Disclaimer: Even if I wanted to own him, he's currently in the clutches of Jodi...poor dude... Now here's a question...what's worse; Inuyasha in the clutches of Kikyo...or Jodi?

A/N I'd just like to take a moment to say: ha! Look at the speed of this update! Isn't it the fastest you've seen in a long while? And it's a great chapter too! Just read on to find out!

Minaosu, yes, I completely agree with you. I just hate it when people make characters get made at each other for stupid, little things they could have never hoped to have prevented anyway. And now that you mentioned it, I can see the 'bon-bon' thing too...lol.

Kiala, will Hojo be back? How could he not be?

And technically I now have 900 reviews! Yay! Congrats to brattigal for being my technically 900th reviewer! Oy, I wish they straighten out my review count...–shakes head–

And I'd just like to remind everyone that Kikyo is Inuyasha's friend (nothing more) and the top female ski racer. I mentioned it near the beginning, but I'm reminding you guys now in case you'd forgotten. Now; read on!

..:V:..

"Let go of me, you big oaf!" Kagome protested, squirming against the ever placidly- smiling Naraku.

"Now, now," Naraku said genially. "Don't be like that; I haven't had this much fun since our meeting at the pool!"

Kagome gagged. "You called that fun?! You sicko!"

She tried to stomp on his feet, but he just laughed gaily and said, "Come now; it'd be a shame if my shoes were scuffed up!"

Kagome made an exasperated sound. "Oh, yeah; horrible shame. Can't you let me go already?! I don't want to dance with you! I don't think you even know my name!"

Naraku assumed a thoughtful expression before shrugging carelessly. "No matter, my little Cheese Danish."

Kagome went limp in his arms out of shock. He did NOT just call her his little– "Cheese Danish?! What do you take me for; a pastry?!"

Naraku gave her an eerie grin. "You do look quite delicious... In fact, I could just eat you right up!"

"Gak!" Kagome exclaimed before whimpering and shying away. Maybe pretending to faint would get me out of this?! she thought desperately.

Suddenly she heard, "May I cut in?" before she was forcefully pulled out of Naraku grasp and made to dance with the newcomer. Turning her head slightly, she caught a glimpse of silvery strands of hair and exhaled in relief as she looked up.

"Oh, thank god you got me away from that freak, Inueeeaahh! Sesshoumaru?!" Kagome yelped as she stared incredulously at Inuyasha's brother.

"Ah. Good evening," Sesshoumaru said blandly. "I suppose you were expecting my brother? I think he's a little incapacitated at the moment..."

Kagome twisted to the side to look in the direction Sesshoumaru was indicating with his head, only to see Inuyasha being practically mauled by Jodi. She cringed. "Eeeeehhh... Maybe we should go help him out?"

Sesshoumaru shrugged. "In a moment or two... Seeing my brother in distress doesn't bother me that badly..."

Kagome quirked an eyebrow before a question popped into her head. "How'd you get in here, anyway? I thought this banquet was only for coaches, racers, and their dates..."

Sesshoumaru gave a casual glance from side to side before saying slowly, "I have my...ways..."

"I see... And I assume you brought Rin with you?" Kagome asked.

"But of course," Sesshoumaru. "When have I ever gone anywhere without her?"

..:V:..

"Come on, Inu–waffle! Kiss me!" Jodi proclaimed as she forcefully swung Inuyasha around and pulled herself closer to him.

"Nnnnoooo!!!" Inuyasha protested as he tried to push himself away from her and her puckering lips. "Stay awaaaay! Whatever happened to your restraining order?!"

Jodi smiled with a slightly insane glint to her eyes. "Did you think that just because it's against the law, I would tolerate being separated from you?!"

Inuyasha cast a furtive glance around. "Uh...yeah...I kinda did... Guess I won't be making that mistake again... Maybe I should invest in some pepper spray..."

"You DO love me, don't you, Inuyasha?" Jodi asked whimsically. "And you want us to be together for ever and ever, right?"

"No way in hell," Inuyasha replied promptly.

"Excuse me," a cool voice interrupted them. They turned to see a girl about their age garbed in a white and red patterned gown with white elbow length gloves adorning her arms. Her long black hair was done in a braid that trailed down her back and her brown eyes regarded the pair nonchalantly. "Inuyasha, care to dance?" she asked, holding out a hand.

