Chapter 1: Galala Crocodile Arc:

A/N: I just wanted to give this story a try. Let me know how you like it. I'm basing the story off of the manga with a few little twists of my own here and there. Also, just for fun, at the end of each chapter, I'll add the chapter amount from the manga at the end.


Night has fallen over a gourmet city, the lights of all the buildings and street lamps turned on, shining brightly in the darkness. In a building known as Hotel Gourmet, a five-star hotel, a young woman with smooth, light tan skin and long, black hair that was tied up in a ponytail with a red ribbon, was cleaning up her station in the Hotel's kitchen with a smile on her face and humming a cheery tune to herself. This young woman just so happens to be the head chef of the restaurant.

When the young woman had finished cleaning up her station she sighed with exhaustion, yet she kept the smile on her face. The young chef began to walk towards the changing room to change out of her chef's uniform when she was stopped by the general manager coming into the kitchen.

"Chef Kimiko, come quickly. We have a meeting with Director Umeda right now." The manager said as he quickly led the young woman to the hotel room 89069, where the director was waiting for them at the head of the table. The manager took a seat on the Director's right while Kimiko sat beside the manager.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice." Director Umeda said, looking at the young chef. The said woman only smiled at him.

"It's alright. What can we help you with Director?" Kimiko asked politely, her voice sweet and gentle.

"I've called this meeting with you to discuss the menu for the Gourmet Assembly. This time it's composed of not only leaders of other countries, but our company's president as well. The main dish is the steak of White-haired cinderella cattle, which, I'm afraid, won't cut it." Director Umeda said as he looked down at the menu paper in his hand.

"That's the highest quality of meat we can acquire here." Kimiko said, hoping she wasn't too rude.

"This is not the common folk's party at some Gourmet garden, you know. I want something with more impact. Impact, got it?" The director said. It was obvious he wouldn't be changing his mind on this matter.

"What would you have us change the main dish to?" The manager asked, trying to be as polite as possible.

"Can't you give me some Galala Crocodile meat?" The director asked with a completely serious look on his face. Both the manager and Kimiko were stunned at the request.

"Galala crocodile? The top ranked crocodile meat!?" Kimiko asked, surprised.

"B-but, it's an impossible request, Director. Not that it's impossible to cook, but impossible to obtain the meat." The manager tried to reason. The Director thought to himself for a moment.

"Hmm...You're right. Galala crocodile is capture level 5. Even if we called a tank in, we may not be able to finish it off. It looks like there's no other way. Even though it will cost a lot, we will make a request to a Bishoku-ya." The Director said.

"Who are you going to make the request out to?" Kimiko asked.

"Toriko." The Director said as Kimiko's face lit up. However, before she could get too excited, the Director added, "Chef Kimiko, I want you to go and make the deal with him. Also, I would like you to go with him and investigate the Galala croc." Kimiko was shocked. She was going to be the one to meet Toriko and go with him on the hunt for the Galala crocodile.

"Of course, sir." Kimiko said with a respectable bow before she was dismissed. The manager stayed behind to discuss other matters with the Director. Despite how excited Kimiko was, she couldn't help the yawn. It had been a long day and she was tired. When she walked out of the hotel, she called a cab to take her home. She expected tomorrow was going to be an even longer day than this one. About halfway home, Kimiko realized that she had forgotten to change out of her Chef's uniform. The young woman only sighed. There was nothing she could do about it now.


When Kimiko got back to her house, which was just a simple studio apartment, she was dead tired and looked ready to collapse. Her apartment was small, but she didn't really have too many things. She was living alone too, so she figured a smaller apartment was better and cheaper. The apartment had brown tile floors with tan colored walls. As she walked into the apartment, a twin bed with black and red colored blankets and pillow were on her left against the wall. On the opposite wall was a TV stand with a flat screen. There were a bunch of movies in the cabinets underneath the TV stand. Next to that was a bookshelf filled with different kinds of books. Some of them were even cookbooks. The kitchen was straight ahead with everything that Kimiko needed.

