I do not own "Special A" or if you want to call it "S.A".
I do, however, own their son Hiyoshi, which means pure in Japanese.
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a cooking well done
"Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all." Harriet Van Horne
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genre: Humor, Family.
rating: K.
pairings: There isn't really a pairing, but there is a little bit of Kei and Hikari in here. But it is mostly family and Hikari/Hiyoshi bonding (:
summary: AU. "Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all."
notes: I know that all of these foods are from America and they are Japanese, but I just couldn't resist choosing these recipes. I will try next time, to choose a Japanese food for them to make.
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The only part of the story that has been edited is what is above this text.
The rest of the story will be edited by my beta reader… sorry for my laziness people!
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It was a bright and sunny morning in the Takishima family household. Takishima Kei had woken up early to get into the Takishima Group Company because of some emergency meeting that could not be canceled, as his father had mentioned, and begged him many times with the help of his wife, he finally agreed, not before kissing his wife and son before leaving. Now it was the bright morning, leaving Hikari and her son to their selves. Feeling the sunshine shining through the curtains of their bedroom, Hikari stretched the muscles in her arms before doing her usual morning duties.
Walking down the stairs, and I mean long stairs, Hikari walked into the kitchen. She let out a loud yawn before remembering that she had let the maids take a day off from their hard work, but then she also remembered about who was going to cook for both for her and her son when both the maids and her husband was away.
Suddenly, getting an idea inside her mind, she found a cookbook among the many books inside the library. Flipping to the breakfast section, she read through many different recipes before landing on one that seemed easy to make; a yummy veggie egg omelet. She looked at the directions and already was starving at how delicious the picture looked at the finished project.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
4 eggs
2 tablespoons milk
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 ounces shredded Swiss cheese
Directions
Melt one tablespoon butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Place onion and bell pepper inside of the skillet. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes stirring occasionally until vegetables are just tender.
While the vegetables are cooking beat the eggs with the milk, 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper.
Shred the cheese into a small bowl and set it aside.
Remove the vegetables from heat, transfer them to another bowl and sprinkle the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt over them.
Melt the remaining 1 tablespoon butter (in the skillet just used to cook the vegetables) over medium heat. Coat the skillet with the butter. When the butter is bubbly add the egg mixture and cook the egg for 2 minutes or until the eggs begin to set on the bottom of the pan. Gently lift the edges of the omelet with a spatula to let the uncooked part of the eggs flow toward the edges and cook. Continue cooking for 2 to 3 minutes or until the center of the omelet starts to look dry.
Sprinkle the cheese over the omelet and spoon the vegetable mixture into the center of the omelet. Using a spatula gently fold one edge of the omelet over the vegetables. Let the omelet cook for another two minutes or until the cheese melts to your desired consistency. Slide the omelet out of the skillet and onto a plate. Cut in half and serve.
[Yes, this is a real recipe that I have found online.]
She put aside the cookbook and moved on towards dinner. She kept looking through the cookbook and still couldn't find the right recipe to make that would be perfect. I heard a groan and looked up to see her son at the doorway, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
"What are you doing, mommy?" Hiyoshi said, walking towards his mom, which picked him and placed her on her lap.
"Well, I am looking for recipes to cook for when your dad comes home from work for dinner. I have already chosen dinner for the both of us, but still stuck on dinner." Hikari said, still flipping through the pages.
"Can I help with you?" Hiyoshi said, the sleep fading away. He turned his full attention to the pages and looked at them, deciding which looked best.
"Sure, honey. You can choose what we have for dinner"
"Yay, thank you mommy." But then, he remembered the last time his mother had tried to cook for the family and ended up blowing up. they had to order Chinese food instead. "Are you going to try to cook, mommy? No offense, but you usually blow things up when you cook inside the kitchen."
Hikari giggled and pinched her son's nose. "No, I am not going to blow things up. I have been going to cooking classes and they have really worked."
"Whatever you say…" Hiyoshi said, still unsure. He turned back towards the cook book that his mom was holding for him. His onyx eyes, just like his mother, widened and pointed to the picture. "What about that? Can we have that for dinner?"
Hikari looked at where her son was pointing at and smiled. She had taught her son well. The recipe was "The World's Best Lasagna".
Ingredients
1 pound sweet Italian sausage
3/4 pound lean ground beef
1/2 cup minced onion
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
2 (6.5 ounce) cans canned tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
12 lasagna noodles
16 ounces ricotta cheese
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Directions
In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.
Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.