Inuyasha let out a huge sigh of relief and practically pounced on the girl. "Kikyo, am I glad to see you!"

"B–but–!" Jodi started to protest, but was cut off by Kikyo's intense glare.

"Give him up, fangirl," she said scathingly. "You've had your turn." Without further ado, Kikyo and Inuyasha waltzed as quickly as they could away from the frightening girl.

"Whew," Inuyasha exclaimed, once they were out of earshot of Jodi. "Thanks a lot! I can't stand her; she freaks me out..."

"I thought you got rid of her before," Kikyo said with a slightly questioning tone.

"Yeah..." Inuyasha said. "But she was only in jail for three months and now she's back!"

"Hmm...bummer," Kikyo stated. "Good thing I showed up when I did."

"I'll say," Inuyasha agreed. "Oh, but I was on my way to save Kagome from that creep, Naraku. He forced her to dance with him while I was refilling our drinks. I better get going."

Kikyo gave him a questioning look before realization lit up her eyes a moment later. "Oh, your new 'girlfriend'."

Inuyasha huffed. "What?! She is not! She's just–" Inuyasha cut off when he realized Kikyo was smirking. "You've been reading the tabloids, haven't you?" he asked suspiciously.

"Why not, when they're such a great source of information?" Kikyo said jokingly.

"Well...well...so you know they all lie, right? I mean–"

"Inuyasha," Kikyo said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I know they lie; and I feel for you. I mean, if they didn't lie, I really would be in love with Naraku, and that's a concept too frightening for me to consider." She winked.

Inuyasha looked at her, agape. "They didn't...?" As Kikyo pursed her lips, Inuyasha let out a small snort. "They...did?"

Kikyo allowed herself a small smile, "Yes, quite amusing... But judging from your earlier reaction, the stories they made up on you and that girl might not be completely false..."

Inuyasha's eyes widened. "Hey...what're you saying...?"

Kikyo rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on now. You never were one to admit your feelings openly, were you? But you're too obvious in this case. You really like her, don't you?" she asked, giving him an intense look.

Inuyasha was taken aback. "Wha...?! No, of course no–"

"Oh, look," Kikyo interrupted him. "Seems like she's already been saved from Naraku."

Inuyasha's head spun around so fast, his hair whipped Kikyo in the face. "What? Where?! Who the...Sesshoumaru!! How dare he put his hands on Kagome...!"

Kikyo was hard pressed to keep the knowing smirk from her face at his reaction. "Silly me. I should have known you didn't care about her as anything more than a friend," she said, the innuendo clear in her voice. As Inuyasha looked at her in dismay, she stepped out of his embrace and walked off with a little wave. "See ya tomorrow at the competition, Inuyasha. And good luck with your girlfriend."

"She's not my..." Inuyasha trailed off as Kikyo glanced back at him over one shoulder and raised an eyebrow. "...Oh, whatever..." he grumbled, crossing his arms and turning his head stubbornly to the side.

..:V:..

"Why do you even serve pig's liver with basil?!" Miroku was demanding Chad.

"Well, it really is a delicacy..." Chad said, looking cornered.

"It's okay, Miroku," Sango said, putting a hand on the enraged boy's arm. "I appreciate you sticking up for me, but honestly...I'll get over a little food mix up. And I don't think taking it up with a mere waiter is gonna get us anywhere either..."

"Are you sure?" Miroku asked in a worried day as he sat down again. When she nodded wearily, he continued, "Well, then, do you want to order something else?"

Sango shook her head. "No, it's okay. I wouldn't want to waste anymore of your money. I'm okay, really."

"Any money spent on you wouldn't be wasted," Miroku said earnestly. "But if you insist...at least share my dinner with me." He pushed his plate of pasta into the middle of the table.

Sango took in his pleading expression for a minute before grudgingly conceding. "Alright... I do love pasta..." Picking up her fork, she stabbed a few noodles and popped them in her mouth as a smile broke out across Miroku's face. Seeing he was in the clear, Chad meandered off to attend to some of his other customers.

The rest of their meal passed suspiciously well, though Miroku was on edge the whole time. Too many things had gone wrong since the date started for the whole thing not to be terribly jinxed. And their peaceful meal made him suspect it was only the calm before the storm.

