On the Outside by SunsetMiko

Decisions, Decisions

Chapter 35 - Decisions, Decisions

*Pas de Bourrée* (Stella's Soundtrack Challenge)

Kagome sighed heavily while staring at the dance floor, hoping that her hanyou friend would get the point and ask her to dance already. They'd been sitting there for what felt like hours, just watching as the other students had fun. It was making her insane! She didn't buy a new dress and spend hours on her hair and makeup to sit there and drink punch.

Finally, she reached the end of her patience and decided to do the asking herself. They weren't on a date, after all. They were only there as friends. He obviously wasn't catching her hints. "Inuyasha?" she started. "Do you maybe wanna dance?"

The hanyou looked at her, trying to hide his guilt. He knew what he was about to do would make her upset and that what he was hoping would happen would make her uncomfortable, but it was necessary. She needed to stop fighting her feelings for his brother or neither of them would ever be happy.

"Look, 'Gome, I don't know how to dance, and I ain't lookin' to learn."

"What?" she said louder than she intended, blushing when several students looked at them, curious as to what she was yelling about. She continued in a more hushed tone. "Then why are you even here if you're not going to dance?"

*Cheerful Chivalry* (Stella's Soundtrack Challenge)

Inuyasha shrugged. "You wanted to come."

Kagome sighed, feeling guilty herself. Her hanyou friend didn't look comfortable at all, even though he'd removed his tie and unbuttoned the collar of his shirt. She hadn't realized he was only there because she wanted him to be. "Oh," she breathed.

"It's all right. It's not that bad, except for this damn tux," he muttered, "but I don't wanna go out there. They have enough reasons to laugh at me. They don't need to see me make a fool out of myself. Maybe Sesshoumaru will dance with you," he said, trying to sound as innocent as possible as he suggested something he knew she had already announced was not going to happen.

"I... I can't dance with him," she whispered, knowing that Sesshoumaru could still hear her anyway. There was no way around it with his enhanced demon hearing.

"Why not?" the hanyou asked. "It ain't like he's gonna bite you. He'll behave. Won't ya, Sesshoumaru?"

The taiyoukai tried not to smirk as both his brother and the love of his life turned to look at him. "Of course. I will be on my best behavior."

"I don't know," Kagome said pensively.

*No Return * (Stella's Soundtrack Challenge)

Could she do it? Could she dance with him like she used to without it being weird? Could she control her feelings and not snuggle up to his strong body and soak in the scent of him? Why did everything have to be so damned complicated? All she wanted was to have a nice time at the dance. Why couldn't Inuyasha suck it up for her and give dancing a try?

She understood, of course, why he was reluctant. The other students already thought of him as a source of entertainment. If he went out there and looked silly, well, it certainly wouldn't help. They didn't need anything else to tease and torment him about. How she wished she could change how everyone saw him. Inuyasha didn't deserve their hatred or their torture. He was a wonderful person. Why did it matter what his parents were? Why care that he was a hanyou? It simply didn't make sense to her.

Kagome stared longingly at the dance floor as yet another of her favorite songs began to play. She couldn't go out there alone. She was just as much an outcast as Inuyasha now, all of her other friends abandoning her when she'd held her ground about befriending the hanyou. They barely spoke to her, and when they did, they didn't say very nice things. She couldn't go join the group of girls dancing together. They wouldn't welcome her into their ranks.

"Fine," Kagome decided. "But no slow songs."

"As you wish," Sesshoumaru agreed, though he hoped she would change her mind on that as well. He ached to touch her, to hold her close as they swayed to the music. That had been his favorite part of escorting her to school dances in the past. Sure, they had snuggled on the couch to watch television and he'd comforted her when she was sad, but on the dance floor, he could pretend that they were really together. He missed it more than he could ever explain.