Author's Note: OMIGOSH! WE DID IT! OVER 450 REVIEWS!

I love you guys. You're the reason I'm still writing this fic, which I thought in the beginning was purely experimental.

A lot of the reviews ask me "Omigosh! Are you near the end of this fic?" and I find myself having difficulty as to how to answer that.

When I write, I don't have a set plot. I don't even have set characters most of the time, and I definitely do not have a set ending. The only thing I have planned is the introduction, and even -that- gets messed up usually. So most of my chapters are improv, the product of me sitting down at my computer and listening to music and saying "Geez, I should write a chapter for my Inuyasha fic."

So is my story near completion? I don't know. I still have one plot thing in mind, but after that, I might introduce another plot thing, or I might cut it off. It all depends.

The astounding amount of reviews I'm getting is making me write more. So, if you want a longer story, reviews are the only way you can get it. :D

After all that rambling, I think it's time for the chapter!

Here you go.

Chapter 15: An Unexpected Guest

The day passed by incredibly slowly. Inuyasha spent the hours staring at the clock, every five minutes telling Kagome the new time. Eventually she got so frustrated with him that she slapped him upside the head and told him to shut up, that she was trying to ignore everything and knowing the time wasn't helping.

He shut up.

Eventually the clock, followed by the eyes of all the teenagers that frequented the halls of Cameron Drake High School, struck gold. Everybody was dismissed and they stood, cheering, from their seats, giving each other high-fives or hugs and immediately beginning their excited gossip about the upcoming event.

Inuyasha went with Kagome to her locker and then went down to his, not bothering to be careful while he stuffed everything in. He would get his homework later, after the dance was done with. He went back up the stairs and found Kagome trying to press her own locker door closed.

"Allow me," he said graciously, pushing past the girl and shoving the locker closed with one hand and snapping the lock shut with the other. "All fixed," he announced, clapping his hands together as a sign of a job well done. The locker looked as if it could explode, with the door almost jumping out of its hinges; but it stayed fast.

"Thank you, Mr. Oh-so-strong," Kagome complimented. Inuyasha blushed a little and Kagome giggled. "Oh, I could actually feel you heat up with embarrassment there."

"Really?" Inuyasha asked, a bit surprised. He had heard that the other senses were heightened if one (like sight) was lost, but that was quite a feat. "That's cool."

"Isn't it though?" she said, poking his ears and turning around. "Where's Sango? Apparently she brought my outfit for the dance to school so I wouldn't have to pick one out. She has so many clothes. It's weird."

"Yeah...Ms. Violent has a girly streak," Inuyasha agreed. "Oh, and speak of the devil - wait, that would be Kikyou - speaking of Sango, here she comes."

Sango practically hopped over to the two of them, Miroku in tow, and two plastic bags in her hands. She held one of them out to Kagome. "Here's yours," she said. Inuyasha tried to take the bag and look inside, but Sango snatched it back. "You'll see it when she's wearing it," she scolded, and shook the bag so Kagome could hear where it was. The blind girl smiled and took the bag.

"Thanks," she said. "Shall we go change?"

"Why not?" Sango agreed, and the two girls walked away from Inuyasha and Miroku, in the direction of the washrooms. The two boys looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

"Women," they muttered.

Sango looked at the reflections of herself and Kagome.

"You look great," she commented. "Dark green tank top, plain, with a thin black choker necklace accented by a jade stone in the middle, with black jeans."

"Nice," Kagome agreed. "And you?"

Sango looked herself over. "Light blue long sleeve shirt with V-neck, with a white spaghetti strap underneath so that it layers, gold chain necklace with sapphire pendant, and a navy blue skirt that goes almost to my ankles."

"Also nice," Kagome complimented. "I'm sure you look great."

"Let's compromise; we -both- look great," Sango suggested, and Kagome laughed.

"Okay, I'll agree to that," she said, and pushed Sango out of the door, giggling.

When the two girls came into view, Inuyasha and Miroku both smiled. They -did- look great. The outfits weren't too flashy, but brought out their body shapes and looked very good on them.

