Okay!!! Well this is just a fanfic I had a small idea for. Nothing big, but I hope it's unique! It's a nice fun little break from Mother's Son (written by squeaky12345 and myself, look her up and you can read it, it's Inuyasha.)

The idea of this is basically recipes from the cookbook that Haruhi's mother left behind for her to use. There is a possibility that there will be some small stories involved in-between. No romance is planned; maybe something will come along (unsure!)? Send in ANY RECIPES(through PM or a review) that you would like me to use.

Small side note: these may not all be Japanese recipes. I would need help finding some if you would like.

Disclaimer as usual… I do not own any characters or anything from Ouran High School Host! Not sure how the copyright for the cookbooks I use will work, but it's something to think about. Please tell me anything I'll need to know about this.

Here it goes!

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It had been two years since the passing of Haruhi's mother. Haruhi was now 8. Her father was still devastated, but slowly picking up the pieces of his life. He knew that there was not another woman like Kotoko. This is why Ranka never dated a woman again, but turned to cross-dressing.

Ranka worried for Haruhi's feelings after Kotoko died, so he thought he could be mommy and daddy. However, Haruhi immediately started picking up on all the household chores just above a month after her mother's death. Cleaning, washing, almost everything, and she seemed like a 'natural' at these. After all, Haruhi had always helped out with the daily chores. She was so independent, and didn't want her father to be exhausting himself further after his long days at the okama.

There was just one small matter that Ranka still had control over…

Cooking.

Haruhi was ready and willing to start up cooking and shopping immediately. A couple of months after Haruhi's mother's death, her father seemed to think he had had enough of takeout, and was ready to cook himself.

Although he may have looked like a mother, he seemed to lack the skill of one. A burning smell escaped from the kitchen and seemed to erode everything in its path. At first, when Haruhi's nose first took in the smell, she thought that one of the candles on her desk had fallen over or something of the sort. After running to her room, she realized that that was not the matter, so she followed the smell to the kitchen.

Everything in the kitchen was covered in a light dusting of flour. Three pots and one frying pan were covering the four-burner stove and inside each was a black, sludge-like mixture, however each with different consistencies.

That night, they had takeout again.

One night some weeks after the putrid-smelling incident of Ranka's first attempt at cooking, Haruhi decided to try herself at cooking. Her mother had let her help out with things that didn't concern much heat, with the exception of baking treats.

Haruhi got her mother's cookbook off the top of the counter and began to find a recipe that she knew her father liked.

A few minutes later, she was dragging out pots with both hands, and she turned on the stove. As she was trying to put the pots on the stove without a stool, her hand brushed against the heated electric stovetop, and she let out a small cry of pain.

In a flash, her father was there hovering over her.

"Haruhi! HARUHI! What's wrong?! What's wrong?!!!!! TELL DADDY!!"

She held up her index and middle finger for him to see.

Haruhi was five then, and since then she hadn't been allowed to cook. Ranka had hidden the cookbook and put a key-lock on the cabinets that held the pans. He was so afraid she'd hurt herself, and this happened to be one of the things he could actually control over her.

Since then dinner had mainly been eating instant foods, takeout sometimes, or food that her father had brought back.

One Saturday while Haruhi was cleaning the house, she went into her father's room to pick up the dirty clothes, dishes, and whatnot. As Haruhi was gathering everything up, she bumped into her father's dresser, and a picture of herself as a baby being held by her mother fell over.

Haruhi dropped what she was holding to fix the picture. She knew it was one of her father's favorites.

As she was doing so, she spotted a little corner of gold on the picture that was not part of the picture frame.

Carefully taking the back off the picture frame, she removed the picture and saw a tiny key without a key ring. She held the key in front of her face examining it. It looked about the size for a small lock. Haruhi already had a guess as to what it could be for... but she also tried not to get her hopes up. She'd check soon.

Now Haruhi wasn't one to disobey or steal, but cooking was something that her mother had one day intended her to do…

Pocketing the key in her jeans, she put the picture back together and placed it back on the dresser where it had been.

Picking the dirty clothes and dishes back up, Haruhi went back to picking up room and doing the laundry.

Her father wasn't home yet; it would be a few more hours before he'd be home. Sitting down in a chair, Haruhi remembered the key and removed it from her pocket.

She looked at it with a frown on her face. The main reason why her father didn't want her cooking was because he thought she'd get burned or cut, etc etc.

Well… it wouldn't hurt to look, would it?

Kneeling down to the lower cabinets in the kitchen, she stuck the key into the lock. Slowly she wiggled and jiggled the key around until it turned.

There sat all the pots as Haruhi had known to be, although they were slightly dust-covered. In the back set carefully on top of the pans was her mother's cookbook. Gently removing from its place, she set it in her lap, and used her plain white t-shirt to wipe the dust off.

Haruhi smiled fondly at the cookbook and ruffled through its pages. Running her hands over the printed or handwritten words, she remembered her mother and felt closer to her than ever. The emotion of it was slightly overwhelming, but it warmed her inside.

Setting the cookbook back inside the cabinet, Haruhi relocked the cabinet, but remained sitting.

Say she did cook, but what ingredients would she use? Which recipe would she choose?

Of course she had one in mind; it was one of her father's and her favorite recipes. It was simple, but nice.

Teriyaki Chicken.

Haruhi rose to her feet and moved toward the window. Peering into the outside world, she put her mind to use for ways in which she could buy the ingredients she needed. She hurried back to the cabinet to see just what ingredients they needed. Flipping through the pages, she spotted the recipe.

