Hey! Well, thanks for taking a bit of your time to read this! This ismy first fic in english so sorry if it has any mistakes or anything (or if it's just overall crappy lol)!

I want to thank EchizenRyomaLover for beta-ing it and just being plain awesome!

I hope you all like it! :D

Dark bangs fell on the side of a pale face, brushing against high cheekbones as crimson eyes danced in amusement, thin lips set on a smirk. Sebastian felt his pride swell as he read the elegant writing of the board in front of him again.

'Hell's Chef'

After such a long time cooking for others, he finally made it.

He walked around again, his black leather shoes clicking silently against the floor as he took in his surroundings, waiting impatiently. It was actually his fault for arriving so early. Well, it was just a habit. And he wasn't willing to change it.

The sound of a door opening caught his attention and he turned around, saw the automatic metal doors open, with the 'H' and the 'C' separating as the red-headed girl he met before entered the room.

The girl was too clumsy and stuttered (and even talked!) like a 5-year-old, which made him wonder why the owners would hire such a…dense receptionist. But at least she had a nice and welcoming personality, which even helped to sooth Sebastian's anger after she dropped water on him.

"Mr. Sebastian! I hope you're feeling comfortable! Yes, I do!" She exclaimed happily, fixing her too large round glasses.

"I'm perfectly fine, Mey-Rin, thank you." He smiled charmingly at her, causing the receptionist's cheeks to become red.

"W-well, t-that's good, y-yes it is!" She coughed softly, trying to calm her nerves as the handsome young man stared at her. "Another contestant has arrived! You won't be alone anymore!"

Just as she finished speaking, the doors opened once again and Sebastian smirked once more as he saw exactly who he would be competing against for some time.

"Claude."

Golden eyes flicked up at his face at the sound of his deep voice and Sebastian's amusement only grew at the way the cold eyes seemed to narrow lightly at the sight before them.

"Michaelis," the slightly broader man greeted, approaching the other male.

They shook their hands and the red head could almost see the levels of testosterone in the room grow.

"I can take it from here, Mey-Rin. Thank you. Claude and I have already met," Sebastian said smoothly, throwing a small wink at the receptionist, who nodded with a deep flush on her face, mumbling an 'Excuse me' before leaving.

"Of all people, I didn't expect you to participate in one of these shows, Sebastian." Claude gently pushed his glasses up higher on the bridge of his nose, ignoring the stupid grin on his companion's face. The bloody bastard really never changed.

"What can I say? It was an interesting offer and it's good for my business. It would only bring more benefit to me," was the response Sebastian gave before sitting on one of the stools, fixing his black cardigan. "What about you?"

"You know me. I'm as ambitious as ever. Every opportunity is a good one."The golden-eyed male huffed lowly as he sat in front of the other.

"Sure thing."A low hum left Sebastian's throat as the words left his mouth, running his hand through his hair again.

"How have you been?"

"I beg your pardon?" Slightly confused red eyes looked up at bored golden ones, the question surprising him at least.

"I asked how you have been, Sebastian. Honestly, now you're deaf besides annoying as well?"

"Tsk, ill-mannered as always. I've been great, you bloody idiot. How about you?" Sebastian let the words come out as a growl, rolling his eyes at the cold glare he received from his words.

"I've been good. Cambridge does wonders to your life. You would know if you had gone there instead of-"

"Claude, please. We've already talked about that a long time ago. Let us not go back to the past, but look forward to the future. Which reminds me…" another smirk fell on his lips as he rested his head on his fist, staring at the other male with a cocky expression. "…that you should be worried about your future, since you'll be losing this to me on national television for all England to see."

Unable to hold it in, Claude let out a loud chuckle, removing his glasses to rub his temples; a shit-eating grin now on his face.

"We'll see about that, Michaelis."

After only one hour, all 14 contestants had arrived, each one sitting on a stool, looking around as they talked to other soon-to-be-opponents.

