Her heart pounded ferociously in her chest, as he led her, hand in hand, out into the middle of the dance floor. Its pace only accelerated. The walk was too short, and soon she found herself standing with him amongst crowds of dancing people. Then the music suddenly ended, and a new song started, the new Taco Palace song. A grin grew on his face, as he intertwined his hands with hers. Suddenly, it was just like that night in the living room, when he'd pushed all the furniture aside and they'd just danced together.

Adrenaline started pumping, and the two started dancing as if no one was watching, because no one else in that room mattered, anyway. No one mattered but the two of them. Time began passing quickly, as the two swirled around the room. Lights flashed, and music flared, but the only thing Momo could think about was the face in front of her. It was the Toshiro no one else usually saw: the happy one, who didn't keep up a barrier all the time, the one who was nice, and sweet, and caring, and awesome… her Toshiro.

They danced for what seemed like forever, completely oblivious to their surroundings, until Ichigo came up to Toshiro from behind.

"Hey, man," he said in an urgent tone, trying to make his voice heard above the music, "It's about time."

"Alright," Toshiro wasn't pleased about having his time with Momo interrupted, but he knew the coach would kill him if he didn't show up for the big team announcement ordeal, so he reluctantly left his date with her friend, "Duty calls."

Momo nodded, understanding. She watched him leave until she could no longer distinguish him amongst the crowd.

"That looked like it was going well!" Rukia chimed. She lightly elbowed her friend, and Momo looked up to see her friend's huge grin.

"Yeah!" Momo said, she couldn't help but smiling in response, "You certainly seem happy! How was it?"

"Well!" Rukia said, "I'm certainly glad I wore heels. That buffoon is so tall, I wouldn't have even been able to dance with him without them!" Momo smiled. Rukia was having a great time too, she could tell.

The current song winded down, and the two girls spotted the athletic director taking the mike from the DJ up on the raised stage.

"Hello?" He spoke into the mike carefully, checking to see if it was on. It was. A quick high pitched squeal raced through the room, but the DJ quickly adjusted the volume.

The director spoke again, tentatively, "Hello?" His voice echoed through the gym. He cleared his throat, away from the mike, than spoke clearly and confidently.

"Parker High! How are you?" The crowd met him with cheers, "Awesome! Well, as well all know, this fall dance is to honor the fall sports teams. So first we have Cross Country!" The small Cross Country team came up to the stage and stood awkwardly in a line. Momo noticed both Uryu Ishida, and Orihime Inoue. They looked nice, she thought. Orihime looked cute.

The announcer quickly called the names of each member, and gave a small certificate. A few other teams got their moment of glory before the coach finally began the moment everyone had really been waiting for, "Now," He spoke, a prideful grin creeping across his face, "The champions, Parker High's Varsity Men's Soccer Team!"

The boys, clad in black, bounced onto the stage enthusiastically. The entire school burst out into loud cheering. It was an amazing sight. Momo watched the team's faces as she saw uncontrollable smiles erupt on their faces. Even Toshiro looked extremely pleased.

The director called out each person's name, ending on Toshiro, who got the most applause by far. It was thundering. One couldn't even hear one's own thoughts. Momo didn't notice how loud it was though, for she was far to caught up in her own ecstatic cheering. Looking on, Rangiku and Rukia couldn't help but laugh at their friend.

Then the director finally brought an end to the cheering and continued speaking, "Now, please clear the floor for a special dance for our champions!" More cheering ensued as he reemphasized 'champions'. Momo, however, wasn't included in the cheering. She was surprised as she saw her classmates all make way on the floor for the team who was coming off the stage. Was she expected to dance with him in front of the whole school? She couldn't do that! She was the girl who stayed out of the spotlight, not the girl who danced with the most popular guy in school in front of the entire student body!

Sensing her friend's mild terror, Rukia grabbed Momo's arm, and gave her much-needed help getting onto the dance floor. Rukia let go as she found her way towards Ichigo, who looked pretty pleased to see her. Meanwhile, Momo stood frozen on the floor as music started. Everyone was staring at her, probably wondering what she was doing alone, she figured. She must have looked pretty silly. Where was Toshiro?! This was stupid! She began to retreat out of the limelight and back into the crowd, but she suddenly felt a hand around hers and she turned around. And there he was.

He was grinning at her, looking happier than she had ever thought possible. He pulled her in close, and she obliged. He intimately wrapped his arms around her waist, and they danced. It was a slow song, but her heart was upbeat. She had probably never felt so nervous before, but at the same time, she had probably never felt so happy or complete. And so she just enjoyed the moment, ignoring whatever nerves were surfacing in her body. Her arms found their way around his neck, and she could feel how hot his body was. From they way she felt at the moment, she could guess hers was equally heated.

Time suddenly didn't exist. The only things that existed were the two teens, the music to which they moved, and their hearts, beating fast, steady, and as one. She never could guess exactly how long they spent dancing in the limelight at that time, because as others began to join the dance, and the spotlight faded, she remained completely wrapped up in her partner, metaphorically and physically. All consciousness of anyone else had slipped away the moment she met his eyes. And she liked it. It was in that moment that something in heart told her that this was it. This was the one and only person she could ever give her heart to. This was the person she was completely in love with. And nothing would ever compare that feeling.

