A/N: Hello again, everyone! I'm back from my winter retreat and I'm so happy I updated this quickly- it's a new record for this story, yay! ^ - ^ Anyway, take out the popcorn and enjoy the startling conclusion of this three-part mini-drama (which I hope will never have to be this long again -_-;;)…and Happy New Year! *takes out blower-thingy and blows*

Jeopardy in the Sengoku Jidai (Part III)

(As told by Kagome)

"The inverse functions for cosine, sine, and tangent- Kagome!"

"What are cosecant, secant, and cotangent?"

"That is correct!"

"This group of elements in the periodic table is chemically stable- and... it's close, but the question goes to Kagome again!"

"What are the noble gases!"

"That is the correct answer!"

The crowd went wild again. I had accumulated 1200 points, while Inuyasha was hot on my trail with 1000. My heart hadn't stopped fluttering since the game had started.

"This writer's first novel This Side of Paradise was an instant bestseller in 1920."

A brief pause, and then the bell rang for Inuyasha. "Who is F. Scott Fitzgerald?" he answered.

"That is the correct answer. Next, this person was the writer of the Communist Manifesto."

Inuyasha rang in before I did. "Inuyasha," Sango-chan announced, pointing at him for an answer.

"Who is Karl Marx?" he stated.

"That is correct, and that also concludes round one of the competition. Inuyasha and Kagome are both tied with 1200 points. In the next round, each question will be worth double the points, and the difficulty level will be raised."

Sango-chan sat back down in her seat, while Miroku-sama stood up and prepared to read the questions. "Let's begin Round 2! Since both of you are tied currently, Kagome gets to choose first."

"The Art of War for 800," I selected. The question came: "This weapon of mass destruction, created during the Cold War, is 20 times more powerful than its WWII predecessor."

I was about to ring the bell, when I suddenly stopped myself just in time. My heart started thumping rapidly as I realized that my evil plan was finally going to come into play…

Beside me, I heard Inuyasha ring the bell. "Inuyasha," Miroku-sama said.

I saw him smirk slightly. "What is Herbal Essences Hair Gel?" he said confidently.

There was an awkward silence, in which the audience leaned in expectantly and I felt an evil grin spread over my face. Miroku-sama eyed the answer in his hand for a second, confused, as he scanned it for an alternative answer. After a moment, he said slowly, "That is incorrect."

As I rang the bell, I could barely contain myself from sniggering at Inuyasha, who looked just as dumbfounded as Miroku-sama had been. "What is the hydrogen bomb?" I said, casting a quick glance towards the hanyou. 

"Yes, that would be 800 points for Kagome-sama," he said.

Inuyasha immediately turned towards me, suspicious. I ignored him.

"In 1793, this invention caused cotton production to be dramatically increased and contributed to the expansion of slavery in the United States of America."

Again, I didn't ring in.

"What is 100% cotton lingerie?" Inuyasha answered this time. There was another pause as Miroku-sama examined the card carefully again. Seeing as there was no other spelling that came close to "lingerie", he replied, "I'm sorry, but that answer is also incorrect."

I rang in at this point. "What is the cotton gin?" I said.

"Yes, that is the correct answer."

I smiled. I was already leading by 1400 points. By the looks of things, though, Inuyasha was catching onto me. His glare indicated that he knew I had done something, but he didn't know what exactly.

"This Florentine artist during the High Renaissance period is accredited with his innovations in his paintings, his sculptures, architecture, engineering, and science."

This time, Inuyasha waited for me to ring. When five seconds had gone by, he slowly moved to ring the bell.

"Leonardo..." he began, looking at me. I tried my best to keep a straight face.

"DiCaprio."

Miroku-sama sighed, and waved his card around, frowning. "That's closer than before, I suppose, but that's still not the right answer." He looked directly at me.

"Kagome-sama?"