The young chef yawned as she closed her front door behind her, locking it. She placed her keys down beside the TV before she walked through a door beside the kitchen, which happened to lead to a closet and another door within the walk in closet connected to the bathroom. Kimiko dug through her dresser, picking out a pair of green pajama shorts and a white tank top. She walked into her bathroom to change, throwing her Chef's uniform into the hamper, and brushing her teeth. Once she was done, Kimiko made her way to her bed, turning off the lights as she went. The young chef didn't bother setting her alarm, since she didn't have work tomorrow. The only thing she had to do was find Toriko. She figured she could sleep in for a little bit. Only half an hour passed before Kimiko was passed out, curled up beneath the covers. The next morning Kimiko was startled awake by loud knocking and shouting at her through the front door.

"Kimiko! Open the door! We need to leave now!" A familiar voice called from the other side. The young woman groaned as she sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Kimiko was forced to get out of bed quickly because of the knocking. She didn't want the neighbors to be mad at her. She quickly unlocked the door, and letting a man wearing a black suit and sunglasses into her apartment.

"Morning, Johannes." She said softly with a yawn. She was slightly annoyed with the wake up call, but she didn't let it show.

"Hurry up and get dressed. We need to go meet Toriko." Johannes said sternly. Kimiko sighed and nodded, walking into her closet, closing the door behind her so she could change. From the clothes hanging up, Kimiko chose a black formal suit. She wasn't one for skirts or heels, so she had bought the suit in the men's section that fit her perfectly. She could even tie a tie correctly. Walking into the bathroom, the young woman quickly brushed her hair before putting it up in a bun. Once she was finished dressing, the young chef walking back out into the main area, where Johannes was waiting.

"I'll assume I won't have time to make breakfast." Kimiko said, grabbing her house keys before she followed the man out the door.

"I figured you wouldn't be awake when I got here, so I took the liberty of ordering breakfast for you." Johannes said as Kimiko locked her apartment before climbing into a black vehicle.

"That's very kind of you, Johannes." Kimiko said with a smile as the said man closed the door for her before getting into the driver's seat. The ride to their destination was spent in comfortable silence despite the drive being about an hour long. The young chef stared out the car window, watching as the city disappeared behind them only to be replaced with a large forest. Once Johannes pulled the car over to the side of the road, Kimiko quickly climbed out, looking up at the trees.

"Toriko is down that way. I'll wait here by the car when your done." Johannes said as he pointed in the direction she needed to go. The young chef sighed before she started walking through the thick bushes.

"Had I known this is where he'd be, I would have worn more comfortable clothing." Kimiko said with a sigh, pushing bushes out of her way. Her hands were scraped on the way up, but she didn't mind. Cuts on her hands were even worse when she wasn't paying attention and she held a knife in her hand. It was a very bad combination and she had to learn that the hard way.

The young woman quickly shook her head to clear her thoughts as she walked past one last bush to reach a cliff overlooking a body of water. Sitting at the edge of the cliff was the man she had been looking for with a metal rod in his hand attached to some thick cables, which in turn were tied around a giant bug floating in the water below.

'That's one heck of a fishing rod.' The young woman thought to herself as she approached the man. She didn't get too close, not wanting to get in his way. She stood silently, trying to think of a way to introduce herself, but she also didn't want to disturb him either. However, before she could say a word, something tugged at the end of his line. The blue haired man stood up with an excited grin.

"Here it is!" The man said as he grabbed his makeshift fishing rod. Kimiko watched as the man pulled the rod with ease, revealing his catch of the day.

'A pincher fish...' The young chef thought to herself, amazed at the sight before her. However, as the fish was launched into the air, another flying creature swooped in to steal the catch.

"Oh, no you don't! That's mine!" Toriko yelled as he slammed the fishing rod towards the ground, slamming both the fish and the bird to the ground, successfully killing both and kicking up a lot of dust in the process

"T-that's amazing..." Kimiko muttered under her breath as the dust began to clear.

"I got the five-tailed great hawk too. Two birds with one stone, isn't it?" Toriko said with a laugh before he finally noticed the young woman standing nearby.

"Who're you?" The man asked.

"My name is Kimiko. I've come on the behalf of the IGO to request your assistance in capturing an ingredient for a Gourmet party." Kimiko said politely with a smile. She noticed that Toriko wasn't really interesting with anything she was saying at the moment, so she decided to just get right to the point. "We want you to capture a Galala crocodile." Kimiko said. That seemed to get his attention, seeing how he turned to look at her so fast.

"A Galala crocodile!?" Toriko asked surprised and perhaps a bit excited. Kimiko could practically see the drool coming out of Toriko's mouth as he thought about the meat.

