Title: It Started With A Kiss
By: Queen Beryl
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I don't own him. Gee, that was vague. Well, this is my first... non-Feudal Japan-type fic, so don't slaughter me, please. ^_^

Chapter One: Assigned Marriage

We've been friends for so long, but it didn't start out that way. We began as enemies and ended up lovers. How ironic is that? We hated each other's guts with a violent passion. He was pinned to a tree; I was running from a demon that was trying to kill me. Ah, memories.
It's funny how things happen the way you least expect them to. Usually, whatever it is happens the hard way. Some say that the road to love never did run smooth. Well in our situation, that's a complete understatement.
"Kagome!" Inuyasha called from somewhere in the branches of the Goshinboku.
"What?" I replied, running my hand through my black hair. The moment I get to rest...
"Oh, nothing." Came the smooth and almost comical reply.
"I'll kill you. What do you want!?"
"Just making sure you were still there."
"You little... sit."
*THUD*
"You deserved every letter of that one, Inuyasha. Don't call me for nothing when I've been busy all day."
"What have you done?" Inuyasha peered up, his face splattered with mud. A mocking smirk on his face despite the "sitting" fact.
"Don't give me that, you. I haven't had a moment's rest... while you've been lounging around here... taking up space."
"I-"
"Oi! Kagome-chan!" Sango called, waving from the edge of the clearing.
"Ah, Sango-chan! A sight for sore eyes, indeed." I smiled, finally, someone other than him. Right now, he was nothing but a pest; a thorn in my side, if you will.
"How are you doing?" Sango asked, waddling up to me. She was as big as a tractor; well, being seven and one half months pregnant, that's to be expected and overlooked.
"I'm fine. Inuyasha is just being evil, like usual." I muttered as the other girl came near.
"What?" Inuyasha demanded from a few feet behind me. I'd almost forgotten about his great hearing ability. Not that it mattered; he deserved to hear that.
"As usual," Sango agreed, smiling. "I just came by to see Kaede. She told me that today she'd want to check up on me to see how the baby was doing."
"That's right." I grinned. I was a side trip, but that was no problem.
"I'll come back and see you on my way home. If Miroku comes by, tell him to get some more firewood." Sango hugged me and left. I watched her waddle all the way down the hill in the general direction of Kaede's place until I couldn't see her anymore. I suddenly felt warm arms snake around my midsection and pull me close.
"Inuyasha?"
"Hmm?" He asked, sniffing my hair and playfully kissing my neck.
"What- stop. This is no place to-" I was spun around and kissed firmly and deeply on the lips. Well, so much for arguing with him about propriety. I fed the kiss, not caring about anything but the hanyou in front of me. We'd worked so hard to get to this stage in our relationship, and I wasn't going to let any of the rewards slip away because someone might come up the path and find us making out... or something else....
"Miss Higurashi!"
"Present." I said, not taking my eyes off the paper I was writing on. I only looked up when I heard giggles erupt from the rest of the class.
"Yes, we've already established that. I want to know why Gregor's wish to die was greater than his sister's was." The teacher asked, crossing his arms over his chest, and starring at me pointedly.
"Who?"
"Gregor, the insect from Metamorphosis."
"Oh, well, because... he, uh-" I was interrupted by the bell ringing, signaling the end of class. Thank my lucky stars.
"We'll resume tomorrow." The teacher shook his head and went back to his desk. I quickly shut the notebook I'd been writing in and stuffed it in my messenger bag. Sango was waiting for me at the door.
"What were you doing?" She asked as we walked down the hall to the cafeteria for lunch.
"Just writing." I shrugged.
"Myoga-sensei looked almost angry. You usually listen in that class." Sango retied her long black hair in the infamous ponytail and sat down at our usual table.
"I know. I was just writing another story."
"Oh! Let me read it!" Sango exclaimed, pulling out her lunch from her bag.
"M-maybe later." I smiled faintly. If she ever found out I wrote her pregnant with Miroku's child... she'd kill me.
"Ooh, there he goes." Sango's eyes slid across the room, following the movements of some unsuspecting victim. If I knew Sango, I knew who she was looking at. I turned around; I knew Sango.
"When are you going to tell Miroku you like him?" I asked, turning back around without a second thought and dug into my backpack for my brown lunch sack.
"When he stops groping women or Hell freezes over, whichever comes first."
"I vote for Hell." I muttered, unwrapping my sandwich.
"You're right." Sango looked away as I heard a slap. Pervert-boy was at it again. "How did he get so popular?"
"He's slept with the staff?" I suggested, knowing full well it wasn't true and it would piss Sango off.
"Don't even go there. It's probably just because he's Inuyasha's best friend." Sango smiled. I stiffened at the sound of the name. Inuyasha. My long-time crush. Major crush.
"I-it's possible." I stuttered, taking another quick bite of my sandwich.
"Mmhmm. I know what you're thinking. When are you going to tell him you like him?" Sango raised her eyebrows expectantly.
"When Hell freezes over or Miroku stops groping."
"Mmm. Fair is fair." Sango reluctantly agreed.
We have this talk every day at lunch, and everyday it ends the same. The dialogue is different, but the concept is the same. Another bell suddenly rang, and Sango and I both groaned. They really should make lunch longer.
"Next class: Family Life." I muttered, trudging onward. "I really wish it wasn't a required class."
"Me too. I heard a rumor that there's going to be an 'assigned marriage' part sometime this week."
