Hell's Training Camp, Part 3, up and rolling! If any of you remember chapter 6, where there were flashbacks, guess what? This chapter will also be having some of those flashbacks! And that's not all; this chapter is a sort of a special chapter. What do I mean? Well, I suppose there's only one way for you guys to find out what I mean by that now, is there~? Oh! And we will also be having another Shokugeki character making an early debut here in this story! Who is that character? Read and find out!

Disclaimer: I do not own Restaurant to Another World or Shokugeki no Soma. I own my OC.

*OPENING*

Meeting you here
(A train arrived at a station)
In this wide world
(Doors opened and many people got off)
Is nothing short of a miracle.
(Nikola was one of them as she walked out of the station. She stopped and stood in place.)

A fanfare resounds
(The scene changed to Polar Star Academy, where all the residents were hanging out by their own greenhouse)
Something's about to start
(Scene changed to Totsuki Academy, where Erina and Hisako were passing by some cherry blossom trees, with Alice and Ryo leaning against some nearby)
So let us seize it
(Nikola looked up at the sky with a hand over her head, blocking out the sun)
A delicious life: One in a Billion!
(Camera zooms out and looks up to the sky, where the title appears)

We can still encounter
(Nikola walks around Totsuki grounds with a sad look on her face)
Others who can change our fate!
(She looks up and saw her cousin and their friends of Polar Star up ahead, some waving at her)

Things might seem normal to me
(They all gathered in Zenji's room, partying like there was no tomorrow)
Might be a huge surprise to you!
(Scene changed to them cooking their own meals in the kitchen)
So let's have fun with the difference!
(A devilish aura emanated from Soma, sending chills to everyone else)
Fusion! Mixture!
(Scene changed from Soma feeding some pork roast to Yuki, Ryoko, Shun and Isshiki to him forcing some peanut butter-covered tentacles with the other dorm mates lying pale and unconscious.)
So wonderful!
(Nikola hit Soma hard in the head and scolded him for possibly killing off some of their dorm mates.)

At the moment many timelines
Converge as one...
If we miss it, we'll never get another chance! (One in a Billion)
(Scene continuously changed from several other Totsuki students to several others, each demonstrating their skills in the kitchen)
I'll meet a side of you
I'd never known before
(Nikola as a child was seen in Nekoya, having a cook-off with her father with their Saturday customers watching.)
The door to a new world will open!
(Both presented their version of pasta to the customers)

A fanfare resounds
(The steam covered the screen and changed the scene to Nikola napping by a cherry blossom tree as a shadow blocked the sunlight on her)
Something's about to start!
(She was awoken by the shadow and rubbed her eyes)
So let us seize it
(Standing before her were her friends)
A delicious life: One in a Billion!
(Fully awake, she joined them on their venture, as song ended with the group and several other students on a large plate, looking at the camera)

After returning to the hotel, the next assignment came up for the first years, much to the majority's dismay. For the assignment, they had to make fifty steak meals for a large group of muscular men. Once they were done, they could do whatever they wanted. Unfortunately for some students, especially Yuki, they were also in charge of their own meals after that. Oh, and they had an hour to serve fifty men. Anyone who failed were to be expelled right on the spot. While many of them were, possibly, hopeless, a certain few individuals passed the assignment with flying colors.

Once she was done serving her group of customers, Nikola make an extra set of servings for herself, the Polar Star group, Nao, Erina, Hisako, Alice and Ryo. She still owed the Tenth Seat, and she had a feeling that if she ran into Alice, she'd complain about how Nikola only served her cousin food and gave her nothing. Plus, it'd be rude of her as a chef to neglect their right-hand/close friend. That, and she had a feeling her friends of Polar Star would be really out of it after passing this assignment, especially a certain couple. Call her 'too nice', but that's her pride as a chef talking. Oh, and there was Nao, who'd undoubtedly be most likely following her after she was done with her assignment instead of making a meal for herself. (Speaking of, I do wonder how Nao passed these assignments, considering her cooking skills. Holding back? Who knows?)

Strangely enough, though, when she went to deliver her meal to Erina, for some reason, Hisako accepted both meals and informed her that it was the last meal that she'd be owing Erina. At first, she found it weird, especially considering she knew she still owed Erina some meals, but Hisako told her to not worry about it, as the God Tongue considered her debt to be fully repaid. But that didn't stop her from wondering about the sudden drop.

