A/N: Okay, about Inuyasha supposed to getting married in like a day: not going to happen. I'm going to change what he asked to a week. Be a little more realistic. Sorry about the change. I didn't think it through enough when I put that.

Thank you for all you reviews and readers that read it!

Chapter Six

Dumplings… YUM

After Kagome had been able to get everyone back into their seats, she walked over to where Sango was sitting.

"Good evening Sir, Madam, Sango and…" she turned towards a young man.

"Miroku." He extended his hand towards her. Yet, Kagome didn't shake it.

"Is this the guy that Sango is going to marry?" she wondered as she closely examined him over. He had good features…

Sango nudged Kagome in the side. "Oh, I'm sorry." She realized that Miroku had wanted to shake her hand.

"He is Sango's soon to be husband," Sango's father added as soon as Kagome had let go of Miroku's hand.

"Nice to meet you, Miroku. When are they planning to get married?" She directed the question to Sango's father rather than Sango.

"Just after the examinations. Miroku is of course going to pass them and then they'll be able to start a family of their own."

Sango sunk in her chair at these words.

Changing the subject, Kagome asked, "What can I get you tonight?"

"Whatever you think is good, Kagome. We always like your choices," responded Sango's mother kindly.

"Okay, and can I have a word with you Sango?"

"Yeah, I'll be right back." Sango excused herself from the table and stood to leave.

"Don't be long, dear." Sango rolled her eyes st Miroku's words and followed Kagome upstairs.

&

As soon as the door was closed behind them, Kagome popped the question.

"Do you like him?"

"No, of course not. He tells me that he loves me all the time, when we've only actually met today. It's not love."

"Is there anything else that you don't like about him?"

"He doesn't seem that bad otherwise. At least, not that I have noticed yet. So why is Kouga and that one guy from last night out there cooking?"

"Long story."

"I've got time."

Kagome took a deep breath and told Sango everything that had happened.

"Complicated."

"I'll have to say. We better get back down there. You don't know what could've happened during the time we were up here."

&

Miroku was talking constantly to Sango during their entire meal. Sango only merely nodded in response. Soon they had finished with their dinner and left.

The night went on with little happenings here and there. Inuyasha yelled at his customers for not liking his food and Kouga was unable to make anything decent besides fried rice. By midnight, everyone had gone home and the place was tidy again.

"How do you think tonight went?" Kagome asked the two very tried guys.

"Wonderful, couldn't be better," Inuyasha replied in sarcasm. He was now in a very bad mood and didn't even bother trying to be nice Kagome any longer.

"It went… good, darling," Kouga responded with much effort to force on a smile.

"So I'll give you an hour to make me something. This is the final part of the task and will decide who will win this." She was tried as well, but the competition wasn't over yet.

Kagome headed up the steps to lie down on her bed for a while and get some rest before she would have to try their food.

The people that had come to the restaurant didn't appreciate the food, but was entertained by Inuyasha's and Kouga's bad talent. They were amused by it, but surly Inuyasha and Kouga were both in a grouchy mood now that it was getting so late. Kagome tried her best to keep everything civil in the restaurant. "Why do they have to be so violent all the time," she said to herself.

&

Inuyasha knew exactly what he was going to be making for Kagome: dumplings. "Kagome had always loved dumplings as a child. She would beg me sometimes to make it for her. But you have to make it correctly. The skin and the meat all have to taste good to make it a good dish."

He took out some flour and began putting together the dough how Kaede had told him. He placed flour and water in a bowl and started to knead it. The flour and water began and turn into dough and he set it aside to work on the filling.

"Her favorite type to filling is pork. Just take some pork and mix it with ginger, cabbage, one egg white, pepper, salt, oyster sauce, and onion." Inuyasha made the filling exactly how she had taught him. Now he would have to roll out the dough.

He cut it into ten pieces and grabbed a rolling pin. One by one he carefully took each of them and rolled it out into a circle. They weren't perfectly round, but it was the best he could to.

"Gosh she better enjoy these if I'm spending this much time making them." This entire time, Kouga had disappeared into the kitchens and hadn't returned. "Wonder what he is making?" Inuyasha thought. "Fried rice probably…"

Returning his attention back on his dumplings, he placed one of the skins in his hand and put some of the pork filling in the middle. Inuyasha tried to fold up the edges the way Kaede had showed him. He cursed under his breath. "Why can't I do this?"

In the end, the dumplings were made by just pressing the sides together. He placed all ten in boiling water and waited impatiently. "Remember to let them boil three times, each time it does boil you much add another ½ cup of water."

After three times, he scooped them out and placed them on a plate. Beside it, there was soy sauce with vinegar for Kagome to dip it in.

He was finally finished! The prince of China made dumplings for this common girl.

