Chapter 3

The weekend came sooner than Sesshomaru expected. Which meant the Halloween dance was that much closer. He was sitting at home, sipping a cola and watching TV when Inuyasha came into the room. He plopped down next to Sesshomaru on the couch and stole the remote.

"What the hell!" Sesshomaru said angrily as his brother changed the channel to a dumb reality show. "You are so freakin annoying sometimes…"

"Hey, what are little bro's for? Besides, don't you think you've outgrown Yu-Gi-Oh?" Inuyasha sneered.

Sesshomaru scowled and got up, not wanting to talk to him anymore. But before he could leave the room, Inuyasha threw him an unexpected question. "You got a date for the dance coming up?"

"Do you?" Sesshomaru asked, deflecting the question back at Inuyasha.

"Of course. Me and Kagome have been dating since last year. Anyway, I understand if you don't have a girl. I mean, who could like a man with such a hideous face?"

Sesshomaru turned around swiftly and tackled Inuyasha with a pillow.

"Ack! Get offa me!" Inuyasha shouted, though his voice was muffled. They punched and kicked each other for what seemed like hours, which really only ended up being a few minutes. They stopped only when the doorbell rang, and Inuyasha sprang to his feet to go answer it. The door opened, and Kagome walked in. She gave her boyfriend a quick kiss on the lips and then he led her inside. Sesshomaru had never been jealous, but now he couldn't help feeling that way. He would have to do everything he could to get Kikyo.

That night he lay in bed awake, writing in his journal.

There's this hot chick at my school that I'm trying to ask out, but so far she has shown no interest in me. What have I done wrong? I fixed her car, and the next day she beats me up in karate. Not that I minded…hehe. Yeah, I'm just being stupid. Dunno what's up with her. Heard from Jaken that she's got serious family problems. Maybe it's affecting her negatively. Whatever! If she's sad, then she should take advantage of me! A boyfriend could make her life a whole lot happier…I would make sure of that!

With a sigh, Sesshomaru closed the notebook and shoved it under his bed. He closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep, but there was too much on his mind. The entire night was spent in a fitful sleep, and he didn't even have so much as one good dream. Sesshomaru was so tired the next morning that he didn't get up until ten minutes before school was to start. Only after Inuyasha came traipsing into his room, he forced himself out of bed grudgingly. The day went by so slowly that Sesshomaru felt like each period was four hours long. When lunch finally came, he decided it was time to ask Kikyo. He didn't bother waiting in the long line for food at the cafeteria. Instead he went straight to the tables, scouting for Kikyo. She wasn't hard to spot; she was sitting in a far corner with her friend. Sesshomaru took a deep breath and walked over, trying to act as casual as possible. She didn't even look up when he sat down beside her. But she couldn't ignore him because her friend was staring. Without averting her eyes from the food she was eating, Kikyo spoke quietly.

"What do you want?"

Sesshomaru glanced uncomfortably at her friend, who was gaping in awe at him.

"Uh….I was just wondering if…ifyouwantedtogotothedancewithme" he said, so fast that you could barely understand. But Kikyo heard him perfectly.

"I'm already going with someone else" she said hastily.

The words struck Sesshomaru like knives in his chest, and slowly sank into his broken heart. "Right….well, never mind then" he said.

The friend was still gazing dreamily at Sesshomaru, and he got up quickly before she could say anything. Jaken had been watching from another table, and patted his friend on the back as he walked over. "Nice try Sesshy. But it looks like another fisherman got to her first."

Sesshomaru sat down and sulked. He was almost sure she was going to say yes!

"You know, life's not fair. Fish don't always get hooked on the right line. Just accept it and move on! There's no point in moping about it" Jaken said. "Heck, I was rejected plenty of times before Yumi came into my life."

This wasn't helping at all. Sesshomaru's heart was still painfully bleeding from the last blow he received, and Jaken's fish analogy wasn't helping. How much bait was he going to need to draw in Kikyo? And why were there other men fishing in the same pond? Sesshomaru contemplated this throughout the rest of school, which ended after lunch because it was teacher work day. As he was heading out the front doors ofTakatori High, Naraku and Muso caught up with him.

"Hey Sesshomaru" said Naraku. "I thought you might want to hang out with us this afternoon. We're going to the arcade."

"Yeah" Muso chimed in, grinning. Sesshomaru thought about it for a while, then decided it would be a good way of getting Kikyo off his mind. With a cheerful nod, the threesome turned the corner and headed to the arcade. Sesshomaru's favorite game there was "Sniper." He had perfect aim, and had beaten it many times. So obviously, that was the thing he played first. Muso and Naraku followed him to watch.

"Whoa, dude! You rock at this game" Naraku mused.

"Practice makes perfect" Sesshomaru replied. He pulled the trigger and shot a guy in the head. Blood splattered against the screen and then disappeared. Another burglar caught his eye, and he shot him too with startling precision.

"You must come here a lot" said Muso, looking impressed. "Well, do you?"

But Sesshomaru wasn't paying attention anymore…he had just spotted Kikyo on the dance dance revolution (ddr) machine. She was quite good.

"Uh…hey dude, you're getting shot like hell" Muso said.

Sesshomaru lowered his gun, his eyes still glued to Kikyo. "I'll be right back" he said hastily. Naraku took over for him, but wasn't nearly as good and got a game over within seconds. Sesshomaru had no idea why he was doing this, especially since Kikyo had rejected him, but he couldn't resist her. And she was wearing the sexy skirt again. He made sure to stay out of sight, but continued to steal glances at her whenever she wasn't looking. Most of the time she was concentrating on the dancing, but in between songs she would rest and turn her head away from the screen. Muso sided up next to him unexpectedly, startling Sesshomaru out of his trance.

"Whatcha lookin at?" he asked, staring in the same direction. Sesshomaru didn't answer. Then Muso spotted Kikyo and smiled broadly. "See that girl doing ddr? She's really cute. But definitely not one of those wimpy girls. Her body is built like a man's, only more slender. Lucky for me I get to take her to the dance."

Sesshomaru's jaw dropped. Muso is Kikyo's date? Geez, she has really bad taste in guys! To go with that sleeze ball and not with sexy me? Sesshomaru knew he was being conceited, but the fact of the matter was simple; Muso was ugly beyond belief. Okay, maybe he had a few charming characteristics. But they just didn't compare! To make things worse, Muso left Sesshomaru's side and walked over to Kikyo. They talked for a moment, then hugged (to Sesshomaru's disgust), and then they left the arcade hand-in-hand. If Sesshomaru's heart could break any further, it would've done so just then. Mr. Hideous Face had just walked away with the hottest girl in school!

"You okay bro?" said a voice behind him. Naraku was standing behind him with an expression of fake sympathy. Sesshomaru just brushed past him, refusing to speak. He had never felt this much of a failure before. Gradually his sorrow turned into anger, and as he left the arcade, he decided it was time to give Kikyo a taste of her own medicine. Sesshomaru was going to find himself a date and make her regret the day she accepted Muso's proposal.

Next: Not quite a dream date…