A Thousand Sugar Stars, Oh Put Them in a Jar (October Catch-All)

[ricebird]

Characters: Kotori Iida [Sweet Porridge Girl], Della Duck [Icarus], Master Crane [Crane (Tsuru no Ongaeshi)], Disciple [Jekyll and Hyde], and YOU!
Campaign: Break
Format: Starting with brackets, but will match
One Open, Two Closed
Summary: Kotori comes back from a brief trip home, makes lots of tasty food with people, and wakes up at an ungodly early hour to train. (Oh, also, Hyde happens.)


A. I Looked at the World Through Apple Eyes (Closed to Della Duck and Master Crane)

[Wild and unpredictable as restoring The Little Mermaid had been, Kotori is very, VERY glad the ending turned out happy, with not a speck of mermaid-derived seafoam in sight. Coming back to the Index and seeing the city dressed in autumn colors, though… is it already close to a year since the Storyteller first brought them here? Close to a year since she last saw home… She should fix that.

So after telling a few of her closer friends and asking them to watch her place and let any other Aspects who ask know so no one panics ROXAS, she asks the Storyteller to send her home, just for a little while. By Index time, she’s only gone a few days; in Japan, it’d only been a few weeks. It was… weird being back in a completely normal world after spending a year here. Going through school, cooking more with Inuzuka-sensei and Tsumugi-chan, her mom working hard again. Shinobu had even been visiting her during lunch break lately, even if it felt a bit awkward not telling her about cooking with the Inuzukas… or this place, for that matter. The remembered it vividly for a few days, but… then started writing it off as a dream. Huh. The whole business is weird, really, like the time differences, and her feelings for…

But she can think about all that later. The Storyteller brought her back in late at night it seems, and she’s already really tired. One good thing about all her schooling being left at home is that she can sleep in as late as she wants tomorrow. …… Which, if her memories of the Index had been a little fresher, she’d remember as having scheduled a certain meeting with a certain duck. This should be interesting.]


B. And Cut Myself a Slice of Sunshine Pie (Open)

[Between this new routine of cooking sessions with the Inuzukas, her pot’s new shapeshifting ability, the pub’s brand new kitchen, and actually having a recipe collection to work with, and creating the massive feast during the ball, Kotori’s not only started getting used to cooking with other people, she’s actually starting to crave it even more than she had been. So whether she asks you herself, or you ask to come over to practice a recipe (especially for a date coming up~), from late morning to a little bit into the evening, Kotori’s available to make just about anything.

Or maybe you smelled good food inside and decided to invite yourself into this strangely cauldron-shaped pub. (Especially if it involves daikon GOBO.) Those in this category might be confused to see that the space is clean and well-kept, if rustic, there doesn't seem to be much of a crowd. In fact, the only person here is a teenage girl, in the middle of cleaning the kitchen in the back, sweeping and polishing the floors and counters up front, or sitting down at the bar for a meal for one, depending on what time of day you catch her.

Still, yes, Kotori’s door is open, so come on in, cook, and eat!]


C. I Danced with the Peanut Butterflies (Closed to Disciple)

[Of course, even with how fun these cooking lessons are, a little quite time in between is always nice. (Not to mention kitchens don’t clean themselves…) So after doing some sweeping and mopping for the day, Kotori’s sitting at the bar counter with a nice, simple dinner with a steaming bowl of nyuumen and a cup of hot green tea. Perfect for a cool, peaceful autumn day like this… ……. Okay but maybe a miniature apple charlotte after this would be nice. After seconds, of course.]


D. Till Time Went and Told Me to Say Hello but Wave Goodbye (Wildcard)

[[Got something in find other than the prompts listed here? Feel free to hit me up on Plurk or Discord so we can plot!]]

Comments

[ricebird]

[Ah, that gets her own faintly warm smile out of her.]

I hadn't really made much of my own food before I came here... but I have watch my mom cook a lot growing up. She's the chef of our family's restaurant.

[Almost totally solo too, with Kotori helping wait tables and clean. ..... Or... it is when her mother's not too busy with TV work.]

[sonrises]

[Talking about others' families stings, but at least it'll help him not focus on his own father.]

A restaurant, huh? That sounds pretty cool. I bet you had a lot of... Good food?

[ricebird]

[A soft nod.]

I did. I still do, when she's not too busy.

[Aaaand time to cover it up!]

Ah, here we go! So we take the kombu out just before the water begins to boil, and then it's time to add the katsuobushi.

[As she talks, Kotori takes out the envelope and pours out lots of pieces of dried skipjack meat, shaved so thinly that they're curled and floating like feathers or cinders flying off a campfire.]

[sonrises]

[Busy parents? He can understand that, and it brings up a mess of somewhat conflicting feelings in him - so he's ultimately glad when they're focusing on the food preparation again.]

Wow, that really is thinly shredded. You can hardly even tell it's fish.

[ricebird]

Yup~ Katsuobushi are a pretty common topping too, not just a dashi ingredient! You can put them over takoyaki and okonomiyaki, ramen, soba, century eggs, or mix it with soy sauce to make okaka; it's REALLY good with rice dishes that way!

[Varian... might need to ask her to slow down and explain those, she's obviously WAY too enthused to think about anything other than how tasty they are, even as THESE fish flakes begin to float and settle on top of the water.]

[sonrises]

[He laughs a bit, holding up his hands to indicate she should slow down.]

Wait, Kotori, I don't know what any of that is. Man... You're really into all this food stuff, huh?

[ricebird]

[Blink. Aaaand time to blush.]

Ahaha... sorry. Guess I did get a little carried away, didn't I?