Title: It Started With A Kiss
By: Queen Beryl
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Chapter Four: My First Kiss

"My, I've never seen anyone eat so much ramen in my life!" Mom exclaimed, satisfied at Inuyasha's obvious love of her cooking. It's only ramen, for Heaven's sake.
"I love ramen, and you seem to make it better than anyone." Inuyasha stated, stuffing the last bit into his mouth. And to think: I like this guy....
"Oh, why thank you, Inuyasha, you sweetheart. I'm glad Kagome has found a nice young man to date."
"Mom..." I warned. Oh please don't get into this discussion.
"What were her other dates like?" Inuyasha asked curiously, interested in spite of himself.
"Oh, there was this charming fellow named Hojo," Mom smiled at the memory. I let my head thud into my awaiting palm. Please, not him! "He was a nice boy, but he didn't really seem to have a backbone. Kagome had to dump him three consecutive times in order for him to get a hint."
"Wow, Kagome, you heartbreaker." I wasn't sure if Inuyasha was sarcastic or serious, so I just ignored the comment altogether and stared at the table through my fingers.
"Then there was Kouga." Mom put on a frown. She'd never liked him... and she'd probably say that, too. "I never liked him. He was too... possessive. He insisted on calling Kagome 'his woman' instead of her name. He was pretty jealous, too. Not too bad, but he did give Hojo a bloody nose when he and Kagome first started to date."
I got up and cleared the plates. I really didn't want to stick around when my love life was being discussed; it made me depressed.
"For a while I thought Kagome had problems when choosing men," Mom continued, much to my dismay, "but then she stopped dating like that. It was only two dates total, mind you, but she just stopped. I'm glad to see her start to date again."
"I'm glad to be the one to take her out." Inuyasha's expression was unreadable, so I finished clearing up dinner.
"I'm glad, too. You're such a nice gentleman, Inuyasha. Kagome just seems so happy now." My mom sighed. I didn't hear Inuyasha's reply because I turned on the water to wash the dishes, but I'm sure it was something sugarcoated. Suddenly, I felt warmth behind me, and I jumped when Inuyasha touched my elbow.
"Let me help you with that."
So, we washed dishes. I guess that was a surprise after all. I went as fast as I could, and yet, Inuyasha still managed to cover me in soapsuds. Mom had long since gone to pick up Souta from Sango's house where he was playing with Kohaku, thus leaving me and my touchy-feely husband alone. Oh, great.
"You know, you look cute in soap." He smiled as we dried the last bowl.
"Funny, really. Now it's time for you to leave." I wiped some suds from my face and shoulder.
"What if I don't want to?" Inuyasha pulled me close to him, wrapping his arms around my lower back.
"You're- you're gonna have to, Inuyasha. I have homework to do... and... I-" I couldn't finish on account of I was about an inch from his face. My heartbeat quickened just before stuttering to a stop. Butterflies were trying to break out of my stomach, and I could feel dinner not exactly sitting right.
"Remember what I said earlier? Tell me the truth, wench. Have you ever been kissed?" He smiled, staring right into my eyes. I couldn't breathe.
"N-no." I was amazed I was actually able to speak. With that, his grip tightened even more.
"Well, how about I change that..." I wasn't sure if this was a question or a statement, but my knees started to get wobbly, so I didn't really think it mattered much. My lips parted as if to speak, but I could feel his breath on them, so I decided speaking wasn't the right thing to do. Suddenly, the door burst open and the sounds of Souta and Mom entering reached my ears.
Well, isn't this an awkward situation?
But, with amazing speed I can only assume was reached due to excessive practice, Inuyasha was standing three feet away from me. Mom and Souta came in, not seeing anything amiss except for the fact I was pale and covered in dishwashing soap.
"Well, I'd better go," Inuyasha smiled, genteelly grabbing my hand, kissing it, and profoundly thanking my mom for the wonderful meal. I was stunned... and cold. The absence of his body heat felt... not right.
"He's a very nice boy, Kagome." Mom nodded at me as soon as she'd come back from making sure Inuyasha backed out of the driveway and was on his way home.
"Isn't that Inuyasha? His brother is Sesshoumaru, right? The millionaire or something?" Souta asked as he headed upstairs.
"That's right! I'd forgotten about that. Hurry up and get cleaned up before you go to bed!" Mom bustled off. "Good night, Kagome."
I was still too stunned to speak.