"So good~" Yuki happily cried out, dragging Nikola out of her thoughts. "This meal is just what we need to end the first day of this Hell's Camp~"

"It really is good," Ryoko agreed.

"Though I feel bad, since you went out of your way to make all this for us," Megumi said to Nikola.

"Don't worry about it. Besides, we're all friends here, aren't we? It's the least I can do. Besides, I've a feeling if I didn't, some of you guys will never pass the next day," Nikola said, looking specifically at Shoji, Aoki, Zenji and Yuki, all who were happily stuffing themselves full of the meal Nikola made for them.

"I wonder if we have to make our own breakfast tomorrow," Shun said.

"According to the pamphlet, we'll have breakfast in the morning. Doesn't sound like we have to make anything ourselves," Ryoko read the pamphlet.

"Even so, I wonder what we'll be assigned to do tomorrow," Nikola said, lying on the floor.

"Whatever it is, I'm sure we'll pass," Soma said so confidently.

"If I get assigned in the same class as onee-sama tomorrow, it'd be perfect~ Especially if we are assigned in pairs~" Nao said out loud, doing her wicked laugh.

Those words and that laugh brought chills down Nikola's spine. 'Should I feel bad hoping that she and I don't get assigned to the same chef tomorrow?' she wondered, unsure how she would feel if they do get appointed to the same chef. Despite that, Nikola looked around her and couldn't help but smile. Seeing everyone enjoy her food like so... made her think back to when she used to go camping as a child. It was also at that time... she went over there for the first time.

*YEARS AGO*

It was a normal Saturday afternoon in Western Restaurant Nekoya. Aside from some customers enjoying their usual meal and the master of the restaurant preparing the dishes, Young Nikola was in the kitchen, checking out a duffle bag and the contents it contained.

"Okay. That should do it," she said.

"Got everything you need?" her father asked.

"Yep! I can't wait for this trip!"

After making some final touches with a dish he was making, Nikola's father knelt down to her, meeting his daughter at eye-level. "Now remember, Nikola. Whatever happens-"

"Listen to my instructors!" Young Nikola finished for him.

"And whatever food you find that you don't know about-"

"Either stay away from them or ask if they are edible!"

"And if you meet with trouble-"

"Always go to the instructors!"

With each interruptions, Young Nikola's eyes widened and sparkled even more than the previous. Those that were seeing the exchange from the doorway let out some laughs.

"Ah, come now, master. I think she's ready for it," Altorius told the worrying father.

"But even so..."

"Hey now, who do you think we are? We may be your regular customers, but in our world, we're more than that. We can protect her, should things go wrong," Tatsugorou assured.

"I suppose so... Just remember to keep her safe, okay?" That question was directed to Nikola's guide for the day.

"Of course," Gerupa, the previous Omelette Rice at the time, nodded, as he finished off the last of his omelette rice. "Thank you for the food."

The master smiled, satisfied to see his customer liking the dish, as per usual. "And of course, we can never forget your usual takeouts." He took some bags of wrapped omelette rice and handed it to the lizardman.

"Thank you." Gerupa reached down for the sack by his side and took out some coins. "Here's the pay."

Nikola's father only took some of what he took out, not wanting to overcharge his customer. "Thanks for your business. And in advance for taking care of my daughter for the next seven days."

Gerupa nodded in response and took two bags, while Nikola helped him carry one and her duffle bag.

"Ready?" Gerupa asked.

"Yep!" Young Nikola nodded. With that, the two went past the door... to Gerupa's home.

*TODAY*

The next day, the first-years all went to their assigned kitchen of the day, where their new instructor was waiting for them. For Nikola, she was assigned to be in a kitchen with Chef Donato, who has yet to arrive in the room. Along with her were... no one she was familiar with.

'What were the chances that I'd be alone in a class without any of my friends...?' she wondered. And it didn't help that her new classmates for the day weren't making an effort to talk to her. Then again, why would they? After all, she was the 'God Tongue's Subordinate'.

'And all I ask for, outside of Nekoya, is a normal life...' she thought to herself.

