Oh my god! I am so, so, so SORRY for not updating! I just hadn't realized how long it had been since my last update and I hope you forgive me. Well, please review! And please read.

Okay, it has just come to my attention that they do not have Homecoming dances, i.e. proms, in Tokyo. Well, do they have demons or time slips or magical swords in Tokyo? Umm…I'd like to think they do, but can science prove that? Well…okay, so science COULD prove the stuff about time…I have got to stop watching X Files. And reading fantasy…oh, and while I'm at it why don't I just stop breathing as well. Okay, you can read now.

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any other character from the series. If I did I wouldn't write a disclaimer, would I? No, if I did I would be bragging and showing off and gloating like a stuck up peacock. Why do we even put disclaimers up? Is anyone out there really going to sue us? I somehow doubt that Rumiko Takahashi or one of her lawyers or something prowls this site looking for Inuyasha fics that lack a disclaimer. Ah well, no use in tempting fate…Though it would be cool if an author read some of this stuff, maybe it would give them an idea and the book would come out faster…I'll let you read the story now. Sorry.

Chapter 6 Preparations

"But you guys!" Kagome shouted over the humongous pile of dresses that her two friends were piling on her arms for her to try on. "I already told you! I'm not really going as a student, I'm going as the entertainment!" She said.

"Yeah." Said Eri. "But you're also going as Hojo's date." This caused Kagome to drop the clothes that she was carrying.

"What did you just say?" Kagome whispered.

"I knew you'd be pleased." Said Yuki, beaming. She smiled at her friend for a minute more before picking up the clothes and all but throwing them at Kagome. "Here. Now go try these on." The two girls pushed their stunned friend off into the dressing rooms.

The rest of the day passed much in that same manner. Every single time Kagome tried to argue with her friends about setting her up with Hojo they would shove something else at her for her to try on, or ask her if she liked this, or ask her if she liked that. And whenever she actually tried to answer their questions they would ask her to please be quiet because they had to concentrate. Kagome, being the girl she was, eventually just shut up and let her friends push her through the events of the day like a walking talking living breathing wooden puppet.

Finally they decided on an out fit for Kagome to wear. And though Kagome felt no need to dress up for her date like most girls (because she didn't really consider Hojo to be her date. She still thought that she would find some way to get out of it.) She had to admit that she was delighted with the final decision.

The dress was made with a pearly white satin-like material, and as it caught the light it gave off a sort of luminescent glow. There was a gold sash around the waist that had a very useful hidden pocket. HIDDEN pocket, so it's not bunched up or anything. But I really like pockets. There was also a golden Chinese dragon holding a black pearl embroidering on the low neckline and the hem. It was knee-length, and it had a high back with a weird sort of collar that clung to her neck, sort of like a vampires cape. The earrings that she got were large golden thick hoops, like a gypsies and they had clusters of tiny moonstones hanging from the shiny metal like grapes from a vine. Her necklace was a thin gold chain with a beautiful perfectly round moonstone hanging from it. Kagome got so many bangles that they reached all the way up from her wrist to her elbow. The bangles were gold and each one a small moonstone that sparkled like a star embedded in it. Her shoes were white boots with small gold chains hanging from the tops. All in all, Kagome was more then a little bit pleased with the outcome of what had been a horrendous experience. As she walked back home to the shrine Kagome noticed that the sun was setting. 'Oh my god! That took all day! Jenny's ass is mine when I got home.' Kagome thought as she walked slowly by herself back to the shrine.

Feudal Era

"INUYASHA NO BAKA!" Shippo shouted at the hanyou. Inuyasha blinked at him. The kitsune had just suddenly dropped from the tree that he had been sitting underneath.

"Huh?" He asked. Inuyasha grabbed the kit by his tail and picked him up, shaking him violently. Inuyasha needed to vent his anger and frustration, and Shippo was there at the right time in the right place. "What did you just call me, runt?"

"Baka, baka, BAKA!" Shippo screamed at him. "They were talking about their plans right in front of you, but you DID NOT LISTEN TO THEM!" Shippo was sobbing now, fat tears of sorrow were falling down his cheeks, and pooling in the ground by Inuyasha's bare feet. Inuyasha stopped shaking the kitsune and he awkwardly put Shippo on his knee, but Shippo wouldn't have any of it.

"It's all your fault that mama left us!" Shippo was now pounding on Inuyasha's chest. Usually Shippo's attacks didn't hurt, but he had learned quite a few things from Jenny's lessons, and how to hurt people even though he was not strong was one of those things. He was using his little claws to gouge Inuyasha's flesh, and his words struck the hanyou's heart like a torpedo, tearing his already fragile self-control to pieces.

"Damn you." Inuyasha said softly. His head was lowered and his bangs covered his eyes. "Don't you think I know that already? DON'T YOU THINK I KNOW!" Inuyasha jumped up from the forest floor, shaking Shippo from his lap. "I know that I could have stopped her if I had tried harder!" that's not true, Jenny or Fluffy would have figured out how to get in his way first, but Inu-kun doesn't know that, now does he? "I know that I always hurt her, and that right now she's probably moping around that shrine of hers missing all of you, but not me! Okay, so lay off me!" Inuyasha sank back down onto his knees. "Just leave me alone." He whimpered. A dry sob shook him and before he could stop himself Inuyasha was sobbing into his red haori clad arm.

Shippo looked up at the hanyou that he considered to be his adoptive father and blanched. He had never meant to make Inuyasha cry, he had just meant to see if the hanyou felt any regret at all for what he did.

