Shokugeki no Megami Tenei
Chpater 2
The Midnight Oven
The silver haired teen... Yu Narukami has spent the last two weeks since his fateful encounter with Tōtsuki Academy director Senzaemon Nakiri, and in that Yu has reviewed as many books on the Academy's recommended reading list that he could. That's right... he's decided to accept the director's offer for a chance at admittance. Right now he's fast alseep in his bed, but once he's aroused from the unconscious realm he'll have to face the trial of the Academy's exam proctors.
"Fog..." Yu mumbles.
Not unlike his first dream in Inaba, Yu finds himself standing in an unknown space filled with near snow white fog, the same sword he had in that dream is in his hand, and this time he was wearing the uniform of his old school... Yasogami high.
"Another reminder of that case in the form of a dream... why?" Yu mumbled as he got on his knees in order to examine the floor around him.
Yu does this for his own safety you see... unlike the dream of a year ago he can't see the ground in front of him very well. Because of this he wouldn't want to accidentally fall to his death in his own dream, however there's one thing he finds almost instantly.
"Tile... kitchen tile at that." Yu thought.
It wasn't just any kitchen tile... it was the kitchen tile that decorated the floor of his very own home.
"Do you like it? I personally find the contrast of what's new and what's familiar to you to be just perfect." said a mysteriously masculine voice.
Whoever... or whatever this voice belonged to wasn't actually speaking that lout, however the voice still reverberated through this space like speakers set to max. As for the way the voice sounded itself... it was deep yet filled with confidence like a chess-master style anime villain. Inzanami may have just put words in his head, but Yu's smart enough to not assume he's even talking to a guy masculinity aside.
"Where are you?!" Yu yelled as he looked aroundthis space whilst maintaining a defensive.
"How rude... and after all the effort I went through to make things comfortable." the voice said once again easily reverberating throughout this space.
Without warning there was silence in this space... silence so absolute that Yu couldn't hear the sound of lungs pumping air or his beating heart. This absolute silence continued for a few more seconds until this mysterious voice decided to make its presence known once more.
"Besides... you already know who I am... even if you haven't realized it yet." the voice said in a whisper.
Yu instantly realized that this wasn't a whisper that was reverberating through this space... this was a whisper being spoken directly into his ear from behind.
"What do you want?" Yu asks as he jumps away while turning his eyes towards the source of this voice.
The wielder of the Fool Arcana saw no overtly complicated figure for me to describe... part of the white fog transformed into a collection of semi-dark gray fog in the rough shape of a person.
"What you see before you isn't my real body of course, but... she came before you a second time in a manner similar to this did she not? Still... I thought it only fair that I give you something to focus on while we chat." the voice said as the rough silhouette he created examined the back of its hands like he could actually see it.
Yu initially thought that these reminders of his second encounter with the goddess Izanami were simply a way to get his attention, but no... the voice just confirmed that it's blatantly trying to remind Yu of her.
"You're rather blunt for a god. The others were a lot more enigmatic and mysterious." Yu points out as he directs his katana towards the silhouette.
"Ha... what makes you so sure I'm a god?" the voice chuckled as he or it seemed to take a small amount of amusement from Yu's assumption.
"You mean you're not?" Yu retorts.
"No I am indeed a god... and contrary to the lore about me I prefer to be straight to the point unlike my colleagues. That being said I believe I'm being mysterious enough by reminding you about her fog of truth. I'm also smart enough to keep my mouth shut about my identity until either you take the cat out of the bag or I decide to let it out." the voice said as he seemed to take pride in what game he was trying to play.
"You didn't answer my question." Yu declared as he doesn't want to play this unnamed god's games.
"I was getting to it, and before you ask we haven't met before at a gas station or convenience store... this is indeed our first and true meeting. As for your actual question... she brought you to a similar space to test your initial potential after you received that power from her." the voice said quickly, "I brought you here... because I want to see where you stand now."
"So you want to fight me?" Yu asks.
"Points for stating the obvious... but yes, and you had better come at me or..." the voice was saying.
