I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters.

A Secret Santa present for Nartista!

Do Hanyos Like Chocolate Chip Cookies?

The scent of ginger and spice floated through the air, mixing with the fragrance of freshly cut pine. Kagome Higurashi took a deep breath, letting the smells of home and Christmas wash through her. She had always loved Christmas, despite her Shinto upbringing: it was a holiday of family, friendship and giving. It was the first time in three years that she had been able to be home for the Christmas holiday, and she was determined to make the most of it.

She surveyed the counter before her, taking in the bowls of flour, the measured cups of spices and liquids, and the recipes with her mother's neat and precise handwriting telling her how to transform the ingredients into small bites of delicious cookies. She couldn't bring her friends through the well for Christmas, so she was determined to take a small part of Christmas home to them.

A figure stood in the shadows, watching the woman in the kitchen whose raven hair was pulled into a high ponytail off her face. Music was playing through speakers on the counter, and the figure smiled as they watched Kagome dance around, singing along with the songs. She looked up and her face broke into a large smile as she held out a hand to the figure, inviting the person to join her.

The hesitant man stepped forward, his silver hair glistening as he stepped into the light, a stark contrast to his bright amber eyes. He was clad in his customary bright red, and Kagome's lips twitched as she wondered if she could talk him into wearing a Santa hat for some photos. A puppy ear atop his head flicked as a loud beep was heard, and his lips curled to show his fangs as he gave a low growl.

"It's just the oven, Inuyasha," Kagome said, walking to take his hand and smiling at her overprotective hanyo." It's just letting me know it's ready."

"Keh, I knew that." Inuyasha's cheeks flushed at the feel of her hand in his. They had been traveling companions for three years, but the casual intimacy she always shared with him never failed to fluster him.

"Have you ever made cookies before?" Kagome asked as she pulled an apron on, and Inuyasha had to stare. It was the same red of his fire rat robes with the words 'Kiss the Cook' embroidered in green. He found himself swallowing nervously, longing to act on that suggestion, but not sure how she would react.

"N..no," he stammered, his ears lowering.

Kagome gave him a bright smile, her brown eyes sparkling as she looked at him.

"Perfect time to start," she chirped, grabbing a second apron off a rack. "You will need to remove your suikan—the sleeves could get in the way—then put this on."

Inuyasha shot her a small look as he shrugged out of the red suikan, standing before her in his white undershirt and hakama. Kagome felt her cheeks flush as she handed him the apron. She had seen him without his shirt many times, usually when she was helping wrap up the various wounds he had received, but somehow his standing in the kitchen without the fire rat was having more of an effect on her. She had had a crush on him from almost the moment she met him, and that crush had blossomed into love within a year. She knew he had faced a rough life before he met her, and even though she was sure he didn't feel the same towards her, she was determined to show him how to enjoy life, and how to find happiness, rather than just sadness. She knew he only saw her as a friend, the first real friend he had ever had, even though she longed for more, and if she could make him happy even for a moment it was worth it.

"How do you tie this thing Kagome?" His grumbling pulled her out of her thoughts, and she giggled to see him trying to pull the ties around him to tie them in front.

"Let me help; it ties in back, Inuyasha." He lifted his hair off his back to let her tie it, and she let herself breathe in the scent that was uniquely him: the blend of pine and musk. "We may want to tie your hair back so you don't get anything in it."

He raised an eyebrow and accepted the hair tie that she offered and pulled his hair back, bunching it up above the nape of his neck, and Kagome felt her knees go weak. Who the hell knew that a man bun would be so damn attractive? It emphasized the strength of his face, and displayed the ears she loved so much.

"Good now?" he asked, turning to look at her.

"Y… yeah, good," she murmured, her cheeks flushing pink.

"You ok Kagome?" Inuyasha asked, using a clawed finger to lift her face to his. "You seem flushed. I don't want you getting sick."

Kagome laughed as she pulled away. "Just excited to be able to make cookies with you."

"Keh, what's so special about cookies?"

"You'll see."

She grabbed two large bowls from the cabinet and set them both on the counter, motioning for Inuyasha to join her. She helped him pour together the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda, laughing when he did it too quickly, sending up a cloud of flour that made him sneeze. He shot her a glare as she wiped his face with a wet paper towel.

"Trying to poison me…" he grumbled, crossing his arms with a scowl.

"Next time, pour them together more slowly," she laughed.

She showed him how to mix the butter, sugar and eggs, giggling when he decided to forgo the mixer and just use a spoon to blend the ingredients together.

"What? It gives me more control," he insisted, shooting daggers at the hand mixer. "Besides, that thing feels weird in my hand, like it's alive or something."

When it came time to mix the dry ingredients in with the wet, Inuyasha was sure to move more slowly, making sure he didn't send out another cloud. Kagome poured in the last ingredients, holding his hand with hers to fold them in. Inuyasha felt his cheeks heat at how close she was standing, the scent of vanilla and roses wrapping around him, and he closed his eyes briefly to take it in.

