Hitori ni Sasenai

by Lady Mac

A/N: Chapter Nine time!! Wooh!! It took me a long time to write this, and this is actually only the first half (or so) of what i had planned as chapter nine. But it was going on so long I decided to cut it in half and give you this right away. So without further ado - "Prom"!

Disclaimer: I really, truly don't own any of these characters. Please, Takahashi-sama, don't sue me! I only have a hundred dollars, and that's my birthday money from my great-aunt! (I'm eighteen now! Yay!)

Chapter Nine

Prom

Kagome burst through the door of her home after school on a warm spring afternoon. "Inuyasha!"

His voice was muffled by the floor. "What-a?"

She ran up the stairs and right into him as he was coming down the hall. He grabbed her quickly, but she was so excited she quickly broke free. "They're having a ball! A western formal dance!"

"A what? What are you talking about?"

"Here, come here, let me show you this!" She hurried into her room and dug through her backpack.

Inuyasha shuffled after her. He had actually been sleeping until she got home and woke him up. Honestly, he didn't know how she did it. He was always worrying about her when he was awake, and he couldn't sleep at night because she was too restless. He plopped down on her bed and she looked at him and giggled. "What's so funny?" he demanded.

"Have you seen yourself recently?" she asked.

He was wearing only his red pants and enchanted necklace, and his hair was ruffled to nearly stand on end on one side. I probably have a pillow mark on my cheek, too, he thought. "Who cares?" he said. "What's this dance thing?"

"Here!" She held out a sheet of paper, which he took and studied carefully. "It's like a thing they do in America called Prom. What we do is we get all dressed up in western formal clothes, and they rent out a hotel lobby or something. They play all sorts of music and you can dance and hang out with people and stuff. It's supposed to be a lot of fun!"

He yawned and handed it back. "And?"

"I want you to go with me!"

"Me? Why do I have to go?"

She rolled her eyes. "As if I was going to go alone! You're supposed to go with a date."

He sighed and leaned back into her pillows. "Can't you go with someone from your school? I don't know anyone. I wouldn't fit in."

"Inuyasha." She sat on the edge of the bed and he looked up at her. "We're engaged. How could I possibly go to a dance with another boy?"

He sighed again.

"Come on." She stroked his hair. "Besides, Houjou will be there. I've turned him down so many times, he really wants to meet you."

He looked up at her. "Fine. But I don't want to."

She leaned over and gave him a huge kiss. "Thank you."

-----#&#-----

As the weeks passed and the "Prom" grew nearer, Inuyasha noticed a decided change come over Kagome. She would spend long hours in her time shopping with her friends Yuka, Eri, and Ayumi, and was always doodling or playing with her hair in the mirror. All Inuyasha could do was sigh and roll his eyes - until, a week before the big day, she pulled him through the well, plunked a hat over his ears, tossed him a t-shirt and sandals, and dragged him to a formalwear shop. He grumbled under his breath the entire time, but eventually Kagome and the clerk chose out a tuxedo to rent.

"Now, you know, Inuyasha, this is really expensive, so you have to be on your absolute best behavior when you wear it," Kagome said on the subway while Inuyasha was carefully holding it off the floor.

"What? What are you talking about?"

"I mean be gentle! No fights, no crazy running around, nothing that could possibly get it dirty or tear it."

He rolled his eyes. "Fine. I don't know how you ever got me to agree to this, though."

She looked up at him and noticed the twinkle in his golden eyes. He ootched closer, towering over her seat as if he was protecting her from the other passengers on the train. "Thank you," she whispered, touching his hand.

He said nothing, but smiled gently at her.

-----#&#-----

Inuyasha slept in on the morning of August ninth, and when he finally woke up the sun was high and he was alone in Kagome's bed. He rolled stiffly onto his back and stared at the ceiling. Was this what married life would be like? Spending almost every moment with her, and when she wasn't there, constantly thinking of her? Not worrying about Naraku, or the jewel, or an attack? He stretched and put his hands behind his head, remembering the night before. They had made love for the first time in several weeks, and he knew it would only be a matter of a month or two more before he would have to wait until their baby was born to have her again. But ... it wasn't really that bad, he decided. She had told him she was willing to help him when he needed it, but he didn't really think it would be a frequent occurrence.

This whole fatherhood thing was really changing him, he realized. And it wasn't just the added responsibilities of taking special care of Kagome's health and safety and building their house and planning the wedding. It was more just the idea of finally settling down with Kagome, the mere idea of this life they had inadvertently created. He smiled to himself. About a week ago Kagome had eagerly showed him where her belly was just beginning to protrude, a clear sign that the pup inside was growing steadily. Every night when he held her he tried to feel the difference from the night before, but it was too subtle. He could tell that she was larger than before, though, and the skin was beginning to grow taut.

