Let It Snow, Let It Snow
SessKag—15 years ago, her heart was broken by her father—when he leaves his family. The girl has graduated from one of the best culinary institutes in the world, and has gotten a job at Tokyo's hottest restaurant, as a chef at age 22. Her sister is getting married, and as her M.O.H, she finds as it is her duty to find their biological father to give her sister away. But not only does she have trouble searching for her father, she bumps into an old friend of hers. A friend whom she loved and cared for a long time ago.
Chapter One: The Graduate
A mass of tassels were thrown in the air, a young woman with jet black hair and a pair of irresistible blue eyes joined in and threw her tassel up into the clear light blue sky. "Finally… after 4 years of dedicating myself to this great culinary school I've graduated!" the girl screamed, catching her tassel with a huge grin on her gorgeous face. She sighed in content and turned around—ready to leave the chaos caused by the joyous crowd of newly graduated seniors. Just as she was about to wave at her family and friends who she invited to her ceremony, something caught her eye. She saw her father whom she has not seen for over 15 years, leaning against a black Cadillac, arms crossed over his chest. Her mouth agape, she just stood there, as if her feet were stuck to the ground, his light brown eyes and her sapphire blue orbs met for a second before he got into his car and left. Before anything could've happened she watched him leave. Again.
"Why do you have to leave, daddy?" I knew my neighbors were staring at us but I didn't care… I watched helplessly as my father threw his bags into his brand new car, roughly and hastily. He stared at me blankly and sighed, "Go back in the house, Kagome." He softly smiled at me and kissed my wet cheek, "I don't want you to leave, daddy!" I screamed at him, stomping my feet on the cement ground, even though I knew there was nothing I can do about my parents' separation now. But maybe if I begged he'd change his mind, "You promised me that you would stay this time!" Dad bent down so we were face-to-face, "I know I did, but… sometimes adults can't keep their promises. I'm so sorry, sweetheart." He got back up, picked up the last of his things and got in the black Cadillac convertible he'd just recently purchased, "I love you very much, Gome," with the last smile I'm gonna see on his face he closed the car door and turned on the ignition, "But you promised!"
The girl's grey-blue eyes followed as her father's car left the lot, her heart racing like she'd just ran a 10K marathon. For the first time in almost 10 years, Kagome Higurashi was lost in her trail of thoughts. What was he doing here and why? How did he know about her graduation ceremony? How did he know which college she'd attended? Why had he left without saying anything to her? After 15 years, she'd wished for her father to come back, but she realized sometime during high school why the reason he never came back. He was happy to be away from them, away from his family and away from her.
As a child she knew he was unhappy with her mother, and that was generally why he had left his family. Her sister Kikyou tried to block him out from her life and succeeded over the years, but not her—not Kagome Higurashi. She had always loved her father more than her mother, just by a little bit, and she was always closer with her dad. He was her best friend, or so she thought until the day he packed his things and left after a horrible argument he'd had with their mother.
Before she got to the question why her long-lost father came and left so quickly, someone tapped on her shoulder.
Jumping a little, Kagome turned around to be greeted by a warm face. "Hey," Kagome managed to choke out, forcing herself back to reality now. In front of the jet black haired, sapphire blue colored eyed girl stood a half an inch taller girl with warm mocha brown eyes and dark brown, the woman's lipgloss shining at her as she smiled.
"You look a little pale there, Kagome. Everything all right?" she asked. The blue-eyed beauty scoffed at her friend and shrugged her shoulder, "You kidding? Everything's great! I've graduated!" Kagome laughed, earning a small chuckle out of the girl in front of her. "I know! That's probably why we're going to celebrate big time!" Sango told her enthusiastically, guiding her best friend of 17 years to where the others were.
- - -
Kagome took off the black graduate gown and handed it to the lady in the dressing room. With a tassel she'd decided to keep in her hand, she smiled and held it up to her face and grinned, "You're mine," she giggled. Kagome wanted to keep the tassel as a souvenir, why the hell not? It's something to remember 60 years later when she's got nothing left to lose; she can stare at this tassel one day when she's got about 2 weeks left to live, smile and say, "Ah, that's right… I graduated from this school! The school I've dreamed of attending since I was 4 years old." And die peacefully, reminding her poor old self that she had at least done something successful while she was still young.