"Will you accept?" Kimiko asked. The blue-haired man turned to her with a grin on his face before he turned back around to pick of his fishing rod.

"A Galala crocodile will break this in half like a pair of disposable wooden chopsticks. Do you understand that capturing it will not be easy?" Toriko asked the young woman, who in turn nodded.

"I suspected as much." Kimiko replied.

"Good. Go tell your boss, I'll capture it alive." Toriko said. Kimiko clapped her hands together with a smile.

"Thank you for accepting the request, Toriko-san." Kimiko said happily as she gave a slight bow.

"Alright! Now I'm going to fish for another one!" Toriko said, ignoring Kimiko's last statement as he grabbed his fishing pole and turned back to the edge of the cliff. The young chef stared at him for a moment before she glance at his earlier catch.

"What about your catch from before? The Pincher fish and the five-tailed great hawk?" Kimiko asked.

"Those two are for dessert. I'm fishing for the main. Swamp shark." Toriko said, throwing a grin over his shoulder.

"T-that's quite the appetite..." Kimiko said before she was offered a small part of Toriko's fishing pole.

"Want to give it a go?" Toriko asked before he added, "What was your name again?"

"I would love to try. And my name is Kimiko." The young chef said as she took the offered piece of metal.

"We'll depart tomorrow." Toriko said mostly to himself, but Kimiko heard him as she took a seat beside him, fixing the thick wire around the metal, making sure it wouldn't come loose.

"I feel like I'm forgetting something, but I can't remember what..." Kimiko said as she made a list in her head of the things she might have forgotten. It was at that moment when her phone started ringing. She looked at the caller ID and saw that Johannes was the one calling. "I completely forgot about him..." Kimiko said softly as she answered the phone.

"Kimiko! If you don't hurry up, you'll be walking home!" Johannes yelled through the phone. The young chef panicked as she set the metal rod down on the ground and started running down the path she came.

"Please don't leave me behind! I'm on my way now!" Kimiko said before turning back to Toriko with a bow. "Thank you again." She said before running down the path. When she made it back to the car, she was practically out of breath. Johannes was waiting for her, his arms crossed over his chest as he leaned against the driver door.

"Well? Did he accept?" Johannes asked as he opened the back door for the young woman, who gave him a smile.

"Yes, he did. He's leaving tomorrow." Kimiko said with a nod before the man closed the door for her. The ride back to the city was just as silent as before, However, instead of going back to her house, Johannes dropped the young woman off at the hotel, so she could report back to her manager. After reporting back, Kimiko was given the rest of the day off, so she could prepare for the trip.


Kimiko was sitting on her bed, staring down at the bag she was going to use. She had no idea what she was going to need on this hunt. However, her knives were the one thing she wasn't going anywhere without and a bowl just in case. She also decided to pack a first aid kit along with an extra set of clothing. While she was at it, the young chef also packed a lot of snacks for herself as well. She did not plan on sharing with Toriko, but you never know with him. The young chef was still amazed at how much that man could eat. It made her wonder if he had more than one stomach or just a really fast metabolism.

Now that she was done packing, she set her pack down beside the front door before going into her closet to pick out the clothes she'd be wearing tomorrow. She grabbed a pair of black hiking boots and white socks, putting them out in the main area beside the door with her pack. Looking through her drawers, she picked out a pair of dark blue shorts with a light green tank top to go with it. She placed that pile on top of her dresser, so she wouldn't forget in the morning.

It almost noon when she finished with everything and now she had no idea what to do. She couldn't sleep the rest of the day, otherwise she's be too tired in the morning. With a sigh, the young chef figured she'd read a book to pass the time. The young chef walked over to the bookshelf, picking out a random book before going to sit on her bed. She even turned her TV on just to have a little noise in the small apartment.

The afternoon passed slowly for the young woman, despite busying herself with other things to do. However, when she started cooking dinner for herself, time seemed to pass her by. She enjoyed cooking because it gave endless possibilities of what kind of things to make with different ingredients. She loved to experiment when she had the time, even if some of the things she cooked weren't so great. That's to be expected when experimenting with different combinations of food.

By the time Kimiko finished cooking her dinner and cleaning up the mess she had made, it was already dark out. She figured she should get to bed soon. Tomorrow was going to be a long day. The young chef finished her food before washing her plate and drying it off before putting it away. Once that was done, the young woman made her way into the bathroom. She planned on taking a shower before going to bed. Especially after all that dirt got into her hair, courtesy of Toriko. She didn't blame him though, he didn't realize she was there.