"Assigned marriage?" I questioned, entering the classroom and sitting down next to Sango.
"Yeah, you know, when Sensei pairs up people in the class to be married for however long it is."
"I hope you get Miroku." I smiled earnestly, and laughed when Sango blushed slightly.
"In that case, you'd better get Inuyasha." Sango winked as the bell rang and the rest of the students scattered into their seats. I reveled in the thought: what if Inuyasha and I-
"Alright, class, settle down, please." Kaede-sensei smiled from behind her desk. "I'm sure you all have friends that've had this class earlier, so you know what we're going to do today. If you haven't heard, however, let me enlighten you.
For the next three weeks you're going to be working on a project called 'Assigned Marriage.' You'll be paired up and married, so to speak. I'll hand out a paper outlining the necessities and such at the end of class. The pairing will be random, as you will all now take out a piece of paper, write your names on it, and hand it forward. Then, one by one, you'll come up, draw a name until all the names are depleted. The boys' names in this box, the girls' will go in here. Of course, if there are repeats we'll just take them out."
"This is going to be fun!" Sango smiled, writing her name on the paper and folding it up. I nodded and passed my paper forward. I hope so....
"We'll start on this side of the room. Come on up." Kaede-sensei jumbled all the collected names around and held out the container. Names were read aloud and giggles occurred; I waited with baited breath. Inuyasha's row was next. I listened intently when he reached his hand in and unfolded the piece of paper.
"And the lucky winner is..." Miroku chimed in from the next row.
"Higurashi Kagome." Inuyasha muttered, his back facing me. I couldn't believe my ears. Me?! My dream had come true! Oh, what bliss! What rapture, what-
Why did he look disappointed?
Sango reached over and squeezed my hand. I looked at her, and she smiled, obviously excited for me. I had a one out of twenty chance of getting my crush, and I got it... but why did I feel so nervous? I watched Inuyasha sit back down, without so much as a glance in my general direction. Ouch.
"Next row." Kaede-sensei, nodded, jostling the container again.
Miroku rushed to the front and dug his hand right in, reaching for the very bottom. He whisked the providential person's paper out.
"And the lucky victim is..." Inuyasha smirked from his seat, earning a quick glare from Miroku as he unfolded the name.
"Sango." Miroku looked directly at the girl next to me and winked.
"Which Sango?" The other Sango in the class yelled out, desperately, wanting to be Miroku's "wife."
"There was no last name written."
"I didn't write it." My best friend, Sango, answered, hiding the pink hue her cheeks took on very well.
Miroku smiled again at Sango before he sat down. Soon, the list of names was depleted and Kaede-sensei recorded the names in her book before continuing the marriage course explanations. The bell rang just as she finished. Finally, school was over.
"Isn't that completely perfect, Kagome?" Sango gushed. "Of all the people we could get... it's them!"
"I'm nervous." I confessed, adjusting my bag.
"Don't be. Now's your chance to get closer to Inuyasha and make him notice you!"
"But Sango," I protested, "he's the most popular guy in school! His perfect black hair, his cool violet eyes... every girl here is swooning for him. Well, except you, who is quite taken with his best friend."
"So? You're the one that got him." Sango pointed out as we exited the school building.
"True, but-"
"How is my lovely wife?" A sultry voice enquired from behind, very close to Sango. I saw her stiffen, turn, and slap the perverted person who'd just touched her backside.
"Keep your hands to yourself." She commanded, narrowing her eyes at her assailant, Miroku.
"But we're married, are we not?" He asked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.
"Not in reality."
"Well, let me at least walk you home, then." Miroku smiled, holding out his hand.
"Fine." Sango accepted it, and I think only I noticed the slight blush on her normally paler cheeks.
We were about halfway to Sango's house before I realized that I'd left my English textbook at school. I made my excuses and ran back. Luckily, Sango didn't live too far from the school, so it didn't take me long, but I was so distracted about getting my book, I wasn't watching where I was going. I only thought about it when I hit somebody and toppled over onto my butt; it was like hitting a tree: it hurt and the tree didn't move.
"Watch where you're going." A gruff voice ordered.
"S-sorry," I stuttered, picking up my bag and standing up shakily. My butt was going to be sore for at least a week. I looked up at my most recent victim to discover the one person I really wished it wasn't.
My husband.
"Next time don't just run blindly through the halls." Inuyasha walked around me, as if I were just another nobody. I was about to continue on my way to my locker when he called out to me again. "And don't think that just because we're 'married' I'm gonna be nice to you. I don't have to, and I don't want to." He stalked off, leaving me in the hallway, stunned.
"Fine." I muttered, unable to think of anything else that sounded remotely intelligent. Man, what did I do to deserve that? I've never been mean to him or anything. What a jerk.
I trudged back home, my bubble completely burst. The most popular guy in school, the one I've had a crush on since forever, turns out to be a jerk. A complete and utter jerk. Life just won't be the same for the next three weeks.
I went directly upstairs as soon as I got home and plopped down on my bed. I starred up at the ceiling, thinking about how mislead I was about Inuyasha. He'd seemed so nice from far away... I guess I was just wrong. I pulled my blanket over me and cuddled up to my pillow. Tomorrow was going to be a very long day... alone.

I hoped you liked it. Please review! ^_^;