{These characters are not property of me. I would never attempt to claim them as my own. This story may not be used without my permission, and may not be used to make money in any way, shape or form. Characters and certain situations were created by Rumiko Takahashi, so don't try any funny stuff!}
"What's this?" It was a large box decorated with postage marks in 5 different inks. The mailing label was written in very neat English 'Kuno Residence, Nerima District, Tokyo, Japan'. The return address was also in English but the girl couldn't read it.
"Brother! Brother!"
"What is it, Kodachi? I'm busy right now."
"This package arrived. I can't read the return address."
Tatewaki walked in and grabbed the box from her hands and looked at the label. Seeing it was in English, he immediately chastised her. "You should work harder on your English. It's not all that difficult to read."
He stared at the label. "Nee... Nu... New. Ge... Gwi... Gwinay... New Guinea?" He looked quizzically at the box. "This must be from Father." He handed it back to Kodachi. "I want nothing to do with it."
"Oh please, Tatchi? Open it for me? You know I can't do it myself," she begged.
Tatewaki looked at her with disgust, before giving in to her sad eyes. "Oh fine." He took the box back and yanked at the heavy tape keeping it closed. One hard pull and the tape separated itself from the cardboard. He finished opening the box the rest of the way then handed it to Kodachi. "There. Have fun with Father's twisted idea of a gift."
Kodachi smiled brightly. "Thank you, Brother."
Tatewaki softened as Kodachi smiled at him. She hadn't grown to hate their father as much as he had; that seemed to maintain her youthful innocence. "You're welcome, little Sister."
Kodachi looked in the box and pulled out a large container filled with something she couldn't identify. There were a few slips of paper inside with the container with more writing on it. It was also in English, but simple enough for Kodachi to read. They appeared to be recipes.
Kodachi pulled out the container and tried to see inside. It was made of a translucent plastic, enough to see there was something inside, but not what. Taped to the top of the container, in her father's neat writing was a warning: DO NOT OPEN UNTIL READY TO USE.
He had sent her something from New Guinea to cook? Did he really know how much she liked to cook? She smiled as she read the paper. It would take a lot of skill to cook this and make the recipe perfect, but she knew she could do it. Father knew she could do it.
She opened the container. Whatever it was smelled awful. She cringed back from the terrible stink wafting out of the container. Her eyes started to water as she tried to get a closer look at what she was about to cook.
It was some sort of meat, that much she could tell. It was a bit sickly looking, kind of shriveled and gray around the edges. It was in some liquid, thick, gooey looking liquid. The entire thing, even without the smell, made Kodachi want to vomit.
She lifted it out of the container with a spatula and a large cooking knife and set it on the cutting board. She couldn't get over the stink, it was so foul. But the recipe promised it was a great delicacy if cooked correctly.
She put the final dish into the oven to bake. The recipe said 50 minutes, no less than 50 minutes at 400 degrees. Kodachi happily set her timer for 50 minutes and went out to check on her small greenhouse. Her African violets were just starting to bloom and were very delicate.
"Sasuke! My sister has promised me a foreign delicacy to be served at 3:10 PM. Inform me at 2:45 so I may make myself presentable for her effort!"
"Yes, Tatewaki-sama." What a bore. He watched Tatewaki start on a few quarter-speed strikes before sneaking away quietly. If he didn't keep track of time and Tatewaki-sama was late, he'd be in trouble, but he'd fall asleep if he actually sat there and watched him practice.
Sasuke formed a brilliant plan. He went to the kitchen and grabbed the timer. Whatever was cooking would be fine without the exact time cooked. Kodachi-sama should watch her food a little more carefully anyway. The timer at that point read 40 minutes.
Sasuke checked the clock. It was 2:25. He moved the timer to 20 minutes then went off to read some of his manga.
Kodachi came inside from her greenhouse. Her violets were all doing well, they were all so beautiful with their deep purple petals. She sighed happily and went into the kitchen. The timer was ticking away. She looked at it and frowned. Only 12 minutes left? That didn't seem right. She wasn't quite sure when she had put it in the oven so she couldn't compare it to the clock.
"Just caught up in the greenhouse, I guess." That happened sometimes. She found it so peaceful, time seemed to go by so quickly when she was in there. She went to clean herself up before finishing with her dish. She wanted to look like the perfect hostess for her brother when she presented the exotic delicacy to him for an early dinner.
*DING!* The timer went off, catching Sasuke's ear. He went out to get Tatewaki and tell him it was time to get ready.