Once they had finished the last of the noodles, with a Lady and the Tramp comment issued by Sango somewhere in the middle of it, Miroku stood up nervously and offered his hand to Sango. "Um...did you want to dance, Sango?"

Sango looked up at him curiously. Since when was he ever nervous? "Sure," she agreed and placed her hand in his. As they made their way to the dancing section on the other side of the restaurant, they noticed that, though it was noisy when they had originally entered, it had become much rowdier. Many individuals were staggering instead of dancing and some more...far gone customers were trying to sing along with the music.

Sango and Miroku shrugged at each other before bravely entering into the chaos.

..:V:..

Kagome narrowed her eyes as she watched a girl with slightly similar features to her own walk away from Inuyasha. "Now who is she...?" she muttered darkly to herself.

Even though her voice was low, Sesshoumaru heard her. "Who? Ah, her. That's Kikyo," he said nonchalantly.

Kagome assumed a thoughtful expression. "Kikyo...Kikyo... Where have I heard that name before?"

"Well, she is the top female ski racer," Sesshoumaru replied blandly. "She and Inuyasha are 'buddies' so to speak."

Kagome narrowed her eyes even further. "'Buddies'? How much of buddies, if you don't mind me asking...?"

Sesshoumaru gave her a ghost of a smirk before replying, "Strictly friends."

Kagome raised an eyebrow. "You're sure?"

"Yes," Sesshoumaru responded, bored.

"I mean, you're completely positive?" Kagome pressed.

"Oh, well there was this one time..." Sesshoumaru trailed off.

Kagome yanked on his collar and jerked him down so that his face was level with hers. "What?!"

Sesshoumaru looked down at her with an expression akin to slight amusement. "You have nothing to worry about, girl. I'm completely positive that my brother and Kikyo are strictly friends."

Kagome let go of his collar and breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, good... Wait...did you just demonstrate a sense of humour...?"

Sesshoumaru's eyes snapped to hers. "No," he said abruptly.

"Yes, you did."

"No. I didn't," Sesshoumaru said with a note of finality. Kagome gave up arguing with him at that point, and let a few moments go by in silence.

"So where is Rin?" Kagome asked curiously once the lack of talking bored her. "I don't see her anywhere..."

Sesshoumaru shrugged and casually glanced in the direction of one of the corners of the large ballroom. "Oh, she's just over there an–whaaat?!"

Kagome started at the first real hint of emotion she'd ever heard in Sesshoumaru's voice. "What? What's going on?!" she asked frantically, whipping her head in the direction he was looking. It must be something drastic to have gotten Sesshoumaru's voice to change pitch.

There, in the corner of the room, was Rin; but she wasn't alone. Someone was advancing on her and trapping her in the corner. Someone who looked suspiciously like...

"John..." Sesshoumaru growled lowly.

"Rin's stalker?" Kagome asked in shock. "What's he doing here?"

Sesshoumaru released her and rolled up his white sleeves. "Probably harassing Rin again... Which is something he's gonna regret..."

As Kagome watched, Sesshoumaru stiffly marched over to where John was leering at his ice dancing partner and tapped him soundly on the shoulder. John spun around and his expression froze as he saw the enraged Sesshoumaru glaring at him. The next thing he knew, Sesshoumaru had grabbed his upper arm and started dragging him towards the exit.

Kagome trailed after him, but stopped her pursuit once Sesshoumaru had exited the doors with John struggling behind him. She then found she was beside the punch table and decided to get herself a new glass of the drink.

Meanwhile, Inuyasha had been silently fuming as he watched Kagome and Sesshoumaru dancing. How could Sesshoumaru do that to him and dance with his date?! And how could she go ahead and dance with him?! How could they just ignore him like that? He'd show them...

Inuyasha trailed off from muttering incoherently under his breath when he noticed that Sesshoumaru and Kagome had stopped dancing in favour of saving Rin from John. Sesshoumaru soon dragged the stalker out of the door and Inuyasha realized that now Rin and Kagome were now both alone. He grinned. He took one look at Kagome, looking glamourous in her scarlet gown, her silky raven hair spilling out of her up do, and her brown eyes glimmering in the dim light, before abruptly turning and marching up to the girl in the corner.

Holding out his hand, he asked, "Care to dance...Rin?"

..:V:..