After her quick shower, she applied moisturizing lotion to her skin before she got dressed and dried her hair. She didn't own a hair dryer because she thought it was a waste of power. Especially since drying her hair with a towel has the same affect. Although, the towel does tangle her hair, but she could easily brush them out. She didn't even own a curling iron. If she wanted curls, she'd put her hair in a braid the night before and take it out the next morning.

Unlike most girls, she didn't care much for how her hair or clothes looked, but she did care how her skin looked. She'd rather have smooth skin than dry skin. Once her hair was dry, Kimiko hung up her towel before making her way into the main room, not bothering to brush her hair. She could brush it in the morning. Turning off all the lights, the young woman made her way to her bed, crawling under the covers and wrapping it around herself. She was fast asleep within the hour.


The next morning, Kimiko was startle awake when her alarm clock started screaming at her. The young woman sighed as she reached over to turn her clock off before she got out of bed with a stretch and a yawn. She slowly made her way to the kitchen, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She didn't feel like making anything, so she just grabbed a simple snack before heading to the bathroom.

Finishing her snack quickly, she brushed her teeth and her hair before she put her hair up in a ponytail with a ribbon that looked like small bunny ears in the end. She grabbed the pile of clothes from her dresser before quickly changing, throwing her other clothes into the hamper. Almost immediately after she had changed, there was a knock on her front door. The young woman could only guess who it was. She quickly made her way to the front door, not wanting the person to start pounding on her door. The young chef unlocked her door, letting Johannes into her apartment before she went to get her shoes on.

"Looks like your already to go." Johannes observed as he stood in the doorway, waiting for the young woman.

"Of course. I don't want a repeat of yesterday." Kimiko replied as she grabbed her backpack before she followed Johannes out to the car. Kimiko quickly climbed into the car, throwing her backpack into the seat beside her as the man in black closed the door for her.

"I hope you had time to eat." Johannes said, climbing into the driver's seat before driving away from the apartment complex.

"Don't worry. I ate enough to tide me over for now." Kimiko replied with a smile. The car grew silent as the young woman stared out her window at the passing building, cars, and people. She wondered what kind of adventure today would be. She could only hope she could keep up with Toriko. When the car arrived at the port, Kimiko quickly climbed out of the car, looking around for Toriko. She easily spotted the blue-haired man heading towards a boat. The young chef thanked Johannes for the ride before running over to Toriko, who looked surprised to see her.

"You're coming too, Kimiko?" Toriko asked with a hint of surprise in his voice. Kimiko smiled at him and nodded.

"I was ordered by my boss to investigate the biological behavior of the Galala croc. Sorry for the inconvenience." Kimiko apologized.

"Do you know where we're going?" Toriko asked.

"Yes. The Baron marsh. It's one of those specified dangerous zones." Kimiko replied as she followed after the blue-haired man towards the boat.

"Impressive. Looks like you've written your last will, huh?" Toriko said jokingly.

"Who says I'm going to die? I still have things to do before that ever happens." Kimiko replied with a grin. Toriko only grinned back at the young woman before he approached the boat's owner. A man with tan skin, short black hair and sunglasses.

"What's up, Tom?" Toriko greeted before he added, "Sorry for troubling you as always."

"I'm not always free to pull up my ship any given minutes." Tom replied as he glanced back at the man. Toriko grinned at him as he tossed his bag into the boat.

"How's your wife?" Toriko asked.

"She's in a fume since the Gourmet tax was raised again..." Tom said as Toriko climbed into the boat.

"That's kind of scary." Toriko replied as Kimiko followed onto the boat after him. She leaned against the railing opposite of Toriko, setting her bag down at her feet.

"I can go as far as the south shore of the Baron Islets, cool?" Tom asked, looking over his shoulder at Toriko.

"That's good enough. Oh, yeah. We've got a customer here." Toriko said before he pointed over at Kimiko.

"It's nice to meet you." Kimiko said, bowing her head respectfully as Tom got the boat started. Tom nodded his head back at the young woman.

"Right back at ya. Name's Tom." The tanned man said before he pulled out into the harbor.

"Kimiko." The young woman replied as she sat on the railing, leaning back a little bit.

"A pretty name for a pretty lady." Tom said with a grin as he started speeding the boat up once they were out of the harbor.

