A/N: Yay, new story! I've been really excited about this one so...enjoy! And thank you so much to my beta O-Mega Lead for catching all the nit-picky mistakes and point out the parts that didn't make sense. You've been so encouraging!

Hehe, one more thing. Chef Gustav says 'conasse' (it's French) in this chapter. Kudos to anyone who knows what it means!

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, all rights belong to Rumiko Takahashi.

All Aboard
Chapter One: How to Get a Job

The kitchen was hell.

Scraps of vegetable flew everywhere, the flames from the state of the art stove burned high. Amidst all this was Kagome Higurashi, the best chef Tokyo had ever seen. She was quickly assembling an order of crab cakes when an annoying ding interrupted her, promptly destroying the asparagus mountain she was working on.

"What?" she demanded.

"U-uh, t-the…" a waiter with unruly red hair who looked like he had been soaked in freckles at a young age stuttered nervously as Kagome glared at him. "T-the man at t-table seven s-says his s-steak wasn't r-rare enough."

Kagome's eyes squinted in irritation and her fists clenched angrily. "Not rare enough? If it was any rarer, it'd be sushi!"

Speechless, the waiter eyes widened to saucers as he timidly looked at the livid chef whose face was flushed crimson. Gulping nervously, he placed the order of steak before her with trembling hands, gave her a weak smile and hot footed it out of the kitchen. Looking down at her crab cake order with its failed asparagus pyramid then at the dish of steak, she grabbed a fork and stormed to the storage room.

Two minutes later, Kagome emerged from the kitchen with a red and dripping steak on a fork. Zoning in on the man at table seven, she stormed towards him with a vengeance. Stopping in front of him, she glanced at him disdainfully, slammed the raw steak onto his plate then forcefully yanked the fork out.

"Is this rare enough for you?!?" she grounded dangerously, holding the fork up like a weapon. The man's mouth hung open in shock and he dropped his monocle in the glass of champagne in front of him. Tearing his gaze from the irate chef to look at his now broken monocle then back at the women who made him break it, the stout man stood up.

"Excuse me! This behavior i-is unacc-ceptable! Apologize at once or I will be forced to have a talk with your manager," the man yelled. 'Yes, because I'm terrified of a fat man who measures to be about 5' tall,' Kagome thought to herself.

Rolling her eyes she crossed her arms and glared down at the balding man who was currently turning very red. "You kind of people really disgust me, you know that? People work their asses off in the kitchen to prepare your stupid steak only to have you send it back and say it's inadequate. Suck it up princess, the world doesn't revolve around you so just sit your ass down and stop whining."

The man stared at her disbelief and starting shaking his fist repeatedly at her and just as he was about rant to her about her behavior, Kagome cut him short. "You have no idea how much people try to please you yet you never seem to take notice. You look at everyone thinking they're all so below you but if you just take a moment to open your eyes, you'll realize that it's the exact opposite."

Before Kagome could fire some more insults at the man, the familiar voice of her boss interrupted her. "I think that's enough for today. Kagome, I'm going to have to ask you to leave. Your check will be faxed to you tomorrow."

Sighing tiredly, Kagome walked off to the staff room to pack her bags only to hear 'I'm so sorry sir, we'll have you a new steak immediately. This meal will be complimentary of course.'

Shaking her head in disgust, she kicked the door to the staff room ajar, opened her locker and roughly grabbed her belongings. After quickly changing in the adjacent bathrooms, Kagome shook her obsidian locks free of the restraining bun and applied some perfume to rid herself of the smell of food.

Slowly sauntering to her car, Kagome couldn't help but have flashbacks of the scene she had caused. 'When did change from being about the steak to the society I've grown up in?'

"I would like to welcome you to the crew of the Sakura," a middle aged man in a captain's uniform said with a grin.

"Thank you sir, I promise that you won't regret it," Inuyasha responded and stood up to shake the man's hand. The man nodded and smiled at him. Taking this as a cue, he thanked the captain once more and headed for the door.

Closing the heavy, oak door quietly, Inuyasha leaped up in the air and yelled a victorious 'yes'! Landing neatly on the ground, he looked back at the room he had just left to see if the captain, no, co-captain had noticed his outburst. Letting out a sigh of relief at the closed blinds, he grinned foolishly and started walking to the door with…a bounce in his step?!?

Once outside the cabin the office was held in, Inuyasha excitedly flipped open his modest phone and dialed, frowning when no one picked up. After several tries, a sleepy voice finally answered. "Mmm, h-hello?"

"Miroku! I got the job!!" he enthusiastically said to his half conscious friend, clutching the phone tightly.

"Hmm? What are you talking about? Who is this?"