"Having...urgh...a good time....Sango?" Miroku asked with a pained smile.

Sango was shoved painfully into his chest for the fifth time since they'd begun to dance before grimacing. "Oh...wonderful, thank you." She shoved back on the rowdy man behind her, sending him staggering unstably into the middle of the rest of the group he was with.

"That's...heh, heh...good," Miroku said nervously.

"Ye–ow!–es," Sango agreed amiably as a slightly tipsy woman accidentally stomped on one of her feet. "Actually–oomph!–I can't recall a time when I've had near this much–ack!–fun."

"Oh, well–get your elbow out of my side!–I was hoping you'd say that," Miroku replied, the person he'd told off in the middle of his sentence scurrying away.

"Gotta say–hey, lady! My leg doesn't bend that way so could you stop sitting on it?!" Sango shouted down to a woman who had suddenly slumped down on her lower leg.

"I think she passed out..." Miroku said thoughtfully.

Sango jerked her leg out from underneath the unconscious woman before continuing to dance with Miroku. "As I was saying, I gotta say, I'm having the–OW! That was my hair, you–! Er...ahem...having the time of my life," Sango finished with a weak smile.

"Good!" Miroku said cheerfully before his smile drooped. "That makes one of us..."

"Aww, maaaan...!" a coarse voice sounded near the attempting-to-dance couple. Miroku and Sango turned slightly to see a man staggering unsteadily through the other people on the dance floor. "I feel sooo sick...!"

The green-faced man stopped abruptly and proceeded to up heave the contents of his stomach directly at Sango's feet. With disgusted looks, Miroku and Sango stopped dancing and took a tentative step backwards.

"Thanks..." Sango said dryly to the drunk man.

"You know, my mother was an alcoholic..." Chad spoke up conversationally from where he was leaning casually against the counter of the bar section.

Miroku slapped a palm to his forehead.

..:V:..

"I still say that by the end of the night, they'll all be officially together," Ayame said stubbornly.

"I don't know..." Kouga said sceptically. "Inuyasha can be pretty stubborn...and slow on the uptake... And he hates to admit his feelings to anyone; even himself... I say him and Kagome are going to take their time..."

"I'm sorry, but I just can't agree with you," Ayame said, sticking to her opinion. "If anything, I would expect their hook up to go more smoothly. I mean, I think Miroku's wandering hands will slow his and Sango's relationship down more than Inuyasha's stubbornness will slow down his relationship with Kagome."

"That's true about Miroku's hands..." Kouga mused. "So given his hands and Inuyasha's attitude, I still think it'll take an extra day to get each relationship solidified."

"You keep thinking that," Ayame said. "But I can practically guarantee that they'll both be solidified by the end of tonight."

"Well, if you're so sure, and I'm so sure," Kouga started cockily, "why don't we make a bet on it?"

"I'll take you up on that," Ayame said confidently. "So...what are we betting on it...?"

"Um..." Kouga looked thoughtful for a moment before his face cleared. "I know! A kiss!"

Ayame looked at him with a slight blush. "...A kiss?"

"Yeah!" Kouga said happily as if he'd just cured cancer. "If I win, you have to give me a kiss! And if you win...uh...I give you a kiss?"

Ayame giggled and rolled her eyes. "I'll be just devastated if I lose."

"Oh, me too," Kouga said, grinning. "But that doesn't mean I won't win!"

..:V:..

"Ah, well that takes care of that," Sesshoumaru declared to himself as he dusted off his hands and reentered the ballroom. Seeing that Rin was no longer in the corner where he'd left her, but Kagome was by the punch table, Sesshoumaru headed in her direction.

When Kagome saw him approach, she mustered a half smile and tipped her punch glass to him in acknowledgement. "Took out the trash?" she asked when he was in earshot.

"And personally took it to the dump," Sesshoumaru said in grim satisfaction. He then proceeded to grab his own glass and fill it up with punch before turning back around, noticing in passing that Kagome's shoulders were slightly hunched. "So...you look somewhat tense... There's a reason, I suppose?" he asked, though not really interested.

Kagome slowly turned to him, her eyebrow twitching slightly. "Look out on the dance floor," she said bitterly.

Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow but did as she bid while taking a casual sip of his punch. A split second later, he spluttered and split it back in his cup before hastily wiping his mouth and pretending nothing had happened. Meanwhile, his eyes never left the couple dancing together in the centre of the room.