She walked to the rack of coats and took her time finding her jacket she recently purchased on sale the other day, a cute, expensive, and something that finally goes well with every outfit she owns. "Aha!" She softly exclaimed, snatching her clothing away from the others'. She folded her tassel neatly and stuffed it in her tiny black purse, exiting the room.
Greeted by her best friend and her boyfriend who is also a close friend of hers, she greeted back cheerfully and hugged her friends, "Is my mom still here?" Kagome asked, earning a nod from Sango, "So are Kikyou, Inuyasha, Souta and Kayo," Miroku, the violet shaded eyed monk-to-be, answered. They walked outside, Kagome's mother, step-father, sister, soon-to-be brother-in-law, and her brother, outside chatting.
Miroku cleared his throat and grinned, "And now presenting, the newly graduate of Le Cordon Bleu-Tokyo, one of the best culinary institutes in the world, Kagome Higurashi, ladies and gentlemen!" he announced, earning a couple of "Hey, there she is!" and "Where the hell have you been? It takes you half an hour to hang a friggin' robe and to get your things? How old are you, 74?"
"So, what did I miss?" The happy enthusiastic girl asked the group as they started to depart the great building, Kagome's school. Kagome watched as her mother wrap her arms around Kayo, her step-dad's waist and smile at her, "Oh, nothing special. We were just saying how much we are proud of you, Kagome," she said to her youngest daughter. Kagome smiled back and sighed with content. Inuyasha "feh'd" and pouted, "Okay, so since that's cleared up now, could we go eat? I'm starved," he whined as a 5-year-old would.
- - -
"Mmhmm… this is the best filet mignon I've ever tasted in my life!" Inuyasha giggled, stabbing his fork into the thick juicy steak in front of him. Sango moaned, "Holy cow, Kagome, you are a genius!" nodding and stuffing another piece of steak in her mouth. Kayo and Mrs. Higurashi smiled at Kagome, their mouths too full to talk. "Holy cow, indeed! You've really outdone yourself, sis." Souta complimented his sister, something he rarely did and does.
Kikyou smiled at her younger sister, elegantly using her fork and knife to gently cut her meat, "Well, she is a chef now," Kagome grinned at them and bit her lower lip, "And I have three certificates and a couple of trophies to prove it too!" she proudly stated, her cheeks turning slightly pink. "Amen!" Inuyasha praised, raising his knife in the air as he continued to fill his mouth full with food—receiving a disapproving glare from his fiancée. "Sorry," he apologized in a mumble.
For the next few minutes they complimented and commented on Kagome's cooking skills, until Kayo raised his champagne glass and cleared his throat, "I would like to make a toast to my lovely step-daughter, Kagome, who just graduated from her 'dream school'," he grinned and took a deep breath and exhaled, placing his glass down, "as you guys probably know, Kagome had always, always wanted to go to Le Cordon Bleu, ever since she was 4-5 years old. We celebrated 4 years ago when Kagome decided to go to Cordon, and now we're celebrating because she had finally graduated from the school she couldn't stop talking about when the big application letter arrived." He raised his glass back up in the air and made eye contact with the wide-grinning Kagome, "To the graduate."
"To the graduate!" Everyone raised their champagne and shouted, smiling. Inuyasha cleared his throat and got up, "I just want to say thanks to the people who decided to take her in, even though they're not here. Without you, college-entrance-decider-people, Kagome probably wouldn't have learned how to make all the delicious things she makes now."
"Hallelujah," a deep male-voice praised from the doorway. Kagome got up to look to see her boyfriend of 2 years, Bankoutsu Shichi, leaning against the door, grinning at her. Kagome walked to him, chuckling. "Hey," she said as she kissed him on the lips, "hey." Bankoutsu replied, placing his arm around her shoulder. Kagome cocked her head sideways and stared into his eyes, "What are you doing here, I thought you had to go away to Chiba?" he smiled at her and shrugged his shoulders, "Skipped it. I tried to take an earlier ride, I'm sorry I missed the ceremony," he said to his girlfriend as she led him to the kitchen.