"Who is Leonardo Da Vinci?" I responded. All of a sudden, I heard Inuyasha sharply drawing in his breath. I sighed. At least I had gotten away with three questions before he figured it out.

"You rigged the notes, didn't you?" he snarled.

There was a gasp from the audience, and then some more buzzing. I turned to him and smiled. "It's not my problem," I said, tossing my hair in his direction. "You're the one who stole them."

The audience oohed at this point, reminding me of an overrated American talk show. All that was missing was a round of "Jerry, Jerry!" from the crowd. The feud between Inuyasha and me had attracted much attention, which was probably why Miroku-sama decided to overlook my little confession and continue with the questions.

"This disputed territory between the French and the Germans was a factor that led to WWI."

"What is Alsace-Lorraine?" I answered, while beside me I heard Inuyasha grumble "peppermint breath mints", the answer I had written just for him, unhappily to himself. I snickered, knowing that he would miss some questions for sure. But so would I, as I soon found out.

"Quantum theory is primarily based on this principle."

I froze. Why didn't I know this one? I was surprised even further when beside me I heard the bell ring.

"What is the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle?" Inuyasha answered. I was shocked. How did he know this one and I didn't? Turning smugly to me, he grinned. "While you were out fishing at the river, I was doing my homework."

I grew flustered, but I ignored him. I had sabotaged his notes, and he had stolen some of my valuable studying time. Fine. So we were even.

The battle raged forth. At times, questions that I had given wrong answers to for Inuyasha came up, and sometimes, questions that I hadn't studied for while being trapped at the river were given. When we both knew an answer, we jumped at the chance to answer.

"What is the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty?!!" we both screamed in unison once, forgetting entirely that we had to ring the bell first. It wasn't just a game anymore: it was a full-out war.

Finally, it was down to Final Jeopardy. 

The score was 3600 to 3200. I was still leading at this point, but at this crucial stage in the game, it could go either way. The audience was at the height of excitement; nearly everyone had placed bets on either one of us, and the stakes were high. The crowd listened in hushed silence as Miroku-sama announced the final category: biology.

I thought carefully. Biology was an area I had completely covered, so it would be worthwhile to raise the stakes. I was about to place down my bet when suddenly a shriek pierced through the crowd. A woman shoved her way through, screaming, "Youkai! Youkai! It's eaten people already! Everyone, please run!"

I gasped. The crowd, as if on fire, started to panic. People started to run away from the stage and scattered to the forests and beyond the town. In the distance, I could hear a deafening roar as something big made its way closer. Inuyasha frowned, irritated. "What now?" he grumbled, and turned to Miroku-sama and Sango-chan. "What do you think that thing is?"

Sango-chan listened carefully. "It sounds like a bear youkai to me," she said.

Inuyasha slid Tetsusaiga out of its sheath quickly. "Well, in that case, it shouldn't be a problem- hey!!" he shouted to the fleeing crowd. "All you people who're running away! There's nothing to be afraid of here. I can take care of that youkai easily."

Some immediately stopped in their tracks as they heard the hanyou's voice. Soon, people had gathered back at the stage, peering with wonder at who could be so confident and calm at a time like this. Inuyasha grinned. "Today you will all see who the real champion is," he said, smirking at me. "I'm going to go fight off the youkai, and Kagome can stay here, since it's just about the only thing she can do."

Suddenly, all I saw was red. Inuyasha's words echoed over and over in my head, "…the only thing she can do…only thing she can do…" A surge of fury and wrath overwhelmed my entire being. I was finally at the breaking point. Compared to how I was feeling now, I had handled everything else with superhuman patience and coolness.

I gave out a strangled cry and stomped offstage. The people below seemed to sense my dangerous mood, and stepped out of the way. Inuyasha was clueless as usual. "Hey! Where're you going?"

I turned back to him with a sinister, red-hot glare that startled everyone to death. Not even Kikyo could've pulled that off. "Can't do anything, huh? I'll show you what I can do!!" And with that, I marched over to where Sango-chan and the others were. I scooped up an unsuspecting Kirara into my arms and moved past them. She mewed loudly and cast a pitiful look at her mistress, struggling to escape.