He summoned the most calm voice he could before speaking, "Why...exactly...are Inuyasha and Rin dancing together...?"

Kagome downed the rest of her punch before futilely trying to crush the cup in her hand. "Beats me..." she said in clipped words. Glaring, she looked down at the cup that refused to crush in her fist, and shook it a few times.

"Here; allow me," Sesshoumaru said darkly as he reached across and swiped the plastic cup from her grasp. In one swift movement, he crumpled it beyond recognition before tossing it behind him where it landed perfectly in a garbage can. He then quickly finished his own drink and repeated the action.

"So..." Kagome said, trying to hide the annoyance in her voice.

"Having the same overwhelming urge to go break them apart...?" Sesshoumaru asked casually.

"Oh, yeah," Kagome responded quickly.

"I suggest we act on that urge," Sesshoumaru suggested.

"Yeah, okay," Kagome agreed readily.

Determinedly, Sesshoumaru and Kagome set out for the targeted couple. Once they reached where Inuyasha and Rin were dancing, they each set a hand on one of their shoulders and jerked them apart. Startled, the dancing pair stumbled apart from one another and looked on in surprise at the two who had interrupted them.

Inuyasha recovered first and was quick to plaster a smirk on his face at the sight of both Sesshoumaru and Kagome peeved. His plan of revenge had worked. "Yes?" he inquired politely. "Was there a reason you interrupted Rin and I's dance?"

Sesshoumaru looked like he was about to say something for a moment before he turned abruptly to Kagome and said, "We didn't really plan anything out after this point, did we?"

"No..." Kagome said, frowning. "Maybe we should have thought more ahead..."

"Well, then," Inuyasha said. "If you two have nothing more to say, Rin and I will be getting back to our dance..."

"No!" Sesshoumaru protested. "You may not dance with Rin!"

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow. "Why not? She is my friend, after all. What's the problem?"

"You know very well what the problem is, brother!" Sesshoumaru said with the slightest snarl entering his voice. "You're just using Rin in order to get back at me and your girlfriend for dancing together!"

"Am not!" Inuyasha protested. "...Why were you dancing with her?" he continued in an accusing tone. He seemed to have forgotten to refute the 'girlfriend' comment...

Sesshoumaru crossed his arms and gave his brother a smug expression. "I was so right. But anyways, truthfully, brother, I couldn't bear to see anyone affiliated with me be so disgraced by being in the presence of that Naraku. Wouldn't you have done the same for Rin?"

Inuyasha crossed his arms as well, creating an almost perfect reflection of Sesshoumaru. "That's different," he sniffed.

"I fail to see how," Sesshoumaru responded.

"Well, it is!"

"It clearly isn't, brother."

"Yes! It is!"

"Not by a long shot..."

"It's different!" Inuyasha insisted.

Rin and Kagome rolled their eyes at each other before walking off and leaving the brothers to their bickering.

"I think I'm gonna go see if Hojo's managed to sneak in as well," Kagome said in a bored tone.

"Yeah...I think Kouga's free this dance," Rin said. "Maybe I'll see if he'd be willing to dance with me..."

Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru finally cut off from their arguing a few minutes later when they suddenly saw Kagome and Hojo, and Rin and Kouga go waltzing by out of the corners of their eyes. Closing their hanging jaws with a snap, Sesshoumaru ventured with a, "Maybe we didn't think this through either, brother..."

..:V:..

"Um...are you just about ready to leave?" Miroku asked in a depressed voice as they squeezed their way through the mass of people cluttering up the dance floor.

"Yeah, I think so," Sango responded. "Just...a bit...farther...!" As they were just about to leave the crowd, a singing man was shoved backwards into them. He accidentally brushed up against Sango and his hand connected with her butt. She squeaked at the unwanted physical contact and Miroku's head automatically snapped around.

The man's hand on his date's rear seemed to be the straw that broke the camel's back when it came to the horrible string of events that was that night, and Miroku snapped, letting out an animal-like growl. Stepping forward and pulling back his arm, he swung his fist around as hard as he could and nailed the man square in the jaw. The man, in turn, stumbled back into his buddies before promptly straightening and letting out his own snarl. With unfocused eyes, he staggered forward and soundly punched the man directly beside Miroku.