"You already have a wife, Tom." Toriko said as he sat down, digging through his bag he brought, Kimiko laughing in the background before Toriko turned to her. "You know, you're braver than most woman." Toriko added as he took out a rainbow colored fish and started eating it.

"That's because I'm not like most women. I have a mind of my own." Kimiko said with a smile on her face as both Tom and Toriko started laughing.

"You're definitely something else, that's for sure." Tom said with a laugh.

"By the way, Kimiko. Which restaurant do you work at? In a deluxe hotel? An exclusive restaurant?" Toriko asked, his mouth full of fish. Kimiko stared at him for a moment.

"I do, but how did you know that? I don't recall telling you anything about me. It's true that I'm a chef though." Kimiko said, surprise written in her eyes.

"The scent of various ingredients is coming from your hands. It's an odor that doesn't stay unless you touch raw materials everyday. Besides I can smell oil and spices too." Toriko explained as he finished with the rainbow colored fish he had.

"I see. So, you could tell what kind of restaurant I worked at because of the smell, right?" Kimiko asked, curiously. She was amazed he could smell anything from her hands.

"Toriko's nose is better than a police dog." Tom said with an amused grin on his face. Kimiko turned to look at Toriko again as he took out a giant rice ball from his bag.

"Where do you work at?" Toriko asked with another mouthful. At this point, Kimiko had to wonder if this man ever stopped eating.

"Hotel Gourmet. I'm the head chef there." Kimiko said with a proud smile. She loved her job and worked hard to get where she was today despite all the people that worked against her.

"That's a five-star hotel! Hey, treat me to a full course sometime! Alright?" Toriko asked excitedly.

"Sure. Why not?" Kimiko said with a smile before her smile turned into a frown when she saw an island up ahead. "It looks so depressing..." Kimiko muttered to herself before she finally noticed all the rocks surrounding the island.

"It's called the Baron fence. It's as if they prevent intruders from entering the island. It doesn't matter whether or not its high or low tide, there's only one path through the rocks." Toriko explained, when he caught the young woman staring at the surrounding rocks.

"Hold on tight!" Tom yelled before the boat lurched to the side. Kimiko quickly grabbed a hold of the railing before she could go flying out of the boat, holding on as tight as she could. She looked up at Toriko and was amazed he could stand with so much shaking. She also took notice of the strange creatures standing on the rocks.

"What are those!?" Kimiko asked, trying to be louder than the waves.

"Friday Monkeys. Don't worry. They won't attack." Toriko said as he narrowed his eyes at the creatures, wondering why they were standing on the rocks. Eventually, the boat finally came to a stop, letting Kimiko to stand again.

"Here we are. This is the only entry into the Baron Islets. The gate of demons. It's a mangrove channel." Tom said as he brought the boat to a complete stop in front of the entrance.

"Hey Tom, can you give us a raft?" Toriko asked.

"You don't want me to take you all the way in?" Tom asked confused.

"The air of the island is a bit strange." Toriko said and Tom seemed to understand, seeing how he moved to grab a raft. Once the raft was ready to go, Toriko was the first to climb in with Kimiko climbing into the small boat after him. As Toriko paddled, Kimiko drifted off into her own thoughts, thinking back to the conversation she had with the Director yesterday.

'A three hundred year old Galala croc, huh? What a sight that would be...' Kimiko thought to herself before she was brought back to reality by Toriko's voice calling her name.

"-miko. Kimiko!." Toriko basically shouted at her, startling her.

"Sorry. Lost in thought." Kimiko apologized before she realized that they had made it to land already. She quickly climbed out of the raft, so Toriko could pull in further up onto the sand.

"What were you thinking about?" Toriko asked, curiously before a roar sounded from farther away. Kimiko completely ignored it.

"I remembered the conversation I had with the Director. Apparently, there's a Galala crocodile that has lived for three hundred years." Kimiko replied. That piece of information seemed to have gotten Toriko's attention.

"What would that taste like? A Galala Gator that lived three hundred years...The taste of that ripe meat should be excellent..I wanna devour it.." Toriko said as he started drooling at the thought before a large creature jumped out at them. Kimiko had no idea what was going on. One moment, the creature was ready to devour them and the next it was running away like a scared kitten. "Something is wrong after all." Toriko said.

"What do you mean?" Kimiko asked, walking over to him.

