Chapter 2

"SOUMAAAA!"

A rampaging beast stampeded at him right after he exited the building. The beast nearly tackled him, but Souma kept his cool composure even after said beast gripped his collar and declared in his face,

"FIGHT ME, DAMN IT!"

"Yeah, nice to see you too, Ryou."

"I will show you how much I've improved. I'M NOT THE SAME MAN I WAS BACK THEN!"

"Okay, okay. I got it. Tomorrow, okay? I will stop by your place after school."

The beast seemed to accept that and went to pull his bandana off. As the red piece of cloth was stripped, the beast was no more. In its place was a passive man.

"Nice to see you too, Souma. What have you been doing?"

"Owh, nothing impressive. I only worked at Yuukihira alongside my dad."

"Ah… Is that so…"

"Hahaha, too bad the show's over."

Alice had been watching the whole scene in amusement. And after the spectacle was over, she decided to announce her presence.

"Ah, ojou. You were watching…" Ryou commented uninterestedly.

"Fufufu. By the way, Souma-kun, have you already got a place to stay?"

"Oh, I do. I'm going to head there right now." Souma replied.

"That's too bad, you could just stay at Nakiri mansion…"

And so, the reunion between the three went calmly after the initial outburst. With a promise of visiting the next day, Souma got off of dueling Ryou. They separated not long after that, and Souma made his way to the minimarket.

There're lots of minimarkets and grocery stores across Tootsuki. Although you would need to go to an actual market to buy the appropriate necessities for, say, a shokugeki, but the minimarkets were enough if you only need to pick up some minor stuffs. And so, he grabbed a few things and began to walk to the Polar Star Dormitory.

It was a fair distance from the central part of the campus to the dorm. It might be a good idea to buy a motorcycle. It was something he should think about. When he finally arrived at the dorm, it was already dark. Funnily enough, his welcoming was certainly… unique.

A stampeding mob of wild games. Followed by an excess release of smokes indoor. It was certainly out of his expectation. Apparently, the residents in the dorm were interesting. His dad's right, Polar Star Dorm always house the most interesting people. And after the mess, he was able to meet the dorm mother.

"Ah, sorry about that. The residents in our dorm can be quite hectic." She greeted Souma with a kind smile.

"It's fine. Don't worry about it." Souma brushed it aside.

"My name is Daimidou Fumio. I'm the dorm mother. Do you want to transfer to the dorm?"

"Yes, if you would allow me."

Suddenly, the face of a kind old woman was replaced by a threatening glare of a harsh food critic.

"Then you need to prove yourself. Do you have your ingredients?"

"Yes, Daimidou-san. I have them right here." He showed the small plastic bag from his earlier shopping at the minimart.

"That's good. So you're already familiar with this dorm's rule, then? By the way, calling me Fumio-san is enough."

"Okay. And I'm not really that knowledgeable. I just happened to see the poster for this dorm."

"I see, then you can start as soon as you're ready. You can use the kitchen."

After muttering his thanks, Souma was led to the kitchen by the dorm warden. When he started cooking, the older woman didn't leave. Instead, she watched him work. She was quite surprised when he saw the boy taking out discounted beef that he must have bought from the nearby minimart. And then he took out some cheese bars. It's a regular branded cheese that's very cheap compared to the high quality cheese that Tootsuki can provide. Obviously doesn't belong in a gourmet dish. As he started to chop some onions and doesn't seem to procure any more major ingredients, Fumio didn't expect much from him. She could tell that he was going to fail.

With that in mind, she left the kitchen and chose to sit around instead. The boy would fail and she would encourage him to try again. He would have to camp out for the night. That's too bad, but it was the dorm's rule. As its warden, Fumio must enforce those rules.

/

"It's ready, Fumio-san. Please have a taste."

Fumio looked at the dish presented to her. There's no mistake.

"Yakiniku?"

It was very… plain. It looked like a regular yakiniku that you can find in fast food restaurants. Pieces of grilled meat neatly arranged on a plate with some onions and chives as the garnish. While it could be fine for the average standard, but in Tootsuki, it was really subpar. Fumio sighed. The boy had much to learn if he wanted to survive long enough until he graduated. Anyway, Fumio decided to just have a bite and fail the boy.

Casually, she took a bite, fully expecting a mediocre taste. But she wasn't able to formulate the words she had planned earlier to say to the boy. What was it? To fail encourage him to try again and telling him where the spare tent was for him to camp outside? Instead, she couldn't say anything. She could only tremble slightly. Meanwhile, Souma stood there calmly and waited patiently without betraying anything in his expression.

"EVERYOUNE, GET DOWN HERE, NOW!" Fumio called suddenly.

Confused and curious over the unusual summon, the residents of the dorm didn't take long to make their way there. Isshiki Satoshi, Yoshino Yuuki, Sakaki Ryouko, Marui Zenji, Ibusaki Shun, Aoki Daigo, Satou Shouji, and Tadokoro Megumi.

"Ah… Yuukihira-san. Thank you for your advice earlier in class. It was thanks to you that I was able to do well." Megumi immediately bowed when she caught sight of the boy.

"It was my pleasure, Tadokoro-san. Besides, it's because of your own effort. There's no guarantee that my advice would have worked." Souma modestly refuted.

"Hey, this is the transfer student, right? Is he really as amazing as you said, Megumi-chi?" Yuuki asked with energetic excitement.

"Could it be that he's going to transfer here to Polar Star?" Ryouko wondered aloud.

Acting as their de-facto leader, Satoshi walked forward towards Fumio and asked,

"So why are we called here, Fumio-san."

She pointed her pointer finger at the plate of ordinary looking yakiniku.

"Yuukihira Souma made this dish using discounted meat and XRAFT brand cheese. I saw it with my own eyes. Now, I want you to have a taste." She addressed all the residents.

"Yakiniku? It looks pretty standard…" Zenji stated his observation.