As the couple entered the kitchen Bankoutsu received a glare from Inuyasha. And then the staring contest began, the blood-related cousins shook it off when their significant others pulled them away from each other, "Guys, Bankoutsu's here," she told everyone around the table. He received a few enthusiastic 'hello's' and warm smiles, and a long cold glare from Inuyasha.
Kikyou, being the responsible fiancée placed her hand on his lap and gave him a look of reassurance and whispered something in his ear, and then did the silver-haired amber eyed man calm down. Even though they were blood-related, Taishos did not like the Shichis.
It's a family thing, they said. Mostly because Inuyasha's dad, Toga Taisho's sister, Jin Taisho-Shichi married Akio Shichi, their father's enemy's son. When Jin and Akio met in college they grew fond of each other and decided wed. When Jin and Toga's father died, he left everything to Toga, whereas Jin married a Shichi. Toga asked of his two sons never to speak or speak of his sister and her family.
Then Inuyasha met Kikyou. They were 14, and so was Bankoutsu. They'd started middle school together; a year later so did Kagome. Kagome met Bankoutsu and they quickly became friends. Bankoutsu left for Tokyo University, Kagome went to Cordon Bleu, 2 years later they started to date. Inuyasha didn't like the fact that one of his closet friend/girlfriend's sister was dating his cousin, a cousin he never spoke to until the Higurashi sisters begged of their boyfriends' to get along.
"Hey, cuz," the handsome tanned, braided black-haired boy greeted his cousin with a sneer. Inuyasha scowled at him, "What the hell are you doing here, Shichi? Don't you have a meeting to be at? Or are you just blowing it off for your girlfriend—no offense Kagome— isn't that a bit risqué? Especially for your company since you're like the what, the president, CEO, head of the company? Not that I care, by the way." Bankoutsu merely stood firmly beside Kagome and smirked at him, "Gosh, you sound more and more like your brother every time we meet. You must miss him a lot. Or is it just in your Taisho genes to bite other people's head off when they're just saying an innocent 'hello'?"
Kagome groaned and dragged him out of the kitchen before the two cousins took it any further, "What are you doing? Why are you picking a fight with Inuyasha in front of my family?" Bankoutsu scoffed and crossed his arms across his chest like a child, pouting. "He started it first, though. C'mon, Kagome," he groaned, Kagome sighed and pouted as well, "This is my day, Banks. Let me share my moment with my family and friends. I rarely get to see my family, and you damn well know the fact that Inuyasha's soon gonna be family too. I don't ask for much, Banks, please, please, please, just try to ignore Inuyasha. Please." She begged, giving him a look she knew he could not resist.
Bankoutsu heaved a sigh and rolled his eyes, "I'll try. You know that I can't resist your Please-Help-Me-I'm-Lost-and-Innocent look." He replied with a small frown on his lips, Kagome smiled at him and kissed his cheek, "Thanks, sweetie. I love you. C'mon, I have an extra piece of meat left, I don't know why but I knew that I needed an extra piece of filet." She told him with a grin. His frown flipped upside down into a smile, "The Oh-So-Heavenly-I-Can't-Resist filet mignon?"
The girl moaned, "Yes, because it's the only thing that I can cook," she muttered under her breath. Her boyfriend cocked his eyebrow and looked at her skeptically, "I didn't say the Oh-So-Heavenly-I-Can't-Resist filet mignon was the only thing that you can cook," Bankoutsu told his girlfriend with a smile. "Well that's the only thing you name," she replied, pouting.
He chuckled and kissed her forehead, sliding his arm around her slim waist and leading her to her kitchen, "There are many more things that I name." He whispered in her ear in a deep, sexy voice. Kagome raised an eyebrow and smirked, "like what?" she asked. Bankoutsu shrugged his shoulders, "Like that twisty-turny thing that you do in bed…"