Yet, only one of them had attracted Sebastian's interest. A tall (taller than himself!), Indian man with short (save for two long braids going past his left shoulder), white hair, and a warm smile named Agni. From what the young cook learned (and tasted) over the years, Indian food was absolutely delicious, with exotic spices and a great scent. Besides Claude, it seemed that Agni would be Sebastian's biggest worry in here.

"M-may I have your attention, please?" Mey-Rin called, standing on a small aisle in front of the room, her voice catching the competitors' attention. The young woman could do nothing but try to keep calm as she flushed hotly with all of those eyes on her.

"S-seeing as everyone is already here, let us begin! Before you meet the judges, you'll introduce yourself to everyone, yes you will! And keep in mind that the judges are behind this door listening!" With a small gesture of her delicate hand, the symbol written 'HC' on it on the door on her back lit up.

"Who'd like to begin?"

The scene around Sebastian made him remember the old high school days. When his math teacher would ask the class something but no one dared to answer. It made him think about how everyone seemed shyer knowing someone important was listening to them.

"Go over there, Sebastian. You always liked being on the spotlight." Claude grumbled, glancing at the man who was now standing beside him.

"Shut it, Claude. Why don't you go? If I remember correctly, you always wanted a chance at the spotlight." He could almost feel the small vein in his head popping at the irritating remark his friend made. Really, he didn't like that much attention.

"I'll go." Came a soft voice from a far corner in the room and Sebastian glanced around, trying to figure out who had the balls to go up there first.

A slender guy, wearing a simple long sleeved black shirt, some dark skinny jeans and dress shoes, walked up to the small aisle, taking his place beside Mey-Rin, letting everyone have a good look on him.

The young man must have had terrible teenage years. His skin was a mess, probably from a bunch of pimples. And at first, Sebastian almost cringed, but held himself. The small guy must have gone through a lot of suffering from his odd skin. He didn't want anyone else to look at him like he was a walking free horror show.

But the red-eyed male couldn't get rid of the feeling he had seen the young lad before.

"Well… Ahn, I don't know if any of you heard of me before, but many call me Snake."

Oh! Now he remembered! He read about him in a food magazine. Apparently, his snake meat preparation was amazing, probably the best in all England, and he had several restaurants around England and Spain. Damn lucky bloody bastard.

"I am 22 and this is the first time I've ever been to this kind of competition. I'm very glad to have been called to participate on the show."

He shook hands with Mey-Rin and was given a quick hug, along with a whispered 'Good luck' before stepping out of the aisle, a bit of pink on his cheeks. He probably wasn't used to having so much contact with lasses.

"I'll go next." A rough rumble sounded from the middle of the small crowd, followed by a big hand rising quickly so everyone would see just who was about to present.

A tall, broad, blonde man stepped beside the young woman, a cigarette placed loosely on his lips. His outfit screamed that he probably dressed while he was in hurry, since he was only wearing jeans, a white T-shirt and sneakers.

"I'm Bardroy, but you can call me Bard. I'm 25 and I'm American, as you could have heard from my lack of accent." A nervous laugh. "I have a distinct way of preparing my dishes, so this is why I must've been called here…"

A few seconds passed before he mumbled something and shook hands with Mey-Rin, repeating the same process as Snake, sans the blush.

"I'll go now!"

"What the…" Sebastian mumbled as he rubbed his temples as a man clad in only red (red trousers, red shirt, red hair, red glasses…it wouldn't surprise Sebastian if he wore red underpants as well!) skipped to the aisle.

"Hello! My name is Grell and I won't be telling you my age, since a lady shouldn't do such things! My specialty is gourmet French food." The man giggled and ran a hand through his too long red hair, winking at Sebastian's direction.

