Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha!

Chapter 9

Miroku watched sadly from the window of Sota's room as Kagome walked down the front steps of her home with her date. He licked his lips as he studied her revealing dress. I can't believe the way women are allowed to dress in this era. Miroku did not like the idea of other men seeing his Kagome wearing such revealing robes. His Kagome.  The depressed monk watched as the younger boy opened the car door for Kagome. Wimp.

"Stop sulking." Kagome's younger brother stood in the doorway. "You know you like her. Just tell her."

Miroku sighed. "What makes you think that I like your sister?"

The young boy smiled. "Because you're always 'checking her out' when she's not looking."

"Checking her out?"

"Yeah." Sota smiled. "You like to look at her. A lot."

Miroku blushed. This is one smart child. It was true. The monk did find it hard to take his eyes off of her.

Sota grinned sheepishly. "And I know for a fact that she likes you."

Miroku raised his eyebrows. "How are you so certain of that?"

"Because she scribbles your name in all of her notebooks. Kagome is a dork like that. She used to do it with Inuyasha's name, too. Not anymore though." The young boy smiled. "Not that she has someone new to obsess over."

Miroku smiled. I just wish I could be with her, the monk thought to himself.

***

Kagome took a seat in the passenger side of Hojo's mom's rusty, old car. She smiled at the boy as he struggled to put on his safety belt. He had just received his driver's license and she was a little nervous about riding with him. She knew how other sixteen-year-old guys drove.

Hojo smiled. "I'm so glad you could go to the dance with me, Kagome."

Kagome grinned back at the boy and nodded as he slowly pulled away from her house. "Me too, Hojo," she lied, still thinking about the monk she had left at home. "I haven't been to a dance in so long." Kagome let out an almost silent sigh as Hojo, who seemed more than a little nervous behind the wheel of the car, slowly made his way towards the direction of the school.

The boy pulled the car into the parking lot of the school. "Oh," he paused, reaching into the backseat and grabbing a small box, "I almost forgot. I have something for you." He gently grabbed Kagome's wrist as he attached a lime-green corsage to it.

Kagome grinned at the thoughtful gesture as she studied the gaudy-looking thing. "Thank you, Hojo. It's... lovely."

Hojo smiled. "I thought you'd like it."

***

Miroku plopped himself on the couch paying no heed to the old man who sat across from him. Grandpa couldn't help but to notice that the monk had been very unlike himself the entire day. Miroku gazed off into space as the old man looked up from the book he had been reading.

"Something wrong?" he asked.

Miroku sighed. "No."

He crossed his arms, taking a quick glance out the window to find that it was now dark out. "How long do these 'dance' things last for?" he asked the old man.

"Depends," he replied. "Usually only until 10, unless they decide to go somewhere to do something after the dance."

Miroku frowned. "Do something? What sort of thing would they do that late?" Miroku's jaw dropped. Certainly not…

"Not whatever is in your mind right now, young fella," Grandpa replied with a glower. "Remember, those kids are only in middle school. Do you remember what you did for fun when you were fifteen?" he asked.

Miroku smiled as the thought of his first romance came to him. He had met her only a couple of months before his fifteenth birthday. Arieru—a pretty long-haired girl from his village, who, incidentally, looked a lot like Kagome. A wonderful girl, whom he came to know very well one night. Oh, the things I showed her... Miroku's flashback stopped altogether with that very thought. "Old man, I think that I should go check on her. I don't trust the boy who is courting her."

He chuckled at the monk's comment. "Hojo? The boy is harmless."

Miroku shook his head.

Grandpa smiled. "Oh, I see now. You have a crush on our little Kagome."

Miroku promptly blushed, as he shook his head. "Kagome is just a good friend. She has Inuyasha. I'm merely watching out for her wellbeing."

Grandpa smiled to himself. "You know Miroku, when I met my wife, she was already seeing someone else."

Miroku looked up curiously. "Is that so?"