"Baron Tigers live deep in the marshland and the Friday monkeys are such cowards that they live in cave their whole lives." Toriko explained.

"Are you saying something is pushing them out of their habitats?" Kimiko asked, starting to feel bad for the creatures of this island.

"It's possible they were driven out by the Galala croc." Toriko said, staring through the trees in front of him. "Looks like I'll finally get to use knife and fork again." Toriko muttered to himself.


The sun was beginning to set on the Baron Islets as Kimiko silently following behind Toriko, who walked ahead with a purpose. Kimiko, on the other hand, was looking around at her surroundings, unaware of Toriko walking further ahead, to the point he was almost out of sight. The young woman suddenly stopped in her tracks when the bush beside her started rustling. A serpent frog popped out of the bushes with a 'Geroo'. All Kimiko could do was stare at the creature and it stared back at her. At this point, Toriko had noticed she wasn't following him anymore and he turned around to see her having a staring contest with a serpent frog.

"Cool! You found a serpent frog. I heard serpent frog livers are real delicacies." Toriko said as he reached down and killed the creature. At that moment, something fell from the trees, landing on Kimiko's shoulder.

"No hitchhikers allowed." The young chef said as she reached over to grab the small creature, but Toriko stopped her.

"It's a Baron leech. Don't pull it off. It'll only make a bigger wound." The blue-haired man said as he stepped towards her with some leaves in his hands. He crushed the leaves in his hand, letting a drop of its juice land on the leech. The said creature quickly fell from her shoulder, landing on the ground.

"What's that?" Kimiko asked as she dug through her backpack to find a bandage for the small wound on her shoulder that wouldn't stop bleeding.

"Leaves from the mangrove trees. The tree roots suck up the seawater and the salt is absorbed into the leaves. The leeches hate it when you put salt on them." Toriko explained before he grabbed the serpent frog and started walking away. The young chef followed close behind. The two of them made it to a clearing with part of the swamp next to the land. Kimiko was given the chance to look up at the sky, only to see many different kinds of beast birds.

"Are those beast birds the reason we came by boat?" Kimiko asked.

"Yeah. Helicopters can't get anywhere near since they control the sky." Toriko explained before he stopped walking and turned to Kimiko before he added, "It's almost dark. Let's stop here for today."

"We're not going into the marsh?" Kimiko asked.

"We'll go tomorrow. Galala Crocs are nocturnal. It's better to hunt it when it's sluggish in the noon." Toriko explained as he started setting up camp for the night. The young woman helped set up by collecting some firewood and starting the fire as Toriko tried scaring away whatever beast was nearby. Kimiko placed the serpent frog on a stick and started slowly roasting in over the fire. Once it was done, she split it in half, giving part of it to Toriko and kept the other half for herself.

"This is tasty! Serpent frog isn't bad at all!" Toriko said as he took a huge bit out of his food. Kimiko barely paid attention to him as she replaced the bandage on her shoulder.

"The bleeding still hasn't stopped..." Kimiko stated.

"The leeches gives out a substance called hirudine when they suck blood. It's a substance that prevents the blood from clotting. It'll stop eventually." Toriko said as he took another bite.

"When's eventually?" Kimiko muttered to herself. Kimiko was quick to notice the beasts that had been scared off before had return, but they kept their distance from the two. Kimiko couldn't help, but notice how thin they all looked.

"Why do these beasts looks so thin?" The young woman asked.

"There's a food shortage on this island full of provisions. They're probably waiting for the leftovers." Toriko said before he took a drink of some wine he had brought with him. Kimiko looked down at her food, deep in thought before she suddenly grabbed her backpack, digging through it and taking out all the snacks she had brought with her. She didn't realize she had brought so much, but she didn't mind since she was going to share it all. The young woman turned her body around to face all the beasts, taking out her one of her knives as she cut up her half of the serpent frog into portions, putting them in a bowl she had brought with her along with all the snacks. She stood up before she walked towards the beasts, surprising Toriko.

"Wait! What are you doing!?" Toriko asked, getting into a fighting stance in case the need should arise.

"I can't bring myself to eat knowing these creatures are going hungry." Kimiko replied as she slowly approached one of the creatures, holding a piece of food out for it in the palm of her hand. At first, the beast was cautious, but eventually it took the offered piece of food. Once one of the beasts ate, the other beast came over to her as she fed each and every one. There weren't many beasts in the area, so Kimiko had enough food to satisfy the creatures, who left the clearing a little happier. To say Toriko was amazed was an understatement. The blue-haired man has never seen anyone do what Kimiko had done ever before.