"My dearest Sango, you look as graceful as a swan," Miroku said. Sango blushed a little.

"Where do you get all these?" she asked, referring to his poetic compliments. Miroku shrugged.

"Natural talent, I guess," he said. "Come on, we must descend the stairs to the basement, where they will have set everything up for the perfect dance." He offered his arm and Sango took it. The two of them looked pointedly at Inuyasha and Kagome, who hadn't moved very much. Miroku cleared his throat and Inuyasha tugged a bit at the collar of his shirt.

"Umm...well...we'd better get going, Kags," he said, taking her hand and leading her towards the stairwell that Miroku and Sango were standing in front of. Kagome rolled her eyes, but could never hope that Inuyasha would be as romantic as Miroku. A compliment would've been nice, though.

As they descended the stairs, an unfamiliar demon scent reached Inuyasha's sensitive nose. He stopped for a bit, reflexively pulling Kagome closer to him.

"What is it?" she asked, almost stumbling over the sudden change of movement and reaching out for the railing, not wanting to fall down the stairs again. Inuyasha just stood still, looking around. The scent was gone.

"Nothing," he muttered, smiling at Kagome. "Thought I smelled something."

"Okay," Kagome said, her voice light. "Come on. Nothing can wreck this night, not even the evil Kikyou."

"Beware the evil Kikyou!" Miroku exclaimed, his voice melodramatically deep and dark. Sango laughed.

Kagome suddenly stopped, looking warily ahead of her. "I can hear the music from here," she said quietly, and Inuyasha could smell fear coming from her.

"What's wrong?" he asked, concerned. "The music's pretty loud."

"Exactly," Kagome muttered, her eyes fluttering. "I won't be able to hear anything."

"So?" Miroku asked, ever the clueless one.

"It's one of my strongest links to the outside world," she said, her hands covering her ears a little bit. "See, right now, the only thing I'm touching is the floor and I can't hear you guys because my hands are over my ears. For all I know somebody could be pointing a gun in my head and I wouldn't know, because I wouldn't hear your gasps."

"I see your point," Miroku muttered, a little taken aback. "That sucks."

"But are you still going to go?" Sango asked. "You don't have to if you don't want to."

"No, I wouldn't do that," Kagome said, smiling. "I want to go, really. I just didn't exactly anticipate how loud it would be."

"Have you ever been to a dance before?" Inuyasha asked with an incredulous tone. Kagome laughed, still slightly nervously.

"Yeah," she said, opening her eyes again. Inuyasha could see the remnants of bad memories behind them, and made a mental note to ask her about it later.

"I'll just have to keep hold on you, then, won't I?" Inuyasha asked, smirking. "Don't worry. We won't let you get lost."

Kagome smiled again, more genuinely this time. "Of course," she said. "I'd never doubt you."

"You'd better not," Sango said, almost threateningly. "Otherwise we'd have to -make- you trust us. By force!"

Kagome laughed. "That's impossible."

"That's what you think," Inuyasha whispered into her ear, leaning in close to her. She jumped, but smiled again.

"Okay, enough of this. Let's get going." Still holding onto Inuyasha's hand, Kagome marched bravely forwards. Her three friends smiled and followed her down the stairs, coming ever closer to the vibrating 'thump, thump, thump' of the music.

The entire basement had been converted to one huge dance floor.

All the lights had been turned off and replaced by darklight. The violet lamps hung from the ceiling and only barely illuminated the ground. There were bright coloured lights that swiveled on their posts, casting eye-catching patterns on the floor or the heads of the dancers. It was crowded, but not so crowded that one could hardly move. At one end of the long hallway stood a DJ and the turntable, with a computer to control digital files and the speakers, which were mounted on the walls. Sango had no idea where all this equipment had come from.

"That sounds amazing," Kagome shouted over the loud noise, after receiving her description of her surroundings from Sango. "The perfect environment."

"I'll say," Miroku agreed, taking Sango's hand and leading her into the crowd. "Let's have some fun!" he shouted back to Inuyasha and Kagome. The two of them smirked, and Inuyasha led Kagome towards the middle of the crowd, where Miroku and Sango had started to dance. The crowd didn't notice their arrival, being too caught up in their own thoughts, so for once 'The Four' were assimilated into the general population of the school.