Oh my dear Christ kill me, please…

Throughout the introductions, Sebastian did find some interesting people. Joker prepared mostly homemade food dishes in a five star restaurant in London and had a…distinct hairstyle, not to mention some kind of circus make-up, and his clothes seemed to be from a circus shop as well. Striped long-sleeved shirt, dark purple slacks that reached his ankles and combat boots isn't the most fashionable combination these days.

Fred Aberline was famous for his traditional Irish dishes (and even some based on Brotherhood Pre-Raphaelite artwork), even thought he was obviously English. A white button-up shirt could be seen from under his overly brownish overcoat, along with dark pants and old black dress shoes.

Arthur Wordsmith was a mess on two legs (just not more than Mey-Rin), having tripped on the stools just after arriving and stepped on at least everybody's feet afterwards. He had a cute face (Sebastian would give him that, but his oversized white dress shirt and old slacks did no good to his looks.), and had just come back to England after spending a few years in Scotland, learning about its cuisine so he could open his own local restaurants in Liverpool and Manchester.

Ronald was the youngest, being only 21 years old (and the most immature, honestly, he kept flirting with poor Mey-Rin while onstage), with a steady job as a chef at an American restaurant on the outskirts of Glasgow. It must be a really good one if people were willing to go to the outskirts just to eat the food. His sleeveless neon green shirt and skinny dark blue jeans along with running sneakers gave away that he was a very energetic and athletic kid.

Oh, and those beastly twins… Ash and Angela were 23 and made it clear they wanted to bring each other down before anyone else, to prove one was better than the other. Sebastian really didn't pay much attention to them. They didn't seem worth his interest.

Even more so after he was almost blinded by their too white clothes, she with a white dress and he with a white button-up shirt, pants, jacket, and dress shoes.

As Sebastian had previously suspected, Agni was an amazing chef, having already cooked for princes in India (and he was only Sebastian's age). He was very calm and his voice was deep and slightly rough, but with a gentle edge. But even though he was so famous, he was a humble man, proud of his culture, wearing his country's common clothing. It was a dark green…thing that the red-eyed male really didn't know what it was called. Perhaps a tunic?

And for the cook's surprise, another one of his…"acquaintances" was there. William, Will for short, was a bloody cheeky idiot who thought Sebastian was a demon because of his dishes and even called him such. Being the head chef of one of the most famous restaurants in all London gave him some reasons to think he was better than some other people (including Sebastian). His black suit mirrored his boring and cold personality (but, according to Grell, he was "delicious" with his cold looks) and the raven had to hold back from vomiting at the sight of the man.

There was Paula as well, a sweet young girl at 24 years old (and even she was older, she didn't escape Ronald's flirting), who made her name with desserts and healthy dishes. If Sebastian weren't gay, he'd probably date a girl like her. Alright, probably not, she was too naïve for his liking. But that didn't mean he wouldn't like her, like a younger sister. And he would punch Ronald if he said her dress was too long again. For Christ's sake, the thing didn't reach her knees! If it was any shorter, she'd be naked!

And now, just after Claude had finished, there was only man left to introduce himself. Well, he had to do it sometime…

He walked towards the small aisle and smiled at Mey-Rin, giving her a light pat on the shoulder, making her flush and stutter something he honestly didn't understand.

"Well, hello. I'm Sebastian, I'm 26 and I own one pastry shop at London, called 'The Devil's Taste'. I hope we can all get along well." His last few words came a bit quieter than the firsts, seeing as he didn't know what else to say.

He heard someone… Grell shouting "You're hot!" in the small crowd and he couldn't help but chuckle lowly. He did the same thing to Will and Claude. Seems like he liked the ones with dark hair, huh? Too bad, since none of the 3 were interested.

After giving the receptionist a quick hug, he went back to his place beside Claude, who was smirking at him.

"Lost your charm, Michaelis? I never saw you so embarrassed in front of a crowd, especially not one as small as this."

"Shut up."

"We-well, n-now that everyone knows each other, let us meet the judges!" It seemed that being hugged by the red-eyed male affected her more than he had thought.

