Kissing Game

"Ne, Higurashi?" Hojo questioned as he and Kagome finally reached her front stoop. He stood there, his large doe eyes staring down at her innocently, his feet shuffling on the ground. "I'm glad you could come tonight."

Kagome sighed lightly but smiled at the boy. The truth of the matter was that she would have much preferred to stay in Inuyasha's time than come back here to drag herself through another date with Hojo. Her friends had conned her into another date with the boy once again and it was nothing short of annoying for the schoolgirl.

Hojo seemed unfazed by Kagome's lack of enthusiasm, however, and had happily taken her through a dinner and a movie—the stereotypical date. Hardly worth the thousand sits she had to deliver to Inuyasha in order to make it to the well. But she couldn't say anything to the schoolboy for obvious reasons.

His sandy hair fell in his eyes and he bashfully brushed them away as he stared down at Kagome. It became apparent to Kagome that he was waiting for an answer.

"Oh!" Kagome blushed. "Yes, I'm glad too, Hojo-Kun."

She hated lying through her teeth, but she couldn't stand to break Hojo's heart. He was such a nice boy and nothing seemed to get past his dense skull. Despite that, Kagome was fairly certain that abruptly rejecting him after months of following her would simply break the poor boy.

Hojo beamed at Kagome's words and Kagome felt guilt latch onto her chest. She smiled up at him.

Kagome was about to say something more when she realized that Hojo's face was dangerously close to hers. Her eyes widened but she didn't have time to say or do anything before Hojo's lips were upon her own. She stood stalk-still, unsure how to respond to Hojo's abrupt kiss.

She felt herself quivering before she shut her eyes, hiding blue eyes beneath heavy lids as she tried her best to melt into Hojo's kiss. His lips were soft, just as she imagined lips were supposed to feel and he pressed against her timidly. She hesitantly returned his kiss, not wishing to hurt his feelings.

His lips moved over hers and she hesitantly responded, her hands creeping up to his shoulders where she grasped them. She was still quaking, wishing that he would just pull away so that she wouldn't have to.

Hojo finally pulled away after a long moment and smiled sheepishly at her.

"Good night, Higurashi," Hojo said quietly before dipping his head and pecking her lips again. He took a hesitant step back before turning around and walking away. Kagome's blue eyes stared after him, her lips still burning from his presence and she felt herself still shivering.

She groped for the handle of her door before opening it and stepping inside. Once in the sanctuary of her own home she touched her fingers to her lips. Her eyes were wide.

'My… my first kiss!' She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

"Oi, Kagome," grouched Inuyasha as the group moved slowly down the pathway, despite Inuyasha's demands of moving faster. Kagome stared at him for a long moment before blushing and looking away. The hanyou's eyes narrowed. "Hey, wench."

"What, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked the ground as she guided her bicycle along.

"Feel any presence?" Inuyasha demanded. She knew at once he was referring to the shikon shards. She felt a morbid sense of stupidity wash over her as she quickly ushered away the hope that he would actually start a conversation with her.

Kagome shook her head quickly.

Inuyasha seemed frustrated with her lack of words and fell behind Sango and Miroku so as to walk beside her, glaring at her. Kagome could feel Inuyasha's golden orbs staring at her but she didn't dare meet his gaze.

After Hojo's kiss Kagome had found it hard to look at Inuyasha. She had always dreamed that Inuyasha would be her first kiss and the fact that such a sacred and treasured thing was plucked away from her by a boy she barely knew or liked was little more than she could bear. She had wanted Inuyasha to be her first kiss, but sadly life was not as she dreamed it to be.

She gazed dolefully at the ground, imagining all the tiresome 'what if' situations. What if she'd pushed Hojo away? What if Inuyasha had made her stay in his time? What if she'd told Hojo no? What if she'd quickly rushed inside?

"Hey," she heard Inuyasha growl. "I'm talking to you, the least you can do is pay attention, stupid bitch."

Kagome closed her eyes and sighed. "I'm sorry."

She heard him snarl again.

After they'd set up camp that night and ramen had been handed out to all members of the group, Kagome prepared her own cup. Inuyasha sat beside her, slurping away. Kagome found herself content with sitting near him, feeling his presence and knowing she was protected under his care.

She ate her own ramen once it was ready and watched the flames lick at the wood they'd stalked to keep themselves warm. After their stomachs were filled, the group trickled away from the warm flames and folded themselves into their desired sleeping positions, ready to sleep the rest of the night away. Kagome watched the stars dot the sky and the pale moon glimmer over the mountains serenely.

"Wench," she heard Inuyasha growl and almost jumped. She'd been so sure he'd retreated to a sturdy branch in one of the trees. She hesitantly turned her head and stared at his chin, not daring to meet his eyes.

