The foursome walked to the dance from the parking lot. They doubted anything could top the radio marathon on the way over, but it would be fun nonetheless. Inuyasha opened the door for Kagome and then for Sango and Miroku. They turned in their tickets and walked from the foyer to the real gym. It was beautifully decorated, with lights strung everywhere and paintings of old england up on the walls. There were tables on the side of the room that were already ladened with shoes and flowers.

The only thing wrong was the music. There was nothing but rap blaring through the air and all the couples were grinding away on each other. Inuyasha looked down at Kagome who wrinkled her nose in distaste and looked back at him. He scrunched up his nose and they both laughed. They were too happy to let anything spoil the night, so the four went out onto the dance floor and started to shake it.

It was not grinding though, it was bouncing and flailing and having a good time. They went nuts. During the slow dances, Kagome and Inuyasha danced as if they were at a ball, and had the center of the floor all to themselves more often than not. Inuyasha had to look down all the time for fear that people would see his glowing eyes. He and Kagome talked during the slow dances and laughed at each other when they ran into someone or something.

"Do you know that you are my favorite person in the whole world?" Inuyasha asked her, leaning down to whisper in her ear.

"And you're mine." Kagome answered in his ear.

"Good" he breathed. His hand was on the small of her back and so he pulled her closer. They were like puzzle pieces, their bodies fit perfectly together.

He leaned his forehead on hers and looked into her eyes. She smiled and looked up into his, marveling at their faint golden light once again. He could see the light in her eyes, as well, and knew that if he kept this up, there would be no going back. Just a little while longer, he thought, and it would all be finished. Their bond was getting stronger and would be completed if he had the courage to tell her and ask for her consent. It was so hard to pull away, especially when he had her so closely pressed up against him, as content as can be. He did though, and looked at her seriously. She looked back up at him just as stoically, but with undertones of confusion in her eyes.

"Kagome, I need to talk to you." he said. The confusion spread across her face as she nodded and allowed herself to be led out of the gym. Inuyasha silently nodded to Miroku as they passed the still dancing couple, and Miroku knowingly nodded back. This was it, he was going to tell her.

Inuyasha took her to his car and once she was in, revved up the engine. She sat there looking confused and deep in thought. Did she do something wrong? Did she cross some unknown line and make him mad? She hoped not. She was so lost in her silent reveries that she couldn't play any music and didn't even know where he was taking her.

"What are you thinking?" a deep voice asked, knocking her thoughts off track.

"I'm wondering what I did to make you act like this." she answered honestly, turning her head to meet his gaze. The corners of his mouth turned up slightly in a smile and his look on her softened.

"You loved me and cared about me, and made me fall in love with you." he replied, shaking his head slowly as he turned off the car. Kagome hadn't even noticed that they'd stopped moving, they were now parked in a driveway. Inuyasha noticed her taking in her new surroundings and explained, "This is my house." he said.

Her mouth formed an 'oh' and she opened the car door to step outside. Inuyasha met her at the front of the car and took her hand, "Do you trust me?" he asked.

"Yeah." she said, arching an eyebrow up at him. He smiled and pulled her into a hug before, without warning, he jumped silently onto the roof. Kagome wasn't even ruffled. She pulled away and looked at him, his eyes glowing now more than ever, the entire roof seemed lit up.

Realization dawned on her face as he looked at her, about to speak. She cut him off before he could start, "Are you going to tell me what this means?" she asked as she pointed to his eyes. He nodded slowly.

After several minutes of silence she grabbed his hand and gave it an assuring squeeze, "Why are you so scared?" she asked curiously.

"I'm scared you won't like what this means, and run away." he looked down.

"Is this a good thing for you?" she asked.

"Very." he confirmed. She nodded her head resolutely, "Then it's a good thing for me, now tell me."

He took a deep breath and began, "This glowing started centuries ago with the first dog demon clan. It is to ensure that we know that we have our most compatible mate." he looked at her hesitantly, "The glowing doesn't come by itself though, it signifies a bond between the two souls."

Kagome's mouth opened in surprise, "So that explains the music.." she said. Inuyasha nodded and was silent again. Kagome nodded for him to continue.

He started again, "The bond is different for every couple, and so is the mark that has to be made. Very soon, it will cause me physical pain to be seperated from you, and if I don't mark you as my own, I might lose my mind, I'll go insane. It's coming on slowly, but there it is."