Servings: 4

4 Boneless Chicken Breasts

1 to 2 T. oil

Teriyaki Sauce

¼ C. Soy Sauce

¼ C. Vinegar

1 Clove Garlic, minced

Dash of pepper

¼ t. ground ginger

(Small author note, this isn't the sweet kind of teriyaki chicken, so it might taste different from another recipe)

She would have to cut the recipe in half, though not perhaps the marinade. Her mother taught her it was best to have more marinade, because it equaled more flavor.

Haruhi walked over to get the kitchen stool. After two years, she still remembered where the spices were.

Pepper she knew they had. The same thing went for soy sauce. Looking around, she discerned the ground ginger label from the mass of spices. Then Haruhi took down the garlic and looked at it. Even the garlic wouldn't last this long. It had gone brown and pretty much rotted. She jumped off the stool and threw it away.

The chicken and garlic were going to the two obstacles in the way of her desire to cook.

Going to the supermarket was out of the question because….

1) If her father found out, he'd be very upset that she had walked so far by herself.

2) She had no money.

The second reason was more pressing as to why she couldn't go.

There was Mrs. Kadohata in the next unit….

But no.

She couldn't ask such a favor!

Haruhi had been brought up properly, and it was too much to ask. Even if Mrs. Kadohata liked her so much, it would still be rude to ask…

Even though Mrs. Kadohata had been such great friends with her mother.

Even though Mrs. Kadohata said that she would help Haruhi in any way she could after Kotoko died…

Even though Mrs. Kadohata said that Haruhi was like a daughter to her…

Even though Mrs. Kadohata visited the Fujioka family often and even exchanged Christmas presents with them….

Haruhi continued to fight this battle inside her mind for about 7 minutes, and then gave in. She'd just have to repay her for everything when she got her next allowance.

Haruhi walked out the door and headed to the left. She knocked on the door and hoped for an answer.

An older woman of about forty answered the door. She was wearing a light gray yukata decorated with pale blue flowers falling all across the material. The obi tied around her waist was a dark blue. Her graying hair had been tied up in a loose bun.

"Ahhh. Haruhi! What a nice surprise! It's been a while child!"

Mrs. Kadohata bowed, and Haruhi returned the gesture, but with a deeper bow than she had been given.

"Come in my child and have some afternoon tea with me!"

After some usual questions about how her life was, etc, etc, Haruhi got up the nerve to ask her favor.

Haruhi set her cup down on the table before her.

"Mrs. Kadohata?..." She asked. Her feelings on asking someone for food was nothing like her, not to mention she thought it rude to ask for food without it being offered to you.

"Yes Haruhi-Chan?"

"We happen to be out of ingredi-"

"Dear, do you need anything for dinner? After my second son got married, I've had too much food around here. Cooking for one doesn't require all that much." Mrs. Kadohata smiled warmly at Haruhi, and Haruhi felt her nervousness melt away, but a tiny bit of regret remained.

"I'm so sorry to be asking you this. It is quite rude of me. I just do not have any money to go to the mart and-"

"Do not worry child! What is it that you need?"

Haruhi mumbled, "Chicken… and… garlic…"

"Is that all? Of course I have that!"

With that reply, Mrs. Kadohata bustled on over to the refrigerator and pulled out a plastic-wrapped package of two chicken breasts. Next she walked over to the cabinet and pulled out a whole garlic bulb.

As Mrs. Kadohata handed Haruhi the items she had requested, words spilled out of Haruhi's mouth.

"Thank you! Thank you! I just can't thank you enough for this! I'll pay you back, I promise!"

"Child, there is no need for it. Your smile is enough for my heart."

Haruhi bowed to Mrs. Kadohata and was about to leave when the woman asked her a question.

"By what chance, my dear, are you having for dinner tonight?"

Haruhi turned around and said, "Teriyaki chicken!" with a smile.

"Arigato!" She called as she pulled the door closed behind her.

Haruhi went back to the kitchen and got out the recipe book again.

Cut chicken into strips and brown in oil. Combine sauce ingredients; pour over chicken in skillet. Cover and simmer 30 minutes or until tender. This has all the traditional flavor of teriyaki without sugar. Good hot or cold.

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"Daddy's home!" Ranka called to the apartment.

When Haruhi's father arrived at home, he smelled delicious aromas from the kitchen. There he saw Haruhi setting the table with two plates, both with teriyaki chicken, steamed rice, and a pair of chopsticks alongside.

"Welcome home daddy!"

Haruhi came running toward him and hugged him.

At first, Ranka frowned, ready to reprimand her for cooking without his permission. And much less, how did she find the key?

But as the smells tickled his nose tauntingly, he looked down at her, and saw a great smile with big round brown eyes looking up with him, and at that moment he knew that it was a shame to stop Haruhi. She was just too much like her mother.

"Daddy, I'm sorry for cooking-"

Ranka smiled down at his daughter, and hugged her back.

"You are your mother's daughter. Now that you're cooking, we'll have to work something out to get the ingredients you'll need." He winked at her.

Haruhi's face broke into relief that she wasn't going to be punished for cooking.

Later as her father was eating, he couldn't help but remarking, "This is great! Just like your mother's food." Haruhi beamed with pleasure, and picked up her own chopsticks.

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A couple weeks later, Mrs. Kadohata woke up from her nap and went to her door to check her mail slot.

A blank envelope sat on her wooden floor, and she picked it up. In the envelope was ¥ 900 yen. (about 9 dollars)

Mrs. Kadohata chuckled to herself and smiled.

"Haruhi, my my dear, you are one stubborn child."

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How'd ya like it? D

Review and I'll give you a cookie! This chapter's recipe was taken from

Whole Foods for the Whole Family

Edited by Roberta Bishop Johnson

IT IS NOT MY OWN!

RisingXXAngel D

P.S. Was it a little OOC? I'm afraid it was…. I hope the copyright thing is okay. I don't wanna be sued! .