Kodachi went into the kitchen, dressed in her best outfit, ready to serve her surprise dish. The recipe said to serve it straight from the oven to keep the flavor. The timer was off, she had been getting ready too long and now her cuisine would be overcooked! She gasped and hurried to the oven, throwing it open and pulling out the pan with a mitt.
"Brother! It's almost ready!" She got out the serving platter and put the entire contents of the pan onto it. It looked delicious, covered in a delicate sauce and vegetables. She used her knife to slice it several times then arranged a few decorative elements around it.
She stood back and admired it. Perfect.
"I thought you said it would be 3:10 when we would eat?" Tatewaki asked from the other room, getting all huffy as usual.
"I guess I was off in my time estimations. You'll just have to deal with it, Tatchi." She grinned, knowing how that annoyed him. It was so much fun to tease her brother.
She lifted the platter and carried it to the dining room. Tatewaki was seated, looking grumpy. Kodachi smiled brightly at him. "Here it is! Doesn't it look delicious?" She set the platter in front of him.
He looked it over carefully before declaring "Most impressive, I must admit. It surpasses even your earlier efforts."
Kodachi beamed with pride at his statement. It always made her happy when her brother praised her cooking. It was something she took a lot of pride in. That and her flowers. She sat across from him at the table and began to divide the food up. She took a smaller slice of meat than the one she gave her brother. She had to watch her figure for when she finally made it on the rhythmic gymnastics team.
She went right for a bit of meat, while her brother sampled the vegetables. She took a bite and chewed slowly. It was tender and savory, the sauce giving it a spicy undertaste. She swallowed and smiled; it was excellent. Her brother would enjoy it even more than she.
He was finishing off the vegetables; he always ate in a pattern. He would eat any large vegetables, then he would eat any meat and then whatever else was left. Kodachi found it a very boring way to enjoy food.
Kodachi ate some more of her meat, grabbing a bit of brocoli along with it. She couldn't help but smile at the taste in her mouth. The recipe was a masterpiece and she wasn't too modest to think what she had cooked was too.
She continued eating as Tatewaki picked up a slice of meat and began to bring it up to his mouth. Kodachi smiled and started to take another bite when the stomach cramps hit.
She dropped her chopsticks, her mouth forming an 'O' of surprise. She dropped her hand to her stomach as the pain struck her again. It felt like her insides were being twisted inside out. Her brow furrowed as the pain intensified. "Ouch..."
"Kodachi, what is the matter?" Tatewaki was looking at her with concern.
The pain was too intense to answer him. "Owww." Her other hand was on her stomach and she was listing to one side.
"Kodachi, what's wrong?" Tatewaki's voice was growing more concerned.
She groaned in response, still clutching her stomach. She felt her stomach begin to reject what she had eaten. The bile rose in her throat as she leaned over, her forehead inches from the floor.
"Kodachi?" Tatewaki stood up and walked around the table. Seeing her doubled over, he kneeled beside her. "Kodachi? What's happened?" He put his hand on her shoulder and could feel her frame shake.
She retched, stomach acid staining the floor. Tatewaki backed up, surprised at the mess Kodachi had made. In passing, he noticed blood mixed in the brownish liquid. "Sister? Say something!" The blood had sent him almost into a full panic. "SASUKE!"
Sasuke appeared in a blur, smacking his knee on the table in the progress. "Yes, Tatewa..." He watched Kodachi on the floor, horror on his face.
"Clean up this mess, while I help Kodachi upstairs."
"Yes, Tatewaki-sama." He couldn't take his eyes off the blood. And when Tatewaki lifted Kodachi gently, he couldn't stop staring at the blood on her lips.
Tatewaki carried Kodachi to the bathroom and set her down gently. He wetted a washcloth with warm water and wiped her face. There was a bright red flush to her cheeks and her breathing was shallow. Her eyes were closed tightly, and she was sweating.
"Kodachi... can you hear me?" He wiped her cheek and mouth.
She didn't say anything, but she squeezed his arm.
"You'll be fine, imoutochan." He cradled her head, looking at her face etched with suffering.
"Oniichan?" Her voice was quiet and weak.
"I'm here. You'll be fine, just rest." He started to rock her, trying to get her to sleep.
"Tatewaki-sama?" Sasuke was standing in the doorway, looking at them nervously.
"We must get her to a doctor, Sasuke," he declared, not removing his eyes from his sister.