"You're Yamagata Nikola, correct?" came a female voice beside her.

"Huh?" Nikola turned to the source and saw a girl her age with purple hair in a red Cheongsam standing next to her. "Um, yes. That's me."

"I thought your name was familiar. I'm Hojo Miyoko. Your temporary partner for the day," the girl introduced.

Yes, for this assignment, Donato had already assigned his 'students' to their stations and partnered them up, as it would seem from a white board at the front of the room. What the assignment was for exactly, no one knew yet.

"Oh, nice to meet you," Nikola greeted, holding out her hand for a handshake, in which Miyoko accepted. "If you don't mind me asking- No wait, never mind."

"Don't say that. Speak out your mind."

"Well... I was going to ask how you know me. But of course, everyone knows the 'God Tongue's Subordinate', something I don't really want to be known for."

"That's not how I know you." Nikola looked at her in shock, wondering how she knew her. From her Shokugeki against Nao? "At the orientation." Oh right. "Like everyone else here, I was there when you gave that speech of yours. And to this day I still remember those words."

Hearing that made Nikola blush. She didn't think anyone would take those words to the heart. After all, she only said it to lessen the target on her back because of a certain cousin of hers. She never thought that-

"I still remember how ridiculously naive they are." Wait, come again? "Where do you think this is? This is Totsuki. I don't know how you do things in whatever restaurant you worked in, but here, everyday is a battle. You think you can just hope for good grades and pass this academy? Totsuki is a far harsher school than that! Being kind and considerate won't get you far here!" She slammed a hand on the counter, causing a loud 'thud' to be heard and some equipments and ingredients on the counter to shake and rattle. "Take my advice from one girl to another. If you want to even pass this camp, you have to take down any other chef that stands in your way."

Nikola looked down as Miyoko said that. Many chefs overheard their conversation, if one can even call it that, and couldn't help but either think that Nikola was finally knowing her place or that she was considering what Miyoko said. However, that wasn't the case for Nikola.

"And?" she simply asked back. "We all have our own way of doing things, our own beliefs. This may be a battlefield to you, but not to me. Like I said back then, I see everyone here as an equal. And if you can't find it in yourself to agree with me, that is fine. Just know that as a chef, I won't let anyone or anything stop me from making a dish for my hungry customer."

Hearing those words and looking at the sheer determination in her eyes surprised Miyoko. She had assumed that the girl was nothing but a princess of a chef, one so innocent and always look on the bright side of things, a kind of person who is too fair to the people around her. But hearing those words out of her mouth, especially the last part, changed her view of Nikola, which made her smile.

"Oh? It seems I underestimated you. But then again, I suppose it's still to soon to say for sure, is it?" she stated.

"Depends. Judging from our handshake earlier, I believe it's safe to say I'm not the only one who worked in a restaurant for a long while," Nikola said.

'Though I do have to question the Cheongsam,' she mentally added.

"So you've noticed," Miyoko said.

Before their conversation could continue, the door opened, and the class saw Donato walking in.

"Good afternoon, students," he greeted then. "As you may know, I am Chef Gotoda Donato, your instructor for the day. And for today, as you have seen on the board behind me, you're to work in pair with someone you're not familiar with. On your counter are ingredients for a dish assigned to each pair. The dish you are to make is written on the board right where you all are situated. You may come across some difficulties, so don't hesitate to get whatever you need, so long as it is within the area. However, do remember that any and all cooking are to be done in the kitchen in your station. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. The time limit is two and a half hours. You may begin."

At those three words, everyone checked the dish they were to make and got to work on cooking it. One look and many were extremely confident that they would pass. The reason? The dished assigned were very vague. Some just say 'pasta', some just say 'vegan', and some just say 'pizza'.

'This feels a little too easy,' Nikola couldn't help but think.

"What are you spacing out for?" Miyoko questioned.

"Well, it's just... Doesn't the assignment seem a little too easy?" she spoke out her thought.

"'Easy'? How so?"

"Hmm... I don't know. It might be just me."

"Well you can figure it out later. Chef Gotoda said this is a group work. I'll handle the cooking. You get the prep work done."