Shun nodded silently in agreement. The others were also starting to wonder aloud why Fumio would call the entire dorm to taste that one dish? In the past dorm-admission test, their caretaker had never done something like that. While the others were quick to underestimate the simple looking dish, Megumi and Satoshi knew better. The earlier having witnessed Souma's proof of skills firsthand in their earlier class, and the latter having sharp wits to Fumio's odd action and was able to put two and two together. And so, the few pieces of meat were quickly picked off by eight people. Six ate their piece casually and two ate theirs while fully expecting something great.

"WHAT'S THIS!?" Shouji shouted.

"WOOAAAHHH, AMAZING!" Yuuki exclaimed.

"This taste… It's cheese. But I would have never thought it would be possible to seep cheese into a yakiniku and produce a taste this refined." Zenji analyzed.

"Moreover… This was made using low-class material…" Shun calmly stated.

But even though he was calm, his inner feeling was in turmoil. And after Shun pointed that out, the rest started to realize the meaning behind it. Soon, they too started to feel unease. If it was to be depicted, their feeling was a combination of shock, awe, and… fear. To see firsthand that someone their age was already that amazing. Even professional chefs would at least feel a little intimidated if they found out that there's someone far better than them with equal footing with them. Their fear was sensible.

But Tadokoro Megumi's feeling was different from the other six. Having known the level Souma was at, she fully expected the dish to be amazing. And she wasn't disappointed. In fact, she was still surprised despite knowing what to expect. After all, Megumi wasn't raised by a wealthy family. So she had never had elite dishes belonging to Michelin starred restaurants before. At her hometown, she was already the best around. And at Tootsuki, she had never tasted the dishes made by someone with elite-ten-level. Even though the dishes Isshiki-senpai had made them dishes before, but she knew that he had never bothered to showcase his true skill. So it was not an exaggeration to say that the simplistic yakiniku was one of the best dish she had ever tasted in her entire life. And to think it was made without much effort with cheap ingredients. His skill was something else. As expected of someone who was able to give a simple yet directly life-changing advice on her. She was awed and honored. And although it might have been selfish on her part, but if he was to start living there, she wished that she could learn many things from him.

But out of the eight residents, it was the oldest one that truly felt touched. Isshiki Satoshi had never been the one for jealousy or competition. Even though he happened to be gifted with a great talent to quickly master almost anything he put his mind to, but it wasn't in his nature to feel contended or threatened when someone even more talented than him emerged. But there are many great talents in the world. Rather than the degree of his skill, Satoshi was more interested to find out what kind of person Yuukihira Souma was. What kind of cook was he?

"Yuukihira-kun. This dish is truly well done, it's very impressive." Satoshi sincerely commended.

"Thank you very much, senpai. It's an honor to be complimented by the seventh seat."

"So you know who I am…" Satoshi said amusedly.

"It should be expected, senpai. After all, the elite ten profiles had their own section in the school's guidebook that's printed every year."

"Hahaha, you're quite bright, aren't you?"

That was quite unexpected. Somebody sharp in wits. It would do wonders to the current elite ten when Yuukihira will enter. After all, the council had surprisingly childish members, you wouldn't guess that the elites were sometimes quite comical. And yes, he said when, not if. Satoshi was quite confident in his prediction.

"So, what do you think. Does he deserve to pass the dorm admission exam?" Fumio asked with a smile.

Of course, a chorus of explicit affirmatives was the answer.

"One more thing though. If I may ask, Yuukihira-kun, do you still have leftover ingredients for the yakiniku?" Satoshi asked curiously.

"Hmm… I think I do. Barely enough for one more portion."

"Alright, would you mind cooking another portion for us, Yuukihira-kun? I think all of us would love to watch you cook." Satoshi suggested.

At his suggestion, the others' reactions were imminent. Of course they would be interested. To watch someone that good in action, surely they would learn a lot. Even Fumio was interested. She deeply regretted leaving the kitchen and underestimating the boy. Megumi too was too busy concentration on her own dish in the class, so she hadn't seen Souma cook before.

"Alright, it would be my pleasure."

/

They all watched carefully as he set to work. The recipe itself wasn't elaborated. It was certainly unique, but quite simple. The first step is to chop the onions and chives. Then, a bit of butter is used as the frying oil. But then, the cheese is melted and poured into the pan. Using low temperature cooking to keep the cheese in its liquid state, the meat was then seared on the pan, letting the cheese seep into it. Then, the meat is seasoned and grilled conventionally and the onions and chives were fried on the previously used pan. After absorbing some meat essence as well, the butter-cheese mix had a fragrance of their own that encompassed the garnish and derived the flavor. And finally, the meat and the garnish were served in one plate, ensuring the strong cheese flavor.

Though the recipe itself was simple, the execution of it was no simple matter. A mediocre chef wouldn't be able to nearly reproduce Souma's level of expertise. There's a lot of delicate point too in the process. One was the low temperature cooking. The cheese must be seeped into the meat, so too low of a temperature wouldn't allow it. But too high of a temperature, the cheese could be burned because of direct contact with hot metal. Finesse was highly required to make that dish.

And so, Isshiki Satoshi expected Yuukihira Souma to cook elegantly like… say, Tsukasa Eishi. He would expect him to execute his cooking flawlessly with grace. But he was wrong… It wasn't what he expected. In fact, none of them expected it. Let alone expect, they couldn't even imagine it. No one there had ever seen a chef cook like that in their whole life.

Like he usually would, Yuukihira Souma put his all when it comes to cooking. When he started, he blocked out the surrounding world and encaged himself and his ingredients in his own reality. And then, he gave his ingredients UTMOST attention. With love. Passionately and lovingly, he caressed his ingredients as one would caress their infant. With precise yet gentle hand, he went through the whole process with ease. Souma gave a whole new meaning to the phrase 'cooking with love'.