Miroku watched with a raised eyebrow as the man beside him fell to the ground before shaking his head and leading the gaping Sango the rest of the way out of the crowd. Behind them, they heard slurred angry shouts and sounds of more flesh hitting flesh.

"Wow..." Sango said as she continued to stare incredulously at Miroku as he quickly paid the bill. "So does this mean you'll have to punch yourself from now on whenever you grope me?"

Miroku's eyebrow twitched. "I must say, I'm biased when it comes to myself... But I sorely needed to hit something, and he proved to be the most asking-for-it punching bag. Hope you're not too opposed to my loss of temper."

Sango grinned. "Are you kidding? Honestly, would you want your ass grabbed by him?"

Miroku tried to smile, but it soon faltered. "Thanks..." He gently took hold of her upper arm and began to lead her out of the restaurant. Behind them, a full-fledged brawl had broken out, complete with sounds of crashing furniture, grunts, groans, connecting fists, and men's voices emanating in high-pitched squeals.

"Hope you come back soon!" Chad called out after them. "I had a great time!"

The door of the restaurant shut behind them with a click.

..:V:..

"You know, this is your fault," Sesshoumaru said pointedly.

"Me?!" Inuyasha said incredulously. "How is this my fault?!"

"You're the one who started our argument by dancing with Rin and ignoring your girlfriend!" Sesshoumaru told him.

"You're the one who danced with my girlfr–er...with Kagome in the first place!" Inuyasha argued.

"Getting her out of the clutches of Naraku!"

Inuyasha threw up his arms. "Not back to this again!"

"I'm just pointing out to you why it's your fault that Rin and your girlfriend are off dancing with Kouga and...that vapid-looking boy over there..." Sesshoumaru trailed off vaguely, indicating Hojo as he danced by holding Kagome nervously in his arms.

"It's not my fault! It's yours!"

..:V:..

"Gee, Kagome, I'm sure glad you decided to dance with me!" Hojo said happily as he and Kagome waltzed by the fuming brothers.

And I can't BELIEVE I decided to dance with you, Kagome thought to herself. Out loud she laughed lightly and said, "Oh, well, I'm glad I got a chance to before the night was through..." Jeez, I must have been DESPERATE to resort to this!

Hojo continued to smile obliviously.

..:V:..

The two brothers were by now brooding silently side by side with their arms sullenly crossed. They glared at the two other boys who happened to have Kagome and Rin in their arms with enough intensity to melt an iceberg. If either Hojo or Kouga had caught a glance at them, they would have cowed and backed down quicker than they could blink an eye. But unfortunately for Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru, they continued on dancing in oblivion.

How to get back at her...? they both thought simultaneously. Suddenly, they both noticed Ayame refilling her glass of juice at the punch table. A split second later, they were both speed walking in her direction.

Ayame smiled to herself as she topped off her cup. She took a sip before turning around and practically choking as Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha bore quickly down on her. She shrank away from their intimidating presence and grinned weakly in the face of their enraged expressions.

"Want to dance, Ayame?" they both asked at the same time before turning and giving each other a dirty look.

"Uhh..." Ayame said uncertainly as she glanced nervously around her for a clue as to what was going on. Spotting Kagome dancing with Hojo and Rin dancing with her own boyfriend, Kouga, realization hit her. "Oooohhhhh....!" She shook her head in disbelief. "You guys are hopeless," she informed the two shocked brothers.

Determinedly, Ayame made her way across the dance floor to first Rin and Kouga, then to Kagome and Hojo, effectively stopping their dances. She beckoned them all back to the punch table where Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru were still waiting and then lined everyone up.

"What are you doing...?" Inuyasha asked, confused.

"Shut up," Ayame told him pointedly. "Now; I'm going to fix this stupid mix up. Rin!"

"Yes?" the brown-haired girl chirped expectantly.

"You're with Sesshoumaru," Ayame said, shoving the tall silver-haired man towards her. "Go. Dance. Now."

"Yes, ma'am!" Sesshoumaru and Rin declared before escaping off to the dance floor.

"Kouga!"

"Yeah?"

Ayame smiled. "You're with me. Hang on a sec as I sort the rest of these guys out and then we'll go dance some more."

"Sounds good to me," Kouga said as he came to stand beside her.

