Disclaimer: I don't own Inu-Yasha. Happy?

Cooking Session 8 - Food Competition!

It was the big day, and Kagome found her palms all clammy with sweat. Boy, was she nervous. More nervous than ever.

They were at an odd, big place with only two rooms. In one room, everyone was divided to a cooking space with every cooking utensil imaginable. In the other room, the food was to be given to the four judges: two females, and two males. The place was pretty full, too. There had to be at least three different Home Ec classes competing. Kagome smirked and thought, Maybe they just want to get out of Home Ec class, too.

She saw Inu-Yasha all ready putting his apron on. She walked over to him and tried to wipe the sweat from her hands on her jeans.

"Are you ready, Inu-Yasha?" she asked.

Inu-Yasha rolled his eyes and grunted. "It's not as if we're going to win anything, and you know it."

Kagome couldn't hold back her anger. She scowled angrily and commanded, "CRAP, Inu-Yasha! CRAP! CRAP! CRAP! We are going to win! We've gotta!"

It wasn't long before Kagome and Inu-Yasha realized that the huge building had no bathroom. (A/N: Thanx for the idea from 13ittersweet!) Kagome tried to think quickly, otherwise she knew Inu-Yasha was going to "let it out" in his pants. She decided to let him go in the bushes. He didn't look too happy about the whole thing, and Kagome felt a little bad about it. She promised that she wasn't going to "CRAP" him again that day. Inu-Yasha was still sour about it, though.

About ten minutes later, one of the judges stood up and announced, "Get to your cooking spaces now. Make sure your partner is with you at all times, or you will be eliminated from the game."

Kagome rushed to the cooking space where she found Inu-Yasha all ready waiting. She was ready to tell him her idea.

Her idea…she had thought about it all night long. She had wondered about it constantly. What should they make? It had to be something that they wouldn't screw up on, but it also had to be something that everyone loved to eat. (Bologna was definitely out of the picture!) That's when it hit her. She had figured out what they were going to make. It was perfect, and she knew it!

"Inu-Yasha, this is what we're making." She pulled a white and orange bag from her apron pocket.

Inu-Yasha stared dumbly, and then he said, "We're making Ramen!"

Kagome then expected him to say something mean like, "How stupid!" or, "Oh, great. Now we're never gonna win!", but what he actually said surprised her:

"Yes! I love Ramen!"

Kagome grinned. She was surprised about what she had said, but she was also happy about it. She put a pan on the stove and began to make some Ramen Noodle Soup. Amazingly, there were no resulting mess-ups from them. They didn't forget to put the lid on anything, add too many chocolate chips to anything, create a food fight, or nearly kill anyone due to allergic reactions. It went all according to plan. Almost.

You see, after they had finished making it, they went to take a break. They were one of the first one's done cooking, since Ramen takes hardly any time at all to make. Unfortunately, Kikyo was also done making her food. She snuck out of her cooking space and smiled wickedly. She grabbed the hot sauce and began dumping it into the Ramen. She used half of the bottle.

"Hmph. The judges are in for a real surprise now," she snickered evilly.

No one noticed what she had done until it was too late. The judges were sampling the foods. When it came time for them to try the Ramen, Kikyo was struggling to maintain a straight face. It was hard to resist laughing!

But she didn't laugh. The judges weren't gagging or barfing from the spiciness. No, they we're smiling and asking for more…What the heck was going on! The judges even commented on it:

"It's very good and has a good spicy taste to it."

"Ah! A lovely twist to Ramen."

"Taking the best food and making it even better! I love it!"

"Wow! This is really good! Please, bring me more!"

Kagome beamed. She had no idea what they were talking about when they mentioned a spicy taste to it, nor did she care. The judges had actually liked it, and it made her happy. That was all that mattered. Inu-Yasha, too, seemed to like the judges' reaction.

Half an hour later, full of suspense, the judges were announcing the winners and Kikyo was bragging to Shippo about her delicious coconut cream cakes that she had made. (Shippo, Miroku, and Sango had made rice balls. It was a sad attempt, and they ended up tasting terrible.) The judges cleared their throats. One of them pulled a white envelope from their pocket. Kagome saw Naroku, frowning, out of the corner of her eye.

"In third place, with a beautiful marble cake, is Kaede!"