Enraptured with his performance, the nine spectators only snapped out of it when the dish was fully presented in front of them. Unable to rein themselves, they devoured the personal portion in a flash, leaving them wanting for more. However, it was exceptionally satisfying. And they sincerely conveyed their compliment to the chef.

"Osomatsu!"

/

The next day, Souma was considerably tired. After his test, Isshiki-senpai decided that they should have a welcoming party for Souma. And after partying for the better part of the night, he was tired. But it was fun, though. He got to meet some new friends. And his dorm mates looked like nice people too.

And so, he breezed through the class and went to the Nakiri mansion. As per his promise the previous day, he was going to face Ryou in a cook-off. Although he was not in prime condition, he could still handle it. He had faced worse in Yuukihira after all. Even after a whole night of testing new recipe, he would still have to open the shop the next day and keep his performance up.

The Nakiri Estate was large. It was one of the nicest establishment in the school ground. After all, the director of the school, Nakiri Senzaemon, lived there. As well as Nakiri Erina and Nakiri Alice. The mansion was so large that the three aforementioned even had their own wings with their own entrances. And so, Souma found himself entering through the 'Alice entrance' as he dubbed it.

It was very large. Even one wing of the mansion was already more spacious than your average family house. The Nakiri sure have it nice. As he entered, an old man with some people lined up behind him greeted Souma.

"Good afternoon, Yuukihira-sama. It's a pleasure to have Ojou-sama and Kurokiba-sama's friend over. My name is Shimatsu Teguchi, and I am the head butler of this wing." The old man greeted.

"Good afternoon as well, Shimatsu-san. You don't need to be formal with me, Shimatsu-san. If you don't mind, just Souma is fine."

"Very well, as you wish, Souma-san. We have been told to expect your arrival. Shall I lead to you ojou-sama?"

"Yes, please. Thank you."

It was impressive. Apparently, each of the mansion's wing had their own staff hierarchy. As he was led to the second floor, he sightsaw on the interior of the mansion on the way. Souma also made small talk with a woman named Shirotsuma Mine, one of the people welcoming him. It seemed that she was the head chef of the wing. Despite already on her late thirties, Souma found her to be fun and easy to talk to. They got along well and chatted relaxingly on the way. It seemed that her job was pretty fun. Apparently, they didn't need to cook so often because oftentimes, Ryou and Alice would cook for themselves. They only needed to work hard when there are guests or events held in the mansion, which rarely happened. And with that little workload, her pay was very generous. So she was very content with her job.

In the estate, Alice and Ryou had their own floor. The wing had four floors. Five actually, but the topmost was the chimney, used as a storage room for junks. The fourth belonged to Alice, housing lots of cutting edge cooking appliances and also her personal lab as well as her room. The third floor belonged to Ryou. Surprisingly… Or unsurprisingly, he also had some fitness equipment in addition to seafood processing tools. The second floor yielded a large kitchen, a dining room, and also the living room. And the first floor had a sitting room for receiving guests, some guest rooms, the servants quarter, as well as a passage leading to the other wings of the Nakiri Mansion.

The sheer size of the building was impressive. So, even though Alice and Ryou crammed many stuffs on their own floor, they still had much room left. If two additional people were to move in with one on each floor, there's still more than enough room. Souma nearly regretted refusing Alice's offer to move in there. But considering how great Polar Star Dormitory was in its own way, Souma didn't regret it. The keyword being 'nearly'.

"Souma-kun, welcome to our humble home." Alice said in mock modesty.

As he entered the living room on the second floor, he immediately saw Alice who was potato-ing on the couch and watching what seemed to be a cheesy romantic movie. And Ryou was also in the room. However…

"Hey, Alice, Ryou." He greeted, pointedly ignoring the playful sarcasm.

And then he waited… It took nearly a whole minute. Souma walked to the couch and sat beside Alice and calmly stared at Ryou while he was waiting. Alice was also amusedly staring at Ryou. The black-clad seafood chef was doing push-ups. And he did so with despondent yet focused determination. From experience, Souma knew that it wasn't wise to disturb Ryou's routine, so he waited patiently.

"…, 98, 99, 100!"

After whispering the last three counts with exponential raise in the volume, Ryou put on his bandana with a swift, practiced movement.

"YOSH! SOUMA! YOU FINALLY CAME!"

"Of course, do you take me for some coward?" Souma teased with a smirk.

"Hmph, you have gotten better since then, right? You won't disappoint me, right?" Ryou half-threatened Souma.

"Don't worry, I had left you in the dust ages ago, and now you've been blown away by the wind out of my sight." Souma teased him even further.

"HOW DARE YOU! I'LL SHOW YOU I'M NOT THE MAN I WAS!" Ryou declared with fiery resolve.

"BRING IT!" Souma matched Ryou's resolve and head-butted with a confident smile.

/

And so, Shimatsu Teguchi, Shirotsuma Mine, and Nakiri Alice ended up being the judge. They were seated behind a table in front of the kitchen designed fully for taste-testing and something like that. At that time, both contestants were ruffling around the pantry on the back of the kitchen to choose their ingredients. The kitchen had a vast assortment of meat, vegetable, spices, and even chemical compounds that's regularly used in cooking. Alice's influence no doubt.

"I'm honored to be chosen as a judge. However, I'm not sure I'm qualified to do this. I'm not an expert on this field at all." The head butler said with hesitation.

"Nonsense, Teguchi-san. We're grateful that you agreed to be a judge." Alice countered.

"Just tell us your own feeling about the dish, Shimatsu-san. Whether the dish is delicious or not, and consider which one is more to your liking." Souma added while he was choosing his ingredients

"Hahaha. I will try my best then." The kind older man smiled.

"I'm very looking forward to taste Souma-san's dish. Having been a judge for Ojou-sama and Kurokiba-sama's cook-offs occasionally, it would be great if I can expect Souma-san's dish on the same level." Commented the head chef, Shirotsuma Mine.