He was about to call for Kagome, but rather decided to check up on Kouga. He peered into the kitchen and not to his surprise, there was another cook.

"What are you doing?" screamed Inuyasha that startled Kouga.

Kouga holding his cook's beautifully finished platter, dropped it on the ground. "You're cheating!"

"What if I am? You can't do anything about it." By that time, the chef had long from left the kitchen.

"I'm going to tell Kagome. She won't believe that you made this."

Even though the food was on the ground, you could still tell that is was once decorated gorgeously with a fish fried perfectly.

"You tell her, and I'll tell her your true identity."

"You are not about to go that far, are you?" Inuyasha questioned him dangerously.

"Yes, I am. For the woman I love, I am." He sounded deadly confident.

Inuyasha could risk anyone knowing his true identity. "Fine, I won't tell her, as long as you don't use this threat against them ever again or I will kill you." He spoke with total seriousness.

"Deal."

&

Inuyasha left the kitchen and waited outside for Kouga to prepare a new dish. He couldn't believe Kouga would threaten him like this, but he couldn't anything about it. He felt like punching Kouga right now, and hard. "If Kagome knew he was a cheater, he might not have to go through with the rest of this competition anymore," he thought.

After about ten minutes, Kouga called out "I'm done!"

"I am too!" Inuyasha yelled, even though he had been for awhile.

Kagome, hearing this, made her way slowly down the stairs. She signed inwardly. When she saw the two standing by their plates, she couldn't help it but smile to them. "They have done this all for me…"

"Whose should I try first?"

"You should eat my fried rice with shrimp, honey."

Inuyasha showed no objection, so Kagome grabbed a spoon to eat Kouga's dish.

"It's… good." The fried rice was say too salty and the chicken was too well done to the point that it was tough.

"I see you made dumplings for me." Kagome's eyes widen. "How had he known that this was her favorite dish?"

The dumplings were not very pretty at their first sight. The skin wasn't folded up nicely together like how Kaede made them, but they were Inuyasha's dumplings.

Kagome picked one up with her chopsticks and dipped it into the vinegar and soy sauce, before placing it into her mouth.

"These are… TERRIFIC! How did you make these? How did you know?"

"I can read your heart, darling." He smirked. "Who wins?"

Kagome knew who had won. It was Inuyasha. "I loved both of your dishes, but Inuyasha won. Dumplings are my favorite and he knew." She looked over at him. He didn't express any thing.

"How does he get to win? He cheated!" Even though Kouga had known fully well that Inuyasha hadn't, he still said it none the less.

"Prove it?" Inuyasha was now getting fed up with him. "He cheats, and now he accuses me? What is wrong with him?"

"Don't start again. There are still two more rounds." When Kagome had been in her room, she had come up with the next task.

"I want you two to race each other one horse back tomorrow. You must retrieve a scarf on the side of a mountain and then race back to me. The first to get back wins."

There was moment of silence. "We should be heading to bed now. You two will race at one tomorrow. Good night."

"Sweet dreams, my dear." Kouga turned and they each gave each other dirty looks before he left, slamming the door behind him.

"How did you know?" Kagome couldn't comprehend how he knew to make them, and they tasted so good.

"I know you inside and out. Nothing goes past me." He laughed jokingly. "I'm going to win tomorrow's task for sure."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Do you not want me to win?"

"I don't know. I don't want to get married to anyone actually."

"I don't either. I don't even know why I'm doing this for you girl."

"It was your choice, not mine. Don't be saying that it's my fault."

"How is it not your fault? If you didn't want to get married to Kouga so darn fast, then I would have thought of giving you the money and none of this would have ever happened!"

"You are impossible!" Kagome stomped up the stairs and into her room leaving Inuyasha to himself. "I can't believe she would say that after I did this for her." He looked at his full plate of dumplings. Kagome had only eaten one.

"What a waste." And he ate the rest before going to bed.

&

At around ten, Kagome set up to hang two scarves the side of a mountain on the outskirts of the town. The scarves were of different colors, a blue one for Kouga and a red one for Inuyasha.

Kagome looked up to the sky. "I hope you chose wisely how is going to win."

She sighed and returned back home.

&

Inuyasha and Kouga were both mounted on their horses.

"On the count of three, you both will go near the mountains and retrieve for me a scarf. One… two… and… THREE!" Kagome yelled as the two took off immediately.

Soon they had come upon a forest. Inuyasha had already begun to take a lead in front of Kouga. But as soon as he entered a forest, hands grabbed him for above and pulled him off of his horse.

"What is going on?" he yelled incredulously.

A/N: Uh oh! What just happened to Inuyasha? He'll be fine. Don't worry. No deaths, at least not yet…

Leave a review to tell me how it is going. Otherwise, I won't know how you think…