That suggestion confused Nikola, but nonetheless, she went with it. After all, she wouldn't get anything done if she continued to ponder about the task given to them. With that being said, she went to diced up some of the ingredients provided for them, while Miyoko grabbed a pot and filled it with water. The latter girl went to turn on the stove, only to find some problem with it.

"Huh? What the hell?" she cursed under her breath.

"Hm? Is there something wrong?" Nikola asked.

"Nothing. Just focus on chopping." Without another word, Miyoko left the station to the cabinets.

Nikola didn't believe in her partner's words and checked the stove. When she turned the dial to turn it on, the flame wasn't lit and she didn't hear the sound of gas running. "Huh?"

Their station wasn't the only one having problem.

"Chef Gotoda! Our oven isn't working!"

"Our knives are kind of chipped, chef!"

"We're low on spices here!"

"Some of our ingredients aren't fresh!"

Everyone in every station has a problem with their equipment, their tools or their ingredients. And Donato's response to that?

"I don't see a problem with them." Everyone was shocked to hear those words from his mouth. "I gave you an assignment. If you are all chefs, you should be able to still cook up your dish despite the situation of your station. When you work in a restaurant, you're bound to have some problems with the kitchen eventually, especially while there are customers waiting for their meal. It's your job to still serve them their dish."

The students all looked at the alumni with wide eyes, not believing the true meaning behind the task given to them, especially when the dish they were asked to make needed the equipment or tool that is unusable to them. But wait...

"Hey, let me borrow your knife for a second," one student requested another from a station behind them.

"Do you mind if we can use your oven?" another student asked a different one.

"Hold it, you two," Donato spoke out to them. "I believe I said it before. If you work in a restaurant, there are bound to be problems. Did you really think you'll have time to cook in someone else's kitchen and deliver the meal on time to the customer? Why do you think I said that the work should be done in your station? You have to work with what you have if you want to pass."

The two students gritted their teeth and decided to let the matter slide, with their partners either comforting them or trying to figure out how to make their dish with what they got.

Now seeing how harsh today's assignment is, Nikola checked the ingredients and the dish they were suppose to make.

'How are we suppose to make a pasta dish without our stove?' she wondered. 'We can make lasagna, I guess. But there aren't any cheese here, or tomato paste.' Nikola looked back to her partner, who was looking around the cabinets for something to light the stove. However, each cabinet she opened had nothing in them. No spice, no sauce, no extra ingredients, nothing!

"Chef Gotoda! If this is a joke, it isn't funny," Miyoko said. "You said we can use anything else in the kitchen to help us make the meals you assigned us, and yet there is nothing else in any of these cabinets that can help us cook!"

"Is that so? Then shall I fail everyone here, Hojo-san?" Donato suggested.

"That's not it at all!"

"Then shall I fail you only? You're the only one complaining about my test."

Before things get worse, and before Miyoko could get them both expelled, Nikola went to calm her partner down. "Hey, hold on, Hojo-san. Calm down."

"How can I be calm?! With our equipment as they are now, she might as well just let Chef Shinomiya teach us!"

"I know! I know it's not fair that we can't use anything in this kitchen to help us cook our dish, despite what she said earlier, but-!" Nikola stopped herself when she realized something. "Earlier? Earlier..." She looked down and placed a finger on her chin in thought.

Confused with the sudden pause and look on her face, Miyoko asked, "What? What's wrong?"

Turning to Donato, Nikola asked, "Chef Gotoda... Earlier, did you say that if we need anything, it has to be in the kitchen?" That question confused her fellow students in the room.

"What are you saying? He said that if we need anything it has to be-" The student that was about to call her out trailed off when he realized what she was referring to. In fact, everyone was starting to get what she was referring to when she asked that and thought back to what their alumni teacher told them to do.

"I said it before; so long as it's in the area, you can use whatever you want to help you make your dish," Donato repeated.

Those words were enough to confirm Nikola's suspicions. "I see." She took another look at the ingredients given to her and Miyoko and the equipment and tools they had to the window, where she got a good view of the wilderness around them. A smile formed on her face as she knew exactly what should be made and what additional tools she'd get.

"Okay. I got it. Hojo-san, help me out!" Without waiting for a reply from her partner, Nikola grabbed her by the hand and dragged her out to the wilderness. "Be back soon!" As soon as she left, everyone else followed, hoping to find something that can help them cook their dish.

