...OOO...
Sunday night...
...OOO...
Sesshomaru bent down to level with the table, his eyes carefully measuring the intended path of the cue ball. Shifting his position slightly, he drew back the billiard stick and readied to shoot, but instead his eyes diverted slowly to the entrance of the game room. Inuyasha had walked in with a dazed expression on his face and the telephone receiver in one hand. He regarded his brother almost curiously- as if he had somehow never seen anyone play pool before. Sesshomaru did not speak, waiting for him to explain himself, but Inuyasha also remained silent. Instead he paced around the room and turned back out, paused for a minute, looked both ways as if for traffic, then headed off to the left. His brother just watched and when he was gone, shot the cue ball. It ricocheted against one side of the table before slamming into the green striped ball, sinking it into the corner pocket.
Sesshomaru swore Inuyasha was getting odder by the minute, but without a second thought, he moved to the opposite end of the table and took stock of the game instead.
...ooo...
Inuyasha stared at the phone in his hand. With his thumb he pressed the first digit of Kikyo's number. Then he pressed the second. Then the disconnect button. He stopped and looked up, taking a deep breath.
Ok, he told himself, he could do this... Again he looked down at the phone. This time several minutes passed before he looked away in frustration.
Why was this so damn hard? he wondered. For over an hour now he had been caught up in the insane struggle and had walked the entire length of the mansion- which was a considerable thing considering its size- trying to draw enough nerve to finish dialing the number Kagome had given him.
He had not expected it to be so difficult. He was only asking her to a dance after all at Kagome's suggestion, and he had even formulated in his mind exactly what he would say to her.
'Hey, Kikyo,' he was going to say. 'How's it goin'?'
'Alright,' she would reply as usual. 'And you?'
'Same. So I hear you got nominated for Homecoming queen. Did you change your mind about going to the dance, then?'
'Well, Kagome convinced me to, but I don't have a date. I don't know what I'm going to do.'
'No one's asked you yet?'
'No,' she would answer mournfully. 'No one at all.'
'Aw, don't worry about it,' he would reassure her. 'All the guys are probably just too intimidated to do it. But if you want, I'll take you.'
'Really?' she would gasp in amazement. 'You'd do that for me?'
'Sure,' he would say with great confidence. 'What are friends for, right?'
'Oh, thank you! You're so wonderful...'
Inuyasha frowned. Now that he thought about it, it was pretty lame of a scenario. In reality, she probably would hesitate, tell him she already had someone, and turn him down. He hung his head miserably at the idea. Why did life have to suck so much?
But, a hopeful little voice inside of him wheedled, she might just say 'yes'. Hey, there was a chance...
Raising his head with determined optimism, he inhaled again.
Ok, he resolved firmly. He would do it.
His hand nearly shook as he finished dialing her number and held the phone to his ear. It rang once, twice, three times... and it kept on ringing. No one was home.
"Oh, for the love of..." Inuyasha grated in irritation and hit the disconnect button. "Forget it. I'll ask her tomorrow in school."
...ooo...
When Kikyo got home from dinner with Kagome and her mom, the house was empty. Kaede had also gone out to eat with a friend.
She went upstairs and into her room, a paper shopping bag in one hand. Quietly closing the door behind her, she laid it on her bed and removed the narrow white box inside, opening it to reveal a pair of black shoes, elegantly simple with tiny half inch heels and a satin ribbon peeping out from the ankle to run unseen to the front where it reemerged to tie into a bow. Extracting them from the package, she held them momentarily in her hands before laying them side-by-side on the carpet beside her bed. Then from her closet she took out the dress and laid it on top in front of the shoes. She stood back to take them in. They went perfectly together.
Oh, what am I doing? she asked herself, picking up the dress and replacing it on the hanger. Why was she getting so excited over something so... unlike her? Anyway, she still wasn't even completely sure yet whether she really would attend or not.
But, a voice inside her stated, it really would be rude for her not to and decline the honor her fellow students had so graciously bestowed upon her.
Perhaps I can arrive just before the ceremony, and stay no more than an hour... That was reasonable enough... And she did already have the shoes and a dress. Now if only she had a-
She couldn't finish the thought. It was too ridiculous to contemplate.
...ooo...