"And after the mark comes the sealing kiss." he said and laughed softly, "I never liked that particular story because I always thought it was too corny. You must keep your eyes open though, and the light will enter through your eyes. It will connect us for a short time before spreading itself inside of us. It won't be physically seen after that."

"But what does that do? For us, I mean." Kagome asked, still holding his nervous hand.

"It connects our souls and completes the bond. In short, you'll be stuck with me forever, Kagome." he looked up at her nervously, expecting her to let him down gently.

Instead, she smiled at him lovingly and looked into his glowing eyes, "I can live with that."

His eyes widened in surprise, "Are you sure? I haven't left anything out, have I?" he asked, going through the major points in his head. She laughed and threw herself into his arms in a hug. He was surprised and then smiled and wrapped his arms around her small waist, hugging her close.

"Kagome, I want you to realize the seriousness of this. If you agree to this, it will be the youkai equivelant of marraige." he said. She pulled away to look at him with wide eyes. Was he asking? He smiled down at her.

"As much as I want to, we can't do it now." he laughed at her dejected look, "It wouldn't be legal, you're only sixteen! I have to remind myself of that all the time." he gave her cheek a peck and she smiled at him. "You want to, though, and that's what makes me happy." she said. The man of her dreams wanted to marry her, she almost had to pinch herself to make sure she was awake.

"I should warn you now, though," Inuyasha said, "The day you turn eighteen, you're mine."

She laughed again, his possessiveness made her feel good, "You got it." she said. He raised his eyebrows, she didn't put up a fight. This made his ego swell just a bit.

She continued, "And you had me all worked up over nothing." she said in mock anger.

He raised his eyebrows at her, "Nothing? This is big stuff!" he said. She smiled at him and he got the joke. She looked so beautiful right there in his arms, that Inuyasha couldn't help his next actions.

He started leaning in, having no intention of letting her breath for the next three minutes, at least. Right before their mouths made contact, Kagome suddenly sat up and started to stand, brushing off her dress and then looking at his confused look amusedly.

"You get back here." he demanded, pointing to his lap and holding out his arms. She laughed at the invitation and shook her finger at him, "Not tonight, mister. I would like to leave with everybody else for at least one night, now let's get back to prom." and she grabbed his hands and tried to jerk him up. He leaned all his body weight into the place he was sitting and when she grabbed his hands, he pulled her down on top of him and wrapped his arms around her. She was trapped.

"I wasn't going to let you go so easily." he said huskily in her ear. He had fallen over backwards when he pulled her down with, her on top of him. He lifted his head and pulled hers toward him at the same time. His lips finally found hers and he kissed her deeply. It was a good five minutes before either of them pulled away and smiled at her before standing up and holding out his hand. She took it and as he helped her up, he said, "I've been wanting to do that all night."

She laughed and when he pulled her up, she leaned onto him and kissed him full on the mouth, leaving him speechless. She smiled over her shoulder as she walked to the edge of the roof, "Cat got your tongue?" she asked him, because he was still standing there with his mouth open.

He closed his mouth and a crooked smile appeared, "I think so."

--

Miroku looked at the door yet again. They still weren't back yet, and in his perverted mind, they could only be doing one thing for them to be gone so long. Sango looked at him curiously from her place across the table, "What?" she asked.

"Hm? Nothing, darling." he said, turning his eyes once again to the door. She crossed her arms and humphed, "Don't you 'nothing darling' me. What are you so worried about?"

He sighed, there was no getting around her, "Inuyasha and Kagome aren't back yet." he said in a pained tone.

Sango laughed, surprising him, "You don't have to worry about that, Miroku. Inuyasha has standards and so does Kagome." she said and paused, "Plus he knows I'll beat him up if he does anything."

Miroku laughed heartily at this and then looked at the door yet again. "I just hope Inuyasha doesn't miss everything entirely." he said. Sango voiced her agreement and MIroku continued to stare at the door. Someone stopped to talk to him and he looked up again right as the two people in question walked through the door. Kagome spotted them and smiled at him, pulling Inuyasha along behind her to meet them at the table. Miroku put on a perverted grin for the two and was hit upside the head by Inuyasha, "Get those dirty thoughts out of your mind." he said. He pulled up a chair and sat down.

Kagome laughed and looked at Sango, "Did we miss anything?" she looked around her and noticed that nobody seemed to be dancing. Sango shook her head, "You didn't miss much, that's for sure."