"Owh, you bet Mine-san. Souma-kun's cooking will surprise you. In fact, it was precisely for that reason that I asked both of you to come here before they started cooking rather than after." Alice promised.

"Ah, really? I'm looking forward your surprise, ojou-sama." Mine replied cheerfully.

After that discussion, it appeared that both participants were ready. Ryou faced off against Souma in front of the judge desk and they glared at each other. But if you look closely, you can spot a smirk on each of their faces. Acting as the judges' representative, Alice stood and formally announced.

"Well, as we agreed. The theme is antree (main dish) with no particular restriction, and the time limit is one hour. May whoever cook the better dish win. You may begin cooking now."

As they started, the judges were immediately enraptured by Souma. To those already knowing it, the effect was lessened although still considerably felt. But for those witnessing his cooking for the first time, it was breath-taking. Even after seeing it so many times, Alice never got tired of watching Souma cook. His passionate and loving style of cooking. Truly a distinct individuality that he alone possessed.

But Ryou didn't want to be outdone. With a burning passion, he gave his best performance in his entire life. He had trained for this point. He had honed his cooking every day since then. It was because his will to win. To be the best.

Since he was small, he was always pressured to be the best. Second-rated chefs are losers, and thus, wouldn't be able to survive. In order to survive in the harsh condition that he had been forced to in his early age, he always strived to be the best. And so, he was beyond pissed when a red haired boy suddenly showed up in his life years ago and easily kicked his ass. No matter how many times he had challenged the boy, Ryou could never win. That's why on that day, in the Nakiri mansion, he was going to try again.

After little over half an hour. Souma was already done. Not bothering to utilize the more than twenty minutes of time he had left, he went and presented his dish to the judges. He brought 3 plates and placed it in front of the judges.

"Oagari yo!"

"This is…"

"It's a Mini Soufflé Omelette."

It was egg cooked to be form a soufflé. It looked very simplistic. Even your average housewives should be able to make something like that. And furthermore, the theme was antree. Wasn't that more suited for an appetizer? Given such a first impression, the judges were disappointed, except for Alice of course. She had already knew what her friend was capable of.

"Well, then. I guess we should try it?" Mine asked nervously.

"Oh, yes. I'm sure it will be delicious." Teguchi tried to sound optimistic.

But obviously, they were trying to avoid offending Souma. Souma could only hold his laughter. Meanwhile, Alice only smirked and didn't say anything. And so, while Ryou was still cooking, they tried Souma's dish.

Of course, nothing could have prepared both Teguchi and Mine for the taste at the moment they put a spoonful into their mouth. Even after being sufficiently prepared herself, Alice was still shaken.

"WOOOAHHH! What's this? The omelette practically melts in my mouth. Is this even possible? It's like magic!" Mine exclaimed. Even after being one of the head chefs in the Nakiri mansion for a few years already, she had rarely tasted anything on par with that dish. Almost none in fact. It was stunning.

"This is very impressive. Very impressive indeed. And despite looking light, it's actually quite filling." Teguchi complimented while he kept eating with a large smile. Being a butler doesn't warrant him deluxe cuisine. So it was a rare occasion for him to truly enjoy good food. The food provided for the servants were already above average standard, it was Nakiri mansion after all. However, it's still far from Tootsuki standard. So Teguchi felt really lucky to be allowed to judge.

"You're right, Teguchi-san. This is surprisingly suited for an antree after all. How did you manage this?" Mine aksed.

"I added grinded wheat while mixing the egg. Just the right amount so that it doesn't destroy the egg's soft texture, but quite enough to act as the carbohydrate to make the dish an antree."

"Impressive. You're truly skilled, Souma-san." Teguchi praised.

Alice didn't offer her own comment. But judging by the way she kept hugging her own frame in bliss and moaning cutely with each spoonful, Souma guessed that she liked it.

"Osomatsu!" Souma took his headband off.

Seeing that Ryou was still not done yet, Souma went off and cooked two more portions of the soufflé. One for Ryou and one for himself. He guessed he would just eat that as diner so he didn't need to worry about missing diner at Polar Star.

"Hey, Ryou. Make my portion too, would you?" Souma asked casually.

"OF COURSE! That went without saying. I want to you TASTE for yourself how much I have improved!"

And with that, Souma's plan for dinner went flawlessly. Not long after the judges finished Souma's dish, Ryou came and presented his. There was only about 5 minutes left on the clock. Ryou really maximized the time he had.

"Here you go! Grilled Salmon with Honey-Soy Marinade!"

What Ryou presented was a salmon dish, not surprising considering his specialty. It was a very mouth-watering sight. The sublime flesh of a high quality salmon, lightly coated with marinade, making it gleam brilliantly when you hit the right angle to reflect the light. Knowing how good Ryou was with seafood, the judges were sure it would taste even better than it looked. And so, they ate.

"AMAZING! The texture, the taste, the freshness! The salmon is prepared and cooked perfectly. Moreover… The quality of this salmon is something else… Is this even from the kitchen stock?" Mine inquired.

"I picked the fish myself this morning. So it came from my own stock." Ryou replied confidently.

"As expected of Kurokiba-sama… Your eyes are unmatched when it comes to discerning seafood quality." Mine praised.

"Hmmm… You have certainly improved, Kurokiba-sama… This is very enjoyable." Teguchi was eating happily yet again with a big smile on his face. It was the second time in the same day that he was allowed to enjoy a truly exquisite meal.

"Ryou-kun. I think this is your best dish yet. Well done." Alice too was in bliss while eating Ryou's cooking. With a light blush on her face, she looked really content eating slowly with a soft smile.

Ryou smirked in satisfaction.

'What do you think, Souma?' He thought.

/

"Okay, we have a winner." Alice announced.