She stepped aside as the doors behind her opened and everyone could hear someone walking towards the front of the aisle.

A young grinning man was now in front of everyone, letting the contestants' eyes roam over him.

"We have some interesting faces here! Well, as many of you may know, I am Prince Soma Asman Kadar, one of the 26 children of King Bendal, but I allow you all to call me Soma! I will be one of your judges during the competition! I wish good luck to all of you!"

Sebastian stared wide-eyed at the dark-haired male in front of him. That kid couldn't be more than 20! How the hell is he a judge?! He is a prince, but still!

Well, the young cook really had seen that boy on several food magazines and books… and on TV as well. Apparently, that kid was one of the greatest food critics in India and…perhaps Agni had already met him.

A quick look at the tall man was all Sebastian needed to confirm his suspicion. Agni seemed to be on the verge of tears and was about to collapse as if he just saw God himself.

As soon as the young prince was done, more steps could be heard along with a rather loud giggle.

"Not another of those red things…" Sebastian heard Claude mumble beside him and couldn't help but snicker at the joke. He couldn't agree more.

A blue-eyed, blonde young man ( who seemed older than the prince) wearing a very dark purple suit, white dress shirt, and seemingly expensive brown shoes was in front of their eyes, grinning like a child who had just won a candy as he eyed the competitors.

"Oh hell…"

Sebastian looked at Claude, confusion written on his face. The kid seemed to be a bit flamboyant, but not like Grell.

"What is it? He doesn't seem all that bad. He's actually a bit cute."

"I know that, Sebastian. You know the rules right?" Claude asked as he rubbed his temples, mumbling about an incoming headache.

"Yes, of course. I read them before coming. Why?"

"Is it against the rules if you already…shagged one of the judges in the past?"

Sebastian held in a loud laugh, choosing to just smirk instead. "You and him? My, my. When? I don't remember you telling me that."

"During university. And don't look at me like that. I was naïve and hormonal during those times. Also he was pretty…" He took a quick look back at the still grinning young man before swallowing. "He is pretty cute."

"Ah, I see. You always liked a good twink." He chuckled, seeing his friend's eyes narrowing at him.

"Like you were any better. You bloody little -"

"Oh, look at that. He's going to start speaking. Good for you, huh? To remember the old times." The red-eyed male teased, snickering quietly before turning his attention back to the blonde.

"Oh, how great! We do have some nice faces here! I am Alois Trancy! The one and only!" He giggled and Sebastian heard the golden-eyed male beside him take a sharp intake of breath.

"You may know me from my father's restaurants around England! I'm the one who runs most of them and make sure the chef's job is perfectly done!" The blonde exclaimed happily before taking his place beside Soma, standing as he seemed to wait for something.

After a few seconds, another young man walked towards the front of the aisle. And as he was visible enough, Sebastian let out a quiet gasp.

Deep royal blue eyes scanned the room, a look that demanded respect and emerged power.

"Welcome to all of you. I will be the head judge of this competition." A soft voice rumbled to Sebastian's ears.

The young man had short hair in some kind of dark cerulean color. He wore a dark blue tuxedo, with a white button up shirt underneath and black dress shoes that looked like Sebastian's; a green handkerchief was neatly folded on his breast pocket. The suit fit him perfectly, making the red-eyed male believe it was a tailored suit. It defined his thin waist and made his legs look longer than they probably were.

And the brunette cook couldn't help but stare amazed at the young judge. Especially at his plump lips.

"Is there a problem, Sebastian?" Claude snickered quietly beside him, elbowing his friend discreetly.

"He's too damn cute." The young cook grumbled, trying to ignore his friend's obvious smirk (probably of revenge; Sebastian did annoy him a lot) at him.

"My name is Ciel Phantomhive, son of Vincent Phantomhive. I bid you all good luck…for the first challenge starts now." A small smirk fell on his pink lips and Sebastian nearly groaned.

This was going to be a long competition.