Grandpa nodded. "Yes. One of my best friends, matter of fact." He smiled. "The man was a little full of himself, if you know what I mean?" Miroku nodded. "Well anyways, I ended up asking her out, and she said yes. My friend, he was furious at first. But I loved her. Sometimes love is worth the risk. If I hadn't taken the risk, we would have never ended up together." The old man gave Miroku a sideways glance.

"And your friend?" Miroku inquired.

"Oh, yes. We eventually made up. We remained friends until the day he passed away."

Miroku sighed as he stood up and left the room. The monk passed Sota on his way out of the room, reaching out his palm to ruff the boy's hair as he walked past. "Where are you going, Miroku?"

"Nowhere…" the monk answered softly as he headed up the stairs.

Once in his room, Miroku took a seat on his bed. Even if I do want to be with her, she's with him right now. He rested his chin on the palm of his hand as he gazed out of the window over the streets of Tokyo. He looked up as he heard the bedroom door slowly creak open. Grandpa stood in the doorway. "Miroku, get dressed," the old man said, "You're going to the formal."

***

Miroku stood outside of Kagome's school, feeling a little—no, a lot—weird about being there. He watched as Kagome's mother's car drove away with Grandpa behind the wheel. Well, here I am… He hadn't really given much thought to how he'd approach the girl—yet Grandpa had still insisted that he go. "Better now than never," the old man had said. If you say so.

He directed his attention towards a large room off to the side of the school. Bright lights shone from the windows as he could hear the loud thump of music being played inside. That must be it. He approached the door of the building, but then darted behind a bush outside the window as the door abruptly swung open.

Crouching behind the bush, Miroku caught a quick glance of the Kagome through the window. Hojo was literally dancing circles around the girl. Both were laughing. She looks like she's having fun. Maybe I shouldn't be here after all…

"Miroku? Miroku, is that you?" The monk snapped to attention as he looked up towards the young girl standing over him. He recognized the girl instantly. Kagome's cute little friend, Eri.

"Ah… I'm just. Ah..."

"What are you doing in the bush, Miroku?" the girl, whose arm was linked through her dates, asked inquisitively. "Are you here for Kagome?"

The monk shrugged.

"You are! You're here to steal her away from Hojo!" The monk blushed. I've been caught. "That is so cool!" the girl exclaimed as a grin spread across her face. "Just like in the movies." She turned to her date. "Jusuchinu, what was that movie we watched? Where the guy runs to the church to break up his girlfriend's wedding?" The young man shrugged. "Oh come on, you know the one!" Miroku crossed his arms. He'd love nothing more than to leave this conversation right now.

"I should be going," Miroku announced, standing up and brushing himself off.

"Are you going inside to sweep Kagome off her feet?" Miroku blinked. "She would love that, you know. She likes you so much already that would only impress her even more. Not that she actually admitted to liking you, but she writes your name in all of her notebooks, you know?" The girl smiled brightly. "She's a dork like that."

"So I've heard." Miroku sighed at the chatterbox. Finally, the happy couple left, waving good bye as Miroku started through the front door of the building.

***

"Punch, Kagome?"

"Sure, Hojo." She smiled at the boy as he walked across the gymnasium to fill his date's wish. Although Kagome was having fun at the dance, she was still unable to get the thought of Miroku, sitting at home depressed, out of her head. She smiled as one of her favorite songs began to play. "Mmm… I love this song," she quietly commented to herself as she closed her eyes. Kagome gasped as a pair of hands clutched her shoulders and spun her around. "What are you doing here, Miroku?"

The monk smiled. "I'm here for… a dance?"

"B-but… Hojo," she managed to stutter. 

Miroku grinned as he looked over his shoulder at the boy, who was standing at the punch table talking to a large group of kids. "He looks preoccupied. I don't think he'll be back for awhile," he smiled.