[Again, this is another real recipe that I have found on the internet.]
"This is totally awesome, Hiyoshi! This is going to be the best dinner idea ever." She took her son off her lap and stood up; carrying both the cookbooks while walking back to the kitchen. "You want to help me, Hiyoshi?"
"Okay," Hiyoshi said, running after his mother.
When they reached the kitchen, they had started on the breakfast first. Hikari placed the first cookbook on a stand, so she could read it while cooking. She grabbed all the ingredients that she needed and began to cook. When it was all done, it actually looked quite edible.
"Wow, mom, this actually looks edible." Hiyoshi said, looking at the omelet.
"Yes, thank you, Hiyoshi." She grabbed her plate and her son's before walking towards the dining table. "Let's dig in!"
Hiyoshi grabbed his son and looked at the omelet. 'Okay, here it comes.' He placed a piece on his fork before placing it in his mouth. He chewed it for a few seconds before widening his eyes.
"Is it good?" His mom asked him, looking towards his way.
"It is delicious, mom!" Hiyoshi said, eating more of his omelet, suddenly starving. In the end, he had finished his whole plate and was completely full.
Hikari, accomplished by her cooking, bought the two plates to the sink and started to clean them. "We need to go to the grocery store and pick up some few things to cook our dinner, so we can surprise your dad." She had her evil look on [Imagine the same look that Hikari had in the anime when she was reading the book for when she was about to go on her date with Takishima.] and thought inside her head, 'That would teach Takishima to doubt my cooking ability.'
"Mom… are you okay?" Hiyoshi said, getting a little scared at his mother's evil expression that she had on.
"Sorry…" Hikari said, embarrassed that she'd scared her son. She let the last plate to dry before saying, "Okay, let's go to the grocery store!"
Hikari changed her normal clothes, which was just a comfortable jeans and a blue tank-top. Hiyoshi changed into his favorite shirt that his dad gave him and just threw on some pants [Just imagine Sui's outfit in the animal; Hiyoshi is like Sui's twin brother and a younger version of Kei.]. She grabbed her bag with her money, courtesy from marrying a Takishima, grabbed her son's hand, and ran towards the grocery store. Also, from marrying Kei, also meant that he was overprotective of her driving and forbid her from getting a car, but thank goodness that the grocery store was only a few minutes away.
When they entered the grocery store, Hikari went to get all the items that she needed for dinner. "You can run and get your things, Hiyoshi, but not too many junk foods."
"Okay, thank you mom!" Hiyoshi said, hugging his mom quickly before running to get his favorite foods, which was two words: junk food. Usually, when he went with his dad to the grocery store, which is very rare, but his father never let him get any sort of junk food… something about maintaining your weight and being number one. Hikari smiled as she watched him run and get the foods that he wanted, which she knew herself that Takishima wouldn't let him buy the junk food that he had wanted. She took one last glance at him, to make sure he was safe at which line he was supposed to be in before continued getting the food that was needed for dinner.
When they finally got back home, which was only a couple of minutes long because of Hikari's strength, Hikari set the grocery items on the counter and sat back down the long leather couch, tired from carrying all the grocery bags. Even though she had inhuman strength from her high school years, it had been long since she had ever worked out or anything when she had married Takishima and had Hiyoshi. Her son plopped down right next to her, also feeling tired, a little more than his mother.
"Mom, how come you don't have a car?" Hiyoshi asked, turning towards his mother. If they had a car, going to the grocery store would have been a whole lot easier. Then, he wouldn't mind going to the grocery shopping that often with his mom. He rather go with his mom grocery shopping than with his dad.
"Well, your father is very protective of me and you; he wouldn't let me go get my license nor would let me buy my own car. And since the grocery store is close by, thank goodness for that, we also don't need a limo to go anywhere, and I despise that vehicle because it causes too much attention to everything and everyone, though your father, again, very highly suggests it thinking that we can't handle ourselves and that something would happen to us." Hikari said, finishing her statement while rolling her eyes at how protective her husband is. He was even protective when he was in high school, but she was too dense to realize it.
"Wow… father is really protective of you and me. I knew that he was protective, but I never knew that he was that protective." Sitting up from the couch, the tired feeling gone away, he said, "When are we going to cook the dinner?"
"Are you hungry? We can cook right now, if you like." Hikari said, glancing towards the clock. It was ticking 4:30PM.
"No, we can wait thirty minutes before cooking. I want to surprise dad too, by helping you with the cooking." Hiyoshi said, smiling. "So, he doesn't think the food is poison or anything."