"Inuyasha and Kagome!"

"Uh huh?"

"Yes?"

Ayame marched up to them and shoved them close together. "Go dance together. Be happy. Hook up officially by the end of the night!"

"Hey!" Kouga protested indignantly. "Interference!"

Meanwhile, Inuyasha and Kagome had taken a few steps before stopping abruptly and looking back at Ayame with raised eyebrows. "What did you say?!"

"Nothing!" Ayame said in a sing song voice before pressing a palm into the small of each of their backs and pushing them out on the dance floor.

"You're so cheating on our bet," Kouga continued to grumble. "You can't interfere in order to win."

Ayame stuck out her tongue at him jokingly. "You just wish you had thought of it first."

Kouga sighed. "True..."

"Now! Hojo!" Ayame called out to the last person left standing before her.

"Yes?" he replied eagerly.

"........You're on your own."

..:V:..

"This is horrible!" Miroku exclaimed when they reached the nearest bench to the restaurant they had exited a few minutes earlier.

Sango looked at him in confusion. "What's horrible?"

Miroku looked at her incredulously before dropping his gaze again and launching into a rant. "Everything's horrible! This whole night has been horrible! First we get to this restaurant, one I promise you will be fabulous, and it's a little busy. Okay, not too bad so far. So then we sit down and are practically immediately bombarded by this waiter who has no life, but enough personal problems that he feels the need to unload a few on us!"

Sango let out a small giggle.

"So once we finally get him to leave us the heck alone, these little prepubescent twerps start hitting on you with their stupid notes and voices worthy of any woman I've ever met!" Miroku continued, not noticing Sango's shoulders give a slight shake. "You know, clearly that wasn't bad enough, and so the stupid restaurant has to make their menu unreadable to a typical Anglophone and they end up serving you one of the most disgusting meals on this planet! And as a side topping, you got some nice, half chewed meatball fresh out of someone else's throat!"

Sango nodded her head fervently in agreement, not trusting her voice, as her shoulders shook violently by this time.

"Alright, the rest of our shared meal passed by calmly enough, but apparently too calm for some higher being's liking," Miroku noted bitterly. "And so when we tried dancing, we had the honour of having Alcoholics Anonymous dropouts as buddies on the dance floor! You were getting shoved every which way, and it was hardly what I would have called a dance!"

Sango held her stomach with one hand as the other wiped a tear of mirth from her eye.

"But you know what they thought would add to the decor even more at that restaurant?" Miroku asked rhetorically before answering himself. "A nice vomit patch at your feet. Provided by none other but the most valued and dignified guest, of course."

"Of course," Sango managed to get out as she desperately tried to suppress her giggles.

"And Chad still couldn't manage to shut his mouth up during all of this," Miroku said in disdain.

"Very disturbed man..." Sango said in a patronising way.

"I know!" Miroku agreed fervently. "And so we try to escape that dreaded place, and we can't even leave without them giving us a going away present in the form of a voted out Canadian Idol contestant feeling you up!"

Sango could barely stand at this point.

"So I sock him one because I can't stand it anymore, and I inadvertently start a drunken brawl!" Miroku finished with a throwing up of his arms as he finally raised his gaze in order to look at Sango. "Everything's been so incredibly horr–huh? What's so funny?"

Sango couldn't hold it in any longer and she burst out laughing as she collapsed beside him on the bench. When her giggles had died down enough for her to speak, she said, "Oh, geez... Oh, it hurts...so funny...!"

Miroku looked at her with a baffled expression. "I don't get it. What's so funny?"

Sango looked at him in bewilderment as her laughter subsided. "Oh, Miroku... This whole night has been so funny! Don't you realize it? Didn't you listen to yourself just now?"

Miroku looked thoughtful for a moment for a slight smile graced his features. "Well...I suppose it was kinda amusing..."

"'Kinda amusing'?" Sango asked. "It was downright hilarious! And you know what? I really did have a good time." She smiled at him brilliantly.

"Y-you did?" Miroku asked with a hopeful expression. "But...but what about all the things went wrong tonight? Why didn't you have a horrible time?"

Sango kept grinning. "Because it was actually fun in a weird, twisted way. Why? Did you want me to have a bad time?"