After tasting Ryou's dish, the three judges discussed the result between themselves briefly. But it didn't look too hard for them to reach a unanimous decision. So it looked like it was quite a decisive match.

"It was close. But the difference was still clear. We all agreed that one dish stood over the other although just slightly." Alice smirked as she eyed Ryou who was clearly trying to hide his anxiety and the completely calm Souma.

"And the winner is…" She purposely added the tension. Ryou gulped.

"Souma-kun!" Alice proclaimed cheefuly.

"DAMN IT!"

"Hahaha, Ryou. Still couldn't beat me, huh? That's too bad. How many losses again that you had against me? 200?"

"THAT'S 189! GET IT RIGHT, DAMN IT!"

"Hmm… So you counted, huh? Sore loser much?"

"FUCK YOU, SOUMA!"

And so, both Mine and Teguchi stared uneasily at the pair of boys, one who was mercilessly teasing the other, and the other one who kept screaming profanities and seemed to be itching to punch something.

"Umm… Are they going to be okay, ojou-sama?" Teguchi asked hesitantly.

But Alice was completely calm.

"Oh, they'll be fine. You'll see."

/

"HAHAHAHA! IS THAT TRUE?"

"IT'S TRUE. I'M TELLING YOU, SOUMA! HE REALLY DROPPED HIS NEW FISHING POLE INTO THE RIVER. HE WAS BRAGGING ABOUT IT TOO BEFORE THAT. HAHAHA!"

"OH YEAH. THAT REMINDS ME. YOU SEE, ONCE I HAD THIS SHADY LOOKING CUSTOMER. HE CAME IN HESITANLY WHILE LOOKING AROUND NERVOUSLY. I THOUGHT HE WAS UP TO NO GOOD. APPARENTLY HE WAS JUST HUNGRY, BUT DIDN'T HAVE ANY MONEY. HAHAHA! CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT, RYOU?"

"HAHAHAHA!"

Shimatsu Teguchi sweat dropped. What he felt was pure exasperation. In front of him, the two teens who previously quarreled over their cook-off were getting along. Far more than getting along, they had their arms SLUNG OVER EACH OTHER'S SHOULDER. Like bros… On second thought… Even really brothers don't really do that. Meanwhile, his ojou-sama only looked at him with a 'told you so' look.

Teguchi wasn't sure that it was okay to let them be. But they were getting along incredibly well. Their arm around each other with the other holding a glass. And they kept refilling each other's glass with more drink. It was only coke though. And while the boys were getting catching up quite happily on one of the sofa. Alice sat in the other sofa and was reading a manga while also drinking some coffee herself.

"Well then, if that's all, I shall take my leave now, ojou-sama." Teguchi bowed before leaving with Alice shouting thanks at him for bringing them drinks. And so, Alice let Souma and Ryou talk to their heart's content until well into the night.

Just when Alice was about to cut them off and tell them to call it a night, Ryou took the first leave. He said goodbye to Souma and left for his room, leaving Souma together with Alice in the living room.

"Thank you for today, Alice-chan. I should be going back then."

"But it's already this late though… Maybe you should stay over for the night?"

"Well… It would be great I guess." Souma was grateful for the offer. He was already at his body's limit after all. And Polar Star was quite a considerable distance away from Nakiri mansion.

"Okay, I will ask Teguchi-san to send some people to set up the guest room." Alice started to walk… And then she stopped abruptly.

"Wait… I don't think I want to wake the staff up at this hour." It was one in the morning.

"It's okay then. I will just sleep here on the couch."

"Are you sure you're ok with that?" Alice asked.

"Of course. I'm already grateful enough for being allowed to stay."

"Well… I think I have a spare blanket in my room. The living room is usually freezing at night. So let's go up and see." Alice suggested.

And so, they went up. As he entered Alice's room for the first time, Souma was pleasantly impressed. Unexpectedly, her room was really tidy. And it didn't have too much stuff in it either. On one side of the wall was a large glass case, displaying lots of trophies for cooking or science competitions. On the other end was a dresser, a bookshelf, and a study desk. And the largest furniture in the room was very large indeed. A fluffy-looking luxurious king-sized bed. Souma couldn't help himself. He jumped.

"Wow, your bed is amazing, Alice-chan!"

Souma jumped right at the center of the bed and snuggled into the warm pillow contently. Alice giggled at his antic.

"Come on, Souma-kun. Stop acting so childish!" She playfully scolded.

"…"

"Souma-kun?"

A loud snore.

"MOU!"

/

Yukihira Souma stirred into consciousness slowly with his eyes still closed. Seriously, he slept so well the previous night. It was the best sleep he had ever had in years. As his brain booted up and his cognitive ability began to function, he realized that a few things were off. Firstly, he was too comfortable. Like waaaaay to comfortable. He was lying in a very, very fluffy bed with a very, laying his head on a very tender pillow and a very, and enveloped with a very warm blanket.

Opening his eyes, he realized that he wasn't in his room at Polar Star Dormitory. He looked around while still laying down. After a few seconds, he was able to conclude that the room he resided in was Alice's room. After realizing that, the event of the previous night rushed back into his memory. Yeah, that's right. He remembered being impressed when seeing the interior of Alice's room. And then when her huge bed caught his eye, he jumped on it. The last thing he remembered was thinking how soft the bed was. He must have fallen asleep right then.

And so Souma nonchalantly swung his legs down the bedside. But surprisingly, his feet didn't meet the floor like he expected. Instead, they impacted a soft unknown object that was lying just beside the bed.

"Itai!" A cute voice complained.

"Ah, warui." Souma apologized briefly.

Taking a closer look, he noticed that the unknown object he hit before was actually Alice. After she recovered, she quickly stood upright and started to glare at him. She didn't move, as if waiting for him to say something. The thing was, he wasn't sure what the correct thing was that he's supposed to say.

"Ummm… I'm sorry?" Souma tried the most obvious one.