Rolling his eyes, Inuyasha took a deep breath, trying to calm the adrenaline rush coursing through him and began once more. "It's Inuyasha you prick, and I got the job! You know? The one as the captain of the new cruise ship, the Sakura."

"Oh, sounds great," Miroku responded, making the usual effort to sound happy for a friend who had woken him. Translation: he didn't.

However, Inuyasha's current state of high had prevented him from noticing and he went on, regardless of the response he got (or lack thereof). "Yeah, isn't it? It's going to be amazing, being out on the sea for over a month and the places we're going to are incredible! The business is still small but once people catch wind of this, they'll be flocking to us! This is my big break Miroku! ….Miroku?"

There was a pause then finally, an answer. "Yeah I'm still here, hey listen, why don't you grab a pizza or two and we'll have a good ol' chat. Face to face. Then you can tell me all about this captain thing of yours. Hmm?"

Normally, Inuyasha would have never fallen for it but it was different this time. If the only way to get his free loader of a roommate to listen was through food, then so be it. Running to his car, he hastily revved it up and drove off to the nearest pizza place well above the speed limit.

When he arrived at the mediocre apartment him and Miroku shared, his said roommate was already stuffing his face with Chinese takeout while watching a movie marathon of Jackie Chan movies (the current one being Shanghai Noon).

"Wow, you couldn't wait 45 minutes for the pizza so you called for takeout? You're pathetic," he reprimanded, carelessly dropping the pizzas on the hardwood floor.

Miroku had just opened his mouth to speak (consequently rewarding Inuyasha with his half chewed dumplings) when Sango appeared from the kitchen with three beers in her hand. "Actually, I needed a place to crash and eat since my roommate has this family dinner thing tonight."

Nodding, Inuyasha took the Coors from Sango's outstretched hand and popped it open. "Of course, and since Miroku would be willing to let anyone stay as long as they brought food…"

Laughing, Sango grabbed a nearby box of lo-mein and flopped down on the couch beside Miroku. "Oh I'm sorry, would you feel more comfortable talking about me if I was in another room?"

"Meh, wouldn't make a difference," Inuyasha shrugged, which earned him a punch. The easy banter stopped after a while and the three silently ate their food while immersed in the Jackie Chan movie marathon. A half hour passed before the shrill ringing of Inuyasha's phone pierced the air.

Checking the caller id, he leapt up and practically ran to his room to answer it. From the living room, indistinct murmurs of the conversation could be heard and moments later, Inuyasha emerged from the room.

"Who was it?" Sango asked casually.

"It was my new boss."

Stopping in mid bite, she turned to Inuyasha with a questioning look. "Right, I didn't tell you! I got the job as co-captain of that cruise ship I was telling you about. You know, the Sakura?"

"Inu, that's great! I'm so proud of you!"

He grinned foolishly at the praise and let out an involuntary blush. "So…what did your new boss want?"

Inuyasha scrunched his nose is distaste. "Well one of the chefs just called in to say that she wouldn't be able to make the cruise because she's getting married. So now I've got the lucky job of finding a new chef, and in less than two weeks at that."

"But still, this is such a great opportunity! Finding a chef shouldn't be too hard, just post an ad in the paper or something," she exclaimed.

"Yeah I guess, but I don't know. Two weeks isn't very long to find a qualified chef and even if I do, he or she has got to be able to pick things up quickly since all the other chefs are familiar with the menu already."

"Cheer up, I'm sure you'll find someone. Just look-" Suddenly, Sango was interrupted by the proverbial sound of her ring tone. "Ugh, sorry, I should take this."

She gave him a sheepish smile and walked over to the kitchen to answer the call. "Hello? Oh, hey Kagome, what's up?"

"Hey Sango, I was just calling to make sure you knew I was having dinner at my parents tonight. That should be a blast," she said sarcastically.

"Hmm, well have fun. So uh…how was your job today?" Sango questioned hesitantly, not sure she wanted to hear the answer.

"Well, uh speaking of that, I don't exactly HAVE a job anymore…" Kagome said, letting out a squeak at the end. This was her third job in two months and she knew Sango would not be happy. Taking a deep breath, she prepared for the worst…but it never came.

"Um…Sango? You there?"

"Actually…I have a proposition for you," Sango finally replied sneakily.

Five minutes later, she had finished explaining. "So are you up for it? Just imagine, a month at sea with no worries of any kind! And they can't exactly fire you in the middle of a cruise now can they? It's perfect!"

"Yeah, it's great Sango except for the fact that I hate the ocean."