"Yes, Inuyasha?"

"What's wrong with you?" he demanded, not bothering to beat around the bush. Kagome blinked solemnly.

"Huh?"

"What's wrong with you? You've been acting weird ever since you came back from your time," he growled, frustrated with her stupidity.

Kagome's eyes darted to her friends. They were feigning sleep but she knew they were listening. She did not want them to hear what she had to say.

"Can we talk somewhere else?" she whispered to Inuyasha, her blue eyes pleading.

Inuyasha sighed and stood up, his ears twitching and his golden eyes narrowed.

"Come with me," he muttered, jerking her upwards with a quick pull of her arm and leading her away from the group, despite Shippou's protests for Inuyasha to come back with his pillow.

They walked a fair distance away from the group, weaving between tall evergreen trees before finding a tiny clearing. The grass bowed in the night breeze and Kagome's head once again tilted upwards to gaze at the stars.

"So, what do you want, wench?" Inuyasha questioned after Kagome remained silent. He stared at her, his golden eyes glowing in the moonlight.

Kagome stood silently, shuffling her feet against the tall grass, her hands clasped behind her back. She bit her lower lip and her blue eyes surveyed the ground like it was the most fascinating thing in the world.

Inuyasha, who had by that point been controlling his anger, felt a tick start in his eyebrow, causing the dark brow to twitch uncontrollably.

"Will you spit it out?" he snapped out irritably. "What the hell is it that's bothering you, you stupid wench?"

Kagome flinched slightly and licked her pink lips. Whipping her head up, Inuyasha expected a sit command to sound from her lips, but instead Kagome simply stared at him for a long moment, her blue eyes unreadable.

They stood awkwardly and Inuyasha felt the waves of a Serious Conversation coming towards him (the capital letters were necessary, since such things were often reserved for anything that involved Kagome). He shuffled his feet against the ground and folded his arms across his chest in a conservative manner, his ears flattening as he regarded her silently.

His lips were pulled into a taut line as he stared at Kagome, his golden gaze occasionally flickering to the trees surrounding him—as if contemplating which one would be the best to jump into in order to make a wondrously clever get-away. A white fang poked out of his lips and he chewed on the bottom of his mouth absently as his amber colored eyes swept over the clearing again.

The stars that peppered the sky twinkled serenely, as if winking down at the two below. The moon smiled at them, her curved arch glistening in the sky like a tiny clipping of a fingernail.

The night breeze blew through the trees, and the said foliage whispered to them, urging them silently to say the unspoken words that hung in the air like tiny birds, fluttering, waiting to be said.

Kagome's blue eyes surveyed the hanyou, noting his proud yet reluctant posture before she steadied herself, trying to force the words she wanted to say past her lips. How did she explain something so complex yet… so unimportant to the hanyou, who was known to be nothing but a brash and slightly egocentric man?

"If you've got nothing to say," his voice pierced the silence like a hot blade and Kagome almost flinched at his soft, dangerous voice. "Then we best head back."

Kagome bit her lip, feeling the grip of fear squeeze her insides. It was now or never. Inuyasha was losing his patience and if his rage reached the peak—then she wouldn't be able to say anything to him without getting her head bitten off.

She inhaled deeply and his ears twitched. He tensed, as if still expecting her to scream the enchantment at him and his face to connect with the rough dirt beneath them. The wind continued to blow and the trees did not cease their whispers. The stars sparkled and the moon continued her serene, unearthly smile.

Finally she spoke, and the three words she said echoed through the empty forest: "Kiss me, Inuyasha."

The forest fell silent.

Whatever it was that Kagome expected Inuyasha's reaction to be, it was nothing like what happened. His reaction ranged throughout the spectrum. He stared at her for a long moment, his golden eyes wide and his jaw dropped. Then he whipped up, his fangs bared as if the mere thought disgusted him. Then his face turned a bright red—like his haori—and he stuttered some incoherent words out. Then he just fell silent, staring at the miko.

Kagome shifted nervously, wondering what had possessed her to say such a thing to her hanyou companion. Inuyasha was a rather timid boy when it came to romance—though no one really addressed such a thing. They had both been stripped of their first kiss; Kagome knew that Inuyasha had at least shared one kiss with Kikyou. Hojo had kissed her twice that one time.

But… Kagome wanted to kiss Inuyasha. She wasn't sure if Hojo was a good kisser or not—she had nothing to compare it to. She wanted to kiss Inuyasha. Not just for comparison… but because she'd always imagined herself kissing the demon.

He shuffled his feet and found the swaying grass in the nighttime breeze incredibly fascinating. Kagome bit her lip and bowed her head, feeling her face burn a bright red.

Neither moved and Kagome regretted her outburst.