"You took a big risk there." Toriko said as he finally relaxed when the young chef returned to her seat.

"I know, but I sort of grew up around different kinds of beasts because of my parents. However, none of the beasts had a capture level higher than one." Kimiko said with a smile as she looked up at the darkened sky. Toriko said nothing for the longest time before he finally said something after a minute or two.

"There's a possibility the Galala croc will ravage everything on the island. 200,000 species of animals are facing a crisis because of that." Toriko explained, finishing off his small bottle of wine.

"Galala crocs are also adapted to the ocean. Once they finish off this island, what's stopping it from going to the next?" Kimiko stated as she looked back at Toriko, who was suddenly alert, looking around the area. The young chef fell silent as she looked around with him. All of a sudden, a giant creature burst out of the water, causing Toriko and Kimiko to shoot out of their seats.

"What is this thing again?" Toriko asked.

"It's a swamp snake, Toriko-san. Capture level five. It's said even the Galala croc can't beat it in the swamp and it's extremely hard to find." Kimiko replied as she slowly backed away. However, before Toriko could do anything, the swamp snake gave one final cry before it collapsed onto the ground, dead.

"What is this wound?" Toriko asked, looking at a huge bite wound on the creature. "The size of the jaw is astonishing." Toriko added, before he took notice of all the leeches that were stuck to the swamp snake.

"The Galala croc has been tracking the swamp snake by the scent of blood." Toriko said before a noise behind Kimiko caused her to turn around. She came face to face with the biggest creature she had ever seen in a long time. The young woman couldn't even call out to Toriko. "The moment we entered the islands, we've been set as targets. Isn't that so, Galala Crocodile?" Toriko continued as he turned around to face the beast. Before Toriko could say anything more, the beast roared, spraying Kimiko with Baron leeches that were in it's mouth. At that point, Kimiko quickly moved away, choosing to stand off to the side far away. She grabbed her backpack, taking out a small container of salt and some bandages. As Toriko got ready to fight, Kimiko removed the leeches that had attached to her cheek, both her shoulders, and her legs. Once they were off, she placed bandages on the wounds. The young woman could feel her heart pounding rapidly. She tried calming her heart rate quickly as she looked up to watch the battle between human and beast.

The Galala croc launched itself at the blue-haired man, who dodged off to the side before he punched the creature in the throat. The creature rolled to the side from the force of the punch before the creature swung its tail around hitting Toriko in the side. However, Toriko took hold of the beast's tail before throwing the creature that probably weighed a ton over his shoulder and a good distance away. Kimiko was amazed at the sight before her. She didn't know anyone who was as strong as Toriko.

"Hey, Kimiko!" Toriko called back to her, startling her from her thoughts.

"Y-yeah!?" Kimiko asked.

"Did the bleeding stop from where the leech bit you!?" Toriko asked.

"No. I received new wounds when the Galala croc roared. It sprayed leeches at me." Kimiko replied.

"I just remembered that the Baron leech is a parasitic leech! They live on larger organisms. If you got your blood sucked by these things, then you won't stop bleeding for half a day." Toriko called back to the young woman as he pulled the leeched off of him.

"I see. The Galala croc is using the leeches to track it's prey that's be bitten by them. And it's raising some in it's mouth!" Kimiko called out to Toriko, who faced the beast again.

"Kimiko, is beating the heck out of it, all right?" Toriko asked.

"Be my guest." Kimiko said as she remembered all the starving animals on the island. All of it was caused by this one beast. At this moment, Kimiko was grateful to the Director and his change of plans. When Toriko finally entered battle mode, Kimiko felt the overwhelming power, but she wasn't afraid like she thought she'd be. Unfortunately, the Galala croc wasn't afraid either. Kimiko figured after living three hundred years, it would forget about life threatening dangers since it lived at the top of the food chain. The giant beast lunged at Toriko again, however this time, Toriko used fork to hold down its neck before he used knife to cut the crocs head off, ending the battle before it had a chance to start. Toriko folded his hand together, bowing his head.