After she hung up with Sango, Kagome drove off to the rich community where her parents lived. It took her ten minutes to reach the prestigious Country Club with its expertly trimmed ivy, majestic brick walls and regularly spritzing sprinklers. Then of course there were the houses, each fit to be deemed a castle. As she rounded a corner, the house where she had spent her childhood came into view.

Slowly driving up to the metal gate that separated her and the looming house that stood before her, Kagome pressed the intercom button on the side. "Hi, it's me, uh Kagome."

"Oh, welcome home Miss Kagome," the accented voice of one of the maids responded and buzzed her in.

Gradually, the metal gate opened and she pulled into the luxurious paved cobblestone driveway. Parking her silver SUV style BMW, a birthday gift from her parents, by the Grecian fountain, she walked to the door. It was opened for her by a maid whom she didn't recognize (her mother fired so many it was hard to keep track) and she smiled politely, slightly uncomfortable.

"Please come in, your mother and father are waiting for you in the dining room. Supper is about to be served."

Nodding courteously, Kagome hoisted her bag up onto her shoulder, fluffed her hair, put on a fake smile and strolled confidently (or what she hoped looked confidently) into the dining room. "Mother, father," she stoically said, bowing her head in respect.

"Sit down Kagome, you're almost ten minutes late as it is," her mother accused while placing her creamy white napkin upon her lap. Gulping nervously, Kagome slid into the seat across from her mother and immediately set her gaze on the fine china, not daring to look up at her.

An awkward silence followed and Kagome fidgeted uneasily while her mother simply sat there and her father read the newspaper. Suddenly the antique doors leading to the dining room were opened and in bustled maids, holding plates of food. Smiling lightly as one placed a bowl of soup before her, she was unaware of the last person that entered the room.

"Kagome! Comment ca va?" a booming voice said.

Turning to look, Kagome's face broke out in a wide grin. "Gustav! Je suis bien, et tu?"

"Bien, bien! It is good to see you haven't forgotten your French," the chef she had grown up with answered.

"Well how could I? If I remember correctly, you refused to teach me how to cook in anything but French," she said, letting out a laugh. Before they could continue their conversation, Kagome's mother cleared her throat loudly glaring at the two.

"Okay, well you enjoy your meal and I hope to see you again soon. Au revoir mon etudiant favori!" And with that, the plump man walked out of the room, quietly muttering about a 'conasse'.

"Well, I'm glad to see that I haven't wasted thousands of dollars on your education for nothing," her mother said icily, silently drinking her soup.

Kagome's face burned and she immediately turned her attention to the miso soup in front of her. The silence in the room was extremely unnerving. It was the kind where you had to eat quietly and move quietly because you didn't want to disturb the silence. Every now and then a comment from her parents about an upcoming event would arise and another to chastise the lack of salt or tenderness in the food.

"So Kagome, where do you work?"

The question caught her unguarded, making her drop her chopsticks. "Um, well I was working Kiyoshi but it uh wasn't working out."

Her mother simply raised her brows in expectance and pursed her lips disdainfully. "Well, have you set up an interview elsewhere?"

"Um, not yet."

Her cheeks were lit aflame with her mother's unforgiving responses. "You're always welcome to work at my company," her father said, looking up from his chicken.

"Yes, what a wonderful idea. At least then you'll have a stable job."

Kagome set her chopsticks on her bowl and folded her hands on her lap, clenching them tightly together. Her jaw was set and her lips in a thin line. "Actually, I was hoping to keep searching in the chef area. It's something that I really like."

Looking up from her food, Kagome's mother plastered a small, fake smile. "Well, if you think that it's best, nobody's stopping you." Returning to her meal once more, Kagome prayed for an end to this torture.

"Have you found a stable boyfriend at least?" No such luck.

"No mother."

Gasping lightly, she spoke again. "I'd be happy to introduce you to some of your father's younger associates. Now there is a good boyfriend. Status, money and respect."

Taking a deep breath then releasing it, she put down her chopsticks for good. There was something about the third degree she was being given that made her lose her appetite altogether. "I'm sure that they're great but I prefer to find someone on my own. You know the saying, love will find you when you're not looking for it."

"Have it your way…darling."

An hour passed and she was finally home free. After more interrogations from her mother, silence from her father's behalf and an uncomfortable attempt at post dinner small talk, Kagome was free to leave. Flopping into her car, she leaned back and sighed loudly. Sloppily pulling out her phone, she punched in the familiar numbers.

"Hello?"

"Hey Sango, is it too late to take you up on that offer?"

A/N: I'm still debating on whether or not to enclude MirSan in this story so tell me what you think. If enough people request it, I will try my gosh darn hardest to come up with something more interesting than the usual Miroku gropes, Sango slaps, he confesses his love, happily ever after. Reviews?!?