Marshmallows
A/N: Hi people…this is the first story I've ever written, so please don't send too many flames… This is a half-baked story that I thought of during March Break (yeah I know, its JULY now…but I kept procrastinating until now…) If I feel that this story isn't going anywhere, I won't continue with it and I'll remove it from the site, so don't worry...
Oh, and I'm pretty sure marshmallows don't usually melt in the microwave, but in this story, Kaede has special marshmallows that melt in low heat….so DON'T GO TRYING MICROWAVING MARSHMALLOWS AT HOME!
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha sobs.
Prologue
Lisa C.
It was a beautiful autumn day in the city of Myrradell…
"Woohoo! School starts late today! I finally get to sleep in!" said the 15 year old student Kagome Higurashi.
Mrs. Higurashi's eyes lit up. "Kagome, can you please drop by the grocery store to buy a couple of things for me then? I need milk, eggs, toilet paper, chicken thighs…"
Kagome sighed. It seemed that there was always a chore for her to do in the mornings and she arrived late to school every day.
The teachers all gathered in the staff room for their monthly staff meeting at Shikon Elite High School. Even the secretaries, janitors, and the student teachers were present. They were in a heated debate over whether or not to keep the gourmet chef they had hired five years ago because of the shortage of money due to lack of donations from the parents of the students. The parents were getting stingier. Chef Kaede had cooked the most scrumptious lunches they had ever had, but they needed the money for new equipment.
"I don't understand. Tuition has almost doubled here! How could we be off with less money than before?" asked a disgruntled Mr. Wilcos, the guidance counselor.
"Either the new students are really smart and have received scholarships, or the parents are getting really stingy…," said the principal absent-mindedly.
The biology teacher Miss Allans stood up. "Well, we shouldn't fire Kaede just because we're short of cash! She is the only reason I came here to teach--Ooops…"
"Well, what should we do then? I need new gym equipment and I'll sell all of your textbooks to get what I want, if I have to!" The muscled ex-military officer snarled at his fellow teachers and slammed a clipboard onto the table. Some of the teachers and a few custodians shuddered. They had heard of his reputation in the army and were intimidated by this violent man.
"Now, now Mr.Yamato. Calm down! We need to find a solution. I don't think that firing anybody will do us any good. We need all of the services here provided by the staff and helpers if we want to maintain the top spot as the best and most prestigious school in all of this country. Students from all around the world seek to get enrolled in this school. Does anyone have a plan that will benefit us all?" Vice-principal Kizuna was always the voice of reason of the school.
In a barely audible whisper, Kanna, the young quiet school secretary said, "Well, we could always hold fundraisers for the equipment needed. And we can show the parents that this school is important in molding the minds of their children and that education is valuable--"
Mr. Hiro cut in. "Great idea Kanna! We can hold inter-school competitions here-- rigged so that our students win, submit stories of the achievements to local newspapers, suck up to the parents at the parent-teacher meetings, and become best friends with the rich ones! MUAHAHAHAHA!." The other teachers just stared at Mr. Hiro. He was such an eccentric oddball. He taught World History, and his classes were never boring.
"What if we can't raise enough money for the equipment? The Nationals for the gymnastics team is coming up so I need new ribbons by the end of this month, and new basketballs, soccer balls, and it would be nice to have a new floor for the gym as well."
"Well, I say no to firing Kaede. She may have this weird medieval-ish way of talking sometimes, but she is the best chef around and we are extremely lucky to have her here cooking for us. Many hotels and restaurants have asked for her to become their head chef but she refused their offers and came to work here." Many heads nodded.
"But what about GYM EQUIPMENT? THESE STUDENTS NEED THE BEST EQUIPMENT IF THEY WANT TO BE THE BEST, AND THEY CAN'T BE ANYTHING BUT THE BEST OR THEY WILL HAVE TO ANSWER TO ME!" shouted Mr. Yamato.
"Let's have a vote then, shall we? All in favor of keeping Kaede and fundraising instead, stand up."
Most of the teachers stood up. Mr.Yamato looked like he was about to murder them all. He was furious.
"Well, that settles it. The majority has voted for Chef Kaede to stay. We will discuss ideas for fundraising activities tomorrow after school."
"Let's get some students to help out in the cafeteria instead of having the 3 other chefs! Make the tardy students and the students who misbehave serve food instead of giving them detention!"
Kagome panted on her way to school. She lugged all of the groceries back home all by herself. It turned out that her mother needed $100 worth of groceries and she had to chip in her lunch money. She groaned. Now she will have to miss out on Kaede's special onigiri. They looked so cute and tasted delicious.
'I have to run faster…Miss Allans will give me a detention and make me clean up after the experiments today if I am late again…aww, and today we had extra time to get to school too! Shoot'.
OOF!