"Thanks for this bounty." Toriko said to no one in particular before he turned to Kimiko with a grin and a little bit of drool coming out of the corner of his mouth. "Kimiko! Mission accomplished! Come on, let's eat!" Toriko called out to her. The young woman smiled and gave a soft sigh as she walked over to the blue-haired man, who started preparing the Galala crocodile meat so they could cook it. As the man did that, Kimiko looked for firewood to restart their fire. A few minutes later, the meat was cooking over the fire as Toriko drooled at the smell.

"Just remember, I still need to take some of this back with me for the Gourmet party." Kimiko said, looking around, wondering is the other beasts were going to come back.

"Don't worry. I'll leave some for your party. It's not like we can carry it all back. Look it's done!" Toriko said excitedly as he sliced off a piece of meat. "You should have some too." Toriko added as he also handed her a slice. It was at that moment when Kimiko's stomach rumbled loudly. The young woman blushed with embarrassment while Toriko laughed, handing her the slice. The young chef took the offered slice with a soft 'Thank you' before she took a small bite while Toriko shoved the whole thing in his mouth.

"It's so delicious!" Kimiko said with a smile. Toriko agreed with her as he started roasting more. Before she continued eating, Kimiko made sure wrap up some of the meat in plastic wrap, placing the meat in her bag. She was lucky enough to have a bag big enough to hold enough meat that was needed. The rest of the meat, Toriko could eat.

"The meat is good, but not good enough to get into my full course." Toriko said, which peaked Kimiko's interest.

"Full course?" The young chef asked.

"It's my full course menu of life." Toriko simply said before he added, "Although, I haven't decided on anything yet." The rest of the time was quite as they continued to eat. Kimiko only ate a couple slices of the meat, leaving the rest for Toriko. After the young chef had her fill, she had fallen fast asleep on the ground, her bag tucked in her arms against her chest. The blue-haired Bishoku-ya glanced at the young woman as he continued to eat what was left of the Galala croc meat.

'That girl is surprising. I don't think I've ever met anyone like her, who'd be willing to feed dangerous beast just because they felt bad for them.' Toriko thought to himself before he started stuffing himself again.


When Kimiko woke up the next morning, she was shocked. Toriko had eaten every piece of Galala croc that was left, leaving the bones behind. Thankfully, he didn't go through her bag. She could only sigh as he stood up with a satisfied grin on his face.

"Let's get out of here. No reason to be here any longer." Toriko said as he grabbed his own backpack before he started walking in the same direction they had come. Kimiko quickly replaced her bandages before she ran to catch up with the blue-haired man.

"Toriko, can I ask you something?" The young chef asked.

"Sure." Toriko simply replied.

"If you go on another adventure like this, would it be okay if I tagged along?" The young chef asked with a curious smile.

"As long as you're okay with the danger." Toriko said. Kimiko only nodded her head with a smile. The rest of the way back was either spent in comfortable silence or questions from the young woman directed at Toriko. Most of the questions were about his other adventures he had and what kind of creatures he caught. The questions seemed to help pass the time away, seeing how they arrived back at the beach with the raft just a little before dark.

"Is Tom-san still going to be waiting for us?" Kimiko asked curiously, watching Toriko push the raft back into the water. Toriko climbed into the raft with Kimiko right after him, paddling back to the entrance.

"If he's not, I could call him or paddle all the way back to the port." Toriko jokes. Thankfully, when they made it back to the entrance, Tom was waiting for them. The ship owner waved at them before he helped Kimiko onto the boat. Toriko climbed into the boat after her, dragging the raft with him. The two men deflated it before Tom put it away.

"What happened to you, Kimiko-chan?" Tom asked, as he maneuvered the boat around, so they could get out of the maze of rocks before he took off at full speed on the open ocean.

"A few leeches fell on me." Kimiko said with a sheepish smile. After that short conversation, Kimiko made a quick phone call to Johannes, telling him that she'd be back at the port in about 30 minutes with some Galala crocodile meat. The remaining time spent on the boat involved Kimiko keeping the meat away from Toriko, which was no easy feat.


Once they had arrived at the port, Kimiko immediately jumped off the boat to get away from the blue-haired man, her bag tucked in her arms tightly. She waved good-bye to both men before she ran over to a familiar car. The young chef had to make a stop at the restaurant before she was able to go home, take a quick shower, find something to eat, and finally go to bed. It had been a long trip, but she was grateful to have been given that chance and she was excited about the next adventures she imagined she'd be going on in the future.


ONLY CHAPTER 1 WAS USED.