The tension Yu felt was already building up upon the start of his conversation with this entity, but all of a sudden the white fog turned a blood red color when a new sensation started to fill this space. Yu recognized this sensation as all the Shadows as well as the goddess Izanami had it in spaces when he and his friends fought them in the TV World.
"Killing intent." Yu thought as he realized that the fear he felt while fighting Izanami for the sake of the world.
Izanami simply did what she believed was best for humanity however misguided it was, but this... this killing intent stems from pure hatred.
"You'll see what the full wrath of a god can do to a human in his weakest state." the voice said as his tone took a far more malevolent and anger filled form.
"Go... Izanagi!" Yu yelled as his self-preservation instinct overrode all of his other conscious thoughts.
Blue flames, a mysterious updraft, and a tarot card floating in the air... a sight Yu hasn't gotten to see in a long time, but at the same time he knows it's one he has to draw upon with every fiber of his being in order to survive the next few minutes.
"Cut him down!" Yu yelled as he intended to order this physical manifestation of his subconscious to attack with everything he's got.
To think that Yu would once again see his all black clothes wearing persona and its spear-like combat knife in battle after believing he'd finally achieved the start of a peaceful world.
"This one's quite fast... then again that's to be expected of an incarnation of lightning." the voice thought to himself.
Izanagi flew across the foggy sky, foggy room, or whatever kind of space Yu was in... but the point being is that he was flying fast none the less.
"No... this doesn't feel right." Yu thought as his gut starts to churn out a bad feeling.
Yu had that thought because he realized it was too easy for his Persona to land a blow on this mysterious entity, and he realized it was too easy because the senses he honed after a year of battle told him that his opponent didn't truly register his existence at all despite the killing intent being directed towards him. Perhaps his thoughts will be unfounded as Izanagi swung his blade upon his master's target with everything he had.
"Too easy." the voice mumbled.
"Impossible!" Yu yelled as for the first time in a while his legendary calmness was shaken to the core.
And it was shaken to its core because this entity raised its fog covered arm to block Izanagi, but that wasn't the worst of it. Any shock inflicted upon the body of a Persona... its master feels that same shock on the same area of his or her own body. Thus... believe me when I say the shock was intensive.
"Arghhhhh!" Yu screamed in pain as his arms felt like they just shattered as easily as a rock through a glass window.
The shock caused the hero who defeated the evil goddess to fall to his knees, but even now he still had the resolve to stand back up after witnessing what he thought was the death of his friends... and stand up again he does against this presence.
"This representation of your suppressed self is indeed very powerful... it's no wonder you and your friends were able to eradicate her existence to near completion." the voice said sounding slightly surprised.
All of a sudden the red fog that filled this space turned white once more, and to match all the killing intent Yu felt being directed towards him disappeared as well.
"I was only able to do it because I was able to borrow a little power from everyone I forged a bond with in Inaba." Yu retorts.
"Indeed that is the case, but just as water would burst out of rusted pipes... your subconscious self would have been instantly destroyed after borrowing the strength of your allies... were it lacking in strength. Make no mistake... I understand the importance of seeking assistance from those you trust." the voice said as this time he actually seemed proud of you.
"You're not going to attack me?" Yu asks.
"No... this test of mine is more than sufficient for me to tell where our next step will be. I was actually going to let that attack hit, but it was just powerful enough to make me block on reflex, of which a human such as you should be proud for making a god do. Oh and... don't worry your arms aren't really broken. This is a dream after all, but you already knew that." the voice said this time as if he and Yu have been allies for years.
"Then what now?" Yu asks as he attempts to raise his sword up despite the pain in his arms.
"Let's see... how did she say it." the voice mumbled aloud as he seemed to become lost in thought, "Ah yes... will we meet again? At a place other than here? I look forward to it... and as soon as you realize where that place will be... come alone."
"Wha... it feels like all my energy is being sucked out of my body." Yu thought.
Yu remembered this sensation when he first dreamed of Izanami in a similar fog. Thanks to his body being enhanced once again by that year of battle... he was able to resist the draining sensation for a time. Soon enough however... his body fell to the ground and his mind went completely black.