"Watch where you're going, freak! You wrinkled my designer shirt!" screeched Lina Mitchel, who was also a 2nd year student. She glared at Kagome. Lina was a vain, pompous and mean snob. She had her own little clique and they loved to make fun of others. She was also dating the richest and most sought-after guy in school, Sesshoumaru. That boosted her status to 'Queen of S.E. High.' She even ordered around the seniors and had her 'slaves' call her "your majesty."
"I'm sorry." She mentally rolled her eyes and added a 'not.' She despised Lina's type; the kind that thought they were all high, mighty and perfect. She started walking until the corner, and bolted to class.
RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
Kagome arrived in class 10 seconds after the bell. 'Darn it. Stupid witch made me late to class.'
Miss Allans shook her head."Miss Higurashi. You are, once again, late. Due to a new rule, instead of serving a detention, you are going to go to the cafeteria before lunch and help to serve food. Oh, and you have to clean up after the frog-dissection experiment."
The class snickered. "Ahaha! Kagome the lunch-lady!" jeered one student. "You'll have to wear a hairnet," teased another.
Kagome groaned and sat down in her seat by the window. She had no experience with food other than buying and putting away groceries. Her cousin, Kikyo, looked at her coldly. "Can't you ever come to school on time? You are a disgrace to the Higurashi family."
At that moment, the silver-haired brother of Sesshoumaru entered the class.
"Inuyasha, I have just explained to Miss Higurashi that all students who are late must report to the cafeteria at lunch to serve food instead of a detention. And you will be cleaning up after the frog experiment as well."
"Feh. Can't I just find a replacement?" asked Inuyasha, with a look of annoyance on his face.
Miss Allans wanted to teach him a lesson that would stop his cockiness. "No. You arrive late to class everyday and yet you get to school at the same time I do. You must go to the cafeteria at lunch and you must clean up at the end of this class. Now, take your seat."
'This is child labour…' thought Inuyasha grumpily. He had been stirring a mixed bean soup for ten minutes now. He leaned over and sniffed it. 'Mmmmm…smells good though.'
Kagome had the task of peeling potatoes for the baked potato wedges. 'How do you use a vegetable skin peeling thingy?' she wondered. She tried and cut herself the first time. Sango, another 2nd year student also landed the kitchen duty and watched. "This is how you use a peeler," she said. She demonstrated and was able to quickly peel the potato in thirty seconds. "Whoa, that was so fast! Where did you learn to peel like that?" asked an amazed Kagome.
"Well, I have to babysit my younger brother everyday, and my parents are always busy out exterminating pests. I learned to cook and fend for myself."
"That sounds tough," was all Kagome could think of for a reply. Inuyasha, who overheard the little conversation, rolled his eyes. 'She thinks having to cook for her family is tough? She hasn't been forced to be Sesshoumaru's slave for a whole week!'
Kaede watched the three new 'assistant chefs' disappointedly. She mumbled, "I can't believe they fired Yuri, Pierre and Joseph for these three amateurs." She went back to making gnocci and kneading the potato dough.
Lunch time
"What is this? Where are the filet mignon and the bouillabaisse?" asked Giselle, a snotty girl who only ate French-sounding foods.
"As you all know, the other three chefs have been fired and I am left. The filet mignon and the bouillabaisse were Chef Pierre's specialty I'm afraid.
Many students groaned, but stopped when they noticed the available food seemed as good as before.
'Hmmm…there are so many ingredients here! I want to try to make my Marshmallow Sweet Surprise!' thought Inuyasha. He sneakily headed over to the cupboards while Kagome and Sango were helping serve hungry people. Inuyasha found a large bag of marshmallows, some strawberries and chocolate chips, as well as some excellent cream and empty tart shells in the freezer. He took a handful of marshmallows, one tart shell, a scoopful of chocolate and a few strawberries. He then washed and stuck the strawberries on top of marshmallows in the tart shell and then put it in the KitchenAid microwave, along with the chocolate chips in a microwavable bowl.
"INUYASHA! WE COULD USE SOME HELP OUT HERE YOU KNOW! STOP PIGGING OUT ON STRAWBERRIES!" shouted the girl named Kagome.
"Yeah yeah, hold your horses, I'm coming…" Inuyasha was really annoyed by this girl for some reason.
When the rush to the cafeteria was over and students trickled in slowly, Inuyasha ran back into the kitchen, claiming he was dying of thirst, and reheated his goopy treat. He added cream to it. He then took a cake decorating tube and put the melted chocolate in it, and drizzled it delicately over the marshmallow covered strawberries.
"Inuyasha, what ARE you doing?" asked Kagome. She followed him in because she was actually thirsty as well. He tried to hide his mini-creation but Kagome saw it and squealed. "You know how to cook too? Wow, that looks GREAT!"
"Yo, it's nothing, I make stuff like this at home," said an embarrassed Inuyasha. "Keep your voice down; I don't think Kaede would appreciate me messing around in her kitchen…"
"You're right. I don't." Kaede came in with Sango to go over cleaning procedures. "Who gave you the right to steal food from my kitchen?" Her pet peeves were 'grazers' and people who tried to sneak food out of kitchens.