They lost track of time as they danced, Inuyasha always being sure to hold onto one or both of Kagome's hands, so she wouldn't feel lost in the swarm of bodies swaying to the music. All four of them were thoroughly enjoying themselves.

"Boys, get ready to find your dates!" the DJ announced, his voice sounding over the music. "Slow song coming up!" Inuyasha blushed faintly and Kagome laughed again.

"You're going red, aren't you?" she teased. Inuyasha gaped at her.

"You couldn't possibly have felt an increase in heat," he said. "There're way too many people."

"I didn't feel anything, but I know you well enough," she said. "So, you going to ask me to dance or what?"

"You're already my date!" Inuyasha protested. "Isn't one embarrassing moment enough for you?"

Kagome shook her head, smiling widely. Inuyasha sighed, but he knew that there was no way he could beat her.

"Want to dance with me, then?" he asked, inwardly kicking himself.

"I'd love to," Kagome responded, moving closer to him and wrapping her arms around his neck as the rock song faded away, making way for the all-too-popular Slow Dance.

As Inuyasha placed his own hands on Kagome's waist, he looked over at Miroku and Sango, who seemed to be enjoying their own moment of closeness. He was surprised at the fact that Miroku's 'wandering hands' weren't making their way down to Sango's behind, but figured that he had gotten tired of the endless pain she would give him.

Kagome, on the other hand, was having more difficulty controlling where her hands went. Before Inuyasha knew what was happening he felt someone rubbing his ears and glared down at a smiling Kagome.

"Jeez, you never get tired of that, do you?" he asked, but couldn't help the happiness welling up inside him.

"Nope," Kagome said, leaning her head against his chest. Inuyasha sighed, and felt his heart skip a few beats when Kagome stopped rubbing his ears and instead returned her arms to his neck, pulling him a bit closer to her. He was finding it a little bit difficult to concentrate on anything other than the fact that she was standing right in front of him, holding on to him.

She, too, was having similar thoughts. She smiled as she heard his heart beating beneath his chest. It was nice to be so close...she couldn't remember the last time she had been filled with such calm, such peace.

"Kagome?" she heard him say, and looked up at him.

"Yeah, what?" she asked, not knowing that he was leaning in to her, hoping to steal yet another kiss.

But when the door slammed open and the music stopped, he pulled away from her in surprise.

There were a lot of shouts from the end of the hallway where the DJ turntable was situated, and Inuyasha could detect more than just a hint of panic. He stood on tiptoe, trying to see over the heads of all the people in the crowd.

He crouched back down to the ground, pulling Kagome with him, when he saw what was going on.

A man - no, it wasn't a man, he couldn't have been much older than Inuyasha himself - was standing next to the DJ with a gun pointed at his head. He had long black hair and cold blue eyes.

The entire mob of people were beginning to crouch down on the ground, trying to make themselves smaller lest they should be an easy target for the madman with the pistol.

"Nobody move," the boy announced, cocking the gun that was pointed at the DJ. His eyes scanned the crowd and rested on Inuyasha; his silver hair and amber eyes definitely set him apart from the rest of the quivering students. "You," he said threateningly, in Inuyasha's direction. "Come over here."

Kagome clutched Inuyasha's hand as if it was a lifeline. "Is he talking to you?" she whispered.

"Yeah," Inuyasha muttered, not moving from his spot. The boy swung the gun from the DJ's head to Inuyasha's.

"Come here or else I'll shoot you," he said again, his voice louder. A low growl began to sound in Inuyasha's throat.

"Go," Kagome whispered. "I don't want to see you hurt. At least we'll have a chance."

"He might just shoot the rest of you," Inuyasha whispered back, shocked at what he was hearing. He couldn't just leave Kagome behind!

"Just go," Kagome said. "Ask him who he is. What he wants."

"I'm waiting," the boy warned. "Inuyasha, come here."

Inuyasha's head rose up above the crowd. "Who are you and what do you want from me?" he asked, his voice strong and confident as he stood up. The boy with the gun laughed.