Kagome pulled out several flat metal sheets and lined them with parchment paper, then showed him how to spoon the mixture onto the sheets, telling him the proper way to space them out, and once he had spooked out all the cookies she took the sheet to place it in the oven. When she turned, she saw Inuyasha sniffing some of the batter on his finger, his tongue dipping out to taste it. She bit back a laugh when his ears perked straight up and he licked the bit of batter off, his eyes snapping to the bowl then back to her.

"Go ahead, that's half the fun of making cookies." Kagome smiled as his hand snaked out to grab the bowl and hold it to him, his ears quivering with excitement. She handed him a spoon, giggling as he eagerly dug out the remaining batter, his eyes closing with excitement as he ate it.

As Inuyasha finished the bowl of the first batter, Kagome quickly mixed together another batch of cookies, but instead of dropping them onto a sheet, she rolled out the dough, looking back at the oven timer to check on the first batch. She considered for a moment there were still three minutes on the timer, she could get him started…

"Inuyasha," she called out, pulling his attention from chasing down the last of the batter in his bowl. His ears lowered for a second before he put it down and bounded to her side. "Wanna help me cut out these cookies?"

"You aren't just gonna drop them on the sheet like the last ones?" he asked, his head tilting as he looked at the rolled dough. This batch looked different, darker and had a spicier scent to it. The scent made his nose tickle, but he couldn't say it smelled bad.

"Different types of cookies; these get cut out." Kagome reached out and grabbed one of the metal shapes, showing Inuyasha how to press the edge into the dough, leaving behind a humanlike form in the dough. She showed him the other options, one that looked like a cane, one a round ball, and handed him the one that looked like a person. "Could you keep cutting out these shapes while I finish the other cookies?"

Inuyasha nodded, taking the cookie cutter from Kagome, his face intent on his new task. Kagome watched him with a soft smile before turning back to the oven as the timer went off. She opened the oven and, happy with how the cookies looked, pulled the sheets out, placing them on a counter. She grabbed some metal racks and set them up behind the sheets, letting the cookies cool briefly before grabbing a spatula and transferring them to the racks. Once she was satisfied that they would cool properly, she replaced the paper lining on the sheets and turned back to see how Inuyasha was doing.

And promptly burst out laughing.

Somehow he had managed to have a fight with the dough, and had lost… His hair was covered in specks of dough, and his cheeks were striped where he had tried to rub it off after it hit him. Bits of cookie dough were thrown around the counter, sticking to the walls almost as much as him.

"It's not funny Kagome," Inuyasha growled, glaring at her with cookie dough on his face.

"What the heck happened?" she choked out, grabbing paper towels.

"The stupid stuff got stuck on the metal. I tried to pull it off, but it wouldn't budge, so I shook the stupid cutter thing and it went everywhere," he grumbled, sulking as Kagome helped him wipe his face again. Even though he enjoyed the attention, he didn't want her treating him like a freaking pup…

"You go get cleaned up; I'm going to see if I can get these done." She smiled as she pushed him towards the door.

Inuyasha's ears lowered as she moved him. "I'm sorry I messed things up, Kagome." His voice was almost a whimper.

"You didn't Inuyasha," she promised. "Are you having fun? Because that's the big thing about making cookies, especially Christmas cookies. I just don't want the dough sticking in your hair, okay?"

With a dejected whine he looked back at her and the stupid dough before making his way to the closest mirror.

"Fuck me," he groaned as he saw his reflection, bits of brown dough mixed into his hair, clinging to the fine white powder from earlier, his shirt and apron also covered. He tried to fix it the best he could, anxious to get back to Kagome and try to redeem himself.

When he got back to the kitchen, he saw Kagome had already gotten the second batch of cookies in the oven. Kagome smiled as she heard his low growl and turned with a quirked eyebrow.

"What's wrong, Inuyasha?"

"Keh." He turned his face to the side, his arms crossing over his chest, and he found himself missing his sleeves to hide his hands in.

"Awww, did my poor hanyo lose to the cookie demon?"

"Yeah yeah, laugh it up Kagome," Inuyasha sneered, his cheeks red with embarrassment.

Kagome crossed to wrap her arms around him, laying her head on his chest, trapping his arms between them.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone," she promised, looking up at him with a serious look in her eyes. Inuyasha's eyes darted down to her… fuck, he could never stay angry when she gave him that look.

"So, what do we do now?" he asked, desperate to change the subject before he did something incredibly stupid, like kiss her.

"Now we wait for these cookies to cook and then cool, and then we decorate them," she told him as she pulled away. "Then, we take some back to the others."

"So are the first ones ready to be decorated then?"

"No… umm… those don't get decorated." Kagome bit her lip as her eyes met his. Inuyasha felt his heart race at the look in her eyes.

"Why not?" he asked, his eyes anxious, his ears quivering.

"Those are…" Kagome pulled her gaze away from his as her cheeks turned pink, "they are special."