These thoughts in mind, she felt her face getting closer to his. She couldn't tell who was moving, him or her, but she could tell the distance between them was shrinking. She'd secretly imagined this moment lots of times. She had fantasized about their first kiss in many different places, and different ways. Usually, he was the one to kiss her first, but occasionally she initiated it. After it started, she could never really imagine what it would be like, with her lack of experience. However, she always hoped that one day she would find out.

She felt his nose against hers and could feel his slow, steady breathing on her face. He got closer and closer, and then she felt his lips with her own, barely touching, light and tentative. Then suddenly they were gone. Her eyes, which she hadn't even realized were shut, blinked open and she saw the back of Toshiro's head. She frowned, disappointment ran through her, followed by embarrassment and confusion. Had he just kissed her? Or had she just kissed him? Why did he jerk away? Her thoughts suddenly changed direction when she realized what was happening.

She saw Izuru Kira, the blonde fellow from the mall, with his hands on Toshiro's shoulders. He looked panicked. He must have jerked Toshiro away, by the looks of it.

Momo then heard Toshiro's voice over the loud music. (Had that really been playing the whole time? She hadn't noticed how distracting it was until now.)

"Calm down!" He told the taller boy as he brushed the hands off of him, "What's wrong?"

"It's Ichimaru…" Izuru said. Momo's heart clenched up. The name brought back the memories of the other day. That man's presence was terrifying.

"What about him?" Toshiro said. Just the name had been enough to make him angry.

"He's here," Izuru said, looking completely freaked out.

Momo watched as Toshiro's eyes widened in shock, then narrowed angrily, "That dirty piece of scum. What's he doing here?"

Then something suddenly occurred to Momo. Rangiku: the whole reason for that awful incident of before. Rangiku was in love with that man, and Momo (well, Toshiro really) had reminded him of that. And, as much as Momo hated it, it seemed to her like that man, as cold hearted as he appeared, loved her too. Was that why he had come to the dance tonight?

"Where's Rangiku?" Momo voiced up, as Izuru noticed her presence. Toshiro scowled.

Then suddenly a loud shriek erupted from nearby, as a commotion started. Toshiro made his way in that direction, with Momo's hand in his, as she followed close behind.

Toshiro suddenly broke through the crowd, making way for Momo, and there were the two people they had been looking for, together. Ichimaru had his hands around Rangiku's. It was difficult to tell if it was a loving gesture, or a forcefully gesture. Her eyes gave away nothing, for her all that was displayed in them was shock. Over the music Momo heard Rangiku ask, "What?" in a whisper.

They looked on as Ichimaru wrapped his arms around her and whispered something in her ear. Her eyes grew narrow and her expression somber. Neither of the two moved for a long moment, as Rangiku appeared to be in deep thought, then suddenly she pushed him off of her, though he clearly had allowed her to do so.

She looked angry and hurt, "You can't do this to me," She said, emotion leaking in her voice, "Why do you do this to me?" He reached out to take her hand, but she jerked away before he could. She turned on her heel, and headed out with haste. He didn't follow, but instead scowled at the onlookers.

After verifying that the terrifying man wasn't following her friend, Momo took off after Rangiku. She could feel Toshiro's hand clenching into a fist as she let go of it, but she hoped he wouldn't do anything stupid. She really hoped…

Momo felt the cold air once again as she left the warmth of the gym to find her friend. There she was, sitting on a bench, her elbows perched on her knees, her face looking eerily void of expression. Momo slowed down and cautiously sat down beside her.

"Hey," She said weakly.

Rangiku responded without looking up, "Hey."

"What was that about?" Momo tried.

Rangiku's face twisted awkwardly. She was silent before speaking, "I'm sure Rukia told you about him, right? Gin Ichimaru?"

Momo nodded, "Yeah." She felt embarrassed for knowing. It was almost like she was gossiping about Rangiku behind her back or something. But deep down she knew it wasn't, she had only made it her business because she cared about Rangiku. Just like she was doing now.

"Right well," Rangiku said, still eerily expressionless, "This is the first time I've seen him in months. A half a year really..."

"I know," Momo said, trying to encourage her friend to continue talking. She wasn't sure if it was working though. As nice as she was, she always felt as though she was bad at this sort of thing.

"So," Rangiku continued, her voice becoming more heated. She was finally showing emotion, although Momo wasn't sure if it was a good thing or not. Her friend continued over her thoughts, "He just showed up here tonight… and he… asked me… to marry him."

--

LOLWHUT!??! I know that's what you're thinking. ;D

Anywayy, now I kind of wish I'd come up with a better band name than 'Taco Palace' considering how much I actually mention it. __

Know what else? I had initially referred to the opposing high school soccer team as 'East High' or something, but than I couldn't remember and instead wrote 'Windex High' as a placeholder. I forgot to change it like two chapters ago, as you probably noticed. Oops! __

Soooo. My initial plan was to have another 'arc' (if you will) after the dance, but seeing as how my updating is really slow, I'm not so sure if it would be best to end it sooner rather than later…? What do you guys think?