A/N: Thanks everyone for the reviews and support and ideas and inspiration.
Chibi Kawaii Miko: I hope everything is clear and it's good that you can imagine it! Thanks.
Rina: Very good ideas I must say. I don't know about the church bells, their Buddhist… but the ball isn't a bad idea. And a duel, you'll see.
I laugh at you: I love your pen name. Thanks for the review!
lil-kag0m3: Maybe that will happen…
Nomadgirl66: I hate it when people tell me I look like crap too. This chapter will answer your question about how they are going to prove who is better.
Moxi: Thanks for reading every chapter! And your criticism is always good.
Larr, Lisa, and Yasmin: I hope you're enjoying and it's not me forcing you to read it.
Angie: I'm updating pretty quick, but I don't know if I can keep it up. I'll try.
WishUponAStar: Is Myoga Inu's thai gaim… He's just his servant. He really isn't showing up in these chapters any more though. Yeah, Kagome wanted to marry him for money, but it was for a good cause. I mean, the restaurant is at stake! Lol. I hope you enjoy this chapter as well.
Hope everyone likes it. Main goal: Have readers like what I'm writing.
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Chapter Five
Bring it on
"What did you just say, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked him in totally disbelief. "Did he actually say that he liked her?" she thought.
"I said that I loved you and that I wish to marry you and live with you for the rest of my life. But since you were going to accept Kouga in marriage, I wanted you to know that I loved you as well, and that you should think it over some more before you should decide."
"Are you feeling okay?" Kagome placed her hand on his forehead to see if he was running a high fever.
"I'm feeling fine." He brushed her hand off of his forehand.
Kouga opened the gates and grabbed Inuyasha by the collar. "What are you saying?"
Inuyasha quickly pulled Kouga's hands off him. "I said, and for the last time," he was now getting very irritated for repeating this, "that I love Kagome."
"Come in here with me." He led Inuyasha through the gates and towards that house. "Kagome, we'll be back in a second. Just stay there."
"And think about who you would like to marry," Inuyasha finished and laughed just to himself.
Kouga took him to a small room near the entrance of the house and shut the door. "What is the meaning of this?"
"Can't I love a girl?" This was actually getting kind of amusing for him. "I love her, yeah right," he thought.
"You don't."
"How would you know?"
"You just want her because she was going to marry me. You aren't getting her."
"We'll have to see about that. How do you want to settle this?"
"What could I do to beat Inuyasha at?" thought Kouga. "How about a competition of three rounds. Best two out of the three."
"What are the tasks going to be?"
He smiled. "Let's have Kagome come up with them."
Inuyasha actually liked this idea. "Sure."
&
Outside, Kagome stood waiting for the two to return. "What could they be talking about?" she mused, "And why would Inuyasha confess his love to me now right in front of Kouga. He doesn't love me, right?" She really didn't know the answer to this. The past two days that he had been here with her, they had never stopped fighting.
"Maybe it has something with him telling me that I wouldn't marry Kouga…" With these thoughts, Inuyasha and Kouga reappeared from the house.
"Okay my darling," Kagome winced at the endearment Kouga used, "Inuyasha and I have decided how to settle this.
She raised her eyebrow. "How so?"
"We are going to compete each other in three tasks; best two out of three wins."
"And what might these tasks be?" Kagome ruffled her hair to get it untangled. "How could two guys like me when I'm looking like this?" she wondered.
"This is where you come in, girl," Inuyasha was still used to calling her that, "I mean, Kagome. You are going to decide the three tasks for us to compete in."
"Me?"
"My marriage is turning into some kind of game," she noted silently.
"Yes, so chose wisely." Inuyasha looked at her and for the first time, it seemed that he really did care for her.
Kagome took but a second to make up her mind about the first task for her two suitors. "Okay, the first task today is going to be cooking in the kitchens for dinner tonight. Then at the end of the evening I'll taste one dish that you will prepare especially for me. Which ever one appeals and tastes the best to me will win." She smiled to herself. It actually sounded pretty good for being so quickly chosen. It was going to fun watching these two guys cook. Though mainly, she chose this because she wasn't in the mood to cook tonight.
"You want us to cook?" they responded in unison.
"Yes, you said that I can make up the tasks, did you not?"
"We'll cook." Inuyasha said nudging Kouga, so he would agree with him.
"Fine, I'll cook."
"Great! I can't wait to eat what you plan to make me."
&
Kagome and Inuyasha walked back, and this time not in silence. As soon as they got out of Kouga's ear shot, their conversation began.
"What do you mean that you love me?"
"I don't love you. I'm closer to hating you."