"Why?" he whispered, his hand raising to place an errant strand of hair behind Kagome's ear.

Kagome stayed silent for a moment before taking Inuyasha's hand and leading him to the cookies. She took one off the tray and turned to him, offering him the cookie.

"Those are Christmas cookies, for friends," she told him as he took the cookie, raising it to his mouth to take a bite. At the first taste his eyes closed in pleasure, the sweetness of the cookie blending with the melted chocolate. "These are chocolate chip cookies, and they are best right out of the oven, where the chocolate is still gooey."

Inuyasha shoved the rest of the cookie in his mouth, moaning in delight.

She met his eyes shyly, smiling when she saw his face. She reached up and ran her thumb by his lips, blushing as Inuyasha inhaled at the action.

"You… ah… you got some chocolate on your face."

Inuyasha captured her wrist in his hand, and, following instinct, drew her hand up, taking the finger into his mouth, his tongue licking off the chocolate as his eyes captured hers. His ears twitched as he heard her soft gasp at the movement.

"Inu… Inuyasha..." she whispered, her words shaky.

Inuyasha released her finger, his other hand raising to her cheek. He slowly lowered his head, keeping his eyes on hers, waiting for any sign of unease or rejection. He saw Kagome's gaze lower to his mouth before darting back to his as her lips slightly parted and she let out a small whimper.

"Kagome," he breathed, needing a sign from her, something to tell him she wanted this just as much as he did.

The shrill ring of the timer made them both jump, and Inuyasha's ears went flat as he fought back a snarl. Kagome darted around him, refusing to meet Inuyasha's eyes as she pulled out the second round of cookies and laid the trays on the counter. She rested her hands on the counter and let out a shuddering breath.

Inuyasha closed his hands into fists, letting the sharp prick of his claws bring him back to his senses; he had nearly fucked everything up. He knew that he should have known better: why would someone as wonderful and amazing and fucking perfect as Kagome ever want to taint herself with a hanyo like him? He was her friend; nothing more.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome's voice pulled him out of his head, and he turned tortured eyes to her. Kagome pushed herself away from the counter and turned towards him, her eyes momentarily lifting above his head before settling back down on him. As she took a step towards him, he couldn't help but step back, trying to keep distance between them.

"I… I'm sorry Kagome…"

"For what Inuyasha?" Kagome took another step forward, and Inuyasha retreated further, moving until he felt the door jamb against his back, but Kagome kept moving forward.

"Ka… Kagome…"

"For what, Inuyasha?" she whispered, coming to a stop in front of him. Inuyasha let out a whimper as her fingers brushed against his hand, trailing up his arm.

"Wh… what are you doing Kagome?" he panted, trying to focus on anything but the feeling of her fingers.

"What are you sorry for, Inuyasha?"

He groaned, she wasn't going to let it go.

"I didn't mean… I don't want you to…"

"Hey, Inuyasha…" she whispered, his words trailing off at the sound of her voice, "look up."

Inuyasha's eyes darted up, and he saw a sprig of green leaves with white berries tied into the entrance.

"Kagome?" His voice held all his hope as he lowered his gaze to hers.

Kagome bit her lower lip as her hands rose to cross behind his neck. "Do you know what that means?" When Inuyasha shook his head, his eyes wide as she gave him a small smile and tugged on her arms, pulling his head down towards hers. "It means you have to kiss me," she whispered.

Inuyasha went still as she raised herself up, gently brushing her lips against his. The feel of her lips against him was everything he had hoped it would be: sweet, addicting, Kagome.

When she pulled away, Inuyasha growled, his hands catching her waist to pull her to him before capturing her lips in the kiss he had always dreamed of having with her. When she gasped, he let his tongue touch hers, teasing her with his taste until her mouth opened, and their tongues began to dance.

When they finally broke apart Inuyasha pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her.

"You don't know how long I've wanted to do that," he whispered against her hair, hugging her close as he felt her arms encircle his waist.

"M...me too." Kagome admitted, burying her face against his apron. Inuyasha could feel the heat of her tears through the fabric and leaned back to wipe them from her cheeks with his thumbs before stealing another kiss, relishing the knowledge that he finally had Kagome in his arms. He nuzzled her nose with his, smiling at her happy laughter.

It was some time later after they had decorated the Christmas cookies, getting more icing on each other than on the cookies, that Inuyasha remembered what Kagome had said earlier.

"Hey, Kagome." Inuyasha leaned against the kitchen counter as he ate the last chocolate chip cookie. "You said that these cookies were special, but you didn't explain why."

Kagome's eyes shone with happiness as she looked at him.

"These are the cookies we make for the ones we love. And I got to make them with you."

"Kagome…" he whispered, his eyes widening. Kagome placed a gentle kiss on his chin and turned to move away, only to be drawn back against Inuyasha as his arms circled her from behind. He placed a kiss on her shoulder before nuzzling her neck.

"I love you too."