& * &

That night I got very little sleep, due to the fact that I was thinking and kept reliving the moment in the kitchen. It was a bittersweet moment that I'll remember until the day I die. I knew Inuyasha was just trying to get me worked up because he knew I liked him, and he was just the type of person to do that. Yet, it felt so wonderful to be in his arms, to be held like that... it was momentary bliss.
I sat up and rubbed the sleep from my eyes and peered at my alarm clock; I had an hour until school started. I decided a nice refreshing shower was in order, so I took one; I felt clean and content. I gathered up my dirty clothes and school bag and went downstairs. I deposited the dirty clothes in the laundry basket and set my bag on the floor next to my shoes.
"Morning." I yawned as I entered the kitchen.
"Ah, it's good to see you're able to speak now." Mom smiled. "I was just telling Inuyasha how much we enjoyed his presence at dinner last night."
"I-Inuyasha?!" I looked to my left and, sure enough, there stood Inuyasha, smiling pleasantly. What, did he move in or something?
"Morning, dearest." Inuyasha winked at me and kissed the air in my direction. I glared and turned away from him.
"What's he doing here?" I asked Mom.
"He came over to pick you up."
"But I have twenty minutes before school starts!"
"Then you'll have time for breakfast." Mom set a plate of toast down. "I didn't have much time to make anything else, I'm sorry."
I grabbed two slices of toast, eager to get out of the house. "Thanks, Mom! I'll see you after school!" I pulled Inuyasha out the door.
"Come back safe!" Mom called as I shut the door.
"Eager, are we?" Inuyasha grinned, wrapping his arm around my waist.
"No. I just don't want you contaminating my house." I shoved his hands off me and walked right past his car.
"Wait, I brought my car, you know." Inuyasha called.
"I don't care. After last night I don't want to be in close proximity to you. You're just a- put me down!" I was literally swept off my feet and taken back over to Inuyasha's car. He dropped me into the seat next to him and buckled me in. He started up the car and drove off before I could even think about what happened.
"You're very feisty, wench. I like that." He grinned as he sped down the street, narrowly making the light.
"I'm sure you would, if you were really interested." I gripped the door handle for moral support. Was he trying to kill me?
"What makes you think I'm not?"
"Because I've seen you do things like this before to countless other women who've been so unfortunate as to like you. You play with their minds, pretending you like them, until you just forget about them. I don't want to be one of those women." I declared, watching him park and shut off the ignition. He sat there for a moment, staring straight ahead.
"What if I've changed?"
"Trust me, you haven't changed since the sixth grade."
"You've liked me for that long?" He asked, turning towards me.
"I- that doesn't matter." I made to get out of the car, but he grabbed my hand.
"Yes it does and don't go." He pulled me over to him and hugged me. For the first time I felt as if he really meant it.
"But class-"
"Doesn't start for twelve minutes." His voice was muffled slightly as his face was buried in my hair.
"I'm not going to sit here for twelve minutes like this." I declared.
"Then how about like this?" He let me out of the hug and kissed me. My eyes widened, and I couldn't think. What the hell was he doing? I closed my eyes and relaxed a moment to actually enjoy the kiss. What the hell was I doing?
But it felt so good. I'd never been kissed before, so I had nothing to compare Inuyasha's kiss to, but this felt so right; well, he should be with all the experience he's had. He pulled away, and I left my eyes closed, reveling in the moment.
"Kagome?" He asked, tilting my chin up with his fingers. I opened my eyes slowly and found myself staring into his beautiful violet ones. Oh my gosh, he's absolutely gorgeous.
"Mm?"
"Just making sure you were still alive. Not bad for your first kiss, huh?" He caressed my face lightly with his fingertips.
"Not bad at all." I murmured.
"How about a second round?" He asked, again placing his lips on mine; I kissed back this time, deepening the kiss. I could get used to this. I wasn't sure how long the kiss lasted, but I know that I was completely breathless afterward. We were both panting when I heard the first bell, signaling we had a few minutes to get to our first period.
"We'd better go."
"We could just stay like this." Inuyasha gently put my hair behind my ear and kiss my forehead.
"We could, but we'd better not." I stepped out of the car and headed off toward school. I was so lightheaded I didn't even realize I'd left my bag at home.

