Inuyasha stared after Kagome as she followed Souta into the hall, leaving him sprawled out on the floor behind her. As he watched, disappointment welled up inside his chest at her retreat. It wasn't like he couldn't understand that she didn't want her family to catch them kissing. But… what the hell? They'd been SO close…

Reluctantly, he dragged himself to his feet and followed after her down the stairs to glare down the hall. There in the entrance was her family, all squeaky clean and happy to see them.

He felt a little like a jackass for wishing they'd just disappear.

"You could have stayed a little longer…" he heard Kagome say in a cheerful voice that sounded fake even to him.

"Yeah, like three seconds longer," he muttered bitterly before drawing back into the stairwell.

There he heard Kagome ask about their trip and they wasted no time in springing into a description of the hot springs. Inuyasha sighed and slumped against the wall. After a little while of listening to her babble nervously to her family, the others went into the living room and Kagome returned to the stairwell under the pretext of asking him to join them.

He looked at her sulkily but felt mild relief as she returned a disappointed smile. "We'll just have to try again later," she whispered. Instantly the half-demon's ears perked up a little. "Later," he quickly confirmed.

Kagome smiled at that and together they went to join her family as they started the debate over what to have for dinner.

Inuyasha sat at the kitchen table with Kagome. His arms crossed as he stared into the empty living room.

"So what IS pizza?" he asked suddenly, turning to look at her with a little frown.

She blinked and looked up from the small stack of photographs her mother had left with her from their trip. "Let's see… It's basically a big round piece of flat bread covered in tomato sauce, meat, and cheese," she explained.

"Sounds over-complicated."

The girl shrugged. "Not really. Some people even put vegetables, fish, or fruit on theirs."

"Like I said, over-complicated."

"You liked the burgers last time didn't you?"

"I ain't complainin about the taste," he quickly defended.

"I just think it's weird that the people in your time have perfectly good bread an' meat and they don't just EAT it the way it is."

"Fair enough," she laughed quietly. At her smile, Inuyasha's mind flew back to half an hour earlier. And all at once food was the last thing on his mind. He glanced away from Kagome's lips, blushing slightly.

"They've been gone for awhile now," he pointed out softly, nodding toward the living room.

She glanced toward the doorway too. "I guess they had a lot of unpacking to do," she hypothesized. "Or maybe they're napping until the food arrives? They DID just get back from a long trip."

"…And we're alone again," he pointed out a little more directly, trying to sound casual.

Kagome blushed, suddenly looking away shyly. "I-I guess so," she murmured, only daring to glance up at him from under her eyelashes. The sight prompted him forward slowly, his eyes being drawn back to her mouth as she timidly bit her lip. He grinned at the nervous gesture and reached up to graze the pads of his fingers along her cheek.

Until the abrupt sound of knocking made them both jump in surprise and look up at the door.

"Pizza delivery!" proclaimed an obnoxiously cheerful man's voice from outside.

"C-Coming!" Kagome called hastily as she jumped from her seat to answer the door. And Inuyasha was left glowering across the room, his eyebrow twitching in annoyance.

"At least the pizza was good right?" Kagome asked hopefully.

"Yeah whatever," he grumbled begrudgingly.

"Don't tell me you're STILL mad?" she murmured, pushing open her bedroom door and stepping inside. He snorted and followed after her.

"You know I think this might be the first time food didn't perk you up at least a little," she commented, shutting the door behind him.

"Well maybe there's a reason," he growled, taking up his usual position on her bed and glaring at the waiting homework on her desk. Kagome too looked at the pile. But for once, she didn't really care about finishing it tonight.

"Well… Third time's a charm?" she suggested with a timid smile. THAT seemed to do it. He looked up from her homework hopefully. His ears and shoulders straightening in expectation. She smiled at the encouraging signs of interest and reached for her lock, flicking it into place.

He stood, his expression fixed as he walked slowly toward her. Kagome waited at the door, her heartbeat in her ears as she watched him close the unneeded distance between them. She felt a good deal more self-conscious than she had for their first attempt. But when he stopped and she found herself being backed against the door all her little nervous anxieties fell apart as she looked up and found Inuyasha's steady determined stare.

So what if this was her first kiss and she didn't know what she was doing? Just from looking into his eyes she knew he wouldn't care.

As he finally bent toward her. Kagome smiled and slowly stretched up onto the tips of her toes to better accommodate him. Her hands reaching up to rest against his chest even as one of his timidly slid into her hair…

And then the handle of the door wiggled loudly.

The pair stopped and looked down at the brass fixture with incredulous expressions.

"Siiiiiiis!" called a voice from the hall. "I need to borrow some paper!"

Kagome was almost sure she heard an audible crack at those words.

"That's IT!" Inuyasha snapped loudly, making her jump. Just behind the door, she heard her younger brother give a small sound of surprise as well. But at that point, the effect of his outburst didn't seem very important to the angry half-demon.

In seconds, he'd unlocked the door, scooped her up over a broad shoulder and carried her toward the window.

"I-Inuyasha!" she squeaked out.

"This place is goddamn CURSED," he determined furiously, opening the window with a sharp snap and leaping out into the cool air. He was at the well in seconds, slamming open the doors, jumping through the portal and bolting into the past straight for the sacred tree. And as soon as they reached his chosen haven he leapt high into its branches, found them a sturdy spot and pulled her sideways into his lap. All the while frowning angrily. She blushed at the feel of his body pressed against hers.

But she'd hardly had a chance to make heads or tails of the situation before he'd finished getting comfortable and quickly swept in, pressing his mouth against hers in a short chaste kiss before pulling away.

"THERE. That wasn't so fucking hard," he fumed, wrapping his arms tight around her waist and hunkering around her possessively.

Kagome sat there stunned for a moment as a breathless sensation stole over her. Until very slowly, she found herself smiling. It was more than a little endearing to know just how much he'd wanted that one little kiss. Then she noticed a pleasant prickling sensation where he'd just kissed her and felt the urge to reach up and press her fingers to her lips. But just as she started to move her hand, a better idea came to her.

Carefully, she turned in his arms so that they were chest to chest before placing a hand on each side of his face. He blinked at the action but she ignored his confusion, leaning in and delivering a kiss of her own. His eyes widened slightly at the contact as though genuinely surprised the kissing didn't have to stop yet. And taking her time, Kagome closed her eyes and timidly traced the shape of his mouth with her own. He responded only too happily, his eyes closing as well before he reached up to bury his hands in her hair the way he'd started to in her bedroom. A small pleased sound escaping his throat as she tilted her chin to try a new angle.

It seemed the so called "curse" was broken. But just in case it was probably a good idea to make sure.

Authors notes 8/23/17

Sorry to everyone earlier today who had to read this with almost NO breaks in the paragraphs. I don't know why it uploaded that way. I eventually noticed and sat down to fix it but it must have been super hard to read beforehand.

This one-shot was the idea of MustardYellowSunshine who prompted me to give it a go.