An old woman with a patch over one eye beamed as she went up to claim her prize, a keychain. Everyone cheered.

As they quieted, the judge went on. "The second place position was hard to fill. There were so many people worthy of getting this award! But we eventually decided to give it to Kikyo with her deliciously delicious coconut cream cakes!"

Kikyo frowned as she went up on stage to get her gold metal. She glared and Inu-Yasha and Kagome. Kagome's heart skipped a beat. If Kikyo was in second place, then could that mean that her and Inu-Yasha were possibly in first place? She waited with anticipation and hope.

"The first place winner of the day is a very tasty meal. It must have taken some effort to create such a unique food."

Kagome sighed. She knew that she hadn't won. Ramen wasn't at all unique and didn't take much effort to create at all. Inu-Yasha looked pretty discouraged as well. It was all over. They would have to suffer with Home Ec classes for so much longer now. The judge went on.

"This spicy food, so strange and yet so good, belongs to Kagome and Inu-Yasha, cooking partners of Naroku's cooking class! They made spicy Ramen!"

Kagome was shocked, dumbfounded, flabbergasted, appalled, astonished…oh! Stop it, brain! Stop it! Basically, she was surprised. So was Inu-Yasha. They went on stage, their knees a little shaky, and lifted their shiny new trophy high in the air. Kagome felt that surely she must have been dreaming. It couldn't be real…but it was. She knew it was.

She smiled at Inu-Yasha as the judge's voice was drowned out by cheers. It was the best day of her life. Surely, it had to be the best day of her life.

As they got off stage, Naroku, alongside Kikyo, marched angrily up to them. "You must still stay in my class!" he shouted. "You cheated, I know it! And I'm failing you forever! Do you understand me?"

Inu-Yasha growled and crammed a piece of bologna into Naroku's mouth, shutting him up immediately. Inu-Yasha, satisfied, began to walk away. Kagome followed him. He wasn't too hard to follow with his red apron she had bought him.

He knew she was following him, she could tell. He led her outside. He sat on a rock outside of the building and set the trophy down beside him. The big golden trophy gleamed and shimmered in the sun. It was a beautiful sight. Kagome stood in front of Inu-Yasha and gazed at him for a few long moments.

"You can keep the trophy, Kagome," Inu-Yasha said, for once being kind. "I don't need it."

"But we earned it together," Kagome protested.

Inu-Yasha raised his eyebrow and said with humor, "So what do you suggest I do, split it in half?"

The two of them laughed easily. Kikyo and Naroku were both out of their way. It was a peaceful time to celebrate no more Home Ec classes. (Sorry to my Home Ec teacher, but Home Ec class really IS that bad.) They were both lighthearted and cheerful.

"I can't believe Ramen actually won the contest," Kagome grinned sheepishly. "I thought for sure we would lose."

Inu-Yasha smiled slightly and mocked, "You were yelling at me earlier for saying the same thing—that we would lose."

Kagome smiled apologetically and gazed deeply into Inu-Yasha's golden eyes. There was something there, inside of them, that hadn't existed before. It was a sparkle or a gleam of some sort, and it made Inu-Yasha look very happy and, if at all possible, even cuter than he had been previously. Kagome liked the thought of that.

Then her heart took a great leap from being tremendously happy to quite sad when she realized that she may never see the dog biscuit-stealing, used-to-be pink apron boy. She had become accustomed to his usual attitude, and quite frankly, she knew she was going to miss it somehow. She didn't want Inu-Yasha to go. She didn't want to admit it, but it was true. She would miss him greatly.

She hadn't realized how quiet it suddenly had gotten. She didn't notice that Inu-Yasha was staring at her until he had been for quite some time. It shocked her, for this type of behavior was not what she expected from him. Could it be…that Inu-Yasha was going to miss her to? That he may actually like her after all? She knew this was wishful thinking, but she couldn't help but wonder about it anyway.

"Kagome…" Inu-Yasha looked and Kagome, and his smile softened.

Kagome felt herself tense up. She had never seen Inu-Yasha act this way before, and it alarmed her a bit. But still…

She relaxed her shoulders. Inu-Yasha went on talking.

"You've taught me a real lesson," he said quietly. "I guess I should that you for that. For one, you've taught me never to try to enjoy cooking again. Also…"—he hesitated—"you taught me what it's like to have someone who actually cares about me."

