Things Aren't What They Seem

Ch. 7: Tag Along

Shippo blushes as soon as his stomach begins to growl. I asked him with a smile, "Shippo, you hungry?"

"Y-Yeah." Shippo answers while still blushing.

"How about I make you something for you and everyone?"

"Eh! H-How Umi? There isn't a kitchen around here." Kagome says.

"Seriously? I know how to cook in the outdoors, Kagome."

Her eyes sparkle, "REALLY! I haven't had your cooking in a looooong time!"

Shippo gently tugs on Kagome's socks, "Kagome, is Umi's cooking good?"

"Good? It's delicious!" She says happily.

"Wow, I wanna taste her cooking then." Sango commented.

"I wouldn't mind. I haven't had a decent meal in a while now." Miroku announced.

I happily clapped my hands together, "Alrighty then, it settled! I will cook for all of you."

"Hey! There is no time for any cooking! We got to search for the Shikon Jewel Shards!" Inuyasha yells.

"Come on Inuyasha I bet your hungry! It won't kill yah." I said

"No I am not!" As soon as he said that, Inuyasha blushed as his poor stomach began to growl. Everyone gave him a blank stare, especially me.

"Well you may say that you're not hungry, but your stomach is crying out that it is." I said with a smirk.

Inuyasha is still blushing out of embracement, "Fine! You win! I am hungry! Happy now?!" He glares at me.

"Yep!" I smiled at him which causes him to twitch his eyebrow.

*Why you...* Inuyasha says within his mind as he growls.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

With Kaede's permission, I was able to use her cooking pot. I rolled up my sleeves as I began to prepare the dish. I was humming when Shippo sniffs the yummy essence from the cooking pot, "Hmmmm! That smells real good Umi."

I giggled, "Thanks Shippo, the food won't take long I promise."

Shippo smiles brightly with a tad bit of a drool, "Can't wait." Outside the window, Inuyasha stands watching at the bright smile that I gave Shippo as I give him a spoon taste.

"Yeh know, yeh could simply just go in there and apologize to her." Smiles Kaede with her hands behind her back.

"Eh? What makes you think that I would want to apologize to her Kaede?" Inuyasha acts a bit irritated.

Kaede simply smirks, "Yeh tell meh, Inuyasha. Yeh keep staring at her for a while now."

"No I haven't. You crazy old hag." Inuyasha grunts and walks away leaving Kaede shaking her head.

*You're a suborn demon, Inuyasha.* Kaede says within her mind.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"AMAZING!" Miroku announces as he took a bite of the sesame chicken with broccoli.

"I have never eaten something so delicious as this before!" Shippo begins to chow down on his food.

"I agree." Sango says before she continue to eat her dish.

"You never stop to amaze me, Umi. Your cooking is always good to eat." Kagome says happily.

I smiled, "Thank you everyone."

"Oy!" Inuyasha speaks to me.

I turned to face him, "What is it, Inuyasha?" I blinked at him not knowing why he was glaring at me.

"Don't I get bowl?" He crossed his arms.

"Oh!" I smirked, "You mean this?" I held out his plate.

"Yes!" Inuyasha reaches out to grab his plate when I took it away from his reach, causing him to fall down flat on his face. "What the heck was that for?!"

"I want a proposition to make with you." I looked down at him.

"Proposition?!" He yells as he stood up.

"Yeap! In exchange for this dish, I want to tag along with you guys."

"What! No way!"

"Why the heck not!? I already spoke to everyone how it'll benefit me tagging along the group."

"What?! How would you benefit tagging along? You would be just get in the way." Inuyasha states.

"Well Inuyasha...You see I and the others have agreed that if we liked Umi's cooking, she could travel with us as our personal chief." Kagome says as she sets her dish down.

"A personal chief? Are you guys nutz? Why do we need a damn cook with us hmmm?" Inuyasha glares at everyone.

"I don't know about you Inuyasha, but having her as a chief can allow us have the opportunity to eat good food instead the food we usually eat." Miroku states.

"What?! Is this what you all think?" Inuyasha asked everyone besides me. They all nodded.

"Come on, Inuyasha," I pouted, "At least try my cooking, and it might change your idea about having me tagging along." I said with a smile.

"FAT CHANC-" I cut off Inuyasha by shoving a spoonful of the sesame chicken into his mouth. Inuyasha chews as we all stare impatiently. He swallows his food and he glares at me.

I frowned, "I-Is it bad?"

Inuyasha took the plate from my hands, "I guess it won't hurt you tagging along."

"Wha! Really?!" I said in excitement, "Thank you Inuyasha!" I was so excited that I hugged him and gave him a kiss on the cheek causing him to blush bright red.