"Arghhh!" Yu screamed once more.
Though it felt like reality to near perfection, Yu was relieved by the sight of his semi-unpacked bedroom as that only served to confirm that he was indeed dreaming. Still... the dream itself was enough to force him into deep contemplation. Was this dream a sign of trouble's to come? Or since he had been thinking about the case his friends solved recently... was it truly no more than his mind playing tricks on him. His heart was leading towards the former, but his mind couldn't deny the possiblity of the latter.
"Ring ring... ring ring." went the cellphone of Yu Narukami.
This time the hero who saved Earth and the world in the TV checked his caller ID, and because he knew the nature of the person on the other end of this call... for the sake of his eardrums Yu moved placed his cell on his desk before accepting the call.
"SENPAI... HOW ARE YOU!" screamed the loud bubbly female on the other end of Yu's phone.
Yu also breathed a sigh of relieve that he wouldn't have to worry about hearing loss, but it was obvious none the less that it belonged to the teen idol Rise Kujikawa. Yu remembers that among his friends that saved Rise from "bearing it all to the world" he was the one she was most drawn to him. It was to the point where she'd (sometimes literally) cling to him whenever the opportunity came up.
"Oh I wish I could give you own very special good luck charm in person for when you take the transfer exam for that fancy cooking school, but I guess my voice will have to be enough." Rise said in her idol-self tone of voice... not that she would actually approve of that choice of words.
"I'm fine too Rise." Yu retorts as he starts getting a change of clothes ready.
"That's good. Did you sleep well senpai?" Rise asks as she felt it was appropriate to tone down the metaphorical volume of her idol-self.
"It's been... interesting. Right now I'm just getting dressed for the exam." Yu answers as he just wasn't sure whether or not he should worry any of his friend's with his recent encounter.
"Gasp... does that mean senpai has his chiseled muscular body exposed to the cold air... oh senpai don't tease me like that... you'd know I'd love to see it." Rise said as she purposely faked a jealous tone of voice.
If Rise were to speak like that to any other teenage boy... blood would be rushing to their other head and record-breaking speed, but Yu was so use to her antics that it pushed the teen idol to constantly step up the quality of them.
"Maybe you'll get your chance next time the gang can all hang out together." Yu said as he decides to humor Rise's antics for once.
"I'll hold you to that senpai... and regardless of whether or not things work out at that fancy cooking school... I'll still hire you to be my personal chef if that boring little inn heiress gets tired of you." Rise said this time in a purely playful tone.
Yu knows Rise doesn't mean that as she considers Yukiko to be one of her cherished friends. In fact he still remembers all of their reactions to the announcement of his relationship with the heiress of the Amagi Inn.
"Now getting down to more serious matters..." Rise said as her voice takes a more darkr tone.
Youske was fuming with jealousy, Chie threatened to beat him senseless if he made Yukiko cry, Kanji continued to admire Yu's manliness, Naoto as well as Marie hid their faces with their hats and refused to look at him in the face for a while, but perhaps most impressively of was what Rise did... The teen idol swore that if she saw any sign of weakness that she's "snatch senpai for hersef."
"I've talked to the more discreet members of my fan-club for a status update on our search for that stupid bear." Rise said this time with a concerned voice, "The response they gave me was really weird senapi."
"What did they say? Yu curiously asks.
"They have no memory of me showing them the group picture of Teddie... heck for some reason they acted like I never put in the request at all." Rise said as if she was horribly insulted.
Almost instantly that caused red flags to go up in Yu's mind. He knows that all the members of Rise's fan club are loyalists... there's no way they wouldn't remember a request made by her.
"Just before I called you I talked to Youske and he told me his mom has no memory of Teddie and that his dad never hired anyone to be the mascot of Junes. It's freaky senpai... it's almost like that bear has been erased from everyone's minds. Now we just seem to have no clues to go on." Rise said as she's simply at a loss for words.
"Actually... I might have something to go on." Yu interjects as he resolves to tell his friend about his dream.
