesshoumaru Taisho.
Their concert master?
Oh she couldn’t wait.
•••
Concert Master/Mistress: Leader of the first violin section and the entire orchestra, subordinate to only the conductor. Normally the most skilled musician in the section.
First Stand: Also known as first desk. The stand belonging to the two highest seating players within a section. In the first violins, it is the stand belonging to the concert master/mistress and the second chair violinist while in every other section, it is the stand belonging to the section leader and the second chair.
The Moldau: Originally named Vltava or Die Moldau, after the great river in Bohemia. Part of six symphonic poems composed by Czech composer Bedřich Smetana named Má vlast.
Fingal's Cave: Also known as The Hebrides overture composed by Felix Mendelssohn. Inspired by a cavern known as Fingal's Cave on Staffa, an island in the Hebrides Archipelago located off the west coast of Scotland.
Scheherazade: Symphonic suite composed by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, based of One Thousand and One Nights, also known as The Arabian Nights. The first movement is named The Sea and Sinbad's Ship.
Kudos to whoever knows where the conductor is from. ;D