The Master Chef by Akirasama
The Most Pitiful Wail
A/N: Hello and I am so happy to bring my fic to all of you to hopefully enjoy. I am a creative writing student who is returning to writing after a long time. Anyways, I'll continue to 8ntroduce myself with each chapter and I hope that I can have provided you with a giggle or two. Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Inu Yasha. I also don't own the rights to the show, Masterchef. I just used it for inspiration
Chapter 1
“Describe the dish.”
It was a very simple command, yet the young man before the chef gulped nervously as he glanced down at the plate before them as if he had never seen it before.
“Well, Chef,” the young man began, “What we have is a chicken breast butterflied and stuffed with a cream cheese and spinach mixture. The skin on the outside has been crisped up before I finished it off in the oven. Underneath the chicken, there is a potato puree with a nice side of green beans sautéed with bacon and olive oil.”
The chef’s eyes narrowed as he took in the sight before him. “Did I see you take this chicken out of the oven, cut into it, and then put it back in the oven to cook further?”
“Yes, Chef.” The young man replied. “I didn’t want to serve you raw chicken.”
“How very kind of you, but now instead of serving me raw or undercooked chicken, you instead serve me something that is dry and tough. It is also terribly under-seasoned and you have managed to take something as simple as a potato puree and turn it into white vomit on a plate. Did you even taste your food?” The Chef asked, his tone as cool as ice. “What is the first thing that we tell you when you enter into this competition: Always taste your food no matter what.”
As the sweat began to roll down his face, the young man watched as the chef shook his head in disappointment and then cringed when he heard these words from his mentor: “What were you thinking to serve this to us?”
-+-
When the show cut to a commercial, Kagome looked over at Inu Yasha. “Does he ever say anything nice to anyone on this show?” She asked, her eyes wide. “I mean, I know that he is pretty hot stuff in the cooking world, but does he have to be so mean about it?”
“This is nothing,” a deep voice replied, though the owner did not bother to lower the newspaper he was reading, “When he was younger, he made one of my chefs cry because he disagreed with how she cooked one of his favorite meals. I knew from then on that he was going to be a force to be reckoned with when it came to something that he liked. However, I never dreamed that one of those things would be food. I would have thought that he would have enjoyed swords or something like that.”
“Careful, dad,” Inu Yasha said, though his tone was playful. “Or else you are going to get Kagome started in on how guys can enjoy cooking just as much as girls do.”
When he finally lowered the newspaper, Kagome could see the strong resemblance between father and son, though one of them was full youkai while the other had the most adorable puppy ears. Both had golden eyes and were very handsome, but the elder male held many more years of knowledge or experience while the younger male still needed help to remember to pick up his clothes off of the floor from time to time. The elder male was powerfully built whereas the younger male took more after his mother’s physique of being more slender though still having enough muscle to work with in a battle of strength. Overall, it was clear that the two were related, though it was Inu Yasha’s brother who took more after the father in appearances and physique. However, that was where the similarities ended. Sesshomaru was a specimen in his own category even if he was a jerk and liked to let everyone know it.
“Of course, males are able to enjoy cooking just as much as females do and females enjoy weapons as much as males do, I just mean that with his temperament, I would have figured that your brother would have gone for something that would allow him to fully release some aggression.”
Snorting, Inu Yasha said, “He does and usually it is in the form of something pretty and smells good.”
However, when his father grew quiet, Inu Yasha and Kagome allowed their smiles to slip from their faces and before Inu Yasha could ask, his father simply said. “Sesshomaru broke up with Kaguya. He came home late last night with two of his friends and while he doesn’t seem to be particularly broken up about it, you are not to make any childish comments, you understand me, Inu Yasha? I didn’t let him go at you when you and Kikyo broke up, so I expect the same courtesy for him.”
When the father received a nod from his son, the larger male’s eyes traveled over to Kagome and immediately softened. He owed this little girl much. Had she not chosen to befriend a small, lonely hanyou boy so long ago, his son might have turned out far differently than he had. She had struck up a friendship with his son when no one else at their school would even say hello to him and all because of the fact that he was hanyou. But, Kagome simply did not see him for being a hanyou; she saw him as he really was which was someone who needed a friend and now, they had grown so close that once they had graduated high school, she had moved in with his pack when her mother had remarried and moved across the country with Kagome’s brother. While her experiences with Sesshomaru had been limited, by his choice, they had not been unpleasant. He simply did not care to associate with humans, though he had recently started to mellow out when he started socializing with his friend, Bankotsu.
“Kagome,” Touga began, “I’ve been told that you have greatly improved with the bow and arrow. I think that it might be time that you start learning how to use it in the field.” He watched as her face broke out into a wide smile as she soaked up his praise like a little sponge.