He tells Rise every single detail about his dream. How it was similar to the one with Izanami, the blunt nature of the entity within, how Yu suspects that the entity could have easily killed him if it really wanted to, and most importantly the promise of a future encounter.
"I'll tell the others as soon as we're done her, but ohhh...even if it was only a dream... how dare this god try to harm my precious senpai. If this guy really is as tough as you say... there's no way you should go alone once you figure out where to go." Rise said as she's just now fuming with rage.
"We all made a promise never to go into the TV world alone, and I see this situation as an extension of that promise." Yu said for the sake of the teen idol.
"Good... and maybe we'll be able to get this guy to tell us where Teddie is while we're at it." Rise points out.
The entity never said he was responsible for causing Teddie's disappearance, of which Yu reminded Rise of that fact though he couldn't get rid of the possibility of that being the case either. That being said the investigation team wouldn't want to deal with the possibility of a third enemy capable of erasing people's memory either.
"One more thing before I let you go senpai... if you do get into that fancy cooking school... for autumn I... no never mind I want it to be a surprise." Rise mumbled as she seemed to have changed her mind about whatever she wanted to say mid sentence, "Bye bye."
Yu was indeed worried about Teddie and the mysterious entity that came into his dreams, but right now he had to clean himself up in order to deal with some more immediate concerns.
"A 10%... graduation rate." Yu thought.
Almost right after the director of Tōtsuki Academy left his humble abode, Yu started to do some research into the school itself. There he learned that only an average of 10% of the students in their first year of this school will actually make it out in their third. Assuming that he was able to get through the transfer exam he'll have to survive the hellish classes all the third years would go through, of which may be even more difficult for him without the advantage of the lessons one would learn in the first two years of Tōtsuki Academy's high school division.
"Heh... still doesn't compare to dealing with Kanji's shadow and the hot mess that was." Yu mumbled as he was being both metaphorical and literal with that particular utterance.
It was time for Yu to free himself from his sweat entrapped clothes and prepare for the literal trial that awaits him later in the day. Meanwhile... upon the grounds of Tōtsuki Academy, the school's various staff members are busy preparing for the majority of first year and a few second year high school students who seek entrance into this illustrious academy.
"Let's see... the total number of first year transfer applicants are... 163. The total number of second year transfer applicants are 32. For third years... and as expected..." a random female office worker mumbled as she counted names off of a computer screen.
Perhaps this office worker was also actually an instructor at this school, but right now she's sitting in a teachers office alone signing documents and again read names off of a computer screen. Soon enough though... her isolation however short it was would come to an end.
"Yo... anyone home?!" a young female voice yelled.
Upon hearing that voice the female office worker straightened up her posture and greatly increased the pace of her work. This reaction would be understandable if the person who had spoken to her was an older woman or at the very least someone a hint of authority in their voice, but it clearly belonged to a teenage girl speaking with a bubbly tone to give Rise a run for her money.
"Rindou-dono... I'm sorry for not getting with my work as fast as I should have." the office worker said as she looked upon this Rindou like she was about to be beheaded by her.
Rindou herself was a tall young woman with long dark red hair, bangs that cover her left eye, yellow cat-like eyes, and cat fang shaped teeth to match.
"You can drop the honorifics, and don't worry about your work. I dump mine on the others all time so I can go out and play." Rindou pointed out as she was completely uninterested in the fearful expression of the person sitting across from her.
"I... I see... well then... to what do I owe the honor of this visit?" the office worker asks as she breathes a sigh of relief though she refused to let down her guard against this teen-aged girl.
"Arghh... it sucks, but I drew the short straw this year among upper-tier this year. I wanted to sneak into all of the transfer exams to see if any off the hopefuls could make something tasty to eat." Rindou said pouting and stomping her feet like a little girl who didn't get what they want for Christmas.
"Short straw? Ah... you mean the head proctor role for the third year transfer exam." the office worker said as she slowly started to allow herself to relax around Rindou.
"Yup... not that there ever is anyone to take it... I think the last kid to take that exam was back when the director was a student here." Rindou answered as she maintained the face of one who wants to get out of here as soon as possible.