Now Kagome was utterly confused. "Then… why did you…"
"Don't ask. Pretend that I'm in love with you and everything should work itself out."
"Inuyasha, don't mess things up for me. I wanted to marry Kouga. Why would you stop me? I need the dowry money." She could not believe what had just happened at Kouga's place.
"Look. You don't want Kouga as your husband. I can give you the money."
"THEN WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THAT YESTERDAY?" If he could've given her the money then she wouldn't have to marry anyone and everything would be just be fine, but no, he told her now.
"Why hadn't I thought of that?" he thought to himself, "I would just give her the money and then I wouldn't have to go through trying to marry her. I was too focused on trying to the stop the marriage."
"Umm… oops."
"You! Now I'm going to have to get married to one of you." Kagome didn't like that idea one bit.
"Who would you rather get married too?" Inuyasha was curious after all.
"Neither one! It's all your fault. You should have just let me borrow money. I didn't know you carried that type of money around with you."
Before Inuyasha had left of the palace on this journey, he had taken with him about 10,000 yen as spending money and also to help the poor… "Yes, I do." He still couldn't get over how stupid he had been. Now he was going to have to try and win the competition.
"It's too late to call this off. Just cook well tonight." Kagome pushed open the door and walked right into the kitchen.
"Did she just hint to me that she wanted me to win?" Inuyasha didn't know, maybe she just meant that he was better than Kouga. However for as long as Inuyasha has lived, he has never cooked a single meal in his life. "How am I going to win this?" Then something hit him.
&
"So Kagome, I suppose I'll be attending your wedding fairly soon." It hurt Kaede to know that Kagome was marrying Kouga for her restaurant. Kagome wasn't even related to her. Should she tell her? But then what if Kagome wanted to know who her true parents were? Kaede didn't have the answer to that.
"I don't know." Kagome was lost in her own thoughts. She was still at a young age and didn't want to think of marriage any longer.
"What do you mean, you don't know? I wish you would just let things be. Why are you putting yourself through with this?"
"Kouga and Inuyasha are going to have competition. Who ever wins, is the person I shall marry. The first thing they are doing tonight is cooking at the restaurant," she answered drearily.
"Kouga AND Inuyasha?"
"They apparently both love me." Inuyasha had told her to pretend that he did… "I'm going to go upstairs now and change out of these clothes." Kagome left, leaving a shocked Kaede.
&
"Alright everyone, I need to learn how to cook and fast."
Kouga was standing in his kitchen addressing all his cooks. They stared at him in shock. One thing ran through all their minds: What is wrong with him today?
"Don't just stare at me. Teach me!"
"Okay," said the main cook, "let's start off making some scrambled egg." Easy enough, right?
"How do you make that?" Kouga truly looked lost.
"Get the frying pan…"
It was going to be a long afternoon for Kouga.
&
Inuyasha entered the kitchens shortly after Kagome left. He surveyed the area. It was fairly clean. There were two large stoves and counters that ran around the walls. Only Kaede was there.
"Kaede, I was wondering…"
"If I could teach you how to cook, huh?" "Kagome must had told her," he thought.
"Yeah, I really hadn't had that much practice before." Actually he hadn't had any practice of any kind before. A prince would never go near the kitchens.
"I've got a secret recipe that Kagome just loves to eat. You make that, and you'll win her heart."
Inuyasha really didn't want to win Kagome's heart, but as long as he beat Kouga, nothing else mattered.
&
Kagome got some water and filled up the tub, more of a big bucket, and had to long soothing bath. She hummed to herself.
Many things ran through her mind. "What is in store for me?" she asked aloud. She sighed and tried to shove all her problems to the side and just concentrated on getting clean.
She changed into her nicest outfit, a fitted white silk shirt with pink trimmings and tan pants. She put her hair up neatly and skipped down the steps. She peaked into the kitchen and saw Inuyasha. He had flour on his face and looked like a mess.
She giggled and he looked up from his bowl that he had been stirring.
"It's not that funny."
She laughed again. "You look hilarious. What are you trying to make?"
"It's for you to find out tonight. My dish is going to be so good, you'll die for more."
"I think I'm going to die trying it." They both laughed at this. "You better hurry and get ready for the dinner shift. I'm going to go around to the neighbors and ask them to come and enjoy your food." Kagome smiled and headed out to get as many customers as she could.
&
Dinner time came around all too soon for Inuyasha and Kouga. Kagome had gotten so many people to come that some people didn't have seats and had to stand by the door.
Kaede and Kagome also got some help to set up the two stoves right in front of where the people were sitting. The two competitors looked nervous. Cooking was not their thing and cooking in front of people was even worse. Kouga was planning to have someone else cook for him, but being out here in the open didn't allow any cheating at all.