"What does it matter?" he asked, his voice humoured. "Ah, well. My name is Kouga. What do I want with you? Well, I'm sure that your older brother would be interested to know that you are alive."

Inuyasha froze. His older brother? How? He was dead.

"He's not dead, Inuyasha," Kouga said, his voice still carrying the humoured note. "In fact, he's living quite pleasantly with a cushy job and big house."

Inuyasha balled his hands into fists and began to walk towards Kouga. "That's it," Kouga called, beckoning to him. "Just come with me and nobody will get hurt."

Kikyou was watching the whole exchange from her spot on the floor with a smirk plastered across her face. Rhia, beside her, looked a little nervous. "What's going on, Kikyou?" she asked. "He has...he has a pistol!"

"Yeah, I know," Kikyou said, having to work hard to avoid bursting out in malicious laughter. "Isn't it great?"

Rhia looked at Kikyou, utterly shocked. "You can't tell me that...you didn't tell this madman to come to our school!"

"Inuyasha deserves this," Kikyou muttered. "Don't worry. He won't be hurt."

At that moment Inuyasha lunged at Kouga, lashing out at him with his claws. Kouga took a step back, pointing the gun at Inuyasha's forehead.

"Don't try anything stupid, Mr. Hero," Kouga teased, shaking the gun a little bit. Inuyasha froze, feeling the cold metal pressed against his skin.

Sango and Miroku had managed to crawl over to Kagome unnoticed, and found her with her knees held close to her chest, shaking. Sango wrapped her arm around Kagome's shoulders.

"Calm down, it's okay, he can take care of himself," Sango said, her voice quiet and a lot calmer than she herself was feeling. Miroku was staring off into space, looking as if he had gone into shock.

"Kill me, then," Inuyasha said defiantly, moving swiftly towards Kouga. "Kouga," Inuyasha spat. The gun didn't fire. Inuyasha realized that Kouga was a tad shocked and took the opportunity to kick upwards, knocking the gun out of Kouga's hands.

The wolf demon immediately recovered, snarling back at Inuyasha. "You think you can beat me?" he growled. Inuyasha growled right back, taking out his claws and lunging at Kouga's face.

"You won't hurt my friends," he shouted. The heads of the students lying on the ground had risen up so they could watch what was going on.

Kouga had leaned to the right, avoiding Inuyasha's attack, and used the hanyou's momentum against him by lifting him slightly and throwing him at the wall. Inyuasha caught himself just before he would have collided with the stone and turned back to Kouga, lunging at him again. This time Kouga wasn't as lucky; he got two cuts on the right side of his face. He raised his hand to the bleeding scratch and then glared at Inuyasha.

"That's it," he roared, making his own lunge towards the half-demon. Inuyasha didn't move away in time and got a long cut in his right arm. He moved out of the way before Kouga could do anymore damage and found himself facing the wolf-demon. They circled around each other, each of them waiting for an opportunity to attack.

Inuyasha never got a chance to.

Kikyou had stood and silently approached them, reaching for the gun lying abandoned on the ground. She had crept up behind Inuyasha, knowing that all of his focus was on Kouga and maybe Kagome. She had taken her own opportunity; Inuyasha was knocked unconscious as Kikyou hit him in the back of the head with the butt of the gun.

"Problem solved," Kouga muttered. Kikyou rounded on him.

"You said nobody would get hurt!" she shouted. The entire student body let out a collective gasp. "You were supposed to stick to the plan!"

"The plan was changed, girlie," Kouga said, his eyes scanning the crowd again. They came to rest on Kagome, flanked by Sango and Miroku. "And I'm sure I'll come back for her," he muttered, mostly to himself.

With that, he lifted Inuyasha from the ground and ran out of the building.

Author's Note: Ooooh, cliffie! But it's an update, right? Right. :D

Anyways. School starts today, and I recently started another story, so that means I have 3 stories to work on as well as homework. Unfortunately updates might be a tad slow.

But I won't let this story die, at least not with the amount of reviews I'm getting!

I'm positive we could reach 500 reviews with this chapter.

Review away!