But Alice was unimpressed and kept her glare.

"Wrong answer, try again." She said.

"Eto… Why are you on the floor by the way?"

"Is that your best try? Are you even trying?" Alice was getting more agitated by the second.

"Okay, I give up. I don't know what to say. I will accept my punishment quietly."

Alice sighed and suddenly it was as if her pent up steamed was released.

"I'm on the floor because unfortunately there wasn't any spare blanket. So the living room was even worse because it's freezing. I've got no choice." She explained with annoyance.

"Anyway, my back hurts now. You better make this up to me soon, Souma-kun. Seriously, who actually falls asleep on people? And on their bed nonetheless. You're unbelievable, Souma-kun! Next time this happened, I'll kick you off the bed. So make sure…"

Souma started to tune her rant out after a few sentences. He had heard what he wanted after all. Although he obediently listened to her rant until the end with a guilty look, he was smiling inwardly. First, she said 'next time'. So he wasn't banned from her room despite what happened. And the second, she was threatening to kick him off her bed. But she didn't actually do it, did she? She could if she wanted too, and that would be her every right. But instead, she chose to let him be. Moreover, she was the one who surrendered her own blanket and covered it over him instead. Yup, Alice's a big softie.

/

"Welcome, my fellow students of Tootsuki! Tonight, I'm your cute and lovely emcee, Kawashima Urara!"

"WOAAAH!"

"Urara-chan! I love you!"

"Marry me, Urara-chan!"

The hall was packed. Usually, a normal shokugeki wouldn't warrant that much audience. However, it wasn't an average shokugeki. That's why the crowd was wild. Well, half the thanks also belonged to the master of ceremony actually. Urara cackled inwardly as she faked an innocent smile upfront.

"And so, tonight we have a very interesting event. Let's first welcome the main hero of this show." Urara gestured to the left side of the stadium. Coming out dramatically, Souma entered with confidence, flashing a brilliant smile that stole the hearts of many women. Urara was quite pleased at that actually. Since he came, the woman crushing on her male admirers who previously would glare at her with jealousy were smitten with Souma instead. It was mutualism for both of them. And he totally deserved that attention. Even Urara herself wasn't ashamed to admit that he was HOT. But she needed to keep her professionalism before her subjective opinion.

"The rumored genius transfer student, dubbed the 'Transmuter of Love', who had gathered a total of 99 consecutive victories and 0 loss in barely two months, let's give a round of applause for YUKIHIRA SOUMA!"

The applause was grand. Mostly it came from the female audience though. Souma smiled kindly at the clapping audience and waved lightly, making many females go "KYAA!"

Souma was silently commending himself. His subtle but offending declaration at the entrance ceremony was the most ingenious idea ever. Since then he had letters of shokugeki challenges barraging him. It wasn't that many at first. But seeing he kept winning them flawlessly, the number of challenges increased exponentially the more famous he was. The rumor of his high praises from the teachers helped too, especially the one from Chapelle-sensei, the strictest of them all. But the ones who challenged him were mostly first years though, with a second year in every ten or twenty challenges. He still could do much more than that.

"And on the challenger side, scion of the Mito family, who currently have Japan's meat distribution as their empire, let us welcome Mito Ikumi!"

The intensity of the applause didn't lose from Souma's. But the contributor ratio was different. There were more male and less female clapping for her compared to Souma. After she climbed the podium from the opposing side, the two faced off at the center of the stage facing their adversary.

"Now let us welcome the judges for this occasion!"

Three figures entered from the back entrance and took their respective seating. They were middle aged men. Their credibility didn't need to be questioned. After all, Tootsuki wouldn't hire just any mediocre food critic even for a regular shokugeki.

"Wait a second, what's this?" Urara was seen checking her phone for a moment. She looked surprised for a second but she was quick to recover and quickly readdressed the audience. "Ladies and gentlemen, apparently we have a surprise guest this evening. Please take a look at the VIP spectator room!"

On the topmost back of the podium, a small room with a glass case on its front was lit. In the middle of the room, on one of the two chairs, sat none other than Nakiri Erina, the God's Tongue, with Arato Hisako standing behind her. And beside her on the other chair, sat her cousin, Nakiri Alice, the Heaven-Sent Child of Molecular Gastronomy. The audience went even wilder in excitement.

"Hey, is this match really important? What could possible warrant the attendance of both Nakiri Erina and Nakiri Alice in a first year's shokugeki?"

"Oh yeah, speaking of that… What are the stakes anyway?"

"Could it be that…"

And just like that, the people started to excitedly speculate the stakes and the reason why two VIPs would attend the shokugeki. The speculations ranged from logical guesses, like the Nakiri cousins being interested in Souma's achievements and wanted to scout his potential, to the most absurd ones, like they needed to use the bathroom while running around campus and went for the nearest one in the one of the shokugeki hall, only to catch a glimpse on how hot Souma was and decided that they couldn't miss his shokugeki on a whim. Fortunately for them, or unfortunately for those who wanted to keep fantasizing, Urara soon delivered the answer to their question.

"And here in my hand, I have the written agreement between both parties of this shokugeki. STILL FRESHLY UNOPENED. Currently, I am as unaware of their stakes as you are." Urara waved a sealed envelope to the audience. After that, she ripped the seal facing the audience and read the content of the envelope, to which she widened her eyes and gasped. Enticed by Urara's response, the crowd went even more curious on what the stakes were.

"I can't believe it… My fellow students, it appeared that the terms are DOUBLE SIGNED. For each party, there are TWO SIGNATURES each!"

A collection of gasps and startled sounds reverberated through the audience. It wasn't long until they started to look at the VIP room, back at Urara, and back at the VIP room again. And the sharp ones amongst them were starting to put two and two together and started to whisper their conclusion to their friends.

"That's right, folks! You guessed it! The terms of this shokugeki is signed by Nakiri Alice on Yukihira Souma's side and Nakiri Erina on Mito Ikumi's side."