"Sorry…geez…all I did was take a couple of lousy marshmallows and some other stuff. I wanted to see how it would be like making a snack in a first-rate kitchen!"
Kaede rolled her eyes and said, "Either ye pay five dollars for that, or give the food back!"
Inuyasha's eyes bulged, and he shouted, "FIVE BUCKS FOR THIS! I CAN GET A BURGER, FRIES AND A LARGE MILKSHAKE WITH THAT MUCH MONEY!"
"I guess that's mine then," said Kaede coolly, "kindly hand it over please." Inuyasha gave her his snack, and stormed out of the kitchen to the office. He was going to protest until he got out of stupid kitchen duty.
Kagome and Sango cleaned silently, learning their lesson not to take food from Kaede.
"Umm, I guess we better be going…" said Sango. "Yeah, we'll be back tomorrow"
Kaede sniffed at the snack the young thief had managed to make. She took a bite, and stopped. 'This is scrumptious! If only it had some of this and that…' She scrambled through the kitchen gathering ingredients to prepare to make her new special dessert for the Iron Chef Special Baking Edition Cook-off!
A loud, shrill whistle sounded. "Inuyasha, please report to the cafeteria right now. Chef Kaede would like to have a word with you."
'Man, maybe I shouldn't have told the secretaries that Kaede is a mean old hag…' thought Inuyasha as a slowly walked to the cafeteria from gym.
He knocked uncertainly on the door of the kitchen. "Come in" said Kaede. His eyes grew wide, there were fruits and honey, cream candies strewn all over the counters, and around 5 different batches of variations of his marshmallow tart. "Well, wash your hands and help me make more pastry dough!"
Inuyasha snapped out of his daze and said, "I thought you were upset at me for 'stealing food'."
Kaede sighed, and said, "Okay, I'm sorry for taking your tart. I admit, I did blow things a little out of proportion, but your tart was absolutely tasty! I would appreciate if you would help me create a larger and better version of that tart for my entry for a baking competition." She looked pleadingly at him.
"Me? You want my help? You're the gourmet cook here!" said a surprised Inuyasha.
Kaede replied, "Yes, but baking is not my specialty, it was Josephs.' The former chefs and I used to enter competitions together, and we each had an area of expertise. Now that they are fired, they are upset that I was the only one chosen to stay, and we are adversaries now. We had signed up for this competition a month ago, not knowing of the school's financial problems. I specialize in traditional Japanese cooking and Italian; my baked desserts are usually over the top and lose points on taste."
Inuyasha squinted, suspicious of what the old cook was really after. "This isn't some sort of trick is it? Sesshoumaru didn't buy you off did he?"
Kaede blinked and answered, "Huh? Of course not! I am being serious here. My reputation as a chef is at stake, and I really need your help. I truly believe that your simple dessert could help me win the Cook-off."
Inuyasha thought for a moment. Well, this is my big chance to learn with a world-class cook, and I like making 'creations,' but is it worth wasting my time over?
Kaede seemed to have read his mind and said temptingly, "There is a grand prize of 10 million dollars and a complete set of the finest pots and pans in the world. Oh, and there is also some free food and cookbooks. I am willing to split 25 of the money with you."
Inuyasha didn't really need the money, since his dad was a high-profile lawyer and his mother was a famous interior designer, but he was interested in the free food and cookbooks. His parents were too busy to make home-cooked meals so he had been experimenting since they became more work-involved. Most of his food tasted disgusting to everybody else at first, but he was too arrogant to see any fault in his cooking. This seemed like a chance for Inuyasha to show off and gloat in Sesshoumaru's face!
"Hmm, make it 40, and add in the food and cookbooks," bargained Inuyasha.
"30" said Kaede.
Inuyasha's eyed narrowed and he said, "50"
Kaede sighed and said, "Alright, alright, fine…40 it is, but you do understand that because of the increase of money, I will expect more than just a dessert recipe from ye, right?"
"What do you mean? Like, do you want me to cook and stuff too?" asked Inuyasha happily. He didn't imagine that he would be able to also cook and compete alongside Kaede.
"Yes. Come here early at 6 AM every morning and after school and I will teach you the basic techniques of cooking. Bring whatever other dessert recipes you have as well."
"SIX IN THE MORNING? BUT THAT'S SO EARLY!"
"Ye are to come." Kaede was determined to teach this young, rash man the art of culinary cooking.
The bell rang, and the period was over. Kaede dismissed Inuyasha and went back to trying out new ingredients for a marshmallow-cream tart.
THE END…of this prologue. Now, the adventure of Inuyasha's journey into the world of culinary arts begins! Read more next time in Chapter 1: Flaming Shikon and Undercooked Broccoli!
Also, would anyone be interested in an Inuyasha story abouthim and his gangfighting an evil Hello Kitty Empire? Sesshoumaru, another villain,would also have his own evil cute doggy dolls: Fluffies!
Review PLEASE (helpful critiques wanted)