Rise Kujikawa and the Red Tofu Salad
The tofu was bright red.
Souji wasn't a stranger to spicy food, after all his second favorite dish from Aiya was their Mapo Tofu special. And had Rise had actually made Mapo Tofu, maybe he wouldn't have been chilled to the bone by her tendency to pour an entire bottle of goddamn chili powder in every dish she made. But this was Hiyayakko, a cold and (at least as he understood it) mild-flavored dish. And it was certainly not meant to be as RED as it was.
"Well, Senpai, you did tell me to make it something light and cool, so I got this recipe off of Grandma." Rise said, smiling innocently as she bounced into the seat next to Souji. "I know it called for soy sauce or karashi mustard, but I think you deserved something special, so I went with something I read in a magazine instead!"
"A magazine, huh?" He asked, trying to keep the overwhelming horror in his voice from peeking out. "It's... Very nice of you. What did the magazine say?"
"It's this really great sauce, called something like Endorphin Rush. Doesn't that sound good?"
Souji thought about it for a second, holding a piece of the tofu up. Endorphin Rush... It didn't sound very familiar. Maybe it was a trendy new sauce with an English name to garner attention, or a foreign product that had recently been imported in. Either way, the chill in his bones mostly dissipated at the omission, after all it was probably a result of some artificial preservative or red dye that was tainting the tofu. And the hot, almost acrid smell that invaded his nostrils? Why, obviously it was just artificial spices, certainly not as hot as they smell, and he was totally just not trying to talk himself into actually trying the Hiyayakko, no he really wanted to eat th-
"Senpai?" Rise said, her voice a touch concerned.
"Yes?"
"You... You kind of need to put the food in your mouth." She paused for a moment. "You know, if you actually want to eat it."
"Oh." He stated. He had already fought his way through a lurid, pink burlesque house filled with blue lions and fire-spitting wrestlers, a magical and bitter stripper version of her that could writhe and twist away from any attack he could possibly make, and a crumbling, nihilistic shadow-Teddie not even five minutes after surviving her shadow, less than a week ago. More importantly, he had already witnessed Mystery Food X. And her omelette. And the bento boxes that both Chie and Yukiko had initially given him before he started giving them lessons, no matter how much Yukiko insisted she wanted.
The main point was a little bright red tofu shouldn't be so terrifying to dissuade him from at least giving Rise's cooking a shot.
He took a bite.
An hour later, after running his mouth under the sink's tap and downing an entire half-gallon of milk, he choked out the time he wanted Rise to come around. Really, besides the obvious problem, her Hiyayakko had a good texture and presentation. And she clearly knew what she was talking about with tofu, and ingredients in general for that matter.
He arranged a discussion on spices with her for the next week. By next week, maybe his taste buds would actually work again.