I ignored her and Sango-chan's pleas to stop, and threw Kirara into the sky. She transformed mid-air, and with one swift movement, I hopped on. "Hold it!" Inuyasha shouted, lunging for my leg. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

It was a bad move. "OSUWARI!"

Having gotten rid of any unwanted obstacles, I scanned the area below us, looking for signs of the bear youkai. Suddenly, I saw it. It towered above all the trees in the forest on the outskirts of the town, roaring ferociously and carving out a steady path towards the town. I narrowed my eyes. I had to take it on.

 Reaching behind me for my bow and arrows, I nearly fell off in surprise. Instead of the quiver I usually strapped to my back, I could feel my backpack, filled with textbooks and other junk. I had forgotten to take my weapons with me. My fists squeezed tightly together. Now what was I going to do?

Luckily, right at that instant, I spotted a pile of rocks lying below. Next to them, lay a slingshot. "Kirara!" I called, pointing at the spot. She nodded and dove down. I leaned over and grabbed the slingshot and a pile of stones, stretching my shirt out. We headed back up into the air. The bear youkai was right in front of us. It was now or never. Taking one of the small rocks, I placed it in the slingshot and aimed for the grotesque head.

"Here goes!" I shouted. The rock sailed through the atmosphere, as deadly as a hawk, towards the target…

And missed miserably by at least a few hundred meters. I groaned. Kirara gave a snort. Okay, so I still needed to work on my projectile skills. I gritted my teeth in dismay. I had never wished so hard to have my bow and arrows with me. Suddenly, the bear swished its huge body around, facing us at eye level. I gulped. A huge paw came sweeping at us…

I screamed as Kirara dove to avoid it. The slingshot and rocks were flung off instantly, and I barely managed to hold on. Another paw came at us. And then another. I reached desperately into my backpack for anything I could throw. Shampoo bottles, hair spray, and deodorant came sailing down, but the assault did nothing but anger the creature. Soon I had run out of feminine hygiene products, and was forced to throw out unopened bowls of ramen. One package caught the youkai in the eye, and it roared in pain.

I was about to cheer when suddenly a paw knocked the air from me. I gasped as I felt my chest being squeezed. I was in the clutches of the youkai. The monster lifted me up to its hideous face. I struggled to no avail. Suddenly, I startled. I could sense a shikon shard lodged inside its throat. So that was how it had gotten so big.

The youkai opened its mouth, revealing long rows of teeth. I turned my face away from the putrid smell. Suddenly, I let out a squeak. I was being lifted closer to the deadly maw. I closed my eyes in terror. Something strange happened then. The sounds and sensations faded away slowly, and then I heard Inuyasha's voice. I could see him standing in front of me, chanting, "Today you will all see who the real champion is…"

Suddenly I gave out a roar. I was here to prove that was I was a worthy adversary. What was I doing, just letting myself be eaten by a youkai? With an impossible amount of strength, I squeezed my arms from the bear's grasp. Reaching for my backpack, I fished out a textbook. I concentrated on summoning my miko powers. Suddenly, the textbook shone with a dazzling violet aura, and then I hurled the magic object down into the awaiting throat. There was a pause, and then a gurgling sound came. I felt the grip around my waist being relaxed. I charged another textbook with my aura, and chucked it down its throat again.

The bear struggled to breathe, waving its arms around wildly. I braced myself. Kirara came dashing up to me. "Kirara!" I shouted. The cat youkai lifted me up and onto her back. And just in time, because the next instant the bear youkai plummeted to the ground. It immediately shrank in size, and I ran over to it as Kirara landed on the ground. I pulled the shard out and held it before me victoriously.

"Kagome!!"