Hikari smiled back at her son, but mostly because that he was the mini resemblance of Kei, just like his little brother Sui. She was happy that he looked just exactly as his father, but he had also got the personality from her; another thing that she was thankful for.
The thirty minutes was finally over and it was an hour until Kei was about to be home. Hikari walked into the kitchen with her son walking after her.
"Are you ready to surprise your father with our amazing cooking abilities?" Hikari asked her son.
"Yes, I am!" Hiyoshi said, raising his fist into the air. "Where do we start first?"
"Okay, first we have to cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned…" Hikari concentrated, teaching her son how to help out the cooking while reading the cookbook that was in front of her, not making a single mistake. Wow, all the cooking classes had really paid off!
After they were done with all the directions that came from the cookbook, they set up the dinner table and placed the finished dish, just in time to see the front door open and Kei walking inside, looking tired from work. But then again, he usually looks like that, even during when he was in high school, so it wasn't really a big matter for him.
"Daddy!" Hiyoshi yelled while running to his father's arms, who hugged him back with that calm expression of his.
"Hello, Hiyoshi." Kei said, raising his head back up to sniff some delicious aroma coming from the table. "What is that smell?"
"That is what mother and I made when you were at work!" Hiyoshi said running back towards the table and showing his father what they made. Hikari had went upstairs to change out of her dirty clothes from sweating too much of all the cooking and grease.
"Your mother made this…?" Kei said surprised to see the kitchen still its shape and nothing was burnt to the ground. Shocked, he walked inside the kitchen to make sure that what he was staring at was actually true in front of him.
"Yes, mother had made this, with my help, so you wouldn't think that she poisoned the dinner or something. She also made breakfast this morning! It was delicious!" Hiyoshi said, clapping his hands happily, similar to what Hikari would have done back in high school.
"Kei, you're home!" Hikari yelled, running down the stairs, only to be greeted with a hug and a kiss from her husband. Since the two had gotten married, Kei had been trying to get Hikari to say his one-syllable first name. After a few tries, it ended up being successful, but though at times, she still called him Takishima.
After he put her back down to the ground, he said, "So, our son told me that you have cooked dinner for us?" he wanted to confirm the truth coming from his son's mouth. He knew that his son was telling the truth, because he could never lie – another habit coming from Hikari - but he still had wanted to confirm it from Hikari also.
"Yes, I have made dinner for us. Come look!" Hikari said, pulling Kei to the dining table. Hikari took off the cover of the plate before revealing the lasagna. "It took a long time, but Hiyoshi here helped me out, so it finished faster than we thought it would." She said, ruffling her son's hair.
Kei, suddenly getting hungry and desperately wanting to try out the food, loving whatever his wife had made, sat down and said, "How about we eat dinner a little early tonight? I want to taste the food that both my wife and son made. It is the first time that Hikari had made something and didn't burn down the kitchen."
Hikari bought out three plates and a big wooden spoon before serving the lasagna out to each plate. She picked up her fork, but waited more, wanting to see what Kei thought about her cooking. It was until Kei tasted the lasagna before nervously asking, "So how was the food…? Is it edible?"
"This is amazing, Hikari. I didn't know that you learned how to cook this." Kei said, tasting more, suddenly feeling a lot hungrier than he had ever been.
"Thank you. Like I said, I had Hiyoshi helped me out. I went to some cooking classes and that helped me out with the vocabulary and such – from the cookbook – or I wouldn't have known how to do all the things that they had said to do." Hikari said, eating, satisfied that Kei liked what she cooked.
"Well, all of your hard work paid off." Kei said, leaning in closer to kiss Hikari on the lips.
"Please do not kiss while I am eating; I want to eat dinner without throwing up." Hiyoshi yelled, stopping his parents' kiss before all his food went upchuck.
Both his parents smiled softly at each other, then at their son before continued eating. They would finish what they were doing inside their bedroom after Hiyoshi had gotten to bed.
Who knew that in the end, Hikari's cooking would be well done at the end?
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Finally finished! I wanted to make a happy story of Kei and Hikari because they are such a darling couple! I wish they would have continued on with the anime as they did with the manga. I want to see Kei get jealous and all other delicious details, but who knows? Maybe it will continue (: keep your fingers crossed. Thank you for reading and please review. I would love to know what you think. I am probably going to make another one-shot, but it might an angst one. It depends on my mood and emotions when I'm writing; don't know for sure yet.
Reviews make me write (:
Michelle