Kagome stood in front of the stoves, where Inuyasha and Kouga were standing behind. "Good even ladies and gentlemen," she addressed the people who were seated. "I would like to introduce to you, Kouga and Inuyasha. Tonight they are going to preparing your meals. So I hope you enjoy their dishes!"
People applauded as Kagome walked towards the tables to get their orders. After visiting two tables, she came back and handed one order to Inuyasha and the other one to Kouga.
"Here you guys are. I wish you both good luck." She gave them each a reassuring smile.
The two guys started down at the orders that were given to them. "We won't let you down, darling," spoke Inuyasha. He winked at her and started to prepare the first order: fried fish and beef with broccoli.
Kouga looked hopelessly at his order. How was he supposed to make steamed rice with crab?
Before they went to kitchen to grab what they needed, they stared hard at each other. "May the best man win," Kouga said in a positive attitude.
"That'll be me."
"We'll see how well our prince of China can cook." Kouga looked at him evilly. He had said this too quietly for anyone else but Inuyasha to hear.
"You don't know what you are getting yourself into for saying that." He stomped hard on his foot and left of the kitchens.
Kaede leaned against the wall watching Inuyasha and Kouga. She had taught Inuyasha every trick of the trade that afternoon. Now all she could do was hope that he would win.
"My dear Kagome, what have I done?" Kaede wasn't sure when she would tell Kagome the truth, but right now that was the furthest from her thoughts.
&
Kagome looked up at the two men that were each trying to get their ingredient together. They both were doing this for her. She smiled at this and went around taking more orders.
Inuyasha was going to make this look entertaining. He had many times seen chefs perform while they cooked. It didn't look that hard.
He took some oil and poured it into the frying pan. "Remember, only put the food in when the oil gets hot," Kaede told him earlier that day. As the oil warmed, he got the fish. Earlier he had cleaned the fish and scaled it. "Fish has to be prepared well, or else it won't taste fresh. Season it first and then fry it."
Inuyasha sprinkled some salt and pepper on it, along with some other that Kaede had told him to use, but he had forgotten the names to.
Then he carefully slipped the fish into the pan and it started to sizzle. Inuyasha grabbed a wine bottle beside the stove and splashed it onto the fish. Fire blazed and he grabbed the handle and flipped the fish high into the air. Everyone in the restaurant turned to see this and stared at him in amazement.
Inuyasha caught the fish with ease and flipped it again.
Kagome stopped dead and looked at him. His golden eyes shown brilliantly though the flames. She grinned at him and at that same moment he smiled at her.
He flipped the fish a couple more time until it was golden brown. It looked delicious. He gawked at it. This was his first platter that has cooked for someone to eat. He wondered how it was taste…
Inuyasha didn't garish the at all. There in the middle of the platter was his fish. He walked over to the table and set the plate down on the table. "Dig in."
The customers eyed the plate before picking up their chopsticks. "Not bad," the man said. Inuyasha beamed to himself. "Thank you."
&
Kouga, on the other hand, was a different story. He got some crab and rice and placed it all in the bowl. "Now what?" He had watched Inuyasha prepare his dish with little difficulty and decided it couldn't be too hard.
But it was.
He placed his bowl in the hot steamer and hoped everything would turn out okay. Kouga returned in about fifteen minutes to retrieve his dish. He carried it quickly to his table and set it in front of the guests. "I hope you like it…" Kouga wasn't sure about his dish at all. The two ladies at his table took off the lid and tried the crab.
The first girl placed some crab in her mouth and instantly spit it out. "What is this? Can you even call this food?"
Kouga had forgotten all of the seasonings and had undercooked the crab. "Yeah, I do call it food! I bet you two can't make steamed crab. You could have ordered fried rice or something!" Kouga was at his boiling point with cooking already, and it had only been about twenty minutes into dinner.
Kagome, hearing the yelling, turned to see where it was coming from. It was Kouga's table.
At the same moment, Inuyasha tossed his beef into the air, and it went all over a family sitting close to him. He apparently couldn't catch many slices of beef. The four that had gotten hit with the beef were all yelling and screaming and trying to get the hot beef off of them.
"This is going to be a long night…" She blew at her hair that was falling on her face and walked over to straighten out the problems.
Just as she was approaching the irritated customers, the door of the restaurant swung open revealing Sango, her family, and…Miroku.
A/N: I had major problems with the ending this time. Usually it is one of the easiest things… but this time I couldn't find a good spot of stop.
So review and tell me how it is going and other stuff like that! Thank you and I love all my readers very much (whether you leave a review or not, I still love you).