I turned around at the sound. Inuyasha flew through the thicket towards me…

And embraced me tightly. "I-Inuyasha?" I murmured. I could feel his heart pounding furiously. He nudged me back to look at my face. I was speechless. His face was contorted in the most worried face I had ever seen, breathing heavily. "You're not hurt, are you?" he inquired anxiously.

I shook my head weakly. "You are the stupidest wench I have ever met! How could you do something so stupid? You might've been killed!"

He suddenly gripped my shoulders, gluing his eyes to mine. "I'm sorry," he whispered, his golden eyes glowing with regret and relief. 

I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Sango-chan and Miroku-sama arrived on the scene. "Kagome-chan! Are you all right?"

I nodded towards the two, and turned back to Inuyasha. "No…I should be the one who's sorry," I said softly. "I acted foolishly…"

"It was because of me," he said. I smiled. "Well, I guess."

He sighed. "Promise me you won't ever do something like that again," he said. I nodded.

Miroku-sama examined the dead bear. "At least in the end, everything is well. I'm just glad that Kagome-sama's safe," he said. "Although…how did you manage to kill the youkai without your arrows?"

I smiled cryptically. "Let's just say that the bear ate my homework," I said. The others gave me a puzzled look. I slapped my forehead. "Oh! I almost forgot! We still have to finish our competition," I said, turning to Inuyasha.

Everyone suddenly went quiet. Inuyasha suddenly shuffled around nervously, looking as if he wished he hadn't come find me. "Well, actually, you see…since you ran off in the middle of the game, I'm the winner now."

I saw red all over again. "WHAT????!!!!!!"

In the background, I could hear Sango-chan and Miroku-sama start to groan as we began to exchange flaming words and insults.

"What do you say we bring all the townspeople here? I bet they'd pay big money to see this," Miroku-sama whispered.

Sango-chan rolled her eyes. "Hmm…might as well."

And so another normal peaceful day passed in the Sengoku Jidai.

******************************************************************

A/N: -_-;; Sorry about the awful "bear" joke I made Kagome say, I couldn't resist! Anyway, for those of you who were looking forward to a less clichéd ending, I'm terribly sorry! The only reason I didn't let one or the other win for real is that I love them both to bits! Or actually I just, I don't know -_-; Whew…that little episode(s) took a lot out of me. For those of you S/M fans, I think I'm ready for some action next chapter, heh heh (although the next chapter probably isn't going to come as soon as this one did…but oh well, I'm working on it!)

Xo-Kagome-ox: Yay! I have a new reviewer! Thanks for checking out my story. I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I did writing it, lol.

AnimeSoul3: You don't know how glad I am to hear that! I kept hoping that this fic wouldn't turn out too clichéd or weird to the point that all the characters are, well, OOC. But yes, like I said, thanks for taking the time to read and review this story- Inuyasha would've been proud (I don't know why I just said that, but oh well).

Lostspirit00: Hello! Glad you stopped by and reviewed. The three are back together again! *cheers* Creative, huh? Then that means I did something right, lol. Anyway, I hope to get the next chapter of 1:3 RP out soon…soon…I hope…

Snippets: Hey there- you went snowboarding? Haha, me too! It was my first time snowboarding also- I took lessons for more than two hours on one slope and barely learned to stand up on my board, and then I gave up and went down another slope with one of my friends. He taught me for like only a half-hour and in that time I learned much more than I did during the lessons. By the end of that tiny impromptu session, I was cruising (well, sorta) down the hill. Huh, figures. Anyway, hope you had fun. At least you put on a good show for the people on the lifts ^ - ^. And oh yeah, I was at a retreat for these past few days. I'll tell you more about that later, though. Oh well, Happy New Year!

******************************************************************

Next Time on Attack of the Filler Arc: When Kagome brings back fortune cookies from her world, Miroku receives a deadly message inside. Soon, bad luck seems to follow him everywhere. Is the fortune really coming true? And is he going to die in five days as it predicts? Heh, not if Sango can help it!