After confirming their suspicion, the crowd went even more wild. Truly, it's the most exciting entertainment they had yet since their admittance to Tootsuki.

"And the stakes are… In the case of Mito Ikumi's victory, Yukihira Souma will join Nakiri Erina's faction." Urara read.

"WHAT!" Surprised exlamations were thrown around immediately.

"That's practically an honor, isn't it?"

"Yeah. Many have tried to join Nakiri Erina's faction but failed. And if he could get it just by losing... Should he just lose on purpose?"

"But if the stake for his loss is that favorable for him… What is his stake for winning?"

Many quietened immediately as they realized that.

"And in case of Yukihira Souma's victory, Nakiri Erina will go on a WEEK-LONG HOLIDAY TRIP alongside Nakiri Alice and HIMSELF during summer vacation!" Urara shouted the last part at the microphone.

It was at that declaration that the crowd's reactions became interesting. While they had been on one track from the start of the show, it was right then that varying opinions started to form. There were minorities who thought nothing of it, who commended Souma's bravery, who were angry at Souma's impudence, and many more. But most of them, especially the males, were jealous.

"HOW COULD YOU, YUKIHIRA! *Cry comically*"

"Taking two hot Nakiri cousins for yourself… How wonderful… *Grin perversely*"

"Slick move! If only it could be me… *Sigh*"

To be fair, Urara herself was surprised to see the stakes. She wouldn't have guessed that Yukihira Souma and Nakiri Alice were close, close enough for him to be able to bet with her name. And it was even more surprising that they were able to casually demand something so… mundane from Nakiri Erina. But it made it all the more exiciting.

"So, without further ado, let's commence this shokugeki!"

As she announced that, staffs from the shokugeki bureau, clad in black, suddenly ran up to the podium and delivered the ingredients belonging to both chefs. They did so swiftly and professionally. On Ikumi's side, a large man pushed a huge covered object up the stage while on Souma's side, another man brought a covered tray and put it on the table in his station.

"The theme for tonight is Don! And the restriction is, the dish has to use meat, more specifically beef! As expected of Yukihira, he's not afraid to challenge his opponent of their own specialties. And now, let us see the main ingredients prepared by the contestants!"

The staff theatrically pulled the cover off at the same time. The huge object on Ikumi's side was apparently a stainless meat hanger. On it, hung a large cut of an A5 grade beef. It was an amazing display, it shone and sparkled in the light, and the juiciness was so apparent that you can tell just by sight. A5 grade was really that magnificent.

Meanwhile, the tray on Souma's side was revealed to be a beef fillet pack bought from the supermarket, with a huge red sticker saying "35% OFF!" on it. It wasn't unexpected. Usually, the audience would laugh at such a thing. However, Souma had proved times and times again that the quality of the material doesn't limit him. After all, who could possible dare to dismiss him for using discounted meat after he had defeated the Italian Cuisine RS' president's handmade pasta using instant pasta?

"There it is again! Yukihira's famous tendency to use mediocre materials! His special ability, 'Transmutation! Truly befitting of his alias, the 'Transmuter of Love'. Will he be able to earn his 100th victory or will his streak finally broken by the meat master? Let us see!"

"Hmm… A truly unique nickname, isn't it? Transmuter of love." The first judge commented.

"Oh, you'll see its meaning soon, Hideyoshi-san. I have judged one of his shokugeki before. It's a truly fitting name if you see how he works. If I remember it right, Hanamori-san over here had judged Yukihira Souma's shokugeki at least three times. Perhaps he could explain better." The second judge gestured at the third judge.

"Very well, Oogata-san. How much do you know about medieval alchemy, Hideyoshi-san?" The third judge asked.

"Hmm… It's the pursuit of transmuting lesser, unvaluable metals into noble, valuable ones using transmutation, am I right?"

"Indeed. As the name suggests, that boy, Yukihira Souma, has the ability to transmute low-class ingredients into high-class dishes."

"Wow. That would be impressive if it's true. What about that 'love' part. It's a bit strange for a chef's alias."

"You'll see soon." The third judge assured with a smirk.

And see he did. The explosion of love in Souma's cooking.

/

Eyeing her opponent's cheap meat, Mito Ikumi gulped nervously. If she didn't know any better, she would have thought he that he was mocking her. However, she knew better. And she could remember Erina-sama's words to her earlier before the match.

"Ikumi, try your best but do not put too much pressure on yourself, alright? I would not be upset if you lose this one." Her mistress had said.

"Don't worry, Erina-sama. I will win this!" Of course, Ikumi's pride made her voice that declaration. She will show Erina-sama that she can win, that she was worthy of being at her side.

As she prepared her A5 grade meat, she could hear many impressed exclamations from both the crowd and the audience. She smirked in satisfaction. The meat that she used that day was the best of the best, A5 grade. And moreover, she personally requested her father to HANDPICK the best one of the available A5 graded meat in stock at that time. No matter how good Yukihira was, the sheer difference in the quality of the ingredient was just too far apart. There's no way he could have won. With that in mind, she confidently presented her dish to the judges after she was finished.

"I present you 'A5 Japanese Beef Roti Don'!"

She smirked at Yukihira who was still finalizing his dish. She thought he would be too immersed in his cooking and would be oblivious to his surroundings, but to her surprise, he paused his work and calmly watched while the judges judged her cooking. She widened her eyes but quickly regained composure. Respect. That was what he symbolized with that action. He respected her enough to at least pay heed to what the judges think about her cooking. She was pleased. Although Ikumi was confident that she would win at that point, she could feel herself having the same respect toward Yukihira.

"OOOOHHHH! So this is A5 grade meat!" The first judge shouted.

"Amazing…. It's so tender that you can almost drink it!" The second judge added.

"And it isn't only the ingredient. The preparation behind this dish is completely no joke either!" The third judge finalized.