"I was actually just about to check, but I agree with you. Quite frankly I still wonder why we offer third year hopefuls the exam." the office worker retorts as she starts clicking on a series of folders and icons.
Rindou was focused more on the back of the person working the computer rather than the computer screen itself, so for that reason she doesn't immediately notice the office worker's reaction when she pulls up the list of third year high school students taking the transfer exam.
"I don't believe it..." the office worker mumbled to herself.
"Don't believe what?" Rindou asks as she doesn't need to see this office worker's face to know that she has a shocked expression written on her face.
With her curiosity now piqued, Rindou looked over the office worker's shoulder to see the face of the mysterious transfer student hopeful wearing what appeared to be his old high school's uniform.
"Let's see... Yu Narukami... potentially transferring from Yasogami high school... previous culinary work experience... nada... culinary education... non-existant. How the heck did this guy make it through the selection process? Or when the selection committee saw a third year applying for transfer... did they accept him for the hell of it?" Rindou points out as she becomes more curious about Yu whilst mumbling the summary of his application aloud.
"Hang on... I'll scroll down... they always list the reason hopefuls make it through the selection process on the bottom of the application." the officer worker said as she becomes interested in the potential transfer student as well.
"Approved to take the third year transfer student exam by the recommendation of the director of Tōtsuki Academy Senzaemon Nakiri." Rindou thought as she perfectly hides the surprise generated from what she just read.
"Wait... seriously!" the office worker yelled as she was unable to hide her surprise like Rindou.
Earlier Rindou felt annoyed and inconvenienced by this "Lead Proctor" roll that was forced upon her, however now she has completely different thoughts about her current situation. Now her more cat like eyes become more apparent, her two cat fang like teeth begin to stick out of her mouth, and a large grin begins to form on her face.
"Yu Narukami... the courageous thunder god huh? Well... it looks like it may have been a good thing that I got the short straw after all. I'd better not be disappointed when we finally meet." Rindou thought as a smile that revealed her more devious nature begins to shine through.
"Say... before you go Rindou-dono... there's this weird cooking rumor that's been going around." the office worker said as she decides to change the subject for the sake of her own sanity.
"You mean the one if you burn two rolls of parsley in front of a statue of Buhda in a turtle shell?" Rindou asks simply to be respectful, but her mind was still fantasizing about the kind of person Yu Narukami was.
"No no no... not that one. Supposedly if you look at a windowed oven at midnight with all the lights off... the greatest secrets of gourmet cooking will be revealed to you." the office worker explained as for some reason she seemed t take this rumor seriously.
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha... and you actually bought that?" Rindou said as her hearty laughter indicated what she thought of this rumor.
"I didn't think much of it either, but one of my cousins who couldn't get into Tōtsuki tried it at the cooking school he goes to now instead. He woke up the next day with the vague memory of challenging something or someone to an equivalent of our academy's shokugeki." the office worker retorts.
"Dream or no... does he remember whether or not if he won?" Rindou asks as she starts to direct part of her curiosity to this rumor.
"He remembers he lost badly, but that's not even the weird part. When he started going to class the next day... everything began to go wrong." the office worker said as her voice takes a more concerned tone.
By a concerned tone... I mean the kind of concern you'd show towards a relative or a friend who was unfortunate to get caught in some kind of car accident.
"Food he buys an hour ago is suddenly covered in fungus, new cooking appliances either refuse to start or break down when he tries to use them, and when he's able to cook something without a problem it tastes horrible even though there are witnesses to say he did every step properly." the officer worker said as she at last finished her story.
"It's probably just an unfortunate bout of bad luck. Even members of the Elite 10 have gone through something like that once or twice." Rindou points out as she's still intrigued by the rumor, however she still isn't taking it seriously.
"Yeah that's what I said, but I hope he gets over it soon or he risks expulsion at best or a lawsuit at worst if someone gets injured. It's... it's like the gods decided to take away his ability to cook. I mean... can you imagine if what happened to him started happening to students here?" the office worker suggested.