"Uh-what? No! Of course not!" Miroku protested adamantly. "It's just that...well–"

Sango reached out and grasped his face between her two hands. "Oh, get over it," she cut him off. "I had a great time." Without thinking twice about what she was about to do, she brought his face towards her and covered his lips with her own.

To say Miroku was surprised was a gross understatement. He was so shocked that Sango was kissing him after the worst date he could have ever imagined, that he couldn't even move.

After a moment of Miroku not responding, Sango felt a pang of hurt and began to pull away. This, however, seemed to snap Miroku back to his senses, and he quickly leaned forward to recapture the sweet taste of Sango's lips. The feel of his lips massaging hers sent thrills down Sango's spine and she eagerly quickened the pace of the kiss. Miroku was more than happy to respond.

After a few moments, the two broke apart, out of breath. Breathless, they sheepishly grinned at each other as if they'd stolen a cookie out of the cookie jar while mother wasn't watching.

"So...um...you believe me now...?" Sango asked tentatively.

"Ah, yes; I believe you made your point quite thoroughly," Miroku replied, the grin still tugging at his lips.

"Well...you know what they say; actions speak louder than words..." Sango said.

"A philosophy I'm more than happy to go by," Miroku said earnestly. "But instead of playing charades for ten minutes, I'm just going to come out and ask you directly whether or not the position of my girlfriend would interest you. I mean, the spot's currently vacant and you definitely meet all the criteria so–"

Sango flung herself at him and wrapped her arms around his neck in a tight hug. "I'll take it!" she cried happily. "When do I start?"

"Well, as soon as possible, of course. Which would be about...now," Miroku said, grinning like an idiot.

"Great! Then it's all settled," Sango said, giving him another quick kiss before also grinning like an idiot. "Now let's get back to the resort...I'm freezing out here."

"Oh, don't worry, Sango," Miroku said in a suggestive tone. "I'll keep you warm."

Sango rolled her eyes, but giggled anyway. "Oh, Miroku...my poor little pervert..."

..:V:..

Kagome sighed. Now this was how she'd imagined her night to turn out. Being in Inuyasha's strong arms as they flowed together through the steps of the dance was like pure heaven. They'd already danced two dances together, but she wasn't intending to give him up until the entire ceremony drew to a close. With a smile, she lifted her head from where she had laid it against Inuyasha's shoulder and gazed up at him until he noticed her staring at him.

Quirking an eyebrow, he asked, "Yes?" with a gentle smile of his own.

"Nothing..." Kagome said, sighing blissfully once again. "Just having a good time...finally...now that I'm dancing...with you."

Inuyasha felt a tinge of pink grace his cheeks, but quickly managed to get his emotions under control. "I'm glad I'm dancing with you now too...though dancing with Kikyo was pretty fun..." At Kagome's dangerously narrowed eyes, he smiled and said, "I'm joking, I'm joking. I like Kikyo, but we're just friends. I could only have so much fun dancing if you were my partner..." Inuyasha trailed off as the pink returned to his cheeks.

Kagome gave him the fish eye for a moment before declaring bitterly, "You and your brother share a sick sense of humour..." But she smiled anyway and laid her head back on his shoulder as his arms tightened around her.

..:V:..

A/N Ka-ching! Extra long chapter for you all; eleven pages going on twelve! Le gasp!

Ahh, I enjoyed writing this chapter muchos, I must say. It was so much fun! I really hope you all enjoyed it too so I hope to hear all of your thoughts/comments/fav. parts!

And oooh, what's this? Even though it was the date from hell, Miroku and Sango still managed to hook up! And Inuyasha and Kagome are...getting there... Someday...maybe...hopefully...they just might hook up. –wink–

Oh, and just to remind everyone, this chapter has marked the end of Tuesday and so the next chapter shall commence with Wednesday, the first day of the competition! Stay tuned!

IMPORTANT!: Yeah, so I have been officially banned by my parents from the internet until after Christmas... I should still be able to sneak in updates (like I'm doing with this one), but, uh...try to be patient and understanding of my plight...eh, heh...

Anymewho, another generous quote donation from Albino Black Sheep was: Never argue with stupid people. First they'll drag you down to their level and then they'll beat you with experience.

I have heard that one before, but it still is a great quote. Here's one of mine to think about that kind of relates to it: The two most common elements in the universe are hydrogen...and stupidity.

Talk to you all later!