"This is very serious. What happened just before she started vomiting?" The doctor opened one of her eyelids and shined a light on the pupil.
Tatewaki and Sasuke were standing to the side, watching the doctor with concern. "We were eating," Tatewaki said.
The doctor looked up. "Eating? Did you eat any of it?"
"Only some vegetables."
"This could be some very serious food poisoning if she got it from eating meat. It would help immensely if you could bring in whatever it was you were eating so we can test it."
Tatewaki looked at Sasuke. Sasuke blushed. "You told me to clean up so I threw it out for the garbage collectors to pick up." It had been garbage day after all.
Tatewaki frowned, along with the doctor. "Without running any tests on what made her sick, this whole process will be much more difficult."
"Isn't it possible to just pump her stomach or something?" Tatewaki was starting to panic again. His little sister, no matter how much she teased him, couldn't die. She just couldn't.
"It's too late for that to help totally. It's already been partially digested. We were waiting to hear what happened before we took a definitive course of action. Now if you'll just clear out of the room, we'll do our best."
Tatewaki and Sasuke filed out as a pair of interns walked in. Sasuke was too guilt-ridden to worry about what would happen to him, and Tatewaki was too worried to care about Sasuke's mistake. They went into the waiting room and sat down heavily. They would be waiting quite a while.
"Not knowing exactly what it was that she ate, we had to work with some generalizations. She appears healthy, that it was only a severe stomach ache with some vomiting."
"What about the blood?"
"That was a side effect of the intense cramping. Her stomach and intestines are all fine. She's going to need rest for at least a week, keeping her restricted to liquids. No solid foods."
Tatewaki and Sasuke both nodded.
"And you should give her this medication to fight back whatever traces there are food poisoning." He handed a slip of paper to Tatewaki. "Fill that twice and no more. It should be more than enough."
Tatewaki nodded again. "Thank you, doctor."
It was the doctors turn to nod. "It's my job. And if she starts to feel ill again, call us right away."
"Thank you, I will."
Tatewaki was helping Kodachi in the house. She was still weak and had trouble walking by herself.
"The doctor said a week of rest and then you'll be fine." Tatewaki was doing his best to cheer her up. She had seemed awfully... grouchy since leaving the hospital.
"I don't want a week of rest. I have more important things to do." Her voice was defiant even while she held on to Tatewaki's arm.
"The doctor said you need it to regain your strength. You don't want to get sick again, do you?"
"Don't be a fool, Tatchi. I won't get sick again just because I don't you let pamper me like a little girl." She tried to pull away from him, but staggered and was forced to hold him with both hands.
"Please, imoutochan..."
Kodachi heard the pleading in his voice and looked at him. He was so concerned about her... "All right, oniichan." She let him escort her to her room and make her as comfortable as possible.
"Sasuke, if you don't move, I will spill this all over. Please get out from under my feet!"
"I'm sorry, Tatewaki-sama. I'm only concerned for Kodachi-sama."
"I understand, but I don't wish to stain the floor any further."
Tatewaki stepped into Kodachi's room, balancing a bowl of soup, a glass of water and her medicine. Sasuke attempted to enter the room at the same time, bumping Tatewaki. The hot soup sloshed over the side of the bowl directly on Sasuke's head.
Sasuke howled in pain as he tried to scramble away from the dripping soup and managed to knock Tatewaki to the floor, soup flying everywhere. Tatewaki stood up, dripping wet from the water, his face red with anger.
"SASUKE!"
Kodachi giggled at the sight of the two. Then she giggled a bit more. It was so funny, how incompetent the two of them could be. Her giggling changed into laughter. Her whole family consisted of nitwits and buffoons! She began to laugh harder.
The anger left Tatewaki's face as he stared at Kodachi. She was laughing a bit unnaturally, her face looked strained. "Kodachi?"
She could only laugh at his puzzled look. And at Sasuke with red welts on his face from the hot soup. She felt her stomach muscles begin to protest at her laughter, and that made her laugh. She soon realized she couldn't stop laughing.
She put her hand over her mouth but that only muffled the sound. She gasped for breath. "Tatchi..." Her laughter started up again.
"Kodachi, stop that laughter." Tatewaki wanted to be firm with her, but he was frightened at her outburst.
Kodachi hiccupped a bit. "I can't stop. My head hurts so much..." She howled with laughter, tears coming from her eyes. She just couldn't stop laughing... and laughing... and laughing...