What had possessed her to say such a foolish thing? She was surprised that Inuyasha hadn't taken flight as he had planned earlier—she was quite certain—and left her to find her way back to camp. Wasn't he disgusted with her? Why wasn't he snorting or ranting to her? Why wasn't he preaching to her about his promise to Kikyou?

Inuyasha stared at her, his face an excellent beat-red, before he took a step forward. Kagome didn't dare shift her gaze away from the ground.

Before she could register anything, however, Inuyasha's hand was around her wrist and he was tugging her forward. It seemed that Kagome's command was the only opening that the hanyou needed—for with that gentle tug, she felt his hand release her wrist only to wrap around her waist as another hand reached up to trap her head in his strong grasp.

She managed to stare at him for one brief, startling moment, before he dipped his head and pressed his lips firmly against hers. Her eyes widened, blue eyes staring at the smooth skin of the hanyou, whose eyes were closed firmly, before she, too, closed her eyes.

She felt herself melting into his kiss, much like she had with Hojo. But unlike with Hojo, Kagome found herself eager to rest against Inuyasha's strong form. The feeling of his arms encasing her and his lips molded over hers was enough to drive her wild.

Their lips seemed to fit together perfectly, like it was made to happen. Kagome felt that odd, almost stereotypical feeling of floating while falling at the same time. She could almost link it back to time travel, suspended in the blue waves of time as she jumped the barrier between her world and Inuyasha's world.

Where the kiss with Hojo had been quick, painless, and had left her feeling oddly dirty—and not in the sensual way, either—the kiss she shared with Inuyasha in the moonlit forest gave her the resounding feeling of being swept off her feet and pressed firmly against something sturdy. She felt completed, and the kiss seemed to last forever.

But when he broke away from her and took a step away, his arms still holding her, Kagome felt as if only a couple seconds had gone by and she longed for his soft lips again. She slowly opened her eyes to see he was surveying her. He dropped his arms quickly and pursed his lips, his cheeks stained pink.

Kagome opened her mouth—as if to say something—but nothing came to mind. 'What are you supposed to say after a situation like this?'

Truly it was the oddest situation Kagome had ever been in. Not only had she demanded that Inuyasha, who was certainly the boy of her dreams (as rather sappy as that sounded) and who she'd pined after for quite some time, kiss her but he'd actually obliged to such an unorthodox request. Needless to say, Kagome was in quite a state of turmoil and inner conflict that she wasn't sure what to say nor did she know quite what to do with Inuyasha.

Inuyasha seemed to be in a similar state as well, because he simply gazed at her blankly.

They stood there, their eyes staring and their eyes slightly open before Kagome broke her gaze away, a smile trying to claw its way onto her face.

"Well…" she trailed off, letting the word hang in the air like a silent promise.

"So…" he returned, his voice dimming away much like her own.

They shuffled awkwardly for a moment. It was beginning to become ridiculous.

'What's he doing… expecting me to confess my secrets to him or something?' Kagome thought hesitantly, unaware that Inuyasha's own thoughts were following a similar thread.

They stared before looking away, their faces painted similar colors.

Then, in the sickening thread of events that was quickly turning into a melancholic affair, Inuyasha's face relaxed and his lips curved into a smile, albeit hesitant, but a smile nonetheless. Kagome felt the familiar flop in her insides as her stomach quickly flipped over itself. She felt weak in the knees but felt her own mouth curving upwards—very much resembling the silent moon above.

They just stood there; smiling at one another like what they'd just done was the greatest thing in the world. Had anyone been looking in on them, there wasn't much of a doubt that the two staring and smiling at one another, their head slightly jutted out away from the rest of their body, would be a very odd sight.

"Well…" Inuyasha spoke this time.

"So…" Kagome repeated, blinking slowly.

Inuyasha's smile never wavered. "I think we've covered this."

Kagome felt her cheeks flush delightfully at his ability to crack a tiny joke despite the situation. She nodded her head and allowed a tiny laugh to ripple past her lips. He seemed pleased that he'd managed to make her laugh and they both relaxed, their shoulders slumping. Neither realized they'd been tense in the first place.

"Maybe we should… go back?" Kagome suggested, not really wanting to leave this suspended moment in time she shared with the dog demon.

Inuyasha slowly nodded his agreement. They began moving as one, as if some silent force beckoned them to move at the exact same moment.

They moved in silence and when their hands brushed together, they silently joined together, their fingers weaving together like an intricate design of lace.

No words were said after that but such frivolous, unnecessary attempts at language weren't needed. The tiny glances, the presence of warm hands palm to palm, and the comfort in being near one another was all that needed to be said—and was said.

The Kissing Game wasn't easily won, but was still fun to play.

And I hope that made you feel all warm and squishy inside. Damn plot bunnies.