He took Kagome's hand as he led her out to the floor. "Kagome…" He grabbed the girl tightly and pulled her body closer to his, causing the girl to blush a little. The monk took a quick look around the room to study the other couple's movements. Doesn't look that difficult. "I'm… sorry. About last night."

Kagome's eyes began to sting with tears. Here it comes. The very words I've been dreading. "I can't be with you because I love Sango." I can't believe he came all the way here to tell me. It figu-

"I want to be with you. I just didn't think it would be right."

Kagome most certainly didn't expect that. "Because of Sango?"

"Sango?" Miroku took a step back to look into her eyes. "What makes you say that?"

"That's why… that's why you left last night. Because you love her."

The monk paused. "I do care for Sango," he said as Kagome looked away, sadly. The monk automatically grabbed the girls chin, tipping it so that her eyes stared directly at his. "But, to tell you the truth, I have found myself thinking less and less about her since I've been here. That's because I want to be with you." For the first time Kagome could remember, a small blush crept across the monk's face. He smiled as he looked into her hopeful, sparkling eyes. "That is, if you will have me."

A smile spread over Kagome's face. "Really?"

Miroku nodded. "Yes." The monk's palm came up to caress the smooth skin of the girl's cheek. He delicately brushed his thumb over her soft mouth as he leaned forward to gently press a tender kiss against her sweet, subtle lips. Kagome smiled at him. She wrapped her arms around the monk as she nuzzled her face into his neck. Miroku tightened his embrace as he pressed his body against the softness of hers.  Kagome took a deep breath. He smelt wonderful. "You don't know how happy that makes me, Miroku."  The other dancing couples shot curious glances at the couple, seeing that Kagome was no longer dancing with Hojo, but with an older man. But she didn't care. It was if they were all alone. Nothing could ruin this moment…

"Kagome?" A very sad-looking Hojo, who was holding two red plastic cups, had made his way back over to where the two were dancing just in time to witness their show of affection towards one another.

A furious blush crept across Kagome's face as she stared at the boy, wide-eyed. Except maybe for that…

***

Kagome smiled brightly as she and Miroku walked back towards the shrine. He reached out his arm to wrap it around her waist, pulling her closely to his body. Kagome snuggled up against the monk as she rested her head against his broad shoulder and let out a sigh of happiness. Miroku smiled, laughing a little bit.

"What?" Kagome asked curiously, jerking her head up to attention.

The monk shook his head.

"What is it, Miroku?"

"What did Hojo say?" he asked.

Kagome's smiled faded as she reached out to playfully smack the monk's forearm. "That's not funny, Miroku. How would you feel if you were in his position?"

The monk covered his mouth as he let out a childish cackle. He tried to straighten his face. "I'm sorry," he said, obviously trying his best to keep from bursting out in laughter. "Did he…*snicker*…did he understand?" He couldn't help himself as he, once again, began to laugh.

Kagome smiled a little bit herself. "No. But he didn't get mad either. Listen, Miroku—don't make me feel any worse about this whole situation than I already do!" she warned. The image of Hojo looking as if his heart had been pulled out of his chest and stomped on before his own eyes went through the monk's head. Miroku did feel sorry for the boy, but he found it all a little humorous at the same time.

Miroku tightened his hold around Kagome's waist. "I wouldn't dream of it," he replied as he leaned down to kiss the girl's forehead. Kagome smiled as the two stopped under a street light. She wrapped both of her arms around him as she stood up on her toes so that she could gently kiss the monk's lips. "Mmm…" Miroku grinned.

---

A/N: So, whaddya think? I got a lot of inspiration from Foreigner's "I've Been Waiting for a Girl Like You." (Don't laugh.) The song just happened to be playing while I was writing this chapter. I am sorry if I made Hojo out to be a dork. I know he isn't, but he just seems so clueless about women, especially Kagome. Thanx again for the reviews. When someone says that my writing is good, I feel like I've just won an Oscar (not that I can act or anything). Seriously, your reviews mean a lot to me!! =) (hint, hint) I think I'll wrap this story up in the next chapter…