Why They Call It Falling

It was a simple walk to the grocery store...right?

Nothing that mundane should have changed her life so drastically.

But fate had a funny way of blowing up in Kagome Higurashi's face...but this time...maybe that wasn't such a bad thing.

She supposed it started when she bumped into him, her bags crashing into the pavement.

She looked up from where she had fallen, an apology on her lips, but stopped almost as quickly as she had begun when she saw him smirking at her.

She huffed. "Are you gonna help me up or what?"

His smirk widened almost perversely as he stared at her.

Ignoring the look he was giving her, she gazed at him and saw, in his eyes, a gleam of playfulness, that hid a much deeper sadness that could only have come through seeing things that were not meant to be seen.

She realized with a jolt that he had the same eyes that she had. After the final battle, when Inuyasha had betrayed her for that...that...clay pot, all sense of hope that she had had of him loving her vanished. Adding that on to the fact that the Jewel returned her to her own time without so much as a goodbye to her friends, nearly broke her. As soon as she had returned, she had curled up into a ball at the bottom of the well and cried. Hearing her name being called, she had looked up at what little light she could see and saw, to her amazement, Shippo in all his teenage glory. She had gotten her son back, and although it didn't completely heal her, she once again found herself laughing and smiling, though he could tell it was only to hide her pain.

A voice jolted her out of her thoughts as she sat there. "Naw, I think I'll just enjoy the view."

She gasped and, blushing furiously, brought herself to her feet to fix her skirt. Why did she have to wear a skirt today of all days?Glaring at him from the corner of her eye, she reached for her grocery bags, only to have a hand grasp her wrist.

Turning back to him, she caught the glint of amusement in his eyes as she attempted to tug her wrist out of his hand. When the attempt quickly turned futile, she sighed in resignation and allowed him to speak.

"While I will admit that I was enjoying myself," He raised a hand at her frown, and chuckled at the dark blush staining her cheeks.

"Pervert," she mumbled.

He continued, "I am not the kind of person to just walk away. I have brought it upon myself to walk you home. After all, you don't want to meet any dangerous men out there, do you? "

There was the glare again. "Why do I feel like you're just saying that to find out where I live?"

He smiled. "You won't know until you find out."

She pouted, and a light dusting of pink appeared on his cheeks. Why does she have to look so damn cute doing that?

"Fine, but you're carrying the bags." He smirked at her reply and collected the bags. "After you."

She turned and walked away, and he almost drooled at the way her hips swung; unconsciously seductive.

He couldn't remember ever feeling quite like this with Keiko, and he could tell (although for the life of him couldn't understand why) that she wasn't the type to bring her own dreams upon someone else. Definitely not like Keiko, he thought.

Ever since he had broken off their engagement when she had attempted to get him to marry her and live a domestic life, he hadn't felt the same. Kuwabara and Kurama had tried to raise his mood, but nothing had worked. But one run in with this girl, and he was already feeling a rush of adrenaline at the prospect of getting closer to her.

He grinned at the glare she was giving him. Apparently his gaze hadn't left her lower half since they had begun walking. Arriving at her home — A shrine…fate worked in mysterious ways didn't it?— they said their goodbyes and he walked back towards his apartment, already in higher spirits than when he had left.

She stared at his retreating back, and thought of how she had given up on getting closer to anyone else, a subconscious fear of rejection pumping through her veins. She shook her head and smiled softly.

Maybe falling was a good thing.

Verloren Fortuin here! This is a drabble-turned-oneshot that has been resting in my livejournal for a while (since December of last year) and I decided to finally post in. Finally meaning I forgot all about it. If you would like me to continue this story in a series of inter-connected oneshots, please reply in a review. It only takes one person to ask, I won't be pushy and demand 10 reviews in return for an update. Any ideas you have for the continuation, like when she meets the gang, please also put in a review.

Thanks!