"As expected of the A5 grade beef. And not only that, the best meat is also prepared by the best meat handler around, the meat master herself. The judges could only sing praises!" Urara commented.

The crowd went wild hearing the overly positive comments from all the judges. Ikumi smiled toward Yukihira, as if challenging him. 'Beat that!' her look said. As if taking her challenge, he gave her a smirk of his own, and put a finishing touch to his dish before bringing it towards the judges.

"It's a 'Chaliapin Steak Don'. Oagari yo!"

The presentation was adequate, but nowhere near as impressive as the roti don from earlier. To be fair, plating was not Souma's front point although he was at least decent at it. He could make a presentable dish, but he wasn't that good at detailed aesthetics. The judges however were looking forward to tasting the tame-looking dish. Having tasted Souma's cooking before, the second and third judge knew already the level that they could expect from the cooking. While the first judge was really curious after hearing a lot from the other judges.

"Let's try it then." The first judge said.

And so, they took a first bite. They didn't say anything. They didn't comment. They didn't visibly react either. What they did, was taking another spoonful. And another. And another. And another. And they kept doing so with an increasing fervor after each bite.

"WOAAHHH! LOOK AT THE JUDGES CHUGGING THEIR DISH DOWN! Yukihira Souma strikes again. Compared to that, look at Mito Ikumi's dish!" Urara pointed.

Ikumi widened her eyes as she realized that her dish had only been half-eaten. The meat fully eaten, but there's a lot of leftover rice on each plate. As opposed to that, the judges had already finished Yukihira's don to the last grain of rice in a very short time. And as soon as they were done, the first judge suddenly slammed his fist against the table.

"LET'S VOTE! Let's do it right now!" He urged the other judges. To which they easily agreed.

After seeing the screen glowed with (3-0) for Yukihira Souma, Ikumi fell on her knees.

"And there you go! The match results in a landslide victory for Yukihira Souma! This also marks as a milestone victory for him. Let us give a grand applause for his 100th consecutive victory!"

"No way… How could this be possible… It was only discounted supermarket meat, right? No matter how good he is… It's just impossible to beat my A5 grade beef…"

"You're correct, Mito-san. It is impossible no matter how skilled the chef is if you put it like that." Souma walked towards her with a plate in hand.

"If you chose steak as the theme, there's no way I can beat your A5 grade and impressive thermal sense with cheap meat. However, it's don. And your own strength becomes your weakness. Your A5 beef is so overpowering that the rice pales in comparison. I made use of the harmony between the rice and the meat. So although my meat pales from yours, it gives my dish a better overall taste than yours. Try it for yourself if you don't mind to. I made an extra portion for you." Souma explained and handed her another plate of Chaliapin Steak Don.

Ikumi hesitantly reached out to the plate and held the spoon in hand. She was reluctant, but she was also really curious how it would taste. She wanted to taste for herself the dish that defeated her easily despite the ingredient disadvantage. So she took a bite. After carefully chewing it and swallowing, she soon took another. And another. And another. She couldn't stop. She didn't realize that she had been crying until she felt the chilly wet sensation on her cheeks as her tears trickled.

"I don't actually know anything, but being the heiress of the Mito family should at least put you under some pressure, right? Maybe I wrong, but that's what I thought when I saw how hard you tried to be the best and win. I was like that too once. The thing is… We can't always be the best in everything. There's always someone better than you at something. But that also mean there's always someone we can do better than in everything." Souma was reminded when he first found out about his father's past. He had put a lot of pressure on himself at that point, wanting to surpass his father's seemingly endless achievements. But he had graduated from that. So, it was his turn to help his kouhai graduate as well.

Ikumi could only keep eating while she listened. Her flow of tears didn't stop. And Yukihira pierced through her insecurity with ease. It was as if he could read her mind. He was on point with what she was thinking.

"But I know that reality isn't that nice. In the end, there will always be people who have a lot of expectations on you. People who you don't want to disappoint. But even after giving your best, you often find yourself still failing. Make you wonder how fair the world is, doesn't it?" Souma asked melancholically.

Having finished the dish, she put the plate down and could only stare at the ground, thinking about how true Yukihira's word had been. But then, she was enraptured with a sudden transition in Souma's visage. A quick morph from an expression of lament to that of joy. With a brilliant gleam in his golden iris, he smiled fearlessly. It was captivating.

"But when you're going through a raging storm that's seemingly impossible to breach, you will find it easier to bear if you smile all the way through."

Her tears came overflooding once again. But that time, it wasn't from lamentation. It was tears of freedom. The tears that one would shed when one finally saw a light after being lost in the darkness all this time. She still didn't know how long she still had to go on. But at the very least, she knew right then which direction she was supposed to go on.

In the VIP observation room, Nakiri Alice nodded approvingly while Nakiri Erina closed her eyes resignedly.

/

In a luxurious condominium at the upper part of Tootsuki, sat a young man in front of the television in his living room. The man known as 'The Knight of the Round Table' watched interestedly at the shokugeki being shown in the television. Usually, when he had his rare leisure time after finishing the paperwork share of both the first seat's and the second seat's, courtesy of a damned rare ingredient master, he would rest in his condominium and spend his time watching sport feeds.

However, he found something catching his eyes from the school channel when he casually skimmed through the channels. The 100th shokugeki of the rumored transfer student. Tsukasa Eishi was not one to mind other people's business usually. But after hearing that the transfer student had been compared to HIM by Chapelle-sensei no less, he had become interested in him.

After he finished watching the spectacular performance, he felt a coursing excitement that he hadn't felt in a very long time. It was an amazing display. The cheap supermarket meat achieved a neat victory over the A5 grade meat. It was like watching a wimpy-looking boxing underdog delivering a clean knockout to the defending champion with a single jab. Eishi etched to know more about that boy.

'Yukihira Souma… Just who in the world are you?'