*YEARS AGO*

It had been a few days since Young Nikola arrived in Gerupa's home in the marsh. When she first arrived, every Blue Tail lizardmen were quite wary of her, as she was human and not of their world. But, thanks to Gerupa, all the wariness faded as quickly as it came and she managed to get along with some of the Blue Tails. They especially loved her for her cooking. It was tough on her to cook, since the village didn't have any cooking equipment Nekoya had, but she somehow managed to make some good meals after taking some wilderness-cooking lesson from some Blue Tail chefs.

Currently, the girl was out in the woods with some child Blue Tails and Gerupa, holding a basket full of crocodile eggs while the kids were carrying a large, dead croc. Today was the day Gerupa taught the kids how to hunt for food, and being Young Nikola's guide, the girl had to stick with him. But she was getting some good learning experience from the trip.

"This looks big enough for everyone in the village to eat," said one of the Blue Tail.

"No kidding. Have you ever cooked a crocodile before, Nikola?" another Blue Tail asked.

"No, I haven't. We've never cooked this sort of meat where I'm from," Young Nikola answered.

"Best if you don't try it today. Don't want your father scolding me if you accidentally hurt yourself," Gerupa advised.

"Humans are said to be more fragile than us lizardmen," another Blue Tail said. "You best focus on the eggs, if that's the case. Looks like there are enough in there for the village to have too."

"Yeah, I can't believe how lucky we got with today's hunt," said another Blue Tail.

"I've never cooked crocodile eggs before though, but they should be the same as chicken eggs," Nikola said. "Do you guys have any request as to what I should make? I can make whatever you want so long as I know what it is and we have the ingredients for it."

"Omelette!" all the children instantly answered.

"And when you're done, you have to teach us how you make the egg so fluffy!" the first Blue Tail exclaimed.

"No matter how hard the others do it, they never make the egg as fluffy as your home!" the third Blue Tail said.

Caught off guard by the request at first, Young Nikola calmed herself and nodded at their request. "Okay! Some fluffy omelettes, coming right up! Let's hurry on back!" She then took off to the direction of their village.

"Hey! No fair! You got a head start!" the second Blue Tail shouted, as the rest of the kids and Gerupa ran after her.

*TODAY*

Many students returned to their station and got to work with their assigned meal. Majority of the students weren't able to find anything that can help fix their utilities or sub as their most needed tool and had decided to work with what they got and hope for some kind of miracle. Among them... Nikola and Miyoko had yet to return. And they only had an hour left until time was up. Some students somehow managed to finish their dish and handed them to Donato to evaluate. Not all of them passed, and those who did passed with a barely.

As he waited for other students to finish, Donato couldn't help but notice the two students, one of who realize the true meaning behind her words earlier, were still not present among them.

'They didn't decide to give up, did they?' he thought.

"Sorry for the wait!" Oh! Speak of the devil!

Donato and the students all looked towards the door and saw Nikola and Miyoko there... arms full of stuff! Miyoko was holding a basket full of rocks, wood and herbs while Nikola, covered in dirt, had a bamboo stick in her hand and a basket of some vegetables.

Nikola looked at the time on the clock. "Fifty minutes left. You think you can make the dish we were talking about within that time?"

"Who do you think I am?" Miyoko asked back. "I'm the heiress of Hojoro. A dish like that can be made by me with my eyes closed. The question is, can you really get everything set up for me to do my work?"

"Who do you think I am?" Nikola retorted. "I'm the heiress of Nekoya. I can get that work done in less than five minutes!" At those declarations, the two girls set aside their baskets and got to work with their part of the cooking. Well, if one can call it that for Nikola's case.

The Nekoya heiress quickly set some large woks on the stove and set some big rocks around the bottom of them and some woods within the circle. She then poured a bit of cooking oil in one of the wok. After that, she grabbed the bamboo stick she had with her and chopped off the broken ends.

Seeing her 'prep work' greatly confused everyone in the kitchen.

"Hey, what is she doing?"

"She does know she has to cook, right?"

"Does she know what she's doing?"

"I'm surprised Hojo-san isn't scolding her for wasting more time."

At the mention of the other restaurant heiress, the group looked to her direction and saw her doing some prep work on the ingredients they brought back. As she did so, Miyoko couldn't help but think back to when she and Nikola were out grabbing these ingredients in the first place.