"Inuyasha." Shippo jumped up from his spot on the ground and wrapped his tiny little arms around Inuyasha's knee. "It's okay. We're all gonna go get Mama together in three days. And then neither of us will be alone anymore, 'cause Mama will be right here with us." With that Shippo got up and walked away, leaving Inuyasha to his own thoughts.

After a moment of silence Inuyasha wiped all of his tears away and looked up. 'He's right.' Inuyasha realized. 'The runt is right. No matter how much it hurts right now, it'll all be worth it when I get to see her again. And I'll never let you go again, Kagome. Just hold on, wait for me, Kagome, wait three more days, I swear that I'll come for you. I swear it.' And with that silent vow to himself Inuyasha stood up and was about to leave to go stare into the well some more when Mario came into the clearing.

"Right, man." Mario said. Then he sighed. "I suppose you want some kind of an explanation." Inuyasha glared at him for a moment then sat back down Indian style.

"What the fuck is going on?" Inuyasha asked. Mario sighed.

"Well, I might as well start from the beginning." Mario looked at Inuyasha. "Listen closely because I'm only going to explain this once." Inuyasha leaned in, giving his full and undivided attention.

"Yeah, yeah. Just get on with it." Inuyasha demanded hastily.

"Well," Mario began with a sigh. "It all started who knows how the hell long ago, when Moga, sorry, Jenny and Sesshomaru first met. They fell in love almost immediately, yada yada yada, this happened, then that happened. Long story short, they were separated by the TASCP. Time And Space Continuum Panel. The self same people who have been trying to break you and Kagome up for years. But they could never get into this world because the Guardians, meaning Jenny, wouldn't let them in. But now they've found a legal way around those bars. See, unless you and Kagome love each other unconditionally, then the well will close in four days. Interesting predicament, no? See, the Panel figured that it was such a random cliché thing that even Jenny wouldn't be able to pull it off. What they didn't count on was Sesshomaru, and of course those bastards never did truly appreciate our Jenny's true brilliance. So now what you gonna do, is show up at Kagome's end of the year high school dance, and you're gonna have to steal her away from her family, her date, and last but definitely not least, her friends. Who, I might add, all think that you're an egomaniac abusive little git." Mario finished. He had said all of that with a grand total of two breaths.

"Wait a minute…" Inuyasha was thoughtful for a moment. AMAZING! "Who's her date and what do her friends mean, 'abusive'? Abusive to whom?"

"Why, abusive to Kagome, of course!" Mario said, cleverly dodging the hanyou's first question. Sango and Miroku had already forewarned him about Inuyasha's overzealousness, and he didn't want to be around the hanyou when he found out that Hojo, or Hobo, as they more fondly referred to him as, was taking Kagome to the dance. But what Mario didn't notice was that Inuyasha was paling and he looked like he had just had a heart attack.

"They…they think that I hurt Kagome?" Inuyasha huffed, as if he was fighting a battle and losing it as well. Mario stared at Inuyasha in a mixture of fascination and dread. Inuyasha's eyes were flashing red like a pulse, and his fists were clenched up so tight that his claws were drawing his own blood from his own veins. "They…hurt…mate…!" It wasn't a question. It was stated like a fact. Mario knew that things had gone too far, and he jumped up.

"WOAH!" Mario shouted. He backed up, his flat palms raised and pointed out wards in, once again, that universal symbol for 'calm down.' "Uh, dude…news flash! One: Kagome is NOT your mate. If she is then…I do not even want to know! Two: They didn't hurt Kagome. They think that you hurt Kagome. Which is a lie so just CALM DOWN! Jeeze man, what would the kid say if he were here to see you, huh? His father figure loosing his cool just because a couple schoolyard cows start chewing their cud and flapping their jaw, huh? What would Kagome say?" Mario said. 'Damn.' He thought. 'I sound like one of those 'What would Jesus do?' cartoons. Dude. Moga would kill me if she could hear me now!' But no matter how corny his words, they seemed to be working. 'Guess they haven't been corn-ified yet.' Mario thought.

"What did you just say?" Inuyasha asked, breathing heavily. He plopped down on the ground, he was back to normal. With his golden eyes and shorter claws. "I never said she was my mate?" He blushed as he said the words.

"…"

"I DID NOT!"

"I am so lost." Mario said, shaking his head and stretching his hands and arms up to the sky. "You just said it a couple of seconds ago. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go and do something that is so completely un-educational that it doesn't even require brain usage." Mario started to leave the small clearing where Inuyasha was sulking. Inuyasha glared after him, still muttering heatedly about how he had said no such thing. Then Mario turned around and just stared at Inuyasha.

"What!" Inuyasha snapped churlishly. Mario just shook his head.

'This better be worth it.' The young Guardian thought as he left the clearing.

A penny for your thoughts: Where did Mario come from? How did he get there? Why is he there? Don't they need him in the future? Won't Kagome notice that he's not there? What had better be worth it? Worth what? What, exactly, are these new guys? Huh? AND WHAT THE HECK IS A GAURDIAN!

Review. Please.

Okay, I know that I'm getting a little bit off track, so I'm going to warn you now…Inuyasha is going to seem a little bit out of character. See, in his own character…Well…This is all a little bit to IDEALISTIC for him. So he'll be off in the woods sulking for the bigger part of the next few days. Also, you might want to know that this is the end of the middle and the beginning of the end.

So, REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! I ABSOLUTELY DEMAND THAT YOU… REVIEW!

Oooooo! That sorta rhymed! …lol…