Nodding, Kagome grinned. “I feel like it is becoming more and more natural. I just wish that when I start to feel rushed that I didn’t crack under pressure.”
Laughing, Inu Yasha reached over and poked his father. “Remember that time when General Hitomi yelled at Kagome to either shoot the arrow at the target or else he was going to shove her arrow up her ass?”
Groaning, Kagome’s face grew red as she recalled that particular event and mentally slapped her friend upside his head for making her remember it. That stupid general had never liked her and she was well aware of it. He was always making comments about how sloppy her aim was or how sad it was that the Western Lord was investing so much time on her with little return. So, on that day, he was in a particular foul mood and decided during her training session to start harassing her to either shoot the target or else he could come over, grab her arrows, bend her over, and shove them up her ass. When he started to make his way across the training field and had gotten closer to the target she was aiming for, he growled at her to fire the arrow or else and so…she did.
When the general landed several feet away from the target, not a single person dared to say a word or move a muscle. Not even the Western Lord spoke as General Hitomi finally gathered his strength to pull himself up to a sitting position and then after several more minutes to a standing position. Kagome didn’t have the nerve to look the man in his face as he slowly brushed the grass and dirt off of himself, though the bits and pieces of the practice target that had been destroyed when Kagome’s sacred arrow had hit it would occasionally fall from the general’s hair. The only sound that could be heard was the stifled giggles that were coming from Inu Yasha as he desperately tried, and failed, to contain his amusement. When the general was satisfied that nothing was seriously damaged, save his pride, he stood up to his full height and walked briskly from the training field as fast as his feet could carry him without actually running.
It would not have been so bad if it had just been him, Kagome, the Western Lord, and Inu Yasha, but it also had been in front of General Hitomi’s men and several visiting elders from other packs. It has been said that to bring up the ‘incident’ to the general was to invite trouble. Even talking about it where he could overhear would be trouble. However, that did not stop the men from talking nor giving her a sly wink when they thought the general was not looking as if to stand in solidarity with her for what she did. It was terrible!
“It was awesome!” Inu Yasha exclaimed happily.
“Leave Hitomi alone, son.” Touga softly growled. “Despite all that he says, he wants Kagome to do well in the bow and arrow. With her talents as a miko and the fact that she is able to perform the sacred arrow is certainly something that we need to improve upon, especially since Kagome is one of the rare mikos who tolerate youkai relationships and actually fosters them. As I work together with her grandfather, it is through Kagome and you and we are slowly changing people’s minds about our races comingling. Hitomi knows this and wants Kagome at her best. So, be kind to him. Even if it was funny as hell.”
Kagome shook her head and smiled before turning her attention to the task at hand. See, bows and arrows were great, but her real passion was in cooking. She never told Lord Touga or Inu Yasha, but she understood why Sesshomaru loved to cook. It was a way to express his artistic side and allows him to be the master of his own vision, which is exactly how she saw cooking. However, while he was a master at cooking, she was still learning. Which now brings her back to the matter at hand and why is it that her dough did not rise as it was supposed to?
However, she did not waste too much time worrying about the reasons and started to quickly cut out the circles that, after fried, would be her very first attempt at making donuts and she had even come up with her own dough recipe. She was so excited to try this out for the pack and now that she knew that Sesshomaru had returned home put even more pressure on her to make sure that these turned out to be something really special. Once all of the donuts were cut out and the oil was heated to the correct temperature, Kagome quickly slipped two dough circles into the oil and watched as it began to fry. However, she noticed something very strange about how they were frying. Pulling them out of the oil, Kagome picked one up after it had been cooled and noticed that instead of looking fluffy and inviting as a donut should, hers looked as though it needed a warning sign. The color on the outside of the donut was a very dark brown and she was sure that once she covered it in glaze, it would be fine. It would still taste good and as she pulled the fried dough apart, she noticed something very alarming: the middle of the donut was still raw. How did that happen?
So, taking a deep breath, Kagome decided to power through and fry the rest of the batch and just made sure to keep an eye on it so that nothing else goes wrong. However, it only got worse. In fact, at one point, Lord Touga quietly got up and opened up all of the kitchen windows so that the burning smell and smoke would have some way to escape the kitchen and finally, the pièce de résistance to the entire spectacle was when the smoke detector began to wail in agony as if to plead for mercy. At that point, Inu Yasha lost all control and started to laugh as loudly as he could while his father, due to hundreds of years of discipline and training, only let out an amused cough as he hid his face behind his newspaper once more. When the smoke detector finally stopped, Kagome closed her eyes and knew that nothing could be worse than that.
“What was that all about