Miroku knitted his eyebrows together, "What are you saying, they missed the fi-" and he was cut off by a kick to the knee.

"Alright, spill it." Kagome said, looking at her skeptically. Sango sighed, "There was a fight, earlier." she said and stopped.

"And?" Inuyasha impatiently goaded her on. She sighed again dramatically, "It was between Kouga and Hojo."

Inuyasha snorted, "Couldn't have been much of a fight." he said, "What would they have to fight about anyway?"

"The last dance." Miroku informed him, "The privelage of dancing with a certain young lady that is the object of both their desires." he looked pointedly at Kagome. Her face flushed and she pointed to herself questioningly. Miroku nodded.

"Hell no." Inuyasha said, already standing up and grabbing Kagome by the arm, but she jerked herself out of his hold. She was flattered by the attention and disgusted by it at the same time.

It was at this convenient moment that Kouga arrived to claim the spoils of war. He looked at no one but Kagome as he entered their circle and gave her a flirtatious smile. Completely ignoring the angry demon at his left, he held out his hand to Kagome, "Would you care to dance?" he asked smoothly. He oozed charm and poise; it was disgusting.

She was hesitant at first and Inuyasha almost laughed in Kouga's face, because she looked about to refuse him, until her face changed. Kagome was doing her best to look at this wretched man adoringly, "Did you really fight for me, Kouga?" she asked, her voice in awe of him.

He couldn't stop his chest from puffing out just a bit, "I sure did, and I won the last dance with you." he said, taking her hand, even though it had stayed by her side. She yanked it away almost immediately, "And who asked me if I would dance with you? Hm?" she asked, her sweet tone of voice gone.

Kouga didn't know what to say, "U-um.." he floundered.

"And after you beat poor Hojo up, you thought you'd come over here and claim your prize." she said, the last word left a bad taste in her mouth as she looked at him angrily. Inuyasha had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing out loud and Miroku was hardly doing any better at self control. Sango merely sat there, smiling satisfactorily.

Kagome herself was angry beyond belief and just wanted to sit down and fume. Sango could see that, and she also saw the satisfied look on Inuyasha's face as his girlfriend chased Kouga away. The wolf demon would have shouted at her had not her hanyou bodyguard been there, so he settled for a few muttered curses in her direction as he stormed away into the dance floor to find some easy girl to distract him.

Inuyasha took this chance to prove his superiority while the wolf was still in earshot and took a step closer to Kagome, "You wanna dance with me?" he asked with a confident smile. Kagome looked at the hand he offered and then at his face, "No!" she said forcefully. Sango laughed out loud at this. Kagome crossed her arms and sat down in a chair, all huffy and upset. Inuyasha went into a state of shock and sat down in his chair across from her with a bewildered look on his face. After the bewilderment left, he crossed his arms and looked just as mad as Kagome did.

The other couple found this extremely amusing and didn't think going to dance would be as much fun as watching the drama at the table.

"And to think, Kouga took all those punches for nothing." Miroku snickered. He was silenced by two angry glares from opposite ends of the table. The first glare to die out was Kagome's, she was never one for staying angry long, especially when she was allowed to be angry. She didn't have to do anything but recover, and that helped.

Inuyasha on the other hand, stayed furious until he felt a soft hand on his arm. He looked up into her eyes and his anger melted away, though he didn't show it on his face. Her own face was still strained a bit, but she smiled naturally at him and held out her hand. He humphed and took it. Together they made thier way out onto the dance floor for the last slow song of the night.

"I didn't mean to yell like that, I was just upset." she told him as they danced. They were off to the side, by the walls, where they could have some privacy.

"Me too," he agreed, "My big head just got in the way again."

She laughed and leaned her head onto his shoulder. He buried his nose in her hair, loving the way it smelled, "I'm glad you told him off, though." he said.

She sighed dramatically, "That kind of stuff just makes me so mad!"

He laughed with her, "I know, but you're so cute when you're mad." She pulled back to look at him with a scrunched up nose, the same look she had when hearing the rap music at the beginning of the night.

He laughed even harder at her perturbed face and lost a few steps in the dance. Kagome started laughed too and they both enjoyed the last dance of the night, together.

--

Sorry it took so long, and I don't think it was really the big bang bombshell I was hoping it to be. When everything actually happens though, there will be some unexpected happenings that Inuyasha was totally ignorant of. Nothing big, but something more.

Criticism welcome!

Review please!