*FLASHBACK*

It had been ten minutes since they went out to grab whatever necessities they need in the area they were in for their pasta dish. At first, Miyoko thought Nikola planned on searching around the building like most of the other students did to get a toolbox to fix their utility. Imagine her surprise and annoyance when she found that wasn't the case, as they were standing by the river with Nikola looking at some rocks.

"Just where exactly... do you think you are?!" Miyoko questioned. "We don't have time to look at rocks! Don't you see that the more time we waste here, the less time we'll have to make our dish and the higher the chance of us getting expelled!"

"I know what I'm doing. Calm down," Nikola said, collecting some rocks in a basket she grabbed.

"That's easy for you to say! You may think coming here is all fun and games, but this is far from that!"

"Then do you have a better idea of getting our pasta to work out?!" Nikola questioned, having quite enough of Miyoko's complaining. "I'm only doing what I do best at the moment! And right now, that's improvising! Without our stove, we can't really make a pasta dish out of the ingredients Chef Gotoda provided for us! And if you really think what I'm doing is a waste of time..." Nikola took out a notepad and a pen and wrote down something on it. After she was done, she tore the page out and handed it and an empty basket to Miyoko. "Then how about you try grabbing these ingredients?! I saw some over there in that direction!" Without another word, Nikola went back to her rock collecting.

If there was one thing Miyoko hated, besides men looking down on women in terms of cooking, it would be women who either rely on men too much or get in her way to her goal. And that goal, which was to graduate Totsuki as an Elite Ten member, and a First Seat at that, would take her a miracle if she doesn't do something to help herself with the camp first.

And so, rather than collecting the ingredients Nikola had listed out, Miyoko went back to the building to find something to get their stove fixed.

Halfway to her destination, she saw a handful of students rushing out of the building, all with a basket under their arm. At first, she didn't think much of it, until she overheard one of the rushing students.

"Damn it! I can't believe there isn't a toolbox anywhere in there!" Her eyes widened when she heard those words.

"Without a stove or an oven, we can't really make our dish!"

"It's a good thing Chef Gotoda said we can use whatever we find out in the wild to help make our dish, though. Maybe we can use something to improvise."

"Highly doubt it, but it's better than nothing!"

Miyoko stood there as the four passing students rushed to the wilderness, shocked to hear that there wasn't anything in the building that she can use to at least attempt to fix their stove. It made her think and wonder if Nikola knew about the test the whole time. But that couldn't be possible; she was just a student like the rest of them, and she had no connection to any of the alumni. Could it be that she actually planned to use the rocks she was collecting to help them make their dish?

'One way to find out,' Miyoko thought, as she rushed back to the river where her partner was.

By the time she arrived back, Nikola was already gone. Miyoko had thought of searching for her missing partner, but that would take too much time. So instead, she decided to go to the direction of the ingredients Nikola wanted her to pick up and rushed there.

After spending about forty-five minutes searching and picking the listed ingredients, Miyoko was about to rush back to the kitchen, when she heard grunting in the bamboo woods.

The heiress of Hojoro dashed into the woods and found Nikola there, trying to take down a bamboo tree. Near her was a basket full of rocks, wood and herbs.

"Just... need... this last... thing..." Nikola muttered.

Deciding to give her a helping hand, Miyoko went and knocked the tree down herself... by simply punching it.

Nikola was shocked to see the bamboo suddenly break and tumble down and looked to see Miyoko standing behind her. "Hojo-san! When did you...?"

"You probably should've added that bamboo tree to my list if you really needed it," she told her. "Now then, how about you tell me what you're really planning to make with all these stuff, and why you collected rocks and wood? If we're both going to pass this test, I'd like to know what's going on in my teammate's head."

Nikola could tell that the girl actually meant what she said and smiled. "I'm not going to make anything," she said, much to Miyoko's confusion. "What you should be asking is 'What kind of pasta are you going to make'?"

*END OF FLASHBACK*

Two rocks were hit together and a spark came from them and into one of the woks, creating a light fire within. Nikola placed her bamboo stick near the wok and blew into it, causing the fire to grow bigger. Once she felt it was big enough, she placed an iron grate on top of it and placed a small pot of water on top of that.

