Disclaimer: I don’t own Yu Yu Hakusho or the ice cream featured in this story.
Kurama stepped back from the counter and nodded his head at his handiwork. The jars with spoons next to them sat beside squeeze bottles and large salt shakers filled with colored sprinkles. A small bowl of nuts and a smaller bowl of cherries rounded out the line-up.
“Very nice, Kurama,” came Genkai’s voice behind him. “Now, we just need the team.”
Kurama had wanted to properly celebrate their victory at the Dark Tournament and Genkai’s return to the land of the living. He felt an ice cream social would be an excellent way to do so. He had spent time gathering different flavors and toppings and storing them at Genkai’s before verbally inviting the team and the girls, Keiko and Shizuru.
It had taken Kurama some time to convince Hiei to come to the social for the fire demon was not very sociable. Kurama suspected it was because he had spent most of his life alone and being shunned by others. Kurama was sure that Hiei hadn’t realized that he had gained three friends…well two as he didn’t like Kuwabara. He wasn’t sure how the girls felt about Hiei so he chose not to count them as Hiei’s friends. In the end, Hiei reluctantly agreed to come.
The sound of a door opening brought Kurama out of his thoughts and he and Genkai left the kitchen to greet the others. Yusuke was in the forefront with his usual grin with Kuwabara behind him also grinning. Keiko and Shizuru were looking around as this was their first time to the compound. Hiei stood in the doorway.
“Hey, Kurama. Great idea for a party. I love ice cream,” Yusuke said.
“It is a social, not a party,” Kurama said.
“It’s a group getting together, like a party.”
“But without the music, dancing, or other food,” Genkai cut in.
Yusuke seemed a bit upset but not Keiko. “That’s fine. We can sit around and talk while having ice cream. What flavors did you get?”
“A fair amount and I believe at the end, everyone can take home whatever Genkai does not wish to keep.”
The old psychic flashed a small smile at the group. “That being the case, the chocolate chip cookie dough stays here.”
“Chocolate chip cookie dough?” Yusuke moaned. “I love that one.”
“Then get some while you can,” Genkai riposted. Gentle laughter went through the group before Kurama answered Keiko’s previous question.
“I selected vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, butter pecan, coffee and chocolate chip. I also picked up toppings that are all in the kitchen.”
“Let’s get this social started,” Genkai said, leading the group to the kitchen, minus Hiei. Kurama noticed this and went over to him. “Are you coming, Hiei?”
Hiei shifted a little. “Kurama?” he asked slowly. “What is ice cream?”
Kurama did not laugh or reacted as others would have. Hiei was not familiar with most human food so it was no surprise for Hiei to ask. “It is a frozen treat that is usually a mix of cream, milk, and sugar though other ingredients can be added to create a new flavor as vanilla is the basic flavor.” An explosion of laughter came from the kitchen and Kurama tilted his head toward it. “Shall we go?”
&&&&
Hiei followed Kurama across the room. He hadn’t wanted to come but Kurama had a way that got him to agree and, not that he would admit it, he was curious about what ice cream was and now that he knew it was food, he wanted to see what it tasted like.
They entered the kitchen to see the humans at one of two counters. One had jars, bottles, and bowls on it while the other had containers. It was this counter that Hiei went to first and the first container said, ‘vanilla.’ He looked in and blinked at it.
It looks like snow, he thought. He saw the lid with some ice cream on it and he used a finger to scoop up some and he licked it.
His eyes went wide as a sweet but cold sensation touched his tongue. Whoa. It’s delicious. It looks like snow, but it tastes sweeter than snow. He proceeded down the line, sampling the flavors from their lids. Each one was cold and unique but some he didn’t like. The butter pecan was too crunchy due to the pecans and the coffee had a peculiar taste that he did not like. Aside from those, they all taste good. I think I’ll go with chocolate. He grabbed a bowl and used the scoop in the container to serve himself a large amount of ice cream.
“You made a choice?” Kurama said as he approached Hiei. His bowl had vanilla with other things on top of it. Hiei stared at it. “What?”
Kurama smiled. “Some people like to top their ice cream, creating what is called ice cream sundaes.” He pointed at his sundae. “I chose to put caramel topping, sprinkles, nuts, and whipped cream.”
“And that’s good?”
“I think so.”
“You’ve got to be kidding,” Yusuke called. “Caramel tastes terrible. I prefer chocolate or hot fudge.”
“Caramel is not terrible,” Keiko countered. “I love putting it on chocolate ice cream. Makes it taste like turtle ice cream.”
Hiei’s brow knit together in confusion. “Humans add turtles to ice cream?”
Kuwabara laughed loud and hard but Kurama just smiled. “No. It is a sundae that is usually ice cream with chocolate and caramel topping together.”
Hiei wandered over to the topping counter to look at his choices while everyone else went to eat in another room. He, again, sampled the lids of flavor topping: Chocolate, caramel, and strawberry. The chocolate was good and the caramel wasn’t bad, but he elected to try them another time.
He went past the nuts and eyed the sprinkles before shaking a little onto his ice cream. He tasted the whipped cream and put a small dollop on top before grabbing a spoon and joining the others.
&&&&
“Kurama, how come Hiei was acting weird in there?” Yusuke asked. “I mean, tasting the ice cream. It’s as if he’s never had ice cream.”
“He has not had ice cream before,” Kurama replied.
Yusuke almost choked on his chocolate chip cookie dough. “Never? That’s awful. He doesn’t know what he’s missing.”
“I do now,” Hiei said as he entered with his simple sundae. He sat down and began to eat. He mixed the whipped cream with the ice cream as he savored the sweet taste that greeted his tongue with each spoonful. I’ll say this for humans: They make delicious ice cream.
He watched the others enter the kitchen and return with another bowl of ice cream, some with the same flavor, and others with a different one. Yusuke, for example, came out with coffee ice cream while Kuwabara had a second bowl of butter pecan.
“All right,” Genkai said. “I think we’ve celebrated enough. Pick a flavor if you want one and let’s call it a night.”
“Dibs on the coffee,” Yusuke said immediately.
“I would like the vanilla if no one objects,” Kurama said.
“Help yourself,” Kuwabara said. “I want the butter pecan.”
“The chocolate is mine,” Hiei stated in a tone no one wanted to argue with.
“I would be happy to store it for you,” Kurama said as they left the compound.
“Sure. Just make sure no one else touches it.”
“I will let Mother know that I am storing it for a friend. I take it that you enjoyed your first taste of ice cream.”
“I didn’t enjoy it,” he stated. “I loved it and chocolate is my favorite.”
“You only sampled the others.”
“Yes, but I already know that I don’t care for butter pecan or coffee.”
“Perhaps you could have some of my vanilla another time.”
“Yes. Another time.” Hiei handed Kurama his container before flitting off, glad he had attended the social and looked forward to trying other ice cream flavors in the future.