& * &

"You what?!" Sango demanded, her jaw dropping. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"It was this morning in the parking lot!" I defended myself, smiling at the memory.
"Yeah, and it's now lunch! Is he a good kisser?" Sango whispered conspiratorially.
"The best."
"Did he slip you the tongue?"
"You're so nosey!" I picked at my sandwich.
"So he did! How romantic! Here he comes now with Miroku, too!"
"Hello, my love." Miroku kissed Sango before sitting down next to her.
"Hi. Did you talk to Inuyasha yet?" She whispered.
"About the kiss? Yeah. It was the first thing I heard from him when class started."
"You think he actually likes her?"
"I dunno." Miroku looked thoughtful. "It's too early to tell."
"He's such a player." Sango muttered, quieting up as Inuyasha came closer. He'd stopped to talk to someone for a moment, giving the two a good minute to talk.
"Hey, Kagome." Inuyasha waltzed up, straddling the bench.
"Hi." I glanced up before continuing to poke my sandwich. He slid closer to me, wrapped his arms around my waist, and kissed my neck. My cheeks burned, and I smiled against my will.
"Aren't we horny today." Miroku observed from across the table.
"Not horny. I just can't help my male instincts when such an innocent beauty is married to me." Inuyasha kissed my neck again.
"You're horny." Sango confirmed. I decided eating my sandwich was the safest thing to do at the present moment. Hey, it might even make my cheeks return to their normal color.
"So what's on the schedule for today?" Inuyasha asked, changing the subject.
"Today is..." Sango looked down at the Marriage Assignment outline. "Ah, here. The third day is 'Romantic Getaway. Either the husband or the wife in the relationship can do this.' Wow, sounds... romantic."
"Romantic getaway, huh? Sounds good." Inuyasha tightened his grip around my waist.
"Of all the days for a 'romantic getaway' it had to be today..." I muttered aloud.
"I'm sure you'll like it, wench." Inuyasha turned me so I was facing the same way he was, rested his chin on my shoulder, and looked over at Miroku. "What are you two going to do?"
"We haven't exactly decided yet. Something fun and romantic, though." Sango answered and pulled Miroku's hand away from her backside. "There probably won't be a lot of touching." She hinted. Miroku pouted.
"What about you two?" Miroku draped his arms safely around Sango's shoulders.
"It's a surprise for her." Inuyasha stated mysteriously. That made me nervous; what was he planning?
The bell rang for the end of lunch and as we started heading off to class, a fellow female student accidentally bumped into Inuyasha.
"Watch it." He barked out, finally letting go of my waist.
"I'm terribly sorry, I didn't see you there." The girl flipped her long black hair over her shoulder, revealing her face. I gasped.
She looked just like me.

DUN DUN DUN!!! Bawhawhaw! Enter Chaos! hehehe.
To [baby2baby]: I made Kouga one of her ex-boyfriends, I hope that's okay! ^_^
To [Brie]: Inuyasha "hates" Kagome because he is a typical conceited punk. He's also very immature, so he likes to tease the ones he likes, ya know... like boys did in elementary school. -.-;
To [MrsInuyasha69]: Of course I'm gonna finish the story! (I swear!)
AND thanks to: All of my reviewers! You guys are completely awesome! ^_^;