At this point, everyone realized what she was doing.

'Because their stove is rendered useless, she went out to the wilderness and grabbed whatever she needed to make an improv stove,' Donato thought. 'And because flame lit by cooking oil wouldn't last long, she also improvised on that by blowing into it with the bamboo stick, which can either help the flame last longer or have it grow bigger.'

While the pot was boiling, Nikola grabbed another stick from her basket and placed it in the flames, catching it on fire. Once it was lit, she placed that in the other wok and repeated the process, this time placing a large skillet over that wok. With the preparations set, Nikola began to wash up the tomatoes and placed them and the pasta noodles in the pot of boiling water.

*FLASHBACK*

Nikola and Miyoko were both making their way back to the kitchen. On their way back, the former explained to the latter of her plans for what they grabbed.

"I see. I should've known better than to question you," Miyoko said.

"You specialize in that cuisine, right? I'm only assuming based on your clothes," Nikola asked.

"Yeah. Just leave it to me. Is what I want to say, but don't forget that our stove is broken. It's good we got some additional ingredients, but what are we going to do about our stove?"

"There are woks and iron grates in our station, right? Why do you think I have these?" Nikola asked back, gesturing the her basket of rocks and woods.

*END OF FLASHBACK*

Done with her prep work, Miyoko dumped all her diced ingredients in the skillet and began cooking them. "I need some flame!" she informed Nikola, who was beating some egg yolks together. The Nekoya heiress placed down her bowl, grabbed her bamboo stick and blew into her partner's wok, increasing the firepower. After giving her the much-needed blows, Nikola noticed the flame boiling the pot was also starting to weaken and gave it some blows. After that, she went back to her own part of the work.

It took them at most five more minutes to get their dish done.

"Okay. Thanks for waiting," Nikola said to Donato, presenting their dish to him. "Our Chop Suey Pasta is ready. Please dig in."

"Whoa! Would you look at this dish! I've never seen a pasta like this!" he exclaimed happily.

Their pasta consisted of celery, bell peppers, onions, carrots, bean sprouts and ground beef, with shell-shaped pasta, all covered in red and yellow sauce.

"Now then, a taste." Donato took a spoon and scooped up some of the pasta. One bite of it, and he felt his tongue singing in joy! "OH! UNA DELIZIA~!" he sang himself. "The vegetables are nicely sauteed, and the noodles are perfectly boiled! And the sauce on it... this red and yellow sauce... I hint out tomatoes sauce, the star sauce that always goes well in pasta. But, what is this other sauce...?"

"Tamago-no-moto," Nikola answered. "It's a sauce made of egg yolk and vegetable oil, and often used to bring ingredients together, espeically with ki no me and a bit of salt."

"Our Chop Suey Pasta is composed of a variety of ingredients, some that have an overpowering flavor over the other," Miyoko continued. "However, because of the tamago-no-moto, those flavor all come together instead of clashing against each other."

Donato nodded at her words. "Yes indeed. I've tasted many pasta in my life, but never have I had anything like this before. And your two worked together for the first time? When did you have the time to get to know each other?"

"We didn't. We just did what we could best and worked our way around them," Nikola answered.

"When you're working in a restaurant, you don't have time to play catch up with your peers," Miyoko continued. "You want to have a place with them, you gotta show them what you can do best."

Donato looked at the two girls and smiled at the confident looks in their eyes. 'I've done this test many times before. Many tried to either fix their utilities or do improv cooking with their current utilities. Half the amount barely pass this test that way, especially since they knew nothing about each other and often clashed because of their differences. But these two... They set aside their differences and came together to create this wonderful dish.' He took another bite of their pasta and snapped his eyes open at the taste. 'After taking a second bite, I can now taste the strong flavor of each ingredients they used for the dish. And all of them are dying down because of the tamago-no-moto. It is like a fierce battle between multiple adversaries and then coming together in harmony~!' As he thought that, he had imagined fierce animals in the jungle facing each other in a fight, until a mysterious force came and calmed the animals, having them all get along.

"Hojo Miyoko and Yamagata Nikola, you both pass!" he exclaimed.

"Thank you very much!" Nikola thanked with a bow.

