Title: In the Beginning

Author: Priestess Skye

Word count 855

Genre: Romance, fluff

Rating: PG

Note: This is in special thanks to Youkai Yume who is allowing me to use her 'Everyday Love' series as picture prompts. Check them out at youkaiyume . deviantart . com (minus the spaces). This particular one is from Everyday Love 3 – Groceries.

She hated shopping for groceries. Well and truly she did as it was nearly impossible to buy groceries for one. She either bought too much or too little and the serving portions she could develop from them were never quite right. One bag of pasta would last a month, chicken would remain in her freezer until she had to eventually throw it out, and milk cost more when she had to buy it smaller portions. Sighing, she placed a can of tuna in her cart, knowing that it would probably sit on her shelf for a few weeks before she considered eating it, and probably only because she had nothing left on her shelf.

Filled with the hustle and bustle of men and women, some with children and some without, Kagome braved the crowds as she pushed her own cart up and down the different aisles, trying to select the products she needed or thought she needed. Stopping suddenly, she watched as a small child fell down in front of her cart. Smiling, she let him stand up before moving again. Grocery shopping was not just an exercise in maintaining a balanced budget, diet and making sure there was sufficient food in her household, it was an exercise in patience and her ability to be quick on her feet.

"Excuse me," she heard a deep mumble, before seeing a white-clad arm rise above her head to pull a jar of spaghetti sauce from the shelf above her. Keeping her head low, she held back the low growl of frustration she could feel building up in her. If he had waited ten seconds more she would have been out of his way and he wouldn't have had to reach anywhere. She could feel the familiar tick begin twitch beneath her eye.

She needed to get out of here.

Making her way to the produce department instead, she thought she'd spend the last of her time picking up fresh fruits and vegetables, food she knew she would eat over the course of the week. Her eyes widened as she saw the last container of strawberries sitting upon the wet case, and made a bee line toward it. She had had a hankering for strawberries all week, and she could imagine herself now sitting on her couch, doing some work and eating the strawberries, freshly washed and covered with a light sprinkling of sugar.

Her mouth began to water.

Just as she reached to grab the last pint, the same white arm came from behind her and nabbed it first. Irritated, angry, and fed up with grocery shopping, she finally turned on the offender, raised her finger and poked him in the chest. "Listen, I put up with you reaching over my head earlier, but now it's gone too far. Those are my strawberries. They're what I was looking forward to the most here."

"Then you should have grabbed them first," was the answering reply, causing her to lift her eyes to his in fury.

And her heart stopped.

Not one to be taken in by good looks, Kagome couldn't help herself this time as she took his long silver hair that looked soft as silk, and his intense amber eyes. His face was expressionless, but she knew that was merely a façade. His eyes said all. If she didn't know better, she'd have sworn he was a demi-god. In the very least he must have modeled for GQ at some point or another. A single brow raised, causing her to blush knowing she had been caught staring. Turning away, she knew there was no point in arguing. He appeared determined to keep the strawberries, and really, she knew all she had to do was go down the street to the fruit market to pick up another batch.

"Jerk," she mumbled before grabbing a bag of clementines and making her way to the check out. Passing the canned fish aisle once more, she lifted the can of tuna out of her shopping cart. She could probably do without, she realized as she thought of the three other cans of tuna sitting on her shelf. She placed it back on the shelf and was ready to check out when she ran her cart into another. "I'm sorry," she stammered, and stopped when she realized who it was.

Her demi-god stared back at her with half-amused, half-irritated eyes. "Are you stalking me?" she asked, pulling her cart back to give him room to enter the aisle.

"Hardly," he scoffed, not slowing down as he passed her by.

"Jerk," she mumbled again as she placed her groceries on the conveyor belt at the cashier. Clementines, sauce, some chicken, some steak, lots of noodles and fresh artichokes, she had enough to sustain her for at least one week. Lifting the last item on the belt, she noticed a small slip of paper folded on the bottom of her buggy. Unfolding it, she smiled as she read the message followed by the phone number.

Sesshoumaru – Call me.

Well, she thought, he may be a jerk, but who was she to deny a demi-god?

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and all that it entails doesn't belong to me. it belongs to Rumiko Takahashi

Note: I haven't forgotten about my other stories, don't worry. This is Christmas and I can't write dark or serious right now. Those will resume after Christmas. Right now this is my Christmas gift to everybody else, something light and fluffy to warm the heart :)