Kagome blushed. She didn't mean to do it, but then again, who does purposely try to show that they're embarrassed? At first, she wondered why he thought that she cared for him, but it didn't take her long to realize that she actually did. After all, why would she miss him if she didn't care about him? It was too much embarrassment for her to handle, so she covered her face as she thought about it.

When she removed her hands from in front of her face, she saw Inu-Yasha looking friendlier than he ever had before. (What a dramatic change in attitude and appearance!) She yearned to tell him how thankful she was, but really…she wasn't sure what to thank him for. She had never experienced such a confusing emotion before, but whatever it was, she liked it.

Inu-Yasha leaned towards her. Kagome felt butterflies fluttering in her stomach. "Thank you, Kagome," he breathed.

Then, slowly and beautifully, they advanced into a deep, loving kiss.

And it was better then any Ramen they could ever make.

THE END


Author's Note: Awww! I love the end! I hope y'all do too! Here's my review thanx to all of you (but you can still review for the last chappie!):

sighhhhhh- Here goes…It's a lotta writing, probably longer than the chapter itself (lol).


Adora Bell Dearheart- Thank you for being my first reviewer! And yes, I know the whole crap thing was a little gross, but hey—I couldn't pass up the opportunity! Once I get a crazy idea like that in my head, it's gotta be put into writing:-D

Madamechickenliver- Ha ha! Your pen name always cracks me up! And sorry about how short all of my stuff is…I hate writing long stories cuz they take me forever to finish and I'm only aloud online once a week. Alas, that means very short chapters. –sighs dramatically- Oh, well.

inu yasha's silver moon- lol. I didn't stop writing, so don't you worry! U don't have to cry or kill me. (I saved u time trying to come up with a way to kill me, anyway!) lol. And don't u worry, I'll keep writing more fan fics, too! I'm not out of ideas yet! I have at least seven more future fan fic stories on my mind at the moment…

chibisharu- Thank u very much. I'm glad u think it is "interesting." , Right now, I'm sure Inuyasha isn't finding it so interesting. Oh, well. I hope he likes the toilet! Hee hee!

madsciencetistvand- Yay! Ur reading my other story 2, aren't u? I guess I'll just have 2 read one of ur stories then! I'm glad u like the "crap" stuff! I'm SUPER glad that u wondered why ne one would hire Naroku as a teacher. I had 2 ask myself that too…

PD and KGIM- It's my pleasure. I love making funni stories up. I may not be a master of humor (I'd hardly call myself a disciple), but hey…I try. Thanx 4 the review! Much appreciated!

HanyouInu- Ah. I hope u like the fluffyness that I FINALLY put in at the end. –chuckle, chuckle- I wuz saving the best 4 last!

jai2133- I'm glad u like the story, cuz I had a whole lotta fun writing it! It wuz prob'ly more fun writing it then actually submitting it 2 fan fic, since I'm so against Home Ec classes and it's a little inside joke type of thing… Anyway, I'm very glad that u liked when Inu smiled. I liked writing that part a lot. :-)

Nikk98- Oh, goody! I have a rater for my story! And a 7! Really! It's that good? Yippee! I'm honored! And—whoa! My other one is a 9? Super yippee! I guess I'm better with writing Inuyasha stories than I thought…thanx very much!

sparklingcrystal133- I'm glad I humored u so much! That's what I strive for, after all. Well, most of the time…anyway, thank you. I love getting reviews from such supportive people like you! It makes me so happy and makes me want to write more and add new chapters faster!

DragonSayer91- I luv ur pen name! It rox! –ahem- Anyhoo…just had to mention that… It was a very good suggestion, but I decided to tweak it a lil, as u can tell. Instead of Inuyasha and Kagome making a complicated recipe, they made a simple one—and better yet, they DID win, and Kikyo DID come in second! So yay for all!

13ittersweet- I really liked ur suggestion! And so, obviously, I used it! And it made me laff when I wrote it cuz…okay, I admit that I can be a little evil and sumtimes have the urge to torture Inuyasha or embarrass him in some ways. And that, my friend, wuz the PERFECT way! So, thank u very much! I luved the suggestion more then u'll ever kno:-D –grins broadly-