Miyoko, on the other hand, simply looked at the girl. When she first heard her speech back at the orientation, she thought of her as a naive chef who thinks all would go well no matter what. Seeing her now, especially after what happened earlier back in the woods to when they were whipping up their dish, made her see the female transfer in a different light.

'Perhaps she does deserve to be called the God Tongue's Subordinate,' Miyoko thought.

Once the time hit zero, the test was over. Less than half the students managed to pass, while everyone else groaned and despaired over how they failed. As soon as the test was over, they all boarded their bus and were making their way back to the hotel.

As the bus was making its merry way back, Miyoko, who was sitting next to Nikola, asked her, "Hey. Back there, how did you know those would make good substitute utilities? Here in Totsuki, those such things are not at all needed. And I know that, as a fellow heiress of a restaurant, such knowledge is normally not necessary to know how to run a restaurant or cook meals for customers. So how did you know?"

Nikola thought for a moment how to answer that question. "Well... Let's just say I had good camping teachers."

*YEARS AGO*

Young Nikola, finally accustomed to the cooking equipment in the Blue Tail Village and the 'spices' used here, got to work on the crocodile omelettes. As some of the equipment were a little too heavy for her to use, though, she asked for some assistance from one of the chefs. As she worked, the other Blue Tail chefs all watched her cook, hoping to find out the secret behind making the fluffy omelettes.

Young Nikola stared at the steaming, makeshift pan in front of her, which was really just a flat rock with planks of wood tied tightly around it and a wooden cover over it. She listened very closely and carefully to the sound that was coming from the pan, her hand on the handle of the cover, ready to remove it once the time came.

'A little more... little more...' she thought. Once she heard a change in the sound, she quickly removed the lid. To the lizardmen's shock, the beaten and mixed egg within was in a pretty white/yellow color.

"Flip it up!" Young Nikola asked her helper.

The Blue Tail nodded and gave the 'pan' a good lift, causing the omelette within to seemingly float off it and into the air. Young Nikola grabbed a wooden bowl and a pair of chopsticks and managed to catch the food, as well as folding it into its proper omelette form.

The lizardmen all eagerly slammed their tails down in anticipation, as the child cut up the omelette in bite-size pieces.

"Okay, it's done." Young Nikola turned to the other lizardmen with the bowl of sliced omelette. "Would you like to try it? It's hot, so careful."

They all eagerly took a slice and ate it up. "YUM!" they all exclaimed, slamming their tails down in joy, liking the soft and fluffy texture.

Watching them all happily eat her dish made Young Nikola happy.

*TODAY*

Finally back to the hotel, the first thing Nikola did was meet up with the rest of the Polar Star group.

"Hey guys," she greeted.

Instead of a cheery 'hello' of any kind, she was met with worried looks.

"Nikola! Have you seen Megumi or Yukihira?" Yuki asked.

"Huh? No, I haven't. Why?" she asked back.

"They have yet to return," Nao answered from right behind her.

Nikola jumped at the sudden answer and distanced herself from her 'follower'. "Whoa! Where'd you come from? Stop doing that."

"Right~"

Nikola sweat dropped at the response, but chose to not bother with it. "Anyway, you said my cousin and Megumi-chan aren't back yet? Maybe their test is longer than our's or their group is far from the hotel, or maybe there's an accident with the bus."

"If that was the case, we wouldn't be worried, but their group has returned," Shun informed.

"Wait, what?!"

Before anyone can answer her, a ring was heard. Nikola looked down and saw it was her phone ringing. One look at the caller and she asked to be excused from the group, quickly retreating to a vacant area.

"Great-grandma, this is kind of not a good time, right now," she said, answering the call.

"You're worried about Soma and that friend of yours, aren't you?" Koyomi asked, much to Nikola's surprise. "Don't worry. I'm with them right now. It is quite unfortunate, but they both got stuck with Shinomiya-kun."

"Eh? Chef Shinomiya? You mean that chef that almost got that boy expelled because of the hair product he used?"

"Yes. But, it seems something interesting is going to occur soon. And I would like for you to meet me in the basement kitchen."

"Basement kitchen?" Without another word, Koyomi hung up on her daughter.

But of what she heard from her great-grandmother, it made her think...

'Soma, what did you do?!'