"Ha... it just be the end of Tōtsuki if something like that happened here on a large scale." Rindou bluntly points out, "But it's still only a bogus rumor. Anyways... since there's actually someone taking the transfer exam... better get two of the others to help me."
Perhaps it really only is a weird rumor don't you think? A smart man wouldn't put much thought into such a thing, but people are stupid and they'd probably take it seriously. Now what of Teddie? What could have happened to that lovable bear? With Yu and his friends being obvious exceptions, who could have erased all memories of Teddie's existence?
"Wha... where the heck am I?" Teddie mumbles as he slowly awakens from whatever unconscious state he was in.
When that lovable bear wakes up (though he wasn't actually wearing the costume), he found himself sitting on the floor tied to a large metal pole. The floor he's sitting on itself is made of some kind of dark colored metal that goes on for a quarter of a mile in all directions before starting to rise like some kind of hill.
"The last thing I remember is walking home from Junes and finding a stove in the middle of the street." Teddie thought.
"You're in my world now... literally out of the fire and into the frying pan so to speak. It's been two weeks since I grabbed you by the way." said the very same voice that spoke to Yu in his dreams.
"Let me go or you're going to make me a very angry bear!" Teddie yelled though in reality he was scared out of his mind.
"Ha... you're in no position to make demands. Oh... and just in case you're curious I made some... alterations to your body while you were out cold." the voice said as he put a strong emphasis on the word 'alteration'.
"What did you do me?!" Teddie yelled.
"It took a little longer than I thought it would, but I implemented some knowledge into your mind. If all goes well it will be knowledge you'll need to survive at your new home once you leave." the voice said.
The voice chose this moment to reveal itself to Teddie, but instead of a foggy silhouette shaped like a human... he took the form of an actual human, but for some reason his entire body was completely hidden by shadow even though the light in this space should make that impossible.
"If you're going to let me go then let me go... sensei's probably worried about me, and I still haven't gotten the chance to score with Chie-chan since sensei nabbed Yukiko!" Teddie yelled as he covered up his fears with his impulsive desires.
"Oh don't worry I'll let you go and for you're troubles you'll even get a chance to be a high school student... but it'll only be temporary so you can bring your precious sensei to me." the voice said as it revealed its more darker nature.
"There's no way I'll bring sensei to you... he'll find me and kick your butt!" Teddie yelled.
"Oh I already spoke to him... right now his current power isn't a threat to me, and you don't have a choice in the matter." the voice said as it moved its shadow covered face closer to Teddie's ears in order to whisper something into them, "As a god it's a trivial matter for me to control shadows... or anything partially a shadow... like you."
"Just... what do you want with sensei?" Teddie demanded to know as he refused to give into this entity by drawing upon the memories of his time with Yu.
"To feel the wrath of my vengeance." the voice said as it placed its finger on Teddie's forehead.
Suddenly Teddie's head just drops as low as the ropes that tie him would allow... quite frankly it's like the bear was easily knocked unconscious by this entity.
"You won't need that for a while." the entity said as it waves its hand causing the rope that restricted Teddie to drop to the floor, "Now rise my puppet."
Teddie rose upon the sound of this entity's voice... his bright clear blue eyes completely glazed over, of which in anime happens to be a classical sign of mind-control. Teddie was a now a slave to his captor's will.
"Go forth my puppet... and return to the human world with these two tasks to accomplish! Make sure Yu Narukami sees you, and more importantly use the knowledge I have given you to pass Tōtsuki Academy's first year transfer exam!" the voice yelled with its arm outstretched towards the horizons.
The horizons of wherever it and Teddie are that is.
To Be Continued
Eizan: This better be good... I missed a meeting with one of my major clients because of it.
Satoshi: Now now don't complain... we were the only two that weren't busy with school matters, so we're obligated to do this.
Rindou: You're task... let's see... oh I know... I'm craving seafood today!
Yu: Next time on Shokugeki no Megami Tensei "The Midnight Oven II"
Igor: Welcome... to the Velvet Room.