Wow, he thought. Is this really what life is going to be like for us? This is amazing.

The door clicked slightly as it opened, and he glanced down his nose to see who it was.

"Still in bed, sleeping beauty?" Kagome said softly, walking over and sitting by his knees.

He rubbed his eyes and grinned at her. "How long have you been up?"

"Long enough to get stuff done!" she laughed. "I've already taken a bath, eaten, and started on my hair." She pointed at her head, which was covered with hair-wrapped cylinders.

He sat up and examined her head closely. "What are those things?"

"Curlers," she said, standing up to remove them from his reach. "Don't touch them! They have to stay in for, like, five hours. But my hair will look amazing when it's done."

"Whatever." He stood up and stretched.

"Here."

A pair of sweat pants hit him in the stomach. "What's this?"

She grinned. "You'd better put some pants on before you come down for breakfast, Romeo."

"Romeo? Who the hell is Romeo?"

-----#&#-----

"Kagome, I'm hungry! When are we gonna go eat?"

"Soon enough!" she called back from behind her closed bedroom door. "I'm almost dressed! Then we can go eat."

"Keh!" He slumped against the wall and stared at the door. He was already dressed, and he was even wearing the shoes she had gotten him. Shoes! Of all things! And now it took her forty-five minutes just to put on a dress? It was ridiculous!

"Okay, you can come in now!"

He turned the knob and entered the room, and was immediately floored by the exquisite beauty that greeted his eyes. Forty-five minutes suddenly didn't seem so ridiculously long.

"Do you like it?" she asked, twirling in a small circle.

All he could do was grin at her as he continued to study her outfit. The dress she wore was powder-blue and strapless, falling in a light chiffon cascade from just below her breasts to only centimeters from the floor. The top created the illusion of a twist, and went around to the back where it fell in two gossamer trails to the floor. About her neck she wore the pieces of the Shikon no Tama that they had collected on a matching blue ribbon, and she had arranged it so that only the smooth side of the jewel was visible.

He raised his gaze further, to the masses of black curls that adorned her head. She had somehow managed to lift all of it off her neck, elongating it and making her tall and elegant, while several twisting strands fell gently, framing her face. She had also incorporated seeming hundreds of tiny blue flowers that were placed here and there to break up her raven-colored tresses. Additionally, her face now more than ever seemed radiant with color and perfection. Her eyes and lips were defined in charcoal black and perfect pink, and the rest of her exposed skin shimmered with an enchanting ivory luster.

Inuyasha walked slowly to her and took her in his arms, and she wrapped hers around his neck. He buried his face in her shoulder and inhaled deeply. She smelled slightly of chemicals, but her own scent came through strongly. "My Kagome," he breathed, then suddenly remembered their mating mark.

He pulled back and examined her neck, but all signs of redness were long gone, and no mark was in their place. "What?? What happened?"

She smiled. "You mean this?" She looked down, and he followed her gaze to the spot just above her heart. "I've only just noticed it starting to come through," she said. "But I can tell what it is."

He grinned. His name, written in beautiful kanji, was beginning to form its pink characters on her skin. "That's neat," he said, in awe of this unusual transformation. "I've never seen it happen like that."

She smiled. "Really? We must be special, then. I've noticed one starting to form on you, but I didn't say anything."

"On me? Where?"

"Here." She placed her hand just above his heart, on the only scar on his otherwise perfect body. The scar that Kikyou had given him fifty years previously with her enchanted arrow.

"Wh - what does it say?" he breathed, almost afraid to ask.

Her lips curved gently. "Ka-go-me," she enunciated, just as she had three years ago. "Kikyou ja nai."

"Don't I know it," he said, stroking her cheek. "No way that old clay pot would ever be half as good in bed as you are."

"Shhh!" she hissed, but she was smiling. "Souta might be around."

"Oh, you've gotta be joking," he groaned.

"He doesn't know all that yet," she said, then took his arm. "Shall we go to dinner?"

Just a note or two here: What Kagome says at the end here is the same (or as close to it as i can approximate) as what she says in Ep. 1 when Inu mistakes her for Kikyou at the very, very beginning. Hope you like that. And chapter ten should be up in just a few days, I'm almost done with it. By the way, did you like the little MxS bit in ch. 8? I'm hopefully gonna do a lot more with them - maybe even a spinoff. That would be cool. Also: those of you who don't mind the IxM pairing, have you read Event Horizon? Please do, I haven't gotten much feedback. You can link to it from my author page. THANKS!!!